No growth. Still 43 1/8". Two months in a row, no growth. This has never happened before in my whole hair history. Eeeeep. I did eat almonds for about half the month. I suppose they had no effect. Oh dear.
My son measured twice. He said his fingernails haven't grown this month either. Bless his lil' heart.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Last day of Sep
Took a Tylenol PM and went to bed last night because I had such a headache. It's gone now. Yay. That's a yay with a plain period, full stop.
It happened again today. I'm making a sandwich, I put the knife in the jar and I got mayonnaise on my hand from the lip of the jar. I hate that. I absolutely hate that. I had to rinse my hand. Got a tiny bit of mayo on the knife, got some on my hand again. Put the bread together and there's a hole in the bread, mayo squishes out and I get some on my hand again. I hate mayo on my hands.
As we discussed Rod McKuen and his poetry (a quatrain is four lines of poetry) yesterday I looked him up on Wikipedia and we found that he wrote the music and lyrics for the first full length feature film of Charlie Brown. Our son loves Snoopy and Charlie Brown and looked through his DVDs and saw he has the first feature length Charlie Brown so we listened to it. He immediately recognized Rod McKuen's voice.
And we got an unexpected surprise, as surprises often are, from the beginning of the film. Linus, Charlie, and Lucy, are lying on the ground and begin talking about visualizing shapes in the clouds. Among other things, Linus sees the stoning of Steven. How many times we've watched and listened but the stoning of Steven washed over us as we had no idea what he was referring to! Our son lit up when he realized what Linus was talking about. I kinda did too. It was a great homeschooling moment. Comprehension, interconnectedness, poetry, cartoons, joy.
It happened again today. I'm making a sandwich, I put the knife in the jar and I got mayonnaise on my hand from the lip of the jar. I hate that. I absolutely hate that. I had to rinse my hand. Got a tiny bit of mayo on the knife, got some on my hand again. Put the bread together and there's a hole in the bread, mayo squishes out and I get some on my hand again. I hate mayo on my hands.
As we discussed Rod McKuen and his poetry (a quatrain is four lines of poetry) yesterday I looked him up on Wikipedia and we found that he wrote the music and lyrics for the first full length feature film of Charlie Brown. Our son loves Snoopy and Charlie Brown and looked through his DVDs and saw he has the first feature length Charlie Brown so we listened to it. He immediately recognized Rod McKuen's voice.
And we got an unexpected surprise, as surprises often are, from the beginning of the film. Linus, Charlie, and Lucy, are lying on the ground and begin talking about visualizing shapes in the clouds. Among other things, Linus sees the stoning of Steven. How many times we've watched and listened but the stoning of Steven washed over us as we had no idea what he was referring to! Our son lit up when he realized what Linus was talking about. I kinda did too. It was a great homeschooling moment. Comprehension, interconnectedness, poetry, cartoons, joy.
Monday, September 29, 2008
A Cat Named Sloopy
by Rod McKuen
A dozen summers
we lived against the world.
An island on an island.
She'd comfort me with purring
I'd fatten her with smiles.
We grew rich on trust
needing not the beach or butterflies
I had a friend named Ben
Who painted buildings like Roualt men.
He went away.
My laughter tired Lillian
after a time
she found a man who only smiled.
Only Sloopy stayed and stayed.
A dozen summers
we lived against the world.
An island on an island.
She'd comfort me with purring
I'd fatten her with smiles.
We grew rich on trust
needing not the beach or butterflies
I had a friend named Ben
Who painted buildings like Roualt men.
He went away.
My laughter tired Lillian
after a time
she found a man who only smiled.
Only Sloopy stayed and stayed.
Wed.
Wednesday at 9:30am we're going to meet some peeps at the church. Last night a lady said she wanted to teach the kids a dance that she used to teach at a church in California. I happened to be sitting where I always sit because if I stay seated for awhile my son will walk around and chat. While he was chatting I overheard them talking.
The kid's pastor turned to me and asked me if I'd be interested and I said, "definitely maybe." I asked the gal to show us some of the movement she had in mind and I guess she knew a Hawaiian person whom she said danced very beautifully and she did some hand and arms movements that this other dancer did. Shazaam! I didn't say a word but Arabic and Polynesian have some similarities and I can do flowy movement. I'm going to work on my hand, arm, and wrist movements today and tomorrow. Plus I thoroughly enjoyed doing the hand motion dances with the kids at VBS so perhaps I could assist somehow?
The kid's pastor turned to me and asked me if I'd be interested and I said, "definitely maybe." I asked the gal to show us some of the movement she had in mind and I guess she knew a Hawaiian person whom she said danced very beautifully and she did some hand and arms movements that this other dancer did. Shazaam! I didn't say a word but Arabic and Polynesian have some similarities and I can do flowy movement. I'm going to work on my hand, arm, and wrist movements today and tomorrow. Plus I thoroughly enjoyed doing the hand motion dances with the kids at VBS so perhaps I could assist somehow?
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Looking forward to measuring
It's still three whole days till measuring day but I'm optimistic. I think it looks like it grew a little. I sure hope so.
Today I washed it and was compelled to over oil it. Why do I do that? I do that because if a little is good then a little more ought to be better, but everyone who's anyone knows that is untrue. So I had a big, single, unremarkable, ringlet of hair instead of a nice fluffy, shiny, hemline all day. I finger dried it outside so that was good even though I killed the good looks soon as it dried.
It's tickling the top of my thighs. That's a milestone. I have to write that down on the 1st. Finally I made it around that big curve ifn's you know what I mean. And it makes me think of getting a trim. I know I should let it go because how can you grow longer if you cut it, but I sure get a hankering for a nice trim. My last trim was March so I ought to wait till this coming March, but I do want one now. I just love those brand new ends.
Today I washed it and was compelled to over oil it. Why do I do that? I do that because if a little is good then a little more ought to be better, but everyone who's anyone knows that is untrue. So I had a big, single, unremarkable, ringlet of hair instead of a nice fluffy, shiny, hemline all day. I finger dried it outside so that was good even though I killed the good looks soon as it dried.
It's tickling the top of my thighs. That's a milestone. I have to write that down on the 1st. Finally I made it around that big curve ifn's you know what I mean. And it makes me think of getting a trim. I know I should let it go because how can you grow longer if you cut it, but I sure get a hankering for a nice trim. My last trim was March so I ought to wait till this coming March, but I do want one now. I just love those brand new ends.
Looking at my record
Thinking about the debate late last night I came to the conclusion that we often don't really know who the winner of a debate is until time has passed. I remember the Gore/Bush debate and how I watched Gore do terrible and yet there were some very good reviews for Gore the next day. At the time I just lost interest because I wasn't hip to the media's involvement in politics. Bush won the election so ultimately the debates persuaded more voters in his favor. 'Tis a pity he's blamed for every little thing that goes wrong. He doesn't get out and defend himself and it's hurt him.
As for my record, I was going to say I've always voted for the winner but scratch that thought because methinks I voted for Dole one year and he lost. I voted for Clinton the first time around, and against him the second time around. Boy, that's all very unmemorable because I had to look it up on Wikipedia to see who Clinton ran against in 1996. My husband never voted for Clinton. Later when he was impeached I was so ashamed that I voted him in! In 1992 my husband stood in the booth for 30 minutes, literally, 30 minutes. He was deciding who to vote for. He's always been much more informed than I. I sat in the truck waiting and waiting and I was incredulous that as informed as he was he spent so much time at the last possible moment deciding how to cast his vote.
I know a woman who has registered to vote for the first time in her life. She is 54 years old!
On the 29th I'm slated to receive my Sarah Palin t-shirt! I picked a pink one that has Alaska on it, a barracuda, and the words "Palin Power." I saw some stories in the news that Palin ought to step down and that she didn't interview well and I wonder where they find these yahoos. I watched clips and she did fine. Everyone I know loves Sarah as the vice presidential pick!
Tomorrow I'm missing morning church. We're volunteers for a triathlon in the park. It should be a pretty awesome event to see. Entrants are going to swim one mile, bike 26 miles, and run five miles. My husband and I will help direct traffic so no one gets flattened.
For my Saturday sign-off here's a list someone shared and it's so good I'm going to pass it along.
Have a splendid Saturday day everyone!
Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Here are some suggestions:
Mend a quarrel.
Call a friend you haven't seen for a long time.
Replace a suspicion with a trust.
Remove any bitterness in your life.
Write a surprise letter to someone who loves you.
Tell someone you know well how much he or she means to you.
Keep a promise.
Ask God to forgive someone who did something wrong to you, and forget the wrongdoing.
Don't be overly demanding on the other members of your family.
Express thanks to others throughout the day.
Tell someone you love that you care.
Pray for one of your enemies.
Send a check to someone who has a need.
Ask God to help you to love the way Jesus loved.
MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 291). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
As for my record, I was going to say I've always voted for the winner but scratch that thought because methinks I voted for Dole one year and he lost. I voted for Clinton the first time around, and against him the second time around. Boy, that's all very unmemorable because I had to look it up on Wikipedia to see who Clinton ran against in 1996. My husband never voted for Clinton. Later when he was impeached I was so ashamed that I voted him in! In 1992 my husband stood in the booth for 30 minutes, literally, 30 minutes. He was deciding who to vote for. He's always been much more informed than I. I sat in the truck waiting and waiting and I was incredulous that as informed as he was he spent so much time at the last possible moment deciding how to cast his vote.
I know a woman who has registered to vote for the first time in her life. She is 54 years old!
On the 29th I'm slated to receive my Sarah Palin t-shirt! I picked a pink one that has Alaska on it, a barracuda, and the words "Palin Power." I saw some stories in the news that Palin ought to step down and that she didn't interview well and I wonder where they find these yahoos. I watched clips and she did fine. Everyone I know loves Sarah as the vice presidential pick!
Tomorrow I'm missing morning church. We're volunteers for a triathlon in the park. It should be a pretty awesome event to see. Entrants are going to swim one mile, bike 26 miles, and run five miles. My husband and I will help direct traffic so no one gets flattened.
For my Saturday sign-off here's a list someone shared and it's so good I'm going to pass it along.
Have a splendid Saturday day everyone!
Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Here are some suggestions:
Mend a quarrel.
Call a friend you haven't seen for a long time.
Replace a suspicion with a trust.
Remove any bitterness in your life.
Write a surprise letter to someone who loves you.
Tell someone you know well how much he or she means to you.
Keep a promise.
Ask God to forgive someone who did something wrong to you, and forget the wrongdoing.
Don't be overly demanding on the other members of your family.
Express thanks to others throughout the day.
Tell someone you love that you care.
Pray for one of your enemies.
Send a check to someone who has a need.
Ask God to help you to love the way Jesus loved.
MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 291). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Good debate
I didn't know that McCain was such a good debater. I was so nervous and excited to hear the first debate. McCain was very well versed and I actually understood what he was saying. I so wish to know what Independents and all the undecideds out there thought! I guess I have to wait till November 4th for that.
Groundbreaking
You heard it here first. We put a sticker on our bumper. Never in the history of the world has my husband let me put a sticker on the bumper of the truck! It says. . . .
Can you guess?
McCain/Palin! It's beautiful. And our young Republican son is going to put one on his bike trailer.
I think the debate is starting now.
Can you guess?
McCain/Palin! It's beautiful. And our young Republican son is going to put one on his bike trailer.
I think the debate is starting now.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Awww
I think I got left out. I was invited to go over a couple weeks ago and I didn't go. I had a bonafide, qualified, reason why not to go, but it turned out I could have gone if I wanted to. I like them so much and I did kind of want to go but not enough to actually go.
So I didn't get invited back and I know they got together tonight. Fellowship sort of thing. I'm a little short on the connecting I guess.
I wish I had one good girlfriend to hang out with because then I could go with her and just be a sidekick. I wish. But I don't have any such girlfriend so I stay home. I like home well enough, I tell myself.
Oh well. Movin' on. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Can't cry over spilt milk and all of that drivel. Or, could it be, I need to work on that reservoir of love? Might be there's only a couple drops in there.
So I didn't get invited back and I know they got together tonight. Fellowship sort of thing. I'm a little short on the connecting I guess.
I wish I had one good girlfriend to hang out with because then I could go with her and just be a sidekick. I wish. But I don't have any such girlfriend so I stay home. I like home well enough, I tell myself.
Oh well. Movin' on. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Can't cry over spilt milk and all of that drivel. Or, could it be, I need to work on that reservoir of love? Might be there's only a couple drops in there.
Impeached
I always got confused when people would say Clinton was impeached because, well, nothing happened to him as a result so to me it meant he didn't get impeached. Is that perfectly unclear? But he did get impeached and here's an easy explanation about which I learned this week as a sixth grade teacher.
Synonym for impeached --->charged
You see, Clinton and Andrew Johnson were each charged with committing offenses but neither was convicted. They were both acquitted. Johnson was acquitted by one vote!
Impeachment allows us to bring to trial federal officials accused of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. (Paraphrased from our textbook A History of US, Vol. 7) Johnson was drunk at the 1865 presidential inauguration and wanted to fire a cabinet member. Clinton was a perjurer and philanderer. But none of these reasons equal treason, bribery, or high crime and misdemeanor.
The process goes like this: The House of Representatives debates whether or not to charge a government official. If they vote to charge him or her then the case proceeds to the Senate where both sides of the case are presented before the Senate. Two-thirds of the Senate must vote for conviction in order to remove a president from office. A president doesn't get sent to prison or have to pay a fine. Losing the position of president is itself the punishment.
That's the abbreviated history lesson for today! To be impeached only means to be charged.
Synonym for impeached --->charged
You see, Clinton and Andrew Johnson were each charged with committing offenses but neither was convicted. They were both acquitted. Johnson was acquitted by one vote!
Impeachment allows us to bring to trial federal officials accused of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. (Paraphrased from our textbook A History of US, Vol. 7) Johnson was drunk at the 1865 presidential inauguration and wanted to fire a cabinet member. Clinton was a perjurer and philanderer. But none of these reasons equal treason, bribery, or high crime and misdemeanor.
The process goes like this: The House of Representatives debates whether or not to charge a government official. If they vote to charge him or her then the case proceeds to the Senate where both sides of the case are presented before the Senate. Two-thirds of the Senate must vote for conviction in order to remove a president from office. A president doesn't get sent to prison or have to pay a fine. Losing the position of president is itself the punishment.
That's the abbreviated history lesson for today! To be impeached only means to be charged.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Could I like McCain?
I don't know. It might be possible though. This man thinks differently. He's stopped his campaigning and wants to postpone the debate. We are facing a once-in-a-century crisis and there's currently no consensus on the proposal they've come up with. I have to say, I did wonder about that. I'd heard it didn't have enough votes to pass.
Like so many retirees, our savings is our everything. Nobody wants to see any kind of Great Depression! The FDIC fixed the savings part though, I'm pretty sure.
Like so many retirees, our savings is our everything. Nobody wants to see any kind of Great Depression! The FDIC fixed the savings part though, I'm pretty sure.
Just so-so
My mug isn't much improved since yesterday but oh well.
Stephanopoulos pointed out that any presidential contender who was above 50% in the polls in September since 1948 has won the election. Drats. But there are still so many undecideds. Next year I'm going to be undecided until the election just to drive everyone crazy. And the economy isn't Bush's fault. Everytime I hear how low his popularity rating is I ask why the Congress's rating isn't mentioned. Congress has a lower rating than Bush and we've got a Democratic-controlled Congress.
I thought my son was on family leave but I found out yesterday he went back to work. That means he'll be working when I go visit in October. I'm flying in on a Wed. and out on a Sat. so I have two full days in between. I must have a gene missing because I want to stay home. I needed my husband to hold my own baby.
I forgot to mention my boombox request. He said yes but I researched it more on Amazon and all the complaints were for poor customer service from the company. That's a big red flag and especially since all the complaints were so similar. I decided it would be a bad buy. It might be a good buy but if I got a bad box it would be a bad buy! I didn't want to take the chance on a $150.00 purchase. So sad, too bad. Even the people with complaints agreed the sound was excellent. Sigh.
Stephanopoulos pointed out that any presidential contender who was above 50% in the polls in September since 1948 has won the election. Drats. But there are still so many undecideds. Next year I'm going to be undecided until the election just to drive everyone crazy. And the economy isn't Bush's fault. Everytime I hear how low his popularity rating is I ask why the Congress's rating isn't mentioned. Congress has a lower rating than Bush and we've got a Democratic-controlled Congress.
I thought my son was on family leave but I found out yesterday he went back to work. That means he'll be working when I go visit in October. I'm flying in on a Wed. and out on a Sat. so I have two full days in between. I must have a gene missing because I want to stay home. I needed my husband to hold my own baby.
I forgot to mention my boombox request. He said yes but I researched it more on Amazon and all the complaints were for poor customer service from the company. That's a big red flag and especially since all the complaints were so similar. I decided it would be a bad buy. It might be a good buy but if I got a bad box it would be a bad buy! I didn't want to take the chance on a $150.00 purchase. So sad, too bad. Even the people with complaints agreed the sound was excellent. Sigh.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Boo
I have a big, ugly, cold sore on my lip. I hope it goes down for dance class tomorrow. Last night it was making the side of my face ache and I didn't sleep very well.
The headlines are lame. Biden said an ad against McCain wasn't very good and all he was doing was expressing his honest opinion and the dorky media latches onto it like it's a political issue. Bill Clinton says Hillary didn't want to be a vice president for Obama. Well I think Bill and Hillary are hoping Obama will lose just so they can say told you so. They're so hateful they don't even work to help their own party. I think they're not very selfless. I think they should be out there working on behalf of their party because they could do amazing things to motivate their voters. Hillary's not trying very hard.
There's a boombox I want. I'm going to ask my husband. I'm worried about asking. I'm going to start off by saying I don't want any new clothes to go see our new grandbaby because I'd rather have this Altec Lansing ten pound portable music player. It has nice bass! We had such an awesome surround sound system in our house. I do miss it.
The headlines are lame. Biden said an ad against McCain wasn't very good and all he was doing was expressing his honest opinion and the dorky media latches onto it like it's a political issue. Bill Clinton says Hillary didn't want to be a vice president for Obama. Well I think Bill and Hillary are hoping Obama will lose just so they can say told you so. They're so hateful they don't even work to help their own party. I think they're not very selfless. I think they should be out there working on behalf of their party because they could do amazing things to motivate their voters. Hillary's not trying very hard.
There's a boombox I want. I'm going to ask my husband. I'm worried about asking. I'm going to start off by saying I don't want any new clothes to go see our new grandbaby because I'd rather have this Altec Lansing ten pound portable music player. It has nice bass! We had such an awesome surround sound system in our house. I do miss it.
Monday, September 22, 2008
hurriCAIN PALIN
This is one of my favorite pictures. Sarah rocks the femininity!
I went to bed feeling good last night! A crowd of sixty thousand turned out to hear Palin speak in Florida and Florida's an important state. Many people waited hours to find parking and stood in the hot sun to hear her speak. Florida is swing state because it can go either way in the election. Until November 4th it's a mystery which way it will go! Every day when I read Politico (where they have a ditty called "Who Won the Day," it's always Obama who's won the day. I was going to keep track of who won each day just for the ducks of it, but I realized I can do it in my head because since I've been reading it McCain has won one day. Only. A single. Day.
If not for my husband I'd be the peculiar lady who puts all her cash in coffee cans and plants it in the yard for safe keeping. So not being very financially minded I have wondered how this giant financial crisis came about. Truthfully, I don't think we know yet what all the reasons are. Obviously the loans are what contributed to it but in the big picture I really think there's even more to it than we know. It's so odd that the economy has grown 3.3% at the same time that this crisis has occurred.
What the heck in the SEC? I had no idea and have heard it bandied about a lot in the news. It's the Securities Exchange Commission and the head of the SEC is who McCain wanted to fire. I found a good article called Analysis: Reckless Mortgages Brought Financial Market to Its Knees. I had to take a rest after I read it half way through because it's the sort of read that makes me think of all the other things I could be doing and then it puts me to sleep.
After I read it I asked my husband why the big companies were able to give all these loans out, and how could they just change the guidelines (such as no more requirement to verify an applicant's income) with no oversight. I told him they need a watchdog group! I am so smart! but then he told me that that's what the SEC's job is. "Oooooooooh," said I.
It's starting to make sense a wee bit of sense to me.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Makin' it happen
Just talked with the Republican peeps in Las Cruces. I'm down. I'm volunteering. In the next week hopefully I'll get flyers and a list of Independents in my town. I'll be going door to door. I'll be taking our son with me. Currently they're compiling a list of Independent voters because Republicans are already rocking McCain/Palin, so no need to sing to the chorus. Estevan, the volunteer coordinator, said Obama's got way more money so the Republicans need volunteers everywhere and he thanked me for calling.
OoooooooCha Barrracuda!
Dance move for the hair
We had a great deal of thunder and lightning tonight. It's my favorite weather as long as it's not dangerous.
In dance I learned a new move for my hair. I've been performing my dance each night of class to improve it. After a first run through my Ficcare was pulling a little so I let my hair down and on a whim said, "I think I'll dance it with my hair down once." My teacher said, "Wow, it's gotten so long. It's really grown since I saw it last, hasn't it?" I told her I wasn't sure but I think so maybe and I told her I wanted to grow it to mid-thigh. She said hers doesn't grow past APL. Those aren't her exact words but that's what she meant. She said, "May I?" I told her sure, and she ran her hands through it.
So. Are you holding onto your hat? I will describe a lovely dance move for your hair!
Bend over at your waist and do a hair toss downwards. As a headbanger I'm fond of the hair toss. I always bang my head in my warm up just to be sure I don't lose it. I do circular, side to side, plain up and down, and large bang forward and back with full body. It builds stamina. Some people can only bang for a minute or less. My husband would so laugh at me because I talk about it as if it's a real accomplishment. Well, this is my life. Gotta keep it real. If you don't bang for a long time you can really hurt your neck. I never could do the super fast headbang. I like it when I see it though. You don't see it often. I saw a Zydeco guy once. Or rather, a Cajun guy playing Zydeco. Man, he could rock. He was playing the washboard? He was like a rubberman. I digress.
Do not step on the hair. I recommend this because naturally that's the first thing I did. Ouch! It smarted. Live and learn. We danced in heels on Wednesday night and I'm lucky I didn't end up on my behind. But I digress.
Supposing you have very long hair, the hair is hanging down touching the floor a little. If your hair's not super long you can still definitely do it. Now slowly, as in gracefully, as in languidly, bring your arms in between you and your hair. Remember in grade school when you had to put your head down on your desk? Do it sort of like that but not so close to your forehead. Now for the magical part! Slowly, slowly, keep it slow, stand up, allow your audience to enjoy watching the hair, then stand all the way straight up and at the last moment use your arms to push your hair behind you. Taa daa!
One of the students tonight, I think she was crying before class. Today, without warning, she lost her job. Yesterday her step son went to jail. He has a $75,000 bond. I don't know about these things but I think that's a pretty high bail. I think he may have done something pretty bad. I asked her his age and she said he's 22. She didn't say what he was in for so I didn't ask. I could tell she was not so sad after dance though. Moving is good for you when life gets you down.
I led the warm-ups for class tonight and on Wednesday night too. My teacher is training me a little. I forgot to mention it on my Wednesday night post.
Tonight I was thinking so hard to remember the stretches I wanted to do that I made little eye contact with anyone so I need to work on that. My workmates at one of my old jobs said my personality was like Woodstock. You know Woodstock in the Charlie Brown comic? That's how I feel. I wish God would take this dopey anxiousness off of me. I wish I would be important and graceful and confident and knowledgeable. One student said I was cute and I did a silent scream. She said it because I stood there and said that my music ran out so I don't know what to do! Where ever I go I am still me. I keep expecting to change because I'm older, but here I am. I'm a little yellow bird flying upside down. Okay, well this monologue in going downhill fast so. . . .
I guess that's all I have for tonight!
In dance I learned a new move for my hair. I've been performing my dance each night of class to improve it. After a first run through my Ficcare was pulling a little so I let my hair down and on a whim said, "I think I'll dance it with my hair down once." My teacher said, "Wow, it's gotten so long. It's really grown since I saw it last, hasn't it?" I told her I wasn't sure but I think so maybe and I told her I wanted to grow it to mid-thigh. She said hers doesn't grow past APL. Those aren't her exact words but that's what she meant. She said, "May I?" I told her sure, and she ran her hands through it.
So. Are you holding onto your hat? I will describe a lovely dance move for your hair!
Bend over at your waist and do a hair toss downwards. As a headbanger I'm fond of the hair toss. I always bang my head in my warm up just to be sure I don't lose it. I do circular, side to side, plain up and down, and large bang forward and back with full body. It builds stamina. Some people can only bang for a minute or less. My husband would so laugh at me because I talk about it as if it's a real accomplishment. Well, this is my life. Gotta keep it real. If you don't bang for a long time you can really hurt your neck. I never could do the super fast headbang. I like it when I see it though. You don't see it often. I saw a Zydeco guy once. Or rather, a Cajun guy playing Zydeco. Man, he could rock. He was playing the washboard? He was like a rubberman. I digress.
Do not step on the hair. I recommend this because naturally that's the first thing I did. Ouch! It smarted. Live and learn. We danced in heels on Wednesday night and I'm lucky I didn't end up on my behind. But I digress.
Supposing you have very long hair, the hair is hanging down touching the floor a little. If your hair's not super long you can still definitely do it. Now slowly, as in gracefully, as in languidly, bring your arms in between you and your hair. Remember in grade school when you had to put your head down on your desk? Do it sort of like that but not so close to your forehead. Now for the magical part! Slowly, slowly, keep it slow, stand up, allow your audience to enjoy watching the hair, then stand all the way straight up and at the last moment use your arms to push your hair behind you. Taa daa!
One of the students tonight, I think she was crying before class. Today, without warning, she lost her job. Yesterday her step son went to jail. He has a $75,000 bond. I don't know about these things but I think that's a pretty high bail. I think he may have done something pretty bad. I asked her his age and she said he's 22. She didn't say what he was in for so I didn't ask. I could tell she was not so sad after dance though. Moving is good for you when life gets you down.
I led the warm-ups for class tonight and on Wednesday night too. My teacher is training me a little. I forgot to mention it on my Wednesday night post.
Tonight I was thinking so hard to remember the stretches I wanted to do that I made little eye contact with anyone so I need to work on that. My workmates at one of my old jobs said my personality was like Woodstock. You know Woodstock in the Charlie Brown comic? That's how I feel. I wish God would take this dopey anxiousness off of me. I wish I would be important and graceful and confident and knowledgeable. One student said I was cute and I did a silent scream. She said it because I stood there and said that my music ran out so I don't know what to do! Where ever I go I am still me. I keep expecting to change because I'm older, but here I am. I'm a little yellow bird flying upside down. Okay, well this monologue in going downhill fast so. . . .
I guess that's all I have for tonight!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
I memed myself
Now you're tagged too. But if you don't wanna be tagged you're excused, that is, if you have a note from your doctor.
2. My favorite potato chips are the ones that are folded over. I always search through the bag for them. My husband gives them to me if he finds them first.
3. My husband couldn't decide whether to ask me to marry him or not so he talked it over with a friend on the phone who said, "Go for it." That's our very romantic beginning.
4. I have an ant phobia. Seriously.
5. My left pinkie toe doesn't bend or curl. It only goes straight.
6. My dad combed our hair when we were little with that little black comb he kept in his back pocket. He always bumped the top of our ears and we'd say OW. He made my pony tails too tight too!
7. I fancy pursuing a Master's in Theological Studies someday. I was thinking of a certificate but if I return to school I can spend roughly the same amount of time getting the certificate as the Master's so as I see it, I may as well go for a Master's.
8. I am unclear as to when a question mark goes inside or outside quotation marks. This is very disturbing to me. Punctuation worries me.
Eight Random Things About Myself
1. One morning after parking my car I walked the usual one block to my work. I was feeling very pretty because I was wearing a new dress and thigh high, lace-top stockings that day. Unfortunately for me I had put baby oil on my thighs after my shower. I soon learned that thigh high elastic bands get no grip with baby oil. To my horror, my stockings starting falling down. I tried to walk with my legs real close together to hold them up, hoping I could make it to the office ladies room, but my steps were pretty little. I could never make it. Plus I was carrying my purse, lunch bag, thermos, and portfolio. Finally I set all my stuff down, as if that didn't draw enough attention, stepped out of my shoes like one cool cucumber, took the stockings off and stuffed them in my purse. It was my most embarrassing fashion mistake ever.2. My favorite potato chips are the ones that are folded over. I always search through the bag for them. My husband gives them to me if he finds them first.
3. My husband couldn't decide whether to ask me to marry him or not so he talked it over with a friend on the phone who said, "Go for it." That's our very romantic beginning.
4. I have an ant phobia. Seriously.
5. My left pinkie toe doesn't bend or curl. It only goes straight.
6. My dad combed our hair when we were little with that little black comb he kept in his back pocket. He always bumped the top of our ears and we'd say OW. He made my pony tails too tight too!
7. I fancy pursuing a Master's in Theological Studies someday. I was thinking of a certificate but if I return to school I can spend roughly the same amount of time getting the certificate as the Master's so as I see it, I may as well go for a Master's.
8. I am unclear as to when a question mark goes inside or outside quotation marks. This is very disturbing to me. Punctuation worries me.
A big, sad, moan and a groan
I bumped the truck tonight. The passenger side door. My husband yelled. The other two times he didn't yell but I guess if you bump the truck a third time yells happen.
So I couldn't swallow my dinner very well. And I couldn't read my computer very well. You know. It's hard to eat or read through tears. But he didn't see me cry because I didn't want to be a baby. And I did mess up his truck. Again.
It's hard to park it you know. It's very big. Plus it's possible I might be a little bit of a bad parker.
Later, he was in his chair and he chuckled. Nothing to do with me of course, but I hurried and kissed him while he was smiling. I did it instead of saying "I'm sorry" because being sorry only works a couple times. I made him laugh and I was happy again.
He loves that truck. This week he just finished changing the oil, doing the brakes, and getting a new leather custom seat cover on the driver's seat installed. What an awful wife I am! He told me next time to get him and he'll park it. I will do that next time. I have to remember, I have to remember. (Bonking myself on the head.) I was going to ask him to come out and park it tonight but I decided I could do it. Oooosh. If only I had listened to myself.
So I couldn't swallow my dinner very well. And I couldn't read my computer very well. You know. It's hard to eat or read through tears. But he didn't see me cry because I didn't want to be a baby. And I did mess up his truck. Again.
It's hard to park it you know. It's very big. Plus it's possible I might be a little bit of a bad parker.
Later, he was in his chair and he chuckled. Nothing to do with me of course, but I hurried and kissed him while he was smiling. I did it instead of saying "I'm sorry" because being sorry only works a couple times. I made him laugh and I was happy again.
He loves that truck. This week he just finished changing the oil, doing the brakes, and getting a new leather custom seat cover on the driver's seat installed. What an awful wife I am! He told me next time to get him and he'll park it. I will do that next time. I have to remember, I have to remember. (Bonking myself on the head.) I was going to ask him to come out and park it tonight but I decided I could do it. Oooosh. If only I had listened to myself.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Fall is coming
I woke up and saw the headlines. It's comical how I can read a headline at one news outlet and then I find a headline stating the opposite at another news outlet. I throw my arms up in the air and ask how can I tell how it's going today! It would have been neato if Palin and Clinton were at the same venue for a cause at the same time. Too bad there won't be a joint appearance at the New York rally. What's happening in Iran will one day override everything. Everything. It would be wild to have the two women together. I guess there was something on Saturday Night Live that by chance turns out to be similar to real life. Art imitates life? I like good comedy. I read that Sarah thought it was funny. I must say SNL has never been as good as it was in the '70s.
Last week I signed up at the McCain site and was hoping for something to do and today I received an email. Asking for money. Awww. I was disappointed they didn't have an actual job for me. And McCain talked about the 'fight.' Meh, that's such a turnoff. I guess it has to boil down to fighting but that's sad. It's a politician's life I suppose.
I read last night that Biden (the man Obama selected as his vice-president) has been barred from receiving Communion from the Catholic Church. My take on this is that the Catholics are seeing the evangelicals stand up for the rights of the unborn and it's made the Catholics look weak in their teaching to parishioners. I'm glad the bishops and the church are now speaking out boldly. Catholic Answers has come out with a voter's guide of nonnegotiables with a comparison of the candidates on various issues. I'm still waiting to hear about that conversation Pelosi has been invited to have with her bishop!
The headlines reminded me that the Lord is able to bless exceedingly and abundantly above anything we can even begin to think or imagine to ask, so I will remember to pray that Thine will be done, not mine. But if God asks me, barring unforeseen events, I want Palin for president.
I'm super prepared for homeschooling. Sixth grade is hard. Haha! It's more work. And they expect my child to be far more independent than he is. All in good time, all in good time.
I'm wearing a light sweater top today. The weather is changing. Fall approaches. My 49th summer, the summer I moved up a generation and closer to physical death, will soon pass me by.
Last week I signed up at the McCain site and was hoping for something to do and today I received an email. Asking for money. Awww. I was disappointed they didn't have an actual job for me. And McCain talked about the 'fight.' Meh, that's such a turnoff. I guess it has to boil down to fighting but that's sad. It's a politician's life I suppose.
I read last night that Biden (the man Obama selected as his vice-president) has been barred from receiving Communion from the Catholic Church. My take on this is that the Catholics are seeing the evangelicals stand up for the rights of the unborn and it's made the Catholics look weak in their teaching to parishioners. I'm glad the bishops and the church are now speaking out boldly. Catholic Answers has come out with a voter's guide of nonnegotiables with a comparison of the candidates on various issues. I'm still waiting to hear about that conversation Pelosi has been invited to have with her bishop!
The headlines reminded me that the Lord is able to bless exceedingly and abundantly above anything we can even begin to think or imagine to ask, so I will remember to pray that Thine will be done, not mine. But if God asks me, barring unforeseen events, I want Palin for president.
I'm super prepared for homeschooling. Sixth grade is hard. Haha! It's more work. And they expect my child to be far more independent than he is. All in good time, all in good time.
I'm wearing a light sweater top today. The weather is changing. Fall approaches. My 49th summer, the summer I moved up a generation and closer to physical death, will soon pass me by.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Very useful
This is Amazon.com's map of America's political book buying. Cute! I'm being facetious about the usefulness but I like that Amazon is being tongue-in-cheek creative.We had a giant spider in here today. It was a wolf spider. Eeek. I'm so glad I'm married. My brave and courageous husband herded it outside. It was a good three inches in width. It had just come in the door when he came inside and it was on the wall in the kitchen area. He opened the door again and it scampered right back outside. Then my husband went out and brushed it off of the trailer onto the ground. I was glad he didn't kill it. I'm not crazy about the arachnids, but as long as they're not on me I'd rather let them live rather than smite them. Except sun spiders. Those ones freak me out. I have to change the subject. Eeek.
I'm still deciding on which t-shirt to buy. I don't want one with a mean saying. I think I like the one that has Ronald Reagan on it. I borrowed the picture from Cafepress to put here. They have a doofus javascript to keep you from copying it but I'm saying it's their picture and not taking credit for it, so the web police can't put me behind bars.
Another one I'm considering is a picture of the state of Alaska, a barracuda, and Sarah's name.
The other one I want, and have had bookmarked forever, is this one.
I've been trying to widen my reading horizons, online type, so I added the BBC and the Jerusalem Post to my news bookmarks. I got the idea from our pastor yesterday.
Today I got buried in election articles. Finally I asked my husband, who's doing the best today? He said it doesn't matter. The election is still far away and we have to wait and see how the televised debates go. He's right of course. I tried to get a countdown clock (49 days till November 4th now!) but none would fit in my sidebar. Boo. That Sarah. She's got moxie. She's got grit. The Democrats sure want to be rid of her.
Ice cream time! I have Haagen-Daz chocolate.
Oh yeah. Our first day of sixth grade went really well today. I love K12, the curriculum we're using. The only thing is, I was surprised they don't have a spelling strand this year. They do spelling up to grade five. That's unusual, isn't it? I can't remember for sure whether I did spelling in sixth grade but I thought we did. He's doing "English" which sounds so grown-up to me, a bit of Latin and Greek, pre-algebra, earth science, and history from 1865 to present.
I bought myself a new teacher's pen. The kind that has four colors in one pen. I had one just like it in ninth grade.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Good poses and bad poses
In pictures I notice a certain pose ladies do with one foot a little ahead of the other. I always thought it was rather pretentious but I realize now it's a camera trick that really works. Case in point. Keep your knees together to take a ladylike photograph.
And if they're not together and you're climbing up a steep dune the ladylike quality is out the door.
I was all happy and looking forward to writing tonight but I just got in trouble for giving too much at church last week. My son offhandedly mentioned that I gave twice; Sunday morn and Sunday eve. Normally it's only on Sunday mornings that I tithe out of my own part of our income which really I only get because of my husband, and he told me not to go over that. I did last week and I didn't tell him. I can't do it again. He told me to get a job if I want to donate more at church.
We had a pastor all the way from the Philippines, a bishop, visit our church and he did Sunday night's preaching and teaching and that's why I put double in the offering. Twice a month he feeds all the children who live at the dump in Manila, a city of nine million. They run a school with 35 pupils. And the sickest children at the dump - they take them away from the dump and give them health care till they are better.
Mmmm. I feel bad twicely now. You know, that bad feeling in your chest? Because I love my husband and made him mad and because the children are starving.
And if they're not together and you're climbing up a steep dune the ladylike quality is out the door.
I was all happy and looking forward to writing tonight but I just got in trouble for giving too much at church last week. My son offhandedly mentioned that I gave twice; Sunday morn and Sunday eve. Normally it's only on Sunday mornings that I tithe out of my own part of our income which really I only get because of my husband, and he told me not to go over that. I did last week and I didn't tell him. I can't do it again. He told me to get a job if I want to donate more at church.
We had a pastor all the way from the Philippines, a bishop, visit our church and he did Sunday night's preaching and teaching and that's why I put double in the offering. Twice a month he feeds all the children who live at the dump in Manila, a city of nine million. They run a school with 35 pupils. And the sickest children at the dump - they take them away from the dump and give them health care till they are better.
Mmmm. I feel bad twicely now. You know, that bad feeling in your chest? Because I love my husband and made him mad and because the children are starving.
Saturday
I'm up early this morning. That's weird! What will I do with these extra hours?
And I'm so sore. After class last night I came home all crickety. What a shame. Must be the age thang. There was a ballet teacher once who was pretty far up in age. She walked up to the front of the class all hobbled up, gray and bent. We're getting ballet from her? I thought. I don't think so. Well, once she got up there she put on her ballet posture so straight and tall, pulled in her tummy, opened her chest (that's the bone at the base of your throat), did a pirouette and man, she was graceful and strong and, yes, beautiful. She turned a few heads all right. I suppose that's what I'll shoot for. I saw a show on tv once too. It had older dance teachers and one guy said if nothing hurts the next day then you aren't living. Heh.
Jules mentioned the election and her comment reminded me of Dr. Laura. Dr. Laura, defender of children and traditional family values, isn't keen on Palin working outside the home and being a mom. I, too, don't understand how Palin will do it. Reagan was a great president but not a great father. Obama and McCain are my choices and we only have two to pick from. At the top of the decision making is which candidate is pro-life. The rest of the issues I have to painstakingly sort through. Now that Sarah is on board, a person who shares many of the same values as I, I am pumped up! For months it's been such a dull campaign with McCain. He's a war hero and that story is powerful but he's not real dynamic.
My husband says it's national Take a Child Outside Week Sep. 24-30 and we're getting a jump on it. We're going to White Sands National Monument. I have to make tuna sandwiches now! Taa-taa and tally-ho.
And I'm so sore. After class last night I came home all crickety. What a shame. Must be the age thang. There was a ballet teacher once who was pretty far up in age. She walked up to the front of the class all hobbled up, gray and bent. We're getting ballet from her? I thought. I don't think so. Well, once she got up there she put on her ballet posture so straight and tall, pulled in her tummy, opened her chest (that's the bone at the base of your throat), did a pirouette and man, she was graceful and strong and, yes, beautiful. She turned a few heads all right. I suppose that's what I'll shoot for. I saw a show on tv once too. It had older dance teachers and one guy said if nothing hurts the next day then you aren't living. Heh.
Jules mentioned the election and her comment reminded me of Dr. Laura. Dr. Laura, defender of children and traditional family values, isn't keen on Palin working outside the home and being a mom. I, too, don't understand how Palin will do it. Reagan was a great president but not a great father. Obama and McCain are my choices and we only have two to pick from. At the top of the decision making is which candidate is pro-life. The rest of the issues I have to painstakingly sort through. Now that Sarah is on board, a person who shares many of the same values as I, I am pumped up! For months it's been such a dull campaign with McCain. He's a war hero and that story is powerful but he's not real dynamic.
My husband says it's national Take a Child Outside Week Sep. 24-30 and we're getting a jump on it. We're going to White Sands National Monument. I have to make tuna sandwiches now! Taa-taa and tally-ho.
Friday, September 12, 2008
I heart Sarah/Let's dance!
1977.....OOoooocha, Sarah, Saaaaaraaah, Barrracuda! Mmmmhmmm.
Over two million hits at YouTube. I just downloaded the song to my iPod from iTunes.
Over two million hits at YouTube. I just downloaded the song to my iPod from iTunes.
Woke up
What a great day! It's sunny and cool, I thought about Sarah before I got out of bed, then when I went outside I got morning congrats for becoming a grama (I suspect my dear friend may have been having a little too much fun with that one), I came back inside and found funnies in my email. When my husband is finished eating his tuna sandwich he's going to pick up my sewing machine for me. It doesn't get better than this.
Homeschooling starts on Monday though. Eeep!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Aye-yi-yi
Took my sewing machine in and he said I had the needle in backwards. He still has more to fix though because the wire in the pedal needs fixing. Lately I've had to fiddle with it and make it lay just right or it won't go.
Our daughter-in-law is still in the hospital. The baby's doing great and the breastfeeding's going swimmingly, but the mama's platelet count is still low. They don't want to remove the catheter that was used for the epidural from her back until her platelet count is up because they're afraid her blood won't clot well. The birth process went so well but this part is getting them (the new mom and dad) down. It's causing her back to hurt all the way up to her neck and it's giving her headaches. She is taking vicodin to control the pain. They hope to be released from the hospital tomorrow. I say they because my son and his wife and his wife's mom and the baby have all been staying at the hospital in the same room. Nice accommodations!
Our daughter-in-law is still in the hospital. The baby's doing great and the breastfeeding's going swimmingly, but the mama's platelet count is still low. They don't want to remove the catheter that was used for the epidural from her back until her platelet count is up because they're afraid her blood won't clot well. The birth process went so well but this part is getting them (the new mom and dad) down. It's causing her back to hurt all the way up to her neck and it's giving her headaches. She is taking vicodin to control the pain. They hope to be released from the hospital tomorrow. I say they because my son and his wife and his wife's mom and the baby have all been staying at the hospital in the same room. Nice accommodations!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Missed opportunity
What are the chances? On the Saturday after the Republican convention Sarah Palin was in Albuquerque. (Regional humor: Everyone here calls Albuquerque "Alba-qwirky.") And darn it, I missed her. I am so bummed out. Anyone who was there had to have gotten their tickets before they knew about Palin. Since we weren't too keen about McCain we didn't even think of going. From now on I'm keeping my eye on their campaign calendar and I'm hoping they come back through New Mexico. Boy howdy, I'd like to shake Sarah's hand. Or run a 10K with her. Haha! (That's from a news headline. I don't really run.) I could even go to El Paso if need be. Here's the McCain/Palin Calendar. Oh yeeeah, I know you'll want to bookmark it to see when she comes to your town!
I'm watching the political headlines and they're fascinating! How will Sarah do on the interview?
I'm dancing on Wednesday and Friday nights from 5:00pm to 8:30 with a half hour break in there. I sure do work up a sweat. My teacher wants to take a video of me doing my dance from beginning to end. I think I might have her do it for me on Friday. She's been so nice. She has a smoke machine and she said I should do a practice run on Friday and then sometime we'll go to the senior center and I can dance it with the smoke machine. Ooooh, that might be neato.
There were three of us dancing tonight. It was an emotional night at the end. As we were saying good-night to each other one of the girls (I say girls, but we are women of course) began to explain how she was glad the teacher was teaching and that when she took the class last year she felt so good when the teacher explained how to move and how beautiful each woman's body was and how we should take time just for ourselves by taking a class.
This is one of the things that draws me to the belly dance. It's a dance made for the female body and it doesn't have to be a thin body. It doesn't have to be a tall, lithe, body with a small head such as you need to be in the New York City Ballet. It doesn't need to be a quick body such as you need for flamenco. The movements can be executed well by women with narrow hips or wide hips, generous bust or no bust, young or old. Weight is irrelevant.
The student went on to explain that at the time she attended her first class last year she was contemplating suicide. She said the class helped her to not do the deed.
Isn't it amazing how people are going through such devastating times right before our eyes? And we can't tell. It doesn't show. You just never know what the person next to you is really going through.
So I spoke up and said how our teacher truly has a gift for seeing the strength and potential of each dancer. She does. Some teachers just teach steps and moves and choreography. This teacher does that but she also has a special sensitivity required to develop the individual dancer. I've noticed that about her. It's gotta be some kind of a gift.
I walked over and hugged my teacher. Then she hugged the other student. Then I said, "Group hug." Ohhh, I know, how corny. I was thinking in my mind of the group hug icon we use sometimes. Even when I'm not at my computer I'm thinking of my computer! And I was compelled to kiss the other student on the cheek since we were cheek to cheek already. I don't know, it just happened. It was soft and I didn't get any spit on her. I didn't tell her that I had once jumped off of a bridge and that I understood the depth of her despair. She looked at me and her eyes welled up with tears. I stepped back and smiled, excused myself and went home.
It was a good night dancing.
Short clip
So even though I took a Benadryl and felt like lying on the sofa all day, and I have itchies driving me mad, I decided to run through this choreography while I had the runway to myself. The runway would be my living room and is about 15x3 feet wide. It's perfect for practice for dancing on the sidewalk. Haha! They came back really fast though. It's nice that they understand how much effort and concentration it takes for old Liliana to do some actual steps in some kind of order.
Witness the wonderfulness, the support, the respect for my art, that my family showers upon me.
A little bird told me this clip made Evie laugh so I'm adding it back to my blog (I had deleted it) and on my blog it shall stay!
Witness the wonderfulness, the support, the respect for my art, that my family showers upon me.
A little bird told me this clip made Evie laugh so I'm adding it back to my blog (I had deleted it) and on my blog it shall stay!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
She delivered!!!
You can officially call me "Grama" now! The new baby was born at 3:55pm today. The new mama gave birth vaginally (I am so proud) and my son cut the umbilical cord. Our son said our daughter-in-law got an epidural and pushed about ten times, didn't even break a sweat, and out came the baby. A baby girl. Five pounds, six ounces. You'll never guess her name. Guess. Can you guess?
They named her Liliana.
They named her Liliana.
By all appearances
I do believe
it is accurate to say
I will become someone's grandmama
this day!
it is accurate to say
I will become someone's grandmama
this day!
Our daughter-in-law is in labor at the hospital. She's holding onto the rails of her bed and doing her breathing. (...The infamous breathing exercises. We remember those?) Our son is on cloud 9 and the baby's not even here yet. He phoned me at 2:30am and 9:30am. They've been at the hospital since 8:30pm last night - super nice room they say.
Monday, September 08, 2008
A fine day
I didn't do much today. I read and studied. Hmmm, that's the highlights right there. (Oh what poor grammar.) We ordered our absentee ballots and we'll get those in the mail soon. I said I wasn't going to read any more news on the election but I can't keep my eyes off the headline articles! I haven't had so much fun in an election before! Sarah must be the democrat's worst nightmare. Now they're poring over her expense reports and I read the whole article and at the end it said she spent $93,000 on airfare in 2007 and her predecessor spent $463,000 the previous year. Wow. And she flies coach a lot. Wow.
One thing I found unusual and I wondered about was why a New York Times article (NYT tends to be liberal) referred to Hillary as Mrs. Clinton and referred to Sarah as Ms. Palin. I noticed it because the 'Ms.' title is very feminist. I was never crazy about using it myself even when I was young. But Hillary is supposed to be majorly feminist so why are they calling her Mrs., and Sarah, Ms.? Why didn't they use the same title for both women? It makes me go, "Hmmmmm."
I'm excited about this upcoming election. Imagine, five kids in the White House. Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself!
Tomorrow I have to wash my hair. I hope those almonds are working.
The topic I've been studying is abortion and the church. It caught my interest when Pelosi made ridiculous remarks about how it isn't known when a baby is a baby. She tried to base her opinion on Augustine's writings but Augustine was wondering when ensoulment took place and what effect it had on the kingdom. Because she advocates abortion she tries to rationalize it even though we've all seen a human heart and teensy hands and feet inside the womb on tv. But she's Catholic and I know without even reading a thing about Catholics that the church is against abortion. Well, the archbishop has now invited her to meet with him to discuss whether she should continue to receive communion. I will definitely be following this.
How can anyone call themselves Catholic and be pro-abortion? It doesn't add up. You can't be both. The Catholic Catechism is very clear that life is to be respected and protected from the moment of conception. God told Jeremiah that He knew him even before he was in his mother's womb. Pretty awesome stuff there! Next it got me to thinking about birth control. My heart leaped because I know the Catholic Church is against birth control except the rhythm method. I thought, yikes, is my church against birth control too? Much to my relief, I found Protestants find that birth control is not addressed anywhere in the Bible so it's left to the discretion of the person with guidance of the Holy Spirit but you must be informed about what birth control you choose so that you don't use one that works after fertilization. You need to choose one that stops the sperm from meeting the ovum.
My husband's mom was Catholic. She and her husband were married in a civil ceremony and it took her 35 years to convince her husband to marry her in the church. All those years she was not permitted to take communion until after the Catholic Church recognized them as being married in the church. She died long before I met my husband but I now realize how painful that must have been for her. My husband says all she needed was a reason to pray and she'd be on her knees. He says I'm becoming just like her. That's so peculiar I think, in a cosmic kind of way.
The reminds me. I gotta go pray for God's will in the upcoming election.
And this is a quote from Augustine that I want to remember:
One thing I found unusual and I wondered about was why a New York Times article (NYT tends to be liberal) referred to Hillary as Mrs. Clinton and referred to Sarah as Ms. Palin. I noticed it because the 'Ms.' title is very feminist. I was never crazy about using it myself even when I was young. But Hillary is supposed to be majorly feminist so why are they calling her Mrs., and Sarah, Ms.? Why didn't they use the same title for both women? It makes me go, "Hmmmmm."
I'm excited about this upcoming election. Imagine, five kids in the White House. Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself!
Tomorrow I have to wash my hair. I hope those almonds are working.
The topic I've been studying is abortion and the church. It caught my interest when Pelosi made ridiculous remarks about how it isn't known when a baby is a baby. She tried to base her opinion on Augustine's writings but Augustine was wondering when ensoulment took place and what effect it had on the kingdom. Because she advocates abortion she tries to rationalize it even though we've all seen a human heart and teensy hands and feet inside the womb on tv. But she's Catholic and I know without even reading a thing about Catholics that the church is against abortion. Well, the archbishop has now invited her to meet with him to discuss whether she should continue to receive communion. I will definitely be following this.
How can anyone call themselves Catholic and be pro-abortion? It doesn't add up. You can't be both. The Catholic Catechism is very clear that life is to be respected and protected from the moment of conception. God told Jeremiah that He knew him even before he was in his mother's womb. Pretty awesome stuff there! Next it got me to thinking about birth control. My heart leaped because I know the Catholic Church is against birth control except the rhythm method. I thought, yikes, is my church against birth control too? Much to my relief, I found Protestants find that birth control is not addressed anywhere in the Bible so it's left to the discretion of the person with guidance of the Holy Spirit but you must be informed about what birth control you choose so that you don't use one that works after fertilization. You need to choose one that stops the sperm from meeting the ovum.
My husband's mom was Catholic. She and her husband were married in a civil ceremony and it took her 35 years to convince her husband to marry her in the church. All those years she was not permitted to take communion until after the Catholic Church recognized them as being married in the church. She died long before I met my husband but I now realize how painful that must have been for her. My husband says all she needed was a reason to pray and she'd be on her knees. He says I'm becoming just like her. That's so peculiar I think, in a cosmic kind of way.
The reminds me. I gotta go pray for God's will in the upcoming election.
And this is a quote from Augustine that I want to remember:
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Sarah has style
Hillary dressed for success but Sarah, Sarah is just Sarah. Man, I love her style. Apparently I'm not the only one. She's got it goin' on! The L.A. Times has an article about how sales for her eyeglass style has gone out of sight. (It's light reading, not all political.) I have to try to get my hair to pouf up like hers! Don't know if I can bear another 60 days till election day. I told myself I wouldn't read any more articles because I'm set on who I'm going to vote for. There was a window of time when I thought Obama might be it, but I really like Sarah now so I'm voting for McCain. I see that today Obama made a speaking error and referred to "his Muslim faith."
Since we watched Sarah's speech online with streaming media we went over our quota for downloading bandwidth and we were penalized. Our connection was slower than dial-up for the next 24 hours. It took five minutes for my Hotmail to download and that didn't even count opening an email.
Next day we took my sewing machine in for repair. The good news is, my husband told me to pick out a BRAND NEW machine. I was stoked. I picked a Bernina computerized machine, the Activa 220, all I could ever want or need. Bernina is like the Rolls Royce of sewing machines.
Bad news was I got it home and it had a clackety sound. That would be about a thousand dollar clackety sound. Long story short, I took it back the following day and got a (very highly stressful) complete refund. It amounts to two entire days spent driving back and forth to the city. The store owners were duperly nice the whole time but I still felt very uncomfortable and bad about the whole thing. My husband dropped me off and left because he hates these kinds of situations as much or more than I do. I now have my still broken sewing machine back. Tuesday I'm taking it to a little repair shop in town to hopefully get it fixed. When I get it back I can begin sewing again on my baby hearts quilt, if the top of my head hasn't exploded off by then.
I miss homeschooling. This break is not really good for me. I am a little lost because my main life focus is the homeschooling. I am doing belly dancing twice a week and can feel already that my body is responding. I feel better all over physically yet rather ho-hum mentally.
Which reminds me, I told my belly dance teacher that I will not be doing any more performance for mixed gender audiences. I told her female audiences only. She doesn't understand it. She is kind but I can tell she just doesn't get it. She asked me twice, why? I gave her the long explanation the first time then told her the second time that the Lord convicted my heart about it and I cannot ignore it. It's true. I am so sure about it I cannot ignore it. She explained that she grew up in a fundamentalist family (I suspect someone told her I am a fundamentalist because I, myself, have never discussed it with her) and that belly dance is all through the Bible and that David danced before the Lord. Yeah, but I'll tell you what, we have no record of how they danced and I honestly don't think David was doing umis (oo-meez) and camels and snake arms. I just don't see it. I didn't say that to her though.
Did I already write about how the Lord convicted my heart? Well, it first happened before I actually danced and I was a dresser in 2004. While I was in the audience watching for a while I overhead some young men and the things they were saying. It wasn't nice. They said, "Look at all the ***** up there." I was so sad because to me the dancing was ever so opulent and altogether gorgeous. The ladies were wearing their best costumes, hundreds of dollars spent on each, and they did their hair, pretty make-up, and practiced the choreography so diligently. They were so shapely and in shape. Essentially, I overlooked the incident and continued because I, Liliana, wanted to pursue performance. But last year a thing happened that got my attention again. It was the night that I performed badly (bummer!) but two of the other dancers, female, kissed, as part of the performance. One girl was on her knees. It was not good. To them it was nothing. To me, God said it was wrong. Still I didn't take action immediately because I didn't want to stop performing.
I did continue to feel sick at heart about it though. So I thought about it. I read my Bible to see what it said about my predicament. The Bible is God's Word so it addresses everything under the sun. Then I wrote for advice. I came to the conclusion that 1Thessalonians 5:22 We should abstain from the appearance of evil summed it up for me. The dance itself is not evil or bad, but participating in it will damage my witness. And even though the pretty costumes and the serpentine, suggestive movements, are not implicitly sexual to me, to the eyes of men it's not a big stretch to say the dance is quite sensuous in nature and it could stumble them, poor pitiful creatures that they are. (Hehe, I'm half kidding there.) Well, it doesn't stumble me in the least but I should not think only of myself.
Add to this that my teacher said when they danced downtown last month the audience got very loud and raucous, and I am sure I made a decision pleasing to the Lord.
But then listen to this. I showed her my choreography that I learned in San Diego. She loved it and asked if I will teach it to her. Sure, I said. And then she commented that she was surprised that I would dance to that music. The intro is very mysterious and rather ominous. What? What! I didn't know what to think. I'm attentive and do not dance or listen to music with ungodly lyrics, but what's wrong with a windy sounding creaks and bumps in the night musical intro? I should live in a box and only listen to happy pappy poppy tunes? I was annoyed.
Also! When I told her I will be more traditional as they are in the Middle East today, and dance this dance only with women she raised her eyebrows and said, "And what about the women who watch you dance?" The implication being that perhaps the women would have h*m*s*x**l thoughts. She's definitely messing with me now, I think. Was she making fun of me? But also, I am not sure what to think. I hadn't thought of that. It again made me heartsick that something I love to do is like this now. On the other hand, it may be a non-issue. I don't know that any woman only opportunities will come along. I will just go to classes and dance for myself. I spent kind of a lot of money on my costumes though. Too bad for that.
I'm done writing now. :) If any godly women reading this have thoughts, please do feel free to tell me. I need to hear.
Since we watched Sarah's speech online with streaming media we went over our quota for downloading bandwidth and we were penalized. Our connection was slower than dial-up for the next 24 hours. It took five minutes for my Hotmail to download and that didn't even count opening an email.
Next day we took my sewing machine in for repair. The good news is, my husband told me to pick out a BRAND NEW machine. I was stoked. I picked a Bernina computerized machine, the Activa 220, all I could ever want or need. Bernina is like the Rolls Royce of sewing machines.
Bad news was I got it home and it had a clackety sound. That would be about a thousand dollar clackety sound. Long story short, I took it back the following day and got a (very highly stressful) complete refund. It amounts to two entire days spent driving back and forth to the city. The store owners were duperly nice the whole time but I still felt very uncomfortable and bad about the whole thing. My husband dropped me off and left because he hates these kinds of situations as much or more than I do. I now have my still broken sewing machine back. Tuesday I'm taking it to a little repair shop in town to hopefully get it fixed. When I get it back I can begin sewing again on my baby hearts quilt, if the top of my head hasn't exploded off by then.
I miss homeschooling. This break is not really good for me. I am a little lost because my main life focus is the homeschooling. I am doing belly dancing twice a week and can feel already that my body is responding. I feel better all over physically yet rather ho-hum mentally.
Which reminds me, I told my belly dance teacher that I will not be doing any more performance for mixed gender audiences. I told her female audiences only. She doesn't understand it. She is kind but I can tell she just doesn't get it. She asked me twice, why? I gave her the long explanation the first time then told her the second time that the Lord convicted my heart about it and I cannot ignore it. It's true. I am so sure about it I cannot ignore it. She explained that she grew up in a fundamentalist family (I suspect someone told her I am a fundamentalist because I, myself, have never discussed it with her) and that belly dance is all through the Bible and that David danced before the Lord. Yeah, but I'll tell you what, we have no record of how they danced and I honestly don't think David was doing umis (oo-meez) and camels and snake arms. I just don't see it. I didn't say that to her though.
Did I already write about how the Lord convicted my heart? Well, it first happened before I actually danced and I was a dresser in 2004. While I was in the audience watching for a while I overhead some young men and the things they were saying. It wasn't nice. They said, "Look at all the ***** up there." I was so sad because to me the dancing was ever so opulent and altogether gorgeous. The ladies were wearing their best costumes, hundreds of dollars spent on each, and they did their hair, pretty make-up, and practiced the choreography so diligently. They were so shapely and in shape. Essentially, I overlooked the incident and continued because I, Liliana, wanted to pursue performance. But last year a thing happened that got my attention again. It was the night that I performed badly (bummer!) but two of the other dancers, female, kissed, as part of the performance. One girl was on her knees. It was not good. To them it was nothing. To me, God said it was wrong. Still I didn't take action immediately because I didn't want to stop performing.
I did continue to feel sick at heart about it though. So I thought about it. I read my Bible to see what it said about my predicament. The Bible is God's Word so it addresses everything under the sun. Then I wrote for advice. I came to the conclusion that 1Thessalonians 5:22 We should abstain from the appearance of evil summed it up for me. The dance itself is not evil or bad, but participating in it will damage my witness. And even though the pretty costumes and the serpentine, suggestive movements, are not implicitly sexual to me, to the eyes of men it's not a big stretch to say the dance is quite sensuous in nature and it could stumble them, poor pitiful creatures that they are. (Hehe, I'm half kidding there.) Well, it doesn't stumble me in the least but I should not think only of myself.
Add to this that my teacher said when they danced downtown last month the audience got very loud and raucous, and I am sure I made a decision pleasing to the Lord.
But then listen to this. I showed her my choreography that I learned in San Diego. She loved it and asked if I will teach it to her. Sure, I said. And then she commented that she was surprised that I would dance to that music. The intro is very mysterious and rather ominous. What? What! I didn't know what to think. I'm attentive and do not dance or listen to music with ungodly lyrics, but what's wrong with a windy sounding creaks and bumps in the night musical intro? I should live in a box and only listen to happy pappy poppy tunes? I was annoyed.
Also! When I told her I will be more traditional as they are in the Middle East today, and dance this dance only with women she raised her eyebrows and said, "And what about the women who watch you dance?" The implication being that perhaps the women would have h*m*s*x**l thoughts. She's definitely messing with me now, I think. Was she making fun of me? But also, I am not sure what to think. I hadn't thought of that. It again made me heartsick that something I love to do is like this now. On the other hand, it may be a non-issue. I don't know that any woman only opportunities will come along. I will just go to classes and dance for myself. I spent kind of a lot of money on my costumes though. Too bad for that.
I'm done writing now. :) If any godly women reading this have thoughts, please do feel free to tell me. I need to hear.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
:)
I tell you what. Liliana is hopped up on Sarah Palin!
Tomorrow I'm taking my stupid sewing machine in for repair. That'll take the whole day.
I think it's starting to sprinkle outside. No, it's not. I was just hoping a lot. But my husband checked the weather report and said a cold front is coming (he's such a weather guy) and I said, "Oh I already heard about that from reading Kathryn's blog."
Tomorrow I'm taking my stupid sewing machine in for repair. That'll take the whole day.
I think it's starting to sprinkle outside. No, it's not. I was just hoping a lot. But my husband checked the weather report and said a cold front is coming (he's such a weather guy) and I said, "Oh I already heard about that from reading Kathryn's blog."
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Peering into the future
This article touches on possibilities in the future that I wondered about. Sarah Works at American Thinker. It's my first visit to the site called American Thinker. Thanks a bunch for sending it to me this morning, (((Mermayd))). Super article.
I sewed one heart for my applique baby quilt and my sewing machine broke. It's skipping stitches just like it was in December when I had to get it fixed. Huge bummer, particularly because I have thoroughly procrastinated.
I sewed one heart for my applique baby quilt and my sewing machine broke. It's skipping stitches just like it was in December when I had to get it fixed. Huge bummer, particularly because I have thoroughly procrastinated.
Monday, September 01, 2008
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