Monthly Archives: October 2010

10.12.10
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I think I’ll get that To-Go, please

Terror threat to restaurants as Al Qaeda calls for attacks on government workers in D.C.



The terror group tied to the Ft. Hood killings and the Christmas Day undies airbomber urge wannabe American jihadis to open fire on crowded restaurants in the nation’s capital to massacre U.S. government workers.

{snip}



“A random hit at a crowded restaurant in Washington, D.C., at lunch hour might end up knocking out a few government employees,” Yahya Ibrahim writes in the 74-page jihadi how-to magazine.

Jihad how-to.  Hmm.  Never heard of a Catholic how-to kill your neighbors publication.

I’m sure, though, that this religion is simply misunderstood.  A few bad apples, that’s all.  It’s really a peaceful religion.  Flowers, hearts, doves…not scimitars and women covered head to toe with burlap. 

So glad we don’t live in DC right now.  So concerned over friends and former coworkers we have in the area.

Oh, and it just hit me…I’ll be in DC in 2 weeks to run a race.  The ARMY Ten Miler.   Yeah.  Such a warm fuzzy feeling I’ve got right now.

Just lovely.

10.11.10
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The only thing keeping me from panicking is my annoyance

63 invitations to my Oktoberfest were sent.  It asked for a response by today.  I have had 20 responses.

Pathetic.

Am I cooking for 50 people or 100 or 150?  I have no idea.  I could cook for the 50 people I know are coming.  And I could run out of food as soon as the brats come off the grill.  I could cook for 150 and have sauerbraten in my freezer until April. 

What’s the deal?  Did 43 people forget to respond?  Are 43 people waiting to see if something better than free food and beer comes up in their social calendar?  Are 43 people that rude or ignorant or apathetic? 

Personally, I don’t care if someone chooses not to come.  I don’t care if someone feels that hanging out watching HGTV all day long is a better deal than my little fest.  I completely understand if someone just wants a break and doesn’t want to have one more social obligation crowding their weekend.  Been there.  That’s cool.

So tell me.  Email me and say, no thank you.  I don’t need to hear your excuse.  I just want to know if I should make food for you or not.

And if you show up here without letting me know, I will notice.  And I will remember.

10.09.10
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One reason I love my Dad

At Billy’s soccer game last night, Peter and Mary occupied themselves with coloring.  Peter dictated the theme: dinosaurs, which is not Mary’s typical subject matter (being a girly girl she generally draws princesses in pink with lots of frills…maybe ponies with braided manes and flowers…).  As usual for her, Mary talked her way through the endeavor and the majority of her prattle was directed at Grandpa who was sitting next to her.  My father watched the soccer game, but managed to nod and smile and say the occasional “Oh!  How nice!” or answer her questions regarding whether or not dinosaurs had horns or teeth or arms. 

At one point Mary asked if dinosaurs had tails.  Dad misheard her and with enthusiasm and a perfectly straight face replied:

“Yes, dinosaurs wear heels.”

And match them with their dino purses.

10.07.10
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A specific prayer request

I received this email…friend of a friend…and I think it’s such a fabulous way to support the troops.

Blessed friends,



Some I have had the opportunity of talking with directly, others are hearing this for the first time: I have been deployed to Afghanistan in an emergency status to fill in for a chaplain that was killed here recently. I will be here for ten months, in a region that is highly dangerous and hazardous in many ways to my Soldiers and the local populace. We are here to make life better for the locals, and we have our work cut out for us.


My men and I are greatly in need of your prayers: prayers for protection, for perseverance, and for hope and courage in the face of the challenges we face. I am asking that each of you commit to some time of prayer, either daily or weekly, with some specific prayer or scripture verse you will pray and reflect on, in our behalf. If you so accept, I ask that you send those verses/prayers so that we can know them and join in as well. If your prayer or verse changes, please update that with an email–even if it is a different one every week/day. My goal, vision and hope through this project is not just to surround my men with a prayer hedge of protection, but to get all of us praying more and taking time to acknowledge the presence and purpose of God in our lives.


Thank you in advance for your support!
 
This is from Fr. Kevin Peek.  I’m not going to post his email or snail mail addresses here, but I’ll email anyone who requests it.  Or you can post your scripture verses here, and I’ll be sure to forward them.  He has limited internet access, so I don’t want him flooded with spam.  If any of you belong to a prayer group that wants to spiritually adopt him and his troops, I suggest one email from the group to help minimize the volume in his inbox.

10.05.10
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Math Concepts

Consistently, every single one of my 1st and 2nd grade students has had difficulty with addition problems where one addend is missing.  4 + ? = 10.  ? + 3 = 7.  They just could not “get” that the answer was given to them. 

I would pull out blocks.  “The answer is 10,” and I would show ten blocks.  I would separate the blocks into two piles.  “You have 4 blocks.  How many more blocks do you add to get ten?”   I would point to the other pile.  The student would count the blocks and write down the correct answer.  Then I would try the next problem.  “The answer is 7,” and I would show a pile of 7 blocks.  This time I would not divide the blocks into the correct piles.  “You have 3 blocks.  How many more do you need to make 7?” 

Blank stare.

I tried examples and other manipulatives.  “There are 10 superheroes.  4 have eaten lunch.  How many more need to eat lunch?”

“There are 7 little ponies.  3 are in the stable.  How many more need to get in the stable for bedtime?”

More blank stares.  And lots of frustration on both sides.

Jenny has reached this stage in her math.  Most lessons include this sort of problem.  We’ve been having some tense moments.  Fortunately, I remembered today the one example that has worked flawlessly with every single child thus far.

“It is Billy’s 10th birthday.  I am putting the candles on his cake.  I put 4 candles on but then I have to go clean up a mess that Mary made.  How many candles do I have left to put on the cake?”  I used colored pencils and demonstrated the problem.  I could see the light bulb going off right away.  As I walked away, I could hear her saying, “It’s my 7th birthday.  I put 3 candles on the cake.  How many candles are left to put on the cake?”  When I returned a few minutes later, the problems were finished.  Each one was correct.

No more blank stares.  Hooray!

10.03.10
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A Devil of a Time

Fear of Football Fans Prompts Massachusetts Town to Reschedule Halloween

I’m surprised this is such a big deal.  Does anybody actually “do” Halloween on Halloween anymore?  I’ve been waiting for about a week now to catch a neighbor outside and ask when they trick or treat in the area.  Sure enough, Sunday night is a no-go (I think mainly because it’s a school night, not out of respect for the Lord).  She assumes it will be on Saturday, but final decisions are forthcoming (town-wide).  Personally, I think it’s silly to move the event, but having moved around enough, I have come to expect that each area does it differently.

The nice next-door neighbor with the inside scoop on local customs was also apologetic about her yard decorations and warned that she wasn’t done yet.  She dubbed herself the ‘Ween Queen and invited us to her party, which would include a viewing of the Georgia – Florida game.  I’m guessing that’s a big deal?  Who needs the Superbowl?  (When in Rome…)

While we talked, I realized that her hand-wringing, in part, was concern over our feelings.  Everywhere we have lived since we moved from our little community in New Jersey, the new neighbors have suspected that perhaps we were one of those families that didn’t participate in Halloween.  Have a bunch of kids, go to church every Sunday, and people assume you think putting on masks and demanding candy from your neighbors is evil. 

I once went to an adult-only dinner party when I was pregnant with Mary.  Very pregnant, like due any day.  As I requested something benign like water to drink, another guest was questioning my selection and trying to find out what I might have ordered had I not been ominously with child.  I felt the need to assure him that I did not have a moral problem with alcohol, lest he think I was one of those crazy people. 

The Halloween question that comes up in every new town is much the same.  And actually, I appreciate that neighbors try to be sensitive to the customs of others.  I imagine it must be difficult to raise children next door to your local ‘Ween Queen if you felt that Halloween was wrong.  I imagine it must be difficult to be friendly and personable when you attend a party where alcohol is served if you think drinking is immoral (or I suppose you don’t go and are labeled “stand-offish”). 

Fortunately for our neighbors, now and in the future, I am married to a ‘Ween King wanna-be.  Bill loves Halloween, so the question of “To Treat or Not To Treat” was never up for discussion.  But of course we celebrate Halloween.  And we drink.  And dance, too.  Following that wide, well-worn path…

I think once I conceived my 4th child, I crossed the line from mainstream to “other.”  And it wasn’t that I was mainstream before, it just became obvious to the world that I wasn’t like everybody else.  So I have spent more than 7 years as a flashing neon sign for Christ.  Whether I like it or not, people notice me, count little heads and make assumptions.  They watch me interact with my children and with people around me.  Am I smiling and joyful?  Am I impatient?  Are my children polite?  What’s in my grocery cart: fresh fruits and veggies or Lucky Charms?  Does my shirt have today’s lunch on the sleeve?  Are my children in torn or stained clothing?  Do we wave at the neighbors when we walk around the block?  Are there weeds in the flower beds? 

Little things that mean nothing for most people are for us taken as signs of something greater.  We are proven every day to be either devout lovers of Christ or hypocrites.  And we can be that witness in a pleasant manner or in an offensive manner.  We can inspire people to be like us, or we can make them so uncomfortable that they want nothing to do with us.

Last year we went trick or treating in my friend’s neighborhood at a military installation.  Generally, the chaplains’ offices on posts will throw a Fall Festival type alternative to Halloween festivities.  Homes that are not handing out candy leave the lights off, and most kids know to not ring those bells.  There were several homes with the lights on, but nobody home.  There was simply a note posted saying, basically, that Halloween was the work of the Devil and that we should go home and put on sackcloth and ashes and repent.  Um…

I’m not saying there is a right way or a wrong way to celebrate Halloween.  But I do think there are right ways and wrong ways to evangelize…and this way falls in the latter category. 

For us, trick or treating (and drinking and dancing) is a harmless way to be in the world.  Not every action has moral weight.  Serving your children Lucky Charms is not sinful.  The cleanliness of your shirt is not a refelction of the cleanliness of your soul.  Dressing up as Snow White or a Power Ranger or even a witch or ghost and blackmailing your willing neighbors for candy is not worshipping the Devil.  Really.

Riding roller coasters.  Eating cotton candy.  Riding in a car with the windows down and the music blaring.  Trick or treating.  Some things are just simply fun.

10.01.10
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Only 372 days until she turns 4

It’s all coming back to me now: how annoying I find 3 year olds.  It has been a few years since I’ve had one of those, and I had forgotten.  I will take a 2 year old over a 3 year old any day.

I feel as though we’ve gone back 2 years to that new-toddler stage: unrolled paper towels, unrolled toilet paper, water everywhere, laundry scattered, food as toys and/or “art,” only we’ve added a new element of independence and defiance.  Can’t tell her what to do, no ma’am.

And she’s decided that if she loudly screams, people will want to pacify her and give her what she wants. 

She’s starting to learn that being diaperless means less padding for the swats to the backside that mom is now doling out on a regular basis.  I rarely spank a 1 year old (safety issues mainly).  But it seems so necessary to the 3 year old who knows better, but is just checking to see if you’re serious.

Girl, I am serious.

The only thing that keeps them alive at this age, I’m convinced, is their love of imitation and their improved communication skills.  It’s hard to stay angry at a child who lisps out, “I sorry Momma,” and then begins to sing “Clean up, clean up,” as she attempts to right her wrong.  And when you look up from your dinner plate and see little hands that, only moments before, had been folded reverently in prayer now thickly covered with mashed potatoes, can you help but be a little impressed when she points out the roast beef and carrots and thick onion slices arranged in the form of a face and says, “It’s for my Gwam-ma!” 

And of course, there are the frequent moments when she gazes adoringly up into your eyes, smiles broadly, and says, “I wuv you!”

Sigh.

I wuv you, too, little girl.  But STOP making messes.