12.09.08
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Prayer request

If you Google “percentage of people who die within a year after a major fall,” various sites will tell you that when someone over the age of 65 falls and breaks a hip, about 25%-30% of them die within a year. Of course, plenty of these people might be octogenarians or older.

Fortunately, my Dad is only 62. Unfortunately, he’s in the hospital right now.

Prayers for my parents would be appreciated.

Note: a nurse at the hospital was the one who presented my mother with the statistic listed above. Nice, huh? Let’s focus on the worst case scenario, eh?

Additional note: I am more prepared to face my own death than I am ready to face the death of my parents. And I am definitely not ready to think of my dad as an old man who falls and breaks a hip.

12.08.08
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Mary Moments Carnival

From Sarah, the Snoring Scholar, who lives on a farm in the Midwest:

In December, we will honor Our Lady of Guadalupe with our Mary Moments carnival. We welcome your feast day celebration ideas, traditions, recipes, or reflections. Do you have a special devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe? Have you felt a special bond with this image of Mary? Can you take a few moments to share it with us as we assemble a bouquet for Our Mother on this special feast day?

Submissions are due by December 12, using the online form or by emailing me at peerybingle [at] gmail [dot] com. If you don’t have a blog, you can still participate! I’ll post your entry as a guest post here. Mary Moments: Honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe will be live on December 15.
12.07.08
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Did you just say what I thought you said? No? Good.

“Oh, Jesus!” I heard Katie exclaim in the back of the van.

I blinked once, twice, thrice in completely shock and disbelief. I slowly inhaled and mentally tested my “nonchalant” voice and sought the right words to ask who/what/where/when/why she would talk like that.

“I see a statue of Jesus!” she continued. Yes, outdoor nativity sets are out there. Fair warning.

*******

Billy comes up behind me while I’m on the computer.

“What does K – Y mean?” he asks.

Um. Well. Maybe I should get some more data. I turn and he’s holding a magnet off the fridge from Fort Knox.

“Kentucky.”

12.06.08
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Planned Parenthood Tells ‘Teen’: Lie To Get an Abortion

Nothing new here. We’ve heard it before, and nobody should be shocked. But the video is definitely worth watching.

What really, really bothers me is that the nurse, obviously, thinks she’s being compassionate. You can hear it in her voice. She really wants to help this little girl whose life would be seriously affected by this pregnancy.

But she has all the logic of a teenager: if I’m pregnant, I’ll be in trouble. If I’m not pregnant, I won’t be in trouble. Therefore, all I have to do is not be pregnant, and I won’t be in trouble.

It really takes someone with maturity (a grown up) to recognize a few things:

1. Pregnant or not, a child having sex needs to be protected from stupid choices.
2. Pregnant or not, a girl of any age needs to be protected from older boys and men who prey on them.
3. Pregnant or not, there is an obvious lack of education regarding how to avoid pregnancy, the natural result of the poor choice to have sex in the first place.
4. Pregnancy is not the end of the world.
5. Pregnancy is not the biggest problem here. Sex at a young age is the problem.

Instead of acting like a grown up and trying to solve the real problem (a child having sex), the nurse acts like a teenage friend who figures if she can get an abortion without her parent’s consent, then all will be well.

True compassion would involve getting a 13 year old girl away from the predator who is destroying the remainder of her childhood. This might have to involve the police and the courts, and certainly vigilance on the part of adults to keep the girl from him. To a teenager, that may seem unfair, but this should be common sense to mature adults. We don’t let 13 year olds get married; we shouldn’t be letting them have sex.

And what rational adult thinks an adult male having sex with a teenager, especially one that young, is okay? I can see some quibbling if the girl were 16 and the “man” were 20. But 13 and 30? Obviously, the nurse’s compassion only goes so far as she can remain blissfully ignorant of the gritty details. The girl isn’t her flesh and blood, and though leaving the girl to flounder in a dysfunctional relationship might prick her conscious a bit, ultimately, her life would remain untouched by any long-term consequences that may arise due to the girl’s pregnancy or abortion or unhealthy sexual relationships.

Thank goodness the girl in the video is not pregnant and not 13. We can pretend that this wouldn’t really happen – doesn’t really happen – routinely at abortion clinics throughout the country. We can also pretend that abortion doesn’t present long-term psychological harm to the girl or woman involved.

Heck, we can pretend that abortion isn’t really happening or that it isn’t really killing babies, too.

But I think it’s time we grow up and act like adults capable of seeing beyond the single problem of an unwanted pregnancy. Should not protecting children be a universal desire?

12.05.08
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Lord, have mercy

I have several nativity sets, including a Playmobil one that my sister gave to ME, and I make sure that everybody knows that it’s mine mine mine and they play with it merely at my whim and pleasure.

I located that set today and permitted the kids to set it up. There were tears and skirmishes, and I finally told everybody to leave it alone and go away. After everyone calmed down and found other amusements, I told the older boys they could play with it. Jenny found out, and she wanted to as well, but I told her she had to wait.

Fifteen minutes later, the set was deserted and I told Jenny she could take a turn. My mistake. Billy had merely gone into the basement to retrieve some other Playmobil pieces – Roman soldiers. More tears, and I told Billy he had to share with her (Fritz had lost interest).

Everybody is happy because Jenny is playing with the nativity set and Billy is having his soldiers run patrols. Doing what, you may wonder? Well, they’re Herod’s men and they’re looking for the newborn King so they can kill him.

Um. Not quite the mood I wanted to set. Accurate, though.

12.05.08
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Six Things That Make Me Happy

Rosemary tagged me for this easy meme.

1. Emails from my husband. I’d rather sit in his lap and have him tell me about his adventures, but I’ll take what I can get.

2. Little elves who make my bed for me.

3. Finally being able to wear the clothes I wore when I conceived the nearly 14 month old babe. Well, I wasn’t actually wearing them when I literally conceived her, but you know what I mean.

4. Washing machines. I spent one summer washing all my clothes by hand (out of necessity, not choice). Washing machines forevermore make me very happy.

5. When I ask the kids for their prayer intentions and Petey says, “For the Pope and his intentions.” He has no idea what he’s saying, but it’s absolutely adorable.

6. A clean and tidy house. Does anything compare?

12.04.08
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Emailing Korea

From Bill: … the worst part was running the gauntlet of prostitutes literally grabbing your arm and demanding you come in. Generally the uglier ones were the most forceful. ew.

From Me: I thought I told you to behave.

From Bill: I am behaving, having only had 1 mixed drink, 1 (bad) beer, and 5 shots of soju (sp?). Soju tastes like smooth rubbing alcohol and is very light in proof.

Hm.

To the man’s credit, he moans about leaving us, complains about being apart, and when he gets home tells me what an awful time he had without us. But, trooper that he is, he manages to find some small diversions while traveling, like doing shots in a bar in Seoul.

Poor thing.

12.03.08
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Clues that Bill is Out of Town

Sleeping

Early this morning, Peter realized that with Dad gone, there is room in the big bed for him.

Eating

Chicken nuggets for dinner.

I had a $1 off coupon (Tyson, frozen, breaded, bagged). Plus, it makes the kids do a happy dance.

Living

“Mo-om, whose turn is it to sit in Dad’s seat at the dinner table?”

Working

Pack your bags, we’re going on a guilt trip.

To the boys who are wrestling instead of cleaning their room: “Which do you want to be: little children who need their mom to stand over them to make them do their work, or big boys I’m proud to call my sons who know that there is plenty of time for play if only they do their work first?”

There’s only one right answer there.

Coloring

A plethora of “I love you, Dad” and “I miss you, Dad” cards.

Watching

I’ve got a hot date tonight with Daniel Day-Lewis.