Monthly Archives: March 2009

“A person is a person, no matter how small.”
~Dr. Seuss~

There is nothing in this world that can make me believe it is okay to kill a baby, even if said baby hasn’t been born yet.  I am a mother.  I know what it is like to FEEL LIFE move inside of me.  Men, I’m sorry that ya’ll miss out on that, but believe me, it’s very real.  Freedom of choice?  Sure.  Keep your pants on!!!  Rape?  Well, ask anyone who has tried for years without success to conceive a child.  They will tell you how difficult it can be, under perfect circumstances, for that tiny seed to take hold.  It is extremely rare for a rape to end in pregnancy.  If it does, then don’t punish the baby!!  There are thousands of couples who would love to adopt that innocent child!!

Notre Dame

All that to say:  I absolutely, rack my brain though I might, cannot figure out why Obama is so determined to kill off as many preborn babies as he possibly can.  Honestly, can’t he think of something better to do?  Aren’t the economy and his plans for world domination enough to keep him occupied for a while?  Never mind all the other issues.  He is so brazenly open about promoting abortion it’s actually shocking to me.  It boggles my mind that this man (and those who support him) are so eager to KILL.  And this is just the first step. . .  When human life ceases to have value, beware.  Your own life will be very expendable, too, just like those poor defenseless babies.

But, the fact remains that there will always be folks on opposite sides of the fence.  We will always find something to disagree on.  Yet someone, somewhere, has to take a stand for what is absolutely right.  And by the same token, they must take a stand against what is absolutely wrong.  And, yes, I firmly believe that right and wrong are absolutes.  Relativism is crap.

As Christians, we believe that abortion is absolutely wrong.  The Catholic Church has made it VERY CLEAR that as Catholic Christians, we DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, CONDONE ABORTION.  We uphold the sanctity of ALL LIFE, young, old, or preborn.  Nancy Pelosi went so far as to challenge the Pope on this subject, and tried to say that even Saint Augustine said abortion was okay. (I’m not going to state directly what I think about Nancy Pelosi.  Suffice it to say that I think she has the brains God gave an ice cube!!)  The Holy Father set her straight.  Well, he tried to.  He clearly stated that abortion is wrong, evil, and that the Church does not condone it.  Pelosi’s mind is so twisted that she didn’t seem to get the message that common lab rats all around the world understood.

So, this abortion thing and the Catholic Church have been in the news a LOT lately.  You would think, then, that Fr. Jenkins, President of Notre Dame University, would have noticed, and had the decency to invite someone who doesn’t passionately and aggressively oppose one of the most important social stands of the Catholic Church to speak at commencement.  But no.  He has chosen to commit Obamination.

There is an online petition to Fr. Jenkins to rescind his invitation to Obama to speak at commencement and “honor” him with an honorary law degree, and it is receiving over 270 signatures per hour. I’m thinking that’s a pretty clear sign that Americans, especially Catholics, are not okay with this.  Why in the world would Our Lady’s University give audience to such a man???  I don’t care if he is the first African-American president.  (And, PLEASE remember:  only HALF of him is African-American.  The other half of him is WHITE.)

Now, if Warren-Wilson College invited Obama to speak, nobody would care.  They are consistently voted the most liberal college in the nation.  Their “worldview” meshes perfectly with Obama’s.  If Berkley invited him, that would make perfect sense.  But NOT Notre Dame.  In fact, it is a direct act of disobedience to the mandate given by the USCCB in 2004 in:

“Catholics in Political Life”:  “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.  They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”

If you would like to sign the petition, please click on this link:  Petition to Fr. Jenkins at Notre Dame.  At least Bishop D’Arcy is choosing to boycott this event. Now if everyone else would!!!

Yes, in more ways than one, I am still here!  I still have a blog, even though I’ve not updated it in a couple of weeks.  Things have been really busy since we got back from Texas.  Alex started right back in with rehearsals for the play he is now performing in at the Flat Rock Playhouse, “Princess Reform School”.  He does a great job, even though he is only in one scene.  As the name implies, the play is mostly about princesses in need of reform, so there are only 4 males in the entire play.  They are sparse, indeed!  It is a cute play, though, with some very funny parts.  I will, however, be very grateful when it’s over next Sunday.  We can rest a bit then.

And, obviously, I am still here in North Carolina.  Our home still hasn’t sold, but that’s not a huge shock, considering most real estate is frozen here.  We have decided to drop our price, but I want to speak with our realtor first and determine if she is going to actually do some agressive marketing, or just update her website.  I would really, really, really love to be in Texas before school starts in the Fall.  It won’t affect Faith, because we will just continue homeschooling.  However, Alex wants to attend his senior year of high school at a public school, and it would be so much nicer if we were already there.  I’ve heard horror stories about putting homeschooled kids in high school.  I’ve heard that the school will require them to start at 9th grade, no matter what their level of education is, or how old they are.  If we run into something ridiculous like that, we will simply continue homeschooling.  End of story.

Gaylon is coming in for Easter, and will be here in time for all of the Holy Week Masses and services.  He will be here for four days, then back to Texas. *sigh*  I wish he could stay longer.  We knew this was going to be difficult, but knowing something and experiencing it are always very different.

Also, I am still here, even though I have seen the ark float by a few times in search of Mt. Ararat!  It has been grey and dreary and rainy for 4 days straight.  Yes, we need the rain.  Yes, it makes everything pretty and green.  And it grows the flowers.  I don’t know about the grass and flowers and trees, but personally, I am in desperate need of some sunlight!  So, I am looking forward to sunnier days, soon!

My only political thoughts at the moment are that I cannot believe that Fr. Jenkins up at Notre Dame is having Obama speak at their commencement exercises this year, and giving him an honorary law degree.  How can he justify honoring the most aggressive abortion rights activist ever at a CATHOLIC university???  At least his bishop is refusing to attend the ceremony.  Now if only everyone else would boycott, as well.

Okay, I finally got the pictures off of James’ camera, so if anyone wants to see some really scary pictures of Kendall, Alex and Joey (and, yeah, okay, me, too!) with shotguns, click here:  Flickr. 

It was a blast (pun intended!).  And beware:  Alex is a crack shot!!!

So we got into Arlington Friday afternoon, and spent time with our friends, the Bakers.  Cathy and I have been friends since 7th grade, and it is always wonderful to get to hang out with her!  Her sister, Lola, came over for a while, and that was wonderful.  I don’t get to see them nearly enough.  The kids had fun playing Wii and bashing pine cones with tennis rackets. (Don’t ask!!)

Saturday morning Gaylon picked Kendall and Joey up at the DFW Airport, and then they all spent the day at Cabella’s.  For those of you who like me, are ‘redneck challenged’, Cabella’s is a huge sporting store.  From what I heard, Gaylon and Joey had a blast, but Kendall and Alex were less than thrilled!

Saturday evening we went out for some good ol’ fashioned Tex-Mex, and then we headed on over to the ranch where Gaylon has been living on Saturday night.  The kids all stayed in one camper, and Gaylon and I stayed in the other.  Even in a really nice RV, I just don’t think I’m much of a “camper”, although I think if one was all stocked with my own stuff, it would be a lot better than staying in a motel.

Sunday we drove into Abilene to check out the church that we will probably be attending once we get moved out here: Holy Family.  Then, after church, we met up with Gaylon’s nephew, Joe (aka: Critter) and his wife, Candace,  to see their brand new baby boy!  Faith got a picture of me holding him.  He is so tiny!!  It’s amazing how quickly you forget how little they are at first.

Great-Aunt Val with Baby Colton James Brooks

Sunday afternoon we went over to Gaylon’s nephew James’ and his wife, Tammy’s, house and hung out over there until LATE!!  They live just outside of Merkel. The boys all spent the afternoon shooting skeet, and I even shot a few times, although I didn’t hit anything.  Faith took lots of pictures of this with James’ camera, but I haven’t figured out how to get them onto my computer yet.  However, when I do, I’ll post them. James grilled out, and it was really wonderful.  Mesquite grilled pork. . . yum!

Yesterday we went into Abilene on a “Fact-Finding Mission” and drove through several neighborhoods and checked out the mall.  Alex likes it, and Faith is okay with it.  It’s better than I expected, which is nice.  I have to say though that I love the people here.  There is no friendlier bunch of folks on this planet than Texans. Kendall and Joey stayed out on the ranch, hunting.  They are having a blast, apparently!

We spent the night at James and Tammy’s last night because there were thunderstorms rolling through.  Kendall and Joey stayed at the camper, and they were fine, although they did lose power at one point.  Alex had a rough night, though.  He got up in the middle of the night to find the bathroom, tripped, fell, and knocked himself out!  He said he woke up on the floor seeing stars!  We heard him, so Gaylon went up to check on him, and he had a really nasty gash on his eyebrow and a milder one across his eyelid! He’s okay, though, thank God!  It could have been so much worse.  Today he just has a mild black-eye, not nearly as bad as I thought it might be.

Today, Faith is driving Tammy’s Kubota all over the ranch and having the time of her life, and I heard a rumor that Tammy is going to take her fishing.  Faith is such a country girl!  Joey texted me to say he killed a rabbit this morning, and Faith is ready to go back over there and skin it and use the brains and fat to cure the hide.  Ummm. . . yeah. “Not my bag, baby!!”

Tomorrow we head over to Midland to see Gaylon’s brother, Chuck, and his wife, Anna, and my Aunt Bobbie.  Then Thursday we will drive over to Post to see Granny Lucille and Granny Dee.  Friday we are headed back into the Dallas area and will see Cathy one more time, then head over to spend the night at my cousin, James Westbrook’s house.  So, we are busy, and it’s going fast.  We will be back in North Carolina in no time.

So tomorrow morning, bright and early, we are headed out to Texas to spend Spring Break with Gaylon.  The kids are really excited, and I know I will be, too, once the driving part is over!  We are going to spend tomorrow night in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and might tour the Battleground Friday morning.  Then, Friday night we are going to stay with my dear friend, Cathy.  I am definitely looking forward to that!  Gaylon will meet us there, which makes it all that much better!

Saturday night we are headed over to my cousin, James’ house.  He is a terrific host and an awesome cook, so that’s gonna be great, too!  Then, Sunday morning we are headed on over to Abilene and ultimately to the ranch where Gaylon has been living.  We are planning to stay with his nephew, James Paul, though, and not in an RV.  Although we may spend one night in the RV, because the kids think that would be really cool.

Kendall will be flying into DFW with his buddy, Joey, and we will pick them up at the airport Saturday morning.  So, we will all be together, and it will be a lot of fun.  I think one of the best parts is going to be the warmth!!!  I am so ready for some heat.  We are leaving 6 inches of snow behind here in North Carolina.  With any luck, it will all be gone by the time we get home.