Monthly Archives: August 2009

This is funny on so many levels!  My wonderful, amazing husband, the love of my life, is completely left-brained.  It reminded me of the time we bought a “fixer-upper” and decided to do some light renovations before we moved in.  By light renovations, I had new carpet and paint in mind.

One morning, Gaylon and I were standing in the kitchen, which was, without question, in dire need of repair, and I said (out loud, but mainly to myself) “I guess we are going to have to do the kitchen first.”  Then, I walked out the door and drove down the road to go have coffee with my friend, Lisa, while our kids played.  Three hours later, Gaylon called me and said “You wanted the kitchen gutted, right?”  Uhhhh. . . .think fast, what does he mean by ‘gutted’. . . “Ah, yeah, honey.  What do you mean?”

Well, to make a long story short, what he meant was that I could stand in the basement and look up, through where the floor and ceiling of the kitchen used to be, and see the roof!!  There was literally nothing left in the kitchen.  His ‘left-brain’ had kicked in.  This woman tells of a similar, but less expensive, left-brain experience.

I have learned a little something about clothing style recently.  At least, about Victorian clothing style, what it is, and, by definition, what it is not.  Let me explain.  Alex has decided to have a Victorian Era Theme Party for his 17th birthday party next month.  We will have Victorian Era food and Parlour Games, and everyone is encouraged to dress the part.

Victorian Clothing ca 1874

Well, this may come as a surprise, but I simply don’t have any Victorian-style clothing in my closet!  I do, however, have one very nice British Overcoat, a la ‘Captain Hook’, and one Gypsy dress.  But not a thing that would pass muster with Queen Victoria.  I had an idea, I thought, of what Victorian clothing looked like, but upon consulting Wikipedia, I discovered that what I was actually thinking of was Edwardian.  I was picturing things from movies like Mary Poppins, or Titanic.  Nope.  I was wrong.

The Victorian Era is generally agreed to have lasted during the reign of Queen Victoria, from June 1837 until January 1901.  So, basically, in our country, at least in terms of fashion, think: Civil War and Wild West!  As an interesting side note: I saw on the History Channel some time ago that there were more patents taken out for sexual devices during the Victorian Era than at any other time in history.  Don’t get excited.  They were for devices that would prevent sexual activity, not enhance or encourage!

Incidentally, the Edwardian Era barely lasted a decade, spanning the time from Victoria’s death in 1901 to the death of King Edward VII in 1910.

I am looking forward to Alex’s party.  I do hope that everyone is able to dress up for it.  Most of his friends are into Drama and acting, so I think they will be very much into playing ‘dress up’ and participating in the Parlour Games.

Kendall holds up his first published article.

The Blue Banner is the student-run newspaper of the University of North Carolina – Asheville (UNC-A). Yesterday, the first edition for this semester hit the stands, and Kendall’s article was the front cover story!! We are all really excited and proud for him, especially since this was his first time being published, and he made headline news!

As part of his Journalism degree plan this semester, he is working on The Blue Banner.  If you would like to read his article, “Despite Enrollment Growth, Cuts Persist” for yourself, click here.

I am looking forward to reading more of his articles in The Blue Banner.  Who knows what may follow?  The New York Times?  U.S. News and World Report?  It doesn’t matter.  As my friend Kathy T. always says, this is a “proud mama” moment!

We are beginning our 15th year of Homeschooling this year!  Wow.  It seems like it was just a few days ago that I first started teaching phonics to Kendall and Ryan.  Time has flown.  Kendall started his 3rd year of college yesterday, and Alex will start his first year of college classes on Thursday, thanks to the Dual Enrollment option here in North Carolina.

So this is going to be a very different year, with both boys in college.  Alex and I will be studying some stuff at home, namely 20th Century History, and he will be taking French again with Mrs.  U.  At the college, he will be taking College Algebra, Expository Writing, and JAVA Programming.  To top it all off, he will be working several nights a week at the Outback, where he just got hired on as a bus boy.

Kendall will be working on “The Blue Banner” this year, as part of his Journalism degree requirement.  “The Blue Banner” is the school newspaper for UNC-Asheville.  He is really excited about it, and I am anxious to see some of his stuff in print.  He will also be starting new job in a couple of weeks, and is looking forward to having a steady income this winter.

Faith and I actually started schooling a couple of weeks ago, on a very laid back schedule.  Next week will be a “full” week.  This year, in addition to the regular school subjects (History, Math, Science, Latin, Language Arts, Religion) she is also taking violin lessons and we are taking a quilting class together.  So, it promises to be a very exciting and fulfilling year.

This is from Catholic Online.  I think it’s excellent.

Dear Mr. Obama: An American Mom Writes President Obama
By Jennifer Hartline
8/14/2009

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) – I have in front of me a letter I received from you in response to a letter I wrote to you regarding abortion in the U.S. You thanked me politely for taking the time to share my views on abortion and said, “This is a heart-wrenching issue.”
I just haven’t been able to get one little question out of my mind since reading your letter. Why?

Why is it heart-wrenching? Why would my heart be rent by making a perfectly legal and morally acceptable choice to have an abortion? Why should anyone’s heart be torn by this choice? The highest law of our land says that there is nothing wrong with choosing abortion. If no law is being broken, why should my heart or anyone’s heart be troubled?

In the short time you’ve been President, you have strategically worked to expand abortion access around the country. In fact, you promised in your campaign that your first task upon taking office would be to sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act, which would eliminate virtually every existing restriction on abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy, and even lift the ban on partial-birth abortion. (You said you considered that one a legitimate medical procedure.)

I’m trying to understand, Mr. Obama, but it just doesn’t make any sense. Why would you work so methodically to increase the occurrence of something so heart-wrenching?
As a woman, I can testify to the fact that when I make decisions to protect my privacy or the autonomy of my body, there’s nothing heart-wrenching about it. I am not the least bit torn or conflicted about defending myself in those ways. Indeed, it is my body – the one God gave me and the one He expects me to care for wisely and honorably. My body – like yours – was made to be holy.

If the choice to “terminate a pregnancy” through abortion is merely about a woman’s right to privacy and autonomy, there should be nothing difficult about it at all. If there are no grounds to declare it illegal, inhumane, or morally wrong, then indeed there should be no conflict of the heart whatsoever.

But you and I both know that is not the case, because you and I both know quite well that there is something very, very morally wrong with abortion.

No one can pretend the other person in this equation doesn’t exist. No one – not even you – can deny that abortion ends a human life. Whether the medical profession classifies that person as an embryo, a fetus, or a newborn, the indisputable fact is we’re talking about a new human being. Not an eggplant or a seahorse. This person is not an extension of her mother’s body, but a distinct, separate individual with her own body and soul.

Abortion does not tear the mother’s body limb from limb, or burn her body with chemicals, or suction her body into a vacuum, or stab a hole in her skull and suction out her brains. Abortion does all these hideous things to another human being. That is the reality of this wretched “choice.”

No thinking, civilized person can deny it. We all know in our hearts, in the depths of our souls that abortion kills a human person. There is a very strange and powerful sort of delusion going on, then, for that is the only way to explain how so many people can stubbornly, arrogantly and blindly cling to the notion that abortion is legitimate “reproductive health care” and a “right” of all women.

I ask you again: what is so heart-wrenching about availing myself of legitimate reproductive health care?

Those who demand abortion rights must constantly prop up the illusion in their minds that they’re not hurting anyone or doing anything wrong. It helps their cause to use more palatable language, like “terminating a pregnancy” rather than killing a baby. (Mr. President, I’ve been pregnant four times and I can assure you that every single time, I was pregnant with a baby. The only way to terminate a pregnancy is to terminate the baby.)

Ah, the baby… could that be the source of all the heart-wrenching? But we’ve already decided we’re not going to even acknowledge the humanity of the baby, so what’s the problem? Just get rid of the unwanted tissue already and be done with it.

“Pro-Choice” advocates must continually shout the mantra of “women’s rights” in order to keep from thinking about the mangled little body lying on the instrument table after the “procedure.” If they stop for even a moment to consider the actual results of abortion, all arguments for its legality would necessarily collapse in a heap around them. No one with an ounce of humanity could stomach this gruesome brand of “medicine” without the protection of narcissistic and evil delusions of choice and rights.

The enemy of every human soul has deceived and deluded us into rationalizing the unjustifiable murder of our own children. You are being deceived, Mr. President, by the father of lies. The prince of darkness has persuaded many of us to reject our natural instinct to protect our young. He has convinced too many women that they can simply destroy their own child and walk away unscathed. It is not so. Abortion leaves only a trail of death and despair. It is not freedom for women; it is bondage to brokenness.

You now stand in a position to set in motion changes to our nation that may last for decades or longer. You can either use the power in your hands for life or for death. I grieve to think that you will persist in your path of death for our country; that my children will inherit the destructive fruits of all that you seem intent on pursuing. I beg you to hear the truth, to hear the cry of the voiceless little ones. I beg you to choose life.

Do not include abortion funding in your health care reform. The purposeful death of a human being can never be considered health care. Do not continue to demand that our nation’s collective tax dollars be spent on the mass-killing of the unborn. The truth is laid out before you in the purest light; without shadows, without doubt. “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20

There is nothing heart-wrenching about choosing life, Mr. President. No shame, no regrets, nothing lost. Only blessings gained. I continue to pray for you, that you will have the courage to protect all human life, especially the weakest and most defenseless. I pray that you will use your position of power to bring life – not death – to our nation. I pray that the Lord of Life and Prince of Peace will bless you and guide you and that you will welcome His revealing light. Choose life, Mr. President. It is the only way we will survive.

——

Jennifer Hartline is a Catholic Army wife and stay-at-home mother of three precious kids who writes frequently on topics of Catholic faith and daily living. She is a contributing writer for Catholic Online

This is from Glenn Beck’s show on Fox News.  Please watch this!  It is terrifying!  The government really wants to control everything and everyone.  WHY??????  Seriously, ask yourself what it is they are trying to accomplish, and what the end goals are, of this sort of privacy invasion.

I am a fishy American.  I absolutely think that Obama’s Healthcare plan is G-A-R-B-A-G-E.

The White House wants us to go tattle on anyone who might be spreading “false” “rumors” about the proposed healthcare plan.  Since when in this country, the greatest country in the world, Land of the Brave and Home of the Free, do we spy on each other and report to Big Brother?????

I am sure that there are those of you who don’t believe me.  Check out the White House Blog for yourselves:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Senator John Conryn (R-TX) brings up an interesting point.  He has this to say, directly to Obama:

“Do your own past statements qualify as ‘disinformation’? For example, is it ‘disinformation’ to note that in 2003 you said: “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care plan”?

Yeah. . . Obama didn’t count on Americans actually thinking for themselves, and why should he?  They sure as heck didn’t when they voted last November!

Make no mistake:  if the White House is asking Americans to out each other over a health care plan, there is more to come. The White House is already compiling an “Enemies List”.  Wonder if my liberal family members and friends will come see me in prison???

So I was randomly surfing blogs, and found “Catholic Mothers Online”.  Well, I’m a Catholic Mom, and I am online, so I had to check it out.  One of the blog names really jumped out at me:  “7th Generation Texan“.  That really intrigued me, because I know that my family has been in Texas a lonnngggg time, and I am only a 5th Generation Texan!!  Oh, the indignation and agony!!

I checked my genealogy records.  I rechecked.  No luck.  My earliest Texas ancestor was born in Texas in 1852. *sigh*  So Kendall, who is only 20, is a 6th Generation Texan, but still, no 7th Generation.  My hat is off to anyone who can claim Texas heritage back that far!

However, lest I be considered any less of a Real Texan, please do note that my GGG-Grandfather, Simon Peter Ford, fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836.  He was born in Tennessee, though, and not Texas.

Now, before anyone has me committed for freaking out over not having deep enough Texan Roots, I should tell you that one of my cousins, who lived in Atlanta for the births of his first 3 children, documented in his genealogical records that each one was “Born in Atlanta, Georgia, on Texas soil.”  Not sure how he pulled that one off, but I am sure he did!!