May 2005 Archives

This was written yesterday by a friend of mine, Tabitha Kaza. She is a young mother of 5 whose husband is a Marine in Iraq. There are a few dimensions to this that struck a chord with me, so I would like to share it.

My youngest brother who is 17 and just graduated from High School on Saturday. He is what they call a Marine "Poolie". He officially signed up for the Marines in November, but has not gone to basic training yet. He goes off to basic training on September 7. Then maybe to war. We are both very proud and very afraid.

Love Me When I'm Gone

There are moments in everyone's life when one realizes things will never be the same.

One day, in early spring 2004, my husband came home from work early. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw him. His eyes looked far away. He asked me to send the children outside, but our toddler refused to leave his arms. I sat on our bed, pregnant with our fifth, and felt a bolt of fear.

"He's going to leave for Iraq before the baby's born," I thought.

Have you seen the Dove Campaign For Real Beauty? There is a commercial for soap that has a bunch of women in their underwear (which I am not crazy about) of all shapes, sizes and skin tones. Of the different shapes and sizes there are some pregnant bellies, is one woman with a C-section scar, one woman who likes like, ahem, a size 10 like me.

For too long we have seen women on TV that look like mannequins and not real people. I hope this sparks a new trend. Personally, I am five foot two. I am a mesomorph, I never get skinny. At this point,I could also stand to lose a few pounds (and I am working at it). I have curly hair inclined to frizziness and is a regulation dark brown. I am the opposite of what beautiful mixed people on TV look like-I have very fair skin and very black features (wide nose, full lips) as opposed to the European featured, cocoa woman. Ah, these are gazillion things I wanted to change about myself as a teen. While I know this is far from Hollywood beauty, I look like my mother and father which is honorable. And I look the way God intended me to look. For this reason I have never been big on things like dying hair, changing hair texture chemically, plastic surgery, too much make-up etc.

I am sure every female reading this blog can relate. Maybe not to the same traits, but to the same feeling. If not, I feel real dopey writing this.

I know it is unrealistic to think the modeling industry will be replaced by real people, but to bridge that gap a bit will be nice.

Peach Coconut Muffins
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup quick oats
1/3 cup dry milk powder
1 Tablespoon soy flour + 1 Tablespoon water (a good egg substitute in baking)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
2 Tablespoons of honey
1 cup chopped canned peaches in juice or lite syrup
juice from canned peaches and enough water to make 1 cup (or instead of milk powder and juice water combo 1 cup of milk)

Mix, bake in muffin tins @ 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I got the template for this recipe from The Complete Tightwad Gazette pgs 466-468. Here is the template if this recipe is just "not you" so to speak:

I often have this vision: God has precious, brand new baby souls that are about to be sent to earth on an assembly line. He is touching their sweet little heads and gifting them with the grace of common sense. He reaches Fastolph and St. Michael calls God and "Hey God, we need your help! That Moloch roused Ted Kennedy out of a drunken stupor and he's talking again...Words coming from his mouth-not a good thing." So God looks away from the assembly line for just an instant and accidently misses Fastolph. Poor Fastolph gets jipped the Common Sense grace.

OK, OK. I know the Ted Kennedy thing was bad taste. And I know God doesn't make mistakes. But I tell ya, this kid brings this imagery to mind-a lot.

Our farm, prior to our living here was an ostrich farm. In the chick barn, there was an incubator filled with ostrich eggs. The first task my husband accomplished was to get rid of these old eggs. Have you ever seen an ostrich egg? Think big. Think dinosaur eggs.

Now the kids like to explore the farm which is usually OK. They have found things that little boys find fascinating like an ostrich skeleton in the fields. Yesterday Fastolph stumbled upon an old ostrich egg in the fields. Now everyone knows if you find a teeny little old chicken egg, you don't want to break it. We have lived here nearly two years. You don't want to break an old rotten ostrich egg, do you? Do you see where I am going with this? As if he wasn't stinky enough from the skunk!

I feel the need to blog about these events to keep a record to look back on and have a good laugh. My mother says I just print out this journal one day, edit it and publish it.

I can't believe Carrie won. Blech! I was rooting for (in this order) Scott, Anthony and Constantine. Then Bo.

This kid really needs his own category!

OK, the rest of the human race, when we see a skunk, we go the other way. No, not Fastolph, he throws rocks at it and gets himself and his little brother sprayed.

Gorbulas came in talking about Cisco throwing rocks, and they both were all wet. Fastolph is behind him saying "shhhh". Then the smell hit me, like he was rolling in kitty litter and rotten onions.

Lord give me strength.

I so want to say it was awesome! I want to be in line with my husband and kids and claim it made the last too shameful attempts at prequeling worth while. And I really, really want to say Anakin had no more corny love lines at Padme and didn't cry. But I can't. I can say that the movie was not filled with Jar Jar exclaiming "Meesa think Annie gone bombad!" (And you atheists thought there was no God!).

Truth be told, I saw the movie Saturday and I have spent the past few days trying to figure out exactly what it is that was missing. I mean, as far as special effects and sci fi goes, it was entertaining. But the groom and I are on polar opposite ends of the spectrum of Star Wars fan philosophy. First of all because he is way more geeky than I am and I have a better sense of style. But second, he as a Star Wars fan has blind loyalty and thinks anything that George Lucas comes out with is great. I on the other hand am a more cerebral (ha ha) fan and am even more dissappointed because I expected better from what I have come to know to be Star Wars caliber. This was just another expensive Lucasfilm B movie just like Episodes I and II.

Part of the problem is the prequels were written after the story with many holes that you just aren't supposed to think about. And they were more attempts to get characters we know on the screen than an opportunity to be loyal to the story. Now if you are like my husband, and if seeing Chewbacca standing there gives you a thrill, than you will love the movie. If you are like me, wondering if Chewbacca and Yoda knew each other so well, prior to Episode IV, why didn't ever mention anything? Why did Leia claim to remember her Mom in Return of the Jedi when in fact Padme died (of a broken heart of all things)? So I guess whether or not the movie was good is a matter of perspective.

I am so dissappointed with Anakin in general. I mean it was bad enough when they took his helmut off in Return of the Jedi and he was nothing more than a crusty old white guy. But that annoying little kid ("hit the nose!") and the whiney Jedi with the cheesy lines and bad acting ("I hate sand. It's coarse, rough and irritating and gets everywhere. Not like here everything here is soft...and smooth" or"I killed them all! Not just the men! But the women and the children!"). In the third movie he is stupid ("Gasp! You're the Sith Lord, aren't you?")Betcha didn't know that the sky is blue and cake is good either Anakin! Gosh, I was like shoot me now.

My husband and kids thought so much of it, they have seen it twice already. They went last Wednesday night (or technically Thursday morning) for the midnight showing. OK, now I thought my husband needed some major intervention to realize his Geek problem. But at the midnight showing, a limo pulled up with a bunch of Jedi clad wannabees. How bad is that?

So how do we get in on the ground floor for this? Is there an Official Prayer out there somewhere?

I think it is interesting. On the AOL Welcolme page, the link headline states "Priest Snubs Gay Advocates". Denying the sacrament to people who are clearly against Church teaching is not a "snub". On the contrary, wearing rainbow sashes Mass is more of a snub in my opinion.

Via the Ragemonkeys.

The Internet Monk on "House, M.D:"

What is there for a Christian to like about House, M.D.? For me there has been plenty....

House presents, for once, an unafraid portrayal of our depravity in terms that most of us can relate to: the stony refusal of offered love, the seeming logic of the idolatry of addiction and the petty, useless cruelties to those around us who love, need, and must work with us.. House isn't the usual prodigal son in the far country doing "bad things." He's a jerk. He's just like me apart from God. Empty of grace, love and gratitude, so addiction is easy. Ashamed, petty, hurtful and selfish. No spectacular evil acts. Just a brilliant man living a miserable life that mixes healing and hurtfulness. You look, you listen, and you ask yourself "Is this what I am like?" Oh yes. Apart from grace, House of a picture of what we can turn into. He's so close to many of us that it's uncomfortable. Sure, he's exaggerated, but not by much.

to all of our fellow Sleepy Mommies!

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary....

Good article from The Curt Jester via Flambeaux at Fiat Lux!

No, I am not complaining about the new Pope. I am tired of reading about people complaining, speculating what kind of pope he will be, the critiqueing...

One newspaper had interviews with people about what they think a current pope should do. What I thought was funny was there were lots of answers like "he should continue Pope John Paul II's legacy of social justice..." They couldn't complain enough about JPII when he was Pope. But he did the best thing as Pope he could do by stop being Pope I guess. But seriously, Catholics should simply hope that our Pope follows the Holy Spirit's guidance.

Then there are the polls:"79% of Albany Catholics feel this Pope should change the Church's stance on abortion". Why do they never ask me when they do these polls?

When will they understand that the Church is not a political structure, but a dictatorship.

They need new news.

...or something.

I'm looking for a reference on the legality of late-term abortions in the U.S. that would be acceptable to a (reasonably civil) pro-choice type. In other words, something from Priests for Life isn't going to cut it. I was under the impression that under Doe v. Bolton, you could get an abortion as late as you wanted it as long as you could find someone to do it. Are there viability laws out there in force?

Second question:

Ancient story about an advisor who asks the tyrant how he stays in power. Tyrant takes advisor out to a wheatfield, says, "see how some of the stalks stand higher than the others?" Advisor says, "uh-huh", tyrant draws his sword and whacks off the tall stalks.

Who was the tyrant?

Monday, May 2, 2005 Page: B5

Kenneth B. Clark, the psychologist and educator whose 1950 report showing the deleterious effect of school segregation influenced the U.S. Supreme Court to hold school segregation to be unconstitutional, died on Sunday at his home in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester County, said his daughter, Kate C. Harris. He was 90. Clark was a leader in the civil rights movement that developed after World War II. He was the first black to earn a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University, the first to become a tenured instructor in the city college system of New York and, in 1966, the first black elected to the New York state Board of Regents. He wrote several influential books and articles and used his considerable prestige in academic and professional circles and as a participant on many government bodies and congressional committees to advance the cause of integration. He battled white supremacists and black separatists alike, because he believed that a "racist system inevitably destroys and damages human beings; it brutalizes and dehumanizes them, black and white alike."

Dr. Clark was famous for his experiment where he showed an equal amount of white dolls and black dolls to both black little girls and white little and both chose to play with white dolls. I am not sure what that proves in a country that is predominately white...

Dr. Clark was my great grandmother's (who we called "GG") sister's (Aunt Merrie) son. I don't know what number cousin that is.

Here is an interview with him:

Dr. Kenneth Clark: James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X are, in different ways, symbols and spokesmen for the Negro crying out for his full rights as an American citizen. And now. If one dares to look for the common denominator of such seemingly different forms of Negro protest, one sees in each of these men a dramatic response to America's attempt to deny to its Negro citizens the fulfillment of the American promise...

Seriously. What are they thinking? First it was those Chicken Bacon Cheddar Ranch commercials with Hootie singing the jingle dressed liked an extra from Oklahoma. I kept saying "Ohmygosh! That's Hootie!" My mother almost did not believe me.

I mean it soooo screamed "My career is in the toilet. I needed something on my resume for when they interview me for Where Are They Now?." I wasn't anymore inclined to buy a Bacon Chicken Ranch whatever it was sandwich, but I did consider sending him my Christian Children's Fund money. Or worse, going on Catholic message boards to complain about what a horrible president George Bush really is to let things like this happen to former celebrities during his administration.

The good thing, I thought, about that ad was they brought back the Burger King. I have been telling my kids for years that we used to have an actual Burger King back in the day. The concept to them was kind of corny, like "Ha ha, I am the King of the Burgers! And you, Burger Consumers are my loyal subjects! Ha ha." OK, never mind me, I need more sleep.

Anywho, I regret my excitement for the Burger King because their next ads were just butt creepy. Some guy wakes up and opens his window and sees this bizarre, big-plastic headed Burger King standing in his yard. He looks away a second and looks out his second story window again to see the Burger King hovering outside his window. I screamed! If I saw that mess in real life I would call my husband and get my baseball bat and start beating him. Then I'd call the priest and get the house excorcised. But ok, so let's overlook that creepiness. Good Ole BK is bringing good tidings, from behind his back he pulls out that 750 calorie 49 gram of fat breakfast sandwich hoagie thing with eggs, cheese, bacon sausage, real creamery butter, you name it. Who would eat that?

The guy eats the sandwich, his heart miraculously does not arrest and the dogs start licking the BK and I am staring at the TV saying "what the?"

OK, I had to get that off my chest.

Today we went to the circus. my parents had two complimentary tickets from Southwest Airlines and were planning on going, but neither one felt up to it. They offered to watch the kids, so hubby, the baby and I went. I really liked the elephants, the acrobats, the upside down people and the Chinese Acrobats.

Most of the people were there with their kids and we just had a baby. There was a lady next to us with a baby and she kept explaining everything going on to the baby like the baby cared : "Oh look over there! Is that a goat? Yes it's a goat!". The little girl found Baby Fredegar more entertaining.

During intermission, vendors came out with big cups of lemonade-you know the kind with big slices of lemon floating in them. My husband wanted one and I went out to get a Diet Pepsi. When I came back he had no lemonade because they wanted ten bucks for it. We usually do make the circus each year and are always amazed at the prices.

The other funny thing is everyone kept remarking at us about what a cute baby and giving us advice for when they get older. We would just smile.

We didn't stay until the very end because Baby Fredegar (and Mom) had enough, but close to.

We didn't stay until the very end, but close to it.