Still Kickin'

This week has been insane! Work has been all-encompassing, and Matthew has been sick, and I have just been pulled in too many directions!
After a full day's work on Sat. (having to get a fill-in at the Thrift Store :-( ) I tried to get Matthew out and do a little shopping, etc. But he thought he had gotten better when he hadn't, and we ended up making a quick trip for nothing and coming back home with fresh medicine in tow.
Sunday I woke up and met my Sis and we went flea-marketing. I bought two pictures and a frame (in the shape of a cat.. cute!!).
We drove around just looking for any available Sun. morning yard sales to peruse, but nothing looked very promising. We came home and took a nap!
It is about 3:15 now and I have to get going soon if we are going to make it to Mass and then to drop Matthew off at his sleep study appt.
Oh, and in 14 days the body count stands at:
1 dead blackbird
1 dead bluish grey bird
1 dead bluish-grey bird with BONUS baby mole!
.. and all presented to us in grand fashion on the welcome mat :-)
Gotta love Cats in the wilderness!!!

Responses

Dear Mrs. Smith,

Thank you for contacting my office regarding S. 2075 the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act. I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.

Like you, I am pro-life and believe in the sanctity of human life. As you know, this bill will require that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound, have the option to view the ultrasound and have a physician share the results prior to performing the procedure. I am a co-sponsor of this legislation and believe, if enacted, it will help reduce the number of abortions in our country.

Currently, this legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Should this legislation come before the full Senate I will certainly take your concerns into consideration.


Sincerely,

Bob Corker
United States Senator

YaY

I am so thankful to find out that the files I had on my computer at work, which fried yesterday during a power outage, will be saved! WooHoo. Talk about great news!
Matthew is home ill today, I bought him all kinds of medicine last night at WalMart, but he has THE CRUD.
I also bought my Mother the Carrie Underwood CD. For myself I bought the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss duet CD. It is OK, but I am going to get rid of it because it wasn't exactly up my alley. Oh well.
For an early Halloween I bought my Nephew some candy and the Gremlins DVD. I think he will get a kick out of it.
Everything else is going swimmingly and mundane.

Tupper Happy

I have amassed quite a Tupperware collection. Through the greatness (and curse) that is eBay, I have been able to buy so many items! Put together with the huge bags full of Tupperware I bought last Friday at the Thrift stores.. I am quite content.
I will slack off the eBay starting today, because I really found greater joy in searching through shelves of junk at the Thrift places. I am a junkie.
I was telling my co-worker yesterday how when we are in Orlando I plan on going by the Tupperware International Headquarters, getting to see the Tupperware Tower. She just stared at me. LOL
Well I am excited!

Adoption

So, making a major step towards adoption, I called the TN Dept. of Children's Services yesterday to order our info. packet. They only mail on Fridays, so we will receive it next week sometime. I am so excited!

I learned from the lady I was giving all of our info. to that in TN to adopt from foster care, you have to put in 6 months as a foster parent (not necessarily with the child you adopt). I am OK with that.

We will also be beginning a parenting class required by the state, getting a total of 30 hours in before we can proceed. That will be fun.

My Sister tells me that the FMLA law says if you are adopting you get the same amount of leave, called "bonding time" that you would if you were to take a maternity leave. I will have to see how my company handles that, too.
Wish us luck!

Catholic Bishops to Vote on Putting Pro-Life Values Over Partisanship

LifeNews.com
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's Catholic bishops are slated to vote next month on a 37-page document outlining how Catholics should be involved in political issues. The document says that Catholics should put their pro-life values ahead of devotion to a particular political party.
The vote will take place during the bishops' annual meeting in mid November and the new document they will consider calls on Catholics to look beyond "powerful interests, partisan attacks, sound bites and media hype."

Instead, according to a Catholic News Service report, they should be focused on "the dignity of every human being and the protection of the weak and vulnerable."

"As Catholics, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group," the draft document reads.

"When necessary, our participation should help transform the party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths," it adds.

While other political issues are mentioned as important ones for Catholics, the document says that abortion and other pro-life issues are paramount.

"There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor," it reads, according to CNS.

"The first is a moral equivalence that makes no ethical distinctions between different kinds of issues involving human life and dignity," they say. "The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life is ... not just one issue among many."

The document does not directly address the question of whether pro-abortion politicians should get communion.

But it does say that Catholics should not vote for pro-abortion candidates unless the candidate who is pro-life on abortion and bioethics issues violates Catholic teachings in other very serious ways.

Seven committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops crafted the new document and two-thirds of the bishops must support it for it to be ratified.

They will also consider a shortened version that would be placed in church bulletins, CNS reports.

These kinds of documents have been approved before every presidential election for the last 30 years but this is the first time the bishops will sign off on it.

Last Weekend Snapshots

Wednesday Away

My Wednesday was eventful and nice. After work I met Michael and we met Matthew and we all ate at O'Charley's. Matthew picked because he had to go on to his sleep study. After dinner, we all went to Hobby Lobby and I bought a candle for my mother that smells like a bag of Red-Hot candies, which are her favorite.
Since Matthew was spending the night at the hospital I , of course, went to my Mom's house. I did go home long enough to show my Sister and Nephew our new furniture, feed the cats, and open a box from eBay.. more Tupperware.. who would have guessed???
I spent the rest of the evening with my Dad, Mom, Sister and Nephew and had a great time.
I talked to Matthew this morning around 6 a.m. and they were keeping him for the more intensive "nap-testing" which means they monitor how fast he falls asleep during the day. He will ace it. All Matthew needs to ever do is just close his eyes.. he can sleep at any time of the day!

Oh Well, maybe I will put the pics I've been meaning to upload on tonight, you will have to wait!

Idioms

" Man Alive!!"
"Man Alive!" as an expletive to express shock or amazement seems to have originated in the 1800s, along with terms like "Land sakes!" These phrases and others were developed because Queen Victoria was notorious for her disapproval of cursing or taking God's name in vain. It became more proper to say "Man Alive!" than "Oh my God!" It was also traced back to a naval expression when there were survivors after a shipwreck, etc.

Who else likes Idioms??
Well, in my house growing up we used "Man Alive!!" a lot!

Here is a great Idiom resource site.. fun!

EBates

I found this site, from Far Beyond Pearls
I am already shopping, and got a $10 Target gift Card for signing up! WooHoo
Put Pinochle1980@aol.com in the referral box whan you sign up and I will be a very happy shopper!!

GO EARN MONEY NOW!!!!! YaY

Wow, a cool site

I found this site, which lets you pick things and it matches you with vacations. Of course, it is a ROYAL CARIBBEAN site, so expect it to try and match you with a cruise. By the way at the end my luggage is a Leather Rucksack.. Ha


Your friend Samantha recently came to me looking for help. Vacation help. So I did some fun-a-lysis, and you can see what I came up with below. Now it's your turn to figure out who you are and where you are headed. Come check out my vacation fun-a-lyzer at hungrysuitcase.com.

Sincerely,
Sammy Suitcase

This is a message from Samantha:
HIYA

Samantha's results:

Vacation Score:
Adventure: 25%
Culture: 55%
Relaxation: 19%

Vacation Personality: Cultural Explorer

You get out there and see history first hand. You know, trekking through the forest, scaling ruins, and taking snapshots. Meeting the people and seeing the places others only read about. You're a Cultural Explorer. And you will absolutely love Europe, especially with my friends at Royal Caribbean. So what are you waiting for? It's time to sow your cultural oats!

Perfect Vacation Destination: EUROPE

I think I know what you're looking for, friend. You want to stand in awe before the works of Michelangelo in Italy. You want to witness the remains of ancient civilizations in Greece and Turkey, tour Palace Square in St. Petersburg, and explore Paris. From the fjords of Norway to the waterways of Venice experience the richness and beauty of Europe in a totally new way with Royal Caribbean.
Check out Sammy's fun-a-lyzer at hungrysuitcase.com

My Mom, the sly one.

So, below you read about my Mother and I at the Flea Market early Saturday morning. Well, I get to her house last night to see my Sister and Nephew back from Florida and that sneaky woman had went BACK to the Flea Market Saturday Morning and got a picture I would have bought!
While I was busy heading to work at the Thrift Store for charitable intentions, my Mom went back up the the Flea Market to see her friend who was set up. She spotted a picture in a booth (who admittedly wasn't set up when we had done the circuit) and bought a very large 30''x24'' Kimble print which has probably a 4 inch wooden frame, dark wood that would have matched up nicely to my Dining room furniture. 8 bucks!!
I was happy she had gotten it for such a bargain, but I was upset at myself for the amount of "coveting" I was feeling.
But, just like the quilt she found.. I will eventually get it. HaHaHa

Poor Birdie

Saturday morning I woke up real early and my Mom and I headed down to the Flea Market. We walked around for about an hour. I found some Tupperware pieces and containers and was thrilled! Then we found a lady with a few quilts, and I bought a twin size for 5 bucks!! My Mom got a full size beautiful triangle star quilt for only 7!! I really wanted both, but I told Mom that I will be happy knowing I will get the one she snagged on the event of her death... HAHAHAHAHA. Somehow she didn't find it as amusing as I did. Anyway, they are really nice quilts. Mine is old and some parts are threadbare, but I love it more for that.

So, we left there around 8:30 a.m. and I had to get home and get changed into better clothes to leave for the Ladies of Charity Store. When I got home though, my cute little innocent kitties I had let out earlier had brought me a blackbird and it was lying on the welcome mat. Nermal, I believe is the main culprit, since she was pretty much laying on top of it and only moved when I got close enough to inspect her trophy. I got pictures of that, too. Gross!!

I worked at the Thrift Store from 10-2 p.m. and also found a few Tupperware pieces.. WooHoo!! It is amazing how I am receiving all of these little pleasures from God. He knows I am secretly an 80 year old woman on the hunt for quilts and Tupperware!! Ha!
After working at the Thrift Store (filling in for someone on short notice) I went to my regularly scheduled event for Saturday which was to go and help Matthew's parents' friend move. I wasn't at all useful, not that I had planned to be. I really hope that one day my back will be as normal as possible, or at the very least be able to one day hoist up my future children and carry them around because not being able to carry around your kids would S-T-I-N-K.

Well, Matthew got a complete workout and I had a great time hanging out and spending time with his Mom and family of friends. We were awesomely blessed by receiving a dining room buffet (this thing is huge!) and a china cabinet (also the neatest thing ever!) that matches up the dining room table we had already been given. It was such a nice and generous thing and they look so wonderful in our dining room!! WooHoo!!
I also was given the opportunity to snag a nice computer desk and decided to go ahead, because it would
1) force me to clean up the computer room, and
2) be a lot easier to operate in a smaller, more organized area.

The computer desk we did have was huge and steel, one my Father had gotten from his work. It was a job getting it out of our house, but all things are manageable.. even if some are doubtful! So, now I have a new computer desk and desk chair (and a clean computer room to boot)! Double WooHoo.

We ate lunch with Matthew's parents in our newly re-united dining room and Matthew got his beloved Chicago-style pizza from Vinny and Joe's. I wasn't too thrilled, but then I am a spaghetti/marinara sauce minimalist.

After his folks left Matthew camped out on the sofa and got through some DVR-ed shows I didn't care to see, and I spent time hooking back up the computer and all the JUNK that goes with it, cleaning as I went. I am putting FLAT SCREEN MONITOR on my wish list after the vacation funds have been replenished, because my HUGE monitor I got from DELL in 1999 weighs an absolute TON. I was able to lift it to place it down on the floor, but when it came time to lift from the floor I had to enlist Matthew, who just whined and said, " I wasn't the one who wanted this desk", like that absolved him of any and all participation in the mess. Sheesh! So, begrudgingly he moved the monitor for me and went back to couchland.

Around 9 we headed up to Mom and Dad's and waited on my Sister and Nephew to arrive home from their vacation to Disney World! Matthew baked them a cake and we got to see all of their pictures, which were totally awesome. Well, that was our exciting weekend! I will of course post the pictures when I get around to it... HaHa.

This is quite important

The "survival of the world" is at stake if Muslims and Christians do not make peace with each other, leaders of the Muslim world will warn the Pope and other Christian leaders today.

My iTunes is Playing...

I Hope, I Think, I Know by OASIS

Theyre trying hard to put me in my place,
And that is why Ive gotta keep running,
The future is mine and its no disgrace
Cos in the end the past means nothing.

You tell me Im free then you tie me down,
And from my chains I think its a pity,
What did it cost you to wear my crown,
You dont like me why dont you admit it.

I feel a little down today,
And I aint got much to say,
But your gonna miss me when Im not there
You know I dont care,
You know I dont care,

As we beg and steal and borrow,
Life is hit and miss,
And this, I hope, I think, I know,

If I ever hear the names, you call,
And if I stumble catch me when I fall,
Cos baby after all,
Youll never forget my name,
Youll never forget my name.

Your trying hard to put me in my place,
And that is why Ive gotta keep running,
The future is mine and its your disgrace,
Cos in the end your laugh means nothing.

To feel a little down today,
But you aint got much to say,
Whos gonna miss you when your not there,
You know we dont care.

Cos as we beg and steal and borrow,
Life is hit and miss,
And this, I hope, I think, I know,

If I ever hear the names, you call,
and if I stumble catch me when I fall,
Cos baby after all,
Youll never forget my name,
Youll never forget my name.

As we beg and steal and borrow,
Life is hit and miss,
And this, I hope, I think, I know,

If I ever hear the names, you call,
And if I stumble catch me when I fall,
Cos baby after all,
Youll never forget my name,
Youll never forget my name.
Youll never forget my name.

Wader and Prayer Chain Pictures!!

Gotta See This Movie!

I got this in an e-mail from Kristie, the 40 Days for Life Vigil coordinator:

Well....here is some news many of you have been waiting for....and news the rest of you, I promise, will be thrilled to get! Bella the movie IS COMING TO KNOXVILLE!!!! It will be opening on Friday, October 26 nationwide - and Knoxville is included!! I have made a phone call to confirm this fact. The Pinnacle at Turkey Creek as well at the Riviera on Gay Street (both Regal - God bless them!) will be showing Bella. Tickets will go on sale this Friday, October 12. This is just another example of God's hand in our Pro-Life work. Many of you were there when Bella came for a screening on September 12 - along with the leading actor, Eduardo Verastegui. That was an amazing experience - he is such a man of God. It would take me so much time to write about that day....but I will let you experience it on your own. Just be sure to check out the website at www.bellathemovie.com and buy your tickets as soon as you can - you won't want to miss it. Be sure to check out Eduardo's story as well!

I went to the Wikipedia article and the IMDB article, and this movie seems like a great reason for me to make a trip back up to Knoxville!!! I can not wait! If I time it right we can do the vigil again and then see the movie later in the day!!
On the Official Movie Site for Bella it is heavily promoting group ticket sales, so I guess this is another "Passion"-esque religion flick. YaY.
It had won so many awards and will be winning many Oscars.. I will bet money on it. Everyone I read says that in the screenings the film actually received standing ovations. YaY.

Here is another article on it.

Sorry, here's dinner.

Last night I forgot to put the pictures on here.. woops!
Well, after work I went to the Bi-Lo and decided to shop for one meal, and cook Matthew and I dinner.
This is pretty sensational because normally I leave the cooking to Matthew. In 5 and a half years I have prepared probably 3 meals. Yes, I am counting canned soups and hot dogs!
So, we get home and Matthew goes out and spends time with my Dad in the yard. I made some minestrone soup (from the little tube pouch mix), baked chicken fingers (with Mrs. Dash Tomato & Garlic), made rice pilaf with mexicorn, and crescent rolls. Sounded great in Bi-Lo. In actuality it was too much food.
And although I have a great fear of those refrigerated canned bread thingies, I was determined to have crescent rolls! I slowly unwrapped the cardboard label.. hoping I wasn't holding one of the seams that would bust open, because that would gross me out. I know.. irrational fear of popping canisters, eh?
So, It *POPs* open and I jump and let loose and it falls to the floor. Luckily it didn't make a mess. Then I get to looking at this gooey dough mess and try to follow the "separate triangles and roll" directions. Ultimately I had just chunked up a few gooey masses and hoped they would turn out OK.
Matthew hated the soup, and thought the chicken needed a dipping sauce, and thought the rolls were a bit too doughy. But he enjoyed the rice! Ugh!
I quit!
:-P

Salve Regina: Lego Church

Salve Regina: Lego Church



How Cool is that?!?!?!?!

Ouch!

So, Sunday went great at the Respect Life Sunday Prayer Chain downtown. It was just an hour, but we lined the street and had a great hour of independent prayer. We were even joined by a protestant church from downtown who prayed with us and their pastor led the closing prayer after we gathered back in front of the Catholic Charities building on McCallie Avenue.
Matthew and I came home and ate some KFC (yum) and I noticed that the v-neck top I had been wearing had left me with a nasty burn on my lower neck and chest area. Matthew got me some aloe gel, but I was toast. I had a hard time getting comfortable enough to sleep Sunday night, and called in to work Monday.
I was covered in tiny surface blisters that were just awful. I am so surprised that only one hour of sun made such a burn! I am so fair skinned anyhow, it makes it look 10 times worse in contrast to my white skin. Ugh.
I have photos I will post tonight (of the event, maybe the burn).
But I am back at work today and feeling great.
I caught up on my Netflix movies, The Last Sin Eater, and A Good Baby. Both rural Appalachia movies, and oddly enough both had Henry Thomas in them. Weird!


I absolutely L_O_V_E_D The Last Sin Eater, directed by Michael Landon Jr. it was the best movie I have seen all year, it had me boo-hooing in the very best way!I spent thirty minutes explaining the whole thing to Matthew last night, it is one of those films you want to tell people about and talk about. It is also a novel, but I read that the timeline of the two are so different you should just do either the film or the book, but not both. I am going to buy it.

A Good Baby was a sad movie about poverty and love, but I would still recommend it. I did think the story was very engaging. They sure cast excellently.

Box Turtles

Ick, this week has been one hectic trip! I am so thankful it is the WEEKEND! WooHoo!!!
Well, Friday night Matthew, Michael, and I went to Amigo's in Dayton and ate dinner, then came home and watched "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?". LOL. We are just so wild in our 20's!
This morning I woke up early and my sister and I went to the Flea Market and walked around.. buying nothing, but that was OK with us.
My nephew and I went to the Wal-Mart to pick up some cat food and supplies for my Mom, who was making a meal (the best!) for everyone. On the road home we encountered a turtle in the road. Being the rednecks we most certainly are, we turned around and rescued it and brought it home. :-) It was a big one, and it wouldn't come out of it's shell for us, not even with my Nephew tempting him with excess celery from Mom's meal. So we then ran up to my house to feed the cats (and let Matthew know that the sun had been up for a rather long time, and most civilized people were awake.. plus the food was ready!). And on the way back up the driveway I spotted another turtle in the yard!
We stopped and picked it up, a smaller box turtle, and took both of the turtles to the bathtub and had a cute little "turtle sanctuary" going on. It was funny.
After the meal (so exquisite!) we came home and Matthew watched TV and I took a nap.
Michael came up and we (FINALLY) finished seeing his pictures from the 2 month trip to Europe. whew! That was a LOT of pictures and videos! Two whole evening's worth!
My Sister and Nephew are leaving for Disney late tonight :-( I am so upset that we are waiting until December now!! Oh Well, I know they will have a great vacation (if that is possible without going with Matthew and I!)
Such a great Saturday!
P.S. No turtles were harmed, just "tagged" (painted shells) and released.

Spiritual Adoption

I am spiritually adopting a baby. Here you can track his/her growth. Join me in praying for all of the little miracles.

ABC ?! I haven't watched ABC in years!

Okay, so in a fluke I have taped a few ABC shows that premiered this week.
Normally I shun all sitcoms that are new and haven't stood the test of time or aren't highly buzzed about.
I DVR-ed Cavemen, Carpoolers, and Pushing Daisies(Well, it's scheduled for tonight).
Cavemen was eh, OK. The writing was intensely intelligent and I liked it well enough to give it another chance next week. I mean, for a 30 minute sitcom, I don't have a huge expectation. (Can you believe they STILL make 30 minute shows?)
Carpoolers was AWESOME, like watching a funny movie. Napoleon Dynamite meets Office Space. At the end of it's 30 minutes I made sure I had a season pass. I love it so so so so much!!!
Tonight we have RCIA, so no TV watching tonight.

Politicos

So, I took down my Fred Thompson banner on the right hand side. I just can't get behind him anymore. I "googled" Ron Paul as Matthew saw on a poster and WHOA! Where did this guy come from? Why is it I had never heard of him?!?!
I read his positions on wikipedia, and I am totally voting for this man. Plus, hes an OB/Gyn, how cool is that?!?!?!?!
His site is HERE, and I am all about it!

As Promised

Here are some pictures from this weekend. Random, yes.
A Spider from the porch, Kira walking around, 40 Days for Life vigil, Flowers from Mom's porch, etc.

What a weekend!

We had the VERY BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!
Saturday we got up early and headed down the road to the Ladies of Charity Thrift Store. It was so fun! We volunteered from 10-2 (the Saturday store hours) and I got to do so much and the customers were great. The ladies that showed me how do do the register and everything were so neat. I worked primarily with a lady named Jennifer, who has volunteered there for 19 years! She knew most all of the customers and you can just tell the people that work there are so happy and excited.
Matthew worked in the back for most of the day breaking down boxes. I ran the register and we were busy busy! Around 1 Matthew came up front and helped out and we hang a lot of clothes and had some slow times to cut up with the ladies. I bought myself a sweater for $1.00, and my nephew a sweater for $1.00 too! Yay!
After working there we went and ate lunch at a new place(albeit a chain)in Hixson called 5 Guys. It was really good.
We couldn't meet with Chad for dinner due to some awful family circumstances (praying his family is doing OK). So, we went home Saturday evening and enjoyed the time just watching TV and sitting back.
Sunday morning we were up and out by 5:20 on our way to Knoxville!!
We found the place easily and then stayed at the McDonald's nearby while I thought I might be too ill to stay! But everything went OK, and we met the coordinator Kristie at 8 a.m. and helped set up the banners and table.
She left to go to Mass and Matthew and I manned the sidewalk for 4 hours by ourselves! It was truly amazing, and eye-opening. Even though the clinic doesn't have Sunday hours, here we were sitting on the sidewalk (in camp chairs) and waving to the cars. Yes, there were negative people, but for every detractor, we had hundreds of honks and waves, and thumbs-up! At noon a new family came and we handed off the cause :-)
It was so much fun and I would do it again if only it wasn't so far away (but then that is a good thing too!!)
Matthew was great! He manned the post while I went out and bought us some coffee from Starbucks and got bagels to keep at the stand for the day. (I got an e-mail saying it was much appreciated, and we were glad to do it). It was just so laid back, we sat and waved, prayed, talked, ate bagels, and drank coffee. Activism is Fun!
After we left there we met our friend James at the mall in Knoxville and went to eat at Calhoun's. We have never been disappointed by the food there. It was great. We had such an enjoyable time with him, and then we power-walked the mall and headed home. Whew!
Matthew and I took pictures, but I didn't get them uploaded last night. Hopefully new pics tonight!!!
:-)