The Sad and the Stupid

You decide which adjective fits what.

First of all, call me naive, but I don't see how images of aborted babies can be labelled "controversial." If you're going to abort your child, at least have the guts to face what you've done to the child. But then having an abortion is cowardly anyway.

On a lighter note, this criminal is not the brightest bulb in the box.

Progress

I wanted to show you how I'm doing on the doll outfit I'm creating. So here's a picture of Josephine, a 16-inch doll, wearing the petticoat I made for her, and a muslin, or trial version, of the top and the sleeve patterns I was working on. The trial version helped me make the pattern look the way I want, and I've started the actual top. I'm not ready to show it though.

Wildchild and her friend the Princess, and the Princess' mother and I, went to see Barbie: Live in Fairytopia Friday night. It was a very fun, girlie time. Of course, we had to stop at Handel's on the way home, so it was just an overall lovely evening. So, is the Princess' mother, the Queen? Long live their Majesties!

Book Meme

Well, I managed to blog for over a year before my first tag, but I just got hit by Dan at Necessary Roughness! So here goes:

1. One book that changed your life:
Besides the Bible? I know people think there is questionable spirituality in some of the Franklin-Covey books, but I liked the The 10 Natural Laws of Time and Life Management by Hyrum W. Smith, back when it was still Franklin Quest. It talks about the importance of not just managing your time, but using it on things that are most important to you. And I love my Franklin Day Planner.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
I read all my books over and over, if I like them. I like reliving the experience of the book.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
Besides a desert island survival book? Probably a long, well-written biography or autobiography of a former royal or royal family.

4. One book that made you laugh:
The Joy of Work by Scott Adams. So sadly true that it's hilariously funny.

5. One book that made you cry:
Merlin by Stephen R. Lawhead. The scene where Merlin finds the dead bodies of his wife and unborn child after the Saxons have raided. This simple scene is more moving and intense than other scenes with more intense and massive carnage that he writes in other books. It's also a testament to the humanity of unborn life.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
I can't think of anything besides "just that one more story" by a favorite author that everybody wants. Another mystery by Agatha Christie, or another good Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
I'll say Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. One of the books that started the whole modern liberal feminism crap.

8. The book you are currently reading:
I'm not reading anything right now. :O I usually page through favorite parts of books I've already read, or I sit down and devour a book at one sitting.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Dan recommended The Constitution in Exile by Andrew Napolitano to me a week or so ago and I agree it sounds like a good choice.

10. Now tag five people:
Marie, Susan, Lucy, Des Moines Girl and Kate.

Life Is Not Fair

That's the summary I came to in my mind after hearing a radio advertisement that totally set me off. The same idiot who ate 5,000 worth of calories every day for thirty days at a fast-food restaurant just to prove that - eating 5,000 calories a day will make you fat, duh! has a television show featuring publicity stunts to prove his other preconceived ideas. One show will feature a man who was cut from his job because the work went overseas, and his soundbyte featured in the advertisement made me yell at the radio - "The American dream was taken away from me." So, what is the American dream? That you'll get some basic job, work there for great wages and health benefits for the rest of your life, retire early at 62 and live happily ever after forever, Amen? Sorry, we're living in the wrong universe for that. Let me direct you back to the title of my post. Life? Totally not fair. You can give up on your dreams if things go wrong, which they will. Unless your dream is unrealistic, you can always keep working towards your dream. Maybe you'll achieve it. Maybe not. See that not fair thing above. It's the American dream, not the American guarantee. For that matter (for my non-U.S. readers :) ) it's not even just the American dream anymore. In any country where there is economic freedom, a person can work towards success.

Is it great that manufacturing jobs are going overseas? Not necessarily. I've read articles by lots of economists with good points but different opinions, and I don't know the big picture of world economy well enough to posit my own opinion. Whatever the reason, however, people lose jobs. It's a sad fact of life, but no one owes us employment, or a "living wage," or anything else. I'll never forget a woman complaining on a radio call-in show a month or so back that she makes so much better money driving a truck in Florida than in Ohio, and why can't Ohio do something about it, as she lives in Ohio three or four months out of the year. To the reasonable query of why she doesn't just live in Florida full time: "It's too hot down there in the summer." The radio host let this pass. I wouldn't have. Why should the state or anyone else improve your life for you? If you can't take the heat, stay out of the whinefest!

Do I rant when things are difficult, or maybe even ... unfair? Heck yeah. But I know it's up to my husband and I to work through hard times, even if we didn't cause them. Sometimes I falter and break down and want to give up, but for things to get better, eventually I have to pull myself back. Even if people help me to get up, I still have to get back up to change things. People, not a government plan, mind you. We can and should help each other, but we can't do it for each other.

I want to start carrying around a big bag full of pacifiers. Everytime somebody starts whining about how the government should do this or that, I'll just hand them a pacifier. Think it'll work? Nah, you're right. It'd take a miracle. ;)

Stamping!

Okay, we made four stamping projects on Sunday. It was fun, although I didn't do so great at it. My hands shake a lot and some of my stamps were kinda blurry. Oh well, I had a really nice day! Thank you to our stamp camp hostess who put everything together and helped us all through it! So, here are two of my projects.



The one with the red truck is going to my sister-in-law who is currently in Washington State. She's there for six to eight weeks for work, and she gets lonely. :( She used to drive a red pickup truck, and since she is an I Love Lucy fan, I made the driver's hair bright red! :)

Getting back to my "day out", I agree with Dr. Brenda Hunter in Home by Choice that women are not always that great at making time to hang out with other women. Of course, it's not as easy as it used to be. The women in my neighborhood work, so they're not around a lot. They're either working, or taking their kids to all the activities they put them in, or running errands on the weekends. But I do think social interaction helps keep my mood up and refreshes me for the things I have to do at home, so I like to do it when I get a chance. I'm an introvert, so I don't need interaction as much as an extroverted person would, but even introverted people need to spend time with other people!

Summer Days, Driftin' Away

As has already been posted at her site, I had the children of Homestead Lutheran Academy at my house on Thursday. I managed to get one great shot of the Artist and the Engineer in action. Then the ball got kicked over the fence into the neighbor's yard. :)









I've got lots of stuff on tap, but nothing to show as of right now. I don't think bits of fabric are as exciting to look at as a sweater in progress. "Okay, here's some pieces of fabric I cut out!!!" Hopefully I will have something interesting soon.

I'm going to my first Stamp Camp tomorrow. It involves - stamping! with ink and rubber stamps. We'll see how I do. It will be some time with adults and no kids, anyway! Sometimes I don't know how pioneer women managed living by themselves in the middle of nowhere. I suppose not all of them did so well. Re-read (or read) These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

What Price Living?

Sometimes it seems as though I see things in a pattern. Right now, so much that I see is telling me of the breakdown of respect and value for life. Our government wants to use our money to destroy human life, on the chance of possibly helping or saving human life sometime in the future. If this is acceptable, how long will it be before the premise of the sci-fi movie my husband was watching last night comes true - clones created to serve as "parts factories" for the "original" humans? The wealthy and unscrupulous making more money by creating and selling life, the unwitting clones living a life of lies and false memories, while the wealthy benefactors are assured that their "parts suppliers" are "not human."

We have already decided that embryos are not human, which has lead us onward to abort unborn babies and abandon newborns in dumpsters. Well, we've moved up to two-year-olds being left in dumpsters too. Human life seen as so much trash.

But even though the most vulnerable, children, see the repercussions first when we begin to see life as expendable, apparently to some on the left, even adults can be seen as "not human" if we have the wrong views.

I think "never again" needs to be replaced with "over and over again." Without the certainty that each of us has been fearfully and wonderfully brought into being, with an eternal future, without the knowledge that God cares for and has plans for all of us, what will humans not do to prolong and enrich their own desperate, grasping lives? If we do not want to become the same as any other animal fighting for supremacy and survival, we need to care for all lives.

Ooops

I forgot that I need to post a link to the latest Lutheran Carnival, hosted by Charles Lehmann of Drowning Myself Whenever I Can. So go check it out! There's lots to read.

Wilting

The heat is only part of why I'm feeling down. I have some things to work out that seem impossible to solve. I also have things to do that I don't feel up to doing.

My bright spot: there was a little celebration of my birthday at the party on Saturday hosted by Homestead Lutheran Academy and the Quipper. I got a lovely homemade card and there was a yummy cake. It especially meant a lot to me because I am currently not talking to the sister who shares my birthday. After getting the encouragement and support I needed I was finally able to break away from the family members who only hurt me. Even when they try to get in touch with me, it's never "We miss you." It's always "You need us." Well, I am slowly growing happier and having more self-confidence without them. But on occasions like my birthday it just feels a bit strange still. So I appreciated the gestures people made for me.

What's Life if You Never Get to the Point?

Okay, I know several of my readers do not like Kevin Keane, but c'mon, he spent a good bit of last night's show talking about Cedar Point! He took his family there on Tuesday, and hopes some of our struggling Tribe players were also there getting some much needed R&R.

I love Cedar Point. It's in my blood. I hope there are roller coasters in heaven. I know Kennywood has been advertising heavily here in the Cleveland area, and it looks like a nice little park, but it can't touch Cedar Point. Cedar Point was recently named "America's Favorite Amusement Park" by the readers of Theme Parks Magazine for the second year in a row, along with a bunch of other awards. Cedar Point had three roller coasters in the list of top four steel roller coasters! Cedar Point's Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster are experiences not to be missed, and even in her 17th year, Magnum XL-200 still consistently ranks in the top 5 of steel roller coasters.

Cedar Point also was named by the international readers of Amusement Today in 2005 as the "Best Amusement Park in the World" for the eighth consecutive year!

Of course, Cedar Point is well known for her roller coasters. In this photo, you can see a few: Wildcat, Millennium Force, Mantis, Iron Dragon and Corkscrew. There are sixteen coasters total.

Two are kiddie coasters.


And speaking of kids, Cedar Point has two Kiddielands, Kiddie Kingdom and Camp Snoopy, plus a play area behind the Snoopy Boutique where kids can play more quietly for a break, ride a miniature train, maybe even hear a story.




There's a nice assortment of thrill rides, both old-fashioned like the Matterhorn, and brand-new, like maXair and Skyhawk.

If you get warm, there's two water rides.

For those who want a calmer visit, Cedar Point still has lots of traditional rides, and shows featuring not only singers and dancers, but some featuring divers or ice skaters! You can find lots of shopping, include a casual stroll along the Frontier Trail. There's tons of food options, and Cedar Point always ranks high in the entertainment and food categories, as well as park cleanliness and friendliness of staff.

So have fun! Ride early, ride often! You and your kids will sleep well that night!

More LEGO

Since we're on the subject of LEGO(R), I thought I'd share one of my own little creations, a one-of-a-kind mini-fig. Does anyone remember the series of tie-in commercials with the first Star Wars "prequel" that featured Col. Sanders, the Taco Bell chihuahua and the Pizza Hut girl flying off in Col. Sanders' white car to save the universe? Well, my husband once created these characters as mini-figs for his Brikwars army for a campaign. We wiped a mini-fig clean with rubbing alcohol, and I painted it to resemble the Col. What do you think?

He had the abilities of a Jedi according to the Brikwars rules. Although unfortunately none of the Trio survived the battle, it was really fun. Here's a synopsis from the official Brikwars page featuring battles by the Buckeye LEGO(R) Owner's Club: The interstellar war of two starfaring civilizations is interrupted by the interference of hallucinating civil-war reenactors and an SCA rennaissance fair gone wrong. All vie to discover and make off with a mysterious crystal of unimaginable power, which is defended by the super-powered Colonel Sanders, Taco Bell Chihuahua, and Pizza Hut Girl.

Good times, good times.

By the way, apparently we weren't the only ones to have this sort of idea.

I'd Like to Be...Under the Sea

Okay, I have to tell Scottius Maximus why the song Octopus's Garden reminds me of Legoland. It's a silly reason, really, but a good memory. Dh's college roommate and our good friend got married in 2001 in California. Dh was a groomsman, the Scientist was the flowergirl. So of course we had to see the sights while we were out there, and one of the places we visited was Legoland. One of the rides was a lovely little boat ride past all kinds of Lego creations, and the last thing we passed was this band, playing, you guessed it: Octopus's Garden.

So now I can't hear the song without picturing this scene. But it was great fun. I'll leave you with more pictures from that ride. I hope this poor guy doesn't fall in!

The Taj Mahal - made of Lego brand building blocks.

NYC - made of Lego brand building blocks. It took us a while after leaving Legoland to adjust to everything not being made of Lego brand building blocks.

Only a Man in a Funny Red Sheet

On a bulletin board I read, several members were discussing the new Superman movie, and it also became apparent to me that they idolized Christopher Reeve, and I mean that almost literally. For example, check out this cartoon published upon his death. Yes, I have seen editorial cartoons before that showed the deceased going to a "heaven," and sometimes showing a role that person played in a movie. But in this case, thoughts that people viewed Reeve as having some sorts of "powers" are reinforced by this editorial cartoon upon the death of his wife, Dana. One of the bulletin board readers has saved it on her website and commented on how touching it was. To me, it is a case of man once again looking to the created instead of the Creator. When I die, I know the only thing I can trust to save me is Jesus' death and resurrection, His redemption for me. No matter what a person achieves in this lifetime, we are all still only people. Only Jesus could tell a paralyzed man to get up and walk, and only Jesus can offer us life and salvation. And so unlike the man in this cartoon, I know where hope can be found, and it is not in a movie, or in an actor or any other human. Thanks be to God that He loves us, and is able to do everything for us.

Totally 80's

Yeah! The "prairie look" is back! See here, here and here. Oh, how I loved my Gunne Sax clothes when I was in eighth grade! If I had any pictures I could put on line, I'd even be bold enough to share some with you! My daughters are using one of my old "prairie skirts" for dress-up; maybe I'll get a picture of one of them in it.

Did anyone else (of the right age ;)) love the prairie look? The ruffles, the puffed sleeves, the pretty calico prints, the quilted jackets? I've been buying old Gunne Sax patterns in kids' sizes when I can, so I can reproduce that look for my daughters. Well, I guess it will just have to be for Wildchild, who would live in skirts. The Scientist wears skirts reluctantly for special occasions and likes them very streamlined. One out of two isn't bad!

Cranky

When the Indians game is going as badly as it is tonight, it's not fun to listen to, but even when it's going well, the commercials are excruciating. First Energy: "We're improving service, because we love our customers, not because we took down half of the eastern seaboard's electricity a couple years ago, no, no!" Or Sherwin-Williams: Painting is a source of contention between husbands and wives and you the wife will have to be a witchy little shrew to get your husband to do it for you. That commercial makes me want to buy Glidden. And I know commercials cost money to make, but why do we have to hear some of the same stupid commercials for the second baseball season in a row, several times a game! We have TIVO for televisions; can we get something to edit out commercials on radio and pipe in the music of your choice instead?

Happy Fourth!

I was too busy having fun today to take pictures for blog posterity, so I got someone else to take them for me! Most of the pictures I have from the day were taken by the talented Die-Hard Equestrian.

Here I am in the pool with most of the kids. We felt more comfortable having an adult in the pool with that many little kids, and I like being in the pool too. In the picture are also two of the offspring of Schreiben von Schreiber, the son of Theological Universe and Krazyinbrooklyn, the Engineer and the Artist whose parents are Homestead Lutheran Academy and The Quipper, and my own Wildchild and Scientist.

Here is the other son of the aforementioned Theological Universe and Krazyinbrooklyn, who is too young for the bigger pool as of yet.

And we can't leave out the adorably cute youngest Schreiben von Schreiber, who was too young for any real pool stuff, and mostly wanted a nap.

Let's hear a round of applause for our intrepid photographer!

We also were blessed today to host both of our pastors, the spouse of Pistol Packin' Presbytera, and the father of your blog hostess at Homestead Lutheran Academy. Last but not least, we also hosted the brother of Schreiben von Schreiber, and this guy, who is not live-blogging the party despite appearances! :)

It was nice celebrating our nation's birthday with such a great group of people. I pray that God will bless and protect our nation and those who defend it.

Our Secret Is Out!

Heard on a Pittsburgh tourism commerical here in Cleveland: "Even if you don't like our football team, and we know you don't..."

Dollies

Just thought I'd share a picture of my big activity for the day. The Scientist is at a sleepover birthday party tonight and her friend has two American Girl dolls, just as the Scientist does. So I made her friend two identical outfits for her dolls. One of the Scientist's dolls is the model in this picture; I wanted to have a picture of the outfit to keep for myself.



One of the nice things about my husband working in Chicago for six months a while back was getting to visit him and do things in the area. And one of the things my daughters loved to do was go to American Girl Place. The Scientist had a Girl of Today at the time and has since received Samantha also; Wildchild loves her Bitty Baby and all her Bitty Friends. Since my husband was in Chicago for six months, we were able to visit the American Girl Place several times and do a different thing each time, thus breaking up the time involved (and the cost!) Here are the three of us at lunch in the American Girl Cafe. You can see that the dolls are at the table with us, and each doll gets her own little place setting. We had a lot of fun experiences there, and it was nice to see all the little girls walking around doll in tow. My husband was fortunately not debilitatingly overwhelmed by all the estrogen. :)



Of course, I must add that this was before all the problems with AG supporting an inappropriate outside group were really aired. I'm not sure what the current attitude is toward AG, although I know their involvement with said group has ended. Fortunately, our beloved dollies do not need to lack for clothes (see above) and there are lots of "cottage industries" supplying other things for them too. Why do companies have to involve toys with political agendas?