I Guess I'm Not a Christian

At least from the point of view of some as expressed by this blogger, who explains in greater detail James Dobson's statement that Fred Thompson is not a Christian, in that Thompson is not an evangelical Christian. Reading this blogger's explanations on how baptism can rate below asking Jesus into your heart, making a decision, etc., makes me sick to my stomach. It takes me back to one of the worst times in my life, when a teacher at my Lutheran high school was pulling the same song and dance, that being a Christian or not depended on what I did, not what God did for me. I was miserable, upset, confused almost to the point of insanity, wondering if I was pleasing God, if I meant my prayers, if I was really a Christian when I couldn't point to an experience in my life when I was "saved." I knew deep down I didn't need one experience to point back to in order to "prove" my Christianity, but I still felt like I must not measure up in God's eyes. Well, if my Christianity, my standing with God, my eternal future, depend on what I do; then I'm eternally doomed, because I can't do anything on my own. All my righteousness, all my "sinner's prayers," all my "decisions" are as filthy rags before the one true and righteous Judge. Instead, I am clothed with Christ through baptism, united with him in His death and His resurrection, and I daily put off the old man and put on the new. Simul iustus et peccator.

I'm Not Just Evil, I'm Sinister

I enjoy hand sewing, finding it very relaxing, and I'm trying to get into more hand sewing and embroidery as my daughters are involved in more activities where I am sitting around waiting for them to be done. As I have worked on increasing my hand sewing proficiency over the years, the book in this picture has been a great help, since sewing for me is backward from the way you so-called "normal" people do it. I'd like to find a book on doing embroidery stitches left-handed, because I'm experiencing frustration trying to make attractive stitches right now. Maybe it just needs practice.

Ho Hum

Life seems a little bit boring right now. I'm getting a lot done, cleaning and organizing the house, and sewing some spring and summer clothes for the girls, but nothing exciting is happening on that front. I plan on posting pics of some of the clothes I make for the girls, and also my new sewing/doll room when I get moved in and get it set up, but there is not much going on on that front.

I'm looking forward to Easter, but with the weather looking like we may get snow on Easter Sunday, maybe the girls should re-wear their Christmas dresses! It's pretty much official that it will just be the four of us for Easter dinner, which is nice, but then again not out of the ordinary. At least we won't need to buy a big ham.

I've been sleeping too much, again, so I've cut back on my medication, again. Between that and my computer dying periodically, blog time has been cut back. But it looks like my husband has fixed the computer problem, and if I can stay awake and active, blog time should be going back up.

New Toy

My technology-loving husband is taking the opportunity of a new cell phone contract to upgrade our cell phones. I got the first new phone, and although I was hesitant to change over from my "tried-and-true," I have to admit I like this new phone a lot. It can take pictures and video, and also play MP3s! Oh yeah, and you can make phone calls on it. I suppose I will be busy for a while now learning how to use it, but I think I will enjoy all the features of this phone, once I figure them out!

One of Ours

Via The Dawn Patrol, a great musical answer to Al "Mr. Electric Bill" Gore, done by fellow Clevelander Saint Kansas.

Postal Problems

Our mail carrier was too lazy or too much in a hurry to get out and walk up to our front stoop to drop off a Priority envelope, so now the over-a-hundred-year-old picture I bought off of ebay has a nice crease down the middle, from where the mail carrier bent the envelope to fit it into the box. Grrr.

More Cat Blogging

While I'm on the subject of cats, let me introduce you to Callie and Champ, mother and son. Callie loves to drink out of the faucet in the tub, and whenever one of us humans heads upstairs, she vocalizes that she would like a drink. And since I'm guessing that she has some Siamese in her, based on her body type and the fact that she has calico coloring just where a Siamese would have "points", she can vocalize with the best of them.

Here's a picture of Champ's adorable face.

Next, we have Molly, who knows how pretty she is. Unfortunately, she is very high-strung, probably as a result of bad experiences we don't know about from her previous home. We got her as an adult.

Our last cat is Cedric, who not only knows how pretty he is, he likes to pose and have you tell him that he is pretty. He is the old man of the house, 14 years old.

And here is Tabitha, a cat we took in for a short period of time many years ago. This picture is soooo cute I had to throw it in. She got onto the porch of my daughter's dollhouse all by herself.

I'm Having an ADD Day

I feel like I'm being pulled in about twenty different directions. I can't do this until I do this but I can't do that until I do this. I'm going to wander up to my sewing room in a bit and just cut out clothing pieces, I think. And then pray I get the pieces sewn together before the kids outgrow the clothes. :P

Furry Friends

I'm saddened by the loss of pet animals, and the almost absolute certainty that more will be lost. I'm very disturbed by the fact that the pet food that is killing animals appears to have had rat poison in it. I'd like to make my animals' own pet food, but I don't always have the time or energy to make home-cooked meals from scratch for my own human family. Still, does anyone know a good recipe for home-made cat food?

In memory of my dear Hobbes, who we euthanized at age 7 due to kidney failure, seven years ago.

Round and Round the Blogosphere

From the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, a case that makes me worry about the fate of Germany. A woman wants a speedy divorce from her husband (both come from Morocco) because her husband has beaten her and threatened to kill her. Guess what religion they are? However, the judge did not see this as a hardship case worthy of overthrowing the normally required one year between separation and divorce. Siting the Koran, the judge basically said, "Hey, men from your cultural background beat their wives all the time. No biggie." Such wonderful support for multi-culturalism and freedom of religion makes me want to barf.

From the The Wide Awake Cafe, another German denizen should be put to death, or so the activists for so-called "animal rights" say. Yes, just because a baby polar bear's mother has abandoned it, Knut, a polar bear cub who lives in the Berlin Zoo, should be killed instead of being hand-raised. Where do they find the loony bins who could advocate for the death of an animal? Well, I suppose if you keep in mind that many of these people call for the death of unborn humans, and that PETA routinely kills shelter animals (see this YouTube video for just some of the information that is out there), I guess it's not really that surprising. Language warning on the video.

Lastly, from JunkYardBlog, an interesting set of ideas on why perhaps we should rethink the decriminalization of marijuana. Now, I agree with Ace of Spades that "the plural of anecdote is not data," but I coulda told you a long time ago that marijuana fries your brain after talking to the sister of a guy who used it. He'd basically wiped his memory, not being able to remember such things as his own high school graduation, or going to visit his sister in the hospital after she gave birth. A former co-worker of my husband's, when he waited tables, went from straight A high school student, to high school dropout, to stripper, to waiting tables after getting pregnant while high (the stretch marks pretty much ended her stripping career). Props to her for having her child, though, and she and her husband (and the father of her baby) did try hard to be good parents. Now of course, libertarians also want to do away with the nanny state, but in the meantime, we might also want to think about the effect of kids throwing away their futures and ending up on the dole because of indulging in a so-called "harmless" drug.

And from yours truly, just because it's fun, some rehearsal footage from Phantom of the Opera on YouTube, with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. Very cool, if you love or even like the Phantom musical!

A Little Discussion

I'm very tired. I spent most of the day running, put over 100 miles on the car today alone. All important things that were accomplished, but still, I'm worn out. So here's a little something I've been thinking about. Was there any class in high school that you still find of practical value today? For me, it's touch typing, for obvious reasons! It helps so much when blogging and IM'ing. Not to mention all the papers I wrote in high school and college that I typed. Did you know that I'm so old, that when I started college, I used an *actual typewriter*? No, really! By the time I graduated, though, the college had a computer lab.

Somehow, my husband, who works on computers for a living, has managed to create his own sort of touch typing. Kind of the Christopher Columbus method, find a key and land on it. I didn't make that one up! No, really!

I did take computer programming in high school, so I guess I can't be *that* old. Okay, it was on an Apple IIe, and we learned BASIC, but still. It helped later on when I actually had a job programming in COBOL. Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that. :)

What about what high school class(es) you most enjoyed, helpful or no? I enjoyed history classes, for the most part, and German and Spanish. I've used my German and Spanish, even went on to major in German and minor in Spanish in college. I don't know what I would have done with them, but I've used them in lots of non-career scenarios. And I'm teaching my daughters German now, so that's useful. I got to know my husband partially by being his German TA, which was *very* useful! ;) Plus the ten-week trip to Germany/Austria. I probably would have learned most of the history on my own, because of my own weird interests in reading. But I suppose it's just as well they be required, for those who don't/won't read on their own.

The classes I think were the least useful, you can guess, were the math and science classes. As a matter of fact, I forgot all the formulas I was supposed to learn for chemistry before I even took the final. Which is why I flunked the final. I think I would do better in science and math classes today if I re-took them. I have more life experience, and being around my math and science geek husband for so many years now does not hurt. Actually, I wonder if style of teaching does not contribute something, because I actually did fairly well in Algebra II. Of course, I don't remember any of it now. Explain to me again why we need advanced math and science courses for everyone?

Oh Good Grief!

Why, oh why, oh why, oh why, must President Bush's every move be met with such major upheaval? Unless you people hadn't noticed, we're in a war here!!! Once again, what you do is only wrong when you have an R after your name.

Pet Food Recall

This pet food recall in the U.S, with over 90 brands of cat and dog food listed, concerns me. Thank God, our cats are not affected. It still makes me wonder. Will we be told the source of the contaminated product when all is said and done? Why will the FDA not identify the supplier of the wheat gluten? Is it paranoid to wonder exactly how this contamination occurred? In the meantime, I feel sad for all the people who have lost beloved pets due to this.

Article above via Lucianne.

I Love Being Lutheran

I know not everyone who reads here is Lutheran, so those of you who aren't can just disregard this post, but Dan at Necessary Roughness has just posted a great essay on the good points of being Lutheran that I wanted to share with those of you readers who are also.

My Visual DNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Via Lilac Rose.

Signs of New Life

Like there is at Scottius Maximus' place, there are signs of new life outside our house. My crocuses are starting to appear. For some reason, it is especially pleasant this year to think about spring appearing, with the promise of warmer weather, and summer to come!

My husband is also bringing his garage/workshop back to life. Tonight he finished staining the first of a set of three endtables.

Just in Case

Maybe I really could homeschool my kids through high school! :)

You paid attention during 100% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
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Happy St. Patrick's Day

If today wasn't a Saturday, and the weather so cold, we might consider heading to downtown Cleveland to check out the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. As it is, there will probably be a lot more drunken idiots downtown than usual. We can just watch it on television, if we want. One of my grandparents was Irish. Woo hoo!

Check out the Aardvark for a history of St. Patrick's life. And from dictionary.com, some origins of words commonly associated with this holiday, like shamrock, leprechaun and beer!

Éirinn go Brách

Today the girls and I took a field trip of sorts, to Mr. Evil Genius' place of employ. At noon, in what is called "the Square," between the card shop and the Starbucks, students from the McCarthy-Ryan Academy of Irish Dance performed. It was a very enjoyable experience.


Some of the music was taped, and some was provided by a live violinist.

Guilty Pleasure

I have to admit it. I love the television show Supernatural. I love a good ghost story, which Supernatural often is. This week's episode, though, felt kinda like Ghost Whisperer. Only I think Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are better looking than Jennifer Love Hewitt. YMMV, of course.