7 Quick Takes, The Sunday Edition

--1--

I've been trying to put my thoughts into words over the last week and a half since the election.  I pound away at my keyboard and push "Delete" over and over.  How do I express my profound disappointment without sounding like a sore loser and a whiner?  How do I say that four more years of Barack Obama will turn our country on its head and it will be almost impossible to get back what the Founding Fathers gave us without sounding like an alarmist?  How do I lament the fact that so many people seem more interested in getting handouts than taking risks without sounding like a snob who doesn't care about people in need?  And how do I (finally, after four years) admit that Barack Hussein Obama is in fact anti-American, has no interest in our national security, doesn't give a crap about you or me or anyone else except himself and his own twisted agenda to make America weaker and poorer without sounding like a loony conspiracy theorist?  I've heard many conservatives rant about how people who voted for Obama are fools, crazy liberal extremists, Kool-Aid drinkers; some Catholic bishops even went so far as to imply that because of Obama's pro-abortion record, voting for him would constitute a mortal sin.  Well, I know plenty of people who support Obama, and they're not any of these things (and I'm certainly not about to point any fingers and yell "sinner" at anyone).  They are kind and generous people who, like you and me, want the best possible future for their children and our country.  We just disagree (quite strongly, to be honest) about what that might look like and who would better serve our nation.  There are certainly some raving lunatics and Kool-Aid drinkers on both sides, and I'm convinced that the results of the election (assuming there was minimal voter fraud and Obama won fair and square--although did you see this story fromPhiladelphia?) is a reflection of our culture's moving away from God and from basic moral principles and our adoption of if-it-feels-good-do-it and how-dare-you-judge-me attitudes.  If I say abortion is always wrong, I'm an extremist.  If I don't want to pay for your birth control, I don't care about women.  If I say that marriage is between one man and one woman, I'm a bigot.  Am I racist if I criticize Obama?  Most people I know wouldn't accuse me of that, but remember when Jimmy Carter said that people who were against Obama just couldn't deal with having a black man in the White House?  We have a challenging four years ahead of us, but I am not going to sit around and whine about it.  I've made a promise to myself to be more kind, more patient, and more generous.  Every day I pray for four things:  tirelessness, selflessness, wisdom, and joy.  (I don't pray for patience; that always gets me into trouble.  I figure "wisdom" is much better, don't you think?)  If we all had more of those things, how much more wonderful this world would be.

--2--

Do you know this is the Year of Faith?  Truthfully I haven't really thought much about it; other than to tell myself perhaps I should start reading the Bible daily again and pray more regularly and consistently.  I have done one thing, though:  Flocknote has a very cool way you can read the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  I have one sitting on my shelf that I've barely touched.  Well, you can sign up to receive daily emails with a little bit of the Catechism in each one, and if you keep up you'll read it all the way through in a year.  I've already fallen behind, but every few days I'll read several of them at once, so hopefully it won't get too far ahead of me.  Interested?  Go here.

--3--

Saturday I ran my first 5K.  I shouldn't say I ran it; I walked some and ran some.  I originally signed up for it because Curly and Moe are preparing to test for their black belts (hopefully in January) and they need to do some "endurance events" between now and then.  The 5K was a fundraiser for the Special Education program at the Catholic high school up the road from us; and although our kids don't attend, many of their friends do.  I figured this would be a great way for us to get out and get some exercise, give a little something for a good cause, and help the boys earn their black belts.  I even downloaded a totally boss app on my phone to help me get into a running routine, and for the last few weeks I've been pretty faithfully doing my little running/walking workout up and down the street.  (AND, I say the Rosary while I'm doing it.  That's the best part.)  As it happened, Moe came down with an upper respiratory infection this week, and although he's much better we decided he should forego the race; and Curly, well, he just decided he didn't want to do it. (He owes me $15.)   I thought seriously of skipping it altogether, but decided to go ahead and do it.  I was a little nervous not knowing what to expect, whether anyone I knew would be there, and hoping I wouldn't be the only one who would mostly be walking.  I did see a few people there I knew, and there were many people who walked the whole three miles and had a great time doing it.  I finished in a little under 44 minutes, and I think this will be the first of many 5K races I'll participate in.  Next time I'm going to drag my family with me, assuming no one is sick...

--4--

Joe got a new car last weekend.  Want to know why?  On Friday as he was turning left through an intersection a woman driving a minivan sped around a curve, ran the red light, and slammed into him.   The whole front of his car was smashed.  I'm just glad she didn't hit the driver's side door, and that no one was injured.  Now he has a 2011 Hyundai, with automatic transmission that he can take to work and Larry can learn to drive; he's already talking about the two-seater sports car he'll someday get to drive on the weekends.

--5--

And now for our family entertainment report:  Moe made all-county chorus, and he got to spend a day at one of the area high schools practicing for the concert that was held in the evening.  He stood in the front row, and you can imagine how proud it made me seeing him standing up there singing his heart out.  Last weekend (in the middle of all the excitement with the accident) Larry starred as the prince in a musical production of Cinderella.  My parents came and stayed with us for the weekend, and Joe's mom and my brother and sister-in-law spent time with us and came to the show as well.  And this week, Curly and Moe auditioned for the school production of Disney's The Little Mermaid.  Curly will play Chef Pierre, and Moe snagged the most coveted part--Sebastian the crab.  Needless to say we'll be hearing this a lot in our house these next few months:

--6--

In the past we've traditionally traveled to my or Joe's parents' house for Thanksgiving; this year I'm hosting for the first time.  Yesterday I picked up my turkey at the farmers' market (I'm told he--she?--lived a happy life on the farm until Friday morning), and today's agenda (besides Mass, of course) will be to do finalize my menu plan, make my shopping list, and do some of the cleaning around the house that I didn't do yesterday. (BAD mom, BAD!)  My dad sent me a recipe for gluten free stuffing, and I expect I'll be browsing the Internet for some more of those; and my mother-in-law has already given me lots of great advice about cooking the turkey.

When I brought home the bird yesterday I found myself talking like the Swedish Chef.  I may be doing that quite a bit this week.

--7--

Our prayers continue to be with the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  Seeing the devastation and hearing the stories of communities coming together and helping each other reminds me of how much I truly have to be thankful for. 

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, no matter who you voted for (haha) !

For more Quick Takes, visit Jenn's Conversion Diary blog.  Happy Sunday!

The Internet Is Sending Me Off the Deep End

There is a hurricane bearing down on us.  Even though it isn't going to hit us directly, we're likely to get a lot of rain and wind, and they're telling us that we'll probably lose power.  All over Twitter and Facebook people are posting updates on how they're preparing for the storm.  "We've filled our bathtubs with water!" (We didn't fill our tubs with water.)  "I'm cooking everything in my refrigerator!" (I'm not cooking everything in my refrigerator.)  "I've made the mad dash to Wal Mart for canned goods, toilet paper, bottled water, and ice!" (I did go to the store on Thursday, but that was before I even knew about Sandy.)  I'm starting to think that maybe we're going to be the ones who are going to be screwed because all we've done is bring in most of our deck furniture and scrambled around the house in a nearly futile attempt to locate flashlights.  We're up to our ears in batteries, thank goodness.  We don't have a well, so we should have clean running water available.  We have a gas water heater; after Hurricane Isabel hit us we lost power for a week and we were grateful that at least we could take hot showers.  We have a gas stove and matches, so we should be able to cook pasta or canned soup (that is, if we have any in the house).  Larry has a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I took the day off; I should be able to run to the store in the morning if I feel an urgent need to stock up on whatever is left on the shelves. 

And then there's all the political vitriol.  I think my blood pressure goes up every time I read some new development in the Benghazi fiasco.  Most of you know which candidate I support (I used to have a Romney/Ryan sign in my front yard, until last week when someone went up and down our street and yanked up all the Romney yard signs), and I've said as much on my Facebook page.  There are a lot of things I've been tempted to say but I've mostly kept my mouth shut because I really don't feel like getting into any arguments with people who I love and respect but don't necessarily share the same political views with.  If I see one more advertisement or article about how those mean Republicans want to deny birth control to poor women I think I'm going to scream.   I'm sick of the rhetoric, but at the same time I can't seem to get enough of it.  It's like a bad drug.  That's why I've (finally) made up my mind to take an Internet fast for the next few days.  No Facebook, no Twitter, no blogs.  I might even stay away until after the election.  I haven't decided yet.  (And I have a feeling that this one will be like 2000, when we didn't know the results for more than a month.  I wouldn't be surprised if certain politicians are going to act like sore losers and call for recounts in several states.)

I have laundry to catch up on, books stacked on my shelves that I have yet to read, and for some strange reason Sandy is giving me a sudden compulsion to clean and organize.  (I think our mad scramble through the house in search of flashlights is what did it.)   It will be hard to resist the temptation to post photos of what damage Sandy might do to our trees to my Facebook page, or tell my friends about how we're hunkered down by the fire roasting marshmallows (something to add to tomorrow's grocery list).  Hopefully there won't be any news to report anyway.

I've been anxious to blog again.   Soon I hope to return and tell you all about the wonderful weekend we spent with Joe's brother and his family, about my sister-in-law's baby shower and how joyful we are about welcoming a brand-new life into our family, about Larry receiving his black belt in taekwondo and how proud we are of him, and the everyday goings-on in our lives.  Meanwhile stay safe, and don't forget to vote.  (Especially if, like me, you can't wait to throw the bums out!)