Elections

I am sure that everyone is tired of elections and " I told you so's", so will just rant a bit. I spent Election at a precinct as an election judge. Yes, I had to be there early and stay late. Was it fun? Absolutely.

Was it tiring? Yep.

I learned a lot about myself, as well as others. I have a tendency to be a hillbilly in my speech and mix it with my Eastern US pronounciations. I will say, "Good mornin'" and then follow it with
"Choose eyether line". I had several look puzzled at that pronounciation of either. It is a lifetime habit. I will not expect or demand that you pronounce it that way, but I will.

People can be nice or nasty, but I want you to know that no one was really ugly yesterday, and I know how hard it is to stand in line for ten or fifteen minutes or longer, and then be told you are in the wrong place or cannot do what you came to do. I appreciated everyone having patience all around.

I love that all of us can come together and do something grand and enjoy the process and company.

People looked so intense when they came in and then were positively giggling when they left. We all felt as though a great weight had been lifted because we had done our part. I wish we could enjoy that feeling a long time, but according to some things I have read, we are now going to get the na na na nannas.

Our daughter has said that at their house they have 24 hours to gloat or mourn a victory or loss in the athletic area, and they will do that with the election and then move on. I think that is a good thing for all of us to consider, at least. It all gets a little old either way you do it, gloating or mourning, so do your 24 hour whatever and then put the shoulder to the grind stone and get on with life.

They come around every four years for the presidency and every other year for others things, but let's remember to get out and vote every chance we get.

Good-bye Army Wives

I love the series, "Army Wives". Plain and simple, I think they are great. Since my daughter is an Army Wife, that explains why I started watching them.

They presented stories that were tackled and resolved in one episode, usually. The aftermath of one episode would be around for a while, but mostly it was resolved.

I have had a problem with the series this year as they added a homosexual couple or same sex couple, whichever you prefer. This goes against my Christian doctrine and belief. However, I kept saying it will be okay.

Then  they got married. Folks, if you are Christian, marriage is between a man and woman. I am and I have that marriage. I still hung in there. The devil made me do it. Or more likely my own sinful nature kept saying, this is okay.

Then they wanted a baby.

Well, a pregnancy didn't happen. Adoption is the option.

Another storyline had a couple with marriage difficulties and the man had a one night stand with another girl. She got pregnant. She was alone and he wouldn't help as far as taking care of the baby or wanting to make a family with her. She went to the wife, about to be ex, and she talked to the man and he helped her with money.

Sunday's  episode was the season finale. Pregnant girl came again to say she could not keep the baby and raise it by herself. Wife talked to hubby, but nothing could be resolved.

Now, mutual friend steps in. Has pregnant girl meet with same sex couple. She has little to say.
When she does, she says she can't do this. She's Christian and they are sinners. I am feeling better about this, when, wham. Hubby discovers that one of the women of the couple was the person responsible for getting his group of soldiers out of a very sticky situation. He was against it up til now, and then goes, " She's nice people. She's a colonel. She wants to raise my kid?"  Well, he thinks that would be pretty cool. He talks to the pregnant girl. She says, " They are sinners. I can't do it." His response is that they, too are sinners. Which is true. They, however, are trying to make the best of it by giving the child a good home and staying away from the particular sin that put them here. When he points this the pregnant girl caves and says she will give the baby to the women.

Now, folks, if they had used Muslim, Hindu, or Shiite in this situation, I can pretty well imagine the brew ha ha that would erupt.

They not only made Christians look wishy-washy, but liars and whatever else you choose to read into this.

Please do not think that I am perfect or think so, I just think if you believe in something stand up for it. Someone is going to call you on it, and there will have to be decisions made. We all sin. We all make mistakes. As Christians. we believe that all are forgiven by God for our sins, if we believe. It is there for us.

I will miss Roxy, Trevor, Colonel Sheridan and company, but it is adios, mi amigos.

My decision is to stop watching and telling all I know that I have done so and why.

Feelings

Over a week ago I got a diagnosis that I have a chronic disease. It came out of the blue and shook me a great deal. It isn't that having it is a big deal as much as what can come of it. It is treatable, progression is probably inevitable, and I don't like it.

However, it is what it is.

I know someone who had gotten a similiar diagnosis and when I told her mine and asked for more info on hers. When we saw each other later, she said that she thought I was just looking for someone worse off than I. I really don't have to look far to find people in my world worse off: I have a friend who is in her last struggle with cancer, I have another friend whose sister has health problems that are recent, and I could go on, but I won't.

I didn't speak up about the remark at the time, because I thought she was kidding. After thinking about it, perhaps she wasn't and if not, then I truly did need to apologize. I did.

My mouth seems to run amok sometimes, and I really didn't mean it to. Have you ever had that problem? What did you do about it?

Sometimes God has to give me time to think on my sins for me to acknowledge them and repent of them. And ask for forgiveness.

Til next time.

Quiet

I have been quiet for a long time on here, and have decided to start shouting.

I may not be right. I may not be fair. I am, however, going to try to get my points across. This is going to be a long time going on. I may not make it every day, but I will make it every week.

I have been reading a lot of C. Hope Clark's posts and blog. She has just gotten her first fiction book into print and has taken us on her journey.  One of her blogposts was about being quiet. It has made me think about shouting


A lot has been going on in my mind and I wish to share.

I have three ladies that I mentor as a cancer angel. They have been diagnosed with the same type of cancer I had two years ago.

They are all at different places in their lives, battle and living. The fact that we all live on this planet and endure different difficulties, does not mean that we can not understand each other's pain. I do not know what is like to be told there is no cure, but I do know what is like to be told you have cancer. I will listen and learn and try to give some kind of empathy and hug.

I hope to become better at this blogging thing and hope that you will share your thoughts with me.

God bless and take care.

Technological Dinosaurs

    We still use a VCR. 

     I know, I know. No one uses them anymore. They use tivo or whatever.  We don't. 

    Well, our one vcr died. We had two, one in the living room and one in a spare room. The one in the living room had to be given last rights.

    No prob.  We would just get a new one.  Apparently, we had not paid attention of the death of the dinosaurs.  Oh, you could still get one.  It just didn't do what the old ones did: let you change channels through them and timer record. Man.  Now, what?

   Well, maybe we could find a gently used one.  Right.  We found one at an auction. A vcr/dvr combination.  Yea!  We bought it. Brought it home. Hooked it up.  We put the other one back in its usual place and hooked it up.

   The "new" one wouldn't work.  We had our technologically gifted kids work with it.  It didn't work.

   So, we moved the other one back out front and hooked it up.

   Oh, it came on.  It worked.  The only problem was, it now spoke only Spanish. It recorded in English, but you had to know what the words meant to time record.

  Okay. So, I checked into Spanish dictionary, classes, teachers.

  Then I tried one more time to go through the menu and hit the last phrase on the list and, you guessed it :  ENGLISH. Yea! We are now back to recording and watching. Please pray that it continues.

   

Losing

     We ended the last year with the loss of my husband's younger sister. He is from a family of eight and there are now three of them left.

     We lost his parents and three siblings several years ago and a brother in the Korean War. So, we are now down to three. Two sisters and him.

    Losing someone to death is never easy. No matter how much better off you think they may be. It is a hole that is hard to fill. There goes some of your past, as well as some of the family past. I have learned that each of us sees things differently, even the exact same thing. So to lose that perspective is a real loss.

    I can't say that we are as devastated losing her now, as we would have been twenty years ago, because primarily of the age of us all. Still, she takes with her some memories of us that no one else has.  And we have memories of her no one else shares. Sometimes, we should share these memories while we still can. We have a cousin whose wife of 8 years has Alzheimer's and her memories are gone.

    Share life, love and memories with your loved ones while you can.  Have a happy, memorable, shared 2012.