Rest In Peace

Today I watched the memorial for those who died in the Ft. Hood shooting.

When men and women join the military, they know going in that there is a chance that they will die while protecting their country. They never expect to be shot down by a "fellow soldier" while at home. It makes this tragedy hurt even more.

It's hard to explain the family feeling of being in the military, but it is there. It's a kind of "we're all in the same boat" feeling. And when soldiers are killed or injured, all of us hurt and mourn for them.

I pray for the victims of Nidal Malik Hasan (list from Fox News):

Michael Grant Cahill, 65, of Cameron, Texas, had just returned to work as a physician assistant after suffering a heart attack. (AP)

Maj. Libardo Eduardo Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, Va., is a native of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. (AP)

Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow, 32, of Evans, Ga., was helping train new soldiers on how to help new veterans with paperwork. (AP)

Capt. John Gaffaney, 56, of San Diego, Calif., was a psychiatric nurse and had arrived at Fort Hood the day before the shooting to prepare for deployment to Iraq. (AP)

Spc. Frederick Greene, 29, of Mountain City, Tenn., is described by his family as someone who displayed Army traits before even joining the army -- "loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage." (AP)

Spc. Jason Dean Hunt, 22, of Tipton, Okla. was one of 12 soldiers killed. Known as J.D., Hunt was voted "most quiet" in his senior class. (NewsOK.com)

Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., was killed. The sergeant with the Madison, Wis.-based 467th Medical Detachment had arrived at Fort Hood on Tuesday and was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in December. (Herald Times Reporter)

Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, 19, of West Jordan, Utah, was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in January, his family said in a statement. Nemelka had enlisted in the Army in October 2008, Utah National Guard Lt. Col. Lisa Olsen said. (AP)

Spc. Michael Pearson , 21, of Bolingbrook, Ill., was killed in the shooting. (MyFoxChicago)

Capt. Russell Seager, 51, of Racine, Wis., was a psychiatrist who joined the Army a few years ago because he wanted to help veterans returning to civilian life. He had gone to Fort Hood to for training before deploying to Afghanistan in December. (AP)

Francheska Velez, of Chicago, was killed in the shooting. She recently had returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. The 21-year-old was in the building where the shooting occurred filling out paperwork due to her pregnancy. (MyFoxChicago)

Juanita Warman, 55, of Pittsburgh was a military physician assistant. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Army Spc. Kham Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn., died in the attack Thursday. Xiong graduated from St. Paul's Community of Peace Academy in 2004. He was at Ft. Hood preparing for a January deployment. (MyFoxTwinCities)

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and may perpetual Light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen

Prayers also for those who were wounded in the terrorist attack. †

A Simple Woman's Daybook

November 9, 2009

Outside my window...
blue skies, sunshine, 70° and everything is still green. It's nice after the gloomy, rainy day we had yesterday.

I am thinking...
I'm ready for Ron to be home.

I am thankful for...
good priests.

I am wearing...
denim capris, a gray physical therapy t-shirt, bare feet, one red earring. I forgot to take the earrings off last night, and must have lost the other one while sleeping.

I am remembering...
my dad, and all the other veterans who have served and are serving our country. (Wednesday is Veteran's Day).

I am going...
just to Mom's, I think. I went grocery shopping for her last night; she will be happy. :o)

I am reading...
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. Kinda scary, kinda funny.

I am hoping...
to finish the red necklace this week.

On my mind...
worried about the health care bill that was passed by the house, and that the Stupak amendment only gave the pro-life democrats a reason to vote for it, and now the other democrats will try to find a way to remove it from the bill. I do not want to pay for anyone's abortion or their contraception, for that matter.

From the learning rooms...
still concentrating on learning about time: clocks, day and night, seasons, days of the week.

Noticing that...
I need a haircut.

Pondering these words...
Sometimes I get so discouraged by my failure to be what God wants me to be. One of the prayers I pray often is that God will help me to think, say and do what He wants me to think, do and say. My total failure to do His will has been weighing heavily on me.

But yesterday at Mass, the Introit was from Jeremiah 29. It says, "The Lord saith: I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction: you shall call upon Me, and I will hear you; and I will bring back your captivity from all places." I think being in sin is a kind of captivity.

Then the Collect said: "O Lord, we beseech Thee, absolve Thy people from their offences, that through Thy bountiful goodness, we may be freed from the bonds of those sins, which by frailty we have commited..."

And the Gradual: "Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us. In God we will glory all the day long: and in Thy Name we will give praise forever. Alleluia, alleluia. Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Alleluia."

The Communion verse: "Amen I say to you, whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive and it shall be done to you."

And the Postcommunion verse: "O God almighty, we beseech Thee, do not leave to succumb to human dangers those who from Thee have had the happiness of being partakers of the divine nature."

It seemed that with every verse God was speaking to me, assuring me that despite my sinfulness He still loves me and will help me. The words I am holding close to my heart today are the ones I bolded. Even when I feel like I'm sinking because of my sinfulness, God hears my prayers and cries for help, and comes to my aid. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, One God, now and forever! Amen

From the kitchen...
Mint Milanos.

Around the house...
I had to wait until this morning to pick up all the stuffing the puppies scattered all over the yard because it was raining most of the day yesterday. It took me about half an hour to get it all cleaned up. Today is trash day, so all the bags of stuffing and other trash from the house are on the curb, waiting for the garbage truck. I need to vacuum and wash sheets and towels today.

One of my favorite things...
the way the air smells in the pine woods in Colorado.

From my picture album...






Mom, Reece and Teddy in front of her apartment patio last week.







Please visit Peggy's site for more daybooks and to join the fun.

Puppies Are In The Doghouse

I left Sister and Katy outside this morning when I left to pick up Mom and go to Mass.

It was sprinkling, but I don't like to leave them in their crate inside for more than a couple of hours during the day.

They can get on the covered patio, on the porch, and stay dry. So I said good-bye and left them outside.

Mom and I went to Mass, then had lunch at her house. I got home around 3 PM.

This is the sight that greeted me when I went to let them inside. They had totally destroyed at least one of the patio cushions and scattered the innards all over the place! I was so mad at them. They knew they were in trouble as soon as they saw me.

Oh well. I can't stay mad at them for long. At least they are feeling happy and healthy enough to tear stuff up. :o\ The brats.

St. Mary's Cathedral, Austin, Texas

As Kelly and I were walking to the Capitol building from the parking garage, we looked down a street and saw this beautiful church on the corner. Kelly knows that I have to go into every gorgeous Catholic church I see, so she asked if I wanted to go visit it, and of course I did.














First though we wanted to find out where we could get something to eat, so we stopped in the visitor's center on the Capitol grounds. A very nice man there gave us all kinds of information and loaded us up with maps and brochures. :o)














We walked down to Congress Avenue and a couple of blocks from the Capitol grounds we found a Quizno's, where we had lunch. After we ate, we headed back up the street to the church we had seen and discovered that it is Austin's cathedral, St. Mary's.














It was beautiful, quiet and empty inside except for Jesus, us and one other woman. I figure if I drag Kelly into enough Catholic churches and pray in front of enough tabernacles that she will finally convert some day. :o)

That is my prayer and the desire of my heart. Amen.

Texas State Capitol

Kelly and I enjoyed visiting the Texas State Capitol building while we were in Austin. The dome looked beautiful against the blue Texas sky.

The flag is at half staff in memorial of the soldiers who were killed at Ft. Hood on Thursday. The grounds of the Capitol are beautiful.












Kelly took a lot of pictures of the interior of the Capitol building, too. The state seal in the rotunda is impressive, as is the view of dome from the inside, looking up. We went exploring and saw the room where the Texas House of Representatives meets. No representatives were anywhere to be seen, though.








The iron fence around the grounds is topped with these gold Texas stars. I like this shot of one of them with the Capitol building in the background.












Kelly took this picture as we were leaving. Pretty.

It would be fun to go back when the House is in session just to get a load of this Lloyd Doggett that Austin conservatives dislike so much.

Tea Party Express Stop In Austin

My daughter Kelly and I drove up to Austin to meet the Tea Party Express yesterday. We had a great time, and joined lots of other patriotic Americans on the steps of the capitol building at 5 PM.









The rally opened with a prayer and a moment of silence for those who were killed at Ft. Hood on Thursday. The speakers were all very good, most of them looking to "take out Lloyd Doggett" in the next election.







The Tea Party Express bus didn't arrive until around 6 PM, with more speakers and entertainers, including Lloyd Marcus, who wrote the Tea Party Anthem, and Kenneth Gladney, who was attacked by the SEIU union thugs for selling Don't Tread On Me Flags outside the town hall meeting in the St. Louis area back in August.









We left before the end of the rally because I was tired from walking around and standing, but I'm so glad that we went. It lifts my spirits to be with so many other people who feel the way I do about what is going on in our country.





These tea parties and town hall meetings have at least let "the powers that be" know that the people are watching what they are doing, and that we aren't going to sit passively by while they ignore the Constitution.







These are just a few of the great photos Kelly took during the day. Thanks for going with me, Kel. It's always fun to spend time with you, no matter where we wind up. :o)

(I doubt that Kelly ever thought she would be asked to accompany her "right wing extremist" mom to a protest rally...but then again, maybe it didn't surprise her). :o)

New Digs

The plan was to buy a new crate, and let the twins each have their own space.

I bought a giant crate because our vet thinks Sister and Katy will be very big dogs someday. You can see how much bigger it is than their old crate.

But when I put them in the separate crates, Katy whined and cried, even though the crates were side by side. She wanted to be in the big crate with Sister.

There is plenty of room in there for both of them. They have been sleeping in the smaller crate, and even though they were crowded, they didn't mind. They love to sleep all snuggled together.

I guess I'll let them share the big crate for now. Sweet, silly puppies.

Those pink things on Sister's head are her ears, turned inside out. She goes around like that half the time because she is so active. :o)

There is no pad in their crate because they chew the heck out of everything. So until they stop chewing and eating fabric, the plastic floor will have to do. (They may get fleece mats for Christmas. Shhh, don't tell them).

Reece and Aubrey will be here soon. They are spending the night tonight. So I'd better get off the computer and get ready for them.

Wonderful Wednesday

Reece and I had fun last night and this morning.

When he got here yesterday he walked in and said, "Whattaya want for Christmas?" :o)

Then he said he wants a train set. His mommy had mentioned Christmas to him, and that is what he talked about all evening!


We will be talking about the real meaning of Christmas soon. :o)

We spent a long time looking at a Toys R Us catalog that came in the mail. He loved looking at all the toys and telling me what they were. He wanted to somehow take them out of the catalog and hold them, as if I could do magic.

So I asked if he wanted to cut some of them out. He said yes, so we cut out a toy soldier, Dora, SpongeBob, Wall-E, a T-Rex, Grover, a Transformer, a truck and some little elves and other things. They were pretty flimsy, so we glued them onto 3X5 cards and cut them out again. He played with those things most of the evening!

We also got out the globe and a flashlight and learned about how the earth turns and makes daytime and night time. We found Texas on the globe, and Indiana, where his Papa is right now. The globe is an old one that belonged to Ron when he was a child, and it has a lightbulb inside, so it lights up when you turn it on. Reece loves it! So do I.

We learned a little poem about clocks, doing a tick-tock motion and sound. He liked that, too. :o) He is easily pleased.

Tomorrow we will make a construction paper poster, with daytime on one side and nighttime on the other. And we'll talk more about clocks, time and the days of the week.

This morning he had bacon, oatmeal and apple juice for breakfast, then he wanted to make brownies (I had left the box on the kitchen counter the night before, but we didn't get around to making them). So we made brownies. I let him put everything into the bowl, including the egg. He loves to break eggs and add them. His brownies were yummy. We took some to Great-Gran and the rest to his family.

I've had a quiet afternoon, reading, working on my beading, watering plants and playing with puppies.

From Wednesday's evening prayer:

Merciful Lord,
let the evening prayer of your Church
come before you.
May we do your work faithfully;
free us from sin
and make us secure in your love.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen

Want To See What I'm Working On?

I'm trying a new (to me) netted beading technique. I've made beaded net pieces before, but this one is a little different than others I've tried.

This is just a practice piece, using some cheap flashy beads that I had in my bead stash, so it's not as neat and uniform as I'd like. I'll get good beads and try again after I've mastered the technique.

But even with the cheapo beads, I think it's looking pretty. I put it up to the computer screen for the close up picture, so you can see the netting better. I think I have a booboo or two in there.

It feels nice to get back into crafting.

Here's where I found the directions for the African net beaded necklace.

This Makes Me Mad!

Some lower-than-pond-scum SOB stole my mother's doormat. What kind of creep steals a doormat from a sweet old woman?

It has been in front of her apartment door for two years, ever since she moved here. It was a gift from my youngest sister, and Mom had it for several years at her home in Kansas. It's rubber, and looks like the one in the picture.

What makes me so angry is not just that someone took the doormat, but that anyone would steal anything from my mother. It makes her feel unsafe.

I'm having trouble feeling any charity toward the thief, and when I try to pray for him (or her), it comes out like this:

Dear Lord, please change the heart of the person who stole from Mom. And let him trip over the doormat and knock out a couple of teeth. Amen