Random randomness

So, it's been a while since I posted with any regularity. I have been busy, but I think the main problem is that facebook ate my posting time. I am spending a lot of time on facecrack and posting things there that I would ordinarily post here. I'm sorry for having neglected my blog, and you three wonderful readers.


It would appear that my husband and I are going out on Valentine's Day for the first time in as long as I can remember, which, I will readily admit, is not that far back.


My father-in-law is doing really great. If you recall, his ocular melanoma came back in his remaining eye. He underwent raditation treatment in early December and is feeling much better now.

In other news, 2 days after Christmas, my mother-in-law fell in the kitchen and did a number on her rotator cuff, which required surgery 2 weeks ago. She's apparently got a surgeon with the bedside manner of a cactus, but the shoulder is doing well. She starts PT today.

Scott's B-day is Sunday, exactly 3 weeks after our eldest son's. He'll be 33. It's also Scout Sunday (Pancake Breakfast-not really that yum) the day that Primo receives his Light of Christ medal at the Cathedral in Newark. Fun times! We're going to see what else we can pack into that day because there just doesn't seem to be enough going on.

I have been reading David McCullough's book 1776, which is about the first year of the American Revolution. We all know how that turned out. But what I find amazing is that when he starts to talk about parts where he starts to talk about the battles (and there were many, especially at the beginning of the War for Independence) where things did not go well , I have to put the book down because I do not want to read about the bad parts. McCullough has made history really come alive (so cliche, but so true) that I don't want to read about militiamen getting killed and Washington's plans failing. I fell invested in these men. Also enlightening for me was reading about how savage the war really was. In particular, I'm thinking about reading about the Battle of Brooklyn. The Continental Army had been taken by complete surprise over the British/Hessian attack and some Americans surrendered with their arms raised only to be bayoneted and beheaded by the redcoats and the Hessians. In high school, we didn't read about that or the contempt that the Bristish soldiers had for the Americans. This is a real education for me.

Another excellent book that McCullough wrote and I bought for myself after my birthday in November was John Adams (maybe you saw the Showtime movie that is based on the book with Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti?). I have to admit that after reading this book I have new respect for our second president and I have been drawing some parallels between Mr. A. (as his wife Abigail referred to him) and George W. Bush. I'll have to save that for another time.

I still continue to be amazed by people.

I want to say this about our president's inauguration. I had to go to the post office in the middle of the city that morning. Curly Sue and I were walking and 3 people said unsolicited Good Mornings to me that day. These were women who were truly happy. These were women who prior to election day in November would probably not have spoken to me at all. There was something in the air that morning. It was positive. It may have been hope.

My three readers know I am no big fan of Mr. O. And heck, I wasn't a big fan of Mr. B. (I have a brother on active duty in the US Navy who has been to the Persian Gulf 3 times). But there was something different in the air that day. I pray for him and hope that he does right by our country.

I want to say more about the March for Life later, but I do want to say this: I think that many people see the March as a Catholic event since the church has been front and center about the evil of abortion for so long. And many attendees were Catholic. But I just wish I had gotten a photo of the two Atheist Anarchists for Life we saw at Union Station ("When mothers are allowed to be tyrants, each child is a revolution.").

It's important to take a stand

I want to talk to all of you about January 21 and 22.

January 21 is Inauguration Day. President-elect Obama will take the oath of office in Washington DC that day, becoming our 45th president .

January 22 is the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States.

While on the campaign trail, President-elect Barack Obama, pledged that one of his first acts as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event, July 17, 2007). This act would overturn all state-imposed restrictions on the practice of abortion. Most of these restrictions were passed by voter referendum. Not only is overturning these restrictions morally wrong; it is a direct violation of the expressed will of the voters in those states.

On January 22, 2009, the day after President-elect Obama is sworn in, there will be large-scale peaceful demonstrations against the Roe v. Wade decision in Washington, DC and in San Francisco, CA. There are also peaceful pro-life demonstrations planned in state capitals all over the country on January 22.

It is important for those of us who stand for a culture of life to show the President on the day after he is inaugurated that the American people do not want unrestricted access to abortion; that we do not want FOCA to become law. Many Knights of Columbus councils, Catholic parishes, Christian churches and synagogues and temples will run bus trips to Washington and to San Francisco and to your state's capital. If you can't make it to the East Coast or to the West Coast Marches, get to your state's capital and show your state legislatures where you stand.

If you can get to one of the bigger marches, take the day off from work or school, bring the kids, rosaries in hand, and go. Let's make this the biggest March for Life that we have ever seen. Scott and I are taking the day off and we're pulling the kids out of school and we're going to be there.

Let's show President-elect Obama in no uncertain terms what the will of the American people truly is.

Blessed Mother, the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States, pray for us that we might be successful in protecting the unborn millions whose lives are at risk. St. Gianna Beretta Molla, pray for us. St. Michael the Archangel, protect us in battle and pray for us.

For more information about the activities in Washington and elsewhere, please visit Thomas at American Papist.