Levi Strauss

When Levi Strauss invented his denim jeans, they became favorites of the working man. They were also a popular choice among the 49'ers as they panned for gold. I'm just curious, though, since these pioneer jeans were subjected to what I consider some grueling labor and abuse, did they end up looking like this after 7 months?




And this is actually a "decent" pair of my son's jeans, as there's still one knee in-tact. Most of his jeans have both knees blown out, and we're not even all the way through the jean-wearing season yet. He's just a 10 year old boy. I know boys can be hard on their clothes, but how much in comparison to someone digging in a mine for gold 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week? Did their jeans get all raggedy looking in such a short time? Is it asking too much for a pair of jeans to make it through one short, 8 month wearing season in-tact?? I think from now on I'm going to start ironing on some patches on the inside of his jeans to see if we can get a little more mileage out of them.

The Backlog - Milwaukee Zoo 2010

I have considerable backlog on my photos....haven't kept up with editing what I've taken. My blog has taken a backseat for pretty much the entire year of 2010 and since I should be doing a million other things, what better way to spend my time than to edit and post photos.

Today's post will be of the Milwaukee Zoo in late September 2010 when we went up for the Down Syndrome Awareness Day.



I think we can all relate to this Momma bear. The kidlets are off somewhere and it's time to take a relaxing bath.


Rut Ro. The twins have detected that Momma bear is in the jacuzzi.



Momma bear trying to ignore twin who is interrupting her. Can you just hear this baby bear whining to his mom through the imaginary bathroom door?


The reason we were there that day.


Charlotte and her cousin Aaron walking on to the next exhibit.

Another Year Down

So I was standing in the shower this morning thinking what a crappy year this has been. Noone can argue that watching a parent in end-stage cancer isn't a great way to spend the year, but that's pretty much how the year started in January, continuing through to the end in August. And add on to that the illness, suffering, and subsequent death of a beloved step parent during that exact time. I could also mention that 2010 found my husband still technically without fulltime employment and all the benefits that go with that. No one would argue with me that 2010 has been a pretty lousy year all around.

But about as quickly as my mind went down that road, I was struck by how much there was to be thankful for. Now I'm not trying to say that I don't have cause to be sad or grieving the deaths of my Mom and Al just because there are things to be thankful about, but that perhaps I shouldn't be so hasty about telling 2010, "Sayonara and don't let the door hit ya in the behind on the way out."

This year afforded me the opportunity to make several trips to Arkansas to be with my Mom and Al during their last months. Despite (or perhaps because of) Mike's lack of a regular fulltime job, I was able to spend several weeks visiting and taking care of what needed to be taken care of. I was able to be with my Mom during her final moments. Many adults can only wish for the opportunities to serve their parents that I've had this year. As heartbreaking and stressful as it was, there is good to be found there. In some families the death of a parent can tear them apart; I'm so glad that wasn't the experience I had with my brother and step-siblings. If anything, it brought us closer together.

Despite Mike's employment situation, he never lacked for work when it was needed. Not once. Mike took all opportunities presented to him and worked hard, but we know that it was God who brought the work Mike's way. His timing was always perfect. And so to God goes the glory and the thankfulness for taking care of this little family and their needs (and lots of wants as well!)

I'm thankful for the vacation we had in Puerto Vallarta with my Dad and Candace. We enjoyed the family time spent in such a superb location, and I dream of being able to go back again! It was a very relaxing time without the need for running around here and there to do this and that. Simply time spent resting, eating, swimming, and strolling with family. Doesn't get much better than that!

With everything going on this year, I was still able to continue homeschooling the kids. I'm thankful for being able to do so and don't take this right for granted. Our family was also able to participate in a co-op to enrich our homeschooling lives, and the friends I and my children made there are ones we cherish!

True, 2010 will go down as one of the saddest and most difficult years of my life. There are images in my memory banks that I wish weren't there and emotions that are still quite raw. But if I'm honest with myself, there was more to this year than grief. We had good health, we enjoyed growing friendships, renewing relationships with family and old friends, a God who never once left our sides, and above all else, hope. Hope for our present, and hope for our future.

Happy New Year To Us All

Team McDonalds

A San Francisco Mom is driving down the road at mealtime and thinks to herself, "Oh no. We're going to pass by a McDonald's. My kids are going to ask for a Happy Meal so they can get a crappy little plastic toy. What am I going to do??!" As if on cue, little voices from the back of the mom-van pipe up in unison, "Mooooom. We're hungry!! We want McDonalds! Get us McDonalds Happy Meals!" Well, what's a Mom to do? She has no choice but to swing into the drive through and order up $20 worth of fast food and plastic toys.

What's that you say? She has a choice? Well, she could say, "No" to her children. Is there anything else she could do? She could say nothing and keep driving past the McDonalds. She could tell her kids to pipe down; they'll get a PBJ when they get home,a nd if they don't stop complaining, they'll get (gasp) nothing at all. She could even take the time to instruct her children that some food is good for you and some food is bad for you. McDonalds is in the "bad for you" category, so we don't eat there very often. "What?" you ask? Say "NO" to your kids? Teach them something about making good choices?? What do you think they are- a, a, a parent or something?

No, let's not venture down that path of doing the responsible thing; instead, let's get the government involved! Yes, they aren't involved in our lives enough, so we need to make sure they outlaw a restaurant from selling toys with an unhealthy meal. That would be the best course of action don't you think? I can't think of anything else that would take care of the childhood obesity problem besides demanding that a restaurant offer my child sliced apples with their greasy cheeseburger and side order of oil-drenched fries. Don't even think of asking these parents to limit their TV and video game time. These kids are in school sitting in their seats all day long. They need some down time in front of the tube instead of running around in the backyard. And you can't actually expect these parents to cook healthy meals for their families. They're busy with......whatever is more important than taking care of their families. Don't you see that the logical thing to do is to get the government involved to do the job that parents are unwilling to do?

Next thing you know they'll make it a requirement for grocery stores to offer carrot sticks in the check out lines next to the candy and gum. Wouldn't want a parent to have to stand there and say NO to their child, would we??

I, personally, am on Team McDonalds. I hope they get this ridiculous ban overturned and thrown out on it's ear. I believe it's time parents stop blaming everyone else for their own failings and own up to the fact that they've only shown up part-time to a full-time career. Stop blaming McDonalds for your fat kids and start doing what it takes to lead healthier lives.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

~ Proverbs 22:6

Yes, You're At The Right Place

I just made some changes to my blog look. I wasn't planning on it since I hardly have time, but what I was using (from some free site) has apparently been deleted and is no longer available, so rather than have readers looking at a white background with "this image is no longer available" plastered all over the page, I chose to spend some time today to find another look. Blogger has come a long way in their offerings since I first started blogging, but so many of the backgrounds are nice to look at but make it difficult to read text. I think this one may border close to the edge of "not quite readable".

The Big Reveal

Three summers ago Mike and I whacked down all our bushes out front. The yucky evergreen type trees had met a similar fate in a previous year. We made some major changes out there and this summer it all finally came together. Now it's a matter of waiting for everything to mature.

To read the initial post I made about this journey, you can read that here. If you don't really care and just want to cut to the chase and see the photos of before and after, keep scrolling down.

BEFORE

We got crazy

We planted a new tree

If you look in the above photo you can see my white spray painted line of what my plans were. Lets see how I did.

Ta Daaaah.....

Notice the fence is gone, the whole garden area is outlined with interlocking brick (the kind that are buy two at .89 and get one free kind), and there's always something blooming. Right now it's daylilies, hydrangea, and asiatic lilies. If you click on the photo to enlarge, you'll also see that I relocated the bird bath. Now the birds can splash around right in front of the window and torture our cats.

There's an assortment of stuff in there - balloon flowers, lupine, iris, hosta, couple different kinds of daylilies, two bushes, cone flowers, poppies, bleeding hearts, spider wort, and some other stuff I don't even remember what it's called. It's taken 3 summers to put it all together - some came from friends' gardens, some were rescued off the October clearance rack, and other stuff came from honest to goodness nurseries.

Much improved, eh?

Look Mom!

The kids and I were heading to the outlet mall for new winter shoes for them. On the way, Charlotte exclaimed, "Look Mom! It's a cloud maker!"





All I could do was laugh. The thought of a cloud maker just made me smile! I didn't have the heart to tell her it was pollution. So I didn't.

P.S. - I'm glad I happened to have my camera with in the car!

4,100

That's how many pages I read from mid-May to early July to get through the Harry Potter 7-book series. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but must admit I was left a little unsatisfied with how it all ended. There's a part of me that hopes J.K. Rowling will decide, if she hasn't gotten sick of the characters, to write a couple books about how the characters got from the Great Hall in the final chapter to 19 years later in the Epilogue. You can bet, though, that I'll be dragging someone with me to go see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this month. Anyone else looking forward to this and the next two HP movies coming out?

Tax Dollars At Work

Doesn't it seem wrong to use our tax dollars to stamp out signs that inform us how our tax dollars are being used? This is the second time I've seen this sign around where I live. This particular sign is on the way to our church, and I have to admit, I've not seen any part of America being "put to work" on this stretch of road in the past several weeks. Who knows....maybe the trucks and crew fell into one of the crater-sized pot holes they came to repair.

I'll let you in on a little secret...

....nothing earth shattering, mind you. Perhaps you're unaware of why this happens, so I'm here to tell you why. Ever make deviled eggs (or even egg salad) and wonder why on earth an egg will occasionally peel really nicely and other times (usually when you want to make deviled eggs), the egg has left half of the whites attached to the shell? This is what I'm talking about:



Well I heard somewhere (TV cooking show maybe?) and filed that nugget of information away until today, when I had an opportunity to test their theory. Sure enough, it's true! Old eggs peel nicely and newer eggs look like the one on your right. When I say "old" eggs, I don't mean expired. The smooth eggs don't expire till May 31. However, the really ugly looking eggs were just bought this week and still have a couple weeks left till their expiration date.

So next time you want smoothly peeled eggs, make sure you buy some "older" eggs or buy a couple weeks ahead of when you plan on making them. And sure enough they'll be easy to peel.

Words You Don't Want To Be Greeted With When You Answer The Door

For example, "Hello, is Mike home?" Guy flips up his badge. "I'm from the Attorney General's office." Thud.

If you're on Facebook, you already know the situation about the ticket on the van. Let me rehash in case you didn't catch it. Mike parks his van in the driveway at night. It was over 30' off the street. A couple weeks ago the police left a ticket on his windshield at 2:55 a.m. for not having a village sticker displayed in the window. The following morning he went over to the police department to explain that he had bought the village sticker back in February, but just hadn't put it on the window. The police officer didn't care. Mike questioned why there were on private property at that hour, and the officer basically said that "in a court of law" it would stand up that policemen can see that far in the dark, and so that gave them reason to come onto our property. Nevermind that it was a 2" x 3" sticker this officer supposedly could see. In the dark. From 31' away. So Mike went to the Mayor to complain. The Mayor was quite sympathetic and helpful, actually, and within a couple of hours, someone from the Mayor's office called to say the ticket had been dismissed. Woohoo for the little guy!

So back to the guy from the Attorney General's office standing on my front porch. Mike did happen to be home that day and to make a long story short, it appears Mike unwittingly got caught up in some small town scandal, for crying out loud. The Mayor handled the dismissal of the ticket illegally, along with a slew of other things (nothing we're involved in, just want to make that clear.) The Mayor is in some serious hot water and under investigation. I suppose that would explain why he didn't run for office for more than one term. So the Attorney General guy came to our house three times to talk with Mike about this ticket, how it all went down, who said what, and it just seemed a bit ridiculous over a stupid ticket for a village sticker that we already owned. Doesn't it just seem wrong that on the one hand you have the police doing their job (albeit a bit shifty in my opinion) but they're legal about it. And then you have the Mayor who takes the time to listen to a problem and try to solve it, and it's illegal. I guess it's true what they say: No good deed goes unpunished.

Just A Drop In The Bucket

Before President Obama took office, he said, "We're going to have to bring significant reform not just to our recovery and reinvestment plan, but to the overall budget process, to address both the deficit of dollars and the deficit of trust. We'll have to make tough choices, and we're going to have to break old habits."

To that end, he has requested that his Cabinet make $100 million in cuts in agency operations. When asked if the efficiency saving isn't just a drop in the bucket, Obama replied, "It is. None of these things alone are going to make a difference. But cumulatively, they make an extraordinary difference because they start setting a tone ... $100 million there, $100 million here -- pretty soon, even here in Washington, it adds up to real money."

What do you think?

Word of the Year

Did you know the powers that be at the American Dialect Society vote on a Word of the Year (WOTY)? How did I miss this? Some of them are pretty good! Take 2006, for instance. Plutoed is the WOTY (demoted or devalued, as happened to the former planet Pluto). Loads of people are getting plutoed due to our economy! WOTY for 1990 was bushlips (insincere political rhetoric.)

Can you believe the WOTY in 1996 was mom? What's up with that? No one ever hear the word before this? There's no surprise with 1999's WOTY: Y2K (didn't you just want to scream by the end of of 1999 if you heard that word one more time?!) It's also no surprise that 2008's WOTY was bailout.

Some words in the past that didn't make the cut: Blook (a blog turned into a book); Ego Surfing (searching the web for your own name); Happy Kwanhanamas! (Kwanzaa + Hanukkah + Christmas); whale tail (the appearance of thong or g-string underwear above the waistband of pants, shorts, or a skirt); muffin top (the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-rider jeans); partner reduction (divorce).....just to name a few.

Looks like we'll be waiting to find out what 2009's WOTY till early next year. I don't think they take nominations for WOTY till December so we all have some time to come up with something. However, the American Dialect Society is currently taking suggestions for their Word of the Decade (2000-2009). If interested, you can read all about that here.

Another Casualty of Facebook

Sigh.

Charlotte received some Webkinz for her birthday and Christmas. She has four cats, and we were finally getting around to officially adopting the last one. She initially wanted the name Violet, but the Webkinz site finds that name offensive in some way (even Violette.....vile, violent.....not sure how to stretch to get to the offensive word, whatever it is.) Anyway, belatedly Charlotte adopted her last cat after renaming it Rosie. As we got everything set up and got to her rooms to visit with the other three cats, Charlotte's excited little face fell to a sad frown as she realized that her cats were unhappy and starving to death. She hasn't been online much lately to play with and feed them. I hung my head in shame as I realized that Mommy's Facebooking has nearly killed her Webkinz cats.

Charlotte always lines up her Webkinz animals so they can visit their virtual selves online.

Snail Mail

In the continuing series, I Love...Part III (Part I and Part II), I want to dwell for a moment on "snail mail". One of my favorite things to receive is a letter or package in the mail. What got me thinking about this again is a package I received on Saturday from a friend of mine. She had read below about me being unable to locate a certain candy that I love to snack on, and she found it by her and dropped a whole bag of it in the mail for me. Imagine my surprise to not only receive the candy, but to know she had been thinking about me! We all receive plenty of bills, junk mail, magazines, and advertisements. But how often do you receive an honest-to-goodness letter or package in the mail? Email letters from friends are nice to receive and certainly convenient, but I can't hold it in my hands as I walk up the driveway from the mailbox, feeling how many sheets of paper might be inside, or if a photo is contained therein. There's just something about the whole surprise of seeing personal mail sitting in amongst the junk and bills that instantly brightens my day.

Just 20 years ago there was no internet, no email for the masses. I used to be a decent letter writer "back in the day" and had an assortment of stationary (I still have the remnants of some in the original boxes. They're probably considered relics these days.) At one point in my past, I was located on the east coast and my best friend was on the west coast. We kept our friendship renewed by writing letters, buying stamps, and going to the mailbox. We didn't have money for long distance phone calls, but we could swing the cost of a stamp once or twice a month. We carried on long-distance debates, the latest on our families, the trials we were facing, and the joys we felt. So it's no wonder to me that when I receive something personal in the mail, it instantly brings back good feelings.

I've also kept in touch with a pen-pal I was paired up with back in 7th grade. We've managed to stay in touch all these years.....boyfriends, graduation, college, marriages, careers, children, etc. However, she refuses to get on board with email. At first I was annoyed, because a stamp to Finland is about $1 and an email is free. But I tell ya, whenever I see one of her envelopes in the mailbox.....with her familiar hand writing....I'm thrilled, wondering what news she has to share with me. In a way, I'm glad she's content to keep writing "snail mail" letters. For sure, emails are quick and efficient and I admit I'm guilty of overusing it, but it will never take the place of a hand written note. That's probably why I hang on to them and even have notes from friends that were passed back and forth in the halls of high school.

Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy

A friend of mine shared this on Facebook, and since at the moment I'm all dried up on ideas to blog about, I'm going to post this short video clip. It's so funny, probably because there's a lot of truth to it! (Just remember to first hit the pause/stop button on the "radio").

'Lil Peeps

I had to run over to Walgreens this morning for some packaging tape. I'm getting back into selling stuff on ebay, and one item needed to ship today. On the way to the "office supplies" aisle, we passed by the Easter candy aisle. Since Charlotte was with me, there was no way we were walking out of that store without a trip down the Seasonal Aisle. I secretly didn't mind because I was looking for these special jelly beans that are coated in Nerd candy. Truth be told, I don't like jelly beans, but these are different. Last year after I "discovered" them, I ate two bags all by myself. They're soooooo good. I was seriously disappointed that they didn't have my nerd jelly beans this year; however, they did have Peeps. Charlotte loves Peeps, and was nearly drooling over the selection of shapes and colors from which to choose.


Me: What do you like about Peeps?

Charlotte: The mush mellow, the pink of it all, the sugar. EVERYTHING! And the chocolate.

Me (perplexed): There's no chocolate on Peeps.

Charlotte (hear the eye roll in her response): The eyes are chocolate!

So beware of the Peeps if you're taking a sugar-crazed child into the store. They're out there.

Party Envy

When Mike and I made the decision for me to become a stay at home mom, it wasn't without some reservations. We were giving up a huge income that we had sort of come to rely on. So like a young bird taking flight out of the nest for the first time, I jumped into the world of Stay-At-Home Momness. Five years have gone by since that decision. It hasn't always been easy, but every time I crave a bigger house, I remind myself that we could have one, but I wouldn't get to spend much time in it. When I long for frequent vacations, I tell myself I'd need them to recoup from the hectic schedule of the "working" mom (I use "" because all moms work, but I'm referring to a mom who's holding down a full-time job outside of the house on top of all her other responsibilities.)

One thing I've tried to come to terms with are my kid's birthday parties. My kids have been invited to parties at these places where you show up and they do all the work. Kids play and have fun, do cool things, food is brought in, and the mess is cleaned up for you. What's not to love? My kids would love to have one like it of their own, and I'd love to indulge them......maybe even indulge myself - like I'll be the coolest Mom ever if only I could provide an equally cool birthday party. So it's somewhat with a reluctant heart that I've come to accept that spending $300 on a party for one child is not the best way to responsibly steward our money.

This month was Eric's birthday and he wanted to invite a few of his friends over for a ["on-a-budget-but-fun-anyway"] Star Wars birthday party. This isn't exactly an easy thing to plan for the winter, because any outdoor activity can't be done since it's usually 12 degrees outside. I did some research and came up with a few ideas I thought we could pull off in our living room.

I was able to score a brand new Star Wars movie off ebay for a fraction of retail. The kids played Mario Kart and snacked on popcorn, then we started the movie while they ate their dinner of cheeseburgers. Before they had a chance to get antsy watching the movie, I paused it to call all the young Jedis around me. I demonstrated their task: Using Eric's light saber that he made at Disney, they had to keep a balloon up in the air. If they could beat the clock, then I added a second balloon. While they each took a turn (one at a time to prevent them killing each other), I played the Star Wars soundtrack that I checked out from the library. They enjoyed the challenge before going back to the movie. A little while later, we paused the movie again, so that we could play another game: This time we released The Force (6 balloons) and all the balloons had to be kept off the ground. We were laughing so hard while diving for the balloons (Mike and I were right in there with them!)

The kids ate some ice cream and home-made cupcakes before returning to the movie. Mike couldn't help himself though.....he's such a kid at heart! He started "the light saber wars", using the flexible orange Hot Wheels track for the light saber. I think it was the boys favorite part of the evening! The three hours flew by, and before I knew it, their parents were here to pick them up. With all the games, only half of the movie was watched, but since they'd all seen it, it wasn't a bad thing!

Each boy went home with a little goodie bag of miniature Milky Ways, Starburst, a large bubble wand I found for a buck that looks like a light saber, plus a personalized Star Wars bookmark (this was supposed to be a craft for them to do, but they were having too much fun playing the games, so I put them together really quick and stuck them into their take-home bags.) I even threw in a Star Wars word search that I made on some educational website.

As I tucked Eric into bed that night, I asked him how he liked his party, thinking that maybe he thought it was lame. He turned to me with the most genuine smile on his face and declared it was "the best party ever, Mom! I want one just like it next year!" It was awesome to hear that the best party ever could be had right at home without spending a lot of money. Maybe one day we'll be able to treat our kids to something more elaborate, but at least for now it's nice that they're content with the tradition of a simple at-home party.

How To Pray For My Husband

This was sent to me over the summer, and I found it in my drafts. Thought I'd finally share!

How To Pray For My Husband
Head To Toe!


His Head –That he will look to You as Lord of his life. (1 Corinthians 11:13)

His Mind - That he will have the mind of Christ and think as the Holy Spirit would lead him and not the flesh. (1 Corinthians 2:16)

His Eyes –That You will keep his eyes from temptation and that he will turn his eyes from sin. (Matthew 6:13, Mark 9:47)

His Ears - That he will hear Your still small voice instructing him. (1 Kings 19:12, Psalm 32:8)

His Mouth – That his words will be pleasing to You. (Proverbs 19:14)

His Neck –That he will humble himself before You and be strong, courageous, and careful to do everything written in Your Word so that he will be prosperous and successful. (James 4:10, Joshua 1:8-9)

His Heart-That he will love and trust You with his whole heart. (Deuteronomy 6;5, Proverbs 3:5)

His Arms-That You will be his strength. (Psalm 73:26)

His Hands-That he will enjoy the work of his hands and see it as a gift from You. (Ecclesiastes 3:13, 5:19)

His feet – That You will order his steps and that he will walk in Your truth. (Proverbs 4:25, Psalm 26:3)

Why I Couldn't Vote for Obama

There are a number of reasons I didn't vote for Obama, but one reason I'm going to address in this blog post is that I believe in the rights of unborn babies. I believe they have a right to be born once they have been conceived, and that baby's right to life supersedes any other rights .

I'm sure you've all heard of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). While campaigning, Obama said one of the first things he'd do if elected was sign FOCA. I'm guessing a good many people don't even completely know what FOCA entails. Unless you're hard core pro-choice, I can't believe anyone would think FOCA is a good idea. Here are a few tidbits:

1. It's currently illegal to obtain a partial birth abortion, which is when a doctor delivers the baby, usually during the second trimester, only to end it's life (I'll leave out the gruesome details of how this is done. You can find a lot of information on Wikipedia if you need more information.) If FOCA is passed, it is almost assured that partial birth abortions will be made legal again. I question why, even if the mother's life is endangered, the baby's life needs to be ended in this vile, brutal way.

2. As of right now almost all states have laws that limit what a minor can do without consent or knowledge from the parents or guardians. If passed, minors (i.e., your daughter, your niece, your granddaughter, etc.) will be able to obtain prescription birth control, as well as have an abortion without parental consent or knowledge. And the bonus is that this makes it easy for some young girls to be taken advantage of by adults, doesn't it?

3. There are government restrictions on funding for abortions. If passed, FOCA would require the government to provide funding for abortions. As someone who is pro-life, it troubles me deeply to think of tax dollars from my home going to pay for the sole purpose of funding abortions. If Planned Parenthood and all the pro-choice folks out there want this "right", then they should fund it from their own coffers and not expect to burden the American people even more than they already are.

4. There would be no more wait periods for abortions. In many states a woman must wait 24-72 hours before having an abortion so she can reflect on the information presented to her at the consultation and presumably give it some consideration before making the final decision.

5. FOCA would make abortion legal anytime, anywhere, any age, any reason. State or Federal Judges and politicians would be found in contempt by speaking out against FOCA once it is passed. Doctors would no longer be able to claim they couldn’t do the procedure due to their conscience, and faith-based hospitals would be required to perform abortions they do not believe in.

So under FOCA a 14 year old girl could be taken advantage of by say, a 25 year old man, get pregnant, be coerced by this man into getting an abortion, and of course not tell her parents about it. Further, she can access tax dollars collected from folks experiencing infertility and who can't have a family to pay for this abortion, then force a faith-based hospital and Christian or Muslim doctor to perform the procedure. I agree this is an exaggerated scenario, but certainly one that could happen.

I ask you, how does any of this help reduce the number of abortions??

And if that's not bad enough, on 1-23-09 President Obama "rescinded a Reagan-era measure that blocks funding to foreign aid groups that perform or promote abortions." Huh. Do I need to wonder where that funding comes from? It's bad enough my tax dollars are going to bail out greedy banks and don't-have-a-clue car manufacturers, but now I have to fund abortions on foreign soil? In a country that is on it's economic knees, I don't think international abortion funding is a priority, do you? Well, our President seems to think so anyway.

I'm deeply troubled by FOCA and invite you to pray for all the unborn who are at risk, as well as speak out to our government on where you stand. I'm stepping off my soap box now. :-(