Good Morning!
It’s Friday!
The Kids Night Out Christmas party is tonight, so that means we have a rare occurence this evening.
DATE NIGHT!!
YAY!!
🙂
What’s on your calendar today?
Quote of the Day
“Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.”
Franz Schubert
Wandering Views 
Good morning.
In memory of a friend from my college days — First Violinist in our student string quartet, who could make the violin sing like no one I’ve ever known — who died one year ago today.
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6 Arrows,
That’s beautiful. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to edit your post so the video shows.
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Hmmmmm,
Or maybe not.
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OK, got it!
I’m sorry, but that’s too good to just link, we need the video.
🙂
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That’s okay, AJ. And I maybe should have mentioned that the violinist in the video, although he can make the violin sing as well, is not my violinist friend that I mentioned. Not sure if I made it seem that way when I posted in my half-asleep state. 😉
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Oh, there you go! 🙂
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It’s Friday! You know what that means!
It means drivesguy is on the way to Ohio. Pray that he has a safe & uneventful trip.
Likely a quiet day for me. The Y when ol’ slowpoke gets ready. Then the Lions and a SS Christmas party this evening.
He was a good violinist 6 Arrows, and so young to have died so soon.
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6 Arrows,
I knew what you meant. And thank you for sharing that. It’s a beautiful piece and a fine way of remembering a friend.
🙂
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Oops, I did goof that up. The violinist in the video, Renaud Capucon, whom I have never met, is alive and well, to my knowledge.
My friend who died played with a sweet tone like the man in the video does, but is not that person!
Remind me to wake up fully before I post anything. 😉
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Thanks, the Real.
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Good morning. Youngest daughter, Becca, is going to her first slumber party tonight. I think the mom is crazy; she’s invited 15 first graders, many of whom have never spent the night away from home before. However, she is a second grade teacher, so maybe she knows what she’s doing. Personally, I won’t do slumber parties until fourth grade.
I’m so excited about seeing my sister and her family soon! I can’t believe they will be back in the states on the 18th! Yay!!!
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When I am away from all of you during the day I have so many things to tell you. When I get home there is a dog and a cat and a ChloeCat and a husband and dinner and laundry and I forget. The next morning it is all starting again so I want to start the day fresh.
George is FINALLY on board for counseling for BG. He said he now has “skin in the game”. Funny how that works, but at least it is working. He is taking her this morning. She still isn’t doing well in school. We are all trying to figure out how to pay for her to go to Christian school nearby.
Worthy (used to be Worthless) Nephew has been around her friends and proclaimed them trashy. He called his mother, who called her brother, who called me to tell me that BG needed better friends.
We continue to need your prayers. In the back of my mind I always think I can just pack the two of us up and head to Mumsee’s but now I have other things to consider like a husband who may not want to be abandoned this soo. 😉
My new job continues to go well and I am grateful for that. We have our 1pm reading group right now. We are reading EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey. He quotes Zig Ziglar about life being like the spokes of a wheel: Spiritual, Family, Career, Financial, Social, etc and if any of these are out of balance you are limping down the road on a flat tire.
Our discussion yesterday gave me the opportunity to share that I had my personal break down on the side of the road flat tire September 9, 2010 and ended up in my former priest’s office sobbing for two hours. Cal reminded me that the founder of our company always says to put God first, family second, and THEN you career.
It is good to work for such a company and such a man. I have laughed and told him that I could have saved some money on career counceling, goal setting, and therapy if I had just come to work for him four years ago when the opportunity was first presented…the only problem is he didn’t have THIS job ready then.
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QoD: Language session in the morning, gather for pizza in the evening. No delivery here, it is strictly make-your-own.
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QoD: Writing all morning, then workout, then Christmas shopping which might seem like a workout. Then movie night with hubby.
I am thinking of forgoing all the shopping for what my kids need and just going to the animal shelter and getting a dog. No other gifts just a dog.The kids have been begging me. Hubby is willing, but I am the hold out. Not cause I don’t love dogs. I am the one who falls the hardest for the three that we have had. How do y’all think that would go over?
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On the calendar for today: Work, grocery shopping and then heading home to prepare for our small group potluck tomorrow! My job is to host and do the decorating (since I’m probably the worst cook in our group) and I am so very okay with that! It’s going to be so pretty in here tomorrow night!
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I know you have been wondering what obscure Christmas song I could find to share. Well here it is:
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Kare would you like my never fail Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo with Winter Greens? It is served with a salad with a homemade bacon mustard dressing and Blondies (white chocolate brownies ) for desert?
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I ended up in a free webinar about improving an author’s website on Tuesday. I took my webmaster (Second daughter-in-law) to our computer screens and we took three pages of notes.
The next day they called to schedule a free 1/2 hour consultation. I was shocked, but took it with aforementioned webmaster and adorable granddaughter #2 listening in on speaker phone. (Actually adorable granddaughter kept pressing the angel on top of the Fisher Price nativity set causing it to play “Away in a Manger” in a classic pre-school monotone).
I took three more pages of notes in a lively, very helpful (free!) discussion. I then entertained the adorable granddaughter while her mother focused on strategy and we tweaked the website a little. Including altering the “tags” on my two most popular blog posts (Tattooing Your Soul and Westminster Abbey–go figure)
I then wrote today’s tough post about Death at Christmas, posted it and yesterday had the most readers ever on my blog.
I got far more than I deserved, but then, thanks to Jesus, I always do.
I’ve asked you all to pray for me in December, here’s why: http://wp.me/p1ektw-LN
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Oh, today? Walk dog with friend, wrap present for work colleagues (last day of work in 2012!), work, talk with newly returned Stargazer, out for Thai food and then I get to babysit the adorable grandchildren while everyone else sees The Hobbit!
(The one Tolkien book I’ve read!)
I’ll go tomorrow with my college student daughter, who will be driving home alone Saturday morning . . . must visit the praying post!
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QOD: not much.
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There are real good versions of this carol out there, but I was surprised to hear how good a job these guys did with it:
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QoD: more household reorganizing and deep cleaning, getting ready for Christmas with my extended family here the 23rd. Slowly but surely.
Paying bills. Ooh, fun.
Winding down with end-of-the-calendar-year school stuff.
Taking a little quiet time to remember my friend who died a year ago today.
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Hahaha, thanks for the Monkees doing Riu. That made my day!
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Book club today….we won’t speak much about the book because we are eating together…you know how that goes!
We may get a bit of snow today…then rain….all moisture most welcome here.
Have a blessed day everyone
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Saw “Lincoln” last night, good film — what did you all think? The friend I went with works at a Catholic hospital and was telling me the government health care mandate already is making their lives more difficult, with new daily hoops to jump through in patient care directives.
Meanwhile, I woke up early this morning to find my dogs had somehow escaped the backyard — I STILL can’t find the breach. So that’s going to be a major challenge. They’d also been sprayed by a skunk, not sure if that happened before or after the yard break. But a neighbor was calling & knocking on my door at 7:30 with the two of them in tow.
I’m supposed to go to a craft mart with a friend today, but now I’m trying figure out how to clean the dogs up. The fence can wait ’til this afternoon, I’ll just leave them locked in the kitchen if I can’t find a groomer where I can drop them off. Not a good time for this financially, either. 😦
And I’d taken them for such a nice outing yesterday to romp along the local dog beach. And this is what they do to thank me? Dogs will be dogs.
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Donna,
😯
Just imagine how they feel. Imagine the conversation if they could talk.
Dog 1– “I told you that wasn’t a cat!”
Dog 2– “Well it looked like a cat.”
Dog 1– “You know what this means?”
Dog 2– “No, what?”
Dog 1– “We’re goin’ to the groomers again.”
Dog 2– “NOOOOOOOO I don’t want a bath! I smell fine!”
Dog 1– “Yeah well, remember that next time you get anymore bright ideas. Let’s chase the cat, it’ll be fun! Why do I listen to you?”
Dog 2– “Hey buddy, you were the one who found the escape route, don’t pin this on me.”
Dog 1– “The worst part will be facing The Cat. She’s gonna laugh at us. Again.”
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QoD: Giving and grading quizzess; getting high school students ready for semester exams (yes, our school requires them); all while listening to Trans-Siberian Railroad Christmas channel on Pandora. I love the way they take some of the non-religious pieces (which make me gag) and make them likable. (Jingle Bells with a fuzz electric guitar is much better than the usual.)
And of course, since it’s Friday I read the political comics. There are actually one or two that are funny!
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AJ, you are getting as good at humor as Drill! 🙂
We were suppose to go out to a special place for lunch today to celebrate my birthday. As it turned out, we have some computer issues (not affecting the internet) so we had to hang around for the fix-it guy to come do his magic. I am fine without going out but someone else is disappointed who had come up with the idea so we have some unhappy campers in the office tent right now. Shall I also say, we have some hungry campers.
With the change in plans, I will probably go pick up something for lunch in alittle bit and while out I may pick up supplies for the little birthday party for Jesus at Sunday School. I may try to do some research to prepare to write another article this afternoon. Not sure what else is on the agenda for today. I am being flexible.
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AJ, hahaha. 😀
So the reeking dogs have been dropped off at the Petco groomers (I apologized profusely — though the young groomer said she had a cold so couldn’t smell them too much, which was a blessing!).
Of course, by then my house & car reeked also. So I opened up some windows in the house to try to air it out. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten one of the windows had a loose screen. Out went the cat who refuses now to come back in, of course.
It’s animal chaos around here today. My friend is due in another 20 minutes & we’re going shopping. It’ll take a while for them to de-skunk the dogs. But the other problem is I’m going to have to try to figure out how the dogs got out of the yard.
A cursory check didn’t show any obvious spots. …
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Meanwhile, on a much more serious note, I just heard the awful news about the school shooting on the car radio coming back from the groomers. How absolutely horrifying. 😦 😦 😦
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I’m at home sick for the first time in years. I spent the day reading No Easy Day — interesting but its obvious the author was a SEAL not a writer. Manhunt is a far better account of the Bin Ladin raid.
Just heard about the elementary school shooting. Not going to turn on the TV — cable news saturation coverage is like rubber necking at a highway accident scene. It also hit close to home — my school is always locked. All doors require a pass to open and visitors need to buzz the office much like secure door at an apartment building. This stems from incident where a mentally unstable man walked into the office with a large knife threatening to kill and rape the children. He was disarmed by the vice principal and the cops took him away. In this case, he was upset with grade eight girls taunting him as they walked by his parents house. We also have to deal non-custodial parents/stalkers. And people say teaching is not in the real world — unfortunately it is.
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Donna – And it’s an elementary school!
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/State-Police-Responding-to-Shooting-at-School-Police–183498401.html
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Good to hear from you, Karen. I saw Connecticut and couldn’t remember how old Forest was or if he was in school yet.
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Kim: that sounds like a delightful meal, however, between hubby’s and my allergies it would probably not fly.
Donna: We found (after Keva was sprayed 3 times in 2 weeks) that Sunlight dish soap and baking soda rubbed and scrubbed all over the dog and then pour vinegar over before rinsing worked best at getting rid of all the skunk smell. The look on his face when the vinegar reacted with the baking soda was hilarious! Did I mention this was also when we were hauling water before digging a new well? He used a lot of water those few weeks.
So terrible about the school shooting.
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My sister-in-law is from Newton. It’s a small town and I’ll bet Sandy Hook is the only school. That means someone just killed all the five-year-olds, much like Herod did in Bethlehem.
Close friends live the next town over and I’ve been through there many times. A large Episcopal Church fronts the main street of town.
Reports have the killer as suffering from Aspbergers and one of the victims was his mother. I wonder how many problems the family had trying to deal with this kid. I wonder how we can possibly hope to help all the kids in America who seem so hopelessly messed up, particularly when so many adults are no better.
Very sad today; I can’t begin to imagine what that classroom was like when a killer came in.
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I got home not too long ago, still haven’t had a chance to get all the details about the school shooting — but the death toll (and the young age of those children) just makes this incredibly tragic.
Of course, liberal friends are posting gun control banter again on FB … But then I saw this from another friend and thought it was right on:
“I can’t stomach hearing either gun-control advocates or gun rights advocates using today’s events as a political platform. Babies have died. Parents and families are grieving. No amount of gun control or gun rights will keep people from being horrible people to each other, even to the point of killing. No amount of gun control will keep stupid people from walking into schools and doing stupid things to children; no amount of gun rights will help teachers and parents truly defend children against horrible people. Please do not use this as a political platform.”
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Now to go pick up the dogs.
(Kare2012, yes, I’ve used a similar formula in the past — I was virtually heading out of the house within 2 hours when the dogs were brought to my front door, however, and didn’t have time to deal with it today; so to the groomer’s they went. Also trying to get the smell out of the leather collars they were wearing.)
I thought the groomer would have called by now, but no word yet – so I guess I’ll call them, see how it’s coming along. They did say it would take some time because they need to leave the formula on their coats for a long time. And I know from past incidents that a faint “skunk” scent will linger for a while, but it does eventually dissipate.
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No amount of gun control will keep stupid people from walking into schools and doing stupid things to children; no amount of gun rights will help teachers and parents truly defend children against horrible people.
I could see how one of those propositions will always be true, but I’m not sure it could be said with any confidence at all that the other one is. I’ll heed the advice to refrain from political commentary, although I’m not sure what the harm is.
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It means ultimately that sinful people will carry out sinful deeds.
Laws are good. They help maintain order in a fallen society and in a fallen world.
But laws (alone) won’t prevent breakouts of evil. Personally, I find it unsettling that this is becoming about political causes so quickly. Even President Obama suggested this is “not the time” for this particular dialogue.
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Donna, hubby had gotten home at 3 a.m. the second time Keva found the skunk – I had to wake him up at 8 a.m. to help me wash the dog. Hubby was very tired that day 🙂 I would have much rather dropped Keva off at a groomers, but an hour in the Jeep with skunky dog… no thanks!
I agree with your thoughts on making this a political platform, people can still do horrible things even when there are gun control laws.
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Less guns, more guns. I’m not saying the debate isn’t legitimate; just that maybe we wait a few days.
And with either option, evil will find a way to be perpetrated.
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No amount of gun control will keep people from doing stupid things to children but it will minimize or lower the amount of damage. As I mentioned in a previous post, a mental unstable man entered my school threatening to kill certain students with a knife. He was disarmed by the vice principal. I wonder if the story would be different if he could’ve acquired or found a gun. A task easier in the US than here in Canada.
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I grew up around guns. I understood that when you shot something it was DEAD. This isn’t about guns this is about TV and video games and a whole lot of other things. Children went to school for a lot of years that guns were around that they were safe, BUT NOW ISN”T THE TIME for this conversation. Now is the time to pray for the children who survived and the families of the childre who didn’t. I cannot imagine what is was like to be a parent in that town today whether your child survived or not. My heart breaks for those parent who will not tuck their babies in and kiss them good night tonight.
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You folks know how much I love news.
But I just can’t take too much of this story. I’ve tried to read several, but I just can’t finish them. It’s just too sad.
And no, this is not the time to have that discussion. I’m rather sickened by the response of those on the left who seek to politicize such a tragedy for a political pet project like more gun control laws.The media of course, plays along. It’s disgusting.
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It is truly just so very sad.
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Can’t even imagine … 😦 😦 😦
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Nope.
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Donna, are your dogs home yet? And did you find their escape route?
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The dogs are home. Tess smells like Christmas cookies. Cowboy still retains a faint whiff of skunk. They’re exhausted, I think they had quite a night out — then followed by a full day at the groomer’s …
And no, I still am not seeing where they could have gotten out. I did find part of a fence plank that was broken, but I don’t think the space is big enough for two 50-pound dogs to get through. It was starting to rain when I was looking late today, so I’ll give it another survey tomorrow; meanwhile, they’re locked inside with only supervised backyard breaks.
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There are just no words…I am stunned, I can’t think of what to type next. The ache for these families goes deeper and deeper the more the day goes on, yet I can hardly even pray.
I saw my children through new eyes today, especially my five-year-old. I couldn’t get enough of hugging her today, looking into her eyes, watching her and following her as she jumped down the stairs one step at a time on her way to bed, full of life and without a care in the world.
And when she climbed into her bed, I couldn’t leave the room; I couldn’t even stand there. I climbed into bed with her, whispered that I loved her, and laid there holding her hand, looking at her little face as she fell asleep.
And now my tears are flowing for those who don’t have the faces of their little ones to look into tonight.
I can’t imagine that kind of hurt.
Lord, may I never take for granted the blessing of children.
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