Saturday, February 28, 2009

Chris Muir on Tea

Click on the cartoon to read it - it's worth it.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Local News Coverage!

Of the Houston Tea Party is here, at KPRC Channel 2's website.

I'm shocked!

Tea Party Mini Wrap-up

Here are some pictures from all over of the more than 40 Tea Party activities held today:

Chicago

St. Louis, where they had 1,500 people - wow!

Michelle Malkin has a photo gallery, Instapundit has a lot of photos and stories as well, and of course there's lots of coverage at TCOT.

Keep it up, people!

Lenten Fasting

Here's a great video from Living Water:


Don't fast. from Living Water International on Vimeo.

Houston Tea Party: Pictures

UPDATE at 11pm: Heard from the organizers - they had 350 people sign in at today's event, and estimate the total number at 500! Aren't we all glad I don't do math for a living ...

*******************************************

The boys and I spent some time at the Houston Tea Party at lunch today. I've never tried to estimate such things, but I would guess there were a solid 200 people there. Here are some pictures:

Some good signs:





One of the organizers on stage:

The Pledge and National Anthem:


And some media coverage - from KPRC, Channel 2:

I hope everyone else's event went this well.

Tea Party Today!

Six reasons why the boys and I are heading out to the Houston Tea Party today:

1. President Obama's budget proposes $989 billion in new taxes over the next 10 years.

2. The already-passed stimulus bill repealed welfare reform.

3. The proposed budget increases the deficit by over $11,000 for each American.

4. The aforementioned budget reduces the tax deductability of charitable deductions.

5. Despite the fact everyone thought it was just Chris Dodd being stupid, the White House and Congress really would like to nationalize banks. Just ask Citi today - it's now 36%-owned by Uncle Sam.

6. The mortgage bailout rewards financially irresponsible people at the expense of responsible ones.

The Democrats are spending our money with no control whatsoever. I would like a country left for my sons to live in 30 years hence, if that's not too much trouble.

See you at the party, folks.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Snark from the New Green Belt

We went out to dinner tonight after the boys successfully became light green belts at taekwondo, and the conversation followed a predicable path:

One: "You're so funny Dad!"

Dad: "Funny haha or funny strange?"

One: "Funny haha"

and then not so predicable ...

One: "Don't worry mom. Once in a while you're "funny haha.""

Thanks child. I love you too.

Texas Tea

It's tea time in San Antonio and Austin this Friday as well!

Both events are from 11-12; San Antonio's is in Alamo Plaza and Austin's is on the Capitol steps.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A Prayer for Lent, by Henri Nouwen

"How often have I lived through these weeks without paying much attention to penance, fasting, and prayer? How often have I missed the spiritual fruits of the season without even being aware of it? But how can I ever really celebrate Easter without observing Lent? How can I rejoice fully in your Resurrection when I have avoided participating in your death? Yes, Lord, I have to die — with you, through you, and in you — and thus become ready to recognize you when you appear to me in your Resurrection. There is so much in me that needs to die: false attachments, greed and anger, impatience and stinginess.... I see clearly now how little I have died with you, really gone your way and been faithful to it.O Lord, make this Lenten season different from the other ones. Let me find you again. Amen."

Maps, Maps and More Than Maps

Sharon at Rocks in My Dryer has been linking to various online geography games, but I've found the granddaddy of them all:

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm

You can find absolutely every geography fact, quiz, you name it, here. There's also animal games, periodic table quizzes, and a food chain game. I could spend all day on this site (ed.: this is for your kids, not you. me: but I like geography games!).

Enjoy, whatever your age.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Boy Scout

In 1950, my father travelled by train to Valley Forge, PA to attend the 2nd National Boy Scout Jamboree. He started up in the Adirondack Park, in his tiny hometown, and travelled through NYC and on to PA. He remembers unloading everything from the train and starting the walk to the campground - when they got there there were more boys than he could have imagined in one place. He and his friends stayed the entire Jamboree - the food was great, he heard President Truman and General Eisenhower speak, and - most special of all - there was a tent with a tiny television, the first TV my father had ever seen.

To him, PA was far away from home, and although he was 12 years old, he was a little homesick. He was glad to get home again, although he claims his mother was a little disappointed he'd found his way back. ;) He didn't know at the time that this was an historic event, one that would turn into a nationwide tradition running over 50 years. For him it was an intensly personal event, a time when a not-so-big boy stepped out on his own and did something he never thought he could do. It was this trip that started him down the road to a much bigger one - to the Air Force and Korea, Japan, and all over the US.

When I talked to my dad about this Jamboree, his voice was full of wonder; the trip was very clear in his mind, and I could hear his enjoyment of it as he spoke. He hadn't thought about it in years, but as we talked I could see him in the dusty tent, staring in amazement at TV, and under the stars at his campsite, talking with friends into the night. I love those pictures he shared with me; now they are mine as well as his.

You're Worried About What?

So the country is going to hell in a handbasket, and people are calling for immediate change.

They want to change their OJ containers back to the old design.

Huh?

Houston Tea Party

The Houston Tea Party will be Friday 2/27 at Fondren Green at Discovery Green.

Time: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm.

More information here and here, and don't forget to look for the Houston Tea Party group on Facebook - they are organizing this and have all the good info.

Hope to see y'all there!

UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers! And thanks to Glenn for the link.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Wheeeeee!

Husband is watching Patton on AMC, and during a commercial break the AMC people tried to compare George S. Patton to Harvey Milk. I think it's safe to say that both men are spinning riotously in their graves right about now, thanks to that.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Schoolhouse Rock, Part II

This Schoolhouse Rock is much more relevant these days, as Husband pointed out this morning:



TRex Debt!

Friday, February 20, 2009

I'm Just a Bill, Yes I'm Only a Bill

This is for Husband - I think this is his favorite Schoolhouse Rock:



Then again, he might like Conjunction Junction more:



Yes, I've been playing on YouTube again. It's a disease for which there is no cure.

Just Wondering

Do soda ads today show numerous shots of small children chugging down bottles of sugar-laden, caffeinated soda?



My apologies for the grainy picture - but seriously, do they? I haven't seen a soda commercial in ages so I really don't know.

Wow, how is it that we made it through childhood with all of our teeth?

Thursday, February 19, 2009

All About Me

Elizabeth has a "Three Things About Me" post up, and since I love to talk about ME, I tagged myself. Here we go:

Three Names I Have Been Called:
1. Tare Bear (most recently by a Sales Manager at work. He almost died of embarrasment.)
2. Killer
3. Mom

Three Jobs I Have Had In My Life:
1. Prep cook at a deli
2. Assistant buyer at a large department store
3. Attorney

Three Places I Have Lived:
1. Lake Placid, NY
2. Austin, TX
3. Houston, TX

Three Hobbies:
1. Reading
2. Sleeping
3. Talking incessantly

Three things most people do not know about me:
1. I was adopted (Do most people know this? I don't know) and my birth mother named me Nancy.
2. My feet grew a 1/2 size with each pregnancy and never shrunk back. Do you know how many shoes I have taken to Goodwill?
3. I am addicted to my NeilMed sinus thingy. I tried to make the boys use one but they ran away. I will catch them someday.

Three TV Shows That I Watch:
1. No Reservations
2. Dirty Jobs (like I have a choice?)
3. Doctor Who

Three places I Have Been (that I like, alot):
1. Guatemala (the whole thing - it's small)
2. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
3. Sooke Harbor, BC

Three places I want to go:
1. New Zealand
2. Chile
3. Ireland

Any threes about you, too?

Tea, Anyone?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853&play=1

It is certainly a great mystery to me why I should pay for someone else's mortgage, especially when Husband has broken his back the past 4 years paying ours. It's nice to see I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Anyone have any tar and feathers handy?

HT: Dr. Helen

Tilting at Windmills

The North Dakota House has passed a measure giving a human fetus the same legal rights as an already-born individual. The bill is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade.

"Critics of the measure say it will cost millions of dollars to defend. Ruby [the measure's sponsor] said the state has been willing to go to bat for other principles that were less important."

I absolutely love this. The 51 House Members who voted for this measure are courageous - perhaps heroic - for voting their consciences and challenging the huge, evil, money-coining business that abortion has become in this country.

"Good luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

Ditat Deus

I've just been staring at one of the boys' Painless Learning placemats as I ate lunch, and today I painlessly learned that Arizona's state motto is "God Enriches."

And here I was all this time thinking Joel Osteen's ministry was headquartered here. How silly of me; the one here must just be a branch office of a larger, Phoenix-based church.

The things you can learn at lunchtime.

Bleeding Kansas

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius appears to be Obama's top choice for HHS Secretary. According to the article, she will be key in "helping to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system."

Maybe she can guarantee all of us a partial birth abortion a year, gratis.

Fake Police and Real Guns

Not many weeks after the Bellaire shooting of an unarmed man, it's happened again. This time in Stafford, a suburban community southwest of Houston. And this time to my church family.

Please pray.

I can't say how much it angers me that we put the authority of the law into the hands of people who are so obviously unable to handle it. I am not a gun control advocate, but I am an advocate of vetting and training police officers in such a way that this kind of thing does not happen. These tragedies happen in smaller communities more often than in big cities because that vetting and training process is not there. Nor are those officers, in some instances, given other tools that would prevent them from reaching for their guns. For example, just the other day we were in line for sandwiches behind a police officer from one of the small municipalities nearby. One whispered to me, in shock "but he only has a gun, he doesn't have a Taser!" And they don't. So what else do they reach for when they (a) feel in danger, or (b) want to be the hero?

Putting the law in the hands of the wrong people is criminal.

Please pray.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Power of the Word

Go check out J Wakeham's amazing story about the power of Psalm 23!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Not Me Monday - the Girl Scout Cookie Edition

Here we are again, at the confessional end of the week:

I did not have anything to do with Girl Scout cookies this week. Those boxes neatly folded in the recycling bin -I have no idea how they got there. I did not eat them for breakfast, I did not eat them in secret in the kitchen when no one was looking - I didn't eat any of them.

I did not entice my dieting husband with the aforementioned Girl Scout cookies. Uh-uh. I did not eat so many in front of him that I drove him screaming into the kitchen for the cookies and a bowl of ice cream, causing him to fall off the Adkins wagon for the first time in months.

I did not come up with a completely lame place to hide The Cookies, one that even a 2 year old could figure out. I also did not share said hiding place with the boys in the vain hope that they would keep it a secret.

I didn't do it. It wasn't me. I don't even like Girl Scout cookies.

Scout's honor.

Table Manners, or the Lack Thereof

One and Two were just drinking Goya mango nectar, and One was so entranced with this treat he tried to pour the last drops into his hand to lick off. At least, I think that's what just happened - it was so disgusting it might have been some strange hallucination on my part. Needless to say he's in a looooong time-out right now.

Eeewwwwww.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hypothesis

People watch Survivorman because he really knows what he's doing, he's out there alone, and we all want him to make it.

People watch Bear Grylls with the same grim fascination once reserved for the Crocodile Hunter: we are all secretly hoping he bites it on camera while trying to pull off one of his stupid stunts.

Or at least that's the way it is in my house.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Birthday To Two

Six years ago at 6:46pm, Two made his entrance into the world. He was greeted by three "wows" - each directed at his prodigious weight. Since then he has developed the physique of a triathlete, but he's still making all of us say "wow".

One of Husband's and my favorite habits with Two has been trying to see who he "takes after". Just the other day he jutted his chin out in a particularly stubborn fashion, and Husband swore he saw his maternal grandmother lurking in there. He doesn't physically resemble Husband's father, but many times we've noticed a certain "engineering" quality about his actions to wonder if he is indeed the reincarnation of his Grandpa Tom. An example: when he was 18 months old, he and One were running merrily under the sprinkler. Two kept eyeing the thing, and finally dropped to his tummy, combat-crawled under the spray, and found the button that makes the water stop. He gleefully stopped and started the water over and over - a soaking wet, grinning baby in a droopy diaper, acting for all the world like a mostly naked, happy engineer.

Not-so-little Two, you are my dear sweet baby boy. Your cherubic good looks mask an inquisitive and insightful mind. You are constantly sizing up the world around you and discovering new ways of making things work. You have a heart for everyone; you are a loving friend, brother and son and have a real love for everyone you meet. You make friends so easily, and others follow your lead because they can sense that you really do care about them. You have a mischievous sense of fun, and you can make everyone laugh with a wink or a smile. Your determination is legendary: sometimes you are known to "fight the world" but your ability to stick to your guns can serve you well if you remember what is worth fighting for.

My dear blond boy, my prayer for you is that you will use your determination, leadership talents, and insightful mind to help make this world a better place. You tell me constantly that we need to work "until everyone in the world has clean water, everywhere", and I pray that your gifts will someday help make this happen.

“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” - Numbers 6:24-26

Happy Birthday, angel.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Random Outtakes

I picked up Two's sweatshirt this morning and dirt poured out of the pockets. Who would want dirt in their pockets? And how much dirt did he get in my car before he got himself home?

One wore a Mardi Gras mask for some of yesterday and it made the tip of his nose red. The girl he likes most in the world, A, then got out a red pencil and colored the tip of her nose red. Love in 3rd grade is so simple.

Two can't watch anything on TV without racing into the playroom and making something out of paper, sticks and tape that goes with the show. My house is covered with tape, paper and sticks.

One doesn't want an iPod. He wants a tape deck. Why? Books on tape, of course.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I Hate Valentine's Day

There. I said it. I hate it with absolutely primal passion. The sight of red candy hearts fills me with loathing, heart-shaped Whitman’s samplers make me want to buy an Uzi, and don’t even get me started on pwecious wittle stuffed bears. Red lingerie, I loathe you. “He went to Jared!” commercials: let’s go outside and settle this like grown-ups.

I hate Valentine’s Day more than I hate Rachel Ray.

And after I get done hating it for all these grown up reasons, I get to hate it all over again as a mother. I hate Valentine’s Day parties. I hate cartoon character Valentine’s cards – cards my children aren’t even supposed to write on, since they will be shoved in backpacks willy nilly without a thought as to who they are for. I am hopping up and down right now, hating the whole made-up, Hallmark holiday.

Why so much vitriol? Well, first of all, couples shouldn’t need someone else to tell them when it’s time to declare their undying love for one another. In reality, the best “undying love” declarations come at the end of a hard day, when your loved one holds you as you come in the door beaten down and exhausted. When they wake up with you and your stomach flu at 3am, and bring you a cold glass of water without saying a word. When they tell you the same silly joke they’ve told you 4 million times, and then wait for you to roll your eyes and laugh at them. These things can’t be manufactured, scheduled, coated in red paint and delivered with a bow.

And why am I also so bent out of shape about a harmless children’s party? Well, part of that probably has to do with the fact that I have boys – boys who don’t tell me they are having a party or need Valentine’s cards until they’re on their way out the door for school on party day. But aside from that – what does it tell our kids that we celebrate one day of the year when we tell all our friends that we “like” them? Do they learn from this that they need special occasions and frosted cupcakes before they can tell a friend “you’re better than candy, you’re so sweet”? Shouldn’t we be teaching them to appreciate the simple, sweet things their friends do for them every day? The friend who grabs the book you drop and runs after you to give it back, the one who stands up for you on the playground when you’ve having a bad day, the one who loans you his sweatshirt when you’re cold?

The fabric of our lives is made up of these infinitesimal events; these tiny stitches put an entire quilt of relationships together. We don’t need garish Snoopy cards and cheap roses to show appreciation and love for one another. We have our valentines in our hands and our words every day; we should use them, and teach our children to do the same.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Quote of the Day

Lileks:

"It’s always amazing how many people drive with no idea whatsoever of what’s behind them. The rear-view mirror might as well be a cable channel not included in their package."

Observation

Single women post LOTS of photos of themselves on Facebook.

Just sayin'...

Ten' That ...

I hear this phrase a thousand times a day. It translates into "let's pretend that", of course. Like Hondo Crouch's "pliking", it's the signature phrase of an overactive imagination. The boys are constantly other people; they try on different identities more often than Imelda Marcos tried on shoes. Current favorites are Revolutionary War patriots, Vikings, pirates, WWII soldiers, and animals of all kinds. They repeat the phrase over and over throughout their games, as they write the script for each other.

"Ten' that I say to you ..."

"Ten' that you say ..."

"Ten' that we grab our rifles and run out the door."

"Ten' that the bad pirates start firing at our ship."

And on and on and on.

As they play they work out their relationship with one another and they work out how they would deal with certain situations. Not that they are likely to face an invading Viking horde anytime soon, but they will face times when they have to make quick decisions, and their play helps them practice that skill. It also helps them to do so cooperatively - they are playing together, and they constantly ask each other for help. That's a skill they need to learn most of all - to turn to one another, grab hands, and face what's coming side by side.

This imaginative play that all of our children engage in helps define who they are and who they will be. The more our children "ten' like" together, the better the understanding they will have of themselves as they grow up.

Monday, February 9, 2009

My Biggest Fear

Is for this to happen to me.

Please pray for Amy Welborn and her family.

Walk the Walk

I don't like to blog too much about politics, especially since the election is long-over, but I found this comment by Ann Althouse interesting so I thought I'd share it. She was live-blogging President Obama's first press conference tonight:

"8:00: He ends exactly on the button. We hear a stomp as he steps off the podium, and his walk back into the White House is noticeably different from Bush's. How can I describe the different feeling I get from that walk? You can object to this if you want. It's just my feeling. I think Bush would walk away in a ritual fashion that said: I am the President and I have accomplished what the President must do. Obama's walk said: I'm a man who has this job and now I've done it and I'm out of here."


I think you can take that both ways, but I took it to be favorable to President Bush. Thoughts to the contrary?

Not Me Mondays

I'm trying a new meme, it's called Not Me Mondays - sort of a confessional-style thing. Here we go:

This weekend I did not fall sound asleep without determining that the 4 nine year old boys in the next room having a slumber party were indeed themselves asleep. And I did not awake at 2am to the sound of giggles, ignore them and go straight back to sleep.

I did not leave a pile of grotty dishes on the counter Friday night, and when Husband woke up before me on Saturday morning he did not have to wash them all for me.

I did not eat leftover birthday cake for breakfast this morning while driving with my knees on the freeway.

Nope. Not me.

A Sign of the Apocalypse

I don’t know how other warm weather people feel, but this Snuggie obsession that’s been going on is a little disturbing. I know it’s a cold winter and all, and the economy is collapsing and you don’t want to turn up the heat, but really – wrapping yourself in a shapeless sleeved rug is going too far.

Remember Jimmy Carter’s cardigan in the 1970’s? Well, Snuggies are much worse than that dun-colored sweater. They are a capitulation, not only to the economy but also to the cold. And they make you look fat. So there.

Cold weather folks, where is your stamina? Where is the courage of your ancestors, those people who walked uphill in the snow ten miles back and forth to school each day? Did Peter Stuyvesant wear a Snuggie? Paul Revere? Roger Williams? Of course not. Did 19th century Midwestern pioneers huddle in fuzzy blankets in their sod prairie homes? Did Pa Ingalls require such a crutch? No sir, he did not.

Frost-bitten Northerners, throw off your Snuggies. Buck up, wear your long underwear, or pack up and move South like the rest of us.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Overpopulation

Glorious screedy-ness from Lileks:

"Among the many things we get from England, cautionary examples may be their most useful export:

'COUPLES who have more than two children are being “irresponsible” by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government’s green adviser has warned.'

Of course he has. What’s the line from Scrooge - better they should die, and decrease the surplus population? I’m surprised that’s not an applause line these days. If Scrooge had forbid Crachet from putting on more coal because it would contribute to global warming, he’d be the hero, and Crachet would have got the three spirits."

Just what Europe needs - more encouragement to lower their birth rates. Let them. At this point, if they've devolved into the kind of people who think Gaia is more important than humans, we'd all be better off without them. And we can send those Disney people over to run the sights and such, and still have our summer European vacations. Everyone gets what they want in the end - the Euros get their desired extinction, and we get a cleaner Venice, with ADA-approved ramps and handrails. Works for me.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The 25 Things List

The "25 Things" list meme has been all over Facebook, and I posted mine there, so don't go looking for it over here. What I did find, however, is Dave Barry's - or at least a list of 25 things he has learned in 50 years. Enjoy:

1. The badness of a movie is directly proportional to the number of helicopters in it.

2. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight-saving time.

3. People who feel the need to tell you that they have an excellent sense of humor are telling you that they have no sense of humor.

4. The most valuable function performed by the federal government is entertainment.

5. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

6. A penny saved is worthless.

7. They can hold all the peace talks they want, but there will never be peace in the Middle East. Billions of years from now, when Earth is hurtling toward the Sun and there is nothing left alive on the planet except a few microorganisms, the microorganisms living in the Middle East will be bitter enemies.

8. The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.

9. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.

10. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.

11. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

12. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

13. There apparently exists, somewhere in Los Angeles, a computer that generates concepts for television sitcoms. When TV executives need a new concept, they turn on this computer; after sorting through millions of possible plot premises, it spits out, "THREE QUIRKY BUT ATTRACTIVE YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN AN APARTMENT," and the executives turn this concept into a show. The next time they need an idea, the computer spits out, "SIX QUIRKY BUT ATTRACTIVE YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN AN APARTMENT." Then the next time, it spits out, "FOUR QUIRKY BUT ATTRACTIVE YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN AN APARTMENT." And so on. We need to locate this computer and destroy it with hammers.

14. Nobody is normal.

15. At least once per year, some group of scientists will become very excited and announce that:
* The universe is even bigger than they thought!* There are even more subatomic particles than they thought!* Whatever they announced last year about global warming is wrong.

16. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

17. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.

18. The value of advertising is that it tells you the exact opposite of what the advertiser actually thinks.

19. If there really is a God who created the entire universe with all of its glories, and He decides to deliver a message to humanity, He will not use, as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.

20. You should not confuse your career with your life.

21. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.

22. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.

23. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.

24. Your friends love you anyway.

25. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.