Math for Mondays

Elizabeth used to do this frequently, and I'd had such a day, I do believe it requires adding up.

1: vomiting husband who had to stay home today, lest he contaminate the entire city.

2: hard-working plumbers who finally found the sneaky leak in one of the old, nasty gas pipes under my house.

2400: dollars that I spent 4 years ago to "replace" all those old, nasty gas pipes under this house.

4: fits that I have thrown threatening to sue said lying, greedy plumbers (the ones from 4 years ago, mind you). 1 fit for each year.

150: (approximate) emails received today at work, all of which were written by people who obviously picked the wrong week to give up taking their Xanax.

1: dirty, foul dog who had an accident in my bed, while asleep with the vomiting husband.

5: loads of laundry I carted back and forth to my MIL's to use her dryer.

10: days we have been without gas service, heat, a clothes dryer and stovetop.

42: (approximate) number of times I have been asked for warm milk by children who keep forgetting we have no stovetop.

And in celebration:

1: very wonderful friend who finally decided to be on Facebook, allowing me to be in better contact with her from 1200 miles away. I miss you Bets!

1: washing machine which, after 3 years of refusing to pull hot water from the wall, finally gave up and decided to get on with it - just in time for me to wash the aforementioned laundry.

Picture from Wired.com.

The Pathetic Re-post Option

After a week of plumbers and vomiting children (and my own bout of the stomach bug), all I have the energy for is to re-post a favorite of mine from the first week of this blog.

Oscar has been gone for over a year, but we still miss him.

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Oscar's Testimony:

This is Oscar. He's a nine year old boxer, and he rarely walks these days. Adopted from Lone Star Boxer Rescue, he's been in our family since he was two. Right now his latest challenge is the loss of most of the feeling in his back legs. We've been to the vet, we've been to the holistic vet. We've taken Rimadyl, we've taken Chinese medicine, we've even had acupuncture, and nope, he still can't find the ground underneath him, even if you tie a magnifying glass to his back legs.

The amazing thing about this dog is: it doesn't bother him. He gleefully drags himself across the hardwoods to get where he wants to go, he dives into his daily kibble as if it were filet mignon. He barks threateningly at squirrels and tries to fight the neighbor's dog through the fence. It's obvious that he is in no pain. It is equally obvious that Oscar doesn't want to give up living any time soon.

When he came to us seven years ago, he'd been beaten and starved; his spine and hips stuck out and he had a cigar burn on his side. Yet he threw himself into our arms, sat patiently while One (and then Two) crawled over every inch of him. They'd sleep on him, he'd sleep under them. He radiated joy over every meal, every pat on the head, every scratch, every trip outside.

Why am I belaboring Oscar and his joy? Because this dog has inspired me to faith more times that I can count. His peaceful acceptance of his condition, his joy over any small blessing - these things have schooled me in how I should act in the face of my God and what He puts on my plate every day.

I love this dog. I love him because he is a family member, but also because he reminds me to savor every blessing, to look beyond what cripples me, and to thank my Master at every turn.

Thank you Oscar. And when it is time, may God speed you to your well-deserved rest.

Sweet, Sweet Rage

Maybe it's because I spent the day fighting with a lazy, mendacious, over-charging punk of a plumber, but this screed by Dan Riehl on the "nuclear option" for healthcare sounds better to me than a choir singing the sweetest of lullabies.

"Reconcile this, you distasteful, malevolent little quisling punk - a timely reminder of some words I never thought would have such import during my lifetime.

'When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.'

The cause is well known and it is just. When the alleged leader of a democratic republic places his own wishes so above those of the complete body politic, he is no longer worthy of the title, leader, no matter what office he might occupy."

Sing it, Dan.

HT: Instapundit

Mean Boy

Husband: "Two, being unnecessarily cruel is not funny."

Two: "Why?"

Best Headline Ever

"Emu that fought police dies in shelter"

"Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office tried to prevent the tall, flightless bird from running into traffic. But when deputies neared the emu, it became aggressive and slashed one deputy’s pant leg ... The cause of death was not immediately known."

Now if it were the Bellaire or Stafford police departments, we'd already know it died of a gunshot wound. But in El Paso, who knows?

New Meaning

What does it mean to to have a "bucket list" when you're 23 and could die at any time? I've always thought the bucket list concept was over-rated, but Eva Markvoort has changed my mind completely. She's 23, in the hospital in British Columbia with chronic rejection of the transplanted lungs she received less than three years ago. Why the original transplant? She has CF, of course. Now she needs a second transplant, but time is not fighting on the side of the angels this time.

Despite all these circumstances, Eva fights on. And this past week she crossed another accomplishment off her all-important bucket list: she received her bachelor's degree.

Go Eva! And the rest of y'all, please, please pray for this beautiful, brave young woman. Would that all of us treat what we have to do in this life with as much urgency and passion as Eva does.

Official Diet Update: Seven Weeks

After seven weeks of not the most strenous diet ever undertaken, I have lost 10.5lbs. I have 14.5 to go. I am also down close to 2" on my waist and the same on my hips. I have a feeling there are some summer things that are going to fit this year!

Worshipping God

I've been thinking about this post on and off all day - I read this article in the Houston Chronicle this morning. If you don't want to click through to the article (and you should, at least to see the photograph in question), here is the beginning of the piece:

"The elders at Ecclesia Church were expecting something tame from Jackson Potts II for their annual Stations of the Cross art display. Instead, the 10-year-old produced a photo of his kid brother being beaten by a police officer. Jackson says it's a modern-day interpretation of Roman soldiers beating Jesus."

I have a lot to say about this article, while is why this post kept cooking in my head all day. On the other hand, I know people at the church in the story - dear, sweet, loving people, who I wouldn't want to hurt by saying things that may be misinterpreted as deliberately cruel.

But I have to say something. And it is this:

When you think it's a good idea to constantly come up with new and different ways of worshipping the Uncreated God, this is where it lands you. When you pick and choose from one tradition, another tradition, invent some things of your own - you are making up church out of this world, and the Church is not created with the things of this world. It is the body of Christ, and was created by Him for the purpose of worshipping Him and Him alone. It is not a vehicle for self-expression, or self-invention; it is where the faithful from both sides of the veil of life gather together each week to praise and worship the only One truly deserving of it.

I know I'm not saying this as well as many others could, but I thought it was a point worth making all the same.