I think the topic for today (something pink) has to do with tomorrow being Gaudete Sunday (or “pink candle Sunday” for those less liturgically-inclined). Not wanting to drag myself to the bedroom to get some yarn, I decided to go through my pictures and find something pink. Lo and behold… I had flamingo pics on my laptop!
The second I saw the words “elementary school shooting” and “2 dead” on the screen, I turned the TV off yesterday. There are some things that just should not be broadcast on an endless loop and our media has the idiotic idea that it’s proper to interview kids in those situations.
I had already been sick for two weeks, seriously ill for three of them, not sleeping for three nights, and when I happened to see something about 26 people dead on Facebook, I completely lost it. Even better, I had to deal with Medi-Cal who completely… screwed up. (I’m trying not to drop gratuitous amounts of f-bombs like I did on Twitter yesterday while having to fix everything with Medi-Cal.) Yesterday was not a good day. (By the way, Daniel is fine in case you heard via Facebook or Twitter that we were having to get him in to urgent care to make sure he doesn’t have what I have.)
Do I have to even say how broken am I over the shooting? Someone posted the names of everyone killed and I started sobbing. I’ve had to hide status updates with the names of all the kids because the thought of kids just a few years older than Daniel dying is more than I can handle. I don’t think it’s a “mother” thing as much as I don’t think it would be so hard on me personally if I wasn’t a mother and if I hadn’t been through almost losing Daniel twice.
To the pro-life morons who decided to comment on how “20 kids died today but 2000 babies are aborted daily”: Did you ever consider that messages like that are why people ignore you and mock you? I’m totally pro-life here (unless the mom’s life is in danger or in cases of rape/incest) and seeing comments like that makes me want to vomit. Yes, it is tragic that 2000 babies are aborted daily (or whatever the statistic is) but 20 KIDS WERE MOWED DOWN BY A GUNMAN, ALL OF THEM SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES. These are actual human beings, not an excuse to advance your political cause. SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!
To Mike Huckabee: I’m almost ashamed to call myself a Christian after seeing your remarks about how this happened because we took God out of school. Actually, this happened because our country lacks adequate access to mental health, sufficient gun control, and our world is broken due to sin. I hope Fox News takes you off the air due to your insensitive remarks.
To everyone who has sent me a gun control petition in the last 24 hours: I agree 100% that we need better gun control and that the NRA are a bunch of right-wing nut jobs. However, THIS IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE TIME. Let the families bury their kids, let me stop sobbing every time I see the story mentioned, and then I’ll be more than happy to sign petitions, protest at the Capitol building in Sacramento, or do whatever I can for the cause.
To Westboro Baptist Church: I can honestly say that if you try to protest at *ANY* of the funerals/vigils/memorial services, there will be much pain on your part because folks do not take kindly to your crap when it comes to kids.
And because I honestly can’t string coherent thoughts together, I’ll just leave you with the song that’s been in my head since I first saw the news story yesterday:
Our challenge today was to make a wordle that described our feelings on Advent. I decided to take a version of one of my favorite Advent hymns and enter it into the text box. (It’s not my favorite version but it will have to do.) It might not be one that many non-Lutherans know because it’s a Swedish hymn but I love the tune.
These are my eyes. The picture is weird because it was taken with my webcam. I normally wear glasses but those would catch some flash.
You also get to see the zit on my nose. Lucky you…
Kaia needs a mama. You see this beautiful girl? She needs a mama. Click on her picture to be *magically* whisked away to her Reece’s Rainbow profile page.
Oh. Em. Gee. NCIS!!! I loved seeing Gibbs and Fornell working with their ex-wife for this episode. All the one-liners were incredibly funny and it was a nice sequel to the episode last season where Gibbs and Fornell were trying to find their ex’s new husband who had been kidnapped.
Awesome news. Brett’s parents Fred and Carrie went to court for Delilah, the other child they’re adopting, and the court granted the adoption! Brett’s 10-day waiting period is up this week and Delilah’s will be up on 12/21 so hopefully they’ll be home for the New Year.
Major prayer request. I just found out that one of my IV buddies from UCSC was just diagnosed with leukemia. His wife Christy is keeping us updated on the battle and it’s coming as a shock to a lot of us who remember Ian as a quirky, energetic, and fiery witness to the faith. Please keep him and his family in prayer — he’s only 35 and has two young daughters.
Whine whine whine whine WHINE! I’ve been dealing with a chest cold for I think two weeks now (at least two Sundays) and Daniel was fighting it last weekend. Those who have been hanging with me for a while know that Daniel + cold = potential ICU stay so I was thankful that he responded well to nebulizer treatment and only missed one day of school. Mommy, on the other hand, is dealing with strange sleep habits from staying up to listen to him breathe and Jon stayed home on Monday to take care of both of us. I think I’d probably be doing better if I’d actually *take* Robitussin every so often and be faithful with the cough drops. Oops! I called the clinic today and my favorite provider has hours tomorrow afternoon so I’m going to see if I can’t get something for it.
A burst of crocheting. Due to the strange hours I’ve been keeping, I’ve gotten a fair amount of crocheting done. I offered to make stockings for Brett and Delilah and got Delilah’s done on Monday night. With Brett’s stocking, I just have the cuff and edging to do — an hour or two at the most to finish. The problem: I’ve been feeling so icky the last few nights that I’ve just wanted to curl up in a ball under the comforter in the recliner.
Watching “Minor Revisions”. I originally didn’t have any plans to do so but I’ve managed to join the Twitter party in watching “Minor Revisions” which is the show for Jennifer Fulwiler, the most awesome host of the Quick Takes at ConversionDiary.Com. It’s interesting to listen to her story of how she became Catholic because I grew up faithless and converted to Christianity in middle school/high school. It was fun to watch her and her father at the planetarium as well as her flipping out over the scorpion.
For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.
Two years ago, my father-in-law (who is active in ecumenical affairs) was invited to a reception for newly-appointed Archbishop José Gomez. Recently diagnosed with cancer, he wasn’t feeling up to driving so he asked if Jon and I could take him to the Cathedral for it. Always eager to check out the local cathedral, we jumped in the car and drove down the 10 to downtown L.A. While my father-in-law was rubbing elbows with amazing people, Jon and I were able to explore. I have beautiful pictures of the tapestries in the main part of the sanctuary (?) as well as the various altars. During the time we were there, there was an exhibition of various interpretations of Mary including one of her in Japanese dress. This picture was my favorite because it shows her being both pensive and joyful.
If you ever have opportunity to visit the cathedral, I recommend it. It’s a magnificent building, a very peaceful space, and the crypt is even more interesting — Gregory Peck is buried there among others.
I’m choosing this one because there are too many religious Christmas songs I love and I avoid secular Christmas music at all costs. It’s catchy and while it’s somewhat sad at the end, it’s also happy because the two are united again.
Yes, I also realize that it’s a YouTube video and not a picture but it’s a fixed image on which text is projected.