Survey

Since I've become a blogger, I've found it very interesting to observe what people comment or don't comment on. So I thought I'd take a little survey: what inspires your comments? Something controversial, funny, personal narrative, complaining, serious, inspirational, or a picture? What are you inclined NOT to comment on? Are you more likely to comment on the blog of someone who comments on yours? Does your lack of comment mean you think it was a dumb post?

I think we should nominate Ryusoma as the Comment King! He almost always has something to say, and it's nice to know a blog is being read. :-)

Disclaimer

My point in the last post was not to blast the concept of vaccinations or declare that every vaccination is pointless. My goal was to point out the icky ingredients, especially aborted fetus cells. I am not an expert on vaccinations by any means! However, I do believe there is enough substantial research out that should make us very cautious about them. I agree with Lori that vaccinations have done good, like the polio vaccine, for instance. The vaccine turned the tide, and with it, my grandma might not have contracted polio as a child. My mom and I discussed this just yesterday and agreed that the polio vaccine is one worth having. Jill mentioned the tetanus shot -- that's another good one which I got five years ago after a cat bite (that's another story!). I think people working in hospitals or other medical situations are smart to get hepatitis or other vital shots. But the idea of injecting little children's bodies full of toxic junk is mind boggling to me. I've seen the schedule of recommended vaccines for children from babies to upper teens and it's a wonder that anybody's body can handle all that. Better to build up a child's immunities to fight off marauding cells.

I hope the New England feathers have been calmed. :-)

Disturbing Information

WARNING: SOAPBOX POST AHEAD!!

For a number of years now, I've heard about the evils of vaccinations. Many doctors push them, and parents--believing their child will grow three heads if they don't get vaccinated--often blindly comply. But among the serious, proven, well-documented side-effects or after-effects are SIDS, paralysis, autism, and Ausbergers disease (sp?). Okay, so I knew that and something about monkey parts in the vaccines, but imagine my horror when I recently learned (from a reliable source) that among the ingredients in vaccines are mercury, monkey embryo, and (brace yourself) aborted human fetus! That last one made me sick.

So why is abortion still legal? The libs may pretend they're supporting a woman's "choice," but it's got a lot to do with cold, hard money. Why? Because the trafficking of human body parts is a multi-million dollar business. Why are vaccinations (which aren't proven to prevent anything) so promoted? Money and ignorance, my friends. But I think the truth is spreading. Parents and future parents, PLEASE spare your child from this evil! And when you don't vaccinate, you'll also be serving a blow to the abortion industry.

(In places like schools where vaccines are required, you can appeal on religious grounds. They can't force you.)

It's Saturday!!

I feel like I've hit a blogging low. I can't think of anything very interesting to write, or at least "comment worthy." Not that my life is boring right now! By no means. I've been mucho busy and I don't think it will slow down until Christmas. But right now I'm enjoying a restful Saturday morning. It's a beautiful fall day, as was yesterday. The sun is shining, the sky is bright blue, and the air has a crisp bite to it. Yesterday got up to 80 degrees in the sun here! I went for a little bike ride (the first time since my birthday) and enjoyed the fall foliage and the pumpkin patch I passed. We live near several pumpkin patches and it's neat to see all the families in there picking out the perfect pumpkins and making memories along the way. Oh! I saw a black cat near the pumpkin patch! I hope that doesn't mean anything. :-o

Have any of you seen that new TV show "Three Wishes" hosted by Amy Grant? It's just come out this fall and I watched it for the first time last night. I believe it's at 9:00 every Friday night. I'm not a fan of Amy Grant's singing, but she did a great job and it was a really neat show. They went to this town and set up a "wish tent." People would come and tell them what they wished for. The three they showed were practical wishes, not something like going to Mars. One was a black college student who had had a bad stutter since he was 10. His mother was especially burdened for him to be freed of this impediment so he could pursue his dreams. He was a really neat guy, but his stuttering had brought a lot of ridicule. Well, this lady from the wish team took him to a speech therapist. They took various tests and had him read a page. He couldn't get through a sentence without stuttering badly. Then they put a special little hearing device in his ear. It somehow delays what he hears and helps him to speak normally. It was amazing! They gave him the same paper to read and he didn't have one stutter! He suddenly wanted to read everything within sight. He was excited that he could actually say his own name without stuttering. As he thanked those who helped him, he burst into tears, overcome with emotion. How wonderful that something so small could make such a huge difference in his life. He was running for class president, and after he got his hearing device, he gave a campaign speech. His family stood in the front of the crowd, waiting nervously. They hadn't heard him since he'd gotten the device. As soon as he began speaking in a smooth, confident voice, you could see the shock and delight on their faces, followed by tears. It was such a special moment to witness.

I won't describe the others in detail, but one guy helped some elderly people fulfill their dreams. One little old lady wanted to be a flight attendant, so they set her up for a Southwestern flight and she did a great job! The people just loved her. Then one plucky black lady wanted to "do the weather." So they set her up with a weather station and she calmly and proficiently pointed out the weather patterns on the chart. Both ladies had the time of their lives! Another lady got a ride in a Nascar. An old gentleman got to play jazz piano at a restaurant. Man, I wish I could go around granting wishes like that!

The most poignant story was that of a 33 year-old woman who had never met her real mother and couldn't find her. Amy and a detective began searching and found the mother, who had been missing her daughter all these years. At a concert Amy gave, she had the daughter on stage with her and told her that her mother was not only alive, but at the concert. The daughter burst into tears and was shaking from emotion. Amy turned her around to see her mother behind her. It was so cool to witness a real reunion like that! Nothing acted or planned. They hugged and cried for a long time. The daughter also learned she had a half-sister. Sniff!

So anyway, if you want to watch something that leaves you with "warm fuzzies," check out this new show!

Anatomy Lessons

Last week while I was teaching school, I asked the kids what the difference is between our speaking voice and singing voice. They looked sort of puzzled, then one girl offered an explanation. She said that when we sing, the sound comes from the gut (hoots of laughter around the room) or stomach (further hoots plus furious blushing). I couldn't help laughing (not the first time I've been guilty of that), but I gently told her she meant the diaphragm, and that we actually can speak from there too. And I went on to tell them the difference. So do YOU know what the difference is? :-)

I was giving a harp lesson to a little third-grade girl, who has a tendency to get sidetracked. I was talking away about something and she appeared to be paying close attention to my words or at least my mouth. But I was kind of surprised when she very politely said, "You have a little black thing between your two front teeth." Oh, gracious. I informed her that it was a little gap, not a black thing. Actually, that's not the first time someone's pointed that out to me. If someone's eye-level with my mouth and paying close attention to it, they'll undoubtedly notice the little gap. Hopefully braces (Invisalign) will take care of that!

I wish I could remember all the funny things I hear from kids! It's pretty rare for me to go through a lesson or class without laughing. Kids - gotta love 'em.

And all that jazz...

The title isn't very relevant, but I felt like saying it. Sometimes that phrase completes a sentence so nicely. :-) Maybe because I'm a musician. Not that I've played much jazz or listened to much jazz. I do have a little weakness for the older jazz of Benny Goodman and Gershwin plus the swing of Glenn Miller, but I can't stand the "elevator" jazz music, and Kenny G. has definitely got to go! Okay, end of rant.

Last week got off to a bad start. I woke up on Monday morning feeling like I hadn't woken up, and the feeling didn't wear off with time. I felt excessively fatigued the first half of the week. I think it was a combination of sleep shortage, sugar overdose, and stress. Maybe the change of season, too. (No, ladies, it's not hormones.) On Tuesday night I bawled my eyes out about an "issue," which is quite unusual for me. Then on Wednesday afternoon I went in for a haircut and my hairstylist asked me several times if I was okay. I assured her that I was simply very tired, but she said I looked sad. I wasn't feeling sad, so I tried to be a little more perky and conversational, but I don't think I was very convincing. She's trying to match me up with some 27 year-old pilot she knows. He's tall and apparently looking for a wife, and she thinks we'd be cute together, so what more do I want? She didn't know if he was a Christian or not. I politely said "hmmm," but didn't bite on the bait. It was rather awkward. What am I supposed to say? "Yeah, sure, set us up for a blind date. I'm sure he's simply wonderful because you say he is." OR "You know, he'd probably decide within ten minutes that I'm a prudish religious freak and he'd be outta there. I'm not the type most guys go for." Oh, well, I thanked her for her concern, and made up the excuse that I'm really too busy right now anyway.

My energy improved near the end of the week as I limited the sugar and got a little more sleep. Didn't get some other things done I'd wanted to, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. The weekend has been fairly full. Yesterday I played at a Mother/Daughter retreat. There were probably about 200 ladies there and all were Christian homeschoolers. I played background music for the lunch and then a later dessert. Speakers encouraged the women and girls to embrace God's design for femininity, homekeeping, hospitality, and ministering to those around us. It was a precious group of ladies all dressed up in "tea finery." During the dessert time at the end, a veritable flock of young girls began to gather around me as I played. As it turned out, some of them had harps and/or were taking harp lessons. But they were all magnetized to the harp and me, apparently. When I played a few songs from "The Sound of Music" they would sing along. Then I got requests for other songs that they also sang with (including a few Christmas songs!). Some of them got so close I could barely move my arms. The cameras were flashing to capture this sweet scene. One little girl especially captured my heart when she slipped her little soft arm around my neck and looked at me tenderly. They were all so darling! I decided I want to have at least four little girls some day. There is something so special about little girls. Little boys are cute, too, so maybe I'll have a couple of those, but I especially want little girls!

I'm getting braces soon! Well, they're not really braces in the traditional bands and wires sense. It's called InvisiLine or something like that. I will wear a series of clear plates that fit over my teeth to accomplish the desired effect. I've needed braces for years, but finances and my own antipathy toward dentistry have been major deterrants. I wasn't thrilled at the idea of wearing a mouthful of metal at my age and as a singer, so I was happy when my dentist told me about this new alternative. My dad trades work for her services, so he'll pay for most of it that way and I'll pay for some of it, too. My bite won't be perfect, but after 18 months it should be better. I'll be glad to get it done, but I'm not looking forward to it. I hate going to the dentist. And of course I have bad teeth that force me to go at least twice a year. And of course I have the kind of mouth with super strong nerves that don't respond well to numbing. Never fails. She sticks this frightening looking needle into the back of my mouth and injects the stuff while I resist the impulse to kick and scream. Then when it APPEARS that I'm all numb she starts the drilling and soon encounters some very live nerve which quickly alerts my brain that it's unhappy. My body twitches and I let out a grunt of pain. Surprised every time, the dentist adminsters another painful needleful of numbing agent. Usually works pretty well then, and my mouth is numb for the next 8 hours or so. I keep telling her just to knock me on the back of the head first and tell me when it's over.

Haunted Car

I actually have a story that almost equals Lindsay's snake story! This morning I went out to the car where my parents were waiting to leave for church. I opened the door, looked in, and cried out in horror! There, stretched from the front seat to the back seat was a huge spider web with a big, brown spider in the middle of it! While I was doing the conniptions dance, my mom went to get our long web duster thingy, and bravely cleaned out the offending web and squished the naughty spider. I can't believe the nerve of the guy to actually go into our car and boldly set up housekeeping! As you can tell, I feel about spiders the way most girls feel about snakes and mice. And my sisters are the same way, so I trust they're shuddering as they read this! Even though the web had been cleared away, it was with great shuddering and temerity that I sat down in the seat and looked around for other possible lurkers. I saw a few stray web pieces floating around, and had that icky imaginary feeling that they were floating around me. Then while my dad was praying, I happened to glance over and see another large, perfect, round web against the opposite window. There was no spider in it, leaving me to wonder if that was the now deceased spider's other home (for alternate view maybe?) or whether his brother was lurking in the shadows somewhere. When we got to church my dad cleaned out that web with his hand. Aaack!! My brave, sensible dad has killed many spiders for our sakes over the years. Let me tell ya, I am SO GLAD that I looked before getting in the car!! I'm not sure I would have lived to tell the tale if I hadn't.

Shalom!

I don't really have anything exciting to blog about, but I thought I'd give you guys something new to devour besides my three little fall pictures! I had a pretty good week. After last week's very quiet weekend, it was nice to have my parents back and life return to normalcy. School is going very well, and plans for the Christmas musical are humming along. A mom committee is in charge of the costumes, we're hoping to get someone to do the backdrops, and so with sufficient help, I just have to worry about getting the kids to learn their music and lines. There are a couple of brothers in the school that are totally tone deaf! I can hear this little alto-type drone in the back of the room when the older kids are singing, and I'm not sure what to do about it. Some kids can improve with help, and some are hopeless cases. But of course the music teacher is expected to "fix" any such deficiencies! When I directed a homeschool choir, I had the power to sort of "weed out" the vocally inept, but in a school setting, I have to work with what I've got. So during programs I've learned to set the microphones in strategic spots and give certain kids the "sshhhh" sign. :-)

I was doing a little Bible study on Psalm 90 this morning. It talks about the God's everlasting nature and our own frailty and brevity of life. Included is that well-known verse: "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." So I counted up my days. I've been alive for 9,549 days and I have 16,001 more days till I'm 70 years old! I was freshly inspired by the Holy Spirit to make each day count for eternity, to not waste one precious day. I've also been memorizing a passage in 1 Corinthians 6. Verse 20 says, "For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Wow, there's a lot packed into that verse! God is eternal, our days are short, we've been bought with the blood of Jesus -- what else should we do but glorify God with our whole beings! I've been convicted this past week how much I seek to glorify myself more than God, which is basically pride. But that's like trying to exalt a blade of grass over a mountain! How important it is to keep our eyes on God to maintain perspective.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Shades of Fall

Don't you love the colors nature wears in fall? This picture on the left is a view of the sunrise yesterday morning off our back patio. It was much more spectacular in real life.

All Quiet on the Western Front

'Tis a very quiet, peaceful Saturday for me. My parents are at Fairwood in New Hampshire, and I'm enjoying a quiet reprieve from the busyness of the week. Last night I had a fall party with some friends. It was a rainy evening and a pleasant time to be inside a bright, warm, jolly house. Traffic was awful, though, and I didn't get home from work till nearly 5:30 and the party was supposed to start at 6:30. Fortunately everything was ready in time and most people were late. I served Mexican food, including chimichangas, guacamole, and Mexican dip, plus grapes. Dessert was pumpkin cheesecake, courtesy of my friend Rachel. There were about 11 or 12 of us, about half girls, half guys. We had a jolly time playing Cranium and Taboo. Everybody left around 10:45.

This morning I didn't come to until about 9:00. Wow, it felt good! After reading my Bible and getting breakfast, I flipped on the TV and found the "Apple Dumpling Gang" on! Just my speed. That was followed by "Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again." I've seen those so many times I can quote them for you, but I still enjoyed them. Those movies were a big part of my childhood. Gotta love those corny 70's Disney movies! I also watched a forensics detective show, where crimes are solved by forensic evidence. Very fascinating. It was kind of amazing how many female deaths were linked to their husbands. In each case I could see a pattern, and could almost immediately place the blame on the husband, who at first appears to be innocent. How awful to suspect a husband of killing his wife! He should be the last person in the world to do such a hateful thing! One guy very nearly killed his wife by arsenic poisoning, administered over a series of time. Fortunately, she survived and he was nabbed. The most common motives for these guys were insurance benefits, other affairs, and anger. Very sad. I was reminded of that quote: "Be sure your sin finds you out." Here these guys were trying to be so subtle and deceptive, but justice did catch up with them and now their stories are being blared on TV's around the world!