Friday, September 29, 2006

I DID IT! or potty-mouth

I GOT THE SILENT PRINCE TO GO PEE-PEE ON THE POTTY TWICE NOW!!!

yeah, it's good enough news to share in caps.

God's peace y'all

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

be our guest

back in june, the congregation i serve had a big celebration to commemorate all that we had gone through and accomplished with the lead project. as a side note, the silent prince's lead levels are now: blood level 39 (too low to treat, but close) and body burden: 70 (that's down from over 500.) i asked my mom if she would ask some people, from her congregation, who were musically inclined, if they might be willing to come and bring their talents to the service.


my mom has the ability to get people to do things and this time was no exception. she brought along a flutist and a soloist named kristen huffman.

apparently kristen was pretty moved by the whole service, especially hubby's sermon and later on mom told me she wanted to do a benefit for the silent prince. i have to say that i was a bit confused... did she want to do a benefit for the silent prince, the congregation or the lead clinic at yale (where the donations from the service were sent)?

then, a little over a month ago, mom and dad informed us we had to keep last saturday's date open because kristen and their organist bill, had organized a children's cabaret to raise money for the prince.

the cabaret would cater to children; the waiters and waitresses carried around trays of food, including chicken nuggets and juic boxes, and entertained tables by singing songs from disney movies. the performers, mostly children and teens, played the piano, sang songs, and performed musical numbers from children's shows. the room was decorated with white lights and balloons and each table was strewn with lollipops and fruit snacks.

kristen and her cohost for the evening, a 12 year old girl, dressed up like belle from beauty and the beast and asked all the young performers what they wanted to be when they grew up. the opening number was the song from the movie: "be our guest."

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what none of them knew before hand was that it is one of the prince's favorite movies and when they sang the song to him there was such recognition on his face...

i could easily have called this post "the kindness of strangers." about half of the people there were members of my parents' church, but the rest were family of the performers and didn't know us.

about half-way through the caberet kristen asked us to say a little bit about the prince and our situation. not to be left out of the spotlight the princess kitty stood next to me and helped explain what life was like with a child who was autistic. (btw, she wants to be a ballet teacher.)

the princess and i explained how we'd like to have a fence built in our backyard so that the prince can play outside (which he LOVES to do) without fear that he will run out into the street if we turn our head for a moment (he's done it before, the quick little bugger).

the other day, mom called and said: build the fence. the caberet had raised $2,800.

$2,800! i was floored and it's been until now that i could get up off the floor and write about it.

so we are building a fence and who knows what with what's left over. i feel filled with possibilities.

on the way home from the cabaret that night, hubby and i agreed that we really didn't care about the money. it was the fact that so many people, many of them strangers, had offered us such support... such amazing support.
and i am so grateful.
God's peace y'all

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

i'm mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore

i posted this on a message board i frequent in response to a post about the pope's unfortunate comments about muslims. it's mostly a bunch of clergy who post, but sometimes non-clergy types add their two cents.

i think i'm a bit upset. you be the judge...

what did jesus mean when he said we were to love our enemies? what about loving our neighbors?

i feel a little like rodney king: can't we all just get along?

and moderate muslims are doing exactly what many moderate christians do... say nothing when people die of starvation or are oppressed. i don't think it mattered what the pope intended or the fact that extremists were going to take it wrong... what matters is how we treat people who would do us harm. and it's not about being careful that we don't offend them in case they use it as an excuse to hurt us... it's about loving our enemies... speaking a word of love.

and what really gets me... we are supposed to be the ones speaking the word of love... no matter what. there are enough people out there preaching hate and hurt that the word of love is losing its potency and its power and too many christians are too silent about it because we are afraid or angry or intolerant.

and i'm tired of the silence and the fear and the anger and the intolerance. i'm tired of arguments like this one. the pope said the wrong thing, not because it pissed off some muslim people, but because it wasn't a word of love and his job, his calling, just like ours is to make sure that word is never silenced or left unheard.

God's peace y'all

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

living with disappointment or EVS

last year hubby and i became fans of rock star INXS. i was a child of the 80's and a big INXS fan, so i enjoyed the show and bought the cd for hubby as a gift. (the pobble even bought me the rock star cd for christmas- my request.)

so of course we settled in to watch the show again this summer: rock star supernova. now the princess kitty and i watched american idol together so we have been letting her watch rock star this season even when it goes past her bedtime. we've decided that being good parents is bringing our daughter up with an appreciation for rock n roll.

the favorite all season has been dilana... the rest have always been second best or at the bottom. i've been a big fan of storm and magni and others, but i rooted for dilana because it excites me to think that a woman could front a band for the likes of tommy lee, gilby clark, and jason newsted. i also rooted for her because i believed she was the one who could front them.

the last few weeks have been exciting on the show. the talent this year is fantastic, but each week i've expected one particular person to be the next to go and each week i've been wrong. not that this particular person wasn't any good, just that i didn't think he was right. that person, lukas, has become the front man for the band.

yes, he's talented... but as hubby puts it: "i can never understand a thing he sings." he's got a beautiful voice, but as i put it to the pobble last night... i will never buy their cd. i would have listened if toby or magni had won... but i am terribly disappointed.

why is it a big deal to me? isn't it just rock n roll?

like i said i was excited by the thought that a woman could front a band with those guys behind her. in the end, i wonder if her being a woman was a deciding factor. women don't get opportunities that very often and it makes me sad that it didn't happen again.

last year, inxs sent home an african american singer, ty. he was an amazing singer, but he wasn't right for the band. in his good-bye to the band he alluded to the fact that he thought the color of his skin had something to do with the band's choice. i hope that wasn't the case either... i don't think it was, but you never know.

so i live with disappointment. will i watch again next year? probably, though i don't know who the band will be who's looking for a lead singer.

this season, toby... who really came from behind and should have won the award for most improved on the show (he was in 3rd place) exposed the world (at least those of us who watched the show) to the term: "EVS." it's an australian slang for "whatever."

so i say: EVS. whatever... maybe next year... we'll see... and think i'll go download some of dilana's music.

God's peace y'all

Saturday, September 02, 2006

snakes on a boat

well yesterday was a wonderful day for hubby and me.

mom came and picked up the kids after the bus dropped them off from school and we got dressed and went to lunch at my favorite cafe. i've been there several times with the pobble, but i've never been able to take hubby so i was happy we could go.

lunch was yummy and we decided to head home and see if there were any movies playing at about 5:00. nope... not a one. so we hung out at the house for a while then went out to an early dinner. we picked the resturant because someone had given hubby a gift card there after he had performed their wedding and refused to take a payment for it. (hubby is just that way.) my parents had given us some spending money too so when we opened the menu and discovered lobster tails... we knew exactly what to order.

the lobster was preceeded by cocktails. mine was a cosmopolitan, the only thing i drank during my wedding weekend after my maid of honor ordered one for me.

dinner was great and the waitress was wonderful. she gave us just the right amount of attention, put a candle in our dessert (and had a lttle heart and the number 10 written in chocolate on the cake plate) and didn't let the rest of the staff sing to us... even though they wanted to.

afterwards we headed for the mall. we were off to see snakes on a plane. now, you might not think that's too romantic for a 10th wedding anniversary, but let me tell you when hubby and i never get to go out to dinner and a movie... well... it was exactly what we wanted to do.

the movie was awesome! (unless you have trouble with snakes and the crazy ways they can kill you if they are "on crack"... so saith samuel l jackson.)

we left the theater and decided to go out for some drinks before heading home and hubby says...

warning... the next paragraph contains a slight spoiler...

so all those snakes wound up in the ocean somewhere? yep, i say, which opens it up for a sequel: snakes on a boat.

after drinks it was time to go home... and that part i will keep to myself.

but it was a wonderful day and i am so very blessed.

God's peace y'all

Friday, September 01, 2006

10 years





happy anniversary to the man i love with all my heart.

"and vivian followed."

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