What Not to Wear

I read this post today at Totus Tuus - and yesterday I read this article  - Don't Wear that Mini to Mass - which Danielle Bean referred to on her blog. 

Here is a bit from the article:

I Can Wear What I Want

To refute the assertion that we have a right to wear whatever we want, imagine the following. Doing your best to concentrate on the great spectacle of divine grace that is about to unfold, you are dutifully and fruitfully praying before Mass -- dutifully because you regard attending Mass as a holy obligation wherein you are bound not only to worship God but also to strive for the removal of the impurities that keep you from Him, and fruitfully because you have on this rare occasion penetrated the fog of sloth and distraction that normally envelops your tired soul and are truly feeling the loving presence of Christ.



Into the church I stride, hoofing it proudly down the central aisle right past your pew, sporting a set of antlers from Cervus elaphus, the North American elk. It is an impressive rack, just the kind that sets the does to nudging and whispering -- twelve points, not counting the knobs. Be honest. No matter how deeply in prayer you had mercifully fallen, wouldn't you be jolted completely out of the sweet arms of grace? Wouldn't you, now kneeling amid the shattered pieces of your holy reverie, say to yourself, "Antlers! That idiot is wearing antlers!"



Further, imagine that I shuffle proudly into the pew right in front of you, fully aware that I had attracted everyone's attention. And there you are, stuck for the entire Mass, peering through my great rack at the priest. And there you are a bit later at the most holy part of the Mass, the elevation of the consecrated Host, framed for you by those same ridiculous antlers. And then, walking up to receive our precious Lord, you are not piously thinking, "My Lord and my God," but either impiously cursing or uncontrollably laughing. Your chance to restore your soul is shot for the week.
 
Go ahead and read the article in its entirety here.

I'm With Him!

Don't you agree that we need people in office who have a moral backbone? I mean a true honest-to-goodness-without-a-doubt CLEAR moral backbone. I do. I think most of us do. Even the 'sheeple' do - they just don't know it because they only follow. They don't inform themselves. They simply follow.


Alan Keyes has a very thought-provoking post here.


In my opinion [and let me say again: my opinion], Sarah Palin is way overrated. I didn't care for her as a running mate and I surely don't care about her resignation and future plans. Tough tooties the Left gave her a bunch of crap - it's their way, plain and simple. I mean, it can't really be that unbelievablely shocking the things they said about her, wrote about her or showed about her - can it?? It's just par for the course with the libs, ya know? I don't have ill feelings toward her or about her... it's just that in my book, she's not the conservative with a moral compass she's touted as being.

When you read his post it'll become clear: we need true soldiers! Leaders who know that our freedom and responsibility to govern comes from Our Creator!

Ultimate Revenge --- the very creative kind!

Have you heard or seen this story on news reports? This is quite the story of "you messed with the wrong guy".

Here's the scoop:

On March 31, 2008 Sons of Maxwell began our week-long-tour of Nebraska by flying United Airlines from Halifax to Omaha, by way of Chicago. On that first leg of the flight were seated at the rear of the aircraft and upon landing and waiting to deplane in order to make our connection a woman sitting behind me, not aware that we were musicians cried out: "My god they're throwing guitars out there". Our bass player Mike looked out the window in time to see his bass being heaved without regard by the United baggage handlers. My $3500 710 Taylor had been thrown before his.


I immediately tried to communicate this to the flight attendant who cut me off saying: "Don't talk to me. Talk to the lead agent outside". I found the person she pointed to and that lady was an "acting" lead agent but refused to talk to me and disappeared into the crowd saying "I'm not the lead agent". I spoke to a third employee at the gate and when I told her the baggage handlers were throwing expensive instruments outside she dismissed me saying "but hun, that's why we make you sign the waiver". I explained that I didn't sign a waiver and that no waiver would excuse what was happening outside. She said to take it up with the ground crew in Omaha.


After being put through the usual customer non-service wringer - maybe he should have called The Fixer! - Carroll embarked into the seedy underworld of corporate irresponsibility and denial of service that major airlines really excel at. Rather than a simple "sorry, our bad," and an offer to fix the issue, he got a series of more maddening conversations and correspondents with various United personnel, culminating in this gem of an exchange:



Another month went by and I received an email from a Ms. Irlweg, in Chicago I believe. Basically said she was sorry this happened and denied my claim. Some of her reasons included :


* I didn't report it to the United employees who weren't present when we landed in Omaha


* I didn't report to the Omaha airport within 24 hours while I was driving to places that weren't Omaha


* It was an Air Canada issue


* Air Canada already denied the claim (as I mentioned, because Air Canada would not pay for United's damages), but I'm still unsure as to why I needed to report it in Omaha within 24 hours if it was clearly Halifax's responsibility


* Someone from United would need to see the damage to a guitar that was repaired


So after nine months it came down to a series of emails with Ms. Irlweg and, despite her refusal to introduce me to her supervisor, our conversations ended with her saying United would not be taking any responsibility for what had happened and that that would be the last email on the matter. My final offer of a settlement of $1200 in flight vouchers, to cover my salvage costs repairing the Taylor, was rejected.


Okay - so that's the run-around-of-the-story. So what did he do after nearly a year of playing their games you may ask? This is what he did. This is his ULTIMATE REVENGE - the link will take you to the complete write-up and video - and not only is it hysterically funny, it worked!

Not only did it grab the attention of United Airlines, Taylor Guitars, news media around the country - it got the attention of everyday folks too. Folks who are flying on their vacations. Folks who are flying on business. Folks who are flying to their gigs.... who have....guitars!

Media Slant

Another example how the media glorifies the evil and slams the beautiful.  Even if you do nothing but look  at the comparison between the two photos...  it is apparent.

Sacred Heart

This is indeed no small miracle - this is the evidence of the supernatural.  Something that happens everyday -  all around the world.  WATCH THIS!

4th of July Part II

After the race, we came home to get the 2 younger boys - we had to relieve Kayla who had to be at work at 10am.  Dani also had to take care of a couple dogs down the street before we continued our festivities.  Then we headed back to downtown for the parade.  We've never been in all the years we've been here.  It was so great!  I cannot say enough about the beautiful weather... an added blessing to the day!

It was still a very nice morning - but luckily for the kids, there was some free lemonade for the taking!

Gotta like that!

The "hair repair" - luckily Charlie can pull it off!!  LOL [but that's another post]

Homer from Home Depot

And then... partly through the parade, my camera battery died!  You have no idea how many great shots were lost because of it!  The inflatable Uncle Sam, the firetruck, the Blues Brothers....Whaaaaaa!  I was bumming :(  After the parade, we went to the town's square where there were tents set up for just about any and all local businesses.  There we were entertained by the local "Blues Brothers" band - and boy were they entertaining.  They were in the parade as well, driving their beater-of-a-squad car - which they drove onto the grassy area by the gazebo before said entertainment began.  Our kids thought we were a bit.... 'touched', but we had fun be-bopping to a few songs.  We only stayed for a few songs because of the rising temps, the cranky and hungry kids, and a sniffly coughy Charlie Horse.  Plus, I was hungry too and ready for some A/C.  Off to the local burger joint on foot to where Kayla was busy earning her dough! 

When we got home I was able to catch a few zzzzz's [even with Mom and Dad over - sorry for abandoning you two!  :) ]  before dinner and fireworks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Onto our fireworks that evening...

not a lot of photos, but a few.

Hope y'all had a wonderful and happy 4th of July!!!

Our 5K-ers

Our 4th of July began with a 5K run at 7:30am. Paul and Dani both registered to run it. Paul has been running on the treadmill since January - a New Year's resolution of sorts. He has met many goals along the way. Needless to say, I'm very proud of him for sticking to it. I know how difficult it is. He has motivated me somewhat as well ;) [I'm not going to run or anything, but...]

It was a beautiful July morning here in ATL - pretty much unheard of. As I gathered 3 of the kids to go down to the race before 7am, I quickly realized just how cool it truly was... Sophia ran inside to grab a sweater and for John Paul I grabbed a jacket. Chilly. The thermometer in the truck informed me that it was a balmy 59 degrees - perfect for a morning run [though it was probably in the mid-60's when the race started. Still perfect!]

And yes, Dani now has a new shirt to add to her t-shirts. Yay :)

Here, the mayor of the town is about to start the race...

So, the race started.... about 5 mins. later the leaders passed by again. During the wait to see Paul and Dani pass us by going in the opposite direction, we heard shouts of encouragement for the runners, clapping, whoo-hoo-ing, and a "run Forrest, run!". I got a chuckle out of that. While we waited I got some shots...

Looks like he's saluting, but really he's just shading his eyes :)

and the Chick-Fil-A cow! [one of the race's sponsors]

About 10 mins. later they came...

Love the expressions here :)

What a ham!!

As we walked to the finish line, the leaders were already done!! The winner did his 3.1 mi. in 15:01. I knew Paul's time would be around 35 mins. or so. In the meantime, the cow visited us...

She scared John Paul. His back was to her when she tapped him on the shoulder. As he turned around, "AHHHHHHHH!!!!" It was pretty funny. To me, that is :)

The Sweet Tomatoes Tomato

And the priceless photo shot:

"When you're smilin', when you're smilin'... the whole world smiles with you!"

[10 bucks if you know to what I'm referring]

I think he's just excited that he beat the little girl behind him! LOL His time was 31:48, The really amazing thing is that Dani beat Paul! So amazing that I didn't even look for her as Paul came across. I expected her a few mins. later. Seriously. Paul told me that when they'd run together she'd take lots of walking breaks. She just never really stayed up with him. Paul thinks she was just being gracious now. But not the day of the race. She not only kept up with him, she beat him by a few seconds! So needless to say, I don't have a picture of her crossing the finish line. :( Sorry Dani Girl. It was so exciting to be there and see them run this 5K. We are so proud of them!!!

The proceeds from the race benefited The Hope Center. Isn't that great?!

What a wonderful cause to run for!!

This post has taken me a very long time [in Blogger Draft - thank you Jessica!!!]. The rest of our 4th will be continued!

Hope your 4th of July was filled with fun, food, family & friends!

God bless America!!

No TV

What a day in Hollywood!!!

So it's any wonder that I found this out as Breaking News. It just so happened that I was listening to a local radio station.

Let us pray for his soul...

Wow, and "this just in" - at least for me. I suppose I should say 'let's pray for their souls'.

And we must not forget about Ed who died 2 days ago.... while we're at it.

Dani's Party for Her Sis

Dani organized and threw a surprise party for Therese - and yes, this post is late... Dani keeps checking up on the blog saying, "you haven't posted the party yeeeeeeeeeeeett." :) She was very eager to throw a 'sleep-over' party for Therese and had it in the works probably back in April sometime. She had gently badgered me about it until I said yes. And I'm so glad I did. She did such a wonderful and thoughtful job.

She made the invitations, mailed them out, prepared activities, even went to the dollar store and bought decorations, goodie baskets/items, and gifts and used her own money. [ I'm really likin' this plan :-) ].

The Banner:

Mrs. Incredible and Dash [?]
A big-headed horse

Mike Wazowski

Daddy had taken Therese out and when she came back she found the place just waiting for her. She had this smile on the entire time!! She was glad to see her friend from the old neighborhood. It had been a long time since she last saw her. [that foldgers can in the bkgrd is my compost can - yes, I thought you should know]

Dani performed a magic show for the party girl and guests. She worked so hard practicing and all. Even down to the jokes and training little Sophia to start the clapping at the end of each performed trick!
"I heard the Invisible Man and the Invisible Woman got married...."

"...their kids aren't much to look at!" hahahhahahahahaha!!

Cake time! You can see the joy on Charlie's face. He's so very distraught because he wants to blow out the number 9 candle and Dani is holding him too far away. He knows it's no use. I think this is when he's realizing that fact. We also had to re-light the candle so that he could actually blow it out. I think Joseph got to it first :)

Make a Wish Therese! [Sophia....I see that!]A little swimming - before the rain came - a little movie - A Little Princess - and a lot of giggles - at bed time
Made for a great birthday party!

Thank you Dani!!! Not just for doing all that work, but for being that thoughtful and putting in all that love. Oh!!! I almost forgot! I'll have to post the card Dani made her as well! It's Therese's favorite and you'll see why!

[okay Dani, I stayed up until almost 1 AM doing this post... sacrifices, sacrifices]

New Foundation?

This is an email that I received from the President of the United States. No lie. I'm so honored. Okay, not really. I receive periodic emails from the White House I assume b/c I emailed the president about the FOCA act/bill/bs. So now they know about me. Not such a calming feeling in my book.

Anyway... a New Foundation. That's what the following message is about. Project: United We Serve. Hmmmm. Great. So, why do we need a new foundation? That assumes that there is something wrong with our ENTIRE country. With the founding fathers. With our freedoms. With our religious freedoms you can bet.

So here you go. My message from the prez. Makin' it sound SO PATRIOTIC....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Friend,

Last week, I announced United We Serve – a nationwide call to service challenging you and all Americans to volunteer this summer and be part of building a new foundation for America.

And when I say “all,” I mean everyone – young and old, from every background, all across the country. We need individuals, community organizations, corporations, foundations, and our government to be part of this effort.

Today, for the official kick off of United We Serve, members of my administration have fanned out across America to participate in service events and encourage all Americans to join them.

The First Lady is rolling up her sleeves and getting to work too. But before she headed out today, she asked me to share this message with you. [then there is a video which I didn't watch - and it miraculously wouldn't show up here!]

Our nation faces some of the greatest challenges it has in generations and we know it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get us back on track.

While Michelle and I are calling on every American to participate in United We Serve, the call to service doesn’t end this fall. We need to stay involved in our towns and communities for a long time to come. After all, America’s new foundation will be built one neighborhood at a time – and that starts with you.

Thank you,
President Barack Obama

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I need to review my 17 points again...

Lack of Humility

The Seventeen Evidences of a Lack of Humility

The Servant of God, Blessed Josemaria Escriva once compiled an inventory of pride so exhaustive that it is like something written on the shield of a soldier who has learned it all in true combat. Saint John Vianney (Cure of Ars) wrote the same thing in shorthand when he signed his name to a clerical petition. His fellow priests circulated a petition accusing St. Vianney of sensationalism, ignorance, and ostentatious poverty and austerities. As it was addressed to all clergy, St. Vianney got a hold of it, read it, and promptly signed it. By 1834 the local priests themselves were going to St. Vianney for confession.

The seventeen evidences of a lack of humility are:

1. To think that what one says or does is better than what others say or do

2. To always want to get your own way

3. To argue with stubbornness and bad manners whether you are right or wrong

4. To give your opinion when it has not been requested or when charity does not demand it

5. To look down on another's point of view

6. Not to look on your gifts and abilities as lent

7. Not to recognize that you are unworthy of all honors and esteem, not even of the earth you walk on and things you possess

8. To use yourself as an example in conversations

9. To speak badly of yourself so that others will think well of you or contradict you

10. To excuse yourself when you are corrected

11. To hide humiliating faults from your spiritual director, so that he will not change the impression he has of you

12. To take pleasure in praise and compliments

13. To be saddened because others are held in higher esteem

14. To refuse to perform inferior tasks

15. To seek to stand out

16. To refer in conversation to your honesty, genius, dexterity, or professional prestige

17. To be ashamed because you lack certain goods

:::sigh::: I think I've got to make copies of this. I wish I could just download this to my mind. Upgrade... viola!

Happy Father's Day!

to my dad... and theirs...

I LOVE YOU!!!! MWAH!

Duct Tape and Velcro

Caviezel Post

I'm no dummy. I would've been verbally slaughtered had I posted this yesterday!
At any rate, go here to view the trailer of Jim's upcoming flick. You can go HERE to see if/where he'll it'll be showing in your state.

You're welcome :::smiles:::

BEHIND...

I'm so behind on posts...
Just thought you should know.
Do you like my new background though? Regina IS amazing - and besides being amazing she's so generous with the giving of herself. Amazing.

Oh! well, I guess I can clue some of you in who didn't get it.

DK = decay

ha!

i think i over-used the word amazing, huh?

Happy Birthday!

To my favorite guy ~ the one to whom I give my LOVE... ~Happy Birthday Paul~

35 the 7th time around

:)

Touching Words...

For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called 'Monday
Night At Morton's' (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to
be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.)

Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his
life.

Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.

Ben Stein's Last Column...
============================================

How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I 'slug' it, as we writers say, which means I
put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is
'eonlineFINAL,' and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing
this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I
loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would
never end.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person
and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's,
while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to.
It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars.
I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit,
and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty
in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a
super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it
probably will be again.

> Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think
Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant,
friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated.
But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and
reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining
star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in
insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a 'star' we mean
someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars
are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or
getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they
have Vietnamese girls do their nails.

They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any
longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who
poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have
been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an
abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of
the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a
road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and
killed him.

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S.
soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of
unexploded ordinance on a street near where he was guarding a station.
He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He
left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish
weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after
two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and
stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our
magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military
pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in
submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and
die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor
values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that
who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the
policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no
idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring
in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for
surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into
caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in
hospices and in cancer wards. Think of each and every fireman who was
running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to
collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that
matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it
another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor
as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred
Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a
writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.

But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above
all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came
to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty
well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's
help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years.
I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into
a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him
the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the
soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize
that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it
is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to
help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use
as a human.

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.

By Ben Stein

This is a Job for....

SuperRegina!

Mom to all those cute girls posted something about LENA's* bandwidth limit. Hmmmm... I may just have to call on this super friend to 'come up with something' cool :)

*don't really know why I added a link to her site... it's just wallpapered with that same lovely bkgrd my blog is sporting :)

Wait For It....

From the kids:

Why is Donkey Kong so rotten?

Because his initials are D.K.

give it a few seconds...

And They Just Keep Growing...

...like there's no tomorrow! "It's too early for taking pictures"
Happy Birthday Big Guy!!

Enjoy being SIX!

~~~~~~~~~~John Paul the Great, pray for us!~~~~~~~~~~
It's great to be able to share your day with
St. Anthony!