Change Is Good

This has been an... interesting... week.

Isn't that an old Chinese curse? "May you live in interesting times." Hmmm...

Things have changed a bit at work, and that always takes a little getting used to. I just keep telling myself, "Change is good, change is good."

Wish I was a little more convincing.

Justice Served

Covered the almost-trial of an accused quadruple murderer today.

A last minute plea deal means this guy's gonna spend the rest of his life locked up. He escapes the death penalty, pleads no contest - and gets five consecutive life terms, no possibility of parole.

He has to live with what he did. Unfortunately, so does the sixteen-year-old girl who lost her mother, two sisters, a brother... and the sight in her left eye... all in one terrible morning.

Justice served? Sort of.

I've Said It Before...

I'll say it again...

I'M SO FREAKIN' TIRED OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN!

And am I the only person in the world that was pretty annoyed by the top man at CBS revealing his political preference? Dude, that's totally not going to erase the flap over the documents, and I honestly don't care how you plan to vote. That has no bearing on putting out fair and balanced news.

Good grief.

Bah! Humbug

Walking through the store the other day... hit the Halloween aisle and thought, here we go again. Every year, it saturates everything.

Except I don't observe Halloween.

It's not that I'm anti-social, mind you. I had a roommate a long time ago who was an actual, real-live, honest-to-who-knows-what-she-would-have-called-it Witch. A pagan. She would do stuff like put a bowl of wine out on the porch once a month as an offering to the fertility goddess. And for her, Halloween was a high holy day.

So I took a stand. I didn't want my God to misunderstand and think that by giving Halloween any attention on my part, it meant I was someone paying homage to someone else's gods or goddesses. Or whatever. So I don't hand out candy, I don't dress up, and I don't intend to allow my kid to go trick-or-treating. Besides, my husband would say, what kind of sense is that - every other day of the year, you keep telling the little ones not to take candy for strangers. But then this ONE day, it's OK. Encouraged, even.

At least, that's the theory.

The reality is I have a toddler now. Am I going to be ostracized by friends and families as a Scrooge?

I'm not opposed, honestly, to letting the little guy dress up for a church "fall festival." Does that make me a hypocrite? Does keeping him away from anything resembling Halloween, even the church deal, make me a meanie?

Why can't standing by your convictions be a little more clear-cut?

The Many Faces of "No!"

The hills may be alive with the sound of music, but my apartment is filled with the sounds of "no!"

Enter my 20-month-old, Dr. No, a.k.a. Sam. Sam-I-am, within the last week and a half or so, has figured out that simple two-letter word and all its glory.

Do you want to breathe, Sam?

No!

Do you want to eat, Sam?

No!

Do you love your parents, Sam?

No!

Do you need a new diaper, Sam?

No!

What is the square root of 49, Sam?

No!

And so on.

Can't wait till he figures out a new word. In the meantime, Little-Mister-Exerting-His-Independence is good with "no."

Lest We Forget

I had the chance a few weeks ago to visit Ground Zero for the first time.

For a rare moment, I was speechless.

It was one thing to experience the horrible attacks of that day from the relative safety (as safe as any of us can be, anyway) of my home. It was another thing entirely to stand on a spot and know it represents the murders of nearly three thousand people. And to know at the same time there were hundreds of others... also murdered... at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

I hope we never forget that day. I don't care what side you're on when it comes to Iraq or anything else... all of us are on the same side when it comes to terrorists attacking our nation. Let's stand together and resolve not ever to become complacent or blase about what happened on 9.11.2001.

What Kind of Crazy World Do We Live In?

Two little kids in the last week in my area managed to find a gun and pull the trigger. Both dead.

A little girl this morning... found wandering in the street. No one seems to know where she belongs.

People ought to have to be licensed to bear fruit, you know?

Using Me, In Spite of Me

Once again, proof positive that God uses cracked pots.

If we're to be clay vessels (you know, jars of clay)... we ought to be cracked pots. Let what's inside spill out so that everybody can see what we hold dear.

That way... even in spite of me... God's able to show his glory through.

Thank God it's not just up to me. All I have to be is a cracked pot. I can handle that.

We Fall Down...

I hate it when I'm wrong.

Today, I'm wrong.

*Big deep breath*

Now, to go set things right...

Yeah, September!

I love September, and for more than merely selfish reasons (though, as a Blizzard Baby - do the math - it is my birth month). It's so exciting to know that leaves will soon start to become fiery, vibrant, lush colors and that the air will become crisp and cool.

I love to pull my sweaters out of the closet for another season's use.

I love to snuggle under the extra quilt I know I'll have to be putting on the bed soon enough.

And to be honest, there's a side of me that really misses being a school-girl... that misses the crunch of the leaves under my feet on the sidewalk, backpack strapped on tight, as I walked home from school everyday.

Thank you, God, for the autumn to come!