Not much happening today except this....

Not much going on here unless Susan posts her report from PCRT. I'm not expecting that until sometime later this week or next week :-). So, might I suggest you read our archives? The news that we write about, usually isn't even current when we write about it and we've only been blogging for four months, how dated can some of this stuff be?

Though, while I was writing this I checked out the Drudge Report (why, yes, I do have ADD, how did you guess :-) and noticed that the Vatican is urging Catholics to boycott The Da Vinci Code movie. I was hoping that this wouldn't happen, why give them anymore publicity then they are going to get already? Don't bother boycotting. See it and be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is in you with gentleness and love.

And I see that ten thousand people marched in NYC against the war :

Tens of thousands of protesters marched Saturday through lower Manhattan to demand an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, just hours after this month's death toll reached 70.

Cindy Sheehan, a vociferous critic of the war whose soldier son also died in Iraq, joined in the march, as did actress Susan Sarandon and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

This is news? When are they not marching? And yeah, you've been marching for how many years now? And are we out yet? That marching thing doesn't appear to be working for ya, does it?

Organizers said the march was also meant to oppose any military action against Iran, which is facing international criticism over its nuclear program. The event was organized by the group United for Peace and Justice.

"We've been lied to, and they're going to lie to us again to bring us a war in Iran," said Marjori Ramos, 43, of New York. "I'm here because I had a lot of anger, and I had to do something."

And marching against the war in Iraq before we went to war was so successful that you are trying to prevent a war in Iran by marching again. Yeah, that's a working strategy, influencing change there aren't ya. The reason you are so angry is because you have no control over what is going to happen. Bush will do what he thinks he should, not what protestors demand he do.

A country of religious zealots, who are under a totalitarian regime is not going to listen to reason, we can't negotiate with them. If we learn nothing from history we should learn this lesson: you cannot negotiate with those who don't share your moral standards. As I have previously noted, Dorothy Sayers wrote of the futility of trying to reason with those who do not share a standard code of conduct (WWII Germany):

"We have been very slow to understand this. We persist in thinking that Germany 'really' believes those things to be right that we believe to be right, and is only very naughty in her behavior. That is a thinking we find quite familiar. We often do wrong things, knowing them to be wrong. For a long time we kept on imagining that if we granted certain German demands that seemed fairly reasonable, she would stop being naughty and behave according to our ideas of what was right and proper. We still go on scolding Germany for disregarding the standard of European ethics, as though that standard was something which she still acknowledged. It is only with great difficulty that we can bring ourselves to grasp the fact that there is no failure in Germany to live up to her own standards of right conduct. It is something much more terrifying and tremendous: it is that what we believe to be evil, Germany believes to be good." (Creed or Chaos? pg. 29)

The Purpose of the Gospel of John

John 20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

More on my other blog.

Tags: blogs4God, Christianity, Theology, Reformed, Bible Study, Calvinism, Bible, Spirituality

Our Week in Tags

Yet Another Turn in Andrea Clark's Case

There's more bad news to report:

"The future medical care of a severely ill heart patient at the center of a life-support controversy is up in the air again after a plan to transfer her from St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital to a facility in Illinois fell apart Friday.

But St. Luke's officials said that they will not carry out their previous plan to discontinue Andrea Clark's life-sustaining treatment on Sunday, which will be 10 days after the hospital notified her family it was invoking Texas' futile-care law.

[...]

The family and St. Luke's agreed Thursday to transfer Clark to Glenshire Nursing & Rehab Centre, a long-term, acute-care facility in the Chicago suburb of Richton Park. St. Luke's told the family it would pay the entire cost of moving Clark, estimated at about $15,000, but only if the family decided by Thursday.

The deal was canceled Friday after Glenshire doctors realized Clark's condition was too complicated for the level of care they provide.

And from My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy:

St. Luke’s has agreed not to pull Andrea’s life support at least until Tuesday. On Tuesday, a committee of doctors from St. Luke’s will meet to discuss how to proceed with Andrea’s case. Andrea’s new doctor–a doctor who shares our values about the sacredness of life–will take over her care on Tuesday and will fight for her right to live. Let us all hope and pray that the committee meeting on Tuesday is chaired by doctors who have a reverence for life and not a former abortionist like the St. Luke’s ethics committee chair.

Texas Republicans, what are you doing about this? This is insanity, why are we leaving the decision of who gets to live to a small group of people who may have a low view of human life?

(Links via Right Wing News)

Denial of Service Attack on Popular Blogs

Michelle Malkin reported that there was a DOS attack Hosting Matters that brought several popular blogs off line:

Today, 11:46 AM This morning at approximately 10:00 AM Eastern time, we noted a sudden abnormal surge in traffic to the network.

Shortly thereafter, our upstreams confirmed that one of the servers within the network was the target of a massive DOS attack.

We worked with the NOC and the upstreams to further identify the target and steps were taken to isolate that target from the rest of the network.

Recovery on all segments except that target segment is complete. The target of the attack will not be brought back online and will be removed from the main network in the event they are the target of future attacks, so as not to negatively impact other clients.

We are currently working to address clients who may be on that same segment of the network to bring them back online.

Stacy - Hosting Matters, Inc.

There was a second attack last night:

We are seeing another round of attacks after changing the IPs on the target server. This is an indication that the target from earlier either was not the primary target or was a byproduct of the original attack and identified as the primary target.

Working on this now with the NOC and upstreams.

The source of the attacks? Saudia Arabia. The reason? Political cartoons (this is what they think at this time ).

Free speech baby, get used to it. This is what it means to be free, we get to say what you don't want to hear. And Americans will just say it louder and more viciously when you try to shut them down.

Read further updates here.

Da Vinci Judge Hides Code in Court Papers

In England, the judge who resided over Dan Brown's plagarizism trial, hide a message in his court papers:

A secret code embedded in the text of a court ruling in the case of Dan Brown's bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" has been cracked, but far from revealing an ancient conspiracy it is simply an obscure reference to a Royal Navy admiral.

British High Court Justice Peter Smith, who handed down a ruling that Brown had not plagiarized his book, had embedded his own secret message in his judgment by italicizing letters scattered throughout the 71-page document.
[...]
The judge's secret message was: "Jackie Fisher, who are you? Dreadnought," Tench wrote in the Guardian newspaper.

Judge Smith is known as a navy buff, and Fisher was a Royal Navy admiral who developed the idea for a giant battleship called the HMS Dreadnought in the early 20th century.
[...]
"The message reveals a significant but now overlooked event that occurred virtually 100 years to the day of the start of the trial," he said in a statement.

Read the rest here.

The Fick and Oz Show

As I wrote in my profile, "I'm a stay-at-home mom who is never home (I'm usually in my car). " I have to drive everywhere, I drive my daughters to school, I have to drive back from taking them to school, I have to drive to pick them up and I have to drive from NJ to PA to go to seminary. I drive a lot and one thing I can tell you is morning radio in NJ and PA stinks (thank you, Howard Stern, every show has a giggly woman and a guy telling off-color jokes). So, I'm always on the lookout for something interesting to listen to while I drive and recently I found something completely different. It is the Fick and Oz show.

This is a very funny show that is: "A provocative talk show that looks honestly at the church, culture and Christ. A good mix of humor and profundity." Well, I think this blog, Life Under the Sun and eventually Reformed Weltanschauung Blogging are about Christ and culture, so you can see why I would be interested.

I came across their site completely by accident one morning. I was checking my stats and I noticed that I got a hit from a comment section of a blog that I had never visited before and being the curious person that I am (read nosey), I went and checked it out. It turns out that someone had linked to the comment section of my blog. So while there, I noticed that it was a website for a podcast and being the daring woman that I am (read bored with morning radio), I downloaded the first podcast to see if it would be worth listening to and recommending to my loyal readers (all three or four of you).

I listened to the podcast the next day in the car and I was laughing so much that I'm sure it was quite dangerous. One of the things they did was read from this article on Pensacola Christian College. It was so funny, this college is the worst! They are much, much more stricter than Bob Jones University. (Can you believe that there is a college on the right of Bob Jones University?) Their student behavior code is something out of the medieval period. But the shocking thing was that the college is being funded--get ready for this homeschoolers -- by Abeka Book!! Your money is funding this college which isn't even accredited.

Even though the show was long and poorly edited, I could see it had great potential so I downloaded the rest of the podcats and listened all week while I drove to school. Show 2 almost made me stop listening; I was kind of bored with it. I listened to it again today on the way home to see if I felt differently, and it was better than I remembered but there were some places that didn't hold my attention and I dozed off at one point (it's a good thing they have rumble strips on the PA Turnpike). But they redeemed themselves in Show 3, it was great and the rest of the shows after that were really good as well.

They do regular bits such as "getting into the word" and a "freak of the week" that are usually pretty good. They look at famous Christians throughout church history who have given their all for Christ. They've done Jim Eliot, C. S. Lewis and then a combination of John Newton, William Wilberforce, and David Livingstone and it was pretty well done (though they did promise to go back and do each individually but they haven't yet). My favorite bit is Fick's predictions (and no I'm not going to say any more about it, go listen for yourself).

After I listened to the podcasts, I decided I was going to recommend them to you, my loyal readers. So, I decided to contact them and get their take on what the heck they were thinking when they decided to start podcasting:

Who is your target audience and what do you hope to accomplish with your podcasts? (Entertainment, spiritual growth, outreach?) I plan to mention you on my blog and would like to include that type of information.

Evidently they weren't thinking too much because this is the response I got:

Target audience – anyone who’ll listen – I think you’re luck number 7. Seriously – I would say any one who doesn’t mind us poking fun at them. We are bound to hit on something that pertains to you. We aren’t quite the SNL of the church but if SNL says nothing is off limits – then I would agree that is true of us as it pertains to the church.

What we hope to accomplish – I’d say all of those that you suggested are nice objectives. Just trying to get people to relax in the church and hopefully those outside the church might find something compelling to join with us.

When you listen to the show, you can tell they've got some kind of an idea where they want to go with it and that they're not just two youth pastors sitting around swapping stories and calling it a podcast. It does have the feel of an actual broadcast (one that's definitely in it's infancy).

One thing that I need to warn you about is that this show is PG-13. I know that sounds weird, especially since they are youth pastors (or maybe because of it) but on a couple of the podcasts, especially Show 5, they get into a panty discussion and the show deteriorates after that. Now, don't run off and listen to Show 5 until you listen to all the previous podcasts because each show builds on the previous shows and you won't get the references if you haven't been listening to them all.

Finally, yes, in Show 6, I am the Michele they are referring to. This is the email I sent them when I requested information about their show:

BTW, it would be helpful (and easy to do) if you could link to some of the sites that you reference on your podcast. Since I'm usually driving in my car when I'm listening to you, it is really dangerous for me to write down the site (especially since I am usually being tailgated by semi-trucks and those guys would probably run me off the road if I slowed down to write).

So, while I'm driving this morning, I was listening to their podcast on my mp3 player (not an ipod, a cheaper one but it does have over 1 GB storage) and they were talking about me listening in my car and laughing so hard I might get into an accident and when Oz says, "Michele, look out for that car" a car stops in front of me and I hit the brake and I avoided an accident. These men are prophets :-). You really should listen to them! You can click on their icon in my sidebar bling section or on the icon to this post.

Updated to add: You may be interested in my response to the podcast.

Tags: Podcast, blogs4God, Christianity, Bible Study, Spirituality

Another Update on Andrea Clark

Andrea Clark's family is moving her to Chicago. Her sister, who is a democrat, has words of praise for the pro-life movement:

But the pro-life people stepped forward and just absolutely ground St. Luke's into submission on this issue. You have, without a doubt, saved my sister's life. I want you to know that. Without the pro-life/right to life people stepping in from the very first of this fight for Andrea, we would have lost. I have never in my life seen such a centered, focused and energized group of people.
[...]
Because of the people in the pro-life movement, a light has been shown on the truth, for all of Texans; indeed, for all of the world to see. May God bless you for your works. And, please, do not hesitate to ask myself or my family, for anything that you may ever need in order to continue your fight for these precious lives. We are here for you and your cause, as you were here for us in ours.

Read the rest here.

What really needs to happen now is that energy needs to be focused on getting this law abolished. Life has to mean more than the cost to maintain it.

Aaagh! I Need 32 Hours in My Day!

I have two articles that I'm working on but they are taking forever (the one was just going to be this quick sound bite type thing but it has taken on a life of it's on and I knew the other one was going to take awhile because it is multi-faceted) and I don't have time to finish them because I have to do homework and go to school and then my husband is coming home from a business trip today (he's been gone all week and I didn't complain once on my blogs). But I hope to get at least one done tonight, so stop back tonight or tomorrow morning.

Plus I created an email group for the Blogging Chicks to join if they wanted to and I have to submit all the email addresses and I know that's going to take forever. Plus, new bling for the sidebar and some changes to my linked lists. Too much to do, too little time to do it in and now this is taking too long and I got school work to do.

ROTC Armory Vandalized

This is our second article on violent behavior from students directed against our military. (I think it might be time to get the FBI involved.) Students from another college, UNC-Chapel Hill, vandalized a ROTC armory. Read about it here.

(Link via Instapundit)

Blogging Chicks

Start checking the Blogging Chicks blog for announcements. I'll still do shout outs here and on my other blog, but I won't do announcements here.

Reformed Theology Conference

Tulips will be blooming at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed theology this weekend (they will be talking about Calvinism)

I'm going. I plan to blog about it when I get back.

A whole weekend being in the Word...I can't wait!

It really is the Garden State...

I know it's hard to believe because New Jersey has the reputation of being the armpit of the East Coast( hey, that's what I've been told!)...

but New Jersey really is the garden state...

Just look at what is blooming in my garden!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time" [Ecclesiastes 3:11]...

even New Jersey

Another Addition to Our Blogroll

We have a new member to our blogroll, Jennifer from Sob'ah My Soul, where she blogs about her life. I really like the title graphic. Please go to her site and welcome her to our group.

Steal this Post Meme

I stole this from SusiePie who stole it from someone else (I think I'm going to start a whole steal this post meme):

Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won't, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place (parentheses) around the ones you've never even heard of.

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
The Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
(The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon)
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
(One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
(The Secret History - Donna Tartt)
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Atonement - Ian McEwan
(The Shadow of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
Sula by Toni Morrison
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Too bad they didn't have Ethan Frome or A Farewell to Arms instead , I've read those! And I still think watching the movie should count because I've seen a number of these books on screen :-). I cheated a little because I can't decide if I'm going to read some of the ones I haven't read so I left those with no marks. I also am not sure if I read To Kill a Mockingbird or not because all I can remember is the movie :-). BTW, some that I have read, I'm not sure it I have a copy still or not :-)

Rate Your Blog

One of our Blogging Chicks, Tabz is reviewing blogs over at her Stupid People Shouldn't Breed blog. If she deems your blog worthy, you will get a coveted "rarely stupid" button for you blog. I don't take criticism well or I would submit my blogs :-). Undercover Angel was deemed worthy (of course).

Update on Andrea Clark

John Hawkins of Right Wing News talked to Andrea Clark's sister (I blogged about this here):

I spoke to Andrea's sister, Melanie Childers, again today to get an update on what's happening. To begin with, she said that a lot of pro-life people have been calling the hospital and she thinks it's having a real effect on them. She said that she hopes people keep it up. (The contact page for St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is here. If you call, no matter how upset you may be, make sure to be polite).

Read more here. And you should check his site throughout the week to see if there are any updates.

You can find contact information here.

Updated to add: The hospital may be paying to move Andrea Clark to a hospital in Illinois according to Wizbang.

Burnt Oatmeal!

I burnt my oatmeal this morning, again. Nothing like the smell of burnt oatmeal first thing in the morning :-(

Updated to add: Twice! As you can tell, I wasn't blogging in the kitchen as I was supposed to do. I'm having toast this morning.

Prayer

I have put up a couple posts on prayer on my other blog.

Works for Me Wednesday

So, Shannon from Rocks in the Dryer started her on meme day to share things that work for us:

Think how much we could all learn from each other if we share our own little ideas!. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EARTH-SHATTERING. Just simple, affordable and designed to make the tiniest difference in your day

And I actually thought of something that I do that might be helpful to others, so I'm going to blog about housekeeping (shocking).

As some of my readers know, I quite frequently burn my oatmeal when I blog (read about it here) and sometimes quite badly (read about that here and the result of all this is here). Fortunately I learned early in my housekeeping career how to clean out badly burned pots (before blogging I surfed the Internet quite extensively). And the method is simple and affordable: baking soda and hot water. That's it! You cover the of the pan with baking soda and then pour boiling water on it and let is stand a couple of days and then wipe out the pan. You may need to do it a second time and use a brillo but it's usually much easier to clean.

Another cleaning product that I love is Barkeeper's Friend, it is cheap and takes out rust stains and gives porcelain a real shine.

Related Tags: Works for Me Wednesday, Cleaning Pots, Cleaning Tips

Reformed Chicks Blabbing

I'm posting this because our feedburner comes up before us when someone searches for "reformed chicks." Now, I have to think that this is someone who came to our blog and didn't bookmark us. Tsk, tsk. Bookmark us now, because you know you're coming back :-). Otherwise you'll google us and wind up at our feedsite!

Tags: Reformed, Chicks, Blabbing

Praising God!

I'm praising God tonight! We are finally on the PCA Blogs and the League of Reformed Bloggers blogrolls. I have been praying everyday that the Lord would get me on those blogrolls and He did. How great is that?

Texas, why do you have such an evil law?

What is up with Texas that they would have such an evil law like this:

An ill woman in Houston could die within days because a hospital ethics committee has voted to take her off life support - this despite the fact the 54-year-old is not in a coma, is not brain dead and wants to go on living, her family says.

On April 30, Andrea Clark is scheduled to be on the receiving end of a Texas law that allows a hospital ethics committee to terminate care with 10 days' notice, giving the patient's family that length of time to find a different facility.

[...]

According to the TV station report, Clark's family is doing all it can to find another facility that will treat Andrea.

Read the rest here.

And what if they can't find another facility to take her? Will they just end her life? This is what happens when you allow voluntarily euthanasia, eventually it becomes mandatory.

I thought Texas was a red state, what happened to our pro-life position? Pro-life means we don't end life even when it's to the benefit of big business (insurance companies and hospitals).

Texas Republicans, what's up with this?

(Link via Right Wing News)

Updated to add: Christopher Taylor pointed me to this post in The Corner from a year ago. I can see why Bush signed this bill into law, it was an improvement over what was in place:

In August 1996 the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article describing procedures then in effect in Houston hospitals. Under these procedures, if a doctor wished to deny a patient lifesaving medical treatment and the patient or the patient's surrogate instead steadfastly expressed a desire for life, the doctor would submit the case to the hospital ethics committee. The patient or surrogate would be given 72 hours notice of the committee meeting would be allowed to plead for the patient's life at it. During that short 72 hour period, the patient or surrogate, while preparing to argue for life, could also try to find another health care provider willing to give the lifesaving treatment, food or fluids.

If the ethics committee decided for death, under these procedures there was no appeal. There was no provision that the food, fluids, or lifesaving treatment be provided after the decision while the patient or family tried to find another hospital willing to keep the patient alive.

So under these procedures, the hospitals in Houston were denying life-saving treatment, food and fluids against the wishes of patients and their families, when the hospital ethics committees said their quality of life was too poor. Patients and families were being given only 72 hours after being notified of the proposed denial to find another health care provider.

But I can't see why more hasn't been done, don't the Republicans hold a majority there?

Tags: Euthanasia, Texas Law, Texas Republicans, Bush

Pimp My Snack

Here is a funny site. They take snacks to a new level:

PimpMySnack is a custom, banging, A1 Tip Top, jamming club fare. It's a sandwich of fun on ecstacy bread wrapped up in a big bag like disco fudge. It doesn't get any better than this.

We take Snacks to their limit, and show what they're capable of with a little ingenuity, a little cash, and a lot of imagination.

(Link via Me and my chickens)

School and...everything else

I am praising the Lord right now, because I don't have any homework!!

Housework yes, homework, no.

Late Monday morning (1:45 a.m.), I *finally* finished my paper for my Political Science class.
(I had to write a minimum 7 page book review--I read Tony Blankley's new book--I highly recommend it!).

The paper was due in class that morning. Needless to say, I got to bed around 2 a.m. --mind racing--had thoughts of "woulda, coulda, shoulda" about word choice and syntax. So, when 6 a.m. came around--I was exhausted.

I know that the Lord has called me to attend college...it has always been a desire for me to go.

Growing up in my house, higher education was not a priority for my working class parents. Their thinking was-when you graduate high school-you get a job. And I did, I worked on Wall Street for 11 years, met a wonderful man, got married, left my job when I got pregnant with my first child. My husband and I agreed that I would stay home with the children ( I now have 3 beautiful daughters). My dream of going to college was just a dream, I thought "one day" I will go. Well that "one day" came last September. My youngest is in 1st grade now, so I started taking classes at our local community college.

God is sovereign and His timing is perfect, so I trust that where I am right now is where I should be.

The thing is, in terms of my homework, I never factored in how hard it would be to accomplish it. In just this semester alone--with just two classes (English I and Intro to Political Science) I will have written 8 essays (1 mid-term and final), 1 research paper, 1 book review, and a summary of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". I think I'm getting carpal tunnel from sitting at the computer for so long...

I'm not complaining. The thing the Lord keeps reminding about is this:
Just because I've called you to do something, doesn't mean it is going to be easy.

Just because it's hard and is not peaceful, doesn't mean that I should take it as a "sign" that I should quit school.

Peace is not tranquility. Jonah had a "peaceful" sleep in the boat, while running away from God [Jonah 1:5]. That's a false sense of peace. I'm talking about the "peace of God, which surpasses all understanding...[Phillipians 4:7]. To the world (family, well meaning friends) it does not make sense that I would inflict myself with the burden of school, but I am "confident that He who has begun a good work in [me] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"[Phillipian 1:6].

Another Terrorist Attack in Egypt

I pray that bin Laden is captured soon because he is causing great devastation to the Middle East and I pray for his victims and their families:

Three nearly simultaneous bombings hit an Egyptian beach resort popular with foreigners Monday at the height of the tourist season, killing at least 23 people a day after Osama bin Laden issued a taped warning against Westerners.

The bombers struck the Sinai seaside city of Dahab in the early evening along a crowded promenade of shops, restaurants and bars. Interior Minister Habib el-Adly said those killed included 20 Egyptians and three foreigners. Sixty-two people were wounded.

Read about it here.

(Link via Drudge Report)

This is an interesting defense

OK, so here's our lesson for the day, when you're caught plagiarizing, remember to state that you most have internalized the other source.

Harvard University sophomore with a highly publicized first novel acknowledged Monday that she had borrowed material, accidentally, from another author's work and promised to change her book for future editions.

Kaavya Viswanathan's "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," published in March by Little, Brown and Company, was the first of a two-book deal reportedly worth six figures. But on Sunday, the Harvard Crimson cited seven passages in Viswanathan's book that closely resemble the style and language of the novels of Megan McCafferty.

"When I was in high school, I read and loved two wonderful novels by Megan McCafferty, `Sloppy Firsts' and `Second Helpings,' which spoke to me in a way few other books did. Recently, I was very surprised and upset to learn that there are similarities between some passages in my novel ... and passages in these books," Viswanathan, 19, said in a statement issued by her publisher.

"While the central stories of my book and hers are completely different, I wasn't aware of how much I may have internalized Ms. McCafferty's words. I am a huge fan of her work and can honestly say that any phrasing similarities between her works and mine were completely unintentional and unconscious. My publisher and I plan to revise my novel for future printings to eliminate any inappropriate similarities.

Read the rest here.

(Link via Drudge Report)

103 Screen!

Isn't 103 inches and 400 pounds a little excessive? Is this for bragging rights?

Read about it here.

(Link via JPod at The Corner)

DC Restaurants

We will probably be vacationing in DC in June. Any good restaurant suggestions?

Top 10 Movies of the Summer?

So, out of the 10 I'm probably going to see 2 of them. Man, I hope there are a lot more choices than this because I love going to the movies during the summer. Since I've been in seminary, it's the only time I can go. And I love taking the girls to see the newest kids movies (I actually like some kids movies). Sarah doesn't want to see the new car movie (too babyish), so I think it will be just me and Samantha.

I might see "The Devil Wears Prada," it looks interesting and I'm probably going to see “"The Da Vinci Code."

(Link via Right Wing News)

Google Search: Michele LUTS Blog

I think this morning someone tried to find my Life Under the Sun (luts) blog and Google directed them here. This post is to make sure people are directed to Life Under the Sun and not get lost somewhere on this blog.

Tags: luts, blog, Michele

Gmail Error Message

I'm sorry but this doesn't fill me with confidence in your service:

Server Error

Gmail is temporarily unavailable. Cross your fingers and try again in a few minutes. We're sorry for the inconvenience.

One of the few drawbacks of using Gmail is that it's not always available when you want to read your email.

Updated Picture of Me

Sarah drew a new picture of me. I have a mouth in this one and it is open. She says I'm smiling, I think I look like I'm yelling. The body is not even close to reality. But I like it. She says the saying on my shirt is accurate.

Thank You Teresa and Pastor Shaun!!!!!

This goes out to the brilliant and talented Teresa who finally was able to help me get Pastor Shaun's code to work!!! And of course a big thank you to Pastor Shaun for making the code available!

Your post body should look like this:









Updated to add this --the post section of the template (click on the picture):













Tags: Javascript, HTML Tags, Hide Text,Read More

Interesting Passages

As I was reading in preparation of writing a exegesis paper for my hermeneutics class I came across the following verses that I thought were interesting:

The day of the Lord:

Amos 5:18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, 19 as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

This is interesting and something that I had forgotten, the Lord excluded all who had physical defects from offering food as a sacrifice to the Lord:

Leviticus 21:16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 "Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them."

I have a longer post on my other blog on John 5.

Tags: blogs4God, Christianity,Gospel of John, Theology, Reformed, Bible Study, Calvinism, Bible, Spirituality

Here We Go Again Hiding Text

Teresa got Pastor Shaun's code to work but it did not work for me. I'm not sure why. But I did get this to work. It's doesn't work all the time as you can see if you check out my other blog. But the benefit of this code is that you don't have to tag your posts and I'm going to live with the fact that it occasionally misses a post :-).

BTW, the code was really easy to install but I got this really weird problem with my test blog that caused me to lose an hour trying to figure it out. If you follow the directions, you will not have any problems.

Our Week in Tags

I almost forgot!

Prayer for Christians Detained in China

Lindsey of Enjoy the Journey is reporting on her blog that five Americans from North Carolina have been detained:

Chinese police have detained five Americans who are connected to North Carolina churches including some in Greensboro. It happened during a raid on a Christian retreat in the southwestern part of that country.

Join me in praying for both the American and Chinese Christians captured in this raid.

Another Addition to Our Blogroll

Welcome Polly Boyette of Life is a Buffet in Virginia to our Blogging Chicks blogroll. Polly's is an author who has written a book entitled, "Life is a Buffet" which "is a collection of hilarious but true stories...Along with each story, a scriptural interpretation has been added to teach simple Biblical principals." Please stop by Polly's blog and welcome her to our group.

BTW, you might have noticed that I changed the name of my "Weltanschauung Blogging" to Reformed Weltanschauung Blogging, I think it's catchier :-).

Also, you might have noticed that I created a Blogging Chicks site. I plan to eventually move the base of operations for Blogging Chicks blogroll over there. I was thinking of starting an aggregator, what do you think?

24 Blogging

Since Ang, our 24 expert, appears to be taking a much deserved rest from last weeks heavy week of blogging :-), I thought I would post something so that the "Blogs For Bauer" folks don't get miffed with us for not posting. Here is a link to a summary of 24 from Dave Barry.

Also, I was listening to Glenn Beck on Friday and he was talking about this weeks episode and a caller asked him if he thought that the producers were doing a "war for oil thing." What's up with that? I thought that the producer was a conservative.

OK, I know, pretty lame. If Ang doesn't come back next week I think I'll request that they drop us from their blog list. Can't have people coming here expecting 24 analysis when we don't have any!

(Link via Hugh Hewitt)

Baylor University and Playboy

There's something seriously wrong when officials at a Christian college think they have to threaten the female students not to pose nude for Playboy. Aren't somethings just a given?

Baylor University in Waco, Texas, which bills itself as the world's largest Baptist college, has threatened to discipline female students if they pose for Playboy magazine, which is trying to recruit models from the college.
...
Baylor Vice President for Student Life Samuel W. Oliver sent an e-mail to
women students this week warning that any who "associate" with Playboy would be
subject to the university's disciplinary processes.

"Playboy is clearly antithetical to Baylor's mission and associating with the magazine would be a violation of the code of conduct," Oliver wrote in the e-mail. University officials said punishment could include suspension.

Read about it here.

(Link via Ace of Trump)

Tags: Baylor University, Christian College, Baptist College, Playboy

Yet Another Update on Hiding Text

Pastor Shaun couldn't even make my template work! So, I've given up on his script. I found another one but I don't have time to try it. Teresa, could you try this and let me know if it works?

BTW, Pastor Shaun has all kinds of interesting stuff up on his blog, go check it out, including the fact that RC Sproul is going to be on TV! (RC Sproul, a televangelist?) I have some things I'll be posting throughtout the day, so make sure you come back.

There and Back Again

I have added another site to our reciprocal blogroll, Chaplin Todd Luken, of There and Back Again. He came here last night, saw that we were all that :-) and decided to link to us. See, this is how it's done.

Chaplin Luken is going to Iraq and will be back again in 07. Let's all keep him and the men and women that he will be serving, in our prayers.

Updated to add: Chaplin Luken is a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary.

I'm a little more upbeat than this...

You Have a Melancholic Temperament

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything. You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life. You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you. Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace. You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life. Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times. At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you. You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others. You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

What Temperment Are You?

Updated to add: I took out the link to the blog where I had found the quiz, she deleted the post. No use having a broken link on my blog (I hate that).

Evil Conservatives

Here is site that is embracing the stereotype (it's part of the Glen Beck program).



(Link via Slapstick Politics)

Checking Account Update

Woohoo! I finally have access to our money in the new checking account! My checks arrived Wednesday and my debit card arrived yesterday. Ah, freedom!

College Students Out of Control

Why in the world would any mom send their baby girl to a college that can't control their students? Santa Cruz just took themselves out of the running (they probably didn't stand a chance anyway) to be awarded the privilege of having Sarah as a student.

I am talking about this:

Four military recruiters hastily fled a job fair Tuesday morning at UC Santa Cruz after a raucous crowd of student protesters blocked an entrance to the building where the Army and National Guard had set up information tables.

Members of Students Against War, who organized the counter-recruiting protest, loudly chanted "Don't come back. Don't come back" as the recruiters left the hilltop campus, escorted by several university police officers.
...
"We're saying it's not OK to recruit on high school campuses, it's not OK to recruit on university campuses,'' Marla Zubel, a UC Santa Cruz senior and member of Students Against War, said. "In order to stop the war, you have to make it more difficult to wage war."

This is what really got me:

David Kliger, campus provost and executive vice chancellor, said the school was most concerned Tuesday about safety issues, but also wanted to preserve access to the recruiters for students who wanted to speak with them, while still allowing protesting students their right to free speech.

Kliger said officials had tried to engage the anti-war student group in discussions in the weeks leading up to the fair. But when talks broke down, officials began privately hoping for rain and brought in extra police.

Excuse me, but haven't you people heard of the word "suspension." Reminding the students that violence could lead to their suspension or dismissal from school might have made them rethink their actions. College administrators, you do have the power in this situation, you need to use it.

(Link via Michelle Malkin who is being harassed because wrote about the incident -- these people hate free speech and if they ever get in a real position of power, you will lose your right)

Tags:Michelle Malkin, UC Santa Cruz, Students Against War, Recruiters, Military

Gun Blogger

Here's an interesting gun blog, he appears informative (how would I know, it's all gibberish to me) and I like his title graphic.

Yet Another Update to Hiding Text

Pastor Shaun updated his post to make it less confusing but it's still not working for me.

Updated: I noticed that Pastor Shaun's "read more" opens the text in the current page but mine goes to a completely new page, I wonder why?

Blogging will be light for the next couple of days

Susan and I have papers for school and Angela appears to be MIA again. I will still try to post something everyday, so please stop back.

School Choice

One of the reasons we do not send our children to public schools is that there is no real accountablity. At a private school, the parents are pretty much in control because we are the consumer. If we are unhappy, our complaints are taken seriously. I know this from experience.

I've read many stories in which the public school does nothing about bullies, political indoctrination and this:

While two parents in Lexington, Mass., are upset about the fact their second-grade son was read a fantasy book in school about two princes getting married, what makes them even more angry is the fact the boy's teacher said because same-sex marriage is legal in their state there is no way a mother or father can opt out a child from such experiences.

"We are outraged," parents Rob and Robin Wirthlin told the local Article 8 Alliance. "This is a highly charged social issue. Why are they introducing it in the second grade? And we cannot present our family's point of view to our children if they don't tell us what they're saying to them."
...
It was explained to the couple that since same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, discussion of the matter is fair game -- parents do not have to be informed before or after the issue is presented. Kramer reportedly told the Wirthlins that the theme of the day was "weddings" and the teacher wanted to present all points of view on the subject.

The parents were given no choice, they were usrped by the school district and told when the child was ready to learn something that the parents deemed inappropriate, the decision was taken out of the their hands. Parents know their child better than the school district or the teacher, they should decide what is appropriate and what isn't for their child. But in this school district the teacher and the principal clearly do not agree and this parent won't get a satifactory response because this school district will set the agenda, they've proved that in the past:

Estabrook School was also in the news last year when father David Parker faced prosecution for trespassing and spent a night in jail after confronting school officials about homosexuality being discussed in his son's class.

They will never get a satisfactory resolution to this problem because they are not in position of power, they are not the direct consumers. If they were paying the schools directly they would have a lot more power. That is why school choice is imperative. It puts the power back into the hands of the parents. School districts would have to watch what they do because the parents could take their funding to another school. If my child was in the public school system, I would be working really hard lobbying for school choice. I believe all parents with children in public school should be doing the same thing, it is the only way they will have any say in how their child is taught.

(Link via The Rightwing News)

Update on Hiding Text

Well, I couldn't get it to work. I tried for over an hour. For some reason it displays "Read the rest..." and "...Collapse Post" for every post. Maybe I'll try it again tonight.

Hiding Text in Blogger

If you want to hide text in Blogger, Pastor Shaun figured it out. I haven't tried it yet but I will tonight. Check my other blog in the morning to see if I was successful.

BTW, while I was scrolling down, looking at the code, I got distracted by his quotes and noticed that I was quoted. How cool is that? This is the first time I've been quoted in a sidebar. I am so thrilled :-). Ok, the rest of you can be jaded about it but I'm not! WooHoo my first sidebar quote.

No more tagging!

Remind me never to tag Angela or Susan again! They are a dead end!

Weltanschauung Blogging

So, I've been doing a little experimenting with my Weltanschauung Blogging site and I think that I might get more traffic if I switched to it and dropped Life Under the Sun. I think it stands out on a blogroll and makes you go to it just to see what's up. The same way Reformed Chicks Blabbing does. I'm not sure Life Under the Sun has that draw. What do you think?

Though, the one thing that would stop me is that I love my title picture and it would take forever to update the blogrolls.

BTW, when you say the name of the blog all together do you say "Blogging" do you say it with a German accent? I do!

The problem with businesses today...

Is that there is too much group think. This post by the Walrus demonstrates the problem with businesses. He writes of a woman who was billed for surcharges on her credit card balance even though she was dead. The supervisor had no way to fix the problem. This is clearly unacceptable and there is no reason a supervisor should live with this type of situation. Why be held hostage to poorly designed software?

Group think says, "The system won't allow us to do that." Those who use their brain at work would figure out a way to get the system to do what they want or replace the system. Death of a client isn't something that would be outside the norm, why would this be an issue? Poorly designed software or bad training.

10 of Life's Simple Pleasures?

Hey Susan, what's up? Can't think of ten?

Anti-PC League Blogroll

We have joined the Anti-PC blogroll because as Christians we are considered politically incorrect, bigoted and intolerent. So, why not just go with the label. We are anti-PC (the opposite of PC :-). Basically we joined for the button and to make a statement.

BTW, the owner of this blogroll was very quick in putting us on, he should be commended for his quick action. On the other hand, I have been waiting for months to be put on the GOP bloggers blogroll. I wonder how quickly I would be put on the Libertarian Blogroll or the Independents Blogroll. Maybe we should blog for the Libertarian party. Hey Susan, what do you think? Should we blog for the Libertrians?

Two New Additions to the Blogroll

Two new blogs have been added to our Blogging Chicks Blogroll. The first is Pamela Lynn of Time Flutters By in Hampton, VA. She blogs about her life and scrapbooking. She has some wonderful pictures of her scrapbook pages. Go check them out. I wonder if she knows Mel, the Blogging Chicks' Creative Memories consultant?

Our second addition actually doesn't need any introduction because it's me! I've started yet another blog, Weltanschauung Blogging (it's German for worldview -- the framework through which an individual interprets the world and interacts in it). I'm using it to store reports that Susan and I write for school. We wanted to make them available to our readers and I thought this would be the easiest way to do it and I like the name and may use the site for other purposes later on down the road.

A Picture of Me

If anyone is interested in what I look like, I posted a picture here. My hair is a little longer now than it was in this picture.

Suicide Hotline

Tabz is requesting that people donate to the Suicide hotline. The amount needed is very small. Go to her site for more information.

Tags: Suicide Hotline, Suicide

Wow! They have a quiz for everything!

You scored as James Orr. You are James Orr. You are not afraid of Scholarship, but you know that scholarship is not necessarily objective.

James Orr		85%
John Knox		70%
Thomas Boston		70%
James Denney		65%
Thomas Chalmers		50%

Which Scottish Theologian are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

(Link via Rebecca Writes)

Updated to add: the link is fixed

My Marathon Man

This is a picture of my dh. He did really well. He finished the marathon in 3 hours and 22 minutes, which placed him at number 3428 out of about 22,000 runners.
Yesterday was a great day for a marathon. We are really happy and blessed that the Lord gave him success in this effort!

Princeton

So, we went to lunch at Chevy's and of course we overate, which worked out really well because we weren't tempted to do any snacking when we went to Princeton (well, not much anyway). After lunch we bought Sarah's ipod at Best Buy, she got a white Nano and of course Samantha said she wanted one. I told her that she could get one for Christmas even though she has an MP3 player. Yes, I know I'm a terrible mom! They are too materialistic, blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, we went to Princeton next. I took tons of pictures. We parked the car in a parking garage and walked toward Nassau Street. We passed a gemstone store and were told that the girls could get free rocks. This is a great racket, are you going to get a free rock and then just leave? No, Sarah and I both got earrings and if you bought two, you got a third pair for free. And Samantha got one of those necklaces made out of magnates. Here's a picture of our loot:



Then we walked to Nassau Street and went into "A Touch of Baroque" which is like walking into a museum. Their stuff is beautiful and funny, I really like to look around.

There is a wonderful church across the street with beautiful tulips:







This is Holder Tower:



I think this is a chapel, it is not part of the university:


This is Nassau Hall:



These were taken at the Princeton Public Library:




That was their gift shop! Yes, a library with a gift shop! They also had a cafe, 3 floors of books, beautiful furniture, on every floor they had computers to access the Internet. It is probably the best designed, most visually appealing library I have ever seen.

Princeton is a really cute town. If you are ever in NJ, you should stop in Princeton and walk around and visit the little shops. There's a bakery right across the street from the library that has a very good bread pudding muffin.

We did get to see the movie, I will post a review some time this week (I'm back in school, so posting should be lighter--it should be, but that doesn't mean it will be :-).

Prayer Request

I have a request for prayer from "someone who is going through one of the most difficult things I have ever had to face. The grief is overwhelming and I am so thankful that I have a sovereign God in whom I trust!"

South Park Update

You can get the daily Gaggle here. I'm going to check it each day and see if it might be something we want on the blog. Once I figure out where we would put it.
(Link via Latino Issues, A Conservative Blog)

Tagged!

Hey Susan, you've been tagged. Ang, I tagged you on your blog.

Caution, you are about to enter the "No Divisive Zone"

Just because I am a Reformed Chick doesn't mean I go to a reformed church (reformed as in holding to the doctrines of grace or historic reformed theology) . For reasons too long to include in this post, I have stayed where I am because I know the Lord has called me to minister there for a time.

Well, now that I have begun teaching (exercising my God-given gift) in my church and coordinating bible studies I am having doctrinal difficulties. My church isn't against Calvinism per se, they actually "allow" both Arminian AND Calvinism doctrine to co-exist because they consider it a "non- essential" to salvation. I totally disagree, because it does matter. (I see a future post coming on this topic!).

The thinking goes along these lines: In terms of election, it really does not matter if you think you choose Christ or if He chooses you, because in the end you are saved so why quibble over who does what in salvation? It really isn't something you "go to the wall about" (to quote a friend). Let me explain further.

The other night I met with a friend, she and I will be co-leading a new ladies evening bible study. We were going over the structure and scope of the study (we are studying Women of the Old Testament). First off, I never was happy with her choice of topic, I wanted to teach a book of the bible, not a topical "woman" study-so there is my first problem-but God in His providence directed me to a good reformed source that will add meat to the study.

Anyway, during our preparation we somehow got onto the topic of election. In my naivete, I just *assumed* she and I were on the same page, doctrinally speaking, but that was not the case. When I challenged, in a loving way, her thinking regarding who chooses who, it got very awkward. I just asked her where it says in scripture that we choose God? She could not give me anything besides John 3:16 (which isn't about salvation at all) and when I mentioned other scriptures from Romans 3, Ephesians 1, Col 1, John 6 etc (just to name a few), she just didn't want to go there.

That's when she said it..."I just want to caution you, that you might want to be careful saying "these things" to women who come to the study. You don't want to upset them".

I was confused, I asked did I say anything that was upsetting or untrue? I have to say, I was upset that I was the one who needed to keep quiet but it was perfectly okay for her to be able to let women believe an error. She even admitted to me that she didn't have a desire to know for herself if what she believed was true, she just trusts those who are more "scholarly" than herself. And for that matter, since many have different interpretations, we can't be sure.

I guess my questions are these:
Do we remain silent and not make doctrinal waves because they are uncomfortable or might cause division?

Why are women so afraid to think deep thoughts about God and dig into scripture for themselves?

Are we just to study "woman's issues" that are mainly focused on the cast of characters and the family dynamics and allow the main character of scripture-Jesus Christ-to become obscure?

What are we to be learning during a bible study? Are we just to learn how to be a better wife, mother, daughter etc. or are we to grow in our knowledge and love of Jesus Christ?

I'm afraid this has turned into a rant. But I needed to get this off my chest.
Please pray for me. Needless to say, when I left my friend there was tension and we are supposed to teach together tomorrow night. I need wisdom to know how to proceed.
Thanks for listening.

Easter Report: Too much chocolate!

The girls got peeps for Easter. I don't buy them chocolate because my mom and sister usually give them too much. Sarah wanted a peeps pillow, so Samantha got one too (she's learned that her sister has good taste and if Sarah likes something, so will she) and Samantha wanted peeps, so everyone got one including the husband.

Church was great, the pastor's sermon followed similar lines to my post on LUTS about the disciples and the truth of their report of the resurrection. Samantha glittered the pew and Mommy with her dress.

We went to my sister's where I preceeded to eat way too much chocolate, chips and cheese, bbq chicken, ham and ice cream cake. When I came home, I had more chocolate, feel asleep at 12:00, woke up at 2:00 and couldn't go back to sleep until 4:00. Now, I have a headache and am really cranky.

The girls are on spring break this week, so we are going to go to Princeton to walk around and take pictures, see the movie "Ice Age 2" and Sarah is going to buy an ipod with her birthday money. Check back later tonight for the pictures and a review of "Ice Age 2."

Scary But Funny

This is funny.

Da Vinci Code at Westminster

This is how out of it I am. I had to learn from Pastor Shaun that my seminary launched a new Da Vinci code website.

The Truth will be resurrected on Good Friday when Westminster Theological Seminary, one of the oldest and most respected seminaries, will launch a robust website dedicated to presenting a factual response to the claims in Dan Brown'’s runaway best-seller novel and soon-to-be-movie The Da Vinci Code.

"We certainly appreciate the engaging narrative, and recognize an author'’s right to present a good yarn," explains Dr. Bill Edgar, Professor of Apologetics at Westminster. "But we are concerned because the mix of fact and fiction in the book and presumably the film is leading many readers to question the Bible's message and its impact on history."

The site is designed for those wanting to engage the culture in spiritual conversations by providing biblically sound, intellectually honest, and historically accurate information so that the assertions in the book and movie can be discussed point-by-point.

Dr. Peter Lillback, President of Westminster, lays out the purpose of the site in this way, "Studies show that only five percent of pastors have read the book, and many in the church are dismissing The Da Vinci Code as 'just a novel,'’ or 'another movie.'’ In so doing, they discount the wave of doubt that has been and will continue to be created by its cleverly written claims. Our intent is to create ‘doubt about doubt."

Very slick website and make sure you have your speakers on so you can hear the cool music.

I'm glad to see that the Christian community is facing the opening of the movie with facts and not protests (I hope no one organizes a protest). I'm thinking about seeing the movie since I still haven't read the book!

My husband is running in the Boston Marathon today...please pray!!

Hello Everyone! I'm writing to you from not-so-sunny Massachusetts! The Boston Marathon is today, and my handsome husband is running. This will be his third Marathon, his second attempt at Boston. Last year he passed out from dehydration only 4 miles from the finish, so he has definitely had the agony of defeat!
Please pray for cool weather, not too much sun, and a great race for my husband.
Thanks!!

2 3 New Blogging Chicks

Welcome Ellen of mzellen & co. from Michigan. Ellen blogs about her life with her two teenage children, a son and a daughter, about her diet and about theology. She wrote an excellent article for the Carnival of Beauty on aging gracefully.

Welcome to Nicole Carter of Me and My Chickens from North Carilonia. Isn't Nicole's blog made for Blogging Chicks? Nicole blogs about her life and well, chickens (she definitely has a theme going on here :-).

And welcome to Julie of Everday Mommy. Julie has a visually appealing website with a wonderful graphic. She blogs about life, her son and about the Lord. She has an interesting story about becoming a mom so late in life. Make sure you read it when you visit.

Please join me in welcoming all three blogs to our blogroll and go check them out.

Happy Resurrection Day!

Was the resurrection of Jesus a myth created by his disciples? I explore this a little on my other blog.

You can purchase the above print here.

He is Risen...He is Risen Indeed

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"- and that he had said these things to her.

Happy Easter

Fractal Easter Eggs

This is really cool. A fractal egg decorating contest.

(Link via Stop the ACLU)

The Blessing of Christ's Resurrection

O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
Thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 15: 55

Easter Dress Shopping Rant: Day 2

Day two of shopping for an Easter dress and shoes. Samantha decided not to go shopping with us today, since she was the one who got the dress yesterday. She was so exhausted from five hours of shopping that she decided to relax by cleaning her room :-). So, it was Sarah and I. I decide it was a good idea to eat before we went to the mall so we don't waste any time.

"Did you bring the skirt we bought yesterday?"
"No."
"How are you going to make sure it matches?"
"I remember what it looks like."
"You won't remember it exactly."

We decide to hit Coldwater Creek first. I love the clothes in their catalog but every time I go to the store, I can't find anything I like. Everything has a weird pattern or is see-through or it's too casual for church. Plus, they make everything for someone who is 5'8 and I'm only 5'3 1/2. So, we keep walking. We go into Talbot's and I finally noticed something, all they had was pants, no skirts or dresses. What's up with that? Here is a picture of what one of the few skirts in the store looked like:



Then we went to Aerospace for Sarah and got some shirts for her. We decided to try a blue camisole under a shirt she already had. She was a lot happier after that, so she was more willing to allow Mommy to shop for a skirt. I decided to see if I could find a black skirt to go with my new shirt.

Next we go to Macy's and I find a pretty skirt to go with my shirt but because I indulged a little too freely in ice cream, sour skittles and chocolate (not all at the same time, eew), I could not wear my normal size. I had to get a size bigger and they didn't have it. I asked the salesperson to call another Macy's to have one put on hold. She found a store that had 8 of them and she tried to call them but had trouble getting through. We decided to chance it and just drive over.

On our way out of the mall I bought some shirts for Samantha and we tried to find shoes for Sarah, but Payless was packed and I have problems being in confined places with other people (I need a lot of personal space), so we left.

We drive another 1/2 hour to the other mall and go immediately to Macy's. We found 1 not 8 skirts. While there, I decided to take some pictures for those of you, like me who rarely step into a mall:



This is picture of one of the couch cushion clothes.


This is a picture of a pair of paints I saw so often I was tempted to buy them. I think I could be brain washed into buying something if it becomes familiar to me. Good thing I have a teenager to stop me.



This is a picture of a skirt that is meant to be worn by an adult woman.

Next we turned to getting sandals for Sarah to wear to church. And surprisingly, we were able to find a pair right away.

I decided my skirt was too sheer, so we go to Lord and Taylor to get a slip. They only had one brand which cost $29. For a slip!

"What is this? Russia?"
"Oh, I get it"
"What?"
"You're talking about a monopoly."

Then we have a discussion about capitalism verses communism and how capitalism is the best system given man's fallen nature and how it works the best because man is basically self-centered and greedy.

So, back to Macy's. On the way I see the pants again.

"I'm thinking about getting those pants."
"Eeew! Why?"
"They're growing on me."
"Where would you wear them."
"I'd wear them to seminary or when I picked you up."
"No, you wouldn't. I'll have to pretend I don't know you."
"I could wear them when I work in the cafeteria, I could embarrass you. You won't come over and say hi."
"I'll pretend like I don't know you."

Too many choices on the slip, there are three different sizes (aah, capitalism). I made my choice, made the purchase and then we are out of the mall! Yeah! Mission accomplished and we are now ready for church tomorrow. I only wasted 10 hours of my life doing it :-).

Our Week in Tags

Personal DNA

Reserved Analyst

I didn't agree with all the results but some of it was pretty close. I would agree that I am reserved and analystic. What this test doesn't take into consideration or ask is if you believe God is in control of your situation, they asked if you thought your circumstances were controled by luck. The results are messed up either way because I'm not a person who believes that my circumstances control me but I believe that God is in control of everything that happens.

South Park in the News Again

The guys at South Park got so mad at the censors who wouldn't let them include an image of Mohammed, that they instead included an incident involving Jesus, Bush and the American flag. Thus proving once again, it's OK to bash our President, the symbol of our liberty and Jesus but not Mohammed.

Read about it here.

Tags: South Park, Media Bias