Vision Check - LOL

My husband said if I wanted to stay beautiful,

it was time to lose a few pounds ...

I told him if he wanted to stay married,
it was time to buy better glasses.

The Dance

I have sent you my invitation, the note inscribed on the palm of my hand by the fire of living. Don't jump up and shout, "Yes, this is what I want! Let's do it!" Just stand up quietly and dance with me.

Show me how you follow your deepest desires, spiralling down into the ache within the ache. And I will show you how I reach inward and open outward to feel the kiss of the Mystery, sweet lips on my own, everyday.

Don't tell me you want to hold the whole world in your heart. Show me how you turn away from making another wrong without abandoning yourself when you are hurt and afraid of being unloved.

Tell me a story of who you are, And see who I am in the stories I am living. And together we will remember that each of us always has a choice.

Don't tell me how wonderful things will be . . . some day. Show me you can risk being completely at peace, truly OK with the way things are right now in this moment, and again in the next and the next and the next. . .

I have heard enough warrior stories of heroic daring. Tell me how you crumble when you hit the wall, the place you cannot go beyond by the strength of your own will. What carries you to the other side of that wall, to the fragile beauty of your own humanness?

And after we have shown each other how we have set and kept the clear, healthy boundaries that help us live side by side with each other, let us risk remembering that we never stop silently loving those we once loved out loud.

Take me to the places on the earth that teach you how to dance, the places where you can risk letting the world break your heart. And I will take you to the places where the earth beneath my feet and the stars overhead make my heart whole again and again.

Show me how you take care of business without letting business determine who you are. When the children are fed but still the voices within and around us shout that soul's desires have too high a price, let us remind each other that it is never about the money.

Show me how you offer to your people and the world the stories and the songs you want our children's children to remember, and I will show you how I struggle not to change the world, but to love it.

Sit beside me in long moments of shared solitude, knowing both our absolute aloneness and our undeniable belonging. Dance with me in the silence and in the sound of small daily words, holding neither against me at the end of the day.

And when the sound of all the declarations of our sincerest intentions has died away on the wind, dance with me in the infinite pause before the next great inhale of the breath that is breathing us all into being, not filling the emptiness from the outside or from within.

Don't say, "Yes!" Just take my hand and dance with me.

Anon

Sarah Rocks Obama’s World

It seems just the mere mention Sarah Palin’s name rocks the Obama camp. Endorsements are like ice cream flavors they either leave a sweet taste or an awful after taste. You know that this woman has substance when most of Hollywood’s big wigs are flapping their mouths, criticizing and questioning who she is and her competence. From Matt Damon to Pamela Anderson to the one and only Sean aka Diddy aka Puff Daddy Combs all have “something” to say. I don’t understand why “black” entertainers, “black” influential people have turned this elections into a race based on the colour of ones skin. “Vote for Obama because he is black.” For all they say that they are the ones being discriminated in the country, they sure do know how to play the race game to their “advantage”. It shouldn't matter the colour of your skin or if you are male or female, your decision should be based upon the issues facing America.

Of all that I have seen Diddy’s was the most disturbing. With what he sings and gives to our children certainly isn't the role model most would want. First off he does not know if Alaska is one of the Sates in the USA, he does not know if there are any black people in Alaska , then he proceeds to say that because there are no black people in Alaska there is no crime, violence and drugs. Diddy has slapped every black person in the face yet there is no uproar from the Obama camp. Guess that once you put that money and a lot of it in the Obama envelope you can say and do whatever you please. Sean Combs - doing a hell of a job for the Obama Campaign. And an even better job for McCain/Palin! He must think Alaskans live in igloos and mush dogs to work. The population is very culturally diverse and yes it includes black people. More proof of Abe Lincoln’s observation:

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

I just don’t understand why he is so worried about who McCain picked as VP anyway? Isn’t the Obamamessiah supposed to sweep the country in a landslide, uniting it in Hope and Change? With his recent hissy fit about flying commercial because it was too expensive to fuel his jet, it makes you wonder why the media gives him the time of day. His new election slogan is “Obama or die”. I am very concerned that there will be racial polarity in the aftermath of this election if “The Chosen One” loses. Stop stimulating the victim mentality. Enough with the race card!

I want to take a look at some of the platforms that the Obama camp has on their ticket after all these are the issues. Firstly, we are for the “small people” Are they really? When a “small town” woman steps up to the plate, they try to cut her down because she is too “small” for them. One question: what is wrong with Alaska ? Is Alaska not 1 of 50 States that form America? A woman who has served in an executive position is not qualified? Obama, who has run primarily on his popularity and has no experience, is more qualified because of the color of his skin? Amazing to say the least! She has every right to be anything she wants to be, this is real change for every woman, white, and black and in between. This woman brings change, there is proof of all she has been able to achieve and yet she is not qualified?!?! Experience did not matter before but now with Sarah Palin experience matters.

Then there are his Economic policies. I struggle with the study of Obanomics. It’s tough to grasp this blend of economics, comics and tonics. They are for teaching sex education in schools and distributing and aiding in contraception, after all we want the kids to be “safe” so we pump millions on this. Encourage the kids to have sex then they need millions in funding to have programs to deal with teen pregnancy, STD’s and everything that goes along with having sex, after all having sex is “no big thing.” Everyone knows that Abstinence is the only way to not get pregnant but hey why not line the pockets of those that contribute to your cause! Then his brilliant plan to reduce taxes, “tax the rich and give that money to the poor.” Nice thought but once you tax the companies who produce and sell everything that Americans consume, that tax increase is going to be passed right back along to the consumers. Where is the savings in that? The only way to stimulate the economy is to reduce spending, spend efficiently and increase savings.

Now let’s look at Health Care Reform. Obama is for Partial birth Abortion and refuses to approve funding to help save those babies who have survived the horrendous ordeal. Its okay to leave the baby to die on the table, don’t bother to try and help save a life. If life is not valued at conception, the most innocent and vulnerable are not protected, then I shudder to think what kind of health care reform is on the way. What will happen if you are old, have some sort of incurable disease, physically and mentally disabled? It really does make you think.

Then there is the Pro-choice platform. Now let’s just call it what it is- Legalized Murder! The only choice there is is whether to have sex or not. Getting pregnant is not a mistake, it is an outcome of having sex. Now they argue that once the baby is not “normal” then get rid of it. What a cop out! Who gives them the right to decide what is normal and what is not normal? They say that a babe in the womb is a parasite, it feeds from the mother, so the mother is entitled to get rid of the parasite. My question is this, how come if a mother kills a 3 month baby, one who is suckling on the breast which can be considered a parasitic act, she will be charged with murder? When a teenager begs his or her parents for money for the latest fad, can that not be seen as a parasitic act, yet if they were to kill that teenager it would be seen as murder? How come the double standard?!?!

This election is not about star power, its not about getting the Hollywood star, nor is it about how vanilla or chocolate ones skin is, its about the issues. It’s about walking the walk and talking the talk. Its about serving America not just Hollywood. Its not about using change to promote ones career, it’s about using ones career to promote change. Its about change you can believe in and change you can trust. It’s about making your vote count twice, once for what is right and once for what is wrong. And well the saying really is true, “Behind Every Good Man is a Great Woman.”

We Will Never Forget- Together We Remember

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon them (him, her).
May their soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

Flip Flopping Liberals Flip Out Over Palin

“Sarah Palin is to the left what sunlight is to a vampire. Her high heels have knocked them back on the heels of their comfortable shoes.”

Never has a woman been so attacked for simply being a woman. Democrats, Liberals and the media are shooting darts at Sarah Palin for being feminine. Latest to join the round table was the host of the recently concluded VMA’s on MTV. I have come to the following conclusions as to exactly why it is that Sarah Palin is being criticized and mocked.

She represents feminism, true feminism. She represents a feminism that fights for children and their lives (no matter if they are not “perfect”), that doesn’t hate men, and that isn’t pretentious and bitter. We only see the type of feminism that thinks that true freedom resembles “Sex and the City”. There’s more to life than fashion, promiscuity, fast cars and expensive vacations. Sarah is the light that cuts through the intellectual red tape and exposes feminist hypocrisy for what it really is. She takes a stance and stands by it.

They do not recognize what women have been fighting for all these years. Sarah has shown what women have known for years - they are strong, bright and capable and do not have to embrace the “feminist” agenda of gay rights, pro abortion, not to mention the political correctness / liberal agenda of energy caps, higher taxes, more government regulation, and the class war mentalities. She shows that no door was closed to her. Her choices should be admired. She and her husband should be admired for committing themselves to a marriage through the good and bad times for 20 years.

Palin is human like the rest of us. And maybe that is what is so attractive about her, she acts human. Sarah is the breath of fresh air that is needed, after years and years of hot air in Washington. She shows that there are smart women (and men for that matter) who believe in large families, who consider it noble to be a mother, who are against abortion, who bemoan the promiscuity of our times, who don’t believe that offering birth control to teens is the answer to out of wedlock pregnancy, that the most common sense answer lies in strong families who consider it a privilege and a sacred responsibility to have children. This is feminism in its truest sense!

As for all those objecting along the lines of “I don’t see the problem…isn’t it good to be pro-choice/secular/open-minded etc.” On the other hand, if the pro-choice claim were genuine, there would be no discussion of it, because the number of abortions throughout history would be zero. Everyone would choose the human experience, regardless of how they were conceived. Abortion is never the solution. The taking of another person’s life is never a reasonable response to our pain, no matter how much we hurt. To abort means to kill. To be pro-choice means that you freely support someone’s right to kill…to kill an innocent and defenseless life. There is hypocrisy in such stances. If human life is not important at the miracle of conception, how can life be somehow more important after birth? To be Pro-Choice does not mean that you are forward thinking or open minded. The whole “People will do it anyway” is also equally bogus. People shoplift everyday, people steal, so how come no one is campaigning for this to be legal?

I think that we are essentially teaching our children through abortion that we have no responsibility for our fellow man or accountability for our own actions. If a pregnant woman who wants and loves her child is killed, 2 counts of murder can be filed against the perpetrator. However, if a pregnant woman who doesn’t want her child decides to kill it, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that and it is even encouraged and promoted!

There are many reasons why I am Pro-life. Morality is not something that society can vote on. What is wrong is wrong, and what is right is right. No matter if 99.99 percent of the population believes something is right…IT DOESNT MATTER, if God says it is wrong its wrong.The pro-choice claim is anything but choice because the person whose life is at stake was never given that choice. To be Pro-life also means actively doing something. How many Pro-lifers have adopted a child, volunteered at an orphanage, or taken some other type of action to support their beliefs? If we are not willing to volunteer and step up to the plate, then in all honesty how big of an issue is it to us?

The media will not ask the hard questions of Obama because they want him to win, and anything negative will be overlooked, and the questioner will be attacked as being racist or a liar or both. Would the media be so kind as to afford the same excuses to me that they allow Obama? I’m tired of hearing people say that Obama can’t be held to any kind of standard. It’s really scary to see someone rant against people that “cling to their guns and religion”, when he, most obviously, has a rubber spine when it comes to his “beliefs”. He will change his rhetoric and his actions at the drop of a poll to suit his audience of the moment. He says what you want to hear, he says what you need to hear. Obama has an uncanny ability to be on both sides of an issue at once. He tries to be “all things to all men.” He will be whoever you want him to be. To the church - “I personally hate abortion”. To the abortionists, “I fully support a woman’s right to abortion.” Obama is changing his positions to get votes, and in the end, the line between right and wrong in America gets fuzzier and fuzzier… McCain and Palin have already addressed more issues that are vital for the future growth of America than Barack Obama has in the whole time he’s been campaigning. He talks “change” but is neither specific nor believable. People talk about the flaws of the Obama ticket, the biggest flaw is probably the thinking that he is the answer to all the woes.

What more is there to say, Sarah is NOT a threat to the women’s movement. She IS the women’s movement! The Democrats know that if this woman becomes the Vice President she will open the door to current feminists to see that they don’t need to subscribe to radical liberalism to shatter the glass ceiling! In the end, with your own hands in the ballot box you seal your own fate.

Sarah Palin & Barack Obama-World Views

I find it amusing to see the 'feminist brigade' out in force denouncing Governor Palin for daring to be a working wife and mother. Am I missing something here? Have not the feminists applauded Hillary Clinton for maintaining her career seperate to her husband's while having a child at home and yet Senator Clinton is seen as a 'feminist heroine?'

Due to a tragic event in the life of Senator Biden the Senator found himself to be a single father. It is his right that he chose to remain a Senator while looking after his children and it is obvious he is a devoted father and Grandfather. The fact that he made sure he returned each evening to his family is commendable, but Governor Sarah Palin also returned to her home once her work was completed.

Why is one person hailed as a hero and another denounced?

Then we have Senator Obama and his 'experience.' Yes, I agree, Senator Obama does enjoy a massive amount of experience and knowledge in how to defeat bills that oppose abortion. He is an expert at double talk without actually committing himself to a permanent position, lest he may have to flip flop in the future.

When asked the question about a baby's rights Senator Obama glibly stated, "I'm absolutely convinced that there is a moral and ethical element to this issue." Yes, there is Senator but what exactly is your answer to the above question? Glib comments are not opinions. Once again when questioned Obama stated that to answer that question was "above his pay grade." Really? As always with Senator Obama his pay grade speaks louder than his principles or lack thereof.

"Under her (Governor Sarah Palin) leadership, Alaska invested $5 billion in state savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans. She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to provide oversight and maintenance of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska."

That's called making decisions not in one's own self interest but with the interest of the people whom she was serving, the people of Alaska.

But Senator Obama was also busy in opposing the ban on Post Partial Abortions, he wanted it to remain. The Senator also supported infanticide, so yes, one can say he has a been busy man.

One has to concede though that Senator Obama means how he votes, he is on record stating that if his daughter made a mistake he would not want her to be "punished with a baby." So it's a case of killing one's own, rather than face up to responsibilities and be held accountable.

Governor Palin on the other hand is supporting her pregnant daughter who stepped up to the plate and decided to become a responsible human being and raise her unborn child with her soon to be husband. Sarah Palin doesn't see her soon to be born grandchild as a 'punishment' but instead see's it as a blessing. That's the difference.

As Michelle Obama so eloquently stated, "Who among the candidates running for the Senate of Illinois has stood up to the right wing politicians and voted against their agenda? Who can we count on to keep the Bush/Ashcroft team from appointing the Supreme Court Justice that will vote against Roe V Wade?"

Who indeed? Senator Obama truly does shine when it comes to defending abortions. Nobody does it better than Senator Obama.

My own personal opinion on the vitriolic attacks on Sarah Palin is due to the fact that she and her husband decided to keep their Down Syndrome baby. This flies in the face of every Pro-Abortion candidate and those who support abortions, isn't their motto that if it is not 'normal' then abort?

Once again Sarah see's her new baby as a blessing and Trig is indeed a blessing from God to the Palin family. Again that is the difference between the Obama family and the Palin family.

Do you see the difference?

Written by Marie

Women of Style & Substance-Audrey Hepburn

What was it about the elfin Audrey Hepburn that so entranced the world a few generations ago?

There have been greater actors, and yet they do not possess a certain indescrible uniqueness that made Audrey, Audrey.

There was a quality about Audrey Hepburn that captured our hearts and also crossed boundaries, very few people disliked this genuinely warm, compassionate and loving woman.

Audrey gave an air of fragility and vulnerability and yet as a young girl in occupied Holland she worked for the resistance, despite the heavy cost to herself and her family if she had been caught. The sufferings that she endured at the hands of the Nazi's would remain with Audrey for the rest of her life and would eventually see her invloved in UNICEF to help the dispossessed in other lands.

What defines Audrey as unique is her ability to remain always, a lady. While skirts got shorter and tops more revealing, Audrey continued to dress with style and grace. She possessed a quality that if she had dressed in a potato sack she would have done it with elegance.

What both men and women see and admire in Audrey Hepburn goes beyond her acting roles and embraces the fact that you can remain a lady even when it is not the fashion. Audrey had her own style and she stayed true to it, she did not follow fashion, she led it.

Then there was her desperation to be a mother, she so longed to have children and yet suffered miscarriage after miscarriage. Until finally she gave birth to her two sons which were a great joy to her.

Through failed marriages and movies that did not do her justice, Audrey prevailed, her personality was much stronger than any movie role and great enough to conquer personal loss.

Who can forget her in 'Roman Holiday' as the young Princess who gives up love for duty. Or in 'Breakfast at Tifanny's' who tries to run from love and yet cannot.

What made Audrey Hepburn so special? I do not know, but the world is still entranced with this delicate yet steely woman of grace.

Written by Marie

Laughter Is The Best Medicine LOL

You Know You're Getting Old

....When getting out of bed your breasts hit the floor before your feet.

....When walking across the floor you realise that creaking noise is your bones and not the floorboards

....When you wake up with a moustache that Tom Selleck would be proud of.

....When you can remember Tom Selleck.

....When you look in the mirror and see your first mole and realise, yes, you're turning into Nanny McPhee.

....When you don't care what you look like so long as you can move.

...When remembering anything is a miracle!

....When a WOW night is a box of chocolates and a good book.

....When you walk past the sexy stilleto's in the shoe store and head for the hush puppies and homipeds.

....When you can't remember that thingy that you were supposed to remember along with the doolackie that belonged to the thingymajig.

....When the teenagers are having a rave next door and you're about to phone the police & it's 11PM.

....When you can't remember what you were supposed to remember.

....When you....What was I going to say?....

Written by Marie lol.

Super Commentator Award

Thankyou to those who have given me this award. We all need encouragement as we express opinions on our Faith and give reasons for our Joy. Thankyou my dear friends for your kindness. God bless you all.

Thanks to Esther, Alexandra, Jean.

Marie xoooxox

I nominate

Clare, Kimberly, Shell, Alexandra, Lisa, Susie, Tracy.

Great blogs ladies.

Six Quirky Facts-Holy Card-Book Meme's

Quirks

1: I often wake up singing and know all the lyrics, but when fully awake I don't remember them.

2: I can do a perfect imitation of The Queen.

3: I can do a perfect imitation of a Redneck Mama and play a routine to friends. Mama and her son's Jethro, Bodine and Bubba! lol

4: I have a tendency to forget where I put things including placing the phone in the freezer!

5: I get 'saying's wrong..ie: 'dont count your eggs till they've hatched in the basket, 'you can lead a horse to a trough but it wont drink if it is empty.' These are my 'DOH moments!(Yes! I actually said those two!)

6: I argue with telephone recordings.( I know it's a grumpy ole woman thingy lol)

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Holy Card Meme

Is there a Saint for 'putting your foot right in it?' Cos that would be MOI!

My this is a difficult one. I guess my Motto is and always has been 'I prefer the hard Truth over a nice lie.' Or 'Give me Truth or give me nothing.'

The Catholic Church IS the Truth. It is Life. It is Love. It is everything.

I don't know if that qualifies me but I will defend the Teachings of the Catholic Church to the end.

I would choose to be the Patron Saint for those misunderstood because they do not compromise on Truth.

Also for those who forget who tagged them lol.

Thanks Cathy,

**********************

Book Meme

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

A school teacher who encouraged me to read and then write essay's on the books. There were many books I loved and still do and some I loathed and still do, such as 'Wuthering Height's which I nicknamed 'Withering Blight.' lol

What are some books you read as a child?

What Katie did. Anne of Green Gables. Little Women. The Diary of Anne Frank.

What is your favorite genre?

Biography. Catholic Spirituality.

Do you have a favorite novel?

I don't think anything has ever beaten 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'It is simply brilliant.

Where do you usually read?

In the living room.

When do you usually read?

In the morning or late at night.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Absolutely. I have three on my side table next to my chair.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

No. Same place as above.

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

Buy them.

What are you reading now?

Just finished 'Persuasion by Jane Austen.

Everything is Grace-Therese of Lisieux by Joseph Schmidt

The Clintons by Sally Bedell Smith

Mrs. Beetons Household Management by Isabella Beeton.

What’s next?

Finish reading the above lol

What books would you like to reread?

Story of a Soul. An Evil Cradling. The Gospel Without Compromise.

Who are your favorite authors?

Harper Lee. Catherine Cookson. Taylor Caldwell. Edith Wharton. James Herriot. St. Alphonsus Liguori. Bishop Fulton Sheen. Catherine Hueck Doherty.

Thanks Esther.