smockmomma: January 2005 Archives

government bytes

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found an interesting website. now, usually the word "union" alone throws me for a loop, but the national taxpayers union is worth at least a gander. they're pushing the "no work-no pay" laws already in place for politicians who take full saleries, but skip out on their duties. from their study:

From January 2003 to the October 2004 recess, John Kerry missed 146 days of votes without being granted leave. Total salary overpayment: $90,932.68.

prayer request -- update for bret

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for those of you who've been praying for bret and his family, feel free to visit bret's "caringbridge" page for updates. please keep sending your prayers heavenward. many thanks.

kids group-ee.jpg

this photo of the smocklins was taken by MBW Photography...it is a compilation of four different poses. that's right. whoever said "the camera doesn't lie" didn't have the advantage of photoshop.

be disgusted. be very disgusted.

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take a look at how an "objective, fair and just" consumer reports advocates abortion.

two points of interest:

in the condoms story two prophylactics distributed by planned barrenhood, er parenthood, the top abortion provider in the nation, came in dead last in the condom competition. coinkydinky? i think not.

consumer reports goes so far as to intimate that birth itself is much more risky than the surgical removal of those pesky "uterine contents."

consumer reports, you suck.

(this story was shamelessly lifted from mr. newman.)

my momma loves me

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and i kin prove it. she bought me this beauty with the chianti cover.

when glynni was born, someone bought us the little "keep baby on her side" wedge pillow and i said, someone should make these for grownups! well, now they have, and i have one, and it's totally coolmoe and hyperdelish!

and you thought they were kidding

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see the new darth tater here.

prayer request update

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Bret has been diagnosed with stage 4+ cancer of the esophagus which has spread and mastesized to his lymph nodes and salivary glands. His wife is heartbroken and they told the older girls last night and really have no idea where to begin with the little girls. The doctors have told him that he is not a candidate for chemo, radiation, or surgery. They were meeting with a doctor this morning who was going to discuss an experimental treatment with them and then they are getting a second opinion from MD Anderson in Houston. They have few options at this point. Bret has an incredible outlook and his faith is so very strong. He has asked for continued prayer and his wife said that he has a smile on his face. Now that is an incredible testimony of the peace that passes all understanding. We all know that comes from only once source!

quote du jour

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"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Helen Keller

Career Day in California: Eighth-Graders Told Stripping Can Be a Rewarding Career

said one 8th grader in a thank-you letter, [William Fried's presentation] "helped me realize that my career choice should not be influenced by money ... It should be influenced by what we like and are good at."

smock's first book of '05 finished

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although, by no means, do i recommend it. it's entitled little children and it served no purpose other than to make me feel like an incredibly sane, highly moral and tremendously well adjusted suburban mom and wife compared to the loonies running amuck in tom perrotta's third stab at dark humor. yes, i get it that the "little children" refers to both the children these idiots are trying to raise as well as to the idiots themselves, but it doesn't make the read any more pleasant. most of my "LOL" moments were spent in the living room of the child molester. yeah, i know.
well, i'm disgusted with myself for caring so much about such shallow, hedonistic, and even criminal morons. of course, maybe that was the point, but i just lament the fact that i could have been reading something less, what's the word, ugly.

by the by, interesting tidbit of info: the cover on the paperback was changed to a patch of manicured lawn with a bag of water holding two goldfish instead of the hardback's version which featured two half-eaten cookies dropped on a lawn.

Making Babies: A Very Different Look at Natural Family Planning
By H. W. Crocker III

Natural family planning (NFP) needs a slogan, because as a “product”—if I might adopt business-speak—it’s not selling too well. According to some surveys, about 90 percent of professed Catholics reject the Church’s teaching on birth control. Even among priests, fewer than one in three considers artificial contraception to be “always” sinful.

So let me propose a new rallying cry: “Use NFP: It Doesn’t Work!”

You think I jest.

The case for NFP should, by rights, be the case for more babies. To have them is good. Not to have them is to be deprived. Every wife deserves to be a mother, and every mother’s son deserves a brother and a sister. And since a cat-o’-nine-tails has nine tails, surely having nine children is the proper way to scourge selfishness right out of one’s family.

As a slogan, “Use NFP: It Doesn’t Work!” has many strong arguments in its favor. First, it is true. NFP proponents tout its 99 percent effectiveness rate, but they neglect to mention that this is true only if the husband is in the Navy and assigned to extended, uninterrupted sea duty of three-year tours or longer. Otherwise, for most Catholics I know, NFP means a baby every two years or so, though the rate can slow with age, as the couples learn a proper respect—that is, fear—for each other and are too tired in any event for what Catholics call “the conjugal act.”

AMEN! read the rest of this totally coolmoe and shamelessly lifted article at crisis magazine online.

thanks for the heads up, enbrethiliel.

prayer request from a friend

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"Bret ___ has been diagnosed with carcinoma, which is a cancer involving his organs and has spread to his lymph nodes. His type of cancer is so rare that it has been sent off to Milan, Italy for pathology readings to determine which organs are involved and what stage it is in. According to his body scan, it is widespread and this is such a shock because he is such a fit and healthy person and went to the doctor because of bronchitis and a swollen lymph node on his neck. He is such a wonderful guy and even after they partially took one of the tumors out of his neck for pathology, he told everyone in recovery that God will be glorified no matter what the outcome. We are all in agreement that nothing is too big for God and that he can be healed. His onocologist is holding off chemo and radiation until they get the results back from Milan so they will know where to focus. [His wife] is also looking into another treatment that a doctor does overseas. Please pray for Bret and [his wife], their four daughters, and all of the doctors involved in his care. Please pass this on to your prayer circles. Bret said that the most comforting thing to him right now is knowing that people all over are praying for him."

what's wrong with you people?

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went to get my blood drawn last week -- the state has to make sure i have plenty o' time to kill the wee one in my womb if it's found to be an undesirable, you know -- and the woman drawing three vials of blood from my arm is making chit-chat. three vials takes awhile. anyway, she asks me, "so is this your first?" and i smile and reply (somewhat sheepishly -- if you can imagine that from the smock -- as i've found this usually gets the best response) that no, in fact this is my fifth child. and this professional phlebotomist who i assume should have some sense of professional decorum, responds "DaaaaAMN!"

the day before yesterday, a lady at a hyperbigsuperjumbomart was standing in front of me waiting in a fairly long line and so she decided to make the usual smalltalk, "when are you due? is it is a boy or a girl? this your first?"
sheepish grin, "no it's our fifth."
"YIKES! I bet that wasn't supposed to happen!" yuckyuckyuck
"what do you mean?"
"the pregnancy. you didn't want five did you?"
"are you serious?"
"well..." losing steam, "yeah."
"actually, we view children as a blessing, not a liability."
"oh well, if you can afford it..." and she turned around.

it makes me madder than a skillet full of scorpions when people say that. i'm seriously considering telling the next person who is so glib, "actually, i'm just waiting for our tax return to have an abortion, but people don't usually like to talk about the death of an infant so up close and personal."

video meliora's STG (aka: Spanning the Proverbial Globe to Bring You the Constant Variety of Posts) could also stand for Scanning 4 The Globe, a frightening addiction that may one day lead to the original STG being labeled a controlled substance. of course, i can only write for myself, but to make TSO's list of quotes -- well, it goes straight to my head, making me all giddy and tingly and whatnot.

ah, but this could be a typical OTC, perhaps a simple antihistamine, you say.
no! i counter. it's much more than that; it's far too addictive. when someone you admire is quoted, that's OTC; but when your very own words make the globe, it's katy bar the door!

i'll admit that on more than one occasion, i've popped in at video with good intentions...a leisurely perusal of the day's comments, when before i know it, my mouse is click-click-clicking down the scroll bar as i quickly scan for the

globe.gif

that makes my heart skip a beat. ah-ha! okay, okay, let’s see. hmm...good one. ah, perfect! yes, very well said. oh, you rascal! wha?...oh she's goooood. a moment of easy agreement is soon followed by a heavy sigh, drat, i didn't make it in.

of course, shaking that goofy grin that rationalizes "of course i didn't make it -- look at who i was up against!" is easy enough, but when you hit the same spot two or three times a day to see if ... if by some miracle ... you've been added?

or worse, you actually do become immortalized ooo, i made it and you find yourself visiting and revisiting your own words. at first it's a simple pat on your own back, a quick toot of the old horn yes! i made it. but later that same day oh good. it's still there that slippery slope threatens still there, just checking to turn into Narcissus' reflection wow! that's really first-rate.

the good news is that after you've made it onto the globe a few times, the enormous swell of pride you like me! you really like me! turns into a bashful self-satisfaction aw shucks, tweren't much and the urge to scan for the globe lessens. somewhat.

but therein lies the rub. once you make it to the aw shucks stage, you think you’ve got it all under control. you’re soooo smooth. you can quit scanning for the globe anytime you want, quit sweating hours over your keyboard trying to birth a really quotable phrase. trust me, i know. because just when i thought i'd beat the rap, i find that now, heaven help me, i’m coveting the STG lifetime achievement award.

as my dad would say: the early bird may get the worm, but it's the second mouse what gets the cheese.

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This page is a archive of recent entries written by smockmomma in January 2005.

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