Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The "bad guys" won this round.

(written in red because I'm so #*@$ fired up)

My mind is so full right now that I hardly know where to begin. I don't know how much detail to go into or even whether I should write about it at all, because it involves church and I don't want to say anything that will turn people away from religion just because of the actions of a handful of people.

Anyway, it involves my job (I work at a church). Long story short, the kindest, most caring person in the church is being basically exiled because the most un-godlike person, one who (no I'm not kidding) claims that he is without sin went whining to the Bishop when he couldn't have his way.

For 3 months this (good) guy is forbidden to have anything at all to do with anyone in the church - if he even so much as speaks to a parishioner on the phone he will be de-frocked. Even if one of his long-time parishioners is seriously ill or if someone dies, he still can't even speak to them or write them a card, much less give them communion or officiate at their funeral.

I am SO mad about this I'm surprised that my head didn't just blow right off my neck when I was told about it. I'm still mad and it has been over 6 hours since I found out about it.

They're going to lie about what's really going on & I refuse to do that so I just might become unemployed very soon. There's no way I'm going to be able to go along with the story they're planning to give the parishioners on Sunday. I will not sit there and say this leave of absence was done at the good guy's request, which is the cover story they're planning to use.

How the heck a person in such a position of authority (aka the Bishop) can be hoodwinked into believing a load of crap and basically ruining a life and possibly a career because he (Bishop) didn't even bother to check out the facts before taking action is beyond me. Talk about living in an ivory tower!! AAaaaaaaaargh!

That's all for now - although no doubt I'll be going on & on about it more later on. Meanwhile, if you are a religious person, please pray for peace for this man who's being crucified and if you're not a religious person please don't let this writing make you think all religious leaders are bad.

On the way home I stopped & got a couple of Krispy Kremes (nature's tranquilizers) so although I'm still not feeling totally tranquil I have at leaststopped screaming, crying, and throwing things (ok, ok, granted it was just a kleenex- but I did throw it with great power and emotion!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Sign Language & Hillary Clinton

My DS & DIL got to see Hillary Clinton today! Actually my DIL did the interpreting for her (sign language aka ASL), how cool is that? She interpreted for Obama a couple of months back. In the past she has had the opportunity to meet & interpret for a wide variety of famous people, everybody from Lily Tomlin to Billy Graham! It's really interesting to listen to her tell about what those people were like.

DIL and DS taught taught me a few signs before their wedding so I could introduce myself (about half the guests there were deaf and communicated via ASL) but I would like to learn a LOT more. I think it would be a handy thing to know how to do, not just when I'm with their friends but also in case the need arises.

When I was waiting for DH in the doctor's office the other day someone popped her head in and told the receptionist that there was an elderly couple outside that needed help but she didn't think they spoke English. A couple of the nurses went out and helped them. (It's a new medical office building but talk about poor planning - you have to walk about a mile (well maybe that's a slight exaggeration) to get from the parking lot to the specialist's office.

Anyway, the nurses went out with a wheel chair & brought the guy on in, his wife walking beside pushing his oxygen tank on wheels. After she signed him in & they sat down I noticed them talking to each other using ASL, so what the woman had thought was a couple not speaking English turned out to be a deaf couple.

Made me wish I could talk to them - they seemed so isolated - but somehow walking up to them & telling them whose mother I am didn't seem quite appropriate at the time. ;-) Since it had been over a year since I'd used the few signs I did know, I wasn't sure that I remembered them correctly & didn't want to screw up.


DS once referred to somebody as a hooker when he meant to say something else - just a difference in finger position can bring a whole new meaning to a sign. I figured this couple had been through enough already with trying to make it down the hall and then having to use the wheelchair and all without having some strange lady (me) come over and proposition them in the waiting room, so I just smiled and nodded and left it at that.
:-p

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Snow Sparkling in the Moonlight

I just came in from walking the dogs & I have to say it is absolutely beautiful outside! It's snowing the very tiny flakes you get when the air is extremely cold and dry. They sparkle like glitter in the moonlight - floating all around in the air like tiny fairies - pretty amazing!

I just really enjoy cold weather. Right now we have a hard snow pack of about a foot covering all of the ground, with drifts and piles higher here & there. The pile of snow (now solid ice) that came out of our driveway is as tall as I am! Really! (... and the driveway isn't all that big!)

My sister told me a few days ago that she now has forsythia blooming in her yard. One of my scrapping friends in S.C. has daffodils blooming! Made me wonder if we really live in the same country - or even the same continent! We've had more snow here than in many years & I'm loving it! I won't complain any when spring comes though LOL.

Here, Spring is a lot different than in KY. Down there in March trees start blooming and spring flowers pop up even if there's still snow on the ground. Spring lasts for a couple of months before Summer comes blasting in around the first week of June with temps of 100.

Here, plants don't even think about turning green until June (yes, the lilacs wait 'til June to bloom), but when things finally do start awakening from their winter sleep they do it in "fast forward" mode.

We go from bits of visible green to huge green leaves in less than a month - way less than a month! It's just nuts. It's like the plants know that if they're going to have much of a life they'd better hurry since winter's first snow arrives in October!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Pretty gross, you may want to skip it.

What the heck is wrong with me??? I'm sitting here feeling ill because of a photo I just saw. Why did I look at it? I dunno. :-( I was just merrily surfing along, randomly clicking on things that took me from one website to another when all of a sudden there was a page of pics of people jumping out of the twin towers on 9/11.

That sounds really bad, but to be honest the photos were so surreal - the people suspended in mid-air, clothes flying out like wings - that it didn't make me sick. Sad, yes, but not sick.

What did make me sick was a photo that had originally been included in that gallery but then was removed because it wasn't actually taken on 9/11. It was taken of a guy who had "just" jumped 20 floors. The article "helpfully" explained that the jumpers at the twin towers were virtually obliterated when they hit the ground. This guy, on the other hand, resembled road kill. Why did I look at it? I don't know. Why did I find myself studying every aspect of it very closely? I don't know.

Why did my mind have to start thinking about my friend who jumped off the bridge into water that "when jumped into from a great height is the same as hitting concrete" therefore meaning he may have looked a lot like this guy? I don't know. There was a photo beside that one of another jumper (again, not from the towers) who had landed on his/her face. The clothes were gone (blown off?) but you couldn't tell if it was male or female. It looked like an empty fat suit.

I'm a normal person who doesn't like gore. I won't even go to movies that are bloody... but here I am staring the remains of these real people when I won't even go watch the fake ones with fake blood. It's just very odd. I'd like to share it with DH (you know how sometimes sharing something reduces its enormity in your mind) but I know he would be totally grossed out. I am too, but I brought it on myself.

I hope I don't end up like those poor people with my body all broken. I hope I die in my sleep while wearing nice pajamas.

I feel like I'm going to cry or throw up or both, and I brought this all on myself. How stupid. I should've just stayed on the scrapbooking page.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Brrrrr

Today it was 2 degrees and with the 45 mph winds figured in the wind chill factor was -25 degrees! Yep, that's TWENTY-FIVE BELOW ZERO!

Right now it's 2 below (that 's the actual temp, wind chill is of course even lower). The police are scouring the area for homeless people who are outside. They're taking them to warming shelters to keep them from freezing to death.

Ok, enough about the weather already! It's pretty much all anybody is talking about around here though! B-o-r-i-n-g !
:-p

Saturday, February 2, 2008

The Eukanuba Dog Show

Garcia & I are watching the Eukanuba Dog Show right now. Yes, G. is a dog but he is watching this as intently as any human would! First he was sitting beside me on the couch watching it, but then during the last commercial he got DH's blanket & pulled it down onto the floor. He then got his favorite toy, placed it on the blanket, & layed down beside it, right in front of the tv!

Garcia seems to prefer light-colored dogs. When one catches his attention he hops up & runs to the tv & stands on his (really short) little hind legs so that he can see it better! Soooo cute!

So far his favorite has been the 15" beagle. For it, he actually gave the screen a little lick and then looked behind the tv to see if maybe the beagle was going to come around & play with him.

I've never had a pet who watched tv before so this absolutely cracks me up! If & when I figure out how to post photos I'll put one on here showing him - a new breed - the TV Hound! :-)