Yes, I am Still Alive

(This is after trying to blow the pollen off the deck....this is damp so will have to wait until it is dry out....wish I would have gotten out there with my camera before Jim got going with the blower!)



Just a little hello to let you know I am still out here....still thinking things over and reading...true, I am reading mostly Young Adult literature, but I am also reading several things which I hope will strengthen me mentally and spiritually....there may be a blog about this bubbling up.

This week I am out of school and Jim and I have been preparing for company.....Jim's daughter and family from Florida. Elizabeth has been several times over the years, but her family has not been and we are excited to see them. It has been about three years since we have seen the kids and know they will be so much different. Naturally we have gotten lots of pictures and can see the growth, but now we will be able to experience them as well.

Elizabeth and her family are vegans so I have been a tad bit nervous, but she called to say she was bringing a huge cooler full of food so I feel a lot better. Josh, Randi, and little Frazier will be here as well for some of their visit. Jim is quite excited about them being her for Easter and him having both Josh and Elizabeth with him in church on Easter Sunday.

Sophie and I have both been sick....I had a 24 hour stomach bug and she seemed to have a cold. She coughed and wheezed, but then it might be the blanket of green covering all of Louisiana...and I suspect the entire south is suffering from pine pollen. As I bat this post out Jim blowing off the deck for the umpteenth time this week. It has become a three to four times a day deal....but we don't like tracking this mess into the house and we are trying to help poor white Sophie not turn into yellowish green Sophie. Anyway, I woke up praising God that we are both "normal" and hopefully have a wonderful day.

I will be making up Easter baskets in a few minutes. Easter really is my favorite holiday simply because it is the day when satan's (no captial letter for satan) plot to destroy the Son of God. Instead Jesus broke the chains of sin and death when He arose from the dead! The ramifications of this miraculous act are so powerful there was an earth quake and the curtain to the Holy of Holies was rent, or torn. (Matt. 27:51). The curtain symbolized Jesus himself. The only route to God was through the curtain into the Holy of Holies, but now Jesus has made it possible for humans who believe in Him to have the Holy of Holies in their hearts. What joy......joy unspeakable, and although we Christians don't always feel or exhibit that joy as we should, it bubbles up in our souls and transforms this world, which many times appears hopeless, gray, and frightening into a three dimensional explosion of gorgeous color filled with hope. We never weep as those with no hope... because Jesus rose from the dead to open the door to heaven! (1 Thess. 4:13) .

Hallelujah! He is Risen!!

http://sortingiallout.blogspot.com/search/label/Easter - Last year's Easter blog.

Living for the Weekend

Frazier was having so much fun in jumper. We loved watching him go to town!

Below Sophie loved romping in the snow...well for about ten minutes this new stuff was a lot of fun....until her feet got cold and she went running for the house.

"I just live for the weekends." I hear that phrase a lot from the worker bees of our society. Who has not said, "TGIF" and said it with gusto! I just find it sad that those of us who do hold full time employment are always looking forward to Fridays and then start feeling very sad Sunday evenings when they know they are going to....as Jackson Browne sang, "get up and do it again" and return to their place of employment on Monday morning.

I have been trying very hard to change that, but I am finding it difficult. While there are always parts of my profession which are rewarding, there is plenty that feels like torture espcecially if you spend much of your time on hall duty trying to get students to walk down the hall quietly without slapping or kicking each other as they proceed to their next class. I wish I had a meter so I could measure the decibel level in the halls. Maybe one of the benefits we should be lobbying for is hearing aides when the need is apparent. Another challenge is just keeping students from wandering about where they are not suppose to be. This usually stems from trying to get a glimpse of someone of the opposite sex. (YES, I am a proponent of same sex schools!!) And then there is the drooping drawers problem. Each day I tell young men to pull up their pants and to please tuck in their shirts. When I was in college whodathunk! Maybe this is part of the reason the weekend holds such allure. (sorry, didn't mean to vent so much!)

Anyway, this weekend was awesome. We got a bonus SNOW DAY and therefore a four day weekend. Lunch at the new sushi bar was a highlight, movie night with the girls, a Valentines Day dinner party and time to read two (small) books without rushing through them. I really do love the weekends...especially these that are looonnngggg weekends. It couldhn't have been better....well, except for the fact we didn't see "the kids" (Josh, Randi, and Frazier), but we did see them last Saturday (see pic above) which was a wonderful day and then came Super Bowl Sunday our home team the New Orleans Saints won their first Super Bowl EVER! I count that as a fantastic weekend. Everyone was smiling on Monday morning!

So living for the weekends?? Well, maybe I don't LIVE for them, but I sure do enjoy them and look forward to them starting about Thursday evening. I try not to long for them the whole week and I know if I had to skip one it wouldn't kill me .

My husband is totally retired and all his days are weekends......I am not sure I would like that scenerio either. What would have to look forward to come Thursdays? It really is something to ponder.

Who is this Man?

I have been seeing pictures of Che Guevara for what feels like forever. I remember walking into a dorm room with my older sister when I was in ninth grade and seeing a HUGE poster of this guy and wondering who he was. Later I saw numerous individuals on campus with his pic on their tee shirts. There was even fabric with his image made into scarves, bathing suits, or other types of clothing and these items still are sold in 2010.

When I was in ninth grade there was no google and needless to say I didn't rush right to the library to read up on Cuban history and find out who this Che was. So I came away from my first encounter believing this must a great guy....after all I saw the posters and students wearing his pic. So I believed these highly educated people should know what is what and he must be quite a hero!

A few years later I encountered Che in my college experience. Professors were seen wearing Che tees. So I began asking questions. He was tauted as a freedom fighter and a person trying to help the little guy. A populist? A martyr? A Hero? Che's ideology demonized successful business as oppressive and cruel. Over time I bought it hook, line, and sinker and next thing I knew I believed that capitalists were evil people and socialists and communists were compassionate. It was the zeitgeist. I have no doubt if someone would have handed me a Che tee I wouldn't thought twice before donning it. Heck, I was a charter subscriber to Mother Jones magazine.

Now I do find it bizarre I never stopped to think the very reason my education was being paid for was capitalism. As a small business owner, my step father, was a capitalist ,(even if I didn't realize it) an employer who provided health care and disability insurance for his small printing operation. I remember periods when times were rough and he paid his employees and he didn't get a pay check due to a bad month, yet he worked hard and kept going even when business was slow. Yeah, sounds pretty evil doesn't it.

FYI.....Marx thought there was a natural evolution for governments: Feudalism, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism....with Communism being the superior form of govt. I don't remember, but I bet in 1975 I thought that made perfect sense. Now I am appalled I was so easily swayed.

But back to Che. I have noticed his image has never gone away and neither has what this image represents. Carlos Santana wore a Che tee shirt to an awards show a few years back. Obviously he didn't know Che's Cuban govt. banned the listening to jazz or rock in roll. It was a crimanal offense to the Cuban state. Crazy! The Cuban government banned personal expression...art and music of all kinds. Why would Carlos want to wear this man on his shirt?!

Luckily I got to find out who Che Guevera was up close and personal by visiting Cuba. I know that to Cubans Che represented fear. He was a killing machine, a terrorist, a sadist, and a racist. There was rape, torture, and human mutilation under his direction. He set up the first forced labor camps in Cuba. We know this is the truth by reading his own words. Can you imagine Cubans who came to the United States seeking refuge from this man and his ideology....refuge from those who killed their relatives and seized their properties and belongings in the name of "freedom".... seeing college students sporting this image of this murderer.

Let us look at words spoken by Che Guevera:

"If in doubt of a person's loyalty--kill them."-Che Guevera

( He writes in his diary about shooting people in the head and describes it in detail. He was called the "butcher of LaCabana Prison".)

"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary. These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail. This is a revolustion! And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate". --Che Guevera

"The negro is lazy and indolent and spends all his money on frivolities and booze."--Che Guevera

"The USA is a great enemy of mankind. Against those hyenas there is no option by extermination. --Che Guevera

"If I had nuclear weapons I would use them including in the very heart of NYC." --Che Guevera
I think some of those quotes should be written under his photo on the all tee shirts so people understand what they are promoting when they wear these shirts!

Hopefully, those folks walking around with Che tees on have no idea what they are wearing. They wouldn't be caught dead wearing a tee shirt with Hitler's image, but essentially it would be the same thing. I believe Che would have killed the huge numbers of people Hitler killed in order to promote his ideology, but thankfully he never got the opportunity for his killing to reach into the millions.

So.....knowing what I have learned about Che Guevera....these tee shirts are not only offensive and repugnant they represent an icidious evil ideology which not only has finally slowly and methodically wormed its way into the concisousness of many of our most educated, but also into those who are at the highest levels of power.

More on that at a later date.

Giving Voice to Late Night Frustration

Once upon a time there was a girl (ok, I hear you, but indulge me for a min) who got approx. 2.5 head colds a year and they usually were gone within 4.5 days..... UNTIL THIS SCHOOL YEAR!

Starting about Thanksgiving I have had a head cold pretty much non stop. Yet, this weekend....our loooonnnnngggg MLK weekend. I felt great; did some Wii Yoga, ran around the house A LOT with Sophie (yeah, we run and run in circles until we are both exhausted..NO, it is not pretty.) and enjoyed the life of a "healthy" human for the first time in what seemed like forever. My nose was still a little drippy, but hey, there was nothing else going on....sore throat, runny eyes, cough etc. I was thrilled to be "well" ....but then it started again and as of right now I have totally lost my voice. URGH! Hard to teach classes without a voice!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now the fact I have hall duty between each class and coughing and sneezing 7th and 8th graders are ALWAYS present....I am checking in books handled by the aforementioned germ infested patrons.....not to mention several coworkers who are fighting all sorts of maladys. Plus, I have always thought the dust in the library, which we fight daily, doesn't help matters at all. (Guess I should mention there is dust in my house I fight all the time, too. Don't look so shocked!)

So what do I do? Well, since Jim retired I have been going to bed earlier and earlier and I eat on a regular schedule. Two things I rarely did before he retired. ( He really is a positive influence.) Not to mention I am always wiping things down with Clorox wipes (especially at school) in an attempt to avoid cold/flu germs. I use my Neti pot daily and when it is dry in the house I run a sonic humidifier at night. I really feel I am doing my part in this fight...not to mention vitamin C and multivitamins etc! Jim has even started making fruit smoothies that include a few leaves of spinach. (Thanks Lora, cuz if I HAD SUGGESTED SUCH he would have just glared at me like I was nuts and never even gotten the blender out of the cupboard!!) Yes, he is playing offensive due to the drips, too.

Have I gone to the doctor?....well, no. Why? Mainly because I see no sign of infection and I have a fever like two times for a few hours and it was very LOW. I have learned that docs are very reluctant to give antibiotic unless these two conditions exist and I have had docs to pat me on the head and tell me to take the same medications I was already using, but I must admit I am leaning toward a doctor's visit so you know I am finally coming to the end of my chain.

(I just reread this post and in light of what is going on in Haiti....and other tragedies, well, in short, I am feeling very thankful head cold and all.)

BACK TO BED! Night, Night :)

Happy Half a Year, Frazier!

This is a picture of Frazier and his beautiful Mom, Randi. She is a natural as you can tell by this picture. She even let him take off his stiff jeans so he could be more comfortable. If he could talk I know he would have said, "Thanks, Mom!"


Frazier, our younger grandson, is 6 months old today!! We can hardly believe it has been six whole months since Frazier James Anderson entered our world. Time truly is flying by and I want it to slow down so we can savor these sweet baby weeks. He will be a full fledged kiddo soon enough.

Frazier is such a pleasant, sweet little guy. He even smiled when he was sick with a cold and fever. Such a ray of sunshine in our lives and we are looking forward to so many milestones with this little guy, Lord willing.