It is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I actually started this last Sunday, with a different first sentence, of course. I've been thinking all week of things I'm thankful for. I don't want to overlook the major, really important things, like my family, friends, health, living in a peaceful neighborhood with money enough for my needs and most of my wants. These are truly important and I am deeply grateful for all of them.

However, I find myself being thankful too for some of the more mundane things in my life that don't often make it into my prayers of thanks. For example, when driving in lousy weather I am so thankful for having really good wiper blades and the white lines that are painted on the side of the road that let's us know where the edge is. I love, love, love having such a wide variety of music available through ITunes and Pandora and almost nothing makes me happier than listening to music while putzing around on the computer. The small pleasure of putting something warm on when I'm cold brings shivers of delight. Pizza cutter---went to Italy where they serve you a whole pizza uncut with no pizza cutter so I now have a new appreciation for the magic wheel.

Another thing that I'm thankful for is other people decorating their houses for Christmas (or any holiday) because they put in the effort for everyone to enjoy---and to me, it's never gaudy or garish or over the top. It's not an art exhibit--its like a child trying to put all their happy feelings about Christmas into one crayon drawing. Like the first grade artists, some people are just a bit more exuberant and some a bit more restrained. But either way, it's a lot of work, and they do it for everyone to enjoy and for that I'm thankful.

And I'm most truly grateful to the people who read this bog and keep encouraging me to write. Your kind words mean a lot to me.

What the heck?

math word problems
magnets
economics
plucking eyebrows and then drawing them on again
daylight savings time
people who aren't passing in the passing lane
E=mc2
computers/cell phones etc.
why Johnny Cash's birthday isn't a national holiday

There are so many things in life I don't understand. I try to take advantage of the information available out there about some topics, some I remember trying to learn about in school (a long time ago), some I think about again and again to no avail---there is just no bright light of understanding coming forth on certain things.

But other than the Johnny Cash National Holiday (well, and the slow driver's in the passing lane-but don't get me started) I don't really have to worry about these issues much. That's one of the nice things about not being a student. I was reminded of this when my daughter, a college student, sent this quote from one of her readings for Art History,

"...'art' will be best understood in its fullest sense as the instrumentality
or metalanguage of the museum's historiographical and psychical confabulations, as well as that confabulated world of objects itself."

What the heck? No wonder college kids drink.

Ship of Fools

I'm not sure how I stumbled onto the website www.ship-of-fools.com but I've been having a great time exploring it. In the about us section, the editor says, "Our aim is to help Christians be self-critical and honest about the failings of Christianity, as we believe honesty can only strengthen faith."

The site has people volunteer as Mystery Worshippers--they go to different worship services, leave a Ship of Fools business card in the offering plate and then fill out and post a pretty extensive survey about the service. The review includes a physical description of the church, the comfortableness (or lack thereof) of the seating, the first words of the service, the content of the sermon and the quality of the speaker, what was most heaven-like and what was most like the opposite place of heaven. The review even includes the coffee after the service (or tea as the site originates in the UK).

The Mystery Worshipper reviews that I read covered all kinds of denominations and sizes and types of services. It was interesting to get a knowledgeable visitors opinion. The business card is left in the offering plate so the congregation can go online and see the review on-line.

Another favorite part of Ship of Fools is the Gadgets for God--the store with some hilarious gifts. Some of my favorites are the post rapture greeting cards that say things like, "You should have listened to Jesus": the Mormon doorknocker--designed to save wear and tear on the missionaries knuckles; the holy trinity Lego set featuring the father, son and a perfect child's rendition of a ghost--holy or otherwise. There is also a bible that has a flame that shoots out of the top so you can impress tepid listeners with the "fiery" words of God. And how much fun could you have with your own inflatable church--its 47 feet tall! A great gift for that seminary bound college student.

Ship of Fools also actually reports on news relevant to the worldwide Christian church and has a lively discussion area. I haven't spent (wasted) near enough time at this site yet. I haven't ordered anything yet either though I love the snarkiness of the "You should have listened to Jesus" cards. They're right at my maturity level.

my Superhero

Today we celebrated my mom's 75th birthday with a surprise party. Her birthday was on September 13th so I've had a couple of weeks to think about this (about 50 years actually).

My mom fell in love with my dad when they were both very young. They got married and had kids. My mom grew up and accepted the responsibility while her husband (my dad) seemed determined to destroy himself and he wasn't too concerned about the collateral damage to his family. My mom kept plugging along, getting some help from her family, friends and government but doing the day to day worrying and drudgery on her own.

She worked as a nurse's aid, ironed other peoples clothes, babysat, negotiated with people that were owed money and stretched dollars farther than you would have thought they could be stretched. She then went to nursing school--and studied really, really hard, while continuing to do all the other things because her husband was still a mess and she was still the only support for her kids.

And while all of this had to be really hard, and tiresome, and sometimes seemingly impossible--the thing that makes it really incredible is that she did it without rancor or complaint. Without benefit of parenting books, classes, Oprah, Dr. Phil and all the other gurus of raising children, living your life, and other topics of pop psychology--my mom just did it. When things were bad with my dad, she would tell me to remember the good times and that he loved us very much. She didn't excuse him and she didn't talk bad about him. She loved him with a fierceness that enabled her to stay by his side long enough for him to overcome his self-destructive life and they got to have so many more good times.

She wasn't the type of parent who praised us for everything we did right because that would just be silliness--but we knew she was proud of us and loved us. I remember that once, for Christmas, she gave me a pair of leather ski mittens that I had really wanted. They cost about $20 which was expensive, so she told me that I had to use them for a long time. I kept and used them for about 25 years. I can't say I always listened to her that diligently but she did have a certain no-nonsense attitude that reinforced her words.

My mom is a little over five feet tall, has white hair, wire rimmed glasses and the kind face of kind person. She doesn't look like Hollywood's version of a superhero but she's been mine for a long time now. Don't mess with her--she'll either walk away because you're not worth the trouble or she'll stay and win because you are worth it, like she did with us.

the Fun of Statistics

According to a Gallup Poll thirty-eight percent of Americans report that they believe it is morally wrong to engage in premarital intercourse. However, depending on which study you use, 90-95% of people have sex before they get married.

For some kind of juvenile reason, I love these kind of statistics.

Another favorite is that the Red Sates (aka Republican, protector of family values) have the highest rates of on-line pornography usage. How can that not make you chuckle?

And divorce rates are highest in conservative Fundamentalist churches (where the women obey the men etc...!)

And Utah has one of the highest rates of white collar crime--because the Mormons trust other Mormons so much --but apparently some of them aren't as honest as the clean cut image would have you believe.

When the "high and mighty" or self-appointed judges of the rest of us fall short--it makes me happy. I want to say, "nana, nana booboo".


But, I'd hate to seem less mature than my 50 plus years should have made me. Josh Billings, a humorist and writer, second only to Mark Twain in the late 1800's, wrote "I don't never have any trouble in regulating my own conduct, but to keep other folks' straight is what bothers me." Clearly, Mr. Billings could have been talking about me and a lot of other people. Still, makes me chuckle but I'm aiming for a more mature sounding chuckle.

the DREAM Act

Lately I've been thinking a lot about immigrants--mainly people who come from Mexico. I just finished a book, "Just Like Us" by Helen Thorpe. The author followed four Mexican teenage girls through their senior year of high school and then through four years of college. Two of the girls were in the US legally and two were not, though they had been here for most of their lives.

The book was excellent in identifying how complicated an issue this is. In the girl's families, it wasn't unusual for some of their siblings to be American citizens; for a parent to be deported--leaving the children here in turmoil; to graduate at the top of your class yet not be eligible for any scholarship or financial aid; not be able to fly on any commercial airline or rent a car or rent a movie or get a fishing license or anything else that requires a state issued ID--the list goes on and on.

What really struck me is that these girls excelled in school, they were accepted for admission to University of Denver (not an easy school to get into) and the three that went there graduated in four years (the fourth girl went to a different university)--but the two that are here illegally now have very few options.

These girls were both brought here illegally by one or both of their parents as small children and have been here since. But as the law stands now there is no way for them to become citizens. Congress is considering a bill that addresses this--it is called the DREAM Act. It provides a path for citizenship for aliens that were brought here as minors, have been here for five or more continuous years, have graduated from high school (or GED), have good moral character and have completed at least two years in higher education or armed forces.

DREAM stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. I don't know how to address all the issues of immigration--but I do think this is a step in the right direction.

Pay for your pleasure

I was going to file this under personal preferences but the more I think about it, the more I realize that it is a much bigger issue than that. The topic is one that divides communities with arguably good people on both sides, for or against. Some think its harmless or even good for people. Some think its a matter of choice and while they may or may not approve, declare that what people do in the privacy of their own home is nobody else's business.

Poppycock!! I probably used to be one of those people but the events of the past year have changed my mind. Now I think its time that laws are enacted and vigorously enforced. If you are going to be involved in this you have to suffer the consequences, you have to go into with full knowledge that it is not victimless, that someone will have to pay for your "pleasure".

I'm talking, of course, of wall paper. As I spend hours scraping wallpaper off the walls of the kitchen, I've been devising all sorts of legislation against wallpaper and the people who insist on putting it up. The fairest I can come up with is that if you put it up, you must agree to take it down. I don't care how cute it looks, how darling it is, how it "makes" the room---all wallpaper has to come down someday and usually the people who put it up are no where to be found. Ha, how convenient.

Alright, I'm done ranting--I obviously didn't give that up for Lent. If you're in town and bored, come on by and help out. I've got plenty of beer and vodka.

Giving up Gin

School kids giving up gum, a party girl giving up drinking, not playing on the computer for 40 days, no meat on Fridays (except fish of course)-- minor inconveniences really. Nothing compared to giving your life for another--which is what the sacrifice in Easter is all about--but I think God understands that we are still the foolish and weak people that Abraham and Moses had to deal with. Just as any parent gladly accepts the bouquet of dandelions from their child, so God accepts our simple attempt to show our intention for Lent.

Its Ash Wednesday today, the beginning of Lent. People are talking about what they're going to give up--I always find it interesting to hear the variety of ideas people have about it. From true sacrifice to flippant throwaways, people of all ages and religious affiliations seem to respond to the call of the church to deny ourselves of something to prepare for the Easter season.

I realize that many people don't understand the meaning behind the "What are you giving up for Lent?" question but answer it anyway and I think that God appreciates the uneducated, unsophisticated, and sometimes puny attempts at sacrifice. He also recognizes the heartfelt desire of some people to walk the road of self-denial and sacrifice through Lent and meets them on their journey as well.

In my mind, that is one of God's greatest gifts--He takes us each where we are, takes our gifts such as they are, and loves us all equally. Now if we could only do the same for each other.