Don't Drink the Koolaid

This was an interesting cycle outlined in a book I was flipping through today. The average age of most of the world's greatest civilizations has been about 200 years (There are many exceptions to this. China for one, who you will notice has stayed in bondage). Great nations rise and fall in this cycle:

*The people go from bondage to spiritual truth
*From spiritual truth to great courage
*From courage to liberty
*From liberty to abundance
*From abundance to selfishness
*From selfishness to complacency
*From complacency to apathy
*From apathy to dependence
*From dependence back again to bondage.

This book's graph showed that America was between complacency and apathy. I'm actually beginning to wonder if we don't more closely resemble the path between apathy to dependence. I think many Americans see the problems that face them on a day to day basis and want someone to hand these problems over to, but at the cost of what liberties? Just my simple thoughts and questions.

smooch

Brown Penny

I WHISPERED, 'I am too young,'

And then, 'I am old enough';

Wherefore I threw a penny

To find out if I might love.'

Go and love, go and love, young man,

If the lady be young and fair.'

Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,

I am looped in the loops of her hair.

O love is the crooked thing,

There is nobody wise enough

To find out all that is in it,

For he would be thinking of love

Till the stars had run away

And the shadows eaten the moon.

Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,

One cannot begin it too soon.

~William Butler Yeats

Avoidance

Running out if front of me,

Waving a banner of mockery,

It sneers, winks, and taunts.

Uncertainty

Wrapped up in a blanket,

Situated on a safe perch,

I avoid, refrain, and prevent.

Anxiety

.

Nothing finished it's race.

Nothing practiced fervently.

Nothing won it all.

Stupidity

~NDC 10/08

smooch

Movie Quote Monday

"She certainly has a mind of her own...Yeah, I hate that in a woman."

"You're on your own, Sir. This can only end in tears."

"They've eloped! Isn't it romantic? It's a perfect ending... No, it's a perfect beginning."

"Dimitri, do you really think I'm royalty?... Then stop bossing me around."

"Well I don't know, I mean it's kinda hard to imagine yourself as a duchess when you're sleeping on a cold, hard floor...but sure, yeah, I guess every lonely girl would hope she's a princess. ... And somewhere one little girl is."Anastasia is a favorite at our house. It's one of those films I have memorized. You should be so lucky as to have to sit throw a viewing we me singing and acting it all out! Romance, action, horror, humor, and history all wrapped into one beautifully illustrated animation. A must see

smooch

Hangin' Out To Dry

Be thankful you aren't the girl who went through this today. I just saw her in the mirror and she ain't so cute.

smooch

Rainy Days

The Disappointment

In tears to her mother poor Harriet came,
Let us listen to hear what she says:
"O see, dear mamma, it is pouring with rain,
We cannot go out in the chaise. "

All the week I have long'd for this holiday so,
And fancied the minutes were hours;
And now that I'm dress'd and all ready to go,
Do look at those terrible showers! "

"I'm sorry, my dear, " her kind mother replied,
The rain disappoints us to-day;
But sorrow still more that you fret for a ride,
In such an extravagant way.

"These slight disappointments are sent to prepare
For what may hereafter befall;
For seasons of real disappointment and care,
Which commonly happen to all.

"For just like to-day with its holiday lost,
Is life and its comforts at best:
Our pleasures are blighted, our purposes cross'd,
To teach us it is not our rest. "

And when those distresses and crosses appear,
With which you may shortly be tried,
You'll wonder that ever you wasted a tear
On merely the loss of a ride.

"But though the world's pleasures are fleeting and vain,
Religion is lasting and true;
Real pleasure and peace in her paths you may gain,
Nor will disappointment ensue. "

Jane Taylor
(1783 - 1824)

smooch

Movie Quote Monday

You gotta love a good movie about how a guys screws things up and then comes back in the end and sweeps her off her feet with the perfect words and the perfect kiss. Perfect. I want to be in love in a movie.

Thanks Tory for reminding me about Movie Quote Monday. Here, in Indiana it will be Monday for another 42 minutes. So, I made it!

"You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love...I love..., I love you."

"From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry."

"...I have struggled in vain and I can bear it no longer. These past months have been a torment. I came to Rosings with the single object of seeing you... I had to see you. I have fought against my better judgment, my family's expectations, the inferiority of your birth by rank and circumstance. All these things I am willing to put aside and ask you to end my agony"

"Only the deepest love will persuade me into matrimony, which is why I will end up an old maid."

"All the world is good and agreeable in your eyes."

smooch

If Only I Knew The Way To Go

Reason, rhyming, seeking, not finding

Sitting, waiting, with a heart of minding

Going this way and taking that turn

If only I knew the way to go

Immobile, unmoving, timid, it's binding
The puddle surrounding is ever reminding
Stepping backwards? Your approval to earn
If only I knew the way to go

Waiting and waiting, again with the waiting
Impatient, enduring, turned apathy sedating
Once more forward with more than concern
If only I knew the way to go

Up in the air with significant debating
Your opinion, the only sound and just rating
Unless you take my hand, it's hard to discern
If only you'd tell me the way to go

~ndc 10/08

smooch

My Obama Vote

Just thought I lighten the air

a little here in blog land.

smooch

Look at my face. Do I look Happening?

The Happening

Before we get into the Movie Quotes for the week, I feel it my duty to do a short movie review on Midnight Shammy's newest addition to his mostly brilliant collection of films. I was highly disappointed in this film. The cinematography was beautiful. The actors, as usual were top notch. The love story was simple and easy to cheer for. These three elements have been the icing on the cake for the majority of his films, the cake being a delicious meld of plot twists and character development. No plot twist here. No character development, as most of the characters commit suicide before your eyes, before you really get to know them. Goody! John Leguizamo's acting was stellar, as usual, but again, he sat in the middle of the road and sliced his wrist open with a jagged piece of glass debris, as I numbly watched. Goody! At one point in the film, a man turns on a huge, industrial size sod mower and lays down in front of it. Goody! Marky Mark (Sorry, he'll always be Marky Mark to me.) gave a sub par performance most of the movie, but then he really wasn't given much to work with either. His character, Elliot Moore, had some token dialogue 2/3rds through the movie, at which time I became hopeful that the film was turning. It was - in a downward slope from bad to horrible. Also, traditionally, M. Night Shyamalan makes a cameo appearance in his films. He appears, in voice only, as an adulterer, calling on the phone. Again, goody! This film leaves you feeling hopeless and there is no redemption. I rate this movie two thumbs and an ugly big toe DOWN!

smooch

Movie Quote Monday

"Let's call it Steve."


"I'm not stupid."


" ...That is the altar where they WORSHIP food! ... "





smooch

Well, That Was Random

When my kids grow up, we'll sit around and reminisce, and tell stories about how we would hide in my bedroom from the Jehovah Witnesses. Today they knocked on the door for five minutes (I'm not exaggerating!). I usually talk to them...They are always really friendly even though I'm not joining their compound...It's 11:30 am and I'm still in my jammies and it would be nice if they would call first...I know this doesn't resemble a knee, but it is. More importantly, it's my knee. This is the worst bruise I think I've ever had to endure. I got it falling of a teeter totter thingee at Southwest Park. It doesn't hurt. It's just ugly. Does that mean I have some weird disease in which one doesn't feel bruises?...

Here is an old picture of Molly walking through Hunter's Honey Farm with Wyatt Sell. I think this was two years ago. They were five. Monica Merritt got really jealous and walked up to Molly and said, "We need to talk." Isn't that cute and hilarious.

Oh, no... I think the Jehovah Witnesses are back...This is like a reverse fire drill...

Here is a picture of the first year we were in White River, taken at American Girl Club. Morgan, Calla, Allie, Carrie, and Grace. That was the most fun year! Every New Year's Eve I have a New Year's Prayer instead of a resolution. I have gotten a yes to my requests every year, except for 2006, when I prayed for a stronger marriage (giggle). The year this picture was taken I prayed for friends for Calla and me. We weren't grounded in a church anywhere and it was really hard not to have Christian fellowship. God was so faithful to us in the friends department. I wouldn't have gotten through 2006 without them...

Monday, Emily stopped by for a while to have tea (believe it or not). I made cancer s'mores (microwaved). This is the only picture I can find of Emily. I'll get one of her making coffee on Sunday. This was about a year ago. Who looks this good after delivering? This was my first encounter with Ian Scott. The last time I was at his house, he said my name...

Last night Molly helped me make my version of Olive Garden's sausage and peppers. I'll post the recipe tomorrow. The rest of the day holds more math lessons...coffee/devotion time by myself at Starbucks...dinner with my kids...

smooch

Movie Quote Monday

"You didn't tell me you were gonna kill it! "
(Duh! You killed it when you plucked it off the vine...That is if you want to be all technical)

"Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker."
(Am I the only Mom who waits until the kids are already in the bathtub to give the kids their suckers from the bank?)

"I thought little girls always believed what they were told. I thought little girls were innocent and trusting."... "Welcome to the Twentieth Century."
(My thought on this quote is - If mothers and fathers in the 20th Century did their jobs right protecting and loving their families the way God intended them to, then little girls would be more innocent and trusting...)"If you try to hold my hand, I'll slug you! " (Then she spent the rest of the evening wishing he would try to hold her hand)

"I got a rock!"

smooch

Which Pooh Character Are You?

Whenever I meet a new person and get to know them a little better, I try to categorize and sub categorize which Disney's Winnie The Pooh character they most closely resemble. I always hate when people put me in a box. So much so that I will almost always rebel against their diagnosis with immediate change. Ha Ha... You thought you had me figured out. Unfortunately, anyone within knowing me for five minute could peg me clearly as Rabbit, which is the least beloved character of all. However, he is the character who has the most common sense and the least patience. And that is an enigma in itself. Which is me.
.
Now mind you, babies most always start as a Pooh or a Piglet and develop into something entirely different by the age of five, or so me says. When the Lord put together my perfectly created children he blessed me with a

Tigger - Calla
Who was almost at once a Tigger and never stopped. She is the reason I need to drink SO much coffee in the morning.

Rabbit - Molly (Plus a little Eeyore)
Who started life as a predominant Piglet. The mind of this child has yet to be unleashed upon society, but watch out. She can put a jigsaw faster than anyone else in the family. She is stubborn to figure things out on her own without anyone's help.

??? - Teige
We are still trying to figure him out. He has Tigger tendencies. During his infancy he was a Piglet.
.
Pooh - Katie
Still watching this one. She has been my kindest, charmingest child to date. She may turn into the prize found in Christopher Robbin.

Anyway, if you find yourself in an awkward pause at a social event this fall, this is always one of my favorite ice breaking conversations. You could also do Peanuts characters - I'm Lucy. Or Friends characters - I a Monica/Chandler, though I've been known to laugh like Janice.

smooch