I got a full body massage today for an hour. It was awesome and I highly recommend it. Very relaxing and painful in a good way.

My boy spent 3 nights at Yaya's house being pampered and spoiled. Meanwhile Mom & Papi got things done...painting the livingroom. While I was working, Hubs painted the hallway and cleaned the carpets and kitchen. What a guy! Anyway, we both like the way it all looks.

Also, while I had the TV to myself for a few hours, I watched the last 2 LOTR movies back-to-back.....awesome!! I want to go back and read the books again.

Joke

I hope this is not plagiarism in any way. I did not make this joke up, someone else who is unknown to me did. My friend Kristy emailed it to me and I thought it worth sharing!

Church Phone
A man in Topeka, Kansas, decided to write a book about churches
around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco, and started
working east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking
photographs and making notes.

He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall, and was
intrigued with a sign which read, "$10,000! per minute."

Seeking out the pastor, he asked about the phone and the sign. The
pastor answered that the golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to
Heaven, and if he pays the price, he can talk directly to God.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way.

As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Salt Lake City,
Denver, Chicago, Milwaukee, and around the United States, he found more
such phones, with the same sign, and the same explanation from each
pastor.

Finally, the man arrived in the lovely state of North Carolina.
Upon entering a church, behold: he saw the usual golden telephone. But
THIS time, the sig n read: "Calls: 25 cents"!

Fascinated, the man asked to speak with the pastor.

"Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in
each church I have found this golden telephone, and have been told it is
a direct line to Heaven, and that I could use it to talk to God..

But in 20 other churches, the cost was $10,000 per minute. Your
sign says 25 cents per call. Why is that?

(I just love this part!)

The pastor, smiling benignly, replied: "Son, you're in the South
now and it's a local call.

Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity

That was the verdict handed down today for Andrea Yates. For those who don't remember she was the mother who drowned her five kids in the bathtub a few years back. Although only she, the children, and God really know what happened, I believe in my heart that that is the right verdict. Having been through postpartum depression and having been suicidal myself, I believe there is a fine line between postpartum depression and psychosis. Do I think it's ok to drown your children? Absolutely not!! But do I see the recipe that led up to it? Absolutely. One day when I was doing some patient teaching about pp depression/psychosis, I brought this example up and the baby's dad said, "That woman was crazy!" And I said to him, "That woman was ill and needed help." It is only due to the grace of God and a really supportive circle of friends, family, and coworkers *and God* that I'm alive today. I'm don't think Andrea Yates had that to help her through her mental illness.

In lighter news, we are repainting our livingroom, and boy did it need it! It looks so good. It went from a pale yellow to an aqua turquoise color, the color that the ocean looks when you see a postcard from the Caribbean. So to go with that theme, I'm looking for some either pictures or prints of Mexican/Caribbean things to decorate with. I've ordered a Diego Rivera print called "Girl with Sunflowers" so far and I think I'm going to get some more of his stuff because, although the man's lifestyle left much to be desired, he was a great painter with an ability to capture the essence of Mexico. Anyway, we're both happy with how our "new room" looks.

New words: Mexico, Lola (stroller), toe, shorts, and zebra AKA "horsie".

A quick few words of advice to my friends Miles and Brooklynne who are expecting their first baby Oct. 8: 1) You don't need all the Increase Your Baby's IQ toys & stuff that's advertised. Just wearing a different shirt every day, playing a little music, and talking to the baby will be enough the first 4-8 weeks. Then you can get more things little by little. It gets to be too much real fast. 2) Sleep when Baby Girl Travis sleeps! 3) You can't spoil her by holding her too much!! She is only this little once and it flies by, so enjoy her!!! Ok, enough of my parent soliloquy. As my uncle Jerry tells me, free advice is usually worth what you pay for it.

Cool song part 2

One of my other favorite songs on that CD is this one:

O come and mourn with me a while
O come near to the Savior's side
O come together let us mourn,
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

Seven times he spoke
Seven words of love
And all three hours His silence cried
For mercy on the souls of man,
Jesus our Lord is crucified.
O love of God, O sin of man
In this dread act your strength is tried
And victory remains with love
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

O break, O break hard heart of mine
My weak self-love and guilty pride
His Pilate and His Judas were
Jesus our Lord is crucified.
O love of God, O sin of man
In this dread act your strength is tried
And victory remains with love
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

A broken heart, a fount of tears
Ask and they will not be denied
A broken heart love's cradle is
Jesus our Lord is crucified
O love of God, O sin of man
In this dread act your strength is tried
And victory remains with love
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

This is a really cool CD...One of my favorite songs is "Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder." Here are the lyrics, courtesy of the CD insert.

Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior's name
He has hushed the law's loud thunder
He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame

Let us love the Lord who bought us
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by his grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes.
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He presents our souls to God.

Let us wonder grace and justice
Join and point to mercy's store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more
He who washed us with his blood
He who washed us with his blood
He who washed us with his blood
Has secured our way to God.

Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high
Here they trusted him before us
Now their praises fill the sky
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He will bring us home to God.

Weird!!

I found this on the ABC news website. Just so you know, it is a kitten.

For this and other strange (creepy!) animal oddities, visit abcnews.com.

Under the category of Things That Make You Go Hmmm:
A bumper sticker I saw yesterday in the Target parking lot -- "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, especially if you are crispy and go well with ketchup."

We watched "The Diary of a Mad Black Woman" last night after my boy was asleep and it is really good. Funny! The beginning is bad, just because there is a wife whose husband treats her like...well, "crap" is putting it nicely. It is a great story about forgiveness and ultimately the power of God to change lives, I think.

New words: ear (as he stuffs a cotton ball in it), "coomee" (excuse me, used as he's trying to shove you out of his way), "noodle" (from Mr. Noodle on Sesame St.).

Who is your favorite LOTR character? (If you don't know what LOTR stands for, you probably don't have one.) My neighbor Debbie and I agree on Strider/Aragorn. Polls are now open.

Ending with a quote from "The Return of the King": "Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."

I think Tolkien, who I believe was a Christian, had a quite nice way of putting things and I found this poem in "The Fellowship of the Ring" (Part 1 of the LOTR trilogy):

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost;
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.


In other news, my boy went to the dentist today and very much enjoyed the new toothbrush and the "Cars" sticker that he got. Mom didn't enjoy the news that he will likely be a candidate for braces at around 11-12 years old because of the shape of his lower jaw. But no cavities!!

I tried to find more raspberries at Food Lion but they were all crappy-looking. So I guess we'll have to bite the bullet and buy our fruits at least at the Teeter.

If the word "breast" or "breastfeeding" bothers you, stop here. Otherwise, keep reading. There was a segment on Good Morning America on public breastfeeding, whether people like it or not. As an OB nurse and a 15-month breastfeeder I have to weigh in.

1) There are definite advantages to breastfeeding, too many to name in one paragraph. So why aren't we encouraging more women to do it? I realize that there are mothers who can't at all or who can't breastfeed exclusively, but shouldn't we encourage those who can to do it? We encourage people to stop smoking, don't we? Why wouldn't we as a nation and a society do as much as possible to encourage other healthy habits?

2) Women can pose nearly naked in Cosmo or Hot Rod and unfortunately not too many people get in an uproar, but let a lady in public start nursing her child and she gets all kinds of nasty looks, if not comments. How hypocritical is that?

3) This country does not do nearly enough to promote it, beginning with 12 week maternity leaves for those who are fortunate enough to even get that. Most of the rest of the developed world gets at least 6 months, which is the length of time that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding...meaning nothing else, no juice, no cereal, nothing.

4) Most moms who would nurse in public do it discreetly, at least the ones I know. But don't even think about suggesting that we go in the bathroom to do it. You don't eat your lunch in there (at least I hope not) and neither will our kids.

5) Even though I firmly believe in breastfeeding, I don't make nasty comments when I see you buy or feed your child formula because I know you've probably made your choice based on what works for you. So please don't criticize me for discreetly nursing my child in public, ok?

6) Breastfeeding saved my tail (and my sanity probably) when my boy was 7 weeks old and we took the train to see Yaya and the train got stuck on the tracks behind another disabled train. We were delayed for quite a while. Can you imagine the most non-triumphant (channeling Bill & Ted) scenario had we run out of formula??

Just had to vent.

Mine

My boy's latest word. So now everything belongs to him.

We've discovered that he loves raspberries, which if no one else is happy about, his Finnish Aunties Kirsi & Maiju will be happy to hear. I wish our camera were working to have taken a picture of him stuffing 7 of them in his little mouth when he realized his Hubs was coming so he (Hubs) wouldn't get any.

Also, I wanted to include some song lyrics that Hubs & I both like, by one of our favorite Christian artists, Jesus Adrian Romero: (sung in Spanish) (translation included) It sounds a lot better sung than written but the lyrics are still meaningful.

Qué sería de mí si no me hubieras alcanzado?
Dónde estaría hoy si no me hubieras perdonado?
Tendría un vacío en mi corazón
Vagaría sin rumbo, sin dirección
Si no fuera por tu gracia y por tu amor.

What would be of me if You had not reached me?
Where would I be today if You had not forgiven me?
I would have an empty space in my heart
I'd be wandering with no goal, no direction
If it weren't for Your grace and Your love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c3RoM3y1rs

Sigh of relief

Mexico's presidency went to Felipe Calderón by 0.5%, although his opponent has promised to take the dispute to court. In any case, under Mexican law, a president has to be named by Sept. 6. Mr. Calderón seems to have more backbone than current President Fox but not so much bravado that he shoots himself in the foot. However, I still think it worthwhile to share a saying that I found in the Spanish-language newspaper a few months back: "Politicians are like socks. The one on the right and the one on the left both smell like the same thing."

Also thought it worthwhile to share this article from "Qué Pasa", the Triangle area's Spanish newspaper from April 2006 that I've kept for some reason. To summarize the article, the majority of police in Honduras pay a war tax to local gang members as the only way they can assure their (the police's) family's safety, the two major gangs being the Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Streeters. And 24 of the 298 towns in Honduras have never even had working police officers! Is it any wonder that people are coming to the US instead of putting up with that??

Mexican politics

Mexico held its presidential elections this past Sunday. Vicente Fox's election in 2000 broke a 71-year dynasty rule by the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) that was known for its corruption and nepotism (sounds a lot like dook basketball...)

Anyway, the two frontrunners, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the PRD (Revolutionary Democratic Party) and Felipe Calderón of the PAN (National Action Party, also the party of Vicente Fox) are pretty much in a dead heat after the first recount. The numbers have Calderón leading by 0.3% with 99.2% of the votes recounted, so I guess technically it's still anyone's game. And we thought Florida in 2000 was bad!

Who do I think would make the better president? Well, I don't know where each of them stands on everything but I do tend to favor moderation in general. Seeing as how Lopez Obrador is on the extreme end of the left wing and Calderón is much more in the center I have to hold with Calderon. I think Calderon will do much more good for Mexican citizens living in the US. Lopez Obrador seems to me to be a scaled back version of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president (who is right in line behind Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in my list of Nutjob World Leaders) and I don't think he's so great for Mexico's future.

Jerry Springer

Or so it seems some nights at work. Honestly, I think they ought to make it a little harder for people to have babies. I'm glad I'm not an obstetrician, or I would've lost my license a long time ago for tying tubes of people who have no business having any more babies without telling them what I did. You've got to have a license to hunt, drive, and fish, but you can bring a 4lb 9oz crack-addicted baby into this world that you have no intention of ever caring for? NOT RIGHT!!! If you were to put crack in the kid's bottle after he's born, that's child abuse, but you can do essentially the same thing to him while he's in the womb and that's ok?? I realize that Daddy has something to do with this as well, but often he's stupider and a worse parent that Mom. WHY DO WE ALLOW THESE PEOPLE TO REPRODUCE??

My boy has decided that the only way to watch soccer is in Spanish. Saturday while I was sleeping he asked Hubs to turn on the World Cup ("Gol, Papa") so he turned it on to ABC which gets better reception than Univision and that did NOT go over well. "WAAAAAHHHH, Gol!" As soon as my perceptive husband changed the channel to Univision, the waaaahhing stopped. He does have a point. Nothing beats the commentators who can make the word "GOL!" last a full two minutes, no matter which team scores.

We're getting a new washer Wednesday. Finally had to break down & buy a new one, as the repair on the old one lasted about 3 days, then it just absolutely refused to do anything at all. Of course this happens with clothes still in it and it's half full of water.

Happy Birthday to a Mr. Samuel Buerhle who turns 2 today, and to his father who turns 30 tomorrow.

To show how behind the times we are, our neighbors across the street lent us a couple movies, one of which was "Shrek" which we hadn't ever seen all the way through. Not the best I've ever seen but it was cute. Welcome to 7 years ago!!