You Probably Didn't Know...

In case you've wondered.....

No, I am not paying any attention to the current Republican shenanigans, presidential hopeful clownery, presidential election hopefuls race. I just don't care anymore. No single person will ever pull us up out of our present debauchery, for only God can do that and I don't believe He'll do it through politics. Ever.

Which reminds me, I didn't tell you, but after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot--and Sarah Palin and her gang refused to admit their gun-toting campaign slogans were a mistake--I stopped calling myself a Republican. I want nothing to do with that group. I've been an Independent ever since.

What are my current favorite tv shows? NCIS, American Pickers, Person of Interest, Hoarders. In that order. I only watch them online.

And no, I'm not watching American Idol this year. Not for any negative reasons, really, I just can't stay up that late anymore and after all these years I've gotten bored with it. I know how it works. Been there, done that.  ZZZzzzz.

Who are we having over to lunch next? Cher, our realtor friend who helped us buy sweet Hobbit Cottage. She is a delight.

Is it snowing at our house? Yes, it is. Majorly at this moment. But I'm feeling very grateful Naomi had two clear, snowless birthday days in which to celebrate. Since she was born, her birthday has often fallen on the snowiest, messiest day of the year, making her childhood birthday parties a bust. But this year and last she had snowfree birthdays. Happy sigh.



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And please.... I won't lecture you about your political convictions if you won't lecture me about mine. :)


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Debra and Tom's Night Out

So. Yesterday was Naomi's 32nd birthday. Oh wow--every January 27th I get that Methuselah feeling. :)


And like last year, Naomi's band played at the restaurant where she works and Tom and I slipped in our ear plugs while the music played (making the decibels just right) and clapped and woo-hooed with all the other parents, grandparents and patrons for our daughter and the excellent musicians during the funky, jazzy, retro-ness of it all. We sat at a table with our nachos and sodas and with Naomi's buddy of 19 years, Kellee, and her sister. Here's Kellee--is she cute or what?:

We gave Naomi's server friend the size of tip God nudged us to and she thanked us genuinely. And while the guitars squealed and the drums thumped loudly, (music my favorite retro radio station almost never plays), I whispered prayers over this crowded room of people. That they'd all come to know Jesus. That they'd be protected, safe and that the ones who came only out of a fear of being alone at home would realize that --to God--we are all important, 24/7. Oh, and that someday we'd all, again, gather together to listen to music in a bright, heavenly room so very far away.

I bathed that dark place in prayer which is ever so much more profitable than murmuring criticisms of the drinking and the loudness of rock music shaking the very walls ( and forcing us to shout into each others ears. Literally.). Prayer will always accomplish things way, way more valuable and eternal than criticism. Always.

It was a good, blessed time--and for me-- kinda like being at church. Kinda. For it was a place to put godly compassion and my prayer muscles into action. A place to test my heart and bring forth what's really down in there.

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Has anyone else seen the animated movie, Bon Voyage Charlie Brown? Of all of Charles Shultz' masterpieces, this one is my favorite. Unfortunately, it's not on dvd and if you can find a vhs copy, it costs a fortune, but we taped it from tv eons ago while Naomi was young and she and I watched it together probably a dozen times. Last week I got it out and watched it and again adored the 1940's music in the bar where Snoopy goes and the French classroom scene where Peppermint Patty heckles poor Charlie Brown, still making me laugh till tears come. And the two funny car wrecks, the way Violet serves breakfast outside and the whole French feeling of the piece. Perhaps this is partly way Naomi took 5 years of French. Perhaps.

So anyway, I just wondered.... Does anyone else remember this seemingly-unappreciated film? I'm curious to know. For me, it's comfort tv at its very best.

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Yay! Cozy Little House has worried lately about Blogger someday accidentally eating her blog (as some blogs have been eaten) and by reading the comments she received I figured-out how to back-up and save mine to my computer in a file. Though of course, if someday my computer bites the dust (heaven forbid, but hey...), so will the back-upped blog. But at least it's safe for now. (And yes, I really should put it on a disc, something I'll have to ask Tom about.)


Anyway, interested in saving your own blog? Through your dashboard click on Settings, then click on Export Blog. Then click on Download and follow the directions. Easy. I thought mine would take ages to download (2,500+ posts), but it didn't take long. No problems, either.


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When The Stars Go Away

Gah. Another actor passed away.

I hate it when that happens. Of course, I also hate it when pretty much anybody dies.

Anyway, this time it was Robert Hegyes and he was only 60. Back in his Welcome Back, Kotter days, a 17-year-old me had such a crush on him. Such. A. Crush. I'd watch the show and just stare at him, dwell upon his cuteness, making me unable to follow the plot (which says much since the plots were geared toward infants). Alas.

Well, as I said, I hate it when actors young or young-ish pass away. In fact (and I'm wondering if any of you are like this, too) often I can no longer even watch an actor's films if I've discovered that he/she had a life full of sadness, struggle, or if their demise was horrid. Like last week I watched probably my favorite ever episode of The Twilight Zone ('Walking Distance'), after which I looked up the star, Gig Young, at IMDB. Good grief. I was beyond sorry that I did. (Do not read about him if you don't want your day spoiled.)

A couple days later I got out my new NCIS dvd's to watch the special features and the producer said they'd had to rewrite a script because the little person, Michael Gilden (who's character I'd super-enjoyed on two episodes) had passed away. I thought, "How sad! I wonder what sickness he died from." So I got up, went to IMDB again and discovered that he'd commited suicide at 44.

Oh dear. Now I will struggle while watching those two episodes, but of course, it's all so very, very much worse than that. Suicide. Another life snatched away by one's own hands, leaving thousands of freshly-wounded, grieving people in its wake. I don't know about you, but with every suicide I hear of, a part of me dies, too, and other parts limp around seeking healing from God.

We all need each other.
We all matter.
We are all vital to making this world go around as God meant it--and whenever anyone removes himself from the equation too soon--we all suffer in some ways. Ways not always known and recognized, either, but rather, felt with a sense of loss, defeat and the knowing that some things ought not to have happened--and yet they did.

Never, ever give up. The pain in your life today may not even be here tomorrow. And it's so important to stick around long enough to wait it out, to see what happens, to believe that suddenly! God can make a way where this is no way... and everything could change for the better in a moment.



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Acts 12:7


And suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared [standing beside him], and a light shone in the place where he was. And the angel gently smote Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, Get up quickly! And the chains fell off his hands
 
 
Acts 16:26


Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone's shackles were unfastened.

Acts 22:6


But as I was on my journey and approached Damascus, about noon a great blaze of light flashed suddenly from heaven and shone about me.


1 Thessalonians 5:2


For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the [return of the] Lord will come [as unexpectedly and suddenly] as a thief in the night.



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Oh! Almost forgot this Walton reunion interview from The Today Show. I just found it last night and enjoyed it much, though they should have mentioned Ralph Waite at least once! (Love him as Jethro Gibb's dad.)

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