Remember

Today I am joining the One Word blog carnival, hosted at Peter's blog. Today's word is REMEMBER.
My original plan for this post was to write about remembering the lives of the Saints, and how they were people just like us, but with the help of God, they made it. People with faults and failings who still loved and trusted God. People whose stories inspire me.
But then I got to thinking, what is it that I admit most remembering? Click here if you want to read a post where I come to terms with a grudge I held for years. Grudges, snubs, misdeeds....Not at all the things that one who has been forgiven herself should be remembering....Then, of course, I started to feel guilty. Guilt is only a useful emotion if and until it causes me to repent. After that...well, I suppose it can keep me humble, but if it prevents me from feeling the joy of my faith because I am dwelling in my own unworthiness, it becomes a hindrance.

One of my favorite hymns is called "We Remember". The repetition of the phrase "We remember how You loved us 'til your death..." always makes me cry.

Funny story, I remember my first year teaching, there was a music teacher. The music teacher taught in the music room, and I went back to my classroom to prepare lessons and such. One day at Mass, I hear my students singing this hymn, and the words brought tears to my eyes. One boy, Russel, says real loudly, "We should sing louder! Ms. Helen is so proud of us, she is crying!"
I thought it was a funny memory, anyway...

Here is the hymn...


Refrain:
We remember how you loved us to Your death,
And still we celebrate for You are with us here.
And we believe that we will see You
when you come in Your glory, Lord.
We remember, we celebrate, we believe!
Verse 1
Here, a million wounded souls
Are yearning just to touch you and be healed;
Gather all your people, and hold them to your heart.
Verse 2
Now we recreate you love,
We bring the bread and wine to share a meal;
Sign of grace and mercy, the Presence of the Lord.
Verse 3
Christ, the Father’s great “Amen”
To all the hopes and dreams of every heart;
Peace beyond all telling, and freedom from all fear.
Verse 4
See the face of Christ revealed in every person standing by your side.
Gift to one another and temples of Your love.

Saturday Morning Caption Contest / Happy Halloween

So....Go ahead. Come up with the silliest captions you can. I can't wait to laugh.


Wanna see a scary video before you go? I thought so. But be warned...It gave Steph at the Red Clay Diaries nightmares!


Happy Halloween, everyone, and God bless you!

My Last Twik or Tweet of the Year: Or Is It? Mwahahahahah

In celebration of my last Twik or Tweet post of the year (unless there is popular demand, hint hint hint), today is the biggest Twik or Tweet extravanganza I have done to date!

Remember, you need to decide whether these people really tweeted these things on twitter. And if you are not following them, you totally should..


1) makeadiff21 Few things make me laugh so hard as when my youngest looks at me and raises her mustache up and down at me... LOL

2)weightwhat @Helenatrandom If that doesn't scare 'em off, nothing will.

3) Helenatrandom Shopped for Halloween candy. And chocolate ants. The kids who keep coming to my house more than once are getting bugs this year on 2nd visit.

4)PeterPollock I severely dislike blogs having music on them. But if you're going to force people to listen to something, Mambo No. 5 is a good choice!

5)sarahmsalter Warming up my best "phone voice" so I can take my turn answering the switchboard... Oooh la la! Okay, I'm ready!

6) br8kthru @Helenatrandom do you know why @katdish is avoiding me? I said hi to her early this morning, but nothing. My world is crashing down! :)

7) VariantVal Anyone else totally getting slammed by the brit bot right now??? 5 times in a row here, plus some new chicks.

8) bryanallain home sick...tweeting with my website design and sucking on ice cubes.


9) muchl8r Starting a new day. This one will rock yesterday's socks off! Or else I'll be forced to stab someone!

10)CandySteele @billycoffey good, thank you. Hate to ask if the Yankees won. Suppose I could google them.

11) redclaydiaries In better news, I have apparently won the Honda Lottery in the UK. Just gpnna email a bunch of personal info to them. I'm rich!

12)PeterPollock I'm still not jealous of all those people who in Chicago, same city as @Helenatrandom. Honest!

13) PuriChristos just listened to Loveshack by Whoever: http://tinysong.com/aLiH

14)buzzbyannies Those white flakes posing as frost on the deck look suspiciously like coconut.

15) TheBonnieGray One touch from Him, freedom and beauty pours out of us, bringing us back to life.

16)marni71 Halllooooo! I'm giving up coffee in celebration of Halloween! Life is good. And how is everyone this morning??

17)billycoffey RT @katdish: "A good writer is basically a storyteller, not a scholar or redeemer of mankind." -Isaac B. Singer

18) MattTCoNP: I almost didn't make it out of that corn maze...then I remembered corn is easy to knock over.

19) billycoffey Watching The Sound of Music. I swear this is the scariest movie ever made.

20) BriddetChumbley @poemsandprayers Sounds good! I was just thinking about what to cook tonight... Last night made some black bat chili/soup, de-lish!

21) becca_homefront Keep fingers crossed that it doesn't rain over Virginia...daughter and I are going on school fieldtrip to a farm.



And now for the answers…May I have a drumroll please….



Thank you, you all are really too, too kind...


1) Twik. makeadiff21 Few things make me laugh so hard as when my youngest looks at me and raises her eyebrows up and down at me... LOL

2)Tweet weightwhat @Helenatrandom If that doesn't scare 'em off, nothing
Wendy REALLY doesn’t like raisins. I think she’d actually prefer the chocolate bugs…
3) Twik Helenatrandom Shopped for Halloween candy. And raisins. The kids who keep coming to my house more than once are getting raisins this year on 2nd visit.

4)Tweet PeterPollock I severely dislike blogs having music on them. But if you're going to force people to listen to something, Mambo No. 5 is a good choice!
(I resemble that remark. ☺ or at least my blog does!

5)Twik sarahmsalter Warming up my best "phone voice" so I can take my turn answering the switchboard... lalalalala! Okay, I'm ready!

6)Tweet br8kthru @Helenatrandom do you know why @katdish is avoiding me? I said hi to her early this morning, but nothing. My world is crashing down! :)
Yes. It is true. That is how I feel if she doesn’t comment on one of my posts. ☹

7) Tweet VariantVal Anyone else totally getting slammed by the brit bot right now??? 5 times in a row here, plus some new chicks.
Just thought I’d let it be known Variant Val hates porn just like the rest of us.
8) Twik bryanallain home sick...tweaking with my website design and sucking on ice cubes.


9)Tweet muchl8r Starting a new day. This one will rock yesterday's socks off! Or else I'll be forced to stab someone!
He is always threatened to stab us, but don’t worry, he won’t..so long as we do as he says..

10) Tweet CandySteele @billycoffey good, thank you. Hate to ask if the Yankees won. Suppose I could google them.
Yep. There she goes, googling again..

11) Twik redclaydiaries In better news, I have apparently won the Honda Lottery in the UK. Just gotta email a bunch of personal info to them. I'm rich!

12)Twik PeterPollock I'm still not jealous of all those people who are at Story Chicago. Honest!

13) Twik PuriChristos just listened to Love by Day of Fire on @Grooveshark: http://tinysong.com/aLiH

14)buzzbyannies Twik Those white flakes posing as frost on the deck look suspiciously like snow flakes.

15) Twik TheBonnieGray One touch from Him, freedom and beauty pours out of us, bringing us back to life.
I wasn’t gonna mess with that beautiful thought. I wanted to share it.

16)Twik marni71 Halllooooo! I'm on my second cup of coffee (going on third!) Life is good. And how is everyone this morning??

17Tweet )billycoffey RT @katdish: "A good writer is basically a storyteller, not a scholar or redeemer of mankind." -Isaac B. Singer

18) Tweet MattTCoNP: I almost didn't make it out of that corn maze...then I remembered corn is easy to knock over.

19) Twik billycoffey Watching Alien. I swear this is the scariest movie ever made.

20) Twik BriddetChumbley @poemsandprayers Sounds good! I was just thinking about what to cook tonight... Last night made some white bean chicken chili/soup, de-lish!

21) Tweet becca_homefront Keep fingers crossed that it doesn't rain over Virginia...daughter and I are going on school fieldtrip to a farm.



So that's it for now. If you are only here for the Twik or Tweeting and won't check out my silly caption post tomorrow (yeah, I know how some of you are ;-)..... Then Happy Halloween!

Weapon: Funnel / Arsenal: Chicken Soup

Well, I am two days late on my Life is Funny post. I hope that earns back my claim to randomness in your eyes, NtG. Okay, seriously, I am late with my Life is Funny post because I wanted to do the birthday post for Nick, and then I was hoping that somehow yesterday's post would work out. I mean, isn't it funny that I found Polish Dancers in the library. LIVE dancers, actually dancing, not a video, or book or something. I was amazed and had a great time, but my research at Panera spoiled that, and I couldn't rescue the post for Life is Funny no matter how hard I tried. So you are going to be subjected to a story which took place when Bob and I were first engaged...


Yesterday, I was making homemade soup for my family, and I remembered the first time I made homemade soup for my Bob, who at the time, was Mine to be Bob. He had contracted pneumonia just before New Year's, and I decided to tend to his ailment. Of course, chicken soup was essential. Homemade Chicken Soup. My Momma's recipe. Now, you need to understand that growing up, I had terrible bronchitis. Grown Hungarian men visiting Daddy would cry when they'd hear me cough. You need to understand that the only thing to make a grown Hungarian man's eyes water is saying goodbye to his mama for the last time. Otherwise, their emotional repertoire is joy and anger. There isn't much else they feel comfortable displaying. But a three year old almost coughing up a lung crossed that line. They even gave my mother permission to switch to a nonHungarian doctor *gasp*, since our (meaning Mine, Mom's, Daddy's, Daddy's Hungarian friends) had been unable to prescribe anything to soothe me. As a matter of fact, he stopped writing prescriptions, and told them they'd have to live with it. Did I ever mention that my sister died of bronchial pneumonia as a baby? Now might be a good time to throw that in, just so you can truly understand their panic.
My momma made chicken soup for me every day. Well, she probably made it every other day, but I ate it every day. While it didn't cure my bronchitis, I do believe that Mamma staved off the pneumonia single handedly until they finally found Dr. Goldberg, when I was almost six. (No internet in those days. People found good doctors by word of mouth. And you didn't just want to switch willy nilly. You wanted to switch because the doctor had a good reputation in treating more or less the same ailments you had.)
So anyways, I was worried about Mine to be Bob, and brought the ingredients for chicken soup to his house. I didn't surprise him. I told him that I was coming over to take care of him and make him well..
Well, he sees the chicken as I unpack my bag....
Bob: What are you going to do with that?
HRM: I thought I might need someone to talk when you took a nap. What do you think I am going to do with it? I am going to cure you with it!
Bob: How?
HRM: (I place my hand on my hip) By rubbing it all over your chest, silly. Take off your shirt.
(long pause)
HRM: My, you really are feeling poorly. Homemade chicken soup, dear...
Bob: I don't like homemade soup. I prefer Mrs. Graas.
HRM: Good to know. When we have a casual lunch in the future, she'll save me a lot of work. I'm sure she makes fine soup. But this is my Momma's recipe for Chicken Soup. This should chase the pnuemonia right out of you.
Bob: Helen, I don't like homemade chicken soup.
HRM: But you never tasted...
Bob: Helen, I'd rather you didn't..
HRM: Okay, here is how it is going to be. You are going to eat two bowls of homemade chicken soup twice a day, even if I have to wait until you nap, stick a funnel in your mouth as you snore, and pour it in! Am I clear...
Bob: That was not the picture I had in mind when you said you'd take care of me.

Well, I didn't have to sneak up to him with a funnel while he napped. He was a most cooperative patient after that.
His reaction to the soup.
HRM: Well. Now that you've tasted it, what do you think of Momma's Homemade Soup.
Bob: It's okay.....
HRM: Dang straight. And you will be to, provided you keep eating it like I tell you to....


No. I wasn't threatening him again. I was testifying of the power of the soup. I couldn't have been too mean. We did get married afterwards, after all....


How about joining my friend Wendy's blog carnival with your own post about how your life is funny?

Garage, Leaves, Polish Dancing, the Library, and Research Billly Coffey Style: A Full Sunday Afternoon In Deed

(This picture isn't of the actual performance I saw, but the costumes look similar. There were lots of other costumes though, with lots of other dances. Click here to see the website of the group which performed, and pictures of some of their costumes.)

I had a great day on Sunday! We usually try to have someone care for mom once a week so that we can get out of the house together. We tried to keep it low key. We finished cleaning the garage well enough that my car will actually go in, took a ride through the forest preserve to the Des Plaines Public Library, where I was surprised to find that they had a special presentation of Polish dancers. They even did a czardas, as this region had been near enough to Hungary to be influenced by the dance and music. After the presentation, I roamed the library, picked out a book and some CD's, and met up with Bob. Then we went to Panera Bread for dinner.
That was not so much fun. Oh, the soup, salad, and sandwich half were great! It's just that while Bob went to the washroom, I ended up with an opportunity to do some research, Billy Coffey style, only I wasn't too impressed with what I was hearing.
Two young women, sophomores from a nearby university, were verbally making fun of a young man they considered awkward.
"He's always complaining about the food in the cafeteria. No body forces him to buy it!"
"He talks so loud!" (Unlike them, who I could hear at the next table without even trying...)
""He was like that in High School!"
"Someone should tell him nobody likes him."
"I'll tell him, I don't care..."
And other things that I don't care to recall. You get the gist.

It seemed from the conversation that the young man's crime was trying too hard. I suppose I saw it that way because I perpetrated similar crimes when I was in High School. I am not sure if by college, I had changed, or was surrounded by more mature people who were willing to put up with me until I was comfortable enough to let my guard down, and not try to impress anyone. I do know that when an acquaintance from High School started gossipping about me, my college friends put her in her place. (That'd be a story worth telling someday....Someone remind me when I complain on twitter that I don't know what to write about...)

I wanted so much to go up to those girls (I can't call them ladies) and give them a piece of my mind. But I didn't. I figured that they wouldn't listen to me anyway. And I was in the wrong for eavesdropping. I'm not particularly proud of this, but I did find another way to let them know how they sounded.

(My husband returns to the table.)
HRM: OH BOB, I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE BACK!
Bob: (concerned, because I usually don't greet him like that after a potty break) Is everything okay? Did something happen?
HRM: Oh NO! It's just that I was sitting here ALONE, with nothing to read or focus my attention on, and couldn't help but hear those two Caucasian girls' (there were two Asian girls talking to each other in a dfferent language nearby) to the left shallow conversation! I can't remember the last time I was subjected to such idiocy! They've been ripping apart some poor guy for being socially awkward. It must be nice to be so DANG perfect!
Bob: (slight smile) I think they heard you..
HRM: Good. Then maybe they have an inkling of what it feels like to be judged by someone who never even bothered to get to know them!

From the look on the face of the girl more or less facing me, I could tell that she heard me. Perhaps I handled this underhandedly, maybe even cowardly. My defense is that I was so angry, I could see a direct confrontation escalating to something really ugly, but would have been unable to live with myself that evening if I had not somehow say something.

What would you have done? It's okay to tell me that I should have filled my Diet Coke cup with ice, and thrown it in her face. It's also okay to tell me that I don't know the boy, and maybe he was worse than socially awkward. Don't worry. My friends have nothing to fear. I allow my friends the privilege of disagreeing with me, or even proving me wrong.

Happy Birthday, NtG

The acronymn NtG stands for the moniker "Nick the Geek". He chose this name for himself, so I am not being rude to call him that. NtG likes his anonymity. He is a Youth Pastor, techie, comedian, prankster, and fun person. But mostly, he is a Christian, in the very best sense of the word. He wouldn't be so dang good at forgiveness if he wasn't.
My first cyber exchange with NtG was a misunderstanding. Long story short, I gave him a hard time for something he didn't do, and refused to believe that he didn't do it. (How can this happen in cyber space with someone you never met in person. It's possible...especially when you share a blog with twenty other people :-) I only believed he didn't do it when I checked out his blog for the first time months later, only to find that he was every bit as adamant as me on the subject. He was telling the truth: he was challenging the pic, not posting it...(Sorry if this is overly vague, but if you were around for the early days of fottsp, you couldn't have missed my tantrum, and if you weren't, please let I was WRONG and he was right suffice...)
I apologized, and NtG readily forgave me. We became facebook friends, and followed each other on twitter immediately afterward. Since then, we have kidded each other a lot, but I have come to have the utmost respect for him.


It was Nick's recommendation a few months ago that I watch the movie, "The Princess Bride". I believe he said it was one of his favorite movies. Watch it I did, and I loved it. My fave character was that Enigo Montoya guy. Before checking out the video, I ought to warn you that Enigo calls someone an SOB, but doesn't use the initials. If you can bear that, this is one of my favorite scenes in the movie.



Oh, and Bun Bun Rabbit wanted to send his best as well...

(Be glad I couldn't find a singing monkey patooty)
Click here to wish my friend Nick a Happy Birthday on his blog!!

Saturday Morning Caption Contest

You know what to do...

Twik or Tweet Week 5

Today we play the game a little different…I am making it a bit harder. Most of the tweet I am working with is real. Only one word will be different. You have to figure out if it is a twik or a tweet based on the inaccuracy of only a few words! The accurate tweet is supplied at the end of the post. Good luck! (Normally I do say God bless, but for Twik or Tweet?)

http://twitter.com/BridgetChumbley
1)BridgetChumbley Which is worse? To have spoken words you can't take back? or Missing your only opportunity to say something important?


http://twitter.com/sarahmsalter
2)sarahmsalter @makeadiff21 Stirrup pants & leggings were made for @Helenatrandom . Just sayin'.


http://twitter.com/sarahmsalter
3)sarahmsalter @BridgetChumbley Don't tell anyone, but I have a Chicago station on my Pandora account. :-P


http://twitter.com/FaithWords
4) FaithWords @billyCoffey - the tribe has spoken you must plan a BlogTalkRadio chat with us ; )


http://twitter.com/PuriChristos
5) PuriChristos My 6yr old and her friends just walked by Chinese Restaurant. I could hear the girls going "aflac" at them


http://twitter.com/katdish
6)katdish Hello Cleveland! Are you paying attention?


http://twitter.com/CandySteele
7) CandySteele @Helenatrandom raisins are really good in bread pudding if you soak them in bourbon first


http://twitter.com/weightwhat
*Bonus weightwhat Because the dog doesn't like being poked there. #thingsIneverthoughtIdsay


http://twitter.com/makeadiff21
8) makeadiff21 @br8kthru Oh.. been there. Lots of whaling that day. We still struggle with "if you get it out, you put it away" etc.


http://twitter.com/chrissulli
9) chrissulli I'm bored. So I'm going to go look for trouble. Where is @katdish?


http://twitter.com/PuriChristos
10) PuriChristos my 1 yr old is very close to unraveling the mystery of technology ... time to start using the dead bolt.


http://twitter.com/br8kthru
11) br8kthru I've been @ work for hours, looked down & I'm wearing bunny slippers instead of my usual brown casuals- what else have I missed?

http://twitter.com/redclaydiaries
12) redclaydiaries Just wrote an awesome horror story based on Caillou. Scheduling for TOMORROW!

http://twitter.com/weightwhat
13) weightwhat *Peking Duck inn*


http://twitter.com/PeterPollock
14) PeterPollock So, the suggestions are: 'remember', 'community' a series on 'the fruit of the loom' and, for a later time, 'grief'. What shall we go for?


http://twitter.com/Helenatrandom
15) Helenatrandom ™ is made on a mac by pressing the option key and 2.

http://twitter.com/HerbieGookins
16) HerbieGookins Cleaning break! Cleaning break! Where did I put those feather dusters...

http://twitter.com/buzzbyannies
17) buzzbyannies Y'all have an awesome day cause I gotta go getall Hungarian now.




And now, what was really tweeted…

1)BridgetChumbley Which is worse? To have spoken words you can't take back? or Missing your only opportunity to say something important?
(Good question…didn’t want to play with it)

http://twitter.com/sarahmsalter
2)sarahmsalter @makeadiff21 Stirrup pants & leggings were not made for round people (like me). Just sayin'.
(I resemble that remark, so I reworded it…)


http://twitter.com/sarahmsalter
3)sarahmsalter @BridgetChumbley Don't tell anyone, but I have a Chicago station on my Pandora account. :-P
(HEY! I live in Chicago! Why are you ashamed of having a Chicago radio station on your account? Jack FM ROCKS!)

http://twitter.com/FaithWords
4) FaithWords @billyCoffey - the tribe has spoken you must plan a BlogTalkRadio chat with us ; )
(I didn’t change a thing. I think I caused enough trouble yesterday..)

http://twitter.com/PuriChristos
5) PuriChristos My 6yr old and her friends just walked by geese. I could hear the girls going "aflac" at them
(I kept thinking of the aflac deck chasing away a delivery of duck from the Chinese restaurant..)

http://twitter.com/katdish
6)katdish Hello everyone! Are you paying attention?
(Hey, everyone includes Cinncinati, right?)

http://twitter.com/CandySteele
7) CandySteele @Helenatrandom raisins are really good in bread pudding if you soak them in bourbon first
(I will never steer you wrong when it comes to bourbon)

http://twitter.com/weightwhat
* Bonus weightwhat Because the dog doesn't like being poked there. #thingsIneverthoughtIdsay
(Like I could make it funnier as a twik? I don’t think so..)

http://twitter.com/makeadiff21
8) makeadiff21 @br8kthru Oh.. been there. Lots of whaling that day. We still struggle with "if you get it out, you put it away" etc.
(I never been whaling before, and I wanted to share Ginny’s adventures…)

http://twitter.com/chrissulli
9) chrissulli I'm bored. So I'm going to go look for trouble. Wish me luck.
(Is it cheating that I used a synonymn for trouble?)

http://twitter.com/PuriChristos
10) PuriChristos my 1 yr old is very close to unraveling the mystery of door knobs ... time to start using the dead bolt.
(I guess door knobs were technology at one time…)

http://twitter.com/br8kthru
11) br8kthru I've been @ work for hours, looked down & I'm wearing tennis shoes instead of my usual brown casuals- what else have I missed?
(Tennis shoes, bunny slippers, tomato, tomahto…)
http://twitter.com/redclaydiaries
12) redclaydiaries Just wrote an awesome horror story based on Caillou. Scheduling for TOMORROW!
(And it was gruesome! It was about a boy that was so whiny, we wanted his plane to crash…)
http://twitter.com/weightwhat
13) weightwhat *peeking in*
(I still had the aflac duck on my mind. Me bad.)

http://twitter.com/PeterPollock
14) PeterPollock So, the suggestions are: 'remember', 'community' a series on 'the fruit of the spirit' and, for a later time, 'grief'. What shall we go for?
(Dorcas probably worked on a loom, I’d’ve thought. )

http://twitter.com/Helenatrandom
15) Helenatrandom ™ is made on a mac by pressing the option key and 2.
(Wendy gave me different directions, but apparently this is what I need to do on a mac. Yes. I experimented with the keys to find out. )
http://twitter.com/HerbieGookins
16) HerbieGookins Cleaning break! Cleaning break! Where did I put those Reese's Cups...
(Yeah. Chocolate and peanutbutter are great for cleaning…
http://twitter.com/buzzbyannies
17) buzzbyannies Y'all have an awesome day cause I gotta go getall bossy now.
(She is always Hungarian. Right Annie?)

Tears in My Eyes: Stories from the Catholic Festival of Faith

I do believe that I promised on Monday that I would share the stories that made me cry at the Conference. One made me cry because of its beauty, the other with sorrow. I'll start with the sad so I can end with the glad. That's how I roll...

Cardinal Francis George celebrated Mass. His homily was astounding. He told us about visiting a Missionary priest in Africa (my apologies, I forgot which country), and how four men from a faraway village came up to then Fr. George and asked about the Missionary priest while he was taking a walk. Fr. George* directed them to the rectory (hut in which priest was living). One man did not go with, but stayed out with Fr. George. Fr. George did not speak the man's native language, but they spoke briefly in English.
Fr. George asked the man where they had come from. It turned out that the four men had been traveling on foot for four days. They had heard about this priest speaking of a God who loves them, and the village chose these four to find out what it was all about. When Fr. George asked why he didn't go with them to speak with the Missionary priest, he responded that he had a lot of quiet time to think on his walk. He thought about how hard his community works, and still they starve, are sick, and watch their children die. In the face of all that, the idea of a God who loves them is too good to be true. (This is where I start bawlin' like a hormonal school girl.)
Cardinal George then shares with us that he has prayed for this man all these years since. He shared that the hardest thing is that we can't give anyone faith, but can only show our own, share why we have it, and pray for the people around us who have none. He also shared that if we truly know ourselves, we have to admit that God's love is "too good to be true", no matter what our circumstances, and yet it is so true. God does love us, and we need to share it.

Now the happy story. It was actually shared in the keynote speech hours before Mass. Most Rev. George Murry, SJ was sharing with us the story of a girl who was born with a cleft lip. When she went to school, children made fun of her. She found that strangers seemed to find her hard to look at. When asked, she'd tell people that she fell on glass and split her lip, because somehow that seemed more acceptable than being born different. She was also born hard of hearing, but was a bright girl who somehow learned how to fake her way through the hearing tests at school. She hated being different, and the attention it brought to her.
Well, you know how those old fashioned hearing tests included the teacher whispering a sentence in your ear that you were supposed to repeat? Me neither. Waaaay before my time. I was tested in the mechanized "raise your hand when you hear the beep" age, but I digress. This young girl's teacher whispered in her ear "I wish you were my little girl..."
She ran all the way home, laughing and happy, excited to be loved.
Bishop Murry said that that is what faith in Jesus ought to be.... The realization that He loves us even though we feel deformed by our sins, and a need to joyfully announce that we are loved. Eventually, we also realize His love for others, and want to share that too.

I don't know about anyone else, but I see the two stories as linked together. I feel that we can share our faith truly only by sharing the joy of being loved with a love that is to good to be true, and yet it IS. Oh, and you know something cool? Faith is one thing that you can share all you have with someone, and still not have any less for yourself!

My friend Kathy has shared a quote by Rich Mullins that I think is appropriate here. I am gonna send you on over there to read it at her site now if that is okay with you...



*I mean absolutely no disrespect to my beloved Archbishop Cardinal George by referring to him as Father George here. He was not yet a Cardinal in this story, and even if he was, once a priest, always a priest, whether we are talking about the Pope or a bishop.

Trust

My cyber friends, Peter Pollock and Bridget Chumbley, are having a blog carnival today . This week's blog carnival hosted by Bridget and Peter is all about Trust. Funny that yesterday Peter was sharing stories about his Dad and being a dad yesterday, because thinking on trust I kept coming to a story from my youth that involves my daddy (who was an AWESOME daddy by the way, in case any of you missed the few dozen entries I posted which say that...)

I was in eighth grade. I had to take the constitution test. Now, I have no idea why the teacher (who was ONLY my teacher for Social Studies, and ONLY during the Constitution Test. He gave the prepared and tested all three eighth grade classes) was like this, but Mr. Michals (NOT his real name. He died years ago, and can't explain his thoughts.) insisted that NO ONE passes his Constitution Test the first time. He gives the test three times, first one essay (which nobody ever passes), second one multiple choice, and the third one true/ false. No more after that. The only one that counts for a grade is the first one. The others are merely so that we can pass eighth grade (Illinois law) and go to High School. He seemed to take satisfaction in the fact that we will fail.

This truly upsetted me. I studied hard, but with a tension and anxiety that made it hard to actually concentrate and remember anything. My dear daddy, of course, noticed...

The discussion went a lot like this...
(Knock, knock)

Helen: Come in...
Daddy: What are you doing?
Helen: Studying...
Daddy: You seem upset...
Helen: Didn't Momma tell you?
Daddy: I'd like for l you to tell me...
Helen: Mr. Michals says that NO ONE will pass his Constitution Test, and it will count for a grade, and...
Daddy: Wait there...He actually said that NO ONE will pass the Constitution Test..
Helen: Yes. He said no one ever passes it the first time...
Daddy: Did he say why that is?
Helen: Yes. He said because it is so hard...
Daddy: And?
Helen: No one ever passes...
Daddy: But did he say that YOU won't pass?
Helen: He said that NO ONE will pass, not just me...
Daddy: Honey, I can't tell you why he makes a test he thinks no one will pass. But I can tell you, that if he believes YOU won't pass, it is because he doesn't know YOU.
Helen: Daddy, I appreciate the faith you have in me, but you shouldn't..
Daddy: Helen, I took the Constitution Test to become a citizen in these United States of America (He always said it like that) after only knowing English for two years. I still talked in Croation or Hungarian most of the time. I passed. I'm a citizen.
Helen: But Daddy...
Daddy: You will still be a citizen whether you pass or not. (Smiling). You don't have as much to lose as you fear. AND you are smarter than Mr. Michals or you give you credit for...
Helen: But he wrote the test. He KNOWS...
Daddy: He knows the test. He does NOT know you, and he does NOT know me!
Helen: Daddy, you aren't going to go talk to him...
Daddy: No. I am not. I am not going to try to change the test, or the teacher. I AM going to do everything I can to help you, short of taking the test for you. (Smiling). We can do this.
Helen: I don't know..
Daddy: Who are you going to believe, Helen? Your daddy, who knows you, or Mr. Michals, who doesn't. Are you gonna trust the daddy you know, or the teacher you don't?
Helen: (quietly) Okay, Daddy..
Daddy: So where do you want to start? The Preamble? The Bill of Rights?


I wish I could say that all my anxiety left at that moment. But it didn't. It was, however, suppressed a bit. I studied. I told myself and others that Mr. Michals knows his test, but he doesn't know me. I told myself and others, that my daddy knows me, and he says I can do it. (I was never ashamed to show myself to be a daddy's girl.)

And you know what? I passed. With and 86%. So did one other kid...a boy I had a crush on, and was only too pleased to study with during any free time :-) He even got the same score! (No, we were not sitting near each other. Trust me. I'd've noticed ;-) I am not sure whether someone gave him a similar pep talk, or if he was just that smart or confident.

What does this have to do with trusting God? For most of my adult life, I have considered John 14:1,(which are words spoken by Jesus) to be my "life verse."

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

No, this isn't my life verse because I am so good at trusting Him (when I master trust, I get a new "life verse" I do believe), but to remind me that I can...

A little later in the Chapter, after Phillip asks Jesus to show him and the other disciples, Jesus said...

"9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father."

The Father has in mind a task for me. He has it in mind for all of us. But sometimes I don't trust that I can do it, just like I didn't trust that I could pass the constitution test. But just as my daddy knew I could, my Heavenly Father has promised that He knows that I can, too! He hasn't given me tests that he believes I can't pass, but tasks that He knows I can. With His help.


(BTW, though it has nothing to do with this carnival, I would like to commend those of you out there who are father's and are involved in the teaching and loving guidance of your kids in countless ways. By your actions, you give your kids a window (peephole?) to what God is like...I look to the memory of my wonderful daddy every day, know that God is even more awesome, and am just bowled over and amazed. )


Two weeks ago, I ended my post with a youtube video. Well, maybe this one is not appropriate in EVERY way, but I do love this song...

Catholic Fest: Of Clocks and Conductors...

Well, a couple of amusing things happened at the conference. Not fall down laughing funny, but sardonic smile funny...

First of all, the keynote speech "The Love of Christ Impels Us" was AWESOME. I'll share with you a particular portion that made me cry later. Most of my Life is Funny Posts are not meant to make you cry...

Anyway, the speaker went longer than he was supposed to. People were leaving 15 minutes early so they wouldn't be late for their breakout session. I figured if I was late and could not discreetly enter, I would just check out the exhibits. I decided to stay for the duration of his speech, which ended at the time the other session was to begin.

Still, I got a lot out of his talk. Anyways, what was funny was that I had to go to the bathroom. Remember, the session was supposed to have started. It didn't, so I left my coat and stuff to save myself a seat, and then headed out to use the washroom. I returned just on time to sit down and hear the presenter say "let's begin with a prayer..."

Kind of funny that he gave us fifteen extra minutes before starting out of respect for the keynote speaker. Had I been worked up and left, I would have missed the poignant end of a moving speech for nothing, because I would have had to sit and wait for about half an hour.

Not funny enough?




Okay, how about this... I always like my last "breakout session" to be about incorporating music in Catechises, mostly because I love music, and want to end the Conference on a musical high. Well, they lost our registration, so I couldn't find the session I wanted. It may have been cancelled. If my registration wasn't lost, I would have known that and they would have given me an alternate, but since they lost my registration (and trusted us when we said we preregistered, TG) I was blindly picking sessions by titles. I found the first one fine, but couldn't find the second, so I just went to a different session that was about music.
Well, I ended up in a workshop for conductors. Did I ever mention that I can't read music, much less play an instrument? I couldn't conduct an all kazoo band! So I am sitting there singing (vewy vewy qwietwy) new music with people who don't need the piece played once to get the tune, they just pick up and start singing... AND it was about starting an Archdiocesan Youth Choir and parish participation (which MUST be conductor driven..) I sooooo didn't belong. But I did take the info. to give to our music director, who wasn't there. AND this session ended REALLy early, so I had a chance to go to the chapel and pray by myself, which was nice. It was that, or go to the vendors, and I thought that this is one year the vendors should lose the battle for Helen's presence. They will get over it.



How about joining my friend Wendy in her Life is Funny Blog Carnival?

Twik or Tweet Week 4

@Bridget Chumbley Getting ready to go to the daughters first middle school choir concert. She says she hopes it doesn't suck... too bad...LOL!

@sarahmsalter Listening to Michael Buble while eating homemade soup for lunch. A rainy Thursday doesn't get much better!

@weightwhat Okay, who wants to entertain me?

@makeadiff21 Ok. The cold has gone to my brain. I just turned the cold water on in the sink and expected it to get warm...

@CandySteele Slept from 9:45 pm until 2 am. Not enough rest for the wicked.

@Muchl8r Have you ever stopped to think, "wait. . . I'm an adult!" ??? I feel like I was just slapped!

@br8kthru @Helenatrandom I thought you were into leather mu mu's?

@PuriChristos I'm goin to start witting my geek post for 2morrow, what geeky thing would you like to know more about/explained?

@katdish Okay. Time to rest my neck. That's the very first time I've ever typed that sentence.

@billycoffey @chrissulli I really do think that a team full of guys making a hundred grand will play harder than a team full of millionaires.

@chrissulli Sometimes finding the right picture for a blog post is a huge pain

@PeterPollock I'm scared this morning. I was woken up by orders given through twitter DM's... I'm just obeying, it's safest
@redclaydiaries Okay, y'all. Gonna leave the Twitter to spent time with the fam. On the agenda: Vegging as a group activity


@HerbieGookins PSA: Dear Everyone, I am still alive. Just trying to get ready to go back to work which seems like a job in itself...

@Marni71 A UPS truck just tried to kill me while I was on the highway. "What can Brown do for me?" Not swerving into my lane is a good start.

@Helenatrandom Too bad twitter doesn't allow for polls like blogger does. Then I'd let you all vote on what mom and I eat for lunch today...







They are all tweets. Sorry I was lazy this week.

Tomorrow's Schedule: Learn, Love, Laugh (Kind of like a lot of days, only elsewhere and structured)

Tomorrow I go to a conference called Catholic Festival of Faith. (Think of it like Catalyst for Catholics. I think..) The pastor of my parish wants all CCD and Parish School teachers there, but that's fine. I am really looking forward to it. That does mean that I won't be on the twitter tomorrow, or commenting on my friends' blogs. Perhaps you will find me on Saturday. I am hoping to have a Twik or Tweet post up anyway. We shall see..


The Schedule of Events for tomorrow is as follows:

7:30 AM

Registration and Exhibits

8:30 AM (This is when my friends and I will be coming in. They have kids to get ready for school, and I have a mommy to get ready for the sitter. We are already registered, and we can see the exhibits later.)

Welcome / Prayer

8:50 AM

Most Rev. George Murry, SJ
The Love of Christ Impels Our Vision (I am REALLY looking forward to this keynote speech!)

9:45 AM

Break / Exhibits (I told you there would be an opportunity to look at exhibits later...)

10:00 AM

Breakout Session #1 .(I am hoping to attend The Catechetical Message of
Sacred Scripture if it isn't too full)

11:00 AM

Break / Exhibits (also known as vendors. Most "exhibits" will be people selling books. I used to spend a lot of time here, but now that I am not working, I just kind of zip through, giving it the once over, asking the Holy Spirit to draw my attention to anything I might need, but to keep me blind to books I won't find useful anyways)

11:15 AM

Mass (It will be nice to go to Mass with my CCD colleagues all together. I really enjoyed being with them at Mass last year.)

12:30 PM

Lunch (I am bringing my own, so you know it will be good!)

1:15 PM

Rev. Louis J. Cameli, STD
Religious and Spiritual Identity: The Catholic Difference and the Difference It Makes (The title of this speech doesn't impress me much, but Fr. Lou used to live at the parish I grew up in and would be scheduled there for Mass once a week. He is an excellent speaker, though not an excellent titler. I am POSITIVE his speech is better than his title. I LOVE Fr. Lou!)

2:25 PM

Breakout Session #2 (I am hoping to go to Songs of the Season. I try to go to one session every year that is all about praising God in song. I love to sing hymns! Even if I don't learn anything here, though I expect to, I will definitely enjoy it! And what are festivals for but having fun! Am I right?)

3:45 PM

Conclusion


Then I get to come home and cook dinner. Pasta sauteed in olive oil, onion, and garlic, and served with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Did I ever mention that my husband still doesn't eat meat on Fridays, even though the rules changed before I was even born? That's okay. I really like this pasta recipe. Plus, I can throw some cut broccoli in it, and make it healthy.


I will most likely let you know on Saturday how it went. Unless something funny happens, and I save it for Monday's Life is Funny post.


So, when was the last time you went to a Conference like this? Have any favorite memories you want to share? Or meatless recipes?

Don't Get Even, Get Obnoxious

Sunday I was visiting my Aunt and my cousin. We had a great conversation, but somehow it led to people trying to take advantage of others' ignorance. That reminded me of a funny story, which I shared with them, and will now share with you!


My dad had been dead for two years (not funny yet, please bear with me) when the manager for a hardware store he used to frequently pick up supplies for a building he used to work in called and said dad had just been in admiring some power tools. This was about two weeks before Father's Day.

Manager: You are the daughter Frank ________, right?
HRM: Yes, I am. (I am still his daughter!)
Manager: He was recently in our store admiring this new drill set we got in..
HRM: How recently?
Manager: Last week, I think...
HRM: YOU MEAN HE HASN'T SEEN ME IN TWO YEARS, BUT HE IS IN TOWN AND IMMEDIATELY GOES TO YOUR HARDWARE STORE!
Manager: Uh, uh, ....
HRM: WELL, I AM NOT GETTING HIM ANYTHING FOR FATHER'S DAY THIS YEAR. MAYBE THAT WILL TEACH HIM TO COME VISIT ME THE NEXT TIME HE RISES FROM THE DEAD!


This led to one of my life motto's, don't get even, get obnoxiously funny!
(Remind me to tell you someday what I said to the person selling prearranged funerals when they wouldn't leave us alone...)

How about joining Wendy at her Life is Funny Blog Carnival?

Twik or Tweet Week 3

Time for the Twitter Ho Down Post, which, until the last Friday in October, will be the Twik or Tweet post. Do you remember how to play? Decide if the person tweeted the tweet I typed for them. Answers are at the bottom of the post.


1) @Makeadiff21 @PeterPollock Cupcakes or puppies?
2) @PeterPollock Eat some Chicken Tikka Massala with home made Naan bread and then try telling me there's no God. Food that good is no accident of evolution!
3) @CandySteele @PeterPollock I like my spaghetti like I like my men: smothered in olive oil.
4)@ BridgetChumbley Would someone please morph my picture with Helen’s? I love her pink hat…
5) @PuriChristos Just got done baking about 6 dozen cupcake to hand out tomorrow for "Cupcakes 4 life" http://is.gd/45RgB
6) @Marni @weightwhat yes!! On of them WAS the taxidermy lady. She stole my favorite pen. Wanna cut her for me?
7) @Katdish THANK GOODNESS the twitter is working! I was actually contemplating doing something productive!
8) @billycoffey @katdish You’re right.
9) @weightwhat zort in the mirror….
10) @HerbieGookins @purichristos On a new subject...I start a new job next week working w/ high school students. Hooray! :)
11) @redclaydiaries My 6yo is now wearing her dad's underwear as a hat. (Not really, but that'd be funny, huh?)
12) @br8kthru I'm drinking Mango Ceylon hot tea, but it's the manliest Mango Ceylon tea you've ever seen. Makes me want to spit and/or scratch things.
13) @Helenatrandom Jesus said He'd be coming back. This is the portion of the day when I start trying to look busy...Tweet you all later...


1) It’s a tweet. In reference to Tuesday’s one word carnival, and a discussion about which word to write about on October 20.
2) It’s a tweet. And it must be dang good, because I don’t recall him ever tweeting about food before.
3) It’s a twik. We have twisted way too many things she has said to bite that.
4) It’s a twik. She actually finds morphed pictures to be frightening.
5) It’s a tweet. Bless him; I wouldn’t even know that today is National Prolife Cupcake Day.
6) It’s a tweet. The lady who is afraid of Marni’s curtains is really getting on her nerves.
7) It’s a tweet. Actually, she is an artist, and is constantly doing productive things, but she is modest. Yes. She is…stop laughing….
8) It’s a tweet to be recorded for all posterity to know now.
9) It’s a twik. While she does quote Pinky at times, she has not yet tweeted that particular phrase.
10) It’s a tweet. Congratulations, HG.
11) It’s a tweet. And yes. Yes it would.
12) It’s a tweet. I wonder if Mango Ceylon tea would put hair on my chest…
13) It’s a tweet. I don’t mean anything blasphemous. I truly mean that it is time for me to move on to something else besides the computer. I can’t promise that I won’t be distracted from what I should be doing by other things, but I am going to at least walk away from the computer for a little bit and make an attempt. That’s what I mean by looking busy… Which I am not actually going to attempt upon finishing this post. It’s late, and the only thing I’m going to attempt to do is not wake Bob with my snoring….

It's Gonna Get Cold Outside...

It is forty eight degrees in Chicago as I write this. Today's high will be sixty degrees. If only the leaves outside my window would start turning color, it would be a perfect autumn day. Perfect autumn days have me thinking about hot apple cider, decorative pumpkins, and pressed leaves. It is also time to start planning for not so perfect winter days...

I live in a cold city in the winter. Lake effect is a nasty thing. I know. It is rougher in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan...But do you know what really insulates a person from the chill on a bitterly cold morning? A scarf. Whoever invented the scarf is a genius! Tied around the neck, the throat is protected from blustery wind. One end of the scarf tucked under the coat protects the chest from piercing pain, while the other end of scarf can be held up in front of the face so that the cheeks don't sting. I am available to write brochures for winter tourism in Chicago, if anyone out there reading this interested...

If you are planning a visit to Chicago this winter, don't be discouraged. It is a beautiful city. The lights downtown still leave me in childlike awe. The penetrating wind coming off of Lake Michigan is bearable, if you are wearing the proper clothing...

Now is where I make the pitch. Not everyone has the proper clothing. Every city and town in America has its disadvantaged. But the unshielded in Chicago have it especially rough.

Long story short, my parish (as is every Church, Synagogue, Mosque, Temple, etc) is collecting hats, scarves, gloves, coats, blankets, you name it, for the needy. Some things will be given to homeless shelters, some to children's hospitals (heartbreaking how many Children in Children's Memorial are there due to fire, and have no homes to go to when they get out...), schools... The ICF in my parish will be collecting these things, boxing them, and sorting them with Sister Whosit (sorry Sister, I never met you, and can't remember your name...).

One thing that moves me is that the ladies in this group are making a lot of these things by hand. Perhaps I am more sentimental than practical, but I think the time and love put into handmade items give them extra warmth. Maybe that is because my Grandmother and her best friend, whom my mom was named after, crocheted things for me, and crocheted things remind me of them....

So here is the plan. I am going to make videos of the steps included in making a scarf. The idea is that anyone interested in learning to make a scarf, and finds my video helpful, is requested by me to make one scarf for the needy in their area. If someone feels motivated to make a dozen, God bless them, that is at least eight more than I will be able to do. I gave up crocheting a long time ago, and wasn't that good to begin with. But it would be a shame to ignore this inkling that I need to do this after posting on obedience yesterday. (Yeah. Thanks Peter.... ;-) )

I am not trying to twist any of my cyber friends' arms into doing this with me. I know your love for God and His people, and have no doubt that you are doing what you are called to do. Not everyone wants to, or has time to, grab a crochet needle and play with yarn until they get the hang of it and make something useful. Maybe not one of my cyberfriends has time for this, but someone googling crochet only scarf will find the video useful, and someone who needs a little insulation from the cold will get it.

But there is one thing I need of you, my cyber friends. Advice. Should I post the videos on this blog, on the collaboration Fellowship of the Traveling Smarty Pants, or start a new blog for this? I think that this blog and fottsp are sufficiently random that it fits, but would it be too distracting from the humorous and thoughtful posts, or vice versa. On my sidebar, you will find a poll. I am asking that you vote on how I should proceed: Post video here at Random Musings, Post video on fottsp, or Start a New a Temporary blog. Keep in mind, I am not an expert in crochet. I am a one trick pony. I can do scarves. (I tried crocheting hats. That wasn't a total disaster, as I was able to turn them into tacky toilet paper covers...)

Please help me out and vote. I don't want to put even more random stuff here if it will annoy my cyber friends... But starting a crocheting blog seems so wrong for someone who can't remember how to triple stitch. And what is single stitch into the back loop anyways? See what I mean?




In the meantime, here is a video I found on youtube for making a chain stitch, which will be the one we start out with. Even when I have my videos up and running, I will be linking youtbue videos of other demonstrations to my post. Sometimes the same thing explained a different way can be a big help!
I like working with a size G crochet hook.

Obedience

My cyber friends, Peter Pollock and Bridget Chumbley, are having a blog carnival today where we all blog about our favorite topic, obedience. Yeah, I couldn't even type the word favorite with a straight face. Disobedience seems to come so naturally...

When I was a little girl, I adored my parents. And they loved me....So you would think that in the warm, loving environment I was blessed to be raised in, I would recognize that they were always doing what is best for me, and obey. Actually....

I vividly remember my mom telling me to never, ever grab anything from the stove, ever. I was shorter than the stove by at least half. One day, during breakfast mom went to the bathroom. Guess what I decided it was the perfect time for me to do? Find out what was so great about the pan on the stove! Mom got out of the bathroom just in time to smack my hand away from the pan. Hard.

Then there was daddy, telling me to never, ever play with knives. Well, mom and dad were busy one day. Any guesses as to where I went? Yep. Time to find out what fun the knife drawer in the kitchen held. The butcher knife looked mighty interesting to me... Apparently daddy figured I was too quiet. He came into the kitchen, gently removed the butcher knife from my hand, then smacked it. My hand, not the butcher knife.

We had lovely neighbors. The older woman next store was so kind and grandmotherly. We used to visit her and her husband often. But then there was the week she had company from overseas, and daddy said we should let her be, so she can enjoy people she may never see again....Well, having all the patience of a four year old, meaning none, any guesses as to what I did? Yep, I snuck out of the house to go next door. Daddy intercepted me, and I got the only spanking on my bottom that I remember. Perhaps not the only spanking, but the only one worth remembering....

I know. The post is supposed to be about obedience, and all I have written so far is about disobedience. I suppose it is because disobedience comes so natural. I had good, loving parents, who only made rules for my own good. Look at them. Anything unreasonable about telling your kids not to grab things that are cooking on the stove (especially when they are less than half the stove's height), not to play with butcher knives, or sneak out of the house at night when they are under age four?

And God doesn't ask anything unreasonable from us. Look at the ten commandments. If EVERYBODY followed them, ALL OF THE TIME, wouldn't planet earth be fabulous? Sure, we would still have death and disease (which, I know, technically wouldn't be here without Adam and Eve's first disobedience, but can the retired butcher knife inspector really judge Adam and Eve?), but we would have such harmony here...

Obedience would bring happiness and safety, just as I'd have been way safer and happier if I hadn't thought playing with hot pans, knives, and sneaking out were such good ideas. What is it about human nature that makes it so hard for us to trust the One (and the ones) who want only good and wonderful things for us, but so easy to trust our own bad judgement?

Am I any better about obedience as an adult than I was as a child? Hardly... My one area of improvement, I think, is coming to understand that I need to obey because it is good for me, and not because I might get caught...

So I guess what I am saying is that before obedience comes trust, and who is worthier of trust than God? Come to think of it, who is worthy of absolute trusts BESIDES God? I know there are many bible verses about trust. But right now, I am thinking of a beautiful old hymn. I am sure you know it as well, if not better, than I do....

Conversation 411

I was reading Billy Coffey's guest post on Hey Look A Chicken today, and found myself remembering....

"The king is a big man, but he still can't eat his cookies with a shovel."

Some of you may recognize this as a Hungarian proverb. I suspect that if you recognize it, it is because I have dropped that little ditty in comments on various blogs over almost two years. I haven't exactly been spamming blogs with that saying, but when asked favorite quotations, BAM! That one is right up there. My daddy thought he taught it to me when I was a little girl. I could recite it when I was eight. I don't think I understood it until I say my daddy demonstrate it when I was twenty-two.

Mom was convinced that I'd have a better chance getting a job teaching in the neighborhood if we went to neighborhood meetings. That is NOT how it works in Chicago, but my general philosophy on life has always been, "when possible, humor mom." So the three of us, mom, dad, and I, started going to neighborhood improvement association meetings. It was about stuff like keeping people from littering in the park, to encouraging folks to plant flowers in front of their house. There were also mitten and coat drives, stuff like that. I am sure something like this exists where you live. Doesn't it exist everywhere?

Well, the meeting portion of the evening is over, and the cookies and juice part is about to begin. I was surprised to run into one of the professors from the University I just graduated from. (I went to a "Commuter School". No dorm for me. I lived at home and took the bus everyday to classes, just like when I was in High School.) Here mom, dad and I were sitting down with a professor and his wife, who for all I know may have been a professor, too.

Now, my daddy used to read a lot, but he had not been to college. When he came to America, he went to trade school. My daddy was able to fix electrical stuff, plumbing, do carpentry kind of stuff around the house. He was a machinist, and I was very proud of his abilities. But what on earth could he talk about with an anthropology professor?

HRM: Professor McIntosh, this is my daddy, Frank, and my mom, Helen.
Professor: Nice to meet you. I'm Andy, and this is my wife Mabel.
Daddy: Nice to meet you.
Mom: Lovely neighborhood.
Mabel: Oh yes!
Daddy: Have you lived here long?
Professor: No. We just moved in a couple of months ago.
Daddy: Really? Make sure you go for walks east of Keeler Avenue on Carmen. You can't get there by car, but it is really a beautiful area of the park, very much separated from the play area and field house, as it is across Foster Avenue.
Professor: Really? Are dogs allowed there? I have a ......



You can picture the rest, I'm sure. It is what communication experts refer to as a "conversation". It seems I underestimated both the professor, and my daddy. I seem to have somehow thought that just because up until now, I had never seen Professor McIntosh outside of his professional setting, that he couldn't talk about anything except anthropology, and that dad would not be able to hold his own talking with such a well educated man.

Silly Helen! Experience and empathy made Daddy ten times better at conversing with anyone than I was....

I was a very, very foolish young woman. Daddy and the professor had a nice long chat. The life experiences of anthropology professors is a lot like our own. Apparently they take walks in the neighborhood, and pick up dog poop, much the same way machinists and their families do (or would if they didn't have a daughter who was allergic to dog hair...)


Come on and join Wendy's life is funny blog carnival. She isn't fussy about whether you mean hilarious, strange, or just a good time.

Today is Stacy from Louisville's Birthday

To tell the truth, I don't know Stacy well enough to choose a video for a special blog post for her, and she actually doesn't read my blog anyway. Which is fine.
Stacy is a well liked commenter on Stuff Christians Like, and up until a couple months ago updated a blog with both funny and serious anctedotes. It seems that due to her dad's illness, she is too busy for the cyberworld. But as people who have appreciated her humor, are we in the cyberworld too busy for her?

I know that Jon Acuff is shouting out Happy Birthday to her on his blog, and he is providing a link to her blog to wish her a Happy Birthday. Not that I'm a copycat or anything, but I wanted to put up a little blurb here as well.

I hope we aren't too busy to visit her blog and say Happy Birthday, and pray for her dad, her own health, and her family today.
Happy Sunday, and God Bless us, everyone!

Friday Twitter Ho Down: Twik or Tweet!

Today we have a nonvlog version of Twik or Tweet. I explained how to play last week. We still play by the same rules, except this time, you read for yourselves. Your cornea ought not to bleed...I keep it short.



1) Let's start with me. Did I, Helenatrandom, tweet this?

@PeterPollock Which blog carnival. Retweet something to explain, if it helps. I am most likely in...I'm always in...TW...nevermind...


2) Did @PeterPollock tweet this?
@katdish No clowns, except maybe @makeadiff21 We're all going to write about the same thing on the same day and see what we all come up with


3)Did @BridgetChumbley tweet this?
Oh Helen, I LOVE your Jail Roman Polanski twibbon! He should be put away for good!

4)Did @weightwhat tweet this?
I sure hope my daughter does something odd today so I'll have something to blog about.


5) Did @billycoffey tweet this?
The reason they call them lessons is because they lessen from day to day.--Lewis Carrol

6) Did @buzzbyannies tweet this?
How is it that I can dream about eating a bacon cheeseburger with curly fries and wake up feeling 5 lbs heavier?


7)Did @sarahsalter tweet this?
I always wear pink undies, because they're hawt, and so am I!

8) Did @br8kthru tweet this?
I smile @ EVERYONE- really- but I'm thinking I should stop smiling @ them in the bathroom. It's weird. PS guess where I just came from

9) Did @makeadiff21 tweet this?
Something going on in our state... And we all know who is suffering and it isn't the politicians! http://tinyurl.com/y8w87mz


10) Did @katdish tweet this?
Just to tell you, I have lemons on my avatar to support the fight of childhood cancer. I am not eating lemons. (Currently)


11) Did @CandySteele tweet this?
Enjoying a cup of frankenberry tea with my whole wheat blueberry poptarts. Yummo!

12) Did @HerbieGookins tweet this?
.jjjjjjjjjjn.ji.jiji/jih.n0 Look! Baby's first tweet!

13) Did @redclaydiaries tweet this?
Picked up Scruff from the vet. Note to self: Change Scruff's name to Scruffette.

Bonus: Did I tweet a link to this video?










1) Tweet. Yes. Yes I did.
2) Tweet. Yes, he did. He is going to host a blog carnival where we all write on the topic of obedience. It starts next week Tuesday. I will be participating, and will link to his blog in case you want to participate as well.
3) Twik. Actually, no. Her tweet was that she can no longer see my face. I responded that I will take down the twibbon in a few days when I am sure that everyone I know on twitter knows how I feel about this rapist. She responded favorably to me wanting to vocalize on this. (Oh, and couldn't you just scream at Whoopi Goldberg for her comment about it! Even Joy Behar gets that Polanski commited a heinous act!)
4) Tweet. Yes. Yes she did.
5) Twik. No. While Mr. Coffey does tweet quotes from wise men, he has yet to quote Lewis Carol.
6) Tweet. Yes, she did. Must be living a good life for God to give her such sweeeeeet dreams....
7) Twik. No. No, she didn't. You will just have to follow her yourself to find out what she had to say about underwear.
8) Tweet. Yes, he did.
9) Tweet. Yes, and amazingly enough, she is not from Illinois.
10) Tweet. Yes. I tried to put the lemons on mine, but they abandoned me after I put Jail Roman Polanski twibbon on my avatar. I guess that even the lemons don't want anything to do with him.
11) Twik. Do I even need to explain that one?
12) Tweet. Isn't that a sweet tweet?
13) Twik. Scruff is still Scruff.

Bonus: YEAH BABY! TWEET TWEET!

Happy Birthday Mare!

For those of you that are not familiar with Mare, she has just recently returned from spending a year as a missionary to Africa, and is now studying at seminary. While I believe her goal is to eventually return to missionary work, I just know that wherever she goes, she will bring the love of Christ with her.

God bless you, Mare.

I chose this song for you because, besides being the song that never seemed to end, it is about making a difference, and you, my friend, inspire me to want to make a difference!




There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me



Click on the title of this post to wish Mare a Happy Birthday on her blog.