Advent BEGINS NOW

Once again, I am opening up the Mosh Pit for your viewing pleasure. Consider this as a type of mortification for those who need a little help getting into the spirit of Advent.

Prayer

Fasting

Almsgiving

Jon Anderson from the group Yes singing "I Saw Three Ships'"

Thanksgiving Meditation

Folks enjoyed the turkey cooked with Shiner Bock beer over the one cooked with mustard, but still preferred the ones cooked last year with wine. So next year I'll go back to wine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I know this was posted already, but I am conducting an experiment with Facebook.

November 25 2008

Today would have been Theodore's 16th Birthday.

I still get bills for some of his medical care; one in particular keeps getting larger each time I receive it. Every time I call the billing company they tell me it was an error and we have a zero balance on our account.

Somewhere a tree was planted in Theodore's honor; I can't imagine that it would be able to sit still. I recall how he used to sneak up to the lectern and start talking into the microphone. He especially liked to run to the lectern as soon as i went into the confessional.

Speaking of confessionals....

I had a dream about Theodore several weeks ago early one morning. In my dream, Theodore was in church along with the rest of the family. I was standing in line for confession, and Theodore was running around greeting all the people who were present. From somewhere he pulled a tray of donuts, which he began offering to all the people. He ran into the sacristy with his donuts, laughing all the way. In my dream, I started to laugh but ended up crying.

I told my wife about my dream when I left for work, and she had a dream about Theodore afterwards. She dreamed that Theodore told her he was happy where he was.



The look on the face of Henry V after he lay the child in the cart always gets me; hardly a day goes by without me having a flashback of Theodore's death and my failed attempt to resuscitate him.

While the World and I Sleep

While the world and I sleep,

someone will hit the mark.

Exceeding thirty-K,

ere light replaces dark.

No fanfare will it cause;

no quarter hour of fame.

Grateful for your visit,

we'll never know your name.

Thanks all who come and gaze,

upon the words you see.

I won't apologize

for my Bad Poetry.

SMD

11.22.2008

On the anticipated 30,000th visit to my blog, which was started in late June, 2006.




UPDATE!!!!

NUMBER 30,000 was from Taiwan!
That person was looking up stuff about St. Jean Vianney!

Thank You!

Early Thanksgiving Wishes

Permit me to be one of the first to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. Here in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area, Christmas music started a few weeks ago on one of the local radio stations.

We are blessed in so many ways, and we have so much to be thankful for even in a year that has been full of sorrow. I would love to list the many blessings we have received, but it is Saturday, and it is time to work around the house.

Dadwithnoisykids Is Chastised

Some things can bear no explanation. All I can say is that is my 'Default Picture Walrus' trying out one of the features of the new iMac.

I am humbled.

I went shopping with my wife this evening. My main role was to drive the car and pay the bills and spend some quality time with my Best Beloved.

I think I succeeded on most counts. Heck, I even got her in on time, as I promised my 13-year old son:

"How late are you going to be out?" said he.

"I shall have your mother home before 10 o'clock," I replied. "If we are going to be late, I shall call."

He still looked concerned....

We went to a mall in Dallas which is soooo upscale that I am wrong to call it a mall. I had to pay just to walk through one of the stores.

We went to a store where they sell high quality kitchenware and force feed you things that they are cooking in the kitchen/checkout counter which is located in the center of the store. There I was chastised by my wife for something I did over the weekend.

But first, consider this one thought: I could have made the first sentence in the paragraph above a lot smaller if I had just told the truth and said we went to a Williams-Sonoma store.

But I digress. There, as I sipped hot apple cider and slurped butternut squash chowder with risotto, my wife enlightened me on the realities of good stockpots and how much they cost. For you see, over the weekend, I canceled an order for an 8-quart stockpot which would have cost about the same amount as a dinner at Nick and Sam's for me and the missus. I said there had to be a better deal somewhere else. My wife showed me that 'better' deal, and then spoke sweetly on the economics of buying inferior pots which fail sooner than more expensive ones.

Let this be a lesson to all men who meddle in stockpots.

We got home by 9:30 p.m., to the relief of all the children.

Veterans Day Meditation

Today, Veterans Day, I spent the day doing what I did while I served in the U.S. Air Force.
 
I spent the day administering anesthesia to children at the hospital where I work.  For four years, I showed up to work, took care of patients, did administrative work, and sat in on a few committee meetings. 
 
For four years, I never got shot at, never worked in a war zone.  I did have to get trained on small arms before deploying to El Salvador, but I never was issued any weapon. 
 
For all those who served in combat, I thank you for all of your sacrifices.  For those who died in service to our country, i shall remember you in my prayers today.
 
It did strike me that I participated in probably the only government program which resulted in an improvement in my earning potential.  I doubt that any other government program could help me realize my dream to be a doctor.

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Buyer's Remorse Will Set In

This is not a political blog, but I have to mention that in just the few days since the elections there are some interesting things coming to light.

Note that the stock market has dropped quite a bit.

If you look on Obama's www.change.gov website, you can find such pricey new programs as this one under 'Homeland Security:'

"Barack Obama will establish a $2 billion Global Education Fund to work to eliminate the global education deficit and offer an alternative to extremist schools"

There goes my little 401-k.

There are lots of things that will be done, and many of them include a dollar amount.

Then there is this little bit of information:

"Barack Obama will pay for his $50 - $65 billion health care reform effort by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level."

Actually, Obama will not pay for this program; we shall, and I do mean all of us.

As I explained it to my children, our expenses consist of the basic necessities(food, shelter, clothing) and those things known as 'luxuries,' which would include things, such as Christmas gifts, birthday presents, new clothing, a newer and faster computer, a new car, a vacation, dining out, new beanie baby scorpions, etc.

If our new president is going to tax us more than we are already, the pool of money left over for necessities and luxuries will get smaller. We shall always provide for the necessities for our children, so the things that we go without will be the luxuries.

Please do not weep for the luxuries that my children will not receive; that is not my point!

My point is that with less money to spend on more luxuries, we will put less money into the economy. For example, we enjoy eating Mexican food, and we are blessed with a good local family-run Mexican restaurant. If we stop eating out, this restaurant will take a small hit on its income; if everyone around here stops eating there, this restaurant could go out of business.

This scenario is just an example of what would happen in an economy where more money goes to the government rather than to the people.

Then there are the unborn who will never see the light of day- and the majority of them are in the same ethnic group as our president-elect:

"Thirty-seven percent of abortions occur to black women, 34% to non-Hispanic white women, 22% to Hispanic women and 8% to women of other races."


For a lot of reasons, I think many who voted for Obama will one day be uttering the last line said by Sir Alec Guinness in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai:




"What have I done?"

I Drank the Kool-Aid

Yes, I went out and bought an iMac. The world is changing. Don't worry, I am still in communion with the Catholic Church.