8 is enough. Or is it 14?

Seems a woman in california had eight children at once,now when i was a child this would have been unheard of because mother nature dosen't work that way and if it were an odd occurance most of those babies would not have lived.
What are we doing in this country when we allow a woman with 6 children living at her parents house,with no job and going to college to have 8 more children.
It's crazy that any one who can not afford to raise 6 children should be implanted with 8 eggs.Now if you and your spouse can afford a large family then God bless you and have 3 dozen children if thats what you want but when you have 6 children no job and go to a fertility clinic for more childen then you are an irresponsible person.
This clinic should be held accountable for its poor judgement.I had one child and can tell you the first year is the hardest.How do 2 people raise this many babies? when do you sleep and eat?how do you find the money to pay for all the things these babies will need and what about the other six?they need attention also.
The doctor who implanted all those eggs should now have to pay monthly support and go to this womans house every day and help feed,change and care for these children.Let it hit home just exactly what these people will have to face on a daily basis for the next 18 years.

Being A Witness

While at work yesterday, around 2:30 pm, I was down the hall finishing up my afternoon med pass,this is wind down time in our work day,the three aides were talking to me about how some aides they work with are more involved in getting the job done rather then spending time with the patients and interacting,I said "you can't make people care either you do or you don't."
We talked about how what you do in life comes back to you.I said "what goes around comes around and if you are a religious person this is Gods work and this is why you were put on this earth to make a difference",then I said "if you are not religious then its Karma to do good brings good."It's funny one of the girls said "Amen sister you tell it." Being first a catholic and now an orthodox person I am not used to being "Amened" and was not sure what to say.One of the other aides asked me if I was religious? I said "yes iam, in my own mind I can not see how you can be a medical person and not not see the reality of a higher being."
This reminded me of Sunday at our church council meeting a parishioner stood up and felt that many of us may not understand the true meaning of our heritage and nationality that many of the founders of the church who have now passed on may be rolling over in their grave because of our questionable new ideas.At this point another church member said his father would be more concerned about seeing the orthodox faith be saved that the faith was more then the nationality and his father would want them to do what was needed to save the faith.
Its funny you never know when you'll be asked to witness but its nice know that if the time comes you can step forward and say "yes I do believe in God and I do believe in his plans" we live in a world that does not wish to hear these things in public,some may be offended by what we say but God promises us the holy spirit to give us the words we need at the time we need it.We don't have to preach but we do need to say what we believe and if others choose not to hear us thats alright.

New England or New Iceland

This morning when I woke up and opened the front door to let the dog out I decided that I did not live in New England,no our 1/4 acre estate sits in New Iceland. All you could see from the steps to the road was one full sheet of ice.
After letting the dog back in I went back to bed for several more hours and this time on arising, I saw it, I couldn't believe it, but I did I saw a sight I can honestly say I have not seen in some time.what is it you ask?.... THE SUN....I know I couldn't believe it either I thought for sure Al Gore might be right but this morning proved him wrong we are not in an ice age.Thank goodness,I would hate to be a Conservative and have to admit he was right.
Today I decided to plant some indoor tulip bulbs and put then in our bedroom window,one way or the other I plan on seeing some spring.Where is the green grass,the bunnies,the flowers and the butterflies? they have to be coming soon because.... THE SUN IS SHINING..."alright mother nature you go girl"... lets see some of the beauty you are hiding from us because God knows were all ready, come on you can do it I have faith in you.
Last Autumn Fr. Peter asked John,Laura and I to plant spring bulbs in front of our church,at the time it seemed like so much work in the hot fall sun but now the excitement of thinking about the ascetic beauty they will bring as they bloom has made me see our Fr.Peters' vision. hopefully, if they will co-operate,tulips will be in bloom.Jesus said "Solomon and all his glory was not arrayed as one of these" At this point in the frosty,icy winter I can fully see what he meant.Bloom baby bloom cause we need a litle spring..

nickle and dimed to death

Yesterday while watching a Conn. news channel it was decided by our governor that the time has come for our state to start putting dime deposits on all soda,water and juice cans and bottles.This is a good thing right? we'll I thought so because i can not tell you how many times while walking i have come across empty water bottles laying on the side of the road and thought "why don't we recycle those?" but it seems the state is not as green as I am. Believe it or not my state has other motives,did you know that every time you buy a bottle or can and pay your deposit if you do not return your purchase the state gets that money? So now instead of getting nickles they can now get dimes.
Our governor also has decided it is time for us to start paying a nickle a bag for plastic bags from not only grocery stores but also retail stores.Why are they concerned about being enviromentally green? no the nickles will be sent to the state.I guess they feel trying to push for a tax hike would be turned down but nickle and diming us to death is alright.
This is not just a Conn.idea it seems our brother to the north,Mass.has also decided this is a great idea and they also want to raise the gas tax.how kind of them while were all struggling to get by, talk about kicking us when were down.
Now I'm all for doing what we can to help keep our environment clean but I am not in favor of them slipping these nickle and dime fees on us especially since no one up on the hill ever says "hey lets stop spending so much money,lets cut back just like our residents are being forced to do after all they are losing their jobs and homes".
Conn and Mass are spendaholic states, they are very business unfriendly and now they are trying to pull fast ones over on their residents so they can keep on spending.
I say stop the insanity and stop the spending do what every one else is doing and cut out the fat.We have all had to cut back in order to stay afloat why not the government.Are they better then us? do they deserve to live at a higher standard while walking all over us? There is a reason why so many people are moving out of our states to cheaper states if you have no home and no job you really have no reason for you or your family to stay around.we are not horses so stop saddling us with all these burdens, live at the standards of your people or get out of office and get a real job,oh yeah i forgot we have none of those.

hello monday

Monday at work is always a state of confusion at best.On that day I know I will be coming into what ever was not done throughout the weekend and true to form yesterday was one of those days.Unfortunately for me I feel over burdened before my day even starts,spending an hour just trying to straighten out what was placed in front of me from report that could have been called or faxed on the weekend with messages left now becomes my problem.
To start with Monday was freezing cold,the heat was off in the house and the furnace needed to be reset,then it was in the single digits out side so the car was still not all that warm when i got to work,the problems from the weekend to handle and low and behold the state walked in,not for their survey for other issues, but when they come in you have to go into survey mode,phone calls from pharmacy's,lab reports, family members, sick patients needs to be met,unhappiness with staff and some where in there some pill passing and treatments and maybe lunch.
4pm. out of work and off to get take out for supper while waiting I got hear about staffing problems in the restaurant.home again...home again...all right.
My husband went to his meeting at the church and I planned to watch tv.when suddenly my son said the toilet wont flush and plunging is not helping,It Always seems vic is not around when these things happen,water all over the floor and a lousy plunger after 1/2 hour no luck.out to wal marts for a better plunger,towels all over the floor another hour of plunging still no luck.
Thank God Vic is home with an unhappy look on his face in 15 minutes the toilet is flushing again,he explained to me the importance of plunging upward not just downward.
So today i wash and bleach not only the towels but also the bathroom , I guess I have my day planned.maybe tomorrow I will look forward to being back at work...I doubt it...

church meeting

Today we had our church council meeting,always a pleasant and scary thing at best.
We,like most churches, have divisions in our people,although we love and want our church to survive we have different opinions on how we need to approach things.
We have the people who fear change,the people who want change and those that are stuck in the middle unsure of what change we need and how far we need to go with it.
Our church needs to be a living breathing entity which extents it self to others in the community,it needs to move forward with the times and be all encompassing greeting not only those who are of this faith and nationality but also those who are not.
We held our meeting in the church to remind us why we are here and who is present with us at all time.Fr.Peter did an excellent job on restraint and for the most part the majority of us understood that orthodoxy is a faith not a nationality.
This is all very difficult for the people who fear change,being a convert allows me to understand that change requires courage and this is not always easy for those who are feeling change being thrust upon them,wheather real or imagined.
Old age and old ideas do not allow for freedom it clips your wings when you fear the lose of earthly things like wealth and stability but God does not want us to worry about these things,it does no good to hold tight to security when there are only a handful of people left to uphold your church.God wants us all to take the leap of faith because he holds us in the palm of his hands and to not trust him is to feel we are in control,we are not you know, only God is in control and to think other wise is to lack humility and faith.
We,like the birds of the field, need to spread our wings and let God be the wind beneath us and I think we will be amazed at how much support we have and how high we can soar.

caroline kennedy

Today Caroline Kennedy decided not to take the senate seat in New York,she said she is turning it down related to personal issues.This should be the end of story but of course it is not the end it is the beginning.Now all the media is suggesting that she has tax issues,domestic help problems and of course the fact that she may have had an affair with a married man while she was married.
So now comes the time when the media tears her apart, why? because shes rich and a Kennedy.I guess I'm protective of her because she is one day older then me and being the same age I can understand the transitions she has made through out her life.We were both young children when her father died,I recall running into the house and asking my mother what was going on on t.v. and her telling me it was Caroline's fathers funeral,such a sad little girl standing near her veiled mother looking at the horse drawn funeral carriage pass by,the loss of her mother and close friend from cancer,my own mother also died of cancer.losing her young brother in a plane accident,my brother also died at a young age. Her marriage and children moments of happiness for her,which through all her tragedies were well deserved.
This is a strong,sensitive woman who decided to try and step out into the world and try her families business but make the correct choice and backed out.She, like Sarah Palin, will now be ripped apart because she doesn't fit the mold the Washington world wants.
It's easy to say she's rich and spoiled but she has had to face a world of problems from a very young age and to my knowledge seems to be a very strong woman,she's a lawyer and mother of three children who may have made mistakes in her life but it seems to me as far as the Kennedy clan goes, she is probably one of the more well adjusted of all the children and grandchildren.
I say she turned the post down give her the respect she deserves and let her go back to her quite life. God knows she's had enough turmoil now lets give her some peace.

fellowship meal

What is fellowship? The Webster dictionary says its:A friendly relationship;the condition or fact of having common interest,ideals, or experiences.
But what exactly does the word fellowship mean in a religious context? When I think of fellowship I think of a group of people getting together for a meal and/or discussion and friendly conversation.
The apostles and followers of the new christian faith started out their Sabbath by going to Temple then going to homes or catacombs for prayer,communion and fellowship.
If this is what fellowship is then how do we get people who are not yet religious or faithful to join us in a common meal and friendship? Does this word frighten people away by thinking we're dragging them into a prayer group?
Several weeks ago my husband and I,along with Fr.Peter and John,attended a free meal at St.Hedwig,in Southbridge mass,the meal was set up to help feed the community in town.While talking to one of the organizers he said that allot of the people attending their meals we mainly elderly church members,from their church, and he was not sure if this was because they called the meal a fellowship meal, maybe the people from the community may have been frightened off thinking this may be a conversion/prayer type thing and not just a free meal.
To tell you the truth I never thought about this but after he said that it made me wonder if this was true.I'm not sure if I was a person of no particular faith if I would feel there was some ulterior motives on the part of the church.It just brings to mind though that when we decide to do things in the community we need to be sensitive to the words we choose,the same word can have different meanings for each one of us depending on where we stand.What might be a simple act of caring and friendship form one person perspective may seem frightening to another person.

Edgar Allen Poe

Today Jan.19th is the 200th birthday of Edgar Allen Poe,A personal favorite of mine.
He was born in Boston on Jan. 19,1809 to actors Elizabeth and David Poe,his mother died in 1811 and he was sent to live with a prosperous tobacco merchant and his wife John Allen.He attended private schools and then the University of Va.although he was a good student he left in less then a year because the Allen's refused to cover his gambling debts,they then disowned him.
Poe was the father of the modern detective story "The Murders In The Rue Morgue"was the model used for the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories and the modern detective stories of today.He believed stories should expand and drive the mind beyond its limitations.He is also one of the first writers to try to support him self through his writing and working in news papers.He died of mysterious circumstances on Oct.7,1849 at the age of 40 with little money due to his alcoholism.
I became acquainted with his writing when in high school I had to read "The Tell Tale Heart" from that moment on I knew this was a special writer and I was hooked.So whether you like or hate him he was a special person who lived a very short and tragic life but had a great deal of talent. Remember the Raven who said "never more,never more" for there will never be another writer like he.

snow day

Yesterday was to be our parish council meeting but due to snow...(oh what a surprise)we did not have it,church was canceled.I guess God needed another weekend to prepare himself for one of our yearly meetings,in the past they have not all been pretty and thank God those were the meetings i missed due to my job.
Anyways yesterday we all spent the day,on and off,shoveling and I can honestly say the only one who really enjoyed the snow was our dog Christi.She is a snow bunny and loves to jump and bounce through the yard as we lift our shovel fulls of snow and toss them to the side of the driveway she jumps into the snow piles and pushes them back into the driveway for us to re shovel.
She loves to stick her face in the snow then look up at you and shake her head,life for her is good.Having her around makes the shoveling fun and gives me some exercise as i toss her ball down the street and throw shovel fulls of snow on top of her.
When i was a child i loved building snowmen,throwing snowballs and building snow forts.having her around reminds me of that fun.I grew up with dogs,we always had at least one around.I remember them running trying to pull our gloves off as we went sliding down the hill in our yard.
How man and dog became linked to each other many generations ago is uncertain to me but i do know we can learn allot from our pets they have the right idea about what is really important,if you loose your enjoyment to live what is the purpose of being here, life would become a drudgery with nothing positive to make us happy.

my favorite mug

My days off usually consist of trying to do everything that I miss being able to do on days I work things like banking,shopping,appointments and various things around the house.
On those mornings I read my bible,pray then go have breakfast trying,when time permits,to make these leisurely moments unrushed.
Several mornings ago as I was getting ready to eat breakfast I went to the cupboard and was happy to see my favorite mug waiting for me.As I drank my coffee I began to think about this mug and why it seemed so favored by me.Its not much of a mug,as mugs go,it is sort of bell shaped and tall with 3 snowmen painted on the front,the back ground is white with blue here and there.
It came into my life 3 years ago as a Christmas gift from a friend, filled with chocolate and since then has become my warm comfy friend.
Now I probably have at least 15 coffee cups and mugs most of which hold no particular appeal to me except for being a drinking vessel and each waits its turn to be picked when my favorite is not yet been cleaned.
As the day went on I began to think about many of the things I own and how every category holds certain things that are my favorite things like ear rings,necklaces, sweaters,slacks,shoes and on and on.Why if i own so many things do i favor so few of them? why do i continue to own things that just sit and wait and very rarely get worn or used? could someone else use these things that i so infrequently wear or use?maybe these things could become another persons favorite instead of just taking up place in my cupboards,draws and closets.
We are all guilty of thinking that owning allot of stuff adds to our wealth and security.Do we really need all we have? Do they add to our lives? in the end one must ask do we really posses these things or do they posses us?

Frozen New England

Welcome to frosty New England.The other day while scrapping the ice off my cars' windshield and trying to warm it up,just a little,I thought "did I wake up not here in Conn. but maybe Alaska because this is just plain silliness." Enough with the winter wonderland and guess what more snow is predicted for this afternoon.
Well all i can say is God certainly has a sense of humor but i guess since He did go through all the trouble of making this frosty,cold,white season we should at least give him a moment of thanks because like all things I'm sure he has his reasons and they are not for us to question,I'll try to remember that next time I'm scraping or shoveling.
The other day while cleaning my closet I found a thistle bird feeder that got bought on sale and stored away for just such a winters day as this. Today I plan on going to Wal Marts and picking up some bird food for my cold feathered friends and putting up this new feeder and refilling the old ones.
These little fellows do help make the winter months more enjoyable for me.This morning while laying in bed reading I could hear several of them chirping in the branches of the giant frozen apple tree by our bed room window.they sounded so happy like the snow and the cold did not seem to bother them at all,they seem to take one day at a time and sing happily no matter what mother nature throws at them.
How lucky we are to have such merry little creatures to remind us to not worry of tomorrows weather and still sing gratefully to our Lord taking one day at a time and giving him praises for not only the warm months of our lives but the cold ones as well.

abotion rally

Recently I was asked about attending an abortion rally to be held in Washington d.c.
Its always good to see democracy at its best.They tell me there will be a large crowd and many religions will be in attendance.
Back in the 90's the catholic church I attended had several woman and the priest who were very anti abortion,most of his sermons were about how bad abortions were and how every one needed to rally behind him against abotrian clinics.
Although I feel abortions are wrong and I would neither have one nor would I encourage any one else to follow through with such a plan,I also understand that not every one believes as I do and unfortunately will probably follow through if they have their mind set on it.
Since the 90's I have had a bad taste related to the tactics used to try to convince woman not to have abortions there is something not right about shooting receptionist,nurses and doctors who worked at these clinics.If your a true christian nothing in my mind justifies blowing clinics up.
I know allot of men,especially those with prominence and money who are totally against abortions I do so wish these same men would push for boys and men to be more responsible and step up and be a father.We need men telling other men its time to pay if you choose to play.
To insist that people remain abstinent rather then use some form of birth control is also a hard one to wrap my mind around.In a perfect world all people would have children only when they wanted them unfortunately in the real world allot of women who find out they are pregnant also find out they have very little mental, financial or spiritual support.It all becomes her problem and she is forced to deal with it sometime alone.
I feel those who are against abortion, and i am one,need to also be in favor of talking about how we can assist these women and men need to step up to the plate and talk to boys and men about their responsibility in this child's life.Because this is a child and it does deserve to have a life.Hillary Clinton's book title states "it take a village to raise a child" now is the time for the village to step forward and in case you didn't know that would be you and me.

resolutions

I'm not a person to make new years resolutions but what i try to do is think about what I would like to accomplish through out the year like save a certain amount of money,pay off a debit,eat better,its my long range approach.This works better for me then picking one thing and trying to do it right away,it gives me the time to plan and figure out how i will accomplish what i want to do.It's much less stressful and usually by the end of the year i have accomplished most of what i planned on doing.
Resolutions are nice but you have to be honest with your self i know i can not give up sweets but if i set up a plan to try to eat less, smaller portions,handle cravings,what to do when feeling deprived all seems easier with an outline in my mind.
Today while reading John's blogg(a simple man) he mentioned the fact that most people do not resolve to be more spiritual.I never thought about it but he is right I have never heard any one say they want to resolve to be closer to God,attend church more often,spend more time in prayer.
Being more spiritual and religous takes planning too,you have to do a little at a time.Say a simple prayer like "thank you" each morning or evening can be a good way to start, build up your time a little every now and then,you'd be surprised how much you can accomplish.
To beging vow to go to church once a month then increase your attendence has your faith increases.It takes time but you do have 365 days ahead of you.Why not volunteer an hour or two out of your year to a fund raiser for your church? Maybe when you see how simple and rewarding it is has the year goes on you will be volunteering for something else.
Start small and grow big,step by step,day by day you will increase slowly.Its alright God can wait he has all eternity on his side but what do you have on your side?

got a phone call today

Today,when I came home from grocery shopping,my husband told me my ex-brother-in-law Steve had just called, his mother is in the hospital dying and he wanted to talk to me.I must admit I angrily told my husband "and what would that have to do with me?".my husband calmly said you should call him.
I am not on very good terms with my ex husband or his older brother,Steve was married to a woman named Patty,who had ms.and was in a wheel chair and left her for his best friends' wife.Patty was my friend and his leaving devastated not only her but their 15 year old daughter.
He is now remarried and they have a son.
After i got passed my anger I hesitantly decided to call him, his wife answered the phone then had Steve pick up,at first I felt very uncomfortable but asked how things were going with his mother and realized has i talked with him that he was just a man whose mother was dying and needed someone to talk to.
When we were finished i told him it it is always very hard to lose your parent no matter how old you are you always feel like an orphan at that point he told me his father had Alzheimer's disease and could not remember his present wife or child just Patty and her daughter.
I told him that he could call Vic or I any time he needed to talk and that we both loved him at that point he began to weep so hard he could not continue talking to me and tried to ask me to tell my son about his grandmother being so sick,i finished his sentence and reassured him i would.
Its strange how things can change in a minute I went from total anger and disdain to
calling him trying to be kind and ended the conversation with meaning what I said.I try never to hold grudges if I'm angered I just leave but sometimes the baggage is still there and like salt being poured in a wound it still hurts.
life is life and in the end we are all bruised people in need of love.