thursday thirteen: 13 yard/home dreams

Last Year we purchased our very own home, our first.

Since we will be paying on the mortgage for the next 30 years, I would like to make some improvements to the house and yard in that time. This year we are simply trying to keep up with mowing and picking up trash, but in years to come I hope we will see some of these improvements (in no particular order):

#1 A tree house #2 A rock wall

#3 A doggie door

#4. A labyrinth

#5 Lavendar field (but I don't know if we live in the right zone for one) #6 Raspberry canes
#7 A wrap around porch
#8 Window screens

#9 Glass tile bathroom. (Actually right now just any bathroom reno will do, but I dream of a glass tile bathroom. I'm a geek like that)

#10. We have the books, now we just need the library.

#11. A vegetable garden

#12. A windmill. At some point I think it would be cool to live off the grid. I don't know how likely that will ever be.

#13. A green house

three beautiful things

You can check out more beautiful things here: link

1. A cool bedroom to sleep in on a hot night
2. chocolate ice-cream
3. Afternoon naps

ten on tuesday: 10 events that should be olympic sports

#1. Red Rover: "Red rover, Red rover, we call the Ruskies over."

#2. Milk chugging

#3. Musical Chairs.
#4. Tug of War

#5. Twister. (keep the clothing on please)

#6. Three Legged Race

#7. Dodgeball

#8. Hula Hooping. If synchronised swimming and trampolining are already olympic sports then this will be one soon.

#9. Tetris

#10. Pillow fighting

Some thoughts on John McCain

I cannot claim even partial responsibility for coming up with this info, so I will have you check out "my 2 cents" blog and "scott" for the rest of the story. (FYI - These blogs have adult content so don't pop over for a boo and a look see unless you are an adult)

This is directly from Scott's blog.

Many people following this election know that John Sydney McCain is the son and grandson of Navy admirals and that by dint of his birth he was afforded a degree of latitude in his military career for less than stellar behavior that goes along with a family tree like that; such as being one of the worst students in his class at Annapolis yet still managing to graduate.
Yet what many don’t realise is that thanks to McCain’s lineage — a lineage providing connections much like George W. Bush’s — his actions as a Navy pilot that would have resulted in dismissal from the service and possible court martial in anyone else have apparently become a virtual black hole in history.
And part of that historical black hole is that McCain has frequently been accused by men with whom he served in the Navy as being the person directly responsible for the deaths of 131 of his shipmates in 1967 and with whom he served on board the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal {CV-59}.

McCain was acknowledged by many of his peers at the time as being an unsafe pilot and irresponsible hot dog — by the time of the Forrestal incident McCain had crashed four aircraft that he was piloting, a record that in any other naval aviator would have ended a career — and one of the unsafe practices that McCain was notorious for was a thing known as a “wet start” of his aircraft.
A wet start is when the pilot of a jet allows kerosene or jet fuel to pool in the engine and then, once enough fuel has accumulated, the pilot ignites his engine which results in a huge flame being shot to the rear. The purpose of this is to scare the shit out of the pilot in the plane immediately behind you who is waiting to take off.
Wet starts are illegal in the Navy but were common during the Vietnam era among hot young fighter jocks like McCain and by all accounts he enjoyed performing them whenever he thought he could get away with it.
On July 29th 1967, John McCain was in his A-4 Skyhawk aboard the USS Forrestal waiting to be taxied onto the steam catapult in order to launch from the deck of the ship.
Behind his aircraft was an F-4 Phantom jet fully loaded with ordinance including M-34 air to ground Zuni rockets.
At 10:52 AM as McCain waited for take off instructions reports from sailors on the scene indicate that he apparently decided to shake up the pilot of the F-4 to his rear and he performed a wet start on his jet.

The flame from his aircraft’s engine shot back reaching the Phantom and ignited the solid fuel motor on one of the Zuni missiles under the wing of that aircraft. The missile shot across the flight deck of the crowded carrier and slammed into the belly tank of a parked A-4D Skyhawk next to McCain’s craft and ignited the 400 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel in the tank.
When the fuel tank exploded it knocked two 1,000 pound bombs off their mounts and the burning fuel that spread across the deck ignited one of the bombs. The resulting explosion started a chain reaction, cooking off ordinance that was being loaded onto waiting aircraft all across the rear of the huge ship.

One young sailor ran into the flames and found the strength to pick up a red hot 250 pound bomb that was on the verge of exploding and carried it to the side of the ship and threw it overboard.
The flight deck fire was brought under control in about an hour but the burning fuel that leaked into the hanger deck below caused even more ordinance to explode and that fire took more than 12 hours to extinguish.
At the end of the ordeal 131 sailors were dead — either blown to pieces or burned to death –and 168 were badly injured and before the smoke had even cleared or all the dead and wounded counted the navy had rushed John McCain off the aircraft carrier to the USS Oriskany, the only uninjured person on board the Foresstal to be evacuated in this way.
Sailors who were on board that day contend that the Navy removed McCain from the stricken carrier because they feared for his life at the hands of his fellow shipmates.
Needless to say, many of the sailors who lived through that horror have claimed that the Navy apparently hushed up much of the investigation and scrubbed the official findings so that McCain would never be able to be held to account and as of this date McCain has refused to release the complete set of his Navy records for examination — something that John Kerry did in 2004 during his presidential run.

why does it take me so long to get assignments done?

I need to give a shout out to my spousal unit who booted my ass from the house today to go and get an assignment done. (If you click on the link you can check out her blog)

I don't know why it takes me so long to get these things done. I like to do them.

Even since I was booted and came to my office to write I managed to water my plants, blog (twice), read some articles - which was related to my paper, go to the bathroom, visited the vending machines, go to the bathroom again, looked for something I had in the back of my mind would help me with this assignment but in the meantime I found candles, burned candles, played with candle wax, emptied garbage from the back of my truck, phoned home, read other blogs.....

I certainly don't recommend to anyone who wants to succeed to leave assignments to the last minute. One really shouldn't sit down to write a paper in one sitting and think that they will produce anything of quality. I don't really care who you are, or what kind of academic skills you possess, quality work should be written and revised in order to produce the best product. Having said that, my assignment is done (in 4.5 hours including all disruptions) and I am on my way home for my spouse to take a critical look at it so I can make some minor adjustments before submitting it.

unconscious mutterings

Link to more by clicking on the logo above.

Crankiness :: Low Blood sugar
Backpack :: too heavy
Clone :: Wish I had one to stay up with the baby through the night
High ground :: mountain top
Dreams :: in color
Lovingly :: hold the new baby
Mistake :: apology
Carson :: Daly
Errand :: pick up milk on the way home
Dozen :: Enough for a soccer team

"Rules are, there are no rules." There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything that pops into your head.

meme: true or false

True or False

The point of this obviously to simply answer true or false, but I have a hard time following rules sometimes. (only sometimes - generally breaking rules stresses me out)

I've met a celebrity:true, but for the life of me right now I can't think of who.
I've danced naked:is there another way to dance? (this many have caused trauma to anyone who has ever seen me)
I am bored:false. I am blogging - how can I be bored?
I have been to Las Vegas: true, great buffets in Vegas.
I have make a scrapbook: a damn good one
I own a bicycle: true - not one of them is in rideable condition. LOL
I have been to Hollywood: true
I have been on a subway:true
I enjoy roller coasters:true, just not if they do loopy things or I'll barf
My toenails are painted:not yet, but they will be before summer is over (my spouse thinks summer is already over)
I always wear my seatbelt: false
My favorite color is pink: false
I am an only child: false, but an oldest child which has been likened to being an only child (but it's not true)
I have a collection: true. I have a SMALL collection of books (just ask anyone who helped us move)
I have been in a museum: true. I might even go to the local museum this summer, since it is only open summers and I have yet to go inside it.
I run with scissors:I would if I could run
My middle name starts with A: false
I can do a cartwheel: in my mind
I have been on a diet: false, but I need to be.
I am broke:Not as broke as I think I am - damn 30 yr mortgage.
I have a diploma:true
My car gets good gas mileage: true
I live close to the beach: false - but pretty close to a dugout, we just need to import some sand.

Friday Fill In

You can check out Friday Fill In's by clicking here:




1. If I could travel back in time, I'd go to spend time with my nan and Gran Ennis.

2. Give me music or give me television.

3. I am listening to Toad the Wet Sprocket on Windows Media Player.

4. Somewhere, someone is thinking life is too hard.

5. I'll always be in love with my boy.

6. My idea of a good time includes lots of laughter.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to having my night to sleep, tomorrow my plans include pruning and Sunday, I want to finish at least one book, hopefully two!

pics of my main man

pics of the new babe

plants

I like plants. I have an office pretty full of them. I used to have an office with a window but I was moved from that office into a windowless hole (I'm not bitter) and my plants suffered through the move almost as much as I did. So I went out and bought special lights for my office that are plant lights. well the plant lights emit a pinkish glow and it took a while to get used to. We make jokes in the office about my pink lights. I think pretty much everyone is used to them now, but when some new walks into the office they inevitably comment about my plants.
I don't name all my plants but I do name some of them.

I have two "areas" of responsibility and in one of the areas I have taken some plants from my office (when I downsized I lost space also and some plants needed to be relocated). George was one who went to the other location. Well George was growing nicely, doing well in his new home, and one day when I went over, he was broken off right at the base of his stem and laying on the ground. It took some effort to break him because #1 he is not a small plant, and #2 he was not in the way of anything. Of course no-one had any idea what had happened, no-one saw anything and certainly no-one admitted to doing it. Well I nourished George back to life, helped him to grown some new roots and replanted him. So far he is doing well.

George is office mates with Lazarus. I don't know where Lazarus came from, but he has been close to death a number of times and brought back from the brink each time. recently he has been doing VERY well and I have been pleased with his progress. So the other day I go over to this area - where George and Lazarus dwell and Lazarus has been banished by some unknown person (AGAIN with the anonymous plant hater) and has been unwatered and in the dark. AGAIN Lazarus is on the brink of death. So I bring him into the light and water him, but admittedly he looks worse for the wear and it will take some tlc to bring him back to his glory.

Of course, no-one has any idea what could possibly have happened. I stood and talked about this AT the desk. Now this area I am speaking of is the reception area for two different organizations who share the same administrative staff. I am in charge of the staff of the administration area, but not in charge of the staff who work at the other facility. When I was talking about the plight of Lazarus there were staff present from both facilities. One of the people present commented that he didn't like plants but said not a word about moving or having moved, or wanting to move Lazarus.

SOOOOO..... ( I know you see where this is going) TODAY Lazarus is found AGAIN relegated to dark windowless room and AGAIN no-one will admit to knowing anything. But because I am hooked into the underground, I found out that it was this plant hating staff who moved it because he hates how it looks.

Grow some roots asshole. I was standing right there and you didn't say a word about hating my plant. Don't just move it so it will die.

Lazarus is moving today - to the pink room.

Harriet Burns Dies

Harriet. Sweet Harriet. Hard-hearted harbinger of haggus. Beautiful, bemused, belicose butcher. So knowing, so trusting, so lov-ed. He wants you back he screams into the night air, like a fireman going to a window that has no fire, ‘cept the passion of his heart. I am lonely, It’s really hard. This poem sucks. ( From So I Married an Axe Murderer) I dedicate this poem to Harriet Burns. From me - that is the highest form of flattery I can come up with (as my spouse will attest to)

I always wanted to be a Disney Imagineer. In the very first conversation I ever had with my now spouse, I spoke to her about the dream I had to be an imagineer. Sadly, the world has lost one. I know her contributions to Disney certainly inspired me.

Link to the full article here.

(07-29) 16:45 PDT Los Angeles, CA (AP) --
Harriet Burns, the first female artist at Walt Disney Imagineering and a designer of several famous Disneyland rides, has died. She was 79.
Burns worked for Disney from 1955 to 1986, beginning as a prop and set designer for TV's "The Mickey Mouse Club." She designed and built the famous Mousketeer clubhouse, according to a Disney biography.
She later worked on attractions for Disneyland, helping create the models for Sleeping Beauty's Castle and the Matterhorn. She painted underwater figures for the Submarine Voyage attraction, put feathers on birds for Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, and helped with the design and construction of Pirates of the Caribbean.
She also occasionally filled in for Walt Disney on "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color."
In 2000, the Walt Disney Co. named Burns as a Disney Legend, an honor that acknowledges people "whose imagination, talents and dreams have created the Disney magic."
Walt Disney Imagineering issued a statement this week, calling her "the best-dressed employee in the department."
It also released a quote from Burns in which she described her work for Disney in the 1950s: "I wore color-coordinated dresses, high heels and gloves to work. Girls didn't wear slacks back then, although I carried a pair in a little sack, just in case I had to climb into high places."

Max update

We have now had a new baby in the house for three weeks - wow, it doesn't seem like that long already - and big brother Max is adapting. I am certain it is quite an adjustment since he has had the undivided attention of two adults since he was brought home from the hospital at one month old.
My spousal unit purchased for him a doll, like a cabbage patch baby, so that he would have his own baby to feed and change. So far he has only been interested in dragging it around by the head which is a good thing since it means he isn't dragging the LIVE baby by the head.
He does like to hold the baby on his lap and other than that seems to ignore it unless he is trying to hit it. I am trying to convince myself this is not specifically directed at our new addition because he likes to hit everything - he pretends he is swatting flies.
Yesterday he went to playgroup. He plays so hard when he is there that he fell asleep on the way home which is a large miracle because he NEVER falls asleep while we drive, we know this because we have driven thousand of miles during the night when he should be asleep and he screams instead. When i got home with him I took him out of his carseat and carried him into the house, he slept the whole time. It was so darn cute we had to take pictures of it which I will post as soon as I can get onto the internet from home (which is a post for another time).
Bedtime these last few weeks has been quite the challenge for us. I don't know if it is related to the new baby in the house or to the heat or a combination of both, but we have been struggling a bit with bedtime. Mister Max seems to think that if he throws everything out of his crib (sheet included) then he "CAN'T" go to bed and we HAVE to come up and put everything together again. It is a bit of a struggle for us because
#1 I have watched the nanny and seen parents who struggle with bedtimes and how they let the kids just dictate what they will do and completely control bedtime. In spite of my television obsession I don't want to be ON the nanny.
#2 I don't want to spend all night trying to put him to bed because let's face it, I have tv to watch.
#3 My Spousal Unit and I have differences on opinion on how many times it is OK to go and respond to him when he KNOWS he should be in bed. I say he is being manipulative, my spouse says not.
#4 He is not an easy character to settle down once he gets too upset, so if we leave him too long calling for us he can get worked up and then forget missing one tv show, I miss at LEAST two.
#5 It is hot in his room
#6 Having the window open is a bit defeatist because he can hear everything and it is daylight until after midnight and then again by 5am
#7 He thinks it is funny to throw his stuff out of his crib. I am seriously going to invent a crib sheet that is like a pillow case so he can't get it off. He knows exactly what he is doing and when we go into his bedroom to "remake" the bed he sits down and hangs his head - as if looking cute will exempt him from being bratty.

On a similar note, but different... my brother has a son one month younger than Max and is talking about putting him in a bed. I say, why? I am going to keep my boy in a crib as LONG as possible. It is already hard enough to keep him in bed, I can just imagine if he were not in a crib, he would be throwing his sheets over the staircase!

Ten on Tuesday: Ten things to do when it is too hot to go outside

1. take a nap with the fan blowing on you
2. read a book with the fan blowing on you
3. take a cold shower with the fan blowing on you
4. eat popsicles with the fan blowing on you
5. take off all your clothes with the fan blowing on you
6. mist yourself with a spray bottle while you are naked with the fan blowing on you
7. sit in the dark in the cool basement with the fan blowing on you
8. sit in front of an air conditioner with the fan blowing on you
9. Put a cold cloth on your head with the fan blowing on you
10. Drink iced tea with the fan blowing on you

unconscious mutterings

Memory :: game
Original :: recipe Coke
Exclusively :: monogamy
Listings :: MLS house listings
Bucket :: There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza
Knight :: Knights of the round table
Dusty :: Road I drive on every day
Choice :: Woman's right to choose
Sunlight :: Long days of sunlight in the summer
Change of plans :: normal

Friday Fill In

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you can still make you very, very sick.
2. If you're good at something, try to keep it a secret so no-one asks you to do it for them.
3. Why so grumpy?
4. Something is out there, it's in the wind.
5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled "You think you're so funny."
6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see flocks of birds, my dogs and my son playing and trees I can prune.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to picking up library books on the way home from work, tomorrow my plans include taking a nap when the kids do and Sunday, I want to start a cross stitch!

A Cause: Molly Bam

Well Folks. I have decided that I am adopting a cause.

I know that there are all kinds of people "in need" in this world, locally and overseas. My spousal unit and I are foster parents which is a small way we feel we can make a difference.

My mom lives in South Africa and she has come across an orphanage close to where she lives. I have a special place in my heart for Africa and the plight of the people living there. That is why I have decided to try to make a difference in this small way.

As I find ways to raise money and send things to them I will update you on this blog.

Here is the letter my mom wrote after visiting Molly Bam for the first time:

I have now met Molly Bam!! I am amazed and almost speechless at what this wonderful woman is doing! I am not sure what religion she is but it is one of the Born Again Christian groups. She is an absolute testament to the fact that God blesses whoever is willing to help Him take care of His children here on the earth! I asked her loads of questions and I took a lot of pictures. I also told her I would be telling my friends about her work. She says this is not just a part of her life – it is her life. By the way she is 53 years old.
She is not registered and cannot register as an orphanage because her home is too old. She also does not have any built in cupboards in her home – so there is a LOT of stuff piled up on top of cupboards etc –at first it seems to be utter chaos, but it all appears to have some kind of order - yes, I would definitely say it is "organized chaos!". For instance in the “baby room” there were about four or five of those nappy bags on a hanger (that I remember making and seeing when I was young) hanging up on the walls with all the nappies in them. I saw school uniforms hanging on hangers on the end of bunk beds in the “little girls room.”
The walls were also COVERED in photo’s of and “works of art” done by the children that have passed through and those that are there.
Molly has a younger sister who she raised from 4 years old when her mom died – who lives close by, and she has a son and daughter of her own – and five “blood” grandchildren.
She decided 15 years ago that this is what God wanted her to do. She had married a street child and so her husband – Neels - is fully supportive and even passionate about these orphans.
They have 50 right now. It has gone down – they had 70 at Christmastime.
The name of their home – which is painted on the outside wall is Jehovah Jirah – which means “God Provides our every need according to His riches in Heaven.” There is a scripture painted on the wall (I believe it is from Isaiah – she quotes one in there quite a bit but I have forgotten which one.) and a picture of Jesus with some children also painted on the outside wall.
It is just an ordinary looking house – it has a very big yard which is divided into sections with fences (the different age groups have different area's to play in ) and an old swimming pool. But wow!
Molly gives the children all Hebrew names because the Hebrew language is one that praises God – so when they say any of their names they think about God and are praising God and speak as God did and it gives Satan less power over the children when there is so much of “God” going on.
She had them all outside (except the really big ones who were still at school sports) and they were singing some songs for us (all Christian songs which they do SO well) – she has 11 children at the moment under the age of 3 and I was going to say they were all over the place – but it was fun to watch them. Some were dancing and swaying to the songs and some of them were singing! There was a little 3 year old girl who was born deformed – her legs just curl under her and she “walks” on her hands – she was sitting in a plastic milk carton – but she was singing along with them, bless her little heart! Molly’s husband came home (he has a small panel beating shop in the village) and she pulled out the guitar and asked him to sing a few songs with the kids before he left again – which he did. Oh course as they sang “alleluia” and lines like “ God bless the c hild who suffers, bless our mothers, bless our brothers” they did the actions with them – very, very sweet. They apparently sing in churches round about quite a bit.
Molly and Neels goal is to bring the children in off the streets and to put them into school, get them an education, and to feed them and love them. We were there on a swimming day so they were mostly in their under clothes in and out of the pool. I asked her how they managed to feed them all and she said “God provides”. When she told me some of the stories I had no question in my mind that God does provide for them!
These orphans have fetal alcohol syndrome, they are abused, street kids, and some are HIV positive. She said all they want is “a mom and dad”. When they come to her they are sometimes unrecognizable and they have coughed and spit out worms, they have lice, festering sores – just about anything.
They have very strict rules. The big boys are not allowed to pick up the children AT ALL and they are not allowed near the girls. They lock the security doors on their rooms at night. The girls rooms and boys rooms are all separate. They have separate play area’s for them all. There is no sitting under blankets, no sitting on laps etc. She said “we do everything we can, we pray harder than we can and we leave the rest to God. We cannot put anyone out. In fact we promised the Lord that if He provides we will never shut our door.” In the “baby room” there were 12 little cots lined up on the walls! (The room was approximately 9 feet by about 14 or 15feet.)
She said they talk to them very openly and strongly. They explain that they are either going to stand still, go forward or backward. I asked if any had gone backward and she said yes, quite a few. When it becomes too hard they run away and then when the street life becomes too hard they run back. She will give them three chances in her home she said (although she said the door will actually never close in the end. They will find a way to help anyone who really wants to be helped.)
The bigger kids help the little ones with homework. She has 6 African women helping her. They are all alcoholics and all trying to straighten out their lives too. They also sometimes slip up. One had come back that thursday and asked if she could come back again. Molly said she would have to think about it, come and see her on Monday. The nanny said "no please, mama, I have to come back TODAY" - The weekend is the drinking time and she knew she would slip again if she was out on the weekend. Shame. Your heart just goes out to them. They are REALLY trying to break old, bad traditions.
They do not have Valentine day (she doesn't agree with "days made up to make someone money") –but it is a love day so they call it “Jesus day” and it is to be as much like Jesus as they can be in serving and loving and helping others. Molly and her husband agreed 15 years ago that they would not ever buy anything for each other again – they try to save all they possibly can through the year and in December they get sweets and a hat and whistle for each of the kids. Over the years people have been good to them and they now have loads of toys and loads of clothes she said. In fact a huge big old 20 foot freezer on the front porch is her “toddler cupboard” and it was full of folded toddler clothes.
The things they need all the time and that cost them a lot are things like toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste, nappies (diapers) and so on. The bakery in town gives them all the two day old bread and various people make donations of various items. I asked her how she fed all the children and she said that God provides. If a day comes when there is no food she reminds God in her prayers that she would be faithful, she would keep her doors open as long as He would provide. She says “I tell Him I am doing my part and I ask Him to do His. Someone always comes with a donation.” I asked where they eat – and she said they love to eat outside. If it is raining they have a huge shed at the back – they have braai’s in there – it has no sides – just a roof – but they can all fit under it and they love going there.
I think it was last January that they received a summons for 13000 Rand for school fees from the high school. She went to the school and tried to explain what she was doing and how many children she had and that they had NO money. The principal would have none of it. She tried several times. They went to a lawyer and told him they couldn’t pay him either, but didn’t know what to do. The lawyer apparently also talked to the principle but to no avail, this was going to go to court. So she said she just asked God to remove that principle and get a better one – and He did! She went to the school for something a month later or so and was introduced to the new principle! He was a jolly, large, happy, man and when she explained everything to him he said “Leave this with me and God bless you Mrs Bam.” And she has heard nothing more abou t the unpaid school fees!
In between all the talk, Molly is picking up, kissing better, putting down, moving here, answering questions there, there are babies crying, nappies to be changed. She uses 1700 nappies a month. The social services gives her 700 and they have to buy the others. They buy cheap not so good ones – but better than nothing. She cheerfully takes a baby from me (who just wet all over me) and says with a smile “here, give her to me. I always smell like sewage and I get so used to it I don’t even notice! I have become immune!” Only the two Aids babies have proper, good quality nappies because they chaff badly and get sores.
The reason the social services will not provide money or anything for these children is because she cannot produce any birth certificates. They do not have any. If she could produce a birth certificate they would give her 200 Rand per child per month. Actually peanuts!
Several of the children have died. One 8 month old baby – Ezekiel - that was a very cheerful happy boy – Molly goes around at night with a torch to check on them or see who is crying etc – and he would wait until he saw the torch light and then start to laugh. She said he was a joy - he drew people to him with his sweet and cheerful nature- and he was starting to sit up and was eating – so they had no reason to suspect that he had Aids. He just suddenly died – which was a nightmare for her and she blew and blew into his mouth and called on God with all her heart – but he was dead. She found the 100 Rand to have a post mortem because she was worried he had been dropped, or suffocated or something that she could have prevented. But he had full blown aids and it had burst in his brain. It has broken her heart that he never had a birth certificate – only a death certificate - because she demanded one.
Molly says “Don’t ever say to the Lord I do not want – because He will give you!” She did NOT want children who were HIV – but she has them. She has adopted 8 children so far and 2 more are in the pipeline – because that way they can apply for social help. But she says she loves every single one of them – totally unconditionally – and it breaks her heart, obviously, if they die.
The little house has two bathrooms. Her bedroom has several beds in it – the smaller ones and the sick ones come in with them. The babies – except for the smallest two – know their special colour. They have a special colour bottle and when the bottles are all ready they bring them out and each one will go and take their own. She gives them the same colour face cloth and tries hard to give them the same colour blanket so there is no confusion. (There is a picture of all the face cloths hanging up in the bathroom)
She has a lot of wet beds to deal with – so uses a lot of bedding, towels etc.
Molly talks to the children in a certain way – for instance she said to the little one next to her “ag naa – if you want to be big in Gods Kingdom then you need to be a servant. Please do not give those cups to me, please take them to the kitchen” And he picked them up and took them! I saw her hugging and kissing and rubbing and helping as she talked - she said to me “I love them all. If I ever have a problem with a certain child I always hear a voice in my mind saying “Molly, look through my eyes” and when I do I don’t have a problem any more.”
Her motto is “Let Go and Let God” and she says she is not fantastic or amazing. The calling – which she is positive the Lord gave her – is awesome. “You never know what is going to happen next!”
I was amazed! What a wonderful woman – and her husband too!

Three beautiful things

1. We have a new baby in our home right now. He is not even five pounds and his little fingers and toes are beautiful. Last night while I was feeding him I was playing with his feet. (I undress him in the night to feed him because if I didn't he would just fall back to sleep with the bottle in his mouth and feeding time would last longer than I can stay awake for). He was not impressed with me tickling his feet and he grunted the cutest little baby grunt to let me know of his displeasure - even his grunt was beautiful!

2. We have been dog sitting some dogs for a friend while she was on vacation. Her two dogs are very sweet. Our dogs love having the extra playmates and they appear to love the visit to the country as they play and run and swim in the dugout all the live long day. They have been with us for almost 2 weeks and last night I took them home to their mommy. Although we love having them, being back in our home with just our brood was beautifully silent and CALM. All the cats came out (the young puppy visitor has no kitty manners and chases our feline family members).

3. Sleep. Sleep is a beautiful thing which I love at the best of times, but having a new baby in the house and a two year old who for some reason the last week has decided he would rather scream and throw everything out of his crib than go to bed.... after the 5am feed this morning I fell DEEPLY asleep and was late for work. The late for work part wasn't the beautiful part, the sleep from 5:30 am to 7:30 am was beautiful.

Oh MAN I want one of these!

We have a pretty big yard - a few acres. There is LOTs and LOTs of work to do to make it into the paradise we envision. My spousal Unit and I are somewhat nerdy about gardening equipment and when we get the gardening catalogues (which my geekier spouse subscribes to) we oogle over the cool gardening implements that we can't afford.
Today on boingboing I saw this and I fell in love.
I am SURE there is a place for this in our yard.

meme

1. What do you add to your coffee? too much sugar and cream because although I love the smell of coffee it doesn't taste like it smells and so I have to doctor it up in order to drink it.
2. What are you reading now? What is the What
3. Do you own a gun? Nope
4. Are you registered to vote? Yes, and I vote now that I can - when I was in the USA I couldn't.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? sometimes, but more for dentist appointments
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Well I tend not to think of what they are made of because I LOVE to cook them especially over the fire.
7. Favorite Christmas Song? I LOVE Christmas music. I particularly like Little Drummer boy with Bing and David Bowie, but I like lots.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? OJ
9. Can you do push ups? Push up bras
10. What was the name of your first boyfriend/girlfriend? Simon
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelery? My wedding ring which I lost on a work trip
12. Favorite hobby? Cross stitching
13. Do you work with people who idolize you? That's hilarious. I work with myself and I do idolize myself. (J/K)
14. Do you have ADD? yuppers
15. What’s one trait that you hate about yourself? Nothing I am willing to share
16. What’s your Middle name? my mom's first name
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. I need to finish my homework, The price of gas should be going down more, that was a wacky phone message.
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday. Nothing, I stayed at home yesterday.
19. Name 3 beverages you regularly drink. water, lemonade, coke.
20. Current worry right now? UMMMMMMMMMM having enough time to play with Maxie so he doesn't feel left out with a new baby in the house.
21. What side do you dress to? I don't know what this means exactly.
22. Favorite place to be? In bed
23. How did you bring in the New Year? In bed
24. Where would you like to go? On vacation
25. What color shirt are you wearing? Blue
26. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?. I like sleeping period
27. Can you whistle? not good enough
28. Favorite color? Either green or purple.
29. Could you be a pirate? Fo sho
30. What songs do you sing in the shower? Whichever one I am thinking of at the time.
31. Favorite girls name? Soraya
32. Favorite boy’s name? Simon
33. What’s in your pocket right now? change
34. Last thing that made you laugh? a phone message that my office administrator had me call just to listen to.
35. Best bed sheets as a child? brown ones which I still have and one day will make into a quilt.
36. Worst injury you’ve ever had? broken leg playing soccer
37. Do you love where you live? I love that we own a house, but it needs some pretty major repairs, so I will love it more later.
38. How many TVs do you have in your house? We have a few, but we use two.
39. Who is your loudest friend? I think maybe my sister Jill, but we are all pretty loud in my family.
40. How many dogs do you have? 2
41. What are the most fun things you ever did? Water fights with my family. Family time.
42. What are your favorite books? I like a LOT of books. I may have to come back to this one. 42. What is your favorite candy? Chewy Spree - not available in Canada
43. Favorite Team? Liverpool FC
44. What songs do you want played at your funeral? I keep changing my mind about this one. Probably something by the Indigo Girls.
45. What were you doing at 12 AM? Feeding the baby and watching celebrity poker on mute
46. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? The next time my dog licks my leg she is going to lose her tongue.

ten on tuesday: ten least favorite celebrities

1. Olsen twins

2. Andy Dick

3. Amy Winehouse

4. Ronaldo

5. Dr. Phil

6. Baba Wawa

7. Mel Gibson

8. GW

9. Dr. Laura

10. Tom Selleck