A Day To Remember

Boka Tov:

Well here I go, waving the flag again.

And it's a grand ole flag too :)

I am a proud american. I'm not ashame to say it. To shout it from the roof top.

Though I do wish I had a belt right now.

For the past two weeks I have had to listen to the Speaker of the House lie (yes, she is lying) the President whine and throw a tantum because he didn't get his way and got into a p**** fight with the former Vice President and now Mr. Powell wants a turn rolling in the mud.

The world shakes collected head at us and wonder. Friends who voted for Mr. Obama are telling me they made a mistake and I am ready to send the whole lot to Afghanistan and have a crack at running the country myself.

I can't do any worst.

A Day to Remember.

On this day, we remember those who laid down their lives for this country.

I remember my uncle Oscar (of blessed memory) who taught me how to blow taps and the meeting behind the notes.

It was he who taught me the meeting behind the final formation, the final salute, the folding of the flag, and how it is an honour to be part of an honour guard. To carry that brother or sister to his or her final resting place.

My uncles served in WWII and several of their sons followed in their footsteps.

On this day, when I see the flag, hear theose 24 notes, I tear up.

But I also smile. Because I live in the best nation in the world.

Despite our faults and problems, America is still the greatest nation. And as a African friend of once said: "America's greatness lies in her Judo-Christian values and her goodness. She shall stop being great, when she stops being good.

Now I have to get to the store and get some Hebrew National hotdogs.

It is The Soldier

It is the SOLDIER, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the SOLDIER, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the SOLDIER, not the campus organizers, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the SOLDIER, who salutes the flag, who serves the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag.
And it is we, their wives, husbands, parnets, children, siblings who pray for their safe return and lay flowers on their coffins.

Freedom

If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can read this in english, thank the U.S Military.

Shortly after we were married, Mark gave me this T-shirt. I wear it with pride. Because those words are short, but powerful."I have my rights!""I have the right to....!""It's a free country!""If I want to talk trash about the sitting President or the former President, I can. Freedom of speech, baby!"There are men and women who made the final formation and now laying a rest, in G-d good earth, who laid down their lives so that you can enjoy your hot dog and fireworks this weekend.Freedom is' free. It was paid for the blood of Marines, Sailors, Air Men and Soldiers. It was sealed by the tears of spouses and family members who laid them to rest.

I still miss you, daddy.

A History of Crime

NEWBURGH, N.Y. -The four men accused of plotting to bomb New York City synagogues and shoot down military airplanes with missiles are down-and-out ex-convicts living on the margins in a faded industrial city.
One is a petty criminal who spent a day in 2002 snatching purses and shooting at people with a BB gun from an SUV. His lawyer calls him "intellectually challenged."
Three have histories of drug convictions, one of them for selling narcotics in a school zone. The man prosecutors portrayed as the instigator of the scheme said he smoked pot the day he planned to blow up the temples.
They went to Wal-Mart for cameras to photograph their targets and had to call around to various contacts to get guns, prosecutors said.
But if they sometimes seemed amateurish, the men were dangerous people fueled by their hatred for Jews and America, prosecutors said. The plotters managed to get their hands on what they thought were lethal explosives and a surface-to-air missile system, only to find out that they were inert devices supplied by the FBI in a sting operation.
"It's hard to envision a more chilling plot," assistant U.S. attorney Eric Snyder said. "These are extremely violent men."
On Friday morning, dozens of rabbis, priests and imams, as well as elected officials and members of the police department, met at one of the targeted synagogues, the Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx.
"We stand with all New Yorkers of conscience against the poisonous hatred that drove four men to attempt murder and destruction," said a statement issued by the group, which included Sen. Charles Schumer, Rep. Charles Rangel and the center's Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. told community members at the meeting: "Let this moment not be defined by four idiots, by four cowardly thugs and their plan — let it be defined by the many voices of different religions, the song that we should sing as one united choir."
With an informant's help, the FBI monitored the plot every step of the way, including with video and audio surveillance of a home in Newburgh where the conspirators gathered, according to a criminal complaint.
The arrests follow a long line of homegrown, headline-making terror plots since Sept. 11 that never came close to reality because the FBI inserted itself in early stages. Authorities have broken up plots with targets including the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Herald Square subway station in Manhattan, underground gas pipes at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey and tunnels underneath the Hudson River.
James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen were calm as they appeared in court Thursday, their hands shackled, to answer charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the U.S. and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles. They did not enter pleas and were held without bail; they face life in prison if convicted.
Besides destroying the two synagogues in the heavily Jewish Riverdale section of the Bronx, they intended to shoot down planes at the Air National Guard base in Newburgh, about 50 miles north of New York City, prosecutors said.
Relatives said the defendants were struggling men who worked at places such as Wal-Mart, a landscaping company and a warehouse when they weren't behind bars. Payen's lawyer said he was on medication for schizophrenia and has "a very low borderline" IQ.
David Williams' relatives were floored by the allegations against a man they knew as a good father to his 7-year-old daughter and newborn son.
"You don't raise your children to be terrorists," said Aahkiyaah Cummings, his aunt. "I don't know that guy that was arrested."
Just four years ago, Williams, now 28, told a parole board that prison was a wake-up call after his conviction on drug and weapons charges — drugs he said he sold because he was making only $150 a week in his job.
Onta Williams, 32, and Cromitie have also served prison sentences for drug convictions — Cromitie said in court he had used marijuana as recently as Wednesday. He said he was 55, though law enforcement records give his age as 44.
Payen, 27, did time for attempted assault — in 2002, he and others fired a BB gun out an SUV window, hitting two people in the head. He snatched purses from two women later the same day, said state Division of Parole spokeswoman Heather Groll.
Payen appears to be a Haitian citizen, while the other three are Americans. The Williamses are not related.
New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said he believed the defendants knew each other from their time behind bars. Relatives said Payen, David Williams and Onta (AWN'-tay) Williams were introduced to Islam in prison, where conversion to the faith is common.
"The Onta I know wouldn't do something like this, but the new Onta, yeah," said Richard Williams, an uncle. "He wasn't raised this way. All this happened when he became a Muslim in prison."
He said his nephew, who loaded tractor-trailers at a warehouse, had been shaken by his mother's death in 2006 and a separation from his wife. She has custody of his three children.
Payen was apparently staying in a rundown house that neighbors say was known as a home for parolees. Penniless and jobless, he had been fighting deportation and seeking custody of his 3-year-old son, said Hamin Rashada, an assistant imam at the Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque, where authorities say the informant first met Cromitie in June 2008.
Cromitie was burning with anger about the U.S. war in Afghanistan, where his parents had lived before he was born, according to the criminal complaint. He told the informant he was interested in jihad and "doing something to America" and was crestfallen that "the best target (the World Trade Center) was hit already," the complaint said.
In the same conversation, Cromitie said: "I hate those mother-------, those f------ Jewish b------ .... I would like to get (destroy) a synagogue," according to the complaint.
In one conversation, Cromitie said he longed to shoot Jews in the head as they walked on the street near a synagogue, the informant told authorities. In another conversation with the informant, Onta Williams said the U.S. military was killing Muslims, "so if we kill them here with IEDs and Stingers, it is equal," according to court papers.
A woman who answered the phone at a Bronx listing for several of Cromitie's relatives said she didn't want to speak about him and hung up. No one answered the door at his Newburgh address, but neighbor Luis Pena said Cromitie was "a real nice guy."
Cromitie told the informant last July that he wanted to join Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistani terrorist group with which the informant claimed to be involved, the complaint said. Authorities say Jaish set up training camps in Afghanistan under the Taliban, and several senior operatives were close to Osama bin Laden.
By December, Cromitie was asking the informant to supply explosives and surface-to-air missiles. The suspects obtained the weapons — not knowing they were disabled — earlier this month, according to the complaint.
—
Associated Press writers Devlin Barrett in Washington, Jim Fitzgerald in White Plains, N.Y., George Walsh in Albany, N.Y., and Tom Hays and Colleen Long in New York contributed to this report.

Back :)

Shalom:
Well, it has been quite a week.
Last week I had begun a new jouranl, started getting the ready for Mark's homecoming in a few weeks and even started working on the manuscript, when it hit.
Allergies.
So bad that I was laid up for a week.
Now, slowly returning to the land of the living, I can get back to what I had been working on when this began.
Calk it up to the weather.
I would love to call it Gobel Warming, but I have been inform that term no longer apply. It's being called something esle these days.
And I better stay off that subject before someone writes me and tells me I don't know what I am talking about.
And just maybe true.
I shall leave that to the man who inverted the Internet and won the Noble Peace Prize.

Atleast the weather has been nicer these past few days. Windows are open right now, but soon I will have to close them. The building is being painted both inside and out, long overdue and welcome.
A nice change for when Mark comes home.
After lunch, I will go and read the journals I follow, see what my friends are up to.

Summer Maybe?

Shalom;
It is a beautiful day in the neigborhood: high 80s.
Could summer not be fall away?
As I as getting ready for PT, a friend called, to see how I was doing.
She also asked if I had picked up my Challah for Sabbath.
I hadn't, so she offered to get me a loaf when she went tothe Bakery.
It is so nice when people care that much.
Last night I watched an old favorite movie, I Remember Mama. I remember so many Mother's Days my mother and I would watch it together. Made in the 1940s, it is indeed a classic that has stood test of time.
It has been many year since I'd seen that movie and last night I realize that the main character shares the same name as my eldest niece.
As they said: "they don't make movie like this anymore."
Mama and Papa love each other. Respectful children of not only their parents, but elders. Parnets who moved for Norway to America, become critzens and work hard to raise their children and teaching age old values and morals. No vulgar languge, no sex scences. No volence.
The kind of movies I love. The kind of books I love to read.
It is a pity one has to reach back into the past to find anything decent.
Unless you write it yourself.
But in a world that celebrates the love story of a teenage girl and 108 year old vampire, where sex sells like MacDonald hamburgers, who would buy it?
I would.

LOL, I remember two days before Mark had to return to Iraq, we were involved in a car accident. The X-rays and CAT Scan all said I was fine. I would just be sore for a few days.
The after putting Mark on the plane back to Iraq, the hosptial called.
I had a hairline facture of the T-11'
I was ordered to six weeks of bedrest.
Riggggght

I Am MilSpouse, Hear Me Roar! (*sputter*)
May 6, 2009airforcewife
Two days ago, on the way to prepare dinner, I somehow managed to slip and fall down the stairs at my house. Because I tend to do most things in a big way, the result was that I somehow managed to smash my tailbone into every step on the way down, only stopping because I ended it by crashing into the wall.
Very typical.
And it hurt. A lot. My pride most of all. Anyway, I had things to do (like feed a roiling horde of hungry children) so when after a short break to regain my breath (and my dignity), I hitched into the kitchen to make something to eat. As any milspouse will tell you whenever something happens - life goes on.
Luckily, yesterday morning I felt a little stiff, but otherwise fine. Life goes on, right? I had a bathroom that needed the wallpaper scraped off, so I set to work.
Big mistake. Big, giant, BAD mistake.
I did get the bathroom completely scraped off, which involved lots of twisting, reaching, and balancing delicately on the edge of the tub to get to spots not meant for a short woman to reach. I also had some laundry to do, so I lugged a few various size hampers from the bedrooms to our laundry area in the basement.
Within an hour after finishing the bathroom scraping, I realized what a big mistake I had made. Perhaps physical labor the day after repeatedly smashing my tailbone into the stairs was not the best decision I have ever made. What seemed like "just a little stiffness" to me was obviously something more.
From about 1 in the afternoon on yesterday, I was not moving out of bed. I wasn't moving much IN bed, either, because any direction I turned was agony. I did get out of bed to visit the bathroom, but there was even some debate before that happened because I had to run a mental checklist to figure out what was worse - the pain from getting up or the gross factor from not getting up. The pain won out, barely, but I also seriously thought about dehydrating myself for the rest of the day so that I wouldn't have to get up again.
Air Force Guy was more than a little irritated at me over the whole thing, and he wasn't alone. I got a message from one of my friends that took me to task, "You fell down the stairs yesterday and thought it would be okay to strip wallpaper off walls today? Put down the crack pipe, woman!"
I claim temporary insanity cased by MilSpouse-itis. You know what it is and all the symptoms, right?
1) Knowing nothing will get done if you don't do it.
2) Knowing you're the only around who can get it done because your spouse is either thousands of miles away or unreachable in a tank, a plane, or some secure building with lots of antennae bristling off the top.
3) Having a checklist of things to accomplish by the time your spouse leaves/gets home (it's always one or the other, right?) and just NOT having time for this hiccup in plans, which results in a game of "Pretend the Problem Doesn't Exist".
4) An ingrained inability to sit still without constantly tallying all the lists of things that need to be done.
5) Guilt. Lots and lots and lots of guilt. Tons of guilt. Did I mention guilt?
Oh come on now. Every milspouse has been there, right? And that's where I was yesterday. AFG will be leaving in just a few short weeks, and I HAVE STUFF TO DO!! No stupid stairs are going to stop me! I'll show that Karma who is boss!
Well, consider me schooled. Karma made it's point. I get it. Okay. Lesson learned. I spent yesterday afternoon on alternately in bed or in the bathtub soaking the ouches away. Kid #2 and AFG teamed up to get dinner done, and this morning all AF Kids in the house took care of their own breakfasts (thank goodness for cereal and GoGurt! - and I don't even want to THINK about what the kitchen and dining room look like!).
I'm feeling much better this morning. But I promise I'm not going to get up and scrape any wallpaper or start any landscaping projects just yet. I'll wait until at least tomorrow.

Plain Rude!

Shalom:
I was doing some work on my Laptop witht the Press Briefing on in the background. Not listening, just too lazy to get up and change the channel.
And then I heard it.
A cell-phone ringing.
Someone brought their cell-phone to the Briefing.
How RUDE!!!!!!
I am sorry, but could those who had their cell-phones put them on vibate? The ringing is disrespectful not only to Mr. Gibb, but the other memebers of the press. And the reporter who refused to hand over his phone until the meeting was over and left the room (rightly so) was gray-haired and should have known better.
I agree with Mr. Gibb; I would have taken the phone as well.
Yes, with a husband in the military and ailing parnets, I carry my cell-phone. But if I am in a store and my phone rings, I step out of line. When attending a worship service or a meeting, we put in on vibate.
We have a sign in front of our apartment: please turn off your cell-phone, or put it on vibate. Just as we don't hold phone conversations while we have family or guest, we expect the same respect of our home.
Ok, getting off my Soapbox....

Waking Up

Boka Tov (Good Morning)
I think.
I am trying to wake up.
After a week of not sleeping, it is finally catching up with me.
The past few nights I am finally sleeping.
But now, it is the getting up.
I've made coffee, have PT today and then I will come home and sleep.
I also believe it is allergies. The weather is awful: warm one day, cold the next. Some many are suffering. My eyes burn, and that is allergies.
PT.
PT is going well. It is taking longer than we had thought, but that is because of how weak my armstrings were.
I am now able to bend my knees without cramps. Stairs are easier though there are times I still struggle. But I can now place my foot on my hope chest and stretch out my hamstring without pain or cramps. I now have to work at keep stretching. I think I am coming to the end of PT. But there is another program I go into. This is a mantinance program so that I don't lost what I have gain. And it is very nice to have the clinic within a 15 minute walk.

Grace

Boka Tov:
It is amazing who and G-d uses to teach His lessons.
In this case, it is Donald Trump.
Miss Prejean will keep her crown. Donald Trump chose to allow Miss Prejean to keep her crown. While I disagree with his views of the pictures, I do believe the attacks were wrong and hateful. And he could to give this woman a second chance.
I remember many of things I did at six-teen years old and I would not want them made public.
And that is what G-d does in our case. While many are ready and willing to toss us to the corner when we fail, G-d not only forgives, but allows us to pick up the pieces and go on.
There are many who would have loved to see her crown taken.
I didn't. It is my hope that Miss Prejean will not betray the faith of those who defended and supported her and that she will indeed go out to fulfill her duties she promised to support.
And finally, Miss Prejean was asked a question. Whether anyone agrees with her answer, it isn't the issue. Carrie Prejean is an American and in this country we have freedom of speech, a freedom her grandfather, my grandfather, my husband and son fight for her and every Amercian who reads this to excise.
Whether you agree with me or not.

"With great power comes great resposibility."

Uncle Ben Parker

Boka Tov:

First a correction ( sometimes I type to fast). In yesterday's entry I left out a word in a sentence. It should have read: 'I have several freinds who are models..."

I have since made the correction.

So from on I am going to make more of an effort to catch mispelled and missing words. My readers and friends shouldn't have to try and figure out what I am saying.

The weather is beginning to warm up once again and hopefully it will stay warm. Most Virginians are tired of the Spring/Winter drama.

And now allergies are kicking up left and right. So many of are suffering and it turns out that is why I feel so tired.

I did get a good night sleep last night and for that I am thankful.

Mark ahs been gone a week and right now I am doing ok. In fact, I am surprised how well I am doing. O, there have been tears now and again, and I miss him so much.

But one of the things I learned is each deployment is different. Now I know to expect those moments of highs and lows, depression and soldiering on. when to keep busy and when to just crawl back into bed.

I have projects to complete and a home to keep up.

And a husband to pray for.

Ah! the sun is out and I need to get ready for PT.

But first coffee.

Miss California USA

Shalom:
I have decided to weigh on the drama better known as the Miss California Saga.
First, as a person of faith, it will come to no surprise that I share her views about marriage.
But that isn't my problem.
My problem is Miss Carrie Prejean herself.
First, her answer during the Pageant. True it was nerves. But the part that bothered me about her answer was "in my country, we believe" as if the judges weren't fellow Amercians.
But again, I calk it up on nerves.
My main issue is this: I have several friends who are models and share these same morals and beliefs and not one of them would pose for semi-nude pictures, model lingerie and/or swimwear.
That is left for thier husbands eyes only.
Does that make me a Prude? Ok. It is my maiden name ;)
But someone has failed ot point out to Miss Prejean the following: "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatevere is chasity and of a good report, think on these things." Phil 4:8
Miss Prejean complains she is being attacked for her Christian faith.
Question? Who handed them the stones? Who paraded about on a national stage looking like an Victorian Secret model?
And then there is the matter that she isn't honouring her contract.
One. She ran on the platform of Handicap Children and yet she is now speaking and appearing on another cause. Her contract clearly states Miss Califoria USA cannot make personal appearances, interviews or make commercials without permission from pageant officials.
Two. The semi-nude pictures. According to the contract, Miss Prejean was to inform the pageant
officials if there were any nude, semi- or parttially nude. She did not.
Did not Miss Prejean ever read "let your yes mean yea and your no, no?"
This is a moral and ethical matter.
Miss Prejean complains those pictures are being used to attack her faith.
Miss Prejean, you posed for the pictures. You gave those who wish to burn you at the stake the matches.
Faith is not a private matter. Like an apple tree, the only way you know it is an apple tree is that you see apple blossoms and apples hanging on the tree.
But you can't pass off an dogwood for an apple tree.
I do hope that at some point Miss Prejean will take a moment and look at how her own behaviou has added to the firestorm.

Prayers Please

Shalom:
As many of you know by now, there was a shooting at Camp Liberty today in Iraq.
This strikes close to home. In the militarty, we are indeed family and when one suffers, we all suffer.
Mark and a friend of ours served at Camp Liberty and we have a friend who is still there. Right now, we are waiting about our friend.
This is the first "snap" we have seem. Usually, soldiers and marines have harmed or killed themselves.(which is why there is a stress clinic on Base) Please keep the families of the five soliers who lost their lives in prayer.
As well as the soldier who commited these crimes.
Sadly, however, there are those who will now jump up and say "see! this is why this war needs to end!"
How many Amercians in the the past three months have taken the lives of their families and then turned the weapon upon themselves? Men who have lost their jobs, thier homes or the marriage was ending? None of these men were in Iraq. Do we blame Mr.Obama or Mr. Bush because they couldn't handle the stresses in their lives? How many men utter the words "if I can't have, no one else can" and turns out they mean it.
Outside forces contribute to the build up pressure, but those who commit these crimes feel they have no hope and act out.
It is not a time for blame. But to gather in prayer and love around those who have lost a son or daughter, mother, father, sister, brother, child, spouse, friend.
And parents who just learned their son is a murder.

Star Trek: The New Movie

Boka Tov (Good Morning)
The weather has once again changed and it almost feels like winter outside (so much for global warming)
I have been reading the past several days on my facebook page the excitment of the new movie, Star Trek.
I am a Trekkie: I love Star Trek (60s) Star Trek the Next Gen and Deep Space Nine. The others I a have to be honest, I didn't care for.
I am, like I wrote Beth, a Purist. I am that person in the movie theather you hate. I'm the one who has read the book, watched the show. And unless Mark is shoving popcorn in my mouth, I am the one behind you shouting:"that's not in the book!" "Hey! that's not how that happen!" etc.
So, out of respect to my fellow Trekkies, I shall wait unitl Mark comes home on Leave to go and see the movie.
Besides, I can't see myself going without him.

Answer to Prayer

After my last posting, I went to my facebook account and found a message waiting for me.
This morning, I prayed that G-d would restore my relationship with my son. Not that I hadn't been, but this morning, after listening to a Mother's Day message, I really poured out my heart. A card. A flower. Some word. To have a son who will not speak to me and a daughter in heaven, this day is very hard. Mark is better to me than seven sons.
Still, it hurts.
Well, in my message box was a message from my son.
"Happy Mother's Day, Mum!"
I am still crying.
On this day, I truly felt like a mum.

15 Things I Learned From My Mummie

Mama J, Eileen and Elayne

Mama J and her boys; Frank and Mark

When I think of Mother's Day, I often remember how my step-father would take my sister out to buy mummie's plants: Tulips.

They would not only last for two weeks with care, but could be planted and bloom for years.

I remember mummie dropping hints of what she wanted for her special day and cooking for her. I remember when our church would honour the mum's in the congregation. And how we would wear carnations. Eileen and I would wear red because our mum is still with us.

And I remember the tears the first time mummie pinned a white carnation to her blouse the first Mother's Day after Grandmother's passing.

I also remember the lessions she taught me.

While there are over a zillion, I would like to share 15 of them.

1. My mum taught me how to pray.

2. She taught me to read and study the bible.

3. She taught me how to play. Mummie would draw the greatest hop-scotch board and play with my sister and I. She taught us to play jacks and kick ball and even taught me how to colour within the lines. But outside the lines there is space for your own creations.

4. She taught me that a woman of G-d is still a woman. Act like it.

5. A G-dy woman dresses as and acts like a lady. Her appearance should point to G-d and not her body parts.

6.If the shoe don't fix, it ain't your shoe.

7. Get your own house in order before you try to bring order to the world.

8 G-d doesn't have grandchildren.

9. Despite the hell I put her through as a teenager, (Gothic, Occult, Cult, teen mum) she still loved me and prayerfully waited until I came back to my senses. Tough love yes, but also quick to forgive.

10. There is one Holy Spirit and she wasn't He. It wasn't her job to convict us of sin.

11. To ask forgivness of her adult children for her failings and mistakes as a parent.

12. When I am 75 years old, still do puzzles and use crayons.

13 Embrace her daughters husbands as sons, not in-laws.

14. Have the coolest house on the block where your cousins and friends wish to hang out.

15. Remember who's daughter you are. Hers and G-d's.

Love you, Mummie

The First Sabbath

Tonight is the first Sabbath without Mark.

I know he is thinking the same thing.

Hard to be away from the one you love.

But then, he is in my heart and I in his.

A salad and early to bed.

Maybe I will sleep tonight.

Am I whining.

Maybe.

But then, I am a mililarty wife and once in a while, I am allowed.

Mum Always Knows

Shalom:
My mum gave me this joke ten years ago, and it is still just as funny.
And what makes it really funny; it sounds like something a mum would do...

HAVING MOM OVER FOR DINNER
. You don't even have to be a mother to enjoy this one...
Brian invited his mother over for dinner. During the course of the meal, Brian's mother couldn't help but notice how beautiful Brian's roommate, Jennifer, was.
Brian's Mom had long been suspicious of the platonic relationship between Brian and Jennifer, and this had only made her more curious.
Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between Brian and Jennifer than met the eye.
Reading his mom's thoughts, Brian volunteered, 'I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Jennifer and I are just roommates.'
About a week later, Jennifer came to Brian saying, 'Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose she took it, do you?'
Brian said, 'Well, I doubt it, but I'll send her an e-mail just to be sure.' So he sat down and wrote:
__________________________________________________________
Dear Mom, I'm not saying that you 'did' take the gravy ladle from the house, I'm not saying that you 'did not' take the gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner. Love, Brian __________________________________________________________
Several days later, Brian received an email back from his mother that read: ____________________________________________________
Dear Son, I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Jennifer, I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Jennifer. But the fact remains that if Jennifer is sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now.
Love, Mom
LESSON OF THE DAY - NEVER LIE TO YOUR MOTHER

Rabbi Judah says: Whoever does not teach his son a trade or profession teaches him to be a thief.
- Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 29a
Shalom:
Thanks for your comment Beth: the sun IS shining :)
The weather is warming up and I am going to straighten up the fire escape and place a chair outside and do some reading. Maybe even some needle work.
Too nice to be inside.

A Rainy Day in Virginia

Boka Tov:
Well, it is a rainy here in Virginia.
I was telling a friend who lives in Isreal how it is now raining once again and while it is great for the flowers, it makes my right hip hurt. Anyone who has any kind of joint pain knows of what I speak of.
My friend gave me something to think about:
"Send the rain here :)"
Funny how the things we complain about, would be a blessing for someone esle.
Another friend told how she missed her husband when he was gone out og town for a week. This was a few weeks ago and Mark was still home. I kept trying to find a way to relate, but couldn't: I could do a week standing on my head. And yet that would have been hurtful and judgemental to my friend. So, I did write her, letting her know I understood how she felt, having gone through a year's deployment with Mark.
Another friend complained about her husband not taking out the trash.
Girlfriend, I truly wanted to say, atleast he's home!
Plus when Mark is home, I don't have to worry: he takes out the trash without me having to say a word.
So, now instead of complaining about the rain, I have set a bucket outside to catch rainwater (great for my roses) and pray for my friends who live in Isreal, for the rain to come and nuture the land.

Proclamation For a Day Of Prayer

A Proclamation for a National Day of Prayer:

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of the Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations has by a resolution requested the president to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation. And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God: to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon: and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:And insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?We have been the recipients of the choices bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten God.We have forgotten the gracious land which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us:It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.All this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the divine teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

Abraham Lincoln

Here We Go Again

Shalom:
First, I don't watch the View. Yes, there are two ladies who's views I share somewhat (big surprise) and two I can handle in very small doses.
Today was rich.
I watched the clip where Joy says to Sherri she must teach her child Darwinism or else it is child abuse.
Now, I am sorry I WAS OFFENDED by that remark. I home schooled my son for several years before I had to return to work (and he did great in public school, thank you!) and he did not suffer because he was taught Creationism. It is one of the main reasons many of us who's faith is important to us chose to home school: this way OUR valves and morals are imported.
Like my son, I was exposed to Darwinism in the classroom. Neither he or I embraced the views. If anything, it made me a stronger believer in G-d, the Bible and Creationism.
Joy said all scientist hold to this view.
Wrong! I know several scientist and science teachers who are believe in the Creation story. These same teachers must teach Darwinism and not the other side, other risk losing their jobs. Amoung them, my rabbi and my husband Mark.
Funny: we who religious are often accused of shoving our beliefs down folks throats.
Now we are abusing our children if we teach them only Creationism.
Let's see, that would lead them to reading....Oh my L-rd! The Bible! Or wors Prayer before class begins!
O the horror!!!!!

Keeping Busy.

Shalom:
Marty: One day, when Mark and I are able to travel the world, A Taste of India in The Netherlands will be on the list.
Beth: I am learning how to do henna. I have three thick books of designs: Turkey, India and Morocco. Many of the pattens you see in clothing and artwork are also henna patterns.
Joan: you are so right. Keeping busy is the best way.
I had a wonderful night sleep last night. I think much of it was pure exhaustion. I did sleep with my feet up on pillows and no swelling this morning.
Even as I sit here at the Laptop, my feet are swollen alittle, but nothing like last week.
Before I went to PT, Mark called. The unit is now together and they are fly out for their new post and tomorrow training begins. He sounds great, but he is lonely.
So am I.
But we are both doing ok.
PT went very well. Ready to use the gold rubber band. It is the toughest.
One of the excises I have is walking up and down the hallway with a large, thick rubber band around my ankles. One of the Techs walk with me to make sure I don't fall or trip. I have gone from red to green. Green to blue. Blue now to black. The black is getting loose, so I may go for the gold next week. It means the leg is much stronger. But I still have a problem with the right hip turning.
That's the next thing to work on.

Yesterday afternoon, I watched an old movie, The Gathering, about the Rapture. Very good.
This afternoon, it will be Arabian Nights. Ten years old, but still one of my favorites. And then a nap before supper.
Hopefully Mark will call before bedtime.

A Taste of India

My hand after Mehennia

Recieving henna. It is fun to watch the pattern form and very relaxing.

This is the 10-13 year old dancers.

Aren't they wondeful?

Shalom:
Sunday Mark, our friends the Prost and I attended the Third Taste of India here in Norfolk.
If you love Indian food, music and dance, this is the place for you.

The Tom Contast Hall was filled with the sights, sounds and smells of India. Men, women and children were dress in the attire of their Country, the food, of course delightful. It was loud and hard to hear, but we still had a blast.

Even enjoyed Indian ice cream. Very smooth and creamy.

Mark even brought me a Saree. it is blues, pinks and golds.

Mark wants me to wear it and get hennia for his homecoming.

I just have to practice wrapping myself in the Saree.

OK, Let's Try This Again

Shalom:

After a short nap, I am refreshed (thanks for the hugs, Beth)

I am about to pop some popcorn and enjoy a few movies while working on a piece of needlepoint. I am looking at the bright side of things.

And one of them is I now have time to finish needlepoint and quilting projects that need my attention.

And the good news, I am getting paid for the one I am working on now.

It is a rainy day here in Norfolk, cold and rainy. And it does cause my hip to hurt, but just alittle bit. Not like it use to.

I'd spoken to Mark. He doing fine.

Just lonely.

I keep my forus on the day he returns home.

Mark has already ask that I get henna again.

This time for my hands and feet :)

Am I Awake Yet?

Boka Tov:
I was up until 3:30a.m and finally went to sleep about 4.
Barely up now, I am drinking coffee, (had to relearn how to make coffee) I have to cancel an appointment, and go back to bed.
It is going to a few days to readjust.

I'll try this again later.

Got Starbucks?

Here's Looking at You, Kid....

Warning: Norfolk Inernational Airport's Starbucks has the worse coffee.

Which is even made worse @ 6:30 a.m.

You need a good cup of coffee that early in that early in the morning.

Airports are now at Code Red. So, if you must fly, get to the airport one hour earlier than you would usually plan to. Security has pulled out all the stops.

I have a wonderful friend staying with me. So I'm cool.

But then comes the night.....

I think I still have some Sleepy Time in the cupboard.

We had supper with Mum and Dad Reel yesterday. Roast chicken that melts in your mouth, salad and brown rice. Now I don't really like brown rice, but I love my mother-in-law's.
We have shown our parnets the pictures from the Murder Msytery party.
Everyone thought they were a hoot. Mark's brother Chuck said Mark looked good in black hair.
My mum: "My daughter the Vampire."
Dad Reel just roared with laugher.
It was a wonderful afternoon.

This Says It All

Right now, this is all I can say.
I'll be able to write more later.

Shalom:
It is close to bed time.
It has been a wonderful day.
We visited a Snygouge with friends today. We had the joy of celebrating with a young man who became Bar Mitzvah, a son of the Torah of Commandment. Often this is the end of religious studies, but today' young ones are being encourged that this is the beginning, not the end of your study of Torah, of G-dness and good deeds.
Sadly it is the sign of the times because there was a security guard in front of the building.
We stopped at Beth Messiah to stop off a CD and end up doing some dancing. And this time it well. I was able to dance without pain or cramping. I knew when to stop and did.
The teacher was pleased to see how graceful mark moved. She had heard good things about Mark and I dancing together and today she got to see us dance together.
we came home, took a long nap and had a lovely evening.
I don't think about when Mark will leave my arms.
Just enjoy the time we have.
Blessings, my friends :)

Baby Steps

Shalom:
I had posted a few days ago about teaching a dance class.
It well ok. Except that 1. the weather changed from 90s to 50s and 2. with the weather change caused me to cramp.
The bad news: fives minutes into the clas both hamstrings cramped.
The good news: I was able to work the cramps out and while I could not dance, I could talk the dancers through the movements.
It hurted like the devil, but with Mark massaging and my strtetching they did work out.
I am so glad my Therapist said I still needed another month and I listened.
We also brought home Chicken Curry (coconut milk, not cream) and found out it had MSG. I had an reaction that caused my feet to swell five times their size, so I am drinking lots of water and not far from the bathroom. Orders: bedrest, feet up, drink. I am plowing through a book right now, The Shack, which is awful, the only good thing is comparing scripture to the doctrine this book offers (very bad). But it is fiction, though very bad fiction.
But that is my point of view.
If it hadn't been because my mum gave me this book and had high marks for it, I would have tossed.
But it keeps me busy.
Supper is also ready and Mark and I are spending our last few evening together before he leaves.
I refuse to cry.