I am very nervous......

I am having Lasik surgery on my eyes this afternoon. I have a phobia against hospitals and doctors and anything medical. I don't know why. I have been extremely healthy my whole life and the four times I gave birth I did it naturally and was out of the hospital before 24 hrs was up.

I finally had to break down and have this done because I was sick of wearing contacts and I love to swim and I am sick of wearing goggles. But I am VERY nervous. I know this is a fairly routine surgery and the guys doing it here are the best. But the thought of someone peeling back a flap of my eyeball JUST FREAKS ME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did I mention that I am nervous?

Anyway, I will be off blogging probably until Sunday unless I can get one of my teenagers to blog (which would be very interesting)

Talk among yourselves.

UPDATE: Thanks guys for all your good wishes and prayers. The operation went fine although it was HORRIBLE. The suction thing about killed me. And having to watch him swab my eye was awful, but then this is the one area I am a wimp about--having any sort of medical procedure done. I'm fine with holding other people's hand and watching stuff, just don't touch me!

Anywa,y things didn't go well after that. I did everything they said and wore those shields and went to sleep. Not only did each child come in to tell me something, but our smoke alarms were going off every 30 min. They are tied into the electrical system and the electricity had gone off earlier in the day and I guessed that messed them up. Every time we thought we had it fixed, they would go off again. So that would startle me awake and I would feel a pain in my eyes. After about the 4th time we finally fixed it.

The next morning getting up for the early eye appoitment, I knew something was wrong. Everything was very cloudy and blurry. When I got there and they checked me they said it wasn't uncommon, but my flaps had moved. I think that when I was startled awake and my eyes were so dry, I moved the flaps then, because I sure as heck did as I was told and didn't touch my eyes or squint. So I had to have my flaps smoothed out AGAIN and the doctor put 2 clear contacts on there to make sure they didn't move. I asked him why he didn't just do that with everyone and he said....'Ummm. well there is some discomfort involved."

So about 10 minutes into the drive home my eyes start to hurt so bad I can hardly stand it. By the time we get home I told my hubby to call the doctor and tell him my eyes are hurting BADLY. They said that was normal and the pain should recede in a few hours. A FEW HOURS!!!!! Luckily I had a darvocet let over from my daughter's back injury so I took that and a sleeping pill and I made my daughter come talk to me until I went to sleep. I do not handle pain well.

Even with my sweet daughter rubbing my arm and talking to me I could not get away from this pain. I started doing small leg exercises under my covers. I was trying to remember a book I had read that described old Asian meditations or ways of making one concentrate on something other than the pain. But extreme pain in the eyes is just hard to ignore. Finally I fell asleep and when I woke up about 4 hours later the pain was gone thank God.

This morning my vision seems great. I have to go to the doctor tomorrow to get the contacts taken out and make sure the flaps are fine. But everything seems good today.

I cannot wait to SWIM!!! Especially in the OCEAN and not worry about contacts. Anyway, thanks again for your good thoughts. I am going to try and get my teenager to blog today anyway because I do think ya'll would enjoy it. Both of my teenagers are as Republican as I am so don't expect any rebellion. Especially on issues of life, they have seen it all with me being in pro-life work and having seen 2 brothers in my womb early on and watching those two miracles grow, they are probably even more against any compromise than I am on the issues of life (that ideal youthful passion, you know).

We have a winner!:

" The International Ping Pong Association meets today to consider penalizing the use of telekinesis, as it is suspected of being behind China's dominance in the game."--Pluto's Dad

Filed under---Pathetic

LGF gives a link to Kos (ugh) which has an obscenity laced rant of explanation by the guy who ummm....screamed obscenities at Ann Coulter at U.T. the other day.

The guy is all class. You can see that clearly.

The really sad thing is that Kos puts this up as some sort of validation. Even he can't see how offensive the guy is.

And they wonder why they lose. Sad and pathetic.

From Michael Yon: Online Magazine


Mosul

"Major Mark Bieger found this little girl after the car bomb that attacked our guys while kids were crowding around. The soldiers here have been angry and sad for two days. They are angry because the terrorists could just as easily have waited a block or two and attacked the patrol away from the kids. Instead, the suicide bomber drove his car and hit the Stryker when about twenty children were jumping up and down and waving at the soldiers. Major Bieger, I had seen him help rescue some of our guys a week earlier during another big attack, took some of our soldiers and rushed this little girl to our hospital. He wanted her to have American surgeons and not to go to the Iraqi hospital. She didn't make it. I snapped this picture when Major Bieger ran to take her away. He kept stopping to talk with her and hug her."

Read the rest. The picture is heartbreaking but shows the heart of our soldiers. via Mudville.

TOP THREE STUPID NEWS STORIES OF THE WEEK

1) The Runaway Bride. Who cares? It was so stupid I couldn't believe how the news was going on and on about it. Now she says she didn't have cold feet, just issues. Shutup. No. Hard to believe........

2) The Pat O'Brien/Dr. Phil airing of really dirty laundry fest. A story about a semi-famous man who is obsessed with sex, drinks too much, and is a complete PIG. Wow!!! There are hardly any men like that.

3) The Laura Bush correspondent's dinner FILTHY speech. Gosh, tell an old farm joke that has been around for DECADES and your the new character on Southpark. Geeze. *newsflash to liberals......we theocons actually do have a sense of humor.

Kofi Caught?

NewsMax.com brings us this:

U.N. investigators have turned over to Congress boxes of evidence on the Oil-for-Food program, including "proof" that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan lied to the Independent Inquiry Committee probing the scandal, Fox News Channel reporter Jonathan Hunt said Thursday."One source close to the case told me that in those boxes is the ammunition to prove that Kofi Annan lied to investigators," Hunt told Fox News Radio host Tony Snow. "So this is a very dramatic development indeed." via Ace

Lovely. And just when Kofi thought he was going to get away with it.

Caption Time!!!

Charles from You Big Mouth, You! sent me this link of his regarding Holocaust Remembrance Day. He has pictures and a letter from an American soldier from 1945.

I saw a commercial today where they were interviewing young people on the street. They were asking them what the Holocaust was. One girl said it was when the Jews celebrated like Christmas with candles and things, but it wasn't Christmas...Oh. My. God. There were a few other stupid answers but none as bad as that. Then the commercial said the 53% of teenagers did not know what the Holocaust was about. I hope to God that figure is not true.

I was around 11 or 12 when I read "Anne Frank's Diary." I cried and cried. Such a beautiful soul she was. I also remember reading "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom about the same time. That book was about a Christian family who hid Jews and then was caught and Corrie's whole family dies in the camps. She lives to tell the story. If you haven't read it, you should. It is an amazing book of faith.

Anyway, I pestered my Mom about how this could possible happen? The horror of it was just too much for me. I suppose that is where my passion for human rights and the sanctity of life began. The thought that we are not teaching this to young people is frightening to me.

The lesson of the Holocaust is that evil can creep up on us. It's footsteps are soft and hard to hear. It is upon us without us realizing it. It can also disguise itself in virtue. It can also hide it's true horror until it is too late for us to do much about it. We can also become use to evil. We can accept it and say that it is necessary. We can ignore it because it doesn't involve us, as so many did during that time. But in our hearts we know. Our conscience tugs at us like a small child that tugs at the shirt of it's mother.

Evil can wear a smile.

Let us remember those who suffered and died. Let us remember and ask ourselves, is there evil here? We honor those who died in the Holocaust by fighting evil and by not ignoring the tug our conscience gives us.

How could it have happened? Easy. It happens so easily.

"Texas House Approves Ban of Risque Cheerleading."

As a former cheerleader and the mom of one, all I can say is.....YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKIN KIDDING???????????

Cheerleaders are the last thing we need to worry about now. How about we focus on making sure kids don't have access to porn. Let's try THAT first. Geeze!!!!

This from The Smoking Gun:

Another Counter-Coulter Bust

Lewd heckler arrested at conservative's Texas college lecture
MAY 5--Months after members of "Al Pieda" disrupted a campus speech by Ann Coulter, another appearance by the controversial conservative commentator has been disrupted by a protester. During a speech last night at the University of Texas in Austin, a 19-year-old UT student was busted after asking Coulter a lewd question, which he followed up with equally inappropriate hand gestures, according to the below police affidavit. The student, Ajai Raj, was arrested by campus police and hit with a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. The police affidavit notes that Coulter's lecture was attended by "several children under the age of ten," which probably made them particularly sensitive when Raj queried Coulter about the sexual proclivities of certain right-leaning men.

What are we becoming? I mean seriously. I heard on the radio though that Ann had said she wouldn't continue until some burly Republican guys calmed things down and suddenly the aisles were filled with just that.

Heh....You gotta love it.

Yay! I fixed Hello AND I got the pictures bigger (that was driving me crazy) Any pics I have posted that were too small that ya'll want to see again? Let me know.

I think I have the hello picture thingy fixed. Anyway, I almost forgot this was White Trash Wednesday. Caption if you like.

Courtesy Of Alexis Rockman
"Artist Alexis Rockman drew this for the cover of Peter Ward's book "Future Evolution." Titled "Neozoic Era" after the geological time we live in, the piece shows human trash buried by dirt that's become a habitat for super-rabbits that can run great distances, and for dandelions whose spores bombard Earth." (So that's where my socks disappeared to!) Read the article on the evolutionary future of the earth.

This is how one professor sees the future (and it's all because....you guessed it!! - Global warming!)

"..... the real rulers will be rodents — and snakes. The fossil record shows that they have the genetic capability of whipping out new species," says Ward, a biology professor at the University of Washington.

Ok, if this is the future I want off at the next bus stop. I have an idea though. Once we see rats and snakes are starting to "whip out" a new species, how about we go get the garden hoe and start some pre evolutionary chopping them dead.

Read the article and hear the theory of a British geologist who sees the future with no humans and led by a giant land-based squid. (Now, that's a movie idea right there!) How does a squid command power I wonder? Any ideas?

"I Punched Saddam in the Mouth"
Meet Samir, the St. Louis auto mechanic who pulled Saddam Hussein from his spider hole
BY Chad Garrison

This is a MUST READ folks. This was the first soldier to grab Saddam out of his spider hold. He had been a Shiite from the south and was part of the revolution against Saddam in 1991. He told Saddam that he had murdered his uncles and cousins. That he had imprisoned his father.

And then he punched him in the mouth.

A perfectly understandable thing to do. In fact I would have encouraged it. I think he showed restraint actually. But you need to read the rest to find out how he went from being a part of the revolution against Saddam in '91 to being a U.S. soldier and helping to capture Saddam. Also interesting is the Pentagon's reaction to the photos of this man with Saddam at the time of the Capture.

In one part he describes how he had not seen his family since 1991 and so when he finds himself at an airbase near his home his boss makes sure he is driven to his home:

"The next morning Samir hopped on a Humvee for the half-hour drive to his parents' home. The entire neighborhood, some 700 residents, poured into the streets to greet him.

"It was an awesome feeling," he says. "I felt like I was coming with the U.S. forces to free my family. It was the best feeling of my life."

Seriously, this story just ROCKS! Read It! via Beautiful Atrocities

This from Mudville:

FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A military judge asked on Tuesday if Army Reservist Lynndie England, a key figure in the
Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, wanted to withdraw her guilty plea after a witness appeared to indicate she might have trouble telling right from wrong.

So? We had a Democrat President for 8 yrs who couldn't tell right from wrong either and no one seemed to care.

Sorry guys. Flickr is replacing each photo with the most recent photo I post. ARRGGHHH! I am leaving the comments up so you can still comment though.

"We are tired and we have suffered a lot"

"CAPTAIN ED analyzes a captured letter which appears to harshly criticize terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Ed predicts that Zarqawi won't be able to hold out much longer." (Citizen Smash)

"Arabs understand and respect power, but they won't abide a coward or incompetent, and so far it looks like Zarqawi qualifies as both. He's killing Iraqis and Arabs instead of so-called infidels, and even the terrorists know that will spell certain doom for their efforts and themselves, and sooner rather than later." (Capt. Ed)


MORE -- The text of the letter (courtesy AP):

To the sheik Abu Ahmed, may God keep him: (Quranic verses)

I advise myself first and then advise you to fear God in private as in public and that you don't worry about blame from anyone. I urge you that you let nothing stop you from jihad (holy war) for the sake of God ... and that you take refuge in God in all situations, in easy times and in difficult ones. ....
The Islamic nation is waiting for the establishment of an Islamic state that rules by God's laws and carries out his punishments and is waiting for the men who can protect its honor, which is being violated every day. This is the path, but where are the men? We ask God to guide them. What has happened to me (and to?) my brothers is an unforgivable crime. ...

By God, the one and only God, you (will?) ask about what happened to us, because you didn't ask about the situation of the immigrants. ... But morale is weakening and there is (unclear word: either "exhaustion" or "confusion") among the ranks of the mujahedeen, and some of the brother emirs are discriminating among them. God does not accept such actions. ...
What happened is that he (not identified in the text) said: 'Either you carry out a martyrdom operation or you go back home.' We were told that there is an order from the sheik (presumably al-Zarqawi) for us to return. Some of the brothers have returned. Others have signed up to become martyrs. Still others were waiting for God's comfort, but this came after humiliation and rude treatment and many other things. Who can tolerate all this? ...

There are brothers that are oppressed, brothers that are persecuted and brothers that are helplessly jailed with no one to meet with them or to ask about them. The situation is not the way it used to be in Fallujah, when you used to come and visit us and we used to enjoy sitting with you. The situation has completely changed. Thanks be to God for everything.
The most important thing, oh sheik, is that you are there and that you remain a thorn in the mouths of the Americans and a thorn in the mouths of the apostates. May God keep you.

The most important thing is that you don't hear from (only) one side, even if it were the closest person to you. Hear from all sides so that the truth can become clear to you. We have found emirs who are not fit for leadership. We are not the ones who can determine who is fit and who isn't, but we are witnesses of God's people and we are the ones who have experienced and know them. ...

Oh sheik, test those who are below you. Some of them are ... oppressors and some of them are not so.

This is my last request: to meet you, because there are many things that are secret and the truth is that I no longer trust any person who says that he is coming from the sheik's side. We are tired and we have suffered a lot. Thanks be to God.

I ask the great God, the honorable God of the throne, to make his religion victorious and to raise his word and to strengthen his worshippers, the mujahedeen, everywhere and to humiliate all kinds of disbelief in God and to destroy America and its supporters soon without delay.

Abu Asim al-Qusaymi al-Yemeni

It us hard to believe I am reading a letter from 2005 and not some ancient time. These men who blow themselves up in car bombs are like members of a cult. This letter sounds like a cult member. But this is what we are fighting against. Those who clearly want to "destroy America." I hope that their numbers are diminishing, but our world will not be safe until this "thorn" is crushed. There is no doubt of that in my mind.

Runaway Story

Isn't this Runaway Bride thing getting a little out of hand? Good Lord! Fox News had Sean Hannity out in her hometown getting the "exclusive" from her fiancee. Linda Vester featured it on her show today. You can't turn on the news without hearing the "latest."

If I were her, I would run away now. She has already proven herself to be unstable. I suppose making a HUGE news story out of this will help that along, I'm sure. She is probably gulping down Prozac as we speak.

I'm waiting for the big Barbara Walters interview with her.

Enough already.

Wow, the power of the BlogGod. One mention from him and I noticed I got over 1500 hits on my profile in less than ONE DAY. I have no idea how many hits I got to my site since I don't have a sitemeter, but blogspot has some sort of automatic count on how many people actually click on my profile. Crazy, huh?

The Red and Blue of the Catholic Church

This is an excellent article by Chuck Raasch about the divide in the Catholic Church in America on the issues. Speaking of the present Pope (then Cardinal) Raasch says this:

"Last summer, the then cardinal stepped in the middle of a raging political debate in the United States. He declared it a "grave sin" for politicians to favor abortion choice or euthanasia, in effect backing bishops who advocated denying the sacrament to abortion rights supporters like former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Benedict also has advocated "clear and emphatic opposition" to homosexual marriage and called homosexuality a sin. But he also urged that gay men and women be "accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity."

Isn't this exactly what Christ did? He made clear grave sin when he saw it, but he advocated compassion and forgiveness for that sin and for all of God's children. One may not like having a sin pointed out, as I am sure many in the New Testament did not, but if it leads us to a better place then it is important for those who wish to be faithful to know this.

It has long been clear to me that the divide in the Catholic Church in America runs along political "red and blue" lines as well. But the Church is not a democracy. It is a guide to our salvation. We should not expect it to be a "majority rules" kind of institution. This argument has been made well by many of the Southpark Republicans in the blogosphere. They understand that no one forces one to be Catholic. I certainly do not want anyone to leave my Church, but I also think they need to understand the role of the Church. It is to bring us to holiness, not win a popularity contest.

The article points out that for many Catholics in the world social issues such as women priests, abortion, or gay marriage are the last thing they think about. They think about how to feed the poor among them. They think about how to provide healthcare and shelter.

Believe it or not, American Catholics are but a small portion of the 1.1 billion Catholics in the world. Those who fight for change don't seem to see the big picture of the 'universal" Catholic Church.

For example, most Americans think that there is a world wide lack of Priests. They believe that the priesthood has been declining. That may be true in the United States (although even here it is getting better) But the truth is that during the papacy of Pope John Paul the vocation of the Priesthood rose over 10% worldwide. Where the teachings of the Church is taught in it's fullness there is no lack of vocations. But American Catholics seem to think of themselves in a bubble sometimes and that is too bad.

If the media would do it's job and report on this fairly, then both the Republicans and Democrats wouldn't have to spend so much freaking money doing this.

These are the kind of laws we need more of. Yay to Gov. Bush.

What If You Were Murdered?

As is stated in my profile, I am an avid reader. I read everything from politics to religion to literary fiction (my personal favorite) to science fiction. My mom, however, is crime/murder mystery fiction FANATIC. She sends me boxes of books every few months, so I read them as well.

I have noticed a theme in these books that got me to thinking (ohhhh... Such a dangerous thing!) The detectives on a murder case always search through the victims things to discover anything about their personal life that might be connected to their murder. I am sure you have seen the same thing on Law and Order, or CSI, or any of those crime shows that I don't watch. Anyway, it got me to thinking about what a detective would find out about me if I was murdered by going through my nightstand, closet, bookshelf, and computer. What would my friends and family say?

I think it would be an interesting experiment for all of you that are reading this to go into your rooms with a pencil and a paper and write down what is in your nightstand, what you read, what is hidden away in your closet, and on your computer. (yes, even the stuff you think no one knows about) Look at it when you are done and ask yourself what it says about you. I bet you might be surprised at how it might look to a stranger.

I won't bore you with everything I have, trust me....Nothing exciting. But I think the only "different"thing about me is that with all my makeup, bubble bath, bath and bodyworks stuff, and expensive perfume it would be obvious that I am a girly girl. But you would find no women's or beauty magazines in my house. Just political and religious magazines and National Geographic. Also, I have nice clothes but not a lot of clothes. I hate shopping. My closet is well organized because I keep ALL my clothes there. All seasons, all purses and shoes. I have no chest of drawers. I just don't have as much stuff as most women. I like simple things that rarely go out of style. I don't like clutter and I don't like having too much stuff.

I suppose if a detective really wanted to find out about me, all he would have to do is read my blog. Anyway, I thought it might be an interesting experiment if ya'll did it and comment here on what surprised you on how it would look to someone who didn't know you.

We really are never promised tomorrow. So even if you aren't murdered and you just die of natural causes or an accident, what would your relatives find? And what would it say about you? If you find things that make you a bit ashamed, then maybe it's time to get rid of them. Maybe it's time to reassess who you are and who you want to be.

I hope I am not sounding like Tony Robbins/Billy Graham here.....;-) Now go do it. Pencil and paper.....GO!