The End.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to keep this little blog running for almost three whole years. You guys are the greatest. And now I have to leave before I start crying.

Be inspired! To do what, don't ask me.

For Sallie, Julie, and Tabitha's friends. Now leave me alone--can't you see there's a war on?

Dear Justinespired,
I see you’ve been neglecting your blog lately, but I desperately need your advice. I used to always feel terrible anytime I accidentally vacuumed up one of my children’s toys, and would sift through the bag until it was found. But lately when I suck up something tiny, I just keep vacuuming. To make things worse, the other day I found the sound of a Lego head rattling up the plastic tube to be very satisfying. I want to stop lying to my children about what really happened to Polly Pocket’s left shoe, but I don't think I can. I’ve asked my husband what to do, but he just says, “Vacuum up the other #@$%* one!” Can you help me? Please?
-Stressing in Steubenville


Dear Mrs. Stressing,
I’m sorry I haven’t been around much lately, but my primary vocation as a wife and mother keeps me very busy doing things like cleaning, cooking, and washing, or as my husband calls it, “Facebooking.” But I’m happy to take a break from defending our nation from the evils of nationalized healthcare on social networking sites, at the risk of being flagged as an enemy of the state, to address a topic of even greater importance.

First of all, stop stressing! The feelings you are experiencing are perfectly normal and all part of the maturation process of parenthood.

New parents always buy lots of toys because doctor's office magazines have convinced them that babies' brains only develop when exposed to primary color plastic. Which is crazy because primary color wood will do exactly the same thing.

According to "experts," every respectable nursery must contain baskets overflowing with toys, have toys lining the inside and outside of the crib, as well as hanging from the ceiling. Infants will only learn to mimic proper social behavior if surrounded by toys with cheerful, smiling faces, since Mommy and Daddy aren’t getting any sleep and always look foul. And, say, did I ever tell you about the time when, in a postpartum sleep-deprived stupor, I invented a coffee-reheating mug handle that doubled as a teething ring? Some federal regulatory committee shut it down fast, because they’re nothing a bunch of COMMUNISTS.

Anyway, after the Toys=IQ stage, parents move into the stage knows as Toys=Time=Freedom=Facebook. This is the stage when parents will buy kids anything to keep them quiet long enough for Mommy to argue the finer points of federal law with liberal friends from high school.

The last parent who got away with drawing a face on a corncob and calling it a doll was Ma Ingalls. Today's little girls demand luxury dream kitchen sets, fully-furnished dollhouses with central vac, and two of every stuffed animal in North America. Boys want battery-operated land mines, NASA-certified space stations, and internment camps built to scale with little tents and a Rahm Emanuel figurine that shoots dead fish when you press a button in his back. The more pieces, and the more realistic the toy sets, the better. In fact, a recent study from the Department of the House Interior reported that 95% of American homes with children over the age of four contain a miniature replica of everything the entire universe, because the average playing time for each new toy is five minutes, after which kids’ brains short-circuit, then whir to a stop with, “Nothingtooodoooo.”

Sure, we all joke about how kids toss the toy and play with the cardboard box, but does any parent ever just give their kid a cardboard box for his birthday? Nooo. And why not? Because we're all wimps, that’s why. And because we know that after five minutes he'll be tired of it too, and nobody flinches when you throw an empty box into the garbage as a punishment. The way I see it, to keep kids playing happily long enough to read all 1,000 pages of House Bill HR3200, you either have to order one million toys online and schedule FedEx deliveries every five minutes for the next 18 years. Or to save money, order only half a million and let kids take breakable things down from high shelves to make up the slack. That, or let them combine two common household items in an uncommon way. Like a fork and a toaster.

Um, anyway, Mrs. Stressing, the next phase in the parent/toy relationship can come on gradually--vague uneasiness, feelings of guilt like the ones you describe, hostility toward bits and pieces that never did anyone any harm except puncture the thickest skin on the bottom of their heel--but for others, it hits all at once. Like that scene in Aliens where They’re Everywhere! and then you suddenly realize you’re brushing your teeth with Street Sweeper Transformer.

This phase has a name. It’s a good one, and I’ll come up with it later, but all you need to know is that most parents never break free of it. Hours of every day are spent cleaning, organizing, and shoveling paths through mountains of toys just to get out the front door in the morning. Thousands of dollars are wasted each year paying to have stray toy parts removed from toilet plumbing, car engines, and sinus cavities. (I exaggerate, of course, he eventually sneezed the thing out. But if he hadn’t, OBAMACARE DEATH PANELS WOULD HAVE DENIED COVERAGE, for sure.)

Despite all this frustration, most American parents are unwilling to publicly admit that too many toys have ruined their lives. Invariably, repressed hostility toward children’s playthings manifests itself as secret delight in their destruction, and every means to sneak them out of the house is employed: midnight garage sales, stealth Goodwill drop-offs, shameless dumping in neighbor’s backyards. It is a little-known fact the Statue of Liberty was a climbing toy driving Monsieur Bartholdi’s wife batty before it was “gifted” to the U.S.*

Only rarely do you come across parents with the courage and wisdom to strike at the root of this problem which plagues so many of us. If one could catch it on film, it would look something like this:

(A family with a group of children who have recently been bathed, sitting together in a living room.)

Dad: We’ve called this family meeting, kids, because Mom and I want to explain a new family policy.

Mom: It's not that we don't want you to have fun, but the toy situation around here is getting a bit out of control.

Dad: We don't have room for any new toys, and I can't afford to build another playroom addition until I finish paying off the last one. But more importantly, Mom and I are realizing that having so much stuff just isn't good for our family. We're always wanting more, no matter how much we have. Not just you kids, we parents are the same way. It's not toys we want, but it's new things like faster laptops, updated furniture, Stow N' Go minivans like the cool moms in the carpool, black high heels that are exactly the same as the other 57 pairs that are taking over my side of the closet—

Mom: —jet skis, riding mowers when we only have a postage stamp-sized lawn, bigger flat screen TVs just so you can watch the stupid Reds spit in higher-definition—

Dad: —as I was saying, kids, desiring new things and quickly growing dissatisfied with them is not necessarily bad or wrong, it's simply human nature. No matter how much stuff we have, it's never enough, and we always find ourselves wanting something more. That's because nothing on this earth CAN satisfy us, and deep down inside, we know it. Only the love of Jesus Christ will make us truly happy, because that's how God made us.

Mom: And even though as Christians we know this is true, we can still get distracted pretty easily. In a country where we are blessed with so much, we need to make a special effort to fight against the temptation to be materialistic. Does everyone understand?

Kids: Uh-huh, I do. I want to fight the temptation, Mom.

I want to fight against it, too!

Me too! Let me get my sword.

Hey, that’s my sword, GIVE IT BACK. No, it’s mine, yours broke. Yeah, because YOU BROKE IT. Hey, how come they both got swords and I never did? It's not fair! OWWW. Mooooom, HE HIT ME!

Mom: STOP IT ALL OF YOU. I promise I’ll buy you some new swords AND shields—

Kids: —and princess hats?

Mom: —and princess ponies, if YOU PROMISE to speak nicely to each other for a change and stop talking to me altogether when I'm on the computer.

Dad: Say, everyone, I saw a great castle play set at Walmart today. Maybe if you’re really good children, Santa will bring you one for Christmas.

Kids: Yay! Hooray! WE PROMISE!

Mom: Great, I'm so proud of you! Now hurry, get into your pajamas and brush your teeth, and come back so we can say prayers. You're all going to bed early because I want to watch Glenn Beck's special expose on our new Hand Washing Czar and his secret ties to Al-Qaeda soap manufacturing companies.

While they're gone, hon, let me tell you about this crazy comment my liberal friend Chris posted on Facebook today about Obamacare. It made me just LOL! He said…

(Fade out.)

(Fade faster, they're coming back.)

The End

* Every time I fix this on Wiki, some revisionist historian changes it right back. #@$%* COMMUNISTS.

Google Notification

Final Warning Before Termination. Due to consistent lack of activity for over a month, this blog is in danger of violating the Terms and Conditions set forth in Google Term's of Service. If activity does not resume within period determined under Section 23.5 C, Google reserves right to terminate this account. This is the eleventh and final attempt to contact the administrator of this neglected blog and tell them they are simply being rude, and at the very least they could have posted some stupid YouTube clips of cats dancing or someone making fun of the President. Really, would it have been that hard to find five minutes to let us know you're not dead? Sheesh! Google is not legally responsible for any undue hardship this may cause readers, and is not liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred by as a result of blog unavailability.

Meet the Mob

I saw your mom in it.

The Mob

Ask not what your country can do for you...

For the benefit of those of you too stubborn to sign up for Facebook, I'm sharing my recent profile picture which was taken in response to the White House's call for informants to snitch on fellow citizens by forwarding any "fishy" e-mails or web content to the address duct taped across my big mouth. 

All I have to say about this is: You technologically-impaired dinosaurs (and you know who you are) are missing out on some of my finest wit and wisdom about health care, the economy, and cost-saving tips for fast and easy removal of upper lip hair. (Silver or white duct tape seem to work about the same.)

More importantly, by choosing not to be my Facebook "Friend" you do not have access to the toxic lies and misinformation with which I am maliciously polluting the internet. You're missing a golden opportunity to turn me in, shut me up, and save both the United States of America and the dodo bird from utter destruction!!!

Personally, I find your apathy disgusting. 

P.S. Sample of Lies and Misinformation

Question

Hey, remember that time you bought that house because it had beautiful stone fireplaces and really cool antique tile in the foyer and then after you moved in you pulled up the tacky foyer throw rug because you wanted to show off the floor until you got a good look at the design and realized it was made up of symbols which included little swastikas and then suddenly you were terrified to answer the doorbell because you weren't sure if the FedEx guy was Jewish and you told yourself that since the house was built in 1938 probably interior decorators back then weren't up on the news until you Googled "History of the Swastika" and discovered that Hitler had actually adopted the symbol 18 years before and considering that your last name is as German as the pope...I forget, what was it you did again?

You do have swastikas in your foyer, too, right?

SHOCK UNCOVERED: Obama IN HIS OWN WORDS saying His Health Care Plan will ELIMINATE private insurance

I'll cut you a good deal on autographs.

The recession has been tough all around, but thankfully one can still find editors willing to pay top dollar for substandard writing. Check out "Where Angels Fear to Tread" on pages 22-23 of
Franciscan Way for my latest* published article this year but only if you are so bored that tweezing your eyelashes sounds like fun.

*OK,  only.

Did you miss me?

Why, yes, I AM posting from my new house! I'm surprised you noticed. Sorry I've been gone so long, but not only has moving into a new house kept me busy, but so has all the cleaning that had to be done first. It was absolutely disgusting, and I didn't know where to start. Honestly, some people live like animals.

In the place we moved out of, I mean. Apparently, we used to throw legos, pencils and marbles like confetti, stick thousands of tiny pieces of scotch tape on all the walls, raise dust bunnies for a living, and run through the rooms squirting grape jelly, soy sauce and egg yokes at each other.

What a fun house! I can't remember why we ever wanted to leave.

"Health Reform to Regret"

(I think these are details about the issue that a lot of people don't know or completely understand.-JS)

by George Will

...Most Americans do want different health care: They want 2009 medicine at 1960 prices. Americans spent much less on health care in 1960 (5 percent of gross domestic product as opposed to 18 percent now). They also spent much less -- nothing, in fact -- on computers, cellphones, and cable and satellite television.

Your next car can cost less if you forgo GPS, satellite radio, antilock brakes, power steering, power windows and air conditioning. You can shop for such a car at your local Studebaker, Hudson, Nash, Packard and DeSoto dealers.

The president says that his health plan is responsive "to all those families who now spend more on health care than housing or food." Well. The Hudson Institute's Betsy McCaughey, writing in the American Spectator, says that in 1960 the average American household spent 53 percent of its disposable income on food, housing, energy and health care. Today the portion of income consumed by those four has barely changed -- 55 percent. But the health-care component has increased while the other three combined have decreased. This is partly because as societies become richer, they spend more on health care -- and symphonies, universities, museums, etc.

It is also because health care is increasingly competent. When the first baby boomers, whose aging is driving health-care spending, were born in 1946, many American hospitals' principal expense was clean linen. This was long before MRIs, CAT scans and the rest of the diagnostic and therapeutic arsenal that modern medicine deploys...read the rest

But thanks for offering!

Nope, I don't need any help packing. I already got me a staff of highly efficient experts who are working around the clock to make sure we only keep what we need and don't lug a lot of unnecessary junk along with us. These people really know what they're doing.

For example, you probably would have thrown this away. And when the day came that we desperately needed a handful of pine cones, shells, and one left molar in a purple eyeglass case--where would we be then? That's right! And we'd only have you and your silly shortsightedness to blame.

No, you can keep that kind of help to yourself, thank you very much.

Obama, health care, ABC, boxes, Anna, and the risk of bodily harm

Because I'm supposed to be packing for our move next week, my sister is guest-blogging on Obama's ABC's Health Care Forum today to give me a hand. She doesn't know she's guest-blogging yet, because I just copied her comments from last night on our family blog without permission. When she finds out she might attack me with her ninja lawyer skills, or worse, drive down here and sit on me. Say a prayer, will ya?

People have asked good some good questions and Obama is evading actually answering them. I wonder how this will play out in the media tomorrow - but, my assessment: ABC allowed some good questions. Obama does not answer them, and looks like an ass to me (and his health care plan scares the crap out of me even more). But, his flock will probably just say, "he was so smart! He took all those hard questions and gave great answers."

My favorite moment so far: A lady in the audience tells him about her mom who is 105 and when she was 99 a Dr. said she needed a pacemaker, but she was denied at first because of her age- but then the Dr. made an appointment with the specialist for her so they could see how lively she was, and then they gave it to her. And the lady asked, "but under your health care will she just be denied because she's too old?" And Obama starts talking about "this brings up the need to have living wills so people will know how you want to be taken care of at the end of life. End of life care...blah blah blah...." The lady's mom was NOT unconscious. The whole point is that she was mostly healthy, and it was not extraordinary care even though she was old. And Obama makes it an "end of life issue" speech (maybe he doesn't know what living wills are and doesn't realize that if you are conscious you don't defer to one).

So, the lady clarifies again - it's not an end of life issue - she wants to know if her mom would have been cut off because of age when she's very vivacious. And Obama says, "oh, well, if the pacemaker would have made her care cheaper she may have gotten it faster under our new program."

Excellent - good recovery Obama. You realized this wasn't one of the questions that you would answer with, "old dying people are taking up too many of our resources." but instead was one that you wanted to say, "oh, it's all about what's cheap."

And no throwing rocks, either.

Yes, I see you. Waving your arms at me like a insane person, yelling something across the lawn. What are you so upset about? It missed her face by a whole two inches.

What stick? You don't mean this? You can't possibly mean this. But I NEEEED this! How am I supposed to thwip thwip thwip without this? Or slash violently?

OK, OK, I'm putting it down! What's with you and eyes, anyway? You freak out about nail-biting, but they always grow back.

I DID put it down. See, it's touching the ground. I can't possibly hurt anyone with the part in my hand. Sheesh.

No wait--I dropped it! Look, I dropped it! I like TV, OK? And I'm backing away. Not even touching it with my foot anymore. Not even looking at it. Not even thinking about looking at it. Just go back to your phone call, and don't worry about me. I just have to pick up this and whack—

What? Not this one either? But it's not even a stick, it's a branch! What about just this itty-bitty baby one I use to poke holes with because one end is sharp...oh come ON, it's not even anywhere close to sharp!

What do you mean, "Not. Any. Stick. Ever?" I'm staring at you like this because you are not making sense. Not even a walking stick? What about a standing stick? A dead pet stick in a cage--would that be safe enough for you? Why the heck not?!

Fine. Have it your way. You and your irrational fears win today, but I'm telling you, you have no idea what kind of power you're up against. Men and trees have had an understanding from the DAWN OF TIME, and no silly little backyard rules are suddenly going to change that. Ask Dad if you don't believe me.

It's a lost cause, woman. Just let it go.

What Battlestar Galactica Taught Me About Healthcare Reform

"The politicians tell us free market health care doesn't work, but we haven't had a free market in decades."

from Rebuild the Party

ACHTUNG: STATE RUN MEDIA IS HERE

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE

Update: ABC REFUSES OPPOSITION ADS DURING WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL

and

Steele to GOP: 'Fight' ABC

“It seems that the mainstream media has finally decided to dispense with the pointless denials of favorable coverage of the Obama administration. Now one network, ABC News, has actually turned its entire programming over to President Obama and his big-government agenda.”

It's packing peanuts for dinner again.

Look at that poor woman. She is putting things in boxes. Lots of things in lots of boxes. That, that, and oh my! even that. What is she doing?

And she is talking to herself. Listen! She is saying, "Put it in a box, put it in a box, I've got to put everything in a #@$&—." Oh dear, she really should not speak that way in front of children.

More things in more boxes! Will she ever stop? This is making me uncomfortable. Maybe we should call someone? I know, I'll go for help, and you stay here. But stand where she can't see you, because it might not be safe.

The reason I only hang out on Facebook.

The Twittersphere

You should ask for your money back.

My scanners tell me that lately I've been getting hits from the Catholic New Media Awards site because some person with poor judgement nominated herself for "funniest blog." (Memo to me: Cut back on the Irish coffees, woman, you're making a fool of yourself.)

I have to apologize to all the people who have clicked themselves all the way over here because I realize this place hasn't been very funny lately. Normally, I'm hysterical. Everybody thinks so. They're always rolling in the aisles, clutching their sides, unable to breathe, yet they still manage to mouth, "Justine, you're hys-ter-i-cal!"

Sorry you weren't here for any of that but I've been kind of busy lately because we're getting ready to move and... Whoops! Looks like I just slipped on a banana peel! Well, that's what you get for being a mom to six monkeys, I suppose. Get it? Monkeys? Ha-hah-HAH! Say, did you hear about the cannibals who ate a missionary and got a taste of religion? Whoops! Another banana peel! And a rubber chicken! This place is crazy! Speaking of crazy, what do you get when you cross an atheist with a dyslexic? Someone who doesn't believe in DOGS! Hey, pull my fing--oh, nevermind.

Justine Almighty

A little ways back, someone scolded me on one of my posts because they said God wouldn’t care about whatever issue I was nitpicking that day. He’d have bigger fish to fry, if he even existed anyway, they said. But then Anonymous must have remembered the old adage, Cast ye not your pearls before swine, because he/she deleted the comment.

What Anonymous maybe didn’t know, besides the fact that Cast ye not your pearls before swine is from the Bible, is that all comments posted on my blog, even deleted ones, show up as messages in my inbox. So I read the comment anyway. Hearing all and seeing all—I’m a little bit like God on this blog in that regard, wouldn’t you say? If you think about it, I am God-like. Actually, I AM God. Yes, ME=GOD. BOW BEFORE ME YOU FOOLS! SLAUGHTER FOR ME A BULLOCK! I DEMAND—

Did you see that? Did you SEE that? Just a little bit of power, and it went straight to my head. I think it was because I suddenly realized I had all this potential and only 10 minutes to use it before the baby woke up from her nap or someone peed on the floor. I apologize for the lightening bolts, but it’s not my fault if you bought a cheap surge protector.

But, of course, the real God doesn’t have to prioritize his concerns because he is not constrained by time. He is outside of time, because time is something he created. That’s why he can be at a Global Summit at the same time he is with a family around Grandpa’s hospital bed, at the same time he is with a teenager in a bathroom stall crying over a pimple. And he cares just as much for their problems, as he does for all the problems in the world.

Anonymous doesn’t have to feel bad for not realizing this, because not all Christians realize this either. And even those of us who do sometimes forget and don’t bother God with the small stuff, until we finally remember that it’s the small stuff that makes up most of our problems. Like…wait for it here…3...2...1...ding! The pee on the floor. Yup, like clockwork. My ten minutes are up, I’ve gotta run.

Raise that kid's allowance.

The Institution Formerly Known as Marriage

by Jennifer Roback Morse

The Iowa court’s recent decision does not simply broaden marriage, it radically changes its nature. While marriage previously served public purposes of attaching mothers and fathers to their children and one another, now marriage merely serves as affirmation of adult feelings. the rest

Sotomayar a mixed bag?

There are still many things about the nominee that concern me, like her 60% reversal rate, her interpretation of the Second Amendment, her now famous Wise Latina Woman comment, and in general being unqualified, but if we're looking for something hopeful, we should at least consider this:

Judge Sotomayor has also ruled on several immigration cases involving people fighting deportation orders to China on the grounds that its population-control policy of forcible abortions and birth control constituted persecution.

In a 2007 case, she strongly criticized colleagues on the court who said that only women, and not their husbands, could seek asylum based on China’s abortion policy. “The termination of a wanted pregnancy under a coercive population control program can only be devastating to any couple, akin, no doubt, to the killing of a child,” she wrote, also taking note of “the unique biological nature of pregnancy and special reverence every civilization has accorded to child-rearing and parenthood in marriage.”

Sotomayor and Roe v. Wade: Abortion-rights advocates not convinced

Not surprised about Sotomayor

“For all the President’s talk of finding ‘common ground,’ this appointment completely contradicts that hollow promise. Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy undermines common ground. She is a radical pick that divides America. She believes the role of the Court is to set policy which is exactly the philosophy that led to the Supreme Court turning into the 'National Abortion Control Board,' denying the American people the right to be heard on this critical issue. This appointment would provide a pedestal for an avowed judicial activist to impose her personal policy and beliefs onto others from the bench, at a time when the Courts are at a crossroad and critical abortion regulations – supported by the vast majority of Americans – like partial-birth abortion and informed consent laws lie in the balance."

Press Release: Americans United for Life on Sotomayor Nomination

Archbishop Chaput on Notre Dame and the issues that remain

Let’s remember that the debate over President Obama’s appearance at Notre Dame was never about whether he is a good or bad man. The president is clearly a sincere and able man. By his own words, religion has had a major influence in his life. We owe him the respect Scripture calls us to show all public officials. We have a duty to pray for his wisdom and for the success of his service to the common good -- insofar as it is guided by right moral reasoning.

We also have the duty to oppose him when he’s wrong on foundational issues like abortion, embryonic stem cell research and similar matters. And we also have the duty to avoid prostituting our Catholic identity by appeals to phony dialogue that mask an abdication of our moral witness. Notre Dame did not merely invite the president to speak at its commencement. It also conferred an unnecessary and unearned honorary law degree on a man committed to upholding one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in our nation’s history: Roe v. Wade. the rest

Happy 13th birthday, daughter of mine.

The other day I overheard her saying to her brother:

Wanna know what I'm getting for my birthday?

An attitude.

(Sigh) Do you think she's too old to forget about the present and just be happy playing with the box?

At least one person honorably received a law degree from Notre Dame yesterday.

Congratulations, little sister!

From the New York Post, Pro-Life Law Grad Boycotts Address

New Yorker and Notre Dame law grad Anna Franzonello prayed yesterday rather than attend President Obama's commencement speech because of his pro-abortion stance.

"I wouldn't be able to approve them handing him [an honorary] degree," said Franzonello, 27, of upstate Endwell.

She also said, "Your commencement speaker is supposed to be someone you emulate, and they're supposed to be sending you off into the world."

Franzonello, who attended a prayer vigil in the Notre Dame grotto with other anti-abortion students as Obama spoke, said the decision to invite him to commencement and the backlash and protests have been "disappointing and frustrating."

the rest

And she also made an appearance in the South Bend local news.
Student-Led Protest Included A Surprise Visit From D'Arcy

Evil exposed.

The beginning of this video is a bit funky, but it's worth watching for the part where they juxtapose the arrest of the priest with the awarding of the honorary degree.

Prestige or Truth?
The challenge facing Notre Dame.

By Gerard V. Bradley

On Sunday, Barack Obama will give the commencement address at Notre Dame. He is also going to receive an honorary doctorate of laws. The Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president and one of the first friends I made at the university, will present it to him.

Three hundred thousand Catholics have signed petitions criticizing the university. Over $8 million in donations has been withheld in protest. Local bishop John D’Arcy is boycotting the commencement. Scores of other bishops have spoken out against honoring Obama, because the president has (in Bishop D’Arcy’s words) “reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred.” D’Arcy suggested that Notre Dame had chosen “prestige over truth.”

Many people have asked me since the Obama visit was announced on March 20: What’s happened to Notre Dame?

The answer is that nothing has happened to Notre Dame. The decision to honor Obama and the way the university has handled the fallout have been completely in character. This place is not your grandpa’s Notre Dame, to be sure. But it is certainly the place where I began teaching law in 1992.

Sunday is nonetheless going to be a defining moment for Notre Dame. The university — by and through Father Jenkins — will have made a fateful choice, its most important decision during my 17 years here and one that will greatly affect American Catholicism as a whole.

Let me explain...

Get the explanation here.

Excellent point

Video and post title shamelessly stolen from Suzanne.

A day to be grateful for mothers

Happy Mothers Day to all you wonderful mothers out there, and even the not-so-wonderful ones, like myself!

The best thing I thought I could post this special day is this picture of my grandmother, and the words my Aunt Teresa recently shared with us about her mother, a woman who had 14 children, and now has 90 grandchildren, and almost 40 great-grandchildren.* My grandmother spent much of her life praying for an end to abortion and spreading the pro-life message through both word and deed, but now spends her days in a nursing home.

Grandma has become very attached to this baby doll. She is very loving toward and protective of the 'baby.' It, of course, makes me very sad. I wanted to post it on our family's blog though, because I believe that Grandma is still reminding us of the importance of all life. As she sits in her wheelchair in her little room, loving that little doll, she is manifesting that it is in the very core of our being to be protective of our most innocent little ones. She is not alone in that room. God is with her.

It is still difficult to see her, looking quite foolish, seemingly doing nothing of value. I know better, of course, but it is still very sad. She was a beautiful woman, who was quite aware of her beauty and her brains. She had always said that she hoped to die before she would lose her mind, but in her later years (while her mind was still clear) she said that she told God to go ahead and give her any cross that He saw fit for her. She also said that it was He who gave her mind to her, so if He wanted, He could take it back.

He did.

So, she carries her cross, sitting in her wheelchair, making silly noises; and I am reminded of the words of Francis Thompson:

All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home

But I am also reminded that her suffering is not just for her soul; it is for us.

In her 'foolishness' I am also reminded that our value is not in what we can do, but in that we are created in the image and likeness of God.

All life is precious in His eyes, from the moment of conception to one's natural death, regardless of our intelligence, beauty, strength or ability to accomplish great things.

We are His children.

My mother must look beautiful to Him.

*I'm going off a list from last year, and I may have counted wrong. Does anyone out there have the most accurate count?

Notice to current residents

We regret to inform you that the following items:

• A stick covered in one layer of duct tape and one layer of purple yarn

• A handful of peanuts wrapped in a paper towel wrapped in a blue and green scarf tied in a knot

• A pair of matching avocado pits

have been disposed of, permanently. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

-The Housekeeping Staff

Remember this amazing picture?

Thanks to his surgery, Samuel is still alive and well. Ten Years Later, Boy's 'Hand of Hope' Continues to Spark Debate

The year before this picture was taken, my daughter Kateri was born at only 24 weeks. I remember how her tiny hand already had a complete set of perfectly formed fingernails, even though it was only big enough to wrap around the tip of my pinky finger. As they say, "God is in the details."

ND Response Official Video

Zobama's Under My Bus

The iBible

Ten facts about me and nothing about the swine flu.

The other day a friend tagged me in one of these meme things where you have to list ten...wait, I can't seem to link to his blog. Let me try that again. A friend tagged me...No, that's still not right.

Funny, it's always worked before. I'll have to check with Blogger to see if there are any known conflicts with Catholic blogs linking to ones belonging to atheists and try again later.

In the meantime, my ten facts:

1. The most dangerous thing I have done since having kids is carry laundry baskets down the basement stairs while flipping the light switch on and off with my lips.

2. I have memorized the entire screenplay of the movie Raising Arizona. But you don't really care about stuff like that.

3. I have birthed all my six children without the use of anesthesia, mostly because it annoys my mother. There's got to be an easier way to do both.

4. I have been to the Eiffel Tower, the Normandy beaches, Mt. Rushmore, the church in Vienna where they filmed the wedding scene in The Sound of Music, the Swiss Alps, St. Peter's Square, the top of the Word Trade Center, and inside the Great Buddah in Japan. There is a lot of graffiti scribbled on the inside the Great Buddah. The part I could translate read, "General Tso's Combo Platter #5."

5. My pinkie toenails are so small a nail polish brush is too big to paint them. Again, not so interesting.

6. I have a drawer full of children's books manuscripts and a file with twice as many rejection letters from publishers. Once, a literary agent offered to represent me for a not-so-small-fee. Even though I knew full well that only fools pay a literary agent in advance, it was different because this particular agent recognized my unparalleled talent.

The letter I received from the District Attorney in San Angelo, Texas informing me of my agent's indictement on numerous charges of "Theft and defrauding some very stupid people" is also saved in that file.

7. The most prestigious award I ever received was when I was voted "Wittiest Girl" in eighth grade. I sometimes need to bring this up when I get in the kind of argument with my husband where SAT scores are being thrown around.

8. Since starting this post I got distracted and gave myself 8/10 of a pedicure. "Frisky Clover" with top coat.

9. A week before I fell and needed crutches, I beat my sister in a half-marathon, and since then I've used every opportunity I've had to rub it in her face.

10. I'm not done yet, Anna.

Bonus fact #11. I recently agreed to write an article for an honest- to-goodness real publication which is due very soon, and since my family has been patiently wading through mountains of laundry generated by The Great Winter/Summer Clothing Exchange and uncomplainingly eating leftovers I scavenged from other people's refrigerators, I can't possibly ask them to sacrifice any more of me to the gods of the internet. Soooo, if anyone catches me posting on this blog before I've nailed down a solid draft of my article, they have permission to punch me in the face.

In the meantime, you can all keep yourselves busy by posting ten facts about yourself in my combox. Don't push, there's plenty of room in there for everyone.

Will someone please listen to the president?

During last night's 100-day press conference, when President Obama was asked about methods of torture used to interrogate suspected terrorists, he eloquently referred back to Winston Churchill, saying that when a country starts taking "short cuts" and resorting to things that go against its ideals, "over time, that corrodes what's best in a people."

"It corrodes the character of a country," the president said, adding that the path the country must take to uphold its high ideals might sometimes be harder than the path of least resistance. "Part of what makes us, I think, still a beacon to the world is that we are willing to hold true to our ideals, even when it's hard, not just when it's easy."

How true that is. Pro-lifers have been trying to explain that reality to the people of this country, to the world, for more than three decades. We have hammered home the notion that once any person has less dignity than another, we all have less dignity. Once we lose respect for one group of people and their God-given rights, it becomes easier to deny rights to other groups of people. When our nation decided that unborn children do not have the same right to life as the rest of us, we turned our back on our ideals and so began the corrosion of our collective character.

From Corroding the character of a nation.