MERRY CHRISTMAS: THE SEASON OF HOPE

Normally I really really love Christmas, but this year I just couldn't get into it.  I faked my way through.  I suppose you get out of it what you put into it, but I really felt no energy to put much into it.  We have had so much sickness this last month, that it was just about all I could do to go to work, let alone prepare for the biggest day of the year. 

The one thing I truly did do this year is focus on the real reason for this season.  We glorify the Christmas Story, we make it sound so cozy and peaceful.  Perhaps through God's grace it was just that.  As I was sitting in church this advent season, I kept thinking where was Mary's mother?  I wonder if Mary yearned for her mom to be there to be her support, her guide, her help in time of such need.  I know when I had my babies I found my mom to be a huge help, resource and source of encouragement.  Our minister, in his sermon last Sunday, touched on what I had been wondering since the beginning of advent.  Because of the Census Mary and Joseph had to travel many many miles to Bethlehem when she was so close to delivering.  Just imagine.....imagine being a mere teenager and forced to leave a mother and family you need so much to comply with a census, only to get to your destination and not being able to find proper lodging.  Through it all....God provided. 

I think of this past year and how as a family in some really tough times, we have pulled together.  Through it all God has provided.  When all seems doom and gloom he pulls us through the other side.  He puts the right people in your life just as you need that bit of encouragement and hope. 

I have also been dwelling on how many people are missing the ones they love this holiday season.  I think of the families waking up today in Connecticut who two weeks ago thought this would be a wonderful Christmas with their children only to have them ripped from their arms just a week and a half before Christmas.  What are they feeling today?  How do you deal with such tragedy?  How do you face Christmas ever again?   There are no human answers to these questions.  They say time heals.  I'm not sure I totally buy that.  I believe time provides a scab over the wound to where it maybe it doesn't hurt so bad, but it will always be there. 

My personal belief is that God provided hope in his Son and therefore we ALWAYS have hope even when things feel hopeless.  God provides.  My hope and prayer for everyone is that they find this HOPE, believe this HOPE and believe that through it all God is there and he will provide according to his will.  ( the according to his will is what scares me :)......My faith is not always strong, in fact sometimes it can be very weak, but this I know.....God's love is everlasting.  

 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Merry Christmas to all!!

HAS ANYONE SEEN OUR SILVERWARE?



The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 Here is a fork line up.  I am asking anyone who may have any forks matching the one on the left to please leave them on our front deck.....no questions asked. 

I thought we got through Thanksgiving without a problem until a few days later when John was apparently counting the silverware.  Seems there are a few special pieces missing.  I just don't know what to think.  (We can talk about John's anal retentiveness in a later blog)

28 years ago, just before we were married, we picked out a special set of silverware at the JC Penny Outlet Store.  I believe there were only place settings for 8.  A few years later my mom bought us more silverware in a different pattern and I gave her most of our old.  Well, I didn't realize it at the time but  we liked are weddin' wear better than our next set and I wouldn't have given the first set away had I known John was so attached to them.

Somehow, he had managed to hang on to a  handful of forks from his favorite set.  When we set the table you MUST, if you don't want to hear a ton of whining, set his spot with a "good" fork.  Even Taylor realizes this when she sets the table.

Well, Thanksgiving came and went.  We had a great day.  However, it seems a few of John's favorite forks have disappeared.  We have 12 suspects, but we can easily narrow it down to two....My mom and Sarah.

The possibilities are endless with Sarah, did she throw them  in the trash with the take out she finished eating?  Are they stuck to some bowls or plates somewhere in her room? Did you check her car?   I mean ever since we found the meat thermometer in the bathtub we really aren't sure what to think about her.  We tend to find cooking paraphernalia in every room of the house. 

The other prime suspect is my mom. She has the rest of the set.  Did she think these were hers and put them in her purse to re unite them with the rest at her house?  I'm actually leaning towards Vivian more than anyone because EVERY pot, pan, casserole dish I would pull out of my cupboard on Thanksgiving she would say "I used to have one just like that"  OR  "I think I gave that to you" OR (as she is on all fours down looking through my cupboards) "I know I left that bowl with a lid here someplace.   Remember when I brought you potato salad in that in 2005?"  "You never gave it back to me"  Now, this woman can hardly remember her grand children's names, but she knows every dish, pot, pan, and casserole dish she has ever had in her 55 years of marriage.

So mom, if you have a few of our good forks, I will trade you the 1950 metal, dented pan you were coveting at Thanksgiving. 

Until this caper is figured out, I'm setting up metal detection and possibly lie detector tests for Christmas.  We can't afford another silverware heist!

My Voting Experience and Other Random Stuff

There are two jobs I would like to do in additional to my 9-5 career.  I want to be on the air conditioning/heat committee at church ( Dear St. Paul's, setting the air conditioning at 78 degrees is not air conditioning, it does however, represent an oven. Love in Christ, Bobbie) and I want to organize and lead the group of people that volunteer at the polls.   OH MY GOODNESS.....I'm not generally a high strung person, but I like organization and promptness.  Organization and promptness was not currently available in our precinct.  Let's face it, people who are retired, and I will be one of these people some day, have no worries about time.  Time is not exactly a resource they care much about. They paid their dues of running kids around, meeting deadlines, volunteering etc. They are now relaxing and enjoying life.  They have looked forward to this election for the last four years.  It is a social event that is for sure.    I'm happy for them.  I hope I live to see that day. 

The day of the election, I thought I would pop in, vote and be on my way to work.  The polls open at 6:30....or do they? Our faithful pollsters, Hilda, Matilda, Edith and George (the token man) didn't quite have their sh** together at 6:30 or 6:35 or 6:40.  Time is ticking and my head is about ready to explode.  They are shuffling and re-shuffling papers, taping crap on the walls, talking amongst themselves about not liking the way the books are put together.  Meanwhile, the rest of us were sitting on a bench waiting for these four spark plugs to start hitting on all four cylinders.  (I know nothing about cars so this analogy may not be a good one)  The line is getting longer and longer.  Some guy in line next to me starting complaining about how the news said there were already problems with the voting machines.  I just looked at him and pointed to Hilda who wore the lanyard around her neck that programs your computer cards you use to vote.  Very dryly I said "therein may be our problem"  It's probably not the voting machine. There is probably more than one Hilda around the country.  Bless her heart she is trying.  She is doing the first card.  She slides it in.....it beeps.  She slides it out.... it beeps.  She turns it over..... it beeps. She wipes it on her pants and tries again...it beeps, she gets her hankie out to wipe it off and it beeps again.she takes her glasses off, she puts her glasses on...  She can't get it to work. About this time my aneurysm started acting up.

The worst part however was just the fact they were not ready at 6:30 sharp.  As more time passes and I'm getting more and more pissed.  I make eye contact with Matilda and give her the stink eye, eye roll, and a deep sigh.  She pretends not to notice.  That didn't help.  We continued to sit some more.  I commented to the lady beside me how I really need to get to work.  She says snidely "well you just may need to come after work"  Really? Really?  You just may need to....I don't know.......shut up.  I'm here on time (it's past time now) The four amigos are getting a list ready for Fred of what they want for lunch, and I have some where to be.  This day is going to have a record turn out and we are not equipped to handle the first three people in line??

Let's move on to the second and actually the biggest problem.  I would bet my next paycheck that the procedure for voting has been the same at this particular precinct since I was in diapers.  You go in and there are 4 people sitting at the table.  Edith, asks for your ID (yes a valid ID, what nerve!!)  She looks to make sure you are who you say, your license is not expired, your address is correct and you are in the correct precinct.  I was expecting her to say something like  "oh, I see you lie about your weight.... Mrs. Obama has just the diet for you!", but she didn't.  She validates who you are and then she looks in the BIG BOOK for your name.  She compares your information and address to what is written in her big book.  She then passes your license to Matilda, who has another big book in front of her.  She finds your name, and has you sign beside it.  Then she yells past Fred down to the computer programmer/IT manager Hilda "SHE'S IN SANDY VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT!!!  I waltz right past Fred who apparently is just eye candy and a decent lunch for these women.  I get to Hilda and hold my breath.  I say a quick prayer that goes something like this. 

Dear God,

Please don't let it be this hard to get into heaven.
Please tell me that the Big Book is automated and
not manned by Moses. (he had a a little time issue getting out of the dessert)
Please tell me there will be no one flipping through pages while I
hold what little breath I have left.

Also, God, Please help Hilda as she programs my card.

In Jesus Name I pray, AMEN.

Hilda does a great job.

  There is a sign that says, Please don't take more than five minutes to vote"  OK really?  It took me 25 minutes, four seniors, and two gigantic books to get through to a voting machine and they want you to take no more than five minutes to exercise your right to vote.  I should have brushed up on the issues because I really didn't know what some of them were.  If I were to read them all, it seriously would have taken a lot longer than 5 minutes. 

Now, in all seriousness, is this how they vote in NYC? Chicago? LA?  Is there no better system out there?  This truly isn't a volunteer problem exactly (though they should have been ready for their first voter at exactly 6:30) The year is 2012. We put a four wheeler on Mars this year.   Do we really still have to flip through gigantic books and have four people to help one person vote.  I think it's just crazy.  Some of this is my fault, I'm kind of old fashioned and want to vote on election day and not by mail, but I have to say I will reconsider next time. If I want to see retirement I need to calm my racing heart down and avoid stressful situations.

Meanwhile, I'm getting my resume together to be a volunteer next year.  I have my girls picked out, plus John.(he will hand out stickers)  Vivian is in charge of breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I will be there at 5am setting up and decorating.  It will be a blast!

GO VOTE AND SHUT UP

Good GRIEF....Tuesday cannot get here soon enough, but wait....being my realistic self, as opposed to my pessimistic self, I do not believe Wednesday morning this horror movie will be over.

Here is my prediction for Wednesday morning....Ohio will hold this whole shenanigan up.  The election from hell will be like the "chad" election where suddenly old people were too weak to quite push that chad out the other side of the paper and left something hanging.  (Put your weight into it!!) Accusations will be flying about who "Owns" the voting machines and when you checked Obama you actually voted for Romney. (or the other way around)    I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT.  I'm so sick of conspiracy theories I could puke.  So to young and old alike...... Take your crazy asses to vote, make sure you do it correctly and shut up.  

When you come home, there is no need to go on FB and tell me who you voted for, I think I already know based on your political posts the last two years. 

How about this.  We come home and thank God for the people who gave us the RIGHT to vote.  Those who fought and conquered so we could post our rants on facebook without fear of government persecution. (let's just persecute each other)   I thank God that as a woman I am allowed to have a say.  I'm thankful that it's a very real possibility that a woman will someday be president.  I hope when that happens we don't spend the entire four years worrying about her wardrobe, her weight or how pretty or ugly she is.  It's a stressful job.  She will probably look like Halloween when it's all over. 

So this is my political rant.......GO VOTE AND SHUT UP. 

HAPPY FRIGGIN' BIRTHDAY MA!

Well today  is my mom's birthday and I didn't get the card in the mail.  She's beginning to believe there really isn't a card at all, but I swear to the good Lord above I bought a card!  It was nothing mushy, or smushy, it had a crotchety old woman on the front and when you open the card it simply said "Happy Friggin' Birthday."

We really suck at birthdays around here.  We have never been big on them, it's just another day.  My mom views it that way also.  She believes birthday cards are a waste of money and should not be bought.  (that's the republican in her)  She wants Romney to get elected, but worries about how much the secret service bill is going to be  with that herd of kids and grand kids he has.(this makes me chuckle)  I suppose when you look at this stuff from our meager salaries, that's a fair concern, but if you compare it to the national debt, I think it's a little bit crazy to worry about it. 

I can tell you ways I'm a lot like my mom.  I can tell you ways I'm less like my mom and more like my dad.  I really believe I'm a fair blend of each.  Mom likes people....I don't.  I would prefer a good book and silence.  She likes an audience and a soap box.    She will truly help anyone and is very, very giving.  I would suggest that if you would ever like to go shopping, skip the mall and go to my moms house.  She will give you a tour of the house and you can just point and say "oh, that's beautiful, I like that" she will be fetching Bob to shove it in your trunk or tie it on your roof like a dead deer.  I'm not kidding you!  The next time I visit, I'm going to mention I like her hall table.  I'm driving the van that day. 

Hospitality?  This woman can make cheese, trail  bologna, crackers and a slice of pie seem like a four course meal.  She loves to cook and loves entertaining people.  Her home is always open for anyone who is hungry.  I can promise you will never leave hungry.

Mom is a take charge person.  She will step in and just do.  Rarely do you have to ask.  She admits and I can vouch.....Vivian can clean up puke and eat a peanut butter sandwich at the same time.  She will do the dirty work.  No job is too messy.  NOT ME!  I plug my nose, pull on the rubber gloves and if that puke is on  something I can throw away and buy another, that's what I do.   She was a very compassionate nurse and one that I would want by my bedside. 

We are both dumb as hell.  We have been known to clean out our purse and make two piles.  One pile to throw away and one pile to keep.  Well guess what?  We get the piles mixed up and throw away the keepers and keep the trash.  We stuff that trash back in our purse and when looking for our wallet the next day, head to the garage to go dumpster diving.  We have thrown out bills, remote controls, and keys.  (at least I have, and I'm pretty sure she has also)  One of my funniest mom stories (she is going to kill me) is when she swore her video camera was stolen.  It wasn't just stolen.... it was stolen by illegal immigrants.  She was just ranting and raving how she knows it was on the seat of the car and some illegals came and stole it while she was in paying for gas or something.  (this is where  Roger and I just look at each other and roll our eyes and go along with it)  Well, wouldn't you know, she found that camera a couple days later...yes she did, it was in an old dryer.  I HAVE NO IDEA HOW OR WHY....you will have to ask her, but she owes the illegal immigrant community an apology I guess. 

Well, mom....you didn't get the card because it never made it into the mail box.  I hope you have a happy friggin' birthday....you deserve it.  I could probably write a book just about you and your shenanigans, but I will save that for some other day.  Your story isn't finished yet....In fact I'm pretty sure it's only going to get better, crazier and more fun before it's all over!  God be with Roger.  I'm moving to Hawaii with Obama.

ONE OF GOD'S BIGGEST BLESSINGS TO THE CANTON/SOEHNLEN FAMILY

Wow, Just wow.  I cannot believe that our precious little granddaughter is four years old already.  I don't know if it seems to have gone this fast for her own parents, but to us aging adults, it truly seems like no more than a year ago, she was born. 

I want to share something personal.  When Sam told me she was pregnant, I was not overly thrilled.  Actually, she didn't tell me.  Sarah was talking to a friend over Aim ( A chat thingy) and left it up on the computer.  Just for the sake of argument, for the one time in my life I wasn't snooping, it was just there.  Sarah was telling a friend about Sam being pregnant.  (if you want to rob a bank, please do not take Sarah, because you will be in the hoosegow looking out NO DOUBT!  She cannot keep a secret)  When I read this my head went right into the proverbial sand.   I was hoping Sarah was just kidding.  She wasn't. 

I'm a planner.  I admit.  I blame it on my place of employment.  We have plans for plans and contingency plans for contingency plans.  I like an orderly life.  I like things in progression.  I'm old fashioned.  I like graduation, college, college graduation, marriage, babies, etc etc.  So this little peanut of a surprise took me a little bit to get used to.  OKAY, it took me like a week.  After that, I was fine. For the record, I was NEVER EVER mad, I was worried. 

It's no secret, so I'm not going to sugar coat it,Taylor was not exactly planned.  She could, by no stretch of the imagination, be a statistic.  Pro Choice people tend to think of abortion as a woman's right to choose.  (to me, this is about a baby,  more than it is about my rights as a woman)  Father's don't get a voice because it's only their baby, not their body.  This, in my mind, is so not logical, I can hardly stand to discuss it.  I stand by my opinion, that a heart beat is a life.  Period.  Let me add one thing and it may sound like a contradiction.  I DO NOT STAND IN JUDGEMENT of those who have had abortions. (the only exception to this is if you are using it as birth control)  I know there are many times, where life overwhelms.  People get scared, they do not see any other solution.  There seems to be nobody there to offer a hand, in fact the only people who may show up are those to tell you how wrong you are. I know this sounds like another contradiction, but I don't even want to see Roe V Wade overturned.  This needs to be a decision that comes from the heart, not because the government tells you it's wrong.  I would challenge all Pro Life people to put down their picket signs and give girls/women a reason not to abort.  Volunteer to help a girl in need, volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center, there are many, many ways to help without judging or being hateful. We need to put this Pro Choice VS Pro Life stuff away in an election.  There has not been a  Republican president yet (they are the ones who use this debate in their campaign) who has solved this problem and there never will be. I can think of no good reason for a late term abortion....don't even go there with me. When this happened under the Clinton administration I hated that man. I view it as pure evil.  I would rather die first than kill a child that is viable...meaning they could live outside my womb.... That is the end of my rant....   My point is both Ben and Sam understood what was important and knew they were not alone...they chose life.

This little girl has brought us more joy than we ever thought imaginable. (when I say "us" I mean both Ben's family and ours.)  We cannot imagine life without her.  I've heard parents explain how they worry about being able to love another child.  I never worried about that as a mother, but it enters my mind as a grandma.  Now I know, without a doubt, this will not be a problem of course, but it did enter my mind.

I guess with this simple blog, I just want to thank Sam and Ben for choosing life and giving us what we really didn't know we wanted or needed. What seemed like an obstacle or an inconvenience turned out to be one of God's many blessings that comes wrapped in something we humans don't recognize as a blessing at first......a baby.   Thank you God, for seeing the big picture.  We wouldn't change a thing!

Bobbie's View on Being Politically Correct...I Will Never Be a Candidate for the Supreme Court

I've been trying to tell you for the past 9 months, and I hope you are hearing me loud and clear, I AM AN ODD BALL.  I don't view things the same way that others do.  I do not look at life the same way that most people do.  I'm a God made mediator. I try to help everyone in an argument see the other person's side.   I tend to ride the fence on a lot of issues because I can usually see both sides.

I sometimes find humor in things most people don't find funny. When playing Words With Friends, I try to make words that mean something to me rather than being strategic to get words that rack up the most points.  For instance, If I have the letters to form the word POOP, I go with the word POOP over some other word that could give me twice as many points.  Humor should be worth double in my opinion. I'm usually not politically correct.  I use words that some may find offensive.  Frankly, politically correct cramps my style because I can't be me.  People probably wouldn't appreciate the real me.  My friends like the real me.  My husband loves the real me. Quite honestly, he's as bigger ass than I am.  Speaking of big asses.  I have one.  (no his name's not John) I will use myself as an example as to not offend anyone.  I have a big ass....I am fat.  I guess there are a lot of ways we, being politically correct, have to refer to my heftiness. Below is a list of ways we can be politically correct and my interpretation will be in parenthesis next to it.

Bobbie is a little chunky-   (Bobbie is Fat)
Bobbie is heavy (no, she's fat)
Bobbie has a pretty face (Bobbie is Fat, but she could be pretty if she lost weight)  I alwyas say it's best not to be both fat and ugly.
That outfit looks good on you (it doesn't make you look AS fat)

Sarah:  My Dentist reminds me of you
Me:  Why is she fat?

See, my point is even if you don't use the politically correct "word", I yam what I yam.....FAT.  It doesn't change the meaning.  OK, let's move on.

I find facebook to be interesting.  I have 200 Plus "friends" and it's kind of like having kids, they are all different.  There are those that are super emotional and dramatic.  To these "friends" everyday is some sort of drama. I swear they must live in a state of upset all the time.   I have artsy friends.  My artsy friends don't just see a flower they SEE A FLOWER with God's face shining in the center of it, with glistening dew drops dropping from the petals and the shadow it casts is an orb from a dead relative.   Me?  I see flower.  Yes, it's a pretty flower, but it's still just a flower.  I have flowers in my back yard, that somehow, John was able to bring back from the dead after Sarah tried to euthanize them in the 95 degree heat while we were on vacation.   There are people who are all about the peace, tranquility, harmony, love, meditation, breathing.  I get it,  I really do, it's just well, I'm tainted I guess.  I'm more of a I get up, go to work, fight to keep my head above water, don't take people's crap (make sure I don't dish it out either), go home and pray for a good nights sleep with no child waking me saying they have a flat tire or wrecked the car.  NOW THAT'S A GOOD DAY!  I don't like war, but I certainly believe we will have it around forever and I would prefer our country stay militarily strong.  Does that mean I don't love peace.  Hell yes I love peace.  I'm taking Monday off just so I can get some peace.  As for national peace, I'm not counting on it.

I am not a good candidate for a suicide prevention hot line,  OK, so don't call me to talk you off the ledge, unless, of course you REALLY want to wake up dead.  I'm not afraid of death, however I am afraid of the torture that may lead up to my death.  This torture could be mental or physical...who knows what God has planned.  

So there you have it.  I'm really a nice person.  I never ever want to hurt anyone's feelings, so I find myself being politically correct as to try not to hurt anyone's feelings, but geez, this thing is only going to grow and grow and grow.  Why do we have to be so thinned skinned?  Why is a word or phrase we used to use suddenly deemed improper or offensive?  Who decides that?   I don't care if it's the word cripple, midget, short person, fat person, etc etc....  In fact the word little person sounds way worse to me than midget.  OK, I'm stopping now because I'm sure on my way to offending some of you or all of you.