Running Up that Hill

I am totally loving running these days. It is special time I set aside in my day to take care of myself. Fred is up to 5 miles most night and has lost almost 20 pounds! We're still eating well and making important changes in our diet, but not so radical we feel like we're constantly being denied. Turns out- we actually need a lot less food than we had ever thought to survive! Wow- great news!

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HHS Updates

Well, we are almost at 100% coverage from our bishops. There are only 4 men left who have not publicly spoken out against the mandate, ( and at least one of them is sick). A whole bunch of Catholic colleges and universities have also publicly spoken out and filed law suits. There are countless other Christians, and Jews, and Baptists who are joining forces with us against this mandate. I am awfully happy that Mount Saint Mary's University and Seminary ( right down the block from me!) has decided to make tomorrow a day of prayer and fasting for the cause. Plenty of folks are calling for civil disobedience. Let's put a face to that for you all to show you how important this is to some of us folks.

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal."  ~Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait, 1963

I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.Ghandi

If nothing more- recognize that many people feel so strongly about this. I hope there are none left out there who are still feeling complacent abut this topic. I am absolutely fine with you starting out at "What's the big deal" but hopefully after checking out just a few links here and there you'll be able to see it's not over nothing. In fact this isn't even simply about Catholics, its about YOU TOO! It may have hit the Catholics first, but I assure you, rights and Freedoms are not something you should give up easily.Too much blood has been spilled in order to gain freedom to simply say any longer "What's the big deal?" So, whether you agree or not, whether you use contraception or don't, whether you go to church or sit home every Sunday- just look a little deeper into this issue. Pretend there will be a test on the topic and you'll have to land on one side of the issue or the other. Next time you have a few minutes to surf on-line type HHS into the engine and see where it takes you. Try to understand what it is we Catholics are fighting for right now. It means something to us. It is part of who we are.

Self Cleaning Oven

Most of you know that Freddy redesigned our kitchen a few months ago. We snatched up on craigslist a wall double oven in stainless steel. Fred decided he wanted to try to self cleaning mode for the first time. We have always had to do that nasty easy off carcinogenic stuff before. He set it and the oven door locked, and he walked away. Three hours later we had a brand spanking new oven interior. What can i say but- Wow!

Totally love it. Yeup- its the little things that make life worth while ( and the big things too- but it's the little things)!

The Winter That Almost Was

"They" are predicting snow tonight. Hmmmm. Its sounds kinda nice doesn't it? Its OK for it to sound nice when your Winter to has been so mild. We have barely had any snow at all. My kids were playing outside without jackets most of the afternoon. It was sunny and almost warm. And it's February. Yes, I know it could actually still get cold and we could have some snowstorms, but I am pretty confident they won't last. Enjoy the snow shower if it comes! It simply can't hang on so enjoy it!

Blaise or Blaze?

Please forgive me if my voice seems a little quieter than normal tonight. I have the beginnings of a sore throat. It began midday and has been building momentum. I am drinking tea, already so yes-thanks for asking! If it gets bad I will use chloraseptic. Peter says I need to gargle with vinegar, but alas I have none on hand (shucks- I was really looking forward to GARGLING with VINEGAR????gross! Sure Pete right after I do an eye wash with cayenne pepper!)

 The irony of course is that I counted myself lucky for having gone to mass last week on the feast of St. Blaise and had my throat blessed. Hee hee I chuckled to myself as my throat was blessed against all harm! Not gonna get me this year! It is barely a week old blessing at this point. I need to contact the returns department. Apparently some of the wires got crossed up above and someone sent me a blazing throat rather than a blessing for my throat from St Blaise.I'll have to talk to the Blessed Virgin about that. (In case I haven't mentioned her lately, boy do I love Mary!)