Nearest Distant Shore

Religion and Politics

Insert obligatory "this isn't a political blog" statement here, then go read the Democratic Underground's excellent article on how the Religious Right is being led down the garden path by the Republican party. My favorite part is the last paragraph:

As a devout Christian and a United Methodist, I conclude this essay with a paraphrase of The Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines: I am ashamed that George W. Bush is a member of my denomination. The current leaders of the GOP are little more than modern-day money changers in the temple of our Republic. The Christian Right, blind to the hypocrisies of these leaders, will no doubt continue to support the GOP and its false God.

And asks the most important question of all to people of faith: Will the rest of us—the majority of those of all faiths—be able to join together and drive the Republicans from power in November?

(via The Right Christians)

Birthday, part two

Holy cow. Take 19 adrenaline-fueled four and five year old boys. Put them in a room filled with ball pits, a huge moon bounce and assorted climbing structures. Turn them loose. And get out of the way.

Liam had his first-ever non-family birthday party this morning, and it was a rousing success. We did a joint party with his friend B, and it was held at a local arcade/kids play area. There were at least 3 other parties going on at the same time, so the noise and activity level was slightly higher than it would be in the mosh pit at a Pantera show.

But boy howdy, fun was had. Liam, who is (understatement alert!) sometimes not inclined to try new things, was all over the place, and even climbed higher than he ever has before. The boys were charming and sweet and well-mannered. Every one of them not only brought cool presents for the birthday boys, but they couldn't wait to see Liam and B open their gifts, even forsaking the lure of the ball pit to watch. And every one of them came over to me and to B's mama to say thank you.

And Liam and B were charming hosts, as well. We had to pull Liam out for a little bit to get some juice into him, but we knew that would happen and were prepared for it. He didn't want to eat, but I was able to entice him to at least try the cake, which had a way-cool Pokemon picture on it. And thankfully he was gracious and grateful for all of his goodies, and thanked everyone with very little prompting.

Tomorrow we will host the grandparents and a couple of family friends for more cake, which will be baked in the morning (this is round three, for those of y'all keeping score at home), then we will finally call it good. My waistline and my introvert's nature will be most grateful once it's done, but my kid has had a blast.

For Liam

My darling boy turns five today; I blinked my eyes and he went from a helpless newborn to a smart, funny, sassy boy who loves cars and superheroes, who walked early and talked late, but now does both nearly nonstop. He traded Elmo for Spongebob, and now Pokemon is gaining fast on the little Squarepants dude.

He lives daily with a chronic illness that could turn ugly at the drop of a hat, and he does it with grace and with very little complaining. He is tough in ways that most adults don't have to be, but he still cries over the loss of his beloved dog. He wears jeans and little work boots just like Daddy, but insisted on pink icing and sprinkles ("because it's pretty, mommy!") on the cupcakes we baked to share with his class today.

All of my life I've been blessed with loving family and friends, but I never knew how much I could love anyone till he was laid in my arms for the first time. I knew his face intimately the moment I laid eyes on it, yet I remain awed that this beautiful creature came from my body.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy. I love you to the moon and back.

Vote Early and Often

There are manymany political blogs out there in the big blog universe, and this is not one of them. I don't have the energy or the stomach for what passes for political discourse in this early part of the century, and I prefer to leave the pontification to those who do.

However, I will put in a plug every now and again for a blog that does deal with politics. One of the best sites out there is The Rittenhouse Review.

This week TRR performs the valuable public service of giving us a rundown of this year's candidates in the crucial election for Whore of the Year. Read that, then go on over to Media Whores Online and cast your vote.

Isn't this a great country?

Old dawg, same tricks

So here's this week's Friday Five, late again. Those two weeks I did them on time must have been a fluke, or a holiday miracle.

What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. ...today?
   Carolina winning their play-off game against Dallas.
2. ...over the next week?
   Liam going back to school and our schedule returning to normal.
3. ...this year?
   Making more money!
4. ...over the next five years?
   Watching my boy as he grows from a little boy to a big boy.
5. ...for the rest of your life?
   If I can only pick one thing, it's, again, watching Liam as he grows and becomes a man, a husband, a father.

Black-eyed peas

I've eaten the traditional lucky Southern New Year's supper, black-eyed peas and collard greens, plus we grilled a pork tenderloin. It was okay, but not great and I realize that my taste buds seem to be changing and not for the better. At any rate, I have now assured that I will have both spare change and folding money this year.

Sweetie and Liam were of course horrified, and they ate penne-Liam's had marinara, Sweetie's had parmesan and butter.

It's a shame that the burden of this year's luck for our entire family rests solely on me!