So, enough with enough.  There is an election going on here and sides must choose sides.  Hmmmmmmmmm.   Does anyone have a doubt about whom I am NOT voting for? 

 

Good.

 

Enough said. 

 

God Bless,

 

A Mom in America

     Okay, I have to write this one.  Before I say anything else, I have one thing to say.  Mr. TALEbaba, BITE ME!  I AM AN AMERICAN CITIZEN!  I VOTE HERE!  I, along with my entire family, have fought very hard to maintain that right.  If you don't like it, tough.  Go find someone else to mess with.  This is MY site and if you don't like what I am saying, go someplace else because you will NEVER have the right to say anything else on this site for as long as I run it.  I, AM A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES and as such have the right to FREE SPEECH.  YOU are a guest on this site and as such, DO NOT .  If you like what I say, great.  If not, go find someplace else to go spread your garbage because I have sacrificed too much to waste time with you.   (Notice that "you" is lower cased and itallicized in non-bold letters there because it with the intended meaning of dimunition, which means that, yeah, I meant to say this.)

 

     That being said, I have something else to say on this day.  My entire family has given a whole lot of our life together in this war.  After living the past six years, I can honestly say that NONE of us will ever be the same.  The thing is, we have given of ourselves and everything we hold most dear because we believed in this country and ALL that it once stood for.  Yesterday, I saw what we stood for stand, in silence and dignigty, for us and I cannot tell you how grateful we are for that!  There was a Gatherine of Eagles in Washington D.C. yesterday to protect, not only the Vietnam War Memorial but all of the other memorials there as well.  Because of our current circumstances, we are command central for the kids right now, we could not be there.  Others stood for us and I, along with my entire family will always be grateful that you did.  Those memorials are the blood that has kept this country, and our family, free.  They aren't just something nice to have in Washington, they represent everything we stand for and the history of who we are.  There are no words that will ever be able to express how proud I am of what the Gathering of Eagles did yesterday and I will forever be grateful that there is no pink paint on those monuments that I hold so dear.

 

     Thank you all so much for all that you did!  I know how cold it was here and I'm sure the conditions were not pleasant there.  The thing is, you stood for us, AS YOU ALWAYS HAVE!  I thank all of you for that! 

 

     I also have a question.  I know it's not a Harley, but does the HHR count for a vehicle in the Patiot Riders?  It's a Chevy.  It runs good and it has a "Marine Mom" license plate on the front and a two star flag in the back.  Gosh, I might even let the Vet drive if you say it does.

Feel free to email me at mominamerica2@hotmail.com to let me know because I LOVE ( Notice the bold, itallicized and underlined there to denote that I really do mean with feeling what I am saying!) what you guys do! 

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

As I look at this blog tonight, the comments that have recently been left and the place that I find myself in on this day, I realize that this blog is a kind of a picture of one moment in my life.  A moment is something we pass through on our travels to a different time and place that transforms into a completely different moment that is unique unto itself.  I would hope that as we pass through these moments, we change and mature into the people we were intended to be for the times we are needed to be them, not so much for ourselves, but for those who surround and fill our lives.

 

This war has left battles for my family and me that we will be dealing with for some time to come.  Most military families experience various types of "fallout" to one extent or another, and mine is no exception.  Of late I haven't written much and that is primarily due to the fact that the moment of "waiting" has passed for us and we are moving into another moment, unique and separate from the one we were in.

 

I look at the rhetoric and, well, let's face it, blatant propoganda in the comments of my last post and am left with such a feeling of saddness for the people who wrote them.  I'm leaving them there for the world to see and also a question. 

 

Is that what you really want to leave this planet with?  Do you have to hang onto hatred and biggotry so hard, that you won't allow hospitals to be built for the sick, schools to be built for the children and nuclear weapons to become a thing of the past?   Is that kind of hatred really what you, personally, want the legacy of your life to be and if not, how are you, personally, going to change it?

 

Potent questions during a passing moment in time... which is what this has been.

 

This is my last entry as "A Mom in America".  It's time for me to let this moment pass and step into the new one that I am called to be in because it's got enough challenges of it's own.  I wish you all the best!

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

 

   

 

   

 

 

Which I'm not even going to mention right now because I am so in love with life in this moment that I can't comprehend what these people are doing.  There are moments in life that really do make it impossible to understand such things... like someone poisoning 700 police officers in Iraq....or shooting Amish schoolgirls in PA...or perpetuating nuclear arms. 

 

Jesus still weeps, people. 

 

It really is time to wake up.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America 

 

PS

 

Pup, didn't get the chance to call back.  It's the whole waltz thing, ya know?  I'm at the meeting next week.  Pick up the ball and run with it!  And yeah....I'm writing this to you, here.

 

God bless!

 

MIA

 

PPS

 

MIA is the name I want.

 

Yadda

 

Mom

Someday there is going to be a quiet Sunday full of rest and relaxation here.  I'd really like to be here when that happens, but the schedule may preclude my attendance at the event.  Right now, the Vet and I are suffering from a slight case of "We've been doing too much and need to chill out somewhere, sometime soon, so let's check the calendar and see when we can schedule that."  It appears that our first opportunity for such a date will be sometime in January of 2007 if we schedule it now.

 

The thing about this that really preturbs me most is that I was somehow under the impression that  when one's children are grown, one has the opportunity to relax and do all of the things one has waited a lifetime to do.  Somehow, that doesn't seem to be happening here.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America 

This is a day that "I'd rather be there than here!" 

 

It's much easier for me to assimulate what is happening in my life right now, in a superficial way than write about what is really happening. 

 

Suffice it to say that stuff is happening. 

 

Little's is happening, and I wanted to write about that to my son. 

 

God, how do I put this into words?  I don't.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes.

 

The baby pictured above is YOU.  I was holding "Bunny Foo Foo" and you wanted to grab him. 

 

MY children are characterized by this desire to reach out and "grab" what is in front of them.

 

Pup, look around you. 

 

What is in front of you?

 

Did I mention I will always love you?

 

LA

 

Me

 

Do you see one thing clearly, like you did Bunny Foo Foo? 

 

If you do, THAT is what you should go for.

 

My baby, we had nothing to give you but our love.

 

You had everything you needed.

 

 

 

Always and forever I will love you!

 

A Mom in America

 

Always, I will love you!

 

Mom 

 

 

 

I was just standing outside and contemplating the fact that #1 has discovered my secret wish.  He called today.  There will be a new picture of Little's soon.... doing just about what his uncle, #2 was doing at about the same age.  Not for nothing #1, but my biggest wish for you kids was not that you would "have one just like you."  I'm not that vindictive, believe it or not.  I wished you all to have ones like each other!  INFINITE variety!  INFINITE possibilities!  God is good and He does listen!  Just wait till she starts the scheduling!!!!  This is gonna be good! 

 

I love you Kiddo, and believe it or not, you will manage.  Life is good!

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

Please excuse the current absence.......  I'm a bit behind on things here and trying to catch up.  I'll be in and out for a bit longer....more often out than in.  There's this whole life thing happening here and a whole lot of stuff to do.  Little's is growing and as of the last peeking was taking the opportunity to wave at it's Mommy and Daddy.  Job change is in progress although to a different one than what I was going for.  New teaching job full-time.  Yeah!  Should be fun.  Pixie is in college now, so our schedule is completely nuts.  Boys are both good at last reporting.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

So, I'm thinking I need to cut the white out on the photo.  It bugs me.  Aesthetically, it's just distracting to me.  There's just something about the universe exploding in the background here and unfolding in the womb in the foreground that really is being missed because of the white on the borders.  Soooooo, tomorrow, this will be my task...to fix the picture of Littles. 

 

I don't know if anyone out there is getting this or not... what is going on within my whole family here.  There is such a mixture of emotion and everything else going on inside of me right now, I can't even describe it!  I am so proud of my daughter-in-law!  This is such a HUGE thing she is doing... yet really concerned for her husband, my son #1.  Then there's #2 and all that he is doing and being right now... and that completely leaves Pixie and the Vet and I out of the picture.  Yet the one thing that is holding me together right now, amidst the war, my first grandchild and the little girl who is now turning into a woman is that thing that joins the universe exploding and the baby unfolding in the womb.  It's my God.  I see Him in every heartbeat of all of those I love right now. 

 

It's an incredible point in my life and my hope and prayer in all of this is that all of those I love see it!  In this moment we are living, those times I'm telling #1 that the reason his wife is making no sense is because she is posessed by another human being, those times I'm telling #2 that every breath I'm taking is a prayer for him and his safety, those times I hug Pix and tell her gently... "I know" and "It's going to be okay.", and those times I lay with the Vet at night and chuckle at the fact that when we were making babies, we were too young to understand any of this, in all of these times... my hope is that all of them know... and in that knowlege, faith grows.

 

I have faith in my daughter-in-law.  She's smart.  She is strong and she can do this!

 

I have faith in #1...my Heart.  He knows what the right thing to do is.

 

I have faith in #2... my Rock.  Scared to death, this kid exudes cool in the worst of times. 

 

I have faith in Pixie...my Timepiece.  Starting to define time in her own ways and making it do what she wants it to do.

 

I have faith in the Vet... my Love.  He is the air that I breathe and I can't imagine life without him.

 

What I've learned most this summer.... I'm starting to have faith in me.  I'm a treasured child of God and when I forget that, He sends an entire community ... well actually two, to remind me. 

 

It's an awesome place that I am standing in right now, one with infinite possibilities.  I know that the place I tried to retreat to will not be tolerated by Him or any who know me.  I'm afraid of what lies ahead because I have never been there before......

 

And the universe is exploding behind me.  Life is unfolding in front of me.  Anywhere I turn, I face Creation... and that is the place of God.  

 

Life is an incredible thing!

 

God bless!

 

A Mom... and GrandMom in America 

Today I miss those big hands and feet of my boys.  More than that, I miss the music that used to ring from the front porch on hot summer days like this.  Waiting for a phone call is never gangs of fun.  Hours pass.  No electronic jingle to let you know you'll get to hear that voice again. ... the one you waited an eternity to hear girgle the first coos of infancy. 

 

God how I miss those boys and those days today. 

 

Days run into each other at this point.  Some moreso than others.  Today began yesterday morning for me.  Hopefully there is a break between this one and the next.  We'll see what happens as the funeral flames of the Middle East are fanned by the vampires of the media.   Iraq, and now Lebanon and Israel burn.  All I can think is "My God, I have never known a bloodlust or seen raw hatred like this."  ... and I miss my boys so very much!

 

Some days it really isn't easy to be an American.   The world continues to live and die in terror everyday as dollars continue to flow.   Bombs blow up in Bagdad, punctuating the absence of battles and the carnage of one native people against the other....because everybody wants the oil profits.  In a capitalist society, we call this eliminating the competition and it is usually done financially.  Seems that in Bagdad, it's called justification and is done in the name of some dead relative 20 generations back, or the one who died in the car bombing yesterday.  I believe retribution is what Israel and Hezbullah are calling it today as the people of both countries die in blood that is, amazingly, the same dark red that we all have.   I look in the mirror at all of us surviving this and realize how much we have all lost.  The world will never be the same after this.  None of us will be...even my boys.   

 

I don't know if this is how it is with every generation.  Today it is, while I wait for the phone to ring.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America 

 

  

Saw ya and am monitoring situation.  Call as soon as possible.   Not for nothing, but it's enough already! 

 

 

I love you!

 

Mom

Ya know,  Between neices and nephews, sons and daughters and blogging kids, I watch my stats now everday.  It's not so much for the notoriety, but more to see that the kicks are there and that everyone is okay.  After checking email, I'm realizing that I have "kids" all over this planet right about now.  Some in the line of fire and some out.  I told my sister-in-law that I'm voting that we "ground" all of you for the rest of your lives at this point because my nerves can't take much more of this stuff! 

 

This isn't just life in America right now.  It's life all over this planet.

 

The UN didn't work, Gang.  We need a better plan here.  YOUNG MINDS need to get it into gear and start working this thing.  Look at the situation.  Start seeing it for what it is and start formulating a viable solution.   All aspects need consideration...political, economical, spiritual, social AND environmental.  Consider them all.  Respect all.  Formulate a plan and drive on!

 

Above all else, leave this world a better place than you found it!  People shouldn't have to face the starvation, slaughter, terror and war that they have in this past year!  I have watched a continent starve this past year and the UN do too little too late.  I have watched the lands my Savior walked be abominated and destroyed and the UN did nothing.  I have watched nuclear abomination expand and broaden...and again the UN did nothing.  It seems they are good at that.

 

Iraq, and now Lebanon and Isreal are on fire.  Real people are dying in real numbers to us everyday. 

 

Profits continue to rise and because of this, the UN does nothing.

 

Profitability is all that matters.

 

Money has become more important than people.

 

It always has been this way at the UN.

 

America, please wake up!  Please become the nation I know that you are!!!  My sons are bleeding because you sleep.  My babies are there and they are hurting every single day because you chose to do nothing.  They went because they believed in you.  When are you going to start standing for them?

 

I have been here for a year and you have done nothing.

 

It's very hot and very bloody in Iraq right now.

 

Don't forget my boys. 

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

Been a rough week here.  We're all okay.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

Just a querry.

 

The Vet and I attended the first "official" concert on the site of the original Woodstock concert last night and it was nothing short of incredible!

 

Not that the orchestra was that incredible. 

 

They were good, don't get me wrong.

 

But .... well.... 

 

I'm spoiled in that respect.

 

The entire experience, though, was wonderful!

 

The grounds and ambience of the place are not what one would expect but definitely what the event of "Woodstock" and the area where it took place deserve!  It recalls the flavor and life of the historic cattle farms and the dignity of the generations that have worked them in these mountains that ring with music that hasn't been heard for so long here. 

 

Music used to be as much a part of these hills here as breathing was....

 

until 1969.

 

That's when music in this country tore this nation and these people apart.

 

Last night, I heard it reunite in a way that I never thought it would.

 

It made me proud and thankful and whole again.

 

"Woodstock" wasn't about drugs or peace or plants and crafts.....

 

It was about American Music and culture.....

 

It was wonderful to see that they're still growing ...

 

despite the media!

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

 

 

I hate waiting.  I really do.  It tends to make me really crabby.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

Boy!  You guys are young, aren't you?  LOL!  I guess you really did  miss the '60's!  LOL!!!  There is a whole humor thing in Paul McCartney dying his hair that I guess you just kind of had to be there to get. 

 

Oh well!   How 'bout them Yankees and onto a completely different topic.

 

Mac, on a serious note, I have been watching the situation you mentioned here with great concern and prayer.  I believe most of the country has.  I have not been commenting of late on politics in general and have been trying to stay away from Iraq in particular primarily because of the boys.  It isn't because I can't write about it.  I am an American and have freedom of speech.  My silence on these topics is because of my own choice and observance of OPSEC. 

 

You see, OPSEC really is about choice for families in the States.  Some talk about their soldiers very freely.  I chose not to because I love my boys and all those who are serving with them.  I know that is not very fun, but for the present time, it is necessary.  Specific military missions or occurrences, I will not be commenting about until they are home.  I hope you understand and I do apologize for the lack of debate.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America 

One would think, after all that has happened in my family throughout this war, that I would be accustomed to waiting.  I'm finding out with this job stuff that I'm really not.  I was always taught that patience was a virtue, and I'd really like to have some...now.  I guess all of the practice in the world doesn't make waiting any easier.

 

I think one of the things that drives me most crazy with waiting on this particular thing is that I'm exceedingly curious about several thing in this whole picture with me.  One of the biggest is whether or not something that is seemingly so unreal, internet writing specifically, can be translated into something concrete and real, like a job.  It's very interesting to wonder about and even more interesting to test!  It's just that it takes time to test it and that means... waiting. 

 

So, I'm trying not to bite my nails down to the bone, trying to keep busy in my spare time,  trying to be engaged when I go out for other interviews,  trying not to jump at the phone because I know there won't be a call before Wednesday, and yes, I'm waiting.  I think this one is worth waiting for.  I hope I'm right, but only time will tell.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America 

So far, it's been a good day today!  Went on an interview this morning for a job I'd really love to get, only to come home to a phone call from #2.  Can't beat that with a stick!  I really hate referring to my son's by number.  They both have beautiful names that I love to hear!  It's one of the costs in this whole thing that military families learn to swallow, though.  Anyway, it was great to hear from him and the pickles we sent made it through...although they didn't last very long once opened.  I guess we're going to have to take out stock in pickles along with baby wipes! The days keep passing and we're getting closer to his coming home.  It's not easy, but we're making it.

 

One of the things I'm beginning to see in all of this is that there really are different ways to go during a deployment.  You can either sit and bite your nails off the entire time, get completely wrapped up in the military stuff, or you can chose to let go and start developing a life beyond your children.  It really is a difficult thing to do...to realize that you've raised your kids the best you could and to start allowing them to live their lives while commencing to live your own, especially for women, I think.  So much of our lives are wrapped up in raising these little people to be functioning adults that a lot of times, we get lost in the shuffle.

 

The job I'm competing for is something I've always wanted to do.   It isn't the normal "Mom job" kind of thing.  It wouldn't be for supplying extra money for pizza or the occasional movie.  This job would be a career and would be something where I would feel I was doing something relevant for the community and world around me.  It involves writing in a way that can have a direct effect on people and their live and, for me, that would be an incredible opportunity!  I think that's what I find most exciting about it, the potential for growth in something I really love to do.

 

Another day passes.  This one better than most.  Hope all is well with everyone out there!

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America          

I am on vacation this week, so you will not find me on the computer.  I'm in my garden.  Hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll try to pop in next week when I can.

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America

Last night I had the opportunity to stay with one of the closest friends I've ever had.  Her name is Helen and she will be 104 years old next month.  I love this lady!  Over the years, I dont' think I have ever met anyone that I've ever had more fun with or learned more from in my life!  She came home for an overnighter at the farm and it was great to spend the evening playing dominoes, drinking orange juice and gossiping up a storm for the evening! 

 

I've cared for Helen on her weeks and then weekends and now nights home at the farm for several years now.  She has never ceased to amaze me!  At almost 104 years old, her skin is thinner that a tissue and all of her contemporaries have passed, but she lives on, waiting for the summers to come home.  Sometimes I catch myself being afraid to even touch her....afraid that her skin so frail will tear.  She always talks me through it though. 
"I won't break" she laughs, even though I know she will. 

 

When I first met Helen, she was 96 and recovering from breast cancer.  I don't know if it was because of the prayers of our church or her iron will, but she beat it!  Her one eye was already gone to glacoma then, but she still read like a demond and did her crossword puzzles religiously!  Right after the Vet left, Helen fell and broke her hip.  I believe she was roughly 100 years old that year.  I remember calling her and talking to her in the hospital.  God, it broke my heart!  I remember telling her that she wasn't allowed to let go, that I couldn't do it without her with him gone if she left.  She wasn't happy about it, but she told me she would stay.  This woman who lived through two world wars and had one brother die young in a car accident and another gassed in WWI and helped out with the USO during WWII talked me through some very difficult days of deployment.  She still does now! 

 

When the Trade Centers blew, it was Helen who called me.  We don't receive television on the hill here and Helen called me down.  We watched the second plane as it hit the second Center together.  I remember she told me to go and get ready... that she would be there for me.  With both of us in tears, I left.  Over the next few months and years, she has been there for me whenever I needed her.  

 

I have been incredibly blessed!

 

Last night was the official start of the summer for us.  I won the neck and neck game of dominoes in the last hand.  She threw it because it was late and she was tired.  I was too and she knew it.  Next game I might let her win........if she doesn't whip the pants off of me!  It's incredible knowing someone like this who is so lucid!  She really has been and is a blessing to me everyday!

 

God bless!

 

A Mom in America