Memories of Us

First Day of Maternity Leave

So far today I've 1) Slept in until 7:30 2) Watched 3 episodes of "Bringing Home Baby" on TLC 3) Gone shopping for baby clothes 4) Ate a peanut butter sandwich and 5) Watched the Young and the Restless.  It is now 1:30 and I'm bored.  Jamie is up in his office doing work, Charlie is curled up under my feet, and life is just chill.  I wonder how long I'll be able to stand it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad not to be at work.  I feel well rested and my feet aren't swollen (at least I don't think they are, I don't really remember what my normal feet look like).  It certainly heightens the anticipation of childbirth though.  I'm literally sitting around here WAITING to go into labor.

I bought two outfits today.  One for a baby boy and one for a baby girl.  They are "going home" outfits!  So we're prepared either way!  It was so fun picking them out, imagining the different scenarios :-)  Everything about this baby is a mystery to us right now!  I'm glad we didn't find out what we're having.  We've spent the last 9 months waiting and wondering, unable to develop any preconceived notions of life after baby.  Not even able to refer to baby by name.  That has been really hard at times.  I completely understand why most people chose not to wait though.  The temptation to KNOW your child in any way you can as soon as you can is nearly irresistible.  Knowing your baby's gender is a huge part of knowing your child and dramatically shapes the way you envision the future. 

A few weeks back, our pastor was talking about being a father to his daughter, about loving the things she loves, about being her biggest fan, about valuing and respecting her as a person.  He was talking about how important a role a father plays in the life of his daughter.  She will forever look to the way her father treated her, loved her, as an example of how God loves her and as an example of how ALL men should treat her.  I know this to be true.  I can't even imagine how hard it is for a woman who didn't have a father, or who had a bad one, to ever understand the unconditional love of God and to trust that He is always good in His actions.  Knowing God is easy for me.  I just imagine a really big and powerful version of my dad.  So much of what I think and expect of men is wrapped up in my father.  And I give him full credit for the choices I've made when it comes to the men I've allowed into my life, most particularly my husband.  Because I know what a good man looks like.  I know that a good man treats a woman tenderly and with respect.   And I honestly don't tolerate being treated otherwise.  Because I know what I'm worth and what I deserve.  My father taught me that.  And my husband reaffirms it daily.  I can't wait to see the kind of father Jamie will be.  The impact of a father on his children, particularly his daughters, cannot be underestimated.  I wish society would acknowledge that.  I think most of our societal woes can be directly linked to the demise of the nuclear family.  But I digress . . .  After our pastor finished speaking, he asked all the fathers of daughters to stand so that we could pray for them, that they would do God justice and be the men their daughters need them to be.  Jamie didn't know whether to stand up or not.  He told me later that it was the first and only time he's regretted waiting to find out the sex of our child.  I'm sure it wasn't because he missed out on the prayer.  I think it was about wanting to know, to prepare for that all important role, to get ready to be Daddy to our little girl.  Honestly, he's got nothing to worry about.  I wouldn't have fallen in love with him if he weren't already up to the job.

So Says the Pope

Well people, I have nothing new and exciting to share and so am falling back on my dear old pressure raising, blood boiling, anger inducing friend, politics.  Actually, aren't you kind of shocked that I've been so politics free for the past few weeks?  All things considered?  I mean, the Democrats (and three cowardly Republican sell-outs) have just mortgaged my future and the future of my progeny to pay for wasteful, non-stimulating pet projects and entitlements.  And seriously, who can even dispute that?  I mean, you would have had to have read the bill to dispute that and NOBODY'S EVEN READ THE THING?  Didn't anybody ever teach Congress to READ BEFORE YOU SIGN?!  Whatever.  Interesting that universal health care is in a supposed STIMULUS bill though.  What exactly will that stimulate?  Sneaky punks.  But the real question is, "What oh WHAT will I do with my $13/week!?!" 

No, I'm not really going to talk about the Stimulus Bill this whole post.  But I wish everyone would check out Michelle Malkin's postings about Conservative protests that have been occurring all week in Seattle, Denver, and Mesa.  The signs are pretty awesome.  And the roasted pig?  Genius.  Funny that 50 people chanting anti-Semitic crap at a pro-Hamas rally is ALWAYS news-worthy, but 500-1000 peaceful Conservatives protesting the legislative actions of their own government never is.  Go ahead and ask me how much respect I have for the media.  Moving on.

Oh, but first, I'm kind of thinking that maybe Senator Diane Feinstein (D-California) shouldn't be given access to privileged information anymore.  Way to go Diane.  Loose lips sink ships, you know.

Anyway, my purpose today is actually to write about what recently happened on Nancy Pelosi's tax-payer funded vacation to Italy.  Nancy is also a Democratic senator from California.  Apparently all good things come from California these days.  I guess I should just come on out and admit that I despise this woman.  (Shocker!)  I think she is bitterly divisive, arrogant, pathetically out of touch, and represents just about everything that is wrong with Washington.  But worse than all that?  She attempts to hide behind the banner of Catholicism while stomping on it at the same time.  A pro-choice Catholic?  Is that like a pregnant man?  Sorry, but if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's a duck.  Reality check.  Men can't carry babies.  And Catholics don't support abortion.  You can call yourself a man, or a Catholic, but actions speak louder than words.

It all started when Nancy attempted to back up Obama's idiotic "above my paygrade" answer to Rick Warren's question of when life begins.  She said:

"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time.  And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition.  And Senator - St. Augustine said at three months.  We don't know."

Is this woman for real?

Well, on her little jaunt to Italy Ms. Nancy decided that she would have a private audience with the Pope.  I wonder if she regrets that now.  I have a feeling it was intended to be an awesome photo-op, guaranteed to ensure the Catholic vote for years to come.  A "See! Look!  I'm buddies with the POPE!" photo-op.  Bummer for her he didn't allow pictures - which is apparently kind of extraordinary according to Father Jonathan, who spoke about this with Bill O-Reilly.  According to him, it's standard that official pictures are taken at every audience and posted on the Vatican website.  But not for her!  Anyway, this is how Pelosi described her audience with the Pope:

"It is with great joy that my husband, Paul, and I met with His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, today. In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church’s leadership in fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming, as well as the Holy Father’s dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel. I was proud to show His Holiness a photograph of my family’s papal visit in the 1950s, as well as a recent picture of our children and grandchildren."

Nice, right?  Well, this is how the Pope described it:

"Following the General Audience, the Holy Father briefly greeted Mrs. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, together with her entourage. His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception until natural death, which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists, and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of development."

Hm.  As one columnist put it, "Where they at the same meeting?"  Don't let the respectful and diplomatic language fool you, my friends.  Nancy Pelosi found herself on the business end of a papal smack-down.  Oh, snap!  Are you still unclear on the whole "when does life begin" issue, "ardent, practicing Catholic" that you are, Nancy?

You know, I get the whole separation of church and state.  Though I tend to think that was intended more to protect the church from the state, than vice versa.  And I don't think that means exclusion of faith from the public square by any means.  But when we vote for representatives in congress, we vote for PEOPLE.  We vote for people like ourselves, who are guided by their faith, who love and honor their spouses, who worry about their children, who pay their taxes.  We vote for them because of who we think they are, not because of some election platform or campaign rhetoric.  Those things are meaningless in Washington.  Problems and issues arise that are well beyond the scope of the things discussed in campaign debates.  That is when we, as a nation, hope that we have good and decent people in office.  That is when we must have faith that they are who they say they are.  In short, Nancy, if you say you're a Catholic, act like one.  Vote like one.  You might end up losing the next election, but at least you wouldn't be a hypocrite.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I'm not sure I'll have time to post anything in the next few days.  Mom, Dad, Fozzy and Buddy will all be arriving tomorrow evening, which means my house, and my hands, will be full.  But I want to take this chance to wish everyone the very Merriest Christmas.  May God bless you and yours and may we all remember the true reason for celebration and the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ our Savior.