Priorities

My life goals include, but are not limited to:

1. helping my husband and children get to Heaven
2. never, ever wearing mom jeans

A Story

There is the story of a Franciscan priest who was desperately running to catch a bus. He made it up the steps just before the doors closed shut behind him and plopped down exhausted, proclaiming loudly, "God is good!" A little old lady sitting next to him smiled and said, "Yes... and He would be just as good if you didn't catch the bus!"

Help

Still pregnant. STILL pregnant. Still pregnant.

After months of announcing "April 24th" in response to due date questions, it is now April 27th, and here we are, baby clothes and diapers stacked and waiting.

Where oh where is my baby?

Blog to Check Out

http://corner.nationalreview.com/ brings a new blog to everyone's attention: Obamacare Fail . Its writers are working to "make sure that you know the effects of President Obama’s universal healthcare scheme on Americans throughout the country."

Keep Your Laws Off My Body

Can someone please explain to me why abortion falls under the category of "things I choose to do with my body and thus must be protected by the right to privacy" but the FDA can tell me (rather, restaurants and manufacturers) how much sodium should be allowed in the foods I choose to eat? This is why government regulation in health care is such a slippery slope - once a country makes it the business of the elected officials (and some unelected, as the case may be) to oversee the health of its constituents, the tentacles of regulation and restriction find their way into every aspect of our lives. Wait, do leviathans have tentacles?

Verdict: Not Gay Enough

Thank you, Mark Steyn, for unearthing yet another gem:

It's come to this:

Veteran Rep. Babette Josephs (D., Phila.) last Thursday accused her primary opponent, Gregg Kravitz, of pretending to be bisexual in order to pander to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender voters, a powerful bloc in the district.

"I outed him as a straight person," Josephs said during a fund-raiser at the Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant...

Kravitz, 29, said that he is sexually attracted to both men and women and called Josephs' comments offensive...

"We've hit a new high point when candidates are accused of pretending to be gay to win a seat," said Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News.

Hmm. Now you mention it, I wonder if Barney Frank isn't just putting it on...

UPDATE: In related news:

Three bisexual men are suing a national gay-athletic organization, saying they were discriminated against during the Gay Softball World Series held in the Seattle area two years ago.

The three Bay Area men say the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance in essence deemed them not gay enough to participate in the series.

Gregg Kravitz should try that if he loses the primary.

I Can't Believe I Missed Equal Pay Day!

There I was, blissfully loafing around like the very pregnant lady that I am, and I somehow managed to miss Equal Pay Day! It's so hard to stay on top of these things when you no longer live on a campus and no one actually cares what the feminists have to say. The official holiday was on Tuesday, and is meant to "'symbolize how far into 2010 women must work to earn what men earned in 2009,' says the National Committee on Pay Equity."

How does the enlightened individual celebrate such a holiday, you ask? Why, with the feminist trifecta, of course: rallies, speak-outs, and bake sales. Nothing says "I deserve a higher salary" like a chocolate chip cookie baked with love. Equal Pay Day is also a great excuse to indulge in some (legal) substance abuse: "NOW suggests women gather together at local bars for “Un-happy Hours” where they can share their dissatisfactions. 'See if a local bar, club, or restaurant (try the women-owned ones first!) will give you drink specials [where] women pay 78% of their tabs and men pay 100%'." Women are allowed to own bars now?! Wow, thanks feminists!

Anyway, Christina Hoff Sommers of AEI takes the feminists to task over the idea that women earn 22% less than men for doing the same work.

Whitney Houston, Reincarnate...Or Something

It should say something about the very late stage of my pregnancy that this clip made me cry.

I love how even in Taiwan you can tell exactly who's supposed to be Simon, Paula, and Randy.

I heard that he still got voted off, though. Harsh.

Vindication!

My husband was pretty excited to find this post over on the First Things blog yesterday. He and I have about five giant bookcases in our small one-bedroom apartment... and that doesn't even account for the books we have squirreled away at our parents' homes. To be frank, we love books. Like, really love them. Old books, new books... I enjoy just looking at all their spines, ready and waiting for someone to pluck them off their sagging shelves. I adore reading with and to children, and we've already started a small collection of books to enjoy with Baby Boy once he decides to arrive...assuming he savors the written word as much as his parents.

The First Things post is about a study which finds that “Growing up in a home with 500 books would propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average, than would growing up in a similar home with few or no books. This is a large effect, both absolutely and in comparison with other influences on education,” adds the research team, led by University of Nevada sociologist M.D.R. Evans. “A child from a family rich in books is 19 percentage points more likely to complete university than a comparable child growing up without a home library.”

Now, to me, this just seems obvious. Children take their cues from the world around them, and if Mommy and Daddy spend hours a day watching television, then the children tacitly understand that television is highly valued. Children have far more common sense than we give them credit for - just take a look around you the next time you're at Mass. Find the children who don't kneel or sing along or reverently receive the Eucharist - are Mommy and Daddy kneeling or singing along or reverent? It follows that a home with books (and not just as decoration, but as something read and shared and discussed) will foster children who see that reading and thinking are worthwhile endeavors.

Rosary Giveaway

The writer over at A Woman's Place just opened an Etsy shop, and is having a rosary giveaway to celebrate! Check out her blog and find out how to earn some entries. She's also got great posts on everything from the recent developments with the Pope to being a young Catholic mom. Highly recommended!

You Know You're Nine Months Pregnant When....

you drop something on the floor and think, "Do I really need that?"

Ode on a Pair of Ankles

Thou still unravish'd bones of shapeliness,

 Thou joints of early pregnancy,

With definition, between calf and tarsals.

 One can see where a leg ends, the graceful foot begins.

No concern for elevation of lower extremities,

Everything looks as it should.

But the passage of time, the gaining of weight,

  And soon the ankle stays for just a short time,

Just the precious first few moments of the day.

 Whose cankles are these? What sausages that pass for toes?

 What blood must be pooled in these?
What water must be retained, to reach that impossible size?

O elevate them! raise them up! with pillow      

Or ottoman or arm of sofa.           

Will they never be two separate forms again,

Thou, once slender foot? thou idyllic calf?

As the third trimester progresses,          

And due date approaches,         

Cankles shall remain, and swelling doth increase.          

And I am forced to admit:                                                           

'Beauty is ankles, ankles beauty, - that is all        

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

Low-Emission Unicorns were My Idea

Powered by rainbows.

Who Knew?

Some of the (less gross) things I have learned can happen during pregnancy:

• Your brain turns to absolute mush. Take this conversation between me and the husband: 

Me: The only thing left to set up is...that thing that goes with the stroller...you know...and then in the car...what's it called? Husband: You mean the car seat?
Me: Yes! I knew it wasn't a car chair, but for the life of me...

• Depth perception? Gone. Clumsiness? Off the charts. I find myself holding an object and going to put it on the table or counter, only to smash it into some other item that's already there. This happens constantly. 
• You can be hungrier or thirstier than you ever thought possible, but your stomach can be so squashed that there is just nowhere to put it. 
• Putting on socks and shoes becomes nearly impossible. You eventually just give up and opt for slippers.
• Sometimes all you want to eat are chicken nuggets. Every day. For lunch. With mustard. 

There are more, but my mush brain forgot all the funny things I had planned to say.