Why?

Why are we fighting two wars? What do you think is/are the reason(s)?

John and I have been talking about that tonight, as we think ahead to the President's speech tomorrow night. Here's our assessment, as uninformed as it might be.

We started this in Afghanistan because we were attacked. We moved into Iraq because (faulty) intelligence told us Al-Qaeda had moved into Iraq.

We sent more troops into Iraq. The increase improved our situation and that of the Iraqi people. Sadly, doing so cost us ground in Afghanistan, as promises we had made to the Afghans had to be deferred in order to spend resources in Iraq. Now we need to play catch-up, and we may hear tomorrow night that that is the plan. We would like to see our troops leave Afghanistan and Iraq. Yes, we made promises, but, yes, we've already broken them. Let's not make it worse, not for the natives, not for ourselves, and, most importantly, not for those who put their lives on the line when we decide what is "best for our country."

What's your assessment? What do you see as the reasons our kids are being sent overseas? Why were they sent in the first place, and what do you think is motivating the continuance of this...adventure? What do you think should be happening; what would you say to the powers that be if you could?

I hope this will be interesting.

Not Quite Yet...

Prepare the Royal Highway; The King of Kings is near!
Let ev'ry hill and valley A level plain appear!
Then greet the King of Glory Foretold in sacred story:
Hosanna to the Lord, For He fulfills God's Word!

God's people, see Him coming; your own eternal king!
Palm branches strew before Him! Spread garments! Shout and sing!
God's promise will not fail you! No more shall doubt assail you!
Hosanna to the Lord, For He fulfills God's Word!

Then fling the gates wide open To greet your promised king!
Your king, yet ev'ry nation It's tribute too should bring,
All lands, bow down before Him! All nations, now adore HIm!
Hosanna to the Lord, For He fulfills God's Word!

His is no earthly kingdom; It comes from heav'n above.
His rule is peace and freedom And justice, truth and love.
So let your praise be sounding For kindness so abounding;
Hosanna to the Lord, For He fulfills God's Word!

Saturday Farm Report

Well, she made it a week. John went out to throw hay this morning, and Wakiya had escaped her stall. She frolicked through the pasture until Mary went out to put her in again. I figured it would be a struggle keeping her in, but we learned that Mary had forgotten to latch the stall. Her stitches were fine; no damage was done to her or anything else out there. -whew-

This has been a really good weekend. We visited with family until late Thursday night. Yesterday we sold a goat to a man John works with. It was to be a festival meal for him and his family. It was interesting to talk about that and learn about the differences in interpretation of events.

Mary and I went to see New Moon with friends and family yesterday. It was...OK. As I've said, at least it only cost $4 and the popcorn was fresh!

Today is mulching and cleaning stalls and the last leaf raking and leftovers for supper. Tomorrow will be church and lesson prep and, hopefully, some intense napping.

Hope your weeknd is good, too!

In Which Our Author Contemplates Quitting Blogging

Yes, I am. Even though I like it quite a bit, consider it my outlet for bizarre and mundane emotions and even though both of you count on me to have something to read, I am considering quitting.

See, I'm afraid I don't fit in. Many of the bloggers I know are people much like myself; mom-types who write for the joy of it and, while that may bore some of the people some of the time, I still have the two of you reading, so I can't be so bad, right?

But then I venture out into Blog-world, and I find myself so...out of place. This blogger met some bloggers, whose names are listed in his blog. I'll let you wander around, getting yourselves acquainted with them.

You done yet?

OK, let's analyze. See what I mean? These are stellar writers, with humor and class and an elegance to which I can never aspire.

Yeah, right. C'mon, people. Please. Scatalogical vocabulary does not a writer make. And I won't consider further examination of this post. End of discussion.

See you tomorrow!

Monday Farm Report

We were a little busy Saturday, so didn't get this done then.

Saturday Wakiya came home. We headed up to the clinic, paid our bill (!) and headed back to the farm. Because she needs to be confined for 14 days, (!) John spent the time fitting a horse shed on our property to be a stall. A gate, hay rack, stall mats and bucket hooks turned this modest shelter into something that can hold her in some comfort. She's out of the wet, the dirt and the wind, with hay and water within the turn of her neck. She's pretty happy. Well, she will be, until the pain of all of this wears off, as does the novelty. Then she'll be itching to get out. That's when our fun will start.

We also spent some time Saturday just doing basic things around here. We're actually in pretty good shape for winter, thanks to some October-like weather that we've had this month. Dry and sunny makes for lots of raking, cleaning up and organizing. So we should be able to handle the winter decently well.

Thanksgiving dinner will be at our place Thursday. Mom is out of the hospital, but in rehab. We (John and I) talked about taking Thanksgiving dinner to the rehab center, but , she told us she'll be getting a pass for that day. We visited yesterday; she looks good!

Last night we had a military parent experience. When Ethan got an iPhone, Dad took over his cell phone. Last night/this morning, about 3am, the phone rang several times. Finally he answered it. It was a friend of Ethan's, who said, "Dude! I've been calling you all day and you decide to answer at 3am?!" Once he realized that 1) he was not talking to the person he thought he was and 2) that person was not going to wake the person he wanted, he apologized, hung up and we were able to get back to sleep. Drunken phone calls in the middle of the night are part of the territory when you have military kids!

Well, the week is organized and I'm about two hours behind already. Better stop doing this and get on to bigger and better things.

Pro-Life Corner

"Thanks be to God! His hands have not stopped creating! His love is still amazing! And His promise of sweet, sweet life is new everyday in Jesus! The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!"

Linda D. Bartlett

Hebdomus Horribilus

It's been a month this week. Hence the title. Remember, anyone, a few years back when when Queen Elizabeth talked about her annus horribilus? Well, this week's been horribilus. Since the Romans didn't reckon time in weeks, and there isn't really a word for week in Latin, I got to choose between hebdomas, which means "seven days," and septimana, which was a later Latin form for "seven days." I liked the first better, so there! As for the ending...well, I'm no Latin scholar.

Jay had his day(s) in court this week. The first, Tuesday, was for a domestic battery charge brought against him by his ex-wife during their divorce proceedings. Because of our economic times, he had to rely on a public defender. If you would ever like to have the experience of being treated like something on the bottom of a shoe, commit a crime (or, in Jay's case, just find someone to charge you with one) and ask for a public defender. Yeah, it's like that. If he were to be convicted of this crime, (which he did not commit) he would be dishonorably discharged from the Illinois National Guard. He was offered a "deal," which involved pleading guilty to a lesser charge, battery, which would not have the same penalty as far as the Guard is concerned. (Actually, it's not the Guard, but the state of Illinois which would not let him continue in the Guard, but that's a tiny point.) So he can plead innocent, likely lose in court (after all, a woman accused him, so he must have done it, right? Ladies, you have power in a court of law.) and lose the Guard and all his military benefits. OR he could lie, plead guilty to a lesser charge, and be good with the legal system of the state of Illinois. Such choices. I am embarrassed to say that I have no more faith in our legal system.

His second day was yesterday, where his divorce was finally...final. He got a great deal there. She gets the kids, although custody is technically joint. He gets all the debt and gets to see them for 2 hours every week and then every other weekend. The cherry on top is the third of his income that he will pay in child support. I know, lots of dads get that deal. But find me a few who got that deal when the mom has threatened the lives of the kids, committed serial adultery, and physically and mentally abused Dad during the course of the marriage. But it's done.

I had just parked the car in the driveway after court yesterday when I learned a horseshoer was coming to trim our horses' feet. In the course of getting them ready for his arrival, mine went ballistic. The two were tied together to a pole in our yard. They pulled it out and went romping through our yard. At the end of it all, Mary's horse, Wakiya, had been hit in the face by the pole. The good news is that Mary has found a new place to volunteer and learn about whether she'd like to be a large animal vet or technician. We got to watch the surgery while two vets pulled about 5 quarter-sized pieces of bone out of Wakiya's face and stitched up 4 deep cuts on her legs and belly. She'll recover beautifully, but she won't be beautiful. Without that bone, her face is going to look pretty bad. But Mary still loves her.

I'm praying for a quiet weekend...