Still Alive

Prayer and Fasting

Yes, I know it's Lent and we're already in a season of prayer and fasting. But I am pleading with all of you to pray and fast today. Today Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. have primaries.

Huckabee is still in this race, he needs our prayers. It would take a miracle for him to win this thing. But I believe in miracles.

whERe I spent my day

Naomi is very sick with RSV. We went to the doctor's this morning. He sent us to the ER at the hospital next door. They did lab work and gave her an injection of antibiotics. We were there most of the afternoon. We are home now, although I got lost on the way. I was going to type all about the experience, but I am too tired and the kids are demanding attention.

By the way, Happy Birthday Grandma Linda.

Sometimes the experts are just idiots

According to a newspaper article I read this morning, being happy causes people to have lower incomes and perform more poorly academically. They had surveyed people and found that the people who identified themselves as completely happy tended to have lower incomes and worse academic careers than those who did not. They concluded that being happy causes poor performance. They also noted that happy people do more volunteer work (being happy causes people to want to volunteer). Therefore you should not strive to be happy.

Clearly, I dropped out of college to get married and be a stay at home mom because I was just too happy.

Where were these people back in math class when they taught "correlation is not the same as causation".

Of course, it would be incorrect to say that I am completely happy. How could anyone be completely happy when there are people in this world attempting to fend off starvation by eating mud. Seriously, I was also reading in the selfsame newspaper, about how in Haiti many of the people cannot even afford to buy rice. So they are mixing mud with salt and shortening and cooking it. It's not a long term solution, but hopefully they can get by for awhile this way. And I guess it makes starvation less painful.

I am feeling rather heart-broken about this. And I am not prepared to sit idly by and mope. I've got to do more.

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An update: Sammy's soccer was canceled because there weren't enough children signed up.

Soccer Mom

Today I become a soccer mom! Gasp!

Sammy starts soccer at "The Dome" tonight. It should be a lot of fun. And I will hopefully get to have adult conversation on the sidelines. I am hoping that the other moms are not a yuppie as most of the gymnastics moms. I really don't need more practice smiling and nodding while others talk about their country clubs.

And in case you were wondering, the weather in Fort Wayne is nice and warm. It's a steamy 9 degrees now. This is about fifteen degrees warmer than when I awoke this morning. Paul wore his carhart coveralls to work today so he wouldn't freeze to death on his walk from the car to ITT.

And I suppose I should let you all know that Paul survived Axe Day. Lay offs were announced on Monday, and only one person in his department was laid off. I think Paul is both relieved and disappointed, since the severance package looked pretty sweet.

Sisters

Adventures in Mommyland

This is a picture of Sammy with the cake I made for his Birthday. He's certainly come a long way in three years.

We're going to Saigon tonight.
Okay, so we're actually going to Saigon Vietnamese restaurant, but doesn't that sound cool. We have been watching a video series about the underground church in Vietnam with our Sunday school class. So tonight we will be taking the youth group out for Vietnamese food. Then after dinner we will be going to St. Patrick's Catholic church to listen to the priest who is a Vietnamese refugee. I am really excited and am praying that we will have a good turnout.

Nana and Papa will be coming over to watch the kids. Sammy is sick with Bronchiolitis. At least his lungs sound clear. The interesting thing is that when the doctor listened to him she noted that he has a heart murmur. She'll listen to him again in a couple of weeks and decide if he needs an echocardiogram (basically an ultrasound of the heart).

Naomi also had to see the doctor today. She has blood in her stool. Maybe from giardia. Maybe from a protein allergy. Maybe from an anal cyst (which was discovered on examination). Maybe intestinal irritation from overfeeding (she's gained 1.5 pounds in the last two weeks).

And just so you know exactly how all together I am. I completely forgot the diaper bag when we went to the doctor. Fortunately, they have extra diapers there. Now I just have to remember to mail in the copay.