Always Batya

The best article I've read so far to express my reservations about Purpose Driven Life, but much better written than I could ever do:

http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c48.shtml
Nice find, Lin!

As I've said before, aren't we supposed to be Spirit led?

posted by Jodi @ 5:05 PM 0 comments

I LOVE VACATION. And that's where we were last week. And then my birthday was Monday, so it's been an action packed week.

Here's some pictures from our family apartment in Florida:






The above picture is taken straight off the ocean-facing balcony.















This is from the same balcony angled more down towards the ground.
















This is facing south from the same balcony.
















This is from the north facing balcony that has doors leading from the master bedroom and one of the guest bedrooms - which is where Brian and I usually stay.

We always have a wonderful time...well, me so more than him because it's with my family. But that's how it goes, right? You always have more fun with your family than your spouses', even though we are both blessed with amazing in-laws. Thank the Lord! Anyway, it was a fun week - we got to spend time with my Uncle Joe, who retired to the area last year, as well as my cousins and their families. (Both cousins live in the Tampa area, but we don't get to see them every time because everyone is so busy.) We also got to spend a day at SeaWorld, which was nice. However, the Killer Whale show, Believe, was a bit ridiculous. Nothing but liberal, tree-hugging propaganda. At least with the dolphin show, it was just a show without an agenda. And what a show that was! Very cool!

One night, we went to dinner with my cousin Krista, her high school aged daughter Lauren, Krista's boyfriend JB, and JB's 8th grade son Dante', who sports the coolest fro I've seen in quite awhile. JB played for the Harlem Globetrotters for 7 years, and played HS basketball at Fort Knox, so the guys all had fun talking about Kentuckiana basketball at dinner.

The crazy part happened before we ever got to dinner. The apartment is in a highrise, so we all piled on the elevator to go down at the same time. All of us meaning my cousin and her crew (4), me and Brian (2), Jason (1), mom and dad (2), and Greg, Laura and the kids (4). For all of you math-challenged out there, that's 13 people crammed into this tiny elevator with no A/C in a building that was built in the 70's (I think). So, what do you think happened?

Anyone?!?!


Say it all together now...WE GOT STUCK! Yes, I said stuck. In the elevator. FOR 4o MINUTES. Now keep in mind, less than 2 months ago, doctors told my mom not to stand in the same place for more than 15 minutes at a time, or risk passing out. Plus, there were other health issues involved too. The funny part was that my cousin Krista is a world class prankster, as is most all of my family, not to mention Brian! So, when the elevator came to a screeching halt, the first thought was that me or Krista had done something on purpose because we were the ones pushed up against the button panel.

Oh how I wish it had been true. But it wasn't. So I had to pick up the phone in the elevator (which I never thought I would do in a million years) and call the service company listed on the phone. It was straight out of the movies. I was like, "um, hi. we're stuck in an elevator."

And then I stopped. My mind went blank. I could not think of what information this person on the other line might find pertentent. Like, oh, I don' t know...what building I'm in, the address of the building, the floor we are stuck between, how many people are in the elevator, the fact that there are health issues at risk, any of these would have been good. So, of course, everyone was like, "DUH, what are you doing?" Well, Jason and Greg, not everyone.

I guess the dispatcher took pity on me, or just knew what she was doing, because immediately she started asking logical questions. She promised to contact the service guy and get him out there. 25 minutes later, after undue pressure from the rest of my elevator party guests, I had to call her back and make sure she had done that because it was getting REALLY hot in the 4"X6" box we were calling home. The dispatcher promised me she had been in contact with someone, and that he was on his way.

20 minutes later, still no service guy. So Jason starts talking about his experience with elevators because of the church building project...so I guess he WAS paying attention. Dad had gotten the elevator door open, which was letting a little cool air in from the shaft. Jason starts describing what the door to the next floor up should look like from this angle, something about a bar that goes across the door, and a little lever up in the corner of the door to the next floor up. Sure enough, dad could see this lever, but couldn't reach it. So JB, my cousin's 6"5' boyfriend, volunteers to try. What we called the "Elevator Shuffle" commenced. Everyone shimmyed around to make room for JB to be next to the door, which allowed him to reach up on tiptoe while dad was holding the elevator door, and trip the lever to the 4th floor. That door sprang open and we were stuck about 3 feet below the opening to the 4th floor. While Greg and JB pulled everyone out, dad held onto the door, and we were all able to crawl thru and get out of the elevator. YEAH! Needless to say, we took the stairs down the rest of the way.

All through dinner, we kept laughing about this poor service guy that rushed to the building thinking he was saving 13 people and found an empty elevator. The poor guy is probably still scratching his head! CLASSIC!

posted by Jodi @ 1:56 PM 2 comments

This picture was on Matt Drudge's site. Talk about taking the holiday wear a little too far...

posted by Jodi @ 11:23 AM 1 comments

Cindy Sheehan, and her band of merry traitors, started an anti-war hunger strike outside the White House yesterday. Supposedly, this fast is going to continue until the troops are withdrawn from Iraq. You know, the war that is a crime...according to Cindy. Supposedly, the protesters "represent millions of Americans who withdraw their support from this government. Instead of putting their money where their soon to be very hungry mouths are, and getting millions of signatures and letters from these supposed detractors, less than 150 protestors sat down on Pennsylvania Avenue on Independence Day to start a hunger strike.

How patriotic.

My question to Mrs. Sheehan and her CodePink croonies is, "HOW DO YOU THINK THIS COUNTRY GOT TO THE POINT THAT YOU HAD THE RIGHT TO HAVE A HUNGER STRIKE A FEW FEET AWAY FROM THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE TO PROTEST ?!?!?!

The most tragic part of this entire scene is that if the troops WERE pulled from Iraq before the job was done, her son's death would be in vain.
I'm sure that's why he enlisted -
to go to a country ruled by a maniacal dictator,
liberate that country,
capture the dictator,
enable said country to have free and fair elections,
train and install a police force,
and then pull out before the police and elected government are ready and prepared for us to leave.

I'm sure that's what Casey Austin Sheehan had in mind when he enlisted.

posted by Jodi @ 8:41 AM 1 comments