Pope Benedict XVI

We have anew Pope. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected on the second day of the conclave. The election being completed so quickly can be taken as a good or bad sign, depending on how you look at it. Ratzinger has chosen the name of Benedict XVI. He is described as being conservative, which should be good for the church.

Seeing as how the new Pontiff has just recently turned 78, he will not likely serve as long as his predecessor.

This being the first papal election of my lifetime, it was quite exciting watching for the smoke. I am glad we have a new Pope and can get on with moving the church forward. I hope His Holiness will continue the work of John Paul II and do much good for the church and the world.

Luck of the Irish

Late yesterday morning, I was following the children through an oat field(last year's oats), when I happened to look down and found the first four-leaf clover of the year. I know they're supposed to be hard to find, but I don't usually have much trouble finding them. As per tradition, this year's first four-leafer went to my husband. One of the first gifts he ever gave me was the very first(and maybe only) four-leaf clover he ever found. I still have it and keep it in a very special place.

Adventures in Parenting

Yesterday my husband and I had a meeting at the school to discuss our oldest child's problems with math. The main topic of the meeting was whether or not she would benefit from Special Education, limited to the area of Mathematics.

Special Ed is a lot different now from when I was in elementary school. I remember the Special Ed room. The "special" kids spent the entirety of their school days in that room, which was not much bigger than a large broom closet. This segregation added greatly to the social disadvantages of being in Special Ed. These days, or at least at the local elementary school, the children work with the Special Ed teacher only on trouble subjects and only during the scheduled time of day for the entire class. They then rejoin the class for the rest of day.

We decided that our daughter would benefit from such services. The Special Ed teacher seems to really be on top of things and we are hopeful that she'll have success in helping her. She has a good strategy -- group setting with some guaranteed one on one time, working at the child's pace.

We're also considering a summer school math program, so the kiddo can keep up her current skills.

Let's hope that Special Education no longer carries the stigma it used to.

Words of Wisdom

Words of wisdom for this week:

"Don't be so open-minded your brains fall out." -- Unknown

As many of you know, Pope John Paul II has died. He was a good man and a great leader. May God rest his soul. I am only 22 years old, so for me, he has always been Pope. He did so much good in the world and I pray that his successor will add to his good works and strengthen the church.

Keeping the Dream Alive

Well, here it is. This is our opportunity to make ourselves heard and maybe save one of the best family dramas on television today.

I have written before about American Dreams. This is an incredible show with great writing, acting, music and just about everything else.

Jonathan Prince, the show's creator, had this to say in a letter to the fans.

Here is the link to an online petition to save American Dreams. Every signature counts and the petition is growing by hundreds of signatures every day.

Life Without the Internet

After a grueling 40+ days of Lent, I am finally back online, much to the delight of my reader(still only one, I'm sure).

How did I do it? I kept myself very busy with Spring Cleaning, which is almost finished. My house is now much cleaner than it used to be. I have also started reading books again and I've been working on my writing a bit. I started writing another book, though I have yet to finish even one and I've begun experimenting with dialogue/script writing. In the course of my experiments, I have discovered that I have a knack for creating arguments full of cutting remarks and occasional humor. My writing shows a significant flare for drama which defies my childhood role as family comedian.

I did write a few songs with my guitar, which is no longer gathering dust in a corner, but my creative spurt seems to be coming to a close.

Winter is over and it will soon be Road Construction Season once more. Our stretch of highway is due to be repaved this year. The county will be killing off some of our trees and making an awful mess, but the improvement in driving conditions ought to be worth the hassle.

Lent

I've decided to give up the Internet for Lent. It seemed the most challenging thing I could rationally give up. So, I'll be back the end of March. Happy reading.

First Day of School

Today is my daughter's first day of school. She is enrolled in the Early Childhood program at the elementary school. She's not quite 3 years old yet, so it's very hard on me. I think she'll be just fine and I know she'll really benefit from the program, but I miss my little girl an awful lot.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy

"Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: 'mankind'. Basically, it's made up of two separate words - 'mank' and 'ind'. What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind."

Help the Tsunami Victims

Click here to make a donation to Catholic Relief Services, an organization that works in many of the affected areas. Or go here for a list of other organizations accepting donations to help the tsunami victims.

Happy New Year

Here is an Irish toast to start off 2005:

May God hold you in the palm of His hand and never close His fist too tight.

December's Little Known Artist of the Month

Seeing as how December is almost over, I thought I better get to it right away. This artist is well-known in Great Britain and around the world, but still relatively unkown here in the Midwest, USA.

The December Little Known Artist of the month is: Cara Dillon

She's an Irish singer, with a sweet, haunting voice. She sings alot of old traditional songs, as well as some new ones. She can only grow in popularity.

Blogger's Block?

Well, it seems I've gone a month without posting. Did anyone notice? Things got very busy in November and they're still busy. Tomorrow the last of the Christmas cards, save one, will be mailed out. Then there is the shopping to finish, gifts to wrap, bows to stick and tags to write out. Two more Christmas Programs to attend.

The only other real progress toward Christmas preparations is the tree. We do have a tree, a live one, and by some miracle I haven't forgotten to water it yet.

"Keep Christ in Christmas."

Independent Music

There is a lot of great Indie music out there just waiting to be heard. It's a shame so much good music never makes the airways.

Little Known Artist of the Month: Molly Myles

She's an up and coming songwriter with a classic folk style. Audio clips will be up on the website soon. The bonus track on the album, "Even Heroes Need a Place to Cry" has been played from Honolulu to Baghdad. Check out the webiste for pictures and more details.

The Great Race for First Lady

It seems the most interesting part of the Presidential race this year is the battle of the potential First Ladies. Laura Bush is doing an excellent job courting the public and supporting her husband with grace and conviction. Meanwhile, Teresa Heinz-Kerry seems to be doing her very best to sabotage her husband's campaign. Every time she gets anywhere near a microphone, another embarrassment needs covering up. If Kerry is elected, Teresa will be a P.R. disaster for the administration. It's a wonder they let her near a microphone in the first place considering she has said from the beginning that she has no interest in being First Lady.

However, I can see why Mrs. Kerry may be upset over her husband's campaign strategy, as it is all aimed at the downfall of her social class. It must be quite a thing to know that your own husband plans to pay down a huge deficit mainly by taxing you and your friends. Perhaps that explains the notable lack of warmth and affection between the Kerry's.

Kerry's Campaign Strategy

Well, it seems that John Kerry is trying to scare college students all over the country, though specifically in battle ground states, by telling them that they will be drafted. Bush has stated that there will be no draft. Bush won't introduce it in a bill, Congress won't pass it, Bush won't sign it if they do pass it. It is not going to happen. However, Kerry has promised to expand the United States Army by two divisions. That's 40,000 troops. Just where does he think he's going to get 40,000 vollunteers to fill his new divisions? If anyone will be reinstating the draft it will be Kerry. If his scare tactic is working, than I'll take comfort in the fact that many college-aged voters don't bother to vote.

Debate Number 3

Well, it looks like Bush has gotten even better at debating, seeing as how he wiped the floor with Kerry throughout the evening. Kerry is really out of touch. Everyone will remember how Bush told that lovely story of how he met his wife and it was love at first sight. Then there's Kerry's response, where he doesn't even mention his wife. That was the entire point of the question. True, Kerry's mother was one of the "strong women around him", but the question was about wives and daughters. He didn't mention either. And I thought it was really funny how Kerry started off an answer to another question(can't remember what question it was) with pointing out how Bush hadn't answered the question and then went on to avoid answering it himself. Quite a technique there, Senator Scary.

Politics

Everybody is talking politics with the ongoing race for the presidency. I watched the debate tonight and I have to say I thought President Bush kicked serious butt. Four years ago, he beat Al Bore(Gore) in the same type of debate. Town Meetings are definitely Bush's cup of tea. The next debate should be interesting.

Hello

Blogs seem to be a pretty popular thing right now. Even though I'm not into popular things, I thought to myself "why not"? Probably nobody will read it anyway. I do occasionally like to ramble on, so this will be a good way to send my thoughts out into cyberspace for nobody to read.