Prayers for Barbara Curtis, UPDATED

Via Pundette, Barbara Curtis of Mommylife.net has had a serious stroke. She is a writer, blogger, and Catholic mom of 12. I have many of her books on teaching littles and have directed many friends over the years in need of guidance and support for parenting. Please keep her and the family in prayer.

UPDATE: Please read this from Elizabeth Foss  and donate if you can to help the family, and daughter Maddie specifically. I am heartbroken. My mother suffered a stroke eight years ago, and thankfully–no, miraculously–saw the same doc in the ER who had given her a cardio stress test weeks before. He knew immediately it had to be a stroke and was able to administer drugs accordingly. According to Elizabeth, Barbara will not regain consciousness. Tears. I have read Barbara’s blog for five years and am awed by how much life she has lived and how many lives she has touched. Pray.

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Naptime thoughts

Spotted today in the Target lot in Falls Church

Forgive the absence. Chalk half up to a newborn in the house along with the home schooler, and the other half to needing mental quiet. I find the current news cycle on the eve of this election both unnerving and exhausting. I have let my passions get the best of me in fights with dear friends suckered into voting with their lady parts. I crave the quiet.

That said, I find myself awed by the number of Romney signs on my street inside the beltway. To be fair, an equal number of Obama signs dot lawns littered with falling leaves and pumpkins. An equal number? I take delight in each one. I picked up two  this week in Arlington at the Romney Virginia HQ. Staffers gave pjKid a sticker which she then wore proudly to Trader Joe’s. In Clarendon. The epicenter for Obama voters, no? A lady stopped us. I was sure she was going to call child protective services or throw tomatoes. She high-fived the kid.  Could this really be happening?

“Trickle-down government”

Romney so aptly described Obama’s approach while doing so with humor, grace, and wit.

Obama looked befuddled that someone would dare challenge him–with facts, no less. He should have just taken Michelle out to a fancy dinner with all the trappings of his office, you know the drill, the free flight, stopping traffic, free limo service. Because he certainly isn’t up to the rigors of his office.

He seemed caught flat-footed with Romney’s assertion that he’s already been President four years. Obama never has to defend his record since the press does it for him, but even Jim Lehrer’s promptings (he couldn’t help himself, twice!) couldn’t save Obama from the sinking economic wreckage of his own creation.

I loved this bit. Via George Neumayr:

Romney laid down a good test for the existence of federal government programs: Is it so critical that we need to borrow money from China to pay for it? And he didn’t pander to Jim Lehrer while using this test: Romney told him that he would zero out “PBS” for that reason.

No, and Romney correctly framed the argument as a moral one.

And look, swing voters were swung.

 

 

The Vagina Vote and Other Thoughts

Pardon my absence. In all honesty, I’ve retreated from the news because I can’t stand it right now. It’s pathetic, and I can’t wait for the election to be over.

(Can I leave the country for a month? I vote by absentee ballot anyway).

I’m not the only one. This cross-country move was the hardest we’ve faced. I feel like I’ve earned a little nesting time with my family, cooking, sewing, finding donations for my church sale and boxing already outgrown newborn clothes (far too soon!) for the crisis pregnancy center. Making matching skirts for my daughter and her baby doll. Cuddling my son. Avoiding the reality of the culture outside.

This from Althouse intrigues me. In a nutshell: a mom writes advice columnist to bemoan her daughter’s attitude. Said daughter lays the guilt on thick because she hates her state school and wanted to go private. Mom and dad foot the bill to the tune of $26,000 a year.

How entitled, no? To bitch about your paid college education because it wasn’t the one you wanted.

If you wanted something badly enough, you would work to make it happen, no?

But the entitlement mentality persists. We have the Sandra Flukes of the world, shelling out 50k a year for law school at Georgetown who can’t hop over to Target for a $9 prescription. Someone else should pay for what I want, not me. Keep the government out of my vagina they cry in one breath, but shill Uncle Sugar for the pill in the next so they can all do with their hootchies what they will. Keep out of my interests until I want something for free and not see the irony in the request. It depresses the hell out of me.

Pardon my French tonight.