Things That Are a Whole Lot Harder Than They Need to Be

Does this ever happen to you?  When you are focused on a task, with a very precise outcome in mind, things along the way often become maddeningly more complicated than they ought to be:

• Trying to make anything pretty using Microsoft Word.  Let’s leave aside the fact that I’m working with Word 2003.  All the templates in the world don’t help.  You still have to rearrange everything to include your own pictures and text.  Text boxes??  The “genius” who thought those were a good idea should be carted away.  The fonts are humdrum, but heaven forbid you try to download and use nice fonts.  You might as well stick with Times New Roman if everyone else looking at your file didn’t download the pretty font, too.  This is exactly why smart people use Vista Print and other businesses to make up their invitations.
• Dress Shopping.  SuzyQ needs a dress for her formal music recital.  She has very particular requirements: appropriate for daytime wear (so nothing sparkly or shiny), a full skirt that’s at least knee-length, comfort and mobility for playing her instrument without tugging at straps or hiking up a strapless bodice.  I have requirements, too.  It should not cost as much as a wedding gown, and the dress should not make SuzyQ look like a hooker.  How much success do you think we have had?
• Finding out if you have won.  This has nothing to do with the task I have been occupied with.  It’s just a piece of frustration to add to the pile.  SuzyQ has been waiting for weeks to learn if she won a scholarship from an organization.  She put a lot of work into the application: 3 recommendations, an essay, transcript, SAT scores.  All applicants were to have been notified in the first week of May.  We are in the 3rd week now, so SuzyQ had to contact the committee herself.  It seems that the winners were contacted but not everyone else.  This happened with another scholarship a few months ago.  My sister learned she did not get the new job she was hoping for when she went to the website of the organization and saw the welcome for the new hire.  Apparently, it’s too much work to group emails into “Congratulations” and “Thank you but unfortunately.”  And it must be a lot more fun to observe unsuccessful applicants embarrass themselves by begging for results.

Two weeks to go until the big event.  I wonder–are cupcakes complicated?  Tablecloths?  Folding chairs?  It wouldn’t surprise me.

Random and Absurd

Busy time of year–April and May.  You keep plugging along, doing the same old stuff, and then it seems like someone hit the fast-forward button once you turn the calendar page to April.  Sadly, this means I have little mental energy to give to well-developed blog posts right now.  What I have to offer instead are some musings on some silly and absurd bits and pieces that have stayed with me–instead of the important stuff that keeps slipping my mind.

• Azaleas are lovely this time of year.  Well, everyone else’s azaleas are lovely.  Fun fact: If your dog routinely pees on your azaleas, they will not bloom.  You see, according to the United States National Arboretum, too much nitrogen encourages growth of foliage rather than flower buds.  Bad dog.
• Is this the perfect gift for Mother’s Day?I found an ad for these Lourdes water body products in my inbox.  This just seems wrong to me, though I can’t put my finger on exactly the reason why.  I’ve never been to Lourdes, but I have visited other pilgrimage sites.  They are all commercialized to some extent.  But a line of body products??
• The people who create fonts either have the most fun job in the world or are completely insane.  Otherwise, how would they come up with font names such as “Enchanted Prairie Dog,” “Empire of Dirt,” or “Soymilk?”  None of these spoke to me as I was looking for script-like fonts to download.  I’m not sure what image “Prairie Dog” is supposed to convey in reagrds to fonts.
• I am still a babe in the woods when it comes to social media.  Have you noticed the Twitter hashtags that appear on the TV screen during your favorite shows?  (Incidently, I had to look up the term “hashtags” to make sure I was using it correctly.)  I guess this is for the benefit of people with short attention spans so they can tweet their comments about the show to friends before they forget what they want to say.  Also, can someone explain to me what it means when a friend posts nothing but a heart on Facebook?  I’m assuming it means something nice, but couldn’t they be a little more specific about why we should all know about their heart?

Right.  That’s that then.  Carry on.

Uncommon, not Useless, Thank You Very Much

My initial reaction was, “No.  She couldn’t really have just said that.”  But yes, indeedy, Democrat National Committee advisor Hilary Rosen actually did say out loud what so many liberals and progressives think.  You know: full-time, at-home moms have no business attempting to contribute to discussions on politics, economics, or any intellectual topic.  Due to an un-named and unstudied phenomenon, the brains of these women immediately turn to mush as soon as they make the decision to raise their own children (rather than contracting them out), rendering them incapable of intelligent thought about anything other than diapers, playdates, potty training, and Nick Jr. programming.

So much about this flare-up is offensive to me–and I hope, to other housewives.  Where to begin:

It has nothing to do with whether being a mother is work or not.  It’s ridiculous how White House spokesfool Jay Carney and Michelle Obama and CNN talking head Suzanne Malveaux all tried to appear sympathetic by affirming that raising children is a difficult “job.”  That’s not the point, and they know it.

Does Hilary Rosen (and her ilk) actually believe that full-time moms have no grasp on the economic realities of families??  Who does she think buys the groceries, heads to the pharmacy for yet another round of antibiotics, decides whether to put off having the brakes on the minivan done until after Christmas or whether they can’t wait that long, budgets for Christmas shopping so that it won’t look like you are skimping this year, tracks down used sports equipment or band instruments, scours the clearance racks for past season clothes, and so on and so on.  Housewives, Ms. Rosen, are keenly aware of what it means to stretch a paycheck–a single paycheck, mind you.

(CAROL) COSTELLO: Ann Romney doesn’t have to go outside and work. (SUZANNE) MALVEAUX: It’s a luxury to be able to choose.  This is such a crock!!  They just keep trying to sell this notion that most women have to work outside the home or their children will starve.  I suppose if you call going without unlimited data plans on your household’s 4 smart phones starving, then it’s true.  If you call skipping the annual trip to Disney World starving, then it’s true.  Dining out once a month instead of twice a week, making the kids mow lawns or shovel snow to fund their own XBox game purchases,  foregoing the TV and DVR in each child’s room and making them watch television in the family room: all equivalent to starving.  But what about single moms, you ask.  They really do have to work to support their family, right?  Umm…except in the case of widows, single motherhood is preventable.

Ms. Rosen voiced the sentiments that so many share but dare not speak: that housewives are useless in this age of day care on every street corner, worthless for not adding to the family income, and a horrible role model for daughters in their waste of a college degree and embrace of their femininity.  This housewife can only hope and pray that this firestorm will open the eyes of moms who vote.  Do you hear what the Democrats think of you?

Go to Church. There’s Nothing on TV This Week.

It’s Holy Week.  You, know…when Catholics are invited to come to church several days–in a row–and then again on Sunday.  I know!!  Ever since I can remember, my family has strictly observed the Holy Week liturgies, and I have extended that to my husband and children as well.  They have all come to accept as natural the idea that we will head to church on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and for the Vigil Mass on Saturday.  There is a little bit of grumbling since I joined the choir this year and have to appear early each day.

In case you are sitting on the fence as to whether you want to make the effort to get to church in the evenings this week, you should know that you won’t find anything to watch on television that could justify missing out on Mass or Veneration of the Cross.  Here’s the rundown of what the various networks have to offer:

• The History Channel: Thursday’s programming is the regular lineup.  They do try to make things interesting on Good Friday, though.  Remember that Christians observe the hours between noon and 3:00 as the time Jesus hung on the cross and died.  In other words, that time slot might be worth a few moments of recollection.  In that spirit, you can find a show investigating the question of whether Pope John Paul I might have been murdered at 1 pm.  Then at 2:00, the network looks at the technology of the Old Testament.  Things really get exciting on Saturday afternoon with shows about the Anti-Christ and books banned from the Bible.  For Easter Sunday, it’s back to the regular primetime lineup of an “Ax Men” marathon.
• The National Geographic Channel: For your viewing pleasure on Holy Thursday, you can enjoy “The Secret Lives of the Apostles” followed by “The Search for the Head of John the Baptist.”  From noon to 3 on Good Friday, viewers are treated to a string of “Taboo.”  On Easter Sunday, it’s all about the Titanic centennial.
• ABC: Of the 3 major networks, ABC is the only one that offers anything pointing to the Easter and/or Passover season.  On Saturday evening, you can watch “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston.

Am I the only one who remembers looking forward to the broadcast of Franco Zeffirelli’s “Jesus of Nazareth” miniseries on TV every year?  Anne Bancroft, Ernest Borgnine, James Earl Jones, Olivia Hussey, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quinn–all in one movie.  Does it get any better than that?  It was last shown on network TV in 1987.  The best anyone can come up with these days is tabloid “documentaries” about Vatican murder plots or conspiracies about the books of the Bible.

Junior reminds me that The Masters golf tournament is also on this week.  Sorry, Junior.  To the world of professional golf, I say, “Shame on you!”  The organizers really saw nothing amiss with scheduling this major tournament to conflict with both Easter and Passover?

Really.  Just go to church.

A Quick Look at Why Our Civilization Is Doomed

Have you seen the show on National Geographic Channel called “Doomsday Preppers?”  I’m certain that the intent of the show’s creators and the network is to portray anyone who feels a sense of dread about the direction society is headed as a certifiable nutcase.  By singling out extremists who are stockpiling food and practicing bug-out drills with their family, the show mocks anyone who fears civil unrest, financial collapse, or even the rioting and looting sure to occur after a natural disaster.

The thing is, the people featured on these shows really are not the crazy ones.  What they are preparing for –albeit in incredible ways– is bound to happen, one way or another.  How do I know that Doomsday is inevitable?  Well, there are the obvious indicators, like the national debt crisis or the concessions our regime is planning to give to Russia after the election is over (but no one was supposed to know about) or the fact that if you want to fill your car with gas, you better have a wheelbarrow full of cash these days.  But those topics are far too intellectual to capture the attention of your typical American.  Instead, let’s look at some more subtle but easier-to-relate-to indicators.  Just check out these glimpses at what passes for normal, acceptable life in America:

• The responsibility for choosing an appropriate prom dress for teenage girls has fallen to…high schools?!  I know, it’s just too hard for a mom or dad to say “No,” to their princess when she wants to attend her senior prom in Hollywood Slut style.  Much easier to just have the schools be the bad guys.  After all, schools have nothing more important to do than prepare Power Point presentations on acceptable evening attire for 17-18 year-old girls.  Definitely better for your school principal to explain why a skirt slit up to your crotch is inappropriate rather than having your mom do it.

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•  I’m not sure which is worse about this viral video of a grown woman who can’t comprehend the concept of miles per hour: the fact that she is such an unfortunate cliché of the “dumb blonde” who is apparently the product of our fine American education system, or the fact that her HUSBAND thought it would be appropriate to share this not-so-flattering video of his wife with the whole world.  Just your typical American young couple who want their 15 minutes of fame, I guess.  I’m sure they both vote, too.
• If you are not already in line to buy your Mega Millions lottery ticket, you are missing you best shot at financial security.  Or that’s what millions of Americans in the 42 states that participate in the lottery believe.  Staying in school, working hard, setting aside some savings each month, spending wisely: that’s for fuddy-duddies.  Why not just toss that $100 you might have tucked away for a rainy day at the convenience store clerk in exchange for lottery tickets and wait for the $640 million check to arrive in the mail?  Fine print for all of you lotto fanatics:  Odds of winning–well you’re 50 times more likely to be struck by lightning.  If you want the lump sum, a penalty will be subtracted.  Uncle Sam will help himself to 25% before the check is even cut.  And your state will take between 3% and 10% depending on where you live.  Oh, and there’s a pretty good chance you will end up miserable and broke within a few years of your big win.  But never mind all that– this is your big chance!!

Welcome to America.  These are the voters responsible for choosing the government officials who will steer this country…right onto the express lane to Doomsday.  Watch the show.  You’ll thank me later.

In Which the Uncommonhousewife Becomes an Activist

Occupy Someplace or Other?  Definitely not.

Boycott Apple, Disney, Whole Foods, or the target of the day?  Please.

Nope.  I attended, and indeed dragged my children to our local Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally last Friday.  Maybe you heard of it.  After all, over 140 cities across the country held one.  Hopefully, the rally near you drew a bigger crowd than the 150 or so people who appeared with me.  (A note to the rally organizers: Lots of passionate supporters cannot leave work to attend a rally during business hours–even if it occurs during “lunchtime.”)  The small group did merit an itty bitty mention in the local newspaper.  The article referred to those of us in attendance as “activists”  and “protesters.”   Really?!  We First Amendment lovers are lumped into the same category with anarchist G7 protesters and the 99% grunge crowd?

So, there were rousing speeches, clever signs, some song and some prayer.  We even got the protection of a couple of city police officers on Segways.  The crowd was made up of young, old, and folks in between.  A Google search about the rallies produces articles from plenty of major news outlets: a surprise considering how the media largely ignores the annual March for Life, which draws hundreds of thousands each year.

In spite of the attention and the positive experience of gathering with like-minded people over a fundamental cause, I feel less energized and less optimistic than ever that this issue will be resolved justly.  With “American Idol” and March Madness on their minds, most Americans just can’t be bothered to consider whether their Constitutional freedoms are being stolen.  But along with that laziness and indifference, there is a strong current of Catholic hatred that makes any real discussion about the issue of religious freedom essentially impossible.  Just feast your eyes on some of these comments attached to the report of my local rally:

What they want is 2 billion Catholics in the world. More Catholics means more money and power for the church. To have a major religious organization with over a billion adherents worldwide eschew birth control is a travesty. What do they want, 1 person per square yard? Will that make the Pope and his Cardinals happy? OK, now lets house and feed that population. Luckily, most Catholics ignore the church’s stand on birth control. But what kind of religion is that? Give me a Unitarian anytime.

Since the Catholic Church in particular has failed to keep its female members from using hormonal contraceptives, church leaders are now pressuring government institutions to keep birth control pills as inaccessible as possible. That is exactly a violation of the separation of church and state, and anyone who values liberty should be outraged.

Things get really ugly when you look at the comments on the rally coverage for the Washington Post.

Before you Catholics think you can dictate the laws of the land, there is that little matter of harboring pervert child molesting priests.  Turn them all over for civil prosecution and you might have some credibility instead of being above the law.

Extreme Catholics need to grow up and realize that we are living in the real world, not a theoretical hair splitting world.  This is an instance in which Jesus would have said “render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s” rather than raise a stink to get exactly what he wanted.  The Church and the members should be out “loving thye neighbor” instead of indulging in self-pity.

This article is full of lies.  The Roman Catholic Church and other religious organizations that seek to deny women control of their bodies are doing everything they can to deny women their legal and moral right to determine when and if they want to be a parent.  Because they know that direct attacks have been largely unsuccessful, they are trying to control women by making it impossible for them to find providers of reproductive health services.

At best, it seems that the dumb masses of America think this is all about sex and birth control.  At worst, the haters can use this very public stand by the Catholic Church against the Obama administration’s policy as a chance to rehash every evil ever perpetrated by a Catholic.

There is a lot of work to be done.  One of the most important tasks may be convincing whoever turns out to be the GOP nominee in the presidential election that  it can’t just be about the economy, that there are cherished liberties at stake.

Gotta Get Away

Sometimes I need to escape, so that’s what I did last week.  I abandoned children, pets, and home to spend 3 days with Darling Husband while he traveled for work in Washington, DC.  In spite of the fact that was in the lion’s den, I did not turn on the news; I had no internet access; and the only part of the newspaper I looked at was the crossword puzzle.  What with the presidential primaries slogging on and the unimaginable assault on religious freedom still unchecked, the time seemed right for a brief intellectual vacation.

Naturally, I chose the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for a pleasure trip.  The museum postdates my years in the nation’s capital, and I never felt that it was an appropriate destination when my kids were young.  So this seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit.  I don’t imagine the place is ever not crowded.  The day I was there, clusters of high school students clogged the passageways, making it difficult to read the displays.  I’m not sure what is taught to teenagers these days about the Holocaust.  SuzyQ’s AP European History course touched on it, but there were no essays or in-depth analysis required.  Frankly, it amazed me how little energy on the part of the course writers was devoted to what was certainly the most horrific event of the past 2 centuries.  I wonder, then, if all of those teens at the museum will simply check the Holocaust Museum off their list and move on down Independence Avenue to view the Wright brothers’ plane and Abraham Lincoln’s top hat.  I hope not.  The museum does try hard to discuss the greater issue of genocide.

As a student of history (indeed, a History major in college), the narrative presented by the museum was nothing new to me.  One of the things I find fascinating and troubling about the rise of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust is the question of how a good, decent people could allow such a thing to develop and flourish in their midst.  How could the German people not see Hitler and Nazism for what it was?  How is it possible that the escalating persecution of the Jews, followed by their disappearance and extermination, did not raise loud protests and spark revolt among German citizens?  Of course, I know the academic response to these questions: historical anti-Semitism, dispirited and resentful national sentiment following WWI defeat, charisma of Hitler, diabolical deception of the people by the regime, etc.  But still…How could so many have been taken in by such evil?  Where was conscience in all of it?

Once I returned home and plugged back in to news, it didn’t take long to realize that people are indeed easily taken in.  Apparently, too many people don’t see that history repeats.  The blatant assault on religious freedom under the contraceptive mandate, the upcoming implementation of government-controlled healthcare (private industry controlled by government = fascism),  indoctrination in public schools on homosexuality and global warming, Alberta, Canada’s attempts to mandate what values homeschoolers may teach, the British government’s decision to oppose the right of Christians to wear a cross at work, and the list goes on and on.  Even in our modern society, which is supposed to be so enlightened and tolerant, people are all too willing to surrender liberties to the government and stand by as religious groups in particular are targeted.

Perhaps I should have chosen Florida for my little Spring Break getaway.  It would have been far less sobering.

In order to end this post (which has taken me 3 days to write) on a more positive note, I am thrilled to say that my pastor finally mentioned the HHS mandate at Mass last Sunday.  I’m not sure what has taken him so long, since our bishop issued a statement almost immediately after the rule was finalized.  Nevertheless, he did touch on the controversy as an assault on religious freedom without going into the specifics of the government mandate.  I sent him an email of support, and I was happy to hear in his reply that he had received many such positive emails.  A hopeful sign??

*Thanks for _rokinfree at Flickr for photo.