When It Rains . . .

Dad was doing great yesterday and was supposed to go home tomorrow, but they gave him a heart medicine today that made his blood pressure drop dangerously low. So now . . . I'm not sure. We also had some negative excitement when my sister, who is two weeks from her due date, went in for a checkup. They thought the baby's heartbeat had something wrong and were considering doing an emergency c-section! My mom was in the middle of a meeting while trying to arrange having someone go over and watch my sister's one year old just in case they couldn't contact her husband, who was at college. Poor mom! What a day for her!

Now, they think maybe the baby was just laying on the umbilical cord, and they won't need to do an emergency c-section. Phew!

Meanwhile, I haven't even been to the hospital to visit my dad, because Sonshine and I both got colds this week. I thought mine was over yesterday, and then I spent today carrying a tissue box with me to every room. Ugh! I am not favorable to the idea of going to the hospital and giving someone there what I have or picking up what someone else has in addition to what I already have. BUT!! Life is good! Life is good! Infinitely good in the Lord.

Update On Dad

Dad is in the ICU and will need to stay there until his heart stabilizes. Today, when he tried to eat, his heart began acting up. Once he can eat without trouble, they can move him out of the ICU and probably let him go home soon after.

Prayers Needed

Please say a prayer for my father and our family. Yesterday when we arrived at my parents house to celebrate my nephew's first birthday, we found out my dad had something wrong with his heart. Mom suspected a heart attack. He does not like going to doctors for any reason, so he stayed in bed all day. Today his heart started beating fast, and he thought he might be dying. Mom took him to the hospital, which he was willing to do for her sake. After some tests, they said his heart was acting very strange and rushed him by helicoptor to a larger hospital. They did surgery and cleaned two blocked arteries. Sounds like he will recover. The soonest he can go home is Tuesday. We covet your prayers. Thank you.

Potatoes!

Potatoes, potatoes!
O’ how I do love them!
The most perfect food
In all of creation!

So versatile, they:
Grate, dice, chop or slice!
With butter and salt
More tasty than rice!

Naught else can compare!
Bake, boil, fry, or grill.
I’ve tried many ways;
All make a fine meal!

So eat them tonight!
And eat them tomorrow!
Just one little bite
Will ease all your sorrow!

We grew potatoes, my favorite food, for the first time this summer. I was EXTREMELY excited when we harvested some last week! You can also see a couple of our onions. Potatoes and fried onions…mmmmm….and a little bacon…with butter and salt….I need to go eat!

The Voting Circus

Yes, I am doing two political posts in a row. DON'T PANIC! This is no indication of my future blogging habits! I had planned to make one loooong post, but loooong posts are a turn-off to readers. (Despite my best of intentions, that last post still ended up being VERY loooong. Sorry!)
This one is about my current voting experience.

We received our ballots for Washington’s Primary Election over a week ago, and I have been trying to fill them out. Ha ha. Very funny. Little did I know what I was in for! Armed with a computer and a determination characteristic of perfectionists and obsessive/compulsive tendencies, my quest began with visiting links that I had bookmarked in the previous election. Sadly, most were either outdated or invalid. I asked for help from various political people and sites. No good. I did internet searches. Nothing. I might find what time President Bush wakes up each morning or how Obama likes his eggs or what McCain thinks about the war, but barely anyone has easy-to-digest information on judges. Take one look at “legal” gay marriages to see the importance of the courts. We desperately need good judges, especially at the top.
I prayed for help, and I praise God for a memory He gave me just when I was ready to give up. An e-mail from a homeschooling support group in our area. It was still in my deleted items folder. Half way down was a short blurb on voting. A single link. I clicked on it, and . . BINGO!!!! I was able to fill in all my ballot blanks save one, which I figured out just today with another internet search. Woooooo!

Now tell me this: WHY ISN’T THERE MORE HELP OUT THERE FOR VOTERS??? How are we supposed to vote on people and issues we know nothing about??? And if I can’t find the info . . . I have 4 ½ years of college education, do e-mail/internet stuff daily, am accustomed to searching for and finding information, I read a couple of politically active sites and one political magazine, occasionally listen to a political talk radio show host, and I possess a strong drive to vote intelligently . . . If I have this much trouble, how does the average American have any chance of making an informed vote on anything other than the president????? I ask you! THERE’S SOMETHING VERY WRONG HERE.

I’m going to be pondering this dilemma for a spell.

In the meantime, let me tell you who I voted for:

Wherever there was one Republican running, that was my pick. The Republican Party is more conservative and supportive of traditional values than the Democratic Party.

For the rest of the ballot:

US Representative District 5

Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Governor

Dino Rossi

This guy actually won the election last time and then lost it after a couple of recounts. So he might actually have a chance of beating the democratic incumbent.

Lt. Governor

Jim Wiest

Superintendent of Public Instruction

John Patterson Blair

Click here for the site I used to make my choice.

State Representative Pos 2

Matt Shea

I got my information for the judges at this site, the one that was in the e-mail mentioned above. The last few times I've tried to visit it hasn't worked. Not sure what happened to it, but the candidates it recommended are listed below.

Supreme Court Justice Pos 3

Michael J. Bond

Supreme Court Justice Pos 4

Charles W. Johnson

Court of Appeals Division 3, District 1 Pos 2

Harvey Dunham

Spokane County Superior Court, Judge Pos 1

Greg D. Weber

Spokane County Superior Court, Judge Pos 10

David Stevens

Election of Political Party Precinct Committee Officer

Christopher Bass

We actually got to meet this guy when he was going around knocking on doors. He made a very good impression. Then, I e-mailed him with some questions about his views, and he promptly sent back a long and thorough reply that completely convinced me he has solid conservative values. He is also endorsing Matt Shea (Mentioned above for State Rep.)

Blogging Politics -- Wait! DON'T LEAVE!

I know few women bloggers who talk about politics AT ALL. Not even a mention of their favorite presidential candidate. I have to wonder: Is this subject taboo among homemakers? Government is one of the most powerful forces in our lives, and I don’t see my peer group showing interest.

Suddenly I have this vision of a mom sitting happily at her computer, steaming cup of coffee nearby. She is catching a few precious moments of quiet internet time before the kiddoes wake. Farrah's blog comes up, and she begins skimming the latest post. She leans forward as her eyes widen. Wait! What's that word?! It cannot be! But it is!!! POLITICS! Oh no! Horrified, she frantically clicks away, but it is too late. Her entire day has been spoiled.

My blog isn’t popular, but I know for a fact there are friends/family who read it without commenting. So there are more seeing my posts than meets the eye. Hopefully I haven’t lost half of them, yet. Before the rest run away screaming, please know that I am not planning to convert my blog into a political machine, nor have I gone mad. BWA HAHAHAHA! Well, not very mad, anyway. Political blogs are for people whose primary hobby is politics. That’s not me.

And yet . . . while voting season is upon us, I’d like to share a few thoughts.

I grew up in a conservative Christian home where the news was rarely discussed, because it revolves primarily around stories about sinful things being done by sinful people. Or at least that’s the general idea. And Christians are better off ignoring all that. While this description may not be far from the mark, I take issue with the “ignore” part.

After I married and we became established in our own home, I began reading the tiny local paper. Lo and behold! There was a whole world out there I knew nothing of! The owners were nice conservatives who wanted to make our city a better place. It felt as if my eyes were suddenly opened after having been blind all my life. Soon I was visiting CNN on the net and getting depressed.

Yep, I was getting depressed. I found out there is suffering on our planet. LOTS and LOTS of suffering. Way more than I could comprehend.

This realization was a good thing, though. You see, no one is going to do anything about suffering without awareness. Awareness brings motivation. Motivation brings activism. Activism brings relief to suffering.

Ever so slowly, I became interested in politics.

I realized that suffering can be reduced or increased to some degree by government. The government impacts all of us. If we want a better world for our children, or even a world as good as the one we were raised in, we need to be aware of what is going on and get involved. At the very least, we NEED to vote.

There are laws designed to stifle Christian rights. There are destructive laws. And there are really evil laws forced on us by evil people. Abortion, no-abstinence sex education, anti-homeschooling laws, no-fault divorce, higher taxes for married couples, gender neutral bathrooms, homosexual discrimination laws, pro-gambling laws, no prayer in public schools, and on and on and on. These are real issues currently in our nation.

We want and need Christians to run this country. Christians make good laws and get rid of bad ones. Christians uphold the traditional values we hold dear.

BUT…Christians will be elected by Christians. The more Christians that vote, the better.

Coming soon . . . My Current Voting Experience. How exciting!

Nature and Praise

A 3.3 mile hike up and down a mountain with a rise of 660 feet from the parking lot.

A dream come true.

That was what happened last Saturday. Eight months ago I couldn’t walk across a room on my own. One year ago, we were vacationing at the coast. Sweet Hubby and Sonshine disappeared down a gorgeous trail as I waited in the car, sore and sad. I so wanted to be with them and wondered if I would ever walk on a path again.

This is praise to God, who is still working miracles today! I thank my Lord Jesus for His infinite mercy and love! He is wonderful!

Even more amazing is that we did quite a bit of walking earlier that day at a local park called Manito. If you ever visit the Spokane area during warm weather months, you have got to visit this place. It’s beautiful! Here are some highlights from our day. We took about 90 pictures, so this is a very small sampling.

We began with a picnic near the rose gardens.

A shot from the dahlia bed nearby.

The rock walls along the steps were covered with green growing things.

I love formal, finely manicured gardens. This one is quite large. At the opposite end is a water fountain and small gazebo, I believe. You can see Kylen on the stairs.

The Japanese Gardens has a lovely path that winds its way around a large pond with fish. The entire garden is fenced in.

It has a small waterfall and stream flowing into the pond which may be crossed by stepping stones.

The conservatory totally blew me away. I was amazed at the variety of plants and how attractively they were arranged. I could have easily taken a hundred pictures in there, but Sonshine was anxious to move on, and Sweet Hubby didn't quite understand the attraction. Oh well! I told them they can drop me off sometime while they go do something else so I can enjoy the displays more thoroughly.

Oh no! I forgot to bring two leashes! Hee-hee!

I did a quick search and found some good links with information about Manito Park:
http://www.thefriendsofmanito.org/
http://www.manitogardens.com/
http://www.manitopark.org/
Next, we headed for Mineral Ridge, a national recreation trail. I grew up in the backwoods of Idaho, and this is characteristic of the sort of scenery I was accustomed to. Ponderosa pine, douglas-fir, ocean-spray, snowberry, and wild roses.

We stopped frequently on the journey up so I could rest. On many of those breaks Greg read to us from the trail guide available at the entrance. There were twenty-two stations marked with corresponding narrative descriptions in the booklet.


This is the view from the top of the mountain. You can see the highway and Lake Coeur d'Alene.


I noticed that many people had stopped to scratch their initials on Caribou Cabin and rushed to add mine. Greg was appalled until I convinced him it isn't the same as graffiti. I fondly recalled myself and siblings carving our names on an old wooden bridge during a camping trip. We hope to visit there someday, and I am anxious to find those letters scrawled by childish hands so many years ago. Can you find GB, FB, and KB?


We began around four and finished around eight, so the sun was sinking as we made our descent. It lit the hill up with gold.


Here I am at the end of the hike. Our shoes were covered with dust, it was nearly dark, and we were anxious to give our aching legs a rest, but we were happy.


For more information on this trail click here.