Warning: "Now we're on the right track!"

It's nearly the first anniversary of my blogsite! The 13th of January was my initial posting to "A 'Day' in the life of.....Kim!" Toot on your little kazoo horns and throw confetti in the air--I made it a year!

*

Today is also an anniversary, actually starting yesterday, in 2001. On January 11th, 2001, I'd had abdominal surgery to repair some muscle tears, ironically, from having had a C-section when Timmy was born in 1996. My surgery was delayed that day and in order for them to better observe me, the surgeon wanted me to stay overnight in the hospital instead of coming home the same day as the procedure. My sister, Lynn, and Mom were at my house to help care for the boys, and they all came up to the hospital that evening to see me, including my spouse. At first I was concerned that Timmy would be tearing around the room and causing a disturbance but he was really quite subdued at the time.

*

My former spouse had picked up our new work truck that day and the boys got a chance to ride in it. They all had to leave after visiting hours were over, and Timmy looked so sad as he kissed me good-bye. It was then he asked the hopefully immortal question: "I know God and Jesus are going to sleep with Mama tonight, but who's going to sleep with my daddy?" Pete, then our Pastor, referenced this in his sermon at Timmy's funeral, stating that we all knew Timmy was a believer (paraphrasing). No wonder Timmy was sad, he was worried not about his poor mama, because she was all set with God and Jesus, but about his father who had no one to sleep with....................

*

So, it was today, 8 years ago, that I was able to come home to recuperate and be waited on hand and foot by my family. Lynn had to catch the bus and head home to WI that same day but Mom was still there. They'd arrived on my birthday, the 30th, in the wee hours of the morning, when I had to drive downtown to the bus depot to collect them. They seemed to think it was safer for them to wait around the bus depot until a civil hour for me to come get them than for me to drive downtown at 2:00 a.m. to get them home again!!! Oh, those two monkeys and their Greyhound buses! Lynn and the boys made a birthday cake for me later in the day and we had a small party on the 30th. So, my point was that Lynn had been there since the 30th and stayed long enough to help get the boys driven around on the day I was in the hospital, and then she headed home.

*

They have a funny memory of that as well: Lynn was driving and Mom was shotgun as they headed toward St. Johns to drop the boys off at school. Lynn went out of our neighborhood a different way and found herself at a stop sign with the option of a left or right-hand turn. All three passengers are directing her to the left, saying "left, left, left" as Lynn proceeded to go right anyway! Of course, she got turned around after saying, "Ach!" a couple times, I'm sure, and was headed in the right direction. From the backseat came a little boy's voice announcing, "Now we're on the right track!", a quip that continues to make us chuckle, a bit sadly, to this day. "Now we're on the right track!"

Listening to the radio today

In listening to the radio today, I was struck by a few things, including hearing President Bush's closing press conference. We discussed this press conference at lunch and those others who also heard it had the same reaction---tight grips on the steering wheel and clenched teeth as we seethed at the stupid, "gotcha"-type questions the media was using against him. Come on! What do you "think" he's going to say??? What do you want him to say??? The questioners were challenging W to say anything negative against the p-elect and he simply would not bite.

*

W did admit that he wished a few things had gone differently during the war, and immediately after the attack on our shores (Attack? What attack? Did we forget so soon that the terrorists attacked us at home??), and even wondered about the "reaction" of national government to the Hurricane Katrina mess. The local and state governments should have been handling this "crisis" but no one wanted to assume the responsibility. We'll see more and more of that in the coming years as folks surrender their individual rights for the sake of "security". Anyway, Pres. Bush emphasized the fruitlessness of trying to second-guess these decisions, that he had to use the information as it was provided, and so on. Especially the Hurricane Katrina mess, most primarily in New Orleans, which is not his fault! Areas from TX to the panhandle of FL were hit by this storm but one city's citizens decided to sit it out and wait for help instead of doing what they had to do in order to preserve their lives and safety. Hundreds of school buses floating in the rising waters which would have worked perfectly to remove people from the vulnerable areas.....Oh, yes, that was Pres. Bush's fault for not going personally to serve food to those holed up in the football stadium, tearing it to pieces.

*

Whew, I feel better now. No, W doesn't need me to defend him, and as he stated in his conference, real history will tell his story some time down the road, not days before the end of his administration. I pray the historians are accurate and unbiased, and above all, fair with this president!

*

Today is Rush's birthday and his staff broke the rules by coming into his studio to sing for him and deliver a little cake in celebration. He likes to act as though he doesn't appreciate all the attention on his big day, he is really like anyone else when it comes to their birthday. The theme for the day is amusing because it's highlighting the promises and bold statements made by P-eBO (President-elect Barack Obama) during the campaign and how quickly the new administration is already back-tracking on many of them. Nothing new under the sun here, folks, nothing new. Even Club Gitmo won't be getting closed within the first 100 days, now that P-eBO and his staff have been briefed. Basically he said on a TV interview yesterday, "We didn't know what we were talking about....". Pres. Bush doesn't look so bad now, does he???

*

Anyway, Bible class was wonderful, even brought some tears as we got to hear Pete singing on a video about worship, "Come Worship Christ", recorded when he was still in the seminary. Even though I knew it was coming, it still triggered some emotion hearing him singing to the Lord once more. This study is going to be helpful in re-visiting the reasons we Lutherans worship as we do, what's "decent and in order" and what's subject to discussion in how we worship. The group is appreciative of this study course but I wish, as always, we had more people there. We've been through this class several years ago but I feel it's important that we do this study just as we are getting ready to use the CW Supplement on a more regular basis.