Toa Alto, Puerto Rico – Jorge Steven López Mercado was laid to rest by over a thousand family members and friends on Monday.  His mother, Miriam Mercado, and Pedro Julio Serrano, leading LGBT activist, made moving statements remembering Jorge Steven amidst bouquets of white roses and multicolored balloons.  The whole gathering offered a final tribute to the slain teenager by saluting his resting place with his signature hand gesture, captured in so many photos on happier days.  According to Boy from Bushwick, who has been covering the whole saga of young López Mercado’s brutal murder since the beginning, the youth’s maternal aunt, Ruby Mercado, told reporters present to cover the funeral mass, “The support we have received from the public and Steven’s friends has given us the strength to bear this moment of such horrible pain.  I asked Steven with his wings from heaven to help us carry on without having him by our side.”  One of his friends, José Alicia, said, “We definitely hope people and society wake up and demand justice.”  El Nuevo Dia reports that Jorge Steven’s aunt and his former boyfriend, Luis Rivera, opened the cask holding his ashes, and placed a small necklace bearing a cross and a white rose inside before the interment.  The service at Toa Alto bore the passion and style of the flamboyant young gay Puerto Rican from beginning to end.  Music accompanying his ashes to the grave was Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”: “I won’t tell you that I love you/Kiss or hug you/’Cause I’m bluffin’ with my muffin/I’m not lyin’ I’m just stunnin’ with my love-glue-gunning/Can’t read my, Can’t read my/No he can’t read my poker face.” Again and again during the funeral, family and friends called for respect for the LGBT community in Puerto Rico, and justice for Jorge Steven.  Rest in peace, mi amigo.

With a variety of websites offering funeral programs on the web, you want to make sure you know what really constitutes a great looking funeral program before you buy one. There are several important elements that you should pay careful attention to.  The web resource offering funeral program templates are not created equal! Here are some essential tips on what to look for to find the best quality funeral programs for a loved one.

1. Make sure the funeral service program templates are of high quality and noted to be created at 300 dpi, high enough to send to a commercial press, if you want to. This offers you versatility with the funeral bulletins so you can have them printed anywhere.

2. Make sure the funeral programs or often referred to as memorial programs, contain a front, back, and inside design. Don’t settle for just a cover design, which makes for an incomplete in presentation.

3. Make sure the website you are considering offers the memorial program templates in three different software applications for Microsoft Word, Publisher, and Apple iWork Pages. In case you change your mind on which program to use, you can at least exchange it.

By following these basic guidelines, you will produce great looking memorial service programs.

The Neocon Republican Terrorist vision of a divided and segregated America, where everybody that is not a white Anglo-saxon Christian is considered cannon fodder and trash, is coming to fruition. It is reminiscent of the reaction to the new population of freed slaves that the white former slave masters had after they were soundly defeated in the Civil War by the Union army.

This is the period in our history called Reconstruction where,for a decade after the Civil War,blacks gained political power, and some attained financial wealth as well.

During Reconstruction, southern whites turned violent when they saw blacks making major gains.

 Reconstruction was followed in the South by domination by the Democratic Party and the enactment of Jim Crow laws, grandfather clauses and similar measures. The bitterness and repercussions from the heated conflicts of the era lasted well into the twentieth century.

Read more about the Reconstruction era here… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_era_of_the_United_States 

Southern state governments quickly enacted the restrictive “black codes“. However, they were abolished in 1866 and seldom had effect, because the Freedman’s Bureau (not the local courts) handled the legal affairs of freedmen.

The Black Codes indicated the plans of the southern whites for the former slaves.^[24] The freedmen would have more rights than did free blacks before the war, but they still had only a limited set of second-class civil rights, no voting rights, and, since they were not citizens, they could not own firearms, serve on a jury in a lawsuit involving whites or move about without employment.^[25] The Black Codes would limit blacks’ ability to control their own employment. The Black Codes outraged northern opinion. They were overthrown by the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that gave the Freedmen full legal equality (except for the right to vote).^[26

 There were many reported murders of blacks in the south during reconstruction, but many killings of blacks went unreported, and by all accounts, millions upon millions of African-Americans were killed by the hands of bitter southerners, as reported in this account taken from Wikipedia by a soldier visiting from the North...

The number of murders and assaults perpetrated upon Negroes is very great; we can form only an approximate estimate of what is going on in those parts of the South which are not closely garrisoned, and from which no regular reports are received, by what occurs under the very eyes of our military authorities. As to my personal experience, I will only mention that during my two days sojourn at Atlanta, one Negro was stabbed with fatal effect on the street, and three were poisoned, one of whom died.

In todays modern post-racial world, we have organizations and groups that have a mission to keep track of, and to investigate the existence of, the number of racially motivated,or bias motivated crimes against minorities,religious groups, gay Americans.

Currently, America is going through another Reconstruction like era,as we are experiencing the racial backlash of hatred based on the election of our first black president,Barack Obama.

The election of Barack has caused a rise in all forms of hate crimes, as well as the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan as a force to stoke the flames of hatred and encouraging physical action of violence against blacks, Gays, and all other religious groups that are not Christian.

What is most distressing is that the tide of racial violence is being egged on and financed by the foreigner Rupert Murdoch, and the entire Republican party,that at one time represented the opposite of what they believe in now.

For a group that, centuries ago, used to be the main supporter of civil rights, they currently are the main driving force behind this increasing tide of racism and bigotry that is the rage in most of the states in America.

The racist are moving from the south, and invading the once liberal California, in order to spread their southern tradition of hatred and illiteracy. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation shot up 21 percent in Los Angeles County last year, while religious crimes increased 14 percent, because the southern bigots have moved in.

The Daily News in Los Angeles reports that...in 2008  in the Valley,James Shamp, an African-American man who worked as a janitor at a bowling alley in Canoga Park, was shot to death as he was throwing out trash. According to the report, three members of the Canoga Park Alabama gang, which has a long history of violent anti-black crimes, were arrested and charged with murder and hate crime enhancements.

The San Fernando Valley had the most amount of hate crimes in the Los Angeles area.

"Whenever I look at a map of hate crimes, I find there is a great diversity of hate crimes that occur in the San Fernando Valley," said Robin Toma, executive director of the commission. "You have anti-Semitic hate crimes, homophobic hate crimes and racially motivated hate crimes. There is also the phenomena of racialized gang violence."

Sexual orientation hate crimes rose the most last year, with more than 80 percent targeting gay men and at least nine crimes traced to Proposition 8.

A report on a sexually motivated hate crime from the Daily News... A white lesbian couple walking hand-in-hand on the beach in Malibu. The mother of a white tourist family from Arkansas told them, "You are going to burn in hell!" and dumped her water bottle on one of them and punched one in the face...

Please keep that level of ignorance in Arkansas,...and my family is from Arkansas.

The election of the first black president and hot-button issues such as abortion and gay marriage contributed to the spikes, anti-bias groups say. Public figures like Sarah Palin and Glen Beck have done a lot to cause the current racial hatred that whites are visiting on all others.

The two of them have been quite effective when it come to rallying sympathy for groups like the KKK and the Nazis.

USA TODAY is reporting that the number of attacks on blacks increased 8% to 2,876, accounting for seven of every 10 race-motivated crimes.

"There is this kind of extremism going on," says Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington bureau. He says Obama's election and the recession led to a backlash against blacks as some people look for someone to blame for hard economic times. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-23-hate-crimes_N.htm

I say to the world, this is a good look at the so-called ''Post-Racial'' America, a country where race relations and the unity of the races has been usurped by the in vogue traditional American practice of racial bias,hatred and division.

Our country has been going through this cycle for well over a Hundred and 8o years, and by the looks of things, that sad tradition will continue.

What do we do to end this....will we come together, or will we have to resort to our primal instinct, where only the strong survive.

I think that based on 200 years of data and statistics, the tradition of racism is alive, well, and thriving in the United States, and that we are guilty of the same atrocities against humanity...our own people, that we so blatantly accuse our so-called enemies of doing to their minority populations.

We are all truly hypocrites.

Read more on this story from these trusted sources…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/23/hate-crime-on-rise-gay-re_n_368276.html

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13829526

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/11/20/LA-sees-hike-in-certain-hate-crimes/UPI-95381258737529/

The in-laws have been in town for about a week now. My father-in-law (FIL) always brings me a bouquet of flowers. They’re gorgeous lilies that smell so wonderful.

Was sitting in the breakfast nook visiting with my mother-in-law (MIL) and we could hear the birds outside the window. She said they’ve talked about getting another pet bird — probably a canary to fill the house with singing. And this reminded her of when hubby and his two older siblings were little and would hold bird burials when one of their pets would die.

They were raised in parochial school and taught by nuns so this heavily influenced their play. The bird funeral would be a processional with Oldest Brother walking first, acting as the priest; then hubby (the Baby) as the pall bearer, carrying the bird in a shoe box; and, last but not least, Middle Sister walking along behind crying — the mourner. The unfortunate bird would be buried near the fence under the rose bushes.

Speaking of birds, in just two days we’ll be tucking into a big one for Thanksgiving dinner, which I am really looking forward to. I have always loved Thanksgiving and the ritual of  cooking the feast. There will be 9 or 10 of us this year and I have a 20-pounder to ensure several days of turkey sandwiches beyond the holiday. Yum!

I originally posted this on November 27, 2006 – three days after the passing of my Grandmother, Janie Mary Hecht. She was beloved by all – she served 35 years teaching English to Chinese people at First Baptist Church, Dallas and many of those students found salvation in Jesus through her work. All that to say, I thought I’d re-hash what I read at her memorial service.

enjoy.

——————————–

Nanny’s Funeral

Growing up, there was nothing that I loved more than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Nanny.  No, we were not wealthy enough to have an actual certified, endorsed, and paid “Nanny”… but for some odd reason that is what we called my Grandmother. Yes, I agree, it is an odd name for such an endearing role (that of being a Grand-mother) but interestingly enough it fit the bill.

She was perfect in every way. For instance:  those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?  The perfect amount of peanut butter combined with jelly on each slice of bread. Her home? We could never, and I mean never keep our shoes on inside the home, nor enter without washing our “dirty little hands,” nor touch any of the walls, nor wear our hats inside. Not that any of this was evil, or sadistic – but Nanny affirmed John Wesley’s saying, “cleanliness is next to godliness.” Her Bible? Well, it was perfect too. A while back, Granddaddy sought fit for him to purchase a new Bible for me.  Granddaddy made sure to get me the right Bible – Nanny on the other hand made sure to give me a  3 x 5 index card and a red pencil of which to perfectly underline the Scriptures that I thought important as I read. She said a pen would bleed through the pages too easily, but a red pencil was precise enough not to. One day I snooped into the room where she did most of her Bible reading, and picked up her Bible, and there wasn’t a page in it that didn’t have some type of red marking in it… of course perfectly underlined. Sorry Nanny – I still use a 3 x 5 index card, but I’m guilty of using an ink pen.

Throughout the years I’ve loved visiting Nanny & Granddaddy’s home to inform Nanny that I’d driven up on my new motorcycle – only for her to just hem and haw at the fact that I hadn’t. I loved sitting in the chair where she did most of her Bible reading – and sensing the presence of God in that remote spot. I loved eating laughing cow cheese and triscuts at the kitchen table while she persistently asked when I would begin to use my napkin. I loved the fact that she corrected my English even when she was in the hospital. I loved the fact that while in that same hospital she asked if the Cowboys won – I never knew she was a closet Cowboy fan.

She was 82 – how quickly the days have flown by. November 12th came and I found myself sitting in the hospital room alone with Nanny. At about 11:42 PM there was this moment when Nanny was in excruciating pain and she began to pray. What a novel idea. But she wasn’t praying for herself. She wasn’t even crying for mercy. She was praying for me – that I would do well in ministry – that I would finish my studies – that I wouldn’t be distracted by her health problems. Imagine that. In her greatest time of need… she prays for me. Me!  That’s the type of lady Nanny was.

All in all I’m thankful for Nanny.  I think we all are.

Thankful for the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Thankful for her diligence in asking us to take off our shoes.

Thankful for her salvation.

You see, when her and Granddaddy moved to Dallas it wasn’t a question of where they would go to church – First Baptist Dallas. Upon her insisting that they join the church, Granddaddy was asked if he had a relationship with Jesus. He said he’d always gone to church, but that wasn’t the question. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? – no he said. Upon hearing that he had a meeting with W. A. Criswell and he bent his knee and received Christ into his life. This changed the history of our family – if it wasn’t for God redeeming Granddaddy we might not be here. Maybe the truer statement is that if Nanny had not insisted upon them attending First Dallas – we might not be here.

Thanks Nanny – I want to go where you’re at. And as Granddaddy would always say before they went to sleep, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

We’re glad you asked! There are several important items that should not be remiss. You may find many web resource that are offering funeral program templates. Here are some tips on what to look for in order to get the best quality funeral programs for a loved one.

1. Make sure they are high quality, meaning created at 300 dpi which is fit for a commercial press. This offers you funeral bulletins that are more versatile since you can take them anywhere to get printed, if you so desire.

2. Make sure the funeral programs or (memorial programs) have a front, back, and inside design. Don’t settle for just a cover design, it makes a program look incomplete in presentation.

3. Make sure the web resource offers memorial program templates in various software applications such as Microsoft Word, Publisher, and Apple iWork Pages.

If you follow these general guidelines, you are sure to produce great looking funeral bulletins!

Funeral arrangements have been made for the mother and her parents from Nevada who were killed in that terrible head-on car crash last Friday, north of Rockwall on Hwy 205.

Read m0re at TheRockwallNews.com.

Today I got up, went downstairs, grabbed my clean dress-clothes out of the dryer, and proceeded to get ready for a funeral. It was a funeral for a lady whom I met twice, Florence Strom. She was 97(!) when she passed on. Apparently (as I learned during the service) she was an amazing woman. Hearing about her life gave some meaning to me before reading some selections at her service.

I was asked to read Psalms 23 (at the funeral home), and the Baha’i obligatory prayer for the deceased (at the graveyard). If you don’t know (as I didn’t), psalms 23 is the “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” one. All I could think of last night was:

Which was hilarious, but also made me feel like I was being extremely inappropriate. On the bright side, I’ve decided to include a clause in my will that states that my siblings have to perform a rendition of gansta’s paradise after reading this psalm….and that Nadia has to be the main rapper (as she knows the lyrics by heart, and kills it live).

Also, I discovered that even though the Baha’i obligatory prayer for the departed is the only congregational prayer, there is still no repetition by the crowd! I was under the impression that congregational meant one person reads something, and the congregation responds, but apparently not. So I read this prayer, out in the bitter cold, and it’s LONG, but it was nice. I actually felt like it was really fitting for the occasion. (Funerals kinda force you to consider mortality, especially in relation to yourself. What do you think happens after you die? And if you believe in an afterlife, what do you think it’s like?)

Then we had a traditional Norwegian smorgasboard (mostly fish and potatoes), I socialized with some peoples (and received suggestions that I explore a career in radio), and then went and played chess.

The afternoon was focused on the visit of Ted’s nephew, Darren, who came with his wife and two kids from Kelowna. I got home, changed from ultra-dressy to jeans and a T, and cleaned-up and organized till them peoples arrived. They have a daughter named Emily as well, so there are 2(!) Emily Glabushes running around the Okanagan.

Here’s what the second one looks like:

Who's that? It's Emily Glabush le deux. Also note the de-carpeted floors underneath her feet. So nice.

The night was joyous, and once again, family is jes wicked.

In North America, people remember a person’s death with a funeral. The funeral normally takes place in three parts, the visitation, the funeral, and the burial service. At the visitation, the body of the deceased person is displayed in the casket.  The body is dressed in the deceased’s best clothes.  The funeral, usually a day or so later, is often held by a person of some influence from the deceased’s church or religion. The funeral takes place at a funeral home or church. Family members and other loved ones attend the funeral. Next, the burial service is held at the side of the grave, tomb, or cremation. The body is buried or cremated at the end of the service. The burial service usually takes place right after the funeral.

Ancient Greek death customs are similar to North American customs, in some ways. The Greek people hold their funerals in three parts: the prothesis (lying out of the body), the ekphora (funeral procession), and the internment of the remains.  The family and friends come to pay their respects and mourn for the deceased, just as North Americans do. If the funeral was not prepared in the exact way that tradition dictated, the family would be disgraced. The ancient Greeks believed that when a person dies their soul leaves them in a breath or puff of wind. The soul was supposed to travel down the river of Styx to the Underworld. Styx was the bridge that separated Earth and the Underworld.  The belief of the Underworld where all souls reside is similar to the idea of Heaven and Hell in Christian beliefs.

Each of these cultures marks the burial spot of the person with a headstone so the person will not be forgotten. They both are mourned and their lives are both celebrated through remembrance and some type of funeral service.  Though they have slightly different ideas on an afterlife, these cultures deal with death in very similar ways.

This chain letter was sent to me and I thought I’d pass it along for conversation.

-fr

_____________________________

Ed McMahon died last week.  He was a great entertainer, but prior to his radio and TV accomplishments he was a Marine Corps pilot in WWII and Korea, earning six Air Medals and attaining the rank of Colonel.  After his Korean service he was subsequently promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the
CA Air National Guard.Farrah Fawcett died last week after a long career in Hollywood as an actress.  After she was diagnosed with cancer, she became an activist for cancer treatment and devoted her last remaining years encouraging people to seek treatment.  She documented her plight on film and used it to encourage others to stay positive and upbeat despite their diagnosis and suffering.Michael Jackson died last week.  He was perhaps one of the great entertainers of modern time.  He will also be remembered for his eccentric lifestyle that included sleeping with a chimpanzee, living in a carnival-like atmosphere at Neverland, his fascination with Peter Pan, and his numerous masks and costumes.  He also admitted to finding pleasure sleeping with young boys and paying out millions of dollars in settlements
to the families of these boys despite being acquitted by a court on one allegation of sexual molestation.

Realmente bueno el album de los Strokes, recuerdo que en el cch era la sensanción...

Todos conocemos el semanario musical NME, que se dedica a promocionar a la música Indie en Gran Bretaña, comúnmente siempre al día de todo el entorno musical tanto local como mundial. Esta vez la publicación inglesa nos proporciona la lista de los 100 mejores discos de la década. ¿En que se basaron? Bueno, realizaron una encuesta hace como 2 semanas (no recuerdo bien cuando vote) y el resultado completo se puede ver aquí. Yo solo les dejo la lista de los primeros 10 con su respectivo link de descarga ;D.

Me gusto el resultado, realmente se le hace mucha justicia a bandas que han marcado la década, como los Yeah Yeah Yeahs aunque me hubiera gustado que salieran The Hives…pero no se puede obtener todo en la vida xD! Me deprime que el Absolution de Muse este en el lugar 49 pero creo es algo a comparación de Coldplay que esta vez, apesar de estar en la lista de votación, ni siquiera aparecio entre los 100… Ni modo nos quedaremos con la mención en el 2002 -w-u.

La gran mayoria esta en MU solo dos en RS. Diviertanse escuchando musica =3

1. The Strokes – Is This It
2. Libertines – Up The Bracket
3. Primal Scream – XTRMNTR
4. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say That’s What I’m Not
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell
6. Pj Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
7. Arcade Fire – Funeral
8. Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
9. The Streets – Original Pirate Material
10. Radiohead – In Rainbows

 

Pablo Amaringo 1938 – 2009 RIP

Originally uploaded by Howard G Charing

Pablo Amaringo 1938 – 2009 RIP

Funeral Pucallpa, Peru.

Close up of cancer Cell

The National Cancer Institute(NCI)has issued a report on the Funeral Industry and Cancer. Those who are exposed to Formaldehyde continually in the business show high risk for brain cancer. The report appeared  in the Oxford Journal.

A summary of the article can be viewed here.

Those in the Funeral industry are well aware of their high risk  to cancer through exposure to Formaldehyde

Funeral industry\ funeral blog by Your Funeral Blog

Este fim-de-semana, no Seixal, morreu.

A morte foi presenciada por mais ou menos cem pessoas, mas nenhuma se apercebeu disso.

Não houve funeral nem grandes despedidas…

Apenas aplausos no final.

Funeral programs are a great source of memorials within a funeral service. Funeral service programs come in a variety of various styles and themes. It’s now very simple to create a customized memorial service program. You can find a good funeral program template to assist you in the start of a really nice memorial service program.

Make sure you determine which software application you will use before purchasing any template for this particular need. The most used template is Microsoft Word, however templates are also available for Publisher and for the MAC, Apple iWork Pages funeral program templates.

Funeral program templates are a great assistance for you during the funeral planning. The funeral service program templates are formatted and predesigned so you only have to do very little to them. You can print the memorial program at home if you’d like or take it to an office supply store.

No, no hago listas.

Ya estoy viejo para agobiar con la romería de una lista interminable.

Pero si me llevo ciertas cosas de esta decada dificil de nombrar.

Para empezar, The Arcade Fire.

Canadienses, de Montreal, llevan sobre sus espaldas todo el empuje que la prensa especializada les otorgo, y cierran los 2000 figurando en todas las encuestas dentro del Top 10 por su disco debut, Funeral.

De ellos yo elijo las cuatro canciones suyas que mas me impactaron.

Dos son de Funeral, dos de su segundo disco, Neon Bible.

Pump up the volume and enjoy !

The Arcade Fire’s 2004 release, Funeral, was a brilliant album that plucked the Montreal based ensemble from virtual obscurity. Today, the act is internationally regarded as a modern indie gem. Reportedly titled in reference to the deaths of several relatives throughout the recording of the album, Funeral, is an apt title given the temper of this album. The album explores the complete gamut of emotion from sorrow and despair to joy and optimism. Fittingly, this range of emotion is also experienced in the context of a funeral as a loved one is lost, remembered and celebrated. Crown of Love and Une Année Sans Lumière are prime illustrations of this emotional scaling. Beginning with a somewhat depressed cadence, these songs steadily generate power and the mood transforms to become rather uplifting. Transformation is a clear theme of this album – the band plays with tempo and rhythm to continuously convert the album’s mood. Principally known for high energy anthems Wake Up and Rebellions (Lies) which will likely find their way on your workout play list, Funeral also features tunes that provoke reflection (Haiti) and arouse spontaneous dance (Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)). In the Backseet is a precious treasure which demonstrates the impressive vocals of Régine Chassagne – her voice combined with the string section takes the listener to a place beyond the usual. It is a perfect catalyst to end this 10 song success of an album.

All things considered, the album is purely magnificent.  Check out some of Funeral’s hymns (including; Wake Up, Rebellion (Lies) and Une Année Sans Lumière) at CBC Radio 3: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/THE-ARCADE-FIRE.

Next Post: Handsome Furs – Face Control (2009)

A year or two ago a young couple lost their two-month-old son. They had him in bed with them and one of them must have rolled over on him in the night because when they woke up in the morning their beautiful baby boy was dead. A pastor friend of mine and I went over to their house that night. You talk about heartache! The boy’s daddy, a young fella, kept wallowing in the floor saying “God is judging me – God is judging me!” The pastor was trying to show them some scriptures when the mother blurted out: “I just don’t see how there can be a God.”And before you criticize her, you just wait till you wake up beside your dead baby.

I  said “Ma’am my heart goes out to you – I won’t try to say I know what you’re going through because I don’t. But I was reading a story this afternoon about a lady who had lost her baby boy too. She went to her pastor and said “Where was God when my boy died?”

He was stunned by the question like we all would be but he thought for a moment and said “Ma’am, God was in the same place He was when His Son died 2000 years ago.” And I’m telling you there’s a God in heaven that knows what it’s like to lose a baby boy. He knows what it’s like to lose a loved one and He can sympathize with your pain.

On top of that, I believe the grace of God takes care of little children and that baby’s in Heaven right now. And if mama and daddy are Christians – they might have to spend 40, 50, or even 60 years apart from their child and I know that sounds like such a long time. But looking back, 10,000 years from now, it won’t seem like that long at all.

1.  Signs Of Love

2.  Good Intentions

3.  Warning Signs

Son 1 aged 5y 2m and Son 2 aged 2y 2m were so wiped out at bedtime yesterday that I was SURE we were heading for a lie-in this morning. Nope. 7am. Son 1, was as usual, in the Big Bed. The Man had gone Downstairs to try to get Son 2 back to sleep.   Son 2 wanted his breakfast. We were all getting up.  Son 1 was knackered. There was a lot of lying on the bed/on the floor/on the comfy chair watching telly. Son 2 was raring.  As the morning ticked on, The Man took Son 2 outside to play in the garden while he pulled down our rotten trellis.  Son 1watched more telly.  I rang Eldest Brother. Aged Aunt’s funeral is on Thursday. The Man says he’ll come.  Eldest Brother has found a box in which Aged Aunt kept every letter I ever sent her.  I am strangely, completely undone.   Eldest Brother is missing her.  “She didn’t have a bad life,” he said.  “She spent her life surrounded, or being cared for, by people who loved her,” I said. “That puts her in the top 1% of old ladies in the World.” I put my running things on, waved at The Man through the window and off I went. 

It’s the morning of the 5 mile run I did last year. five miles Tra la la. Last year I thought it was the beginning of Big Things. This year, well, I’ve been out 8 times in the last 2 weeks. I’ve realised that the point of the 10- weeks-to-get-you-to-running-12-miles-a-week training programme which I keep starting, isn’t to get you running distances… it’s to get you running 4 times a week. So. Walking 2 minutes, running 4 minutes, when every other runner in Town was doing 5 miles. Chicago, Chicago, it’s My Kind Of Town. I mentioned my Chicago Marathon Daydream to a Mum I know who rows a couple of weeks back. She went running that day, and has been seen out running since.  I have 11 months. I can still Do It.

Son 1 wanted Eggy Pie for tea, much to The Man’s disgust.  Son 2 stood on a chair and washed the potatoes. Son 1 aged 2y 2m used to wash potatoes. Yes, there was water and mud everywhere, but that was all. Son 2 threw the vegetable brush at the cactus, stretched up to press the microwave buttons, stretched for knives and scooped water from the sink with a spoon and drank it.  These are, of course, organic potatoes, with the mud and manure still attached.  Neat e coli.  Yum.  Son 1 came down to break the eggs for me. He cracks them and put the shells in the box. We need 5 eggs. We had 5 eggs. He went back upstairs for Even More Telly. I poured the mix into the pan. “I usually have more than that,” I thought. I fished in the bin. There was a whole egg in the thrown out egg box.  I cracked it into the pan and stirred it up a bit.  They all stuffed their faces, even The Man, who also had Ready Meal chicken pieces and dip I found in the freezer.  At bathtime, Son 2 reached for a Nemo toy Son 1 had left on the bathside. Son 2 didn’t realise that he needs the bathmat which covers the floor of the bath, and stepped up the bath wall.  He slipped instantly, did a half turn, slid straight down, clunked the back of his head and zoomed on his back straight under the water. I was just walking back into the bathroom as he did it, saw it, fished him out, cuddled him and let him go back in when he wanted to.  Of course I have never left him on his own in the bath before.

Tags: accident, Aged Aunt, bathtime, Chicago Marathon, e coli, Eggy Pie, Eldest Brother, five mile run, funeral, Nemo, running, training

Funeral for Shaniya Davis today

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-29636-Surry-County-CPS-Examiner~y2009m11d22-Funeral-for-Shaniya-Davis-today

Funeral services for 5-year-old Shaniya Nicole Davis will be held at 3:00pm today at the Manna Church in Fayetteville. The Reverend Johnny C. Davis will be officiating.

The public is invited to attend those who can’t attend may watch the funeral live on WRAL.com.

Shaniya’s Obituary describes a beautiful, sweet and loving child, who loved to play dress up and ride her scooter.

To read more of this article please visit the link above

Wham-a-lamma-ding-dong, baby, my blog stats tanked over the last couple of days. Everyone must have been as busy as I was. Either that or esoteric discussions of khipu appeal to very few peeps.

So, just what have I been up to these past few days? On Thursday, Hubby and I attended the funeral of our brother-in-law’s mother. The funeral took place in a gorgeous Catholic church done in a Romanesque architectural style, complete with vaulted ceiling and columns that looked like a cross between Corinthian and Ionic. I’ve always been impressed with Catholic statuary and art. This church had a number of fine statues, plus a Black Madonna, direct from Poland, I believe.

Because of the space and construction of the church, the acoustics in the church are great. Our brother-in-law served as cantor for the funeral and we had a rare opportunity to hear his beautiful voice. When he sang for our wedding some two decades ago, he did so with a couple of other family members, so this was the first time I’d ever heard him sing solo.

In the late afternoon, when Young Son returned from school, he and Hubby took off on a trip to my sister’s so they could go deer hunting. One of Hubby’s sisters decided to stay for a couple of days after the funeral because of her long drive. She and I hung out most of the time she was here, with her staying over night at our house because we had empty beds.

Thursday evening we went to visit another of Hubby’s sisters (Hubby has three sisters) and we had a late supper at Famous Dave’s. Daughter couldn’t go with us for this outing because she had band practice.

When we returned, we found Daughter in the middle of making “faux mousse” for a class the next day. Faux mousse is simply chocolate pudding mixed with Cool Whip. Strangely, only about two people in her class had ever heard of mousse, let alone faux mousse, which tends to be a staple on restaurant buffets. Everybody liked it though and the gigantic mixing bowl came back empty after school on Friday.

While Daughter was introducing classmates to faux mousse, my sister-in-law, her parents and I went to St. Cloud. The parents had a meeting to attend and my sister-in-law’s car needed an oil change. After her car was serviced, we went to Bonnie’s Spinning Wheel, a local yarn shop that is filled to the rafters with luscious skeins of every conceivable color and fiber. I picked some out as a birthday gift to my other sister-in-law (the one we had visited the previous night).

After retrieving the parents, we ran a couple of other errands, then headed home to pick up Daughter, who was home from school. We had dinner at Perkin’s, where I ate pot roast that was to die for.

On Saturday morning, my sister-in-law left. She wanted to get an early start on her long drive home. I caught up on dishes and started the laundry. In the afternoon, Daughter and I got a ride from Hubby’s parents to the birthday party for his sister. (Are you keeping track of the sisters/sisters-in-law in this post? It’s hard for me to keep this general, but clear.)

As we approached my sister-in-law’s house, Daughter said, “Are the boys here?” I thought she was talking about my nephews, but it turns out she was talking about Hubby and Young Son. We didn’t expect them back from hunting until Sunday, but sure enough, the car they had taken was in the driveway. Woohoo! They were home early!

We had a lovely birthday party, complete with Dairy Queen cake and a meal of grilled chicken, Caesar salad and garlic toast. I mention the food because within these past few days, starting with the post-funeral meal, I have eaten more food than I thought was humanly possible and it was all delicious.

Visiting and eating. That’s what’s been going on in my life.

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