A Thousand Words Thursday

When Caveman D was in Iraq. I love this picture.

It is quite possibly my favorite of him.

For more pics, check out Jen's blog!

Lil Wayne said it best...

"(It) goes to show you the only thing that can't be done is what you don't want to do."

'nuff said.

Still sifting through my reader...

I was looking at different churches one day last year (it really was a mere few weeks ago...) and saw that one of the church's had a blog. I added it to my reader since it was local and possibly worth checking out. Here's Jason's post from yesterday.

"Just one more thought on the whole Denny's deal. It really makes me wonder what would happen if the church really understood what it has to offer and presented it like the amazing gift that it is. Would people be lining up outside our doors? I mean, think of it, people are standing in line outside to get into Denny's because they can get a free meal worth what? $5-6? And the church that should be offering hope, life, peace, love and forgiveness (that's already been paid for) is hurting for customers. Something needs to change. What can we learn from Denny's?"

His thoughts remind me of the atheist video.

Fort = Raleigh and Meet Chance!

This is Fort, except that his name is Raleigh! (He didn't really look like a Fort.)

This is one or two days post surgery.

His bandage is now off and he's had a second procedure on his eye. It looks much better now!

Tiny and the Giant!

Is this not the cutest face?!

Raleigh, meet Chance!

Chance is the dog my brother-in-law brought home from work last week. They took him to the vet and got his shots last week and he'll be neutered next Tuesday... which means he'll spend the night with us! He's heartworm positive though so he's also on treatment.

You define it:

Elastic gully.

Dry Spell

I'm going through a dry spell. I blame it on court. It sucked the life out of my brain and has caused me to become obsessive about "my" felon. I've been second guessing my decision. I've been feeling as if I didn't fight hard enough for second degree over first degree.... I've prison searched the guy for Pete's sake! Yeah, you read that right. I've seen his entire record, mug shot and all. And not just once. Oh no. That's just for the mildly insane. For the ridiculously insane people, we check it every so often in case it's been updated. A new mug shot was uploade two days ago. Before that there was another one. Before that there was none and he wasn't listed as "in custody." His charges still don't show up, nor does his "release date" - despite the fact that there is no release date due to his sentence w/o parole.

I now find myself using the term, "I fear a jury would see it the same way" in conversations where that is appropriate. However, I really do take heart to the jury now. Even the hypothetical ones.

AHHH!!! Somebody make it stop! I don't even use the term "somebody" - see how messed up I am?! Ooooh that court system. If you've never served before, they continue to repeat (over and over and over, haha) what an honor it is to be serving civil duty. And how we are upholding our duty as free citizens. Seriously? Have they ever served? Do they have any idea what it's like? Maybe I'm bitter because my case wasn't something petty. Regardless. Unless they've had a person's life at stake they have no idea.

And of course then I think - what if the death penalty was a sentence option. I believe that had the victim been tortured then the crime would have fit the qualifications for capital punishment, but because that did not happen first degree murder was the most severe that he could be charged. And the hardest part of it all is that you can't base your decision on the sentence because according to the law, you have to decide, as a jury, if the crime is aligned with the law and if so then that is your decision. It's cut and dry yet grey all around. I know that makes no sense whatsoever.

My point is: I have nothing on my mind other than court (yeah, still) and I don't know how to get over it. Maybe next week I'll be better. And I'll try to post again today about something else. Oh! Actually, I have a thought already. It's about Ethiopia! First I have to catch up on emails and finish going through the almost 400 blog posts in my reader.

Got Water?

The scarcity at the heart of the global water crisis is rooted in power,
poverty and inequality... (UNDP)

Did you know that, according to people who study human development, a person needs a little more than 5 gallons of water each day to survive? Given the extreme drought in many parts of Africa, millions of people are having to live on less than a gallon per day. Even if water is available, access to clean water is not. Therefore, people are consuming dirty water leading to many horrific health ailments. Where are the doctors? Wait - no food, no water, I'm sure education is high up on the list of concern for these folks.

There are SO many organizations that are trying to do good and many are working very hard at accomplishing their goals. But with the economy strapped all over the world, it's difficult for anyone to accomplish much of anything. Or is it? I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Compassion International actually reported an increase in child sponsorships despite the economy's current state.

As the world seems to fall apart, what are you doing to make it better? I skipped Do Something Monday this week. Next week I'll pick back up with it and report on our situation in Goma.