Chaput -- Great Article

A friend passed along this recent talk by Archbishop Chaput of Denver.  Very inspiring and one of the best things I've read in a long time.  He is right:  we must not shrink from a defense of our faith, especially of the unborn.

"We need to really believe what we say we believe. Then we need to prove it by the witness of our lives. We need to be so convinced of the truths of the Creed that we are on fire to live by these truths, to love by these truths, and to defend these truths, even to the point of our own discomfort and suffering. ...


"The temptation in every age of the Church is to try to get along with Caesar. And it’s very true: Scripture tells us to respect and pray for our leaders. We need to have a healthy love for the countries we call home. But we can never render unto Caesar what belongs to God. We need to obey God first; the obligations of political authority always come second. We cannot collaborate with evil without gradually becoming evil ourselves. This is one of the most vividly harsh lessons of the 20th century. And it’s a lesson that I hope we have learned.

"That brings me to my third and final point today: We live in a time when the Church is called to be a believing community of resistance. We need to call things by their true names. We need to fight the evils we see. And most importantly, we must not delude ourselves into thinking that by going along with the voices of secularism and de-Christianization we can somehow mitigate or change things. Only the Truth can set men free. We need to be apostles of Jesus Christ and the Truth he incarnates."

We are Doomed

John Derbyshire is right:  we are doomed if the below represents a common or widely-held view.  Bobbins and I were almost in disbelief when we read it.  Here we were educating ourselves on the citizen and Legislature ballot initiatives for the election in November, reading the handy booklet from the AZ Secretary of State.  It includes the text of the initiative, an explanation, then arguments for and against.  The first one up this year is Prop 106, more or less an anti-Obamacare amendment.  It prohibits people from being forced to buy insurance and ensures they have choice in the matter, broadly speaking (obviously I'm voting for it).

Incredibly (or maybe not so), this was one of the 'arguments' against 106, from Laurie Renee Gutierrez of Scottsdale:
"Health Care is a human right.  The government must force everyone to pay their fair share.  This is too important to allow people their freedom.  Government experts will know what works and what does not and the people should only get what the experts recommend.  We need government to push everyone into one system.  This will force all the snake oil remedies such as chiropractic, naturo-pathic care and homeopathic care out so that huge amount of money will no longer be wasted on these senseless practices, as well as the use of vitamins.  No matter who is here, legal or undocumented, health care must be provided by the government.  If we don't do this the health insurance companies will not succeed if they are not subsidized to cover all of us.  It is vitally important that we protect the insurance companies or risk a system collapse that will mean the poor and middle class will have no health care.  Do the right thing.  Vote NO on Prop. 106."

This is so laugh-out-loud ridiculous that I wondered if it wasn't a plant, secretly submitted by a Prop 106 supporter to make the opposition look bad.  But what if it's not?  What if people really feel this way?  That government experts know what's best for us and should in effect control our bodies.  Wow.  If that's the case, then the idea of self-government in America, of government of, by, and for the people, is dead.

My Beauties

I was fortunate enough to go to Mass this morning with these two beauties

                                    

Devils Gave that One Away

ASU's loss to Oregon last night was a tough one to watch.  I knew Oregon was a tad overrated (they are not the best team in the country, DE) and that our D would match up with them well (they practiced against the same offense all through both camps) and that we had enough talent to hang with them.  But in the end the Devils' true colors shone through, too brightly:  7, yes 7 turnovers (including three interceptions in the 4th quarter when we were still in the game), way too many penalties, another missed field goal, and a host of stupid mistakes.  Yesterday wasn't quite as bad as the Wisconsin game, which the Devils really did give away.  Oregon is too good and experienced.  But they benefited greatly from 14 free points from the ASU offense (a pick 6 in the first quarter and a backwards lateral 'fumble' for a TD) and several squandered ASU opportunities, such as a 1st and goal on the 2 (Marshall fumble) and a Threet interception in the endzone.  After improving each game and playing near perfectly last week, Threet self-destructed in this one, especially in the second half.  He made some good throws and racked up a lot of yards, but he also made some woefully bad throws that Oregon converted to points.  I don't know what's wrong with Tom Weber but he clearly hasn't regained his form from two years ago.  The D was pretty solid with some stupid mistakes Oregon capitalized on.  At other times they stood their ground well, including shutting down -- for the most part -- the Oregon running back.  I place a lot of the blame on the coaching staff for not having this team more ready and executing better.  I know they're young and all that, but the penalties are ridiculous.  The false starts continued, with one from a wide receiver!  It's really painful to watch what potentially could be a good team fritter away their many chances.  Especially when the team down south is making the most -- often with luck -- of theirs.

These Boots are Made for Walkin

thanks again to AK for getting them!

Changing Table

Mom was away  - - -  it was time to play     (at least for MM)

                       

                                                              

                                 "GET OFF ME!"

New Buffets

Bobbins is always quick to action:  Wed. night we talked about getting rid of our old dining set and moving our long white table into the dining room.  First thing Thurs. morning she had the old set on Craig's List.  A nice couple from N Phx came down Sunday to pick it up.  We sold it for $500, a pretty good price.  I had never liked the table and chairs (although the buffet was very nice) and we wanted to make better use of the dining room (basically use it - we never did).

With the $500 we purchased two new buffets from Ikea.  We needed two because Bobbins has lots of china and Christmas dishes.  We wanted to get all of this stored in the dining room instead of half there and half in the pantry.  The added space in the pantry is great.

MM of course did her part to help with the construction.

Josie too

      

       

Devils Loss

I knew they'd be in the game, that it'd be close, and that they'd have a good chance to win.  As soon as Tom Weber missed that field goal in the first quarter, I knew we'd lose by 3 points or less.  Sure enough, the final result was 19-20.  A ton of rookie-type mistakes, plus all the breaks went Wisconsin's way, including some questionable calls.  I hope they take the right lessons from the loss:  that they have loads of talent & speed and can play with any team.  They'll need it this week against Oregon, tops on the Pac-10 and playing lights out as usual on offense.  Would like to see Burfict unload on them (but NOT like L. Blount) and Elder get a pick 6.

Bizarro

It's about the only comic I look for in the paper.  My mom sent this from the LA Times:

[The Boy who Never Tweets]

ABC 123 "ditcsh"

Swimming next door, playing in the garden, and learning words have been activities in our household.  Next door has a garden gnome but it is a fish that sits by the pool.  While climbing all over her we practiced our word fish. Mama: FFFiiiissshh Marcelly: Ditsch. Mama: fffiiissh Marcelly: ditsch. After this went on for about 10 minutes before both of us grew tired we figured out that ditsch was fish.

So where did we go the next day? The Aquarium! (just turns out we were going there with Nana K and her mother)All day long we practiced our word. We had a great time looking at the ditsch, sharks, sting rays, and star fish. By the end Marcelly still wanted to learn and crawled herself up to the desk.

The next day we went to the zoo with our mom friends.  Every time we go Marcelly has more and more fun.

thrifty find a'hoy

Even though the doll in this famous photograph is a nurse, I could not turn down this outfit. 

As Marcelly was telling me she was done for the day, by yelling and trying to climb out of the cart, we hurriedly made our way to the front. The impulse buyer that I am kicked in and I snatched this dress without a care for size or price. I had to have it.  When we got home and I  inspected our treasure I found that it was a perfect size, clean with no stains, and best of all couldn't look cuter on my little lady.

It Begins...

I signed up for the PF Changs Rock n Roll Marathon, MLK Weekend January 2011.  I had been thinking about doing a marathon for a while and decided to take the plunge.  Kevin, a friend from church, is joining me.  This morning was the start of our training, an easy 3 miler, based on Hal Higdon's novice program.  Kevin added it up and we should run approximately 365 miles in preparation for the big event.  Only 362 more to go...

I got this new pair of Mizunos at the Runner's Den just for this.  They do a special fitting and diagnostic to get you in the right shoe.  At least, they convince you of that.

Thanks Mom and Gen for the gift card! 

St. Mary's Wins!

Friday night before that big weekend, we made our second annual trip the St. Mary's - Brophy game at Phoenix College Stadium.  First, my dad treated us to a dinner at Two Hippies.  He watched Josie so we only had to take MM.  We rode our bikes, of course.

This is a traditional, big rivalry.  St. Mary's hasn't been as good as Brophy in a while, but they're not bad.  Bobbins is a proud Knight alumna (St. Mary's).  We all wore green and enjoyed the much-nicer home side of the field.  The Knights took advantage of some Brophy turnovers and miscues and a superior running game to 16-13 lead in the final minutes.  Brophy threw a long bomb down to the ten yard line.  The Knight D held to 4th down.  At first Brophy trotted out their field goal unit, but after a timeout sent the QB back out.  He had an open receiver in the end zone on a quick in route but made a low throw and the guy couldn't grab it.  Knight victory!  The students rushed the field and had a grand old time.  Not exactly sure, but it was the first time St. Mary's had won in quite a while.

           

           

MM was exhausted by the end but a real trooper, even staying awake on the bike ride home.


Go Knights!

Weekend (Golf, Game, Ikea)

Bobbins gave me Saturday.  I got in a nice run in the morning, pushing MM and dragging Olden.  At 10:45am my dad picked me up for an afternoon of golf.  Me, him, Zach, and my dad's friend Steve played the ASU Karsten Golf Course.  In all the years each of us have lived here, we had never played there.  We did a two-man scramble, Zach and I against my dad and Steve.

The course is relatively short but exacting, in that you have to play right in the fairway off the tee, otherwise steep hills and rough make getting to the green tough.  They had us tee off on #10.  My dad and Steve finished the first nine with a four stroke lead, but within the first three holes of the second nine, Zach and I moved into a tie.  Going into the last three holes we remained tied.  Zach and I surged ahead with a great birdie on #7.  Zach hit a tremendous 7 iron onto the green, to within 8' of the cup.  I sank the putt and we didn't look back from there (although limped in on #9).  It was a good time.

From there, my dad dropped us off at Zach's dorm, Manzanita, to clean up.  For me it was the first time back at Manzy in 15 years, since I lived there sophomore year.  Definitely some memories and a little weird being back.  The place has changed a little, especially the cafeteria, but otherwise mostly the same.  The room where I started my tutoring career (and started using email for the first time) was left unused.  I had forgot how small and cramped and unsafe the elevators are.  That place is full of testosterone and estrogen, if you know what I mean.

I met his roommate, Casey, from Laguna Niguel, CA.  Nice enough guy.  He lent me some cologne when Zach couldn't.  Zach and I walked down University to the ASU Newman Center.  They have a 5:00 Mass in the old chapel.  It was beautiful.  The priest, Fr. Muir, is newly ordained and only in his late 20s.  He gave a great homily and was very nice in greeting us outside afterwards.  He lobbied Zach pretty hard to attend their freshman welcome retreat in Prescott next weekend.

After Mass we walked further down University to the Pita Pit.  It wasn't there when I was at ASU but there was one in Columbus, so I got to know the joint while at Ohio State.  I love it.  Zach seemed to enjoy it his first time.  We headed up to Sun Devil Stadium.

Jeremy took the light rail in and we found our way to our seats for the season.  I had missed the first game so it was the first time at these seats, on the upper level.  We decided to go up there (from the lower level last season) and boy am I glad we did.  You can see the whole field and each play develop, and the bleachers have backs.  The people aren't as entertaining and the cheerleaders are hard to see, but on the whole it was a good decision.

The Devils started out flat, like last week, and went down 3-0 to NAU.  I was fairly impressed with ASU QB Steven Threet, although he made some bad decisions including one interception that set NAU up for an easy TD.  We had virtually no run game, which is a problem.  Give credit to the NAU D line.  Our D was pretty good, for the most part, although a little lackadaisical.  Vontaze Burfict incurred another 15 yarder, about his 20th since coming to ASU.  I really liked safety Eddie Elder, who seems to always be in the right place and makes plays, including open field tackles.  I'm somewhat confident for the Devils going up to Madison to play Wisconsin Saturday.

After a refueling stop at Wendy's, my dad was kind enough to drive Jeremy and I home.  It was after midnight.

Now, having the whole day Saturday put me in serious debt, so Sunday it was off to Ikea.

We had fun browsing the stuff, came up with some ideas for our dining room, and had a delicious lunch of Swedish meatballs.  MM really enjoyed the kids section and talked her mom into getting her some more plastic plates.

             

           
Later, we stopped at Great Grandma and Grandpa's to say hello and check on Pearl.

Pretty full weekend.

Polka Dots

MM's First Haircut

"HELP ME DAD!"  Your mother does great haircuts -- look at mine.  You're fine.

         

         

         
Bobbins wanted the mullet chopped off.  She finally had just enough hair to do a couple pig tales on top.  Soon enough it'll come in.