We are boostered and hunkered down with our family in Alabama. They are super covid cautious, and of course our little 2 year old grandson can't be vaxed. Omicron is worrying since our almost six year old grandson has a heart condition that makes covid more dangerous for him than most children. To get here, we packed food foe the trip, KN95 masks for rest areas or gas stations for potty breaks, and made it here without incident.Now use Kroger curbside pick up while absolutely shunning all the other humans, and tip super duper heavily because we are so thankful for curbside, and worry that the employers are not taking care of their people properly. Mark believes that omicron will utterly break the system. The population of the U.S. is too selfish to give a crap. Healthcare workers are quitting in droves. Our two closest nursing programs have indicated they are experiencing a mass exodus of students quitting nursing and changing majors to non-health careers. They realize that in America, HCWs are considered expendable slaves to the masses, drones no one gives a sh!t about. Our friend in Doctors Without Borders has decided to leave medicine, my niece in law who is an EKG tech and lab tech is also changing careers. So Mark thinks that healthcare here will be gutted, and America is going to face some pretty damn dire consequences for its folly and refusal to make an effort to give the system a respite from the exhaustion. I am adjusting to a radical change in life. Functioning happily with a very narrow circle of humans, camping and outdoor life, very little socializing, and the demise of any hope of continuing in music/fine arts. That is my 2022 goal, just making peace with it. I hope to one day see my sister who resides in France again. It has been three years. However, I also need to be realistic and steel myself for the fact that this may not be possible for many, many years to come. I am glad we bought this house on the mountain with room for my immediate circle, this huge yard where we can have gardens, and a pool, the gorgeous view, places to hike and enjoy nature, boating within a few miles. It makes it easier to adjust to this. I think if I were hemmed in on all sides in the city or in a subdivision, I would be losing my mind. As it is, I am pretty content.

This is why god invented Pillsbury so you can buy tubes of something and put it on a cookie sheet. It is okay NOT to bake. It really is.

Tiggy! 💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓

I am so sorry, Tiggy! You are an awesome mom! Truly, I am always impressed with you. Try to be kind to yourself. Pick just a handful of the most important things to work in, and then be relaxed. Maybe grandma who lives with great grandma might want to do a daily story time, read A Christmas Carol or something a chapter at a time by zoom. Let the kids curl up in front of the screen with hot cocoa and watch grandma read. It might be one way for them to get some connection with her, and you can nap on the couch or have tea and a breather, or wrap presents or something.

Oh my word, I would sooooooo buy these, and then tip them handsomely! My sons would think these are hilarious.

I don't think they can. It has reached a place where there are no good answers. Ds is coming up to his last semester and graduation. He is in the midst of a very important senior project. If the go virtual, the project is toast. I am sure they will wave the requirement, but he will be so sad. We are hanging on to hope because his campus is comprised of a "Let's row together" student body. They have 96% vax rate for resident students, and 76% for off campus commuters. 93% among faculty and staff, mandatory masks indoors or in groups of more than five outside. So far less than 75 covid cases for the entire semester on campus of 7500 students and 1150 staff/faculty. However, omicron may be the variant that collapses the system. I hope not! I really want ds to be able too finish with a great semester and senior project.

When my niece in law, an EKG tech, got covid (pre vax and during Beta variant) and was home with young kids, we gave her a Netflix streaming subscription (she didn't have any streaming prior to that) plus some easy kits for the kids that they would likely be able to accomplish on their own, and play dough, etc. Kiwi Crate often has some steps that are.complicated, and some instructions require a higher than 4th grade reading level. We wanted to make sure they could do it independently. I think we included some Lego village, and we sent a bunch of "as healthy as we could find" frozen meals because the oldest was capable of tossing a frozen chicken/broccoli Alfredo into the oven. Niece was pretty sick. Like bad, bad, bad influenza, but oxygen says remained good so she was never hospitalized. Nephew had been sent out of state to work for a month for employer, training new employees, and his boss refused to send him back home so we were pretty worried. The children did well between streaming and the kits. One other thing I did was I picked a chapter book set and every afternoon they went to the computer which she had set up for Facebook calls, and I read to them. We made it through several Bunnicula books which they thought were hilarious.

I am so sorry this happened! I hope m you recover quickly.

The homeschool area of the dining room is decorated. Poor dd just didn't have time prior to our arrival, and she reacted hard to her Moderna booster, so she was also down several days with little ones who had ENERGY to burn. So we are making the house bright for them while she and son in law sit with their feet up and have a breather.

We have done it in the past based on Mark's vacation with each company. Some of them gave time off before Christmas so we could do some advent lead up to the day, and others have it after. Only since he went to work for GM I.T. have we had a really generous vacationing with a lot of time before and after the holiday. I think it is a wonderful idea to do it after and then be able to really enjoy it.

It is. I am starting to relax a little. Cases are much lower here than in our county in Michigan, and of course on the mountain, we are naturally distanced. We have a curbside pick up for Kroger, one for Whole Foods, one for JoAnns, and one for Michaels this week so we are getting everything we need to make Christmas special, but staying away from the general public so my anxiety is abating. All of our discussions now hover around outdoor vacation ideas for all of us together. We are having a lot of fun. We played some zany games with our grandson last night and then when he was in bed (C, our almost 2 year old grandboy was already asleep), we played a pretty zany game of Apples to Apples. Mark is baking GF bagels this morning for bagel sandwiches for lunch. I think Omicron is going to sweep the nation. Michigan's healthcare is broken, just bereft. I know there are other places like this as well. I think we will top a million dead just of covid and another quarter million or so dead from the side effects of not being able to get healthcare they needed for other conditions. I also think that at this point, at least in our area, everybody 65 and up are locking down again which means many of these covid deaths will be in working age individuals. So all those nutters that didn't want to lock down long enough to controp covid nearly two years ago because "economy" have a lot of reckoning to do because you just can't kill this many people and break your healthcare system and NOT have a massive economic fall out.

I came. Everyone pleaded. We have had a marvelous day today doing some decorating, and playing with the kiddos. Tomorrow we are making a gingerbread house, and Tuesday we are doing something called "Tinsel Tree Walk" it is outdoors and we will mask if other folks are there. Then we are doing the drive through light show at the Botanical Gardens. Wednesday is a big play with trains day. Thursday we do cookie baking. We are using curbside pick up for a grocery supply. Also tomorrow, N is helping his Papa Mark make elf houses for the flower gardens.

My mother in law's income dropped by 50% from her work as a med/surg recovery nurse to becoming a nursing instructor. It goes back to the lack of respect for educators across the board. We pay poorly for academia from birth - graduate school. We need more paramedics, desperately, and the pay in my state is finally going up decently. But, when the powers that be refuse to allow more instructional slots, it doesn't matter. Same with nursing, doctors, etc. Our system is utterly broken. Two people from my area just died of readily treatable conditions. An ambulance response time of 6-7 minutes pre-covid is now several hours. Relatives took them to the ER themselves, and the wait time was 12 hours, and people had to wait in their cars. They died in their seats. Their relatives finally called local funeral homes to ask for someone to help them. It is the dark ages out there, and yet the "Freedumbs", " Capitalism cannot be regulated" folks keep beating that drum all the way to their own graves. So damn stupid!

A statement in my area from medical directors in multiple counties was that dd's are broken. Done. Unless you are in imminent danger of dying, please do not go. Our medical director literally said if you can stop the bleeding yourself, do not come for stitches, we can't help you. They have emptied the local stitch and ditch of most of the staff and turfed to hospitals needing help. We are officially on our own out here. I had to run into a Dollar General today...very quick...couldn't be avoided for a necessary personal care item, and so picked that store instead of a pharmacy because it had few cars in the parking lot. I walked in and had only taken a few steps when I heard the most horrible hacking/coughing. I looked up, and a woman at the register with no mask and looking like a walking zombie, finally got her breath and told the cashier, whom she had been coughing all over, that SHE HAS COVID!!!! 😱😠😠 Thankfully, I was double masked, and did not take a single step farther. I ran out to the car, tossed the masks into a garbage bag and tied it closed, doused my hands in sanitizer, got a mask out of the glove compartment, and then went and sat for an hour down in the pharmacy parking lot until it was relatively empty, dashed in and got what I wanted. It was 33 degrees out, and I sat that entire time with the window open, and then drove home with it half down hoping to air out the car and my clothes. Went inside, stripped down, threw the clothes in the washing machine, and then sat on the bed cursing the planet. I am so tired of the other humans. And we leave in a few hours for Christmas in Alabama. The kids still want me to come, but I am so scared of taking it to my grandsons or my high risk son in law.

And for those in for non violent crimes and likely to return to society and have visitation with their children, potentially reunited with their family, it is far better to allow these relationships to continue in a healthier way throughout the incarceration. As much society likes to do us on the punishment aspect, it is important to take a longer perspective on life post-prison. No conjugal visits for these two is a GOOD thing. I do not put it past her to try to GRT pregnant by this monster yet again. I hope because it is CSAM and he has shown a pattern of escalating behavior plus assaulting his sisters, they will not allow him to have any visits with his children. This is one case in which I think that would be very bad for the kids. Also, there had been a couple more folks from the Duggar's former church come forward about more of what he was up to prior to marrying Anna. This includes being addicted to phone sex racking up 20 hours on the Duggar cell phone in a single months and also during that time when Josh was "refurbishing" computers, he gave computers to other families and they found thousands of adult porn images and videos on the computers. Meanwhile, they are on their t.v. show proclaiming how the men had no internet access, and no one got on the computer without a buddy, and Michelle and Jana were the only ones with internet passwords, and blah blah blah. They clearly had their "look how righteous we are with our rules" face for the show, and then let him do what he wanted when the cameras were not on. Reddit had the discussion, and the moderators have verified the source and credibility. One set of parents went bananas on the Duggar because their 7 year old boy got exposed to adult porn on the computer Josh gave them.

On Christmas Eve, we are having Smorrebrod: Light Smorrebrod. I am not a natural born Dane and will die if I have to cook that much Pulled, savory pork Roast Chicken Seafood Spread Roast beef sliced Smoked Salmon and Creme Freiche Cheese board - Danablue both block and as a spread made with heavy cream and all that good stuff, two kinds of Havarti, Smoke Ghouda, Sharp Cheddar Three kinds of crackers, three types of home baked bread Horseradish sauce Butter Pickles, sliced radishes, sun dried cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions, lettuce Pickled beets Stuffed Mushrooms Baked mashed potatoes and turnips with guyere and creme Fingered pears Rismalade (cherry sauce on the side) Five kinds of berries with kiwi slices Vanilla Custard Vaniljekranse Pebernodders Kringle Jodekager Brandy Cake Rhubarb infused Akvavit Glog Hot cocoa for the kiddos Then on Christmas day, leftovers plus a spiral sliced ham. This way we don't have another huge clean up, and can just open presents, visit, mill about, have a food coma, and nap.

I am a huge fan of road trips, if the stops are often and meaningful things are planned to see along the way. But I grew up that way. My mom and dad loved road trips. It was nor uncommon for dad to take a three week vacation, leave the business in the hands of a trusted employee and off we would go in August before school started. My favorite was the year we road dropped through eastern Ontario, into Quebec, through Montreal, into Maine, eventually into Vermont, and then came across NY to Niagara Falls, and back home across Ontario. We camped most of the time, saw all kinds of historical places, hung out in Boothbay Maine for a couple of days of the Tuna fishing competition, stayed at the ski lodge in Killington and took the lift up to the top of the mountain for the view, etc. One year dad wanted to do a different more central and southern eastern seaboard trip and wanted to start in autumn. My parents took us out of school for three weeks, took our school books along, and mom home schooled us in the van during the day as dad drove. When we got back to school, we were way ahead of the class LOL. The principal decided to stop worrying about my parents travel habits after that, and so they took us out again for three weeks in February and went to Florida. Every three years, we took road trips to Missouri and Kansas with my grandparents to make a big circuit of visiting all the relatives there, and seeing our great grandmother. My brother and I have some of our fondest, most special childhood memories from those trips! It is so sad to us that when our surprise little sister came along when we were 17 and 13 years old respectively, she never had those opportunities. The key for our success was that my parents and grandparents packed picnics everyday. We could always count on a long lunch break that involved lots of fresh air and stretching either in city parks, or rest areas with picnic tables. We stopped and jumped out at scenic turnouts, and historical markers. It laid back and relaxed with a couple of big moment stops to look forward to such as National Parks on the route or beach days. It wasn't just endless 12 hour days of riding and fast food drive throughs. We road tripped with our kids growing up, and they STILL ask when is the next one. So for our sons, since two have graduated college last two years and began grad school, and our youngest graduates this spring, we are taking them on a graduation present road trip. We leave from youngest's commencement on April 30, and head west to Bozeman, Wy. We have things to do there, two days down in Yellowstone, and then head back to Rapid City, SD, Bad lands NP again (they love that place), then down to Sioux City and Omaha (run around and see some family history sites in Omaha), over to the Danish American Museum in Elk Horn to see Great Grandpa Peter's name plate on the Immigration Wall, visit the genealogy center and drop off the book C wrote about Grandpa Peter (which has a publishing offer on it - so exciting), and then back home. Go for it. Just be easy going, flexible, and deliberately plan to break up the long days.

And the purity movement is a cult, and that has infiltrated a huge array of churches who would not be considered "cults" otherwise. It is pushed HEAVILY in Wesleyan, Free Methodist, etc. rural churches though they do tend to shy away from the marriage ceremonies where 12 year old girls pledge their virginity to daddy win a wedding, wearing a wedding dress, and then having wedding photos that look, well, like daddy is the groom! 😱

Well, I think we have a different idea of critical thinking skills as it pertains to scholarship of scripture. I taught in a Missouri Synod K-8 as well as the high school. It was not encouraged. Spoon feeding all the way to the day they turned 18. The Sunday School curriculum for adults was very over simplified and stated as fact, don't question it. I have been in a variety of denominations, United Methodist, Free Methodist, USA Presby, Missouri Synod Lutheran, large evangelical independents, SBC, and no, what may have been considered "critically thinking about the bible" was absolutely not, and when anyone approached the line of having an actual, legitimate question that MIGHT challenge the status quo, it was put down with prejudice. There was no room for anything but the party line.

It is VERY disturbing. They tell little girls as young as two and three that they are tempting men by not being modest. So just think about that. They are telling the little boys it is natural to be tempted by the sight of a toddler with her skirt up! It is designed that way though so that the men have ready made victims/sex slaves. IBLP/Stay at Home Daughters, Purity Culture, is a sex cult. I remember the story of Kelly (Brown) Bradrick that her first husband Peter Bradrick told about being on a chaperoned walk with her when they were "courting" and coming up to a fence, and realizing she could not climb over the fence without her long skirt riding up over her knee so since she didn't want to "defraud" him, she laid onto the ground pulling her skirt up tight against her legs, and ROLLED under the fence, then had to clean all of the grass and junk out of her hair. He thought that was wonderful. Puke! What kind of evil jackass gets horny because she had to haul herself over a fence? But, that is how they were raised. Every damn thing is about sex. Same for Anna. Be joyfully available at all times. 😠 And if hubby is unfaithful, can't keep it in his pants, gets porn addicted, molests his sisters, downloads CSAM, it is all the evil women's fault. Soooo convenient! 😠

This is my experience as well. Sunday School and other programs do an excellent job of teaching children and adults a twist, a view, a side, an interpretation of this cherry picked verse and that cherry picked verse, and so on. Critical thinking is not encouraged. Ancient history, languages, and culture are tossed to the wind, so there is no basis of even understanding the circumstances being addressed. The emphasis became on the pastor and the sermon, one person's opinion, instead of not only individual study but group study as well as looking at two thousand years of theological discussion. Ultimately, when a single religion has several thousand versions of what it means to be of that religion, it is clear there is no consensus among the people claiming that religion of what it really means. So yes, I have actually found secular bible scholars to be much more honest about the Bible itself says and much much more knowledgeable of its background and languages than the pastors and church leaders I have met. Christianity has been weaponized. It has been a weapon for a very long time. I don't know what Christians can do about it, but it is undeniable and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of push back or any attempts to route that mess out. One thing is for sure, it is not the responsibility of non-Christians to play the "no true scotsman" game. That probably hurts a lot of feelings, but that is also not our responsibility. My mother no longer claims the mantle of "Christian". She says it has no real meaning anymore except one rooted firmly in things contrary to the life of Christ. If asked, she will use the term Jesus Follower. I don't think that is much of a help in the grand scheme of things, but if it makes her feel better, she's 78 and we can roll with that. The very public face of Christianity is mostly the corruption, and the Bible used as a weapon to try to force religion down secular society's throat. It is up to Christians to either take back their religion from those they see as " posers" or start a new one, and since there is really no way at this point to unify theology and doctrine from the mess it has become in modern society, that probably lane happening.

I admit to snorting some water across the scene when I read the title! I am glad nothing worse happened. Our cat is brazen enough that she would definitely try a stunt like that a second time.

Sure. As far as the case, he is being held in a local lock up, but it appears that federal rules apply so it is unclear if he can have visitors or not. His attorneys asked to 30 days to file some motions which pushes sentencing out from 70-90 to 120 days which means there won't be a sentencing until spring. Time served will be deducted from the sentence. There are several prep sentencing reports the judge will need to receive and consider. A point system which is a fairly straight forward mathematical formula will be used to determine that sentence. While there is leeway, several legal analysts have said that federal judge usually stick pretty close to the formula. Points in his favor could be good behavior while in lock up, no bond violations prior to the trial, etc. Big points against him will be the sexual assaults which can be used against him though they were not prosecuted because he confessed and police reports after the fact confirm. This could lead to a determination that he is a continued threat, and that is a lot of points not in his favor. So he isn't going to get the minimum, but there isn't a strong chance of getting the maximum either. At this time, there have been no statements from the family that indicate a belief in his innocence. Now that doesn't mean that they believe he is guilty, well, Dillards, Vuolos, and Forsyths do believe he is guilty. But, the "Parisian Hacker partitioned his hard drive remotely" didn't wash in court so that has not been parroted back thus far. Duggar and Duggar adjacent attendees of the trial were Anna, Derrick, Austin, for the duration. Justin and Claire along with Mrs. Spivey came in the middle. Uncle Eric (Anna's uncle was there for a couple of days but not the whole time), Joy Anna, came for about 2/3-3/4 of the trial, The Sun kept messing up names so I ended up confused about whether or not it was Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, Joe, or James who attended so I gave up trying to keep track - everyone of those boys resemble each other to an amazing degree - Jessa came only after the prosecution has rested, and JB as well. Michelle was never there. Jana came for one day but also after the prosecution rested. Josiah and Lauren were not there and have not, to my knowledge, made a statement. They had scrubbed there social media in the last months leading to the trial and I don't blame them. JB lost his primary run for state senator. We have no idea if the prep sentencing reports will include forensic interviews of the M's or not. It would not be unprecedented under the circumstances. Federal appeals very, very rarely find success.

Yes. These people are narcissists and found a way to make money off it.

Bingo. Reality t.v. is awful!