FUNNY KIDS

1.HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHOM TO MARRY?
(written by kids)

-You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
-- Alan, age 10

-No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
-- Kristen, age 10

2.WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?

Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
-- Camille, age 10

3.HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?

You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
-- Derrick, age 8

4.WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?

Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori, age 8

5.WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?

-Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-- Lynnette, age 8(isn't she a treasure)

-On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin, age 10

6.WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?

-When they're rich.
-- Pam, age 7

-The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
-- Curt, age 7

-The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-- Howard, age 8

7.IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?

It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
-- Anita, age 9 (bless you child )


8.HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?

There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8


And the #1 Favorite is...

9.HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?

Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a dump truck.
-- Ricky, age 10

Thanks to susan s.

Please don't bother to tell me if Snopes says that the words were not written by kids, because I don't care. They are funny.

IN THE BLOOMING GARDEN - AGAIN

The sweet pea flowers of many colors, with their sweet aroma, are lovely to behold.



At right angles to the fence with the sweet peas is a long stretch of fence covered with blooming Confederate jasmine. The sweet aroma near the jasmine is nearly overpowering. The blooms are best admired from a distance.



Pictured above are white flowers on a wild rosebush. The plant requires no special care at all as opposed the hybrids which Grandpère has tried to grow in the past, which needed treatment for black spot and other diseases due to our rainy and humid climate. Even with intensive TLC, the bushes didn't thrive.



A few of Grandpère's tomato plants are shown above, along with marigolds to keep the bugs away from the plants without the use of insecticides. A redbird is causing trouble to the tomato plants corn now. Since GP puts out birdseed, all sorts of birds come in great numbers.



There's Diana in all her one-eyed splendor with the long shadows of the late afternoon. Grandpère stands with my son on the left.

Diana went for her annual checkup and vaccinations this week. The vet said she's in fine shape for a 15 year old dog. I had no idea she was 15 years old, not having looked back at her veterinary records for quite some time. I'd been saying she was around 12 years old. As many of you know, Diana has only one eye, with a cataract, and she is going deaf. She can still see out of her one eye, but not well.

THE OLD CHEROKEE

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil: He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good: He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

(Not so much a joke, really.)

Cheers,

Paul (A.)

No, Paul (A.), not so much of a joke, really, more like the truth from the wise old Cherokee.

MIMI'S RESTAURANT - MY PLACE

No, not excatly my place, but Mimi's Restaurant is our place to eat a delicious Sunday brunch. Mimi's is located in River Ridge in Jefferson Parish in the 'burbs outside New Orleans, only a short 45 minute drive away from Thibodaux. Grandpère and I dined there several times since the new chefs took over, and we enjoy the food immensely. You can view the brunch menu here.

GP ordered Shrimp Remoulade, and I ordered New Orleans Crab Ravigote for the salad course. The chunks of white crab meat over fresh greens in my salad were out of this world. The Shrimp Remoulade was not the tiny appetizer bowl that is served in most restaurants but was rather a full salad.

The menu changes from Sunday to Sunday, and I see that the entrées we ordered are not on the menu on the website. GP had Mixed Green Tomatoes, Shrimp Cakes, Poached Eggs, Red Wine Mushroom Sauce, and I had Eggs Lafourche (my parish!), Meat Pies topped with Fried Eggs, and Shrimp Sauce Piquante. The sauce was, indeed, piquante. If you don't like hot and spicy, then you'd want to order another dish. Both entrées were quite tasty. Last time we were there, I ordered GP's dish, so I know it is good.

We asked for boxes for the leftovers, because we couldn't finish our meals, but that didn't stop us from ordering dessert. Oh no! I ordered Crème Brulée, and GP ordered Key Lime Pie. Mmmm - yummy!



Pictured above is the wine and cheese list hanging on the wall. GP had an Italian Mosato white wine, and I ordered a New Zealand Shiraz red, and we shared a Mimosa. I did not drive to my daughter's house, because I was a little tipsy, so GP did the duty. Her house is only a couple of blocks away from the restaurant. I sobered up there.



As you see from the picture, the building is nondescript from the outside, located in a strip shopping center, but at the restaurant's website you see the decor inside is warm and welcoming.

The food is delicious; the staff is friendly and attentive; the prices are reasonable for the quality of the food. What more can you ask for?

GAY PASSION OF CHRIST CONTINUES...

11.Jesus Before the Soldiers (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus… and they stripped him.” -- Matthew 27:27-28 (RSV)

The Gay Passion of Christ series, up to No. 11, is posted at the Jesus in Love Blog. The combination of Doug Blanchard's paintings and Kittredge Cherry's words, along with passages from Scripture is powerful, indeed. The series will run daily throughout the Lenten season. See for yourself.

Doug's painting shown above is powerful, indeed, as are KittKatt's words.

The magistrate’s soldiers pulled off Jesus’ clothes and mocked him with contempt. They made ethnic jokes about him for being Jewish, and taunted him as a “king” because he taught that God’s kingdom of unconditional love is here and now. They could have used “queer” or a “faggot” or “lezzy” or any other slur.

STORY OF THE DAY - BELIEVING MY FATHER

I used to believe my father about
everything but then I had children
myself & now I see how much stuff you
make up just to keep yourself from going
crazy.

From StoryPeople.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Hmmm...thinking that I don't much like having the Passion narrative read on Palm Sunday.

I know. Folks can't or don't get to church on Good Friday, and, for them, if the Passion narrative is not included in the Palm Sunday liturgy, the story in church leaps from Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the triumph of the Resurrection, with nary a nod to the Crucifixion. Still....

"GOING HOME"

It’s finally happening. We’re going home. Cristy’s blood test results this past week were stellar – better than they’ve been at any time in her life. The doctor gives her a success prognosis of 90-95%. This is great news – obviously.

Read the rest at From Here to Istanbul.

Details of Cristy's illnesses and treatment and why she is in Istanbul are at the blog.

O Lord, your compassions never fail and your mercies are new every morning: We give you thanks for giving our sister Cristy both relief from pain and hope of health renewed. Continue in her we pray, the good work you have begun; that she, daily increasing in bodily strength, and rejoicing in your goodness, may so order her life and conduct that she may always think and do those things that please you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Read Mark Harris' explanation of his pie-chart and his prognostications on the outcome of the Anglican Covenant Crapshoot at his blog Preludium.

LATEST WEASELWORDS FOR CHILD ABUSE

From the Telegraph:

Roger Vangheluwe, 74, the former bishop of Bruges, said the abuse he committed was only "superficial".

"I don't have the impression at all that I am a paedophile. It was really just a small relationship. I did not have the feeling that my nephew was against it, quite the contrary," he said.
....

Vangheluwe admitted abusing one of his nephews over a 13-year period, until the boy was 18, and a second nephew for a period of 12 months. (Huff Post says 2 years below.)

More from The Huffington Post:

A former bishop's televised admission that he sexually abused two of his nephews caused an uproar in Belgium on Friday, with the prime minister, senior clergy and a prosecutor expressing shock at the way the ex-prelate made light of his offenses.

In an interview that aired Thursday Roger Vangheluwe, the former bishop of Bruges, spoke of his sexual abuse as "a little game," that involved fondling, but no "rough sex."

"I was never naked" and the abuse was never about "real sexuality," said Vangheluwe, 74.
....

Bruges Prosecutor Jean-Marie Berkvens said Friday the abuse of the second nephew lasted for two years. The victim was younger than 8 at the time.
....

The interview took place in a wooded Catholic retreat in Ferte-Imbault in central France, where Vangheluwe has been sent by the Vatican.

Throughout the interview, he sat relaxed, sometimes smiling and at times shrugging his shoulders as if to signal that the events he spoke of were not very serious.

Oh well. The abuse was only "superficial", only "a little game", with no "rough sex", and "never about real sexuality". And the one nephew did not object. Move along. Nothing to see here.

One of the tragedies of this story is that Vangheluwe is probably not lying. Very likely, he saw what he was doing exactly as he describes it. And the nephews whom he abused? What do they say? How were they affected by the "superficial" abuse? Ah, we don't know, but, from the stories of others who were abused, we can surmise that they were harmed, probably seriously, by abuse from the adult relative whom they trusted.

So. Vanghelhuwe has been sent to a French monastery, while the Vatican decides what to do with him.

The abuse started when the nephews were 5 years old and 8 years old and continued for years. I thought I could not be surprised further with stories about child abuse and denial, but it seems I can. The old mind is boggled.

Thanks to Lapin and Ann V for the links.