Happy Independence Day

Happy 4th of July everyone.  Let's remember the reason for the day and thank the soldiers who make it possible.  The USA may have it's problems but there is no where like it.  I think sometimes that we take freedoms we have for granted.

Harry Potter MBTI meme

Evidentially Lupin is an INFP...which, now that I think about it, makes sense.


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Reading & Goal Update

One of the items on my 100 list was to keep track of everything I read in one year. I did exactly that in 2010. Here are the stats if you are intrested.

Books started = 89
Books Finished = 82
Unique Titles = 73
Unique Authors = 26
Series = 14
Genres = 8
Average days to finish = 6
Mean days to finish = 4

This was actually kind of fun and I'm going to continue keeping track of what I read.

Another of my goals is to learn cake decorating. K and I have enrolled in the Wilton class that starts at the end of the month. Hurray!!

President Obama's Speech

I cancelled my cable at the beginning of the year so I read the transcripts of the president's speeach at the AZ Memorial service this morning.  Whether you agree with his politics or not there are some good things there.  (The full transcript can be read here.)  A couple of my favorite passages are below.

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -- at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do -- it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.

This is one of the issues that makes me the craziest. I'm tired of the idea that if someone doesn't agree with us they must be inferior to us somehow. We can probably learn more from the people who think differently than we do than we can from those who agree with us if we will just open our minds. We can also can more tolerance and peace if we can put ourselves in their shoes. The number of hate crimes and wars would go down if we could do this.

As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let's use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together.

Soldier's Night Before Christmas

This poem makes me cry but I think it is important to remember the soldiers that keep us safe and their families. They allow us to have the freedom to celebrate Christmas or any other holiday we wish. Many soldiers will be celebrating Christmas away from their families this year. Some will never come home. Let us keep them and their families in our prayers.

I want a hippopotomus for Christmas

I love this song because it makes me laugh.

The Christmas Guest

The Christmas Guest by Helen Steiner Rice has been one of my favorite poems since I was a kid. My parents had a Johnny Cash Christmas record with him reading this poem. When I got older, I found it on cd and bought it as soon as I good. This poem goes with the scriptures Matthew 25:2 and Mosiah 2:17.

The Christmas Guest

It happened one day at December's end

Some neighbors called on an old-time friend.

And they found his shop so meager and mean,

Made gay with a thousand boughs of green.

And old Conrad was sitting with face ashine.

When he suddenly stopped as he stitched the twine.

And he said "My friends at dawn today,

When the cock was crowing the night away,

The Lord appeared in a dream to me.

And He said, 'I'm coming your guest to be"

So I've been busy with feet astir,

Strewing my shop with branches of fir.

The table is spread and the kettle is shined,

And over the rafters the holly is twined.

And now I'll wait for my Lord to appear;

And listen closely so I will hear,

His steps as he nears my humble place.

And I'll open the door and I'll look on his face."

Then his friends went home and left Conrad alone,

For this was the happiest day he had known.

For long since his family had passed away.

And Conrad had spent many a sad Christmas Day.

But he knew with the Lord as his Christmas guest,

This Christmas would be the dearest and best.

So he listened with only joy in his heart,

And with every sound he would rise with a start,

And looked for the Lord to be at his door.

Like the vision that he had had a few hours before.

So he ran to the window after hearing a sound,

But all he could see on the snow covered ground

Was a shabby beggar whose shoes were torn.

And all his clothes were ragged and worn.

But old Conrad was touched and he went to the door

And he said, "Your feet must be cold and sore.

I have some shoes in my shop for you.

And I have a coat to keep you warmer, too."

So with grateful heart the man went away.

But Conrad notice the time of day

And he wondered what made the dear Lord so late,

And how much longer he'd have to wait.

Then he heard another knock, and he ran to the door,

But it was only a stranger once more.

A bent old lady with a shawl of black,

And a bundle of kindling piled on her back.

But she asked only for a place to rest,

a place that was reserved, for Conrad's great guest.

But her voice seemed to plead, "Don't send me away,

Let me rest for awhile this Christmas Day."

So Conrad brewed her a steaming cup

And told her to sit at the table and sup.

After she had left, he was filled with dismay

For he saw that the hours were slipping away

The Lord had not come as He said He would

And Conrad felt sure he had misunderstood.

When out of the stillness he heard a cry.

"Please help, me and tell me - Where am I?"

So again he opened his friendly door.

And stood disappointed as twice before.

It was a child who had wandered away,

And was lost from her family on Christmas Day.

Again Conrad's heart was heavy and sad,

But he knew he could make this little girl glad.

So he called her in and he wiped her tears,

And he quieted all her childish fears.

Then he led her back to her home once more.

Then as he entered his own darkened door,

He knew that the Lord was not coming today,

For the hours of Christmas, had all passed away.

So he went to his room, and he knelt down to pray.

He said, "Lord, why did you delay?

What kept You from coming to call on me?

I wanted so much Your face to see."

Then softly, in the silence, a voice he heard.

"Lift up your head - I have kept My word.

Three times my shadow crossed your floor.

Three times I came to your lowly door.

I was the beggar with bruised cold feet;

I was the woman you gave something to eat;

I was the child on the homeless street.

Three times I knocked, three times I came in,

And each time I found the warmth of a friend.

Of all the gifts, love is the best.

I was honored to be your Christmas guest.

Here is Johnny Cash's version: