Georges Sada, General to Saddam, speaking in Tinley Park, IL

An invitation from Christian Life Center, Tinley Park

What’s really happening in Iraq?

As our presidential election approaches, both Senator McCain and Senator Obama are focused on a few issues, with the economy, energy/fuel prices, and Iraq being at the top of the list. Every pundit seems to have opinions as to what went wrong there, what’s happening now, and when we need to get out. But how many of them really know from an insider’s perspective what’s happening there?
This weekend, August 23-24, you and your friends will have an opportunity to hear this important topic from a true insider: a man who was intimately involved with Saddam’s murderous reign as one of his top military advisers, was on the ground when U.S. forces brought liberation, and who has been a part of the rebuilding of that nation, now serving as a spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister: General Georges Sada.

General Sada has been a guest of Hannity & Colmes as well as numerous other newscasts; he was recently on the Daystar network’s Celebration; he’ll be a featured guest on the Sandy Rios show this week (details to follow); and this weekend he’ll be on our stage at CLC Tinley Park campus. We have invited local mayors, council members and even Senator Barack Obama to join us - now I’m inviting you.

Here’s the cool thing: if you have a question about Iraq that you’d like the General to answer, you can submit it here any time this week until Friday, and we’ll get those questions to him, hopefully to address in one of the services this weekend. We announced this offer at South Bend and Shorewood yesterday, but it’s also good for anyone else reading this blog: submit your question now, or just leave it in the comments below.

Dinosaur Soup

Well, it's here & I'm delighted! Gracie's now-published recipe is on page 123!

Here's a lil sampling of Dinosaur Soup (And Other Dubious Recipes Written By Children)



Thanks for asking about Gracie's recipe. I'll post it here, but as Dinosaur's disclaimer reads "These recipes contain partially cooked, completely uncooked, totally overcooked, an/or readily unavailable or non-existent ingredients. Preparation as directed is not advised and as shown will almost certainly result in inedible meals and food-borne illnesses. Recipes feature are for entertainment purposes only. In short, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!"

Gracie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

cookie dough- yellow
little chocolates

Put the chocolates in and bake it in the oven and in 30 more minutes it's done. So then we get chocolate chip cookies.

And Bob's your uncle~ EDIT: or it could just as easily be "and Randy's your uncle" :o)

Now, if this looks like your kind of recipe or recipe book, let me know...I have an inside track on purchasing. :o) Sources also tell me Bob's Your Uncle is soon opening a retail section on their website where you can purchase super cool stuff like Dinosaur Soup.

Happy Day to you & yours from delighted me & mine~

EDIT: I submitted Gracie's recipe in response to a call for kid's recipes - unedited & fresh from the kids' mouth! How fun & what an honor to be included!

Olympics 2008 Opening Ceremony

The reconciling of opposites~ Mesmerizing! Stunning!

I didn't catch the opening ceremonies live, but was wowed viewing it online today. I was in absolute awe at the presentation in Beijing. Oh, to have seen it in person~

Check here for a superb peek into the spectacular ceremony & artistry. I've embedded a video, it's not as good as the NBC piece which could not be embedded.

2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony

Good news!

Hey, I just got an email from Martin at Bob's Your Uncle announcing the release of their new book, Dinosaur Soup, which features Gracie's recipe for making cookies. Can't wait to see it & share it with ya'll!
Bob's Your Uncle is a Boston, Massachusetts based paper goods company founded by Martin & Michele Yeeles in 2001. Originally from England, they moved to the States in 1993 “just for a year or two” and have been in Boston ever since. Martin is a graphic designer, Michele a former shoe designer.

Just so you know...“Bob's your uncle” is a British expression used to indicate that a given task is very simple. Possibly inspired by Victorian Prime Minister, Robert Cecil, who appointed his nephew to a ministerial post, therefore to have Bob as your uncle has a guarantee of success. It is often used immediately following a set of simple instructions and roughly carries the same meaning as the phrase "and there you have it." For example, "Simply put a piece of ham between two slices of bread, and Bam! Bob’s your uncle!”.

Too funny, huh? It's so nice to have an Uncle Bob~

Catching up & confidence

We're home again. Back at work with less than 12 hours to transition from vacation to the real world. We did indeed have a delightful time over the last couple of weeks. I'll share the details over the days to come...just not today. :o) I'm about caught up on laundry - whoo hooo, but today we are preparing to go to the water park/pool with some friends...actually, Gracie has declared she will marry this little friend when she "gets 30". :o)

I'll leave this one picture & thought from a book I've just begun reading, "Parenting Isn't for Cowards" by Dr. James Dobson.

I'm reminded of a photograph in my files of an elegantly dressed woman who is holding a cupo of coffee. Her little finger is cocked ever so daintlily to the side and her face reveals utter self-assurance. Unfortunately, this woman does not yet know that her slip has collapsed around her feet. The caption reads, "Confidence is what you have before you understand the situation." Indeed!

Cumberland Gap Greetings

Hey ya'll from Cumberland Gap, KY...more specifically, B'ville. Having a great time here visiting Jen, Gabe & Gabi - friends we made while living in Germany. The girls have had a blast playing dressup, chasing the kitty & swimming! Water park fun in the day & later on we went to a Front Porch Pickin session on the courthouse steps - loved it!

Later that night, we took a drive up to Corbin, KY to see the Moonbow at Cumberland Falls. This phenomena occurs as the mist rises from the river in the light of a full moon. Very cool!! Thinking I might need to see these wondrous falls in the daylight. My camera isn't equipped to capture the glory of this lunar rainbow, so I've borrowed one along with some info about this rarity from the KY parks department & wikipedia with special thanks.

A moonbow (also known as a lunar rainbow, lunar bow or white rainbow) is a rainbow produced by the moon rather than the sun. Moonbows are relatively faint, due to the smaller amount of light from the Moon. They are always in the opposite part of the sky from the moon. It is difficult to discern colours in a moonbow because the light is usually too faint to excite the cone colour receptors in our eyes. As a result, they often appear to be white. However, the colours in a moonbow do appear in long exposure photographs. Moonbows are most easily viewed when the moon is near to full (when it is brightest). For other than those produced by waterfalls, the moon must be low in the sky (less than 42 degrees and preferably lower) and the sky must be dark. And of course there must be rain falling opposite the moon. This combination of requirements makes moonbows much more rare than rainbows produced by the sun.

Later on today, we're saying "bis spater" to the Andersons & heading west to the 2008 Annual 510 N West End Blvd Roommate Reunion in Madisonville, KY. Can't wait!

Goodbye trusty friend

Saying goodbye is always hard for me, particulary to one who's been with me for so long. Preparing my silver Saturn for trade in, I was a bit misty eyed. Afterall, an odometer reading of 181,500 miles equals quite a bit of time together. If I average that out at 60 mph, it's 3025 hours in my car. That's alot of hours, both mundane & adventurous. 3025 hours is a good bit of singing, radio play, CD spins, traffic reports & Rush (Limbaugh) hours.

The Saturn was partner to my greatest moments; witness to many giggles, guffaws, as well as tears unseen by another as I mourned my greatest losses. I venture at least 99% of all the curses out of my mouth were from behind the wheel of my Saturn. Before ya'll get too excited, I could probably count them on my fingers...maybe a toe or two. :o)

I left tire tread spanning 2 continents & 12 countries; enduring inspection in no less than 7 languages- with guns pointed and without. It entertained (?) drivers from 6 nations. My mileage included autobahn and autostrata time, as well as near 3rd world country travel in an unnamed country - no offense Tom, Piotr & Judy. But then, I could plant a garden with all the dust transported from the country roads of Missouri via my Saturn bumper. Oh what fun!

We hosted 3 boyfriends, a plethora of dear friends, beloved kinfolk and just a couple enemies (just kidding). The Saturn enabled me to serve roughly 300 families over the course of 7 years. I would approximate that car transported me to church roughly 725 times; not counting extra services for Go, conferences, early morning prayer, refugee resettlement or Christmas production rehearsals. :o)

My 2nd drive-til-it-won't-go-no-more Saturn still looked good upon trade in. Let's see...we had umm...uhhhh - 4 new bumbers and, given a minor brush in a client's driveway the day before trade in (but after the trade in offer), might need a 5th bumper-or maybe just paint. That's not funny. On the brighter side, I did give quite a bit of business to Art's Auto. Thanks, Larry. Oh, & a bit of business to Phase I. Lest I forget, there was that moster hail repair & paint while in Germany. I can't remember that place - Openheimer or something Deutsche like that. :o) Let me add here, that I'm sure thisSaturn has more mileage in her. Remember my 1st Saturn gave up another 30,000 miles after she was donated at 212,000 miles. :o) Good cars indeed!

So with great fondness, I post these pics of my loyal silver Saturn/autobahn stickers & say goodbye. It was a good run...we had a great run together. Thanks for the memories~

Everything

While perusing my favorite blogs this morning, I followed a thoughtful comment eventually leading to this delightful song by Michael Buble.
This catchy tune is now in my playlist AND more Buble tunes are on the way - thinking this is great music for upcoming road trip. Have a good one! AND thanks to Lynn for unknowingly introducing me to this making me smile song~

I Am Free

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. --Ronald Reagan

We celebrated freedom Chicago style this weekend with fireworks, beach play, Millenium Park, Mag mile shopping & Italian lemonade...all with good friends, Bob & Stephanie, and a new friend, Bert.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Summer celebrations

Hello, Sunshine! We've had a delightful couple of weeks enjoying sunshine, beach play and celebrating with friends. Here are a few pics as we enjoy these lazy days of summer~

Make a Smilebox scrapbook