GO ARMY

The U.S. Army commander in northern Iraq who prohibited pregnancy in his ranks defended his decision Monday, saying his female soldiers are "invaluable" and that he can't afford to lose anyone under his watch at a time when U.S. forces are already drawing down.

Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo insisted that those who violate the new rule would not face court martial, even though his new order lists pregnancy under a section of violations punishable by prosecution. So far, the punishments have been in the form of written letters of reprimand.

But he said the order is critical to the goal of keeping his "combat power together."

"I've got a 22,000-man task force and I need every soldier I've got. We are facing a drawdown and anyone that leaves earlier than the expected 12 months creates a burden on their teammates," Cucolo, head of Multi-National Division-North, told Fox News. "My female soldiers are invaluable -- many of them hold high impact jobs. In general, my troops are few in number and I need them all."

Cucolo told Fox News the new rule applies equally to men. "It's not in step with the warrior ethos," he said. "We have to keep an eye on every soldier and so men who break this rule are subject to the same punishments."

Cucolo's 22,000-person task force includes 1,682 women.

Since the rule was implemented Nov. 4, Cucolo said four women have gotten pregnant, leading to reprimands for seven people -- four women and three men. The fourth male was not identified and so was not punished. All of the violators got a written reprimand, but one of the men had that letter entered into his permanent record because he was married.

"That was adultery," Cucolo said.

Well done, ARMY.

I completely agree with this for no less than three reasons:

1) Women can't do everything a man can do.....and I don't think they should be in combat. If you are going to be in combat, don't get mad when you have to give up certain things, like getting pregnant.

2) WTF are you doing banging your comrades anyway??!! That is not part of "loyalty, duty, and selfless service." That's called, "I can't go a few months, or even a year, without thinking about getting off."

3) I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo had the balls to call out someone for adultery. In our effed-up moral compass kind of world that is a proclamation that needs to be heard. We should question what kind of authenticity and loyalty a man (or woman) will have within battle lines if they are willing to squash the most sacred and simple commitments that remains in our country.

4) There is a standing general order regarding sex among soldiers. The Major General is simply adding a real-life consequence to violating this order, promoting "thoughtful and responsible behavior among...soldiers."

Those liberal left-wingers are probably going to be screaming about this. "You can't tell a woman what she can do." "Who are you to restrict people to when and where they can get pregnant?"

Really, this issue has very little to do with women's lib or freedom. Being in and on the front lines (or close to them) is NOT a time when you should be contemplating your family size or lack their of. And how many of these random acts of sex are happening between married couples that are deployed together anyway? Hmmm? I'm guessing none.

I say, GO ARMY. I hope more commanders have the moral integrity to stand up for what is right.

Just Because

We need some Joy around here:

What an awesome big brother she has. I am so proud of the man my little boy is growing into.



Lovey says, "Spaghetti is good. But not as good as the mookies!!"



Sheesh. My Flower is SO CUTE!! I can't even stand it! She's started wearing my old ballet costumes around. So precious.

Proud papa and his other baby girl. She still needs prayers folks. Keep 'em coming.

And yes! One good picture of my boys together! I love you guys!

(I hope you enjoyed that, Aunt San.)

The Mitt That Was, And Is

So, remember this post. Well here's the offending mitt:

I know, I know. "Really MamaMidwife," you ask, "what's so wrong with that (other than it's missing a thumb)?? It looks nice."

Yeah. I know. It appears that way. But no. It's not. If I didn't rip this puppy back, I would notice all the things I didn't like about it's look and it's fit. That would just not be right, not quaggle as my confirmation baby would tell me. See the 3 rows of ribbing going up the back? I ended up not liking that.

The thumb is in a wonky spot and it's got too much give and room.

On the bright side, I LOVE THIS YARN. I could knit with it forever. I could rip this project out a hundred times and reknit it and be ok with that.

What is it? It's Mountain Colors "Twizzle", which is 85% wool, 15% silk and it is OhSoSoft. Really. (I tried to google you a good link for it, but it's useless. Just look at my pictures). I believe the colorway is "Mystic Lake". I got it on sale for about 15% off at my LYS a while back. I love it. Did I mention I love it?? I have only 2 skeins so I am being very stingy with anything I knit with it coming out perfect.

You recognize this picture?? Yep. There's the Rainbow Hat II in the background. And in the foreground is the mitt cast-on and started again. I took these Friday (12-18) so I actually have quite a bit more done than this.

Here's a shot of my crafty spot in the living room, and my son's Roald Dahl book in the pic. :) I am new to this whole "blogging my knitting" thing, so if I have skipped any details you want to know, just ask and ye shall receive. Love to talk about my crack. Hmm, it doesn't sound so good when you say it like that.

And because I am a REAL dork......here is a picture of my knitting notes. This is where I decided what to do for the new mitt. Really, I am a little geeky with this. This is the 4th page of notes just for this one mitten. When I get it the way I want it maybe I'll have to make an official "pattern". That could be fun.

Knit on, friends.

** Edited to add: Ok, so in that first pic.....what's bothering me also is that I made a nice long cuff, but forgot to make the end of that nice long cuff a little wider than the top - 'cause arms get wider as you go up from the wrist. Make sense?? Hope so.

The Hat That Was

Gotta love blogger....these pictures loaded out of order. Please excuse this first photo. Well come back I promise.

Moving on. Here (look down) is the hat. I finished it in just a few days. It is pretty cute. But it is HUGE. Even for my rather large man.

I knit it too big around. I knew that pretty early on and kept on knitting anyway. Oh well. Now I know just how he'd like it.

Here's a close up of the yarn. I really like that it didn't pool. I really like this yarn.

In "action" shot on the man. It "fits" but is very loose. He really wants a beret-type look. Um, no. I am just reducing the number of stitches (or so I think) and knitting it plain (you'll see what I mean in a few seconds).

Action from the side. Pretty right? Or hideous, depending on your tastes.

Ok, now go back to the top picture. (Scroll up, I'll wait.) See in the background of that picture?? That's the "new" hat cast on and knit around. The first hat was 116 stitches around (about 23-24 inches...guy's got a big head). But, knitting stretches. So I put it on his head and bunched it up as tight as he'd like it and the "new" hat is only 84 stitches around. I also went down a couple of needle sizes for the ribbing. That may be overkill, but oh well. If it's too small I'll rip it out again and start over. I used size 5 needles (in case you're wondering) for the first hat. This "new" one is size 3 for the ribbing and size 5 for the stockinette. Plain jane hat = no pattern. Rib for an inch or two then stockinette till the end. 7 evenly spaced decreases at the top. No biggie.

And that stuff in the foreground of the 1st picture.....that will come soon. :)

OCD Knitting

Last week, I knit myself a mitten. It was destined to be a pair. I didn't use a pattern. I decided about 1/2 way up the mitten that the circumference past the wrist was probably too big. And I didn't really think tha thumb placement was good. And I didn't really love the ribbing running up the back of the hand.

I knit the entire mitten anyway.

I made notes for modifications, took some pictures, and FROGGED the whole thing. Yep. (I may have already mentioned this.)

Well my friends, I have done it again. No, I didn't knit the mitten and frog *it* again (although that's not off the table).

I made, and finished, the rainbow hat.

It was too big. Wearable, but big. I toyed with just ripping parts back or adding a tighter headband.

But in the end folks, the OCD brain chemistry I have says, "It must be perfect, or don't bother." So I frogged the whole thing and recast it on tonight. I did get some pictures, but this is a blackberry post - so you'll have to wait.

Rainbow Hat

On the knitting front comes some new projects.

If you are a member of ravelry (or even if you aren't - join!! - it's FREE and awesome!!) you can find me under the same username: MamaMidwife.

I have finally started the Rainbow Hat. My husband really, really wants a beanie made out of the Taste the Rainbow yarn (seen in this post). I really thought he was joking. I was wrong.

I started it a few days ago and should have it done today. I promise to post pictures ASAP. A knitting post with no pictures is really no fun.

I also got some really crappy yarn as a gift from a very nice individual. It's a cotton/rayon blend. I am sure she bought it because it looked "pretty". It's awful. It splits and it's squeaky. I hate it.......so I started a shawl-y thing to get rid of it. I think I may gift the item to her. Don't tell.

Knit on.

"I'm not really sure you want to talk to me right now."

This is what the automotive repair man, let's call him Brandon 'cause that's his name, said to me on the phone yesterday. I dropped my van off to have the front tires replaced and the oil changed. The front tires were bald, bald, BALD, I tell you. (I have been having nightmares about the car not stopping and crashing into buildings, other cars, people who shouldn't be in the road, and trees. My husband had one where he was following me in his truck, I had the kids in my car, crashed into a tree, car starts on fire, he gets the kids out, goes back for me, car blows up. Time to get new tires.)

Brandon said to me, "Just the tires and oil, right?" I said, "Why don't you take a look at the brakes while you're up there and then call me and tell me what you see. Just look, ok?"

He looked. And he called. Just before he called, I balanced the checkbook. I had sat down at the kitchen table with a stack of bills, picked which ones were getting paid, and pulled out some envelopes. When I picked up the phone and said, "What's up?" he uttered the phrase above (look to title of post).

Apparently the "weird" noise I was hearing was the fact that my calipers were FROZEN - not like cold frozen.....like rusted to the point where they would not move even when he tried to use a pry-bar to get them to budge. Replace?? Yes, unless I want to risk death every time I try to slow down. We all know about the aforementioned nightmares. No need to induce those again.

So along with my tires came a new pair of calipers and brake pads (and maybe rotors, but I'm not so good with car terminology, so I don't remember what he said about those).

Cha-ching. I said to Brandon, while we were still on the phone, "Well. You just saved me a bunch of time. No need to pay those bills, write out checks, and drive them to the post office." :)

Being the nice guy he is, he actually apologized. I pointed out to him that it's not his fault. It isn't as though he called me and said, "The speakers in your car are really kind of on the puny side. You need to spend $600 and get some good sub-woofers in there."

I do have to say, the new tires ROCK!! I am not slipping and sliding everywhere. I can get up my driveway like a regular car can. I can turn while slowing down.

Life is good. Even if I did spend the rent money.

Personal Growth

My husband brought home a rubbermaid tub/bin of clothes yesterday from our old house (on the market, but not sold). The clothes inside were mostly mine. They were from many years ago, like when we were first married.

Lots has changed since then.

In the "growth" department I would say, "Yes. I have grown." Physically for "sho". Seriously. Who can wear a size 31x32 pair of jeans after 3 kids?! (If you can, just shut up.) Camp shorts in a size 8. 8!! And shirts in the mediums galore. I don't think I can even put one boob in a medium now. ;)

Watching the kids look at the clothes was fun too. Phrases like, "Mom, why would anyone ever wear leather pants!?" abounded. They were followed closely by, "Hey! I can wear that!" We did give quite a few of the items to the children. Of course, I had to torment myself (really, it was to make everyone laugh, myself included) and attempt to try some of the items on. Be glad we didn't take pictures or you'd have a wet tushy from peeing your pants.

But in the real area of personal growth, I can see that as a moral human being, a Catholic, a Christian, a mom, a wife, and a woman, I have grown a lot.

It is amazing to me the kind of things I found appropriate to wear, in public or private, once upon a time. We found some old tattoo shop shirts in the bin. These were free t-shirts the tattoo shop owner had screen-printed up with his shops logo and usually some kind of other thing on it. I wore them everywhere. He had a great ring of free advertising going on with these things. I would cut the sleeves off mine, cause I have sleeves of tattoos, and the tight t-shirt collar so they would be more comfortable and show off my ink to the fullest.

The two shirts in question were special shirts that were made up for a tattoo show (Yes, there are tattoo shows/conventions all over the place. There are also tattoo magazines, and the photographers usually come to the shows. There's contests, etc., artists, and lots of other stuff.) in the fall of 2005. The said the name of the tattoo shop and "Tattoo Party Crew" on them. They also had a "drawing" (not a photo) of a woman, with a tattoo, on them. Except,.....she was standing, facing away from the viewer, wearing only a pair of thong underwear and high heels. She had a tattoo over her lower back.

Now, I'm not a prude by any means. But this certainly falls into the "inappropriate for my 9 year old son to be staring at" category any day of the week, especially yesterday. My husband had the slight of hand to pull it away before any of the kids saw it. Of course, I'm sure they saw plenty of it in 2005, since they were all around then and I wore it ALL THE TIME.

I guess I am just happy that I can see that shirt for what it really is - a distraction. It's another one of those things out there to distract us from what's really important and to desensitize us to immorality. I know, I know......maybe I'm making a big deal about this. "It's just a shirt." Right? Well, no. It's a lifestyle that I am proud to say I don't buy into any more. I don't think it's ok to walk around with a half-naked chick on my chest (like anyone needs more help seeing where that is). I also don't think it's ok to desensitize my children to nudity/pornography at every turn. Seeing me, their mother, go from the bathroom to the bedroom with no towel is a far cry from seeing a chick who looks like she works on a pole, if you catch my drift.

My point here is, I feel I have experienced some personal growth in the past four years, and I am grateful. It's wonderful to realize that it's ok to change and it's ok to let the past be. I don't have to mourn the life I had before but can look to it as a place where I have been and grown from. Feels good.

Oh, and we crumpled up the shirts and threw them away. Somethings are not even appropriate to give away.

Some Random Facts

Am update post - because you deserve one and my mind needs to declutter.

~~1

The monster child rapist choose to NOT take the plea the DA gave him and see how his luck fares in a jury trial. What an idiot. What is he going to do? Get up there and say, "Well, she never said no." Duh. She's 13. She can't consent even if she wanted to (which she didn't).

~~2

Said daughter above has told us (on her own) that she wants to live with us and not her mother. Score one for us. Now to get it sorted out in court......

~~3

I have recently lost a very close friend and am morning the relationship I thought we had. (See previous post on mean girls). At the first test of our friendship, she dropped me like 3rd period French. Her ability to "not trust me" is because some important people in our homeschool group found out she was being nice to me. Really.

~~4

Crack.

What can I say? I have a LOT of this stuff. I recently organized my crack. I organized it by cost and weight, where and when I bought it, what I plan to do with it, and what it's cut with.

Yes folks, I cannot get any lower.

~~5

Speaking of crack, my husband's sweater is officially half done. I wish I had photos to put up, but I forgot to bring my scandisk with to my friend's house. (Thank you, laurazim, for your wi-fi). I have finished a sleeve and I am over half way up the body. Soon, he will be warm.

~~6

There is so much more crack to play with, my brain is swarming day and knit, I mean night, with projects I want to complete. Right now I have enough yarn for no less than 13 projects, many of which already have names (even though they are just balls or hanks of yarn): Socks for me (wool, cashmere, nylon), socks for a friend (superwash wool), my sweater (malabrigo wool), my mittens and scarf (silky wool yarn, yum!!), hubby sweater (on the needles, cascade 220), fair-isle mittens (alpaca blend), woolies for babies (pants, sweaters, hats), the never-ending shawl (alpaca lace), a mantilla (leftover alpaca lace), bunnies (cute pattern for a toy)......the list goes on.

I also have acquired a pretty good library of crack-related books. I have been checking them out from the public library and then deciding which ones to buy. Not that there is any money for book buying, so I just keep checking them out over and over again. Hee hee.

~~7

We need a cellular modem. Any suggestions? We currently have US Cellular for a provider.

~~8

Do I write a letter to the mean girl, or not? There is a ton of stuff I want to say and clarify, but I don't feel like I owe her the time of day. Email is out of the question (that's how this mess started) and I don't feel like talking to her. Do I really let someone, ONE person, keep me from participating in a group my kids enjoy. I jst know I won't be able to keep up a fake facade (acting like everything is OK) when/if I see her again. I am pretty blunt.

~~9

Speaking of blunt. My husband likes that I am blunt. So do my two close (non-mean) girl friends. What do you think about bluntness? With me, you get what you see. If you want to know how I feel about something, just ask. I won't sugar coat it - don't have time. I won't say something nice just to make you feel good (unless you're my baby girl and you think you look pretty with a yellow sock, a red sock, green pants, and an ugly brown tank top - then I'll lie through my teeth).

~~10

That's all. Oh, I lied. Only one person requested a hand made Pay it Forward gift. That wonderful lady will be receiving a pair of hand knit socks. :)

In which mean girls exist beyond junior high

Yes. That's right. You can be almost 30 (I am almost 30) and still have Mean Girls around every corner.

Recently, this was brought to my attention in a rather unexpected way. I had forgotten all about "girl world". I had lived through all sorts of hard stuff in my personal life, my marriage, my friendships.

But I never thought a group of homeschooling women would be a threat.

I was wrong.

It's been over a week, and I am still bothered enough that I steam through a shower thinking of the things I would like to say to this woman's face if I ever bother to see it again.

Women are mean. In particular, you can think that you have a very close, secure, and loyal friendship only to find out that it is shallow and meaningless at best.

The details are too much to hash out, although I know some of you would be darned interested in hearing them. If I could muster the strength at this point, I would.

I managed to "turn the other cheek" for an entire week before I blew up at the leadership team of this particular homeschool group. And when I say blew up - I mean it. Verbal vomit. I didn't swear, but I think that's just because it's not as much fun to do that through email (which was how they contacted me).

I am not a fan of email for important communications. It's a very passive-aggressive way of communicating that allows people to combine words and tone that would never happen in real life: "We are so sorry if you're offended. We are not singling you out. We love you. By the way, don't come to Mass. Have a wonderful Christmas!!"

Really?! Can we be a little more 5th grade?

Ugh.

Well, I promise things should be shaping up here around the new year. I am looking into getting a modem for my laptop from my cell phone company. That should spiff things up and get me back to blogging.

For now......you just get random, when I have time kinda stuff.

Sorry.

Preforated Bowels? Anyone??

Here is an article from Catholic News Agency that follows the story of Abraham Hodari, a baby-killer in Michigan. Now the baby-killers are doing the killing against the mother's consent. Nice.

Here's a few more links about his botched baby-killings and other details.

This is a list of the cases filed against him, with gruesome details - punctured internal organs, babies burned with acid-like substances in abortions only to live and be severely deformed requiring numerous operations, teenagers requiring full hysterectomies after their babies were killed, women dying the same day as their baby-killings were performed.

But remember, abortion is "safe" - because obviously if something is legal that means it's safe.

Why, oh why, does the main stream media not pick up on this?? What favor are they doing to women by not reporting these kinds of things? Where is the real choice when the only choice the liberal, lefty feminists want is THEIR choice - to kill innocent lives and destroy humanity.

** Hat tip to Fr. Longenecker.

It's that time again.......

......to take a look at what is going on for and against the Right to Life.

Take this article from Life Site News:

By Kathleen Gilbert

HINSDALE, Illinois, October 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Dominican nun has been seen frequenting an abortion facility in Illinois recently - but not, as one might expect, to pray for an end to abortion or to counsel women seeking abortions, but to volunteer as a clinic escort.

Local pro-life activists say that they recognized the escort at the ACU Health Center as Sr. Donna Quinn, a nun outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion, after seeing her photo in a Chicago Tribune article.

"I've called her sister several times, and she never responded," local pro-lifer John Bray told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). "But it's her."

Amy Keane, a pro-life witness for 11 years, says Quinn has acted as escort for "six years, at least." Keane described one incident in which Quinn began shouting at the pro-lifers as they spoke to a woman about to enter the abortion facility.

"[Quinn] was so angry, and burst out very loudly so everyone could hear: 'Look at these men, telling these women what to do with their bodies!'" said Keane. "She was so angry, that it really took all of us aback." Keane says that the group was peaceful, and that the men present were not among those engaging the woman.

"For those of us who are Catholic, to have a member of a religious order so blatantly - it is so disheartening. It really is," said Keane. "She's participating actively in abortion. That is what is so disturbing for us."

Sr. Donna Quinn, OP, is renowned in the Chicago area as an advocate for legalized abortion and other liberal issues.

In 1974 she co-founded the organization Chicago Catholic Women, which lobbied the USCCB on a feminist platform before it dissolved in 2000. She is now a coordinator of the radically liberal National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN), which stands in opposition against the Catholic Church's position on abortion, homosexuality, contraception, and the male priesthood.

While LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) was unable to reach Sr. Quinn for comment, NCAN's Sr. Beth Rindler confirmed to LSN that Quinn is still a member of their group, which favors unrestricted legalized abortion and disagrees with the teaching that abortion is intrinsically evil. "We respect women, and believe that they make moral decision, and so we respect their decisions," Rindler explained.

In a 2002 address to the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School, Sr. Quinn described how she came to view the teachings of her Church as "immoral": "I used to say: 'This is my Church, and I will work to change it, because I love it,'" she said. "Then later I said, 'This church is immoral, and if I am to identify with it I'd better work to change it.' More recently, I am saying, 'All organized religions are immoral in their gender discriminations.'"

Quinn called gender discrimination "the root cause of evil in the Church, and thus in the world," and said she remained in the Dominican community simply for "the sisterhood."

Sr. Patricia Mulcahey, OP, Quinn's Prioress at the Sinsinawa Dominican community, said in an email response to LSN that the nun sees her volunteer activity as "accompanying women who are verbally abused by protestors. Her stance is that if the protestors were not abusive, she would not be there."

Though Sr. Mulcahey claimed that her sisters "support the teachings of the Catholic Church," she declined to comment on Quinn's public protest of Catholic Church teaching.

Joe Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League says Quinn came in contact with his own office in 1982, when she and a group of other pro-aborts picketed his building on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

"She figures it's part of her religion to take these women in and protect them, and get them abortions," said Scheidler of Quinn's recent activity. "Something dreadful has happened to make a Catholic nun become an escort at an abortion clinic - that's the lowest form you can reach, where you escort a woman with a living child in her into a place to have the child killed, and to ruin that woman's soul."

"If I didn't even believe in the humanity of the child - which of course would be crazy - even if I didn't, I would fight abortion for the sake of the women," Scheidler added. "They miss that baby, and they can't get it back. They never can."

To respectfully express concern (See: LSN Guidelines for Effective Communication):

Cardinal Francis George
Office of the Archbishop
Archdiocese of Chicago
PO Box 1979
Chicago, IL. 60690-1979
Phone: 312-534-8230
E-Mail: archbishop@archchicago.org

Sr. Patricia Mulcahey, OP
Prioress - Sinsinawa Dominicans
E-mail: Spatmul@aol.com

What I do not understand about these Sinsinawa Dominicans is there extreme need to be "feminists" - that is the liberal, lefty version of a feminists.

I wonder if they are in cohorts with the fine ladies over at Holy Wisdom Monestary. These exceptional women "changed" the Our Father to the "Our Mother". Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Good thing the Bishop of the diocese in which the "monestary" is located formally separated them from the Church - 'cause that ain't Catholic teaching.

Just like aiding in the sin of abortion ain't Catholic teaching either.

Pay It Forward, Take II

Ok, so maybe some of you feel a little, um, intimidated by having to offer up 3 handmade gifts in the pay it forward. It's ok. I understand.

But please! Not a one of you want something handmade from yours truly?

I offer some ideas. Handmade is, to me, synonymous with "homemade". A handmade gift can be something as simple as a cake (baked and mixed by hand, not necessarily from scratch), some muffins, a card, a Christmas ornament, something sewn, cooked, knit, crocheted, cross-stitched, glued, stapled, drawn......anything.

So please, someone leave a comment. I want to gift it forward. If you don't have a blog, or don't want to post the PIF to your own blog, that's fine.

Or maybe you'd feel less intimidated just doing 1 gift forward. I think that's fine.

I'll still pick 3 of you, or just one if that's all I get. I accept anonymous comments.....so if you don't have a google account just leave me a comment with your email.

Seriously. Or maybe the idea of getting something knit from me scares people. :O

So maybe I'll gift forward something easy and handmade, like food.

Pay It Forward

I stumbled upon a "Pay It Forward" over at The Sweet Sheep Blog. I was lucky enough to be one of the participants.

While I have yet to get my handmade gift - I do present the Pay It Forward to you.

Leave a comment on this post. I will pick 3 people. I will make you something (hence "handmade") and send it to you. I am giving myself some time, of course. You will get something from me in the next 365 days. Knowing my preference towards knitting, you can bet your handmade gift will be knit.

The only catch is that YOU have to put a "Pay It Forward" for 3 handmade items on your blog.

And so begins the gifting.

And this is why I don't vaccinate.......

This is very funny, but very true also. This is what they put into your vaccines......



Thanks to Sardonic Catholic Dad.