So far, so good......

No one has disowned me yet after reading the last blog about my political thoughts...

After all, this is my blog and it's the place for my thoughts and beliefs..

I am continually amazed at what people say about the presidential candidates.  Recently during a committee meeting that I attended, one woman said "I don't know who to vote for - both of them are anti-christs!"

In this case, I would even defend Romney; even though I don't like him, he certainly can't be accused of being the anti-christ. 

But the Barack Obama that the Republicans are fighting against is entirely a figment of their imagination.  Their description of him is so far from the fact -- I just wonder who makes up all that stuff..

Some of my Republican friends cite the movie "Obama's America - 2016" as proof that he is not a Christian and that he has a plan to destroy America.  I haven't seen the movie, but I've researched it; it was made by a man who emigrated here from Mumbai and became very active in the far right political activities.  It would be as if someone from the far liberal left would make a movie about Romney.  And they call it a documentary.  I understand that in the movie, it states that Obama learned his hatred of America from his father.  That seems strange, since first of all - he doesn't hate America, but also - his father left the family when Barack was two years old, and there was contact with him only one time after that! 

In this month's issue of Oprah Winfrey's magazine, she interviewed both Mr. and Mrs. Obama, and Mr. and Mrs. Romney (not at the same time of course).  She asked Mr. Obama what it means to him that he is a Christian.  His reply:  "it means that Jesus died for my sins". 

But I'll get off that subject for a while.

Thursday evening we were invited to my daughter's home for a belated birthday dinner.  I stayed the night because I was going to babysit the next day -- the children had "fall break" from school.

Joey had to model his "great white shark" halloween costume.  It was so cute.  We always have so much fun together.  They are both taking piano lessons and doing very well;  the method this teacher uses is unlike any method I ever knew but it seems to be working well. 

On Thursday we had our first snow of the season - altogether we got about four or five inches of good, wet snow.  So thankful for the moisture!

An arrest.....

"Justice for Jessica" has been the motto of all the law enforcement agencies around here the last few weeks since the kidnapping, murder and dismembering of 10 year old Jessica Ridgeway.  Today they announced the arrest of a 17 year old boy as the person who did this horrible thing.  The rumor is that his mother called the police to turn him in.  Not only are the members of Jessica's family the victims, but this young man's mother is also a victim; as a mother, I can't imagine what she is going through.

This presidential campaign has just been awful and I'm glad that in 13 days it will be over.  I am registered as an Independent, and in past elections I have voted for the candidate I thought was best, regardless if he was a Republican or a Democrat.  However, after witnessing how awful the Republicans have treated President Obama the last four years, I don't think I could ever again vote for a Republican.  They say they are the party of "family values", but oh my goodness - they have worked so hard to fight anything the President wanted to do for the country these last four years, there has been complete gridlock in Congress because of the Republicans.  Never before has there been such a complete lack of cooperation, but of course the Republicans don't take responsibility for it. I don't see any "family values" in that. 

Then they blame the big financial deficit on Obama.  The truth is, that in January of 2001 when Bill Clinton left office, there was no deficit -- in fact there was a surplus - the largest surplus in the history of the country.  That's what George Bush inherited.  Eight years later in January of 2009 when George Bush left office, there was a deficit - and it was the largest deficit in the history of the country.  That's what Barack Obama inherited -- but now the Republicans are blaming the entire deficit on him. 

Just last Sunday, my Sunday School teacher said that Obama's administration has not stood by Israel - which seems to be a common complain of Republicans.  The truth is (and this can easily be researched on the internet) that Obama has done more for Israel that George Bush ever did, and Mr. Obama has been on record that he will always stand by Israel. 

But the Republicans don't want to know the truth.  It makes me so sad to say this, because most of my friends and family members are Republicans and I love them. 

During the Republican primary campaign, the Billy Graham Association came out opposed to Romney and stated that Mormonism is a cult.  Now that Romney is the Republican candidate, they have changed their mind and said that Mormonism is not a cult.  The Southern Baptist Convention did the same thing.  Isn't it strange how Christian organizations can change definitions because of the political candidate they prefer over the one that they hate.  So much for taking a stand.

It's also true that Romney is running on the platform of all abortion being wrong, but now he's flip-flopping to say that abortion in event of rape or incest is ok. 

In the presidential campaign debate the other night, Romney kept accusing Obama of attacking him.  That is really a case of the pot calling the kettle black!  Romney has been attacking Obama since the beginning of the campaign and still is constantly attacking him.

The strangest thing is about Ann Romney.  She no longer watches TV because all the campaign ads upset her and since she has MS, she is supposed to stay calm.  If her husband becomes president - does she think there will be no stress?  Does she think he won't get criticized?  Did her husband not think of her medical condition before he decided to run for president -- or did he not care?  I think it's very strange.

And today Donald Trump gave President Obama till October 31 at 5 pm to release all his college records and his passport.  No other presidential candidate has ever before been asked to release college records.  And Mr. Romney hasn't even released more than two years of his tax returns - when even his father released many years of his.  Mr. Obama was a professor of constitutional law at Chicago University -- and he would never have gotten that position if there was any problem with his college transcript.  It's just not possible.  Donald Trump has just made a laughing stock of himself -- again!

OK, I feel a little better now for getting this out of my system!

The Presidential Suite

Some time ago, we had received a gift certificate for a free night's stay in the presidential suite of one of the local luxury hotels, and since yesterday was my birthday, we decided to use the gift and see what a presidential suite might be like. 

The suite was located on the 11th floor of the hotel - it was a secure floor, you could only access it with a key.  Looking out from the balcony, we saw the Denver skyline against the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

We were told that Mitt Romney stayed in this suite during one of his recent visits to Denver, but in spite of that, it was very nice.  Spacious - oh my goodness, I think the entire suite was larger than our whole house!  The sign on the back of the door said that the nightly rate was $1,500, but I know the person who gave us this gift purchased it at a charity auction, so I'm sure it was for much less.

And finally - sunset over the Rockies.....

The gift certificate included a wonderful dinner in the hotel dining room.  In my opinion, the true value of a hotel can be judged by its mattress and its towels, and the hotel scored A+ on both of these.  But after this - it will be back to Holiday Inns again!

It's number thirteen!

Yes, today is our thirteenth wedding anniversary.  How fast time has flown by - but of course at this age time seems to pass twice as quickly as before. 

We had a very nice day; we drove into Denver and went to the Fresh Fish Company for lunch - both of us enjoyed the Alaskan Snow Crabs.  The trees are in their full autumn glory right now, so the long drive past downtown Denver was a beautiful drive.  After lunch we did a bit of shopping, and then headed home.

My two dear friends, Phyllis and Janet and I always do something special for our birthdays, and since my birthday is tomorrow, we celebrated it on Tuesday.  We have been doing this for many years already and we always have a good time.  We started with breakfast at the Egg and I in Thornton, and then traveled to downtown Denver to browse the "Gone for Good" store.  This is actually a warehouse; the owners are trying to keep things out of landfills, so they pick up things that haven't sold at garage sales or estate sales, or they'll haul away the stuff in people's basements.  Whatever is sellable is stored in the warehouse and people can shop -- and it's fun there!  Nothing is priced, and nothing is beautifully displayed...you just dig through boxes and when you've chosen what you want, you negotiate a price for everything.  The unsellable stuff is recycled somehow or other. 

Tuesday afternoon I picked up my grandchildren from school because their mother wasn't feeling well and their daddy was on a business trip.  I took them to McDonald's (they call it Old McDonald's) where we played for a while and had something to eat.  That evening I took care of them so their mommy could rest.  I finally went to bed in the guest room, thinking the children were sound asleep in their beds.  In the morning I found out that they had gone down to the living room where their mother was, and one had gone to sleep in the recliner and the other had slept on one of the sofas.  Guess I'm not a very alert babysitter!

I recently went through my abundant supply of craft items, and gave quite a lot of paper and other supplies to the grandchildren.  In return they made a card for me that said "you're the best grammy in the whole world" -- how sweet was that!  They're both taking piano lessons, and Joey played some songs for me.  Their teacher uses a different teaching method than I ever was acquainted with, but they're both doing very well. 

I also watched the presidential debate as much as I could on Tuesday evening, and was so happy at President Obama's answers to the questions.  He has been so unfairly maligned, but that's a subject I could go on and on about - but I won't today.

I read an article about Mitt Romney's wife Ann; she has MS and is not supposed to have stress in her life, so she's stopped watching TV during the presidential campaign.  If her husband becomes president -- does she think she won't have stress in her life????? 

And why does Mr. Romney have such a desperate look in his eyes???

If Mr. Romney gets to be president, should the Democrats treat him as rottenly and disrespectfully as the Republicans treated President Obama? 

Tomorrow is another day of celebrating -- it's my 77th brithday.  My consolation is that in the Bible, seven is a perfect number, so eleven 7's must be perfectly wonderful!

Changing seasons

I love the changing seasons!  I would find it hard to live in a place where the weather is the same all year. 
I am always so ready for the next season, and especially after this very hot and dry summer, the signs of autumn are very welcome.

We have had several nights of frost, so the leaves have turned color and started to fall.  And the beautiful Rocky Mountains now have the beginning of their snowcaps; this is the view looking west from our driveway:

The Retreat

I had been looking forward to October 13 - the date for our annual Retreat for our Sunday School class, so when yesterday 9:00 a.m. came around - I was ready!  I attended this retreat for the first time last year, and had a wonderful time, so I was greatly anticipating another good experience - and I wasn't let down.  There were 16 ladies attending, all ages (of course I am the oldest), and we met in the Octogan - which is a room in our church that is shaped like an octogan (go figure). 

The day started with each woman telling a little of her life story, except for two ladies who did not yet feel comfortable sharing.  We all come from different walks in life and have had many different experiences, many difficulties and tragedies.  The sharing of these stories bonds us together in love.  I have never been in a church-related group where there is so much honesty, and I love it.  I have shared experiences with this group that I have not shared with other friends, and it's easy to share because each one of these ladies has had an imperfect life and consequently there is no judgment.  It was especially heartwarming to see the spiritual growth in some of the young women - comparing their last year's stories with this year's stories. 

We enjoying fellowshiping over a delicious lunch provided by two of the ladies, and then we watched a video presentation about "roots of bitterness and expectancies".  The video was well done, and presented a lot of material for discussion.  We all left for home after 5 pm, quite tired, but all agreeing that it was a wonderful day.  This morning in our Sunday School class, we continued the discussions from yesterday; there is just such a close bond among our group, a feeling of love and acceptance from each person for each person.  In my experience, this has been rare in church circles. 

So sad...

The law enforcement officers just had a press conference confirming that the body that was found on Wednesday is that of 10 year old Jessica who was abducted last Friday morning while on her way to school.  There are three jurisdictions involved; she was abducted in the suburb of Westminster, her backpack was found in the suburb of Superior, and the body was found in the suburb of Arvada.  These three locations form a triangle with each leg of the triangle being about six miles long.  The FBI has brought in their top, most experienced child abduction teams, and there will now be a huge effort to find that person who did this awful thing.  The public was been very involved in searching for Jessica, and the FBI is asking for everyone to watch for anyone who is acting differently and report it to the police.  In the last few months there were three other attempted abductions in the general area where the body was found, and of course they're investigating if there might be a connection.  When he is caught and prosecuted, it will be a huge relief as parents throughout the city are now fearful for their children.  The evil in such a person is beyond imagination.

The story of this blog -

I had started this blog in summer when someone hacked my other blogspot; however, I was able to fix that one and so returned to it.  A month or so ago it was hacked again so I completely removed that blog and went back to this one.  I'm still in the process of building it and adding the various components - which will happen as I have time.  I was able to give it the same name as my previous blog, so maybe my readers will find me again!

Fall is here - leaves have turned color, and as a result of the first freeze - the leaves are now fluttering to the ground.  The nights are chilly, but the days are beautiful.

Our city is going through a very sad time.  Last Friday a 10 year old girl was abducted; she was walking from her home to meet her friends in the park and walk together to school -- and she never made it to the park.  Yesterday the police announced that a body had been found, but they refused to say more, except that it was not intact.  They are still searching - evidently for the rest of the body.  I imagine that if it was the body of an adult they would have said that it's not this girl - but they made no more comments.  My heart breaks for the family; I can't imagine experiencing something like this.  This happened in a middle-class neighborhood in one of the suburbs north of Denver, not at all a place where you would expect such a crime to happen.

One more week and I'll turn 77 years old.  I find this hard to believe!  How fast the years have gone, but when I was int he middle of living those years they did not seem to be passing quickly at all.  The advantage of being this age is that now I see that many of the things I used to worry about never happened.  I also can look back and see God's hand in my life, even when I didn't think He cared about me, even when I was sure He had abandoned me.

But one thing about this age is that the number of my remaining days is dwindling, and I know it -- and I don't  like it.  Oh - I know I'll go to heaven, and that isn't a problem -- in fact it will be wonderful.  However, I want to live and see my grandchildren grow up and marry; I want to continue the close relationship I have with my daughter who is my best friend; I want to continue developing the wonderful friendships I have.  I want to keep on serving the Lord as best I can. 

And so I look forward to this next birthday trusting God to give me many more GOOD years!  Thank you Jesus!