Thanks Giving

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best. Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd day of October, A.D. 1789.
G. Washington

Thanksgiving

"In everything give THANKS, for this is God's will for you in
Christ Jesus." (I Thessalonians 5:18)

Grandma's Secret to Great Pie

And I can only hope my grandmother did not do this!

Darcy the First Four Years

The Atom Song

A Must Watch for my Chemistry Class (and any one else who
dares to do so LOL). It's a catchy tune and will help with the
test on Module 7.

Star Trek Returns May 2009

http://www.startrekmovie.com/

Darcy is Four Years Old Now

Princess Darcy had her cousins Cody (age 1) and Zachary come over as well
as grandparents and Aunt Amy and Uncle Matthew to celebrate. Her brothers
weren't quite sure what to make of her gifts but were willing to play with
them anyway. Darcy was happy with them and loved her "big girl doll" that
Aunt Amy got her. I can't believe she is already four years old. Where did
the time go?

Chemistry Class 12-12-08

Starting with 60 grams of Sugar and about 60 ml of concentrated sulfuric acid
(DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN DO THIS!!!)
(IF YOU, as an adult do it, do it outside!)
The Sulfuric acid "cooks" the sugar turning it into pure carbon and water (in
the form of steam). It gets VERY hot (use a pyrex beaker -anything else
with break - usually shattering.)

Neutralize the acid afterwards with lots of baking soda as the acid remains
unchanged.

It is a "Wow" demonstration.

Gov. Palin at Conference

The somber looking young man to her right is my nephew David (he is guarding
her and from appearances - not too happy about being there but I would
suppose they aren't supposed to be smiling.)

The Art of Books (Book Arts at UA)

http://www.bookarts.ua.edu/

Amy is in graduate school in Book Arts at the University of Alabama
and recently the Kentuck art festival was in Tuscaloosa. The Book Arts
program had a booth for children on making paper and watermarks. Amy's photo
is now on the UA website. (We went and that is our granddaughter making
a watermark).
There is a lot more to papermaking than a blender and screen wire I've learned
and I've been greatly impressed with the quality of work I've seen.

Redstone ATF Training Video

ATF Demonstration at Redstone Arsenal

http://videos.al.com/birmingham-news/2008/11/atf_demonstration_at_redstone.html

My son (EOD) did some training here. I know my class will love
this video (in today's Birmingham News). Thought some of my readers
would enjoy too. (Now, my son takes the things apart before they hurt
people - I think - I hope.
Every week in class the first thing I'm asked is, "Mrs. Brock, are
we going to blow anything up today?" So far this year the answer each
week has been no. (Unless you count Diet Coke and Mentos)
Maybe this video will tide them over.

News on Migraines

http://www.boston.com:80/news/nation/articles/2008/11/06/migraine_history_lowers_a_cancer_risk/?s_campaign=8315

"We found that, overall, women who had a history of migraines had a 30 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who did not have a history of such headaches," said Dr. Christopher Li of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, whose findings appear in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Li said the reduction in risk was for the most common types of breast cancers - those driven by hormones.



Now, I'm not about to break out the party hats on this one.

I still have a migraine from yesterday.
And I have to take my dad to get a CT scan this morning.

R.I.P. Michael Crichton

I shall miss him - one of my favorite authors of all time. I have read all his
books - some were better than others but all made you think.
He was a true science geek. (And ER is a pretty good TV show too..)
I'm sad.

(Images from Amazon.com - to "see inside" you'll have to go to
http://www.amazon.com to find the books - he wrote many more than these - these
are just among my favorites.)

I heard a Rumor this Morning

That Oprah would be sending everyone a check today (now this may just be internet gossip!!! - a disclaimer!!). Something about sharing her wealth. I think she might need my address though. I dunno. Maybe the government gave her all our addresses.
I do hope this one is true.

Chosen

Jacob's Faces (again)

First the I'm very "disappointed and sad" followed SECONDS later by "just joking!"

I love his faces...he's such a little actor.

Oct. 31st. 2008

Cowboys, a Cheerleader and no, Jessica was NOT a pretend basketball player.
She was for real. She played point guard in a tournament and was demonstrating
her technique for us later that night when I got the photo.

Praying for America

This election has me bothered more than any other I remember. And I have remember a lot of politics. It was always discussed in my growing up years and I devoured the newspaper - I was a weird kid I know.

But it is not the politics that is bothering me so much (well, it is but that is not
what is bothering me the most). I have never seen our great nation so divided.
And the division is heated and spitting mad. Hatred is brewing (BOTH sides!).
I do not see any good coming from this election no matter who wins.

I prayed last Tuesday in our Bible Study and was sincere when I did so for healing in our land. We need this more than anything else - along with revival and a turn to God. Oh sure we need financial stability and peace and a lot of other worldly things but most of all we need each other and we need God to head our lives.

A Nation divided against itself cannot stand. (I do not think that is original.)
While I don't think we are about to break out in another Civil War, I do think
the division is strong enough to divide friends and families if we let it.

Unless I missed something God is still Sovereign and still on His throne. He is still in charge and can change the course of empires and the hearts of kings (and Presidents).

IF his people pray and seek His face..

Pax