It’s a girl!

It’s been a banner baby year!

Please send some love to our friends Bryce and Aurora.

They welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their hearts and lives this week.

What a joyous blessing!

We’re so happy for you guys.

Congratulations!

Control, Alt, Delete

Hmm.  What could I tell you about today?  Honestly, I have no clue.  I hate those moments when you sit down to write out all the things that were on your mind earlier and all of a sudden your brain says, “Huh?”  I swear, tons of things go through my mind during the day but when I sit down to write, all those thoughts and ideas have wandered off somewhere – probably Bermuda – and left me high and dry. 

So … I took a shower.  I was thinking high and wet had to be better than high and dry, right? 

Not so much.

Actually, I’ve had a thing on my mind for a few months now.  I guess I sort of need to vent about it a little.  Very long story short, a friend of mine has had to deal with some of my long discarded baggage simply because she’s a friend of mine.  She’s been the kind of friend everyone wants to have, and refused to let me apologize, saying, “You’re not responsible for their behavior, don’t sweat it.”  Seriously, how great of a friend is that?  I still feel guilty though, that my crap has gotten on her.  I never meant that to happen.  I can only hope the situation has been handled, and so far it seems to be, but time will tell.  Some people just don’t like realizing they’ve been discarded and think they have certain rights when they don’t.  You can’t just butt your way into people’s lives and make demands, and tell them they have no choices or rights or control concerning the relationship.  Relationships may be a 2-way street, but if one of those people decides to end the relationship, it’s a unilateral thing and you can’t force the other person to stay in a relationship if they don’t want to.  Really, who needs such an abusive, manipulative bully in their life?  Can I have an amen?  You get where I’m coming from, right?

It reminds me of a Star Trek TNG episode I saw not long ago.  There was a woman who decided she wanted to have a romantic relationship with Data, the robot.  He tried to accommodate her, even going so far as to create a “dating program” so he could play the right role for her.  In the end, she realized that expecting a robot to have an emotional connection with her wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had and called it off.  Data asked her if she was sure she wanted to do that, and when she replied that she was certain, he said, “Then I will delete the appropriate program.” 

In some ways I kind of feel like Data – as oxymoronic as that sounds.  There were people in my life who, frankly, were cruel, and betrayed my trust in them in the most underhanded ways possible.  Now they can’t seem to understand that I walked away.  Not out of vengeance, or a grudge, or even anger.  I recognized that these were not the kind of people I wanted in my life and certainly not in the lives of my children.  I don’t hate them, I simply moved on, and deleted the appropriate program. 

I wish they would too.

 

We Interrupt This Blog

To bring you some wonderful news today!

Some of our dearest friends, KnytStalker and her husband, recently welcomed their first son into the world! 

He was born 8-20.

I’m so happy for them!  What a joyous day.    Life is indeed good. 

Welcome to the newest little Stalker. 

They say soda pop is good for that too

I’ve often equated my ability to sense people’s feelings with a satellite dish.  Almost like others send out vibes somehow and I’m able to detect them.  This has caused a lot of anxious moments in my life, because while I may have been able to pick up the signal, as it were, I was never able to figure out what the source was.  Eventually I realized that if I just sat back and let the feeling play out, the person involved would call me within a day or 2 and tell me what was going on.  No one ever knew I was sensing their emotions, until I could say, “Oh it was YOU!  I KNEW something was wrong somewhere!”

This is something I’ve always struggled with.  I learned that talking about such things was not a good idea, because people start saying things like, “You need to be committed.”  “You’re crazy.”  “You should be in a nut house.”  Keeping my mouth shut seemed the best course. 

Now, without going into too much detail, I came to a point in my life where I was compelled to consider my thinking on the Biblical description of the spiritual gifts.  I came to realize – and still believe – that such gifts are no longer in play for the church as a whole.  (For those who are interested in such things, we can email and I’ll explain my position, Biblically.    )  So, for all intents and purposes, I “turned off my dish,” for lack of a better description. 

But, I missed something.  While I maintain that the spiritual gifts are no longer in play for the church, I have come to believe that some of them are in play for Christians individually, specifically to nurture and enhance our relationship with Christ.  So, the dish that I allowed to start rusting from disuse, has lately been getting that rust scraped off and some signals have started coming back in again.  But with a twist.  See, before I never knew who was going through something, only that someone was.  Now it seems I’m sensing the who as well.  A long-time friend has been on my mind the last few days, in a very strong way, and I knew I should get in touch with her but I had this to do and that to take care of … so I procrastinated. 

I spoke with her today.  She’s going in for surgery in a couple of days and asked me to pray for her.  Oh, I’ll be praying, you betcha.  I’ll be on my knees.  Without going into private detail, let me just say an oncologist suggested she get in ASAP to check things out.  So yeah, you could say I’m worried.  If you’re the praying kind, I’d appreciate them on her behalf.

God seems to have a way of thunking me on the head, and this is one of those times.  That stiff wire brush to scrape the rust can be a real bear sometimes.

 

What I left behind

Some time ago, my Beloved did a post that he was inspired from by another blogger we follow, Mapelba.  Her post asked the question, Where are you and your crazy stories from anyway?  My husband responded with, “Where Do You Come From?”  I figured I’d do my own version of the question but before I could get to it, my computer died and I kind of forgot about it.  I’d saved the LOLCat though, and that sort of reminded me when I saw it again. 

I laughed the first time I saw it, then I realized how close it hit to home.  For various reasons, I play personal things close to the vest and don’t reveal much here on the blog.  There’s no need, really.  And it protects the innocent from the guilty.  That being said, I can say I’ve left behind people who had a different definition of family than I did.  Where mine came from, I have no idea.  I believe in loyalty and my relatives didn’t.  I believe in being there when someone needs you, and my relatives didn’t.  It was one thing to talk the talk, but when it came to walking the walk, they were cripples trying to make me an amputee.  So I kept on going. 

I’ve left behind betrayal, and backstabbing.  Lying and deceit.  I’ve left behind strife and arguing, delusion and denial.  I’ve left it all behind because that baggage was just too heavy to carry anymore.  I have other things I wish to carry, things who’s burden is light. 

I carry my love and loyalty for my husband and our children.  I carry my hopes for our future.  I carry my dreams, and my laughter.  Those things were not allowed before and I found that to be unacceptable.  I shouldn’t have to answer to or explain myself to people who don’t love me, don’t even like me, yet presume to declare that they know better than me what’s best for me.  I saw a biography show once about Cher, and she said something that really stuck with me.  She said, “I answer to 2 people; myself and God.”  That’s where I’m headed now. 

I have a husband I adore who cherishes me, I have children I treasure who love me.  I no longer deal with in-fighting, family feuds – none of that crap.  And it’s heavenly!  I have all I need and all I want, and I don’t have the things I don’t want.  What more could I ask for? 

So if and when I tell you I like you, or love you, or care about you in some way – take me seriously, because I know what it’s like to be lied to about those kinds of things, and I wouldn’t do it to anyone else.  I tend to mean what I say, because to do otherwise is to not be true to myself, and my markings, unlike kitteh’s there, are true.

Happy Birthday!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

 

Every once in a while you meet someone special who touches your life in a meaningful way.  My friend KnytStalker is one such person.  Last year I sent her an e-card for her birthday and for some reason, she didn’t get it.  I felt bad when I realized she thought I’d forgotten, so this year I’m taking no chances.  And it would mean a great deal to me if you’d take a moment to stop by her blog and just leave her a little birthday love, too.  Thanks!

Happy Birthday Dear Raga! 

Thank you for being my friend

and

Have a wonderful day!

*hugs*

Asked and Answered Meme from WIGSF

Recently, WIGSF did a little meme over on his blog.  I took the bait and now I’m doing it at mine.  Here are my answers to the questions he gave me, after the obligatory rules.

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Here are the five questions WIGSF has given to me.

 

1. Cardinals or Steelers?

Oh, you ask me this before I have my post up on my football page!  Well, I guess I need to post that one early, and direct you there if you want to see my answer!  I caught a lot of flack for picking the Ravens over the Steelers in the Championship game last week.  I have some friends who are die-hard Steelers fans.  I also caught flack for picking the Cardinals over the Eagles.  If you really want to know, click here —>>DarcsFalcon’s SuperBowl Picks

2. Who is your favourite Beatle?

When I was a young girl, I was forced to be in close proximity to someone who was a huge Beatles fan.  He lived to make me miserable.  I hated him, and anything associated with him, including the Beatles, and M.A.S.H.  I still haven’t grown out of it, and now whenever Paul McCartney does a Beatles song at concerts or whatever, I refer to him as the World’s Most Expensive Cover Band.

3. Regardless of Catholicism, if the Pope invited himself over for dinner, what would you serve?

Hmmm.  Well, I wouldn’t try any new recipes, that’s just begging for trouble.  I’d stick with something I know I’m good at making.  It would likely be a toss-up between 2: either my roasted chicken and potatoes, or my roast beef; some kind of vegetable side dish, and probably some crescent rolls.  And I might pick up a cheesecake for dessert. 

4. Have you ever been to a professional wrestling event?

Good grief, NO!  LOL 

5. “Weird Al” Yankovic: yay or nay?

Yay!  I think Weird Al is funny and I like the stuff he does. 

Oasis, the book!

I’m all about the shameless promotion when I feel it’s appropriate, and I do now.  My friend, Bryce Beattie, has published his first novel, Oasis.  Here’s the link over to Amazon, where you can pick up a copy.  If you hurry, you can get it in time for Christmas!  Oasis (Paperback) 

Here’s a description of the book:

One night after a marathon shift in the emergency room, Corbin St. Laurent sees a Red Cross trailer offering free vaccinations. He quickly discovers something is terribly wrong, but it’s too late. Terrorists have used the trailer as a front to inject dozens of people with a deadly virus that takes over the mind and controls the body. The next morning the power goes out and the the government quarantines the entire city. Corbin finds himself trapped in a city of no hope. Infected men and women roam the streets in mindless packs, seeking only to spread their infection. Being stuck in cramped quarters and extreme conditions, tempers flare and fear paralyzes the rational mind of all but the toughest of survivors. Corbin struggles to find safety–evading the infected, finding refuge through sleepless nights, fighting exhaustion, fending off heat stroke, and coping with treachery and betrayal. It’ll take everything Corbin’s got just to survive the outbreak in Oasis.

I know my husband enjoyed reading through the rough-cut of this story, and a reviewer on Amazon described it this way:

What a great book! A wonderful new twist in the zombie world. This book is so much more than your run of the mill zombie story. The main character is well written and is a testament to what people will go through and deal with in order to survive. Mr. Beattie takes the reader on a truly fun and at times heart pounding ride. I wish I could have given it 10 stars!

Looking for Christmas gifts?  Looking for a good read?  Here’s your chance!  Pick up my friend Bryce’s book.  You’ll be glad you did! 

 

I guard u forever

see more puppies

You are safe in my heart.

A Stalker’s Best Friend

more animals

Several moons ago, my husband ranted in one of his posts that he couldn’t figure out how to get more hits to his blog.  Someone unknown to him commented that they’d been reading through his fiction and loving it.  That person became a friend, our friend Raga. 

Well, I bugged her for months to get a blog, and not long ago, she finally did.  However, in a show of loyalty and support to my husband and his fiction work that brought her out of her lurker status, she calls herself, “KnytStalker.”  It’s a private joke between us now, but when she also created a DeviantArt page with the same name, some of my husband’s friends there thought for a moment she might be a real stalker.  We had a good laugh over that one.   

So when I saw this particular LOLcats, I knew I had to use it in a post dedicated to our beloved Raga, and tell her how much I love her, and am glad she’s my friend, and part of my life.  She’s loving, loyal, generous, helpful, dependable, funny, and kind.  Raga love, this one’s for you.    *hugs*

Why don’t you check out her blog and say hello? 

©DarcsFalcon

I don’t like Ike

Isn’t kitty keeeewwwwt? 

Hoomin stuff indeed!  Hello Monday!  It’s been a fairly stressful weekend, what with having one of my BFF’s live right in Ike’s path.  Certainly way more stressful for her, being without power and good stuff like that, sustaining lots of damage to her home, having to listen to things battering her house in the night.  But, you know, I worry.  That’s what big sister types do, we worry.  So I’ve been on the phone to her a lot, trying to keep her up to date on what’s going on in Houston, since she doesn’t have power and can’t go online to get the news, get information, or anything.  And my other BFF lives on the edge of Ike, not in the path, but close enough to get a lot of rain and some wind.  Even up here in IL, we were warned to expect Ike remnants on Sunday afternoon.  Because you just can’t keep a good storm down.  But by the time you read this, Ike should be nothing more than a bitter memory.  Lots of damage and destruction in his wake, but still a memory.  And I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to hurricanes having boy names. 

The editing is progressing.  Slowly.  We were hoping it would go much faster, but when you have little time to dedicate to it, and are trying to raise a family, maintain a home, and worry about people you love, it leaves little time for working on things like edits.  So you’ve got a few extra days to catch up on Ghost Hunters before it’s pulled down.  Just a few, so get crackin’! 

My boy just lost his first tooth.  Sometimes I think that’s more traumatic for parents than it is for kids.  It’s like the final end of baby-hood, the last hurdle to jump, that signals kid-hood has begun.  He’ll be 7 in a couple of months and – as the proverb goes – it seems like just yesterday he was born.  It’s always so bittersweet to watch them grow.  There is sorrow in saying goodbye to the sweet baby days, the days when all you had to do was just hold your baby to make him happy and he’d fall asleep in your arms, soothed by your scent and your sound.  No longer does making silly faces and going, "Ah – BOO!" spin him into peals of hysterical baby giggles.  At the same time, I can see traces of his adult face when he sleeps and I marvel at his beauty.  He’s such an awesome, amazing boy and what a joy to see the young man emerge, bit by tiny bit.  He tells me he loves Classical music, and can we please light the candles while we listen to the music?  He tries to help his baby sister learn new things, always trying to be considerate.  Most of the time.    One day, my future grandkids are going to have a great dad. 

But please keep praying for the Ike survivors – because there’s no such thing as a Texas victim – they survive down there!  And they do need a lot of help right now.

PS – I put my political blog up if you’re interested – Falcon’s Politics 

 

©DarcsFalcon

Sherri and Dwight …

For Sherri and Dwight:  Hurry back you guys!

 

How’s that for the guilts?   

Seriously, hope you’re doing okay.  Just wanted to let you know I missed ya.   

Did it work?

Showing some Love

For some sweet ladies in my life, who have been gentle with me this past week.  Sherri, and Raquita.  I know you are both fans of the ‘Boys, and I know you both use FireFox.  So, here ya go.  Hope you like!  A little something to get you through the off season.

And Stranger, you were gentle with me too, and I looked and looked for a Colts theme for you but couldn’t find any for FireFox.  I did though, find some Colts wallpaper for you.  Thank you from my heart for being such a sweetie. 

Raga?  Colts or ‘Boys hon?  Thanks for the hugs.

Love and Hugs to all of you, thank you for being a part of my life.