Wedding Idea

I spent a craft-filled Saturday with Ali (bride), Nan (mother of bride), and Laura (gal pal of bride) working on one of the bigger projects for the wedding in May . . . the fabric flowers that will line the grassy walkway leading down to the ceremony site. We had a blast. We're still brainstorming what we might do on the chairs, and staged this idea using vintage sheet music. Not a keeper for Ali's wedding, but I like it enough that I'm going to keep it out. If I decide to fill it with real flowers (these are silk), then I can pop the flowers into a florist tube before popping it into the cone.

The Biggest Loser

Jennifer Harper notes in her Washinton Times column today that Obama plans to turn his December 2nd speech into a, well, I cannot improve on Jennifer:

OBAMARAMA
Television is sure to be a dither-free zone at 8 p.m. Tuesday night. President Obama will have a monumental stage at West Point and exquisitely selective words at the ready when he delivers his long-awaited Afghanistan policy speech, aka "the Obama off-ramp" in select circles. The "big three" broadcast networks are not their usual compliant selves, however.

CBS has set aside just 30 minutes for the speech, to be followed by re-runs and their annual offering, "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," where models wander the runway in angel wings and high-priced undergarments. ABC is giving the speech an hour, bumping "A Charlie Brown Christmas" while NBC will broadcast the speech, followed by two hours of "The Biggest Loser."

It's a bonanza for cable news channels. CNN's "Decision Afghanistan" offers almost 12 hours of material - the live speech followed by analysis by Wolf Blitzer, John King, Anderson Cooper and others.

"We're harnessing out global resources," Mr. Blitzer says.

MSNBC offers the live speech followed by specials showcasing Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews.Fox News will offer similar fare with the speech, followed by six hours of special analysis anchored by Bill O'Reilly and Greta Van Susteren.

.."followed by two hours of 'The Biggest Loser.'"

That's rich! A special on Obama's presidency?

OBLIGATORY DIG AT THE POSOTUS NARCISSISM: This clown dilly-dallies for over four months while flouncing off to Copenhagen, promoting failed Democrat gubernatorial candidates, flapping his lips about health care while the economy tanks, boogies in the White House with all kinds of Hollywood trash and party crashers, and can't seem to make up his mind on military policy until now? And then he turns it into yet another photo-op with the troops? Maybe he'll do a chest-bump with some of the cadets.

I am so-o-o-o over this guy.

Ask Anne

Hey everybody! Anne here. Thanks to who ever wrote this question; I was beginning to wonder if anybody knew I was out there :) So to start this advice column out with a bang, how about starting with something a bit more serious. I think this is a question that everyone asks at least once in his/her life.

How can there be a good and loving God when there is so much pain, evil, and suffering in the world?

So I've been thinking about my answer to this one for about a week now, and I hope this does the trick.

First things first, God is the most loving, gracious being there is. He is so good and loves all of us so much that He gave us this amazing world to take care, as well as each other. He gave us the Garden of Eden, heaven on earth. He also gave us our free will; He gave us the choice to choose good or evil. He never has, and He never will, make us do something. That's where the whole evil/pain/suffering thing comes in the mix. We are the ones that chose to bring evil and pain and suffering into this world. God gave us a loving, good, and just world, but original sin took that away from us. We chose to give in to temptation and to sin. If it weren't for our own choices, we could see how amazing God is. In fact, God loves us so much that He is willing to forgive us every time we sin and hurt each other. All we have to do is ask. We can commit the same sin over and over and over, and as long as we are genuinely sorry, He will forgive us. Our job as Christians is to not sin over and over and over again. We need to be better people so we can reach God's kingdom of goodness and love.

So I hope this answered your question completely. If not, leave me a comment or write me another question.

'Til next time!

Anne