3 June 2009

I am deeply saddened by the murder of Kansas physician George Tiller. I am equally saddened by the blandness of the response from the ELCA in the face of such violence. It is imperative for the church to speak out against the violence perpetrated by the hateful rhetoric of churches, both in pulpits, and in front of clinics. We must stand behind our social statement on abortion.

"Because of our conviction that both the life of the woman and the life in her womb must be respected by law, this church opposes:

* the total lack of regulation of abortion;
* legislation that would outlaw abortion in all circumstances;
* laws that prevent access to information about all options available to women faced with unintended pregnancies;
* laws that deny access to safe and affordable services for morally justifiable abortions;
* mandatory or coerced abortion or sterilization;
* laws that prevent couples from practicing contraception;
* laws that are primarily intended to harass those contemplating or deciding for an abortion."


Dr. Tiller's courage against unbelievable odds will never be forgotten. He was a hero to those seeking help in the most desperate of situations, and we need to honor the compassionate care he provided to so many.

Today I am asking you, Bishop Hanson, to recognize women's health care for what it is -- a necessary part of life itself, which includes the fundamental right to privacy and the right to make decisions about having a family.

I hope for the day when doctors can provide women's health care without threat of violence and women can enter clinics without fear of harassment.

I hope that as a church we will find the courage to denounce the murder of a physician on a Sunday morning in his house of worship and not avoid why he was murdered.

Elisabeth Pletcher-Harincar
Nokomis Heights Lutheran Church
Minneapolis, MN

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30 May 2009, so little time

Well, I'm beginning to get complaints about the state of the blog and I can't say that I really blame you. I in turn might blame facebook, which works better for me in that I can write and read in 3 second increments. But to be fair I do miss the blogging, I just haven't figured out how to juggle this all.

At some point there will need to be some sozzled changes. You might have noticed that things are falling apart around here, it is not unlike my house these days.....things aren't working 100%, we are in a constant state of mess, and no one ever seems to have clean socks.....you can't leave comments, not all the links are functioning and I never update! Life is chaos, and as Tim and I discussed last night we aren't quite sure what to do about it. It is so bad that we ran out of beer and did NOT go out to buy more.

Next week brings the roll out of new SailBlogs things (godwilling) and Miranda's graduation from 8th grade (don't get me started on that one!) and then the rummage sale begins and Tim bikes 150 miles with drunk friends.....and so it goes.

I will post as I am able...and once I rebuild sozzled elsewhere I will link (that might not happen until the girls are back in school in the fall, which is a funny thing to say when they have yet to be done for the summer!) and possibly even have remote posting and a map (although I won't be posting from a boat very often :-)

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8 May 2009, in bed

ok landing in bed and missing a whole day due to what is likely not the swine flu but is making me eat like a pig has resulted in my doing a half assed job at a lot of things. So I'm going to stop trying to pretend to be productive while surfing, facebooking, and dozing and blog about my favorite salad in the whole world (at least right now).

When I realized I was too sick to go with Grandma for lunch today, I was pretty bummed. I like the Lexington best out of of all the lunch places we hit, it feels...well, like we are "ladies who lunch". Today though I was not lunching but napping. What a treat it was when Missy and Joan landed here after lunch with not only my third of the bill, but with a whole of their Spring Salad for me. I've eaten it for two meals (yes I am the rare person who gets HUNGRY when sick....I hope the saying goes "feed a fever" because I have been.

Anyway in this delightful salad consists of....
romaine
red onion
mandarin orange slices
strawberries
smoked turkey
and montery jack cheese cubes
all covered in a magical dressing that I have no clue what is in it.

I'm still sad that I missed going out with Grandma, but eating this salad from the comfort of my own bed is a treat! (even better that I'm eating it on Tim's side of the bed ;-)

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6 May 2009

Years ago a well meaning friend whose kids are slightly older than mine informed me that as they get older life gets busier.

At the time with clingy toddlers I laughed. Now she is laughing at me. Maybe I should retitle the blog "excuses why I'm not blogging". Although the Sozzled still fits I don't have time to talk about it because of life barging in. Not a complaint mind you, for the most part everything that keeps me busy (and away from blogging) makes me happy.

There is no party to plan this year (although I'm trying to come up with a reason to plan one anyway. I'm thinking 41st birthday sounds good?)

But Lonnie comes home on Friday so I am done with that work, and after a week at environmental camp with Annie's class in theory things should lighten up AND I should come home with blog fodder. Just at the parent info meeting alone I gleaned this gem....a mother asked," I see that it says on the list of items to pack NOT to bring a hair dyer. Is that because they provide them?" The woman who asked the question? has a son. in 6th grade.

Rummage sale is humming along and crap is piling up in the school attic, Miranda is set to graduate from 8th grade, god willing nothing happens to change that. And then go off to high school in the fall. And church has burned down around our ears, nor has our house. It is a mess though, which is why I have found time to blog this morning...procrastinate the housekeeping, AND the exercising. I look cute sitting here in my lycra shorts typing my blog. But the porch does need hosing off, and my coffee cup is empty, so no more excuses.

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queue Barbra
20 April 2009

Tonight I got home from my girl scout leader meeting and immediately upon walking in the door was hit full on with the scent of my childhood. I walked in thinking, Grandma D?????

On further investigation I found that Miranda had dug through my drawers to find perfume (not an easy feat) that she used for a "project"...years ago, likely before children, a bit of nostalgia hit me and I purchased a bottle (was gifted?) of the perfume that my great grandma wore. Grandma D was not just any great grandma....she lived within walking distance of school, as did Grandma Joyce. The story has been told that one day mom called the school and asked them to give a message to Missy, "walk to grandma's after school". and she didn't know which grandma mom meant.....as much time was spent at her house as at Gma Joyce's.

She made us malteds when we slept over, which we did often (or that is how I remember it). She was always there with hugs and unconditional love. She was always busy with croqueting or knitting something, talked to mom on the phone daily, and was a bit bosy and had a bit of a temper. I see a bit of her in me.

Grandma D died right before I was 10 years old. She was the first person I remember dying, and her death is a vivid memory that still brings tears to my eyes. While I haven't chosen to wear her perfume because it really isn't "me", as I lay here in bed I realize what a huge part of me she was, and still is. I smell this smell and I hope I can be that for someone some day.....

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17 April 2009

It is 75° and sunny....I'm heading outside. Posting may be light for awhile (as if it hasn't been otherwise ;-) but I need to work on my freckle base.....

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14 April 2009

I won't make any but I will start attempting to share a few stories from the past few months (hanging my head in shame).

This years PCR bowl-a-thon was a HUGE success, we raised a record breaking $52k, $11K over our goal! I managed to out do myself by bowling a 42 (to be fair we didn't finish the whole set (set? round? whatever) and won a tshirt for my low score. Sadly I lost my tshirt, thankfully I wasn't WEARING it at the time :-) and one of my tiaras, but that part of the story is best not shared with the internets......ahem.

Thank you so much to everyone who donated, and everyone who bowled! Thanks to you all I won a prize for $$ raised......yes, sozzled won a VODKA tasting. Did I mention BEST bowl-a-thon ever?

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1 April 2009

April Fools!

you didn't really think I was going to post, did you?

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18 March 2009

Well it has been a really long time since I was gainfully employed, and arguably I am still not.....gainfully that is....I do have a paying gig though doing expedition support for the Peary Centennial trip, and while it isn't a ton of work, it is work none the less....

But the team has been on the ice for 2 weeks now....2 very busy weeks. But now that I am home from the girl scout trip to Duluth things should (knock on wood) finally settle into a routine.

I feel like I ought to commit to posting everyday for the next year or something crazy, but how about if I commit to attempting to post SOMETHING other than excuses for why I haven't posted? That'd be novel.......

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5 March 2009

So much for the live blogging the apron event. I'm not really sure what happened. It wasn't for lack of internet, nor for content. Perhaps it was the fact that "what happens in Chisholm, stays in Chisholm" or that we didn't have enough downtime between all of the eating and drinking and aprons for me to process a coherent thought. Bingo, I think that was it.

But 11 women, 200 vintage aprons, truly an assload of food and a few drinks made for a very nice weekend away. My only complaint was that it was far too short. The plans are in the works for something for next year that involves a kitchen and a communal living space.....the rooms at the Lakeshor (no e) Motor Inn were surprisingly not crab inducing but they were tiny......with a little t.

The journey up found the women in our car sharing stories of life before becoming church kitchen ladies. And, oh my, we are an interesting bunch. We stopped at the worlds largest hockey stick, which was thankfully right across the street from Marge's Drive Inn Liquor Store, with full nativity scene set up outside....so of course we went in. Being booze lovin church ladies, after all. Marge's was amazing....from her hair, to her selection (who knew they made Boonsfarm any more?) a few purchases were made and then we were off, without correcting her liturgically incorrect decorations.

Before the weekend even started cops were involved, although none of us were arrested. And after a day of aprons, and Pam and my dog sledding!! we chose to stay in and eat rather than hit the supper club (in hindsight this might have been a mistake, lesson for next year!!) Marti coined the phrase that I think I ought to cross stitch on a pillow or perhaps make into a t-shirt when she said, "My god, (name deleted to protect the innocent), you are a circus clown car of food!!"

Interestingly enough one of the highlights for me was the stop on the way home at the Wellstone Memorial. Marti wrote about it over at standing still, and there are pictures of the whole weekend on flickr (nodding my head to the left). But I would encourage anyone to stop and walk through it. Bring a tissue.

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