One Of My Birdies Died Today

Every morning I get my video camera out and take a video of my birdies from a safe distance using the zoom on the camera. When I first noticed the nest I saw that there were four eggs. Then days later I noticed that there were three birds.

I've been documenting their life every day since I noticed they have hatched, now I realize that one of them has died. We found him lying on the ground beneath the nest. He must have been there for a little while because he already had mites crawling into his chest and his heart was exposed out of his chest.

I checked Alexa today and it shows I'm ranked 3,323,807. I guess like George and Weezy I'm movin' on up. Still it's slow progress. I picked up another couple of subscribers. It's interesting to watch this thing grow. If only I lived such a fabulous life that others would follow this site.

This morning was a busy day with grocery shopping, tending to the garden, and entering the end of the month sweeps. Darryl often says I'm listening to TV rather than watching it. That might be a little true. I watch but I'm also entering sweeps. Yesterday was a busy sweep day because it was an end of the month day. So while I "watched" Dallas, I entered content on ThriftyMaven and entered contests.

Then Darryl asked me, "Tiller got shot?" "Tiller?" I answered. Almost as soon as I asked the question I recognized the name. In the past he has been identified as one of the only doctors who perform late term abortions in the United States. Some media markets have labeled him as "Tiller the Baby Killer."

"Shot?" I asked. "Yeah he was shot. When did that happen?" He asked me. I had no clue. This was news to me. Darryl is one of the many people who is convinced I've already heard about a story on the news. In this case I had to claim I knew nothing about it.

The man who committed this in custody. His name is Scott Roeder and he was taken into custody some 170 miles away in a Kansas City suburb about three hours after the shooting.

In 1996, a 38-year-old man named Scott Roeder was charged in Topeka with criminal use of explosives for having bomb components in his car trunk and sentenced to 24 months of probation. However, his conviction was overturned on appeal the next year after a higher court said evidence against Roeder was seized by law enforcement officers during an illegal search of his car.

At the time, police said the FBI had identified Roeder as a member of the anti-government Freemen group, an organization that kept the FBI at bay in Jordan, Mont., for almost three months in 1995-96. Authorities on Sunday night would not immediately confirm if their suspect was the same man.

If one proclaims to be pro-life then one adheres to the belief that ALL LIFE is sacred. For me the Death Penalty has always been difficult for me. I said in an earlier post how difficult it is to reconcile a belief that all life is sacred and yet feel that it's OK to EVER execute someone. I remember the words that everyone is sacred in the good Lord's sight. Then sometimes someone commits a horrific crime like the rape and murder of a child and you rage and call for their death.

I do NOT equate Dr. Tiller in that category. I do not, have not, EVER wished for anything bad to happen to a doctor who performs abortions. I do not, have not, EVER support things like blowing up abortion clinics or killing doctors who perform abortions. I do NOT and have NEVER had the authority to condemn anyone to hell, although I have suggestion that my ex-husband go there on an extended stay.

I think the majority of people who are pro-life, like I am, do not feel that way at all. Two of my best friends had had abortions before I met them. When they told me it never colored the way I felt about them. It never stopped me from caring about them or seeing them for the wonderful caring mothers I knew them to be.

I think like a lot of people, I'd love to see a time when abortions were rare. As a rape victim, I know how it feels to be fearful that you might be pregnant by your attacker. For me I prayed and came to the conclusion that I would give such a baby up. Fortunately for me I did not become pregnant. I understand and the church even says that in cases when the mother's life is in danger a woman might choose abortion.

I do NOT understand how someone who proclaims to be PROLIFE can deign to take another's life. I hate the fact that some NUT can do something like this and now people like me will be painted with the broad brush of psycho, clinic bomber, anti-abortion wack-job. It got me just as angry because hours later they publicly identified the last doctor who performs late term abortions here in the United States. This is crazy. Why not draw a bull's eye on this other doctor to make the next nut's job easier?

George Tiller was killed the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church while serving as an usher. His wife was in the choir. I hope he doesn't start spouting off that God told him to do this or that he was doing God's work.

Here are the posts I entered today:

Prize: Vado pocket-sized video camera in choice of pink or silver from Creative Labs (ARV $79.99).

http://www.astheygrowup.com/2009/05/excalibur-dehydrator-review-giveaway.html

On Any Given Day - Part Two

So over to Online-Sweepstakes I go. Being a creature of habit I glance at the forums. Some headlines catch my eye but there’s no time for that now. I want to click on each link and read what people have to say but I just know that the sands of the hour glass are slipping through faster than usual.

Even the way I enter contests has certain sameness about it. I always enter the contests that are going to end that day. Well not every one of them. I don’t end the single entry ones. I usually enter those when they are first posted. Then I enter the daily sweeps that end tomorrow. The daily sweeps that enter the day after tomorrow are the last ones I enter that are getting ready to end.

The next round of entries is from my mysweeps part of Online-Sweepstakes. I enter the dailies, well daily. I believe I have about twenty five of them. Some people get really in to making all the dailies with any kind of good prize part of their mysweeps dailies. I just put the ones I’m truly interested in. Things that are life changing to me, like a trip to France, $500,000, or a trip to Sandals. I do have one 24 Hour Sweep under Mysweeps but I enter it when I think of it throughout the week or I just enter it on the weekends. I only enter my weekly Mysweeps on Sundays. I enter my monthly Mysweeps on the first day of the month or at least by the first Sunday of the month.

Most mornings I try to get these done before I shower and if not by then definitely by the time I leave for school. Lately, with all the twittering and digging I am lucky to get the sweeps that are ending that day.

I shower, dress, apply a scant bit of make-up, and then rush downstairs to make sure the dogs go out to do their business. Sometimes the little dog needs coaching. Translate this to mean, holding a small treat just beyond his snout as I walk out backwards with him in hot pursuit of the treat. After receiving his treat he seeks out a piece of ground worth of receiving his excrement. Now mind you this can be a mind-numbing feet of patience meets persistence. It does eventually happen though and then it’s back into the house we go.

Once back in the house, I maybe have ten minutes to enter a couple of more sweeps before I have to dash out the door. That is I might have it if the dogs go right upstairs so I can keep them in the room with Darryl before I leave.

Now here's some amazing news. I have been working so hard on thriftymaven.com and today I got some great news. I've had 1,320 viewers to my site over the past 24 hours. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

I won another blog contest. I received an email that says: Congratulations! You won the Sesame Street Being Green DVD from The Full Mommy.

And now here are the blog contests I've won:

Prizes (4): Sun & Earth cleaning products basket (ARV $150).

Win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School.

Prize: Sterling silver heart pendant.

Prizes (2): BeautyName necklace.

Prizes (5): Beverly Hills 90210: The Seventh Season DVD.

Prize: Eglan diaper bag (ARV $130).

Prize: Pink sapphire and diamond bracelet.

Prize: $25 Plum Island Cookie Company gift certificate good towards 1-cookie Sand Dollar party favors.