Facebook

Tomorrow, May 31st, 2010, some fans of facebook have designated as "Quit Facebook Day." Last week or so I read that that leaders of Facebook admitted that they have made mistakes on Facebook. There have been changes made in the past that I have not agreed with on facebook. Some parts of it are irritating but at least you can hide them. There are also little tips that you need to find out about to be able to interact on your home page. A big concern is privacy and what evil people will do with your information and/or what stupid people- masquerading as friends - might do with your facebook account which THEY think is funny but it is not.
I am a facebook fan and I think that it can be a good thing. At least it has been good/fun in my life. I feel like I know some members of my family better - extended especially. We have had a couple of tragedies in our family and the word was gotten out via facebook. Seeing and posting pictures is a big one for me. I have really enjoyed sharing pictures and viewing pictures which other people have shared on facebook too. Many times in my status field I have put scriptures and other thoughts. A couple of times I put a mind twister there to see what people would comment or how they would try to figure it out. That interaction has been fun. We also have friends living all over the world who have facebook pages and it has been fun to keep in touch with them even though they are thousands of miles away.
Overall I really like using the computer for many aspects in my life. It is such a huge part of how I communicate, how I share and receive information, and how I express myself.
Evil, manipulative people try to ruin everyone's ability to use the internet. I have had friends who have been affected negatively through hackers. And, of course, there is always my mother who isn't that up to date on computers although she does do email. She frequently reminds me of the dangers of facebook, blogs, and other internet activities. And that gets me to thinking about what could happen. Because bad things do happen via the computer/internet and I don't want to have that experience.
If I am very careful, allowing only friends to see my profile and pictures on facebook. If I share only limited personal information there. Will I be safe? We don't even post about traveling until we arrive home so that no one will check out our empty house.
So am I being naive by participating in these activities? Because this computer age is not going away.
Besides I enjoy the benefits of being on the internet.
Is is dangerous to even post a picture?

Mother's Day May 9, 2010

Robert and Spencer sent me flowers for Mother's Day this year. Sara sent a great CD with my favorite hymn on it, "Come Thou Fount" and Jessica's graduation picture. We Skyped with Jared and Beth. Talked to Leslie, Sara, Spencer, and Amanda!
It was a very quiet day with great talks at Church and a restful afternoon.
I love being a mother. My family is most important to me. I am also grateful for all the women in my life who have mothered me. I love YOU!!

AND Happy Birthday to Amanda on May 9th. Every few years her birthday falls on Mother's Day. The Sunday after she was born I was scheduled to speak in Church. Ended up I was still in the hospital. Some people will do anything to get out of giving a talk!!

Bayeux France Cathedral

Robert and I walked over from our hotel in Bayeux to the cathedral one evening. It was a rainy day and walking through the cobblestone streets towards the spires we could see in the distance was quite romantic.
As we walked through the cathedral to learn of it's history and read the titles of the past bishops and other VIPs buried within it's walls we couldn't help but be amazed at the ages that it had stood there as the center of life in Bayeux.

We Went to France and Belgium

When we first flew in to Paris we rented a car and drove out to Normandy to tour the historical D-Day beaches. It touched our hearts and made us proud to be Americans.

This poem was written by Lt. Col. John McCrae, M.D. from the Canadian Army. It was written during a battle in WWI and is a lasting legacy of that battle in 1915. After burying a friend he sat in the back of an ambulance and penned these lines.

In the nearby cemetery, McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and he spent twenty minutes of precious rest time scribbling fifteen lines of verse in a notebook.

On the day we visited the American cemetery this poem came to my mind and while out of an earlier war and not written by an American it somehow seemed appropriate as we walked among our fellow citizens who died in Normandy beginning in 1944.


Names of the fallen wall.

Youth Rising From the Sea

This is not a poppy and the poem is from WWI and we were not in Flanders Fields but it seemed appropriate

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scare heard amid the guns below.




We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.





Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

Really? I Mean, Seriously!!??

This photo is of me on Omaha Beach in Normandy. April 2010.

I am totally shocked that it has been 6 months since I posted anything.
Time for a change with that. I have been swamped with life in general and it's about all I can do to come home and put some dinner on the table and do some laundry.
Maybe I can turn over a new leaf?

But not tonight.

It's 9 p.m. and I believe I should go to sleep.