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Even though my child is prematurely and rather quickly approaching adolescence, she is still one of the good ones.

On my birthday she threw me one heck of a surprise party!  When I returned home on Saturday after a quick errand around 5:30 I was shot with confetti and balloons were dumped on me as a group of friends and family yelled "Surprise!  Happy Birthday!" 

She had managed to get my Mom, my 3 foster siblings, my Dad, my sister Lidiya and her fiance Rodger, my brother Hunter, my best friend Jessica, my neighbor Summer and her son Zams, my friend Izabela and her son Justin, Pumpkin, and my friend Shyanne to all attend.

Apparently after I left Summer came over and helped her decorate with supplies she and Michael had snuck off and bought at the Dollar Store while I was taking a nap.  Then my Dad came with a keg of beer, chips and dip, and Jessica brought the pizza ... when I had left I'd stuck a lasagna in the oven thinking I was making my own dinner that night, lol!  Oh and Pumpkin had snuck in a cake.

We had a great time eating pizza, chowing down on chocolate cake, and watching Igby bounce balloons off his nose.  I had a really good time opening all my wonderful presents!  This year I was presented with a George Foreman G5, a combo Cuisinart blender/food processor, VS undies, a gift card to Sephora, framed art for my walls, a black hoodie, lots of bath stuff, a gift card to Target, and a gift card good for 10 car washed (I think my brother was giving me a hint).

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In the beginning of November I was sent this email:

Subject: [stlukesoc] Beware of The Golden Compass

There will be a new "children's movie" out in December called The Golden Compass.  It is written by Phillip Pullman, a proud atheist who belongs to secular humanist societies.  He hates C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia and has written a trilogy to show the other side.  The movie version has been "dumbed" down in order to seduce and fool kids, and their parents, in the hope that they will buy his trilogy - where in the end the children kill God and everyone can do as they please!  Nicole Kidman stars in the movie so it will probably be advertised a lot.  This is just a friendly warning that you sure won't hear on the regular TV. As your father in Christ at St. Luke's, I wanted to inform and warn you about this movie that is coming out December 7th, during the Christmas season, which is entitled The Golden Compass.  It is directed toward children and is filled with a blatant atheist and anti-Christian message. What is disturbing to me is that this movie is based on the first of a trilogy of books for children called His Dark Materials written by Philip Pullman of England.

Mr. Pullman is a devout atheist.  His objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. He has made remarks that he wants to kill God in the minds of children, and that's what his books are all about.  He despised C.S. Lewis and Narnia, etc.  An article written about him said, "this is the most dangerous author in Britain" and that Pullman would be the writer "the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed." Pullman said he doesn't think it is possible that there is a God and he has great difficulty understanding the words "spiritual" and "spirituality."  What I thought was important to communicate is what part of his agenda is for making this picture.  This movie is a watered down version of the first book, which is the least offensive of the three books.  The second book of the trilogy is The Subtle Knife and the third book is The Amber Spyglass. Each book gets worse and worse regarding Pullman's hatred of God.  In the trilogy, a young girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle against a nefarious Church known as the Magisterium.  Another character, and ex-nun, describes Christianity as "a very powerful and convincing mistake."  In the last book, a boy and girl are depicted representing Adam and Eve and they kill God, who at times is called Yahweh (which in the spirit of political correctness, is definitely not Allah).

They are hoping that unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie; that they will enjoy the movie and then the children will want the books for Christmas.  That's the hook.  Pullman says he wants the children to read the books and decide against God and the kingdom of heaven.

If you decide that you do not want to support something like this, I suggest that you stay away from the movie and the books.  We need not take our minds for a swim in sewage. when we already know it is sewage. Let us fill our hearts and minds with prayer, and good worthwhile books!

My response to the person who mass emailed this to me:

Once again the masses are afraid of something that thinks outside the box.  Sorry, but a lot of this statement is just ridiculous.  The movie has not been "dumbed down" to "seduce" children.  Yes, the content of the novel can be a controversial subject, and New Line Cinema realizing that decided to fancy side step some material in order for the movie to be popular in the US, but not for the authors sake of selling books.  Why don't people just read the novels or watch the film and think for themselves instead of passing along propaganda and trying to scare the masses and start a riot before hand?

What is so wrong with controversy?  The series has already been released in the UK as "The Dark Materials", the first novel being titled "Northern Lights" and we haven't heard any stir across the pond yet, have we?  Just the same as Harry Potter - apparently Europeans
are much more open minded than us Americans.

Why shouldn't we critique dogmatic organizations? Am I an atheist for being weary of organized religion?  Will I go to hell for saying that I am more spiritual than religious?  I think not.  If we have taught our children properly then this movie and the novels should not affect them negatively, instead should be good reading/watching material to discuss beliefs and faith over.

Fell free to pass my sentiments on.

Of course my sentiments were not passed on, until now ...

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and all through the house, you could smell pumpkin creme caramel cooking.

Cause I'm totally lame like that, hahah! 

Tonight I planned on going to Fishlips with my BFF, but she realized she has an English paper due tomorrow!  What kind of teacher doesn't give you until Friday instead - mine all did.  Pllt!  So, instead of flying solo and awkwardly sitting around by myself, I'm home finishing up the Pumpkin Creme Caramel (aka Pumpkin Flan) that my mom requested me to bring to our Turkey Lunch tomorrow.  My jello mold ... come to think of it, should I be baking it in a jello mold from who knows when (my Nana passed them down to me) ... anyway ... my jello mold only holds 4 cups, so I made 6 individual custard cups for whoever is so lucky to taste my baking. 

(Stop by in the next few days and you could be one of those lucky ones ... btw my birthday is Saturday, so feel free to shower me with love or LUSH too, hehe). 

Next I will be making french bread pizza

because I'm freakin hungry and that just sounds really good right now :)  (and no, that's not from the box, I made it myself!)

And here is me with my cheesy grin (boredom brings out the camera phone mug in me):

Happy Turkey Day to each and every one of us!

The past week I have been vividly dreaming up a storm.  Such a barrage of dreams I don't remember half of them, but I do wake up upset, crying, or angry periodically throughout the night depending on what the dream was about.  I have been able to quickly fall back asleep by not focusing on the dream, which explains why I do not remember them - just elements.

With my brain in constant activity while I'm trying to peacefully slumber I am obviously not getting enough sleep.  I'm so tired, and when my body is worn down I'm more susceptible to colds - yay.  Yesterday it began with my entire body just feeling tight.  I had visited the chiropractor earlier this week for an adjustment - maybe that has something to do with it?  I don't know, whatever it is - today I am once again tight, each stretch of my neck or back leads to a pop.  My sinuses are bugging me and my eyes are watering.  We'll see if the ibuprofen kicks in after I have my cup of coffee.

Oh, and did I mention the suspicious activity in the house?  My friend decided to stay in the empty room instead of the guest room.  He heard large strides throughout the night in the attic and it felt like someone was playing with his hair.  Then my daughter comes in last night with, "Okay mom, this is just weird.  I was getting into bed and my fan and light just turned on by themselves."  I chalked it up to old wiring.  Then when I finally put my book away, turned off the light, then in the dark straightened and situated my covers over myself - there was a loud crash near my closet.  I thought maybe with the forceful toss of covers I'd thrown something that direction and it must have knocked something over.

Then a night of dreams ... once waking up thinking I saw someone standing at the foot of my bed, but deciding it was best to ignore it/my imagination, close my eyes, and quickly go back to sleep.

When I woke up this morning I looked over to see what had fallen.  It was a candle stick thing I have with a lampshade on it, completely knocked over - but nothing near it to have knocked it over, or flown from my bed and knocked it over. 

Well, whatever is going on, I just want a sound night sleep.  Maybe I will now that I've covered my bases and have emailed the one person that stood out the most in all the dreams to see if he and his family are okay. 

Alright, I better get that cup of coffee before I fall asleep and have asdf jkl; imprinted on my forehead.