Proof Positive: January 2022

Monday, January 31, 2022

Quote du jour

"Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill ’em right back!"

- Captain Malcolm Reynolds

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Quote du jour

We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.

-Charles H. Spurgeon

Saturday, January 29, 2022

A Little Saturday Night Music

ANDY GRIFFITH ORIGINAL TV Theme - Earl Hagen

Best of the Web*

*…that Dave and I have seen all week!

(BTW, if you wonder where any of the links will take you, hover your cursor over the link.)

Culture
Feel Good Friday
Lifeguards Escort 95-Year-Old Who Couldn’t Walk to Beach and Back Every Day of Her Vacation
As Gun Sales Soared, the Number of Violent Crimes Committed with Guns Plummeted -John R. Lott, Jr.
Good News From New York
So, while Mayor Adams of NY City and Governor Hochul blame guns for violent crimes…

Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics
Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies
Today's Toons 1/19/22
Sunday Funnies, 01-23-22
Today's Toons 1/20/22
Today's Toons 1/21/22
Today's Toons 1/24/22
Today's Toons 1/25/22

Linkfests:
Larwyn’s Linx: Biden administration is sleepwalking America into wars it can’t win against Russia and China
In The Mailbox: 01.24.22
Larwyn’s Linx: Biden's regulatory bender is crushing the US economy
In The Mailbox: 01.26.22 (Morning Edition)
Larwyn’s Linx: Senate Republicans preemptively blast Biden police defunding order
In The Mailbox: 01.26.22 (Afternoon Edition)
Larwyn’s Linx: Illegal Immigrant Apprehensions Reach 20-Year High in Biden’s First Year
In The Mailbox: 01.27.22
Larwyn’s Linx: Adult Male Migrants Crossing the Border with No ID are Given Notarized “ID” Papers
In The Mailbox: 01.28.22

Dave's Rule Five Roundup:

Proof Positive - Best of the Web

Animal Magnetism - RULE FIVE UNIVERSITY SHEEP NEWS

By Other Means - Tuesday Tap Rack and Bang, BeCos(play) It's Friday and Seeing Red

Evi L. Bloggerlady - Regina Spektor: 20 Years of Snow

Ninety Miles From Tyranny - Hot Pick, Girls With Guns, Morning Mistress and Blogs With Rule 5 Links

Grouchy Old Cripple - Saturday Boobage

Irons in the Fire - Friday Data and ... Saturday Data Overflow

The Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

The Daley Gator - Daley Babe

Diogenes Middle Finger News - A Good Monday Morning

A View from the Beach - Rule 5 Saturday - Hailee Steinfeld in Pink Hair and Chain Mail and Fish Pic Friday

24 Femmes Per Second - Suzy Parker

Knuckledraggin My Life Away - I'm sure she's taken, men And ... I’ll leave you with this

American Power - Wintry Woman

Woodsterman - Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

The Other McCain - Rule Five Sunday: Yvette Mimieux, RIP

The Pirates Cove - If All You See ... and Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Wired Right - A Beautiful End to the Day

Sonoran Conservative - Rule 5: Friday

The Right Way - Friday Babe and ... Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama

Quote du jour

You can't swing a dead cat in Washington without hitting a worthless Biden appointee.

- Mike B

Friday, January 28, 2022

Bonus Free Gun Friday

That's right! We've got another Bonus Free Gun Friday! In 6.5 Creedmoor!

You can't win if you don't enter! Enter here.

Free Gun Friday

This week's Free Gun Friday is a sweet deal from Faxon Firearms!

You can enter here.

Quote du jour

"A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire."

- Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Quote du jour

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen."

- Ernest Hemingway

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Quote du jour

Britain lost global dominance because, for eighteen critical months, London and the British Dominions stood alone among the great democratic powers in resisting the Third Reich. It was a sacrifice that exhausted and bankrupted a mighty empire, but it was at least for something recognizable as a great cause.

- Mark Steyn

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Quote du jour

Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud, and the rifle is the queen of personal weapons.

- Jeff Cooper

Monday, January 24, 2022

Quote du jour

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

- Desmond Tutu

Sunday, January 23, 2022

A Little Sunday Night Music

Meredith Andrews - Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Quote du jour

"Satan does not so much tempt us to feel hatred of God, but forgetfulness of God."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Best of the Web*

*…that Dave and I have seen all week!

(BTW, if you wonder where any of the links will take you, hover your cursor over the link.)

Political/SocioEconomic

Manchin and Sinema are not the only Democrats opposing Leftist Joe!
Chicago Politicians, Whistling Past the Graveyard

The Moment Joe Biden Finally Lost His Credibility - when you've lost CNN...
Texas gunman said 'I want to kill Jews' last year

Culture
Feel Good Friday
Karma, OH YES!
BLM Founder Now Wants to 'Heal' in Peace in Her Multi-Million-Dollar Home – After Setting the Country on Fire

Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics
Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies
Sunday Funnies, 01-16-22
Today's Toons 1/12/22
Today's Toons 1/13/22
Today's Toons 1/14/22
Today's Toons 1/17/22
Today's Toons 1/18/22

Science/ Technology
EVs: A Little Rare Honesty

Linkfests:
Larwyn’s Linx: Biden and Democrats only like filibusters that protect Vladimir Putin
In The Mailbox: 01.18.22
Larwyn’s Linx: Conspiracies as Realities, Realities as Conspiracies
In The Mailbox: 01.19.22
Larwyn’s Linx: Venezuela Warning: CNN Suggests Democrats Take Over Food and Gas Prices
In The Mailbox: 01.20.22
Larwyn’s Linx: It Doesn’t Matter That Voters Hate Joe Biden If Democrats Can Rig Elections
In The Mailbox: 01.21.22
Larwyn’s Linx: The January 6 Narrative is Starting to Unravel

Dave's Rule Five Roundup:

Proof Positive - Best of the Web

Animal Magnetism - RULE FIVE CLASS WAR FRIDAY

By Other Means - Tuesday Tap Rack and Bang, BeCos(play) It's Friday and Seeing Red

Evi L. Bloggerlady - The Escape Artist

Ninety Miles From Tyranny - Hot Pick, Girls With Guns, Morning Mistress and Blogs With Rule 5 Links

Grouchy Old Cripple - Saturday Boobage

Irons in the Fire - Friday Data and ... Saturday Data Overflow

The Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

The Daley Gator - Daley Babe

Diogenes Middle Finger News - A Good Monday Morning

A View from the Beach - Rule 5 Saturday - Marcella Pushing Daisies with Anna Friel and Fish Pic Friday

24 Femmes Per Second - Catherine Deneuve

Knuckledraggin My Life Away - I'm sure she's taken, men And ... I’ll leave you with this

American Power - Britney Spears Unleashed!

Woodsterman - Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

The Other McCain - Rule Five Sunday: Clearing Out The Bodacious Babe Backlog

The Pirates Cove - If All You See ... and Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Wired Right - A Beautiful End to the Day

Sonoran Conservative - Rule 5: Friday

The Right Way - Friday Babe and ... Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama

Quote du jour

F Lee Bailey
F Scott Fitzgerald
F Joe Biden

One of these things is not like the other!

- Mike B.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Bonus Free Gun Friday

Our Bonus Free Gun Friday is a a Taurus G3C and 6 Mags from Taurus!

Enter here.

Free Gun Friday

Today's Free Gun Friday is actually TWO guns!

You can enter here.

Quote du jour

There is no political benefit for Democrats when white guys get shot by cops.

- Robert Stacy McCain

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Quote du jour

“You know, in my humble opinion, we ought to be at a place where diversity shouldn’t even be mentioned, like it’s something special. These young kids — Black, white, blue, green or whatever — are highly talented and qualified. So that’s why they’re there.”

- Denzel Washington

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Hollywood Went to War

Sixty-fifth * in our series, Hollywood Went to War, is child star Roger Mobley.

In 1968, Mobley was drafted into the United States Army. After boot camp at Fort Ord, California, Mobley requested his term of service be extended to qualify for training in Special Forces. He completed parachute jump training at Fort Benning, Georgia, after having volunteered for the Special Forces training at the John F. Kennedy Center for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On completion of his training, Mobley was assigned to the 46th Special Forces Company (Airborne), 1st Special Forces Group. He returned to the United States in November 1970.

Mr. Mobley, thank you for your service to our country!

*Sixty five posts, eighty-three individuals.

Quote du jour

"Talk is cheap, because supply always outstrips demand."

- James Mason

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Quote du jour

“Trust the science” is now the universal way of saying “shut up and conform.”

- Ben Stein

Monday, January 17, 2022

Bonus Quote du jour

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Quote du jour

“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit."

- John Steinbeck

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Quote du jour

“The Christian is confronted by two ways only, and if we are not on the strait and narrow way, we are on the wide and broad way.”

― D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Best of the Web*

*…that Dave and I have seen all week!

(BTW, if you wonder where any of the links will take you, hover your cursor over the link.)

Political/SocioEconomic

Border Patrol Reports 1,066 Percent Increase in Fentanyl Seized in South Texas
Fauci Was Told Privately by Key Scientists That COVID-19 Natural Origin Was ‘Highly Unlikely,’ Newly Unredacted Emails Confirm
New Report Raises More Questions About Ashli Babbitt Shooting
Joe Biden: Slandering the Dead

Culture
Feel Good Friday
The Theme From ‘Cheers’ and Other Fundamental Errors of Reason

Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics
Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies
Today's Toons 1/5/22
Sunday Funnies For 01-09-22
Today's Toons 1/6/22
Today's Toons 1/7/22
Today's Toons 1/10/22
Today's Toons 1/11/22

Science/ Technology
How Good Is China’s J-20 Fighter Jet?

Linkfests:
Larwyn’s Linx: CTV deletes and edits headline admitting this is now a pandemic of the vaccinated
Yes, some linky posts are better than others
Larwyn’s Linx: 7 COVID 'Conspiracy Theories' That Came True in 2021
Larwyn’s Linx: White House Calls on Businesses to Ignore Supreme Court Decision and Force the Vaccine Mandate

Dave's Rule Five Roundup:

Proof Positive - Best of the Web

Animal Magnetism - RULE FIVE TERMS YOU SHOULDN’T USE FRIDAY

By Other Means - Tuesday Tap Rack and Bang, BeCos(play) It's Friday and Seeing Red

Evi L. Bloggerlady - Maria Callas : Vissi d'arte

Ninety Miles From Tyranny - Hot Pick, Girls With Guns, Morning Mistress and Blogs With Rule 5 Links

Grouchy Old Cripple - Saturday Boobage

Irons in the Fire - Friday Data and ... Saturday Data Overflow

The Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

The Daley Gator - Daley Babe

Diogenes Middle Finger News - A Good Monday Morning

A View from the Beach - Rule 5 Saturday - Marisa Tomei Wanted to Bring Aunt May Out of the Closet and Fish Pic Friday

24 Femmes Per Second - Jeanne Moreau

Knuckledraggin My Life Away - I'm sure she's taken, men And ... I’ll leave you with this

American Power - Britney Spears Unleashed!

Woodsterman - Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

The Other McCain - Rule Five Sunday: The Feast Of St. Stephen

The Pirates Cove - If All You See ... and Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Wired Right - A Beautiful End to the Day

Sonoran Conservative - Rule 5: Friday

The Right Way - Friday Babe and ... Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama

Quote du jour

The "existential threat" we face is liberal Democrats and dishonest elections.

- Mike B

Friday, January 14, 2022

Bonus Free Gun Friday!

Yes, that's right! Not one but two chances to win today. Feast your eyes on this:

A big, honking .50 BMG for free! Just enter here.

Free Gun Friday

Free Gun Friday (I think of it as all one word these days!) is an

M4E1 COMPLETE RIFLE IN BDL HEXCAM SOCOM BLUE CERAKOTE

Enter here.

Quote du jour

“The reality is in much of America it’s easier to buy a gun than a beer.”

- David Chipman, failed appointee to head Biden's ATF

BTW, buying beer does NOT require an FBI background check! Yet.

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Quote du jour

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

- Henry Ford

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Hollywood Went to War

Sixty-fourth* in our series Hollywood Went to War, is Michael Caine.

Between 1952 and 1954, Caine was called up to do his national service, and served in the British Army's Royal Fusiliers, first at the British Army of the Rhine Headquarters in Iserlohn, West Germany, and then on active service during the Korean War.

He had gone into Korea feeling sympathetic to communism, coming as he did from a poor family, but the experience left him permanently repelled due to the human-wave attacks practised by North Korea and China, which left him with the sense that their governments did not care about their citizens.

Caine experienced a situation where he thought he was going to die, the memory of which stayed with him and formed his character. In his 2010 autobiography The Elephant to Hollywood, he wrote that "The rest of my life I have lived every bloody moment from the moment I wake up until the time I go to sleep."

Caine has said that he would like to see the return of national service in Britain, to help combat youth violence, stating: "I'm just saying, put them in the Army for six months. You're there to learn how to defend your country. You belong to the country. Then, when you come out, you have a sense of belonging, rather than a sense of violence."

Mr. Caine, thank you for the service to your country!

*Sixty four posts, eighty-two individuals.

Quote du jour

“Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.”

- Benjamin Franklin

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Quote du jour

“Let the cymbals of popularity tinkle still. Let the butterflies of fame glitter with their wings. I shall envy neither their music nor their colors."

- John Adams

Monday, January 10, 2022

Quote du jour

The conception of the militia at the time of the Second Amendment’s ratification was the body of all citizens capable of military service, who would bring the sorts of lawful weapons that they possessed at home to militia duty.

- Antonin Scalia

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Quote du jour

“There is no road from [man’s] intellectual and moral perception to a … knowledge of God. The only way to knowledge of God is for God [to freely] place himself within [the realm] of our perception, and [to] renew our fallen understanding. Hence, if we are to know God and have any adequate basis for our Christian understanding and experience, revelation is indispensable.”

- Bruce Milne

Saturday, January 8, 2022

"100,000 Children Hospitalized on Ventilators"

Actual number: "current national pediatric COVID census per HHS is 3,342"

Best of the Web*

*…that Dave and I have seen all week!

(BTW, if you wonder where any of the links will take you, hover your cursor over the link.)

Political/SocioEconomic

Ten Joe Biden 2021 Blunders that Killed the American Energy Renaissance
The 10 worst things Biden did in 2021
We’re All Horny for AOC, Which Is Why We Vote Republican, or Something
The Myth of January 6

Culture
Feel Good Friday
Far Left Mayor Demands Removal of Private, Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Mural.
Baby Girl Born 13 Weeks Early Was Too Small for Doll Clothes, Now Thriving
What ‘Social Justice’ Really Means

Photoshops/Cartoons/Graphics
Flopping Aces -Sunday Funnies
Sunday Funnies for 01-02-22

Linkfests:
Larwyn’s Linx: Here are the Cliff Notes for the Joe Rogan podcast with Dr. Robert Malone

Larwyn’s Linx: Peaceful Demands For Secure Elections Do Not Constitute ‘Insurrection’

Larwyn’s Linx: Ranking GOP Member Exposes Pelosi’s Obstruction to Jan 6 Security Records

Larwyn’s Linx: Is The FBI Ever Going To Get Around To Finding The Jan. 6 Pipe Bomber, Or Nah?

Dave's Rule Five Roundup:

Proof Positive - Best of the Web

Animal Magnetism - RULE FIVE HOW WILL WE WIN FRIDAY

By Other Means - Tuesday Tap Rack and Bang, BeCos(play) It's Friday and Seeing Red

Evi L. Bloggerlady - Don't Cry For Me Argentina! The Kissing Hybristophile Judge

Ninety Miles From Tyranny - Hot Pick, Girls With Guns, Morning Mistress and Blogs With Rule 5 Links

Grouchy Old Cripple - Saturday Boobage

Irons in the Fire - Friday Data and ... Saturday Data Overflow

The Feral Irishman - Friday Femme Fatale

The Daley Gator - Daley Babe

Diogenes Middle Finger News - A Good Monday Morning

A View from the Beach - Rule 5 Saturday - Lara Ghraoui and Fish Pic Friday

24 Femmes Per Second - Brigitte Bardot

Knuckledraggin My Life Away - I'm sure she's taken, men And ... I’ll leave you with this

American Power - Nice Young Lady

Woodsterman - Rule 5 Woodsterman Style

The Other McCain - Rule Five Sunday: The Feast Of St. Stephen

The Pirates Cove - If All You See ... and Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Wired Right - A Beautiful End to the Day

Sonoran Conservative - Rule 5: Friday

The Right Way - Friday Babe and ... Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama

Quote du jour

Raise your hand if you are not going to buy the schizophrenic lie from the Left that 16 year olds are mature enough to vote, yet should still be treated as babies when they shoot, stab, carjack or murder their fellow citizens.

-Mike B.

Friday, January 7, 2022

Free Gun Friday

It's Free Gun Friday once again! A little more do it yourself this time around...

One Lucky Winner Will Receive:

(1) Glock 17 Completion Kit.

(1) Black Olight PL-MINI 2 Valkyrie.

(1) P80 Osiris OWB Holster.

A combined retail value of over $1,020!

You can enter here.

Quote du jour

Hell is truth seen too late.

- Thomas Hobbes

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Quote du jour

"Trump has supporters. Biden has people who hate Trump."

- Zuby

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Hollywood Went to War

Sixty third in our series Hollywood Went to War, is the recently passed Betty White.

"When World War II broke out, she put her career on hold and volunteered for the American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS). Her assignment included the transportation of military supplies through California. She also participated in events for troops before they were deployed overseas."

Ms. White: we thank you for your service to your country. Rest in peace.

*Sixty three posts, eighty-two individuals.

Quote du jour

“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.”

- Henry David Thoreau

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Quote du jour

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Monday, January 3, 2022

Quote du jour

When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.

- Jonathan Swift

Quote du jour

“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Sunday, January 2, 2022

A Little Sunday Night Music

Down to the River to Pray - Bethel College Choir (in a grain silo)

Interview With Mary Isaacs

Today, we're doing something a little different, we sat down with our guest author Mary M. Isaacs, whose short stories have graced the pages of this blog since about June of 2020. Many of you have read and shown interest in her stories, so this is a little bit about the author.

Mary, thank you for sitting down for this interview. First off, where do you hale from originally?

"I was born, and have lived most of my life, in California; San Diego first, then greater L.A., and now, just north of San Francisco. I doubt that I will finish out my life in California, though, as it is no longer the place I once knew. By a long shot..."

How about a little bit about yourself?

I am presently a teacher of very young children, but my undergraduate degree was in drama and I have a Master of Divinity degree. I am also on the internet daily, due to being deeply concerned about what is happening in our nation and the world today. A few of my stories have been influenced by world events.

How old were you when you first start cultivating your gift of writing? Were you a child prodigy?

"Child prodigy"! LOL! I do have a box full of my writings from grade school onwards--poems and unfinished fantasy stories mostly- -but I did not continue with any creative writing after high school, really. It has only been the last four of five years that I have returned to writing, focusing on the short story format.

Describe for us your inspiration process, if you can?

All my stories begin their existence as notes or thoughts on scraps of paper, which are then transferred to lined yellow pads (which I buy in bulk!) I write in segments: beginnings, endings, high points, in no particular order, which somehow grow together into a coherent whole.

Does a story idea ever kind of "creep up" on you? Strike you like a "bolt from the blue"?

The "inspiration process" is not a consistent one for me; it is quite varied. Sometimes a memory from my life surfaces, and it feels like an opening for a story. Sometimes I'm struck by a thought or an image. Two stories grew out of favorite songs. One grew out of an incident in the life of a young man- -the son of friends--who died much too young. Several of the stories are Scripture- or faith-based, or have their unseen foundations in faith, which might be a better way of putting it. Occasionally, it feels like the stories "write themselves", and I am just the hand holding the pen.

Tell us a little about the process. Most of the writers I know, write in creative bursts and then return later to the writing to make the words or stories flow more freely. So after you've written and self edited your work, what comes next?

I have five "critical readers"--including you-- whose input is beyond price. I send them completed drafts or even just the beginnings of stories. They see things that I miss, point out inconsistencies, or reflect back with questions asking why? or how? Their responses help me take a step away from my writings and see them as others see them. After mulling over their input, I continue with writing and rewriting until I am satisfied with what is there. Sometimes it takes a long time to finish a story, because the right word is eluding me, or I have repeated a word or a phrase in too close proximity (that really bothers me). And sometimes a story just sits there, for weeks or months---or even longer---until it finishes itself.

I see. How many collections of short stories do you have published?

I currently have four collections of short stories, self-published and available on Amazon. (I have one or two more collections ready to put into published format, but life has been very busy lately! Writing is not my primary occupation, so it has to fit around my other major life responsibilities of teaching and church.)

There usually seems to be a theme in your collections, how would you describe each volume?

The first collection, 'Christ Child's Lullaby', is a holiday book, covering Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas Eve, and St. Stephen's Day. The second collection, 'Holy Innocence', is a gathering of unconnected stories which reflect December 28, the Christian commemoration of Holy Innocents' Day, aka, The Massacre of the Innocents. Four of the five stories in the book are vignettes of how children's lives have been negatively impacted by the neglect or cruelty of the adults around them. The fifth story is an autobiographical pro life story. 'Hidden in Plain Sight' highlights three holidays/holy days: St. Nicholas' Day, New Year's Eve, and Good Friday. The title story in 'The White Bird' is a fairy tale, entirely inspired by an intriguing drawing, and is accompanied by two shorter faith-based stories. The fifth collection will be lighthearted in content---sort of an "and now for something completely different" kind of feel.

Is there any recommended age for your books?

All the stories are meant for older teenagers and adults.

You mentioned that your very affordable and thought provoking books are available on Amazon. By some major coincidence, an intense season of gift giving is upon us! Though Christmas Day has passed, some still celebrate the birth of Jesus on January 6th: Epiphany. I know that I personally recommend your books as thoughtful gifts, for people who may be otherwise hard to shop for. Do you have any favorites, or with recurring stories, any volume you recommend reading first?

I think that 'Christ Child's Lullaby', my first collection, is a good place to start. Also, the title story of that collection has a sequel, in 'Hidden in Plain Sight', so it might be good to read the first story first!

First things first? What a concept. Let me write that down!

Thank you, Mary, for your time. I know with the new year coming up, you have quite a lot on your plate, along with some personal things we won't get into here. Have a Blessed New Year!

For readers interested in getting or giving Mary's books as presents, please take note of the four ads placed along the blog's sidebar. Clicking on anyone of them takes you directly to the site at Amazon, where you can give thoughtful gifts to some of your favorite people, without ever leaving your comfy chair. We'll be leaving the ads up though Epiphany, January sixth.