21 and Going Strong

Happy Birthday, Aido Barbado! (Apparently, this is what Callie now calls Aidan). She will always be my l'il punkin pie, though.

I could go really deep with this post, and tell Aidan's story, with all it's trials and successes, but I want to focus on lightheartedness. She made it to 21, and I am just so thankful and happy and blessed that I am filled with happiness. To let a dark thought from the past into my mind today seems wrong, so I won't.

Here are a couple of pics of Aidan when she was a little punkin pie (sorry for horrible quality---pics of pics taken with my phone):

Here's Aidan with her cousin Andrew (aka Spiffy):

I loved it when I found this Halloween costume in a thrift shop! Aidan loved it, too, and wore it two years in a row.

Aidan practicing her gymnastics at Mimi and Grandpa's house:

The kids at the beach several February's ago:

Aidan (on left) with her friend Heather at church:

At our house in Albuquerque:

Aidan and Callie at the Albuquerque house:

Aidan sitting in a mock oval office at The Magic House in Illinois:

She's just amazing. When I think of how hard she's worked to survive and overcome and be successful, I'm just in awe. She's the strongest person I know and I'm so proud she's my daughter.

She recently posted this video on FB...its a rap song she wrote while in jail almost three years ago... (I don't know how to upload the video, but hopefully if you click on the link, you'll see it)

https://www.facebook.com/Babyaids/videos/1241352272544875/

And this is a video that totally brings tears to my eyes every time I see it...

https://www.facebook.com/Babyaids/videos/1099200883426682/

I told her a couple days ago that I'm going to make her a cake today. I usually make cakes for my kids birthday's and decorate them myself. I'm not a great cake decorator, but I think I'm okay, and I'm probably the only one that can accommodate some of my kids weird requests. This is how the text conversation went about Aidan's cake this year:

Anyway, this may be the hardest cake I've done in a while. When the kids were little, I did some elaborate, time consuming cakes. I've got to go back and find those pics...they're awesome. But as the kids grew and life grew busier, the cakes were more rushed.

Here are a few of the cakes I've done (that I can find the pics of, lol). Keep in mind, they give me very specific instructions of how they want their cakes to be, and I try hard to accommodate them.

This one was a little rushed, because Aidan decided at the very last minute she wanted a sea monster with bloodshot eyes and bloody teeth:

Joe followed suit later that year with his own gory request:

Here's a cake I did a couple years ago for the surgeon I work for:

Today's Hello Kitty Choking Spoopy cake may be pretty difficult. I'm getting off work early, so I can decorate it when I get home. I still need to pick up a couple frosting colors from the store...

And a quick thank you for all the well wishes. I'm doing great after a couple hard days, and I'll be mountain climbing by springtime!

The Force Awakens (SPOILERS!)

Wow, wow, wow. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was AWESOME. Loved it!

Here are some reasons why I loved it:

1. We have a female potential Jedi (and maybe the most powerful Jedi yet), who isn't a typical "Mary Jane" protagonist. A "Mary Jane" in movies is sort of like a wish- fulfillment heroine, a girl who is almost supernatural in her ability to kick ass. In The Force Awakens, Rey isn't aware of how strong the Force is within her. And when she does something extraordinarily well, the viewer realizes it's the Force working in her and guiding her to her greater destiny, but she's convincingly perplexed and pleasantly surprised at her ability. When she pilots The Millennium Falcon with a finesse Han Solo would be jealous of, her response afterward is incredulous, and Finn's like "How did you do that?" And she's all like, "I don't know!"

When Han gives her the blaster, he's like "Girlie, do you know how to use this?" And she says "Pull the trigger," and he's all chuckling like she's a dumb little girl. He says something like "Uh, there's a lot more to it than that." And that he'll give her lessons. When she does finally use the blaster, and after one stray shot, hits her target on the second, she looks down at the weapon in wonder, as if thinking, "I thought this was supposed to be difficult." As the audience, we know it's because of the Force in her. But she is wonderfully oblivious to it, until the very end.

And I love how the tables turn near the beginning of the movie where Finn is always trying to take her hand to pull her to safety. She keeps saying, "Stop taking my hand! I know how to run without holding your hand!" Then, there comes a moment when she offers her hand.

2. J.J. Abrams did a fantastic job with a subtle weaving of the intricacies of the Force throughout the movie. I especially noticed the lights of the sabers reflected in Kylo Ren's and Rey's eyes during their final fight. As their sabers were locked and Rey was standing on the edge of the precipice, Kylo pleads that he can teach her the Force. Then, in Rey's eyes, and in Kylo Ren's, you see the blue and red lines of the sabers crossed. Rey closes her eyes and concentrates on the Force within her. When
she opens her eyes, the blue and red lights are parallel, symbolizing the intended balancing nature of the force, while in Kylo Ren's eyes, the lights are still crossed.

3. The movie remained true to the origins George Lucas intended. George Lucas has said that the Force is a pushing and pulling of dark and light that strives for balance, and one side can't survive without the other. This is artistically depicted in the internal struggle of Kylo Ren. His heart seems to be tugging him toward the light, but his mind and ego and his worship of his grandfather (Darth Vader) yank him quickly back to the dark side of the Force. This internal struggle and his immaturity for one wielding such power is evident in his destructive tantrums when things don't go his way. I have a feeling that murdering his father (Han Solo) will haunt him in future movies.

4. There was no evidence of Jar Jar Binks! Or Ewoks (well, I think I saw an Ewok, actually, but it didn't speak and seemed to be in just one short scene, walking in the dust). Thank the Lord for that
small mercy! The droid BB-8 was actually entertaining (to me, anyway), as it rolled through every
scene like a loyal ally. His personification with human qualities such as trust, when he chose to go along with Finn's lie, was also endearing. His thumbs up welding flame was also actually smile inducing rather than...stupid.

5. There wasn't as much corny replay of the original trilogy as I thought there'd be. Yes, Han Solo did have some corny lines that made me slightly roll my eyes, but not nearly as much as I've seen in other sequels. For the most part, Han Solo and Leia acted how one would expect them to act thirty plus years down the road. They'd had a child, lost that child to the dark side, and split up. Leia is now a general, and a tired Han Solo has gone back to what he's done best--smuggling. The action scenes with Han running aren't far-fetched feats of almost superhuman youth, but reminiscent of a man tired of "the game" just doing what needs to be done to survive another day. His cocky, arrogant personality has subsided into almost a casual indifference.

6. Although we don't see Luke Skywalker until the very end, his presence is felt from the start and
builds toward the climax. It's the final piece to the map of his whereabouts that the First Order is destroying whole star systems to get to. Dumb move on their part--what if one of those planets they destroyed was actually where Luke Skywalker was? Then they'd continue to waste their time searching for nothing.

7. The third Death Star isn't as dumb as critics have made it out to be. Yes, the first two were little in comparison to this monster, the Starkiller. Ironic, isn't it, that in the first draft of the original movie, Luke's last name wasn't going to be Skywalker, but Starkiller?  This Death Star had some definite improvements to go along with it's immensity compared to the previous Death Stars. It HAD to be big, though, because it's weapon had to pull 100% of the sun's energy into it before it could fire a shot that would wipe out entire star systems. There were some design deficiencies, though, because no one but Han, Finn, and Chewie noticed Rey climbing like a lithe little monkey up and down the sides of the walls in an effort to remain hidden from stormtroopers who were supposed to be on high alert.

8. The rumored plot holes were really not plot holes at all. A LOT of information had to be squeezed into a two plus hour film, but the info needed was there, if only for a brief second or two. Most of it flashes in quick succession when Rey first laid her hand on the light saber. She saw the murdering of the younglings by Anakin, she saw the reason why R2D2 went into a self imposed mourning. He was not actually mourning....he was waiting. Waiting for a very special moment when the Force briefly tipped toward the Light. That moment was when Rey and Leia hugged. In that instant, R2D2 fulfilled the mission Luke gave him in the flashback scene where Rey touches the saber.

9. There's another reason why I think that hug between Leia and Rey seemed so special, almost "motherly." We will have to see how that plays out. But with familial ties woven through all the movies, and Rey's mysterious family who abandoned her on Jakku, I wouldn't be surprised if our boy
Luke is a dad after all. Or perhaps Obi Wan Kenobi had a granddaughter we are just learning about.

10. The ending. I thought about the ending on the ride home. At first, I would've liked to have seen Luke stare at the saber for a second, raise his eyes, and have them widen even more as he beholds Rey, standing stoically in front of him, offering the saber. I would've like to have seen him outstretched his hand, and the saber in Rey's hand quiver the slightest bit before fading to black. But that's just my opinion. It ended well the way it did, too.

11. The bonus was the chills I got right at the beginning, with the original music, and the usual scrolling of the history so far. I'm so glad they didn't deviate! It literally gave me chills as memories came flooding back to me.

12. I loved the raw, almost unconscious control of the Force Rey exhibited. So refreshing to see a girl wield a light saber, even though clumsily at first (thrusting when she should have been slashing). Once she focused and let the Force guide her every move, she was unbeatable. And that's awesome.

And last but not least, I want one of these...

Anyway, can you tell how this nerdy girl LOVED that movie!!??

She's Home!

Well, even though Orlando really tried to make me late to pick up Callie at MCO last night, I made it to the terminal before she left the gate area. I decided to video our reunion and am posting it for your viewing pleasure.

I hugged her and embarrassed her appropriately for a mom-daughter reunion. Lol.

Before leaving the airport, she was "dying" for Chik-fil-A, which she hadn't had in five months. So I bought her some, and she couldn't wait til we got home to give me my Christmas present. It's a little bird that carries your troubles away... :)

I'm pretty sure it wasn't the necklace that restored my joyful spirit last night, but a certain, beautiful 15 year old girl. 

Anyway, we talked and shared music playlists on the way home. Of course, she knew all of my songs, but she had a few on her playlist I haven't heard before that I really liked. One was this version of "Fools Rush In," covered by Haley Reinhart.

We talked about her friends. She's in the advanced classes, so she said she's mostly friends with juniors and seniors. Her cousins, Makai and Kiele, are her best friends. Makai is a year older and Kiele is a year younger. Makai worships the ground Callie walks on and invites her to hang out with him and his friends all the time. They're very tight. 

Here's a video Callie made with Kiele:

Callie also is a friend and "helper" to all the foreign exchange students. She especially likes Mathias, the student from Norway, who also happens to be a typically gorgeous Scandinavian, tall, blonde and blue-eyed. Callie's just like her momma in that respect! She said she has one super rich friend, Ahmen, whose dad is the Creative Director/Something or Other of Calvin Klein/Speedo. So he gives his friends free Calvin Klein/Speedo stuff all the time. She said Santa Barbara High is a HUGE melting pot of the very rich and very poor, with only a few in between. She said for the most part, everyone is accepting of one another. Which is good. She also mentioned that the boys in Santa Barbara are more like girls than boys--they're emotional and cry a lot. I didn't know what to say about that. 

We talked about books, and The Walking Dead, and movies, and just about everything. It turns out I didn't have to worry about her thinking us Florida bumpkins are hillbillies--she was thrilled to be home. 

When we pulled into the driveway, Aidan and Joe were outside waiting. Aidan was especially excited. I'm glad my kids are so tight with each other--no fights, ever. I've been blessed in that way and I'm extremely thankful. There were lots of hugs and even a few tears quickly swiped away.

When we walked inside the house, Monet went absolutely nuts with happiness. I should've videoed that--Callie squealing with delight as she knelt down and Monet leaping into her arms, trying desperately to lick her face and simultaneously roll onto her back for "tummies."

Zuri the Tolerable was tolerant of Callie's arrival, casually strolling around the corner with her tail and nose in the air like she was saying, "Oh, the squealy human is home. That is mildly pleasant. Yawn." Here's a picture of Zuri the Tolerable Cat (black and white on right) with the late, great, Jim Morrison (RIP):

We exchanged a few gifts, and I loved what Aidan got Callie--a sweater that matched one she also got for herself so they could have twin sweaters. They're blue and have one word in black written across the front -- NOPE. I thought that was hilarious, and now I want one, too. Lol.

I almost ruined the surprise, though...well, I actually did ruin it. It went like this:

We were all sitting around the tree, and Callie had just opened a long sleeve tee shirt from Aidan that had a cute penguin on it...Aidan had told me about the NOPE one beforehand, so I blurted out, "Lemme see...is that the one with NOPE on it?" 

Aidan spun around, "Momma!"

Me: Oops...

Aidan: Really?

Thankfully, they all started laughing. 

Aidan: (handing Callie a wrapped present) Well, I guess since it's NOT A SURPRISE anymore, open this one, the one I WAS SAVING FOR LAST. 

More laughing, thankfully, as I remember the Hello Kitty ripping the stump out of the ground.

I should've videoed that too, because it was pretty funny. 

Today, I have to work. Callie is dying to see her friends, so I'm going to drop her off at her friend's house on the way to work.

We're going to see Star Wars sometime this weekend. And we're going to try to arrange to have my best friend since fifth grade bring over Hannah and Luke, who are Callie and Joe's oldest (and probably best) friends. 

I saw this on Facebook yesterday, and thought it was especially fitting for my mood... :)

Happiness, like art, can be created, and that's a good thing to remember when you're feeling sorry for yourself or a little down. Create some happiness today! :)

Merry CHRISTmas!!

Today, we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm not much into the "Santa" thing, as Santa is really just a pagan propaganda thing that promotes some questionable morals. But I don't think Santa is evil, either. My kids stopped believing in Santa by the time they were five, and they know where their presents come from. This year, mostly from the Meems. My mom went WAY overboard this year, and like I said, I couldn't stop her. Maybe she won the lottery without me knowing.

Yes, I know there aren't any ornaments on the tree... When Aidan moved back home, a ton of her stuff went into the garage, and she blocked in all my stuff. So, rather than break my neck climbing over a bunch of miscellaneous flimsy boxes, I decided the tree looked perfect with just the lights. My mom ordered this tree from Santa's Best, and it has a remote control that has 52 different ways to set the lights. She bought it because Ellen had one on her show. My mom LOVES Ellen...

So, this morning, Joe and Aidan said they'd be up at 7:00 am to open the Christmas mound, but they're still sleeping. I got the 21 pound turkey (Aidan bought it) for 4 into the oven, so it'll be done before Aidan has to go to work.

I say four for dinner, because Aidan's new boyfriend, Cody, is coming to celebrate with us. Cody's name is interesting, and it turns out his parents named him after none other than William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. I did an entire post about Buffalo Bill way back, so I'd learned a lot about him. But Aidan is another story...this is how it played out:

Aidan: Cody was named after some cowboy dude from a long time ago.
Me: Oh, Buffalo Bill!
Aidan: (laughing) No, he was named after a REAL guy.
Me: (laughing) Buffalo Bill Cody WAS a real guy?
Aidan: Whhhhat?! I thought he was a legend, like Johnny Appleseed.
Me: (laughing) No, he was real. He was a big time cowboy in his time. He wrote stories, and he killed a lot of buffalo and had his own Wild West Show.
Aidan: (working feverishly on her iPhone): Then whose this chick? I Googled him but got this girl.

Me: (I didn't need to look at the pic to know who it was) Annie Oakley.
Aidan: HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?
Me: (laughing) Because she was a sharpshooter in his show.
Aidan: (scrolling through pictures on her phone) Where's his blue buffalo?
Me: What?
Aidan: I thought Buffalo Bill was the guy who rode around on a blue buffalo.
Me: (laughing) You're thinking of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox!!!
Aidan: (laughing) Oh yeah! This is funny. Now I have something to tease Cody about. I'll tell him he was named after a guy who loved mullets.

And with that, she changed his avatar in her phone to this:

Okay, back to Christmas talk. When I woke up this morning, I put Monet is her Christmas jammies. She pretty much hated it, as you can tell by the "I hate you" shooting from her eyes.

And "the look" just got worse:

And didn't get any better when I changed her into her Christmas dress:

So, I had mercy and took it off so she could run around naked, happy, and free. :)

Wow, the kids are still sleeping. I could've slept in.

Anyway, have a very Merry Christmas, and remember that the holiday isn't about gifts, or turkey, or greed, or treasure, or material things, but about the arrival into our world of our savior, Jesus.

Christmas Joy

Well, I felt good enough to make it until 2:00 at work yesterday...I got my bonus, and we had a fun office party. I received a very comfy blanket that happens to be my favorite color--blue--and a really cool candle thingy that you plug into a wall and it's like a nightlight and a candle. I also won a bottle of wine in our office raffle, but I traded it for one of those 3 flavor popcorn tubs that seem to be only sold at Christmastime. I am not a wine drinker, but I am a popcorn eater (except the caramel--yuck--the kids can have that). Luckily, many of the office staff enjoy wine, so trading was easy. :)

But around 2:00, I started getting chills and aching, so I went home, and went to bed. I would've had a nice nap if a certain naughty puppy hadn't kept licking my eyes every time I tried to close them. Anyway, I was still cold, so I took my temperature and wasn't real surprised to see it was almost 102. But some Tylenol and antibiotic did the trick, but I still didn't want to risk it by going to the hospital's OR party.

I'm glad I stayed home, though, because my chase friends kept me company through texts...

Today, I just chilled in my room, played some Skyrim, then took Joe to meet his friends at the movies.

I caught up on the next episode of The Walking Dead yesterday, and it made me mad. Nothing really happened! It was the episode right after the tower fell through the fence and walkers stormed Alexandria. Nothing made a whole lot of sense, and if I was a TV critic, I'd say:

1. The first totally wonky thing I noticed was that Rick left Baby Judith ALONE in the same area as a woman who he KNEW was on the verge of turning into a walker. When Judith cries, the alarms would've been going off in my head as I realized my insanely stupid mistake, and I would have ran full speed up those stairs...but no, Rick lollygags as he ambles up the stairs and notices almost-dead-lady isn't on the couch anymore. Finally, he takes action and pulls a sword...but wait, she's not a walker yet, and she just wanted to see the baby one more time.

I was like, "Wait...Really?" I know it's Rick, and he's known for moron mistakes, but this one takes the cake. I was dumbfounded. "Oh, the almost dead lady turning into a flesh eating monster before our very eyes is safe enough for Judith to stay alone with her."

2. Why doesn't Glen get in there and try to help sooner?

3. Why doesn't the bloodthirsty killer in the basement kill Carol, the doctor chick, Martin, the
Aspergers guy, and those two other girls when he got the gun? I can see him taking a hostage, but why didn't he kill the rest of them? He had no qualms butchering people a few days before, so why does he hesitate now? Makes no sense.

4. If I was the older lady on the couch, I would've shot myself long before. Why lay there and suffer, postponing the inevitable? Why risk waiting TOO long and snapping from life to zombie before you can pull the trigger?

Those were my main problems with the episode that resolved absolutely nothing. The next episode better make up for it. Lol.

In other news, I submitted my SAT scores to Mensa (1400), so I can be a member. Every time I receive an insult I'll post a pic of my very own Mensa card.

So lots up stuff coming up the pipe. Be watchful, take notes.

Tis the Season...

...for a kidney infection, tra la la la la...la la la la.

To make a long story short, the combined undetected-until-yesterday kidney infection and the loss of five pounds this week (flip flop thyroid) depleted my potassium, and I was really sick and miserable yesterday. I ended up taking about 70 mEq of potassium last night to avoid a visit to the ER for a very painful, burning bag of IV potassium. If you've ever had potassium via IV, you'll know what I'm talking about. I feel about 80% better this morning, even though my back still hurts. I'm taking antibiotics, though, so should be 100% soon.

I really wanted to go to work today, too. It's our office Christmas party and gift exchange, and I think our Christmas bonus will be handed out today, and I could really use it. I drew my boss's name out of the hat for the secret Santa, and since I share an office with her, I know what she likes. I ended up spending more than the $25 limit, but I know she will spend more than that on my gift, too. She already gave me one gift early, a long sleeve Philadelphia Eagles tee shirt from her trip to PA earlier this month. I collect team tee shirts and shirts with numbers on them (don't ask me why). My boss loves musicals and Broadway and books and gossip, so I bought her a giant book all about Broadway, and another big book about all the interesting stories and scandals that happened behind the scenes.

Tonight is the hospital operating room's Christmas party. Since I'm involved with surgeries, I'm invited. I don't know if I'm going to go to that. I sort of just want to relax after feeling so miserable yesterday. And a room full of surgeons is...*YAWN.* A room full of drunk surgeons can be pretty amusing, though, so maybe I'll still go and keep my boss and other friends from the OR company. A home health rep I've become good friends with, Jennifer, wants to go, so I'm supposed to bring her as my "date." I don't really want to let her down, either, so maybe I'll suck it up and go, even for just a little while.

And our little hospital is pretty cool...they definitely got it going on. Look, they even have YouTube videos!

I can also hope that Dr. Jaaaaaayyyy Taylor from the ER will be there. He's a cute young doctor with an infectiously happy personality who hasn't yet become a pillar of unfeeling stone and still loves helping people. I've never met him face to face, but speak to him on the phone quite often. He usually calls my extension (because no one else wants to answer a call from the hospital) and I like the way his cheery voice says, "Hey Mindy! This is Dr. Jaaaaaaayyyy Taylor from the ER, how are you?" He says his name like a wrestling announcer, or like a cartoon character, I can't decide which. But I laugh every time. It's people like him who make working in the health care industry fun. Don't worry guys, he's too young for me (I think) and I'm pretty sure he might be married.

Here's a pic of my "date," Jennifer, who stopped by with her boss, Karen, to say "hi" for Christmas. Karen is notorious for dressing up for every holiday and paying us surprise visits. The dour looking guy in the background is one of our PA's, Don. He's actually not really dour, but pretty cool.

Soooo, I'll probably end up going to both parties, especially if I feel even better.

Ha ha...I just found another video with our hospital family...I recognize some of our funny MD's...

The Beauty of "Trash Day"

Today is Friday, and since I'm a single person, I had to take out the trash this morning.

I don't like taking out the trash. Because I dislike it so much, I try to remember to take it out right after I wake up, between 4:30-5:00 am. At this time of the year, it's still pitch dark outside and I don't have to worry about the neighbors seeing me in my way too big Bucs shirt and jogging shorts.

This morning caught me by surprise.

As I was hauling out as the overfilled trash bin to the curb, thinking about the to do list waiting for me at work and wishing I could just crawl back under my covers, I happened to glance up.

Just above the horizon and nearly filling the sky, was the giant Orion, his blazing belt and accompanying celebrities seemingly alone in, and completely filling that portion of the sky.

The rumbling sound of plastic wheels on brick pavers halted, and the world was immediately filled with a comforting silence. It was too cold for the usual chirp of crickets, and none of the neighbors had ventured from the warmth of their homes yet. To quote a certain man, I felt I had shared a secret with the magnificent, towering hunter in the sky, and I imagined him flashing me a quick, twinkling wink. He was my secret, this legendary hunter.

I stood still, just watching, observing what I felt was a pivotal moment in time. This might be the last time Orion lines up precisely the way he was this morning, and I didn't want to waste a moment. I traced his form, and focused on the trinity of stars in his belt. They seemed so close to me...I felt tiny and insignificant, yet bold. With Orion watching over me, I had nothing to be scared of.

A neighbor's garage door slowly grumbled up and the fairy dust moment had diminished. I rumbled the bin the rest of the way to the curb, then turned around, and was again struck by what I saw-- the Big Dipper, upside down, right in from of me, and like Orion, all alone in the sky.

I felt blessed, and my minor cares for the day faded like waterfall mist into oblivion.

Stars have always held power over me. Many of my poems feature the constellations, and many are merged with spiritual or personal themes.

Like this one I wrote when I was fifteen:

I glimpse
A solitary star
Shimmering in the winter sky,
And for a silent moment,
We share the loneliness.

Or this one, written at about the same time:

An intimate thought
I think to the brightest star
And I wonder
If you glance up
And catch it as it blazes.

Or this little, sorta silly one:

Stars are fancy.
Burning a drama alive.

And this sad one:

The waves are beautiful at night
Under a star drenched February sky,
But they don't stop
For the sake of my tears.

And the stars
Are a majesty
Crisp and cold and fire all the same,
Yet they don't cease to burn
To bear the burden of my sorrow.

And this one I found in an old William and Mary notebook. I must've been writing in there soon after high school, when I shared a class with the pastors son, Joel Wild, who was my on and off again boyfriend and best friend for years. His dad, a famous Calvary Chapel pastor, Malcolm Wild, and his wife, Carol, sorta adopted me into their family. They became my mentors, and I'm still proud to this day to call them dear friends.

Anyway, here's the poem...

I see You, Lion; it's no mistake
Leaving the stars in Your wake.
Your growl is thunder, your ire hail--
   I see you flash Your angry tail...
As You took to us, we knelt to You
For peace and strength and hope anew.

I see You, Lion, in the night
Three bright stars to unite
Our fallen world, and it's people, under one God, under one steeple.
But can it be done? Can it be true?
Or are Your people just much too few.

I see You, Lion, leaping high
Dodging stars across the sky,
You move so fast, You seem to stand still--
Omnipresent, with hearts to fill
With love and magic and a shooting star
To race with You, and not from afar.

So, maybe taking out the garbage isn't so bad, now....treasures are to be found among the trash. :)