"never be bullied into silence. never allow yourself to be made a victim. accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." harvey fierstein

So today is the day when the media attacks our sensibilities, forcing us to re-live the "tragic" events of five years ago. It's becoming a cliché. Today isn't about blame. It's about hurt. So many lives were lost this day five years ago, and so many of us still hurt from that loss. I lost 13 friends that day. There are others who lost still more than that; fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, fiancés, sons, daughters. My heart feels for them. I can't say I understand their pain, but I can certainly emphathize. I pray they heal and grow from the experience.
So many wonder why such things happen. God-fearing people wonder why God permits such things to happen. I always remember in 1 John, where it says "God is love." A loving God cares about people and what happens to them. The truth is, He wants to change things for the better. After all, his purpose was to have people live forever in peaceful paradisaic conditions. His purpose has not changed. His time will come-soon-to bring about his purpose. I look forward to the time when we will greet the resurrected 9/11 victims, along others who have died. Until that time, we need to study the truth, hang on to our faith and act on it. Things will only get worse with Satan's hold on this world until Jehovah steps in to remove Satan and his influence. What joy that will be to see! Then everyone will know Jehovah and his wonderful qualities. Until then, plug along and encourage others to learn about Him in the meantime.
In line with that, I think I mentioned my joining the French language Book study. This Wednesday is my first meeting. I'm more than a little nervous. Somehow, I know I'll forget words and phrases. Or I'll forget the language alltogether. I'll have to take my french/english dictionary just in case. I'll also take my english book/bible. I'll have to cart around a wheelbarrow for all the stuff. But it's exciting.
My mother is healing very well. Her imbalance issues have mostly cleared up. She still hasn't recovered her sense of smell/taste, and it's looking like she won't. The place where her hair was shaved grew back to about 2 inches. For a while, she had her long hair everywhere else. She'd put it in a ponytail and noone would notice, but after a while, it looked funky. So she decided to cut it all off to the same length. It looks really cute. Her curls are all crazy now, it's good.
My weight is at a standstill, mostly because I'm at a standstill. I kinda lost my momentum. I think I need to analyze where I'm at mentally to get to the root of the problem. I'll need some time for that, though. Perhaps next weekend.
Labor day weekend was Comptche. I love singing in the rain. I was surprised how much my face got wet from the mic. It was recorded this year, so I'll be getting a recording soon.
This last weekend, we went to Manresa Beach with my nephew and his family in a condo on the beach. My window was about 10 feet from the beach. It was wonderful waking up to the roaring waves. I also enjoyed having a mac&cheese food fight and a bed-jumping session with my nephew. He's so silly. He's getting to be more and more fun as he gets a bit older. I'm really enjoying every moment with him.
This weekend, we're headed to Arnold to visit some friends in their "new" home. (They've been there for years now, but in my mind, they'll always be close.) It'll be fun meeting the friends in their congregation.
After that, the weekends will be full of service and kingdom hall renovation work. What a full life!
I guess this will catch me up here for now. Chat later!