Anointing of the Sick

Alright, so I am going to get all religious on this blog..... which I promise not to do on a regular basis because I loathe it when people try to force religion upon us. That being said, I must say that I truly love being a Catholic and as I grow older the many beautiful facets of the faith become more obvious to me.

In my opinion, one of the most amazing Catholic sacraments is the Anointing of the Sick. Fortunately, I have never been sick enough or about to undergo major surgery that an anointing was necessary. However, as some of you know, my grandmother (my mom's mother) in Cleveland has been very sick for a long time at this point. A few days ago she developed an infection that has spread throughout her body and was admitted to the hospital. Upon admittance it was discovered that she also has a blockage in her abdomen which requires surgery. Clearly, in her state, surgery is not an option and after speaking to Mom a few moments ago at they are giving her hours to live instead of days.

My grandmother is and always has been a devout Catholic. In fact, she and my grandfather our some of the most devout Catholics I have ever known. I know that when my grandfather passed it was great comfort to my grandmother that he received the Anointing of the Sick prior to his death. Now, my grandmother has received the anointing as well. Even more special for her is that her brother, Father Mitchell (aka Tutti), was able to administer the anointing.

Even without communication I can guarantee everyone reading this that my grandmother was able to feel some peace after her anointing because God's grace was made present in her life and brought to the forefront of her vision at that moment despite her continuous pain and struggle for the last several years.

If you are interested in more information about this particular sacrament there is a great explanation to be found here:

http://www.catholic.com/library/Anointing_of_the_Sick.asp

It truly is difficult to put into words how amazing I believe this sacrament is. I will keep everyone out there posted on my grandma's status.

Back again

So, I finally have worked up the nerve to make this post.... and it has only taken a little over 2 months. As most of you are aware I am a total wuss and never did make it to Ireland due to a total plane freak out. On a positive note though, Jason was able to continue on without and have the trip of a lifetime.

Let me update you all on life here in the Ville. Summer is quickly coming to an end and Jason has already started back to school so I am on my own again on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The last few weeks we have been battling with the home warranty company about our broken air conditioner. Long story short we are getting a new compressor and capacitor but it apparently came over on a barge across the ocean and then was driven across the country at 10 mph to get here. By the time our ac is truly up and running again it will be time for heat instead. I'll keep you posted about the progress with the ac but hopefully we will be up and running again on Monday.... when the high here is supposed to be a whopping 74 degrees. Oh well!

Other than the ac fiasco there really isn't much news on the home front. We are still loving our new house and it is truly starting to feel like home. Sorry again to all for the long time with no posts. I will try my best to be more diligent about posting in the future!

Vacation

So, long time and no post...sorry about that. I am officially on vacation from work and getting ready for our big Ireland trip with the family. On one hand, I am more comfortable about trip than any other trip but on the other hand, I am totally freaking out about this trip.

The comfort part comes from knowing that everything at home is going to be taken care of since Jason's parents are staying at our house all week. That means our kittens will be fed and loved, the fish will be fed and the house kept up in our absence. However, I am having a major panic attack about the whole getting to Ireland part of this trip. I am (and always have been) super terrified of flying.... it just isn't natural and then you throw the claustrophobia on top of that and I am an unpleasant flyer. Then, with that uneasiness already looming, there is the whole recent plane crash thing making me wish I had never agreed to this trip in the first place. I know that once I get there I will be so glad I made the journey, but it is going to take sooooo much to get me there in the first place I am regretting putting my husband and other family members in the position of having to deal with me.

Anyway, assuming I make it over there, we will post tons of pictures when we get home :) Wish us luck and pray for me to remain as calm as possible!!!

Twitter

Okay so I am trying my best to figure out this twitter thing so please follow me or let me know your screenname so I can follow you :) I hear twitter is like one stop shopping for news and keeping up with friends so I am truly giving it a test drive.

@annelouisefrye

House Pictures..... Finally

Alright everyone.... the moment you have been waiting for has finally arrived. I have finally gotten off my behind and decided not to be a slacker with this blog and post some house pictures. As many of you know, we had our open house/preview recently so the house was clean and in pretty good overall shape. Perfect time for pictures.

Okay first you must admire the super awesome cake Allison made for the party. She totally rocked this one out. If you need a cool cake, she is highly recommended.

Front entry way.

First Floor Half Bath. Notice Jason & his parents handy work on the new floor.

Dining Room. Please forgive me for not being able to rotate this.

Formal living room.

My piano. Again forgive my inability to rotate.

Family Room with Jason and his dad watching Family Guy.

Guest Bedroom.

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

My awesome tub.

Master Bath Vanities and Fabulous Closet.

Office

Kitchen


Kitchen. Notice we had Chick-fil-a :)

So there you go - an inside look at our new house.

Elliptical

I promise house pictures are on the way and invites to the open house are on the way.

However, we are selling our broken elliptical and here is the link to the listing if you or anyone you know is interested.

http://louisville.craigslist.org/spo/1108835099.html

My friend rocks

Okay so I know we are totally behind in updating this blog with the move and I promise it is coming soon but I wanted to post really quick to tell everyone my friend, Michelle, is featured on the National Geographic Traveler site for her blog/article about Louisville.

Check it out!

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2009/03/i-heart-my-city-michelles-loui.html

Sorry... Life got in the way :)

Hey everyone out there is cyber land! Long time no see! I know we have been bad and haven't updated recently but everything is moving so fast in the Frye household we haven't had a second to stop and clean the kitchen, much less update our blog.

We are moving fast toward closing on our new house which is very very very exciting!! I forgot the camera when we went to the home inspection so you all are going to have to wait with bated breath for photos of the inside of the house. Hopefully we will close on March 19 and then I can get you all some pictures of the rest of the house.

As a result of the impending move we have started packing nonessential items so anyone who wants to drop off some boxes we would love them....hint hint!! It is amazing how much stuff we have amassed in the last couple of years and a certain packrat is completely opposed to throwing anything away so most of it is coming with us :(

Other than that, not much news no the home front. Mia had a bad tooth last time we went to the vet so she got her teeth cleaned yesterday and they were able to let her keep her tooth and have hope that her gum will grow back down to a normal level. She was a little out of it yesterday when she got home but today seems completely back to normal.

We will try to keep you all posted on how the packing/move progresses. Wish us luck!!

Best Valentine's Day Ever

So we have the best news of all time (and no, we are NOT pregnant).... we have a contract to buy a new house!!!!

Yesterday we did some house hunting with our realtor and ultimately found a great house, in a great neighborhood, for a pretty great price. So, we looked at it on two separate occasions and made a low ball offer and they countered in our price range!! So we accepted their counter and are now on our way to owning a new home.

We are super excited. Here is a picture of the exterior of the house. More pictures to come when we can get inside and do the inspection(s).

Do you think this will be on the Wii?

Kuwaiti Imam Urges Creation of Games to "Slaughter Jews"

February 2, 2009
From Gamepolitics.com

In a 2006 interview with Kuwait TV, an Islamic religious leader issued a call for computer games which require players to "slaughter Jews."

We don't have the exact air date of the video at left, although a Washington Post article from September of 2006 references the video.

We're presenting it now because this is the first time that GP has located the actual footage. Among Imam Nabil Al Awadi's remarks:

As their games corrupt our morals, now they are making games with their current wars.

Their wars, that are not Islamic, in Islamic countries have turned into a computer games. When the child plays, he adopts a character that is not Islamic, that kills Muslims.

Why, gentlemen, should it not be the opposite? Why can't we produce a few games like these? Why can't we make games that instead of teaching children how to slaughter the Muslims, they can teach them how to free the Al-Aqsa mosque. The child will play and slaughter Jews and others.

Not only children, but adults too, will kill heretics and free the Al Aqsa mosque. There are games with pit battles, it's nice!

Along with Al Awadi's comments, a narrator shows clips and explains Islamic-themed battle games.

Ice Storm 2009

So, unless you live under a rock, you know that the state of Kentucky suffered a disastrous ice storm this past Tuesday evening. I just wanted to update this to let everyone know that we are all okay. Our house has no power and at last check it was hovering around 37 degrees. Needless to say, after toughing it out for two days, we had our fill. Mom and Dad got their power back so Jason, the cats and I moved into their basement and ate our first non-fast food meal tonight and it was wonderful!

Anyway, on the damage front, we have been very lucky. We lost some huge limbs off trees nearby (one of which landed on and damaged Jason's dad's car) but we have been able to get them moved out of the way and can get in and out of the driveway. One of the larger limbs in the backyard landed on the garage and damaged the new gutter (boo!) and also took down a wire with it and tore the piping off the house that connected it. We also lost our three big fish (they got too cold) but I have been able to save the baby fish so far by supplementing their tank with hot water and have moved them to my parents in hopes of keeping them alive. All in all though, the we are very lucky it wasn't much worse and are thankful to have somewhere warm to stay with our cats and baby fish.

Hope this post finds every else somewhere warm and safe!!

Florida Health Insurance Law Will Cover Dependents to Age 30

This story is old, but I thought I would remind you.

New Florida Law Allows Low-Cost Health Policies

By KEVIN SACK

Published: May 22, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/us/22crist.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=florida%20health%20insurance%2030&st=cse

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With considerable fanfare, Gov. Charlie Crist traveled the length of his state on Wednesday to sign a bill aimed at providing low-cost health coverage to the uninsured by allowing the sale of stripped-down insurance policies.

There is disagreement about whether the new law will make much of a dent in Florida’s growing rate of uninsured residents, which at 21 percent is the fourth highest in the country.

But the best part, as Mr. Crist, a Republican, explained at news conferences in Miami, Tampa and Tallahassee, is that the law “doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime.”

That is a common thread in state capitals this spring, as governors and lawmakers struggle to respond to broad anxiety about health care within the limitations of deeply strained budgets. The bold ideas of recent years have been swept away by a worrisome economy, leaving incrementalism and caution in their stead.

In some statehouses, the focus is shifting from covering the uninsured to lowering the cost of health care.

It seems like far more than 16 months ago that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, another Republican, captivated the health policy world by proposing a $14 billion plan for universal coverage there. The plan, which resembled the Massachusetts universal plan enacted in 2006, died in the Legislature in January, largely because of fiscal concerns. Mr. Schwarzenegger is now proposing heavy cuts in health spending to close a $17 billion budget gap.

In Minnesota this month, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, also a Republican, vetoed a bill that would have given the working poor far more access to public insurance. Mr. Pawlenty said in his veto message that the subsidy level in the bill was “excessive and irresponsible.”

He plans to sign a less ambitious bill that the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed on Saturday.

“The system is busted, and you can’t take a system that is growing at several times the rate of inflation and subsidize your way to a solution,” Mr. Pawlenty said in an interview.

Some states have moved to make more people with low and middle incomes eligible for public insurance programs, like Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Others have chosen to cut such subsidies to balance budgets, and most new initiatives have been notable for small investments of public dollars.

Michigan is considering shortening the waiting period that insurers can impose on patients with pre-existing medical conditions. In Virginia, a foundation was left to go it alone after the General Assembly opted not to match its $1 million contribution to reducing insurance costs for workers in small businesses.

“To create successful coverage strategies, historically states have had to ante up,” said Laura Tobler, a health policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “But more than half of states are reporting shortfalls. So there hasn’t been as much activity this year as the last two, and the activity we have seen has been of the regulatory nature, which costs less money.”

That is a point that Mr. Crist made repeatedly on Wednesday, noting that the Florida budget dropped, to $66 billion this year from $72 billion last year.

“The economy is in a different place right now,” the governor, the son of a physician, said while traveling between events. “Our obligation is to find a way without tax dollars to still provide better health care for our people.”

His initiative, which both houses of the Republican-controlled Legislature approved unanimously, enables insurers to create bare-bones policies that the governor hopes will sell for no more than $150 a month. That is about 60 percent less than the average cost of a policy for a single person in Florida, according to state insurance regulators.

The policies would be available to any Floridian 19 to 64 who has been uninsured for at least six months and who is not eligible for public insurance. In a critical provision, insurers would be prohibited from rejecting applicants based on age or health status.

To make the policies affordable, Florida will allow insurers to offer policies that do not include many of the 52 services that standard policies must currently cover, like acupuncture and podiatry. The state added a mandate on Tuesday, when Mr. Crist signed a bill requiring coverage for treating autism.

The low-cost plans have to include preventive services, office visits, screenings, surgery, prescription drugs, durable medical equipment and diabetes supplies.

Some options offered by insurers have to include catastrophic and hospital coverage. But an insurance company could, for instance, choose to limit the number of days of hospitalization it will cover or place a dollar cap on reimbursing certain services.

The new law also enables parents to cover children up to age 30 on their policies, raising the age from 25.

Thirteen states have statutes allowing bare-bones policies — and Florida has tried them on a pilot basis — on the theory that some health coverage is better than none. The plans have not proven tremendously popular, according to health policy researchers.

They appeal primarily to people who have to buy insurance on the individual or small-group market, and studies have found that low cost is not always sufficient to persuade consumers to buy policies that may still leave them with high out-of-pocket costs.

“We know people are only somewhat responsive to the price of health insurance,” said Sherry Glied, a professor of health policy at Columbia University. “The question is whether people will perceive these plans to be worth it to them. People that want health insurance tend to want real health insurance.”

Mr. Crist acknowledged that the low-cost plans would not provide “Cadillac coverage.” But he said he was optimistic that uninsured Floridians would buy the plans after they are able to analyze their costs and benefits, starting early next year.

“Even if it’s one person,” Mr. Crist said, “it would be a success. But I’m sure there will be many more than that.”

Political Logic Games

I think these same families are considered rich for the purposes of taxation. -Jason

From nationalreviewonline.com

Friday, January 23, 2009

Health Insurance for Poor Families, with Their Six-Figure Incomes

The Department of Health and Human Services announced today in the Federal Register its calculation of the poverty level for 2009. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, for a family of one, HHS puts the poverty level at an income of $10,830 or below.

2 persons: $14,570
3 persons: $18,310
4 persons: $22,050
5 persons: $25,790

For Alaska, it is a few thousand dollars more at each level. The rest of the chart can be found here.

I mention this because the House of Representatives has passed legislation allowing states to offer government-funded health insurance to children who live in families that have incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. The Senate is expected to pass this legislation, and President Obama is expected to sign it.

The original purpose of the State Children's Health Insurance Program was uncontroversial: provide health care to children of the working poor, families that make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford insurance on their own.

But S-CHIP has now become a backdoor manner of establishing government-provided health insurance, covering incomes well beyond most definitions of "the working poor."

This means that a family of four with an annual income of $88,200 can receive S-CHIP benefits. A family of five can have a six-figure household income—$103,160—and still qualify for this program originally designed to help the poor. (And higher in Alaska.)

Sure its efficient, but where do I put the groceries?

From Engadget.com
Aptera rolls out first pre-production vehicle, promises shipments in October

by Nilay Patel, posted Jan 23rd 2009 at 5:50PM

Although the swoopy Aptera electric went up for pre-orders back in October of 2007, we haven't really seen much of the futuristic car outside of the odd Star Trek cameo. Hopefully that's about to change, though -- the company just rolled out the first pre-production example its flagship model, the 2e. The three-wheeled car gets the equivalent of 200mpg, and the company claims the lithium-ion battery pack will last for 100 miles on a single charge. Aptera isn't giving out final pricing information apart from "between $25,000 and $45,000" but it says over 4,000 potential customers have already signed up for a planned California-only October release. We'll see how it goes -- and we'd bet the folks at the Automotive X-Prize are keeping a sharp eye as well.

Hello, and welcome to Jason's first post! I hope you enjoy this first tidbit that capitalizes on the Wii craze.

Lady actually inserts credit card into Wii slot, breaks Wii

10 Comments

by Devin Coldewey on December 29, 2008 (crunchgear.com)

A clueless (but probably innocent) mother bought a Wii for her kids for Christmas, and having been told by someone that she had to “put in her credit card when prompted,” actually inserted not one, not two, but three credit cards into the Wii’s poor little disc slot. The Wii, predictably, choked and died. Mom, you got some splainin’ to do!

[via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

And the Jacket Saga continues!

Okay so in my post yesterday I gushed to you all about my excitement at the arrival of Jason's new, much sought after Columbia jacket but at the time, it had merely been delivered. I decided to wait for Jason to get home to open the box so he could have that moment of excitement and sense of accomplishment at finding "the jacket".

Well, needless to say it didn't go so well. Jason opened it last night as I sat by with bated breath. He unwrapped the jacket and there it was in all its glory. A Columbia Titanium Blade Runner Parka in Black/Steel. So he goes to the bathroom where the light is better to try it on, he unzips it and there, on the inside (to our shock and disgust) is a chewed up piece of green, spearmint chewing gum. Of course, it is on the fleecy part of the jacket where it is nice and entrenched in its place.

I mean, COME ON PEOPLE!!! We have looked for this coat for years and finally find the perfect one and it has nasty, disgusting chewing gum on the inside??? What are the odds????

Anyway, I talked with store we bought it from in North Carolina and they apologized profusely but of course are sold out of that particular coat (which has now been discontinued by the way) so they offered Jason an even nicer jacket to replace it and a small refund. So now Jason is getting a Columbia Titanium Evergreen 3 in 1 Parka. Let's hope it lives up to all the hype or I may never hear the end of it!!!

Who knew jackets were so hard to come by?

Sorry it has been awhile!

Hey everyone out there!

I want to start by apologizing for not posting last weekend. We were super busy and just never got a chance to sit down and post. My goal is to write a quick posting every Sunday so that we can keep as many people as possible up to date on our lives.

Anyway, lets start with some VERY EXCITING NEWS!!! (And no, we are NOT pregnant). Jason and I have been toying with the idea of selling our house and buying a new one with the market being the way it is right now. After much discussion and a surprise walk through by my brother, John, and his girlfriend, Jennie, we have sold our house without even putting it on the market!!! How fantastic is that?!?! John decided he was interested, Jennie approved (which is important because we all know that she will live here someday if John buys this house) and my parents (yes, Bob Means included) agreed it was a good idea. So there we go, John/ Mom & Dad will be the owners of our home in the next few months.

So this enabled us to start looking for houses!!! We called our fabulous realtor (if you need one please ask us for Joe's number... he totally rocks) and saw our first house this past Monday. It was a very very nice house but it needed more work than we expected. We also were shocked that it had the TINIEST backyard we have ever seen. No swing set would ever fit in that backyard and it is very much a family house. I honestly don't think we believed smaller backyards existed then the one we have now but we learned that was definitely not the case. Needless to say, the house is probably not on the top of our list, however, we are lined up to see some more this weekend with Jason's parents and hopefully will have better luck.

In other news, Jason is back at school and studying hard again to learn more of the Kanji and Katakana (sp?). I really admire his dedication because I don't think I have the patience to learn a language that has 3 alphabets. It takes a lot of memorization and constant study. So far, I have learned from Jason how to answer the phone (moshi moshi) and to say excuse me (sumimasen) so that I can excuse myself to walk in front of the tv while he plays video games in Japanese.

Also, for those of you in the wonder, after many years (literally years) of searching Jason finally found the perfect Columbia jacket. We found it at Dick's but in the wrong color and after some searching we found it in all black. It is a Titanium series and very nice, we just hope it lives up to all the hype and really is exactly what he has been looking for all these years.

Anyway, that is our update for now. I will post some pictures from our vacation as soon as I get the camera battery charged:)

Back in KY in 2009

Hey everyone! Thanks for checking in with us to start out this great year of 2009. We just got back from a wonderful vacation to Florida with my dad's side of the family. We spent a good week in Boca Grande, Florida soaking up the sun, swimming (in both the pool and the ocean), reading and sleeping in every day until at least 9:00 am. Woohoo!!! Plus we got to spend some quality time with family that we typically only get to see once or a twice a year so it is always great to catch up. I will post some pictures on here and facebook in the next few days when I have a chance so stay posted for some beach pics in the next few days.

Now, on to the serious stuff. As many of you know we drove my grandparents car down to Florida so that they could have it while they vacation through late February. This way they could have their car and use it while they the were there and have it shipped back to KY when they returned home. However, once we got to Florida (we drove all day Christmas day) we found out that Pop woke up feeling sick Christmas day and as a result he and Nana went to hospital (with the help of my saintly Uncle Chris) on the 26th only to discover that Pop had a heart attack most likely in his sleep on Christmas Eve. Needless to say that put a damper on the whole vacation because we dearly missed Nana and Pop at a vacation in which they are instrumental. Additionally, being surrounded by several doctors, Jason and I got the blow by blow of every thing that could possible happen in full detail, complete with hand gestures.

Needless to say, Nana and Pop didn't make it to Florida and Jason and I chose to drive their car back to Kentucky instead of fly so that they could have all of their things back as quickly as possible. On a positive note, Pop got to come home from the hospital on Friday (the 2nd) and seems to be doing well from all reports. However, he suffered some more damage to his already ailing heart so please keep him and my Nana in your prayers.

Alright, onto other news. Jason and I are toying with the idea of putting our house on the market since the mortgage rates are so good right now and we are convinced (or at least I am) that we could use some more space. Therefore, we have some major cleaning and organizing in our near future to get the house ready for the realtor to come and look at. Also, Jason starts back to school on Monday so wish him luck for Japanese part duex.

That's all for now. I'll post those pictures when we have a second!!