7 Quick Takes Friday, vol. 36

~1~

A recent discovery: Peter is scared of the electric hand-mixer, like immediately breaks down when Hubby turns it on.  It's so hard not to laugh!

~2~

I have news that I have not yet shared here or on Facebook or anywhere: we sold our house!!  I wanted to wait to share the news until we had the inspection and the appraisal.  All is done and we are moving forward!  So excited!

~3~

Of course, selling the house means we have to move.  So we immediately started looking.  We found a great house in a really great neighborhood.  It was further away from town than we originally wanted to be, but it was such a great neighborhood and house that we didn't care about the location.  Plus, what we didn't realize that since it was practically on the county line, there was a grocery store and little shopping center just on the other side of the county line.  So it wasn't near town, it was still near a bit of shopping, walking distance even.  So we put in an offer.

~4~

And apparently someone else liked the house just as much as we did and also put in an offer.  They got the house.  Back to square one.

~5~

Another afternoon of house hunting ... a Saturday morning of more house hunting ... and then another look at a house on Sunday after church.  We decided to put in an offer and after a bit of negotiating we got the house!!  Yay us!  It is also in an awesome neighborhood and a really great location!  It's an older home (about 40+ years old) and has been kept up really well.  It has some quirks and plenty of charm.  And it's really close to town, our church, a park (in walking distance), a grocery store, the university where I work, and so much more!  The inspection is Friday.  Hoping there are no major surprises!!

~6~

Isn't it cute:

Believe it or not, this is a two-story house with three bedrooms upstairs and it has a walk-out basement.  The three upstairs bedrooms are all really good size as well!

~7~

Next week I'll be attending two meetings, the Music OCLC Users Group Meeting and the Music Library Association Annual Conference.  I look forward to visiting with old friends and making new friends!!

Enjoy more Quick Takes at Betty Beguiles blog.

Happy Weekend!!

Stand with us or it will be YOU next

Over the last several days to a week, I have seen many of my friends post to Facebook about the recent HHS decision and "like" other friend's posts on the same.  Sometimes I read the comments from my friend's friends and follow the conversations for and against contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion.  The more I read the more I realize that people are missing the real issue.

What is the issue?  Is it the right for individuals to have access to free birth control?  Is it the about whether you can use your insurance coverage to get an abortion?  Or is it the right to be able to sterilize yourself from the "danger" of a future pregnancy?

No, no, and no.

If you work for a private company and your insurance coverage wants to pay for these things for you and you want to use them, then fine.  I may not agree personally, but that is the right of your company's insurance provider.

The issue is about the government (i.e. the state) mandating that a faith-based organization (i.e. the church) cover procedures and medications that said religious organization is opposed to.  Thus, the state stepping in to mandate the church do something contrary to the church's beliefs.

Hmmm!  Doesn't that sound like a "separation of church and state" issue.  I sure hope so, because that is EXACTLY what it is!

For us Catholics this is a matter of religious freedom and a policy that goes against our moral convictions.  For everyone else, this is a matter of the separation of church and state.  Maybe this mandate does not affect you and you don't care that Catholic employers (schools, hospitals, charitable organizations, colleges and universities) will be forced to comply with this mandate or close their doors.  Whether the specific mandate affects you specifically or not, the issue affects all of us.

If this administration feels that it can pass a mandate that does not allow for a comprehensive conscientious objection (there is an exemption, but it is extremely narrow) and thus go against the "separation of church and state" that has been a part of this nation's foundation since the beginning, then they can pass future mandates that will affect other religious groups as well.

Your religious liberties may not be threatened at this time, but if a precedent is set you may find yourself in the same position as Catholics are in now.  Stand with us: sign the petition the St. Michael's Society has put together, write to your congressmen and representatives, and let your Catholic friends know that you support them in fighting this mandate.  Next time it could be you and your religious liberties.

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
They they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I was Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
                                           ~Martin Niemöller