simple woman's daybook

I've been meaning to link up to The Simple Woman's Daybook for quite some time, so I'm going to take the plunge! Head on over to The Simple Woman's website to link up and read some of the other entries.


FOR TODAY


Outside my window... Cloudy with a chance of meatballs (we're having spaghetti for dinner, Lord willing).

I am thinking... That I should hurry up and get school started (yes, we're still doing school) so that I can be ready for my nieces to come over later today.

I am thankful for... A patient husband, an even more patient Heavenly Father, and SUMMER. :)

From the learning rooms... I'm studying a photoshop book right now that I got for my birthday. It's a little frustrating for someone who doesn't learn well from the written word. Even if there's pictures. I'm a hands on learner ... but, at least I try.

From the kitchen... Spaghetti for dinner, I have a roast in the crockpot for myself (since I can't have spaghetti), and I'd like to make some blueberry muffins and some blondie brownies. We'll see how well the nieces behave.

I am wearing... My pink, fuzzy robe. But not for long.

I am creating... a novel.

I am going... to write a letter to Peter today. Remember, Peter's in Marine boot camp. We finally have his address, so I'm going to write, write, write. 

I am reading... A Wife After God's Own Heart, by Elizabeth George.

I am hoping... that my neck stops hurting.

I am hearing... birds chirping, fingers typing, and the fan upstairs.

Around the house... it's dusty.

One of my favorite things... photography!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Two baseball games, a baby shower for a friend at church, and family from Oregon coming to stay for a week!

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing:

(Taken from downtown Denver when we saw Peter off to boot camp. I'm obviously not accustomed to large buildings, so I had to take a picture.)

book review: buried alive

Buried Alive, by Roy Hallums, is a true story of an American contractor working in Iraq, kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents. He was help captive for 311 days. Most of those days were spent in a concrete tomb, infested with sand fleas, where he was poorly treated - to put it mildly.

Hallums not only shares his physical surrounding in great detail, but also his emotional state during his captivity. He also goes in to great detail about his fellow inmates, and what it must have been like for them.

The book also includes information about his family, and how they dealt with the ordeal back in the states, which I found interesting. However, the page turner portion of the book was learning about how Iraqi insurgents capture innocent American contractors, throw them in trunks of cars, beat them, starve them, and entomb them, all in the name of funding more terrorist operations. It's not fascinating in a curious sort of way, but in an incredulous sort of way. To think that human beings can treat other human beings in that manner was enough to boil my blood, and it made me want to quickly finish the book.

I was thankful when I reached the last three or four chapters that reveal his rescue by Army special forces. And I was thankful for Roy's dogged determination to not only live through the ordeal, but to remain sane and available to those who were entombed with him. His courage and ability to cope was nothing short of amazing.

Between Roy's tenacity, and the bravery of the troops that rescued him, Buried Alive was not only a page turner, but a tear jerker. I couldn't help but tear up at those troops, their bravery, and their care for a fellow American.

God bless American soldiers.

And God bless Roy Hallums.