Ranting about Religion, and, lol, writing

[paragraphs]

So, my MIL joined a Southern Baptist Church, and since then has made it her mission to get us to join too. It has been...interesting. Sigh. She's invited us to several things--we went quite willingly to see an author come speak, and yesterday to see her sing with her singing group, but she's taken that as a sign or something that all we need is to be pushed a little harder to become members of her church too--um, no? She actually made a list of all the things she wanted us to do there with her, then went on and on about how it would make an old lady sooooo happy...

OH, hell no. Don't do that crap to ME.

She would not listen to me tell her in person I was not interested, just brushing me off and going on and on about it, and today sent a very manipulative email about the same thing, how'd she pick us up Sunday morning and oh yes Sunday evening...wtf? I don't think so. And, I told her so in email, firmly, since she refuses to LISTEN to me (which that alone pisses me off, oh hell yeah). I am sure it'll send her into wails and tears, but dammit, I refuse to compromise my own beliefs (which are soooo far away from Southern Baptists, omg) just to 'make an old lady happy.' OMG.

The service yesterday? The 'message' was so so unreal...pretty much saying that unless you are a good Southern Baptist Christian then forget it, TO HELL YOU GO OMG! and it is up to all good Southern Baptists to bring all the Heathens to the TRUTH!! And don't get me started on their anti-Pro-Choice beliefs, and anti-gay...omg, hmm, yeah, I really belong there kids, oh yeah! My MIL thinks she knows me....

So we'll see what happens when she reads that, oh yeah.

Tiff's car got hit on the night of the 23rd. Never get hit before a holiday, okay? Not a good idea, nope. Hopefully we will get a rental by Wednesday. The other guy's fault--ran a stop sign. Oh yes, and there was a cop right behind Tiff when it happened... Geesh.

The Gulls is going great. Am actually, freak out, enjoying the heck out of writing what is supposed to be a horror story. Mmm... Maybe suspense, really? There is a lot of action and are a lot of evil bird-attacks, and I am having an incredible amount of fun writing these scenes. Never have written anything like this...and this honestly just barely touches on this sort of writing, but enough to show me that I need to explore this further.

Deer mice. We have them, and I have now seen one live one and FOUR dead ones. I AM SO FREAKED OUT! They are in my garage! I saw the evidence they leave behind! Can I say again I am freaked out? They seem to be a real problem this year (I have never had them before) so I am not alone, but I am still freaked out. I am debating how best to get rid of them--was going to get that evil poison but I think the kind of traps that they go in and don't come out are best. Easier to throw out. OMG. I am so not amused--though they are kinda cute. Bigger than regular mice, but smaller than rats, they have little round ears and are white underneath. But they are varmints, and Maddox likes to chase them--YUCK! No thanks!

What else? Not much else. Staying calm--lol that is a good thing. Now to see if I can get some of the next scene down. Two weeks and this thing is due--yikers!

Oh and NaNoWrimo--I DID NOT WIN! But I consider myself a winner anyway. :)

Comments

[mrsalemp.livejournal.com]

Ugh on the family pushed religion, about all I can say about that. Bad news on the accident, she's okay though right? The mention of mice was enough to have my feet up in my chair - ridiculous because I'm in Washington which is far enough away from your mice to be safe. Congrats on the continued writing, glad to hear you're having fun with it :D

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

OMG your MIL. I am sorry. That sounds funny.

And by funny I mean horrifically funny.

[http://users.livejournal.com/lindalee_/]

Scary!! About the deer mice (never heard of those!) and even scarier about the Southern Baptists... eeeeeek!

I don't buy into a specific religion, but if someone can respectfully explain the views and we can have a conversation where both sides listen, etc... like a normal adult should be able to do, then perhaps I can learn something, and the other person can learn something from/about me... but man. Having beliefs pushed on you is a biiiig no-no!

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

My brother is a pastor and my entire family are VERY religious. And then you have me, burning my bras and marching for gay rights. XD

[(Anonymous)]

"Oh yes, and there was a cop right behind Tiff when it happened..."

This is a good thing, isn't it? I hope the other driver received a citation for running a stop sign so he learns to be more aware of his surroundings in the future.

[alba17.livejournal.com]

Oh, the MIL pushing church thing sounds horrid. I hope she gets the message soon. You don't have a rental car yet? That IS a long time. I'm so glad you're enjoying writing The Gulls! I can't wait to read it.
Mice - I've had them several times, but having cats tends to get rid of them quickly. Traditional mouse traps actually work really well. I've never caught any in the kind they walk into, but they might be fine, dunno. I think just attempting NaNo is laudable, so congrats on that.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Good luck demousifying and with the writing!

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

I reject my mom's "Go to mass! You'll feel better!" exhortations myself. (My dad didn't go, except for Christmas, and he was completely uninterested in any organized religion since his parents were a mixed bag theologically. I'm not interested, either.)

I can't wait to read The Gulls!

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

OHhh that must have been fun in the SB church :X

I'm sorry aobut Tiff's car, I'm glad she's ok!

You can get humane traps for mice, yep! Just drive to a field somewhere far enough from your place (in mouse terms, anyway!) and let 'em go :)

[lawsontl.livejournal.com]

Just don't get glue traps, those are horrid. Either kill them outright or trap (gently) and release. Leaving them stuck on a glue sheet to be terrified and THEN killed (because it's half impossible to get them off, but it can be done)...ugh, just, no.

And my mother was raised Southern Baptist. My father was raised Catholic. Hella, I was confused. I like the SB fire, can't stand the brimstone, you know? Much prefer people who are enthusiastic in their faith without giving me the crap about how my faith has to be exactly like theirs. Forget TW fandom, Jesus fandom is rilly messed up sometimes :)

[durayan.livejournal.com]

Ha! My adopted family attends a SB church. We go sometimes, but mostly to see the fam. My husband struggles mightily with the preacher when he builds sermons on false logic, but has learned to content himself with teaching our five year old to read things like "Be quiet. Sit still. You are not sitting still. I see you moving. No ice-cream for you if you don't sit still".

Meh, not all churches are that bad. Not even all SB churches. But I think I was conditioned at a young age to fall asleep to a certain cadence of fire and brimstone. My denominational preferences are influenced heavily by the music. There's this pianist....

[topgeargirl2.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I was never pushed to go to church by my parents or grandparents for that matter. We do some religious stuff like eating fish on Good Friday but that's how far it goes. my parents are religious.

my grandparents are but they respect that my parents aren't.

[contrarywise]

First off, I'm so sorry Tiff's car got hit, but I'm glad the idiot who ran into her was cited, etc. She and her passenger are okay, yes? Hopefully the repairs to her car won't take forever.

Oh, proselytizing relatives, what fun! Good on you for setting firm boundaries with her regarding religious activities. I really can't see you toeing the SBC party line. Nope.

[blue-fjords.livejournal.com]

I should really know about humane mouse traps. But I don't. :D

I really, really hope you get your rental soon! And I am totally crushing on The Gulls! Yay!

Your MIL. Le sigh. Guilting people into it is no way to create lifelong church-goers. (Ha, especially when I don't agree w/ her!) Good luck w/ it, C, and feel free to vent!

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

Wah! I hate being pushed by anyone, and towards religion in particular. My mum has finally stopped doing it after 25 years of fighting, but I know how much it sucks. I hope your MIL won't need that long. *hugs*

I'm glad that it's just the car, and Tiff is all right. She is, yes?

You are a winner! Of course you are! :-)

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

don't get me started on the hypocrisy of the churchies (not all, i'm sure) but had an "interesting" thanksgiving with the family, is all i'll say

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I hope you can convince your MIL that no means no. And from my experience it is better to draw a clear line in the sand than to humour her occasionally - because that means she'll hope you'll come more often.

As for the mice, autumn is indeed the season when they try to move into warmer places. If you use live traps, you need to check them daily, or else you'll have a dead mouse anyway.

I'd strongly advise against poison, a) because if you have cats about, poisoning their potential foodsource is never a good idea, and b) you really don't want a mouse to go and die in an inaccessible place.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

Deer mice? Do they have horns?

[rebbyrebs.livejournal.com]

I was "raised" a JW. I quit going the day I turned 18. My mother has been disfellowshipped from that place and still bugs me about it. I even told her I am an atheist, but whatever. The day Sky was born, she asked if I believed in God now. Umm. NO.

Deer mice... well throwing them out wouldn't work because they'll always come back. We had mice in the storage in the basement and no way of finding the damn hole so... poison traps it was. SORRY!! But now no more mice! No more droppings!

[samueljames]

Everyone's entitled to their beliefs but I don't think they should force them on anyone else. It shouldn't be combined with emotional blackmail.

Glad Tiff is okay. Cars can be fixed but sometimes people can't.

Never heard of deer mice but any mice/rats etc would freak me out.

[duikermeisie.livejournal.com]

Clearly your dogs aren't doing their job.

Mice? Seriously?

[misswinterhill.livejournal.com]

::hugs you:: YOU TOTALLY WON NANO.

The only mousetraps I have ever had success with were the ones that looked like bulldog clips. The mice got into a house with two cats and an antsy chihuahua by tunneling in through a cupboard.

Religion is so hard. I used to work at a Christian school, so I do have some Fundie friends (remind me to tell you the story of the house ghost and my fundie friend, if I haven't!) and it's HARD. I have very different opinions about sex and divinity and doing good to them. They dislike that I am pagan. I don't give a fat rat's arse that they are Xtian.

That said, I am very familiar with the Bible. The reading (aside from the "YOU WILL NOT HAVE MOULD IN YOUR HOUSE" stuff from Leviticus) that I like the most is here: http://niv.scripturetext.com/1_corinthians/13.htm

It's my old work's school reading, and I think it's just beautiful. I'd like to have it read at my funeral (ok, depressing much!? but still!) because in the original language the "love" they're talking about means love for all mankind -- there is not an English word for it, but the closest is "charity". FAIL.

I think, maybe, that sometimes people who identify as Christian forget this message. If I have no love for the people around me, then I'm just making noise, not saying meaningful things.