President Who?

I was playing with my children this afternoon when the topic turned to politics. It was such an odd and funny conversation that I had to share it.

Joe comes to me, sounding so sad and dejected.

Joe: Dash wants Obama to be our President.


Me: That's good because Mr. Obama is our President.


Joe: Yeah, well, I don't want him to be our President.


Me (taken aback): You don't? Who do you want to be our President?


Joe: I want our old President back.


Me: You want President Bush back?


Joe: No. Not him. The other President.


Anne: Do you mean President Hinckley? Gordon Hinckley?


Joe: No. Not him.


Rose: Good. Because he's dead.


Joe: Not Obama. Not Hinckley. Not Bush. The other one. President Maw...


Me: President Monson?


Joe: Yeah. Him. I liked him. I want him to still be President. Not Obama.

Haha! I quickly explained to Joe that President Monson is still our President. He is the President of the Church and our religious leader and will be for quite a while. I also told him a little about President Obama and his role for our country. I'm not sure Joe understood it all, but he is much relieved that Monson is still our Prophet & President.

Stupid LOST Writers

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!


I told Hubby those dumb Lost writers hated me. I told him they were out to get me. I told him they killed every character that I loved. He told me I was just being pessimistic. After all, none of the characters he liked had died. Well, those Lost writers did it again. And sure, they were all bound to die if the bomb went off anyways, but no. They had to tear out my heart with Juliet first. Sucking her in the black hole also known as the Swan. Ripping her out of Sawyer's hands. Then after that traumatic experience they made her, that wonderful, selfless, and determined woman set off the bomb, just so that everyone would be okay and so she wouldn't have to remember losing Sawyer. And sure, a bunch of other stuff happened during the two-hour finale. A bunch of really awesome stuff. And I'm so excited that all the hints and teasers from the past seasons are finally coming together. But that was all eclipsed by Juliet's last moments. Now I know that chances are that Juliet isn't really dead after all, but even if she makes it her life will be so different. She was such a shy, reserved gal when she first came to the Island. Her experiences there, especially her experiences with the plane survivors, helped mold her into the terrific character that we now and love. Aargh.

Moving on...

1. Who was that guy talking to Jacob in the first scene? Talk about an enlightening conversation. After watching the whole show, I'm drawn to the idea that the two men are some sort of Fates. The Greeks' Fates were women who wove the lives of those on earth into their tapestry. Does anyone else see that connection? I know there are hieroglyphics everywhere, so I'm thinking that Jacob is an ancient predecessor of the Greek Fates. An ancient Egyptian Fate. Of course, I could totally be out in left field with that theory, but you know the Lost writers love to those us for a loop. I've also toyed with the idea of them being Gods. Don't laugh. You know those crazy Lost writers could totally pull that storyline off! ;)

2. Hubby was pretty impressed with me. I called every character that Jacob visited as soon as I saw them. I even called John falling out the window. Not that was crazy to watch. I also called that there was a body in the box Alana was protecting. But I totally did NOT see it coming that the body inside was John. Whoa! I sat bolt upright when I saw John's body. And then the Lost writers sucked me back into feeling sorry for Ben and liking him again. *sigh* I knew it was only a matter of time. And it looks like Ben was following Jacob's orders all along. *double sigh* So I really can't fault him for all the evil he had done. He really was just trying to follow Jacob and do all he could for the Island. It will be interesting to see how that plays out next season. The ramifications of it all. But in the meantime, let us theorize as to how Ben could actually kill Jacob in the first place. These aren't in the correct order, just the order of me remembering them:

Step 1) Fake John arranged for Richard to tell Real John that he needed to die.

Step 2) Real John trusting Richard because Richard talks to Jacob and John trust them both.

Step 3) Getting Ben ticked at Jacob. BTW that was good work by Fake John. Now, I should mention that I think Fake John is the other man from the first scene. And I know that he has been plotting against Jacob for a long time. How do I know? Psh. Did you watch the first scene? That was the Black Pearl in the distance. Anyhoo, back to getting Ben ticked with Jacob. I assume that Fake John had something to do with inciting Whidmore's men to kill Alex. I am also thinking that he may have had something to do with Ben getting cancer. Fake John and Jacob are antagonists. Although Jacob appears pretty laid back about it. That leads me to believe that Jacob is the main guy in charge while Fake John is second place. It's weird to think that Jacob wasn't the bad guy. I really got sucked into that fake-out.

Step 4) Bringing Ben back to the Island, since he was the real leader!!! I don't know if John was ever the real leader. Looking back it seems like Jacob never officially made John the leader. Wasn't it Ben who first said that John should watch over the Islanders as Ben was leaving the Island? Did Ben really have the authority to pass his leadership on? Also, it seems like Fake John told Richard that Real John would be the leader per Ben, then Real John told Richard several years earlier that he would be their leader. And Richard bought that. BUT no one realized that it was really Fake John who put everything into motion. That being the case, of course Ben could go into the foot to see Jacob, after all Ben was the leader! And Fake John was just along for the ride. I'm also suspecting that the smoke monster might be under the control of (or the same thing as) Fake John. Hmmm. Something else to think about.

We could assume that John really was the leader upon Ben's departure, but then wouldn't Ben be able to reclaim that position upon returning to the Island? So that makes Ben the leader still! And the leader has a choice whether to follow or not. It's kind of ironic that Ben, the master manipulator, was played so well by Fake John. So well that Ben turned on Jacob. And only the leader had that choice. Only the leader had the power to kill Jacob. That was an amazing scene to watch. It is completely reminiscent of a story I once read where the people mistakenly turn on their Gods. But my brain is too muddled to remember the name of that story. I do remember I heard it in one of my ancient religion courses. BTW Religious studies are absolutely fascinating. :) I also think there must have been something special about the knife Ben used to kill Jacob....

Oh! And I wonder who is coming? And why Fake Jacob got a bit nervous about it and pushed Jacob's body into the fire. It makes me think about Cain and Abel and the Lord coming for a visit. Haha! I know their are also similar stories in Egyptian and Greek lore, but I am too tired to remember the names and particulars of those stories. Sorry.

3. This was one of the best episodes I've seen. It was fast-paced, every character was featured, some questions were answered while more were raised, and finally, finally, the teases from seasons past are being brought together for a resolution.

4. I'm still concerned about the time traveling theories. I hope Faraday ends up right...at least partially. I really don't want Rose and Bernard never finding the Island. How perfect was that to see them. They were two of my favorite characters. Oh. I guess the Lost writers didn't kill off all my favorites after all. Sorry I called you stupid. Just try not to mess with them anymore. Let them at least have a Happily Ever After. Please???

And now my brain really is too tired to think anymore. I have to finish painting my living room tomorrow and I need sleep. So, good night! And try not to freak out thinking that we have to wait until 2010 to see what will happen with the Lost gang. ;)

Following the LOST Leader

I'm late getting this post up. I didn't watch all of LOST Wednesday night. I went book shopping instead. Oh how I love to read! I purchased Beowulf and Canterbury Tales and two quilt magazines. Hooray! I got so caught up in looking around the bookstore that I was late getting back for Lost. And Thursday was spent painting my living room and patching holes in my dining room. I just now watched the first fifteen minutes that I missed. And here are my thoughts:

1. Crap!! Daniel is all the way dead! I thought they might try to patch him up, keep him alive for at least a few days. Afterall, Jack the surgeon is hiding in the jungle mere yards away. What is the point of having surgeon Jack on the island? Grrr. And they managed to keep Kid Ben alive when he was shot by Sayid. Maybe it's because Daniel was shot with a rifle and Kid Ben was shot with a handgun. Maybe that's the difference. But I think the real difference is that the Lost Writers knew that I liked Daniel. They always kill off the characters that I like. :(

2. Kate is driving me nuts. First, she refuses to believe in Faraday's plans and calculations. She could have really screwed things up when Eloise was questioning Jack about Daniel's journal. Then she waltzes back to Dharma and gets thrown in a sub with Sawyer and Juliet. And Sawyer starts looking at her funny again. We have already established that Juliet is one of my all-time favorite characters. That said, I know that the Lost writers are plotting against her. No doubt Sawyer will run to Kate's arms, leaving Juliet behind. Actually, what I think will really happen is that Juliet will sacrifice her own life so that Sawyer can be safe and happy. Because Juliet is fabulous like that and the Lost writers hate any character that I like.

3. It is neat that Richard is in two seperate groups tyring to fix the island. I find Richard's character very interesting. I can't wait to hear his story. He's not a "dead" guy like Christian. I assume that because Christian and the other dead people don't ever touch anyone, but Richard can touch. He's different somehow. I really want to see his story.

4. John was stupid and naive again. I don't care that the island talks to him and he just "knows" things. Obviously the island forgot to tell him to keep his trap shut and his plans to himself. I mean, Come On!!! He told Ben that he plans on killing Jacob. What is that about? Now, I did assume that Jacob and the Island were the same. It looks like I was wrong. But the Island, in hte form of Alex, did tell Ben to follow John and do whatever John told him to do. The Island has also led John several times to do things. But then there's Jacob. When John was in the cabin with Ben and Jacob, Jacob asked John to help him. So, is John going to help Jacob by killing him? Or is John lying to Ben because he isn't so naive and has an actual plan that somehow Ben is going to help in??? I just don't know! I didn't think John was much of a liar, but he lied to Sun. Well, I guess he didn't technically lie. He told Sun that he would help her get back to Jin, so maybe he meant that they would both be dead and oculd be together in Heaven. Hmmm. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I loved John and Ben watching Richard and John in the jungle. That was GREAT! Isn't it interesting that John asked Ben if he had ever actually seen Jacob. Ben hadn't. Which makes me wonder if Ben and Richard have actually spoken to Jacob... They seem to have. But I don't know. Everything is very iffy right now. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I also liked that John wasn't a big, baby tattle-tale. He could have ratted out Ben to Richard. Told Richard how he died. John didn't though. Ben did tell Richard later that he tried to kill John. But I don't know if that counts. Because Ben didn't try to kill John, he did kill John.

5. I LOVED that Sayid saved Jack and Kate from getting shot. Yahoo! He really is such a gerat character. I'm glad he's back. He will be a great asset to Jack. I've always enjoyed the scenes that Sayid is a part of.

With that said, we nee to address Sayid and Kid Ben. Sayid's reaction on learing that Kid Ben was still alive was fantastic! But come on! How could he not see that coming. I mean, Sayid, for a trained assassin, how could you think that one bullet to the torso area would kill Kid Ben? I thought you were smarter than that. If you wanted to really kill Kid Ben then you should have shot him in the head too. Then he would be dead dead. You know that gun had at least two bullets in it, probably more. Sayid could have unloaded the whole gun. But he didn't, because he was too emotional when trying to kill Kid Ben. That's the reason I see. Sayid, for all the awful things he'd done, had never killed a child. And Kid Ben totally trusted Sayid and helped him. That's why I think Sayid wasn't as focused as he usually is when killing.

6. I love that Hurley, Jin, and Miles are a group. That will be some good fun! And I love that Dr. Chang know that Miles is his son. I love that Miles saw his Dad saying horrible things to his Mom and understood that Dr. Chang only said those things to get her off the Island so that she and baby Miles would be safe. I'm just sorry that Mom and Miles spent the rest of their lives believing that their dad/husband was a jerk that didn't love them. That's just sad. :(

7. What is with all the ancient writings all over the tunnels? They look just like the writings in the Temple. Are we ever going to learn that story? Or the story of the four-toed giant? I hope so!

My Hubby has a theory. He thinks the whole point of Flight 589 coming to the Island in the first place was to kill Jacob. He thinks that everything has led to this one great action. I'm not sure how he thinks Jacob is going to die, but Hubby is convinced that he Must! Hubby also thinks that Faraday's plan is going to work. And that everything will then be set right. I'm not sure about that. Because if everything goes back, wouldn't that also bring Jacob back?

Time travel is such an odd element. And every person who writes about it sets up different rules for their type of time travel regarding the impact to the present and the future. And the rules can often get very confusing and more often than not, writers end up breaking their own Time Travel rules in order to propel their story forward and bring it to a neat conclusion. I'm not sure yet what the Lost writers rules for Time Travel are and so am not sure of the ramifications of each action. Again, it will be interesting to watch it play out. I just hope the Lost writers already know their Time Travel rules and follow them completely. I would hate to think that they're just making it up as they go or that they would change their rules in order to bring about a different ending than what their rules would require.

Hopefully you understood that Time Travel rant. If not, you need to go to your library and check out some ,Jules Vernes novels, the Time Traveler's Wife, or any other sci-fi Time Travel related series. Or you could just start watching Dr. Who. ;)

Easter

Easter Sunday was a bit hectic for me. First, I had to get the bulletin made, printed, copied, and handed out. Second, I had to accompany Hubby singing in sacrament. Then I would get to spend two hours in Nursery. And before I did any of that I had to my four children clean and in their Easter clothes. That should have been quick and easy, but no. My girls didn't want their hair done. My boys didn't want to wear their dress pants. And on and on. By the time they were dressed and ready to go, everyone was grumpy, BabyCakes had fallen asleep, and we only had fifteen minutes left before church began. Yikes!

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We had no time to take pictures at home. And knowing that I would have to run straight to the library to make copies, I asked Hubby if he would take pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits before church started. He quickly agreed.

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As soon as we arrived at church, I jumped out of the van and reverently raced to the library. As the copies were printing, Anne & Rose walked into the library asking if they could help pass out the bulletins. I told them they were supposed to be with Dad out front getting their pictures taken. I ordered them out of the library and told them to go get their picture taken! Grumbling and murmuring, they left. Thankfully, the copies were finished just a minute later. I grabbed the stack, reverently raced to the chapel, dropped off the bulletins, then reverently raced to find Hubby and the kids. This is what I found:

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Poor BabyCakes! Hubby was trying to pose the kids on the foyer couch. He woke BabyCakes up then tried to pose him. Not a very smart move on Hubby's part. When I found my little family, BabyCakes was having a complete meltdown. Pobrecito! I quickly grabbed up my baby, shot Hubby a dirty look, and told him that pictures were over! Unexpectedly, BabyCakes slapped my arm, cried Dada, and lunged out of my arms for his father. Sheesh. Luckily, Hubby was right next to me and caught the little guy before he crashed to the ground. Crazy baby. Hubby did manage to get one semi-decent shot before the baby melted. Please note that Joe is wearing a tie.

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Since it was Easter, I decided nursery snacks should be a traditional Easter fare. Most people think of ham when they think of Easter. But they are wrong. Jesus did not eat ham after his resurrection. He ate fish and honeycomb. And since I like to be accurate in my portrayal of all things Christian, I decided to serve my nursery kids the same thing. I think they really appreciated my efforts. ;)

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When church was over, I met my family at our van. Joe had chocolate all over his shirt and face. So pictures after church were a no-go. I figured that I would just get pictures the next Sunday. My girls were appalled that I would even suggest that they wear the same outfit that they had worn the previous Sunday. I told them they could change after I took a few pictures, but they wouldn't budge! And then they incited Joe and BabyCakes, who were in their Easter clothes, to riot. Argh! By the time I convinced the girls to just put on their Easter clothes, they were both crying and had red, blotchy faces. Not good for pictures. So I gave up and they cheered. Literally.

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The next Sunday I had everyone's clothes lined up, minus Joe's tie. We couldn't find that anywhere! Hubby got the tri-pod and camera set up out front. I gave the girls their outfits. And Anne had the audacity to stomp her foot and refuse to wear the Easter outfit again. Her reason, she had worn it two weeks ago. It took everything in me not to throttle the girl! Instead I took a deep breath and tried a compromise. She would wear the Easter outfit for the picture then she could change clothes and wear whatever dress she wanted to church. Fortunately, this appeased her. Once everyone was dressed we gathered out front, Hubby set the timer, and behold. Our Family's Easter Picture! Hallelujah! It only took three weeks, several tantrums, many tears, and a heaping dose of stain remover. Thank goodness it's over.
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On a lighter note, I took the kids to a city park last week. They had a Noah's Ark play toy. I laughed so hard when I saw it. After all the fits people have thrown over the years regarding seperation of church and state, demanding that any type of religious reminder on anything other than a church be taken down, I thought it was hilarious to find this particular religious story in a municipal park. Haha! I know that some people have tried to take the religion out of the Noah story and just make it about the cute little critters on the boat. I loved that this particular toy noted that "Noah was warned by God". I'm glad my little town still thinks it's okay to include wonderful stories like Noah in their parks.

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And one final note. I found Joe's tie today. After tearing my house and van apart for two weeks, searching for that elusive clip-on, I had given up. But this morning, I went early to church to get the bulletins printed and there on the lost and found shelf was Joe's tie. Hooray! And no. I am not going to retake the Easter picture.

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I also found Anne's Book of Mormon in the primary room. She lost that last week.
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