It's Just a Day....

Santa has come, the presents are open, tummies are filled, and now it is time to pay all the bills.

Wait that isn't really what Christmas is all about. I learned that better this year than any year ever before. Yes we have done the Christmas Eve candlelight service, and the Advent candles, we have given to the bell ringers of Salvation Army, and all these things are important don't get me wrong. Any time you are reminded of the birth of Christ and the long trek to the stable by Mary and Joseph is important.

What I am talking about is getting down to basics, new life (the birth of Christ), the gathering of loved ones (Mary, Joseph all the wise men etc) and the sharing of peace, comfort and joy.

You see this year our daughter was not able to come home for Christmas. This was the first time in her short 25 years of life. She was saddened, I was saddened, to say the least it was difficult for all. But then as I was trying to console our daughter I began listening to my own words more carefully. You see I kept telling her, "it is just a day". Now those that are very religious may argue with my evaluation but think about it. All the things we are supposed to be celebrating we should actually be doing everyday of our lives. Christmas isn't really about the tree, and the Christmas presents, it is about the love of family, the love of our neighbors, peace and goodwill around the world. We and the retailers are the ones that have commercialized this holiday.

So it really is just a day, one of 365 to love our neighbors, honor our mother and father, Love our Lord God. Perhaps if we really wanted to honor the birth of our Lord we should give a gift everyday of the year, not just December 25th, and as my daughter said in her card that accompanied her gifts to the family, "they were each picked with sincere love". Isn't that in fact what it really is all about and perhaps what God may have intended by having the "Virgin Mary" carry his child?

Personally I am going to take my own words more to heart, it is "just a day" and my New Years resolution is to start making every day, all 365 days of the year Christmas by sharing some measure of peace, joy and love to all I meet and love.

Wide Eyes of Surprise

It was a success. All the hard plans, all the coordination, all the secrets, what a joy to see the wide eyes of the birthday girl on approach to baggage claim not knowing entirely what the baggage being picked up.
Arriving well before the sun rises, checking the bags, removing the shoes, security, ah finally the approach to the gate. Flying, flying, flying, landing at last. Anticipation, finally the car approaches, the ear to ear smile, the tears of joy and surprise. Yes, it was a success!!
The week was full of lots of hugs, laughing, of course coffee and more coffee. Yes the mother/daughter week was one to remember.
My wish came true, that of all mother's round the globe, to bring joy and happiness to our children. I am blessed to have made a safe journey and spend time with one of my kidlets.

Economist vs Media

I heard this week that the economist have finally confirmed what every working American already knew, the United States is in a major recession. Wow I am really glad they cleared that up for all of us. And not only that but we have been in this recession since last December. Wow you know go to any major city street corner and ask the homeless if we are in a recession and how long we have been in a recession, I bet they don't need a 4 year degree to figure that out.
My degree is not in economics or business for that matter, I am just a Registered Nurse. Let me tell you perhaps I should be heading the economy team.

The major auto manufactures in America should have long ago stopped production on their vehicles that were not living up to economic expectations. Have you noticed the more money that goes to bank bailouts the more money the auto industry requests. And the CEO's act like it is just an inconvenience to fly commercial first class. Poor babies. Now everyone is shocked that a CEO is going to only receive $1 salary for the next year, poor baby once again. I wonder if they have any idea how many assembly line workers could be hired for what 1 CEO earns in a year.

Stretch mortgages out so people can pay their own bills, stop sending all our jobs overseas, pull in all those multi million dollar salaries CEO's are collecting, if the auto industry needs money fine then give them a loan at the same interest rate college students pay on student loans. Why should the auto industry get "free" money when the youth of our future have to pay such high rates to get an education to clean up the messes these overpaid, self centered upper management officers created through their own greed.

And tell the media to stop pumping fear into the public by constantly telling us how bad everything is, we know how bad it is we are living it. All the media is doing is fueling the fire, and causing more fear.

The Ahhhh of the Day After

I spent a great deal of time making my pies, my pumpkin spice dessert and all the side dishes to go along with our meal of thanks. I have gotten lazier with the turkey part, seems to work well for us since no one eats dark meat, I now just cook 2 boneless turkey breasts. Goes straight from freezer to oven to table in 3 hours and ah the aroma..... and the ease of cleanup. I figure with all the prep work before hand that whatever I can do to minimize the cleanup afterward is well worth it.

We had our youngest kidlet with girlfriend, the grandma and uncle all for dinner making for a nice gathering around the dining table. Two smiling faces were obviously missing, that of our daughter kidlet and her boyfriend. Fortunately, boyfriends family stepped in and made C feel welcome and very much a part of their family table which helped to ease a mother's mind of a lonely kidlet on this day of thankful gatherings.

I am thankful for all I have, and I love this day after when I can sit and look out at the crisp cool day as I reminisce over the past 27 years of grateful Thanksgivings. I am also thankful that my family does not place such importance on material things as those at the New York Wal Mart that literally trampled to death an employee as he was trying to open the doors for business. Are material things on sale truly worth the life of a human being? I am so heartbroken for that man's family. This latest story on accentuates how commercialized society has become over Christmas.

I am thankful for all I have, especially for my wonderful family and friends. The rush is nonetheless on now, but I do hope that this horrible event in New York will cause parents everywhere to take pause with their children and explain to them what the true meaning of the holiday season is and what it is not.

Yes they are Ordinary aren't they

Private Leer jets, not one but multiple; $60,000 a year for school tuition for the president elects daughters. I am shopping at the Dollar Store and Thrift Stores, but hey these people are normal everyday citizens right?

The Auto industry CEO's arrive in Washington each in their own company Leer Jet. When asked by a senator to raise their hand if they were willing to give up their Leer jet and fly commercial first class, not a single CEO raised his hand. I don't know but you do the math, $20,000 for a round trip on the Leer jet vs $1200 round trip commercial first class. The senator wasn't even asking the CEO's to fly coach!

And to add insult to injury, the CEO's are in Washington asking for $25 billion but then when they were asked what their plan was on how they intend to spend the money to save the auto industry not a single one could answer the question. This sounds more like puppies following puppies. The banking industry is getting all this bailout money so the auto industry wants some as well. (I am sorry to tell them but this really isn't free money to further stuff their heavy pockets, despite what the execs at the various banking establishments seem to think while they continue to have their hundreds of thousands of dollars "retreats").

People are losing jobs right and left, people are losing their homes, people are losing their hard earned savings and retirement accounts, yet CEO's are still flying in company jets, CEO's are still collecting huge balloon bonuses and raises.

What is wrong with these people? How many jobs could have been saved using that incentive bonus pay. And how is a yearly education tuition for 2 daughters of $60,000 equate to an "everyday, regular" president elect. Forgive me but when my own family yearly income isn't even close to $60,000 / year, I have trouble seeing a $60,000 annual tuition bill as "everyday or regular".

When will it stop

Last week a church youth group got together as they do every month for a gathering at a local youth center. They were there to play games, watch movies, eat popcorn, basically to spend time in a "safe" environment.
Once again the concept of "safe" environment was overrated. Three young adults (I use that term lightly) decided they had other ideas. They approached the youth center and one of them started shooting, while another stood look out and the third drove the getaway car.
Evidently they did in fact have an intended target, but as is the case with so many senseless acts, it was the innocent that died. Yes a young man intending to get married was killed.
What has happened to our society anymore that so many feel the answer to their squabbles is violence. My only answer seems to be that somewhere we have stopped teaching tolerance of others. Are these problems at home, school or both?
When are we going to wake up and start realizing that victims are the ones that should have the rights and not the criminals? Three square meals a day, a warm bed to sleep in, a roof over their head, free medical care and on and on. They don't pay for their TV or internet access, they don't have to buy a library card. We treat the criminals better than we treat returning veterans and way better than we treat our homeless population.
As kids we would head outside to play in the neighborhood after breakfast and return at dinner time. Today kids can't even seem to go to a seemingly safe church youth group activity anymore. I am appalled, I am ashamed, and I feel sorry for today's kids because they truly are missing out on some of the best parts of growing up. And why? because of a select few that seem to have more rights than those of us that are in fact law abiding citizens.

Only in America

Only in America does anyone no matter race, beliefs, or unrealistic promises have the opportunity to run and be elected to the highest office in the land, President.
I will admit, I did not vote for Obama, not as many might think because he was black, frankly I wouldn't care if he was blue and had six eyes. I didn't vote for him based on my understanding of his philosophy and lack of concrete ideas for "changing" the course of America in these challenging times.
You see I don't vote on the party line or with my heart. I vote with my brain for the individual that I feel is the BEST person for the job. I truly question whether or not the majority of the voters that voted for Obama can honestly say the same thing.
I would have even less of a problem with this whole election process had I not seen with my very own eyes last night how very skewed the election process really is. At exactly 8pm straight up without even 1 single vote having been reported, EVERY single national television station declared Obama the President Elect. Not 1 vote. How does that really say that my vote counts? This is not a vote by the people.
I will accept our new President Elect, because I am an American, because I believe in our country and because I believe that whether the individual I voted for wins or loses this still is the best country in the world and because believe it or not just because I did not vote for the African American candidate I am not a "racist".

Self Esteem

I remember when my kidlets were in elementary school, the BIG buzz was self esteem. The really smart kids were not supposed to be given special attention as this might make those students that struggle more feel uncomfortable. When students were identified at "Student of the Month" they were only allowed the honor once a year in order to spread the honor around to as many students as possible. This was all bad enough. I feel that children should be rewarded for hard work, and rewarding one child will give the other children something to strive for, because after all isn't that what we are really trying to accomplish? is to help each child be the very best they can be? Not all students are straight A students, but effort is always a better grade than letters.
Now I am watching the constant barrage of news about the obesity epidemic of today's youth. I will admit, I have always struggled with my weight, and yes I will admit I am obese. But the one thing I do not need is to be constantly reminded how my obesity is going to shorten my life, I don't want to be this way. I have tried all kinds of diets but have always been unsuccessful. My insurance does not cover weight reduction surgery. Rather ironic when you think about it, if I lost the weight my health would be better and therefore my health care expenses would be less.
I don't bring my weight problems up because I like drawing attention to myself, I mention it because I am an adult and I know how deep the sharp edges of the blades of criticism go. If as an adult I feel this degree of pain imagine what our children with weight issues must feel. Not only are they getting bombarded by the media and adults but they are also humiliated by the cruelest of all critics, their peers.
It is important that we teach our children healthy food choices early in life as well as encourage physical activity. Computers and video games have taken the place of good old fresh air activities but our parents battled with television when we were kids and yet somehow they managed to encourage us to "play" outside the better part of a day. Parents today are lazy, rather than stepping up and controlling computer and video game time it is easier to ignore the situation.
We need to teach our children to appreciate their bodies and to treasure life. Making good food choices and increasing physical activity is only part of the solution. We need to stop trying to fit every child into the same mold. I am not promoting obesity, what I am promoting is tolerance.

Day dreams

I love Saturdays. Don't get me wrong I love my family and friends very much, but Saturdays, well they are special. You see Saturdays I have all to myself. I can sit and day dream, or go for a walk with my devoted four legged companion, I can eat when I want, what I want, where I want, I can go and get a fruit smoothie, or an iced coffee or I can just sit and stare at the bright blue crisp sky outside. You see Saturdays are ALL mine. My man leaves early in the morning to do his duty at the fire station for 24 hours, and of course I live in an empty nest so both kidlets are already gone off on their own.
I don't clean on Saturdays anymore, I don't do laundry, sometimes I don't even make my bed. It is just me and my four legged companion. I don't have to think about what to make for lunch or dinner (I can have a bowl of hot oatmeal for dinner if I want) or even worry about cleaning up the dishes until I want to.
I can sit in the middle of the family room floor and look at photo albums reminiscing of when my kidlets were young, or when I was young for that matter. Saturdays are a peaceful time, I don't have to listen to the horrible news about this murder, that child abuse, the stock market crash, or more senseless squabbles amongst the political candidates.
Yup, I love Saturdays, my day to be selfish, silly and totally uncommitted to anything or anyone. Sunday comes soon enough and so does reality but for now, it is just me and my Saturday.

The battle with the furry underground critters

Three years ago my man and I moved into our home in the country, on THE hill. The gardens were grossly cared for and little color was found other than moss green, and weed browns. In an effort to establish instant spring color without too much work until the gardens could be primed I went to my local nursery and bought over 300 early spring, late spring and summer blooming bulbs. They were going to be beautiful, crocuses, tulips (in a variety of colors) and daffodils (king Alfred's, two tones, double blooms) ah and the gladioli ( just a few though, they tend to fall over a lot with the rains).
I set out on a crisp fall day with my bulb planter in one hand and my bulb food in the other. This will be great, come spring the back yard will just be awash in a multitude of color.
WA-LA!!! Spring finally arrives, okay I am ready, where is my backyard color sensation? Yes well lots of crocuses in one spot (even though I could almost swear I spread them out more extensively). Ah well no matter the daffs should be next to follow in a couple weeks. And I planted LOTS of daffodils. Okay 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 3 1/2 weeks, where are my daffodils? I know I planted more than 10!!! Hmmmm something is up under my newly planted splash of color. Okay well again no matter because surely the tulips will rise to all their glory, right? maybe? please?
Now what are all these mounds in my garden? I don't remember all these soft, freshly dug mounds of smooth dirt going right down the middle of MY BULBS!!!!!
Great my color sensation turned out to basically be a color unsensation. Out of the more than 300 bulbs I planted I think less than 10% actually came to fruition. I am so glad I could provide such a tasty morsel winter snack to all our underground furry friends.
Next year I am going to plant giant garlic bulbs around each color sensational grouping. That will surely give those furry critters something to think about as they bite into the fiery garlic bulb instead of the sweet tasting flower bulb. WRONG!!!! Three years later and I am still replanting multiple bulbs only to have a 10% or less crop by the following spring. Why are my bulbs so tasty? Others in the neighborhood have beautiful collections of multicolored bulbs sprouting up all over their yards (and I do mean all over, :) )
Well any suggestions on how to keep the squirrels and moles away from my bulbs will be greatly appreciated.

Alzheimer's, Dimentia, or just Forgetfulness....

It is October and still everyone is begging for those sunny warm days. Not me, I like cloudy days, as long as it is raining too. I like to sit with my nice warm cup of hazelnut latte, cuddled up in my warm fuzzy Eeyore blanket and listen to the rain drops drip dipping away.
Today is almost that kind of day except...I can't breathe!! Well I can but it feels like I can't most of the time. (Lung conditions yuck!!) After fighting with this ailment (I have problems at least 3-4 times a year) for several days I finally decided to concede to the doctor, well half way. I notified my delightfully talented doctor yesterday, "yep me here, yep got it again, yep can't breath without coughing, yep feel like &*(^. We agree to try Prednisone first. I hate Prednisone (it messes with my blood sugars something fierce, up, down, up, down, but mainly up). If the Prednisone doesn't work then will add the antibiotics (hate the antibiotics too, they mess with the digestion if you get my drift). Okay, so agree to start with the Prednisone, doctor will have nurse phone it in, great, I will give it a couple hours, go pick up the script and sneak on over to Starbucks for my weekly fix, ah heaven. WRONG!!!! After waiting all day for the script my man goes by to pick it up and pharmacy has no record of the call from doc. Great another night not being able to catch my breath.
So I get up this morning and send my doc a cute little email, hey doc, no script, what's the deal. He quickly writes back, hmmm, sure it was phoned in, will check on it. Meanwhile here I sit, no hazelnut latte, but rain outside, and my fuzzy Eeyore blanket but not being able to catch my breath. Yes this could be better.
Oh cool just got call from nurse, she FORGOT to call in the script!!!! Good thing I just couldn't breath and not something like a REAL problem. Oh well my man will pick it up on his way home. We all hope!!!! it will be there by then.
Yes this could be better. Oh bother.......

Techno Dizzy

I started this blog about a month ago with the intention that it would be a good place for me to air some of my pent up frustrations. Well, lots of my pent up frustrations. Then I got hooked into this online concept called Facebook. Wow, now there is an experience. I am still trying to fumble my way through the basics let alone anything fancy. Let's see I have learned how to post pictures, that was pretty easy. I haven't learned how to get that little heart thingy in front of my comment that says I am married. It can't really be that hard now can it? I mean everybody seems to have one somewhere on their wall. Oh that is another opportunity. Remember when we were kids and we always got yelled at? "hands off the walls", "don't write on the walls". Well now there is actually a "wall" that you can write on, color on, post pictures to and a whole variety of once determined no no's.

I love learning about my kids friends from high school, how they have grown, what they are doing with their lives, what they have done for the past 6 years. Oh tell me it isn't so... have they really been out of high school that long? It seems like only yesterday. Where does the time go?

Well I am off to master some other quirky thing on facebook before I get so far behind on this nifty techno thinga-ma-jig and they come out with something new that I have to start learning all over again.

I Should Get Paid the Big Bucks

I am like most Americans right now with my nose plastered on CNN and the Dow. I was so impressed (NOT) the other day when I was listening to Charles Gibson on ABC interview Senator John McCain. He asked the senator a simple question, "Is it fair to those that have struggled along to pay their mortgages for the government to come along and take over the mortgages of those that have defaulted or are in jeopardy of foreclosure?" basically the senators response was "No, but that is just the way it is right now with our economy". Now I am not implying that Obama's responses have been any better. Quite frankly I am doing a write in ballot for president and I am writing in "Woopie Goldberg" for president and "Snoopy" for vice president. (I know I am joking about a very serious matter here but honestly this whole election this year leaves a lot to be desired).

Now my personal opinion is that all those people that are in jeopardy of foreclosure or defaulting on their mortgage should have their mortgages re-assessed. Why not take their monthly payments and say ok you can't pay $1000/month so how about $600. Take the balance owed on their mortgage, decrease the interest rate in such a way that monthly payments are only $600 and add on extra years to the end of the loan to balance it out until the loan is paid in full. Therefore instead of a 30 year mortgage with monthly payments of $1000 it becomes a 35 year mortgage with monthly payments of $600. That way the owner is still paying for their own mortgage, the lender is still getting paid the full amount, and we the tax payers are not having to bail out every one's stupidity.

Honestly, all those "highly" educated and very "highly" paid people in Washington couldn't think of this themselves? Why should we all have to pay off the stupidity of greedy home buyers and lenders?

Never Underestimate MY Kidlet

C is in her first semester of grad school. She is working on her Master's in Teaching. Recently she turned in her first paper. (Remember how that felt? not knowing for sure what the professor grades like, your knees knocking in anticipation of that first graded assignment)
The remnants of Ike caused a disruption throughout the east coast and KY was not spared. Power loss of almost a week put many areas on hold including C's school, resulting in the professor giving added time for the first assignment.
Not being much of a procrastinator, C opted to follow through with the original due date and turned in her assignment much to the disbelief of her professor. Professor - "Are you sure you don't want some extra time to collect more data?" C - "No I think my data is sufficient for this assignment."
Well surprise!!! C got her first grad school assignment back this week and she made a believer of her professor, Never Underestimate MY Kidlet!!! You guessed it, C got a perfect score on her first assignment. And as with any proud student, that first perfectly scored paper is proudly posted on her refrigerator. That's my girl!!

Hump Day

I love Wednesday's, they give me hope. The week is almost over and the weekend is almost here, yes I love Wednesday's.
Not too much seems to happen on Wednesday's, yet we always seem to get excited when Wednesday finally comes. I am sure it is because we are looking forward to the weekend yet as close as we are to the weekend we are just as far away from the weekend.
I see now the government of Washington state is going to start working 4 day weeks in order to save energy costs. What does that do to their hump day? I mean if they have Mondays off then Wednesday is hardly the "middle". If they have Fridays off well Wednesday just doesn't make any sense as hump day then either. Maybe they should take Wednesday off, I mean wouldn't that be the true definition of "hump"? It is the hump in the middle of the 4 work days. Ah who really knows. I just know it seems like another government reason not to work.
Oh bother.........

How many days till Christmas??

I was watching Good Morning America this morning while eating my bagel and drinking my cup of coffee when a very interesting story caught my eye. Well actually I don't know how interesting it really is, but nonetheless it caught my eye.
It seems that with our current state of the economy being totally in the garbage many retailers are trying to devise ways to somehow salvage their profit margins for the year. HA! Good luck. Oh sorry got a little carried away there for a moment.
Now last I checked it is still 29 days until Halloween, that is right, the day of ghosts and goblins, and dentists seeing dollar signs of little boys and girls rotting teeth. (Well that is another blather for another time).
This story that so nonchalantly caught my eye was about how WM has decided to fill their shelves with Christmas treasures now hoping to cash in on those "early" shoppers. Now I must admit I am an early shopper. I start my Christmas shopping right after the new year and hide treasures all year long. Often times not remembering where I have hidden an item until perhaps 2 holidays in the future but hey I am prepared.
My biggest complaint about lining all those store shelves with pretty green, red and gold treasures is for all the parents that will now have to endure the pleadings of their little shin biters wanting the newest and greatest toy craze. At a time when we are all struggling to put the gas in the car and food on the table what we really need are the retailers enticing our kidlets to convince their parents that they "really, really" need/want that special toy for a mere $59.95. AGH!!!!!!!!!!
Which by the way did anyone else notice that at least in Washington state anyway the income level for a family of 4 to qualify for food stamps is now $42,400? Oh my golly miss molly, all those years I really was starving my family!!!
What is next....Oh bother.....

Health Insurance - Can't Afford It; Can't Live Without It

Why is it that insurance companies always seem to think they know what is better for the patient than the patient's personal physician?

I appreciate the need to keep medical costs down, what I don't appreciate is having to fight with an insurance company when my doctor writes a prescription for a medication and the insurance company won't approve the filling without the doctor completing a prior approval application. And of course you never know you need one until you are standing at the pharmacy to pick up your medication and the pharmacist says the insurance company denied the script.
WHAT? What do you mean they denied it? My doctor wrote the prescription.

Well turns out the medication is one of hundreds that requires prior authorization, which means faxing a form to the doctor to fill out, the doctor faxes the form back to the insurance company and then the insurance company takes another 48 hours to process the approval. Meanwhile, me, the patient, has no medication. And if you turn in the prescription late Thursday or on Friday, forget it, now you also have the weekend and doctors don't fill out forms on weekends and insurance companies don't process special authorizations on weekends so now 24-48 hours has turned into 96-120 hours. Well by this time I can either be gravely ill somewhere or dead.

But hey, my insurance company got my premiums on time, they just don't have to process my authorizations in any type of expeditious fashion.
Gotta love it, oh bother.....

Weight Loss

Why is it that when we are struggling to accomplish something that is when we see reminders of it everywhere we look?
Society it seems, me included, is always on a diet. With every diet comes deprivation, you know it is true. The professionals always say it is about changing a habit not depriving oneself. Well trust me, in order to change my habits I have to deprive myself because my habit of course includes Chocolate. I am a hard and fast professed chocoholic. That is right I LOVE CHOCOLATE!!! So the more I try to "change" my habits, the more chocolate commercials are on TV and the more adds for chocolate there are on the coupon pages of the newspaper. How am I supposed to "change" my habit when everywhere I look there is chocolate!!!
The media empire really don't want us to be healthy or lose weight, they want us to buy their product. Now I can resist brussel sprouts and catfish (mainly because they are on my definitely do not like list). Why can't chocolate be healthy?? I mean think about it, it has milk in it, that is healthy and one of the pyramid food groups. So why can't I just claim I am fulfilling my dairy product category? OK, so I probably go well beyond my minimum daily requirements but hey if it is on every aisle of the store, on television ads and in newspaper coupons it must be good for me right?
We have all these scientist in this world that can create medications for 100's of ailments, they have even created that Big Bang thingy majig in Europe so please tell me when will they create healthy, tasty milk chocolate? When they do maybe then I can be successful at "changing" my habits and lose weight.
Oh bother........

Puppy Love - Literally

Nine years ago we got a therapy dog, well not really "therapy dog" but a dog to provide therapy to all of us through a rough time. We were preparing our munchkins for their first experience of death of a loved one, grandpa.
After several trips to the local animal shelter we found a dog that appeared to need us as much as we needed her. She was three months old, sitting quietly in the corner of a cage with 3 other loudly barking dogs, her big, sad brown eyes ripped at my heart strings and I was sunk. I had to have her, of course it didn't take much convincing of the rest of the family. So after signing a dozen papers, promising to care for this furry little creature and treat her like one of the family, we took our black shaking bundle of fur home and named her Liberty (we got her on the 4th of July weekend), Libby for short.
We soon discovered that treating her like one of the family means different things to different folks. At a slight 3 months old our loving bundle of fur had already experienced severe abuse. Anyone that can abuse a defenseless creature should be required to endure like abuse themselves.
They say that with enough love and attention dogs will eventually forget the abuse, well that is not entirely true. The obvious realities of her abuse show rather frequently when approached by strangers, especially male strangers and particularly little boy male strangers. That pretty much sums up at whose hands the abuse was a result.
We all do love our 30 pound Border Collie/Sheltie mix furry friend, and she has more than tripled the hope of therapy we ever imagined possible. Her temperament is still very standoffish to men and especially boys. This is when parents really must teach their children NOT to run up to animals they do not know and always ask before petting an animal.
Our sweet Libby is VERY protective of her family and this was never more obvious than when C brought her new beau home to meet the family. Every time that poor man wanted to give our C a hug or kiss, Libby would literally get in between the two of them and start to bark. Needless to say there was not a lot of kissing or hugging going on in this house that weekend. Libby is better that dad with a shotgun. LOL.

Kidlets, Munchkins and Offspring

I am always amazed at how fast time flies the older we get. My nest is empty, C is off to make her fortune in the far off land of Kentucky, and T well he is off to battle the blazes of the countryside in Washington.
They have grown up so fast, studied hard, graduated from college but the hustle and bustle continues as C is in graduate school working on her Master's in Teaching to teach math to middle school students. A big heart and a strong desire to encourage today's youth to see the value of math in their everyday lives. I need to go back to school, I still have a problem understanding how those theorems and story problems help me make a better brownie. Seriously C will make an outstanding teacher, she values the concept of teaching through respect not fear and starting students as successful rather than failures working to achieve success.
On the other side is T. T's goal is to protect hearth, home and person. The ever competitive field of fire fighting is his goal. He has his degree that allows him to outwit (psychology) now he just needs to outplay to gain his place as a career fire fighter.
There is hope for our world to be a smarter place with the teachings of C and a safer place with the protections of T. Now just let their dreams come true.
As parents this is where the tugging of our heartstrings tug the hardest, we would like nothing more than to pave the path for our kidlets, unfortunately all we can do is stand by and be supportive and encouraging while munchkins pursue their dreams.

Dizzy

For the past week I have tried to write an update to my blog. I start writing and then listen to the financial news, my head starts to spin and I start all over again. My head has been spinning so fast this past week that honestly I like many of my fellow Americans didn't know which way was up.

Well I think I am finally right side up, realizing that like many retirement is no longer in our vocabulary. We knew it would be at least another 20 years but now I think we realize we will be in our motorized wheelchairs long before retirement is ever even on our radar.

I like many am stupefied by the latest stock market upheaval. I often question the concept that what is good for the rich is not always equal for the poor. Poor obviously being me. I am required to keep my family on a budget, pay our bills on time, smile as I write another tax check, and laugh as the cost of living climbs well out of our reach for living. All the while the government continues to overspend on their budget ("just tax the poor schmucks more, we are the government our budget is only on paper no one expects us to really live by a budget").

Can you imagine if a collection agency actually went and knocked on the door of the White House? HA!!

I know, supposedly in a democratic society, we the people are actually the government. So then why is everyone else making decisions for me on how to spend my money. And why if I want to tighten "my" budget does someone keep spending "my" money and increasing "my" taxes.

Well you can now see why my head has been spinning and I am so dizzy, yes besides the fact that I am a blond...hahaha

When someone figures out how to stop all this spinning please share the solution with me.

Oh Bother.......

The Fear of a Few Leads to the Riots of Many

You know the Internet highway is wide and vast and I am sure I have only just cracked the surface. I love all the emails that come my way from the vast populations that claim "WARNING" the worst virus ever is attacking computers. Then to back up the claim there is always a link to Snopes that it must be true because they found it on Snopes.
I like Snopes, I really do, it is fun to go in and research the vast array of urban legends. What I don't like are the "riots" of the many that claim a truth because they found it on Snopes but then only quote half of the cited reference. They see the word "true" and automatically assume that it is the almighty word and begin spreading it to the masses. However, if they would just simply read one or two more lines they would quickly discover that yes it is true but, there are usually qualifications to the truth. Perhaps the virus is 10 years old and signatures have already been created by the anti virus programs. The latest regarding expired boxed mixes having deadly toxic mold and must be thrown out immediately, nice but, mold grows from spores and it is rare that a boxed mix has come into contact with the actual spores and only then does the mixture become deadly if the person has a severe allergy.
I appreciate the warnings, in the case of the boxed mixes the author cites the horrible death of a teenager that encountered a rare course of events and died from anaphylactic shock as a result of a mold allergy. While this family truly has my sincerest sympathies (I cannot even imagine the devastation of losing a child) this particular case was an allergic reaction.
The malicious use of this tragic course of events were used to spark fear in parents across the lands. Again Snopes was cited as the gospel of truth and a paragraph is quoted in the email, however not the entire article.
These events are horrible and honestly I appreciate the warnings. What I don't appreciate is the spark of fear without all the facts. The world has had an abundance of horrific events and I cannot possibly comprehend the twisted minds of the individuals that cast these tragedies upon the masses. What the world does not need is more fear because only half the facts were shared.
I wish that people would step back, take a deep breath and tell the WHOLE story.
People need to step up and read the entire email and then the entire Snopes article to verify the facts and stop spreading these fears based on half told stories.
Oh bother.....

These rules were made for breaking

And that is just what I'll do, or so some say. I am wondering why we have rules. I mean let's think about this....the rules are ok as long as they work in the favor of those that created the rules right? As soon as the rules don't favor the author then there is an exception.
My man and I raised our munchkins that you obey the rules, they are there for a reason and a rule for one is a rule for all. Unfortunately my munchkins are quickly learning that there is always an exception to the rules but the exceptions only work for everyone else and it is up to those they don't apply to, to figure out when and if an exception applies.
Case in point, curfew... yup that is right, curfew. A residence has a curfew set for the safety of all residents and staff, but along comes a resident that pitches a fit, supervisor bends the curfew even though all staff were instructed that curfew is non-negotiable, well of course except when the supervisor decides to change the rules. There goes any respect and authority the staff have to enforce that rule, right out the window, fly away rule.
I am always in awe at how society seems to think that rules apply to everyone else. This is just one of those challenges I have difficulty explaining to myself let alone my offspring. No life isn't fair but the ground rules have to at least be equal to establish some sense of balance among the inequalities of life right? Let me tell you, if you understand that concept then you certainly have a better grasp on how to follow the "rules" than I do.
Oh bother.....

Migraines

Who invented this horrible ailment, migraine? You go around seeing all these multicolored halo's, flashing lights and feeling like your head is on another planet. My understanding is that women suffer from migraines almost twice as often as men. How did we get so lucky? We get the lower quadrant pain of child birth, the upper quadrant pain of migraines, what is it that men get??
I love it when I get a migraine, first of all I don't know which way is up, I always assume that when I am walking I am upright but who knows I could be walking on my head but I wouldn't know nor do I think I would care.
As a mother and a wife our sense of duty always prevails, our head may feel like a bulldozer ran over it but somehow we still manage to get up and put dinner on the table even though every smell literally turns your stomach completely upside down. Yep I really must thank the creator of migraines every few months when I literally seem to lose 3-4 days of my life because while the halo's colorful explosion may be pretty, I really could care less.
Oh bother!!

Couldn't have said it Better myself.

London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher
fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing

This Mother Hen Wants Her Chicks Back

So I am sitting here thinking about my munchkins, both out of the house now, living their lives, dreaming their dreams, pulling out their hairs, oh wait those are my hairs!!!! I remember some 27 plus years ago when my husband and I were married and I said to my mother before walking down the aisle, "so this will be nice for you, no more having to worry about me, I will be married", her reply was, "no, now instead of just you to worry about I have you and your husband to worry about." I didn't quite understand that statement at the time, but now as an empty nest mom it really comes home. You see both of my munchkins have honeys (and yes I worry constantly about all 4 of them), while one munchkin, C, lives out of state, she has known her honey for almost 2 years now, and yes I would say they are serious (yes I am comfortable with her choice), my other munchkin, T, lives here in town, works 2 jobs and has known his honey for over 4 years now, I see him nearly as often as I see my munchkin that lives out of state, about twice a year, LOL. Now you say what is taking him so long, well you see he is very practical like his dad (we dated 8 years before we got married), T needed to finish college and now he is trying to save a little before they actually settle down. C's honey wants to marry her but he too is practical and wants to save a bit before they settle down and so he can buy her the ring she wants. Ah yes to be young and practical.... Works for me but you can imagine the 2 girls are saying all right all ready. It is hard to explain to these young but mature munchkins how very fast time does fly and that they have a lifetime ahead of them.
Now both munchkins are actually still trying to get that "ideal" job. T wants to be a career fire fighter, he has been a volunteer since he was 16 and has worked his way up to Lieutenant, but career fire fighting is highly competitive so we wait until that 1 door opens just for him and it WILL open (because it has never experienced the wrath of this mother!!!).
C has worked various jobs using her Psychology degree, research and now a counselor in a crisis shelter. She has realized that since she forever takes her work home with her emotionally that perhaps neither of these are the career for her. So she is on to another avenue, Middle School Math teacher. After scoring nearly perfect on the SAT math test and the GRE math test she has decided she has a fairly good grasp of math (I'll say, her grandfather had her and her brother learning multiplication before the first grade) and the concept of having holidays and summers off with "future children" is a pretty nice plan. So C having been accepted into an accelerated Masters program is going for her teaching certification in middle school math. Hopefully third time is the charm.
It is really hard to watch your child struggle. Whether it is learning to walk, swim or just survive in life. And trust me it seems that society does not want to make the path at all easy for our aspiring adults. It seems like everything is always everyone else's fault and supervisors either won't admit to being wrong or just flat out won't back up their employees even when they follow protocol.
Yes this mother is pulling out her hair. We raise our munchkins to be honest, hard working, and respectful adults only to have them find out just how dishonest, lazy and disrespectful society really can be. Maybe our ancestors were right when the whole extended family lived together, at least then everyone had instant support.
Oh Bother!!!!

Too Short

Well this was definitely a great weekend but very busy. This weekend C came home to be in a friends wedding. Hard to believe that these munchkins I used to drive all over town are now getting married and will have little munchkins of their own someday. It was truly a moment of pride watching C and her dad dance a slow dance at the wedding reception. I remember the first and perhaps it was even the last time my dad danced with me (he is gone now, rest his soul), it just brings tears to your eyes to watch this now grown up munchkin in this truly beautiful gown dancing with her father knowing that she too will someday in the not too distant future be looking into her dad's eyes on her own wedding day. Where does the time go? When did they turn from this needy soul to this self sufficient adult? When did it go from kissing their little booboos to now kissing their broken or saddened hearts?
It was really great having C home for the weekend but I also know that her heart was torn, torn to be in a place she spent most of her life, in the "safe" and well guarded surroundings of "home", but also wanting to be with the young man that she now holds true love and passion for, the different type of heart aching from being "home" sick. What did we do without cell phones when we were growing up and away from our "honey's" for more than a day. The frequent texting and calls all hours of the day and night for the quick, "I miss you" and "I love you". Today's romance is definitely different from 20-30 years ago.
It is fun watching our offspring grow in their relationships with that someone "special", remembering back when we too were all googly eyed. The dating scene is different today though. Things are so much more expensive and they all seem to be growing up so fast and working all the time to get that "edge". I wish they could have been kids for just a little bit longer.
Don't get me wrong I have loved every stage of life these munchkins have gone through and it always seems like the stage we are in is better than the one before. My offspring have turned out truly terrific if I do say so myself, they have always made me proud and given me joy even through that terrible two stage that really wasn't all that terrible after all.
Yes there never does seem like enough time but I have never been more proud than I am today or was yesterday or the day before that.
Oh bother......

Bambino's

This is the part of my blog that is the Ravings. I am going to be that mother that we all want to be but are afraid we will look like we are bragging, conceited or just plain proud.

I have 2 wonderful adult "bambino's". God blessed me with a boy and a girl. My husband was totally relieved when we had a girl first since i told him that we would keep having kids until I had a girl. Don't get me wrong I love baby boys especially MY baby boy. It is just that in both our families there are predominately boy babies and I didn't think my husband would be to pleased when I started dressing his "macho" son in frilly pink dresses. But hey you do what you gotta do right? Well like I said he was never so relieved as when that doctor in the delivery room said, "It's a Girl!!!"

Now I had the best job one could ever ask for, I was a mom of 2 really great kids. I have to say they honestly never gave me a lick of trouble. They had their typical sibling spats, frequently, but mainly because they are so close in age (21 months) and were highly competitive, especially when they ended up being only a year apart in school. Trust me I did not plan to have to kids graduate from high school and then college within a year of each other.

Back to my Ravings...well now rants.... you see my kids both graduated from high school 4.00 GPA students with International Baccalaureate Diploma's. But you see when they graduated the public school they attended didn't believe in having a valedictorian or special recognitions for students that graduated with a full IB diploma, you see the powers at be didn't want the other students that didn't perform as well to feel bad, they were afraid it would hurt their self esteem. Of course my kids worked their little behinds off all the way through school often forgoing that weekend party in order to study, they went the extra mile, but they were not given any extra attention because of those that didn't achieve as much might feel bad. Hog Wash!!!!

Why do we lower the standards of expectations for our youth rather than requiring that they work to achieve the higher standards. So consequently our youth are not as successful and do not achieve as much as they truly are capable, and we wonder why they have not been able to move ahead or get out of the slums. It is always everyone else's fault. We didn't give them the same opportunities, we made it too hard for them, we don't understand all the other outside influences they face. Boo Woo.

My kids did without a lot while growing up. I was sick from the time my daughter was in the 1st grade so I didn't work outside the home. My husband stayed in a dead end job because it was at least an income. But somehow my kids managed to get 4.00 GPA, go to college and graduate Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude.

I am so tired of people still blaming society for everything that happened over a hundred years ago (how many of us were even around a hundred years ago) and for it being everyone else's fault that students are not successful in school. Give me a break. Granted not every student will achieve a 4.00, but everyone can learn.

I appreciate that some student's do have some true learning disabilities but most of the students are just plain lazy. Parent's need to insist their children attend class and they need consequences when they don't achieve or don't attend class. School is a child's job and this is when they learn responsibility necessary to succeed in society.

So please, let's stop make excuses and let's start insisting that our children do their "jobs" of learning.

But you know I really do have the best and most terrific 2 adult children.

My raving and ranting for today... oh bother......

Entertainment for Many or Ego for a few....

Did anyone watch the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night of the Beijing Olympics? In one word I have to say "spectacular".
I was impressed by a nation that limits its citizens to 1 child per family ( a population of over 3.1 billion) yet had over 15,000 performers, no performer performed more than once. The attention to detail, beauty, and synchronization. Wow!! I liked the idea of mixing some history of China, explanation of Chinese traditions and entertainment all within the performance. Plus showing China's hopes and dreams for the future of China and the world.
Say what you want about the oppressions of the Chinese, the Olympic performers showed a great deal of pride in their heritage and a high level of creative intelligence that the entire world could learn from. To be perfectly honest I have to admit that in my half century of life and recollections of watching Olympic opening ceremonies this was by far the BEST performance I have ever seen. It told a story of past, present and future, it involved the world and it had meaning throughout.
China is so rich in tradition and pride it definitely showed both in the production of the opening ceremonies.
But I have a question.....Aren't the Olympics supposed to be non-political? I don't agree with what is happening with the Tibetan people, I don't agree with what happened to the Chinese people that were forced out of their century old homes to make room for the various venues of the Olympic games. All of these are atrocities no doubt, but these are atrocities of the government of China not the thousands of athletes from around the world. Why do people feel so compelled to put such a damper and gray cloud on these athletes chance of a lifetime? This is supposed to be the one time every 4 years when people of all over the world can come together and compete in a sport they love and show pride in their own home country.
I am certain that these protesters feel this is a perfect time to get publicity for their cause but once again this is the mentality of the self righteous thinking only of their own gain and moment of fame.
These Olympians have trained for 4 years, some have trained for their entire life for this opportunity. Some trained and have come to these games knowing full well they have no chance of standing on the podium but bask in the shear pleasure of the opportunity to be amongst the select best in the world.
Come on self centered, egotistical, and self righteous protesters, don't you have anything better to do with your time, give the athletes their time in the limelight, step back and learn to share like we were all taught in kindergarten.
Oh bother.......

That darn 5 letter word again.....MONEY

I am reminded once again as I read the morning paper how very greedy we the people have become. A flight attendant suing over a passenger's tyrant over a drop of water, a supposed "preacher" flying first class. I am trying to remember the last time I flew first class, oh yeah a trip to Disneyland when bumped by the airline back in the day when the airlines actually did try to be the "friendly skies". As the airlines continue to take away more and more services from those of us cheap soles in coach I am forever intrigued by first class, until I see the price... $1,000, $1200 and so on depending how near or far you travel. Good golly Miss Molly that is more than a months pay for most of us "middle" class schmucks. Yet an individual who has supposedly devoted their life to the service of God and the good of the people doesn't even seem to bat an eye as they pay that high price from their poor congregations daily devotions.
We have all seen the lines of people outside food banks hours before they open hoping to get a few morsels to feed their hungry children because the rest of their pay has to go toward gas to put into the car to get to work in order to pay for more gas for the car to get to work... and so it goes.
I am not too sure when our nation became so materialistic. It seems that no matter how much or how little one person has the next person always has to have more and / or better. Walk down any High School or Middle School hallway during passing time and count the number of students texting on their personal cell phones. OK yes I have to admit my very own C and T had cell phones in High School but only after the incident at Columbine High School and once they were driving on their own, but their phones did not have the text capabilities and they were to be used for emergencies only. Well of course my own offspring are perfect and ONLY used their cell phones for their intended purposes. Aren't all of our "kidlets" (as a friend of mine likes to refer to these charming individuals) a mere perfect image of ourselves? Well but honestly, perfect no, but absolutely terrific you better believe it.
My children did learn what it was like NOT to have everything that little Joey down the street had. To this day our house still does not have Nintendo, Play Station, Wii or whatever the next market blitz, couch potato must have "entertainment" gimmick hits the store shelves to cause our kiddies young and old to camp out on the sidewalk outside the store at midnight in order to be the FIRST to have the latest craze. I do not begrudge anyone for having these new fangled contraptions, it is just that our house seemed to have other things that always took precedence, like food, gas, a roof over our head. I am forever amazed at the number of children waiting for their parents at the welfare office that are playing their own personal Nintendo DS (selling price $129).
My biggest pet peeve, and anyone who has known me for any length of time has heard this repeatedly, but here I go again. Shortly after my husband and I were married we were on a very strict budget. I saved a little extra grocery money each week so that we could have a "special" treat for our 1 month anniversary. I took this paltry bit of extra change and went to the fish market. "Yes I would like 1/2 pound of your fine fresh baby shrimp for my special man". In comes this young "gentleman" (very loosely speaking), he orders 11 fresh whole crabs (ah they are beauties, fresh, big and meaty). The sales clerk tells him it will be some 3 digit figure to the left of the decimal point. (Wow that is some celebration his family will be having). But wait it gets better.... As I hand over my few extra quarters, nickels and dimes to pay for my 1/2 pound of fresh baby shrimp, this "gentleman" (again very loosely speaking) whips out his neat and crisp FOOD STAMPS!!!!! to pay for his 11 WHOLE FRESH CRABS!!!!! Today 27 years of marriage later and I still have never bought even 1 FRESH WHOLE CRAB!!!
Yes that darn 5 letter word... MONEY.... once again the culprit of evil and good. My man and I enjoyed our meager 1/2 pound of cooked baby shrimp that night and the 27 years of marriage that have followed.
And so it goes, oh bother.

Going Nowhere Fast.....

Ever wonder why those cars block the traffic light intersections? Sitting at a traffic light, the light changes to green, cars move, cars stop... IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION!!, light changes to red. Can the other direction of traffic move?, no.. why??? because that bozo blocking the intersection thought his/her travel objective was more important than the other millions of cars on the road. He / she must be in a hurry to get to that gas fill-up for over $4.00/gallon. Boy I am in a hurry to get there too. Can't wait to spend my hard earned money on gas so I can sit in the middle of an intersection during rush hour traffic.
And how does that woman drive and put on her mascara at the same time? Me, I have trouble getting my mascara on my eyelashes standing still in front of the mirror let alone trying to steer a car, shift gears and talk on the cell phone. How many hands does this chick really have? Oh wait maybe that is a foot, no, no the foot needs to let out the clutch and the other foot in stepping on the gas. And what is this? she is honking at the car in front of her because the light is green and the car has not moved into the middle of the intersection to wait for the traffic to move. Oh wait!!! that car she is honking at is me, I am the one that actually read the drivers manual that states DO NOT block the intersection. And tomorrow will be another day, with another impatient driver honking. Oh bother.......

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." - Ghandi