God Bless Us - Everyone

Politically Correct but author unknown...

To all my Democrat friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.

To all my Republican friends:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

What's on my tree Wednesday

So here it is again, Katie At This Crazy Life is hosting a weekly blog carnival featuring our favorite Christmas ornaments, so here is this week's choice...

Raggedy Ann and Andy are paper ornaments I made out of cookie molds. Fifteen years or so ago, I was a very crafty person, always making something until I got hooked on the ultimate rubber stamping and scrapbooking. But I made these ornaments by putting all of this stuff in a blender and mixing it up really well and then squeezing out the excess liquid and pressing it into a cookie mold. It was a long drying process, I can't remember if I used the oven on a low temp or not, it seems like a thousand years ago.

After the paper was dry and I could remove it from the mold, then I was able to paint it. I have a heart one also, but the picture didn't turn out so well, but here is good ole Raggedy Ann and Andy who hang around on my tree every year.

Our life as we live it, LIVE and in FULL COLOR

Where to begin? I fell back asleep this morning after the two older kids left for school. Still not feeling very well from this bug I have....so....

I awoke from a deep sleep to what was obviously a dream of my daughter screaming my name for help......

I don't know what I was dreaming, but I sent a text to her right away asking if she was ok. She responded she was fine and in class and why was I asking.... so, well, nevermind, on with the day.

I decided I am not getting any better from this "sinus infection" and I don't want to be sick over the holiday, plus I have a ton of things to do in the next week, so I called the doctor and was able to get an early afternoon appointment. It turns out I am having an allergic reaction to amoxicillin, so new scripts in hand, off to the pharmacy I go.

While at the pharmacy, I get a call from one of the principals at the high school. It seems my daughter's boyfriend has taken her vehicle and wrecked it. You have got to be kidding me. I threatened this kid a little over two months ago if I ever caught him driving that vehicle again I would report it as stolen and press charges against him, it is in my name.

I get out of the pharmacy, head to the scene of the accident, and call the police on my way and tell them its stolen he has not been authorized to drive the vehicle. Well wouldn't you know he, he wrecked in front of the shop of my ex-husband's best friend, and well of course, my ex was already there when I got there..... Little Tonka Truck was laying in a ditch on its side in water. The fool boyfriend was standing there crying....and apologizing. Too late for apologies with me, I had already told him was never to drive it...

I talked to the officers and told them he knew he was not to drive it and it was stolen and I wanted to press charges. Now....get this.....my ex, was kind and supportive of me through this and helpful as far as getting the vehicle out and working towards getting it fixed. He advised me to not let them tow it, just to leave it at his friends shop and we could see what to do from there...

I needed to go to the high school and pick up my daughter and take her to the police station and my ex told me to go ahead and he would handle the vehicle for me. I thanked him very much. He also kept me from hurting the boyfriend, you cannot imagine how mad I was...

At the police station it was determined the scoundrel had implied permission from my daughter, so it was not auto theft, however, my statement indicating a prior discussion where this kid knew he was not to ever drive this vehicle, may carry a bit of weight in the long run, it appears there are several other issues going on with this kid.....

After our statements were taken and my daughter got a bit of a lecture from a concerned police officer (who I am very thankful to for taking the time to talk to her), we were out the door. I talked to my ex husband, he indicated the damage doesn't appear to be too bad, some water damage, perhaps the rocker panel on the passenger side and it wouldn't start, probably because of water in the engine, maybe tomorrow we can assess the damage a little more and maybe it won't be so bad. My ex is going to call a guy to work on it, and seems to want to be involved in this situation. I thanked him again.

This evening my daughter texted her dad and thanked him for all of his help. His response, "it's what dad's do, I love you." Maybe, just maybe, this is the beginning of some healing in our family.

But I am still mad at the boyfriend.

OH and little Tonka, if it could have just held tight to the road for two more days.....it would have made it to one whole year since the last wreck.

This is not.....

This is not just a sinus infection. I went to MedStat yesterday and was diagnosed with a sinus infection. A sinus infection so bad that he prescribed pain pills too. Throughout last night and today I have gotten much worse...I am not sure if I have something else too or if I am allergic to the antibiotic. If I feel like death warmed over again in the morning, I am going back to the doctor...

Terry Polston - Hero

Our community suffered a great loss last week with the death of our beloved D.A.R.E. Officer Terry Polston. He touched thousands of lives, and each of us has one or more precious memory of him.

Mine came the night of my daughter's D.A.R.E. graduation and Officer Hawn selected her essay for her to read at graduation. She talked about how her dad's alcoholism has affected all of our lives and helped her to see what choices she should make. I was standing along the wall, tears streaming down my cheeks, Officer Polston came over to me, put his arm around me and whispered "Just be proud, Mom, be proud of your little girl, she is a fine young lady." I know am only one of thousands of parents that he reassured and comforted. He was a wonderful man and our community has truly suffered a great loss, but his legacy of love will live on.

Continue to keep his family in your prayers now as the dust settles and they are left with a big empty space in their lives going into the holiday season. I know he would not want them to be sad, but it will be so difficult for them.

What's on my tree Wednesday...

Ok its time for what's on my tree Wednesday. This is one of my favorite ornaments. A long time ago, before I ever had kids, I sent out this Hallmark Christmas card just because it was so darned cute...

And now, I have three kids and I can tell you it changes on a daily basis as to which child has the crooked halo, but you can bet, when one is really bad, the other two are absolutely perfect.

Thanks Again Katie, for hosting this Blog Carnival!

funny budwiser snowball fight - horses

hehehe

Christmas in the heart

That search is on again this year. You know, the one I go on every year and it keeps getting more and more elusive, the search for Christmas in my heart.

I want so badly to be back to my old self at Christmas. The one who put a tree in every room of the house, the one who decorated every nook and cranny, the one who had Christmas music or Christmas movies on 24/7, the one who made corny Christmas crafts with the kids that later became my most prized treasures, the one who baked all kinds of cookies and treats from Thanksgiving on and went on little visits with the kids and delivered plates of Christmas goodies to special friends, the one who took goodies to the nursing homes to the residents who didn't have family near....I want to be that person again.

Life has changed so much and circumstances have changed so much. I have become so bitter and jaded that I don't let anyone inside to see the real me anymore and I don't let the real me peek out too often. I have the biggest heart of gold and would do anything to help someone in need, especially if they are a stranger, I have a much harder time opening up to those that are closest to me, you see, they are the ones who have the power to hurt me...

So with that said, how do I find Christmas in my heart again? I have been soul searching for the true meaning, and do you know what I am finding the true meaning to be? I am finding it is acknowledging the ones you love, letting them know how much they mean to you and then basking in the glow of knowing what special people you do have in your life. I have reconnected with a few this past week and its starting to feel more like Christmas.

Its not the gifts, or the decorations. Its time spent with the ones you truly love and making sure that they know how much you truly love them. That is Christmas.

What's on my tree Wednesday...

Ok here we go, week two of What's on my tree Wednesday... I chose a little different ornament this week, and believe me, my decision was tough, I was just in taking a ton of pictures of ornaments on my tree, but I chose this specific one for the memories and good times it holds:

It's definitely hard to see, but its the memory that matters. This ornament was given to me in 1994 for being a designer in the Festival of Trees. The festival is held in our community each year as a fundraiser for the Home Health Care Foundation. Unfortunately, in my divorce I lost some things, and one of those things was my Christmas Tree photo album. I really wish I had it to look back over the trees I decorated. In 1994 I did my first tree with my sister, we had a lot of fun and it was a "Stars and Stripes" forever and we made all of the decorations on it. It was very cute.

1995 was a very difficult year, my grandmother passed away and I did a tree in honor of her and my grandfather. It was "Angels Among Us" and I did that tree all by myself and handmade each and every ornament on it. It was a labor of love and a lot of late nights crying my eyes out while I made the ornaments. It was also therapeutic and I came to terms with my loss.

The following year I did two trees. I did a big one for Miller's Merry Manor and I started in August and I went to the nursing home every Tuesday afternoon and I hosted the craft time with the residents and we made the ornaments for the trees. Some of the ladies had other ornaments and decorations they made and they entrusted me with their treasures for "our tree". I cannot begin to tell you what an enriching experience that was for me. The memories of the people will be forever etched in my heart.

One lady, oh my, she was such a spitfire, she would tell me how to do what we were going to do. She would call me at home and tell me what we should do the following week, such a pistol. She called me aside one day and she had a bag of "very special decorations" that she wanted on our tree, but there was a stipulation, I had to get them back to her by the day after Christmas because her family was all coming to visit her for Christmas on the 28th and they were the gifts she was giving them.

I felt so honored that she entrusted me with what was precious to her. As fate would have it, the day after Christmas I received a phone call that she had passed away that morning. She was up and getting ready for breakfast and just died. She went fast and painlessly. I was devastated, she was such a pistol, I knew going into the project that it could and would possibly happen, but she just wasn't the one I expected it to happen to so soon. So there I was left with this promise I had made and I had no idea of how to best keep the promise. The only thing I could do was to write a note to her family and wrap the ornaments in a box and take them to them at the funeral home. I did, I gave them to her son and told the story and do you know I received a thank you note from each and every member of that family thanking me for keeping my promise to Tillie.

The other tree I did that year was called "Christmas by the Sea!" I loved the idea, hated the tree. I fought tooth and nail with that tree every step of the way. I never was happy with the way it looked. The night of the preview party, I actually climbed over the roped area and went in and started messing with the tree some more. My husband grabbed my arm and pulled me back and told me to just stand and look at it and see what everyone else was seeing...I had no idea what he meant, I looked at him, the tree and him again, so then he redirected me to the stand showing the title, the designer, sponsor, etc of the tree and then I saw it, the first place ribbon for the most original tree....you just never know!

The following years I have judged, hosted kids craft days and most recent years I just enjoy being a spectator....but who knows, maybe one of these days....

I want to thank Katie at This Crazy Life for hosting this blog carnival and making me go down memory lane and leading me back to Christmas in my heart.

Today: Snow. High near 35. East wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of around 5 inches.

Tonight: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 30. North wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Monday: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 34. Northwest wind between 10 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21. West wind between 10 and 15 mph.

And of course.....my kids are wishing for a .....

What's on my tree Wednesday...

Katie at This Crazy Life is hosting a weekly blog carnival featuring our favorite Christmas Tree Ornaments each week. Of course I am participating. I need to "find" Christmas again, and I think this might help. My tree is not up yet. I will do all of the other decorating over this holiday weekend and put the tree together and light it so that when the boys return home from their dad's on Sunday evening we can decorate it as a family.

As you know I got a little excited when my daughter got her tree up already and posted about that. And besides, its her tree with her ornaments, so I technically shouldn't post about her ornaments. I am however going to post about our "Christmas Fairy". It started a few years ago when my sister did a fairy tree. One particular fairy on the tree "bothered" Kelsay and she would remove it and hide it. My sister would find it in strange places and put it back on the tree. Then it became a game to move it around and use it to "terrorize" Kelsay with. When I moved into our new home, my sister gave me the fairy. That thing shows up in the strangest places because Kelsay hides it everytime she finds it. I now keep it hid for opportune times to bring it out. So it lives the majority of its life in hiding.

Dying Boy's Last Wish Granted

There is a wonderful new angel in heaven looking over all of us, Brendan died last Friday morning.

Kelsay's Pink Flamingo Tree

One Christmas tree is up! I will redo this with better pictures tomorrow, but I just couldn't wait to share!

Very Sad

Today I received a text message from my oldest son while he was at his dad's for the weekend. A friend of the family for a long time passed away last night. He was young with his whole life ahead of him and left a young son behind. The circumstances surrounding his death were bad decisions he made in his life recently. Decisions that ultimately cost him his life.

My two boys are shook up by this. I am shook up by this. The young man who passed away was the young man moms want their sons to grow up to be. He was handsome, he was charming, he was a hardworker, he adored his son, he had a personality that just drew people to him. He took the time to stop and talk and LISTEN to everyone. His life turned down the wrong road and unfortunately got the better of him. Its so very sad. I can't imagine running into Leesburg and not running into him anymore. He always had a hug and a kiss for me and words of encouragement. Such wise words from someone so young.

My heart breaks for his family and more than anything for his precious little boy who will grow up having a hard time remembering his daddy, and will miss knowing the wonderful man he truly was.

My oldest son is really struggling with this. I also shared a couple of days ago my concern for my son in that he is a yes man and does not wish to hurt anyone's feelings. I fear this could work against him and I fear he could easily follow in his father's footsteps and let alcohol take hold of his life. I asked him to honor the memory of our friend by remembering how his choices cost him his life and hurt so many people left behind to pick up the pieces. Pick up the pieces of what did not have to be. I begged my son to take a long hard look at this and apply it positively to his own life. Then I told him I love him. I can still do that.

I would be oh so very dissappointed....

I was just reading the news this morning and discovered many talk shows are scrambling to get Sarah Palin on for an interview. In fact she has become very high demand. However, one of the hosts requesting her to be on their show absolutely has me stumped. Oprah as you may recalled shunned her before the election. Women across America were screaming for Oprah to have her on her show. But of course, due to Obama, Oprah absolutely ingnored the request of her fans. I have never been hooked into the talk show craze, I have seen a couple of the Oprah shows in the past and have read the magazine a couple of times out of sheer boredom. The woman has never really tripped my trigger so to speak - but nonetheless, I DID respect her and all of her causes. She is a powerful voice for women -and obviously men too - everywhere - but get real folks, she shunned Sarah Palin when she could have at least granted an interview on the show. But, well, we know why that didn't happen. But NOW she would like for Sarah Palin to appear on her show?!?!?! I can't tell you how truly disappointed I will be if that should happen.

Small Fryday Contest!??!??!??!

I have a confession to make. I am turning into a blog junkie. Wait. No. You already knew that. I have been a blog junkie for quite some time. In the past few months, I expanded my horizons somewhat and discovered facebook, then through facebook I discovered some old friends.

One very near and dear to my heart friend that I had lost contact with...Miss Katie at This Crazy Life has been a Godsend to me. I used to babysit this little girl and once I found her blog I read the whole thing in one night and caught up on a lot of her life that I missed once I married. Through Katie I have found several other refreshing blogs that have mysteriously worked together the renew my faith in God, which is something I needed desperately as I continue my struggles as a single mom with an ex-husband who is playing with the hearts and minds of our precious children.

With Katie being much younger than me, somehow I feel I have almost slipped into a role of a somewhat older and wiser mom who can offer reassurance to Katie and some of her other bloggy friends. With three kids, I have "been there and done that"! I think some of my most valuable advice thus far would just have to be the duct tape for boys diapers, as long as you are careful not to get the tape onto the skin! ;)

Anyway, the reason for this post is another blog that I found through Katie and I have followed it for 3 months or so.... is My Charming Kids on this wonderful blog you will find the wonderful story of a miracle. You will see and learn first hand the power of prayer. I cannot tell you the many wonderful ways MckMama and her family have touched my heart and relit the candle inside of me. She will never know how truly grateful I am to her. You really need to check this one blog out if you do nothing else, your heart will be forever engraved with her words and her beautiful family. MckMama is hosting a contest to draw more visitors to her blog, and this is so unlike me, but I am on this bandwagon...

I know some think of us bloggers as foolish and think we are lost in the cyber world, but I have to tell you, when I am at work each day and take my breaks, I take a blog break rather than a smoke break - so you tell me, how healthy is that!?!?!?! My blog has enriched my life by giving me a place to not only vent, but to learn what things in this life I am truly passionate about, by revealing myself to others, I have revealed my true self to me, and it is refreshing to know what I stand for and what I believe and what I want in this life for my kids and for myself. I have learned I am not alone in my beliefs and there others out there who just get it!

So please, take a moment and visit MckMama, You will not ever regret it.

Ya Live, Ya Learn

When I signed on the computer this morning, I was greeted by this odd Google logo:

I couldn't quite figure out what it was, I am a little dense sometimes you see, but when I hovered my mouse over it I discovered it is René François-Ghislain Magritte's 108th birthday. Ok. So I clicked on it and found more information than I was probably looking for but Wikipedia was chock full of information of course! Below are two pictures that I believe contributed in large part to the google logo for today:

Ok. So now you know, ya live, ya learn! Isn't there a song about it raining men???

My Kids

I love my kids so much it hurts. I want nothing but the best for them. I try oh so hard to give them the things they need and add in a few of the things they want as often as possible. Lately its been difficult to just come up with the things they need. As they grow older, it seems everything they need becomes so much more expensive. I do think they understand that I am doing the best that I can in that department and no one goes to bed cold or hungry, and no one awakes with nothing to wear the next morning. So we have those three beasts conquered. They may not have what they WANT to wear, but they have what they NEED.

I worry so much as they are growing up. I worry about their choices they will make. I worry about if I have given them enough guidance and a good foundation to make the right decisions. Maybe I just like to worry. When they are hurting, I hurt too.

My heart breaks a thousand times a day for my daughter and the wrongs her dad has done to her. She did nothing wrong except to be a little girl who wanted to be with her daddy and he slammed the door in her face. As I work on her order for graduation my heart breaks to go ahead and make plans and plan on her dad just ignoring this special event in her life. I think of the special days to come in her life and wonder if she and her dad will ever make peace. Every girl wants to be daddy's little girl and he has taken that from her. I can't make it right and I can't replace him. I offer as much as I can and do the best I can and I pray she will be ok.

I worry so much about my older son. He wants to make everyone happy. He is a "yes man", he will tell you exactly what you want to hear so as not to hurt your feelings. This concerns me very much because by doing that I fear he has lost himself in the shuffle of trying to be what everyone expects of him or wants for him. This has become painfully evident during the course of this latest legal battle with my exhusband. He filed for custody of this son because I filed for an increase in child support. It is so obvious as to why he filed for custody, to reduce child support, not because he truly loves his son. And if it was truly because he loves this child, why would he select only one of his children? How can he shun one child and adore another and pay minimal attention to the third one? These are things I don't understand. And these are things I do not know how to explain to my kids.

I don't worry too much about the little guy yet. I am sure he will give me his fair share of gray hairs too, but for now he is on even keel and his biggest concern is how to best divide his time fairly amongst all of his family members.

I love my kids, I love each of their unique personalities, I am oh so proud of each and every one of them and I hope they know and understand this even when I am "mean mommy" and/or
DragonLady."

So I have been tagged

So I have been tagged to list seven all time favorite albums. This I will do, but I am not going to tag anyone else, if you wish to participate, go right ahead. I had a hard time narrowing it to just seven... The Matchbox 20 cd I will always refer to as my divorce cd. I listened to it a lot during the time that we were first split up.

PLaYinG aGaiN

OK. Yes I have been goofing off tonight and revamping my blog. I wanted to change it over to a Christmas Background but I fear if I go too holidayish I might get busy and it could be stuck on a Christmas tree background or something until next April, and well, that would just be embarassing. But I think this at least looks kind of wintery and we know I like changing things up. The plus side to this revamping the blog thing is that I am not moving furniture and it kind of gives the same "high" I get from rearranging a room. Which you would be surprised at just how often I do that. Problem is, I tend to get hurt when I decide to move furniture, revamping a blog is relatively painless!

So on to another similar topic. I am loving my home office. One day soon I will blog about my entire ordeal with the arched window in my office that lets in too much light in the early mornings. It was a painful and frustrating ordeal that I am just not quite ready or able to completely put into words, but I will one day soon, I might even take pictures.......mebbe not.

Working at home is great. The kids have commented on how much better my mood is. You see, I can do laundry all day while I am working...and I am getting caught up on that and I can start dinner and have a decent meal with my kids in the evening. Without being totally stressed out. When they get home from school, I try to be at a point in my work where I can just stop and talk with them about their day. It is so cool, you have no idea. I have a comfy leather loveseat and chair with ottoman in my office and they just kick back and talk my ears off. The biggest problem is reminding them to quiet down when the phone rings, it is after all a business phone. But we are working on that.

During the day, I get to choose what music I want to listen to. Very way cool. I keep the tv off, I am afraid I would just be drawn into the other room to watch it. Besides I can get my news updates and blog fixes online as I work, I quite often have my laptop over to the side with messenger on while I am busy working on the other computer, this way I still feel like I am in touch with the outside world and it dings me when I get an email. And the cool thing is if its cold and dreary and I want to stay in my pajamas I can. So far I haven't though, I make an effort to get my shower and get dressed and be in the office and working by 8. (I have been coming in early every day so far!)

I have to give an honorable mention to Katie at This Crazy Life Because I have taken so much from her blog and learned so much from her blog. (Did I mention that I have known this munchkin since she was a baby? I used to babysit this wonderful kid!) I have found some other really incredible blogs that I am dying to link to, but I don't want to look like a stalker or something. I did add My Charming Kids because its awesome, warning, I was reduced to tears. Katie has some other really cool links for adoptive families that are also very heartwarming. But speaking of Katie, I haven't seen or heard from her since I emailed her the buckeye recipe, methinks she is lost in her kitchen!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Canon Rock

So Maggie and I are hard at work today and trying to get a little into the upcoming Holiday Season, so we are listening to TSO and working really hard.....well at least I am, Maggie wore herself out!

Maggie wore herself out

Maggie done wore herself out for the day!

The Lego King

I live with the 9 yr old Lego King. We have 1000s of legos everywhere. All kinds of kits that he has built. He is now into the Mars Mission line of legos. My sister and brother-in-law just bought him the deluxe, special edition Mars Mission set for helping them work on their home in Marion that they are getting ready to put on the market. (My sister had sold it on land contract and got it back in a shambles.) And my son has been going down with them and painting and working and has earned a couple of lego sets. Not to mention the overnight stay at a hotel with a swimming pool.

So last night when he returned from a weekend at his dad's his brand new Mars Mission lego set was here. I had to pry him away from it to get him to bed. He has a tendency to just get lost in the project and stay with it until its complete. This morning I went upstairs at 6:45 to get his sister up for coop and then school, and he popped out of bed wanting to know if he can work on his legos. I made him take his shower, eat breakfast and get dressed for school first because he will now work on this until the very last minute that he can before the bus comes at 8:30.

I do love watching him work on these kits though, not the typical male species, he sorts the pieces and follows the instructions step by step. He used to do this with the Bionocles and Transformers before he could even read! What a kid.

Taylor Swift and Def Lepperd performing Photograph

What an unexpected mix.

Home Office

Over the weekend I moved my office into my home. I love working from home and apparently the cats like it too. They keep me company thats for sure! The office took over my living room which resulted in us having to move the sofa up onto the "catwalk", this morning I caught the two "kittens" taking in a view from the top and I thought it was just too hilarious to not capture.

I missed a great opportunity last night, Mikey was sitting on my desk in front of my computer watching the screen saver. I went to get the camera but then he moved...I was going to send it to my mom and sister and tell them he was our newest employee. As I am adding this post, Mercedes (not pictured) is laying in my chair, Mikey the dark colored cat is laying on my desk, and Maggie (the one green eye, one blue eyed kitty, is sitting on the loveseat with me. Yes, they really do like having me home with them all day!

Cute Animals,

To the tune of, "Why Can't We Be Friends"... It's time to lighten up and get back to life and stuff...

I won't lie....

I won't lie, I am very disappointed in the election results. I did not expect to get so emotional. I fear what is in the future for our country. However, I am not a sore loser, just a sad one at this point, but I will stand behind our president and believe in his decisions, just as I did all other presidents before him.

The people have voted and the decision is made, so now its onward and upward and let's hope for the best for everyone.

National Election Results

Indiana Results

Proud To Be An American Laser Show (God Bless the USA)

Regardless of the election outcome, I am still proud to be an American.

Obama Pastor: God Damn America

If nothing else is making you think...watch this, this man is a close personal friend and inspiration to Barack Obama, 20 years of sitting in his pew...

One Vote

Hey you can watch these videos all day, or yep, you guessed it, you can GO VOTE!!!

Makes sense to me.....

Does just one vote count?

'Nuf said

Just Vote!

I voted last Friday, I thought I would be avoiding the lines that way, but guess what, I waited in line for 45 minutes. But it was so worth it.

Riots are fears, emotions running too high.

This year's election is indeed unique and different. It has been earmarked from the get go with the possibility of a first woman president, and then replaced with the possibility of the first black president. It has been an election that has been very devisive. Many voters have felt somewhat indifferent and not too particularly fond of either choice. Truthfully, no matter who wins the election, there is an ugly road ahead for them. Quite possibly in the first four years they may do very little to fix the problems we are dealing with simply for the fact that to fix these problems, the changes that will have to take place will come from the pockets of all of the American people. Taxes will have to increase to get out of the mess we are in. Plain and simple.



Whoever wins this election is not going to want to do that so much, because they will lose the popular vote of the people and will have a hard time seeking re-election in 2012. But you know, that is my own personal opinion and as you know - we all have our own personal opinion.



I also have a strong conviction that come Wednesday morning, no matter who has won the election, Wednesday is the day that Americans need to unite as one, climb on the bandwagon together and support the person that has won by popular vote. At that point (well actually in January) they will be our leader and we will then need to follow and support our leader. That is not to say our voices should go unheard, but we still need to support the President, whoever it may be.



Many cities across the united states are preparing for riots Tuesday evening depending on the outcome of the election. The reports I am finding indicate the fear the outbreak will come if Obama would lose. Read this and this . Does this scare anyone besides me? And I am not so sure that it would happen only in Obama would lose, I think emotions are high enough now and people are so divided and passionate about the issue, I think it could happen either way the outcome falls.



These are truly sad and scary times. I so wish the future of our country looked a little more promising, but the writing on the wall indicates its going to take awhile to fix this mess we are in.

Take the time

After reading some other blogs this evening, you may have witnessed me stepping up onto my soapbox. And well, you all know me, when I have something on my mind, I tend to share it. I received this in an email the other day and I found it to be very powerful stuff. I think it is worth the time and effort to read it and process it for yourself and then go vote.

Make Everyday Safe, not just Halloween

Editor's Note: I have moved these two posts to the top of my blog just to remind everyone to keep our children safe not only this Halloween, but every day.

As parents, we do all that we can do keep our kids safe. Sometimes we like to think ignorance is bliss, but not always. And some things there is just no reason to not be aware of. Be very aware of your neighborhood and surroundings. People who live in your neighborhood who come into contact with your children. You would be amazed at the travels of a child in the course of a half hour or so within your own neighborhood on a bicycle with friends.

I am fortunate to live in a great neighborhood. And I am stunned sometimes when neighbors tell me of conversations or incidents they have had with my children. This is why I have a link to the sex offender registry here on my website. I check it often and I am on the list to have alerts sent to me if an offender should happen to move into my neighborhood. This is an area we need to always be on the alert for the sake of our children.

This Halloween, local enforcement agencies are helping to protect our children from predators, unfortunately, this program is only for the predators who have been caught and we are already aware of, as parents, we still need to exercise caution and make sure to accompany our children as they venture out for an evening or Halloween fun and gathering treats.

I encourage you to add the sex offender registry to your favorites list or blog and stay aware of your surroundings. Be safe this Halloween and every day and keep your children safe too!

National Sex Offender Registry

Family Watch Dog Bookmark this link and use it. I pulled the following facts off of the Family Watchdog website:

The sad facts about sex offenses and those that perpetrate them.

impact on society.

• 1 of 5 girls will be sexually molested before her 18th birthday.
  
• 1 of 6 boys will be sexually molested before his 18th birthday.
  
• 1 of 5 children have been propositioned for sex over the Internet.
  
• 2 of 3 sexual abuses are perpetrated against teenagers or younger children.
  
• 90% of sexual assaults are committed against someone the perpetrator knows.
  
• The median age for male molestation victims under 18 is 9.8 years old.
  
• The median age for female molestation victims under 18 is 9.6 years old.
  
• There are new 400,000 victims of sexual assault every year.
  
• There are over 550,000 registered sex offenders in the US.
  
• There are over 100,000 sex offenders that fail to register in the US.
  
• 76% of serial rapists claim they were molested as children.
  
• Over 40% of male juvenile delinquents were molested as children.

This website and the Indiana Sex Offender Registry are two great services provided to us free of charge to help us protect the safety of our children. When you have some down time, do yourself a huge favor and make yourself aware. Peruse these websites. Map your own address and search the radius around your home. Search further. Look to see who these people are and where they are working and living. I did this the other day after AWB brought to light the sex offender clusters. I was shocked at some of the things I found. I found one offender who I have dealt with in business and did not know he was a molester. He does not have his place of employment registered. He works in a business that takes him into residential settings on a daily basis. It scared the hell out of me because I almost invited him into my home to do some work.

Please use these tools and be very aware. Our children are the most precious possessions we have, and they are only on loan for us to keep care of and protect.

Posted by Lucy.

Women Getting Very Emotional

This article was sent to me yesterday regarding women and politics. A year ago, my mother and I were not able to have a political discussion. We were on opposite sides you see, and her justification for wanting to see Hillary as the next president was only because she was a woman. And when trying to reason with her, she would resort to discussing the war and crying. (Emotional) It came to be we just disagreed and didn't discuss it.

As you know, I had very little respect for Hillary as a woman, it was simple, she let me and women everywhere down when she stayed with Bill during the Monica orderal. Hillary is a strong powerful woman who can make it with or without him and she should have taken that stance for women everywhere. (Emotional)

Actually, when it came down to McCain vs Obama, I was very disheartened. I was going to vote for the lesser of two evils and remain loyal to my convictions. (Unhappy emotions)

Enter Sarah Palin. She struck a chord with me. At first it was indeed and perhaps still is, emotional. I still strongly say....she is living life in full color. I have a son who may choose to enter into the service of our country....she gets that, she understands. I have a 17 yr old daughter, she gets that, she understands. I am trying to live on a budget that goes less and less far each week. She gets that, she understands. I get that and I understand that she is the most down to earth candidate we have ever seen, she can relate to the largest majority of Americans. She will bring a different point of view and insight to the table and I believe it is exactly what America needs right now.

As for the mother daughter rift that was taking place within my family. My mother is terrified of the idea of Obama as president. She is changing tickets this year. My daughter is telling me now that the Book of Revelation has frightened her of her democratic proclamation she made earlier....she is now for the McCain-Palin ticket, if only she were old enough to vote! (Don't pounce on me, that last comment was made in fun, she has yet to truly figure out her political beliefs, all I want her to do is to research, listen and decide for herself.)

Dear Mr. Obama

Powerful

I could almost be miffed about this...

An email today for the Sarah Palin Rally in Jeffersonville.....you can do the RSVP online just like you could for the Fort Wayne Rally but this time you can PRINT YOUR TICKETS!!! Man oh man, how much less stressful my life would have been last Thursday and Friday! Oh well, there are those who are miffed at me for my luck in arriving early and getting in line at my leisure and then getting in and seated...

Sarah Palin in Fort Wayne - tld

It was a great rally!

A plea to my fellow bloggers

The tides worked against me yesterday, and inspite of my best efforts, phone calls and emails, I failed to obtain a ticket to see Sarah in Fort Wayne on Saturday. Originally I needed 4 to take my daughter and my parents, then I just needed two, for my daughter and I, and now, she doesn't care if she goes or not, so if anyone has just one ticket they could spare, well, it would be greatly appreciated.

Sarah Coming to Fort Wayne

According to the Journal Gazette Sarah Palin will be in Fort Wayne this Saturday. It is my intent to get tickets and get there and see what she has to say.

Visions of pink and white....

Today I planted my flower bulbs out around my deck. I have visions of pink and white tulips and pink and white daffodils dancing in my head for next spring! I can't wait, I am already ready for next spring and summer, I have plans of it being the year that I create some really pretty flower gardens. I have not had the patience or desire in the past few years to mess with outside flowers but I did more this past year and guess what? I found it to be therapeutic. Maybe its just what I need!

A 9 yr old's point of view

My little guy and I had an interesting conversation last evening. His two older siblings had other plans for the evening so it left just he and I to hang out. We were driving into town and out of the clear blue he says to me,

"Mom, if Obama wins I think a lot of people are going to move out of country and we are going to end up having no money." Huh? Where did that come from? Of course I had to probe into that statement, because, believe it or not, at this point I had no political discussions with him, I have been too focused on figuring things out myself and trying to understand where my daughter is coming from.

So my youngest son goes on to tell me if he works really hard and makes $1000 a day, he is going to end up with only about $200 for all of his hard work while four other people who did nothing all day end up with the same amount. (Did I mention this kid is 9 years old?)

He went on to say, in his words..."the whole plan is gay". Now I wasn't too crazy about his choice of words, but nonetheless, he gets it. He said, "Mom I want to be rich someday, I want to work hard and have nice things, I will just have to go live somewhere else, why would I want to live here?" (Is the air sucked out of your lungs yet?)

The greatest country on earth, so let's change it???

This whole conversation with my son hit home harder last night when I read this post .

This is what I hear when I really listen to Obama

As I listened to the political debate last night, when I truly tuned in and listened to Obama, I heard him very eloquently tell me in the future I am going to work my ass off and give everything I have equally to everyone else, including the ones who do nothing. Where is the American dream in this? What is the point in having a dream and following it only to give it to everyone???

Communism
A system of government in which the state plans and controls the
economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to
make
progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally
shared by
the people. American Heritage Dictionary

I am sorry folks, but there it is, plain and simple. You elect a Democrat President with congress being controlled by the Democrats and we can all watch our dreams go down the toliet. Because like it or not, someone is going to be paying for all of the free stuff somewhere, and its going to be the working folks!

Halloween is going to stink this year!

OUCH!

Two summers ago I was rearranging furniture in my bedroom and went to move one of the white recliners and ran over my big toe with it. I peeled back most of the toenail, had blood every, got woozy and the whole nine yards. I resorted to calling my sister bawling my eyes out and she advised me to go to my mom's and have her bandage it up for me. So I went to Mom's crying and carrying on like a two year old and it took her and my stepdad to settle me down and get me all bandaged up. This was at the beginning of the summer and I hobbled for days and wore flip flops the entire summer. I think it was sometime in August when the nail finally fell off and it was almost an entire year before it grew back in. I was convinced that it wasn't going to grow back in at all. So, why I am I telling you this story now? Well....

Just a little bit ago, I was moving furniture in my bedroom again, moving the recliner again, and guess what I did again? Yeppers! Same toe even. This time I didn't call my mom or my sister. Instead I called my son on his cell phone, he was all the way upstairs in his room you see, and there was no way I was going up the stairs, what with the bloody mess and all...

Let's just smile today.

2008 week 5

This week includes the point spread!
Sunday, Oct. 5

Buffalo Bills 17 at
Arizona Cardinals 41 (-1.5)


AWB ~ Cardinals
JR ~ Bills
TZ ~

Tennessee Titans 13 (-2.5) at
Baltimore Ravens 10

AWB ~ Titans
JR ~ Ravens
TZ ~

Kansas City Chiefs 0 at
Carolina Panthers 34 (-9.5)

AWB ~ Panthers
JR ~ Kansas
TZ ~

Indianapolis Colts 31 (-2.5) at
Houston Texans 27

AWB ~ Colts
JR ~ Colts
TZ ~

San Diego Chargers 10 (-6.5) at
Miami Dolphins 17

AWB ~ San Diego
JR ~ San Diego
TZ ~

Chicago Bears 34 (-3.5) at
Detroit Lions 7

AWB ~ Chicago
JR ~ Chicago
TZ ~

Atlanta Falcons 27 at
Green Bay Packers 24 (Off?)

AWB ~ Green Bay
JR ~ Green Bay
TZ ~

Seattle Seahawks 6 at
New York Giants 44 (-6.5)

AWB ~ New York
JR ~ Seattle
TZ ~

Washington Redskins 23 at
Philadelphia Eagles 17 (-5.5)

AWB ~ Philly
JR ~ Philly
TZ ~

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 at
Denver Broncos 16 (-2.5)

AWB ~ Denver
JR ~ Denver
TZ ~

Cincinnati Bengals 22 at point spread
Dallas Cowboys 31 (-16.5)

AWB ~ Dallas
JR ~ Dallas
TZ ~

New England Patriots 30 (-2.5) at
San Francisco 49ers 21

AWB ~ Patriots
JR ~ New England
TZ ~

Pittsburgh Steelers 26 at
Jacksonville Jaguars 21 (-3.5)

AWB ~ Jacksonville

JR ~ Pittsburgh
TZ ~

Monday, Oct. 6
Minnesota Vikings at
New Orleans Saints (-3.5)

AWB ~ Minnesota
JR ~ New Orleans
TZ ~

Bye week: St. Louis Rams, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders

If you want to join in on the fun, just comment here and I will add your picks into the post.

So I totally suck this week, AWB kicked my butt, at this point without the Monday night game he won 8-5!!!

Think about it...

FOUR THINGS YOU CANNOT RECOVER

Author Unknown, but I thought it was definitely something to ponder.