Friday, February 20, 2009

Entitlement Mentality

What is the deal with the entitlement mentality that is so prevalent in our society today?
This morning on the news I heard a story about how college kids are now EXPECTING to get at the very least a B in a class that they do the reading in. Tests shouldn't matter. Attendance shouldn't matter. What kind of thinking is that?
Are teachers going to be banned from using red pens to check papers or make comments to their students? Red pens are offensive....it makes the poor kids feel like their papers aren't good enough.
The game of tag is outlawed in some schools because it is too rough. Someone could get hurt. Playing tag????!!!!!
Should all team players get a trophy at the end of the season--so as not to hurt anyone's feelings? It doesn't matter whether they were the team that lost. We can't damage fragile egos.
Give me a break.
These things are just with the younger set......what about the adults?
Can't pay your mortgage? Well, have the tax payers pay it for you. After all, you DESERVE it!
So what that you really can't AFFORD a house. So what if you should really be renting... You want a house --you should tell the government to make sure that Fannie and Freddie GET YOU a home loan.
Can't pay your bills? Have the government do it.....for crying out loud you NEED to have the cable TV, cell phone, computer, flat screen TV and all the other STUFF. If you can't pay for it....make sure someone does. You are entitled after all!!
Have as many children as you want, with no thought as to how you will pay for them, and it actually HELPS if you are NOT married, you'll get MORE money that way. The government can give you hand outs. After all it takes a village to raise a child, right?

I'm sick and tired of hearing about this entitlement mentality that seems to be everywhere these days. What kind of generation are we raising up? Will they believe that life owes them? The answer is YES. They already do.

*What happened to Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
*What happened to be a good sport? It doesn't matter if you win or lose but how you play the game?
*What happened to "If at first you don't succeed, try , try again!"
*What happened to work hard and then enjoy the fruits of your labor?
*What has happened to personal responsibility? respect? citizenship? trustworthiness? fairness? The pillars of character are all but gone in parts of our society.

This makes me sad for our country. Sad for what it is happening more and more each day. Sad that so many people don't have any idea what we are losing......

Thursday, February 19, 2009

We're Not Gonna Take It!

Anyone who is fed up with the pork in Washington....anyone who is frustrated with the way Congress spends OUR money.....then you need to watch this video clip.
Yes, I know it is CNBC (not normally one of my favorite news stations) but the guy is spot on with what he is saying. Anybody ready for a tea party?

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Ramos and Campeon

Ramos and Campeon are the two border control agents that were falsely imprisoned here in the United States. They were imprisoned for what?! For enforcing our borders between Texas and Mexico. They shot a KNOWN drug dealer as he tried to cross the border laden with around 800 lbs of marajuana...and they shot him in the buttocks ONLY after he attempted to shoot them first and then try to make a run for it. For that they got 11 year prison sentences! Where is the justice in that?! What is wrong with this picture?? So, before President Bush left office he pardoned these two men. Thank you President Bush. The men are currently under house arrest--after leaving the solitary confinement of prison for the past 4 years. They will be completely free by the end of next month.
I'm watching an interview with Ramos' wife on the Glenn Beck show as I type. These men deserve a big thank you from this country. They were doing their jobs as border enforcement agents, and because of political red tape and shady officials (on both sides of the border) they were falsely imprisoned. We need MORE agents like these two men. People who will defend our borders from ILLEGAL immigrants/drug dealers/all kinds of other trafficking going on.....
I'll tell you what....I'm so glad that they are back home with their families and friends! I'll be even gladder when they are back on the job protecting this country. Way to go guys!

"Boxing" in the Dark

Yes, people. I have yet another Walmart story. What can I say? I practically live at the store. Here is the deal....I went to Walmart yesterday morning looking for boxes, since my family is moving to Ohio in the next few weeks. My job is to pack everything in the house, and for that I need lots and lots of boxes! Well...yesterday I was told that I needed to call between 11pm-12am to make sure that the night stockers saved me some boxes. So I did that...BUT the night manager I spoke with told me I had to pick them up by 7am or they went to the trash. OKAY. I set my clock for 5:45 am. Ugh. After a minute of disorientation, I jumped out of bed, got dressed, brushed my teeth and was out the door. It is cold that early in the morning. My car windshield was frosted over and so I turned on the radio and listened to the local morning show while my car warmed up. Then it was off to Walmart!
I got in the building around 6:20 am. I was told my boxes were in buggies back near housewares. So off I went. I got my first cart, wheeled it outside to the car and unloaded the boxes into my trunk. Back in I go. I see another cart full of really good boxes--big ones--so I tell the lady with the Walmart name tag on that I am taking this cart. She said to me, "Oh hunny, I'm glad you came when you did. I was fixing to take it to the trash!" What!! It was just around 6:30. Shew! Grabbed it just in the nick of time. I told her I would be back to get the last cart in a minute. She gave me a look like "you better take it now or else someone might trash it." So, I grabbed the other buggy too. I'm pushing one and pulling the other and it is no easy feat because the boxes are stacked high and I can't really see to steer. I finally make it to the front of the store where there was a little old man greeting people. I say to him, "Sir, may I leave this buggy here and take this one out, unload it and come right back to get the other one?" He said, "sure I'll set the cart near the door for you." When I came back in....there was no cart! I said, "sir, what happened to the cart with the boxes in it?" He looks around mumbling that he just put it at the door and where did it go? About that time another elderly gentleman pops out from a side door. The first man says to gentleman number two, "Hey buddy, you seen the cart with the boxes?" Number two then replies, " The buggy with the trash in it? I moved it to the back." GOOD GRIEF!!! He takes me to the back where I end up getting my boxes and schlepping them out to the car. Who knew getting boxes would be so difficult? This is some serious exercise.... I was exhausted by the time this whole ordeal was over with! To think that I get to do this all over again on Thursday morning at the Food City grocery store. I think I need a nap.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Is a stick figure beautiful?

I saw this story on MSN today. It is about the "Top 10" models of the year. Well, you have to look past the UGLY clothes to see the models, but even still I don't really find these women all that appealing. Is this truly what society sees as beautiful? I'm not saying these girls are unattractive (I realize they have harsh makeup on, and scary designer clothes) I just don't see them as the look to strive for. Some of those women have cheekbones that might cut a person if they got too close. Good grief!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Help To Make A Difference

Many of you know that I am a former special education teacher. I have a special favor to ask of my readers today. Would you please visit this site and leave a comment? For every comment left money will be given towards autism research. So many times I think that people want to help, they want to make a positive difference...but they just don't know how to do that. Today is your chance! Let's make a difference!
Go to this site and leave your comment. Ready, set, go!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

A Total Mole Kind Of A Night

Sometimes the weather can be a real pain. The local news told me yesterday afternoon to hunker down there was a storm coming. "Okay", I said to myself. I started getting dinner ready at 3:30 in the afternoon. I tried to be prepared. I guess the storm didn't get the memo. It came early and our electricity went off. The potatoes I had baking in the oven weren't even close to being done, unless you think chiseling away at a potato "rock" sounds done. Couldn't really open the refrigerator because I didn't want to let the cold air out...and had no idea how long the power would be off. So now the family couldn't eat dinner...we were hungry and walking around the house like moles. Well, we had a little light at first (though the storm made it dark outside) but soon after the light we did have, left us. Out came the candles and flashlights. At first it was alright. Played some games...listened to our battery operated radio....but then it was kind of boring. No TV, no computer, my cell phone battery was starting to die on me, and we were hungry! We settled on peanut butter sandwiches and some ham spread on bread. Not together...eww...that would be gross. Kids ate peanut butter I had the ham. We ate by the light of the Yankee candle burning on the kitchen table. The radio told us of the 50,000 residents of our county that had no power. At least we weren't alone in this blackout. We learned tree and power lines were down all over the place. Great. This was going to be a long night. No wonder people went to bed early back in the day. Without electricity there is not as much to do....especially when one doesn't have much lighting except candles. So, I called for an early bedtime and told the boys to force themselves to go to sleep. Easier said then done. You know black is very black. I didn't even have the light from the digital clock to keep me from tripping over the junk in my bedroom floor. I almost took a nosedive and if not for my almost superhuman agility (giggle,giggle) I would have cracked my face on the headboard of the bed. Yes...it was that dark. We are talking serious mole time here.
I was laying in the dark...wishing that the utility board would work a miracle when I hear my son from the next room.
"Mom?" Yes? " I can't sleep." Yes you can. Close your eyes and breathe slowly. "I can't make myself do that. It makes me not sleepy." You are sleepy, you just don't know it. "I don't think so." Listen, I'm the mom and I know things. Trust me...you'll eventually go to sleep.
Eventually, we all fell asleep...well except when I got woke up in the middle of the night because my dying cell phone started whining...I turned it off after looking at the time on the phone. Still no lights. Ugh.

I Want Some REAL Answers!

A friend of mine, from high school posted this on her Face Book page. I think it is excellent and just had to share.
Mr. Obama's last press conference was nothing more than a joke to the THINKING public. Why doesn't Mr. Obama answer some REAL questions? Questions that we as intelligent individuals would like him to answer!

Obama in Prime Time: 7 Questions Left on Cutting Room Floor


President Barack Obama this week conducted his first prime-time press conference. After blaming the "failed theories of the last eight years" for today's economic crisis, he pushed for massive, unprecedented government spending.

Lefty radio talk show host Ed Schultz -- who once called Republican presidential candidate John McCain a "warmonger" -- sat in the front row, appropriately next to "reporter" Helen Thomas. Thomas used to attack then-President Bush with her statements masquerading as questions. In her question to Obama, she referred to our Islamofascist enemies as "so-called terrorists" -- which failed to elicit even a raised eyebrow from the President.

What, no Rush Limbaugh?

Obama even took a question from a "reporter" for the hyper-liberal Web site The Huffington Post. And, unlike Bush, the Obama administration preselected the reporters to be called upon and notified them in advance. Why did the others even bother showing up? If Bush pulled something like this, they'd call it "the discredited doctrine of pre-emption."

Seven questions left on the cutting room floor:

1) Mr. President, tonight you criticized those who argue that FDR's policies failed. I'd like to read a passage from the diary of Henry Morgenthau, FDR's Treasury secretary: "We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started and an enormous debt to boot!" Please comment.

2) Mr. President, this is a two-part question. In your opening statement, you called today's economic situation "the most profound economic emergency since the Great Depression" and later "the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression." But in the 1981-82 recession, unemployment reached 10.8 percent in 1982 versus 7.6 today. Reagan inherited an annual inflation rate of 13.5 percent, while you, sir, came in with a 0.1 percent inflation rate. Prime interest rates reached 21.5 percent at the end of 1980, compared with 3.25 percent at the end of 2008. Reagan did not ask for a "rescue" or "bailout" package. He cut taxes and slowed the rate of domestic spending. Unemployment, inflation and interest rates went down. The Treasury collected more revenue than ever. First, how then -- at least so far -- is this the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression? And second, given Reagan's success, why not cut taxes, reduce domestic spending, and leave taxpayers and consumers with more money to save, spend and invest?

3) Mr. President, you say your administration will not torture. You've directed our military to apply the Army Field Manual, which relies on 19 psychological methods of interrogation and excludes waterboarding. Yet you are setting up an interagency panel to decide whether to use interrogation methods not included in the Army Field Manual. Aren't you having it both ways -- saying you won't torture or use enhanced interrogation techniques, while retaining the option to do so?

4) As a candidate, you called raising taxes a matter of "neighborliness." Your Vice President called paying taxes a matter of "patriotism." Yet your secretary of Treasury, Timothy Geithner, who oversees the IRS, failed to pay some taxes. The International Monetary Fund, where he worked, informed him in writing of his obligation to pay payroll taxes and increased his compensation to offset the payment. He accepted the compensation but failed to pay taxes. Can the head of the department that runs the IRS credibly expect others to pay their taxes, when he failed to pay his own?

5) In one of your first acts as President, you signed an executive order that many call the toughest-ever ethical guidelines. It bans former lobbyists joining your administration from being involved with any matters or agencies that might be related to their former lobbying efforts. It also prohibits anyone from working in an agency he or she lobbied during the past two years. Given that, please comment on why you have granted a dozen personnel waivers to your own ethical guidelines.

6) The respected nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office studies the effects of the various proposed stimulus plans. The Washington Times said, "CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing." Your comment?

7) Tonight you blamed the economic crisis on the "failed theories of the last eight years," yet tonight you also criticized homeowners who put little or nothing down and purchase homes without the ability to pay their mortgages if "something goes wrong." Sir, which is it?

Multiple choice question. Select one answer.

President Obama’s press conference was

[A] orchestrated

[B] a propaganda event

[C] a farce

[D] a joke

[E] an insult to the thinking public

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Happy Birthday Sarah!

I just wanted to take today to say Happy Birthday to Sarah Palin.
The media would have had us believe that Mrs. Palin was nothing but a dumb bunny conservative. The radical feminists came down on her with a very personal vendetta. What was that all about? Did they feel threatened by her? ("Me thinks thou doth protest too much.") The truth is Sarah is very much like a lot of American women....and there are a lot of people out there that like her spirit and grit. I happen to be one of those women.
She isn't a part of the Washington D.C. culture and that is what makes her so very different.
Happy Birthday to a great lady! Hope to see her again real soon.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Health Care Or Die?

What is this country coming to? How can this health care be attached to a stimulus plan?
God help someone who is disabled, or elderly. They are called to sacrifice their very lives...to save a buck. This scares the wits out of me. It should scare everyone.
The majority of the population doesn't bother themselves to really investigate what is going on---surely if they did they could see the writing on the wall. The truth is most people don't care enough to figure out the truth about issues, and it's in the not caring that all kinds of evil can enter through the back door.
Please read this blog entry about the health care. The lady that wrote this explains it very well. The bold type is something I did because those are points I find very ominous and need to be addressed.

Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey

Commentary by Betsy McCaughey

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.

Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.

Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).

The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.


But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

New Penalties

Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties.
“Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511, 518, 540-541)

What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the “tough” decisions elected politicians won’t make.

The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle’s book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.

Elderly Hardest Hit

Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).

The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.

In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.

Hidden Provisions

If the Obama administration’s economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later.

The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181).

Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration’s health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. “If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it,” he said. “The issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol.”


More Scrutiny Needed

On Friday, President Obama called it “inexcusable and irresponsible” for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny.

The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy.

(Betsy McCaughey is former lieutenant governor of New York and is an adjunct senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Betsy McCaughey at Betsymross@aol.com

Monday, February 9, 2009

The American Cowboy

The American Cowboy

The Farm and Ranch magazine came in the mail today. No I've never lived on a farm or a ranch, but I love the magazine. I pour over the pages again and again. I've always loved the rural way of life. I can't really explain it...it's just different.
So anyway, I'm looking through the magazine and as I turn to page 63 I stop short. There it is in the Viewfinder section. I slow down...I stare at the page. This is what I love. Pictures of real life cowboys in Montana and Wyoming. A picture of a cowboy herding cattle with the Teton mountains towering in the background. The Tetons in Wyoming...a place that I saw for the very first time in 2001 while driving to Yellowstone National Park for vacation. We stayed in Jackson, Wyoming. A beautiful town, in a beautiful valley, in a beautiful state. I was in love. I remember seeing the Tetons as they loomed ahead, and thinking, "God this has got to be the closest thing I'll ever see to Heaven on earth." The majesty of it all was overwhelming.
So these pictures in Farm and Ranch are of cowboys. Cowboys that shoe their own horses, cowboys that work outside even in the pouring rain at the Triple J Ranch in Montana, cowboys that move their cattle to lower pastures as winter sets in, in the Tetons, ones that know how to use a lariat, and brand horses in Wyoming's Buffalo Valley.
They are the American Cowboy.

Cowboy Poetry
by
John P. Doran


One More Day

My bones are stiff, they’re sore and old.
It’s getting hard to ride.
And most my best old running pards
have crossed that great divide.

And though I know my time is short,
still I’ve had a damned fine run.
I only ask , "Lord, one more day,
there’s some chores left to be done."

You see I’ll need some time at dawn
an hour, maybe two
to watch the sun rise on the hills
and turn the sky to blue.

And one more time I want to ride
that old buckskin cayuse
I’ll brush him down and check his feet,
but I’ll cinch the saddle loose.

An hour thus is not a waste,
we’ve been partners many years.
So I’ll take my time and talk to him
I think he knows my fears.

And there’s that faithful old ranch dog
lying by the tack room wall.
I’ll take some time to scratch his ears
I bet he’s seen it all.

And when the grand kids, so full of life,
come running down to me,
I’ll stop and make a little time
to dandle them on my knee.

For they’re the reason we are here.
I’ll spin a cowboy tale for them.
I’ll tell it good, I’ll make them laugh
there’s no better time to spend.

Then we’ll beat the sun in the afternoon,
grab a couple of old cone poles,
And we’ll walk down by the riverside
and check the fishing holes.

Then when evening comes I need some time
to watch the setting sun.
With my wife beside me I still don’t know
how I got old when she stayed young.

We’ll sit and rock and watch the stars
fill out the evening sky.
We’ll talk and laugh and reminisce
about the times gone by.

And I need some time to tell her
just how much she’s filled my life.
And it’s still a mystery to me why
she choose to be my wife.

I owe her more than I could ever pay,
for her soft and gentle ways.
How she raised our kids and made a home,
she loved me all these days.

So you see I can’t go just yet,
I’ve all these debts to pay.
Please let me stick around the ranch dear Lord
for one more day.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Obama Lied

I was reading some news reports on Mr. Obama today. I almost (but not really) feel sorry for him. From the looks of some of the pictures of him, he looks grim. I think he realizes that just because he is a smooth speaker...it doesn't make him a good president. I think he realizes (in just a few short weeks) that he is in way over his head....being a community organizer and a sometimes "present" and sometimes not, senator isn't enough real world experience to be leader of the free (and we hope it stays that way) world. Mr. Grim Reaper is telling Americans that we are basically going down in flames. I think words like "catastrophe" and "it will only get worse" are being thrown around. Could it be, just maybe, that his intention IS to scare people out of their wits so that they give him the big okay to pass this HUGE pork-a-palooza? Me thinks something stinks....and it smells like roasting pig. HELLO! Is money for refurbishing offices, big plans for how to deal with STD's, or any number of other ridiculous things going to REALLY help our economy? Let me see.....I believe the answer is a big resounding NO!
The new chant on many, many of the comments to these news articles I read is, "Obama lied. The economy died! Obama lied. The economy died!"
We have change alright. Just not the change we need and certainly not the change we want.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Alert! Alert! Loungers On The Loose!

Yes. This is another one of my many, many Walmart stories. I can't help it. Stuff always happens when I go to Walmart. Today I went by myself to pick up the groceries. Yes, before you even say anything I already realize Saturday at noon is probably the worst time EVER to go shopping. Oh well. I'm just crazy that way. :)
Here is my beef. Women wearing their pajama bottoms out in public. Now once in a great while I might catch a man wearing his pj's out, but usually this seems to be a female thing. I think this is a fairly new phenomena. Now, I'm all about comfort, but I would never even think about going out in public in my pj's/lounge wear. I saw a young woman in her pj's today pushing a cart full of food. I knew they were pajama bottoms because what 20-something wears pants with sheep on them? Cute sheep, sleepy sheep mind you...but sheep none the less. Not a good fashion statement. It isn't all about the younger crowd with poor fashion sense either. I saw a middle age woman in a pair of lounge pants with Nascar's Dale Jr. all over them. Once again...love Dale Jr. but having his number all over one's derriere in public is not the most visually appealing statement one could make. One evening when I was shopping I actually spied a woman in her pajama bottoms and her slippers. Fuzzy slippers. The kind of slippers that slap,slap,slap as one walks. I hope she didn't think I was some sort of stalker as I followed her up and down a couple of aisles. I just couldn't pull my gaze away from the whole "full fledged ready for bed" look she had going on.....and she didn't even seem to care. Now, in the big scheme of things I suppose pajamas are better then some of the other outrageous get ups that have been forced upon my line of vision at public shopping areas. Young women who seem to think they look stylish by showing off their lacy undergarments to anyone who wants to look, because their shirts are so low cut, one false move and the trip to the store could turn X-rated. So much for choosing to leave anything to the imagination! I've even seen a granny in a spandex tube top last Fall. Yes. It is still burned on my memory. Now, granny gets kudos for bravery...but come on! All the spandex/lycra in the world is not going to save granny from gravity. We all at some point have to come to terms with this scientific fact.
After I got home and unpacked all the groceries I went back to my bedroom. There laying on my unmade bed were my pajamas. Just so you know I do not plan on wearing my hot pink polka dot pajama bottoms out in public. They are cute, but the only people that are going to be seeing me in THOSE are my family members....and that my friends is how it should be.

Friday, February 6, 2009

The Nine Principles To Believe In

I watch Glenn Beck on FOX news at 5pm (EST) Today he discussed "The Nine Principles". If you agree with all (or most) of these principles then send him your picture. (read the bottom of this note) He is going to have some special presentation at the end of the month. I totally agree with these 9 things. I think they make a lot of sense.
I'm tired of hearing these basic principles be twisted every day by the left leaning main stream media and our own government administration.
Are there other conservatives out there? Anyone else scared by the turn that things have taken? (In a mere couple of weeks we now are giving money for international abortion, we have all kinds of crooked/shady people being sworn in, we have people in high places that don't feel they have to pay their taxes like the rest of us, we have a president who is upset with conservative talk radio and people in congress that would delight in reenacting the Fairness Doctrine--which by the way is NOT fair, we have someone that President Obama wants for Attorney General that believes in the UN's Rights of the Child, which is scary for any parent that knows what the truth is about that.....I could go on and on.)

Nine Principles to Believe In

Wednesday, February 04, 2009
By Glenn Beck


America, I want to talk straight to you now.

There is a lot of bad news out there. Our economy is tanking and does not show signs of improving. People are losing their jobs 500 million a month according to Nancy Pelosi and there are more cuts on the way.

People around the world are taking to the streets. Our government responds to problem with "bailouts." When you reach out to them you get no response while Ponzi scheme crooks get away with millions and tax cheats get promotions.

Terrorists are on the run, and you just want to keep your family safe.

It is enough to make you want to just give up!

But I am here to tell you something important: You are not alone, and if you believe in a majority of these nine principles then keep watching because I am going to prove it to you to.

1. America is good place, not perfect, but good.

2. I believe in God and He is the center of my life.

3. I must try to be a better, more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and not a guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have. I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree or share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them. They answer to me.

If you believe in those things then I have a project for you. Believe me, this will be worth your while. I want you to take a picture of yourself — and e-mail it to me at wesurroundthem@foxnews.com. I am going to ask you every day for the next two or three weeks.

Please, if you agree with these principles then help me fight for them.

God Is Good All The Time

God You are good
When times are happy and sweet
And You are still good
When I feel bruised and beat
God You are good
When it all works out
And You are still good
even through all my doubt
God You are good
You never will change
and You are still good
even through all the pain
God You are good
when I am lost and dazed
God You are good
may Your name always be praised.

Pinching Pennies

I came across a WONDERFUL site online. If you are looking for ways to save a buck at the grocery store then you should really look at couponmom.com
This site shows you how to cut your grocery bill in half! It not only gives you online coupons, it also allows you to sign up for YOUR state's circular coupons online. You can type in the sort of things you buy most often and they match your grocery list with the coupons. This way you don't have to search and search for the coupons you need. Couponmom.com does it for you!
This site also enlightened me on how to locate the "strategic shoppers price". It is truly amazing how prices (on the very same products) change back and forth from week to week! The thing is to buy products when they are rotating into their lower prices. Coupon mom also gives you a free e-book to read. I found it helpful and enlightening. I've never been a lover of the whole grocery shopping maze. I'm more of a get in and get out kind of a girl! I realize now that times are tight, I need to make sure to get the best deal on things. So, I've decided to personally challenge myself.
I will see how much I can get at the grocery store and at the same time cut my bill. I think I'm on to something...

Thursday, February 5, 2009

And The Beat Goes On...


During his run for the presidency all kinds of seedy characters came out of the woodwork. Certain people that were involved with President Obama over the years...people he tried to throw "under the bus"...but they kept popping back up!
Now he's only been in office for a couple of weeks and things aren't going very well for him. He's been attempting to appoint people to positions, people that have histories full of shady dealings. (Hello! Can't we pay our taxes?)
Now look at the latest "golden boy" (cough,cough). Is this really the kind of man we want as Deputy Attorney General?
And this is only the beginning..........



Obama's choice for #2 spot at Justice worries conservatives
Jim Brown and Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 2/4/2009 8:45:00 AMBookmark and Share

Updated 11:30 a.m. Central

David Ogden (Deputy AG nominee)A conservative legal scholar is raising red flags about President Obama's pick for deputy attorney general -- namely his reliance on foreign law to interpret the U.S. Constitution. The nominee has also been characterized as a 'porn lawyer' and a 'hired gun' for the ACLU.



Heritage Foundation fellow Steven Groves is urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to ask Deputy Attorney General-nominee David W. Ogden some pointed questions on Thursday regarding his views on constitutional interpretation.

In the 2005 case Roper v. Simmons, Ogden succeeded in convincing a narrowly divided Supreme Court to declare the juvenile death penalty unconstitutional and spare the life of his client, who killed a woman in cold-blood nine months before he turned 18.

Groves says Ogden argued that the high court should look to laws, legal opinions, and decisions of foreign countries and international organizations regarding the death penalty. He notes that in particular, Ogden cited the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) -- a 1989 treaty that bars the execution of people who commit crimes while under the age of 18.

Steven Groves (Heritage Foundation)Ogden, says Groves, pointed out that the United States is one of only two countries in the world that has not signed onto that treaty.

"[He argued] that doesn't mean that the U.S. doesn't have to follow the treaty, [but that] it means the opposite -- that the United States must follow the treaty that it has specifically decided not to join," says Groves. "Why? Because [Ogden argued] the rest of the world has joined it -- and so therefore it's some new customary, international norm and the United States must outlaw the juvenile death penalty."

Social conservatives are also expressing concern about an amicus brief Ogden filed in the Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which he claimed that "abortion rarely causes or exacerbates psychological or emotional problems." In addition, other conservatives are uneasy with Ogden's past legal representation of Playboy, Penthouse magazine, the ACLU, and the largest distributor of hard-core pornographic movies.



A 'porn lawyer'
It's that pro-porn stance that concerns Alliance Defense Fund special counsel Pat Trueman. As Trueman notes, criminal prosecutions is one of the areas Ogden would be responsible for.

"The reason David Ogden is going to be trouble is that he is a pornography lawyer [who was] prominently involved in the Playboy cases representing Playboy, Penthouse, other cases," says Trueman. "[And] he has fought against keeping public libraries free of pornography to protect children."

In other words, he says, Ogden opposed using Internet filters. The pro-family group Fidelis picks up that argument.

"[Ogden] has opposed filters on library computers protecting children from Internet smut, and successfully defended the right of pornographers to produce material with underage children," charges Fidelis president Brian Burch.

"Ogden's record is nothing short of obscene," Burch continues in a press release. "[He] is a hired gun from Playboy and the ACLU. He can't run from his long record of opposing common-sense laws protecting families, women, and children."

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

It's A Southern Thing

For those of us that live in the south...we know that pinto beans and cornbread are a meal unto themselves. Add a little chow chow and onion to those beans, a little butter to top off that cornbread and well, you can't get much closer to Heaven on earth.
Pinto beans are also very cheap and cheap is good. This is especially true when one is trying to pinch pennies.
This morning I thought I'd soak some beans (for those of you not in the know--you have to do this to plump the beans up, otherwise they are like little rock pellets, plus soaking them gets any of the crud off of them--after all they are beans.) so I got out a big bowl and poured the beans in and covered them with water. Time went by and I got busy and forgot about the beans in the bowl. I then later went back in the kitchen and GOOD GRIEF!! It was like a take off of an old Japanese horror flick. Godzilla Beans taking over the kitchen!!!! I quickly grabbed the bowl and dumped the beans into an even larger container...they are still expanding. I forgot how quickly those little things can take on water.
The plan is to use some of them in my chili tonight and the rest are going in the crock pot for pinto beans and cornbread for tomorrow....and YES beans and cornbread are a meal down here. Ask any southerner. They know what I'm talking about.

I Feel Like I'm Being Watched

Samson

Now I am the type of person who likes to sleep in the dark. I don't like the light, except maybe the glow from the digital clock. Other then that, forget it. I also like it quiet. Quiet and dark....that is me. You get the picture, right?
Last night I made the mistake of not closing my bedroom door. Sometime during the middle of the night I heard someone, or some thing entering my bedroom....and it didn't sound human. Next thing I know I felt myself being watched. I didn't even have to open my eyes. I just knew. Keep in mind it is very dark in the bedroom so I couldn't see much anyway. I slowly open my eyes and am face to face with Samson, our black cat. I feel his whiskers on my face. You have to understand Samson. He's not like Joe--our other cat. Joe will come in quietly and curl up at the end of my bed and is actually a fairly good foot warmer. NOT Samson. Samson wants to sit on my face. He likes to be close to a persons face. I don't know why. He just likes it. I don't do well with cat on my face when I'm trying to get some sleep. I push Samson off of me and tell him to quit being a bed hog. He paces around quite agitated that I do not appreciate his love. He attempts to get right up on my head. (He, if allowed, will curl up on top of my head so that it appears I am wearing one of those furry Russian style hats.) I push him off again. He decided to give up and just lay next to me. I fell back asleep, but who knows what happened after that? When I woke up this morning he was gone...I met up with him again in the kitchen while I was getting my breakfast. He gave me a look. I couldn't tell, but maybe he even smirked.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Little Country Church

 Country Church

This is a picture that Scott and I snapped last summer while out driving around. (I love to just ride around with no particular destination...just see what there is to see.) I was going through some of my pictures tonight and came across this one. This small church in rural Ohio seems so calm and peaceful. I just love it.

My Day

Today, I’m…..

FOR TODAY–February 3, 2009
Outside my window….. there is snow on the ground and it is cold! The weather guy is calling for 2 more inches by tomorrow.
I am thinking… that I got to check a few things off my to do list today.
I am thankful for… everything that I have. I have been, and continue to be, so blessed.
From the learning rooms…watching my son finish his math lesson for the day.
From the kitchen…good smells. I made homemade mac and cheese tonight. Yummy comfort food.
I am wearing… thick socks, jeans, a T-shirt, and a fleece pullover. Pretty comfy actually.
I am creating…a profile on LinkedIn.
I am going…to give myself a facial tonight and then take a nice hot shower.
I am reading…one of the books from Gail Fraser's Lumby series.
I am hoping…that we will be able to sell our house in Tennessee, quickly!
I am hearing….Bill O'Reilly talking on TV.
Around the house…stacks, and stacks of boxes.
One of my favorite things… warm chocolate chip cookies and a glass of cold milk.
A few plans for the rest of the week: packing!

From the Simple Woman’s Daybook—–

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Monday, February 2, 2009

Learning About What Is Important

I've discussed before that I am a fan of Philip Gulley--the writer of small town life and creator of heart warming stories. I don't necessarily agree with all of his theology (he is a Quaker leader) but I am touched by his everyday observations. I found some of his Front Porch Talks from Indiana's PBS, online. I was touched by all of them....but especially the last "show" on contentment (they are only 3-5 minute snippets). Mr. Gulley talks about his mother in law, Ruby. She is a woman that knows what it is to be content in whatever the circumstance. We would all do well to take away this lesson. Listen to the show, it's only a few minutes long.....it will cause you to think about what is truly important.