Shannon Says....

Oklahoma-OK!

2011-03-06T11:34:00.001-05:00

Well we got to Oklahoma City and decided to visit Toby Keith's I love this bar & grille. It was very good eating! Oklahoma City wasn't much to speak of. The downtown definitely had night life and plenty of things to do for the college crowd. Not a big city or large buildings. On the outskirts was Yukon, hometown of Garth Brooks. We drove down Garth Brooks avenue and at the end they have a huge ranch with Clydesdale horses. Beautiful. Not many out in the pastures though. Oklahoma is very flat with lots of farm lands. Got some pictures of Buffalo on a reserve. Will post pictures tonight. :)

What will I see? Where will I be?

2011-03-03T22:36:00.003-05:00

Many people take vacations to "get-away", relax, unwind, then come back stressed because of the cost of vacation is still looming, or going back to work, or they stressed while they were on vacation. Life is full of too much beauty to be stressed on vacation. I left the stress behind when I clocked out from work this morning.
I hope to enjoy time with my honey, looking at scenery he hasn't seen before, watching him like a kid in a candy shop. Marveling at all the various sites God has created. Watching His splendor while driving into sunsets or taking in sunrises as each day starts. I look forward to watching the sunlight shimmer on the red mountains in New Mexico, shopping at the beachside art show, seeing friends and family we haven't seen in ages, spending a whole week with my daughter, enjoying God's majestic color pallet and canvas, eating rattlesnake in Texas, enjoying authentic Mexican food in California, maybe get on the Price is Right in L.A., photographic awesome snow-topped mountains in Colorado, feel the spray of a whale in the Pacific Ocean.... I want to capture all of it in photos for memories. :)
I'll have to post random photos as we go along.
I can relate to that old song, "California, here I come. Right back where I started from...."
Well it's off to bed to get some rest before our big trip... G'night y'all!

Again... my annual Thanksgiving Speech

2010-11-03T17:06:00.002-04:00

Once again, Wal-Mart, Sears, JC Penny's, and many other stores have brought out the bling bling of Christmas... a month before Thanksgiving. I'm off on my tangent and I don't care who I offend!
Thanksgiving is BEFORE Christmas and for a good reason! Giving thanks is only natural for those who were raised right! I was raised to give thanks. Say "Thank You" when someone opens the door in public. Say "Thank You" when you are given anything... from a piece of gum to a gift at Christmas. Say "Thank You" when someone says "God Bless you" after you sneeze. Say "Thank You" to whoever made the dinner. Say "Thank You" to God who gave you life and the gifts He's blessed you with. Say "Thank You" to your parents who raised you. Say "Thank You"!!!
So for whatever it's worth, I'm sickened that Thanksgiving is downplayed in this country all for the all-mighty dollar at Christmas!

2010-09-29T10:53:00.000-04:00

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

You've heard about people who have been abducted and had
their kidneys removed by black-market organ thieves.

My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years
ago. I went to sleep and woke up with someone else's thighs.
It was just that quick. The replacements had the texture of
cooked oatmeal. Whose thighs were these and what happened to
mine? I spent the entire summer looking for my thighs.
Finally, hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my
life in jeans. And then the thieves struck again.

My butt was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they
took pains to match my new rear-end to the thighs they had
stuck me with earlier. But my new butt was attached at least
three inches lower than my original! I realized I'd have to
give up my jeans in favor of long skirts.

Two years ago I realized my arms had been switched. One
morning I was fixing my hair and was horrified to see the
flesh of my upper arm swing to and fro with the motion of
the hairbrush. This was really getting scary - my body was
being replaced one section at a time. What could they do to
me next?

When my poor neck suddenly disappeared and was replaced with
a turkey neck, I decided to tell my story. Women of the
world wake up and smell the coffee! Those 'plastic' surgeons
are using REAL replacement body parts - stolen from you and
me! The next time someone you know has something 'lifted',
look again - was it lifted from you?

THIS IS NOT A HOAX. This is happening to women everywhere
every night.

WARN YOUR FRIENDS!

P. S. Last year I thought someone had stolen my Boobs. I was
lying in bed and they were gone! But when I jumped out of
bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in
my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them hidden in my
waistband.

Thought this was too 'important' not to pass on. Have a
wonderful day - with a joy filled heart. Always remember to
laugh!! Helps the heart AND the wrinkles!!

p.p.s. Those same thieves come in my closet and shrank my
clothes! How do they do it????

Spam / Email / Tracking....

2010-08-06T12:39:00.002-04:00

A technology geek wrote:

By now, I suspect everyone is familiar with snopes.com and/or
truthorfiction.com for determining whether information received via email
is just that: true/false or fact/fiction. Both are excellent sites.

Advice from snopes.com VERY IMPORTANT!

1) Any time you see an email that says "forward this on to '10' (or
however many) of your friends", "sign this petition", or
"you'll get bad luck" or "you'll get good luck" or "you'll see something
funny on your screen after you send it" or whatever --- it almost always
has an email tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and emails
of those folks you forward to. The host sender is getting a copy each
time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' email
addresses to use in SPAM emails or sell to other Spammers. Even when you
get emails that demand you send the email on if you're not ashamed of
God/Jesus --- that is email tracking, and they are playing on our
conscience. These people don't care how they get your email addresses -
just as long as they get them. Also, emails that talk about a missing
child or a child with an incurable disease "how would you feel if that was
your child" - email tracking. Ignore them and don't participate!

2) Almost all emails that ask you to add your name and forward on to
others are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send
business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the
Guinness Book of Records for the most cards. All it was, and all any of
this type of email is, is a way to get names and 'cookie' tracking
information for telemarketers and Spammers - to validate active email
accounts for their own profitable purposes.

You can do your Friends and Family members a GREAT favor by sending this
information to them. You will be providing a service to your friends.
And you will be rewarded by not getting thousands of spam emails in the
future!

Do yourself a favor and STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listing
regardless how inviting they might sound! Or make you feel guilty if you
don't! It's all about getting email addresses and nothing more. You may
think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT! Instead, you
will be getting tons of junk mail later and very possibly a virus
attached! Plus, we are helping the Spammers get rich! Let's not make it
easy for them!

ALSO: Email petitions are NOT acceptable to Congress of any other
organization - i.e. Social security, etc. To be acceptable, petitions
must have a "signed “signature" and full address of the person signing the
petition, so this is a waste of time and you are just helping the email
trackers.

See below Tips for Handling Telemarketers:

Three Little Words That Work!!
(1)The three little words are: 'Hold On, Please...'
Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of
hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more
time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt. Then when
you eventually hear the phone company's 'beep-beep-beep' tone, you know
it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently
completed its task. These three little words will help eliminate
telephone soliciting.

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other
end?
This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and
records the time of day when a person answers the phone. This technique
is used to determine the best time of day for a 'real' sales person to
call back and get someone at home. What you can do after answering, if
you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your #
button on the phone, 6 or 7 times as quickly as possible. This confuses
the machine that dialed the call, and it kicks your number out of their
system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any
longer!

(3) Junk Mail Help:
When you get 'ads' enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these
'ads' with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk
mail away. When you get those 'pre-approved' letters in the mail for
everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do
not throw away the return envelope. Most of these come with postage-paid
return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 44 cents
postage, 'IF' and when they receive them back. It costs them nothing if
you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last
increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid
of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little,
postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas.
Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a
pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then
just send them their blank application back! If you want to remain
anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them. You
can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them
guessing! It still costs them 44 cents. The banks and credit card
companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail,
but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like
to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that
e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to
increase postage costs again. You get the idea!

If enough people follow these tips, it will work –

THIS JUST MIGHT BE ONE E-MAIL THAT YOU WILL WANT TO FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS.

Lowe's / Home Depot

2010-05-15T08:53:00.002-04:00

Have you ever noticed that when you go into Lowe's or Home Depot for a project, you get distracted? I think that it's deliberately that way. Even the commercial for Lowe's shows someone going in for light bulbs and ends up with a patio set. Yes, the lightbulbs are next to the patio furniture in Lowe's. I think this is deliberate. You also can't just go in and get certain things for one project all together. If you need stuff for your kitchen, 1/2 are in one spot and 1/2 are in another. Ie-kitchen and organizational items. Unless I'm in a hurry I end up with more than what I go in for. I get these big ideas while I'm there for one item and end up with a bigger project. I almost have to go in with cash for the one item to avoid getting into another project.
Does anyone else have this problem?

God is NOT a hateful God!

2010-01-28T10:10:00.004-05:00

I saw this today and this guy is so far off the deep end it's scary!! The church (Westboro Baptist Church) creates a view of God who is hateful, vengeful, and terrible! That's not the God that loves me.
Westboro Baptist Church is truly not a church which flows with the love of God for people. Who wants to go to a church when you are already broken and hear how God hates the world? Below is an example of what websites this guy has. How sad.

http://www.godhatesfags.com/
http://www.godhatestheworld.com/
http://www.americaisdoomed.com/
http://www.godhatesamerica.com/

We are here to love poeple. Love them and help them realize God loves them, too. We are not here to judge.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Matthew 7:1
"The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Galatians 5:14.
"If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right." James 2:8

The Yellow Shirt

2010-01-13T09:34:00.002-05:00

The yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in black thread and snaps up the front. It was faded from years of wear, but still in decent shape. I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, rummaging through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away.

'You're not taking that old thing, are you?' Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt.. 'I wore that when I was pregnant with your brother in 1954!'

'It's just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class, Mom. Thanks!' I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object. The yellow shirt be came a part of my college wardrobe. I loved it.
After graduation, I wore the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings when I cleaned.

The next year, I married. When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt during big-belly days. I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in Colorado and they were in Illinois . But, that shirt helped. I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it when she was pregnant, 25 years earlier.

That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I patched one elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom. When Mom wrote to thank me for her 'real' gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely. She never mentioned it again..

The next year, my husband, daughter and I stopped at Mom and Dad's to pick up some furniture. Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed something yellow taped to its bottom. The shirt!

And so the pattern was set.

On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad's mattress. I don't know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years passed before I discovered it under the base of our living-room floor lamp. The yellow shirt was just what I needed now while refinishing furniture. The walnut stains added character.

In 1975 my husband and I divorced. With my three children, I prepared to move back to Illinois . As I packed, a deep depression overtook me. I wondered if I could make it on my own. I wondered if I would find a job. I paged through the Bible, looking for comfort. In Ephesians, I read, 'So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will be standing up.'

I tried to picture myself wearing God's armor, but all I saw was the stained yellow shirt. Slowly, it dawned on me. Wasn't my mother's love a piece of God's armor? My courage was renewed.

Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother. The next time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer.

Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station. A year later I discovered the yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet.

Something new had been added. Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the words 'I BELONG TO PAT.'

Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an apostrophe and seven more letters.

Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, 'I BELONG TO PAT'S MOTHER.' But I didn't stop there. I zig-zagged all the frayed seams, then had a friend mail the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington , VA. We enclosed an official looking letter from 'The Institute for the Destitute,' announcing that she was the recipient of an award for good deeds.

I would have given anything to see Mom's face when she opened the box. But, of course, she never mentioned it.

Two years later, in 1978, I remarried. The day of our wedding, Harold and I put our car in a friend's garage to avoid practical jokers. After the wedding, while my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the car to rest my head. It felt lumpy. I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in wedding paper, the yellow shirt. Inside a pocket was a note: 'Read John 14:27-29. I love you both, Mother.'

That night I paged through the Bible in a hotel room and found the verses: 'I am leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me.'

The shirt was Mother's final gift. She had known for three months that she had terminal Lou Gehrig's disease. Mother died the following year at age 57.

I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave. But I'm glad I didn't, because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 16 years. Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art. And every art student needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets.

6 weeks and counting....

2009-06-27T15:57:00.006-04:00

Wow... 16 months ago I was engaged and 6 weeks from now I'll be married to a wonderful man, Richard. It's been more surreal now that the time is coming down, we are ordering things for that day, making sure things are set, etc. Next week I will start making butter molds to keep in the fridge. Making butter in shell molds. I am excited about the whole reception! Simple, in budget for everything and spending time with friends and family. What more can I want!?

Are you a CEO of the church?

2009-04-20T07:22:00.002-04:00

Our sermon this morning was on being strong in the body, connected with others. Last week was the most attended church service in any church. People pack the pews, ready to listen to "THE" sermon. You know, the sermon of Jesus raising from the dead and forgiving all our sins. The other most attended is Christmas. The sermon about Jesus being sent from Heaven to save us. I guess if you get to those two, you don't have to get to the others? You don't have to learn about every day living, how to strengthen your commitment to God, how to connect with others in the church, etc. Then again, if you are only coming twice a year, you aren't intending to strengthen your connection with others. It's sad that people think these are the two most important times of the year, yet leave off the other 50 sermons. Richard and I go the the Catholic Church on Saturday night and the Presbyterian Church on Sunday mornings. We know how each one's faith is important to the other and when we are in town, that's the game plan. We enjoy family night dinners or special events during the week at church. We enjoy getting to know the others in the church. We want to celebrate our shared faith with others and learn more about how to strengthen our relationship with God. We are definitely not CEO's (Christmas and Easter Only) of the church.

I just LOOOOVE Warrantees!

2009-04-15T19:58:00.002-04:00

I just love warrantees! Our microwave that we bought for $56 in June burned up recently. I tried to get an answer through their website and it didn't work, so I finally called their 1800#, went through their menu, hit the buttons, then was told to call another 1800#. I called that number, went through the menu options and was told that since my microwave is less than a year, I was priviledged to call yet another 1800 #! WOoohooo! I finally got a real person calling the third 1800#. Whew! I gave my phone #, address, name, alternate phone # and explained what happened. The lady asked, "Is it a GE Microwave?" I paused before I answered, "Uh... yeah. I did call GE Didnt' I?" She replied, "You wouldn't believe how many call our office for other brands!" (Pausing to think.. yeah I can believe it) Then I was asked for an alternate phone #, my email and to re-explain what happened to the microwave. When I was done, the woman very kindly said, "Have you tried returning it to Walmart?" UH Noooooo!!! "You need to first try to return the product to the store you bought it from, then call us if you don't get satisfaction from them." WOW! That easy huh!?! Richard and I poured through the hundreds of receipts we saved for last year's taxes, (Thanking God right now Richard is anal about beeing organized). We found it.... now to get to Walmart...and that will probably be tomorrow's story.

If only people would follow the order...

2009-04-07T23:40:00.003-04:00

There are people who just don't get that there's an order to things. There are those who follow life in logical order and understand that some things have to be done in a certain way. Then there are others, despite their good intentions, mess things up and cause more work because they didnt' follow the order of things.
For instance. When a prior approval has to be done for a medication, the medication is NOT filled at the pharmacy until the Prior approval (PA) is approved by the insurance company. There is one particular pharmacy that gives the patient a partial fill and waits fo rthe prior approval. Then when the approval goes through they can't seem to get the rest of the medication to go through. DUH! because it's not for that amount and you already filled it adn can't fill again for 30 days.
When a pharmacy does this, I have to call the insurance company back, explaining to them what the pharmacy did and request another override for the amount that the patient is missing off the last partial fill. THis took 25 minutes for just one of them today. I have 3 others that the pharmacy did this with! With every other pharmacy, they tell the patient that they have to wait for the PA to go through to get any medication. Thats' the ORDER of things! Patients understand and we get the PA as fast as we can.
See, there's logical order in much of what we do in life and when someone inserts their own thought process into it, everything gets out of balance and order is disrupted. Why can't people just follow the basic order of life and stop messing things up!?

Freedom From Bills

2009-03-31T23:38:00.002-04:00

Paying off something is relieving. I don't believe it's possible for everyone to be "debt free" but it is possible to be as debt-free as possible. I do believe that one can do what they can to pay down bills, debts, etc. So many people don't see the payoff because they don't see the big picture. They want things now, things to be paid off now or they don't understand the benefits. We believe in paying off credit cards in full every month. We don't go out to eat as much if we can't afford it. We enjoy simple pleasures. Recently I paid of two debts since they were low enough to pay off. It felt great! One eliminated a year of interest. Instead of a 3 year loan, I paid it off in two years. We are looking at how to pay off bigger loans now. Looking at a car loan and how to lessen the years or even the mortgage. Putting extra payments can cut a mortgage by 10 -15 years. Ultimately it can save $30,000 - 50,000 in interest! That's HUGE!!!!! Why pay a bank when we can use it? Looking at the whole picture, we can essentially be mostly debt-free by the time we retire. Putting some in savings and paying off debt is assurance I won't be worried about retirement and living on a fixed income. Looking at the future is important while dealing with day to day expenses. Sometimes we can't afford to make extra payments because life is tough and things happen. I feel good about making dents in what debts I have. I don't want to fret over money issues and I really believe God is guiding us to do what He wants with the money we've worked hard for.

Shifting my plans

2009-03-30T01:12:00.002-04:00

I think I need to shift plans for the upcoming semester. I got these little tab things at Office max, so now when I read something that is useful with my papers, I can tab that page and underline it. I may have a bunch of books with tabs, however, I won't have to rush to get my papers done. I will already have plenty of resources ready.
I also need to work on getting an internship. I am going to check with Helen Ross McNabb and see what I can do with them if they use counselors or not. I have to find a place where I can work at night or during the weekends. Hopefully I can find something soon.
I need to be more pro-active in getting things done due to adding the internship, so hopefully I can do well this semester. Much needed prayer in trying to find an internship!

Forwarding email...My pet peeve.

2009-03-28T18:44:00.003-04:00

When you forward an email, at least take the time to eliminate the emails before you or copy and paste what you are forwarding. I often check email on my phone and when an email is forwarded several times over, it take a while to click more several times to get to the meat of the email. If this is the case, I simply wait until I'm home to read it. When people simply forward, after a while, it's just a bunch of emails and people's names I don't know and the message loses its value. Why can't people learn to highlight and delete all these emails and such? I can understand some people who just barely know how to use a computer, but others who use a computer every day at work and again at home. It's called etiquette. I personally, don't care for my email to go to others I don't know and I don't want to forward my friend's email to others they don't know.

From email etiquette site: "Don’t forward anything without editing out all the forwarding >>>>, other email addresses, headers and commentary from all the other forwarders. Don’t make folks look amongst all the gobbly-gook to see what it is you thought was worth forwarding. If you must forward, only forward the actual “guts” or content of the email that you are of the opinion is valuable."

"Emergency"

2009-03-24T08:10:00.003-04:00

Who in the world taught people that when they get down to the wire, it should become another person's emergency? If you didn't plan don't expect me to jump up and get things NOW! It's your own fault you didn't plan better. (More to come)

(Later)
When you need to do something and you don't get it done, it shouldn't be someone else's emergency to help you get it done. Example: You continue to tell your children to do their homework, a paper comes due, they should stay up doing it if they want it done on time. Homework should be done on time, etc.
When a grown adult takes a medication, the medication should be filled on a timely manner, not wait until you're out and call at 4:30 to the doctor's office expecting to get it called into the pharmacy by the time the office closes at 5:00 and the pharmacy closes at 6:00. A person's procrastination does make it an emergency on my end.

Stress....

2009-03-24T07:51:00.002-04:00

People who are under stress sometimes don't realize they create their own stress. I hear people every day whine about how much stress they are under or why they are going crazy because they can't handle everything. They don't realize they choose to be amongst the chaos in their lives. They can CHOOSE to get rid of the stress, but they feel they HAVE TO have it. Example: (and no, it's not a specific patient)
A woman has her 32 year old son, daughter-in-law and their 7 year old child living with them in her 2 bedroom home and has been since August. She pays the rent, utilities, food, and everything else. No, not just for her, but everyone. Son can't find a job. Daughter-in-law is in school and watching their 7 year old. Ok. SOMEONE needs to take the reigns, but mom doesn't feel she can boot them out because they don't make any money. Did I mention that Mom's also on disability? Classic case of mother-hen/drama queen who feels she has to take care of everything all the time. Hello! Tell him he needs to pay for food and shelter. I don't care if it's $1.00 a day, make them chip in! If he can't find a job, it's his job to look for one. This mother feels the need to be a martyr, but doesn't realize (or wants to realize) she is creating her own chaos. She needs to buck up, drag his behind down to the local McDonalds and say, "here's a job! Take it or move out!" It's too bad that people like this think it's cruel and unusual punishment, however, those of us who know better, think it's assertive parenting. Teaching a person to be responsible for themselves even when they are in tough times.
People like this create their own chaos all the time. I've been there, done that, see it every day. I don't have to take care of other people's problems and create more chaos. I need to teach others how to deal with their own problems. Teach people skills and not dependency. If my kids were in trouble, of course I'd take them in, but they know how to wash dishes, do their own clothes and find a job!
I do see people who take responsibilty and realize they aren't going to take on other's chaos when they have enough of their own. They've learned assertive values.... not aggressive...big difference.
People need to learn how to not allow others to take advantage of them and learn to teach others value in hard work. I don't want to be a doormat to others, however, I'm here for them in their need. I won't give them free stuff without teaching them to work. If they want a free handout without learning, go somewhere else.

Fuji Sushi - Bleh

2009-03-20T04:00:00.002-04:00

I have grown up on Sushi places and been to many great sushi restaurants. This is NOT one of them. I thought the service was slow. I went on an hour lunch break and it took 10 minutes just to take our beverage order after being seated. When we finally got our order taken, it was 25-30 minutes before we got our food. My son ordered the Rainbow Roll and I ordered a crunch / tempura roll with Eel sauce and some Roe. The Rainbow Roll had fish on it that didn't look fresh. It was Ok. The crunch roll was not that great. The eel inside was not fresh and the sauce was something sweet, but not the eel sauce I've been used to. The roe was fresh and you get two, so that was good. We then ordered dessert, a fried cheesecake and fried ice cream. The cheesecake was big so the center was still frozen. The ice cream was 1/2 vanilla, 1/2 Orange Sherbet. Who in the world fries orange sherbet? I was not impressed and unfortunately, since that's the only show in town with Sushi, I won't be eating sushi anytime soon. The cost was about $15 each including drink and dessert.

My Birthday GIft

2009-03-20T03:27:00.005-04:00

Now I'm not one to want impractical items for my birthday, nor give any unless on rare occasion. This year, Richard went out and let me pick a waffle iron. You have to understand that whenever we go to a hotel and they have a waffle maker at the continental breakfast area, I get a waffle. Most places that have these have a flipping waffle maker which you flip and it times the waffle, then beeps. Walah! Out comes a perfectly formed, brown waffle every time. They even have a cup to measure the waffle mix which is also perfect when making the perfect waffle every time. I think the birthday gift was one of those gift that was for the giver as much as the receiver. I enjoy doing things for him and if he likes waffles, too, I'll gladly make them :)

We went to Bed Bath & Beyond and there were a few choices. Not the 16 or so that were on their website but 3. They had a huge flip round belgian waffle maker, a large square belgian waffle maker and the one I got. A simple small round regular waffle maker that is compact and fits on my counter perfectly. That's the way I like it. Perfect, round waffles, just like we used to make at home. Not these huge thick belgian waffles that are too thick to eat. They are airier and supposedly fluffier, but they arent' easy to eat.

I found out that if I make all the waffles that the mix allows, I can freeze the last few and have toaster waffles whenever I want during the week. Unfortunately, they only make it to Monday or Tuesday. I think I need to double to recipe and make more for toaster waffles.

Shapers.....

2009-03-18T20:15:00.002-04:00

For those of you who don't know, a shaper is what a woman would get to hold firm the love handles and all curves she doesn't want to show. Well I've been looking for one to go under my wedding dress and what did I find? They are all on models or manequines that are size 4 or 6... they don't have the curves that someone my size has. I don't see the "before and after" pics that show the bulge then shows the bulges hidden. I want to see how their product works on my size! I am not a size 4 or I wouldn't be looking for the darn thing in the first place! Now why not show these on larger sizes... like that new bra commercial about larger breasted women. Now THAT's reality!

Stupid people make big companies write stupid stuff!

2009-03-18T07:41:00.001-04:00

Whenever I see a stupid label and think "DUH!" I think of stupid people. If there wasn't a person without common sense using a product in a stupid fashion, big companies wouldn't have to put stupid labels on their products! I opened a lighter pack this morning. The big long bics about 12" that you would use to light candles or charcoal grills with. On the front in big bold letter "CAUTION: Extremely Flammable" REALLY? Wow... I would have never known by the product's NAME... Bic LIGHTER pack. Learn something new every day! I can just imagine someone doing something stupid with a lighter and writing the company about it! Dear Sir, My name is Johnny and I live in the back woods of Tennessee and Ida like to complain about this here liter I bot. Well, wouldn't you know it, I went boom! I was out in my yard working on that old John Deer I have and when it got dark, I tried lookin' for a flashlight because I needed to finish putting on the gas tank before too much gas ran out onto the grass, cause ya know, that there's a fire hazzerd! I cudnt find that daggum flashlite so I grabbed these liters I bought. When I tried turning them on, kaboom! And here I sit in the hospital all bandaged up and stuff and thought I should tell youins that your liters are faulty. I am havin my sister write seeins my hands are all bandaged up and she writes better anyways. Sincerely, Bubba

Whenever I see a stupid label and think "DUH!" I think of stupid people. If there wasn't a person without common sense using a product in a stupid fashion, big companies wouldn't have to put stupid labels on their products! I opened a lighter pack this morning. The big long bics about 12" that you would use to light candles or charcoal grills with. On the front in big bold letter "CAUTION: Extremely Flammable" REALLY? Wow... I would have never known by the product's NAME... Bic LIGHTER pack. Learn something new every day! I can just imagine someone doing something stupid with a lighter and writing the company about it!

Dear Sir,
My name is Johnny and I live in the back woods of Tennessee and Ida like to complain about this here liter I bot. Well, wouldn't you know it, I went boom! I was out in my yard working on that old John Deer I have and when it got dark, I tried lookin' for a flashlight because I needed to finish putting on the gas tank before too much gas ran out onto the grass, cause ya know, that there's a fire hazzerd! I cudnt find that daggum flashlite so I grabbed these liters I bought. When I tried turning them on, kaboom! And here I sit in the hospital all bandaged up and stuff and thought I should tell youins that your liters are faulty. I am havin my sister write seeins my hands are all bandaged up and she writes better anyways.
Sincerely,
Bubba

MMMM... Wedding food!

2009-02-28T14:11:00.002-05:00

We are going to make some food for the wedding tonight and have a taste test.
3 types of white wine / dill sauces - made with Moscato, Chardonnay, and Sauvat Blanc
Then I'm going throw in a curve ball and make an Apricot-Pinapple Sauce.
All these chickens are going to baste in their sauces in the oven for an hour as we make the veggies and rice.
We are trying a Mixed vegetable (Corn, beans, carrots) and a Mix of Squash, brocolli, cauliflower, and carrots.
Next we are putting out two various rice dishes, a rice Pilaf and a yellow rice. Both have color specs in them to give color, but different look to them.
I hope it goes well. I'll come back and add pics later.

No change....

2009-02-24T20:09:00.002-05:00

There are those who just blurt out and act from the gut and their emotions instead of thinking through things rationally. It amazes me how people don't stop and think things through before they act. Why not get some facts before you slam someone. Why are people so hateful with their words. When someone makes a mistake and doesn't realize how things come across, why not just say how you feel instead of going off on them? I made a comment that was, from my point of view, understanding as a mother. I guess it came across differently than it was meant because she went off. Same reaction and "holier than thou" attitude as it was in high school. Wow. I felt like I was in school again getting verbally abused and put down. I realized I am no longer in school and do not appreciate the condescending attitude I received. I have to stop and remember that it is her, not me, that has the problem. She chewed me up and spit me out then un-befriended me on Facebook. Talk about childish behavior! I need to remember that I can only control myself and if something I do offends someone, I'd like the chance to apologize, not be ridiculed with a condescending attitude and ignored! How unChristian is that! All I can say is the stems from self-esteem issues and I don't need to play their childish games. I stated my peace and asked them to not contact me again.

Forgive ?

2009-02-21T20:18:00.002-05:00

Forgiveness.... Jesus spoke about forgiveness more than most other topics. Why? Because he wants us to Love and Forgive as God does.
There was a sermon tonight at church which was really good! Are we really living as Christ wants us to? Do we forgive? Even if we try really hard, we will fail. We meet others who are not like us, different, or even really hateful. Do we forgive them? Is forgiveness for them or more for us? We need to forgive for ourselves more than for the other person. We need to accept other's differences, even though their actions / thoughts aren't for us. Do you clothe the naked? Many of us give money to the homeless, church, the red pale in front of Wal-Mart at Christmas and other places. We often give clothing and jackets that we don't need. But do we really clothe the naked or strip them naked? Do our words cut into others or build them up. We can strip people down with our words or clothe them with positive words and encouragement. So how do you forgive and is it really for the other person or yourself?

Pain...

2009-02-11T23:27:00.002-05:00

Pain is relevant to each person. Some people have a high tollerance for pain and some don't. Pain isn't necessarily 100% subjective. Raise in BP / Pulse, sweating, flushed / pale are all observable signs that show pain. Now to my pain. I have Fibromyalgia and it's controlled with good sleep, rest, not pushing myself and taking care of myself throughout the day. But even then, once in a while I get pain that all I can do is sleep it off. You can't describe Fibromyalgia pain. It just hurts all over or specific places like the worst Flu you've ever had. Sometimes the joints hurt, sometimes muscles. You can't have someone touch your skin or it's excrutiating. You are just in pain. 11+ on the pain chart. The only thing I can do is crawl into bed and sleep it off. Pushing myself any further is not only not an option, but impossible. Pain is definitely relevant to each person and only the person can really tell and describe the pain. You can't dismiss pain that a person is telling you about, you just have to accept them at their word. If they are faking or exagerating, then so be it, but true pain can't be faked or lied about. It just hurts!

Just for fun - My Alias Names

2009-02-08T16:20:00.001-05:00

1.YOUR REAL NAMEShannon Angel Bailey
2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(parents' middle names)Yvonne Fredrick
3.NASCAR NAME:(grandfathers' first names)Fredrick Walt
4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)Baish
5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)Teal Cougar
6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born)Angel Santa Barbara
7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginningThe Blue Tequila Sunrise
8.FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)Shey
9.ROCK STAR NAME:(current pets name, current street name)George Geoge
10. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on)Samantha Balboa
11.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of real name plus izzle)Cynizzle
12.YOUR IRAQI.. NAME:(2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name then last three letters of your last name)Hianonley
13.YOUR GOTH NAME:(black, and the name of one of your pets)Black Midnight
14. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)White Diamonds Chocolate

Cheap furniture or service?

2009-02-07T23:09:00.002-05:00

We bought some new furniture from Rooms-To-Go two months ago and we love it! Not expensive, in our price range and comfy. We got home and the first night we reclined then fell asleep. We've used it well ever since. That is until last night. Richard went to pull the lever and nothing happened. Lever felt like it wasn't latching onto anything. He called Rooms-to-go and they said the repairmen are only in our area EVERY OTHER THURSDAY!!!!!!! We are gone this thursday so we have to wait 2 more weeks beyond that! Additionally, they don't know when they can be here so now one of us has to take time off to be here when the guys come. Richard will be telling them that we are not here until 3:15 and they can't come before then. We aren't taking time off of work to fix a 2 month old recliner that shouldn't be breaking in the first place! Richard was pretty mad! The fact that it broke is one thing, but that they don't get around to us except every other week is rediculous!

What a day!

2009-02-01T20:30:00.004-05:00

What a cool day! It was actually warm enough to work outside in the yard and we took advantage of that. We worked on the steps we are putting in and when it got too cold we couldn't continue. We put another step in today. Much easier as the ground , even though it was red dirt, was like brown dirt, not like it's usually sticky red dirt. Very easy to carve out the step and put it in. After we got that done, we sprayed down the patio with some cleaner and bleach. It looks much better now. Next weekend I am hoping to get the Living Room painted and curtains up.

Wii ---- Weeeee!!!!!!

2009-02-01T20:02:00.002-05:00

Weee... or Wii as it's called. This is so fun! I got one today and it's fun because I can play with Richard and have fun moving my body at the same time. I played boxing by myself, then Richard and I played 3 rounds of bowling and 4 rounds of tennis. Tennis and boxing were constant work and the bowling we got a chance to wait until the other one played. It was a lot of fun and I'm so excited. I'm actually pooped out. My right arm is definitely going to be sore tomorrow! I look forward to coming home and playing Richard on some more games in the evening.

How cool!

2009-01-31T21:23:00.002-05:00

We had so much fun last night at dinner! I met my cousins John and Arlene for dinner in Knoxville. How cool! I think the last time we saw them was at Rufugio Beach or at Louise's house for dinner when I was 7 or 9 years old. John is the oldest of the cousins and I'm the youngest with 24 years between us. He was well into the military when I was born, so I didn't get to know him. When I was 12, my father had a stroke and I was in Foster care when I was 13. I lost track of many of the cousins, aunts and uncles and only saw them a few times before I moved to Florida in 1987. I was a bit nervous meeting him, but it turned out so well!
There were two things that was cool. First, we spent 3 1/2 hours just talking and talking. It was cool to be able to talk about their travels, where we are in life currently, the past, etc.
Secondly, the thing that struck me was catching up and connecting things with the history of our family. Piecing things together and finding holes where I don't have information is wonderful. I feel strongly on passing on information for my kids because history is important. Talking about my great uncle the Methodist Minister or Laura Ingles-Wilder and how she's related is really cool.
How cool to hear about others in the family and feel like I can reconnect again with my natural family!

Dread....

2009-01-28T07:21:00.003-05:00

I am not having fun exercising. Yes, I know it's not SUPPOSED to be fun, but it's awful! Hello... that's why so many people give up on exercise because it's not fun! Ya think?
I am forcing myself to get up early and go to the gym. Maybe I should take a moment and stress that I am a night owl. Owls aren't up at 6:00 a.m. flying around getting exercise and stalking their prey. They are sleeping in their comfy trees and barn lofts until it's night time. I am at my best in the early evening. I've got to figure out a plan where I enjoy working out again. Maybe coming home from work, putting dinner in the oven and then going to the gym for a brisk walk. I struggle to get out of bed, then can't push myself enough to get a good exercise in before work. What good is a half-hearted... wait, 30% hearted, effort? It's not. I'm going to have to figure out a new plan... Back with more on this later.

Sleep... so underrated

2009-01-26T04:30:00.001-05:00

Sleeping is way underated. When you can't sleep, your performance goes way down. Sluggish people at work mean sluggish output. I am not one to take something to sleep, however, with my allergies, I get too congested to sleep sometimes, so I take Benedryl or something to help keep my sinuses clear. When you don't have any physical problems, but are restless every night, that's a problem. You don't want to use a sleep aide, but you need the sleep. Milk is often used to help with sleep. I looked some others up. Some I've heard of and some are totally foreign. Chamomille, Lavender, Valerian Root, California Poppy, Kava, and Melatonin. I know Melatonin is OTC and it's helped those I know get their sleep patterns refigured. I will use Melatonin after taking a cross country trip to avoid jet-lag. No matter what the reason for your restless and lack of sleep, you need to get a good night's sleep to be at the top of your game. Making yourself suffer because you won't take anything for sleep is only making things worse sometimes. When you sleep with someone, it can also make them unhappy for two reasons, one is they can't sleep, and the other is they feel bad you can't sleep. Sleep isn't just a personal thing when you sleep together.

Family Reunion?

2009-01-25T14:32:00.002-05:00

How do you know someone after a bunch of years. Last time I saw some cousins was when I was about 14 at a Thanksgiving dinner. I never saw my cousins again because I was in a Foster home from then on, so I never saw much family after that. I kept in touch with my older brothers. My sister and brothers keep in touch, but I don't see many of the cousins or aunts/uncles any more after moving to the foster home. Well a cousin of mine got in touch with me and we write / email once in a while. He and his wife are going to be in town and we are meeting for dinner. Seems kinda funny after all these years, we are going to hook back up. In the back of my mind, I wonder if I will recognize him or not. I don't remember the last time I saw a picture of him and his wife. How do you recognize someone you haven't seen in such a long time? So cool that we can reunite with friends and family along the years, catch up and see how things are going. Sometimes it's exciting.... we'll see how this goes. :)

Politics in Church?

2009-01-25T13:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we were in church and during the service they handed out postcards to our Senator and House Rep stating we wanted them to vote against a national abortion law. FOCA:

FOCA will do away with state laws on parental involvement, on partial birth abortion, and on all other protections.
FOCA will compel taxpayer funding of abortions.
FOCA will force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions.

Bascially, I'm not against telling people about things they should know in church, but suddenly giving us the postcards to sign and turn in was being pushy. I don't agree with putting people on the spot when it comes to politics nor should it be done in church. I feel if they said something and let people know there were postcards in the back and what FOCA was all about, it would not seem so pushy. Politics shouldn't be in the church service! That's not why I'm in church.

When it's cold outside

2009-01-16T07:53:00.000-05:00

Felt so worn out yesterday and I think it's a mix of the cold outside and me getting a cold. Woke up at 3 with a sore throat. Took meds and feeling better now. :) It's 7 degrees outside and the wind is picking up again. Even though it's supposed to get up to 12 today (Woohoo! 12 degrees!), it will feel colder. This morning it's supposed to get up to 9 and feel like -5 with the wind chill... yeah, that's freakin' cold. However, many school districts are closing their schools today due to extreme weather. Some are starting 2 hours late. Knox county said it doesnt' matter whether you start 2 hours late or not, it's actually colder 2 hours later even though the kids are waiting for busses when the sun is coming up instead of in the dark. The wind is picking up as the sun comes up. So Knox county isn't doing anything. LOL! Jefferson county (ours) is opening 2 hours late and most others are closed.... oops.. just got a text, Jefferson County now closed! Wonder if people in AK or Canada do this??? Richard said this was normal growing up in Ticonderoga, NY.(Near Canda border) It's -18 today there and they aren't closing school. There's no ice here because it's too dry, no snow, no nothing to stop people from driving or buses from running. I still have to go to work. A little cold won't hurt you. Buy a pair of long-johns and get your education.

Workout - day 3

2009-01-14T08:25:00.000-05:00

I know it's all for the good, however, it's tough. I didn't have much time, so I pushed myself this morning for a faster workout. I also didn't feel that great after a wrestless night. 10 minutes of power walking at 3.5 mph with 3 separate 30 second sprints at 4.5 mph. I saw this on Biggest Loser last night...yes, I'm a huge fan! Bob had them sprint 30 seconds and I did pretty well. I then worked on my arms with pulls and pushes.... I sucked. I was definitely hurting this morning and my strength was way down. I pushed myself, but only did 2 reps of 10 on each machine (3 machines). The lack of sleep probably didn't help much, but I still pushed it. I might go out tonight and push it, then sleep in tomorrow. It's supposed to be in the single digits outside when we wake up tomorrow so doing it tonight may be best.

Don't let the little things stress you out....

2009-01-12T22:44:00.002-05:00

I would get stressed over my caterer / cake decorator bailing, but time is wasting and I can't waste time on things I can't control. So now I believe everything is flowing again with the wedding. The flowers are ordered, we are meeting with the cake decorator, our catering is being done by a friend and I am back on track with figuring out this wedding. I am so grateful that stress is not an issue. Next weekend I might just start putting together the centerpieces / candle holders.
I tried on the dress Sunday and yes, Richard saw it. I was told by someone that it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding in the dress. I asked, "did you see your wife in her dress before the wedding?" He replied, "Nope". I then said, "And your divorced now aren't you?" Touche'!
We are all but not traditional with this wedding. I don't want to get caught up in the glitz, glam, and utter "have to" do things one way with our wedding. We are doing our wedding the way we want and saving money in the process. So it's off to bed to dream about ideas for our wedding.

What a great day!

2009-01-03T10:14:00.003-05:00

I love waking up to a foggy morning. There's so much beauty in foggy days. I love photography. Makes it very mysterious.

Scrapple Anyone?

2009-01-01T18:47:00.005-05:00

I saw my brother post a blog on his scrapple and my mouth started watering so I went to cooking. I made Scrapple for dinner today and it turned out delicious! Scrapple (also called corn-meal mush) is a corn-meal / sausage meal that is cooked in squares. It's origin is from the Pennsylvania Dutch where they would take pork scraps and mix it with onions, corn meal and spices, then form it into slices for frying. I guess you could add some onion to this, but we don't.

This is from a recipe that my dad clipped from the News Press in the 60s. It is so good!My brothers and I picked up on my dad's great cooking and have held on to some great recipes that we had as kids. Depending on the serving size it is SUPPOSED TO feed 4 to 8 (3-4 MAYBE in our house) It will freeze, and actually slices best when not quite thawed out.

1lb bulk sausage (I will either use a mild pork sausage for a mild spice or a maple flavored sausage for a more maple taste - I prefer mild pork sausage to not get too maply)

1 cup cold water

1 cup yellow corn meal (self-rising works great!)

1/2 tsp salt (I omitted this because I feel it's salty enough from the sausage and type of corn meal I used)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp sage (if you don't usually use this, don't get some just for this recipe, I used fresh sage from my garden)

3 cups boiling water

Instructions:

Line a loaf pan with wax paper so that there's about 6" hanging on either side.

Brown sausage well and drain - make sure it is chopped into small / fine pieces.

Combine cold water and dry ingredients in a bowl while you are boiling water and let it set for a few minutes.

Stir slowly into boiling water - continue stirring frequently until thickened.

Reduce heat and cook another 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally (I stir constantly to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan)

Take off the heat and mix in sausage.

Pour into loaf pan LINED WITH WAX PAPER (Makes it easy to get out of the pan in one piece)

Chill overnight or if you made it in the morning, it's ready by night if you want breakfast for dinner.

Cut into slices (I cut the loaf lengthwise first) and fry until golden brown in a lightly greased skillet - about 15 minutes per side. (I use Olive oil and coat the bottom of the skillet which makes it easy to fry) (375° if you are working with an electric skillet.) Don't try to cook on a metal frying pan until you use plenty of oil or it will stick.

HINTS:
If you freeze the loaf for an hour before you are ready to cut it, it doesn't seem to break apart so easily when cutting
The bigger the chunks of sausage, the easier it will break apart and then you don't have those perfect looking squares. (You can see that mine is all over the place on my skillet and my brother's is neat and tidy)
Using an electric skillet seems easier to fry this up in. It tends to stick to anything that isn't non-stick.

Just like my pancakes, I like scrapple with more butter than syrup, but some like more syrup.

Pictures:

As you can see, my brother has the perfectly formed squares and mine just breaks into pieces.

My brother made a great looking loaf --- mine starts out like this too.

My Scrapple on the Skillet:

My brother's - It should look like this:

My Scrapple on the plate:

It should look like this, but both tastes great!

2009? Anything different?

2009-01-01T13:16:00.003-05:00

How many of us will keep our new year's resolution?
Membership sales is up this time of year as people flock to lose the holiday weight or keep their new year's resolution to lose X amount of lbs. Smoking cessation and weight loss group membership is high. Come February or March, people lose interest and motivation. The work doesn't seem worth the end result.
I would love to get rich quick or lose 70 lbs all of a sudden, but I know it ain't gonna happen without a lot of consistent work on my part . I will be working on it and yet, I don't want to lose momentum on either. I want to save money and lose weight for the wedding in August as well as save money for the future. I don't want to lose momentum around February or March like so many people. I have a partner with the weight loss. As Richard takes a walk around the neighborhood, I will hit the gym and walk the treadmill, pull weights, or swim. We will do some walking and exercise together as well.
I hope this year has a lot of firsts in it as well. Like Richard's first airplane flight. I know it will be a year of celebration with Katherine's high school graduation, Kenneth's college graduation, Kenneth and Alyssa's wedding, Richard and I getting married, and Katherine starting college. I know I am looking forward to 2009.
So what's your new year's resolution?

ahhhh....enjoying a relaxing day.

2008-12-25T12:53:00.001-05:00

Some great R & R tiem today. Time to relax and enjoy Jesus' Birthday! Christmas! What a great time to share with family and friends! It's just Richard and I today. Katherine came up for a few days before Christmas and left Christmas Eve. I'm not sure if Kenneth and Alyssa will come up for a few days or not. I am excited that I got a day and a half off for Christmas and New Years even after I just started working at my job. What a blessing!
We opened presents with Kat while she was here between her and us and then opened presents between the two of us this morning. Richard is trying to figure out the present he got me, the One touch Jar opener and One Touch Can Opener. Great gadgets for when I'm too weak to open things up. Now we get to relax and enjoy some Christmas movies and doing nothing. :)

Something isn't right....

2008-12-21T15:14:00.004-05:00

Richard and I were making sandwiches this afternoon. I made up my sandwich with the ham, pastrami, and mayo. Richard got the meat out and had some ready to put on the sandwiches. He asked if I wanted one or two slices of cheese. "One". I went to throw some trash away and when I got back, there sat the cheese in the middle of my sandwich. Great! He got the cheese out and ready too. I promptly put the two sides of the sandwich together and took a bite. Wow, the cheese or ham or something just didn't chew well. I bore down with my teeth and figured maybe I got a slice of bad meat or something. I took what I could, pulled the sandwich away, and started laughing really hard. (Its' hard to laugh with a mouthful of sandwich). There was the cheese....still wrapped in the cheese wrapper sticking out of my sandwich with teeth impressions. I guess Richard didn't unwrap the cheese and lay it in the middle of my sandwich for me afterall!

Christmas

2008-12-21T14:12:00.002-05:00

What is Christmas to you? What does it mean? Is it just something that is another day on the Calendar? Do you have faith in Jesus Christ and that he came so long ago to save each one of us? Do you celebrate the day set aside as Jesus' Birthday? Maybe you are more into giving presents than celebrating and being thankful for what we have. Maybe you get lost in the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping. Do you wait until the last minute to get your presents or start in July?
Whatever your reason for celebrating Christmas, remember to say Thank You and take a look around at what you have. It may be a memory you won't soon forget. Take pictures. Play games together. Watch Christmas Movies on the Hallmark and Life Channels. Don't waste a minute being routine and repeating the same exact Christmas as in the past. Change it up, make something new, create memories. You will look back and give thanks that you spent that time making something unforgettable.

Rum Carrot Cake

2008-12-14T12:10:00.002-05:00

Mmmm.... A co-worker from Florida made everyone rum cakes every year. They were sooooooo good!
I decided to make a full rum cake. They didn't have spice cake, so I made a carrot cake in a glass pan. When it was done, I started to pour rum on it, but figured out that it just sizzles and probably burns off some flavor and liquor. I waited until it cooled down, poked the cake all over with a fork, then poured 1/2 a bottle of Spiced Rum on the cake. About 2 cups. I then put the icing on it as usual and put it in the fridge.
We tried it and Richard loves it. It was too strong for me. Next time I'll try a chocolate with way less Rum in it.

Christmas with a capital C

2008-12-14T09:54:00.002-05:00

There is a song buy Go Fish that is called "Christmas with a capital C". It speaks of why we have Christmas and that society is getting so politically correct. If we are supposed to say "Happy Holidays" during Christmas, why don't we say "Happy Holidays" during other holidays? People say, "Happy Valentine's Day", don't they? People say, "Happy turkey day" instead of "Happy Thanksgiving". Why? It is a day of celebration for the founding of our country to be thankful for what we have. Why do people feel the need to be politically correct and not offend anyone? People do things to offend others all the time! Take smokers for instance... their smoke offends me when they stand in front of the door of the store I'm going into. I'm not going to complain about those who say "Happy Hannakah" or other stuff. There have been companies which previously banned saying "Merry Christmas" and ended up losing money.
I don't get it. Call the holiday what it is!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Christmas In the public

2008-12-12T20:58:00.002-05:00

I've talked with those who don't want religion in public, such as wal-mart, because it's infringing on their personal right not to have to listen to religion. . They don't want Walmart or other stores pushing the true meaning of Christmas, which is Christ. Ok... so stores are now pushing more "Holiday" stuff, but what about Christmas Lights and decorations? Some people don't want Christians to push their religion and tell them they can't go out and witness, talk with others, say "Merry Christmas", blah blah blah. What can they do about Christmas lights on personal property? The lights often say "Merry Christmas", nativitie scenes, crosses, and all other brightly lit Christian Messages! So now what? Can't prevent and suppress that, now can ya!

Dumb Crook News

2008-12-09T05:28:00.002-05:00

I love these! Makes me feel like our society is doing it's best when it comes to common sense education.... NOT!

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?An Anniston, Alabama fugitive had his escape put on hold when his cellular phone rang while he was hiding 50 feet up a tree. Police had begun chasing the man when he failed to pull over after a traffic violation on his motorcycle. The suspect led police on a two-hour chase through Anniston and Alexandria before dumping the bike in a ditch and running into the woods. Police attempted to follow the man on foot, but were unable to find him. They were about to give up when the man's phone rang and tipped them off to his treetop hiding place.

THE VALUE OF ENGLISH CLASSES...Newark, New Jersey: two men stole a container labeled "Beefeaters" thinking it was filled with premium gin that would be easy to resell. Instead of gin, the container contained... 800 cases of toy dog bones. The men apparently didn't know that the gin's name does not have a final "s", but the pet company's products do. Police say dog bones are much harder to resell than liquor.

DOES MY CLIENT LOOK STUPID ENOUGH TO -- UH OH!During a pre-trial hearing, an attorney for Howard "Wing Ding" Jones of Norristown, Pennsylvania attempted to get his client's bail reduced from $150,000. The attorney argued that Jones, an accused drug dealer, was not a risk to flee. At that very moment, Jones jumped up from his seat and ran out the courtroom door. Police captured him less than an hour later and returned him to the courtroom, where the judge raised his bail to $500,000.

Taken legal issues into your own hands

2008-12-09T05:00:00.002-05:00

It's scary when people think they can be legal vigilantes.

Landlord arrested after plowing through yard in his car

This dude has two prior convictions, cocain poss - '05 and Violation of Felony Probation - '06 (4 months served). Now he thinks because his tenant is behind on rent he can just plow through the front yard and risk injury to kids playing? This guy is a loose canon ready to blow! Wait... he did blow! He evidently doesn't know the legal system to getting a tenant evicted for non-payment. Times are tough and I'm sure he's been lenient (she's several months behind); however, plowing through her front yard isn't the way to deal with it! Grow up and go to court! Oh yeah... he probably doesn't want to deal with the courthouse / legal system.

Irritating.....

2008-12-08T09:56:00.002-05:00

I have never been hired for a job where a background check and Urine Drug Screen took so long. I was told after turning everything in that everything went to corporate and it usually takes a week to a week and half to get everything in order. WHAT!?!?!? So after turning in the signature for the background check and taking the drug screen on Tuesday(which should have been back on Thursday or Friday), I just sit and wait. I called the office Friday and left a message for two people, neither of which got back to me. Went and turned in the rest of the papers this morning and was told it could take a week to a week and a half before they hear anything. I was told by another person that they hope to have me working to possibly get a paycheck before Christmas. (That means I have to start working this week.)
So what I figure is that a week from last Tuesday is tomorrow and a week and a half is Thursday or Friday. So now I get to wait maybe until Friday, wondering what's going to happen and when I start the job. If it goes that long, then I don't start until the following Monday, two weeks after I got hired. I know THAT is typical if you have another job, however, I am frustrated sitting at home without getting any calls for substituting so the job I do have isn't giving me any work. So here I sit at home without work to do .... I guess I'll get more papers and research done for school or something. Talk about frustrating!

Intillectual Suicide

2008-12-07T23:02:00.007-05:00

I love the phrase! "Atheism is the ultimate intellectual suicide". Comes from Ray Comfort's "Witnessing to Athiests" This is the very reason I don't believe atheists can get away with the statement "I don't have to prove what isn't there"

Here's Ray Comfort's Why the Atheist Doesn't Exist from the bottom of that page. (excerpt from "Why God Doesn't Believe in Athiests")

There can be no such things as an atheist. This is why: Let's imagine that you are a professing atheist. Here are two questions for you to answer: First, do you know the combined weight of all the sand on all the beaches of Hawaii? We can safely assume that you don't. This brings us to the second question: Do you know how many hairs are on the back of a fully-grown male Tibetan yak? Probably not. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that there are some things that you don't know. It is important to ask these questions because there are some people who think they know everything.

Let's say that you know an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. To know 100 percent, you would have to know everything. There wouldn't be a rock in the universe that you would not be intimately familiar with, or a grain of sand that you would not be aware of. You would know everything that has happened in history, from that which is common knowledge to the minor details of the secret love life of Napoleon's great-grandmother's black cat's fleas. You would know every hair of every head, and every thought of every heart. All history would be laid out before you, because you would be omniscient (all-knowing).

Bear in mind that one of the greatest scientists who ever lived, Thomas Edison, said, "We do not know a millionth of one percent about anything." Let me repeat: Let's say that you have an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. Would it be possible, in the ninety-nine percent of the knowledge that you haven't yet come across, that there might be ample evidence to prove the existence of God? If you are reasonable, you will be forced to admit that it is possible. Somewhere, in the knowledge you haven't yet discovered, there could be enough evidence to prove that God does exist.

Let's look at the same thought from another angle. If I were to make an absolute statement such as, "There is no gold in China," what is needed for that statement to be proven true? I need absolute or total knowledge. I need to have information that there is no gold in any rock, in any river, in the ground, in any store, in any ring, or in any mouth (gold filling) in China. If there is one speck of gold in China, then my statement is false and I have no basis for it. I need absolute knowledge before I can make an absolute statement of that nature. Conversely, for me to say, "There is gold in China," I don't need to have all knowledge. I just need to have seen a speck of gold in the country, and the statement is then true.
To say categorically, "There is no God," is to make an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. No human being has all knowledge. Therefore, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.

If you insist upon disbelief in God, what you must say is, "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe that there is no God." Owing to a lack of knowledge on your part, you don't know if God exists. So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. The only true qualifier for the title is the One who has absolute knowledge, and why on earth would God want to deny His own existence?

The professing atheist is what is commonly known as an "agnostic" - one who claims he "doesn't know" if God exists. It is interesting to note that the Latin equivalent for the Greek word is "ignoramus." The Bible tells us that this ignorance is "willful" (Psalm 10:4). It's not that a person can't find God, but that he won't. It has been rightly said that the "atheist" can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. He knows that if he admits that there is a God, he is admitting that he is ultimately responsible to Him. This is not a pleasant thought for some.

It is said that Mussolini (the Italian dictator), once stood on a pinnacle and cried, "God, if you are there, strike me dead!" When God didn't immediately bow to his dictates, Mussolini then concluded that there was no God. However, his prayer was answered some time later.

Excerpted from God Doesn't Believe in Atheists by Ray Comfort

Irrational thought process

2008-12-07T22:25:00.002-05:00

When someone spews something out of their mouth and can't back it up or come up with reasons why they think the way they do, that is irrational.
I believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I have read the Bible and take is as truth through Faith in my Lord Jesus Christ and Savior. That's just it. I don't have to explain it any further and I use the Bible as my base.
There are Billions around the world who use the Bible to support claims, however, when someone feels that the Bible is false teaching and fiction, but cannot support their words as to WHY the dismiss my base of thinking, then I think that person is irrational. A person says there is no God and that the Bible is fiction, and when asked why, they say they don't have to support the belief that there is no God, but those who believe in God have to prove that there is a God. HUH? Exactly!
In a debate, both sides have to provide logical evidence to support their claims, not just one. Therefore the stance believing that there is no God and they don't have to prove it is bogus. Let's take for example a court case stating that a person did a crime. Not only does the prosecutor have to prove that the person was there by reasonable doubt, but the defense also works on proof that the defendant was not there by reasonable doubt. Both sides of the argument have to work on their side of the story.
Copping out and saying, "there is no God and I don't have to prove it" is just that. A cop out.

Scientists and God....

2008-12-06T00:06:00.002-05:00

There have been scientists early on who believed and spoke of God's creation...

http://www.krishnascience.com/files/Godly_Scientists.html

So why do people say that creation isn't scientifically proven? I believe there are many scientists now who prove it again and again.

Many scientists from past and present believed in God and his creation.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/304.asp

I didn't know I was doing anything wrong .....

2008-12-05T21:42:00.003-05:00

OJ Simpson said in court today, "I didn't know I was doing anything wrong ". What a flippin' IDIOT!! He is so full of it, I'd have to wear Paul Bunyan's boots to walk through it! Did he REALLY think he was innocent or getting off ANOTHER court case? NOT!

Glass, the judge, was great. I'm so glad she gave him what he deserved. During that robbery, he proved (again) that he is a violent man and needs to be punished for the crime. I'm very glad he is not being able to post bond while he awaits the appeals process.

The Goldman's victory over the profits of the book and now this. Justice is finally served. What is sad.... I doubt OJ will ever fully comprehend his actions. He's the typical "I didn't do it" or blaming others. He has gotten off for years, hiding behind the fame and fortune, he's probably convinced himself he's invincible. Very good quote from Denise Brown (Nicole's sister): "Allowing wealth, power and control to consume himself, he made a horrific choice on June 12, 1994, which has spiraled into where he is today."

Atheists celebrate Christmas???

2008-12-04T14:58:00.002-05:00

Had a lightbulb moment earlier.... Athiests celebrate Christmas. There are many people who say they don't believe in God, yet, they celebrate Christmas and give gifts. What's up with that?
If you truly don't believe in God, then why are they exchanging gifts at Christmas?

Taser Kill????

2008-12-04T00:28:00.005-05:00

Ok... read this through and then you decide... do Tasers kill? Man Dies From Taser

320 people have died from Tasers in the past 7 years. Let's see..... if we didn't have tasers, the cops have an option to pull out their guns and shoot the guy when they feel their lives are in danger. You don't really have much more of a chance to live from a gunshot. So now what? Decrease the voltage from the taser? Give the cops large beanbag bazookas to avoid tasering or shooting? Tasers were brought in as an alternative to guns. These were considered non-lethal and very effective.

Two things that many say feel worse than a gun. A taser and a police dog. I've seen hundreds of COPS and every time a person here's "stop or I'll taze / sick the dog on you" they stop and fall to the ground. I've seen the cop say, "Stop or I'll shoot" and the guy keeps running. Bad guys are smart, tasers hurt!

The guy in the story pulled the taser probes out of his skin and it stated that the taser(s) weren't effective so how can the guy's death result from the taser? Cops can't assertain if someone has a heart or other medical condition before they taze someone. What if the guy was already having major medical problems and just the fight alone pushed him over the edge? What if he was on a bunch of drugs? If a guy goes and robs a bank, he should know that there are consequences and one might be a police dog chasing him or being tased. You do the crime, you do the time. If you have medical issues (let's say a heart pacemaker which sits right at chest level) or even on drugs altering your health, don't do stupid stuff that may get you tased!

Someone must have thought that 50,000 volts of electricity won't hurt and thus the taser was made. I can just see it now, some guy sitting around the precinct playing with batteries and say, "hey guys, watch this" as he licks one end of a 9 volt and falls out of his chair. Gets up and then says, "hey, that would stop the bad guys!"

In God's Timing

2008-12-02T20:18:00.002-05:00

I have been looking for a job and thankful that I can fall back on my nursing experience. Nursing is one of those jobs always in demand and can't ever be outsourced to other countries.
I applied with various companies and had a couple interviews. One of which interviewed me before they check to see that related people can't work for the same company even though it's in two different offices.
So last week I had an interview on Tuesday that went well. Then, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, I didn't think I'd be called until this week. I got called Friday to come into another office to meet the staff and doctor where I'd potentially work. I met with them yesterday and got a call this morning. God knows when we've had enough stress in our lives and it was such a relief to get offered a wonderful job close to the house with great benefits! God is great and when we put our cares and worries in His hands, we receive plenty of blessings.

Home Remedies

2008-12-01T21:08:00.002-05:00

I am so glad Ray, my brother, told me about pickles! Occasionally I have a sour stomach / indigestion and I told Ray one day several years ago and he told me to eat a dill pickle. What? YUCK! But I did... my sour stomach went away and it also helped when I was having gall bladder pain. I then heard about using baking soda in the hair instead of washing it all the time. Well, I didn't try that, but I have used baking soda occasionally to enhance the tooth brushing. I know there are a lot of home remedies and many are good. My grandmother told me that Vitamin B6 or B12(can't remember which) kept the fleas away. She was right! I use aloe for burns and dry skin. Not the kind you find in a bottle, but directly from the plant. Our society is so geared to go to a doctor for every ache and pain. No wonder why we are finding more and more medications that are no longer as effective as they used to be. What about going back to nature and finding things that don't have side effects or eat our bodies while fixing us at the same time?

What use is a parachute for a space shuttle?

2008-11-30T21:10:00.002-05:00

I just don't understand what use a parachute is for a fast space shuttle? I mean, c'mon, it can slow down a 200 lb person preventing them from hitting the ground at 100 mph when they jump out of a plane, but this is 165,000 lb shuttle with a 65,000 lb payload! I didn't know a parachute could slow down 220,000 + pounds going 150+ mph! What job does the parachute have with this?

Space Shuttle Landing

NY Walmart Employee Trampled To Death

2008-11-28T15:10:00.002-05:00

New York Walmart Employee Trampled To Death on Black Friday

What has this country come to that they have to trample down a door and kill someone for a sale item!?!?!? There's no reason that this should have happened! And it's not because this was in New York. People cut lines, anger customers, etc. People have not had much sleep when lining up late Thanksgiving day and camping out all night for the "bargain of the century".
Let's get real and stop to think before we lunge towards the next deal or bargain. I feel so sorry for the family who lost their father, son, and/or husband during the holidays to such stupidity!

A wise man (Richard) once said....

2008-11-26T21:18:00.004-05:00

This is what my fiance, Richard, wrote earlier... I couldn't have said it better myself. It was prompted after we left a store where someone said, "Happy Turkey Day!" And that wasn't the first time we heard it.

Ok--so it has been almost a year since I last wrote a blog. I'm not much of a blogger---but something has ticked me off enough for me to speak my peace. Since when is there a national holiday called: "TURKEY DAY"??? Yet--I have heard that alot in recent days. It never really irritated me in past years---but this year--I have grown sick of it. Last I checked--it is called: "THANKSGIVING DAY!!" Turkey just so happens to be the most renowned food of choice for the main meal eaten that day--& at that--alot of people don't even like turkey. I for one--love turkey---but that is not my point. THANKSGIVING DAY as I will always call it--is a day to give thanks for the blessings of our lives--for all that we have been given---for the special people in our lives--for the goodness around us. IF THIS OFFENDS ANYONE---BUILD A BRIDGE & GET OVER IT. I don't care if it offends anyone or not. The holiday is THANKSGIVING DAY--not "Turkey Day". Besides--we seem to go from Halloween to Christmas & forget this wonderful holiday in between. I'm sure some will disagree with me & I can accept that. Some will see me as prudish & I can accept that too. I honestly don't care about that. I just feel strongly that we need to celebrate THANKSGIVING DAY for what it really is--namely--a day for us to stop & take note of all that is good in our lives & to be grateful for that. Of course--we should be grateful every day & it should be an attitude which we carry every single day---but this day is set aside in particular to celebrate & give thanks. It's a free country--so folks have the right to call it what they want--but also because it's a free country--I can state my opinion. THANKS BE TO GOD!!! :-)

Play nice :)

2008-11-26T18:21:00.002-05:00

Again, blogs are for posting thoughts, etc. When someone doesn't agree with me, I simply leave the comment alone. How sad that when I comment my opinion about something that doesn't agree with the blogger, the blogger blocks or takes away my comment. Wah wahhh! Some people just aren't grown up enough to handle a disagreement and another's opinion.

Wow... Library Porn?

2008-11-25T22:19:00.002-05:00

Pornography at the Library

Well, I've heard it before but now I'm irritated! What in the world is a public place allowing free surfing with no restrictions!?!?!? The library states it is for adults, however, there are kids who walk by and see what's going on and who's watching these kids? Hello! I know I would be shocked if our local library allowed whatever people want to surf, I'd have a huge problem! That's just WRONG!

Hmmm... Thinking.... playing devil's advocate

2008-11-25T19:39:00.004-05:00

Ya know, I've heard a lot lately on both sides of the gay rights issue and I'm going to play devil's advocate this time.

There are a lot of rights that ANY person should be able to have, gay, lesbian, straight, white or black.

A parent shouldn't be judged on what their sexual preference is, but what kind of parent he or she is.
No matter who it is, everyone has the right to love each other and have love given back to them.
No matter who it is, every child deserves a loving home.
No matter who it is, everyone should have the civil rights as others.

There are a lot of things that aren't "right" in the views of religious groups, but they are legal. Death Penalty, Abortion, etc. So if these things that are wrong in the eyes of religion, why have they been legal for so long?

Now let's take a gay or lesbian couple.

They have great love for each other, but they can't marry.
They have great love for children, but only one can be a legal parent in many states.
They want to make each other legal guardian of them when they become incompacitated, however, that's not allowed in many states without being a spouse, and that's not allowed either.

I know that this is comparing apples to oranges, but if there are things that are wrong with religion, why do we pass laws on some so easily and yet, things such as love and caring, we can't pass laws for??? Yes, I know that this is a great fuel for those who are against religion and rightfully so.

Yes, I've looked at my opinion and although gay rights is not for me, I don't want to inhibit something for those who it is for. Many of these couples are not allowed to do things which are so right for so many reasons, yet we allow so many wrongs? So why can't gays marry if they are truly in love?

If God wants us to love each other, why do we inhibit it between two people? If God wants us not to commit murder, why do we pass laws allowing us to? If God wants to save each child, why do we pass laws killing them?

Another point I've noticed ... If so many straight couple didn't take marriage for granted and we were as passionate about the rights of marriage, maybe there wouldn't be so many divorces.

So back to my point. Why can't we pass laws to allow people to freely love, yet we pass laws allowing killing and murder? Yes, people can love freely, however, we put limits on it.

I understand that people want to have civil rights, and even though I don't agree for me, there's no reason that everyone can't love to the fullest and have laws supporting them.

Pumpkin Bread or Banana Bread Roll

2008-11-21T00:10:00.002-05:00

I think I'm going to make a Banana Bread Roll for Richard's office next week. Simply make a thin banana bread, then smear with cream cheese filling, then roll it up. Let it set and slice to make pinwheels. MMmmmM!

Picking and choosing who to tollerate

2008-11-20T08:08:00.002-05:00

How sad that people pick and choose who to have tollerance to and who not. For me, God didn't make me judge & jury, so I have to be tollerant of all sorts of people. I have to get to know them for who they are, not what they stand for or what they do.

There are many levels of friendships after you meet someone. Aquaintances are people I know, but I would't have a conversation every time I see them or call / write out of the blue. Casual friends are people I would possibly get together with on occassion or we see each other at church and talk every week. Not necessarily someone I would invite to my wedding type of friend. Good / close friends are someone I would talk with on a regular basis, email, ask question, seek advice, listen to, give advice and hang with. These people would have my back and I theirs.

Again, I can't just tollerate who I can be friends with. I have to be tollerant and accept others for who they are, their uniqueness, their individuality, and so on.

I don't agree with other religions, however, I have gleened some knowledge from them. Recently, a friend of mine talked about a Budist teaching and it spoke to me because it was very pertinent to what I was going through. Doesn't mean I'm Budist, though.

That's great that others find groups who support their cause and belief, but once again, I don't have to join them.

Why is religion such a heated topic? There are probably two things that many can't have a civil discussion on; religion and politics. Very emotional to many people.

Unfortunately, again, intollerance comes into play with both of them. There are some I know who talk politics, banter back and forth, make jokes, yet they are still good friends. THAT is how it should be. Agree to disagree, have fun and don't lose sight of the basic enjoyment of people and friends.

Now back to the picking and choosing of tollerance. You can't say, "Religion is just a crutch" or "the bible is not rational and just a reason for bigotry" then find certain religious groups who support your cause. It's picking and choosing what you are agreeing with when it comes to religions / religous groups. You can't say that one group is right on one policy, yet the rest of the group / religion is full of bigots and hatred.

Bigot....

2008-11-19T05:06:00.003-05:00

Dictionary.com:
BIGOT - a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.

Intolerance - lack of toleration; unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect contrary opinions or beliefs, persons of different races or backgrounds, etc.

Tolerance - a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

I have been told that I have a Bigot attitude towards gays. Actually the quote was, "Shannon, I asked for a RATIONAL reason. The Bible is NOT a rational reason, but a justification of your own bigotry. You are a bigot, and not a friend of gays and lesbians."

The light just dawned on me that what said was totally a bigot statement. DUH! He is not tollerant of my beliefs and opinions either. I stated my view and he called me a bigot. I accept that others are who they are and that I don't have to believe in that and I get called the bigot. Religion is a belief system and I have chosen it. That doesn't make me a bigot. I am very tollerant to gay/lesbians in my community and don't care and definitely won't go telling them how to live their life. Just because I don't believe and agree in something doesn't mean I am a bigot. I am not intollerant. Tollerance and agreeing are two different things.

I listen and accept other's opinions. They DIFFER from mine, however, they have every right to believe what they believe. I don't have to agree with them, I just can't force them to accept my views. I can't force them to live like I live, neither can they with me. I listen to others, accept them living as they do and don't let it come between a friendship.

There's a HUGE difference between stating an opinion (including a religious belief) and forcing someone to accept it.

I have heard it stated: "there are two kinds of people on the opposing side of this issue: there are ignorant people and stupid people. Ignorant people simply don’t know and they are willing to learn. Stupid people are those who don’t know and don’t want to know. People who take pride in sticking to their outdated religious convictions, in spite of all the reasons to grow up and move forward, are of the second type."

That's what sad. People who judge and feel that religion is outdated and stupid and people need to move forward and if they don't they are stupid. THAT is intollerance. They are intollerant to accepting other's views and opinons. It's intollerant to realizing that you will have others who don't agree with you. Intollerant to realizing that religion may be their core of their being, what they need in life.

For those who are not religious, that's fine. I don't want to force my belief on someone else, however, believing what I do does not make me a bigot.

I choose to live with acceptance, tollerance, open to listening. I do not choose to live with people who feel I'm a bigot for not believing what they believe.

Being neutral is being against?

2008-11-18T14:04:00.003-05:00

"Failing to take a pro-active stand to support total equality is the same as taking a stand against it."
HUH!?!?!
Why is there such a stretch to pro-active stands? Let's take a look at this from a different stance. Can we say that:

Failing to take a pro-active stand to support pro-life is the same as taking a stand against it?
Failing to take a pro-active stand against inequality of minorities is the same as taking a stand for it?
Failing to take a pro-active stand against the death penalties is the same as taking a stand for it?

You can go on and on about how radical you can get about things and assume that people are totally for or against something by their actions and pro-active support of something. It is sad that people can't accept people who aren't as active as others and simply allow people to be who they want to be. Unfortunately, poeple hate others for what they don't do for them instead of realizing that not everyone will get on their high horse and fight for a cause.

Completely for or against gay/lesbian community?

2008-11-18T09:30:00.005-05:00

What in the world has this world come to?

Everyone has their own beliefs and I don't have to jump on the bandwagon with everyone for a certain cause. I don't believe in something FOR ME, but don't oppose it for others. That is my belief. I got told this morning that I just don't get it when it comes to gay rights and whatever. I was told I'm not for complete equality. No, I'm not one for giving everyone everything, however, I'm not opposed to people living their own life. I shouldn't say lifestyle because it's not a lifestyle. I was shot down on that term too. Whatever.

Can't people stop hating others when they don't agree. I feel that the person who kept shooting me down is very bigoted himself against others who aren't totally for the gay community. Next I'll be told that I can't counsel gay clients because I am not totally for them and don't know what I'm talking about. How stupid is that!

What I am against is hating on people who are different than you. This person gives gays a bad rap with the way he presents his issues. I am not for / against others, but believe the way I do. I don't have to rally for gay rights to accept them as a friend. I don't have to be for the gay community to understand what my gay friends go through. I know it's hard to be a gay person in society and get the same rights, however, they don't expect me to go out and rally with them. They "get" me and my stance and I "get" them.

I do get what the gay community wants and is fighting for, but I don't agree. And I don't have to. I definitely don't agree that you are 100% for or against something. I'm for minorities getting equal rights if they are working as any other person in America, but I'm not going out and chanting my beliefs or proposing amendments for them, especially for those who aren't pulling their weight.

I'm for certain things and against others. That's my own personal belief and yet, there are those who feel that I'm 100% wrong for not believing what they do? How ludicrous is that!

What others don't get is that not everyone has to agree with them and if they feel they need to fight for certain rights, then go for it. I'm not opposed to them doing that. My actions speak volumes. Just because I'm not out there picketing with people doesn't say I'm against them. Let people do as they want, however, don't diss those who aren't with you on the playing field!

You can't expect others to love you when you are pushing them away by giving them such grief over their own beliefs. Why can't people just get along and love each other instead of fighting over who's for or against things?

I believe that it's not fair for gays to not be able to have legal documents between them. Many gay couples take care of each other just as straight couples, so why isn't the caretaker given the same rights when it comes to legal issues as straights. However, I don't believe in marriage between gay couples. There's something about the act of marriage that I believe differently on. Does that make me an awful person who can't love gays or have them as my friend? NO! That simply says we don't see eye-to-eye on everything. That's all!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares

2008-11-16T14:48:00.003-05:00

I love to cook and try new things. I couldn't find the same pumpkin squares recipe I used several years ago so I made one up and they are currently cooking in the oven:

2 Pkgs Cream Cheese
1 1/2 cups Sugar
4 eggs
3/4 of a can of evaporated milk
1/4 cup flour
1 can pumpkin - NOT pumpkin pie filling
Cinnamon / Pumpkin pie spice

Mix together, set aside

2 of the 3 pkgs Cinnamon Graham Crackers
1/2 cup sugar
2 sticks margarine or butter

Crush crackers, mix with sugar and add melted butter. Divide into a 9 x 12 and a smaller glass pan. Press into bottom of pan.

Pour Pumpkin mix evenly between the two pans on the cracker base. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.

Cook 350 for about 1 hour until firm.

I just don't get it....

2008-11-14T13:45:00.003-05:00

I am NOT opposed to Catholocism and believe that many are wonderful churches. This blog is about the few extremists who do this.

Ok... so now Catholic priests are condemning their parishiners for voting for Obama...

Priest: No communion for Obama supporters: Priest says it's because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion

McCain - Supports the death penalty but opposes abortion.
Obama - Supports abortion but opposes the death penalty.

I do not support either. I feel that there are ways to handle an unwanted child and allow parents who want a child to adopt it. I feel that eliminating abortion, though, will put thousands of lives at risk in the backwoods, underground abortions which happened before abortions were legalized.
I do not feel that putting to death someone who killed someone is fair and just punishment. I feel that prisons should put them in solitary, dark, confinement and make them go crazy. Yes, I'm serious! Why not make them lunie and think they are going crazy for the rest of their lives. Don't give them TV's and books and paper and pens and an hour of outdoor recreation. Their victim sure doesn't get it!
So what's the difference between abortion and death penalty?
"Thou shalt not kill" means just that! Either way, you are killing.
So why is the catholic church and many non-catholic christians taking such a huge stand and emphasizing McCain for his anti-abortion issue when he wants to support killing others? What is going on with Christians who support either one and say it's wrong to vote for the other who supports death another way?
You can't ride the fence on "Thou shalt not kill". Death is death folks!

When it's time to say enough and move on

2008-11-14T10:22:00.002-05:00

With the coming of bills and the holidays, my savings is getting going down and the income is so free-radical. I'll work 3-5 days a week for a while, now two days in two weeks. I have been doing nothing for the past three days and I'll bet I get a call for Monday and can't work because I have an interview for full-time work. It's either feast or famine. I enjoy sub-teaching, but it's not paying the bills. I have a chance to go to work as a counselor and then intern at the same place, so that would be great. I'll keep the options open; however, with the holidays coming and bills still needing to be paid, I'm really needing a steady income.

What are we bailing out this week?

2008-11-12T16:40:00.002-05:00

After AIG's big bail out, do companies think they are OWED a bail-out from the government? Now it's GM, Chrysler, and Ford....Let's look at what the big wigs of those companies are making. Let's see what their income is and why they may be going into bankruptcy. Why not let them go under? Yes, warranties wouldn't be covered or covered under someone else, but why are we responsible for their stupidity?!?!?!? It's not like we won't have cars. Kia, Toyota, Honda, Chevy?, and still the big wigs like BMW and Mercedes Benz. Why not let companies go under even when they are huge?
What would happen if some big car companies go under? What happened if the government took over the warranties and let the companies go under. Maybe they should own the warranties and manage that, then say goodbye to those brand cars. Would it REALLY hurt us? Yes, we wouldn't be buying any more Fords, but who cares?!?
Why don't we allow American Freedom of owning a business go through American Freedom of filing bankruptcy!

Rum Cake...

2008-11-11T23:59:00.002-05:00

I am thinking about making a Rum Cake.... Soaking in Rum and eating... yummmy! A co-worker used to make these in Florida and boy was it good!!!!!!!!!! Mmmm... Been having a craving for one. I just might have to get a cake and soak it in rum. I'll get back to you on how it turns out.

Banana Bread

2008-11-11T17:48:00.002-05:00

Now many of you make typical banana bread; however, there are a few secrets to making it WOW!

Here's the recipe I use - but I don't make the bread until the bananas are really overly ripe... like totally brown:

Banana Bread - Emeril Lagasse

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (Optional)
Pinch of cinnamon - NOT! - Use plenty of cinnamon or apple pie spice.

Using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and sugar. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the bananas and mix well. Add the baking soda, salt, flour, nuts and cinnamon and mix thoroughly. The dough will be sticky.

After mixing, turn oven onto 350 Degrees. I don't pre-heat and it's not really necessary.
Now here's the secret...
Typically you would oil and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. NO! Spray the pan with Pam (Like saving calories in this recipe is necessary??)

Then coat the sprayed Pam with Cinnamon Sugar.

Pour the dough into the prepared pan
Then put plenty of Cinnamon Sugar on top of the mix and bake about one hour or until the center is brown and set. Can test with butter knife to see if center is done.

The cinnamon sugar makes the top crispy and the bottom and sides moist and wonderful! It's a huge hit at the office and I make two loaves because I buy more than 3 or 4 bananas. Most of all, Richard and I don't want to have to share our loaf for home and he get's to take some to work.

Kids today....

2008-11-11T16:56:00.002-05:00

What makes a kid think he or she can go into school and do whatever they feel like doing? I had a few who "Slept" through a discussion in class, then when it was over, they woke up and started talking. I had one who brought his guitar. He and another student slept through the discussion then woke up and played the guitar. I wrote him up, but later found out he got in school suspension for sleeping in the same class the day before!! Why even come to school? Just because it's the law?!?!? We don't need students who don't want to be there, but we also need to get more students to want to learn when they are in school. I know if my child was disrespectful to a teacher or got written up for something, I'd be down their throat! I also do not believe in giving students so many chances before they call a parent. I would like to know the first or second time my child gets in trouble. Don't wait to tell me until the problem continues and has been happening several times. In one school, the children get 25 points before the parent is called. No notes home, no nothing. How are the parents supposed to help these kids when they don't know what's going on??? Not being prepared for class is 1 to 3 points. That's a LOT of not being prepared for class and forgotten homework before the parent is notified. Just doesnt' make sense. Expect a parent's signature the next day for misbahavior and keep the parents involved from the start. Kids generally don't want their parents called and just take what's given to them at school. It's quick and over, but when parents know, they often get grounded or get their items taken away, such as computer, internet, tv, ipod, phone, etc. Yes, I am one to do that and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I won't have my child disrespecting teachers and authority!

Bank Account.....

2008-11-09T18:57:00.001-05:00

If your bank deposited $86,400 every day and you had to spend it, knowing the money wouldn't roll over, how would you spend it? It may stop in a few weeks or keep going like that for years. God gives us 86,400 seconds every day. When the day is over, we can't take back the time. Do you spend that time wisely?

Update on wedding dress shopping....

2008-11-08T20:56:00.002-05:00

I had a good time the other day looking at wedding dresses in Morristown. The lady was really nice, however, when she found out that I'm looking for an inexpensive dress and had a low budget, she wasn't the most helpful. I think I'm going to go looking online.

Tennessee Wine

2008-11-08T20:08:00.003-05:00

Mmmm.... More on Tennessee wines. Our search continues for some good wedding wine. We visited two more wineries today. Apple Barn Winery in Sevierville, TN, and Mountain Valley Winery in Pigeon Forge, TN. They are only a mile or so apart but on the city's borders.

First, both wineries were really good, however, I'd advise not to go try 4 or 5 wines at two wineries within an hour of each other. Although they give you about an ounce, that adds to 2 glasses of wine in an hour. When you don't drink on a regular basis, you tend to feel the effects of the wine more. We walked for an hour after the second one before driving, so we were good.

We are finding some wines we like for the wedding. Again, we are serving Tennessee wines for the reception toast instead of traditional champaigne.

APPLE BARN WINERY:

Apple-Strawberry wine: blah. No real flavor. Light, a bit dry, sweet, but nothing to write home about. I wasn't impressed. Surprising it was a bit dry for a fruity wine. They advertise "Sweet apple wine bursting with the flavor of fresh strawberries." I've tasted other Strawberry wines which have full strawberry flavor, but this was more apple with a little bit of strawberry. Definitely not "Bursting" with the flavor of fresh strawberries.

Apple-Peach: Nice light wine. Again, you can taste the peach, but the apple was a bit overbearing. It was a really good light, sweet wine. Not too sweet, and an even taste. Not overbearing. Nice to sip slowly at night.

Apple-Rasberry: I thought it was very good. It was definitely more flavor of the Rasberry than the strawberry. Would be a good dessert wine or by itself.

Muscadine: WOW. Sweet dessert wine. Sweet isn't even the word for it! It was like drinking sugar water. VERY sweet. I would not personally like it with something sweet. It would be a good wine alone, however, I don't think it would be a good balance to a sweet dessert because it would add to the sweetness.

MOUNTAIN VALLEY WINERY:

Blackberry: Very good, however, very strong flavor of blackberries. Very sweet and heavy/thick. A very good wine on it's own, however, again, not good with a sweet dessert.

Mountain Peach: Peachy a bit, however, lacking on the flavor. More of a mild white with the hint of peaches. Moderately sweet. Good dessert wine or on it's own. Would be good with a light meal, such as chicken or fish, or even to offset a red meat.

Mountain Berry: Very good sweet red wine. Medium flavor of the berries coming through, however, not strong, like the blackberry. Good moderate flavor for a meal, dessert or by itself.

Being Courteous

2008-11-06T14:45:00.002-05:00

In today's age, it's hard to find places where you walk in and people are courteous to you. I've been to several wedding boutiques and shops in Knoxville and Florida. The first few I walked into, I was greeted and asked questions. I was thinking, "They want my money and weddings are big money". Well, I wasn't going to tell them I wasn't buying from them, however, they were excited for me and helped me choose some dresses for my daughter as we were looking. I thought (WRONGLY) that walking into a wedding shop, they'd all do that.
My daughter and daughter in-law went with me on various days as well and we had nothing but nice people who helped us. If they didn't have it, they suggested other stores who might. Dillards, JCPenny, Macy's, Kohl's, etc. My daughter in law was trying on dresses and the lady there was interested in why we were buying, what we are looking for, and even gave me some suggestions while my daughter-in-law was trying on clothes.
Even though the first stores were nice, I walked into another larger store where there were 5 employees and 2 or 3 looked busy, but there were 3 up front, who really didn't look like they were busy. 2 of which were talking with each other. (I won't tell you the name but it begins with D and end with AVID's). Not one acknowledged me, welcomed me in, told me anything. I would have thought if they are busy, they might have said, "We'll be right with you as soon as we can." There were 2 female customers in the back with one trying on clothes, but someone was helping them. What were the others doing? I stood by the front counter for a moment and the employees walked right past me like I wasn't there. I looked at dresses on the racks and someone was called to the showroom. After 15 minutes I left, noticing three still up front and two in the back helping the ONE person trying on clothes. I was dressed in my day clothes, hair brushed, etc... maybe I didn't LOOK like a bride-to-be??? Hmmm?
I then went to another store today. The name of the store had "Budget Bridal" in it and so I thought, hey, right up my alley. Her attitude was trite and her makeup was budgeted too. Can you say GAWDY!!!!!! I walked in and told her I was looking for a simple wedding dress, halter-type, floor length dress, no train. She asked me what color. Uh, I think white is preferred. ???? She showed me three dresses and said they could all be ordered in white. I asked, "Do you have any other wedding dresses without the train?"
She said, "No, they all have trains on them."
Then she said, "Oh well, over here we have a few, but you said you wanted simple." and I'm sure her nose went up with that comment!
OMG! She did not just snub me off. I politely said, "Thank you" and left.
If she doesn't want simple-minded people in her store, she should change the name to "Uppity class at cheap prices"
So that's a dozen or so stores I've been into looking at bridal and bridesmaid dresses, including 5 or 6 bridal shops. It is getting frustrating to find a good bridal store, which will be courteous, and actually interested in selling you a dress. Getting discouraged with this. I was having fun with the whole wedding stuff, just hit a wall now.
More later.

Two-Faced People

2008-11-05T08:22:00.003-05:00

Recently I've had a problem with two-faced persons. If I did something wrong, tell me straight up so I can fix it. If you don't care for my opinion, don't say things just to appease me, then talk about me behind my back. If I bring up things that are wrong, don't brush it under the table and pretend it didn't happen, talk with me. If we don't agree, agree to disagree, but don't belittle me and bash me to others.

People who smile and laugh with you in person, then lash out at you in email are afraid of what they are saying. If you can't talk with someone in person over issues that you have, then don't bother sending it in an email. I THOUGHT I had a good time with someone recently, who also asked me to do something for them after a few days with them, so I agreed. I did it and never got a response. I've asked twice if they got the project and nothing. How rude! I didn't ask for a "Thank You", just an acknowledgement that she got it. I did find out that it went through to one of the persons I sent it to, so I know it went through and being handled. I felt like they were appeasing me while I was with her in person and now ignoring my emails. Maybe I didn't get it in the time that she wanted it and there was no timeline given. I did it within a week of being asked. I ended up working a full week, which is rare, and being sick so it was a few days later than I expected, however, I did get it done. I hope they like it, but I doubt I will ever find out.
Another person hasn't gotten back to me in regards to a list of issues I addressed with her, which were legal issues that affected my licensure. I am very careful as to how I work and protecting my license is important. It's my livelihood. I was told "I haven't forgotten you. I just haven't gotten to read them thoroughly." It's been 3 weeks since I sent it and I don't feel that I can work if I don't know if issues have been addressed or not or if it's ok to do things my way and they way I was taught to protect my license.
Why do people try to appease you in person and then stab you when you turn around? Or even just ignore you. It's sad that people can't say what they feel, with tact, to you. I say a prayer usually before I have to talk with others on an issue because I don't want to attack someone, but discuss something. I want to hear what the others have to say and hear their point of view.
I have come to be content on not dealing with persons who are doing this to me. I don't like fake people who can't be who they are both in person and away from you. I pray that I don't do this with others and that if I have a problem with someone, I tell them straight up and we talk about it. Get it out in the open, clear the air, and continue on. I don't want to be the person who hurts others in being two-faced and nasty. That is sad and it hurts when you find that you've hurt someone.

FREE Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Today - Nov 4th!

2008-11-04T05:32:00.005-05:00

Go to participating scoop shops on November 4th from 5-8pm, and you'll get a free scoop of ice cream. Click below to find your local Ben & Jerry's shop!

Ben & Jerry's I Voted

Democracy never tasted so good!

What happened to Thanksgiving?

2008-11-02T20:23:00.002-05:00

Going into Wal-mart, there were many Halloween decorations for over a month before Halloween. A week before Halloween, Wal-mart started putting out Christmas stuff. During all this, there was a small section for "Fall", not Thanksgiving. Aren't we supposed to be thankful before we receive and give gifts? Aren't we supposed to give thanks for the pilgrams and others who founded this land called America? Aren't we supposed to be thankful for the thousands of Soldiers who are at war, fighting to keep America free, so we can enjoy a peaceful Christmas? And let's not forget what Christmas is for. NOT to put up Santa, elves, candy canes and all that jolly stuff on the lawn and around the house. The Christmas tree reminds me that Christ died for us on a wooden cross. Thanksgiving is a time to remember and give thanks for everything we have. I want to put out the nativity on my porch. I want everyone to see what I display as the reason for this season! I put up Thanksgiving displays before Christmas because I'm thankful before getting things. I'm thankful for family, friends, my awesome children, my wonderful fiance, and so much more. I want have the right focus going into this Holiday Season.

You are currently 42 in cue....

2008-11-01T10:02:00.002-04:00

OMG! I'm trying to renew my Norton subscription. It said I don't have to do anything, that it would charge my card on the account. I don't have a card on the account and it expires today, so I added a card, yet nothing happened. I decided to use the online chat with a live person, so I clicked on it. I had to fill out a lengthy information form of who I was, what product I had, address, phone number, a description of the problem and then hit enter. Then it asked me to download the software it uses, so I did that. Finally the software came up and this is what it said:

You are currently 42 in cue.

Seriously! You are kidding me, right!? Did I read that wrong? 42??? You mean there are 41 people ahead of me waiting to talk with the live person? If I were 10th in line, I wouldn't wait, but there are seriously 41 people waiting to chat with a live person!?!?!?!??! You've got to be kidding me! I was NOT going to be 42! I am not pay $69.99 and wait for 41 people to get taken care of in front of me! I want to talk NOW. I could see if this was cheap or free but not $70 of my hard-earned money! I only get $55 / day for sub-teaching!

I then went back to take my credit card off the profile and it won't let me! There is no way to delete the credit card account! So I changed the expriation date, address, etc. I am going to call them and have a few words as to their customer service.... AND I am looking for another internet protection company.

Halloween... ain't what it used to be.

2008-10-31T19:18:00.003-04:00

I remember going out after dark and getting loads of candy. My pillow case was always 1/4 - 1/2 full at least every year. We saw lots of flashlights and poeple walking. Either parents with their kids or kids on their own. It's 7:30 and we've had two kids with their mom. That's it. I took a poll yesterday and today during work and not many kids were going out trick or treating. (Yeah, it was middle and high school) I am really surprised that not many people go out and have fun and yet there are loads of candy and shtuff (yes, that's spelled SHtuff) at Wal-Mart and other stores. What are they selling it for? Our extra candy is going to the office. I don't want a bunch at home to tempt me. I have enough junk to eat here.
We live on a busy street and yet, only one visitor so far. Hmmm.... I'll have to update you at the end of the night.
LATER:
Yeah... still no one and it's 9:15 - Jefferson County has an 11:00 curfew, so I doubt we are getting anyone. There were kids down the next street, however, there isn't a sidewalk on our side, nor any houses directly across the street. There are kids in our neighborhood. Two busses drop off at our corner and the next corner, so I know there are kids of various ages around us. Guess there aren't any kids that go trick-or-treating to our house.

GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!!!!!!!!

2008-10-31T18:53:00.003-04:00

Now as many know, I can't have magnets near me. No fridge magnets, no nothing. Our fridge magnets are in the back of the fridge where I can't accidently lean on them. I don't lean on the fridge / freezer doors (they have magnets). Most people / students at work don't know I have DBS. One student came into class and said, "Look at this cool magnet Mrs. Bailey!" and held it up for me to see. It was a large, round, 6'' disc. I jumped back and squealed, "Get that away from me!!!!!!!!!" I startled him and he said, "What?" I explained to him I can't have magnets near me or it will mess me up. He apologized, but he stilled looked like I yelled at him. I know he was just trying to be nice and I apologized for my quick response.

People want change...

2008-10-31T04:40:00.002-04:00

When record numbers show early voters getting out, I think this country is looking for some change. There are record numbers popping up all over the US. More new voters than ever before. More voters that haven't voted in 10, 20, or even 30 years. More of everything. This presidential election is definitely going down in record books as a first in a lot of things. I really believe that the country is looking for change.

Finally some results of stupidity...

2008-10-28T23:41:00.002-04:00

FINALLY - There's been a HUGE question in my mind about this stupid stuff about Obama not being a natural born citizen. The question in my mind is why haven't all the other stations/newspapers, like CNN, US Today, ABC News, CBS News, MSNBC, etc jump on the band wagon about Obama not being a US Born Citizen. Could it be because they saw through the hype like we did and didn't believe a word of it!?!??!
Here's what happened since Sunday. Most news stories are based on facts and until then, most news people won't run a story until they know it's true. I don't believe news stories until I see a credibly well-known person talking about it on a credibly well-known news station. I won't go to websites such as Factcheck.com, YouTube, or any other places where they can't prove the originating source. Here's my sources... The Govenor of Hawaii and CNN

Please see the CNN news below:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/06/obama-birth.html

Or maybe this that came out today from the Govenor of Hawaii:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=79174

... and oh, FACTCHECK.org backpeddling after they spewed slander and agreed to run the story on Obama not being a natural citizen.. FACTCHECK.ORG posted today....(EATING CROW!)
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

Frustration over taking things out of context

2008-10-24T11:49:00.002-04:00

There's a lot of backtalk going on with the Presidential Candidates these days. I hate it when people assume things when they hear something!
I've heard this now a couple times from various people:
Remember Obama said in his book 'Audacity of Hope', 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.
That is NOT what was said!

The following was taken from http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/o/obama-books.htm
AND I READ THE PASSAGE MYSELF!

It is from a section that talks about the concerns of immigrants who are American citizens.Here is the accurate and more complete quote: "Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
It doesn't mention MUSLIMS anywhere in that text! Why can't people understand that there are MANY Arabs and Pakistani AMERICANS who love Jesus? Some of these are second generation Americans who are still persecuted. They've been Americans, they are going to church, paying taxes, and working. Yes, I'm just as irritated as the next person when someone can't speak the language and buys hotels / 7-11's. BUT, when put all these people in the same pot, we are ASSUMING a lot! I know many Pakistani and Arab people who's parents came to America to get away from things there and the strict religion.
We are going backwards at ASSUMING things with various races in America because a handful of Indian persons had something to do with 9-11!
So I will continue to pray for our Nation and our future leader. I will continue to work with everyone I meet and teach them through my actions, what Jesus is all about.
Why do we judge first, then find out the facts?

When brain and medicine unite...

2008-10-23T12:38:00.002-04:00

Everyone knows that I went through this brain surgery last year to correct Essential Tremors... here's another famous man who went through the same surgery.... playing the banjo while fully awake in the surgery!
The doctors had Eddie Adcock play his banjo as they adjusted the wires in his brain. Really cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqWBDHRvHrQ&feature=related

When you don't agree...

2008-10-23T11:33:00.003-04:00

People can't seem to understand that it's ok to agree to disagree. There are those who you have great discussions with and learn more about the other point of view. You gather information and digest it, but you don't have to agree. I love a good banter back and forth.
Then there are those who will keep talking until they see you believe their side of things. I believe there's a way to go about talking with people. In your face is not my style. I don't appreciate having people come blaring at me, both guns a blazin'. I don't agree with a lot of things, but I also should not be condemned when I don't blast my views either. I have learned there are a few things you don't talk to people about or talk carefully about. Religion and Politics. I don't agree with everything anyone says on either and I have my own views. There are some persons when they ask why I believe a certain way, I tell them, "I am not discussing it with you."
I want to learn others' views, but not be condemned to mine. I enjoyed a nearly 2 hour discussion with a friend last night. The way she talks and shares is not offensive or hurtful, but we talked calmly and shared views. I thought she has wayyy more wisdom in how she approaches things than most people do.
I am not the in-you-face person telling people they are wrong and I've been shot down because I don't stand up for what I believe. You don't have to scream and yell at people and when someone is hurting, they don't need that. I don't agree with abortion or gay rights, however, I don't yell my opinion. If someone came to me and wanted to talk, the last thing they need is someone condeming them saying, "You're wrong!" They need a gentle ear and understanding of where they are in life. Just because I don't radically oppose or support certain things, doesn't mean I'm wrong. It just means I'm trying to be humble in the way I'm doing it. I get the person's trust before accusing them of anything and I want to do it in a loving way.

Misquoting something...

2008-10-23T05:52:00.000-04:00

I have been leary of quoting people or subjects recently. Politics is perfect for that. Each side taking the other's words out of context. I have decided that unless I've heard the actual quote or read something myself I don't generally pass things on. When I do quote something someone inevitably comes up right behind me and shows me its wrong or I shouldn't have forwarded that email because Snopes.com or some other place said it was wrong. I have learned in the past several months that God wants me to choose my words carefully, not pass judgement and be cautious as to what I forward to others. People read my stuff and they may beolieve what I wrote just passing things on. We all played the game telephone when we were younger. Now we play a technological version of that. I have worked on doing more research before I say something; especially in regards to politics and religion. For example, I knew I couldn't argue about founding fathers and our country's Christian base so I went to somone who did know: my daughter. She's been taught and knows well the facts on how our country came to be. I have gone to other sources when I don't know facts or understand.
God's been working on me to do this. The last thing I want to do is lead others astray or not be prepared with facts.

Christianity....Hmmmm!

2008-10-21T10:22:00.004-04:00

I live my Christianity quietly, helping those in need, being there for friends, etc. I don't want to boast at what I do because I've got a long way to go, or shove it down everyone's throat. People should see my actions rather than words. I feel that those who state that they are only supporting those with Christian beliefs may not see the whole picture. There have been many "Christian" men and women pushing for funds who later got caught up in the wealth of religion. TBN perhaps? There are a lot of great religious leaders out there, but when you hear the "I'm a Christian", do you wonder if they are spouting that to get supporters? I want to look carefully at who is leading this country. Yes, there are those who believe (world view) Christianity is the ONLY way to vote, but I tend to wonder if the leaders are abusing that statement. There is more to Christianity than the statement. There is hard proof. Are the leaders trusting in God to help them lead a nation so desperate for change? Are they trusting in God and putting their faith in God to show them how to run it or are they running their own agenda while claiming they are Christian? Things that make you go "Hmmmmm!"

Getting ready to leave on vacation

2008-10-21T09:15:00.002-04:00

What do you do when you leave on vacation? Pack, get cash out.... fix food and put it in the freezer for your fiance' so he doesn't starve? I know that he's 40 and taken care of himself for years before I came along, but I did it anyway. I cubed and cooked a bag of chicken breasts, then put it into 5 bag. 2 just left the chicken for him to add to mac n' cheese or whatever. Then the other 3 I put in minute rice and veggies. I put instructions on the white board if he wants to eat that. I know I'm only gone a few days, but I want to make sure there are meals for him to eat while I'm gone. Funny how we take care of others when we aren't there.

Chocolate for my wedding

2008-10-19T18:37:00.002-04:00

I recently wondered how much it would be to do my own chocolates for the favors. I've looked at ordering chocolates and it ranged from $2 - $4 for each person. With having around 50 - 75 at the wedding, I am not willing to pay $100 - $300 just for chocolate! That's not adding in $30 worth of favor boxes.

I went to work at creating my own. I looked at what it would take to create chocolates and a 1lb bag of chocolate gives about 100-120 mini chocolates or 40 - 50 medium / lg chocolate. If I put 4 chocolates in each box, I'd need about 4 lbs of chocolate. I want to swirl some so I'd end up with 6 or 7 various colors of 1 lb chocolate at $2.79 each (Minus the 20% I got off). So in the end I can make the chocolates for around $20 and I got 100 boxes and ribbons for $35. I love doing my own wedding!

Movie to remember

2008-10-19T18:07:00.002-04:00

What an incredible move we saw the other night. Fireproof was a very touching, heart-wrenching and solid movie about marriage and keeping your partner with you at all times. Kirk Cameron starred in it and was great! I would definitely see it again! This is a movie that I'd love to show in the church and recommend everyone to go see. I would especially tell those contemplating divorce to go see it. Highly recommended!
http://www.fireproofthemovie.com

It was so the wrong day to ride!

2008-10-19T17:51:00.004-04:00

We went for a ride on the Motorcycle Saturday up to the Great Smokey Mountains. Newfound Gap has spectacular views. For a little geography and weather lesson:

Newfound Gap is at 5,048 ft. Jefferson City is 1,200 ft. Gatlinburg is about 1,600 ft.

It was due to be around 61 and partly cloudy during the day all the way through Gatlinburg. What I forgot and we didn't take into account was the weather in Newfound Gap, nearly 3500 ft above where I checked the weather.
We got out riding. The ride into Gatlinburg was crisp and we saw some dreary clouds ahead over the mountains, but we kept riding. We got stuck in stop and go traffic for 7 miles because this was one of the busiest weekends of the year. Everyone wants to see the leaves changing in the mountains. It isn't bad in a car, however, it's hard to stop and go when you are barely going 5 mph on a motorcycle. My legs got sore keeping the bike steady because I couldn't coast fast enough to keep my legs on the bike.
Once we got through the traffic, we stopped at the main rest area which proved a bit chillier, but nice. Plenty of other motorcyclists there also heading up the mountain. We got through the heavy traffic and up the mountain and as we ascended, it got colder and colder. By the time we got up to Newfound Gap, it was windy and REALLY COLD! Not near the expected 61 degrees that was supposed to be down the mountain. We could see our breath very clearly!

Although we got some beautiful pictures, that's something we will not be doing again!

We were both shivering and dreading the bike ride back down the mountain. We tried to warm up at the Olive Garden over dinner, but we were still cold after hot chocolate and hot soup. A hot steamy shower at home helped.

Now for the humorous part in all this. The Great Smokey Mountains is doing it's part in conserving energy, water, and waste. I just didn't think that they would resort to putting up a sign which referred to it as #1 or #2. Isn't that what you would do with a small child? "Did you go # 1 or #2?" They also put in parentheses liquid and solid. Why not just say that instead of #1 or #2?

Timing is everything....

2008-10-17T04:56:00.002-04:00

We all know doing something at the right time is everything. Sending someone flowers just when they need it. Sending someone a note not realizing how much that means. Being there for someone. Changing jobs at the right time. Lots of things make a bigger difference when done at the right time.
Barack Obama seems to have done this more and more. He didn't run against Bush in the first or second term. He ran now. His running campaign stresses change. He knows that the country is tired and worn out economically, which results in emotional stress. Is it the timing of his campaign that seems to make such a great impact or is he gearing his campaign towards the timing of it? We all know the country needs change and Barack seems to understand that. Timing is everything and the country is looking for someone who understands them. What a great combination!

Being scared for someone....

2008-10-16T00:23:00.005-04:00

Sometimes we get worried or scared for others. It doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it's usually a time of reflection of some sort. I'm 41 years old and there are few people I'm worried about.
My children are usually top on my list. I'm always worried about them. Are they making good grades, are they ok, have they eaten lately, are they staying healthy, etc. To a mother, children are always something to worry about.
Then there are your parents. As they age, they tend to get weaker. Richard and I worry about his mom mostly. She's had some major health issues and is getting more and more dependent on his dad. My (foster) parents are still very active even in their late 60's/early 70's, and although I worry a little, I don't worry about them much.
Richard is up there on the worry list as well. I worry when he takes the bike to work early in the morning. I worry about his health. I worried even tonight when we went to the pot-luck dinner at church and he forgot his epi-pen. We had to examine everything and sure enough, 4 items had nuts it them. I want to keep him around another 40 or 50 years, so we kept to things we knew didn't have nuts. (and those brownies looked so good, too!)
Then there's our friends. That's kind of a different kind of worry. We pray when they are sick or get into an accident, but at 40 and 41, we don't think much about friends having major health problems. My (birth) parents both died of strokes in their early 60's, but I attribute that to chain-smoking and heavy drinking. Yes, I have high cholesterol and high BP, but I'm doing things about it and I don't smoke, and drink maybe once a week. Now, back to the friends. I get sad when they develop cancer or can't have children after trying, or get into a car accident. Having a major health issue at our age just doesn't seem right! A close friend had a mild stroke last week and I worry about him. He's only 47! Hello, our age! People our age don't have strokes!! (Yes, I'm a nurse, yes, I've seen people our age have strokes, heart attacks and death.) I know we are supposed to be eating right and healthy and all that, however, again, people our age just don't have things go wrong! Not only am I worried about him, but it made both Richard and I stop and think. If he's our age..... yes, we thought about it. Yes, I've examined the way I cook more carefully lately. I've watched my buttered bread intake, fatty food intake, etc. I've noticed I've increased some veggies and rice and lowered the fried chicken and thick red raw meat. I ate more vegetables and less fried food at Chinese during lunch.
I have to come to reality and accept that if he can have a stroke at 47, anyone can...including me. Maybe this is a good thing to allow us to think a little harder on what we are doing with our health. I'm already walking , however, I probably need to step it up and do it more often and lose the weight I wanted to for the wedding.... then keep it off.
In the meantime, I'll still worry.... pray for my friend.... and start worrying about me a little more often. I need to take care of myself, because I won't be a good worrier for my family and friends if I'm not around.

Tim McGraw's song, "In My Next 30 Years" is appropriate. I could retitle it, "In My Next 40 Years".
"Oh my next thirty (40) years, Im gonna watch my weight.
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late.
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers.
Maybe Ill remember my next thirty (40) years"

Headache....

2008-10-16T00:12:00.002-04:00

I've had a headache come and go now for nearly two weeks. It seems to be a sinus headache but doesn't go away too easily. It is debilitating, stressing and so out of the ordinary for me. Usually if I get headaches that are debilitating they are migraines and I take a pill and lay down. These hurt worse than those because I can't lay down and get comfortable. So I take a decongestant, advil, anti-allergy pill, more advil...and in about 2 -3 days it finally goes away. I am unsure as to why I am getting them only to chalk it up to the dry air and cooler weather coming??? Maybe it's allergies?? I just don't get it. It's not fun and I hate to ruin a great afternoon with Richard or others because of it, so I grin and bear it. Yuck!

I Scream, You Scream....

2008-10-13T17:43:00.002-04:00

Yummy! Nothing like homemade Ice Cream! I got an ice cream maker in July and made some Ice Cream. It didn't really turn out all that good. Chocolate chip cookie dough. I used generic cookie dough, so it probably was the cause of the funky taste. Fast forward to yesterday where we finished it off. It was better after the flavor melding together.
I am now making vanilla ice cream made with vanilla pudding. There was a recipe for old fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream, but it used whole milk and heavy whipping cream. Too much fat! I made it with all 1 % milk and added 2 pkgs of sugar free pudding. The flavor before tasted great, but the flavor after tells all. We'll have to see.