December 13, 2008

Mice & Quilters

You know what they say?  The best laid plans . . . yeah, well, it didn't work so good for me.  I'm doing a new easy block (as I described in my post the other day) for Matt's wedding shower blanket but apparently, I was a little too excited about its easiness-- I sewed it together wrong!!  So Thursday night I took it apart (except for the last two seams) and am now putting it back together-- it is a really pretty block!!  Between the fabric being sewn in the proper directions and the fabric in general, I think this is going to be the prettiest of the wedding shower quilts I've made!!

This will be the last one I make for awhile-- the only single person left in the family is Natali and she's been too busy with finishing college for the last six or seven years to be concerned with dating or getting married-- good focus and concentration that girl has!!  Anyway, I'll be glad for it since that'll give me time to work on quilts of my own for me and myself and okay and our house.  Quilts and clothing and totes and . . . well, you get the picture.

Anyway, I'm off to see the eye doctor today; overdue for an eye exam and new lenses for my computer glasses and daily glasses.  Since I can't do without either pair of glasses, I wonder how they'll do the installation of new lenses in one frame and the other will get a new frame and lenses.  I'll have to see, eh?

Then, back home to a little closet cleaning and sewing!  LOTS of fun to be had here, eh?


December 10, 2008

Catching You Up

Well, let's see: first off, I found out that I have less time than I thought so I changed up what I am making for my nephew's fiance's shower gift-- don't have time for the LeMoyne Star-- the first one took over an hour and I was only half finished!!  Multiply that times 30 and I need more than a month!!  So, I went searching and found a variation of a log cabin design which is extremely appropriate and really pretty with the fabrics I'm using.  Hopefully, I'll remember to get a picture before I send it or one with the bride-to-be opening it!!

Spare time has been spent on that with the re-cutting and piecing.  Getting pretty far as I've already got 3/4 of the block finished-- it is beautiful!!  Anyway, on to other things . . .

Tuesday was "Get the out of bed WAYYYY before dawn to get to the Circuit Court courthouse for Jury Duty" day-- not an unpleasant thing except that I don't see why they make you get there so blasted early!!  7:30?  Please-- give me a break.  The first round of folks who showed up with me were processed in 15 minutes but the stragglers who thought that 7:30 meant 8:30 or, yes, even 9:45-- oh, pullleezze!!!  Once I was chosen for a 67-person pool of potential jurors, we went off to the trial where the alleged criminal was allowed to face his peers while the jury was questioned.

Mind you, this is a kid who looked to be about 18 or 19 and there wasn't anyone under 30 in the group!! 

He was up for alleged armed robbery-- not a good thing-- apparently because he had a habit to feed.  Too bad-- what a waste of a human being!! Where were his parents while he was growing up?  I know-- I know-- there I go-- except for the grace of God-- but, still-- why do so many young people have to live the stereotype??  I really wished they wouldn't.

After all of the questioning, I believe I was still being considered as a potential juror but the judge asked one more question:  Have you ever been the victim or witness of a violent crime, or know someone who was a victim of a violent crime?

DUH-- YUP!!  In 1988 or 1989, I was the Prosecution's prime witness in a robbery of the apartment below where I lived.  The guy kicked in the door-- big mistake-- it went flying!  I went downstairs and watched him come out with the TV and VCR-- I tried to make contact with him . . . walking next to him and trying to get him to put the stuff down.  The cops took me with them when they picked him up and we had an ID from the cop car to the street. 

Did I think I could be impartial about this kid?  Nope, I don't think so-- if there was even one fingerprint (and they said that they had fingerprint and DNA evidence), I'd convict in a heart beat.  I think armed robbery is wrong, pure and simple and especially because it has the potential of hurting someone.

Anyway, I was let go and home by 1:00pm which was fine by me. 

Stupid kid.  I hope he survives prison and I hope he learns something from it-- maybe, just MAYBE, he can turn his life around.  I'll being hoping and praying he does.

Other than that, that catches me up-- pretty easy, eh?



December 3, 2008

Sometimes But Not Always

Generally speaking, I tend to read ALL of the series of an author "in order" of the way that the protagonist's life runs.  I know that Barbara (see above) insists on doing so but sometimes I can't find the books in order so I read them in whatever order I grab from the TBR stack. 

This is the case with the Peter Robinson "Inspector Banks" series-- I've read them in the order that I grabbed them from the shelf.  As it turns out, it was out of order but when you've read about six of the buggers, it doesn't matter that much after awhile.  By the way, I mean SIX in a row of the Inspector Banks series-- no other authors' books got tipped in one at a time-- just the Inspector Banks series.

So now, I've realized today that I've read too many in a row.  The "victim" in "Final Account" was murdered prior to the opening scene in the book.  As it was described, it occurred to me that this whole death scene was a fake-- I don't know why I just knew that the intended victim wasn't dead.  As I finished the book, I found out that I was right.  Ah-HAH!!  I've read too many Inspector Banks books!!

So tonight, I start something completely different-- Edna Buchanan's latest, "Love Kills".  Can't wait-- she's one of my favs!!

After and Then After

After work, I rode my bike for a bit-- I'm not up to the many minutes that I was at before our "vacation" but considering that I'm finding my body a bit messed up yet due to the bug that I last week, I am at least doing SOMETHING. 

Then after that, I started running out some designs that I'm making for Christmas gifts and started working on my nephew, Matt's gift.  Matt is getting married to Sarah in March which means that there will be a shower in January or February.  That means that Aunt Marcia needs to make her traditional gift for Matt and Sarah.  This one's a bit more complicated including the fact that it is going to require that I do some paper piecing so I need plenty of time to work on it, starting tonight but cutting out the design block.  Next is the "plain" block and then there's all the piecing, layering and quilting to be done.

Lots to do, not nearly enough time to do it in!!


November 30, 2008

We're Back!!

Didja miss us?  We had a fabulous time in North Carolina visiting the Thompsons in Winston-Salem.  We got to spend time with her family which is always a lot of fun-- her folks and sister are always great to see!!  Barbara and I got a little shopping in although not as much as we had originally anticipated or hoped for-- you've heard all about that by now though so I won't beat a dead horse. 

I'm still a little out of it but the laundry's done as is the shopping so we'll start a new week and see where we go from there.


November 25, 2008

No Rest for ME-- weary or otherwise!!

Nope, I get only Wednesday and Thursday off this week since I'm low man on the totem pole of life-- oh, well, I'm still exceedingly THANKFUL to have this job!!  Wednesday's my way of using a floating holiday that I have to use before the end of the month-- Friday's a work day for me, if only for a few hours.

Be well and have a GREAT Thanksgiving Day if I don't write again!!



November 17, 2008

Been Busy!!

Okay, now I have to tell you what, right?  Well, let's see-- sewing and . . . um . . . sewing and um, working out and . . . sewing and reading and stuff, yeah, that's it-- lots and lots of STUFF!  I was going to sew Christmas presents for my sisters and sister-in-law but have changed my mind about that-- of course, not until I had a sweatshirt for my sister Nancy in Maine done already so I sent that to her for no reason at all.  She'll be surprised and pleased-- it gets cold in Maine!!

I'm setting up the wall-hanging that I pieced for our bedroom (62" x 69") for hand-quilting over the winter.  The design that I want to put on it is not something that I could do on my big frame and I don't like working large quilts on my D1.  Besides, I don't think I've ever hand-quilted anything so maybe it's time I did!

This past weekend, I set up an inexpensive gift thingy that I can gift for my co-workers and started running those designs out.  I also got a major portion of the Christmas tree skirt that I started making (what?  5 years ago?) finished.  All that's left of that is the "quilting" which I'm going to do by embroidering snowflakes of different sizes on it.

After that (or while those designs are running out), I'm going to piece the quilt that I'm going to be making for my nephew and his fiance-- yes, another wedding!!  Matt and Sarah are getting married in March and the shower will be in January some time-- I need to get their quilt done by the end of December, for sure!  Then, it's back to quilting for us.

By the way, Brian like the wall-hanging I was making for the new bathroom so much that he's moved it to the living room!!  We're going to print out some pictures from the past and put those around it-- then we'll get a picture posted for your viewing.

So, as you can see, I have not been bored-- it's sort of a question of what do I work on next when I'm not working!

The biggest news is that I got my Christmas present from Brian early: 4D Professional Software from Husqvarna Viking!  It is supposed to be easier to learn digitizing with this so I'm going to be working on that-- I've got some pictures that I'd love to digitize and run out for gifts but I doubt that I'll learn the software that quickly!  There are classes but the ones that are coming up are during the day and, obviously, I can't attend those!

So lots to do and lots to see and, of course, reading in between-- currently Peter Robinson's "Inspector Banks" series as I finished all of the J.A. Jance books I had a few weeks ago.



November 6, 2008

Thank Goodness That's Over With

After voting on Tuesday, I received an email from Bob Thompson asking who I voted for and here's my response:


So, there you have it-- I'm the only person that I know who doesn't know who they voted for-- I am SOOOOO glad this election is over!!



October 28, 2008

Been Busy!

I know it's not much of a reason but it is a good excuse-- I've been busy!!  Saturday was pretty much spent sewing-- gotta do the relaxing thing, ya know?  Then Sunday I was a gad-about-- going here and there, hither and yon, as it were.  Had a lot of fun but I was ready for another weekend, come Monday morning!!

Nothing new to report-- thus, the no posting thing-- reading but that's about it.  Currently working through the few books that I have of J.A. Jance's "Joanna Brady" series as recommended by Bob & Barbara.  Good stories, for sure.

Other than that, keeping my head down-- it's safer that way!!



October 18, 2008

Long Hard Week

It was a long hard and rewarding week at work this week.  I love being able to get into the investigatory-researchy side of things.  The problem with that is that I'm not a scientist so I am re-thinking the Forensics minor to maybe just a learn-on-my-own thing.  Anyway, work was fun because I was busy-- always love to be busy!!

Tim-Gunning My Closet

You know me-- Love that Tim Gunn!!  I Tim-Gunned my closets this morning, by eliminating a lot of clothes from both the fall (that was coming out) and the summer (that was going in) for the year.  There are a few things that I can re-style if my weight loss program goes the way that I plan but many things went into the give-away stack because (a) being a telecommuter, I just won't wear them and (b) Why did I buy it in the first place?

After I got done rotating clothes, I hit the fabric and sewing rooms, straightening out the closets in there.  The closet in the sewing room is where I store my blank t-shirts and sweat shirts.  I've now got them all washed and hung up and sorted by size which I will hopefully be able to maintain.  That's always the key part which you know if you've ever seen my sewing and fabric rooms.

After finishing lunch, I'll go back to re-working the closets and storage of fabrics and stuff.  I've got relatives coming this winter who will want to _*SEE*_ my fabric and sewing rooms so it would be nice if they can.



October 14, 2008

Slow Start

Work was slow at the beginning of the day.  That was a good thing when you consider that the heating/air conditioning company we use was supposed to show up for the filter-check.  They were supposed to come between eight and ten this morning; I called at 10:15 and was told that they'd be here around 10:45.  At 11:15, I gave up and called the company to reschedule-- I can only do "half work" for so long before (a) I feel guilting; (b) the work piles up and (c) the company notices!!  I rescheduled for Thursday when Brian will be home and then I don't have to mess with them at all.

Our new dinnerware has arrived and is now unpacked.  The last half of it is waiting to be run in the dishwasher.  The plates are bigger as are the salad plate and bowls but it's nice not to have white!  They look really nice in our kitchen, too!

Work progresses but no plans for the weekend thus far so maybe I'll get to sew for a change!  Oooh, that could be fun!!



October 12, 2008

Lunch Money and Then Some!!

I made $150 on the garage sale yesterday.  Not bad and probably paid off for the time that I spent on pricing the items.  We still didn't sell our camping tent and camping cookware but there's always next spring.

Speaking of spring . . . I am sprung!!  I should've worn something different yesterday or something-- my legs are killing me today!  I didn't even think about wearing the "prescription" hose that I had for my vein surgeries this past summer-- I should've but it never occurred to me!!  Oh, well, live and learn.

My wonderful brother-in-law, Peter, sent me a HUGE BUNCH of fabric "swatches" (a square yard!!) from "last season's upholstery choices".  (Thanks again, Pete!)  Linda Rose and I were going to go through the two HUGE boxes he sent but I just couldn't stand for that long!  As it was, I was tired enough to lay down with Molly, Lucy and Brian this afternoon, not necessarily to nap but just to rest.  That helped and felt better.

Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print today-- more whenever!

October 11, 2008

Up Earlier Than I Planned!!

I kept dreaming that my alarm was going off-- I've got a garage sale planned for today and have to get it organized hopefully before people start coming by!!  I had planned to set the alarm for 6 and snooze a couple of times but when my alarm did go off, I must've been dreaming about the alarm going off (okay, a nightmare) so I shut it off rather than snoozing it.  When I do that, I _MUST_ get up or I'll sleep a lot longer . . . so thus, I was up and the dogs fed by 6:30 with me carrying my breakfast upstairs to eat before I start to set up for the garage sale.

Linda Rose is going to be here to sell some of her stuff, too but, let's face it-- she's single and doesn't have nearly as much stuff as we have.  We have a lot of stuff to sell-- everything from printers to coffee cups!!

By the way, I registered for college this week-- my employer pays college reimbursement, too, so I'm going to start back in January.  I'm going for a Legal Studies degree since that's the sort of thing I do but then I'm going to minor in Forensics-- now that will be interesting and perhaps jar me into writing again!  Won't that be FUN!!



October 6, 2008

I Have Figured IT Out!!

Between now and Election Day, I'm going to put "Eenie" on today's date, "Inie" on the day after that and "Moe" on the next day and whatever day Election Day falls on, that's who I'll vote for!!  PLEASE do not cheat and tell me who it is by playing ahead-- it's the only way that this is going to make me feel good about who I'm voting for-- I've got to play it out for myself.  If you'd like, you may play along, of course but please (1) don't tell me who you're voting for or who I'm going to eventually vote for and (2) remember to VOTE!!  That's the important part and who knows, MAYBE President Eenie or President Inie or President Moe will make our economy better and get us out of Iraq and any other place our collective noses don't belong!!  Hey, it could happen!!

(Eenie)

October 4, 2008

Garage Sale Prep Complete!!

I'm exhausted but I'm ready for next weekend-- Brian will need to bring up the printers, etc. from the basement but everything else is priced and packed according to "package" deal.  With the camping stuff, I'm giving a neighbor first shot-- I figured that was the neighborly thing to do-- so I went to his house and told his daughter to let him know what was going on.  We'll see if he comes down to look or not.  Lots of computer bits and games and programs-- stuff that hasn't been installed on our computer ever or in a very long time.

Linda's bringing some stuff as well so we'll see how we do.  Should be tons of fun-- oh, yeah, I can hardly wait-- NOT!!!

The most important thing is to clean out the garage.  We have four shelving sets and it makes it hard to park in it sometimes-- we'll see if what I've done helps eliminate at least one of the shelving units so that we can park more comfortably.  Other than that, sewing is on the table for the weekend of course.  I've got an idea roiling around in my head-- that's the problem with watching Project Runway-- too many ideas!


September 27, 2008

Another One Bites the Dust

Yep, another week down and I'm ready for a weekend . . . whoops, I'm having a "party" today so I don't really get a weekend since tomorrow will be filled with running errands and doing laundry.  Oh, well, I've heard that weekends are over-rated anyway.

Yes, I'm having a candle party this afternoon.  I wasn't happy with just going and buying someone's birthday present to a party a month or so ago-- Noooo, I had to sign up for my own party!!  Why do I do this??  Because I have a schizoid personality, I guess.  One minute I like the idea of having people over and the next minute, my agoraphobic side kicks in and all I can think to do is lock the doors and hide in a closet.

One of these days, the agoraphobe is going to win.


September 18, 2008

Sorry-- I'm Busy!!

I keep thinking that I write a post-- I think about writing it during the day but of course, I don't-- and then I forget by the time that the night time comes and I've got other things to do.  Sooo, I forget.  Oh, well-- there's nothing happening anyway. 

Brian's off on Friday but he's not really "off" of course.  Just a respite away from the office.

We'll have to see what that day brings, eh?


September 14, 2008

A Little Complainin'

Back in May when I was preparing for my knee surgery, I had to go off of all blood thinning type medications.  I did and boy-oh-boy did I find out why a young girl/lady/woman doesn't swing her hips!!  Whew!!  I was definitely paying for my youthful flirtations that week!!  My right hip was killing me the whole week in preparation for the surgery-- actually for most of the rest of the month and into June.  It took quite a while to catch up on that missing medication and rebuild the chondroitin that had been taken away from the joint, etc.

Now, the only lagging experience is that every now and then, my right hip HURTS like crazy!!  Yesterday was one of those hurts-like-crazy days!  The pain is definitely in my hip and shoots/radiates down my right leg, making the whole leg painful.  On those days, I take it really easy and double-up on my naproxen dose.  I spent much of the afternoon laying down and resting; I didn't bicycle twice yesterday.

I've had more days like that in the past month but, I also have been building up the time that I spend riding my bike every day so it is to be expected that I would feel it a little more.  Once I get to my goal of one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening,  I'm sure my body will adapt.  At least, I hope my body will adapt.

On Thursday I had a "doctor" appointment without the doctor for a scan of the veins that were worked on in early summer.  I received all passing scores with everything healing well-- YAYYY!!!!  The tech was one that knew me during the surgeries and he made the comment that I looking healthier which made me feel like all of the pain is worthwhile-- I hope!  ;)

 
September 9, 2008

I know-- it's just that . . .

Not that much happens around here!  As Bob Thompson and I are prone to say: "I don't get out much . . .".  I did get out to the dentist today but how can that count?  My car is going to last for at least two decades at this point-- by that time, it'll be an antique and I won't want to part with it (like I do now??).


September 6, 2008

When I last left you . . .

I was reading about the Great Fire of London.  Still reading it-- it is a slow read-- and still enjoying the interesting information about it.  But it does take a long time to read because it is heavily laden with facts.  I don't read facts as fast as fiction and thus, I'm stuck with a book for awhile.  It could also explain why my "learning skills" aren't up to the rest of the family-- I'm intelligent but it takes me awhile to get there!  I'm not worried about it as long as it is only affecting my reading and not my working, sewing, quilting, etc.

Of course, so far, it hasn't effected any of those other things.  I tend to scan more than read on those types of books but I do read mysteries through and through because that's the only way you don't miss the facts of the murder to determine the "whodunnit" quality of the book.

Enough of my learning disabilities . . . it's raining (YAYYY!!!!) and I'm going to be quilting soon and all day.  Then Chinese for dinner take out or eat it, I know not but it will be good and much anticipated, for sure!

September 3, 2008
(Continued)

Yes, I know!

That was sexist of me yesterday, wasn't it?  I just am concerned about this vice presidential candidate's qualifications.  She has wayyyyy less experience at national issues than any other candidate and, additional to that, she has wayyyyyyyyyyy less experience at international issues than Obama.  I'm sure she'll have people to change diapers and juggle babies.  But . . . we should all be concerned about her abilities. 

Okay, moving on . . . the temperatures and humidity have been exceedingly mild for August and September is starting out the same.  The humidity is low (or at least, will be low until Saturday when Hanna is expected to bring strong winds and rain); as I type, I have the windows in Brian's office and mine open so that there's a bit of a cross-breeze.  In a few hours, I'll close them and turn on the air conditioning but, in the interim, I can save a few bucks for us by not running it unnecessarily.

Bicycling in my recumbent bike gets me over-heated, of course, but that's what a spot fan is for, right?  Right!  And thank goodness for it!!

That's all that strikes me for the moment . . . more later?

Reading

Over the weekend, I read a mystery set in early 20th century England ("Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear) which somehow got me reminiscing about my trip to London which got me to thinking about a book I bought when I was in London in 1997.  (Scary being in my mind, isn't it?) 

The book I bought was "The Great Fire of London" (mine is hardcover) and one of the reasons that I purchased it was because I had never heard of a fire in London that was referred to as "Great".  I was stunned and fascinated and, of course, compelled to buy the book.  While I've glanced at it over the years, I've never read it until now.

Interestingly, the purchase price when I bought the book was £18.99 which translated to about $11.00 US at the time.  In a web search for the book to show you the cover, I found the book retailing for as much as $55 in the US.  There's an investment for ya!

Anyway, I'm having fun reading it although it is a slow read to say the least.  There's something tedious about having footnotes at the end of EVERY sentence!


September 2, 2008

Talk About "Move On"!!

Who cares if the presumptive Republican Vice President's daughter is pregnant?  Really?  Who??  Not me and I don't care about whether or not they get married, either-- frankly, I'd rather not see another _*REALLY*_ young couple add to the already too high divorce rate (yes, I've made my own contributions to that pot but, still-- we don't need to make it worse!!).

But, that's my opinion.  I'm more scared about what would happen if John McCain, already older than dirt, dies in office and she has to juggle parenthood, terrorism (yes, that could be seen as just another form of terrorism), grandparenthood, the school play, foreign policy AND the economy along with diapers for their youngest son and her daughter's child (let's be real-- how many teenaged parents are GOOD parents??).

That's scary!!

August 30, 2008

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing!!

This one may take awhile but eventually, you'll get pictures-- more of an art piece than I've done before-- patience is a virtue!

August 27, 2008

Kewl!!

Temperatures around here the last few weeks have been weird.  More often than not, I've been able to open the windows and turn off the air conditioning.  That's nice!  I love the smell of the fresh air in the house-- low humidity and low temps make for a NICE August-- unusual by comparison!!

Other than that, life is . . .

August 25, 2008

And the Slinging Begins!!

So in my family, we are a very diverse group.  Religiously and spiritually, we are almost all very different.  Politically, we're split about the same. 

One sister sent out an email about the Pious Cindy McCain, which I slammed back with a nomination for her, instead of Mother Theresa, for Catholic Church Sainthood.

Then I suggested a Pact-- we don't talk about politics because it will get ugly and, yes, it will.  My brother disagreed while my sister agreed.  So, I've proposed a new pact wherein we don't call each other names but we can send each other any crap we want. 

My one sister had included a friend of hers on the original email and she's responded with another pro-McCain comment to which I countered with an anti-McCain article in it the author describes a person that cannot be considered a very good person.

Oh, yeah, I hate politics!!

August 24, 2008

The Way We Think

The last time that we had a "war" was Viet Nam.  When our soldiers came home from that "war", they were spit on and (still are) treated horribly.  We need to make sure that we don't do that for this "war".  We need to make very sure of that.

I just finished watching "In the Valley of Elah".  Our guys and gals, those who are lucky enough to survive Iraq, are going to need our support as much or more when they get home as the guys and gals that were in Viet Nam. 

We failed the previous generation so let's not repeat our own history, okay?

August 22, 2008

Puppy Problems

Lucy has been sick all day today-- being a "thoroughbred" of sorts (after all, she was the mommy in a puppy mill), she has a tendancy to have a sensitive stomach.  Its just that I remember Sally's last days and it always scares me a bit when Lucy doesn't eat breakfast and refuses cookies.  Granted, she's not as much of a food hound as Molly (I'm really not sure there's another dog out there that loves food more than Molly!) but she will usually take cookies from me.

I had the vet on the phone when Brian came home.  We talked about it and decided to book an appointment for Monday, hoping that she'd get over whatever this is before then but, just in case, we had a stand-by with the appointment set.  Well, of course, Daddy came in and she ate a half of a "Stick" and then she ate half of a cookie and then she took some water and some soft dog food from him.  Don't ask me why Mommy's food wasn't as good as Daddy's all day but, at least she started eating.

She's also back to barking while she watches Lucy TV (looks out the window in my sewing room while I sew) and huffing and puffing her way through the house (she owns it and just let's us pay the mortgage, don'tcha know?).  I'm relieved, needless to say.

Sewing?

Yes, I'm sewing-- actually, I've been sewing all summer, working on two different wall hangings for the house.  One is for our bedroom, to counter balance the venue that's between the front windows and the second is the one for our new bathroom.  I haven't decided how to quilt the one for our bedroom so that's been put "on the shelf" for the time being.

The second one, for the new "Beach Bathroom" is the one I'm working on now and almost finished "piecing".  It is in a "bargello" style but it doesn't follow the coloring scheme.  I don't know how to describe it but (I think) it is gorgeous-- and, of course, although I'm biased, once I finish it, I believe you'll agree.  It is a multi-media, multi-textured wall hanging which will make it unusual and interesting, to say the least.

August 21, 2008

Politics??

Strange fellows, bedded or otherwise!!  I had to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy because our health insurance changed recently.  I saw two young men nearby in a short-sleeved shirt with all kinds of ribbons and medals on their chests-- one even had braid around his shoulder!  They looked soooo smart!!  I asked what branch of the service they were in and they proudly said that they belonged in the Air Force.  "But you're so young," I said.  To which one replied by telling me that they went to the local high school that had an ROTC program. 

ROTC in High School?  They aren't even waiting for our babies to graduate high school before they get "their" hands on them!!

The gentleman ahead of me in line and I then started having a discussion about politics, the 60s and 70s and young men and women going off to war.  You guessed it: NEITHER of us approved of the war in Iraq or that these young men were (more than likely but literally) going to never see their mid-twenties if our government keeps on having wars with other countries.

George W, a very foolish man, had to start a war with Hussein who has long-since died but, our men and women are still over there and still dying and being injured.  This is not good.  In some free time a few weeks back, I watched the movie "Fahrenheit 911" (if you haven't seen it, please do, especially before you vote!!!).  Yes, I learned some things I didn't know but mostly, I was appalled at the things that were documented in this movie.

Cheney is/was in the Bushes' pockets long before he was Vice President and, of course, the beat goes on.  McCain was in the Bushes' pockets and now they're in his-- no wonder he doesn't want Arabian oil (not that it makes a difference-- everyone's invested in everyone else's oil business anyway!!)-- George wouldn't make any MORE money from it.

Obama is not a whole lot better.  He doesn't have ANY experience when it comes to foreign policy or knowing what will really work to "save" our economy.  The only good thing about Obama, or any other candidate other than McCain is that voting for he/she/it is a vote against McCain.  McCain wants to continue the war in Iraq-- of course, he's in his 70s now and can't fight himself so he's willing to sacrifice our babies in his stead-- just like George.

I once said that I was going to go with a write-in vote for Al Gore-- Gore's science isn't accurate, according to my hubby but then, Gore took _*Political*_ Science in college, not _*REAL*_ science.  He didn't actually do the research involved in "An Inconvenient Truth"-- he was merely a believable spokesperson. 

I don't know who I'll vote for but I won't be voting for McCain-- I'll be voting against him, no matter whom I actually cast my vote for in the election.



August 20, 2008

I'm Back

So I've been thinking . . . yes, it is a dangerous game, isn't it?  I've decided that other than making a few comments about life in general, I won't be getting into specifics but, let me tell you what I think about stuff and I am all IN, if you know what I mean!!

Reaching into the bag of tricks that tops my head, I remember writing something I wrote back in June of 2000 (scroll down the page a bit to Sunday's entry). We were on a camping trip (which would not be easy to do with Lucy the Guard Dog and thus, we haven't done it since we've been in Maryland) in which I found a private cathedral that I shared with several hundred people, animals and insects.  I remember very clearly that cathedral-- it was awesome and probably still is although a little bigger.

This comes to mind because I recently had a conversation with someone who was of like mind with me: I am spiritual but not religious.  I do not believe in an organized religion.  Organized Religions tend to judge people, mostly in a passive manner, on their lifestyle or thoughts or actions.  Me?  I don't think that's my job.  I think that's what God has for His job.  Since He didn't hire me for that job, I won't be passing judgment on people.

I have been questioned by some as to why I'm not as religious as my sisters or brother or whatever.  You see?  There "they" go passing judgment!  I'm not as religious because I don't "believe" in a religion.  I believe in God and all that He controls in my life including the things that seem like are out of control in my life, He does have control.

Everything happens for a reason-- how many times have you heard that?  I know-- if I only had a nickle, we could both retire!  Sometimes the reason that things happen is a bitter pill to swallow but, it is nonetheless a pill that needs to be swallowed so pass the water and we'll gulp together!!

God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good.

Next up?  How about Politics!!