I can't keep the same things in the same places for very long unless they are strictly functional. Every now and again, I need a change of scenery. The only room in our house that stays pretty much the same is our music/reading room. I know it sounds grand but it's a pretty humble 12' x 12' room. It doesn't change much because it's the only room that I have been able to decorate exactly like I planned. I said all that to say this: I decided it was time to change the background on my blog.
Have any of you ever gone through the myriad pages of blogger backgrounds at a place like www.pimp-my-profile.com ? It's a time consuming process. Unless you know exactly what you're looking for, plan to spend a couple of hours looking for just the right background. (And if you have dial-up, don't even bother.) I finally figured out it was best to keep a pen and some paper handy to write down the titles I liked and the pages I found them on. Today I listed a total of 11 and went through "I don't know how many" pages to find them. The elements won because it's a simple layout in colors I like and you can see the words. I realized my old background was just too difficult to decipher.
We did have a pretty good weekend. We shared supper with friends on Friday night and had some more friends over to share supper with us on Saturday night. It was nice to be able to do that. Anything that you already enjoy is better if it's shared with a friend, don't you think? I think I might try to do some more scrapbooking today. I have a nasty headache and the weather is chilly and I just want to crash. But if I do that, I won't be able to sleep well tonight. And we have school tomorrow. Hmmm, speaking of school...I need to get lesson plans done and graded work needs to be listed in the book. I guess a woman's work really isn't ever done. :) Talk to you guys later.
Laugh a lot!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
1 Part Humor and 2 Parts Common Sense?
I got this in an email from a friend and cousin. Thought I'd share it with my you, my two faithful followers and any other straggling stranger to my murky musings. :)
Florida’s St. Petersburg Times recently asked its readers for ideas on fixing the economy. One response:
_____
Dear Mr. President,
Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings = Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered = Auto industry fixed..
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage = Housing crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!!
P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes....
Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!
Florida’s St. Petersburg Times recently asked its readers for ideas on fixing the economy. One response:
_____
Dear Mr. President,
Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings = Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered = Auto industry fixed..
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage = Housing crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!!
P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes....
Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Why Help Haiti When We Have Hurting People In Our Own Country?
One of my dear friends (who is my one and only firned) posted a 'forward' status. You know, one of those "99.9% of people are cowards and they won't post this" forwards. I usually ignore those since I disagree with so many of them. I don't harbor sour feelings against anyone who does post these or who's feelings differ from mine. They have as much right to post any status as I do. Having said that, I would like to put down my thoughts on this recent 'forward' status and then I might attack a few more of them, just for some twisted fun. :) (And a heads up to my dear firned, this is not aimed at anyone in particular and most especially not at you. Love you, my firned!)
Here is the status that went up today: Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won't have the guts to copy and repost this
My rebuttal: My first problem with this status is that last statement that you always see on these statuses. It calls me a coward! How dare it! It's not bad enough I get bombarded by tv shows and video games and movies and music and emails that all come against my happy little bubble, but now I have to add fb statuses to that list! How wrong is that?
We do live in a country that is unprecedented in privilege and human rights. And we've lived this way so long we don't understand how anyone else can't see the 'rightness' of our ways. How arrogant! How conceited! How much we take for granted. We are living on the edge of a precipice and the abyss is waiting to swallow us whole. But that doesn't mean I will sit around and not help when I see a need, a genuine, honest-to-goodness need. If your desire is to help the people in our own country, then do it! Don't berate others for making a choice to help in a different area! What if we all chose to help disadvantaged teens. Then what would happen to breast cancer research? What would happen to the World Wildlife Fund? What would happen to the rain forests? All these causes have their place. And we are so blessed to have such a diverse community that we can all help in some way. Why do we disparage the choices of others?
Now that I’ve tackled that part of this little problem-I replied to that status with this sarcastic comment. “See the thing is this. Most people here have jobs. And they can't understand why someone else doesn't have a job. They figure that person wasn't trying hard enough or else they must not care. And as for the homeless, it's their own fault of course. They should have handled their money better, right? (end sarcasm)
We all have the same rights and privileges as all the rest of the people who are citizens of our Nation. We can either choose to give up when bad things happen to us. Or we can choose to fight through those bad times to get to the good ones. I'm not saying there are no exceptions. There are always exceptions to the rule. The exceptions are just harder to find b/c of all the people who are the 'rule'. Until Obama has his way with the slaughter of our rights as a Nation, we all have the same possibility to succeed. The people in Haiti had a major disaster hit them. Why is it so wrong to help people who have a genuine need?
If you don’t believe me about Obama taking away our rights, if you don’t think he can, you should check out these links. These links will take you to info about how the UN plans to confiscate our guns (first link), an executive order to create a 'council of governors' to usurp the power of our senators and representatives and also demolish the states' rights (second link), an order allowing INTERPOL to invade our privacy (third link), and one more verifying link about our President's plan to let INTERPOL invade our privacy (fourth link).
http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/hostedemail/email.htm?h=0e2e19eb79463ccc98246e0d70ab7e17&CID=5589975108&ch=20346EBC934F8E7A034D958C48EE534E
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/2010executive_order.pdf
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-amending-executive-order-12425 (Amending of EO 12425)
http://threatswatch.org/analysis/2009/12/wither-sovereignty/ (More info on the amending of EO12425)
And that’s all I’m going to say on that score because concerning Obama, he’s not going to let anyone stop his agenda at this point. He will rip our country to shreds unless something drastic happens.
My friend is among the thousands of people who feel that their $10 could be put to better use somewhere else and that’s ok. But she also felt that her $10 wouldn’t make that much difference. I disagree. If $10 can buy 8 gallons of water or 6 packages of ground meat or a 20 pound bag of potatoes, that’s definitely something. $10 is $10 and it's still $10 more or $10 less than what they had before. We chose to make a donation b/c we couldn't actively go down there to help out. And honestly, I'd do that. I'll donate money when I feel there is a real need and sometimes, I'll donate money just because I feel like it. Everyone has to decide which cause is worthy on their own, though. And to disparage another person’s choice is a miserable thing to do.
Spreading misery doesn’t help anyone and only tears down those who choose to believe in it. One shame that our United States must own to is the tearing down of the spirits of her own people. Heaven forbid someone choose to be different! Heaven forbid someone choose to take a stand for someone or something that’s been disparaged by the masses! Heaven forbid we actually take literally all those rights we /are/ entitled to. And for the record, only CITIZENS (legal citizens, thank you) are entitled to these rights. If you want to talk about problems in our country, let’s talk about giving our rights away to illegal aliens in our country or the unconstitutional acts of the man who is supposed to be protecting our rights. But that’s another blog for another time.
Here is the status that went up today: Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won't have the guts to copy and repost this
My rebuttal: My first problem with this status is that last statement that you always see on these statuses. It calls me a coward! How dare it! It's not bad enough I get bombarded by tv shows and video games and movies and music and emails that all come against my happy little bubble, but now I have to add fb statuses to that list! How wrong is that?
We do live in a country that is unprecedented in privilege and human rights. And we've lived this way so long we don't understand how anyone else can't see the 'rightness' of our ways. How arrogant! How conceited! How much we take for granted. We are living on the edge of a precipice and the abyss is waiting to swallow us whole. But that doesn't mean I will sit around and not help when I see a need, a genuine, honest-to-goodness need. If your desire is to help the people in our own country, then do it! Don't berate others for making a choice to help in a different area! What if we all chose to help disadvantaged teens. Then what would happen to breast cancer research? What would happen to the World Wildlife Fund? What would happen to the rain forests? All these causes have their place. And we are so blessed to have such a diverse community that we can all help in some way. Why do we disparage the choices of others?
Now that I’ve tackled that part of this little problem-I replied to that status with this sarcastic comment. “See the thing is this. Most people here have jobs. And they can't understand why someone else doesn't have a job. They figure that person wasn't trying hard enough or else they must not care. And as for the homeless, it's their own fault of course. They should have handled their money better, right? (end sarcasm)
We all have the same rights and privileges as all the rest of the people who are citizens of our Nation. We can either choose to give up when bad things happen to us. Or we can choose to fight through those bad times to get to the good ones. I'm not saying there are no exceptions. There are always exceptions to the rule. The exceptions are just harder to find b/c of all the people who are the 'rule'. Until Obama has his way with the slaughter of our rights as a Nation, we all have the same possibility to succeed. The people in Haiti had a major disaster hit them. Why is it so wrong to help people who have a genuine need?
If you don’t believe me about Obama taking away our rights, if you don’t think he can, you should check out these links. These links will take you to info about how the UN plans to confiscate our guns (first link), an executive order to create a 'council of governors' to usurp the power of our senators and representatives and also demolish the states' rights (second link), an order allowing INTERPOL to invade our privacy (third link), and one more verifying link about our President's plan to let INTERPOL invade our privacy (fourth link).
http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/hostedemail/email.htm?h=0e2e19eb79463ccc98246e0d70ab7e17&CID=5589975108&ch=20346EBC934F8E7A034D958C48EE534E
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/2010executive_order.pdf
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-amending-executive-order-12425 (Amending of EO 12425)
http://threatswatch.org/analysis/2009/12/wither-sovereignty/ (More info on the amending of EO12425)
And that’s all I’m going to say on that score because concerning Obama, he’s not going to let anyone stop his agenda at this point. He will rip our country to shreds unless something drastic happens.
My friend is among the thousands of people who feel that their $10 could be put to better use somewhere else and that’s ok. But she also felt that her $10 wouldn’t make that much difference. I disagree. If $10 can buy 8 gallons of water or 6 packages of ground meat or a 20 pound bag of potatoes, that’s definitely something. $10 is $10 and it's still $10 more or $10 less than what they had before. We chose to make a donation b/c we couldn't actively go down there to help out. And honestly, I'd do that. I'll donate money when I feel there is a real need and sometimes, I'll donate money just because I feel like it. Everyone has to decide which cause is worthy on their own, though. And to disparage another person’s choice is a miserable thing to do.
Spreading misery doesn’t help anyone and only tears down those who choose to believe in it. One shame that our United States must own to is the tearing down of the spirits of her own people. Heaven forbid someone choose to be different! Heaven forbid someone choose to take a stand for someone or something that’s been disparaged by the masses! Heaven forbid we actually take literally all those rights we /are/ entitled to. And for the record, only CITIZENS (legal citizens, thank you) are entitled to these rights. If you want to talk about problems in our country, let’s talk about giving our rights away to illegal aliens in our country or the unconstitutional acts of the man who is supposed to be protecting our rights. But that’s another blog for another time.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Creative Energies! Aw, rats! LOL
If you thought you'd be reading a blog that worked with clock-like regular postings, you were mistaken. Did I ever mention that I have a problem with focus? :) I stay pretty busy with little nothings and many times nothing really gets completely finished. Sometimes that frustrates me to the core but most of the time, I just ignore it and move on.
One place I can't allow that to happen is in my schoolroom. Sometimes I have to really MAKE myself focus on what needs to be accomplished for the day. And thankfully, it works more often than not. We've been doing well with our lessons since we started a new year and we were doing pretty well before the last one ended. I will now pause for a smile. :)
I woke up this morning feeling really good. I mean I felt really good, at peace with myself and my surroundings and just really good. I was ready to jump through hoops this morning! Then my 5 yr. old (The Ro) decided to pitch a major fit. Her brother (NoJo) tried to help her with something she was trying to do. She was making a watery mess. He saved her behind, really. But that was just so totally unacceptable to her so she started screeching at him. I was unable to attend to the situation just right at that moment and my husband was at the college taking care of his classes for the day so he couldn't really help out either. So I yell at them to just be quiet and I'll take care of it when I can get there. The Ro can't wait to tattle on NoJo since she is truly convinced he's wronged her in the extreme. She comes to meet me and I have to get her to look me in the eye. It was quite a job convincing her that her method was fallible and her brother had done nothing wrong. And I still think she wasn't totally convinced I was right. She went right back to telling him to apologize. He replied, "For helping you?" I really do think he was quite confused this time. He's 13 and pretty practical for his age.
"What did she do?" you may be asking. She had wet a washcloth and was washing her whiteboard with it. This doesn't sound really awful, does it? Except she was washing her whiteboard in my living room on my carpet. :) NoJo realized this was a very bad thing. He took the washcloth away from her and brought it back to the kitchen. That's it. That's all he did. Oh! And he tried to explain that she was getting water everywhere and making everything soaking wet. What she didn't realize was that she should've been worshiping at his feet since he'd saved her from 'the wrath of the mom-demon'.
So after that long, drawn-out, dramatic episode, I was /really/ in the mood to enjoy school. We did school and got that done for the day. I got a quick shower, washed a load of dishes and cleaned the hall bathroom. I taught a piano lesson after all that. Here's a bright note. I have one new student and 3 more interested. This is indeed a very bright note. :)
On days like today, I just feel like I need to do something really energetic like planting a garden or herding sheep. Why the snicker? If you knew me really well, you'd know how awful I am at growing anything except bulbs and I'm not really an animal person. They are OK if they live outside and can take care of themselves or if they are behind fences at the zoo. They are just a bit too unpredictable for me. I might do alright herding sheep but I'm really not sure. Anyone else ever feel like the first sentence of this paragraph?
Right now I'm listening to one of my favorite songs by the Newsboys: "Lead Me To The Cross" and I know what some of you may be thinking. But really, it is a great song beautifully written with very lovely lyrics and it really speaks to me. That last bit is what won me over. :) Before that Sting and the Chieftains were singing "Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero)". As you can see, my taste in music ranges wildly all over the place. That has also been a great topic of conversation with several of our friends and it is really a help when you have friends that only like a certain genre.
Well, I will try to post more often for you, my two faithful followers. LOL And I hope to be able to keep my posts honest and down to earth...OK, well honest. Talk to you soon.
Laugh a Lot
One place I can't allow that to happen is in my schoolroom. Sometimes I have to really MAKE myself focus on what needs to be accomplished for the day. And thankfully, it works more often than not. We've been doing well with our lessons since we started a new year and we were doing pretty well before the last one ended. I will now pause for a smile. :)
I woke up this morning feeling really good. I mean I felt really good, at peace with myself and my surroundings and just really good. I was ready to jump through hoops this morning! Then my 5 yr. old (The Ro) decided to pitch a major fit. Her brother (NoJo) tried to help her with something she was trying to do. She was making a watery mess. He saved her behind, really. But that was just so totally unacceptable to her so she started screeching at him. I was unable to attend to the situation just right at that moment and my husband was at the college taking care of his classes for the day so he couldn't really help out either. So I yell at them to just be quiet and I'll take care of it when I can get there. The Ro can't wait to tattle on NoJo since she is truly convinced he's wronged her in the extreme. She comes to meet me and I have to get her to look me in the eye. It was quite a job convincing her that her method was fallible and her brother had done nothing wrong. And I still think she wasn't totally convinced I was right. She went right back to telling him to apologize. He replied, "For helping you?" I really do think he was quite confused this time. He's 13 and pretty practical for his age.
"What did she do?" you may be asking. She had wet a washcloth and was washing her whiteboard with it. This doesn't sound really awful, does it? Except she was washing her whiteboard in my living room on my carpet. :) NoJo realized this was a very bad thing. He took the washcloth away from her and brought it back to the kitchen. That's it. That's all he did. Oh! And he tried to explain that she was getting water everywhere and making everything soaking wet. What she didn't realize was that she should've been worshiping at his feet since he'd saved her from 'the wrath of the mom-demon'.
So after that long, drawn-out, dramatic episode, I was /really/ in the mood to enjoy school. We did school and got that done for the day. I got a quick shower, washed a load of dishes and cleaned the hall bathroom. I taught a piano lesson after all that. Here's a bright note. I have one new student and 3 more interested. This is indeed a very bright note. :)
On days like today, I just feel like I need to do something really energetic like planting a garden or herding sheep.
Right now I'm listening to one of my favorite songs by the Newsboys: "Lead Me To The Cross" and I know what some of you may be thinking. But really, it is a great song beautifully written with very lovely lyrics and it really speaks to me. That last bit is what won me over. :) Before that Sting and the Chieftains were singing "Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero)". As you can see, my taste in music ranges wildly all over the place. That has also been a great topic of conversation with several of our friends and it is really a help when you have friends that only like a certain genre.
Well, I will try to post more often for you, my two faithful followers. LOL And I hope to be able to keep my posts honest and down to earth...OK, well honest. Talk to you soon.
Laugh a Lot
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