Good - Bye 2008

This is a very short version of a DVD I made for my Mom and Dad for Christmas. I took pictures from Dec 25, 2007 until Dec 24, 2008 and put them on a DVD. The full version was over 53 minutes. This is my family and I love them all.

Mid- Life Crisis?

I used to think the talk about mid-life crisis was basically BS. It was someone's excuse to piss off on their responsibilities and relive their youth. Yeah, I really used to think that. I thought that at 16, at 18, at 21, at 25, at 30, and even at 35. So what has changed? I am 38 now.

In all honesty, when I was 16 I thought someone 40 was really old! Now I realize it isn't that they were really old it was the burdens of life suck the life out of you by the time you are 40. The mid life crisis thing is simply realizing that. It is that point in your life I think between 38 and 45 where you ask yourself " What the hell am I doing here?". Then you realize that almost half of your life is gone, you can't get it back. It doesn't matter if you buy the coolest trendy clothes and get the newest hot hair style, time goes forward. I can go to the mall, put my flintstone feet in stilleto heels again, tight jeans, a low cut blouse and spend more money than I should. But when I come home I will still have a mortgage, a car payment, 2 kids (one that is 15!) , a husband, and a driver's license that says I am 38.
The other part of this crisis I call the 'oh shit factor'. This when you realize you don't get to get in your car and drive away from life's problems, realities. You have to be the responsible person your parents worked so hard to make you become. As they say "This is where the rubber hits the road.". This is when you find out just how valuable life and time truly is. This is when you really begin to live and know how very precious every moment with someone is. You know this reality because this is when you recognize your own mortality.
If we are lucky we come through this crisis like others and end up better people on the other side. That is really all we can hope for.

Happy Birthday!!! 12/20/08

Happy Birthday to my Aunt Joan and to my niece Lucy !!! I love you both and hope you both have a wonderful day.

Happy Anniversary! 19 years

This song is from the movie "Chances Are" it is sung by Cher and Peter Cetera. It came out in 1989, the same year I got married. December 18, 1989 what a day. Do I love Sean now like I did then? No. I love him so much more. He is truly so much more than I ever could have hoped for. It takes a really secure and strong man to be with a woman like me. He is that and so much more. He stands by me when lesser men would have ran away as fast as they could. I love him. I trust him. I admire him.

He looks at me and he sees the person I can only dream of becoming. But he sees me that way now and I love him for it.

Keep it together

They say the #1 cause of divorce is finances, The Most Frequent Cause of Divorce - Associated Content . Money, or rather the lack of money is the cause. When there isn't enough money to pay the bills people get stressed. If you add a couple of kids to that situation then you have major problems. So far this over 1.9 million Americans have lost their jobs. I wonder how many of those people are married. I wonder how many will still be married to each other a year from now. I suppose some may still be married due to the fact that getting a divorce cost to much!

In 1988 a movie came out called 'Things Change' starring Don Ameche. The signature phrase in that movie was "things change". I try to tell myself that during rough patches. Things change, they will get better. To everyone that has lost their jobs and those that are the list to be soon unemployed - hold on, it will get better because things change.

I'm Calling All Angels

Of all the pages in the Bible, all the chapters, and all the verses this is this the one that means the absolute most to me.

Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
The Sheep and the Goats

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

I love these guys!

I got to meet Jackie and Dunlap for my birthday. These are two great guys and a lot of fun. I love the line about granny going to Tunica with her church group. I must admit I was in Tunica (Las Vegas of the South)in Oct. I however didn't go with a church group, I went with family! That's me and my Aunt Shirley in the photo. We were watching my Uncle Johnny play in the World Series of Poker Tournament at the Goldstrike.

Clinic Helps with Medication

I found this article at the Tennessean, Clinic dispenses medicine, hope www.tennessean.com The Tennessean . The nonprofit Primary Care & Hope Clinic in Murfreesboro helps people that have no insurance or are underinsured get their medication.

"The people at the clinic have been busy. They've received more calls for help in recent months than at any time since 1992, said Lisa Terry, the agency's CEO and a family nurse practitioner who sees patients.
"We can only service people based on the money we get. A lot of our funding has decreased because a lot of money comes from private donations, and they've been down," Terry said.

The nonprofit serves people without medical insurance or those who are underinsured, Terry said. It helps them enroll in prescription discount programs offered by pharmaceutical companies and provides primary care and referrals to other providers. "

If you need their help or if you can donate to them here is there is their website :

Primary Care & Hope Clinic phone # 615-893-9390

Feel Good Friday 12/12/08

It's feel good Friday and we have snow.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

It is the first snow. We've been praying for it to start feeling like Christmas. Looks like some prayers have been answered. In my family we call it "a win". You take hit after hit of bad news. There is only so much people can take before they need some glimmer of hope. It doesn't matter how big or small, sometimes we just need a win. So, yes seeing my two healthy kids outside playing in the snow, yeah that is a huge win. Ok, so I have a cold, my throat is killing me, my eyes hurt, my head hurts, my sinus are about to exploded but watching those girls I felt no pain. Their joy can take away my pain. We are still here, we are together, we are strong, we are a family. Merry Christmas.

Scrooged

This is my favorite Christmas movie!! I love Bill Murray. If you haven't seen it you need to.

One of my favorites

This is one of favorite Christmas songs.

Does it feel like Christmas to you?

Well, does it feel like Christmas to you? I still do not have my tree up yet. I don't have one bit of Christmas decoration out, unless you count the Santa Claus on the shelf that I didn't pack from last year. Maybe it is because my kids are getting older? I don't know. Could it be because money is especially tight right now? That probably is a big part of it. But we have had harder times and we have always made it through. I told my husband tonight, I have my family what more could I possibly want. And I do not say that because it sounds like what people are supposed to say. For those that know me, you know I don't tell people what they want to hear. I simply tell them as I see it. How do you smile, sing, and shop when you know this will be the last Christmas of someone you love? What gift do you give this person? The one thing they want more than anything in the world and I can't give it. Time.
I tell myself "put your big girl panties on and suck it up" and I get through another day. I don't want to shop, I do not want to sing, and I sure as hell do not feel like smiling. But I do. Or at least I do the best I can. I suppose that means I am the grown up. The older I get , the less I want to be the grown up.

Stealing Sucks!

Ok, let me explain. Yesterday I had to cancel my debit card. Why? Oh, because a thief thought what they wanted was more important than what I needed that money for. Was it a great deal of money? Well, that depends on who you ask. For me, I will be ok. And both my bank and the company where the card was used have both assured me the money would be returned to my account. You see, it wasn't like this person used the card to purchase food, enfamil, or diapers. No, they used it for a subscription to a web site. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Now, you want to know what really really pissed me off about them doing this? I had to call St. Jude and tell them that the monthly donation they get from my card would not be there. That the card has been cancelled and will not work. Yeah, someone's thieving subscription to a web site was more important to them than money going to children dying of cancer. Karma can be a true blessing or it can be a bitch in heat. In this case I do hope karma is the latter and bites this person in the ass because it was more than stealing from me, it was keeping money from St. Jude's.

Photo is from St. Jude's Children Hospital of 11-year-old Alaina Coleman

They were RIGHT

THEY WERE RIGHT! It is that simple. People were screaming about our soldiers fighting for our rights BUT heaven forbid someone actually use the freedom speech. I suppose to those people you have the freedom of speech as long you only say what THEY want you to. Doesn't sound much like freedom to me. Perhaps if some of those with simple minds that flipped their lids over the Dixie Chicks had listened to what they were saying we would NOT be in the hell hole of this economic recession/depression that we are now in. For those that hate (isn't that a nice Christian feeling) the Dixie Chicks, know this, you hate 3 women while there are MANY MANY MANY people in this nation and around the world that BLAME you for the circumstances this nation is now in for you having backed Bush. Have fun owning that. I see the things as they are with Republicans that scream about bleeding heart liberals and our programs. The republicans that now ,because of Bush's policies, have to go file for food stamps, welfare, unemployment, bankruptcy protection, etc. So, thank Bush that you have to file for these programs and thank those bleeding heart liberals that you hate so much that those programs are there to feed your family.

Taking care of our own? Yeah right!

That's a nice wish now isn't it. Or how about the Republican mantra of how they "support the troops"? Want to see how they support the troops? Yes? Then just look at the Tennessean ( Tennessee sees record number of people on food stamps www.tennessean.com The Tennessean ) . Here is snip from that article: Tony Clifford never thought he would have to ask anybody for help like this. But the Bellevue resident, a disabled Iraq war veteran who now works as a carpenter, is feeling the effects of the housing meltdown.
He and his 3-year-old son downsized into a smaller home, and canceled cable TV, phone and Internet service. Now he is trying to enroll in the food stamp program here so that his son will have nutritious meals.
"I always had too much pride to ask for help. I always felt I could pay my bills, but not now, not on a single income," Clifford said. "I'm not asking for a handout. I'm just trying to stand back up. It's kind of one of the ultimate kicks to the groin to ask for help. It's deplorable that people who haven't needed to ask for help now need it, and I think it's going to be a continuing trend." Wow! I can honestly say I did underestimate George W. Bush. In fact, I didn't think anyone could do as much damage to this nation as this man has done. I guess he was also extra special because he managed to do it all in 8 yrs time. Amazing! As of Oct. in Tn we have 443,115 households on food stamps that is an increase from January's 404,541 households. The monthly value of these food stamps is $8,388,607.00 . So, before anyone can start whining and crying about the money we are spending to feed AMERICANS and OUR VETERANS and our SOLDIERS let's just look at some numbers really fast. $8,388,607.00 is for 1 month of food. Here is another number for you $238,425 that's how much we spend PER MINUTE in Iraq. $238,425 PER MINUTE!!! In case you are wondering , that means we could feed these families here in Tennessee in the USA for 1 YEAR for what we spend in IRAQ in SEVEN HOURS!! Pretty disgusting if you ask me.

'Right of Conscience'

I was reading an article this morning from the Los Angeles Times (Broader medical refusal rule may go far beyond abortion - Los Angeles Times ). Here is a snip it- By David G. Savage December 2, 2008
"Reporting from Washington -- The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new "right of conscience" rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable, including abortion and possibly even artificial insemination and birth control." Oh my God! Are you kidding me? Where will this slippery slope end? A procedure they find morally objectionable , huh. Could that mean someone that is a racist would not have to save the life a non Aryan person? Morally objectionable? AIDS treatment? Treatment of any STD could be deemed morally objectionable to some. How about treating someone that is a heroine junkie? Morally objectionable. Oh, how about not having to working on drunk drivers anymore? Or what about the Muslim doctor that does not want to do Emergency surgery on local bigot Christian Minister and that doctor is the only one in the area qualified to do it? BUT it can now be deemed morally objectionable to this doctor. These holier than thou people always start this garbage, but THEN when they need the medical it is different. The laws they want to inflict on everyone else do not apply to them. For pro-life Bob Barr it was OK for his wife to have a safe and legal abortion, BUT NO ONE else should have that same choice. For people that have been able to have children do to the research of scientist that was a blessing for them but it should stop there. That is what they said when they stood with President Bush fighting against stem cell research. How quickly they forget when test tube babies were a new thing people asked if those children would even have a soul. For Tom DeLay , when it was time to end his fathers life it was a " private matter" and it was OK to pull the plug. However, for the rest of us DeLay thought it should be a public matter and that the Federal Government should decide, not family (Terri Schiavo, for those that have forgotten). So, excuse me if I have NO respect for those that are pushing this rule. I do wonder what they would think if President Bush was rushed to the hospital and doctor refused to help him because it was morally objectionable to save the life of someone that has overseen the death of so many Americans. I must wonder what they would think of their wonderful rule then. Not that I expect anyone from the "religious right" or Bush Administration to think that far out. I mean they have not so far, so why start now!