Random Acts of Blogging

I have a couple of different things on my mind. Hold on for totally unrelated topics.

We've gotten a couple of interesting phone calls and pieces of mail. They all relate to us being great customers. The first call was from one of our credit card companies. If I signed up to have them automatically debit my payment from my account, I would be eligible for a rate decrease to 9.99%. Although that sounds like a great deal, why didn't you just offer that to me instead of telling my I have to sign up for some bogus payment plan to get it? If I'm such a great customer, why don't I automatically qualify? When I asked that question, the lady on the phone actually sounded like she was offended. I'm just saying.

The other two were pieces of mail that said since we were such great customers, we were eligible for a free cell phone (if we signed a new agreement and added a line) or get a credit for paying more than the minimum payment due on a credit card (but we can't use the card and after four months, they will cut our credit limit). In the first place, we don't need another line on our cell account. And secondly, I already pay more than the minimum and my limit hasn't been cut, but has actually more than doubled. If we are such great customers, why aren't we eligible for a free phone without having to sign a new contract and adding a line? If we are such great customers, why aren't you already giving me a credit for any extra and leaving my credit line alone? Yep, that sounds like a plan I want. Not really.

Our washer took a dump. It makes this horrible grinding noise when it agitates or spins. I figure it's a belt of some sort that isn't turning or whatever. Now we have to decide if we fix it or get a new one. We had to go to the laundrymat Sunday (joy) to finish the laundry that is now piled up on the love seat in the living room. I need to get to it, but I'd rather blog. Today is about research on the computer to see if I can find a cheap one.

I got the big girl's portfolio put together. I had to get a 3" binder to fit it all in. But there is still the curriculum and workbooks that she got to write in. We did a lot of work. There is also our three lap books that we did, our co-op binder that has their co-op work in it, and a folder that one of our co-op moms put together for each kid. I need to do the boy's, but that will probably be tomorrow. It took me long enough to get the big girl's stuff organized. I had most of it in an accordian file, but I ran out room. Then I just started stacking stuff. I had to sort through all of it, put it in a pile for each child, then separate each pile by subject. Yuck. But, one down, one to go.

I have a wish list for our next school year. We need 3-3" binders, an easel for the dry erase board, new dry erase markers, printer cartridges for both printers, and colored card stock for lapbooks. I would also like a new camera that also takes video, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. If anybody would like to make donations, please feel free. I don't need as much paper this year because the kids will be working in their books this year. I would also love to have a gift card to Books a Million or Borders. Borders gives us a homeschool discount, but they are a little far away. I think Books a Million has a teacher discount card, but I sure don't want to pay for one every year. It's a discount card for heaven's sake. They shouldn't cost anything.

There was a posting on our chat board about looking for insurance. I responded with some questions they should ask themselves or their agent. Insurance isn't the easiest thing to navigate through. It's slippery and if you aren't careful, you end up paying for more than you should. I loved working with insurance and helping people understand their policy. The knowledge came in handy when the boy had his appendix out. If I hadn't done insurance billing, we would have been screwed. The customer reps aren't very helpful or full of good info. I have thought of being an advocate for people who are fighting bills from hospitals and don't have a clue what they are doing. I do it anyway for friends and family, so why not make a couple of bucks doing something I like?

I am reading two books right now. I am reading "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and "Standing Alone in Mecca". The first is for a book club that I hope to make the meeting. I am enjoying the book so far, but am looking forward to the meeting. I get to spend a few hours with people who have my love of books and have adult conversation. The second book is about a woman who realizes that Islam has changed into what men want it to be, a religion that justifies the subjectification (is that a word) of women. This is about her battle to bring women back to the forefront of Islam instead of shoved in the back. So far, it is very interesting. Since we don't have much to do today and it's raining, I may just spend most of the day with a book in my hands.

I spent a little time this morning filling out those surveys you get on the bottom of your receipts. It would be really nice to actually win one time. What I could do with a $1000 gift card. The grocery money alone would be a bonus. Not having to worry when my kids grow out of their shoes or clothes would be a blessing as well.

That's it for now. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I think there is just one more cup of coffee calling my name. It would only be my second, so not too bad. If I only had a doughnut. That would send me over the edge I think, so no doughnut. For now.

Sneaky, Sneaky: The Update

I finally had my suspicions confirmed. I found out last night that I was right. I love to be able to say that. My friends are opening an umbrella school for homeschoolers. I don't know what it will be called or how it will function, but I do know that I was right.

For those of you who do not know what an umbrella school is, it is a school that covers homeschoolers from the bureaucratic rain. It keeps the records of grades, attendance, and can also issue a diploma. It is like a private school, just not always with classes. You can still pick your own curricula, they just do all your record keeping.

Good luck and God's grace, my friends. I hope that all goes well with this new endeavor. I am certainly rooting for you and may need your services in the next couple of years. Enjoy yourselves, and I hope you have outstanding results.

Getting Healthy

Did anyone see Michelle Obama on GMA this morning? What a load of crap came out of her mouth. There she was spouting rhetoric. What really got me was the following comment: "Americans need to exercise more and eat better." We are apparently too stupid to figure that out. Here are some of my suggestions regarding that.

Tell all of our happy corn growers that they need to grow corn that we can eat, not make into high fructose corn syrup. That is definitely the first thing that should come out of food. Corn in and of itself is not that bad. It isn't the best, but when you smother it in butter and salt, that doesn't make it any healthier. I will say that I enjoy mine that way. I don't eat it every day, only occasionally. But as HFCS, it is horrible for our bodies. Look at the ingredients for most foods that are on the grocery store shelves, and you will see that it is in most everything we eat.

I have another suggestion that might help. Put PE back in schools. I don't mean that mamby pamby ten minutes of moving that the state of Florida requires, I mean real PE. You remember physical education in school, right? My PE teachers were always coaches and they made us work our butts off for 45 minutes Monday through Friday. Isn't the recommendation 20 minutes a day or something like that? I know that PE would interrupt the learning process (lame excuse for cutting it) and is expensive (budget cuts being what they are, that usually gets cut right after the arts). It actually helps the learning process and helps the kids focus more.

Since they are trying to talk health care reform, how about lower premiums for those that are overweight and choose to lose the weight by being physical and eating better? Health care is so expensive today, we could all use a break. The economy isn't getting any better, wouldn't this be a good jump start? We could revolutionize the grocery suppliers and food growers into cutting the junk and helping us out.

How about incentives for food growers and suppliers that cut the amount of artificial junk that is in their products and growing organically? Don't process and refine the sugar, use it the way God made it. That is a novel idea. Quit altering the genetic make up of food to make it bigger, better, and faster. What was wrong with a beautiful red tomato that actually had flavor? I will not buy produce in the store anymore because it tastes like a cardboard box. If you look at the foods that are organic, natural, or just plain better for you, it's more expensive. It's hard for a family to eat good stuff when it's too expensive to think about buying. Making good food affordable seems pretty simple to me.

The next thing you know, they will be mandating that we all exercise and our kids, too. I dance, my kids dance, and hubby walks at least 2 miles a day while he's working. Do we really need to mandate common sense? I would love to know how that would get implemented. Neighbor reporting neighbor for not walking around the block 4 times like the law says? Not to mention that I volunteer at VBS and chase kids at our after school program at church. Who's going to decide what's exercise and what's not? They tried that when I was in high school. Marching band wasn't exercise, so we had to take a physical fitness test. Thank goodness most people passed and the state quit testing. They may still be doing it, but it's just silly.

I suggest we all take our own health into consideration the next few days. Figure out where you can improve and do it. Don't cop out, make excuses, or just put it off another day. Do something about yourself and see a positive change. Be healthy, be strong. Your changes could influence others to get healthy. Then what would they have to gripe about? Honey, don't get me started on something else today. It's too much exercise getting up and down on my soap box.

My Dad

I love my Dad. I can't let this day go by without honoring the man that gave me life. "They" say that women marry men like their fathers. I did. I married a man who is kind, caring, loving, funny, handsome, and stubborn as the day is long. I married a man just like my Dad. I wouldn't have it any other way.

My Mom and Dad were divorced when I was very young. I grew up seeing my Day during the summers and whenever I could. My Dad was in the Air Force for 22 years. I will say that I have never seen a man who looked as good in a uniform as my Dad. He had a way of making his uniform look proud to be on his body. My father carried himself with dignity, honor, and a whole lot of whoop ass. I have spent a lot of time on Air Force bases around the country and there was no one like my Dad.

I only have one memory of my Dad spanking me. Big Sis and I were living with him at the time, if I remember right, and we were outside playing with one of the neighbor kids. The UPS man pulled up and the neighbor started calling him Mr. Potato Head. Not to be left out, we did, too. He got mad, asked us where we lived and we told him. We were in big trouble. Dad never needed to do that again. As the years went by, the look on his face when we did something wrong was enough to make us feel very remorseful.

My Dad was always great about being involved in our lives. Even when we were teenagers and not very communicative, he would drag information from us. He treated my sister and I as two seperate people. If he sent her a letter, he sent me one. If he talked to her for twenty minutes on the phone, he talked to me for twenty minutes on the phone. He made sure he had the scoop from both of us. I always thought that was a fantastic thing for him to do.

My Dad took us to Hawaii. I remember going camping at the beach. Yes, I went camping. I was a kid, I didn't know any better. He got me my first coconut from the tree. He split it open, let it dry and cut it up. It was delicious. He took us to see the volcanoes, and the beaches, a luau. They buried a pig in the back yard and it was superb. Go Dad!

I have always loved to listen to my Dad sing and play. He plays by ear and is fantastic. We tried to teach him to read music, but he didn'tlike it. He liked his way better. He can play just about anything with strings. He can play guitar, mandolin, ukelele, and he taught himself how to play the organ. He has such a beautiful voice and can sing almost anything. He is very talented musically. He would play with other Hawaiian friends and it was too incredible to describe. The melodies, the harmonies, the blending of voices and instruments. I always thought my Dad could have been a professional.

My Dad gives the best hugs. He wraps his arms around you as far as they will go and he squeezes. Not too hard, not too soft, but just right. Hugs that are tight enough to make you feel warm and safe and loved. I can never get enough of those. But isn't that the point in being a champion hug giver?

I miss my Dad. I wish he lived closer, or we lived closer, or whatever. I had dreams of him teaching my kids how to play guitar and speak Hawaiian. I would love for my kids to be able to spend years and years and years with my Dad. He has always been my ideal and my dream for the father of my kids and I am lucky enough to have that.

Thanks Dad for loving me. Thanks, Dad, for always being a phone call away. Thanks Dad for being My Dad. I love you!

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

I read an interesting letter that a gentleman wrote as an open letter to President Obama. The man who wrote the letter is a well respected business man who is a high level executive with Proctor and Gamble if I'm not mistaken. I asked my friend for a copy to have with me, but we both forgot. I will try to summarize the letter with this blog. I cannot fit it all in here, but I will hit the high points.

The letter was basically a wake up call to America and Obama about the state of our union and how quickly we can let things slip past us. I am concerned about my family, and about what we call "the American way of life". It seems that if we do not wake up and pay attention, then we "will all lose the freedoms that our founding fathers deemed a right not a privilege. The letter was about all of the things that scare the author in regards to Obama.

I'm scared because we don't know how you paid for your Ivy League education. I'm scared because you spent most of your formative years with people that do agree with the American way of life and could be called extremists. I am scared because members of your own political party will not stand up to you and your carefree spending. I am scared because you follow the "it's all America's fault" way of thinking, and you broadcast that overseas as well. I'm scared because you have no military training or any idea what it takes to run and lead a military force. I am scared because you have never had employees or had to lead a business. I am scared that you are trying to turn our country into a model of the European countries."

All of these are completely valid points. I am scared as well. I am worried that we are letting a man whose ideals are so far away from the way we should live our lives run our country and change our ideals and morals. I do not want that. I want a person to lead our country back to the greatness that we have had in the past.

What do we really know about the leader of our country? Do we know how he paid for his education? Why did he never show his birth certificate? Why did we allow him to not show his birth certificate? Why do we continue to put on a happy face and not balk at some of his ideas? We are living in a time that is filled with worry about the economy and war and we are so buried in our own misery that we are not seeing the big picture.

Obama was raised by his white grandmother in Hawaii, and yet he denies that part of his heritage each time he is called "African American". He is, just like most of us, a mix of races and cultures. If he were any sort of real man, he would honor all aspects of his heritage. Unfortunatly he chose to ride the race coat tails into the biggest house on the block.

And since he lives in the biggest house on the block, he should be proud to be an American. He should be proud that he lives in the best country in the world. He should be telling people, especially over seas, that we are a strong and proud country. Instead, he touts the same rhetoric that others are spreading about us. That we are weak willed and weak minded is not very positive. Anything bad that happened in a different country is our fault. He has been using that since he was elected. But there are very few that have reported what he does and what he says in an accurate manner. The media is so busy considering the activities of the Gosselins and their eight kids that they just don't have the time to report what our President is doing. Apparently, gossip is more important than the way our country is being run.

Be aware of what is being said by our President and not said by the media. Do not take for granted that he has our best interest in mind. We bought a car maker, yet not one of us will receive a check or new car because of it. Watch where and how much of your money is being spent on crap programs and things that don't matter or are detrimental. Speak your mind while you can. We may not have that right much longer.

Part 7

"Bye, Miss Lydia," called one of the little girls walking out of Lydia's class. Her tap shoes made a little clicking noises as she wandered over to her mother.


"Bye, Tilly. Have a good night." Lydia called after her. She sat to unlace and remove her shoes, glad that the lesson was over. She had made real progress with the kids, and their recital would be soon. Just a little more work and they would be ready. She gathered her bag and jacket, spoke to the teacher that was using the studio next and wandered out to the parking lot, speaking to several of her students and their parents. It wasn't until she was almost to her car that she noticed the tall figure leaning against her door.


"Hey," Tyler said gruffly. She could tell he wasn't really in the mood for pleasantries. "I didn't know that you taught dance class."

"There's a lot you don't know. What's up?" she asked, hoping she could use telekinetic powers to make him move from in front of her door.

"You and I are going to talk," he replied. He held up a hand when she started to protest. "Josie has given us the night off. We need to talk and you know it." She could tell he wasn't going to let it drop.

"Fine. Are you riding with me?"

It was a long fifteen minute ride back to the house. The only words were spoken by Tyler. "I stopped and picked up burgers from the diner and a six pack." They had been spoken in response to her loudly growling stomach. She walked up the stairs to her bedroom to change, trying not to remember the night before. She changed quickly because it was the only thing she could think about.

"Do you want to eat or talk first?" Tyler asked. He had gone even quieter, if that were possible.

"Talk, I guess," she replied. He gestured out back, to the swing. She nodded and headed that way. He followed her, carrying the beer with him.

"Start at why you are so fired up about me leaving. Why are you so mad at me?" Tyler had been torn up in knots all day. He'd wanted to storm into her store and rant and rave at her, but he knew that would never do with her. He wanted to spank her for being hard headed and obstinate, but that just put different pictures in his mind. Instead he had bought her beer and burgers. The rich princess had certainly changed.

"My mom left when I was twelve. No note, no goodbye, no nothing. Six months later she called and wanted my forgiveness. I was devastated. I didn't know how to handle it. I didn't talk to her for a while," she started, pausing to take a sip from the bottle he handed her. "Then my dad made me join an activity when I was a junior. The only thing left was theatre. I loved it. I participated my senior year, too. It gave me confidence again. Then you gave me a ride home."

She paused, thinking about that day. She sipped her beer, watching Tyler drink his. He had been such a good looking young man. Time had only made him better. His face had character, his body firm and chiseled. Time had changed many things.

"You made me realize that I was worthy of love, that I mattered. And then you left," she said softly. "I got over that eventually and started college the next fall. Halfway through my freshman year, Daddy had a stroke." She saw Tyler still, absorbing the news about her father.

"I didn't know," Tyler said. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged, pulling her knees up and close to her chest. She played with the label on the bottle, wishing she were anywhere but here right now. But he wouldn't leave her alone until he heard her story. Lydia took a deep breath and continued.

"I had to come home. Megan was only a sophomore. Mom certainly wasn't coming back, and daddy needed me, too," she exhaled. She remembered her strong father lying in the hospital bed, weak and struggling. It had been painful on so many levels. "Three months later, he had another stroke. That one killed him."

Tyler scooted closer on the swing, draping his arm along the back, resting his hand on her shoulder. It was meant as a comforting gesture, but Lydia was too raw for it to feel that way. She was just glad to finally get all of it off her chest. Maybe he would realize why she needed someone that would stay.

"Daddy was very good at making money, he just wasn't very good at spending it," she started. "We ended up losing the houses, cars, practically everything. The only thing that didn't get touched was Meg's trust fund. I don't understand it, it's all legalese to me. I cashed mine in for Meg and I to live on. It went quick. We had to move schools because Meg was getting harassed. We moved twice, I worked three jobs, and still had to find time to get my sister raised and out of high school."

Tyler could see that there was still hurt there. But there was also strength. She'd had to provide for what was left of her family, and herself, and take on parental responsibilities. "Why didn't you call your mother? Wouldn't she have helped?" Tyler asked. The unladylike snort that came from her was his answer.

"She had already walked out on us once. I wasn't giving her another opportunity. Good, bad, or otherwise, we got through it. Meg got a scholarship to Baylor. We moved to be closer so she could live at home and we didn't have to pay for room and board. We did that for two years, then she kicked me to the curb," she finished. The look on Tyler's face was priceless and Lydia spluttered when she saw it. "Not like that. She was able to transfer to Texas State with her scholarship and I moved here to be closer. She graduated last May and is now working on being a doctor."

There was pride in her voice when she spoke about her sister. They had been through so much together, and Lydia didn't like being far away. She wanted to be there in case her sister needed her.

"I need someone that I know won't leave me. I need someone who will stay with me. I don't need someone who will leave at the drop of a hat for no reason. I can't take the pain of that. I've been there too many times. I'm not mad at you, Tyler. I'm mad at myself for caring about you. I'm mad at myself for wanting you to stay," she whispered to him. She slowed the swing enough to stand up and walk to the house, leaving Tyler on the swing.

Sneaky, sneaky

There are a couple of home school moms in my group that are planning something. They will post about it on Facebook, then not come out and say what it is. I know they are in the planning stages and want everything right before the big reveal. I think I know what they are doing. There have been little clues in their posts that lead me a certain way. I'm not outing them, though. I have told hubby what I think, and laid out the clues for him. He thinks the same thing.

When they announce, I'll post and let you know if I was right. If I'm not, I'll let you know that, too. I will say: Good luck and God's will and grace be with you on this endeavor. I hope all things go well and you have much success.