First, a correction. The tornadoes of which I spoke yesterday did not wander into Illinois from Wisconsin. They wandered into Wisconsin from Illinois. That is all. Carry on.
Today was one of my twice-weekly visits to the physical therapist. After carrying 4 children and countless bales of hay, among other things, my back decided to rebel during some "extreme gardening" this past spring. I've been hurting off and on ever since, although this guy really seems to be helping.
Since the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results," here's where I put my plug in for a little less loyalty. See, I'd been seeing some physical therapists all summer, and didn't feel like things were moving along as well as they had when I'd seen them in the past. Then, when they got really busy and couldn't fit me in for another round, they suggested the guy I'm seeing now. Not only is he closer to home, but he's actually HELPING me. Go figure. So, in future, boys and girls, remember that if something isn't working, it's OK to try something else, within reason, of course.
So he worked me and stretched me and pulled me and I feel tired but improved, thank you very much. One challenge out of the way.
Second challenge comes this afternoon, when #3 son, EP, will welcome into our home the very nice National Guard recruiter. There are so many challenges in that statement. Firstly, this is my BABY boy, the very last boy to pop out of my very own body. (I use the term "pop out" very lightly, don't I, ladies?) He should still be 5 and climbing up on my lap for a "snuggle." But he wants to go and pull wounded soldiers away from danger so he can, like, help heal them or something. Combat medic, phooey. Second challenge is that this would be my third, count 'em third boy in the military. Uncle Sam, haven't you had enough yet? (You can't have my little girl, at least not until she gets old enough to tell me I can't make those decisions for her!) Lastly, but not leastly (is that even a word?) this National Guard recruiter is from the WISCONSIN National Guard. The Cheesehead Guard! And a traitor Illinoisan who crossed the border, no less. Lord, have mercy.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Face it, Melody. You'll never be Pioneer Woman
Fans of the above blog may catch the reference; the very savvy rancher's wife with the really great blog; funny, smart, getting-real-technical-with-the-Photoshop. At one time, I think most bloggers will say, "I wanna be like Ree." I'm not gonna make it.
Take today, for instance. A perfect opportunity to show off my story telling, parenting and photography skills. Today was the day that Cain, our little wether goat, went to the butcher. Yep, you read right. We took him to the butcher, from whence he shall return in little white packages labeled, "Italian sausage." Goat meat makes wonderful Italian sausage. But I digress. I had a plan; to take pictures of the process; no, not the kill floor, just the loading, transport and unloading. But...I forgot my camera. Three of us in the car; three cameras between us. We all forgot.
After we dropped Cain off with Sam the Butcherman, we headed off into northern Illinois to see the tornado damage. Now, that's a real treat, iddn it? On Monday, a tornado touched down in Wisconsin and wandered over into Illinois, destroying the barns and shops of our favorite apple orchard, as well as the homes and barns of several families, and causing the evacuation of Lawrence, IL. The very town, by the way, where Cain met up with Sam the Butcherman. But I digress. I took the kids past the damage to "enrich their education" with an up-front-and-personal discovery of the damage a tornado can do. Having never seen it myself, I can only say, "Wow." A tornado can do SOME damage! It was an awesome sight. I will take now take seriously those announcements to take cover, one of which I shrugged off just this past Monday. I would love to share some pictures of the scenes we saw today. But...I forgot my camera. Three of us in the car; three cameras between us. We all forgot.
Actually, the car is a Chevy pickup. But I digress.
And don't get me started on how I messed up on the parenting skills. Think Mom learning how to run the transmitter for the MP3 player. 17 year-old son driving and "advising" Mom. 12 year-old daughter in the backseat, within arms' reach of her brother. No one had eaten until we stopped for a healthy, tasty breakfast...at MacDonald's. Driving through the countryside with a goat bleating in the back of the pickup. My parenting skills were tested to the limit. I even resorted to...
But I digress.
Take today, for instance. A perfect opportunity to show off my story telling, parenting and photography skills. Today was the day that Cain, our little wether goat, went to the butcher. Yep, you read right. We took him to the butcher, from whence he shall return in little white packages labeled, "Italian sausage." Goat meat makes wonderful Italian sausage. But I digress. I had a plan; to take pictures of the process; no, not the kill floor, just the loading, transport and unloading. But...I forgot my camera. Three of us in the car; three cameras between us. We all forgot.
After we dropped Cain off with Sam the Butcherman, we headed off into northern Illinois to see the tornado damage. Now, that's a real treat, iddn it? On Monday, a tornado touched down in Wisconsin and wandered over into Illinois, destroying the barns and shops of our favorite apple orchard, as well as the homes and barns of several families, and causing the evacuation of Lawrence, IL. The very town, by the way, where Cain met up with Sam the Butcherman. But I digress. I took the kids past the damage to "enrich their education" with an up-front-and-personal discovery of the damage a tornado can do. Having never seen it myself, I can only say, "Wow." A tornado can do SOME damage! It was an awesome sight. I will take now take seriously those announcements to take cover, one of which I shrugged off just this past Monday. I would love to share some pictures of the scenes we saw today. But...I forgot my camera. Three of us in the car; three cameras between us. We all forgot.
Actually, the car is a Chevy pickup. But I digress.
And don't get me started on how I messed up on the parenting skills. Think Mom learning how to run the transmitter for the MP3 player. 17 year-old son driving and "advising" Mom. 12 year-old daughter in the backseat, within arms' reach of her brother. No one had eaten until we stopped for a healthy, tasty breakfast...at MacDonald's. Driving through the countryside with a goat bleating in the back of the pickup. My parenting skills were tested to the limit. I even resorted to...
But I digress.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Ooops. Left out an important step.
In my election post, I left out primaries. In my perfect (hee hee) world, candidates would announce their candidacies on July 4 of election year. Not one minute before. They would then have about 7 weeks of campaigning, until August 22, when ALL states would hold their primaries. The top 3 candidates for each party would be announced; no numbers, no, "He was first, she was second, etc." Just the announcement of 3 names per party. Things would then continue just as I outlined below.
Thank you. Carry on.
Thank you. Carry on.
I'm Tired.
It's been along day of ferrying Grandma to the doctor, which also included WalMart and the hearing aid place, for batteries. Oh, and locking the keys in the trunk. Yeah, can't forget that. I had to rely on the kindness of strangers for a ride to the Buick dealer, where yet another stranger cut a key for the trunk. Crisis averted in a swift half hour. Not too shabby.
Unlike this whole run-for-office system we have. There. I said it. While I love the right to vote and make decisions that affect me on the most personal levels, I really don't like the process. I mean, what should be appealing about a nasty, bitter process that gets longer year after year? Can anyone tell me why the primaries don't rotate? Why do Iowa and New Hampshire get so much attention and responsibility, campaign after campaign? And why do we have exit polling? Why do we know HOURS before Hawaii does, who it is that will be leading our country for the next four years?
Back in the day, communication was SLLLOOOOWWWW. And still they managed to begin campaigning relatively close to the election. People still managed to find out who was on the ticket. Why the long, draining process we have now?
When I run the country, (snicker) here's how it will go. Labor Day weekend before the election, the parties will meet to appoint candidates. Candidates will be appointed by their parties, who will have to find candidates who "fit" with the parties' platforms. The parties will have to be very careful to decide what they're pushing this year, so that they don't embarrass themselves by finding someone who, well, embarrasses them. Got that?
Beginning immediately that Tuesday, campaigning will start, and will last for 7 weeks. Just the candidates. Just the 7 weeks. In a world where we can see Britney Spears' life fall apart the evening it happens, no one should be able to complain that they didn't know who was campaigning or what they stood for. The last week before the election there will be NO CAMPAIGNING. Give the people some time to THINK about what they're doing, without the background noise.
And on election day, no exit polling. No discussion of election results until Hawaii counts theirs. We may have to go to bed at a decent time, and get up the next day to find out who the winner was. But then we'll have the sleep we'll need to discuss what happened.
There. Now you know some of the thought process that will keep me from ever running the country!
Unlike this whole run-for-office system we have. There. I said it. While I love the right to vote and make decisions that affect me on the most personal levels, I really don't like the process. I mean, what should be appealing about a nasty, bitter process that gets longer year after year? Can anyone tell me why the primaries don't rotate? Why do Iowa and New Hampshire get so much attention and responsibility, campaign after campaign? And why do we have exit polling? Why do we know HOURS before Hawaii does, who it is that will be leading our country for the next four years?
Back in the day, communication was SLLLOOOOWWWW. And still they managed to begin campaigning relatively close to the election. People still managed to find out who was on the ticket. Why the long, draining process we have now?
When I run the country, (snicker) here's how it will go. Labor Day weekend before the election, the parties will meet to appoint candidates. Candidates will be appointed by their parties, who will have to find candidates who "fit" with the parties' platforms. The parties will have to be very careful to decide what they're pushing this year, so that they don't embarrass themselves by finding someone who, well, embarrasses them. Got that?
Beginning immediately that Tuesday, campaigning will start, and will last for 7 weeks. Just the candidates. Just the 7 weeks. In a world where we can see Britney Spears' life fall apart the evening it happens, no one should be able to complain that they didn't know who was campaigning or what they stood for. The last week before the election there will be NO CAMPAIGNING. Give the people some time to THINK about what they're doing, without the background noise.
And on election day, no exit polling. No discussion of election results until Hawaii counts theirs. We may have to go to bed at a decent time, and get up the next day to find out who the winner was. But then we'll have the sleep we'll need to discuss what happened.
There. Now you know some of the thought process that will keep me from ever running the country!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Contact!
MAP called last night. He was too tired (it was late in the sand) to have a really good conversation; he gets pretty grumpy when he hasn't had his beauty rest. But it was good to hear from him.
One point of our conversation touched on money. We're trying to get his money into something that earns a good interest rate; something he was "too busy" to do before he deployed. He was also advised not to give us (or anyone) power of attorney before he left, complicating things to many degrees.
Sadly, it's all too common to have soldiers become targets when they're earning that base pay plus combat pay. On the easiest level, someone gets access to an account and just spends the money while the soldier is gone. With power of attorney, debts can be signed for that the soldier had no intention of taking on. There is even a lovely scam where a returning soldier meets someone he or she thinks is the love of their life. Love needs help with money; money is given. Before long, the soldier is out of money, and Love decides the "feelings just aren't there." Parents I know have done the research to find out that, in their situation, Love was wandering from post to post, looking for returning soldiers to scam. This is not an isolated incident. Their son lost $30,000; others have lost other large sums, and "bought" cars they never see!
I've heard it said that today's soldiers have a little advantage over those from, say, the Vietnam era. At lest many of us are paying lip service to welcoming them home and being grateful. Some of us really mean it, though.
One point of our conversation touched on money. We're trying to get his money into something that earns a good interest rate; something he was "too busy" to do before he deployed. He was also advised not to give us (or anyone) power of attorney before he left, complicating things to many degrees.
Sadly, it's all too common to have soldiers become targets when they're earning that base pay plus combat pay. On the easiest level, someone gets access to an account and just spends the money while the soldier is gone. With power of attorney, debts can be signed for that the soldier had no intention of taking on. There is even a lovely scam where a returning soldier meets someone he or she thinks is the love of their life. Love needs help with money; money is given. Before long, the soldier is out of money, and Love decides the "feelings just aren't there." Parents I know have done the research to find out that, in their situation, Love was wandering from post to post, looking for returning soldiers to scam. This is not an isolated incident. Their son lost $30,000; others have lost other large sums, and "bought" cars they never see!
I've heard it said that today's soldiers have a little advantage over those from, say, the Vietnam era. At lest many of us are paying lip service to welcoming them home and being grateful. Some of us really mean it, though.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
This is one of my favorite websites.
Spend some time this Sunday with your family or friends. Then thank God and these guys that you can.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Hello
I got so caught up in the Christmas break we've been taking around here, I just didn't blog. Or do laundry. Which wasn't too hard; our year-old dryer decided to take a break, too. I really don't get it. I think it just likes that Huntington Service guy. If it doesn't see him in what it thinks is too long, it just quits. I knew, when I washed towels, and it took two hours to dry the load, that we were in trouble. But we're not calling. We're just not. We're washing and trucking the wet stuff to the laundromat. And we'll keep up with that until the machine gives in...or it becomes advantageous for us to call Huntington. Not before. But WE will NOT give in! In the words of someone who was a better writer than I:
Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
People don't write that way anymore.
Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
People don't write that way anymore.
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