Was it really a surprise? Really??

THIS NEWS STORY

The story above states that the NO MINARETS VOTE which actually added this law to the Swiss Constitution was a surprise vote. Really???

When people were asked if they would vote Yes/No, people overwhelming said they would not support the law. Its like asking people if they fart! I bet overwhelmingly the vote would be NO....but in the privacy of our own voting booths, in our own home, we all know a totally different reality ;)

Political correctness isnt just an American pain - its worldwide - In fact, I contend it started in Socialist Europe and emigrated here....

I love this vote - it goes to prove that you just cant legislate what people think....what they know in their guts.

Now, before every screams FREEDOM OF RELIGION - there is nothing that prohibits Muslims from worshipping. These Minarets arent a "salvation" issue for them. Its like saying you cant put a steeple on a church and actually, there are town ordinances that prevent steeples in this Country, but what it is a statement against is the feeling that Islam is steamrolling Europe - the world.

The Swiss took a stand - read that again... The SWISS took a STAND - how ironic.... God bless 'em...

Pray - Praise - Prepare

Thank you....Thank you very much....

Happy Thanksgiving you fabulous peeps!

Here is my Thankful list:

1 - My hubs - he rocks!

2 - My kids - they are a hoot and I just love being with them anytime!

3 - My parents - they are so cool....

4 - My Bro-SIL - what can I say, we are a tight bunch....

5 - This Country - IT RULES!!

6 - Yall - I know we have all thought at one time or another that we were the only ones - the only ones who felt something coming....that we got it, but no one else did....well - here in Bloggerville, we all know we arent alone - we are the modern day Pamphleteers. We know that we are a big, GROWING group....watch out Scumbags - we own your jobs and SOON we will demand them back!!

7 - GRACE - not much else matters....



I hope that each and everyone of you has a HAPPY THANKSGIVING - that you are with those that you love and those that love you and if you are unable to do so, that you will find a peace and a respite and GOOD FOOD :)

God bless yall - you have made this past year interesting, fun, thoughtful....

Pray - Praise - Prepare

I am all over the map on this post....

I prep. Yall know it. My friends know it. And people who know me know it. I have kept some things close to the vest, but in regards to food and the like, I have tried to get those around me to be a little more prepared.

I outlined my "why" in a previous post (and I am too lazy to hunt it down) but suffice it to say, that the more prepared everyone I know is, the safer it is for me and better for them.

As we get ready to move in the near future, I am turning my thoughts back to my prepping. I have twirling around in my head "care package" ideas. I know a 1/2 cup of beans and 1/2 cup of rice will keep someone alive for a day. But if things arent exactly DIRE, I would like to be able to offer charity with a little more flavor and sustenance than a baggie of the above mentioned beans/rice.

I want something to be able to drop off at a home, or send with someone that will get their family by for a few days - a week. I want a list so I dont have to think when the realization hits that someone needs help. I wont have it done today - my list - but its coming - twirling around in my head - like I said....

Anyone out there have a list? Have a suggestion of something for the list?

On a totally schizophrenic note.... These are the floors in my "keeping room" (we define keeping room as the room that will keep our life together - pantry, laundry, work room, bill paying, dog living, entry/exit where kids and hubs drop off coats, backpacks and everything so it doesnt get distributed all over my house room.

I have to describe them - they are 3/4" pine - tongue and groove - with a width of almost 7". They werent the best boards. Every now and then, there is a hole that goes to the sub floor. They are exactly what we wanted. If we were recreating a warehouse, then the floors need to be able to be beat up and not look perfect. We love the knots and the character of these floors. We also loved that they were $1.10 a square foot. YES THEY WERE. This wasnt some local cheap deal, we ordered off the Internet and so yall can get them too. They are also so thick they can be refinished over and over and over.....

Anyway, back to these beautiful babies - now how to finish.... I honestly just wanted to paint them a dark color - like black. My husband really didnt care. But then I was afraid that would be too dark with our cabinets so then I opted for a maybe a white. But then Hubs worried about dirt (its red here and it sucks - doesnt come out of anything....sorry for the language Mom, but it does). Then I thought about white with a brown rub over it, but UGH, that meant so many steps to getting these things done and honestly, I am tired and ready for this building thing to be over. At this point I seriously thought about just leaving them..... And then I came across this....

EBONIZING and THIS

How cool are those? And since a gallon of stain is $30 and vinegar and steel wool is $4.00 total, it was a no brainer. So Hubs and I mixed us up a batch. And it worked. Sort of - painting it on left a rust film after the solution oxidized on top. Then it just didnt soak in that well when we wiped. But, when we damp mopped the wood to raise the grain and rubbed in the solution, this is what we got:

I did these (Hubs varnished them - oil based / semi-gloss) and they are beautiful and feel so good to the feet. Hubs has since done the main floor and its waiting on a second coat of varnish and then I will post pics. His floor is a little darker and just scrumptious. The ebonizing solution mixes with the tannins in the wood and darkens them up. Different woods do different things. Ours look like they have been scorched in places - JUST BEAUTIFUL.

I pass this on, not to get kudos on how pretty they are, but to tell you to do your research and you can find a CHEAP alternative to just about anything. Pergo floors would have been twice as much - go figure - and not near as beautiful!

Pray - Praise - Prepare

You wont catch me in the attic....

Its been driving me nuts....How our President can bow to other kings/emperors/rulers/presidents/whatevers.

How he can, in the face of OVERWHELMING DISAPPROVAL, do what he wants and act like he doesnt have a care in the world.

How he can slam a white cop as stupid and then leave his "good friend", an elderly black man, to be helped down the stairs by the same stupid white cop, while he just about skips down the same stairs...

How he can lie out of both sides of his mouth.... "I dont support it...." "I do support it....." "What I wont tolerate...." (That last one is my favorite - tolerate? Excuse me? Who made you lord and master over me that you get to lecture me like a child.....) Sorry, I digress.....


I mean, at first I thought it was just arrogance.... His superior attitude.....

Maybe a character flaw?

Maybe corruption - that he could buy whatever he wanted with SEIU and ACORN's "influence"...

Then I thought it was narcissism..... A mental / moral deficiency.....

But thats not it.... Now I am totally convinced that there is a portrait of Pres. BO in the attic that is marred, disfigured, totally disgusting with all his past evil deeds.... You know, like a Portrait of Dorian Gray.

Now....we just need someone really, Really, REALLY brave to sneak up there and check....

NOT IT.....

What happened to "When in Rome....?"

This Country has gotten touchy.... REAL Touchy.... And its annoying. You want Freedom of Speech? Well, then get ready to get your feelings hurt, because that is what happens.


We dont have Freedom of Speech anymore - Political Correctness has driven it underground. Which is a shame. It has made everyone put on a plastic face, with a plastic smile and nod in agreement with all the bland, blah blah borningness that is said.


The exchange of ideas - some you agree with and some you dont - enrich the conversation, stretch you as an individual and with the ability to just agree to disagree, actually bring us closer together. When expected to convey your idea and reason an answer, it can do more for your mental ability than Sudoku.


There used to be a saying "My rights end where someone else's nose begins." Y'all know it - quote it with me.... Anyway, it seems that my rights now end when someone else doesnt like what I say, what I do or even the color of my outfit. They dont like it when I put up my Christmas Tree - Wish them a Merry Christmas or even correct my child in public.


Well, guess what? This Country wasnt founded on Happy Kwanzaa day. I have no problem with you celebrating it - have at it - buy all the purple tissue paper you want - but you know what? When you walk by me in Target and we make eye contact, I AM going to wish you a Merry Christmas and I just dont care if you like it or not. And if you have any manners at all, you will smile and say "Thank you" just like if the roles were reversed and you wished me "Happy Kwanzaa". Because you know what? I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and ASSUME that you were saying it to be nice and not just to annoy me....and I am going to ASSUME that you will give me the benefit of the doubt when I wish you MERRY CHRISTMAS that it was done with kindness and not a goal to annoy....


Dont get me wrong - I am going to make a call the second I get to my truck and call my Momma and tell her exactly what happened.... Because we are in the South and a "Happy Kwanzaa" is big enough to call Momma about..... But because I am in the South, I will smile and tell you "Thank you"..... Because that is how my Momma raised me.


I am so thankful my kids arent in public school. The thought of no red/green tissue paper, and celebrating "Winter Break" would be enough to make me barf on some poor unsuspecting teacher.


Get serious people. You arent fooling anyone. Everyone knows you arent just getting a break because its Winter. EVERYONE knows school is out because of CHRISTMAS. To pretend otherwise is just stupid. They look stupid doing it.


The great thing about this Country is you can celebrate anything you want (just make sure its legal). But please quit trying to change it into something that its not.


Tune out what you dont like to hear - say what you really feel and mean what you say.... And for goodness sake....


MERRY CHRISTMAS, y'all.......















**** This post was inspired by the first of the "Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Happy Holiday" stories I heard yesterday.... And when I say "You" in my post, I dont mean "You".... I hope that YOU know that ;) Sometimes I just channel Julia Sugarbaker and my posts get away from me :)

Love yall -

Pray - Praise - PREPARE

Up close and personal with the H1N1....

Yup - but not me.... My middle child. Saturday, after playing outside all day on the land while his father and I slaved away, our middle child looked a little "off".... I didnt worry much about it since flushed cheeks and feeling "beatup" is a natural byproduct from being outside in Oklahoma wind all day.

In case you dont know, Oklahoma wind isnt a breeze. Its a hard gusting wind which can make trees grow crooked, chap cheeks, and plum wear you out. You dont realize you are fighting it, but at the end of the day, trust me, you are tuckered.

So, thats what I thought it was.... Until Saturday evening when the "chapped" cheeks were hot - HOT....Thus began our dance with the Pig.

Sunday - 103 and change....Monday - 102 and change....Tuesday 100....Wednesday....Blessed Wednesday, I thought we were home free - but alas - that afternoon, it crept back 99 and change.

Our kids' school has a rule that I pray parents abide by, I know I do - that a child can return to school after being fever free for 24 hours WITHOUT any Advil or Tylenol. So far today, we are fever free and drug free....

He has felt pretty ok - except for seeing his food again on Sunday....something that both of us have mutually agreed to never speak of....

The hardest part has been sending the youngest to school without their beloved playmate and not letting said playmate go outside when the youngest gets home.

Our oldest had something like this a few weeks ago, but no so feverish but if I am going to be honest - its been nice being home all week with the one in the middle - we never seem to have "our" time since #3 came along....

Pray - Praise - Prepare and have a bunch of Advil ;)

Blog info....

In my time off and in posting in my head, I have come to the realization that I need a new blog format - she needs a new outfit ;)


I have been searching sites, looking at templates, looking at portfolios....man this is tough.


Its been made tougher because in checking out my own blog with a critical eye, I have decided its a little schizophrenic (or is that because I have been blogging in my head).... I cover a bunch of different topics and therefore want my new blog to have different "tabs" in order for those topics to be covered and stay together. I also want readers to be able to subscribe to the various tabs that interest them and exclude those that dont.


This isnt going to be happening tomorrow - I need to decide on a designer and a layout and wait in their queue to have my blog worked on....


All this to say - yall bloggers out there - is there a designer you like to work with - one that will not make me sell a kidney or a child to afford - and a heads up that around the first of the year you may have to update your RSS feeds or bookmark a new address.....


This concludes blogging bidness today..... Back to your prepping..... Back to your ranting..... Back to the packing, building, cleaning..... Or is this just me?


LOVE YALL!!

What now??

We all have heard about the shooting at Fort Hood - excuse me, the ATTACK at Ft. Hood. An Islamic EXTREMIST in our own military killed 13 and wounded 30 before being brought down by a CHICK named KIMBERLY with 4 shots after she herself had been wounded. I am not going to lie - I love the last part.... In a hero movie, its always a guy, but this time, IN REAL LIFE, it was a girl and I love that part.


But what do we do now? This war is different. Its not like going after Germany or Japan or anyone else. Its not against a "people", but a "religion". This puts it in the category of HOLY WAR whether you like it or not. "They" see it that way and we had better start to see it that way too.


Its been said a million times, but this enemy doesnt follow the Geneva Convention, wear uniforms (unless its ours apparently), fight fair. None of them.... I am not abdicating our fighting fair, but we need to start fighting smart and honestly, some need to be put down like dogs in the street. I dont care about their prayer mats, their prayer time, their special diet. Do you think they were considerate before they mutilate our military by cutting off their heads? I am also not abdicating we do the same to them, but can we agree to quit playing nice? I mean, seriously....do we have to coddle them?


Lastly, what do we do with Muslims in our own military? In WW2, those US CITIZENS of Japanese descent were not sent to fight Japanese - DUH you say.... It is against the Constitution to exclude Muslims and I dont think we should. The vast majority do not believe in the extremism as some - kind of like most Mormons do not believe in plural marriage or Jews believe in sacrificing a bull.... But should we send them to Afghanistan? Should we send them to Iraq?


When this man joined the military, he couldnt have envisioned where we would be fighting some day. Not in a million years - neither could we - Could you have guessed 9/11? Me either. Is it such a stretch to not send those of Muslim faith to fight against those with the same faith?


I dont have the answers - but its a conversation that needs to be had and had fast because like this terrorist (oh yes he is) at Ft. Hood and the luckily incompetent who couldnt get his bomb to go off in Dallas, the war has been brought home....




** So I just proof read what I wrote and I dont want it in any way to be seen as an excuse for the dirtbag at Ft. Hood. His attack was not a mental break, a freaking out - it was a planned attack from visiting websites, chatting up militants, giving his personal belongings away to his bringing his weapons onto base. TERRORIST ATTACK.... Speaking of dogs in the street.... The one thing I like about the military, is that they dont waste the time the civilian court does before it carries out a sentence....may their justice be swift.....

I'm back....a little :)

Yall are the best - BEST - B.E.S.T.

Your encouragement - checking on me - and downright telling me to get my butt back in gear have been great.

We are getting closer and closer with move in on the horizon, just still a little fuzzy... I have continued to blog in my head and yesterday did today's post.

Its nothing awe inspiring, honestly, I just dont have the emotional energy to get all righteously indignant over Pres. BO and his disgusting minions....well, looks like I could get a little worked up. Honestly, he gave give this socialism thing all he wants but we wont go the way of Venezuela or of Cuba because we werent raised like that.... You know it - These United States would tell the Fed to take a flying leap before we are there....He is moving too far and too fast to slip one by us. It will go down. One way or the other. The easy way or the hard way, but one way or the other, our Country will be ours - that I do KNOW.

Anyway - back to my blog post in my head....

As we were getting the tractor out of the mud (no we didnt do it, but we needed it, so we got it - who did it will remain nameless ;) ), I blogged this in my head.

It was a beautiful day - crisp, but not cold and by the afternoon, just GLORIOUS!! And it hadnt rained in a week. There hasnt been a week like that in MONTHS which is why we arent moved in yet....but I digress.....

I have learned a lot - A LOT I TELL YOU - driving back and forth, working, playing, watching on the land in the almost 5 years we have had this land. I know it. I know which trees are plums, which are red bud, which are oaks, the occasional poplar that just pops up (those are cool - one day they are just there!!) and those evil red cedars.

Here are a few of the gems....and they are in no particular order....

* Chicks, build a house with the man you love. I have heard horror stories (we all have) but I tell you - the respect I have for him has increased 10 fold. He can do anything and he has proven it... I knew he was smart and capable, but there is no old dog in him at all. He has thrown himself into everything and come out with job accomplished. Very impressed indeed.

* Change your drivers license as quick as possible - get a PO if you have too....Local police like locals and give them a pass (or two or three) but if you have a city address, you will pay and pay dearly :)

* Change your car... If you are moving in from the city and you drive a sedan - change it. Dont go buy a brand new bells and whistles truck - but one a few years old - drive it through the mud on the way home and dont wash it. Look like you want to belong - dont look like you are better than.

* You arent kidding anyone - they know you are green and they know where you are from. Ask questions - acknowledge they know what they are doing and how to do it - it doesnt mean you cant tweak it, but take what they know - they earned it and probably the hard way - save yourself some trouble. Also, if you look like you want to know, you are on your way to being "one of them" :)

* Be flexible - the learning curve is expensive - in dollars - in time - in energy - in sweat - and yes, in blood and tears.

* A couple lady bugs are cute - a swarm is nasty - goes the same for little frogs....do these look cute?