How Do You Choose Who You Vote For For President?

Just a thought...I got behind the vehicle in the picture above the other day and was stunned-look closely at the green bumper sticker on the right side. Are there people out there that choose who they vote for by the color of their skin or by their sex? Obviously there are. Shocking, well maybe not considering the state of things today. I am a woman, but there is no way I would pick my candidate based on race or sex. I would never vote for Nancy Pelosi or Hillary Clinton, just because they are women. I chose my candidates based on what they stand for. Am I crazy?

I am going to the Atlanta Tax Day Tea Party this evening. I encourage everyone to attend one in their city.

Preaching to the Choir

I feel like I need to expand my circle of influence. For the most part, my friends on Facebook and I hold the same political views. We are tired of the spending, the blaming, the name-calling. My goal here is not to offend anyone, but rather to inform you of what is really going on before it is too late to save the greatest country on earth. I read a lot and listen to talk radio. The lamestream media are not telling us the truth. They are giving us what they want us to know, and no more.

Think about it like this. Take your personal economy, for example. If you did not make enough money to pay your bills, what would you do? Would you go out and borrow more money-that you wouldn't be able to pay back-or would you cut your expenses and take on a second job to make ends meet? I don't know about you, but I would do the latter. Why does it make sense for the Federal Government to borrow money that it not be able to pay back and will have to seize from it's citizens, some of whom are not even born yet?

In my opinion, that makes no sense what-so-ever. My dad, who is an Obama supporter, always told me..."If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall." Why does that not apply to government?

I ran across a brilliant article last night that I am going to link to this post. Feel free to pass it along to everyone you know.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123958260423012269.html

A Birth Story...15 years later

Today is my daughter's 15th birthday-September 12th. My how time flies. I cannot believe that she is already 15. So much has happened in that time, but I want to remember her birth today. I can remember it like it was yesterday.

Fifteen years ago today was a Sunday. I got up early and walked my usual 5 miles. During my walk I was having painless contractions every few minutes. I didn't really think anything of it. Maybe they were Braxton Hicks contrations. When I got home I told Tommy that I had been having painless contractions while I was walking. He was like...how far apart were they, how long did they last... I told him not to worry, it was a week early and there was no pain. He wanted to time them while I made breakfast. They were coming every 3-4 minutes, but still no pain. He thought we should call the doctor, but I thought otherwise. I was NOT going to be one of those mom's who was sent home because she was not in labor. My mom, aka, Grandmama, had been out of town for a week and she called while I was making breakfast. She wanted to know how I was and if she could come see us. She lived about 30 minutes away. I told her to come on over. When she got there, Tommy told her about the painless contractions and their frequency and asked if she thought I should call the doctor. She said it was best for me to be comfortable and stay home as long as I could. I am not one to panic. Well, that is unless one of my kids is bleeding.

The day before I had done a bunch of work in the yard and steam cleaned Tommy's car so it would be all clean when it was time to bring the "baby" home. I took my mom out and showed her what I had done in the yard, all the while having the painless contractions every few minutes. Mom kept reassuring Tommy that all would be fine. She asked me if I had washed all the baby clothes and bedding yet. I had not. I was scared that if I did it prematurely that something bad would happen to her. I guess it was around 11:30 or so I finally called the doctor. He asked the usual questions, how long and how far apart were the contraction, was I in any pain, etc. He said it would be good to get to the hospital, especially considering my mom's history. I told him I would get ready and be there soon.

I didn't tell him all that it would involve...showering, getting dressed, putting on my make up and fixing my hair and packing. Yes, you heard right...I said packing. My mom did the packing as I yelled from the shower what I would need. The one thing I remember telling her to get was a stack of towels to go in the front seat of the car incase my water broke. I didn't want to mess up the car after I had cleaned it. By the time I got out of the shower the contractions were getting painful. In between them while I was drying my hair I would have to sit down on the floor. I remember hearing, "Gay, is it really necessary to put on make up and fix your hair?" You better believe it was. I was not going to look bad in any pictures. I was finally ready to go. Mom stayed behind and got the baby's stuff in the washer.

On the way to the hospital, which was about 30 minutes away, we had to stop at a friend's house to borrow a video camera. We got the camera and headed off to the hospital. I was in a lot of pain by now. Tommy was driving way too slow to suit me. I told him if he didn't pick up the pace he was going to have to let me drive. I NEEDED something for the pain immediately. We finally got to the hospital at around 1:30. I started the check-in process while Tommy parked the car. Finally we were in our birthing suite. Our nurse Sue came and got me changed and hooked up to the monitors. I don't remember who checked to see how dilated I was, but I do remember I was 9cm when I got there. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural and I felt SO much better, but my contractions almost stopped. Or atleast that is what it looked like on the monitor. Sue went to get another monitor to see just what was going on. Yep, the contractions had eased off a lot since the epidural had been admistered.

Grandmama finally arrived around 2:15pm. She had gotten everything washed, dryed and folded. She was so proud of herself for getting to hospital without getting lost.

When the epidural wore off, the contractions picked up again. I remember telling them there was no way I was going to push her out without pain relief. They gave me another dose of epidural fluid. At around 3:55 it was time to push. I pushed 2 or 3 times and out she came at 3:57pm. A beautiful baby girl-6 pounds 12 ounces and 19.5 inches long. We all thought Grandmama was going to faint. Dr. Sheussler and Sue asked her if she needed to sit down. She was SOOOO excited that she had witnessed the birth of her first granddaughter. When he held her up for me to see, she peed on him. We still talk about that today.

While Dr. S put me back together, Sue cleaned "her" up and did her footprints. We still did not have a name for her. I wanted to meet her and get to know her a little before I chose a name. Finally after 25 minutes, I got to hold her. She was so tiny and sweet. Love at first site. I only got to hold her for about 15 minutes and then they took her away to the nursery to weigh her and out a tiny diaper on her.

The story of my now 15-year old daughter's birth.

Little League Baseballl

Here we go again. I am mad about something else. Not really mad, frustrated. My baby boy, who is now 8 1/2, has been playing baseball for 2 years now. He is a really good baseball player and I'm not just saying that because I am his mother. He LOVES baseball. If he doesn't do his homework in a timely manner, no wiffle ball or catch after dinner. He hates that punishment, so we usually don't have a problem with him getting his homework done. He knows all sort of baseball stats...he LOVES baseball. He loves watching it and playing it. Here is the problem. The first Fall season was 2 years ago. He was new to the sport, but very eager to follow in his older brother's footsteps. He wanted the same number, to play the same position, etc. That first season he was a little timid, but he was in to the game. His coach put him in the outfield all the time, even though he could catch and field a ball. That was alright. He was new and happy just to be in the game. The following Spring season the coach had him in right field all the time. He said M didn't pay enough attention and was scared he'd get hurt. Well, the best player was out for the last game of the season and M got to play short stop. Boy did he ever pay attention then. He was right in the action. He did great and had a great time. Fast forward to last Fall. This time it was obvious that the coach had his 5 favorite kids play the infield positions. Every now and then, for one inning he would put M in at the pitchers position. He did great and was so much more into the game when he felt like he was "in" the game. Toward the end of the season when the tournament rolled around, M was either on the bench or in right field. I asked the coach before one of the games if he would put M in the infield for atleast one inning. He said, "If we get way ahead, I'll put him in one of the infield positions." That did not happen. His "Fab 5" weren't doing to good so we were behind by quite a bit. They were missing balls right and left. His own son was throwing fits because we were losing. I mean literally "throwing fits." He got out at second and threw his helmet across the field. He missed a ball and threw his glove. At the end of the inning he stomped off the field. Do you think he got put on the bench? NO. M and some of the other kids did. Spring 2008 was pretty good for him, but he didn't get to play the infield that much. We started Fall Ball last week. The first practice was Sunday. They played the kids all over the place at practice. Some of them were good and some of them weren't. M pitched an inning and struck one batter out, he hit one batter and a couple of kids hit the ball but were thrown out. Not too bad if I do say so myself. Some of the kids on the team just cannot catch or throw. Last night we have the first game. We lost 20-2. Not too good. The team we played was good. But, I noticed it again. All of the dad's who help with coaching kids play all the time and in the best positions, whether or not they can play them well. It was pathetic. M is out in center field for 2 innings, on the bench for 2 innings and in left for 1 inning. I kept thinking...what is the coach thinking putting kids who can't catch or throw in positions where they will be required to do those things often.

At the game last night I made my mind up that I am going to learn how to coach baseball. If you have to be a coach so your kid can get in the game, then that is what I must do. I went to the bookstore today and checked out some books on coaching little league baseball and tonight at big brother's practice, I am going to ask the coach if I can help/watch. A mom can only take so much.

A Funny Thing

A funny thing happened to me the other day. Well, actually it wasn't funny at all. It has caused me to do a LOT of thinking. I was on my way to take a bunch of my children's old clothes, books and toys to a consignment sale. My cellular device-aka electronic tether-rang. It was my husand. He called to tell me that one of his co-workers wives gets up every morning and makes his lunch for him. I do not do that. I responded by saying, "You're really picky about your sandwich and salad." After I hung up I got to thinkin'..."I wonder if his wife cleans their gutters and cuts their grass and takes out the garbage?" I am getting really tired of not being appreciated. What I do, doesn't get noticed and what I don't do, does. Am I makin' any sense?

I ask my children to take the dogs out. They say, "I've already done it once today." Do they think the dogs only need to go out once a day? Or should I be the one to take them out every time? When they ask me to do something for them, they want it now!!!

Here's another thing. At Bible Study a while back I was talking about painting the ENTIRE inside of my house and how much I enjoyed painting. I find it relaxing. So the other day I get an e-mail from a friend in the Bible Study asking me if I would come and give her an estimate on painting her living and dining rooms. I marched right on over and we agreed on $100. I started on Monday and got it almost done in 3and a half hours. After Bible Study today I am going over to finish-should take no more that an hour and a half. Do the math...that is $20 an hour people. I feel like I have struck gold. Getting paid to do something that I enjoy!!! My husband thinks that is not enough. Whatever... I would have to work at a minimum wage job for over 15 hours to make that kind of money. I used to work in the nursery at my church for $7 an hour. I dreaded going to work for 3 hours to make all of $21.

Am I the only one who feels this way? I want to be appreciated. And loved. And valued for what I do.

Test

How is everyone today?

Venting

Well, I was going to do some venting in my first blog ever. Things have changed though, thanks to FriedOkra and Megan@sortacrunchy. God put their blogs in my path before I had chance to go off on someone. There is not much to say now. How about I give you the details of my conundrum and you can give me advice as to how to proceed with said someone?
I am the secretary of my HOA. The treasurer thinks she runs the show and is always telling me how to be the secretary. The last newsletter I wrote, she re-wrote it because she thought it was too threatening. I am not just talking a little re-writing. I am talking about completely-she even left out some things I thought were important. Yesterday I e-mailed my resignation to her and the president of the HOA. Today he calls me and wants me to re-consider my decision. The three of us are meeting on Sat. to talk. I just don't think I can take it any more. Now I have to mull this over in my mind until Sat. I feel like we are getting no where with the HOA the way things are now. I want to make changes, but she thinks I don't know what I am talking about. Let me say that not one of us has any HOA Board experience, we are a brand new subdivision that was just turned over by the builder and there is NO management co. involved. She thinks we don't need one and I do. We are inexperienced and no one volunteers to help us out. The covenants are not being enforced, except for the occasional complaint by one resident about another. What should I do? Please help!!!!!!! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.