babies

Tags: babies, birds, cockateils

Help to stop an endless occupation in Iraq

 Help to stop an endless occupation in Iraq

Hi, Have you seen the news? President Bush is negotiating a deal with Iraq to keep our troops there indefinitely--it could include permanent bases and a massive military presence for years! Bush is trying to tie the hands of the next president and every president to come.

Congress can stop him from setting up permanent bases in Iraq and block an indefinite occupation--but they need to hear a groundswell of pressure from us immediately and loudly so they act on this quickly.

I just signed a petition demanding that Congress stop the president from committing to a massive military presence in Iraq for decades. Can you join me?

http://pol.moveon.org/endless/?r_by=11723-5562383-KkGZxv&rc=paste

Thanks!

Tags: occupation in Iraq

getting there

I am getting there with all my Christmas preps. The tree is decorated, the stockings are hung and visions of sugarplums are dancing in my head. Or maybe that is the pain of the toothache making my head dance. There are daggers sticking in my leg belonging to a white kitty wanting my lap. He is there now.LOL He smells so good. He has been outside all day. His favorite place to be is in my lap. Right now he is laying on one of my arms making it a bit difficult to type.
I have done some more shopping. I love Christmas. I bought some stuff for the boy's sister. She is  6 months younger than Brook. She likes girl stuff. There is not a tomboyish bone in her body. I got her some baby doll stuff.
made some banana bread today. It tastes good. The only problem is 2 loaves came out of the pans nicely and two broke in half. Oh well. I guess I have some banana bread to eat!
Does anybody know why the more you clean the more there is to clean? Is it some sort of weird Murphy's Law?

Tags: poll, decorating, Christmas,

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Christmas preps

Thanksgiving I got my lights up outside. I had bought some blue and white icicle lights after Christmas last year for 50 cents a box. I was determined to get them up if I had to do it myself. (I am afraid of heights but I do overpower my fear when needed).
Now come the inside work. Yesterday I put my Thanksgiving and fall decorations back in the box and started hauling out the Christmas stuff. LOL Now my living room is full of boxes to be emptied. My tree is up, lights on but the branches are bare. I am not sure if I am going to wait on the kids to get here(they may not even show :( today ) or do it myself. I feel like changing things up a bit this year so I am not sure how I am going to decorate. It will be a challenge. The birds cannot be moved since they have babies. I moved the love seat outside and put it in the van so I would have a spot for the tree. That leaves less seating but that is okay. I don't get many visitors here. No one stops by and knocks on my door except for the electric guy when I forget to pay the bill. I can count on one hand the number of times Pat's family has come down in the past 14 years, invited and uninvited times. Oh well. I decorate for me, for my enjoyment.
I have a bicycle in my living room right now. I bought it for a little boy that will not be having a great Christmas. His mama has not been able to work much in the last year because of a seizure problem and his daddy has been short of work too. New construction plumbers don't work much if no one is buying houses. It is not much. I got it at Wal-Mart for $29 on Black Friday. Yes that is right, I shopped that morning. Pat went with me and bought my Christmas present. He has already given it to me. He got me a new camera! I love it. It has 10x optical zoom! I have already been snapping pictures with it! I have taken pictures of my toes (ugh I need a pedicure!), Donna, the birds, the stove, lol.
It is cold here. Yesterday it got up  to 47 for our high. They were calling for sleet and snow last night. I did not look! Snow is fine but not sleet! Sleet last night, rain today, thunderstorms tomorrow, then sunshine for the rest of the week, what a mixedup weather forecast!
I guess that is it for now. I need to get busy cleaning a few spots up so I can decorate them.

Donna!

I had a wonderful morning! I got to meet one of J-land's favorites! Donna, Mosie1944, of My Country Life, and her husband Cliff. They are on their way home to Missouri and traveling near by so we got to meet! It was wonderful. They are just folks. The kind that when you meet them you are comfortable with them. We met at the Waffle House and I knew Donna as soon as I walked in. Usually when I meet people that I have never met it is a bit uncomfortable but not Donna and Cliff. I felt that I have know them forever! I really hated that they had to get back on the road. We could have talked forever. Hopefully they will be able to come down again and we can all go bike riding among our hills.

Tags: My Country Life, Mosie1944

ummmm

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
I feel like a turkey, stuffed.

New baby

We have a baby this morning.

Tags: baby, bird, cockatiel

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AIM

Is anybody else having trouble with AIM?

Tags: AIM

Wednesday my daughter and I took Brook to Atlanta to an Education Technology Conference. What an experience! The technology available for schools to use is fantastic! Forget the old chalkboards we had or the white boards. Now there are smart boards and vision boards. Electronic, computerized passes, programs for record keeping, learning programs for math, reading , science and  everything else.  The computer age is here in full force. For the schools that have some money, the sky's the limit or maybe not. There were programs to take the kids to outer space also. The kids in the technology club at brook's school had a booth set up where they demonstrated how to set up a slide show with music and other stuff like fade and ken burns  and stuff like that. I was real proud of them all.

Tags: technology

tired

I am so tired. Today we went to an Education Technology Conference in Atlanta. I will update tomorrow when I get a chance to.

Common denomimator

If you are searching for the common denominator in your life, you are in luck. You are it. Now that you know you are the only consistent factor in any situation, you can begin to figure out how you are contributing to your recurring challenges and problems. This is great news because, once you realize you are at least part of the problem, you can begin to change your behavior, beliefs and attitudes that are contributing to the situation. Keep in mind that you have to concern yourself only with you, not with anyone else. You are the only one you can change. So don’t focus outside yourself. Focus on the common denominator. You will be amazed at the difference this process will make in your life. ~Rachelle Disbennett-Lee, PhD

Tags: Rachelle Disbennett-Lee,

Brook

Well we had to go back to the hospital with Brook today. She fell at school and was hurting. She broke what bond had formed and the bone has moved again. This time she is in a sling that does not allow her to move her arm at all. She is back at square one with the healing process. Actually a  bit worse, the bone is almost puncturing the skin. We now have to watch for any redness at all. If there is any we are to go straight to ER. She will now have to wear this sling until at least Christmas.

gifts

The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than its value
- Charles Dudley Warner -

This statement is so true.I know people that think they need to spend loads of money on gifts and the person they gave it to really did not like it. Many times it is because the person giving the gift does not have a clue about what the other person likes or maybe it is because they don't care. What they want is for people to ooo and awww because of the expensive gift. It is a matter of prestige. I got a vacuum cleaner for Christmas one year. There were people saying that they could not believe that Pat would give me something like that. I loved it. I am a practical person for the most part. I needed a cleaner and I would not have bought me anywhere near as good of a machine as he did for me. I am easy to please.LOL I like things for my kitchen and my home. I wear very few pieces of jewelry, no fancy clothes and I am not a shoe person.

Tags: Warner, gifts

Brook

I forgot to tell everybody this. I took Brook to the doctor yesterday to have her shoulder checked out. It was not the best of news. She is healing very slowly. The bones have moved but not enough that they are going to operate YET. She still has to wear  the sling. It was stressed to her that she MUST be still. She has a big problem with that. She was pretty upset. She looked at the xrays and saw what we were talking about. It could be longer than 3 months at this rate of healing. She is so disappointed. She cried.

Dancer

Introducing Dancer! Dancer is the Arabian gelding that was being thrown away. He has settled in very well.

It took 2 days to get him here. We tried for 3 hours to load him and he was not going to get on the trailer. The next day Candy went with Dee to pick him up. they got some calm and cool to help him load. Dancer's ex owner was there and helped load him. Dancer skinned up his nose poor thing when he slung  his head up and hit the roof. Once here he unloaded very well. He was so happy to be out of the trailer and into the field. He started running around and prancing like a young colt. It did not take long before the other horses realized that something was happening in the front field. All at once they came thundering through the field racing to the front to see what was going on. Imagine their surprise when they spot another horse. Snorting and pawing, kicking dust up they voiced their displeasure. Precious gives a kick thru the fence which scared me a bit. That was barbed wire that she was kicking thru. He snorted and Crystal went berserk. From that moment on she knew that this was a man horse! Her tail went to swishing and curling to the side. She was snorting and winking like nobody's business! She is a hussy! We let them run around and basically ignored them. Just let them do horse stuff, running, kicking and bucking.

 About the comments on the video. Some people may find them offensive or just funny.

Tags: horses, running, farm, Arabian

kids

I got this in an email today and I thought it was cute enough to share.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?

(written by kids)

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
-- Alan , age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
-- Kristen , age 10



WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
-- Camille , age 10



HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, b ased on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
-- Derrick , age 8



WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori , age 8



WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-- Lynnette , age 8 (isn't she a treasure)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that Usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin , age 10


WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THATWAS TURNING SOUR?
I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
-- Craig , age 9


WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
When they're rich.
-- Pam , age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
- - Curt , age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-- Howard , age 8


IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
-- Anita , age 9 (bless you child)


HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8 ( just LOVE this one)

And the #1 Favorite is........
HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.
-- Ricky , age 10 

update on horses.

OMG OMG OMG. I cannot believe that this poor horse is still alive. I have put a call in to a rescue organization.  I can never take care of this horse. Actually it is a pony. There is NO excuse for the neglect this poor pony has gone through. We cannot take her except to put her out of her misery.  She cannot walk. She is skin and bones. Her hooves are horribly deformed. This pony has been foundered numerous times. She has a shoe that has grown up in her hoof! There is about 4-6 inches of hoof BELOW IT. I cried. It would take thousands of dollars that I do not have just to MAYBE get this horse on her feet. She is a sweetheart but you can tell she is in horrible pain.  I am crying again trying to tell you. I am so torn. I am afraid to leave her there because I know her life will be over tomorrow but if I bring her here it could just be more pain that she cannot take anymore. I don't have the money to help her in any way.  It makes me sick.

horses

We are going to pick up a horse today and look at another one. Not sure about the second horse. There is a guy here that is giving away his horse and plans on putting the other one down tomorrow if we don't take it too. He was going to just open the gate and turn them loose and let them go wild. He claims he cannot feed them anymore. We are going to have a tough time with hay ourselves but to just turn them loose.... The first horse is a registered arabian, chestnut with black mane. The second one I did not get a discription of except to hear that it has been foundered. He says it happens every spring. Makes me wonder if he is confusing foundering with colic. Pat is going to check out her feet and see how she is walking and stuff. She is supposed to be kid safe. If she seems ok we will take her. I know we are worried about hay but......

Tags: horses, hay

next day

Halloween is over and now on to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving is my big meal. I love cooking for that day. Christmas, well, Christmas is eating from Thanksgiving until Christmas Day. I have already started buying what I need to cook with and of course there is much more to get. Did I mention I love to cook? Looking for some candied lemon peel and candied orange peel at the store now. I need it very soon. I really do not want to make it but if I do not find it soon I will.

Here it is I am talking cooking and eating and I need to lose some serious weight. My weight has been creeping up and I am not sure if it is because of my thyroid being out of whack or if I am overeating or both. I have had heartburn everyday. that usually happens when I hit over what I was weighing. Ok over 190. There i said it for everyone to know. I have been thinking of just stop eating. I won't do that so please don't get on to me. Been there, done that and never want to return. Ok. . Today I did not do so good. I actually did bad. No walking today.  Tomorrow I walk again.

It has happened. We are under mandatory water reducions. We have been ordered to reduce our water usage by 10% and no outside watering at all. Nothing has been said on what happens if we don't do it. Since they only read in the 1000 part how will they tell? I do not use 10000 gallons a month! I use far less than that. I already conserve. I take 5 minute showers. The toliet is not flushed everytime(unless there is poop in it), the dishwasher is only ran when full. the washer is also fully loaded. I use paper plates for less washing. Any leftover water in teapot goes to birds or animals. I have no inside plants and the outside plants are dead or dying. I do not run the water when brushing teeth. No drips anywhere (unless you count my next door neighbor, he is a drip) I am saving on electricity also. I have changed almost all of the lightbulbs with the curly bulbs.

I am by myself again. Once again a night in front of the computer by myself.

Tags: water shortage, drought, water, cooking, food, weight, diet