Gratitude Journal

Hi Everyone! We had an enjoyable weekend with our company. I did manage to get the house, deck, barn and garage power washed on Saturday, it looks so nice. I am hoping to get all the windows washed this week. I hate going into the gloom of winter with dirty windows. (LOL) Sweetie and I are going to French Lick Springs Resort tomorrow, just for one night. We have a gift certificate that we need to use and wanted to do it while the weather was still nice enough to enjoy their beautiful gardens. I think our weather will be dry and cool, I am really looking forward to this.

Well today is the day they are supposed to vote on the “Band-Aid” for our economy. Sweetie took his paycheck to our little hometown bank on Saturday and was turned away….they have no money! They said maybe on Monday or Tuesday. It sounds like they had a run on this bank to me. Sweetie was able to drive to another town, to a bank branch and they had money so all is well for another week. Now banks failing in Europe, it sure makes you wonder if your money is safe doesn’t it? We don’t want to get hysterical and withdraw everything…but gee that means we will have to trust the federal government…hmmmmmm. It almost sounds like a lose, lose situation. I don’t know how they figure this Band-Aid will work. I think they are just buying themselves some time to get their own money out safely. I am sick to death of corporate greed and corrupt polititians!

Well here we are, I started writing this about 5 am. Since then my life kinda just took over, with a Dr. appt. and my day to be on Grandma Duty. The house has just voted against the $700 Billion Band-Aid. I am wondering what is next. I don’t think the people wanted it to pass. The stock market will be crashing soon. I think we are all just sick of it. The fear of the unknown is much less than our fear of the known, THE GREED and CORRUPTION. Tomorrow will be a new day for sure. We are in the midst of our own “paper” TEA PARTY. It has all just gotten dumped in the harbour! I will be glued to the news for the rest of the week.

Just a quick note this morning. Mother is having cataract surgery this morning, please remember her in your prayers. She is an avid reader and even that has become difficult for her. I have lots to do as the Autumn colors approach. We are having some company this weekend and again next weekend. I have a cousin coming from Anchorage on the 5th, I am sure to get the low down on Alaska politics. Fall is a really busy time here as guests arrive from all over to see the beauty of the rolling hills and the forests in all their glory. It is hard to believe the end of September is arriving. I think our leaves are a little behind this year. I have all the gardens to make ready for winter, things to cut back and a few things that need split and moved.

Well did anyone watch the President last night? It was a pretty quick speech I thought. It does make you stop and look at this financial crisis as more than just ANOTHER BAILOUT. I think this is nothing more than a band-aid on our eventual economic collapse. I would really like to rant on about this and maybe I will have time to do it later but for now I have to run. Today I am Thankful that I still have the right to voice my opinion in this country. I understand why we need the band-aid but what are we going to do for the next one? GM, or GE they are in trouble too. What do YOU think? I really want to know.

$700 BILLION !! The population of the United States of America is just over 301 million including… men, women, and children. If we divided up that same $700 billion each person including children would get just over $2 billion EACH. I don’t know about you but if Sweetie and I each had 2 billion that would be 4 billion to spend. We would pay off our house as I think most people would do therefore solving the housing crisis, as well as boosting our economy. I don’t know anybody who  has 2 Billion invested in the stock market..now maybe I just travel in the wrong circles but come on people wake up! This crap has got to stop! Who is going to benefit from this $700 BILLION bailout…huge corporations, greedy politicans and CEO’s, thats who. Give each man, woman and child $2 billion and see how quickly mainstreet recovers. Lets not just talk about redistributing the wealth here is their opportunity to do it! Would you be willing to lose your IRA if the government was willing to pay YOU $2 billion for it??? I am ready and willing. The flip side of this is that if we the taxpayers are paying for this bailout it will cost us each just over that same $2 BILLION.
$700 BILLION =5,785,123,966.94 barrels of oil  ($121.00 per barrel) (we get $24 a bushel for wheat to feed the world  I say a bushel of wheat should = a barrel of oil, now that would bring the price down!

$700 BILLION = 175,000,000,000 gallons of gas ($4.00 per gallon)

$700 BILLION = 2,333,333.33 new homes ($300,000 per home)

$700 BILLION = 25,000,000,000 new cars ($28,000 per car)

$700 BILLION =  63636363.63 hospital stays ($11,000 per stay)

The list could go on and on, do your own math. Try running your personal books like the government is running OUR books. Any time there is not enough money in the checkbook, start a new one! Around here the paper is full of people they have put in jail for passing bad checks. ….you know, writing a check when you don’t have the money to cover it is ILLEGAL yet we as a nation do it all the time. I for one am tired of this crap!

I am trying hard to find something in all of this to be Thankful for….I will be Thankful when the government gets back to being FOR the people!

Happy Tuesday! Today is my day to keep Andy. We spent the morning gathering nuts. After our french toast with strawberries. We picked up hickory nuts and cracked a couple to see if they were good, and they were. Then we were off to the acorns. Andy wanted to try them too…I said your not going to like ‘em but he thought he would so…. we peeled one open, he stuck it in his mouth and let me tell you, it did not take him long to start spitting….hehehehe. I guess he didn’t like ‘em after all. Here he his with his hall…..

Then he left me to go riding on the tractor with Paw. They are busy making paths in the woods. Boys are funny like that. Then they took off for the bank where Andy was sure to get a sucker. Paw loves taking the boys to the bank, cause all the ladies make such a fuss! It is really too cute. Then home for lunch and down for a nap….this is a pretty easy gig today. I am Thankful for all of my grandchildren today. They keep me young and help me to see with wide eyes of discovery. They are always trying to get away with something so they keep me on my toes too. They make you see that happiness comes in so many forms, today it was nuts in a basket and a ride on a tractor with a sucker thrown in for good measure. How easy is that? They help me to be happy…just happy for no particular reason. I hope your day is happy too!

Happy Fall everyone! I hate to see summer end in some ways, but I always love to have Autumn arrive. This summer has been hard on so many. The weather has reaked such devastation in so many parts of our country, I think I shall be happy to blow it a kiss goodbye. Sweetie has been busy building his lawn vac system…but does take the time to say Thank you to all who wished him happiness on his birthday! Back to the lawn vac for a minute..this contraption had better work! One would think he has been out in that garage inventing the light bulb or something. Sawing, nailing, welding…he is quite excited at the possibility of a vacume system that mulches our leaves and deposits them into a trailer for disposal in the woods. I hope it all works out cause he is so excited!

A picture for you, fall is coming! This is a sugar maple in our front yard, just starting to let us know fall has arrived!

Please forgive the “dated” picture…I have been having trouble with a neighbor and his dogs. If you read me with any regularity you know how much I love the animals….this idiot and I say it with love…has two dogs and a bunch of puppies (from not keeping them tied or having them spayed) Now when these dogs come over to our house we feed them and send them home. They seem starved. I witnessed a beating the other day which prompted me to call the sheriff and animal control. They came out to check on the problem and asked me to take pictures of the dogs running loose so I enabled the date feature on my photos.

I am Thankful today for Autumn and the feeling it puts in the air. The hurry and get ready for winter attitude. The colors just beginning. The pumpkins and the smells, the candy corn and carmel apples, The sweatshirts and long pants, the campfires we are sure to have. Yes Autumn is my favorite time of year.

It’s Friday!! Another week slips by. The crispness of fall is in the air. I love waking up to these brisk mornings. I leave the windows open over night and snuggle up in a warm quilt. I absolutely love it when fall rolls around! Today is Sweetie’s birthday. Just a couple more years then social security will kick in…if there is any left. He has been in Ohio all week but will return home today. Today I am so Thankful for my sweetie!

Here he is with our precious little Olivia! Thanks honey, for all you are and all you do, you make life so rich! Have a wonderfully happy birthday! I think we will enjoy a nice quiet evening at home.

Now off to my political rant for the day…..Did anyone happen to see Glen Beck on CNN last night? I was so moved by something he said and for those who didn’t watch I thought I would share it in paraphrased version….He asked “What kind of person are you, a 9/10, a 9/11, or a 9/12? On 9/10/2001 we were all going forward, business as usual, heads in the sand. On 9/11/2001 we were all dumbfounded wondering what was going on, shaking our heads in disbelief. On 9/12/2001 we were angry and ready to unite and stand up for our country, we were all patriotic ready to sacrifice whatever it took to hold those responsible accountable for what they had done to America. So today where  are you with your attitude about America?? Are you a 9/10er with your head in the sand? A 9/11er still shaking your head in disbelief? Are you a 9/12er ready to stand united with your country, whatever the out come of our election?  I thought this was a profound way to put it and it really gave me something to think about. I hope you think about it too!

Thought this was cute enough to share
Why Women Are So Crabby…

We started to ‘bud’ in our blouses at 9 or 10 years old only to find that anything that came in contact with those tender, blooming buds hurt so bad it brought us to tears. So then along came the ridiculously uncomfortable training bra contraption that we pulled down constantly while the boys in school snapped it until we had calluses on our backs.
Next, we get our periods in our early to mid-teens (or sooner). Along with those budding boobs, we bloated, we cramped, we got the hormone crankies, we weren’t allowed to go swimming and had to wear little mattresses between our legs or insert tubular, packed cotton rods in places we didn’t even know we had.
Our next little rite of passage was having sex for the first time which was about as much fun as having a ramrod push your uterus through your nostrils (IF he did it right and didn’t end up with his little cart before his horse), leaving us to wonder what all the fuss was about.
Then it was off to Motherhood where we learned to live on dry crackers and water for a few months so we didn’t spend the entire day leaning over Brother John . Of course, amazing creatures that we are (and we are), we learned to live with the growing little angels inside us steadily kicking our innards night and day making us wonder if we were preparing to have Rosemary’s Baby.
Our once flat bellies looked like we swallowed a whole watermelon and we pee’d our pants every time we sneezed. We couldn’t get our rings on and had to have help with our shoes. When the big moment arrived, the dam in our blessed Nether Regions invariably burst right in the middle of the mall and we had to waddle, with our big cartoon feet, moaning in pain all the way to the ER.
Then it was huff and puff and beg to die while the OB says, ‘Please stop screaming, Mrs. HearMeRoar . Calm down and push. ‘Just one more good push’ (more like 10), warranting a strong, well-deserved impulse to punch our %$#*@*#!* hubby and the doctor square in the nose for making us cram a wiggling, mushroom-headed 10 pound bowling ball through a keyhole.
After that, it was time to raise those angels only to find that when all that ‘cute’ wears off, the beautiful little darlings morphed into walking, jabbering, wet, gooey, snot-blowing, life-sucking little poop machines.
Then come their ‘Teen Years.’ Need I say more?
When the kids are almost grown, we women hit our voracious sexual prime in our early 40’s - while hubby had his somewhere around his 18th birthday.
So we progress into the grand finale: ‘The Menopause’, the Grandmother of all womanhood. It’s either take HRT and chance cancer in those now seasoned ‘buds’ or the aforementioned Nether Regions, or, sweat like a hog in July, Run the air conditioner in January, wash your sheets and pillowcases daily and bite the head off anything that moves.
Now, you ask WHY women seem to be more spiteful than men, when men get off so easy, INCLUDING the icing on life’s cake: Being able to pee in t he woods without soaking their socks…
So, while I love being a woman, ‘Womanhood‘ would make the Great Gandhi a tad crabby. You think women are the ‘weaker sex’?  Yeah right. Bite me.

Isn’t this the cutest little guy you ever saw? A special Thank You to my friend Mary who stopped by to share him with me. If you haven’t been over to her writing nook …stop by she is always so inspireing and such an interesting read. Thanks again Mary, I love him!

I know I posted this Portugese Friendship by Proxy yesterday but I recieved it again from Lady Di at KittyJustice and I just wanted to acknowledge her. Thank you Di as you see I gave it to you too…LOL! I love making friends online and Di is a great one! Stop over and see what she’s up to.

I have been busy making applesauce for the winter, I still have another box of apples to do today. I am keeping Andy all day today and I am thinking we shall make an apple pie. Andy loves apples! Sweetie’s mom gave me a big bag of tomatoes, I made chopped tomatoes with them. There really wasn’t enough to can so I froze them. I have never frozen tomatoes before but everyone says they are good that way so…..I am trying it. Well Andy has arrived so I am cutting this short to see what we can get into. I am Thankful  today for such awesome internet friends! Have a lovely day! and please remember….

and