Chronicles of Nani - Music, The Great Divide

Today starts with a story about war relics and goes on to talk about America's Civil War and the Constitution. The song speaks of the fear that a Civil War could happen again.

Luke Combs is not afraid to talk about it and neither am I. I hope you're not either!

#NaniMusic2

National Civil War Naval Museum portcolumbus.org

Luke Combs, Billy Strings - The Great Divide (Lyric Video) https://https://youtu.be/2LFP2KLabp4

Luke Combs talks about The Great Divide https://youtu.be/05hLmEvHMkw

#CivilWar  #TheGreatDivide #NaniMusic2

The Chronicles of Nani - Donuts, Aide Agencies & Politics

Whew! I almost didn't get the vlog done this week! It's been a very, very busy week. Some of it is explained in the vlog, but the aide that I had left the agency abruptly. They didn't have anybody to replace her so they waived the usual two week notice to leave since there was nobody that wasn't getting paid if I left because they had nobody to assign to me. 

So with David planning on his vacation during the first week of June, I had to find a new agency very fast! I basically said “sign me up” to the first agency that called back. It's been an exhausting week with new people in every day at the beginning of the week and having to go through the whole speech of “this is here, that is there, this is how you put me in a sling, this is how you wash my back…” over and over and over three days straight. One of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, no matter which kind you have is fatigue. The first three days of this week with four hour shifts with new aides every day has been exhausting. Add to that it's Cottonwood season! Cottonwood is the nastiest of my spring allergies. So I have exhausting new aides, medicine I take for my allergies in pain meds, which I have had to take because being that tired makes pretty much all of my symptoms a little worse. Thursday morning arrived and I haven't recorded anything for the vlog. I hadn't even really had time to write my bullet points that are my cheat sheet for when I'm doing the video recording. I didn't even know what I'd be talking about until this morning. So please watch the video and let me know what you think of my improv!

Donuts, Aide Agencies & Politics

(The Good, The Bad & The Ugly)

Happy 2018

Personally, I welcomed the new year quietly and alone. But it was good.

2017 was an awful year that worsened with every passing month. Worldwide, nationally, personally; I have more bad than good to say about it and I’d gladly give up the good for the bad to have never happened. I’d erase the year if I could.

Too much hate. Too much fear. Too much death. Not enough schnapps.

Not enough smiles.

2018 is a beautiful baby new year, but born from a crack whore we need to as a planet, a nation, as individuals, nurture it with love and protect it so it can have the hope and beauty a new year promises.

*** Christmas 2 will be posted soon pending getting a few photos I want for that blog.

*** Coming soon - 2018 Projects and Goals

Political Profanity

I pay attention to news and politics because I like to entertain the idea that my thoughts and my votes matter in the greater scheme of things. But reading political stuff, interviews, polls and opinions, gets me mad or frightened or both. I’m concerned that Donald Trump is ahead in polls for the Republican presidential polls. (Which by the way is an election in 2016 and why are we even reading about it yet?) Oh, if we ever needed a confirmation that political contests are all about money and elections are bought… But I wanted to see his take on the issues. Why is this man who is so ugly in his opinions about immigrants getting such support in the polls? If you go to the Trump website and click “Positions” you will find a tab for “Immigration Reform.” That’s it. He officially has no other positions. This leaves me more confused and more concerned.

His, mostly debunked, stand on immigrants and loud support of unsubstantiated “stats” is frightening. I know he is attacking immigrants from Mexico, for now, but he doesn’t seem to discern documented and undocumented immigrants in his onslaught. Several Republicans have been using the term “anchor baby” in attacking each other and voters concerning immigration reform. I hadn’t really heard the term and I was born to a married couple; a US citizen and a green card documented immigrant. I needed to find out the root of the term because I actually didn’t know if my brother and I are anchor babies.

The term was coined in the 1980s to describe Southeast Asian teens who came to America to get a financial foothold and sponsor family members to come over. As it morphed into that foothold being established by the citizenship granted babies born in this country, regardless of their parents’ nationality, it became thought of as a child citizen who could anchor the parents into the country. That, by the way, is false. A child born in this country is American but may sponsor their parents to enter the country after they are 21. There is no guarantee that the parents can legally remain because they have a child that was born here. The term came to prominence again in 2006 as congressional Republicans  used it in a derogatory way to pass legislation to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico.

The thing is it’s always been a derogatory term. It’s just like terms I remember hearing as a kid that were “just sayings.” But to a kid whose great-grandparents were born in Poland, I knew “dumb pollack” was meant as something mean to the people who said it and meant it as an ugly stereotype; it wasn’t just a saying. Anchor baby became used retroactively to describe any child born in the US that the person using the term deemed to be only born here to keep alien parents in the country. It was never an actual term to describe someone’s status, but a term used with disdain to describe anyone based on assumption. As a term that means a baby born to an immigrant mother, or one who is not legitimately here, calling someone an anchor baby is the same as calling someone a bastard; it’s the accusation that they come from illegitimate parentage. It’s pretty sad that we allow people who claim they want to lead us throw that term around so casually.

Oh, and as far as whether or not my brother and I are anchor babies, we’re not. If my dad had been the US citizen and mom had been the one with the green card it could be different. Women getting married to a US citizen and making babies to anchor themselves in the country is an acceptable suspicion but notsomuch for men. You see “anchor baby” is not just rooted in racism, but it’s rooted in sexism too. There are no anchor babies; you don’t choose where you are born. If you are an American, you are an American and deserve all the rights of an American citizen.

Good Things!

I posted this on my Facebook wall this morning:

Tolerance doesn’t mean you don’t disagree with others and it doesn’t mean you don’t share your time or thoughts with others. The greatest intolerance I see on Facebook is when someone posts an opinion or idea and everyone who disagrees jumps to comment. Sometimes people post a thought simply to share the thought, not looking for an argument. INtolerance is the inability to resist starting an argument when someone doesn’t share your opinion. An open post encouraging hate is intolerant because it is lack of resistance to pick a fight. The best formula to use when posting an opinion, especially of the taboo religion and politics stuff: “we’re great” = tolerant, “you suck” = intolerant. If you replace the “we” or “you” with “The World” in that formula you’ll get the results of the ideology.

I’m proud of what I wrote and I believe it. I also acknowledge that it’s not easy to stay away from that “you suck” speech I address at the end. The cool thing is, in an ideal world, that when any one of us slips and utters a “you suck” phrase there are enough people working on the “we’re great” ideas to avoid a “you suck worse” argument that results in that “The World sucks.” I’d love it if we all worked on “The World is great.”

I don’t think it’s a secret to visitors at The Chronicles of Nani that I think this has been a happy week of Supreme Court decisions. I’m a big supporter of marriage equality and have been for….the first friend who came out to me was in 11h grade and I definitely had the “not on MY watch” opinion of anyone denying him ANYTHING a human being has a right to. If he’d met a guy and they wanted to get married it probably would have shocked and incensed 16-year-old me to hear that they couldn’t. So I think I can say I’ve supported marriage equality for 32 years; before it was even “a thing.”

That decision makes me happy even though the only actual effect it has on my life is that there are people who have been, are or will be in my world that can plan a special day that’s appropriate to celebrate their love just like David and I did. That makes me smile


The decision that does affect me, and a lot more of us than the marriage equality decision, is the ruling for the Affordable Care Act. Despite the act’s imperfections and my support of single payer healthcare long before my MS diagnosis, the requirement to carry health insurance goes with “pre-existing condition” not being a reason to turn anyone down for coverage. The Affordable Care Act means I’ll have healthcare in spite of a disease that can’t be cured yet. There has always been so much debate and so many awful things some groups have said about people like me that I’ve been late getting medical things until I had to wait in pain for them because I’ve bought in to the accusations that a disease I did nothing to cause to myself and couldn’t have prevented made me a “leech” and a “drain on everyone.” I’m not of that belief anymore because a wise friend brought me to realize that by taking advantage of the things available to me I can better be a contributing member of society; not at all a leach or drain. In all of its imperfections, the Affordable Care Act is a step in the direction of helping everyone and bringing us up to speed in healthcare with First World Countries.


The last thing I’ll share today is my immediate most important issue: quality sweets that are low in Weight Watchers point! David found these when he was East last week:

Charms Boutique Premium Lollipops are incredible! David chose two for me to try; Cinnamon Bun and Caramel Latte. Mmmm! Great flavor and a vanilla tootsie roll center on the two I tried. I have the last about a dozen Golden Delicious caramel apple pops I bought in the fall. Since the candy canes and peppermint Tootsie Pops from Christmas are gone I’ve been back into that bag of 60 I bought. When those are gone I just might buy a box of Boutiques! In addition to the two flavors David picked out for me, there are Birthday Cake, Orange Cream, Crème Brule, Raspberry Lemon Tart, Strawberry Cheesecake and Root Beer Float, a total of 8 flavors. I think I want to try Birthday Cake or Root Beer Float next. If you like the occasional, or one or two a day, lollipop and you see these, definitely try one!

Sales and Art

David has shopped a couple places for post-zombie sales. Last night he found a pack of a half-dozen Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins and a box of Pumpkin Spice K-Cups for half price for me and for himself a 6-pack of mini 7-up cans. This is three goodies and 2 talking points. I’ll address those in just a moment.

This afternoon he found a bigger booty in his cheap-sweets treasure hunting. At Target he scored a big bag of assorted fun-size candies and brought me a bag of mellowreme pumpkins as well as pumpkin spice Hershey’s kisses and M&Ms. I’d forgotten trying the pumpkin spice M&Ms last year and immediately remembered when I tasted on today! I can’t figure out why the kisses are easier to find. They are good, but made with milk confection rather than chocolate; they only sate the pumpkin craving. The M&Ms are a heavenly combination of milk chocolate and pumpkin spice. Next year I’ll get the M&Ms from Target first then look for a bag of kisses in November.

Now the talking points from last night: There is never an issue with Peanut Butter Cups. They are always good at any price and on sale they reach new points of nirvana. But, while I thought the half-price was wonderful, I don’t really understand the K-Cups being on closeout sale yet. Halloween is over but it’s still pumpkin season until the last pumpkin pie dessert plate is washed after Thanksgiving dinner. They’re dissing the turkey for the fat man in the red suit again!

I don’t really hold that against Santa. It’s just something else the evil corporations are doing to kill our traditions and take our money.

Remember to vote Tuesday!

Anyone reading this ever get a can of soda in their treat bag when they were kids? I mean even a little can takes up precious candy space in the bag and it doesn’t take to many cans to weight a TON for a little kid. Who thinks of these things?

We could probably blame that on corporations too, but I’m really not on a political soap box today. Wheelchair lady already voted absentee. But I encourage everyone to exercise their American right to vote. If you don’t take part you give up your right to complain. You don’t deserve the fruits of or protection from our government either.

Just sayin’; Make sure you vote – better to be part of the system than to be helplessly run over by the system.


I have a scrapbook page that I did Saturday to share:

Credits: Pieces from; Bumpershoots and Puddle Makers by Cherekaye Designs and 

Lissykay Designs, Chill In The Air collab by the Designers at Ginger Scraps,Ginger 

Scraps, Autumn Art paint clusters by Day Dreams ‘n Designs, Rain overlay by Miss Edna, 

First Frost by Seatrout Scraps, September Morn by Mandy King, Snowball Fight 

elements by JenC Designs, Snuggle Season by Mandy King and Mye De Leon, 

Winter Blues by Chunlin Kathryn's Digital Designs

Art journaling really is scrapbook poetry. There was a specific emotion I was feeling as I selected the pieces to make this Page, as I searched for just the right “costumed kids” to represents the Halloween beggars. That emotion was strong as I assembled the page. I have that page posted in a few scrapbook galleries and on Facebook. I’ve gotten comments but none that get that same emotion from the page. This picture-book poet has no problem if people don’t feel the same thing looking as I did creating, but the differences in what people get out of ”art” are fascinating to me. I’d love to hear a word or two about what you feel looking at it.

Thanks for sharing…and remember to vote!

Bottom 20; Just Stop

On top of the ramp rail. Those slats are 4" high

and that's what stuck in spite of the wind!

Wake up temperature was 10 degrees! It’s been steadily falling since 7:05 this morning and the current temperature is -10 at 4:00PM. It’s sunny, which is unusual for the Midwest the day after it snows as much as it did, and windy which makes for bitter, bitter cold getting worse as the day goes on. It’s beautiful, but it’s beauty I only want to see out my window with a cup of hot tea. We were under a level 3 snow emergency until 2 o’clock today. Level 3 means you can get arrested if you’re on the roads unless you are essential personnel like emergency, medical, infrastructure (like snow removal people) and news media. Yes that means business as usual for my hubby. Our fantastic snow removal people, after some debate as to whether or not they could actually make it in time for David to get the work, got here early and did a great job clearing off our drive, walks and ramp in the blowing snow. I still consider it level “too high to count” for me personally. So I’m staying in.

I’m swiping an idea from Empty Nester today because it is just a great one for letting off some steam and clearing the air for productive thought as we get 2014 going. She did her “Top 20 Things I Do Not Want to Hear in 2014.” I’m doing…

20 Things I’m Done With Going Into 2014

Warning: some people may disagree, some vehemently, with my thoughts. Please let’s respectfully disagree and not argue about it. You’re welcome to blog your bottom 20 on your own blog. :-)

1. Cold. I’m just ready for spring now.

2. Keep calm and… Just stop that; I don’t want to see one more meme, advertisement, scrapbook journal card or card that says “keep calm and” anything. Write something original.

3. “Miley Freaking Cyrus” I completely agree with Empty Nester on this one!

4. “My Bible says the government…” Read the First Amendment. Read the passage that starts “render unto Caesar.” Close the book and step away from the keyboard.

5. “It is what it is.” I’ve been done with that copout for a long time. It is what you let it be; quit making excuses.

6. Updates to Windows 8. If they can’t fix it don’t change it.

7. Arguments about why the minimum wage shouldn’t be raised and tax loopholes for corporations shouldn’t go down. It’s just wrong. That is what’s destroying our economy and anyone who argues for it just looks like a fool.

8. Wardrobe malfunction. I think most “wardrobe malfunction” incidents are either intentional or pointed out by people looking to be offended.

9. Pop up ads that cover what you’re reading even if you have pop-up blocker. It’s like my newspaper is spamming me even when I pay for the paper and actually look at the ads in the print version.

10. Reality TV

11. Facebook games; I get invitations to play them all the time and I have absolutely no interest. It’s like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” when the game players find someone who doesn’t play they call them out so everyone knows and tries to assimilate them.

12. Rising prices on everything. There’s an app for that we just haven’t installed it. (See #7)

13. Retailers stuff your email inbox with spam when you buy one thing.

14. Profit Manasseh Jordan calls; this fake called me incessantly. I actually spent 15 minutes listening to the prerecorded message so I could talk to a real person, accused them of “doing the devil’s work because they get their call lists from public lists of people with financial or health trouble to exploit them and take money” and demanded to be taken off their list. I’m now getting more calls. (Yes I’m keeping track and I’m joining a class action suit.)

15. Off season trades. I kinda long for the old days when a player often retired with the team he was a rookie with. I don't care if I sound old.

16. The photograph with a gun and a Bible that says we should teach them both in schools. If you truly believe the Bible and a gun go together maybe the schools should have a restraining order to keep you out of them.

17. salmon and tilapia; why can’t the fad fishes be flounder and mahi-mahi?

18. “Like us on Facebook to print our free coupon!” I have to accept more advertising to print my own coupon, really?

19. When you mention to someone “I have details about it on my blog,” and they tell you “oh I don’t read blogs.” Even though the same person has no problem delivering the line “I posted on Facebook, didn’t you read it?”

20. Did I mention cold yet? It’s really worth mentioning twice. At 5PM it's -12 here and the wind chill is 40 below. I want to go to Brazil. Right now it’s 88 degrees and the coffee is fresh!

Just Swingin'

I wish “swing state” meant we have more playgrounds per capita

1. Who wakes up in the morning with the kids, you or hubby?

I wake up first and Kaline usually comes down with me to get a few cuddles while I’m having my morning coffee. Then she goes back upstairs and she and Carla usually both curl up with Daddy until he wakes up.


2. Do you watch the World Series even if your team isn't in it?

Yes. The only difference is if my team is in it, I’m sitting in front of the TV and don’t do anything distracting. If my team isn’t in the Series, I usually have the game on while I’m scrapbooking of something else.


3. What is the best compliment you have received?

At the risk of making my ego sound insane, but hey, I’m a voter in Ohio so there is a natural lack of ego control, I get compliments often and I don’t weigh any of them as better than the others. When someone pays me a compliment, especially when there is no reason for them to feel obligated to, it always pretty special and I always think the person giving it is pretty special to extend that kindness.


4. Do/did you dress up to take your kids trick or treating?

We don’t take the kids out on Halloween, in fact they usually hide when the trick or treaters start coming to the door. That’s especially good for Carla; there are some sick people who do some cruel things to animals, especially black cats on Halloween. If either of them, but especially Carla got out of the house on Halloween, I’d forget the3 treat giving really fast.


5. Do you have a favorite bible verse? What is it and why?

I don’t have one favorite verse, but I have always been able to find what I need when I open the Bible for some comforting words.

This week’s statements:
1. ___ is my favorite feature
2. Thinking about ___ makes me ___
3. It’s been a long time since______
4. I just don’t understand_____________


My Answers:

1. Frosting is my favorite feature.

2. Thinking about cookies makes me smile.

3. It’s been a long time since I made veggie soup.

4. I just don’t understand why so many people can’t separate their church and their politics.

**  In spite of the rain that we got this morning, David and I foraged out to vote today. We have early voting here in Ohio, but you’ve probably heard that. After all, Ohio is one of the few places with important people in it. Yeah, nothing like living in a swing state to bolster your ego. There are twelve states that matter to the major party candidates for president. The other states minds have already been made up for them and they will have to bore themselves this election with unimportant things like property taxes, school levies and who is running for mayor anyway? In Ohio we get flooded with the presidential attacks on, not a daily or hourly, but constant basis. I keep the TV and radio turned off during the day and David brings in the mail after making a stop at the garbage can to throw away half of it because we both have several glossy, unrecyclable dead trees from both sides and supporting organizations.

Then it’s the baseball playoffs, brought to you by Mitt Romney with special interests by More-Money-Than-You and a guest appearances by President Barack Obama, with notable cameos by Sherrod Brown and Josh Mandel, the combatants for senate. They all want to be in Washington and no one had bothered to mention our libraries which are also on the ballot here in Toledo. Seriously, I fear that most people will either not bother with our local issues or just flip a coin. And why are we disregarding our local issues and races? Why don’t some of us even know about them? Because we’re a swing state! If only one of the tons-to-spend candidates would use some of that time they purchase to drown us in how bad their opponent is could only at least remind us that there are local races on the ballot we need to consider too; I mean how many times do we need to see the same depressing message about “the other guy?” --sigh-- I envy the states that aren’t important; they get to focus their attention on more important things.


**  Over last weekend Kaline found a new…not new, old toy. I’m kind of amazed actually. When she was a kitten her favorite toy was a foam yellow ball that Sheri got for her. Sheri actually got her a tube of foam balls in yellow, green, blue and pink, but the yellow one was her favorite. I’ve heard that cats are color blind, so I never understood how one pastel ball was better than the others. True I gave her the yellow one first and when it was mangy and falling apart I gave her the green one and put the yellow one in the trash. She crawled her little kitten but up the bag and fished it out of the trash! “No green ball, Mommy; the yellow one!” I just could not get her to like any of the other three as much as that mangy yellow ball!

Fast forward a few years, we’re living in Ohio with Daddy and Baggle and there is a new sister. Carla was just over a year old and she had so much kitten still left in her as far as playing goes. Carla wasn’t the fan of foam balls that Kaline was and the foam balls disappeared, as cat toys often do. They usually resurface when furniture is moved. The yellow foam ball never did resurface; until last weekend. Kaline was in the annex room off the kitchen and there was kitty playing noise. She came into the dining room where I was and lo and behold, she was having a second kittenhood with a dirt-marked yellow foam ball! The foam ball would have been here since fall 2009 when Carla was new. Amazing the irony of her finding that particular ball after all this time! I never saw that ball when I cleared that room earlier this year, maybe it came up from the basement. It’s been her favorite toy, again, all this week.



**  If you haven’t had a chance to read yesterday’s blog about my Smash books, check it out! I have some photos of my Smash Archive book pages and a little personal history about smash-style scrapbooks in my family’s history. If you wondered what exactly I meant by “smashing” it should explain, although I welcome any further questions!

A pocket holds the letter from the bank that says the Camaro is paid in full!

Smashing Defined…Sorta

Soap Box: Political Observations and Decision

There is a lot on my mind thanks to the wonderful upcoming elections. Don’t get me wrong; I truly do appreciate that I get to vote and have some small part in the process that governs me and my fellow Americans, but the polarization between the two halves with the power is just mind-boggling and scary. I have never and will never allow political ads to make my decisions. I read, research and spin for myself. I don’t expect everyone to agree with my choices nor do I expect anyone to accept my opinion as “ultimate truth,” but if you’re accepting any ads that way, by all means, take my thoughts that way; my opinions are at least thought out and not just looking to win at all cost.

When I make political decisions I try to make those decisions as an American and not just as me. Sure, I remember that I’m an American too, but there are some choices that are just more American than my selfish ideas are and the better choice for my country does nothing to harm my ability to carry on with what’s right for me. Take raising the millage for the schools. I learned this from my parents first, like most people do, then reaffirmed that it was the right thing to do as an adult. I don’t have any kids so why do I care about funding for public schools? Just don’t raise MY property taxes. Well, first through fourth grades I went to private school, so that same thought process could have worked for my parents; but it didn’t. They supported the public school taxes and my mother even attended school board meetings and did some volunteer work for the public schools at that time. The need for better, just better, in the public school system in Southgate was why my young parents scraped and saved to pay the private school tuition. Supporting the public schools was supporting more safety in our neighborhood because kids stayed in school and had after school programs, it supported rising property values and just a better neighborhood. Better for the schools was better for everyone, even if you didn't have kids in school. That made sense then and it makes even more sense now as our schools are threatened with cuts and voucher systems that take more away when they need to have more so our kids can compete on a global level.

On the national front, there is money funneled into political campaigns that tell us why the other guy is bad and not why their guy is good that could be so much better used. I am totally against allowing corporations to buy elections; national elections should be for “we the people,” not “we the money.” Those corporations could donate that money to better causes; schools, medical research, how many bellies could they fill putting that buy-an-election money in a soup kitchen? But there are much more important things than people. Corporations are not people, they are businesses that do whatever they need to make a profit; that's the purpose of a business. But sometimes whatever they need to do includes squashing small businesses and ignoring what’s good for people; they just have concern for what’s good for their own bottom line. And let’s face it; that’s more important to them than what’s good for the country. As long as they’re still standing tall when it happens, our country can collapse; they have offices in other countries anyway.

There is so much drivel about religious issues that don’t belong in politics too. We’re still arguing about women’s rights and marriage equality? In 2012? Really?

Personally, I’m pro-life. I believe that conception is a potential for life and had I conceived, even in my teens or 20s when there was no way I could afford to raise a child, I would have done whatever I needed to bring the child safely to term so I could find it a good home and a good life. That goes with the rest of my personal religious-rooted belief. If I was going to make it the United States Under Nani, the first thing I’d do is shut down all the fertility clinics. Even counseling someone about making an unnatural baby would be illegal because it’s against my personal beliefs. If you cannot conceive it’s because the baby to whom you are meant to give a life is being entrusted to someone who didn’t plan on and doesn’t want the responsibility of raising a child to give birth. Someone else has the better hereditary factors and you have the better parenting ability. If you can’t conceive get over the ego and listen to God. To me that makes sense in God’s plan and to change it on either end is “playing God.”

There are some exceptions to my abortion stance, but not to my fertility view. I think if I’d been raped as a teen, there is no way I could relive that brutal attack for 9 months carrying what I’m sure would seem like Satan’s spawn; then never knowing if there was some genetic defect that made my assailant violent and I took part in releasing a monster into the world. A victim of rape should not be expected to remain victim for the rest of her life. Contrary to opinions I’ve recently read it is NOT the same as conceiving as a result of consensual sex; born out of love or fun is way different than planted by intimidation and violence.

See? I have some compassion on my pulpit. Still, aren’t ya glad my religion isn’t running the country?

I still support choice as an American because everyone is not me. There are so many conflicting opinions in different religions about when life starts, when it’s okay or not to terminate a pregnancy. There are so many religions and so many people who don’t practice any religion at all and they are all Americans. The first Amendment guarantees us that the government will not recognize one religion over any other as the law of the land and as an American I accept that. Allowing for women’s reproductive freedom does not affect me personally. I can still maintain that if I’d have been pregnant during my child bearing years, I’d have carried the baby to term, I can still counsel other younger women to choose life, but I don’t have the right to force others to follow the beliefs of my religious choice.

In the same vein, I’ve talked about marriage equality before and that those against its legality are basing that stance on religious choice. As Americans, it’s wrong, plain and simple. It’s ignoring the First Amendment to base voting opinions on religious thoughts. There has to be a non-religious foundation other than “I just don’t like it” to vote against equality. It does nothing to affect you. If two heterosexual people you don’t like get married, do you buy them a wedding gift? Visit their home? Tell others how great it is that they are married? Maybe you parade around in front of their house with signs saying how much it sucks that people you don’t like are married and how it should be illegal. Maybe you burn down the church where they got married. No? So you just ignore them or don’t even know they got married and live your life. Maybe as Americans we should just do that.

Lastly in my great political decision making world, healthcare and Medicare are hot topics. Much as I still maintain that insurance for everyone is not enough, it is better. I take two medications specifically for Multiple Sclerosis. One is 2 pills a day at $22.88 a pill and the other, the one that does more tangible good for my symptoms is one a day at $165.61 a pill. That comes to $77,150.05 a year just for the medication. With insurance and  private copay assistance I pay $50 a month. That means we haven’t had to sell the house and file for bankruptcy and I’m not on government assistance. HIPPA protects me if we change insurance but if the policies lapse for even a day the Affordable Care Act means I won’t find myself uninsured because for a pre-existing condition. Like I said, I don’t think it’s enough, but it sure is covering my butt in a huge way now. I don’t want that act to go away.

As far as Medicare goes, my Dad wouldn’t be able to afford insurance with a voucher without giving something up. Americans who have worked and contributed should not have to give up things for which they’ve worked all their lives. But his vote, I mean healthcare, wouldn't be affected by the voucher idea anyway.  I’m imaging myself still dealing with the MS and having to add shopping for insurance with my coupon to the mix. If the brain fog symptom that caused me to need to retake one of my classes while being diagnosed before treatment comes back as I’m older, I’ll really be screwed. Vouchers for Medicare makes the Affordable Care Act sound better and better thought out.


So, yes, I’m going to cast my vote to re-elect President Obama. Is it a “lesser of two evils” vote? Maybe in some areas, but the Romney evil is powerful and scary. But in more areas, the ones the enabling corporations are conveniently disregarding, there has been some forward movement. The up and down cycle of the economy is normal and honestly the government doesn't control it; big and small business and consumers do. Tax cuts never trickle down to small businesses because they never get them and the businesses that do build up their companies and often destroy many small businesses. Still there have been efforts in the last four years that have had a positive effect. Ultimately I’m voting for both the good the President has done and the bad he won’t do if we elect him again instead of his corporate-funded competition.

Your opinions may vary and I respect that, but they won't change mine.

Wednesday Hodge Podge

1. The Summer Olympics officially begin this Friday night...will you be watching? If you could see just one event in person which one would you pick?

Mom and I went to the Summer Olympics in Atlanta because she won tickets to baseball in the Georgia lottery. Winning baseball tickets has so much to do with why we went. If they were track and field or even swimming, we probably wouldn’t have gone.


2.Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?

It completely depends on what was going on days prior to said lazy day. If I have a few really busy days, a lazy day will make me feel rested. It’ll also make me ask “where’s the day go?” at the end of the day because I still have so much nothing to do!


3. July 25th is 'officially' Threading the Needle Day...can you sew? On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being not at all and 10 being Betsy Ross-like, how would you rate your skill with a needle and thread?

I used to sew all of my clothes in the 80s and sewed the costumes for my brother’s band. In the 90s I sewed the costumes we wore to wrestling. The last thing I sewed were the Mounds and Almond Joy bars we wore for Halloween 2005. That was very simple stitches ad I did it all by hand. Unfortunately my dexterity is such that I’m not even sure I can cross stitch without frustration anymore, so I’m have to rate my sewing skills on the poorer side now, maybe a 2 or 3?  But “back in the day” I was good enough that I never worried about my pants or dresses falling apart in public. In fact, I got lots of compliments.  I'd say I was maybe an 8 then.


4. 'Threading the Needle' can also mean to walk a fine line between two things or issues (think awkward social situation). When was the last time you had to 'thread the needle', figuratively speaking?

I think that’s whenever Kelly and I discuss a political topic we don’t agree about. We do just fine respectfully disagreeing, but I really don’t like arguing with my best friend. I usually try to change the subject. :D


5. Kidney, pinto, black, or navy...your favorite bean?


Green beans!


6. Have you ever hosted a garage sale? Was it more success or bust?

Never had a garage sale. I’m not eager to invite strangers to my house to look at my stuff. Call it paranoid, but if there are some nice things on the table at a garage sale, you know the “good stuff” is still in the house. If I was looking for places to rob, I’d be checking out the ones that are advertising; the newly cleaned up and organized with a little tease of the stuff that isn’t staying!


7. What makes you roll your eyes?

My first thought was “Republicans,” but they are too scary and too powerful not to be taken seriously.


8. Insert your own random thought here.

Since I went and was political anyway, I’ll share my basic view on politics. In this presidential election year, vote for whomever you want for president, but make sure you vote the other party for everything else. If the liberal party runs everything, they’ll spend everything and if the conservative party has all the power, we’ll lose our freedom. I don’t want to give up either, although if pressed I’d rather be broke and free than give up my rights, but by keeping the government equally at odds they won’t be able to accomplish anything. That means they will bicker as usual but won’t be able to hurt us. So vote split ticket and keep the government safely unproductive for the sake of us all.

Soap Box Again - Grrrr

A group calling themselves “Preserve Marriage Washington” blocked the law which would make marriage an equal and valid institution rather than a segregated entitlement with signatures from 200,000 insecure and confused people the day before the law creating marriage equality went into effect. The block will send Referendum 74 to a public vote.

You might say, “That’s democracy, it’s good.” But cults have voted to do great harm before and we say it’s bad. It leaves me a little confused. What is good and American about select entitlement, about prejudice and hate? I know our history is peppered with those things, but why are we still fighting those social wars? In 2012, we are still social cliques at war with each other to be recognized as the “superior clique.” Yes, if you read into that as me calling many of the fundamental religious groups “cults” and “cliques,” that’s exactly what I meant. My Bible says “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” I’m seeing a lot of judging of things that have no effect whatsoever on the people doing the judging. I see telling God he made a mistake in bringing two people together to be a far greater sin than loving someone.

The thing that I really don’t understand is the whole “sanctity of marriage” thing when it comes to wanting to keep marriage an entitlement for heterosexual couple only. First off, if we are not going to allow same-sex couples to marry to save the “sanctity of marriage,” we need to outlaw divorce too. That’s a way bigger destroyer of that sanctity. I do realize that if divorce was illegal David would still be married to his ex and her husband and I would still be single. Four happy people would be miserable or lonely, but that “Preserve Marriage” group would be happy and isn’t that all that’s really important?

I’ve had a participant on the occasional debate that sprouts when I post on Facebook that insists that allowing same-sex marriage is a “slippery slope” that next is “marrying your dog.” Aside from the fact that “marrying your dog” is quoted propaganda and not original thought and “slippery slope” is just a desperate catch phrase used when one really has nothing left to present, that argument is the silliest thing I’ve heard. Last I checked dogs can’t give consent and they can’t contract. I don’t think there will ever be a time that a doctor will call your dog when you’re on your death bed but they will call your spouse.

As far as a “slippery slope,” that slope slides both ways. Marriage equality is a plateau. If we can’t reach that plateau, if states keep putting the hate and entitlement language in their constitutions and the hate groups block the states that move towards equality, how soon before the country slides down the way it came?  How soon before laws are put in place to define marriage as “between a man and woman of the same color, same religion and same financial level?” Sanctity of marriage; keep the gold-diggers from destroying the sacred institution! That side of the “slippery slope” makes as much sense as marrying a dog does. 

Allowing same-sex marriage is allowing all couples of consenting adults to legally contract their partnership. That’s all legal marriage is. It has nothing to do with any church; it’s just a contract. I didn’t get married in a church at all and my marriage is still valid and legal and called a marriage. A church that scorns same-sex couples doesn’t have to perform a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple. Churches don’t have to change based on new laws, so why do they want laws to be governed by their rules?

The creation of the United States was greatly based on those fleeing religious tyranny in England. Freedom from the government establishing a single religion is in the Bill of rights. It’s the very first amendment to the constitution. We have the free exercise of any religion so no one religion should be allowed to demand laws reflecting its beliefs be made. One country, one religion, one FAIL. If religious interests take over our government and it becomes necessary to flee from the tyranny again, where will we go?

Get the special interest religious groups out of our government and let them tend to their churches; maybe they can do something about that divorce rate.

--------------------------------------

Items in red are sarcasm. It pains me to have to note that.

I’m not really looking to debate, just to get some anger off my chest. Feel free to disagree with me, but please don’t leave a dissertation to me of “why you’re wrong” in comments. It won’t be published. I will publish any “I disagree and here is the link to my blog” comments if you’d like to post a differing opinion. Thank you!

“Screwper Tuesday,” Oh Boy!

(Beware of Political Rant! If you'd like the calmer, gentler Nani, please scroll down to Tell Me Tuesday!)

It’s been an odd day for me schedule wise. David is working late because of the Ohio Primary Election. We did some other errands and voted before he left for work..

Before today I only voted in one primary election in my voting life. It was a Republican Primary in 1992. I lived in a moderately conservative district and was served well by Republican William Broomfield for whom I voted when he was on the ballot every time since I was able to vote in 1984. He retired after 1992.  There were three candidates to represent our district in that primary, 2 of them were excellent choices to represent us, conservative on the moderate side, like Broomfield was, and one candidate who was too conservative for the values of our area. Most of the district agreed that the other two candidates were better qualified, but the problem with 2 equal candidates and one lesser one is the 2 better candidates split the majority and the lesser candidate won by a plurality. I don’t remember the other candidates’ names from 20 years ago, but I do remember that Joe Knollenberg won the congressional seat in November. The Democrats basically put in a throw away candidate in the district we were in because for years Broomfield was unbeatable and we were considered “Republican Territory” but that year, a good moderate Democrat could have won that seat. Instead Knollenberg won pretty much by default.

This year in Ohio, I voted in the Democrat Primary. Due to Republicans in Columbus peeing on rocks, that is redistricting that happens in any state when the capitol changes parties, we’ve lost representation by a great member of congress, Marcy Kaptur, and she is in danger of losing a seat all together as they have combined parts of Toledo and Cleveland into the same district. Um, it’s cramming the city areas together to push out the Democratic representatives. Oh, I know the Democrats do it too, but I think redistricting is something that should be done after the Census IF necessary because of population growth or movement. It’s cheating, cheating the people for the good of the party; again. If redistricting is done to cram the “other party” together so they are less represented, then the entire state is not represented. It’s electing officials from different areas that gives an honest representation of the political needs and wants of the state. My opinion and I’m open to factual data that says I’m wrong, but in a state with a lot of acreage of farms and maybe 4 or 5 cities of notable population size, those cities should not be sharing congressional districts. We have 18 representatives and if one represents 3 times the people of any 2 others combined, it’s very “special” math!

Anyway, we didn’t even make it into the district that Marcy is in. I guess the Republicans in Columbus consider our neighborhood to be a “good neighborhood.” I feel dirty. I don’t want any political party to call me “good” or “equal.” That’s an insult!

Anyway, that’s my take on Screwper Tuesday. I didn’t want to vote in the Republican Primary at all. I don’t care who they choose from the nuts wanting to be President, I won’t vote for them. They frighten me. I truly don’t think the incumbent could harm the country more than the Right’s lunatic fringe candidates could devastate it given the opportunity. Give me two decent and qualified candidates who are respectful to each other. I miss the days of respect for your opponent and most importantly, for the people.

I’m not a loony left liberal. Loony Left Liberals would probably stone me for my opinions on crime and punishment. Some moderate conservatives might help them. I’m an American, moderate; little left and little right. Help people, but expect something in return from them for the help and don’t spend everything we have to do it. If the elected officials spent a little time using their brains and consciences, they might actually be PROgress instead of its opposite. And by conscience I mean that they are there to serve EVERYONE they represent and not just their party, themselves, or only the people who voted for them, consider what is in the best interest of the people not the party or the next election when they vote. If the country, and each state, is in a better political place and things have improved going into the next election, the run for an incumbent will be a lot easier, regardless of any single issue or what they thought of it. It helps to be part of a successful whole instead of a “winning” part of a giant bickering failure.


Stepping down from soapbox…or I guess wheeling down the soapbox’s ramp? I couldn’t have stood and said what I wrote with any vigor for as long as it took to write it.



So, Super Tuesday made it just a weird day. Aside from voting, it feels like Saturday. But it’s not Saturday. It’s Tuesday. And Tuesday is Tell Me Tuesday at The Coloradolady!






Today’s prompt from Suzanne is this:

Is it out of reach? Or have you just not stretched yourself far enough?

Boy, after a political rant…


“It.” What is “it.?”

Well, to me “it” is what I want. As simple as a coffee cup from the top shelf or as complicated as reorganizing my entire house, I have to want “it” to stretch enough to have “it.”

Sometimes it’s a simple stretch, I use tongs to grab things off the top shelf, a trick Grandma taught me. Sometimes I think ahead and ask David to get a can of soup off the top shelf for me before he goes to work. But my stubborn side doesn’t often let me remember to do that. Weight Watchers totals say I’m NOT starving!

As far as reorganizing the house, that’s coming along. It means I do a little more every day, a slow stretch. That tests my patience with myself, but I’m doing well with that too.

In the fall, I want to start job hunting again. I’d love to find a legitimate work from home job. I'd love something where my mental and creative skills work and my mobility isn’t an issue.  I'll stretch into something new and I'm going to have to sell myself as a candidate and possibly ask a company to stretch their opinions of what accessibility means.  Truck driver is pretty much out of the question. Not because they don’t have semis with hand controls or elevators to get me up to the cab. I’m just not fond of driving and the hours really kind of suck for a married person. I totally tip my hat to the men and women who do that essential logistics job! It takes knowledge and skills to do well that are seldom appreciated.

I think I’m resourceful enough to pretty much have anything I want. I mean that. I think everyone has that quality. Some people may have bigger “its” than others, but the instinct is to make something happen if you really want it to. And there’s the point. How bad do you want “it?” The cups are on the top shelf, but I’ve never wanted a cup of coffee and not had it. I really want the coffee. I let that small thing be proof to myself that I can always have something if I truly want it. So maybe more that are you stretching enough, the question is: Do you want it bad enough to stretch for it?

Come join us for Tell Me Tuesday at The Coloradolady!

Groundhog Day – Come Vacation in Ohio!

Happy Groundhog Day! I was reading some dejected Tweets about the impending doom of Punxsutawney Phil seeing his shadow this morning, but on a blissfully overcast day in Ohio, Buckeye Chuck did not, I repeat NOT, see his shadow. So while the rest of the country is burdened by 6 more weeks of winter, my crocuses will be budding by mid-March! On behalf of the Ohio Department of Tourism, I’d like to invite everyone to our fair state to enjoy the early spring!

I did well in all levels of my education with math…and sarcasm! As a lifetime Midwesterner, I never understood what all the fuss about the groundhog was. How mean is it to wake up a furry critter on an early February morning to see if it casts a shadow so you can determine if it’s going to be a torturing 6 weeks until spring or blissfully only 6 more weeks until spring. If you’re banking your state of mind on a groundhog, that’s pretty sad. Still, come to Ohio, the happy state!

-------------

I’ve been diligently working on the White Tornado Project upstairs this week. Today I am achy and I’ve decided to take it as an easy day. One thing I need to do is plug lights back in. I was moving some things around, cat toys and socks, under the bed. I pulled on an extension cord and unplugged the light on David’s side of the bed. Then when I turned on the light on my side, it blew out. So right now we have no bedside lighting. Not so good in the winter when the sun is gone at bedtime and not back yet when you wake up! So, while I’m otherwise taking a break today from the White Tornado, I will still wiggle onto the floor to plug things back in and replace the bulb in my reading light.


Then, the rest of the day is for scrapping, blogging and making some mini quiches for the freezer. I joined my Dad for the first phase of the South Beach diet back in the late 90s. Word of eternal caution here – even if a doctor suggests a diet to someone else, it may not be right for you! Pop’s doctor suggested South Beach for my dad to shed a few “off season” pounds. He always gained over the winter when it was not construction season. I decided that I’d join him because the support would help him stick with it and it certainly wouldn’t hurt me to shed a little. Well I was wrong on the “wouldn’t hurt me” part! I followed the recipes with the exception of adding all the oil they called for. That much oil was a gross thought and I had elevated cholesterol. Upping my fat intake would drive me to the “high” level in no time. After I got sick and actually gained weight, MY doctor chewed me out for trying a diet that is geared towards people with weight gain from carbohydrates with high or headed that way blood sugar. It’s actually dangerous for high cholesterol because if followed to the letter, it will reduce blood sugar and raise cholesterol. By cutting out the fat in the recipes, I reduced my blood sugar, which wasn’t good for me and because I wasn’t eating enough calories, I gained weight.  This is why they say to consult your doctor before changing your diet!

But the one thing that I did get from the 2 week on the South Beach diet is a taste for the little breakfast quiches made in cupcake pans. Boy those were good! All the talk last week on the Wednesday Hodge Podge about brunch and the many people who’d make a breakfast casserole or a quiche made me crave casserole or quiche. I remembered those wonderful South Beach breakfasts, which I’ll definitely have with whole wheat toast now. I looked up a few recipes last night and I’ll analyze them and create one that works for me this afternoon. I’ll get back with you all on how that turns out!

-------------

It’s Thursday and time to share a vintage treasure. This is from one of the boxes from Grandma’s garage. The garage is where the boxes from Detroit went in 1982 that weren’t opened again until Dave and I with our spouses were sorting through everything. It’s where we found the tax return copies from 1958. and in one box I found these!

I had to do some searching to get a little bit of background. The Labor Non-Partisan League pin is supporting Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1944 Presidential election. Winning that election saw FDR’s fourth term in office. He died of a stroke just a few months after the beginning of that term.

I haven’t come across any other presidential election pins, but I find it interesting to note that the presidential election pins I’ve had, the candidates have won too. Maybe there’s some family mojo at work there. Maybe I should seek out a pin for the candidate I choose this year.

The other pin is a Douglas MacArthur War Hero pin. It was in the same box and I’d guess probably from the same time.

I admit that I totally enjoyed the research I did for these pins. At the site where I found both of them, the FDR pin sells for $45 and the MacArthur pin for $20. I also did some reading at various sites, brushing up on some American history and imagining my just-married grandparents at that time.  Grandma was living in Boston, and at the time of the election, Grandma was pregnant but probably didn’t know it yet. Papa was stationed in the Pacific. World War 2 wasn’t over.


Enjoy some more nostalgia and vintage finds at Suzanne’s bog, The Coloradolady for Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Links

Cleveland Leader – Buckeye Chuck blurb

Roosevelt 1944 Election Pins.

MacArthur War Hero Pins

Happy Election Day!

Last year I said I really wanted to get more in touch with state and local news and politics. I’d planned to dedicate time every day to read up on my current events and know what my elected officials are up to. I told David this morning that I’m at about 50% of where I want to be. I’m in a much better place as a citizen of the world than I was at this time last year and considering that the health issues have been HUGE this year, that’s pretty impressive. Well, I’m impressed with me.

David and I had planned to vote this morning and go to breakfast because the weather was supposed to be on the cloudy side, getting cloudier. Before we left, he asked me what I was voting on issue 3. We had three issues and I’d researched the heck out of all of them and knew what I planned to vote, remembering the number and yes or no, so I asked him “which one is that?” The look on his face seemed to question my actually knowing the issues I was about to vote on.

I told him I’d carefully researched and considered many arguments and my voting was “1, 2, 3” and then the planned votes yes or no. Then he smiled, I think I had proven that I had a better grasp of why I was going to the polls this year, and told me I should change my vote on one of the issues. I asked if that was because we’re the same on the other 2? He proceeded to tell me why, which was a valid argument, but I gave my reasons for voting different, also valid. (and David, if you read this, it really has NOTHING to do with same sex marriage) Our votes cancelled each other out, but isn’t that how democracy works? It’s not a majority out of 2, it’s a majority from the whole state. We’ll see what happens. In reality, I was pleased that we disagreed on one issue. While I think it’s important to have similar views on some of the base moral political issues, I’d have a really hard time enjoying married life with someone who agreed with everything. I love my man for HIS mind, not because it’s the same as mine!

So, after we voted there was a glimmer of sun! A few calls to friends in Ohio outside of Toledo told us there was more sun! So we gave up IHOP for this morning, although with an IOU because the pumpkin pancakes won’t be around after Thanksgiving, we did drive through McDonald’s and picked up breakfast for the road. It was too nice day to pass up after all!

Shot at about noon today in North Baltimore, Ohio

I got some nice trains and a few barns, even this one:

Putnam County Ohio Bicentennial Barn

But this one is my official weekly “Barn Charm:"

Defiance County Ohio Bicentennial Barn.

There were 88 barns painted with the official Bicentennial Logo in 2003, one in each Ohio County. Scotty and I had gone to Tall Stacks in Cincinnati on the Saturday of the festival and one of the things being passed out to attendees was the information about the Bicentennial Barns. I thought it was so cool and mentioned that I’d love to see some of them. But we were headed home, drove right past one of them on the I-75, but in the dark had no idea. As a Michigan resident at the time, I soon forgot about the neat barns in Ohio and didn’t pursue seeing any of them.

In 2007 I became an Ohio resident. In 2008 I began to photograph and scrapbook the barns. Including the one I got today, I‘ve only shot 9, although I’ve seen a few more but the lighting at the time was poor. The Defiance County barn is the only one that has the Bicentennial Logo on 2 faces. We stopped to get it on the way home from Indianapolis in June 2009.

Now I’m off to look at some more Barn Charm. It’s already 8, I feel like such a slacker because blog surfing is something I usually do at breakfast or lunch, not almost dinner. But it was a nice day away!

After a Good Night’s Sleep

Oh, it’s not another post about decaffeinated coffee, it’s what I had last night: A good night’s sleep! I haven’t really had one of those in about a week. I’ve had a couple of new MS symptoms. I can’t get started on my disease modifying drugs soon enough! That, by the way, will be on November 14. The medication I’ll hopefully be taking requires a 6-hour observation for the first dose to make sure there aren’t super adverse side effects, primarily that the drug can, often does, cause the heart rate to slow down. The heart rate is usually back to normal within a month of starting it, but the main concern is that it doesn’t start slowed too much, so they want the patient, in this case me, to be in a facility with doctors available “stat.” The other drugs included ones that were injected, which I could learn to do to myself, but I’d prefer a pill, and ones with way worse known possible side effects, including brain disease. I’ve been through a ton of tests to be sure I’m strong enough to give the medication a try. Since the beginning of the year I have been tested for just everything! Other than the MS, “I am strong like ox!”


Occupying My Mind

I’ve been reading a lot about the “Occupy” protests going on, not just on Wall Street, or even all over the country, but all over the world. The whole Occupy movement doesn’t seem really organized or even in harmony with itself, but it’s young, so it might evolve into more. Right now, it’s definitely loud. I can imagine the 60s protests must have started something like this, only without the Internet to put them more in everyone’s living rooms, dining rooms, libraries, coffee shops and back pockets on a Smart Phone! I was a baby during the protest movement in the late 60's, no, serious, when the pot started to heat up for those protests I was probably a zygote! The anti-war movement peaked in 1968, but it really started to bubble in 1965. The reading I’ve been doing suggests that the unrest started before that, somewhere as the unification of World War 2 began to fade in the post war years and became unrest about racial equality, unemployment and poverty.

This time the civil unrest had its unification on 9-11-01 and for the comparatively brief period after the terrorist attacks. I recall the comparison to Pearl Harbor at that time. The end of WW2 brought out a similar celebration to Bin Laden’s death, albeit without the dramatic sailor kissing a woman in Times Square photograph, but this age is different too. We did not have the economic boom that my Mother grew up in and our Vietnam happened before the end of our WW2. Iraq was the war that divided our country into those who supported it no matter what and those who said, “what the…?” Our president’s enemy was in Iraq, but our country’s enemy was in Afghanistan. On the world political scale, we had the unrest and economy of the late 60s and never got the boom and celebration of post WW2 and we had it all at once. It’s no wonder the whole movement is mad and seeking someplace to aim their anger. The direction is unclear because the "enemy" is still unclear.

I’m not totally sure where I stand on the Occupy movement. Right now I’m trying to understand it from a psychological and historical point. It’s an interesting opportunity to understand why we study history. Society runs circularly, but it does seem that our historical model has been sucked into the middle of a metaphorical funnel, with groups like Occupy and the Tea Party trying to anchor themselves on the outside with ideas to pull us out, to “save us.”

I read the “demands” of Occupy Wall Street, or one could call them ideals, my preference to call something if you want to get people on board with you. "Demands" is confrontational and sounds dangerous. Their ideas are mostly decent. Some things will take a lot of work to change, some things need to be undone, some things never should have happened. There are other ideals that will never be allowed to happen or shouldn’t because of the strong possibility they’ll do more harm than good.

Yes, the details are purposefully vague there. That's mostly because I don’t have set opinions on a lot of it yet, but also because an entire blog could be devoted to opinions about the Occupy Movement. There are a lot of blogs already devoted to opinions about the Occupy Movement. This little section was just a look at the historical comparison and as fodder for thought and discussion. If you have any insight or opinions, grab a cup of coffee and post away!

It’s definitely NOT a decaf morning!

Sunday Ponderings

Just a few things that have been on my mind today, a little long, a little controversial too.


“Grow Up and Eat Your Vegetables!”


I love this time of year, veggies a plenty! Whether it’s a roadside stand, a farmers market or that friendly sign at Kroger or Giant Eagle telling me how they are supporting local farmers by carrying Ohio-grown produce whenever possible, the fruits and veggies are naturally ripe and fresh! Last weekend when Pop barbecued for my birthday, he also gave me my birthday present. My birthday presents from Pop are always awesome! I got a bag of cherries, a half dozen white peaches and a big bag of zucchini. Pop always picks up my favorites, down to choosing the white over yellow peaches. With him working in the produce department, he picked my goodies up after work Saturday morning. I couldn’t get fresher if I got them myself. But, I also get the “pick of the litter.” Pop knows what looks the best coming off the truck in the morning! I still have a couple of zucchini left, but the peaches were finished by mid-week and well, the cherries lasted through Sunday!

In the world of trying to make less of me, I tried Nutrisystem. It’s a good program if you can afford it and if you have a modest amount to lose. For me it was a good jump start. I dropped 40 pounds after a slow start. Their counselors on the phone are great. I switched a few things around and changed my dairy or protein add-ins to mostly protein instead of dairy and then I started losing better. Well, the start of the year I quit losing, even gained a little. Mostly due to stress as I was going along on the journey to the ultimate MS diagnosis.

Unfortunately, while the switching out most of the dairy worked for getting the weight loss going, lowered Vitamin D goes with MS and my blood work said my Vitamin D levels were DRASTICALLY low. That’s not Nutrisystem’s fault or the fault of the counselors. I didn’t even know I had MS when that “fix” was made in my diet. A year later the only “good riddance” feelings I have is to the prepackaged food. The diet plan is sound but the food as a whole isn’t so great.

So, I did some doctoring with the food, adding spices to save the flavor. Some of it was beyond help. Those things were mostly the dinner entrées, which are usually just swimming in not-so-good to gross gravies. I do still have a few breakfasts left that I will miss when they are gone.

Visiting the community message boards there was a shock! I was hoping that someone had already called counseling and gotten an “Okay” to dump most of those gravies or at least had some good ideas for fixing the flavor. What I found was a lot of very unsupportive people insisting you had to “do it MY way” because they were “experts.” It only takes losing some successfully and posting a lot to be an “expert.” Oh jeez, I can’t stand uncredentialed experts. The board bullies were brutal to people and probably lose Nutrisystem as many customers as they help.

The one thing the board bullies had in common was that they HATED vegetables. Oh, GROW UP! I’m thinking that’s maybe why they ended up there in the first place! For me it was mostly the nuts. I discovered my greatest nemesis in the weight gain world was the portion sizes of nuts, pumpkin seeds and the like. Maybe that explains the cholesterol issues for me? I got my fat servings under control and not only did I drop some weight, but I got my cholesterol levels down too. Of course, I didn’t get the adults who don’t eat vegetables. I mean, they hate ALL vegetables? What are teaching their kids?

I’ve always eaten a lot of vegetables, often raw and when they are cooked I only seldom add any more than a little spice or a touch of butter. The bully experts told me I had to eat all the gravy because it was important for "the stats." They all seemed to agree that the answer to the gravy issue was to steam large amount of vegetables and pour the gravy over them because it made it easier to eat the vegetables. What? After already saying that I ate lots of veggies raw or naked and liked them they tell me to put the gravy I don’t like on my veggies? My answer was that I quit ordering the stuff with gravy. That made the selection very limited.

So, I switched to Weight Watchers when I found out how bad my Vitamin D level was. Like I said, not at all blaming Nutrisystem for it, but I’m eating lots of dairy now and losing again. I’m also not bored at all and no gravy baths for anything because I cook it and my veggies-a-plenty are raw or un-gravied too! I’m diet-wise in a better place.


Stem Cells


I’ve always thought that stem cell research was a good idea. The results there have been in tests are near miraculous, but I’ve never climbed on the soap box and supported it because it didn’t promise a benefit to ME, so I hadn't researched a lot. My bad on that one. You never know when something that’s a good idea for “other people” may end up being an idea you want more done about for YOU! That’s kind of where I am now. There is a lot of research being done on the results of stem cell treatments for MS patients. So now I’m stepping up on my soap box in support of it. It was a great idea before, but when it became personal, my eyes opened wide enough to see my empty soap box.

The political world is quite threatening. I am not a registered anything but a registered voter. As far as party goes, I’m American. But I’m a disabled American now and I’m starting to see myself leaning left enough that I could totally walk away from the Republican party members because they have become quite anti-people. If that party has its way, the healthcare reform that was passed will be revoked. In addition to healthcare for people who can’t afford it, it also means that if my husband were to change jobs, I’d be uninsured with a life-long debilitating disease. That reform includes the end of “pre-existing conditions” as a reason for an insurance provider to refuse to cover someone. In the end, money is SO much more important than care, right?

Also, greatly influenced by the religious anti-choice nuts, the Republican party is really paying at least lip service to cutting funding and halting stem-cell research, because I guess research to save lives encourages abortions.

Don’t misunderstand me on this one. Anti-choice is a carefully chosen term. As an American I am pro choice. I don’t understand how anyone can not be. Personally, I would never have an abortion or encourage anyone close to me to have one. I also personally don’t condone use of fertility clinics. My personal thought is that there is a reason for unplanned pregnancies and a reason some who want babies can’t have them. It’s my spiritual beliefs that say if you are pregnant, didn’t plan to be and don’t want a baby, DO NOT KILL IT. Have the baby and give it up so the parents who want a child can adopt it.

Of course, I realize my belief that it’s killing a baby is religious. In a country where we have the freedom to choose, or not choose at all, a religion that’s right for each individual, we cannot make laws that prefer one religion to any other. If there are religions that do not hold that a fetus is a human life until birth, how can we as Americans govern when the fetus is a life?

The mini-abortion rant does go back to stem cells, really. There are two things the Republicans that are sleeping with the church ladies need to consider. The first is that not all stem cell research is embryonic stem cells. There is a hospital I was reading about, not in the US, because the treatment isn’t approved here, that uses your own stem cells, drawn from fat cells that are processed and reinjected. There have been good reviews from MS patients who have the courage and money to try it out. Last I checked the most obese country in the world has plenty of fat to donate to that cause.

The second thing, while they are kissing butt for the anti-choice religions, is MY religious beliefs. Who do I have to cozy up with for my religious convictions to be a political star? I don’t know if someone is going to Hell for having an abortion. As a ‘lil old human, I’m, not qualified to say “God says….” Best I can do is say “I feel like what I am doing will or won’t please God.” But let me ask this of those church ladies. If it’s a baby before it’s born and it’s killed. Does it go to Hell too? My belief here, it would be un-American to choose a religious influence to create a law, my spiritual beliefs find some solace in that the stem cells from aborted fetuses can be instruments to save people that are already living with diseases. The anti-choice church ladies may be seeking to strip those lives of their purpose.

Ah but, these are the same people who throw their own children in front of cars to keep people from going in to a family planning clinic. People or a soul’s purpose have little meaning to them compared to their own agenda and being right at any cost.

If you have an opportunity to talk to a candidate or your legislators, ask them where they stand on stem cell research and if they’re against it, WHY?


Feline World


David and I are thinking of expanding out family again. It’ll be a while yet. We didn’t want to run out and adopt another cat right away, part because we wanted to honor Baggle’s memory and let Kaline and Carla get used to each other without him. Yeah, they are a little different together than they were. Kaline and Baggle were that way after we lost Chester too. But the other part was that we do a lot of weekenders in the summer and have vacation plans coming up too. It wouldn’t be fair to introduce a new cat and then leave. All three of them needed us there as they got used to Carla being in the family. There are definitely things we could have done better with introducing Carla and I’d like to make sure we do them better with the next new cat. So, we’re probably looking at mid to late fall, like we did with Carla.

We do have a name picked out, Joe or Jo Morgan, Joe for a boy and Jo for a girl. I think we’ll probably use the middle name, but as David says, “it depends on the cat.” I guess I gotta agree with that. The reason for the choice was that we have a Red Sox cat and a Tigers cat. We give bonus cat treats when all three of our teams, Tigers, Red Sox and Reds win. I thought we ought to have a cat named for a Reds Hall of Famer. But David thought it was a little unfair to have two cats named for my teams and only one for his. Joe Morgan is the name of the Hall of Fame member of the Big Red Machine, 1972-79, and also the name of the Boston Red Sox manager, 1988-1991. No, not the same guy. Their playing careers overlapped just briefly at the end of the Red Sox manager’s career and the beginning of the Big Red Machine member’s. It’s a puurrfect name for our third baseball kitty!