A Darn good Idea September 30, 2008

This is not my idea but I wish it was!
 

    Hi Folks, This is the best idea I have heard in a long time. It obviously did not come out of Washington D.C. 

    I ‘ m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I ‘ m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend. To make the math simple, let ‘ s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child.

So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.. So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let ‘ s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay 27,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family? 

• Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
  
• Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
  
• Put away money for college - it ‘ ll be there
  
• Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
  
• Buy a new car -create jobs
  
• Invest in the market – capital drives growth
  
• Pay for your parent ‘ s medical insurance - health care improves
  
• Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we ‘ re going to re-distribute wealth let ‘ s really do it…instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President. If we ‘ re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let ‘ s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+! As for AIG- liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up. Here ‘ s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn ‘ t. Sure it ‘ s a crazy idea that can “never work.”     But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC. And remember, The Family plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam. Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest. This would eliminate the need for the additional $700 BILLION, or we could just use the same philosophy for that and make all of us instant millionaires!

Things that rattle around in my brain September 26, 2008

I’m sitting here in the AM waiting for the weekend to begin. I look forward all week to the weekend even tho I no longer work or go to school. Why? Because my husband works and the weekends are our chance to spend some time together. Today we’ll start the weekend off right with a trip to his Mecca, Cabela’s. For those of you who don’t know what that is (and how could you not??) Cabela’s is an out door sporting goods store. It supplies all the local rednecks with guns, ammo, fishing gear, camping supplies and ever so much more in a massive facility that is just beautiful to behold. Probably my second favorite store like that to visit with my favorite still being the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield MO. So Jarell is ectstatic about this trip today. Its about a 45 minute drive up there but its worth it. He gets all giddy and excited the closer we get because his first love is guns. (What you thought it was me? Nah I come in a close second but thats alright) He and J12 are making this trip so that they can outfit a new .22 that is technically J12’s. I said technically but Jarell is very possessive of it which I get a kick out of. He bought a scope for it (not the mouthwash) and a new stock (that wooden handle part) and he’s been drooling over it ever since. Silly man!

After our trip to Mecca (which is in the West instead of the East oddly enough) we have tomorrow filled to the brim. Jarell’s friend will be coming over to hang out and do manly things, then we have a barbecue for one of Jarell’s coworkers (Funny to be saying that- its a family business but there is one employee who is an old family friend so he is a coworker instead of a Sisk) and then tomorrow evening theres another barbecue and hayride at his brother’s house again. Same time same place as last week’s birthday party. And then Sunday? Nothing. Except maybe preparations for Jarell to finally go to Oregon because that trip has been postponed by a couple weeks already.

So I’m excited about our upcoming activities. It beats sitting around here staring at the wall. Yesterday I was desperate enough to clean our hall bathroom. You know the one I swear I won’t clean because I don’t mess it up? Yeah that one. I took bleach to the toilet and tub and sink for that matter and emptied the drawers and medicine cabinet of all the junk left behind by The Princess aka J5 keeping only that which was still useful to the kids. I decided yesterday that I’m going to make that bathroom theirs in reality as it already is in all but name. I will expect them to maintain it, but they will also have all the things there that they need like toothbrushes, their own towels, shampoo, deodorant etc. It seems fair that they have these things here permanently since they are here more often than not.

Speaking of the kids, that post finished yesterday, I was sitting here finishing up a game of Solitaire when J12 came in for a minute. He had made dinner for everyone the night before (in the form of Ramen Noodles, but he’s 15 so its quite an accomplishment) and I had the pan soaking in the sink so I could wash it. My rule is if someone else cooks, they don’t have to clean up afterwards. Seems perfectly fair and I had planned to act on it myself. Well he walks into the kitchen to get a drink real quick, sees the pan in the sink, washes it, and heads back on out to work. And as I sat there observing that my repeated requests to clean up after yourself after you’re done eating had finally sunk in, I realized that the best thing for me to remember with this kids is that I need to be thankful for them instead of irritated with them. I stopped to pray right then for the patience to do that because its a lesson that is very important. I have a new sheet of reminders for them the next time they’re here so that my sanity will remain intact, but I am thankful that they are such wonderful kids and I need to remember to show them that as well.

Sorry this is such a newsy letter from your mother post today, but I’ll have something more interesting to discuss tomorrow I hope.

Take care

Saints preserve us from Teenagers September 25, 2008

I don’t have any children aside from the fourlegged or finned varieties. That said, I became a surrogate mother on a weekly basis for my younger siblings in law and that is usually a good thing. However it becomes problematic when they come to my fairly clean home and treat it the same way they treat the trash heap they live in. That is a very harsh word, but unfortunately it is usually true.

My MIL is rarely home long enough to do more than make dozens of messes all over the house. She spends most of her time shopping at a discount store for things she will never use and does not need. She is a compulsive spender on herself. She buys gourmet organic foods from a local health store with little or no thought as to how they will actually be used in meals. I once cleaned her kitchen and threw away ten five pound bags of whole wheat organic stone ground flour with various expiration dates that were full of weevils because they had been there for a couple of years. She does not cook much and when she does, that is not what she uses. The same is true of the eggplants and artichokes rotting in the fruit drawer and the numerous other items in the house that go to waste and ruin. The kids have basicly been raised to believe that everything is disposable because they were surrounded by the massive amounts of junk that their mother buys. They have little care for their house because they know for a fact that anything they do to clean it up and take care of it will not only be quickly undone, but also reprimanded because how dare they throw away that 10 pound bag of moldy grapefruit- it was still good!

Oddly enough my MIL’s spending habits rarely ever extend to buying an abundance of junk for said children and she is very stingy about buying them even basic necessities because they’re spending too much money. Thus the charm of our household that is clean and well provided for. Trashbags, dish and laundry soap, working sinks and showers, washer and dryer, and all with the added bonus of something being likely to stay where you set it down instead of being engulfed in an avalanche of trash.

The problem is that the kids often revert to their normal habits when they are here. Dirty dishes litter the living room and game room, blankets are dumped on the floor and the bathroom becomes a dingy frightening place with trash all over the floor and all voices proclaiming that THEY weren’t the one to throw that wad of toilet paper on the floor. “Not me” becomes the scapegoat more often than not and if I could find “Not me” I’d kick his ass.

So Jarell and I are left with the unfortunate task of trying to bring some discipline into this mess without convincing them that they are the root of all that is bad and evil. J11 has started bringing her own box of cereal over here so that she doesn’t “eat up all our food” because I once worried out loud in her presence about being able to afford the 3 weeks worth of groceries we use to feed these ravenous teens for 3 days. We don’t want them to think they can’t do anything here, we just want them to learn to think about what they do first. They always willingly clean up the mess when asked, but all too often after a short stay here, their mom will show up unannounced before anyone is even awake to take them home, leaving me with the mess they had no chance to clean up.

I am obviously in over my head here in trying to keep a happy medium between rules to keep order and hanging out with my brothers and sisters because that is what they are to me. My family who I love all the more because I chose them instead of having them thrust on me. I knew what I was getting into long before I married Jarell. I just don’t know how to tell them to do something without coming off as the ultimate bitch for setting all these rules. They have had a rough and uncertain childhood and I am trying to set a good example for them so that they might be better adjusted for the real world that is coming at them at full speed. They are kids who take everything I say literally- If I am irritated by the massive amounts of food they consume with no thought about others, they think they can’t eat anything. I am so confused and so I plead with those of you who have more practice and experience with these sorts of situations for guidance.

As I said before I don’t have my own children. My assumption is that when I have my own kids who are teenagers, I will not be so worried about hurting their feelings when I tell them to clean up their own mess because they are my children who I have known from the first instead of adopted siblings who have only recently come into my life. They are awkward half grown young adults stumbling around on legs that are suddenly too long with new feelings and thoughts that are still tender and bruised from hormones that are the enemy in bodies unused to all this grown up-ness. I understand this because at 22 I was there not so long ago. And so I am torn between being the bad guy and trying to find a way to communicate with them that will not totally alienate them.

I know someone out there is saying I’m being too soft, but these kids aren’t your typical rotten teenagers. They do as they are asked when they are asked with little or no complaint. At the ages of almost 13, twins almost 16, and one who will be 18 in a few short months, they get along as if they were friends from school instead of siblings. They are kind and generous and think of others (for the most part) before themselves. They are grateful and wonderful. I just get fed up feeling like the vastly underpaid maid.

This is way too long for any day so I’m signing off now. Au revoir

Observations made in the ER and an award September 22, 2008

Overheard in the ER waiting room- “Come sit down before I beat your butt!” from the mother who refused at any cost to get off her lazy butt to get the kid who was running wild through a room of the sick and injured. And no- she was not the one who was there to be seen.

My IV

My other IV

 

On names and parenting

Open letter to parents everywhere but especially parents who choose…… distinctively different names for their children- If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, be prepared for your average person to assume that its a duck. If you name your kid Javier and that is how it is spelled, be prepared for the poor young VERY NICE triage nurse to assume (sight unseen) that it is pronounced with a hispanic inflection. Havier. In this country today there are many Javiers and we white folks have finally figured out even in the midwest that names spelled like that usually have an ‘H’ sound for the J like ‘Jose’ or ‘jalapeno’. Do not rip the poor girl a new one because she wasn’t there when you (I assume drunkenly but thats just me) name your kid ‘Jay-vier but decide to spell it ‘Javier.’ Mmmkay? Do not proclaim to all and sundry that ANYONE should be able to tell the difference simply because you’re not Mexican.

I am not racist, but there are certain races out there that delight in coming up with some of the weirdest ass names. ‘Apple’ is one for our side and I do have a step cousin named ‘Neilashay’ but ‘Shaniqua’ and ‘Lashonda’ are right up there too.

And while I’m on your case, if you have 1 count em 1 injured child it is not necessary to make a trip to the ER a family outing with 3 moms, and 5 kids under the ages of 5. The sad part? There were 2 groups like this- 3 adults with a bunch of little kids running wild while the parents read or played cards or even chit chatted on the hospital’s phone. The triage nurse finally had to intervene and then the mother’s were all “Oh thanks- they wouldn’t listen to me.” And in the mean time there are sick and injured people sitting there getting more miserable by the minute because you made a stupid decision to apparently hold your kids birthday in the ER. “Oh kiddies it’ll be fun!” NOT!

So I guess if you couldn’t tell, I spent my evening in the ER last night. We got there at 9:45 right after 3 major traumas came in and got out of there at about 3:45 in the AM. That whole appleseed thing got a bit more complicated when I started vomiting (YUM!) and having trouble breathing. Remind me to thank my dad or mom for passing on the worlds tiniest veins to me. When I finally got in to be seen a little after midnight, they managed to get the first IV in my left hand on the first try, but when they had to do some stuff to make my throat glow under a CAT scan, they had to get a bigger vein and that took 3 tries and 3 more IV thingies cuz my veins bent the hell outta the first two. How does that work btw? The really sucky part is that the stuff they gave me to relax my throat muscles let the damn seed go down but we didn’t know that for sure till they did the scan. And apparently I have a diverticulum which makes sense with all the stuff that gets stuck in my throat so all in all that was a fun night for me.

It was nice to get up this afternoon and see that Dana had given my second ass kicking of the year. Wait kick ass blog award. Thats what I meant. Especially after feeling like I’d had mine kicked all over the place last night. I’m terribly lazy today so I’ll work on the passing on later. I’m going back to sleep for now cuz they didn’t give me any good drugs last night so I had to resort to OTC stuff at their direction. Benadryl to sleep and cloraseptic lozenges to numb my throat. LOL!

Oh I wanted to say a quick thank you to John who was my nurse last night. You were the nicest nurse I’ve ever had. Even if you did have to stab me twice. It wasn’t you who couldn’t get the stupid thing in my arm it was the other guy. So thanks so much for being awesome.

Here it is September 20, 2008

Part 1

and part 2 done by the awesome Dana

This is my ultimate masterpiece. It may not look like much but that took me a long stinkin time to get just right. Actually I mean to make it look like it was all sitting on a table, but the fabric looking brush wasn’t cooperating.

Its been a combo day for me. Good in the deals department. We happened to stop at a neighbor’s garage sale and I got 12 books, 7 old LP’s, and 3 cute little tins for $2. The bad part was where I accidentally swallowed an apple seed yesterday afternoon and its stuck in my throat just in the wrong spot. It kept me up most of the night and just when I had finally passed out (or so it felt like) my MIL was knocking on our bathroom window because she had asked to be dropped off without our knowledge so she could “borrow” Jarell’s truck. Technically its his dad’s truck, but they have 3 other vehicles that she could have used but wanted this one because it was the most convenient. WTF? So Jarell said he’d take her home and I decided to go along because I knew I wouldn’t get back to sleep. Then I saw the clock. 7:45. Seriously? Cuz thats just not right on any given weekend morning, but especially not on a morning when I haven’t slept. I got some nice pictures of the puppies that are at their house tho and of course there was the garage sale.

So does anyone have suggestions for getting rid of the apple seed? Its not obstructing breathing or anything, its just very uncomfortable. And yes- I do feel like a retard thank you very much. And yes I did google it, but the answers were…. less than helpful because they really weren’t on topic if you know what I mean. Try looking up apple seed stuck in my throat and see what you get. LOL!

Anywho, I’m off to get ready for my nieces’ birthday party. I feel bad for my sister in law- 2 out of her three kids have birthdays this month and they’re only a day apart! Not in age tho thank goodness. Plus its my MIL’s birthday today so its a multi person party. There’s gonna be hayrides and hotdogs so I’m all over that.

Newest Addiction September 19, 2008

I don’t have the money to shell out for Photoshop but I want to get the same effects which is not unreasonable. So when I went looking for a copy cat program last year you can imagine my glee when I discovered GIMP 2.4 I have never used photoshop so I can’t tell you how they compare, but for what I want to do its wonderful. Then today I decided to learn how to make brushes. For those of you who don’t know what those are, its basicly the digital equivalent of a rubber stamp which is a whole lot of fun for free. Then to top that off, I accidentally stumbled across this section on Deviantart where there are litterally thousands of free GIMP brushes and they are OMG so amazing! So now that I’ve given you something to play with, I’m going back to my picture making. You’ll just have to suffer alone for now but maybe I’ll have some examples later.

Tata!

Be a flob* no more (girls only) September 18, 2008

Thats my current unwilling goal. Flob being a fat blob btw. I hate hate hate exercising with my entire being. I hear a lot of people talk about that endorphin rush and I look at them (or their blog) with a confused look on my face. Endorphins? Same feelings as sex and chocolate? Where? How? All I get is hot, sweaty and sore. Oh and hungry. I exercise and I get massive cravings that my oh so wise husband says to ignore. Easy for him to say! But I’m sick and tired of being fat. I want that sexy body I had when I was 18. I was one of those rare people who looked in the mirror and thought “I look hot!” Well maybe I didn’t go that far, but I was a size 8/10, 36D, and I did have guys drooling over me. I even had a female friend say to me upon seeing me in a swimsuit for the first time “Damn I never would have guesse you had that body hiding under those baggy clothes you wear.” I was in choir and jazz band and let me tell you if you don’t already know, those classes are GREAT ab workouts if you breathe right. 

So its not hard to imagine wanting all that back. But I have 50 pounds to lose and that seems like an awful lot. I always weigh a bit more than most people my size because under the flab is still a lot of muscle thank god. I have never been dainty altho I look back at pictures of myself and realize I was a lot skinnier than I thought. So I’m sitting at a large 14 to a small 16 right now and a 38DD. I’m going to even go so far as to say that I weigh in at 205 and most of that is in my buns thighs and bra. Sorry guys thats TMI for those of you with the Y chromosome so you can really quit reading but I did warn you in the title. So I guess I’m just telling you all this so I have some accountability. I started working out on Monday. 30 minutes of mixed cardio in the form of ski machine, Ab Lounger, and one of those total gym things for arm curls. I am in pain and my hubby is getting a kick out of it. Not the pain part- he’s not that sadistic. More the complaining about the pain because he is into body building and has been for years. Needless to say he’s been in pain but he’s one of those weirdo’s who actually thinks that crap is beneficial. All I can say is bite me!

Oh and with regards to the aforementioned blogs that confuse me with their references to endorphins, I would also like to add that if you’re a size 6 complaining about how you can’t get back to a size 4 and you’re 5′ 6″ or whatever I say also to you bite me! I’m almost 5′ 4″. Please don’t take offense when I say that tho, that would be the lack of endorphins and the arms that feel like wet noodles talking. Not the real me I swear.

So my goal is to be in shape by January. I’m not one of those people to make New Year’s Resolutions because frankly making a resolution to do anything I don’t want to do on my birthday goes against my religion. So instead if I manage to go down a size or two between now and then I’ll let you know. I may even try and find a widget thingy that shows whether or not I worked out when I was supposed to for the sidebar. I will be taking weekends off probably because I prefer to suffer alone with my laptop playing preselected happy tunes as the only witness to my efforts. That said, I can always use abuse encouragement to keep me on track so feel free to do your best impression of some mean old coach and keep getting after me.

Wish me luck!

Twofer again September 15, 2008

Well I had something else to say today and since the earlier post was really originally from Sept 11 I guess I can justify this. First off I want to send out my thoughts and prayers for well being to all who have suffered through hurricane Ike. I would be devastated by that kind of loss. We got a mere 6 inches of rain here but it was plenty for us to stomach. That said I was thinking yesterday of all the crafters down there in that mess and how they probably had to save the most important things only and sadly I know in the case of a forced evacuation I would not be able to convince my husband that my entire craft room was a priority so I am feeling your loss guys. It made me tear up thinking about how bad that would be and I thought. And thought some more. What if I gathered people around me to dig through their crafty bits and send a bit in the direction of displaced crafters? I know it may not be much, but I was thinking that we’ve all got these stashes of stuff. I know I am not the only one who has a whole room for my hoard and when I wandered over to one of my regular reads and saw that true to my thoughts her house was wiped out I began to feel very ansty. I don’t have a huge readership here. My big days are 41 visits and there are only like 2 or 3 of those so in order to get some feedback I would have to ask for your help in this endeavor.

What I am thinking is that I want to wait until people are getting a chance to get back to their homes and begin to regroup and then I want to get some info on the crafters who have been the hardest hit. Then comes the part where I need your help again dear readers. I would like to ask for people to dig through their stashes and find some goodies to send to these people who have lost everything. I know there will be people out there who do the necessities because they are necessities to live but what I understand is that without my craftroom I’m only half alive and I know there are others out there who feel the same way so these things that are luxeries to the insurance companies are necessities for some. I am not so great at getting this stuff on paper and I could use some help. I am not organized so I don’t know whether I would want to have the stuff sent here to send out our whether I would set this up like a swap where each person has someone specific to send to. If I had it all sent here I’d have to do some sort of sign up fee to cover shipping not because I don’t want to pay it but because I just don’t have the extra money to do that myself. Again looking for suggestions on that front. Please pass this on folks and give me suggestions. Email me at hellesbelles86 (at) yahoo (dot) com or the address in the sidebar. Either way I will get it as long as my email doesn’t go all evil on me. I just can’t sit by and do nothing, you know?

All the lonely people where do they all come from?? September 15, 2008

Well not necessarily lonely but I certainly am not going to be the one to desecrate that line from the music gods. I’ve been planning this post for a while but never get around to it and somehow on a day like today when we are remembering and giving thanks to people we never met (maybe) it seemed appropriate to thank some wonderful people here as well. I have a little boxy thing over on the left hand side of the screen somewhere that doesn’t look like much, but if you click on it, it takes you to Active Meter. Basically all it does is chart how many visitors I have and where you all come from. So I wanted to say hi to you all out there.

So heres the break down for you who may be curious.

The vast majority of my readers come from California followed close by Indiana. Hello! In California its all up and down the coast which I think is awesome. Whoever comes here from Milpitas, I’v been there many times because my mom’s brother and his wife live there- what a beautiful little city. Arizona and Quebec are next on the list this week and aparently the list changes every week. Wisconsin and KC are next. I wonder who’s in WI? I smile at Kansas City because thats home and I spent the day yesterday wandering around there when my husband took an alternate route. I imagine tho that the KC’s are Karen and Toi just like I’m sure that most of my Indiana traffic is Dana. 3 people came to me from each of the following countries- India, England, and Australia. For those of you who don’t speak English, I’m still trying to figure out how to get a translator installed but never knew until recently that it might be a good thing. Any suggestions folks?

Rounding out the trip around the world are Pakistan, Spain, Germany, Iran, Indonesia, Egypt and Singapore which is awesome because I’ve always wanted to travel and I welcome all of you.

I’d love to know who wandered through from Washington, Houston, Connecticut, New York, Austin, or any of the other places on my little chart. I’d love to be able to put names with places so feel free to leave a note here or even drop me an email. My new address soon to be updated on the sidebar as well is hellesbelles86 (at) yahoo (dot) com so that I am more reachable.

Also, to my partner for the Wicked Witch Switch if you happen to stop by, I have not received any emails from you for a while and wasn’t sure if mine had gone through so this is my effort to reach you from here so I can get all your particulars.

What a wet but lovely weekend September 14, 2008

Well I’ve been staying clear of the computer the last few days because I had a couple of good books to read and very little to say that hasn’t already been said. Its been raining for 2 weeks off and on and the land is beyond saturated. Poor Jarell has been sick the last couple of days and therefore home and in the interest of having a nurse if I got sick, I took good care of him. I finally attempted the Twilight books and plowed through the first two at an alarming rate. Not my style per se, but really pretty good for kid lit. I laughed and cried and look forward to wasting money on the next two before too long.

Today we went to the local Renaissance Festival and it was so much fun! I love to go every couple of years because there is rarely much new but if you only go once in a while its fun to rediscover your favorite places. Today was a good day to go too because all the rain kept most people home. We had no crowds to deal with and only a little mud as the price. I have some lovely pictures of eyecandy for you single ladies, cool costumes, and my husband as a wizard. He also falls into the eyecandy section, but you really just can’t see much.

Sorry if the pictures are sideways- the computer doesn’t like me today. If they’re right, yay!!! We walked away from the fair with moonflower pods, cinnamon spice tea, a wax dipped rose, and a totally awesome hair flower thingy that is this metal ball that folds up and apart and turns into different hair holder thingamabobs. So a very nice day for our 18 month anniversary. Its strange for me to think we’ve only been married that long when coming up on my birthday we’ll have been together for 4 years. Huh! Not so bad after all and we’re still crazy about each other.

Well I’m off to read another book- I’m in that sort of mood and when I get in those moods, I devour books at an alarming pace. I remember reading 6 Nancy Drew books in a 10 hour driving day when I was 9 and then learning to crochet because I had run out of stuff to do. I am a multi talented child, no?

Hope everyone is safe out there and that the weather hasn’t taken to great a toll. My prayers go out ot all of you living in the southern section of the country because I know its a horrible mess down there right now.

Au revoir.

Melissa