"We" are still in charge today!

He, he, he...."we" are still in control today!! Kept her in bed all morning and into the afternoon. As a matter of fact, "we" probably wouldn't have begun a post today if she'd not had really weird dreams (Not our fault! Honest!) and the family wanted to order pizza online. Plus, she's not staying in bed when the Super Bowl is going to be on TV!

So, maybe tomorrow you'll get something really worth reading. Today "we" just have weird dreams and a phone call from one of the lead actors in the play calling to say they can no longer participate. So, "we" will be busy trying to figure that issue out the rest of the night.

Crap....Celeste is back and doesn't look happy about her sitting up on the couch typing. Gotta go!

Feeling like death-on-toast lets "voices" speak.

Yay!! Jackie's feeling under the weather today, so we get to write!!

Who are "we," you ask? "We" are the "voices" from her head, and we're all trying to figure out what to post.

There are lots of things going on -- rehearsals for the Community Theatre play; getting the new fence constructed; dealing with the new neighbors behind the house with a pack of dogs that won't shut up -- and that's just the short list!

However, she's a smart cookie and has taken her medication for the day plus a flu-fighting kicker. "We" are still busy with our lists, arguments, worries, etc. But she's got a comfy couch and blankets to curl up with which allows sleep to shut us up for a little bit.

This post is just being placed here 'cause "we" convinced her that she could do this and mistakenly promised that as long as she would be able to type somewhat legibly, "we" would help keep the posts coming. "We" forgot that the laptop works in the bedroom, too....an oversight we stupidly made.

Ooh!! Puppy Bowl advertisement on TV!! That's always cute (though Jackie will deny it) but it won't be as much fun as the Super Bowl tomorrow. Gotta make sure she's ready for the game tomorrow. Youngest Son is practicing his trumpet. Husband already did grocery shopping and dealt with the dogs when they barked at someone coming up the drive unannounced. Now he's doing laundry. Harley is laying the in the floor and Celeste is staring at "us" like it's a mortal sin that "we" are posting online. And Cat is....well....she's being Cat and staying away from everyone.

And now Celeste is really starting to stare so "we" are going to go for now. Nice doggie....putting the laptop away....

Not able to post myself, but auto-post helps me stay on schedule!

Today I'm in St. Louis. As I mentioned before, I have a stupidphone, so I can't connect to the Internet while I'm on-the-road like this. If I were going to be staying here for more than just the day (and not being as busy as I expect I am), then I'd bring my laptop with me.

But, I'm also not going to be able to see well enough to type, so I'm creating this post on Thursday. That way, the auto-post feature will kick-in and I'll be able to keep my "post-a-day" promise to myself. I'll fill y'all in on what's happening as soon as I know.

70 years of love trumps 6 weeks of winter

Every year I've felt sorry for the poor rodents all across the country that get dragged out of their dens as the crack of dawn to see a "shadow" and predict the weather. It's kind of hard for them to NOT see their shadow because of all of the television lights and flash bulbs going off during the process.

This year the majority of the country's "official groundhogs" supposedly "saw" their shadows. Depending on what part of the country you're living in, you don't really care that there will be six more weeks of winter because "winter" as we've always known it hasn't existed this year. Lots of people are blaming it on global warming. Funny thing about that is this -- the local news channel went through their archives of recorded temperatures for the month of January all the way back into the early 1900's. The average temperature in January 2012 doesn't even rank in the top ten of the warmest temperatures. The warmest was in the 1930's.

If you mention Groundhog Day to most people, they either think of the poor rodent awakenings or of the movie starring Bill Murray. I, however, have pleasant memories of associating Groundhog Day with a different type of emotion -- love. My Maternal Grandparents were married on February 2nd, 1942. Sadly, they've both passed away but I still remember seeing them exchanging flowers or gifts or planning to go out for dinner instead of worrying about whether or not Spring was coming soon. They loved each other very much and even after my grandfather had a stroke, my grandmother stayed right with him to help him. I know it wasn't easy on her, but she was there. And then after he fell and broke his hip and had to move into a nursing home, she went every day to visit him. She'd even do his laundry and often take him food. We told her that we paid the staff to take care of those things, but she wanted to be the one taking care of him. It was always hard to get her to take time for herself just to go out to lunch with us, even when he was telling her that she needed to go. When he passed away, she was terribly lonely but I could tell that the love was never going to end. Today, the two of them rest side-by-side in the family plot. If they could, I'd bet that they'd still be holding hands today.

So, I dedicate today's blog post to their memories. Sure, I could sit and write funny stories about groundhogs or the weather or any other number of topics. But today, on what would have been their 70th anniversary, I'll remember the love they had for each other and consider myself incredibly lucky to be in a loving relationship.

My political editorial - Come back to reality, Mittens!!

Okay....it's Wednesday and I was going to blog about my therapy session today. We talked about some things I've posted on my blog, some responses I've received, and other issues in my life. It was a nice, typical session. My therapist was just surprised that I wasn't there as early before my appointment as usual and thought I was going to skip-out today. I told her that I'd gotten on a rant and had to finish a post. She asked if it was here on my blog and I told her it was on my Facebook page. But, under the circumstances, it belongs here too.

Those who've been reading my posts for the past month know that I've been trying to stay out of the political fray. Politics and religion. Two topics on which I have very strong opinions that many in my family and circle(s) of friends disagree. That's why I don't bring them up. But today, a statement was made that is being argued and will be for a LONG time to come. Or, at least until the speaker figures out that he's made a complete idiot out of himself with it and goes away (my opinion).

I'm sure you've already heard, but today on CNN, Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney -- who just the night before won the Florida Primary -- said that he's not concerned about poor people. Well, not exactly. He said he's not concerned about the "very poor." Even that's under debate. Here's part of the transcript:

"By the way, I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling. I'll continue to take that message across the nation."

Okay...so let me sort of dissect this statement. He's not concerned about the "very poor" because they have a "safety net." He's not concerned about the "very rich" because they're "doing just fine." And he suggests that 90-95 percent of Americans are struggling right now. What I've not been able to determine from his statement is this -- when do the "poor" become "very poor" and the "very rich" become just "moderately comfortable" in his mind?

I've been "poor." I've been "very poor." I've been "very poor where you have to decide whether you and your child can eat or just him so you can pay your electric bill." I've been "very poor to the point where you apply for help but you're told you're not 'poor enough' for it even though you don't have two nickels to rub together." I grew up poorer than my family would like to admit, I'm sure. And, sadly, I know that with the state of the economy and the outlook for the future, my kids probably won't have much to inherit from me and their success will be completely dependent upon them and the choices they make. No huge nest egg waiting around for them like good-ol' Mitt had.

But, just to show that I'm not trying to make a soundbite into a rant, let's read the rest of the transcript from what was said next by Soledad O'Brien as she tried to let him reword his response:

O'Brien: "All right. I know I said 'last question,' but I've got to ask you: You just said, 'I'm not concerned about the very poor because they have a safety net.' And I think there are lots of very poor Americans who are struggling who would say, 'That sounds odd.' Can you explain that?"

Romney: "Well, you had to finish the sentence, Soledad. I said I'm not concerned about the very poor that have a safety net, bit if it has holes in it, I will repair them. The challenge right now -- we will hear from the Democrat(ic) Party, the plight of the poor. And there's no question, it's not good being poor. And we have a safety net to help those that are very poor.

"But my campaign is focused on middle-income Americans. My campaign -- you can choose where to focus. You can focus on the rich, that's not my focus; you can focus on the very poor -- that's not my focus. My focus is on middle-income Americans, retirees living on Social Security, people who can't find work, folks that have kids that are getting ready to go to college.

"These are the people who have been most badly hurt during the Obama years. We have a very ample safety net. And we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened or whether there are holes in it. But we have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have housing vouchers. We have programs to help the poor. But the middle-income Americans, they're the folks that are really struggling right now, and they need someone who can help get this economy going for them."

Whoa, whoa, whoa there! Let's back this train up and look at some of what he's said -- and let's do it from the perspective of someone who's been there. Me.

"My focus is on middle-income Americans, retirees living on Social Security, people who can't find work, folks that have kids that are getting ready to go to college." Well, Mitt, in my life I have family members who are retired and living on Social Security. They're always complaining about how it doesn't help make ends meet and how poor they are, so that doesn't sound like "middle-income" to me. Also, my friends who have been looking for work (many for very extended periods of time) would probably not categorize their familial budgets within the "middle-income" range since they don't have an income because they are looking for work! And those with kids in college -- if it weren't for Eldest Son's Paternal Grandfather who retired as a professor from the university Eldest Son is currently attending, he probably wouldn't be attending that college right now. Why, you ask? Because even though Husband works for the government and I work intermittently for the government (for now), we don't qualify to be "middle-income" and can't afford the tuition, even with Pell Grant assistance. That's why Youngest Son is already making plans to attend a college where he'll have to work his way through to pay the tuition because he knows by the time he graduates high school that anyone will be lucky if they can send their child to college.

"But we have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have housing vouchers." I will agree that those programs do exist. I will agree that there are people using those programs at this time. I will also agree that there are many who would rather lose a limb than have to sign-up for those programs but would be homeless and starving without them. I've had to use food stamps. I'm not proud of it -- but I made sure that as soon as I didn't need them I got off of the program. When I was pregnant with Youngest Son, I was begged by a County Health official to sign-up for WIC (Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program) and food stamps -- not because I didn't make enough (I actually made too much) but because they needed the numbers to keep their program going because too many women refused to enroll for what they thought was "charity" instead of a program designed to help them through their pregnancy and to ensure their child had a good start in life.

Then came the time when Husband wasn't working and I was very ill. Neither of us had any income and our savings had been depleted drastically. We needed help but we didn't want to ask for it. However, we swallowed our pride and went to the government office to apply for food stamps so we could be sure there would be something to eat. They asked to see our prior year's taxes. The year before, I had worked for several months and made an average amount in salary. Husband wasn't working and was staying home to homeschool Youngest Son while also serving in the National Guard. After looking at our paperwork, we were told that even though we had absolutely no income at the time and our savings was severely depleted (read: gone), we did not qualify because I had worked the year before and all of that money should be available now. Forget that there are bills to pay between when I earned it and the moment I was sitting in that chair -- I had made money in the past and regardless of my inability to work due to severe illness, we weren't eligible for assistance. As a matter of fact, the lady "assisting" us asked why we were wasting her time. According to her and her little chart on her desk, we were "middle-income" enough.

Mitt seems to forget that the majority of the "middle-income" voters he's referring to are only a paycheck away from being "very poor" and are pretty furious right about now. He also forgets that the "very poor" vote just as much as the "very rich" do. Yes, believe it or not -- many of the "very poor" are bussed to polling centers by *gasp* Democratic candidates and their staffers, encouraged all the while to "Vote for Our Candidate" while being offered free coffee, donuts, or whatever it is that gets them on the bus. Many people agree with that practice and many others disagree with it. However, if you look in "very poor" areas of our largest cities, you'll find that a LOT of votes are cast! Meanwhile, in the "middle-income" areas, a lot of them who actually are "middle-income" or "moderately comfortable" aren't voting as much. Many are too busy trying to work long hours at one or more jobs and perhaps can't get time-off to go vote. Others are incredibly disenfranchised with the political system as a whole (wonder what caused that??) and don't care anymore. And the apathy they have regarding whether or not to vote spills out into their community and their children's beliefs on whether or not it's worth bothering to vote when there's something good on TV.

You'd think someone who touts how intelligent he is and how he's so good at creating (and taking away) jobs and knowing what the American public is thinking and how they'll vote would have figured that out.

I'd suggest that Mitt stay out of the "very poor" neighborhoods 'cause many of the "poor" would be more than willing to show how rich they really are -- in their values, their pride, and possibly with a good-ol' fashioned butt-kickin'!

What he needs is someone to whap him upside the back of his head every time he makes a stupid remark like that. He still isn't worth my vote, but at least he might be more interesting to watch.

One month down, 11 more to go

January has flown by and given me an "interesting" month. At least February is a short month. It will help having that extra day in there this year so I can meet my goal as well as wish friends I have who were born on February 29th a truly "Happy Birthday."

It's been fun this month posting every day. People have loved some of my posts. People have hated some of my posts. Sometimes they were the same posts. And many of them have been largely ignored. It doesn't bother me either way how people feel about them or whether or not they're read. I'm doing this for myself and so far I'm liking it pretty well.

The hardest thing is coming up with a good topic each day. Often something will happen and it gets my dander up enough to write about it. Other times I'm reminded of something I've heard/read/watched and want to share it with those of you who read this. The majority of the time, however, I'm sitting and staring at the computer trying to think of a topic that won't bore you to death or be so incredibly dull that it becomes the most-read item on the blog and then I'm known not for my humor or intelligence or opinion but only for the most incredibly successful cure for insomnia published on the Internet.

I can only write about the dogs so many times and I've still got a LOT of the year left to go. I'd write more about my family but I'm just not there yet and not everyone wants to hear every little thing happening. And though my most popular articles so far have been about television shows, I don't sit and watch television all day enough where I'd be able to comment on a really wide variety of awful shows. And they'd have to be awful because all of the great shows have people writing and tweeting and blogging about them already.

So, thanks to those who have stuck with me since day-one. And thanks to all who have shared my articles with their friends and brought new readers to my little corner of the interwebs.

Oh, and don't worry....the "voices" are still there and still driving me insane and still keeping me up at night. Fortunately they're starting to try to schedule dates for certain subjects, so maybe the blog will be a little more organized. But I wouldn't count on it.

A rose received on any day is still pretty sweet!

Yesterday I received a very nice surprise. Husband and Youngest Son went to the grocery store for me and when they returned, they didn't bring just the groceries home. Both had picked out a bouquet of roses that they thought I would enjoy. And they were right!

A nice bouquet of yellow roses. That's one of the many, many things I really appreciate about "the guys." I enjoy that they like to spring surprises on me like that. No special occasion -- just because. They know I've been stressing over a lot of things recently and wanted to help me cheer-up. Even though flowers don't last for a long time (and I kill plastic plants), it's still nice to see something so pretty that reminds me of how much they love me. They'll send me flowers when I'm working away from home. They do it to remind me how much they love and miss me and also to make my co-workers jealous when I have them sitting on my desk.

I know it may not seem like much, but to me it means a lot. And that's what matters.