I'm back...and sick of flying!

Hello, hello! Well, I'm not going to feel guilty for the two week blogging absence. First, I'm not going to be a slave to my blog and/or skip out of super fun stuff with my kids because "I need to blog" and secondly, I was on a fantastic vacation with my parents, husband and kiddos...the very best reason not to blog.

I came back with a little sticky note of things to blog about. We went to Europe for 11 days, and that gave me plenty of blog-worthy topics. But today, three days out, I'm still in a wee bit of jet lag fog, so I'm just going to take a few sentences to once again thank the Islamic terrorists for making flying the absolutely worst, degrading, ridiculous, time consuming, exhausting, repetitive, humiliating and down right pathetic thing we do these days as civilized human beings.
Over the course of 11 days, we flew 5 different times. Each time wore me out more than the time before. I wanted to staple my passport and boarding pass to my forehead as to not have to pull it out and show yet one more airline employee on the power trip of a lifetime who I was.

I'm all for security. And trust me, I understand now why we have to have it. But if you would have told me just 10 years ago that I would literally have to show my passport and boarding pass FOUR TIMES WITHIN 20 YARDS, I would have thought you were nuts. My husband asked person number 3, "didn't you just see me show the other two people" and he said, "yes, but this is our procedure". (That could be an entire post within itself. What, do they not trust persons 1 or 2 to accurately check, so they've hired persons 3 and 4 to check as well?"). But I digress...

Thank you again terrorists for turning something once civilized into some kind of large cattle-call where you strip down, have total strangers pat you down, are told you must leave your face cream behind (when did cream become a liquid?), are required to taste your 6 month old's formula and are utterly disheveled and agitated before even boarding the over-crowded, unfriendly airline where you're being waited on by people constantly in a foul mood because they're worried they might be another victim of yet another mass murderer determined to crash the plane as a sign of love to their freakin' Jihad.

Uggg...see you soon,

Blogging vacation

I'm about to take a two week blogging vacation...going to spend some quality time with my kiddos without having to think about the computer or blog. See you in two weeks!

Pulled over

On Friday morning, I was driving down the interstate with my two babies in tow when a police car pulled up behind me and turned its lights on. I looked down and saw that I was going the posted speed (70 mph), so I had no idea why I was being pulled over. I had been in the far left lane, so I put my blinker on and pulled over three lanes to the shoulder. When the officer came up to my window he said, "I saw you drive by me when you were on your phone"...and I said "so?"...and he said "how old are your kids in the backseat" and I said "1 and 5 months" and he said "you need to be careful driving while on the phone" and I said "why did you pull me over? I wasn't speeding" and he said "no, you weren't. However, you need to take the license plate covers off your plates" and I said "ok" and he said "have a nice day"...

This cop pulled me over...made me cross three lanes of traffic...made me and my babies sit on the side of the very busy interstate...just to point out the obvious...I was on my cell phone (which is perfectly legal and my every right while on the interstate in Texas) and to let me know that the clear plastic cover over my tags should come off. He didn't ask my name, he didn't give me a ticket, he didn't do anything but waste both of our times and put me and my kids in danger on the side of the road.

Why are cops allowed to pull someone over for no reason at all (I mean, if the plastic tag thing was really a big deal 1. I would have been pulled over before and 2. he would have given me a warning or ticket) but they can't ask someone to show proof that they're a legal resident of this country? Cops can harass and question innocent people about frivolous things like talking on cell phones while driving but they can't ask, "hey, show me your ID so that I know you aren't breaking the law by being in this country illegally".

This cop obviously had way too much time on his hands...he might be better suited spending his time finding and returning illegal aliens to their proper country.

Mommy and Mommy or no, Daddy, or no Mommy

My friend J owns a dog service company with her husband. She was telling me about some of her clients who are lesbians and just had a baby. When J went to visit them, the lesbian who wasn't the one who had been pregnant was holding the baby. J asked her what the baby would call her and this woman said "daddy". Yes.

J said that these two ladies want their new little girl to grow up with a mommy and daddy, so they would call one woman mommy and the other daddy. They said they didn't want their daughter to go to school and grow up without the mommy/daddy foundation at home.

To quote my husband, what the freakin' crap?

Obviously, these women have missed the big picture. What might be an awkward situation for their daughter years from now at school (having to tell people she has two mommies) has now been made exponentially worse by them having her call one of the women "daddy".

Let's just set aside the fact that the best foundation for children to grow up in is a two parent, mom and dad household. Sometimes, that's just not an option but that will always be the best situation for children. But these women thinking that it is healthy and beneficial for their daughter to call one of them daddy is completely absurd. I mean...I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. Not only will they be confusing their daughter with the fact that two women are raising her but now, they're going to really be confusing her when every other kid in the world calls the male figure daddy but she calls a woman daddy. I mean, come on, this is nuts.

I bet they voted for Obama.

BFF

I heard a story on the national news this week that teachers and principals are starting to discourage kids from having best friends. Apparently, the new trend is for kids to know everyone and have a well-balanced and equal relationship with each child in their class. This is just another example of how the libs want everything to be equal.

This trend isn't new. When I was in elementary school, I lived in the same neighborhood as Janelle, Lynsey, Farah and Amber. Out of convenience, our moms carpooled us, we all attended the same dance studio, we rode our bikes to each others houses and therefore, had a closer bond with each other than other kids in our 5th grade class. We weren't mean to other kids or a clique, we just naturally knew each other better (you don't cram 5 girls into the car every day without getting to know each other). However, I specifically remember our teachers making us play with other people because we played together too much. We were too "close". Even at 12, I knew this was BS. It's good for kids to have close relationships with other kids!! This teaches valuable lessons about relationships that will carry with the kid forever.

For the rest of my life, did I only have these 4 friends? No. In fact after 5th grade, we all headed to junior high and made different friends. I was still friends with these girls when I graduated high school but they weren't my best friends, we all had made new friends and expanded our relationships with other people. The last time I saw one of these girls was last year...so in the last 16 years (since 5th grade), I have managed to make other friends successfully. It didn't scar me to have had a BFF in the 5th grade.

I don't think it's a school's business if a child has a BFF or not. Now, if there are problems with bullying or picking on other kids (tag teaming of sorts), then there is a completely different situation than just having a BFF...but a good old fashioned best friend is a blessing in life...AT ANY AGE. Teachers and principals have enough to worry; the last thing they should have time for is managing children's best friend relationships.

No Room

A friend of mine has a Canadian grandmother who last week required knee surgery. It took 3 days post surgery for her to get a room. Three days. Three days for her to lie on a bed in the hospital hallway after surgery because they simply had no room. Three days of being in pain with no privacy and no room. Three days. When they finally did have a room for her, she had to share it with two other women. This is EXACTLY what happens with government run healthcare. There is do discrepancy in the procedures that take place, so hospitals get over-run with unnecessary patients. But worst of all, doctors and nurses decide they don't want to make less money and do more work, so they find another profession and therefore leave hospitals way under-staffed. Nothing in life is free...and that includes healthcare.

Earn it, save it, spend it

Yesterday, I was flipping around on the TV when I ran across the E True Hollywood Story on Kimora Lee Simmons. I don't know what possessed me to stop but I'm sure glad I did. I knew who she was and who she used to be married to but I didn't realize that there was such a backlash against her from the black community. The bad press comes from her spending, what some might consider, too much money. Ummm...that got my conservative attention quickly.

Kimora built an empire and in the process, made millions and millions of dollars. The bad publicity came (according to the E True Hollywood Story) when she starred in her own reality TV show and people saw into her extravagant life. Apparently, a lot of people were outraged at the amount of money she was spending on things that most would consider splurges...unnecessary things....things she didn't need but wanted anyway. My thoughts...who cares? You go girl. If you can make millions, then I thank the Lord you're spending those millions because that's what keeps our economy going.

I'm a big believer in the fact that you should spend the money you earn. In our house, we tithe to our church, pay our bills, save, invest, and then spend. I can't take this money with me, so I might as well enjoy whatever is leftover after I tithe, pay bills, save for emergencies and rainy days, and invest. When we spend our money, we are supporting the economy. We're keeping companies alive, sustaining jobs for some people, creating jobs for others...we're not just spending, we're investing in America. Spending money is a good thing (no, going into debt to live an extravagant life is not a good thing, read my last post if you think I mean that), but spending what you have left over after paying your bills is what keeps America running.

According to E, the black community was the angriest at her for living such a grand life. "They" (whoever that might be) felt that she shouldn't be flaunting the fact that she had multiple cars, a huge mansion, maids, drivers, nannies, expensive jewelry and went on lavish vacations. What? Was she supposed to hoard all of this money and live like a popper? Kimora provides jobs for people by spending her money. Kimora pays big bucks to car dealerships, hotels, jewelers, etc...Kimora is stimulating our economy without borrowing money from the government.

The libs would like everyone to be equal. They hate it when some people make more money than others. They hate it when everyone doesn't get what they want. They hate free enterprise, they hate capitalism. They think we're all too stupid to make our own decisions, so the government should run everything and distribute money to us. We should all be equal. No, we shouldn't all be equal. People who work hard to build their own business, people that study for years and years to learn a skill or subject, should be entitled to make as much money as the market allows, AND they should be able to spend as much of their money as they would like. Rich people keep America going. Rich people are who hire other people. Rich people are who invest in businesses. Rich people are who donate the majority of the money to charities. Rich people are necessary in the United States of America and anyone who thinks that a rich person should be ashamed to spend their money should take a really long look at who has employed them in the past...I guarantee you it was a rich person. Poor people can't give jobs to other people, only rich people can.

You go Kimora, spend that money girl.