Texting while driving (very graphic)

What do you think about the address?

If you have a good internet connection, you can watch the video HERE.

If you want to only read the address, you can read it HERE

I hope all United Statesans will either read or watch it.

I did not have a good internet connection yesterday, some days are better than others here.  However, I really, really wanted to watch it rather than read it, so I pretty much spent all day getting it loaded and watched.

I found myself wishing he had shown some of that dynamic energy the last couple of State Of The Unions.  I was glad to hear some of what he wanted to do to move us forward from being mired in our past, but I felt like I was not really being leveled with as to the actual present state of the union.  For instance, he said the worst of the recession is over.  I can't see it.  I don't see how it can be over, when I have not seen our companies bringing our jobs back from overseas, or those same companies not paying proper taxes.  But he said it is over, so it is over, I guess.

I do not count Walmart hiring more part-time cashiers to ring up outsourced trash as bringing jobs back jobs.

He also, curiously enough, stated that we have clean air, clean water, and safe food.  He said we have them because of strong protective laws put into place by previous administrations.  My president, we do not have clean air, clean water, and safe food, because the wimpy laws put into place by previous administrations have been allowed to be completely trampled by corporations, by those previous administrations, AND by yours.

One thing I thought was wonderful was that even though our part in the wars is winding down (statements backed up by on-screen graphs) he was unwavering in restating our appreciation for the soldiers and families.  He flat out said they will have the benefits they have earned.  What a nice change from the ending of all our other wars, when the soldiers are no longer needed, they are no longer heeded. 

And the sour-puss faces of the high ranking military officers were just priceless when the Commander in Chief stated that people would no longer be prevented from serving the country they love, because of WHO they love.

This is not meant to be a blow by blow accounting.  Just an overall impression with some things that really stood out to me.  The president was as ever, intelligent, and used gentle humour to make many of his points, like how the high-speed train would be able to move people at times faster than flying, without the pat-downs.  Or like how we need to stop subsidizing the oil industry, it was doing just fine by itself.

All of the address was strongly yet calmly delivered, and most of it was backed up with photos, statistics, or graphs to illustrate what he was saying.  All through it he made repeated calls for us to pull together out of our factions to tackle the problems that face us.  I can only hope that we all will.

Off to listen to the State of the Union Address.



Taking a really long time to load....

Is Cruelty still funny?

Empathy  Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives

Gerry and I interact with thousands of school children annually, and I think almost as many adults.  Gerry travels from place to place with his oxen at great expense to us, because that is his passion, to mix children with large animals.  I don't own the oxen, but I care for them when we are traveling together.  I also own horses, and in truth, the shar-peis are more mine than his.  We own chickens now, and a pig since last September.  We are delighted with the different personalities and affection our animals exhibit.  Honestly, I think they own us more that we own them.

But I digress, as usual.  What I started to say was we have noticed a truly disturbing trend in our dealings with the dear little school children (3rd grade through college).  They are getting mean.

Will he charge me if I hurt him?  Can I use the whip?  What happens if you use the whip on him?  Pull on his nose ring.  Will he kick me if I hit him?  How hard do you have to hit him so that it hurts? Variations of these questions now often take up the entire question and answer period.  Trust me, it is not a sometime thing, and it is on the increase.

Then there are the times that we deal with actual physical violence toward them, not just the interest in pulling the oxen's nose rings, I have seen them actually do it.  They duck past the ropes that are meant to keep public out of the resting areas, and swarm the resting animals. pull on nose ropes, poke fingers in eyes. hit my horses with sticks.  They have even hit the animals when they are working, dashing out of the crowd to strike a blow and disappear again.

And the adults, I hate to admit, are almost as bad, No, worse, when you take into account they really should know better.

Anyway, we note the increased interest in cruelty, and the decreased interest in considerating the feelings of others.  Every Spring is worse than the last Autumn.  Every Autumn is worse than the last Spring.

Why?  We are not even talking about people who get into a rage and strike out at an animal, child, or wife, or...

No, these people seem to have a fixation on harming just for the sake of causing harm, or do they even realize that nerve endings work the same in any being?  I don't know which is the scarier scenario.

Now, I know that wanting to harm, or not caring about harm, may seem a little far from my subject title today, but I think it is all connected.  Back in "the old days" boys would tie cans to a dog's tail, so it would be afraid and run.  All thought it was funny.  Or they would tie a bone with meat on it to incite other dogs to give chase, attack and kill the unfortunate pooch forced to provide the entertainment (all of you know that dogs amost have to give chase when something runs, right?) The humans found this shriekingly funny, something to take minds off of worries, stresses, boredoms, drudgeries.  Meanwhile, the dog is terrified, or torn to pieces after being terrified.

Consider the following story:

                                    Works For Me.....

A firefighter was working on the engine outside the Station, when he noticed
a little girl nearby in a little red wagon with little ladders hung off the sides and
a garden hose tightly coiled in the middle.

The girl was wearing a firefighter’s helmet.

The wagon was being pulled by her dog and her cat.

The firefighter walked over to take a closer look.
'That sure is a nice fire truck,' the firefighter said with admiration.

'Thanks,' the girl replied. The firefighter looked a little closer.  The girl had
tied the wagon to her dog's collar and to the cat's testicles.

'Little partner,' the firefighter said, 'I don't want to tell you how to run your
rig, but if you were to tie that rope around the cat's collar, I think you could go
faster. '

The little girl replied thoughtfully, 'You're probably right, but
then I wouldn't have a siren.'

2 friends (separately) sent me the above forward today. It is meant to be funny, and I am sure my friends meant well, but it did not seem funny to me.  It struck me as an excuse to express cruelty rather than something truly humourous.  And we are all culpable, not just the ones who make up the joke, but also the ones who forward it, and me to, for posting it as an example.

Empathy   Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives

I'd just like us to stop and think for a moment.  If you found it funny, ask yourself why?  If you did not, will you be more aware of other influences in your world.  If you found it neither funny, nor unfunny, or just don't give a shit at all, well, Have A Nice Day!

You tell me, Is cruelty to another still funny?  Can there be any connection here in the type of story we decide to send as an email, or the type of story we choose to watch on TV, the type of joke we tell to the men or women at the office......and cruelty in people?

Don't pay people to remain poor...

Pay them to break the poverty cycle!!!

I LOVE THIS IDEA!

Let's write our congressional representatives about it, Representatives and Senators both.  I'm gonna.

Electric bill and ideas

I got the electric bill today and had a shock.  It had more than doubled!  And the usage had more than doubled, so it was not just the cost going up.  I was expecting a rise because of the Christmas visits, but not double.  In our defense I must point out that it was still less than half of the same month last year.  So I have gotten more diligent again with lights being turned off, using batch baking in the oven (baking bread right after baking crackers because the oven is still hot, just getting more alert in general.  Jake (we have Jake back for a few weeks, I had not mentioned that) and Gerry are being less diligent, but they are trying!

I forgot to mention that after Christmas we went to Hobby Lobby and bought clearance white christmas lights.  The LED ones.  I hung a strand in the back room for a night passage light to get us safely to the bathroom.  And I hung a strand above our cooking area which is dark.  It is bright enough to  cook by, but Gerry still turns on the other lights too.  Sigh.  But I don't, so that is a saving.  The LEDs use 6 watts and the CFLs use 28 watts each.  So big savings there.  When Jake saw them, he shook his head and said, "I like that."

As I said, Jake is back, buckling down hard studying for his GED test.  It is scheduled for February 3.  He'll pass, and he knows it, but our goal is for him to get an excellent score, because that will be the key to future opportunity.  I have found here that many people think the GED is a pass/fail thing, but it is not!

We have some chickens now (Thanks Lane!) and are getting eggs, lovely smooth brown eggs.  And the yolks are ORANGE, so gorgeous.  Lane also sold us a chicken tractor, but I am collecting ideas for a different one to build come Spring.

I think I am tired of the weather, and am going to make myself go for a hike today.  It will do me good.  I have been outside of course, but only briefly, to check on the chickens, hang laundry, etc.  But I need to be outside in the fresh frigidity for a while. Come to think of it, I have not even been off the FARM, at all (!) since New Year's Eve, when we went to Tom and Dreama's lovely party (Thanks for having us over, you are so dear)  I will take a basket in case I find something not encased in ice that is forageable.

Gerry got a new scanner for his laptop which will help immeasurably with research, once we figure it out that is.  Both of us are technologically challenged.  It is a tiny thing, looks almost like a pen, that we are supposed to be able to just run down a page of a book to scan it.  Anyone know what I am talking about?  Gerry was swearing at his computer last night, it was a tad unpleasant, LOL.
I have also decided I want to replace my broken coffeemaker with a percolator, which we can put on the woodstove, and not have to constantly buy filters for.  I'll have to order one, because I can't find them locally, and also new, because I have been completely unable to find a used one for the 2 years I have been looking.  Don't trust the ones on Ebay to not have holes or missing parts.  So we will limp along with the coffee maker for now.

Well, I am off to do something useful and productive.  What will you do today?

Hey, give something a shot, here.

Pick a project and tell us what happened!

Also, now is the time my thoughts turn to gardening and the longing only will intensify over the next 2-3 months.  I LOVE reading anything gardening, and when it promises to be FRUGAL gardening as well, cool!

Also, I found a TERRIFIC site a few days ago, and promptly got lost.  I recently came up for air and want to share with you.  Lots and lots of knowledge being spread around, helpful links posted, and they stay off of politics and religion and often seem to agree to disagree on whether DIY is best, or Support a good Product is best.

Hope your January is going well, be good to yourselves.

You gotta laugh!!!!

Why we should care about Christian Environmentalism

Sharon Astyk wrote a fantastic offering several days ago, on the importance of Christian Environmentalism

Everyone should read it, whether Christian or not, Socially aware or not, Steward of Creation...or not.

We all have vision of a future, and we can all benefit by dialoging about our visions.  One trouble with us as a species is that when we only listen to those with whom we already agree (or think we should agree, even if secretly we don't)  then we start to develop a language of our own, that others don't understand.  And we don't know that others don't understand! Because everyone we hang out with, whether we hang at church, or political rallies, or on certain forums on the internet; well, they all speak and understand the same language we do.

Do yourself a favour, do your children a favour.  Give it a read with an open heart.

Direction, still Responsible Living

Gerry and I are nice people, really we are.  The proof of this I can offer is: (follow me here)

1. We live in the midst of Tea Party Land, and people know what we think.  I for one am unshy of saying my views.

2. Many, Many of the Tea Party people who would think of themselves as friends of ours, still think we like them, when we don't..  They think we will turn off our brains & espouse their hate-filled views. (we won't)

3.  Many, many of these people STILL like US.  They think we are a bit intense, and more than a little goofy, but they like us.

Only truly nice and likeable people can carry this off.

I despair, honestly I do.

Here is the clear, unvarnished truth of how Gerry and I see the Tea Party.  Once And For All.... The Tea Party is an insane tail that is wagging the dog (rest of my country)  I hate it, and what it stands for.  I hate the fact that this is what the rest of the civilized world thinks of when it thinks of the United States.  YOU DO NOT REPRESENT ME!!!!  YOU DO NOT REPRESENT ANY PART OF SANITY.  YOU ARE HATEFUL, INSANE, SELFISH, IRRATIONAL ASSHOLES.  You don't love the constitution.  I have yet to meet ONE of you who has even read the damn thing.  You say you want freedom?  HAH!  You only want the freedom to do whatever the hell you damn well please, and to hell with anyone else's rights.  The freedom to stay ignorant, say and do what you want and the freedom from responsibility for the consequences.  I hate everything you stand for.  STOP CALLING YOURSELF REAL AMERICANS, you have not earned that right.

You don't get to speak for me because you can't even think.

I think I am pissed.

And ashamed of my country's conservatives (one of which I was until recently).

And Pissed.

Let the Tea Party cut out the hate/fearmongering. Let the next thing out of your mouth be a legitimate PLAN to get your "arms around mental health" I want a REAL PLAN for health care. I want a REAL PLAN for the economy. I want a REAL PLAN for shutting down tax money hemorhaging by corporations. I want a REAL PLAN for stopping the destruction of the only planet we have to exist upon. I want a REAL PLAN in place to guarantee civil right to all citizens, ALL of us, not just the ones who look like you.
Until you Tea Party bullies come up with the REAL PLAN, I want you to shut up and let the people who are trying to make changes, do so

Did I mention Pissed?

About the title.  I have been thinking deeply about whether I was on the right tack with my blog.  I want to make a difference in the world, but will I?  How can I best do so?  What will reach people?  Will I reach people?  What is our innermost passion to share?  How best is it shared?

Should it be encouraging people to get out of debt?  Recognition that we are destroying the only life sustainging planet we know about? Fighting to let people know animals really do have the God Given (if there is a god, can't prove it by the actions of humans) right to not be tortured? 

That one is a biggie for Gerry and I, by the way.

Should we be beating our heads against a wall to get people to think of the future rather than the next 5 minutes?  Can I hope to get people to think of the next 5 minutes rather than some futuristic nonhappening science fiction Rapture?

Do we throw ourselves into a full scale fight to make people understand the dangers of companies like Monsanto, or to share my outrage that under Bush my government acquired patent co ownership of the botanical suicide gene.  How many posts will it take to explain what that even means for our whole PLANET?! 

I recently legally bought a gun.  Should we drop everything to start the drive for people to understand that the "Right to Bear Arms" means we MUST be responsible for the arms we own and bear? 

Should we abandon that passion to stand up for orphans, who desperately need homes whilst pro-lifers blithely continue to procreate rather than go through the expense and bother of adoptiing the very children they have condemned to the purgatory of State and Foster Care?  Because I'll tell you.  So far as I am concerned, no one better tell me they are "pro-lifers" if they don't want to get tackled for birthing more children than they have adopted.  I'm ready to spit nails on that one.  They want to tell me that adoption of older abused children is a valid option?  They better be adopting as many as they are birthing, or they are  "...full of sound and fury, signifying NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!"

Have I mentioned I am pissed?  Don't want that to be missed.

Deep breath.

The result of all this soul searching was, that we can't give up ANY of our passions, and so Connecting the Dots will continue to be a call, NOT to arms, but to THOUGHT.  We can only count on 1 world, live responsibly.  We can only count on 1 life, live responsibly.  NONE of us have rights unless we ALL have rights.  The right to food; water; air; freedom from torture, slaughter, and slavery.  These are rights of ALL earthdwellers, and can only be secured by thought and determination.

Rabbit, Rabbit!

Good Morning all!  Sorry to be so long in posting.  Really did mean to post this yesterday, but wouldn't you know, our internet was out until I was too tired to be on the computer...  Still, I should have found a way to post last week, sometime.

About the Title, when I was young I "learned" that it was good luck to say "Rabbit, Rabbit" the first thing in the morning on the first day of the month.  If you forgot and said something else before you said Rabbit Rabbit, then the next day you could still claim your luck by saying "Tibbar, Tibbar" first thing out of your mouth on the second day of the month (Tibbar is Rabbit backwards).  If you forgot the second day, then you were just, well, out of luck.  You had to wait for the next month.

Over time, I came up with all kinds of interesting strictures over this superstition for myself.  The first thing I came up with was if I could not remember if I said Rabbit Rabbit first thing, then I should not say Tibbar, Tibbar, because that would actually bring me bad luck.  The second thing was that if I could remember to say Rabbit, Rabbit first thing on the first day of the YEAR (Jan 1) then I would have super-duper luck that year. Of course, since I was trying to stay awake until past midnight, I had to figure out if I had to say Rabbit, Rabbit before I said "Happy New Year", or if I could say Rabbit, Rabbit after I went to sleep and then woke.  By the way, that was the rule I settled for, because the other way was socially embarrassing!  So morning  meant after-I-wake, not after-midnight.

Lest you are thinking that I spent WAY too much time thinking about a nonsense superstition, and then also making up even more strictures about it, I would offer the fact that I have spent the vast (outer-space type of vast) majority of my months having neither good nor bad luck, just ordinary luck, because I could not be bothered to remember to do one or the other.  Also, my mind never turns off, and some of the things it works on ARE nonsense.  But it won't shut off, and I can't be solving the world's problems ALL the time! LOL.

You are now on tenter hooks, I know, wondering if I remembered to say "Rabbit, Rabbit" in time yesterday.  I DID!!  I'll let you know about the super-duper luck thing next year.

Turning to a more serious subject, I bought something new from China on our once a month shopping trip.  I am not sorry I bought it as it will help us attain our goals of energy self sufficiency.  But I AM sorry that I could only find it from China.  It was a few boxes of on clearance LED Christmas lights, bright white colour.  I have them strung up in areas we need light.  LED lightbulbs still have not reached a reasonable price, but until they do, the Christmas light strings will do nicely.  I am looking at a string of them now draped over my cooking area, which is dark.  1 string is enough to cook with!  I have a string still bundled up but plugged in, and it is bright enough to read by if I want to. Sometimes, you just gotta love clearance, no?

By the way, they were made in China, but who do you think the company is?  Good old american company, GE.  Way to outsource, GE!   May your stockholders choke on your dividends.

And speaking further of China, and weird United Statesan decisions concerning China, How about this?  We are planning to export our coal to China!  I am slightly incensed, and completely flummoxed by this.  Is ANYONE thinking?  In what way can this POSSIBLY be good?!?!  And Australia wants to do it as well?!?!

Please understand me.  I am not anti-China.  I am not anti-Japan.  I have tremendous respect for those 2 powerhouses.  But it is the type of respect I feel watching a monster tornado sweeping toward me.  It is not a good feeling.   PLEASE, PLEASE WAKE UP UNITED STATES.  Stop watching FoxNews on your giant flat screen sleep inducing TV.  And you, Australia! Wakey, Wakey!  With your drought problems, you have MORE to lose than we do.

I see now, that I really have not been the only one believing a silly mantra can affect a future.  Others have been mantra-ing too.

My silly mantra was "Rabbit, Rabbit" 

The other silly mantra has been "Profit, "Profit!"

Profit is not all, my friends, really!

Merry Christmas all!

That's it really. We have a snowy day today and will just be tucked in together as a family.  My husband Gerry, my mom Barbara, my sons Kenneth and Mitch, my daughters Brenna and Emerald.  May you have peace and joy today, no matter what your religion.

I will write a better, longer post later, maybe tomorrow.  In the meantime, be good, be frugal, be green, be true.  Hugs to all of you.

Happy Winter Solstice

Still slogging through ill health to be ready for Christmas Day.  My mom is now here and the visit is going well. She washed dish after dish for me yesterday, and today she is taking me shopping.  Animals are all well and happy.  Gerry is deep in a writing project and doing his level best to care for me while being totally focused on his writing.  In fact, I changed furniture around in the living room while he was sitting there writing at his laptop and he NEVER NOTICED!  That is focus when you don't see chairs floating about the room!  We shared a good laugh over that one.

Tonight there is a lunar eclipse, AND it is the Winter Solstice!  How often does that happen?!  My daughter Emerald said that this is what gives rise to apocolypse fears, and I think she is right.  Of course, it is comforting to think that kind of thinking was only "back then" and modern people have it more together.  But is that absolutely true? It does make you wonder how many times people see things they take as a bad sign, and remember that "sign" when something bad happens, as bad things will.  Anyway, Kenneth and Emerald are planning a party tonight, a Lunar Eclipse and Winter Solstice Party. There will beverages and a fire,  but no animal sacrifices!  I do hope the weather cooperates for them, but it looks cloudy and rainy right now.

Talk to you soon.  In the meantime, be good to each other, be frugal, be green, be well, and be happy.

Gerry's book, and other words

Exciting times yesterday and today for Gerry.  This year he changed publishers from a small, wonderful concern who wanted out of the business to a larger firm.  The first printing, from the NEW publisher, of one of his books became available on amazon and has met with much success.  I am so proud of him I could just bust!  Being with a new publisher was exciting for him, but also a bit uncomfortable.  He has also been stretching his wings exploring new venues for his other writings, for which I am also very, very proud.  He is an excellent writer, with much to offer the world.

Very far behind on my house cleaning. I know, it is entirely my own fault that I did not start earlier. 

More of my procrastinating chickens coming home to roost.  I was planning to get a bunch done this past week, so I did not have a long maintenance period with everything having to stay ship shape for a long time while we are still living in the living room at the same time.  Then I got sick, and have stayed sick, and Gerry is STILL having to do everything.  I cook all suppers in the crockpot, I bake bread every other day, and operate the door while Gerry brings in the night's worth of firewood.  And that is about it. I can't think,

 I can't even read anymore because my eyes and head hurt so much.  The computer monitor screen is hurting me right now.  I watched a movie today that had in the credit roll at the end, "Music performed by the Prague Philharmonic"  I read it, "Music performed by the Pagan Pneumonic"!!!!  Lord knows what I thought a pneumonic was, maybe a Mnemomic?  Pneumatic?  And what was with the Pagan stuff?  Anyway, I did figure out that what I was seeing made no sense, but what an effort.

Anyway, I am going to do my best to get the guest room ready for Mom tomorrow, and if the weather improves like it is supposed to, we can go back to sleeping in the unheated bedroom while she is here, rather than the living room in front of the nice cozy fire.  Or not, we may just stay in front of the fire.  Gerry has already said he will take all the laundry in to the laundromat for me so I won't be using the hand washer for all this piled up laundry.  What did I ever do to deserve him?  Kind of bonkers about my husband at the moment, can you tell?

Come January, we are going to have a post or few about useful skills, both traditional and modern.  We believe that the only way out of the current mess is to stop depending on "Plug and Play" technology, and learn how stuff actually works.

  I am one of the worst at this, by the way.  I have always been one who wants to be able to flip on a switch and not have to know how exactly that light is suddenly there.  As we continue to take steps to go completely off the grid, I find myself embarrassingly nonplussed by my inability to understand what all those words (amps, volts Kw, KWh) actually relate to one another.  And the confusing numerals!  12V 24V 120, 220, 240,  I seriously need to actually understand this stuff.  That is not all I don't understand, it is just a really convenient example because I was wrestling with it yesterday.  Now, I am not a complete numbnuts when it comes to skills (spinning, weaving, horse training I am really decent with), but there are many, many things I need to learn about, and maybe you need to think about some also?

Have to sign off now.  You have a great night, and we'll see you tomorrow.

Freedom

This country has the most confused ideas of freedom imaginable. We shriek about freedom at every turn, at every holiday, and at every political gathering. We fought a revolution for “freedom” while holding one-sixth of our population in bondage. Throughout the Antebellum period freedom was shouted from every street corner in the South: The freedom to own slaves. We Southerners still mourn the loss of our freedoms (states rights), and what freedom were we talking about.

It is no different today. the people who scream the loudest about freedom and the Constitution are the same people ready to rewrite the Constitution to remove someone else’s freedom. Look at the examples, the Second Amendment advocates that I know are the first to want to do away with the First Amendment. We want the freedom to own guns. The same people, want to outlaw same sex marriage. That is a religious issue, not a governmental issue. What happened to the First Amendment here. Or, I have read three or four op/ed pieces lately that have decried the morality of the media. I don’t want porn on my TV or computer, but I choose not to go there. That’s not the governments responsibility. It’s mine. If the government gets into it, its censorship. What just happened to freedom of speech, another First Amendment right.

Businesses want the freedom to outsource. This is really what free trade has come to mean. It throws Americans out of work. They cannot pay taxes and they go on the welfare roles. Meanwhile the business that sent the work overseas brings the product back here to sell without paying a tariff. So freedom destroys the economy and the businesses get away clean. Hey, that’s the American way, enrich the rich.

We have had a responsibility problem as long as we have been a country. We don’t think what this stuff means. We are the people making the choices. We choose who we buy from. If you don’t like GM shipping jobs overseas, don’t buy GM products. I, personally think it is criminal for CEOs to be paid 400 to 500 times the wage of a worker while at the same time sabotaging the economy. Should the government step in? I don’t know. We can make the change though. We vote, and we buy. If you don’t want the government meddling in you lives, be responsible, handle it. Freedom without responsibility is worthless.

Winter is here.

Been quite ill the last few days, and under the weather for several days before that. I no longer have a job to get to, so have just been trying to get lots of rest and fluid rather than taking drugs to make me feel better.  Being Sick Sucks bigtime.  I did get a small load of laundry washed, we were running out of our toilet cloth! and I did get bread baked yesterday, which was a hit.  Gerry has been doing everything else, or it isn't getting done.

Update.  The above was written 2 days ago, and I was too sick to finish it.  Yesterday, I did not write at all, barely went on the computer, to tell you the truth.  Today, I am much better, and tomorrow, I should be able to help move hay for the horses, who are going through the hay MUCH faster than the oxen are.

We have lost Jake, he had to go back home. We miss him, and hope to see him again in January when he will be taking his GED test.  We miss you, rottinkid!

We have 9 inches of snow on the ground, 8 of which fell yesterday and last night.  No birds came out to eat yesterday in that storm, and we have been entertained all day  by the flocks today.  Tomorrow, the snow is supposed to stop, but it is still falling right now.  Yin and Yang have been unwilling to be outside at all today, the babies!!!

Gerry and I talked it over, and we decided to go ahead and order Morgan Spurlock's entire 30 Days series we were liking it so much.  Some people may think that Netflix is a waste of money when we are getting out of debt.  Au Contraire!  It has saved us so much money while allowing us to continue to become educated about things that matter to us.  And I used to buy DVDs that sounded like I would like them, or Gerry would like them.  Now, we watch them and only if we REALLY want them to we go ahead and find them on Amazon.  Serious money savings,   WELL worth the $10.00/month.  So far, this is what we have found we don't want to do without because we saw them first on Netflix.

Earthlings-documentary. Seriously, you MUST see this.  It is even free on the internet.

Food, Inc.-documentary.  Seriously, you MUST see this, too.  but it is not free on the internet.

Stupidity-documentary about stupidity.

30 Days Series- television show of documentaries of people going into situations that would make them uncomfortable and learning about other people who live that way.  FANTASTIC!

Vicar of Dibley Series- English television series, stupendously funny, tears streaming down our cheeks, Gerry laughing out loud funny.

Forgiving the Franklins- Comedy with a sobering message/lesson.

We've seen gobs and gobs more that we loved on Netflix, these are just the ones we weren't content to watch and not have always.  So far.

Well, that's all for tonight.  Until we meet again, be good to yourself, be kind to your loved ones, be frugal, be green, be cruelty-free, be wise.  I'll see you tomorrow.

Sundries

Just to catch up on a few things that I had said I would keep you posted on, and have not, and also just some randomness that makes up my days leading to the big Christmas get together here at my home.

Last night was the coldest night of the winter thus far. When it was light enough to see the thermometer, it was 10 deg Fahrenheit. We now have the electric heat tape going on the water pipes that run through the guest room from the Kitchen to the Bathroom (designed for efficiency, my house is NOT) and the heater in the bath room is on 24 hours per day.  The heater in the well house is now on 24 hours per day as well.  My Mom is coming for 1 week at Christmas time which means that the electric heater will have to be on in the guest room 24 hours per day then.  We will also be turning on a heater in an upstairs room for overflow of guests Christmas Day. My electric bill doubled the last time, it will rise again and again now until Spring.  We want very much to keep our electric bill down to $100.00 per month So I am becoming a perfect bitch about people not turning off lights, computers, etc, as I seem to be the only one paying attention to that lately.  My next plan is to get clear plastic shower curtains and hang them up on windows to cut the cold air coming off of them into the room but still allow some light into my really dark house.  I don't put plastic up for all of winter because in my part of the country, you can't count on the weather staying cold.  It could shoot up to 80 deg. Fahrenheit at any point, then I am stifling.  So this year I am trying the clear shower curtain idea because I can hang them, then take them down and store them until next year (haven't actually tried this so it is theoretical).  Truth is, this is just a badly designed house, and not a good spot to have a Christmas celebration in, simply because we tend to completely move into the living room and the kitchen, with all our projects, etc.  Then we have to move it all out again for the get-together, then we move it all back in again.  And with my procrastination problems, guess how much fun that is?

My NOW! campaign seems to be working out, but it is in its early days.  I have not given it a chance to get old yet.  Keep you posted there, too.

Gerry and I are doing VERY well in the "talk over all purchases beforehand" area.  I have slipped a couple of times, mainly because I am the one doing most of the "out and abouting", but Gerry has stuck to it like an absolute trooper.  Our budget is so grateful!  Honestly, when you are in serious financial straits, or in serious relationship straits, or in any serious straits at all, really, then an iron clad commitment to communication is the bee's knees. 

In the Losing 52 Pounds to Save Petroleum campaign, I have to report that I have actually gained 2 pounds, rather than lost 2 pounds, so I am in fact 4 pounds behind schedule.  My plan is to up the water intake, up the physical movement, lower the cheese, bread, and sweets.  Still believe I can lose it by next Thanksgiving.

Let's see, what else?  I think I may be all sundried out at the moment.  I may edit this later to reflect new reflections, but probably won't have a new post on sundries.

Have a great day, and may all your various deities bless you.  Or not.  As you would have it, let it be so.

New Year Resolutioning, updated

I did it!  I found my best one word theme for 2011! So obvious, So clear and clean.

Are you hearing the drumroll?  Here it comes.....

NOW.

Isn't it perfect?  Instead of holding onto my hurts from the past, I will work on letting them go and starting NOW.  Instead of dreaming about the future, which I can't count on, I will notice and apreciate my life NOW.  Instead of putting off what I need to do and so making it a much bigger, messier task,  I will do it NOW.  Instead of expecting that my husband and other loved ones know how I feel, I will tell them NOW.

NOW!  Yes, perfect!  In fact, I'm not even going to wait for New Years.  I am going to start.... NOW!

New Year Resolutioning

One of my favorite bloggers has recently posted a most excellent idea for a NYR I have ever read or heard of.  I like the idea of New Years Resolutions, like many people I make them from time to time, like many people, I allow them to be swallowed up by Who Knows What.  But this is one I think I can truly get behind.  I'm gonna do it!

Now, I can hear many of you puzzling (bet you did not know that puzzling was audible, did you?)  "For Frickin' Sake, Maria!  You haven't finished making your Christmas happen yet!  (Making Christmas happen is harder when you are making everything, or at least refurbishing everything, the siren call of Wal-Mart. Sigh.)  What are you bothering about New Year's for?  And more important, Why are you bothering ME about New Years?!"

I am bothering, because I know how my mind works, I have a deep thinking well in my brain where the really good, important, vital stuff percolates and ferments and occasionally erupts all over my loving husband who didn't see it coming. (He had a very interesting homecoming from a trip and found out I had become an animal rights activist and a vegetarian!!!  Sorry, Honey.  He still married me after that, so he knew what he was getting into!)

 Anyway, although I am by no means slow-witted and have been known to snap-decision with the best of them, I really do my best work when given time to cogitate on the important stuff.  I ran across a brilliant idea, recognized how perfect that would be for me, snap-decisioned that I shall do it.  Now I am giving myself the time to ferment the perfect New Year's bon mot.

I am bothering you, because, well, your mind may work the same way, AND this is my blog.  So I can.

The main difficulty will be finding 1 concept that I feel is important, AND that I need to work on.  Don't get me wrong, There are MANY things that I should work on myself.  How do I choose just 1?  Also, like many people, I find it much easier to get fired up over things that OTHERS need to work on, than myself.  I can't make a difference coalescing for other people, now can I?

A secondary difficulty is my vocabulary.  It is large.  I am talking immense. Vast even.  The Vastness even ranges into the idea of monotony, like our frontier families encountered whilst crossing the American plains.  One of my nicknames in high school was Dictionary.  And they did not mean it kindly.  They did not know the word (or work) Thesaurus, or the jokes would have been more cutting.  Once I settle on a concept, I then have to settle on the word!

So, you see, I HAVE to give myself time for this, as there is a definite deadline approaching.  It is not like someone's birthday, where I can be late, say I'm Sorry, and be forgiven.  No!  New Year's does not care about my procrastination proclivities.  New Year's is Merciless.  If I come up with my word on January 2, it is too late!

Plus, like many people, I like the opportunity of healthy self examination.

Have a splendiferous day today!

Traitorous

History may not be kind to us. George Will, a columnist with the Washington Post, made the statement in a piece published on ArcaMax, November 28, 2010:

"But looking up from the weeds at the clouds, McCarthy has a dismaying desire to bring a "futurist" to speak to the Republican caucus each week. This betrays an unconservative faith in prophets -- pursuing prophecy is a recipe for forfeiting the present -- and is a depressing reminder of Speaker Newt Gingrich's swoon about Alvin Toffler's books "Future Shock" and "The Third Wave." Gingrich said of himself, oxymoronically, "I am a conservative futurist." Fascination with clairvoyants is, however, symptomatic of an unconservative hankering to surf supposed "waves" of history, and to put government in the service of, and society in harness to, Big Ideas."

This is horrendous, but it illustrates perfectly the problem with conservatism in the United States today. Maybe the whole idea that there will be a future is depressing to conservatives. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there will be a future. We, every one of us, need to be aware what the possibilities are and prepare for them. I am not talking about cataclysm; simply trends. We cannot turn the clock back, it has been tried countless times in history. It does not work. Countries can be drowned in their conservatism. They die. History shows us that growing cultures use new ideas, and generate new ideas. This does not mean there aren’t any good ideas among the conservatives. There are. But if conservatism stops us from thinking, it will kill this country.

We are a country beset with problems. If we do not look at them clearly, we have no chance of solving them. Calling attention to these problems is not a traitorous act. It is simply reality. To ignore the problems, to deny their existence, to engage in willful ignorance is traitorous.