"That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are LIFE, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

My post is short today... I have a company wedding tonight, so must be brief. It's been bothering me a few days. This week I read (I think on Drudge report) that an aborted baby in Italy was tossed outside with the garbage. A Catholic priest saw it and went over to pray, and saw that it was breathing and kicking. He took him to the hospital and he lived two days. This disgusts me beyond measure... When I used to work at a metro paper in Dallas, I worked with a guy who's wife worked in a major Dallas hospital. She refused to do abortions, which at the hospital, were all very late term abortions. She said they would pull them out, and kill them as they did (now called partial birth abortion) and sometimes they wouldn't be completely dead, and would be thrown in the garbage and kicking....

What kind of a world are we living in?? God have mercy on us....

"You can all go to hell; I'm going to Texas." - Davy Crockett

I love Texas... and I love Governor (of Texas) Rick Perry. You may have heard the story that this week he was jogging with his pistol on, when a coyote started to charge his dog. So he shot the coyote.

I love this! Finally a REAL man. A man not afraid to protect his dog, and himself from a wild animal... That could have rabies. But even if it didn't, the coyote wasn't afraid to get close enough to try and kill the dog.

Wow, if this had happened in many other states, like California or New York, they'd be trying to arrest Gov. Perry for something. Our governor is doing a fabulous job with Texas. It's why we have 5 cities in the top 10 that are doing the best financially in the U.S. He's not afraid to do the right thing. It's SO refreshing in this stupid world of being PC. Most days I'm just shaking my head at how the world has gone crazy. Most of the Texans I know that briefly lived in California have all moved back to our beloved state because the liberals have pretty much ruined it there with taxes out the wazoo. The type of people who move here from other states, like our guts.

And Rick Perry? He had me at pistol...

"Gotta Love It!"

"Toto, we're not in Kansas any more..."

Almost everything in my life relates to the 'Wizard of Oz..' I'm Dorothy (of course!) My mother is Glenda the Good Witch- soothing, beautiful with angelic, auburn hair. The Wicked Witch of the West represents all the people who don't like me, and want things to go bad for me. The Wizard of Oz - many guys I know are like this and hide behind smoke and mirrors. The Yellow Brick Road - my journey through life. The Scarecrow - represents fear, which is scarier than it's cracked up to be. The Tin Man - reminds me of my brother, nice, loyal, great friend. The Lion - like many of my teachers in the past; big bark and no bite. The Hourglass is Time - it's so visual to watch our lives (the sand) pass by, never to return again. Flying Monkeys - demonic forces in our lives trying to thwart and detour our journey. Auntie Em - my sister, ever the sensible one with a good head on her shoulders. Toto the trusty dog, is unconditional love, and companion. Ruby slippers - represents Faith, faith to get us back home.
There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home........

"Dreams are free therapy. Consult your inner Freud." - Grey Livingston

Tornados have freaked me out since I was little and watched the "Wizard of Oz." They seem to come out of nowhere and after a brief time of mass destruction, they're gone and it's a beautiful day... They say when you dream of tornados, it means God's judgment. I find this disturbing, yet can also see why it is said. Years ago, I dreamed I was with my family on a farm like on the Wizard of Oz, and the tornado started coming, and I left the shelter and, one by one, got each of my three children. Then I was able to get my mother and just as we got in the shelter, my father (who was partially paralyzed in real life) could not run, and we had to shut the door. It still gives me goose bumps.... The Wizard of Oz made an indelible imprint on my brain.

Oh, and my dog is named Toto.

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." - Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa was cool... and wise. Here's this tiny, little Catholic nun who somehow helps all the poor, hungry kids in India, and ends up being singled out for her kindness.

Here are some of her quotes:

"Each one of them is Jesus in disguise."

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

"I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness."

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."

"Good works are links that form a chain of love."

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."

"God doesn't require us to succeed; He only requires that you try."

"Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own."

Yes, she was very, very wise....

"Time is free but it's priceless. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back."

Is it just me or does time seem to be going by much faster? I know people say that the further they get after college but I mean it differently. I read that the last big earthquake (Chile) tipped the earth's axis and the days are a little bit shorter. Hmmm.... I believe it. The Bible says that in the end times that days will grow shorter, so somehow it's happening. Days go by so fast, I can't seem to get anything done. I have a daytimer, an alarm clock, an alarm on my cell, and every way to manage my time but there's just not enough of it! Weekends whisk by like it's a few hours. And raising children? You blink and they're gone.... One of the secrets to life is to manage your time wisely. There are so many different time wasters, and they steal our lives away minute by minute.

You'd be wise to figure out what yours are so you can get rid of them....

"Is it true blondes have more fun?"

I'm dyeing my hair tonight. I SWEAR I'm worse than Britney Spears... It was red until tonight. That was because I made the horrible mistake of putting henna on my hair a year and a half ago. I didn't know it turns your hair the color of ALGAE.... or moss... or gray-green mush.... and when I pulled it out, it was blue. And now it starts half-way down my head, so for a year, I've had to wear a pony tail. I've been blonde, red, light brown, dark brown... all of the Charlie's Angels! Wow, the things we women have to do! Ugh! Must always sacrifice comfort for beauty. And then you HAVE to dye when you get older, so you can look younger. I mean WHO wants to throw in the towel some day like Barbara Bush did?! I never want to get the matronly, old look...

And by the way, I think blondes DO have more fun. People treat me nicer when I have blonde hair. I think, as a brunette, I look austere or scary, but I definitely get treated worse with darker hair. After tonight my hair is now the color of 'dark' Britney. She seems to get different personalities with her hair. It almost seems like the dark represents the real Britney and the blonde is the 'showgirl' Britney.... just a thought. But, not true for me. I'm just trying to cover up ugly henna. Oh, and go back to 'my roots' - literally. Because underneath all these layers of chemicals was once pretty, dark hair. When my family used to go to Mexico around college age, the natives would speak Spanish to me and my dad, since we looked like Spaniards.

Too bad I don't look like Penelope Cruz....

"Real Men Wear Pink?"

Have you noticed that Hollywood is having to IMPORT masculine men from other countries? Like Gerard Butler (Scotland), Russell Crowe (Australia), and Liam Neeson (Ireland.) Our society has de-masculinated men so much so, that we're raising a bunch of girly-men. Feminism tried the experiment that had women buying dolls for the little boys and trucks for the little girls, but they always ended up trading them. It was an experiment that didn't work. Men are wired differently than women. This was evidently a surprise to many when it was on the cover of Time Magazine a few years ago...

Now, in many urban areas like NYC, LA, and many other cities, all these guys are wearing 'Skinny' jeans, dyeing their hair and wearing man purses. Men have become so effeminate that women are looking to other countries for masculine men. I know movies and music certainly influence, but I'm wondering if the female hormones from the meat and now the water, are having this effect? I did read it's one explanation of the huge burst of hormone cancer cases, breast for women and prostate for men.

All you have to do is look at the succession of popular male stars from generation to generation to watch the slide. In the older generation, we had Paul Newman, Robert Redford and John Wayne. The next set was Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Then Ben Stiller, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey and Ashton Kutcher. Now we have Zac Efron, Robert Pattison, Daniel Radcliffe, and Adam Lambert.

I miss REAL men...

"The whole world's gone crazy..."

During lunch I check my iPhone for news etc. Today's news says the whole world's gone crazy...

On CNN, there was a story about an Iran cleric who says 'promiscuous women cause earthquakes.'

Tori Spelling is shopping a talk show and looking for a 'gay co-host.' The U.S. military says 25% military hopefuls are too fat to serve. A young woman from England had a migraine and woke up with a Chinese accent. A volcanic eruption in Iceland caused over a billion dollars to the travel industry. Radical Muslim threatens South Park creators with death. A thief in Colorado ripped off a man's little finger while stealing the iPad he just bought for his boss. Botox may diminish emotions. Police allow thousands of '4/20' protesters to light up across the country. Acorn CEO calls tea party a 'bowel movement.' Bisexual men sue gay group & claim bias. Larry King's wife had affair with their son's young baseball coach, often watching his show in Larry's bed, while he claims Larry was having an affair with his wife's sister. Heidi Montag wants to get even bigger implants. And Lady Gaga is pushing the envelope way beyond Cher and Madonna...

Need any more proof?

"You cant' keep a good woman down."

Mary Ellen turned 88 yesterday and is still a pistol. A strong Irish Catholic (think Maureen O'Hara only shorter, 5'2" with brown hair) her grandparents came over from Ireland at the turn of the century through the Statue of Liberty. She's proud of her heritage and loves St. Patrick's Day. Her father worked the railroad as an engineer in the Depression, and one of her indelible memories is feeding the hungry at her back door during those times. Her aspiration was to be a mother, and after she married her sweetheart as he left to fight in World War II, she had five sons in eight years. You bet she's tough! As the only remaining grandparent to my children, she wonders why she's still here, while most of her peers have already gone. I think it's because God still has some work for her to do.

In addition to raising sons, she was active in golf, china painting, stained glass, bridge - and many others! She's always been a 'girl's girl,' most recently in the 'Go-Go Girls,' who went shopping and played games. After her husband of 60 years passed away 2 years ago, she's now in an assisted living facility, but as usual, she 'makes lemonade when life gives her lemons.' She is the new resident Ambassador there and throws tea parties. She dresses up every day because it makes her feel better, although she misses the independence of driving.

I told her I love her last night. Although divorced, she's always been so good to me, when I didn't deserve it. I do love her... and hope I can keep my dignity as she has.

Happy Birthday Nana.... and MANY more!

"Above all those dark clouds is blue sky"

(What a great metaphor for life...)

It's been raining here for days, with some flooding... After about the third day, I start going stir crazy, and since it's now been over a week, I start dreaming of catching a plane to a sunny locale. I can't even IMAGINE the frustration of those poor travelers who have gotten stranded over the volcanic eruption - ugh!! Earlier I was reading desperate stories of some of them pooling their money to rent a cab to Spain - for a lot of extra cash too. What strange times...

Anyway, I digress... usually this time of year is really nice and warm but it was actually cold today. (Maybe the Northeners are used to this, but not us Southerners!) I guess this El Nino is not only bringing lots of rain, breaking our 3 year drought, but also much cooler weather...

As I was driving to work today, I looked up at all those dark clouds, and thought how nice it must be to be a pilot. If it's an ugly day, you can take off, head upwards and break through all the darkness and head for the light.

I think I'll take flying lessons...

Ode to Sunday Nights....

I don't know about you, but Sunday nights get ruined by thinking about Monday mornings. I try to watch good shows, continue laundry and read magazines - you know, do all the things I can't on week nights, but alas... it gets ruined by thinking of Monday. By Sunday afternoon, I'm already on Monday and what I've got going at work. Ugh...When I was younger, I used to get really depressed on Sundays in anticipation of the week, so I've come a long way from that.

I DO try to cram as much living as I can into the weekend and wake up early and stay up late, and do four days worth of stuff in two days. It makes me feel better to burn the candle at both ends! And at least I HAVE a job, so I need to look at the glass half full instead of half empty!

So enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

"Grow old with me, the best is yet to be" - Robert Browning

Happy, happy Birthday Alex!! The last year has been a tough one for you, so I'm praying this next year will be great!! You deserve a fabulous year and a fabulous life!
Love & kisses,
Mom

"Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts." - Edward Murrow

"Thou shalt not kill" - God

I'm pro-life. Isn't it weird and unnatural that there are those that are not? I mean, when you think about it, who isn't pro-life? Well, evidently a lot of people. In the early 70's when abortion was illegal in most states but legal in some, they polled people and the vast majority were against abortion. And since abortion was legalized with the court case, "Roe vs. Wade,' in 1973, there have been arguments ad nauseum about when life begins...

It's common sense that life begins at conception, when the DNA transfers from sperm to egg, and then the child is just growing after that. There is no magic moment during pregnancy that the fetus (child in-utero) actually begins life. And you cannot say at birth, because if they had been born earlier, they could have survived. And actually, the argument has changed. Most people I argue with these days admit they know it's killing.They just don't feel guilty about it since the child hasn't been born yet. It's now just inconvenient timing for most that choose to abort (kill) their child.
In America, people are free to do what they want until it infringes on other people's rights. (Open door to lawyers on figuring THAT out.) So the feminists said they had a right to choose what happens with their body. Through the years, scientists showed the obvious, that an unborn child has different DNA than the mother. It's not just her body. So when the mother chooses to 'terminate' her pregnancy, it's just a nice way to say that she is murdering another human being - her OWN child.

I know lots of women who had abortions and they ALL feel guilty, terribly guilty. And they wish they had not done it. And they are always looking at someone who is the age of the child they aborted, and wondering what life would've been like with that child.
And it haunts every single one of them...

"You only have the rights you are willing to fight for."

I try really hard to not get political but I have strong core values that cannot be compromised... Tomorrow is April 15th, and unless you've been in a cave, or climbing a mountain without a cell phone, you know that all of the Tea Parties around the country are happening. T.E.A. stands for Taxed Enough Already. Last year I attended the tea party at the town I work in, and it was completely refreshing to be with kindred spirits. There was no fighting, no bad words, and no racism. It was just people like me who are sick of government trying to take away our freedom and run our lives. I heard today that the liberals are asking people to go to these this year and be racist and make a ruckus so that it will get on tv and make a bad name for Tea Party folks... This is the kind of people that we are dealing with.

I've found that most liberals have one cause that make them a liberal - pro-abortion, homosexual, illegal amnesty, etc. or just an anti-Christian. They don't believe in Judeo-Christian values and are quickly trying to do away with them.

It's time to stand up for what we believe. It's time to make noise. It's time to work on the candidate of our choice's campaign. It's time to do all that we can possibly do to save our country from turning into Canada, France or Cuba.

Check out the Tea Parties tomorrow, and remember, the 'Power of One.'

"If you have to have a job in this world, a high-priced movie star is a pretty good gig." - Tom Hanks

Ok, I admit it and so should you. We all get our movie star crushes no matter HOW old we are. There's just something about them, and bammo, we're hooked. My current crushes are Simon Baker from 'The Mentalist' (tv show) and Gerard Butler, whom I fell in love with (like most women) in the movie, 'P.S. I Love You.' I don't know what he's like in real life, and ignorance IS bliss in this case. I know he's hanging out with Jennifer Aniston, since they just did 'The Bounty Hunter' together, but somehow they don't seem like a match. But what do I know?

And Simon Baker on' The Mentalist?' Darling. He's so endearing. And he tries to hide his Australian accent, but I can still hear it. I LOVE accents! Mmmm, and he surfs. I've always been a sucker for a surfer. I guess spending half my life on the beach, I'm attracted to tan blondes, but at my age, there aren't too many!

I fell in love with Tom Selleck in 'Magnum P.I.' and still think he's a hunk, even at an older age. Mark Harmon is another who has aged well, and, like Tom Selleck, will always be in my Top 10 Favorite Hollywood Crushes. I really fell for Andy Garcia in 'When A Man Loves a Woman,' where he plays husband to alcoholic wife, Meg Ryan. He just seems real.

I've never fallen for Brad Pitt or George Clooney - they seem arrogant and full of themselves. So it isn't just outward looks, it's what you see in the acting too. I liked Kevin Costner in the beginning, but then Hollywood seemed to do a number on him, and he seemed like a jerk after that.

Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter what I think, but they make me smile.

Guess that's why they make the Big Bucks....

"The only difference between us and the Titanic, is that they had a band."

I love that saying... it's so funny, yet appropriate in so many cases...

Today is the actual day the Titanic went down. That story has always fascinated me in a morbid sort of way. The Titanic sinking was the 9-11 of their time. It was covered for years, and just recently the very last survivor from the ship passed away. It definitely had all of the details for a 'story that sells' (that's my newspaper career coming out.) It was the maiden voyage for the grandest ship of it's time. So many questions, then and now. I do think that if a similar situation happened in these days, many of the decisions they made would be very different. For example, the rich were allowed to get on the boats first - that would never happen in 2010. Also letting the women get on the boats first? No, women's rights and equality has ended chivalry. They would probably allow the children on first, but the rest would be a free for all.The band might have kept playing, but they would all probably get high first. That's the way of the west. But some things might be pretty similar. The captain agreeing to go faster and arrive quicker to impress the world. The selfishness showed by those that got on the boats and refused to go back for survivors? Yes, definitely the same. And the arrogance of the ship's builder who said, "Not even God Himself can sink this ship...."

Yes, but note to self, don't ever say things like that...