"Shock and awe..."

Vogue has done a profile of Syria's First Lady, Asma al-Assad. It says she is "glamorous, young and very chic - the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies. Her style is not the couture-and-bling dazzle of Middle Eastern power but of deliberate lack of adornment. She's a rare combination: a thin, long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement." Hmmm... isn't Syria where many sources say the weapons of mass destruction went when they were no longer found in Iraq???

"Too many chiefs and not enough indians..."

Tonight was DD's first cheerleader meeting with her new JV squad. They went over how they were going to choose captains, when practices will be, and uniform fittings. Of the 12 girls, 9 are freshmen and 3 are sophomores. The 3 sophomores have never been cheerleader, and seem embarressed to be on the squad with the rest of them that currently are in junior high. They acted mad and bored, and had a bad attitude. Most of the incoming freshman were cheerleaders this year (including DD) and had strong ideas since they've done this before. After the comments by the coaches, they let the girls decide (fight) amongst themselves about next year's cheer uniform. Well, you can guess how well THAT went... There were 12 girls and 12 different ideas, and an hour later, they still were only half-way on all the decisions... And, of course, when you get to the high school level, it's VERY competitive and it was close to a cat fight. Naturally, the coaches sat in the back talking to each other, and the mothers all tried to appear non-chalant. There were a few divas, and ALL were bossy and had strong opinions. Each time they had almost made a decision, they would change it all and say they needed to vote again. I'll be glad when they choose the 2 captains, because there always needs to be a leader...

Or as I tell DD, "the strong shall lead..."

"What goes around, comes around."

"A Whole lot of shaking going on..."

Yesterday my pastor said that the well-respected U.S. prophet Bob Jones gave a prophecy 22 years ago that that we would know when it was the end times when Japan had a huge earthquake and an economic meltdown. (Notice the word, "meltdown.") It then said to look west, because the west coast would have a huge earthquake that would devastate our country...
I wasn't going to write about this tonight. I really didn't want to. But I feel like I should.
So there you go...

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal."

I can't believe it's been 19 years... Yes, 19 years ago today, March 27, 1992, I was working at the San Antonio Light newspaper in advertising sales... There were 6 of us in automotive advertising sales, 3 women and 3 men. The gal that sat next to me at work was younger than me, and such a fun person. We would go out to sell to the automotive dealer managers to get copy during the day, and were usually back at the office by 3:30 or 4. It was a very stressful job, so we would always joke around to make life a little more fun. Shelly was upset that day, since she was responsible for a large insert for the Gunn Automotive Group, that owned several dealerships. We always worked late every day... When I was finally done with my work, I SHOULD have asked her if she needed help, but I didn't... I had 2 children and needed to go home, but I should have asked her... It will always haunt me that I didn't...

The next day when I got to work, all of the managers had a grim look on their face and called a meeting for the automotive group. We filed into a small conference room, and I said, "We have to wait for Shelly!" but there was silence. I looked around and they relayed she had been in a car accident the night before. She didn't make it.... What?? Here was this darling girl so full of life who sat 1 1/2 feet from me... What do you mean?? She had finished up work and gone with a friend to eat at her favorite chinese food restaurant and drank too much wine. She drove to the guy she was dating's house, who happened to be one of the car manager's of a huge dealership in San Antonio. He was mad that she was drunk and they had an argument. He grabbed her keys and said she couldn't drive, but when he went into the other room, she grabbed them and got in her car. She was only 100' from her apartment at a bend in the road, when she hit a telephone pole. They said she was able to tell the people who got to her car, his name and number, and then she went unconscious. We heard they took her to the best hospital, and that the hospital staff said she was damaged internally so much that there was nothing they could do, so it took an hour and a half and she died. They called her mother in Fort Worth and asked if she could be an organ donor. Then they took all of her organs...

When I saw her car, a Mercury Tracer, it looked better than most of the cars I've had wrecks in and walked away. It just never made sense. I always had a hunch that they just were waiting for some kind of organ... I don't know... It made me sad, but it made me angrier. One of my favorite people gone in a flash. And no one called me. This was before cell phones but someone could have called my home. I would have gone up there and fought for her. I would have insisted that they work on her. It still angers me now...

I really took that death hard. My children will tell you I was depressed for a year. And I did blame myself for not helping her that night because it was the right thing to do. Maybe it all would have turned out different. I guess I'll never know. I just know that Shelly Parker was such a fun friend and it was a stupid way to die, and when she needed people most, they let her down.

Rest in peace Shelly....

"I think Texans have more fun than the rest of the world." - Tommy Tune

"We are always the same age inside." - Gertrude Stein

My youngest child thinks I'm a dinosaur. Yes, I had her at the end of my biological clock, unlike my older 2 children, my "Irish twins," (just learned this term this week - it's a moniker for children born a year apart, thus you're raising them like twins.) This exactly describes Bubba & Sissy, who always had to have the very same thing as the other - tit for tat.

But DD doesn't have any siblings at home since the older two are 16 and 17 years older and since I am much older, she thinks the world has changed too much for me to understand what it's like being a teen these days. Little does she know that I am exactly the same as I was when I was 20, it's just my body that is older. The only thing that's different is hormones but I FEEL 20 and truly am surprised every time I look in the mirror and see my mother's image! I will pass a mirror at the mall and think who IS that? Oh, it's me.... ugh. It's so strange getting older. People are starting to say "Maam" to me. AAAaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!! No please, not that!! I can see why people want to have a face lift. You want to count. You want to be relevant. And you want to be attractive since you get more attention.

Some day DD will understand... Time marches on but people stay the same no matter what age they are. And in my experience, everyone I know now is exactly like they were in 6th grade. Your personality is set by that time. Yes, you have experiences and hopefully, get wiser. But your personality? It's set in stone... I love the quote, "I'm not 40, I'm 18 with 22 years experience."

Now that pretty much says it all...

(Photos of me and DD in our respective 6th grade years)

"Don't worry about anything but pray about everything."

Today I am thanking God in advance for answering my prayer... I am exhibiting my faith. Faith is the opposite of fear. I am standing on God's promises because He is truth and He cannot lie. His word says that whatever we ask in Jesus' name, He will do. Every time that fear creeps in, I knock it out with faith.

I am EXPECTING an excellent report!

"I'm tough, I'm ambitious and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay." - Madonna Ciccone

Seems as though it's the women of late that have any 'cajones' in the governing of this nation. I'm not surprised... it's been heading this way for quite some time. I started noticing it in the churches, as men are not desiring to be pastors in the numbers they used to, and the ones that did, have been quitting at a record high. Thus, the women come in and fill the spots. The same has held true for the military. In order to not introduce the draft, the armed forces have allowed women in almost every area now, including combat, something that was unheard of when I was young. A few years ago, my twenty-something son was working at the local hospital in rehab and told me that it was amusing (my word) that the women run the hospital. He noticed that the doctors come in and act like they're God and order their decrees in a denigrating tone, and then leave. The women are left to do the rest, and so they do. I read the other day that women are getting gray hair in their 20's, and are getting heart disease as much as men now.

I'm not sure what's happening to the men, but it is disturbing to say the least. We currently have a man in the White House that just wants to take sight-seeing trips with his family, and just "phone it in." As I've been saying for days, it is unconscionable to order bombing in Libya and leave the country. And now, the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, and the president are NOT on the same page, as each is saying something different. Haven't they ever heard of CHAIN OF COMMAND?? The president is Commander in Chief, and the buck stops there! And he keeps changing his story -- he wants Quadafi out and then says he can stay if he behaves, while Hilary says he needs to go. Hilary is the one who has been in charge this week! She's not phoning it in. She's calling the shots but having to give the credit to Obama. And she's not happy about it - just look at her body language and nuances in her speech.

It's no different in the Republicans either. Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, and Jan Brewer have a lot more courage than the rest of the Republican men in Congress put together!! (And they don't cry either...) What is it with the men?? At least Donald Trump seems to have some testosterone! It's why Americans are responding to his rhetoric! This nation has become a bunch of wimps with all of our political correctness. It's not natural. In other countries the men do NOT want to become like pansy American men. I remember Putin saying this while Bush was president.

Somewhere in there a huge percentage of men checked out and decided to hand it over to the women. Maybe they got lazy. Maybe it was the Peter Pan syndrome and they didn't want to grow up. Maybe the female hormones from the meat and the water supply are affecting them.

Anyway, it is what it is...

"I hope you dance..."

A candid video of my darling niece of her Father Daughter dance at her wedding last weekend to Steve Winwood's "Roll with it." As KK points to people, her new husband brings his mother to the dancefloor as she grabs her new father-in-law, and finally the groom grabs his new mother-in-law (my sister) to finish it off! Great fun!!

"Wish you were here..."

I am glad Spring Break is over... It's a painful week of listening to my child rant that we didn't go somewhere fun like all of her friends. Or so it seems... And Facebook just rubs it in with photos to show everyone else how cool or how rich they are. We live in a tourist town where there are the definite 'haves' and 'havenots.' The 'haves' went to Costa Rica, ski trip to Idaho, the Texas beach - and I have seen their photos on Facebook proving it. Then there were the moms with cushy jobs like teacher, who all went to the lake together and had the posed photos of evidence. And then there were other moms who took off part of the week and went to visit family in other towns just to get away and then had a day for Fiesta Texas - Six Flags and another for shopping.

So yes, I'm feeling sorry for myself that I only have one measly week off a year plus have to work all Monday holidays. One of my daughter's friend's mom is a Spanish teacher, and she was lamenting last night that she was sad that school was starting back today. It was all I could do to not want to yell at her that she's got a cushy job with all holidays off and summer off, and that she actually gets to SEE her children. She bitches all the time, yet has a wonderful circle of friends from school, good hours, good benefits and all holidays. She ought to be happy with what she has...

My daughter went to work with me for 2 days, and I dropped her off at the movies by herself on those days. On Wednesday, she hung with friends until they ditched her to hang with each other. On Thursday she had oral surgery on her teeth, which are in the top 10 worst cases that he's ever seen. And on Friday, one of her friend's moms took her and 2 friends to Fiesta Texas which was so overly crowded that they waited FOUR hours to ride the Rattler roller coaster. ugh...

Having grown up with a cushy life but not having one now, I often am miserable with the comparison. I make a constant effort to be happy with what I have, because I know things can always be a thousand times worse. I need to be thankful for what I do have and stop comparing myself to those who are on easy street.

If it wasn't for that darn Facebook...

"No one needs a vacation more than the person who just had one."

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."

My youngest daughter DD is suffering so much lately. It may not sound like much to others, but to her, it's everything. She cannot seem to find a loyal friend, one that just wants to be her friend and not use her. It was my experience in junior high that it was the turning point for many on which way they decided to take themselves. The girls that decided to be slutty to get the guys, all ended up getting pregnant and quitting school eventually. The ones that decided to get into drugs, are still struggling with it. So many decisions and that age seems to be a jumping off point.

And so it is true with her friends as well. Her closest friends from the school I just switched her from, all seem to be choosing to go down the wrong road. Their parents seem to think they are just going through a stage, but I know different. And at her new school, the girls she has been hanging around are completely shallow, and only want to take beauty photos and post them on Facebook non-stop. They just want to market themselves, and are extremely competitive. DD just wants normal friends, who she can laugh with, and talk to, and hang out with - who 'have her back' and don't betray her, especially for a guy. She is so, so miserable in not being able to find these types of friends, and it makes me feel helpless.

Our weekends are extremely weary lately....

"A picture is worth a thousand words..."

"Come in Tokyo..."

(photo of reactor four after earthquake damage)

I simply cannot hear any more stories about Japan... it is too painful... and I'm sure the worst is yet to happen. Today there are stories about the Fukushima Fifty that are basically on suicide missions, sacrificing themselves in hopes to stop the nuclear meltdown. And another story of 30 children sitting silently in a classroom, and none of their parents have come back for them after the tsunami... Ugh... it's sadness to the nth degree...

May God have mercy on Japan...

"Let them eat cake..."

"You can't teach common sense..."

Where is COMMON SENSE????!!! Yes, I'm a moral conservative and a fiscal conservative, but on environmental issues I call them as I see them. YOU DON'T BUILD A NUCLEAR PLANT IN AN EARTHQUAKE ZONE!!! Why do we have to TEACH common sense??? This is a no-brainer! And, truth be told, I have always been against nuclear power because the risks are way too high. I'm all for drilling here and drilling now, and drilling where ever we can! I'm for all kinds of energy, but NOT nuclear! I wish it had never been invented. It's not natural. It's scary. And now we, the global world, have to share the risks that Japan took when they built so much nuclear power in their earthquake prone country. And Californians are now buying up all of the potassium iodide tablets to prevent radiation poisoning... This is a huge wake up call. I'm glad all of these countries are putting nuclear power on hold - it's too risky!! It's not just a few deaths, it's massive. It ruins the area for the rest of my life. When coal miners get caught in mines, there are deaths sometimes for those that take the risk. But nuclear? We all suffer. A lot. For a long time.

Why are we even arguing about this??

"When you say a situation is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God."

On Friday, we had so much going on that I couldn't even watch television, with the cheer tryouts, and rehearsal dinner, and wedding... But yesterday, when I finally had time to watch some of the videos.... this is tragedy like I have never seen. This is devastation that I cannot recall in my lifetime... I cannot IMAGINE enduring one of the worst earthquakes on record, and then before anyone could get to the survivors, a powerful (and this is an understatement) tsunami rolls in like an angry monster, devouring everything in sight. Then, the grand finale, like the final fireworks on the 4th of July, is the explosions and threat of a nuclear meltdown...

It is so surreal watching the videos, safely ensconced on the other side of the world; entire towns being swallowed up. It's like the scariest Hollywood movie you've ever seen, only it's a million times worse and it's REAL. I keep watching all of this and thinking, WHAT are they going to do with all those bodies?? Will they disperse them to different countries for cremation? And what about the tons and tons of vehicles and boats and buildings? Where will they dump all of these? the ocean? If they start getting dumptrucks and filling them up, where will they take it? Japan is an ISLAND.

And do these people have insurance? And does insurance even cover tsunami's, since they are considered an "act of God." And isn't all the paperwork destroyed with everything else? How does a town recover from this? Won't they all have to move somewhere else and be dislocated? And what about the disease that will surely set in from all of the toxic garbage? And right now, there is no food or water. How long will it take these people to get new houses? new jobs? new cars? new clothes? new lives? And experts are saying that they will have post traumatic syndrome when the ones that DO live, walk away with just the clothes on their backs.

It seems too much to wrap my brain around...

"You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person who you cannot live without."

My beautiful niece got married last night to her soul mate. She met her new husband seven years ago in the first semester of college, and they both knew that each other was "The One" the first week they met. They are such a sweet couple and so in love. It is so refreshing to see two people who were meant for each other finally get married! KK used to come over to play with Alex when they were really young and play Barbies. As I recited at the rehearsal dinner, Alex's Barbie would be very pragmatic and go to work, while KK's Barbie lived in a castle with a fantasy life.

So KK, here's to your fantasy life and your castle and your Happily Ever After!!

"If cheerleading got any easier, it would be called football."

DD made cheerleader for next year!! Yea!! So proud of all her hard work!! She will have a blast!!

"When it rains, it pours..."

Pretty crazy week, and today especially. DD had a HUGE research paper due today, and I never do this, but did help her last night since she's completely stressed out for high school cheerleading tryouts this afternoon. Plus her track coach was mad yesterday and worked them like it was a Marine Boot Camp, so in addition to nerves, she can hardly move today. Great... Add to this that we are missing my niece's bridesmaid luncheon and wedding rehearsal today, due to tryouts, and will leave for the rehearsal dinner in San Antonio after she tries out, and be late for that. Her friends will have to call her around 9 pm to let her know the results. And then the wedding is tomorrow.

Why does everything all have to happen the same day??

"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know...

they are happy."

Last night I lost a friend to cancer. He loved God and he loved music in that order... He never married, had no children, and had no one but friends in the end as cancer ravaged his body. I know since he walked with God here on earth that he is walking with Him on streets of gold now. His body was just bones yesterday, but now he has a new body and finally feels good - for eternity. He's listening to all the wonderful music in heaven, and has reunited with all his loved ones that have gone before.
Rest in peace, friend...

"I'm the stuff men are made of." - John Wayne

As it stands right now, Donald Trump is leading in the polls in the Republican Party's presidential hopefuls and hasn't even announced yet. How could this be you ask? Someone that has never even BEEN in politics before?? PRECISELY!

Americans are sick and tired of politics and lifelong politicians playing with OUR money like it's a Monopoly game. They vote themselves raises and exempt themselves from what they IMPOSE on us - government-run healthcare that will break this country.

In the last presidential election, I would have voted for Mitt Romney if John McCain had not beaten him for Republican nominee. But if I voted tomorrow, Trump would be my choice for president. He's the poster boy for capitalism, if there ever was one. He's a man's man. He's a self-made man. He's tough. He says what he means and he means what he says. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of pansies in the White House. Trump tells it like it is. When he says the U.S. is the laughing stock in other countries, it hits a raw nerve because we know it's true.

He's the consummate businessman that, unlike the current president, knows HOW to run a business. He hasn't just studied economics in a university, but he knows it first hand. He would bring class back to the White House. He would be entertaining, which in these times, is critical to the media. And he wouldn't take any guff off of any one.

The best part? When he gets elected, we can say to Barack Hussein Obama,

"You're Fired!"

"We reap what we sow..."

It's painful to watch the unraveling of another human being...

"Outside noisy, inside empty" - Chinese Proverb

"Made in China?"

These Chinese commercials completely surprise me since I thought the Chinese were old-fashioned and dressed conservatively. Has the West influenced them this much that they have racy (and long) commercials like this??! I know it's a communist country and we've heard many are jumping out of tall buildings to commit suicide, so I'm scratching my head about this...

Whatever happened to Chinese honor??

"Every dog must have his day." - Jonathan Swift

On Tuesday, Lance Corporal Liam Tasker was killed while serving with the U.K.'s Royal Army Veterinary Corps, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment. He was a dog handler and had been searching for explosives with his sniffer dog Theo. Working as a team, L/Cpl Tasker and Theo had found a record 14 hidden bombs and weapon caches in just five months. In an interview on the Ministry of Defense website, Tasker said, "I love my job and working together with Theo. He has a great character and never tires." And it was only last month that Tasker described his job and the close bond he had developed with Theo, "He can't wait to get out and do his job and will stop at nothing."

Tasker was gunned down by Taliban forces in Afghanistan while searching for hidden IED's, weapons and bomb-making equipment. Although Theo initially survived the attack, the springer spaniel later died after suffering a seizure.

The Ministry of Defense has confirmed that Theo's ashes would be flown back in the same aircraft as L/Cpl Tasker's coffin. Tasker's uncle, Billy McCord said his nephew would have been happy to have Theo by his side. "He actually said at one point that when he finished his tour, he was not sure what would happen to his dog and that he could get separated from his dog. That was preying upon his mind, but they are not separated now." Tasker's body will be returned to Britain around the time the 26-year-old was due to arrive home on leave.

Rest in peace Liam and Theo...

"Can't Buy Me Love"

Forty-five years ago today -- March 4, 1966, the Beatles were each interviewed for a series of profiles in London's "The Evening Standard." John Lennon had discussed his 'meaningless' possessions and his taste in music (Indian music), and then moved on to what he had been reading. He had an interest in history, and in particular, the history of religion. He said he sensed that Christianity, like other religions, had contributed good ideas, but that something else would eventually replace it too. He added, "Christianity will go... It will vanish and shrink." As his proof, he added that currently the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus."

I didn't even know about this quote until this past year, but I DO know that I'm one of very few in my generation of Baby Boomers that doesn't like the Beatles. Yes, I liked some of their music, but not the Beatles, and specifically could not stand John Lennon. And I blame the Beatles for being a terrible influence on my generation by ushering in drugs for recreational use.

Drugs are the bane of our society... When I was young, there were no drugs in schools and the worst thing that kids did were smoke cigarettes and raid their parent's liquor cabinet. And NOW look at the schools... It's taken on a life of it's own. And the musicians and movie stars continue to glamourize it, and people like Charlie Sheen, a crackhead, are revered by the college age. The drug business has grown to such an extent that the drug cartels have taken over many countries on this planet... They are in the process with Mexico as we speak.

Most Boomers resent it when I say this since the Beatles bring back a nostalgic time of their lives, but if they really think about it, they see that it's the truth.

"Yesterday -- all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they're here to stay,

oh I believe in yesterday..."

"There is an itch in every runner."

Track meet tonight from 4 to 10:15 p.m..... D.D. won 2nd place in the 4x1, 3rd in 4x2 and 2nd in the 200 - Yea!!

"Courage is fear that has said it's prayers."

Here's a story I haven't seen in the state-run media. I did hear it today on Rush's show and it's in the Daily Mail.... seems if we want to hear the truth, we have to listen to conservative radio or go to foreign papers... Here it is, in condensed form:

"Yesterday Pakistan's only Christian minister was murdered by a Taliban gunman after campaigning for free speech. Shahbaz Bhatti, a 42 year old Roman Catholic, died after his car was sprayed with bullets in a carefully planned ambush as he left his mother's home. It was the second assassination in two months of a high-profile opponent of Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws that insult the death penalty for insulting Islam... Many ordinary citizens praised the governor's assassin - a sign of the spread of hardline Islamist thought in the country. With his death, Pakistani Christians lost their most prominent advocate. Christians are the largest religious minority in the country, where roughly 5 percent of 180 million people are not Muslim. They have very little political power and tend to work in lower-levels jobs such as street sweeping. He had received so many death threats that he had left a video-taped message with the BBC and the Al-Jazeera satellite TV station to be broadcast in the event of his death. In the farewell statement, Mr. Bhatti said he was threatened by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but that this would not deter him from speaking for the 'oppressed and marginalized persecuted Christians and other minorities' in Pakistan. "I will die to defend my rights,' he said on the tape. 'These threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles.'

Here's a man who stood up for what he believed, no matter what.

This was a true martyr, not like the suicide bombers of the faith that murdered him...

"We cannot waste time; we can only waste ourselves."

Seems that the only thing any one is talking about is Charlie Sheen, so I will quickly weigh in. Lately he kind of reminds me of Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump when he was on the mast of the ship in a hurricane and yells at God, "You call this a STORM??!!" He is posturing and saying that he has a rock star life and everyone else is just jealous. He's got a porn star and former nanny(?) living with him, that he calls his "goddesses," who of course are just using him for his money and fame. He's had some clean drug tests this week, but if you watch his antics, it's clear that the withdrawal or lack of drugs is clearly affecting him. Dr. Drew noticed that he seems to be having mood swings that seem very bi-polar. And his ego and his money and his stardom and his drug habit are coming together for the perfect storm. And it does seem that as we watch this terrible train wreck very similar to when Britney Spears went off the reservation and shaved her head, that this will not end well without intervention by SOMEONE. And it also seems that many in the media almost want him to crash so they can report it and say they predicted it and have their story for the next several months, like all the ones that have crashed and burned and gone before....

And me? Well it's painful to watch. His train is so far off the rails that it will take a miracle to get him to want help. When you're an addict, your body takes over your mind and you're no longer a reasonable person. All you can think about is feeding the beast, and right now, he's not feeding his drug beast, but he is feeding his porn and sex addiction and I'm sure other things as well. He doesn't think he has a problem, which is the first step of AA's 10 steps - admit it. He thinks he can just say mind over matter, and he can conquer his demons. And make no mistake, he has demons. Due to the addictions, he cannot see that he has four young children who need a present father. He cannot see that he has just thrown away the best gig of his life. Or that he's become a joke to society, and is the Hollywood train wreck du jour.

I care about every soul, I truly do. And I hope that God will have mercy on him, again, so that he can sober up with his blindfold removed, and can see what's really happening in his life.