Politics

I had a stimulating conversation with a man today concerning politics.  He has worked most of his life with politicians and now on a very important issue for our safety.  He professed to be a staunch Democrat while I have always professed to be a Republican.  It occured to me while we were talking that there needs to be a Middle of the Road party for the conservative Democrats and Liberal Republicans.  It sounds like an oxymoron, I know, bear with me and I will explain.  When someone states that they are a Republican we assume that we do not care about the the rights of others, we don't believe in helping others with less than ourselves and we do not believe in abortion.  When I think of a Democrat, I think of someone that believes in making the United States a socialistic country, that the rich should take care of the poor and the government knows how to take care of us better than we know how to take care of ourselves.  I suspect that the "Tea Party" is attempting to be the middle but I don't really know, I stopped listening to them when Sarah Palin became their mouth piece--not a fan.  I believe that most Americans would love for our country to get back to our roots and our government needs to accomplish the following:

1.  Job creation by making it feasible for companies to be profitable while creating those jobs in the United States.  Federal funding does not create viable long term positions and there is so much beauracracy I wonder if it really makes a difference where it needs to--sell the American dream to American companies and make them want to support our country.

2.  Worry about the issues that should be political issues not the ones that are moral issues.  In my opinion, abortion should not be a political issue it is a moral issue!

3.  Offer programs that allow people to get back on their feet do not create programs that make it more worthwhile to sit at home than to be a productive member of society.

4.  STOP protecting and enabling criminals.  If they are habitual, they will not change and do not let them out to harm more people.  Pedophiles should be chemically castrated--I'm sorry they are evil and we continue to let them harm children.

5.  All humans are created equal--whether they are homosexual, of different religion, or from another country--please remember that, treat them that way and respect them.

6.  Strive to promote democracy with all nations but do not impose our values and beliefs on them.

7.  When you decide that we need to write a big check to fund a program, a country or a cause--pretend that YOU are writing the check out of your own personal inheritance or hard earned checking account and I bet most of the programs will go away.

8.  Sometimes the most important part of change is education.  Health care starts at home and we pay for health insurance for risk management.  You can't buy health insurance when you are sick--you have to buy it when you are healthy and there needs to be some viable proof that you will stay that way.   People will still do things that they know will make them ill--why is it our responsiblity or the medical communities responsibility to take on the burden of their health care if they didn't plan for emergencies or try to take care of themselves? We need to regulate the pharmaceutical companies and health litigation to bring things back to an affordable level.  Doctors are human and humans make mistakes--we've become so sue happy that the burden of the litigation insurance makes health care unaffordable and once again that's another blog topic. 

I watch many politicians and they seem so plastic that I wonder if they remember what it's like to be a regular person but that's an entirely different blog.  Vote for the person that you think believes in the same things you believe in.  Don't be swayed by all of this political advertising.  Don't be swayed by the marketing machines and charisma.  Take some time, consider the truth and please exercise your right to vote.

Love and Marriage

So, today is our 8 year anniversary--one year past the seven year itch--so I thought I would write a blog about what I've learned.   NOTHING.....just kidding.  So, sticking with a theme, 8 important lessons in 8 years of marriage:

1.  Don't marry too young.  When we are young, we aren't that great at choosing because we are enamored by cars, sweet talk and many other things that don't matter.
2.  A sense of humor is VERY important.  Darrell makes me laugh several times every day and that's one of the reasons I fell in love with him.
3.  Age is just a state of mind.  I am 91/2 years older than Darrell and there are lots of times when he is more mature than me--I'm not afraid to say it.  I may not be young but I act and look it and that's what matters.  (As long as both people are at least 18 years old--don't get any ideas.)
4.  Remember that when you marry a person, you also marry their family and their baggage.  Luckily, I love Darrell's family and he loves and tolerates mine.  Both families are very different, but we love what our in-laws have to offer.  So many people get married without considering that the spouses family will be as much a part of your life as your spouse will be.  If there are problems with the in-laws before the marriage, there will be problems after the marriage.
5.  Talk about children before you get married preferrably before you get pregnant.  Darrell and I both decided that we wanted children only if we didn't have to go through any treatments to have children.  Now that I know what hormones do to me, that was a good call.  We also knew that we needed to start trying immediately after getting married and God blessed us with pregnancy two months after our wedding.  (Do the math--ha ha)
6.  If you want children make sure he is good Dad material.  It's hard being a parent and most of our disagreements are about Blake but we both love him more than anything and we only want the best for him.    Being a parent also means being present in their lives as much as possible. 
7.  Everything ebbs and flows.
8.  Have seperate television sets but watch your favorite shows together. 
There you go--I'm not a perfect married person and it's harder than I thought it would be but it's so worth it.  I love you Darrell--thank you for asking me to be your wife.

It's about time

It's been a long time since I was inspired to write and my latest inspriration--the woman who wrote about her sexual encounters with Duke Lacrosse players.  First of all, I can't beleive this was national news--REALLY!  Don't we have more important things to spend valuable news time on?  Secondly, I say--It's about time and good for her.  Men have been putting the proverbial notches on their belts talking and laughing about their sexual exploits with women, they have had lists of the good and bad, they have had the committed relationship and a girl on the side.  Newsflash-- I know it's shocking but sometimes women are just in it for the sex--they aren't always looking for a relationship.  Good for her and I love it that she turned the table on them.  By the way, for the record, I really hate the expression, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free." when talking about couples who are living together.  Guess what?  Maybe the cow doesn't want to be bought or in this case be married.  Newsflash--women don't need to be taken care of anymore and marriage usually means that both the husband and wife work and the wife still has to do everything around the house.  (For the record--I am not one of those women.)    I feel bad for the guy who was ranked 10th and I'm sure it's not fun to have something like that circulated then having it make national news but I love it that she did it. 

Helping Hands

We watched The Blind Side again last night and today I was downtown getting some coffee and I witnessed the toy run.  I was very amused my all the tough biker dudes decked out in leather holding cute stuffed animals and toys for needy children.   There were motorcylcles everywhere and a long line around the block waiting to get to Cowboy's to donate their toy.   I'm amazed by the woman who took in a total stranger into her home, made him a part of her family and gave him a stable environement so he could get an education and become a pro football player.  I don't know many people who would do something like that for a person in need.  The bikers today who take a day our of their lives to gather toys for children who other wise would not receive one.  There are so many stories of people who give to others, who organize causes and who work really hard to make a difference in someone else's life.  I applaud those people and I know when we work really hard to help soldiers, families who are dealing with cancer or for single mothers who have had some tough times that we feel blessed to be able to do that through our radio stations.  Sometimes we meet the people we are helping and sometimes we do not but I sometimes try to visualize that we are making someone's life easier.  So, if you are in the position to help and you know someone who needs help please step up, you might be the one ray of hope that helps them get through another day.  It doesn't have to be something as drastic as inviting someone into your home--it could be a toy, a donation or some spare change.