Taking the Scenic Route

If you registered to vote you might want to doublecheck to make sure you are actually registered.  There is massive voter fraud if you registered a Democrat.  There is a company that went around registering voters, but shredding the registration if you did not register Republican.

New Story

My bright-eyed angel

WooHoo!  Fluffy Mail!  All MINE!

Bouncing against the couch

Crawling up the back of the couch.  I could have gotten a picture of him standing on it, but I decided it was wiser to put down the camera.

Giggling at his Leappad (he just loves that thing!)

Now, for the Fluff Aficionados

 Two AIOs arrived from Full Moon Baby Gear a day or two ago.  I have been holding off putting them on him so I could get a good picture of him, but since the weather doesn’t look like it is going to be warm enough for him to be outside in a diaper only, I finally just decided to get some indoor shots.  I just couldn’t wait any longer.  hee hee  (My camera does not do as well on indoor shots)

I just LOVE these!  The interiors are soooo soft, the workMOMship is just impeccable, and the design is really good.  The main hemp soaker is a snap in (yeah…quicker drying AND doesn’t move around) and the other doubler (looks like hemp too) has microfleece so he doesn’t feel as wet and is long enough I can fold it over for more stratigic placement.  He is on the last set of snaps, although I could snap the next to last set if I would have wanted to.  He is around 40#  (our scale isn’t great…he will be 38 – 43, depending on how he steps on the scale) and it is an XL.  The legs are snug enough to hold anything in, but didn’t leave marks.  They also seem really absorbant and were fine with no leaking or wicking for 3 or 4 hours.  Mr. rip-the-diaper-off also kept trying to resnap it back on when I tried to change him because he wanted to keep wearing it.  So, it passed the test with the biggest critic.  lol.

Sky

Purple for my little Wildcat

Found this and was sort of surprised.

RECOGNIZING THOSE WHO SERVED

 This could be the last election where military service has any 

 political currency. But just for the record, it's worth noting who 

 really served among the heavyweights in each of the major political 

 parties. There are some surprises here.

Red type shows those who did not serve in the military.

Blue type shows those who did serve in the military

Democrats

• Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.

• David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.

• Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.

• Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan.1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.

• Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.

• Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-'47; Medal of Honor, WWII.

• John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V Purple Hearts.

• John Edwards: did not serve.

• Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.

• Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.

• Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-1953.

• Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.

• Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.

• Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII, receiving the Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
• Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and Soldier’s Medal.
• Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.

• Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.

• Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; BronzeStar with Combat V.

• Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.

• Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57

• Chuck Robb: Vietnam

• Howell Heflin: Silver Star

• George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.

• Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received a 311.

• Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.

• Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953

• John Glenn: Officer, USAF.  WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal  with 18 Clusters.
• Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul  Wallenberg.
• Wesley Clark: U.S. Army, 1966-2000, West Point,Vietnam, Purple Heart, Silver Star. Retired 4-star general.

• John Dingell: WWII vet

• John Conyers: Army 1950-57, Korea

Republicans

• Dennis Hastert: did not serve.

• Tom Delay: did not serve.

• House Whiip Roy Blunt: did not serve.

• Bill Frist: did not serve.

• Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.

• George Pataki: did not serve.

• Mitch McConnell: did not serve.

• Rick Santorum: did not serve.

• Trent Lott: did not serve.

• Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.

• John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.

• Jeb Bush: did not serve.

• Karl Rove: did not serve.

• Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism.

• Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.

• Vin Weber: did not serve.

• Richard Perle: did not serve.

• Douglas Feith: did not serve.

• Eliot Abrams: did not serve.

• Richard Shelby: did not serve.

• Jon Kyl: did not serve.

• Tim Hutchison: did not serve.

• Christopher Cox: did not serve. 

• Newt Gingrich: did not serve.

• Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as aviator and flight instructor.

• George W. Bush: six-year National Guard commitment (incomplete).

• Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role making movies.

• Gerald Ford: Navy, WWII

• Phil Gramm: did not serve.

• John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.

• Bob Dole: an honorable veteran. Two purple hearts.

• Chuck Hagel: two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star,Vietnam.

• Jeff Sessions: Army Reserves, 1973-1986

• J.C. Watts: did not serve. 

• Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.

• George H. W. Bush: Pilot in WWII. Shot down by the Japanese. 

• Tom Ridge: Bronze Star for Valor in Vietnam. 

• Antonin Scalia: did not serve 

• Clarence Thomas: did not serve

Pundits and Preachers

• Sean Hannity: did not serve.

• Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')

• Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.

• Michael Savage: did not serve. 

• George Will: did not serve. 

• Chris Matthews: did not serve.

• Paul Gigot: did not serve. 

• Bill Bennett: did not serve.

• Pat Buchanan: did not serve.

• Bill Kristol: did not serve.

• Kenneth Starr: did not serve.

• Michael Medved: did not serve.

It has been rainy for days now.  I want to be able to get some good photos of Zane and it is just gray and dull outside.  It is nice to finally feel a cool breeze though.  The only bad thing is that because we have been inside, Zane doesn’t have playground equipment to climb on so he is using Zach and me instead.  Zach is now laying down with a sore back and I just had to take some motrin because my neck has a major crick in it and I can feel it tightening up.  We are PATHETIC.  The trials of having your kids late I guess.

We are thinking about hopping in the car to go see the new Super Target that opened not far from here.  The only target store in this town (or at least this side of town, don’t know about the other side) is an ancient Target that hasn’t changed since I was in high school at least and next to the mall, a pretty good drive from here.  I have really missed the Super Target in Olathe and I hope this one is similar.  We don’t actually have money to buy anything, it will just be a tourist destination…again, just a very sad, sad life. lol. 

Hmm, it appears I was off the mark on the Dredd Scott comments.  It was evidently a more modern reference to abortion, as in “roe vs. wade is the Dredd Scott of our day”.  So, he was assuring his anti-choice consituatnts that he would appoint judges who don’t care about women’s rights.  That was bugging me.  I am glad some other wise mamas have let me in on the anti-choice speak so that I could understand the true meaning.

Bedtime last night was so cute.  Zane brought a pillow from his bed to the couch, laid down, couldn’t get comfortable so he got down and got another pillow, laid down and shuffled for a bit.  Then he grabbed a blanket…same thing…he kept going back until there were no pillows or blankets left anyplace in the house (that he could get to).  It was really sweet.  We let him try to get to sleep on his own for a bit, and then finally carried him back to the bedroom to go to bed.  It will be interesting to see what he does tonight.

Over at MDC there is a really interesting thread about Abortion, the bible, politics…   It is really thought provoking and amazingly civil considering the topic.

It seems like I have seen a lot of threads on various sites discussing Christianity and Politics.  I find it amazing the gulf between Christians, Christain Republicans can’t understand how Christians can vote Democrat and vise versa.  Well, actually, I think it is more common that Republicans can’t understand Democrats than the other way around.  The media definitely gives the conservatives a lot stronger of a voice, so almost everybody is exposed to the Republican beliefs.  Of course, that could be because I live in the Bible Belt. It might be different on the coasts. 

At any rate, if the main thing Christians want is to have a Christian president, we are in luck this election.  Both men are Christians in the most literal sense.  (beleive Jesus is the son of God and things along those lines)  Actually, I wonder if we have had a president that isn’t Christian…it would be interesting to see.

Week One Writing Assignments

Write five minutes on each of the following topics:

1. I remember…….

I remember harvest time as a kid.  Scrambling over the warm irrigation pipes to reach the mulberry trees and their sweet fruit.  Competing with the flies to get the berries.  The warm sweetness of a perfectly ripe berry.  The best ones were the ones that fell into your hand with the slightest tap of you fingers, but you had to be careful to catch them because they would fall so fast.  I remeber the excitement of the first rush of water through the pipes, listening for the skunks and mice scramble throught the pipe to avoid the water.  Dad waiting to put the end cap on so he wouldn’t trap any live animals.  I remember opening the cap thingies…you knocked them with the side of a shovel to wedge them open.  Some popped open easily, some you really had to whack!  It made such a unique hollow sound, something I haven’t really heard since.  The water from the pipes was so ice cold and tasted so good right out of the spigot on the main well.  Mom would often bring buckets out to bring the “good” water into the house.  That well went a lot deeper than the main house well and the water tasted a lot better.

I remember the auger set up to take grain from a large bucket on the ground, up through a giraffe looking auger, and into the bins.  The bins were really neat.  Empty, they had a huge echo, and we could play in the soybeans when it was shallow filled, but I don’t think we were allowed to be in there when it was filling.  They had a unique smell to them too…a bit sour

2. Home……..

Big white farmhouse situated between a scattering of trees on a wide open prairie.  The driveway is gravel, with a curve as you come closer to the actual farmstead.  Surrounded by the fields, the colors would change throughout the season.  I can remember spending hours standing on the balcony looking out on the fields of milo. pretending it was my audience and the balcony was my stage. 

There was always a dusty, fresh earth smell around the house…a combination of fresh turned earth, rain, and weeds. Inside there were lingering cooking smells…bacon, burgers, potatoes, cakes…the air filled with those comforting yummy aromas. 

Hanging on the back door was a set of jingle bells, a remnant of a long past Christmas.  Whenever somebody came through the door it made a familiar jangle that let you know somebody was entering.  It wouldn’t be home without those bells ringing as you pass the threshold.

3. The day my baby……

The day my baby came home I was so enamoured.  I just couldn’t beleive that I could spend the entire day staring at somebody.  I just was overcome with him and spent hours memorizing his face.  I can remember the warmth of him.  He seemed like one big lung because every breath made his whole body move.  There really is a particular feel to a newborn, the skin is like nothing else on earth.  so overwhelming you feel like you can’t breathe sometimes. I just kept repeating to myself over and over…I am actually a mommy…I am actually a mommy…it just felt so foreign and yet so right to finally have that title added to me.  I didn’t even really get up that first day except for trips to the bathroom.  I sat in that bumpy, ripped green recliner with the softest little person I had ever met.  The hospital had given me a gigantic cup with phrases all over it on “how to encourage your child” or some such, and it became the running joke, when I kept saying the same things over and over to instead tell him “atta boy” instead.

Write fifteen minutes on each of the following topics:

1. The first time…….

2. The kitchen table……

3. Two o’clock in the morning….

Bonus topic/ Do twenty minutes on Roadtrip…… or Newborn…….