In the hallowed halls of Washington.....

Now I do not usually get on a soap box here, but today is probably  going to be an exception.  As you all know, we have just come through another crisis.  Narrowly averted all of us old people being thrown out in the street because we did not get our social security checks.  Hey!  I am sorry I am such a burden to you idiots up there, but let me tell you how it works here at my house.

For many years both my late husband and myself punched a clock and collected a check with which we raised our children and sent them forth to do the same thing we did.  We knew how much money we had and we managed to keep a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs.  We had no deficit nor a debt ceiling we could move around.  We exhausted our borrowing power when we bought the house and the car and whatever else we needed.  But now that we are old and just want to kind of coast, we have a bunch of idiots in charge of the ship that are headed straight for the sand barge!  And to really add insult to injury , I am a supposed to be happy that they can now borrow more money.

I am sorry!  I had a step son once who came home all dejected from the bank where he had gone to borrow money for another car.  They turned him down because, while he had a stellar credit rating and unlimited borrowing power he had "no way to pay it back!"  And there in lies the key.  There is what our Congress is missing in the equation.  Sure we can borrow money, but how are we going to pay it back?  And when they start talking about a "super committee that can act alone" my heart leaps in my throat.  Congress already has more power than they should and now they want to appoint an elite group that even they can not control?  You see nothing wrong with this picture?

And now they are up there going around patting themselves on the back because they got together and passed a bill that they can borrow more money!  What am I missing here?  They are all proud because they are going to pass a bill that says they must have a balanced budget?  Where have I been? If my budget gets out of whack, I don't eat.  It is very simple.  But they want to throw my check out the window and let it bounce?  What about their checks?  What are we going to do with them?  Oh, reward them with a raise! 

You know I read about the survivalists that hole up in the mountains and do not even have to come to town to get bullets and I start eyeballing the Ford and wondering how quick I can get it to go up that hill!  I do it all like I am supposed to.   I read, I educate myself on the issues, I disregard party affiliation and vote my conscience.  I try to be honest and help the less fortunate.  I attend and support my church.  I listen and I talk.  And I live within my means.  Oh, there is one for the record books.  If I have it, I spend it.  If I run out, I find a way to earn more.  Or I simply do without!

Government!!  It is a bit early in the morning for me to start processing the drivel they want me to be fed.  So, here is the deal at my house and perhaps one or two of the government officials would like to come follow this old lady around.  First, I am going to fire up the lawn mower and mow my grass while it is cool.  That will save me paying someone else to do it. $20 back in my pocket.  Then I am going to list a bunch of stuff on ebay.  When it sells I will get a small percentage.  Sell $100 worth and after I pay my fees and such, there goes another $15 in my pocket.  Going to make some Gluten Free bread and brownies for a few friends who pay me to do that.  After I deduct the cost of my supplies, there goes another $15 into my pocket.  I will pull the weeds in the garden and toss them over the fence to my geese and save probably $2 on goose grain.  So today I will make $52 not by borrowing it, but by doing it myself.  Think the government could ever grasp this concept?  I start at 5 in the morning and quit at 9 at night.  That makes me a 16 hour day.  That figures to be $3.25 an hour.  Course I am free to come and go as I please and if it does not get done today, it will still be there tomorrow.   And the best part about earning money here at home?  I get to pay taxes on it!

Well, I must get my day started or I will not get my day done and I will be standing on the corner with my hand out.  I hope you all are as proud of that bunch we sent to Washington as I am.  ;)

Some old fahioned values, for a change!

  All this stuff with Sandra Bullock and Jesse James has got me to thinking!  Now, I have no desire whatsoever to watch movies, nor do I keep up on all the behind the scenes hoopla that goes on there.  I did rent "Precious" and I have been known to watch the Cheech and Chong movies, but as far as being an avid fan, I am far from that. If Entertainment Tonight did not preceed the Nightly News, I would be in a complete fog.
  That being said, I did see clips of Sandra winning her awards, and Jesse in the background. It was a fairy tale between the beauty and the bad boy.  Then came the scandal, and it seems that is how it always happens, huh, Tiger? Sandra has gone into hiding and do we wonder at that? Have you ever had anything like this happen in your life?  Not necessarily a husband or wife humiliating you on nationwide television, but some one lying to you and getting caught and exposed?  If not, could you imagine how that would rock your world?  How empty would you feel knowing that the person you share your life with, is sharing with someone else?
  I am a firm beleiver that "the chickens come home to roost," and "it all comes out in the wash".  I am far from perfect and I have done things in my life that I only pray never sees the light of day and hopefully they won't because I have mostly forgotten and anyone who knew is probably older than me and they don't remember either!  A lot can be said for old age and poor memories!
  But what I am wondering here is this; wouldn't it be nice if we could all get back to the good old days, where a hand shake sealed a deal and a man was only as good as his word?  How cool would that be if all our lives were an open book?  I am sure honesty could solve a lot of our social problems.
"Where you been, Johnny?" "Oh, out popping the guy walking through my turf."
"You are late dear, where have you been?" "In the motel with my lover."
"Where did you get that CD?" "Stole it at Walmart."
  Would honesty be the best policy or are we actually better off being kept in the dark about some of the things that affect us directly?  Maybe we are better off with just one big blow up and picking up the pieces and moving on.  Daughter Debbie always said:

"What doesn't kill you or make you bleed will make you strong!"

She also said:

"Setting in a pile of poop is a nice place to be until you start stirring it, then it gets nasty!"

The Lamb Funeral Home and Orson Wells!!

Now, you might wonder what those 2 have in common, but just bear with me. Back in Nickerson, Kansas where I grew up, there were few opportuities for employment. The main one  for me,was babysitting. Mr. and Mrs. Lamb owned the funeral home and had (I think) 6 kids. At the time I was probably 14 or so. I realize I could research and find the exact date, but will not do that and will rely on your memory.

The appointed night came and Mr. Lamb picked me up and took me to their dwelling place which just happened to be over the funeral home. There also just happened to be a body laying in state there. As a matter of course, he gave me a brief tour, which included showing me the casket room! Are you getting the picture yet? You will.

Before they left they turned on the television, which was the first one I had ever seen. The kiddies were soon settled in their wee little beds. They were all redheads and the youngest was about 6 months and the oldest probably 5. They were so cute!

Anyway, with the kiddies in bed, bedtime story read, I tidied the kitchen and set down on the couch to watch this television! Do you remember when the Orson Welles (I think) movie came out named War of the Worlds and caused a panic all over the United States for it's opening? The announcer came on and made the announcement that the world was ending and then the electricity went off! The phone rang and I picked it up to hear the man who was tending the body tell his wife that he would be right home since there was no electric here.

What kind of shape do you think I was in when I put down that phone? Here I was alone with 5 kids, no electric, a bunch of coffins in the next room, and a dead body down stairs!  I was pretty sure if the world was ending that I had a problem!!

I went in to set with the kids in their final hours, but they were sound asleep and had no idea what they were in for here! Need I paint the vivid picture of that night? The groveling and begging God to save me and such. I bet the lights were out for about 30 minutes, but that was the longest 30 minutes of my life. I have never been as happy to see anyone in my entire life as I was to see those people come home.

It is strange that something that was so traumatic on me as that night can now be something that is so funny today. I ran into the Lamb's in South Fork 20 or so years ago and we got quite the chuckle out of that night.
I guess the way to face your biggest fear is to remember that someday you will look back on this and laugh!

Have a good one!

Nickerson, Kansas Elementary School, 1945-1953

This may take more than one posting. I woke up this morning thinking about grade school. When I can not fall asleep at night, one of my favorite things is to remember the one mile walk to and from school. I picture the houses and try to remember the names of the people who lived in them. It usually works if I follow it with the Lord's Prayer.

What I woke up remembering this morning was the music room. At least what passed for the music room before they moved in a small school building and set it on the corner and that was the music room. This room was on the second story. Cultural Department.

The windows in the whole school were huge, very tall. Every window in the school was covered with heavy blackout curtains that were fastened to the sides. This was in case the Japanese were to fly over here and end up in the center of the United States in a town named Nickerson, Kansas, population 1,100, we could close them and no light would get out so they would not bomb that building. Homeland Security!

Once a month, we were all called to the central hallway, which doubled as a lunch room and given a glass of orange juice. There was a small room off the first grade classroom that doubled as a sick room. Health Department!

I think that was so we would not get Rickets, or something like that. Our meals were cooked in the kitchen by Mrs. Ritchie. Her husband was the Janitor. He committed suicide shortly after the 8th grade, or so we heard. Probably about the 4th grade one of the boys in our town was killed in the war and the whole school went to the train station to meet the coffin. All I remember is looking up his marker in the cemetary and it says "He sleeps in Iwo Jima."

Also in fourth grade, a classmate named Beth (You know who you are!) brought a popcorn ball to school and dropped it in the stool in the bathroom and blamed it on me! Said I grabbed it away and threw it in there! If I had touched it I would have eaten it! Mrs. Howe was very upset with me and wrote on my report card, "Louella teases the other kids on the playground." So much for the Justice Department!

Fifth grade I had a poem published in the Jack and Jill(?) magazine. Other highlights: Last day of school in 8th grade, the band played outside and a bird pooped on Gay Withrow's cap. Mother had cancer and the church ladies sewed all us kids clothes for school except Jake who only wore overalls anyway. Mother recuperated and lived to be 80 years old. Miss Barkis, the music teacher, married the principals son, David Houston. Miss Donnough, the first grade teacher, married someone. Mrs. Howe, the fourth grade teacher got a thorn in her intestine and nearly died.

Oh, for the days of trivial nonesense!! And to think I have remembered some of this stuff for 63 years!!!

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days!

Reading and writing and 'rithmetic,

taught to the tune of a hickory stick!

Button up your coat!

I heard some one say "Button up your coat!" That started me thinking about the way we talk and I realize a lot of it hearkens back to the olden times. Like "Button up your coat." If you think about it, that is the correct way to button because you can start at the bottom with the buttons matching and it will button straight. If you start at the top, you really can not see to match them and when you get to the bottom, sometimes one side hangs down below the other.

"Put that book down!" would seem to mean that it should go on the floor as that is the location of "down." We need to be more specific with the kiddies. "Place the book on the table." Now you may wonder, what got me off on this tangent. It was the trash.

I told Bret, "That trash needs to go out." Seems like a harmless statement on the surface, but I could see his wheels turn. So I amended the statement, "That trash needs to go out and you need to be the one to take it out (then I added) to the barrel that is located by the carport and you need to open the lid and place it inside and replace the lid then you need to walk away leaving it behind." I think he did it on his way to work.

He used to be so cute! What happened? Where did I go wrong? I never whacked him in the head I don't care what you think! The last I remember he was a tiny boy coming to the door with both his hands clutching something and saying "Let me in! I have too many hands!" Now he just gives the door a kick and comes on in. Well, at least he has learned to fend for himself!

Well, that is it for the day. Got to go do the Java Automatic Update so it will quit flashing at me. Enjoy your day, and think carefully about all you sentences. You could start a world war!!