I just can’t get my mind off the Chik-fil-A ordeal and it seems things are getting even more out of hand. People protesting the president of the company, Dan Cathy’s catholic views, are staging a Kiss In on
August 3rd. Same sex couples are to fill Chik-fil-A restaurants and kiss. They are also being encouraged to take pictures and video tape the kisses and then to post them online for the world to see. Really? Seriously? This is way out of control and I feel degrading for the same sex community as well.

A few days ago I posted this on my facebook page.  Do you know how many “like’s” it got? Zero. Is that because people didn’t agree with it? Heck no! It’s because people are afraid to voice their opinions for fear of being singled out. I’m in the same boat too most of the time.

Sometimes people are even afraid to “like” my blog some days for fear
that others will see the “like” and then form an opinion about them. Some
people send me private messages or e-mails on the side and tell me how they really feel. And that’s okay with me because if we all had the same values, opinions and ideas then what a sad, boring world this would be. 
 
Standing up for Dan Cathy’s rights doesn’t mean you are against gay marriage. It simply means Mr. Cathy has a 1st amendment right to
speak and to state his beliefs. There are war protesters that stand near funeral homes and churches when our war veterans are having funerals or wakes and there are people that stand on the street and protest against abortion. A lot of people disagree with their beliefs but are their livelihoods being threatened by mayors and their private business being protested against? No. Because we live in the USA and they have the right to believe whatever they want.

 Should Dan Cathy have just kept his mouth shut about his beliefs?
It would have been a better business move but at the same time isn’t it like asking the gay community to keep their mouths shut about their beliefs? Are we saying the gay community can come out of the closet but people like Dan Cathy have to go in? 

Enough said. And by the way – I won’t be offended (ever) if you
don’t ‘like’ my blog. I understand completely. 
 
http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/23/group-plans-national-same-sex-kiss-day-at-chick-fil-a/

You Don’t Know Jack 

When we were on vacation my father and my sister were having a
conversation when my father brought up a person named Jack. In a cocky voice my sister said, “You don’t know Jack!” And my father argued that he did. He said he went to school with Jack and that he’s known Jack for a long time. My sister and I giggled as he ranted on and on about Jack. So apparently my father DOES know Jack but many people don’t if you know what I mean. In the next paragraph I will
talk about a group of people who also don’t know Jack. 

Ban Milk from Schools

Yep, you read that right. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is insisting the USDA stop serving
milk as a part of the National School Lunch Program.  They claim that the calcium content in milk isn’t helping children’s bones and that the fat content is too high. This boggles my mind. My kids get fat-free or
low-fat milk at school but what I don’t like is that they get the option of
choosing chocolate or white milk as they always choose chocolate which I don’t feel is as good for them. I do not let my kids drink chocolate milk at home. 
 
So if a child drinks fat-free milk then that eliminates the fat issue and any calcium has to be better than no calcium. But the PCRM seems to
think that if we get rid of milk in children’s diets that will leave room for
the kids to get more and better calcium from foods like tofu, beans, collard greens or kale. If you serve my kids any of those foods for lunch (even with sprinkles on top) I guarantee they won’t eat it so then they are getting NO calcium versus the calcium they are getting from milk. 
 
Why can’t we just leave well enough alone? It’s a parent’s responsibility to make sure their kids are eating a balanced diet and getting the proper amount of calcium, iron and vitamin D in their diets. At our house,
every week during the school year we study the school menu and the kids decide if they are taking hot lunch or cold lunch. The kids love some of the foods on the menu and hate others. I don’t go so far as to check the fat and vitamin content of what the school is serving each day as there are plenty of people getting paid big money to do that for us. 
 
If the USDA agrees to stop serving milk then what will the alternative be? What will happen to dairy farmers across the nation? And over time will they phase milk out completely? For crying out loud what will we dip or Oreo’s in or pour over our Lucky Charms? Have we been scammed by the “Milk Does a Body Good” campaign? Is having a milk-moustache now a bad thing? I never thought I would live to see the day when milk was considered unhealthy. 
 
http://www.pcrm.org/media/news/petition-usda-remove-milk-required-school-lunches

http://www.pcrm.org/media/blog/july2012/dairy-product-industry-stop-milking-school-lunch

Yesterday the kids had their yearly exams at the doctor’s office
in Dubuque. McKenzie went first and after her physical the doctor asked her some general safety questions: 
Doc: Do you look both ways before you cross the street? 
Mac: Yes
Doc: Do you wear a helmet when you ride your bike?
Mac: Yes
Doc: Do you wear a seatbelt? 
Mac: No
(There was a long uncomfortable pause while the doctor was shooting daggers at me with her eyes.)
Doc: And why don’t you wear a seatbelt? 
Mac: Because my bike doesn’t have one. 
 
I thought I would fall off my chair laughing, it was so funny! 
 
Mall Pretzels 
What gives the pretzel stand at the mall the right to charge such
exuberant prices? I ordered a large order of cinnamon pretzel bites and a large pop and it cost me over $15! The kids and I shared it but still that was little extreme for some dough and cream cheese dipping sauce. (But I must add that it was REALLY good.)

When I was a teen I remember going to the mall (on the bus) and
getting a giant pretzel dipped in my choice of sauce for around a buck. Hot Sam’s was the name of the joint and having your pretzel dipped in pizza sauce sprinkled with parmesan cheese was the bomb. Why is the cost of pretzels so high now?

I got lucky today though, we stopped at the bank and they were
having an ice-cream social for all members. So we had FREE ice cream sundaes for lunch. And it just so happened that my cousin’s daughter Megan was serving the ice cream so we got extra whipped cream on top. Yeah us! 
 
Stupid Song
My husband is learning a new song, one that I hate. He asked me
to find the CD for the song today and no store had it. Maybe that’s because it’s a stupid song? The band is called Old Crow Medicine Show and the song is called; Wagon Wheel. The chorus goes like this; 
 
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Now explain to me how you rock someone like a wagon wheel? I know
Bob Dylan wrote the song but was he drunk or something? What do people find appealing about this song? Because TJ plays and sings at public venues it’s important that he learns a mix of different songs and this song is LOVED by people around here so I understand why he is learning it. But still I don’t get it. I love a song with meaning and this song has none. So you can imagine what it’s like for me hearing it over and over as he practices it. I’m about ready to ‘rock his guitar like a wagon wheel’ and throw it out in the yard!
 
Happy Friday Y’all! 


 
 
 
 

Chik-fil-A
I find the recent news regarding Chik-fil-A disturbing. To catch
you up in case you are not familiar with what’s going on: the president of the company, Dan Cathy, basically stated that he does not support gay marriage. He claims they are a family owned business and they support family defined as stated in the bible. There are 1,608 restaurants in the chain and they are all closed on Sunday’s which is a day of rest for those practicing the Christian faith. The mayor in Boston sent a letter to Cathy and told him to cancel any plans he has to expand the chain in the city. 
 
This isn’t about gay marriage at all, what I find disheartening about this is that Dan Cathy is being singled out and bullied for expressing his
opinion. This is America, we should have the right to “think” or“say” whatever we want. Right, wrong or indifferent this guy has rights too. He doesn’t discriminate against gay people that come into the restaurants; he just stated his stance on the subject. The mayor is also a piece of work, shouldn’t he be supporting everyone? Why punish the man and the company for his beliefs?

You just can’t speak your mind anymore without fear of retaliation; keep your thoughts to yourself. If you oppose gay marriage too bad for you but if you support it then hey you must be someone special. It’s the
same with the gun debate, do guns kill people or do people kill people? Choose the wrong answer and you could be in big trouble. I think it sucks that our world has come to this.

If  people don’t want to eat at Chik-fil-A then they can make that choice. It should be about how good the chicken is, not about the beliefs of the company president. Why do we have to draw a line in the sand and practice grade school antics? Why can’t everyone just grow up and get along for crying out loud? 
 
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/boston-mayor-letter-chick-fil-menino-dan-cathy-201952237--finance.html

Hottest Day
Yesterday went down in the history books as being the hottest day
here in 24 years. I think we hit 104 degrees. And what was I doing on the
hottest day of the year? I was baking! Yep, it’s true, cupcakes and blueberry muffins now proudly sit on my kitchen counter. It’s never too hot to bake chocolate cupcakes. 

Over and out! 


 
 
 
 

Beetles
Japanese Beetles have completely decimated the strawberry plants
in my garden and they are now working on killing my beautiful flowers. Yesterday they were prevalent at the pool and Mac and I were frequently picking them out of each other’s hair. They were floating the pool water and would just fly and land on unsuspecting sunbathers. Small children could be seen running and screaming with the bugs stuck to their swim suits or on their skin. I don’t ever remember a year where they have been this bad. 
 
I read that buying a trap isn’t a good idea either as studies have proven that the bags attract the bugs, so many bugs in fact that the path
leading to the bag is often victim to damage that would not have occurred if a bag wasn’t in place. Some people say that soapy water helps. One web site says to go outside early in the morning when the bugs are still drowsy and to shake them off the plants. Drowsy bugs? Why not kill the bastards when they are sound asleep? If you have any special remedy for getting rid of these nasty creatures please let me know. I’m willing to try anything at this stage of the game. 
 
Stupid Commercial 
I’ve been seeing a new Price Line Negotiator commercial on TV and
I really don’t get it. It has the Long Island Medium, Theresa Caputo, in it. She channels the newly departed during the commercial, talks a lot of mumbo jumbo about Price Line and at the end claims the spirit is beside her. A man in the commercial says, “In the refrigerator?” I don’t get this – there is no refrigerator beside her. What in the hell does it mean?

 School Supplies
Yesterday we went to Wal-Mart and picked up school supplies.
Wide-lined notebooks, scissors, folders, #2 pencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils, erasers, glue, rulers, hand sanitizer wipers, disinfectant wipes, boxes of Kleenex, Dixie Cups and more. It was expensive and tedious trying to find everything on our two lists.  

The checkout clerk commented that she was happy that she didn’t
have to buy school supplies anymore. She said her 17 year old daughter had dropped out of school and was thinking about going and getting her GED. I think I’d rather pay for the supplies than have to deal with something like that. And if I did have to deal with something like that I certainly wouldn’t tell complete strangers about it. There’s nothing like a Wal-Mart checker to make you feel good about your life and your purchases. 
 


 

Olympics
Looks like Londoners already have their attitudes strapped on as
they get ready to host the Olympics. The above tote bag poking fun at us fat American’s is already being sold at http://maiden.bigcartel.com/. Maybe some tea and crumpets will do American’s some good while they are visiting, but come on London, you guys aren’t that far behind when it comes to the number of obese people you have. You just can’t take not being number one can you? Well for this year let it be known that at least we beat your ass in the eating competition. 
 
Dead Birds 
We have two big tinted windows in our living room and one in our
bathroom. During the day we can see out but no one can see in. The birds have a difficult time with this and are always flying into the windows. I even hung a small feeder with suction cups on one of the windows so the birds can see that there is something there but it doesn’t seem to help. 
 
Typically we will hear a large thud and then the kids will run to
the window to give me the status of the birds. “He’s still breathing Mommy” is a good sign; “he’s taking a nap” isn’t so good. Among the causalities this year we have seen: Robins, Doves, Crows and Sparrows. Dead birds are creepy and even though I never touch them with my hands I still wash them excessively when I’m done.

For those that die we have a sad procedure that we follow. I scoop the bird up with a stick and a butterfly net and we march to the backyard. On the other side of our privacy fence is a group of giant trees, the
perfect resting place for dead birds. 

As I fling the dead bird over the fence, McKenzie yells out, “Rest in
peace” and it’s all over. I’ve never looked on the other side of the fence to
see how big the pile is but I have bad dreams about large piles of dead birds spilling over the fence and into our yard. 
 
Fairy Garden
 I was asked to join the “board” for Riverside Gardens and I gracefully accepted. That means I will attend a meeting once per month where we
decide on fund raisers and what projects to work on. This has been the worst year ever for gardening with the drought, deer and weeds but I must say that mine isn’t looking too bad. I was also invited to attend an ice-cream social with some big shot international gardening club this Thursday night. What does one wear to a gardening club ice-cream social? It sounds pretty stuck up and prissy to me but I’ll go just for you. If nothing else it should be some good blog material.

Have a good day! 


 
 
 

The Carnies are up early today, tearing down and getting ready to
move the fair to the next destination. It was quite the week for our little town but I think we are ready to get back to the peace and quiet that our sleepy little town is known for. 

Toby Keith was beyond exceptional Saturday night. He is all about
 the military and they stood a huge group of new recruits on stage and swore them in before the concert started, it was very cool to see. The beer tent ran out of Red Solo Cups during the concert, rumor has it that they started with over 30,000. At $4.00 per beer that’s a lot of money. The bathroom lines were extremely long too which makes sense, what goes in must come out.

Prior to the concert we decorated our front porch with a Red Solo Cup Pyramid and I was wearing my Red Solo Cup shirt, RSC hat, RSC earrings and RSC bracelets. An incident occurred at our neighbor’s house and I was standing in the driveway when three police vehicles quickly pulled in. I was chatting with a neighbor with a beer in hand as were a few party guests when I realized that our house looked like a frat house. But oh well, Toby Keith doesn’t pay a visit to Monticello very often so I’m sure the police understood. 
 
Concert goers got a kick out of my RSC hat and decided to place their empty cups inside the cup on my head. By the end of the night I looked like a unicorn with dozens of empty cups on my head! I’m glad the fair only comes to town once per year as that’s about all I can handle. 
 
ATM 
I went to the ATM the other day to get some cash and when the
receipt popped out I got a big surprise as it stated there was $236,605 in my checking account. As I sat there studying it with a smile on my face the “true” receipt popped out of the machine bringing me quickly back to reality. Who keeps that much cash in their checking account? I decided it must have been Toby Keith. 

Moving On
With the fair behind us it’s now time for back to school clothes and supplies. Mac has been studying her Justice catalogs and has circled
everything she wants, which is nearly everything. From sparkly cowboy boots to shirts covered in sequence, I now have a fashion diva on my hands. We also have a birthday party to plan as William will turn 6 in August. And before we know it the kids will be starting school (24 days – but who’s counting!) and we will be wondering where the summer has gone.

But let’s not give up on summer yet. I know it’s hotter than hell outside and rain has been non-existent but let’s suck every last ounce we can out of July. That way in December when we are bitching about how cold it is we will be able to reflect on what a great time we had in July.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The above app is frightening but it makes sense. Check it out and
download, it’s free from the FBI. 

Nancy Grace – Not Relevant
Last night I caught a few minutes of the Nancy Grace show and walked away shaking my head. Nancy Grace is rude and obnoxious on a regular basis but last night she was just plain wrong. She was doing a story about the two girls, Lyric Cook-Morrissey (10) and Elizabeth Collin’s (8) that are missing from Evansdale Iowa. A CNN reporter was  broadcasting live from the lake where their belongings were found and said the parents of Lyric wanted him to state that they did have run in’s with the law in the past but that they were past that. Nancy scolded him for bringing it up and she said their past doesn’t matter. I beg to differ Ms. Grace. 
 
I learned more from one newspaper article than I have learned after watching days and days of television coverage. Did you know that Lyric
tried to run away several days before the disappearance? Yep, the article in the Des Moines Register states she packed her bags and was ready to leave. Did you know her mother spent over 4 years in prison and was just released from a half-way house in May – only two months ago? Did you know that Mom was busted  for cooking meth? Did you know that her sentence was reduced because she provided unspecified assistance to the government? That tells me she’s a nark. Wow, I can’t believe none of that is relevant to this case. Who took care of Lyric while mom was in federal prison and the half-way house? It couldn’t have
been dad because he was doing time for drugs too. He was also released in May. This is HUGE if you ask me. 

As sad as it sounds I was almost hoping their bodies would be found in the lake. It would be a much easier way to go then at the hands of some
sicko who could torture them for years to come. But this new information has made me think; is this pay-back to the parents for something they did? Did one of the parents do this? Lyric’s father claims he has already been accused of the abduction and that police claim they have evidence. 
 
And God bless the mayor of Evansdale who made the decision to
drain a huge lake to verify the girls are not in there. He said a 10% chance
that the girls could be in there was too much. I think any parent would want to be absolutely 100% certain. But not these parents, they are upset and claim the police are focusing too much on the lake and not enough on a possible abduction. It’s been a week now and I just hope they can bring the girls home and find some justice for Lyric and Elizabeth.  EVERYTHING should be relevant in this case.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120719/NEWS/307190046/1001/
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120719/NEWS/120719019/1001/


 
 
 

It’s Not FAIR
Yesterday I took the kids to the Great Jones County Fair. We live only two blocks from the festivities so the children have been excited about
going to the fair for weeks. The cost for me to enter was $10 and we bought ride bracelets at a cost of $15 per kid. The bracelets were good for five hours of unlimited rides. It was 99 degrees outside so there was no waiting in line; in fact, the kids were alone on some of the rides. 
 
Will was tall enough to go on some of the bigger rides this year
but he wasn’t impressed. When the kids got on the Tilt-A-Whirl the Carnie warned that I had just placed my children on the “biggest puke factory” at the fair. Thankfully no one got sick but Will was little green around the gills when he got off. 

We walked through one of the 4H buildings to look at the animals
and I almost wish we hadn’t. It was so sad seeing these poor creatures panting and trying to cool off. People were inserting frozen bottles of water into the cages to help cool them down. The weather wasn’t fit for man nor beast. 
  
The kids got to shake the hand of a little monkey named Leroy and
for $1 each they got a picture of him. (and no, it wasn’t autographed.) We saw elephants, kangaroo’s, wallaby’s and a man making a sandcastle sculpture. The food smelled wonderful; funnel cakes, corn dogs and cotton candy but it was just too hot to eat. I even passed up the deep fried candy bars! 
 
We drank lemonade which was amazing and water too but it didn’t
seem to help cool us off at all. There was no escape. We played some games; Mac won a stuffed puppy playing the balloon popping game and Will got a machine gun at the duck pond. It was then that Mac started feeling sick. She complained of a headache and stomach ache, some of the major signs of heat stroke. I knew I had to get her home so we only spent around an hour (and a lot of $) at the fair. 
 
After some time in the air conditioning, ice water and a nap she
was feeling better but was sad that she missed out on so much of the fair. “Can we go again Mom; it’s only supposed to be 97 degrees out tomorrow, that’s cooler isn’t it?” (Big sigh) 

Tonight a transition begins for our town. With Lynyrd Skynyrd and
Heart taking the stage tonight, Blake Shelton tomorrow night and Toby Keith on Saturday night, our quiet little town will no longer be quiet as we will tip back our Red Solo Cups and welcome thousands and thousands of people. 
 
Today the kids and I will watch the activity from afar as I skillfully water the lawn without anyone knowing. If I let the kids play in the
sprinkler it will appear that they are just having some summertime fun but actually the main objective will be the grass getting a drink. (I’m so bad!) 
 
Stay cool friends! 


 
 

Pet Smell’s
The other day we went to get our pets that were at a pet sitters
home in Dubuque. Traveling with 2 screaming cats and a restless dog is not fun especially when you have a 45 minute drive ahead of you. Our cat Maddie, drools excessively when she is stressed out and she was standing in a puddle in her carrier. A few miles from home a horrific scent made its way through the Tahoe. It was like breathing in toxic waste; it burned the eyes and throat. Our dog Charlie was blamed for this horrific event and the windows were immediately rolled down. After a few minutes the smell did not dissipate and I began to think, “Did the dog fart or did the cat shit?” words that no one should ever have to mutter. Turns out the cat shit! Yeah that was a lot of fun to clean up.
 
Laundry Surprises
I’ve been doing a lot of “vacation” laundry lately and yesterday
I found something that left me scratching my head. Rocks, toys and even food are commonly found in my son’s clothes and because we had been on vacation I figured I would have at least one unique find but this time I stumbled upon something I wasn’t expecting. Inside one of my son’s socks was a wad of synthetic Easter Grass. He claims he doesn’t know where it came from or how it got in his sock. So was this sock hiding somewhere since Easter or did he find the grass somewhere and if so where? All of that aside, why would he put it in his sock? I’ll never figure this kid out. 

Frozen Pizza
Yesterday in the car Mac and I were discussing different options
for supper and she mentioned frozen pizza. Will spoke up immediately from the back seat and said, “We could die if we eat that, Dad told me.” We love Tombstone Pizza’s and eat them all the time so once again his words puzzled me. I began asking questions and he began crying, “Mom, please don’t make us eat that.” Turns out he thought “frozen pizza” meant we were going to eat it in the frozen state and not cook it. “We cook frozen pizza Bud, we don’t eat it frozen.” “Then why do you say we are having frozen pizza for supper when it’s not frozen, why don’t you just say we are having pizza?” I guess he has a point. 

Have a wonderful day!