Why McCain's My Man - Part 3

This is where it gets tricky. Economics. The time when everyone wants to believe that they are the poor of America so that they can get the hand-outs. I'll be honest that I can't look at the plans of both men and tell how the economy will fare under either of them, but when it comes to economics, I'm more concerned about human dignity than I am about money in my pocket.

"Sharing the Wealth" should be a choice - Funny how the party that claims to be all about freedom of choice is trying to force charity on me. Now, I'm the kind of person that is going to share my "wealth" anyway. There's no problem there. I have a friend on facebook that posted a rant about how appalled he is that conservatives don't want to help their fellow man. Huh? I want to help my fellow man. I'm compelled to through Christ. I just don't want an immoral government telling me (or anyone) where, when, and how I need to fulfill my moral obligation to care for others.

But when sharing the wealth is a choice, it still happens. Sure there are some people who would take their tax money and buy themselves another plasma TV. But there are others who would take that money and donate it to the local soup kitchen.

Men like McCain give 27% of their income to charity. O'bama gives 5.7%. Palin and Biden are both well below that at 2% and >.5% respectively. source

Hand-outs stifle human dignity - But honestly, we don't even make enough to get a tax increase. If anything, Billy and I can be rolling in the government handouts if Obama is elected. But I'm more concerned about how people feel about themselves and their efforts than getting a few extra thousand from the government a year. It's better for people to have a motivation to work hard and earn something for themselves than it is for them to wonder if they should do that overtime because it might thrust them into the next bracket, causing a loss of all their benefits. We ought to want people to be free to succeed by their own merit through hard work and dedication, not to be slaves to the government funding that they get.

More to come...

Why McCain's My Man - Part 2

This week, I'm briefly outlining the reasons that I'll be voting for McCain next Tuesday.

I've already written about the abortion issue.

Today, I'm writing about the war.

Someone who understands, first hand - As a career soldier, McCain is indescribably more qualified to be a commander in chief than Obama. Now, I know that Obama's camp paints him as a war hawk who will keep us in war just for the fun of it. But, c'mon. No one likes war. As Ben Franklin said, "There has never been a good war, and there has never been a bad peace." But we shouldn't assume that lack of war is the same as peace. After all, Franklin was strongly in favor of the war for independence.

As someone who was captured, tortured, and forever injured by war, McCain is not going to keep our forces in a situation simply because he wants to fight a war. He knows the dangers of being in battle, but he also understands when those sacrifices are worth it. He's going to push to stay and get the job done.

An experienced leader who raises morale - McCain has a positive attitude throughout discussions on the war. Don't we all know by now that positive feedback is so much more encouraging than negative motivation? When McCain says, "We are winning, and we can continue to win," our forces are that much more likely to keep working hard to secure peace and freedom in Iraq. Obama, on the other hand, makes statements that devastate the will of our forces fighting. He insists that we've already lost, despite the progress that continues to rise.

A believer in freedom for humans, not just Americans - Think of this: if we had someone like Saddam Hussien ruling in a section of America - say he took over Nevada - would you stand for it? No. You wouldn't. You would never think that mass killings and mass graves were an acceptable form of government. But somehow, many Americans believe it's just not our business to step in and stop that kind of brutality if it happens outside our borders. Really? Are we that calloused and that self-centered that we shouldn't help an oppressed people, simply because they are Americans? Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are inalienable rights for all mankind, last time I read our Declaration of Independence. McCain is willing to stand up for humans, not just Americans.

(By the way, while I'm talking about the war, let's remember that we didn't enter Iraq because of any connection to 9/11. We entered because of all the time they continued to ignore U.N. orders to open their borders to inspectors. A lot of this happened during Clinton's terms, but he was too busy getting satisfied in the Oval Office to do anything about it.)

Why McCain's My Man

I've not said too much about the political scene up till now, but with the election less than a week away, I thought I'd weigh in on some of the issues and explain why I'm voting for McCain. I think the best way is to post a reason a day so it doesn't become overwhelming.

The first reason, as anyone could guess, is the abortion issue.

• He categorizes abortion as a "human dignity and sanctity of life" issue. I like this because that's exactly what it is. It is not a woman's issue. It's not a choice issue. It's a life issue. Men like Obama don't want to take a stand on when life begins. He takes the cowards way out. McCain is firm that conception is the time for rights to begin.

• His respect for all human life (a.k.a. seeing all kids as a blessing) is evident in his own adoption experiences. With a passion for adoption, I believe that McCain is more likely to push for education and assistance for adoptions. We need more information out about how it works because too many women think that they could never see their child again. Unfortunately, some women feel like it is better to abort than to abandon. This idea needs to be debunked, and McCain is a man to do it.

Obama, on the other hand, has been heard calling a baby a "punishment." ("If my daughter made some bad choices, I would not want her to be punished with a baby," he said.) A baby is a consequence, certainly, but when we start to look at human life as a punishment, we are headed toward more abortion, not less.

• He would use legislation and relationships to help lower the rate of abortions. It's all hip and cool to say that we need to walk beside the women and girls and to take the abortion issue out of the legislation. This is completely and utterly retarded. Of course we need to walk beside the women. But that isn't the only way to fight the abortion epidemic.
  

First of all, if you've never been into a pro-life pregnancy center, then you may not know that pro-lifers are very caring people. When I was pregnant in college, the pregnancy center workers showered me with things for Eve. They taught me about her development. They showed me what my options were and talked through them with me. When I volunteered at a center, it was the same. I've never felt so much love and compassion for scared, pregnant women as I have inside the walls of a pro-life counseling facility.

Secondly, our laws can help regulate the abortions that do occur. In several states of our union, out-patient abortion facilities do not have to pass health standard regulation checks the way a normal doctor's office does. Legislation would help this. Also, a legislative act that can help eliminate abortions is the requirement to show an ultrasound to the pregnant woman before she aborts. An ultrasound is already taken to be sure the pregnancy is viable. All the nurse would have to do is turn the screen toward the woman. But Planned Parenthood, and other abortion agencies, has fought this type of regulation over and over. When a woman sees the fetus, she is less likely to have the abortion. Why, then, should we not legislate this kind of education?

We need legislation and relationship in order to stop abortions.

Meet O'wayne

A few months ago, I wrote about Brian Seay's rice and water initiative. His own family was taking a night a week to eat just rice and drink only water for dinner. They used this as a way to raise their children's awareness of other, poorer cultures. The money they saved was donated to Compassion International.

Being inspired by Seay's commitment, my own family began to eat just rice and water as well. (I do give Ashlyn some veggies also, as she's still under two.) An average dinner for us costs $5, and the rice meal costs a bit less than $1, so over the course of the month, we save around $16.

We began to give the money to St. Bosco's Children's Home in Mandeville Jamaica. (In the interest of keeping this post short, I'll write another time about why we chose to support this particular ministry) With the checks, we've sent our family photo and notes to our little boy. Yesterday, we received our first letter from him and a picture.

Let me introduce to you the newest member of our family:






O'wayne Atkinson


He is 12 years old and loves to play soccer. His favorite food is rice, peas, and chicken.

Review: Sunbeam Breadmachine

So.... I highly recommend NOT getting the Sunbeam Programmable Breadmaker, 5891, even if it does have a 4-star rating from Walmart.com.

This morning I woke up at 3:00 to a crash, and came into my kitchen to find that my bread machine had jiggled itself off my countertop and landed upside down on the floor.

So much for waking up to freshly baked bread as the manufacturer suggests. This one will definitely be going back to the store!

Homeschooling and Zoot Suits

So, here's just another reason I love homeschooling. This session we've been talking a bit about sound. Louds, softs. Soundwaves and pitch.

One of the books we read yesterday had a character talk about the highs and lows of music by singing....

Hi dee Hi dee Hi. Low dee Low dee Low.

So, what better continuation of education, but to play her Cab Calloway's classic song "Minnie the Moocher"? Kids in the public schools don't get this kind of culture!

Random Photo

My sister tagged me in this fun little post.

The rules:

Open up your "My Photos" folder.

Open up the 4th folder.

Open up the 4th picture.

Tell about it.


This is a pic of Eve playing out in the rain in Newburgh. Not sure what else to say about it.

Losing My Cool

Recently, our church had pictorial directory photos taken. We received our free 8x10 in the mail the other day, and I put it in a frame on the piano.

I looked at it a bit yesterday and a disturbing thought came to mind. We looked like your typical everyday, nice, normal family. And I realized... I'm not cool anymore.

Today, I got out the Boink t-shirt, fixed my hair, and put on some black eyeliner. I felt pretty darn good about myself after that.

Seriously, who says you can't be cool when you're getting old? I hope I'm still a cool punk rocker even when I'm 80.

Lucid Dreaming

I've been dragging lately. Just plain worn out from nothing much. It's pretty crappy.

One of the things that seems to contribute to this problem is my dreaming. For several weeks now, I've had the kind of dreams where I'm very well aware that I'm dreaming, and I'm just kinda following along knowing it's a story going on. On the one hand, it's great, cause if the dream takes a bad turn, I can change its course, but on the other hand, I'm not resting very well.

It reminds me of this athiest podcast that Billy and I listened to once. This girl was talking about how marvelous lucid dreaming was. Her logic went like this: I spend all this wasted time sleeping. I'm not doing anything, so I may as well lucid dream. What else am I going to do during that time?

Huh, lady... I don't know...

Sleep, maybe!

I would love to wake up in the morning and wonder what the heck just happened the last 8 hours. As it is, I've been going to bed around 9, waking up at 6, and feeling exhausted.

Lucid dreaming gets a big thumbs down from me.

You are Not Forgotten

A couple of years ago, I wrote about how God provided for us for Ashlyn's birth. I think it's incredibly important to take notice of how God fulfills his promise that He will give us what we need (Phil. 4:19).

Lately, God's been doing some great things in providing for us. With Billy's job change, we saw God work amazingly quick. With lightning speed, Billy had a new job, which he's been working for almost 2 weeks now. This came 3 weeks before the timeline that had been set out by the church, so the church is able to save those 3 weeks' of salary. We're excited to see the church's finances get a small boost here.

But God's done other things, too. He's provided for us outfit by outfit through some friends and we have all the girls' clothes for the winter. I think socks are the only thing we're still needing.

This last Sunday, a friend provided a feast for us after church.

Today, we got an anonymous card in the mail that made me want to cry. It had a Publix gift card in it. I'm not sure how much is on the card, but everything helps. So, here is yet another way God's providing.

So, let me just use this opportunity also to put a plug in for anonymous gifts in the mail. This is the 4th one I've gotten in my adult life. Twice I've gotten $100 bills in the mail with no signature. And twice, I've received anonymous grocery store cards. These have been some of the most meaningful letters I've ever received. Not only did they meet a present need, but they also show an amazing amount of humility of spirit.

I love that these people have been used by God to provide our needs, and they've asked for no glory of their own. But they don't want the thanks. They want the glory to go to God. Otherwise, they would have signed the card.

So, thanks be to God, the provider of all we need, according to His riches.

The Bailout

So, I'm pretty disappointed in this whole bailout thing. I'm sure you are, too.

My mom sent me a link to an article about this that I thought was really compelling. It's from the New York Times, and it was written in 1999.

The standards of mortgage qualification were lowered so more low-income and minority families could get home loans. This is wrong on so many levels, not the least of which is changing the rules because of someone's skin color.

What ever happened to wanting to be seen for the content of character?

If someone has bad credit, they have bad credit. Whether they're black, white, or poor.

This whole disaster could have been avoided if we'd just kept some high standards. Lowering standards in this situation only served to hurt the people they said they were trying to help.

And now, it looks like we'll all pay for it.

BTW, from what I can tell, the House still has to vote. An article I read from this morning said that more and more "converts" were coming out in favor of the new bill. Still, it's not too late to write to your representative encouraging a free market solution such as Dave Ramsey's Common Sense Fix. He has a link to the House's site where you can send a message to your rep.

My Little Composer

Here's Eve play on the piano in D minor. She wrote this song this morning... and kinda improv-ed in there, too.

So Long...

So, it's been forever, I guess, huh?

Man. Things have been, uh, I don't even know what they've been honestly. Busy, I guess, is a good place to start.

Overwhelming, maybe.

I'm up at 12:30am on Wednesday. Not so fun when I think about having to get up tomorrow to take care of kids ALL day. Billy has work from 8-5, and then he'll be at church for band practice from 6:30 till 10 or so. I'm thinking coffee will be my best friend tomorrow.

I hate that. I really don't want to be addicted to coffee. But, alas. It's too strong for me to resist!

Anyway... what have I been doing all this time? Man...

Billy's gotten a new job. You can read about that more on his blog. He's still the worship arts pastor at church, but he's taken another job to free up some money at the church to pay for some bills that have been building up.

Our small group is doing Dave Ramsey, and I'm the nerd of the family. If you listen to Ramsey, then you know that that means I'm the one who plays with the spreadsheets. That's been oodles of fun for me. ;) No really, it has. I worked on October's budget tonight. Billy and I already started it a while ago, but I went ahead and put it all in the computer while he sleeps away.

Let's see. Oh, yes. I had another article published. You can see that on page 8 of this online version. Mine is the one called, "Speaking Up." It's pretty decent, I think.

Well, I think I'm gonna try that whole sleeping thing again... just to see if I have any luck with it this time.

Review: Pledge Multi-Surface Cleaner

Recently, I was sent a free bottle of Pledge Multi-Surface Cleaner to use and talk about. I got this benefit from BzzAgent.com.

Pledge is a brand of duster that I use religiously. I have tried other brands that are cheaper... store brands, or other cheap knock-offs, but I always come back to Pledge. I think they have a good product and it's worth the dollar more that I pay for it every 6 months. So, I had high hopes for this new product.

The Set Up

Pledge Multi-Surface Spray Cleaner comes in a 16oz bottle for a retail price of $4.59. It can be used on wood, countertops (both kitchen and bath), glass, stainless steel, tile, electronics, and more. Pledge also has a handy wipe variation that comes in a 25-count package for the same price.

The Good

The spray has a beautiful scent. It's not an overpowering cleaning product kind of scent. It's not even an overpowering "trying to cover up cleaning product smell" kind of scent. It's a very mild, slightly fruity, somewhat tropical scent. I dug it.

It's an all-in-one spray (or wipe) that is a handy tool for quick clean-up. If you're having company over and want to wipe up the bathroom sink and dust the living room, you can do this fast with one bottle.

On a similar note, it would be good to use for teaching kids to clean. I like to get my 8-year-old to wipe down the bathroom once a week, in between my thorough cleanings. With this product, I can add in the mirror with little instruction. It won't last for the long-term, but it'll help get her used to more chores before I add in extra cleaners.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the strength of Pledge leaves much to be desired. It is definitely a weak cleaner, which means it isn't really a candidate for replacing any of the cleaners you're currently using.

In addition to the weakness, it also leaves streaks on glass. I have a glass tabletop, and I found that Pledge Spray won't work for me on cleaning that. It is advertised as "streak free," but I didn't find that to be the case. So, even though it's safe for electronics, I'm not likely to use it on the screens of my computer or TV.

Lastly, the cost is incredibly high. I can get a 28-oz bottle of Method All-Surface spray cleaner for only $4. Method is natural and full of ethics. I like that in a cleaner, and Pledge doesn't have that included in its price tag.

The Verdict

I'm not impressed. I'll use the bottle I have, cause hey! it's free. But after that, when I need more cleaner, I'll stick with my Method.

Have you tried Pledge Multi-Surface? What did you think?

Changing our Family Tree

We just got back from small group a few moments ago. Dinner is in the oven, and I have some spare minutes to jot some thoughts down while Billy and the girls play together.

Our church is feeling some tension recently from financial issues, some of which go back as far as 8 years ago. Others which are more recent. You can read more about the current situation on Billy's blog.

In the midst of all the discussion at the church that's been going on about these issues, Billy and I have decided that it's time to get serious about our own finances, too. If you've been reading long, you know that I do all sorts of stuff to save money. So, we haven't been bad stewards, exactly, but we have started to get convicted on the van loan that we have.

The Bible says, “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:7-8).

So, we talked to our small group about it (I love those people!), and today the whole group got together to start working the financial Baby Steps of Dave Ramsey. We shared stories of where we are and where we've been. Then, we watched a powerful video about stewardship and focusing our hearts to know that everything is God's, and we just manage a portion of it.

Next week, we'll start talking about his book Total Money Makeover. I can't wait to see what God does in our group over the next 10 weeks!

So Excited!

I picked up my Angel Food for this month, and I'm totally geeked.

They have a great menu for next month. The regular box is pretty, uh, regular. Normal stuff, although it seems like maybe they have more meat than this past month had.

But their specials this month are great. I'm particularly excited about the fresh fruit and veggies. They always have really good quality here. This month, I got a cabbage, and it was NOT your run-of-the-mill white head of chemicals. This was a nice farm-grown green leafy thing that I can't wait to use. I may break down and get some ground turkey from the store so that I can make stuffed cabbages. Mmmmmm. Or I may make cole slaw as that's a little more seasonal.

But next month also has a great special of 5 fully-cooked meals for 4 for only $20. In case you're slow on that math, that's only $4 a meal. That's 1 dollar per person. And it's zero effort. You just heat and serve. I'm looking forward to that. :)

Well, I got to get to decorating for Eve's party. But I had to share. If you haven't found an Angel Food location near you, be sure to check it out.

Busy Little Bee

Whew! It's 9:10 on Friday night, and this is about the only chance I've had to stop going for a while now. August has been a busy month for us here. I normally have a very laid back schedule... a lesurely breakfast, swimming in the pool, relaxing during the baby's naptime. Seriously, this stay-at-home mom stuff is awesome.

But this month... wow! I've had a few things keeping me insanely busy:

Eve's Birthday Party - Our little girl is turning 8. I can't believe it. Tomorrow, we're having a party for her. This is the first party she's had since she was 5, so I went all out. (Which is exactly the reason she hasn't had one since she was 5! Have I mentioned that I'm lazy?)

We're doing all Webkinz, all the time for the afternoon, so I have been designing games, drawing backgrounds and cutting out figures for said games, as well as baking a cake and decorating it all on my own.

This is kinda tradition for us. The only time Eve's had a store bought birthday cake was when she turned one. I actually made her one and decorated it with Barney, but I wasn't into animal products, so I left out the eggs and substituted apple sauce instead. That does not work. It was pretty gross. So, we went and got her another one from the store.

Visit from my MIL - On Sunday (which is Eve's actual birthday), my mother- in-law is coming. Preparing for her visit hasn't been that stressful. She's an awesome lady who thinks I'm the most organized person in the world. So, I really have to do little to impress her with my housekeeping skills.

But we did have to get some details squared away with where she'd stay, and this included putting a bed in Ashlyn's room for Eve to sleep on so Wilma can have Eve's room to herself. After the bed was in place, I went to work getting some odds and ends on the wall, including a cool piece of art that my friend Kristin made for Ashlyn's 1st Birthday.

School - AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! This year Billy and I decided to save some money by using the library as our curriculum. After all, the curriculum runs around $500-600, and that's some nice cash to pay down our van loan. Not to mention, I minored in history in college, taking several U.S. history classes, so how hard could it be to teach my 8 year old the basics?

OMGoodness! That was some stress and a half. In the end, it was just me trying to do too much to make the year amazing. Resources out there are endless and trying to process them all and pick the best was overwhelming me to say the least. But once I talked to my good friend Kara about it all, things have been cool. She directed me to a neat website that is kinda a 1-stop shop for free downloads and info.

I figured out a basic schedule, and things fell into place pretty nicely for the first 12-weeks of the year. I'll tackle the rest of the year over Christmas break.

Storytelling Problem

I love this quote from the book I'm currently reading - Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

"We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem.  We're a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really have an explanation for."

Perhaps the most ironic thing about this is that I think Gladwell himself does this quite expertly in his book The Tipping Point, which Billy recently read and discussed at length.  Oh, well.

Declutter Challenge Week 2

This post is part of the August Decluttering Challenge.

August 8 - Spent lots of time in Ashlyn's room decluttering.  Instead of spreading it out and doing just 1 item a day, I decluttered several things at once -

A lone shoe that I haven't found the match to in several months.

A Dots T-shirt that is too small to wear and too stained to give away.  It's now in the rag basket.

A bagful of clothes for Ashlyn to grow into now have a nice home on a closet shelf instead of on her bed.

Hung up her curtains.

Put her bumper pad back in her crib.  It had been sitting out a few weeks after being washed.

Hung up pictures, decluttering them from the closet storage.

August 12 - Put some phone numbers into Gmail contacts and threw away the papers they were written on.

August 13 - Decluttered my e-mail inbox.
 

Personal Policies

1. I always clean the kitchen and the bathroom first.

2. I like to save the dishes from dinner for the next morning.

3. Corn on tacos is tasty.

4. I use a blue pen as a book mark in most books. This really ruins the spine, but it makes note-writing in the margins much more convenient and blue shows up against the black print well.

5. I like to read more than one book at a time. This way, if I want to read, I have options of what book to read based on what I'm in the mood for.

6. I like slightly large coffee cups. This way I can have room for cream and sugar without sacrificing any room for caffeine.

7. Except that I really prefer skim milk and Stevia, instead of cream and sugar.

What are some things that make you you?

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