Thanksgiving

Well it is midnight and everyone is tucked in and awaiting the big feast. Me, I am of course wondering what I ate that gave me heartburn! It is all of that taste testing to get it right, but I am ready.

This year seems to be a bit laid back. Most of my family is like that anyway which is why we don't have those anxiety ridden holidays like some. I don't really care if your late for dinner, we have a microwave. Dinner may run a little late, but hey there is plenty of snacks to cure your starvation. We just roll with the punches. The best part of Thanksgiving and the other holidays are the laughs you get to share and you know me I love a good laugh!

We were reminiscing and my sister had brought up the time her boyfriend came to our house the first time for Christmas. We had several appetizers and one of them was meatballs. It was like a scene from one of those date movies: He is in the middle of a conversation and feels somewhat put on the spot like his every move is being scrutinized and then the meatball falls off the plate onto the floor. Oh no! It travels what seems like a mile across the beige carpet leaving a trail of the brightest red sauce on the way. Who would think a meatball could travel that far from a slight tip of the plate. Shit this is not happening to me! The look on that poor guys face was precious!

We were discussing how things have changed over the years when it comes to holidays and families. More and more people are having to work the holidays which makes things a tad more hectic for them. This is why I think the world is spinning too fast. Do we really need McDonalds to be open for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Do we really need 98 percent of all retail stores open on these days. I am sure that these employees would love to have the day off to spend with their loved ones and celebrate. Come on let's get back to the basics and celebrate what you need to be thankful for- family, good health, and good friends. So to all of you bloggers out there Happy Thanksgiving!

to be continued......

I have started four different pages today. I just can't get my mind to concentrate on one particular event or topic. I need COKE!!!!!!!!! First I would like to thank Lori for listing me as one of her picks for the Marie Antoinette Award. I do read lots of blogs but don't always leave comments. There are many that are quite interesting to read and I will be listing just a small sample of interesting blogs to visit on my next entry.

This week has been hectic to say the least. Lisa is struggling to maintain her sanity and get through this years battle of bad health. I hope this is not a prelude to what is coming after 40. Having just gone through cervical spine surgery she has also been newly diagnosed as having diabetes type two. Well at least its a good thing that it is type two and not type one, however the hard part is that she is in between the stages of controlling it by medication or diet. The diet part is not so hard, but what most people do not know about diabetics is that their glucose levels can really fluctuate with stress and illness. Well last week she sustained a back injury at work and her glucose levels skyrocketed which meant a trip to the hospital, a few days stay, and new medication regiment. What a double whammy!

So on my trips back and forth to the hospital I pass the wanna be German Sheppard breeder kennel that I wrote about earlier. The owner has found it suitable now to at least put wooden pallets in the kennels for the dogs to lay on instead of just gravel. How nice! I have also discovered that I may get pictures without being noticed at a certain time of day. I feel really bad for these dogs and now have more time to spend on this project to get someone to notice the cruelty and inhumane living conditions.

We had snow yesterday and it was really frigid. The kids were outside today sled ridding and our dogs were loving it. It is just a reminder of Christmas right around the corner. I stopped at our local post office and it was late in the evening with only a handful of people left to service. A man in line asked a most unusual question that just seemed to captivate every ones attention. "Do you get letters that are addressed to Santa and if so what do you do with them?" You could have heard a pin drop, everyone wanted to know the answer to this question. Well here Santa letters are picked up by the local VFW and Lions Club and get answered via them. I thought that was the coolest thing to keep the spirit of Santa alive in all of those young minds. So a big hooray for those two organizations.

This week I am going to pick apart the health insurance companies. I quit smoking about 14 years ago. I used the cold turkey method. Of course you may have to attempt this several times, but never give up. I was a bitch for about two weeks, I ate more candy than willy wonka could make, I gained about 5 pounds, and I thought I had lockjaw from chewing so much gum. But I made it. Lisa still smokes and has thought about quitting several times. So she contacts her insurance company about their publicized smoking cessation program and takes a 10 minute survey via phone. Two weeks later her package comes in the mail. You have got to be kidding me! A big envelop stuffed with reading material, a rubber ball, and a magnet. Well the reading material is in the trash, the dogs have the ball, and the magnet is holding up our grocery list. So this is the program. I told her she should have sent it back and told them to stick it up their @#$!

The smoke and mirrors companies use to make themselves look worthy and competent is unbelievable. How much of our premiums are spent on this kind of stuff. It's a good thing Lisa doesn't take advantage of the invitro program. I get horrid thoughts of Rosemary's Baby running through my head.

Last I have two friends that are struggling with addiction in their families. This is a horrible plague for families in the United States. I have dealt with this up close and personal and it just destroys people. I had some work to do for a friend this week who was struggling with some medical issues of her own and I could tell something was really wrong. She was very hesitant but once comfortable spewed her overwhelming burden due to her 43 year old son being addicted to pain meds. and alcohol. I have known her for a long time and she has had a rough road to travel. Recently in the past year she lost her mother to cancer and her other son of 41 died of an overdose a month after her mom had passed. Now she is struggling to maintain her sanity and hold onto her last remaining close relative. She herself was a stay at home mom that drank very little and probably never even tried a joint. She never saw it coming and got blindsided by America's biggest affliction.

She is truly lost without a clue of what to do. She almost seems like she is afraid of her son but yet has a codependency of him. For all that think most drugs come on a street corner where your addict is born you could are so wrong. A whole new waive of addicts have been created in the 90's due to the over prescribing of opiates. To be continued.......

untitled

Why do we hide the reality of what is actually happening inside us and around us. I refer to it as the Painted Face Syndrome. No matter what happens, put the face on and act like it is all okay. Do people like to suffer inside? Is the fact of not having to be embarrassed so important? If you hide it will it just go away and no one will notice? Or is it the fact that no one will listen?

I am a dreamer, and a realist. I have courage and strength beyond the bounds to draw from but at times lack the direction in which to apply it. I possess the ability to be knocked down and get up, dust off, and move ahead. I feel comfortable in my own skin with the feeling to be satisfied with the choices I have made and not ashamed of but wiser from. The unfortunate thing about all of this is that I can't help someone else that really needs it.

To be able to give someone the confidence and power over their life would be a great gift. I think we need more motivational speakers in the world. We need to tear down the labels of thin, fat, ugly, wealthy, poor, and look at ourselves from the inside. Are you comfortable with who you are? There are ways to change, to feel whole again, and life to grasp!

The Obama's

Well I watched the interview on 60 minutes. Yes, the republican that I am watched with an open mind and was very much impressed and at ease with our new president elect and first lady. He did not falter, hesitate, or even have to think much before answering the onslaught of questions that were fired. I feel that we are in good hands and that the people have made a good choice to move us forward and out of this mess. I truly feel sorry for the man to have such a burden going into the presidency. I am also impressed with his wife Michele as the First Lady. She seems to have her own agenda, independence, and thoughts that she brings across in a positive and comfortable way in which you can identify with. I don't think that we have seen a first lady with such independent strength before. Most seemed to be what I consider as "arm trophies" to put it nicely. She will make a difference in her own way. I hope that the term treats them well and that they remain what appears to be truly connected with hope and dignity.

Faltering banks, automobile makers, mortgage crisis, the war, recession, ungodly deficit, and ragging unemployment. Now if that doesn't give them gray hair in one term then the man is ready to rule the planet. Good luck to the Obama's!

Case of the bubblies

Passed the house with the dog kennel yesterday and came up with a plan. My sister is coming up soon and her and I are going to park our vehicle and walk down close to the water where the kennel is to try to get the pictures. Once we have them then I am going to try some of every ones suggestions. I am definitely going to post on the web to get some response.

Yesterday was just a plain rainy and ugly day. So we passed some time away playing pool. It had been awhile since we played. Well one game turned into seventeen. We can become quite competitive sometimes.

I had been trying to get rid of a headache all day. I will admit that I am an addict! Yes I have an addiction and it is Coke. No not that the soda! I have been drinking coke since I can remember. I think I must have drank coke instead of milk as a baby.

Seriously I hate water and really don't drink much else but soda. After this past summer with all the problems I have been having with my stomach I have decided to try to follow the doctors orders and not drink carbonated beverages and definitely no coke. Damn ! I have had a headache that you wouldn't believe, laid down last night to get relief and woke up twelve hours later-good grief. I guess from caffeine withdrawal, but let me tell you after four days my stomach is already feeling 50% better. I can't decide what I miss most all the bubbles or the caffeine. So now it is onto punch, koolaid, iced tea, and yuck the dreaded water. I think I am a CO2 freak that just loves the fizzes. Prefer beer over wine but like champagne and Spumante. I have a serious case of the bubblies.

maggie and ten things most people don't know about me

"Wait don't change that channel animal planet is just starting"

"Where's the Popcorn"

Okay I yesterday I went out with a friend for shopping and lunch. We've been friends for a long time and a couple things came up that she said she never knew about me. Then I read Betty's page.

#1 When I was 21 I thought I wanted to be a police officer and went through the intial phase of application

#2 I hate to give speeches to large groups

#3 I get anxiety when I go to the dentist

#4 I was engaged to be married

#5 I know more than I project

#6 I was a carpenter for many years

#7 I have a worm phobia

#8 I have a sixth sense

#9 I am vain

#10 I have really small feet and it is hard to find shoes sometimes

How do you fix this?

For many months now I have passed a house that has several German Sheppard dogs that are in rough looking kennels. I always feel bad for the dogs but have not been able to determine how many they actually have. Then one day on the main road I saw a sign that said German Sheppard puppies $400.00 and I knew where they were coming from.

As I said before if you wait long enough you find things out from all the talk that circulates through the neighborhood. These people were breeding dogs.

Well this just ticks me off to no end due to the conditions these dogs are living. Yes they have food, yes they have shelter, but it is primitive. Good dogs don't come from wanna be breeders that know nothing of bloodlines, the proper testing or care of dogs. These people are just trying to make money off of these poor animals.

As I pass I try to check the conditions. The dogs are kept on very large stone. Can you imagine laying on that all day. Imagine laying on stone for months.

Finally I had enough and called the SPCA. They referred me to the planning and zoning department of the county first to see if they were licensed to run a kennel. Called planning and zoning they don't have those actual records I have to call the county treasures department. Called the treasurers department and yes they were licensed to run this kennel. They have seven full grown dogs that are licensed and planning and zoning approved this. They said to call back planning and zoning to complain which in turn they would call the SPCA. Planning and zoning said they only license the dogs that I would have to call the health department about the conditions. Hmmmmm! I am at the end of my patience here!

First I want to take pictures. How can county government approve such a primitive site to breed animals and license this. Myself and many others have adopted our dogs from the SPCA. Why are they there? Because of places like this!

Who wants to pay $400.00 for a dog that has never seen the inside of a house? That has not been socialized? That has not had the proper care?

I thought there were laws to protect animals. I thought the county and the SPCA would have some system set up that prevented breeding farms like this. They have 5 puppies that have not been sold and they look like they are about 6 months old. What will happen if they don't sell these puppies?

I am so angry with this situation. Poor breeding gives certain breeds a bad name. Poor breeding creates unwanted, unhealthy, dogs with poor dispositions. How do we end this?

I don't know where to start from here. I thought about taking pictures and sending them to our local government officials first, then the newspaper. How do you fix this?