A Day in the Sun...

Okay folks, I know that the economy sucks, most of us are having financial hardships, tragedies, and other things happening in your life that makes you miserable. We all have this problem, but you know what? I'm not as miserable as most of you are even though I have the same problems (or worse). Why? I'm not depressed because I have a positive outlook on life.

Your attitude is what is going to make or break you in this world. I know you've heard the old adage "Money doesn't buy happiness" No, it doesn't. It does buy a lot of things that help you to relieve stress and have a good time, or even pay your bills, but it cannot buy happiness. So many people are equating their level of happiness to the amount of money they have. This is a huge mistake, people!

Think about the things that you love to do the most in this world. How much does it cost? Most-likely it is free or very low-cost. The people that you love the most, your spouse, your children, your grandchildren... do you NEED money to spend time with them? In case you were wondering, the answer is NO! You do not need money to spend time with your loved ones. Yes, it can be more fun to take them to a movie, or the amusement park, but there is a lot of fun to be had at your local park. Pack a lunch, grab a ball, or frisbee and take the spouse and kids to the park for the day.

Spending the day in the sun with the people you love will do more for your mood than you realize. The sun has healing properties. People who have been denied sunlight for too long can actually start having some serious mental illnesses.

Taking time to do things that are fun, but within your budget will do so much for your attitude. The more your attitude improves, the better life will become. You might even find that having a smile on your face every day will provide you with some unexpected rewards.

Stephen Hawking VS Aliens

As some of you may know already, Stephen Hawking's latest project includes a television series about nomadic aliens who may try to come to Earth and take over. The sad part about this is that this man is very intelligent and there are some major things that he just didn't consider.

Number 1: If there are alien life forms: There is a very great possibility that long distance space travel is just as hard for them as it is for us. Therefore, visits from any existing "aliens" is unlikely.

Number 2: Mr. Hawking talks about these aliens depleating the resources on their planet and then setting out to conquer other nearby planets to take their resources. - Here's what's wrong with this scenario... Remember point Number 1! Also, if the aliens had mastered the technology to travel great distances through space, they probably already have renewable energy sources, planetary peace, advanced medicine, ect. There is no need for them to come to Earth to take over.

Number 3: Mr. Hawking seems to imply that ANY contact with an alien species would be bad for human-kind because it would turn out "like it did for the Native Americans when Columbus discovered the New World" - Why is he assumming that the aliens are going to be bad? Why does he think that they would want our poisoned little planet? If they are technologically advanced enough to travel through space from their planet and find us, there is a high probability that they would be disgusted by the way we have treated our planet and leave. However, if they did take pity on us, I imagine they would share with us ways to correct the damage we have caused and teach us new ways to generate the energy that we need.

All this talk of aliens by a man that I USED to respect... boo to you Mr. Hawking!

Charity Begins at Home!

I am watching the the Miss America 2010 pageant. It was the usual bather until we got to Miss Louisiana's question... "The United States leads all other counties in sending aid to Haiti, what do you think about this considering we have so many problems at home?" She responded some major dribble, completely missing the point of the question.

Charity Begins at Home! This woman has apparently led such a priviledged life that she has no idea hwo many people right here in America are suffering, homeless, jobless, hungry and without health care!

Did you ever wonder why the instructions on the oxygen masks on airplanes tell you to put your own mask on before helping others with theirs? The reason for this is because if you are not strong, then you cannot be expected to gainfully assist others.

The same goes for sending charity to other countries. America needs to strengthen itself from within first! Our richest citizens are so worried about "appearing" to be caring individuals that they feel they need to make a big spectacular donation to another country. In reality, if they would make smaller donations of time and money to the people right here in America who need it, America as a whole would be stronger!

What's more, is some of the most generous people that I know are not rich at all. The most generous people are poor. They are enlightened to know that they do not NEED all of these material things that so many others waste their money on. Poor people know how to be grateful for what they have, and are willing to give anything they have that goes above and beyond their basic needs to others.

The mentality of America needs to change! Stop wasting your money on coffee at Starbucks, designer clothes, subscriptions to magazines that you only leaf through once and throw away. Instead, invest that wasted money into someone in your own community who needs it!

Don't know anyone? If you look hard enough, you can find someone. Go to your local homeless shelter, and sponsor someone. Take them under your wing, get them a place to live, a couple pairs of new clothes and help them find a job.

Do you know how hard it is to find a job when you don't have a home address, or clothes suitable for interview? Even fast food restaurants won't hire you if you come in for an interview in dirty, torn clothes!

If you help others in your own community, they in turn, will help others, and so on. It's the "Pay it forward concept." You help one person, that person helps another, that person helps another, and it grows and grows!

Take this opportunity to help someone in YOUR community who needs it. If you cannot afford to sponsor someone, then volunteer your time! Your time is very valuable to Food Panties, Animal Shelters, Homeless Shelters, Boys and Girls Clubs, schools and hospitals.

It doesn't take a rich person to make a difference, just a KIND person!

When Children use Violence against Parents

Over the past few years, we have heard about more and more cases of children acting out violently against their parents. Once of the most famous cases were the Menendez brothers. Erik and Lyle Menendez not only killed their parents, but did so in such a bloody violent way, that it seemed something right out of a horror movie. They are not the only ones. Most recently a 14 year old boy from Colorado - John Caudle killed his mother and step-father because he didn't want to do his household chores. It is reported that the boy had no remorse, and was actually very happy the day that he drove himself to school in his step-father's truck. The night before, when he killed them, he left them where they lay, played video games, and ate snacks.

What on earth could lead to more and more young people acting out so violently against their parents?

I believe it starts with discipline at an early age. A child needs to know their boundaries. The rules need to be set in stone, and the parents need to remain consistant with punishments. The punishment should fit the crime. So many parents are now afraid to spank their children for fear of retaliation from the government.

It is NOT against the law to spank your child! As long as it was done for the right reason, was not out of anger, and was appropriate, it is perfectly acceptable. Not only is it acceptable, it is really necessary on some occasions.

I'm a lover, not a fighter. I was beaten as a child and I know the difference between a beating and a spanking. As a rule, I think that a parent should try other things first before resorting to a spanking except in a few key situations.

If a child does something that is a danger to themselves or others (playing with a gun or a knife, taking drugs, ect.) then a spanking is in order right away. The child should be told why they are getting the spanking, get the spanking, and then have it explained again. This should then be quickly followed up with hugs and kisses to let them know that you gave them this tough form of discipline because you love them.

Every day when I go out in public, I can easily spot several children in the crowd treating their parents with disrespect. I know that when I was a child, if I said some of the things that I hear from these kids I would have gotten a mouth full of soap or worse. Children do not respect their parents these days, and it's the parent's fault!

Any parent who has a child that treats them with disrepect, makes demands, calls them names or cusses them out needs to take a step back and realize that the child only does it because the parent is ALLOWING them to get away with it.

I am making a plea to all of you parents out there. MAKE YOUR CHILDREN RESPECT YOU! If you don't, you might end up like the parents of John Caudle...dead!

My new experience in regards to death.

On July 22, 2009, my father died. He had been taking care of my step-mother who had just had a quadruple bypass surgery. I had spoken to him just the day before. He was chipper and sounding well. He told me that he was given his "honey do" list and was about to head home for the night.

The next day, after a rest, he was ready to go do his errands. No one knows exactly what happened, but when he failed to show at the hospital that evening, my brother went to look for him. He was found beside the car on the ground. He had vomited in a plastic bag.

I am told that the medical examiner thinks he had a heart-attack. Just to be sure there was nothing unexpected, they are running a toxicology report.

My family is poor. When I talked to my brother and step-mother about my father's arrangements, I was saddened. My parents were not insured. There will be no funeral, no service, no burial. They cannot even afford to have him cremated. In order to handle the cost of the cremation, my step-mother decided to donate my father's body to science. They will cremate him for free when they are done with him.

So this is how my father's story ends. No get togethers, no ceremony, no fanfare, just done.

Of course this makes you reflect on your own life. How will you leave your mark on the world? Will it be through good deeds? Evil doings? Will you be famous? Rich? What about kind, or decent? How will others remember you? Will they have good memories or bad ones?

I know that my mark on the world is not a big one, but I want it to be a good, well-placed mark. Kind of like Cindy Crawford's beauty mark. Anywhere else on her face, it would be considered a blemish. But right where it is, it is small and okay.

That's me. Some people don't like me, but none the less, I am small, well-placed, and often a topic of conversation.

How about you?

Quizno's Torpedos are Misrepresented!

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I decided to go out to eat at Quizno's. Our previous experiences with them were generally good. They generally had good food, though we felt they were just a tad over-priced compared to similar places to eat.
When we got there, I remembered the commercial that I saw for the new Torpedo sandwich. They advertise it as a foot-long sub for only $4.00. The pictures show a sub that takes up an entire hand.
The sub they made for me was approximately 1 1/2 inches wide by 12 inches long. The sandwich was so thin, they had problems fitting even a small amount of meat and cheese onto such a thin piece of bread.
The flavor of the sandwich was good, however, it was gone before I knew it. This is more of a snack than a meal. I felt it was extremely over-priced for the amount of food that I received.
I would have taken a picture of this sandwich to show you the difference between wha they show on the commercial and what you really get, but it was so skinny that my camera could not find enough sandwich to focus on!

Overall, I give the Quizno's Torpedo sandwich a D-

Super Bowl Blues...

So, I've never been a football fan. Never a sports fan of any sort, really. I was sitting there watching the championship game when the Cardinals won over the Eagles. It was so wonderful to see the joy in my husband's eyes as he realized that HIS team, the Cardinals, were going to the Super Bowl!

At that moment, I decided that I wanted to watch the Super Bowl with him and cheer on the Cardinals at his side. It was a very interesting game. At the beginning, I was scared. The Cardinals gave the ball to the Steelers right away from the coin flip. I couldn't fathom why they would do that. I let it go, granted, I'm not well versed in football. There must have been some strategy behind it. Maybe?

The Steelers score their first touchdown and my heart sinks. There were tons of flags called in this game on both sides. At first it was mostly because number 69 of the Cardinals kept holding people. I don't really understand why it's not okay to hold them, but apparently it's been a rule for a while. So, understandably, I started getting mad at number 69. He got 3 flags! I was like, "Dude! Come On!"

Finally, the Cardinals started pulling it together and were actually ahead for a while. We thought they might win. I think the Steelers were worried that they might win too because all of a sudden there was a lot of unsportsman like conduct going down on the part of the Steelers.

I tell you what, I don't see how anyone could want to support a team that starts acting so childish and violent just because they aren't in the lead. It was really sickening to me. It's a shame that there are a bunch of little kids out there that hold these players up on a pedestal and look to them on how they should behave. Now there are a bunch of kids thinking to themselves that it is okay to get mad and throw a fit when you're losing.

The Steelers have lost a potential fan. The Steelers may have won the Super Bowl, but they did NOT win my respect!

I will always cheer for a team that plays with integrity and respect. The Cardinals are a great team. They played hard, and even though they lost, they just got a brand new fan.

I look forward to next year and hope to see them go back to the Super Bowl.