WHY CHEAP GAS PRICES ARE A BAD THING

Why I am against cheap gas prices? Well, pretty much the same reason that I’m against getting drunk or drugged up just because you had a bad day. What does drinking and drugging have to do with lowering high gas prices? They both are quick fixes that put a temporary band aid on a problem that has long term, negative consequences.

What can we do about gas prices? Slow our energy consumption for one thing. History of gas prices notwithstanding, anytime an item is not being bought the price drops like a rock. Every time you get in your car and make a trip that's not necessary you have contributed to our problem.

When we have cheap gas prices nobody thinks twice about running to the store a couple of miles down the road two or three times a day to pick up a popsicle or lollipop. All the time you are taking advantage of those cheap gas prices, you are working to raise them in the future. The facts are that when the price of a tank of gas hits us pretty hard on the hip pocket we tend to be a little bit more organized and to think twice when we are at the store to remember to pick up extra supplies.

Face it people, we have gotten lazy and unorganized. Abundance of resources, food and inexpensive fuel has not been a good thing for this country. We have become fat, lazy and very overindulgent. Rather than making the most out of what we have, being thankful and reinvesting our resources we have rocked back and said screw it. The live for today (or the minute) attitude is waving like a bright red flag in our faces with the overload in credit card debt, lines of credit and the purchases of houses that consumers can’t afford.

I know that if my fellow inhabitants of planet Earth haven't gotten it from the jillions of news programs shattering it in their faces they probably are not going to get it from this little piddly blog entry, but I’m going to say it anyway; we are running out of time. Even if we have another hundred years of coal, oil or whatever will burn there are consequences with the environment that should not be ignored.

So what if politicians stand up and declare that the federal tax on gas could be done away with which would result in cheap gas prices once again, is that a good thing? Wouldn’t it be better for us to wean ourselves off oil together rather than to find ways to make it cheaper so we can continue to be wasteful and blissfully stick our heads into the sands even deeper?

I heard one eco-minded person making a speech about going green and he made the statement that Mother Earth can’t survive if we continue to increase the poison we pump out. People, Mother Earth will survive....but guess who might not make it? The planet may react slowly to our toxic contributions, but human beings are pretty quick on the uptake. It doesn't take long for humans to sicken and die with bad air and water.

I don’t want a depression or even an economic slowdown to hit this country or any other, but quick fixes are not what we need. Promises from politicians that propose to slap a band aid on the problem with no long term plan should be seen for what they are: popular statements so that the sheep will see that they are elected to public office. Cheap gas prices are no reason to get excited and think that that’s all it takes for happy days to be here again.

NOT SO FUNNY AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS

I have to confess that I have laughed out loud at some of the amateur home videos that I’ve seen on America’s Funniest Home Videos and other shows with similar content. I didn’t bother to watch any of the Jackass stuff (no matter how hot Johnny Knoxville would be if he wasn’t involved in that crap) because watching people do stupid stuff that could cause extreme bodily harm isn’t my idea of entertainment.

I’m ashamed to say that I gave America’s Funniest Home Videos a free pass because the personal home videos often were of children in a family environment rather than a bunch of ragtag misfits. To put it bluntly the reality show is not my taste, but I really didn’t see harm in watching it, but I have changed my mind.

This show is one of my sister’s family’s favorite shows. The day that it comes on tv is a special day at her house and meals and activities are scheduled around its air time. When I was at her house the other day and it was on, I had to look away from the television screen because it seemed to me that in the making of the video, somebody may have gotten pretty banged up and yet her kids still thought it was hilariously funny.

There were kids getting splashed with water and the occasional face getting smashed with a cupcake; harmless stuff for the most part. But there were some segments where people may have been really injured. Still, I was not ready to put the program on my “banned viewing list” where it is today. The reason the showed has been banned from house is my personal observation of what it teaches children.


My sister and I took our families to the mall for lunch. We were walking across the parking lot towards the entrance and I saw an elderly lady in front of us stumble on one of those concrete barriers that are about four or five inches tall that are located in the front of each parking space. The lady clearly didn’t look down and she tripped on the thing. It’s a miracle that she didn’t fall flat and hurt herself. After a struggle for balance and grabbing a nearby car for support she managed to catch herself and prevent a nasty fall.

I was frozen in mid-step holding my breath knowing that I couldn’t reach her in time to do any real good. Plus, I had one baby on my hip and another by the hand which would have kept me from helping much even if I could have gotten to her. When I saw that she was Ok and I was in the process of releasing a sigh of relief I realized that my nieces and nephews were rolling in laughter.

I turned and looked at them to chastise them and even then; they had no clue that it wasn’t right to laugh at another’s misfortune. My sister was mortified at her children’s behavior. The thought struck me; how can she tell them that that’s the way to act if she’s watching the same thing with them on television and laughing her butt off right beside them?

So, call me a fuddy duddy or dull but no more amateur home video reality shows at my house.

HIV POSITIVE BABIES

I have never heard of pre-chewing food for babies. Why on earth would a person do that? Number one, I discourage all my children not to drink or eat after each other. I don't kid myself into thinking that this practice will stop them from infecting each other with every virus that makes its way through the preschool or Sunday school, but I don't want them to develop the habit of sharing food or drink with casual acquaintances. The MRSA thing in my house has made me pretty cautious.

What parent would want to unnecessarily exposed their child to a cold virus or a case of stomach flu much less an HIV positive parent exposing their child to the AIDS virus!

The reason for this rant is that I read an article that states that pre-chewed food has been found to transmit HIV to babies. I'm glad that they found this out, but my question would be what kind of dumb ass would take the chance of spitting possibly virally active saliva into an uninfected person's food? Ok, in third world countries where there might be limited access to blenders and commercially prepared baby foods there might be a need for a parent to grind up whatever was on the menu to make the food soft enough for a baby to eat. However, there were cases where they seem to be pretty darn certain that pre-chewing of food was what gave some babies HIV in Memphis and Miami.

I've never been to either town, but I would hazard to guess that there's no shortage of baby food in jars or blenders in either location. How senseless!

LEAD TEST KIT! TEST YOUR BABY'S SIPPY CUPS, BOTTLES AND ELIMINATE DANGEROUS TOYS

I've said for awhile that I'm afraid to bring anything into our house without testing it for chemicals and lead. With all the stuff that we know that has been overlooked for years, wouldn't we be stupid not to feel the need for testing our babies stuff?

We can't wait for the powers that be to tell us what we already know, my friends. We have to make informed decisions on our own and not expect the government or any agency with a neck deep stack of papers on their desk to get around to telling us that BPA was bad, but......there's more where that came from.

With the lead paint in toys that was found a month or so ago, I'm sure the noose is tightening on imported baby products and toys but just in case there are some loose cannons still on the shelves, here's a link to a free test.

I have heard rumors that some of these so called FREE chemical, radon and lead test kit for toys were indeed offered at no cost to the consumer, but then when you wanted to actually mail the stuff in for results they want to pop you with a twenty dollar charge. So, for the record I have not tried this lead paint test kit out to see if it's the same.

If any of my readers use the test link and find out that there's a hidden charge, will you please let us know?

IF THE BPA SIPPY CUP DOESN'T GET THEM, MIGHT PETROCHEMICALS DO THE TRICK?

Any mommy worth her eco-friendly salt is well aware of all the hubbub surrounding BPA and how it might be sneaking its way into her baby. To think that we've been pumping breast milk like Elsie the Cow on crack so that baby will have all the best start in life only to put it in containers that may be making it, shall we say, less desirable health wise.

The answer seems to get back to basics; glass and stainless steel are the top choices. A couple of companies are going to rack up big bucks off this scare. One of which is the Born Free company which is reported to be back ordered on its chemical free, safe baby products. I say they deserve every darn dime because they were doing it right ahead of time. Nobody had to draw a line and pull the plug on them to get them to step up to the plate and make the best sippy cups that they could with the knowledge that they had. But, moving on.....

Like all this isn't enough to make you feel guilty for life, to think you were the one loving that Sponge Bob Square Pants bright yellow baby bottle and all...enter in the complaint that alleges that there are supplements that have been added to some baby formulas that are made with some kind of petrochemical that causes babies to vomit and have diarrhea.

It seems the supplements start out naturally enough. It's hard to get more natural than algae and soil fungus, right? Then, hexane enters into the extraction process and hexane is alleged to UN-natural. To put it in scientific terms, hexane is a neurotoxic petrochemical solvent and no, I'm not a scientist and don't claim to have a degree in science. However, there were about 100 cases documented where infants on formulas containing these supplements had the aforementioned symptoms (and I'm not a lawyer either in case you were impressed with the legal sounding jargon) but these babies anecdotally improved when their formulas were changed to supplement-free formula. Darling, do you have to be a science major to figure that one out?

ARE CANADIAN OIL SANDS THE ANSWER?

There’s lots of talk on the financial channels this morning regarding all of the untapped possibilities that we can explore to supply our country’s need for oil in the coming years. Canadian oil sands have been getting a lot of coverage because they say there is more oil in that sand in Canada than there is in all of Saudi Arabia. It’s an expensive process to extract the oil from the sand. It has to be heated to separate the two and that eats up the profit per barrel. I believe I heard mention of a price of $30 per barrel. In these days of $100 plus prices for a barrel of the black gold 30 bucks seems like a piddling amount doesn’t? Therefore, we can probably look for daily oil production in Canada to start kicking butt if it hasn’t already.

In addition to the possibilities for Canadian oil sands, they mentioned something called oil shale. They reported that our own state of Colorado is loaded with this wonderful stuff. While I was listening to the repartee, my thoughts were drifting along the lines of , “Wow, shale oil mining might be really good to hold us short term and keep all that money from floating out of the country for the few years (a decade at most) that it will take to get solar and wind power developed. Then all of a sudden somebody throws out the date of 2035. Twenty freaking thirty five? If I’m not mistaken that’s how long they said it would take to start to take advantage of the glorious oil shale in Colorado.

My thoughts are that if we are still relying on fossil fuels for the next two decades, we are going to be in such deep environmental poop by that time that oil is going to be the least of our concerns. Why is everybody acting like Canadian oil sands or Colorado oil shale is the answer to our problems? They might put a bandage on energy problems, but if we don’t get a handle on what we are doing to the environment the increase in natural disasters is going to negate the benefits from what we are being told.

What say the rest of you; are we still going to be an oil sucking, global warming society in two decades or will we be well on our way towards correcting the wrongs that we have done to earth? Should I start telling my kids that they should prepare for careers in selling ocean front real estate in Tennessee? Perhaps we will be teaching the children in school about the "Lost Civilization of New Orleans" as well as the "Lost City of Atlantis"?

NATURAL CLEANERS - FINALLY HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS WITHOUT FUMES

Somebody finally is getting wise and tapping into the market of people who want clean homes but like the idea of breathing in toxic fumes or absorbing them through their socks. The people at Clorox have decided to offer a more green, eco-friendly option. You can even pick the stuff up on your weekly (or daily if you are like me) trip to Walmart.


Their new product, Green Works is said to be environmentally friendly, natural and biodegradable. Darn it, somebody out there may just be listening! Now, if it just works. I began long ago trying my best to ditch as many chemicals in my daily life as I possibly could. Cancer rates in one branch of my family has been sky high for generations. So high that eco-friendly cleaners are great, but non-carcinogenic is rated even higher.


I know that there are worlds of sites with recipes for making your own cleaning powders and solutions at home, but most of the stuff just didn’t work worth a darn! If you scrub long enough and hard enough plain, clear water will work eventually. I want something natural that will cut grease, girlfriend! One natural thing that DOES WORK better than it’s chemical laden counterparts is vinegar. That stuff cleans a floor really well.


I’m sure that there are other non-cancer causing agents and concoctions that will clean a kitchen and bathroom but I don’t know what they might be. What green cleaning solutions have you found that actually work? Please send them in, my house is in dire need of cleaning, but fume free! ;-)

PARENTING and DISCIPLINE MAKE THE FREE STUFF SEEM WONDERFUL FOR KIDS

The world is a wonderful place for my girls right now! Cass loves riding her little car in the carport and big sister is trying out her big girl bicycle with training wheels. Lately we have had days warm enough to take the whole crew walking down the dirt road near our temporary home. We went to the park at the lake that is a few miles away from where we live. The wind was wickedly blowing everybody’s hair and we’ve decided that we hate the wind even in warm temps.
The oldest said awhile back that she really didn’t like winter because of all the cold air, the rest of it was really ok. How profound a statement coming from such a small girl.

She is really amazing to me right now, every ride to the library or to the store brings on conversations reagarding things she sees on the way. And I honestly believe that she would pack the library in the car and bring the whole children’s section of storybooks home with us.

Looking back, I can pat myself on the back for disciplining myself to always look I was excited myself when I made the announcement that it was time to head to the library. I also took the time to build friendships with the librarians so they would remember my children’s names which makes them feel SO special. The reward to this method of parenting is that a trip to the local library is almost equal to a trip to Santa’s workshop at my house. What wonderful days when the good times are free but they don’t come with no effort. Mommy had to lay the groundwork and schedule the trips for optimal post-nap or early morning time frames when babies are more prone to smile and charm people they meet.
A small price to pay to see even the little one show such excitement over the prospect of FREE books.

CELEBRITIES THAT WANT TO SAVE THE PLANET

I'm all for saving the planet, ok? It's a responsible thing to do as well as a worthy cause. My family lives here and if I've learned one lesson in my life it's that you don't go around spreading shit where you live to put it crudely. I do my dead level best to pass the message along to my kids in a more child friendly manner, of course.

My pet peeve that I'd like to share today is regarding celebrities that are constantly in my face shouting ways that we can save the planet. Getting the message out to the general population about the melting of the ice caps and the fact that mother earth is groaning in pain from hot flashes that we have caused should be a priority and if it takes a pretty, sexy movie star demanding face time on television to get the job done, I'm on board.

My beef is that the celebs need to put the practices that they are promoting to the viewing audience to work. For starters, they can stow the spaghetti straps and halter tops that they wear in the dead of winter. Do they think we are so stupid that we don't know that we can't be comfortable with the thermostat set on 65 degrees while lounging about in next to nothing? Movie stars on a set with blazing hot lighting might be toasty warm and more comfy half naked, but would it kill them to send the message that it helps save energy if you turn down the heat and put on a sweater? Jimmy Carter figured it out years ago! Why are modern day celebrities so slow on the uptake?

Another thing is the mansions they live in. How green are they? Even Al Gore has taken a massive amount of personalized "global warming" over the huge mansion he and Tipper bought. They are reported to have installed solar panels and taken steps to make the house more energy efficient, but I suspect it's still sucking its fair share of utilities from the grid and making a contribution to global warming. Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for Al and Tipper and believe wholeheartedly that if he had shown a fraction of the sense of humor that we have seen recently that he would most likely be in his second term as president of this wonderful country, but I have to admit that the big house bugged me a little.

Am I the only one who notices that politicians and celebrities don't always practice what they preach?

FIRST VEGAN - NOW HOW ABOUT GOING FREEGAN?

I posted a while back about how peeved I was that a whopping big ass floor fan that we had only used a season or so bit the dust, while my mom's fan from years back worked like a top. Well, I figured that pitiful piece of equipment that was made so cheap as to be laughable filled up our garbage dump unnecessarily.

I am not religious about being Vegan, but I try. Begin FREEGAN is something that I feel I could really be passionate about. The less crap we consume, the less fuel that gets burned to make the crap, right? But, some things like fans are necessary. Baby heat rash on a hundred degree day (especially when one of them has MRSA) does not make for happy faces if you know what I mean.

Isn't it just as important to make quality items rather than throw away plastic? Does it do any good for people to jump on board the Freegan band wagon if our necessities are of such poor quality that we have to throw them away at three times the rate that our parents or grandparents did?

NANNY CAMS are NOT LIFE SAVERS! WAKE UP!

The talk at the moms coffee group this morning was a show that some of the ladies had seen about nanny cams. Nanny cams are not your typical digital wireless video baby monitors or audio baby monitors that may have been broadcasting your next door neighbor's personal conversations into your home via your cordless phone.

These hidden cameras are spy ware, equipment for moms and dads who leave baby at home with nannies that they apparently don't trust. Why else would these people be spying on the hired help? My thoughts are that these parents are leaving their tiny babies with people they barely know and to make themselves feel better about it, they go out and buy electronics so they can spy on them and have them arrested if need be AFTER the evening is over.

I've seen the shows on television where baby monitors or the stuffed animal with camera lenses for eyeballs picked up appalling film footage of the babysitter beating the tar out of newborns and toddlers that couldn't defend themselves, but what good is it to catch them after baby's brain is damaged from shaken baby syndrome?

I don't believe that the most high tech spy equipment could ever take the place of parenting. There is no event, evening out or party that would make me leave my children with a person that I felt the slightest need to spy on. The sitters that I use probably need me to nanny cam the kids for possible babysitter abuse rather than the other way around! I wonder if it ever strikes some parents that they may need to stay their butts at home rather than entrust people who might abuse their babies with their care?

I'm not slamming all sitters or nannies by any means as the case of poor Lattie McGee proves that some parents should be watched and not just babysitters. God knows that there is no punishment strong enough for those people on this earth for what they did to that child. May that poor baby find peace in God's arms.

I just want to bring to mommy's and daddy's attention that a hidden camera is not going to protect their child if an unscrupulous person is left in charge. If you have doubts, don't leave the house!

IS WATER THE NEW OIL?

In our household, we've been doing our best to follow the "If it's yellow let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down" practice. The results are dubious but I've managed to save a gallon or two from the sewage lagoon.

Yesterday I read that Georgia who is suffering from extreme drought is believed to have invaded their neighbor, Tennessee's, water supply. This is pretty scary. In any number of old western movies entire communities were wiped out by cattlemen who strong armed the local water supply.

I decided to search a little further on the subject to see if Georgia is the only person/state/entity that's been accused of poaching water. The entire south is suffering from water shortages so is there any more moisture being taken from aquifers without proper authorization? Lo and behold people, what do I find but an article saying that Mississippi had alleged that Tennesse had been tapping into their water resources!

This is big stuff people. Am I the only one that sees water becoming the new oil? We have alternative fuel possibilities, but we can't survive without water.

More Antibiotics and I'm Scared

We just finished a round of antibiotics and lo and behold a fever of 103 last night. This time that lovely pediatrician of mine is saying it has to be a sinus infection because her ears look fine and her chest sounds good.

Am I wrong to worry that this little lady is going to run out of effective antibiotics before she's in preschool? The MRSA thing literally keeps me awake at night worrying. We get her the flu shot because the doctor says that with her history and her asthma that it could be very dangerous for her not to get it in spite of my worry about vaccine safety and autism. Then I see in the newspaper that the darn flu shot didn't exactly hit the lottery on the number of strains that it's effective in fighting.

It's to the point that I'm obsessing and developing a raging case of insomnia. I think I may consult a counselor to help me through this so that I can get a handle on my fears. I'm no sissy and have had hardships in my life, but this is just about to beat me down into a state that's having an adverse effect on our family life. I know that my fears are real as the ped has pretty much laid it all out for me. It's my lack of ability to cope that I'm beginning to worry about. A good night's sleep would do wonders, but with my mind whirling in circles....what if, what if, what if ...... I don't really see that happening tonight, but I will pray hard that it does. If you have a empty slot in your prayer list send some thoughts my way because it's been a bad day, friend.

SCARED OF ANTIBIOTICS - DEALING WITH MY FEARS

For anyone that's a regular visitor to this blog, my baby has MRSA. The stomach virus is crawling through our household and the minute one gets better, another family member goes down for the count. Since we got the news that MRSA had made its way into our world, I've lived in fear of any illness that may come our way that would require antibiotics.

This may seem unreasonable to some, but MRSA means that only a limited number of antibiotics work for this child and I don't want her to become resistant to more meds. The tone in my doctor's voice when he spoke the words that she will have to deal with this for the rest of her life, rings in my head at times. It almost seemed that he was issuing a death sentence even though he backed it up with how huge a percentage of the population is infected or carrying this bug.

I'll be glad when the weather is warmer and cold and flu season is over!

CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES, DENTAL PROBLEMS GETTING ME DOWN

This time of year I expect the common cold to visit at my humble abode. I might even accept that an off brand version of the flu virus might slip in under the protective covering that I've laid upon my little ones in the way of the latest round of flu vaccines. But I was not expecting dental problems. That's right, one of my kids has CAVITIES!

I've been so careful and mindful of letting them fumble around with the toothbrush to get the feel of it and then taking matters into my own hands for a good scrubbing. Up and down brushing as well as carefully prizing their little jaws apart for a half baked flossing. Apparently my efforts towards dental hygiene were all for naught because the oldest girl woke up with a toothache yesterday.

After a trip to the dentist, it was confirmed that indeed she had a rotten tooth. Or to be kind, she has a cavity in between two of her back teeth which was the reason I had not spotted the evil sucker. At least she didn't embarrass me by having a mouthful of cavities which would be a sure indicator that I was a complete failure as a parent. A few buzzes of the drill and some magic tricks with the hypodermic needle performed by my dentist and his technician and we were out of there.

Then to make things even more fun and fanciful, the youngest woke me up at two am. having thrown up in the bed. Cavities and viruses! How lucky can I be?

So what do you do for children's stomach virus symptoms but wipe up vomit and clean up diarrhea but wait it out? That's about it other than to give them Pedialyte popsicles and pray that feel like sleeping in between episodes. That's where we are right now, the little one is peacefully napping and I'm catching up on my mommy blog and hoping that the other two miraculously immune to this particular strain of stomach virus.

So what's your method of alleviating stomach virus symptoms in your kids? Please feel free to share!

AN IDEA for SAVING the PLANET

Even in the dead of winter, I like to sleep with a fan running in the bedroom. I don't allow it to actually blow on anybody, but the white noise is very addictive when the neighbors dog is having a barking spell or the teenager's stereo has way too much bottom blasting out of the sub-woofer.

Last night, we had sudden fan failure. I tried to flip the switch on the fan in our bedroom with no results. There was a scramble to replace the fan right at bedtime which left me wired up and too awake to drift off very quickly. During this wakeful time I reviewed the situation and realized that this large floor fan was only one year old! That's a lot of plastic and metal to be dumping into the garbage for only one year's good service, isn't it?

To help you make a decision, I will tell you about the rotating fan that we pulled into service to replace our year old wonder. I had to run next door to mom's house to borrow a fan and she gave me a small table top model that her mom had bought to keep HER cool when she was born in the days before every house had air conditioning. The sad part is that this fan ran like a top and has been used year after year since the early 60s with no more than a tiny drop of sewing machine oil shot through a tiny hole for lubrication.

It came to mind that if companies still made stuff out of real metal parts and use quality construction, THAT would help to keep our landfills from filling up! Am I thinking correctly when I say that quality products even if they are more expensive are more eco-friendly because they last for years? I made a mental calculation at how much space 40-50 floor fans would take in the garbage dump and it was pretty alarming.

It caused me to make the mental note to buy quality stuff even if it costs more. How long can this throw away society keep going? I see how we can help the environment by recycling, but wouldn't it help to build machines and cars that LAST, too?

The Pros and Cons of Christmas

After running through my favorite dofollow mommy blogs and seeing lots of posts stating "I haven't been online for awhile" it makes me feel better that I have let my nice new blog languish with no entries for about two weeks. My how time flies this time of year. On one hand, I'm ready to hit New Year's and clear the Christmas tree and trappings out of the house and on the other, I'm gently applying the brakes to prolong the magic of the season.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT - The PROS of the Season

I take the long route through my temporary seasonal neighborhood each and every trip to the discount store. Kudos to my neighbors for their prize winning, creative decorations. One house that I've never been able to view from the street for the trees gets the prize for the most breathtaking display even though I STILL can't see the front door! She (or they or whoever)has done an extremely artful job of stringing twinkling white lights throughout the forest. I'm sure that the folks who are working their way through the devastating ice storm up north would not appreciate the faux ice storm, but in the quiet of the dark 80 plus degree southern night it is truly beautiful. This property owner took lemons and made juicy, flavorful lemonade by working with what she had and the (mostly) natural beauty has outdone the multitudes of door wreaths, reindeers and Santa Claus vignettes hands down!

GOTTA HAVE SOME CONS

I hate to say it, but the cons take the award this year for sheer numbers. As I mentioned a few posts back, my mother refused to come this far south....period. I must admit that I have enjoyed calling her to inform her how very lovely the weather has been until a day ago. This woman never ceases to amaze me as to how she can spin everything to be so incredibly about HER! With less than two weeks before Christmas, she has informed me that she has a health issue and needs to go to the doctor. And guess what? She expects me to travel north to take her! What the heck??? Here I am with children, animals and more on my shoulders than I can handle some days and she can't drive (or take a taxi) to the doctor's office?

I know that she is getting up there in age and she may have something going on healthwise, but I also know her and her manipulative ways. She has realized she is going to be alone for Christmas as she refused to come south. This is her way to get me up there so that she can have it her way. I can't believe the self centered ways of some people when they get older. Is this the same mother that sacrificed her time for me as a child? Blazing cannons would not have pulled her away from her children during the holidays. Why is she expecting this of me? Is there any wonder that depression runs rampant during this time of year. With all of the demands it's a wonder that more people don't crack open a bottle and cock the pistol! Not that I'm to that point, but I can see where people might go there.

I Almost Forgot the Tomato (Fruit or Vegetable) Debate

I almost forgot the other interesting topic of conversation from our evening out. Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

It was amazing at how much conversational mileage this worn out debate carried! I will repeat my opinion here: The tomato is a FRUIT! To the jerk with the bad hairpiece and the ugly tie, I repeat The tomato is a FRUIT!

The reason that they are classified as fruits and not veggies (no they are not sweet but that doesn't make them a veggie Mr. Philosopher Want to Be).

Their very name comes from the Latin words for "Fruit Bearer".

The reasons tomatoes are classified as fruit are as follows:

• They grow on trees. No matter how spindly their prickly stems are, they are considered to be branches.
  
• Tomatoes have seeds
  
• Tomatoes have skin
  
• Tomatoes have juice
  
• Tomatoes contain the fruit gene (and who wants to argue with the DNA these days?)

There you go Mr. Know it All! I hope you read my blog about this burning hot topic and realize I DID GET THE LAST WORD!

BEATLES SONGS HAVE ROOTS IN THE BLUES - Not Your Usual Holiday Cocktail Party Banter

The cocktail parties are starting already. It seems as though hostesses are in a hurry to "get it over with" rather than looking forward to holiday gatherings this year. If they think that their guests are not picking up on the sentiment, or lack of, they better think again.

At the party we attended last night the hors d'oeuvres lacked the creative display and enthusiasm of past years. I am one of those people that graze their way through festivities and most of the fun is sampling new recipes and to engage in stimulating conversation. I could hardly believe my eyes when last night one of the more innovative hostesses of the past had resorted to blocks of cream cheese covered with pepper jelly surrounded by plain old Ritz crackers. I'm not being critical I just couldn't help but notice the change in style.

And the conversation was pretty stimulating, but rather combative! Not unusual because there's always somebody breaking the rules of polite chitchat, but surprisingly the arguments were not based on politics or the war in Iraq, it was whether or not Beatles songs had roots in the blues. No joke, one of the more lively conversations that I witnessed was a discussion of early Beatles music and which artists were their inspirations.

Usually, I don't allow myself to be pulled into this kind of thing. However, my mom was a huge Beatles fan and I grew up spinning her old lps (I still can't believe how casual she was about my handling of her precious vinyl records) from the early 60s.
I had to throw in my two cents worth and voice my opinion that I really don't hear much blues influence in songs like "I Saw Her Standing There" or "Twist and Shout".
Although in their next album, they did include a Chuck Berry song, "Roll Over Beethoven", but I don't classify that song as blues. Money (That's What I Want) was on that album, too but that's not really blues either. My next question is how the conversation on whether Beatles songs are blues songs got started in the first place! Now, Eric Clapton songs? There's no argument that lots of his stuff is blues...but the Beatles? That's a stretch.

If you'd like to argue this point with me, give me a shout at Oooh Baby Baby.

Brett Favre the Darling of South Mississippi's Injury

What a shame that Brett Favre was injured and had to leave the Packers game against Dallas. I saw where some of the commentators were being accused of focusing way too much on his injury to the extent that the rest of the game was virtually ignored.

Pardon me if I don't mind the extra attention that this player gets! Any and all love and bias sent in the direction of Brett Favre is just fine with me.
This shining star straight out of South Mississippi is in my opinion one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and a good guy to boot! If I had a houseful of baby boys instead of all these girls, I would be on my knees praying each and every night that my sons would follow in his footsteps. Well, actually it would be a tossup between whether I would ask for devine guidance for them to follow the Manning boys or Brett...either would make this SEC loving mama very happy!

Some of the blog comments are that the replays of Brett's injury were overplayed and that Grant's touchdown was not given the attention that it deserved. I agree with that, but I can also see that when one of the shining stars of football is hurt a little extra coverage is bound to happen.

Personally, I would much rather have more information on Brett Favre's injury than players who involve themselves in disgusting activities like dog fighting.

If you don't agree with my opinion on this, you can always yell at me on my baby blog.