NATURAL PESTICIDES - GREEN PEST CONTROL for the HOME

As a homeowner and parent who has an intense dislike for bugs I’m interested in natural pesticides. My youngest daughter has breathing issues and I’m not fond of exposing the rest of the family to unnecessary chemicals so common poisons are not an option. It’s my opinion that the bugs and rodents may be no more dangerous than toxic solutions commonly used to control them.

I have been doing my homework on how to set up deterrents for the inevitable invasion of bugs and rodents that happens each and every year. The first cool snap we have each fall has historically turned my home into the safe haven of choice for wolf spiders, roaches and the occasional mouse.

While searching for solutions I was surprised to find that many natural bug control remedies are not that natural at all. Mopping with borax and enzyme cleaners was not what I was searching for. My favorite roach control remedy that I plan to try involves some detective work but if it works, it might eliminate the need to sprinkle baking powder or whipping up recipes for roach bait. Sticky traps work well for spiders, but if the picture that I included on this page is any indicator, spiders might be the perfect natural pesticide where bugs and mosquitoes are concerned. Once the bugs are all eaten for dinner, the giant spiders should leave on their own, right?

HOW TO PICK A NEW PRESIDENT

I'm as confused as the next person over what to do in the next election. I know that we can't afford eight more years like the last eight. Is McCain just another Bush with a better service record? He's a war hero and we should honor and respect him for that, but is he up to the job of turning the tide? I heard that he voted in lock step with our current president 95% of the time. For that matter has President Bush been a victim of circumstances that may cause him to be remembered unfairly as the person in office preceding a major recession/depression? Does Barack Obama have a track record that indicates that he will do better?

As voters we have a lot of homework to do researching the Sarah Palin voting record as well as that of McCain, Obama, and Biden.

Here's an idea; let's shop for our next president using the same techniques that we use to shop for a new car.

• 
  Read reviews: What opinions do their constituents have about them?
  
• History: Did they vote how you would have liked for them to have voted on
• issues that are important to you in the past?
  
• Performance: Did they leave the voters that elected them into office in debt up to their eyeballs?
  
• Environment: Are they environmentally friendly?

PALIN'S VOTING RECORD - SHE'S PRETTY - NOW WHAT?

Before you start bashing me (or patting me on the back for that matter) let me say that I'm not anti-Palin...or pro-Palin. I simply don't have enough information on her voting record or political history as an elected official in the State of Alaska to say at this point. But what I do want to say is that I hope that my fellow Americans are not going to allow their vote to be swayed on the merit of looks rather than the candidate's ability to run the country. Repeat after me: This election is not about looks.

I would like to think that the McCain camp didn't choose Governor Palin because she's attractive and they felt they needed some weaponry in their arsenal to fight the rock star appeal that Obama had going for him. I hope that the Sarah Palin voting record can be brought more into focus rather than what her teenage daughter is doing or the color of her lipstick. I'm more concerned that my choice is environmentally friendly and interested in alternative energy sources than cute.

I don't object if a politician is easy on the eyes, but they don't get my vote because Mother Nature blessed them with shiny hair or pretty teeth. Abraham Lincoln was hard what one could call handsome, but he is rather well thought of and remembered.

So what if John McCain's wife is drop dead gorgeous, or if Barrack Obama is handsome? It should not matter to us how they look. Do you want a president that is beautiful, handsome or stylish when walking by you while you are standing in a food line or sick from exposure to radiation? Or do you want to elect a president that will make a contribution to the planet and turn this country around for the benefit of our children and grandchildren?

Don't just study the Sarah Palin political voting record, study them all!

Can MRSA Spread be Spread with a Toothbrush?

Maybe I am being paranoid, but when your baby has MRSA you can't afford to play around. I am faced with a very odd situation. The call has already been made to the pediatrician’s office to discuss this situation with him or his nurse assistant and in the meantime I will record it in a blog entry. It may seem that I’m going around the world to get to the point, but stick with me and you will see what’s bugging me.

Three days ago, I noticed that my little girl (the one who was infected with MRSA as a baby) was gnawing on something. Knowing that I had not given her a cookie, cracker or anything else as a snack, I set out to see what it was that she had in her mouth.

As it turned out, the yummy treat was my middle daughter’s toothbrush. How the baby managed to get it is a mystery. The only feasible explanation is that in the morning rush the older girls must have knocked it out of the toothbrush holder and onto the bathroom floor where the little one found it.

Even though I do my best to keep the facilities clean (MRSA will make a better housekeeper out of you when nothing else will!), the thought that one of my kids was chewing on something that had been kicked around on the bathroom floor was not exactly a pleasant thought. After failed attempts at cajoling her to relinquish her treasure willingly; I eventually had to forcibly remove it from her grasp. The results of this wrestling match were a screaming baby and a mommy that was late for an appointment. I threw the toothbrush on the bathroom counter by the sink, picked up my unhappy baby and headed out the door to see if I could manage to make it to my appointment without being more than a few minutes late.

While I was busy, my husband was responsible for picking the older girls up from a play date and preschool and feeding them their lunch. By the time the baby and I got home the rest of the family had eaten and was busy folding a basket of laundry. I couldn’t help but feel how lucky I was to drift in to find things so very under control. Mentally searching for what I needed to take care of while the rest of the crew was otherwise engaged; my mind drifted to the toothbrush incident and I remembered I had not cleaned it nor thrown it away.

I headed off to the bathroom to dig out a new toothbrush and throw the dirty one away. Imagine my surprise when I found that dad had not only fed the girls, but made sure that they brushed their teeth afterwards albeit with a nasty toothbrush. I’ve learned that it’s useless to cry over spilt milk so I just substituted the new brush and moved on.

Under normal circumstances that may have been the end of it except our middle girl woke up in the middle of the night screaming in pain saying that her mouth hurt. I took a look and sure enough there were blisters inside her cheeks (MRSA or something else?), the roof of her mouth and her gums looked red and inflamed.

Could this have resulted from using her sister’s toothbrush? We are cautioned not to use the razor belonging to a person with MRSA, but what about their toothbrush?
The baby has not got any active blisters at this time, but I want to hear it from the pediatrician that we don't need antibiotics as a preventative measure. Wish me luck.

THE USA'S LOSS OF WORLD STATUS

The buzz on the street is that in fifty or less years that the United States will no longer have the superpower status that it has enjoyed since the beginning of the last century. There are quite a few reasons given as the cause of our country’s diminishing importance in the world community.

Some say that it’s because we have dropped the ball where originality and innovation is concerned. Others maintain that it’s not so much that we are sinking, but that other countries are rising to meet and greet us and possibly wave in delight (and scorn?) as they pass us by.

Do nations have to make it a competition? Aren’t we in this boat together? The one encouraging development on the horizon is that I see more thought along these lines. I find hope in the realization among the broader thinking of great minds that third world countries deserve to have clean water, pollutant free air and basic infrastructure. Nothing is to be gained by keeping the more deprived regions of the world from gaining in status.

Does America have to continue to decline to achieve these goals? The answer to that question is an unequivocal no. Will we? The answer to that question is yet to be determined.

It’s my opinion that we have an excellent chance to lead the world in new technologies regarding alternative energy resources if we will make that our focus and not drop the ball where funding and dedication are concerned. For the sake of the planet not just for ourselves, I hope that we are up to the task.

ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP and BODY WASH BE HANGED

I was trying to remember when America became so germ phobic. It came to me that the early 90s was when antibacterial became a buzz word. Everything from antibacterial body wash to baby clothes was manufactured along with increasingly powerful antibiotics all with the purpose of keeping super bugs away from our families.


For those just cruising through, my baby has MRSA. And antibacterial products may have been a contributing factor. Yep, antibiotics and antibacterial products may be partially to blame for the misery and worry MRSA has put us through. Putting the questionable safety of the chemicals contained in household antibacterial products aside; we have killed the good guys and handed a free pass to the criminals and reprobates of the bacterial world.


The big joke is on us because it has been proven that triclosan doesn't wipe out the germs, but may cause them to mutate and become powerful beings intent on destroying all in their wake (read: become resistant). Indeed, early studies have found that e-coli that we were all sweating bullets about morphed into resistance when exposed to as little as 0.1 triclosan in soap.


That doesn’t exactly make me feel very secure when I see shelf after shelf in our family discount stores filled with products with these chemicals. It makes me wonder who is at the wheel and how many new germs are coming our way. I can't help but wonder why, when studies clearly show that plain soap is just as effective at bacteria removal as antibacterial soap, is this stuff still going strong? Would consumers go into a tailspin at the prospect of not getting their daily dose of toxic, superbug breeding chemicals?


Here’s something else that should be of interest to triclosan fans. The results of one study stated that when triclosan was exposed to sunlight after having been mixed with water the results were (drum roll) chloroform! Do we really want more of that in our planet’s water supply?
Here’s the rundown as I see it. Antibacterial soaps may have the ability to increase the number of super bugs. They may contain dangerous chemicals. Triclocarban, another handy dandy chemical with antibacterial properties, is believed to disrupt endocrine function in rodents and humans which could lead to an increase in cancer and reproductive issues. They are more expensive than more environmentally friendly household products. The average person should be able to find at least one reason to bypass antibacterial body wash in that list even they aren’t concerned with the world’s ecosystems.

HOME RENOVATIONS MAY BE BETTER THAN BUILDING GREEN

Sometimes I ponder how home renovations got such a bad reputation. Very few people seem to realize that building an energy efficient house may not be as environmentally friendly as renovating an older home. It's true; the greenest house that you can buy may be an existing home. There’s no doubt that most existing homes, ancient as well as modern, can be made more environmentally friendly. But, it's rare for even the most extensive renovation to eat up even a fraction of the natural resources that building from the ground up requires. Why not devote your time and money towards bringing an older home up to snuff rather than engage in new construction that will leave an additional and unnecessary footprint?

Prospective buyers often say that it would cost more to renovate an older home and make it livable than to build a brand, new home. We have all seen the movies showing how those beautiful historical homes are bottomless money pits making home renovation seem a luxury afforded to only those who can afford to throw endless amounts of money at a property. However, as a person that has remodeled several homes with success I can tell you that the stories portrayed in the films were greatly exaggerated.

The key to home renovation where you buy an older home that can be made into a livable space is to make sure that the basic bones are sound and that the location is good. The rule of buying the worst house in the best neighborhood is sound advice. This is where the “money pit” myth may play out in your favor. Price the improvements that you want to make to the home and get reliable estimates on what the home will be worth once they are complete.

Leave yourself some wiggle room for fluctuations in the market and then rock back and enjoy the beautiful woodwork, the high ceilings and all that wonderful square footage that you would not have been able to afford if you have moved forward in building a brand new energy efficient house rather than to turn an old home into a green home. And give yourself a pat on the back for doing something positive for the environment.

LOWER GAS PRICES BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

There are days when I get so defeated and feel so frustrated with my fellow occupants of poor, suffocating planet Earth. I spend my days (and many semi-sleepless nights) searching for small ways to make a contribution towards fixing our environmental problems such as air quality and energy conservation only to see a lack of concern in others other financial issues. We are all feeling the pinch, but why don’t people see the big picture?

Oil prices are dropping and gas prices are slowly following suit. I can practically hear the engine’s of the neighbor’s Ford truck engine revving. It’s only Wednesday, but regardless of any oil crisis or inflationary environment you can bet he’s getting ready to make his end of the week cruise around town in an endless circle to view the same scenery over and over. To be fair, along with the repetitive views he does get to wave and yell obnoxiously at the other spoiled brats in their gas sucking machines.

Passing the hours on the road is so much easier than taking the time to learn how to entertain himself in a more productive manner. His parents both have government jobs and plenty of discretionary spending money so why not throw the kid the keys to the gas guzzler, kick him the credit card in case he runs out of gas and turn him loose on society rather than have him lying around the house? Their attitude seems to be, “There’s a little more pinch when the bill comes at the end of the month but nobody’s going hungry and if we all sit at home on our hands, that just contributes to the economic slowdown and we don’t want that”. How much more brilliant and environmentally responsible could they possibly be?

Somehow people just don't get that an inflationary environment and price increases at the pump are not the most pressing environmental issues at hand. I can remember a friend of my grandmother’s making the statement that if you want to see huge changes or make a lasting impression you should save your words and find a way to hit the offending person or any problematic situation on the hip pocket. I took this to mean that emotions and common sense rarely had the effect that a decrease in financial power might.

Are we so stupid that we rank bank balances, the ability to travel and spend without caution above the basic necessities like breathing and heating and lighting our homes?
What about eating? The citizens of the United States are very fond of that particular activity as is readily evidenced in our ever-increasing waist size. When farmers can no longer afford the fuel to feel their equipment tanks to cultivate the crops because hotshots with big pockets can afford wasteful SUVs and trucks with hauling and storage capabilities, what then?

Will the general population finally take notice when their dinner plates are as empty as their heads and their gas tanks? What WILL it take for people to realize that over consumption is going to have a devastating effect that could reach far past the poor into areas previously untouched by the environmental problems? The wealthy may be the last to go hungry, but when the planet hits crisis stage, wealth is not going to provide the privileged few with comfort and protection from this particular issue.

Or has production already started on special self-contained bubbles (with a price tag that’s out of this world, of course) that is capable of providing desalinated water and filtered air for an acre or two of property that the majority of us could never dream of affording? That would certainly explain a lot regarding this "don't care" attitude that I see.

Maybe the major offenders are betting on being able to move to Mars and leaving the people who can’t afford to make the trip behind to deal with their mess? Talk about the ultimate in NIMBY mentality.

Sorry for the bitterness with no positive contributions or energy conserving tips today, but sometimes that’s just the way it is.

BEGINNING TO REAP THE BENEFITS OF HIGH OIL PRICES

Whether it's the high cost of oil and gas, the lack of money overall or the blistering hot heat; we are beginning to reap the benefits of fewer people on the highways. Each and every weekend, there are fewer automobile fatalities reported on our local news. I just hope that families are using this financially motivated time at home in a positive way.

Putting my money where my mouth is; we caught rain water in the wading pool and rather than drive to the beach the girls played in the back yard while daddy cooked on the grill. After they got tired of splashing around, I filled containers with what water was left in the pool and watered some plants with it.

The girls didn't miss the trip out of town a bit and learned a thing or two about water conservation in the bargain! Dad and I realized that spending the day in the back yard eliminated a long car trip with tired, fussy babies. When they got tired, their beds were just a short walk away. Everybody was a winner.

While I hope for the good of the economy that high oil and gas prices are a temporary irritation, I can see some benefits and bonuses

OIL PRICES ARE DROPPING AND NUCLEAR POWER DISCUSSIONS ARE RISING

Amazingly, tbe price of oil has dropped considerably the post few days and yet I am hearing more and more about decreasing the time it takes to get a nuclear power plant up and running.

People! Wake up and remember 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl. Do we really want to be stampeded into making rash decisions and rushing into pushing forward with a power source that leaves us with the problems of dealing with nuclear waste that nobody wants in their back yard that can poison everything within a large area if things don't go perfectly?

On the upside, I hear that Texas is jumping on wind power. I find this very encouraging to hear that a traditional oil state is moving forward with alternative energy sources. Cheers to Texas! I wonder if turbines could be mounted on the roofs of buildings in the same way that they have installed microwave towers? Anybody know?

PULLING AWAY FROM FAMILY TRADITION

Fourth of July weekend is drawing to a close and the only good thing that I can say about it is that the children slept late this morning and that it rained. This is a good thing because when the children want to set off the few firecrackers they have left over from Friday night, they might not set the woods on fire. Don't think for a minute that those horrible images of wildfires in other parts of the country didn't make an impression on me when we had not had any rain for several weeks.

As far as the holiday weekend went there was the usual round of picnics, backyard softball games splashing in knee deep kiddie swimming pools in a vain effort to beat the heat. I suppose we did our part to represent a picture of the traditional American patriotic family at play.

Speaking of tradition, I couldn't stop the thought from running through my mind that while there are so many things that are truly right about our country, one of the things that I see wrong (my apologies to President Bill Clinton) without country is that young people seem to have no appreciation for tradition or what came before them.

When I was a child I loved for my parents and grandparents to tell me about their childhoods and the way things used to be. I adored my grandmother and grandfather and enjoyed spending time at their home where I knew there was lots of time for hugs, kisses and stories about little girls and boys that were long gone but would have loved me to pieces if they had only known me.

After dinner they would open the family photo album and not only tell us that those people in the pictures were the details about the background of the photograph and details of the day when the picture was taken. I am relatively certain that my oldest daughter even at a young age would find this to be somewhat less than exciting and probably downright boring. How could my children that I had raised not find the same things entertaining as their own mother?

I loved the one on one time that this older couple was willing to give to me and was so proud when they came to my school functions or ballgames. I recently went to see a neighbor girl play ball and was sitting with her parents. In the second or third inning her grandparents joined us. Her grandfather went to the dugout to wish the little girl luck and she seemed utterly embarrassed and seemed unwilling to speak to him, much less thank him for coming. Who has put the idea that older people are not “cool” and should be ignored into these young people’s heads?

My goal for the week is to try and teach my children respect for tradition and to appreciate the history of her family. I’m open to suggestions if anyone else has found a way to do this and work against the growing tide of the anti-tradition movement.

I would like to say that I doing this out of respect for my parents and grandparents, which is true, but I'm smart enough to know that I'm going to be older one day and I don't want my grandchildren to feel that they shouldn't speak to me in public.

TOP REASONS HIGH GAS and OIL PRICES ARE GOOD

In the decade of the 90s we really began to know what the definition of terrorism was. Terrorist groups were crawling out of the woodwork, becoming more sophisticated and shouting their hatred of the United States to the heavens. Perhaps the scary thing about it was that they in no way tried to be sneaky or keep their feelings for themselves.

Al Qaeda took over Afghanistan and turned it into their personal playground of terrorism apparently while our own government apparently rocked back and watch to see what was next on their agenda while there were attacks on American interests and our citizens. At this time Bill Clinton was president so the Republicans were blaming him for the problem. Never mind that from 1995 on the Congress was Republican-controlled and handled (or didn’t?) things in the same way. Another odd fact of that was that during the entire presidential campaign during the year 2000 neither of the candidates seem to find it advantageous to bring up the tide of terrorism that was rising ever higher.

Am I the only one that sees a similarity in our government's lack of response to the threat of terrorism as well as to the energy crisis? I'm not talking about a lack of energy resources. Indeed we are told that energy resources are rather plentiful and that the United States has enough coal for the next 100 years.

What I'm referring to is the fact that our planet possibly can not survive another 100 years using coal and oil as our primary energy resources. The reason I believe that high gas prices might be a good thing is that it will prevent further resistance to the avoidance of conservation. We need to develop new energy sources as well as to practice conservation of our current energy resources.

Perhaps with these high prices creative individuals will be given funding from major corporations in response to the need to develop new sources not because they are philanthropic but because they see the opportunity to make a large profit. It's my opinion that if oil prices were to stay at sky high levels might actually prevent a true crisis. These are thoughts that crossed my mind last night after a mind blowing trip to the gas pump. After I thought it over I reconciled myself to the fact that higher gas prices might prevent a few of those last-minute trips that are unnecessary and indeed might serve to make better planners of us all. Then this morning the reports are out that inventories are up and the prices of a barrel of oil began falling. It seems that I can't get used to one scenario before another unfolds.

WHERE OH WHERE DOES OUR GARBAGE GO?

In the area where we are spending the summer (we have to travel hither and yon for dear husband’s work) nobody seems to recycle anything unless you count the large deposits of fast food cartons and boxes that I see thrown onto the sides of the roads to biodegrade. There are no recycling receptacles in public areas and no separate bins for household trash whatsoever.

When I asked some of the locals where to put the recyclables they looked at me like I was from Mars and then looked at each other with an almost imperceptible nod and a wink to acknowledge to each other that “She’s not from around here.” I almost wanted to scream at them that while I might be a temporary transplant from another part of the country that they should wake up and realize that while each area might have its own unique culture (or lack of) that we are all part of the same planet.

In the face of this frustration, you can imagine how beautifully it kicked off my day to see that a news program will air this evening regarding how foreign countries are considerate enough to be taking garbage off the hands of the United States of America. I don’t have time to do in depth research on the subject but have read some excellent books by those that do track the “American Garbage Trail” that were very interesting. One was Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash by Elizabeth Royte who was surprisingly non-judgmental of non-recyclers as she states the pros and cons of the practice. I especially found the section on the New York waste-water treatment plants riveting. Gross facts on waste water for enquiring minds who just want to know and then might wish they didn’t.


What I would love to hear more about is why foreigners can find it profitable to buy our waste and pay the expensive cost for transportation in order to ship it overseas for recycling and yet we as a nation can’t find a way to skip the fee for transport and do it ourselves. What is the deal? Could someone please explain the economics or environmental reasons that our garbage is traveling so far from home?

When Birth Control Becomes an Environmental Problem

There is a path in the park by a lake where I like to take my children strolling every day that we are in the area. It's a lovely place to teach them about nature and we have managed to take some fabulous pictures of owls, redheaded woodpeckers and most magnificent of all of our birding efforts was the day that we saw a bald eagle perched in a treetop no more than 20 feet above our heads.

This is a wonderful, wild and wooded area where we can watch people catch fish, do some bird watching and get our exercise with the children. It's a rare day when the weather is so poor that it keeps us from enjoying our daily walks on one of our favorite paths. Last December as we were strolling along something caught my eye about a foot to the side of the nature trail. As we drew closer it became crystal clear that someone had been enjoying our favorite place to observe nature and all its wonder to experience a little something more adventurous.

To put it bluntly, what lay directly ahead and that my oldest daughter almost stepped on was a neon yellow condom that from all appearances had been used. While I’m no prude I also don’t like to dodge people’s used personal products when out for a walk with my kids. Whether it’s chewed bubble gum, women’s sanitary products or a q-tip; I would rather not have contact.

Getting back to the issue, after the stroller and my toddler moved ahead a bit I nudged the condom off the trail and under some leaves. That prophylactic sighting took place in late December and yesterday afternoon after a strong rain came through the area guess what? The bright yellow condom resurfaced. It was dirtier, partially ripped away from the top, but in the same place. Here it is almost July and I know that it’s been lying there covered in leaves, has gone through one of the wettest seasons that we’ve had in quite a while and yet shows no signs of deterioration. Pardon me for the pointing out in a rather graphic manner that this condom is just one of the millions that have been thrown out the car window, flushed down the toilet or put into the trash in seven months. Along with all of the other environmental problems we have to deal with; I wonder if are going to wait until the ozone is gone and the garbage is on our doorsteps before we do something about it? Is there such a thing as a recyclable condom?

BO DIDDLEY

Our household is sad today. You might not think that the fact that Bo Diddley died would cast a pall of mourning over a four year old girl's day, but it most certainly has. But she's no average child, she practically did her teething on the neck of a guitar and she didn't have your run of the mill baby girl nursery theme her nursery was decorated with guitars on the walls and whole and half notes on every possible surface.

The reason for the musical obsession is that my husband is a musician (and a darn good one if I do say so). His dad loved really good guitar and exposed him to the great players. I have nothing against some of the modern players and enjoy listening to some. But anyone who knows squat about guitar knows that if you want to be any kind of a player you have go back to the roots to get to the good stuff. Jimi Hendrix knew it; Eric Clapton knows it and look where it got them. They were smart enough to know that the music that came out of the heart of Mississippi had the best beat. Each guitar god that followed has added a new layer; most are smart enough not to say they improved the original sound and to pay homage to the true stars like Bo Diddley who came before them and gave them the tools of the trade.

I'm very proud that our little girl who knew the words to "Who Do You Love" and "Hey Bo Diddley" before she was three years. But it hurts to see her be so down because she was so connected to the old blues musician and feels the loss so keenly that music lovers all over the world have suffered on this day. She knows in her soul that there aren't any more Bo Diddley's to replace this one that's gone.

I need to find some way to turn this into a learning experience for my grieving daughter. Maybe the right words to tell her that while another of the original blues guys have joined the band in Heaven will come to me in time. This girl might not ever play the first note or become a musician, but she certainly has the sensitivity and the soul of one.

SOCCER MOMS aka ELITIST JERKS

First the tennis moms, now the soccer moms are getting cliquish attitudes. I make no bones about the fact that I'm too darn tired to worry every minute about fashion trends and making a personal statement thereof. I have three baby girls whose appearance says more about me than my own. I know that makes me sound codependent as all get out, but it's just a matter of pride that my girls all leave the house and look clean and well dressed for a few minutes, anyway.

Yesterday the trio and I went to a friend's birthday party at the lake. I knew as soon as I pulled into the parking lot that I was a fish out of water. I have a small SUV, (a Honda CRV to be exact) and have at times felt guilty that I didn't get a hybrid car that would get better gas mileage. In exchange for some inconvenience in stowing gear and loading and unloading children you feel better about your contribution to environmental causes. The parking lot at this party should have done away with my feelings of guilt in spades; it was filled with the biggest trucks that are sold like the Hummer, Yukon and Tahoe.

It became obvious pretty soon after our arrival that the guest list was heavy on soccer moms and their kids. Some of the kids even had on their team uniforms and were bumping a soccer ball around with their knees. I couldn't help but wonder about this, because isn't kiddy league baseball in full swing? Maybe baseball or Tee
Ball isn't as attractive to elitists as soccer?

The botox injected faces and the lips full of collagen of the soccer moms didn't bug me; I do my very best to not judge people by their appearances. But the attitudes of these unfriendly women just about made me want to lose my lunch. Amazingly, the kids all did fine but the women around the picnic table were just about to send themselves and me to an early grave with all their self-centered chitchat.

Each one ran over the other's conversation with soccer mom stories about what they had bought lately, where they were going on vacation or how their child was just so much more advanced than the other kids. One thing that struck me was how none of them had a question addressed to the other moms about anything. Everything that rolled out of their mouths sounded like sales pitch that was geared toward raising the asking price for her and her stuff.

When did people become so wrapped up in themselves that they could not care less about anybody else? When my mom used to take me visiting, the objective was to hear what other people were up to in their family. After all, don't we already know all about our own?

If you are a mature soccer mom that doesn't have a haughty attitude, fake breasts and collagen injected lips I would love to hear your side of the story. Usually I don't paint an entire segment of the population with the same brush and tomorrow I will probably have regrets. But today, the activity is rather therapeutic and feels pretty good.

The bad thing is that we have another invitation to a party next week and I'm pretty sure that the same group will be in attendance. So, this may not be the last of my soccer mom stories.

GIRLS SOFTBALL ENVY

None of my girls are old enough to play with real, hard baseballs or softballs let alone tooth cracking aluminum bats. However, there are enough children in my neighborhood that are enjoying softball season at the moment that my kids are noticing. The little girl next door got a new pair of cleats and my oldest girl completely feminine love with the shoes with the "bumps" on the bottom.

After an inpromptu playtime in the side yard, she came in asking what the "bumps" on the bottom of the cleats were for. I explained (as best I could) that the plastic bumps made the little girl be able to run faster and not to fall down as much when playing ball. This explanation was all it took to make the case for buying a set of cleats for everyone in our family. After all, what's not to love about being able to run at record speeds and not to trip and fall while you are in the process?

I could see that even more explanation was going to be necessary and I followed up my previous remarks with the fact that cleats were for girls who actually were involved in softball. After the information that cleats are for girls who are playing sports and as little girls didn't play ball, they didn't come in little girl sizes.

The disappointment in her eyes was sad enough but the pitiful sight of her watching through the glass in the door while the neighborhood kids piled in the cars to go to their ballgames was especially painful to watch. It just so happened that I was having a conversation over the back fence with our ball playing neighbor girl's mom about this sad scenario when a brainstorm struck.

Practically in mid sentence a lightbulb lit up over her head and into the house she ran. I went back to pinning my rugs on the line and in a moment she returned carrying not only a pair of tiny, worn looking cleats, but a pair of those baggy knee length nylon shorts that girls wear to play ball.

I cleaned the red clay off the baseball shoes up as best I could and had them and her shorts waiting when she came back from the pool with her dad. You would have thought that I had given her a new car! The shoes are too big as are the shorts which are pulled up under her armpits at this very minute, but this is one happy little girl!

Race and Gender in the 2008 Presidential Election - Are We Idiots or What?

It should come as no surprise that I have been among the millions of American citizens watching the presidential race with interest. Those of you who visit this blog regularly should be amazed that I have bitten my tongue and kept quiet this long. I'm actually pretty shocked at myself. I almost broke training yesterday after catching a few minutes of the View's opening dialogue.

I have never considered myself and Whoopi Goldberg to be like minded; not that I DISagreed with her, I just didn't pay much attention other than I liked her in the movie, Sister Act. But I could have hugged her neck yesterday because gave my frustration a voice on national television. She and I both seem to wonder why in this day of enlightenment and such public need are race and gender in the 2008 Presidential Election an issue?

Why should anybody with half a brain give a rip how dark or light a candidate's skin might be? Even less important to me is whether they sit or stand to pee. Haven't we sunk as low as we can go by letting these idiotic worries dictate how we vote? We have bigger fish to fry here than sex or lineage. Why can't people understand that it's much more productive to study voting records than pantsuits?

I haven't decided yet who will get my vote, but when I do it won't be determined by gender or race. I'm going to look at how the states these candidates served did under their direction. Forget promises, these people have track records that can be used as indicators of their performance as public servants.

I consider the Presidential race a job interview. We, the citizens of the USA, are the employers. It's up to us to choose who will do the best job and we can't do this to the best of our ability if we allow ourselves to be side tracked by
irrelevant facts such as skin color, race or gender. You don't even have to like the person you vote for. Some of the most successful companies that I know of are run by efficient CEOs that would come in last place in a popularity contest. It's not about how personable a person might be or that they look like us, the person we put in the oval office needs to be capable, experienced and willing to get the job done of putting our country back into a position of greatness.

Travel With Kids

I love looking at homes especially in the springtime when the flowers are in bloom and everything's fresh and pretty without the inevitable layer of dust that dirt roads and dry weather tends to distribute all over everything in its path.

We had had several days of gloomy, stormy weather and just missed being hit by a tornado that touched down way too close for comfort. Being cooped up for several days with three hellions made me want to get out of the house. In my desperation to change my surroundings, I made the grave error of thinking that a road trip to enjoy the local architecture might be in order.

Right out of the box, the oldest one cried, pouted and when that didn't work; screamed that she didn't want to ride anywhere. She wanted to play some stuff! Her words, not mine. Then the car seat pinched the littlest one's leg and gave her an excellent reason to cry for a bit. Amazingly, the middle one out of fear or lack of reason didn't squeak, but early in the ride said that her stomach hurt. Knowing that meant she was car sick and about to vomit up her lunch, I gave up and turned the car around and headed for home. Not the first example of early Greek Revival did I see, but I do have a plan for next time. A baby sitter.

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.

RECIPE for BASTING a THANKSGIVING TURKEY with a BACKACHE

Several days of dreary rain, fog and chilly weather drained me of the energy to perform all the household duties, start shopping for Christmas and participate in Thanksgiving. Good news is that the turkey and dressing were both moist and delicious. It's never a good thing to turn out a feast that's dry and unappetizing because the lack of quality is remembered until the next time that you do turkey with all the fixings. I think I found the answer to a beautiful bird worthy of a Martha Stewart photo shoot: basting.

Yes, indeed there are multiple benefits to pulling that heavy roaster in and out of the hot oven for three hours every thirty minutes or so. Other than burning my knuckles on the rack during the process, I believe that to baste is indeed best. I had read that the food that is in magazine photographs is virtually inedible because it is not actually cooked to eat. The recipes are created to look sharp, not taste good. I should have invited the photographers to come and take pics of my turkey! It was baked at 325, basted as I mentioned above and the breast was a beautiful, crisp golden brown with just the right number of spicy flecks for good measure! And it tasted positively wonderful. Eat your heart out Martha! Kiss my hiney, Rachel Raye, it IS possible to have a pretty entree that you can eat!

Here's the recipe for basting a Thanksgiving turkey that everybody loves except one of my kids' but the majority of the votes are positive!

1 stick of salted butter
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. basil leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves (I didn't have any leaves so I used ground..so shoot me)
1 tsp. black pepper

I melted the butter and stirred the spices in.

I LIGHTLY sprinkled salt all over the turkey inside and out. I put the bird in the oven with a tent of foil for about 30 mins. Then every half hour I slop some of the butter mixture inside and out of the bird, replace the foil tent and back in the oven she goes for another half hour. For the last half hour of baking, I baked without the foil tent, but with lots of basting mix on the skin.

There you go! Easy as pie so long as your back doesn't go out from bending over to baste like mine did! LOL Really, it did. My lower back went wonky on me that morning and it's just now getting to the point that I can stand up straight so the rest of my holiday recipes may have to wait until Christmas!

Healing Foods for ADHD

Occasionally one of the girls or one of the cousins might drink just a little too much sweet tea. The after effects are that they will begin to chatter non-stop while displaying an inability to stop moving their feet. The adults might laugh and tell them that we didn't know ADHD come on so suddenly!

For those of us who don't suffer from it, I suppose it's easy to joke about something that is so hard for other parents to deal with on a daily basis. What brings this to mind today is that we recently got some new neighbors in the house next door. I was so thrilled when I saw that they have children similar in age to my own. Before the moving van had pulled away, I had my "Welcoming Committee Casseroles" in the oven so that I could help out with their supper that evening.

Within a few hours I was tapping on the door ready to introduce myself. The lady that answered the door looked tired, but excited with her new home and that neighbors had been so welcoming and friendly. She invited me in, but I sensed some resistance and I really didn't know what to make of it. I assured her that I didn't want to impose on such a busy day and just wanted to drop off something that she could heat up whenever she felt like it. She looked so relieved that I thought that I had indeed intruded. I was about to duck out the door, when we heard a crash from the other room.

I felt I should go with her to investigate because of the kids and sure enough one of hers was standing to the side of the scene of the accident, another in a child carrier just out of harm's way and the other was right in the middle of the carnage. Mom seemed to know which child was responsible right away and took him by the hand to walk me to the door. The little boy was pulling against her all the way and seemed distressed. She took this opportunity to explain to me that he was ADHD and that she had wanted an opportunity to talk to me about his condition before I met him as they didn't believe in medicating for it and there were times when he got pretty out of control.

People, I felt that the Lord had sent this lady into my orbit! My sister had a child with much the same symptoms as this little fellow and also has the belief that medication may not be the answer. She was determined to try natural means before resorting to meds and she has had amazing results. She has come to believe that many cases of ADHD could be helped if not completely eliminated by dietary changes! She got lots of tips from Dr. Melanie Beingessner product resources. She's the doctor who wrote the Calm Baby Cookbook. I am in no way affiliated to this lady, but have seen firsthand the benefits of following some of her suggestions!
I had real problems with my baby having severe rashes when I was breastfeeding that disappeared once I identified and eliminated trigger foods.

I told my new neighbor about this and I hope she gets some good results, because she really looks worn out and at her wits end. If anyone else has suggestions to add, I would love to forward them to her!

Other Than Starving the Pilgrims Had it Pretty Good

I'm taking a break while the cornbread for the dressing is baking in the oven. I usually take a few minutes to make a list of the things that I am thankful for each Thanksgiving but for some reason this year I'm having trouble focusing.

I believe that the making of my traditional, annual Thanksgiving list is being overshadowed by my “stuff that I need to do” list.

My “to do” list is filled with entries such as:

• Try to fix the vacuum cleaner
• Get the cat a bigger litter box
• Check to see why the county didn’t send us our tax bill yet
• Clean out the hatch of the car
• Peel potatoes for my signature sweet potato pie

If I tried really hard I'm sure I can add least 10 more things to my list. I'm sure that the participants of the first Thanksgiving had a few things on their “to do” list, but somehow I picture them as being much less stressed than people today.

Think about it: they grew the food, they cooked the food, and they ate the food. Most of their immediate concerns in the New World had to do with food. No running hither and yon to pick up dry cleaning or to take the cat to the vet. I certainly don’t want to diminish the desperate circumstances is of that early time in our history that you have to admit in some ways they had it pretty darn good.

PAYING FOR MESSING WITH MY TEMPLATE

I'm really paying for messing around with my template, as I'm working with a BRIGHT rosy pink background that I'm not crazy about. The other template I was using had a much more pleasing color, but I was not crazy about it. I'm making a mental note to learn more about web design and learn how to make templates that I like. Maybe that can be my New Year's resolution that I don't keep?

On the upside, I'm sure that I got the dofollow thing going again and that was really important to me as I had tried to get the word out about that and didn't want to get branded as a storytelling blogger.

I Have Completely Screwed Up

Ok everybody! I have screwed up by playing around with my template. All my roomie, do follow attributes and blogger chicks widget and everything have been lost! That's what I get for trying to combine childcare, recipe troubleshooting and blogging! Please give me a day or so to reconstruct my blog and get it back to normal. Work with me y'all! I could use a little support if anybody could send it! Ouch.

I was trying to install an odiogo wigdet and it seemed not to work on my old timey blogger template. So, I get smart and start to monkey around with templates about the time baby was having a mini meltdown and whammo a wrong button is pushed and all is lost. I apparently pushed a "switch to" button rather than my "gimme a preview" button. Well, I like the colors ok, so I'm going to try to make the blasted thing work. Pray for me y'all!

Skipping Thanksgiving - Jumping Straight from Halloween to Christmas

I know that you all have taken note that Christmas decorations and open houses were in full swing the day after Trick or Treat. Does anyone else remember when people who started hanging lights on their gutters on first day of December were thought to be jumping the gun and pushing the holidays?

I remember the year that we got our tree on the third of December. What a year for the record books! Mother had previously said that to put decorations up any earlier diminished their importance. It was her opinion that special things should be kept, well...special. We didn't question her when she announced that we could kick off the season early and started cruising the fence lines in the pastures with enthusiasm. We found a cedar that only had to have three or four feet chopped off so that we could get it in the front door and thought we were the luckiest kids in the world that we were the first to get our tree up on our block. We were the envy of our friends and looked forward every afternoon to the moment the lights were plugged in and our living room was magically transformed into a sparkling winter wonderland.

How wonderful it was to have those extra weeks of expectation and fun. As an adult and looking back, I realize that the reason she bent the rules a bit was that money was so tight that year. I can honestly say that I never noticed that mother didn't seem to be as thrilled with the early onslaught of Christmas cheer as we kids. Maybe she thought that the joy of decorating earlier than normal would divert attention from Christmas wishes that didn't get granted in the way of gifts? Whatever her thinking might have been, it must have worked. We considered ourselves the luckiest kids in town that we got our tree up before our friends!

It makes me wonder if the need for a spiritual lift is the reason that people are putting up their Christmas pretties earlier and earlier.

Willing Your Frozen Eggs and Embryos to Your Kids?

With women of advanced maternal age having put off having their babies until late in life, I'm hearing more and more discussion about the fate of frozen eggs and embryos. I'm surprised that nobody's given the fate of these precious little bits of life some thought before now.

What happens to the frozen eggs if the mom never uses them? Are there any laws on the books for this situation? One discussion that I heard said that maybe they should be part of a person's legacy and left to their children. I can see where this might be a viable solution. What if something happened that your daughter's eggs were damaged and she couldn't have children? Having a few of mom's unfertilized eggs lying around could really simplify things (and reduce the cost of?) in case she needed to opt for in vitro fertilization. What is the shelf life of human frozen embryos anyway?

On the other hand, what if you have no children and the future of your fertilized or unfertilized eggs needs to be decided as part of your estate planning? What should be done? Is it ethical to just toss them? Are there facilities that welcome donations or do people sell them? Ethics aside, what is the price of frozen human embryos? I have to admit that I'm not knowledgeable in this area but I would love to know more about it and can see where there might be some controversy because of the disagreement of when life begins.

TELEVISION PROGRAMS

This is not a rant about how ABC,NBC or CBS is not putting enough child friendly television programs out there. There's more than enough excellent programming out there for kids. Today I'm being a selfish mom and I'm complaining that the tv shows on the networks stink!

I'm not a chick that spends her days on the sofa eating chocolates and watching soaps. When the kids are asleep, at preschool or visiting elsewhere I tend to enjoy the company of the television while I fold the laundry, dust, and try new recipes or new crafts. Is it just me or are television shows just getting less interesting?
Where are the Raymonds and Seinfelds? If I never watch another reality or game show again it will be way too soon! I know the networks have to be marketing to some audience but who might they be?

And the cop shows, MY GOSH!!! Do people not get enough crime through the network news? And another thing, the trend of flashing from one scene to another like lightening is enough to trigger a bout of epilepsy in a person.

Do you want to know what I think? If you've stuck with me this far, you must care, right? I think that producers are resorting to guts, gore and camera tricks to get out of writing a decent storyline.

And you know what it's doing for them? It's breaking society from the tv addiction! Yep, before I made this post I made a point to ask 5 women what their favorite television show was and 4 out of 5 said, we really don't watch television like we used to! Whoa! What is Les Moonves going to say about that? Probably not that much, because 5 out of the 5 women I queried said that they try to make a point to record David Letterman and Craig Ferguson to watch the next day.

What do YOU think about the new fall television shows? Please tell me that my friends and I are not just old fashioned, out of touch fuddy duddies!

POST HALLOWEEN BABY BOREDOM

Here we are the day after Halloween! It seems like only yesterday that I was bitching about the hot weather and the drought. Just goes to show that time flies when you're having fun or not as the case has been at my house lately.

On the upside, trick-or-treating went well. There was no crying about a costume that didn't fit right, look right or that was duplicated by another kid down the street. This was our first time for trick-or-treating this far south. Southerners really make Halloween a major production! Churches have Trunk or Treat where the entire church parking lot is filled with parked cars with the hatches open or with open trunks filled with candy, baked goods and small toys for the children.

Even with all the festivities at the local churches our neighborhood was filled with little ghouls and goblins and their parents. The kids wanted to visit some of the neighbor's houses, and I went along with it. We were actually invited in for a light supper at two of the houses. The last one would not take no for an answer and treated us to a wonderful Halloween dinner of chicken chili served in hollowed out rolls. I had never a eaten any chili that was made with chicken before but I begged for the recipe!

Did anyone else feel that Halloween was so much more fun since daylight savings time had not kicked in yet? I hope that they don't turn the clocks back till after the 1st again next year!

Here's a recipe chicken chili

1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts or the chicken meat of your choice that has been cut into bitesize pieces
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cans (or a 29 oz can of ) diced tomatoes including the juice
2 cans (or (a 32 oz can of )Great Northern beans that have been drained
1/4 cup lime juice or fresh juice of 1 lime
2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed, or 2 cups of fresh or canned kernals
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (southerners swear by Vidalia onions for obvious reasons)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
PREPARATION:
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once the oil has been heated, slide your chopped onions and garlic into the oil

Stir and saute until onion is tender

Add your chicken and stir till lightly browned on all sides

Next add the chopped jalapeno pepper, coriander, cumin, tomatoes and juice and drained beans.


Turn the heat to low and let simmer for around 5 minutes

A lime juice and kernels of corn. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Continue to simmer the mix, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking, for 5 to 10 minutes more.

Serve with sour cream, chopped Vidalias and cilantro for guests to add to this easy recipe for chili.

HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS on the ROAD

I took the babies on a little road trip the other day and to keep them from squabbling I try to come up with games to play in the car with the older two. To make a long story short, I think I may have created a monster.

One of the games we play is to count the cell phone or microwave towers or road signs. I figure that this is a good way to begin teaching the older two about counting as well as their surroundings. Since it is so close to Halloween time I made an attempt to adapt our popular car counting game to cover Halloween decorations; pumpkins in particular.

The way we play it is that each time one of the kids spots a pumpkin of any kind they count it AND before they do they shout BINGO. On that particular trip I considered myself a virtual genius for coming up with this as it seemed to be so festive and entertaining they forgot about complaining about who was touching or leaning on them for a little while.

The problem is that between now and Thanksgiving we will not be able to ride through our neighborhood without having BINGO ringing in our ears. Is it just me or was this a bumper year for pumpkins?

HEY EVERYBODY! Please Can the Racial Slurs and Hate.

Mom still refuses to come down here and after I broached the subject of humidity being a lame excuse, she came forth with a few more details of why she doesn't want to visit "down here".

When I quizzed her, she said that she knew people who wouldn't even ride through some of the southern states to get to another location. Apparently they would rather go hundreds of miles out of their way rather than risk riding through the cradle of racial inequality. It's obvious that she's been convinced by somebody that the state song for all southern states is Dueling Banjos straight out of Deliverance and that all the citizens are snuff spitting backwards inbreds.

This is very insulting to me (as well as the area) as I've been telling her how much we enjoyed our time here and how many wonderful friends we have made. Has she been secretly harboring thoughts that our family was being joyfully recruited into one of the racial hate groups? Maybe she really doesn't feel like hopping on a plane and flying into Memphis and seeing the Home of the Blues up close and personal and doesn't want to tell me. That would certainly make a lot more sense than the garbage that she's spewing.

I have seen just as much racial bias in the northern reaches of this great land as I have in the southern areas. But, you know what? I have not seen much....PERIOD! People of all colors and races are hating crime and drugs and terrorism, etc. but very rarely each other! At least in the circles where I am.

On that subject, mom needs to get that racial bias can be all colors. I was floored when I watched Queen Latifah's movie Beauty Shop with Alicia Silverstone and Kevin Bacon. The racism coming from the characters of color was shocking and unpleasant. The whites in the movie were reduced to uncool social misfits or stereotypes and some of the racial slurs coming from the African Americans would NEVER have been tolerated coming from white people. In fact, most white people I know wouldn't lower themselves to that level. I love Queen, but EVERYBODY needs to can the hate!