Some Things Friday for January 18, 2008

What a week, huh? Where do I start? Well, how about the Couch-2-5K schedule... or not. Today is Friday and we only did the first day! It is so cold; this morning is 22 degrees according to my outdoor thermometer and there's no end in sight - at least this week, anyway. It is actually supposed to get a little colder.

And, how about those political campaigns? Ugly, crazy, muddy, fanatical and just plain bizarre. Did you see the report this morning from the brothel in Nevada that supports Ron Paul? One of the "ladies" led the reporter to her "office," then smiled and informed him, "It's not hard to collect contributions in here (uncomfortable pause)...it's even easier with my clothes off."

Only in America.

Some Things I Love:

1. This week, it's Jon & Kate Plus 8, which airs on TLC on Mondays. The story of a young couple who, with the help of a fertility doctor, finally got pregnant with twins (two girls). When trying for a third child, they got sextuplets (3 boys and 3 girls). This show simply follows this family through their daily lives and it is such fun!

This amazing photo of this amazing family was taken by Willow Street Pictures


2. Summer, summer, summer.

3. A really good, hour long massage in a quiet and warm room, then an hour in a steam room. The last one I had was a Christmas gift from my former bosses, Doc and Mary Gelso of Doc Gelso Construction. Good boss, huh? :)

4. Daylight Savings Time. Oh, shut up, I know everyone else hates it. I can't help it. I love when it stays lighter later.

5. Taking our boat out after dark on hot summer night on Greers Ferry Lake and going skinny dipping. Refreshing, fun and sexy. Hey, look, I might be 61, but I'm not dead!


Some Things I Hate:

1. This whole political process. So far, the news reports that "some people" know that "Edwards is a Phony," then we discovered that "Hillary is a Bitch." Now, we are finally informed that "Obama is a Black Muslim." I wish the MSM (mainstream media) would cover how the candidates would deal with the issues. That might help us make a real informed decision.

2. Huckabee (next to Bush, probably my least favorite person on the planet), has announced that he wants to write his own personal deity into the Constitution. Clearly, the concept of separation of church and state escapes him. And, how about that interview with Belief.net where he equates a loving, committed relationship between two people of the same sex to beastiality? An interviewer posed the question: "Is it your goal to bring the Constitution into strict conformity with the Bible? Some people would consider that a kind of dangerous undertaking, particularly given the variety of biblical interpretations." And Huckabee replies: "Well, I don’t think that’s a radical view to say we’re going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we’re going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal. Again, once we change the definition, the door is open to change it again. I think the radical position is to make a change in what’s been historic." Why should this surprise anyone? Huckabee comes from one of the 15 states who have still NOT ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. In fact, in 2007 - yes, 2007 - another resolution was introduced, but failed. In freaking 2007!... Moving on...

3. The cold... winter... ice... seeing my own breath... cold fingers and feet... AAARRRGGGG!!!

4. Does the fact that Bush delivered $20 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia and then begged them for oil make anyone else's skin crawl, but mine??


5. The housing market and the economy is at it's worst in 17 years! Do you realize who our President was 17 years ago?? George H. W. Bush, baby! Yep, Daddy Bush. 1989 - 1993.

Some Things I Just Don't Get:

1. The whole Tom Cruise Scientology video thing. I started to watch it. It was 9 minutes long. I made it about 3-1/2 minutes. It was about the time when he said if there were an accident, a scientologist has to stop because "they" are the ONLY ones who can do anything. Whoa. Done. Hit the stop button.

2. Eat, Pray, Love is not on my wish list. Okay, maybe I'm just jealous of the idea of being able to take a whole YEAR - not a weekend, or a week, or a month, but a year - off AND be able to afford to travel, too. Who the hell gets to do that besides the top 7% of the population (and I'm not a member of that club) and Elizabeth Gilbert??

3. I don't get organized religion. We joined a small United Methodist Church a couple of years after we moved here. We were very involved on the board and with committees and Tom and I built, finished and gold leafed the alter, pulpit and kneelers for the church. The small church grew and grew and grew; and we moved about 20 miles away. The combination was lethal to our church relationship. We have not attended more than a few times since we returned from our year in Incline Village in 2003. Okay, so now to my point. A new United Methodist Church was organized and we were contacted by the pastor and asked if we wanted to be involved in the start-up. Although we declined, we still receive email and bulletins of the upcoming activities. The most troubling to me are the prayer walks, particularly the ones they did in December. The instructions were to get a bunch of people together on a Sunday morning, go over to the Walmart parking lot and pray for the people who were in the store shopping instead of at church. Why would I want to do that? Why should I want to interfere with how people choose to live their lives? Are they non-believers because they are not at church or might not even belong to a church? Do I know what is better for them than they do? This lack of acceptance that some people might believe differently and the arrogance that concludes that any one church or pastor or parishioner knows the "right" way is beyond my comprehension.

4. You know, it takes more nerve than I have for a professor at the University of Utah to actually use public money to do a study that concludes that cell phone use causes traffic to slow down and can cause traffic jams. Is there anyone who drives a car that hasn't encountered some idiot on a cell phone, driving in the middle lane at approximately 10 to 15 miles per hour slower than traffic, completely oblivious to the cars passing him/her on both sides and when passing said idiot yells, "get off the damn phone!" It doesn't take a study funded by public money. It takes tank of gas and a trip across town!

5. A new sign at the drive up window at my credit union informs me that effective January 31st, if my checking account balance is less than $200, it will cost me, a member with more than one account, $5 to cash a check. I am going to write a check (that I paid to have printed), take it to the credit union (using gas I just bought) and cash a check for money I already have in my account (and they can confirm that the check is actually good because it is - DUH! - my credit union) and they are going to charge me a fee because I might have less than $200 in my account? So, basically, they want me to know that I don't keep enough money in my account to be a "valuable" customer? I don't quite get the customer service rationale.

An end to another wacky week. But, did you see Oprah? You know the show I'm talking about. I didn't see it, but I read the article about it, so you knew I couldn't leave you without bringing up the subject (should I have used those exact words?) of masturbation. We have been introduced to a new, more sensitive, sophisticated, less graphic phrase for it: self-cultivation. Isn't that special??