Some Things Friday for February 22, 2008

It has been a cold, rainy, icy and just flat out really bad week.

I received an email this week from one of my sisters informing me that another sister was diagnosed with lung cancer after being rushed to the hospital when she was unable to breathe.

It brought back memories of September, 1991. I was on vacation with my sister-in-law and called Tom about mid-week. He had talked to my mom. She had rushed my father to the doctor because he was having trouble breathing. When I called home two days later, Tom said my dad had been diagnosed with lung cancer. My father died 3-1/2 months later. Lung cancer in those final stages is deadly.

Although we don't have a full prognosis, it really doesn't look very good for my sister. The cancer has apparently spread to other parts of her body. If you are religious or spiritual at all, I ask that you keep her and her family in your prayers. If you are not religious or spiritual, please send positive energy or thoughts to her.


Some Things I Love:

1. Let me tell you something about my husband, Tom. For as long as I've known him, and from what I hear from his parents even before I met him, he was the straightest of straight guys ever. I am not talking about sexual orientation. For the most part, he did what he was supposed to do or at the very least what was expected of him. He went to school, really liked it and did well. He played sports, first football, then water polo. In high school and college he worked part-time, made his own money, bought his own car, never missed a birthday. After two years of college, he joined the Air Force, met the woman of his dreams (ME!), had kids and loved and provided for his family very well. He asked little for himself, but always made sure his wife and kids had the best. He dressed pretty conservative, kept his hair short, fingernails trimmed and shoes shined. So when he said he might want to get a tattoo about three years ago, I was more than a little surprised. Fast forward to this past Wednesday evening when he returned from Primal Urge Tattoos, where Ryan Cook did Tom's fourth tattoo. All of Tom's tattoos have an ocean or water theme: a sail boat, a hammerhead shark protecting a scroll carrying the names of his six grandchildren; a Portuguese Man o' War protecting a clown fish (Nemo) in it's tentacles; and the most recent one is a rendition of Neptune/Poseidon. So, Thursday morning I took photos of the new tattoo and sent them to our kids and two oldest grandkids. Our youngest son called Thursday evening to let his Dad know how much he liked it and asked for another photo to get a better idea of how big it was. I took this picture and sent it to Chris in an email:




Chris' email response simply stated: Men with cool tattoos should NOT wear PINK SHIRTS....

2. My daughter-in-law, Kathy, has asked me to give her some genealogical information for my side of the family. She wants to have a family tree ~ a family history ~ for her children. I admire this. A lot of parents don't realize how much their children care about their history. I didn't really have a lot. My mom didn't keep many photos and kept fewer records. What she did leave didn't give much information at all and whatever information other family members may have was never shared, so her request has sent me on a search, where I have discovered new information about my family, primarily my maternal grandfather and grandmother. It sends chills up the back of my neck when I see my grandmother's name on the entry documents when she arrived in this country. What would people do without the internet?

3. I would love to let my hair grow. I just know I would love it. If only I could get passed THE STAGE... Yep, that's why my hair is still short.

4. Cooking, but not today. Tonight Tom will cook and it will be wonderful!

5. I love all of the big newspapers that you can now read online. I'm a big news reader. The New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle along with all the other websites that are a part of the print media. You don't have to subscribe to any of them, although you might have to register, and you are saving trees!



Some Things I Hate:

1. My mother had an expression. When a person was being arrogant, and believed they were superior to and dismissive of another, she would say they were "looking down their nose" at the other person. That phrase is accurately and eerily descriptive when given a visual example:



These photos were not captured last night at the debate, but they could have been. Don't those looks say, "I'm the Decider" to you? God knows, we don't need another eight years of sneering or smirking.

2. Aside from how I feel about Barack Obama's candidacy and his ability to lead this country, when I read this article, which reported that Dallas police were told to stop screening people for weapons at an Obama rally, I was concerned. Stop screening for weapons? In Dallas? There are three things that worry me about this. First, wouldn't this be considered a major lapse in national security (at the very least), which calls into serious question the effectiveness of the Secret Service and Homeland Security. Second, there are still those people out there who still consider a threat, the rise of an African-American to any position in this country, let alone the Presidency. Those same people would attempt to destroy any message that black and white are equal. Third, the lack of security is made public. Why don't they just offer an open invitation to any wack-job on the street?

3. Heartburn in the middle of the night. Hours of burping. Hours without sleep. No wonder I am cranky this morning.

4. I hate seeing headlines about what happened on Survivor last night. I didn't watch it because I was watching the debate instead, but I am soooo tempted to look and see what happened. But I won't.

5. Hamburger! After the recall this month and the video of what they were doing to the cattle, I may be off of hamburger for good.

Some Things I Don't Get:

1. According to this article, banks have "quietly" borrowed $50 Billion from the U.S. Federal Reserve to bale them out of their mortgage crunch. Do you think that money will be used to help the 1.3 million homeowners in foreclosure? No, I don't either.

2. Okay, you know all those words that people create for individuals or groups of supporters using the candidates name? Hillbot, Obamabot, Obamania, McLame and on and on. Well I have created a new one ~ Obamincindent: The act or occurence of excessive Obama reverence or adoration. Thursday morning I was treated to yet another Obamincident that left me shaking my head in profound disbelief. According to a short (thank God!) article in the Baltimore Sun, Senator Obama received APPLAUSE when he stopped in the middle of a speech to blow his nose. Applause???? Come on, people. What are you thinking?

3. So now the media, mainly the New York Times, is apparently delving into the sex lives of politicians. Right now it's John McCain, but the whole trend started with Bill Clinton. Political rivals seemingly will stop at nothing to smear another candidate and the media plays right into their greedy despicable plots. Granted, with McCain it is allegedly a lobbyist with whom he was sexually involved and, therefore, the appearance of conflict of interest. But, I don't care about their sex lives. I've seen the videos of the guy who says he had sex with Obama. If he did, I don't care. I don't care if Ted Haggard is gay. I don't care if Larry Craig is gay or bi-sexual. I don't care if Jimmy Swaggert had sex with a prostitute. I don't care if JFK had sex with Marilyn Monroe. I may call them on their hypocrisy of their votes and make a joke about their denial, but I DON'T CARE!! And, I don't understand why anyone else does either.

4. Why do people think reality tv is reality? I love it, but it's not really real... well,except for John & Kate plus Eight... maybe, just a little... Oh, yeah, and Survivor. Okay, never mind.

5. It rains here a lot. In the winter, we get ice and, sometimes, snow storms. But, it never ceases to amaze me how ill prepared the road services (and the drivers) are when the weather finally hits. No sanding or plowing during the storms, but they will sand the ice afterward. And, they merely close the schools and other services. States like New York, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado and places like Lake Tahoe (Nevada and California) could pick up some extra pocket money by developing courses in winter storm preparedness to present to states like Arkansas that don't have a clue what to do when weather strikes!