My Own Thoughts

I’ve been blogging for five years this month. That seems like either too much or too little. Today I had someone ask a question about a post from two years ago and I read stuff I didn’t remember. Also I was looking through posts to see if I had already said something I was thinking [...]

despite the implication by a commenter that there aren’t. (My dad is one.) But this Chicago attorney discussed at Blackfive is NOT one.

For decades, we’ve all been paying a hidden shoe tax. Critics say it’s a regressive levy that’s only hurting low- and middle-income families. Now Congress is considering legislation that would eliminate the tax on low- to moderately-priced footwear, including children’s shoes—the footwear that families on the tightest budgets have to buy. The tax got its [...]

brought to you by Ron at Atypical Homeschool (He said we could tag ourselves. So, tag, I’m it!) 1. I am overly addicted to navel gazing. (You probably already knew that from the tag.) 2. I hated reading literature in college and grad school, even though I am an English MA and PhD. 3. Sometimes [...]

Psalm 124 1 If the LORD had not been on our side— let Israel say- 2 if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, 3 when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; 4 the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over [...]

I was led to pray for the next president. I will not be voting until the contest is probably down to one or two in my party. But I thought of the US and why we were founded. Did you know we were unique at the time? We may still be. We were created so [...]

By the time Texas votes, the candidates will probably be already chosen. Iowa 1/3 New Hampshire 1/8 Michigan 1/15 Nevada 1/19 South Carolina 1/26 There are heaps of states voting 2/5. Texas doesn’t vote until March. North Carolina doesn’t vote until May! Does anyone there go to the polls? Is there any reason? I am [...]

I sent Christmas cards to 70 soldiers who are in Iraq over the holidays. I also got other people to write, too. So I mailed a total of 250 cards. I got a three page letter in response to one card! I was amazed. It tells the whole story of how she ended up in [...]

My grandmother-in-law cooked all her life for a living. These biscuits are a family favorite and are still served at the restaurant where she cooked. It’s a true road food restaurant in Springdale, Arkansas. The walls are decorated with a living bee hive, many Indian arrowheads, some animal heads, and family photos. There are other [...]

I apparently got this from my MIL while we were at their house over Labor Day to see Pappa and Grama. 1 c butter 1 c sugar 2 eggs 1 c raisins 1 tsp baking soda 4 T raisin juice (see recipe) 2 c AP flour 2 c oats salt 1/2 t cinnamon 1 t [...]

The story: We went to visit Grama and Pappa on Labor Day weekend. The fact that Pappa was dying was eerily obvious. “He wasn’t all there,” is how my husband put it. The fact that Pappa was dying brought to mind the fact that Grama might die too. So I went to get her pound [...]

I know the simple thing is to break it down into smaller pieces and get each one done. But today that isn’t working to fool me into doing it. Instead I am thinking about the twenty or thirty small pieces it will take to get done. I’m not liking that at all.

Red State says that China has a much smaller economy than ours and therefore isn’t as big a threat as perceived. I will say that the information is interesting and new, but an economy smaller than ours can still get a bigger military with conscription and a heavier economic investment. Right on the Left Coast [...]

I quit writing this list in October. I only started including romance novels around the fifteenth of September and I didn’t keep a careful listing. For example, I read three in the bookstore today and so don’t have them at hand to list the names. 11 fiction 36 mysteries 18 children’s books 46 science fiction [...]

Classes at Community College 2- So far only three of them are making. I don’t want to have two night classes there and a third at CC1. I would prefer to work part-time to that. It is partly my need for a certain schedule, but I had that schedule before the rest. Youth minister search- [...]

We are bringing in three youth minister candidates this month. One of them lied in his philosophy of ministry sheet. I would have thrown him out, but I’m not in charge of the universe and other people see it as “only exaggerating.” I think that is a problem. One of them asked if they could [...]

Guns will be harder to buy if Illinois legislators get their way. And it will be almost impossible to be a gun dealer in Illinois. Who is doing this? The Cook County Board of Commissioners is the governing body for a region that contains the City of Chicago and 132 other municipalities. It is the [...]

was a duke of Bohemia (later part of the Czech Republic) in the 900s. He was a Christian, as was his father and grandmother. His mother was a pagan, as was his younger brother. His father died when he was 13 and his mother became regent. She murdered his grandmother. She also discouraged Christianity, banishing [...]

They contain mercury and are dangerous if broken. They can’t just be thrown away because they contain mercury. CFLs are not for use in track, recessed or dimmer fixtures. ….You as a consumer will be required to find certified waste recycling centers to turn in your dead and broken bulbs. ….The industry is currently aiming [...]

There are lots of sites out there giving different names of the author and different times when it was written. But this one seemed to have the most authenticity, including dates and places the piece was actually published. Written by former Marine Corporal James M. Schmidt, in 1987 when stationed in Washington D.C., it was [...]