New Addition

And so my hubby thinks that our household isn't busy enough, we have added a new member to our family...he is an 11-week old Puggle....a cutie who stole the heart of my kids and hubby, he is slowly growing on me....alright, he stole mine too.

We had been talking about getting another doggie, but had decided to wait till Spring...well alas this little fellow fell into our paths and when I saw my hubby holding him and kissing his face, I knew I had no choice. I tried to play hardball...telling him it wasn't the right time, it was getting close to winter and I really didn't want to deal with potty training, and I wasn't sure if it would be fair to Barney and Pongo, but I lost. I knew I lost and I sometimes wonder why I even try.

This little brown nose pup slept on my lap on the way home, nuzzling me and all the while I remained like I didn't care and then when hubby went into the store to get some of the necessary puppy things, I melted.

So far he is doing great with Barney and although Pongo is not quite sure what to think, he is slowly warming up, letting this little one come close enough to touch before Pongo darts off to some corner of the house.

Hubby named him Yoder, but the kids are calling him Yoger and so I've started calling him that as well...I can tell he will be a mischief maker and into everything....ahh the joys of puppyhood.

The Weather is a Changing

It is starting to rain, okay pouring and we are expected to get snow flurries on Friday, which is of course normal for this time of year in Iowa, but I must admit that we've had some really outstanding, beautiful weather these past few days and I'm not sure I'm quite ready for the cold weather, burrr.

I've enjoyed taking the kids out to the park and just playing outdoors with all the changing leaves, which I might add have taken over our backyard.


My little sweet pea asked me when winter was coming and I told her soon enough, she said she is excited for snow angels, ahh the innocence of childhood. I on the otherhand get crabby and depressed....I woke up this morning and could feel the grumpiness inside me wanting to push out...I hate it.

And alas America's next president was chosen, Barack Obama and it was the biggest voter turnout in history. Congratulations to Obama and all his supporters, I was not one, but I am indeed proud of this moment in history.

Election Day Drawing Near

Election Day is near and the media is already projecting who the winner is and in all honesty, I hate discussing politics, because people get so emotional about it, it is like you can't even have a rationale conversation, but since I'm not really conversing here, I wanted to rant and that is what I'm going to do.

First, I was drawn into Obama immediately, I was so excited when he won here in Iowa and indeed I thought that I would vote for him, but I have changed my mine....so now you must be thinking that I'm voting for McCain...at this point, he is out too.

I'm going to vote third-party this election. I am so disgusted with the way both campaigns have run that I really don't believe we are not living in a democratic society, it is biased and it is heartbreaking and both camps should be ashamed, these are the two candidates that are suppose to be our next leaders...seriously? And not to mention that third-party candidates don't get any coverage, even if their ideas are sometimes better.

But here is what really bothered me about Obama, one was his experience, since he has been campaigning most of the time, he has only spent about 146 days in the senate and the other issue I had was the Reverend White incident, how can you honestly say you had no idea of the beliefs and thoughts regarding the person whom was an advisor and has played a role throughout your life, for me, I would have had more respect for him had he been honest about it and frankly Obama is just saying what people want to hear. The other issue I have is the media has purposely withheld information regarding Obama when they wouldn't give McCain the same and considering I got my undergrad in mass communication and journalism, I was taught that you don't pick a side and that sadly isn't the case, here is an article that I found interesting http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDFkMGE2MmM1M2Q5MmY0ZmExMzUxMWRhZGJmMTAyOGY=

Now don't get me wrong, there have been things McCain has said that I think, seriously and I think his choice of vice president was purely to get him up on the polls, she has been more of a disappointment than anything else, so I decided about a month ago that I would vote for one of the many third-party candidates.

It would be my way of saying, I'm tired of this government bullshit and popularity contest, which that is what this is boiling down to and then the comment that Biden makes regarding Obama. "Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking," Biden said.
"Remember I said it standing here, if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. And he's gonna have to make some really tough -- I don't know what the decision's gonna be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it's gonna happen," Biden continued.

Okay, that was scary...and granted I think any future president is going to be tested, but really, this is what you think of your running mate? Yet, it got me thinking that perhaps the democratic party is using Obama as a sacrificial lamb...they have made so many comparisons about Obama and JFK and even with comparing his wife to Jackie O, Obama will have two small children when he takes the presidency and so did JFK....so it makes me wonder if there is someone who knows something more and will there be an assassination attempt on him if he gets in? I really hope not, but there are indeed some backass people in this country and if that were to happen, will American people unite as they did when JFK died or will it tear us apart?
Or if by chance McCain does pull the votes to win, will it create turmoil within or will people shout racism or cheaters? We are indeed living in a historical moment, there is no doubt that history will be made on Tuesday, but are we prepared to deal with the outcomes regardless of who takes office, it will be a battle ground for either.
And as I am continually told, that a vote for a third-party candidate is a waste, they have no chance of winning, true, yet I hear from so many that they feel the same way as I do, but they can't vote third-party, well perhaps if all of us who felt the same way did vote third-party, there could have been a chance for real change and for me, I'm voting for the candidate that best aligns with my views.



"The key to change.....is to let go of fear." - Rosanne Cash

Happenings

Yesterday, I spent most of my day at the hospital having the series of tests needed to see if I am healthy enough to donate my kidney to my mom. They couldn't get a vein in my right arm, so they took everything from my left and now I have an arm that looks like it has been beaten, but oh well, compared to what my mom goes through every other day on dialysis. I was so tired when I got home later that day that I went to bed. Today, I'm meeting with the donor advocate and then in December/January I'll be meeting with the doctors to discuss my results and the actual surgery...and after all that then the transplant committee will meet to discuss if it is something I can proceed with or even if my mom can withstand another transplant.
When I was talking with the transplant social worker, I started crying - I think it was all the testing and he was asking why I want to do this and when I started talking about my mom, I just started crying...I felt silly.

On a lighter note....later on that night, my sweet pea asked for some milk and she was standing next to me as I was pulling the milk container out, which has a small chicken on the container (Target's Archer Farm Organic milk) and she says, "No! Mommy not that milk....that's chicken milk...yucky!" Hubby and I just started laughing hilariously because I didn't even notice the chicken and when I asked her what made her think it was chicken milk, she points to the roster, which I said...I'm not sure why that is on there, but I promise it isn't chicken milk. She looked at me cautiously and said, "You drink it," so I did and she followed....
The things kids say.....

And if I don't post it on time.....Happy Halloween....

Class Assignment

Okay, so I decided to post one of my class assignments on my blog, it is my Presentation Prowess assignment, which was to create a presentation using a combination of visuals and text, plus audio that is an instructional message...teaches somebody something. I had a terrible time trying to narrow down a topic, but I did and here it is....

Why do the trees fall off the leaves?

A question posed to me from my inquisitive little girl. I giggled when she asked me because the perspective from children is sometimes so different and they make things seem so simple. So both hubby and I explained to why trees fall off the leaves and she smiled and said, "oh, so does that mean snow will come next? I can't wait for the cold to make snow."

In the meantime I told her that if it was nice this weekend, that we can go for an adventure in the woods looking at all the different colored leaves. My little man yelled with excitment once he heard "adventure." I'm glad that they enjoy being outside, which reminded me that we took the kids camping for the first time two weekends ago. It was a last minute, spur of the moment decision on a Friday afternoon, so I think had we prepared a bit things would have gone better, but when we first got out there, I thought I was going to scream. The kids were so excited they were running everywhere while I was trying to set up our tent (which one of the poles broke as I was setting it up) and proceeded to take off into the woods running after daddy (although he didn't see them following). And the kids did not get the concept of "stay away from the fire" they kept wanting to throw the smores in the fire and my little man stuck a marshmallow on a stick that was just about two inches long and tries to roast it....yes, stressful and thankfully there were no hurts or booboos. It reminded me of something that should have been in one of Chevy Chase's National Lampoon Vacation movies.

And as I told hubby we were not trying this again for a while, my kids informed me of what a great time they had as we snuggled up for bed in our lopsided, broken tent and I realized that it really was a great time because that is our lives, crazy, stressful, and fun.

"Corn and grain, corn and grain, All that falls shall rise again."- Wiccan Harvest Chant

Waiting with growing frustration

Okay, if you read my blogs, you know that back in June, I blogged about the sewage that backed into our basement as well as into seven other homes on my street. Well we filed a claim with the city's insurance and we are still waiting for a decision as well as everyone else that has filed a claim to my knowledge. This happened the first weekend in June and we are now entering the first weekend of OCTOBER....4 months....what is the deal!
My hubby called and they said they were close to coming to a decision, this was three weeks ago. I know that they are in the interest of protecting the city, but this past week, I've been seeing survey crews and this morning I see a sewage pumping company on my street. We were told by a city employee that our street is the problem street b/c it goes from 16 inches to an 8 inch sewage drain, so it gets backed up on our street. He told my hubby that he informed the city of the problem when he first started 15 years ago and wanted to get an RFP to get it fixed, the city officials asked him how often would sewage backup occur and they decided it wasn't a big problem.
Yes, I posted that our basement was near completion, but there are still minor things that need to be done, that we are waiting for and not mention the personal belongings that we lost and waiting to replace since our insurance only covered structural damages. I can't tell you how upset I'm going to be if we have waited four months for them to turn around and tell us they are denying our claim, but my hubby said that we will proceed with a lawsuit if that happens. We are not even asking for everything we lost, we are only asking for what wasn't covered by our insurance and we didn't ask to be compensated for some things. We talked to our neighbors and they are asking for twice as much as what we are asking....the more I think about it, the more I think the city's insurance is just waiting us out, errrr!!!! It makes me so mad, especially when I see these crews on my street, looking at the sewers, which gives me the impression the city is surveying the sewers....yet there is no problem according to the city?!