Wordless Weekend - Summatime!

Grrr. Gimme.

I know you remember me telling you about the tornadoes in my home town. I realized my first post was incomplete, I was so overwhelmed by the news of it all and trying to stay in touch with my family to be sure they were alright, that I never posted a complete post about it.

Physically, they are all safe. My parents lost all the tall trees in their yard, but were so fortunate that none of them caused significant damage to their house. My Nana is safe, but she had a couple of trees come through her roof and damage her attic. The back bedroom has damage, but structurally, the house is salvageable. She also lost most of the trees in her yard, which I'm sad about, since she has been in that house for 55 years and the yard holds as many memories for me as the house does. But, she is safe also.

Why the "Grrr" title, you may ask. Well, I'll tell you why. My parents and Nana both have insurance. They pay for insurance on their property. Each month. Like good citizens. There are people out there grumbling for handouts because they "deserve it" and people like my 83 year old grandmother pay their taxes, pay their insurance premiums and are still waiting on insurance to do their part. Nana is on a fixed income, social security comes each month, she can't afford to pay a contractor to put a new roof on her house all on her own. That is why she pays for insurance. That is her money that the insurance company has not felt the need to come out and give her yet.

So yes. I'll admit it. It upsets me when I see & hear people complaining about the federal government not helping. I know not everyone can afford insurance. I realize that is a fact of life. So I don't think that people with no insurance are not as important as people without insurance. And I don't think that they are more important than the people with insurance. Obviously we are all people and we are all important.

But back to my 83 year old grandmother who has homeowners insurance. Why is she waiting on her insurance company to give her money that is due her? She has done her part. She had tree companies come out to give her quotes on cutting limbs and trees. She had contractors come out and give her quotes on fixing her roof and house. She saved them a step. She is waiting around patiently, while the housing project down the road from her is already being repaired.

That makes me angry. She's elderly, loves her home and still loves her neighborhood. It's also a safety issue at this point, because she can barely see the street anymore from her front window. Thank God my parents are in town to check on her.

She is very independent and has always been such a positive person with tremendous faith. When I spoke to her yesterday she was so down and sounded so sad. She actually said she thought it might be better for everyone if she moved into an assisted living facility. That made me more angry. Simply because the handouts are being addressed before the issues of people who have paid for their insurance companies to take care of them.

After I hung up the phone with her I started noticing that there are some people in our country who just have a handout mentality. Give it to me because I deserve it. Why do you deserve it? Why does anyone deserve it? I pay taxes, I am a good citizen, I have homeowners insurance, car insurance and health insurance. I do my part. Nobody gives me anything for free. Why don't I deserve it?

We celebrated Memorial Day yesterday. We celebrated the sacrifices others made for our freedom. Yes, this is a free country; free meaning we have rights and liberties that other countries do not. It does not mean everything comes at no monetary cost. We must work for what we have. If after working hard and trying to provide for our families we still need help, ok, lets see if we can get some help. But not because we simply deserve it.

(Just for the record, I am not anti-welfare or anti-aid of any kind. I am anti-handout for handout sake. Let's get it straight.)

I am now stepping down off my soapbox, and I am going to call my Nana and see how she is doing today.

She's All Growed Up

DH's sister Peanut graduated from high school this weekend. I can't believe it. She was 4 when I first met her and she was a small almost-6 year old when she was a flower girl in mine & DH's wedding 12 years ago.

She was beautiful and we are so proud of her. She is going to my alma mater in the fall, so I'm a bit proud of that too.

Way to go, Peanut!!!

Indiana Jones - I Saw It.

Don't worry. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone else, either. But we saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tonight. And we liked it. A lot.

Number One Son wore his authentic Indiana Jones hat (courtesy of DH) and gave the movie "Two Thumbs Up."

Do This or Else!

I have posted about annoying emails in the past. I know you have all gotten your share of emails like these. You know, the ones that say "Do this or your big toe will fall off."

This particular one I received last week sums up the frustration and humor at taking these just a bit too seriously! Enjoy!

I just want to thank all of you for your educational emails over the past year.

Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pass-time while driving alone is picking your nose. (Although cell phone usage may be taking the number one spot)

Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom. Yuck!

I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life. (I actually saw this on a news program, boil your water with your tea bag or mix in it)

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore and Uzbekistan .

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Have a wonderful day....

Oh, by the way......

A German scientist from Argentina , after a lengthy study, has discovered
that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

Love is in the Air

We went to a wedding this past weekend. We all went, the bride was a family friend. DH & I are friends with her parents and she lived with us for a brief time when Queenie was a baby.

So it was good to see them - the beautiful bride, her brother and her parents. I miss seeing them and hanging out.

Congratulations and best wishes K & N!

I've Gotta Go - We've Got Cows!

Hoping you recognize the quote from Twister. Ok, so there were no cows, but there are a lot of trees.

My hometown was hit by tornadoes early in the morning on Mother's Day. The worst tornadoes to hit the area in about 50 years from what I understand.
My dad sent me some crazy pictures of their yard after the storms. They lost all the really tall trees in their yard. And. The tree house tree.
But all are safe. I will post more pictures when I get them. My Nana's house got hit hard, I really want to see pictures of that.