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Summer Days

MOVING TO MEXICO

Dear Mr. President:

I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me.

We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico , and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.

We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws.

I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over?

Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. Please print all Mexican government forms in English.

4. I want my grandkids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.

5. Tell their schools they need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my grandkids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.

7. Please plan to feed my grandkids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico but I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put U. S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.

13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

14. I want to receive free food stamps.

15. Naturally, I'll expect free rent subsidies.

16. I'll need Income tax credits so although I don't pay Mexican Taxes, I'll receive money from the government.

17. Please arrange it so that the Mexican Gov't pays $4,500 to help me buy a new car.
18. Oh yes, I almost forgot, please enroll me free into the Mexican Social Security program so that I'll get a monthly income in retirement.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who walk over to the U.S. from Mexico . I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help. You're the man!!!

I posted this post the other day and somehow it ended up back on April 6th, not sure why but I am re posting it!

Today I have less than two month deadline till my feet touch the salty sands of AP beach and it hits me that I have like zero time left. This is my neurotic side kicking and trying to freak myself out. Well its working.
Some hard choices need to be made and made now as to avoid split decisions we will pay for for a long time. We have two dogs, two ferrets and one cat and we have to figure out what we are going to do with them all. Monty the cat is easy as my grandma can stop by at night and feed her but expecting or even asking my grandma to take care of Koda and Kenai again is not an option. Koda's future is uncertain and that weighs heavily on me, knowing that it will be I who makes the decision on whether we get him fixed and HOPE it works (even the vets aren't so sure this will curb his "attitude problem") or to put him down. Kenai on the other we are looking at finding her another home, one where she gets out in a yard more to run and her owners have more time for her.
The ferrets are joining us in our long trek up and we are excited for you all to meet them. Luna and Amy will soon go in for their shots and papers and they will be official! The vet visit for them should not be too bad as they count as one, we would have to pay extra for their shots. Still trying to figure out if I should stuff them both in one bag or should I go legit and go with two (75 vs 150 plus cost of extra kennel). I do not think the airlines is going to open it up and let them out to check but you never know.
I am also thinking of things like traveling for the first time with an infant. This has me a bit freaked out as I do not know how Shane will do since he is still breast fed and he LIKES his schedules. I am already accepting of the fact that I will be that parent with the whiny baby stuck on a plane for eight hours. I am not sure how we are going to work it out with the restrictions on what you can carry (formula and breast milk) so the airlines will be getting a weird call to have those questions answered.
I have already started to mentally pack and with the charges we will face at the ticket counter for our bags, I am thinking bare necessity. I am going to do the math tonight and see if it would be more cost effective to send things up with flat rate shipping or just pay the baggage fee.
If using the postal service is more cost effective you can look forward to seeing boxes marked for the moose den arriving soon!
Then after we leave I have to worry about my house. We are only leaving poor Monty and while she requires minimal attention but our house can not look like no one lives here. So now I am having to pay for yard service while I am gone which was supposed to be the land lord's job. I sure wish I had family I would trust to stay in my home while I was gone!
Rental car and hotel reservations, vet visits and long phone conversations with the airlines.
Bags for travel and kennels to be bought...
Appointments to be made...
House to be cleaned and secured so when I get back the end of July all I have to do is put on clean sheets...
All this and regular life going on, like a boy turning 9!
Really?
Is he really nine?
Wow, he is almost out of the single digits!
Well that has been my whiny unfocused post and now I will quit my complaining and start doing, as time is RUNNING out!
Just know that while I complain of the things to do I am SO looking forward to seeing the HITW recreation site and am looking forward to a glass of wine on my front porch!
Anyone care to join me?

Ragged Old Flag

I remember the ice cream. It was plain old Vanilla but it tasted so good and sweet on that hot day so good in fact I barely noticed the old man sit down next to me.
I sat there kicking my feet as fidgety kids often do and he smiled, a sad smile perhaps remembering a time long ago where he kicked his feet licking ice cream.
I looked at him sideways and started to investigate the old man next to me.
He must have been really old, his skin hung in folds and looked as though it was paper thin and if I touched it I was sure it would be feather soft. I looked at his hands they were in similar shape but were covered in brown spots and I imagined connecting those dots. His fingers were curled and gnarled and resembled more claws than fingers and in those "claws" I saw he was holding something.
At this point the old man looked over at me and smiled, noticing I was staring at him. He looked back out over the court square and even though I looked to see what he was looking at, I could see nothing.
The Nebraska wind blew and ruffled what ever he was holding and it drew my eyes back to his lap. His fingers uncurled even though it looked like it was painful he smoothed over the rough looking fabric with a proud look on his face. It was an old flag dirty, torn and frayed but still folded as neatly as possible.
He held that flag as gently as one would a baby as he sat on that bench and he looked back out into nothing remembering a time far off. I asked him where he got his flag and why was it so OLD looking. He looked at me and instead of being offended by my childish bluntness and naivety, he started to tell me a story. A story about how he had become to know the flag he now carried on his lap. I look back now and wish I could have that conversation again and I wish I could remember his story in it entirety but I have forgotten most of it. What I did not forget was that his story was sad, he had been through World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War and he watched many fall but he said "Our flag did not."
I am not sure if he told me where he got the flag but in my mind now I can imagine where each and every spot, rip and tear came form.

This was inspired by Johny Cash's "Ragged Old Flag"

Feeling a bit down? How about upside down?

This issue was brought to my attention today as I looked at a few sites I support.
Groups who are against our current administrations decisions and policies are choosing to add pictures to their profiles depicting the US flag flown upside down.
Without looking up the actual causes that excuses hanging our country's flag upside down, I would have said that it was if you were in distress.
I then went on to look up the rules and regulations as to the proper display techniques for our nation's flag.
I do not agree that we as a country are at the point of hanging our flag upside down and to do so shows disrespect for the ones who have fought for what that flag stands for.
Some will argue that it is their right to express their dismay and displeasure with our current government officials by hanging this flag in the distress status.
What are you thoughts?

Angry, yes Racists, NO!

I am an American citizen and I am angry.
I am a member of the Tea Party movement.
I am not ashamed of either facts.

Everyday I read, write, learn and act.
I read current and past events in an effort not only to keep up to date but also to relearn the things I missed in my education and youth.
I write blogs for our movement describing daily my journey of rediscovering America and my government.
I act by going to Tea Party meetings and supporting our local efforts when I can.

I do not however have "hostility towards diversity" as our current administration would have you believe.
I am not a part of a robe wearing group that discriminates against a gender, race or religion. Tea Party members have a common goal to bring America back to the people and put the power of the people back to work and we are not doing this by violent means but by using the rights given to us by our founding fathers many years ago.
I want the elected officials to speak for the people that voted them there not their special interests.
I need a government I can trust in that will not continue to run us so far in debt that we have a made in China sticker stamped on our butts.
The name calling and accusations only tell me they are getting worried.
They know that America is starting to wake up and it does nothing but confirm that we are making REAL change.


Good morning America, would you like some coffee or how about some TEA?

Morning blog land, how are you today?
I have been away and I wish I could say that I was doing something extremely important but no.
The weather is looking nice for the day and it shows to be promising throughout the week.
Been looking at the increasing daylight and really do not need the Farmer's Almanac to tell me as the birds outside my window are doing a great job.
Heath is home today from work even though there is plenty to do right in this area and from the looks of things it will only be getting busier but WE needed a day off.
We are thinking of packing some lunches and going for a walk with the kids the fresh air does them good including poor Shane who has not seen too much of the outside world due to the winter months.
While we go for the walk here are some interesting things I found while surfing the web today.
I wonder sometimes if it is all really news but then I remind myself it ended up on my blog so it HAS to be!

Really? Do we care?

Now this says a bit about a person's loyalty.

How do you know when it is the best day to do something? Ask the stars!

Been too long

I have been absent and while I wish I could say I was doing something really important but I was not.
I will hopefully breath some life back into my blog and think of something witty to write about.
Eh...maybe tomorrow.
Today I think I will keep it simple.
The kids have been home over the last week and have been bored out of their minds...seems staying home everyday in the rain is not fun! They have had a few days to play outside with the weather improving enough to get my side and back yard raked and cleaned of winter poo and trash. Looks like now just in time for the rain but I suspect when it finally stops and the sun comes out we will have a full green lawn. There are patches of green grass already but for the most part my lawn is still brown and ugly.
I have been spending the time indoors learning how to sew and it is much harder than I thought but very full filling. I have bought one used sewing machine for $20 from Craigslist then found another a few days later for free and they came with everything one would need to start! They are both older machines but the older FREE one works the best and I prefer it over the newer one. I found a lady on craigslist that was giving away free fabric and I snagged it thinking i would get maybe a few good scraps only to find yards of fleece in many colors!
I made several sleepers for Shane, a couple of blankets, a bath robe set for a friends little boy and cloth diapers. I am also working on making a few dresses and have bought some cute material for Heather who would have thought I would have to wait over eleven years for my girl to wear dresses?
Heath is back at work full swing and we have all been adjusting after a very lazy winter. He has been working mostly in Nebraska but that will change as the fields every where start to thaw.
He has found two more deer antler in Kansas to add to his "shed" collection. They were found in two different spots but they are so similar in size that they could have been from the same deer!
The kids now have them in their rooms next to their beds.
Well I am going to bed and I will try to write in the morning!

A renewal of vows

This year marks Heath's and my tenth anniversary well actually November 27 of last year but still we have not reached eleven yet!
Heath and I have always talked about renewing our vows but never really put a specific time frame on it until now.
We are planning on doing a simple ceremony to mark the ten years of our marriage and then follow that ceremony with a reception in the HITW, inviting close friends and family.
We are thinking July 17th as that is one of the only weekend that does not have birthday, anniversary or baby due!
Let me know what you guys think!