Call me "adaptable"

Okay, so I've discovered that I am quite incapable of just keeping my mouth shut about politics. For those of you who don't enjoy my political posts, I'm terribly sorry. But, as was mentioned in a comment from Cassie, if we were friends IRL (in real life) odds are good we'd be talking about this face to face so why would it be wrong to "talk" about it in Blogland? However...in the interest of maintaining variety, I'll make an effort to throw in some stuff other than politics, too. After all, it's not like I sit around IRL, talking about politics 24/7. Okay, so maybe I do, but variety is the spice of life, right?, so I'll work on spicing things up a bit. I'll start with this post and we'll call it "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".
Here's "the Good"... my 3rd child's senior pictures:
PICTURE DELETED BY BLOG OWNER
Isn't he adorable? This is Kaleb, my most kind-hearted child. Don't worry - I'm not showing favoritism. I think even his siblings would agree with that characterization. Kaleb is so kind-hearted, he can't even bear to kill a spider. He tends to "set them free", something that I, his arachnophobia afflicted mother, totally disagree with. In most areas of life, he's such a mature kid - I take that for granted sometimes. Like the day he had his senior pictures taken, for instance. I told him to wear the black dress shirt (he looks good in it, no?). I assumed that would be the extent of the wardrobe advice needed from me. I was wrong. I was a bit...taken aback when we got the proofs in and I saw that Kaleb had added the hat and the fingerless gloves and hadn't bothered to button the shirt. I knew I should have gone with him that day. But, even though this is not what I would have chosen for him to wear, I think the pictures themselves came out pretty darn good. We're going to have more pictures taken when he receives his letterman jacket. (I think I'll attend that photo shoot and make sure those gloves don't put in another appearance.)
Now for "the Bad": I was watching TV the other day when an advertisement came on for some new diet cookies.

Before any cookie company lawyers start preparing a lawsuit against me, let me make clear that I am not commenting on the effectiveness of this product. Their commercial cracked me up, though. Not for their claim that these cookies can help you lose weight...no, no, no. The funny thing to me was when they said "Many clients comment that they have actually saved money on our program by eliminating the need to purchase food." When I heard that claim, I thought "Geez! Now even these diet places are appealing to our economic fears!". Ummmm, don't most all nutritionists say that we should eat a balanced diet for optimal health? Eliminating food seems like an awfully drastic diet plan to me. lol

Now for "the Ugly"...Barack Obama's Tax plan. I've been doing some research on this tax plan. I've found points from the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Brookings Institute. Who are they, you ask? The more conservative American Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation, along with the more liberal leaning Brookings Institute, are generally considered the three most influential policy institutes in the U.S. Here's what they have to say about Obama's tax plan. This chart is from the American Enterprise Institute and it shows the effective Marginal Tax Rates of Obama's plan compared with the current tax law:See how Obama's plan can actually raise taxes for us "middle class people"? By the way, wondering what "Marginal Tax" means? Yeah, me too. Here's the definition for you:

Marginal Tax Rate
The amount of tax paid on an additional dollar of income. As income rises, so does the tax rate.
Notes:Many believe this discourages business investment because you are taking away the incentive to work harder.

Uh, huh. Really clear, isn't it? I'm not an economist, I don't get the tax code all that well, and a lot of this is gibberish to me (hey, I'm being honest here! The only math I'm really good at is figuring out how much an item will cost me if it's on sale. You give me the starting price and tell me the percentage off, I can tell you PDQ just exactly how much that item will cost in the end. lol). However, you can go to the wikipedia link here for a better explanation. (Maybe. Depends on your aptitude to decipher economic talk, I guess.) Anyway, while I don't have a firm grasp on this subject, I think I understand what the basic gist is. And I don't think it's as good for us "middle Americans" as we've been led to believe.

Now here's what The Heritage Foundation had to say about Obama's tax plan:

Among the more prominent elements of his tax proposal, Senator Obama would end the Bush tax cuts and allow the top two tax rates to return to 36 and 39.6 percent. He also would allow personal exemptions and deductions to be phased out for those with income over $250,000. The real kicker, though, is that Senator Obama would end the Social Security payroll tax cap for those over $250,000 in earnings. (The cap is currently set at $102,000.) These individuals will then face a tax rate of 15.65 percent from payroll taxes and the top income tax rate of 39.6 percent for a combined top rate of over 56 percent on each additional dollar earned.
High-income individuals will be forced to pay even more if they live in cities or states with high taxes such as New York City, California, or Maryland. These unlucky people would pay over two-thirds of each new dollar in earnings to the federal government.

Wow! Are we simply out to punish success in this country? You know, I'm not happy about those Wall Street CEOs and their outrageous pay packets, either. In fact, I think it's absolutely ludicrous what these people have been paid in salaries and bonuses. Heck, I'm just as outraged about the huge sums of money actors and athletes get paid in this country. It's crazy! But make no mistake, people. We're not talking about those "ultra rich" people here. These are people who make over a quarter of a million dollars a year. Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it's not an outrageous sum of money. To tax those people at such a rate should bother each and every one of us. These people are not the greedy bastards that ran Wall Street into the ground...they are people who managed to excel in America, something this country has always advocated for. Punishing them for that is not the American way, nor should it be. Here's more from The Heritage Foundation:

Historically, Senator Obama's tax rate would be the highest individual tax rate since the Jimmy Carter days. Tax shelters and tax avoidance strategies were common when the top marginal rate was 70 percent or higher. This new top tax rate will again encourage these gimmicks, reducing investment and economic growth as resources are squandered in an attempt to avoid punitive taxation.

As to the effect on our work force, The Heritage Foundation says this:

These high tax rates could also have a large impact on the labor force. Many workers could choose to reduce their hours or simply retire in the face of such high taxation. Economists usually argue a great deal about what effect minor changes in the tax code will have on incentives to work. However, the Obama plan calls for a tax increase so large that economists will be focusing on the harm to the overall economy rather than just the isolated effects on labor and on capital.

You can read the entire article from The Heritage Foundation by clicking on this link.

Okay, so you think these are just the views of conservatives. Fine. They are. They make sense, but I can see where a liberal would find them suspect. So here's the breakdown from The Brookings Institute as outlined in the Washington Post (click to enlarge):

Looks like Obama is really sticking it to the rich, eh? And what's wrong with that, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. Many of those rich people are the ones who own the companies that employ Americans. You start punishing them for their success and you'll soon find them taking those jobs elsewhere (to a place more friendly to their bottom line) or downsizing their success (and therefore OUR success) in an effort to escape the burden of those outrageous taxes. You'll probably see an increase in the demand for CPA's, though. Everybody and their dog will be hiring them to navigate the way through the tax code in search of each and every loophole available. Also, many of those rich people are the ones who make the biggest contributions to charities. You start taxing them senseless and soon those charitable donations will begin to dry up. I guess that won't matter too much with the Obama doctrine, though. He seems to want the government to provide everything to every citizen. As Obama said, he wants "to spread the wealth around". Sure it's quite a romantic concept, isn't it? I mean heck, America fell in love with this idea back when Errol Flynn slipped on a pair of tights and took on the Sheriff of Nottingham. But do you know what this concept truly is, ladies and gentlemen? It's called SOCIALISM. The definition of socialism?

so·cial·ism (sō'shə-lĭz'əm) n.
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

Honestly, people. Look at that chart, the one from The Brookings Institute. It shows you that Obama is taking from the richest and giving to the poorest. Many of you think that's okay. It's not. I'm all for eliminating poverty, but this isn't the way to do it. This is America. We're supposed to strive for success, not aim for mediocrity. Why can't some of you see that's what Obama's plan is geared towards? When did you confuse Wall Street's greed with Main Street's hard work? If socialism is the abhorrence to you that it is to me, you'd better start spreading the word so that your friends and neighbors will feel the need to look into this themselves. As always, don't take my word for anything. Do the research yourself. And decide for yourself which way you want this country to go...

The Silver Lining of Hurricane Ike (for me anyway!)

I found out last Thursday that one of my blogging buddies, Jayme, from down near Houston was evacuating to get away from Hurricane Ike. And where, oh where, do you think she and her family evacuated to? My little town, that's where! We were able to meet Friday for lunch. Here we are at Applebee's, just finishing up. And if you read my previous post, you'll remember I mentioned a shirt that I will never, ever, ever wear again because I've now seen this picture and come to realize that my honkin' arms are ginormous and probably shouldn't see the light of day again!! I mean, hel-lo! I really must speak to Randey about letting me leave the house dressed like this. He should know better (ha!). Anywho, lunch was great fun - Jayme and I seemed to be able to talk like we'd known each other for ages! Then we did some shopping together. You all know how I hate shopping, right? But...I'm a good friend so I soldiered on along through store after store in order to show an out-of-towner a good time when they're visiting our fair little hamlet. Oh the sacrifices I make for others...(heavy sigh). Here's Jayme at Ross. We found these baskets and, for some reason, we both thought they were quite funny. They're "labeled". Wonder if the basket police will come take you away if they find you've put "books" in the "stuff" basket or vice-versa? And what's with that "laundry" basket? Laundry for who? Little, bitty, tiny smurf-like people? Here's Jayme and I at On the Border the next day. Yes. We enjoyed lunch a couple of times. So sue us. I have to say, I really enjoyed lunch this day. I luvs me some Mexican food, yessir I do. I love it so much, in fact, that I really, really need to just keep clear of it or I'll undo all the good I've done with Weight Watchers these past four months. lol Cheese and onion enchiladas..... ahhhhhhhhh. Here's a picture of Jayme's daughter, Saira, playing Randey's X-Box (and that's a whole other story we'll call The X-Box Debacle. I'll tell you about that at a later time). Jayme brought Saira over to our house when she came over to use the computer. Saira is a perfectly charming little child with the most wonderful accent and speech patterns. If you could hear her in person, you'd know what I mean. I really enjoyed talking with her. She's great. I also met Jayme's husband Chad and her son Ryan (who has perfect teeth, just let me say that. I know, it's a weird thing to mention, but his teeth were that good! lol). I know that Hurricane Ike was not a happy event by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm grateful that it allowed me to meet Jayme and her family in person. That's my little "silver lining" for this particular natural disaster. By the way, her house and property sustained very little damage by all accounts, although they are still without power and water, etc. Their little town did take a huge hit and I know it'll be a long road ahead of them before they are anywhere near normal again. Keep them all in your thoughts and prayers, if you would.
Here's what else I've been up to. Last year, my daughter-in-law Jodie, decided to do a fall themed tree to celebrate Autumn. This year, I decided to do one, too. What do you think of it?
Here's a full shot of the room. As you can see, it's a small tree. Just enough to make the room glow at night. I love it. Just looking at it puts me in a better frame of mind (geez...does that mean I'm easily influenced? Yeah. Probably. That's okay, though...I can deal with that knowledge. lol).
As some of you know (and thank you so much for your kind words about it!) Friday was my birthday. My son Kaleb, got me this:
House, Season Four! Yay! I love that show. My daughter got me a pair of sandals and a kitchen clock, both of which I need to take pictures of. I liked the clock so much, I hung it up right away and then forgot to snap a photo of it when I was preparing for this post! I'll fix that soon.
Then I got this in the mail yesterday from Annie. I was so touched by her kindness. I was sort of pouting about how I didn't hear from either of my parents on my birthday and was feeling kind of down about it when Randey walked in carrying the mail. Thank you, Annie. Talk about great timing. (I should clarify that I didn't really expect to hear from my parents on my birthday. My mom and I have issues and my dad's memory isn't what it used to be so not having either of them call was not a surprise. I was just being moody about it, that's all!) Anyway, I appreciate the gift and will get good use out of the book, I'm sure.
This is what I woke up to Friday morning:
Roses, a card and a gift. I was kind of surprised because the laptop was our birthday present to each other (Randey's birthday is 6 days after mine). But oh man, aren't these flowers pretty? I love them. And the card was just wonderful, too. By the way, the card says "Happy Birthday Sissy" because everyone in my whole entire family calls me Sissy, including my husband. That's because we were introduced to each other by my sister and his brother, who are married to each other. If Randey ever called me "Kari", I wouldn't know who he was talking to. lol Just goes to show you, people...you can get used to being called darn near anything. I've been called "Sissy" for so long, it doesn't even phase me anymore. :)
Want to know what was in the package from Randey? This thing:

A Jim Shore Halloween cat. I adore this cat. It's so perfect for this time of year and just makes me happy to look at it. I discovered Jim Shore stuff last year. I don't like everything out there that's made by him, but certain things just really appeal to me, for some reason. Like some of the cats. The ones with words like "freedom", "patience", "vigilance" and "curiosity". Love them! I also have a little chihuahua (in honor of Sydney the Wonder Dog, of course!) and a Jiminy Cricket with the words "Let your conscience be your guide!", a saying I've long been fond of, across the bottom of it and a Little Red Riding Hood "Granny" figure. I get a lot of pleasure from just looking at those figures. Don't know why, so don't ask. lol Anywho, my beloved daughter-in-law Jodie, knows of my love of some things Jim Shore. So...being the great gift-giver that she is, she found this to send me (and yeah, I just know she was the one responsible...Nick would have bought me a Star Wars thing instead! ha!) by the way, I'd have loved a Star Wars thing, too! Nick does know his mother pretty well. lol :
Isn't this witch and cat adorable? And doesn't it just put you in the mood for autumn and Halloween and cooler weather??? I love it. I don't think I'd actually seen this figure before. It's totally cool and I'm so glad she picked it out. (Check out the face on the broom. Cracks me up!) But the absolute most awesomely wonderful Jim Shore item ever made is this:
I had actually seen this in a Hallmark store here in town and came so close to buying it for myself. But I didn't. I've been spending way too much money on just "me" lately so I talked myself out of it. (See? I can exercise self control occasionally!) Then I received it from Jodie and Nick. Talk about being all smiles!!! I have spent more time just staring at this beautiful cornucopia. All the little details, the colors, the workmanship. I, quite simply, love love love this thing. Click on the picture to enlarge. You'll see what I mean. It's just darn cool to look at. Thank so much Jodie, Nick and Kara. I'm totally pleased with these two things. You spent too much, of course, but well heck...I'm thrilled with them anyway. Thank you guys! And thanks also to Susan, my BFF, for the gift card. I'll let you know what I end up getting with it. Decisions, decisions.

I guess that's about it for today. I have my weigh in tomorrow at my Weight Watchers meeting. I'm tired of agonizing over it, though. I've decided to take a totally radical approach this week. I'm gonna wear jeans and a heavier shirt and I might even leave my shoes on when I hop my butt up on that dreaded, evil weight measuring device those people call "scales". I know it'll make those scales say I've gained at least 3 pounds, but just think of how virtuous I'll feel next week when I wear my normal (and not nearly as heavy!) regular clothes. Yeah, so it's cheating. I don't care. I need to shake things up a bit and this seems like a perfectly harmless way to do that. I hope to get around to some blogs again soon. I've read a few, but need to go back and leave a comment now. But first I have to cook dinner for my dearly beloved. He's headed out of town Thursday so it's looking good for dinner out tomorrow night. But tonight, it's just me, slaving away in the kitchen (another heavy sigh). See you guys tomorrow!

Tennis Time

We went to Kaleb's first tennis match of the season this afternoon. I took my fancy dancy camera with it's fancy dancy telephoto lens. The good news is, I was able to figure out how to switch the lenses on that darn camera (after 10 minutes of trying before finally getting out the manual, of course). The bad news is...I still have no idea how to take great pictures. Who knew it could be so hard??? But I got a few action shots of Kaleb playing that should be good enough to scrapbook anyway. Here's him looking rather pensively at his opponent: Now the serve...he looks so intense, eh?
Another serve (this is only one of two shots that I actually got the ball in. lol):
Headed down court:
Kaleb said after looking at this shot that he could now see what he was doing wrong. Something about his left arm being too low. I really have no idea what he was talking about, but I was glad that the picture taking was able to help him out with that.

Check out his forward momentum. He was all ready to go for the return:
I love this shot. The look on his face just says it all to me.
And here he is after the match, ready for a break:
Sometimes when I watch Kaleb, I see shades of his older brother, Nick. I guess they have some of the same mannerisms and similar features. What do you think, Jodie? Do you see it, too?

I have to add a picture of Jake to this post since he was there cheering Kaleb on. Here he is, sitting along the fence line talking to Randey as we watched Kaleb's match. I think he was trying to explain the scoring system to Randey...for the umpteenth time. Randey had it down pretty good last year, but lost all his tennis acumen sometime over the summer (I never had any - baseball is my game. Tennis is harder to keep track of!). lol So now Jake and Kaleb have to walk us through it all again. (Love this, love that...I'll never get it right.)
This look Jake's giving Randey is one we both see a lot of. It's almost like the boy can't believe his parents are so totally ignorant. 'Course, at the same time, we can't believe our little darlin' is such a flippin' genius either. (Did that sound like sarcasm 'cause I sure meant for it to. LOL)

Howdy Strangers!

See this?Know what it is? It's my new laptop (and somewhere in Florida, Susan just fell off her chair laughing because one of the last things I said to her before she left Texas was that I "hated to break the news to Randey, but we're NOT getting a laptop!"). See, Randey suddenly started talking about the need for a laptop during their visit. Remember I had computer problems fairly recently, but that Randey had fixed the problems? Well, apparently, Randey the Soothsayer knew more than he was letting on about the health of my computer. I, however, was blissfully ignorant so when he started talking about a laptop "just for me", I thought he'd lost his mind. I mean, sure...it was a nice thought and all, but a laptop was a luxury, not a necessity because, after all, he'd fixed my computer, right? Well here's a little lesson for all of you. Apparently your computer simply cannot withstand the ravages of having three teenagers using it for all manner of downloads to Zunes, downloads of games, myspace discussions, etc., etc., etc. And while my old computer will still turn on (eventually) and it will still allow me to do certain things, it has also developed an annoying habit of totally locking up for no particular reason. I tried using Randey's work laptop for a while, but after I'd typed out this big, long, detailed comment on someone's blog and his computer opted for the "blue screen of death" rather than actually posting said comment, I lost my temper and threatened to send our family back to the stone age as far as computer ownership goes. Then, after we'd run to Target the next night for some little something, Randey casually suggested we head next door to Best Buy. And before I knew it, I was the proud owner of a new laptop of my very own. Now I just have to figure out how to use it - it took forever and a day to figure out how to download photos to it (and took even longer to find the stupid cord. I used to download pictures via the printer). But I think I'm back on track now. I've finally been able to do the "snack tip" post (which is right beneath this one). I also have a few more recipes to post and will be writing that post over the next 2 days. Meanwhile, check out the snack tip post and check out these cute little Halloween things we found for our youngest granddaughter, Kara:
Cute, huh? The little pumpkins on the booties rattle when you shake them. (Yes, ma'am - it's almost that time of year again!!!) Kara will be wearing little noise makers on her feet - hope she finds them as entertaining as I do (the boys and Randey are probably sick of hearing me shake them. lol). Speaking of the boys...Kaleb came home from work the other night and, after a stop in the kitchen, came to ask us "what's with the George Bush spaghetti sauce sitting on the counter?". Randey and I looked at each other, wondering what on earth was he talking about. This is what he saw:
Kids today. I mean really. I'm apparently only one of about 28% of Americans who actually still like W, but even I would never compare him to Paul Newman. Geez. My first instinct was to rush out and rent a copy of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in order to educate my child on the natural wonder that is Mr. Paul Newman. And if he ever looks at Robert Redford and calls him Dick Cheney, maybe I will. LOL

And they're off!

Today was the boys' first day of school! At long last. I've been waiting on this day for what seems like WEEKS! So why am I so bummed about it now? lol This is their idea of together time with Mom before the first day of school...lounged out on the couch, basically counting the minutes until they could leave (ha!). And here's where I made them "pose" for me before they left (although Jake's thumbs up thingy was his own idea. I think he was mocking me....). Now I ask you, does Kaleb look excited to be going to the very first day of his senior year of high school?? Not so much, does he?
I miss 'em already. It's gonna be a long year.

My blogging is still a bit sporadic. We have out of town company this week. My very best friend in the whole wide world (Susan) and her husband are here for a week (her husband, who is also in the Air Force reserves along with Randey, is here for work). Naturally, I feel morally obligated to take Susan around to every shoe store within a 50 mile radius, as well as any and all book stores we can manage to locate. I know, I know, it's a pain in the butt to look at all those shoes and find all those books, but somebody's got to do it and I'm willing to make the sacrifice because, well, she's my best bud and I know she'd do it for me (and has, actually!). Wish me luck and good shoe hunting, eh?

Childhood Reminders, More Art Attack (I'm so ashamed) and the REAL fine art in our home...

From the time I was 3 years old until I was 6, we lived in Japan. My dad was in the Air Force and that's where we were stationed at that time. I don't remember much really, except the earthquakes, my first boyfriend (slobber faced Mark, whom I loved with all my kindergartner's heart) and my dad making me ride my bike without my trusty training wheels (really think he could have been a little more sympathetic to my fear on this subject and a little less snarky). I wish I had retained more of the memories from our time overseas. Even some of the things I think I remember, I'm not sure are accurate. Frustrating. But anyway, last Friday Randey and I went "antiquing". That's what we call it when we go junk shopping. lol We were at a place in Ft. Worth and had just about finished walking through there when Randey spotted this: A Pachinko machine! Talk about sweet childhood memories! We played one of these all the time - my parents even brought one home from Japan when we moved stateside (sure wish I knew what had happened to that one!). I had seen one in another antique place in Benbrook, Texas a couple of months ago and showed it to Randey. But that one was $100, had pieces missing and was no where near in working order. This one, however, was marked $40 and seems to be missing just the "leg" braces and the actual Pachinko steel balls, which you can order on e-bay. I was so excited! We snapped it up, of course. Well, "snap" might not be the perfect word to describe what we did with it because the darn thing weighs a ton! Randey hefted it up and lugged it to the front desk. There. That's more accurate. This machine even came with original paperwork that shows it to be "reconditioned from Pachinko parlor use to home use". The date says it was reconditioned in 1973 and states that the machine was no more than 2 years old at the time of reconditioning. I have no idea what on earth I'm going to do with this beast or where I'm going to put it, but I do know that seeing it has allowed me to recapture a small and fun part of my childhood memories. (*big smile*)

Oh and one other thing we found is this (spotting that Pachinko machine must have brought us good luck!):

Another piece of "art". LOL This one is tiny - probably only about 5 x 7 inches, although the frame, of course, gives it a little more bulk. Kat says I'm not supposed to say how much I pay for art, so I won't tell you what it cost. Well, except to say Randey thinks it was the best $5 he's ever spent on a painting. HA! (Sorry, Kat I couldn't help myself. Buying cheap is just such a thrill for me. lol) So I guess we're still suffering from our art attacks after all. And while we have a lot of fun finding these landscape paintings together, our real art collection comes from our children. Let me show you what I mean...

See this? Jake did this one in 2nd grade and won first place in the Okaloosa County Elementary School Art Competition. I adore this masterpiece.
Jake also writes poetry and won a contest with this poem (you can click on it to enlarge it enough to read what it says). This poem was written when Jake was 13 and was published in a book of poems.
Kaleb's done a little artwork himself. Now I'm not normally a fan of Picasso and his ilk, but I like this one. Kaleb did it I think it 5th or 6th grade. Very cool. Kaleb also did this picture - I believe when he was in 9th grade. I love the intense colors.
Des did this metal rendition of a butterfly in one of her school classes years ago. Des was never one for enjoying crafting or anything so this object is particularly special. It's probably just about the only thing of its kind that she's ever done.
Now we come to Nick's artwork. You have to understand that Nick is my oldest (he's almost 7 years older than Desiree', my second child). When Nick was very young, we moved a lot. It was just him and me and we didn't really have any roots anywhere. Seeing as how we moved so often, I (sadly) don't have a lot of his "art projects" from school. In fact, the only reason I have this piece of art is because my Aunt Ginger saved it (she adored Nick - spoiled him rotten every chance she got and treasured everything about this kid). I'm so grateful that she saved this, Nick's "turkey hands".
Nick, however, is not so grateful. He says it makes him look like he's a tad bit goofy. Here Kaleb and Jacob have their Van Goghs and Picassos and even Des has a metal work that has a certain complexity to it and then there's Nick, with his turkey hands. Listening to him gripe about how I put all their work up together and his ends up looking somewhat "lacking" is actually half the fun, to tell you the truth. Naturally, I think his turkey hands are beautiful! And so will his children some day, when they see his artwork. I display our finest art on this wall, mainly:
My children...artists, every one. That landscape picture fetish Randey and I have is just for funnies. We know the value of real art. How could we not, with examples like this in our home?

My (Guitar) Heroes

I've got to quit looking at old pictures in my computer. Better yet, I've got to get them put on a disc so I can clean up my computer. Whilst perusing the more than 4000 photos currently cluttering up my hard drive, I came across this: Jake and Kaleb, playing Guitar Hero. Jake was even sportin' rock star hair back then. Oh, and that funny background you see? That's part of The Star Wars Room (aka: the computer room). Nothing says Rock Star quite like space ships hanging from the ceiling, eh? Well, maybe long hair, guitars and glassy eyes. Yeah, they probably say Rock Star better than an X-wing ever could. lol

Double take?

They say everybody's got a "double" in this world. A lookalike, a "twin". I don't know if I believe that about all of us, but I do believe it about some. I've posted these top two pictures before. This first one is, of course, Harry Potter. Well, actually, it's the actor, Daniel Radcliffe, who portrays Harry Potter in the movies (if you want to get technical about it). This second one is of Kaleb, taken last summer just after he stumbled out of bed. We used to tell him that if he had black hair, he'd look just like HP. (Oh, okay, so fine...maybe my love of J.K. Rowling's awesome character has colored my perception a bit. Maybe.)
I tried year after year to get him to dress up in a set of Hogwarts robes for Halloween, but he just wouldn't go for it. (sigh) I mean, geez, it's not like I planned on carving a lightning bolt scar in his forehead! You'd think the kid could have done this one little 'ol thing for his poor, sweet mama, eh? Hmph! Guess not, 'cause he wouldn't and he didn't.
This next picture is of my BFF Susan. (She's cussing me at this very minute because I've posted this picture). Hey Susan! Cuss all you want. You can't reach me from Florida! lol And, hopefully, you'll be calm by the time you can reach me. *grin* Anywho, I've always thought Susan looked like Princess Di in this picture.

Yeah, okay, so you have to ignore the cake in her mouth...but other than having her mouth full - what do you think?
Okay, I've got to run now. I mean, I've really got to run. I can hear Susan thundering after me as I type this. Not because I've compared her to Princess Diana, but because I posted her picture on my blog. Susan's worse than I am about having her picture taken. Uhhhhh, Susan....deep breaths, hon, deep breaths. At least your tan looked great in the pic, right? Well, it did in the original anyway. And if you'd been sweeter and just let me take a decent picture, I wouldn't have taken one with your face stuffed with birthday cake. Speaking of cake, remember this day? I think it was Desiree's birthday maybe? Back in '97? See? We've been friends for a long time now. Put that gun away! You're not going to shoot me for posting this. Help me! Help me! Somebody call 911...I think I see her pulling up in my driveway. (Wow! Who knew a person could cover 750 miles in under 10 minutes????)

P.S. Love 'ya, Susan! Remember, good friends are hard to come by so tossing me aside for posting one, little teenie weenie picture would be just plain foolish!