Thursday, April 30, 2009

Kids Willing To Help

I was taking sheet rock off of a wall a few days ago so that I could move the wall & make the room larger. I started taking the large pieces of sheet rock out side to load in the truck & my 2 year old grandson, Emerson was carrying a small piece of sheet rock out to help me. For me it was work but for him, he was helping & it appeared to be a game because he was laughing & wouldn't stop until all the pieces were put outside. I stopped to take some more pieces off the wall & didn't realize that he wasn't watching cartoons with his sister, he was watching me because as soon as I picked up another piece, he yelled with happiness & jumped off of the sofa to help.
I learned a lesson that day, we should follow the example of children, when somebody needs help we should hurry as fast as possible to help them & when we are helping them we should be happy we can help another in need. To often we whine & complain about helping others & do it because we are supposed to or because we have to. I know there are times when we do it right but there are many times when we don't. I am just making an observation that we should enjoy helping others & never complain about it.
Thank You Emerson for being such a great example to PaPa.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

What Is An American

I just received a forwarded message which originated from a person in Australia & in that message, the person writing the article was referencing a Pakistan newspaper article, which offered a reward for anybody who killed an "American".
In the Australian man's response, he wanted to let everyone know who an American is & what an American does?
I thought about this for quite awhile & felt the need to share it with you. Hopefully you will remember how blessed you are to be an American & will be motivated to stand up for the freedoms we are losing & the ideals that make us great.

To Kill an American:
You probably missed this in the rush of news, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper, an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!) 'An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish , Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan. An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.An American is Christian , or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan .. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence , which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country! As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan
The national symbol of America , The Statue of Liberty , welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11 , 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must.. Hitler did. So did General Tojo , and Stalin , and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself . Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Reality TV

Do you really think that reality tv is normal people acting normal or is it normal people trying to be famous? I think that it is the 2nd thought & that nobody can act normal when surrounded by camera people & if they are acting normal, they are clinically insane because if you can actually be yourself, knowing that people all over the world are watching every thing you do, you are so much into yourself that nobody else can ever get in which would be insanity.
I have thought about being on reality shows like survivor because I have a lot of the survivor skills but are you kidding me, I don't know how you could be a normal nice person when you have deception & game playing going on around you all day & night. Once again the reason for being on the show wouldn't be for acting normal, it would be for money which I guess by the nature of tv, would make you famous at least for "15 minutes".
The excitement of playing a game of life skills is enticing but the down side could be catastrophic so for my desire to act normal on a show which claims to be reality, won't happen. For those that think reality tv is real, I have 3 words for you. WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT.

Things To Do--Places To Go--People To See

I don't know what goes through my head when I accept civic responsibilities, volunteer for committees, groups, fund raisers, kid programs or activities but I can't seem to say no. It can drive my poor wife crazy & just by the nature of committing to so many activities & meetings, I believe I must border on in sanity or at the very least, "OWSMO" better known as (obsession with sharing my opinion) haha. Another term I use is "CID" (compulsive involvement disorder).
Regardless of which term you use or if you have a term of your own, I am involved at any given time in 3-8 outside of work & family activities, groups, committees or kid programs.
I am currently mentoring two boys, one is an 8th grader & one is a freshman from two different families, I am co coaching a 7/8 grade girls softball team with a co coach which is as great as there could be, I am on a school Board with 3 school sites, I am on a National forest advisory group which protects the rights of everyone to use the National Forest & I am on two water groups which strive to protect & preserve water rights for the community I live in.
I question whether this obsession/desire to protect the community & those who live here outweighs my ability to sit back & enjoy life? Maybe it is nuts to think anyone can make a difference & maybe I am warped to think anything is wrong but regardless of which way you look at it, I have very strong opinions on a wide variety of issues & am willing to jump head first into the arena to share those opinions.
My dad used to say that unless you get involved, you don't have the right to complain. With that being said, I must have a whole lot of complaints--haha.
Politics drive me nuts & I go crazy with all the stupid decisions that politicians make on what they say is " for our good". I am shaking my head right now & want to throw my computer out the window just thinking about the stupidity of some people that say they are doing what is best for me.
Well writing my thoughts on all I am doing hasn't cleared up whether I am in sane or not but it has been therapeutic so thanks for allowing me to vent while you witnessed my personal self evaluation & mental examination. VBS