Weighty Thoughts Are on My Mind Today.

Just a few thoughts on some things I've seen, heard or read lately.

The Taliban has threatened to stop their polio vaccines until the U.S. stops its drone attacks. Oooooh, really? Now, I ask you: Who in the world is that going to help? While I sit here in my home in the U.S. and dearly love children and hate seeing them hurt, who will suffer for this? Their children! I, hubby, my kids and grandkids have all had our vaccinations. We're in no danger. Seriously, who are these nut cases? I feel for their children who may contract polio. Oooh, sigh, sigh, sigh!
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Which also brings me to China? They have a one-child policy and don't particularly like girl babies. Well, if they destroy all the girl babies, who is going to birth females, as it is they—women— who have the babies? They have it all backwards in my estimation. In the Bible, men have been asked by the Lord to take multiple wives to propagate the world. So China will end up with no one if they continue on this stance. Just boggles my mind how some people think.
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A Canadian p*rn star's trans**ual lover reveals that she could have been the killer's victim. (I obliterate things so I won't be on some list when the p*rverts google some things. And yes, I can track this! So don't doubt me. I prefer to have legitimate surfers, not the weird kind.) How sick does a person have to be to want so much publicity that she makes this statement, which could happen to be false?! She is so desperate for her 15 minutes of fame that she'll make such ridiculous statements like that. Sigh...again! Read my blog post of fame here.
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I read where the USA Olympic basketball team beat the Nigerian team by 83 points and some criticized the USA coach for going on when the other team was so far behind. What are the idiots thinking?! It's a championship and if the Nigerians can't take it, then they should never have shown up. Would they have stopped the game if they were so far ahead of the USA? I don't think so! The game is timed. That's how it's played! They couldn't stop.
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I saw a video on the internet that a university is making. It's beyond my comprehension how some people can be so absolutely and utterly stupid. This video has white/Caucasian people of various ages on it with graffiti covering their faces saying: It's unfair to be white. Now, I don't know about you, but I didn't have any say in the matter when my parents conceived me. I doubt I cared one whit what color I came out. I would still be the happy chick I am, living in Idaho with my hubby and still loving every single person in this world no matter what color or ethnicity they are. After all, some of my grandchildren are Asian and some are Hispanic and they are gorgeous, let me tell you and this statement is absolutely prejudicial: I have absolutely beautiful grandchildren! What a pathetic attempt at dividing people this is.
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I'd prefer to think about more weighty matters like life, death, cellulite and donuts.
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Hubs asked me some time ago why I have to eat so many donuts when I buy them. I told him I have to sample a dozen because I don't want to miss one single culinary experience if I don't have to.
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Recently, a friend got the VOIP on her phone to save money. I hate VOIP and will probably never, ever have it. When talking with someone on that type of phone connection (phone through the internet) every second and third word is dropped. I'm not ever giving up my land line for that simple reason. I want everyone to hear me properly and I would like the same consideration but it isn't going to happen. I choose wisely where I spend my dollars. Also, VOIP is easily broken into and someone can make a call looking like it came from your phone and not theirs. Yes, this can happen. Just remember that when you get a phone bill from some Caribbean/off shore phone company with thousands of dollars in costs on your phone. You have absolutely no recourse but to pay the bill. Your local and/or long distance company cannot help you one bit and they warn and tell you that. You are absolutely stuck with those phone bills, not the person who made them. YOU!
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More on the book about Presidential Secret Service. Just a few tidbits today.

There are a few more on the President I mentioned here. Remember, I'm doing every single one in this book, no preferential treatment whatsoever. If you're interested in all the stories, buy the book. ;-)

An usher had helped the previous First Lady learn how to use a computer. One day he got a message from her to call him back requesting his assistance on her computer. He did return her call and was fired. He had worked as an usher for the WH for many years and had 4 children. He couldn't find work for a year after that. It was the sitting President that had it done; it wasn't a rule to be able to work there. What a mean man he was!

This President also refused to let the public area be re-carpeted. It was a shambles but he micro-managed so much he wouldn't let them do it. It was replaced immediately after he left office. He even had solar panels installed on the WH roof and they didn't generate enough hot water to run the dishwasher! They had to go out and order a new hot water system just to keep it going. That blew any savings it may have generated but it was a fiasco for the WH staff.

The book calls this family the biggest liars of all. If I tell you a story, it will give it away who it was but I'll just say their private persona was totally different from their public persona. They were not missed when they left.

He wanted to be known as a big fitness buff but he collapsed into the arms of a SS agent when running once, but he had them way off track. They had to find a pay phone to call a cab, but finally called 911 to call the WH to get a vehicle out to find them. Some of these stories are hilarious!

I think that's enough for today, don't you?
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I like this relaxed look of white and splashes of red. It would make a darling family room for me. I'd thrown in a lot of pink also.

Yes, I love white slipcovers. Mine on our family room sofa is a green and white stripe and I got it for a bit of $300 about 4 years ago. I've never seen another cover like it and have many compliments on it. I would like these in there also. Just crisp and clean and washable!

Cute lanterns for guiding your sailor home.

Sweet dining area with all pinks and reds.

One of the most inviting entries I've ever seen.

Now you know what to do with that old tree you're going to chop down in your yard. :-)

Is this pup guarding the home or is he just showing you how cool he looks perched there? ;-)

Aqua and red eye candy.

Little pink cottage with an eyebrow roof line. Looks like it's been neglected though.

Coffee filters covering a lamp shade. I think nothing has contributed to decorating like coffee filters. :-)

Just going in to a fabric store perks me up with all the beautiful and bright colors.

A very well organized kitchen area. Cute how the homeowner has pretty colors and decals on all her stuff.

A beautiful pink french château in a rose-strewn garden.

Another cottage in a flower garden with rock pathway.

Isn’t this cute?! I love the bright pinks mixed with apple green and white.

My window seat in this office isn't as big but I love it for the ambiance it gives this room.

Ooooooh, yeah. Burlap-looking covers with ruffles for femininity.

Another hammock strung between trees for you to relax and dream.

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A Story About the Life of a Marine's Wife

 This is a mosaic of my laundry room.

I've updated my tutorial on the new blogger interface here. This one is about blogger wanting you to upgrade for more storage space and telling you that some photos and/or posts will be deleted because you're using too much space. You really need to read this tutorial. Go to the bottom of the tutorial for a bit of advice on what other options you have.
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As I've stated before, my hubby is a retired Marine. We've lived in the Western part of the U.S. most of our lives and I can't imagine living anywhere else. When he had to go overseas twice in our years in the Marine Corps, it separated us for a whole year. He was on unaccompanied tours, which means that our kids and I had to stay stateside. Since he was in nuclear weapons, he wasn't allowed into Vietnam or any war zones for which we were grateful. But it was very difficult being without a hubby for a whole year and only communicating by letters and through short wave radio contact. By that I mean, I'd go through a local ham radio operator via a phone connection here in the U.S. and hubs would go through a ham radio operator where he was. That way of communicating left us with no privacy; the ham radio operators heard everything we had to say and we'd both have to say "Over" when we were through talking so the other person could talk. So you cell phone users have no clue how it used to be. Very inconvenient to talk personally about situations at home if need be. "Love you. Over" doesn't quite convey its message! Personal things took weeks to resolve if a situation at home had to be addressed through letters. Yes, letters. There was no instantaneous email at that time. And with 2 kids there was always something.

Anyway, the first time he went to Asia, I stayed with my parents in San Jose. The second time he went overseas I decided to go back east to Pennsylvania to be near his family so they could become better acquainted with their grandchildren. Our kids were their first grandchildren. Hubs has 7 sisters and 1 brother. Hubs is the second oldest. With all those kids you'd think they'd have scads of grandkids. Not true. There are only 15 and that's kind of small for such a large family.

Anyway, we settled into the town next to them, just about 15-20 minutes apart but I didn't see them but 3 or 4 times that year. It was a small town, at that time probably 11,000 people and today the population is at about 13,000 people so it's not had a lot of growth in 40+ years. It was difficult for me because it was a place where people were born, lived and died in that same town, sometimes never leaving its local boundaries. We were newcomers, Californians and well-traveled besides. You had to be just a few certain ethnicities or you didn't fit in, very different from California where there is such a glut of just about any ethnicity you can find. My kids struggled. And if not for one of their teachers being an ex-Army man I doubt they would have survived. He went out of the way to help them fit in. I don't remember his name but he was very kind to them—the new, strange Californian arrivals. We were viewed very differently, especially when we talked.

Now, Californians for the most part don't have a regional accent. But that part of the country has a very, very specific accent. It's a tri-state accent I can pick out of a crowd anywhere. I can tell if you're from that part of the country. A sort of SE Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey tri-state area accent. Very distinguishable for us from the Western part of the U.S. Hubs sounds nothing like his brother or his sisters! I have no clue how he didn't develop that accent but he hasn't. The only things he pronounces funny—to me anyway—is saw and water. Saw sounds like sol and water sounds like wooder. I've kidded him about it for 51 years!

This is getting kind of long and I have another story to tell concerning this but I'll leave it for another time, but I shall reference this in that blog so you can read both if you miss this one.
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An easy-to-make outdoor shower. I think I’ll try to get Love Bunny to make one in our backyard just for fun.

A cute quaint stucco cottage with a couple of pretty espaliers against the front entrance.

Beautiful shades of blue, especially that bowl on the table.

Smile. Just some pretty papers in a pretty pink bucket to delight your little peepers.

What a bedroom this would be to have!

Looks to be a beautiful residence in a large city. I love that they fly the American flag. I thought the other flag might be a Texas flag, but it isn’t. Probably their “heritage” country flag.

Go ahead and sigh; I know you’re loving this home.

This almost looks like a beach house but I have no idea where it is. Pretty though.

What a beautiful entrance to both houses this is. I’d take the lower one though because I hate climbing steps now. But I’d sure love to have those others for my neighbors though. ☺

Beautiful pool and spa.

This looks to be in another country. Notice they didn’t go buy an expensive umbrella; they just tied up a tablecloth or sheet to each other’s houses to shield them from the sun in their common area. Peaceful co-existence.

A pretty little garden with roses to greet you at the entrance, tipping their little heads with delight as they drink in the sunshine. Grand performance!

A sweet vintage cabinet someone adapted to their bathroom needs.

Now, I want you to notice the tiny dimensions of this bathroom. A typical bathroom in a typical sub-division house hallway. BUT with a tile floor adding the biggest pizzazz I’ve ever seen to it! Stunning!

Another example of tile adding pizzazz to a bathroom.

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Linking with Savvy Southern Style