Of Politics

Can you believe the financial mess our country is in? Are you just sick of hearing how screwed up things have gotten? Do you wonder where all this will take us? Is this the end of the world as we know it? We need a change, that's for sure! We need a change with some substance, though, not mere empty words. We need to fire Congress, or file charges against them for violating the public trust and running this country into the ground. Why are the very people who have been in charge of the system, who were supposedly overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the same ones who now get to tell us how to fix the mess? They couldn't see this coming a little sooner? They couldn't have managed it better? Why should we believe they can handle it now? And why the heck are lawyers - known for seeking out loopholes and giving persuasive arguments - the people we entrust our government to anyway? How about some smart people who actually know about the economy and finance and foreign relations and such? Can we start over? Let's get a do-over. Start fresh.

How about some accountability and personal responsibility in this country - instead of the government trying to help every sob story and just making things worse. For example, if you live in Galveston and don't have homeowners/flood insurance... what were you thinking??? And why should the rest of us have to bail you out? You buy insurance, you relocate, or you suck it up. Sorry. Or you buy a house you can't afford or take a risk that turns out badly... sorry, but you face the consequences. Don't take the rest of us down with you. You make stupid business deals, you take the consequences.

I don't now what to think about the $700billion rescue plan, but I know we never should have gotten this far. Something has to be done, but let's not sacrifice our country to socialism and put the government in charge of everything. They've proven they are inefficient and corrupt managers... look at social security, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, education, etc. Why does anyone think they can do a good job with the world of finance?

For the sake of change, though, I hope we don't go crazy and elect Obama in November. In troubled times, with serious problems, we need someone with real, verifiable experience at the lead. Not a junior senator who only served 143 days before starting his presidential exploratory committee. Not someone who rose quickly through the ranks of the corrupt Chicago political scene with no questions asked. Not someone who has trouble speaking without his teleprompter, who is the most liberal member of Congress, who claims to want to be a uniter but has voted with his party line 97% of the time. Not someone who has shady ties to terrorists and racists, who wants to negotiate with terrorists (oh, right - they might be friends), who has Marxist tendencies, who has not really accomplished anything in his time in the Senate - except managing to receive more money from Fannie/Freddie than anyone else in the Senate except one other Democrat.

I'm not a huge McCain fan, though I like Sarah Palin a lot. But if we want to have a hope of saving our country, we need to vote against Obama, which means voting for McCain (because, honestly, the Libertarian guy sadly doesn't stand a chance). It just doesn't make any logical sense to vote for Obama - if you had a business and were trying to hire someone, you wouldn't hire him because his resume is so weak and suspect.

Anyway, so there you have it. I got political, which I try not to do usually. Take it for what it's worth. That's my two cents for the day.

A Flower in our Midst

On Tuesday Jon brought home a stray little hound dog that he had found wandering the street as he drove home. She is a medium size dog, but still obviously a puppy by her behavior (very high energy, playful, chewy). Anna named her Flower even as we told her we could not keep this dog. (Unfortunately Anna knows that Dixie was a stray that Jon had found, that we did keep, so I'm not sure she believed us this time.) Poor little Flower (or "Dog" which she answered to much better) was wearing a chain around her neck that had a wire "leash" of sorts attached to it, and her ribs were showing, so we did not put much effort into finding her original owners.

As a new youngster will do, Flower upset our normal routine and way of life. We had to barricade the carpeted areas of the house because she was not housetrained. We had to relocate the dog crate for her to sleep in because she cried at night when first put in there. We had to put her in the crate whenever we needed to do something in the carpeted areas of the house because she would knock the gate over and pee on the carpet. She was inconvenient, but so very sweet... a wiggly, kissy, jumpy, good-hearted pup.

On Wednesday, Anna, Will, and I took Flower to the vet for shots and a check-up. The vet estimated she's about a year old. Flower needed three days of treatment for hookworms, but other than that, she was fine. I called around to the local animal rescue groups to see if anyone could take Flower, but all the groups have too many dogs already and are not taking anymore right now. So today, Saturday, after our church picnic, we loaded up Flower in the van and took her to the Humane Society shelter, which is where we adopted Lucy from years ago. I'm sure Flower will find some nice family/person to be her own. But even though I knew from the start that she was not for us, it was hard to say good-bye. I have such a soft spot for animals, especially dogs. We left Flower with a proper collar and a chew toy, and she actually looked happy (as always) sitting in her cement dog pen (we could see her from a distance).

The whole situation just highlighted for me again the plight of pet overpopulation and neglect and ignorance. All of these sweet dogs and cats out there, who are here through no fault of their own, are just waiting for a loving home. How many will be put to death - due to health or mistreatment that ruined them or simply a lack of interest on the part of anyone wanting to take them in? How many will wander the streets and meet their demise there? How many will grow old in foster care for one reason or another? And people breed more... because puppies are cute, because they don't bother to spay or neuter their pets, because they want to make some money, because they just don't care. What does it take to get the message out to spay and neuter your pets? Every animal welfare group that I looked at stated that one thing as their main purpose, and still the problem remains. Some of us are working on the problem, but what does it really take to get the message through to people? I don't know. If I had unlimited resources and space and time, I would adopt them all and throw balls and hand out treats all day (with the help of Anna and Will, of course, who love to give dogs their treats!). Of course, that's unrealistic, but what will it take? Spay and neuter, please! Click to go to the Savannah Humane Society page www.humanesocietysav.org and hopefully in a few days Flower's picture will be posted.

Runaway Bunnies

Tonight I read "The Runaway Bunny" by Margaret Wise Brown to Anna at bedtime. We've read it a thousand times... the story of a little bunny who wants to run away from his mommy, but she pledges to pursue him endlessly no matter where he should go because she loves him so much. It is a great tale of the relentless, unconditional love that a mother (or father) has for her child. And tonight, it finally clicked in my head what a beautiful picture the story is of God's love for us. The "Hound of Heaven" pursues each of us little "runaway bunnies" tirelessly in His great grace and mercy and love for us. No matter where we may try to run or hide, He will seek us, constant in His love, even to the end of the age.

Misadventures of Lucy Dog

Tonight I let the dogs out in the backyard for a while until Anna wanted them to come in. So I opened the door and Dixie trotted in, but no Lucy. I called and whistled for her, but still no response. Now, Lucy is a boxer, a true "people dog" who will follow me around the house underfoot just to be near me, much to my aggravation, so it was very strange for her not to come in. Finally I put on Jon's flip flops that were by the door and went out into the yard, where I discovered that somehow one of the gates had come open and Lucy was nowhere to be seen! Anna and Will were barefoot, in their pj's, so I told them to stay inside and I ran around the house calling for Lucy, not knowing how long she'd been out or how far she might have gone. Fortunately my neighbor was outside with her daughter who had seen Lucy run by. She said she looked like a pitbull, but I assured her she's a boxer and very friendly. My neighbor said her dog always heads around the bend to the woods near the railroad tracks when he gets out - oh, great! I called and whistled, and a few houses down the street I saw my goofy-grinning pooch come running out of someone's yard, happy to see me! After an I'm-so-happy-to-see-you-please-don't-be-mad-at-me greeting, Lucy had to go over and visit with the kind neighbors. By this time, Anna and Will had put their shoes on and come out of the house to see what was going on. Anna said she "just knew it wasn't good!" But it was after all, and we all went inside, happy to be together again.

So this all got me thinking about how we sometimes take loved ones for granted or find them inconvenient (like when Lucy had "accidents" on the carpet that required a visit from our friendly carpet cleaner recently). But when faced with the possibility of losing them, we regain perspective and realize how important they are to us. Let's hope we can realize it more often without facing a crisis! "Love one another."

Will's First Day of School

Yesterday was Will's first day of school. He's two (which he will tell you proudly) - two and a half, really - but still a full year younger than Anna was when she started school. So I've been wondering if we are rushing things with him, though I really think he'll enjoy school. Last year he always wanted to stay at school when we dropped Anna off in the morning. He'd look up at me and say, "Bye-bye, Mommy!" with a big grin. And it's only three mornings a week... not even close to a full-time daycare scenario. So what's the harm, especially if he enjoys it?

Let me explain Will's class schedule. He is with Ms. Kristine and Ms. Shannon from 9:00 to 12:00. Then most of the other kids go home because their class ends at noon, but since Anna's class goes until 1:00, Will goes to a second room with a handful of other kids to eat lunch and play until their siblings are finished at 1:00. The transfer from one room to the other takes place before the other kids leave, which is good, but still... our little William does not appreciate transitions very much at this age. (For example, when we leave him in the church nursery, he picks one nursery attendant to be his own, and if that person leaves early for some reason, he will cry and cry just as if we'd left him again!)

So yesterday was Will's first day of school, and he toddled off with scarcely a glance back at me when I dropped him off. When I returned to pick him up at 1:00, however, it was a totally different scene. I spied on him through the one-way glass window, and saw him looking helpless and alone and completely pitiful. Then he poked his lip out and cried. Well, who can stand that?! I went over to the classroom and brought him out early (just five minutes). Of course, when I picked him up, all he did was cry "me want my Daddy!" But the teacher told me he had been fine and happy for the first three hours, and then cried the whole last hour and didn't eat any lunch at all.

So today, on the way to school, Will started out by telling me he did not want to go there today. And he cried terribly when I dropped him off - nearly bringing me to tears with him - while all the other kids played pleasantly. But when I came back this afternoon and spied on him, he was playing and chatting and smiling and interacting - all those good things you hope for. Apparently he'd been sad all morning in his first classroom, and then ate lunch and had a fine time in the second classroom. Go figure! Will was very proud of himself, too, saying "me not cry today!" with a smile, and telling me all about eating his lunch and playing and such. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a good day from beginning to end. This preschool stuff is hard on a mom!