To All the Congressional Members who Voted NO on the Bailout ~

I want you to know how deeply grateful I am to our Congressmen & Women who voted down the Bailout. I do not feel that each & every man, woman & child in America owes around $2500 to these poor business decision-makers. We are already taxed enough. Must we become enslaved for the selfish designs of these people? America is already in such a disgusting debt slump ~ how could ANY truly serving congress member feel as though adding $700 BILLION to our already bent backs is a good idea? Our Founding Fathers are likely turning in their graves right now.

You know, my husband & I just started up a business 2 yrs ago. We have been through some VERY lean times as a result. We have eaten nothing but homemade bread & bean soup, because that is LITERALLY ALL that we had. And the vegetables that we used to flavor the soup was from 35 yr old food storage. Yes, food from the 70's! But do you know what? We did NOT go onto welfare, we did NOT choose to further cripple our neighbors or our nation because of a business choice that WE CHOSE. Our children did not get a single thing for Christmas from us, that we didn't already own. We just gave them some things from our own childhood that meant something to us. We didn't have money for heat through the winter, but we do have a woodstove, so we went to the dump & salvaged wood. We barely survived on just over $11,000 that first year. But do you know what? We HAVE survived it. Our family has grown closer, & we have learned to do without, to live within a budget, and beneath our means. Perhaps the government could do as well.

I do NOT understand WHY people like myself & my family ~ regular joe-schmoe's~ can go through THAT without getting bailed out, & yet there are those in high-standing government positions (even our own President!) who would gladly heap on further taxes to bail out these previously EXCESSIVELY wealthy (but apparently poor money managing) companies. What should happen now? I reccomend looking in the LDS churches Welfare System. It includes people working for what they get, getting help in a DIGNIFIED, ETHICAL way, that actually improves the recipient, rather than just ~bailing them out.~ All work for the good of the many, no-one goes without, but neither does anyone leech off of others, adding further to the burden of all, while some few take it easy, either living off the top or sucking off the bottom.

Again, I am DEEPLY grateful to those congressional members who truly had the people that they serve in their hearts today as they voted AGAINST the Bailout. Tonight we are thanking God for you, & will continue to include you in our prayers that you might continue to serve this nation conscionably!
~Red

The best excuse YET! (REALLY! ~ I mean it ~ )

Anybody wanna p-nut? :-D

All right fellow bloggers-o-mine, THIS TIME, I really DO have the grandaddy of all excuses as to why I haven't written in a while......

wait for it....

it's a doozy.....

We were in ALASKA!

Yeah!!! (Come on, come on, KNOW the reason, FEEEEELLL the reason, BEEEEEEEE the reason...)

AND I even have pictures to prove it. You know this isn't near as bad as inviting everyone over to see my reel-to-reels, though it possibly DOES rank right up there with whooshing out the beautiful baby brag book.

Too bad, hahahaha ~ you are all a CAPTIVE AUDIENCE. ( yes, I had to yell that...) BWHAHahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa

oops.

I forgot the all-important point of truth dictating the ease of which you can immediately click off...... hmm.. dang.... that definitely changes things.
I guess I better post some pics, and call it good.

:-D

Here we all are on Cook Inlet Beach. Yes, it's the middle of August, but it's a tad brisk, especially near the water. Strange thing is, though, if you took off your shoes & socks, and touched your feet in the water, it was quite warm......for about one inch... then WHOAAA ~ c c coh oh oh ohhlllllldd d d d.

The beaches are rocky, but there is actually sand, it's just ~large-grit~. :-D

As you can see, Alaskan beaches are a bit of a different affair, no skimpy bikini's & speedo's ~ instead you see jackets & shotguns. Why the shotgun? Because there was a mama bear & 2 cubs using the beach as well, in fact, we even SAW the cubs. I didn't get a decent shot of them, but my niece got an AWESOME pic, & hopefully I can share it once she posts it.

But you can find some really awesome rocks! And on Agate Beach, you can find some pretty agates when the tide is low.

And the rocks are very nice for sitting on ~ no need for hauling around redundant beach chairs! You might find yourself lugging a few bags of rocks home though.

Check out the gorgeous cousins! We have quite a few of them, & they are the most patient, kind kids you ever met.

This is the view from the backyard of my inlaw's ~ it is absolutely beautiful. Very gray, but very green. They own a Bed & Breakfast right on the Kenai River!! (Tanglewood B&B) In fact, the world record salmon was caught right there! And at any given time of the day, you can go out onto the deck & see seals, eagles, seagulls, moose, caribou, bears....it was really awesome.

In fact, you can see moose most anywhere you are at. Seems they do not have a problem with being right in town. This is a cow with her twins, right off the road, between Soldotna & Kenai. We also saw another cow with twins in Kenai, right in the church parking lot!

When you get together with family, the similarities are sometimes rather striking. Here we see that Izzy is the spittin' image of his Poppy ~ right down to the cowboy hat & the walnut chin smirk.

This is Agate Beach, on Salamatoff. Oceanliners park here quite regularly. We found quite a few agates too, but Poppy denied all the ~sugar agates~. Only the prettiest ones passed muster.

And here we have some typical Alaskan hockey rules ~

~Remember, if you shouldn't do it in front of your Grandma, DON'T DO IT HERE! ~

I've been thinking about getting me one of those signs. For the front door. Of my house. :-D

~Red

Another oops ~ forgot to add that while there, Wood Genius carved a bit, & I painted a bit. This one has been christened "The Dude", but he's really a caricature of Poppy. Looks just like him, too! Although Poppy will tell you he looked a lot more like him before Wood Genius carved off the chest and left nuthin' but the belly.

And this light house was for Gramma. She said she always wanted a lighthouse. Eventually, Poppy will put lights in it. Afterall, what good is it being married to an electrician if you can't get a few side perks? :-D (And you know, I have that same philisophy regarding my furniture, Mr. Wood Genius... just in case you are reading this....hint hint... double HUGO-MONGO hint...) :-D

Here we have some "cracks" in the lighthouse, They were actually flaws in the log, and I thought they would make cool looking cracks. Gramma loves them, Poppy doesn't. Since it's Gramma's they stay! :-P (neener neener poppy!)

So let's take an official poll ~ who likes the cracks & who doesn't?

Be brave, say your piece ~ come onnn ~ don't be fence-sitter ~ just SAY IT!

I painted them there, but that's ok, if you disagree, you can say so......

:-D

~Red

ps ~ for the record, Wood Genius doesn't like them either, but I DO, & since it's Gramma's lighthouse, & my painting, hahaHAH! They STAY! :-BBB (that's a wagging raspberry)