I know I’m gonna catch hell for speaking my mind once again, but that’s never stopped me before. I’m just gonna say what I’ve gotta say before my head explodes.

For months now I've been hearing a lot of folks whining & complaining about how Obama has been handling things. People seem to have forgotten that it took the Bush Administration 8 years (6 of them with a Republican-led Congress) to get us into this mess. They got us into the Iraq War based on greed and a bunch of lies and will have cost the taxpayers $687 Billion by the end of September*. This is money that would have been better spent here in the States. They gave the public the McCain/Palin ticket so that they wouldn't have to clean up the mess they knew was coming. (Who the hell is going to vote for an old guy with a bad ticker and a crazy woman?) Therefore the Republican Party couldn’t be blamed when things couldn’t be fixed in a hurry with a new administration.

The Obama administration doesn't have some sort of magic wand that is going to make everything better in a couple of months. It's not humanly possible. Obama has said from the get-go that it would take long hard work on everybody’s part to fix what’s been broken. He's only been in office for 7 months. Give the guy a break. His plate is pretty dang full right now.

The American people as a whole needs to take a step back, get over their narcissistic instant gratification fixation, and start trying to figure out on an individual level what they can do to make life better for themselves and those around them, not just expect it to be done for them.

Looking for a job? You may actually need to leave your house and apply in person, not online. Or go outside of your field of expertise. Or you may have to flip burgers for a while – a job is a job is a job! When you’re in need, no job should be beneath you. If you absolutely can’t find a job in your area, volunteer somewhere. There is always going to be someone out there that is in worse shape than you are. Help them out. Meanwhile, you’ll be meeting new people and you never know where a job opportunity will come from.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Karma can either be a wonderful thing or a total bitch. It all depends on how you play your own cards. And we, as a nation, will pull through this. We just have to stay strong, stay together, and help one another.

Nik

*Please note that I didn’t include the war in Afghanistan. I believe that to be a necessary war to find the bastards that hurt our people. Also note that I support and have the utmost respect for our men & women in uniform. Ultimately, they don’t have a choice where they are stationed or deployed. They go where their Commander in Chief tells them to go.

Wow! It's been a year since I posted last? Really? I am such a slacker!

Just to update since my last post (sorry, it's a bit non-linear):

~The yardwork continues. My front bed looks like a jungle. I hate bishop's weed with a passion. It's trying to choke out my good plants there. I lost two of the hydrangeas but all the others look great! We also added two additional veggie garden beds to the one I already had. I'll go into detail about what's planted this year in a separate post.

~Family-wise, Usher reunion is coming up in a couple of weeks. Not at all ready. Riggins reunion is cancelled after a medical issue. My aunt says it's time to pass the torch and I totally understand. Reunion planning is a pain in the heiney, although it's rewarding when it finally gets here. I wish I could take over but my hands are already full with the Usher one. Dad's doing well, thinking about buying a house. I probably haven't talked to Mom more than 5 times since she got back. I guess she's decided not to participate. I can't force her and I can't say that I really expected anything more. My oldest brother is now married, to a different gal, baby on the way, enough said. My youngest brother is getting married next month. I like his wife-to-be. Aaron, Connor, & Shawni are all standing in the wedding. My role is kid wrangler and emergency management. What can I say, I'm good at it! :^D

~Medical-wise, My original surgery date in Sept. was postponed because of kidney stones. There turned out to be a half-inch stone in my left kidney. It took 5 lithotripsies to kill the little sucker. I finally had my surgery in February and it was a bit more than I expected - rectocele/cystocele plus a hysterectomy. I wasn't expecting to bear any more kids. This just made it final. Recuperating took a long time, but I'm finally back to my normal active self. I would have posted during that time, but you guys don't need to read me whining, right?

~ We took our trip to Disney World in November with Dad & Kelsey. Kelsey had a couple of times where she missed her mom and that was expected. She was only 12 after all. But we got through it and had the best time! Connor got to hang with the Power Rangers. Kelsey got to watch street performances of High School Musical 3. And Shawni got to hug Mickey so many times that we lost count. We also got to see my cousin David and his wife DeeDee for a day while we were there. Never enough time for visiting. It was nice to see them.

~I'm going for my "Mommy Time Out" trip to Chicago in September. There's a big knitter's convention taking place. I'm going to take some classes, enjoy some Chicago cuisine, and shop till I drop. Well, as much as my budget will allow. :^P If you want to keep up with my crafty self, check out my other blog, Nemosyne Knits. I'll be getting that one updated soon as well.