Mental Musings

Not just another Joe the Plumber--this letter writer is a strong supporter of John McCain. I added a hyperlink to his name that shows he has donated thousands to John McCain's election. However, his letter is spreading across the internet like wildfire. He says what many conservatives have been thinking: "We cannot trust Obama." To Barack Hussein Obama, The New York Times carried a story on Saturday, October 4, 2008, that proved you had a significantly closer relationship with Bill Ayers than what you previously admitted. While the issue of your relationship is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America about it. The Chicago Sun reported on May 8, 2008, that FBI records showed that you had a significantly closer relationship with Tony Rezko than what you previously admitted. In the interview, you said that you only saw Mr. Rezko a couple of times a year. The FBI files showed that you saw him weekly. While the issue of your relationship is of concern, the...

Ashton is fast approaching his teen years. He has definitely been showing all of the classic signs. You know: arguing with us; pushing buttons to find his limits; insisting he is always right and we don't know what we are talking about. He even pulled the "you hate me" last week. We have had numerous emotional outbursts, tense moments and even some crying. Considering the long battle we have fought to help our children with their social skills problems (both boys have Asperger's Syndrome), it is somewhat amusing that we now are faced with very normal social behavior. I guess we will survive the same way millions of other families have. Or maybe I should use my sons' phrase: "We're livers."

I was cleaning out some old things from our Music Library and came across a stack of old reel-to-reel sound tracks. The one in the picture caught my attention. If we were going to keep it, I would definitely relabel it.

I love his energy and humor. It is definitely worth the time it takes to watch this.

My son asked me tonight what I would name a pet snake if we bought a python that had no fangs. I suggested "fangless." He then said, "I would name it Monty, so it would be Monty Python." Not really sure why the python would have to be fangless for him to give it that name.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 I just competed working on our Thanksgiving worship services. Thanksgiving is the time of year that we as Americans have set aside in order to remember all of the good things that have happened to us during the year. As Christians we remember how gracious God has been to us. We get together with our families and friends and celebrate with a traditional feast that predates the pilgrims: a harvest meal that lasts for several days or even weeks with leftovers. We do have much for which to be thankful: Americans, in general, have much more wealth than any other country in the world; the average American family has two cars, two kids and a house; the life expectancy in America is higher on average than anywhere else; ...

I couldn't help but think about the many times children whine and say, "It's not fair." That is exactly what Obama sounded like in the debate Tuesday evening when he continually complained that "it's not fair" that hardworking men and women make more money than other Americans. "It's not fair" that the top 3% pay more than 50% of the taxes or that the top 5% pay nearly 80% of the tax. "It's not fair" that the people who do not pay any taxes do not get more money from those wealthy. Well, I happen to be one of those people who have never made enough to pay taxes. I always get everything I have paidback except for my social security payments. And I do not believe that the wealthy people in my community should be giving me more of their money. Who raised all of these whining brats who want things that they did not work for and demand that the government take care of all of their needs.

After more than 25 years of excellent credit, we are now faced with foreclosure on our home in Florida. When we moved to Maryland 3 years ago our Florida home was appraised at $225,000. Since we only owed $60,000 on the home, we decided to take a second mortgage to use for down payment on our home in Maryland and then rent our Florida home to some friends who were interested in eventually buying it. Then the market changed. After a year, our home's value had depreciated to around $185,000. Still about $50,000 more than we owed on it. Rent in the area had also decreased, while insurance and taxes had increased. We were losing money each month for about six months when we mentioned to our renters that we could not afford to keep renting at the same rate and understood that rental rates had decreased so it was not fair to them to increase the rent any. We decided that we needed to sell the home before the value went lower. Our friends found a newer home for less than what we were want...