THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

Since MID-TERM election season is upon us, I thought that this email that a friend sent along to me would be of interest to some, and hopefully many, of you. 

I can't think of a single reason to disagree with any of  it.   I am posting this in hopes that as many people as possible will see it -  Conservatives, Liberals, and everybody in between.    Even though we may disagree on a number of issues,  I count all of you as friends.   Post this on your own blog as well, if you'd like.


My friend wants to promote a "Congressional Reform Act of 2010."           It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I know many of you will say "this is impossible."   Let me remind you, right now, Congress has the lowest approval rating of any entity in government.   Now is the time when Americans will join together to reform Congress - the entity that represents us.
We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House.   These people will become American heroes!

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Congressional Reform Act of 2010
1. Term Limits:  12 years only, one of the possible options below.


A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.   A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.   All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.


5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.


7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.


8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.The American people did not make the current contracts with Congressmen.  Congressmen made all those contracts for themselves.


Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.   The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators who would serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE NOVEMBER 2!

I Love This!

Here is a really interesting story about a businessman who is doing something to help people who are unemployed, and also helping many others at the same time!  And you know what?  I think that there are a lot of wealthy business people - who have been demonized by our current administration lately - that are doing things just like this! 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_hire_just_one

Isn't She Cute?

I have to tell you about this day. 
It was my granddaughter Evalie's birthday, about a month ago. 
Since she is so much like her mom, and her mom is so much like me, I knew that she would love a little shopping trip. 
So, we headed out to the mall together, just the two of us.  
Which is rare.  
We went from store to store, looking at all the dresses
- she loves dresses -
and talked about which dress was the cutest. 
This is the one that she picked out. 
And, the dress was on sale, which in the Carey family's book, makes a purchase all the better. 
But Evie didn't know that. 
She just loves the dress!

Where's Waldo?

Well - of course I'm not Waldo
(however, in the madhouse that is my life, sometimes I feel surrounded to the point of almost disappearing), but -

If any of the half-dozen or so people who read my blog have noticed a sharp decrease in my posting, well, there is a good reason. 

Actually, it is a bad reason. 

It is because I have misplaced, or maybe even accidentally threw my camera away.  So, anything with a photo that I have posted since late August has been from my cell phone.  And, there are more terrible cell phone shots on Facebook that my FB friends have all witnessed. 

So, in the meantime, all my blogging time, such as it is, (in between taking care of kids, home, yard, church callings, chauffeuring, gardening, canning and freezing, etc)  has been to just read other people's posts.    And today I read a post that pretty much sums up just how I feel about what has been going on in this country.

If you are bored by political stuff, you may skip the rest of this post.

If you are frustrated by what is happening in this country that could erode our freedoms and compromise our way of life, please continue on.

Here is the link:

http://fuzislippers.blogspot.com/2010/09/american-dream.html

This article articulates what has been formulating and echoing around in my head for the past year and a half or so   . . .

How do you feel about it?

Who Says Girls Don't Like to Camp?

(I am trying to do a little catch-up posting here - just bear with me)

I mean, who can resist the beauty of this breathtaking lake?

There ALways should be a pie-eating contest.  I mean, what's a little sticky when you are out in the middle of nowhere?  (Well, this camp does have nice warm showers.  Lucky girls.  But really, is that real camping??)

Is this what they made at craft-time?

No, wait.  This is the real craft . . .

Can girls shoot a bow and arrow?  Of course!

A few Mardi-Gras beads to liven things up a bit. . .

. . . and a little sugar to keep them going . . .

As I said before, Lucky Girls!

Isaac's Great Adventure . . .

This year, cub scout day camp was incredibly well organized, fun, and the boys all earned gobs of badges, belt loops, and pins.  Which  is the whole point of cub scout day camp, isn't it?

 

On the day that I took my turn to spend the day with the boys, I witnessed them -

Panning for "gold"

Doing the Barrel Roll . . .

Whooaa. . . .

Building a "Bug Box"

Testing out the "Cocoa Puff blow guns they just made, for sure the day's weapon of choice!

The day that I spent with the boys was one of the most fun I'd had in a very long time, and this was Isaac's last year . . . I wonder who's more excited to go to day camp in a couple of years, Tanner or me?                                              

Lucky 13

Today is my sweet daughter Noelle's birthday.    She is a beautiful young lady with so many talents and so much potential.   We love you, sweet Noelle!

1997 - 3 weeks old

1998

1999

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010 (last month!)

               

                                                     

Cute cabin, Where are the Huckleberries? and My Grown-up Baby Boy . . .

Last week while Rachel and Noelle were at Girl's Camp, we took the boys up near the Canadian border for a couple of nights camping. 

This is the cabin we stayed in the first night - so comfy and cozy!  Thank you Sam and Marla, for letting us stay there!

The next morning, we went out in search of the famous north Idaho Huckleberry.  It is our tradition to go into the mountains every summer in search of this tiny tart blue-berry. 

Not much luck this year.  We looked high and low, and even drove down little used paths - I don't think they've been roads in a long while . . .I cringed for miles as branches scraped both sides of the truck, and prayed that there would be a spot wide enough to turn around. 

Somewhere.

Eventually we found one.

And we found some berries, too. 

But they were very tiny,

and we only managed to pick less than one gallon.  

The next night we went to our favorite north Idaho campground, one that has a paved loop to ride bikes on.  Isaac brought his brand-new bike (one that he bought with his own money - very proud of him!) and Tanner had his, too, complete with training wheels.  And I was bound and determined that those 'lil wheels would be gone before we returned home to our long gravel driveway. 
So Mark took them off.
After about 3 frustrating laps running alongside him, holding on to the back of his jacket, and tipping over time and again anyway, and constantly encouraging him to get back on and not give up, he finally figured  out the balance thing! 
(I wonder if telling him it would be embarrassing to have training wheels on during the Cub Scout bike rodeo did the trick?  I think so...even if that's more than a year away!)

Too cool for . . .

baby training wheels!  Ha!

The Best Kind of Cake . . .

Sometimes we wonder, 'What did I do to deserve this?' or 'Why did God have to do this to me?' Here is a wonderful explanation . . .  

A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.


Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says,


'Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.'


'Here, have some cooking oil,' her Mother offers.


'Yuck' says her daughter.


'How about a couple raw eggs?' 'Gross, Mom!'


'Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?'


'Mom, those are all yucky!'

To which the mother replies: 'Yes , all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! '


God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!

God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

          

Boy, He Loves that Chicken . . . (But I Love that Boy More!)

This is Tom-Tom, our little grandson.

I love these photos because they totally define this little dude:  he is intense, especially when it comes to his food! 

And, don't disturb him while he's eating.

Adorable? 

Totally.