We Survived!

Thank you to all of you who were concerned about the well-being of me and my family.

For those of you who were not aware, our small town of Mena, Arkansas, was devastated by an F3 tornado that hit Thursday night, April 9th. The town will never be the same, but the resilience of our community has been evident these past few days. I have never been so proud of the strength and generosity of the hard-working people here...

We only suffered three fatalities, which is mind-boggling, considering the aerial photos of the destruction, found at this link.

I also uploaded some photos here on my flickr site.

An image that says a lot, is one I captured two houses down from where my daughter's best friend lost her home:

The chalk on the siding says: "Katrina! Arkansas takes care of its own!"
The day after the tragedy, there were people with chainsaws everywhere. No one "waited to be rescued." We are tough. We will survive. And I thank God above that we weren't in our old home on Ninth Street anymore (even though we still own it). Times like these help us remember what the real priorities are in our lives - each other.

NaBloPoMo Day 22 - Winkin' and Slayin'

Day Twenty Two.

I know I could make a drinking game out of this video. However, I just could NOT take my eyes off the guy in the background. Palin is fairly oblivious, but I suppose animal slaughter is a common thing in her world. Just not something I witness on a daily basis. Watch if you dare.

In a weird way, I'm kinda glad to see her again. Brings back memories of the election.

Happy Thanksgiving, Ya'll!

NaBloPoMo Day Two - Or Is It?

Day Two.

So, are you an election coverage junkie? Or are you just sick of it all?

Do you relentlessly check the various news networks, to see who is making the largest stump speech gaffes?

Do you sneak onto the computer, in the wee hours, just to play with the fancy electoral college magic map like John King on CNN?

Then you might have noticed this new feature:That's right, a few DAYS ago...get that? DAYS AGO, CNN began posting the number of DAYS until the polls close. Remember that they used to only do this on ELECTION DAY? Sometime in the morning, they would let us know how many HOURS until the polls closed. Now, I suppose feeling bolstered by the number of states participating in early voting, they have a countdown in DAYS.

I first saw this when we were 5 days, 23 hours out...I had to blink, reblink, and just laugh. It counts down...second by second. The news media has always astounded me with their extensive use of vocabulary in describing the same event using 42 different adjectives, but this? Oh, this was too good.

And I'm wondering about the chances of this REALLY being over on election night.

Economic Conundrum

All this talk of a bank crisis, Wall Street panic, economic meltdown, Chicken Little "sky is falling" media buzz has got me thinking about my future financial plans. I need your help - FAST!

Since both of our vehicles have been paid off, I have been anticipating the release of the 2010 Camaro convertible (the coupe version will be released in early 2009). I had plans to trade in my car to get The Offspring a new ride in late 2009 (16th birthday) - something like a VW Bug. Or to better suit her personality, an old VW van - HA! At any rate, at the same time, as a little present for me...I was going to get the convertible. Now, before you all start thinking I'm going through a mid-life crisis, here is my logic:

1. How many times have you seen OLD folks in a convertible, and thought, "Those people are SO NOT HOT ENOUGH to be deserving of that car?"

2. I have worked hard. I deserve this car.

3. I would look darn good in this car.

4. As a little girl, I didn't have pictures of boys on my walls. (Okay, maybe one requisite photo of Shaun Cassidy.) I had pictures of cars. Concept cars, exotic cars, classic cars...I went to car auctions with my dad. Who better would appreciate this hot car?

5. I want to get this car before I'm so old that some teenager shouts at me in disgust, "That chick is SO NOT HOT ENOUGH to be deserving of that car."

6. I want an investment I can control. Who will maintain the car? Me. Not some lame board of directors or a CEO who will take the car on some boat to Switzerland to fraternize with his mistress. I WILL ADORE THE CAR.

7. I can't think of a seventh reason. Except I really, really, really, really, really (are you getting this internet?) WANT THIS CAR.

Okay. Time to talk some logic and sense into me. Or not.

Oh, wait, I did think of a seventh reason: I TOTALLY did NOT spend $5,000 per seat for the OPTION of buying season tickets for the Dallas Cowboys at their new stadium. So, I'm making sound financial decisions, right?

Let me hear from you.

In the Dry, and In the Guilt

Here it is, at the 9 1/2-week mark, and we are "in the dry," which means that all the plyboard is on the roof - along with tar paper. So, it can rain all it wants, and our studs are safe. Here they are, hefting the HEAVY sheets of plyboard to form the basis of the roof:Next, they rolled tar paper over the plyboard, and nailed it down with these orange tacks. Ronald and Tony did most of the tacking, while Cavin (pronounced like "Kevin") did the rolling and holding of the tar paper:Jackie would lift them up to the roof, but they couldn't come down until he fired up the machine again...can you tell that they were done for the day, and READY to come down?But with all this progress, I am racked with guilt, realizing that today is the two-year anniversary of the day that Hurricane Katrina devastated the lives and homes of thousands along the Gulf Coast. I am horrified that more hasn't been done to alleviate their situation, and as I watch the house I have dreamed of rise into the sky - I think of the poor folks in this video:
I also reflect on a moving HBO documentary regarding this subject. I hope that you will take some time to watch, reflect, and count your blessings. There are tens of thousands of families without homes. 30,000 families are scattered across the country in FEMA apartments, 13,000 are in trailers, and hardly any of the 77,000 rental units destroyed in New Orleans have been rebuilt.

I know that I haven't lived like a queen, in my tiny little house, for the last 14 years - but I consider myself humbled by the strength of others. May they be blessed as well.

The Controversy Continues...

Just another quick post. I really have some cool things to tell you all, and I still have to finish my "tag" assignment.

But have to update you regarding this post. Evidently, Merck has received negative responses to its new Garadsil vaccine, and made this decision today.

To Gardasil, or Not to Gardasil?

I'm in a quandary, folks, and I need your input. Especially yours, swampy. I got into a lively discussion with my dear friend/twin sister (who happens to work for an OB/GYN) about the imperative need to inject my daughter with Gardasil, the new vaccine that, according to their official website, MAY help guard against diseases caused by HPV and some cervical cancers. (Guys, you have my permission to bail on this post now.) Texas will begin REQUIRING girls to receive this vaccine by the fall of 2008.

I am not "anti-medicine," but I am extremely leery of all the drugs that are pushed on today's society. Eating a bunch of crap that makes your tummy hurt? Take a pill so you can continue your gluttony! Only want your period four times a year? There's a pill for that, too! Look at the pretty green moth/sleep fairy! One night, I counted FOURTEEN different drug advertisements during two hours of television. What is going on? You can't open a magazine or watch television or surf the Internet without seeing at least ONE drug ad.

And what of the side effects? They rattle through the list like it's insignificant, but listen carefully and you'll hear horrible terms like "bleeding" and "stroke" and "liver disorders." Or maybe you'll have to wade through four pages of fine print to discover the hidden side effects.

Remember Vioxx? How about Norplant? Oh, and let's not leave out the Ortha Evra patch, which is now under scrutiny b/c of the serious health risks it has been found to cause.

Drug companies want to make money. And they don't always have our best interests in mind. I implore you to read this article before making your judgment.

Personally, I don't trust the pharmaceutical industry. I know that there are fabulous, life-saving treatments and medicines that work, and since my husband is a nurse, I am privy to personal stories of success. But can man really play God, and mess with our biological chemistry to this extent, in such a way that we are much better off?

At this point, I don't want my daughter to receive this new vaccine. It has only recently been introduced to the market, and no one knows what the long-term side effects could be. It MAY help prevent cancer - but what if the side effects create something worse? Please give me your input...

Tigger Smackdown!

All ye hoodlum children, beware the wrath of Tiggers! Apparently, one Tigger felt the need to clock a teenage boy at Disney World, and the dad is all up in arms about it. You can read the full story here.
To be honest, after watching the video, it appears that Tigger was losing his balance, and his flailing arm caught the boy on the face. I also suspect that Tigger may have been attempting to keep both of them from falling over the railing behind them. I'd also like to know what the kid was doing with the arm that was behind Tigger's back, as it appears Tigger grabs that arm first.

So, I gotta know - did Marnie have a run-in with Tigger that she's not 'fessing up to?

UPDATE: Here is the video, finally on YouTube:

Register at the Morgue

I'm a big fan of Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" series, where they set up a police decoy to chat online, posing as a minor. Men of all ages make sexual advances on these "little girls," then arrange to meet them in person, when they think the parents aren't home. Here is a link where you can watch one of these #@*&*%'s as he arrives at a home, thinking he's about to have a sexual encounter with a minor child.

One of my daughter's friends wanted her to go to a high school football game last year, and I had to quiz the father taking them by asking, "Do you let your daughter run around all over the stadium?" You see, it's a small town, and I already knew the answer. I knew the other child and that she did not sit in the stands and actually WATCH THE GAME. Kids that age (12) are there to socialize, and run amuk. My daughter's classmates are all allowed this privilege. He scoffed at me, and when I didn't let my daughter attend the game with the family, I was labeled as "overprotective." People have become complacent, assuming that bad things don't happen here. When I first moved here, people didn't lock their cars or their homes. I was flabbergasted, b/c I grew up in a place where if you didn't lock your car, you wouldn't HAVE a car in less than fifteen minutes.

Our little town has hopefully woken up. Just last week, a level-three registered sex offender arrived at a local ballpark and attempted to lure two young girls into his van by offering them a ride. Fortunately, the heads-up mother alerted the police after her daughter told her what had happened, and the bastard is once again behind bars. What's worse? The sex offender was registered IN THE NEIGHBORING COUNTY. It can happen anywhere. And parents had better pay attention, know where their children are at all times, and check on them frequently. I'd rather be called "paranoid" and "overprotective" than "grieving mother," anyday.

And I believe the only place a sex offender should be registered is at the morgue.

Into the Mind of a Killer

As I mentioned earlier - I have been reading the blog of the 26-year old man who killed a 10-year old girl in Oklahoma, with plans of conducting unspeakable acts, including cannibalism. You may wonder why I would care to read the thoughts of an obviously depraved individual. So let me explain.

My parents were very overprotective as I was growing up. My mother warned me about the dangers of "strangers," yet took it a step further. She and I read stories of Henry Lee Lucas, John Wayne Gacy, Jr., etc. I had a hard time looking at Mark Harmon for years, b/c he had played Theodore Bundy in a movie at that time. It wasn't out of morbid curiosity, but more of an attempt to learn their tactics and techniques. So that as I grew up, I would know how to avoid putting myself into situations that might lead to my death.

As I've gotten older, I am more interested in what leads these people to kill. Some, like Aileen Wuoros, have a history of abuse in their pasts that make the connection easier to fathom. Just watch "Monster," if you want a real look inside what led this woman to her psychotic rampage. Others grew up in homes with people who themselves were psychotic. Some could be labeled as just plain crazy.

So why read this man's blog? To try to understand why he snapped. Or if he snapped. He comes across as extremely intelligent, yet at a dead-end in his life, suffering from depression, loneliness, and despair. No excuse to kill a child, but the proclamations from others that he is "pure evil" leave me wondering. He wrote entries from September 2002 until the day AFTER he murdered the child. Reading his first entry about September 11th did make me shudder..


I have also read it to try to find a pattern in his communications - something that might be a sign if I meet someone like this in the future, or if my daughter brings home a young man that I suspect is...well...you know.

I won't suggest you read the entire blog, but here is a link that might interest you. It details some of the most telling entries of the blog, as well as articles about the case. It also includes an IM log of a conversation this man had with a friend, while he had the body of the victim in his closet. Make your own judgment as to whether or not, if you had read this prior to his acts, you would have seen the signs. It is also interesting to read the comments left by others.

I will not post his photo, nor mention his name. The only person you need to know is Jamie Rose Bolin, his unfortunate victim. She is pictured above. May her family find some comfort, and may she rest in peace.