Having just come from my first exposure to a room filled with ‘Home-schooling’ Mom’s, I’m still a bit bewildered by it all. Let me first say that now being a member of that coveted group, I can make a little fun of the ‘truth’. You know, like fat people can make fat jokes, black people can make black jokes, and gay people can. . .never mind, they only make fun of everyone else. Back to the subject~getting ready for this meeting, I found myself subconsciously putting on a little too much make up, a bit more jewelry than usual, and shoes that hurt my feet. I think I was trying to make certain that everyone would recognize the ‘rebel’ in me, that surely I’d not be mistaken for one of ‘them’. I have no intention of educating my kids into an Ivy League University before they turn 17. Making their clothes is not an option, and there is a time and place for flip flops. Make-up is my friend, I look awful with my hair in a ‘bun’,  and while comfortable, a floor length sleeveless muu muu is not part of my wardrobe. Besides all that, I like eating unhealthy, and though it may prove my early demise, why eat watercress & tofu when a moon-pie is within reach?

Walking in the joint, I automatically had kind of a chip on my shoulder. After all, our children are coming out of one of the finest school systems in the entire country. We loved being ‘normal’ there, and changing has been a hard, thought-out, prayerful process for us. We’re leaving behind something wonderful for the unknown~but it is RIGHT for our family. That we’re sure of. Miraculously for me (I’m terminally late for EVERYTHING), I was early. Strategically, I took a seat on the second row. The front row was just too bold, the back row was too non-committal. Funny how we think things through like this when we’re nervous, huh? There I sat, pretending to read some hand out materials, holding my Blackberry tightly in hand in case one of the die hards made their way toward me, I could fake a phone call from the Mayor, begging me to bring the kids back to public school . . . As the other ladies began to filter in, I tried not to look anywhere but the papers I had, or an occasional text message on the phone. After the room started to fill, there was laughter and small talk all around, and soon the seats around me were filling. I gathered the nerve to glance around for a few seconds . . . BOOM. It hit me, “Am I in the right place? These can’t be home-schoolers.” Where’s all the macramé? The unstyled prematurely gray hair and 1970′s eyeglass frames? No one is breast-feeding two children at once as she balances a 9 year old with a sippie cup on her knee. . .THIS CAN’T BE RIGHT.

As I sat there in amazement, I realized that almost all of these women look the way I wish I looked! Beautiful hair, stylish but modest clothes, manicures, make up, most were fit and tanned, some even wore their tennis and golf outfits. Suddenly I also realized how many familiar faces there were~and NONE of their kids are weird! The more the reality sank in, the more relieved I was. Further, the more out of place I felt . . . in a reverse kind of way. Remember at the beginning I said I’d put on a little too much make-up & jewelery? . . . Well, I sat there feeling more and more like Cher’s “Lavern” character, the leopard-leotard diva of the laundromat . . .to my amazement though, being the new kid on the block, none of them had any preconceived notions about ME. At least they didn’t let on so. I felt strangely comfortable, even supported. Also relieved, as the real discussions centered around ‘growing our children into an intelligent, Christian worldview’. That’s the real point.

And so, it’s official. I am a home-schooling Mom, and very proud to be. Even though we all know I really have the potential to screw up our children, but good. Wish us luck! More importantly~pray for our kids . . .

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

. . . But she hasn’t started the song yet. The doors aren’t locked on this Cap and Trade disaster folks. Obama needs a big win on this to keep from falling from grace even in his own party. Please, PLEASE make a simple short phone call to your Senator. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. Click on this website. The numbers and web addresses are all in order & easy to navigate. Find your Senator’s name and information and USE it. If you don’t remind them now WHO they represent, how can you expect them to represent YOU? Call. Call NOW. As well as write letters and/or email. I just did both.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 this week to pass HR 2454,  “The American Clean Air and Security Act”…..”Cap  and Trade”.    It’s another of the Grape-Nuts type bills.  You know, the cereal named for something not contained in the product….no grapes and no nuts.  This act is neither designed for clean air or security.  It is designed solely to raise taxes to pay for the Obama largesse growing more voluminous by the day.  Further, at it’s core is a flawed premise, the belief that there is such a thing as man made global warming…or any global warming for that matter.

Voting on this bill and the tactics preceding the vote, serve to further punctuate the enormity of the problems we face in this country.  It may, however, also confirm a solution, or at least a portion of the solution to these ever growing problems that threaten to take our country down for the count.  First let’s define the core problem.  Summarily it is a feeling of entitlement coupled with a self promoting, self protection and self serving decision making designed to perpetuate their ability to remain a member of “The Capital Hill Club”.  The aphrodisiac of notoriety and the magnetic draw of power has ensnared even the best of men and women who go to D.C. with a “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington” mentality.  It doesn’t happen to all of them.  Some are enraged by what they see and the circuitous attempts by powerful people to own them.  They become embolden in their resistance to these efforts.  When these patriots are found we need to support them to the hilt.

An examination of the vote on H.R. 2454 is revealing.  Forty four democrats voted against the bill….encouraging!  However, eight republicans caved and voted for the bill.  If only 4 of these had held their ground it would have been defeated.  Interestingly, Connie Mack (D-FL) voted against the bill but his wife Mary Bono-Mack (R-CA) voted for it.  There must have been some interesting pillow talk over these diametrically opposed decisions.  Yep, Ms Bono-Mack is the ex-wife of the deceased singer Sonny Bono, and Mr. Mack is the great great grandson of the legendary baseball Hall-of-Famer of the same name.  After Sonny Bono’s death Mr. Mack left a wife and young children for Ms. Bono.  Now there’s a novel story, politicians involved in hanky-panky.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reportedly courted moderate republicans with promises and threats regarding their re-election in 2010.   These strong arm tactics are successful largely because of the strong desire to remain a member of “The Capital Hill Club”.   Often this desire is stronger than the one to do the right thing.  This gives rise to the first of two answers to our political problems….TERM LIMITS!

The House was designed as a position where a man or woman would leave their family and business to represent his community in D.C.  After 2-4 years they would have “done their duty” and return to their home responsibilities being replaced by another in his community who would put family and business on hold to represent the those who believed in him or her.  Now, these jobs have turned into careers, losing their original intent and becoming a perpetual anuity to the long time holders of the seat.  We must return The House to it’s original design…..and the Senate too!

The second of the problems and the resulting solution can best be seen by looking at the current hotly debated health care situation.  What ever legislation comes out of the medical debate will not effect lawmakers because they have their own lucrative, all encompassing and far reaching health plan.  The same is true of retirement.  Social Security is merely a tennis ball being volleyed by lawmakers in an attempt to look magnanimous to their constituents.  In the end it doesn’t effect them.  They have their own retirement plan that will take care of them in a high manner after only a few years of “service” to “the American People”.  sic!!  Oh yes, in case you missed it, there is a move to tax all employer provided medical insurance for everyone….except union workers!  What hubris!  The dems need to continue currying favor with unions, a major source of their power.  The unions got a big portion of GM and Chrysler at the expense of both 200 years of law and the lenders to these corporations.

Now another portion of the solution.  LAWMWKERS AND ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS BEING SUBJECT TO ALL LAWS……ESPECIALLY HEALTH CARE, RETIREMENT, COMPENSATION AND TAXATION LAWS.  Let’s figure out an acronym or name that can catch on and capture the imagination of our Nation.  “Politicians Play 2″ or “PP2″…..or “You Pass It You Catch It”….or “Sink Along With Us”…or “PIMP”…”Politicians In My Pocket”.  If you agree with the concept put some thought into a name.

These sick clowns are working around the clock to drag us into full blown socialism.  We have to call them into account or throw the self serving bums out.

What do we do, just throw up our hands in surrender? Not only NO, but you bet your empty wallet NO! Below I’m listing the names and phone numbers of the moronic, self serving REPUBLICANS who actually voted FOR the ‘Crash CAPITALISM as we know it’ Cap and Trade disaster that was passed today. I don’t care if they are NOT your representatives, call them and let them know that you are ON TO them.

Bono Mack (CA) 202-225-5330
Castle (DE) 202-225-4165
Kirk (IL) 202-225-4835                                                                                                 Lance (NJ) 202-225-5361
Lobiondo (NJ) 202-225-6572
McHugh (NY) 202-225-4611
Reichart (WA) 202-225-7761
Chris Smith (NJ) 202-225-3765

You can now listen to Just Talking It Up 34 in the player on the left sidebar of the blog, or on iTunes! For those that are subscribed, it will automatically download next time you open iTunes!

Talking about the distorted direction our country is heading is not enough. To be an effective voice and participant in stemming the tide of our current administration’s march toward socialism we must have a plan of action. Janet and Crash discuss some specific steps that we all can take to be productive change agents. They also provide some little known facts about our country’s Christian heritage and give listeners a resource for strengthening their Christian worldview. Listen, take heed, take notes and ACT.Thanks for listening, and please send your opinion to feedback@justalkingitup.com!!

Just like other legislation, while they draw your attention somewhere else, they are trying to sneak this in the back door. Don’t be fooled, this is a giant sweeping tax that WILL effect every household in America. Don’t sit back and “tsk-tsk-tsk” DO SOMETHING!

Follow this link and call your representative NOW. And urge your friends even if you and they are sure that YOUR rep is voting against it. Cell phones are everywhere, and most have free long distance. Just call. CALL NOW.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

What do you give a man who has just about everything & doesn’t want or need anything for Father’s Day? The only ‘hint’s we got this year were a few grumbles about ‘homemade presents are best’, and an occasional ‘please don’t give me anything with payments’ . . . My husband is one of a kind. He tries to ignore the subject completely thinking that the kids and I will forget about it all together, which never works but he tries it anyway. He likes things simple, which is one of the many reasons I love him so. If I just clean the kitchen he’s delighted, so we didn’t need to do much.

After some thought, we decided to take the practical route, and ‘do’ something around the house that he would ‘do’ himself if he had the time. Conveniently, he and our middle son were gone to Boy Scout camp the entire week before Father’s Day. What a break! They left Sunday afternoon & Monday morning, the rest of the kids and I headed for “Home Depot” where everyone’s an expert, except me. I had squirreled away a phone ‘rebate’ check for 100.00, so we felt like the sky was the limit. We bought paint, spackle, sandpaper, and floor tiles to give our laundry room and back entry hall a much needed make-over. . . . the hundred that originally made me feel like a bootleggers wife vanished, gone, lickety split~a mere down payment. But, it went for a worthy cause, and besides it wasn’t THAT much more . . .so off we went.

Now, before you get too skeptical you must know that re-doing the laundry room really was for him, not me. I know it’s unusual but he spends more time in there than I do~ironing his shirts & doing the boys laundry. I know ladies, I’m not as stupid as I look. I’m fully aware I won the marital lottery. Get over it. I won. Get your own.

Here’s what we learned that week:

1)Wallpaper from 1972 does NOT surrender easily. I’m rather certain that the glue used then is now used to hold heat shields in place on the Space Shuttle. 

2)Baseboards with quarter round attached like to be left alone, so when they’re pried off, they like to take 45 year old plasterboard with them as keepsakes.

3)Patching large holes in old plaster walls is harder than it looks. In our case, the end result of our best efforts there looks like the walls have really bad acne in some places. Yes, I sanded. So much so that were we making our own paper, we’d have depleted much of our southern coastline. The real problem is that water damaged plasterboard, and our modern wallboard are only distant relatives, not counterparts.

4)One coat of “Kilz” is rarely enough as a good base coat like the salesman said.

5)Not all “Kilz” cleans up with water~I should have read the label more carefully. *In my defense, the salesman handed me the can and said “yes, water clean up.” I should have double checked. I know, I know.

6)Varnish remover removes flesh. It’s one of those gifts that keeps on giving . . . again, lack of label reading on my part. If it says “wear gloves”, rent a HAZMAT suit.

7)”Do-It-Yourself” floor tiles really ARE easier than thought. . .if you measure correctly to start with. Unfortunately my math skills are those of a four year old cat.

8)Sliding a freezer, washer and dryer on top of new floor tiles without damage is risky, at times life threatening. They tip easier than they slide. Then they’re out of balance & they leak.

9)The ‘one more quart’ of lovely green paint to ‘finish up with’ that you go back to the store and buy never, NEVER matches the original gallon you bought at the start.

10)Homemade gifts really are best.

He was definitely surprised and very (politely) complimentary, even grateful. And I must say it is at least improvement. I happen to think it looks best if you sprint through there. Or if you must stop for some reason, perhaps to chat with my husband as he’s starching his shirt, stand in the doorway with your feet about a foot away from the door-frame, and lean on your left shoulder. Then it looks REALLY good. But try to keep your eyes straight ahead. Don’t look around or you may get dizzy.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Here’s an interesting idea~Instead of fussing and fighting about ‘how’ to control illegal immigrants at our southern border, how about we put our money where our mouth is like the old days? On a small scale, here’s a ‘for instance’ for comparison purposes: If I’m in my home and a police officer comes to my door with proper paperwork (like a warrant), whether or not I like the idea, he’s coming in my house legally, so I’m letting him in. Now, if I’m in my home, and a person dressed all in black with a mask on and a bag in his hand let’s himself quietly through a window, and I feel threatened, I will do everything in my power to kill him. Not wound him, kill him. I would not be willing to put my family at risk by ‘wounding’ him until I can determine what his intentions might be besides grabbing a few easy to fence items. He’s in MY house without MY permission, and knew he was wrong or he would have come to the front door like everybody else. It’s a hassle to gain access to my house (legally) if uninvited but it SHOULD be. It’s my house and I make the rules.

It’s harsh, even barbaric but just about guaranteed to work. Instead of trying to plug up all the tunnels and fence the river fronts, we spread a couple of hundred sharp shooters one mile inside our border. They shoot first and ask questions later. Every human life is  invaluable, but in times of war, tough decisions must be made for the benefit of the ‘whole’, not the few. This is our house, we are at war, and we are threatened. I suspect that if we made the rules known, and gave a start date, there would be fewer than 20 lives lost before the gush of illegals would miraculously stop or at least slow to a more manageable pace.

There are so many injustices in our country that must be addressed, but we have to get our house in order without having company in our living room. If I had dinner guests scheduled for Friday night and on Friday morning our family was diagnosed with the flu virus and the basement flooded, I would not hesitate one second calling our guests and saying “Not now. Please forgive us. We’ll reschedule when we’re well.” If guests had already arrived (like foreign visa visitors are NOW), I’d politely ask them to leave until we are well enough to host them properly. If they get angry and stomp out? Then they weren’t good enough friends to have over anyway.

Our economy is flailing about wildly, our heath-care system is busting at the seams, unemployment is higher than we’ve seen in many years, and we have a president who is making things worse faster than he can make any ONE thing better as he apologizes to every cutthroat hack on the planet. I’d say we have the flu. Let’s get everybody out and keep them out until we have a little more stability. We can entertain them later. This is just not a good time for company, and it would be one giant problem fixed (albeit temporarily) that definitely has an effect on all the others brewing here in the living room~fewer illegals=less stressed health-care system, more job availability to name a couple. 

There are so many things going south all at once it’s hard to keep focused. Somehow, we’ve got to stop the internal hemorrhaging one spot at a time. Border shut down would be tough but not impossible & it would allow us to concentrate on some of our other wounds. Interesting to note, no one is trying to sneak into Mexico, or Cuba, or Canada. Amazingly, there are people here that still wonder why. If we don’t stop giving away milk, this cow will die. She’s already got the flu.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

If anyone has been in the dark about how the elevated opinion most lawmakers have of themselves, Barbara Boxer (D-CA) made it clear in a Senate hearing on Thursday.   In her typical patronizing and self elevating tone she  “dressed down” and patronized Brigadier General Michael Walsh of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, telling him to call her Senator not “ma’am” because she had worked hard for that title.  This epitomizes the tremendous gap that exists between the mind set of Congress and reality.

I recognize that, given enough time, most of us could think of a snappy retort to this arrogant request, but in the heat of the moment a come-back might be slow coming to mind.  Most of my come-backs come back some time after they are needed.  I don’t know if this is limited intelligence, cluttered mind or age, but it happens.  In my mind’s eye I picture myself replying to self appointed Queen Barbara that; “In using the term ma’am I was simply showing maximum respect for you by referring to you by the supremely elevated term ma’am that defines a true lady.  However you insist in being relegated to the lowly and disgusting term, senator, I will comply.”  It makes me feel so good to fanatacise  about having done that.

I am reminded of the late comedian, Jerry Clower’s, view of women’s liberation.   He said that to give his wife the equality demanded by the women’s-lib movement would only knock her off the pedestal he had kept her on for years.  AMEN!!!

Typical of the follow-up to such stupid but revealing comments by government officials, this too will be explained away by such statements as; “what she meant to say was….” or “the senator has talked with the General and they expressed their mutual respect for each other” or……….well…you know what’s coming from their revisionist rantings.  But the words and the facial expressions are there…on Youtube….for all to see.   Will it make any difference?  At some point it has to.  Our next opportunity to show that we have had more than enough of this trash is November of 2010.  We all need to be involved in some way to right these wrongs and kick these arrogant bums out.

You can now listen to Just Talking It Up 33 in the player on the left sidebar of the blog, or on iTunes! For those that are subscribed, it will automatically download next time you open iTunes!

They’re B-A-A-A-A-CK!!!

Crash and Janet are “Just Talking It Up” again (after a short hiatus) to take a good long look at this ‘new world’ we live in. Our gluttonous government is scarfing up our liberties at a frightful pace. . . . and spending money even faster! Is it designed to be at breakneck speed so that ‘we the people’ have no time to think it through? Rest assured Janet and Crash think so. The censoring left would prefer to bleach this show, and someday soon they just might. Listen in and find out why! Thanks for listening, and please send your opinion to feedback@justalkingitup.com!!