Monster Trucks and Egos

My question is, what makes someone get their truck lifted?

Is it just that they think it looks cool? Or is it that they never want to be able to fit through a drive-thru again? I mean seriously, what does getting your truck lifted accomplish except being higher than everyone else on the road?

Now, sometimes I do think that it looks cool, but only if it is a little bit and if the tires themselves aren't supersized. Otherwise, it seems like these drivers are just on an ego trip and need to go to some self-esteem counseling. I mean, look again at the picture above. What does this truck communicated except that it is trying to be the biggest and the baddest thing on the road?

Anyways, I just feel like I see more and more of them. Just last night my husband and I saw one pull into the Winco parking lot right after us. Then we see this short 5'5'' guy jump out. He probably had to have a stool to just climb into the cab!

If anyone has any idea why people spend all this money to make just getting into their car difficult, let me know. :)

Hannah and Health Care

Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) is now an Americal Idol mentor. Know I know it is just reality TV, but seriously, how desperate can you get? She's only 17. I know she has accomplished fame, but does that mean she can give others singing advice? Now I'm not criticizing anything about her signing, I just think there are people about there who are accomplished vocalists who would be better qualified.

On the health care front, President Obama signed the bill. I am very worried, and don't mind saying so. The entitlement society has gone too far. The feds want to much control and want to take too much of my hard-earned money. I'm not being greedy, but I know that I was taught to work hard and I would be rewarded. Now it almost seems like whether you work hard or not, you will still be rewarded. That is just wrong. Some people seem to want independence, but no responsibility. But sorry, that is what adulthood and freedom entail- not just independence, but responsibility. The satisfaction of earning something for yourself is great, and until people realize this, I am worried about our country.

I don't want socialized health care. I want people to work hard for themselves.

I always find O'Reilly informative. Here's a look:

Dinner

And there is Sunday dinner. My husband looks over at me and says "Are you going to be doing this all the time?" He's referring to taking pictures of our dinner. I roll my eyes. Come on babe, work with me here... I'm getting a topic to write about for my blog...

On Thursday we had the classic pigs-in-a-blanket, except I didn't have mini dogs. These probably should have been called superpigs-in-a-blanket. Sorry, mother, it probably should be better balanced. I won't mentioned to chocolate-iced brownies we rounded the meal off with afterwards!

Grand Prix- Cars and Kids

Today was finally the Grand Prix for our Awana club at church. The kids were super creative with their cars. I totally had a run for my money on the best leader design car though- Brenda's Love Bug only lost by one point. (I was a little worried when I saw it. Now she'll have to get even next year.) :) Anyways, this is probably best today in pictures! See below!

My design competition was pretty good

The track

Clubber cars

Clubbers watching intensely

Thomas and David-two Trek clubbers

A first time for everything

Yesterday I cut Justin's hair. Have I ever been trained? No. Do I really know what I am doing? No. Did it desperately need cut? YES!

Of course I have watch people cut his hair a million times. It looked easy enough. It was easy enough- I just don't have 3/4 inch trimmers for the back and sides, which made cutting the back and sides difficult. I think it turned out okay though, eh?

That smile would cover any mistake, anyways. :)

Not THAT Alice

My husband and I went to see Alice in Wonderland last night. It was an enjoyable, clean, film, but not near the entertainment I was hoping it would be. I wanted to see more of the fantastical forest world of mushrooms and funky animals. What I saw was the dreaded Red Queen's castle, and lots of darkness and gloom. Of course, I know that the darker side is a major part of the plot because Alice has to slay the jabberwocky, but still, I wanted to see more imaginative things!

On the actual acting, I did agree with a review I read that Johnny Depp, playing the Hatter, was outdone by Helena Bonham Carter, the Red Queen. She really captured the temper and outbursts of the Queen well. And compared to Depp's other films, he isn't as astounding. Perhaps because he just doesn't have as much screen time, so I didn't get to experience it as much. However, I would definitely recommend this to other because it is clean, and it is so hard to find a clean movie these days.

The characters were fun to watch. After the movie, Justin pointed out that the characters in Wonderland mirror characters above ground. Now, I'm the literature teacher here, so I'm supposed to have these realizations! Hahaha... Anyways, if you see it, definitely think about that. The obvious is the two twin sisters mirror the two fat boys, but see if you see any other character duplicates in Wonderland when you watch the movie.

Here's a trailer if you haven't see it yet!

And for the old school folks among us, here's a link to a review that compares the novel to the movie. Or read portions of the book online.

And the winner is...

Today wraps up my meetings with grad schools. I met with National University in Stockton today and CSU Stanislaus yesterday. Overall, I felt that the admissions staff at CSU were friendlier, more helpful, and very knowledgeable about the program. I also felt like it would be easy to talk to someone in the department to get more specific information on courses and expectations. The other pro of CSU is the price and location. I could finish my Masters there in the city I teach in about a year, and under $10,000, which would be affordable. While I still need to apply for grants/scholarships, I think this amount is more do-able than the others, which are about twice as much. The quality of classes and experience would be higher too, I think, because the requirements for getting in the program are more stringent.

I can tell it's Thursday, because I am pooped! More on grad school later!

Grand Prix Car!

Rev up them engines clubbers!!!

Every year for AWANA we have a Grand Prix. All the kids start with a block of wood and some wheels, and can then design a car all their own. For the leaders, ahem, including myself, we can get a bit competitive. Now, I'm not competitive on speed, but on design. My current design is an iPhone. I wanted something different, that isn't really a car at all. Such were my past two years as well- a bright pink Coverse and an opened pack of Wrigley's gum. Not to brag, but I won best design for a leader's car for the past two years. I'm trying to [humbly] maintain the title this year too.

No Way: Animal Abusers and Cuss-Free Week

Apparently the state legislature has been busy solving California's budget woes. They are working on two new items: establishing Cuss-Free Week and tracking animal abusers like they would sex offenders.

Tracking Animal Abusers
Here's the idea: Known animal abusers would have their information written in an online database that anyone can look up. It would include names, what the person looks like, previous crimes, where they live, etc so that people in the community could look out for any potential problems. Supposedly it would also help personnel at the pound to not sell innocent animals to these people.

Here's the problem: The program might cost up to $1 million to launch. It would pay for the tracking program by taxing pet food. This really punishes those who are taking care of their animals well. They would also fine the abusers, but some critics say this should be the only place they raise there money, not from pet food taxes. It also would give another government job and more taxes, and more law enforcement to keep with the the issues that arise.

Cuss-Free Week
Here's the idea: "Californians have a history of trying to keep the state's air and water clean. Now their tackling language. Californians have better start watching their mouth" says an article clip. The resolution sets the first week of March as a cuss-free week. The movement was started by a teenager who started a No-Cuss Club at his school, and other clubs have been started in every state and several countries.

Here's the problem: There is no enforcement mechanism. Also, how does this help the budget, which is the biggest issue right now??

To wrap this up, I have a few concluding thoughts:

Both of these issues are worthwhile, in the big picture, and perhaps even noble. I teach junior high and know that profanity is rampant- kids use it because they see it in the movies, hear it from family, or just think it makes them cool. I would love for there to be more publicity about this. But in the legislature? We have a serious budget crisis and it is affecting our children's schooling. In my opinion, the effort it took to write this resolution should have been put to solving the budget crisis. On the animal abuse issue, there is not doubt in my mind that it is a horrible thing. But I just don't elevate it to the same level as a rapist or sex offender. The animal isn't a person. Let's put our effort into more severe punishment for sex offenders. Fine animal abusers all you want, that is fine. But let's keep the focus that people are most important and are the ones most worthy of protecting. Besides, it would create another government job and more spending of money that is NOT THERE.

And that's my two cents.

Here's a video about Cuss Free Week

How could I forget?

Remember these? I almost forgot!

Walking down the aisles of my favorite store, (Dollar Tree of course) I saw this name-brand item on the shelf. Since I was hungry anyways, I figured that it would be a quick dinner on a church night. I tossed it in the basket.

At home, slurped on the delicious confection. I should really look up who invented this sometime, and write a poem for them. So simple, yet so good. Perhaps I'm just reliving my childhood too....

For the birthday party at Trek club, our junior high group, I brought Mondo to drink with our cupcakes. Yet another reminder of childhood. Now, my mother was thrifty, and we didn't get drink boxes much, but sometimes these were a treat. Between the Spaghetti O's and Mondo drinks, I could have been seven years old again.

Cheers to childhood!

Flowers

I'm driving home after a way-too-long-educators-can-really-talk-a-lot staff meeting, and realizing what a gorgeous day it is. That's one thing about California I will always love- warm weather. Not I didn't say that I loved all the weather (booo cold winter rain- I would rather have Ohio snow) but I do love it being around 70 degrees some days in February and March. Anyways, I'm rambling.

I need to work on my flowers. I don't have too much in mind yet, and need to do some research. I have some small pots that I am trying to plant Alyssum in- it they actually grow like I want them to they will be scattered along the sidewalk to the house and look quite cute. (Of course cute is what my husband always dreams of the house looking like). Last year I think I started late because they didn't grow very well.

We just have one real place to plant flowers, and it is along the side of the house, by the porch. I started late last year (mid-summer) so I am determined to get started soon. As in, hopefully this week. Justin's parents are coming out and I am hoping to have some color by then, but of course you can't rush nature.

I love Zinnias but I am telling myself that I need to be more sophisticated for the main flower bed. I have a triangle section behind the house, so I might just plant zinnias there and use them for cut flowers. I just can't get enough of fresh flowers. I think my Grandma put this in me- every year I would go down to the farm in southwest Ohio during the summer and spend a week or two with them. Grandma always had her flowers, especially the beautiful roses, pruned and lovely. And thinking about, so did Great-Grandma Reedy, until she couldn't keep them up anymore. I think it is passed down to the generations, thought it skipped my dad, sorta. He always kept the yard looking nice but didn't fawn over flowers in particular. Now I think it is my turn and I always hope I do the flower bed justice, with Grandma in mind!

Here's last year's, but this year's will be better!