Living on the Edge

It Takes Time to Figure Things Out...

I know I'm a school teacher, but something tells me that these gutters have a problem.  We have only one downspout on the back side of our house...yes just ONE.  Do you think this is enough when we get a good rainfall?  NO!  So Loser Larry...another short cut taken when you built our house.  I would love to get the list of all the contractors you hired for building our house.  Then we will know who NOT to call when we need something done around the house.

Last week they fixed the flashing around the stove pipe so the rain stopped leaking down our the pipe and staining it.  Now we have a sanding and paint project to fix.  Oh, and about the pitted driveway? Still waiting on your newest not-so-best-friend the cement guy.  Did he tell you how annoyed he was with you?  Are you wondering why he isn't answering his phone???  You guys go ahead and fight amongst yourselves...just fix our darn driveway before it's covered in snow!!

But to be fair...we do have the names and numbers of the GOOD subcontractors.  We were at the house build often enough to see when quality work was done.  Boys, your names are on our bulletin board and we will be calling you all whenever we need something done!

Idaho Plate

Such an Idaho plate!  Did you know that in some states you can't put God on your license plate?!  And they wonder why people move to Idaho....it's God's country after all!!  It's incredibly gorgeous here and God is not a 4 letter word!

Learning the Game

There's my girl!  JV cheerleader this year.  She has made some great friends and it's been a fun way to start high school.  What better way to not get lost as a Freshman in high school...become a cheerleader and wear a bright yellow uniform on game day!

Daddy says she isn't really watching the game.  Not sure what she is watching then...she does know a little bit about football now after two months of watching the game.  She knows which team to cheer for and she knows what offense and defense is...but not always when the team is ON offense or defense.  

The Chickens are Working

The garden may not have produced much over the summer...but our ducks and chickens are earning their keep!  We have so many eggs...we share them with as many friends and neighbors as we can!  Instead of flowers, we bring eggs.  So feel free to invite us over if you need a dozen!

7 eggs in one day!!!  It's the most we've gotten, but a common number the past few weeks!

Happy 70th Birthday!

I remember when John Lennon was killed.  What an example of a senseless death!  I was young when it happened so I had not experienced much death yet, but this one made a lasting impression.  Here was an amazing singer, who I listened to and admired for all his quirkiness, and some selfish person had to end his life.

I don't remember the name of the person who shot him, but I don't think he deserves his name to be remembered anyway.  John Lennon's name and music will be remembered and has continued to live on even though he is long passed...that's who should be remembered.  

If you stop by Google today, here is the reason behind the logo....

 

Purpose of Media

I came across this interesting quote about Media today:

                    "Television news is like a lightning flash. It makes a loud noise, lights up everything around it, leaves everything else in darkness and then is suddenly gone."

                                                                          -by  Hodding Carter

I have found that to be so true lately. I am a news junky.  I have newsfeeds on my home page.  I grab a newspaper whenever I can get one.  I have friended the different news stations on Facebook.  I listen to the news shows on the radio going to work and on the way home.  

I want to know what is going on in our corner of the world, in our country and throughout the globe.

Well, recently there was an incident in Spokane County that made the news.  It was an officer involved shooting.  They happen throughout the country and they do happen in our neck of the woods.  We are not sheltered from crime and ugliness here.  For me this was an enlightening incident.  I discovered how much the media can screw the truth up and how naive they are concerning facts in a case and how they just want to sensationalize things to gain viewers.

Now, I'm not going to totally blame the media for the faults in this case, though they are definitely a large fuel that feeds the fire...the public played a large part as well as the Sheriff's Department.  But the media just took everything they heard and ran with it.  Don't they teach journalism students about gaining multiple trusted sources before reporting a supposed 'fact'?  There are so many parts to the incident that have been turned around and misreported.

The liberal, we-hate-all-cops, part of our community were also very vocal.  I mean VERY vocal.  They got lots of airplay.  They also jumped all over the social media sites and spouted any wild thought that came to mind, regardless of its source or whether it was based in truth or just urban legend.

Yes folks, the media picked up on it too.  Surprise, surprise.

And since when does the son of a victim, who was not even there when it happened, become an expert witness?  Why does his opinion gain any merit?  

As time has unfolded this incident...some talk show hosts locally have decided the case and chosen a side. It is going to be unfortunate if the final outcome does not match their opinion.  I fear the public outcry could be dangerous to not only the officer involved in the shooting, but to all the men and women in law enforcement.

For those of us out there willing to believe in those sworn officers, please be vocal.  Please stand up for those who put their lives on the line for your safety every day.  I wish that more people would look past the title of Pastor and imagine what you would do if a MAN was approaching you with a gun and wouldn't drop it. Speak up if you think that this was just a man that made a very bad choice.  

One last thing I was wondering about...what would have happened if this 'pastor' did shoot the officer and kill him?  Would the same group of vocal citizens who are demanding an officer be punished for doing his job, demand justice for the dead officer?  Hmmm...makes you wonder!

Another one off the streets!

The Law Enforcement community in Spokane County has been taking quite a hit from the vocal liberals in the community.  Combine their need with complaining with the need for the press to publicize a perceived scandal and well...you get a very unsafe situation for the men and women in Law Enforcement.

Well, sorry to burst the negative bubble, but here is a story where the local deputies are doing an irrefutable good job!!!

 

A rather seedy fellow was stalking young girls in a West Valley neighborhood.  Well, thanks to this Deputy's dogged determination, he is now off the streets and their is one less hazard for our children!

Hello Again!

I don't know what happened this summer...but I fell off the Blog Wagon.  I just fell right off into the emptiness of internet oblivion.  Not that I was working. I was off this summer from school.  Not that I was busy with my vegetable garden.  It struggled to grow throughout the summer...or lack of summer actually. The problem was that I was just too tired all the time.  Lots of sleep, combined with endless trips to school and the gym for girls' cheer practices, also combined with working on outside projects around the new house and I just couldn't seem to catch up on the sleep.

Well too late now!  School has been back in session for a month.  So now that has kept me busy.  It does feel good to have a really good reason to be too busy to sit at a computer and type.  But that's not really why I haven't been on the computer the past month.  My keyed companion of the past, just over two years, crashed!  Not just the hard drive...the motherboard and all.  IF it's going to crash...it might as well crash hard!

So goodbye HP Pavilion 9700...hello Toshiba!  After finding out that HP is not such a reliable computer, the hard way, we went out and purchased a different brand with a better record of reliability!  No more HP's in this house.

But the good news...after many long hours of fighting with my hard drive, the awesome fellows at System Restore in Coeur d'Alene seem to have retrieved much of my important data and even more importantly, my pictures!  That will teach me to not back up my photos as soon as I download them to my computer and delete them from the digital card!!  I did have everything backed up until about the third week of August...but of course the 'to die for' photos were taken over Labor Day Weekend!  That must be Murphy's Law at work again.

The Bad News....one thing I can't get back is my photo program...and after spending over $600 on a new computer...I just can't afford a new one for awhile.  I have to use my old Elements 6 for awhile...with a little help from Picasa.

Since my camera is a major appendage anymore...I can't post without a picture!  So here is something that did thrive and prosper this summer....our 6 chickens and 2 ducks!!

Our little ladies have been busy.  This was taken about a week ago...the first day we got 7 eggs in one day!!  Woohoo!

Another New Favorite in the Music World

The first song I heard from Zac Brown Band I remember thinking..."That's an annoying song". 

When I saw him, I couldn't believe it was a country artist.  With the beanie he had on his head and the cargo pants I thought he could have been from the Plaza in Arcata.  (If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about).

But I remember seeing him on a show doing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and that totally changed my mind about him.  Watch and listen....

 

 

I've heard other bands do this song, but Zac Brown truly does it justice...so do his band mates.  

Since the first song I heard...was it Toes or maybe one before it...I've changed my mind.

He is an accomplished chef!

He is the daddy to four little girls!

He writes his own clever lyrics!

He plays his music!

He's worked hard to get where he is now!

And he did a duet with Alan Jackson!

If Alan thinks he's good enough...well, enough said!!!  :-)

Anyone can be a singer!

So as a mom and first grade teacher...I've become queen of the silly songs.  Music tames the savage beast they say...and so silly music will totally catch the savage beast off guard and give you a headstart! 

When my kids had to put their jammies on at night, there was the jammy song.  Brushing their teeth, well of course the brushing their teeth song--to get them to brush long enough.  Waiting at the stoplight...yup, there was even a song for that.  Of course the mega concert of mommy songs was always at bathtub time.  It became a huge medley and remix of songs that were real and those made up.

I came across Jonathon on youtube this morning.  He must have had a mom that also sang to him endlessly about anything and everything.  He now does it himself, films it and posts it on youtube!  He has 571 songs so far.  He sings about the iphone, Steve Jobs, and this funny one about an actor he wants to meet....and many more.

Here is his iphone 4 antenna song too...

Check out his website and see all 571 songs that he's done so far!