I had a great compliment today...

Kim, at the bank, paid me a great compliment today. She works at the drive thru window at BB&T and we don't usually have time to chit-chat. Somehow we got on the subject of parenting and she said she wanted to be a cool, hip, mom and she felt like she was too old to have a child. I told her that I was 35 when I had Bradley. She said that's how old she is. I told her that Bradley would be 10 in July and she said she couldn't believe I was 45. She thought I was about 33. Thanks Kim, you're awesome and no, you're not too old to have a child. Go for it!!! Have a dozen!!! It's very adverturous and it will keep you young!!!

Cutest Baby Contest

Please vote by comment for the cutest baby. The candidates are listed below:

Contestant #1: Makenna Elizabeth Johnson

Vote early and often!!!

Can Sherriff Joe run for President?

I got this information in an email from a friend. I haven't checked the absolute validity of the info but the Sherriff's website is at the bottom. Whether it's 100% true or not isn't the point here...this is an example of someone I would like to see run for President???
You all remember Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona , who painted the jail cells pink and made the inmates wear pink prison garb. Well.........SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!

Oh, there's MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe! Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.
The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.


The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78. The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.

I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.

Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote. Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind of a 'Git-R Dun' kind of Sheriff.



Sheriff Joe Arpaio (In Arizona ) who created the ' Tent City Jail': He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights Cut off all but 'G' movies.

He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.

Then He Started Chain Gangs For Women So He Wouldn't Get Sued For Discrimination.

He took away cable TV Until he found out there was A Federal Court Order that Required Cable TV For Jails So He Hooked Up The Cable TV Again Only Let In The Disney Channel And The Weather Channel.

When asked why the weather channel He Replied, So They Will Know How Hot It's Gonna Be While They Are Working ON My Chain Gangs.

He Cut Off Coffee Since It Has Zero Nutritional Value.

When the inmates complained, he told them, 'This Isn't The Ritz/Carlton.....If You Don't Like It, Don't Come Back.'

He bought Newt Gingrich's lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails.

When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

More On The Arizona Sheriff:

With Temperatures Being Even Hotter Than Usual In Phoenix (116 Degrees Just Set A New Record), the Associated Press Reports: About 2,000 Inmates Living In A Barbed-Wire-Surrounded Tent Encampment At The Maricopa County Jail Have Been Given Permission To Strip Down To Their Government-Issued Pink Boxer Shorts.

On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 Degrees Inside The Week Before.

Many Were Also Swathed In Wet, Pink Towels As Sweat Collected On Their Chests And Dripped Down To Their PINK SOCKS.

'It Feels Like We Are In A Furnace,' Said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the trents for 1 year. 'It's inhumane.'

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: 'It's 120 Degrees In Iraq And Our Soldiers Are Living In Tents Too, And They Have To Wear Full Battle Gear, But They Didn't Commit Any Crimes,So Shut Your Mouths!' Way To Go, Sheriff!

Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.


http://www.mcso.org/index.php?a=GetModule&mn=Sheriff_Bio

Candidate Calculator

http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html

Have you tried this? It's quite commical. Several months ago it told me that John Cox was my candidate match. I said "Who?"





I had to do a little research but since the NC primary has come and gone and he wasn't on the ballot, it didn't matter. I tried it again today and it told me that Mike Huckabee was my match. Well, at least I recognized the name and he was on the ballot...but I'm not saying who I voted for.
At least I voted, Matt!!!
Have fun!!!

So much fun it hurts...

Bradley spent a lot of time with the Maita and Aiello chidren while we were at the convention. They were able to hang out in groups and because the convention center and the hotel are connected by a tunnel under the road, I let her have her freedom and they were able to hang out as long as they stayed together. Between the four families, there were about ten children and a dad (Mr. Maita) who were hanging out. Sometimes it was the girls together and sometimes it was all of them. Actually, there was usually a mom or dad or aunt or other adult friend nearby. Bradley spent the night with the Maita's in their suite on Friday night. Cole had a friend over too. When I picked her up Saturday morning she had bruises and scratches on both knees. She had so much fun it hurt!!!

Bradley actually attended a couple of sessions at the conference. One was given by storyteller Jim Weiss which she raved about. This is her first taste of convention life and she was astounded by the number of people at the conference and the size of the bookfair. She's ready to come back next year.

Why I Homeschool

"The absolute best way to train children to be a blessing to all nations."

-Jeff Myers, Ph.D.
A Keynote speaker at the NCHE Convention. He is a very dynamic and motivating speaker who also is an Associate Professor of Communication Arts at Bryan College. Check out his website:

www.passingthebaton.org

Something funny happened on the way to the hotel.

While Bradley and I were waiting in line to check into our hotel, there was a lady in line in front of us that was very unhappy because the pool at our hotel was not open. She was complaining that she had missed the homeschool convention rate at another hotel because she booked her reservation at this hotel but the website didn't say anything about their pool being closed. Well, I wasn't happy about the pool being closed either but I took another approach to the situation. I asked for the homeschool convention rate. Because I booked my room online, it didn't say anything about the convention rate but because I asked, I got an additional $9 off each night. Then I explained that I wasn't happy about the pool situation either. I asked if they thought if the Marriott downtown which was across the street from the convention center would allow Bradley to swim in their pool. They gave me a number to call and ask and Tony agreed to let Bradley swim there. I just had to go by the desk and pick up a key to the pool. Funny how things work out. While we had breaks in the schedule, Bradley was able to swim which was a break for me also.

Soldiers

For Tom and Ralph and Chris and Matt and Rachel and Eli and anyone else who I may not be thinking about.

It's Convention Week...

This week is the annual convention for the NC Home Educators. It's a three-day conference and book fair. There are lots of great talks about education and families and how that what we're doing is making a difference. This is a large convention held in the Benton Convention Center in Winston Salem. There are lots of large families that attend so Bradley and I are an unusual site at the convention.

I am frequently questioned why I homeschool and there are a thousand reasons and I could get a real attitude about this but most of all, it is what is best for Bradley and second it is what is best for our family. Homeschool is a way of life that revolves around the needs of the family and the child and not around the schedule of a government organization or the artificial social requirements of the community. My child has excelled academically in a safe, peacful environment. She is no longer bullied or locked down and she will never be left behind at the Oak Street Academy. Bradley spends her days with the people who love her most and who are most concerned about her success. Isn't that how all children should grow up?

Here is the link for the NC Home Educators web site:
http://nche/com/

Quote

Walter Williams...

So many Americans graduate high school and college having learned what to think as opposed to acquiring the tools of critical, independent thinking. Likewise, they have learned little about our nation's history. As such, they fall prey to the rhetoric of political charlatans and quacks.


Americans' ignorance of our history and inability to think critically have provided considerable ammunition for those who want to divide us in pursuit of their agenda. I don't usually buy into conspiracy theories, but it's tempting to think America's charlatans, quacks and demagogues are in cahoots with the teaching establishments at our government schools and colleges to dumb down the nation.


http://capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4947

Places to go

The Arches of St. Maarten:

A nice place to visit and I would probably live there. This is a view of The Arches house from Dawn Beach on the Dutch side of St. Maarten. If anyone is looking for a great vacation spot, check out

http://www.stmaarten-arches.com

Call 800-849-4491 for availability and rates.

Awesome!

So I was whining yesterday about the weather. Today, I must say, was a beautiful day. Not too hot. I was able to spend quite a bit of time outside reading. Everything is so green.

But I still wouldn't mind going to St. John, VI.

I wanna go where there ain't any snow...

I wanna go where it's warm!

Borrowed this from the WWW because we can't seem to buy a spring day on the weekend here. I want to wear my spring clothes already.

This is a photo from Caneel Bay resort in St. John, VI.

TODAY I exercised my right to vote!!!

I have a confession. This is the first time I have ever voted in a primary election. One reason is that I didn't realize how important primary elections were. They are really important for state and local races and for judges' races. Today was the last day of Absentee Voting. I really like the way North Carolina has this set up so that for three weeks prior to "Primary Day" or "Election Day" I can vote when I want to. Due to my crazy life the past three weeks, I have found myself waiting till the last day. I went by the voter site this morning and picked up a sample ballot and spent some time perusing the WWW and all the mailers I've gotten this week to see what I could find out about the candidates. After a couple of hours doing that, I drove to Town Hall and (didn't have to wait in line) and cast my ballot!!!!

Now, I am aware of the issues surrounding the electoral college and whether my vote actually makes any difference at all, but TODAY, it mattered to me. I proudly wear my I VOTED sticker!!!

FREEDOM? ...yes, there will soon be Freedom from all that political advertising.