The Elf's name is Thurman

Avery has a knack for names. They're usually a bunch of syllables thrown together and for a few weeks at a time everything will include some particular favorite sound. Thurman came from nowhere. Now, she does have a little baby doll she named Sherman, but that was last Christmas and she hasn't used any if those sounds recently. The important part here is how adorable this little elf really is.

An Unforturnate Reminder

I'd like to share an experience that my honest, protective, and safe husband, Chris, had only a few hours ago. Let me preface this with some of our views and history. In spite of potential backlash I'm going to put this out there, mainly because I know I'm right. We are not gun toting rednecks or paranoid doomsday preppers. We do not think all people are bad; we know that many of them are. We believe in God, we believe in fiercely protecting ourselves, learning self defense tactics, learning and teaching others about guns, what they should be used for, and what the bad people will use them for. We do not pretend like our heavy purses will save us from a rapist, murderer, robber, but a bullet will. Our home town is no stranger to crime. It has never been a particularly safe city, but there are many safer areas. Those areas are growing smaller, not only in our city but throughout the country and the world. The blinders that some people wear in order to continue in their fictional utopia is uncanny. They tend to ignore or deny reality and fear guns unless they're on the hip of an officer. My husband and I both have concealed weapons permits, but in Louisiana open carry is legal. We also teach our children to hunt...with guns and how to use them safely. So, today...

The family all went in separate directions: our eldest went shopping with her grandmother, I took the youngest Christmas shopping, and my husband took the toddler to Kroger. With his .357 Magnum on his hip. This is not unlike him. Again, we in live in Louisiana; honest people like guns here. We are sportsman, we can live off the land, we can kill our food, we can also kill a guy in ski mask who comes through our bedroom window or a crazed shooter at a movie theater. One bullet halts him. One. Bullet. Not long after his shopping trip began, he was approached by a terrified manager because a woman had complained that she was uncomfortable with this visible weapon. Of course we have the right to bear arms, open carry is legal here, and Kroger has no policy against it. But this woman had decided that she didn't like it. The manager could not legally do anything, but my husband obliged and concealed the weapon. A few minutes later the woman walked by Chris humming and smiling in triumph. I find this appalling. Not only the adolescent behavior but the thought that she just imposed on an innocent man. A man that most likely is the only man in the building able and willing to defeat any actual criminal and thereby saving her pretentious rear end.

We have become a society that allows child molesters to be punished with probation and a little flyer sent out with each new address and then suppresses the rights of honest, hard working tax payers.

Ask any inmate what he or she is most afraid of. They are most afraid that their proposed victim will be armed or that someone within shooting range will be armed. I truly wish that people would learn self defense, gun safety and use. We cannot allow ourselves to be victimized due to trepidation. We should not be finicky around weapons, we should embrace them. There was a time in this country when very few would have argued with this post. What happened to those days?

Thanksgiving success

We spent the day at my parents'. My husband's parents joined us. Mom in law makes the best gumbo ever. 

My mom refused to let me cook. 

I had three patients to see early that morning, then I came home to my family, my favorite people on Earth.

They are what I am thankful for, and of course, out Savior. Thank you, Jesus. None of this is possible without the Father and the Son.

Chris made a peach cobbler that he swore was a gourmet recipe.

I don't eat peach cobbler. I ate that peach cobbler.

It was delightful and delicious.

Then my issues sank in...and I ran three miles.

Hey, I had to finish the day with another cup of gumbo.

 

What are you thankful for?

What do you do the day after that much food?

Some days

are just harder than others.

anhedonia sets in.

I feel unsatisfied, sad, overwhelmed with have-tos.

wishing for time for want-tos.
 

some days i have to work just dilligently just to remain on an even keel.

i have to make a list, at least mentally, of the things i love.

that i am thankful for.

not everyone believes what i do.

i hate having to prove myself.

defend my beliefs.

I think the world is ugly.

I am not always calm.
my job is hard.
i fear the future of health care. not only because of the health care act.
but because of my job as a nurse.

shall we just line them up and hope we get to them
and let the government choose our wages
instead of allowing companies to compete for our skills

i want to stay home and paint and hold my family
and read and write
and cry
and explain why they're wrong

i want to allow myself to treat everyone the same
i know too many truths
those truths are difficult to swallow

I absolutely fear for the ignorant planet.
and for my babies.
 
 

 

This Thursday's Tunes

For some of us this hasn't been a great week. I'll not go into that because I want this post to be lighthearted, simple. So...Here is a list of pretty, soul soothing, mind moving, tear jerking songs that everyone should hear....

Ain't No Reason by Brett Dennen

I Will Follow You Into to Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

Awake My Soul by Mumford and Sons

Til the Sun Turns Black by Ray LaMontagne

No Envy No Fear by Joshua Radin

Say Hello Wave Goodbye by David Gray

To Travels and Trunks by Hey Marseilles

Atlantic City by The Band

I'm Gonna Hurt Her on the Radio by Keith Whitley

The Boxer by Jerry Douglas

Into the Mystic by Van Morrison

Arms of a Woman by Amos Lee

Things That You Love by Pepper

Society by Eddie Vedder

Home by Phillip Phillips

Enjoy

Love, Shelley  

           

Scriptures to get me through

Proverbs 31:25  She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Psalm 32:1  How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God.

Ruth 1:16   But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Politics

I have very few followers and I just might lose them all after publishing this. I found this article and would like to shake the writer's hand. I think it sheds like on America's current welfare state. We are living in a place where a sense of entitlement, "you owe me" attitude, and lack of responsibility is running rampant. There are far too many people oblivious to this trend and I'm afraid that soon it will be too late.  Eventually we will be populated by less people willing to work and more people who don't work continuing to procreate. But, I digress.

Here is what I want you all read and think long and hard about what might happen if we continue down our current path and reward such thinking...

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

• The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
• The fifth would pay $1.
• The sixth would pay $3.
• The seventh would pay $7.
• The eighth would pay $12.
• The ninth would pay $18.
• The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers”, he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20”. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his “fair share?”
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:

• The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%savings).
• The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
• The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
• The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
• The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
• The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!” “Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!” “That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!” “Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
by David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.