The terrible twos...

So here we are...  My precious little girl, the one that I prayed for, has turned two.  Oh my goodness...  I'm completely horrified that my BABY is two-and-a-half already!  How did THAT happen???  She was just born yesterday!  Geez...  She has grown so much that I just can't believe it!  Her hair is all the way down to her butt when it's wet (I still haven't cut it).  She's got the most beautiful curls you've ever seen!  Gorgeous blond ringlets...    

Just LOOK at those curls!!

And the sweetest smile that will just melt your heart...  






It's a good thing she's so cute because there are days that I'm about ready to pinch her head off!!!  She has started this earlier than Forrest did, but my precious baby girl is going through the terrible twos!  There is seldom a day that goes by when I don't get some note from the daycare that says that she bit, hit, scratched, or pinched one of her "friends" at school.  (I put that in quotation because I seriously don't believe that you would treat an actual friend that way!!)  She's just plain AWFUL!!  One morning as I was dropping her off, the teacher was talking about how she can "hold her own" in her class.  She made some comment about how she's learned a lot from her big brother.  I had to point out that she hasn't learned ANY of that from Forrest, but has learned it at SCHOOL!  (Either that, or it's just inborn evil that can't be cured.  That's always a possibility.  BUT I digress...) 

It's pitiful, actually.  Forrest takes SO much abuse...  She treats him much like she treats her "friends" at school...  And he's so great.  He just sits there and takes it.  He never retaliates at all.  In fact, she acted so awful one night in the grocery store that I swear he is the sole reason she's still alive today (she should be very grateful)!  I got the car buggy thinking that it might keep her entertained for a bit, and hopefully, I would be able to get my shopping done. 

Forrest, God love him, even tried to squeeze into the thing with her.  Yeah, that lasted until I got to the shampoo aisle (the first aisle in the store, in case you were unaware).  She managed to undo the seat belt, jumped out, and ran wild through the body section in Kroger, all the while grabbing shampoo and deodorant off the shelves.  He chased her down and brought her back (the first jewel in his crown), and I put her in the baby seat up top.  After the kicking and screaming, a serious discussion (really, why did I bother with a two-year-old??), and a lot of snot, she agreed to sit still in the car.  Uh huh...  That lasted all of two minutes...  Then she was out again, and trying to grab stuff out of the cart.  When I took something away from her, oh Lord the fit!!  Picture this... (I'm channeling my inner Sophia) There we were in the dairy section... me, Forrest, and Satan...  It was a sight to see...  She was on the floor, kicking and screaming, arching her back, the whole bit.  I pretended that I didn't know WHO this crazy child was for a few minutes while I sorted through coupons and picked out my cottage cheese.  Finally, there was no ignoring her...  I picked her up (still kicking and screaming), and I got the look.  You know the one?  The sympathetic, "I'm so sorry...  I know what you're going through" look from a lady nearby.  I politely asked her if she would like a two-year-old.  She smiled, declined, and said "Oh honey, I can smile because I've been there and done that.  But no, I don't want to do it again!"  Well, great!  If you can't give your children away to the patrons at Kroger, who CAN you give them to???  This is when Forrest kicked in.  He went to the front of the store, and came back with another buggy and a bag of Skittles.  He put her in the empty cart and fed her Skittles as we went through the store.  She really does owe him her life...  (Besides, if you can't eat the food you're buying while still in the store, what's the point???) 

Chris is amazed at how defiant she can be.  She gets so angry when you tell her no, she will hit or bite you.  Or even better yet, she will bite HERSELF!  Yep, that's another sight to behold...  She going to be a great mom because she's already got the "evil eye" thing down.  You wouldn't believe the look she gives me when she doesn't get her way!  This is what happened at Christmas when I told her that she couldn't have another sucker (at 8:00 in the morning...). 

And THIS is what happened just last week when it was time for her bath...

Please note: This happened AFTER she refused to get out of the car and threw a fit for 5 minutes in the driveway.  When I went and got her, she threw herself on the floor, just inside the front door.  That went on for another 5 minutes before she was spanked and dragged upstairs.  The video doesn't even do it justice...  I didn't show her whole body because she was naked from the waist down.  You can't get the full effect without seeing the legs kicking as she carried on...

One more note:  This fit continued for another 10 minutes after I stopped filming...  *sigh*  I know, I know...  You wish you were me.

The Facebook Phenomenon

I'm going to go ahead and say it...  I'm a Facebook junkie.  Whew!!  There it is...  It's out there.  I said it.  Not that the people that I know and love didn't realize this already.  It's funny, actually.  I only set up a Facebook account because a friend of mine sent the invite.  At the time, I was all into the My Space thing, which apparently has gone the way of the dinosaur.  So anyway, I set up this Facebook page and never touched it again for over a year.  I guess I got bored one day and logged in, and I ended up actually updating my information, and adding a profile pic and such.  I remember a friend writing on my wall, "Look who's finally pimping out their Facebook page!"  It's been down hill since then...

I kept the My Space page for some time, but I finally just deleted the whole thing because I just never logged in to it any more.  Besides, it seemed like no one was using it.  They were all on Facebook.  So I am now officially a Facebook junkie!  I love to log in and see what my friends are doing, see their pictures, and just catch up.  It's true, most of my Facebook friends aren't people that I see on a regular basis, but at some point in my life, I have called them friend.  Just because I haven't seen them in a while doesn't mean they aren't my friend still, right?  I've found friends of mine from middle school that I have wondered about over the years, but we had lost touch.  I've loved finding them and getting the chance to find out where they are now, how they are doing, and seeing their families.  It's cool to get to hear from a friend that you last saw in seventh grade, and see her husband and children.  I've also been able to keep in touch with all of Forrest's teachers, which I LOVE!!  I've loved ALL of his teachers and I want to be able to keep up with them and let them know how he is doing.  Plus, I like to know more about them in their personal lives.  They are much more than just his teacher... 

I even set up a Facebook page for my husband, and I've always laughed because for someone that NEVER logs in to his page, he has something like 90 friends now...  But I think I've finally converted him.  He has finally realized that he can log in and talk with his buddies that he never sees about fishing (or whatever it is that guys talk about), and (SHOCK of all SHOCKS!) he admitted that he actually LIKES Facebook now!  He has even POSTED on his WALL!!!  (**WARNING - the world might be coming to an end...)  He was actually asking me how to blog last night...  Okay, now I KNOW the world is coming to an end!!!

Now in talking with friends and family, I've heard several of them say that they have "rules" when it comes to Facebook.  It usually involves not friending co-workers, family, neighbors, etc, but I haven't applied any of those rules to my page.  I'll accept a friend request from people that I know (I do have the whole thing restricted because hey, there are pictures of my kids on there...), regardless of whether it is a co-worker or neighbor or whatnot.  Unfortunately, there have been times when this has come back to bite me...

Sadly, there have been a few things here lately that have bothered me about Facebook.  I probably shouldn't care, but I'm bugged all the same.  A while back, one of my neighbors had a party at a cabin in Gatlinburg for her husband.  The girl across the street is probably her best friend, and obviously, she and her family were invited.  No big deal, right?  I'm usually invited to these neighborhood functions, but I didn't really think a thing about it.  I didn't know her that well, so whatever.  But the Monday after the Gatlinburg weekend, the news feed blew up with ALL of my neighbor's pics of the cabin in Gatlinburg.   ALL of them were there!  ALL of them...  We were the ONLY ones that weren't invited.  Not that we would have ended up going, but that really hurt my feelings.  I know it probably shouldn't have, but it did, and none of them even noticed.  In fact, as I write this, there is a party planned for this weekend, and once again, I haven't been invited.  *sigh*

Then there is the matter of getting deleted...  I can get VERY political on my Facebook page.  Now I don't go and post stuff on YOUR page, so if you don't agree with me, then don't look at my page.   You don't have to delete me!  Heck, you can even hide me from the news feed if it bugs you, but why would you delete me?  I could see if I posted stuff that you disagreed with on YOUR page, but I don't, so WHY did you delete me??  The other day, I actually emailed someone that deleted me and flat out asked why she did.  I mean really, if I have offended you, I would like to know about it...  The last time we had any correspondence on Facebook was just after she got engaged, and I was congratulating her and telling her that she would make such a beautiful bride.  Is there something offensive in saying that??  So anyway, she emailed me back to tell me that while we were "buds in high school," we hadn't talked in a while, so she was just de-cluttering her friends list to make things more simple for her.  Ummmmm, okay...  So no, I haven't seen her in a while, but how are we GOING to talk if she deletes me from her friends list?  I can only surmise that it has to do with my political views, and she must disagree.  That reasoning just made no sense...

There was also the time that I sent a friend request to a friend's mom.  Her daughter and I were close friends (along with two other girls) in high school, and we all even went on vacation together after graduation.  So I guess she didn't realize that when you accept a friend request that it sends an email notification.  She accepted my request, and then DELETED me!  (I guess she didn't realize you can just hit ignore...)  I didn't really think a whole lot about it at the time.  I used to go by my middle name, and now that I'm married, I've got a different last name.  Plus, let's face it, I'm old and I don't look the same as I did in high school...  So I friended her again...  But this time, I included a message telling her who I am and blah blah...  and she did it AGAIN!!  Now I get that she's a big ol' democrat, but really...  She's probably 60-something years old...  Can we all be adults here??

Then there is my sister...  I'm still not sure what's up with that one...  Yes, she's also a big ol' democrat, but she is my SISTER!  That would be FAMILY!!  She has either (a) deleted her entire Facebook profile, or (b) BLOCKED me altogether...  I seldom see her, even though she lives in town, but she's still my sister and I love her.  Again, I'm left to think that if I've been blocked, it's because of my politics...  *sigh* 

So I guess I'm currently having a love/hate relationship with Facebook.  There are so many good things about it, but I've been noticing the bad things too.  I've had to block all of my co-workers from viewing my wall posts (that earned me a delete too).  Should I be this sensitive?  Probably not, but I am.  One thing is certain, I'm learning a lot about my friends, whether it's GOOD, BAD, or UGLY...

Our trip to New York

Yeah, yeah... It's been a thousand years since I've blogged, but I've been B.U.S.Y. It started with work completely blowing up. A girl that worked here got fired, so we've all taken on some extra work and some of our job responsibilities have shifted. The good news is, we hired someone new and she is wonderful, BUT it took a little time for her to get acclimated and up to speed. Now that she is, things are beginning to settle back down, but it's been hectic since New Year's. Oh, and an update on my resolutions... I don't think I've stuck to ANY of them!! But on to bigger and more interesting items-our TRIP...

Chris and I decided that this year, we would use our tax return for something fun for a change. For the first time since we moved into our house, we didn't use it for carpet, windows, a new AC unit, tile, etc. Originally, we were going to take a long weekend, just the two of us, to go to Miami to fish for peacock bass, and the on to the Everglades. In case you're wondering, this is what one looks like...

Well, that dream ended pretty early on... It got so cold this past winter that there was a giant fish kill in Florida and a bunch of the bass died off. They aren't native to this country, and they require really warm weather, so when it got down to freezing in Florida, that was all she wrote.
We decided that we would figure out a fun alternative, so the idea of going to New York City was born. We agreed that we would take Forrest and that Emma would stay home. I thought that would be the best, and Forrest has been so great with Emma that he deserved some one on one time with us. Well, Chris didn't have to ask twice... I booked it ALL!! You can just refer to me as a tour guide from here on...

Day 1:

Flew from Knoxville at 6:00 (getting up at 3:00 am isn't as fun as it used to be... or was it ever fun??).

Forrest's first flight!!

going down the runway...

Landed in Newark, New Jersey airport at about 10:30 am.

Rode the Air Train from Newark to Manhattan. Not unpleasant, but it took about 1 1/2 hours. This was a smart move on my part. A cab would have cost over $100, but we got there for about $36.

Exited the train at Penn Station, New York. The first thing we was after coming out of the station saw the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden.

Walked nearly 20 blocks to the hotel (not the smartest thing on my part, but I didn't know where the hotel really was...). For future reference, I will call the hotel and find the cross street. The MAILMAN didn't even know the street numbers!

Left the bags at the hotel and walked to FAO Schwarz (another long walk...). Note to self: wear more comfortable shoes... The giant piano from the movie "Big" is there. There are actually two girls that are paid to dance on it about every 20 minutes. It's on sale for the bargain price of only $250,000.00.

 Forrest was sooooo excited to go to FAO Schwarz! He saved his money for months...

Back to the hotel, then on to dinner, Toys R Us, M & M, Hershey's (which is conveniently across the street from the M&M store), and finally, the Empire State Building (again, not smart on my end-the line was over two hours long).

Forrest discovers the giant Toys R Us store in Times Square (it has a Ferris Wheel INSIDE!!)

 the M&M Store-whoever thought this up was a GENIUS...

 The Empire State Building BEFORE we went in... We were in line for 2 1/2 hours to get up to the observation deck. Note to self: go at a different time, or don't go at all! It was beautiful, but not worth the wait!

The Chrysler Building as seen from the Empire State Building observation deck. By the time we made it through the line, it was completely dark outside.

Day 2:

Breakfast at the hotel, and on to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This was probably one of my most favorite parts of the trip. I was smart enough to buy reserve tickets before we left, and we only had to wait about 25 minutes in line (as opposed to the folks in line for over three hours!).

We got there early, so we had time to walk a few blocks up to the World Trade Center site. The last time I was in New York was just after the 1993 bombing, but the buildings were still there. It was such a sad place to be, knowing that so many innocent people lost their lives there...

the view of our Lady from Battery Park

the view from the ferry

Just to get an idea of how BIG she is... Forrest is sitting on her big toe! This was a mold of her foot that was taken during renovations in the 1980s.

Ellis Island

The luggage room at Ellis-passengers were told to put down their things and go upstairs for the medical check. What an amazing place!!

Day 3:

Breakfast at the hotel, and on to the Museum of Natural History.

 Forrest was amazed at the dinosaur exhibit! This was the first time he had ever seen life-size dinosaur bones. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time, so we barely made it through any of the museum, and we were there for over two hours!

Next stop: Yankees game!! They played the Cleveland Indians, and won 11-2. A-Rod hit a grand slam homer in the bottom of the 7th inning-his 20th career grand slam!

the view from our seats

the newest A-Rod fan!!

After the game and dinner, we did a walking tour of Grand Central Station.

This was such a fun trip!! I think we crammed everything possible into four days that you could. There were so many things there that we didn't see, but the mom side of me wanted to get as much educational stuff in for Forrest that I could. Plus, I was more excited to see how HE would react to it all than I was for myself. I hope that we can go back again soon, and maybe take a few more days. I think we'll have to do more saving than just the tax return for that one...



Day 4:

Unfortunately, this was our last day. We did manage to squeeze in the King Tut exhibit before our flight. I didn't get any pictures though... We weren't allowed to take any.

We took the train back to the Newark airport (which only took 30 minutes on the return trip-go figure...) and spent the remainder of the day in three different airports. This was a looonnnnngggg day!!

time for the New Year's resolutions...again

Ahhhh New Year's. That wonderful time of year when you reflect on the past year, and all of the things that you said you were going to do...and didn't. And for whatever reason, you think that you will do it THIS year instead. (What is so different about THIS year than LAST year???)So it's time for the horrible New Year's resolutions again... But THIS time, I'm going to do something different than before - and I mean besides just saying that I'm going to do something, and not get it done... I'm going to write it down in the blog, so that it is actually WRITTEN OUT for all the world to see. Gives me some sort of accountability, don't you think? Okay, so here I go, and they're in no particular order...

1.) I'm going to lose some weight. I'm not going to put a number on it. What I'd LIKE to lose, as opposed to what I CAN lose will probably be two VERY different numbers, so I'll just say that. I plan to eat lower fat, healthier foods, and if that doesn't kill me, I'm going to try to get some exercise. I haven't decided the best way to do that part yet. I'd rather not join a gym (especially this time of year), but I have a really hard time walking or running when it's this dang cold outside. We'll see... I guess this also means that I'm going to have to start cooking dinner at home more too. Gonna have to get some new recipes...

2.) I'm going to get out of debt. SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY, I am NOT going to use my credit card so that I can pay the stupid thing off. I just have two of them. One with a balance that was transferred, and one that I actually use. If I can get them both paid off, I'm going to cancel one of them altogether, and keep the other ONLY for emergencies (which means that it will remain at HOME, and NOT in my wallet!!).

3.) I'm going to get more money in savings. I really want to move to a bigger house, and without any more money in the bank, I am totally relying on my husband to fork over the cash for a down payment, which means I'm totally at his mercy as to when we can move... Plus, I want to save for my dream, which is flipping a house. I seriously doubt that that will happen any time soon, but I have to start somewhere...

4.) I'm going to start cleaning out/packing up my house... You know, just to be ready so that when we do move, I'll be ready... Plus, it never hurts to do a little spring cleaning... Wonder if I should even tell Chris about this one???

5.) I'm going to try to remedy some of the weird things in my life that need to be remedied, and are WAY past the point that I should have let them go. It may mean that I've got to step outside of the box and try something different that won't be as comfortable, but it's time... I won't say any more about it, in case someone is reading this that shouldn't be. (And for those of you wondering, no, this has nothing to do with my family and/or my husband... It is related to my life on a professional level and that's all I need to say about it.)

6.) I need to spend more time in prayer and reading the Bible. I don't do enough of that, and I know that my life would be much better if I did. You can't just go to God when you need (or want) something, and I need to be sure that, if nothing else, I thank Him every day for all of the wonderful blessings in my life.

I think that's a good start. Hopefully I can fulfill everything on this list this year, and in 2011, when it's time to make resolutions, I will be able to make new ones, since these have already been done.

I think we're all going to die

before this winter is over... And it technically isn't even winter yet!! There is nothing in the world worse than having the phone ring, and the caller ID is for the daycare or the school. NOTHING good EVER comes from one of those phone calls! It always means that someone is sick, bleeding, or both. In the last month, I have been in the pediatrician's office eight times, and I still have two more follow-up appointments to go! That will be $300.00 in co-pays in one month!! Merry Christmas to me... It all started with Emma's nose.

It was running... a LOT. AND it was green-EWWW! So I called the doctor's office and asked for them to call in antibiotics. She had just been there a month before for her checkup, and I figured it was just a sinus infection, so why not? There were no other symptoms. They were reluctant, but the nurse called in some Amoxicillan. The prescription was for one and a half teaspoons twice a day for ten days. The snot turned clear, but her nose was still running. By day eight, it was green again. Oh joy! About three days after her medicine ran out, she stayed up ALL NIGHT. She wasn't happy being held, but she wasn't happy being put down either. It was a very long night!!

The next morning, we were at the doctor's office bright and early. We found out that her right ear was infected. The doctor was surprised that the Amoxicillan didn't keep it clear, and he prescribed Omnicef - a teaspoon once a day for ten days. This one is a little bit stronger, so I figured that would wipe it out. As before, the snot cleared, but her nose still ran. By day seven, it was green...again. I remained hopeful since she wasn't complaining about it (other than the fact that her cute little nose was absolutely raw from wiping it). Three days after she finished the Omnicef, we took her in for her one year well visit. Everything went well except her right ear was STILL infected!!

The doctor was bumfuzzled, but he wrote a prescription for Azithromycin - a teaspoon once a day for three days. Before I could even fill the prescription, Emma got a stomach bug - on her birthday, no less! She spent the entire day throwing up anything that she ate, which eliminated the opportunity for birthday cake!! When I went to pick her up from daycare (I got there exactly one year and two minutes after she was born), I was informed that her warranty had run out. I laughed, but isn't that the truth?? The next day, when she was recovering from the stomach bug, I went to the pharmacy to fill the prescription for the Azithromycin (did I mention that they know me by name over there??). Oh yeah, and four days after the stomach bug with Emma, I got it too! And while I was home sick, I got the call from the school to go pick up Forrest. He was coughing his head off, to the point that he couldn't even function. That was such a blessing, let me tell you!

So anyway, about three days after the Azithromycin ran out, Emma stayed awake all night long AGAIN!! And once again, I couldn't make her happy. She was edgy when I held her, and would scream the second that I put her down. At three o'clock in the morning, I gave her some Tylenol, and she finally went to sleep. The next morning when she was eating breakfast, I noticed that one of her eyes looked really gummy. Back to the doctor... and guess what? Her left ear was now infected, and her right ear was STILL infected! We ended up having to do antibiotic shots - one in each leg for three days. The doc said if that didn't fix it, we were going to have to get tubes. Isn't that awful? Her first ear infection, and it just wouldn't go away!!

On the last day of her shots, I got a call from after-school care saying that Forrest was running a fever. Another trip to the doctor (that was two in one day!!!). This trip revealed that Forrest had pneumonia. UGH!! So here we went again!! The doctor decided that Forrest would need the shots as well, so he ALSO got two shots a day for three days. If you've ever met this child, you would know that he is a skinny little thing, but don't let that fool you! When he knows that there is a needle coming at him, he has the strength of four grown men! I love the folks at our pediatrician's office, but getting to see them six times in one week is just a little too much!

Today, as I write this, the phone rings. It's the school. Forrest is throwing up... Great! I guess it's his turn with the stomach bug. I wonder when Chris will get it...

One year is already gone

I am in complete disbelief that my baby girl is one!! I know that I'm supposed to be happy about this, but I'm not. She's just growing up so fast, and I can't stand it!! Maybe it's because I know that we aren't going to be having any more, or maybe it's because she's just so sweet that I want her to stay just like she is forever. I don't know... I just know that I remember this day, one year ago, just like it was yesterday.

I went to the hospital at 6:00 in the morning. Chris went to get me all checked in while the nurse hooked up all of the monitors and put in the IV. When she hooked up the fetal monitor, she asked me if I felt that. I said, "Felt what?" Apparently, I was already having contractions and didn't even know it yet! I was being induced a week before my actual due date, which was November 27, Thanksgiving. I guess Emma had other plans because she wasn't going to wait until then anyway! I remember the doctor telling the nurse that she needed to be ready because this was going to "go fast." I guess she was referring to how quickly Forrest was born, which was just over six hours of labor-really fast for a first baby.

By 11:00, I was ready to push, but Forrest hadn't arrived from school yet, so we just waited. My mom and dad had gone to pick him up, but the class was making a card to welcome Emma, so it took a little while. When he finally got there, we talked for a few minutes, and then he waited outside. At 12:18 pm, our sweet baby girl was born!! Forrest was the first to get to come in and see her. It was so precious!! I introduced them, and it was love at first sight!! We spent about a half an hour alone, and then brought in the rest of the family. It was such a wonderful day!!

I have such mixed feelings about this day. It was such a wonderful day for our family, but looking back, it makes me sad that time is going so fast!! I miss the intimacy of trying to get pregnant, knowing that you may be creating a new life. I miss the delicious secret of finding out that you ARE pregnant, and knowing that no one else knows. I miss BEING pregnant. I had two wonderful pregnancies, but like any other woman out there, I was OVER it by then end of the nine months. Sure, I wanted it to be finished, and I wanted to get to hold my baby. BUT, the second that it's over, I miss the pregnancy. I miss getting to feel the baby moving inside of me, knowing where she is, and that she is safe at all times. I miss those late night feedings when it's just the two of us, snuggled up while the rest of the family is sound asleep in their beds. I miss those baby smells, and tiny baby noises. I miss the little fingers and toes, and the tiniest little nose. I miss laying on the bed with a sleeping baby on my chest. I know, I know... She's only a year old!! It's not like she's a teenager and I don't still get to enjoy some of these things. I just don't want to see them come to an end!

I was looking at Forrest the other day, and he's just HUGE! I remember when HE was this tiny! I remember my whole pregnancy with him, and when he was born. I remember sitting on the couch feeding HIM at three in the morning. And now he's EIGHT!!! My babies are growing up so fast!! I know that I will have many memories of my children, many more than just baby memories, but I want to hold onto these moments from when they're little for as long as I can. I treasure these memories, and I just want time to stop for a little while so that this won't go by so fast!

Sticking our heads in the sand

One of the things that I learned while taking management classes was that you never want to be a part of groupthink. You want to hear and consider opposing viewpoints so that you will have the most information available in order to make the best decision. Likewise, I learned that in journalism, you are supposed to do your very best to keep your opinion out of it. You are to report on the facts, and ONLY the facts. While it is nearly impossible for the writer to avoid including some personal bias, it should be the goal to keep bias out of reporting, unless the piece is an opinion piece. That being said, what in the world has happened to politics and the media??

If you look at the politicians in the forefront (democrats and republicans alike), they are surrounding themselves with only those that think exactly like them. Everyone was so critical of George W. Bush for selecting "yes men" to advise him, opting not to have anyone upset the apple cart when it came to decision making. From what I've seen of the Obama administration, nothing has changed. All of these politicians are out there making decisions that will affect our lives on multiple levels, and they aren't even taking an alternative viewpoint into consideration.

In addition to this, the media is selective of the stories that are covered on television and in print. For the most part, the media is left-leaning and favorable of the Obama administration (as well as highly critical of the Bush administration). In order to find a media outlet that is critical of the Obama administration, you have to click over to Fox News or listen to conservative talk radio like Rush Limbaugh. Now I'm not a huge Rush fan, but I will listen to him on occasion, and he makes some valid points. I try to watch several news channels to stay informed, which often means switching between Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC. I also try to read books and magazines that have critiques of politics and policies so that I can stay up to date and aware of what's going on. I feel like I need to hear both sides of the story and then I can make an intelligent decision about what I agree with, and who I will vote for.

My biggest concern is that I have seen too many people that choose to pay attention only to those that agree with them. They have no concept of any other viewpoint, nor do they wish to hear someone that opposes what they believe. If pressed on WHY they believe a specific way, many times they cannot back it up. Just because your daddy voted democrat is not a reason to vote democrat! If you believe in the ideology of the democratic party, then by all means, vote democrat!! But if you don't know what it means to be a democrat, what policies that democrats back or oppose or why, then why do you claim yourself a democrat? Because your daddy always voted democrat??? That is completely ignorant!

I don't want to call myself a republican... I'll say I'm conservative. I tend to vote republican just because the party usually (not always) backs the things that I believe in. I don't believe in abortion. I am fiscally conservative. I think that the government should stay out of the economy as much as possible, and I believe that the economy will expand and contract on its own. While this may mean some discomfort while we're in the recession, I have learned that things will correct themselves on their own. I don't believe in big government, and I think too many people are relying on the government to fix everything. All I've ever seen from government involvement is a huge cluster that is irreparable and never ending. I'm not going to get into backing all of this up in a blog, but you can be assured that if I've made these statements, I have educated reasons to back them up. You don't have to agree with me, and you don't have to believe what I believe. I'm just saying that I have taken the time to research each of these subjects, and I have formed my own opinion based on what I've learned and seen with my own eyes. (Would you believe I used to be a democrat?? It's amazing what a few years and life experience will do for your viewpoint...)

My biggest fear is that I see so many of my peers basically sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring what's going on. I guess they think that if they ignore it, it will go away. Let me tell you, NONE of these things are going away!! Remember when the state of Tennessee raised the sales tax to 9.25%, and it was supposed to be "temporary?" How long ago was that? It hasn't gone away yet. Have you ever seen something that the government implemented go away? It may have been renamed, but it's never gone away. I see people my age behaving as if some of these things are no big deal. These are things that will affect us for the rest of our lives, and they aren't even paying attention. I see the very ones that complain the most sit back and fuss, but not even bother to vote. So maybe the one you wanted didn't get elected... WHO CARES?? If you didn't take the time to go vote, what are you complaining about? You can't sit back and wait for someone else to do it! And you can't pretend that nothing is going on in the world, or that everything will be okay. You have to stay informed and make politicians accountable for their actions. These guys will slip anything by us that they can, and just hope that no one was looking when they did it.

Did anyone even notice that they attached the hate crimes bill onto a military spending bill? If you don't vote for it, you look like you're against our troops, but if you DO vote for it, you're passing legislation that may make it illegal for a pastor to stand in a pulpit and speak out against gay marriage. This very blog could probably be considered a hate crime. Who knows? How is it that a hate crimes bill can be attached to one about military spending? The two have nothing to do with one another, but yet, if you vote for one, you get both. There is no line-item veto in congress.

Where is MY generation? When are we going to speak up and get involved? My generation is strangely silent when it comes to the political arena. Is it because we are uninformed? Is it because we haven't taken the time to research and form our own opinions? Our parents are getting older, and it's time to start stepping up. Mommy and Daddy can't protect us anymore. We're ADULTS now, and we need to behave like it! We can't just watch the college age kids with no life experience make the call. We can't expect our parents who are retiring (or are already retired) to fix things. We can no longer stick our heads in the sand and pretend that nothing is going on!