Educate your Friends

 What a week, I was not surprised by the Supreme Courts decision, just blown away by who broke the tie vote.
Naturally the right wing is already trying to scare people, by telling them fairytales

Before anyone starts spewing Fox news distortions about the Affordable Healthcare act.
Watch this Video on YouTube
"Health Reform hits Mainstreet" an animated explanation by Cokey Roberts.

Meantime it is hot, I am crabby.

I do not like Blog Spot's new format..I can't figure out how to post videos here anymore, so no one better push my buttons, *grin*

Ariel , Gone too soon !

It has been 5 years since my brothers granddaughter died .

Since her death, her brother Jared married a beautiful young woman  and they have a son, her Grandmother Joyce and Aunt Cleo, my sister have joined her.
Her Grandfather my Brother moved back to our home town.
Her Dad was re-elected Mayor of Brooklyn Center and her Mom, my niece, was elected to the State Senate.
Many things have changed but one thing stays the same she is always in our thoughts.

May Soon

 From MPR.
"Welcome to the May Monsoon.
Another month, another record in Minnesota. When did "extreme" weather become "normal" weather in Minnesota?
According to my MPR colleague Dr. Mark Seeley, this is already the wettest May on record at several Minnesota locations, and we still have a week to go.
It's the 2nd wettest May at MSP Airport with 8.18" so far. Another 2.16" is doable this month, even this weekend. That would make it the wettest May on record at MSP Airport."


I hope everyone has a great Memorial day weekend.
 It is  hot here today, 90 degrees, but humid hot like Florida , not AZ. hot.
The way the Barometer has been jumping around has been driving me crazy. I am walking storm warning.
I inherited my Grandma Ems arthritis and it sucks every time the weather changes.
 Air conditioning is my savior for now.

Next weekend I will be in Rochester for the Democratic Convention.
So far it has been an interesting political season, the Party of Family Values (and Adultery)  has been taken over by Ron Paul Libertarians and the old guard has been calling foul.
Thirteen of the 14 delegates elected at the State Convention to the National GOP convention will be Paul supporters, there would have been 14, but one stepped aside for Michele Bachman because she couldn't get enough votes.
Others were elected at Congressional Conventions so
there will be 40 delegates in all and 32 of them are Ron Paul supporters
There are some semi-smart Republicans in this state believe it or not.

Right now watching what is going on in Wisconsin sickens me.
 It looks like Scott Walker will prevail and if he does it  will be open season on all state employees in every state that has a Republican Governor.
I can't figure out what happen to all the Protesters, if the put their feet on the ground and started hitting every door they could make a big change.
 It seems there is always that group who likes the party and not the work.
Stay safe on the roads this weekend !

This video is a taste of what we have had  this month.

Wake up everyone!

Wow..be gone for a few months and I have to learn all over how to post.
It has been a hectic couple months, between caucuses , conventions and all of my other volunteer activities.
Today we had the friends of the Library book sale and then I was off to a family gathering to celebrate the 2nd birthday of my brother's great grandson.
His grandmother, my niece Chris is in the State Senate and they are having  long sessions trying to finally complete their work before the session ends next week.
She has been baptized in fire as a new member of the Senate with Republicans in the majority who don't know what the hell they are doing.
In 2010 they elected a huge number of new members with no experience running committees. It has been a disaster, the majority leader of the Senate had an affair with her assistant, he is suing the Senate

 "a former Minnesota Senate staffer who claims he was fired because of an affair with former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch is now saying he intends to expose female staffers who had affairs with legislators and were not fired as part of a potential lawsuit.because he was fired"
Star Tribune

 She resigned as majority leader.The assistant majority leader also resigned because he was trying to cover it up and got caught.
The State Republican party is being evicted from their offices  for back rent. they owe everyone so much money they are now under investigation.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/134945598.html

In the end they have to ask for direction and since they don't trust anyone they don't take advice very well.
If this isn't an eye opener to those who believe in term limits nothing will be. You need experienced leadership to get any thing done properly.
Right now it looks good for our Democrats next fall.
 If they can 't take back the majority then we are doomed. Along with the idiocy going on in Washington, we should be able to rise again, that is if Democrats get off their bums and vote next fall!
More to come!!

And so it Goes.

Just a quick little message to let you all know I am fine, just busy times right now.
We had our caucuses last Tuesday and even though I sent out about 30 reminders to past attendees..only 14 showed up in my Precinct.
Since I was only one of 2 women there, I got sucked right back in.
I went with the plan of just sitting back and observing. It didn't work.
I guess when I decide to step back I'll just have to stay home.
Now that my daughter has become so involved and my niece is the State Senator. I just couldn't do it this year.
Meanwhile I found out that a couple we are close to in our neighborhood went to the Republican caucus. I think Mr. was dragged by his wife who has Evangelical friends that are involved because of their bigoted feelings toward Obama.
I am just going to sit back and watch what happens when the local Republicans start pushing for a right to work state.
Mr is a strong union guy and that will be interesting to watch.
I am off to a Valentine Fund raiser for our Senate district..more to come later.

I need some Sunshine!

I'm in a funk, though I am glad the holidays have come to an end I still can't seem to pull my self out of it.
Maybe it's because I am missing too many people who left last year including my sister.
Death is part of life, we spend the first 40 years believing we will be "the one" who conquers it. Then one day you wake up and realize none of us will get out of this world alive.
Currently one of the priest from my parish is fighting a very aggressive cancer, early this past summer they thought he was in remission..but it came back with a vengeance and he is back on Chemo.
Today on his caring page he posted this and it made me so sad.

"I have an appointment with my primary care physician this next Tuesday afternoon. I want to get his opinion on my medical status. I really don't want to go through the chemo anymore. Its way too much on me physically. In reality, the quality of life is only good for maybe 5 or 6 days out of a month. That is not a lot. Theres no guarantee, and the tumor is still there. Every three weeks is another chemo. 2 1/2 weeks of that is sheer misery and bedtime. And for stage 4 cancer, that's really not good enough. For now, I'm just getting his honest professional opinion - that's all. And just pondering realities, being honest and keeping you all, my friends informed, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Pray for all they are ill. And let's work on the smiles together!"

He has been so brave keeping everyone else spirits up, I wish there was something we could do for him. Meanwhile I'll keep him in my prayers and right now I'm going to go eat some chocolate.

Republican Hypocrisy!!!

It has been quite an interesting past week. Watch this message given by State Senator Amy Koch at the end of the 2011 session. Then watch the message that follows..



The following is a roast at MNPost, an online news blog



Under Amy Kochs leadership the Republicans have been able to pass an amendment to our constitution that will be voted on next fall.
"The marriage Amendment"..they want to protect marriage between one man and one woman,to make sure that gay marriage won't destroy their happy world!

Now the rest of the story..and so it goes!!!

The Amy Koch Affair

Happy Thanksgiving !!

It has been an interesting month so far.
It started on November 1st when I came home from attending mass and doing a couple errands.
When I opened the door to the house I noticed the lights on in the down stairs.
I thought maybe Hubba had left them on.
I then put down my things and went into the office and saw the computer pulled away from the wall.
I knew something was wrong when I saw that my brand new laptop was gone.

I took the portable phone and went outside and called 911.

Within minutes a police officer arrived, and he waited for another officer to get there.
When she did, they went into the house to check and see if anyone was in there.
They came out and told me to go in and check to see what else was missing.

Everything looked fine until I got into our bedroom and found a complete mess.
The drawers from dressers were all dumped on the floor and the mattress was off the bed, I noticed then that my jewelry chest had been emptied, envelopes of money I had in my dresser and change both I and Hubba had were missing.

We were lucky in many ways, though he went into other rooms he didn't really look for anything accept what was out in the open.

We certainly learned a lesson.
Even though all my doors were double locked, I had left my bedroom window unlocked and he came came in and went out through it.
Needless to say they are now and will stay locked.

I'm sure I will never see my laptop again, but since I had a pretty good password to get into it I don't think any pawnshop will touch it.

The most frustrating part of this whole thing, is that a neighbor saw a stranger in our yard outside our garage door.
The officers were rather peeved at him for not calling to see if I was home, and then not calling 911.
He said he thought maybe it was a utility man, even though there was no vehicle in front of our houses.
I told him in the future to just call the police and they can find out if the person belongs there.

As Thanksgiving arrives I guess I should be grateful that he didn't trash my house and he scooted right out of the neighborhood when he crawled back out the window..
I have a sweet 92 year old neighbor across the street and if he had picked her house and she had been home I hate to think what would have happened.

We lost things that can be replaced, and I wasn't home, for that I am Thankful !!

Senator Chris Eaton!!

It's been a long and busy summer. The end of our special election for my niece Chris brought great results. She won her election to the Minnesota State Senate overwhelmingly..with 61% of the vote. This was the first time we have won a special election in our district. We had 3 losses in the past.

Today she was sworn in by a judge and the Secretary of the Senate a former Republican candidate for Governor introduced her. I do give him credit for his graciousness, Chris's dad, my brother came down from Superior and her siblings and spouses were here too.

Smiling down from above was not only the former Senator Linda Scheid who was thrilled that Chris agreed to run for her seat but Chris's mother , daughter and my sister, and also my mom who would have been so proud of her first grandchild. Sometimes there are good days that you just don't want to end and this was one of them.

Bill Maher at his Best..

Adult language for mature audiences only...

Life goes on!!

It has been the busiest month I have ever had..Babies 1st birthdays, my class reunion and of course the Campaign for State Senate..
Chris Eaton flew through the primary with a landslide victory over her opponent, but now we start all over again.
She has a Republican and an Independent candidate, both going after her, because she is the leader.
She is a trooper and is out there every spare moment knocking on doors.
We have started to get a few more volunteers now that Labor day is past so that will certainly help.

Today I and a friend had brunch with the Governor, it was a fund raiser at a private home, we had to leave a little early to attend a meeting of the State Central Committee.
We have the best Governor.
In a small crowd he is so witty and charming..But his shyness takes over in front of a camera, which is too bad.

Last weekend was my 55th class reunion and it was the best one we have ever had.
All three days were full of activities. As we have gotten older the cliques have gotten fewer and we all just enjoyed seeing each other.
We had a small memorial service for the 9 class members that are no longer with us.
It was lead by Rev Jim a class member and retired Lutheran minister.
We also have one priest, but he didn't make it this year.
Probably busy seeing the country on his Harley.

Coming up this weekend is our Woman's Club book sale..we have over 2000 books and I am afraid we will be stuck with a lot of them.

I went from President to the fund raising Committee, not to bright, right ??

I also need to add my sympathies to the families of Eleonore Mondale and Kara Kennedy..both dying way to young.

Bits and Pieces

This has been a crazy summer so far.
It started out with funerals especially the death of our State Senator Linda Scheid and a search for someone to run for her seat. No one can replace her, which scared off a few.
After a little arm twisting my niece Chris Eaton, eaton4seante.com, agreed and is busy knocking on doors and trying to encourage people to get out and vote in the upcoming primary, September 13. She has an opponent in the primary and there will be 3 running in the general election October 18th.
As this is happening, our roads are dug up, so the city can put in new sewer plus curb and gutter.
It is a pain to get in and out of my neighborhood and wondering where we will park when they finally put in the finishing touches on our driveways and road.

Meanwhile I have my class reunion coming up in 2 weeks and it doesn't look like I will lose the 25 lbs I wanted too..ke sera sera..

The State Fair is in full swing and I probably won't get there this year.
I have always enjoyed working at the Democratic booths and interacting with the tolls that show up. But my old knees and back can't take the walking.

We are in our busy birthday month, we have been to 2 of our great grand babies first birthdays. Next Saturday we have a 3rd one and then have to wait till November for the last. It is such a joy to see how their personalities have developed.
My grandson Dusty has a 9 year old little girl and his new daughter turned 1 on the 6th of August. Last week his Identical twin brother's boy Fox turned one..Dusty showed a little bitterness about not having a boy when he gave Fox a Barbie doll for a present, always the clown.

My Woman's club is preparing for their upcoming book sale. Tomorrow I will go help with sorting, we have over 2000 books and more are coming in. We know we won't sell all of them. But it is our best money raiser and the money goes towards our scholarship fund.
Every spring we award two $1000.00 scholarships to young woman in our area.
My Presidency is over so I am back to being a follower and looking forward to it.

This is just a wee bit of what has kept me away from the blog, I am also in a couple of FB groups, anyone who wants to be friended let me know.

Faith..

I can't believe how fast this last year has flown by. Yesterday we celebrated Sofia's (our GG daughter's) first birthday. We will be busy celebrating birthdays from now till Thanksgiving. The next first birthday is August 26, for Fox our first GG grandson.

Today we spent the morning at the Church Fox's mom went to growing up. It was Fox's dedication ceremony.
I am a practicing Catholic so this was a new experience for me and for my daughter, who also practices Catholicism.
Seems none of my G kids and their families are continuing in our faith.
Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those fanatics that thinks they should all believe the way I do..I'll leave that to my deceased Lutheran mother in law. :)
I guess young people now a days need to be entertained when they go to church.
The church it self is a large stadium with several TV screens.
The service began with the parents and babies going up on the stage and being introduced to the congregation and then dedicated by their parents to Jesus Christ.
Ok , I can handle that, but it was followed by the loudest rock band I have ever heard and before long I did have to plug my ears. Hubba just shut off his hearing aid.
I am happy that my grandson and his super sweetheart wife have a church they are comfortable in.
My grandsons were not big church goers and I realize that most of the time the kids are raised in their mothers faith.
After the service we went to my grandsons in laws home for a brunch..his dad and 3rd wife and my daughter and significant other were all guests.
My ex son in law has mellowed over the years and I saw him looking in my daughter direction as she sat in busy conversation with his wife.
I wonder sometimes if he has regrets.
I know she doesn't.
They were married way to young and as they grew, they grew in different directions.
Water under the bridge now, with 4 shared Grand kids they will have to accept each other.
I did attend mass last night and I did put Kitty and her husband and family on the prayer list.
Riot Kitty's mother in law died last week after being hit by a car. keep her in your prayers.
I went on line and found this clip of the church we were at..the music here is much more mellow then what we had today.

Are Republicans playing chicken ???

What a bunch of Republican hypocrites we have in Washington right now.
Congress Has Voted 7 times since 2002 to raise the debt ceiling, but
now that Obama Is the President Republicans have decided against it.

It is so obvious to intelligent people just what is going on right now.
Republicans want to take this fight into the 2012 elections so they have a better chance of defeating President Obama.
They don't care what their fight is going to do to the American people.
The People need to take responsibility too. If they flooded the telephones and the emails of the Republican legislature maybe they would get the message.

Minnesota's shut down ended with everyone unhappy with the outcome. I think that means it was the best deal we could get at this time.
Republicans lost their battle and many of their followers are very unhappy with them.
There are a number of freshman legislators that are more then likely not going to be elected next year.
Many of the progressives are unhappy with Daytons agreement too, but he is not up for re election until 2014. If he can get a majority in the House and Senate in 2012, he will get the revenues increases our state needs.

I do not have a Masters degree in Economics but I do have common sense.

We need to end Bush's wars, his tax cuts to the rich, subsidies to the oil companies and make sure American corporations pay a fair tax.
If this is done I think we will be on our way to reducing this huge deficit George W Bush has given us.

WTF

We got 5 inches of freaking rain last night and I have wet carpeting in the basement..
It is midnight and Steam masters will finally be here in a half hour to try and suck out most of the water from the carpet. they have been at my neighbors for over 5 hours.
I will probably be up all night.
Does anyone want to come and play ??

Just Sayin !!

Compromise is not a four letter word!

I hate to shock people with another post this soon.

Today our Governor made this video, it is something that should be on every TV station in our state.
But it is up to TV stations to show it and if they don't get paid it probably won't be seen. I posted it on Face Book and here and hope others will do the same.
People don't seem to understand what is at stake if he gives in to Republicans. Their cuts would be catastrophic to the most vulnerable.
The same thing that will happen nation wide if the debt ceiling isn't raised in the next couple weeks.

Mark Dayton is a kind and caring man and I hope he can hang in there.

Eaton 4 Senate

It has been a busy month. With the death of our friend and State Senator Linda Scheid, we have been on a mission to find the right candidate to fill her seat. It took some time for us, but we did get the candidate we wanted from day one. When Linda was told a week before her death from ovarian cancer that Chris Eaton agreed to run for the seat, her response was "phenomenal".

Linda's family is on board and willing to help in any way they can,and that is very important to our cause. Now the work begins. Yesterday we spent a few hours working on a fundraising mailing that will got out to about 2500 residents. Chris has to raise 3000.00 in 50 dollar donations to qualify for matching funds from the state.

Tuesday night we will hold our first fundraiser. Chris and her family have been down a very long road recovering form the death of her beautiful daughter form a drug over dose I wrote about it back om May 30th 2007. It took all us by surprise, but Chris and her family grew from the tragedy and from that it has made her a much stronger woman and someone whose causes will be directed to the most vulnerable in our state

Chris has a website Eaton4Senate check it out.

Listen

I don't even know where to start with this other then to share some of the thoughts that keep rambling through my brain.

I miss my sister, she died in April after many months of chemo and several trips to the hospital she decided to have hospice at home and died 4 days later The Saturday after Easter we had a very nice send off at her celebration of life.
Many of her old friends and classmates and even an old boyfriend came to share some memories. I know her suffering is over, but it is really hard for the rest of us.

Tuesday night I will attend another celebration of life for a dear friend and my State Senator Linda Scheid, she died after a long battle with ovarian cancer.
She will be missed by our community, she gave so much and asked so little.

I wish that a little more attention would be paid to fighting this horrible disease.
Maybe instead of worrying about who marries who and what woman decides she isn't ready for a baby, the congress could spend a little more of their time and money finding a cure for cancer and other debilitating diseases.

There is so much sadness in this world right now, I keep telling myself things have to get better.

Funk!

April 14th I spent time with my sister while she was in hospice at home, she died later that night.
Add that to a few other complications in my life and I haven't been in a blogging mood.
This Memorial weekend has been a difficult one, besides losing my only sister to the dreaded cancer and my sister in -law last fall, it is also the 4th anniversary of my grandniece's death.
Is there an afterlife? I don't know, but if there is the the 3 of them are together.
Yesterday Hubba and I took her parents my niece and nephew in law to brunch.
It should be a happy time because it is their 30th wedding Anniversary, unfortunately this weekend will always have sad memories along with the happy ones.


Hopefully things will soon improve my state of mind.
Techy Flash and the lovely Mrs. Flash stopped over today with my cleaned out computer.
Maybe it will get me back in the mood, time will tell.