Obama Toons

Here are some of my favorite Obama cartoons. You know, it's either laugh or cry....

Unfair characterization, you say? Ever heard this before... Barrack Hussein Obama, mm, mm, mm.

Ah, yes...often heard in the deranged, so-called mainstream media. This refrain is old.

Okay, you know this has to be a cartoon, because Maobama would never admit that everything the federal government touches becomes a complete and utter FAILURE

Buyer's remorse if ever I saw it. If they just would have listened a little more closely during the election, he told everyone exactly what his 'vision' for the country was. Government can solve everything!

Autism Awareness Month

Yeah, I have not posted in awhile. I have no defense for that. Life has been busy, and I have not been in the blogosphere as much as I should be. I will tell you that I will try to do better. Hopefully I haven't lost y'all completely. That being said, this month is pretty special to me.

Three years ago in May 2007, my life (as well as my whole family's) changed forever. For certain reasons, my mother could no longer watch our three children while we were at work . As luck would have it, a lady that I knew from church had some openings in her daycare. The first day when I went to pick them up, I was nervous. Were they nice to the other kids? Did they fit in with them? They were all under five, and had never been in a daycare setting. I did not expect what came next.

When I walked through the door, the daycare provider said she had some things she wanted to discuss with me. Uh-oh, I thought. Who got in trouble? We sat at her table, and this is the one-sided conversation we had.

"I noticed a few things about your daughter today. She seemed very nervous, and spent the first half of the day flapping her hands and walking on her tip-toes. She kept repeating the dialogue of kids cartoons over and over. My daughter is a special education teacher, and I called and discussed this with her. I think your daughter maybe Autistic."

What do you say when someone says this to you? I don't know. I don't remember much about the rest of our talk. I came home and immediately got on the computer. What is Autism, anyway? I knew next to nothing. Someone said Autism, the only reference I had was Rainman. I spent the next few hours going through the signs or markers of Autism. No, she can't have Autism. But the more I read, the more I saw the things that my daughter did throughout the day. Telling her Dad was another hurdle. You can't tell a Daddy that something could be wrong with their princess without some resistance and denial.

It took several months and lots of testing before we found out that, yes, our daughter does have Autism. She is very high functioning, and three years later, it would be difficult for most people to walk into her classroom and say, "Yep, that's the child that is Autistic." But it was, and will continue to be a struggle. Socialization is her big issue (as it is with almost all children with Autism). She is our joy, our sunshine, our princess. And she is perfect, just as she is!

I cry when I tell anyone this story about our journey with Autism. It was scary for the first few months, and especially the first week. I worried so much about our daughter's future. What would having Autism mean for her? My question for anyone with any "expertise" was always,"Will she be able to grow up, and be whatever she wants to be?" I know that they can't see into the future, but I wanted reassurance. I know now that there are so many people that have one form of Autism or another, and they have done just fine. Bill Gates, anyone?

I tell you our story because I want everyone to know about Autism. Chances are you know someone with Autism. Just know that they are:

Going For Gold, Honoring Real Heroes

It is an exciting time for USA hockey. The semi-final game went very well today, as the boys took care of Finland 6-1. As I write this, we are waiting to see who we face in the gold medal game- Canada or Slovakia. It matters not, one way or the other. The USA has to beat whichever team shows up on Sunday.

If anyone is looking for another reason to cheer on Team USA, I think I have found it here. Team USA GM has the right idea, and my favorite quote from him says it all:

"The real heroes in America don't wear hockey uniforms, they wear police uniforms, they wear camo, they wear fire uniforms, and we want our players to understand that what we do is small potatoes compared to what those people do." -- Brian Burke






It is nice and refreshing to see that the true heroes in our country are being shown respect, and being included by our hockey team in their quest for gold. Go USA!!!

Another One "Bayh"tes The Dust

It is amazing how suddenly the Democrats are seeing the writing on the wall. Evan Bayh is (supposedly) a centrist Democrat that has just announced he will not run for re-election. In his statement he said, "My decision should not be interpreted for more than it is, a very difficult, deeply personal one. I am an executive at heart. I value my independence. I am not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology."

I call bovine scat. As far as I could tell, this man had his head (and his vote) so far up Obama and Pelosi's backside that he couldn't tell if it was day or night. I say good riddance to bad rubbish!!

This gives the Republicans even more reason to redouble their efforts in November. All I ask of them is to not sit back and take anything for granted. They need to find viable candidates that will actually listen to their constituents-people that will come to Congress with ideas to improve our economy that do not include raising taxes or giving handouts. In honor of the latest step-down, I leave you with this. Here's to you, Evan!!

Great Super Bowl Ad

This is a wonderful ad all around. Budweiser, Clydesdale horses, and a Scottish accent. What more could you ask for?

Budweiser - Clydesdale Ancestry @ Yahoo! Video

Time For Olympic Hockey

Ryan Miller's 2010 Olympic hockey mask

I would say that I am a pretty big fan of hockey in just about any form. I remember watching the 'Miracle on Ice' when I was little. That was my first real exposure to the good 'ol hockey game (it's the best game you can name). I am not a big advocate of sending our professional hockey players to the Olympics because we can never have a true 'miracle on ice' again. In 1980 we sent our young bucks up against the world's best talent, and they won! They showed the world what it means to work hard and believe in yourself, even when everyone else has written you off.

That being said, I will still cheer on the Americans in Vancouver. They have a lot of talent, and hopefully will bring home the gold this year! They have a great goaltender in Ryan Miller. He is the goalie for the Buffalo Sabres, by way of Michigan State University (Go Spartans!!).

We will hopefully see a little Miller Magic in Vancouver

Miller recently revealed the mask that he will wear in Vancouver. He wanted the mask to be an original. "You know searching out stuff, some symbols of America that most people probably haven't used on a mask before. You know Uncle Sam has shown up but I've never seen that painting of him from World War II used. Obviously the eagle has been used but we thought it would be cool to put little elements like, don't tread on me, and Uncle Sam has a few tattoos, just a little different.''

The mask was designed by Warwick Mask & Equipment, Inc. in Port Huron, Michigan. The East Lansing native has been getting his masks there since he was a teenager. The mask also has a couple of small clovers on the side, as a nod to Jim Craig's mask from the 1980 Olympics.

So get ready, everyone, because it looks like Uncle Sam isn't gonna back down from anyone!! Go USA!!!

Exercising My Second Amendment Right

I prefer the method on the right!!

If I do not one more thing this weekend, it will be just fine. I feel pretty accomplished and proud of myself. Today I took the first step toward obtaining my concealed carry permit. I passed the state mandated course. Now I just need to send the county and the state AG some money, get fingerprinted, have a background check done, and then it is pretty much a done deal.

I was really looking forward to the class, and enjoyed it immensely. The instructor is someone that I know from work, and he made the day educational, but also entertaining. He is very good at what he does, because there were several people in the class that had a limited exposure to firearms prior to this class, and he made them feel comfortable and at ease throughout the process.

The classroom portion of the class was very commonsense stuff. One of the most important items covered was the safety issues surrounding concealed carry. We also had the opportunity to try out different guns (revolvers as well as semi-autos) to see what one we felt the most comfortable using. A portion of the time was spent discussing the different holsters available for concealed carry. The multiple choice test consisted of twenty-five questions, all things that were covered at least once during the approximately 6 1/2 hours spent on the material. And, Yaaayy- I passed!!

Then it was on to the range to prove we could actually hit a target. I will admit I was a tad nervous about this portion of the day. The requirements are 5 rounds from 3 yards one-handed, 10 rounds from 7 yards with both hands, and 10 rounds from 10 yards with both hands. In order to qualify you have to have 18 of the 25 rounds in the scoring area (bowling pin shaped area, approximately the size of the torso) Last week I practiced the requirements three different times and had only one round outside the qualifying area. Today I had three outside the area. Like I said, I was nervous. And don't tell my husband, but when he is standing behind me criticizing, ahem, I mean critiquing me, I do tend to shoot better! Anyway, I passed the shooting portion of the day, also, so on to the application and background check!!