Another day, another political email.

I have been an American Citizen for 1 month, 2 weeks, 5 days.  I have always followed what is going on with regards to politics, but now that I am able to vote I feel as though I am becoming OCD on gathering information, emailing people when I get those emails and trying to determine how I will vote.

Today I received another email from my dear Tea Party friend who was so thrilled that the Disclose Act H.R. 5175 failed.

Let me give you the bullet point version of what it entailed.

1. Enhance Disclaimers - Make CEO's and other leaders take responsibility for their ads.
2. Enhance Disclosures - It is time to follow the money.
3. Prevent Foreign Influence - Foreign countries and entities should not be determining the outcome of our elections.
4. Shareholder/Member Disclosure - We should allow shareholders and members to know where money goes.
5. Prevent Government Contractors from spending - Taxpayer money should not be spent on political ads.
6. Provide the Lowest Unit Rate for Candidates and Parties - Special interest should not drown out the voices of the people.
7. Tighten Coordination Rules - Corporations should not be able to "sponsor" a candidate.

I emailed her back asking why she would oppose this act.  I have heard nothing. She is either hitting the booze cabinet or beating her computer with a hammer right now.

I think it has come to the point that whenever either party puts forward a bill the other party is going to vote against it regardless if it is a benefit to the people.

Where are all the Super Heroes?  Somehow I think they are currently at a bar getting drunk and fat on peanuts and probably at this very moment introducing themselves to my Tea Party friend because you know I have driven her to drink.

Renting and the reason I drink

When one has owned their own home for many years going back to the world of renting is an eye opener.

When we packed up all our belongings at our old home in Zion, placed them into the shipping containers, spent two days on the road, we finally made it to our new home. 

Let me back up just a titch (insert the beep beep sound).  Our home in Zion was 3,800 sq.ft. and it was immaculate when we left.  You could eat off the floor, even the new owner and her Realtor were shocked that it was more than broom clean.  I had the air ducts professionally cleaned, the master bedroom repainted and re-carpeted and this was not a requirement to sell the home.  The new home owner was a single mom of 3 children and her divorce was finalized a week before we left.  Having been on that side of the fence we wanted to make the transition for her as smooth as possible.

Moving forward (insert whoosh sound).  When I walked into the 'new' home I was mortified.  The bathtub was filthy, the oven had never been cleaned, the fireplace had years of soot and the yard, OMG don't get me started on the yard. 

The next day our landlady arrived and asked me how I was doing.  For those of you who know me are probably giggling at this point as you know what the outcome was going to be.  My fuse line was lit and I launched. 

So at what point do you as a renter stop doing fix ups?  My only consolation is the owners have no idea who they rented to.  They love my husband and I am sure that by his kind face and gentle demeanor alone is probably what got us the home. 

This saying comes to mind and I am sure all of you that are within the inner circle will agree.

A friend will stop you from overreacting. A best friend will walk beside you giggling, “Someone is about to be bitch slapped!"

US Supreme Court

Once again I received one of those emails.  So I decided to do my own research, but let me go back to the email I received.

The email was about Elena Kagan, President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court to replace Justice John Paul Stevens. (mmm wonder if he is Catholic, both his names are after Saints ~ okay, focus...)


The email stated that she has no experience as she has never been a Judge.  So I decided to do my own research and this is what I found.  (I spent two hours gathering this information, I need a life.)


From 1789 to present, 2010, we have had 111 members on the US Supreme Court

17 of the 111 have served as Chief Justice

In doing my research I discovered that 70 members of the US Supreme Court did not have any experience as a Judge, 6 served as Chief Justice.

The following is the breakdown of the party that they were nominated under:

No party (George Washington) - 10
Federalist - 3
Democrat-Republican - 6
Whig - 1
Democrat - 27
Republican - 23

So the fact that she has no experience as a Judge would be a mute point right?  Nope, after sending this email to the person who sent me the original one, the response was, well she is a Marxist.

Now I need to go research Marxism and I wonder what the response would be after that?  I have no doubt that person is making ugly non-Christ like gestures at her screen as another email from me pops up on her screen with my points to refute their email. 

It is probably just best if I respond with WTF?

About the Blogs I follow.

Following blogs is far cheaper than buying magazines and reading about the rich, famous, stupid, classless people out there.  Reading someone's blog is very much the same as when you were younger and you would sneak into your sister's room to read her diary.  Reading blogs blows reality TV right out of the water!  A tip when you start following a blog, start reading from their very first post.  So here are the blogs that I follow and my thoughts on them. 


AmsterDam Yankee; Life and kids in Amsterdam:

I came across this blog a few months ago while scrolling through.  Currently this woman has moved back to the States with her children sans husband.  Reading about her struggles and trying to deal with things takes me back to those years I did the same.  I am rooting for her to succeed and find herself and just as many of us who have walked that path, we all reached the other side saying "that was one hell of a ride!".

Bad Words:

This is without a doubt one lady I would love to sit around a campfire with, drinking wine and making smores.  Her two children provide much entertainment for her blog posts and some will truly make you laugh out loud and other posts will leave you totally verklempt. 

Beta Dad:

This blogger is a stay at home dad and takes care of his twin daughters.  I take my hat off to him as we all know this is not of the norm and he does a fantastic job with his girls.  Go read his posts and then go vote for him, he deserves to have his blog recognized!

I'm only laughing on the outside:

This blog is written by a good friend of ours and it is about his life in Mississippi, Maine and Utah.  His posts are very descriptive and you can only but laugh and cringe at all the antics of his youth.  Currently he is off hiking in places where he is unable to blog for a few weeks, but read his blog and sign up to follow him, you won't be disappointed.

Pier Point:

This blogger is adamant that every woman's bra and knickers should match, it is brought up in quite a few of her posts.  I am now very conscious of when I dress in the morning as I don't want to disappoint.  Great, funny and sometimes just aha moment posts and she loves shoes ~ we are kindred spirits.

Pseudonymous High School Teacher:

This was the second blog I signed up to follow over a year ago.  When I started blogging I was in shock when I saw that Pseudo was following my blog, my little bitch slapping, temper tantrum throwing blog.  Go read her blog you will see why I say that I am humbled that she follows my little rants.  I love her writing and her posts on her students are hysterical!

Singing sappy songs in the shower:

When I now go for my walks in the evening I am more observant to the little things around me.  This blogger posts about random things and the way she tends to look and snap pictures of things that you would not have thought about, is why I follow this blog.  Through her blogging I read between the lines that this is a very gentle person, the kind of person I know that many friends wish that I could be.  So go read her blog and let me know if you get the same impression.

Stellar love stories:

I think this blog may be set to private, but if you can get an invite it is worth it.  It is my recommendation that you have a glass of wine while reading this, a pack of cigarettes (if you smoke) and your better half close by!

Stupidation:

Random, nonsense, funny, hysterical at times, postings.  For one hour I would love to live in this blogger's head.  Be warned, don't be drinking anything as you read his blogs, I have found many a time liquid coming out of my nose.  I think he should have a warning label.

Twirl Unabashedly:

Young Mom to two girls and is a nurse.  She is new to blogging, but has got the hang of it and I love her rants and daily thoughts.  She has surpassed my number of followers and I think will soon be at the 200 mark pretty soon. 

And that my friends are the blogs I follow.  So if you are so inclined, take a look at those blogs, you won't be disappointed and when I next open my email I expect a full report from all 16 of you on your thoughts, otherwise you know what will happen and it isn't going to be pretty.

DMV and phone conversations

This is the condensed version of a phone conversation I had with my friend Ms. L after my experience at the Oregon DMV today.

Nubian:  I went to the DMV today to change my driver's license and after filling out the forms was told that I have to take the test.

Ms. L:  Well I guess when you move from another State it is probably required.

Nubian:  My husband didn't have to take the test and he moved from another State?!

Ms. L:  That is because your husband doesn't have "BITE ME" written across his forehead.

Conversations, speech and observations.

Before my Naturalization and Oath ceremony a member of DAR was walking around asking us all individually where we were from.  The gentleman next to me, Eli, was from Israel and this is how the conversation went.

Ms. DAR:  So where are you from?

Eli:  Israel

Ms. DAR:  Oh, I just got back from your country and found it incredibly disturbing.

Eli:  Disturbing?  In what way Ma'am?

Ms. DAR:  The whole Israeli Palestinian thing you have going on.

Eli: Oh

(Eli slumps back in his seat and Ms. DAR moves on to her next victim in her red cheesecloth Mumu and slippers ~ not kidding on the slippers!)

Me:  Eli, I am so sorry.  Unfortunately even though we are about to become American Citizens we will always be seen as an Israeli and South African.

Eli:  But why today?  Why when we are about to take an oath and give up all allegiance to the country that raised us?  Why would she be so negative?

Me:  Ignorance

Ms. DAR was the speaker and in her speech she progressed to tell us (all 170 of us swearing in) that in America we speak English and that English is the only language of America.

Really!!  Uh Ms. DAR do you not know that in order for all 170 of us reaching this stage we had to pass a test of proficiency in English?  We all know that English is the spoken language in America, we may be immigrants, but we are not ignorant.  Oh and by the way Ms. DAR how many languages do you speak?  I am fluent in two and Eli, yes that man you made feel horrible, is fluent in FIVE!!

Sometimes one needs to really take a lesson and KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.

Ms. DAR had her group hand us all brochures about the American Flag.  When I was handed mine I was advised that I need to read this as this is how we take care of the flag.

Okay?  If you are going to hand out material about the American Flag maybe you should have taken the time to read it.  I am trying to find my pictures that my husband took of the stage as the American Flag was posted INCORRECTLY!!  My friend, Bob (retired Air Force Colonel) who was at my ceremony, went and told the usher that the flag was posted incorrectly.  The stage manager went down and changed it, but when the little Girl Scout posted the Colors, she did it incorrectly.  Don't you think this would be something you would make sure you got right at a Naturalization and Oath Ceremony?

I need to check my material that DAR's peeps handed out, maybe it wasn't in English.

Are we there yet?

If writing a blog was my full time job I would have been fired a long time ago.

June was one hell of a month and I will break it down for you.

A week before T graduated our dearest Carly had a stroke.  She was 17 years old and it was one of the hardest decisions we had to make.  This was the beginning of the month from hell.

T's graduation!  Finally, what a long, long road this was.  The day was intense as I really did not want to face the ex and his current wife, but my wonderful husband, friends and Xanax were there to help me through the day.

 

If you have never attended a Naturalization Oath Ceremony, I highly recommend you take your family.  It was an incredible experience and very surreal.  I wore lime green so that friends and family who attended would be able to see me ~ not a very patriotic color choice I know, but then looking at everyone else I wasn't far off on my color choice.  I will be posting another blog about the conversation I had with Eli (from Israel) who was sitting next to me and took the oath as well.  

The PODS arrived and the packing started.  My feng shui boxes didn't last long, my dear friends developed the "fuck the feng shui" and things were thrown in boxes, taped down and put into the containers.  I will do things differently next time round ~ I will hire movers and packers while I am having a mani-pedi or just have a huge yard sale because I am not moving this shit again!  I am blessed to have my girlfriends who were there to help, get me to focus oh yes and drink the remainder of my 80 proof rum while packing.

After everything was packed in the PODS (oh and by the way I wouldn't recommend them ~ yes that is another blog) my unbelievable Realtor Pam came and helped me pull up the carpet in the Master bedroom, seal the floor and help clean my home.  Our home when we left was in pristine condition, we had the air ducts cleaned, new carpet and paint and those were not even conditions on the new home owner buying the home ~ I am just nice like that!

Our trip to Oregon had begun and it took us more than 24 hours to get here.  Normally the drive is 12 hours, but driving with two dogs and a cat makes the journey just a little longer.  Who knew dogs need to pee so much!  We arrived in Oregon at our new home and then the fun started.  PODS arrived a week later and I hired an unpacking crew ~ should have done that right from the beginning!

 

 A week after arriving in Oregon and unpacking AND trying to find my things in my un feng shui boxes, T left for Brisbane, Australia.  He is taking his Gap Year before he starts at Oregon State.  He is currently volunteering at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and then goes onto South Africa for 5 months to work in the Wilderness area.  Watching him leave was very hard, we have been through so much together these past 18 years, but I know that this is the greatest gift a parent can give their child.  Oh yes and uh-um who knew you need a visa for Australia ~ thank you Baby Jesus that we could do that online while at the airport!!

So that is my month in a nutshell ~ I hope that you now will forgive me for not blogging, but the Bitch is back and will be blogging on many, many topics soon!