Inkheart

I finished reading the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke. If you like fantasy type stories, this is a good one. I won't tell you the whole story, but it's about a man that reads characters out of books and the consequences of doing so. I really enjoyed the books and was thrilled when the movie came out on DVD. The other day I finally had the time to watch it. The movie stars Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent. Of course the movie lumped all three books together so there were some things left out and some things out of place. I didn't have a problem with that. I felt like the movie was a little slow and the action parts were a little weak. Other than that, it was fine. To be fair, if you are like me, most of the time the movie isn't as good as the book anyway. Well, except maybe for Lonesome Dove. That was a darned good movie and I remember thinking a lot of the scenes were just as I had imagined when I read the book.
Anyway, if you decide to check out Inkheart, let me know what you think.

Our Puppy

Hello everyone! I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. This is Jenna. She is an eight month old Weimeraner/Lab mix. We got her when she was just six weeks old, and it has been a trip raising her. She is a sweet and friendly dog. I think she will be tall like the Weim, but with the personality of the Lab. Where the ears came from, I do not know. She can do some very funny things with those ears. When she was smaller, we called her the flying nun.

Jenna is very smart and was easy to house train. She knows several tricks and listens pretty well most of the time.

My seven year old grandson has become Jenna's giant squeaky toy. She likes to sit on him and nibble on his ears. I thought he might be a little intimidated by her at first (she's a BIG puppy)but he takes it all in stride. They have become good friends. No reason why the shouldn't. Little boys and puppy dogs have a lot in common. They both have tons of energy, will eat you out of house and home, and after an hour or so of heavy play in the yard, they begin to smell the same! They have been good for each other. I think a boy and his dog is the cutest thing.

Well, now that you've met Jenna and I have figured out how to post a picture, I will probably have a lot more stories to tell.

Below you will find a simple recipe for homemade dog biscuits. I made some similar to these at christmas to give to my friends with pets. Give these a try and let me know what you think!

Peanut Butter Puppy Poppers
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375'F. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Bake for 20 minutes on a greased baking sheet until lightly brown. Cool on a rack, then store in an airtight container. This is the original recipe, but I have found the cookies burn easily.

I got this recipe from Bullwinkle.com

Islam and Healthcare

I had to come on here and type or I think I would have blown a gasket! Go take a look at this YouTube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPod-hxD7g&eurl=http://www.jihadwatch.org/&feature

If this doesn't get your dander up, nothing will. A pastor from my area sent this to me. I think I will be attending services at his church this Sunday.

I'm not even going to comment on the video. I will let you draw your own conclusions. What I am doing is passing it on to everyone I can.

Now, on to health care....I am not a doctor, or a member of the medical field in any way. I am also not an economist, politician or lobbyist. I am just one poor (according to the groups I just mentioned)American citizen. I don't have any kind of health care, except what I receive at charity hospitals and clinics where you pay according to your family income. You would think a person in my situation would welcome this health care bill that the President is trying to cram down our throats. Well, I don't welcome it! I don't want it. From what I've heard, it seems to me that it will be a lot like the charity system that we already have. We have to wait months for tests, doctor visits, etc. And that's if the receptionist remembers to set it up. Once you get your appointment, you then are looking at a long wait to see the doctor. Most of the time, it's not a doctor that you see, it's a nurse practitioner. I don't have anything against them, that is who I see when I go, but they are limited to what they can do. If you have an acute problem and go to the emergency room, your wait can still be as long as a couple of hours. Then, a lot of times, you see a doctor that doesn't speak good English, doesn't seem to want to touch you, and gets frustrated when you can't understand what the heck he's saying! All of this and you usually come away knowing less about your illness than when you went in! Or, you get some stupid advice like clean your ears and the pain in your groin will go away. (yes, this really happened to someone). That being said, it is still my choice to go through the charity system. I'm sure if we took a closer look at the budget and made some cuts, we could find affordable health care without the government's involvment.

I do think something needs to be done, but I don't want it to be the government forcing us into anything. Let's look into why health care is so expensive. I'll give you a couple of examples. Several years ago, I was in the hospital. When I got my itemized statement, there was Tylenol at a cost of $40.00 for 2. What's up with that??? How much do you pay for a whole bottle of Tylenol? Another thing, the rooms. Now I think you should be as comfortable as possible, but I don't need wood paneling and fancy artwork on the walls. How much of our insurance payments are going for that? I know some of you that read this will get mad at me for saying this, but really, if you are in the hospital, you are sick. You don't really care what's on the walls (as long as it's not dried blood or some other yucky stuff). You just want to hurry up and get well enough to go home. Again, I think it should be comfortable and cheerful, but a four star hotel room? Not!! Not only are the rooms decorated to the nines, there's one hospital in my area that only has private rooms. I know that in some cases a private room is a must. Keep some, but all of them? Another hospital here has an electronic grand piano in the lobby. What happened to elevator music? I am not going to get well any faster just because this piano is constantly playing music! You can't even hear it in the rooms. What is the point of this? There isn't even someone playing it. Then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe we could tip them with our rubber Jello or something. I would rather they spent my hard earned money on some nice exam/hospital gowns! So, now that we have these ritzy hospitals and high end Tylenol, our insurance goes up. We can't afford it any longer, so we drop it and go to charity and hope like hell we don't get cancer or some other life threatening illness. This is where we need to make changes. Let's keep the health care that we have, just control the idiotic charges for some of this stuff.

One more thing that doesn't sit right with me. Why is my insurance or myself being charged for a consultation that I didn't ask for? I believe if I go to a doctor and he doesn't know what's wrong with me, then he should tell me that he needs a little help. Let me decide if I want to let him consult with his colleague, or if I want to go to the other guy directly. Don't go behind my back and then let the colleague bill me for his services. This happened to my dad. He was not told that his doctor was calling in another for a consultation. When he got the bill from the second doctor, I sent it to the first doctor. Let him pay for it. My dad never laid eyes on him, let alone consulted with him! Here again, let me make myself clear. I know there are times when one doctor needs to get with another on some cases. That's fine. I just think that the patient should be made aware of it beforehand. Is that too much to ask?

Well now I've had my say and gotten my blood pressure up. Think I will put on some piano music and take a couple of Tylenol......(the cheap kind)

Telephone

Today was a crazy day. Of course I woke up and still no telephone. I was able to get the laundry done before the electricity went out. We had another down pour. So, now I'm sitting in the dark with no phone and no lights. Luckily, my stove is gas so I was able to cook woo hoo. Finally, this evening around 6, I see my buddy from the telephone junction box out in front of my driveway. He gets the phone working, after three trips to the junction box and my driveway. So, at this point, I have phone service, sort of. I have a dial tone, so I figure I'll call my son and say hi...not...a recording comes on and says I can only call 911..humm, well, that's good. Another trip to the junction box. Then, low and behold, the phone rings! I let it ring as long as I could before the answering machine picked up. I was just enjoying the sound! It's the guy down by the box. Yes, I have complete phone use now, but no internet. He says he will call me back in a few minutes. O.K. I didn't time him, but in the meantime, the sun comes out. I run to tell my husband, but not before I turn the T.V. on while I wait for my phone guy to call me. Don't you know, the cable is out!!? By this time I think I am living in some sort of technology twilight zone. I think there is some connection between sunshine and eletronics. Here at this house, you can't have both. Well, that's not really true. After all is said and done, I now have telephone, cable, electricity and internet. What more could I ask for? Uh, oh, the microwave is tripping now. Is there such a thing as electronic demons? Is there an exorcist for that?? deedeedeedee

The Telephone Company

My telephone has been out of service since Monday. We had a bad storm and I think lightening hit it or the line, or something. I just got internet back a day or so ago. Boy, AT&T really dropped the ball this time. I mean, my internet and telephone is with them. (This is why I'm against bundling). Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to have my computer back online and I love all my dear readers,but don't you think it is a little more important to have phone service? I mean, what if I fell down, or set the house on fire? I can't even call a friend and complain to them about the phone service. That's why I'm laying it on you dear reader! And why is it that I have a strong craving for pizza? No, I can't order my pizza online like most 21st century people. That's another brilliant screw up courtesy of the phone company. They have my address listed in a different city, so the pizza people can't find me! With all of the modern technology out there you would think a telephone line could be repaired in less than a week! I know it only takes seconds for them to turn it off if I'm late with a payment. And then only seconds to turn it back on when I make the payment online. So what gives? There is a telephone employee that sits right down the street from my house at a telephone junction box, or whatever that's called, almost everyday. I swear I've seen him get his pizza delivered! This past week, guess what, no one is there. Maybe he went to work for the pizza place.....oh well, balogna sandwich anyone??

Independence Day

4th of July (Interesting but little known facts of history)

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: freedom is never free!