The very first Ravelympics!  What’s that, you ask?  Think crocheting and knitting on an Olympic scale.  There are events such a the hat dash (I’m in), scarf stroke (I’m in), and WIP wrestling (I am also in).  We can’t start until August 8 (7:00 AM Oklahoma time!!!) and we have to be done with our projects by the end of the Olympics.

I so cannot wait.

So there was this story last week where a two year old girl was killed by her mother’s boyfriend.  He beat her to death.  He’s an illegal, she lives with him and her children in a hotel, and she admitted that she always picks the wrong men that always end up hurting her or her kids.  Umm, okay, if you know your mating skills suck then keep yourself out of the dating pool until your kids are grown.  I am glad this woman was arrested.  She’s just as guilty as the man that killed that precious baby.

If there is one thing I take seriously, it is my civic duty to vote.  I can joke and say that if you don’t vote, you can’t complain.  However it is much more serious than that.  I hear older Americans complain about my generation all of the time.  I came in right near the tail end of Generation X.  I’ll be 30 this year.  I’ve voted since I was 18 with the exception of when Monkey Butt was born (he was born late October 2000 and I was still recovering from a c-section).  When we lived in Arkansas, I even changed my residence so that I could vote.  Sure, I could have casted an absentee ballot for OK…but my thought was since I was in Arkansas I should vote for what is going on IN Arkansas.

I am a registered Independent.  I am not a Democrat and I am not a Republican.  I vote strictly for the issues.  I make it a POINT to go and read about candidates to make an INFORMED choice.  At 29 years old, I think I am head and shoulders above most of my peers who only vote for the parties IF they vote at all.

I cannot vote in these little elections (even my local elections) because I am Independent.  How can this nation complain about low voter turn out when some of us are prohibited to vote based on our affiliation?  I would think the nation would be happy to have people that look closely at issues instead of animal mascots.

I am offended that I was turned away today to vote.  I think I should run for office one day and change this whole voting system.  No one should be discriminated against.  If you are 18 and a citizen of this country, you should be allowed to vote as long as you are a registered voter.

The year before when I voted, I wasn’t even asked for ID.  Now I am completely denied.  Where’s the ACLU?  Busy throwing prayer out of schools instead of addressing REAL issues.

So this pastor and his wife are painting the church.  They have one wall left and less than 1/2 gallon of paint.  She says, “Honey I don’t think we have enough paint to finish.”

He says, “Sure we do.  I’ll just add some water to it.”

She says, “I don’t think that is such a good idea.”

He does it anyway and they keep painting.  They start running out again and she says, “Honey I really don’t think we can finish.”

He says, “Sure we can.  I’ll just add some more water.”

Again she states, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Finally they finish and he says, “See?  I TOLD you we had enough to finish!”

Just then a freak thunderstorm (must live in Oklahoma!) hit and all the paint washed from the outside wall they were trying to paint.

She started to say, “I told you so,” but he said, “Honey you were right.  I should have listened.  What are we going to do now?”

Then a voice from heaven said…..

Are you ready for this?

Are you SURE?

REPAINT!  REPAINT!  And THIN NO MORE!

True beauty does not lie in hair, make up, dresses, or suits.  True beauty lies in watching over 5000 of God’s children pray and worship together.  A 12 year old girl from our church received the baptism of the Holy Ghost by evidence of speaking in tongues, my step-son came very close to praying through, Monkey Butt lifted his hands and sang and praised God, and Bryonicle was refilled and spent a good 20 minutes speaking in tongues.  It was a beautiful experience to be present at the Holy Ghost Rally.  I truly cannot wait for next July to do it all again.

Thirteen reasons why my life is in a state of flux.

1.  I have five more terms until I finish with my BS, and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

2.  I am realizing all of the opportunities that are set before me.  The question is which one will best suit me and what I will be happy with that will provide for my family.

3.  In the last week I’ve had four people ask me (three in one day) why I am not considering law school (I did consider it at one point).  One such person is my supervisor.  I received the, “Well you can do other things with a law degree besides practice law.”

4.  I have a lot of research to do about entertaining the idea of law school.  There’s the LSAT and financial aid.

5.  I really don’t know if I am going to do CASA.  Now that I have spent time praying about it, I see that I feel it is more of my obligation instead of a desire.  The problem with doing something because it is JUST a feeling of obligation is the quick loss of interest or burn out.  I firmly believe that if I get involved with a cause I need to WANT to be there.

6.  I still haven’t heard back about an article I submitted to a Pentecostal magazine.

7.  I really, really want to write.  I want to make a difference.  I want to help people (don’t we all).  It just doesn’t pay the bills and I really don’t possess a lot of time to do it.

8.  I feel quite overwhelmed at the moment with all of the changes I’ve experienced during the last week.

9.  My cinnamon muffin tastes like a mouthful of lard.  No, I didn’t make it.

10.  I just wonder a lot about the whole law school thing.  The loans would be, at a minimum, $120,000.  I don’t know if that includes living expenses because I certainly would not be able to work and perform to the level I know I am capable of.

11.  I don’t even know if I want to continue with my education when I finish my degree, but if I don’t do it now (as in next fall) I know that I will never do it.

12.  If I can do this, I can do anything…but do I really want to do this or am I just trying to prove that I can?

13.  Academically, I rock.  I am the most indecisive person, though.

It’s almost back to school time.  We’ve only got about a month before the boys go back.  I can’t believe I’ll have a fifth grader and a second grader.

Anyway, I am a fly baby.  I flutter…just barely.  I get overwhelmed sometimes.  Then there are other times, like today, when I realize that the kids won’t necessarily remember whether or not the kitchen floor was spotless.

A great challenge came through the Fly Lady group the other day and I really liked it.  It was about really cleaning your toilet.  What comes along with back to school?  The stomach flu, of course.  Just like the challenge said…nothing says “I love you” more during stomach flu season than a clean toilet to puke in.

I found a great cleaner online called Jiffy toilet cleaner.  I am using it and I think it works great.  I still have to do the outside of the toilet (I use Kaboom for that).

Click here.  Turn on your speakers.  It is 8 1/2 minutes long.

It was a beautiful funeral.  We are working to get the slide show that The Cop Magnet made ready to go online.  I will post more in a day or two.