I wrote this to someone who disagrees with me on everything. This was mostly about the tea parties and right wing corporate backers. Good luck to everyone surviving the next couple of weeks. This isn't my best writing, but this hasn't been my best season either.
So this is why I believe some of the things I do.....
I didn't think we saw things so differently, but I guess we do. When I speak to people on the right, and I am sure you know most of my acquaintances and friends are conservative, they feel marginalized by the media and by democratic politicians. I don't feel there is a difference of opinion as much as there is Global warming which is correct and no discussion. Abortion with no perimeters and no discussion. Same sex marriage and no discussion. The tea party was born because so many people felt powerless. They banded together to form a party so that they could have a voice. And what came of it? Immediately they were branded racist. Not looked at as though they were trying to shed light on a real concern, which was taxes....they were marginalized. Because obviously if you disagree with Obama then you were a racist. In my opinion that is why Obama did so poorly in the first debate, no one has disagreed with him....he isn't used to it, so when pressure is applied he gets petulant and difficult. And flustered. The people who love him were so confused after the first debate, how can that be? He is the most brilliant orator in the world. He is the smartest man alive. I will never underestimate him, but I do not think he is the smartest man alive. I think he genuinely believes government is the answer. I am all for paying taxes, most people I know have no problem paying taxes...but they are frustrated at what they are paying for. When you are paying a large amount of money to the government you want your elected officials to be good stewards of that money. But they aren't. GM killed me, it was in horrible trouble. The cars are good ones, I drive GM and I have for 30 years. But they were no longer able to compete because they pay so much to the unions. Unreasonable amounts of money. The company eventually goes into bankruptcy which very few people realize. Most people think Obama saved it...but what he did was take it over and he didn't save the stockholders, they lost everything, but he propped up the unions. They lost nothing. I am the middle class, and I pay and pay and pay. My health insurance has gone up 300 dollars a month, but last week I received 2 preventative care appointments for free, my mammogram is free also and blood work. I saved 80 dollars for the year, but I spend 3600 dollars more. Thank you Obama care. It costs almost 100 dollars to fill my car, and I know gas will never go down with Obama at the helm because he hates fossil fuels. Other countries can drill off of our coasts but we can't. An endangered fish was the cause of farmers in the central valley of California not being able to have access to water. That thinking astounds me. The farmers are the bad guys. When I was younger we saved the whales, the oceans, the rain forest, really? ...Al Gore makes a movie an inconvenient truth, my children were forced to watch it and they were graded on it. If they asked questions (which I have raised them to do) they were made fun of. Their grade depended on it. That movie has been proven to be filled with half truths....no science can be settled. So who could blame me for being distrustful of green jobs or green anything. Battery cars don't work - Chevy Volt, enough said. And every other green industry has been a sham. I have been involved with water reclamation in Las Vegas, all government did was fight me on it, and not one "green" person ever got involved.....I am conservative and I am accused of being a part of the flat earth society because of it. Conservatives are accused of not caring about poor people, yet red states routinely give more in charities than blue states. Biden doesn't even believe in charities, and Obama only gave a significant percentage lately. Romney has always given 10 per cent or more of his money. Always. I understand that we are very far from each other in our beliefs, I just wanted you to know why. I am weary of being labeled narrow minded and racist. I am a good neighbor, I volunteer hundreds of hours of my time every year, I give over 10 per cent of my increase, I have raised great kids who are not a drain on the economy. The left has plenty of contributors, George Soros for one, highly partisan left wing backers are behind Moveon.org and Center for American progress. Those are huge opinion shifters. I know they are "non profit" but come one. And Hollywood? If an actor doesn't tow the line for Obama they are vilified. And how many millions come from Hollywood for Obama? Any Hollywood money going to Romney? They have glamorous, cool fund raisers. Want to know what NBC talked about this morning? at the beginning of the show? That Paul Ryan washed dishes at a soup kitchen that were already clean, and the scandal that has now incurred. Nothing about Libya.....and now Hillary is taking the blame for Benghazi. I enjoy politics, I majored in it....but this has been a tiresome tit for tat. A stream of "gotcha's". I still think the country is getting a divorce and Obama and Romney are fighting over the children. Thank you for reading.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
My High School Reunion...
My high school reunion was held over the weekend. I couldn't believe it was 40 years....rhetorically, am I that old?
Oddly enough we are still at that age where if we die people would say, "such a shame she was so young." but also where we qualify for the seniors meal at ihop.
Suddenly I was all over the place. I was eighteen again until I ran into someone from homeroom and had a reality check. I went from wishing I had dieted to happy I found something with an elastic waist band. It was surreal.
I was thrilled the ice breaker Friday night was very casual, outside-inside, and low light. We could just ease into the whole thing, and when hot flashes occur I could walk outside. Score!! I was also happy there were year books everywhere I could use as some kind of game of clue. But so sad there needed to be a book for those that died.
I went with my wing man, Patti Gunn Thompson. She wasn't nervous at all....she hasn't had a nervous day in her life. Patti and I have been friends since we were Juniors. Someone once mistook her for me so she wanted to see what I looked like. That was a good day because we have been friends ever since.
Looking back at high school from this distance has been interesting for me. I wondered what everyone would look like, what their lives had been like and if I would recognize anyone. This was a better scenario than the twenty year reunion.....at twenty you want to look hot and rich - at forty you just hope the women haven't had too much "work" done..
I found myself looking around at everyone and thinking how glad I was to be there. And how glad I was that I didn't have to buy an $11 glass of wine. Peer pressure doesn't exist when you are almost however old we are.
At a forty year reunion you know people have had real challenges, struggles and joy in their lives. There is a real leveling. So for a while it was wonderful to take a break and remember easier times...when responsibility wasn't so heavy, and when our problems boiled down to how our hair looked and if we had a date for Friday.
High school for me was a place I found a voice. That voice has gotten stronger and I hope wiser...but Clark High is definitely where that voice started.
It's where I learned to dance, and do algebra.....it's where I had my first kiss, and learned unequivocally that I hate chemistry.
It is where Joan Snyder told me after a speech contest when I came in third, that if I were a boy I would have won....
It is where I helped trash an entire suite at the Mapes Hotel in Reno after state with my mother sleeping in the next room.
It's where we routinely had riots in the lunch room and our home field was Western High School. And how much we hated that, and how much we hated Western, and how much they hated us!!
It's where I wore a borrowed yellow dress to homecoming and then stepped in mud on the football field with my newly dyed yellow shoes. That was the same day a DJ on the radio dedicated the song "Sweet City Woman" by the Stampeders to me. I never knew why that happened....but I smile every time I hear that song.
It's where Patti and I would "drag" Fremont Street on Friday night with a tab and wheat thins. And drive a hundred miles an hour to get home before curfew.
It was going to Shakey's after the game....and Macayo's for lunch.
It was hoping 72% was really a B.
It was a Rare Earth concert.....and hoping your parents didn't see the dent in the car from driving over the medium on Charleston.
Funniest moment for me? This one......Marie: You were in my eight grade art class. Dale: I took art?
Fight on, Fight on, Keep fighting till we have won.....remember that?
It was memories, good or bad, that are ours forever......
We were just a group of kids who happened to live in the same area and who would make an unforgettable impression on each other forever. We were our first true loves and our first heart breaks. We were each other alibi's and a shoulder to cry on. We had each others back before "having your back" was a phrase.
We laughed a lot, and cried a lot.....we sure did worry a lot. But we still showed up on Monday and tried so hard not to be sent to Mr. Paulsen's office.
We had no idea what was really in store for us....and that is why it is all such a sweet memory...
I have felt sad over friends I saw everyday and then never again, but overwhelming gratitude that I had all those experiences and all those friends.
Oddly enough we are still at that age where if we die people would say, "such a shame she was so young." but also where we qualify for the seniors meal at ihop.
Suddenly I was all over the place. I was eighteen again until I ran into someone from homeroom and had a reality check. I went from wishing I had dieted to happy I found something with an elastic waist band. It was surreal.
I was thrilled the ice breaker Friday night was very casual, outside-inside, and low light. We could just ease into the whole thing, and when hot flashes occur I could walk outside. Score!! I was also happy there were year books everywhere I could use as some kind of game of clue. But so sad there needed to be a book for those that died.
I went with my wing man, Patti Gunn Thompson. She wasn't nervous at all....she hasn't had a nervous day in her life. Patti and I have been friends since we were Juniors. Someone once mistook her for me so she wanted to see what I looked like. That was a good day because we have been friends ever since.
Looking back at high school from this distance has been interesting for me. I wondered what everyone would look like, what their lives had been like and if I would recognize anyone. This was a better scenario than the twenty year reunion.....at twenty you want to look hot and rich - at forty you just hope the women haven't had too much "work" done..
I found myself looking around at everyone and thinking how glad I was to be there. And how glad I was that I didn't have to buy an $11 glass of wine. Peer pressure doesn't exist when you are almost however old we are.
At a forty year reunion you know people have had real challenges, struggles and joy in their lives. There is a real leveling. So for a while it was wonderful to take a break and remember easier times...when responsibility wasn't so heavy, and when our problems boiled down to how our hair looked and if we had a date for Friday.
High school for me was a place I found a voice. That voice has gotten stronger and I hope wiser...but Clark High is definitely where that voice started.
It's where I learned to dance, and do algebra.....it's where I had my first kiss, and learned unequivocally that I hate chemistry.
It is where Joan Snyder told me after a speech contest when I came in third, that if I were a boy I would have won....
It is where I helped trash an entire suite at the Mapes Hotel in Reno after state with my mother sleeping in the next room.
It's where we routinely had riots in the lunch room and our home field was Western High School. And how much we hated that, and how much we hated Western, and how much they hated us!!
It's where I wore a borrowed yellow dress to homecoming and then stepped in mud on the football field with my newly dyed yellow shoes. That was the same day a DJ on the radio dedicated the song "Sweet City Woman" by the Stampeders to me. I never knew why that happened....but I smile every time I hear that song.
It's where Patti and I would "drag" Fremont Street on Friday night with a tab and wheat thins. And drive a hundred miles an hour to get home before curfew.
It was going to Shakey's after the game....and Macayo's for lunch.
It was hoping 72% was really a B.
We were just a group of kids who happened to live in the same area and who would make an unforgettable impression on each other forever. We were our first true loves and our first heart breaks. We were each other alibi's and a shoulder to cry on. We had each others back before "having your back" was a phrase.
I have felt sad over friends I saw everyday and then never again, but overwhelming gratitude that I had all those experiences and all those friends.
Monday, October 8, 2012
New friends, new attitudes
I have a new friend, and I love her. Nita Lee is her name and she is adorable. We met on a flight from Oakland to Las Vegas at 6 am. By the way, the comedian who said any flight that requires you to be at the airport before 10 am should be free, is so right. I decided before I ever boarded the plane that I was NOT going to speak to anyone. I was cranky to be up so early, I was suspicious of my breath, no makeup and my hair was in a bun because I used that stuff in my hair that makes it stringy cement. I looked awful. I held on to this decision until Nita Lee sat down and pulled out her bible to start studying. Before long I knew that she is from a little town in Texas about 5 miles from where I grew up, loves to study the bible, loves Mary Kay and she loves the Lord.
Before I said a word to her the impression came to, "just let her teach you."
What?
That's weird, I know everything, but I was too tired to argue, or even think about anything profound. I was thrilled someone else was going to be teaching. So I just sat back....
And guess what? She did. Teach me....We talked about fear, we talked about faith, we talked about tithing.....but mostly we talked about the Savior. When we started talking about tithing, I said, "I am intrigued, most churches don't pay tithing.....where did that come from in your life?" She just kind of stared at me, "It's in Malachi, the old testament" I knew where the scripture was, what I didn't understand was how she knew. And then I realized what I was really thinking, and what I was thinking made me a little queasy. It was pretty prideful. This is what Nita Lee was sent to teach me........That not only do I not know it all, I don't know very much. Whereas I had learned about tithing from missionaries, Sunday School teachers, Bishops, conference, and the scriptures......Nita Lee learned about tithing from God. She read it in Malachi and simply embraced it. No one had to tell her to do it, it was just there in the bible, plain as day...she read it and did it.
I felt like a tree stump.
This has been happening to me a lot. Learning from people I never thought could teach me a thing. But yet there it is. Joanna Brooks, Nita Lee, Amber Price........
Joanna taught me that there are all kinds of Mormons. And it isn't really my business what kind of Mormon they are. I am here to be obedient, and the Savior asked me to love one another....He just wants me to love, and He doesn't want me to qualify those relationships, to just love easy people who constantly agree with me, nope love all people....Love people and serve them. Judge them? I don't think so.
Nita taught me that people love the Savior unequivocally, without bounds....
Amber taught me to accept where people are in the journey, and just love them.
People have always been my favorite thing, I love watching them, I love talking to them, I just love people...I am not as interested in what people believe in as much as I want to know how they got there. I really love to hear people's stories. But I have read a lot of angry blogs lately. There are some angry Mormons out there, and some angry ex Mormons, and then just some angry people....a lot of anger...
We are totally missing the point of life.....the real point of life is to love each other. And we are doing a terrible job of it right now. I am doing a terrible job of it right now. We have lost any peace we might have.
That is why the Lord sent Joanna Brooks to me, to see another side. Life is far more 3 dimensional than I ever realized.
Nita Lee is my friend so I can see the walk that other people have with Christ.....
And then Amber.......her voice is just not heard, and it is frustrating to her. Frustration is an emotion that needs an outlet or it will explode. We need to give people the space to vent without judging, or offering a cure to their confusion. We don't have to give solutions or even advice. But we do need to give each other some time, and some space....just to think things through. And then let the Holy Ghost do the teaching and advising
I visited a woman a while back that felt disenfranchised. The church that she loved at one time was not in her life, and she was alternately angry and sad. I understood both. She would like to come back, but at this point has no idea why she would, or how. So I said what I always do, you have to love something big enough to overcome the small things that keep us away. We are a community of Christ...He is the biggest thing....when we keep our eyes on Him all the other things fall into place. Whatever that looks like for us. Let Him lead you.....honestly go to Him with your tantrums, with your heart breaks and pain. Study His life...try to imagine all the time what He would do in any given situation.
And so this is why Joanna is my dear friend, I love her gentle emails....the way she hurts when she feels someone is being left out. And Nita telling me today that she found the perfect wedding dress because Jesus loves her! And she is so right!!
The Savior is no respecter of people, and when we start looking at each other the way He looks at us, we will be happier. Because we will really see the kind of world we live in...a peaceful world filled with the most amazing creatures.
I so hope I wrote clearly enough what was in my heart. Love to all
Matthew 6: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Before I said a word to her the impression came to, "just let her teach you."
What?
That's weird, I know everything, but I was too tired to argue, or even think about anything profound. I was thrilled someone else was going to be teaching. So I just sat back....
And guess what? She did. Teach me....We talked about fear, we talked about faith, we talked about tithing.....but mostly we talked about the Savior. When we started talking about tithing, I said, "I am intrigued, most churches don't pay tithing.....where did that come from in your life?" She just kind of stared at me, "It's in Malachi, the old testament" I knew where the scripture was, what I didn't understand was how she knew. And then I realized what I was really thinking, and what I was thinking made me a little queasy. It was pretty prideful. This is what Nita Lee was sent to teach me........That not only do I not know it all, I don't know very much. Whereas I had learned about tithing from missionaries, Sunday School teachers, Bishops, conference, and the scriptures......Nita Lee learned about tithing from God. She read it in Malachi and simply embraced it. No one had to tell her to do it, it was just there in the bible, plain as day...she read it and did it.
I felt like a tree stump.
This has been happening to me a lot. Learning from people I never thought could teach me a thing. But yet there it is. Joanna Brooks, Nita Lee, Amber Price........
Joanna taught me that there are all kinds of Mormons. And it isn't really my business what kind of Mormon they are. I am here to be obedient, and the Savior asked me to love one another....He just wants me to love, and He doesn't want me to qualify those relationships, to just love easy people who constantly agree with me, nope love all people....Love people and serve them. Judge them? I don't think so.
Nita taught me that people love the Savior unequivocally, without bounds....
Amber taught me to accept where people are in the journey, and just love them.
People have always been my favorite thing, I love watching them, I love talking to them, I just love people...I am not as interested in what people believe in as much as I want to know how they got there. I really love to hear people's stories. But I have read a lot of angry blogs lately. There are some angry Mormons out there, and some angry ex Mormons, and then just some angry people....a lot of anger...
We are totally missing the point of life.....the real point of life is to love each other. And we are doing a terrible job of it right now. I am doing a terrible job of it right now. We have lost any peace we might have.
That is why the Lord sent Joanna Brooks to me, to see another side. Life is far more 3 dimensional than I ever realized.
Nita Lee is my friend so I can see the walk that other people have with Christ.....
And then Amber.......her voice is just not heard, and it is frustrating to her. Frustration is an emotion that needs an outlet or it will explode. We need to give people the space to vent without judging, or offering a cure to their confusion. We don't have to give solutions or even advice. But we do need to give each other some time, and some space....just to think things through. And then let the Holy Ghost do the teaching and advising
I visited a woman a while back that felt disenfranchised. The church that she loved at one time was not in her life, and she was alternately angry and sad. I understood both. She would like to come back, but at this point has no idea why she would, or how. So I said what I always do, you have to love something big enough to overcome the small things that keep us away. We are a community of Christ...He is the biggest thing....when we keep our eyes on Him all the other things fall into place. Whatever that looks like for us. Let Him lead you.....honestly go to Him with your tantrums, with your heart breaks and pain. Study His life...try to imagine all the time what He would do in any given situation.
And so this is why Joanna is my dear friend, I love her gentle emails....the way she hurts when she feels someone is being left out. And Nita telling me today that she found the perfect wedding dress because Jesus loves her! And she is so right!!
The Savior is no respecter of people, and when we start looking at each other the way He looks at us, we will be happier. Because we will really see the kind of world we live in...a peaceful world filled with the most amazing creatures.
I so hope I wrote clearly enough what was in my heart. Love to all
Matthew 6: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
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