March 4, 2013

I'm back. I realized that my last posting was back in July. So much has happened since then in my life, I don't know where to begin.

The best news is that on August 31, 2012, my son, Christian and his wife, Aimee and their son, Caleb (my grandson) welcomed a daughter, Emma Rose Crawford. She is a gorgeous little bundle of cuteness and personality. Due to some schedule craziness, I was unable to see her and hold her until December 31, 2012 but let me tell you, it was a thrill. Children are a blessing, but grandchildren...man they are something else.

I met someone and we began dating in October. Wonderful woman from a great family....life is good in that respect. We have similar interests in working out, concerts and cooking and we also have other interests that are specifically our own. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes; but so far I am liking the journey and I think she does as well.

My oldest son is making great strides in his recovery from alcohol and chemical addiction. He is working on 4 months sober and has started a new job. I pray for his continued sobriety and growth every day.

My oldest daughter is back living at home and looking for work in her chosen field of counseling. I pray for her success in finding that career path that will most fulfilling for her. We both celebrated birthdays last week; February 27th. She turned 26 and I celebrated the 29th anniversary of my 33rd birthday.

My youngest daughter is pushing forward with her career in photography/ For now she has taken a break from school...I hope she elects, at some point, to continue her education, but I will understand is she does not.

I lost my job in November and though I received a severance package, it didn't last very long and I went through the little savings I had in January. Needless to say, the job market is tough and very competitive these days. That should me looking up for me; will know more for sure at the end of the day today.

As I reflect on the past year; the subject of loss comes up...again. Lost a number of friends this year due to accident and illness. How did this aging thing happen? Where did my youth go? My high school class had a 40th reunion in October and I was unable to attend. Judging from the pictures posted on Facebook those that attended had a very good time.

I guess my reason for writing today is to express my dismay at the inability of the leaders of our nation to come together and produce a balanced budget. Why in the world do these so-called leaders feel it necessary to get on TV and accuse each other, call each other names, etc., instead of going into a room and sitting down and saying we are a representative republic...we were elected to do a job....let's hammer this out and not come out until we have a balanced budget that while painful will work towards bringing us back to solvency? Why? No one I know can walk out the door and spend more than is in their checking account without consequences....I got a new driver's license on Friday and I also registered to vote. When asked my party affiliation, I answered Independent....truth is I am more libertarian than anything else, but as was so eloquently pointed out to me last summer, I would be wasting my vote if I did not fall into the two party fold.

Anyway, I registered and it got me to thinking about this mess we are in. We have had months to fix this mess concerning the budget and have done nothing to make it right...except point fingers and call each other names...

I would like to see the people of this country sit down and write letters to Barack Obama, John Boehner and Harry Reid and ask they put their minds together and figure this thing out. I would like to say to them all....the middle class pays enough in taxes so figure out another way to raise the revenue that is out there. Ask them to call in the loans that have been outstanding for 30 to 40 plus years. Bring our manufacturing jobs back to this country and make enterprise zones in cities that have been hardest hit by the loss of jobs overseas. I could go on, but I would be parroting the voices of others. We need to, as a society, call our leaders into accountability and if they don't represent the people....find leaders that do and will care to do what is right for  all Americans.

Just my rant for today....