Advents Corner

This goes to show you that you can make musubi with anything.  L & L Hawaiian Barbecue needs contestants for its Musubi Eating Contest.  Let me just say if you have a chance to get some food from L & L do it.  They catered Lani’s luau and the food was amazing.  Can’t get there for the contest, make your own.  Check out this quick recipe you can make at home.  If you don’t like spam you can put just about any meat or veggie on it you want.  Have fun with it.

We are getting so excited about Mom and Dad moving down.  I hope they get a yard big enough at the new house that maybe we can ask them if we could put up a swing set for Lani.  Our yard is junk so we can not put a swing sets back there, not to mention the dogs would bother her when she would go back there to play.  Maybe we can convince Grandma and Grandpa to let us put one up in their yard because they always have such pretty landscaping.  Then again if Lani has a swing there that would be just one more reason for her not to come home.  LOL

This was sent by one of my aunty’s and I liked it so much I thought I would post it.  I hope you enjoy it.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson.  The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.  The family ate together at the table.But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult.  Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.  When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.  ‘We must do something about father, said the son.  ‘I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.  There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.

Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden
bowl!

When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.  Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.  He asked the child sweetly, ‘What are you making?  Just as sweetly, the boy responded, ‘Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.’  The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless.  Then tears started to stream down their cheeks.  Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.  For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family.  And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

For those of you confused by the notion that Florida’s delegates are not being counted I am posting this explanation.  One of my dear friends emailed one of the writers for the Tampa Tribune for an explanation and this is the response he received.  Thanks Bruce for passing this on to me and everyone else.  I hope this sheds some light on this for you.

This is a point that confuses many people.  I’ve explained it in several stories, but of course, not everyone sees every story I write.  The answer is that your intuition is correct — the national parties have NO right to say when Florida or any other state holds its primary.  However, they DO have the right — litigated up to the Supreme Court more than once — to choose their own nominees for president, including setting the rules by which those nominees are chosen.  That’s basic freedom of association, guaranteed explicitly in the Constitution.  So the Florida Legislature can set the Florida primary for any date it wants.  It chose Jan. 29.

But the national party then gets to decide whether and how to seat delegates to its national nominating convention.  It said it wouldn’t seat any delegates chosen before Feb. 5, or chosen as result of a process that began before Feb 5.

Republicans, of course, had a similar but less draconian rule.  Both parties enacted the rules in an attempt to limit the rush of states moving their primaries ever earlier.  Florida Republicans were happy enough to accept the penalty in their national party’s rule, which was loss of half their delegates.  But the Democratic penalty was worse — in this case, the national party said it would eliminate the entire delegation.

The national Democratic Party asked the state Democrats to hold a caucus on Feb. 5 or later to choose their convention delegates, which the state party legally could do if it chose to (and paid for it).

The state party refused. They said that would amount to refusing to count the votes cast in the Jan. 29 primary, and therefore ignoring the expressed will of the people.

Unfortunately, there aren’t enough pine trees for me to include this long-winded explanation in every story I write.

So feel free to pass this on to 250,000 people or so.

William March, reporter

The Tampa Tribune

Office 813 259 7761 wmarch@tampatrib.com 

If you think identity theft can not happen to you then you are wrong.  Last year when we went to Hawaii my identity being stolen was the least of my concerns.  We were in Hawaii for 2 weeks and when we returned I had several letters in the mail from a couple of different companies that I had made purchases with, one of which was Disney.  We had Lani in the book and video club that Disney has out.  According to the letter a person at the credit card processing company Disney uses stole information about people’s accounts.  As I continued to read the letter I discovered they got my birth date, credit card number, my 3 digit security code, mailing address, and phone number.  Before I knew it I was being flooded with phone calls from collection agents.  I did a search on the people that were calling me and they too had a scam going.  It was not until I called my bank to cancel the credit cards that they confirmed the phone scam and suggested I change my phone number as well.  There are several services out there such as life lock that can help you keep your information safe.

I was lucky in the fact that my identity stayed intact but it could have been so much worse.  Life lock will have your name removed for all of the “pre-approved” credit cards you get in the mail, cutting down your chances of fraud.  Also not to mention it cuts down on all of the stuff you get in your mailbox.  Another feature is called Wallet Lock.  If you lose your wallet just give them a call and they take care of helping you to get all of the credit card companies to cancel the cards and get you new ones. 

Today is the day Michaela and I go to get our passports.  We are getting so excited about the trip to Asia.  The girls are going to have so much fun.  We are very sad that Lani will not be joining us but we thought it would be better if she did not come on this trip.  She is so an excellent traveler but it is just too many flights and they time difference would just be so bad for her.  She is going to stay with Grammy for the trip and Grammy is going to try and potty train her while she is there.  Stay tuned for updates on the trip.

First Time Buyer Mortgage is looking really good right now with the interest rates so low.  I know the economy is taking a downward turn but if you ever thought about buying a house, now is the time to take the plunge.  House prices are falling really fast as people are getting closer to foreclosure.  I am starting to see a lot of places going for a short sale to get out of the payment as quick as possible and the banks they are financed with are helping them get the paperwork done because if they go into foreclosure the bank is stuck with the house and trust me when I say the bank does not want that house.  Take sometime to check this out, if you though you could never afford a house you might be able to afford one now.  Just remember do not buy bigger then you need or can afford.  That piece of advice will say you a lot of possible heartache down the road.  And watch out for those ARM’s.

It is beyond me the things people will come up with and the things people will buy.  Here is a clip of Ellen Degeneres using the Hawaii Chair.  You are suppose to be able to use it at work and stay fit while you sit.  I don’t know about that.  People are always trying to find the easy way to stay in shape but this takes the cake.

Being a foster guardian I am always on the look out for pet sites to pass on to my friend that is president of a rescue program. We have four pets, two dogs and two cats all of whom have been rescues. I have come across a site that gives really good Pet Information I want to share with you. Thoughts Fur Paws (very cute title) has information on the health, safety, puppy mills and dealing with the loss of your closest friend. One of my favorites on the site it the Rescue Dog’s Poem, I think it touches my heart because we have adopted all of our animals. While you are there take the quiz to see if you are more cat or dog. I am 80% dog, but I could have told you that.

Roy Scheider died Sunday at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences hospital.  He uttered that famous line in Jaws released in 1975.  You may also remember him from such films as The French Connection and The Punisher.  Born November 10 1932 he made his film debut in the horror The Curse of the Living Corpse in 1964 but gained recognition when he worked with Jane Fonda in Klute in 1971.  Then in 1975 he appeared in Jaws as the chief of police.  With Jaws becoming the first film to ever gross $100 million this is where most of us know him.

Need a reason for that glass of wine at dinner other than you are an adult and you want it?  How about the fact that it is packed with antioxidant that’s right, it is good for you.  With five servings of fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants can reduce your risk of stroke by 25 percent.  So the next time you want to do something good for your body have a glass of wine with dinner. 

I just had to post this because it is really funny

RETARDED GRANDPARENTS - (this was actually reported by a teacher)  After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school.  One child wrote the following: We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.  They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to

Florida.  Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.  They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they don’t know who they are anymore.  They go to a building called a wrecked center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don’t do them very well.  There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.  At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it.  He watches all day so nobody can escape.  Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts.  Nobody there cooks, they just eat out.  And, they eat the same thing every night — early birds.  Some of the people can’t get out past the man in the doll house.  The ones, who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.  My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.  When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house.  Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.  ….  PRICELESS…… 

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner everyone is running around at the last minute to find the perfect gift for that perfect someone.  Well stop looking and start shopping.  Instead of the classic flowers what about a laptop?  Check out this dell coupon and surprise your one and only with a laptop of their very own.

Yesterday we spent most of the day with Don taking Michaela’s picture for her graduation announcements that will go out later this month or next month.  We still can not believe she is only a couple of month away from graduation.  Time passes so fast it is hard to accept it sometimes.  I would be feeling really old right now if I would not have two more behind Michaela.  I can’t believe I have one graduating and one in diapers.  It is funny how your life puts you in places a few years ago you would not have imagined you would be in.

I knew it was bad but was not too sure how bad until it came time for my employee performance evaluation. I was brought into the room and told even though my performance is always stellar the company has put a freeze on all increases until we “get over this hump”. I was also told that I am at the top of my pay scale so other than the cost of living increases I would not be getting anymore raises. Way to bust a bubble right, especially considering I am not even getting the cost of living increase because of the freeze. I was given the consolation prize that when the freeze is lifted the increase would be retro active. I should not complain, I make really good money but it is just dishearten to think that no matter how good I am at my job will not make more than what I am making now.

This morning there was a shooting at Louisiana Technical  College in Baton Rouge.  According to reports a woman shot two other women before turning the gun on herself inside one of the classrooms.  No further details are known at this time.

Namco Bandai says it is because of the Wii that they are shutting arcades through out Japan.  People are saving their pocket change to buy games for the Wii verses spending it in the arcade.  We have a Wii and it is so much fun.  Talk about a family gaming system.  When my in laws were in for Christmas we spent many nights all bowling on the Wii. 

Sorry about that but we had a server problem with the sites last night and most of this morning.  We are back online now.

Finally someone has said what we have always known as Mommies, when you are pregnant your baby sucks out your brain cells.  OK maybe not but they do make us more forgetful.  We have known this for years that when you are pregnant you tend to forget things more easily.  Now it has been confirmed through medical studies that pregnant women tend to forget things when they are involved in multitasking or unfamiliar things.

We use to think that once we had the baby that our memory would come back but they now suspect that the forgetfulness can last up to one year.  Do you think that might have something to do with being tired for all of the sleepless nights? 

The Race for DelegatesDemocrats Needed to Win = 2,025

Candidate      Pledged       Superdels      Total

Clinton         632              193          825

Obama         626              106          732

Republicans Needed to Win = 1,191

Candidate      Pledged         Unpl. RNC    Total

McCain          598                17          615

Romney        259                  9          268

Huckabee     166                  3          169

Chart from CNN.com 

After super Tuesday this is the way things stack up.  It looks like McCain is the front runner.  It is still a very close race between Clinton and Obama.  My dream ticket would be to see Clinton and McCain.  That will be very hard decision between the two but I think they are the two best candidates.  Only time will tell.