Enraged with the liberal media...

I picked up my cell phone last Wednesday, a very busy day for me, and my brother asked "Hey look up this guy - Orson Scott Card. He's a democrat but he wrote an open letter to the liberal media that you've just got to read!"

So I made a mental note to self to check it out...

While I was reading his article I had the sudden urge to find a blow horn and go out on the patio and read it to the entire neighborhood. He really dealt a blow to the media who swear up and down that they are "just delivering the news". But his point is that they've lost all honor and are only showing one side of the truth.

Since then I've shared the article with many friends and asked them to pass it along. From my personal searches I cannot find any mainstream media willing to print this article on their websites. So I wonder if they have read it.

Then I just about jumped for joy when I saw this post on the Fox Forum about a Florida TV station which has been banned from the Obama campaign because of their direct questioning to Biden about his running mate's stance on the "spreading the wealth" topic. journalist Barbara West - you are my hero of the day!!! See the Biden interview here.

Biden's reaction to the Karl Marx question... classic!

My name is Lori and I'm an addict...

Yes, you read that correctly. I'm an addict. For years, I mean YEARS... I've been addicted to adrenaline. Not the type of adrenaline that makes people base jump or eat poisonous foods or play "chicken" with trains. Although... from what I understand the amount of adrenaline running through my body is nearly the same as those odd balls.

No, my addiction has to do with being rushed... being pushed up against a deadline, lots of expectations on me and a lot to deliver ... working off of a deadline typically makes me finish a project. I've discovered over the years that if I have all the time in the world and 3 projects in front of me... I will inevitably put them off until they reach "must do" status. This addiction is in-line w/ being a workaholic and over-committing myself to doing tasks that I feel I need to do.

Yesterday I jokingly asked a new acquaintance if my love of crafting was an addiction and she asked me a very direct question that rang so true... without a smile on her face she asked "Is your life in chaos because of it?" Happily I can now answer that question "NO!" Last year I could not answer the question that way.

Now, I will use some condensed steps to healing that were cited in an article recently by Glenn Beck, a recovering alcoholic, for something else altogether... healing our cracked Country. But the steps also work for the cracked life I was living.

Step One: Admit we are not powerless.
Step Two: Believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.
Step Three: Decide to take our power back.
Step Four: Make a complete and fearless moral inventory.
Step Five: Admit our wrongs, and our rights.
Step Six: Be ready to remove our defects.

In Dec '07 I admitted I had a problem. I made a decision to slow down. And it's taken until today to be hit with this epiphany: I am aware of my adrenaline addiction.

Yes, it's now October. Yes - it's taken over 10 months to hit the first step... you know, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Yes - I'm now coming out with my problem.

As I think through the healing I've gone through in the past 10 months, and previous addictions I've conquered (and others that I still battle), I'm happy to report that I feel more whole than I've ever felt before.

I love harvest time....

This time of year is my favorite. I simply love the feel and smell of fall... from the warm fragrances of yummy candles (and yummy food)... to the feeling of "settling in" to cooler nights and time with friends and family. Maybe it's because my birthday is in October? Whatever it is... I love harvest time.

And I love crack, too! (The identities have been blocked to protect the innocent.)

Moving right along...

This is the back of the house. Our house is perched up on the side of a hill and the back of the house it up on concrete wall/stilts while the front of the house (road side) is at ground level. Underneath the house at this point there is a crawl space. But my favorite thing about the back of the house are all of those windows. This is my craft room... and I get to look out those windows onto the tops of all the trees in the neighborhood and enjoy a kickin' view. Lucky me!

Just below those great windows are some vents ... which were in pretty bad shape. So this new structure for those vents was finished today. Doesn't it look neat? I wish I would have taken a "before" pic... 'cuz they were B-A-D!

Notice - directly under where the clapboard ends, there is a concrete wall. When we painted we decided to have him continue the paint all the way down the wall so the concrete color matches the clapboard. Hope we like it when it's done!

This is the west side of our house... right next to our tandem driveway. Just another view...



This is a detailed shot of one of the binding sections for that old clapboard. Apparently it was quite the project to sand down the rough edges and fill in the gaps. But once it is all painted those edges will hardly be noticeable.




And here is a pic of our kitchen window and the outside of the house (the road side of the house). Yet again, just another view of the progress so far.

Stay tuned for some more riveting updates on our big renovation for 2008!

Let the projects begin....

And this ol' house, built sometime between 1900 and 1930 is getting a small face lift. No MAJOR renovations... just a paint job on the outside... tidying up of the kitchen cabinets... removal of some acoustic on the ceilings... some new lighting fixtures and other similar tiny fixes.

The first day of work kicked off with cleaning up and spraying down the house. This wasn't just a spray - this was a jet of water! I'm telling you! These old windows don't have any seals on them... and I found water splatters INSIDE the house 4 feet away from the window. This sure was fun cleaning up after!

Stay tuned... more to come... this is just the beginning...

Big project on the horizon ...

We are thinking about putting our house on the market (mostly because we want to take advantage of the buyers market and upgrade at a discounted rate)... and we know this ol' house needs to get painted, spruced up a bit, etc. We've been interviewing contractors, paint guys, landscape dudes... you name it. I've just about memorized the Better Business Bureau directory... and am already tried of having large trucks parked in front of my house.

But hey... it is what it is. I want this place to get fixed. And the wood on the outside of the house has been screaming about a new paint job. So we better JUST DO IT.

Today our contractor (Jason Shiels) brought over some equipment and cleaned up a bit with the plans to power wash the house tomorrow and start working on the outside paint job.

More to follow...

A visit with my Mom's Dad

My parents came into town for a visit... and they didn't even stay with us! No, instead they stayed w/ my Mom's Dad... my Gramps, and his wife Maryann.

My Dad helped w/ odds and ends around the house (yes, he's making a 'stinky face' because he was working on his vacation) ... and Mom did some cooking and grocery shopping and helping out as well during the week they were here. On this night,Lee and I went down to visit for an evening of chatting and catching up... and we had some dessert together. Really nice visit.

As our family learns about Alzheimers we spend as much of this time as possible with Gramps... talking through the stories he still remembers and reminding him of our names every now and then but most importantly telling him we love him.

a day in the life...

Today I had the pleasure of receiving some surprise guests... my best girlfriend Debbie, and her most adorable daughter Karina, stopped in for a visit.

This warmed Auntie Lori's heart... I needed some girl time today. So I was glad to have my two favorite girls in the house...

Happy Birthday Brooky!

A happy birthday to Brooklynne... she shared with friends... she opened gifts and got silly... and it was another reason for us girls to get together and be crafty with some card stock and ribbon. But we cannot take credit for the stunningly adorable cake. That's was handcrafted by her Grandma Aldous... who packed up the needed kitchen gadgets and shipped them ahead so she could make this cake once she was in town.

CUTE!!!

Hanging with the Graffs...

Shortly after Karina came in to the world I took a few days off of work. I waited until her Mom went back home... gave super-mom Debbie a day or two on her own (to remind her of how much she still wanted help)... and then came up for some half-days to create some diversions for Ian, chase after him and help w/ dirty diapers... oh yeah, and I brought dinner a few times. Just being good ol' Auntie Lori again. (How dare I?!)

We had to take a drive one day to get out of the house... so we saddled up and got on the road. Here's a few pictures for proof...

Ian ... really, she doesn't have cooties!

Weird spiders and my brother's birthday!

This is apparently a Goldenrod Crab Spider. And it freaked the heck out of me... but mostly I loved the contrast of the bright yellow against the side of my truck... so wanted to share the images here.

And not that the spider has anything do w/ my lil brother (ok - he's not so little, but since he's younger than me he'll always be my "lil brother"). Today is his 32nd birthday... and I'd like to share an embarrassing story about him! It's a story from 1987... so I think it's fair game now... HA! I recently found an old journal of mine. I haven't re-read the entire journal... but I'll tell you that at the top of all of the pages it reads "I love XXXXX" (the individual will remain nameless so as to protect his identity.) Anyway... I ran across this entry and had to share it....

"It's Wednesday.
Mom, Loren and I went to Sizzler for dinner.
Loren ate so much he got sick and threw up."

And that's all I wrote.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD! Wish we could have shared a piece of cake.... hope it was a good one!

Introducing Karina Sage Graff!

I'd like to introduce my newest niece... Karina Sage Graff.

And to take a piece of detail from the announcement email from Auntie Lisa... "Jon recently called to report that Karina Sage Graff had made a safe entry into the world this morning. Here are the stats: Karina was born at 4:10am this morning August 5th. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 12 ounces. She is 21 1/2" long. Mom and baby are doing well. If they are feeling up to visitors, I will have pictures to share with you later this afternoon."

I was able to meet the Graffs at home the next day as they were pulling into the driveway... coming home from the hospital. Lucky me! I had stopped at the grocery store for them to get some essentials... and parked me car just before they arrived home.

I got to hold her and coo over her and help clean up the house from when they left in a frenzy to get to the hospital! That's what Auntie's are for!

Plus, I had to be there to get that puzzled look from big brother Ian when he looked at me as if to say "WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?! I'M NOT THE CENTER OF ATTENTION ANYMORE?! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!"

It's OK Ian... you can hang w/ me. We'll watch from a distance until you're ready to touch her. No matter what they say - girls don't have cooties!

Brandes Summer Picnic

Ah, summer... let's all get together, put on our SPF60 and eat food! We did just that w/ my co-workers and their families. But since my DH (aka Dear Husband) has to work on weekends, I got to take my friends Stephanie and Sonnet. In fact, Auntie Lori really loves this opportunity to hang out w/ my girls. (Lee - I love you and all, but I sure had fun without you!)

This Summer our company summer picnic was at the Waterpark behind the Mission Beach roller coaster...... it was truly a gorgeous day. And I can't wait until next year!

I especially have fun watching our CFO on the wave machine!

RESPECT...

I'm a Republican. And I admit it... I voted for George W. Bush. Have I agreed with everything he's done (or not been able to do)? No. Do I think we've had more efficient Presidents? Yes. Will I bash him for it? No. And if the U.S. had a Democratic President making similar mistakes / creating similar problems ... we shouldn't be bashing him/her either.

Whether you are republican, democrat, independent or something else altogether... even Nancy Pelosi made a huge mistake by calling our President "a total failure". I won't go to the lengths to say she shouldn't have said it (free speech, right?)... but I do firmly believe that she shows us who she is every time she opens her mouth... and so far I'm not impressed.

President Bush is just that - our President! Where's the respect?! (Oh, I'm sorry - maybe I'm assuming too much here... does RESPECT still exist in our world?)

LISTEN - If you didn't vote at the last Presidential election then you can't complain. Next time - do your part!

I know, I like to mince words. Should I tell you how I really feel? Nancy Pelosi is not someone I want to have on my 'team' ... and quite frankly I'm embarrassed for her, and by her lack of decorum. Anyone else?!

Take for instance - kids who talk back to their parents. Face it, we've all done it. But does that make it right?! No - it's completely rude, disrespectful, unproductive and reflects a bit of imbecilic stature.


Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/17/pelosi.interview/index.html