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Monday, February 25, 2008

Happy Birthday thoughts

Yesterday was my birthday I was 21 years old (plus 30). Ouch, on the number. But the day was casual and great. Hubby and I spent the morning slowly getting around. Found a great seafood place for lunch and then headed over to the waterfront for the Clearwater Blues Fest. Fabulous.

Then headed over to our son's house, where we had great Italian and a pink and yellow ice cream cake. We watched the Oscars and headed home. Low-key, perfect day.

Got some presents too!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Great column

AARP pushing its 'Divided We Fail' platform
Alex Rose
Midland Reporter-Telegram
02/16/2008

AARP is pushing hard for its "Divided We Fail" platform.

The organization is asking members of Congress, as well as all citizens, to take the pledge, which asks our candidates to give us action and accountability on health benefits and lifetime financial security.

The platform states that all Americans need affordable health care. All Americans want an emphasis placed on wellness and prevention efforts and need to have choices when it comes to long-term care. In regards to our finances, it is imperative that Social Security be strengthened, more incentives be made available so workers can save and all Americans need to have tools to manage their finances.

These are all wonderful ideas --ideas that no one will deny are necessary. The question is how and when? AARP believes that our two political parties working against each other will not get the job done. We have to find a way to work together, and we need to start this in our own communities. In order to make our communities livable, we certainly need to be working together.

When I pulled up the 221 members of Congress who had taken the congressional pledge or written a letter of approval supporting the Divided We Fail platform, I was disappointed to see only nine names from Texas and these were names outside of our district. We need to contact our representatives and ask them to support this platform. We want to make sure our candidates give us action, answers and accountability on health and lifetime financial security.

Please write to your congressional representative and ask him to support the Divided We Fail effort by signing the congressional pledge. We need to move our nation forward in a bipartisan fashion to address these urgent needs. They can sign the pledge on www.dividedwefail.org.

It is also interesting that AARP has come up with a Divided We Fail mascot -- Champ -- part donkey, part elephant (rather clever, I must say)-- who represents the heart of this campaign. It has the philosophy that for too long donkeys and elephants have bickered and quarreled and wallowed in partisan gridlock. Meanwhile, we, the people, have suffered. Health care is a mess and long-term economic security is at risk. It is time to put an end to it. You can get Champ gear if you wish -- T-shirts, hats and cards.

You can visit the AARP Web site (ww.aarp.org) and find out more information about what the pledge is all about.


©MyWestTexas.com 2008

Sunday, February 17, 2008

NYC, here I come

Just purchased tickets for our trip to NYC. I'm excited. We haven't been there in four years almost! It's just hubby and I, heading to my friend G's wedding. NOW that I'm very excited about. Typical G-style, she's planned everything perfectly to the last detail, thinking not only of herself but of the experience she's providing for her guests. I can't wait to meet her hubby-to-be. Much deserved happiness and we're absolutely thrilled to be included! Bonus is that it gives us an excuse to go back to NYC and it gives us a chance to see folks we haven't seen since college.

This week, though, much less glam trip. I'm headed to Tallahassee tomorrow. I'll be there for about three days working from our state office. Should be fun to get to know Florida's capital city. I'll post some pics.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Just "kid" ding

After visiting his favorite pediatrician, "Dr. Amanda," my daughter told our little grandson that he should have asked her how her baby was doing.
He asked, is she married? My daughter said yes, well then he wanted to know how babies were made...so she told him the stork brought the baby...and he said, "Yeah right, a dork didn't bring the baby!"

My four-year-old granddaughter, K-bear, pointed to two heart-shaped stickers on either side of her shirt. "Look! I have bipples!" After the initial shock, it was hard to keep a straight face.