Soldier's Christmas

It's almost Thanksgiving and I am thankful for so many things. My family will always head my list, but we have been blessed with so many other things that we take for granted like food, clean water, beautiful sunset, freedom.

My sister sent me this Poem and I felt like I should pass it on. We are truly blessed to have these brave men protecting all of us.
At the end, it asks that we pass it on to everyone we know. If you feel like that, please do pass it on.


A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."



PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

embarassed

I am so embarrassed. I can not find my own blog. I go to Cynthia's blog, read it, then click on Megan's blog, read it then click on my own blog....but there is nothing to read there. It has been almost a month since I last blogged. Actually a few things have happened during that time.

I have been trained by CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). I would die if anyone actually asked me to use my training. However, a week or two ago, Connie called and said she needed help with a mock disaster. I said, "OK" then showed up expecting to be covered with blood and gore. You see, we were the victims. The local hospital and ambulance team needed victims to stage their own disaster.

My part was to act like I had driven through some chlorine gas. I was to be panicked. It was fun to sneak in the hospital when I thought they were too slow taking care of us. The emergency room was filled with all sorts of victims, including one with his leg cut off. The bloody leg (fake) was lying next to him on the bed. The whole exercise was a nice change of pace in my slow life.

Poverty in the world

I guess today is something called "Blog-Action Day....Poor "Apparently all through the year this organization invites bloggers to make entries on particular subjects."

An internet friend just sent an e-mail to visit her site and read what she had written about poverty. It was very thought provoking. I have listed a link to her website below.
http://ldspaz.blogspot.com/2008/10/ahem-blog-action-day.html

I would like to approach the topic from a different viewpoint. A few years ago, my daughter went to Ethiopia on a medical humanitarian aid trip. It was only ten days or so long, so they didn't save the world. The doctors who went treated all sorts of maladies, many of which probably came back when the team left. When the doctors told the people that they just needed to drink clean water to avoid many of the diseases, they replied that the doctors just didn't understand.
The village water well have been filled in by the Communists many years ago. The whole village was so poor that it couldn't afford to drill another one for clean water. Every day the women would have to walk several miles down to the river to get water in their empty anti-freeze (or other) plastic jugs. The water was full of parasites, which the people then drank and got sick. Even water for gardens and animals had to be hauled back this way. Food consisted of ingera, (sp) a flat pancake type of bread and not much else. House were made of mud and shared with animals. Food cooked inside over fires produced smoke that stayed in the house.
We raised money to send large water filters to the village. They were taken into the country in someones luggage because the government of the country doesn't allow that type of thing. We don't know if they were ever used. A year or two ago, the LDS church dug a well for the people. Sometimes we ask why we help
people in other countries when we have poor here at home. I wondered that myself, until I realized that we are all brothers and sisters and need to help each other. Our government, though not perfect, does give aid the poor in our own countries. In some of these other countries, the government does nothing for the poor and probably even wishes they would cease to exist.
Poverty is sad every where. We need to open our eyes and be a part of the solution.

Extra C and Forever Strong.

I just watched a really good video on you-tube. It wasn't funny or quirky. It was tender and gentle, about the infant son of an internet friend. Her son has Down's Syndrome and she has put together a video about him. Take a look at



I am thinking of adding my picture to my blog. I got a fairly good one as a passport photo. Maybe.....

I saw a good movie last night, too. It didn't have swearing, sex, violence..wait, I take that back. It was a rugby movie and rugby looks like it is seriously violent. the movie was Forever Strong. It was about a guy that does a travel show on the local radio station (really, he does it on our station) but the show was about when he was coaching a rugby team. Actually he still coaches the team. Great show. 3 1/2 stars. I think you will like it.

Moo tagged me and told me to put down six quirky things about myself. This is impossible. There are no quirky things about me. I guess I will just have to make some up.
1. I stay up really late sometimes because if I don't think I get enough done in a day, I don't think I should go to bed. I'm not up doing things, I just don't go to bed.

2. I, too, close my eyes when I shower. I would understand if there was a mirror in the shower but there isn't.

3. When I put jelly on my toast, I only put it on one side in case I don't want it on the other side.

4. When I sit down to eat, I have three books to read, or do crosswords or anything. I don't always take three books when I sit down because some places have way more than three already.

5. I don't have a read good memory so I forget things. But I am a fast learner so when I don't remember something I just hurry and relearn it.

6. I don't like to have my feet covered at night. I actually don't like the sheets even touching me sometimes and will fidget and fidget until everything is perfect.

7. I don't like stupid stuff like cartoons (usually) One exception used to be Pinky and the Brain. And Bullwinkle of course. The Simpsons aren't stupid so I can occassionally (I never spell that word right!) watch it, but it is rude, crude, and impolite so I have to make sure I don't laugh at inappropriate things.

There you go. You wanted 6, but since they aren't true, I gave you seven.
PS I'm not tagging anyone. It is rude crude and impolite
PPS I just read the list after I posted it. When I said I only put jelly on one side of the toast, I didn't mean back and front, I mean the rounded part and the square part.
8. I can't even find my own blog. I have to go through Megan's....I mean Moo's. To get to hers, I have to go the Cynthia's. Hers is posted on our tool bar. She has this really cute little girl we like to see pictures of. We also like her blog. Keeps us up to date.
Please post comments. I like to feel like someone knows that I am here

The Santa Letters book review

The Santa Letters

by Stacy Gooch-Anderson
Sweetwater Books
190 (or so) pages

To purchase go to www.amazon.com and type in title.

Please excuse the weird format. It got messed up when I brought the picture in and I don't have all day to correct it.

Santa Letters. Most Santa letters begin “I’ve been a good little girl. I would like you to bring me......” But these letters were different. They were from Santa. The first one began, “Dear Jensens, I know that this year has been a difficult one for you.......” Santa was so right.

A few years earlier, William Jensen had joked about dying young. When his wife Emma became sullen and told him not to even joke about that, he hugged her and said, “Hey, I was only kidding. You know that neither heaven nor earth could keep me away from you and the kids.”

“Do you promise? Promise you’ll always be here for us?” Emma asked.

“...even if some mystical force did try to separate us. I promise you somehow, someway, I’d find a way to let you know that I wasn’t far off.”

It was not some mystical force that separated them, but a traffic accident. Emma was left to raise their four young children alone.
Now it was Christmas time and McKenna was asking hard questions.

“Mama, when will Daddy be home for Christmas?” Emma froze... It took a moment before she could face her daughter.
“Why would you ask that, sweetie?”
“Because in my dream, he said he’d be here with us.”

Daddy wouldn’t be home for Christmas. Emma didn’t think Santa would even be there for Christmas.
But Santa had other ideas. The first letter arrived on December 13. Santa had been watching them very closely. “...as Christmas season has grown closer, I’ve also noticed that there is sadness, a burden that has become too heavy to bear on your own. And so as I’ve watched over you while checking in to see that you’ve remained “nice,” I decided that rather than the traditional gifts of toys and “stuff,” I wanted to give you a Christmas to savor. One that would help you remember what the true gifts of the season are.”
Santa was watching through the big picture window as the family read the words and tried to guess who had written them. He didn’t hear Mc Kenna say, “Duh, Mom. It’s from Santa. See, it says so right there.” But he saw the excitement in her eyes. He turned away from the scene, pulling his cap down over his brow, and walked slowly off whistling “Silent Night.”

When I read this story, my first thought was “I’ll have to buy this one for Mom.” My mother loved Christmas stories and I think this is one she would have added to her permanent collection. But Mom is gone and her Christmas books are split between her children.
The Santa Letters will become a Christmas classic in LDS homes. It is being marketed nationwide and is sure to become a best seller. Readers will relate to the way Stacy has captured the grief of this little family and found a way to turn it around. The family, especially the mother, has understandably been under the shadow of sorrow for too long and needs desperately to find its way out. Santa helps them step outside of themselves and into the sunshine. He helps Emma understand the man responsible for her husband’s death so that she may let go of her anguish.

The Santa Letters were based on Stacy’s own experiences. She lost her father to cancer in 2004 and her mother battled it until her death in 2008. In between, Stacy found out that two of her sons had been sexually abused. Her world crashing down about her with burning questions about whether all she had been taught was wrong, she knew that she must decide whether to abandon trust, honesty and faith and bring out her own brand of justice.
She looked at herself in the mirror one day and decided that if she wanted her sons to grow up in the type of environment she wanted for them, then she must set the example.
Thousands of dollars were spent on therapists and lawyers and left very little for Christmas that year. But Stacy knew that with all they had already been through, the children did not need Christmas ruined, too. So she came up with her “Santa letters” project helping her family come “ to understand that one would never find Christmas under the tree unless they could first find it in their hearts.”
The forgiveness at the end of the story becomes much more poignant knowing the forgiveness that Stacy herself faced in her own life.
The Santa Letters lets us see into our own difficulties and gives us direction into finding hope.
Good luck to Stacy. I think she has a winner.

See more about the author and her book on http://www.thesantaletters.org Check out the media kit section. But turn down the sound!
For some reason, my blog messed up when I tried to put in links to the book cover and amazon. If you go to amazon.com you can see the cover and purchase the book.

The Santa Letters by Stacy Gooch-Anderson
Sweetwater Books
To purchase: Go to www.amazon.com and type in the title.

Santa Letters. Most Santa letters begin “I’ve been a good little girl. I would like you to bring me......” But these letters were different. They were from Santa. The first one began, “Dear Jensens, I know that this year has been a difficult one for you.......” Santa was so right.

A few years earlier, William Jensen had joked about dying young. When his wife Emma became sullen and told him not to even joke about that, he hugged her and said, “Hey, I was only kidding. You know that neither heaven nor earth could keep me away from you and the kids.”

“Do you promise? Promise you’ll always be here for us?” Emma asked.

“...even if some mystical force did try to separate us. I promise you somehow, someway, I’d find a way to let you know that I wasn’t far off.”

It was not some mystical force that separated them, but a traffic accident. Emma was left to raise their four young children alone.
Now it was Christmas time and McKenna was asking hard questions.

“Mama, when will Daddy be home for Christmas?” Emma froze... It took a moment before she could face her daughter.
“Why would you ask that, sweetie?”
“Because in my dream, he said he’d be here with us.”

Daddy wouldn’t be home for Christmas. Emma didn’t think Santa would even be there for Christmas.
But Santa had other ideas. The first letter arrived on December 13. Santa had been watching them very closely. “...as Christmas season has grown closer, I’ve also noticed that there is sadness, a burden that has become too heavy to bear on your own. And so as I’ve watched over you while checking in to see that you’ve remained “nice,” I decided that rather than the traditional gifts of toys and “stuff,” I wanted to give you a Christmas to savor. One that would help you remember what the true gifts of the season are.”
Santa was watching through the big picture window as the family read the words and tried to guess who had written them. He didn’t hear Mc Kenna say, “Duh, Mom. It’s from Santa. See, it says so right there.” But he saw the excitement in her eyes. He turned away from the scene, pulling his cap down over his brow, and walked slowly off whistling “Silent Night.”

When I read this story, my first thought was “I’ll have to buy this one for Mom.” My mother loved Christmas stories and I think this is one she would have added to her permanent collection. But Mom is gone and her Christmas books are split between her children.
The Santa Letters will become a Christmas classic in LDS homes. It is being marketed nationwide and is sure to become a best seller. Readers will relate to the way Stacy has captured the grief of this little family and found a way to turn it around. The family, especially the mother, has understandably been under the shadow of sorrow for too long and needs desperately to find its way out. Santa helps them step outside of themselves and into the sunshine. He helps Emma understand the man responsible for her husband’s death so that she may let go of her anguish.

The Santa Letters were based on Stacy’s own experiences. She lost her father to cancer in 2004 and her mother battled it until her death in 2008. In between, Stacy found out that two of her sons had been sexually abused. Her world crashing down about her with burning questions about whether all she had been taught was wrong, she knew that she must decide whether to abandon trust, honesty and faith and bring out her own brand of justice.
She looked at herself in the mirror one day and decided that if she wanted her sons to grow up in the type of environment she wanted for them, then she must set the example.
Thousands of dollars were spent on therapists and lawyers and left very little for Christmas that year. But Stacy knew that with all they had already been through, the children did not need Christmas ruined, too. So she came up with her “Santa letters” project helping her family come “ to understand that one would never find Christmas under the tree unless they could first find it in their hearts.”
The forgiveness at the end of the story becomes much more poignant knowing the forgiveness that Stacy herself faced in her own life.
The Santa Letters lets us see into our own difficulties and gives us direction into finding hope.
Good luck to Stacy. I think she has a winner.

See more about the author and her book on http://www.thesantaletters.org Check out the media kit section. But turn down the sound!

OK, I know this is cheating, but I am copying one of Elizabeth's e-mails about words here. Then I can direct other word lovers to this blog. Thanks Elizabeth.

Subject: For all you lexiophiles (Lover of words)

1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.

2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway)

3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana

4. A backward poet writes inverse.

5. In democracy it's your vote that count's; in feudalism it's your
count that votes.

6. She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but broke it off.

7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

8. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

10. Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.

11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum
Blownapart.

14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

15. Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.

16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

17. Every calendar's days are numbered.

18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.

19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.

22. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium
at large.

23. Acupuncture is a jab well done.

24. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.

26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd
dye.

Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone

We got in a few weekend trips this summer, first to Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef National Parks in Utah. Then last week we visited Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Wyoming. All I can say about either one of them is "Wow!" I have traveled to several places in the world and I don't think I have ever been to anywhere as spectacular as these places in my own back yard. If I had been in a foreign country and seen these places, I would have been in total awe. Italy had Michaelangelo, but we had God.

Room for Two

Trade Paperback: 224 pages

Publisher: Cedar Fort (August 2007)

ISBN-10: 1599550628

ISBN-13: 978-1599550626



Amazon.com Sales Rank: #208,955 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Purchase book here:

I don’t know quite how to recommend a book that deals with the issues surrounding suicide. But I do recommend Room for Two by Abel Keogh, a book based on the true life experiences of Keogh as he works through the suicide of his young wife, Krista, and the death of the child she carried. He takes us on his journey from the shot he hears as he walks into his apartment to the light he finds at the end of the tunnel.
Although Mr. Keogh lets us know of his love for his wife and his pain at her death, he does not draw us through all the anguish he must have felt during that difficult time. A more deeply compassionate picture of what he went through might have made this book unbearable for the reader to endure.
Room for Two is a gentle look at a harsh subject. It reads more like a poignant romance novel than a tragedy as Keogh reaches out for the company of others in his loneliness. He encounters the usual uncomfortable situations as he seeks for women to just spend time with and finds that being a widower brings its own unique challenges to the dating world.
He didn’t often mention to his dates that his wife was dead or what the circumstances were behind the death. But after a rocky start with one of the women, Julianna, he sat down and had a heart to heart talk and broke the news that Krista had taken her own life.

“Juliana’s lips were pursed as if in deep thought.”
‘I don’t know if I can do it,” she finally said.’
‘Do what?’
‘Date a widower.’
‘Why?’
‘Why? You have to ask why?’
‘Tell me why it would be hard,’ I said. I could foresee a lot of potential problems but wanted to know if Julianna’s concerns were the same as the ones I saw.
‘I don’t know if I can live with having my every action compared to those of a dead woman,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to compete with a ghost.’
‘Have you felt like I’ve been comparing you to Krista?’
‘I don’t know you or Krista well enough to answer that question,’ Julianna said. ‘But I know when someone dies, they tend to be put on a pedestal. It doesn’t matter what they did wrong. All anyone can remember is the good, loving things about them. Meanwhile I’d be with you making mistakes and being compared to a woman who is a saint in some people’s minds.’

Sentiments most of us have probably never think about in our own normal worlds.
I had the privilege of listening to Abel Keogh at a recent writer’s conference I attended. Abel was talking about how to start a blog and why it was a good idea. He shared his own experiences.
Five months after his wife’s death, Abel felt a need to write his thoughts down and so started an anonymous blog, not really for the general public, just mostly for himself. That original blog is still available on his website www.abelkeogh.com Here is an excerpt.

“I don’t know where to begin. Maybe writing all this stuff down will do me some good. Maybe I’ll just give it up after an entry or two. Anyway, it a nice break from my daily routine at work.
“I’m not writing anything on this site for your sympathy or compassion. I’m just writing down how I feel, hoping that somehow I can straighten out me feelings of loss, anger, and grief. Hoping that somehow I can come to terms with the lost of my best friend: my wife of five years. Like others on Diaryland, I placed a guestbook on this site so that you can leave your thoughts. All I ask is that you don’t smother me with sympathetic nonsense. Like I said, I’m not looking for anyone’s compassion or trying to pull anyone’s heartstrings. The most common thing I heard after my wife’s death is “I don’t know what to say.” Well, there is nothing you can say. You can’t tell me anything which will bring her back or make anything better. I just have do deal with what I am going through one day at a time, hour by hour, minute by minute. I have friends whose shoulders I cry on. I’m not looking to cry on yours.” (End of quote)

As he wrote more entries in his blog, Able was somewhat surprised to find that people were logging on and sharing their own feelings and experiences. They were comforted to know that someone was out there who shared some of their same experiences. He included the words “dating a widower” in his subject line. The longer he wrote, the more hits he got and he realized that there was a real need for a forum where people could openly talk about their experiences. He gave up on the anonymity and soon people were typing in his name to find his blog. He used his own name spelled correctly and misspelled .....the same way I was misspelling it until I read this...in his subject line. Abel’s 2002 blogs hold a timeless messages for those going through their own trials today. The appeal is universal as well. In May of 2008, his blog had over 2000 hits from different people in 56 different countries.

Eventually, Able wrote a book about his experiences and in 2007, Room for Two was published by Cedar Fort Publishing. The first chapter is available online by going to www.abelkeogh.com . Get up your courage and read it. You'll be glad you did.

wild peacocks

Are any of you missing two peacocks? We think they are young male, no tail feathers yet.
They showed up at my house (farm) yesterday morning and act like this is their home now. We got a sheep once when a herd passed by, but I didn't notice a herd of peacock passing lately. Geese migrate every fall, but it isn't fall and I haven't noticed any flocks of peacocks overhead. No groups of wild peacocks roaming the parts lately that I recall. We sometimes end up with hunting dogs during hunting season, but it isn't hunting season, so I doubt they are hunting peacocks.
We are thinking that someone just dropped them off here, thinking they were puppies or kittens, like we usually get that way. If you hear anything, let me know. Mary

Jerky

I'm the enrichment leader in our ward and as usually, I've made a mountain out of a mole hill. We started losing our connections with one another and felt like we needed to meet together as a whole on a regular basis. So we have a once a month get together.
This month we are doing canning, food preservation, etc.
I volunteered to do beef jerky and fruit leather. (I never really do them, they just sounded like the easiest assignment....wrong).
I called the butcher and got him to slice two roasts for jerky. Never asked the price, the slicing was free, but I ended up with $25 worth of skinny meat. I have a microwave, 2 hour and 12 hour versions.
I may let you know later how everything goes.

Trees drink from the toilet

I really, really like trees, but they shouldn't drink from the toilet; that's for the dogs and cats. It's not like the trees come through the window then bow down and take a sip or a long nice draw. They've mastered a lazy way of doing it, staying right in place. They just send their little roots out, find a tiny crack for their tiny root then make their way up through the toilet. Those tiny little roots multiply, get bigger and eventually take over the whole place, making it rather unpleasant when you try to use the toilet for its traditional, maybe even original purpose.

Happened to us a couple of years ago in our basement twa - lay.(makes things not so urgent to take care of until things get way out of hand.)
Called the plumber who came over, reamed the pipe out then put something right into the system to kill the little intruders for a year.
A few weeks ago, a plumber man came to our house to do a yearly update of putting the "stuff" in.
Same company, different guy. Said he couldn't put it into the basement toilet, couldn't get to right plumbing, yada, yada, yada. Ended up in the main bathroom. Turned off the water supply, vacuumed out the water (would never have thought that one up on my own!) then dumped the stuff in. It bubbled up with a vengeance over the top, all over the floor. He drizzled a bit of water in to control the stuff....it didn't work. Then I taught him a trick I learned from my mother-in-law-whose-toilet-never-worked-right. Dump a whole bucket in at once. He tried it and VOILA! it worked. A Couple more times of that and we were in business........ to the tune of over $200 just to dump stuff in the toilet (should have charged HIM for the new trick I taught him) ......

OH, and the plumber guy told us when he was done that we couldn't use any of the water in the house for 2 hours!!!!! We had company! We were going somewhere! What even happened to fair warning?

.........until my husband came home and told me that the stuff would end up in the septic system where we didn't have roots and miss the toilet system which did.
On top of that, because of extremely hard water, our toilet water supply line was now leaking all over the floor, into the basement and threatening to mess up some electric wiring.
Then we started smelling smoke. The boys slept upstairs for a few nights, the hard water eventually sealed off the leaks again, we replaced the valve anyway. I got the clean up a lot of floors and wash a lot of ickly towels, we got to righteously use a few cuss-type words (any word used with the right intonation and decibel level is a cuss-like word.)
'Nuf said. We are back to happy flushing.

PS Please forgive the broken thought lines....I think they are normal, but not everyone does.

Preparedness Principles book review

Mary's Great House

Home with a million stars in the heavens. Life in the wide open spaces.

This blog is a repeat of an earlier one. I switched dates on two books I was reviewing and ended up doing this one early. So once again, here it is.

Preparedness Principles book review

Preparedness Principles

Trade Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Cedar Fort Inc. (August 1, 2006)

ISBN-10: 0882908065

ISBN-13: 978-0882908069

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #328,423 in Books

Purchase Book here

Preparedness Principles by Barbara Salsbury is subtitled: The Complete and Personal Preparedness Resource Guide for Any Emergency

True to its name, Preparedness Principles is a comprehensive guide to being prepared for those scary times when things are just not going well, whether because of natural disaster or a challenge such as job loss.

Ms. Salbury draws on her own personal experience to give the reader a practical look at what is important in times of disaster.
Items covered include:
saving for a rainy day
building a pantry system based on buying the family’s favorite foods while on sale.
Emergency heat,
cooking,
first aid,
food storage,
72-hour kit,
water purification,
sheltering in place,
natural disaster
and much more.
A 16- subject appendix in the back has instructions as diverse as making newspaper logs, filling an oil lamp and preparing for terrorism. Specific natural disasters are also presented in the appendix section.

.If a person could have only one book on preparedness, this would be the book. Because of its wide scope of subjects and practical nature, the reader could feel confident that he could find the help he needed within these pages. The information was not limited to major natural disasters, but gave advice to cover personal disasters and every day emergencies.

One of the more practical sections for preparedness that translates well into every day living even when there is no disaster is the Pantry Principle chapter. Many home storage systems require large investments of time and money, often put into food items that becomes old or never meets the family’s tastes and preferences. The Pantry Principle introduced in Chapter Fourteen is based on “Stocking up when the price is right on all the food and non-food items you use on a regular basis... The Pantry Principle is not just food storage. It is much more than that. It is an effective money-management program that also enables you to be prepared for almost any emergency situation that could arise. It provides a personal buffer against outside forces (economic, political, natural and so on.)”

Although snippets of disaster experiences were sometimes included, it would have been nice to have a few more in depth accounts of real life disasters to give the reader more than a gentle nudge to get his own house in order and make preparations for his family’s security and well being.

While the retail price is fairly steep at $26.99, Preparedness Principles has enough information to fill several books. With so much useful, practical information, it is actually a bargain.

I would recommend this book to every family who wants to be prepared for the rainy days in life. Isn't that all of us?

Author's Interview

Barbara Salsbury was kind enough to answer some personal questions for me.

Mary: This book came out two years ago. Why are you promoting it now?

Barbara: Ironically the very week this book went to press my husband was diagnosed with malignant cancer. The last several years have been an unbelievable roller coaster ride. I am just now joining the land of livng and trying to function as an author. Miracle of miracles and many blessings later and one year out from horrendous surgery Larry has survived.

Mary: Why do you think a book of this type is appropriate today?

Barbara: All one has to do is to read the newspapers or watch the nightly news to immediately realize that there is a dire need for many kinds of preparedness; dealing with Mother Nature as well as the unruly economy.

Mary: You speak from experience. What disasters have you weathered? > Which was the hardest one and why?

Barbara: I grew up in the tornado country of Ohio, along with the severe thunderstorms that are constantly there, but probably the worst and most frightening was the 7.2 Loma Prieta earthquake. We lived 10 miles from the epicenter and our house was trashed - still standing but trashed. When it hit I was home alone in my office. It was devastating to the soul as well as to the houses, etc. Emotionally it was a very trying experience even though we were prepared with lots of "supplies".

Mary: We have been talking about disasters for years. Do you think that people are more aware today than 30 years ago or less?
Do you think people are more likely or less likely to be prepared
today than they were 20 (or 30) years ago?

Barbara: People may be more aware because of the media, but I feel that we still have to feed them doses of reality and enthusiasm to encourage them to realize that they can be prepared to take care of themselves - even a little bit at a time. I also feel that so many "preachers" of preparedness have taught hell fire and brimstone along with doomsday and the end of the world that some think they don't want to hear about it from a practical point of view.

Mary: How prepared for disasters, natural and personal, do you think that people actually are today?
Barbara: For the most part I would suggest that there are not a great number who are sufficiently able to take care of themselves for more than a day or so. we are conditioned that the supermarket on the corner will always be open 24/7.

Barbara: What do you think the single most important thing we can do to get
prepared for an emergency? Why?
Probably the most important thing is to acknowledge that there is really a need and that the government, whether city, state or the Red Cross is not going to rescue us as individuals or families. Once that recognition is established then the acceptance and actions of personal responsibility will set in.

This is especially true if people realize that it can be a fun challenge and that it can be accomplished. They just have to remember the chocolate :]>

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Mary

I'm a city girl (OK, I'm really a small town girl) who moved to the farm and have only partially adjusted. I miss people, stores and cleanliness.

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Caught in the Headlights book review

Caught in the Headlights

Trade Paperback: 116 pages

Publisher: Cedar Fort (June 2008)

ISBN-10: 1599551675

ISBN-13: 978-1599551678

Website: www.barrykphillips.com

Blog: http://www.barrykphillips.com/blog

Purchase book here

When I agreed to review “Caught in the Headlights” by Barry K. Phillips, I was expecting (and hoping for) a scathing political satire. Sadly, I was disappointed. It was not a scathing political satire at all. Happily, it was something more. I think I would classify it as a “self-examination” book of lessons to be learned in life and suggestions on how to learn them.

Subtitled: “10 Lessons Learned the Hard Way,” Caught in the Headlights covers the topics of happiness, self-esteem, pride, freedom, control, tolerance, forgiveness, success, the big event and the perfect body.

Each chapter begins with a satirical t cartoon (done by the author himself) with captions that are snappy and display a tight grasp on human nature. Examples and lessons follow and a poem by the author ends each chapter. Mr. Phillips great poetic strength lies in the messages he imparts.
Mr. Phillips uses sarcasm and self-deprecating examples to point out to the reader that when he thinks he is seeking happiness, he is really only seeking inner peace. Or that self-esteem does not come from compliments, but rather from competence.

My favorite chapter is about tolerance. My father once told me “Don’t be so open minded your brains fall out.” Mr. Phillips takes the same approach in his view of tolerance.
“One of the unspoken truths is that people who want tolerance do not really want tolerance. They may start out that way, but they quickly move from wanting tolerance to wanting acceptance, then endorsement, and finally domination.” ... “I think that being tolerant is a good thing, but it does not mean I have to agree with everything and everyone.” The lesson for this chapter was “Tolerance does not mean we can’t have an informed opinion. There are values worth defending.” This chapter is filled with a lot of other really good stuff and like the rest of this book, much of it isn’t even politically correct. Bravo! It's about time someone called it like it is.
Mr. Phillips was kind enough to answer some of my questions.

Authors Interview

Mary: What inspired you to choose to write this type of book, or even to
write a book at all?

Barry: Well, I got the confidence to write the book after writing for Glenn Beck's Fusion Magazine. I figured if they liked my stuff enough to use me, I might as well give a full book a shot. I've always wanted to combine my cartooning with writing, and this gave me a chance to do just that. This type of book just suits my personality.

Mary: Your book is not an especially mainstream genre and your publisher,
Cedar Fort, generally plays it safe in the type of books they publish.
What approach did you take in successfully pitching your book to them?

Barry: I really didn't have to pitch too hard, they just seemed to really like the book. Who knew? I think the different approach was interesting to them, because they really didn't do drastic edits like you here horror stories about with most publishers. They were great to work with.

Mary: It sounds like you have had some interesting experiences in your
life that you use as bases for your book. What is the biggest challenge that you have encountered and how did you deal with it? (The biggest you want to share with us.)

Barry: Well, I've run a lot of my own businesses and you can really get wrapped up in that. I'll never forget when my first company went down. I was devastated. The next morning after the whole thing was gone, my wife just looked at me and said, "so what's next?" She didn't mean a new business, but she was committed to our future together. I started to realize what really mattered most... my family and others that I love. Business not longer defined me, it was just a part of what I had to do to keep the family moving. That was a great lesson to learn, and learn before it was too late. I had to remind myself of what was really important and what I wanted to make of myself.

Mary: You have a "Top Ten" list of pursuits. How did you come up with your list?

Barry: I was amazed at how many people have dealt with these same issues, but so many never figure out how to learn the lessons. You know the old adage, "if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Breaking the cycle of repeating the same old things is pretty hard to do, so I thought others might benefit from what I've learned. These 10 seemed to be the most common.

Mary: Do you personally know Glenn Beck?

Barry: I have met him and talked with him about some of the things I've written for him, but I wouldn't call us great friends. He's very busy these days. He was kind enough to write the foreword, for which I'm very grateful. And I always get into his shows for free! I'm actually pretty good friends with the original editor of Fusion. He is now a producer for Glenn's TV show.

Mary: Your ten pursuits can be used by a broad range of people, including politicians, I assume. Speaking of politics, which of your 10 pursuits do you think America is having the most trouble with? Do you have a suggestion how to cure that trouble?

Barry: I assume you want a suggestion besides "throw all the bums out!" Frankly, most politicians have really lost touch with what it is like to be you and me. Pride, is a big issue as well as duty. If they truly wanted to do what is best for us, and not for getting and keeping their power at all costs, I suspect we wouldn't have most of the problems we face today in this country, because they'd function by logic, not their political agendas.

Mary: Why did you choose the title, "Caught in the Headlights"?

Barry: Have you ever seen how deer get frozen in their tracks when headlight's hit them? This book is about those "caught in the headlights" moments that I've experienced in my life - moments that I think we all experience - where I've realized I was after the wrong things. The thing is, even if you get those things, you come up wanting. The ten lessons in the book are about very common things that we think we want, but we really don't. "Caught in the headlights" was often how I felt when I finally realized I was on the wrong path and needed to change course.

Preparedness Principles book review

Preparedness Principles

Trade Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Cedar Fort Inc. (August 1, 2006)

ISBN-10: 0882908065

ISBN-13: 978-0882908069

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #328,423 in Books

Purchase Book here

Preparedness Principles by Barbara Salsbury is subtitled: The Complete and Personal Preparedness Resource Guide for Any Emergency

True to its name, Preparedness Principles is a comprehensive guide to being prepared for those scary times when things are just not going well, whether because of natural disaster or a challenge such as job loss.

Ms. Salbury draws on her own personal experience to give the reader a practical look at what is important in times of disaster.
Items covered include:
saving for a rainy day
building a pantry system based on buying the family’s favorite foods while on sale.
Emergency heat,
cooking,
first aid,
food storage,
72-hour kit,
water purification,
sheltering in place,
natural disaster
and much more.
A 16- subject appendix in the back has instructions as diverse as making newspaper logs, filling an oil lamp and preparing for terrorism. Specific natural disasters are also presented in the appendix section.

.If a person could have only one book on preparedness, this would be the book. Because of its wide scope of subjects and practical nature, the reader could feel confident that he could find the help he needed within these pages. The information was not limited to major natural disasters, but gave advice to cover personal disasters and every day emergencies.

One of the more practical sections for preparedness that translates well into every day living even when there is no disaster is the Pantry Principle chapter. Many home storage systems require large investments of time and money, often put into food items that becomes old or never meets the family’s tastes and preferences. The Pantry Principle introduced in Chapter Fourteen is based on “Stocking up when the price is right on all the food and non-food items you use on a regular basis... The Pantry Principle is not just food storage. It is much more than that. It is an effective money-management program that also enables you to be prepared for almost any emergency situation that could arise. It provides a personal buffer against outside forces (economic, political, natural and so on.)”

Although snippets of disaster experiences were sometimes included, it would have been nice to have a few more in depth accounts of real life disasters to give the reader more than a gentle nudge to get his own house in order and make preparations for his family’s security and well being.

While the retail price is fairly steep at $26.99, Preparedness Principles has enough information to fill several books. With so much useful, practical information, it is actually a bargain.

I would recommend this book to every family who wants to be prepared for the rainy days in life. Isn't that all of us?

Author's Interview

Barbara Salsbury was kind enough to answer some personal questions for me.

Mary: This book came out two years ago. Why are you promoting it now?

Barbara: Ironically the very week this book went to press my husband was diagnosed with malignant cancer. The last several years have been an unbelievable roller coaster ride. I am just now joining the land of livng and trying to function as an author. Miracle of miracles and many blessings later and one year out from horrendous surgery Larry has survived.

Mary: Why do you think a book of this type is appropriate today?

Barbara: All one has to do is to read the newspapers or watch the nightly news to immediately realize that there is a dire need for many kinds of preparedness; dealing with Mother Nature as well as the unruly economy.

Mary: You speak from experience. What disasters have you weathered? > Which was the hardest one and why?

Barbara: I grew up in the tornado country of Ohio, along with the severe thunderstorms that are constantly there, but probably the worst and most frightening was the 7.2 Loma Prieta earthquake. We lived 10 miles from the epicenter and our house was trashed - still standing but trashed. When it hit I was home alone in my office. It was devastating to the soul as well as to the houses, etc. Emotionally it was a very trying experience even though we were prepared with lots of "supplies".

Mary: We have been talking about disasters for years. Do you think that people are more aware today than 30 years ago or less?
Do you think people are more likely or less likely to be prepared
today than they were 20 (or 30) years ago?

Barbara: People may be more aware because of the media, but I feel that we still have to feed them doses of reality and enthusiasm to encourage them to realize that they can be prepared to take care of themselves - even a little bit at a time. I also feel that so many "preachers" of preparedness have taught hell fire and brimstone along with doomsday and the end of the world that some think they don't want to hear about it from a practical point of view.

Mary: How prepared for disasters, natural and personal, do you think that people actually are today?
Barbara: For the most part I would suggest that there are not a great number who are sufficiently able to take care of themselves for more than a day or so. we are conditioned that the supermarket on the corner will always be open 24/7.

Barbara: What do you think the single most important thing we can do to get
prepared for an emergency? Why?
Probably the most important thing is to acknowledge that there is really a need and that the government, whether city, state or the Red Cross is not going to rescue us as individuals or families. Once that recognition is established then the acceptance and actions of personal responsibility will set in.

This is especially true if people realize that it can be a fun challenge and that it can be accomplished. They just have to remember the chocolate :]>