The age of a Democracy

I was listening to Dr. James Dobson on the way to work the other morning and during the radio program he mentioned the quote below as a warning to voters:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

I thought this was remarkable.  He was quoting Alexander Tytler who was a Historian in Scotland that died in 1813.  How could such an old quotation ring so true in today's times?  It seems like that is exactly what people are doing these days they are voting themselves large benefits from the treasury which will lead to a financial collapse. 

How tempting is it to vote yourself more benefits?  How tempting would it be to vote yourself a raise?  Look at congress every year on Jan 1st they vote themselves a raise!  Why?  Because they can.  There are judges waiting to be voted on, budgets to pass, any number of bills laying around with dust on them, but this bill always seems to work its way to the top of the list and gets voted on and passed immediately.

Obama is promising a huge government with entitlements galore, he is doing a rather great impression of Robin Hood and stealing from the rich to give to the poor through his tax plan.  People are surrounding him in droves just to look at him, as if he is the second coming.  What is the attraction to most voters?  Seemingly free money!  Nothing is free folks, that free money came from someone.  The government should be a stop gap not a life style.  The government should be there to help you when you are down but there should be a limit to the benefits. You should not be able to live your whole life on welfare and pass that mentality onto your children and on to their children.

Well it turns out Dobson was dooped!  The quote only dates back to the 1950's and was not breathed by a historian in the 1700's but rather has unknown authorship.  The origins is not true but I think the quote is being lived out right in front of us!

Snopes Entry: Don't believe everything you hear!

Redistribution of Wealth

Funny article I stumbled upon.

"Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign the read “Vote Obama, I need the money.” I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a “Obama 08" tie, again I laughed–just imagine the coincidence.

Suddenly, it hit me. An experiment is in order.

I asked the server, did he really believe that Obama's platform was a good one? Yes, he did.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept.

He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need – the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10, and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn, even though the actual recipient needed the money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application - at least if it is your wealth that is being redistributed."

Originally Posted Here

The power of a box

Heather and I drug 5 children to our early voting location yesterday and stood patiently in line for an hour to cast our votes.  The younger children were fine but the older children were asking why we had to endure this long line with all the babies just to vote.  I told them it was our "Civic Duty" to vote.  That is the short answer and the one that matches their attention span when it comes to politics.

As I was marking the little boxes I was thinking how much power there is in these little unassuming boxes.  They are meaningless just sitting there by themselves on a piece of paper until we come along and provide meaning to it.   They are more than a check mark in the box, they represent ideas.  I understood fully why I put a check beside the names I did, it was not because I like them on a personal level, it is not because they are charismatic, it is not because of their race, it is not because their gender, it was not based on popularity, it was not based on what the news media spins about them, it was because I believe in the ideas behind that check mark. 

Yesterday I voted for all of the unborn children that will never have a voice because their life was ended by the choice of a politician, their collective voices were heard through my marking of an unassuming box.  The next President will appoint at least one and perhaps 4 Supreme Court Justices in their first term in office.  This is the arena where the fate of these unborn children will be decided.  I voted for a smaller government which means spending less and taxing less allowing us to keep more of our money in our pockets and letting us decided what to spend it on.  I voted for bringing our troops home in a way that will leave a democratic and stable government in Iraq so that my children do not have to fight this war again.  I voted for the protection of our homeland without the depletion of our freedoms.  I voted against the redistribution of wealth.  I voted against socialized healthcare.  These are some of the things that these boxes mean to me.  Rather than looking at the people I looked at the ideas behind the people.  I know what the boxes mean to me and I hope as each American goes to the booth they know what the boxes mean to them and are not just making the boxes about who they like because they look good on TV, or that they are so disappointed with Bush that they are simply voting against him.  The boxes have ideas behind them and the ideas affect us all.  I am not telling you who to vote for just to make sure you understand the ideas behind the vote or don't vote at all.  Vote with wisdom and knowledge.

Officially, somewhat, maybe, could be interested...

Both of my biological daughters have had this aversion to anything physical or team related all their lives.  I have tried to get them interested in team sports from the time they were very little.  I wanted them to develop the team building of a team sport as well as the exercise they would get while participating.  They have inherited some of my bad genes unfortunately.  I can look at food and gain weight.  I can eat a 100% cholesterol free diet and still have high cholesterol.  It is genetics at its worst.  They did get my striking good looks so I guess it is a toss up right? 

Through their friends at church they now realize that team sports can be fun and rewarding.  The oldest wants to play soccer and the youngest wants to play volleyball.  We are going to give it a go the next available opportunity.  They are both very interested in reading so it is hard to pull them away from their books to get them out but I think we may have an opportunity with this.

I didn't force them to participate in sports when they were younger because I knew it would be unsuccessful if they didn't want to do it.  Not sure if that was the right approach or not looking back.  We signed them up for several non-sports related things growing up but none of them really stuck.  The point was not to force them to do anything but let them at least experience it and see if that is what they enjoyed or not.  I probably should have done that with sports as well just to give them the experience to decide for themselves.  Maybe I will take a different approach with Baby K and Baby T-money if we get to adopt them.  I have a feeling I will have a lot more chances to get it right or at least more right!

Protect your data!

Just thought I would give you a tech tip for today!  Most everyone lives in a digital world these days I know we have our entire kids lives on disk from the time they were 3 or 4 until now and it would be irreplaceable if we lost all of those pictures and memories!  So what can you do?

Here is what we have done.  We have an external hard drive where we store all of our data as one line of protection.  If the Operating System freaks out or the internal hard drive crashes we have all of our data on an external drive.  To add another level of protection you can use AllWaySync (***Free product***) to sync your internal hard drive with your external hard drive in real time.  This gives you the data in two places.  This is a great protection plan however it does have limitations.  If there is a fire, or theft of your PC then both drives and data are gone!  So the next step is to get all of that data offsite.  I highly recommend Mozy.  This will copy your data from your hard drive to a data center.  For home use you get UNLIMITED storage for $5 a month.  You can not beat that!  So we have over 100GB of data offsite and protected.  If your hard drive crashes, is stolen, or you have some sort of other disaster then your data is safe and sound.  You can restore one file at a time if you delete something you didn't mean to or you can have them overnight you DVD's of your data.

So your data flow would look like this:
Internal Hard drive on your PC through  AllWaySync to your External Hard drive through Mozy to the offsite storage.  Both of these are set and forget programs meaning you set them up once and then they work in the background.

 

Ghost Hunters

My youngest daughter has an odd fascination with all things creepy.  Not sure where it came from or more importantly where it is going!  Nonetheless I thought it was time to entertain her with a little Halloween fun.  I decided to take the girls to a haunted house for the first time (They are in their early teens).  I figured it would go down like this... The oldest would be way too freaked out and decline to go and opt to stay at home and read and it would be me the youngest going out to pay people to scare us and pretend to try and kill us, you know, good clean fun.  Well turns out the oldest was super pumped and the youngest got pretty skittish.  Go figure. (Are you done figuring yet? OK I'll wait)

Well after hours of searching for a good haunted house I discovered that it was a minimum of $18 each for haunted houses in our area an there were really not any that were close.  I had one picked out that was about 45mins away and $10 each but when I looked up directions it ended up being 2hrs and 45mins away.  Not sure what happened there.  Darned internets!

So instead of the Haunted House we just stayed home and opened and closed the Power Bill, far scarier but somehow I can't help imagine less satisfying.  Maybe next year.

What happens when you write to a Senator?

Like a lot of people I was pretty passionate about the bailout plan and decided to write my senators because they took up the bill after the House rejected it. You know the story they stuck more pork in it and called it good! Then the House decided it finally had enough pork in it and blessed it as well! I still do not think this is the right choice for America because we were given no other alternatives it was this bill or depression. I saw one of my favorite financial guru's of all time Dave Ramsey (Common Sense Fix) on the Huccabee show the other day and he had some pretty great ideas but no one was listening unfortunately.

At any rate I went to the Texas congressmen/congresswoman's websites and e-mailed them requesting they vote no against the bill. Below is the response given by Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Dear Mr. F:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

On September 19, 2008, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced a plan by the Bush Administration to stabilize the financial services sector of the economy. This plan included broad authority for the Treasury Secretary to purchase troubled financial instruments with very limited oversight and few protections for taxpayers.

In July, I voted against a similar proposed bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because it did not provide taxpayer protection and limits on executive compensation for a government owned entity. For the same reasons, I was not willing to support the Administration’s initial proposal, and I encouraged my colleagues to continue work on a plan that would protect taxpayers, provide strict oversight, and place limits on the benefits to executives who accept taxpayer assistance.

In the days following the Treasury Secretary’s announcement, concerns about the danger to the broader economy deepened. The high-profile failure of numerous financial institutions caused the commercial lending market to accumulate and hold cash. The credit markets effectively froze, making it difficult for consumers to obtain loans for purchases such as homes and automobiles. The lack of lending in these areas began to place further pressure on the troubled housing market and threatened to spread deeper into the economy. Similarly, many small and mid-sized businesses were finding it difficult to obtain financing to meet their payroll obligations and purchase inventory. Many cities were entering the bond market and getting no bids, even with AAA ratings. The current liquidity crisis still poses a real potential for significant job losses. After consulting with numerous financial experts, small businesses, and bankers in Texas, it became clear to me that normal commercial lending activity would not resume without action by Congress.

Despite this realization, I was still not inclined to support the Paulson plan. After weeks of negotiation, however, a bi-partisan compromise was reached. While there are provisions in the bill that I do not favor and would not have drafted, overall the need for action to stabilize the market and to protect the retirement savings of millions of Americans weighed heavily on my mind. Ultimately, I supported the Senate bill along with 73 of my colleagues. The bill we passed was a major improvement over the initial plan announced by Secretary Paulson.

We increased the deposit insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 so that families will have added protection for savings and retirement accounts. While the initial proposal authorized up to $700 billion to purchase distressed assets, the measure we passed takes a more cautious approach, initially authorizing $250 billion and requiring the approval from Congress and the President for additional funding. Importantly, the bill we passed includes restrictions on the benefits received by executives whose companies are selling some of their distressed assets to the government. In return for purchasing the assets, taxpayers will obtain an ownership stake in the companies. Many leading economists believe that the real estate market will turn around in the foreseeable future and government owned properties and assets will be sold at a profit. A provision in this bill that I supported requires any profits realized to be placed in the nation’s treasury to reduce the deficit. If, however, after five years the government is facing a loss in the program, the President must submit a plan to Congress recommending how the money will be recouped from financial services companies. I believe that these protections are a dramatic improvement over the Administration’s initial proposal.

The bill passed by the Senate included an important package of tax policy provisions. One of these provisions is an extension of the state and local sales tax deduction, which is a matter of fairness for states like Texas that do not have a state income tax. The average Texan will save $520 when they file their federal income tax forms next year. We also shielded low and middle-income taxpayers from higher taxes associated with the flawed alternative minimum tax (AMT) and included tax incentives to spur energy production and innovation including the wind energy production tax credit and the research and development tax credit.

As Texans, we have learned to take responsibility for our actions and being asked to pay for the mistakes of others is something many, including myself, find deeply troubling. However, after careful deliberation, I believe that the risks associated with doing nothing outweighed the risk of passing a less than perfect bill that nevertheless includes important protections for taxpayers. Economic evidence clearly suggested the problems were spreading into the broader economy. That is why I voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

I appreciate hearing from you. Please do not hesitate to contact me on any issue of concern to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.gov

What if firefighters ran the Congress?

I love this commercial.  This is the way congress should be run!  "This is a lot of paper to tell me we need clean water" "Do we need clean water guys?" "This is the easiest job I have ever had" Very true very true.

Answer the Question Already!

First of all please do not report me to child protective services but...  I made my 13 and 11 year old daughters watch the debate last night.  I knew they were not interested but I wanted them to get an idea of what there future is and how this election with affect them.  Probably and exercise in futility and more of a punishment than a civics lesson but they suffered through it.

Now to my point.  It drives me crazy listening to politicians talk sometimes.  They were asked very specific, pointed questions in the debate last night and neither of them would answer the questions given they would just spout out their "Plans" whether they were relevant to the question or not.  That is one thing my 11 year old noticed.  She asked "Did he answer the question?"  I said "No sweetie he didn't even come close".   They were too busy pointing fingers at each other and their respective parties to answer the questions.  "Obama voted for raising your taxes 97 times!"  If you don't know the secret of congress here it is:  They vote against funding the troops because somewhere deep in that bill to fund the troops is a "goodie" or "pork barrel" expenditure for growing mold in Alaska or something totally irrelevant to the bill itself but something that benefits the author of the bill.  Without the line item veto they have to pass or fail the bill as a whole so great legislation gets voted down all the time because there it junk in the bill likewise bad legislation gets passed sometimes.  Don't believe either candidate when they claim the other voted to kill puppies 27 times.  The part about killing puppies was attached to a bill that promotes better education so instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water they pass the bill that also kills puppies.

NOTE: No puppies were actually harmed during this post nor was there ever a bill that killed puppies it was just a ridiculous example to make a point.

Getting your Groove back

The dull thud of the bass drum, the slap of the snare, the sizzle of the high hats, the crash of the symbols, the low round notes of the bass guitar melding together to drive a song, to push it, to keep it together.  This is the groove of the song, it is one of those things you never notice until it is off.  The drummer speeds up and slows down or the bass player tries to do too much or too little and it is off and noticeably so. It is a symbiotic relationship. You generally never remember the groove but are more likely to remember the melody line, the hook, that is what gets stuck in your head, but the grove is what gets you tapping your feet or drumming your finger tips on the desk. 

I have played with many drummers over the years and by far the best relationship was with my brother.  Of course much of our DNA is identical so perhaps that helps but we knew what each other was going to do without it being said.  When he went to a drum role I knew to follow and I instinctively knew when he would end it.  I knew how to fit my bass line to compliment his drum style and when it was on it was magical.   With him it was instantaneous but with other drummers it took time and learning, it took defining the patterns, marking the timing, taking note of the style.

If you are married and have a family you and your wife produce the groove for your family, you push it, keep it on time, and in sync.  There are times when you get out of sync for one reason or another and just like the bass and drums it is noticeable.  We went through this recently as our family grew from 3 children to 5 children in a matter of days.  It threw us off our groove and it has been noticeable.  It has been about a month now and I finally feel the groove coming back, things are clicking and, the toes are starting to tap again, and the fingers starting to drum.  It is not audible, just like in music you feel the groove you don't always hear it. It is easy to disrupt the groove with practically anything but weather you realize it or not your family depends on that groove between you and your spouse. They may not know it but they can feel when it is off.  There will be many more disruptions to the groove but it is important we as parents get back in sync as quickly as possible.  Without it our lead instruments, our hooks, our children will have no foundation to spring from. 

The best and brightest?

We live in the best country in the world! Our government, although only 232 years old, is one of the best in the world!

We have some of the best Universities the world has to offer.  Our Universities are filled with the best and brightest of other countries because they know to get the best education they need to be educated on American soil.  In turn those students (most of them) fall in love with this country and decided to stay here, work here, raise families here, and fulfill the American dream.  As a result their countries are in an intellectual deficit.

Our founders framed a country that was by the people and for the people.  We have a say in what our government does.  They represent us as a whole in the way they vote.  They founded our freedoms in the Constitution and it has survived to this day as a complete document still governing our society.  It was extremely well thought out from the ground up.  While you may not agree with everything our government does, which it would be odd if you did, you would be hard pressed to find another better or even equal to it.  The fact that you can openly disagree with our government without fear of reprise is a testament to its greatness.

The United States is the most philanthropic nation in the world.  When there is a disaster anywhere in the world Americans are the first on the scene to offer Aide through our non-profit companies like the American Red Cross as well as huge sums of money from our federal government.  We take care of the world in times of need.  We come to the defense of our allies that can not defend themselves.  Some people call that the world police but if we do not take up for our allies then they will be taken over by our enemies.  The heart and bravery of our country is unparalleled throughout the world.

I said all of that to say this...  With a country full of the brightest, most caring, and wealthiest people in the world we end up with Obama and McCain as our only choice for the leader of the free world.  In my opinion these are not our brightest, our best.  Take off your blue jersey or red jersey for a second and realize that to make it to that level you have to be willing to play the political game which means you lend your ear to the lobbyist in return you get money for your campaign.  All that is required is you swing your power to look out for their best interests.  The best politicians never make it far enough to get voted on because they are not willing to sell their beliefs to the highest bidder.  This may sound like a contradiction to the first part of the post where I said that this is the best government in the world.  It has it's flaws but it is still the best.  We need reform at the top level, we need more than two parties to choose from, we need the lobbyist out of Washington and let this country get back to being run by the people and for the people.  We need honest politicians to choose from that are not going to sell their votes but will stand up for what they believe in.  Is Obama going to do that for us?  Is McCain?  The short answer is no.  You can be a Democrat or a Republican but I think it is dishonest to say they are the best we have to offer or that everything they do is right just because you wear the same jersey.

Vote for who you want to but if you do not vote then you have not earned the right to complain.  You still have time to register!

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

For those of you who are interested here is a link the the $700 Billion dollar bailout plan as proposed and defeated in the House of Representatives yesterday.

http://www.rules.house.gov/110/text/110_hr3997_amnd_samnd.pdf

This is a 110 page document crafted over a weekend as the governments answer to a problem that has been brewing for over 10 years.  With a problem so complex and so large I am glad they took a few minutes out of there weekend to fix it for us (sarcasm)

Pro Life & Pro Choice?

How can you be Pro Life and Pro Choice? I believe that life begins at conception.  This is the real sticking point in the Roe vs Wade legislation.  Until the Supreme Court decides when life begins Roe vs Wade will never be overturned.  Of course they are not willing to make this call.  That is why it is so important who is President of the United States.  One man can change very little in 4-8 years on such topics as the economy, taxes, welfare, etc but the one thing that he/she can do is appoint judges to the Supreme Court.  We the people can not do this.  They are not elected but appointed by the people we elect.  That is why it is important who is elected POTUS.  So if you could care less about Obama and McCain remember they could appoint the next judge to the Supreme court!  You still have time to register and vote! 

Pro Choice is about the woman's right to choose what happens with her body.  I believe this as well but I think they have it all wrong.  Women (and men) chose to have sex (Not in all cases. I will cover that in a minute) therefore they had a choice in the creation of this life.  It is really no mystery how babies are created so the choice to have sex is really the choice to have a baby or not. Of course most people do not think of it that way or at least in the heat of passion they don't.  Every time you have sex you are playing the odds with or without birth control you are still risking pregnancy.  The only sure method of birth control is abstinence.  This method works every time.  My grandmother used to call this the penny between your knees method.  After the woman made that choice she is done choosing what happens to her body.  Some say that the baby is a part of the woman's body until birth and the umbilical cord is cut making it a separate entity.  I do not agree with this logic, an apple is attached to the apple tree in much the same way an infant is attached to the mother.  The apple is attached with a stem by which it gets its nutrients.  We do not look at the apple and call it an apple tree, they are not considered one and the same.  Why do we consider mother and child the same?  In my opinion they simply are not.  So I agree when they say the woman has the right to do with her body as she wishes we just disagree on what is her body.  If she breaks her arm and decides not to go to the hospital and get a cast for it then that is her right to choose.  If she decides to get that crooked nose fixed then have at it not my place to tell you that you may not fix your nose.  That is your body and you have every right to choose what happens to it.  I just disagree with the premise that a baby is your body.

When the woman does not choose to have sex such as the case of rape and incest then most Pro Lifers will give you that and say it is ok to terminate the life at that point.  I do not agree with this, I think the only valid reason to terminate that life is if the mother and baby's life is in danger.

An acquaintance of mine who is an avid Republican asked if my wife was raped would I allow her to have the baby.  I said absolutely!  It is not the babies fault in which manor he/she were conceived why would I terminate his/her life just because of the method of conception.  He flipped out and could not understand this.  His point was that he would be reminded of the criminal act every time he looked at that child to which I replied "then that is a fault in you not in the child". I don't think he liked that comment either :) Ultimately it is not my right to choose death for another human being however that opinion comes from my belief in a higher power, in a supreme power.  Without that in your life I suppose this argument does not hold much power.  That is another discussion for another day however.

This is not a post about the right and wrong necessarily only that I think the two sides are arguing the wrong points.  I don't condemn anyone who made this choice that is not my place and it would be arrogant of me to make that criticism.  Which ever side you are on always reserve the right to change your mind!  I have about some issues recently but that is another post as well. 

Sometimes Sorry is not enough

What does sorry really mean?  Sorry that I ____.  You can fill in the blank.  Do we have to accept sorry and does it make everything better?

That is the problem, often we think that apologizing and saying we are sorry fixes everything but it doesn't sometimes there are wounds created that are not patched with I'm sorry.  Just because you accept the apology does not make things instantly better.  I learned this years ago in my marriage.  Sometimes you have to get away and let things heal.  If you are in it everyday then things will never get better because you can not get over the past to start the future.  Once trust is broken it is not automatically returned on an "I'm sorry" or "I have changed".  This takes two very mature people to get past.  It takes the offender knowing that I'm sorry is not forgiveness and it will take a long time to get to where you want to be.  You can say you have changed but it takes time to prove you have changed by your actions.  You are judged at each decision, at each comment.  You are compared to the old you until you regain that trust.

We talked about this yesterday in our life group.  There is a couple who is going through hard times and are separated at the moment.  I have no idea what went on between them but now the husband is wanting to start all over fresh and new because he feels he has changed in their time apart.  She is not ready for that because she is still deeply hurt and is not going to blindly give trust back over a few words.  It is a process of healing and he is going to have to prove he has changed which is going to get old with someone who is not committed.  He has to realize that he has deeply hurt people and it is not as easy as I am sorry, that when he speaks the first reaction is going to be you are lying to get what you want. His intentions are going to be questioned constantly.  For a guy who is trying to change it will be hard to overcome.  It will take a commitment and a wisdom to repair what has been done.  I hope that they can make it through this tough time and that in the end they can have a stronger better marriage for this experience. 

The joke is not as funny if you have to explain it!

For those of you who are Star Wars illiterate.

For all the Star Wars fans out there :)

Nine Months equals 1 hour

She is late for that time of the month but not just a day or two but weeks!  She is never late!  Time to go get the test from the drug store and find out for sure.  The anticipation builds, your mind races, come on, hurry up, and there it is... We are pregnant!   You are overwhelmed and overjoyed at the same time.  You start thinking about your life and how different it will be.  You ask yourself are you really ready to take care of something so helpless, something that relies on you for its survival.  What qualifies you to take on such a huge task?  You think of all that has to be done, we need to get the babies room ready, we need to buy a car seat, we need to figure out how to put the car seat in, we need to buy diapers, clothes, bottles, bibs, high chairs, toys, and a whole myriad of devices and tools.  What is it going to be a boy a girl, what will we name them, who will they look like? 

You get the first ultrasound and there it is your baby.  You can tell the sex of the baby so now you can narrow your plans.  You tell your family and friends and they are all excited and are planning the baby shower.  Grandma and Grandpa are preparing to be grandparents.  Planning the many ways to spoil your precious child.  There is no baby bump as of yet so it is not really real yet. 

At about 3months or so the baby bump arrives.  Now its time to panic!  This is real this is happening we are going to have a baby.  You can not think of a single way this does not change your life forever!  Are we ready, can we do this?

You watch in amazement as the baby bump grows and grows thinking surely it is going to pop now!  Finally the waiting is over, the water has broke, the contractions have started, the epidural has been administered, the doctors are prepared, the video is rolling, THIS IS IT!  Out comes baby! You meet face to face with your creation, every much a part of you as your hand is, so beautiful so wonderful.

Contrast:

Phone rings:  Hello? A boy 20 mths old? You will be here in a hour?  Click

No time to think, no time to prepare, no information, just buckle up and get ready.  This is the life of a foster parent.  It is taking some time to get used to 3 babies instead of just one.  They are just now getting used to each other as well.  The kept getting scared by one another.  One would cry and it would scare the others and they would cry.  It was kind of funny actually but not when it is two in the morning and they are waking each other up because now they have roommates that snore.  

Observation No. 2: Most likely to...

Now that I have been out of school as long as I was in school I look back and see if high school was any predictor of the future. If you knew me in high school you would probably say I was most likely to scare young children! I was not conforming all the while conforming to the group that was not conforming. Seems silly now, you don't fit in with the jocks or the preps so you form your own group of kids that are into punk music and skateboards and feel like you are not conforming, but everyone in your group looks the same so you are belonging to a click and conforming to their uniform of choice.

I was never officially voted as most likely to anything because I dropped out and got my diploma from the community college. Now that I have almost teen kids I think back and wonder what my parents were thinking about me during those teen years. Did they shake their head and wonder where they went wrong? I asked the question last year of my mother and father. Did I turn out like you expected me to? The answer was not as profound and deep as I had hoped. Maybe I caught them on a bad day or they did not have time to think about the question properly.

I think high school in no predictor at all of how you will turn out in life. You are so inexperienced at life, you have no clue who you are, and you are struggling to find where you fit in. Then right after high school you are asked to make one of the most profound decisions of your life, where do you want to go to college and what do you want to study. This decision affects the rest of your life and you are in no way prepared to make that decision. I think the system is flawed. Look at all the people that totally waste college finding themselves and partying. As a result they end up with a squandered education and a degree in something that they will never hold a job in. Wasted money, wasted time, wasted education. So what is the alternative? Take time off from school work a couple jobs figure out who you are and what you like then go to school and pursue that with all you have.

Did the star Quarterback at your high school go on to be an NFL star? Did the homecoming queen go on to be a model or movie star? Did the nerd go on to host Star Trek conventions? Did the skater go on to be Tony Hawk? Likely none of these people stayed on their respective paths. I deviated off my punk rock/rebellion path soon after high school and went on to be what most would consider a normal human being. How can you decided what you want to be when you grow up if you don't know yourself well enough to decide?

I want to encourage my children to explore who they are, what their talents are, and what they really enjoy and then decided what they want to do for the rest of their lives.

What were you voted most likely to be and how far from that are you now?

Observation No. 1: Not it

Good news! It turns out I am at least 50% less likely to have coronary diseases, at least that is what researchers determined. I was at a large gathering the other day full of men sweating in the hot sun jarring their bodies in a way in which they have not been jarred in many years to jockey for position as top Type A male. I would venture to say there were a couple fouls in the in pickup game of basketball and a more than eager willingness to spike the ball on a 7 year old girl to obtain the bragging rights associated with a win in the volley ball game. The trash talking came out early and you could see the competitiveness in the TypeA'ers just below the surface. They did their best to mask it as there were children playing and it was a church event but every once in a while you could see the cat ate the canary smile on their face as they scored on the others.

I am decidedly a TypeB personality. I know there is still debate on the validity of these classifications but I do see some value in their general classification. Me and a fellow TypeB'er were sitting in the lawn chairs, in the shade, talking about nothing of importance. We are just as comfortable talking to a group of woman as a group of men. Sweat does not appear on our brow when our wives ask us to hold their purse for a couple of minutes. We don't have to brag about our accomplishments, how much money we make, how much sex we have, or how big our biceps are (ha you thought I was going somewhere else with that didn't you). We can genuinely be happy for the others successes.

I am not pointing out the differences to say one is better than the other. All throughout my life I have chosen the TypeA personalities to be my best friends. I am naturally shy but once in the conversation can hold my own and enjoy talking with others. Over the years the TypeA's have broken the ice and got me into those crowds and I have met some extraordinary people that way. As I get older I rely less and less on that personality and just go it own my own. Perhaps I am less shy or less insecure of just have bigger things to worry about than if anyone likes me or not. Both of these roles are necessary in society and it is interesting to watch people as they interact. But watch out when there is a pickup game of basketball with a group of TypeA'ers you may catch a stray elbow all the way in the shade.