Bumper Sticker

I saw a bumper sticker today, it was very simple, straight-forward and ooohhh so true. It said "Politicians prefer unarmed peasants". Well, it seems the politicians should be very happy with their lot currently. Soooo many things have happened in the last few years without, it appears" any outrage on the peoples parts. Just to list a few; Homeland security and all the little things that came with it, like TSA; Warrantless wire-taps; no-bid contracts; and unlimited access to internet records. All of this supposedly intended to protect the American people. We have had our rights trampled all over on the pretense of protecting us, and few people saw the warning signs, and in fact appeared to actually believe the line of ____ that was fed us by the administration.

People were afraid to question anything this administration said, or risk being labled unpatriotic. Finally people seem to be starting to question a lot of things that should have been questioned years ago, and should never have been allowed to occur. I guess, better late than never. To be considered unpatriotic just because you don't agree with the short-sighted and often damaging rants of the president is stupid (for lack of a better word). He stepped on so many toes and completely lacked any respect for any country that didn't cow-tow to his wishes. His famous quote "If you're not with us than you're against us", has damaged the United States relationship with a lot of countries that were considered allies. He has distanced us from true allies and it may take years or decades to mend the damage he has caused.

Becca's Quote of the day - October 13, 2007

My 4-year old daughter asked my husband "How many are you?" When my husband replied "41" my daughter than asked "How many more do you have?"

Taffy McFay

This is one of the last pictures that I took of Taffy. She was a very good dog who lived with my parents. Born in 1993, died September 24, 2007. Taffy enjoyed barking at falling leaves; and chasing small rodents that she did not know what to do with if she caught them. When she was a young puppy she ate the pearls off of the buttons on a favorite white sweater of mine - I realized she had done this when walking her and finding small white pearls in her poop. I once feared for her life when she nosed her way into my kitchen cupboard and ate a half a box of unsweetened dark brick chocolate, she immediately got sick on my light gray carpet (it took several months of daily shampooing to remove). I found her shaking and shivering next to the door when I came home from work that day.

She was a very good judge of character having peed on a lap of a not so nice neighbor in Colorado Springs.

She went to live with my parents in 1994, at which time she was adopted by them and became a very good companion to both of them. She was always excited about thunderstorms, and liked to announce the arrival of anyone who came to visit. She was preceeded in death by "Cat" her good friend a tabby cat.

We will miss you.

Oooooohhhh

This was Ben's favorite face for quite a while. He knew when he made this face that he would get everyone's attention.

McDonalds playground

I see you.

Clarion Autumn Leaf Festival - Auto Show

Whenever I get the chance, I like to practice my photography. This one was taken with my Canon PowerShot G1, during the Autumn Leaf Festival (ALF) in Clarion, Pennsylvania. I always enjoy the ALF Car Show held on the first Sunday of the festival. The Saturday following is the ALF Parade and homecoming game for Clarion University.

This year the "Autorama" is scheduled for Sunday, September 30. The cars line up all down the main street in Clarion. There are carnival rides near the courthouse and food concessions across the street from the courthouse. The following website gives a list of events throughout the weekend.

There is also an art contest, I have never entered anything in this contest, but my mother has.

There is a lot more information on the ALF, which can be found on this site, http://www.autumnleafclarionpa.com/

There is a list of events, dates and contact information. The ALF is really quite an amazing festival. Check it out.

Becca's Quotes of the Day - September 5, 2007

After telling my daughter how smart she was, she replied

"But daddy's not smart, he's a man; and Benny's not smart, he's a boy"

Playing in the Stock Market

Until the day we can afford to return to investing in stocks, I will practice my skills on a virtual stock market site

http://vse.marketwatch.com/Game/News.aspx

It allows you to join in different groups with different criteria, such as starting amount, stock trade price, minimum and maximum trade values, and a set period of time.

The time period is determined by the individual that set up the group. Each group has a short description of what the trading practices are to be. For instance one group may be for day trading, another for buy and hold, and yet another be for just penny stocks and so on.

I, for one, prefer the ones that allow you to choose the method of investing you feel most comfortable with. This has allowed me to

1. Try out a few investing strategies that I have.
2. Play several different scenarios to determine which works best.
3. Keep knowledgeable about the stock market, while I wait to become actively involved again.
4. See what other people are doing.

It also has shown me that if you start with a million dollars, you can make a heck of a lot of money in the stock market. Who ever said you don't need money to make money must be wearing blinders.

Becca's Quotes of the Day - September 4, 2007

Becca has the knack of stating the obvious, here are a couple of her quotes she made on the trip home her daycare.

"People come out of People's bellies, that's the story, Yep"

"I want to take the wheel's off my bike, and become a trainer"

"let's open the windows, so the bugs won't get trapped, there are a lot of insects in the world"

Amateur Photographer Want-a-be

As a want-a-be amateur photographer, one of my items on my to-do-list is to enter a photograph into some type of photography contest. It has been on my list for years, so why haven't I done anything about it. Is it that I don't have time,or that I don't think any of my photos are good enough to enter.

Well the time thing will never go away, I am a mother of three and a wife of one, and I currently work a full-time job. Is it that I have so many interests that I am always stuck in the which one will I do mode. Or is that my photos are just not good enough, then I'll never know until I try. This is me justifying why I should or should not enter a contest (I tend to over analyze many things). I have decided to enter a contest, now I need to find one to enter that in some way or another does not want $$$ to enter (that would be another reason for my procrastination, we don't currently have alot of money floating around for good photography equipment - I am using a Sony Cybershot DSC-W30). Don't get me wrong, this is a great little camera, it'll fit in the pocket of your shirt and is easy enough for my three year old daughter to use. I might have to write about that later.

Ah-hah that could be it, I may be on to something. Procrastination, I mean; I wonder if that is my affliction all these years I was blaming it on something else. Now that I have come up with a diagnosis I can work on fixing the problem. You know what they say about doctors making their own diagnosis. Anyway I am off to enter a contest, will write later on my success.

Aren't these pretty flowers