Government Health Care Plan Already Working!

I would encourage anyone who would promote the government overseeing healthcare to participate in the health care already overseen by the government.


As a child, I was covered through medical assistance - a government insured program for low income people. Every cavity, no matter how small, was exactly on a nerve. I must believe that because the dentists that I went to couldn't seem to miss them. Other kids didn't have the same problem, surprisingly. My dentists didn't really care much. I suppose it was because I was stuck with them. Most dentists didn't accept the government plan because the government didn't pay much, didn't pay on time, and denied recommended treatment so often that no one wanted to deal with them. Think it's "different now"? I heard the president himself proudly proclaim how the government won't be paying for unnecessary tests, or too many tests. We will hope that your government paid doctor gets it right the first time! (crossing fingers)



Take a look at our military families' health care. My son-in-law is in the army. The hospital at Fort Hood, TX allowed for only 7 women to have babies at any particular time. This is one of the largest military bases in the country! When my daughter needed to deliver - they had to call 10 hospitals to find someone who could take her. They finally found one almost an hour and a half away. When she was having her prenatal ultrasound, the government care would not allow her husband to see the ultrasound with her because the "misinformation center" didnt' tell her that a 2 year old safely within the arms of his Sargeant daddy was against their "policy" to have present for the ultrasound. Dangerous decision, no... sensitive to the family... no. Same as civilian policies? No. Redress? none. Bureacracry? In its glory...

The frustrating situations my daughter and her family endured while receiving their military health care is the stuff black comedies are made of. Especially considering that my son-in-law's war-related injuries were a large part of their experiences. Before you tell me how greedy and horrible our private health care is, take a good long look at who is already receiving the government plan. Would you want that plan? When is the last time you had to go to the hospital at 1:00 a.m. for your appointment for an MRI? Shouldn't you at least find out what you're supporting before you drag the rest of us into the abyss with you?

About a month ago, an Airman lost both of his legs at a military hospital, because during gall bladder surgery (gall bladder is on your right side near bottom of ribs) the Air Force doctor cut the patient's Aorta (located on the left side of your chest). He lost so much blood that they had to amputate. There were no vascular surgeons at the military hospital and it took more than 8 hours for them to move him to a non-military hospital where he could receive adequate care. What kind of arrogance and mistreatment is that? Important little known fact - it's illegal for him to sue THAT doctor. He's a government employee, and the government doesn't permit him to be sued. And since the government is looking out for him... he'll medically retire from the Air Force (no legs, no career) at a substantial pay of $1500 per month if they give him full pay. And he will probably get to keep that great medical coverage as well, as long as he lives close to a military base.

Something needs to change.. this is true. Please just take a moment to think of your dealings with government agencies. Haven't we all dealt with an agency that frustrated us until we just quit trying? The policy made no sense, but no government employee cared enough to help you, and no matter what button you pressed there didn't seem to be a department that knew the answer to your question or who you could even ask. They are more frequently the fly in the ointment than the grease on the wheel.

Our government does not hear us. They deny that anyone is angry of frustrated - "It's all a staged ploy". Gee, wonder why anyone would be so frustrated that they would feel like SCREAMING!?!?!? They are foolish, arrogant, elitists. Never privately employed, and almost always ivy-league educated - they are so much better than the citizens they "represent". The congress' primary job is legislation. Writing laws that abide by our constitution and better our country - yet they openly admit that they don't even read them! Let that sink in. You are held to 800 pages of law that your representative didn't even bother to read before scrawling his/her autograph on it. Who wrote it? Who did read it? Is that the person YOU elected to look out for you and your country in Washington, D.C.? And should you dare to expect them to do their job, they will snottily dismiss you as a plant of some health insurance industry or wacko radio talk show host. How dare YOU question them! Isn't that awfuly uppity of you?

Well, be sure to forward my post to the president. He encourages Americans to turn one another in to the federal government for not agreeing with his opinions and policies. It'd be funny if it didn't truly make me sick to my stomach. And to Ms. Pelosi... send her a copy as well... See, if you get ticked off at your government and they ignore you long enough to make you scream about it - well, then you are being just plain un-American.

Stepping out of the DOS age

Anyone remember DOS? You know... before Windows? In some ways I have resisted new technology - mostly because I was the person in the family/neighborhood that was the "go to" person for computer problems or information... Needed an upgrade, computer can't "see" the new hardware you just installed? Call Annie!

I hated it. I didn't want to know because I hated the process. I hated my own upgrades and the frustration of wishing you could just hold up that printer and scream at your monitor... "It's right there... can you see it NOW?"

I've had DSL for a few months now and I haven't connected my husband's computer yet. We haev a router that I used to know all the info and specs on... now it's just sitting there on his desk... I have to run both computers through it, and I'm sure it will frustrate me, so I avoid it...

But TODAY!! Today, I have to connect it, because I bought him WOW for Christmas - with the expansion pack.

I thought I'd start simple and connect a web cam - so my adorable grandsons in Texas can see the Granny that they were so stinking cutely waving at last night... and my daughter, now 7 months pregnant - I got to see the baby bump last night for the first time. So, it's hooked up - and it's too early to call them and say, "Look at me!"

Now, I just have to wait for the roads to thaw so my husband can get his little butt to work and I can scream at the computers, modem, and lastly beg some customer service rep at the phone company to help me please - I bought WOW and we're unprepared.. and I'm NOT giving up MY computer.

BTW - I reshopped for husband and bought him a self guided telescope from Sam's Club on Monday to replace the inversion table he received early (see previous post)

Tomorrow morning we pack up the gifts and deliver to my eldest daughter and her family, then come home and open our gifts. If my husband gets a video game before that, I'll never get him out of the house - OR he'll pout until we get home. :)

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Fa La La La La... La La La La

First, let me thank Dick's Sporting Goods & UPS for fast shipping on the Inversion Table I purchased my husband for his BIG Christmas gift. I ordered it online last Saturday night, and I was quoted a delivery date of sometime between the 22nd & 29th. It arrived Friday morning. It arrived in the original carton with a nice big picture of what the table would look like when assembled. I was out on Friday shopping with my sister. Fortunately, we didn't miss the delivery because MY HUSBAND HAD THE DAY OFF!!!!!! It's now assembled in the basement, and it's only the 21st! I was overjoyed.



Last night was our family Christmas party. A loud, raucous end to an exhausting week. An hour before everyone arrived I finally strung the lights on the tree. My nephew Keith flew in from Hawaii yesterday morning - he's in the Navy, and so we made it an event for our guests to put the ornaments on the tree. this was ultimate laziness on my part, but I dressed it up to look like a generous gesture of family participation. No one was willing to put the bows on, though, so I'm still looking forward to that....

A wrestling match broke out between my 25 & 27 year old daughters... which led me to break out in a chorus of "Merry Christmas From The Family" by Montgomery Gentry. I haven't a clue what they were goofing around about, but my grandsons took it upon themselves to get involved and start KICKING their Auntie... it was quite a festive scene!

We had the Christmas sing-a-long. A new tradition of about 3 years old - beginning when I completed about a year of piano lessons. I'll tell you this - it sounds oh so much better than the first year! My grandsons tend to crawl up on the bench beside me and play accompaniment to the melody. They are 4 and 2. My sister stands very close to me and sings off key in my ear - which does little to enhance my playing skills.

We had a fun white elephant gift exchange. Typically we do the grab bag thing, but with several poor younger people with small children - we decided to scale back a bit. Here are some examples of gifts given/received:

One badminton racket
An 8 X 10 picture frame containing 12 small pictures of the gift giver making funny faces.
A piece of firewood (from my husband)
VCR movie & a maraca
romance novels
a diaper with an opened tootsie roll inside - from a toddler's mom - who else?!?!?!

I forgot to buy batteries, so the gifts I'd planned for the toddlers to open would've been useless. So, I gave them the gifts that should've been mailed to my other 2 grandsons in Texas about a week ago. The adults noticed the incorrect name tags, but the kids didn't. Today I went and repurchased those Spiderman action figures on quads.

Lots of laughing took place.

I joked that if I wanted to finish a sentence, I should go visit someone else's family - where they are polite enough to pretend to find me interesting and at least let me finish my sentences. At MY family get togethers, if you don't get the entire sentence out QUICKLY - no one is interested enough to ask you to finish it... they have a short attention span and have already moved on.

My eldest daughter sells cemetary property. My mother is INTO preplanning. My daughter explained the financing programs, to which my brother asked, "If you pay off 2 years, but owe 1 year and die... can you continue to pay the payments?" "No everything must be paid for before interment." This led to my son-in-law and I coming up with comical outcomes of foreclosure on your cemetary plot and a phone call to "Come pick up your wife, she's been evicted!" Yes, we're sick. We mean no harm, but at times find insensitive comments quite hysterical.

And the star of the party was... The Baby Gate which was located in the doorway which leads to the basement. We heat with a woodburner in the basement - which radiates up through the open basement door and the floor vent. The Baby Gate prevents toddlers from falling down and breaking their heads open. It also allows terrorized housepets to escape those same toddlers... and lastly - it prevents old people - classified as anyone old enough to have their very own teenager - from going down to the basement because they're afraid of catching that last foot and leaving them with a broken hip at the bottom of the stairs - thus, 2 teenagers escaped to the basement to make out after the boy succeeded in impressing girlfriend with his punching routine on my husband's punching bag.

All in all a success.

Merry Christmas to everyone who stops by!

It's a meaningful spiritual holiday, and it's also a wonderful family time. But, take a look around you - do you know anyone who is recently divorced or widowed, single, or perhaps a single parent having a tough go of it this year? Maybe someone who is far from their family this year. Reach out and invite them over, or leave a few presents on their doorstep to let them know that they mean something to you. Write a letter to a business you spend your money at, and tell them about your appreciation for one of their employees.

It's a time to be generous, and that has nothing to do with spending money.

Tonight, after watching the Tivo'd Steelers game... I'm going to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special (also Tivo'd). I love when Linus tells Charlie Brown the real meaning of Christmas... To me, Christmas is a celebration of an offering God made to reach out to us, His Creation... to give an example to follow, a love to reach all, forgiveness and grace and a desire to be our closest friend. I hope Christmas means that to you, as well. But if not - it could be your gift this year, and unlike other common Christmas presents... He always has plenty in stock, assembly is not required, batteries are included, and there are no missing parts. The manufacturer's hotline is staffed 24/7 - even on New Years! Start with the Book of John in the Bible.

Travelling on Thanksgiving & the Thanksgiving Caterer

We finally made it to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my in-laws (m-i-l & step f-i-l). I looked forward to finally preparing a Thanksgiving feast for my mother-in-law - so we packed up the frozen turkey, potatoes, onions, marshmallows and other items to add to the stuff I'd pick up at the store once we arrived. Mom was going to make the pies and I would do the rest. So, about an hour after arriving, hugging, kissing, putting Tom into the fridge... Dad announces that they ordered Thanksgiving Dinner from Publix, so we wouldn't have to do all that work on Thursday. My first thought... an internal BLECH!!!!

So, after dumping about a cup of water off the mashed potatoes before MICROWAVING! yes, I said Microwaving. These lovely people are the King & Queen of microwaving. The stuffing, mashed potatoes, frozen peas, and 2 fresh sweet potatoes were all microwaved in one tiny microwave... which meant whatever you nuked first had to be renuked for another minute because it was now getting cold, oops so is the stuffing - throw that back in... shoot, the butter isn't melting on the peas - back in for another 30 seconds.

Dinner was good - much better than the time our entire family went out for Thanksgiving Dinner because I was on strike that year. I suppose that was my fault, though. I had unrealistic expectations. I thought that it should be a family time - the women helping each other in the kitchen, a couple men setting up folding chairs, a wonderful meal, then cleaning up in no time because there are all those feminine hands available, and then social time.

In actuality... Thanksgiving in my family looks more like this. I bake the pies and make homemade noodles before the big day. I stuff the turkey, peel potatoes, saute onions, make 2 kinds of mashed potatoes because 2 people don't like them with the sauteed onions in them but my husband loves them that way, cook vegies, prewash the serving dishes, yell a hello to my grandsons as they arrive, drop everything the second my mother walks through the door (at the last minute after PROMISING to be here early to help) because she needs a cup of coffee right now! I continue with the catering duties, interrupted to help with every other thing that needs done - chairs, offering beverages, Uh Oh! Grandson is heading for the stairs and his mom is already changing a diaper - "I'll grab him!" because everyone else is standing RIGHT THERE and can't grab his chubby little hand to prevent a catastrophe, "Here's how to work the remote control for the Dish", carving turkey, "Yes, honey, Granny will get you a drink", putting all the food on serving dishes... listening to my mom say, "Everything looks nice, can I help", Yes, can you make the gravy & put the rolls in the oven?, "I don't know how to make gravy, and how long do you warm them for", (Screaming in my head... PLEASE LEARN TO MAKE GRAVY,, and UNTIL THEY ARE WARM, DAMMIT!) , . Everyone eats. I do the dishes, put the food away, clean counters, stove, table - "Annie, we want to play a game - can you hand me the dish cloth", Oh sure, I understand the drawer is too far for you to walk to - let me get that for you because I'm not really doing anything anyway. Grandsons have cornered the cat under my dresser but everyone is playing a game... save the cat. Change a dirty diaper. Everyone leaves... fold up the chairs, clean up the games, fall down and wonder how MY Granny did it... Oh yeah - my aunts set the table, helped for the final preparations, did the dishes, caught runaway toddlers and saved the cat (which was a dog in that instance).

The next year I say, "I'm just having a small dinner for hubby & our kids and grandkids" - met with pouting and offers to help cook, prepare, and bring a dish. If Mom brings a dish it isn't ready and she has to finish it at my house - all the burners are busy and this should have been prepared already. She shows up when the turkey is coming out of the oven and needs me to find her a serving dish and an empty pan. If I plan to not make homemade noodles this year, I'm told that "it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them!" and "Are you making just pumpkin pie, because I really like Apple too!" "Aren't you inviting Uncle Mike (and 3 grown kids) or Aunt Helen, or your cousin Beth?" OMG I WILL KILL THIS WOMAN! Last year I let her make something that was optional - then 2 days before she said, "We don't really need that, do we? I mean, you'll have all that other food". (No, I just told all the kids that you were making your famous mushroom dish) No, mom that's fine, but could you come about an hour early and help me? "Sure" Nope - she's late. Asks my daughter (mom to 2 toddlers chasing the cat) to drop what she's doing with the sweet potatoes to make her coffee. "I thought you were coming early to help me - because I was overwhelmed last year and you said you'd help if I invited everyone again" (brother, sister & family, aunts). "Oh, I thought I only had to come early if I had to finish making my (insert whatever dish she didn't make after all)". Last year I had a meltdown at this point and went to my bedroom and cried.

I swear that next year I'm not doing this again... and then I forget and have those imaginings of a lovely family Thanksgiving. Argh! Once I said, "Why don't you make dinner, Mom." "Oh, that's too much work for one person, and I'm not your Granny. It just isn't who I am!" okay... I won't kill my mother, I won't kill my mother, I won't kill my mother... I might kill my mother!

Anyways back to travelling... If you've never travelled out of state to visit family on Thanksgiving weekend I have this bit of advice.. Don't!!!! People drive like lunatics - it's bumper to bumper - and it WILL rain/snow/sleet/or hail half of your way there & home. All restaurants have 150 fellow travellers waiting in line for a table when you become certain that you will kill someone ON PURPOSE, if you don't get off the #$*@*'ing road!

Next year. I'm telling my mother that I'm going to Florida but I'm not really going.

Each year I'm thankful that Thanksgiving comes only once a year and that I haven't murdered anyone in my family during this lovely family holiday. Then I get bitchy with my poor husband (who is more helpful than any of the women in my family) and crawl into bed, resting up for my "lovely family Christmas party".

Therapy via Blog

Melancholy. Fearful. Sad. None of these feelings have a basis in faith - they are all my own.

A month ago my husband's sister Sue was not feeling well. She had a difficult time going up stairs and was tired all the time. She had a hard time with finding the word she wanted to use. We talked her into going to the hospital. It was Monday, October 6th that she went to the hospital.

On Thursday, October 9th they biopsied her liver because it was enlarged and they felt the part of her lung that was collapsed (previously treated as pneumonia with her breathing problems) was due to the liver invading its space. She was also diagnosed with emphysema.

On Tuesday, October 14th the doctors told them that Sue had liver cancer. On Wednesday, October 15th we found out that it would progress quickly and she had a week or two. She died on Sunday, October 19. She was 54.

In the fall of 2007 our associate pastor, Bill, went into the hospital for some routine procedure. I don't think the church has ever told us what routine procedure it was, but while undergoing this procedure something looked unusual and a lymph node was removed. There was cancer. He passed away on Thursday evening, November 13th. He was 50.

3 years ago Jim (former boyfriend of my darling daughter), borrowed a plane and took his best friend Kevin and Kevin's girlfriend for a flight over Niagara Falls. Kevin proposed to his girlfriend, and they started to head back to western Pennsylvania. The plane went down in Lake Erie. All were lost. It took a long time to find the plane. Jim & Kevin's fathers rented jet skis so that they could look for their sons, as there was no one looking anymore. Jim was 23.

Both Sue & Bill were originally diagnosed with cancer at 49 years old. I'm 44 sneaking dangerously close to 45 (in March). I want to grow old with my husband. I don't want to leave him at an early age, and I sure don't want him to leave me either. I think that until today I never doubted that would happen... but today... today I'm feeling melancholy, sad, and fearful. And a little more aware of mortality - up close and personal.

I believe that God can and does find a way to bring good out of bad events for those who love Him. Sometimes we can be so rushed and hurried in our day to day lives. We've got a list of things to do that will never be done - that is most definitely me. We don't take the time to care for one another as we're supposed to. My mom always likes to say, "There's a reason for that to happen." then go on with 10 things that could come out of the horrible tragedy or stressful event. The problem with that kind of fatalistic thinking is that you can become oblivious to the deep pain and suffering of those in the midst of a nightmare. And I believe in free choice - I'm not a chess piece - if we were all chess pieces then evil wouldn't exist.

I'm not sure if anyone reads this, but if you do... there's a song that brings this all around to a conclusion that is the answer to all my melancholy wallowing... "Held" by Natalie Grant.

Yep - just listened to it, made me bawl, and I feel a lot less fearful and a little less sad.

Annie Hall

I saw the movie. Two days ago. Forced myself to sit through the entire thing with the pervert of Hollywood and Diane Keaton... d'ya think she now goes "Blahewhu" and shivers when she thinks of kissing Woody Allen?

Okay - back to the movie... I really can't believe anyone rated it above one star, much less the 3 1/2 or 4 that was in the Dish Network description.

I've seen a few minutes of another Woody Allen movie and it seems that I have finally caught on that his "thing" must be complete self absorption... and people think that's funny? Really? Perhaps if he were more interesting and less pathetic...

If you haven't seen Annie Hall, but have the notion that you should... rethink that, and just save yourself the time - you'd be better off watching Nancy Grace talk about Casey Anthony for the millionth straight day with a new 4 second smattering of information that they are speculating may be true - or perhaps not... and God knows I'd almost rather stick a knife in my neck than do that! (again)

Great, tasty, delicious zucchini recipe

This should beat out the Poodle haircut search. We (all those of us with a food garden) are being inundated with Zukes. They quietly grow to enormous proportions in an afternoon, it seems, and they are so easily grown that the gardener in search of almost instant gratification feels she MUST grow zucchini.

So, we cut the prickly little stems and drag them into the house and flop them down on the counter and wonder just how much room is in the freezer for 237 loaves of zucchini bread? Should we put the loaves into Food Saver bags and suck them down to pancake thickness, and if so - could we reinflate them with the air compressor in the trunk of the car? NO - this does not work - if it did, I would reinflate the top layer of my daughter's wedding cake - which I "Food Saved" after thoroughly freezing the cake first.

I didn't realize there were dowel rods in the cake for support, so there are three little wood pegs - still covered with fondant - standing tall in the midst of a cake which is 1 1/2 inches shorter than it was when I started. I food saved it upside down (because I wasn't sure which part of the bag had to touch the melter bar) and didn't notice this while it was happening. My daughter still loves me, but I wouldn't recommend doing this for a daughter-in-law. You may never see your son again!

So, anyways - back to the zucchini. I have 2 zucchini ideas for you. Not really recipes, because I don't measure stuff unless I'm following someone else's recipe.

First - Zucchini skillet dinner - Yumm

Cut a large zucchini in half and take out seeds. I left the skin on. Take 1/2 and cut into thin slices - not paper thin, but not chunks either. Put in a skillet with a little olive oil, 1 pound of ground beef, and a diced onion. Sprinkle a little garlic powder in, and sprinkle oregano over the entire surface. Add a little salt and pepper. Cook until meat is browned and zucchini is tender but not mushy. Add about 1/3 to 1/2 jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce and some parmesan cheese. I don't like Prego because it's too sweet. I didn't drain this, so don't use the cheapest ground beef out there. I used ground chuck.

Cook 6 servings of instant rice - adding 2 beef boullion cubes to the water and rice before cooking. I recommend adding boullion to your rice always - it livens it up. I also cook pasta with boullion sometimes or a can of broth if I'm out of boullion.

I covered the skillet mixture with mozzarella cheese when I turned off the stove, and a few minutes later we ate. Spoon the skillet mixture over the rice on your plate and YUMMMM!

IDEA 2:

I had shredded zucchini left over from zucchini bread - threw it in the skillet with olive oil, a little garlic salt, pepper, onion, and fresh diced tomato. Cooked this until everything was tender and still didn't really LOVE it - so I threw some shredded cheddar cheese in, and it was very good!

So, there you go Zucchini gardeners. Please feel free to leave additional ideas in the comments, as I have 6 more to harvest in the next couple days!