Something I just read on FB

Pictured is a young physician by the name of Dr. Roger Starner Jones. His short... two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis"..

It's worth a quick read:


Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.


While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one pack of cigarettes every day, eats only at fast-food take-outs, and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer. And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture" a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
ROGER STARNER JONES, MD
If you agree...pass it on.

Outside my window....it is soggy and chilly and the weather has a definite fall quality to it.  It rained all day yesterday and is supposed to rain all day today.  I don't mind though.  There is something about this time of year the resets the mind so that you expect to spend the day inside and watch the rain come down.  You almost require days like today so that you can wrap up in a cozy handmade quilt and read with a nice fragrant cup of tea at the ready.  It's just that time of the year.

I am thinking....of clouds and wind and falling raindrops.  I am thinking of the color of the sky and how my grandmother would have said it is a "lowering sky"  I think that was an Irish term and I never got around to asking her what it meant.  I always thought she would live forever, the way that little girls do about their grandmothers.  She was just always there and then one day she wasn't and I never got to ask her what that meant.

I am thankful for....the lessons that I have learned from the people that I have lost.  My grandmother taught me to read and to learn each and every day of my life.  Never stop enquiring and learning right up until the end.  My papa Vito taught how to laugh.  Great big rolling belly laughs.  He showed everyone who came into contact with him to keep a twinkle in your eye and a lightness in your step and laugh when you wanted to.  My papa Buehner taught me to laugh too but more importantly he taught me that the fourth commandment was inviable.  No matter what I felt or what I wanted to say to follow the fourth commandment because it carries with it a promise. My grandma Teepell taught me peace.  Everything about her spoke of peace and contentment and love. 

From the schoolroom....life will go on.  We will march forward in the awesome pursuit of education.

From the kitchen...I have options.  I have every intention of exercising my options today only I think I will do it later.

I am wearing.....tinkerbell pj pants and a landshark tee shirt.  What a great combo.

I am creating....today that is a good question.  I have a couple of comissions that I must begin so I guess I can claim those as creations.

I am going...to take Doug to work and then nowhere else today.

I am reading....The Shadows by Nicholas Carr  A very excellent read.

I am hoping....to get my research paper done early this week so I don't drive myself crazy on the weekend.

I am hearing...the clock ticking, Doug making his lunch for work, someone closing the door into the washroom, and Isabella whining to get into her crate.

Around the house....the usual chaos of morning preparations.  MK is out doing barn chores.  Matthew is coming in from having done his.  Doug is getting ready to go to work.  Ian is gone already.  Melissa and Layn are upstairs still slumbering.

One of my favorite things...routine and order.  Not a slave to it but enough to know what to expect.

A few plans for the rest of the week...this is the second to last week of the semester for me so I have a couple of papers to complete.  School and family will occupy most of my time and that is fine with me.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

This is what time of year it is around here.  That is a lowering sky.  Bonfires and hoodies and nice warm, fragrant cups of tea are in order for this time of the year.

Not only do I like this guy's tee shirt but I like his material too, you know?

you have all probably heard or read it before, heck I have but it bears repeating over and over.  If anyone were to ask my kids they would tell you that they have heard some variation on all of these things from me so many times they can recite them in their sleep.  Guess what.....I don't care!  To quote a TV series that MK and I are watching right now, "Right is right and wrong ain't right!"

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

does that mean you have to labor? or does that mean you get the day off from labor?  I have always been confused by that.  When I was a kid growing up, even though we were off from school on labor day we still had work to do at home.  My parents didn't believe in idle hands. (neither do I for that matter)  Then I went and married a dairy farmer, what was I thinking?  There is no such thing as federal holidays in the farming business.  Someone should teach the cows that they don't need to be milked on days that the postman doesn't come.  Maybe I will then I would become a millionaire over night, no joke!!!!!

Anyway today as usual on Monday I got up and straightened up the house from the weekend's chaos and started the first load of laundry.  After breakfast was over (the first round) I cleaned up the kitchen and sat down to write Matthew's plans for the week and get started on my schoolwork.  Then Ian came in from running errands and the second round of breakfast started.  Then someone wound Mary-Kate's mainspring and she was off and running.  I want to go on record as having only told her that she was responsible for the bathrooms today.  Then after they were clean she could do what she wanted.  Matthew had to do the upstairs floors and then he had to get to school since he had to work both of his jobs this afternoon.

The princess hit organization mode and hasn't slowed down since.  Mind I am not complaining.  For me it is a win/win situtation.  It's just that watching her gives me a strange feeling of guilt and exhaustion.  So far she has cleaned, thoroughly, the downstairs bathroom, linen closet, laundryroom and organized the whole thing.  Not a job for the fainthearted.  Now she is currently working on the upstairs bathroom and linen closet.  I can only hope that she stays away from my bedroom.  I like to be able to find things when she is done.  (only joking!)

For all of you barely organized to totally disorganized people out there, my daughter is the answer to your prayers.  She can organize her way out of a train wreck. 

I think I need a valium.

Outside my window...it is still dark and chilly, 46 degrees if the temp. on the computer is to be believed.  Still time to complete this before I go out to enjoy the sunrise. Finally we are getting into some real end of the summer days, not that I want summer to end but the heat and humidity that we have "enjoyed" for a lot of this season I can honestly do without. Perfect days of temps. in the 60's and 79's and evenings and nights that dip into the 40's are what this time of year is all about.

I am thinking...about family.  Family doesn't grow you build family I have decided.  Now that Melissa and Layn have been here for so many months I cannot imagine our lives without them.  All those years of trying to adopt a child and failing makes me think that God was telling us to wait 'cause Melissa was going to be the other daughter that we so desired.

I am thankful for...a husband who is so sensitive to the stresses and hurts that his wife has been going through.  Thank you my love for the wonderful getaway.  The mountains worked their magic and have helped lift the burden of sadness from my heart.

From the schoolroom....in spite of the fact that it is Labor Day Matthew and I will celebrate by laboring at our continued education.

From the kitchen....that is a good question.  Any suggestions are gratefully welcome but may not necessarily be executed due to a decided lack of ingredients.

I am wearing...navy scrub pants and a grey hoodie. It's a bit nippy around here!

I am creating...good grades I hope.  Let us hope that the extra credit assignment that I did for Biology helps!

I am going...nowhere fast!  Actually I hope that I shall be staying home today.  Home is the best place to be and I never like to leave it.

I am reading....The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our minds.  Can't remember the author off-hand but it is a good read.  I highly recommend this book for parents.

I am hoping....Ian gets his acreage plowed without any problems. He just fixed the plow and the tractor so it would be nice to get it all down without incident.

I am hearing....the clock ticking, the water pump running, the peepers in the trees outside, and the sounds of the house stretching and scratching and getting ready to start a new day.

Around the house....it is still dark and I am glad of that.  This place is a disaster!  I don't know if a bomb or a maid is in order.

One of my favorite things...the evening we spent last night. Sitting around here playing with Layn, eating good food (that southern girl is a good cook) and just simply being together.

A few plans for the rest of the week....praying and working and studying and doing everything as if it all depended on me and praying as if it all depended on God.  Yep! that about sums it up.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

And so it begins.  Friday morning before he left for work Doug spent some time splitting wood.  Everyday they will whittle (pun intended) away at the pile until it is all split and stacked and ready to be burned.  Any time any of us gets a few minutes and the urge for a workout the pile and the go-devil beckon.

I don't know if it shows up well but Layn is into brown rice lately.  He even wears it well.  I guess I am going to have to lock up my store of rice.  The way that kid eats I won't have any left for myself.