What Happened to Moderation? (rant alert!)

I am neither Republican nor Democrat, neither liberal nor conservative, and I vote for the persons I think will best serve all of us. I hate the labels we put on one another. Labels only serve to divide us – which I sometimes think is the goal of political parties. I truly believe that most of us want the same things, and that if you put us in a room together without any party affiliation or any labels, we could agree or at least compromise amicably on a great many things. I deplore the way politics is conducted, with little regard for what would best serve the public. Both parties twist the facts to their own ends. I can’t tell you how much I hate that! I consider myself a moderate. Like any family, we as a nation need to spend our resources prudently. We all need to contribute our fair share to our common benefit.

I have a very nice acquaintance whose company I enjoy, who I sometimes scrap with. We’ve discussed families, projects, and what’s going on in our lives, but never politics or religion. Yet on several occasions she has forwarded to me e-mails that really irk me: e.g., women receiving Medicaid should be required to have a birth control implant or a tubal ligation; people getting public assistance should lose the right to vote and should be housed in barracks. And lots more stuff like that which I find pretty harsh.

I will always come down on the side of the poor and disadvantaged. Does that make me a bleeding heart liberal? I think it makes me a more compassionate person. I have seen too many people struggling to make ends meet through no fault of their own -- more than ever in these tough economic times. How many people do you know who are trying, without success, to find a job? Or have lost their house? Declared bankruptcy? Been unable to afford to see the doctor? We should be ashamed of ourselves as a nation if we can’t help those less fortunate than we are.

So far I have ignored my friend and simply deleted her messages. What do I tell her? That the things she forwards me are pretty mean-spirited?

How about a little moderation in our country? You know, where reasonable people work together to solve problems and make life better for all of us.

A girl can dream….

Love Cards

Just some love cards on their way to OWH this week, along with some assorted thank you, missing you and thinking of you. Now I need to make a few cards for my own use: a few Christmas cards, a couple birthday cards, and I need to get going on valentines. I send out very few Christmas cards, mostly because I always feel overwhelmed anyway this time of year; but I make up for it by sending a valentine to each of my children, grandchildren and siblings.

Love Card for OWH

Believe it or not, OWH needs valentines by December 31. However, I think I'll do love-themed cards, which are good anytime. A company called Our Daily Bread Designs is donating the cost of shipping one large box to the troops for every 25 cards linked to the OWH blog by the end of the month (one link to a customer)  Here's one I did today:

I see I'm the 20th link and it's only the 7th of the month. So it looks like OWH will get at least one, and maybe even two, box ship donations this month! I complain about shipping costs all the time, and their expenses have to be huge, so this is a real nice offer.

Great Grandma's China

I just got back from a 3-week trip to Omaha, Naperville (Chicago) and Atlanta to visit family. While in Naperville, my sister offered, as she has for many years, to pack up some of our great grandmother's china for me. This time we were driving and not flying, so she carefully packaged this little tea set for me. They are totally not my style, but precious to me because they are family heirlooms. And frankly, it makes me want to have a tea party with my youngest granddaughter!

We always heard that the pieces were hand-painted by great grandma; yet many of the pieces have a china company name and logo on the bottom in addition to Mary's signature. Jack asked me today if the pieces were identical. Wow, I never thought of that! A good look today showed that neither the cups nor the saucers are identical to one another, although at a casual glance you wouldn't notice. Various pieces in the set are from different companies, yet except for the two pieces in the upper left they all match. An online search of one of the companies indicated that some of the pieces were available either plain or patterned. So, I'm thinking that Mary probably did paint them. Now why didn't I inherit her talent?

Operation Write Home joins World Cardmaking Day!

How fun that Operation Write Home is celebrating World Cardmaking Day with a blog hop! Participants are making a holiday card, and I can't wait to be inspired by all the great cards that will be posted. I made several using die cuts and paper from the Making Memories Colorful Christmas line:

OWH is a wonderful organization that collects cards to ship to our military in Afghanistan and Iraq so that they can have something nice to write home on. I so much enjoy making cards for them, and feel like I'm doing a good turn as well! Hope you will click the link below and hop on over to see more cards!

OWH Cards for September

I've been a busy little bee making cards for Operation Write Home, and I just accumulate them until I have enough to send. Some are from sketches on their website; some are sketches from a creative friend of mine; some just created themselves from bits of what I have on hand. I probably should pick a design and make a couple dozen of the same thing for efficiency's sake; but I have too much fun trying new things. I just packaged these up today to ship:

Plus this pretty card from my sweet and talented friend Norma Anne (I have to ask her how she tied that gorgeous, tangly gold thread):

And Saturday, October 1, OWH is hosting a blog hop to celebrate World Cardmaking Day. Go make a card! And if you don't know what to do with it, send it to OWH to bring a smile to the face of a soldier and his or her family.

A Touch of Color

For the past several years, we've had in mind that we would be moving; but the right opportunity hasn't presented itself yet, and we do have a small mortgage and a livable house in a decent, if modest, neighborhood. So we haven't bought new furniture or done any redecorating in a long time. I'm more than a little bored with white walls and status quo! Several months ago I bought these cute "lessons" post cards at a local wildlife rescue center. Among the lessons? It's OK to be a little nuts (from a squirrel). Spread seeds of joy (from a wildflower). Take thyme for yourself (from a garden). Michael's had a big sale on frames and I bought 3 simple ones, backed the post cards with cardstock, and hung them in the bedroom interspersed with 2 Donna Downy foam stamps I always thought were pretty enough to hang. The photo angle is off because I had to stoop down to avoid a reflection, but they make me smile every time I wake up and see them!

Now if we could just find somewhere nice to move to with a craft room for me, I could hang them there! And I will DEFINITELY not have white walls in MY room!