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Or, one woman’s oversimplification of what is wrong with electing a third party president in 2012 (And trust me, I’d love to.)
The Hatfields (Democrats) and the McCoy’s (Republicans) have family in the Senate and in the House. They’re always fighting over who is stingy, who’s a spendthrift, and what should or shouldn’t be done.
The rest of the country are pretty fed up with them so instead of voting in another Hatfield or McCoy… they decide to vote in a Jones. This’ll fix it, right? Jones has a plan to clean up the house and the senate. He’s ready to sweep out the garbage and scrub down the halls. There’s only one problem. This isn’t a monarchy. Or a dictatorship. We don’t even have an Emperor. This is a republic (not a democracy which most people forget). The president doesn’t have much power. He can veto. He can suggest. But without the support of congress, his hands are tied.
The best way to get the Hatfields and McCoys on the SAME team is to pit them against a Jones president. Just voting in a Jones isn’t going to fix the problem.
However, if the Jones’ decided that they’d work to fill mayoral shoes, state representative shoes, gubernatorial shoes, senatorial shoes, and house shoes… (not slippers) then when they tried for White House shoes… there would be someone to help them work their agenda.
Until we have the third party we want, in city and state government as well as congressional seats, electing a third party president is a waste of another four years.
Photo courtesy of Istockphoto.com
I didn’t think we had it but alas, today I got an eyeopener. Now, we don’t have a collection of three hundred bed pans or fifty dead remotes form machines we haven’t owned for years. We don’t have exercise paraphernalia that we never use for more than a clothing ‘valet’ or a collection of trolls from 1984. My husband doesn’t have a ‘workshop’ of tools he’s never used or used once and my children have a fraction of the number of toys that the average American children have.
But today, we had to move everything up off the floor. All closets emptied, all book cases moved, all the storage under the living room pew set on the table. The result is absolutely amazing. Our living room table is COVERED (100″ table) Of course, part of what is on it is a chair and similar things but still… My bed… is loaded. Nothing is frivolous per se… a guitar, crates of pictures, Kevin’s bicycle trainer and pumps, the suitcase… Even the piano bench I think. But still, there is stuff. Everywhere. We’re loaded with stuff.
I am not of the “it’s evil to own a bunch of stuff while the rest of the world has little” camp. I consider everything we own to be a blessing and a gift from the Lord and I am thankful that we have the means and opportunity to appreciate it. I am, however, wondering how much of what I see is worth the space we allocate to it. I keep looking at what is up on the living room table and it’s used/able stuff. At the moment (in preparation for this extermination) I see
- Fan- we use it every day. It has to stay. We’re desert rats. We need our fans.
- Chair- we use it every day. Anything that increases seating is a must.
- Two wooden folding chairs. Used daily. See above.
- Air purifier. Used during fire season. It doesn’t need to be in here year round but where else do we put it? It can’t get dirty, it needs to be easily accessible for the rare times an oven smokes or something.
- Bike trainer that we don’t use/need anymore (had to get a different one for Kevin’s new bike)
- Drill box. Need the drill.
- Tool bag. Need the tools.
- Serger. Must. Keep.
- Sewing Machine. Must. Keep.
- Trash can. I like having one near me.
- Cart for carrying books around the homeschool convention. I think it needs to go to the shed, don’t you?
- Wheeled luggage dolley we bought to help a kid with her route once. Don’t need it anymore! Why is it STILL in the closet?
- Nebulizer. Can’t live with out it. Dad burn it.
- Kleenex. I’ll keep it.
- Folded clothes… I’m thinking we probably have too many. That’s common this time of year.
- Sock basket (we need to cut half of the socks out of our lives)
On the bench we have…
- An empty box
- A fabric tote
- The Roman Coliseum
- More fabric
- Plastic drawers for paper, pens, etc
- Plastic drawers for sewing supplies
That’s just the living room. Let’s not forget little things like my bed, the boy’s room, the girl’s room etc.
It is time to do something. I don’t know what, but it’s time to do it.
What to do?
Or: How to rob a bank in Ridgecrest.
A funny thing happened on Saturday. Our family had pictures taken. While normally this would be humorous enough, this time, we had extraneous humor tacked on for good measure. Our friend and her boyfriend came along to snap the full family group shot and her boyfriend was thirsty. We’re at the college. It’s quite simple. Get a drink, right? So, he opens the door (it isn’t locked so opening is quite easy I might add) and BLAM! Alarms go off like it is Tiffany’s at midnight. Boyfriend runs. I mean, who wouldn’t?
Forty-five minutes or so later, we see an officer zipping up the hill. Every other minute or so for the next five or ten minutes another one zips up behind him. At least four or five officers and a sheriff arrived. Unfortunately, at that particular moment, we sent Nolan and Mike (the boyfriend) to get a pellet gun from the car for one of the picture shots. Can you see it? One of the officers, a friend of ours, questioned Mike. Mike explained what happened and eventually was allowed to go.
But, I still can’t stop thinking of the perfect Ridgecrest robbery. Go up to the college. Set off an alarm. Drive to the bottom of the hill. Wait for four or five cars to zip by… then race off to do the dastardly deed. All officers are far away looking for a crazy intruder and you are racing out of town with the loot.
Too bad stealing is a sin.
Convicted Inspired.
I opted for the um… “positive” version. While I don’t want to “Pollyanna-ize” my life, I do want to recognize that I’m just as vulnerable to discouragement as the next person and I don’t need to add to the valid burdens in my life with extraneous ones that may or may not be beneficial.
So, I was working on editing another one of my books. I do that from time to time… and it happens to be one that “gets me” every time. I almost envy the main character. Overnight her memory is wiped clear and she knows nothing of herself, her family (the part I wouldn’t want) or her friends and surroundings. Everything is a beginning- fresh. It is the epitome of Anne Shirley’s epiphany- “Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it.” There aren’t even any memories of yesterday’s mistakes. What a dream.
This character wakes up, discovers who she is, and doesn’t like what she sees. She can find little in who she is to respect so she changes. She doesn’t want to be a bad housekeeper, so she begins to take care of the house, improves it, etc.. She doesn’t like how slovenly she is, so she changes it. She sees the person in the mirror and doesn’t like what she sees so she makes the changes necessary to lose excess weight, take care of her appearance, find clothing that fits etc. In every area of her life, she makes changes, sometimes not realizing it until another person tells her yet again, just how different she is now.
Could I do it? Could I wake up one morning and work hard, all day long, not doing what “needs to be done” or “going along with the normal flow” but truly living the life I want regardless of whether it’s normal for me? Could I make radical changes in my life to reflect what I want it to be rather than what it is? (note the “my life” rather than the “our lives”… I don’t want to put my family through the roller coaster of what is or isn’t “me”) . I don’t know but I’m very tempted to try it. I am strongly tempted to try it. I’ve almost decided to do it.
But I wonder… is the true me the one that comes naturally or is the true me the one who is inside struggling to get out?
And is it a little weird that I am inspired and … sigh… convicted by one of my “imaginary friends” in one of my many unedited novels?
