Everything is BIG in Texas!

When I lived in Ontario, Canada, everybody there knew that everything is big in Texas! We also knew lots of songs about the Lone Star State including the first line . . . The Stars at Night are Big and Bright . . . Deep in the Heart of Texas!

So, for the last two days, we have seen all the headlines about a swirling bright ball curving through the sky over approximately Dallas.

Well, I have lived in Texas for 12 years now and really, folks, I am just wondering - what is all the fuss about? Isn't this what everyone expects of Texas?

Bigger, Brighter, Better - swirling through the sky! Nobody was hurt and no harm done!

FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said the fireball seen across a wide stretch of the state Sunday morning "probably was a natural phenomenon and not debris from last week's space collision."

Time to move on and let's hear another round of real phenomenon - GM & Chrysler asking us taxpayers for more money. Whoa!

A Little Pep Talk!

As I get older, it becomes more and more obvious to me that we must never give up! When we have something we want in life, we must work at getting that!

Some of us have to work all the time to keep our weight down. We can never give up - not even for one day because it is very easy to gain back weight we have lost!

Perhaps weight is not a problem for you. Perhaps something else is difficult and gives you a tough time.

Friends play a big part in our having a fine life. Many of my friends . . . especially those at a distance, I keep in touch with via e-mail, but I do keep in touch! Now that we have Facebook and MySpace, we can keep in touch very easily. It is good to have people who will remind us of the things we want and encourage us to keep trying to get it right.

Right now I am doing well with my weight and I know I can get it down a little more if I exercise every day as well as watching what I eat. So that means, I have to work at it. I cannot let it get away from me for even a day!

For you, it might be something different you need to do. I know one gal who has two children and has now gone back to get her university degree. It is hard to do things like that, but if we have a team of friends cheering for us, we can do pretty much whatever we set our minds to do.

It is important to make sure our "friends" are all on our team and really wanting good things for us. We need to weed out people who do not have our best interest in their thoughts.

I think a lot of us are not as good friends to ourselves as we should be! We need to take a better look at what we do well. Concentrating on what we do well and improving ourselves every day makes us feel good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, it is easy to feel good about those around us.

Learn to shake off people who are unkind or do not have your best interest in their thoughts. Be civil to them, but don't concentrate on mean things they might have said. Just keep on improving what you yourself do well!

Another way to make friends and feel really good about yourself, is to think about the other person and notice what might be bothering them. You can help that person and feel good about yourself at the same time. People who focus on others have less time to worry about themselves. Soon everything just naturally goes smoother!

Hope you are having a fine day and planning to have an even finer day tomorrow!

What To Do On Sundays!

I imagine for most people Sundays are different from other days. Some people do go to church, setting the pattern for the day, but I think anyone who does not work on Sunday tends to make it a restful day.

People with families can visit other family across town while some parents will take their children somewhere like the park, a movie, shopping or for a meal. It's a day for being together and hopefully you do not have to be alone.

I think people without family are the loneliest on Sundays. So, if you know someone who might be alone, it is a nice idea to call them or invite them some place.

I suspect that dogs get a little mixed up on Sundays. Buddy, our Lhasa, knows Sundays have a different routine. First he has to wait longer while Keith puts on shirt and tie rather than his usual golf shirt. He waits and waits to get his breakfast and romp outside.

When I come out to our breakfast on Sunday, Buddy always checks my outfit. He jumps up in approval that I am wearing what he considers "best".

(Of course, it is harder for Buddy than it was for dogs of the past when we wore hats and dresses to church - those dogs had it easy to know their masters were going to church!)

By the time we have been to church, then to lunch and then perhaps run an errand, Buddy is just about fed up with the waiting for us to come back home. When we are back, he is just about beside himself from waiting so long!

We usually treat him to vanilla ice cream and we kick back and have a nap in our recliners as I imagine many folks do. Buddy does not like to let Keith nap for much longer than an hour before hopping up to waken him to do something fun. (One assumes Buddy has napped while we were out.)

I hope you have family to enjoy and a "Buddy" to remind you how to behave when you have Sunday off!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday, The 13th

I was born on May 13th and since I was 13 months old on a Friday, the 13th, they put my photo in the newspaper suggesting I was not superstitious!

Things went relatively well for me as far as the number 13 went until my father died on my 22nd birthday.

My Mother was a superstitious person and after Dad's death, she worried about everything involving the number 13. We call that fear "triskaidekaphobia", which we might have difficulty pronouncing! Mother would back away from anything involving the number 13th.

Most of us cannot do that and must press on (as the British say) with the day's work.

There are many beliefs as to why 13 is a "bad number" but the one I think of is Jesus' Last Supper where thirteen were gathered and one (Judas) betrayed him. I think most people do not like to have thirteen seated for dinner. (In Paris, a quatorzieme, or professional 14th guest can be hired.)

Some numerologists feel that the number 13 simply suffers from its position after 12 which they consider to be a perfect number. There are 12 months in a year; 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 in a dozen (excluding that wonderful "baker's dozen" of 13) . You get the idea!

In large cities with tall buildings, quite often the 13th floor is skipped and hospitals often have no Room 13, hotels and apartments, no number 13.

This year, there are three Friday the Thirteenths - today, March 13 and November 13th. So we should just get used to it!

Do remember that tomorrow is Valentine's Day and today will be unlucky for you if you forget that special card and perhaps a box of candy or a bouquet of flowers! (It's not the same if you have to run out in the middle of the day to purchase these!)

Hope your day goes well!

How Did She Get To Know About Dogs?

YOU WANNA WATCH WESTMINISTER - THAT'S OKAY BY ME (Buddy the Lhasa watches from his armchair)

For those of you who do not know, I jumped into the deep end of the Purebred Dog Fancy when I married International All-Breed Dog Show Judge John Devlin in 1977. We owned and bred Scottish Terriers, Lhasa Apso and Shih Tzu. Because we travelled and were often entertained by dog fanciers, I quickly learned as much as I could about as many breeds as possible. That way, I would be able to chat to whoever was seated next to me.

I loved watching dog shows and made lots of friends but showing dogs was really not my favorite thing to do. When I was widowed and ultimately married Engineer Keith Sutton, moving from Toronto to East Texas, I brought my last two homebred Shih Tzu to join Keith's two senior cats.

Having written from when I was about nine years old, it was natural that I wrote about purebred dogs for magazines and newspapers. Of course, I also wrote about the travel we did. I was very fortunate to travel most of Canada, some of the northern U.S. and to Bermuda, Dominican Republic and Venuzeula. As you know, I still love to write - it is my passion!

Buddy, our Lhasa Apso, who is now five, was born in Nacogdoches (Oldest Town in Texas) and raised at Lucas Lhasas on Martha Street there. They have shown fine Lhasas for many years and perhaps held Buddy back, thinking he might be good to show. We first met him when he was 10 months old. I went over him and assessed him and also looked at other Lhasas they had available. Buddy appealed to me and had wonderful color and great structure. I knew he was a little bit "Texas Size" but Keith and I were not thinking of showing him.

When we first brought him home, Buddy was a little shy but he has grown to be a happy, outgoing and very intelligent dog. We have been very blessed with him!

This year, the Canadian Kennel Club has made me a Life Member. I am honored and happy about that!

Canadian Alert! Westminister on TSN Tonight!

Canadians will be able to watch the first night of Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show on TSN (The Sports Network) tonight! You'll love it!

"Stump" Winning Westminister - Senior Citizen Does It Again!

This year's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City was a great one! As you have seen, The Sporting Group Winner, a Sussex Spaniel named "Stump" took the entire show!

Veteran Judge, Sari Brewster Tietjen gave the nod to the ten-year-old with a story to tell, Ch. Clussex Three D Grinchy Glee.

In 2004, Stump won the Sporting Group at Westminister. After that, for reasons nobody knows, Stump's body apparently just shut down. His owners took him to Texas A & M Veterinary Hospital where they kept him for 19 days. Magically, the vets managed to save him and get him back up and running.

Stump has been in retirement, living the good life in Houston. We say that "once a show dog, always a show dog" and his owners must have thought hard about that. This year, they decided to take Stump back to Westminster. History was made! "Stump" is now the oldest dog and the first of his breed to win Westminster which has been going for 133 years.

The standard for the Sussex Spaniel calls for a cheerful and tractable disposition. His gait is rolling and deliberate but not clumsy. You could see the perservence as "Stump" came round the ring!

Translated into human years, "Stump" is the equivalent of about 70. Many times I have been to Specialty Shows (for one breed only) where older, retired dogs have been entered. Over and over, I have seen the tenacity and perservance. They just love dog shows; they love the applause and they love to win!

Once the dogs reach the Best in Show ring, generally we expect they are all good dogs. Each has been assessed against his own standard for his breed. In the Group ring, we look to see if this dog is more to his standard than this other dog is true to the standard for his own breed.

Once the dogs reach the Best in Show ring, we look to see if - in this case - "Stump" portrays the standard for his breed better than say, the Poodle or the Puli portray their standards.

At this level, we are also looking at each dog's personality and showmanship.

Last night, "Stump" had it all! Let's hear it for the seniors!

2009 Westminister Best In Show!

A Ten-year-old Sussex Spaniel, "Stump", a Texan, has won Westminister Kennel Club Best In Show tonight!

Westminister Group Winners - Night Two

Sporting Group Winner: Sussex Spaniel


Toy Group: Brussels Griffon


Working Group: Giant Schnauzer

Tuesday Update on Westminister K.C. Dog Show - Follow Down Through Blogs for More Info

CAN A PULI WIN BEST IN SHOW AT WESTMINISTER TONIGHT?

Tonight - Day 2 of the Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show - begins at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern) and 7:00 p.m. Central on USA Channel and will continue on the same channel for three hours.

Tonight's Groups will be Sporting (Cocker Spaniels, Irish Setter, Labradors), Working (Boxer, Doberman, Saint Bernard) and Toys (Pomeranian, Shih Tzu, Chuhauhua) followed by Best In Show.

Last night's winners were:

Hound Group - Scottish Deerhound - Gayleward's Tiger Woods

Terrier Group - Scottish Terrier - Roundbon Mercedes of Marepot (Amstamm Kennels bred)

Non-Sporting - Standard Poodle (Black) Randenn Tristar Affirmation

Herding Group - Puli - Cordmaker Filed Of Dreams

As mentioned before, these dogs are at a disadvantage in that they have been relaxing since their wins. Tonight's group winning dogs will come off their wins, still in top form ready to go back into the ring. For them, the show never stopped.

I did have a favorite last night, but this dog has to be in the same form, of course and we have not yet seen tonight's winners. I liked the Puli. The Puli just seemed to have that little extra and more personality than one generally sees from that breed. Incidentally, the 4-year-old Puli, named Cordmaker Field of Dreams, is from Raleigh, NC, where I just happen to have friends working at TV Station Carolina 14. A Puli has never won Best in Show at Westminister!

Hope you enjoy tonight's Westminister and of course, the Best In Show competition is generally the most interesting! Remember - once they make it to Best In Show - we are looking at the Best of the Best!

What Are The Dog Judges Looking For When Judging a Dog Show? See Next Three Blogs for Details of Westminster K.C. Dog Show!

This is a Lhasa Apso, all beauifully groomed and ready to be shown.

What is the Dog Show Judge looking for when he is judging the dogs?

First he or she is looking at how each individual dog compares to that breed's standard. There is a standard for each breed which outlines mostly physical components and sometimes contains remarks like, "Should not be . . . " Here is the Standard for the Lhasa Apso, which just happens to be the breed we have right now. This is the standard, verbatim, from the American Kennel Club by which each Judge is required to assess each Lhasa Apso:

A.K.C. Lhasa Apso Breed Standard (Non-Sporting Group)

Character
Gay and assertive, but chary of strangers.

Size
Variable, but about 10 inches or 11 inches at shoulder for dogs, bitches slightly smaller.

Color

All colors equally acceptable with or without dark tips to ears and beard.

Body Shape
The length from point of shoulders to point of buttocks longer than height at withers, well ribbed up, strong loin, well-developed quarters and thighs.

Coat
Heavy, straight, hard, not woolly nor silky, of good length, and very dense.

Mouth and Muzzle
The preferred bite is either level or slightly undershot. Muzzle of medium length; a square muzzle is objectionable.

Head
Heavy head furnishings with good fall over eyes, good whiskers and beard; skull narrow, falling away behind the eyes in a marked degree, not quite flat, but not domed or apple-shaped; straight foreface of fair length. Nose black, the length from tip of nose to eye to be roughly about one-third of the total length from nose to back of skull.

Eyes
Dark brown, neither very large and full, nor very small and sunk.

Ears
Pendant, heavily feathered.

Legs
Forelegs straight; both forelegs and hind legs heavily furnished with hair.

Feet
Well feathered, should be round and catlike, with good pads.

Tail and Carriage
Well feathered, should be carried well over back in a screw; there may be a kink at the end. A low carriage of stern is a serious fault.

Approved July 11, 1978

In the Lhasa standard, characteristics are mentioned. The term gay, used here means happy and assertive means the dog should hold his own ground. Then it goes on to state he should be "chary" of strangers: he should stand up for himself and be alert for those unknown to him. This refers to the guarding instincts of this breed.

The rest of the standard for this breed goes into physical detail.

The color often preferred was golden or lion-like and some judges will gravitate to this color still.

The Lhasa gait is very beautiful to watch as he strides around the ring. One judge used to say, "They present their pads to me as they walk away", because you could not see their feet otherwise.

So, each breed has its own standard and the judge is judging each breed to its own standard.

Next, the judge decides - and this is his or her own opinion - if this dog represents his standard better than the next dog of another breed.

Finally, the judge will be looking at how a dog behaves. Does he gait when asked by his handler? Does he ignore the other dogs and look like he knows why he is there? You will notice that some dogs are "born show dogs" and just naturally know why they are there! And they are there to win!

Hope you enjoy the Shows!

Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show - Tuesday Three Blogs to Help you!

Pictured is the Shih Tzu from the Toy Group - A Lovely Companion Dog. (Unless you are showing your Shih Tzu, you probably keep him cut down.)

During the day on Tuesday, the breeds in The Sporting, Working and Toy Groups will be judged and there will be a Best of Breed chosen in each. In the Evening of Tuesday, Feburary 10, 2009, the winners of Best of Breed will advance to Group. In each Group, there will be four placements - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. When these three Groups are finished, the dogs who have placed 1st in each Group will move on to Best in Show.

Sporting Breeds include Cocker Spaniels, GoldenRetrievers, Labrador Retrivers, Vizslas.

Working Dogs include Boxers, Great Danes, Giant & Standard Schnauzers, Siberian Huskies

Toy Breeds include Bichon Frise, Cavalier King Charles, Shih Tzu, Brussels Griffons, Pomeranians

So, the Best in Show ring will have seven dogs (Four who won on Monday) competing. for Best of the Entire Show.

By the time a dog reaches the Best in Show Ring, one assumes he is a pretty good dog and save something unusual happening, you will be looking at seven fine dogs.

Any dog can have a bad day and it is generally felt that the dogs who have competed for Breed and Group on that same day, (in this case, Sporting, Working and Toy) have a slight edge.

The other four had had 24 hours to forget they were at a dog show, eat something that didn't agree with them, stumble on something and be limping. Those are the things that can sometimes happen.

The one thing that discourages me the most when watching the dogs is to see one who has no clue why he is there. Now, at this level of dog shows, it doesn't happen very often. Most of these dogs LIVE to be at a dog show!

At the Best in Show level one assumes there are no bad dogs and that whichever dog is chosen is deserving.

Hope you enjoy the Show as much as I always do!

Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show - Monday

OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOGS TAKE A LOT A GROOMING BUT PROVIDE A LOT OF FUN FOR ALL OF US!

HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART FOR YOU TO GET RIGHT TONIGHT! AT 8:00 P.M. EASTERN (7:00 PM. CENTRAL), HAVE YOUR TV OR YOUR RECORDING DEVICE SET TO USA CHANNEL FOR ONE HOUR. AT 9:00 P.M. EASTERN (8:00 P.M. CENTRAL), YOU MUST SWITCH TO CNBC FOR TWO MORE HOURS. THE TOTAL GROUP JUDGING WILL BE FOR THREE HOURS.

(If you are in the Pacific Time Zone, the times will be the same, in other words, taped coverage, so do not go to the American Kennel Club Website as they will have already posted the winners.)

During the Day today, each breed from these Groups will be judged and a Best of Breed will be chosen to represent his or her Breed at the Group level.

Tonight, the Groups being judged will be Hound, Terrier, Non-Sporting and Herding.

The Hound Group includes Afghans, Basset Houds, Greyhounds, Salukis.

Terriers inlcude Airedales, Welsh Terriers, Westies and Scotties.

Non-Sporting breeds include Lhasa Apso, Standard Poodles. Bulldogs and Boston Terriers.

Herding breeds include Border Collies, Bouvier des Flandres, Collies, and German Shepherds and Old English Sheepdogs.

Getting Ready for Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show

If only all the dogs would behave like this Springer Spaniel!

I always have my paper and pen ready to judge right along with this show. The commentators are excellent and you get six hours today of some of the finishes dogs in the country today!

The Hounds, Terriers, Non-Sporting, and Herding breeds are judged on Monday and then on Tuesday, the Sporting, Working and Toys are judged.

The Groups are televised live each night. That’s when the four best dogs are chosen from the seven groups. The arena fills with anticipation. It has the feel of a grand pageant.

When the group winners have been picked, it’s time to choose the “Best In Show” dog. Best In Show is the Grand Finale on Tuesday night! ENJOY!

Let's Play Trivial Pursuit!

Do you have some board games up on a shelf? How long is it since you played a board game? Right now, there is a 20% increase in sales of boards games - you know, Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Sorry, Snakes and Ladders. Those last two are good ones when there are younger children in the household, the others can be enjoyed by older children and adults.

Monopoly was actually designed during the Great Depression and gave people the feeling of ownership and good times.

Of course, I have to tell you that Trivial Pursuit was created by a group of Canadians based in Hamilton, Ontario. This is probably my favorite as I seem to be able to hang on to lots of "useless" information and that is just what it takes to win this game!

Monopoly always had the allure of counting money and who doesn't like to count money - preferably real, of course!

Scrabble is an intellectual game where die hard players actually bring their own dictionaries.

These three games pretty much need a time set at the beginning of the game. You really have to say, "Okay, we will call it a game at 10:00 p.m."

For Trivial Pursuit, if there are more than two people playing, I like to make teams. That way, younger or weaker players are not embarrassed by older or stronger players.

If you have beverages, it is probably a good idea to have a couple of small tables to the side so nothing gets spilled on the game. Snacks are best left till later as chips or nuts tend to get the games sort of messy.

Generally each team has a pad of paper to keep tally. Of course, we all know to keep the rules to these games in the boxes.

If you do not have the rules, you can probably google them online and of course, every home whould have an According to Hoyle Game Rule Book.

It would be good to see families sitting round the kitchen table playing an old-fashioned board game again. If you haven't already, give it a try!

Driving Up Yonge Street - Where Will We Stop?

When we go to Toronto this spring, where will we go and how will it feel?

I am probably a little more attached to my home town than most people because I lived there pretty much continuously for over fifty years. There are certain places I have to go and some people I like to see.

It is easy to find a Swiss Chalet Restaurant - in almost any city in Canada. And the chicken tastes much like it did when young men would take me there when I was in my early 20s. I usually go there more than once. You can still get a quarter chicken dinner with fries, BBQ sauce for dipping and a side salad. It just costs a bit more, but even the Catalina-style dressing tastes the same.

The tough part for me now - and for Keith when he goes to Robinson, Illinois - is that there are less and less of our friends and relatives each time we go.

It has been almost two years since we were in Toronto and Port Hope. There are at least two less people to visit this time. It was the quickest trip we ever made to Toronto - in and out.

A major highlight, of course, is visiting young William who will be 6 - 1/2 when we see him. He always gives me a spectacular welcome. His Grandmother, Judy, will either make us a wonderful home-cooked meal or even better, she might take us to Swiss Chalet! (When you know how much I look forward to that, why would you knock yourself out cooking?)

Last time I saw Judy in person, she was facing some pretty serious surgery and we were all scared. She has done very well and I expect her to be pretty happy when I see her. Her hubby, Don, always makes us feel welcome as do the rest of their family.

Two years ago, we had lunch with my "old" friend who died last year. I didn't think of her as old but yes, we had been friends for 48 years.

This year, her husband will pick us up at our hotel and take us to his daughter's home - and she and her significant other will welcome us for dinner.

Cathie is so much like her grandmother, that I always have to smile when I see her. Do you know someone who reminds you more their grandparent than their parent?

Well, Cathie is trim and blond and, dresses very smartly. Her mother liked to be relaxed but grandmother Mary was more formal.

Mary wore lipstick at 8:30 in the morning. Her hair was always in place and she loved to wear shirtwaist dresses which suited her petite figure. Cathie is like that. Mary was very friendly - all those gals were outgoing and friendly.

Mary would get excited when she could introduce you to something "new" and I recall in the late 50s her discovery of a wonderful coffee creamer that was frozen when you brought it home, lasted three weeks in the frig and tasted delicious! That was Coffee Rich and I always think of Mary when I see that product. She had such an enthusiasm for life and passed it on to daughter and granddaughter.

Although I am sad to have lost my friend, I am honored that her family is enthusiastic about seeing us when we are there.

So that is a little of what we will be doing. I will let you in on some more things another day. There's a special friend who's wheelchair-bound and a son and daugther-in-law of my late cousin. There are some of the wonderful neighbors from Port Hope but they tell me the Dover Seafood House is closed. Hmm. . . things do change.

. . . Read All About It!

I have always wanted to know what was going on so I am always amazed when someone has not heard about something that has happened today that has been widely reported.

If you have some time on your hands, you can go to the C-SPAN TV channels and see what is happening in government right now. Quite often, they are broadcasting live from the House. So, you can see news being made right there!

The News Channels - CNN and FOX are the ones we have - give you pretty much all the news you want anytime you go there.

If it's Business News you want quickly, that would be Bloomberg, MSNBC or CNBC. They have tickers going throughout the day.

Here, the big stories can all be had after your local weekday news at 6 Eastern, 5 Central with the major networks on the half-hour.

If you want a full account of news and opinions, your daily newspaper gives all the details of local, national and international events. Newspapers tend to give more details and have featured columnists, comics, horoscope, entertainment, TV and movie info for your area;

You can also go to online websites for your local TV station which will include weather and local headlines for your area. The major networks also have sites.

If you are unsure where to go, just "google" what you want. I have spoken to more than one person who seemingly did not understand about googling. I tend to assume if you are reading this blog, you know how to google, but perhaps not. So, maybe someone could use this info:

There are several search engines including Ask.com, Yahoo.com, Dogpile.com and Alta Vista.com. Since Google is one of the best known search engines, the word "google" became a verb to do a search on your computer.

So, you can go to http://www.google.com and there will be a space where you can insert what you want to know. You put in the words to describe what you want, click where indicated, and several references will appear. To limit the number of answers displayed, make your question very precise. Once you are familiar with searching, you can easily and quickly find answers to just about anything. (It saves time and makes you look smart!)

The newspaper has columns and the computer has blogs to keep you up with ideas - opinions and editorials (op/ed).

The Obama administration has a very extensive website where you can see exactly what is being been done today. There is capability for you to send a message. Simply go to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov

One of the easiest ways today to keep up with everything - in real time - is Twitter. Go to:

http://www.twitter.com

and set up your own account.

You can select who you want to receive updates from and who you want to see your updates. Twitter lends itself to business people who like to promote what they are doing.

I think young people take a lot of things for granted because they have grown up with them. We seniors need to understand as much as we can about what is happening each day.

Just because people have computers and televisions available, doesn't necessarily mean they make the best use of them.

We have come a long way from walking up Yonge Street to catch a bus and hearing a man with an armful of papers barking the current headline, and saying,

". . . read all about it!"

Nothing Stylish About Being Broke!

I keep seeing interviews with "experts" re the part of the Stimulus Package where it is suggested that no executive of a company being bailed out shall receive employment compensation of more than $500,000 per annum.

Additionally, I keep hearing the comeback, "Well, if you want good people, you have to pay them!"

Hello? Is this some sort of "blond joke"?

Don't they get it? If there were more "good people" running the companies, less would need us - that's you and me - to bail them out!

What part of broke do these people not understand?

I've talked about all the mansions and luxury cars before. It is no secret that America is over-mortgaged and maxed out!

Let me share a fabulous concept about spending money. When we were kids, parents used to tell us, "Here's your allowance and remember: when it's gone, it's gone!"

Some time - oh, maybe in the 50s - credit cards came along and we all know that was the fall of the empire.

We have heard all the comments about credit cards and how handy they are. A debit card is handy. Yup, the money is taken out of your bank account right away. Makes perfect sense. It doesn't keep coming back every month with accrued interest.

You want to know what is handy? A wallet with some coins in the one part, small bills in another and twenties in another. (Some people know that I take pleasure in counting out the exact change.)

There is just something about counting out the cash and paying. Transaction complete.

Let me tell you, if you simply pay all your accounts online and give yourself some cash for smaller items, you are coming close to sanity. Using a debit card for groceries and large drug store purchases is fine, as long as that money is right there waiting to be removed from your account.

Purchasing something for twenty dollars or less and using a credit card . . . how did that start?

When two of you go to lunch, you can pay cash. Sure you can! Your guest knows how much things cost, because it was printed right there on the menu. Are you afraid the other person will see you are a cheap tipper? Oh . . . well, 15 - 20 percent should be fine. (Is there a possibility that some people cannot figure out the tip? Shame, shame. Take 10% and double it.)

So, could it possibly be pride that gets in the way of us having a peaceful relationship with money?

If you want to enjoy some one's company at lunch and you don't want to spend a lot, there are two things you can do. You can suggest going "Dutch" (splitting the bill) or a trip to Subway.

There is nothing stylish about being broke, but eating at Subway or Quiznos can be lots of fun.

What would Forest Gump Do? There was a fellow with very few worries! The line "Stupid is as stupid does" might fit! Who wants to be stylish and broke?

Two Weeks On The Job

After two weeks of Barack Obama in the White House, it is not business as usual. We have not fixed everything that is wrong but there is a calming sense we will turnaround at least some of the problems.

Everyday, we can follow Barack Obama as he works to make life more livable for all of us.

You gotta love a man who says, "I screwed up" in answer to one question and moves on to another.

You gotta love a man who furrows his brow when he is watching someone else speaking out of turn, even if that man is his Vice President.

So far, it looks like we haven't just made history, we have a man looking after things who is definitely in charge and going to make life a little better each day.

God Bless America and God Bless Barack Obama!