Way to Go America!

I am so proud of our country today. Yesterday, we elected our next president, Barack Obama. The way in which he was elected was historic. There was record voter turnout- the highest percentage of voters to come out since world war II. Young people age 18-29 also came out in record numbers. We exercised our right and responsiblity to vote! Yay America!!

No matter who you voted for, you have to be proud that most Americans came out and let their voice be heard. There has to be a winner, and by sheer virtue of that fact, there will be some people unhappy with the outcome. The result of the election will not change, so instead of being upset or angry, look to the future and ask "What can I do to improve this country?". (While there are many right answers to this question, there are quite a few wrong ones too.)

I am proud to be a citizen of this country today. We were able to elect a president who happens to be African-American; race did not play a front-line role in this election from the way it looks today. Our country has fought so hard since the time of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Look how far we've come America!!!

Barack Obama's story is inspiring. He grew up in Hawaii, the son of a single mother. He worked hard at school with the help of his mother and was able to get a quality education. Then, when he graduated law school, he could have become a wealthy partner in a prestigious law firm. Instead, he took his talent back to Chicago where it was needed. From there he rose into the state senate and then eventually the US Senate and now he will become the 44th president. (Did you know: Barack Obama was turned away from the 2000 Democratic National Convention because his "credentials" weren't adequate?)

This historic presidency proves to all Americans: work hard and you can accomplish your dreams. I look forward to January to see how Barack Obama will begin his term as President of this, the finest country in the world, The United States of America.

CONGRATS BARACK!!!

GET READY TO VOTE!!

So here is my official "make sure you vote" post.  I honestly can't wait for the election to finally be over, because it seems to dominate so much of the media, most of the airtime dedicated to this election is negative in focus.  

It doesn't matter who you vote for! Make sure you exercise your right to vote.  It's more than a right, it's a duty as a citizen of our fine nation.  If you haven't registered yet, it is probably too late to do so for this election.  Make sure you register now for the next election so you don't miss out.  Just google "voter registration ____(your state)" and you should be able to download voter registration forms.

Now, here's my pitch as to why you should vote for Barack Obama.  

1) The Republican Administration has been in Washington for Eight Years and has doubled the national deficit, started two wars, and watched our economy go down the toilet with deregulation.

2) Barack Obama supports tax cuts for any family who makes $200,000 or less, which is most american families in the middle class.  John McCain supports capital gains tax cuts (which only really help RICH people) and tax cuts for businesses.  

3) Barack Obama supports education.  He has proposed a $4,000 grant to any student who is willing to contribute 100 hours of community service per year (about 2 hours/wk).  This will help more people get to college and improve our society!

4) John McCain's health care "plan" is not very good.   He wants to give a $5000 tax credit (directly to insurance companies).  The average health plan (not the "gold-plated cadillac" plan) costs about $12,000.  So his credit leaves the average person 7,000 short for health coverage. He also plans to tax health benefits provided by employers (so more money coming out of your pocket every paycheck).  He also plans to make cuts in Medicare and Medicaid to finance this tax credit.  As a physician, I know that Medicare is already terribly underfunded.  Barack's plan is better.  There is no perfect solution to our healthcare crisis, but cutting funding to Medicare and Medicaid will sink the proverbial healthcare ship, for sure!

5) Judgment is a huge part of being president.  When John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his VP candidate, we saw that he is anything but "Country First".  She is the governor of the least populated state, has no foreign policy experience and is "dangerously" underqualified to become president should anything happen to McCain.  She doesn't know what the job of the VP is, and despite being asked on several occasions, she never bothered to find out.  It is painfully obvious that since the campaign has kept her from doing interviews with real journalists (who might ask her "hard" questions), they know she is underqualified.  She was picked to appease the republican base, which is "Election First", not "Country First".  

6) The tone of the campaign is  troublesome as well.  While Barack Obama has focused on issues, and his plans for the economy, healthcare and education, John McCain has focused on character attacks, and tried to connect Obama with terrorists. He misconstrues Obama's policies, and frequently mentions how Obama voted against funding our troops in Iraq.  Here's the key: MC CAIN ALSO VOTED AGAINST THE SAME BILL.   The McCain campaign assumes that "Joe Six Pack" and other "real americans" are stupid.   It's insulting.

Okay, rant over. Please vote.  I encourage you to vote for Barack Obama, but as long as you vote, I'll be happy.  Thank you!!!

The Importance of Family

I obviously haven't been perseverating quite enough on this blog- my last post being in August! :-O I've been on vacation for the past two weeks (today is my last day!) and I've had a lot of time to think about a lot of stuff.  So here we go.

My sister got married last friday.  She looked absolutely beautiful.  That's what everyone always says.  I found something more meaningful in her wedding.  She acted beautiful.  When I saw her say her vows to her new husband, I was overcome with a profound sense of happiness for both of them.  I mentioned this in my toast- she has truly found her "one and only."  They both are perfect for eachother, and they complement each other so well.   They will make a beautiful family (they already have a great start!).  I pray that God will bless them with lots of little kiddies!

Of course with weddings comes the reception- and my family knows how to make a reception fun! It was so great to spend the time with all of my cousins and aunts/uncles.  We danced all night, pausing only to eat dinner and make a few trips to the bar.  (Some of us more than others....)  Everyone had such a great time.  I realized then that I LOVE MY FAMILY.  Sure, I always loved them, but for some reason, it struck me then stronger than ever.

Not too long ago (in August), we lost my grandfather.  He was so important to all of us, and we were all very sad when he passed away.  We knew it was better for him, so he didn't have to suffer and so he could be with Grandma again, but we still were sad.  We all pulled together then and I was proud to be part of such a great family.   In good times and bad, we are a great family!!

We'll have plenty more weddings- my sister and I were only the first two.  In 2009 we have three, and I'm sure that's only the beginning too!!  Being one of 23 grandchildren means going to a lot of weddings!

I used to worry that once Grandma and Pop were gone that our family would lose touch, just based on shear size.  I now see that I was worrying for little reason- we have a strong bond that can't be broken that easily.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! :-D

Pokeberries

I don't know if anyone reading this has ever had experience with pokeberries. For your sakes, I hope not!

This big leafy plant has taken over my yard with its fertility. In the beginning of the summer, I noticed one growing near the fence in my backyard. I cut it back, and thought that was the end of it. I came out a couple weeks later (it's been VERY hot- hard to even get out to look at the backyard!!) and come to find lots of little pokeberry plants scattered through my butterfly garden. I pulled them up and when I turned around to walk to put the clippings in my compost pile, I noticed two GIANT pokeberry plants on the other side of the yard.

The stems on these things are like tree bark. And they get very large very fast! Then they have these obnoxious purple-red berries which will dye anything red. AND the berries are poisonous. Just a great little plant, right?

Now, I don't have any kids yet, but I'm going to be sure to rid my yard of this weed before I have any kids running around in my backyard. Those berries look very similar to blueberries, and if I was a kid, I might have tried to eat one. And then had respiratory depression and died. Seriously, that is listed as one of the toxic reactions to eating these berries.

Oh, how I love yardwork. LOL

Thanks for reading........

~a

Bath Fitter Commercials

So what is the deal with the accents on those Bath Fitter Commercials? There have been three separate people, all of different ethnicities, speaking about bath fitter with the same accent. This is an accent I have never heard before. It's not Southern, it's not mid-western, it's certainly not north eastern, I don't know where it's from!

Anyone know??

Reverting Back

My work can get pretty stressful. I am sometimes faced with situations that require immediate action, and if I'm not 100% right, bad things can happen. Luckily, this isn't a day-in and day-out occurrence, but when it does happen, I need some way to forget about it.

I have recently re-discovered the wonderful world of coloring. Yes, coloring, as in books and crayons, sometimes markers, maybe even a colored pencil or two. Prior to my rediscovery, I probably haven't colored since I was like ten. (And as I recall, I was terrible at it- I never had "the eye" that my sister seemed to, she was the artsy one, i was the "intellectual" one- which translates into sloppy artist, bad colorer, and the "what not to wear" fashion plate)

So as it turns out, the seventeen year hiatus from coloring seems to have improved my skills. I'm not completely sure why, maybe I pay more attention to detail than I did when I was a kid. I can't say improved motor skills have anything to do with it- I don't think we humans gain many motor skills that we didn't have when we were ten.

For christmas last year, my husband bought me a box of 96 Crayola Crayons (with a sharpener in the box!!) and a huge Disney's Cars coloring book. (It was more like a poster book that you could color- the thing is huge!!) I was so excited! I couldn't wait to start on a fresh page!! So the obsession began. I still have the same box of 96 crayons and that first coloring book. The other day we were in Walgreens buying a card for someone, and we wandered into the coloring book section. There was this awesome 300 page Sesame Street coloring book for like 3 bucks, so I just had to get it.

Now, I know what you are thinking. This girl is freakin' crazy. She must have fallen and hit her head or something. Before you start thinking that only a crazy person would color in her late twenties, try it. It is so incredibly relaxing. It takes little to no brain power and in the end you have a (relatively) beautiful creation!! I find that I can listen to my music and I am like a totally happy little clam!!

I have thought about scanning in some of my pictures to post, but that might be a little too crazy, and I'm afraid the wax from the crayons will get on my scanner glass and wreak havoc. So you'll just have to use your imagination, or create some coloring masterpieces of your own!!!

have a wonderful day and thanks for reading...
~A

First Post

The title of this blog is a running joke between my husband and I. We were at a meeting for the adults involved in the youth ministry at our church, and we were talking about some idea for something (yes, I know, that's very specific). I can't remember what it was, but I was really into it, and kept bringing it back up. Then finally I said "Sorry I'm perseverating on this- I just think it's a great idea!"

*BLANK STARES*

My husband says to me: "You what?" "Is that even a word?"
I proceeded to explain that the word perseverate means to continually focus on something, even though you probably shouldn't anymore. The rest of the group never heard the world either. I picked up the word on one of my psych rotations, and didn't realize that it was probably psych jargon until I used it in common language. Oops.

So this blog will be the host of my perseverations and other things I find entertaining.
Thanks for reading!
~A