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My Health Journey in Retirement

  • Posted on November 6, 2023 at 6:07 pm

Today I was thinking how I have been wanting to share my health journey with others because it might be helpful to someone. I don’t even know if anyone will read this but hopefully, if it helps even one person, it will be worth writing.

My journey started back in June of 2020. My friend had suddenly died in her sleep and she was only 58. I immediately was in a state of shock. I was living in my new home in Cadillac, the one that she rode up to see with me when I was curious about it. She was there when I decided this was the one! I had spoken with her a couple weeks before. She had gone up to Lansing to drop off her money for the family Wharton Center tickets. She was happy and excited but both of us were worried about this Covid 19 disease. When I first heard of her death it was through the horrible Facebook posting of a couple of friends. I at first thought they must be talking about Ellen DeGeneres. They weren’t. That week I became extremely tired. I had to go lie down. I felt unusually exhausted. I remember walking across the street to the lake and having to stop to catch my breath. I just figured it was stress and shock from my recent news. However, it was much more and the beginning of a bigger issue.  Of course, being one of 14 kids I was always raised to tough it out. I also didn’t like to go to doctors and rarely did even though I had good healthcare.

June stretched into July and I became very ill. I thought I had food poisoning from my local Burger King.  If only it were that. I became violently ill. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom for many days. I could only urinate and vomit. I didn’t pick up my mail for several days, so my mail lady called the police for a wellness check. They said they could call an ambulance. Of course I told them that I thought I was getting better. What a crock! That was on a Thursday. By Sunday, I told my sister I would go in on Monday.  She told me I was going right now. She called my brother to come help me go to the hospital. So, I did!

I ended up having a complete blockage and a hernia!  They were ready to put me in an ambulance to go to Traverse City for surgery. I called my son to let him know what was going on. As I am talking, the staff is acting very concerned. It was then that they realized my heart was doing crazy stuff. I was in Afib which is an irregular heartbeat. Most people are in sinus rhythm. I was in crazy land with my heart bouncing around like a ping pong ball from high to low. This was the beginning of my real health journey!

I spent 10 days in the hospital. The staff was great. I had a bit of my intestine removed and I couldn’t eat for the whole time as green gross fluid was being taken out through my nose. I produced a lot. I was in a room that was right in front of the nurses station which I just thought was so sweet because it was private. Later, I realized how serious it was. Months later. The night before my last day, I was moved to a shared room, which I thought was weird because I was leaving the next day. I wasn’t very wise. My son came home to help me. He was great, even played his guitar and sang for me in the hospital.

When I got home, it was very difficult. I had planned on staying downstairs on this nice couch/bed I had purchased that sat a little higher than a regular sofa bed. That was insane. It was so painful to get up from. The next day I ordered a hospital bed as my bedroom is upstairs. I had trouble even getting my legs up on the bed. Everything was difficult and it was compounded by my weight. My son was upset. He hadn’t seen me in a couple of years, so seeing me so ill and so unable to do anything shocked him. I am assuming he was scared.  I was still rather oblivious to all that had happened with me. I was just thankful to be home and alive.

This is where my journey really got serious. I knew I needed to get some weight off and be healthier. I could barely walk without pain. I would sit in the kitchen on a stool to cook or do dishes. That was a far cry from my life before. I started by taking the walker I was using and trying to just walk a bit throughout the day in the house. This was all during the pandemic and I am thankful that my son could be with me as he lives in California. It was tough though.  I had no real clue how or where to begin. I just started to try eating better, but I had no real plan.

Another friend wanted me to take a National Diabetes Prevention Class online through zoom. She said we could see each other that way. This was in September of 2020. I was extremely resistant. I told her it was closed as the class had already started and the link didn’t work. She emailed the coach and it was opened back up. I had no more excuses, so I signed up just to please my friend. I am not one to do group activities and share that way, but with her push, I did it! It turned out to be a life saver. I received a package through the mail that had these items shown in the picture.

National Diabetes Prevention Kit
My Gift

I had no idea that I had just signed up for a yearlong class, until I read the fine print. That was a shock to me, but it turned out to be a wise commitment. Classes met weekly for the first six months. I learned about reading labels, going low fat, moving more, and what a true portion is….among other things. The biggest thing I learned is how to change my lifestyle. I don’t think I would ever have figured this out without the class and the great coaches. My lifestyle is completely different today. The way I eat and move now I will do for the rest of my life. At least that is my plan.

During that year, I also had to get a cardiologist and deal with the Afib. I had two cardioversions within two weeks of each other. The first one didn’t work. I had to spend three days in the hospital taking a drug called Sotalol.  I had to be watched closely taking this drug. At the end of the three days, I had another cardioversion. This time it worked. I was in sinus rhythm for the next year until sometime in October of 2021. I had a drug change which made me realize that the heart drugs I am on are designed to slow the heart down, so, they slow the metabolism down. I mention this because this all figures into my health journey. I had another cardioversion in January of 2022. It lasted a few weeks. It lasted until I had to deal with the deaths of my brother in-law and brother. My emotions got the best of me and once again I went into Afib. With drug changes, I have been stabilized but I remain in Afib. My resting heart rate is kept well under 100bpm. I don’t really feel it and I can do all kinds of activities and not feel exhausted and tired.

So with all that I was going through, I managed from around August of 2020 to today, June of 2023, to lose 125+ pounds. Most was lost before I had the medicine change but I continue to lose but at a slower steady rate. This has been life changing for me. I swim five days a week at the YMCA 1/3 of mile combining water jogging with dumbbells and hand paddles. I walk much more and I use a vibration platform every morning for twenty minutes. I am a different person. I can move more and I am definitely healthier. My journey isn’t over. I consider myself, much like my art, a work in progress. I am 68 years old. My journey started when I was 65. My point is it is never too late. I am sharing this to hopefully inspire other people. I eventually took another class with the National Diabetes Prevention Program. That one really focused on movement. I probably would have never joined the YMCA without the push from that class. I am thankful for that program and also for my local YMCA where I have discovered so many wonderful caring people. When I have time, I will share my lifestyle plan for those that might want to know what I did and am doing to lose all that weight and keep it off. For now, I just wanted to try an inspire others to not be afraid to try something new to change your life in a positive way.

News flash: As of today when I finally got around to posting this, I am now swimming ½ mile, five days a week…progress!

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Van Gogh in America

  • Posted on January 17, 2023 at 8:51 pm
This is the front of the Detroit Institute of Arts with the “Thinker” showcased.

Countless years ago when I was an art student at Michigan State University, I drove over to the Toledo Art Museum. I remember being mesmerized by a simple Van Gogh painting of wheat fields and crows. I stood there wondering how on earth he could possibly paint wind because it sure seemed like the wind was blowing the wheat. Since then, Vincent has always been my favorite artist. So, when I read about the Van Gogh in America exhibit I really wanted to go. I, the retired woman, who is still afraid of getting Covid and avoids crowded spaces. I told my sister in-law, Freda, about it, and she was all set to join me. All of my mental excuses were gone about traveling and Covid and we made out plans.

We went down on Sunday but purchased our tickets online which meant we were set for 1:30 on Sunday afternoon. We arrived on time and struggled with parking but lucked out in the end by getting the last close space. It only cost $15 which I count as a steal. Entering the Detroit Institute of Art made me realize that thousands of other people were feeling drawn to the exhibit just as I was. Most were unmasked. We masked up but we were definitely in the minority. The line was long as they counted people off and only let so many in at a time. I couldn’t believe the crowd. I am used to attending art museums in quieter settings where you don’t have to climb over people to see the exhibits. Many people seemed like sheep still staying in lines as we moved through the exhibit. We were told once we were in we could go through at our own pace and interests but, alas, people truly remained sheep.

I took many pictures. I was amazed at the breadth and even style changes of Vincent’s work. So many pieces reminded me of other artists as well. I wasn’t expecting that. Some would have been his contemporaries and others must have been influenced by Vincent in some small way.

I noticed that some paintings were larger than I expected them to be after viewing them in books and some were smaller as well. The chair painting seemed like a lonely self portrait of Vincent himself to me. As I was walking through the exhibit I found myself wondering what Vincent would do today with access to all of the different materials and sources available today. Vincent lived a simple life. He didn’t have access to the array of materials and sources we have today. If I want to see someone’s art I can simply Google it. Vincent had his mind and sometimes meager materials. There were times when he didn’t have oils to paint with but he drew. It makes me wonder about what and how he thought. How did he interpret things the way he did. He obviously had a love of the working poor. His paintings and drawings almost caress them as they toil at digging the soil or working at the loom. He sees in them more than the burden they may carry. He sees their humanity. He sees the beauty in the ugly. He caresses their toil as if they are somehow closer to God.

Strangely, the clog and shoe pieces really stood out for me. The shoes made me think about my father. Dad was a teacher and a farmer. He worked harder than any man I know and I respected him more as well. When he died in 2006, I saved his shoes. I don’t know why but I always thought I would draw or paint them. I even moved them with me to my new home. Now, I don’t know exactly where they are as I still have boxes to unpack in the garage. The shoes that Vincent created took me back to daddy. There he was back in my head putting on his shoes and getting ready to go work in his garden. I could feel the love I have for dad in Vincent’s artwork. My emotions were surfacing and it was powerful. Vincent made me think about dad. I wonder what Vincent was thinking when he drew this image that was so powerful in my mind.

Some of Vincent’s landscape scenes were gentle mixtures of a bouquet of colors. Swirling, lovely colors that were dreamy in many ways that made the eyes move gently through the painting. Olive trees that moved in the soft breeze of the day and flowers that swayed in a beautiful array of color. These are magical paintings. How could a man understand the subtle beauty of a bouquet of roses? Vincent painted beautiful flowers that somehow became more beautiful with his brushstrokes. He caressed the flowers and the background as well. My favorite flower painting at the exhibit were these roses. So lovely. I would have bought a mug with those roses on it. I had to settle for one with the master himself, but that’s okay.

There was a simple drawing called Sorrow of a woman who obviously appears to have lost it all. That piece reminded me of Kathe Kollwitz. I wondered if she was ever influenced by Vincent. Her work was from the time of war in Germany so she is way after the time of Vincent but, her drawings have some of the same feeling to me as some of Vincent’s drawings but especially this piece. She may have been influenced by many artists and of course Vincent influences many artists today, even myself. I love the swirly backgrounds and the emotion I feel from Vincent’s work. It moves me unlike other artist’s work. I somehow feel connected to it in ways I don’t always feel from other artists and I don’t always understand.

I saw in a few paintings a definite influence he must have picked up from Georges Seurat. I was surprised by this. Those paintings still had the contrasting colors of brushstrokes but they were very small, very much like the pointillism of Seurat. I was sure on viewing these that he must have respected and loved Seurat’s work. These pieces were more controlled with intense little brushstrokes that were mind boggling when thinking of this man who created over 900 pieces of art in his short life working for around 10 years. How long he must have worked to capture and achieve this affect I cannot imagine. There were some other pieces that reminded me of both Gauguin and Renoir. It must have been exciting for these artists to share their ideas together. Today we have many advantages but what fun it must have been to live amongst other artists and create art for art’s sake. To live, breathe, drink, and eat art. Today we are all wrapped up in our cellphones and social media. It is hard to imagine the life of an artist like Van Gogh living small and yet creating such beauty. It boggles my mind. It is wonderful to take in the rich colors and soft palette of many of his pieces or the bright ones and the wonderful contrast he creates with color. The movement he creates with brushstrokes creates a dreamy, mysterious quality. A still life of fruit suddenly becomes more about the ever moving and gyrating background. I forget the fruit and start lingering on the swirling lines. My eyes are captivated. I ended the show looking at a Starry Night piece. No. Not THE Starry Night as it was absent from the show, but one that is still very captivating none the less. I leave in the darkness of that night feeling like we have received a gift of light from one of the most gifted artists of all time.

We went to the little pop up Van Gogh restaurant where they were serving little French type sandwiches. Nothing really special as the baguette was much too hard for my liking, but the Chocolate mousse type dessert was divine and melted in my mouth. I bought a sketchbook and this mug in the gift shop for my little souvenirs of the day. The best part will be my memory of receiving the gift of love that is Van Gogh. I am hoping this will motivate me to start creating again. He is so inspirational and I hold him deep in my heart as I prepare my studio for more work to be created.

In a final note, the show will run through Sunday, January 22nd, until late into the night. If tickets are still available you can find them here.  https://dia.org/

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Illness and the Pandemic

  • Posted on July 31, 2022 at 12:18 pm

Moving was life changing. I went through 25 years of accumulated stuff from living in Sturgis, 23 at the same home!  I gave things away. I threw things away. I delve through a lifetime of stuff trying to weed out the unnecessary, only to fail a bit because I still have boxes three years later sitting unopened in my garage. So, if you are planning on moving, get rid of more than you are planning.  Moving gave me a clean slate with my home. I could set up each room however I chose not worrying about who I had to please…because I only had to please myself!

I love my new home. I spent a lot fixing up things that needed to be done from roofing, venting, electrical, and fireplace issues. Then I settled into my new home only to find myself moved and in the middle of a pandemic living in a beautiful environment where I didn’t really know anybody. Thankfully, I do have family an hour or so away which kept me sane.

I am used to being by myself. I tend to be a solitary, loner in many ways. I enjoy being alone and finding ways to be creative. I like to make art and write. Drawing, painting, and working with clay are really my loves. I can get lost in time in my own brain which is helpful when faced with the confines of a pandemic. I started using Instacart for shopping and now I prefer it. I really don’t care for grocery shopping as it’s highly overrated!  

In June, I lost a good friend. Ellen died in her sleep. She was only 58 and I will never understand how a healthy person just doesn’t wake up one day. It has been a tragedy that has haunted me for these past two years. She was an amazing person and touched so many people. I worked with her at school. I, of course, was an art teacher and she was a gifted math teacher. My last year teaching, we worked in a group together on some special projects for school. I am so thankful I was in her group. We had a lot of fun in our brainstorming sessions.  Ellen went on a spur of the moment trip with me to look at the house I ended up buying. I had visions of her eventually visiting me on the lake. It never happened. The pandemic happened and then she died. Her death caused me great personal stress. I immediately started having issues, which I tried to deny. I had to go and rest during the day. I felt out of sorts. I tried to walk to the dock and felt dizzy and had to stop and catch myself. In the water, I felt a swirling sensation, like I was going to fall. I thought it was just old age, but it was so much more.

In July, I became deathly ill. Of course, I just thought I would get better. I wasn’t around anyone so I knew it wasn’t Covid. My mail lady even sent the police to check on me because I hadn’t picked up my mail in days. The police came to my dining room window. I had to go down from my bed to see them. I told them I was fine. They said they could get me an ambulance. I said I thought I was getting better. I wasn’t. My sister wanted me to go in. I was resistant. I never doctored much….like next to never. I had only gone once a few years before to the emergency room and it was in the middle of the night and I thought my head was going to explode. I was always told and learned to “tough it out.” There was no toughing this one out. After  listening to my sister, I finally went to the hospital thanks to my brother taking me. I ended up having a complete blockage and a hernia. I spent 10 days in the hospital and had a small section of my intestine removed. It was truly a touch and go time. I was fortunate to finally get the care I needed. I don’t know how much longer I would have lasted with necrotic tissue in my intestines.

Surviving my illness caused me to reevaluate my life. My son came home to help me and it was an eye opener for him. He had never seen his mom in such horrible shape. He was both scared but also angry. Angry because I let myself get to this place. I get that now. I didn’t then. The illness became a blessing in disguise. While in the hospital, they also discovered I have Afib which explains the issues I was having after Ellen died. The symptoms were all part of the Afib diagnosis. Afib is having an abnormal heartbeat, a beat that is not in sinus rhythm. It causes many symptoms including fatigue and dizziness. This diagnosis as well as the hernia and blockage made me realize I needed to change my lifestyle. I began a challenge for myself. I wanted to get healthier. In my next writing, I will tell how I did this and what I am currently doing. I am still amazed at what I have accomplished but there is always more to come, so stay tuned!

My kitchen with Ellen looking at the home I eventually bought!
Just a few of the countless boxes I moved!
A glimpse of my new home!

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Retirement

  • Posted on June 14, 2022 at 3:10 pm
Lake Cadillac Beautiful Sunset
Living room Sunset view of Lake Cadillac

I have been neglecting this website for years. Not because of a lack of caring but probably because of life in general. Four years ago I retired from teaching. Since then I have been making some big moves and life changes. I still am interested in art and politics as well as education but life interrupts many ideas and plans.

I had one goal for retirement. I wanted to move to a place where I could have a lake view. I have accomplished that goal.  Originally, I was going to stay around Sturgis as there are beautiful lakes there and I was part of the community. However, after my brother, Zike, moved to Leelanau County from Alaska, I started to want more connections with family. My son had moved to California and I had looked into potentially moving there but sadly I don’t have enough money for California. The housing costs there are ridiculous! I grew up in an extremely large family of fourteen kids. I felt drawn back to get to know my family better. I started thinking about my roots in the Maple City area. One night I realized that my heart yearned for family, so I changed my retirement destination. I looked around Traverse City and the surrounding area. I even considered Big Rapids but not that seriously. Property in the Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties was very difficult to find in a price range I could afford. I was almost going to give up my lake dream as I had sold my home and had around 20 days to find a place to move to. I was still looking at Zillow on my own when a property popped up in Cadillac that made me immediately call my realtor and ask for a viewing. After making plans with my friend, Ellen, we made a quick trip to Cadillac and the rest is history.

Moving was a bit crazy but my brothers, Zike and Bob, were super and helped me get moved. They essentially moved my art/pottery studio and the guys I hired moved my house stuff. Even though I purged a lot of stuff and had given things away….I should have gotten rid of more. Here I am three years later with boxes in my garage that I have not yet unpacked.  However, my home is my dream. I have the view I dreamed of and I love it even in the winter when it is cold and gloomy.  The lake is alive and always reminds me of a breathing being with the ebb and flow of the water. I am proud of my life and what I did not just as a single mom, artist/potter, art teacher, but also as a person making goals.

I am hoping that my story and life appeals to other people and if it does, please feel free to interact with me through comments.

Lake View
View From My Porch

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Republican Right Wing…..You Don’t Need No Education!

  • Posted on February 22, 2011 at 2:49 pm

Just let Pink Floyd play while you read my post!

Those right wing pundits must not have been coddled enough by their school teachers.  Let’s take Rush Limbaugh who couldn’t seemingly tackle college and dropped out after two semesters.  Glenn Beck’s post high school education consisted of taking a theology class at Yale that he ended up dropping.  Were they worried about mind control or were they just not that good at schooling?  Why am I bothering with this?  I’m bothering with this because these are the two big guys that push the right wing media agenda.  I even have family members that listen to their bullshit and truthfully these two guys don’t know much about anything!

Even Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker couldn’t quite “cut” getting that little old college degree.  He dropped out!  My sister loves the statement, “To know something is to know nothing, and to know nothing is to know something.”  It really says a lot.  These guys don’t know much about anything, but they all know how to manipulate their audiences and make tons of money doing it.  These guys have nothing in common with the average working “Joe” but many of those average working “Joes” think these guys know what’s going on with everything from politics to religion.  I include Governor Walker in on all of this because he is so over the top with the right wing agenda, that he supports pharmacist not filling prescriptions for contraceptives because of religious or moral grounds.

Well, Rush and Glenn both have come from troubled personal lives.  They both wrap themselves in religious metaphors and both have been married more than once, Rush too many times to bother counting!

In my opinion, Glenn Beck is simply dishonest as this video shows:

Rush always tends to add “fuel to the fire” with his outrageous “OxyCotin” laced tirades.  Here is Rush saying teachers feel entitled to be “freeloaders”.

Here again is Glenn Beck feeding his special form of “hatred” to his fellow countrymen.

From my point of view, there are bad guys all around that have done much to destroy private sector unions and the right for people to belong to any union.  Now the right ring of the Republican Party is going after the public sector unions.  Even President Obama has done much damage to the teacher’s unions.  Here in Michigan we have signed onto legislation that ties evaluations to student test scores that really is rather senseless.  This opinion piece is well worth reading and basically says what I’ve been thinking about.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/race-to-the-top/the-irony-of-obamas-help-for-w.html

So what can you do?  I think everyone needs to get educated about the subject matter as eventually the bargaining rights of all Americans could be in jeopardy.  We, the working people of America, need to stand together or everyone will lose all bargaining rights.

So, stand together or FALL together!

If you do nothing else today, read this bit and definitely watch the Jon Stewart video placed here from last night!  By the way the “liberal’ pundit, Jon Stewart, has a college degree!  Imagine that!

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/22/jon_stewart_wisconsin_scott_walker

I will leave you with this last bit from Paul Krugman:

You don’t have to love unions, you don’t have to believe that their policy positions are always right, to recognize that they’re among the few influential players in our political system representing the interests of middle- and working-class Americans, as opposed to the wealthy. Indeed, if America has become more oligarchic and less democratic over the last 30 years — which it has — that’s to an important extent due to the decline of private-sector unions.

And now Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to get rid of public-sector unions, too.

There’s a bitter irony here. The fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, as in other states, was largely caused by the increasing power of America’s oligarchy. After all, it was superwealthy players, not the general public, who pushed for financial deregulation and thereby set the stage for the economic crisis of 2008-9, a crisis whose aftermath is the main reason for the current budget crunch. And now the political right is trying to exploit that very crisis, using it to remove one of the few remaining checks on oligarchic influence.

So will the attack on unions succeed? I don’t know. But anyone who cares about retaining government of the people by the people should hope that it doesn’t.

I just had to come back in here and post Rachel Maddow’s video.  It is long but so thorough.  It is a “must see” video! You must watch the whole thing and by the way Rachel is a Standford grad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7e4bj5rrd8

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The Fake World of Military Spending

  • Posted on January 30, 2011 at 2:46 pm

I’ve heard of Scranton, Pennsylvania before.  On the show “The Office”!  I also remember Joe Biden talking about Scranton as being his birth place when he was running for the VP office.  Here is an enterprising young man creating fake military equipment for our government to use in military training exercises.  The amazing thing is how much it costs and when his business began.  This article is interesting.  It sounds like, a rags to riches story.  Here is a grocery store guy that some how gets this big military contract for “fake” equipment.  He’s not even producing real products.  That is clever!

The business is not for the general public.  They basically sell to government and to “Hollywood”.  What I’m curious about is how they got all these contracts and the start up money.  It’s obvious that they have filled some kind of unique niche that centers on fighting terrorism.  http://www.inertproducts.com/home

This article showcases the company and I came across it and found it interesting and thought many of you might as well.  http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-company-s-arsenal-of-replicas-keeping-troops-safe-1.1097416#axzz1CXjm9Mw6

This is some of what I find interesting about this article:

“There’s only a handful of companies in the country that deal with what we deal with,” said Mr. Rozzi, 31, of Clarks Summit. “We’re growing 600 to 800 percent a year. Last year, we did $6 million in sales.”

Spending on Defense Department orders in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro area grew by 9 percent in fiscal 2009 to $499 million, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau data that is the most current information available on defense contract spending.

“We need to ride the high of the defense spending for now,” said Teri Ooms, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, a Wilkes-Barre-based think tank. “It’s good for us to have the diversification where we have some of these companies.”

There is more here:

Inert Products, though, has experienced explosive growth during its brief existence.

Mr. Rozzi, a former grocery store manager, started the company alone in 2007 as an outgrowth of his hobby making materials for pyrotechnics training.

After Mr. Rozzi began fashioning mock mines and artillery projectiles from homemade casting materials, Inert Products bought a building in West Scranton that formerly housed a food distributor and paint shop. The company now has 10 employees and most of its products are manufactured in Ohio, though some dummy explosives, like blasting caps and dynamite, are made in Scranton.

So the company employs ten people.  I have to figure most of them are probably family members.  I’m just guessing here as I have brothers that are in business and they take care of family first.

This story can be inspirational if you look at it from the point of view of a little guy creating a product and making a living off it.  Or, it can be another story about the craziness of our military spending.  This line alone tells you how insane our country is about military spending.

“The U.S. Department of Defense spends more on training each year than some other countries spend on their entire military budget,” he said.

Yes, I know you can all say we are a big country.  Of course I have visions of weekend warriors dressing up and playing paintball with gusto.  Is this what President Obama was speaking of when he was talking about reinvention?  I see we can reinvent guns into fake guns, etc.  When the Pentagon spends more than 22 billion dollars on fake equipment and training, which is more than the annual budget of the state of Arkansas, you have wonder what’s up with that.  http://www.usgovernmentdebt.us/state_spend_gdp_population

Another curiosity is the growth in military spending.

.  The picture here to me is warped.  We are a militaristic country.  Everything we do is beginning to revolve around the military.  Even our first lady, Michelle Obama has mentioned the lack of fitness in our youth as being a national security issue.

We are not building a nation.  We are building a military industrial complex.  Our job is to defend the world from terrorists. We are the mercenaries that run around the world invading countries, assisting in régime change and spreading our “vision” around the world to make it safe for big business whether it be oil, nickel, big Pharma or Coke.  We have reinvented ourselves.  We are the few, the proud, the chosen ones to save the world from itself!  Yet, we may not be able to save ourselves from ourselves!

We need to listen to President Eisenhower as he talks about the disastrous rise of misplaced power.

Here is another picture of our federal budget.  Defense spending is out of control!

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It Takes a Whole Village to Raise a Child

  • Posted on September 14, 2010 at 8:27 pm

Global Children

We each must do all we can to help our children reach their full potential.

Today President Obama gave an education speech to the children of America.  Our Superintendent, Rob Olsen, required that we have our students watch the speech.  The speech was well received by the students in my sixth grade art class.  We had a discussion after the speech and I truly believe the students liked what they heard.  However, one girl did moan when the president said that they must do their homework.  Listening to the speech I remembered a quote from an African Proverb:  “It takes a whole village to raise a child”.  Of course, Hillary Clinton also made this point in her book, “It Takes a Village.”

It does take a village to raise a child especially today with all of the economic upheaval many families are facing.  All of us, not just teachers and students, need to step up and make sure our children are getting whatever they need to grow into productive, happy adults.  At Sturgis Middle School, where I teach, all the staff really works hard to create a “family” atmosphere with the students.  It has been my experience that our staff of teachers, administrators and support staff all care deeply about the welfare of our students.  It isn’t just about raising scores on a test even though we all put forth much effort to create a positive testing environment.  Many teachers and staff have worked hard to make sure students get what they need when their physical or emotional needs aren’t met.  In fact our mission statement ensures that all of us get what we need to be the best that we can be.  “Sturgis Middle School is dedicated to the academic, emotional and social development of each individual.”  We have always felt that all of us need to be a part of the mission statement.  Teachers need to continually develop their craft just as students hone in on their academic abilities.  We encourage each other whether we are teachers, administrators or support staff to aim high in whatever we are doing in our lives!

When the president spoke today I think it was a very positive speech for students to hear.  They hear these same things from their teachers, family and other important people in their lives but I think there was something special about a president encouraging my students to do their best.  President Obama talked about possibilities.  He told students to stay focused on education.  He said, “Nobody gets to write your destiny but you!”  He also said, “The farther you go in school, the farther you go in life.”  My students took much of what he said to heart.  I asked the students why they think the president said it is more important now than ever before to get a good education.  This prompted much discussion about jobs going to China and such.  However, one resourceful young boy said, “We must get educated so we can take care of the pollution and carbon emissions.”  I thought for his age this was a substantial response as well as very thoughtful.  I told him how President Clinton had told my son’s graduation class from the University of Michigan about the same thing.  President Clinton implied that his generation messed up the world and my son’s generation would have to fix the pollution and such.

President Obama went on to tell the students to show up on time, pay attention in class, do their homework, and that excellence is essential for success.  He reminded them that they couldn’t just sit around waiting for luck to happen and that hard work can make the difference.  He told them that excelling isn’t about being smarter, it’s about working harder than anyone else.  He also encouraged them to encourage each other and to be proud of each other’s successes.  He encouraged them to fulfill the promise to be the best that they can be.  He told them life is precious and filled with diversity but we all should recognize ourselves in each other.  These were all inspiring words for my students.  He closed by mentioning a little girl’s letter from Georgia.  He quoted her letter by saying, “I try to achieve my dreams and help others to do the same.”

That final quote from the girl from Georgia says it all.  We must all step up and help our children and each other achieve our dreams.  We can’t give up and nor should our children when faced with adversity.  We must march on and create a life that is fulfilling and complete.  Our children should be encouraged to be the best they can be and we as adults must help them accomplish their goals.  If you don’t have a child or you are not a teacher, think about mentoring a child, assisting a coach, volunteering at a school or anything else that supports our children.  If you cannot be present then give your support through charitable organizations that help children get the clothes, heat and other essentials that they need.  We must all remember that education is not just taught by a teacher with a degree.  We can all help in the education of our youth by remembering that it does indeed take a village to raise a child!

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Cheeseburger Festival in Caseville, Michigan

  • Posted on August 19, 2010 at 11:34 am

Every small town has some kind of festival designed to get people into town to promote the businesses.  Caseville, Michigan is no exception with their Cheeseburger Festival.  The festival runs ten days long and it’s all about cheeseburgers, music, street venders, and fun water sports.  I was visiting my sister and her family.  They decided to head up to the festival so we went.  However, we did not participate in any of the events.  We walked up and down the streets and saw many vendors with bright colored supplies.  It reminded me of a very small Shipshewana flea market.  There were plenty of food places frying cheeseburgers on grills and you could smell that greasy smell throughout the town.  We did go to the local Cheeseburger Museum which was not about cheeseburgers at all but similar to most small town museums with old things donated from the local people from tools, to war paraphernalia, an assortment of ceramic plates and even someone’s wedding dress.

Going to little festivals like this brings in all kinds of characters.  It’s more fun to see some of the people and the things they bring to the festival that I find more interesting.  I loved the tie dyed appearing Volkswagen bug.  If I was in college I’d love have a vehicle that looked like that!  It looks like something you would take to the beach with a couple of surf boards plopped on top.  While Caseville has a beautiful beach we didn’t go to the beach.   I could see Lake Huron as I peaked by the homes as we were leaving to go back to Marlette.  There were plenty of motorcycle riders and they seem to have their own rules for the road.  I photographed one bike with a helmet on it that said, “My other toy is a dick.”  I think it takes a “special” kind of person to wear something like that!  It certainly wouldn’t be anyone I happen to know.  Of course you could buy some “cheesy” looking t-shirts to celebrate the festival even though the festival over all is set up for fun with family.

We ended the afternoon by stopping by “Shaggy J’s” Eatery & Pub in Pigeon, Michigan.  My brother Pete treated us all to lunch.  The only one that liked their meal was me as I had the Parmesan salad.  It was pretty good.  However, the rest of the lunches were pretty questionable.  We all had problems with the onion curls that were more like onion salt mixed with thin, curly strips of batter and deep fat fried than anything remotely related to a real onion!  None of us liked it.  It looked like a large plate of calamari when they brought it out but its taste was fairly indescribable.  We tried the fried dill pickle which is essentially a dill pickle put in batter and fried.  It was an easy way to take five calories and turn them into one hundred and fifty.  It reminded me of when I lived in Oklahoma in the eighties when everything was deep fat fried from okra to zucchini.  The service was also confusing as the young woman tended to make her own substitutes for items such as sweet tea rather than discussing it with the client.

At the end of the day we all had fun and it was great seeing my sister Nancy, her family and my brother, Pete, who was down visiting all the way from Juneau, Alaska.  Every small town has festivals to get people to visit.  We all should participate and go to these events.  With the economy so deeply in the tank this is one “stimulus” spending that can be fun for all involved!

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My Nightmare

  • Posted on July 27, 2010 at 10:05 am

I keep having a reoccurring thought about the up and coming governor’s election.  It truly is my nightmare scenario.  I’ll get to that in a minute.  First of all, you must know that I think Speaker Andy Dillon and Attorney General Mike Cox were separated at birth.  I think they look alike, talk alike, and even though one is supposed to be a Democrat, they both are essentially Republicans.  So, in my mind, someone must have been adopted out or something as there is no way they can be so much alike and not be related.  My mind knows they aren’t each other’s doppelganger but my heart tells me they could be.  So my nightmare scenario is that both of them will win their respective primaries and the state of Michigan will end up with no real choice for a governor!  Egad, can’t people see what I see?

If these are my choices in the November election, I don’t know what I will do!  I have always voted.  Do I leave the top of the ticket blank?  Are there any third candidates I can vote for?  I can’t possibly vote for Andy Dillon.  He’s costing me a special “tax” of 3% more money that I must pay into my retirement.  I’d like to smack him every time I get an email from him telling how he stuck it to me.  Okay, he doesn’t put it quite that way but he wants everyone else to know how he’s going to get every piece of meat off me he can because I’m a public school TEACHER!  Oops, I said a dirty word!  I don’t know when the legislative body decided to set teachers in their gun sites but I know I’m a prime target.  When I was a kid, everyone loved teachers. Today I feel like there’s a target on my back, so I’m getting worried about the primary that’s coming up.  I’ve decided that I will beg every person I know to vote for Virg Bernero.  So, here I am asking for your vote for Virg.  No, really begging for your vote for Virg!

Virg Bernero is married to a teacher so he has to at least “get” teachers and understand how important education is.  I saw him at the MEA rally in June and I like the fact that he’s out there trying to “fight” for change.  Andy Dillon tries to paint Virg Bernero as an “angry” man.  I say, “Who isn’t angry in Michigan and if you aren’t angry, why aren’t you?”  I want someone willing to fight for our state and try to get it back on track.  I don’t want someone I can’t trust to do the right thing and.  Andy lost my trust when he picked my pocket and asked me how I liked it.  He scares me with his forced smile and smarmy hair and I really find it hard to understand why he thinks it’s productive to shut down government instead of working to fix the budget!  I also can’t get beyond the fact that he wants to tinker with my health care and isn’t really focusing on the real issues.

The issues of course are JOBS!  If we can get jobs back in Michigan, it will solve many of our problems.  I would like you to check out Virg at his website.  http://www.votevirg.com/

If you aren’t sure who you want to vote for, please humor me and choose Virg.  If you are voting in the Democratic primary he really is the only Democrat running.  It will make me happy and isn’t that just what you would like to do…make me happy?  Just think about it.  I wouldn’t have to live my nightmare scenario.  I would be hopeful for Michigan’s future.  It would keep hope alive and I wouldn’t have to spend the next two months in turmoil over the November election.  My primary vote was stolen once in the 2008 primary.  I think I at least deserve to have this vote counted for the person I choose and maybe some of your votes as well!  Come on make my day and vote for Virg Bernero!

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The Boogeyman Politics

  • Posted on July 23, 2010 at 2:47 pm

In our country we cling to the idea that one day we might be rich.  We should all just stop dreaming that fantasy and realize that very few will actually become “rich”.  You can buy all the lottery tickets you can stuff in your pants and you will still lose.  One ticket will take it all.  Are you really feeling that lucky today?  It’s time to let those that have unspeakable wealth step up and save this country.  I, for one, have no trouble taxing the wealthy.  It’s time we got the rest of the country to realize that there is no shame in a truly graduated income tax.  It’s also time to take care of those people that are struggling to make ends meet.  This can be accomplished if we set our priorities straight as a nation.

I am tired of the boogey men that we continually chase as a nation.  For years we were afraid of the “communists”.  They were the boogeyman and we had to hide under our desks at school because they were coming to get us.  Since the world trade towers were destroyed and a couple thousand people were murdered on September 11th, 2001 we have feared the terrorists.  They have been, for the last nine years, the new boogeyman.  As President Bush said many times, “We are fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.”  Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”  However, politicians have kept us in a constant state of fear for most of my life.  This fear is used to control how we think and essentially how we vote.  It determines how we view the world and whether we trust our neighbor, both those next door or those who border our countries.  In the past couple of years we have been led to believe that we are all closeted “racists”.  This, I believe, is another form of control over our thoughts and especially our actions.  The boogeyman is the fear of racism.  Since President Obama began his run for the Whitehouse, it has been difficult to separate the fact from the fiction in terms of the racial divide in this country.  While I know there are racists that think they are better than another race, I believe there are far more people that don’t really care about the issue of race.  I have said a thousand times, “Poor is poor. It has no color.”  It is time we bonded together as a nation and realized that much of our fear is man made, created by an establishment of politicians that must find a way to control its masses.  Racism is the new boogeyman.  If we don’t think exactly as predetermined, as we are told we should, we will be labeled a racist.  I really think this is all to control us.

This week we heard the ridiculous saga of Shirley Sherrod.  This woman was taken out of context and we spent the week once again defined by racism.  During this time much else was happening.  Congress finally passed the unemployment extension.  However, they did not include the tier 5 people in this extension.  These are people that have been unemployed for more than 99 weeks.  http://all247news.com/unemployment-extension-calls-for-tier-5-addressed-to-obama-congress-growing/1979/

There is no real sympathy for these people other than platitudes of praise for their on going strength in adversity.  We also didn’t hear much about this sad statistic.  http://mentalhealthnews.org/suicide-rates-among-soldiers-increases/841674/

The suicide rates in the military are on the rise.  How can our country be at war continuously for the past nine years and not expect this breakdown in morale?  While we are busy contemplating the ridiculous story about Shirley being a racist this is going on.  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLEgHCUafX_i3fRDvfq626CUAyWgD9H4R3LO2

It seems that we must cut funds for education and every other thing in this country so we can continue to spend money on these two wars.  The troop surge in Afghanistan is costing our nation and our children.  Just today I saw the news that Western Michigan University is upping their tuition by 7%.  While this is all happening did you notice this week when Hillary Clinton went to give aid to Pakistan?  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/19/pakistan-aid-hillary-clin_n_650776.html

The point of all of this is if we are kept busy with the current boogeyman, we will be kept out of the loop of what is really happening in our country.  We must stop fearing the boogeyman and force our country to step up and do the right thing by its citizens.  So, yes, if this means more taxes for the rich and wealthy to help pay for these things that must be done, then I am all for it.  If politicians truly can’t find a way to extract our soldiers from these two wars, then let the rich pay for it.  If politicians can’t find a way to fund health care, then let the rich pay for it.  If politicians can’t find ways to fund our schools, then let the rich pay for it.  If the rich pay enough, maybe we will get out of the wars.  If the rich pay enough, maybe they will work harder to open some factories here so they can benefit from some special tax break and hire more workers.  I’m all for taxing the rich because the rich will make sure some things get done when they feel the pinch that the rest of us feel on a daily basis.  I’m tired of hearing about yet another rich person’s wedding before I hear about real news.  Aren’t you? Today we are bombarded with the Clinton wedding garbage.  Who really cares?  Not me.  I want real news and I want the wealthy to step up and save our country.  I think if you start to have some sympathy for the wealthy, just check out what these athletes get paid and think about your own hard earned paycheck.  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/2009/index.html

Do we really need to see the wealthy and yet another of their many weddings?

This comes from the “Who Rules America” website.  http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

In terms of types of financial wealth, the top one percent of households have 38.3% of all privately held stock, 60.6% of financial securities, and 62.4% of business equity. The top 10% have 80% to 90% of stocks, bonds, trust funds, and business equity, and over 75% of non-home real estate. Since financial wealth is what counts as far as the control of income-producing assets, we can say that just 10% of the people own the United States of America.

If you still have sympathy and feel that you can trust the political system check out this article and think about how these people vote for their own best interests.  http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/06/13/senators.finances/

It is time for the wealthy to step up and help our country climb out of this recession, get out of these wars, fix our infrastructure and take care of our economic problems.  Let’s stop fearing the political created boogeyman and start working together for logical solutions to our many problems.  Let’s stop putting the rich on a pedestal by watching their weddings, lifestyle, games, movies and start living our life elevated by being educated to what is really going on in this country and what we might be able to do to set things right.  FDR said, “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”  The truth is the only thing to fear is an inactive electorate that is uneducated and over stimulated with the lust for wealth and afraid of the current boogeyman.

I just had to add this list of the richest members of Congress….both Dems and Repubs:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-richest-members-of-congress-2009-11#olympia-j-snowe-r-maine-1

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