Simple (and Cheap) Idea for Homemade Christmas Ornaments

This year I wanted to give something a little more personal to friends and family for Christmas. I decided to go with ornaments. I am making two different types of ornaments.

The first are quite simple. I bought a box of plain, glass ornaments (under $5 for 18). I also bought a box of 18 different glitter shakers (under $10) and some school glue ($1). I write the year and a saying onto the ornament with the glue and then sprinkle the glitter onto the ornament. Leave it in the box until the glue has thoroughly dried then blow off the excess glitter. Easy breezy.

The second set take a bit longer and are little bit more expensive. I ordered a set of microscope slides ($7), a set of alcohol paints ($6) and various colors/sizes of jewelry wire ($2-$8 per set depending on type, length and thickness). Begin by laying out half the set of slides on a flat surface. Take one of the alcohol paints and drop the ink onto the slides in various locations. Repeat with a second color (and a third/fourth if desired). Place the remaining slides on top of these. Let dry. Once the slides are dry you wrap them with the jewelry wire. Use the top of the wire to for a loop for hanging the ornament. You can be creative with the patterns you make with the wire.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It's December in Alabama and it is COLD! For the past week highs have been in the 40s and it's normally much warmer. We've had snow in the southern part of the state, SNOW! The worst part is that it is not expected to get any warmer till after Christmas.

This doesn't work so well for me. I like my holidays with a temperature warm enough to wear shorts and tees. Right now, I'm looking at sweats, two pairs of socks and a long sleeve shirt inside the house. It's just not right.

Cell Phone Virus Attacks Over 1 Million Cell Phone Users in China

Cell phone virus has attacked over one million cell phone users in China, and Chinese authorities are currently trying to stop the spread of the spam-texting virus, according to DigitalTrends.com.

More than one million cell phones in China have been infected with a virus that continually sends out text messages, costing the country's citizens $300,000 a day, according to InformationWeek, as reported by Shanghai Daily.

Time to start thinking smart phone security.

Homemade Christmas

I'm thinking of making homemade stocking stuffers for friends and family this year. I"m looking at custom ornaments, paintings, and maybe some food stuffs. What's your favorite homemade christmas stuffers?

Gulf Oil Spill - Where's the Real Coverage?

Being a southerner the BP Gulf Oil Spill is a great concern for me. For those who have never seen it I can only describe it as heaven on earth. Sugar white sands with emerald green waters, friendly people and good food. Thanks to BP that has all changed. Even worse, thanks to our government the news from this area has changed. It is now a felony to get within 65 feet of anything to do with the spill. Cameras are being confiscated. Media is limited in what they are really reporting.

BP and the government are allowing corexit to be used to an extent that is not being reported. Studies of this dispersant are limited to 96 hours. We are at 80+ days of this stuff being used in the Gulf. People are getting sick. Animals are dying in untold numbers. Watch the coverage and see how many sea gulls you see in the background.

I'm trying to be rational about this situation but our government and BP are just making it worse. If this situation concerns you at all please voice your concerns. Please speak out for truly transparent coverage of the events happening in the Gulf. Demand that the government adhere to the First Amendment. Demand full information on what is being used to clean up the Gulf.

knowledge is power

from the jul 10, 1963 congressional record

CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

a little dusting here, a little dusting there...ah, there's my blog

it's been a while since i've updated. i need to get back in the habit. i thought during my hysterectomy (which went well) that i would spend more time here but that didn't happen. and once i was ok'd to return to normal life i returned full force. on my fourth production since going back so all is good.

anyways, just a random way to remove the dust from the blog.

life after a hysterectomy

so we are at two months post surgery. the wounds feel healed. i still can't lift much. i am exercising. i am back to my normal schedule but it is incredibly exhausting. i've found that my estrogen was too much. it made me angry all the time. so i cut it in half and life seems very normal. my energy levels are up (in spite of being exhausted) and i feel incredible. i still have a ways to go but i'm getting there.

Many Filers Confused by Stimulus Tax Credit

Many Filers Confused by Stimulus Tax Credit

Nice article on one of the nightmares associated with filing taxes this year. This particular credit was responsible for my paying twice to do my taxes: once for software and once to an accountant because the results didn't sit well with me.

My experience fits with this article. Even following prompts I was NOT certain if my own entries were correct. The extra money spent on the accountant was worth the piece of mind.

growing flowers. me? oh, yes.

this is the second year i've planted flowers. last year i planted several annuals, marigolds and petunias. this year, the annuals came back up. so...back to the garden center. i've planted more marigolds, echinacia, tomatoes and strawberries. the tomatoes and strawberries are of the hanging planter variety. the others will be in pots till transplanted. i have an herbal planter with lemon basil, spearming and catnip. i also planted some tea roses who are quite happy to be out of the pot and in the ground.

i am looking for some citronella plants and a type of elm that keeps away mosquitoes. if i find those i will plant them also.

i've still got a ways to go. i never finished the flower bed from last year (too little time in the schedule). it needs to be weeded and i need to finish defining it. the plants that are growing rely heavily on rains verses watering. i apologize to them and they seem to be quite forgiving of me.

let's see what this year brings. if successful more will be planted next year.

Snowmageddon? Think again

Check out this list of historical snowfalls in the Midatlantic states.

Notable Snowstorms and Blizzards



Listening to the media you would think that the area has never experienced snow like it is currently experiencing. What it boils down to is that our current modes of transportation cannot deal with this issue. Add to this our dependence on power supplied through lines and it becomes a monster of a storm instead of a normal event for the region.

Walgreens as a Sex Shop?

oh this is a great article. who knew walgreens could be so much fun!

I was going in to pick up some allergy meds, but I got distracted — very distracted, in fact – when I started to notice a funny pattern.

First, there is a surprising variety of "personal massagers." "Quiet and powerful ones" in a Skittles-worthy array of colors. Multiple surface versions that boast the ability to be recharged. The "Comet Massager" that looks like it’s related to a Pixar space creature. The little guy even lights up.

If feet are your thing, there’s the foot spa and the foot massager. Or if you want to massage other parts, you can try out the "soothing five motor cushion massager." Saddle up! One massager comes complete with a warmer, and several of them have all sorts of interesting nubs and bumps and edges. Come on, that is no back massager.

35 symptoms of meonopause

Of course I would be the one to get the cold flashes. I'm not happy with the gas and indigestion. And this new body odor is annoying. Thank goodness the hyst is going to happen!

Armchair Distater Relief - STFU

Please give.





Once again liberals and conservatives alike are up in arms over the speed of aid to a disaster area. This time it is the small island nation of Haiti. The devestating 7.0 earthquake with multiple aftershocks left the country in a terrible state. Days later there is no way to accurately calculate the loss of life. Critics from both sides are lambasting the speed with which relief is making its way to Haiti and it makes me sick.

People need to sit back, take a breath and accept the reality of disaster relief. The first line of aid in any disaster is the survivors. They are on the scene and know exactly what has happened. Human nature is to help those in need. The survivors will be the first ones to render medical aid and to move rubble to rescue those buried underneath. Yes, they have been through an incredible ordeal but to not attempt to aid others is contrary to everything that is human. Our media, however, would have you believe that these victims (any victims of any disaster really) are unable to even make a common sense decision to help their family and friends.

The media's coverage of disasters is such that no victim is capable of giving aid and relief to fellow members of their community. The media demands immediate importation of foreign aid (money, supplies, workers) in the most remote of areas. The media never takes into account the time needed to collect supplies and mobilize personnel. The media is demanding relief workers immediately without a thought to who can actually help. In a country where the ports, the airport, the roads and the hospitals were all damaged who is going to be most useful? Yes, emergency medical personnel is needed but even more important is to bring in the equipment and personnel who can provide temporary repairs to the airport and the ports so that aid can get in.

So how about a little reality? The first thing that needs to happen is the victims of this quake should be helping each other (and my opinion is they are). It is just common sense. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornados, fires...the first line of aid always comes from those who survived. They are there and understand the extent of what has occurred. The survivors must use common sense and do what they can until others arrive.

Please do not take this as my saying the Haitians do not need any help because they do and I encourage you to give to those organizations who will actually help them. This criticism is directed at those who sit in their cushy offices while demanding others take actions that are improper, unnecessary, and misguided.

Berkeley High May Cut Out Science Labs | News | East Bay Express

Insanity at its best. All of the people of Berkeley should feel embarrassed and ashamed of this decision.

Berkeley High May Cut Out Science Labs | News | East Bay Express

Walmart pulling jewelry cited in AP cadmium report - Yahoo! News

So how long before the round of managerial "suicides" in chinese companies are reported?

And, on another note, have we forgotten how to manufacture our own products in this country?

Walmart pulling jewelry cited in AP cadmium report - Yahoo! News