Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Just more pics of the PGR

The PGR riding into Redmond....these bikers are so impressive to me! Each and everyone of them has a heart of gold and is truly heartbroken at the loss of each solider. I encourage you to visit their website!



This is the Memorial Hummer that a woman in Portland had painted in her son's memory, and the images on the rear panel are of him and the others that died with him. These were taken at the funeral of Private Thomas Tucker of Madras, OR , one of the two soliders that were captured and tortured in Iraq. More than a thousand people showed up for that funeral, and bikers came from all over the country to ride in his honor guard. They came past where I live, at least 300 bikes....I could hear them coming for several minutes before I saw them.

If you'd like to know more about the PGR, go to www.patriotguard.org They're an awesome organization!


I got this in my email this morning...



Have you heard of the PGR? (Patriot Guard Riders) This group of motorcycle loving Veterans and Patriots are all about honoring our military and Veterans. They're totally awesome. Remember that whacked out Baptist church from Kansas that was protesting at the funerals of our soliders killed in Iraq and Afghanistan? Saying that these soliders died because of America's tolerant attitude towards gays? (~grumble~ IDIOTS!!) Anyway...one of the things these bikers do is to attend the funerals of our soliders, show respect by lining up and saluting the funeral procession, and they also stand as a barrier between the whacko people protesting and the family and other mourners so that the family is not hurt by their nasty remarks and accusations! I LOVE THE PGR, and will post more photos today of a couple of the funerals that they attended here in Central Oregon. In the meantime, this is what I got in my email this morning...I loved it!



Pastor Ted L. CrandallLCDR, CHC, U.S. Navy26th Marine Expeditionary Unit
Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. They are sheep. I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep."Then there are the wolves, and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial."Then there are sheepdogs, and we are the sheepdogs. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf." If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, you are sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, you are a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, and walk out unscathed."Let me expand on this excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in foreign lands holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog trade in his fangs, spray-paint himself white, and go, "Baa."Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones. Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.The sheep’s only response to the wolf is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when the wolf comes.If you are sheep dog and you step outside unprepared to face the wolf, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are a warrior and are not prepared for the day evil comes, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself... "Baa."



Thursday, January 25, 2007

Back to Work...

It's Wednesday, but to me, it's Monday. I come back to the office every week to a list of problems that it seems no one else can solve. Some of them, I don't WANT others to try to solve, it's just easier if I do it myself. Some of them, it's just not that tough and I shake my head and roll my eyes as I read the notes about them!

Had a good couple of days off tho. William and I went out to Izzie's for dinner last night. Nice, brand new place here. Food was yummy, and we played the machines (slots) there for a bit after we ate. Didn't win, but oh well...next time maybe! ;)

After dinner, we went to see the movie, "A Night at the Museum". Frankly, while it was a good movie, I was a bit disappointed! I guess I expected more from the special effects. I got amused by them correcting Stiller on the pronunciation of "Sacajawea". They kept telling him to pronounce it as "Sac-ah-ja-wee-ah". When I lived in Montana, near the place where Sacajawea was born, I learned, from an Indian lady, that the correct way to pronounce her name was "Sa-cah-ja-way-ah. With the accent on the "cah". So everytime I heard them correcting Stiller in the movie last night, I wanted to tell them what I had learned when I lived close to her people! ~laffin~

Do you do that? Do you see errors in movies or TV programs and think "That's wrong!"? I find myself doing it a lot...especially with medical shows! I was an EMT for 14 years, and I see medical shows that demonstrate emergency techs at work, and I cringe to think of what the poor patient would go through if it were real! And for the reality shows that show the techs working on packaging a patient for transport? OH MY! There's been more than one time that I wanted to get in touch with the patient and let them know they have grounds for a lawsuit! It's scary, to say the least!

I don't mean to sound superior, I certainly don't FEEL superior! And I'm more than certain that I make mistakes that make others cringe! I guess that it's all part of what makes this world go `round, do ya think? :)

Sunday, January 21, 2007

It's Sunday again...

GOOD MORNING WORLD!! <---- cuz Deborrah told me to say that! :D

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Sunday Morning Coming Down...

Sheese...what an airhead I am! I thought I posted this on Sunday, instead I saved it as a draft! ~insert eyeroll here~


It's Sunday, I'm at work, and I'm NOT happy about it! It's so slow that I'm bored silly! I could be home doing lotsa other stuff...like scrapping! ;)

Nikki called me yesterday. Ray was supposed to be home from Iraq for 2 weeks of R&R, but I guess it's not going to happen. Now the dates are sometime in June or July. ~sigh~ They really NEED this time together....and the boys need to see their daddy! Scott gets so upset when he wants to talk to his dad and can't. That poor little boy just sobs....

I'm having so much fun on Scrap That Moment! Talk about a *NEAT* bunch of ladies to chat with! If you haven't been there yet, GO! You'll love it! :)

There's really not much going on here...have a bit of a cold...that kind of sucks. I do tho, still have a WONDERFUL husband that takes such good care of me! I don't always show just how much I truly appreciate him, but he's my whole world, and I love him with all of my heart! :)

Monday, January 8, 2007

WOOHOO! It's FRIDAY!!




Ok...so really, it's Monday...but it's MY Friday, and I couldn't be happier! I'll still have to wander back and forth to the office as usual, and work part of a day tomorrow to balance 8 checkbooks, but hey...I don't have to deal with customers! :)


Today was interesting....had one old man come in and throw a hissy fit because there was an error in his bill. Told me that he had been planning on putting some important papers in his storage unit, but couldn't because now he couldn't trust us. I guess I should have sucked up a bit, because the error WAS on the part of my day-off replacement, but I just couldn't! I looked him in the eye and told him that I was happy for him in his perfection, and proud as I could be of him that he'd never made a mistake of any kind, and then asked if he'd notified the Catholic Church so that he could apply for sainthood....
Let's just say that he left my office a bit more pissy than when he came in! (But his bill was fixed!)

Have tons of scrapping that I want to get done in these two days off....dunno if it's going to happen tho! Maybe, if I'm a good girl, William will go grocery shopping by himself and take care of my laundry too! :D (About all I do around the house is MY laundry, I mop the floors cuz he hates it, and I help him shop and put it away.) We do have to go out to dinner on Weds, have been invited to Bernie and Lynne's for tri-tips.....I can live with that, and I really enjoy both of them!

So now my friends, I'm going to print out a photo or two and see what I can come up with for some of the challenges at STM! I'm having so much fun NOT being a DTM...and yet I still kind of miss it! What's up with that?

Sunday, January 7, 2007

My New Hangout!

http://www.scrapthatmoment.com

Goodness! What a wonderfully friendly place to be!

I was so worried that when Abby told us at the Scrapbook Jungle to either pay $1000 to own the Jungle or she'd shut it down that I was going to be wandering the Net looking for a new home for the rest of my NetDays!

On New Years Day, Abby did just that, she shut down the Jungle. Just a note on the front page, "Thanks for the Memories, Abby". That hurt. A lot. For a lot of reasons that I won't bother to go into because at this point it's simply pointless. What's done is done. Can't be undone.

Thankfully, Becky told me about Scrap That Moment. It's a lovely website for scrapbookers that incorporates a store, gallery, and best of all, message boards! The ladies there welcomed me with open arms. A foray into the gallery revealed inspiration of untold magnitudes! I have had more fun being "just a member" than I think I ever did as a design team member! I have smiled, laughed, and even cried a bit since I've been there.

Soon, Lynette, the owner of STM, and her design team will be traveling to CHA, to promote the ScrappyChick magazine! I'm telling you, this site is going places, and will be THE place to hang out! I may not have come in quite at "ground floor" level, but I'm sure glad I'm already here, before it explodes into something of 2Peas size! :)

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Another new blog...

Well Gang, this is yet another new blog. I keep forgetting how to get into the old ones, a sign of age perhaps? Oh well, maybe I can keep up with this one enough that I can remember how to get into it! :D

Maybe I should introduce myself to those of you that don't know me? Hi there! I'm Charlee. I'm a wife, a mother, a grandmother. I'm a scrapbooker. I'm a genealogist/family historian. I love to do needlework. I love spending time with my husband of 7 and a half years, William. I support the President of our country, and the War in Iraq. (Don't dis me on that one, I won't change my mind, so it'd be a "no win" for you!)

Scrapbooking would be my favorite hobby. I love cool pictures. I love recording memories, in the hopes that my children will keep them safe and pass them down through the generations until sometime in the future, someone will open the books and say, "Oh look! G-g-g-g grandma liked this or that..."

Genealogy is a close second. I simply love it. I love to learn the names of my ancestors and if possible, find and scrap their photos and stories. I don't think that we can know where we're going if we don't know where we've been...and these people were who I am! Everything about me is a part of one of them. Most of what I think relates in some form or another to those who have gone before me. I consider it to be important stuff, and besides, it's like playing a game or putting together a puzzle! Highly entertaining, if you have a small degree of patience. :)

Did I mention that I love to gamble? Don't know why, I get HIGHLY upset when I lose, but there's just something that's so entertaining about those stupid penny slot machines (Vegas will never consider ME to be a high roller, cuz I think you gotta have money to gamble with for that!)...and not just when they're paying out! I think it's that I like the challenge of picking the right machine, and then I like the challenge of making the right choices in bonus rounds.

There's a lot more to me than you'll find in this one post. Hopefully, you'll come back and learn more!