Warning... I am on my Soap box today. . . Political. . .

Ok,  I do not normally get political here but, I am going to weigh in on the whole gun control thing.  Guns are inanimate objects and the only thing that can control them is a human being.  We need criminal control!   We need to do away with the death penalty and put the money used to prosecute death penalty cases toward hiring and training more police officers, more police officers on the beat will cut down on crime.    According to Fox News, Duke University did a study and found that North Carolina could save $11 million a year if they substituted life in prison for the pursuit of the death penalty.   That $11 million would go a long way, if used appropriately, to help control crime.  Criminals are not afraid of going to jail because they know they will not be there long.  This is a sad state that our whole country is in right now.   

As for gun control, I am not against the "criminal" background checks that are required those are necessary but I do not believe our government should be snooping into medical records.   Let us be realistic and think how criminals and terrorists, for that matter, get their guns.   Do they go to the store and buy them like an average person would?  Nope.  They steal them or have someone else buy them. The whole concept of being a criminal is that they do not follow the rules.  If taking guns away from law abiding citizens would cut down on crime I would be all for it but, the truth of the matter is that when you take guns away from the average citizen you make them a target.  My husband always says "locked doors keep an honest man honest."   Laws are only as good as the people that follow them.   It strikes me very funny that these politicians are all about disarming the public yet they remain surrounded by armed guards.   I am quite suspicious of anyone that stands behind an armed guard or gate and demands that I surrender my weapons.  Is my family any less worthy than theirs?  

Do your research folks.  You do not have to believe me I encourage you to read and figure it out for yourself.  

Back to School and the Boys. . .

Back to school. . .  My classes are getting ready to start back and I am excited.  Juvenile Justice and Ethics and the Community this is going to be a great semester.  Be looking for lots of posts with regard to my classes.  I already know there will be lots on the juvenile side, especially since I have two in my house and there are so many out there doing things that could affect their future and they do not even know it.  Case and point are those that like to send so called "sexy" pictures to others.  Check back with me later for that post, I am still working on it.
Lots of things going on this week as the kids deal with their stress and try to get ready for their final exams next week.   Trying to get everyone to eat a little better this year, not necessarily for weight loss but just for better nutrition.  The hubbs has diabetes and he has to be the healthiest diabetic in the world, per his physician and our insurance agent.   With that said, his diabetes is genetic and so I do worry about the boys and the possibility that they could develop it as well.  I found an old cook book that has some really good recipes that are high in good protein.  I want to share this one because it can be made ahead and cooked later.  Here we go:
Egg Casserole
1 large loaf of bread cubed
6oz of American cheese (I am going to use cheddar)
4 oz non fat Swiss cheese ( I do not use non fat cheese)
2 1/2 cups skim milk
5 green onions sliced
20 egg whites ( I use 5 eggs, 5 egg whites)
1/2 lb turkey or ham cut into bite sized pieces (I do not use this)
sliced mushrooms 1 jar or 4 oz fresh (I do not like jar mushrooms)

Melt the cheese and a cup of the milk together over medium low heat.  Mix remaining milk with the eggs.
Combine the bread, onions, meat and mushrooms in a large bowl.   Put the bread mixture in a 9X13 non-stick or glass pan.  Pour the egg mixture over then cover and refrigerate or bake at 325 for 1 hour or until the middle is set.  Serve with picante sauce or Texas Pete.  This can be refrigerated over night.

Stay tuned. . .

Hard Talks Ahead. . .

Today I found out that one of Sprats' classmates committed suicide last night.  I am very sad for this family and for this young man's friends.  We wonder why things like this happen and there is no rhyme or reason to it.  As a parent my heart is breaking.   I found out from a friend and then Sprat told me when I picked him up from school today.  He was upset that the school had not said anything about it.  They are usually good about offering kids time to talk with a counselor when ever there is a sudden death of a student. 
  The hubbs had a colleague whose son had killed himself several years ago and my hubby and I decided at that time we should talk with the boys about this.  Needless to say, this is an on going conversation.    Sprat knew "the talk" was coming. 
Parents, I cannot say enough that depression is real and is serious.   I encourage you all to have "the talk" with your kids too.   You may be saying to yourself; my kids are fine, we talk all the time, my kids know how I feel about them and so on.  Does that sound familiar?   I said the same thing too, until my husbands colleagues' son.  This young man was a junior in high school, an all star athlete, and a straight A student.  He shot himself, and this family did not own a gun.   We talked at length with our kids about peer pressure and how there was nothing too big and too bad that we could not face it together.   Yes, my kids know I love them but they need to hear it and often.  Kids need to be reassured that they are loved and that you as their parents will be there no matter what.   

I will hug  my kids a little tighter tonight before they go to bed.   Being a parent is hard work, being a kid in a house where they barely see their parents is even harder.   I am frequently called over protective and maybe I am but my kids are my priority above all else.   My time with them is fleeting and it is my job to protect them from things I know to be bad for them.   If that makes me overprotective, then so be it.   Hug those kiddos!!!

Holiday Recovery. . .

How many of you feel like you need a week or more to recover from all the Holiday hoopla?   I love Christmas and Thanksgiving but, it can really wear a person out.  I love decorating but it is a major chore to take everything down.  It makes me sad too. When we had an artificial tree I would leave it up till mid January.  I guess that is why we started getting real trees again.  My hubby hated when I would leave the tree up that long.  I saw on Facebook the other day a picture of a tree decorated and wrapped in cellophane and I thought that would be an awesome way to store an artificial tree if you had the room.  
We had a fabulous Christmas visiting with family.   Very thankful and blessed everyone is in good health.  My mom gave me the funniest calendar. (See the cover below).  I think this will be my mantra for the kids and myself  for 2016. Why be normal and boring, be unique and stir things up a bit.   I have always encouraged them not to follow the crowd.  I think I may have to stress this even more this year.   One quote from the calendar rings so true, "God doesn't want an orchestra of identical instruments all playing the same tune."   I tell my boys all the time that God made them unique and they should strive to keep and cultivate that uniqueness. 
I gave up on resolutions a long time  ago.  In my old age I decided to be the best me I can be and be better than I was the day before.  What is your goal for 2016?  I would love to hear from you.  
I say good bye to 2015 and any mistakes I made and hello to 2016, a fresh start. 

New Year...New, New, New....

On this New Year's eve of 2015 I look back and see how things have changed and how I would like things to change in 2016.   So,  I am still in school, on break and between semesters.  I loved my public speaking class this session.   I highly recommend that for every high school student.  This is a necessity if you are going to make a good impression on interviews or even presentations.  This next session will be all about criminal justice. 
  The boys are growing and ever changing.   I cannot believe Sprat is a sophomore in high school and Big T is in seventh grade.  They both are growing in their interests.  We will start planning college tours soon for Sprat.   Breathe.  . .
College???? Ughhhh. Am I really ready to push my baby out of the nest?  Many more post to follow on that one,  with tears. . .   Big T is turning into a nasty teenage alien.  I never thought my sweet T would ever become an awful teenager but, that is happening right before my eyes. 
  The hubbs is still recovering from his nasty fall on the ice in March, surgery, and finally going back to work.  Here is what I learned from that episode.  If you are a diabetic and have any kind of surgery or trauma you sugar is going to go through the roof.   The hubbs is a controlled diabetic and after he had to have surgery his sugar was upward of 500(this is VERY high).  Even if you are not insulin dependent they give you insulin to control your sugar.  Nobody told us this, so I flipped out.  This should really be something they make you aware of before any surgery.  Needless to say I cried myself to sleep that night in the hospital and it took weeks before his sugar came back to where he was before the fall.  I am very thankful for a family doctor who talked me off the ceiling that night and a pastor that visited and prayed with us before and after surgery. 
Our clan has so many things to be thankful for this year too many to list and many things to look forward to for 2016.
From my house to yours Happy New. Year!!!!  

It is Official I Am Old!!

I am slipping in my old age.  I have shared before about wagers I have made with the hubbs and my kids.   I normally do not wager unless I know I am going to win. 
My kids are the worst, in the mornings, trying to get ready and clothes and bags packed for school.  They wait until it is time to go out the door to scramble to find PE clothes and get the book bags packed.  After telling Big T to get his things together three times I was at my end.  He said, I am ready.  I could see his gym clothes and his gym bag in the chair not packed.  He said again, I am ready.  This is where my age has caught up to me and I slipped.  He said he was ready and I said he was not.  He said, I bet you I am.  So we bet and I lost.  Ughhh I detest smarty pants kids.  I did forget he has two sets of gym clothes and two gym bags.  He was indeed ready to go to school.  So I have to pay up.  I was completely over confident in this one.  I blame it on my age creeping in.  I will not admit that my son got the best of me.  

Sorry for the Break. . .

I have not had time to post these last several weeks and I do regret it.  I have been all over the place, between the kiddos and their schedule and my own.  Whewww! 
My public speaking  class has really been a challenge but, one I  am very happy to embrace.  This class has really thrown me out of my comfort zone.  I have learned that public speaking will not kill you, as I have long believed.  I have met some great young adults in this class.   My first speech was my hardest because it was all about me.   You would think I could talk all day about me.  I guess typing about me is much easier than actually being in front of a group and talking.  My last two speeches were on aspects of Dave Ramsey and I knocked them both out of the park.  Very proud of those two grades. 
The Constitutional Law class has been a big challenge too.  I will be glad when this semester is over.  I am going to try and get back in my groove with my posts, I beg for your patience as I try and adjust. 

I am going to brag just a bit on my very smart and handsome boys.  They both had straight A's this grading period.   I am
a very proud mom.  You may think it is no big deal to get straight A's but, when you throw in that they were both playing football and had practice every day it is an accomplishment.  
Stay tuned, lots of things to come. . .