Loretta Was Here

Knowing it's coming up on the end of January and another big chunk of money must go out the window to pay for Real Property taxes, I signed onto my Bank's billpay tonight, 4 days before they're due. Normally my bank can send a transfer and pay a bill in one day. NOT with governmental agencies, it seems. The bank must cut a paper check and MAIL it to the taxing authority, which would mean my taxes... late. No problem. Each tax bill has a URL for online payments. So I pull up the nifty little website. It lets me search by last name and Voila! there's our tax bill.. Click the little box to pay in full. Total will be... WTF?!?!?! $29.34 CONVENIENCE FEE?!?!? The taxpayer goes to your designated website, accesses online account information, can CLICK to pay the current bill and it costs the taxpayer $29.34?!?!?! Here's one of those crystal clear examples of what's fiscally wrong in government today -- A LACK OF SIMPLE COMMON SENSE! There is a system set...

When you first become parents, from the moment you hold your baby in your arms, people are telling you "Enjoy them! They grow up so fast!" And in the blink of an eye... or about 20 years time give or take... they've done it! and you wonder if you taught them what they need to know and how to deal with every possible situation and how to keep themselves from getting hurt and how to take care of themselves and how to get along with people and how to do all the things that we all have to do in this world and you realize that there's no way that a person or persons could cover everything that it feels like you need to convey... like a history teacher trying to decide what parts of history to include and what parts to leave out for lack of time and the sheer enormity of all the things that can happen in a lifetime... so, you pray... and you love... and you're there when they need you... and you pray and you love and you trust that they can handle whatever comes the...

Yeah, it's a controversial subject... and everybody has an opinion. Maybe it's time to look at the FACTS. This is a great video!

it's the second half of summer now, well into, and young lives are in a whirl... that last summer of freedom - before you all begin new adventures in your lives. Whether you're heading off to college in a new place without all your friends along, or separating from loved ones for the first time, really, in your lives, things are changing. And it's exciting and its maddening and it's sounds like fun and it gives you the feeling in the pit of your stomach that can only be compared to the feeling you get on the final ascent of a great roller coaster ride. the only real "solution" is to sit back and enjoy the ride, knowing in your heart of hearts that it's all gonna turn out like it's supposed to turn out. :) you'll go away and you'll come back and you'll have new friends and you'll still love your best friends. and you'll fall more in love or you'll meet your new love, and still it will all turn out like it's supposed to turn...

We all make mistakes. Some of them are bigger than others, have more repercussions, generally have a heavier impact on our lives... BUT all are recoverable.... long as you're alive. So, what do you do when you screw up and people seem to revel in attaching some stigma to you? "headed down the wrong path", "hangin' with a 'bad' crowd", just a "dreamer", whatever dumbass label you've gotten stuck with...? Well, simplest way..........prove 'em wrong. Become a successful person - become the person you've always wanted to be or you're just now deciding you'll be... and prove 'em wrong. Blaze a path! Achieve your goals. Prove 'em wrong! I'm not advocating seeking approval from outside sources... pssshht. Ya know me better than that, right? I'm saying... channel the energy derived from your anger and your frustration at whatever label gets under your skin into becoming what you know you can be... prove ...

When do you become an adult? Some say 18.. I say you're an adult when you are able to provide the material means (income) to support yourself in the world - when you make enough money in your chosen field, whatever it may be, to pay all your own expenses. You can afford the rent on your own place and pay the electricity, water, and sewer bill. You pay your own car payment, car insurance, gasoline, groceries, toiletries, hair cuts, makeup, clothes, laundry costs, medical insurance - doctor co-payments and prescriptions, and your own telephone bill. And if there's any money left over, you pay your own entertainment expenses - eating out, movies, and whatever else you have in mind. When you can do all that, provide completely for your own material needs, without resorting to borrowing, begging. stealing or prostituting yourself, you're an adult, and not before. You're not an adult until you can stand on your own and support yourself in this world. And age has very little...

My backyard flower bed has been taken over by my rosemary bushes. And they're so hale and hearty that I'm going to graft some and put rosemary in my front flower beds, along the front of the house, like regular bushes would be. My parents' place in South Texas had rosemary bushes tall as a little kid - big, fat and bushy. And the smell of rosemary is amazing! And this past spring, I tilled up my smaller flowerbed in the backyard and tossed out some wildflower seeds that I bought for $1 for a pretty big box at Walgreens. And they took! And it was wild and crazy and beautiful. So my flowers for filling my front bed, and the smaller one behind will be wildflowers this year. More carefully selected perhaps, but no less wildly strewn. And if I'm lucky, I'll have landscape without hassle! And I'm going to grow tomatoes up off the ground away from the dogs, probably in a raised cart or bench with a box on top. And I'll watch for pests and fertilize like you're ...