Change

As I watched while holding my breath last night during the election results I was saddened.  My country that I love is not the same as I believed it would always be.  It felt kind of like when you realize there is no Santa.  You can not change it.  You have to accept it.  But right now I can not do that.  I have a picture in my head of an America of yesterday!  Strong morals, work ethic, family, church.  That is gone and it saddens me.

One tv anchor said the Republican Party needs to get a more conservative candidate and I thought are you crazy.  The majority of the country does not like being conservative.  Mitt Romney was a pretty middle of the road guy and he could not win.  By the way after listening to him for the last few months and his lovely wife Ann I really thought he would make a great president and get this country going again.

I say to myself am I missing something:

Almost 8% unemployment
16 Trillion dollars in debt
Almost 50% of the people on some sort of government help
Our religious freedoms being challenged


How could people think we are going in the right direction, but it happened.

I could say many things about why I think people voted for a president who has not done a good job and I think has divided this country even more with his language but I will offend many people I care about.

So what do I do, I pick myself up and go on.  I will accept that the majority of people have spoken and go about my day and do like I have always done try to be the best wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend that I know God made me to be.

By the way, I do not believe President Obama is a bad person.  I do believe that he has a different agenda for the country than I do.

I can accept change, but I do not have to change with it!  I will always be a person who has traditional values!

God Bless our Great Nation!

Memories!

Today my sister sent me a listing for the house we grew up in.  What a shock!!!

I remember our house as comfortable and actually it was quite large compared to some other houses in our neighborhood.  My parents had added on a couple of times.  We ended up with 4 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, 1 bath(7 children), laundry room with pantry and a huge family room.  Our yard had an above ground pool, which brought us countless hours of fun in the summer.  We kept our house tidy and my dad was always puttering in the yard and around the house.

We sold the house when my mom passed away in 2001.  We painted the inside put all new carpet in the house and sold it for around $104,000.  ( Not sure of the actual price but close enough.  I think my parents paid under $6000 for it in around 1946)

Here is the listing for my childhood home.  Very sad.  I hope when my children come back to our home with their children or grand children they would see a well kept home and a new family who loves to live here as much as we do!

The bedroom upstairs does not look to bad.  That is the room with the eaves that I shared with my sisters for many years.  Love you guys!!

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1804-Lotus-Dr_Round-Lake-Heights_IL_60073_M82871-57864

UVA Law Men's Softball Tourney

What a fun weekend Mick and I had in C-Ville.

Charlottesville has become a favorite place for Mick and I to visit.  It is a great college town but also there are other things to do there.  The scenery and history in the area are great and we look forward to our visits to UVA.

Warren plays on a softball team at UVA.  It is something a lot of Law School students do.  I guess they have lots of spare time.  Well at least they get there heads out of the books for awhile.

We got to meet some of the parents of Warren's team mates and Mick even participated in some kind of game involving beer, cups, and paddles.  But we will leave that for another time.

Hiking one morning.

Ash Lawn the home of James Monroe.  It is very close to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

Celebrating the big victories!

Glad to be home and looking forward to celebrating Easter at the Johnson's.

Decision Making

I will admit it right here!!  I Cindy McCarty have trouble making decisions.  It can be from what to wear, where to eat dinner, to what paint color to choose.

I am having that trouble right now.  Why can't I just make a decision and stick to it.  The answer is simple and it is always the same answer.  I am afraid to make the wrong choice.  You see I do not have confidence in my decisions in certain areas.  Sometimes I think I see things differently when it comes to color, style etc.

Well I have to make a decision by tomorrow morning.  Help!  I think I will just let my painter make that decision in the morning I need to go eat some grapes!

Here Goes....

I did not want my blog to become political or a soap box, but I just could not let this one go.


I will say upfront (as if you probably didn't already know) I AM PRO LIFE.


The Susan G. Komen Controversy:


Over the last few years it came to my attention that Susan G Komen (who by the way does wonderful work to help find a cure for breast cancer) was giving money to Planned Parenthood for"breast health" at their clinics.  I was not thrilled so I would not donate because there was no accountability as to where this money was actually being spent.  The people at Planned Parenthood said it was going for breast exams etc.  I do not believe that, they are the biggest provider of abortions in the United States.


This week the Susan G Komen Foundation decided to not give grant money to PP.  Hooray!  Until 2 days later when they caved under political pressure and changed their mind and will now allow PP to apply for grant money.


During these 48 hours PP raised 1 million dollars in donations.  I am sure from the Pro Choice side.  During this same time Susan G Komen donations were up 100% mostly from Pro Life supporters.


I struggle with this because on the one hand if PP saved one life through a brochure they handed out or a breast exam than that is awesome.  But on the other hand they  performed over 300,000 abortions last year.


I was just about to send The Komen Foundation my donation yesterday before I heard of the reversal and I just couldn't.  If 1 cent of my money was used for abortions I would be sick!


Don't get me wrong The Komen Foundation does soooo much to help fight and find a cure for breast cancer, but they have to be able to assure me where my donation is going. So until they can assure me that the money  I donate will in no shape or form be used to fund abortions than I can not donate.


Until then I am looking into other ways of helping to fight breast cancer.  Here is a link to The National Breast Cancer Foundation and I have just made my donation. http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/


I was going to say I will get off my soapbox now, but I don't think I will ever get off of this one.  I Choose Life.

Being Grandparents....

Mick and I got the pleasure of watching Caleb, Meredith and Shane Friday night.  What fun we had with them.

We have so much fun and hope the kids do too!

Some highlights, Meredith got to put on her Minnie Mouse dress and ears I got her.  Caleb got to play with the scrap wood pile in the basement.  He made some invention with levers, and Shane was introduced to the pool table.

A few pictures of our Friday night.

Parked in our driveway.  I think Shane was ready to get out of the car.

Shane loved the Tupperware!

I will get to see  Evangeline and Zachary in March.  I can't wait!

Fun in the Snow

Last weekend we took Cubby to the Hononegah Forest Preserve to walk and run in the snow.  Mick and I had a great time walking through the trails.  I am looking forward to the time when Mick retires and we can take daily walks with Cubby.

Appreciating Heirlooms...

Mick's mom Elsie passed away in 2001.  While Jan and Mick were cleaning out her things,  Mick decided to ship her China home for us to have.  At the time I think it cost like 450 dollars to pack and ship the China and I though were am I going to put it.

When it got here and I looked at it I realized I loved it.  I loved what it represented.  Years in a family.  Many Christmas Dinners were most likely eaten off of these plates.  You can tell that a lot of coffee was drank because there were only 3 coffee cups left.  I am assuming that there at one time was a service for 12.  I was in need of some of the pieces so for this past Christmas I put together a list of some of the items that were missing and asked for that for Christmas.

There is a place called Replacements.com that you can register your pattern and when something comes in that is what you need they will contact you.  I added 2 new dinner plates so I have 10 now.  1 creamer so now I have the sugar and creamer set.  I hope to finish the set in the next couple of years if the company can find the pieces.  I do not know how much the China cost when it was purchased in the 1940's but it is Priceless to me!

I hope that when I am gone one of my children will take it and look at it and appreciate the history and the family value that it has.

Even though we only use it on holidays  I love to look at it and think of my mother-in-law Elsie McCarty and how she must have loved having her family for dinner on those special occasions.

Here are some pictures of the China.  It is Noritake, pattern is Severy.  I am proud to call it mine.

Cold, Bronchitis Go Away!!!!

I have had a head cold/bronchitis since Christmas Eve and it has not been fun.  I have coughed and hacked and slept a lot lately.  Trying to get rid of this is taking some time.

I was planning to start my workout routine this week but will have to wait until next week.  Keep your fingers crossed that  I will be 100% by then.

Warren has been home the last couple of days and Katie came out to visit.  

They got into Dance Party on the XBox and had a lot of fun.  Thanks for visiting!

Warren is headed to Israel next Tuesday.  He will be taking a class and having some fun visiting their for 10 days.  Keep him in your prayers for safe travel.

Cindy

Happy New Year

Hoping to blog a little more in 2012.  Eat a little less in 2012 and exercise a little more in 2012.

Kitchen project is about finished just have to pick out backsplash, paint and some lighting fixtures.

before facing hallway

After facing hallway

Kitchen sink area before

Looking into kitchen from hall.

Here are some pictures of the kitchen before and after.  Mick did such a great job on the cabinets.  It was well worth the wait!  It is hard to capture the beauty of the granite counters and the solid cherry cabinets, but they are so special to me and with the extra work space on the island makes for fun entertaining.