Winning! Is it everything?

I was watching the new Tiger Woods ad for Nike and it kind of rubbed me the wrong way.  They are implying that because he is winning now, it erases all the mistakes of his past.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2013/03/26/nike-tiger-woods-ad-too-edgy/2023163/

Hey I am all for forgiveness and redemption, but to imply that by winning some tournaments it washes away all the bad things he did in the past is crazy, but on the other hand maybe as a society we do forgive and forget just because someone is so good at something.

I wish Tiger well and hope he finds peace and moves forward in a positive way, but to say just winning a tournament makes everything better is just plain nuts.

Maybe Nike should have asked his ex-wife and children if they have gotten past all the hurt Tiger caused.  But then again maybe I am in the minority and in today's world winning is everything!

Cindy

Disclosure:  Trust me I love to win and to follow a winning team, but it shouldn't be a free pass for all your past mistakes.

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.

9/11 =Hope

Not only is September 11th the day America was attacked by evil.  It is the day(9 years later) my beautiful granddaughter Evangeline was born.

"So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord" (Psalm 31 NLT)

I feel a sense of hope today as I write this post.  I watched some of the coverage of the 9/11 remembrances and was moved especially by the recounting of flight 93.

The terrorists had taken over the plane and turned it around and were heading back to DC to  either hit the Capital or the White House.  Brave men and women on that plane called their loved ones and said their prayers and goodbyes.  Then took on the terrorists in order to save many people who would have been killed by that 4th plane.

I hope I would be able to be that courageous.

Happy Birthday Sweet Evangeline.  We will never forget your birthday.  You are a beautiful gift from God, and a reminder of how wonderful his blessings are.

Family

I love my family.

Fun times with Caleb and Meredith!

We had such a great time with C and M on Saturday despite some very rainy conditions.

We started off with grandma's french toast and scrambled eggs.  Then it was time to go to The Wild West Town and The Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL.

It was raining pretty hard when we got to the museum so we spent about 1/2 hour inside looking at the old west museum.  The kids were not that interested, but their grandpa was.  Grandpa was a big cowboy/indian fan as a kid.

It stopped raining so we went outside and rode the little canoe ride, the carousel, and attempted to go to the outdoor wild west show, but as soon as the "cowboy" shot a gun in the air M started screaming.  Poor thing the noise was so loud it scared her.  We decided it was best to leave the show and head to lunch.

When we got out from lunch the sun was shining and the temps had picked up so it was very warm.  We headed over to the Railway Museum to catch a ride with "Thomas The Tank Engine"

We had a 2:30 ticket so we had about an hour or more to walk around.  We rode a trolley car and some ice cream.  M was getting tired but Caleb was so excited to ride the train.

We finally got on the train and Thomas pulled us around for about 10 minutes and then pushed us back.  He sure must be tired at all of the work he does.

Both kids were exhausted and so were there grandparents.  We love having time to spend with the grandkids and hope they remember the special times with Grandma and Grandpa(minus the loud gun sounds):)

34 years and still going strong

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband Mick.

Thank you for being patient and kind,
a great father and role model for our children,
supportive and faithful,
God loving and truthful.

I love you more than the day we were married.  Thanks for the past 34 years and I hope we have many more together.

Love you!

I'm Home

After spending almost 2 weeks in Tucson to visit Kirsten, Jon, Evangeline and sweet baby Zachary.  I am finally home.

I hope I was a little help to Kirsten considering I was getting over a bad sinus infection.

I loved every minute I got to hold Zachary.  He is so precious.  Evangeline is very sweet to her new baby brother, but I bet she is wondering where he came from and when does he leave!

Mick, Meghan and Shane were able to spend a few days in Tucson too.   Jan and Art came down from Phoenix to visit for lunch on Saturday.  It is always great to visit with them.

I am home now and still recuperating hopefully I will be 100% in no time.

Cubby was very happy to see me, but I think he liked the city life with Warren and Katie. They took him to dog parks, Old Town Art Fair, Outdoor Cafes.  Country Dog had fun in the city, but he layed on the driveway today and barked at the lawnmower and fell back into his country dog life.  Thanks Katie and Warren for taking care of him.

Just some pictures from my visit!

Surviving the Arizona Heat

Here I am in sunny Arizona.  It is almost the middle of June and the temps are over 100.

You can survive the heat when you have lots to drink, stay in the air conditioning and have 2 little precious ones to visit.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WARREN -May 31st, 1987

Happy 24th birthday to Warren.  What a fun time it has been having you as a son.  I enjoyed so much all the time we have spent together over the last 24 years.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of you and Dad when we went to Hayward many years ago.

Love you and have a great  year!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRSTEN

30 years ago today Kirsten Lauren was born at 10:01 a.m.  What a blessing to our family.

Kirsten has grown into a beautiful woman, wife and mother.  We are so thankful to have her as a daughter.

Hugs and kisses to our "little one".  

New Life

Tuesday May 24 a sweet little baby boy was born. His name is Zachary Jonathan Phillips and he is loved so much.

He just so happens to be my new grandson and I can not wait to hold and snuggle with him.

Thank you God for bringing this little bundle of joy to our family.