What if Obama was white????

After listening the last month to people complain about everything Obama wants to do from Health Care to Education Reform I have decided that if he were white nobody would care.

Today while scrolling through the low FM bands on my drive home I came across a talking head who was telling his listeners all about socialism and how Obama was bringing it to the USA. He went so far as to call it the USSA, United Socialist States of America. He compared it to the USSR. I am finding it amazing how certain people throw the term socialism around. I really believe that people are so out to destroy Obama's credibility they will do anything to do it. They call Obama a liar in the middle of his address, while they continue to lie to their own listeners. I decided I will give the Webster's definition of Socialism.

Socialism is: so·cial·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1837
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

I am having a hard time figuring out which of these definitions is fitting for what Obama is trying to do. He isn't trying to run FedEx, UPS or Wal-Mart. I still own my house, car and furniture. I guess you could say that the closest is the third definition. Where as there is an unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done. Those that have continued to have and those that don't still don't. I am pretty sure that the people gripping about Obama are the ones that have.

In true Socialism the government runs EVERYTHING. The government would be the administrator of the hospital. They would control everything the doctors do. They would control all of the pharmacies and drug companies. I am pretty sure that isn't even close to what is happening. I think it is a simple idea, give health care to those that can't get it. According the 2007 census there are 46 million people in the USA without health insurance. I think those numbers are low. I know many people who don't have it. It may be that their spouse has it or they have it for their kids and not themselves. This is a horrible position for this country. I see no problem with their being a public option where the uninsured have a way to get insurance at a reasonable price. If Obama were white would this be an issue? I think not since the census shows that the majority of the uninsured are naturalized citizens and minorities. If this issue was an issue of the majority there would be no issue passing it.

When it comes to education I still can't figure out why people were up in arms about the President was trying to inspire our young people. Today when nearly 50% of kids drop out of high school in the 50 larges USA cities. It is a disgrace that it isn't a concern. Kennedy in 1961 inspired youth by saying ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. This speech has been recited for over 40 years and will continue to be. Obama gave great examples of how to further your education and create a nation of intelligent leaders. It is a concept that some right wingers don't want. Why would you want the minorities to take over power? We all know that we don't want the poor to be in charge. The biggest complaint from the right was Obama giving a recommended lesson plan. Asking students to write a letter to the President saying how they can help him. I guess it is ok for kids to write letters to Santa Claus with what they want for Christmas but they can't write to the President about how they can change the country. What if somebody used a picture of a black Santa, would you let your kids write a letter to him? If Obama were white it wouldn't be an issue.

I posted on my facebook the other day in a very sarcastic tone that is a horrible idea for the President to try and inspire our children. Most responses were agreeable. There were some however who simply put it that they hate Obama. No explanation why or what he has done to create hatred. I simply think it comes from the fact that he is an educated black man who is now the leader of the free world. It is easier to criticize him than change a believe system and support a black man. I am as white as white can get, however, I support my country. I support my President. I put up with 8 years of W and our country being in a war I can't support an economy that was failing and gas prices that were out of control. I think we owe Obama a little more than 9 months to grow the true hatred that some have already developed for him. I am trying to figure out how Obama has become so hated. I think it simply comes down to him being black. If Obama was white we would have health care, education and environmental reform. To me it is a huge disappointment that this country is falling back on old habits next thing you know we will have a separate restroom for him in congress. It is a shame that we as a country can't compromise on basic rights of Americans.

Tulsa Excursion Day 3

I know that everyone has been waiting with baited breath to hear about our last and final day in Tulsa; so, here it is. We didn't have a whole lot planned for our last day in Tulsa. We decided to go to their local farmer's market and check out some more local shops. Their farmer's market isn't as nice as Fayetteville but it was interesting to see how another big city did theirs. After we finishing there we headed downtown to take some pictures of some neat looking buildings. That's the one thing that I wished that Northwest Arkansas had more of.
Then we drove about 30 minutes outside of Tulsa to Stone Bluff Cellars Winery. Chris and I don't know a lot about wine so we decided to take a tour. It's a really beautiful place and they make all of their wines there. We learned all about the different types of grapes that they grow and how they make it. We also got to sample some of their wines and we did buy a bottle to take home.
Finally before heading home we stopped by the Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa. We are very unlucky people and never seem to win when we go to the casino. We spent forty dollars and won twenty. I've never understand why people gamble. I would much rather put my money towards something than just waste it away.

All in all it was a really good vacation. It was really nice to get out of town for a few days. It's always nice to come home though! We want to send out a HUGE thank you to my parents who watched all of our animals for us while we were gone. Thank you guys so much we greatly appreciate it. You guys are the best parents!!

Tulsa Excursion Day 2

We spent our second day of our Tulsa vacation at the Tulsa Zoo. I haven't been to the Tulsa zoo in about 9 years and the last time I went with my friend Haley. I would have to say that the zoo has gone down hill in the past couple of years. There were a lot of exhibits that were empty, one in particular was the polar bear exhibit. It was nice to go to a zoo for a change rather than an aquarium.After we got done with the zoo we went over to the Philbrook Museum. Chris and I went a few years ago but the gardens were under construction so we went back to check out the new and improved gardens. I personally liked the way the old gardens looked but I can tell that they upgraded the stonework and walk ways. If you've never been to the Philbrook it is a really beautiful museum set in a beautiful part of Tulsa. It's really worth checking out.When we got finished at the Philbrook we headed over to Utica Square. Utica Square was designed to look like a village with tons of upscale shopping and fine restaurants. I didn't take any pictures but they have the red telephone booths that you would see in London. After we finished shopping and eating we went back to the hotel for a quick rest before having dinner with Chris's co-worker from Tulsa. They took us out to eat at Hideway Pizza which is apparently the place to eat pizza at in Tulsa. There are several locations in the Oklahoma area and unfortunately there aren't any in Arkansas.

After spending time with them we drove down to the downtown area to take a few pictures. We wanted to go to Cain's ballroom but there weren't any good bands in town that we wanted to see. We also took some pictures of Boston Avenue Methodist Church which was built in 1929 and has a tower that goes 255 feet high.

Tulsa Excursion Day 1

Last week Chris and I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a couple of days. We had been debating on where to take a vacation this year or if we would even take one. We’ve been taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University at our church and have been putting all of our extra money towards debt. Dave always says that you have to “live like no one else, so you can live like no one else” later in life. So this year we decided to go somewhere close and go somewhere nice later. You’d be surprised with all that Tulsa has to offer.

The first day of our Tulsa vacation we went to the Oklahoma Aquarium which is really located in Jenks. We have been to that aquarium several times before but there was a new exhibit that was pretty interesting. Going to any aquarium is my favorite part of the trip. I could spend all day looking at the fish, but that wouldn't be very fair to Chris.

After we got done with the aquarium we had lunch at Pei Wei which we have been hearing about from some of our friends. Needless to say the food was awesome and we left very full! Then we wandered around the Brady district which has some really neat local shops. Our final destination of the day was the Gilcrease Museum. I think that this was Chris's favorite thing that we did on vacation. Their whole downstairs was an archival collection where you could open up draw after draw and see artifacts.

Then I drug poor Chris to the Woodland Hills Mall for some shopping. We asked some locals where we should go for dinner and it was decided that we would go to Brother's Houligan. They serve a lot of food there so I would suggest if you ever go make sure and split your meal. Of course we needed to have some dessert and what better place for dessert than the Cheesecake Factory!

Dog gone cute

Friday I took the dogs to the groomers. This was the first professional haircut that Baxter has ever gotten minus the one that Mayline gave him several years ago. Baxter wasn't happy about being left there but Morgan was super happy to see everyone and get lots of attention. They did a great job cutting their hair and they look even cuter now! Morgan's pictures didn't turn out very well because he hates having his picture taken. But here are some before and after pictures of both of them.

Before:

After:Since we are speaking of pets I wanted to bring up that the place where I work has a homeless guinea pig to give away. Someone dropped off a box yesterday at our back door with a note on it that said "Needs a home." This is the second time this has happened at work and I think that it is absolutely ridiculous! If you can't take care of your pets don't even bother getting one! It makes me so mad when people can't take care of their animals. Animals have feelings just like you and I and they don't deserve to have someone drop them off like their a piece of trash! So if anyway knows of anyone who would like a free sweet guinea pig we'd be glad to give him to someone who would love him. Chris and I can't adopt another one because it wouldn't be fair to Patches. Let me know by tomorrow if anyone is interested!

Update:
I was just reading in the paper about a family writing in on whether or not they should give up their pet due to financial difficulties. According to the Humane Society pets not only provide unconditional love and affection but they decrease stress, anxiety, and feelings of loneliness and can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. I know that pets can be a handful to take care of but please consider all options before getting rid of them! Our pets do really help us out!!

Jakob's Baby Shower

We went down to Mena two weeks ago for Traci and Seth's baby shower. She is due in a few weeks and she is ready for baby Jakob to get here. During the shower I learned that I don't know a lot about nursery rhymes as I thought. It's been a long time since I have heard some of them! They got a lot of beautiful items at the shower and baby Jakob will be one stylish baby.

While the girls where at the baby shower the guys built another potato cannon. I don't have pictures of that because I had the camera with me at the shower. I know that Chris posted some pictures of the new cannon that they built with some videos on his facebook page. So, if you want to see them you'll have to check them out there.

Their theme for the baby's room is Winnie the Pooh, Razorbacks and Firefighter decor.Beautiful Mennonite handmade blanketWhat baby doesn't need a Winnie the Pooh cap?

Happy Belated 28th

Birthdays in our household are celebrated and a couple of weeks ago was Chris's 28th birthday. I haven't had a chance to post his pictures yet and unfortunately I had to work on his birthday so we celebrated on two different days. My best friend and her family came up to go play put-put golf and ride some go carts with us. On Chris's actual birthday my parent's took him out to dinner at his favorite local restaurant, Hugo's. If you haven't been to Hugo's before you really need to check it out because the food is really good and the environment is awesome.

Rick's Bakery Birthday Cakes are the best!
The gang getting ready to play miniature golf
Abby our goddaughter is the queen of the world!I hope that you had a wonderful birthday babe and I promise next year I'll take the day off to spend with you!!!