Almost There

I go through these phases in life where I pretty much live the current day just to make it through to a not so distant event in the future. I'm experiencing that in like overdrive this year. There is the day by day count off to Christmas. Then there is the day by day count off to our vacation; Jerad and I are flying out to Steamboat, Co on Dec 26th. Then there is the count down to the end of Open Enrollment for Medicare Part D, in which I work. We are also counting down to New Year. The fact that I'm missing the end of open enrollment at my job and getting away from the Flower Shop at the same time is seriously unusual.

I first noticed this phase the week of our Christmas party, Dec 8th. I was busy trying to get the carpet replaced in our house, cleaning, and prepping for the big event. I remember saying to myself, I leave for vacation in three weeks, I just have to make it through this. Things just started to spiral downward from there.

Yesterday Lynn, my former voice teacher, now friend, got in a car accident and underwent surgery at St. Vincent. So, I'm filling in at church for Christmas Masses for Organ. It hit me today that It's just another thing that I'm just "trying to get through."

I find it really challenging to feel like it's Christmas. I mean I haven't had a stitch of time to reflect about anything. I know you're supposed to "live in the moment," but seriously, living in the moment is for people who do not have anything better to do. Christmas is increasingly meaning, just another thing. I honestly feel like this just gets worse every year. I'm hardly going to see my family, I have to cover all the bases in one day this year. I just feel like everyone around me deserves better.

My Pie Crust

I'm sharing it, so y'all better give me credit...

Pie Crust
(Especially for people who can't make pie crust!)

Ingredients:

3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening
1 beaten egg
8 T. water (1/2 c.)
1 T. lemon juice (vinegar can be substituted)

Cream together flour, salt, and shortening. Mix together in another dish the beaten egg, water, and lemon juice. Add liquids to flour and shortening. Mix with fingers or pastry blender. Makes roughly 2 double crust pies.

Mom’s Stuffing

1 Package Sage & Onion Bread Crumbs
1 Tube of Pork Sausage
1lb of ground chicken or turkey
1 large apple – finely diced
1 onion – diced
3-4 stalks of celery – finely diced
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 egg
Season with garlic and herbs, salt & black pepper

Mix stuff together with hands in a large bowl. Patt into oven safe dish. Bake 1 – 1½ hours at 350F. Internal temp for stuffing should be about 165 degrees when fully cooked.

I've been busy

I know it's been forever since I've written a blog, but really It's not my fault. I'm not one of those people who likes to dwell on how busy I'm been or how hard I work. For me, even though those things are usually true, I don't like to focus on them like they're the only important things in my life. It's really hard to remember that you are still a multi-dimensional person even when your daily activities are in a unidirectional mode. Question: how do you avoid becoming a broken record of a chatter box when life is the same old?

For starters try to personalize your life experience. It's not too much to take that standardized, boring old situation at work, school, church, etc and make it your own. Tack up your personal photos and flare and really move in. Maybe you'll freshen things up by just expressing how you feel about something. You might in turn actually start talking with people and figure out how to make it better.

Also, make the experiences you have on a daily basis special by emphasizing what it is that makes that thing important. Mundane things are really not mundane at all, it's just our attitude towards them and how we approach it. Keeping the pep in things requires some creativity. My mom always made doing dishes better by having me help her. And she was right; it was one of the few times we really got to talk and spend time together. Plus we got a lot of work done and somehow something as mundane as dishes became a ritual, special in its own way.

Take care of yourself, you're special to a lot of people out there.

LastManOut

Sorry, I was the last one out.

So I completely forgot about National Comming Out Day. It was like two days ago and even though I had notice before hand that it was comming, it obviously didn't make waves with me.

National Comming Out Day is sort of like the gay Christmas. It's not how many people you tell on that day, but really how you live your life all year long. It's like you can have the spirit of Christmas for 24 hours, or you can spread Christ's love all year long. So, It's like this, love one another, accept people for who they are, and most importantly be honest with yourself. Love yourself, I'm sure your a more beautiful person than you really know.

Happy Pride, All Year Long!

LastManOut

Never Mind Me

I'm stressing lately for over many things. I feel like we are moving in that inevitable direction in which relationships are just getting to the point that things are going to change without anyone even really noticing. New things are emerging, such as the addition of Doris to the family, and some old things seem to have faded. I'm never really satisfied. This is the downside to having ambition. When you want things to continuously be better, you pay the price of never really being satisfied in the present. Looking to the future is some people's specialy. I suppose I've been peering into the crystal ball a little bit more lately. As always I see love in someone's future, the loss of it for someone else. I see magnificent things happening in the month of November. I see October as a time of atonement, best be on your guard for gobblins! I'm worried that things will not come out smoothly as we enter the New Year.

The planets are bitch slapping one another and Jupiter thinks Saturn's a Queen. What more can I say?

I'm starting to wear in my age.

Tree Joke

Two tall trees, a birch and a beech, are growing in the woods. A small tree begins to grow between them, and the beech says to the birch, "Is that a son of a beech or a son of a birch?" The birch says he cannot tell. Just then a woodpecker lands on the sapling. The birch says, "Woodpecker , you are a tree expert. Can you tell if that is a son of a beech or a son of a birch?" The woodpecker takes a taste of the small tree. He replies, "It is neither a son of a beech nor a son of a birch. It is, however, the best piece of ash I have ever put my pecker in."

The Nationality of Jesus

There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black:
1. He called everyone brother.
2. He liked Gospel.
3. He couldn't get a fair trial.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:
1. He went in to His Father's business.
2. He lived at home until he was 33.
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian:
1. He talked with His hands.
2. He had wine with His meals.
3. He used olive oil.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:
1. He never cut His hair.
2. He walked around barefoot all the time.
3. He started a new religion.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was an American Indian:
1. He was at peace with nature.
2. He ate a lot of fish.
3. He talked about the Great Spirit.

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish:
1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.

But the most compelling evidence of all - 3 proofs that Jesus was a WOMAN:
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food.
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it.
3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was work to do.

The Wizard of Oz

Four United States Presidents get caught up in a tornado and off they whirled to the land of OZ. They finally made it to the Emerald City and went to find the Great Wizard.

"What brings the 4 of you before the great Wizard of Oz?"

Jimmy Carter stepped forward timidly and said:
"I've come for some courage."
"No Problem!" said the Wiz! ard. "Who' s next?"

Richard Nixon stepped forward,
"Well, I think I need a heart."
"Done!" says the Wizard.

Who comes next before the Great and Powerful Oz?
Up stepped Bush and said,
"Well, I'm told by some people that I need a brain."
"No problem," said the Wizard. "Consider it done."

Then there is a great silence in the hall.
Bill Clinton is just standing there, looking around, but he doesn't say a word.
Irritated, the Wizard finally asks, "Well, what do you want?"

"IS DOROTHY HERE?"

Abstinence

A young couple wanted to join the church, the pastor told them, "We have a special requirement for new member couples. You must abstain from sex for one whole month." The couple agreed, but after two-and-a-half weeks returned to the Church. When the Pastor ushered them into his office, the wife was crying and the husband was obviously very depressed.

"You are back so soon... Is there a problem?" the pastor inquired. We are terribly ashamed to admit that we did not manage to abstain from sex for the required month." the young man replied sadly. The pastor asked him what happened. "Well, the first week was difficult... However, we managed to abstain through sheer willpower." "The second week was terrible, but with the use of prayer, we managed to abstain." "However, the third week was unbearable. We tried cold showers, prayer, reading from the Bible...anything to keep our minds off carnal thoughts."

"One afternoon my wife reached for a can of paint and dropped it. When she bent over to pick it up, I was overcome with lust and I just had my way with her right then and there. It was lustful, loud, passionate sex. It lasted for over an hour and when we were done we were both drenched in sweat." admitted the man, shamefacedly. The pastor lowered his head and said sternly, "You understand this means you will not be welcome in our church." "We know." said the young man, hanging his head, "We're not welcome at Home Depot either."

I Confess, Your Attitude Sucks.

This blog entry is in response to an article publised in Time Magazine, July 30th, 2007, Pg 60. It is also available at, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1645160,00.html

The article disscussing one Catholic's opinion with respect to the lifting of restrictions on Mass in Latin by the Pope.

The following is what I sent to the editor.

Dear Editor,

I would find an article discussing the merits of English over Latin in Mass much more interesting if the premise was not, "I don't like what I hear in English." Reading this article, I see it for what it is. Here is a person unhappy with the Catholic Church's teachings and would like nothing more than to escape back into a time when those in the pew had no clue.

The allure of Mass is not in the language that it is spoken, but of the celebration itself. It says very little about the Christian faith to attend worship out of "habit and guilt." Worshiping together as a community, as a body of believers with a common voice, celebrating the Eucharist together, is much more powerful than the "allure" of a dead language.

The most important point is that you'll never understand your faith if you just ride along through mass and not make any attempt to understand what is being said and what is going on. The lack of understanding is still what is inherently wrong with the Catholic Church today and it is a direct result of having the Mass in Latin for so many centuries. The fact that Cullen can understand what is going on in English and disagree with it should be celebrated, not condemned. The common language of the people should remain because it is their faith that makes the Church more of a community than an institution.

Medicare Advice

The phone rings and the lady of the house answers,

"Hello."

"Mrs. Ward, please."

"Speaking"

"Mrs. Ward, this is Doctor Jones at the Medical Testing Laboratory. When your doctor sent your husband's biopsy to the lab yesterday, a biopsy from another Mr. Ward arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one is your husband's. Frankly, the results are either bad or terrible."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Ward asks nervously.

"Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's, and the other one tested positive for AIDS. We can't tell which is your husband's."

"That's dreadful! Can't you do the test again?" asked Mrs.Ward.

"Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive tests one time."

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?"

"The people at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him."

Fun With Medicare Part D!

I came up with this story problem to demonstrate how complicated it is to understand the Medicare Part D prescription plan, which many of our seniors deal with every day.

Carl has a medicare part D plan with no deductible. Part D covers drugs up to $2400 in total retail cost (rxspend). When you reach $2400 you enter the coverage gap where you pay for drugs at 100% of the cost. You get out of the gap and reach catastophic protection when you reach $3850 in true out of pocket costs (TROoP), what you have paid only. The plan pays $95% of the total drug cost in catastrophic.

1) If Carl has a monthly retail cost of $400, which month will he reach the coverage gap in if his plan begins in Jan? In April?


2) If Carl has a monthly retail cost of $950, of which $200 each month is copays in initial coverage, in which month will he reach catastophic protection?


3) If Carl's monthly retail cost is $950, of which $200 per month is copays in initial coverage, what will be his total retail cost (Rxspend) at the end of the year?


Answers:
1. Jan = July, April = October
2. July
3. Rxspend = $4135

Quote

“There’s this kid & he’s in his backyard digging a hole & the neighbor lady looks over the fence & says, ‘What you doing over there little Johnny?’ And he looks really sad & says, ‘My goldfish died & I’m having a funeral for him.’ And the lady says, “Um, that’s an ‘ofly big hole for a goldfish.’ And little Johnny says, ‘Well that’s because he’s inside your stupid cat.’”

-Oliver, A Lot Like Love
(movie, 2005), When asked to
“Just say anything.”

Sandals

A married couple walked into a tourist shop. The Jamaican said to them, "I have some special sandals I think you would be interested in. Dey make you wild at sex."

Well, the wife was really interested in buying the sandals after what the man claimed, but her husband felt he really didn't need them, being the sex god he was.

The husband asked the man, "How could sandals make you into a sex freak?"

The Jamaican replied, "Just try dem on, Mon." So, the husband, after some badgering from his wife, finally gave in,and tried them on.

As soon as he slipped them onto his feet, he got this wild look in his eyes, something his wife hadn't seen in many years!

In the blink of an eye, the husband grabbed the Jamaican, bent him violently over a table, yanked down his pants, ripped down his own pants, and grabbed a firm a hold of the Jamaican's hips.

The Jamaican then began screaming, "You got dem on the wrong feet! You got dem on de wrong feet!"

English Humour

The train was quite crowded, so a U. S. Marine walked the entire length looking for a seat, but the only seat left was taken by a well dressed, middle-aged, French woman's poodle. The war-weary Marine asked, "Ma'am, may I have that seat?" The French woman just sniffed and said to no one in particular, "Americans are so rude. My little Fifi is using that seat." The Marine walked the entire train again, but the only seat left was under that dog. "Please, ma'am. May I sit down? I'm very tired." She snorted, "Not only are you Americans rude, you are also arrogant!" This time the Marine didn't say a word; he just picked up the little dog, tossed it out the train window, and sat down. The woman shrieked, "Someone must defend my honour! Put this American in his place!" An English gentleman sitting nearby spoke up, "Sir, you Americans seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You hold the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your autos on the wrong side of the road. And now, sir, you seem to have thrown the wrong bitch out the window."

Mitt Romney: Really Irritating

I'm tired of reading in the news about Mitt Romney and what he has to say about where America should go. Basically, Romney is a walking contradiction. He has supported gay rights, but wants a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. He wants tougher security and more troops, but also lower taxes. He thinks he's better than Hilary because his univeral health care plan got passed in Mass. and Hilary's was shot down when she was First Lady. I am sick, sick and tired of this bull from Mitt Romney who can't deciede if he's comming or going. Can we at least turn the lime light on one of the other boring same old, same old Republican presidential candidates for a while? Election 2008 is already making me sick.

Reasons Not to Flirt

The wife got a terrible headache and told her husband to go to the party alone. He, being a devoted husband, protested, but she argued and said she was going to take some aspirin and go to bed and there was no need for his good time to be spoiled by her not going. So he took his costume and away he went. The wife, after sleeping soundly for about an hour, woke without pain, and as it was still early, decided to go to the party. As her husband didn't know what her costume was, she thought she would have some fun by watching her husband to see how he acted when she was not with him. So she joined the party and soon spotted her husband in his costume, cavorting around on the dance floor, dancing with every nice "chick" he could and copping a little feel here and a little kiss there. His wife went up to him and being a rather seductive babe herself, he left his new partner high and dry and devoted his time to her. She let him go as far as he wished, naturally, since he was her husband. After more drinks he finally whispered a little proposition in her ear and she agreed, so off they went to one of the cars and had passionate intercourse in the back seat. Just before unmasking at midnight, she slipped away and went home and put the costume away and got into bed, wondering what kind of explanation he would make up for his outrageous behavior. She was sitting up reading when he came in, so she asked what kind of time he had. "Oh, the same old thing. You know I never have a good time when you're not there." Then she asked," Did you dance much?" He replied, I'll tell you; I never even danced one dance. When I got there, I met Pete, Bill Brown and some other guys, so we went into the spare room and played poker all evening. " You must have looked really silly wearing that costume playing poker all night!" she said with unashamed sarcasm. To which the husband replied, "Actually, I gave my costume to your brother, apparently he had the time of his life".

Amnesty and Immigration: Why common sense should lead the way.

As a Christian, I am the first person to want to help someone in need. I fully embrace charity and sacrifice as part of my mission of embracing Christ in others. My first inclination with the immigration debate that is going on was to say that it was not charitable or hospitable to deny people entry and a good life in our country, especially because our country really has no national ethnicity. This is not to say we do not have original ethnic groups, American Indians, but this is different because our society, culture, and government are not original to these groups. However, as I began to think about the issue of immigration and the other issues surrounding it, namely amnesty for illegal aliens, I felt that my charity was misplaced.

For a variety of socio-economic reasons we have illegal aliens in our country in probably almost every larger community in our country. Laborers are hired from Mexico to fill many jobs in farming, construction, landscaping, housekeeping, and other jobs in related fields. These people are often prospected by American employers looking for cheep labor. A portion of illegal aliens in our country make the entry into the country by themselves. None of this is unfamiliar to us, but these are the facts.

When you consider that most illegal aliens are regular people who come to our country to work and make a life for themselves, you feel a sense charity to help them because Americans want everyone who works to succeed. This is one of our few common values, a strong work ethic. Nearly everyone in our country is here in our country today because of this value. However, speaking of values, there are other values that Americans also embrace, values that define freedom, justice, fairness, and individualism. Justice or fairness is really the value that freedom rests upon. Equal opportunity gives the individual the power to accomplish what he or she wants. However, in order to provide equal opportunity fairly or equally, we have to have laws and due process.

Legal immigration is not an easy process, and in fact, it costs a lot of money. This would be the barrier to immigrating to our country, aside from the bureaucracy of legal entry. However, thousands of people legally immigrate to our country every year. They go through the process of legal immigration because they respect our country and our laws. Respect for our laws should be the first consideration by prospective immigrants and other parties of interest when seeking entry to the U. S. I was quite perplexed by the fact that many employers in various professions break the law to bring aliens into our country. The fact of the matter is that when employers do hire illegal aliens for jobs they pay these people much less than a U. S. citizen would make doing the very same job. This has the effect of “cheapening” our labor and actually making the job market and the economy worse. This hurts U. S. employers who are playing by the rules. The other side of the cost issue is that by immigrating illegally many folks have no choice but to use our public services, such as schools, medical care, and a variety of public assistance programs. This unexpected use on our system is an unexpected strain on these vital services, services we pay for.

I began this article saying that our charity as Christians is misplaced when we want to provide amnesty to illegal aliens. This is because we have other options to prevent people from entering our country illegally in the first place. We have the ability to make legal immigration easier, but still economically and socially responsible. We can provide a grant or scholarship to qualified individuals to enter our country to assist those with low income. We can also be more charitable to those groups of people in other countries who are coming to our country to find work. We have the ability to responsibly channel resources and education so that people, who might otherwise look to migrant work, are able to work in their own communities. We must consider that there are also adverse effects on these communities in other countries for allowing one of their most valuable assets, their people, an easy opportunity to leave.

The other pressing concern that should concern everyone in our country is that if it is so easy for an estimated 12 million illegal alien to enter our country, it is extremely easy for other groups, such as terrorists, to enter our communities as well. In our post 9/11 age, security of our country has a new priority and it means that we have to screen those entering and leaving our country much closer. This is simply a fact of life and cannot be avoided. We have a duty to follow the laws that we have set to ensure the safety of all Americans.

The challenge that we face is what to do with the illegal aliens that we already have in our country? While deportation seems logical, we must consider at what cost, how fair, and how practical it would be to begin deportations of the illegal immigrant populations. The first actions that should be taken nationwide are stiff penalties and accountability for U. S. employers. We have to make it a grave harm to their business to hire an illegal alien such that they will put in place effective programs to screen their workers and take responsibility for an issue that they helped create. Every business is replaceable by one that will comply with the law. It is much better for the consumer to pay higher prices for work performed by legal labor than pay an increased tax rate to fix illegal labor problems. Employers who use have utilized illegal labor should have to pay a penalty for engaging in illegal behavior.

To use some common sense, it does not seem practical to deport millions of people. However, to be fair, there should be a system to register these people, provide them with education on what procedures need to be followed to stay in the country, and assess what penalty they should pay to be able to stay. These folks are here illegally and there should be a punishment that fits the crime. I think it should be considered that illegal aliens who are naturalized into the country should pay a higher income tax rate for a specified period of time. I also think there should be an additional one time fine. They should also be listed on a public watch list for national security purposes as they were not legally screened for entry into the country. These folks should also be required at their cost to pay for any compliance to national heath standards that are necessary, i.e. vaccinations. There should be a deadline that these folks have to meet to get all of these things done. If these folks decide they do not want to pay a higher tax rate, a one time fine, and compliance with any other applicable laws on their own, they should be granted without penalty a grace period in which they would be able to return to their country. This proposed solution is both fair to the immigrants who are here illegally, U. S. citizens, and those who have immigrated legally.

By giving illegal aliens an option to make good with the law we are giving them opportunity. This opportunity is much better than simply granting them amnesty. The other side of this situation is that if they are in violation of immigration law they can be deported. The laws are in place for many good and valid reasons including national security, economic, public health, and equal opportunity. By granting amnesty to any illegal alien we cheapen the work that legal immigrants put into becoming citizens of our country. I believe in fairness and equal opportunity, but equal opportunity has to go both ways.

Back to School

I’m not thrilled about Monday. Monday I start the second last class of my college career. I have yet to finish my bachelor’s degree in Political Science. This is a burden that I have carried with me for quite some time. It’s an issue that I have been working towards addressing since I left. It’s only a 4 week accelerated course. It really shouldn’t seem like a big deal, especially because I’m been working so hard at the flower shop anyhow, but I’m really nervous about the whole thing. I haven’t taken a course in a long time. I’ve had quite a bit of training, that’s true, but this is a very different endeavor from that. I feel like I’m trying to force myself to go into this with a positive attitude so that I’m able to really do well in this class. It would be very nice after all to actually do well. However, like clockwork I have a pit of dread in my stomach. I feel despondent. I’m not happy. The “why” for these feeling is no longer important to me. I don’t even care anymore about how I used to feel about certain things. I just want them to go away. And like a double-edged sword, these feelings will not leave me until I’m done. I’m left with these feelings, while putting on a bright exterior. I suppose only two months of it will not be too much to endure.

Spring Frenzy

“Spring Frenzy,” by the looks of the weather, is about to hit our area. Every year when the weather finally warms up everyone starts coming outside, working in their gardens, cleaning, and just in general, going, going, going. This Northern Midwest phenomenon occurs for one primary reason. Winter is long, cold, dark, grey, snowy, and limiting for many. The seasons have a huge effect on most Wisconsinites and the biggest one is winter. We stay inside more, drive less, and most people are probably a little more irritable. I know I don’t have the best of days when I have to shovel my driveway everyday for a couple weeks. I feel like in winter, I spend most of the time “hibernating.”

I bring this entire topic up because today is the first really warm and sunny day we’ve had in a long time. I saw number people in shorts out today, including Jerad, and even one pasty white guy topless in his convertible. Yes, it is a bright day in Wisconsin. While the sunshine lifts our spirits, the realization that we probably only have 4 months of it at the most is what drives us into Spring Frenzy 2007.

Spring Frenzy is probably not experienced by some other states. I suppose that is why our state has so many Florida and Arizona snow birds. I’m not sure I would know what to do with myself if I could live in my natural environment all year long in relative comfort. I’d certainly hope I’d have a tan year round. I like to think that I would exercise and play more sports. I know for sure that I’d have my morning tea or coffee in the garden much more often. I don’t wonder if having those 4 warm months for most of the year would not be as special. I’m sure I’d long to see a snow flake before long. Christmas would certainly not be as special without a snowfall; then again we do not always have that. So I guess I’m glad to live in Wisconsin where we change it up a lot. It makes life just a little bit more interesting.

Quiet Past the 8th Floor

When Jim died he was taken up to heaven and greeted at the gates by an Angel. The angel told Jim that since he was a Lutheran he would be on the 10Th floor. Jim was surprised but was glad that he would get to see all his fellow Lutherans. The Angel led Jim into the Great Elevator of Heaven. As they ascended, the Angel pointed out that the Baptists were on floor one, Methodists on floor 2, Episcopalians on floor 3, etc. When there were nearing the 8th floor the Angel became very excited and said, "Shhhhh" "You must be very, very quiet and not say anything when we go past the 8th floor." Jim asked why they had to be so quiet. The Angel replied, "Well Jim you have to be quiet when passing the 8th floor because that's where the Catholics are, and they don't think anyone else is up here."

Hitch Hiker

Driving to work today alongside of Hwy 29 was a very uncommon sight in Green Bay. There was an older man with a long salty beard, wearing a long black coat, sticking out his thumb to catch a ride. I felt like stopping, but never actually would. However, this hitch hiker struck some feelings in me. Today is my 25th birthday. And now that I am a quarter of a century old, one begins to evaluate where the years have gone. Coupled with this sentiment is all of the feelings brought out by the passing of Jerad's Grandmother, Ceil.

The hitch hiker reminded me that life is a journey and that we might know where we're going, but often we don't know how we're going to get there. Life's journey is sometimes at a screeching halt, and sometimes we are stuck along side that path with no way to go any place. We have to depend on the help of someone else to get from point A to point B. We move much slower along the road when we have to walk. We consider hitch hiking because it is easy than towing our load all by ourselves.

With one life ending recently in my life, Jerad's Grandma Ceil, and another, mine, still just beginning, I feel like I'm trapped in a time bubble. I feel directionless. There are so many things in life that I have set out to accomplish and in many ways already have. I think that this is the most devastating thing. I feel like I have nothing to work towards. I just do not have the ambition to move forward with personal goals anymore. I think that a lot of this stems from the fact that I am now in a "long term" committed relationship.

It's complicated when you have a companion on the journey, and a whole lot of drama if you end up towing a caravan behing you like many of us do. Jerad has opened up avenues in my life that I did not think were possible at the level we have them at our age. Honestly, the last thing I expected at the age of 25 was to be a homeowner. I just didn't think that I would be doing that at this time. I have without even knowing it, resolved to be happy. I have taken on so many responsibilites for things that I never used to care about at all. I have a daily grind. We have a dog. Dog spelled backwords is God.

I don't really know anything else.

Have a great year and I hope you catch a free ride.

LastManOut

"There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching. "
- Some really wise person

Don't Kick Out The Liberals, Join the Roman Catholics

Once again in our times we have disturbing news. Today ripping through the other headlines is the disturbing news that the Anglican Communion is giving the "liberal" branch of the U. S. Episcopal Church an ultimatum. This week at their conference the Anglican Communion rebuked the Episcopal Church in the U.S. over the blessing of gay partners and ordaining gay clergy, such as Bishop Gene Robinson. They said stop, or face a reduced role in the church.

Before I go all blogger crazy on these people's asses, let me give you some personal back ground information. I am a gay man who attends mass weekly in the Episcopal Church. I have not been formally "received" into the church, however, I consider myself an Episcopalian. What does it mean to me to be an Episcopalian? I was raised a Roman Catholic and even attended a "minor" seminary in high school. I know a lot about the Catholic Church, their politics, and their belief structure. The Anglican Church is what I consider in many cases to be "Catholic without the Pope." The Roman and Episcopal liturgies are strikingly similar, they both have the same sets of clergy, and the belief structure is in the important areas totally compatible. So why might you ask are they two different churches? Gays, Women's role, Authority and Primacy Issues, Power, Money, Mary's role, Birth Control, Sex, etc. These are the issues that set any church apart from the Roman Catholics. Why would any church want to take a step in the direction of excluding a group of people from their church? Today's questions is: Why gay people?

My question to all of these "religious" people is, why do you have to pick on the gays? Why can't you bless us, accept us, pray with us, love us, and ordain us? Why do you have to make it "us" versus them? It even begs the question why gay people even want to be a part of your church when your leaders and members continually blast us and separate us and make us feel unwelcome? Come down off your high and mighty pulpit, swallow your pride, and get to know a gay person. The reason why they won't do that is because, when they do, they will find two people who love each other for no other reason than because they just do. Then they will have to confront their bigotry, hatred, and injustice. The so called "conservatives" just won't do that.

Homosexuality cannot be entirely explained and doesn't get a good wrap in the Bible because the Bible was written by heterosexual males over 2000 years ago, when reproducing was essential to a races survival. With all the people that the Bible supposedly excludes from any position of status like women, people of other religions and races, gay people, sinners of every other variety, etc, one has to wonder why anyone believes any of it at all? So the Anglican Communion would rather say, stop embracing gay people or we'll cut you out. Well cut me out then, I'll just continue to worship God and continue to pray that one day the "conservatives" will come to an understanding of the pain and injustice they have inflicted on gay people.

What I will do is speak out against these people. I will not tolerate their ultimatum. I will not worship in a church that censures an arm of it for welcoming all people, blessing them, and including them. I will not worship in a church that will not stand up for me as a gay person. I stand for inclusion and the truth. The truth is I'm a gay Christian. I have every right to worship and be recognized for who I am. My partner and I also have the right to be recognized as married because we are. We love each other, care for each other, and provide for each other in whatever circumstance we happen to be in. That is the meaning of commitment. Obviously the Episcopal church has a few things to learn about commitment to its gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

So again I ask, what does it mean to be an Episcopalian in 2007? Why did I leave the Catholic Church? Why have I put forth so much effort? People are going to leave this church over this. People are going to fall away from Christ and his message of peace and love. One way or another, what ever the outcome, the Episcopal church is setting a date with empty pews and dwindling attendance, just like their Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. So you have to ask, what's the difference anymore?

LastManOut

Relevant News Links

Many Episcopalians Wary, Some Defiant After Ultimatum by Anglicans

Same-sex edict worries Bay Area Episcopalians

My Joy

I have been writing a mass setting and my original inspiration for doing so was to write music for liturgy that is joyful. For me personally, the meaning of an expression of joy is critical because I want joy with sincerity. The first hurdle I faced was finding a musical pallet that had depth, but not darkness. It was also a great consideration to make sure the music was joyful versus happy. Happiness alone is a shallow representation of joy in Heaven, or the Love of God. This is aptly illustrated by the definitions of joy as found in the Merriam Webster Dictionary, “1a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: DELIGHT b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion: GAIETY. 2: a state of happiness or felicity: BLISS. 3: a source or cause of delight.”

The first definition connotes a secular happiness resulting from personal success, luck, and often material pleasures. None of these things are expressly bad, yet they are not necessarily “joy in heaven.” Definition number three is much closer to what I want my music to accomplish, “a source or cause of delight.” Something that has the ability to cause or be the source of joy is much more powerful than that which we commonly know, for my music, such a thing is the delight of God’s love and the source of goodness in our lives as Christians. This source of joy is what needs to be communicated in the music that is written, so that, the person singing or listening to it feels this source of Joy and is uplifted in the expression of joy during the worship service.

The goal for this musical composition is to great a “Total Worship Experience.” I am about mid-way through the project. My concept is to write really more than just the individual mass parts but accompany them with additional music for opening, closing, and communion. I was inspired to take on this project because it was always a terrible disappointment to me as a musician to find the same lifeless music played week after week for service. Our lives as a matter of principle should be led with joy, led with recognition of the love that we share with Christ. Our music should reflect that as well. I look forward to working on this project every moment that I get, my mass of Joy.

Edwards, Donohue, Marcotte, and McEwen

My partner's Grandma is prone to saying, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the pot." You get this vision of angry red purplie monsters running around in steamy boiling water. I imagine it's something like hell. On that note I say, "Welcome to Politics. "

John Edwards is running for the Democratic Presidential nomination. He has shifted his platform from a middle road self made worker's man in 2004 to Über Liberal, I'm the next Howard Dean. Apparently, the conservative right has some issues with his new friends. Notably in the news is his hiring of two bloggers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen. Marcotte and McEwen are going to be coordinating Edwards' campaign blog and outreach to the blog community. So with super bloggers on his side Edward's probably thought he was off to a great start.

Da, Da, Don.........Just when Edwards' brilliant scheme to bring liberalism to all America was underway, Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League was outraged that a fine man like Edwards could hire two "foul-mouthed, anti-Catholic bigots." Donohue is demanding that Edwards fire these staffers for the remarks they have made about the Catholic Church and Its teachings on Marcottte and McEwen's personal blogs.

So you ask, other than the sensationalism of it all, why is this important? This is going to set the tone for Edwards with a segment of the Catholic Church. The alienation of middle America is about to begin. I think this is the begining of Edwards not getting the Democratic nomination because Edwards is going to get type cast as a rich lawyer Liberal. I do realize how petty it really is that Donohue is picking on Edwards because of what a couple pundits do on their own time. However, Edwards has done something truly remarkable for a politician in our day and age. He has actually not fired Marcotte and McEwen. I applaud this. This means that Edwards is really serious about digging in to capture the heart and soul of the Democratic party, the very liberal left.

The other thing about this story is more personal. Many people maintain blogs to publish their own ideas and opinion. These blogs are of a personal nature. Just because something can be accessed by everyone, does not mean that it is no longer of a personal nature. Whatever these two ladies have expressed in their own publications should have absolutely no bearing on their employment. Tolerance is obviously something that Bill Donohue is still working on. Strange that he is so demanding of it for his Church.

LastManOut

I had the ability to look up information on this topic, which stragely was not all published together in the original article.

The original news ariticle: Yahoo News
The Catholic League: http://www.catholicleague.org/
Amanda Marcotte's Blog: http://pandagon.net/
Melissa McEwen: http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/
John Edwards: http://johnedwards.com/

Why America Rocks!

One of the beautiful things about our country that we often take for granted is our freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is not absolute, but most types of speech are protected by the Constitution. Speech that is political in nature is especially protected. Even beyond “protection” by the Constitution, political and religious speech in our country is by most people respected to the point that a regular discourse does not incite a riot, murder, or terrorism.

I bring up freedom of speech because of a recent article published by the AP, Some Lebanese eye ban on political talk, By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer. The article discusses how shop owners and other public businesses are placing signs in their windows asking people not to discuss politics or religion inside. In America today, the very act of placing that sign would probably be upheld by our courts as infringing on your right to speech. The idea of banning speech has gained momentum because of “street violence” erupting from political and religious speech. Well, I guess street violence is just one of those annoying little habits the Lebanese are going to have to break, sort of reminds me of the smoking bans in the Fox Valley.

Here’s where I really take issue. The whole thing seems patently idiotic because tolerance is not taught through bans on speech, tolerance happens when dialog takes place. Some professor in the article (I won’t mention his name) thinks the signs are a good way to “avoid emotional reactions.” I feel like the people giving advice in this situation are playing the “let’s not talk about it” white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) card. The WASP card is not going to work. If these people start to suppress their feelings they are only going to blow up like a failed marriage or student groups in the 1960’s. What they really need to learn as a society is tolerance.

What is tolerance? Tolerance is shutting up your damn mouth when some crazy guy sitting next to you in a coffee shop is venting about so and so political leader. Tolerance is staying home and spending time with your family versus shooting your neighbor between bakeries and delicatessens. I can’t even imagine the audacity of some crazy dude interrupting my breakfast because he has a problem with the world, let alone a whole fricken town of them. Listen Lebanon, if you want to make your country better, do something productive like offer government subsidies for people to go to school for psychotherapy and for people who need treatment. I’m guessing your country needs a whole troop of shrinks.

The point is simple. Treat others as you would like to be treated. The “golden rule” is equally subscribed to by most all major religions in one way or another. It is positively screwed up to bomb your neighbor. I hope Lebanon enjoys me exercising my Freedom of Speech, mostly because I don’t ever plan to do anything more than write about it on my blog.

Peace be with you,

LastManOut

You can read this article for a limited time at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070206/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_no_politics_please

Birth Control Joke

Why did the 90 year old lady go on birth control pills? - Because she didn't want to have any more grandchildren.

Election 2008

The temperature in the political climate right now is red hot over who will be running for President in 2008. Here is a rough list of the interested parties and people who could be nominated, these have all filed with the FEC (Federal Election Commission):

Democrats:
Sen. Hilary Clinton - http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
John Edwards - http://johnedwards.com/
Joseph Biden - http://www.joebiden.com/home
Mike Gravel - http://www.gravel2008.us/
Dennis Kucinich - http://kucinich.us/
Barack Obama - http://www.barackobama.com/
Bill Richardson - http://billrichardsonforpresident.com/
Thomas Vilsack - http://www.tomvilsack08.com/

Republicans:
Sen. John McCain - http://www.exploremccain.com/
Rudy Giuliani, former New York City Mayor - http://www.joinrudy2008.com/
Gov. Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor - http://www.mittromney.com/
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee - http://www.governor.arkansas.gov/
Duncan Hunter - http://www.gohunter08.com/
Tom Tancredo - http://tancredo.house.gov/
Tommy Thompson - http://www.tommy2008.com/

Other:
Christopher J. Dodd - http://www.chrisdodd.com/home
James Gilmore III - No website found at this time.

It is definitely worth your time to do your homework on these candidates. The 2008 election issues are going to be heavily weighed down with Iraq and military spending as you might have guessed. Also look for domestic agendas that spend a lot of time on health care, jobs, and immigration. This is really a very interesting and competitive race. As of right now, there is no one running from the Bush Administration. (Well look at his approval rating, I wouldn't run if I work for Bush either.) I know I'll be compiling my list of who I think might end up winning the primaries. Though, it is still too early to tell. Other candidates could still emerge. Hope you enjoy this resource!

Yours Truly,

LastManOut

More Lily Photo's

Lily didn't fit in her Pet Taxi for very long, we discovered her last week on her back, feet in the air, trying to bust out. :) LOL

























Lily with Mary's Puppy Marle, Lily and Marle are very good pals.


























Lily loves to play in the park!
























You've never seen a more adorable puppy!


Lily is 20 weeks old this week and survived her spay on Tuesday rather well. She's more full of energy than ever and starts puppy school in about two weeks.

Laugh For Today

A man wanted to get married. He was having trouble choosing among three likely candidates. He gives each woman a present of $5,000 and watches to see what they do with the money.

The first does a total make over. She goes to a fancy beauty salon gets her hair done, new make up and buys several new outfits and dresses up very nicely for the man. She tells him that she has done this to be more attractive for him because she loves him so much.

The man was impressed.

The second goes shopping to buy the man gifts. She gets him a new set of golf clubs, some new gizmos for his computer, and some expensive clothes. As she presents these gifts, she tells him that she has spent all the money on him because she loves him so much.

Again, the man is impressed.

The third invests the money in the stock market. She earns several times the $5,000. She gives him back his $5,000 and reinvests the remainder in a joint account. She tells him that she wants to save for their future because she loves him so much.

Obviously, the man was impressed.

The man thought for a long time about what each woman had done with the money he'd given her.

Then, he married the one with the biggest boobs.

Men are like that, you know.

There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's research. This means that by 2040, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them.

Golf Humor

A man, while playing on the front nine of a complicated golf course, became confused as to where he was on the course. Looking around, he saw a lady playing ahead of him. He walked up to her, explained his confusion and asked her if she knew what hole he was playing.

"I'm on the 7th hole," she replied, "and you are a hole behind me. So you must be on the 6th hole." He thanked her and went back to his play.

On the back nine, the same thing happened, and he approached her again with the same request. "I'm on number 14, and you're still a hole behind, so you must be on the 13th hole." Once again he thanked her and returned to his play.

He finished his round and went to the clubhouse where he saw the same lady sitting at the end of the bar. He asked the bartender if he knew the lady. The bartender said that she was a saleslady and played the course often. He approached her and said, "Let me buy you a drink in appreciation for your help. I understand that you're in the sales profession. I'm in sales also. "What do you sell?"

"I'll tell you, but you're going to laugh," she replied.

"No, I won't."

"Well, if you must know," she answered, "I work for Tampax."

With that, he laughed so hard he almost fell off the bar stool.

"See," she said. "I knew you'd laugh!"

"That's not what I'm laughing at," he replied, "I'm a salesman for Preparation H, so I'm still a hole behind you."

A Cracked Pot

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and lways delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Packers vs. Bears

One foggy night, a Green Bay Packers fan was heading south from Green Bay and a Chicago Bears fan was driving north from Chicago. While crossing a narrow bridge, they hit each other head on, mangling both cars. The packers fan managed to climb out of his car and survey the damage.He looked at his twisted car and says, "Man, I'm lucky to be alive!" Likewise, the Bears fan gets out of his car uninjured, he too feeling fortunate to have survived.

The Bears fan walks over to the Packers fan and says, "Hey, man, I think this is a sign that we should put away our petty differences and live as friends instead of being rivals." The Packers fan thinks for a moment and says, "You know, you're absolutely right! We should be friends. In fact, I'm going to see if something else survived the wreck."

The Packers fan then pops open his trunk and removes a full, undamaged bottle of Jack Daniel's. He says to the Bears fan, "I think this is another sign-we should toast to our newfound friendship." The Bears fan agrees and grabs the bottle. After sucking down half the bottle, the Bears fan hands it back to the Packers fan and says, "Your turn."

The Packers fan calmly twists the cap back on the bottle, Throws the bottle over the bridge into the river and says, "Nah, I think I'll just wait for the cops to show up."

New Puppy Photos!

This is our new addition Lily Rose Steger-Karcz.

Jerad, Josh, and Lily

Lily and her Dad Cody

Lily and "Grandpa" Brian.

Lily seen here stealing her dad's favorite toy!

Lily playing with Dad.

More about Lily: She is a Golden Retriver, 18 weeks old, over 20 lbs, and she loves to cuddle! More to come about Lily soon!

Chocolate chip cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter
½ cup Crisco (I like butter flavored Crisco.)
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1½ cups oatmeal (do not use instant)
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts preferred)
1 11oz bag of chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F

In a large mixing bowl or your standing mixer, cream together butter, Crisco, sugar, and brown sugar. While mixing, add eggs and vanilla to the mixture. Add flour, baking soda, and salt in increments and mix until blended through. Mix in oatmeal, nuts, and chocolate chips by hand or with rubber spatula.

Lightly grease your cookie sheet if necessary, non stick sheets are preferred. Roll dough into palm sized balls and flatten ball into a patty on cookie sheet. Do not over flatten ball. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until bottom of cookie is golden brown.

Let cookies cool on a raised rack. Yield = approximately 5 dozen cookies. This cookie is sure to please.

This recipe is from my Mother, Jane.

Crazyness

Work lately has been really crazy. As some of you may know I work in customer service for Medicare Part D plans. I'm always amazed by the variety of people that I talk to on a daily basis as compared to any other job I've had. There is truly a random diversity of people that call in because everyone 65 and over qualifies for medicare. In a lot of cases the calls that I get are from their family members, pharmacists, and health providers, which adds in another mix of diversity. Not everyone that calls me is even old, a lot of people who have medicare are young and disabled.

Well as all of those who are impacted by Part D know, we just ended the annual enrollment period on Dec 31st. As a result, many people are now calling us for their member materials and also many many others for pharmacy information because we had to go and change some of the information on their cards for 2007. All of this is what keeps me employed, so I'm really not complaining about my job at all. In fact, I love my job no matter what the problem for so many reasons. First off, my job is relatively easy compared to my last job. In fact, the really nice thing is that my job is almost completely paperless. Generally the people that I help are quite polite and appreciate the work that I do. I did not expect that people would be so nice on the phone when I took this job. Though, I have a feeling that when my generation has to deal with medicare, they probably won't be as patient as their Grandparents are.

The last couple weeks have been an exception to the usual happy Retirees that I usually work with. There have been many frustrated persons, one calling right after the other, who have let me know where we can stick it. In fact, a good chunk of the people calling are very angry over service issues that are ordinarily routine fixes. Why is everyone frustrated this time of year?? It all stems from the fact that these folks who are generally older would much rather be doing something else than trying to fill a prescription. They are also frustrated by the limited coverage in some cases by Part D plans and the very bad service of some carriers. They have also had to wait on hold every place they called just to get an answer to a simple question. For those who are really unfortunate they have had to try to work out an enrollment issue with Medicare. When ever dealing with a Medicare drug plan, contacting Medicare themselves is the last ditch effort. No one wants to call Medicare or Social Security.

The Medicare/SSA phobia is well founded. All of the things that really go wrong for part D participants seem to stem from Medicare and Social Security. In fact, generally, the things that work best with the Part D program are those things that are handled by the private insurance companies that underwrite the policies. Case in point, (not to brag) but I know for certain that we provide our members with much better customer service than Medicare and SSA does. I remember having to call SSA as a banker to people's direct deposit switched with them. The turn around time was always like 2-3 months. I have learned in my new job that SSA's turn around time is like always 2-3 months. If it happens sooner, it is purely by the grace of God.

So with all the problems that surround our members this time of year, it's no wonder they're a little cranky/crazy. I would be too. The most satisfying thing is being able to help these people. And they deserve it too, it's amazing what these people have accomplished in their life. They deserve the absolute best. And sadly, as so many of our members have very humbly related to me, many of them have received the absolute worst with respect to their senior benefits. I know that our country can do these people one better. I plan to do my part for them one person at a time.

Happy Weekend,

LastManOut

Happy New Year

I meant to get this out to everyone yesterday, but anyway, Happy New Year to you! I'm very excited for this year. So many wonderful things are planned to happen. Jerad and I will celebrate our 2 year anniversary on Jan 8th. We are celebrating in Chicago this weekend with Holly and Susan. Everyone is excited to go and do some shopping down town. I'm also greatly excited for my birthday in February because I'll be 25 and get a discount on my car insurance. Hehe... The Potting Shed & Design is looking at expanding its business even more, I'm sure those new business endeavors for Jerad and I will also be most exciting.

More seriously though, I am very hopeful this year. I have a very good feeling about its prospects. I have had significant time the past few days to really give a lot of thought to all the blessings I had in 2006 and how wonderful and rich my life is. It still seems like a dream when I consider Jerad's mom going into the hospital, nearly loosing her, and then her very miraculous recover. Also, it seems like so long ago that we were looking at houses, finding ours, and then moving in. I feel like we've always meant to live where we do now. It wasn't so long ago that Jerad bought the huge cargo van for the business. And, It's still a new experience with so many things at my new Job that I got this year. Of all the wonderful changes I have to say the biggest is a profound realization of the role that Jerad plays in my life. He has truly been there for just about everything; I'm so blessed to be with a man like him.

New Year's Resolutions.

I've always disliked making resolutions for the new year because I've always known what I could work on. It seems like the laundry list of items always grows each year, and many items from that basket of laundry keep ending up in the wash. I very much struggle with maintaining a healthy diet, weight, and exercise regimen. This is just one of those areas I'm not very good at. Jerad and I joined the Y last New Year's, and this year we are going to commit to visiting them more often. I'm committing myself this year to figuring out what I'm going to do with my career. I am in a great work place right now, but I know that I can do more. Lastly, I plan to tidy up a lot of loose ends. I have way to many outstanding craft projects and I would really like to learn certain pieces of music.

New Year's is in my opinion one of the best times to evaluate how things are going in your life. I suppose this is the root of the "New Year's Resolution." I hope that all reading this truly have a wonderful and fruitful new year. Best of Luck in accomplishing your New Year's Resolutions too.