yes, I suck.... I promise a long post when my 'puter gets set up at the new place!

Staggering Statistics

Here are some STAGGERING statistics that I got from World Challenge.
That is David Wilkerson's Ministry so you know they are accurate.
Read on........

Worldwide Statistics....

6,571,497,332 people now live on Earth

1,200,000,000 people now live on 23 cents a day

2,000,000,000 people have no electricity

80% of all people live in substandard housing

1,000,000,000 people are without safe drinking water

Every 16 seconds someone dies from hunger

57,000,000 people died in 2006

10,5000,000 of these were children less than 5 years old

14,000,000 of these were orphaned because of HIV/AIDS

2,000,000 children have died as a direct result of armed
conflict in the last ten years.

Meanwhile......
$8,000,000,000.00 were spent on cosmetics in America in 2005

$11,000,000,000.00 for ice cream in Europe

$17,000,000,000.00 in the USA and Europe on pet food

$105,000,000,000.00 for alcohol in Europe

Ugh......I'm so convicted by these figures, and I think we are in big trouble as people and as nations when there is such dire need out there in our world and we lavish such huge luxuries on ourselves.
I really believe we can do better as people and nations as far as tackling some of these strong issues and maybe not eating so much ice cream or putting on so much eye shadow.
What's a "life" worth to you and I?

Please note recent posts have been deleted, I show you courtesy please show me some as well.

Tony Blair....."What's not to like?"

I don't get it, I've been reading and watching and studying British politics for many years now, though I am not an expert, I find Tony Blair to have been a "brilliant" Prime Minister these past 10 years. He has had his ups and downs like any World Leader, but for the most part, he has been JUST what Great Britain needed during this time. People never realize what they have/had, until they loose it. I think that England, will feel the same way when Tony Blair is finally gone. Which is what they want.

After becoming major allies with the United States after 9/11, and entering the war in Iraq with us, Blair has suffered much politically in Great Britain. His approval ratings are very low and he has had to bow to public pressure. I feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for our OWN wonderful President George Bush. No man or woman wants to see their young men and women of their nation killed for naught. There is a purpose to this war, although I am a supporter of it. I too am becoming tired of the amount of loss of life on our part and the length of this war, although I realize that you can just change things in a country that was ran by tyrants over night.


Back to Tony Blair........I've always liked him. Over the years I have prayed for him and even have wrote him on two occasions. Once, I sent a Hallmark "Thank you" card to #10 Downing Street, after Great Britain entered the war with us, to thank Blair and the country for their willingness to sacrifice for this cause, and to encourage him. I knew he was taking huge HEAT over the entrance of the war even then.

The next time I wrote him was a few months back. It was late at night and I had this overwhelming burden come upon me for him. After getting out of bed and spending some time in prayer for him and the country of England I decided to visit the #10 Downing Street website and send him an e-mail to tell him that "we were praying for him and to hang in there, he was doing a great job, blah, blah, blah." All words of encouragement because I felt in my spirit that he was "overwhelmed" for some reason.

I went back to bed because again, it was very early in the morning by this point. When I got up later that day I checked the BBC and Tony Blair had just announced that he would be "Stepping down as Prime Minister within the year" this was last September. Last week he announced that he will be done in June.

I think he was the man for his job. I am not so sure about his replacement. Time will tell.

Besides all of his political accomplishments, one of which is dear to my heart is the recent "sharing of political power in Ireland and No. Ireland" which he has been working on for years, there are many, many other great qualities about Tony Blair.

I mean WHAT is not to like. Great smile.....charismatic personality and good sense of humor, great tone of voice.....who doesn't love a British accent and his is great! I watch the "British House of Commons" whenever I can on C-spam. HA! HA!

Also........this MAN DRINKS TEA FROM CHINA TEA CUPS!!! How cool is that.

I would like to personally invite Tony Blair and his family to come to America and try to help the American men become more noble and more gentleman like. I would like to see American men drink tea, and drink it out of china tea cups.
How cool would that be? British accents would be a huge added bonus.
I guess that's alot to ask. HA!

Mother's Day

Yikes!
I guess this is where we are all headed. Looking into the mirror of life I think I see myself as younger many times. I don't feel like I am getting older, but I am. It's just a fact that I can't change. Do we have to act our ages though? No, I don't think we do. Actually, I hope we who are older and wiser, don't! HA!
However, some days I wish that my children who should act older, and don't, WOULD.

God have mercy on us all though, especially us Mother's. We feel the joys, the pains, the happiness, the heartaches, the pride, of being a Mother. I wouldn't want it any other way, and I am thankful for the 4 children I have.

Yet, who doesn't think of those Mother's who mourn this Mother's Day? I do. The ones who lost children at Virginia Tech this year. Or the Mother's who lost a child who was in Iraq. Or the Mother whose child was sentenced for murdering someone this year. Can you imagine that Mother's grief?
Or the Mother's who lost a child to cancer or some other dread disease. Everytime I hear or read of such things, I mourn along with them in my heart. We should. We are called to do this. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they SHALL be comforted."

Possibly, someone you know or even yourself, lost your own Mother this year. That reason alone can make this a hard holiday for you or some one else.

This year while we are celebrating our own victories as Mother's, our children's accomplishments, and great feats. While hanging their Mother's Day "works of art" on our refrigerators, that our chldren have made for us, let us not forgot those whom will mourn this Mother's Day.

I've learned through the years that Mother's Day can be so painful for many.
Maybe take a moment to not only lift one of those Mother's up with a prayer, but maybe call one or take them a cake or some flowers and let them know, "they are not forgotten" and help them make it through this day.
It's not always all about us..........sometimes it's about "them."

Total wipe out

Can you imagine the town you live in being totally wiped off of the map? It's hard to fathom that the people of Greensburg, Kansas no longer have an entire city left to call their own. Following the aftermath of what was considered to be an "F-5" tornado, the town in lower Kansas has been "leveled" and the death toll is now up to 11 people killed.
Hailing from the Midwest myself, my family moving to Iowa, from Missouri when I was the ripe old age of 8.
I know something of tornado's. Having lived through many terrifying moments myself when tornado "warnings" were taking place, meaning a tornado was IN the area. These things are scary, they are very dangerous and they know no friends. They take no prisoners. They rampage and they kill, plus,there isn't much you can do about them except run and hide where ever you can find shelter.

Now this was a challenge and a fear for my family many times because we lived in a trailer for the most part of my growing up years.
Trailers are NOT safe at all during a tornado if they are in the path of one. They are picked up and thrown or rolled over like toys. All we could do is get in the bathroom and hope for the best.
The interesting thing is that many times I wasn't even home for these frightful events. Tornadoes rise up when you least expect them all it takes is a storm and in your heart, you learn when there is going to be one. The color of the sky, the sound of the air......the rain stops, the sightings of funnels. There are all demeanor of ways to know in you "gut" when a tornado is approaching.
Once when I was in 9th grade, I was at a friend's house and we were going to go to Omaha that night to see the movie "Tommy"....yeah I know, I know, dumb movie, but I was 14 okay!
Just give me a chance here, what I am trying to show you is that when these things happen, it's like a "9/11" moment. You never forget where you were or what you were doing.
We were going to see this movie, and I was at the friend's house already, their parents were going to drive us across the river to Omaha, when before we know it, there are not just one, but THREE tornado's on the ground in West Omaha, right where we were going. We spent a long time in this family's basement listening to the radio reports of how the city was being hit severely by these three tornado's and I can't remember much more than that. Except we didn't go to the movie of course, and when all was said and done a great part of Omaha lay devastated.

A few years later after I took a job while still in High School, I worked in Omaha at a Wholesale Company as a front office clerk. The owner, the man I worked for lost his home. It was wiped out while I hid in my friend's basement across the river in Council Bluffs. He would tell us stories of how he was on his way home from work and could hardly believe his eyes as he drove through the destruction trying to get to his home and family. Upon his arrival he found not only his house but the surrounding areas gone or nearly destroyed. This event was something that would mark them for the rest of their lives.

Once in High School a tornado was hitting nearby while I was shopping at the local Mall. Suddenly they were on the speaker system for the Mall tell us where we should all go. I along with the girls I was with were not allowed to leave as Mall security wouldn't let us. Instead we were allowed to "cower" in the hall areas, which seemed a bit crazy since there was nothing but glass above us. After some time passing, we got through that incident unharmed.

Oddly, a few years ago I was back home visiting and my sister Jerri and I took my daughter Ariel to Omaha to check out this cool store we always go to when I am home. It's known for it's huge assortment of craft supplies and all kinds of hard to find items in that arena. It had been storming a bit earlier that morning but it had stopped where we lived so we set out for the day. On the way over from Council Bluffs, we were on the interstate and the sky's looked strange.
I remember telling my sister Jerri "hummm, sort of looks like tornado weather."
I told you that you can always tell. It's some sort of strange "Sixth sense" that you can feel. You just "know" when there's one approaching and then hope your wrong.

Sure enough, once we got inside the store and hadn't been shopping long, the city's warning system goes off......thank GOD for those things! Why don't they have sirens in Louisiana I will never know because we get tornados in this state too!

The kind lady on the store's intercom system tells everyone to go to please go to the back of the store, so not wanting to leave and take our chances driving out into a tornado, we, like cattle, follow the many shoppers and employees like a herd to the back where they then proceed to put us all in their storeroom area. Weird and the power failed too. Nice and dark in the store with only window lighting from the front came in at first. Then emergency generators gave us some bit of lighting but it was dim to say the least. Especially in the store room.

We sat back there for a good bit of time too. My daughter Ariel was scared to death, sad little thing. She had never been in a tornado situation like this before and out in public too. We reassured her that everything was going to be fine and wither she believed us or not, she sat there quietly and looked around at all the strange boxes and flowers and other stuff, like we all did.
At some point I looked up and saw an elderly couple that looked familiar and I asked them......."Are you the Kaufman's?" to which they replied "Yes" and I introduced myself to them......because they rarely see me due to us living so far away, but there huddled in the storeroom with us was my husband Don's Aunt Janet and Uncle Bob from Council Bluffs, who I hadn't seen in years. They were there by chance just like we were, just wanting to do some shopping, not realizing that in a few moments all of our lives would be in danger.
Small world.
None of us know what crashing things that can happen to bring people together.
I know that the people of Greensburg, Kansas are learning that lesson right now. Many people will (hopefully) come to their aid now.
People they didn't count on ever meeting nor probably wanted to under these types of circumstances. Organizations like the Red Cross and others are there already to feed and help them begin to sift through the debris that is all that is left behind of what they used to call "home."
They will mourn with friends and families in the next few days and weeks. Then they will begin the omnious tasks that will take months and even years.
To rebuild not only their town, but their lives.

Our lives are so fragile and we don't even know it until many times it's too late.
Thank GOD for "second chances" when they come. Sometimes they don't. Those 11 people who were killed have no more opportunities, for them, this thing we call "life" is now over.

All because of a mere bit of wind.

So heres a thought.

I *could* be pregnant.

GASP

well.. ok...sorry for the shocker. It's not like we have talked about it really (aside from cracking jokes about E wanting a boy before I get my rock) but it seems like we sort of just migrated to 'trying' without really 'trying' or not ' trying'.

Makes sense?

Anyways...

Other than all that drivel, nothing new or exciting is really happening, thus my lack of posting. We dont get the keys to the new house till May 17th...so the packing process has been slow (thats putting it mildly) I am still trying to learn my new address...so please don't quiz me on it!

You know... I miss those days when my blog caused controversy. Im boring now.

Quick...someone do something I can make a rumor about!

EEk, Bad Carmen - New Post coming soon *I promise*

The Gnome in my garden

Have you ever gotten one of those CRAZY Christmas gifts and you aren't quiet sure what to do with it? Plus you can't put it in a garage sale because someone is going to ASK you about the gift.
Hence, the Gnome in my garden. It's sort of a "tradition" now. It all started out one year when my Mom made my sister's family one for Christmas.

You know how Mom's are, God bless them. My Mom does "ceramics".......so we are always getting some kind of funky ceramic things for Christmas and other.

A couple of years ago when my family went home to Iowa to visit our families, we had a great time with my sister's Gnome....who by the way is named "Gnomie"....great name huh? Really orginal and all. We all had decided that Gnomie looks like that very famous "Travelocity" Gnome on the TV ads.

That summer, all kinds of fun stuff happened with Gnomie while we were at my sister's house visiting.
The first big thing that happened was......my kids held him ransom one day and sent a note to my sister Jennifer, that read something like "we have your Gnome hostage, if you ever want to see him alive again, follow the clues"....so we did and they led us all on a "Gnome hunt" of sorts...one clue led to another until finally we found Gnomie, bound and gagged....literarly, and in my sisters clothes dryer! HA! We all had a great laugh over that! She was mortified that they would have done that to the little Gnome, but then, she knows my boys!

Then we even took Gnomie on trips.
Me and my sister decided to do some "bonding" with our two 14 year old daughters and make some memories with them and both of us so we decided to take a trip. Just the girls. We had a hard time deciding where to go, I wanted to go to one town in Iowa and Jenny wanted to go to another place where they vacation at every year. Finally, we made a mutual decision to pick a "nuetural" site by going to Nebraska City, Nebraska and stay at the "Arbor Lodge." Right, the famous one with the whole Arbor Day tree thing going on.
We packed the car and the girls and away we went, Gnomie was with us as well. He went to the pool with us.....he went on hikes with us. I know people thought we were NUTS! My sister even took a photo of Gnomie who had secretly climbed into my bed while I was sleeping. Hummmm.......

This is what led my Mom to make a "Gnomie" for the Mahan family this past Christmas and aren't we fortunate? Every family needs one right?

We forgot to take him on our last family trip which was to Biloxi, MS. over Easter and I really would have felt very foolish taking him into the nice resort hotel we stayed at anyways, so I found him a happy spot in the "Secret Garden" so that he wouldn't feel neglected, and wouldn't be in my house.

That is him hiding in front of the rosemary.
I imagine he has a very proper British accent like the "real" Travelocity Gnome on TV and radio.
I love it when he says......"last one in is a stinky tomato" in that cool accent. Not Gnomie, the Travelocity Gnome.
Hey, there's a thought, can my Gnome speak? Hummmmm........