I'm reduced to a list....

I had so much that I wanted to write about, but just couldn't decide on which topic. Then, as I got to thinking about it no one topic would be very long, so it's a list. :-)

1) My sister had surgery this morning. It made me very thankful that I have never had a hernia. I got up at 4:00 am to go to the hospital. Did you catch that? 4:00 AM. Yes, I am slightly sleepy, so please forgive any spelling errors, grammatical errors, punctuation..... OK, so those things are normal anyway, but now I have an excuse. :-)

2) Just so that my entire day was not wasted while sitting in the waiting room I took along some things to do. The first thing I did was my entire weeks Bible Study homework. I believe that I mentioned I am doing the new Beth Moore study, "Stepping Up." I didn't? Are you sure, because I have been telling everyone about this Bible Study. Anyway, it is so good, y'all. As I have said before, "I love me some Beth Moore" and this study is fantastic. It is on the Psalms of Ascension. God is so good, y'all. He has shown Himself from the very first lesson, and it only increases everyday. The lessons are such a reminder that He is always with us, and He is in control of everything. It is very comforting.

3) Along with the Bible Study I have taken a cue from Beth today, and I surrounded myself with praise music. Of course, I was wearing my headphones, so I was considerate of those around me. :-) It really was great though, because I found myself in constant prayer and praise. It seriously improves your attitude.

4) I also took along some yarn and decided to try to crotchet my soldier a scarf. I managed to get it 1/3 finished before my hand started cramping up. That was after I pulled out several rows, because I kept dropping stitches. I tell y'all I was a sight! I had on my headphones, crocheting and "bopping" to the praise music blaring in my ears. A few times I had to stop myself from dancing right out of chair. :-) Mandisa's "Shackles" does have that effect. I'm just sayin'.

5) I had a double "blessing" of Mandisa today. One, because all of her songs were the ones that almost made me dance out of my chair. (Let me say again, "I love me some Mandisa!") And, I am currently reading her book. I started it this morning, and I am half-way through the book. If you have not read her book, "Idoleyes: My New Perspective on Faith, Fat & Fame", then you need to stop reading right now and run to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy. OR, you can check it out at your public library like I did. OR you can click on over to amazon.com and order a copy like I plan to do. I have a habit of highlighted in books, and I had to stop myself many times today from looking for a highlighter to do just that.

She is an amazing woman y'all, and as a fellow "plus-size" woman I can so relate to her. I LOVED her on American Idol, and I was one of the VERY MIFFED when she was voted off. I'll stop there before I get "riled up."

5) After we, finally, left the hospital Mom and I were about starved. I hadn't eaten anything but a bag of Gardettos from the vending machine for lunch. So, we ran through Sonic and picked up a really healthy snack. I had an order of cheese sticks and an order of cheddar peppers. Have y'all ever started to pray over something that you KNEW was not healthy for you? It's weird. I had a real honest talk with God when I prayed over the "meal." It went something like this: "Dear Lord, I want to say thank you for Jennifer's surgery going so well, and ask that you give us a safe trip home. Thank you for this food, because you know how hungry we are. I won't bother asking you to bless it to the nourishment of my body because, let's face it Lord, it is fried cheese and we both know there isn't much nutritious about fried cheese. Well, except the calcium, which I am sure gets lost in the oil when if fries. And the peppers are a vegetable. Or are they a fruit? The seeds are on the inside. I'll have to look that one up. Anyway, I really do thank you, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen."

Obviously, I was so hungry I was delirious, and lost the power to think clearly.

Love,
Wendy Darling

She's Doing It Again!!!


Shannon over at Rock's In My Dryer is hosting another carnival , and I have decided to participate, again. :-)

As I promised last time this one is open to EVERYBODY. Oh, Yes Ma'am, everyone. ;-)

We are supposed to give something that represents "us". Well, I love to scrapbook, but I don't really have anything there to give away. I love to bake/cook, but shipping a cake doesn't sound "doable" (is that a word) long distances. :-) SO, I have decided to do something representative of where I live, as well as represents my baking/cooking hobby.

We have a local candy company here that is world famous for it's Peanut Brittle. OH. MY. WORD. It is heavenly. So, I have decided to give that away. If you would like some of the best peanut brittle you have ever eaten in your life, then please leave a comment. If you do not have a blog, then just leave your first name with a viable e-mail address, so that if you win I can get ahold of you. :-) I will use the random number generator to draw the winner on Sunday, February 3rd at 2:00 pm.

Be sure to head on over to Shannon's to enter more fantastic drawings. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

He's so country it hurts.... :-)


You may remember how much I like Eric Dodge. I have never met the man, but I did talk to him on the phone, and he is super nice. :-) He's also a fantastic singer, and I believe I have pointed out more than once that he is easy on the eyes as well. ;-) If y'all don't already have his CD, please order it soon. :-)

Today, I want to tell y'all about another friend of mine. :-) His name is Brandon Kinney, and we met in college. He is a sweetheart as well, and a wonderful singer. He was signed by Capitol records a couple of years ago, and I just KNOW his CD (Smells Like Texas) will be released very soon. (If the "powers that be" are reading this, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE release it soon. We have been waiting a very long time.) :-)

He has opened most recently for Sara Evans, and he co-wrote " You're Like Coming Home" by LoneStar and many more. He is a funny guy, and pretty easy on the eyes as well.

Anyway, my wonderful brother found this video on YouTube, and I thought it was so funny that I wanted to pass it on to y'all. I hope you enjoy it. :-) The song playing in the background (Don't Tell Me) is a song from Brandon's CD, and it just happens to be my favorite song that he sings. :-) OH, I do have to put in a little "warning" here that, although I love Brandon dearly, not all of his songs are appropriate for all age groups, if you know what I mean. So, if you go to his myspace page to listen use headphones, and wear a depends. :-)




Love,
Wendy Darling

CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Oh Yes Ma'am, it is a post about chocolate! :-) Have you ever craved chocolate so much that you DREAMED ABOUT IT?! Hello, that is when you have to have some chocolate, or someone is going to get hurt. Seriously. Is that due to hormones? Yeah, let's blame the hormones. :-)



I actually went through a few years when I could not stand chocolate. I had a REALLY BAD sinus infection, and it effected my taste buds. All chocolate was just bitter. Except for white chocolate, which isn't really chocolate. Then, a couple of years ago, I could eat the milk chocolate. It was ok. Now, I can even eat dark chocolate, which is healthy for you. Seriously. It should be a food group. :-)



Anyway, I was craving chocolate the last few days, but not just any chocolate. I wanted BROWNIES. Rich, fudge brownies. Problem I did have any brownie mix, and I didn't want to make them from scratch. I did, however, have a Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix. :-) I got on the Internet (wonderful resource for recipes) and found a simple recipe for making brownies from cake mix. Here is the recipe:



1 cake mix

1 egg

about 1/2 C water.



The dough will be thick. Spread in a 9X9 dish and bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. I also just happened to have about 1/2 a jar of Smuckers Caramel ice cream topping in the fridge. So, I spread it on the batter before popping it into the oven. 30 minutes later I had this:

I am sorry that it isn't a very good picture. I will have to keep practicing taking pictures of food. But, let me assure you that it tastes wonderful! Oh, and that "white stuff" on top is not whipped cream. Oh, no Ma'am. That is Vanilla Cake frosting, because the caramel and chocolate just wasn't sweet enough to send me into a sugar coma. :-) What could have been better? Well, maybe if I had chocolate icing to top it off with, but let me assure you that my chocolate craving was satisfied, and I did not dream of chocolate last night. That is, once I crashed after my sugar high. :-) Enjoy y'all. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

It's Modern Day Science Class...

I have to admit that when I first saw the show "Mythbusters" I had an "attitude" about watching it. I'm not really "into" those kind of shows. But, we have been watching it for a couple of years now, and I have learned A LOT. Also, "Little Mark" enjoys watching it. It is very educational, especially when discussing the physics required in the experiments. So, he and Cleggy make it a weekend event.

I can understand why men would enjoy the show, because they do blow up a lot of stuff. :-)Last night they actually made a lead balloon fly y'all. I was excited. :-) It is a very interesting show, and Jamie and Adam are very good about explaing the way the experiments work without it going WAY over my head. They are also very good at warning people not to try any of these things at home, except for these. :-) My family and I fully intend to try the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment. :-)

Adam, Jamie and their team (including "Buster") spend one hour either proving or debunking at least 2 "myths" per show. They take great pains in making sure each experiment is done correctly as well as entertaining. Jamie and Adam are some fun guys to watch. :-) Because of this show I have learned that: 1) Driving while talking on a cell phone IS just as bad (if not worse) than driving drunk; 2) A lead balloon CAN fly; 3) A frozen turkey WILL shatter your foot, and can kill your pet, even dropped from just a couple of feet (like carrying it or having it on the counter) 4) Sharks DO appear to be afraid of dolphins.... and MANY more. :-)

If you have never seen this show I encourage you to check it out. We always use them as an example of why Math and Science/Physics are so important to learn. :-) Plus, they're just some funny guys. :-) And at the risk of sounding like a commercial: "Watch on the Discover Channel each Wednesday night from 7:00pm - 9:00 pm CST." :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

Let it Snow...

Take a look at what it did here yesterday!

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, that is SNOW! It snowed in East Texas!! It was mixed with sleet at times, but we will take what we can get. :-) At one point it was really coming down. Just the snow, and in the words of "Little Mark", "They were big honkin' flakes!" It was still on the ground and roof this morning, but melted off later when the sun came out and the temp. rose to a staggering 43 degrees. :-)

No, it wasn't near enough to make a snowball, much less a snowman, but this rare phenomenon did happen. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

They have definitely run out of original ideas...



For quite some time now it has been my opinion that movie writers have run out of original ideas. In the last couple of years a lot of the movies were just "rehashed" older movies with a new look. The worst is that they are just taking old 60s and 70s TV shows and making them into movies.



I mean, "The Brady Bunch Movie" a few years ago was funny. Lame, but funny. It was made to be "cheesy" and it succeeded. There was also "Bewitched", , "Leave it to Beaver", "Underdog", "Rocky and Bullwinkle", "The Longest Yard" and now they are making "Dallas" and "I Dream of Jeanie". On Tuesday night while I was waiting to see another remake, "The Chipmunk Movie" (which was kind of cute) I saw the trailer for "Speed Racer." Yes, "Speed Racer." Oh. My. Word. They have reached the bottom of the barrel. Personally, I'm waiting for "Good Times With The Waltons: The Mountain meets The Ghetto"



I mean, seriously are there no original ideas anymore? I know that this isn't the only generation to do that. They have been remaking movies for decades. Sabrina was done in 1954 and remade in 1995. Heck, there were 4 versions of the "Titanic.



It seems like they get "writers block", and say "Let's look at the classics and TV shows we grew up with, tweak them a litlle, cast big name stars, add some subtle inuendos that the adults will catch, but is subtle enough to go over the kids heads. Let's create a cool soundtrack and market the heck out of it." BAM! They have a movie.



Now, I'm not totally against remakes. I'll admit that I really liked the 1997 version of "Titanic." I saw it 4 times. But, I also watched the 1953 version, and the 1958s "A Night To Remember". I am sure if those film makers had the budget/technology that James Cameron had they would have made just as good a movie.



I understand that sometimes movies are remade because technology has changed, and the directors can now do what was impossible even 10 years ago. I get that. If they are doing it to update the quality of the film I guess I can appreciate that. I mean, just think how much cooler "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" would look done with todays technology. But, the nostalgia (there's that word again) would be gone. Although, NO ONE would be able to match the acting of Richard Dreyfuss in that one. :-)



I guess what I am trying to say is "Get some original ideas already!"



Just to try to get some of that back, I went online and found a clip from the ORIGINAL "Chipmunks" show. I hope you enjoy it. :-)



Love,
Wendy Darling

Sandi Patty...

I have tried to write this post for 3 days. I have had it in my head, and have worded it exactly the way I wanted. The problem is that now I can't remember it all so it may not come out exactly right.

Also, I really wanted to post a video or soundbite of this song to share it with you, but IT IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND on the internet. What's up with that?! Anyway, I had another "nostalgia" moment this week. Yes, the tears did flow. I think I must be entering pre-menopause or something, because memories are making me cry a lot lately.

Anyway, back to the song. When I went to college I auditioned for a choir scholarship by singing the song "Shine Down" by Sandi Patty. If you have heard Sandi Patty sing, she does AWESOME on this song. I am no where near Sandi Patty, but I did well enough to get the scholarship. A couple of weeks ago I found the soundtrack of the song in a suitcase in my closet. I held onto it, because I thought I might want to hear it again.

I took it with me in the car yesterday and placed it in the tape player. As soon as I heard the music I felt 20 years younger. It has been almost that long since I have played it. Y'all, I remembered every word and began singing it with the first syllable. Again, not near as good as Sandi, but let's face it; there is no one else like Sandi Patty. :-)

I spent several hours yesterday looking for a clip/video/soundbite of Sandi singing it, because I wanted so much to share it with y'all. CAN'T FIND ONE ANYWHERE! :-( My brother did help me find the lyrics, so I will share those with you.

SHINE DOWN:

1984 by Paragon Musicby Billy Smiley, Mark Gersmehl & Bob Farrell

(Refrain:)Shine down your light on me.

Let the people see

that in your presence darkness flees.

Father of light, Shine Down on me:

(repeat)

Father of light Shine Down on me.

Verse 1:

There's a land full of glory,

in a place where there is no night.

And in that holy city

burns the beacon of everlasting light.

The light that keeps reaching

to the people of every land

A love that is longing

to fill the heart of every man...

(Refrain)

Shine down your light on me.

Let the people see

that in your presence darkness flees.

Father of light, Shine Down on me:

(repeat)

(Instrumental Bridge)

Verse 2:

There's no sun in that city.

The father's throne is it's only light.

The lamp of salvation;

the hope that is always glowing bright

It scatters the darkenss,

swept away by his mightly hand.

Now all the nations can worship,

sing the song of that glorious land.

(Coda:)

Shine down your light on me.

Let the people see

that in your presence darkness flees.

Father of light, Shine Down on me.

(Key change)

Shine down your light on me.

Let the people see

that in your presence darkness flees.

Father of light, Shine Down on:

Shine down your light on me.

Let the people see

that in your presence darkness flees.

Father of light, Shine Down on:

Father of light, Shine Down on:

Father of light, Shine Down on:

Father of light, Shine Down on me.

OK, now I'm crying again just reading the words. Darn hormones!

Love,

Wendy Darling

Getting back on the horse...

OK, "Little Mark" had a check up at the doctor today. While we were there I went ahead and weighed to see how much damage I did over the holidays. To my amazement I only put on about 4 lbs. (for me that is a miracle, y'all) So, tomorrow "Little Mark" and I are back on Phase I of the "Fat Smash Diet". I am already planning the menu. I'll let you know how it goes. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Update on the 4-H competion...

The Food and Nutrition show was AWESOME y'all. We have some great little cooks in this county. I don't remember how many of them competed, but they all scored high enough to earn blue ribbons. I've never seen anything like it. AND, "Little Mark" scored the highest in his age division/category the THE BREAD is going on to District. :-) Yes, we are all very proud of all of the kids. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

Please, introduce yourself!

I read this at "My Best Investments" who learned over at Clare's Dad that National Delurking Day was this past week. I liked his entry so much that I let him know I was stealing it. ;-) So, without further ado the following is directly quoted from "My Best Investments".

"In case you're not familiar with how a delurking event works, let's first have a look at the definition of lurking. I found two:

Visiting and reading an online journal, or "weblog" without making your presence known to the owner of the blog

Using a gas range to roast marshmallows

Okay, so I just made that second one up. I'm sure there's some other word for that.Now that we know the definition of lurking, let me extend this National Delurking Day invitation:Feel free to come out of the virtual shadows and say hello in the Comments. And just like Darren promised, if you leave a comment and you have a blog of your own, I'll come over to your place and say hello, too."

Okay, so leave me comment and say, "Hi." :-)
Love,
Wendy Darling

Recipe...

It's been a few days since I have blogged, and I apologize. Mom had surgery on her hand on Wednesday. Nothing major. She has carpel tunnel in both hands, and they did surgery on the right hand. She did really well, and it was outpatient surgery, so she was home by lunch time. :-)

"Little Mark" has a Food and Nutrition competition tomorrow for 4-H. He made a very healthy bread ALL BY HIMSELF. :-) I literally stood there and watched, verbally reminding him of the way he did it at Christmas, and he did it all. I am very proud, and I really hope he gets a blue ribbon tomorrow. I'll let y'all know how he makes out. :-)

Anyway, I thought you might like the recipe for the bread. It has 162 calories per slice, and we used 2% milk to cut down on the fat. Enjoy! :-)


Honey Cinnamon Swirl Wheat Bread

¾ cup warm water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup warm milk
2 ½ cups all- purpose
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups whole wheat flour
about a 1/4 C of cinnamon
about 2 T of Splenda

Place the warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast, stir until dissolved and let
stand until creamy. Add the warm milk, honey, oil, salt, and 1 ½ cups, - purpose
flour, blend well. Stir in whole wheat flour and mix well. Add the remaining all
purpose ½ cup at a time, until the dough is soft and workable (there may be some
flour left over)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and
elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough and
grease the top .Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until
doubles in volume, 1 hour

Lightly grease a 9x 5 inch pan. Punch the dough down and turn onto a lightly flour
surface. Roll out and cover with cinnamon/Splenda mixture. Form dough into a loaf and place in the prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove loaf from the pan and cool on a wire rack

Love,
Wendy Darling

More Nostalgia...

During lunch "Little Mark" and I decided to watch some TV. To keep from watching Disney or Nickelodeon (for the billionth time) I chose the show. Banana Splits was on Boomerang. OK, I don't know if it is hormones or what, but for some reason I have been thinking a lot about my childhood, and the things we used to do/watch back then. Life seemed so much simpler then.

Anyway, I was a child of the '70s (as well as the '80s), and as a child of the '70s I did watch this show. So, I got all excited and announced that we were watching "Banana Splits." "Little Mark" looked very uncertain about this show, and as soon as it started he looked at me like I was from another planet. He asked, "You seriously used to watch this stuff?" I said, "Absolutely! I was younger than you when I watched this." He then had to not only stab me in the heart, but he had to twist the knife by asking in a "surprised" tone, "You used to be my age?!" (The little twerp.) :-)

Anyway, I had forgotten all of the little shows that used to be on there. "The Three Musketeers", "The Arabian Knights", "Micro Ventures", "The New Adventures of Huck Finn" and my favorite "Danger Island". Hello! How did I forget about "Danger Island?" I mean, Jan-Michael Vincent was HOT y'all. And there was some Oscar winning acting going on in that show. (insert sarcasm here.)

"Little Mark" actually liked "Danger Island" as well. I am afraid the one liners went over his head, but he liked it enough to BEG to watch the second episode before starting school again. Again, maybe it's hormones, but I let him. Even after the "old age" comment. :-) He really liked it once he started listening to the voices and asked "Isn't that the guy who talks for "Tigger"? I affirmed that it was and he replied, "Man this old." Again with the "old" comments. Just twist the knife a little more....

I thought I would add the following for all of you who were also children of the 70s and want to relive a little of your childhood. Enjoy!
Love,
Wendy Darling




And for the Jan-Michael Vincent fans:

Y'all and Ya'll....



Obviously, I am stretching for something to blog about. A few nights ago I laid in bed thinking about my blog. (obviously, I couldn't sleep either) I was thinking that I have a lot of bad habits when it comes to blogging. First, it occurred to me that I use the word "ya'll" a lot. I am from East Texas, so that should be expected. (The fact that I was born in a northern state has no baring on the situation at all)



Anyway, I then began to wonder if I was spelling "ya'll" the same in every context. Such as should it be "y'all" as in "you all" and "ya'll" as in y'all will". Is that clear as mud? I was starting to get a migraine from this very deep thinking, and I then decided that I would need to look up that information in the morning. So, two days later I googled it. Y'all would not believe all of the discussions I found on the subject of "y'all" and "ya'll". I'm serious, you would think the security of our country depended on whether or not it is even a word, and if it is used in the right context. Obviously, people need a life. Either that or they are just as hard up for blogging fodder as I am.



I also have a bad habit of putting my "side thoughts" in parentheses, and I use run on sentences a lot. Aside from punctuation and grammatical errors I think I am ok.



I just noticed that I use the word "obviously" a lot too. :-) Please forgive me.



Love,

Wendy Darling

The Big Game...

Much to the surprise of my family, after they read this, I have decided to watch the LSU/Ohio game tonight. The championship game. :-) I will plant myself in front of one of the 3 TVs in this house and cheer for LSU. (Yes, Sarah, I did cheer for the Gators last week as well.) :-)

We were raised watching the Oiler's and Cowboys play. Football was a big deal at our house while growing up, however I got "out of the habit" over the years. The Jr. College I attended is very big in basketball and has no football team, so I didn't really get into college football. However, I just feel like watching one, and out of respect for Laslo's Alma mater I will be cheering for LSU. :-)

GEAUX TIGERS!! (See Queen B. I remembered to spell it correctly.) :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

I am definitely a child of the 80s...

Ok, I "celebrated" my 20th high school reunion last June, and by "celebrated" I mean that I acknowledged it had been 20 years since I graduated high school but I did not actually attend the reunion. The last few days I have been thinking about all of things that we did back then that "made it the 80s." We even rented TMNT II for the nephews, and they loved it. We also rented "Fraggle Rock" and they wouldn't even watch it. Go figure...

I have seen the following list before, and it is so fitting that I thought I would post it here for ya'll. How much of it do YOU remember? :-)

- You had a crush on one of the New Kids on the Block members.
- You wanted to be on StarSearch. (Come on, we all did)
- You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off. Or even when he had those freaky eyes in "Thriller" at the end of the video.
- You wore a banana clip or one of those slap on wrist bands at some point during your youth.
- You wore french rolls on the botom of your splatter painted jeans.
- You had slouch socks, and puff painted your own shirt at least once.
- You owned a doll with 'Xavier Roberts' signed on it's butt.
- You knew what Willis was "talkin' 'bout."
- You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, Wax off."
- You can name at least half of the members of the elite "Brat Pack."
- You can remeber watching full house and saved by the bell for endless hours
- You have seen at least 10 episodes of Fraggle Rock.
- You know that another name for a keyboard is a "Synthesizer."
- You hold a special place in your heart for "Back to the Future."
- You know where to go if you "wanna go where everybody knows your name."
- You thought Molly Ringwald was REALLY cool. (Was there an 80's movie she WASN'T in?)
- You know what "Sike" means.
- You fell victim to 80's fashion: big hair, crimped, combed over to the side, and you wore spandex pants
- You wanted to be a Goonie ("Goonies never say die.")
- You've heard of Garbage Pail Kids.
- You knew "The Artist" when he was humbly called "Prince."
- You actually saw Ted Danson as the MacDaddy he played "Sam" to be.
- You ever wore flourescent -neon if you will clothing...(or nailpolish)
- You could breakdance, or wished you could.
- You know who Max Headroom is.
- You remember when ATARI2 was a state of the art video game system. (Remember Pong)
- You know all the words to "ice ice baby".
- You remember M.C hammer.
- You can still sing the rap to "fresh Prince of BelAir".
- You own any cassettes.
- You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we'd all be living on the moon.
- You remember and/or own any of the CareBear Glass collection from Pizza Hut.
- Poltergeist freaked you out.
- You carried your lunch to school in a Gremlins or an ET lunchbox.
- You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf.
- You wanted to communicate with some being named Cinergy, or you wanted green hair like that lead singer of the Misfits.
- You know what a Doozer is.
- You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.
- You ever had a Swatch Watch.
- You actually spent countless hours trying to perfect the care-bear stare.
- You had a crush on one of the Coreys (Haim or Feldman).
- You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.
- You had WonderWoman or Superman underoos.
- You wanted to be The Hulk for Halloween.
- You Believed that "By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power!"
- You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
- You know what a "Whammee" is. ("No Whammy, no whammy, stop!!")
- Partying "like it's 1999" seemed SO far away.

If you can identify with at least half of this list then you, my friend,are a "Child of the 80's."

AND here is a bonus for you!! :-) I actually remember having a crush on the lead guy ya'll. FRIGHTENING!!






Love,
Wendy Darling

**Warning! Political post**



You have been forewarned that this is a political post. If politics makes you queasy, please stop reading now. I also want to interject here that the following post is my own opinion, and is in no way intended to spark a heated debate, so if you find yourself going "I totally disagree with this woman" just quietly click the little exit button and come back tomorrow for a brand new post. ;-) Thank you for visiting.



OK, this post has actually been "in the making" for about 2 months. I don't believe I have ever done a political post, and probably won't again. But, I was sort of "guilted" into this one. By whom you ask? By my 11 year old nephew that's who. Any time an election comes I always take him with me when I vote. We have the same discussion every time. On the way to the polls he asks me who I am going to vote for. I tell him who I am supporting and why. Then I remind him that voting is a privilege that many Americans have fought, and died, for us to have. I firmly believe it is the DUTY of every American to vote. (As my daddy always said, "If you don't vote then you don't have the right to gripe when things aren't going the way you would like.")


I then remind him that when it comes time for him to vote he does NOT have to agree with me. He needs to vote his beliefs, but he needs to know WHY he is voting for that person/issue. Don't do it just because they are popular, or being supported by a certain celebrity. What is that candidates heart? What are their beliefs? Are they similar to your beliefs? In other words BE ABLE TO BACK IT UP, and don't be scared to speak your mind or give your opinion. People are not always going to agree on the candidates or issues. That is what makes America so great, because we can disagree and still give our opinion. It's called a democracy.



So, after we have our discussion he gets to see the ballot and watches me fill in the little circles. (Yes, here in East Texas we still use the pencil and paper ballot. No hanging CHADS here.) :-)



Anyway, after the November election he asked me who I was voting for President. I told him who I was considering, but I had not made my mind up, yet. He asked a lot of great questions as to why I was leaning toward that candidate. It really made me think, and have to put into practice everything I had been teaching him. He then made a very odd comment. He said, "I know, your going to put "his" picture on your blog aren't you?"



To be honest, that had never occurred to me, because I don't usually "put myself out there" like that. But, then I thought "If I don't then I am doing exactly what I told him NOT to do. I would be setting a bad example."



So, you lovely people now get to read my opinion, so that I can get over my guilt trip and be a good example/teacher to my nephew. :-) Please enjoy it, because I don't plan to write another one. :-) I have actually started to write this about 10 times over the last couple of months, and every time I just erase it, because I just can't get to come out the way I want. But, I have determined that tonight is the night. I'm just going to get it out there and be done with it. :-)



My candidate is (drum roll please).................................................................................

Yes, I am supporting Mike Huckabee. Here are my reasons why:

1) He is a Christian. Yes, this does make a difference to me.

2) I agree with his stand on abortion.

3) He does support homeschooling.

4) I like his ideas for taxes. It needs some "tweaking" but overall I like it.

5) I believe him to an honest man, and "down to earth."

OK, actually I could go on, but it would be easier to just send you to his site http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.Home

Are there other candidates I like? Yes. Do I agree with any of them 100% No, not even Mike Huckabee, but he is the one I agree with the most. I did see his interview on Jay Leno and I thought he did a wonderful job. He really impressed me. My family and I read an interview about him in New Man magazine, and we really liked what we read. Is everyone in my family voting for him? I have no idea. We all have our own opinions, and that's okay. Again, that is why we have a democracy. :-) So, that is it. If you actually made it this far in the post I thank you. :-)

I encourage you to check out all of the candidates and vote your own beliefs. You don't have to agree with me, but you do need to vote. And don't forget the Primaries. That is where you pick who will actually be running in the party you choose. Primaries are important. VOTING is important. Let your voice be heard. :-)

I am climbing off of my soapbox now. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

What Classic Movie are you?

Although I do have a lot of things floating around in my head that I could blog about, I just haven't had the energy. So, in an effort to keep all of the many people who read my blog (all 5 of you) coming back I decided to do this "fall back" post. Please forgive me. :-)

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

What do you think? Is it me?
Love,
Wendy Darling