MY father, the pineapple

I want to give a shout out to my dad, one of the meanest, crustiest, but most loving guys I know. My dad is like a pineapple -- tough and a little prickly on the outside; soft, sweet, and "golden" on the inside. OK, now, no eye rolling here... I'm serious! Harlan = pineapple.

Think about it. He has kind of a tough, gruff exterior -- to some, he's unapproachable and kind of scary. But get to know him, and you'll see a very different kind of person. It's those who really know him, who get a glimpse of the "real" guy, who have no doubt that he's a softie -- not in a pushover kind of way or anything, but in a way that affirms that if you are in trouble or need something, he'll be there for you no matter what. He's got a heart of gold. His TRUE friends -- and they know who they are -- know the goodness and kindness of that man.

So I'm going to backtrack a little -- like back to high school. My dad was the crankiest, toughest, meanest dad around. He had a super-spy network comparable to none. He always knew where we were, who we were with, how many times we'd cruised main and with whom we cruised. He knew if we were holding hands with a boy or cutting class and tanning on the football field with friends. It was uncanny! And a little spooky. People (and by people, I mean my friends / boyfriends) feared him. I remember thinking on more than one occasion that he was just unhappy and out to make the rest of us equally so. But then I caught a glimpse of the "gold" one evening, one of many I was grounded, when dad spent the evening hanging out with me playing on the piano / organ and talking with me. Frankly, at the time, I'd have much rather been with my friends and didn't think hanging out with dad was a good alternative, but in hindsight, that time was a gift to me. He could have been doing anything, but he spent his evening with me. And then when a brother called to see if he could move the party to our house, dad agreed and told me I could join in on the fun.

I didn't really understand my dad when I lived at home but I was a teenager then and like many teenagers, I may have been a bit narcissistic (I said I MAY have been a BIT narcissistic, just a little, the other kids were WAAAAAYYY worse). I knew dad was tough -- when he said be home at 10pm, he meant it. I learned that lesson the hard way, more than once -- 5 minutes late meant "you are grounded young lady" and I just thought that was tough, tight, unfair, whatever. He said what he meant and he meant what he said -- we knew the rules and knew that breaking them had consequences. Now that I'm an adult with my own teen, I understand the need for structure and rules and I understand from where he was coming. It wasn't from a place of meanness or anger or "I'm out to ruin your life", but a place of love and concern and maybe even fear.

I knew he was a hard working man who felt it was important to provide for his family (extended and friends included). And I knew that babies and animals adored him (well, except for skunks and muskrats) and he adored them (again, not the skunks and muskrats). He was very passionate about his interests and wanted to get us involved in the things he enjoyed. He was always determined and driven with goals. He loved to tell jokes and had a quirky, quick sense of humor. Those things were obvious albeit not always appreciated or acknowledged. HELLO! I said I was a teenager at the time!

It wasn't until I had my own kids that I really started to understand the parent who was my dad. He always loved me. He was my dad. He didn't have a choice -- he had to love me. But just how much, I couldn't even have guessed until I had my own kids. As a parent, I began to experience the weight of responsibility and fear associated with parenting all mixed together with immeasurable love and pride and happiness. It's a bit overwhelming at times, I must say.

You have this child and suddenly a piece of your heart is walking around. They're talking, growing up and all you want to do is provide, teach, shelter, protect and help that little person who is part of you grow up happy and successful. So much of life is out of my control. And it's scary, almost paralyzing sometimes, especially when you see that little person -- your little heart -- making silly choices or dangerous decisions.

My dad made it through life with six kids -- six TEENS! We all survived and so did my dad. He's a good man. He's a funny man. He's a loving, kind man. I've always considered myself a good judge of character and for what it's worth, I'll tell you, my dad is a pineapple through and through. I love you dad. Happy Father's Day!

Dear Government of the United States of America...

**This letter was sent to Glenn Beck by an American woman from Arizona named Janet Contreras -- just a concerned Patriot like so many of us -- and he read it on the air yesterday, and will read it to the TV audience tonight. This woman has summed up my fears and concerns related to government in general. She rocks! And I'm planning on forwarding this letter to everyone I know, so get ready, it's coming your way.

Janet Says:

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why? What do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try. Please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when he will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

Treasure the moments...

Kendon and I were talking last night about our kids -- the challenges, the funny things... just stuff in general. And for whatever reason, I started thinking about how important it is to make time for the little moments... time is fleeting.

Madi asks every night for me to snuggle her when I kiss her goodnight. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. She loves me to snuggle beside her and tickle her face and sing her the songs I used to when she was a baby. I don't know why, but that's what she loves. And then she makes fun of my singing. And we laugh... a lot.

Todd still likes for me to tuck him in -- literally. He'll lay on his bed with the covers by his feet and wait for me to cover him, kiss him goodnight and sit on the end of his bed and talk with him. We have an easy, open communication and I find that bedtime is Todd's favorite time to talk, tell me a funny story, share concerns, whatever... stall tactic, maybe (more like definately). Good opportunity for bonding, teaching, sharing -- most definately.

Those moments mean a lot to Todd and Madi and they mean a lot to me. So I'm going to make more time to "snuggle". And I'm going to make more time to "tuck in". It may be stalling, but it helps me build a strong relationship with my kids. And those few moments spent before bed tell them without words that I love and treasure them. They won't always want me to "snuggle" or "tuck in" so I'm going to do it now, while I can and enjoy these fleeting treasured moments with my kids.

On my mind

So now that we're into June, and the move is drawing closer, I feel like life is one big loose end. For instance, there is the end of the school year coming closer: final exams, assignments, projects, teacher gifts, bus driver gifts, notifying both schools that we're moving and so forth.

We also have a sweet girl having a special birthday (yup, she's turning eight!) with a simple request for a party with her friends before we move (can't say no to that).

Then there's work for both Kendon and me (yes, I went back to work), keeping THIS house showhome ready for endless showings that materialize into just that -- showings (without results, they're just a tease), and changing addresses and making sure final utility readings take place when they need to and setting up new utilites in Ohio.

Then we have the after school sports programs and working out religiously at the gym so the old friends don't see just how well the past 8 years has treated me ;)and finalizing building details for the house in Ohio, blah, blah, blah, etc. and I'm feeling just a bit crazy.

At any given moment, I'm feeling like I have a case of ADHD (Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder) because I don't finish THINKING a complete thought before moving on to the next, let alone EXPRESSING those thoughts. My family is patient and giving me a wide berth... what does that mean exactly? Am I being testy? A little impatient? Hmmmm.... just more to think about.