Texas and Politics

I finally got Internet service on our home computer and was so excited to show you what I've been doing to the house, but for some reason I can't sign in to anything, even my bank. Since I'm computer illiterate I'll have to have my nine-year check it out for me...pitiful!
So, because I can't post pictures I'll share with you'll some bits about Texas and politics. You know I'm obsessed with politics and the Republican primary has me pumped because the three leaders as of now are a Texan, a Mormon, and a woman I totally like! I'll share my thoughts on Romney and Bachmann later and just share a few observations I've made about Texas since moving here a little over a year ago.
The pros of Texas...jobs! Being in the construction business has been tough the last five years or so. Nearly everyone of our family and friends in construction have been out of work at some point or have at least had a significant cut in work and pay. But houses are still being built here. And, we have met so many families that have moved here in the past one to two years for work and not just in the construction field.
The schools are overall more challenging than in South Carolina. Our gifted and talented program here is definitely not as rigorous as Summerville, SC or Lumberton, TX, but in looking at the general class work, Texas schools are more challenging than SC.
The cost of living is slightly more affordable here. You get more house for your money here. And not having state income taxes puts a little extra spending money in your pocket.
Now for the cons...litter! We drove through five Southern states to get to Texas and the one significant difference I noticed...the trash! Everywhere! The interstate, the parks, the beach. South Carolinians would never put up with litter on their money-making beaches. The 4th of July is a hoorah in Myrtle Beach and tourists leave trash everywhere. But, the very next morning the residents do a sweep of the beach and get it sparkling clean again. On a recent trip to the beach in Galveston it was difficult to find a place to set up because of all the trash. There were wrappers, swimsuits, a huge knife the kids dug up while building a sand castle, and even used love-making supplies (so freaking gross!!!). Texans, when you finish your drink from McDonalds don't throw it out your car window. Just put it in your cup holder until you get to your destination and pop it in a trash can. It is so easy.
So, what do I think of Perry. I think he's a good Governor! I like the fact that he would rather cut spending than increase taxes. For critics who complain about schools losing some money I say ha... No matter how much money we throw at schools they keep getting worse. One, because there is too much legislation in the classroom, two, because teachers unions have insane demands and expectations for teacher pay and pensions, three, because we have way too many administrators getting paid way too much, and fourthly, because too many parents expect the school to handle our overindulged children's bad behavior instead of teaching and expecting our children to shut up and behave in class so every kid gets a chance to learn. Now off that aside.
I like Texas. I like Perry, so far. Right now I think my favorite ticket would be Perry for Prez with Romney as his running mate. We've got a long way to go, but it looks good to me. Aren't any of the top 5-6 Republican candidates better than what we have right now? Yeah!!!

We're moved!

So, after a long wait...we have finally relocated to League City, Texas! We bought an old colonial-style home. I really love the neighborhood and our new neighbors have been really nice and friendly. One brought us a cobbler on one of our first nights here and another has already had us over for a party.

Brayden, of course, already has a new best friend. This boy and his mom showed up at our door a few days after we moved in and announced the boy was Brayden's new friend he had met at school. They played together a few days and then when we went to cub scouts, the boy was there. His family is in our ward and his mom is the primary president. My biggest fear each time we move is what kind of friends my kids will find at our new place. I know Heavenly Father was listening to our prayers and provided Brayden with a very nice new friend.

I would show you pictures of our new home, but both of my cameras are broken! I've already started work on the boy's room so I won't have before and after shots, but I'll figure out the camera situation and show you pictures of the room another time.

Still in Limbo

So after months of searching, are we any closer to moving???  I don't know!  I have fallen for an old tree-lined neighborhood with sidewalks and big, old, colonial homes.  Do I want to live there?  Yes!  But, would it be nice to live in a brand new house, in a brand new neighborhood, with new schools and new stores.  Yes.  What to do...what to do. 

I promise after we make the move I will get back to crafting, cooking, and posting....if we go with the old colonial I'll even show you how I'm going to transform it.  With weeks of rain drowning us here in Southeast Texas my crafty side is itching to be busy.... maybe I'll just make a little something today.

Compromise???

The morning after the election and all the drive-by media outlets are pushing the idea that Americans elected so many Republicans and Tea Partiers because we want compromise.  HA!  Do we want our newly elected representatives to compromise with the President on health care, financial reform, bailouts, handouts, the swelling of the size of government?  No!  I want them to put the brakes on President Obama's agenda.  I would rather see nothing passed than more big government intervention into our lives and businesses.  I want them to counter everything Obama tries to ram through.  I want the government to leave hard-working, honest, entrepreneurial Americans alone.  I don't want my tax dollars to go to redistribution of wealth.  America is founded on the principle of freedom. We need to be unencumbered by our government to achieve all that in is our will and hearts to achieve.  If Obamacare cannot not be successfully repealed than I want it to be deadened by not providing the funding for it to be implemented.  I want government spending to shrink.  I want the main focus of spending to be for wrapping up and getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan (and I want Osama Bin Laden caught).  The only place I'm willing to support more spending is in successfully completing our wars and strengthening our military. It is ridiculous that America is not willing to give our young men and women the very best equipment to their jobs effectively, but we are willing to spend billions to bail out car companies.  If Obama, Reid, and Pelosi want compromise than they can bend to the will of the American people by cutting spending, cutting taxes, reducing the deficit, and getting out of our way. 
 

Non-Voter Confusion

Upon moving to Texas I applied for a new license.  On the application was a little box to check if you'd like to register to vote.  Of course I checked the box and thought I was good.  I went to vote this morning only to find out the DMV does not register you to vote when you check the "would you like to register to vote" box, but simply registers you as being eligible for jury duty.  Am I the only one confused by this?  How many other new Texas residents think they are registered to vote when in fact they are not?  I will be a little huffy if Rick Perry loses by only a few votes and I wasn't able to cast my vote.

Thanks Kellogg's

I was very disappointed to see the news stories about Michael Phelp's drug use. Our family loves the Olympics and so we followed his every achievement during the summer. I remember being 8 and watching Mary Lou Retton at the Los Angeles Olympics and absolutely idolizing her. Michael Phelps was my kid's Mary Lou. Well, Kennedy has of course caught on that Phelps is in trouble and started asking questions. She is disappointed because he is supposed to be a winner and now seems like a big loser- very confusing. Kennedy said her teacher gave them a writing prompt a few weeks ago to write about someone who you look up to. One girl who is into swimming wrote all about how great Phelps is. So, thank you Kellogg's for dropping your endorsement deal with Phelps. Frosted Flakes is one of our favorite cereals and the other day I bypassed picking up a box because it had Phelp's picture on it. He does not represent the values I want my kids developing and he is not someone I want my children to idolize. It seems that in the past few years so many athletes and celebrities (with media aimed at kids) have set bad examples. Boy do I wish there were more Mary Lous.

Men

Over Christmas we hit a dog and had to have our car repaired. After several weeks of the car being out of commission, the body shop called and said the car was ready. We picked up the car which worked long enough to drop Donald's parents off at the airport and then it proceeded to kill on me and would not restart. So, I had the car towed back to the shop. A few days later, the shop calls with a laundry list of new parts the car needed and proceeds to tell me the car is out of gas and that is why the car died on me. I told the mechanic that unless the gauge had somehow been broken the car had not been out of gas. He said the gas light was on. I told him the gas light comes on at 1/8th of a tank and that it had only come on about three miles before the car died. Needless to say, the men at the shop were convinced I was a stupid female who didn't know how to put gas in her car. Several days later the car was once again "ready to go" except for still being empty of gas. So, Donald and I bring in a can of gas and the car starts right up. All the men, including my husband were looking fairly smug about their diagnosis of a lack of gas. Donald and I leave the shop, drive one block down and return our rental car, pull out to the light, and the car kills and won't restart while in the turn lane. I call the shop and the man has the audacity to ask me if I have gassed it yet. No!!! But it says I have over an 1/8th of a tank (impossible if it was out of gas seeing that Donald had only added a gallon) and I had only driven it a block. How the story ends, is that the car was never out of gas, an additional number of parts needed to be replaced, and the smug men had to eat their words. The moral of the story is that just because a female is driving the car does not mean it is simply out of gas, or she's locked her keys in the car, or she hasn't had her oil changed. I may not know very much about cars, but I know enough to know when I'm out of gas. Also, I must say thank you to my female friends who helped me out- Shauna, who I called in hysterics at the thought of me not being home when Brayden got off the school bus and who dropped everything to run over to my house and meet him, and to Bonnie who happened to see Donald and I break down in the turn lane and gave us a lift home and then offered her car to me for the day so I could keep a doctor's appointment. Some girls are very cool.

Mom Days

So, here's what a stay-at-home mom does. I got up at 5:45am in order to get my kids up, fed, dressed, and on the bus at 6:30. I caught an half-hour of the Today Show and then went to the garage to run on the treadmill for 30 mins. Got Rex dressed and ready for the day, plopped him in front of ETV and took a shower.
Picked the kids up at school at 9:30 for a dentist appointment- Kennedy was at PE and no one in the school office wanted to walk out on the field to get her and I "wasn't allowed" to. We got to the dentist and that went well. My pediatrician recommended a pediatric dentist for the kids and she was wonderful- Dr. Winnie for you here in MB. NO CAVITIES!!! Took the kids to Mc Donald's for lunch since they both missed it at school and then checked them back in at school.
Put Rex down for a nap, did some laundry, and cleaned bathrooms. Met the kids at the bus stop at 3:00pm. Then it was homework and chores. Oh, is Brayden a pain when it comes to chores. No amount of bargaining, threatening, or bribing gets it done any easier for him. Picking up the playroom, a 10 min job, can take days!
Then off to football practice. We brought the dog with us because Kennedy insisted she wanted to play with him at the park. Yeah right! I took Rupert for a swim in the pond (he was one happy doggy) and Kennedy watched Rex during practice.
Then its home by 7:15. Dinner, luckily we had leftover pot pie, baths, and bed by 8:00pm.
At last I could snuggle with Donald on the couch, crochet a little, and enjoy the series premiere of "The Office".