Pat Ain't Done Yet

Update on my January

Hello, all you good people, how is your New Year going? 

I am, personally, hanging in there....but am totally fed up with the fog and rain and wind and cold, and more rain!  Having been a very weather-oriented person all my life, these last ten days or so have just stretched me out like an old rubber band!  Enough Already!  Every day I cling to the hope that all the weather men are right, that tomorrow will be better....only to be proven wrong when the next day is just as dark and dreary and cold as the one before it!  Phooey!  You know, the weathermen and the President are the ONLY people who get paid, RIGHT OR WRONG!  Think about it....

Okay, on a brighter note, I have lost 7 pounds since New Year's Day, and am grateful for every one gone!  I have probably lost over 4,000 pounds in my adult lifetime, but they have been the same ones, over and over!  No profit in that!  However, I am staying on track this time and hope it lasts!  For all of you in the same boat, God bless and good luck!  I have a little trouble sticking with my exercise routine, but am working on it.  I am doing well with writing down everything I eat, and in my walking more.  I am eating healthy, lots of veggies, and sleeping enough to cover my body needs.  I guess you could say, if I wasn't so old, I would have lost more than the 7 pounds, but to be honest with you, I figure at my age, 76 this March, I am lucky to even be alive to lose anything!!  So, I approach each day as a gift and just do my best! 

Well, folks, the rest is just getting through this gray time of year and knowing that better and a lot sunnier days are on their way.  I know this is a great time to make strides in housework, but that is just not my bag.  I would rather do a puzzle, call a friend, cook something healthy, take a nice nap, or whatever it takes to get through the day.....never was much for a sparkling house!  My friends are wonderful, I have a perfect grandson who brings me much joy, my church family is so special to me, and all in all, I am a very blessed gal.  So, January will soon be behind me again for this year, and as long as my Lord is on my side, who can be against me?  Yes, I can honestly say, Pat Ain't Done Yet!!

A Whole New Year Starts Today

Happy New Year, everyone.

Isn't it great to wake up with a whole, brand new, empty new year ahead of you?  It's like starting all over again, with a fresh slate, able to do and be anything you choose in the year ahead.  I love the untold promise of a brand new year, and am grateful to be a part of each one.

I woke up this morning with new energy, excitement, happiness at the thought of new beginnings in my life that would start today, January 1, 2010!  I had me a good, healthy breakfast, right after starting my day in the usual way, thanking God for giving me another day and praying for His guidance.  I read the paper, fed the blue jays who were waiting impatiently outside my window, and was filled with a new vitality to match the start of a new year.  I weighed myself, proud that the last couple weeks of holiday has only added 3 pounds to my total.  I did my little exercise routine with my pedometer on my belt, as always, adding a little longer time to each act, and felt so good about myself!  I even wrote down all my food intake, which can be a real pain in the neck, but always works to help me lose weight.  I was ready to take on the world.

I have had a great day, and am now, as the sun sets on this first new day of 2010, ready to relax a bit, have a nice and healthy dinner, take a warm shower and read and watch a little TV before tucking myself in to my so cozy bed later.  It would not suffice to say I just had a nice day.  I have had a really fine day, full of peace and good music on my CD, controlled calories, exercise and energy that makes me feel good, and the joy that comes with knowing that this is just the beginning of the year.  I am determined to stay on track, keep up the good work I did today again tomorrow, and revel in enjoyment of my blessings.  At almost 76 years old, I am going to give each day my best effort, and enjoy every one I am given.  You see, as a nosy old gal from New York, the reason is simple.  Pat ain't done yet!

Merry Christmas to All, This Year and Always!

As we prepare for another year to end, we also prepare, first, to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of Christians.  No, not all of us, but the majority of people in America, who are acknowledged Christians.

I guess what bothers me is the fact that the few others, hence not the majority, are trying to push this wonderful time out of being celebrated openly, as it has been since Jesus was born.  Why?  Why do non-Christians begrudge us our worshiping God's son?  We do not try to rob them of their religion.  If we go to a Muslim church, we do not expect them to worship Jesus, and that is okay with us.  If we attend a Chinese or Japanese church, we do not expect to hear Christian Christmas carols sung.  Why do other religions, and non-religious people, heathens, whoever else complains, want to make us go underground?  We have been founded as a Christian nation by our forefathers, and yet, now we even have a confused president who says, openly, "The United States is not a Christian nation."  What???  Since when?  Give me, and all other Christians in this country, aka the majority, a break!  That statement sure did nothing to endure our new leader to me, folks!

Anyway, Christmas is the birthday of the Son of God, and I will be celebrating it with joy, as usual.  I want to pray with my brothers and sisters in Christ for a blessed year ahead and give thanks for all my blessings this past year.  I want to wish every Christian the peace and joy of knowing Jesus, and may their hearts be filled with the warmth of His love in the year ahead.  I do not force my religion on anyone, and I would appreciate it if no one would try to force me from practicing mine!  I heard a man say, just recently, that if you do not like or agree with Christianity in America, then maybe you should buy a ticket and get out of the country!  Amen to that.  We are The Land of the Free, and The Home of the Brave,  One Nation, Under God, With Liberty and Justice For All.  And you may be sure, In God We Trust!  So, if that doesn't suit your way of thinking, please go somewhere in this world where you won't be treated so well.  Meanwhile, like I said earlier, do not try to take our right to worship Jesus away from us, because we Christians are a gentle bunch of loving people, but, and I mean this, we are NOT going to give up our celebration of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  And that is that!  So, get used to our Mangers and Crosses, Christmas plays and parties, lots of people gathering to church on Christmas eve and morning, and singing of the carols we all grew up with, and our wishing each other "Merry Christmas", and just get over it!  Please!

So, again, I wish Merry Christmas to all Christians and God Bless Us, Everyone.  Because this grateful Christian ain't done yet!

Pat Stonsby

Too Soon for Christmas Trimmings!

With every year that passes, it seems to me that we rush more and more to push everything ahead a lot quicker than we used to, or than it needs to be!  As the leaves start to turn their gorgeous autumn colors, suddenly stores start decorating their shelves with Christmas things, and this year it began even before Hallowe'en, for gosh sakes!  Now I know the economy leaves a lot to be desired, but give us a break, people.  One holiday at a time, please.  Here it is now, still two weeks from Thanksgiving yet, and the mall and all the stores I have been in, are loaded down with, you guessed it, tons of all decorated and flashing and twinkling...Christmas trees!  They are beautiful, and very expensive compared to what we paid for my lovely fake tree years ago, and which still looks pretty darn good.  But the problem I have is that my spirit has just not kicked in yet.  I am still planning my turkey dinner and making my own cranberry sauce for it, thank you very much.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think so.  Others have shared their concern about the early rush with me, and I would like to know why the stores are so eager.  Is it because they figure the earlier they get it out there, the earlier we will jump at the chance to buy it all up?  Hey, not so fast.  The problem with that is twofold, or more.  One, it means you have to have a great, safe hiding place all figured out, and more space than usual in it, for these early arrivals.  Two, if you are even just a tad older, you may forget where your have hidden some of the smaller stuff, and find it later like in, oh, June, maybe?  Yes, I am guilty of doing that, myself, so I know.  There may be other reasons for not shopping while people are still wearing shorts and going without jackets, too, but for now the ones I mentioned will do.  I just do not feel "Christmassie" yet, and that is that.  I have about 500 or 600 catalogs arriving daily, slight exaggeration, which I look through for the lowest prices, and mail in my orders after the turkey is gone.  My cards get written around the first of December, and mailed shortly after.  I do not really like getting Christmas cards in late October or even in very early November.  Relax, enjoy the fall weather before being so very on schedule!  It is supposed to be a season of love and hope and joy, not rushing around, battling crowds and extra stress.  Really, do try to relax more this year, and trust me, things will work out just fine. 

So, enough about my thoughts on Christmas being pushed upon us too soon.  I truly hope you all can take the time to look at the diamond-like stars sparkling in a pitch black sky once around the nights before the 24th.  I pray you will be filled with the spirit of peace and joy that comes from the blessing of what Christmas is truly about, not the money and the gifts and the stress, but the miracle of the coming of a baby named Jesus, who came to earth to save us all.  May God bless each and every one of you, and no matter what the politically correct try to do to stifle the great joy of it all, may I sincerely wish everyone of you.....Merry Christmas.

Sorry it was Backwards!

Dear Readers,

Please forgive that my two part blogs were printed the first one, last, and the second one, first!  I do not know enough about the workings of these high-tech things to know anything about why it happened that way.  I just hope you read both of them and got the message, anyway.  Thanks for your patience and for giving me another chance to "entertain" you in the future.  "Cause, as you can see, I Ain't Done Yet".   Pat

Proof in History by Dr. Kaiser

Okay, here is part two of the blog from Dr. David Kaiser.  I hope you did read the first blog first, and I hope this second part of his letter that I am giving you, word for word, will answer all questions and doubts you may have about his credibility.  Now, here it is.  Professor Kaisers writings.

As a serious student of history, I thought I would never come to experience what the ordinary, moral German must have felt in the mid-1930s in those times, the "savior" was a former smooth-talking rabble- rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing.  What they should have known was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory.  Conservative "losers" read it right now.

And there wre the promises.  Economic times were tough people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker.  And he smiled and frowned and waved a lot.  And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully and beat them into submission.  Which they did - regularly.  And then, he was duly elected to office, while a full-throttled economic crisis bloomed at hand - the Great Depression.  Slowly, but surely he seized the controls of government power, person by person, department by department, bureaucracy by  bureaucracy.  The children of German citizens were at first encouraged to join a Youth Movement in his name where they were taught exactly what to think.  Later, they were required to do so.  No Jews of course.

How did he get the people on his side?  He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the money-less, and rewards for the military-industrial complex.  He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, netter jobs, and promising to re-install once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world.  He did it with a compliant media -did you know that?  And he did this all in the name of justice and .....change.  And the people surely got what they voted for.

If you think I am exaggerating, look it up.  It's all there in the history books.

So read your history books.  Many people of conscience objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and ridiculed.  When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker.  He was right, though.  And the world came to regret that he was not listened to.

Do not forget that Germany was the most educated, the most cultured country in Europe.  It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities.  And yet, in LESS THAN SIX YEARS (a shorter time span than just two terms of the U.S. presidency) it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors.  All with the best of intentions, of course.  The road to Hell is paved with them.

As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice:  I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust);  I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me...

I choose to believe thre evidence.  No doubt some people will scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both.  To some degree, perhaps I am.  But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe - and why I believe it.

I pray I am wrong.  I do not think I am.  Perhaps the only hope is our vote in the next elections.

This was signed by David Kaiser of Jamestown, Rhode Island, in the United States

Well, this is what I felt necessary to share with all of you, no matter how you receive it.  Now it is up to you to live with it, share it, delete and forget it.  Only you know what choices you will make.  I wish you a safe and bright tomorrow.  And God Bless Us, everyone.  'Cause I ain't done yet.

 

History Too Important To Be Ignored

I received this in my e-mail from a dear friend the other day, and it touched me so deeply that I truly felt I must share it with others.  So, here I am, and I do hope you will read it all the way through, then make up your minds for yourselves.  Or head to the library and use the history books there to verify all your questions.  Apparently, this writer did, which is why I have faith in what he is telling us.  So, here I go, writing a copy just as I received it, word for word.  The original author is Dr. David Kaiser, a most respected and highly educated professor in the history field.

History Unfolding:

I am a student of history.  Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life.  I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis.  Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a larger focus.

Something of historic proportions is happening.  I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it.  Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years.  The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back?  Why?

We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms.  That is our money.  Yours and mine.  And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September.  Who has this money?  Why do they have it?  Why are the terms unavailable to us?  Who asked for it?  Who authorized it?  I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders.  Apparently not.

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy..Why?

We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving.  Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate.  Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity.  Why?

We gave now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman.  Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?)  We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic.  To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are falling, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government.  Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth..it is potentially 1929 X ten...and we are at war with an enemy we cannot even name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who, in turn, cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.

And finally, we have elected a man that no one really knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska.  All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders?  No?  Oh, of course.  The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it.  Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.)

Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change.  Why?

I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.

This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life.  In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure.  Change is indeed coming.  And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

And that is only the beginning.

This is Pat now.  The history part of this man's oratory will come in another blog, as this one is long enough for you to read and absorb into your brain.  So, stay turned.  It only gets more factual.  Bye for now.

History Too Important To Be Ignored

I received this in my e-mail from a dear friend the other day, and it touched me so deeply that I truly felt I must share it with others.  So, here I am, and I do hope you will read it all the way through, then make up your minds for yourselves.  Or head to the library and use the history books there to verify all your questions.  Apparently, this writer did, which is why I have faith in what he is telling us.  So, here I go, writing a copy just as I received it, word for word.  The original author is Dr. David Kaiser, a most respected and highly educated professor in the history field.

History Unfolding:

I am a student of history.  Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life.  I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis.  Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a larger focus.

Something of historic proportions is happening.  I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it.  Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years.  The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back?  Why?

We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms.  That is our money.  Yours and mine.  And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September.  Who has this money?  Why do they have it?  Why are the terms unavailable to us?  Who asked for it?  Who authorized it?  I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders.  Apparently not.

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy..Why?

We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving.  Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate.  Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity.  Why?

We gave now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman.  Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?)  We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic.  To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are falling, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government.  Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth..it is potentially 1929 X ten...and we are at war with an enemy we cannot even name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who, in turn, cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.

And finally, we have elected a man that no one really knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska.  All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders?  No?  Oh, of course.  The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it.  Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.)

Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change.  Why?

I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.

This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life.  In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure.  Change is indeed coming.  And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

And that is only the beginning.

This is Pat now.  The history part of this man's oratory will come in another blog, as this one is long enough for you to read and absorb into your brain.  So, stay turned.  It only gets more factual.  Bye for now.

Dangerous Drivers!

Holy Cow!  Where are all these people who do NOT know how to drive according to the rules getting their licenses?  It is getting so that every time you take your car out onto the roads, local or freeway, you honestly do not know if you are going to get home safely, or at all. 

Seventy-five percent of drivers seem to have no idea what the directional signals are for.  At least, they never bother using them before turning!  God forbid the drivers behind you, or those coming at you should know what your next move is!  Is that part of the driving tests no longer taught?  Or is that just a sign that people who should not be driving, ARE??  I don't know whether to blame the DMV for continuing to allow drivers a license no matter how they do the tests, or think it is the drivers who do all the right things at the DMV to get the license, then forget or ignore the rules once they have their license.  Either way, it has made for a dangerous set of roads out there, for the rest of us to drive on!

It is not only the older people behind the wheel causing problems, believe me.  It appears that too many young people have a real need for speed.  Now, in all fairness, would it be too much to ask, in the hope of saving a life, maybe even your own, to leave just a few minutes earlier, when you have to go someplace?  I do not know where we are all going in such a rush, anyway, but like I said, if you left a little earlier, it might just save someone's life, even yours.  Wouldn't that make you feel a lot better about the whole thing?  Showing off in a ton or more vehicle is not cool at all.  In fact, I will go as far as to say, it qualifies you as a demented idiot, or worse!  I doubt if putting another driver at risk for harm really impresses anyone in a favorable way.  So why not smarten up and stop acting like the jerk you prove yourself to be when you drive unsafely?

Here is an example of some young punks driving down Air Base Parkway behind me one day not too long ago.  I was doing the speed limit, and suddenly two cars come racing up behind me going way over the speed limit.  I don't have time to even think if I should pull over or not, when they are on my tail.  At the last possible moment, the one in my lane, the right lane, pulled over onto the edge of the road and slammed past me, as his idiot friend did the same thing on my left, in the fast lane.  You can feel sure I was scared to death and could hardly catch my breath.  They were gone around the curve before I could even see their license plates!  If only a police car had been around to see their display of sheer stupidity!  Meanwhile, I spent the next few minutes on my way home thanking my Lord for saving my life! 

So, I do hope all of you hot rod drivers, inconsiderate drivers, selfish drivers, and just plain stupid drivers out there who will read this, or the growing number of people who have never driven a car in their lives before coming to America, will consider the responsibility they are being given to let them get behind the wheel of a potential killing machine.  When I lived in New York, many years ago, we knew the drivers from Massachusetts were the worse on the road.  But now, let me tell you, the drivers on the local roads are NOT all from Massachusetts!  Many are out of state, and may be in the service, but many more are just local yokels who either do not know, or do not care, about your safety or mine.  So, hopefully, if they are going to continue to drive like maniacs, they will maim or kill themselves, not some innocent person who wants to continue living.  Same goes for you drunks, or druggies.  Make sure your suicide plans don't include me or mine!  I want to live!  As my title for this blog says, "Pat Ain't Done Yet"!

A New Day, A New Chance

Hello, World Around Me,

I am so blessed to wake up each morning to a bright, new start.  I am healthy, for the most part, able to get around and go places and do things that are worthy and fun and exciting.  I have people in my life who are special to me, dearly loved by me, and really spoil me rotten, and I love every one of them!  I love to see the clear blue California sky on sunny summer days, and watch the rolling clouds and dark storm clouds on winter days.  Yes, I would say that each day brings with it new beautiful sights that are most enjoyable to me.  I guess that would make me an incurable optimist, which is a good thing in my book. 

This new chance to blog is great.  I am a transplanted New Yorker, so I am also opinionated!  It came with the territory, since we invented "attitude", so they tell me!  But nature has always turned me on, and as a committed Christian, I think God did a really perfect job creating this earth I live on!  It breaks my heart to see the way many humans abuse it, with never a thought of doing it! But that is another blog for another day.  This one is just to brag that I am grateful to be here to be and do and enjoy this early Fall day in all it's glory.  I hope you are enjoying it too...bye for now.