Random Thoughts on a Friday Morning

-Kanye West says "George W. Bush doesn't care about black people" during a telethon to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and is said to be a thoughtful patriot exercising free speech. I, or any other person in this country, say I don't agree with nor want Obama's healthcare proposal, and that makes me a rabid racist according to Jimmy Carter and several media outlets. Since I also do not support Cap and Trade, the removal of the missle shield from our allies in Europe nor trying to negotiate with Iran, I suppose I should get to work on starching my white sheets and polishing up my jack boots. Does anyone have any laundering tips on how to get the hoods to stand up straight? I am afraid mine will keep flopping over to the side and frankly if you can't do racism with proper fashion and style, is there really any point in doing it at all?

-We played "Corn Bag Toss" for Young Men's on Wednesday night. This game is kind of like horse shoes, except it is played with a slightly sloped board with a hole in it and bean bags with corn instead of beans. (Maybe I shouldn't mention this so close to a rant about racism. The "hick" factor of a game with corn bags and a board with a hole in it might be deemed a little high. Oh well.) You throw four corn bags to the board and if the bean bag stays on the board, it is worth one point. If it goes in the hole, it is worth three points. Rhett and I were playing Tommy Nicholas and Brenton Welker and we might have gotten a little full of ourselves when we made a slight wager on the outcome. If Rhett and I had lost, I would have had to have painted a green T on my cheek for tonight's football game. For those from Thatcher, I realize it is not a big deal. For someone from Duncan? This is tantamount to treason and possibly punishable by death. Rhett on the other hand would have had to use the word "sycamore" twice while conducting in church this week. Fortunately, we won and so Tommy will be wearing a slight bit of rouge to church this week and Brenton, who is our youth speaker, will have to fit the word "eucalyptus" into his talk. Appropriate? Probably not. But I am still looking forward to this way too much.

-How did my dad, in good conscience, tie a string to almost all of my teeth and yank them out of my head when I was younger? Braden's front tooth was practically horizontal this week and so finally, I gave him a deadline. (Actually I gave him several because I am a weak pushover.) When it could be put off no longer, I went and grabbed his tooth and yanked...it didn't come out. This is already after having attempted the string thing with him earlier in the week with floss and a hair ribbon, both of which failed miserably. It had to be kind of like being put up in front of a firing squad and repeatedly hearing, "Ready, Aim, Fire!!!" only to have everyone's gun jam at the same time. I don't know how that boy's heart took it all. Now Braden is sobbing "No no no no daddy, NOOOOOOOOO!" Well I gotta finish it now so I grab a hold and yank again. The sound of a tooth separating from the gum is a NASTY sound! Of course, once it was done, it was amazing how much bravery Braden suddenly found as he talked non-stop about his tooth removal experience. Meanwhile, I couldn't find Abby. She had two loose teeth with the other teeth coming in underneath them. She had been given the same deadline. Abby has always had big time trauma issues with teeth since she had a similar experience to Braden when we lived in Gilbert. We finally found her and with tears in her eyes, I looked at the two teeth needing to be removed. There was no way to really get a good hold without plyers (I only considered it for maybe 5 seconds. I am not really that cold.) So I told her she had one more day and then we were calling the dentist. I just couldn't do it. Good thing we went this route too. She had an additional tooth that needed to come out and it had to be removed in pieces. She has another appointment next month to remove her final three baby teeth and she will be done. Thank Heavens!

-Steve Carrell is a genius at painful, uncomfortable comedy. Anyone who is an Office fan will have to agree. His inability last night to restrain himself from giving in to the subliminal thoughts of calling Stanley's wife by his mistress' name had to be one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. It is good to have The Office back.

-I am back to despising Safford City government. They have gone the "non-residents pay more" route out at the golf course, which resides in Thatcher by the way. I know that there is no way that the same kind of resistance can be raised for the golf course that was raised for the library. Something about grown men having to pay more to hit little white balls with sticks at holes with flags in them just doesn't strike the same chord as denying the children of our community the opportunity to read books. Go figure. But it is still infuriating. If it was paid for by property tax it would be one thing. But it isn't. It is paid for by sales tax which we all pay. Secondly, as much money as Safford seems to be losing on EVERYTHING they do, it seems to me that maybe an outside entity ought to be brought in to look at the management issues in Safford first before they stick it to people who have no voting authority on what amounts to an additional tax for not being residents. I am sure Safford's Mayor, Ron Green, does not agree with my sentiments.

Yesterday, I had to give a presentation to a group of community leaders who are taking part in a year long program put on by the Chamber of Commerce. I had been presenting for about 10 minutes when I realized it was a little warm. Then I had a horrible thought that almost stopped me mid-sentence. Did I forget to put on deodorant this morning? Please know that this is not a common occurance, I just couldn't remember doing it. I still can't. I am not sure I did. Please tell me I am not the only one to have had this type of experience.

And with that, I have probably shared too much information and so we will end it here.