Cross-Posts

Well, when you run out of things of interest you borrow others.... :)

First, we have a smart post. It's not paranoid to be aware of things like this, It's responsibilty. I had to close up the Building where I work the other day....It was after dark, it's close to a bar, and there were a lot of people I didn't know there. I wasn't Scared, but I stayed aware of what everyone was doing and where I was.....I know most of us don't leave in big cities. Thanks to Books, Bones, Bricks and Bullets and his sister Olde_fashioned for the list.


Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a loved one's life.

Crucial because of recent abductions. In daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation...

This is for you, And for you to share with everyone you know. After reading these 9 crucial tips, forward them to someone you care about.

It never hurts to be careful In this crazy world we live in.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do :

The elbow is the strongest point on your body.


If you are close enough to use it, DO!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide.

If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse,

DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM.

Toss it away from you...

Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse.

THEN RUN LIKE MAD IN ANY OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.

This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.

(DON'T DO THIS!)

The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.

AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

If someone is in the car with a gun to your head

DO NOT DRIVE OFF.

Repeat:

DO NOT DRIVE OFF!

Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your air bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat, they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes, bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

5. A few notes about getting Into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

A.) Be aware:

Look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, in the back seat AND under the car.

B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

C.) Look at the car Parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side... If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you should walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY.

(And better paranoid than dead.)


6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone And the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic.

STOP.

It may get you raped, or killed.

Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS playe on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

9. Another Safety Point:

Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her, "Whatever you do, DO NOT Open the door." The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, "We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door." He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

10. Water scam!


If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps full ball so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.

Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors!

------------------

One thing that my mom taught me, that I would add to this list, is to carry your car or housekeys as a weapon while you're walking. Place a key between each finger and make a fist, so that it is "spiked" with keys, and if attacked this will make a punch much more painful than a bare woman's hand.


Second, a wishful post.... but I'll just post a link cause Life of a Dreamer says it so well.

My Thankful Thursday.....

Today I am thankful that God is Good.
So this evening during youth night, (I WAS paying attention, I promise) I was thinking of times that have been a trial to me, but I was also seeing certain things that happened within the larger circumstance that I believe was God's hand in it, protecting me or preparing me or strengthening me.....

I spent my 20th birthday in M_____ this year....Birthdays are special at my house, we all have a meal together, open presents together, watch a movie together...and I treasure those times. Well through different circumstances, for my last five birthdays or so, I haven't been able to have ALL of my family with me. Either they were in M_____ or across the ocean, or I was in Nebraska (Which is a special birthday in my memory :) ) So I'll admit it bothered me, that I couldn't seem to have the perfect birthday that I wanted...selfish of me..I know..Sorry :(

But do you know that my sister, Stephanie has Never had my 'perfect' birthday on her birthday? We're always at a convention so we celebrate just days or sometimes weeks later. One year we had to work hard just to make sure we had it in the same month (Did I mention her birthday's on the 4th?)

So this year..I had no family...and I was missing them and bummed out...but trying not to be. Morning of my birthday dawned bright and clear and I woke up to P____ and her cute baby boy singing happy birthday to me and giving me flowers. Special, huh? And then I walked to the A____'s and the girls gave me a present that my sister Jane sent me in the mail and gave me hugs...wished me happy birthday...Dad and Mom called me and wished me Happy Birthday....Katie, Stepi and Joe did the same....and then I got a bouquet of flowers from my peeps..well it took me all of those happy things to work through my glum and decided that,
First: It was my Birthday, Hurrah! I could be happy.
Second: I never got to celebrate with the M_____ people before! This was special!
Third: It was more than time to get out of my glum and make other people happy :)

So....thank you, God.... the A____'s and I had a wonderful, fun, happy birthday... I got to spend some special time with the girls...I guess the long and short of it, is that I have some really good memories of that morning of my 20th birthday...........
and then the ground dropped out from under my feet.
We were still eating lunch when my cell phone rang. I had been getting happy birthday calls all day so I answered with little trepidation (More on that later) and my Mom tells me that my great-grandma is gone...She's dead, just like that. She had had an appointment the day before and the doctors had said she was in the best of health. This grandma was barely ever ill. She was a spry young lady :) and in the last two years I had gotten to know her a little better, and I was looking forward to talking with her again. It was hard...really. I didn't want to think about it so I cleaned all the floors and bathroom I could find, then I went home and sobbed on the phone to Mom. I wanted to go home...but that didn't work out..so I stayed. I didn't get to say Good-bye. I went home the next weekend, and went to Grandma's house...and it was all messed up. They were boxing things up, throwing things out, cleaning out drawers. -STOP! This is Grandma's House! But at least then I could cry on Mom's shoulder...

Did you know that God even prepared me mentally for losing someone while I was in M_____?
I was preparing myself to spend two months away from my family....and thoughts about 'What would happen if I never saw them again?' spun in my head. Then after I was there, I had a dream, I was in the fields...My hands were dirty...and my cell phone rang...It was Dad..There was something wrong...But he won't tell me what it was till a friend he had called got to me....He didn't want me to be alone when he told me 'the news'...The implications was the my mom was hurt or gone....I was scared so bad I woke myself up crying....next day I was in the fields, the dream had bothered me so I stuck my cell phone is my pocket....I was weeding...my hands were dirty ...my cell phone rang....
....and I heard my beloved Mother's voice telling me "Hello, Pretty Girl!" She just wanted to hear my voice and tell me that she loved me.....

I have to think things through...look at them from every angle...God let me think about losing some one close to me for almost two months before it happened so I could deal with it. A phone call i think is the hardest way to learn something like that. I couldn't see my mother, and she couldn't give me a hug....
But Allie did though.. the rest of the day she kept hugging me and telling me she was sorry that I had lost my grandma. She was such a comfort :)

Today God was opening my eyes and showing me all the ways he had been preparing me to deal with the hard trial I had to go through that week. I thought spending a birthday away from family was bad. It seems so trivial now. Losing a Grandma is ten times worse. But even in that he encouraged me to have a good attitude in the morning and now I have happy memories to treasure of that day, not focus solely on the tragedy that happened.

So I guess I'm just happy tonight....God takes care of me and prepares me...The Lord giveth and the Lord Taketh away....Blessed be his name.
This was supposed to be a happy, encouraging post...I'm not sure quite how it's turned out

The Song that they sang at my Grandma's Funeral:
Come to Jesus By Chris Rice

Pop Quiz!!!

Can you match all the fifty Capitals with the right state???

CAPITALS:
St. Paul
Cheyenne
Jackson
Releigh
Columbus
Jefferson City
Lincoln
Bismark
Nashville
Richmond
Charleston
Columbia
Pierre
Madison
Hartford
Dover
Montgomery
Springfiled
Phoenix
Denver
Juneau
Augusta
Annapolis
Little Rock
Indianapolos
Santa Fe
Boise
Sacremento
Boston
Trenton
Tallahasse
Des Moines
Oklahoma City
Helena
Honolulu
Concord
Albany
Atlanta
Topeka
Austin
Carson City
Salem
Providence
Harrisburg
Frankfurt
Lansing
Salt Lake City
Olympia
Monteplier
Baton Rouge


STATES:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming


I'll post the answers in the first comment, so don't peek till you've tried...nd even if you don't get them all right, tell me how many you did.

I got 48 correct..... :)

NO GOOGLING/WIKEPEDIAING ALLOWED!!!!!

9-11

It's been 7 years.......

Seven years. So much has happened.

I'm not sure what to write, what to say, to honor this day...

But when you have a friend who is blessed with a writing ability.....

sometimes you have to rely on them.

September Eleventh

My back is Wack....

I was told that that would be a good title for this post :)

On Saturday, we had a busy, fun time at the Platteville Dairy Days, and to enjoy it to the most, Joe, Lyds and I did a several carnival rides...well let me clarify...I rode the same ride three times....
hey what can I say I was having fun with my siblings! :p
But in that fun process I managed to put my neck out of joint and strain the muscles in my lower back..I spent most of Sunday in a lot of pain. :(
It was finally feeling better yesterday...but I had a major headache. So I got a chiropractic appointment this morning...and now it's in pain again but I think it's the good kind.

Haveing someone crack your neck is not something I would classify as fun, but if it's the price I have to pay to have a fun time with my precious bro and sis, I'll take the bill.

On a different note, my first day on the job was yesterday....

There is ALOT to learn how to do......I was on overload most of the day till Barb told me that there was a cleaning list that if I could manage it, shoudl be done everyday. Cleaning? Now that's something I CAN do :)

...and now I'm going to finish cleaning my room.... :)

I'm Back.......With a boring bang...........maybe...

Remember me? Little bit on the short side, curly girl hair, usually has a nose in a book and doesn't mind cleaning the house.

Well...I'm a bit different now...I think. I'll leave it up to you whether or not I'm different.....

Let's see what's new with me:
Well First thing that popped into my head was I've been spelling my name a bit diferent and it seems as if every one is commenting on it so I thought I should explain it a bite here where everyone could see. Debbie--that's how I've always had my name shortened, but when I was little it bothered me that I had to use to b's in my name.. I thought one ''b'' would get the sound across, but just one "b" with the "ie" on the end looks odd...so I left it alone for years. Then...writing E-mails became a norm for me and dashing off fast replies to numerous sisters:) I typed my name once and hitting the keys quickly, I came up with Debi...and I liked it. So now, Ya'll can call me Debi :)

Oh and I got a job yesterday :) You're reading the blog of the newest recepionist at the Chamber of Commerce! Mom helped me get my resume together last week, I submited it on Thursday and I was hired on Tuesday. I think I will like my job. I'll be answering phones, oraganizing broucheres, and directing people around P------...I think I might need Rebecca to teach me some pointers on the last one :)

So here I am.....back home again..listening to Governor Palin's speech to the RNC....

so I'll just mindlessly sit here and fill out this fun quiz :)

Can you successfully blow up and tie a balloon?
You betcha!!

What was your last purchase?
Bobby pins for a wedding and contact solution for a sister

Does anyone like you?
I leave that for history to decide.....

Have you made anyone laugh while they were crying lately?
No one that I can think of lately....I can do it with Sarah...oh Chloe...I did it with Chloe over the weekend

Are you easily amused?
Tell me a joke and I'll see...

Do you sleep on your side, stomach, or back?
All of them.....

Have you ever liked somebody and never told them?
Who hasn't?

What did you do Saturday?
Cleaned house, talked with Friends.....it was a fun day.

Do you trust all of your friends?
I have a small circle of trusty friends...

Morning or night person?
At the Moment, I'm more of a night person...but I enjoy early morning

Are you taller than 5'5''?
I think I'm right on the dot with that one..right Shan?

Would you rather have love or money?
Love with Money wouldn't be a bad thing....Amy March anyone??

Do you have a best friend that knows you inside and out?
Yupe

Last person you watched movies with?
Dad, Mom, Sue, Lyds, and Joe... the last Foyle's War :(

Do you hide your emotions?
Who doesn't?

Do you prefer to take showers at night or in the morning?
Afternoon actually is what I prefer.

If you could either float on the moon, or snorkel in the ocean, which?
Snorkel!!! Think of all the pretty coral down there!!!

Do you think you'll be married in 5 years?
I can dream can't I?
I'm a realist and an incurable romantic all rolled into one :p

Third text in your inbox? from who?
three years ago from Lissa Lux :)

Have you been to New York City?
I've seen it from across the water...."Hello Ben. Welcome to New Jersey"

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Ummmm....Dad I think or a friend of Aunt Alice I can't remember for sure......

Do you need to say anything to anyone?
"I love you, Mommy." :) You can never tell her enough times.....

What were you doing at 7am?
Sleep.....sweet sleep

What do you think of your number 3 on your top friends?
I love everybody equally!!!!!!

Can you legally drink?
Not yet:) I'm a dino...but Not "over age."

When is the last time you saw your mom?
Five seconds ago when she went to bed...she gave me a kiss :)

Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
Bare feet all the way!!!

Have you ever been in an ambulance?
Yeah...at a fire safety day

Do you hold grudges?
I ain't People!

Do you sing obnoxiously in the car?
I think I sing obnoxiously EVERYWHERE....

When was the last time you had butterflies in your stomach?
When I had to turn my resume in...

Are you watching TV?
Yeah...Fox News' analysis of Palin's speech and now I'm going to bed!!!!


And GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!

I thought this summed up my feelings at the moment pretty well....

"To think that this is my twentieth birthday, and that I've left my teens behind me forever," said Anne, who was curled up on the hearth-rug with Rusty in her lap, to Aunt Jamesina who was reading in her pet chair.

"I suppose you feel kind of, sorry" said Aunt Jamesina. "The teens are such a nice part of life. I'm glad I've never gone out of them myself."

Anne laughed.

"You never will, Aunty. You'll be eighteen when you should be a hundred. Yes, I'm sorry, and a little dissatisfied as well. Miss Stacy told me long ago that by the time I was twenty my character would be formed, for good or evil. I don't feel that it's what it should be. It's full of flaws."

"So's everybody's," said Aunt Jamesina cheerfully. "Mine's cracked in a hundred places. Your Miss Stacy likely meant that when you are twenty your character would have got its permanent bent in one direction or 'tother, and would go on developing in that line. Don't worry over it, Anne. Do your duty by God and your neighbor and yourself, and have a good time. That's my philosophy and it's always worked pretty well.