Okay I understand funding troops and the insane amount of money that it costs to keep two million people protecting America around the world. (I spent twenty years in the Navy working on airplanes). There is a lot of sacrifice that goes into keeping America and her allies free and safe. There is also a lot of stupidity that goes into the money being funded to the military and it’s suppliers. In theory our congress is suppose to have over site and be able to spot waste but it seems that waste is only bad when the money is funneled to someone else’s district. So now the same people that watched over the collapse of the mortgage market are going to figure out someway to cut the waste from the federal budget so we can give health care to about half of the people who need it? Since I make less than $250,000 a year I am not going to have to help pay for this. I have a very hard time believing that! I don’t listen to the Rush Limbaugh show but my local radio news I listen to on the way to work plays a short recording of his. This one has been repeated several times and it makes one think. It seems that when women have to

 I flopped down on my couch.  One phone call from that woman and the merits of my mental health day disappeared.  Tears welled up in my eyes.  I do need to find an apartment in town that will take Simon and my pottery wheel and kiln and the rest of my equipment.  Pottery is my therapy.  The thought of storing my equipment in a place without easy access is unthinkable.  I opened my laptop and looked through an online rental site for places with garages.  Just then Simon jumped up onto the sofa seat and knocked my purse over.  Meghan’s card fell out. Blooming Bud isn’t that far from town; it’s actually closer than my house.  I could easily commute from there.  I could spend my off time with like minded people, especially Paul.  “The question is, can I afford the studio / apartment?  I picked up the phone and dialed. “Meghan Presley.” “Hi, Meghan this is Ember Burns.  We met earlier today.” “Of course Ember.  It is so nice to hear from you.  Is everything alright?” “Well, when I was in the village today and I saw a pottery studio next to the Glassworks.  I was wondering who I needed to talk to about renting it.” “Actually, I can give you the particulars of that unit.  It totals 2000

I sat down at a table in the gallery and read over the contract.  It appeared in order so I signed it.  Meghan made me a copy and then hurried off to the printer.  Meanwhile, Paul showed me around Blooming Bud.  The community hugged the bank of a small stream and the walkway jutted out over the cliff in several places.  Most of the stores were taken by artists of various disciplines.  At the end of the row of shops, right next to the Glassworks sat an empty pottery studio.  A small courtyard lay next to it; a perfect place to put my kiln.  The shop’s view looked out over the creek and the meadow.  I imagined my equipment back behind the protecting rail and my handiwork lining the shelves. But even the best fantasy has to come to an end.  When I arrived home later that day, I was greeted by my orange tom cat, Simon and the answering machine flashing five messages.  As a person who believes in putting the most important things first, I went into the kitchen and opened a can of Tuna Surprise, Simon’s favorite food.  He curled around my arm and purred as I dumped the wet, smelly meat into his bowl. “You know Simon, I had the most amazing experience today.  I didn’t

.. I grew up in the Mid-West and we rarely had sweet tea at restaurants. Usually you got tea with a slice of lemon and you added your sugar if you wanted it. Most of the time, if the tea was good quality you didn’t need sweetener. Well about a decade ago the Navy transferred me to Florida. Most restaurants here assume you want sweet tea. Even if you order unsweet you have to be careful that the waiters don’t mix in sweet tea when they give you a refill. This actually sparked an idea for me. The mixed sweet and unsweet was about right. So I set out to find the recipe to make sweet tea. Now if you are from the south this is a no duh recipe but for those of us from other parts of the world it is a mystery how you get the sugar to not sink to the bottom after stirring! The secret is: Mix a half-ton of confectionary sugar to one pitcher of fresh brewed tea! Okay I am over exaggerating the amount of sugar just a bit but that’s what normal sweet tea tastes like to me. I then started to try to figure out how to make this healthier. I am not anti-sugar but I know to much of anything