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Monday, October 24, 2011

Amazing Grace.

My youngest son plays Jr Rams Football for Holt.  His last game was Saturday (Oct 21).  His team played against the St. Johns Jr. Redwings.  Friends of ours and the Jr. Rams have organized a pop can drive for us and have had a trailer at every Jr. Rams game so that people drop off pop cans.  On the side of the trailer there's a sign that talks about why they are doing it.  Something like: "Pop can drive for Coach Brinkerhuff, he's been diagnosed w/ an inoperable brain cancer, please help even 1 pop can".  I think it might say more than that, but I didn't get a good look at it.  It sits by the entrance to the playing field so all can see it on they're way to the  stands.   Apparently the St. Johns team saw it, and unbeknownst to us took a collection up from all the fans/parents on their side of the field that day.  Towards the end of the fourth quarter the announcer said, "Folks, please stay seated after the game for a special presentation".  We had no idea what was going on, so we did. After the teams all slapped high fives, they gathered in the middle of the field and took a knee all facing each other and the St. Johns team presented my husband w/ $270 they had collected from their fans.  How amazing is that?  Thank you, you have no idea how much it helps.


Then after the game our team had a little presentation all their own, they had collected money, I'm not sure if it was just from our team families or all the Jr. Rams teams, they presented my husband w/ a beautiful framed pic of the team w/ all the kids signatures, various gift cards to restaurants and grocery stores.  Hugs and encouragement.  What a great family, Thank you Jr. Rams football.

Thank you also to our great friends who, at a BBQ a few weeks ago presented us w/ a generous $275 Meijer gift card from our little group the Garage Crew.

Money has been really tight, all these things are a huge blessing, thank you so much, we are so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

My husband is a flaming idiot



This is what the weather was also like, last night from 6:00 to 8:00, the time when my son and his football team were practicing.  Except it was raining harder than it is now.  Who is the coach you ask?  Oh yeah, that would be my husband.  Idiot!  My son came home freezing of course, so I immediately put him in the bath, he said 5 boys including him were crying because they were so cold.  He said his hands were stinging every time he put them in the water, that spells frostbite, I wonder how many of those boys were in the beginning of hypothermia, probably all of them.   I feel bad because I let my son go.  I should have made him stay home, but my stupid husband has some wild hair up his ass about the kids practicing no matter what the weather.  Yeah ok, I get it for High School or college, but not for 4th and 5th graders.  I'll be surprised if any of these kids want to play football next year, they sure as hell won't want to be on my husband's team.  I'm going to complain to the league, since my idiot husband won't listen to reason.  He shouldn't be out there either, he has brain cancer for Christ's sake!  Men are so damn dumb, my son won't be practicing tonight come hell or high water.






Rain ShowerTodayTonightTomorrow
Rain / WindShowers / Wind
Rain ShowerRain / WindShowers / WindPartly Cloudy44°F46°40°53°Feels Like: 36°
HighLowHighPast 24-hr:
Precip: 0.96 in (est.)
Snow: 0 inChance of Rain:
80%Chance of Rain:
50%Chance of Rain:
20%Wind:
From NNE at 16mph gusting to 23mphWind:
NNW at 22 mphWind:
NW at 21 mphWind:
WNW at 12 mphThrough 11am: Rain, becoming more intermittent around 7am. Cloudy and windy. Temperatures steady near the low 40s. Winds N at 20 to 25 mph.
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Monday, October 17, 2011

Why is it?

Why is it that most of us hardworking Americans are left in the dust?   Why can we not catch a break?  Just when we think we got a leg up, something happens and knocks us back down.  I was chatting w/ a friends this morning after dropping off all my kids to school.  She was telling me how she had to replace a window in her house this weekend because the glass just basically fell out of it, of course she had to go spend money she didn't have.
 I've taken the Dave Ramsey class I know what we SHOULD do, but how can we do that when the money we make while BOTH of us are working is not enough, we can't even keep up "the four walls". How the hell can we save up an emergency fund?  There are no breaks.  There's no breaks for the 'average' blue collar American.  We make too much money to get help(yeah right) but we don't make enough to make ends meet.  Then something comes along, a car breaks down, a household appliance breaks, or in our case someone is diagnosed w/ cancer and it's catastrophic.  We don't own credit cards, we haven't for over 7 years, we don't have credit card debt, we have medical debt.  Guess what else? We actually HAVE medical insurance it just sucks, it's the WORST coverage I've EVER had, if there was any other option I'd be LONG gone, but there's not.

  So here we sit, in a rental house that's too small for our family size, w/ two junk cars(one of which is currently not running at all) that constantly have issues BUT their paid for, and no end in sight.  It's not a sob story, it's my life, and a life that's shared by MILLIONS of Americans while the rich get richer, we get poorer.  Prices of everything are going up, food, gas, utilities, but guess what, incomes are going DOWN.  Then I have to hear on the news in the morning how  big gas companies are raking in billions of dollars in profits, or go to the store and watch as someone steps out of a nice new vehicle w/ designer clothes on herself and all of her children and then pays for her groceries w/ a Bridge card(welfare).  What the hell?  How does she qualify?  She lied.  She lied and continues to lie, so because I have higher morals than that, my kids and I suffer.  I don't plan on living like this forever, I'll find a way, THIS is ridiculous!

Is this what "the Great Depression" was like?  It was worse I know it was, I remember history class, reading about it, watching movies.  Is this the equivalent for our time?  I don't know, and all my grandparents are dead so there's no one for me to ask.  I just know that if you believe it's only a recession, they will try and sell you swamp land in Arizona next.  The lies continue...