Eat less meat

Global warming (free clip art)
Global warming (free clip art)
A UN scientist said that we should eat less meat to tackle global warming. HUH? The report stated, and I quote:

Pachuari said that “the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions,” when explaining the reasons behind his comment. “So I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider.”

Then the story goes on to say:

The National Farmers Union said that people should find ways of environmental farming instead of giving up meat. “The NFU is committed to ensuring farming is part of the solution to climate change, rather than being part of the problem,” said a spokesperson for the organization. “We strongly support research aimed at reducing methane emissions from livestock farming by, for example, changing diets and using anaerobic digestion.”

Now I’ve been around cows a time or two and  I know they ’emit methane gas’ quite often. So what is he saying, that if you eat less meat, there will be less cows to emit this gas or the processing of the cows is what emits methane gas? I’m just a bit confused. I guess next they’ll suggest we don’t eat so many beans and broccoli so we won’t emit so much gas either? Am I looking at that wrong or what?

Meeting Charlie for pizza

Pizza Hut (free clip art)
Pizza Hut (free clip art)

Charlie had invited the kids and I to Pizza Hut for dinner tonight. At first I wasn’t sure but since I did check him out pretty good, I thought we might enjoy a night out so I accepted his invitation. I have talked to him a couple times over the past couple of weeks and so far, he seems harmless. I just hope it stays that way.

He says he has a surprise for the kids. I have no idea what to expect but I’m not going to accept much from him until I’m sure he’s just what he seems to be and that’s a nice older man looking to share a moment or two with kids to help make his life fuller since he’s all alone. I feel sorry for anyone that is alone because I know how that feels.

Well I checked him out

I found a web site that tells you if there is a child molester in what ever radius you choose. There was no Charlie Benson listed which was a relief to me. I even looked up the number he gave me and it is registered to a Charles Benson so I think he’s okay so far.

Then I found a web site that lets you check criminal records. Again, no Charlie Benson. This seems so far to be just a nice older man who is lonely and wants a family to love. I’m going to take it slow and easy and see if I can learn more so I can really make sure my kids are safe with him. You just can’t be too careful these days with yourself and especially your children.

Time to find a pumpkin

jack-o-lantern (free clip art)
jack-o-lantern (free clip art)
Today the kids and I went to a local pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin to make a Jack-o- lantern from.  We found it and the darn thing cost $25 dollars. Needless to say, I couldn’t afford it. As we were walking away with one screaming and crying “I want THAT pumpkin” and the other two with long faces, a kind older man heard what was going on.

As I was getting everyone in the car, someone tapped me on my shoulder. It was the gentleman that had been near enough us to hear the children cry and me say “I just can’t afford $25 for a pumpkin.”  There he stood with that pumpkin in his hands saying “Here, this pumpkin really needed to go home with your kids. It was crying when you left it so I had to get it for the kids so they all could be happy.” My children started hooting and hollering and each one gave the kind man a big hug and said thank you.

There I stood with tears in my eyes. This kind soul was my guardian angel at that moment and I could plainly see it in his eyes. I gave him a hug and told him that he had no idea how much I appreciated his selfless kindness. He told me his name was Charlie Benson, gave me his phone number and told me that if I needed anything to help with the children for Christmas, to please let him know. He didn’t have any family to spoil and would love to adopt my children as his grandchildren if that was okay. He then asked if he could call from time to time to just speak with them and hear how their day or week had been.

I’m a bit nervous about giving him my number and I hate to say it but I will check him out before I allow him to be much of a part of my children’s lives. You can’t be too careful in this day in time but my heart tells me he is what he appears to be, just a kind old man with no one who wants to help. I sure hope so because my children would love to have a ‘Grandpa’ to spoil them all.

I just had to share a laugh with you!!

Granny is eighty-eight years old and still drives her own car. She writes:

Dear Grand-daughter,

The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a ‘Honk if you love Jesus’ bumper sticker. I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting. So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper.

Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed. I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn’t notice that the light had changed.  It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn’t honked, I’d never have noticed. I found that lots of people love Jesus! While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, ‘For the love of God! Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!’ What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!

Everyone started honking! I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people. I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love! There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach.

I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air. I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant. He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something. Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii, so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back. My grandson burst out laughing. Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!! A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed. So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection.

I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that. I had to leave them after all the love we had shared. So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!!
Will write again soon,
Love,
Granny

I need new faucets

This is a great house but some of the faucets need to be replaced. I have always known that Delta faucets are the best so why would I settle for anything else? After all, I don’t want to have to replace them again anytime soon and with them, I won’t have to. They have a good selection for kitchens and bathrooms.  I may as well just see which faucets aren’t Delta and replace them while I’m at it.

I have always wanted a pretty smile

smile (free clip art)
smile (free clip art)
Your smile is one thing that people see first and can help or hurt your first impression. My smile is awful and that’s why I am seriously thinking about porcelain veneers. I have relatives that live near the place that does them, so it would be easy for me to go visit when the children have time off from school and come back with a beautiful smile. I wish I had known about this before school started back.

Online college

Most online colleges are good schools but I found how to get Online master degrees from one of the top ranked private colleges in the country. Yes a lot of the top colleges are afraid that attending classes online will not give their students a proper education but just the opposite is true.

One things for sure, if Kiplingers Personal Finance ranks Gonzaga University a best value among private universities, then it has to be a great college. I’m going to do a lot more checking into what they have to offer. A good education is something no one can ever take from you.

Ever had one of THOSE days

You know what I mean, one of those days when you can’t do anything right or one of those days when everything you touch turned to crap or everything you said came out wrong? Well that’s what my whole week has been. I’m to the point where I just want to climb in my bed, pull the covers over my head and stay there until this week is over but that won’t help.

I guess all I need to do is take a deep breath, put duct tape over my mouth and put mittens on my hands so I can’t touch anything or speak. I wonder if anyone would notice? Probably and then I’d mess up even more but I bet I’d get a few laughs too. With that in mind, I might give it a try. Just kidding.

Help your local animal shelter

This time of year there are always a lot of kittens and puppies at the shelter, but there are also a lot of adult cats and dogs being surrendered by owners and many are abandoned or dropped off because of the economy. People are being evicted and having their homes foreclosed and have no way to take care of the pets any more.

This really bothers me – I just don’t see how anyone in good conscience can abandon a pet. What kind of person leaves an animal locked in an empty house and drives off? What kind of person can drive down a road and just toss kittens out of the window into a stranger’s driveway? People who do that and people who beat their dogs or otherwise abuse their animals should be arrested and put into jail.

If you have a shelter in your community, next time you have the urge to take on a pet, I hope you will go to the shelter and adopt an animal from the shelter. And if you have anything you can donate to the shelter, here’s a list of desired items that can be dropped off and will be put into good use:

  • Clean, old newspapers to be used for litter and lining cages
  • Toilet seat covers (cats love to lie on them in their cages)
  • Any type of cat or dog toy (plastic or washable)
  • Old bath towels and blankets
  • Canned cat food, any brand
  • Bagged, dry dog food (particularly desired is Science Diet but other brands accepted)
  • Laundry soap
  • Bleach
  • Heavy ceramic food and water bowls
  • Antibacterial hand soap
  • Candles – citrus or spice
  • Paper towels

Shelters also need volunteers to come and walk dogs and play with the animals for short periods to give them exercise and socialization skills. If you have a good heart, please help the animals in your local shelter.