What Does it Mean....

When someone takes you off their "My Daily Reads" list?

Is that considered a snub in the ol' Blogosphere??

Wow. This is kinda bizarre.... While it shouldn't at all, it kind of feels like when your first-grader comes home one day to tell you so-and-so has decided to be her best friend. And the next day she comes home to tell you that so-and-so no longer wants to be her friend.

I just wrote a short novel on my friend K-K's blog. She apparently offended someone with a post about her lack of interest in the election. I told her not to apologize. When you blog, it's kind of like letting people read your diary. You're putting yourself out there -- good and bad. If people don't like it, they don't have to read. And I really tried to encourage her.

And then I realized I'm no longer listed as one of the "daily reads" for one of my daily reads.

Since my blog has focused on two main things lately, I guess it could be either one.

1. I HAVE been a bit over-the-top on the 3-Day. And since I've been hyperactively blogging lately (a product of not being able to train), maybe that's it. Here's an update. Our team has raised over $63,000. We're within sight of doubling what we raised last year. But we still don't have a cure.

I'm not going to apologize for hammering away at breast cancer via my blog. ALL the time, I hear about young women my age or younger who are being diagnosed. Or I hear about their Moms who are being diagnosed.

And you know what? We're coming into the season that I've begun to realize will always be the most difficult for me. The season when any shopping trip inundates me with the sounds and sights and smells of Christmas. I was in Garden Ridge this week, and Santa has arrived. And as I take the steps that lead to this second Christmas without my Mom, I realize that it's going to slam me once again.

So no, I won't apologize for going on and on about the 3-Day. Because one thing that has helped me get through the last 14 months has been the fact that I am taking ACTION to stop this monster we call breast cancer. I'm working my butt off to make sure we raise enough money for everyone on our team to walk in the 3-Day. We have about 60 team members. When we all walk in November, and everyone on our team gets to experience the healing, the pride, the energy, the spirit of the 3-Day, then everyone on our team will share that with their friends and loved ones and this grassroots effort will grow into something even greater -- and rather than just taking steps toward a cure, we'll get there by leaps and bounds.

2. So the other topic I've been quite enamoured with lately has been this election we're in. AND boy, have I been enamoured with it. I've had CNN on all day today as I painted the upstairs. (I know! More painting!)

Ours is an interesting household. I won't say that Biggs is "for" Obama, but I can tell you he sees what much of America sees -- Obama is a likable guy. A great speaker. A charmer.

Abbie has made it clear that she'd vote for McCain if given the chance. Why? "McCain has more experience," she says. "That other guy only has a couple of years of experience. But McCain has a LOT of experience." When we asked her where she learned that, she said Mrs. Smith said so. Mrs. Smith is her switch teacher. Yea Mrs. Smith!!

Kaitlyn would vote for anyone who promised her ice cream on Fridays.

And then there's me.

This spring I got myself in some really hot water because I couldn't keep my mouth shut. It's a problem I've had before. Those emails were going around about Obama being a Muslim, and it kind of hacked me off. I was kind of spoiling for a fight, I guess. I thought if there was going to be a playing field, it should at least be one built on the truth. And while Obama's Christian beliefs and mine aren't exactly mirror images, I don't think it's fair to be telling everyone he's a Muslim.

So I got into some hot water over that -- a discussion that eventually questioned my own Christian beliefs and the way I was raising my family and all sorts of stuff. I was accused of being a Democrat (egads!), and it was implied that I wasn't a "real" Christian. As Biggs said, if I couldn't take the heat I should have stayed out of the kitchen. And I guess he was right.

The fact of the matter is, until last Friday I really couldn't get excited about anything in this election. I'm pretty sure the media is run by the devil. They foster lies and half-truths and try to make the pure as ugly as possible. They glorify sin and evil and corrupt natures. If you don't agree with me on that, pick up a copy of Us Magazine. And look, really look at what's in there. Think about the way you were raised and the things that you were brought up from an early age to believe were right and good.

Maybe your formative years were different than mine. But the stories portrayed in much of the mainstream media, the glorifying of Jamie Lynn and Britney Spears, the shots of women's panties or lack thereof -- that's not how we were raised. But that's what the media would have you believe the world behaves. And who does the media want to be President? Barack Obama. You'd have to be blind, deaf and living in a cave to not realize that.

That world that they promote isn't the world I want for my children. I won't stand for it. I won't have my children think that it's "cool" to follow the likes of Lindsay Lohan. I don't want them to grow up thinking that abortions are just something you "do" because it's easier than not.

So yes. I support McCain. Not so much because I think McCain is "one cool dude," but because Obama sure isn't. The America he wants to offer my children isn't the one I'm looking for. Do you really think he can do all that he's promising to do without taxing us more?? Think about it. All the plans and programs and feel-good things he's peddling are just like drugs -- quick high, then reality hits. Let's look at that.

Healthcare for everyone -- If the government can't run the post office, moving PAPER around, what makes you think they can manage your healthcare??? I mailed a package to Austin two weeks ago. It took TEN days to get there!! People, I could have WALKED it there sooner! A vote for Obama is a vote for the shambles of government-controlled healthcare. I refuse to put my children's future health at stake. There are two children in our school right now who are in remission from leukemia. The very fact that they are ALIVE right now is proof positive that we need direct access to impeccable healthcare. Take a look at the Socialist governments in our world and at the healthcare available to their people. I assure you there's a reason why people from all over the world fly here to go to MD Anderson.

Pulling out of Iraq -- We're WINNING! Why would we pull out now?? My cousins Gary, Robert and Jordan have been over there fighting so YOU would have the freedom to vote for whoever you want. In fact, Gary and Robert have both been to Iraq multiple times. They keep asking to go BACK -- not come home. They take pride in the job they're doing over there and know we need them to keep doing it.

Terrorism -- McCain makes me feel safe. Obama doesn't. I think Obama is too easily swayed. Look at how he handle the situation in Georgia. To some, that's a "minor" situation -- it's not over here. But if he can't figure out how to address a situation miles and miles away, what makes you think he's going to be able to address it in our own backyard?

The Economy -- I've posted about this before -- Maybe that's the reason I'm off "The List." I've laughed all week as the MEDIA and Obama complained that the Republicans haven't addressed the Economy. I see that as being one of two things. Either they were too dumb to figure out that the Republicans have addressed it continually, or they hoped you were too dumb to figure it out. EVERY time someone mentioned smaller government, lower taxes, energy -- any of those buzz words alone stand for improving the economy. ALL of them together mean HUGE improvement.

And then there's the addition of Sarah Palin. I like her. She's not afraid to call things as she sees them. And you know what?? Last night she AMAZED me. She had been hammered all week. LIES were told about her and her family. Her daughter was attacked in the media. Everything was ramped up -- and she got out there, knocked it out of the park, and showed that she's got strength beyond measure.

It's been asked a lot this week if she has the "experience" needed for this office. If she can handle what will come her way.

I'll tell you something, if she can handle that crap that the media has dished out for the last week, she can handle anything the rest of the world wants to throw at her. There can't be much worse in life than having your family attacked by the gossip mags and having your teenage daughter's pregnancy discussed at length by every commentator out there. Yesterday, they were accusing Palin of using her daughter and future son-in-law's presence to keep the conversation going. Excuse me? The MEDIA were the ones that were keeping the conversation going -- not Palin.

So yes, this thing around my blog have been a bit political lately, and I'm sure there's probably more to come. If that's the reason why I'm off "The List," then so be it. But this is my journal -- even if it's out there for all the world to see. And I have hope.

My "hope" isn't the same as Obama's. My hope is a prayer -- a prayer that people will come to their senses soon. That they'll see that as far back as Adam and Eve, Satan has tried to blind us with the shiny and seemingly perfect.

Now, don't go telling everyone that I said Obama is Satan. It's just that somewhere along the way, Satan has been able to convince people that the Bible they grew up with in Sunday School was "just a book." That sex outside marriage is fine as long as you "love" someone -- or even if you don't. (Newsflash: I'm not the only person I know who was a virgin when she got married. Believe or not, they do exist!) Living together before you get married is a great way to get to know each other. (Did you know when couples live together before they get married, 80% of those marriages end in divorce??) Abortion is okay if you don't have the time, resources, patience or space for a child in your life. Oh, and if you're a man who prefers men, go right ahead and do whatever it is homosexuals do -- never mind that it specifically states in the Bible that that's a sin. Remember, it's "just a book."

HELLO??????!!!!!!! Do we really think we can promote these ideas without passing them along to our children? Do you really want your 14-year-old daughter to lose her virginity in the gameroom at her boyfriend's house? Do you really want to have to hold her after she's had an abortion and try to help her get through that grief? The grief and pain and guilt of an abortion never go away. And for the rest of her life, she'll be hammered by that decision every four years when election season rolls around and abortion becomes the "hot topic," and it's all anyone at church or in the media or politics can talk about. Do you really want to have your son come home from college to tell you he's gay and is marrying his Poly-Sci professor??

Well, folks, if we promote these ideas and this "Shiny new world," those are the scenarios we're setting ourselves up for. If you vote for someone who's for abortion and same-sex marriage, you are voting for those to be possibilities for your children and grandchildren -- not just someone else's.

The way I see it, terrorism, socialistic healthcare, teenage abortions, gay marriage, turning away from the Bible this country was built on and all the rest are kind of like rabies and rattlesnakes. There are so many dangers in this world that we can't do anything about (like rattlesnakes). We've got to do something to stop the dangers that we can. For me, a vote for McCain / Palin is the vaccine we need.

And that is all I have to say about that.