A moment with

It Lives!

Where has the time gone?

Let’s see…since the last blog post I have:

1.                   Climbed a 500 foot high butte.

2.                   Climbed 3/4^th the way up a 9000 foot peak over 10-feet of snow in shorts and a polo shirt. It was 76-degrees outside.

3.                   Played a fair amount of poker.  I have cashed in 7 of the last 12 SNGs for a profit of $155. Cue doom switch.

4.                   Planned a 10^th Anniversary 3-Day Weekend Extravaganza, with the wife’s help, of course. In more certain economic times, that would be a week-long celebration, but we are just happy to be employed. Afterwards, the Oregon Coast will never be the same. Pictures to follow later.

5.                   Graduated Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class. We are using his principals for the rest of our lives.  We will not be slaves to credit card companies or banks in the future.

6.                   Applied to a City Planning Commission position.  It is a 2-year volunteer appointment by the mayor, and I am sure that I will get the seat. Thus my political career begins, if I so choose.

7.                   Volunteered for I <3 Sisters, in which we stained 750 feet of fence and painted 8 picnic tables in about 3 hours at a local park. That evening we saw a free concert (Eliott) that was really, really good. We all should volunteer more. Charity begins at home.

So now you are caught up on me.

Congrats to the BBT TOC winners, especially JJOK and CK. You both are excellent players that I know well.  Tear it up in your respective tourneys.

Love to all, EZ

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Rainbow Over Oregon

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Table for Charity

It’s a silent auction event.  If you are interested, email me.

Here’s what it looks like:

See the full gallery on posterous

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Thanks, Mom!

Mom,

Having a good mother is luck; pure luck. Each of is born into a random family, on a random continent, in any variety of financial and spiritual condition.

I was born into a family consisting of a young couple in their early twenties in Southern California.  My dad was hard working, and worked nights.  My mom, lucky for me, was a decent young woman who had decided long before birthing me to not raise her children in the manner in which she was raised.  Her children were going to be raised better, with love. With care.  Without alcoholism. Without abuse.  It wasn’t easy, I know. I was there.

So, I give thanks:

Thanks for teaching how to walk. It took a while, I’m sorry I was so lazy.

Thanks for always dressing me so nicely.  So nicely, in fact, that I have a shirt buying fetish that I fight until this day (worth it!).

Thanks for exuberantly celebrating all of the holidays.  It sure made being a kid fun.

Thanks for keeping me interested, and focused, during my school years.  Education is important; so we can find which God-given tools suit our lives best.

Thanks for keeping a firm hand when I wandered off-course.  As you know, the shaking of the drawer that housed the wooden spoon made me quiver in fear, but that was usually enough discipline in itself.

Thanks for driving me around on my first date. (Freshman Homecoming.) Yeah, that sounds like not so much fun to some of you, but at least she knew who I was hanging with.  And that my dates got home on time, and safely.

Thanks for buying me my first car.  Yeah, it was a $600 1969 Ford Fairlane, but it was MY $600 1969 Ford Fairlane.  I only got 1 ticket, a warning, in it. The first week.

Thanks for showing me the world.  How many places did we visit together?

Thanks for letting me fall on my face at times.

Thanks for everything else I did not mention.

Thanks for being the best mother in the world. My sisters and I appreciate it.  How lucky we are to have you.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

Love,

The Luckiest Son in the World

P.S. I did not eat the banana.

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Easy-Ass Scones

(In honor of my new favorite website: The Crepes of Wrath)

A scone is a small, light, biscuit-like quick bread made of oatmeal, wheat flour, barley meal, or the like. These are made from some floury substance that came in a box.

These scones don’t taste like ass, even if the name suggests it.  And they are so easy to make, even an asshat like Obama could make them and not screw them up.

Here are your ingredients!

That’s right! There are TWO (2) [or if you are Roman: II] whole ingredients!  A box of stuff and water.  Can you handle that Boy Genius?  (Boy Genius is a fictional character and bears no resemblance to my friend BG.)

The first step is to read the box.  Mix the two ingredients as it says on there. I don’t have time to explain it to you.  Then, the box will tell you how to place them on a cookie sheet.

Also, follow the cooking directions on the box.  When you are done you should have something that looks like this:

Serve with a glass of milk and maybe some butter, jelly, or bacon, and YUMMY!

Easy-Ass Scones

From directions on the box

1 box of scone mix

Some water

Follow the directions on the box.

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Bad Deal

Mom-in-law from Texas is in hospital with severe bleeding ulcers throughout her whole GI system.  She is (now) stable but will be in hospital until at least Sunday.

Please say a prayer to give her strength to heal, quit smoking, and fully recover.  Much appreciated.  I will keep you all posted.

(Yes, I did live in England for a while, so “in hospital” is acceptable in my book.)

Also, if anyone has any advice to help give her comfort from so far away, please leave a comment.

Thanks, friends.

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Politicians Are Dumb

Instapundit has a super example about how politicians are so out of touch.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Diane Lanning sends this report from California:

Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) hosted “Congress at your Corner” from 9:30 to 10:30 this morning. The meetings are “part of McNerney’s effort to reach out to and hear from citizens in the 11th District.” I have never gone to anything like this before, but decided to go to express my displeasure about the stimulus package. Keep in mind that this is NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. The meeting was held in a local bagel cafe, and I was happy to see that the place was packed with probably about 50-75 people. The vast majority of them were extremely angry about the stimulus package. It started out with him taking questions from the crowd, but then they started a line for people to talk to him privately because things were getting “out of control”. Several people then asked if he would consider having a town hall style meeting with microphones, etc. We’ll see if that happens. I’m not betting on it.

During the first part, several people asked if he had read the stimulus package. At first he tried to ignore them, but eventually admitted he hadn’t. (No surprise there.)

Several people came with signs similar to what you see at the protest rallies.

When he started talking to people individually, he obviously did not want anyone else to hear. That did not go over well with the crowd. They were there to find out what he thought, and he wasn’t allowing that to happen.

When I got my time with him, I explained to him that even people who make $150k in Northern Cal. are not “rich” and should not be taxed as if they were. (A 1400 sq ft, 40 year old home here goes for over half a million, even after the housing slump. Then you add in real estate taxes, state income taxes, 10% sales tax, gas prices, utility costs, etc.) I also expressed my concern that about half the people in the country now pay no income taxes, so there is overwhelming incentive for them to keep voting for democrats and therefore higher taxes for the rest of us. He told me that he thought tax rates should go up for the very rich and that the top marginal tax rate should be 90%. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I asked in a voice that many in the room could hear if he really meant 90%, and he said yes. Several people asked me after my turn was over if they heard correctly what he said, and were amazed when I said yes.

I also asked how a congress that was very critical of republican ethics and vowed “change” could justify letting Rangel, Dodd, and Murtha keep their committee chairmanships with their obvious ethical issues. His response was that Republican’s ethics were worse because of their “unjustified aggressive war”.

This is just my small example of the anger and frustration of people in liberal Northern California.

 

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That Girl is HOME Safe and Sound

Don’t know how, don’t know why, but Praise God!

 

http://lifesabluff.com/2009/04/16/she-is-home-safe-and-sound/

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**URGENT** Missing Girl in Arapahoe County, Colorado

This is the kind of thing that breaks your heart.  Everyone please say a prayer for this girl and her family.

If you live in or around Arapahoe County, Colorado, please read this post by Frank Frisna about his 14-year old missing niece.

April 15th, 2009 My 14yr old niece is missing...

I was really hoping I would never have to write this here...

My niece Jennifer has been missing since Saturday night. She left here at 3pm to go to a friend's house and was to be home by 8. None of her friends have talked to her since 7pm that night and there is no sign that she ran away. No clothes... no cell phone charger... nothing to suggest that she had any intention of being away that long. She has never been more than an hour or so late and this is beyond her character. There was no trouble here and she was in a good mood when she left.

It took us a few days to get the police to take this seriously since the responding officer on Saturday night had her pigeon holed as a runaway from the start. Thanks to that moron we have lost precious time. Now we have the Colorado Bureau of Investigations involved and they are trying to get phone records quicker than I seem to be able to get them. We would have had them already but CBI needed the Arapahoe County Sheriff to upgrade from runaway to missing. The next step is to get her picture on the local news stations.

I cannot describe the torment we are all going through. My worst nightmare has come true... The idea of seeing her picture on the news is something I don't think I could ever be prepared for. I am going to want to include a reward for any information leading to her safe return. If she is hiding out... it is going to be hard for some 14-15 yr old friend of hers to keep quiet should there be money involved. I have $500 that I can start it with… Thanks to my ongoing medical bills, it is every penny I have to my name right now. If anyone would like to donate the cause, please send via paypal to frankybones@comcast.net - (* should no reward be issued…. monies will be returned.) If I get some of this other cash I waiting on, it will be added.

I have never needed the help of our readers more than now. Please take her pictures and info posted here and send out to your social networks.

For those of you who know me... know these kids are my life. I am the legal guardian of both my niece and nephew. I consider them my children and have dedicated my life to their happiness. I have always been there to make sure they had a father figure and someone to count on. I am living pure hell and each day that passes is killing my soul. I have been through too much to be burdened with more heartache. This has gotta be resolved soon… I would give my life to bring her home.

One thing that is getting harder to do is handle all the phone calls from concerned friends and family…. The constant updates are wearing me down so I will be posting here any major updates we have. You can also follow my twitter account.

That’s all I have for right now...

Jennifer… if you are reading this… I love you more than you will ever know and you are my best friend in the world… nobody is mad at you... mom is here too.. come home...

- Frank Frisina

Please spread the word about Frank's missing niece. Contact him at frankybones@comcast.net with any information.

Feel free to cut and paste this entire post into your blogs. I encourage you to spread the word. Thank you.

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God Bless Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey Update

 

His motto: If you live like no one else, later you can LIVE like no one else! ™

 

(WARNING: Only boring, boring, personal-type blogging – no poker content, sorry!)

 

Prior to the start of the month, the wife and I created a zero-balance monthly budget.  Well, with me being the geek, and her the free-spirit, I created the budget and she agreed that I did an OK job.

 

To start, we made “line items” for our “four walls”. First, we set aside money for giving to church and saving. Secondly we set aside cash for groceries.  Then set a budget items for the house payment and utilities. And lastly, transportation costs.  After those essential four wall items, we budgeted out exactly how much money was left to pay off our debt.  After calculating our monthly income, then factoring in exactly how much and where our spending was going to go (to the last dollar), we forced it balance out to zero.  No more Netflix or magazines!  Goodbye house phone and HD channels!

 

The cash set aside for groceries, toiletries, gasoline, and the like was withdrawn from the bank via a cashed check at the same time the 1^st of the month paychecks were deposited.  This ensures that we will not need to use our debit cards for any reason (except emergencies).  To spend the cash wisely, and within the budget, we are using an envelope system provided by Dave Ramsey through the course.  An envelope system is nothing new; your grandparents (and possibly your parents) may have used it as a system back in the day.

 

We created 12 envelopes to start; each with a different category of cash expenditure or long term saving. Here is a list of each of our envelope expenditures and how much we are allotted for the month of April.

 

*Grocery	$280
*Eating Out	$50
*Gas & Oil	$75
*Clothing Replacement	$20
*Cleaning/Laundry	$24
*Toiletries/Cosmetics	$50
*Pet Care	$50
*Hair Care	$25
*Entertainment/Blow Money	$40
*Prescriptions	$24
*Repairs/Tires	$0
*Vacation	$0

 

As you can see by how little we are spending in each category that the money is tight.  Now, we don’t have any kids, so the groceries go much further than you would think. Of course, eating all of the leftover instead of letting them spoil is key.

 

Unfortunately, we aren’t saving for car repairs/tires or vacation.  We need to reduce or eliminate our debt first.  No worries, though: remember, Baby Step #1?  We have money set aside for emergencies!

 

Anyway, that’s our spending system.  If anyone wants to know more, please email me. Next post, I’ll show you how we are saving money during grocery shopping.  It is a lot of work counting every dollar, but it’s just what we need to do to become debt free. (Too bad the government doesn’t do that, huh?)

 

Thanks for reading.

 

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