There is an outbreak of salmonella poisoning that the Feds are blaming on tomatoes. I never realized that you could get salmonella poisoning from tomatoes. I would have thought that their skin protected the insides from any kind of bacteria and that everyone washes them thoroughly before cooking or cutting into them for slicing or making wedges for salads. So where is this salmonella manifesting itself? Why would so many of these tomatoes be infected that the FDA has to put a ban on them country-wide? I find this whole situation very confusing and disheartening. Imagine all the farmers that have their money tied up in crops that have been quarantined and left to rot. Imagine all the produce stands, local markets and grocery stores losing all this money from not being able to sell a staple in the American diet.

There’s nothing worse than staring at a blank piece of paper or a blank Dreamweaver screen for an hour and getting nothing done. I hate a blank anything. I need at least one little line, one little splash of color, SOMETHING to get the juices flowing.

Time to walk the dogs. Maybe 20 minutes outdoors with them will break the log jam loose.

Well today is Fathers Day.  How many kids are lucky enough to even know where their father is much less be able to give him a proper card?  I raised my three older sons mostly on my own.  One year my second son found a Fathers Day card for a Mother.  So yeah, I got a Fathers Day card.  I haven’t seen one since, why?  There are more single mothers raising their children than there are the two parents that produced that child to begin with.  There also needs to be more Step-Father Fathers Day cards.  You can find those but they are hard to find too.  How about ‘You were like a Father to me’ Fathers Day cards?  Come on Hallmark and all the other card companies…………wake up and smell the coffee.  You’re missing out on a lot of potential money on cards like these.

Why do people always cringe when they hear it’s Friday the 13th?  I always have the best luck ever on those days.  I guess maybe I’m strange like that but 13 has always been a lucky number for me.  I found out some really cool stuff about the Friday the 13th myth at http://www.crystalinks.com/friday13th.html.  Check it out if you’re one of those strange people that fear that day.  It just might help you over your fear

Is it as dry where you are as it is here?  It’s absolutely awful here.  The grass is brown AGAIN already.  I really thought it was going to be better this year because the spring started out wetter than normal and just as quickly as it came, it was gone.  I have a friend that lives in North Carolina not too far from Charlotte.  They asked everyone to conserve water.  The good people of Charlotte North Carolina stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.  They went well under what the city had asked them to and to reward them for all the good work they did saving water, they raised their water bills.  SAY WHAT?  Check it out for yourself at http://www.wsoctv.com/news/15828676/detail.html.  Totally unbelieveable.  The rate hike went into affect in May. 

Water Rate Hike Now In Effect

Man where did this year go already?  I can’t believe it’s almost time for school to be out.  My kid goes to a middle school that requires them to wear uniforms.  Not like the Catholic School type uniform.  They wear a polo type shirt tucked in (dark or medium green for 6th grade, dark or medium blue for 7th grade and red or burgundy for 8th grade) with khaki or black pants or finger tip length shorts.  Girls can wear capri’s or skirts too.  I grew up in the generation that fought like a dog just to get to wear pants to school and then it was only under our dresses IF you walked to school but then you had to take them off when you got there.  It took us a long time to get to wear our blue jeans to school.  Part of me still wants to fight the ‘uniform’ thing but the one thing I like about it is all the kids are equal at school.  No one has any better than the other does so there’s less looking down your nose at the kid that can’t afford the nicer clothes.  That I think is great. 

I love a three day weekend but Tuesday sure is a hard day to go back to work on after one, ya know?  Memorial Day should be Memorial Week!!  After all, it’s supposed to be a day to remember those that have died for us.  There should be one day for those that are still considered MIA, a day each for those who died in each war and with all that considered, it should be Memorial Week.  If George stays in much longer, it could turn into Memorial Month.  Let’s just hope and pray that next year there aren’t as many to remember through this year as there have been last year. 

The American Red Cross was founded this day in 1881.  I didn’t realize they had been around that long.  They are like any other orginization and have had their faults but all in all, they do really good work.  They are not only there to help Americans in a crisis, but also have international services too.  There is no perfect orginization as all are run by human beings (some I’m not so sure are human at all) but to all the people that donate their time and efforts to help others unselfishly, I tip my hat.

Tomorrow is Armed Forces Day.  I didn’t know President Harry Truman led the effort to get this day established.  I’m glad he did.  I don’t think people thank soldier or veterans enough.  They are the sole reason our country is free.  They are the sole reason our country is protected (as much as it can be anyway).  They make so many personal sacrifices for us, as do their families, and yet we don’t do enough to thank them.  You just try and live off of what they get paid.  Sure they can go on base and shop cheaper than Wal-Mart but still, they aren’t making as much as they would in a regular job doing the same job sometimes but without the threat of being killed most of the time.  Sure if they are a cop it’s similar.  I was a military wife and I know how hard it is to survive on a soldiers pay.  So we owe them our thanks at least if nothing else, but I think they deserve much more.

This is my day.  Not my husbands, not my kids, but MY Day.  No I do not expect a present from my husband, I’m not his mother.  I think he should go see his mother and leave me to visit with my kids.  Now if he wants to get me a card, that’s fine but I’m not one of those mothers that expects him to get me a present.  Besides, I’m not the mother of his child.  He’s not the father of my children.  So when it’s like that, he owes me nothing on this day.  Now any other day, heck yeah he better get me a present!!  He’s a sweetheart and takes my 12 year old shopping to buy me something so in a way, he does get me something and that’s a proud smile from my 12 year old as he hands me the present my husband bought for him to give me.  I also think that Hallmark and all those other card companies are missing the opprotuntiy to make some big bucks by not making ‘Happy Mothers Day’ cards for a single Daddy that’s raising his kids because he’s gotta pull double duty just like a single mother does.  What do you think about that?