The modern American Triumvirate and the fall of Democracy.

Triumvirate refers to the ruling of three. The First Triumvirate, according to some historians, was the rule of 3 Romans from 60 BC - 53 BC. The first Triumvirate was the beginning of a great power struggle that ultimately lead to Rome being taken from the people (their senate) and given over to the rule of dictators.

The First Triumvirate were not "elected" in the formal sense. It was an understanding between 3 comrades; Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Actually, it was Caesar who united Crassus and Pompei. Their alliance and rule was kept quiet for quite some time. They made their moves behind the scenes so that the senate suspected nothing. Eventually it came out. The triumvirate accomplished a lot for their own interests. They distributed lands how they saw fit and conquered other regions. It worked for a while and then problems arose. I'll spare the long history lesson only to say that eventually it failed. Pompei and Caesar began to struggle for power. Eventually Caesar crossed the Rubicon and took Rome driving Pompei away. And the rest as they say... is History. Eventually Caesar became emperor, they killed Caesar, Marc Antony ran wild etc etc etc.

Fast forward to today. Over the last several years the radical left has constructed their own take over. Reid, Pelosi, and Obama will take over. Taxes will go up, the boarders will weaken, and we will be thrust forward into a slow demise with their Marxist ideals. There will be a modern American Triumvirate. Things will be fine for a while. But what about 5, 10, and 20 years down the road.

When the triumvirate has stolen our money to "spread it around", destroyed marriage, legalized the killing of babies, and run us into trillion dollar deficit what will be left? What about when businesses are killed by invasive enforcement of abusive affirmative action laws? And mandatory universal health care... What will happen when illegals are allowed full access to health care at your expense? When the actions of our First Triumvirate have run us into the ground, what will happen? Will it give rise to our own form of modern dictatorship? Will the American citizens be so beaten that there will be no other answer?

Guess what libs, change is coming. Bush is over no matter what. Get off the change wagon and realize what the left congress has already done to us. On Nov. 4th you have a chance to save this country for the future. Even if you are a democrat, Obama is nuts! The man is not a patriot. He does not believe in the constitution. He thinks they left some $hit out. He wants to come along and just pencil some stuff in here and there. His crazy sound bites are on you tube. Check them out yourself.

And since my wife has reminded me that this is our "family blog" I have to mention that she is the greatest wife in the history of earth.

Thank you, Black Shirt Jesus

I had to post some pics of Mikey's Halloween photo shoot!  Our friends, Chuck & Becky, have a daughter whom Michael, jr is inevitably going to marry one day! We got this great idea to dress theme up together for Halloween. Becky has this amazing mother in law that can create anything by looking at a picture, so she offered to hand  make Michael's Mobster costume!

     I guess I had been too busy, but the day before our schedule photo shoot, I realized Michael needed a black button up shirt and a red tie to go with his costume. I had no idea where to even begin looking for something like that for a 2 yr old. I called the tux store, all too big. I called several dept stores and even looked on Ebay. I trekked down to the Quincenara store down by Sam Moon only to return with a red tie but still no shirt. Countdown is less than 18 hrs til the photo shoot. My only option left is to buy a white shirt and black dye. I am headed to buy the white shirt then to my mom's to have her help me dye it.  All day, every time I get in the car looking for this shirt I have been praying ,"Jesus, please help me find a shirt, or at least guide me to a solution for this problem".  My phone rings and it's my dad. He says "I am standing here in Burlington with a black button up shirt size 2T. " I immediately burst into tears and thanked him profusely. I began to think that I was silly for getting so upset about this shirt and praying for it to come my way. But then I realized that this is a prime example that there is no prayer to small or insignificant. So thank you dad and Black Shirt Jesus!

 

Thank you, Obama for granting me a license for complacency.

I have a job. It's a sales job and I'm good at it. I am a sales manager and I'm not bad at that either. Most people get into sales for the commissions and potential to make money based directly on your production and worth to an organization. Well... Obama, that skid mark in the underwear of America, will help to do away with good old fashioned hard work and dedication.

Here's the deal... If I am teetering between 225K/year in earnings and 250K/year, I'll probably pull back unless I know I can escalate to 700. That's right... you're screwed from 250-700. When the HUGE tax increase hits at 250 it just won't be worth it to "spread around the wealth". Now one might read this and think it's stupid to complain if someone is making such a decent living. It's all relative. Why should Skidmark, that's what I like to call him, take from me what I worked hard for and "spread it around". If you don't like your wage then do something about it but don't take mine!

It's kind of like holding a stock longer to avoid short term taxes. Investors will often hold shares longer and trade out a lower profit for tax reasons. No one wants to make a profit if it's too offset by a huge tax burden. For those of us with half a damn brain that are not leveraged to the gills, in an adjustable rate mortgage, and leasing cars we can't afford, we understand these basic economic principles.

So let's elect Obama. I can promise his plans will stifle productivity in small businesses across America.

This ain't no country club

Well, well, well. I have no idea where to begin describing how wonderful our weekend in Los Angeles ended up being. We flew out Thursday to stay with Michael's uncle, Artie. 

With a 2 hour time difference, Michael and I were pretty whooped and starving once we arrived. His uncle met us at the airport and drove us out to his house in Long Beach. I have never seen anything like it! His house is right on the water! Not on the water like you can go swim in the beach, but on the water like their yacht is in the 'backyard' which is actually a boatslip in the ocean. Crazy!

We woke up Friday morning to have coffee out on the backporch which over looks the ocean. How amazing and breathtaking was that? Oh, it gets better. Artie had to work so his Lady, Rachelle, took us for breakfast and a beach stroll down to Seal beach, just outside of Long Beach. What a quaint little town it happens to be.  Streets full of great little boutiques and restaurants. You don't even have to lock you car. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then a great stroll on the beach. It had been way too long since my toes hit the sand. 

Friday night was my first trip to Hollywood!!!! With as celebrity savvy as I am, I was praying to see some real celebs. Nope, didn't even get close. However, the highlight of my night and perhaps the whole trip was spotting Britney's Star on Hollywood Blvd!!!!  ***sigh

    Saturday was as super fun day filled with shopping at Loehman's, my new favorite store, a bike ride down the Pacific Coast Highway, a sunset ride on the yacht, and a 5 star, 7 course dinner at a great Italian place.  

 I had to post a pic of this rockin' dress I borrowed from Shannon!

     

 Sunday was a out last day and we made sure to pack as much in as possible. Being away from the gym for the 3rd day now, I went for a run along a canal in the crisp morning air. Then, we took a trip to a local farmer's market. Was this ever a treat!!! It seriously was like heaven to me; walking around outside, sampling tomatoes that taste like tomatoes, apples that are crisp and juicy, and even doing 'shots' of fancy olive oil.  This little trip was followed by a huge family brunch at a greasy spoon diner the family has been dining at for 30 years! We finished off our day with a little kayaking in the canal to finish up just in time to wash the salt water off and get on the plane.

What a wonderful weekend. I love going out of town with Michael. Even though this was not a 'romantic' vacation, I always end up feeling so much more "married" and close having experienced something new together. 

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

I LOVE fall.  I love the cool weather (well, not really cool in TX, but cooler), fall foods like apple and pumpkin, trading in my flip flops but boots, and spending time outdoors without melting! One tradition we have had every year since Michael, jr joined us is paying a visit to the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm in Celina.  While its only about 10 miles north of our house, it feel like we have stepped way outside the city limits. The pumpkin farm is a huge farm with farm animals to feed & pet, hay bail trailer rides, hot dogs, a REAL pumpkin patch, and plenty of great photo ops! The Caney trio spent Saturday afternoon on the farm!

There were several green John Deere tractors sitting around for the kids to play on which yall know Deuce had a fit over!!!

Mikey and I had a great time feeding the animals together. I don't know why I get so excited over stinkin' farm animals. I love letting the goats nibble out of my hand. Mikey just wanted to kiss them all! I'm not gonna lie, I did try to sneak a kiss from the cow!

It was such a nice relaxing day to spend together as a family! To stay with the whole farm theme for the day, we finished it off with a family dinner at Babe's Chicken Dinner house! MMMMMMMMM! Yumm!