There are 7 Deadly Sins: Self-Destruction by Lying Dormant– “Sloth”

The definition of “sloth” may be very similar to the animal with the same name, excruciatingly slow, as if nothing in the world is more important than its own wants and needs.  And in the society people enjoy living in, who can afford laziness?

They say for every Yin there’s a Yang, for every first place there’s a last place, but is this always true?  Yes, it is. 

A man by the name of Brooks Douglass is proving its truth next month, as a matter of fact.  He is revealing a story beyond his wildest dreams; the story of his life, his sister’s life and witnessing the deaths of their parents by two men.  Some may consider this sin murderous, which it undeniably is, but the wrecking ball which caused multiple murders was “sloth.”

Two men performing physical labor decided they’d had enough and quit their jobs.  But they hadn’t had enough of the money their jobs provided, they just didn’t feel the need to work for it, so they set about getting it the easy way–the lazy way. 

In Heaven’s Rain which begins in theaters next month, Brook Douglass shares the excruciating mental and emotional pain he and his sister, age 12, endured.  She was raped multiple times and the family of four were shot and left for dead, but the siblings managed to survive.  Not only do these two rebel against the Deadly Sin of indolence, but rebuke it. Leslie, the daughter, by becoming a Vice Principal of a school and Brooks, who was sixteen at the time of the incident, becoming the youngest Oklahoma Senator.  He served for three years–just long enough to create and get a bill passed entitled “Victim’s Rights.” 

While he served in office, no one could possibly argue as no one in the senate, at the time, has had his first-hand experience.  Keith Morrison, from Dateline conducts the powerful interview which should be seen.

A simplified version, for those not intending to be formally educated, can be found in the story of The Three Little Pigs, by Christopher Walken.  This story brings across the same principals; in the end the antagonist is done for by his nemesis, Ambition.

QR Code? What does that do for me?

Technology is spinning its wheels faster and faster, picking up speed each and every day.  One of the newest genius inventions, since the computer, is a computer-generated code the Quick Response Code or QR Code for short.  If you have a smartphone or iPhone, this could come in extremely handy for you. In fact, most phones with a camera and internet connectivity will work with this device. There are a few phones which need to have the app downloaded, though.

Let’s say you’re walking past the theater and you see a marque with your favorite movie mogul on it.  It’s rating and picture suit you fine, but you can’t really tell what the movie’s about, who wrote the screenplay, or anything else, right?  Look in the corner of the poster for the QR Code and click it with your iPhone, or any other type of camera phone capable of photographing the barcode and redistributing it into text, URL, or other data. The “click” willl automatically produce a webpage with all of the information you’ve requested, email, phone and any other contact id.

At Mountain America Credit Union, I stood in line to cash a check and saw some business cards sitting on top of the counter. Low and behold, there was the qr code attached to the corner–amazing! Even though it wasn’t my bank, I was so impressed, I took a card just to look at it!

There are at least 50 different ways to utilize this information according to the website http://www.flyteblog.com/flyte/2011/03/50-count-em-50-creative-uses-of-qr-codes.html

Even if you’re a novice at your company, you cannot go wrong with this device!  Some companies charge $99-$400/per month for the device while others are free!  Where did I find all this information?  June 2011 Entrepreneur magazine!

What am I planning on doing with it?  I plan on ordering car door magnets and placing the code on the lower corner.  Who doesn’t drive with their cell phone?  And how many times have you passed a billboard promising you’ll get the information the next time?  Problem solved!

What’s that you say?  You want to give it a whirl?  I’d advice you to go to this website to gather all the low-down information and try it yourself!  Business cards, magnets, even Facebook will beginning using these before you know it!  It’s the difference between setting the pace, or waiting until something is proven and being one of the many… too late!  http://www.beqrious.com/show/how-it-works

Is your Employer your Boss?

Is your Employer your Boss?.

Historical or Sci-fi: What do American Kids want Today?

Research is something with an interesting catch to it, especially when you consider how hisotry repeats itself.  The reason I thought of writing movies hit me when writing for a national magazine about Columbine’s ten-year anniversary several years ago.  In my research, uncovering startling information of past events threw up red flags.  Information like this is extremely uncommon to me, at least until I began uncovering records. 

Bath School (in Bath, Michigan) reports a horrific act in 1927 as a school is blown up by an employee due to the tax hikes.  All the information is here, but it needs better organization.

Then I an amazing idea occurs to me to write a story of a divorced mom with two kids. (sound familiar?) Her teenage son receives a computer graphics game which blurs reality and fiction to help him save his little five-year-old sister.  Her angry and spiteful father becomes the antagonist, in creature form, in an attempt to take her away from her family forever.  The teen must decide if he’s a boy or a man in order to thwart the plans and save his sister.  Incredibly enough, he finds the answer in his game creature.

Go ahead and give me your opinion!  As the story unfolds, I will pose questions along the way to get feedback on the storyline.  Perhaps you can help me write the movie!

Just Keep Breathing

Yesterday was Saturday and Cameron wanted desperately to visit his friend in Riverton.  Although the trip was quite a distance, the rest of his life has been so disrupted that I realized I needed to do whatever possible to bring some sort of normalcy back.  He visited his friend and my planning ended up costing us dinner.  The shelter serves for half an hour each day; breakfast at 8:00 (but the kids eat at school), lunch at 11:30, and dinner at 5:00—all for half an hour.  By the time we would have returned it would have been after 6:00 p.m., so we needed to eat.  Food stamps do not allow food which has been cooked to be purchased, and since we had no means of cooking (despite cooking on the engine—thanks, but no), our choices were chips and sandwiches.  We had eaten cold Lunchables at lunchtime, but Nikki had a difficult time with her cold chicken nuggets so I gave her my turkey and cheddar Lunchable. 

At the checkout, we had a loaf of bread, a package of ham and three vitamin drinks.  “Would you like to donate to the homeless shelter?” the cashier asked politely.

“No thanks,” I told her, “We are.”  I pulled out my food stamp card and completed the purchase.

She was quite polite and leaned forward, whispering. “I was homeless once for four months with five kids,” she confided, “The shelter tried and tried to find us a place, but no one wanted anyone with so many kids.”  That gave me serious food for thought as I thanked her and we made our way to the car.

By the illumination the street lights in the parking lot we got into the car.  A coat of snow had already wrapped itself around our vehicle and it was cold and dark inside.  I started the car up and peered out my side window at a spot which had fallen when I closed the door.  The rattle of the door closing, caused the snow to fall from the window and reveal the vehicle next to us.  Inside was a man with his seat reclined all the way back, his hands folded across his stomach, “catching some z’s” as my Papa Greenway used to say.

I got the bread out, threw some meat onto it and passed the sandwiches throughout the car.  “Let’s have prayer,” I began as I bowed my head and began to thank the Lord for what we had.  I thanked God that we had a place to sleep, and they turned on the heat this weekend so that was extra nice.  Even though the food is suspicious at times, we have the choice of eating it.  We have a car, with fuel in it to take us where we need to go.  We have so many trips back and forth to Salt Lake City, which brings us back to court.  For someone without a criminal record or a degree in law, I find myself there more than anyone else I know!  Within the 8 days I will have traveled to Salt Lake City twice for court between the two fathers, three times for court documentation pertaining to social security, and once for a medical evaluation on my back.

My children are my life, as I’ve said before, and without my children I have no life.  Because of this, I will do anything necessary for their well-being.  My situation is short-lived—given that, the choice between this disruption and living with a convicted pedophile seems to be worth not mentioning.  So for now I will continue on, taking one breath at a time and hugging my children for all they’re worth—which is an awful lot!

“Yes, Virginia! There are Fantastic Pediatric Dentists!”

Well, we finally have success in Nikki’s sensitive teeth!  After visiting Adventure Dental, her mouth is good as new!  The patience of the staff at this office is incredible, and anyone in the Draper, Utah area with children will be satisfied beyond anything imaginable.  These dentists and their staff not only repair and prevent decay of the teeth and enamel they also feed the children’s self-esteem and insure the parents are informed. 

They give encouragement, high-fives, and best of all the assistance are blessed to go through balloon creations schooling where they learn to make just about anything fun shaped out of balloons possible.  The kids also seem to enjoy the choice of movies they can watch, in stereo sound, while the dentist goes about his business ensuring the well-being of the children.

Our dentist is Dr. DeHart, smiling ear-to-ear from the moment we arrive, with a warm wave of his hand.  The first receptionist you’ll probably see is Gina.  Their smiles probably came from the same vendor, as hers is just as large and contagious as Dr. DeHart’s.

This office is so amazing that words cannot fully express the appreciation you will feel after visiting.  I am a mother who always interviews several doctors before deciding on one, and I interviewed this office before my 9-year-old son was born.  So, if you want to see a miracle in progress, make an appointment now!

 If you’ve EVER had second thoughts about who you’re entrusting your children’s lifelong teeth to, or if your children are horrified of seeing the dentist and the huge drill coming at their teeth, this will definitely cure them!   Dr. Brent DeHart and Dr. Ryan Moffat are excellent and will allow them to feel right at home!

114 E 12450 S Ste 200
Draper, UT 84020

(801) 495-1610

Tell them the Brewers sent you!

Which “Munster” would you be?

As we grow up and watch television we can’t help but relate ourselves to the characters.  After all, they are created to allow ourselves to find like attributes so we can find humor in our own lives.  In the Munsters Herman is the bungler, Grandpa is mischievous, Lillian is the one keeping order, and Eddie is always having growing pains and curious to learn more.  But Marilyn?  Where does she fit in?

Most people who come in contact with my children tell me what a great job I’ve done as a parent.  My children are usually compassionate, respectful and courteous.  I’d like to take credit for it all, but I cannot for one of us is different.  The recent discovery is that while the majority of us are the acceptable Munsters, as a public we look at those who don’t fit in as “special needs.”  The reality is quite the opposite.  They don’t always need but actually offer something to the rest of us; we just don’t seem to understand.

Let’s look at the Munsters as the majority of civilization, since there are more of them in their own household, and Marilyn is a minority.  Her skin is basically the same color, and her sex is female, but obviously that is not what is meant in this instance.  The Munsters refer to her as “the ugly duckling” of the group and often take pity on her.  Isn’t that what we do with people who are different?

Of course, sometimes they may need help with their banking accounts or even eating, but when it comes down to how they treat life forms in general, how do they behave?  How does this contrast to the typical person?

Do yourself a favor today and think about that one person who doesn’t fit in–the person in your office that always eats alone.  Could it be that he or she is the “Marilyn” of your office and perhaps she’s sees things a bit differently than the normal Munster?  Maybe it would actually be to your advantage to take the time and get to know that person.  Make a change and start today.  Be different.

“The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream” – Harry Kemp

Learning the benefits of great financing is something one must learn from experience, whether they have the educational background for it or not.  The way most people would choose to learn is from other’s mistakes, however those lessons aren’t usually learned well.  People look at an error someone made and state how absurdly obvious it would have been to avoid, yet we’ve all made silly, and sometimes ackwardly stupid mistakes we wish we could take back.  In reality when you are able to determine the mistake, what caused it and how to prevent it in the future, you are far better off than if you had learned of the error through other’s experience.  Sometimes these lessons must be experienced more than once, because the actual culprit wasn’t correctly identified.  The second time takes some real dissecting to ensure time is not wasted by repeating again.  The most important aspect is to accept responsibility for where you are–and that can be difficult.

My children and I are currently homeless, as you may know from my previous post, and the purpose of these entries is to give hope to those who may stumble upon these articles when they’re hanging by their last thread.  Believe me, I’ve been there, and holding onto tomorrow isn’t easy when you have two children and it’s cold outside.  A mother’s instinct is to ensure the safety of her children and put her own well-being aside.

While this is admirable, keeping your children with you for even five more minutes, may give enough time to consider a new solution.  You’ve heard before that the bottom will need to be reached before you can climb to the top?  This is because you need to realize what you’re trying to avoid.  But you can never quit.

While we are at the homeless shelter, I’ve taken it upon myself to educate my children the things I didn’t know.  Isn’t that what being a parent is?    So I pulled out Robert Kiyosaki’s game, Cashflow for Kids.  This way they can have a semi-educated advantage of knowing that when debt and liability outweighs income and cashflow, trouble will begin.  They’re learning the difference between immediate gratification, such as using credit cards and paying over an extended period of time, and using cash on hand.  The different choices they’ve made from the first time we’ve played the game are impressive.

We’re also learning that “the rich” are not the people with money, but the ones who get to do what they enjoy.  The doctors and lawyers who rake in the big bucks but need to work 70-80 hours a week to get it are not, in my opinion, rich at all; they are slaves to their employment.

It has been said that no one truly can feel financial freedom until they’ve hit the bottom and climbed back out.  The reason for this, if they’ve paid attention, is to know what it was that took them there so that it can be avoided the next time.

Using bad personal experience as an excuse to teach children the way you were taught, if you are not happy where you are, is a perpetual mistake and a lazy liability.  Laziness is no acceptable excuse, and of course it’s easier to give in.  Have you ever heard anyone with children declare how easy it is to be a parent and still be sane?  Doubtful!

Dreaming is free, but it’s only a start.  Hard work, determination, and not allowing an option to quit is the solution and later, you’ll see that’s true as it will be proven.

Sometimes a Curveball is Needed for a Home Run!

When we heard our townhouse was being foreclosed on, we were relieved to hear a family member needed help at the ranch.  The kids loved it there and I felt it would be a great learning experience to introduce real responsibility. Besides my daughter, Nikki, has always loved animals and could see herself riding in rodeos now! This was a factor which helped her decide between being a pediatric surgical specialist for babies in need and a veterinarian surgeon; now she knew the animals were the winner!

We packed feverishly and crammed several loaded trips into the car in order to get our barest of necessities situated in Idaho before we arrived over the first few weeks. We used the remainder of the money to place our belongings in storage, pay for movers, and pay for fuel. All in all, the cost was a bit over $1,200; carefully figured in.

Two days before we were to depart for good, I received a phone call from our location-to-be which stated all the plans had been called off. They no longer wanted us to stay and our assistance was no longer needed. We had no money for shelter, as it had been absorbed by moving costs.

We stayed at a friend’s until they finished packing and moved to Idaho themselves. Frantic, I began to call shelters. I was desperate. My children are my life and I could not survive without them, but all of the shelters in the Salt Lake area had 1-3 months waiting lists. With $200 left in my pocket, I drove around, and hoped for some great entity to show and give me guidance and direction.

The friend we had stayed with that was moving, suggested we use the $200 to buy time by purchasing a few nights at a cheap motel. We did that, but that would only carry us for a few days. The room was $185, leaving us with $15 for food for three days. We ate $5 pizza every night, but we were not hungry.

Exhausted, I pulled my car into a parking lot, climbed out, and called DCFS (the Division of Child and Family Services.) My children needed someone who could care for them, since I was apparently unable, I needed to find an alternative.  In November, the weather is far too cold to “tough it out in a car” and anticipate waking up and I could not let my children die because of my own bad choices.

She gave me the name of a shelter called St. Anne’s located in Northern Utah, and they were willing and eager to find a place for us. So that’s where we live now. We’ve been there since Monday and let me tell you–if you think cafeteria lunches are bad, these are the leftovers heated up for the next two days. Thank God we have food, but I am quite certain I’m in the market for a slim-down diet now.

The first night we were here was Halloween. (My life experiences always land on a holiday, and I always have to laugh at that.) That evening, we were seated with many homeless people who resembled those from movies; decayed teeth (if they had them), ratted hair, etc. But we hadn’t eaten all day and that night was cold, defrosted but uncooked, fish sticks. None of us could eat. 

One of the women looked at my 5-year-old daughter and gave her some well-intended advice. “If a stranger talks to you while you’re trick-or-treating, tell him to ‘get the hell away from you’ and then run to your mom before he gets you!” 

My daughter was frightened by the tone, the appearance, and the advice this woman gave her. I nearly choked.

“Just come to Mommy if a stranger talks to you, baby,” I told her. Needless to say, in a strange neighborhood, with strange neighbors, we did not get to go trick-or-treating. But one of the counselors brought two buckets with candy in them.

Cameron, my nine-year-old, doesn’t like candy, but that’s okay. Now I have food for a few days while they eat a nutritious school lunch. This will certainly give us a new appreciation for the things we have.  With Thanksgiving around the corner, this experience couldn’t have come at a better time!

I figure that hitting that hard curveball is what is sometimes necessary to cross the home plate. One needs to be strong enough to be steady through the first three balls and two strikes, but eventually perseverance pays off.