Happy Mother’s Day!!

This video is so awesome I thought I would share.

Meet Britney Exline. She’s been busy.

She is the youngest engineer to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania (at the age of nineteen). Miss Exline is also the youngest African-American female student to be accepted by an Ivy League school (15), fluent in five languages, minored in psychology, math and classical studies and has a passion for helping others through volunteering and has participated in the One Laptop Per Child program in Cameroon.

Welcome, November.

Time to put away the jack o’ lanterns and time to make way for cornucopia, Indian corn, and cranberry wreaths. I was in the store this afternoon and the turkey table has been set up. Since I want our family to participate in a turkey trot this year, I have to have my dinner completed by Wednesday so that I’m not up so late that I get up Thursday Morning and rule out said turkey trot (sort of like I did last year). I also have to dig out my Christmas cards and decide if I’m going to do a family portrait with the Christmas card, since I usually ship those out the week of Thanksgiving, too. I’m working on a few crafty gifts and if they are easy and quick to knock out, I’ll make more. If not, 2012 can always be the year of the gift card, part 2 (2011 was the year of the gift card for all of my shipped gifts and it was a wonderful thing).

Monday News: Beginnings and Endings.

Let’s start with the endings.

The Olympics wrapped up yesterday night. The athletes from the United States are bringing home the most gold (and there is even a pawn shop web site to help them finance taxes, training and travel). Train for years, live away from your family, represent your country, win a gold medal, go to the pawn shop. There is something wrong with that.

Way to go, Wisconsin?

Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate, has chosen Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as a running mate. Paul Ryan thinks that the people he hopes to represent (and maybe even lead should something happen to the commander-in-chief) are basically irresponsible, creativity-starved dependents of government handouts who do not make adequate use of their families or faith. I’m a registered Independent, meaning I have and will vote for Republican candidates, but the Paul Ryan statement below does not begin to endear me toward the Romney Ryan ticket. I can only imagine what Democrats are thinking.

Americans have been lured into viewing government – more than themselves, their families, their communities, their faith – as their main source of support; they have been drawn toward depending on the public sector for growing shares of their material and personal well-being.  The trend drains individual initiative and personal responsibility. It creates an aversion to risk, sapping the entrepreneurial spirit necessary for growth, innovation, and prosperity. In turn, it subtly and gradually suffocates the creative potential for prosperity.