I wanted to share with you that I am now an Independent Scentsy Consultant. Scentsy is a wickless candles/warmer company that was started right here in Idaho in 2004. Since then it has exploded throughout North America, Puerto Rico and Guam.

As for me ... for years I've loved tart candles and burners, but was always disappointed by their quality and/or price. $2.19 for a single tart is ridiculous, and when you burn one every day as I do, too expensive a habit to maintain.

That was then; this is now. Once I found Scentsy my search was over. I believe their products to be the best in quality and value. Over the years I purchased Scentsy products for myself, my family and my friends ... until one day a friend asked me, "Why don't you become a consultant?" It was like a lightbulb went off, and I've been a Scentsy Independent Consultant ever since.

I would absolutely LOVE  it if all my wonderful WDC friends and family took just a few minutes to peruse my Scentsy website (http://www.scentsy.com/shannonchapel). There are so many burners and scents to choose from--and with the holidays right around the corner, they'd make fabulous Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers.

For those WDC members in the Unites States and Canada who purchase something from the website, just email me a copy of your receipt (remember to include your name and mailing address) and I will send you a surprise free gift!

I just heard on the news that Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak has asked President Obama to intervene because only 2% of the claims in the Cash for Clunkers program have been reimbursed. 4 out of every 5 claims have been rejected for minor oversights.

Hmm, let's get this straight: these car dealerships are paying car buyers out-of-pocket and in good faith for their clunkers (up to $4,500.00 each) because the government promised to reimburse them. After all, it's their (the government's) program, it was their idea, and they made a promise to the dealerships. We should trust them, right?

Wait! I have an idea! Let's have these same people run our healthcare system! That sounds like a great idea.

Yeah, right.

Read Sestak's letter to the president here: http://bit.ly/oiNCW
 

I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has ever purchased a signature from Shannon's Sig Shack. Your friendship and support means a lot to me, but I find I haven't the time to maintain it any longer, and the shack has been deleted.

I have a package up for bids right now in "Tara's Community Auction"  [E] that includes two signatures. I WILL fulfill that obligation by making the winner original personalized signatures, but I will no longer be making signatures for purchase.

Thank you all again for making Shannon's Sig Shack a huge success.
 

Hmm. Look at this diagram--maximize it so you can really get a good look at it, and tell me how this is better than what we have now. Looks like not much healthcare and a whole lot more governnment to me.

Right now all we have to do is pick a doctor we like and make an appointment. Easy. Once this piece if shit is put into law we'll have to wade through all the bureaucratic BS before we will be allowed to see a doctor.

Scary stuff. And remember ... nothing's free, people. How do you think they're gonna pay for this multi-trillion dollar monstrosity? Yep, you got it. Can anyone say higher taxes?

http://bit.ly/18OmdB

UPDATE--7/17/09: I've decided to add a few more comments based on the feedback I've received for this entry. I also left the same comments in the comments section below. Brace yourselves.



This diagram was unveiled by House Minority Leader John Boehner and has nothing to do with FOX News.

I am a registered nurse, and I will be the first to say our healthcare system isn't perfect--something needs to be done, but this isn't it. Is a 5.4% surtax on everyone making over a million dollars a year fair? Most of us don't and never will make anywhere near that kind of money, so it's easy for us to say make the rich bastards pay, right?

How easy it is to look the other way when something unjust doesn't affect us.

I have an aunt who worked her ass off, building her business from nothing. Now she does quite well for herself. That's why most people who make that kind of money have that kind of money: because they've worked their fingers to the bone for it! They've EARNED it! You and I have no right to their money.

What if someone in your neighborhood couldn't afford his mortgage and the homeowner's association decided that every other resident in your subdivision of 20 homes had to pitch in to pay it for him. After all, the housing market is in a slump right now. The guy probably wouldn't be able to sell his house anyway, and where would he go if he did? He's unemployed and couldn't afford to move if he had to. The subdivision doesn't want some abandoned/foreclosed house in the neighborhood dragging down already-low property values, so the rest of you who are better off have to step up the the plate and pitch in. Redistribution of wealth, remember? That's okay, right?

Most of us would do anything in our power to help this unemployed neighbor out. Americans are the most generous people out there and we like to help others, but wanting to do something is a whole lot different than being told to do something.

One of the reasons healthcare is so expensive is because people come into the hospital, stay for months (literally) and never pay a dime. I have seen this first-hand hundreds of times. How can the hospital ever recover such costs? They start by charging more, so all of us who DO pay our hospital bills are paying for those who don't--thus the "$37 for a pair of paper undies."

I work in a hospital where the people are very sick and have a 25-day minimum stay--people with BLE AKAs (bilateral lower extremity above the knee amputations), people with HUGE open wounds that we, the nurses, do wet to dry dressing changes on twice each and every day until the wounds heal from the inside out (I have a 400-pound patient right now who had a gastric bypass. Her abdominal incision dehisced and she now has a 13-inch long, 5-inch wide, 4-inch deep abdominal wound that we're packing twice a day), people on machines that breathe for them, people who have had half their bodies carved out because of cancer and now have wound vacs holding the rest together. I have literally gone into a patient's room and not come back out for two hours, and it's at times like these that I appreciate my "allied-quasi professionals" (nursing assistants) the most because while I'm tied up with someone who's dying, they can take that little old lady down the hall to the bathroom when she needs to pee and make sure she doesn't fall.

I don't know the answer, people, but this ain't it. Have any of you read it? Why are we so willing to roll over and accept the first freaking thing they throw at us? I don't know about you, but I work damn hard for my money. I'd like a little say in who's allowed to take it from me and how it's spent.
 

Farrah Fawcett died today after a long battle with cancer.

It was reported that Michael Jackson was rushed to UCLA Medical Center today after suffering cardiac arrest. When paramedics arrived he wasn't breathing. Paramedics performed CPR. The family says he's in "really bad shape."

Now TMZ is reporting Michael Jackson died.

RIP Michael and Farrah.
 

So today is my 20th wedding anniversary. 20 years! God, where has all the time gone?

My husband works in Nevada, so we weren't together for our anniversary. He sent me a text message a couple days ago, though (not to mention the 50 times we talk on the phone every day. LOL) and this is what it said:



It will be 20 years in a couple of days, but we will be apart. These 20 went by so fast--I pray the next 20 slow down a little. I am just starting to figure life out a little, and I need at least another 20 to figure you out. I have enjoyed our time together. I feel God blessed me with you. Thank you for putting up with me and dealing with my moodiness. I love you dearly and would marry you again. You are the love of my life! We will have to go out to a nice dinner when we are off at the same time.



On one hand it seems like we've been together forever (I guess we have. I was 21 and he was 20 when we married), yet on the other it's gone by so fast. I swear, the older I get the faster time flies.

And we DID go out to dinner. I'm not a fancy girl and don't care for restaurants where you have to dress up, so Mongolian BBQ was the ticket that night. Yum!
 

From those who know Marxism best. I'll let this Russian article speak for itself.

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:6jEXnIFsDMIJ:english.pravda.ru/opinion...
 

Human capacity for cruelty and unimaginable horror never ceases to amaze me.

I just finished watching one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen: An American Crime. It's a true story set in 1960s Indiana.

Two teen girls, Jenny and Sylvia Likens, were the daughters of carnival workers. Theirs was a rocky marriage, and their jobs required they travel from town to town--a hard and difficult life when you have children to care for.

Jenny and Sylvia met up with 17-year-old Paula Baniszewski while walking around the neighborhood one day. The girls headed back to the Baniszewski house, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Gertrude Baniszewski was a 37-year-old divorcee with seven children. She was a chain smoking asthmatic, and she forced her eldest child, Paula, to work to help support the family while Gertrude took in ironing to make ends meet. She offered to take in the Likens girl for $20 per week. Their parents agreed.

What ensued over the next few months is nothing short of a nightmare. Sylvia was beaten, burned with cigarettes, violated with a soda bottle and had the words, "I'M A PROSTITUTE AND PROUD OF IT!" carved into her abdomen. Gertrude, her children and even many of the neighborhood children participated in the torture.

Thankfully, few of the disgusting, evil acts were shown in anything more than a cursory way. I became so upset while watching this movie that I had to stop it several times. I needed a break from it. I actually felt anxious and sick to my stomach.

The events that unfolded in the house at 3850 East New York Street in Indianapolis are eerily reminiscent of the highly unethical social psychology experiments of the 1960s that were conducted by Stanley Milgram (obedience to authority experiments) and Philip Zimbardo (Stanford Prison Experiment).

This is a story with no redemption. There is no happy ending. It is, however, a frightening glimpse into the mind of everyday Americans--people like you and me who are capable and willing to do unspeakable things when told to by an authority figure.

Reader beware. The following links are not for children.



The Torture of Sylvia Marie Likens: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/likens/1.html
Stanley Milgram's Obedience To Authority Experiment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

 

My birthday was May 2 and Mother's Day was May 10, so my husband, Del, decided to give me one big gift instead of two small things.

We have a lovely back yard, and he knows how I love to sit, sip my coffee and read--so he made me an arbor! It took him a while to complete (maybe two months) because he works out of state and is only home about 15 days each month, but it was worth the wait. Isn't it beautiful?

The book is The Silence of the Lambs--my most recent read.

When I write I like a little background music--not loud, but just loud enough for me to hear it. What I listen to depends on what kind of mood I'm in that day--could be instrumental, hard rock, jazz, pop. The only thing I rarely listen to (and only when I'm forced to) is country.

Anyway, I was sitting here the other night trying to write with the radio playing in the background when this song came on that immediately had me tapping my foot. Half way through the song I had to stop writing and turn up the radio, and I prayed the DJ would say the name of the song and the band at the end so I could Google them.

Well, the DJ did, so I opened my iTunes, downloaded the song and the video and have listened to it ... oh, maybe 100 times since. It's my new favorite, and you're gonna shit when you see this guy. He doesn't look at ALL like he sounds.

Maximize the YouTube screen and crank that mother up cuz you're gonna love it! Smooth as molasses and twice as sweet. Hot damn and Lord have mercy!

My oldest daughter, Moriah, was recently laid off. Her boyfriend was offered a job in Montana, and they leave in the morning. They will be taking Skyler with them, my only grandchild. Skyler turned three on April 6.

While I am happy for them (you gotta do what you gotta do), I am surprised to find this whole thing is hitting me way harder than I thought it would. I worked last night and was on the verge of tears all night long. Yeah, the last thing patients want to see is their nurse crying!

Skyler is autistic. He doesn't speak, still wears diapers, can't dress himself, eats with his hands and is still very much a baby. It took him almost two and a half years to warm up to us (my husband and me), but now he lets us hold him, runs to us when we visit and is genuinely happy to see us. Now he's leaving and I'm left to wonder if he'll remember us. I've gotten so used to seeing him whenever I want that the thought of him being over 700 miles away is devastating. I mean ... I was there when he was born--I even cut his umbilical cord. He was named after me (we share the same middle name). I love that little guy and am amazed by how much joy he's brought into my life.

I spent the day yesterday taking pictures of the family. I didn't want anyone to feel left out, so there's one of everyone here (except me, of course).

I'm really going to miss them ... even Jason, but don't tell him that.

My oldest daughter, Moriah (age 23), Jason and Sky


Skyler Raye (age 3)


Sky again


Del (my husband)


Kyle (my son, age 17)


Ashley (my youngest daughter, age 20, with her crazy pink wig)

There are no words ... so I will just post the link.

So my brother, Sean, sent me some pics in an email yesterday. Sean lives in Alaska and I haven't seen him since 2002. He is three years older then me (he turned 44 on March 11) and he works on the slope (for those of you who have never heard of it, here a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_North_Slope). Ever seen Ice Road Truckers? Well, that's basically what Sean does. There are times when the temperature is 80 below zero or colder with the windchill, and his schedule keeps him away from home two out of every four weeks.

It's a tough job.

Anyway, Sean sent me some pics that his wife, Sheila, took on a day Sean was acting like a goofball, posing for various ridiculous photos. I thought I would share one of them with you, and yes, those really are guns in the background. We were born and raised in Alaska, and Sean still lives there, where hunting is a way of life.

You know, I am the only one in my family who has blonde hair. All three of my brothers and my mom have brown hair, and my dad's hair is black. What up with that?

Boy, some people have way too much time on their hands. Have you heard about this? There is a new virus--a worm called Conficker that is set to wreak havoc tomorrow, April 1. You need to protect your computer from this worm and/or know how to remove it if it's already infected.

This thing may already be on your computer, lying dormant, just waiting for April first to activate itself. It can take control of your webcam and microphone so people can watch and listen to you, gain access to all your personal files like credit card passwords and private documents/photos, etc.

Read all about it here: http://www.mcafee.com/us/threat_center/conficker.html In the right-hand column click on McAfee Conficker detect Tool. This will download a small program that scans your system for this threat and alerts you if it finds the worm. The entire process takes less than one minute.
 

Any song that starts out with a line like, "My girlfriend's a dick magnet," is bound to be good.

I have a new favorite group: Theory of a Deadman. They're smokin' hot, they rock, and all I wanna do when I listen to them is dance around in my scrunchy socks.

I'm addicted to Bad Girlfriend. I listen to it over and over again. It makes me wanna be naughty, and that's always a great quality to have in a song, right guys?

Their new album Scars & Souvenirs totally kicks butt! They sound a lot like Nickelback, so.... I take that back. They sound exactly like Nickelback, so for you Nickelback fans out there, check 'em out. Unfortunately, they won't be anywhere near where I live until the end of the year, so I may have to make a trip to Seattle to see them.

This blog post is bound to piss some of you off, and that's ok. This is America, and the last time I checked we still have a right to free speech (knock on wood). Keep in mind that this is my blog, but I do welcome and encourage an honest, healthy, respectful debate. If you post a comment that is rude or belligerent, I WILL delete it.

Ok, so it's been 39 days since Obama took office. He just spent $410 billion on the budget for 2009 fiscal year (ends September 30 of this year), $3 TRILLION for the fiscal 2010 budget (October 1, 2009 - September 30, 2010), not to mention the $787 BILLION-dollar cornholing they call a "stimulus package." Do you feel stimulated?

That's a combined total of $4,197,000,000,000 in 39 days, people! Too big of a number to wrap your blue-collar head around? How 'bout--just to give you a little perspective--$107,615,384,615 PER DAY? Still too big? How does $4,483,974,359 PER HOUR grab you? No? Ok, then what about $74,732,906 PER MINUTE? Smaller? *sigh* Is $1,245,548 PER SECOND better?

Scared yet?

Change we can believe in, huh? More like debt our children and grandchildren will be buried up to their necks in! And what about earmarks? Hard to find anything about pork on any of the national news services, isn't it? Don't you find that a little odd? I tell you, I had to do some serious digging to find ANY mention of the "special projects" buried in the 2009 omnibus spending bill. It's costing us $410 billion, yet we barely raise an eyebrow when the government votes, then reaches their hand in our pockets and steals from us. Do you know where your hard-earned money's going? Try some of these on for size:

$190,000 for a Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Wyoming
$200,000 for tattoo removal
$819,000 for Catfish genome mapping in Alabama
$1,762,000 for a honey bee lab in Texas
$1,791,000 for swine odor and manure management
$2,192,000 for buildings at the Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva, NY
$209,000 for improving Blueberry production and efficiency
$2,000,000 for the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii
$469,000 for a fruit fly facility, also in Hawaii

WTF?!? And this is only 9 of the more than 9,000 earmarks hidden in this bill--Republicans are responsible for 40% of them, the Democrats the other 60%. I am completely disgusted. When do I get to vote to have improvements done on my house and have someone else pay for it? When do I get to vote to give myself a raise? (Yes, they really do vote to give themselves raises).

What is wrong with us? Why do we sit back and let our government steal our money this way? What do you think would happen if we decided to "steal" from them by not paying our income taxes? I know! They'd throw our asses in jail, that's what!

And what about the popular Obama phrase, "Redistribution of wealth?" Hmm, sounds to me like another way for the government to take my money and give it to someone else, whether I like it or not. Thieves! If I stole money from my neighbor I'd go to jail, but all the government has to do is vote on it and they can take as much of MY money as they want to.

Sure, I screwed up when I was younger, but I did most everything right: I couldn't finish high school with a baby (things were different back in 1986), so at the age of twenty-four, while married with three children, I got my GED instead. I went to college and got my degree, and now I work my ass off for the money I make. I'm not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I am comfortable. Why should I have to give my hard-earned money away to the lady down the street who dropped out of high school at 15, had five kids by the time she was 23 and has been on welfare for 10 years? She had the same opportunities I did. My parents weren't rich. My circumstances were difficult too, but I STILL worked hard for what I wanted, and because she didn't I should share my income with her?

I look at it this way: girl #1 busts her ass and gets straight A's in college and has a 4.0 GPA. Girl #2 drinks every night, rarely studies, is lazy and undisciplined and barely passing with a 2.0 GPA. Let's even the playing field a little, shall we? Why not give 1.0 of girl #1s GPA to girl #2 so they can both pass with a 3.0 average? It's no skin off girl #1s nose. All her hard work is still paying off--she's still passing, right?

What happened to the land of opportunity? Shouldn't that mean opportunity for those of us willing to work for it?

Nowadays there is no incentive to live your life the right way--to be disciplined and hard-working. Just sit on your ass, do nothing, stand there with your hand out and everything will be just fine. Obama says so!

And for those of you who think I'm a right-wing fanatic who loves to bash Democrats and hates the president--read my previous post.

They all gross me out.

Oh yeah, and if you don't think this will impact you and your family, get a load of what one economist has to say:

Travis King had an interesting idea when he wrote "Stimulus for the People"  [E] It's definitely worth a read, so check it out.

Did any of you watch the inauguration? I have to say, that speech moved me to tears on several occasions. I had to record it because I'd worked a night shift the night before and was sleeping when all the excitement happened, but the beauty of having a DVR is that you can watch it at your leisure, forward, rewind AND pause it so you can take notes, which is exactly what I did.

Ok, it doesn't matter whether or not you voted for him. What matters now is that he is our president, and we all need to stand behind him and support him. "United we stand; divided we fall," remember?

Anyway, I thought he looked very presidential--the weight of what he is undertaking showed heavily on his face, yet he looked poised, confident and graceful. His daughters are adorable, and Michelle comes across as tough-as-nails. Definitely someone I would want on my side.

I thought I'd post a few of my favorite quotes from Obama's inaugural speech for those of you who didn't get to watch it.



Selected quotes from President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address
January 20, 2009

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility--a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world. Duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence--the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall--and why a man who's father less than 60 years ago might not have been served in a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."

"As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are the guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service--a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all. For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levies break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nuture a child that finally decides our fate."

"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense. And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

"We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

May God watch over Barack Obama and the entire Obama family in the coming months and years, and may God bless America.
 

Ok, I love Nickelback. I've seen them in concert twice and I swore to myself if I get the opportunity to see them again I'm flashing Chad Krueger--either that or I'm jumping on stage and grabbin' some ass (gotta make that trip to jail worth my while, know what I mean?)

Anyway, Rockstar is one of my favorites. It's pure genius--what I like to call "a perfect song." You know the ones I'm talking about ... you can hear them thousands of times and never get sick of them? They appeal to young and old alike, and there isn't anything they could have done to improve them. They're perfect.

As you watch the video you'll see Chuck Liddell (one of my UFC main men), the Teutul boys from OCC, Kid Rock, ZZ Top, Gene Simmons, lots of Playboy Bunnies, Ted Nugent and many other celebrities, as well as regular everyday folk on the street. Apparently I'm not the only one who loves this song.

Now I wanna talk about Adolph Hitler. "WTF?" you ask. Well, hear me out. I was watching this documentary the other day about Hitler and the Nazi's rise to power. They showed vintage video footage of Hitler's motorcade driving through a crowd of thousands on its way to a stage where Hitler was scheduled to speak. There was a sea of people--I'm talking literally tens of thousands of people there, stretching as far as the eye could see. They were reaching out to him, crying, cheering, jumping up and down, screaming, saluting. I was disgusted and appalled.

"Ohmigod," I said out loud to my husband. "He was like a rockstar." Then a ridiculous thought occured to me, and I blurted it out before I could stop myself. "He's a Reich star!"

My husband looked at me with pity. I knew what he was thinking--Shannon's trying to be funny again. I better smile and pat her on the head or something.

But he didn't. He just shook his head and went back to pulling the wings off flies or kicking the neighbor's puppy or whatever it was he was doing at the time.

Well, they may not be Hitler, but Nickelback kicks ass! If you haven't heard Rockstar yet ... what the hell have you been doing with your life? Live a little, man ... and turn it up!

I think one of the funniest movies ever made was 1995s Major Payne starring Damon Wayons.

The plot according to IMDB: Major Benson Winifred Payne is being discharged from the Marines. Payne is a killin' machine, but the wars of the world are no longer fought on the battlefield. A career Marine, he has no idea what to do as a civilian, so his commander finds him a job - commanding officer of a local school's JROTC program, a bunch or ragtag losers with no hope. Using such teaching tools as live grenades and real bullets, Payne starts to instill the corp with some hope. But when Payne is recalled to fight in Bosnia, will he leave the corp who has just started to believe in him, or will he find out that killin' ain't much of a livin'? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110443/plotsummary

This yawn of a plot summary doesn't do this movie justice, and if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. Anyway, in the movie, Wayons says one of the most hilarious lines ever uttered on film. He was barking orders at his young cadets when one of them starts laughing and mocking him. Wayans turns on the boy with a snarl and says, "Boy, I am two seconds from being on you like white on rice in a glass of milk on a paper plate in a snowstorm. I'm gonna put my foot so far up your ass, the water on my knee will quench your thirst."

What the hell does this have to do with anything, you ask? Well, I'm white and I'm in the middle of a snowstorm. (BIG stretch to make that connection, I know, but you'd be surprised by what's rattling around in this little ol' head o'mine.) We have about a foot on the ground, we got 4 inches yesterday morning and they're predicting another 11 inches of accumulation in the next 6 days. Yay! Makes me wanna cuddle up on the couch under an afghan with my baby and a cup of coffee to watch Majoy Payne.

Here are some pics of what it looks like here in Boise right now:

The view from my driveway around noon on 12-27-08


My husband Del and our son Kyle shoveling snow on 12-27-08


View from my front porch the evening of 12-27-08