Les Miserables

Instead of a layout tonight, I'm sharing a picture Ron got with his iPhone while we were killing some time at Starbucks before the show. These are our tickets to see Les Miserables  at Playhouse Square in Cleveland. 

We have friends who enjoy the play every time they get a chance to see it and I wonder sometimes if they could hold the record for attending the most performances of Les Miserables. They are the reason we snapped the picture, because we were wanting to let them know it made us think of them.

We love Les Miserable and we were not disappointed. It was by far the best we'd seen.

It was a great  finish to an around good day. 

This morning we had our first Ladies' class of 2013. We are studying Proverbs and the passage that really caught my attention today was this:  Proverbs 1:32-33

32"For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them."

33."but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."

Since I do 'listen' to God through His holy scriptures, verse 33 is a real comfort to me. I hope it can be to you as well.

Colllege Degree

Perhaps I should change the blog to The Adventures of Caleb. What is it now? One week of Caleb layouts? Well anyway, I'm trying to catch up with the pictures...had planned to put four layouts on tonight to complete the Build a Bear Saga.  However, I'm working too slowly these days.

Tomorrow will be another Caleb day. Maybe I'll finish  these before he goes off to college.

And speaking of college. Have you see the latest statistics on college degrees?  They involve some sad numbers...for example 115,000 janitors have college degrees. No, a degree is not required now for that job.  But so many people are getting degrees these days that there are not enough jobs open for those with diplomas.

I have my theories about encouraging practically everyone to go to college, but  it would require a much longer blog tonight than I am willing to write. It would affect my quality of life to push myself to expound upon  my treatise that not all should grace the doors of universities. A real fact is...not everyone should go to college. There are many careers that are necessary to provide services and do not necessitate higher education. We are unwisely pushing too many people into higher education. And as we all know,  a bachelors degree is a very expensive thing to waste.

Biggest Smile

Caleb is the shortest child, with the biggest smile.

Super Bowl Sunday does nothing for me. I don't like spectator sports. I'd rather do than watch any day. This year all I knew was the names of the two teams, one from San Francisco and one from Baltimore. Ones name is the 49ers and the other is the Orioles, no that is a baseball team, I think. Oh, it is the Ravens. I don't know which city has which name.

But I did get a big smile on my face when I heard that the  commercial for the Dodge Ram starred, a fine radio announcer from the past, Paul Harvey. What a beautiful comforting voice he had.  It was his, 'So God Made a Farmer' speech. If you missed it or would like to relive these moments, you can find it here courtesy of CBS.

Bear Shopping

This is one adult who really appreciates Build A Bear. I should own stock in it. It's a delightful place to go, especially the first time. I'm sorry I had to miss this , his first visit, but so glad to have all the good pictures of each step of the 'process'.  

After picking out the bear he wanted, Caleb proceeded to the station where it was stuffed, he picked out a heart and went through the part that makes the bear part of him, so to speak. It is so cute to see.

I love Caleb's expressions.

On another less pleasant subject, Government health care may soon put a damper on businesses like Build -A- Bear.

It is now coming to light that under the new health care plan, a family of four will need to pay ...sit down and grab your wallet... $20,000 a year for their 'free' health care. Now, don't think you can find a cheaper plan...remember this is the government's plan. THIS IS THE PLAN!

This, by the way, is the cheapest alternative. There is a platinum plan, a gold plan, a silver plan and the one that is the cheapest is called the bronze plan...$20,000.

Of course, you can go without insurance and pay a fine to the government. Isn't that great?

But you can relax for a while. In a regulation issued Wednesday, the IRS 'assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year.  Did you catch that?  You may be all right until 2016.   Boy, and we were worried, right? No cause for alarm, choke, we have three more years until then.

"Sno Picnic

Caleb gets a lot out of his farm school. He seems to spend quite some time there. This  day, he had his thermos. And I'll bet that was the best hot chocolate he ever drank. But it was no picnic that day...a bit cold for that.

Lesson for today. 'Sno Picnic is a double entendre. And so is under the weather, which I am today.

The Littlest Jockey

I didn't get this picture until recently. I found it on FaceBook. A friend of Beth's had taken it back in November at Farm School. 

 I always thought 'cowboy' when seeing  children on horses, but this one rang out loud and clear...JOCKEY.  The Littlest Jockey... perfect.

Today was the little jockey's birthday. He turned three. I'm not sure why he was  born on Groundhog Day. I suppose he just popped out to see his shadow. Glad he did. He's been lots of fun for all of us.

One thing I did for his birthday was to send him a video of him made by Story Bots. I chose a picture from my computer, the Story Bot people put it in an Old MacDonald Had a Farm video.  After I had watched it several times, I realized that there was not one video, but 10 different ones. They were all cute. He, the perfect star, of course.  

After dinner this evening, we called him with FaceTime so that we could wish him a happy birthday and watch him as he watched the videos. What fun!

I would recommend StoryBots.com.  New this year, it is a creation of the same brothers who started JibJab, similar videos made for adults, which I've enjoyed on occasion, since our friend Jane has made several. 

Some of the other song videos they will make for you is Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Srar, The Alphabet Song, and Jumping on the Bed.  It's fun for kids and grownups.

Change

Caleb had a good time unwrapping presents on Christmas Day. This is a gift he got from his maternal grandmother, Carol. He calls her something really cute like TaTa. If it weren't so late, I'd call to check on that. In any case, there will be a correction tomorrow, it need be. 

 It looks like Caleb will spend many hours playing with his people.  Why did we once think doll houses were not for boys? 

Why did we once think we had the right to protect ourselves? Many people today believe it is not a good idea.  They would rather leave us unprotected and targets of less honorable people who will always have guns and will always use them against law abiding. Anyone in his or her right mind would realize that lawbreakers will not hand in their guns. They'll do everything including making their own weapons and  running bootleg gun manufacturing plants. 

And again I say...guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Chicago and Washington DC are two of the most dangerous places in the country to live because they are more likely than anywhere else in the US to be shot by a person wielding a gun. And get this: both cities have gun bans.  In other words, if you didn't  get this,  it is more dangerous to live in a place that has a ban on guns than to live in a place where criminals can expect that others can defend themselves.

Change is neither good nor bad. We must think before making any drastic changes...like gun control.