My Brother and Hershey

People always ask what my brother looks like and do we favor. Well, here he is people. Do you think we look alike? Not many people do. The cute little dog in the picture with him (but not as cute as my Boston) is Hershey. He is a chocolate cocker spaniel. He is so loved by my brother. This picture was taken at Myrtle Beach in July 2008. He doesn't board his dog like I have to mine, because his wife understands that Hershey needs a vacation too. (Hint to James: Maybe Boston needs one?)

Ok, I Changed It

Obviously this blog is going to undergo changes just like my hair color does month to every other month. Ya'll let me know if you like the new changes. I love butterflies.

The Campaign Trail Can Make You Tired

This is what Landon looked like after delivering his "speech" and handing out his 170 bags of candy. Poor thing was so sleepy he fell asleep on his dad's boxers.

Stuffing Candy Bags

Man, we didn't realize that campainging cost so much. Let me tell you people, candy is not cheap. We couldn't just give out 1 piece of candy either. We had to make BAGS! Over 170 bags just for the 4th and 5th grade. We actually did about 200 bags. All with labels that said Landon Hewell for Vice President. I started bagging all the candy and doing the labels by myself when I figured I might need some help to actually make a dent in the 200 that we needed. As you can see from the pics, some people weren't too happy about helping. James dared me to take his picture. He was stuffing bags and was not thrilled. I had a system with the candy, but when it came time for James to stuff the bags, well, let's just say that some kids probably ended up with 7 tootsie rolls and 1 piece of gum than the variety I had planned. You know, sucker, bubble gum, tootsie roll, sweet tarts, sour tarts, now and laters, jawbreaker and etc. Towards the end, we ended up having lots of gum left so James started doing what he liked to refer to as "MOTIVATION BAGS". I can hear some parent really cussing us now when their kid shows up with 25 pieces of hubble bubble.

Posters: $40.00 plus $10 more for expedited shipping

Candy: $35.00

Bags and labels : $8.00

The look on his face if he wins: PRICELESS

Did You Know that September is....

Self Improvement Month? International Square Dance Month? And my personal favorite...National Bed Check Month. Every day in September has some type of bizarre holiday to it. Here are my favorites:
Sept. 2 National Beheading Day (Man, does that make it legal cause I am sure there is a couple of people around here I could behead...I JEST!)
Sept. 5 Is Be Late for Something Day (I would just call that James Hewell Day)
Sept. 7 Neither Rain nor Snow (No Kidding--However, we may get Rain because of the Hurricane)
Sept. 11 No News is Good News Day
Sept. 12 National Chocolate Milkshake Day (A reason to cheat on a diet)
Sept. 14 National Cream Filled Donut Day
Sept. 16 Stay Away from Seattle Day and Collect Rocks Day (Sounds like a plan)
Sept. 20 National Punch Day (there are some I would like to punch, but i bet it's referring to the kind you drink)
Sept. 23 Checkers Day and DOGS IN POLITICS DAY (they really need to move that one to November--especially this year!)
Sept. 26 National Good Neighbor Day (I am that everyday!)
Sept. 27 Crush a Can Day (that would be better if it said "against your head or against your neighbor's head")
Sept. 28 Ask a Stupid Question Day (That is everyday for some people)

Really though, on a serious note, the government has designated September as National Preparedness Month- So get prepared because if you vote for Obama in November you're gonna need them supplies.

This Has Nothing To Do With Us Hewell's

I got this great e-mail from a friend (thanks Ms. Dove) and I thought I would publish it here. Comment me on it and feel free to copy, paste and send it in e-mails. This was in a nice two column form, but it didn't work on here. Just know that McCain's answer is first then Obama's





Subject: Presidential Candidate Comparisons -- Important Information for all
For those of you for Obama, let me know what here is not true.

Interesting comparison -- You decide
SIMPLE MATH:

2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMPARISON TALKING POINTS
ISSUE
JOHN McCAIN
BARAK OBAMA
Favors new drilling offshore US
Yes
No
Will appoint judges who interpret the law not make it
Yes
No
Served in the US Armed Forces
Yes
No
Amount of time served in the US Senate
22 YEARS
173 DAYS
Will institute a socialized national health care plan
No
Yes
Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy
No
Yes
Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately
No
Yes
Supports gun ownership rights
Yes
No
Supports homosexual marriage
No
Yes
Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase
No
Yes
Voted against making English the official language
No
Yes
Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals
No
Yes
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)
DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN
15% (no change)
OBAMA
39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.')
INCOME TAX
MCCAIN
(no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500Single making 50K - tax $12,500Single making 75K - tax $18,750Married making 60K- tax $9,000Married making 75K - tax $18,750Married making 125K - tax $31,250
OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400Single making 50K - tax $14,000Single making 75K - tax $23,250Married making 60K - tax $16,800Married making 75K - tax $21,000Married making 125K - tax $38,750Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!
INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN
- 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA
Restore the inheritance tax
Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.
NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet. New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already) New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!




You can verify the above at the following web sites:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.htmlhttp://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

Here They Are....My Recommendations!

I have had so many people ask me what books are good or not, I decided to put up some of my recommendations. I read a good bit, but since they decided to limit (END) our internet activity at work, I have been reading more. I should be reading Continuing Education stuff, but I like reading books, trashy gossip magazines and anything that may humor me.

Logan and I just finished the Twilight series. This is really geared towards teenagers, but hey, I read Gossip Girl (LOVED IT!) and I figured why not. There are 4 books in this series. Twilight was awesome, New Moon was the second, Eclipse was the third (I think maybe this was my favorite) and the final was Breaking Dawn. I tell you, if you read the first one, you will continue on. I fell in love, really, with Edward. He wasn't too much in the second book that is why I probably didn't like it so much. Edward rocks. The first book is coming to theaters on NOV. 21 (Don't forget Kailee!!!). It was supposed to come out on Dec. 12 but they moved it up. Can't wait til they start showing the previews to it.

I am a HUGE James Patterson fan. Just finished reading (read it Sunday at work) You've Been Warned. It is almost like the movie Premonition. I liked it, but not one of his best. I also finished on Saturday James Patterson's Double Cross. Loved it. I am a huge fan of his Alex Cross character.

Started Saturday (after Double Cross was done) and finished Sunday morning Nicholas Spark's Three Weeks with my Brother. I absolutely loved this book. This is one everyone should read.

I am a big fan of David Sedaris. If you don't know who Sedaris is, you need to Google him. He is a gay man that really pokes fun at his life and that of his family. He will have you in tears. Most of his books are more like memoirs. I have read Dress Your Family in Courdory and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day (FUNNY!!!!) and Barrel Fever. Barrel Fever is more essays and stuff. So not all of it is true. Up next for my reading enjoyment is When You are Engulfed in Flames. Really, if you ever have a bad day and you think your life is crazy and so are the people in it, David Sedaris lets you know that you are not alone. I will let you all know how When You are Engulfed in Flames turns out.

I have also finished Sloane Crosley's essays in I Was Told There'd Be Cake. She is funny. She is on her way to being a David Sedaris in my book.
I also just finished (see, I read ALL OF THE TIME!) Stop Dressing your Six Year Old like a Skank. This was too funny and it's in essay form.

Here are a few more:
James Patterson: Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (and any of his Alex Cross series)
James Patterson: Sail
Jonathan Kellerman: Compulsion (really any of his Alex Delaware stories)
Chelsea Handler: My Horizontal Life (memoir) and her latest Are You There Vodka, it's Me Chelsea. I have laughed til I cried with these.
Janet Evanovich: All of the Stephanie Plum series. You must read them in order. You will love her.
Logan and I really love all of the Harry Potter books too. They really are good, better than the movies.
Augusten Burroughs Running with Scissors is awesome. It is a memoir and even though they made a movie about it, it does the book NO JUSTICE. This is really good.

Logan and I have started a new series of books by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. They are the House of Night Series. They are also geared towards teenagers. The first one is Marked. Usually I read the book then pass it on to Logan to make sure it's ok for him to read. I didn't do that with the Twilight series and I didn't do it with this one either. I started Marked last night at work and it has some trashy stuff in it (Logan told me before I started reading it) but I think the series is going to be good. It's funny, it talks about sex but then the main character comes up and says that is something she knows she shouldn't do right now so she doesn't. I guess it is just putting it out there that kids (at 14,15) talk about it and some actually do it, but she is saying that it isn't ok for her right now.

Comment me back on any good books YOU have read recently!

Oh, some of my books are on Ebay so feel free to check out my page. I usually always sell my books because I have nowhere to keep them. Although, I did give Double Cross to a nurse I work with. See, I am nice too!

My ebay ID is zingerflinger. Just go to advanced search, click on items by seller and then type in zingerflinger. That easy.