Friday!

TGIF?? I wish! I have to be at work in an hour and I'm tired, worn out and ready to crawl in bed for the duration. The weather outside is cold, snow-stricken and gloomy. It does make for a great day to sit snuggled up in front of the fireplace with a fire blazing, a couple cups of hot-cocoa or chai tea and a good book or soft music in the background with a pen and paper, allowing me the opportunity to allow my imagination to run rampant on the pages with words carefully construed together; forming a fun story or poem...

And with a snap back into reality; I'm off to finish getting ready for work. Until another day......

Declaration of Independence

As I commented last night, I watched "Pursuit of Happyness" and the title of it caught my attention and began the wheels churning in my never stopping mind. It's amazing at how our country has changed since July 4, 1776; the day the Declaration of Independence was signed.

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

It is when I read all that our founding father's so carefully constructed within those lines, that I find myself questioning our own government and the inequality that is present within this country. I find it saddening to believe that these men and all the centuries of lives lost during this time of settling into this country, fighting for their right to freedom from persecution, is all just a mere lesson in history books filling the schools across this 'great' nation. The basic rights and needs are no longer accounted for nor appreciated as seen through recent legislation (past 10 years, specifically.)

What are your views on the Declaration of Independence and the meaning behind it; versus the life in which you are living?

Laziness

So being totally and completely lazy has set in for me today. I haven't touched the laundry and I haven't made a trip to the store, let alone anything else... LOL. I need to find a big boost of aspiration to complete all these tasks or I'll be completely exhausted by the time I get off work tomorrow night......

Warning - Pictures!

Here are a few shots I've taken of Jaden in March.










I figured I would take the opportunity to show off my world... I can't wait to get him outside again in the next couple of weeks to catch a few others.

I have a month until my baby turns three and I can't believe it's coming so quickly! Where does the time go???

Things...

So Easter Sunday will be spent with Rob's family in his parents' new house. We aren't doing anything fancy, but it will be great to spend time together. I'm in charge of dessert, and thinking about doing a pound cake for strawberry short cake or something along those lines. I'm looking forward to that!!!

I highly recommend watching "Pursuit of Happyness" if you get the chance. We rented it and watched it tonight. WOW! I really can't say much more or I'll give it all away. It's a DEFINITE worth-while show!! The title and theme of the movie has my brain churning and will probably result in another one of those brain-teasing posts. (c: One has to love inspiration.

Jaden is definitely feeling a thousand times better and has been bouncing off the walls the past couple of days. We had a great time today and this evening all together as a family. As he said, "I'm so happy you have days off." Although, he was insisting that I had 5 years off work. What a ham.

That's about it for now. I think I'm going to get myself tucked into bed for the long haul and get my day ready to go again tomorrow. Nothing like laundry to occupy one's time. (c:

Ahhhhhh, relaxing...

I didn't get out of bed until just after 11 and we all went out to lunch, or in my case, breakfast. It was nice and relaxing! Now it's approaching time for Jaden to take a nap, and to be honest, I'm going to lay back down for a couple more hours of sleep before our evening filled with family visits and making plans for Easter finds it's way here.

On that note, It's ALREADY EASTER! Wow! Spring has finally sprung it's way into our lives and the summer filled with barbecues and fun times outside is fast approaching!!!

It's time to go catch a short nap....

Oh It's Monday....

Oh how it is a Monday, but thankfully, also my Friday. It's been one thing after another, and I'm exhausted! I had to cook as Monday's we do a pot-luck at work, so I made fiesta chicken casserole; very tasty and if I didn't load it up with 2-3 cups of cheese, quite healthy too. (c: In any event, I have an hour until I have to be at work and I've definitely not gotten enough sleep, so I'm going to do my best to be in a good mood at work, however, I'm sure I'll be stopping off to grab a couple energy drinks that will hopefully tide me over through the night.

Tomorrow's agenda consists of sleeping in, yes, me sleeping in, as I am in desperate need of catching up on that all important beauty rest, possibly coloring my hair (be forewarned; new pictures might appear) and spending a quiet evening dropping in on the in-laws to take them their house warming gift as they moved last week and catch up on all the gossip. I haven't seen all of them in about three weeks, so it will be good for everyone. (c:

Wednesday consists of laundry and bill paying. That seems to be my usual before I head back to work. Although bill paying is pretty minimal this week, thankfully. All I have to pay is the cable bill and everything is squared away for another week or so. YAY! It's hard to believe I've managed to get everything paid this month, but somehow-someway, it's happened.

I've made it to the month of April. It's hard to believe that we are already 1/4 of the way through the year. This is a hard month for me with Reiley's anniversary on the 10th, but to be honest, I've done much better this year than I have in all the years before. It's still a sore spot, one I almost wish I could erase from my memory; alas that isn't the case, so here's to another year...

Jaden will be three in just a month! May 5th is coming up much faster than I would like. I'm going to have to get busy and plan a small party around everyone's hectic schedules and fortunately, I already have birthday presents hidden in the closet! (c: I don't have a whole lot I need to get, but there are definitely a few things that are a necessity.

So much to do in the coming months. It's going to be near impossible to get any time off in June and July; so I'm going to have to enjoy what time off I have between now and then. What a crazy world!

There's more to be said, but that, dear friends, is for another day...

Ahhhhhhh

It's so nice to take time out for oneself! I did tonight and I feel so awesome! I spent an hour and a half relaxing in the tub and then taking a refreshing shower. Now, it's time for a movie and then I'm off to bed. What a relaxing evening!

Work, sorted, sort of...

Tim and I got to talking last night about the schedule, and what we had requested, etc. I mentioned to him that I was not happy about not being scheduled on Saturdays and he casually made a deal with me... If I was willing to come in early tonight, so he could get off and do his usual Sunday thing, he would work some magic and get me back on Saturdays. Eh, what the hell, I thought!

A little while later, the schedule was brought to me for my approval. I'm back on Saturdays with Sundays off instead. It's a small price to pay, not having Monday's off; but at least I can have Sundays with my family instead! It does mean that I'll be missing my favorite show and won't be watching that on Mondays any longer, but I'll take it to have my big money night back. And I might actually enjoy having Sundays off instead... at least it's a positive way of thinking... The bulk of everyone has Sundays off work; so I'll get to hang out with everyone, not just a few, here and there. :)

So now, I need to catch a short nap before I have to go to work...