HR3101 - Caption Action 2

Many of you know that I joined Twitter back in June. This has been the best thing for me and my business venture (more on this later in another post) and I love twitter. I go on record right now as saying that I don't necessarily recommend twitter for everyone. It is addicting and can be time consuming! For me, though, I have made friends, locally and nationally. I have made a world of contacts for my PartyLite business and my Family History business. I've also been able to have some contact with a few celebrities that actually do respond to a vast majority of their messages. It's been fun. Steve and I have both made contacts in the photography world, as well, which has helped Steve learn more about this field as he ventures into developing his great talent! One last thing I would like to talk about today and thus the reason for the post....I have learned more about deaf culture and the fight for things to help...Well, read on:

One great person on twitter is @deafnessguide. She is currently lobbying for HR3101. She has made visits to Washington, DC to lobby for this cause and will be making another visit tomorrow, Monday, 23 Nov 2009. In preparation for her time there, she tweeted out the following message on Saturday. I felt strongly enough to try and help get the word out, so I have asked her for more information to share and copy/pasted the list of the offices she will be visiting on Monday.

If you don't see your specific representative on this list, it is most likely because she has already visited their office, but you are welcome to contact their office (and all of your states offices) and encourage their support of this effort. For more details, please visit: http://captionaction2.blogspot.com/. There is a lot of information for this cause. Also, if you scroll down on the right side, you will see the "Caption Action 2 Blogroll", which includes a file of "Congress Staff Contacts". Pull that list up, share with your family and friends. Email the contacts, as they are the ones that will really help in gaining more support for this cause. There are also links for a summary of HR3101. Also, if you click on "Write your Representative", you can use this to get a phone number or snail mail address.

If you happen to already be on twitter, please follow @deafnessguide and @NADtweets. Also, @MarleeMatlin, who is the NAD spokesperson for accessible broadband services and Internet media. There are many others that I would recommend following, if you are already there or choose to take the plunge into twitter. Oh and you can also support this cause on Facebook, by clicking here.

The idea is to work together, so their offices will know this is not a one woman effort. If you would like to be part of this, let me know ASAP with the easiest and quickest contact info for you. So, efforts can be coordinated to have you contact their office shortly after her visit, while it is still fresh on their minds. Here is that information:

Putting together a to-visit list for my fourth and final visit to Capitol Hill Monday. After list is complete, I'm going do something new..
I am going to send out a series of tweets, one for each state, with the names of the Reps I am going to visit. If you see your Rep name..
Either reply to me or DM me and I will mention you to the office staff when I stop by. Then, you can call or email and verify who u are.
And, I will send you a tweet when I stop at your Representative's office. That will give you a chance to call right away.

Alaska deaf: Visiting Alaska rep Don Young on Capitol Hill Monday for HR 3101.
American Samoa deaf: visiting Rep. Eni Faleomavaega on Capitol Hill Monday for HR 3101.
Arizona deaf: visiting Rep. Jeff Flake on Capitol Hill Monday for HR 3101.
Arkansas deaf: visiting Rep. Vic Snyder on Capitol Hill Monday for HR 3101.
California deaf: visiting these representatives' offices Mon on the Hill: Berman, Chu, Dreier, Harman, Herger, Lewis, Matsui, Miller...
More California deaf: visiting these too: Nunes, Pelosi, Radonovich, Thompson, and Waxman.
Connecticut deaf: visiting office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Florida deaf: visiting these representatives Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Kosmas, Meek, Posey, and Young.
Georgia deaf: visiting these representatives Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Bishop, Deal, Linder, and Price.
Illinois deaf: visiting these reps Mon on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Biggert, Costello, Davis, Halvorson, Jackson Jr., Kirk, Manzullo, Rush.
Iowa deaf: visiting these two reps Mon on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Bruce Braley and Tom Latham.
Kansas deaf: visiting rep. Lynn Jenkins Mon on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Kentucky deaf: visiting reps Harold Rogers and Ed Whitfield Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Louisiana deaf: visiting reps Joseph Cao and John Fleming Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Maryland deaf: visiting one representative from Maryland, Roscoe Bartlett, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Massachusetts deaf: visiting one representative from Massachusetts, Rep. Richard Neal, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Minnesota deaf: visiting three reps from Minnesota, James Oberstar, Erik Paulsen, and Collin Peterson Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Missouri deaf: visiting 3 reps from Missouri, William Clay, Emmanuel Cleaver, and Ike Skelton Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Nevada deaf: visiting one rep from Nevada, Dean Heller, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
New Jersey deaf: visiting 2 reps from New Jersey Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Frank Pallone Jr and Albio Sires.
New Mexico deaf: visiting 1 rep from New Mexico Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Harry Teague.
New York deaf: visiting 5 reps from NY Mon on Capitol Hill: Michael Arcuri, Yvette Clarke, Joseph Crowley, Eliot Engel, and Paul Tonko.
North Carolina deaf: visiting rep. David Price Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Northern Mariana Islands: visiting Rep. Gregorio Sablan's office Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Ohio deaf: visiting one representative from Ohio, John Boehner, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Oklahoma deaf: visiting one representative from Oklahoma, Tom Cole, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Oregon deaf: visiting one representative from Oregon, Peter Defazio, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Pennsylvania deaf: visiting 6 PA reps Monday on Capitol HIll for HR 3101: Dent, Holden, Murtha, Sestak, Shuster, and Thompson.
South Carolina deaf: visiting 1 SC rep Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: James Clyburn.
Tennesee deaf: visiting 2 TN reps Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Steve Cohen and John Duncan.
Texas deaf: visiting 9 Texas reps Mon on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Ralph Hall, Jeb Hensarling, Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson..
More Texas deaf: visting these reps Mon for HR 3101: Kenny Marchant, Michael McCaul, Solomon Ortiz, Lamar Smith, and Mac Thornberry.
Utah deaf: visiting 1 Utah rep Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Jason Chaffetz.
Virginia deaf: visiting one rep from Virginia on Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Frank Wolf.
Washington deaf: visiting 2 Washington reps Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Jim McDermott and Adam Smith.
Wisconsin deaf: visiting 1 Wisconsin rep Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: David Obey.
Wyoming deaf: visiting 1 Wyoming rep Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Cynthia Lummis. (end of tweet series)

Roosters & office politics

I have found it! The ultimate solution to my office politics problem! It's a rooster!!! Any rooster, it seems will do, even!

We are not mall shoppers. Growing up, my mall of choice to hang out on the very rare occasion I did such a thing was Fashion Place Mall. My sisters was Valley Fair Mall. Both of these malls are currently undergoing massive makeovers, so I do not guarantee maps and such on the links. But, anyway, while walking through Fashion Place Mall yesterday we happened upon a store called Asian Gifts. We went in, hoping to find a birthday gift for my mom's best friend. Her birthday was also on Sunday and I hope she had a good one, too. We found a couple of things of interest, but mom decided on a set of 3 Chinese wisemen for Judy's birthday gift. This particular shop does not have its own website. They are to help bring Good Luck, Wealth and Health to your household and are best placed in the dining room.

In looking around, this shop was very good about having papers posted explaining the purpose of many thing on display. One especially caught my eye, it was for The Rooster:I laughed and showed my mom and Steve, who just basically rolled his eyes. Many of you know my background with "jobs" and will immediately get the reason for our reactions! I don't know that I will be in a position to test this purpose, but I found it amusing, at least! Office politics are not my friend...oh the books I could write! My many experiences also lead to my fascination with the only reality show that I really like and watch faithfully, The Apprentice!

So, what are your experiences and solutions to office politics where you work or have worked?!

Flag Day & Birthday wishes!

I love the United States of America! Most anyone who knows me, knows this. I especially love Flag Day. I also have great respect for the flag of the United States of America! For years now, I have worn a heart flag pin. Way before 9-11 and some people started wearing pins and ribbons and such, for a short while. I still wear my pin, the current one I have I got from AVON in 2004. I have others that I wore before that.

When I worked at the Mesquite Library as a page, one of my duties was to take care of the flag. On days that I worked opening, I was to put it up the flag pole. On days that I worked closing, I was to pull it down and fold it when it got dark or the library closed, whichever came first. I was a bit of a stickler on flag etiquette. Meaning that if it started raining, I was right out there to get the flag down or if it was raining, I would not even put it out. We made sure to fold it properly every night, too. I loved this task of being in charge of the flag.

This day is also special because it is the birthday of two very important people in my life. My Uncle Larry is my mom's brother, who we did not know until 1981. This is when we flew to Florida to meet my mom's dad for the first time. She was 32 yrs old.

The other is a great friend from high school. Rob was a very important part of my high school friendships and learning. Some of the best times we had were during and after the ACT prep classes, remember?! LOL! I wasn't even close the friend to him that he was to me!

Happy Birthday Larry & Rob...hope your day was great!!! Happy Flag Day to everyone else!

Grumpy Old WOMEN

The year is 1993 and the movie is Grumpy Old Men, which was followed in 1995 by Grumpier Old Men. My dad loved these movies! I can take it or leave them, but my dad loved them! My dad was known as grumpy, but it was more of an act than anything sincere. For example, we would ask for him to take us to the store and he would grumpily say, "It's too far!" We would whine and then move on about our business. A few minutes later, usually 10-15, he would come in and say, "Let's go!" This was common, he tried to be mean, but usually he would give in or just be teasing. In fact, it sort of ran in his family...his older brother was grumpier than my dad. One time we went to visit him, this was just a couple of years ago...he was in the kitchen being grumpy, I told him that he was just like my dad...he smiled!!! From then on, whenever we went over, he would smile. Ok, so back to topic....

This post is about the flipside of that, Grump Old Women! In looking for any info to share on this topic, I found that there is a TV series in the UK by that name. This made me laugh...but, today, I am going to talk about one Grumpy Old Woman in my life, my MOM! Ok, so I don't believe she is old because I believe that age is a state of mind! But, my mom just turned 60 and she thinks she is old! But I know a lot of people that would agree with me that she is GRUMPY!

We will be walking in the store, Walmart for example. Ok, most people have been in Walmart or most any grocery type store. There is one main aisle that people walk up and down to get to the regular aisles where the groceries are, right? Ok, so we are walking up and down this main aisle and someone comes out of an aisle too fast or isn't watching for anyone in the main aisle. Mom gets mad and says that she "should have the right of away". Same trip at the store, we are in a regular aisle and come out, mom in front and not watching or caring and someone in the main aisle is in her way and she still says, "I should have the right of way." I will sometimes look at the person in an apologetic way as we move along. I'm sorry, but I don't see how it can work that way. Both directions can't have the right of way for her? This is probably the most common example of her grumpiness.

So a week ago Sunday, we are having a game night of sorts, one of many, in fact, at our house. There are 5 of us playing, myself, Steve, my mom and two of my cousins. As we are getting started, I mention that the ASL class would be starting the following Saturday. My mom turns to my cousins, both teenage boys, and tells them "sign language would be a really good thing for them to learn." The topic goes by the wayside as we get into playing games.

We start by playing The Game of Life, and for whatever reason, my one cousin owes Steve $5000, but he only has the $10000 bill. So, he goes to hand it to Steve and then pulls it back. They are playing around and my other cousin and I are laughing about it. It is all in good fun! The cousin wants Steve to pick up the change and they can exchange it at the same time. Steve refuses, and I point out that that isn't how it works in real life, you pay your part and then get the change, right? Well, when the time comes that Steve gets a grip of the bill, it rips. Ok, now, this game belongs to me & steve, not my mom, who doesn't like the game in the first place. I don't care one iota that this bill is torn, it only shows the game has been played and enjoyed, imo! I would have probably just thrown the little torn off piece away. In fact, the cousins, Steve and myself kind of laugh about it! But, not my mom, NNNNOOOOOO, ...She gets mad, really mad! She makes the other cousin get the scotch tape. She says, "All Steve had to do was pick up the $5000", I come back by saying, "All had to do was give Steve the money!" She yells at me, I get mad...and would normally start crying because I'm mad...she knows this and so I say, loudly, "And I'm not going to cry!!!"

That did it, the rest of the night; we spent basically walking on eggshells. This is nothing new for me as I do this a lot. It isn't an easy thing to live in the same house as your mom, at least not for us! We finish that game of Life and then move on to Payday. We all pretty much expected mom to go to bed, but she didn't, she stays up and plays Payday, too. In this game, there is a lottery, where each player that chooses to play chooses a number 1-6. The player landing on the lottery then rolls the die and whosever number comes up first wins the lottery. This same cousin that was involved in the tearing of the $10000 bill, which we now call bill, calls out the number 3. Steve can't hear well and even less this night because he has been having some issues with his ears. So, we were trying to hold up fingers to show him what numbers we were calling out. Well, some of us were. This cousin says 3 but uses the sign for 6

(which is the same as the sign for the letter W) and is used by much of the world’s population to say 3 and I know this.

This is really the sign for 3. I took that moment to tell him the difference between the sign for 3 and the sign for 6. Mom didn't seem to like this lesson and told this cousin that it didn't matter for "people like them." Now, she didn't elaborate, so I am not positive what exactly "people like them" meant. Now, mostly because of the grumpiness earlier in the night, my brain was not exactly following the process of all conversation that night.

Later that night, as my non-stop brain was going over the events of the night, I realized that at the beginning of the night, my mom was telling the cousins that learning sign language would be a good thing, but late in the night she tells him that it doesn't matter for "people like them." Hmm....WHAT?????

So, a couple of nights ago, one of these same cousins was over playing games again. We were playing games again and for some reason I mentioned something about sign language and/or the class. Mom told cousin that it would be a good thing for him to learn. He and I glanced at each other and after a moment kind of laughed a little. She didn't catch on that we were laughing at her and her constant changing mind.

Now, call me crazy (I didn't marry into the BATTY family for nothing, you know!), but AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess I didn't know what crazy was until the last 4 years and I'm certain it is only going to get worse as time continues on...so I decided to let out a little of this and do a post called "Grumpy old WOMEN". This woman isn't old and the thought of just how grumpy she will be when she does get old scares the living daylights outta me............good thing I love her so much, huh?!

ASL

"You will be the same person in 10 years except for the people you meet and the books you read." ---Dave Ramsey

Yesterday, I did something I have not done in quite some time, too long, even! I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting. Sitting in the back row, it was a long walk up to the pulpit. Our ward does not use the microphones, so everyone has to go up to the pulpit, although, I usually did anyway. Ok, so I started out with the Dave Ramsey quote above and went from there. From the moment I was done and walked back to my seat (using the hallway vs walking back through the congregation), I have not really been able to remember what I said.

I remember thanking a few people in the ward for their examples on adoption and talking about looking back at our lives and acknowledging the people we have met that fit the criteria in the quote above.

I remember mentioning that I am a bookworm. Without mentioning any specific books, I noted that I always have a book I'm reading and that I have been blessed to gain something from every book I've read. Maybe that is why I blog all my reviews now, I don't know.

I remember thanking the Macedone's for starting and teaching an ASL class. They have such passion for ASL and the deaf community. I have been told that our stake is getting a deaf branch in the near future. So, the timing of this class is GREAT! I would encourage everyone to learn ASL. In the flyer below, you will see that this class if for anyone 9 yrs and older. They don't have to be LDS, just understand that there will LDS terminology and hymns taught. I decided to blog about this and include the original flyer for the class, with Jim's permission, of course. I also put it on my google calendar and invited everyone that knows me and especially my husband to come and learn. The next class is on 20 Jun 2009. For more information, contact me, or the Macedone's and we will give you the details. We had a great time at the first class and welcome all that want to come!

I also know that I really did bear my testimony. It has been way too long and I am grateful that I took that moment to do this during fast & testimony meeting yesterday!

Incidentally, yes, I do know there is no post for yesterday. We are down to one computer and I chose to not get on yesterday, so I didn't post. Also, I'm hoping that maybe it will get me to post early in the day rather than late at night.

Optimism

Back in the year 2000, we were living in the north part of Salt Lake City. Some refer to this area as Rose Park. We had run into some issues with family that had made our situation not the best. I have this overall habit of being optimistic about most everything, no matter how bad it looks. During this time, I was having a talk with our Bishop and he told me that I shouldn't be optimistic and that I needed to be realistic. This bothered me, until a matter of weeks later when during General Conference, there was a talk about being optimistic and that optimism is a good thing.

This made me feel better. I have my days of being really upset over even little things. Overall, I am optimistic and I believe, realistic. Even with everything going on in our lives right now, I'm still optimistic. Worrying and stressing isn't going to do anyone any good, is it?! No, it brings so much negative into our lives. Why would anyone want that? I know how dire things in the world seem today and I know that there are lot of people out there a lot worse off than we are. I know that we make our own choices and we have to live with the consequences of those choices.

Ok, a week or so ago, my bestest friend and I were talking about Twitter. We had both checked out the website, a little. We were both thinking that there was a lot of fluff surrounding its popularity. Then a day or two later, I read an article about using twitter in genealogy. So, I took the plunge, I am on twitter. I am still figuring out how to use it to benefit my own genealogical work and that of my potential clients. I am following mostly celebrities, local and national. I actually don't mind it. You can set it up so you can receive the tweets of those you are following as text messages on your cell phone. You can receive one, more or all of them on your cell phone. If you are on twitter, click on the link to the right and start following me, too!

One of those that I am following sends out a daily LDS thought, today's is below and that is what prompted this post: "Of all people we as Latter-day saints should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic pres Benson" He said this in 1986, in an article in the October Ensign. But even in this last conference, Pres. Monson said, "be of good cheer, and do not fear", but more on that talk in a future post.

So, basically, I will continue to be optimistic. I hope that many of you will allow yourselves the blessings of optimism, as well. I know that we will be fine through our current issues and I know that most everyone else will also be able to work through their issues and come out above where they were before. This is a major part of having so many trials. We are here on earth to learn and grow! We do this, mostly, through trials. What lessons are you currently being taught?!

SMILE, inside and out, it really does make a difference!!!

remembering conference talks

As many of you know, I've been working my way through the conference talks from April 2009 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know loads of people that watch or listen to conference every 6 months, then they're done until the next one. I know some people who listen to the talks over and over between conferences. And, then there are some, like mentioned in the article that basically only do the monthly lessons for Relief Society and Priesthood.

I am usually the last one, I watch conference and have all the feel good feelings and I will even take notes, usually. This last conference was different, though. It was Steve's birthday and we had plans for the weekend. I did manage to listen to or watch every session, but didn't take notes. I have an Ipod now, so I have them all on there, too. We are among the evil and don't have church magazine subscriptions...OH NO! Anyway, so I listen and then I read on lds.org. For the first time, I have a blog and am taking the time to share my 'observations' from each talk.

This morning, I happened upon this article and I was very pleased with myself that I am making more of an effort this time to remember exactly what encouragements we received. So, I thought I would take a moment and share the link/story with all my readers! What do YOU do to help yourself remember the counsel received during the 6 months between conferences?