Patti, friend and frequent GentleWhisper reader, has posted an interesting article:

Minimum wage & Inheritance tax

Dial-up… so slooooow… can’t … breathe. Need… Broadband. GASP!

I’m at Mom and Dad’s. Which means I got to see my parents, sisters, in-laws, neices and nephews… OH My!

Joel just headed back towards Ada, Ok. We’ll miss him. Monday we head to Colorado for five days of camping. Oh Yeh! I couldn’t be more excited. Well… actually I could be. I left my hiking shoes in Missouri. Tamara mailed them to me. I’m holding my breath hoping they’ll get here on Monday morning before we leave. No way am I hiking in my New Balance running shoes.

The kids are begging me to take them to bed… and rolling my chair away from the keyboard. Can’t - Reach - Keyboard.

Good Night sweet Internet, I miss you.

P.S. Happy 40th Anniversary Jerry and Twanda! I wish we could have celebrated with you.

We’ve spent the week in motel at Ada, Oklahoma. I really like it here. [In Ada, not the Quality Inn.]

Wintersmith Park is beautiful. We visited this week. Jer and I ran a mile around the lake while Joel and Sarah sat on a swing and watched us. Jeremiah decided that if we were racing, we needed sponsors. He was Taco Bell, I was Pizza Hut. As we ran around the seemingly endless track, Jeremiah also played the role of announcer.

“Taco Bell is in the lead! But Pizza Hut is catching up!” He gave minute by minute reports until finally he announced, “Taco Bell and Pizza Hut need a break… they found a bench!”

We’ve also been swimming a couple times this week. The kids tried out their water wings. Sarah was soon swimming laps… Jeremiah is not as brave. He’s terrified that we might let go of him in deep water. Sarah was literally swimming circles around him.

We did have a truly terrifying experience at the pool. Jeremiah stood on a chair waiting for Joel to dry off. He fell backward. Still in the pool, I helplessly watched as my boy tumbled over the back of the chair and head first toward the rock paved ground. Surely he would break his head or neck. How could he not? Somehow he twisted and flipped just right. His head didn’t even touch the ground, he just rolled right over. The fall didn’t hurt him at all. But it did hurt me a bit.

Check out the videos at Kurdistan- The Other Iraq. There are more than just the ones on the front page. Browse through the rest of the site.

Click to see larger image.

Yesterday’s Pearls Before Swine cartoon asks, “Ever have one of those days?” I think we all have.

I love today’s strip: What are friends for?

Ironically, this is the song that was playing when I read today’s cartoon:

When the Rain Comes by Third Day.”
I can’t stop the rain
From falling down on you again
I can’t stop the rain
But I will hold you ’til it goes away”
- lyrics

Listen to When The Rain Comes by Third Day for free at Rhapsody.

“The Postal Service has created a special “kit” that contains the necessary mailing materials based on the most popular items ordered to send care packages to the troops. This kit may be ordered by calling 1-800-610-8734 and requesting CAREKIT04. The kit contains 4 Priority Mail boxes, 6 Priority Mail “Flat-Rate” boxes, 10 Priority Mail labels, one roll of Priority Mail tape, and 10 customs forms with envelopes. There is no charge for the kit. - source”

Of course you still have to pay the shipping though. Here are some Military Packaging Tips.

Stock up now so you’ll be ready to send my man some mail.

[via - Snopes]

My purse came in the mail this morning! Everything was just like I left it… in the gas station bathroom.

Someone paid 25 dollars to ship it Express Mail. They paid extra to get it to me as quickly as possible.

On Sunday at Central, Jim Bradford spoke about the importance of relationships and loving our neighbors. He said there are three kinds of people:

1. Those who say, “What’s yours is mine if I can get it.”
2. Those who say, “What’s mine is mine and you can’t have it.”
3. Those who say, “What’s mine is yours if you need it.”

Thankfully, the right kind of people found my purse.

What kind of person are you? Do you give more than you take?