Thoughts from Kevin on Groundhog Day:

Hey – the Libs declared this a national holiday so corporate offices are closed.  You see, Al Gore and his Gang Green want people to focus on whether the Groundhog see’s his shadow.  They have a propaganda plan waiting for whatever the outcome.

If it’s sunny and he’s see’s his shadow —

“Sunny in February? — GLOBAL WARMING!!! WE’RE ALL DOOMED!!!!!

(unless of course you give up some of your freedom, alter your lifestyle as we dictate, pay higher taxes, obey our loony regulations and use our goofy ass light bulbs).

If it’s cloudy and he doesn’t see his shadow —

“Cloudy in February? — CLIMATE CHANGE!!! WE’RE ALL DOOMED!!!!!

(unless of course you give up some of your freedom, alter your lifestyle as we dictate, pay higher taxes, obey our loony regulations and use our goofy ass light bulbs).

You see, whether is hot, cold, warm, cool, sunny, cloudy, windy, raining, snowing — doesn’t matter, these forest de-rangers have got it covered.

But one thing they are having trouble keeping covered lately is the Truth.

From a friend of Sensible Life providing commentary on last week’s election:
We’re nowhere near happy days but man does it feel good – been humming “Happier Days Are Here Again”.  We now have “hope for change”.  The libs got hit by a truck last Tuesday night – driven by Mr. Brown and the people.  They felt they were entitled to that seat and their arrogance got them dropped like a sack of dirt.

I hope this will change their tune – if not, they will get slaughtered in November.

Speaking of tunes – after drubbing the Dems in NJ, VA and now MA…..think I will change the song to “Another One Bites the Dust”……..
Keep on Truckin’

I received the latest on the Obama birth record dispute at the link below. I’m still amazed that this president of our country has not been forced to provide his official birth certificate containing the seal that solidifies authenticity -especially when my son cannot get his vehicle tags transferred from one state to another without providing such proof of his birth. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles requires the birth record containing the seal. It is unfathomable how a man can run America without providing the proof that my son needs to make his vehicle legal in the State he lives in.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=122875

In just an hour a day I can paint my walls, change out my flooring, harvest crops on my farm and cook dinner in my restaurant for numerous customers. Have I discovered a new method of multitasking? Not at all. It’s virtual reality games that are making me that efficient, but the down side –it is just that. Virtual. While I’m playing these games, nothing gets done around my own house, so I’ve had to really restrict my time. I enjoy the games, but one can be too easily caught up in the several that are offered on Facebook.com. At one time, I had signed up for 6 different games. That’s right -6. Now I’m down to three again. Farmville, Farmtown & Mini Planet. The others had no residual benefits. Sure, I could create a zoo, or a fish world, run my own theme park, or even battle it out in Mafia Wars, but I found no benefit in participating in these. With the farming games and Mini Planet, I could let my creativity blossom. As a writer, it’s important to do exercises that stimulate creativity. For example, if I’m writing about a character and want to develop that character’s environment, I can go to Mini Planet and design her home. Perhaps she is from rural America, and in that case, I can develop her surroundings based on things in the farming games.

While such games are entertaining and often provide a relaxing diversion, it’s important to police yourself, making sure you’re not getting so involved it’s difficult to separate the game from reality. There have been cases of individuals mentally meshing with online games to the point they have lost their jobs, their homes and relationships for the sole purpose of building a virtual life. While I can’t get that much into a game, recently I wanted to purchase an item for my house and was trying to remember where I saw it. Unfortunately, it was on my online game.

To effectively evaluate yourself, answer the following questions. If you are guilty of any of these, make sure you prioritize your life with the people and things that matter most. The least of these should be your online games:
1. Do you go straight to your game the minute you get up?

2. Are you late for work because you just couldn’t stop playing?

3. Are you staying up too late because you just can’t stop playing/just want to achieve one more level?

4. Are you spending less time with family and more time gaming?

5. Are you sitting there with your laptop playing games while watching a movie  with your family on family night?

6. Are you calling in sick at work because you don’t feel like working and would rather live out your fantasy life in your online game?

7. Do you think about your games often throughout the day?

8. Are you shirking your chores at home because you’ve had a rough day and you’d prefer just to sit and play your game?

9. For believers, are you spending more time gaming than with God?
10. Do you have difficulty separating your real relationships from your virtual ones?

If you answered yes to any of these, you may be headed down that addictive path. Try weaning yourself off the games and spend a couple of days not playing at all. If you find it difficult to do that, you may have a problem, and I would encourage you to seek counseling before it gets out of hand.

 For those of you who answered no to the questions, happy gaming! You are approaching it from a healthy perspective with a bit of relaxing fun as your goal.

I’ve already purchased my first Christmas gift for the 2010 holiday season. That’s right. January 3rd, I saw something on clearance that my niece would love, so I bought it. For years, I’ve made a practice of picking up items here and there throughout the year, so when the Christmas season rolls around, I have less to buy in that short amount of time, and less shopping to do. This works well for my busy life and my tight budget.

For those of you who have difficulty putting money aside in a savings for gift purchases, this method may work better for you. Now, some of you may be saying, “That’s great. If I can get something ½ price after Christmas, then I can spend more on that person, right.”  Wrong. The goal is to benefit your budget, and with gift giving, it truly is the thought that counts. The key to making the gift special is your creativity. For example, there’s an e-book by one of our Sensible Life contributors, Marlene Alexander, and is featured in our Review section this issue. I could simply purchase the e-book and give it to someone, but wouldn’t it be more special if I downloaded it on a flash drive or SD card and wrap that up to give my friend or family member. Not only do they have a great book, but also a useable flash drive for their techie gadget collection.

It’s even more crucial to plan ahead when you’re making something from a craft such as knitted scarves or crocheted mittens, or even a poinsettia wreath for someone’s door. I remembering going to a local hobby store one year in January, and they had bundles of silk poinsettia’s 90% off. Each bundle cost me 10 cents apiece. When these flowers are hot-glued onto a wreath, it makes a really pretty Christmas display, and to add a special feature, use some white lights to add warmth to this holiday decoration.

Also take advantage of marked down craft books that are Christmas theme focused, so you’ll have them for the next year. Some hobby stores have free patterns on jewelry making, yarn crafts and the like. These are provided by the manufactures of such products to entice you into purchasing their brand. I always take advantage of these and keep them in a file at home. I may not need it at the time, but throughout the year, I may hear my daughter say she’d like a crocheted afghan, or some special earrings, and I’ll look through my patterns to see what I have.

One caveat that I would offer to anyone shopping early –have one special place to put any gifts you’ve collected over the year. There have been times when I’ve been doing spring cleaning and ran across a gift that I had forgotten about.

Not only does this practice help ease the strain on your budget, it also helps keep the Christmas spirit alive all year long.

Merry Christmas 2010!