Tuesday, March 23, 2010

God Help Us and Wake Up People!

CHILLING LETTER TO OBAMA
Subject: A LETTER FROM A PROCTER AND GAMBLE EXECUTIVE TO THE PRESIDENT
THE LAST SENTENCE IS THE MOST CHILLING

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management.. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and "class", always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the "blame America"' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer "wind mills" to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh's, Hannitys, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

*This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it. Big surprise. Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over 500,000 hits. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing. It's happening right now.

In 8 years, Lou may be right and I may not be able to even post this. God help us and wake up people!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Granny's Prank Call

Last week when I was hanging out with Kendra's cheer squad, the girl's were placing prank calls to their friends and family. This one particular girl, Taylor, could do a great Chinese impersonation. She was calling people in a strong Chinese accent saying, "Hello, vuuuu like cheeeken? You want me bring you some cheeeeken?" It was hilarious. I listened to a few of her phone calls and then, had an idea. :)

So, I approached this girl and said, "Hey, let's call my Granny." And we did. This is what happened.

The phone rang three times before I heard that familiar, sweet voice, "Allo?" (remember Granny has a strong, spanish accent). Taylor began, "Uuuu vant cheeeken?" My grandmother said, "Who dis?" She said, "Tis da cheeeken laaaady!, Uuuuu vant some cheeeeken?" Granny spoke up, "WHO DIS? DIS BIKKI?" Taylor said, "Noooooo! I told u, I CHEEEEKEN LADY!, Uuuuu vant cheeeeken?" Granny said, "No, I no want cheeeken. I tink jew have wrong number?" I quickly whispered in Taylor's ear and told her my grandmother's name. So, she went on. "Uuuuu name Esperanza? I hear u make gooooood cheeeeken, so, uuuuuu vant cheeeeeken or not?" My grandmother was insistent. "WHO DIS?!"

This girl was good. "I tell u already, I cheeeeeken lady!! I have lots cheeeeken, teriyaki cheeeeken, bar-b-que cheeeeken, all kinds cheeeekken, u want cheeeken?!!?!?!?

What happened next was priceless. My sweet, precious, little Granny lost her patience and in her most stern voice spoke loud and clear as she responded,

"NO, I TELL YOU ALREADY, I NO WANT CHEEEEKEN!!! I GONNA MAKE FISH!"

And with that, she hung up.

Monday, March 1, 2010

*&$% Happens!

What a great, fun day at Disneyland with Kendra, Kolby, lots of friends and Kendra's cheer squad! We had a blast all day. We rode every ride, saw an Elvis Show and laughed our heads off together.

Kolby had a riding buddy and was having the time of her life. This was the first time since she was 6 that she's been to Disney, so it would be the first time she'd remember it all. I was so thrilled to see Kolby having such a great time! She even danced on the streets during the parade, as one of the dancers picked her out of the crowd to be his partner!

But, then tragedy hit. During the last ride of the night on Splash Mountain, Kolby lost $51 bucks of her own money (it must have fallen out of her pocket) and the battery to her brand new Canon digital camera. She was crushed. She tried her best not to cry, but not hard enough. I held her and tried my best to comfort her, but she was not buying it. Here she'd had this great day at Disney, only for it to be ruined in the last hour! She said, "Disney HATES me!!!"

So, I decided to try and use it as a lesson. I said, "Kolby, let's look at it this way. Let's imagine a family spending the day at Disney, who shouldn't have even been there because they couldn't afford it, were praying all day for God to help them somehow. Maybe they didn't even know how they were going to feed their kids dinner. They kept smiling because they didn't want their kids to know how worried they were." I went on. "Just imagine, what if they were praying and asking God to help them find a way to either eat or buy a small souvenir to remember the day, but had NO money to do it. They knew they shouldn't have been at Disney, but they were tired of telling their kids no, we can't afford this or that and decided to just do it. Think about that! What if that were true? Just think about how God used you to bless them. Sometimes we have to sacrifice for others to be blessed. Try to think about your money being in the hands of someone who really needed it, found it and cried knowing God heard their prayer."

She looked at me in tears and said, "OK, Mommy. I can see that, but what about my camera battery? Was someone praying for a specific Canon Digital Camera Battery?! What about that?" I looked at my baby and said, "Don't have a good explanation for that one, baby, but all I can say, Kolb, is *&$% happens."

We both laughed so hard and then all was good.

Kendra's On Her Way


Kendra is a senior this year and will be graduating on May 27th. I still can't believe it. There once were four, but soon, there will be one living at home. Kendra has been accepted to the U of A and we received word last week from her school that she'll be graduating with Honors. She has always been a great student, never likes to be late for class and has rarely missed school throughout her high school career. In other words, I'm a very proud mother and she's a great kid.

Kendra's last cheerleading competition was held last weekend in Hollywood, CA. Because of our busy schedules, we made a decision not to go. She didn't seem to mind. However, at the last minute, literally the last minute, I decided Kolby and I should make the trip. I knew that George couldn't go because of responsibilities at work, but didn't have a good reason for the two of us not to attend. I decided to surprise her. We were able to travel with her boyfriend, Gabriel and his family (their daughter is also a cheerleader), which was great for me. They were fun traveling companions and I didn't have to drive! When we showed up at Disneyland on Friday, she was surprised. Well, a little. She said she "had a feeling" we were coming.

It was a great day being with my two youngest daughters and riding Space Mountain together! And on Saturday, watching her last cheer competition was well worth the trip. As I sat in the audience of the Gibson Theatre, watching my baby on stage, I realized this could be the last time I'd see my Little Sweet Pea cheer. After so many years of supporting her sport, this moment brought tears to my eyes. It was surreal. They really do grow up fast. My daughter has grown into a beautiful, young woman and sharing this moment with her was amazing. I thank God for the decision I made to go.

It definitely was the right one.