Holly Cow... We hava a blog?

It's been so long I had forgotten about this... I'll try to post more regularly...

Phil

First post in almost a year!! If you're anti gun... well read on.

I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've posted here. Honestly I have to blame two life factors...

1. I've gotten kind of lazy and with all the stuff we're doing... I'm even more lazy with the non essentials.
2. Ella turned one year old last week. Everyone says that the third child changes everything, and they are right. It's taken me a year to get back in control. It only took Holly a week to get back in control so I guess I have no excuses.

For those of you who don't know I bought a couple of guns this year and I love them! I also got my conceal and carry permit. Now most of you who know me are probably scratching your heads a little but if you think deep and hard for a moment you'll realize that this really does fit my personality. I won't go into details about why I am actively participating in my constitutional right to own and bare arms but I "FEEL" inspired to do it. Enough said.

So tonight Holly and I decided to take the family out for a little walk. We used to walk a lot, before Ella came, and have just lately been getting back into it and I have an extra 20 lbs to prove that walking makes a difference in life. We took Tula with us. Tula is our 18 month old boxer. We also have Mahana (Boxer/Pit bull mix) but two dogs and 3 kids are just too much so we left Mahana home. I generally push the BOB stroller (if you aren't in the know google B.O.B. strollers, they are AWESOME!!!) with Natalie and Alana in it. Holly wears Ella in a backpack.

Tonight we went on a longer than usual walk and since it's been getting dark earlier it's always dark when we walk. I always have my 200 candle light Fenix flashlight (properly called a torch), so the darkness isn't usually an issue. Besides we live in a pretty good neighborhood especially for West Phoenix!

We were walking past a church friends house and across the street there was a home with a couple of big guys standing outside. They looked pretty suspicious but we were across the street and walking past them so I didn't really think anything of it. Holly was telling be about something that had happened during the day and we just kept on walking. After about 20 yards I checked to see what the guys behind us were doing. The bigger of the two had started walking down his side of the road following us and the other one had ducked into the house and turned off the garage light. My spidy senses stated to tingle big time. We kept walking and I checked the guy and he was catching up to us. I was pushing the stroller so I stopped, turned the cart around and asked Holly to push. We started walking back the way we had came, back toward our house and closer to a main road. I put Tula's leash in my left hand on my pinkie finger so I could drop it fast and held the Fenix light in that same hand with it switched off. I discretely reached back with my right hand to adjust my cell phone out of the way and clicked the safety off on my 9mm Slim Taurus, all the while starring down our guy across the street. As we passed Holly started to walk more quickly, (I hadn't said anything to her about the guy following us) which was fine with me, I wanted space between everyone else and I if something went down. After 20 yards I again checked on my guy, he had turned around and was headed back toward the house. As we passed the house the 2nd guy came out of the half opened dark garage so I stared him down too. After another 20 yards I checked again and both guys had stayed at their house. I noted later that there was a lady standing our side of a different house half a block up the road on a cell phone. I think that she was the lookout for the guys up the street. I suspect that they were probably selling drugs.

When we got back out to the main road I safetied the gun, put the light away and took over stroller duty. I'm glad that things wend down the way that they did. At no time was I afraid at all! I knew what to do. I had to tools needed to protect my family. Most importantly I knew that I was more prepared and better trained than any common drug dealer to handle these guys. They wouldn't expect a guy with 3 kids and his wife to be packing and that surprise was literally my ace up my sleeve.

So nothing happened and I don't know what kind of intentions these goofballs had but I was aware of my surroundings and as soon as I felt the hair on my neck rise up a little I bugged out and got my family to safety.

I've been following a blog about urban survivalist at http://ferfal.blogspot.com called Surviving Argentina. Ferfal is the author and he's awesome. He hasn't really made me scared just aware and willing to prepare to protect my family if our economy goes south.

So there you have it. My personal, "I'm glad I had a gun story" and I didn't even need to touch the gun. On closing if you think about it the Police aren't there to protect you from a crime, they're only there to respond and clean up the mess after the crime has happened. I think that we all need to be adults about this stuff and take the steps needed to protect ourselves from those who would do us harm. That doesn't mean buying and carrying a gun for everyone but we can all do something more to protect ourselves and our fellow good guys from all the bad guys who would take advantage of our reliance on the police who can't do it all.

Take care and Good Night!

Phil's solution to all Money Problems, Government or Personal It's all the same!

So I've been thinking a lot lately. I know that's a shocker! But really, I've been thinking about Taxes, personal finance, and MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEYYYYYYY (feel free to sing along).

Those who know me well know that I'm a growing Dave Ramsey "kill your debt" fan. I think that Dave has really changed my view of money. Today on his radio show he had the founder of Hobby Lobby (my wife's favorite store) on. Hobby Lobby just adjusted their minimum wage to $11.00 an hour— pretty awesome compared to other retailers (Wal-Fart). But really caught my ear were two things: 1) "we have no debt" and 2) "the Bible says all the money is God's and we think that the Bible is a pretty good book so we subscribe to that philosophy. It's not our money; it's God's and we're just stewards of it. It's a lot easier to give away God's money than your own."

HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!!

I once had a sales job where we provided products to our clients who then sold them to others. We had a deal that we would give our clients their order and not expect payment for 30 days (net 30). I had one company who was my biggest customer and they never paid within the 30 days. So I had huge orders on hold waiting for these HUGE payments all the time which meant that my little commission was also on hold. I had a great boss who really tried to help me help my customers pay up. I just didn't get it. I hated to hound my customer to pay their bills. (I don't know how I ended up in banking with this kind of attitude. . . .)

Finally my boss was so frustrated with me that he lost his cool. "Phil, collections is really simple. The customer ordered and got the merchandise. If it's what they wanted then they pay. If it isn't what they wanted then they send it back and they don't pay. There are no other options!"

Low and behold when I repeated this word for word to my customer he said "Your right, here's my check."

Why do we have to make taxes, government finances, and personal finances so complicated when there's really nothing complicated about them.

Taxes- You live, play, or partake of the United States of America. You should help pay for that, PERIOD.

1. No more free rides: Everyone Pays something. I love the idea of the flat tax. If it works for God in the form of tithing 10% then why won't it work for the government? Now, fine— if we have to have a graduated tax where the wealthier pay a little more, okay, but keep it simple.
2. I heard on the radio yesterday that our current tax code was something like 90,000 pages long... That's just plain STUPID! It should fit into a 30 page pamphlet! What if you just printed 20% in 190 pt font on one piece of paper. DONE!

Government Finances-

1. Spend what you have, NO MORE! (You might want to save 15% for a rainy day too.)
2. If your tax income is short of your budget by 20% then every program gets cut 20%. This is the only "fair" and adult way to handle the situation. This would include education, health care and even libraries and police forces. This isn't rocket science.
3. NO MORE DEBT!!! MY GRANDKIDS CAN'T AFFORD IT!
4. This works for federal, state, and local governments.
5. I triple dog dare any pansy politician to make this happen and they will go down in history as one of the greatest Americans since Ben Franklin.

Personal Finance-

1. Stop acting like spoiled little brats.
2. Parents: stop bailing out your adult kids! It's not helping them be ADULTS!
3. STOP SPENDING MORE THAN YOU MAKE!
4. If we all start living within our means, our economy will crash pretty hard, but I have a shocker here for you: if we don't do it now, the coming crash when we all go bankrupt will be much worse. The reality is that America is bankrupt right NOW. We spend too much money.
5. We're all trying to have everything. I'm a perfect example of this. Every week it seems like there's something else that I have to have. Last month it was a used car dealer's license. This week it's a really scary looking gun that I can use to scare the snot out of any bad guys who come into my house. Bottom line is that I can't afford it right now so I need to BUDGET, SAVE and EARN what I really want.
6. Money is really simple.

• Debt is a chain that will strangle you, it's NOT a tool. If you can't afford it, you don't really need it—you only want it. (Certain exceptions apply, like heart transplant surgery. However, education is included in this. If you can't afford it, you don't need it! Save your way because the burden of student loans won't go away for a long time and the odds aren't 2-1 that you'll make more money. Also included are houses, cars, cloths, food, TV, appliances, yards, pools, solar panels, patios, furniture, and any other consumables that drive our consumer economy).
• If you want more, figure out a way to make more.
• Live on what you have. "Do you really need a BOB stroller or do you just want one?"

So there you have it... Why do we make this stuff so dog gone complicated?

Peace and love to all. I'm a novice at this stuff and still don't apply it very well but my eyes have been opened, I've seen the light, I have tasted of the fruit and know that it is good.

Phil

P.S. here's what's at stake.

P.p.s. I was in Denver a few weeks ago and saw this truck.. Look really closely at what's written in the dirt.

Things that I just don't understand. Please Help ME!!!

1. Why some people stop 1-4 car lengths behind the white line at a stop light. This is especially confusing to me when there is a ton of traffic and this person singlehandedly backs traffic through the intersection behind them. There must be a reason for this behavior that just doesn't penetrate my thick skull? I've been tempted to get out of my car in these situations and just ask politely, why? PLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND!
2. Why my kids want to watch TV instead of go on a walk but they want to sit in the stroller to watch TV.
3. Why do people like NASCAR? I've been watching and trying to like it for a long time but honestly these guys drive around in circles (except for one race every season where the ex F1 drivers are actually competitive), their cars are all using ancient technology and it's basically really expensive bumper cars. I don't get it.

More to come latter I have kids crying...

Phil

A story about a girl, a car and the Dad that is so proud.

I'm going to attempt to tell a story and do it justice. It's a true story but honestly I'm not much of a story teller so....

Part 1

About a month ago the entire family and I were on our way to the zoo. We go to the zoo often and this time I thought I'd take a little detour. My plan was just to drive by the famed Ferrari dealership in Scottsdale (only a 10 min detour on the way to the zoo). When we got there Eleanor was screaming and Alana was asleep. Holly suggested that we park somewhere close and that I take Natalie to go look at the cars. I really love how kind my wife is. She lets me indulge and dream.

Natalie and I ran up the road to the dealership. We talked about each car, what we liked best and what we didn't like. Natalie liked the HUGE wheels on the Rolls Royce, which would make her Grandfather very proud! She decided that her favorite car was a red Ferrari F430 Spider with the racing wheels and side badges. She thought that the Yellow Lamborghini was pretty cool too but the Ferrari was a horse car. The badge was what sealed the deal for her.

Feeling guilty that I left Holly in the car with a screaming baby we headed back to the van and I thought that something special just happened there but didn't really know what it was. We went to the zoo and had a great time.

Part 2

Latter that week we were driving to visit some friend, again everyone was in the mini-van (it's important to note that our mini-van has the highest rated horsepower offered in a mini-van... thus the ONLY reason I agreed to buy one... just under 300 horsepower). I love to stomp on the gas when the light turns green and blow the doors off of the boy toy honda racers. It makes me feel manly. On this occasion both Natalie and Alana squealed with JOY!!! From that time on whenever we're in the van Natalie calls from the third row seat "Go FAST Daddy". What kind of father would I be if I didn't give when my child asks so kindly. I think that there is a scripture about that somewhere (Yes I feel like Ricky Bobby some times).

Part 3

The other day Holly was driving with the girls. She and Natalie were talking.

Natalie, "I need to go to the car store."

Holly, "OK."

Natalie;"I want a new car Mommy."

Holly, "We just bought a new car and I like the van. Do you like the van?"

Natalie, "Yeah but we need another new car Mommy."

Holly, "I don't think that we're going to get a new car."

Natalie, " But I want a Horsy car!"

Holly, "What's a horsy car?"

Natalie, "A Horsy car with lots of money in it."

Holly, "That sounds nice...."

A day or two after this conversation we figured it out. Natalie indeed was emotionally touched by the incredible Italian craftsmanship that is a Ferrari and she wanted one, with money in it!

Part 4

Tonight Natalie woke up from her nap on the wrong side of the bed, Alana was walking around the house screaming, Eleanor was hungry and I was food poisoned. We were not a happy family. Then it hit me. The solution to all of our problems was in Scottsdale! I asked Natalie if she wanted to go to the Horsey car store. I knew the answer before I asked. She jumped off my lap and ran for her shoes. Alana let out her favorite thing to say: "YEAAAAAHHHHHH!!" (but she says it in more of a dragon growling way). Holly was a great sport and we all jumped in the van at 7:00 at night.

It was awesome. Natalie ran from car to car pointing to the horses and touching the lights. Again she decided that she liked the Red F430 Spider and stood at the window staring at it.

Alana had a great time too and she really liked the Maseratis. We had a great time and here are the pictures to prove it!

I am a proud father!

Now I just have to figure out how to make enough money to buy one.

But I am secure in my dream that some day one of my girls will be a race car driver. Rolex series races on Saturdays baby!!!

Nursery Rhymes

It is common knowledge that “Ring Around the Rosies” is really about the black plague. “Pop Goes the Weasel” is about hat makers in London. All of these nursery rhymes come from somewhere.I was reading Mary Englebrieit’s Mother Goose today with Natalie (a fabulous book, by the way). I really connected with the old woman who lives in a shoe. I bet there’s a story behind that one. My imagination has filled in the blanks.

I bet the mom wrote it herself. I bet she felt older than she was due to a lack of sleep and overall exhaustion. I’m going to guess that she was in her late 20’s or thereabout. I think the living in a shoe thing was a metaphor because she felt like her kids walked all over her. I even know how many kids she had. She had three.

When you have one kid crying, you hold him or her. If you have two crying children, there’s room on Mom’s lap for both. I bet every mom who has ever had three children crying at the same time has exclaimed, baffled, “I have so many children, I don’t know what to do!”

Don’t get me wrong. I love my kids, speaking of them individually and not collectively. Every day I have at least some one-on-one time with each of them, and I can look into their innocent little faces and marvel at their amazing spirits. They are the greatest treasure that could be entrusted to me.

When you get them all together, though, they turn into the giant three-headed monster “NaLaNore” and wreak all sorts of havoc. If we have to leave for the pediatrician’s office, for example, Natalie will start to cry because she wants to stay home and play with her horse stable, Alana will trip for no discernible reason and clonk her head on the coffee table, and Eleanor will blow out her diaper. While I change the baby, Alana will push a chair to the counter, reach a glass of water, and dump it on her head. As I clean that up, Natalie will remove her shoes and hide them so effectively that I won’t find them for months, the baby will chip away at my sanity by screaming the whole time, and so on and so on. They have some sort of mental telepathy that allows them to coordinate these things.

So hundreds of years ago, a woman was being driven so nuts by her children that when a little incessant voice whined, “Mommy, tell me a story!” over and over, she leaned over and through gritted teeth said, “I’ve got one for you!” I bet by the time she talked about spanking them soundly and sending them to bed, the kid backed off. And in some sick, twisted way, knowing that other moms throughout time have felt the same gut-wrenching frustration that sometimes comes my way makes me feel just a little bit better.

Thank goodness for little helpers!

As a mother of three little ones, life can get a trifle hectic. More accurately, it is chaos over here most of the time. Still, I am grateful for the little helpers I have around the house. The older two girls are only too happy to help me with lunch. Alana got this yogurt all by herself!



I also get a lot of help cleaning. Here is Tula our faithful (-ly annoying) dog taking care of the yogurt mess. Yes, there is work to be done in our household, but when you learn to delegate tasks like I have, it becomes easier.














Thanks, Tula, for getting the face too!