Common Sense Killed the Cat?

I am a firm believer in "Common Sense"...it has been ingrained into me since I was young. I often heard the phrase used by my mother and father, as well as my very wise grandpa Hugh, whenever I was hanging out with friends, going to the swimming pool, or heading off to town on my bike and eventually car.  It has always been there for me and I now marvel at the vast majority that don't use it.

Definitions (that apply to this blog...because there are many):

Common: [kom.uhm] -adjective: widespread; general; ordinary: common knowledge.
              Synonyms: universal, prevalent, popular
Sense: [sens] -noun: something that is reasonable; the value or worth of something; merit
                     -verb: to grasp the meaning of; understand
                     - Idioms: to regain one's good judgement or realistic point of view
              Synonyms: awareness, apprehension

Unfortunately it seems to have skipped my generation, for the most part, and if something is not done to teach the following generation it will slowly but surely become extinct.  Here are a few questions that should be easy to answer and are fairly well known:

1. If you don't turn in your homework on time, what grade will you get?
2. What do you do at a stop sign?
3. What is the legal drinking age?
4. Who do you call in case of an emergency?

I could go on all night, but I think you get the point.  What is so difficult about knowing right from wrong, yes from no, and having morals?  Here is the answer plain and simple, we no longer think for ourselves.  We let the government decide, our addictions decide, and most of all the media.  We have become so dependant on who says what, that we no longer have a grasp on reality.

Examples:
These past months if you read the headlines on cnn.com you will see that it has reported many earthquakes since the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti this past January.  This was a tragic time for that country and I applaud the out reach that not only our country but many gave to Haiti in its time of need.  But I digress, I found myself glued to their home page waiting to see when the next one hit, thinking "what is happening in the world".  A few days later I came to the realization that earthquakes happen everyday and that they are not a rarity.  But because they were reporting all the quakes it sucked me into this unrealistic belief that something bad was happening and that it could be the Apocalypse or Armageddon.

This can also be said about mines collapsing, oil spills, hate crimes and even politics.  I am not being insensitive to these horrific events and in the case of the miners from Chile, miracles.  I am simply saying that the media has got us where they want us, and they know it.

The same can be said for an alcoholic that says "one won't do any harm" and then one turns in to 2 and then in to 5.  The addiction has taken over and this person can no longer make common sense decisions and all that matters is "where is my next drink coming from".

Religions can have the same effect on people too, but I won't go in to that tonight.  I do believe in god but I don't need someone telling me what scriptures to live by, when that person picks and chooses which ones they want others to live by and forgets the others because they "don't apply to them".

Along with "Common Sense" comes the word "Responsibility"...yeah that is a big word for a lot of people.  I am not only talking about responsibilities at work and home but in choices as well.  These choices can be anything from driving drunk or calling a designated driver, buying your 100th pair of shoes or milk for breakfast or even facebooking at work (guilty) or finishing a task for the day.  The choices you make shape who you are and what your future has in store for you.

Lesson of the day: Common Sense does NOT kill the cat but if you can't think for yourself and make good choices the cat may kill you with its own common sense. 

BTW- I do know that the phrase is actually "Curiosity killed the cat", I just liked the play on words. 

Sunday at Home.

I often find myself not wanting to be in one place very long and that includes home.  It might be different if we owned the house we live in, but even so laying low or catching up on chores isn't my favorite day to spend a Sunday.Yesterday was the exception.  I wasn't sick and there wasn't a Glee marathon that I had to catch, nope it was just a nice day to clean, read, cook and play games. 

It started out with a quick trip to the grocery store for the essentials, while Chad got ready to cook french toast for breakfast.

Grocery List:
- Coffee
- French Vanilla Creamer
- Toothpaste
- Dog Food

I plugged the iPod in and selected "Broadway Favs" on my playlist and away I drove.  One of my favorite times is in the car with the music blaring and singing as loud as I want.  I think it is therapeutic and often leaves me in a good mood.

Grocery shopping was a success and the list grew to include syrup and the ride home consisted of more singing.

Breakfast was great and then the cleaning commenced. Two loads of dishes were done and counters scrubbed, all while planning my next step, get dinner in the crock pot and bake some snacks.  One of my major weaknesses is my grandmothers ChexMix.  Since I was a little kid I remember sitting at my grandparents kitchen counter and eating this Delicious snack whenever she made it.  It wasn't until recently that I decided I could make it...and make it I do.  It is made with Krispix instead of Chex and then you add other goodies of your choice.  I prefer Gold Fish, Pretzels and sometime peanuts.  Here is the receipt if you wanna try it yourself...watch out it is addictive.

Krispix Mix (ChexMix):
6 Cups Krispix
4 TBSP Oilio (Margarine or Butter)
2 tsp Lemon Juice
4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp All Purpose Seasoning Salt
Garlic Salt Optional (I say use it).

Preheat your oven to 250 f.  Mix the melted Olio, Lemon Juice, Worcestershire Sauce, Season Salt and Garlic Salt in a bowl.  In a large cake pan add your Krispix, and desired munchies (pretzels, gold fish, peanuts or any other nuts you would like) and pour the olio mixture over the top of it.  Stir it so you coat the mix with the sauce and pop it in the oven.  You will cook it for 45 mins. but every 15 mins. you need to take it out and stir it up. Let cool and you are ready to snack away.

Once I was finished with that it was time to read and knit.  Yes, I did say knit.  I find it very relaxing and soothing.  Right now I am working on a scarf for Chad.   The yarn is different shades of green and brown and the pattern is like a ribbed stitch...but without all the pearling. I would share it with you but it seems like the link is down, if you would like it let me know and I can try to explain it.

We have Chad's cousin Anthony staying with us for a couple weeks before he goes back to Washington state so we called up our new friend Jeremy to come over for Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Pinochle.  By now you may be thinking that I am starting to sound like an old man (or in the knitting case an old grandma) but I assure you that these are fun activities. 

I am a newbie when it comes to Pinochle but I am catching on quick.  There are so many rules and little quirks that you have to learn for this game.  I learned last night that if you have any part that makes up a Pinochle you should bid 17 to let your partner know that what you have.  Jeremy and I were teamed up against Anthony and Chad.  They kicked our butts quite handily, thanks to a 720 trick play.

After Jeremy left Anthony's girlfriend Wendy joined us.  Wendy and I decided to be team Frostbite (because we are both usually cold) while Chad and Anthony were team Inferno.  Well what can I say Team Frostbite put a chill on them they couldn't shake,  Frostbite won by a landslide.

By this time it was time to say goodnight and read a few more chapters in the my book, then crash for the night.  With "Into the Woods" playing in the background, I dozed off to sleep.

Today's lesson:  We spend a lot of time focusing our energy on work and what we don't have that we forget to be thankful and celebrate what we do have.  As cliche as it might sound, we should "Take time to stop and smell the roses".