This week Scotland released a convicted terrorist from prison on ‘compassionate grounds.’

Also, this week in North Dallas news it was announced that Lake Lavon has been infected with zebra mussels – an Eastern European species that is taking over the continental US. These harmful aquatic, hitch hikers are wrecking havoc on food chains and ecological systems. They colonize on anything in the water and can clog tubes, pipes, and boat engines.

Here’s where they were known to exist in 2000:

Notice, that then Texas wasn’t yet affected. Well, apparently now we are.

Zebra Mussels will colonize and destroy any available surface in water. They have no known predators and prey on anything irregardless.

They are invading my territory and I have no compassion for them whatsoever (even if they did originate from my well-beloved part of Europe and have cute little zebra stripes!) I say do whatever you have to to get rid of them!

So, my point is that terrorists are like these little pests. They won’t stop. They have nothing to stop them. They blasphemously ‘colonize’ in the name of religion and attack with no regard for human life. We’ve already showed compassion by civilly trying them in judicial courts and sentencing them to relatively safe and comfortable prisons. We haven’t blown them to shreds, dropped them from burning airplanes, decapitated them, or sliced them with shrapnel. Yet this is what they have done to us.

Ya know what Scots, you are real gentleman and there is something to be said about maintaining culture and values. So sure, release him from prison to die in peace. I’m fine with that. I’m even fine with notifying his family so that they can come visit his bedside. But come on, don’t publicly send him back home to be heralded a terrorist hero!

We do have to forgive, but we don’t have to be stupid.

I’m just sayin’.

Just the other day, I had a discussion with my parents about what event it is in a person’s life that takes them from young adulthood and catapults them into all out Adulthood (with a capital A).

There were many ideas thrown out there: marriage, graduation from college, moving away from home for the first time, financial independence from your childhood caregivers, first child, etc.

We had quite the intriguing conversation where each person in the room told about when it was in their lives that they felt they deserved the term ‘Adult.’ The most fascinating part was that everyone’s adult-event occured at very different ages.

The fact is that people progresses through certain stages of life at such incredibly different paces. I remember when I graduated from college, I felt slightly ashamed because many of my high school peers had already graduated almost two years prior and a lot of them were already either in the work force or at prestigious schools getting an even higher degree. In my mind it was okay becasue it wasn’t like I lolly-gagged through college or anything  – I just chose to take a break for a couple years and live in Europe for awhile. But the point is that I felt behind.

But what about all those kids in grade school that were there for eighth grade graduation but then it was like they just disappeared since I don’t ever remember seeing them again in high school. It’s fair to say that I felt ahead in that instance.

Why is it then that we tend to compare? Why do we coin terms like over-achievers and slackers? Is there even such a thing???

I say – whenever you start to feel ‘behind’ just remember that there is no such thing as ‘ahead.’ Just live everyday to its fullest in whatever position you are in!!

Besides just think how much richness and diversity can come when we don’t all ‘get there’ at the same time!

Well, I have to admit this sounds very crazy. But yes, it IS true – grade school teachers are in fact human beings. I didn’t believe it at first either. But just because I now know, don’t take my word for it. Go see for yourself to know it’s true.

All it takes is one perusal of facebook and you’ll find at least one of your very own classmates (who of course is a normal human being with kids and a family and feelings and everything!) that now teaches Math at the middle school you once attended. That’s how I came to know and you can too.

Quite odd, actually, that for all those years I never really saw the human-ness behind the desk. In fact, mere memories of almost robotic-like rhetoric masked the naivety of my youth.

Seriously, ever wonder why your 8th-grade English teacher hated you so much and why she always sent you to the hall even when everyone else was acting up just like you. Maybe it’s because she was human, she could see right through your cover, and she could tell that you had been taught better. Or maybe she was actually acting in revenge because she once dated your dad and then he dumped her.

Either way, I have an entirely newly-found outlook (and respect) for the human beings that were my teachers.

In light of the incredible success of the Cash 4 Clunkers campaign…I would like to propose another government program – only this time the $$$ shall be set aside for the DINKers in the neighborhood!

[Note: WE and I can now claim the official DINKers status. (Dual Income No Kids). Hence, of course, my current proposal.]

Here’s how the program will work:

1. Those qualifying will muster enough strength to gather up anything and everything that they can trade (i.e. eight full hours of sleep, full-time and normal work hours, relatively petite figures, and wait for it…their outlandishly, frivolous lifestyles (gasp!).

2. And then in return the government will provide cold hard cash (of which there’s obviously an endless supply) to those willing to make the trade from DINK to SINK. (Single Income Numerous Kids)

Anyone in favor say Aye!

(Ps. No need for it to actually stimulate the economy…none of the other govt programs do anyway.)

This weekend WE and I went on a Stay-cation with my parents. We met up in Austin on Friday night and then went the rest of the way down to New Braunfels to go to Schlitterbahn. Neither of us had been before and since the river is flowing so slow right now, we thought that it would be more fun to visit the water park.

We packed up our cooler, slopped on the sunscreen, and joined the thousands of other families standing in line to buy an incredibly overpriced plastic wristband. And wow, that’s exactly what we had coming – LINES and more LINES.

We even had to stand in line just to ride the bus from one section of the park to another. Our only saving grace was the fact that the weather was really great and at least it wasn’t burning hot as we stood in line. I think that in the 7+ hours that we were there, we rode a grand total of 5 rides (that couldn’t have lasted more that 20 minutes in combined duration). Wow, next time we go I’m definitely NOT going on a busy Saturday!

Now, so as to avoid leaving the impression that I’m complaining about this weekend – here’s what was priceless about our Stay-cation:

1) Not being in a cubicle all day!

2) Chattin’ with the parents about anything and everything from lot loans to the recession

3) Loose livestock in Dripping Springs

4) Chocolate chip waffles at the B&B