Monday, October 24, 2011

What Happened to Thanksgiving?

What happened to Thanksgiving? I guess it really should be; what happened to the celebration of Thanksgiving? It seems that Thanksgiving has become a no-brainer. Does that mean people aren't really thankful for having everything that they have in their lives anymore?

From what I've noticed over the years, retail stores are shoving Christmas, Halloween and Valentine's Day down our throats every year at an earlier, more alarming rate. Christmas is the biggest celebrated, and the most profitable holiday for major department stores. Halloween has become the next most profitable holiday, with Valentine's Day following in a close third. Did retailers completely miss Thanksgiving?

But what has happened to good old Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving has apparently been lost in the shuffle.

When you go to any major department store, such as Macy's, Walmart, Sears or K-mart, there really isn't anything Thanksgiving-like to buy. If you wanted to purchase Thanksgiving towels, candles, and a dinnerware set with a big fat Thanksgiving turkey emblazoned on them, you most probably could not.
On the other hand, if you wish to buy Christmas, Halloween, or Valentines anything with a Christmas tree on it, a goblin, or with hearts on it, you can. One shining example is Target stores, where everything you ever wanted for Valentine's Day is placed throughout the entire store.

Thanksgiving has been shoved into the background.

 The only thing I can figure is that Christmas, Halloween, and Valentine's Day are celebrated by the entire world, thus allowing mass merchandisers, major retailers, and mom and pop stores the chance to make more holiday jingle. This means retailers do not stock their stores with a lot of Thanksgiving wares anymore, because the United States, and as far as I know Canada are the only countries celebrating this holiday.

It's also sad, because many millions of families are moving away from celebrating Thanksgiving in a more traditional manner. Families are spending their money on expensive trips to warmer locales, instead of teaching their children what the true meaning of Thanksgiving should really be.Copyright (c) 2011, written byfreelance author  Kate Johns

Friday, October 14, 2011

Perpuating the Myth of Santa Claus: Is he real or not? by Kate Johns

Finding out that there isn't a Santa Claus is like losing one's virginity.

It's a sad reality when a child finds out that the jolly man in the red suit with eight tiny reindeer really doesn't exist. And then for the child to realize that his parents, brothers and sisters and grandparents lied all those years. And there's really no explanation for perpetuating the myth that Santa Claus is real.

I found out in third grade. Before class started three boys were talking about what they wanted for Christmas. I listened to them talking for awhile, because I was the horribly shy kid. I enthusiastically chimed in saying that I had written a letter to Santa. Before I could tell them what I asked for, one boy said-and I'll never forget it-"You're kidding, you still believe in Santa Claus?" All three of these kids laughed at this.

My face was completely red with embarrasment. I wasn't going to let them get the better of me, so I stubbornly said, "Why what's wrong with that?" Leaning over the cute boy said, "There's no such thing as Santa." I sat there with my pencils in midair. All I could say was, "What?" One of the other kids said, "Don't tell me you still believe in Santa?" And then they all laughed again.

I was so shocked I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the day. I ran home from school still believing in Santa Claus. I ran into the kitchen where my Mom was starting dinner, and I asked, "Mom is Santa Claus real?" She looked at me and asked, "Who told you that?" I told her what happened at school.That's when she came over to me, bent down and said, "There is no such thing as Santa Claus."

I blurted out, "You're a liar." I ran up to my bedroom, and threw myself on the bed and cried.My older sister came into the bedroom. She asked, "What's your problem?" I told her that everyone was lying about there being a Santa Claus. She thought this was hilarious, and laughed away. She told me there was no Santa Claus and said,"Get over it." She left the room. My Mom came upstairs and explained to me that there is no Santa Claus. I asked a lot of questions. My mom said, "How could he fit through the chimney anyways?" I asked as I wiped away my tears, "Then who ate the cookies?" She said my father ate them, and that he was just like Santa because he had a great big belly. We both laughed.

When it came time to perpetuate the myth of Santa Claus again for our children, I told my husband that I wouldn't lie to our children. Then they wouldn't have to go through what we went through as kids. This is one of the many reasons I married this man. He said it's what you believe inside." The spirit of Christmas is what you have to give to others." And then he told me that he loved me, and we could believe in Christmas together. And then he said that we weren't lying to the kids we were making Christmas come alive for them.

I told him "You explain to them when they ask if Santa is real or not."

Real Life Hero Story: A story of True Courage

Most married women can not say this; my mother in law is my real life hero. In fact, I am quite sure many people will say the same thing about her. She is an incredibly remarkable woman. She came from a family that was poor, grew up during the depression, growing crops and raising chickens as their main supply of their food. She walked about six miles back and forth to school everyday, in shoes with holes in them.

What makes this woman a true hero? My mother in law is a hero in every sense of the word, because she gives of herself without complaining. My mother in law's sister, the oldest of the siblings, had cancer. They gave her radiation to combat the cancer that they found in her throat. She was in the hospital for a long time. My mother in law never once complained about her sister being sick. Never. She went to the hospital every day, and sat by her sister's bedside and talked to her and read to her. She was the driving force behind her sister's re-cooperation to better health. I could see the worry in her eyes, but she never said she was worried or talked about it as a problem.

When we thought my mother-in-law's sister was better, my mother-in-law was faced with a serious blow; she was diagnosed with yet another form of cancer. As I put my arms around my mother in law, I told her I would pray for her, and that I knew she would get better. I knew because she is a stubborn, strong fighter; she never gives up. As we sat there trying to face this horrific news, the next news shook us to the core. My father in law said that my mother in law's sister had cancer again, only this time they found it in her lung.

My mother in law did not complain, she even downplayed it, saying the cancer they found in her was very small. But it wasn't, the tumor they found in her was very large, which she told me several years later. She said we should not worry about her that we should instead turn our attention to her sister.

My mother in law had major surgery and weathered everything in only the way I knew she would, incredibly well. She was weak and tired for a while, but soon recovered her strength and was more concerned for her sister than for herself. As soon as she was able, she was back at her sister's home helping her, and doing everything she could for her.

My husband's aunt lived for several more years, attending several big events, while getting progressively worse. My mother in law did everything she could to help her sister, pretty much breathing life into her. I am quite sure that if she could have done more, she would have. You could actually see the worry on my mother in law's face, and I knew she was trying to figure out what she could do to keep her sister alive.

For her entire life my mother in law has been giving to other people. She gave clothing, gifts, and her time to people that she worked with at a major department store. And she would do so with a smile on her face and ask nothing in return. Today, she makes clothing and gifts for homeless children. She feeds those less fortunate than she is. She knows what it like to be poor, and doesn't want to see other people suffer.

The only other person in my life who I have found to be as strong and determined as my mother in law is her son, and that's why I married him.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Biggest List of Reality TV Shows for 2011

How many reality TV shows can you name off the top of your head? About 10 or 12 maybe? There are hundreds of reality TV shows showcasing their competitive nature and their inner immaturity in America alone.

Many of these reality TV shows are also shown in Canada, England, and Australia under different names or with that country's name in front of the title, such as Canada's Next Top Model. I came up with a current list of reality TV shows as of September 2011. By this time next year, half of these shows may be cancelled with a new roster of TV shows topping the list. The list I have created is long and varied, compiled by doing some good old fashioned research, and TV viewing. I did not include previously viewed reality TV shows, because then we would have to start in 1969 with a show about an American family shown on PBS.

Here is the BIGGEST list of reality TV shows:

Survivor
Amazing Race
Carfellas
Kendra
Holly's World (another one of Hugh Hefner's ex-bimbos.)
American Idol
X-Factor
The Voice
Mad Fashion
Rachel Zoe Project
Project Runway
Selling New York
Millionaire Matchmaker
19 Kids and Counting
Sister Wives
Kate Plus 8 (which was recently cancelled)
Celebrity Apprentice
The Edge With Peter Lik(on The weather Channel)
Storm Chasers
MTV's The Real World(which has been on since about 1992)
MTV's Jersey Shore
MTV's Cribs
Teen Mom
Hardcore Pawn
Pawn Stars
The Real Housewives of Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, Orange County, New York City, and Miami.
Extreme Couponing
Toddlers and Tiaras
Big Hair Alaska
Celebrity Rehab
Making the Band
Man vs. Wild
America's Next Top Model, with Australia's Next Top Model and Britain, and also Canada.
Confessions: Animal Hoarders
Hoarders
Extreme Hoarders
Extreme Makeover
Cake Boss
Chopped
Dinner Impossible
Man versus Food
Hell's Kitchen
Worst Cooks in America
Top Chef
Iron Chef
The Great Food Truck Race
Excused
Big Brother
Blind Date
Born to Dance
COPS
Campus PD
Dog The Bounty Hunter
Jail
The Apprentice
The Bachelor
What Not To Wear
Picker Sisters
American Pickers
Boot Camp
Britain's Got Talent
Dirty Jobs
Gene Simmons Family Jewels
Ice Road Truckers
Kitchen Nightmares
L.A. Ink
Miami Ink (However, L. A. Ink was cancelled this year.)
Top Chef
Tabatha:Salon Takeover
Sister Wives
Auction Hunters
Deadliest Catch
Bridezilla
Say Yes to the Dress
Whale Wars
The Biggest Loser
Nanny 911
Super Nanny
Intervention
Storage Wars
Kathy Griffin:My Life on the D-List
Keeping up With The Kardashians
Khloe and Lamar
Cheaters
The Great Race
Live to Dance
The Biggest Race
Auction Kings
Billy the Exterminator
America Haunts
Storage Hunters
Dancing With The Stars
Roseanne's Nuts(This show looks to have been cancelled after just two episodes.)
Ice Loves Coco

Personally, I'd like to see a Celebrity Hoarders TV show, or a Day in the Life series following real celebrities around for one day.Copyright 2011 (c), Written by Kate Johns. a professional author since selling her first greeting card saying in 2004.

Watching Sister Wives will Gross you out!

Was anyone as grossed out as I was while watching Sister Wives?
I was astonished, grossed out, and kind of curious as to how and why four women share one man.
Okay, first things first, here are the cast of players in a real life drama that is anything but boring:

Cody-----the husband of four women
Meri------The first wife of Cody, they have ond child together.
Jonelle----Is Cody's second wife. They have six children together.
Christine---Is Cody's third wife; until recently his last wife. She is kind of upset at being pushed aside for the new wife.
Robyn----Cody's fourth wife. She is the youngest, brings three kids to this huge freaky, relationship. Currently she is pregnant with Cody's 17 child.

Watching Sister Wives grossed me out.I found myself shaking my head, feeling like an old spinster sitting on her front porch watching a young couple making out on the front lawn.
If you have not watched Sister Wives yet, you have to watch this show to discover what it is like to be in a relationship with one man and four women.
I have to say, No, I don't feel sorry for Cody for having four wives, and 17 kids. He is the one who decided to marry four women after all. Yes, this is an alternative lifestyle. It's kind of like going back to the 1960's where men would have several girlfriends at once, as hippies lived an alternative lifestyle of having love-ins, doing drugs, living in a commune.

But, having multiple wives goes back farther than we are aware of with people of certain religious affiliations having as many wives as possible so that they can have as many kids as possible.
Men in other countries such as Kings have had several wives at once.

Does this make Cody a King? Not by any stretch of the imagination. My husband thinks he is crazy, calling Cody, "The poor moron."
After watching Sister Wives viewers will see how Cody runs from house to house as this extended family now lives in Las Vegas. You see in Sister Wives, Cody, his four wives and their numerous kids ran out of Utah due to Cody being a fugitive of the law.

Viewing Sister Wives will give you a look into multiple marriages, sharing, caring and in fighting between the wives. Cody on the other hand must be drinking tons of caffeinated beverages, taking steroids or doing illegal substances in order to stay awake long enough to father 17 kids, talk to, fight with, and have sex with four women.
Sister Wives is similar to watching a real life soap opera, is kind of interesting, and might make you feel lonely as you look around your home seeing that you only have two kids, not 17.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Thirty things kids born today will never experience

Did you ever think what kids born today will never experience? Kids will never enjoy many things because these things are outdated, gone, or have been replaced by something else.There are many more, that if you are older than 20 you will be able to think of what things, kids born today may never do, experience, see, find, or hold in their hands, such as phones with cords on them that used to hang in a certain spot in the kitchen.

1. Typing on a regular typewriter, not a computer keyboard.Typing on a standard typewriter.
2,  Kids born today will probably never use a payphone, or even know what one is.
3. Using a regular household phone.
4. Playing outside with friends, or alone----outside.
5. Watching TV on a black and white TV.
6. Using the dictionary to look up words, instead of using spellcheck.
7. Mailing letters in a street corner mailbox.
8. Buying penny candy.
9. Going to the library to check books out. Instead today's kids use the Internet.
10.Watching family hour television, with your family.
11. Walking to the drugstore alone.
12. Using library card catalogues to find information.
13. Writing on chalkboards.
14. Cleaning chalkboard erasers.
15. Kids born today will not know what a 45 single was,what a 33 album was, or even what that means.
16. They will not experience buying an entire meal at Mc Donald's for under a dollar.
17. They probably never will shop at Sears, unless they want to buy a new appliance.
18. Kids will not even know that Sears used to have a huge catalogue.
19. Kids born today will never know that Sears used to sell houses, and wedding dresses.
20. Kids born today may never experience a love in, or a sit in.
21. They  will never have to use dial up Internet service.
22. Kids may never experience going shopping at a small plaza, instead of an outlet mall, or a shopping mall.
23. They will never have the thrill of seeing Michael Jackson in concert---live.
24. Kids today may never have to read regular books, instead of using a Kindle.
25. Kids born today may never even know what a hardcover book is.
26. Kids born today might not experience the thrill of writing a letter to an older relative, and then walking to a mailbox to mail it. In fact kids might not even know what the term "snail mail" means.
27. Kids born today will never know that banks didn't charge fees to use your money.
28. Kids born today may never experience listening to songs without Autotune.
29. Kids will never experience a phone that has a party line, or has rotary dialer.
30. Kids today will never know that English used to be the main language Americans used.

Thirty things kids born today will never experience is what's happening today, Dude!! Copyright 2011(c), written by Kate Johns, who has been a professional author since 2004.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Is it better to be unemployed or employed?

Is it better to be unemployed or employed?
Currently in the United States the unemployment statistics are at about 8 percent. Current stats also say that only half of America is paying taxes.When you think about it, many millions of people would probably say it is better to have a job. But, with only half of Americans paying taxes, you might just have a stalemate when it comes to people having the desire to be employed or to be unemployed.

My husband would definitely fall into the category of he'd rather be employed. When he lost his job several years ago, I literally had to drag my husband out of the house, away from our land line phone, kicking and screaming to the neighborhood pool.
After settling in, with me embracing the glorious sunshine, my husband sat in a chair, flipped open a book on how to start a business, while the man who flopped down next to us, received a cell call.
The side of the conversation we heard went something like this, "Yeah, it's great, I'm getting unemployment for the entire summer. I'm kicking back, while my ex-wife works her butt off, and best of all, I don't have to pay child support for my kid."
I was disgusted, as I nudged my husband who was looking incredibly uncomfortable being out of his work element.

So, KT1Writes viewers--- is it better to be unemployed or employed? I'm only doing the more positive aspects, not the complaint----God, I would be here all day with the complaints!

Here are a few good aspects about having a job:
1. Get paid to work hard----job satisfaction.
2. Have pride, for yourself
3. Being responsible for yourself, your life, your home, kids, and society.
4. Life furthers itself. You can buy things, make bigger plans.
5. Life may be more rewarding when you are gainfully employed.

The positive aspects of being unemployed:
1. Becoming a beach bum.
2. Gaining more time with your family.
3. Time to develop another career.
4. Getting more sleep---maybe. But if you're anything like my hubby, you would get less sleep.
5. Finally get to see what goes on outside of work while slaving away for someone else.

Besides not having to pay taxes at least until next tax season is upon us, being unemployed may be the best thing in the world while you learn about all the things you missed out on while working. But, you may be the kind of person who is has a type tripe A personality that has to have a job, because as my husband said, "Being unemployed drove me crazy!" Copyright 2010, (c), written by freelance author Kate Johns.