Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I missed seeing everyone and hope that you all had a happy and healthy 2008. Here are some pictures from Christmas at the Olczak house. Grandma is quite the Wii bowler. I'm not kidding - she beat all of us (and I was definitely not going easy on her).

Best of luck to everyone going into '09. Please keep in touch! ~ Love, Ragan

Here's to the future...

While we all have different political beliefs, I hope that we can all look to the future with a positive outlook based on tonight's results. This is truly a monumental moment on many counts. I personally am overwhelmed with emotion and hope. Hope that finally, maybe other countries will begin to change the way they view America (and Americans) and hope that citizens of our country really will come together and over come these extremely tough times we're facing and finally (finally!) have a positive outlook on the future and HOPE that it can only improve from here.

The Great Tall Hunter

Last year I went Bowhunting for the first time and I got hooked on it. Recently I went on my first full hunting expedition. For those of you who don't know, Janet and I purchased Denver's old cabin, er trailer, which is located in the Manistee National Forest. Although I can't at least boast that it is a double-wide, it is enough for me... for now. Outside the trailer is God's country. It is beautiful and peaceful, bursting with wildlife, and I was there to kill some of them. To set the PETA family members at ease, I was not successful. In any event, it got me thinking... I'm not too sure how many members of my family actually hunt. So, for those of you who actually check this page from time-to-time, I ask that question to you. Who, among us, is an active hunter? When I say active, I mean currently owns a bow or rifle and has sat in the woods with it in the last, oh, five years or so.

My next expedition may be this winter to hunt Coyotes. Other than that, I have just been spending time working on the house, raking leaves, and studying the Michigan Campaign Laws for my run in two years for state congress. I'm currently looking for a shady real estate mogul, an unrepentant terrorist and an anti-American Preacher to help get me connected in Michigan politics. Oh yeah, and to practice winning economic policy, I am forcing Jordan to sacrifice one letter grade, from straight As to straight Bs, that he worked so hard for, and giving those points to those who are partying and only getting Cs, thus giving them straight Bs. He has already threatened to move to Canada. What he doesn't know is that he already lives there.

So, what is everyone doing these days??? Start posting.

News: We sold our house!

Hi everyone! Craig and I sold our house after it being on the market for just THREE weeks in Toledo. We're floored. (We put it on the market on a whim. Who knew it was going to sell!?)

I have a week-long event for work I plan in Cabo until the 25th of October, then we're coming home the 27th and will be packing and moving out entire house (we never took any furniture, etc.) to storage in time for the closing on the 31st of October. Well then be heading out first thing the next morning to get back to work. It will be a whirlwind trip.

We're soon going to officially be considered ex-pats. Crazy!

Depression

It's a scary time in America. The Dow Jones is down another 600 points today as Washington has not passed the Emergency Economic Bill. Although this affects all of us, it's interesting to watch this go on. Why? Because what has essentially happened is that the crooks have been exposed. This crash of the market and fall of the banks has unmasked what we already knew about Washington but couldn't prove. Rich men and women have been running and winning seats and have been setting up shop with the help of those who have enough money to influence policy. Now, we see what they really are and they are scrambling to cover up. But they can't. Family, I am not making a political statement. They are all on the side of money, not US! No big revelation there, but this is why we need to dig into where candidates stand on issues and quit voting for candidates who look good and speak well. The bill set before the Congress is socialist. In other words it puts the government into the private sector. No matter how hard times may get, we cannot have this. And we need to start standing up for ourselves. Call your congressman and senator and demand they find another way to help us out, instead of sticking this trillion dollar band-aid on a gaping wound.

I've been thinking for some time now about getting into politics. This weekend I got a sign from God. A man stopped by on his bike. He looked like Santa claus and he was running for our state congress. After talking to the man for about a half hour it dawned on me: With all due respect, if this man could do it, I could do it better. I'm tired of these rich Ivy league schmucks running our government with their only experience being that they are plugged into the IN group through their schooling. They are not looking out for us. They are simply looking out for their rich pals. Politics as usual has never been so rampant in our government. It's time for us to vote these morons out. I am following in my father's footsteps and entering the political realm. I have a long, hard road to travel, I know, but I have nothing better to do. In the words of Peter Finch in the movie Network:

"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!!"

God Bless America

DC

Blessings

It's a beautiful autumn Saturday morning here in Southeast Michigan. I hope you are all doing well and taking a break from the rigors of weekday life. This weekend summer officially turns to fall and I hope you can all take the time, as I do, to count your blessings. If you're like me, you may find yourself falling into the pit of negativity. Just watching the evening news is enough to turn the strongest optimist into a sniveling pessimist. So it is always good to take a few minutes to take stock in how are lives are truly blessed.

Some of us may be going through some hard times--financially, physically, mentally, relationally-- but it is never a bad idea to focus on the positives in our life, no matter how hard at certain times that is to do. Some of us have lost loved ones this year. As the holidays roll around we will think of them more, but let us not become bitter for they would not want that for us. God doesn't shoot from the hip. He has a plan.

For those of you who need it, here is a quick tutorial on how to and how not to count your blessings:

How to: Although my job can be stressful at times, I am truly thankful I have one.

How not to: Although my job can be stressful at times, I am thankful for it, with the exception of that son-of-a-bitch Tom in HR with his constant lurid stories about the size of his dog's bowel movements and his boring antecdotes on how to properly mow your grass...

You get the picture.

I bring all this up because it dawned on me the other night, while watching the nightly news, that we have become accustomed to overaggression. We are people walking around with elephant guns ready to shoot at the first ant that crosses their tentacles at us. We constantly act like wild animals backed into a corner, baring our fangs and ready to pounce. In other words, we constantly have the negative at the forefront of our minds.

I see it at work. I see it on television. I see it when I drive. I see it when two people with opposing political viewpoints can't be in the same room with each other. Why is everyone so sensitive and aggressive these days? Because we don't look at the good anymore. We are being trained, by the constant force that rules this planet, to focus on the negative. It's all a part of a dastardly plan to divide and conquer, to subdue into submission.

We live in the greatest country on Earth. It is too bad that the tax payers had to bail out Fannie and Freddie and AIG, but guess how many countries around the world would have been able to do the same and avert major economic chaos? None.

As I finish here I will walk over to my bookshelf and pick out The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. I have not read it yet, but I need to. Because all this mumbo jumbo about counting your blessings is a flash in the pan for me as well. It rises up, I am thankful for a few moments, and then it's right back to gritting my teeth and shaking my fist at a world I don't understand.

But one of the blessings I count is hope itself. Hope that one day I can see the positive, the beautiful, the magical, in everything around me, all the time. That would be heaven.

Now, feel free to comment with one or more of your blessings today.

DC

Sparking the political flames...

I know politics is a sensitive subject in all families, but this is THE funniest SNL clip that I've seen in years. Regardless of your political beliefs, you gotta watch this. Watch it soon as NBC will likely take this off YouTube soon (if they do, use this link instead). Oh and don't click on "Click for more videos."



P.S. I'm posting this as a registered Independent (well, sort of).