Beech Tree News Network

Have you ever had one of those moments when you hear you child say the darndest thing? Only to realize that they heard it from you?  I've often said that if you wonder what really comes out of your mouth, just listen to your children. Of course, some of those moments are quite hilarious. Yet some of those moments aren't funny at all. Seems like we can always count on our children to be the ones to put us in our place. It is said that children are like sponges, and how true that is. They learn many things from us, good and bad.

Now would be a good time for those charged with educating and leading our nation’s young people to take a good, long look in the mirror and reevaluate their priorities and practices.

It’s not enough for leaders in our educational system – whether iconic coaches of powerhouse football programs or local superintendents and the school boards who employ them – to barely do what’s legally required. They have a moral mandate, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Can you believe it's that time already? Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday, always has been. I actually met my husband a year ago, so this will be our first Thanksgiving as a married couple :-)  We usually have anywhere from 15-25 people at our house for Thanksgiving and I cook a huge meal. There's nothing that makes me happier than to be surrounded my family and friends. We eat until we can't eat anymore and lay around and be miserable together and just count our blessings.
 

My family enjoys a good road trip. For us, a road trip is any journey that’s taken in an automobile covering long distances. These trips usually have some plan and include food.

Wednesday, November 9 was the 45th annual CMA Awards in Nashville.  There were funny moments such as hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood playing onstage with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Barbie’s. There were surprising performances, such as Zac Brown Band as they performed the late Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind”, and Lionel Ritchie teaming with Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker. Also, Faith Hill made her triumphant return by performing her first new song in 4 years called “Come Home”.

 “Now Cloudy, didn’t you in fact say at the scene of the accident, ‘You never felt better in your life?”  

Timing Is Nothing: Last Wednesday, I stood in the mud, holding an umbrella over my already-soaked body, watching my husband, Garey, lower a backhoe bucket over a wall of dirt, just above a concrete footer.  I was his extra pair of eyeballs.  That’s what he said I was anyway.  

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition:  As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods --merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It’s the time of year when many of us begin to think about comfort foods and our favorite holiday dishes. Having recently been counseled by my physician, I am trying to make exercise a habit in my life and to choose healthier foods. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

With Veterans’ Day coming up, how does one begin to say that which needs be said about the men and women who have fought our wars? There are no words that suffice, no éclat’s enough, no medals tucked away in some drawyer or a headstone in some cemetery---these can remind, but not recompense.
Perhaps Britain’s Churchill came pretty close when he said about his own forces, “Never have so many owed so much to so few.”