Have you ever thought about going back to school to get your online degree? I sure have.

I haven’t taken a course in 25 years, but I’ve been thinking about it more and more since online universities became more and more prominent on the Internet.

I knew it was just a matter of time before you could complete an entire college degree entirely online. Western Governors Online University has several online degree programs, all of which can be completed at your own pace, at a very affordable price.

I have been giving serious thought to completing a Business Management degree, or even better, some sort of teaching degree.

On this day in 1871, The National Rifle Association was formed. I think our life insurance rate should be adjusted accordingly if we are bona fide gun owners.

The National Rifle Association of America, or NRA, is an American non-partisan, non-profit (501(c)(4)) organization which lists as its goals the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection of hunting and self-defense in the United States. It was established in 1871 in New York by William Conant Church and George Wood Wingate as the American Rifle Association; its first President was former Senator and famous Civil War Union Army General Ambrose Burnside. President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant served as the NRA’s eighth President and General Philip H. Sheridan as its ninth.

I’m taking the night off to complete a big project I am working on. I’ll be back tomorrow, unless Swine Flu gets me.

I won’t have a post tonight. Our power keeps browning out or completely going out, so I am not even going to attempt to remind you what happened on this day in history…

More tomorrow…

While you wait, why not check out the latest saleat Buy.com? It sure beats reading about dead people. Well, unless you’re a real history buff, but then again, if you are, you’re going to need something to store all my archives on anyway.

Or better yet… Watch this:

On this day in 1850, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was published.

The Scarlet Letter (1850) is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I’m taking a break from a couple of the blogs I write so I can catch up with some other schtuff around the house. I have so much to do around here, it’s pathetic. Contrary to popular belief I haven’t embarked on any cruises or taken any vacations lately.

Flash will be coming home tomorrow, for the last time. Here is the last picture taken of him before we had to let go.

As an independent conservative in a world where people are either going crazy to prove that man is the cause of global warming or they are bending over backwards to say otherwise, I find myself thinking. What am I thinking? I am thinking that even if we are not the cause of global warming, shouldn’t we be doing what we can to reduce our impact on the environment?

If I had the money to install solar panels on my south facing roof, I would. GreenandMore.com offers hundreds of eco friendly products, and they do so while practicing what they preach. At their location they use recycled office supplies and there is no plasticware on site. It’s not often a company lives by their principles and operates by example.

I was browsing their site tonight to see what type of green products they may have, and I was surprised to find a number of items I would love to purchase. I was more impressed, however, with their learning center, where I learned a lot about pollutants, air quality, and composting. Composting is a passion for us, so it was good to read about all of the benefits it has to the environment.

You don’t have to be an extremist to take time out of your day and do something beneficial for the environment.

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Today was a very emotional day.

It all started at 6:30 when the alarm went off and I quickly woke up the entire family. There was never any doubt that we would all go together to take Flash to this very important appointment today.

We arrived about 20 minutes early, which was amazing seeing how the Atlanta traffic was. After completing the new patient registration form, they took us all into a small 10×15 room. I have to admire the kids for sitting there, listening to things they could not understand, keeping quiet so we could comprehend what the veterinarian was telling us.

Flash’s prognosis is not good. The deterioration in the bone is so bad that he is now at the point that just walking could cause hairline fractures and more pain. The veterinarian explained everything to us, he covered all the options. I am so glad he did.

The first thing Flash needs is an immediate amputation of his right front leg. They will have to take the shoulder and the shoulder blade too. His recovery from the amputation will be rather quick, but he will never recover from the cancer.

The veterinarian explained that there is no doubt the cancer has spread and Flash has at best 6 months to 1 year left with us. He discussed the options for chemotherapy, but even with the treatment that shows the best results, the most Flash gains is an additional 6 months to 1 year.

He’s been moping and you can tell he does not feel good. He must know something because he keeps trying to sleep in the cat bed and the cat hasn’t been around for months.

We will never know what Flash is thinking, or what he wants. I do know that if it were me, I would choose the quality of life over the quantity. It just seems more logical to me to allow him to live as a happy 3 legged dog for 6 months to a year, rather than have him laying around listless, drooling, in a heap of fur on the floor, too sick to notice whether or not we were even in the room.

So for now, we are planning on the amputation. He has pain pills to get him through til we can get that done in the next week or so, and after that is done, we will take it from there.