My Eight Year Old Prefers Marlboro Lights(Not Really)

I recently got an email from a friend who asked if I had eaten at a new restaurant in town. I told him that I had but that I hadn't been back. Not that the food or service was bad, but...well, I'll let him tell you:

"Me and (his wife) and the baby were gonna' eat there the other night but when we asked for non-smoking it was in the same room as smoking. The whole room was a cloud of smoke and we just said no thanks, we will go somewhere else! I mean at least put those of us that choose not to expose ourselves and our 4-month old to floating cancer in another room!"


I understand where he is coming from. My family and I don't patronize restaurants where we are forced to share the air with those who choose to smoke and are allowed to smoke in the same room with us. Sometimes that means driving out of the way but it is worth it not to have to inhale someone else's airborne toxins. Certainly, any adult who chooses to smoke has every right to do so, but shouldn't my family and I have the right, as non-smokers, to not inhale secondhand smoke? It has been well documented that secondhand smoke poses a serious health risk to those who are exposed to it. If you were at a restaurant sitting a few tables away from someone who had had several beers, you wouldn't like if they kept walking over to your table to burp in your face. All you wanted to do was to go somewhere and enjoy a nice meal and relax and having someone blow their previously inhaled air into your personal space would not only be a bit disgusting, but would probably also diminish your enjoyment of your meal.


This is not an indictment of smokers. I once was a smoker myself. I have friends and acquaintances who smoke. Smokers aren't bad, evil people. The habit of smoking, however, is dangerous and those of us who choose not to smoke shouldn't have to involuntarily. Especially our children.


I hear lots of business owners, particularly owners of restaurants, who say that a smoking ordinance would hurt their business. May I ask a question? If you allow smoking in your restaurant I know that my family is not the only family who will choose not to eat there. How is that not hurting your business? My family eats out almost every night of the week, too! The city of Montgomery has a smoking ordinance which allows restaurants to choose whether they will allow smoking or not. If they do, then the whole restaurant has to allow smoking. There is no non-smoking area at all. Outback Steakhouse is a non-smoking establishment. In fact, they chose to be non-smoking well before Montgomery's ordinance was even enacted. If you happen to drive by there on a Friday night around 6:30 or so, take a look at how many people are waiting outside for a table and you will see quite a crowd. It would appear that being a non-smoking restaurant hasn't hurt their business at all. I might even go so far as to say it helped their business!


Has the time come for Wetumpka to consider some sort of smoking ordinance? Would any council member be willing to address this subject? Would there be a great hue and cry against such an ordinance? Is it even an issue people care about? What do you think?

Byrne Says Federal Gov't Out of Touch

I like this guy more and more...

Alabama gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne says the federal government is out of touch with the people.

Drinkin' May Have Been Forbidden in Randy Owen's Christian, Country Home, But...

Ag Commssioner Ron Sparks, at a gathering of Democratic candidates for public office, said that among the first things he'd do if elected governor would be to fire John Tyson and get rid of the Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling. He said that would "put those people back to work." Good idea, Ron. After all, the most important issue in the gambling debate is making sure these people get their jobs back, not the question of whether the machines are legal or not. Mr. Sparks acts as if there is no question as to the legality of these slot machines, as if it is a cut and dried issue over which debate should have long since ended. Jobs are important but wouldn't prudence dictate that the question of the machines' legality or illegality be answered before we send everyone skipping happily back to work? Mr. Sparks and others seem to appear prepared to thumb their collective noses at the rule and intent of the law in favor of putting everyone back to work. Noble as it may sound, this notion is fundamentally flawed. I believe that the Alabama Supreme Court will find these machines illegal as they bear no resemblance at all to bingo and would be more at home in Las Vegas and when that happens, those same people who are out of work now will be out of work again. Wouldn't their time be better spent looking for other, more stable employment rather than loading up on buses supplied by the gambling bosses to come to Montgomery to shout profanities at Governor Riley and those who had gathered to express their support for what he is trying to do?

Since I'm talking about gambling AGAIN let me express how disappointed I am in people like Randy Owen, Tracy Lawrence, and many other country music stars who have thrown their support to the illegal casinos by appearing throughout the state in support of the currently dead Sweet Home Alabama bill. Lawrence even took the time to be interviewed on WSFA's 12:00 newscast a few weeks ago. Come on guys! I don't listen to much country music but the first concert I ever went to was an Alabama concert in about 1980 or so when Randy Owen and the boys were just hitting the big time. Say it ain't so, Randy! What are they gonna' do next, bring in Barry Manilow? Dang!

I've also been disappointed in the number of people I talk to about this issue who say things like, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. They're going to gamble anyway. Might as well keep their money in Alabama rather than losing it all to Mississippi." I say let Mississippi have it.  I don't want any of it. I grew up with parents who taught me that gambling was a dangerous and destructive activity and that I would do well to stay away from it. Other than a few youthful indiscretions twenty years ago, I have. I know others who were taught the same thing who now say that casino gambling is here no matter what and we should just accept it. My response to that statement is always the same. The God that parted the Red Sea in the book of Exodus so that the Israelites could escape the wrath of the armies of Pharaoh is the very same omnipotent, omniscient,  omnipresent God who reigns today. If He was able to do that for the Israelites then He can certainly stop the spread of gambling if He so chooses. Even if He chooses not to do that, His ways are higher than my ways and that doesn't diminish His power one iota. As for me, I'll keep believing there is something that can be done based on who God is and His power and nothing else.

Casinos may one day be on every corner of every major city in Alabama. Lines of people wanting to buy lottery tickets may one day wind around the parking lots of convenience stores everywhere. Dog tracks may be filled to capacity every night of the week one of these days but I can assure you of this: I won't be taking part in any of it! Not because I'm better or smarter than anyone, but because I was warned of gambling's alluring danger and I listened. I've seen the damage it can do. I heard from a friend a couple of weeks ago who said a whole lot in very few words: "A stop in a casino in Durant, Oklahoma seven years ago won me $2500.00 on a 25 cent bet. It also cost me everything I love including my job with the CBR, but mostly my family." If I may paraphrase Glenn Frey, circa 1985, "It's the lure of easy money, it's got a very strong appeal." That's the problem. The promise of easy money is seldom kept and almost always broken. It's bad for families and bad for society, but I repeat myself.

From the "Where There is Smoke" Department

I thought those of you playing along at home would find this little story very interesting. Especially those who took umbrage with my insinuation that gambling fosters and even encourages corruption. It will be more than a little interesting to see how this drama plays out. The Sweet Home Alabama bill, had it passed, would have stood to be much sweeter for some than for others. Namely, certain politicians and gambling bosses. Don't think for a minute we've seen the last of this sort of chicanery, though. Anyway, read on...And thanks for the link, Troy.

Tax returns show Langford hit many jackpots

Walt Disney World: The Happiest Place on Earth(Almost Always)

My family and I love Disney World. Disney World is awe-inspiring and thought-provoking on many different levels. Our last trip inspired me to create a new marketing slogan for WDW. "Walt Disney World: Where Parents Come to Spank Their Kids in Public." I've never seen more crying kids at any one place than I have at Disney World, the happiest place on Earth. That has more to do with the fact that the kid wants to do what he/she wants to do with no consideration for anyone else than it does with bad parenting, but then again, isn't that what kids get paid to do? Because moms and dads love WDW too, the child's selfishness results in a battle of wills between the kids and parents. My kids have probably been spanked more in their four trips to WDW, a total of about twenty-five days, than they have in the rest of the time they weren't at WDW! Tear-stained faces and snot-bubbles from crying notwithstanding, we still love that place and I can't imagine letting a year go by without us taking a visit there.

A favorite of ours at Disney's Animal Kingdom is Kilimanjaro Safaris in which you ride in an open air truck through a replica of an African savannah. As is always the case with Disney, they spared no expense in making the landscape incredibly realistic. You'll see animals native to Africa like lions, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, hippos, wildebeests, zebras, and many others. On our last trip, I happened to see a bird that was very familiar to me. It was a mockingbird. Having never been to Africa, I can't say with any degree of certainty that mockingbirds don't live there. My gut feeling is that they probably don't and that this bird had meandered, perhaps from some lush, green park in Kissimmee with swings and monkey bars and children playing under the watchful eyes of their mothers, into a place he was totally unfamiliar with, with animals he had never seen before. Into Africa of all places! Can't you imagine what must have been going through his tiny bird mind? "Man! I flew a lot further than I thought! That tailwind was something else!" "I wonder where that cow got that body armor?" "LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT PILE OF DUNG!" "Hey, it's a big, gray Mr. Snuffleupagus!"

He is a bird though, so maybe he just flew down and landed on the ground and started eating bugs, oblivious to the world around him. I have seen a mocking bird fly into a sliding glass door on numerous occasions so I could be giving the bird more credit than he deserves. I also once saw a guy named Bill, who held down a regular job and knew how to work on cars, walk into a sliding glass door even after he was told by an onlooker that the door was locked, so who really knows? The bird could be smarter than we think.

Ever Heard of Cyclic Neutropenia? Neither had I. Until...

(Emily is the first picture, Joeli is the second)


 First… a BIG thank you to my Uncle Thad for letting me post on his blog! Please forgive and try to overlook imperfections and rambling as I am not used to posting like this.

If you don’t know me or my family, here’s a little intro… My name is Courtney. My husband, Dale, and I have been married for 9 years this May. God has blessed us with two beautiful children. Stephen is 7 years old, loves baseball and is absolutely a momma’s boy! Emily is 3 years old, a girly girl with attitude and is in love with her Daddy and “Bubby”! We love the Lord and are very thankful for the things that He has done and is doing in our lives in good times and in bad.

If you do know us, you also know that we have struggled greatly with Emily’s health. In October of 2007, Emily suddenly spiked a fever of 106.3 degrees and it would not break. She became lethargic so we took her to Baptist South where her pediatrician met us at 11:30 that night. She immediately began giving her intravenous fluids and took her across the hall for a Lumbar Puncture (spinal tap) along with other blood work. Meanwhile, Dale, my mother and I were holding hands in room 551 of the pediatric unit at Baptist South as we gathered around an empty baby bed in prayer. Emily was just across the hall in the treatment room and the cry that we heard was absolutely heart breaking. I have never, in my life, felt more alone and scared. Once she was returned to our arms, our time there became a waiting game. The normal blood work returned with abnormal results, but really still didn’t tell us anything. We would have to wait 48-72 hours for the culture results from the lumbar puncture to be final. Still at the hospital on day three… still with extremely high fevers… still no answers… we received a phone call from the doctor saying that the culture was complete and Emily did in fact have Viral Meningitis. As a parent, just the word “meningitis” is devastating to hear. We were told that “if you have to have Meningitis, you want Viral and not Bacterial” and I assure you that was not much comfort at all. After 7 days, Emily (with the arms of Jesus wrapped tightly around her) was able to go home to continue recovering from this terrible virus that attacked her little body.

After about 21 days, Emily began to run another high fever. We, then, began to see a pattern of extremely high fevers every 21-28 days. Sometimes they came with other symptoms and sometimes they didn’t. Our sweet little baby endured two more lumbar punctures, many series of tests, so forth and so on for about 14 months. She had 8 lengthy stays at Baptist South and 3 at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham during that time. The nurses got to know her and she became what they called a “frequent flyer” there at Baptist South.  Emily was sent to an Infectious Disease specialist at Children’s who took lots of time with me one day explaining the possibilities and options. He referred us to a Pediatric Immunologist there at Children’s in Birmingham and we finally began to feel like we were getting somewhere. There was a series of 4 tests that required taking blood and sending it to Baltimore. He explained that the tests were most likely not covered by insurance and they would be at least $1,000.00 each. Whew! We went on with the tests, though, because we had no other hope of finding out what was going on with our baby girl. They did one test at a time so it took about 4 months to get all of the results.

I received a call from Children’s Hospital one day about a year ago saying that Emily had been diagnosed with Cyclic Neutropenia. The process of getting a diagnosis was extremely long and frustrating. Come to find out, her CN was caused by the Viral Meningitis that she had at 10 months old.

Cyclic Neutropenia is one of the rarest forms of Neutropenia with an incidence of one per million. It is usualy caused by the ELA2 gene. 10%, though, do not carry the gene. CN affects the production of neutrophils in the white blood cell count.   Neutrophils are the type of white blood cell that attacks bacteria in the blood. Since Emily's diagnosis, I have researched and talked with doctors anytime I have the chance, but have never actually met anyone living with Cyclic Neutropenia.

Just yesterday, as I was researching and studying, I found a Facebook group for parents of children with Cyclic Neutropenia or for adults that have this type of Neutropenia. Through this group, I found a family right here in Alabama that has been affected by CN in a major way. Chad and Brittany are the parents of three beautiful girls. Joeli was their first and she left this earth after 3.5 short years, she would have been 7 this year and Brittany has shared with me that they take comfort in knowing that she is in the lap of our Father in Heaven. Brelan is their middle daughter and is 3.5 years old. Mileigh is the baby and she is 1.5 years. They live in Mobile and have a photography business called All Heart Photography. Visit them at www.allheartphotography.com when you have a minute and read “Joeli’s Song”. On January 18, 2007 Joeli developed a massive bacterial infection that her little body just couldn't handle. Joeli had Cyclic Neutropenia and lost her life due to her neutrophils being too low to fight the infection. Brittany and Mileigh also have CN and in their cases it is hereditary. Chad and Brittany have started a fundraiser to help raise money and awareness for the NNN (National Neutropenia Network) and the SCNIR (Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry) where they have customized bracelets in honor and in memory of Joeli.

Dale and I would like to soon place an order for these bracelets to do our part in helping raise money and awareness for and about Cyclic Neutropenia so other people don't have to go through what Chad and Brittany are still living through. We would love to have your support by ordering a bracelet if you are able and would like to do so. Each bracelet is $5.00 and all of the proceeds benefit the NNN (National Neutropenia Network). They work hand in hand with the SCNIR (Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry). If you'd like to join us in this order, please let me know by contacting me via Facebook or email me at cbarrett82@att.net ! 
I have attached pictures of Joeli, Emily and the Cyclic Neutropenia Awareness bracelets to this post so you can see the beautiful faces that CN can be behind and the bracelets that are making a difference in their lives.

The City Attorney's Paycheck

Mr. Hammock is questioning why the City Attorney has not been paid. The mayor says that there were several unclear charges that were simply labeled "research." Some of this research involved the mayor being involved in phone calls that he said he never was a part of. He is stating that the city attorney shouldn't research anything unless directed to do so by the council or the mayor. The mayor states that to be good stewards of the city's money, there needs to be clarification and clarity regarding billing from the city attorney to the city of Wetumpka.

He alleges that some items the city was billed for were not approved by either the council or himself. The city attorney disagrees with the points of contention and Mr. Hammock says the reason he brought it up was so that the city attorney and the mayor can get together and clarify the charges to make sure everything is above board.

And with that...the regular session. It is pleasant to note the obvious absence of personal attacks, other than those of Mr. Washington, from other members of the council. Things seem to be actually improving.

Here it is...

Mr. Washington is blaming the mayor for so many employees quitting this year. How typical of him to look everywhere but in his own back yard. This from the man who appears to dislike every employee the city has. Can someone who voted for this goofball please explain to me why you did? This man is a massive waste of time and resources and should be ashamed of himself. I don't think he is smart enough to know that he is the absolute laughing stock of the city.

Mr. Washington's lone goal in his life seems to be to get Mayor Willis in some sort of trouble. Thankfully, he has no support from any other member of the council. This man makes my blood boil and anyone in his district who is unaware of his ridiculous shenanigans needs to attend a meeting very soon to witness for themselves how unfit he is for public office. PLEASE!!!

More Washington...

Stand by. Washington has added an item to tonight's agenda called "Employment with city." Nobody knows what it is in reference to. I shudder to think what may have been running around in his brain. They are discussing adding a guardrail on the bank of the river near the Fain Center. Kathy Holt had the line of the night so far when she mentioned that her car had a recall and she would really like a guardrail there. Big laugh.

Fain Center Security

Took about 2 minutes to discuss this. Bids will be taken on installing a system in the Fain Center in the coming weeks.

Here Comes Lewis...

Lewis is questioning the YMCA program at the MLK Center. He is fussing at the mayor and the YMCA for not letting him know about what this program is. Suffice it to say Lewis needs to shut up. I'm sick of writing about his  grandstanding and ignorance. It sounds to me as though he is upset that he didn't "okay" this program even though it apparently was successful.

The mayor says that Mr. Washington is welcome to contact the YMCA and make any arrangements he would like. Mr. Washington cares about nothing other than drawing attention to himself. That's a fact. He has no one's interest at heart but his own. How he got re-elected to this council is beyond me.

This program is being tabled until Mr. Washington can see to it that it is a worthy program for his district. MORON!

Phone Lines for New Ballpark

Public works director is asking for phones and other equipment for the new ballpark. Not a lot of discussion yet. As usual, that could change. Maybe it won't. I did, however, miss the dollar amount. Oopsie!

The city clerk is now discussing the possibility of a new web page for the city. There has been an ongoing discussion recently regarding this issue. I'd like to see the website updated and made a bit more user friendly and interactive. The city has grown considerably since the inception of the website. For instance, there is not much information there regarding the PD and the FD. This would also include email addresses with a Wetumpka domain name for city officials. They are now discussing whether city ordinances can be put on the site. The representative says that would be possible, that she could put them up in pdf format. Mr. Washington inquired about whether the price quoted was negotiable.

Judging from what the rep is saying(I missed her name, I know, I have to get back in practice) this would greatly improve the look and overall functionality of the city's website. In my opinion, be it ever so humble, this is a much needed change and update.

No action can be taken tonight but it looks promising.

I'm Late!!!

Just got to the meeting. Tough to be on time with a real job!