Wow – I cannot believe that September has come and gone already. I have always loved the month of September – it’s a month of many changes and celebrations. Moving on to October means that the cool weather will be headed this way. The leaves will turn color and drop, the lawn needs cutting one last time, the squirrels kick their gathering into high gear, and at the end of the month we have little monsters cavorting in the streets and malls in search of candies.

This September flew by. It’s time to break out the long sleeves and jackets, and begin the hunt for the perfect pumpkin for my front porch. And after a long hot summer, it’s time to hit the ice rink and cheer for my ice hockey players!

Sad news that Paul Newman has passed away. What a handsome man, fantastic actor, and great humanitarian he was.

One of the movies that made a lasting impression on me was “Cool Hand Luke.” It really opened my eyes to corruption and brutality. I bought that movie in every form of media and watch it every few years to remind me of the gaping holes in out justice system. It is probably why I now cheer for the underdog in most circumstances.

Another favorite movie of mine is “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” That was my introduction to Robert Redford and the two of them made a fantastic team. Again, me cheering for the underdogs. I’m starting to see a pattern here.

Thank you, Paul Newman, and God Bless.

Come on, America. Share your gasoline.

The Southeast has not had gasoline for three weeks now. They are blaming Hurrican Ike.

But why does the rest of the country have plenty of gasoline – even though it is God-awful expensive? Can’t the tanker trucks from up North find their way to Atlanta? It’s just down I-95 for God’s sake!

People are starting to lose their cool. Some are taking guns with them to the gas station – not to rob the clerk but to ensure no one cuts in line in front of them to buy the gasoline. Tanker trucks are being stalked by drivers desperate to buy the gas they are about to deliver. It’s crazy!

Tension in a football stadium makes it ripe for rude behavior. The NFL has implemented a code of conduct for fans in the stadiums this year to help combat the rudeness and disruptive behavior of rowdy and drunk fans.

Stress is one of the four main causes of incivility. People tend to act more aggressively and are prone to outbursts that you would not witness under more peaceful and calm circumstances. The other three causes of incivility are:

• time (hurried, disrespectful manners),
• self-interest (the preoccupied teenager not noticing the pregnant woman on the bus) and
• anonymity (as on the Internet or in a large audience).

Hurricane Ike has done a lot of damage to Galveston and the entire Houston area. I have CNN on the TV so I can see what has happened to those poor people in Texas and if there is anything that we can do to help them. I believe the biggest two problems are the electricity is off for millions of customers and there is a lot of flooding that needs to subside before people can drive the roads to get assistance teams in place.

The hurricane season this year had been very active. We are already up to Hurricane Ike, who is heading for coast of Texas. The island of Galveston has been ordered to evacuate, and even the city of Houston is being threatened with flooding and severe damage from the high winds.

I hope that Hurricane Ike loses power and heads west of Galveston so that the cities along the coastline of Texas are spared the destruction of a category 3 hurricane.

Years ago I went along on a visit to psychic with a close friend and had a “reading.” It was very interesting in that she did not use Tarot cards or read my palm like you see on TV and in the movies. She just asked that I sit at her kitchen table across from her and extend my arms, palms up, so that she could feel my personal energy. After a couple of minutes with her eyes closed, she opened her eyes and started talking about me and my life. It was amazing. My friend had gone in first and she swears she did not tell this woman anything about me at all. But this woman started talking about my personal life like she’s known me since childhood.

She made a couple of predicitons and I wrote them down after I got back in the car to leave. It will be interesting to see if any of them come true!

So many people think of Labor Day as a sad day instead of a day to celebrate the workers of America. It means the end of summer, with school starting for the new year and the swimming pools closing for the season. I guess the best thing about the holiday for most people is that they do actually get a day off from work, to spend this last day of summer with their family and friends.

In the South, school actually started weeks ago, but for kids in the northeast and other parts of the country, tomorrow is the first day of school. I know there will be a lot of happy mothers dancing home from the bus stops tomorrow to celebrate their first day of freedom, too!