Red Ribbon Skits Available in PDF format & More

There are at least six Red Ribbon skits now available on my website. All are pdf format and are paid through PayPal. Very easy. I'll be adding more all the time.

Also, homeschool workbooks are available, and free. That's right, FREE homeschool workbooks are available if you'll just pay the postage. Which should just be a nominal amount given I'll be shipping them out on media mail. Plus a $1.00 for the envelope to put the workbook in.

I'm just wanting to eliminate my stock, so please if you know of anyone who homeschools, or if you do, please go to my website, debby-willett.com, and check out my homeschool catalog. I'll have the workbooks up on the shopping cart in the next day or two. Also, I have a Saxon Math book set that will be up on my website with all the details on the version.

If you have kids, I have a joke book coming - it used to be three separate books but I have combined them into one. It's available in pdf format, with nothing but wholesome, silly jokes you'll want to share with your kids and whole family. These are the kind of jokes you remember from the "good-old-days" when clean fun was the norm.

Me On This DVD ---? NEVER!!!!!!!!!

It has come to my attention that there is another woman out there with the same name "Debby Willett" who does a striptease and has now put that on a DVD. First and foremost, that is NOT me!!

Please understand that there are more than one "Debby Willett" on the web, and just because this one has this ... talent, does not mean that her talent has anything to do with me. By the same token, my talent doesn't have anything to do with her.

So, please, when you Google me, and you come across "Debby Willett" with the tag, striptease, please, remember there are more than one of us with the same name and I am not the one on the DVD. Thanks.

The Price of Vanity

I admit it. At my age I'm finally beginning to show a few wrinkles here and there. So, I succumbed to a TV ad to help me get rid of them.

The ad is Broadspring - Ageless Woman, and the model who gladly spoke for the product was Cheryl Tiegs. She is older than me, and she looks younger than me, so I took the bait.

The product is advertised as a "deep wrinkle relaxer, HydraFusion technology with clinically proven results!"

The literature gave me 30 days from the date of shipment to try the product and decide whether I wanted to keep the product or call the customer service number or email them and they would cancel my membership and issue a RMA number for the return of the balance in the current bottle. After the 30 days they would charge my credit card with the $59.95 after the 30 day trial period.

After trying to call them - and receiving the message that no representatives were available at this time to take my call and then finally, after 8 1/2 minutes on hold, I was hung up on, and sending them the email within the required 30 day time limit, they still charged my credit card $59.95!

So, since I've had no response from them other than to have my credit card charged, they've really given me no other choice but to take it to my blog. This is the first time a manufacturer has not responded to my request to cancel my membership and not offered a return number for the product currently in my possession.

I would suggest you stay away from this product and this company and find another way to get rid of any wrinkles you may have. Believe me, the frustration of dealing with companies who don't perform according to their own words are just not worth dealing with.

Their guarantee is that "You will NEVER be billed and you risk absolutely nothing. That's what Free Trial is all about."

What they don't tell you is that they don't answer the phones and they don't respond to the emails telling them you don't want any more of their product -- all of this within the required 30 day period.

So, once again, when you see Cheryl Tiegs promoting AgelessWoman, unless you're prepared to committing your credit card to the $59.95 after the "FREE TRIAL" is over, don't participate in the offer. Put your money somewhere else.

LOOK A LITTLE DEEPER

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines perspective as, "the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance; to view your own task in a larger framework." Relative importance. What an interesting concept.

Examine the thing -- or things -- that irritates you the most today, and ask yourself this question. One year from now, will it still be so important? Five years from now, ten years from now? Or, even six months from now? How much energy do you spend on something with little relative importance?

Now look at what brings you the most joy and pleasure. This could be relationships, activities, achievements -- the list has many possibilities and is particular to only you. How does it rate on your personal relative importance scale? Do you savor the moments? Do you look beyond the immediate to see the now?

We make choices everyday that define our relative importance scale. What does your scale say about you? When life takes a wrong turn -- as it will inevitably do -- do you desire to make the best of it, or do you moan over "what could have been"?

On a daily basis, we all have the opportunity to make lemonade. Only we decide whether the lemonade will leave a bitter taste in our mouths, or whether we mix in a little of life's sweetness.

Take for example a young comatose woman who was hospitalized in New York. One of the attendants assigned to care for her, took advantage of her helpless state and violated her. He raped her. The end result was not only an unplanned pregnancy, but a pregnancy that involved a mother who would never know the joy of those prenatal kicks, who would never hear her baby's heart beat, whose arms would never hold her precious child.

The parents of the comatose mother had some difficult, and painful decisions to make. Just to name a few -- would the pregnancy greater endanger the fragile life of their daughter? If they allowed the baby to be born, what would become of him or her? Could they possibly love this child?

The most popular option available to them was to destroy the life that was growing in their daughter. Yes, abortion. If there had ever been a case that could draw sympathy from even the most conservative, it would have been this one.

Adoption was a consideration that no one could have found fault with. Better to spare the innocent baby's life, and make the choice to give the baby a chance for a future with a family whose love was not shadowed by the attack.

Raising the child themselves was a choice that would invoke joy and pain. The joy of, course, because they would see their daughter in every facial expression, every mannerism. The memories of their daughter's adolescence would flood back and be a poignant reminder. The pain because their daughter's attacker would also be reflected in their grandchild.

Such choices. In the end, no one could make the decision for them. No one else would live so intimately with the consequences of their choice.

What would you choose? There would be no easy out. There would be no one who could magically reverse your decision if you later regretted your choice.

Now, I am in no way suggesting that your child will walk the same path their daughter did. But I am suggesting that each one of us needs to examine our personal relative importance scales and make every effort to attend to the things that have the exclusive places in our lives and our hearts.

When you next start your day, give thought to your relative importance scale -- your perspective. Will you devote attention to the things that are really important in your life? Will the valued relationships receive the attention and care they need? Or, will you waste time and energy on things that have no enduring importance?

Examine your relative importance scale. Keeping your perspective in line with what is truly significant goes a long way towards decreasing the stress in your life and increasing your joy. We can all benefit from that.

Technology -- Sometimes It Is My Folly

Several years ago I wrote an article about the wonderment of technology and how addictive I personally had become.

Certainly, through the years nothing has changed. My cell phone is attached to my hip, and my lap top is on 22/8, I mean 21/6, or 23/7 ... at any rate, it sleeps little. Fortunately, it needs little sleep as opposed to me.

As I get older, gently so, it becomes harder to sleep for longer periods of time, which is why my daily naps have become so, important. After about five hours I am up and ready to do something and there sits my faithful lap top waiting on me.

My browser is Firefox -- which seems to perform so much better for me than IE. This day, though, Firefox (hereafter known as "FF") performed some updates, (as technology is want to do), and all of my settings - that I relied so heavily on - were gone. Whiff of smoke, gone. Rude. You can't do that to a brain cancer survivor who also has epilepsy. You just can"t.

It was not a moment of peace with FF. Every setting on my blog was gone -- which may not be a problem for some of you, but for me it represented months of work. Not something I was especially interested in applying myself to at this time. However, perseverance prevailed.

It's interesting to me that even at this point in my life and all the people that I have taught to use different computer programs, a simple update should put a crack in my fragile eggshell. Several attempts at one sitting, taking a break, coming back, and repeating the same process many times over simply to find it was a simple change in the settings.

Reminds me a little of the great inventors and minds of our times. Failures only represent lessons learned. If you really give up then it is truly a failure. As long as we - in this instance it was me - keep going, then it is a lesson, and I truly learned it.

I hope I never feel that I am above learning, that there is not something left for me to learn. Have a good day, and I hope you keep learning too.

Predators And Their Signs

“I can’t get away from it. It makes me feel ashamed. My life has been ruined by this.”

Okay, so it’s a paraphrase. The spirit of what was said comes through, though. This person felt like a victim. Like a grievous wrong had been committed against him, and he felt helpless, and hopeless, like his future had been blighted.

I say, too bad. I want you to be uncomfortable, to loose sleep, and to live as if you don’t feel safe. I want you to look over your shoulder ... to be accountable, to feel as if you are being punished ... every day, every moment.

By this point you’re probably wondering what I am referring to. I watched the 20/20 segment about registered sex offenders in Corpus Christi having to place signs in their yards, and in their vehicle windows, and bumper stickers on the back bumpers of their vehicles. These signs are doing a service ... everyone -- adults and children alike -- have the right to know when predators are in their midsts, in their neighborhoods.

The victims of these offenders didn’t have the choice of being sexually assaulted. The victims will --- for the rest of their lives -- carry the debris of what their offenders left them.

I know just how their victims must feel, and wish that they (the victims) could have been forewarned of their (the offenders) perversion. One offender said the sign brought him shame, and he couldn't get away from what he had done ... I have news for him ... his victim can't get away from it either.

Victims should have no internalization of shame. A definition of victim is one who is subjected to oppression, hardship, or mistreatment. The victims of these offenders have become the epitome of hardship and mistreatment. If the offenders are feeling shame or embarrassment, then that is how it should be.

It is not enough to convict these predators. Innocent, potential victims must have the ammunition to stay safe. If that means these predators are uncomfortable, that their security is jeopardized, and they don't sleep well, so be it.

It alarms me that after committing their attacks on children, predators are being protected by those who think their civil-rights have been violated. Doing jail or prison time for preying on innocent children is simply not enough. Yard signs and vehicle signs are an excellent source of further identification for those who would defile our children. The offenders should have no rights.

One of the predators said it was the sign and not the crime that made him feel too humiliated to go out. I say if he’s too humiliated to go out, then the sign is doing it’s job ... by way of keeping him in, children are being kept safe from him.

When danger is present, it is expected that warnings should also be present. For example, railroad crossings and trains, drinking and driving, drinking while pregnant, drugs, and, well, you get the idea. It is not inconceivable that innocents should be protected from that which strives to bring them harm.

It’s too bad that Corpus Christi appears to be the only city where sex offenders are required to have danger signs in their yards. Every town, every city, every county, every state should make protecting children from predators such a high priority that signs should begin popping up everywhere. Tell me who to write to. Tell me who to talk to. If it will help, I’ll campaign for it.

Predators - Youth Can Be Cloaked By The Law

This is for parents, grandparents, teachers, pastors, caregivers, people who come in contact with and love children.

Predators don’t wear flashing signs that declare their intentions. Predators don’t even have true criminal profiles. Once the profilers think they know who the predator is, something changes, and they have to change with it. That doesn’t mean the profilers are wrong. It just means the predators are very evil and always evolving.

Would it surprise you to know that predators can be in kindergarten? Or even in your child’s Sunday school class? Of course, these predators would never show up on the national or state registers that are easily accessible. These predators are usually protected by their families because they don’t want the local Child Protective Services to get involved. Usually there are other children in the family the parents don’t want to jeopardize losing.

Once the brain of a predator has been changed, they no longer think like your or me. Their main thought is control of a future victim, how that is going to be accomplished, and what they will do once they get control. If you think it’s any different because of their young age, you’re wrong.

Predators don’t care whether you are kind, compassionate, or understanding. They will use any virtue you have against you. You see, predators are quick to learn the soft spots - what you and I would call virtues.

In fact, predators thrive on our virtues. Why? Because the more virtuous we are the more inclined we are to give the predator a chance, an opportunity to be in our lives, to get close to the people we love.

Who do you love? Why your children of course. The predator has no interest in going after the adults in your life, just your children, the innocent ones who don’t have a voice yet, who don’t know how to verbalize what happens to them. The one’s who are too afraid to rationalize the threats from predators and process them into reality. That’s who the predators want.

I mentioned earlier that predators could be in kindergarten. It’s not as unbelievable as you might think. Actually, when a child has been incested or abused at a very early age, they are more prone to act out at an early age themselves. Kindergarten has a wealth of possible candidates. Playing “doctor” used to be considered a somewhat innocuous activity among children, not anymore.

In this age with all the technology available, it is so important we use wisdom and discernment when it comes to our children. It is more important than ever before that not only you know who your children’s friends are but also their parents.

It would appear that it is even possible when a child has been caught and convicted through the juvenile court and put on the registered sex offender list, that after a period of time, that same predator, due to the age, will be able to get off the list. Does that change the fact that she or he is still a predator? Of course not. It just means the predator can offend under the cloak of the law until they are caught once again.

Here are some links to get you started:
www.missingkids.com
www.ice.gov
www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/states.htm

So Who Knew the Mind Was the First Thing to Go?

There comes a time in every one's life when they begin to realize that the gray in their hair, and the wrinkles on their faces are not just the result of sleeping on a bad mattress. Indeed, the aging process has begun to catch up.

For me, the realization was not so subtle. Mind you, I am 48 and while most people think I am in my 30's, I have always been aware of the changes in my body. A muscle that used to be flexible, no longer is; a joint that bent freely, now slows with arthritis. Aging happens, sometimes gracefully, sometimes not so kindly.

Remember the week when all my technological conveniences began to crash, one by one? Well, I didn't tell you everything. I had a muscle crash. No, not literally, but it was a crash all the same.

I'm going to tell you my secret, but you must not tell my neighbors. They already think I'm a little ... different.

It was a Saturday evening when my son and I, and one of his friends, had returned from being out. Our arms were full of McDonald's 42 cent drinks, a bag or two of groceries, and of course my portable kitchen sink. Ladies, you and I both know that the older we get the more room we want in our purses. Though not to carry everything we can get our hands on from home, but more to have the room to bring home some special finds that we don't want to have to carry separately.

I digress. We alit from my van, I took the keys out to unlock the front door, realized I wanted to relieve my water challenged plants, and set my purse down on the front porch to keep it from getting wet and dirty. Heaven forbid something should happen to it.

My plants were thirstier than I realized, and the watering took longer than I intended. By the time all the pots were overflowing, my mind (remember the muscle crash) had taken a leave of absence.

I went inside, prepared dinner, worked on laundry, read the paper, and sat down to relax. Michael and his friend immersed themselves in the Nintendo, and didn't come out except to see if the friend could spend the night. Not a problem. We'd just drop him off on our way to church.

The sandman visited and soon we were all in la-la land. The morning came, and as we prepared to leave, I looked everywhere in the house for my purse. It wasn't where I normally left it, so I commissioned my son to begin a search. He's really good at finding things I lose. I stay in one spot and he finds and retrieves. Anyway, my purse was no where to be found.

I opened the front door to check the van and sitting right where I had left it -- in full view of the street, was my purse. It had been light outside for several hours. It was a wonder that no one had taken it, because I would never have known.

This is where God takes care of those of us who are farther along in the aging process than we realized. My wallet, my money, credit cards, everything was just as I had left it. There must have been angels slapping their knees with amusement when they saw my folly.

Have you ever gone to bed and left the keys in the front door lock? Me too!, and more times than I care to share. But this time, leaving my purse on the porch over night was more than I could gracefully accept. The brain had drained, and needed to be renewed. If anyone out there knows of technological advances that take care of drained brains, please let me know. I don't think the angels would be so amused a second time.

Garth Brooks ... Still Has It

I couldn't be in LA for the Garth Brooks benefit concert for the firefighters and the victims of the south California wildfires this past season, so, TV had to be my choice of venue.

I remember Garth when he first came flying across the auditorium and sang from the middle of the ceiling high above the audience. What a performance that was! He has always been the quintessential performer and I have been to a lot of concerts in my day: Sonny & Cher, Beach Boys, Blood, Sweat, & Tears, Elvis (2 times), BJ Thomas, Three Dog Night, and so many more.

None of them had the performance value that Garth has -- even tonight - on TV - years after he has retired from the music business. His wife, Trisha Yearwood, made an appearance, which was a very sweet addition to the concert. But, Garth had the attention - the night of all those who were in attendance at that huge auditorium.

Like always, he put on a great show. It made my Friday night and I didn't have to go out to the local video store and get a rental. So, thanks Garth, & Trisha. I waited all week and the payoff was GREAT!!


I don't suppose you'd like to come for dinner next week and bring your guitar?

Musing At 2 AM

Thoroughly whipped, the moistness of the freshly combined egg, milk, and flour heavily lay on the edge of the spoon loosing a drop here and there on it's way to the welcoming heat that would sizzle and crack, eventually pulling the thick, liquid into a hot, soft mattress receptacle for the steaming liquid from the fruit of the maple tree.

Now what would that be? I don't know about you, but I'm starting to crave pancakes!!