Favorite thing…..a clean car. I love a clean car and mine is always a mess. I usually have to clear out the passenger seat for someone to ride in it. My job as Extension agent frequently required the "hauling" of office supplies, lesson materials and visuals. My car was always full of something. It's no better now in retirement. I just finished teaching Body Recall Fitness classes and I "hauled" a boom box, CD's, sit-up stixs, soft balls, jump ropes, books, elastic ropes and a parachute and other items we used in class. Maybe, when I really retire, my car will be clean. I'll truly enjoy having a clean car, one of my favorite things.

Wealthy Lawmakers. There's nothing wrong with being wealthy. There is something wrong when wealthy people "serve" our country as Senators and Congressmen/women and spend us into oblivion. Many of these people are totally out of touch with American citizens who are employed, working 40-60 hours a week, buying gas and groceries, trying to support a family, saving for a child's college education and so forth.

Last fall, "The Hill" reported that the 50 wealthiest lawmakers grew richer in 2009 as our economy struggled to recover from a deep recession. Their total wealth was around $1.4 billion dollars in 2009, an increase of $85.1 million over 2008. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) is number one on the list for the second year in a row. His minimum net worth is around $188 million, an increase of $20 million over 2008. His wealth comes primarily from his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, who inherited hundreds of millions of dollars after her late husband, the ketchup heir, Sen. John Heinz died in 1991.

For years, Democrats have promoted themselves as the party "for the people" and portrayed the Republicans as the "rich, greedy ones". Well folks, guess what? Of these 50 wealthy law makers there are 27 Democrats and 23 Republicans. Thirty of them are in the House of Representatives and 20 are in the Senate. Ten out of the top 15 wealthy law makers are Democrats, their net worth ranging from $188 to $19.9 million.

Rep Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA), is number 13 on the list. Her wealth was listed as $21 million and her assets increased dramatically by $9M in one year. She and her husband own several San Francisco properties and a vineyard worth anywhere from $5-25M.

When Ms Pelosi was Speaker of the House, she used air force planes to fly home to California on the weekends. The planes and their staff were on "stand by" to accommodate her schedule. It appeared to be no big deal to her to spend thousands of tax dollars on her travel and party refreshments during the flights home. Seems like she could have and should have flown home at her own expense, via commercial air lines or hired a private plane.

Nancy Pelosi is a prime example of a lawmaker who is totally out of touch with the American people and their values. She and her colleagues have made and passed legislation to spend millions and billions of tax payer monies that are not there to spend. Adding more and more debt to our country's gigantic debt.

Our own Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) is number 39 on the list of 50 and his net worth is a minimum of $7million with an increase of around $1 million from 2008 figures. He paid off some debts that increased his worth. I wonder what Senator McConnell's net worth was before he became a lawmaker?

If Congress doesn't get our financial house in order and quickly, we are going to see a recession like we've never seen before, in my opinion. I believe we have a small window of opportunity right now to begin the tough process of reducing expenditures immediately to get our debt under control. If this opportunity passes, look out. By the way, the numbers mentioned ( a few billion dollars) as cuts in the budget is a mere drop in the bucket. But it's a start in the right direction.

There's nothing wrong with being wealthy. But there is something wrong when wealthy people serving our country as lawmakers are financially irresponsible… spend, spend, spend, tax, tax, tax …. and create the kind of huge debt our country has today.

FRC Action. Time to Act: How Big Government is fiscally and morally bankrupting America. Reps Michele Bachmann(R-MN) Jim Jordon (R-OH) Mike Pence (R-IN) And Tom Price (R-GA) and others give an insiders look at how the budget show down is playing out. Go to frcaction.org and see this program that was filmed live on Wednesday, April 6.

The Worlds' True Age. Did you know that we can actually figure out when the beginning of the world occurred? Indeed we can because we have the word of an Eyewitness: the Creator of the world. Many Christians claim that the beginning of the universe occurred billions of years ago. Sadly they have accepted what secular scientists say about the age of things rather that what the Bible teaches. Mark 10:6, for example, quotes Jesus as saying "He made them make and female at the beginning." According to the Bible in Genesis chapter 1, Adam and Eve were made on the sixth day of creation.

Now, if God made the earth billions of years ago before man then Mark 10:6 don't make any sense. But if God made the earth on the first day of creation, then this verse does make sense.

The creation of Adam and Eve on the sixth day of creation places them "at the beginning" because they were created only five days after God made outer space and earth. Therefore, we can know the universe is about 6,000 years old. For more answers and information about creation, go to the website: answersingenesis.org

Thanks again for reading my column. I appreciate everyone who does. In closing here's a quote I'd like to share with you…." Cherish all your Happy Moments, they make a Fine Cushion for old age." (Christopher Morley- 1890-1957)

Till next week.