The "O" Word
Conservative by Nature, Christian by Choice
Wait!  Where's the pictures?  They're supposed to be right here!  I swear, you can't find decent help these days...

Three Years

June 23rd, 2008 . by Cary

Hard to believe that it’s been that long, and so much has changed.

I started out blogging on Blogspot just to put my family history in electronic form – that project is still in the works, as evidenced by the lack of progress behind the tab marked “The Wisconsin Cartters” at the top of this page.

Then I started a personal blog to take my rants off the family page. That led me to meet a wonderful bunch of people – most of them still hanging out on my blogroll, some of them having signed off, one or two having shed this mortal coil – but all of them worth reading and chatting with when I get the chance. Oh, sure – like any family, there are going to be instances where some members of my blog-family aren’t going to be getting along with other members, and that’s fine, we’re all human, and if we all got along all the time it would be downright boring.

I started out with two blogs, and ended up with this one when I merged them in April of 2008. Having my own domain and full control over the blog is a comfort to me, being the semi-control freak that I am, and I have to thank Texas Fred and Robert for their help with getting this site set up.

I don’t remember who the first batch of contacts I made was, perhaps the gang over at The Notebored, a writer’s workshop headed up by Dee and her wonderful circle of fellow writers. I tried my hand at some writing projects over there, but there was something – I don’t know, missing? – and I just never really fully clicked. They are very welcoming there on The Notebored, but I don’t think I was ready for primetime. I do know that once I ran into Gawfer I ran into the best bunch of people I could call friends and a great variety of “conservatives” – from absolute white hat to situational conservatives, you can find a bunch of them on the blogroll now. Like I said, we don’t all get along all of the time, but we always have a great conversation.

I found Bill Whittle, a former liberal who started reading and thinking for himself (proof, by the way, that it can happen) and then using his talents as a writer to put our thoughts to “paper” and let us all read it and realize that “Yes, by thunder, that is EXACTLY what I was trying to say!” I still read him, when he publishes in between his super-glam life on the west coast and the movie deals and the screenplays… In fact, one of my personal favorite entries for I’m Thinking of the “O” Word was inspired greatly by Bill’s writing; specifically, my entry titled The Sheep, The Sheepdogs, and the Wolves was written after I had read his entry titled Tribes. I think it’s still relevant.

My wife, whom I refer to as TMBWitW, gave birth to our child, MEG, on December 30, 2006. I ran a babypool of sorts, and Paul at prying1 came in second while Just John (who, at the time, was going by Gunny John) came the closest in guessing the day and time for the momentous occasion. MEG is growing and running around and keeping the dogs on their toes now – the cats are not sure what to make of this little rosy-cheeked beauty that wants to pet them all…

And then in January of 2007 I read this entry on Jenn’s blog, and it just didn’t sit right with me. I started my campaign. Without funding. Trying to get a groundswell of support and momentum for a run at the White House. Trying, and failing. My feelings haven’t changed, especially now that we are guaranteed a liberal in the Oval Office, and I am seeing more and more signs of a revolution brewing to take this country back into the conservative hands of We The People. I do, however, plan to take another run at it in 2012, when the people of this country should be good and fed up with the liberal actions of the president and want to get back to being a sovereign country with absolute borders and absolute laws.

Now I have a BlogTalkRadio show called, appropriately enough, The O Word. Be sure to tune in on Friday mornings at 0700 Mountain Standard Time.

One thing about having a blog, and meeting (on line, of course, except in rare instances where you actually get to meet the fine people you blog with in person) other blog-owners – you will never run out of people to meet, and people who you want to link to, and people who may want to link back to you. Of course, having all these links is one thing, but being able to keep the connection going is another. I don’t always get to read all my links every day, but I sure try to stop in at least once a week or so.

Most recently, I was asked to join the gang over at Reject the UN and help spread that word. I don’t know how often I will be able to contribute, but I will be doing what I can when I can.

One thing that hasn’t wavered since I’ve discovered it: Wear Red on Fridays. I’ve got some way cool shirts that help spread the word, and I know that when service members see my red shirt they know they are being supported, prayed for, worried about, and generally appreciated for what they are doing.

A lot has changed in three years. I am so happy to have met all of you, and hope that you feel the same about me. We may not see eye to eye, but unless you break my commenting rules and totally disregard common courtesy, you will be welcome here. I know that there are a lot more people out there who deserve to be mentioned, and I will, on this Friday’s show. I’m sorry if I didn’t specifically mention you, but know that I think of each one of you often. Either to wonder what you are up to, or why you haven’t written anything lately, or to berate myself for not getting over to your site and leaving a comment. Tell you what – would you do me a favor, and just click on the “All Blogrolls Here” tab up there, and read through everyone who is making a difference in the blogosphere? Stop in and tell them I said hi, and I’ll be by later to chat.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Happy New Year!

January 1st, 2007 . by Cary

First Things First Dept.:

The results of the Great Big Wonderful Baby Pool Contest are in. Using my amazing spreadsheet skills, I was able to determine the winner and make transfer arrangements within a few hours of MEG’s birth (12/30/06 at 1442 MST).

Drumroll, please:

prying1 came in second, with a guess (12/31/06 at 0700 MST) that missed by 16 hours and 18 minutes, winning the consolation prize of 184 BlogMad credits.

Jarhead John, with a winning guess (12/30/06 at 1800 MST) that was off by a mere 3 hours and 18 minutes, wins the grand prize of 836 BlogMad credits.

Congratulations to you both, and please make your accounts ready for an infusion of BlogMad credits!

While the turnout for the contest was light, I want to thank everyone who helped me keep it in front of the masses (my Blogroll on the left is the thank you list, most of them mentioned me at least once during this contest) but especially Paul, at BlogMad, for putting it up as a banner that alternated in with other messages.

Now, it’s really late and I have to go to work instead of hang out with TMBWitW and our new daughter tomorrow morning. I praise God for having a job to go to, and I look forward to being able to do it in order to support my newly expanded family.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support the Freedom Project!

I’m a New Daddy!

December 31st, 2006 . by Cary

MEG Cartter joined the world at 2:42 p.m. MST on Saturday, December 30, 2006. She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and measured 20 1/2″ long. As you can see, she has a full head of hair:

Isn’t she beautiful?

Try this one with her Mommy:

OK, if you insist, I’ll post one with me, too:

Can I tell you a secret? I get a Tear of Pride every time I hold her – I can’t even look at her picture without getting fogged up!

We had gone in Saturday morning to induce labor, since MEG was running a bit late. As the pitocin went in, it became apparent that something wasn’t quite right – with each contraction, MEG’s heartrate would drop drastically. So – TMBWitW was prepped for a c-section. No, it was not what we had prayed for. No, we didn’t even consider this possibility – communication from the Dr. has been a sore point lo, these many months.

But, it went without a hitch – MEG came out at 2:42, and started letting the world know that she was quite comfortable where she was, thank you very much. After a bath and a nap, she got down to the business of eating – and she is taking to that quite well also. Momma is getting the hang of it also, and they are working on that at the hospital this morning while I am here at the house getting all of you fine people updated.

Speaking of which – I gotta run. I need to get a shower, and maybe a quick nap before I head back up there.

WooHoo! I’m a DADDY!

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support the Freedom Project!

It’s The Last Friday of the Year!

December 29th, 2006 . by Cary

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Go here.

Wearing red as a show of support is to let any veterans in the area know that you support THEM regardless of your take on the current military situation.

While you are in the mood to show support for veterans, go here and show some support for the Freedom Project. Tell Minuteman I sent you. He will be more than happy to stop by your town so you can meet him in person, once he gets on the road.

I am heading out for a PGR ride for an Army sergeant who has fallen victim to the drivers here in the States (from the site www.patriotguard.org):

Robert Eppich returned to the US after a tour in Afghanistan followed by a tour in Iraq serving with the Army. Last week Robert was involved in a motor vehicle accident after being home 8 days. Robert was newly married and was set for discharge in February. His new wife Ashley was in Iraq serving with the Air Force, she was flown home shortly after being notified of her husbands death. Both Robert’s and Ashley’s families live in Mesa.

I will be driving rear guard in a cage, as a bike is not an option at this point in my life.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support the Freedom Project and get in on the Baby Pool!

Thinking of Moving

December 28th, 2006 . by Cary

I’m considering moving over to a different platform – because of this.

I am currently wrestling with WordPress.com, which is free, which is a problem – I can’t make the changes to the template that I can here. Specifically, I would lose the eagle in the background, and the blogrolls would disappear.

WordPress.com has a blogrolling feature, but you have to manually enter each blgo you want to roll – and in the case of other people’s blogrolls (such as Texas Fred’s, and Ika’s Roll) you can’t, as far as I have been able to tell, get them to appear in your sidebar. Security reasons, they say – force you to pay for hosting and using WordPress.org, I say.

Another big stumbling block is the fact that you cannot import your “new and improved” blogspot blog to WordPress.com. That means I would have to manually move each post over, and I would lose all the comments.

Ah, well – back to searching for the answer.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support the Freedom Project and get in on the Baby Pool!

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