Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Talking Points Tuesday

So, when you hear a democrat say "I warned several years ago that Fannie and Freddie were going to be a problem", here's proof that, once again, they are full of it!!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Mosaic Monday

Jonathan's Soccer Adventures...


Friday, September 26, 2008

Will Someone Please Stop the Merry-Go-Round

I keep thinking of that Duran Duran song The Reflex. Especially the one little line that says "I'm on a ride and I want to get off, but it won't slow down wah wah (or something like that)". That's my life. Especially yesterday.

I was coming home from a particularly frustrating day at work thinking of all that I had to do that evening. Even thinking of it was stressful. Just trying to figure out what to do for dinner...how to get everything done...and crap! Where's Ryan's baseball shirt??? As I am thinking through where Ryan's baseball shirt probably is, I realize that it is in the washing machine...where a load of clothes has been growing mildew for three days. Double crap!!

I arrive home in time for Jaden's bus. He promptly tells me that he needs to take an apple and a banana to school tomorrow. This will most likely mean that when Trisha and Jonathan get off the bus, they will tell me the same thing. Triple Crap! Why is it on the busiest days the kids need crap for school. As if?!?!

I get Hayleigh from the sitters, take Jaden to therapy, run through Sonic for dinner, spray some Febreeze on Ryan's mildew infested shirt and throw it in the dryer, pick up Jaden from therapy, get Ryan dressed for baseball (a friend drove him to his game), make sure Jonathan is ready for soccer so he can leave right when Rob gets home, take Trisha to cheerleading, go to watch 1 1/2 innings of baseball (during which Ryan did very well, apparently mildew is helpful!), go back and pick Trisha up from cheerleading, go back to the baseball game to pick up Ryan,change oopy diaper in the backseat of van, and stop at the grocery store on my way home.

In the midst of it all, just when I am thinking that I can't possibly go on like this anymore. Just when I think that I am quite likely to have a nervous breakdown or at least a good, long cry, I hear something in the back seat of my car. Hayleigh is making little noises. I turn around and I see that she is waving and saying "Hi" everytime we pass a person on the road. I say to her "Are you saying Hi" and she turns bac toward me and gives me the biggest, cutest, 6-toothed grin you ever did see. And, in an instant I remember why I have as many kids as I do. Because there is absolutely, positvely, no greater privilage on this earth than being able to raise a precious little soul.

Even if those precious little souls need to be driven all over God's green earth.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Talking Points ala Jerry Maguire

Jerry Maguire is one of my favorite movies. I have seen it probably 1,000 times and I hope to see it at least 1,000 times more. Who doesn't love lines like "Show me the money!" and "You had me at hello". One of the less quotes lines, but also a favorite of mine is when Rod and Marcie are talking with Jerry and giving him a hard time. Dorothy comes in and says"...do you know he's broke? He's broke! Broke. Broke. Broke." I've been thinking of that line lately when it comes to politics. Because let's face it folks...as a country we are broke! Broke. Broke. Broke.

So when you hear either presidential candidate mention all of their plans. I just have to ask myself "How is that going to work?" We can't fix healthcare. We can't invest in infrastructure. We're broke! I don't want to pay more taxes, but I can assure you that we can't double the child tax credit or give a $1000 credit to middle class families off the top...we're broke!

When I hear Iran's leader talk with glee about the American empire beginning to fall. Or I hear about China wanting to create a one-world currency that does not include the US, I know our being broke is a real problem. When North Korea and Iran do what they want because they know our threats our empty (Oh yeah...how are you going to get us with your $9 trillion debt?!?!), I know that this is not simply a crisis of the economy, it is a crisis of national security!

This is not all Bush's fault either. There is plenty of blame to go around. Plus, I am not interested in who's at fault, I am interested in who can lead us and fix this. I do not feel like being a commonwealth of China!

So, strip away all of the plans of the candidates...they are not going to happen...or at least I hope not, we can't afford to go depper into debt. All you are left with is two men. I am voting for John McCain for many reasons, but in this context, I beleive his energy policy makes more sense and I think energy independence is a cornerstone to rebuilidng our economy. Instead of sending money to countries who hate us, instead we can circulate that money back through our own economy. We can't wait 10 years for that. We need to move now.

So, strip away the spending plans and tell me who you want to vote for and why. The only rule is it can't be because Bush sucks or Karl Rove is evil or Obama associates with terrorists. It has to be something positive about your candidate. Something that will get us out of being Broke. Broke. Broke.

Monday, September 22, 2008

My Spam Filter

I have to admit that I am very curious how the spam filter actually works...or in my case doesn't work. What makes an email worthy of getting through to the inbox and what makes it seem suspicious? It's really one of the world's great mysteries. However, in the off chance that my spam filter reads my blog, I'd like to offer a few suggestions:

1. I do not have a penis. Therefore, I have no need to enlarge it. I have no idea who Ron Jeremy is, but I do not need to know on a daily basis how excited he is about his penis. Send those to spam.

2. It seems like this should be a no-brainer, but emails addresses to my colon can go in the spam box.

3. I know that I am fat. Thank you very much. Daily emails asking "Why are you still fat?" are really just cruel and unusual punishment. Those can go to spam.

4. I really appreiciate the recent friendship I have apparently struck up with a fine gal named Michelle Anthony. She's really trying to get me a job and has found one where I can make $97 per hour from home. That can go ahead and go to spam since being a phone sex operator is going to lose something with that baby crying in the background.

5. Emails I do like to read: ones from my boss, my mom, and my kids' teachers. You can go ahead and send those through spam filter. They're actually important.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

More Proof that I am Not the Only One Seriously Distracted in Life

It seems that recently a person went into a local gorcery store looking to buy a cake for a coworker who was moving away. The person instructed the person at the bakery to write "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that "We Will Miss You". And, here is the cake that they got:




Friday, September 19, 2008

It's so hard for me to blog.

If I did what I wanted to do I would blog about politics every single day. And, well, that would be totally boring to most everyone. So, feel free to ignore and come back and visit soon. Because I am sure that once I get a political post out of my system, I'll be able to think about more light-hearted topics like: "What is that smell in my van?" or "How dirty can a 14-month-old possible get?" or "Fall Sports Update AKA why my car has so many miles". But for now...

1. The current economic crisis wasn't caused by republicans or democrats. It was caused by greed. It started with Mr. and/or Mrs. Citizen wanting a house they knew deep down they couldn't really afford, but hey! Mr. and/or Ms. Mortgage Lender was more than happy to figure out some sort of risky mortgage scheme to get them into the house they wanted. These risky mortgages that shouldn't have been issues in the first place were then bought and sold on the market spreading the love everywhere. And, to people who are saying this was all caused by Bush deregulation...the law that deregulated and allowed companies to be brokerage houses and banks and insurance companies all at the same time was passed in 1999. Hmmm....I wonder who was president then?

2. Obama's two biggest economic advisors are right smack dab in the middle of the crisis. One of them was a former head and Freddie and Fannie and one was a former head at Lehman Brothers. Wow. They did such a bang-up job with their previous posts, I can only imagine what they will do with our country if they are allowed to advise a president. Don't worry about them, though. Even though their entity went bankrupt or was bought out by the taxpayers, they walked away with millions.

3. John McCain has not flip-flopped. On deregulation: He's not suddenly for more regulation. He's for the current regulations to be enforced. Which is why he called for the SEC chair's resignation. That was supposed to be his job. On AIG: I don't think anyone, fundamentally, is for taxpayers bailing out corporations. Especially during a time when AIG was still trying to raise its own capital, it would have been irresponsible to say "Don't worry...we'll bail you out!" In the end, it was the only choice that could be made. It was the lesser of two evils. On the fundamentals being strong: You remember the old Chicken Little story. "The sky is falling! The sky is falling! I must go tell the king!" Can you imagine if the king was also running around telling all of our allies (and our enemies) that our sky was falling. Why that might be dangerous! And it most certainly wouldn't put those that invest in our economy at ease! And, yet, that is exactly what Obama has been doing.

4. In all reality, what with record foreclosures, record unemployment, record high gas prices, record high debt, etc, etc, Obama should be winning in a landslide. But, he just can't seem to get it right. Which reminds me that a few weeks ago, he was talling people that he had executive experience because he was running this huge campaign. Um...with all due respect, not very well.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Mosaic Monday

Yes. Yes. I know. It's Wednesday. But Mosaic Wednesday doesn't sound as nice as Mosaic Monday. And, since I started trying to figure out how to make one of these on Monday...I think it counts. So, I give to you our vacation...in a mosaic. Of course, it was a month ago, but since I still haven't completely unpacked, I think it can still be considered quite timely.


Friday, September 12, 2008

True Conversations...or not?!

The following are actual conversations I had this week...or are they??? You decide.

#1.
Child of mine: "How come I always get in trouble. Ryan does the same things and he never gets in trouble."
Me: "Trust me Ryan gets in plenty of trouble."
COM: "Nuh-uh. I nvever see him get in trouble."
Me: "Well, he does, and besides what happens between me and Ryan is between me and Ryan and is really not your business."
COM: "I know. I don't even care if Ryan gets in trouble. Who ever said that I cared if Ryan gets in trouble."


#2
Another Child of Mine: "I got in trouble at school today. I lost a ticket."
Me: "Again?!? Seriously?!?! That's not too good. How many tickets have you lost?"
ACOM: "Only 3"
Me: "You've only been in school 7 days!"
ACOM: "Yeah...that's less than half..."

#3
Yet Another Child of Mine: "Mom, I really think that the next president should make it a law that people can't shoot other people unless they are breaking into their house."
Me: "Actually, that is already the law. Exactly. People who do it go to jail for the rest of their lives."
YACOM: "See. That's why I'm really thinking that when I grow up I won't shoot anyone."


#4
One of the Aforementioned Children: "Today the teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grow up."
Me: "Oh yeah. What did you tell him?"
OOTAC: " I told him I just wanted to play video games all day."
Me: "Oh..like a video game creator or tester or something."
OOTAC: "No. I'll just marry a rich lady and then I can play video games all day."

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

That's It! I'm calling NASA!

So, I was watching the Today show this morning when I really should have been helping the children get ready for school. I actually had vowed never to watch any NBC news program again, what with all of their Palin-bashing and all. However, I do love me my Matt Lauer, so I still watch Today. Aaaannyway, there was a story about an atom smasher in Europe that many fear will cause a black hole to swallow the earth.

That doesn't sound too good.

However, a little tidbit for NBC: It already exists. In my family room.

It is absolutely amazing to me how things can disappear in this house. all. of. the. time. Cell phone charger? Can't find it. 2 overdue library books? Who knows. Ryan's batting gloves? Check the black hole. The amazing thing is that this black hole knows exactly what to take and what to leave. We never seem to be missing a dirty diaper or a pile of dirty dishes. It's genius, really. And, sometimes, the black hole spits things back, which reminds me of a funny story about Rob's childhood.

See, in Rob's house, they would make a lot of Christmas gifts. They would pack all of these gifts up and travel to another state for Christmas to visit with relatives. Well, one fateful Christmas, their van was broken into and all of the presents were stolen. Only thing is once the burglar discovered the hand made items, he threw them back. So that, in the morning, they discovered macrame pot holders and hot mitts all over the grass.

That's my black hole. It finds things...it doesn't like them, so several days later after I have sufficiently lost my mind it throws them back. I wonder what NASA would have to say about that!

Monday, September 01, 2008

Why I Love Sarah Palin

1. She's an Effective Reformer From what Ih ave read, she has done more to clean up politics in Alaska in her short term as governor there then Ed Rendell has done to corrupt politics in his 6 years here. That's saying alot, since Mr. Rendell has been quite corrupt!

2. She's courageous. Do you kow how much courage it takes to know that the child you are carrying has a severe birth defect and then still choose to value it's life and bring it into this world anyways? I do. It takes a lot.

3. She's somehow managed to achieve that fragile work/life balance that every woman strives for. If she can run for vice president, there goes my excuse as to why I can't exercise! As the old saying goes, I made time, not excuses. And, I now find it funny that many democratic bloggers and saying things like how can she possibly find time to mother and to work. Gloria Steinem should be appalled!

4. She has a son going to Iraq. Meaning when she talks about loving her country and the troops that serve it...she really means it.

5. She is super smart when it comes to talking about energy. And, let's face facts, energy is one of the biggest issues facing our country. All other issues stem from this. National Security, the economy, the environment, job creation would all be better if we can come up with some smart energy solutions. This is her forte and I love hearing her talk about it.

6. She has experience dealing with Russia. And, I think it's becoming clear that Russia is becoming a problem.

7. Her unmarried, 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Ahhhh...a chink in the armor. As I always say I hate perfect people because I have nothing to learn from them. GIve me someone imperfect anyday. Because I know in my failings is where i have learned the most.

I do, however; have one thing I do not like about her:

She gave birth 5 months ago and she is skinny. That's not right or normal!