Thought for Sunday

One should never despair too soon.

--Frederick the Great

My Sweetie's Birthday!

My sweetie's birthday was on Thursday, the 3rd. Actually, it probably wasn't the world's best birthday--though he always says, "This was the best birthday ever!"

I made him breakfast Thursday morning (which most of you know I never do--he usually makes it for me, actually). Then before he had to go into work, we went for an early lunch at Taco Bell, brought our tacos home, and watched an episode of The Office on the computer (The Golden Ticket!).

Then he had to go to work...and Thursday is his longest day of the week. So, he left before noon and didn't get back until after 10 (long past his bedtime). But I let the kids stay up and wait for him, and we gave him his presents. He got some clothes, a book, and his big present--the new DVD/VCR...with a working remote!

So, for two days, he's been playing with the remote...fast-forwarding things and frame-by-framing things just for fun. He watched a bunch of episodes that we couldn't watch before when the old remote didn't work--it's been like having a whole new DVD collection.

Anyway, I coooked dinner last night (Friday, because he wasn't home Thursday). I made Philly Cheese Steak pizza--it was really yummy, if I do say so. I stole the recipe out of a magazine at the doctor's office when we went to see if AJ's hand was broken (it's not). Sabra made him a cake, and David took him to the Mt. Vernon football game.

I guess it wasn't so bad, for a grown-up birthday.

Anyway, Mom and Dad, I just want to thank you for raising him to be so great. He's the best; I love him so much.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! I love you!

Our Vacation, Part 1

So, now that we have this awesome new minivan, it makes taking trips a LOT easier. We'd been hoping all summer to take a vacation to St. Louis, and we'd been helped out by our AWESOME friends John and Nancy (who gave us a week in their time share condo that they would have lost otherwise), but we weren't loking forward to cramming the three kids in the back of the sporadically air-conditioned Taurus.

Thanks to my WONDERFUL in-laws, that problem was solved!

So we got up Saturday morning, August 8, because the kids like to be loaded into the car in their pajamas when it's still dark, and we drove northeast. It was a leisurely drive with no stress, no need to "make time," and very little fussing from the kids. We stopped for breakfast at McDonald's and got such good service that I had to call the manager over and let him know. We stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall used bookstore in St. James, and a gas station in some town that had Icees on sale for 25 cents.

For all of our dawdling, we were still at the condo in Farmington (about an hour south of St . Louis) by noon...and apparently check-in wasn't allowed until 4:00 (our bad--you have to read the fine print!). So we drove into the town and ate lunch at a pizza place called Bobarino's. It was incredible!

With time to kill, we wandered around the historic section of Farmington. We went into several antique shops (Farmington is a serious antiquers' paradise), a Christian bookstore (where David spent his own money on a balloon), and a very girlie boutique (which made David and Matt decide to just wait outside). These were all old shops, and you could tell that families used to live above them.

The French-settled areas of northeastern Missouri, most of which are along the Mississippi River, are very old settlements. They have old, beautiful Catholic churches and lots of French names and themes. Later in the week we went to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (notice the French abbreviation of Sainte--the feminine form of Saint in French), which was another beautifully historic place.

So we finally went back to the resort, killed some time in the golfers' clubhouse (where you could only watch golf on TV--the kids weren't allowed to change the channel!), and finally were allowed into our room. Well, apartment, really--it was a one bedroom deal that was bigger than Matt's and my first couple of apartments! We unpacked, and I took the kids swimming at the condo pool.

It was a really nice start to the vacation. We did a ton of stuff, so there's more to come!

A Thought for Sunday

It must forever be kept in mind, regardless of how much the modern mind insists on changing morals and beliefs to suit new conditions, that right is right if nobody is right, and wrong is wrong is everybody is wrong.

-Fulton J. Sheen

The 20-Year Difference

Here's Kat in 1989, age 18:

"Like, oh, maGawd, I would totally never drive a minivan! Those are for, like, suburban soccer moms! No way!"

"Gah, cheerleaders are such bimbos, and they're brainless and a waste of space. What do they even do besides wear too much makeup and show their underwear at football games?"

Here's Kat in 2009, age 38:

"Oh, my God! We got a new minivan! It's gorgeous! I've wanted one for so long! Now I can drive all those kids to soccer practice! This is the best thing ever!"

"Actually, cheerleading is a serious sport that combines athleticism, performace skill and community leadership. And cheerleaders have to be smart--most schools require that they maintain at least a B average to stay on the squad...What's that? You want me to coach a middle school cheerleading squad? Sure, I'd love to do that! I'm so proud that my daughter is a cheerleader!"

Yes, as the song says, time changes everything!

The Answer to Exorbitant Bonuses Given to Bailed-out Execs

Okay, so a few months ago, y'all will remember, the government started bailing out banks and corporations right and left. And then there was a bit of a stink when it was revealed that AIG, the hugest of all the companies being bailed out, was using our tax dollars to pay its executives these obscenely large bonuses.

My friend Nancy (not the nurse-practitioner, but the one who lives on Martha's Vineyard) is NOT a woman to just sit back and grumble when things like this happen. So, she wrote her senator, John Kerry (yes, I know...but that's a different post) to let him know just what she thought of that.

Many, many months later (this week, actually), Nancy received an email back from Senator Kerry's office basically telling her not to worry her pretty little head about it, because the government was taking care of everything (and yes, that is a paraphrase).

Another of my friends, Kim, didn't think the Senator's post was a sufficient response. Here's how Kim responded:

Well, one good way of preventing abuses like exorbitant bonuses when a company has received a bailout from the government would be... and, I'm just thinking out loud here... DON'T bail out companies!

This whole situation is due to a nation that has developed not only a detrimental sense of entitlement, but one that has morphed Uncle Sam into Daddy Sam. The government's job is not to bail out private individuals when they make mistakes (often knowingly), nor businesses either! Hell, the government can barely manage themselves for goodness sake! They are DEFINITELY not a good example of how a business should be run! Our government had already spent more money than they were going to receive this year by APRIL!!! The EARLIEST in history (usually we don't run out of money until August - which is sad enough!). It's like the blind leading the blind here, for goodness sake!

And, yes, I realize that without bailout funds this could lead to significant economic turmoil - but, seriously, without the threat of utter failure, what's going to keep these businesses in check in the future? In the back of their corporate minds has to be the knowledge that another bail out is possible - equating to riskier (including ridiculous bonuses) fiscal behavior. And, although I know this isn't popular, I think America IN GENERAL needs to feel the ramifications of their gluttonous spending.

There was a time when being an American meant working hard and reaping the rewards from that hard work. Today, we want the rewards up front - we'll work for them later. The abuse of credit is what led us into the Great Depression, apparently we didn't learn our lesson then and it needs to be re-taught. Why is everyone so surprised when history repeats itself?

America is fiscally hemorrhaging and all Congress (both sides of the aisles) wants to do is put a band-aid on it, so they can look like they're doing something about it and keep their seats. What we need is economic surgery - hell, we may even need amputation, if we really want to survive.


To which I responded, AMEN, SISTER! Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

July Observances

July is:

Monthly Observances

Air-Conditioning Appreciation Days (7/3-8/15)
Bereaved Parents Month
Bioterrorism/ Disaster Education & Awareness Month
Blueberries Month
Cell Phone Courtesy Month
Dog Days (7/3 -8/11)
Family Reunion Month
Hemochromatosis Screening Awareness Month
Herbal/Prescription Awareness Month
International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month
International Group B Strep Awareness Month
National Child-Centered Divorce Month
National Grilling Month
National Ice Cream Month
National Horseradish Month
National Hot Dog Month
National Make A Difference to Children Month
National Recreation & Parks Month
National Share A Sunset With Your Lover Month
National Wheelchair Beautification Month
Sandwich Generation Month
Smart Irrigation Month
Social Wellness Month
Tour de France Month
Women's Motorcycle Month

Weekly Observances

National Unassisted Homebirth Week: 1-7
Freedom Week: 4-10
Be Nice To New Jersey Week: 5-11
Sports Cliché Week: 5-11
Nude Recreation Weekend: 6-12
International Chicken Wing Week: 10-12
Sinclair Lewis Week: 12-18
National Parenting Gifted Children Week: 13-19
Rabbit Week: 15-21
National Ventriloquism Week: 16-19
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week: 18-25
Captive Nations Week: 19-23
National Independent Retailers Week: 19-25
National Baby Food Week: 21-25
Lumberjack Week: 23-25
Moby Dick Week: 31-8/1
National Get Out of the Doghouse Day: 20
National Hug Your Kid Day: 20
National Lollipop Day: 20
Health, Happiness With Hypnosis Day: 22
Cousins Day: 24

Daily Observances

Canada Day: 1
Second Half of The Year Day: 1
U.S. Postage Stamp Day: 1
Zip Code Day: 1
Halfway Point of 2009: 2
Earth at Aphelion: 3
Stay Out Of The Sun Day; 3
Fourth of July or Independence Day: 4
International Day of Cooperatives: 4
Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day: 6
Father-Daughter Take A Walk Together Day: 7
Tell The Truth Day: 7
Hot Dog Day: 9
Get to Know Your Customers Day: 16
National Ice Cream Day: 19
National Drive-Thru Day: 24
Tell An Old Joke Day: 24
Cow Appreciation Day: 25
National Day of the Cowboy : 25
Parents' Day: 26

YES!! Parents' Day is coming up! That is AWESOME!

And we didn't miss Hot Dog Day...David will be thrilled.

And I do appreciate cows...truly I do.

But (and I feel like I've asked this before) what do we DO for Zip Code Day?