The Reason I Cringe

"the proposal is big and the reason it's big is because it's a big problem". G.W.Bush That's the best our president can do? That's the best he can say? God. No wonder confidence is crumbling. If all the people surrounding him can't come up with something better than that to explain the madness of our government's actions this week, we are in dire straits indeed. It's the reason I cringe when I turn on the news now. Where the heck are the economic and business advisers? The REAL ones, not the ones that got us into this mess. Why isn't anyone standing up in front of the people and saying "This sucks. We know it sucks. But we have to do this without a guarantee of getting all the money back. Even then, the economy will get worse before it gets better. The taxpayers are going to take the burden. CEO salaries and golden parachutes ARE NOT THE PROBLEM THEY ARE A DISTRACTION. Right now we HAVE TO FOCUS ON STABILIZING THE FINANCIAL SECTOR. After that we can deal with the salary cap issue. After that we can deal with the wrong-doers, the speculators. But WE HAVE TO STOP THE CHAOS FIRST." We need to be told in blunt terms the average person can understand that this is not a bailout of the CEO's. This is a bailout of the economy. Which affects all of us. Yeah, no ones paying my mortgage. But financial stability is necessary for economic growth. We may not reach the levels of the Great Depression, but things aren't going to be great for a few years. Unemployment will rise from historic lows, interest rates will go up from historic lows, home buying/values will still decrease from historic highs...But these are all things that need to happen. The economy cannot sustain a high forever. Corrections are needed. We can't hold them off. And the longer we hold them off, the harsher the correction is going to be in my opinion. I'd apologize for yelling, but I need to vent in a BIG WAY about the stupidity of Congress finally listening to "what the voters want" when most of the voters (myself included, even if I do have an Economics degree!) don't have the slightest clue how the economy works, how everything is inter-related, how the banking & finance system works, or the short and long-term effects of bailout vs no bailout. NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO LISTEN TO JOHN Q PUBLIC. Once again, politics trumps doing what's better for the people/country as a whole.

Who would have thought it...

Okay, I'm still around. It's been insanely busy at work and at home. I must admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed with 4 people, 4 birds and 3 dogs staying with me. None of us expected it to take this long. Stupid movers. But their new home is in place and leveled and hooked up to the pressure pump (for the well) and hooked up to the sewer line and today the water is being hooked up. Michelle is painting today (see how I missed out on that with my business trip). Bummer. Hah. I haven't had much to say lately as my brain is just running a mile a second. Too much stuff going on; presidential politics, the economy, the "financial crisis"...I keep reading more and more and the BB isn't an escape anymore like it used to be. But I can't find any other topics to focus on either. It seems to be all my brain can think about, especially the economic stuff. And then it turned out Shanni really was sick, and I got sick...pushed myself last week to get everything ready for this seminar this week, and was able to take Friday off to recover. Shanni thought that would be great, except all I did was sleep. lol. It's definitely not like playing hooky from school! We've developed quite the routine. Steve cooks dinner most nights since he's home, the girls get home and do homework, then I get home around the same time as Michelle. I've got 3 TVs hooked up to cable now so there's no arguing over what to watch. Although we seem to congregate in the living room. It's the mornings that are the best, though. KT leaves at 5:30 for dance/drill team practice; I get up at 6 to shower (only one bathroom) and then Shanni gets up. Well, M & S are big coffee drinkers. (They brought their coffee pot with them. [g]) I've gotten in the habit of prepping it the night before & turning it on as I stumble past on the way to my shower; or fixing it when I get out of the shower. I'm dressed right away (a minor miracle!), and then Shanni gets up. A few minutes after I leave the bathroom (or as soon as the coffee is done brewing, lol) Michelle stumbles out. It's pretty much weather report, news, & then "The Waltons" or "It's Me or the Dog" until Shanni & I leave for the day. I drop her off at school, and head to work. I love the time we spend on the way to school; it's great to just chit-chat about the day before we start it. Especially since we're in the middle of a SlugBug (VW Beetle) contest. If it can be called that. It's more like a crusade. ;) I almost yelled out "Silver Slug Bug, no Slug Bug Back!" on the way to dinner with the instructors last night. Oops. Thank goodness I managed to restrain myself. [g] I must admit, I'm going to miss this part of their stay. It's kind of fun. And has me missing my parents for some reason. I think I've become a bit too much of a homebody since buying the house. And having the other dogs around is a delight. The birds have faded into the background; I'm so used to their singing now. But the dogs are great. Scully is very cranky still. Especially with Aria, the standard poodle that's just a year old. She (Scully) has taken to hiding out upstairs in the second bedroom, where I've been sleeping. Even when I'm home, she stays up there. After coming down to say hello and get dinner, that is. ;) Poor thing. Her home has been invaded. She's an old dog at 13, you know. I was looking at a picture of her today from June 2006 and realized how much grayer she's gotten since then...and she's losing her eyesight. It's very noticeable now and depresses me. So I'm going to stop going there in this post. Night before last I brushed Radar (the golden) and he just puddled on the floor. I've never seen a dog melt like that before. When I was brushing the front of his neck, he stretched his head up toward me and I've never been given such an adoring look before...It was so funny. Scully ran and hid when she saw the brush, Izzy (the Westie) dared me with her eyes to try and groom her (safely ensconced on the sofa with KT), and Aria (the poodle) gave me a puzzled look, came over and licked Radar's ear, and then went and laid down. Kooky dogs. But it's great when I pull up next to the garage at the end of the day and the three of them are standing at the gate waiting for me. My own welcoming committee. And it's not because they're about to be fed. How lovely. :)

I found a Gem & Wasn't Looking

Sitrep: 1x Swimming, 1x Pilates Class (60 mins), 2x Walk (30 min ea, w/dogs)

Also known as A Trip to the Library. :) I took Shanni & KT to the library Saturday, mostly for their sakes as I have umpteen million books I'm currently reading, and that's not including my TBR pile. Having caught whatever bug Shanni (and everyone else in town) had last week, I could not concentrate on books or TV to save my life. In spite of myself, I found a book while casually browing the new book shelf: My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young. from B&N website blurb:

Cyrla's neighbors have begun to whisper. Her cousin, Anneke, is pregnant and has passed the rigorous exams for admission to the Lebensborn, a maternity home for girls carrying German babies. But Anneke's soldier has disappeared, and Lebensborn babies are only ever released to their father's custody— or taken away.

A note is left under the mat. Someone knows that Cyrla, sent from Poland years before for safekeeping with her Dutch relatives, is Jewish. The Nazis are imposing more and more restrictions; she won't be safe there for long.

And then in the space of an afternoon, life falls apart. Cyrla must choose between certain discovery in her cousin's home and taking Anneke's place in the Lebensborn—Cyrla and Anneke are nearly identical. If she takes refuge in the enemy's lair, can Cyrla fool the doctors, nurses, guards, and other mothers-to-be? Can she escape before they discover she is not who she claims?

It sounded intriguing - you don't see stuff about the Nazi Lebensborn program all that much. Actually, I can only ever remember one other fiction novel that this is talked about and part of the storyline. Although that's not a good example statistically speaking; I read but I don't read that much! After reading a few pages there, it seemed an okay read so I checked it out. I finished In the Bleak Midwinter that night (also a good read), and Sunday morning picked up My Enemy's Cradle. And finished it by dinner time. Aside from a few plot twists I found a bit harder to suspend reality for, it was a really good book. It's her first adult fiction novel; she's written quite a few children's books under the name Sara Pennypacker. I wish there had been a bit more from the eventual romantic interest's viewpoint prior to seeing him in the latter part of the book. Would have made his "revelation" a bit more believable. But it is very much first person POV; you don't get into anyone else's head but Cyrla's. And some threads are left hanging at the end, just a few minor ones. But I think it is fitting for the time period where people often "disappeared" and no one ever knew what became of them. Anyway, for a good read, with lots of emotion (at least there was for me; I even dreamt about it last night), I recommend finding this book. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for her next adult fiction novel. And might just look for her children's stuff at the library to see if any of it would be good for my youngest niece. :)

Pilates...Or Not?

Goals: 1x Swimming, 1x Pilates Class, 1x BodyRev Bootcamp, 1x Rock Wall Climbing Sitrep: 1x Swimming, 1x Pilates Class (60 mins)

Last night was my first ever Pilates class. It was a beginner's class. I was, uh, a bit disappointed. It's basically the floor exercises from an aerobics class. Is that typical Pilates? If so, I think next week I'll check out the water aerobics class. Last night was murder on my hips. Especially the right one. Darn arthritis. It burns like mad today, and now the rest of the leg is tingly. (sigh) Amazingly, I find myself getting re-motivated now that Fall "is here". Maybe it's that "going back to school" mentality. [g] Or maybe I'm just like Scully...cold air makes me frisky. LOL. Now there's an image. I'm so not feeling frisky today. Distracted & tired. Cranky. Those are words that come to mind. Although overall mentally I'm feeling better. The exercise last night, no doubt. But this morning. Sheesh. My Little Sister is "sick" today. It started last night, when they got home from running errands (that started directly after school) at 10pm. Insane. She'd been doing her homework in the car between stores. I'm sure that didn't work real well. [rolling eyes]. She was fine when she got home until she was told she'd have to finish her homework then or get up at 5 am to finish. She chose 5am, but not 10 minutes after crawling into bed she started complaining of being sick. Did the same thing this morning. So her mom let her stay home. I blame her mom in this instance. What was she thinking, keeping the kid out so late? Why didn't she drop her off at home to do homework while Mom went shopping? And she blew off a meet with her middle daughter, the almost 18 year old (we're kept informed of the count daily), to get her homecoming dress. At least she called her (KT was at work) to let her know. But late; KT had been waiting for her for hours. (She works at M.acy's, also where she's getting the dress). Poor kid was crushed. Found her in my bedroom at 10pm bawling her eyes out. (sigh) Oh, and when they did get home they had Shanni's stepdad's 7 yr old grandson with them. I knew they were picking him up for the afternoon since it was C's b-day. But I didn't realize that meant keeping him overnight. Since I'm short on bedrooms, beds and sofas, C slept on the floor with Shanni...in my room. Guess who needs the light left on all night??? I'm starting (!) to sound cranky, aren't I? This morning Shanni was curled up on the sofa acting anything but sick, Izzie is continuing her stare-down challenge with Scully, Michelle let the big dogs in the house (they are too rambunctious that early in the morning), her work kept calling, she kept trying to get Steve to listen to her instructions about the pet groomer coming to pick up Aria for grooming, and he kept playing with the 7 year old grandson. Who got a new toy for his birthday: a remote controlled car. Joy. Not. Man, I'm turning into a cranky old woman. I had to leave the house ASAP or I'd've cracked that car in two. And tossed Shanni into the shower with a "I don't care if your homework's not done you're going to school." As it was, I managed to restrain myself to "Don't drive that into the living room furniture....Don't hit the furniture it's new...don't bang the furniture, it cost a lot of money...don't bang into that, it's from Japan...don't hurt the furniture...not the furniture from Japan...don't bang into ANY OF THE FURNITURE!" At that point I left before doing bodily harm. ;)

So...This was my weekend

Sitrep: 1x swimming (30 mins, no laps though), Yard Work - see below. [g]

So. It was a jam-packed weekend. Lots of stuff to do, with sinus pressure/headache added. I had no idea how much of a mess 4 extra people could make. Holy Cow. I am so not cut out for this "mother" thing. Michelle tried hard the first week to keep things in order, but she got sick last week (sinus issues, just like the rest of us) and when you combine that with 4 females PMSing during the same week, well...'Nuff said. All I managed to get done on Saturday was grocery shopping. And some pictures. Definitely took some pictures. Here's one of them: Is this not the happiest looking dog ever? This is Radar, one of Shanni's dogs. Actually, he's really her mom's dog. The Westie is Shanni's, the poodle is Steve's (whether he wants her or not, she is in love with him. [g]). KT has a cat. Anyway. Radar is just so happy in this picture you can't help but smile, can you?

Here's why he's in such a very good mood: Serves me right for buying them a Ko.n.g toy & stuffing it with kibble & peanut butter. [rolling eyes]. Here's Aria, the Standard Poodle that looks like a sheep, and Isabelle (aka; Izzie or Rotteno):

Gym Bound

Sitrep: Joined a Gym ("athletic center")

Well, I've gone and done it now. I signed up - and paid for - a 2 year membership at one of the local fitness centers. It's the "paid for" part that freaks me out. Although how paying for it up front is any worse than over time when you sign a 2-year contract, I don't know... I was able to include Shanni on my membership, and the total cost is only $35/month, and a one-time $20 application fee. Not bad. Considering the membership at this facility would normally be a one-time application fee of $120, and then $55/month for me, plus $12/month for Shanni until she's 14 (one yr) and then it would be $16/month for Shanni. So this is much, much better. :) It includes all the facilities at the club's main location. All 3 locations would have been better for me, as I could do my regular workouts at one located more or less on the way home, instead of the West location. But this isn't too bad all things considered. They have 5 courts for racquetball, handball, wallyball (?) and one for basketball; three Hot Springs pools, the Adventure Zone, full fitness facilities including cardio and strength equipment, Group Fitness Classes, Teen Fitness Program, tanning and indoor rock climbing wall. This might make me sound old (!) but I'm especially interested in the water fitness class. It would be much easier on my hip. Yeah, yeah. I can hear you all laughing. Cut it out. But I'm excited. I still want to use my BodyRev. But I've been wanting something I can do with Shanni to help her with her issues of self-esteem & weight. We can make our first visit this Saturday. :)

Goodbye Garden, Hello Mom

Sitrep: Don't Look Here!

It's amazing the things you learn about yourself when people move in. Me, it's definitely reinforced the fact that I'm used to being alone and am a bit set in my ways. It's also reinforced my decision not to have kids. Ever. (Can you tell Shanni is driving us batty?) The dogs are adapting well. Even Her Royal Dogginess, Scully. Izzy (Shanni's Westie, and half the size of my dog) is tired of being bullied and the two have gotten into a humdinger of a snarl/pinning-fest. No blood drawn. Freaks everyone out, though. Except me. Just makes me mad and they both get banished outside. The big dogs are doing extremely well in the house and love the doggie door. Aria, the standard poodle, destroyed my American Flags that I had in the front flower pots. Well, she chewed up the poles...oh, and the top part of the little water fountain in my front bed. Ooops. (She's only a year old, and teething.) And she keeps taking the river rocks one by one out of the water fountain pot...bizarre. Izzy, however, found something much more entertaining to do. She dug up my veggie garden. Yes, she truly did. The half whiskey barrel with the carrots, lettuce and onions. {sigh} I came home Friday and it was all dug up. I was able to smooth the dirt back in and save the carrots. The next morning it was destroyed again; dirt everywhere. We caught Izzy in the act later that day, sitting there in the container, face and paws covered with dirt, serenely surveying the back yard. :( Shanni has been a barrel of fun. Not. The slightest thing will set her off. I'm trying my darndest to stay out of her & her mother's arguments. Friday morning they had a rip-roaring argument, and I got dragged in...and it all started with two strips of jerky. I kid you not. But yesterday, ahh, yesterday I think I won. One battle, anyway. She'd spent the night and day at her cousins' house. Her mom went to pick her up and I guess they argued on the 5 minute drive back to my house. She came storming in...I'd been waiting for her to cook Josie's b-day dinner (cake was already done) so she stomped into the kitchen to help me. I was rinsing the veggies and didn't hear something she said...I went "what?" and she grumpily said "Nothing." Now, she's not allowed to use that answer any more. She does it on purpose, talking softly so you have to ask her what she said, then refusing to repeat it, and so on until it becomes a fight. So I replied, "You know that's not an answer. Now what'd you say?" She then turned on me (and I do mean turned on me) and snarled "NOTHING...It was mean and I don't want to say it again. Just like what you did last week..." Technically, this is true. I'd made a remark that was very catty, and then apologized. She hadn't been paying attention, until she heard the apology...and then demanded I repeat the remark. To which I said it wasn't a very nice remark, I shouldn't have said it in the first place and didn't want to repeat it. Which she couldn't accept and it descended into an argument...But that was over a week ago. So how did I handle last night??? Well, luckily for me, my Mom bailed me out. No mean feat considering the woman lives over 2500 miles from me. Me (channeling Mom; calm voiced): Stop. Shanni (red faced and yelling): If you can do it so can I! I don't have to repeat it... you didn't have to when you said something mean... Me (Mom speaking calmly through my mouth ): Then you should have said "It was a mean thing to say, and I'm sorry I said it, and don't want to repeat it." I would have been fine with that. But you said "Nothing" in an angry voice trying to start a fight with me. Now go to your room. Shanni (sputtering): B..b..you can't... Me (calmly, firmly, pointing her toward the stairs): Go to your room until I call you.

And I turned away, back to fixing dinner. Totally stunned I'd kept my cool. And that she obeyed me. Stomping every last step, but she obeyed me. Michelle came out of the bed room a few minutes later wanting to know why Shanni was stomping around upstairs. I told her Shanni had gotten angry, tried to pick a fight, and been disrespectful so I sent her to her room. The look on Michelle's face was priceless...A few minutes later she went upstairs. [sigh]. But Shanni didn't come back downstairs with her, because I'd told her not to...Heh heh heh. I think it was more that she thought she was punishing me by her continued absence. Not. I finished getting dinner on the stove and then called upstairs to her to get her clothes and go take her shower. Darned if she didn't listen. And was a perfect angel the rest of the evening. ;) She even helped clean the kitchen after dinner & cake, and wiped down the sink & stove with nary a murmur of protest. Miracles do happen after all.

SNOW!

On Mount H? On September 1st??? Un-freakin'-believable. At least, that's what I said to myself (or something reasonably similar) Monday morning as I headed out to my little sister's house for another day of packing. It rained a good part of the day Sunday, with strong winds, and I knew the temps were to drop into the forties that night. But to wake up to snow on the Elkhorns south of my house, and then to turn West and see Mount H with a dusting of snow about 3/4 of the way down... Not. Good. Especially since Michelle'd already called me to let me know that the items already out of the house and securely (or so we thought) wrapped/stored were wet. Apparently the wind Sunday blew plenty of rain in along with knocking out the power. The girls discovered the problem when they went out to dig out the candles. {sigh} So instead of moving furniture out, we struggled in the alternately pouring and drizzling rain, with the temperature at 38*F (wind chill 33*F), to put up two large family-size tents. And then moved everything in there. Ughh. One of the guys that volunteered to help with the heavy stuff got the bottle flu. So me and one male friend that did show up did the heavy lifting. (We kept having to chase away Steve-with-the-Broken-Back and his friend D-just-got-out-of-the-hospital-with-colostomy-bag.) Can I just say Monday was nightmarish. And that was before Shanni got into a fight with me. I was too tired and cranky and cold to exhibit any patience...Oh, man, was that a stressful day. At one point Michelle told Shanni if she hated me so much they'd call BBBS first thing on Tuesday and withdraw from the program. Hah. That shut her up. I took a bag of trash outside after that, and KT came up to me and gave me a hug and whispered "I'm so sorry she's being mean. Don't go away." [g] As if. Shanni ended up apologizing. Later. Much, much later. Me, I'm hanging my head in shame because I just couldn't let it go. By 1pm yesterday, we had two carloads and a truck load of dogs (ok, 2 dogs w/their travel kennels) at my house. The cat and one little dog were in my car. The cat is now hostage in my garage (allergies, can't have her in my house - Sis, stay out of my garage if you ever visit!). The four birds (I took them over on Monday) are happily chirping away in a far corner of the kitchen. The dogs have free reign in the yard and are in doggie heaven...the Golden Retriever & Standard Poodle even fit through the doggie door. Go figure. Her Royal Dogginess is Not Pleased we have company. It's amusing to watch her give the other dogs the "evil eye". And to watch them give Scully a wide berth. I'm not kidding. They all watch her out of the corners of their eyes and if she moves in one direction, they get up and go in the other. So they are all moved in for the duration...Shanni & I are "camped" upstairs, KT is sleeping on the sofa, and Michelle & Steve are in my room...can't have the man with the broken back sleeping on the floor. Their old home is supposedly being moved today, the new one coming in tomorrow. If all goes according to the latest schedule. Our friend Josie stopped by last night with wine. And ended up cooking dinner. I'm not sure how that happened, the girls were supposed to cook dinner (meat loaf) and I swear they started to...I was upstairs cleaning the spare room, and doing laundry so I don't know why Josie ended up cooking. But it was nice not to have to. Poor Steve was passed out on the sofa within minutes of sitting down. Between the TV, the birds (OMG are they noisy), the girls doing "homework", the dryer, the dogs, & us three girls chatting across the house, it was bedlam. Can I just say I was glad to have to return to work this morning? At least it has warmed up, the sun is shining, and the snow on Mount H didn't last past Monday afternoon.