Corporate giant McDonalds has done it now. They copied Devo’s trademarked and copyrighted hat for one of their toys. The toy even wears a jumpsuit and plays Devo-like music! I hope Devo is able to stop them. Sometimes, it’s nice to see the little guy whip the big guy once in a while.
Admittedly, I’m a bit late on some of the news. I just heard about Hillary’s campaign debt. Thank G-d she didn’t become the candidate for President. If she can’t manage her own finances, how is she going to manage a county that is already way, way, way in debt? Hillary, if you ever want to run for President again, for your sake, I hope you pay it off. It is simply not fair to spend more money than you have. In case you are wondering, no, I don’t carry a balance on my credit card. My car is paid in full. My only debt is my house and I always pay my mortgage on time. Barring any unforeseen medical emergency or job layoff, I will NEVER spend more money than I have. People seem to forget that when your debt is “forgiven” through bankruptcy or other means, there is some honest businessperson or company out there that is NOT getting paid for work s/he/it has done for you. Hillary, I hope you repay every penny. It is the honest thing to do.
Once in a while, I go online and look at various anti-semitic websites to see who hates me (I’m Jewish) and what they have to say about Jews. I came across this website that calls itself the “Christian Party.” It has a long list identifying who is a “Jew.” I don’t know where they get this information. For what purpose is this list? Let’s just say I doubt the “Christian Party” (whoever they are) wants you to use it when you compile your holiday gift list. Indeed, I was surprised to find a few football players on that list. I have to question their accuracy right there. I didn’t know my congresswoman was Jewish. But then they go and identify Steven Spielberg as a Jew. What a shocker! Oh, and if you visit the “Christian Party” website’s home page, you can take their poll so that they can see whether you think Blacks should be exiled. Really, I’m serious. I’m going to take the poll, but I’m a bit scared of the potential repercussions of providing my email address. What would Jesus do? Oh well, the “Christian Party” says they are about “love not hate” we shall see.
Personally, I’m happy that gas prices are high because people are finally looking to public transportation, working closer to home, biking and walking places. Although the earth is surely benefiting from a lesser consumption of fossil fuels, I hate that the oil companies are enjoying record profits. If gas prices have to be so high, I’d like it to be because the profits are going to researching cleaner alternative fuels or to improving and expanding the public transportation system.
Anyway, I have a new game I play with myself when I am in the car. I try to keep my miles per gallon as high as possible. My small wagon is equipped with a gadget that tells me exactly the miles per gallon I am getting moment by moment. With another hit of a button, it tells me what the average is based on the last time I filled the tank. I watch these numbers constantly. My goal is to keep the average above 20 miles per gallon. As of yesterday, it was over 22! How do I do this? Well, I have completely changed my driving habits. Through trial and error, I have learned that the best way to keep up the miles per gallon is to use my cruise control. On cruise control, I can get anywhere between 30-55 miles per gallon (that is, while I am in cruise control). The biggest gas guzzling times are, obviously, when I am coming off a stop and pressing on the gas. At those times, I get 5-10 miles per gallon. I used to “put the petal to the metal” off a stop light to see whether I could beat the car next to me. I have totally stopped doing that now. That’s just dumb b/c it wastes gas. Another way I save gas is I go the speed limit. I no longer care that it feels like I’m crawling at 25 or 30 mph. If that is the speed limit, that is what I do. I’m not in a hurry, I’m saving money.
I’d like to formally issue a challenge to Gadget Man (and to you out there). What’s the best average you can do? What are you doing to improve your gas mileage? At the very least, I urge Gadget Man to stop driving with the air conditioning on and the windows open — this kills me! The second thing he could do is to ease up on the gas pedal. I get nauseous from all the harsh stopping and starting whenever he drives. I wish you all luck in your own gas game.
Yeah!!!! A “green” dry cleaners (though I think technically, the process is wet cleaning) is now in my hometown of Skokie! Armens Cleaners promises to clean clothes without the harsh chemicals of dry cleaning. The dangers of dry cleaner chemicals are well-known. For that reason, I try to avoid buying anything needing dry cleaning. Luckily, Gadget Man doesn’t have to wear a suit to work, so we don’t have to get anything cleaned too often. Once in a while, I will need to get a dress or a shirt laundered professionally. Fearing the dangers of traditional dry cleaners, I have always wanted to try the Greener Cleaner, another environmentally safe cleaners, but it is in the city. There was just no way I was going to drive so far for that, though I have thought about it. Finally, a “green” cleaner is local. I brought two garments in for a test cleaning. One, a silk blouse, came back perfect. Another, a stained dress, came back even better — sans stain! If you live nearby, give them your business. I want them to stick around.
I never wanted it to go this way, but I cut Charlie off cold turkey. Our nursing relationship began like any other, with a few glitches along the way. He nursed exclusively for six months, then we began to introduce solids. He’s never been much for food, opting for my breasts instead. His desires never seemed to be satisfied. As an infant, he would nurse for hours on end. Just days away from his third birthday, there were no signs of tapering off. He wanted to nurse every time I sat down and every time I lay down. He could nurse for a good half hour and still ask for more!
I have been waiting and waiting for him to show signs of weaning. I just want to be able to sit down w/out having to get out my breasts. My husband, who was supportive up until recently, told me to just cut him off. I haven’t been ready to do that. I’m sure that the nursing is filling some need he has. Others tell me Charlie has been taking advantage of me. I never saw it that way. But I’m ready to have my body back. I’m ready to be more than just a milk machine to my son.
Today is Thursday, and he hasn’t nursed since Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon, I left to spend a night away in a hotel. Before I left I explained that I was going to “have my milk taken out” and that I wouldn’t be able to make any more milk. I nursed him one last time and asked him to say “goodbye” to the milk. Sure enough, as soon as I walked in the door the next day, he asked for milk. “Charlie, you know I don’t have any,” I replied. He didn’t take “no” for an answer. He asked me if he could just “see” if the milk was gone. He wanted to “try” them out. Of course, I can’t let him try. I have lots of milk left and my breasts are killing me (that’s a whole separate post).
Charlie is still asking for milk at all the “usual” times: upon waking, after my morning shower, prior to the afternoon nap, prior to bedtime, and whenever I sit down. It has been really difficult for me to say “no” to him, especially when he gets hurt. Nursing was the easiest way to comfort him after a fall or a bump. I feel very sorry for both of us. I miss being able to comfort him so easily. I miss having him in my arms drifting off to sleep. This is my last child, and I will never nurse again. I have to come to terms with that too.
“Walking Money” is money saved up in your (I’m referring to you as a wife) own account where only you have access to it. It allows you to walk away from your marriage if things in your marriage ever get too bad. It also protects you in case your husband leaves you and cleans out your bank account. Think this won’t happen to you? Read my post here at Chicago Moms Blog.
Do you understand the subprime mortgage crisis? Do you ask questions like, “Wouldn’t it just be better for these banks if they just cooperated with the homeowner and reduced their rates?” Ah, if only it were that simple. I have no economic education in my background, so I need to have it all spelled out for me. I finally get it! If you listen to this hour long podcast from NPR and This American Life (originally broadcast on May 9, 2008), you will finally understand the subprime mortgage crisis! However, like me, you will (and should) get very, very, very angry at the mess mortgage lenders, borrowers and Wall Street got us into.
You will hear about the guy who only make $45K a year, and was granted a loan for over $500K! The NINA loans stand for “No Income No Asset” loans. Virtually unheard of until recently, one could get such a loan w/out anyone ever checking to see if you had any income or any assets! This is so crazy to even think about. Who would EVER loan a stranger a large amount of money w/out checking out his/her assets and income? Well, as you will find out, Wall Street! Who are these risk takers? People who got very greedy and really raked it in for awhile. The mortgage broker who lied about his client’s income and made $18K on one mortgage transaction (and all those like him) should go to jail for fraud. Is anyone going to prosecute these liars? Gadget Man says “no” because “there are too many of them, and besides, what good will it do anyone now.” Oh yeah? How will we ever prevent this from happening again if we don’t go after these guys? It would be easy to go after them. All the fraudulent transactions are on paper in black and white. I say, get ‘em!
I am really mad about all of this because good people like me and my husband are suffering. I say “good” in the sense that we have always lived w/in our means. When we purchased our home, we made sure we were not overextending ourselves in any way. We made sure we would be able to afford it if I eventually got pregnant and decided to stay home. We made sure we would be able to afford our home AND save for college tuition AND retirement. We have been saving and saving and saving. We NEVER buy more than we can afford and we NEVER carry a balance on our credit cards. Apparently, most Americans have been spending and spending and spending. Buying giant homes with giant amounts of space for all their giant TVs and giant gas guzzling cars. Sure, I would have liked a bigger house and a bigger TV and vacations. But we took a conservative path. What did we save it all for? Now the money we saved is worth less and less. I’m angry for two reasons. First, I’m angry because I’m going to suffer because others were out having a party. Second, I’m angry because I missed the party.
At a chickenpox party, the only favor is contracting the chickenpox virus (about 10 to 21 days later). I took Charlie. He’s over the pox and doing fine. Am I a monster or a mom who is just trying to do what’s best? You decide after you read all about it here where I also blog at Chicago Moms Blog.
Right now, I am feeling very sorry for myself. I feel like my extended family (as in the various in-laws) is really letting me down. I grew up in a very close family. That is, closely bonded, but not closely located. My grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins would come great distances for any family event. For example, I had twelve family members travel long distance to my college graduation. I had to beg borrow and buy extra tickets. I felt so special! I have been granted unconditional love, affection and attention throughout my life. Naively, I assumed all families were as caring and as involved.
Take my mother-in-law, for example. Seven weeks in advance, I told her the date of Eva’s ballet recital. “Oh, I have Goodman tickets.” She reported. She has a subscription. “Well, you’ve got plenty of time to change them.” I suggested. She replied, “We’ve already changed them once and our friends are too busy to change the date along with us.” Casually, I remarked, “Well, I’m sure they will understand.” Her response shocked me. “No, we are not going to change our tickets. We will not make it to the ballet recital.” She said matter of factly. Excuse me? You will not be attending your own granddaughter’s ballet recital? A ballet recital that occurs just once a year? I was flabbergasted. I simply can’t understand why this particular date with these particular friends at this particular theater is more important than her own granddaughter’s performance! I just can’t get past this. She has always proudly insisted that she “has a life” beyond grandchildren. But this is taking it too far! My whole view of her has changed.
Right now I am also pissed at my brother’s in-laws because they insist that he be completely unavailable to visit with me and my children (his niece and nephew) for the three days he will be in town for his wife’s sister’s wedding. They insist that the entire weekend will be taken up with events and that as a family member and a groomsman, he must attend them all. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if my brother didn’t live two thousand miles away. He will be in town for this wedding and they don’t want him to visit with us at all! Thankfully, he has promised to get away. He won’t miss the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding or the formal brunch the next day. However, he may miss some other ambiguous events (of which they refuse to divulge the details). Hers is a family that seems to value appearances over substance. They don’t want to have to make excuses for why he is missing an event. Don’t they realize that if anyone inquires about his absence at an event, it is perfectly understandable that he would want to see his niece and nephew? They claim that family is sooo important, yet they can’t see that my brother’s family is just as important.
Finally, there’s my brothers-in law and sisters-in-law. My father-in-law, who seems to be losing it, spread the word, to all of them, that Charlie had the mumps. Actually, he had the chickenpox, but that’s not the point. Do you think that even one of these people called to check on the health of their nephew? No! I just don’t get it. I know we are all busy, but are we too busy to make a telephone call to a sick family member to check up on them? I’m just disgusted by the lot of them!
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