Dang! My husband is sitting next to me and solidly asleep on the couch. My daughter’s television show is blaring, the house is full of fumes from the staining going on in our basement, I’m typing away on my computer and he is a bear in hibernation. My husband can sleep anywhere and it usually only takes a minute or two for him to make it to ‘the other side.’ How do men do this? There are days when a sleeping pill taken at 2:00 a.m. in the middle of a quiet and pitch-black room can’t get the job done for me. This is one area where I honestly wish I was more like a man. I’d be a lot cuter if I got as much sleep as my husband.
Archive for September, 2008
Clearly I’m All Woman
Monday, September 29th, 2008
Say What?
Monday, September 29th, 2008I’m watching the news coverage of the $700B bailout Bill’s defeat in the House. This is a big deal. I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I support the idea of a bailout. It’s a hard pill to swallow. One news commentator said it best when he suggested one might need to plug their nose to actually get it down.
Even though I’m not sure how I feel about the Bill, the impression I had from coverage earlier in the day was that the language of the Bill was satisfactory to both parties and would likely pass. Now that it has failed, party leaders are stepping up to the microphone to accuse the other of partisan like speeches and name calling. They are claiming the reason the Bill failed did not involve its language, but the way the Bill was being discussed in the House. Are you kidding me? Vote on the language of the Bill and what it means to the American people and the crisis we are navigating. To cast your vote based on your reaction to he said – she said garbage is juvenile.
Add to the mix, McCain’s camp is now saying this failed because Obama did not suspend his campaign and do more to promote the idea of a bailout to his Democratic collegues. The reasoning is that supposedly McCain’s involvement upped the Republican support of a bailout from 4% to 35%. Well la-de-dah. I don’t think the fact only 60% of Democrats voted in favor of this Bill had anything to do with Obama. This is a big issue and the passing of a bailout is going to have a lot of different consequences. No party is going to stick their neck out to be the sole deer with a bullseye on its head. The Republicans were clearly trying to keep their support of the Bill high enough to get it passed and low enough so there was room to put the weight of the consequences from the bailout squarely on the Democrat’s shoulders. This is insane. I seriously want to throttle everyone involved. Pass it, defeat it…part of me doesn’t care. But make sure whatever happens is not about ego or hurt feelings. It needs to be about protecting our economy!
The Toy Myth
Sunday, September 28th, 2008You want to know what the toy myth is? It’s the belief we buy all of this ‘stuff’ purely for our kids’ enjoyment and enrichment. This weekend has revealed the greater truth to me, however. My kids don’t have toys for their benefit. They have toys for my benefit; to keep them out of my ‘stuff.’ They don’t really want this juvenile plastic crap, they want my phone, my computer, my shoes and my jewelry. In a fruitless attempt to avoid having to share my toys, I bury them in Fisher Price, Leap Frog and Disney. The more gadgets and goodies I have and want to keep to myself, the more toys my kids end up with to distract and divert.
When I realized what was going on I felt a bit hypocritical. If my kids don’t share their toys it earns them a trip to the naughty spot, yet not sharing my things seems perfectly reasonable and fair. Of course my things are pricier and more fragile. Sounds good, but it’s a bit of bunk. The truth remains, I simply want what is mine to be mine. I don’t want to have to share with my child. As a mommy I’ve had to share what use to be my private time with my kids. Good grief, I rarely get good bathroom time without having to couple it with reading a book aloud about barn animals. So, no, I don’t want to share my tangibles. They are mine, mine, mine. I’m going to stomp around, throw a fit when my things are touched and continue to throw tons of “made in China” gear at my children. If that means I’m being bad, put me in the naughty spot and let me have some quiet alone time to think about my behavior. I think it is supposed to be 2 minutes for every year you are old. That’s an hour and 15 minutes of ME time. Bring it on!
Somebody Stop Me
Friday, September 26th, 2008I’ve put it off too long. My hair is overgrown and my color is a mess. Today just had to be ‘the one’ where I woke up unable to stand it one second longer. I swear I look like Albert Einstein. Why do I do this? Why can’t I be proactive and schedule appointments ahead of time with people I trust so I don’t get to this stage of desperation? I’m about 30 minutes away from getting in the van and dropping by a walk-in salon at the mall. I’ve gone that route before and always have been pissed at the results. Yet, here I am ready to roll the dice again. It’s better than plan ‘B’ which is me trimming what I can and having my husband massage a color product into my hair. Gone that route before too. I had brown swirls on my cheeks because my husband couldn’t seem to rub in the goo without pressing the hair against my skin. Wish me luck. At least I don’t expect to come out looking gorgeous. It’s much easier to be satisfied when going into a process with low expectations. Even bangs and a color that doesn’t resemble rust on a pipe is all it will take to ‘wow’ me today. Man, I hope I’m wowed. Somebody stop me.
Doing The Wave
Thursday, September 25th, 2008I waved to my neighbor tonight. Not that big a deal, except he’s not on my good side right now. It’s a long story and I won’t bore you with the details. Typing them out would likely give me twitches and clicks anyway. Behind closed doors I’ve had a few choice words about him. It’s tempting to carry the sentiment beyond the confines of my home, but I know it serves no purpose. It certainly wouldn’t improve the situation and would likely make a temporary difference of opinion turn into long term friction. So I am taking the high road and doing what I can to show my friendly side even though we are currently at odds. He waved back. Imagine that. Our waves didn’t solve our current dilemma, but it does show me we are still capable of being on the same page with the big picture even though we are butting heads over the small stuff.
New Formula
Thursday, September 25th, 2008It seems many of my tried and true products are now sporting “new formula” captions on their packaging. Good grief. I don’t want a new formula. I’ve been buying these things because I like how they are. I don’t want my armpits to smell different. I don’t want my soap more bubbly. I don’t want my hairspray capable of bonding a tile to the outside of the space shuttle. Ever heard “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it?” All too often once the ole “new formula” pops up I end up on the search for a new option. Humans obviously aren’t satisfied with constantly reinventing themselves. We have to rope the things we rely on daily into the process as well.
Not Being Sarcastic
Thursday, September 25th, 2008I genuinely feel bad for Sarah Palin today. Her interview on CBS last night with Katie Couric was a disaster. I’m crushed for her. It was ridiculously obvious she was doing her level best to stick to canned statements others have likely been drilling down her throat. Her performance in the interview wasn’t unlike how I golf after getting too many pointers. I go from hitting the ball less than perfectly to totally missing the bloody thing. It’s impossible to think straight with so many voices in your head reminding you what to do.
A few commenters on news sites today have celebrated the fact Sarah Palin has been ‘exposed’ or that she will likely go from star to ruined. I’m not celebrating. I don’t have the confidence to lend my vote to McCain with her 2nd in line, but that doesn’t mean I want to see this mother and public figure skewered for making the decision to take on something she wasn’t ready for. It seems McCain has been trying to protect her, perhaps from this very thing, by limiting her media exposure. I can’t help but wonder if that hasn’t made her more vulnerable. It definitely puts more weight on the conversations she is having with those who have been granted the opportunity to interview her. They know it so they press harder and she knows it so she’s more nervous. I think it’s a formula for disaster.
Positions
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008I’m combing the news for any sign McCain and Obama have taken a firm and clear position on the current economic crisis and what should be done. Considering they are both interviewing for the top position in our country, surely they have a position on the correct path to take. So far they seem to be positioning themselves to avoid stating a position until others have made their positions clear. Though I wouldn’t want to be in their position, it is a position they sought. Because of this, they need to quit with the political mumbo-jumbo and lead. In the meantime, citizens like me are processing the news and data while curled in the fetal position (insert “I want my mommy” here, please) and hoping we don’t find ourselves in the missionary position tomorrow. Odds are good we are about to get screwed.
I See Him!
Sunday, September 21st, 2008Jesus has been spotted again. He is now believed to be part of a water mark on the ceiling of a weight loss clinic. Such a little joker. Wasn’t he a potato chip the last time he made an appearance? I suppose it is a logical progression. Considering the water mark was likely the result of a leaky roof, it’s good he’s there. Who says you can’t find a good carpenter when you need one?
Although I think it is great to look for Jesus, it seems more useful to me to tune our eyes to those around us and the good things they do versus over-analyzing oil spills, plaster cracks and dirt smears on windows. If Jesus decides to show himself to us, my gut tells me it won’t be on something that can be chiseled out and sold on eBay.
I Need A Rolaid!
Friday, September 19th, 2008I need a Rolaid. Our government is planning a massive bailout to help manage the current financial crisis. The American tax payers as a whole are essentially going to buy worthless mortgage backed securities for hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue the collapsing firms and curb the domino effect. Part of me gets why this needs to happen. We did something similar during the Savings & Loan crisis. I can’t help but wonder if the fact the government was there with a giant safety net of George Washingtons opened the door for a repeat performance. What’s the harm in taking insane risks when you don’t have to suffer the losses?
Nancy Pelosi indicates the House will support this plan if consideration is also given to main street during this crisis. She wants additional funds allocated for food stamps, health care assistance, mortgage relief, etc. In her mind Wall Street shouldn’t be the only one rescued. Though I agree there is great need in both areas I am struggling with the fact our government is still in a heavy spend mode (bailouts, Iraq War, border fence, etc.) while spiraling into even greater debt and no real plan for increasing revenue or cutting expenses. It’s great for government to bail out its corporations and citizens. Who is to bail out our government? With no real plans to raise taxes, it seems likely to me we will have to continue to sell bits and pieces of ourselves to foreign countries and increase our reliance on their willingness to extend credit. This is nuts! The United States isn’t supposed to need credit from other countries. We are supposed to be the ones with the deep pockets. Of course, we could continue to borrow from Social Security instead and watch with great horror and exaggerated shock as that system collapses. Funny how it is illegal for companies to touch the money that is to be garnished from employee paychecks and sent on to Social Security. The government knows how risky touching that money can be, and yet…
Listening to the president this morning made it clear to me what the true problem is. Our government only wants to ‘regulate’ when there is no choice otherwise to do so. Because involvement only comes in crisis, what is necessary to fix the problem is extreme. Regulation along the way is the best way to flush out problems before they become terribly expensive. The contractor working on my house put it best this morning. It is human nature to be corrupt and set on taking as much as possible. We all need to be regulated to an extent. Put an open cookie jar in front of an unattended child and just see how good they are at only taking one. Ain’t gonna happen. A person who criticizes government’s involvement in our daily lives and yet feels the need to watch their child at the cookie jar isn’t being consistent in their understanding of human behavior.