Change?

There is a picture floating around the internet right now that rankles my sense of fair-play.

It is a picture of a very nattily dressed Laura Bush descending the steps of Air Force One. Right next to this is a picture of Michelle Obama dressed in shorts, a tank top and a camp shirt also walking down the steps of the plane. The caption reads “CHANGE.”

The problem I have with it is this: Laura Bush is coming down the steps of Air Force One in a foreign country on a official trip. Michelle Obama is in Phoenix, Arizona, on a family vacation. What was cleverly cut out of her picture is her two little girls on either side of her dressed similarly. They are on VACATION.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I dress a lot differently when I am on vacation than I do when I am going to work. If you look around out there plenty of photos exist of Michelle Obama, both with and without her daughters by her side, dressed every bit as nicely as Laura Bush ever has. Come on people.

Obviously someone decided this would make an interesting statement on the Obama administration’s “change.” I think it just serves to point out what dirty pool these political hacks play.

As I have said before, I can understand if you don’t like his politics, but what is the point of attacking his family?

With very little research I was able to find the origins of the picture and discover what a whack-job whoever put the two photos together must be. Whoever you are, you didn’t make your point. The only point you made clear is you are political vermin preying on the ignorance of the American people. Now I understand there is a lot of ignorance in this country to prey on, but I hope ultimately we are all smart enough to see through this one.

Nice try.

"String too short to use"

10) All those born in the last half of the year, I would like to apologize to you now, in front of God and everyone, for missing your birthday. For whatever reason, I start out the year great. I send cards via snail mail for birthdays and anniversaries and other special occasions as they arise. By May or June I am out of steam and the remainder of the year I am lucky if I can get greetings to my friends on facebook or via email for their special days. No excuse will do, although in my defense, I truly am trying to do better. I am very frustrated by this. Life gets in the way I guess.

9) Beech/beach, its/it's, your/you're, there/their/they're, are/our, bear/bare, hear/here, wear/where and the list goes on. The extremely poor use of spelling, punctuation and grammar is my pet peeve, be it on facebook or anywhere else I might have occasion to view the printed word. It is horrifying to me how poorly people spell and their grammar is even worse. Most don't even bother with punctuation. I have been encouraging a college professor of mine to get on facebook because it is such an easy way to communicate. I am going to stop. She would just die if she saw what passes for communication out there.

8) Lately I have been forced to become much more aware of the angry, hateful world we live in. I don't like it. I read so many nasty, unnecessary and hurtful things about our president and his wife and children. It is atrocious. I don't particularly care if you voted for him or not. He is now your president as much as he is mine, and at the very least, he deserves your respect. You may disagree with his politics, but what purpose does it serve for you to run him and his family down? They are people, you know.

7) My little boy is the bright spot in my universe. Even on the days when I pray he will sleep until at least 8:30, I still just love to see his little face and hear his laughter. I can hear his little footsteps in the mornings the moment he gets out of bed as my office is right under his bedroom. When I stick my head around the corner he is sitting behind the gate at the top of the stairs and he says, "Hi Mommy," in the happiest, sweetest voice imaginable. Gives me a warm fuzzy every time I hear it. We are so blessed to have been entrusted with this happy little boy.

6) CJE and I invested in two of those ergonomic gravity lounge chairs. Can I just say: “Yeah!”

5) When we were in church on Sunday, Liam was amusing us and those around us with a litany of all the Bible characters he knows. Thanks in part to Veggie Tales, he knows the names of a surprising number of folks from the good book. It was a hoot.

4) No rest for the wicked. I will be so glad to see June end. I have been so busy this month I haven’t even been able to think about my summer reading list, let alone actually crack a book. Darn it. I have a backload of projects to try to get to as well. Then yesterday it came to my attention Liam has outgrown three of his sets of summer jammies. What a weed. So today I raided my fabric stash and cut him out two new sets and even got one sewn up. He was so excited about it he wanted to put them on to take his nap in.

3) When Liam and CJE got home from daycare last Wednesday, Liam came to me and told me: “Liam/Daddy goto store, buy cookies, come back.” He had such an earnest look on his little face. He was just sure this was a good plan. I tried really hard not to laugh because he was so-o-o-o serious.

2) My mom doesn’t have a computer in her house, and wouldn’t know what to do with one if she did, so I have started sending her printed copies of my bloggings. I thought she might like to share in my day-to-day musings. She is probably both my biggest fan and my most constructive critic so I think it is a good call.

1) If you could eliminate one habit you have, what would you stop doing?

"String too short to use"

10) It is very difficult to sing, even old familiar songs, when you are busy listening to the three-year old on your lap singing along with you. Liam knows about every third word or so to “This Little Light of Mine” and “Jesus Loves Me.” It is both hysterical and distracting to try to sing and listen at the same time. I love it!

9) My friend Nancy and I are in the process of recovering the seat and back cushions for the lodge furniture at the Wallowa Lake Methodist Camp. I’m not exactly wild about the fabric that was chosen, but at least it sews up nicely. I finished the first set of covers and they fit well. The covers are a bugger to get on the foam cushions, but once on everything is snug and looks good. Only 22 more to go!

8) I blew up the TV Sunday morning. I turned it on and heard this little pop and the screen went black. We’re pretty sure it is the lamp, so we ordered a new one from Best Buy and should have it by Thursday at the latest. As it turns out the lamp was only supposed to last about 18 months, and we have had the TV for about four years. I guess we can’t complain. We’ll see how long the new one lasts.

7) I have been playing too much this month. My week ahead is going to be crazy/busy and I really need to buckle down and get some work done. One thing I have discovered about myself since I became self-employed: I am great at procrastination. This was not a good thing to uncover. One really has to be a stern taskmaster when you have an employee like me who can creatively procrastinate like nobody’s business.

6) I've been reading a book about the Albigensian Crusade and it has really got me wondering: How many wars in the history of this world have truly been necessary? Justified? Honorable? See, I’m not even sure what word I’m looking for. I do know the Crusade into southern France in 1209 was completely bogus. It was all about a power-hungry pope and a land-hungry French king. Between the two of them they wiped out thousands of people whose only crime was not believing it necessary to go through the pope to get to Heaven. It is a good thing I didn’t live there then, I would have been slaughtered right along with the rest.

5) “Attention Wal-Mart shoppers: After you have paid your money at the checkstand, please proceed directly to customer service and wait in line. It is an almost certainty you have been overcharged and will need to get your money back. Thank-you for shopping at Wal-Mart.”

Every time I leave that place I try to remember to check my receipt. The one day I forget, here I am again. I was charged $4.50 the other day for two apples. Man, I hate that place, as my husband always says: Wal-Mart sux.

4) I got a letter today from the wife of a cousin of mine. The two of them have been having some marital difficulties and I have been so very worried. They went to a counselor and are working things out. She says things are better now than they have been in a long time. I am so relieved and happy and thankful. It always kills me when people I love split up. They are two of my favorite people and I am so glad they are working things out. Everyone keep sending love and prayers their way.

3) Liam learned to pedal his tricycle! It was one of those overnight things. One day he couldn’t figure it out and then it must have come to him in his dreams, because the next day he was just pedaling like crazy. CJE and I constructed a driveway net to keep him and his tricycle off the street. He is doing really well controlling it, but our drive is sloped just enough that it could easily get away from him and he’d just end up in the street. We decided we would relax a little easier if he had a net.

2) I got rid of my brain yesterday. Since 1993 I have been using a DayTimer planner and have called it my “brain.” I keep a journal and all sorts of notes, goal and ideas in it. For the past 18 months or so I have hardly cracked it. I’ve been a bit busy and was starting to find the paper system not convenient. So yesterday I transferred all my info to the computer. I found a calendar to use in Windows Live Mail. I don’t like it, but it is already on my computer so for now it will do. I’d like to find a more user friendly one that can be tailored to fit my needs a bit more, but am not sure what’s good. Any thoughts?

1) If you could have prevented any single fashion idea or trend from ever happening, which would you have stopped?

"String too short to use"

10) I don’t spend my change. I bring it home and Liam and I have this little ritual where I put his piggy bank on the floor and he puts all the “pennies” in. When the pig gets full (it holds about $100) we cash it out at the bank and send another check to his college fund. It is so cute because he calls them all “pennies” and counts them as he puts them in. But no more. He is now tall enough to reach the shelf where the piggy sits and just puts them all in himself. Oh, time is fleeting.

9) Liam had his 3-year well baby exam yesterday. He is well. He is small, but the right weight for his height. His motors skills and language skills are on target. He had to get a Hep. booster, but is now up to date on his vaccinations. Well baby.

8) In other good news, Dr Wirkkala says Liam will let us know when the time is right to start potty training and not to get too exercised about it. Liam does everything when the time is right for him, regardless of what we, as parents, might think, want or imagine.

7) One of the wheels fell off my office chair today. I was hoping that meant I would have to take the day off while someone from maintenance came and repaired it, but then I remembered: I am maintenance, too.

6) Pardon me, but I’m going to have to get on my soapbox for just a moment here. If you don’t know how to swim, stay off the water! And I mean it! If you intend to go boating, kayaking, white water rafting, water skiing, parasailing, surfing or riding PWC: LEARN TO SWIM. If you don’t know how to swim, a life vest isn’t good enough. OK I’m done.

5) Something swooped in a couple of nights ago and ate up all the fish in my pond. Well, at least it killed them all. It ate all but the two we found expired at the edge of the pond. It had to have been something pretty big cause they were good sized fish. I am very bummed as two of them were about 10 years old and the rest we’d had at least five years or so. They even had names. RIP: Moe, Larry, Noodle, Frodo and Sam.

4) I found a very cool website today from which I was able to download and print some new quilting patterns. I love it when things like that are free. Of course, I need new projects about like I need a hole in my head, but still . . . cool.

3) I appreciate all my clients. I have some clients who pay on time. I have some clients who pay early. I have some clients who pay late. I really like the ones who pay on time. I love the ones who pay early. I refuse to comment on the ones who pay late.

2) I love it when I meet someone who likes to do some of the things I like to do, or likes to read some of the same books I read, or is interested in some of the same things I am interested in. I don’t expect anyone to buy into everything I love, but finding someone who loves even some of it is a wonderful feeling. So, sometimes, I open my mouth and voilà a new friend!

1) If you could have prevented one event in history, what event would you eliminate?

Birthday IS the theme

Since when do little kids' birthday parties have to cost as much as a wedding? Or a new car? Or a second mortgage? Not in this household. Not as long as I’m the Mommy.

I was asked by a couple of people this week what the theme for Liam’s birthday party was. Theme? I thought birthday was a theme. He’s three, can’t that be the theme?

We are having friends over for brats on the grill, multiple salads, cake, ice cream and presents. How’s this for a theme: good food, good friends.

I am not made of money. If, for his three-year party, I rent a bouncy house, water slide and Bozo the clown, all of which he is scared of by the way, when does it end? When he turns 18 will I be renting a limousine and Bimbo the girl from the corner of 2nd & main?

I just don’t think this is something I want to get into. I do not feel the need to keep up with the Joneses. I am too old and too smart for this sort of nonsense. If there comes a time when Liam feels truly slighted by his Mother’s inability to play these games, he and I will sit down and have a discussion about economics 101.

I briefly considered calling the local humane society to find out if they would be willing to underwrite the party if I promised to send every kid home with a puppy. Wouldn’t that be a great theme? It would solve a lot of problems in one fell swoop. I could throw the most elaborate pet-themed party imaginable at no cost to us. Any number of sad little homeless puppies would find new homes. It is a win-win solution.

A friend suggested perhaps a garden theme wherein all the guests could apply themselves to my weedy flowerbeds. Not bad. Bring your own gloves.

In short, I think birthdays as an enterprise is the height of ridiculousness. When Liam starts to feel slighted, if he can’t understand the concepts of economics 101, he is perfectly welcome to break his own piggy bank to finance the theme, however, tapping into the college fund will not be tolerated.

"String too short to use"

10) I placed an order with J.C. Penney a couple of days ago. I looked all over the house for my catalog cause I knew it offered free shipping. Couldn’t find it. Today . . . it shows. So I called Penney’s on the off-chance they would credit me the shipping ($19.25). I figured it would be worth the call. Right? The first person I talked to said no way, but she offered to transfer me to someone on up the line. Terry at http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/default.aspx is my hero. I gave him the code off the catalog and he verified it and credited my account. Yippee!

9) Normally Chris picks up Liam from daycare on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but he has an awards ceremony at the school tonight so I have to go get Liam. I am whining a little because I am in the middle of about 500 things. Routine: I am your slave.

8) Our evening PIGS/Bible Study group has started both a study of Ephesians and a Prayer Shawl ministry. We figure we can do both at the same time. We started the study last week so it is too early to tell how that is going. However, I found several really neat shawl patterns on the internet, and one of our group purchased a pattern book. Here we go!

7) Is it just me or do the Toyota Sienna commercials make others want to vomit as well? NOTHING is cool about owning a minivan. A friend of mine has one and when I am truly desperate for space she lets me borrow it. I do so hoping no one will recognize me. I don’t see anything wrong with my son having the mom with the coolest car.

6) We got an invitation in the mail to the golden wedding anniversary party for some dear friends of my family’s. I am very happy for them, and wouldn’t miss it for the world, but it does remind me that Mom & Dad’s 50th would have been the summer of 2009. Dad died in September 2008, so they missed it by a few months. Just another bitter regret about Dad’s passing.

5) Having a water feature in the yard is nice. Sitting on the porch listening to the water is very soothing. We have five fair-sized fish in our pond we have raised from little tiny feeders. However, I have to tell you it is plenty of work in the spring and fall. We have a cover for it to attempt to keep the leaves out in the fall. It sort of works. Spring is worse because the blossoms from the trees and shrubs are little enough to get through and under the cover and they clog the filter. We have pulled and rinsed the filter about once a week for the past eight weeks. I’ll be glad when the current siege is over.

4) After 11 years we have finally found a trustworthy dog sitter! There are no kennels where we live. Several of the vets around town do kenneling, but the dogs and cats there get fed and that’s it; no walking, no petting, no love. Last weekend while we were at Chris’ leadership training for horse camp, we asked a friend to watch Mufasa. He is a very small, very needy dog. He got rave reviews! Most places we go we just take him with, but sometimes we really can’t. Thank you Sue! You may be seeing more of him, although we promise not to take advantage of your willingness to serve.

3) That’s it. I’ve had it! I am washing my car today. I don’t care how many bad weather gremlins are watching. My car is an absolutely beautiful machine when it is clean, and looks twice as dreadful as any old clunker when it is dirty. Some bird did its business down the passenger door a few weeks ago and our weather has been too lousy to do anything about it. But no more. We have wind today and I am liable to get completely drenched doing it, but here goes.

2) Last week I took care of a task I have been procrastinating for well over a year now. It wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought, certainly not worth all the concern and downright dread I have been feeling. I called a lawyer. No, I’m not leaving Chris. When Liam was born we knew flying by the seat of pants was no longer going to be a realistic option. We have been talking about wills, guardianship and a testamentary trust ever since. Naturally my biggest concern was cost and if we got a do-it-yourself kit, did it come with a rope for the inevitable hanging that would take place. Finally I found my courage and called a lawyer. Pleasantly, the task will not cost anywhere near what I feared and so the appointment is made. Three years too late, but better late than never. Now . . . which one of you wants him?

1) If you had to fight a duel tomorrow at dawn, who would your second be?

They love me here

In the past few months I have been offered two different full-time jobs. Unsolicited.

The first was from a gentleman who was a client of mine at the bank where I used to work. He is a well-established business owner here in town and I was very flattered when he told me he wanted to offer the job to me before he posted it to the public.

The second was just a couple of days ago from the manager of one of the credit unions here in town. He got my name from one of his customers who knows me.

Because I am currently doing work for eight clients and truly enjoy working from home, I had to turn them both down. If there were the slightest possibility I could work either into my current schedule, I would have done it, but both were full-time or nothing.

I have to say both offers were a real stroke to my ego.

I left the bank six years ago August. The day I walked away I had one client, and I was scared to death. My reputation has grown by word of mouth until now, almost six years later, I have eight steady clients and a couple of fly-byers. I work just about as much as I want to. I could work more, but I like my 16-20 hour weeks.

Working from home gives me plenty of time to spend with Liam. He goes to daycare a day and a half each week which gives me time to meet with clients and trade files and whatnot. Much of the time I really feel like I have the best of both worlds. I work Tuesday and Wednesday each week and half of either Monday or Friday . . . or not. My Wednesday people are the only ones who are somewhat inflexible. The rest I can move around pretty easily if something interesting comes up.

My husband hates this town, but we have lived here 17 years. We have been able to stay gainfully employed for most of that time. Obviously I have worked hard to have a good reputation here. At this stage of my life and career if we moved away, I would likely have go back to full-time jobs for an extended length of time in an attempt to establish myself. So, while I would agree this isn’t the prettiest place in the world to live, I have no real desire to go anywhere else.

I like living where my talents are needed and appreciated.