We went to Utah for a mini-vacation for Kristen's wedding last week. Kristen and Andy's wedding was beautiful, if not slightly wind-blown. It was great to see Neil's entire extended family: aunts and uncles and cousins from both sides. The kids and I spent a few days walking around Temple Square, went hiking with Neil and the cousins on Saturday, and then visiting This is the Place Monument on Monday. Zach thought we were in an island surrounded by rocks, not that we were in a valley.
Sunday and Monday night we stayed with friends from med school days: the Tew's. The kids had a great time playing with some of their oldest friends. Zach loved the time spent with so many boys who love trampolines and Bionicles as much as he does.
Syd and Ainsley enjoyed their first week of school. Syd was thrilled to get a cell phone, too. The downside to school starting is that I spend quite a bit of time just carpooling back and forth between school: we take Syd to school at 7:10, drive back home to get Zach dressed and fed, then take him and Ainsley to school at 8:15. In the afternoon, Audrey and I leave to pick Sydney up at 1:30. Once we have her, we drive over to pick up Zach and Ainsley, then get home by 3. During the day, Audrey and I have time to hit the gym, do some studying, cleaning and playing.
School cuts into Zach's playing time, so he's not particularly thrilled about it. He is lucky to have a friend from church in his class. On the first day of school, Zach was sad when I picked him up because he got in trouble. Apparently the teacher has a set of special chairs that the children can use during circle time, and these have made all the difference for Zach. I haven't seen the chair, but it seems like a camp chair that sits on the floor. He loves using this chair and was proud that he did not get in trouble any more this week. We have another three day week coming up, so that's great!
Yesterday I took the kids to hike around an area called Blue Hills. The kids were bored with the flat walk that we started out on, but loved the hike up the summit of the small mountain. I can't wait to take Neil back when the leaves start to change. For the first time in years, Neil has Labor Day off, so tomorrow we are headed to a Renaissance festival. With a high of 79F, it should be a great day. Even better when you compare it to Renaissance festival weather in TX: hot and humid.
Hurricane Earl was supposed to hit Friday evening or Saturday, so we threw a hurricane party with some of our new friends. The weather has been beautiful since the "storm" blew through. It has rained enough for our grass to turn greener than when we got here. Green grass in August is such a novelty for us.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Jonas Brother's Concert
In June, we decided to surprise the girls with tickets to their very first concert: the Jonas Brothers. It has rained for the past four days straight here in Boston, and I was not sure if we would even be able to go to the concert at the outdoor Comcast theater. Amazingly, the rain stopped right before the concert began. Even still, when I saw a girl walking through the crowds carrying a sign that offered an upgraded seat for a few dollars, I hopped on the chance to get an actual seat under the pavilion. (Our lawn seats would have been great in the sun, but horrible today as all umbrellas, blankets and chairs are banned from this place. I'm not sure what the point of lawn seating is without a blanket or chairs.) Anyway, our new seats were amazing. We stopped along the way to sign cards for the Jo Bros and make a poster to hold up.
In the past I have not been a fan of the costumes the guys wear to perform in, but tonight they were great. I do have to say that only the most adorable Jonas Brother could get away with wearing bright yellow lumber jack. I know lumberjack plaid is everywhere this season, or last, but really it belongs in the forest where no one can see it.
I still cannot hear from all the high pitch screaming at the concert. They were selling earplugs at the theater; I'm pretty sure I should have bought some. The music wasn't too loud-it was awesome-but those girls screaming could have shattered wineglasses.
This was the best concert I've been to in ages, or maybe ever. For all it's "the mouse sees all" creepiness, Disney knows how to make magic, and the first act that was dedicated to hyping an upcoming tv movie was so well done. And while I get that Disney is there to make money, I like the Jonas Brothers. They're the real deal.
The girls had their favorite parts, but my favorite part was dancing and singing with two of my favorite people. When we told the girls where we were headed for the evening, they were not as excited as I thought they would be. It turns out that they didn't know what to expect. During the show, the girls repeatedly stopped dancing to give me a hug and say thanks for bringing them. Syd and I danced in the aisle and Ainsley and I sang together. Priceless.
Except for when the guys wanted to sing their favorite Beatles song and they were all "We expect all the moms out there to be dancing." What? How old do they think I am?
In the past I have not been a fan of the costumes the guys wear to perform in, but tonight they were great. I do have to say that only the most adorable Jonas Brother could get away with wearing bright yellow lumber jack. I know lumberjack plaid is everywhere this season, or last, but really it belongs in the forest where no one can see it.
I still cannot hear from all the high pitch screaming at the concert. They were selling earplugs at the theater; I'm pretty sure I should have bought some. The music wasn't too loud-it was awesome-but those girls screaming could have shattered wineglasses.
This was the best concert I've been to in ages, or maybe ever. For all it's "the mouse sees all" creepiness, Disney knows how to make magic, and the first act that was dedicated to hyping an upcoming tv movie was so well done. And while I get that Disney is there to make money, I like the Jonas Brothers. They're the real deal.
The girls had their favorite parts, but my favorite part was dancing and singing with two of my favorite people. When we told the girls where we were headed for the evening, they were not as excited as I thought they would be. It turns out that they didn't know what to expect. During the show, the girls repeatedly stopped dancing to give me a hug and say thanks for bringing them. Syd and I danced in the aisle and Ainsley and I sang together. Priceless.
Except for when the guys wanted to sing their favorite Beatles song and they were all "We expect all the moms out there to be dancing." What? How old do they think I am?
Monday, August 23, 2010
Concord, MA: Minuteman Park
One of the first historical sites we visited after we moved here was Minuteman Park. This huge park in the city of Concord encompasses a handful of sites important to the beginning of the American Revolution. People usually bring their bikes to navigate their way through the various sites, but that does not work quite as well for us. A great place to start is the Visitor's Center. There is a one-room museum and a well-made multimedia presentation on the events of April 19 1775. The trail that connects the various historical sites was the same trail that Paul Revere rode.
On Saturday, we drove out to the Old North Bridge in Concord. BTW, they pronounce it "conkerd" around here. Concord has a quaint town square with some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted. You have to go down an alley to get to it, but it was worth wandering off the path. We happened to pass a cemetery called "Sleepy Hollow" and wondered if that was related to the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." We followed the signs and the cars toward the parking lot for the Old North Bridge.
If you remember the story, the British Regulars were marching toward Concord because the Rebels had previously stashed a large quantity of arms and a cannon in a farm house across the bridge in Concord. The militia men were expecting the British and marched in front of them to the bridge. The Rebels crossed the bridge and waited on a small hill that afforded them a view of the troops near the bridge and the town. It is fairly impossible to imagine the view that they had because of the thick trees. Apparently in 1775, there were few trees as the land all around had been cleared for farming.
It was interesting to stand in the place where people stood up to tyranny. There are monuments and plaques all over the park. In addition, there are great trees for climbing and gardens for playing hide and seek. A visitor's center sits on the hill where the Rebels waited. There was a large centennial celebration at that spot, and they erected a tall monument. Emerson wrote a song that I think is called the Hymn of Concord. The famous phrase "the shot heard round the world" originates from this poem, although the first actual shot fired would have been in Lexington earlier that morning. Another interesting quote was a marker to the British troops who died in the battle at Concord. The plaque says that they travelled 3000 miles to "keep the past upon it's throne."
The most influential authors of the 1800s lived near the cradle of liberty: Emerson, Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Luisa May Alcott. It is interesting to note that their ideas were inspired by the revolution. Something else I noticed in the movie was that the people were quoted as saying they wanted the right to govern themselves. That is what freedom and liberty meant to them: not the absence of rules but the rules that they themselves choose.
On Saturday, we drove out to the Old North Bridge in Concord. BTW, they pronounce it "conkerd" around here. Concord has a quaint town square with some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted. You have to go down an alley to get to it, but it was worth wandering off the path. We happened to pass a cemetery called "Sleepy Hollow" and wondered if that was related to the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." We followed the signs and the cars toward the parking lot for the Old North Bridge.
If you remember the story, the British Regulars were marching toward Concord because the Rebels had previously stashed a large quantity of arms and a cannon in a farm house across the bridge in Concord. The militia men were expecting the British and marched in front of them to the bridge. The Rebels crossed the bridge and waited on a small hill that afforded them a view of the troops near the bridge and the town. It is fairly impossible to imagine the view that they had because of the thick trees. Apparently in 1775, there were few trees as the land all around had been cleared for farming.
It was interesting to stand in the place where people stood up to tyranny. There are monuments and plaques all over the park. In addition, there are great trees for climbing and gardens for playing hide and seek. A visitor's center sits on the hill where the Rebels waited. There was a large centennial celebration at that spot, and they erected a tall monument. Emerson wrote a song that I think is called the Hymn of Concord. The famous phrase "the shot heard round the world" originates from this poem, although the first actual shot fired would have been in Lexington earlier that morning. Another interesting quote was a marker to the British troops who died in the battle at Concord. The plaque says that they travelled 3000 miles to "keep the past upon it's throne."
The most influential authors of the 1800s lived near the cradle of liberty: Emerson, Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Luisa May Alcott. It is interesting to note that their ideas were inspired by the revolution. Something else I noticed in the movie was that the people were quoted as saying they wanted the right to govern themselves. That is what freedom and liberty meant to them: not the absence of rules but the rules that they themselves choose.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
My Friday night
Neil's team at work planned an evening out last night and we were excited for the chance to get to know everyone better. I had a total closet fail, but finally managed to find something to wear fifteen minutes after I was supposed to have left. As can be expected, Neil was on call, and, as I pulled into our driveway with the babysitter, he called to tell me that he had a consult in the ER, so dinner wouldn't be happening.
I held back the tears, finished blow-drying my hair and drove to the nearest mall for the retail therapy that would fix my earlier closet fail. As I pulled into the parking lot, the children called me to let me know that I had the pizza money in my purse. I had them put the pizza guy on the phone and asked him what he wanted me to do. The nice guy left the pizzas there at the house and asked me to bring the money to the Dominoe's store. I turned my car around and drove the 15 minutes back past our house and to Dominoe's.
From there, I drove back to the mall, found a parking spot, and began walking through H&M. I hear that H&M is a great store; after I had been there five minutes, Neil called to let me know that he was done and did I want to come hang out with him? Of course, so I walked the flights of stairs back to my car, and drove the twenty minutes to the hospital.
From there we walked to meet his friends for what turned out to be happy hour, not dinner, at 8 o'clock. We had a fun night and shared a few Philly Cheesesteak Spring Rolls. They were to die for. I would guess that is the healthiest way to eat a Philly Cheesesteak: the size of an egg-roll with barely any carbs. Neil got called back into the hospital at 10:30, so I left.
By the time I got the sitter home and the girls asleep, it was midnight. Zach woke me up at 1:45 asking me why the tv was on. I walked into the living room to find Neil sitting on the couch, drinking a bottle of water, and taking his shoes off. I went back to bed.
I held back the tears, finished blow-drying my hair and drove to the nearest mall for the retail therapy that would fix my earlier closet fail. As I pulled into the parking lot, the children called me to let me know that I had the pizza money in my purse. I had them put the pizza guy on the phone and asked him what he wanted me to do. The nice guy left the pizzas there at the house and asked me to bring the money to the Dominoe's store. I turned my car around and drove the 15 minutes back past our house and to Dominoe's.
From there, I drove back to the mall, found a parking spot, and began walking through H&M. I hear that H&M is a great store; after I had been there five minutes, Neil called to let me know that he was done and did I want to come hang out with him? Of course, so I walked the flights of stairs back to my car, and drove the twenty minutes to the hospital.
From there we walked to meet his friends for what turned out to be happy hour, not dinner, at 8 o'clock. We had a fun night and shared a few Philly Cheesesteak Spring Rolls. They were to die for. I would guess that is the healthiest way to eat a Philly Cheesesteak: the size of an egg-roll with barely any carbs. Neil got called back into the hospital at 10:30, so I left.
By the time I got the sitter home and the girls asleep, it was midnight. Zach woke me up at 1:45 asking me why the tv was on. I walked into the living room to find Neil sitting on the couch, drinking a bottle of water, and taking his shoes off. I went back to bed.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Boston Staycation
Castle Island
A short drive down the Mass Turnpike leads us to Boston Harbor and a fort that dates back to storing the Stamps from the infamous "Stamp Act." Parking is a premium, so we parked along the boardwalk and walked to the fort. Unfortunately, they only give tours of the fort on weekends. We decided to take part of the Harbor Walk instead and enjoyed a beautiful day with a strong sea breeze. Sullivan's is a small restaurant located at the base of the fort. It got progressively busier, so we did not stay for lunch. The line was seriously into the parking lot. People in business attire, swimsuits, and walking clothes all wanted to eat there. We will have to find a better time to go back. We are going to take the kids' scooters and Audrey's tricycle.
Revere Beach
Also a short drive down the Mass Turnpike, but with a turn North past Logan airport, is the nation's oldest public beach. The beach was long and uncrowded, the parking was free, and the bathhouses were clean. We found some clams (or whatever they are) that were intact and the size of my hand. The actual beach more closely resembled Stewart Beach on Galveston than Wingersheek Beach outside of Gloucester further North on the New England coast. We decided to visit Revere Beach because they were throwing an end of summer party. We could have swam for hours except for the chilly 70F temperature and the breeze and the clouds. I decided these people must keep track of when the hot days end around here.
Boston Common
We made another trip down to Boston Common to meet some friends from San Antonio. This time we rode successfully navigated the T. The kids all had fun on the T; Ainsley made many friends with the various young ladies that sat next to her. We cannot wait to head back up there to ice skate this winter.
Cambridge Common
We did not ride the T to Cambridge because we would have taken the T one stop past Boston Common, switched trains, and then gone back West. There has to be a better way to get to Cambridge because the parking is crazy expensive up here. I will never complain about Houston and San Antonio down town again. We did drive and walk through some parts of Harvard. We met a friend from San Antonio at the Cambridge Common playground. It was redone in the last five years, and is an incredibly fun park. There is a small water feature and so many interesting things to play, climb, slide, and swing on. The kids played there for over 3 hours. Audrey picked that morning to go without shoes. That was interesting. I asked her to grab her flippies as we walked out the door. When I got in the car, I asked if everyone had on shoes. They said everyone did. When we got out of the car at the parking garage, I asked Audrey where her flippies were. I carried her on my back down one flight of stairs and on to the side walk. I tested the side walk, and it was not hot, so I made her walk barefoot the entire 4 blocks to the park. Every time we changed streets, I checked to make sure it wasn't hot, but I was not about to carry her that far. (She wears a 5T now-that's too big to be carried.) She has not forgotten her shoes since then. I'd read that Ben Affleck likes to take his kid(s) there, but he wasn't there that day.
Old Sturbridge Village
An hour drive West on the Mass Turnpike takes you to a living museum called Old Sturbridge Village. They offer a military discount on family memberships that cost only a few dollars more than the price of paying for my children to get in for one day. We visited on a Saturday with some new friends because it was the Redcoats and Rebels Revolutionary War Encampment. This was a New England version of a Renaissance Fair. We watched the mock battle, but some narration would have been nice, or a brochure explaining what we were watching. Still it was fun. The kids tried doing laundry old school style and doing musket drills. We were there about 6 hours and did not see everything there was to see and do. This Fall they offer days where you can help with their harvest, have some Halloween fun, eat Thanksgiving dinner there, and even take a sleigh ride in the snow.
Lake Cochituate
This is pronounced "Lake Kichitate" Everything up here is either an old English name or Native American. Neither one is very easy to pronounce. Worcester is "wooster", but instead of an "ou" sound, as in "You" it is an "oo" sound, as in "book." Gloucester is "glosster". I think.
Lake Cochituate is a beautifully wooded lake with a small beachfront entry. The water there is not particularly clear and the sand is not particularly beautiful, but it's a fun place to play with a bunch of friends when it's hot outside. It is a short drive West out Route 9, a section of which is the Spanish-American War highway. How old does a road have to be to pay homage to the veterans of the Spanish-American War?
Natick Mall
There is a beautiful mall less than a mile away from this lake. A Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms, American Girl Store, and Lego Store are just a few stores located here. We thought this mall was upscale. Then we went to the mall the opposite direction on Route 9, in Chesnut Hill, near Brookline. This mall had Bloomingdales, Bloomingdale Men and Home, Kate Spade, and Barney's New York. This is what they must consider upscale in Boston. The Natick mall, out in the burbs must be for the masses.
Downtown Boston
On our way back from Castle Island, we drove through a section of downtown Boston. On some streets, the crowd was so dense and the buildings were so tall that I thought I was in New York City. I cannot figure out if they were all on their lunch break, if they were tourists just walking around.
Money
The money that people spend up here amazes me. Everything is expensive, but people run around in expensive clothes, driving nice cars, eating out at expensive restaurants. It costs us $30 to feed our family at McDonald's and close to $60 if we sit down somewhere. That's why we stick to Bill's Pizza in Newton. It may cost $30, but it is actual food and not 70% plastic like McDonald's is. Plus it's Jim Krazinski's favorite pizza. Another example is the preschool tuition for 2 days a week: it would cost more than my nephew Connor's full time day care costs in Texas.
Misc activities
Each week we visit the Needham library to make sure it's not too quiet there. And we drive to playgrounds and splash pads all over Boston. Neil took Zach mountain biking for the first time ever, and I hiked the same spot with the kids another day, at nearby Cuttler Park. Sydney saw a snake. We hiked with Neil in Caryl Park in Dover, where we got lost and ended up walking past huge, house-size mounds of old trash. We were supposed to be climbing a hill that had views of down town. Obviously that did not work out, so we will head back there in a few weeks when it is not 90F outside. We still need to hit the arboretum and a few other outdoor places before it gets too cold.
Kayaking down the Charles River is incredibly popular here, but we are waiting until next summer to do that so that Audrey will be a little older.
Just like in Fayetteville, I miss having a swimming pool to spend the afternoon at when it's so hot. The city pool here in Needham is pretty fun, but was very expensive unless you bought your membership back in April. We considered it then, but decided not to because the only picture we could find of the pool was of a lake with a concrete wall in it. It did not look very promising, which is unfortunate because there is a lap pool, a beachfront entry, and a deep end with some diving boards. It's a mystery why they don't put pictures of that on the website.
We tried to sign up for bus service today. Apparently Sydney is the only one who qualifies for free bus service. We live less than two miles, as the crow flies, from the elementary school, so I would have to pay $740 each school year for Zach and Ainsley to ride the bus. The city of Needham is so concerned with the environment that they arrange their trash system, through financial disincentives, to promote recycling. And yet, the cost to ride the bus is so prohibitive, that there are many students who will ride in a car each day. That makes such little sense. This might just be another example of people spending money like it grows on trees. The people who put their kids in private schools have to pay for bus service on top of their tuition as well.
Dedham
There is a nearby town that we visit each week for their farmer's market. I love to buy the fresh fish. It's been caught that morning and tastes so fresh and un-fishy. They also have a great outdoor shopping area with an LLBean store, which I cannot wait to visit. Their movie theater has crystal chandeliers and a very upscale restaurant. The closest bowling alley is located there as well. It's sign has a ginormous panel of silver faux-sequins that shimmer in the light. You not only have to be 6 to bowl there, but no one under 21 is allowed after 6 PM. Apparently this is the place to be for young single adults who like to bowl in their metrosexual outfits. Bowling gets made fun of on the Simpson's all the time, but these kids make it cool. Or someone wants them to think they do. Neil took the kids to this mall to do some school shopping last week. Sydney and Ainsley were excited to get skinny jeans and "jeggings" from Justice. Jeggings are jeans that are really leggings so that you can wear boots over them without having to figure out what to do with your pants leg inside the boot. I keep trying to convince them that they should wait to wear anything more than walking shorts or capri pants to school because once it's cold, it's going to stay cold for a long time.
More Misc
The kids enjoy riding bikes and scooters in the neighborhood each evening. Sometimes they throw a football or play soccer in the yard. I enjoy having someone who comes to cut the yard. Except for when they show up at 7am. Even Zach was yelling, "Why are they cutting the yard by my window right now? I'm in bed." Neil has been incredibly busy the past few weeks, but I think that was to make up for the easy month he had in July.
My favorite things to buy in Boston are fresh fish, Trader Joe's frozen gnocchi, and pre-sliced apples from Cost-Co. And fish and chips from Legal Sea Food. Yum. I love Boston.
A short drive down the Mass Turnpike leads us to Boston Harbor and a fort that dates back to storing the Stamps from the infamous "Stamp Act." Parking is a premium, so we parked along the boardwalk and walked to the fort. Unfortunately, they only give tours of the fort on weekends. We decided to take part of the Harbor Walk instead and enjoyed a beautiful day with a strong sea breeze. Sullivan's is a small restaurant located at the base of the fort. It got progressively busier, so we did not stay for lunch. The line was seriously into the parking lot. People in business attire, swimsuits, and walking clothes all wanted to eat there. We will have to find a better time to go back. We are going to take the kids' scooters and Audrey's tricycle.
Revere Beach
Also a short drive down the Mass Turnpike, but with a turn North past Logan airport, is the nation's oldest public beach. The beach was long and uncrowded, the parking was free, and the bathhouses were clean. We found some clams (or whatever they are) that were intact and the size of my hand. The actual beach more closely resembled Stewart Beach on Galveston than Wingersheek Beach outside of Gloucester further North on the New England coast. We decided to visit Revere Beach because they were throwing an end of summer party. We could have swam for hours except for the chilly 70F temperature and the breeze and the clouds. I decided these people must keep track of when the hot days end around here.
Boston Common
We made another trip down to Boston Common to meet some friends from San Antonio. This time we rode successfully navigated the T. The kids all had fun on the T; Ainsley made many friends with the various young ladies that sat next to her. We cannot wait to head back up there to ice skate this winter.
Cambridge Common
We did not ride the T to Cambridge because we would have taken the T one stop past Boston Common, switched trains, and then gone back West. There has to be a better way to get to Cambridge because the parking is crazy expensive up here. I will never complain about Houston and San Antonio down town again. We did drive and walk through some parts of Harvard. We met a friend from San Antonio at the Cambridge Common playground. It was redone in the last five years, and is an incredibly fun park. There is a small water feature and so many interesting things to play, climb, slide, and swing on. The kids played there for over 3 hours. Audrey picked that morning to go without shoes. That was interesting. I asked her to grab her flippies as we walked out the door. When I got in the car, I asked if everyone had on shoes. They said everyone did. When we got out of the car at the parking garage, I asked Audrey where her flippies were. I carried her on my back down one flight of stairs and on to the side walk. I tested the side walk, and it was not hot, so I made her walk barefoot the entire 4 blocks to the park. Every time we changed streets, I checked to make sure it wasn't hot, but I was not about to carry her that far. (She wears a 5T now-that's too big to be carried.) She has not forgotten her shoes since then. I'd read that Ben Affleck likes to take his kid(s) there, but he wasn't there that day.
Old Sturbridge Village
An hour drive West on the Mass Turnpike takes you to a living museum called Old Sturbridge Village. They offer a military discount on family memberships that cost only a few dollars more than the price of paying for my children to get in for one day. We visited on a Saturday with some new friends because it was the Redcoats and Rebels Revolutionary War Encampment. This was a New England version of a Renaissance Fair. We watched the mock battle, but some narration would have been nice, or a brochure explaining what we were watching. Still it was fun. The kids tried doing laundry old school style and doing musket drills. We were there about 6 hours and did not see everything there was to see and do. This Fall they offer days where you can help with their harvest, have some Halloween fun, eat Thanksgiving dinner there, and even take a sleigh ride in the snow.
Lake Cochituate
This is pronounced "Lake Kichitate" Everything up here is either an old English name or Native American. Neither one is very easy to pronounce. Worcester is "wooster", but instead of an "ou" sound, as in "You" it is an "oo" sound, as in "book." Gloucester is "glosster". I think.
Lake Cochituate is a beautifully wooded lake with a small beachfront entry. The water there is not particularly clear and the sand is not particularly beautiful, but it's a fun place to play with a bunch of friends when it's hot outside. It is a short drive West out Route 9, a section of which is the Spanish-American War highway. How old does a road have to be to pay homage to the veterans of the Spanish-American War?
Natick Mall
There is a beautiful mall less than a mile away from this lake. A Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms, American Girl Store, and Lego Store are just a few stores located here. We thought this mall was upscale. Then we went to the mall the opposite direction on Route 9, in Chesnut Hill, near Brookline. This mall had Bloomingdales, Bloomingdale Men and Home, Kate Spade, and Barney's New York. This is what they must consider upscale in Boston. The Natick mall, out in the burbs must be for the masses.
Downtown Boston
On our way back from Castle Island, we drove through a section of downtown Boston. On some streets, the crowd was so dense and the buildings were so tall that I thought I was in New York City. I cannot figure out if they were all on their lunch break, if they were tourists just walking around.
Money
The money that people spend up here amazes me. Everything is expensive, but people run around in expensive clothes, driving nice cars, eating out at expensive restaurants. It costs us $30 to feed our family at McDonald's and close to $60 if we sit down somewhere. That's why we stick to Bill's Pizza in Newton. It may cost $30, but it is actual food and not 70% plastic like McDonald's is. Plus it's Jim Krazinski's favorite pizza. Another example is the preschool tuition for 2 days a week: it would cost more than my nephew Connor's full time day care costs in Texas.
Misc activities
Each week we visit the Needham library to make sure it's not too quiet there. And we drive to playgrounds and splash pads all over Boston. Neil took Zach mountain biking for the first time ever, and I hiked the same spot with the kids another day, at nearby Cuttler Park. Sydney saw a snake. We hiked with Neil in Caryl Park in Dover, where we got lost and ended up walking past huge, house-size mounds of old trash. We were supposed to be climbing a hill that had views of down town. Obviously that did not work out, so we will head back there in a few weeks when it is not 90F outside. We still need to hit the arboretum and a few other outdoor places before it gets too cold.
Kayaking down the Charles River is incredibly popular here, but we are waiting until next summer to do that so that Audrey will be a little older.
Just like in Fayetteville, I miss having a swimming pool to spend the afternoon at when it's so hot. The city pool here in Needham is pretty fun, but was very expensive unless you bought your membership back in April. We considered it then, but decided not to because the only picture we could find of the pool was of a lake with a concrete wall in it. It did not look very promising, which is unfortunate because there is a lap pool, a beachfront entry, and a deep end with some diving boards. It's a mystery why they don't put pictures of that on the website.
We tried to sign up for bus service today. Apparently Sydney is the only one who qualifies for free bus service. We live less than two miles, as the crow flies, from the elementary school, so I would have to pay $740 each school year for Zach and Ainsley to ride the bus. The city of Needham is so concerned with the environment that they arrange their trash system, through financial disincentives, to promote recycling. And yet, the cost to ride the bus is so prohibitive, that there are many students who will ride in a car each day. That makes such little sense. This might just be another example of people spending money like it grows on trees. The people who put their kids in private schools have to pay for bus service on top of their tuition as well.
Dedham
There is a nearby town that we visit each week for their farmer's market. I love to buy the fresh fish. It's been caught that morning and tastes so fresh and un-fishy. They also have a great outdoor shopping area with an LLBean store, which I cannot wait to visit. Their movie theater has crystal chandeliers and a very upscale restaurant. The closest bowling alley is located there as well. It's sign has a ginormous panel of silver faux-sequins that shimmer in the light. You not only have to be 6 to bowl there, but no one under 21 is allowed after 6 PM. Apparently this is the place to be for young single adults who like to bowl in their metrosexual outfits. Bowling gets made fun of on the Simpson's all the time, but these kids make it cool. Or someone wants them to think they do. Neil took the kids to this mall to do some school shopping last week. Sydney and Ainsley were excited to get skinny jeans and "jeggings" from Justice. Jeggings are jeans that are really leggings so that you can wear boots over them without having to figure out what to do with your pants leg inside the boot. I keep trying to convince them that they should wait to wear anything more than walking shorts or capri pants to school because once it's cold, it's going to stay cold for a long time.
More Misc
The kids enjoy riding bikes and scooters in the neighborhood each evening. Sometimes they throw a football or play soccer in the yard. I enjoy having someone who comes to cut the yard. Except for when they show up at 7am. Even Zach was yelling, "Why are they cutting the yard by my window right now? I'm in bed." Neil has been incredibly busy the past few weeks, but I think that was to make up for the easy month he had in July.
My favorite things to buy in Boston are fresh fish, Trader Joe's frozen gnocchi, and pre-sliced apples from Cost-Co. And fish and chips from Legal Sea Food. Yum. I love Boston.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Boston Bucket List: Walden Pond
We visited Walden Pond with Neil's parents on a rainy Friday afternoon. The canopy was so thick that we barely got wet as we hiked to the original site of Thoreau's cabin and around the rest of the pond. In light of the heavy rains and flooding this past Spring, the park service quoted what Thoreau wrote about the changing levels of the pond from year to year. (Apparently this weather happens in cycles. Who knew?) The trail immediately next to the pond remains flooded, so we took the higher, more hilly trail. Despite the rain, it was a fun hike for all of us. Along the way we saw these brilliant orange plants that Audrey loved. They looked like a cross between a mushroom and a piece of coral. Although the rain thwarted our visions of writing in our journals at the cabin, Ann and Syd attempted to compose poems as they hiked along.
The hike up to the original cabin site is not far from the entrance to the park. There are stones that mark the cabin's dimensions, and it was tiny. Next to the cabin site there is a large pile of stones. I cannot figure out why they are there, but it reminds me of an outdoorsy, classy public restroom door: visitors sign their name to a stone and leave it there. Zach enjoyed adding on to a small tower that someone built out of tiny rocks.
The following is part of a quote engraved in a small memorial to Thoreau:
"...I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived..."
My thoughts on this are that it is less difficult to do when you are alone on a beautiful pond with no responsibility outside of caring for yourself. The real trick is to integrate this idea into our busy lives. I read the quote to the girls and attempted to explain in two minutes what it means to live deliberately and how it would be possible for someone to have lived but at the same time failed to live. Somehow, they didn't get it. We will have to keep going back until they do.
The hike up to the original cabin site is not far from the entrance to the park. There are stones that mark the cabin's dimensions, and it was tiny. Next to the cabin site there is a large pile of stones. I cannot figure out why they are there, but it reminds me of an outdoorsy, classy public restroom door: visitors sign their name to a stone and leave it there. Zach enjoyed adding on to a small tower that someone built out of tiny rocks.
The following is part of a quote engraved in a small memorial to Thoreau:
"...I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived..."
My thoughts on this are that it is less difficult to do when you are alone on a beautiful pond with no responsibility outside of caring for yourself. The real trick is to integrate this idea into our busy lives. I read the quote to the girls and attempted to explain in two minutes what it means to live deliberately and how it would be possible for someone to have lived but at the same time failed to live. Somehow, they didn't get it. We will have to keep going back until they do.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Audrey Funny Stories
Here is the story that Audrey told us at dinner today:
Audrey has a pet shark that, sigh, misses her. His name is Splash. His last name is Hammerhead. They made friends together in the ocean. All the (note the eyes searching the air for the right word) "oceaners" were very nice. She and Splash even rode on a sting ray. Splash is purple. He's going to do a circus at our house tomorrow, and jump through a hole in the air above a swimming pool. (We do not have a swimming pool. Details.) Splash is going to climb a ladder, jump off the diving board, do a flip and poke a hole with his tail in the top of the circus tent. Splash can write. He is old enough to use a marker. And to go to Operation Purple summer camp. He is friends with Bubblegum Icecream Bear. Splash is currently doing lots of stuff. Fishticks and sharksticks are his favorite food. He shares his sharksticks with Audrey. He has five packs of them-Audrey says they're really good when he lets them cook for four minutes. Splash lifts the wall clock up to the ceiling-he is that strong. He is friends with Jack, the dog. Because they like to play with each other. When Audrey brought Jack with her, he was happy about that. Dad brought Audrey a car that was popular: a Camowo. AKA a Camaro. (Inferring from the context clues, that is how Audrey and Jack got to the ocean to visit Splash.) Splash has teeth-sharp teeth, but he doesn't bite Audrey. He has four teeth. Splash is super good. He doesn't bite and he doesn't jump. Splash has a super cape that is purple. His super power is to push his bum down and lift his fins up alternately. (Audrey demonstrated this and it is an upside push up with leg lifts.) Fortunately, Splash is Audrey's size. He is larger, just like her. Jack and Splash and Bubblegum are all friends. Splash can open the front door without keys; he uses his tail. Ta-da, and poof, the door gets unlocked. (Recall that last week we had to break into the house with a toy credit card from someone down the street.) Splash paints and files Audrey's nails. Then he bends the nail file in half. Stay tuned for another installment of the story of Splash. She is going to visit him tomorrow in her favorite purple outfit. She thinks he will roll over for her tomorrow.
BTW, Audrey picked out "Twilight" to read at Barnes and Noble today. I told her that she has to be older to read Twilight. When I picked the book up from her in order to put it back on the shelf, I realized that she had picked out the Spanish language version. So I told her that she could not read this Twilight because it was in Spanish. She said that she could read Spanish because, "Zapatos." I couldn't see her face, but she might as well have been saying "Duh" and it sounded like she was rolling her eyes. Zapatos means shoes.
Audrey has a pet shark that, sigh, misses her. His name is Splash. His last name is Hammerhead. They made friends together in the ocean. All the (note the eyes searching the air for the right word) "oceaners" were very nice. She and Splash even rode on a sting ray. Splash is purple. He's going to do a circus at our house tomorrow, and jump through a hole in the air above a swimming pool. (We do not have a swimming pool. Details.) Splash is going to climb a ladder, jump off the diving board, do a flip and poke a hole with his tail in the top of the circus tent. Splash can write. He is old enough to use a marker. And to go to Operation Purple summer camp. He is friends with Bubblegum Icecream Bear. Splash is currently doing lots of stuff. Fishticks and sharksticks are his favorite food. He shares his sharksticks with Audrey. He has five packs of them-Audrey says they're really good when he lets them cook for four minutes. Splash lifts the wall clock up to the ceiling-he is that strong. He is friends with Jack, the dog. Because they like to play with each other. When Audrey brought Jack with her, he was happy about that. Dad brought Audrey a car that was popular: a Camowo. AKA a Camaro. (Inferring from the context clues, that is how Audrey and Jack got to the ocean to visit Splash.) Splash has teeth-sharp teeth, but he doesn't bite Audrey. He has four teeth. Splash is super good. He doesn't bite and he doesn't jump. Splash has a super cape that is purple. His super power is to push his bum down and lift his fins up alternately. (Audrey demonstrated this and it is an upside push up with leg lifts.) Fortunately, Splash is Audrey's size. He is larger, just like her. Jack and Splash and Bubblegum are all friends. Splash can open the front door without keys; he uses his tail. Ta-da, and poof, the door gets unlocked. (Recall that last week we had to break into the house with a toy credit card from someone down the street.) Splash paints and files Audrey's nails. Then he bends the nail file in half. Stay tuned for another installment of the story of Splash. She is going to visit him tomorrow in her favorite purple outfit. She thinks he will roll over for her tomorrow.
BTW, Audrey picked out "Twilight" to read at Barnes and Noble today. I told her that she has to be older to read Twilight. When I picked the book up from her in order to put it back on the shelf, I realized that she had picked out the Spanish language version. So I told her that she could not read this Twilight because it was in Spanish. She said that she could read Spanish because, "Zapatos." I couldn't see her face, but she might as well have been saying "Duh" and it sounded like she was rolling her eyes. Zapatos means shoes.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Boston Bucket List, Part I
Everyone has heard the term "Bucket List." We have a sort of Boston bucket list of all the things I want to do before we move. Being a natural at manoeuvring around the city on the "T" and going to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox are on the list.
Yesterday afternoon, I rode the T for the first time. The tickets cost $2.00, but since all I had was a $20 to pay for the train and parking at the station, a handful of dollar coins rattled around in my bag the rest of the evening. I had to ask a foreign college-age guy how to buy my ticket because I could not figure out the machine. Once I realized that I should be ordering a subway ticket and not a commuter rail ticket, it was much easier. Who knew that I was on a subway that never technically went underground. My "train" suffered from electrical issues, so we stopped a few times along the way. The lights and AC were turning on and off, and the drivers were yelling indiscernible things to each other, running through the train, stopping to talk to the drivers of the trains going the opposite way. Finally, the driver yelled something I could understand: they were renaming the route to "The Fenway Express." Fortunately I do not have an iPhone 4G, so I could make a call to Neil, who was waiting for me at the last stop before Fenway, to change plans. I got off the train and followed the mass of Red Sox shirts to meet Neil and walk to the park. The parking downtown was $30. My parking at the T station was $6. I cannot figure out why anyone would park downtown...
We had seats a few rows behind first plate, and I thought I should dress nice for my first trip to Fenway. I was even prepared with my flippies to change into for the 5 block walk to the ball park. The humidity was a surprise, though. I might as well have been in Texas for the sweat ruining my freshly blow-dried hair. The girls wearing Red Sox tshirts and jean cut-offs who were sitting in our seats saw my white pique slacks and made faces at each other. When I made eye contact with one of them, and her eyes got wide, her friend looked up. They realized that I knew what they were communicating to each other. They had the decency to look slightly ashamed. Neil missed all of this while he was trying to determine where we should sit. We sat behind them, and while Neil was corroborating with another fan that those girls were in fact in our seats, he happened to knock his soda onto the floor in front of us. The girls freaked out, but only their sneakers got wet. Neil felt horrible, especially when we had to kick them out of our seats five minutes later because someone needed the seats we were sitting in. I felt less horrible for them. As I explained to Neil later that evening to help him feel better, there's this thing, it's called karma.
I enjoyed my first trip to Fenway; it reminded me of hanging out at Aggie baseball games with Neil before Syd was born. I found it very relaxing. I was happy that I bought a $1 bottle of ice cold water outside the gates because the water was $4 once I crossed through the line. It's amazing how the magic of Fenway extends to its bottled water. It was interesting how they scanned bags and tickets on the street outside the park so that you could walk through all of the stores and restaurants outside of the park. What a great idea-Fenway can offer a greater variety of food while still pleasing the baseball purists who only want peanuts, popcorn, and hotdogs to to be sold inside the park. Although I was not a Rangers fan before moving to Boston, I had to keep myself from clapping for the Texas team. It seems like I should watch some ESPN so I know who the good Red Sox players are next time. And I should wear shorts and a tshirt and running shoes and a pony tail. The guy who checked my bag was not phased by the espadrilles I was carrying. I never changed back into those three inch sandals and ended up with my pants rolled up to avoid sticky diet coke and other things that might have stained the hem of my new pants. All in all, I can't wait to go back!
On an unrelated note, my favorite kid-ism is the term "Mommy Gun." It is a concept similar to calling "Shot Gun." Whoever calls "Mommy gun" first gets to sit next to me. It makes me smile every time I hear it.
Yesterday afternoon, I rode the T for the first time. The tickets cost $2.00, but since all I had was a $20 to pay for the train and parking at the station, a handful of dollar coins rattled around in my bag the rest of the evening. I had to ask a foreign college-age guy how to buy my ticket because I could not figure out the machine. Once I realized that I should be ordering a subway ticket and not a commuter rail ticket, it was much easier. Who knew that I was on a subway that never technically went underground. My "train" suffered from electrical issues, so we stopped a few times along the way. The lights and AC were turning on and off, and the drivers were yelling indiscernible things to each other, running through the train, stopping to talk to the drivers of the trains going the opposite way. Finally, the driver yelled something I could understand: they were renaming the route to "The Fenway Express." Fortunately I do not have an iPhone 4G, so I could make a call to Neil, who was waiting for me at the last stop before Fenway, to change plans. I got off the train and followed the mass of Red Sox shirts to meet Neil and walk to the park. The parking downtown was $30. My parking at the T station was $6. I cannot figure out why anyone would park downtown...
We had seats a few rows behind first plate, and I thought I should dress nice for my first trip to Fenway. I was even prepared with my flippies to change into for the 5 block walk to the ball park. The humidity was a surprise, though. I might as well have been in Texas for the sweat ruining my freshly blow-dried hair. The girls wearing Red Sox tshirts and jean cut-offs who were sitting in our seats saw my white pique slacks and made faces at each other. When I made eye contact with one of them, and her eyes got wide, her friend looked up. They realized that I knew what they were communicating to each other. They had the decency to look slightly ashamed. Neil missed all of this while he was trying to determine where we should sit. We sat behind them, and while Neil was corroborating with another fan that those girls were in fact in our seats, he happened to knock his soda onto the floor in front of us. The girls freaked out, but only their sneakers got wet. Neil felt horrible, especially when we had to kick them out of our seats five minutes later because someone needed the seats we were sitting in. I felt less horrible for them. As I explained to Neil later that evening to help him feel better, there's this thing, it's called karma.
I enjoyed my first trip to Fenway; it reminded me of hanging out at Aggie baseball games with Neil before Syd was born. I found it very relaxing. I was happy that I bought a $1 bottle of ice cold water outside the gates because the water was $4 once I crossed through the line. It's amazing how the magic of Fenway extends to its bottled water. It was interesting how they scanned bags and tickets on the street outside the park so that you could walk through all of the stores and restaurants outside of the park. What a great idea-Fenway can offer a greater variety of food while still pleasing the baseball purists who only want peanuts, popcorn, and hotdogs to to be sold inside the park. Although I was not a Rangers fan before moving to Boston, I had to keep myself from clapping for the Texas team. It seems like I should watch some ESPN so I know who the good Red Sox players are next time. And I should wear shorts and a tshirt and running shoes and a pony tail. The guy who checked my bag was not phased by the espadrilles I was carrying. I never changed back into those three inch sandals and ended up with my pants rolled up to avoid sticky diet coke and other things that might have stained the hem of my new pants. All in all, I can't wait to go back!
On an unrelated note, my favorite kid-ism is the term "Mommy Gun." It is a concept similar to calling "Shot Gun." Whoever calls "Mommy gun" first gets to sit next to me. It makes me smile every time I hear it.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Learning from our mistakes
If you have read my blog, you have heard me rant about the horribly inefficient and poorly executed post-Katrina financial aid. Remember those debit cards for $2000 that were given to practically anyone from the Gulf Coast region? Remember the amount of fraud that occurred and that the government is still attempting to recover that money. Even as a cap was successfully placed to contain the Gulf oil spill, the media railed against BP for only paying half of the claims they had received.
"Give them $25,000, give them $50,000 while you work out his claim," said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser.
What? It's a claim for $5,000. From what I have read, there are people who cannot receive their check because they fail to fill out the forms correctly. I am sure that there is a back log on the paperwork, as well. Our own Needham library has a back log of library books getting checked in that stretches back five days. People do have to go home at night, eat an occasional meal, get paid. While it seems like only medical and surgical residents and pilots have legal work hour restrictions, BP cannot work their claims department to the ground.
Some government officials say that an empty marina is more proof of lost wages than paperwork. These bureaucrats are thrilled to demand someone else empty their coffers to please the people that they themselves cannot. I do not understand why these people cannot apply for TANF, Food Stamps and WIC, unemployment checks, and even short-term Medicaid or a county hospital system gold card to meet their acute needs until they receive a BP settlement check. Why aren't we hearing stories about the government helping these people? Oh, wait- it's because our government of lawyers sees a deep pocket. (Sorry to my lawyer friends and family that actually have integrity. This gross generalization excludes you.)
What company in the world hands out money without a paper trail? Consider the process of making a return at Target: you practically have to give them your entire family's social security numbers and hand over your first born to receive a refund. Any single item over $20 does not deserve a refund. And if you have made three returns without a receipt in a year, you are not permitted to return anything, even for a store credit. And BP is supposed to hand over $20B without verifying anything?
These obtuse bureaucrats are the same people who railed against Enron and Bernie Madoff. Wasn't Enron's undoing the ability to hide their dishonesty in their paperwork? And yet, at every turn, there are people who demand this of BP.
Please, BP, learn from our mistakes. Do not be bullied into throwing money at a problem.
"Give them $25,000, give them $50,000 while you work out his claim," said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser.
What? It's a claim for $5,000. From what I have read, there are people who cannot receive their check because they fail to fill out the forms correctly. I am sure that there is a back log on the paperwork, as well. Our own Needham library has a back log of library books getting checked in that stretches back five days. People do have to go home at night, eat an occasional meal, get paid. While it seems like only medical and surgical residents and pilots have legal work hour restrictions, BP cannot work their claims department to the ground.
Some government officials say that an empty marina is more proof of lost wages than paperwork. These bureaucrats are thrilled to demand someone else empty their coffers to please the people that they themselves cannot. I do not understand why these people cannot apply for TANF, Food Stamps and WIC, unemployment checks, and even short-term Medicaid or a county hospital system gold card to meet their acute needs until they receive a BP settlement check. Why aren't we hearing stories about the government helping these people? Oh, wait- it's because our government of lawyers sees a deep pocket. (Sorry to my lawyer friends and family that actually have integrity. This gross generalization excludes you.)
What company in the world hands out money without a paper trail? Consider the process of making a return at Target: you practically have to give them your entire family's social security numbers and hand over your first born to receive a refund. Any single item over $20 does not deserve a refund. And if you have made three returns without a receipt in a year, you are not permitted to return anything, even for a store credit. And BP is supposed to hand over $20B without verifying anything?
These obtuse bureaucrats are the same people who railed against Enron and Bernie Madoff. Wasn't Enron's undoing the ability to hide their dishonesty in their paperwork? And yet, at every turn, there are people who demand this of BP.
Please, BP, learn from our mistakes. Do not be bullied into throwing money at a problem.
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Animal Farm and Global Warming
On Sunday, July 11th, The Washington Post ran a great article by Stan Cox about our over-dependence on air conditioning. We learn that air conditioning dependence is a vicious cycle of heat waves resulting in increased AC usage, which, in turn, releases toxins into the environment, which leads to global warming. And so we turn on the AC again. According to the author, it is unconscionable to depend on air conditioning when we are not experiencing a heat wave.
Our planet would be better served if we patterned our lives after the "simpler times" of the previous century. Well, maybe not the part where abortion and drugs were aberrations, but the part where we suffered mercilessly in the heat, walked to the grocery store every morning to buy fresh food for dinner because we did not have a Frigidaire, and hung our laundry outside in the sun to dry. And used an outhouse.
And possibly, some people, who were in charge, would be exempt from this because they would have important business to attend to downtown. Or across the country. Or in France. (Oh wait, no one does business in France. Not even the French.) Fortunately for us, the author is more idealistic, and less hypocritical, than 98% of the heads of Big Gov't and Big Business.
Here is my favorite part of this insane article: the author's take on how rationing air conditioning would effect the business sector.
"In a world without air conditioning, a warmer, more flexible, more relaxed workplace helps make summer a time to slow down again. Three-digit temperatures prompt siestas. Code-orange days mean offices are closed. Shorter summer business hours and month-long closings -- common in pre-air-conditioned America -- return.
Business suits are out, for both sexes. And with the right to open a window, office employees no longer have to carry sweaters or space heaters to work in the summer. After a long absence, ceiling fans, window fans and desk fans (and, for that matter, paperweights) take back the American office.
Best of all, Washington's biggest business -- government -- is transformed. In 1978, 50 years after air conditioning was installed in Congress, New York Times columnist Russell Baker noted that, pre-A.C., Congress was forced to adjourn to avoid Washington's torturous summers, and "the nation enjoyed a respite from the promulgation of more laws, the depredations of lobbyists, the hatching of new schemes for Federal expansion and, of course, the cost of maintaining a government running at full blast."
Post-A.C., Congress again adjourns for the summer, giving "tea partiers" the smaller government they seek. During unseasonably warm spring and fall days, hearings are held under canopies on the Capitol lawn. What better way to foster open government and prompt politicians to focus on climate change?"
Where is Normal Rockwell when we need him? Can you not just imagine a delighted Nancy Pelosi under the canopy fanning herself to keep her make up from running down her face? On the other hand, I can imagine America's most powerful CEO's hoofing it to work, walking up all those stairs to their corner offices, using an abacus because computers use electricity, which run on, gasp, fossil fuels. No one would wear suits, so there would be no way of guessing which person was the CEO or the secretary or the janitor. What a model of equality.
Did you know that there is a "Take Back Your Time" movement? Google it; on their website you can print out posters to hang...somewhere. (France is their favorite model: employee and environmentally friendly. It has worked out pretty well for everyone involved over there. Greece, too.) As expressed by the TBYT leaders, communes and universal health care are a natural extension of this low AC, environmentally friendly lifestyle.
Certain aspects of living a simpler life, such as eating delicious, fresh food, living within your means, being a good steward of the Earth and it's resources, and spending quality time with your family beget a sense of abundance. Great blessings come when we live conscientiously and with integrity. But when the government forces us to choose a certain path, that seemingly little loss of freedom quickly translates to the loss of inalienable rights granted by our Creator.
One hallmark of Facism is that there is a group of people making decisions because they know better than the public. As in Hillary Clinton thinks that it takes a village to raise a child (The government needs to run commercials in public places about how to care for a child. BTW, it takes a village to support the parents, mom in particular, as they care for their child.) As in the government should tell us what an acceptable level of comfort is. (Turn that AC off until it hits 100F outside.) As in the government should tell us where we should live and what transportation to use. (Urban sprawl is a big no-no. You don't need that back yard, that's what a community park is for. Oh, and trade in that gas-guzzler.) As in the government should tell us how we can best pursue happiness. (You should not go into business unless you want to help a struggling non-profit. You should not go into Law. You should go into a service, like a teacher or a nurse or a maid. You don't want creepy student loans.)**
Unlike the romantic ideas of this Washington Post author, we all know that sacrificing to save the environment is the burden of the little man. Just ask Al Gore. The oceans would never dare rise all the way up to his curb on the beach in Malibu. George Orwell says it best, as always, "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS"
In conclusion, I grew up believing that the role of government was to perform those tasks that were too big for private industry. Roads, money, defense. It turns out that protecting the environment is a pretty big job. The role of the government is central to this important debate. Should they use their political capital and influence to dictate thermostat settings? What a waste.
**Both President and Mrs. Obama have made statements to this effect in the past few years.
PS-If the government had less regulation on the Oil and Gas industry, we would still be in the same situation in the Gulf. So, for all of the money the government spent regulating this industry, we have nothing but an entire ecosystem and millions of lives destroyed. Fabulous. I'd like an itemized accounting of that budget, Mr. Obama and, to some extent, Mr. Bush. Thx.
Beach Day
At the beach outside of Essex.
Ainsley hangs out on the rocks, looking in the tidal pools for little snails. She found two small ones and one rather large one. She named them Mr Fluffernutter, Mr Pricklepants, and Peepers were their names.
Zach jumps off the rocks into the freezing water.
This might possibly be my favorite picture of all time.
July pictures
The face of mischief. 
Zach in his Boston Red Sox hat.
Zach running at track.
Zach and Audrey watch fireworks on the 4th.
We wonder what Audrey is thinking about.
Pictures from June
Zach and Audrey at the Smithsonian.
Zach was happy to find C3PO because Darth Vader was "sleeping" in the back of the museum while we were there.
Neil took this picture from the base of the Washington Monument.
Sydney and a few friends on the last day of school.
Ainsley and her best friend from school, Cassidy.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Things that make you say "Blink"
"Blink" is my phrase du jour. My Dad and his boss noticed it in an earlier blog and decided that my favorite English teacher, Dr Black, might not consider it a complete sentence. I figure I should explain what it means.
You should consider this word as a symbol, something similar to a stop sign. A stop sign is red with a four letters, but there is a more detailed significance. It means that one should stop for three full seconds, look both ways and look both ways again, and then go.
So here is my top ten things that "blink" might mean:
1) Sometimes it means that there is no short explanation for what I think.
2) That someone's logic is so erroneous that it boggles the mind.
3) Because I am thinking, "What the...?" but would not actually say that out loud, or write it.
4) Inane
5) Obtuse
6) Ironic
7) Unfunny
8) Asinine
9) Puzzled
10) Expressing indignation
Hope this helps with the next time you come across "Blink" in a conversation with me or in my blog.
You should consider this word as a symbol, something similar to a stop sign. A stop sign is red with a four letters, but there is a more detailed significance. It means that one should stop for three full seconds, look both ways and look both ways again, and then go.
So here is my top ten things that "blink" might mean:
1) Sometimes it means that there is no short explanation for what I think.
2) That someone's logic is so erroneous that it boggles the mind.
3) Because I am thinking, "What the...?" but would not actually say that out loud, or write it.
4) Inane
5) Obtuse
6) Ironic
7) Unfunny
8) Asinine
9) Puzzled
10) Expressing indignation
Hope this helps with the next time you come across "Blink" in a conversation with me or in my blog.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The Black Panthers
When Obama was elected, I watched a Youtube video of the Black Panthers patrolling a polling station with some sort of clubs in their hands. The comments attached to the video attempted to explain away the presence of the aggressive young men. These people insisted that the guy who created the video always happened to find the Black Panthers at polling stations, so he must be setting them up. Because I would risk sounding like a racist, I could not describe how angry I was that our new President allowed thugs to help him get elected.
My thoughts were that a peaceful transition of power separates the developed, industrial world from the developing, agricultural nations. Voter intimidation happens all over the world, but it should not happen in America. One could change the color of their skin, and this might be taking place in Iraq, Cuba, or China. That is why I did not see this situation as a matter of race; it was a matter of destroying the democratic process.
So, the day after the election, I rebelled and decided to show my solidarity with the Black Panthers who were obviously helping the President-Elect. It goes without saying that I will not put into writing what I did because I do not want to be falsely accused of being a racist, but my benign rebellion, my small act of laughing in the face of thugs thousands of miles away made me feel slightly better.
Fast forward to this week when the news broke about the testimony of the whistle blower from the Dept of Justice. It turns out that the Bush Administration tried to press charges against these men at the election site and against the Black Panthers Organization. The Obama Administration continued the process back in early 2009 and won a ruling against them for failure to appear in court. Then, for some unknown reason, the DOJ dropped the charges and decided that the case had no merit. Oh wait, here is what I read on Fox News.com-here is why Obama dropped the case-
"...the administration moved to dismiss the charges the following month after getting one of the New Black Panther members to agree to not carry a "deadly weapon" near a polling place until 2012."
Blink.
My thoughts were that a peaceful transition of power separates the developed, industrial world from the developing, agricultural nations. Voter intimidation happens all over the world, but it should not happen in America. One could change the color of their skin, and this might be taking place in Iraq, Cuba, or China. That is why I did not see this situation as a matter of race; it was a matter of destroying the democratic process.
So, the day after the election, I rebelled and decided to show my solidarity with the Black Panthers who were obviously helping the President-Elect. It goes without saying that I will not put into writing what I did because I do not want to be falsely accused of being a racist, but my benign rebellion, my small act of laughing in the face of thugs thousands of miles away made me feel slightly better.
Fast forward to this week when the news broke about the testimony of the whistle blower from the Dept of Justice. It turns out that the Bush Administration tried to press charges against these men at the election site and against the Black Panthers Organization. The Obama Administration continued the process back in early 2009 and won a ruling against them for failure to appear in court. Then, for some unknown reason, the DOJ dropped the charges and decided that the case had no merit. Oh wait, here is what I read on Fox News.com-here is why Obama dropped the case-
"...the administration moved to dismiss the charges the following month after getting one of the New Black Panther members to agree to not carry a "deadly weapon" near a polling place until 2012."
Blink.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
My thoughts on July 1st
My thoughts for the day:
1. If you heard Nancy Pelosi say recently that unemployment checks are the only social program that actually builds the economy because people are out there spending money, what was your first clue that our country is in serious trouble? 1) that none of the other welfare programs builds the economy (should they?), 2) that people having money in their pockets (READ: less of a tax burden) creates consumption, drives demand, builds the economy, 3) that politicians say those things that are politically expedient, regardless of factual evidence, 4) that politicians think the public are morons with a short memory...
2. If you received TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families) in California, it is possible to get your benefits in the form of an ATM card. I would guess this is standard for every state, but I have not checked. What I wonder is how many other states do not monitor the locations of their contract ATM machines. According to an article on Drudge, some TANF-accepting ATM machines in CA are located in tribal casinos, gentleman's clubs, and other regular casinos where they dispense quite a bit of money to TANF recipients.
3. Paul McCartney said that the BP oil spill was a tragedy, but useful for showing people that global warming is indeed real. Blink. How much pot has that man been smoking? Is it even worth arguing with his erroneous logic?
4. I love the teenager that had a pair of the Russian spies living in her neighborhood. She expressed disbelief that they were spies, because, after all, look at what they did with the hydrangeas.
5. Some Democrat actually brought up the Twilight movie at Kagan's Supreme Court hearings. She asked if the nominee had been out to the movie the previous evening and if it would be okay to discuss Kagan's opinion on Team Jacob v Team Edward. Kagan's response was "I wish you wouldn't." While Kagan formerly professed that judicial nomination hearings were "vapid and a hollow charade," even she realized that the Senator was bordering on something worse than that.
6. Zach went to touch a cake at the grocery store today. After I called "stop, no, don't", two cakes tumbled face-down from their display. He immediately burst into tears-he knew that he was busted.
7. Neil started work today. And while this is seemingly unrelated, when I was younger, I loved New Year's and making resolutions. I enjoyed reading Alexandra Stoddard's book, "Living a Beautiful Life", every year, and deciding how to be more like that perfect woman. Then, somewhere in the middle of having kids and being in residency, I gave up on New Year's. It did not seem likely that my life would change in any way in the next six months, so what would be the point?
I did not realize it, but once we adopted the medical training year of July-June, June 30 became my New Year's Eve. Every 1st of July since 1999, has ushered in change and new experiences. It turns out that on July 1, rather than January 1, I could make reasonable goals, expect change from sources outside of my control, and hope to handle my life better than I did the year before. It took me until the beginning of Neil's last year in residency to figure this out. I am a slow learner, I guess. I wondered for a few years what was wrong with me when New Year's came around and I was not motivated to do one of my favorite things.
Now that residency is over and my kids are older, it is also easier for me because I have more control over my daily life. There are no kid naptimes to dictate my schedule, no kids waking up at 6:30am ready for mischief (And if there are, I send them to watch tv and pour their own cereal until I am ready to get up at 8:30), no babies whose sole nourishment comes from me, a job for Neil that will conceivably only get easier (relatively speaking), and I will be heading back to school this fall so that one day I can get my own job, since that grass is so much greener.
Getting to the gym, the most infamous of resolutions, is not much easier, but it is still on the list. I will never figure out the gyms that think a work out room where you watch your own kids while you work out is a good idea. More like bang my head on the wall and make me never want to go back. I am amazed at Giselle, the Brazilian super model who has five children. My personal trainer in Fayetteville, who is a body builder, told me all about these mother's of four or five children who compete with her. I felt much better. In fact, when I really want to feel great, I find one of my friends on FB who is also a body builder. Her competition pictures are good for a few self-deprecating laughs.
My goals for this year:
1) go to the gym more often than not
2) eat less junk
3) drink less Coca Cola
4) be more patient with my kids
5) get stressed out less often
6) keep my house clean
7) find a place for everything in my house
8) learn to recycle
9) learn to snow board better than I did last year
10) learn to cross country ski
11) look cute in winter clothes
12) get my priorities in order
1. If you heard Nancy Pelosi say recently that unemployment checks are the only social program that actually builds the economy because people are out there spending money, what was your first clue that our country is in serious trouble? 1) that none of the other welfare programs builds the economy (should they?), 2) that people having money in their pockets (READ: less of a tax burden) creates consumption, drives demand, builds the economy, 3) that politicians say those things that are politically expedient, regardless of factual evidence, 4) that politicians think the public are morons with a short memory...
2. If you received TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families) in California, it is possible to get your benefits in the form of an ATM card. I would guess this is standard for every state, but I have not checked. What I wonder is how many other states do not monitor the locations of their contract ATM machines. According to an article on Drudge, some TANF-accepting ATM machines in CA are located in tribal casinos, gentleman's clubs, and other regular casinos where they dispense quite a bit of money to TANF recipients.
3. Paul McCartney said that the BP oil spill was a tragedy, but useful for showing people that global warming is indeed real. Blink. How much pot has that man been smoking? Is it even worth arguing with his erroneous logic?
4. I love the teenager that had a pair of the Russian spies living in her neighborhood. She expressed disbelief that they were spies, because, after all, look at what they did with the hydrangeas.
5. Some Democrat actually brought up the Twilight movie at Kagan's Supreme Court hearings. She asked if the nominee had been out to the movie the previous evening and if it would be okay to discuss Kagan's opinion on Team Jacob v Team Edward. Kagan's response was "I wish you wouldn't." While Kagan formerly professed that judicial nomination hearings were "vapid and a hollow charade," even she realized that the Senator was bordering on something worse than that.
6. Zach went to touch a cake at the grocery store today. After I called "stop, no, don't", two cakes tumbled face-down from their display. He immediately burst into tears-he knew that he was busted.
7. Neil started work today. And while this is seemingly unrelated, when I was younger, I loved New Year's and making resolutions. I enjoyed reading Alexandra Stoddard's book, "Living a Beautiful Life", every year, and deciding how to be more like that perfect woman. Then, somewhere in the middle of having kids and being in residency, I gave up on New Year's. It did not seem likely that my life would change in any way in the next six months, so what would be the point?
I did not realize it, but once we adopted the medical training year of July-June, June 30 became my New Year's Eve. Every 1st of July since 1999, has ushered in change and new experiences. It turns out that on July 1, rather than January 1, I could make reasonable goals, expect change from sources outside of my control, and hope to handle my life better than I did the year before. It took me until the beginning of Neil's last year in residency to figure this out. I am a slow learner, I guess. I wondered for a few years what was wrong with me when New Year's came around and I was not motivated to do one of my favorite things.
Now that residency is over and my kids are older, it is also easier for me because I have more control over my daily life. There are no kid naptimes to dictate my schedule, no kids waking up at 6:30am ready for mischief (And if there are, I send them to watch tv and pour their own cereal until I am ready to get up at 8:30), no babies whose sole nourishment comes from me, a job for Neil that will conceivably only get easier (relatively speaking), and I will be heading back to school this fall so that one day I can get my own job, since that grass is so much greener.
Getting to the gym, the most infamous of resolutions, is not much easier, but it is still on the list. I will never figure out the gyms that think a work out room where you watch your own kids while you work out is a good idea. More like bang my head on the wall and make me never want to go back. I am amazed at Giselle, the Brazilian super model who has five children. My personal trainer in Fayetteville, who is a body builder, told me all about these mother's of four or five children who compete with her. I felt much better. In fact, when I really want to feel great, I find one of my friends on FB who is also a body builder. Her competition pictures are good for a few self-deprecating laughs.
My goals for this year:
1) go to the gym more often than not
2) eat less junk
3) drink less Coca Cola
4) be more patient with my kids
5) get stressed out less often
6) keep my house clean
7) find a place for everything in my house
8) learn to recycle
9) learn to snow board better than I did last year
10) learn to cross country ski
11) look cute in winter clothes
12) get my priorities in order
Sunday, June 27, 2010
I get by with a little help from my friends
When we lived in Houston during med school, our church congregation was called the Hermann Park Ward. Med school was a particularly stressful time in my life, but my wonderful friends kept me going. Our husbands' had similarly long hours and we were all young mothers living in cramped quarters. We all walked with restless children through the halls of the church, we hung out in the nursing mother's room during Sunday School, and we got to know every place in Houston that was worth visiting with little kids. We had fun together at playgroup and pre-school, and we lived at the UT student housing playground.
When we moved to San Antonio, I either left friends behind or they moved away as well. As a result of living in the Stone Oak area of San Antonio, our church family tended to be older than we were, further along in their careers, and with older children. It was difficult to be fairly alone in my husband's schedule and our subsequent Army life, with my oldest children the ages of other families' babies, with more friends outside of church than at church. There were a few times at church when our young children would be a handful at church and the older ladies behind me would laugh quietly to themselves. It took years, really until Audrey was born, for me to realize that they were not laughing at my misfortune, but they were reminiscing together on their time spent in my shoes.
Although the good friends I had at church, my Army and Hardy Oak friends kept me going those six years in San Antonio, I still have a hard time writing and even talking about the day one particular friend left. My friend Karina's husband was the only other resident at church whose schedule rivaled Neil's. With children roughly the same ages as ours', I did not have to explain anything to Karina for her to understand what my life was like. Better still was that Karina seemed to pull off our crazy lifestyle with such grace and infinitely more energy, that I looked to her when I was not sure what to do next. Even though we did not see each other on a daily basis, I was unprepared for the intense loneliness that I felt when she left. I spent the next year at church saying, "Yes, Neil is at work again. Yes, I am alone again. No, it did not bother me until you asked me about it." Well, maybe I did not say the last part aloud, but I thought it often.
There were some great Army friends that I made in our first week in SA that I still miss. There was one friend, whose husband was Neil's colleague, where a typical conversation between us was, "How are you doing?" "Girl." With a certain look in our eyes, that was all we needed to explain what we were dealing with. Her husband just began his second deployment and I think of her often. My Army friends are spread all over the world by now, and I look forward to being stationed with them again. I keep trying to plant the idea in Neil's mind of a San Antonio military medicine reunion cruise in a few years.
Then we moved on to Fayetteville. I knew after our first week there, that we were where the Lord wanted us to be. Or more specifically, that He knew that I needed these people. It was wonderful to be surrounded, not only at church, but in our neighborhood and school with friendly and down-to-earth people. I was pleasantly surprised by what great friends I made in my short time in Fayetteville and I look forward to being stationed with them again, as well.
Now that we have landed in Boston, or Needham, to be more exact, our ward is a lot of fun. It is a larger version of the Hermann Park Ward. There are young families everywhere. But I have to say that I love not being the young mom trying to keep a baby quiet or entertain a toddler. I am in a much better place now that Sydney is the oldest girl in Primary, the elementary-school age kids' program. I watch these young moms and reminisce about the time I spent with my friends as a young mother in Houston. I start to smile and stop myself before it turns into a quiet laugh-no need to torture someone who thinks I am laughing at their active child.
When we moved to San Antonio, I either left friends behind or they moved away as well. As a result of living in the Stone Oak area of San Antonio, our church family tended to be older than we were, further along in their careers, and with older children. It was difficult to be fairly alone in my husband's schedule and our subsequent Army life, with my oldest children the ages of other families' babies, with more friends outside of church than at church. There were a few times at church when our young children would be a handful at church and the older ladies behind me would laugh quietly to themselves. It took years, really until Audrey was born, for me to realize that they were not laughing at my misfortune, but they were reminiscing together on their time spent in my shoes.
Although the good friends I had at church, my Army and Hardy Oak friends kept me going those six years in San Antonio, I still have a hard time writing and even talking about the day one particular friend left. My friend Karina's husband was the only other resident at church whose schedule rivaled Neil's. With children roughly the same ages as ours', I did not have to explain anything to Karina for her to understand what my life was like. Better still was that Karina seemed to pull off our crazy lifestyle with such grace and infinitely more energy, that I looked to her when I was not sure what to do next. Even though we did not see each other on a daily basis, I was unprepared for the intense loneliness that I felt when she left. I spent the next year at church saying, "Yes, Neil is at work again. Yes, I am alone again. No, it did not bother me until you asked me about it." Well, maybe I did not say the last part aloud, but I thought it often.
There were some great Army friends that I made in our first week in SA that I still miss. There was one friend, whose husband was Neil's colleague, where a typical conversation between us was, "How are you doing?" "Girl." With a certain look in our eyes, that was all we needed to explain what we were dealing with. Her husband just began his second deployment and I think of her often. My Army friends are spread all over the world by now, and I look forward to being stationed with them again. I keep trying to plant the idea in Neil's mind of a San Antonio military medicine reunion cruise in a few years.
Then we moved on to Fayetteville. I knew after our first week there, that we were where the Lord wanted us to be. Or more specifically, that He knew that I needed these people. It was wonderful to be surrounded, not only at church, but in our neighborhood and school with friendly and down-to-earth people. I was pleasantly surprised by what great friends I made in my short time in Fayetteville and I look forward to being stationed with them again, as well.
Now that we have landed in Boston, or Needham, to be more exact, our ward is a lot of fun. It is a larger version of the Hermann Park Ward. There are young families everywhere. But I have to say that I love not being the young mom trying to keep a baby quiet or entertain a toddler. I am in a much better place now that Sydney is the oldest girl in Primary, the elementary-school age kids' program. I watch these young moms and reminisce about the time I spent with my friends as a young mother in Houston. I start to smile and stop myself before it turns into a quiet laugh-no need to torture someone who thinks I am laughing at their active child.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Andy, Woody, Jack, and four not-so-little munchkins: The secret life of dogs, toys and little kids
Here is a recap of recent events and a few of thoughts:
Today we went for a stroll in a great little park in nearby Dover. From friends' comments, we imagined that Dover was a town without, gasp, a town newspaper, and inhabited by yokels. While we did not meet anyone from Dover on the trails today, we passed miles of McMansions situated on acres of gently rolling hills and surrounded by forests.
Earlier today, Ainsley made a comment today about how I went to high school back in the 1970s. I laughed and later decided that we needed to get those math workbooks out to practice for school sooner rather than later.
As we sat down for lunch today, Zach, with tears in his eyes, and a sad little frown on his face, asked if he could rescue his stuffies (Read: Stuffed Animals) if our house ever caught on fire. When the girls asked if he was crying, he wiped his eyes and replied that his eyes were sweating. He picked that up on Disney's Phineas and Ferb. I asked him if he would like to give his stuffies a hug before he ate his lunch. When he returned to the table I had to explain to him that while we could replace his stuffies, we could not replace him. That meant that if there ever was a fire, he would not be allowed to run back for his buddies-he would have to get out of the house and help his little sister to do the same.
While we were "hiking," Audrey ran out of energy. She began calling for Jackie, our yellow lab, for help. She decided that she would marry him so that he could make her feel better for forever. He is her best friend; when she feels sad, he stands next to her so that she can lay her head down on his shoulder and hug him. When Audrey plays with my iPhone Mini-Me app, she always includes a dog with her mini-me. During lunch, Audrey started telling stories about way back when she was a dog and the pet hotel caught on fire. Zach was adamant that, not only did humans not start out life as dogs, but that she could not marry a dog because he would get dog fur in her bed. Ainsley was adamant, that if Audrey did indeed marry Jack, that she would have puppies. We tried to explain that little four year olds did not think like that.
After our trip to the park, we took the kids to see Toy Story 3. I will admit to crying through the beginning and end of the movie. I thought of my nephew, Tyler, and our new friend, Gage, who both loved Toy Story when they were preschoolers. I thought how they were just like Andy, growing up so fast, leaving behind all the fun things they loved to do as little boys, for the world of men. One of my favorite movies of all times is Johnny Depp, of course, in "Finding Neverland." I cannot watch that movie too often because I do not particularly care for movies that make me cry, but I love, love the line about how little boys should never be put to bed. One day they will wake up and they will not be a little boy any longer. In all honesty, that thought has been at the back of my mind since Zach was born. So much of how we raise Zach has been influenced by that premise, and that fear.
We enjoyed watching the US soccer game this week, and we screamed and cried when the US made their goal. We hope tomorrow goes as well. Near the end of the game, Sydney went into her room because she was sure that all was lost. She told us that she said a prayer that the US would win, and then she heard us celebrating. She felt certain that she helped the US win their game. Later that afternoon I overheard Neil telling Sydney that when you pray for one team to win, you are, in effect, praying for someone else to lose.
We miss our friends in North Carolina and continue to miss our friends and family in Texas. Zach still talks about moving to Texas so that we can have Taco Cabana. We do not miss the weather in either place. We have used our AC this week due to the 90F weather, but I have heard this heat wave will not last.
Today we went for a stroll in a great little park in nearby Dover. From friends' comments, we imagined that Dover was a town without, gasp, a town newspaper, and inhabited by yokels. While we did not meet anyone from Dover on the trails today, we passed miles of McMansions situated on acres of gently rolling hills and surrounded by forests.
Earlier today, Ainsley made a comment today about how I went to high school back in the 1970s. I laughed and later decided that we needed to get those math workbooks out to practice for school sooner rather than later.
As we sat down for lunch today, Zach, with tears in his eyes, and a sad little frown on his face, asked if he could rescue his stuffies (Read: Stuffed Animals) if our house ever caught on fire. When the girls asked if he was crying, he wiped his eyes and replied that his eyes were sweating. He picked that up on Disney's Phineas and Ferb. I asked him if he would like to give his stuffies a hug before he ate his lunch. When he returned to the table I had to explain to him that while we could replace his stuffies, we could not replace him. That meant that if there ever was a fire, he would not be allowed to run back for his buddies-he would have to get out of the house and help his little sister to do the same.
While we were "hiking," Audrey ran out of energy. She began calling for Jackie, our yellow lab, for help. She decided that she would marry him so that he could make her feel better for forever. He is her best friend; when she feels sad, he stands next to her so that she can lay her head down on his shoulder and hug him. When Audrey plays with my iPhone Mini-Me app, she always includes a dog with her mini-me. During lunch, Audrey started telling stories about way back when she was a dog and the pet hotel caught on fire. Zach was adamant that, not only did humans not start out life as dogs, but that she could not marry a dog because he would get dog fur in her bed. Ainsley was adamant, that if Audrey did indeed marry Jack, that she would have puppies. We tried to explain that little four year olds did not think like that.
After our trip to the park, we took the kids to see Toy Story 3. I will admit to crying through the beginning and end of the movie. I thought of my nephew, Tyler, and our new friend, Gage, who both loved Toy Story when they were preschoolers. I thought how they were just like Andy, growing up so fast, leaving behind all the fun things they loved to do as little boys, for the world of men. One of my favorite movies of all times is Johnny Depp, of course, in "Finding Neverland." I cannot watch that movie too often because I do not particularly care for movies that make me cry, but I love, love the line about how little boys should never be put to bed. One day they will wake up and they will not be a little boy any longer. In all honesty, that thought has been at the back of my mind since Zach was born. So much of how we raise Zach has been influenced by that premise, and that fear.
We enjoyed watching the US soccer game this week, and we screamed and cried when the US made their goal. We hope tomorrow goes as well. Near the end of the game, Sydney went into her room because she was sure that all was lost. She told us that she said a prayer that the US would win, and then she heard us celebrating. She felt certain that she helped the US win their game. Later that afternoon I overheard Neil telling Sydney that when you pray for one team to win, you are, in effect, praying for someone else to lose.
We miss our friends in North Carolina and continue to miss our friends and family in Texas. Zach still talks about moving to Texas so that we can have Taco Cabana. We do not miss the weather in either place. We have used our AC this week due to the 90F weather, but I have heard this heat wave will not last.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Boston, Week 2
After we watched the cardboard boxes and packing paper stack up on our driveway, we decided to enlist the services of the local garbage collectors. It cost us $50 to have them pick up just the boxes, but it felt wonderful to watch the trash disappear without any effort on my part. While I am glad not to have to service my own trash, I see the virtue in doing so. If we had to handle our own trash beyond taking it to the curb, it is safe to assume that we would look for ways to consume less. One day, when the weather thaws next Spring, I might be ready to head to the transfer station. Until then, and especially when two feet of snow covers the ground, I will be happy to watch someone else take my trash away for me.
On Saturday, we drove out to Minuteman Park, took a short hike along the trail that Paul Revere rode, and watched a short video at the Visitor's Center. The trail looked like a perfect place for a future bike ride. We drove by Walden Pond, but it was so full of visitors, that it was closed until enough people left. From the road, the "pond" was beautiful. We made plans to take Audrey there to swim on her birthday, but we later heard that the spring flooding reduced the beach-front entry on the beach there. How cool would it be to say that you went swimming in Walden Pond for your birthday?
We spent the past few days visiting a local lake as a family and with friends. It has been nice to work on my tan while the kids played on the beach. Apparently I have "graduated" from chasing my kids at the beach to merely keeping a head-count (a fairly constant head count, but still) as I relax with my book and chat with my friends at the edge of the water. I feel like I have put my time in and can watch as other young moms keep their babies from eating sand, run off from the group or wade too deep in the water. Of course, if Audrey had inherited the thrill-seeking McMullin gene, it would be a whole different ball game. She would be running off, going in too deep, doing running front flips into the water like Zach did before he could swim. As it is, Audrey is content to stay in the shallows, knows her boundaries, and would not be found without me or her siblings. Also, there is a difference between standing in the shade up here and standing in the shade down in the heat and humidity in TX.
We enjoyed the kids' track last night. We hung out in the beautiful weather with some new friends while Sydney did running training and exercises, Ainsley and Zachary participated in track and field events, and Audrey watched her age group have fun. It will be fun to spend our summer evenings there, but I keep expecting to see my friends walking around.
On an unrelated note, and mostly I mention this for my Dad, I just found out that I have a 200 text message limit on my phone bill. Neil just informed me that I am at 500 this month. What? I thought I had unlimited texts. I have had this phone plan for eighteen months. I guess I have never gone over on texts, so I have not noticed it on the bill. I am going to have to pay to upgrade those to unlimited ASAP. Until then, no more text messaging. I know you are all thinking, "What are you, 17?"
We hung pictures yesterday and continue to make frequent trips to storage. I unpacked my suitcase and the rest of my clothes today. Tomorrow we are heading back to the Dedham Farmer's Market to buy pure maple syrup, fresh Haddock, porterhouse steaks, and some fresh vegetables.
On a World Cup note, is anyone surprised that the French are such drama queens-the players, the staff, or the fans?
On Saturday, we drove out to Minuteman Park, took a short hike along the trail that Paul Revere rode, and watched a short video at the Visitor's Center. The trail looked like a perfect place for a future bike ride. We drove by Walden Pond, but it was so full of visitors, that it was closed until enough people left. From the road, the "pond" was beautiful. We made plans to take Audrey there to swim on her birthday, but we later heard that the spring flooding reduced the beach-front entry on the beach there. How cool would it be to say that you went swimming in Walden Pond for your birthday?
We spent the past few days visiting a local lake as a family and with friends. It has been nice to work on my tan while the kids played on the beach. Apparently I have "graduated" from chasing my kids at the beach to merely keeping a head-count (a fairly constant head count, but still) as I relax with my book and chat with my friends at the edge of the water. I feel like I have put my time in and can watch as other young moms keep their babies from eating sand, run off from the group or wade too deep in the water. Of course, if Audrey had inherited the thrill-seeking McMullin gene, it would be a whole different ball game. She would be running off, going in too deep, doing running front flips into the water like Zach did before he could swim. As it is, Audrey is content to stay in the shallows, knows her boundaries, and would not be found without me or her siblings. Also, there is a difference between standing in the shade up here and standing in the shade down in the heat and humidity in TX.
We enjoyed the kids' track last night. We hung out in the beautiful weather with some new friends while Sydney did running training and exercises, Ainsley and Zachary participated in track and field events, and Audrey watched her age group have fun. It will be fun to spend our summer evenings there, but I keep expecting to see my friends walking around.
On an unrelated note, and mostly I mention this for my Dad, I just found out that I have a 200 text message limit on my phone bill. Neil just informed me that I am at 500 this month. What? I thought I had unlimited texts. I have had this phone plan for eighteen months. I guess I have never gone over on texts, so I have not noticed it on the bill. I am going to have to pay to upgrade those to unlimited ASAP. Until then, no more text messaging. I know you are all thinking, "What are you, 17?"
We hung pictures yesterday and continue to make frequent trips to storage. I unpacked my suitcase and the rest of my clothes today. Tomorrow we are heading back to the Dedham Farmer's Market to buy pure maple syrup, fresh Haddock, porterhouse steaks, and some fresh vegetables.
On a World Cup note, is anyone surprised that the French are such drama queens-the players, the staff, or the fans?
Friday, June 18, 2010
Moving to Boston has been quite the adventure. There were many days that I did not think I would survive, that the chaos around me threatened to engulf me, and that the buzzing in my head was compounded by my kids touching each other, crossing the imaginary line on the seat in the car, or by someone actually biting another someone in the bum.
When we moved to Fayetteville less than a year ago, I do not remember it being quite as traumatic for me. Perhaps it was doing all of the packing and loading last year while the kids were in Houston at Camp GG Grami. (AKA, staying at GG's house with Grami, too.) It could also have been the 5 days we spent at Disney en route to Fayetteville where my only responsibility was to make sure we used all of our dining plan meals and made it through the parks with the least amount of waiting in line. And lastly, it could be the almost 1000 sq feet difference in last year's house and our new house in Needham.
Last year when we were still in boxes, we could throw everything in the two spare rooms. Currently, we are getting out of boxes as fast as possible because we are constantly worrying about tipping one over and the china inside breaking, having our kids fall down the stairs trying to avoid a box, or not having anywhere to walk that isn't covered by boxes.
This is our first introduction to living in an area where a high cost of living forces people to economize on space. The elevation of the house in Fayetteville had a front door with two windows to either side and then a garage. Those windows were from two separate rooms. Similarly, our house here in Needham has two windows on either side of the front door, but those windows come from the living room, Sydney's room, and our room. Sans garage.
Having said that, this house has some great qualities: recessed lights in every room and in the kitchen there are sky lights which open electronically. Almost every window in the house has honeycomb shades which should help keep the heat in this winter. There is actually quite a bit of built in storage so that I have lots of empty cabinets in the kitchen. It is true that I got rid of an entire set of dishes, and that my china is in storage, but after the unpacking began, having a set of dishes to use when I didn't feel like using my everyday set did not seem so important. Although I briefly considered throwing out my holiday plate collection, I made space for it. Did I mention that there is no pantry? Luckily we have plenty of space for food.
For the first time in our almost thirteen years of marriage, we have more than one tv hooked up in our house. It is such a luxury to send the kids to the basement to watch a Disney show. In our defense, we have been training them to watch World Cup Soccer.
Can I just throw in that I think USA was robbed today by the ref. Dana White, the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is famous for saying that a fighter should never leave the outcome of a fight in the hands of the judges. This applies to soccer as well-if the Americans had not allowed that early goal, they would have won...
Finally, there is the trash service here. When our landlord first asked us what we would do with our trash, Neil and I looked at each other, literally speechless. (You know us, and that never, ever happens...) My first thought was the city government takes care of trash service-even if they contract out to private companies, you arrange for the service through the city or county. Here in Needham, the city offers a trash transfer park. (AKA the city dump). For $60 each year, plus the cost of the special yellow bags, at $1.60 per bag, you, too, can load your car up with your trash and drive to the Transfer Station to visit with your friends while you drop off your trash. From the people I have talked to, it is a cultural event here where there are boy scout car washes, politicians hang signs and campaign, you chit chat with friends. Neil left the decision up to me since I am in charge of trash at our house. I briefly considered the adage "When in Rome..." but ultimately I called the trash pick-up service who will pick up my trash each week so long as it is in any kind of bag, and take my recycling, as well. I have never recycled before, but I can pick up that cultural habit. (It is free to recycle here. Conversely, we see that the city government is attempting to change an individual's behavior by taxing them when they do not do what the city government wants. Wow, where else do we see that?) Anyway, for $50 they will come pick up the rest of the boxes, packing paper, and trash generated by moving in, and then for another $52 each month, they will come by once a week. On the bright side, the lovely owner of the trash service insists that when I take two weeks to vacation at the Vineyard in August, he wil credit my account.
We are in love with our new grocery store, Trader Joe's. Their homemade tortillas are on par with Guadalajara's in Houston. That is saying something. We went to a Farmer's Market for the second time ever, and bought a head of lettuce with lots of dirt still on it, but no pesticides, fish that had been caught that morning nearby, and some ribs form a community farm that does CSA, or community agriculture. Super cool stuff. They tried to convince me to buy lobster that my kids had been playing with so that I could butterfly it while it was still alive and then grill it. I had to wipe the tears away before the people saw them. Never in a million years could I do that, even to a lobster.
The most startling thing has been everyone's reaction to the kids. We get more stares as we walk through restaurants and buildings. Today someone told us that we had an army. I was tempted to tell them that we call them Dumbledore's Army and that we teach them wizarding spells. Most people can tell right away that we are not from around here. Fortunately, the kids have chosen those moments to behave the perfect little angels they are. It's just in the car that they go nuts on us.
We found a Cost-Co and Target. There is no Wal-Mart nearby, and Neil says he can go the next three years without stepping inside one. The most comforting thing we have done so far was to drive to the Air Force Base. Why did my heart rate go down when I saw the familiar signs to the Commissary? Neil and I were commenting on how wierd that makes us when even an Air Force base seems more normal than where we are.
Off to bed because the sun rises here before 0530.
When we moved to Fayetteville less than a year ago, I do not remember it being quite as traumatic for me. Perhaps it was doing all of the packing and loading last year while the kids were in Houston at Camp GG Grami. (AKA, staying at GG's house with Grami, too.) It could also have been the 5 days we spent at Disney en route to Fayetteville where my only responsibility was to make sure we used all of our dining plan meals and made it through the parks with the least amount of waiting in line. And lastly, it could be the almost 1000 sq feet difference in last year's house and our new house in Needham.
Last year when we were still in boxes, we could throw everything in the two spare rooms. Currently, we are getting out of boxes as fast as possible because we are constantly worrying about tipping one over and the china inside breaking, having our kids fall down the stairs trying to avoid a box, or not having anywhere to walk that isn't covered by boxes.
This is our first introduction to living in an area where a high cost of living forces people to economize on space. The elevation of the house in Fayetteville had a front door with two windows to either side and then a garage. Those windows were from two separate rooms. Similarly, our house here in Needham has two windows on either side of the front door, but those windows come from the living room, Sydney's room, and our room. Sans garage.
Having said that, this house has some great qualities: recessed lights in every room and in the kitchen there are sky lights which open electronically. Almost every window in the house has honeycomb shades which should help keep the heat in this winter. There is actually quite a bit of built in storage so that I have lots of empty cabinets in the kitchen. It is true that I got rid of an entire set of dishes, and that my china is in storage, but after the unpacking began, having a set of dishes to use when I didn't feel like using my everyday set did not seem so important. Although I briefly considered throwing out my holiday plate collection, I made space for it. Did I mention that there is no pantry? Luckily we have plenty of space for food.
For the first time in our almost thirteen years of marriage, we have more than one tv hooked up in our house. It is such a luxury to send the kids to the basement to watch a Disney show. In our defense, we have been training them to watch World Cup Soccer.
Can I just throw in that I think USA was robbed today by the ref. Dana White, the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is famous for saying that a fighter should never leave the outcome of a fight in the hands of the judges. This applies to soccer as well-if the Americans had not allowed that early goal, they would have won...
Finally, there is the trash service here. When our landlord first asked us what we would do with our trash, Neil and I looked at each other, literally speechless. (You know us, and that never, ever happens...) My first thought was the city government takes care of trash service-even if they contract out to private companies, you arrange for the service through the city or county. Here in Needham, the city offers a trash transfer park. (AKA the city dump). For $60 each year, plus the cost of the special yellow bags, at $1.60 per bag, you, too, can load your car up with your trash and drive to the Transfer Station to visit with your friends while you drop off your trash. From the people I have talked to, it is a cultural event here where there are boy scout car washes, politicians hang signs and campaign, you chit chat with friends. Neil left the decision up to me since I am in charge of trash at our house. I briefly considered the adage "When in Rome..." but ultimately I called the trash pick-up service who will pick up my trash each week so long as it is in any kind of bag, and take my recycling, as well. I have never recycled before, but I can pick up that cultural habit. (It is free to recycle here. Conversely, we see that the city government is attempting to change an individual's behavior by taxing them when they do not do what the city government wants. Wow, where else do we see that?) Anyway, for $50 they will come pick up the rest of the boxes, packing paper, and trash generated by moving in, and then for another $52 each month, they will come by once a week. On the bright side, the lovely owner of the trash service insists that when I take two weeks to vacation at the Vineyard in August, he wil credit my account.
We are in love with our new grocery store, Trader Joe's. Their homemade tortillas are on par with Guadalajara's in Houston. That is saying something. We went to a Farmer's Market for the second time ever, and bought a head of lettuce with lots of dirt still on it, but no pesticides, fish that had been caught that morning nearby, and some ribs form a community farm that does CSA, or community agriculture. Super cool stuff. They tried to convince me to buy lobster that my kids had been playing with so that I could butterfly it while it was still alive and then grill it. I had to wipe the tears away before the people saw them. Never in a million years could I do that, even to a lobster.
The most startling thing has been everyone's reaction to the kids. We get more stares as we walk through restaurants and buildings. Today someone told us that we had an army. I was tempted to tell them that we call them Dumbledore's Army and that we teach them wizarding spells. Most people can tell right away that we are not from around here. Fortunately, the kids have chosen those moments to behave the perfect little angels they are. It's just in the car that they go nuts on us.
We found a Cost-Co and Target. There is no Wal-Mart nearby, and Neil says he can go the next three years without stepping inside one. The most comforting thing we have done so far was to drive to the Air Force Base. Why did my heart rate go down when I saw the familiar signs to the Commissary? Neil and I were commenting on how wierd that makes us when even an Air Force base seems more normal than where we are.
Off to bed because the sun rises here before 0530.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Want not, waste not: A crisis and an agenda
“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.’’
Soon after Obama gave Rahm Emanuel the nod for Whitehouse Chief of Staff, Emanuel made this interesting statement in an interview. In effect, Emanuel was giving us a page out of the President's future playbook. If someone had told us how many different crises the President, and the world in general, would face in Obama's first eighteen months of office, we might have believed them. For example, if you knew where to look, the housing bubble bust and ensuing financial storm were visible on the horizon years before Bush left office. I can remember having conversations about this with my dad back in 2006. But what I did not expect were the extreme reactions that we have seen from federal govt's around the world.
Emanuel's quote seems to paraphrase something Machiavelli is reported to have said, “Never waste the opportunities offered by a good crisis." Hillary Clinton has even picked up this theme in the last year in her work at the State Dept. The NY Times reports that Clinton told the European Parliament: “Never waste a good crisis. And when it comes to the economic crisis, don’t waste it when it can have a very positive impact on climate change and energy security.”
One church in NYC added their own adaptation to Emanuel's saying: "It can be turned to joyful transformation." Can you imagine Rahm Emanuel saying the words "joyful transformation?" Apparently the church leader who came up with this is out of the country and could not comment for the NY Times by Katherine Seelye. The Assistant Minister said, "We’re trying to rewire the way we make connections to each other. We’re trying to help them make the best of a very difficult situation.” That church has set up co-ops where the congregants can barter services and goods to make up for income lost to unemployment.
Here are a few crises, the govt responses, and my thoughts on them.
1) Health care insurance and access reform: Health insurance needs reform. We get that. But when the govt pays for your health care, they can mandate what you put into your mouth. It seems like a stretch that the govt would find a way to keep you from eating certain things, but recent laws in NY limiting trans fats are just the beginning. It would be impossible to regulate you, so they regulate business instead.
2) Wall Street criminality: The govt takes over Wall Street banks and can determine the salaries they offer their employees. Or the govt decides when large banks are making choices that might damage the economy. What happens when the person making these decisions is anti-capitalism? If his larger plan is to convert more of our society towards socialism, would that influence the way he handles these banks?
3) Automaker financial problems: GM and Chrysler take money from the govt to pay their bills. Now that the govt owns part of these companies, it has a vested interest in the competing automakers losing money. How can govt officials conduct an unbiased Congressional hearing against the competition? BTW, their solution to vehicle safety is to place little black boxes in every car. That way, the govt can monitor your car's need for recalls. Or they can monitor where you are driving, what speed you are driving, and could shut down the computer systems that run your car if they wanted. I admit that is also a stretch, but not a huge one. Also, the means to infuse cash into the economy was the same agent for progressing their energy policy. Hillary Clinton, what?
4) Historic oil spill: As a result of this most recent BP oil spill, no one in Congress is willing to consider new explorations in off-shore drilling. Obama sent a SWAT team, in case of a terrorist attack; this is a reasonable suspicion and reaction. However, sending the entire Dept of Justice was logical? Another consequence of this spill will be tighter regulations on oil rigs. Apparently there are not many actual regulations, and BP was voluntarily complying with the govt's suggested safety measures. While I have a hard time believing that there were not many legal requirements for these oil companies, this is what I read. By failing to govern themselves successfully, the oil and gas industry will find the day of suggestions to be over.
5) Charitable giving: Obama wants to get rid of the tax incentive associated with charitable giving. Families and communities have failed to care those around them; as a result, Obama would like to put all of those people in need on the dole of the govt, remove your ability to give to various organizations, and force you to pay taxes to fund these entitlement programs. This is why Bill Clinton, the Millionaire, has a niece on Food Stamps. Why should he share his wealth with her when the govt can take care of her? Or why Obama's relative who is in the country somewhere awaiting deportation lives in a shack. Why should Obama, whose wife alone made over $400K in her last few years of working before his Presidential campaign, give money to a relative? They must qualify for govt services.
We should learn to govern ourselves with the freedom we have been granted, so that the govt does not step in to take away that freedom by deciding how we should live. If we would be honest in business, if we would take care of those around us who are in need, if we would take care of our bodies as well as our fiscal health, the govt would not need to step in with further regulation.
This is analogous to flying a kite. We cannot fly a kite without a string. That string might be seen as limiting our ability to fly wherever we would like, however high we would like, but it allows us to fly. If we decided not to use that string, or if we misused that string and flew our kites into electrical wires, you can see the parallel to not being a good citizen, lacking honesty, hard work, common sense. Having the govt come in to help us fly our kite, or live our lives, is similar to having a rod attached to the bottom of your kite and attached to the ground. Your kite is flying, but only when and where the rod allows.
The rest of Emanuel's quote was, “In 1974 and 1978 we never dealt with it, and our dependence on foreign oil never changed.” The majority of the country believed Obama when he campaigned on Hope and Change, on transparency, on lifting the middle class, on eliminating fraud and lobbying in the political process. Not very many people believed him when he said he wanted to fundamentally transform America. Apparently, if we understand Rahm Emanuel correctly, the writing was on the wall before Obama even took office. It is too bad we didn't believe him.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Papers
If you know me well enough, you know that I have a degree in Spanish and French from the best university in Texas, Texas A&M. It is possible that, like my sister, reading my blog gives you the opinion that I am off-the-deep-end conservative. What you might not know is that the highest grades I ever received in college were in a class called Sociology of Minority Groups.
After taking that class, I considered pursuing a Master's in Sociology. What kept me from heading in that direction was the feeling that there were so many problems for which I did not have answers. I did not want to set myself up for the intense frustration that would surely accompany studying so many disturbing trends among the world's population and not being able to make anything better.
It turns out that if you consider all of the groups I belonged to while at A&M (being female, being in a sorority, being LDS, being married, being pregnant and married, being a Spanish major, pursuing a French minor, participating in the University Research Fellowship, but not completing it, the list actually goes on), I was a minority. I was more than a minority: there was no one in the entire university, at any point in those four years, like me. So, while I am not an ethnic minority, I am empathetic to being on the receiving end of humanity's less than noble sentiments.
The debate on immigration reform is similar to the debate on healthcare reform: technically complex, in the sense of the law, politically complex, and emotionally charged. Obama campaigned on delivering the fundamental transformation of America, but his radical changes are not the only possible radical changes out there. The Repubs had eight years to tackle immigration, but they did not. They feared losing the Hispanic vote, which they never had anyway.
I, for one am glad that they did not follow the extreme Right and build a wall or deport everyone. Why does it have to be all or nothing? Complete amnesty or the Great Wall 2.0? How is it possible that no one in Washington is intelligent enough, or courageous enough, to propose radical changes that would satisfy the needs of the immigrants as well as our budgetary constraints? If I had to guess, it is courage they lack, not ideas.
The media hype surrounding Arizona's new law frustrates me to no end. Today I heard an endless reel of soundbites comparing asking someone to show id to a Nazi asking for a Jew's papers. While I have lived in Fayetteville, the police have twice set up a road block on a nearby street, where every car on the road, had to stop and show ID. I wonder how well it would turn out for me if I called the cop a Nazi for asking to see my license? How is this, supposedly legal, violation of my civil liberties any different than what is proposed for Arizona? There is this thing called a social contract: we give up certain liberties in exchange for certain protections and services.
I have my own ideas of how to solve this, but UFC is about to come on, so saving the world will have to wait another day.
After taking that class, I considered pursuing a Master's in Sociology. What kept me from heading in that direction was the feeling that there were so many problems for which I did not have answers. I did not want to set myself up for the intense frustration that would surely accompany studying so many disturbing trends among the world's population and not being able to make anything better.
It turns out that if you consider all of the groups I belonged to while at A&M (being female, being in a sorority, being LDS, being married, being pregnant and married, being a Spanish major, pursuing a French minor, participating in the University Research Fellowship, but not completing it, the list actually goes on), I was a minority. I was more than a minority: there was no one in the entire university, at any point in those four years, like me. So, while I am not an ethnic minority, I am empathetic to being on the receiving end of humanity's less than noble sentiments.
The debate on immigration reform is similar to the debate on healthcare reform: technically complex, in the sense of the law, politically complex, and emotionally charged. Obama campaigned on delivering the fundamental transformation of America, but his radical changes are not the only possible radical changes out there. The Repubs had eight years to tackle immigration, but they did not. They feared losing the Hispanic vote, which they never had anyway.
I, for one am glad that they did not follow the extreme Right and build a wall or deport everyone. Why does it have to be all or nothing? Complete amnesty or the Great Wall 2.0? How is it possible that no one in Washington is intelligent enough, or courageous enough, to propose radical changes that would satisfy the needs of the immigrants as well as our budgetary constraints? If I had to guess, it is courage they lack, not ideas.
The media hype surrounding Arizona's new law frustrates me to no end. Today I heard an endless reel of soundbites comparing asking someone to show id to a Nazi asking for a Jew's papers. While I have lived in Fayetteville, the police have twice set up a road block on a nearby street, where every car on the road, had to stop and show ID. I wonder how well it would turn out for me if I called the cop a Nazi for asking to see my license? How is this, supposedly legal, violation of my civil liberties any different than what is proposed for Arizona? There is this thing called a social contract: we give up certain liberties in exchange for certain protections and services.
I have my own ideas of how to solve this, but UFC is about to come on, so saving the world will have to wait another day.
Monday, April 26, 2010
June Cleaver on Federal Regulation
The first thing on my mind is the EPA's new video contest entitled "Rulemaking Matters!" Participants are encouraged to submit a video that "highlights the importance of federal regulations and motivates others to participate in the rulemaking process." As we watched the youtube video introducing the contest, Neil and I about laughed ourselves off the couch. I kept looking for a Dharma Initiative uniform (from the TV series Lost) or some video-feed circa 1950 of June Cleaver explaining how forward-thinking, media-savvy the contest is. June might even remind us how federal regulation touches "almost every aspect" of our lives and that we can take part in that exciting process. The video contest has an introduction video on youtube. You can search "EPA Rulemaking Matters".
The EPA's contest says, "We'll provide the facts. You provide the creativity!" The EPA just rolled out a new website called regulation.gov; among other things, the intent of this video contest is to drive traffic to their website. Each video must give a shout out to this link to be considered for the grand prize.
The EPA spokeswoman gives the example of the Cash for Clunkers program that allowed so many people to trade in their gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient cars. She explains that Congress created the law and then authorized the federal agency, in this case something to do with Highways and Transportation, which falls under the Executive branch umbrella, to create the actual program, with it's rules and regulations.
I wonder when everyone was rushing in to buy new cars on this specific weekend, was reducing their carbon footprint the catalyst for their decision? If the financial benefits had not been provided by the govt, would the people have rushed to be more eco-friendly? Not likely.
I was pretty certain the entire program was designed to stimulate the economy, to infuse money into the failing auto industry. Maybe the federal govt used the automakers' financial need to forward their own eco-agenda or to increase their reach into citizens' personal decisions as they mandated what kind of cars people could buy.
Either way, the question is not whether people need to be convinced as to the extent of federal regulation in their lives, but rather that their voice matters in the formation of those rules. Maybe the govt is right-we do need to see what's on their website to see how to make a difference. Unless there is a specific and meaningful way the private citizens' comments and suggestions are considered, their "involvement" in the process will amount to nothing more than an opportunity for the govt to say that they considered our opinions, that we are part of the solution, to push some of the ownership of these programs onto our backs rather than their own. Is it feasible that our input on the implementation of the health care overhaul will be considered if it is contrary to the agenda and ideals of those who passed it into law?
Unfortunately for me, I need to see their website to see what kind of a voice we have.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Mack and Jess Wedding Weekend, Part I
My Aunt Jeanie dances at the reception with the groom, Mack.Jeanie and Willie's grand entrance into the reception.
Zach performs surgery on his Bionicle at dinner. We allowed Zach to bring a back pack full of toys to entertain himself.
While I am not sure who this young guest is, how adorable that he spent his time waiting for the reception to start in such a worthwhile pursuit. The lighting's not great because I had to sneak the camera between the two doors and turn off the flash so I wouldn't surprise him. If I was that smart at such a young age, or even now...This is in contrast to the only other young man at the wedding, the ring bearer, who spent the evening dancing with the brides' maids who were all in their early-mid 20s. Either way, both of these guys know where it's at.
Ainsley
Me and Jeannie at the wonderful Rehearsal Dinner. I have never eaten Seafood Chowder before, and it was delicious!My Uncle David (my Dad's brother) and his wife, Debbie, with Willie at the Rehearsal Dinner.
The girls danced all evening with the bride, Jess, and her sweet bride's maids who were so kind as to include the girls in the fun. Jess looked especially beautiful, and I will post more pictures from the actual wedding later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
