Bailout

It's been all over the news.... Congress failed to pass the $700 Billion bailout. Some are saying it's because the Speaker decided to give a partisan lecture about Bush economic policy right before the vote. Others are saying that they voted no because people in their districts are calling and telling them to vote no.
To the Republicans who voted no because of what Nancy Pelosi said... Grow up. You were not elected to congress to represent the Republican party. You were elected to Congress to represent the people of your district. If you have a fundamental reason for voting no, i.e. you really believe that this legislation would hurt the American people more than help, then I can understand your vote. But, to say no because the Speaker is an idiot and insulted the president? That's ridiculous.
The people who voted no because that's what their constituents are telling them.... in a way, I can understand that vote. But, the excuse seems pretty thin. It seems like no one is really talking about what the bailout will do and how it will help Main street. The bailout is always referred to as helping Wall street. What people don't seem to understand is that if the government uses the bailout money to buy troubled assets of banks, the banks then have the capital to loan money to business and consumers for payrolls and purchases. Companies making payroll means the Jones family can pay bills and buy groceries. Banks making loans to consumers means that Bob down the street can buy the car he needs to get to work because the one he has is unreliable, so he can continue paying his bills and buying groceries.
Our economy is built around people being able to go to work, get paid, pay bills, and buy things. Every time you pay a bill or make a purchase, you help fund someone else's paycheck. They in turn go about their daily business and fund someone else's, and the cycle keeps going.
The Bush administration has a big chunk of the blame for letting us get in this mess, but Congress does too. They are supposed to pass the laws that provide over site for these issues and they haven't done it. But, right now, it doesn't matter whose fault it is, we just need a solution.

Texas Tech Ranked number 7?!?!?!?!?

My beloved Red Raiders have achieved something I never thought I’d see… they are ranked #7 in the AP poll. I’m proud to be a Tech Alum and cheer the team on, but they have a pattern. They play weak opponents in their nonconference games and rack up points, stats, confidence, and wins. Once they enter conference play, things tend to change. They continue to win some games, but they don’t dominate like they did in the nonconference play.
Conference play starts for Tech next week at Kansas State. The next three opponents aren’t ranked, but are teams that can be dangerous; after K State they have Nebraska and then have to go to College Station to play Texas A&M. The Tech A&M game is always are hard one, especially when they play in College Station and have to contend with the 12th Man. After A&M the next FOUR opponents are all in the Top 25 before they end the season against Baylor. I’m going to guess that Tech will finish the season 8-4 and will continue their stretch of going to bowl games. Unfortunately, the Big 12 is packed with so many good teams, it may not be a great bowl game.

Daddy's Girl

Our family dynamics are changing a little bit. Up until this week, our daughter was definitely a “Mama’s Girl.” There were times when it seemed like I was the only one who could calm her down when she was upset, etc.
I started to notice the change Thursday night. I was feeding her and her daddy was just outside the kitchen on the phone. Emma was more interested in seeing what Daddy was doing than in eating her oatmeal. The fact that she is becoming a more of a “Daddy’s girl” hit home on Friday night. I had put her to bed a little before 9 PM and an hour later, she woke up screaming. I raced upstairs with Dave right behind me. She stopped crying when I picked her up. After we went through the checklist of what could be wrong and had her calmed down, I put her back in the crib and was trying to get her back to sleep. Dave was standing behind me and everything seemed okay; until he started to walk out of the room. When that happened, the waterworks and screaming started again. Dave took over the soothing while I got ready for bed. A few minutes later, I went back in and he had her snuggled to his chest and she was almost back to sleep. That’s the first time it hasn’t been me who “fixed” whatever was wrong and got her back to sleep.
I know that it’s a good thing she is starting to rely more on Dave and not just me, but I still can’t help but miss being the “special” one to her.

Working from home

Why is it so hard to find legitimate work from home that doesn't involve selling something? I've been looking off and on since I left corporate America in May and can't seem to find anything other than opportunities to sell stuff or pyramid schemes.
I'm not really a "sales person" I just don't think I have the personality for it. Besides, the only way to really build that type of business is to start with family and friends and then work out from there. And to be honest, I think most of my family and friends are "partied" out because we've all been invited to so many of them over the years.
I've tried the "get paid to read e-mails" sites and found one that isn't too bad, but it takes forever to earn enough to get a check unless you sign up for all kinds of stuff and that's just not me. I'm also a member of one of the survey sites. Again, it's not so bad, but I've been on there 18 months or so and have only made $20.
I think the most frustrating thing is that I'm not looking to make A LOT of money. I'd be happy with something that brought in $100-$200/month - just enough to cover some of the "extras" and maybe let us save up a little to put towards vacations.

Physical Therapy

Today is my last physical therapy session for my Bell's Palsy. The first time I went through therapy, I felt like it really helped. I don't really feel that way about this session. The main reason I went back to therapy was because I felt weird movements when I raised my eyebrows. Now, 4 weeks later, the eyebrow thing isn't any better. On top of the issue not be better, I feel like my face is twitching and hurting more than ever. I hope that my time and money haven't been wasted this time around.

Facebook

I have become a Facebook addict! For a long time I kept hearing about Myspace and Facebook and resisted joining, then my sister-in-law joined and sent me the invite. Initially, I thought I would create a profile and see what happens. I ended up finding a lot of people from the Alpha Phi Omega chapter I was in while attending Texas Tech - a lot of people that I had lost contact with. I've discovered that I like hanging out on Facebook. I've found fun games to play and it's been a really neat way to reconnect with old friends.

Rebuilding Galveston

There was an article on Yahoo today stating that the mayor of Galveston was in Washington asking for $2.5 Billion to rebuild the city. They are saying that they want to rebuild "Bigger and Better." Part of me wants to see that, but at the same time is that really smart? This is the second time that the city of Galveston has been basically destroyed by a hurricane. Granted, the first time was in 1900, but that hurricane caused the location of the port to be moved from Galveston to Houston. Galveston Island is a barrier island, it's purpose is to protect the mainland. That means that at some point, it's going to take a direct hit again. Is it really smart to spend tax payer money this way?

Mortgage and Escrow

We received an escrow statement in the mail over the weekend. It's the second time in less than 6 months that Wells Fargo has sent us a statement indicating an escrow shortage. The first time, it was for $200. This time, over $600. We've been talking about taking over the hazard insurance and tax payments ourselves, but the most recent statement clinched the decision.
One of the things I noticed on the statement was the estimate for the 2009 Hazard insurance payment, the bank used the amount we paid in 2007 which was less than what we paid in 2008, so they are setting us up for another shortage.
Between my husband and I, we have an accounting degree, a finance degree, and 2 masters degrees. If we set the money aside with each paycheck, I think we can do as well or better than Wells Fargo in managing our escrow account.

Budget Lady

When we bought our house last April, we had hopes of starting a family and purposely only used his income to get our mortgage. We ended up with a 40 year old house that needed work, so we paid the bills with his paycheck and used mine to pay off the work on the house.
We were lucky and got pregnant pretty quickly. We were pretty sure that I was going to stay home after our daughter was born, so in the months leading up to my maternity leave, we used my paycheck to "save up" for some of our discretionary expenses. While I was on maternity leave, I found out that my employer was offering packages to cut the work force. It was like a flashing neon sign saying that I should stay home. So, I took the package and we used the money to pay a few things off.
Since I took the package, we've had to live on one income and we are making adjustments. I've been very grateful that we invested time 2 years ago to set up a budget spreadsheet. It makes it easy to see where we are at any given time and to see where we might have "extra" money tucked away.

Cubs Win Cubs Win

To the delight of all loyal Cubs fans.... and the people who recently jumped on the bandwagon, the Chicago Cubs clinched the NL Central yesterday by beating the Cardinals. Now, the question is "how far can the go?" Last year the Cubs were swept in the NLDS by the Diamondbacks.
I would love to see the Cubs make it to the World Series, but I think I've become a jaded fan and won't believe it can happen until it does.

Picking Apples

We made a journey today...... from the suburbs of Chicago to the lovely state of Michigan to pick apples. We drove A LOT and our 6 month old did great, especially with the help of her big cousins to keep her entertained in the car. The question now is "what do I do with all of these apples?"

Baby Pictures

I took my little girl to have her 6 month pictures made today. The little stinker smiles all the time at home, but she would NOT smile for the photographer. The lady did manage to get her to smile a few times, but as soon as the camera appeared, she'd be stone faced again.
We still managed to get a few good shots, but I'm becoming less and less impressed with the photographers at JC Penny's. We are members of their portrait club and I think it's a good value while we are wanting to take milestone portraits every couple of months, but I don't see continuing the membership after the two years are up. After our membership with Penny's expires, we will probably only have portraits done once a year - right around our daughter's birthday. We will probably go to a private photographer for those even though they are more expensive.

What to feed a baby?

My daughter will be 6 months old tomorrow and I'm not really sure what I should be feeding her. We worked with our pediatrician and determined that we should try to wait to give her solid food until she was 6 months because I have food allergies...the thought was that giving her time to mature, she'd be less likely to get food allergies.
Well, we didn't make it a full 6 months, but we manage to wait until last week. We started by giving her a tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with several tablespoons of formula at night. A call to the pediatrician said to keep doing that for a week then add the same thing in the morning. We've done that....... Now what???
This week we have started giving her some of her cereal from a spoon so that she can get some practice taking food that way. Everyone says to pay attention to your baby, but how do I know when she's ready for more/thicker servings of cereal?? I've tried to look online, but there really seems to be very little concise information out there.

Bell's Palsy

In today's physical therapy session, I mentioned to the therapist that I've been experiencing "tiredness" and discomfort around my left eye. He wants me to call my neurologist and let them know. I'm a little reluctant to do that because I don't think the doctor really cares and I don't think they can do anything, but I will call.
Part of me is scared to call because I'm afraid that they will tell me that not only can they not do anything, but that there are chances I will always be this way.

Working Moms

I'm lucky, I get to be a stay home Mom. And I honestly don't know how Moms that work full time too do it. On a daily basis I struggle to find the time to do laundry and clean the house while also taking care of a 6 month old. I think I'd go insane if I had to do all of that on top of working 40 hours a week, commuting, and getting a baby to day care. Those ladies must be super Moms!!

99% of the time I enjoy staying home, but when Emma has a bad day, I almost wish I could drop her off somewhere and go back to work. Thankfully, the bad days don't happen very often. And I wouldn't trade the wonderful moments that happen everyday for all the money in the world.

Gas Prices Part 2

On last nights news, they mentioned the fact that 14 refineries in Texas have yet to restart production because they are still checking out what damage may have happened and that caused gas prices to go up an average of 6 cents overnight.
I don't blame the operators of the refineries for being extremly careful when restarting. A mistake in the restart could be explosive....literally. And after being in the area when the Phillips plant blew up in the early 90's, I want those operators to be careful.
Personally, I think the gas station operators should be ASHAMED of themselves. They have a monopoly and they are exploiting it by using any available excuse to boost their prices and build profits. It should be illegal for a gas station to increase their prices so fast.

Gas Prices

I've noticed an interesting phenomenon in the last week. Last Monday, I stopped on my way home from physical therapy and got gas at $3.86/gallon. On Wednesday, the SAME gas station was charging $3.99/gallon and on Friday it was up to $4.15/gallon. 28 cents increase in 5 days sure seemed like a lot to me, but that paled to what we saw yesterday.
At 4:45 PM, we saw a Shell station selling unleaded at $4.15/gallon.... Not even 4 HOURS later the same station was selling the same unleaded gasoline at $4.35/gallon. How on Earth do prices go up 20 cents in 4 hours?
I don't believe for one minute that the increases are from cost increases. I think that gas stations are speculating on the effects of Hurricane Ike and the impact the storm has had on the Houston refineries and based on that speculation, these stations are GOUGING consumers. These operators should be ashamed of themselves for taking profits in the face of a natural disaster and from their neighbors, many of whom are already struggling.

Sympathy Rain

Hurricane Ike came ashore during the night and we can breathe a sigh of relief that our family in the area is okay. Thankfully, it appears that most of the damage they have is to trees and yards and that homes are still secure.
I have to say though, the fact that it has been raining for the last couple of days in the Chicago area seems appropriate. It would feel "wrong" if the weather here was beautiful knowing that people we love are dealing with horrible weather.

Weather Channel Drama King

I have great respect for the Weather Channel and the work they do, but they seriously need to put a leash on Jim Contore's mouth. The man is in Galveston, TX as Hurrican Ike approaches and is basically telling the residents of area that 1) if they are still in Galveston they are stupid and 2) there will be massive distruction in the Houston area because of the poorly constucted homes. I'm sure people in the area just loved hearing that.
Having grown up in the area and lived through a couple of hurricanes and hurricane scares, I have a few comments for Mr. Cantore.
1) The people who are choosing to stay in/on Galveston should have had a pretty clear idea of what they were getting into when they moved there. It's called a BARRIER Island for a reason. So, they are either staying because they have confidence in their home or feel the need to protect their property. Or they are complete idiots who like to be where extreme weather is. The extreme weather guys are in the same category as tornado chasers.

2) Many of those "poorly" constructed houses Mr. Contore refers to have survived stronger hurricanes than Ike before.

I understand the philosophy is to try to scare people so they leave, but Houston is not New Orleans and not all hurricanes are Katrinas.

My "Broken" Face

I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy while I was still in the hospital after my little girl was born. I had great care right away and started a course of steroids and anti viral medication, but the effects were pretty serious and I looked like I had a severe stroke on the left side of my face.
From March - May, the neurologist I was working with seemed interested and was doing lots of follow ups, but I was only getting a little better. In June, my family doctor suggested I try physical therapy. That helped a lot and by the end of the therapy cycle, I was looking a lot more like myself. I still had a few "dead spots" and I still didn't have my smile back, but I had a smile of sorts. That was mid July.....
About a week after the therapy cycle ended, I noticed that my mouth was moving when I raised my eyebrows - definitely not a GOOD thing - and I was having a lot of muscle twitches and discomfort. So, I called my neurologist and requested that we move up my next follow up appointment. She basically told me that the twitches and discomfort were normal because the damaged nerve was healing and she gave me a prescription for Lyrica to quiet the nerve signals at night. But, she didn't really address the fact that my eyebrows were moving my mouth and said nothing about following up again. I gave things a few more weeks and the only change was that when my eyebrows moved my mouth it was noticeable and uncomfortable. So, back to physical therapy.
Tomorrow is the halfway point in the current physical therapy cycle and the therapist has said that if we don't see improvement with the eyebrow/mouth connection he wants me to try a new neurologist. I don't know how I feel about that..... I don't know if I want to see another doctor or try homeopathic treatments.
I'm getting really frustrated with the whole process. Initially, I thought I would get better right away and look like myself again. Now, I'm wondering if I will ever look like myself again. I'm really hoping I can get to a point where muscles aren't twitching all the time and the discomfort goes away, no matter how I look.

15 items or less

We've all seen those people at the grocery store who go through the 15 items or less lane with a cart full of groceries and annoy the people behind them. Today that was me. I had JUST finished emptying my fairly full grocery cart when I noticed the "15 items or less" sign. Thankfully, the cashier heard me say something to my 5 month old about how "Mommy wasn't paying attention" and made it into a joke.
I still felt bad though....... the guy behind me only had 3 things. He seemed to be fairly understanding, he was there when I first saw the sign. The lady who came up behind him didn't seem nearly as amused.
I guess I'll wear my dunce cap for the rest of the afternoon then let myself off the hook for this one.

Politics

Let me start out by saying that I am SO far from knowing who I want to vote for in November that it's not funny, but some of the things being talked about in the media are silly.
At the Republican convention, VP candidate Palin made the joke that "the only difference between a hockey Mom and a pit bull is lipstick." It got laughs because she was talking about herself. Now, the Democratic candidate used the word lipstick saying that if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig when talking about Sen. McCain and change.
You are probably sitting there thinking "so what" or "why are we talking about this?" Well, we are talking about this because it's one of the lead stories on yahoo.com tonight along with the fact that someone is saying that the lipstick and a pig reference is meant to be an insult to Gov. Palin.
GIVE ME A BREAK! Sen. Obama was trying to say that Sen. McCain really isn't an agent of change. No matter how you feel about either candidate, to take the comments out of context and turn them into an insult to another individual is really stretching things.
I really wish both campaigns would STOP nit picking at each other and really talk about the issues that matter to the American people.