State of the Union

A man's wealth is not measured by his riches but instead....

Good thing!! with the state of the economy only the very rich are getting richer and the rest of us are rapidly losing ground.  I used to think I was middle class; a professional woman in a good job.  Now I think I'm hanging around like a pinata, waiting for the next blow.

And I'm luckier than most I guess, I carried tiny credit card debt, my mortgage was almost paid off, I do have a car loan, and my retirement account is a train wreck but eight months of supporting a full-size family and I wonder how on earth people are doing it.

It's been hard, and the cash reserves are running low but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Angie has found work in a professional position.  She was able, in this economy to find the job she wanted and to land it.  No small feat.  Of course, since it runs in the family she too is working in a non-profit.

So are things getting better?  Yes and no.  I think we're in for a lot of aftershocks, and someone needs to fix the situation that stated this depression -- unregulated banks to start with. To me it looks like deregulation was a bust.  And the feds can't fix the economy by lowering the interest rates if there is a next time -- do they offer negative interest rate loans?

I understand the reason for the bailout, and it wasn't truly to help the banks, but the entire economy but I wonder if the fix wasn't too easy.  How can some financial institution who takes subsidies turn around and justify paying bonuses.  That's like being a weatherman -- where else can you get a job that lets you be wrong every day and still have a job?  How can you get a bonus when you rip the economy to shreds?

So Obama, we're just barely hanging in there right now, and much as I want better medical care I can't afford to pay out of my pocket, and if you think my boss will say ohhh goody let's give her premium costs back to her, I want the drugs you're taking.

My only hope is that somewhere before I'm 70 and can retire (maybe) the economy will be better.  And maybe I'll be able to see a few of the places I've dreamed of visiting.

I wonder if that is too much to ask?

Frosty Weather

The forecast was for single digit to teens.  So of course everyone had to get outside and make snowmen.  I actually created this post only to post this picture.

Angie says its a great picture of Frosty!  everyone else is a bit distorted.

That building behind them is the garage, due to be painted to match house this spring.

It's times like these that I sit here shivering and remembering Januarys in San Diego.  Do they really have outdoor seating for restaurants all year round?  Did I really never own anything warmer than a light jacket?   How wonderful.

Brrrrrr.  Too cold to make any other comment.

Second Christmas

Since family lives at some distance, and have their own family traditions being established, we find ourselves working hard to establish a tradition that gets us all together for a Christmas celebration.

We decided to call it Second Christmas and hold it somewhere between Christmas and New Year's.  It fell on New Year's Eve this year.

(A view of the tree from the bottom up)

Here at Number 10 we celebrated family Christmas Christmas Day and it was the first year the twins were truly aware of the gifts.  They weren't happy with visiting Santa but helped me with  the cookies and milk treat, and listened while I told them how Santa was going to bring them each a gift that night.  It's not like the year Miki tried to go to bed at 3 p.m. so Christmas Day would hurry up and get here but they were feeling a little excitement.

I don't have a lot of pictures from Christmas as my new camera lens got hung up in the Christmas mail but here's a couple from the Day.    My most favorite Nativity.  The faces of the children are priceless.

A sleepy Eddie with Mater, Eddie on 2nd Christmas with building toys and Zoe with her doll house and a pretty red skirt that plays Jingle Bell Rock, what sheer heaven.

On 2nd Christmas all the packages containing "clothes" had arrived from family and Eddie was getting a bit distraught worrying where the toys were.  Thanks goodness for the building toys. Mom sure appreciated all the thoughtful winter clothes!!  for all of them.  Angie starts her job on Monday the 4th.