Murder on the Orient Express

Ok, so it wasn't the Orient Express - it was simply our trip to the Halloween version of the Heber Creeper. Alicia had a couple of extra tickets to the haunted house on rails so we tagged along. The only problem was we were one ticket short. Since Tara took the kids on Thomas while I waited behind, we switched places this time - big mistake.

I don't really think that Kennedy was all that scared. Mostly, she wanted the reassurance of having mom nearby. With Alex on my lap, and the kids packed in between us, Kennedy felt a bit alone. She kept asking for her mommy and wanted to get off the train ASAP. Meanwhile, Alex was oblivious to the fact that the ghouls and creatures walking the aisles were supposed to be scary.

Somehow we managed to survive and everyone rushed off the train to make sure mommy was still at the station.

Who is the Real Barack Obama?

"Who is the real Barack Obama?" The question keeps getting asked at each McCain or Palin rally. The answers come flooding in: He's a Muslim, An Arab, he pals around with terrorists. Each day the comments are getting more and more upsetting. People say they're scared, they can't trust him, they don't know him.

Sure, you may not agree with Senator Obama's politics. He has a few things I don't like too, but there's nothing to be scared about if he becomes President. He is a normal person. He's a committed father and husband. He likes sports and exercise and tries to watch what he eats. He believes in God and attends Church regularly. He believes in our Country and wants us to succeed as a Nation. In short, he is more similar to us than he is different from us.

I came across the great clip from the DNC Convention last month. Does this look like the kind of person you need to fear?

Alexander the Terrible

Little Alex has been quite the handful the past few months. He's always been a bit of a tease, but recently, he has turned it up a little. He loves to bug, tease and torment Kennedy. He knows just how to push her buttons and can get her crying pretty quick. He is able to do that with all of us. It's amazing how smart he is and how he knows exactly what to do to get each of us going.


One of my "favorite" button pushers is his new bedtime routine. Anyone who knows me knows that I have very little patience for a kid who won't go to bed. Not that I don't love the little rugrats, but my, oh my, do I need those few hours after they go to bed to relax, recharge and wind down. Alex can climb out of his crib now, and will sneak out of his room. Once we finally get him to stay in his room, he plays with his toys, bugs Kennedy (who crashes the second her head hits the pillow) and trashes the place. Most of the time I will find him out cold on the floor.


On the other hand, he can turn on the charm in a split second. He has the sweetest little smile, flirty little eyes, a very contagious laugh, and is saying the cutest things, like "I wub you", and "kiss?", "hug?", with his hands held out and his little slobbery lips all puckered up. Who can resist that?


Alex is living up to the terrible two's and I hope that the house and the family can survive.

Panic Mode

I haven't chosen to write about the recent crisis on Wall St. because it never really seemed to affect the people on "Main St.". Yes I heard that the situation was bad and that we may not be able to get a car loan, or refinance our house. Still, those weren't really things I was planning to do and so I haven't been on pins and needles. The things that affected my life everyday were the cost of a gallon of gas (now down to $3.49) or the price of groceries (still on the rise). I've tried avoiding checking in on my investments because I really didn't want to see the bad news.

Last night I checked.

It's bad.

I know that I shouldn't be worried. These are long term investments. I shouldn't even think about them for 20 or more years. Still, I'm human. I want to know where I stand. We made investments in college funds for each of our kids last year and as of this morning they're down 44% from when we purchased them. There is plenty of time for things to rebound, but there's a big difference in crossing a stream to fording a river. Right now we're somewhere in the middle, but I'm getting more and more worried every day.


BTW- If you want to understand more about the bailout and the causes of the Wall St. crisis you need to listen to last week's This American Life.

Grassroots Movement

I'm so sick of all the name calling and back biting in the Presidential election that I've decided to do something about it. To watch the video scroll down the box and click the play button.