Why do banks have branches if money does not grow on trees?

I am beginning to feel slightly obsessed - between the whole "Palin Is Failin' Yet Is Still Not Bailin'" fiasco and the sinking economy (where are the Baywatch Babes when you really need 'em?), I am not getting much done. I am constantly resisting the urge to Twitter every article I come across on both topics. I cannot quit refreshing CNN.com and the NYTimes. X and I wondered at the fact that we were sitting and watching MSNBC of all things last night. Sigh. Actually, I will link this one piece on DailyKos titled "I'll Speak Very Slowly". It gives a pretty analogy of the different pieces of our economy if it were a human body, with the IT sector being a leg (you can survive without one) and with the financial services sector being the heart. Sadly, the article did not offer who the hell is the brains of all this mess, but it did explain nicely why this bailout, rescue, whatever is desperately needed.

I am also way more excited about the VP debates on Thursday than probably I should be. I predict it is going to be a grand, flaming fireball of a trainwreck of distastrous proportions. You heard it first here, folks (not really.) I have invited the lovely Average Jane over to view the spectacle with me. I am really tempted to just have a party - something along the lines of the SuperBowl because..... why the hell not? Jane and I suspect there is a fabulous drinking game to be had in there somewhere, we just need to figure out the rules so that no one gets inordinately smashed.

I have not looked at my retirement account, nor will I. Fortunately, our little sphere here is relatively safe, X and I are conservative with our nickels and dimes so in the short-term, we will be fine. However, long-term? That is what frightens me. No one is safe from the long-term if it all blows up.

I am not sure what else to say. Like most folks, I am just trying to ignore the clenching of my stomach and quell the rising bile.......

Are you where you want to be?If not, why? What will it take to get you to where you want to be?

I just finished Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. In short, I loved this book. Loved it. This novel hit a sweet spot for me -I was desperately in need of a Thinker and it was cleverly written in first-person plural (the voice of "we") while possessing some amazingly spot-on observations of the so-called professional world of Corporate America. I found myself laughing, nodding my head vigorously in agreement and even getting teary-eyed at some parts that brought back so many memories of my former professional life. When I finished the book, I will admit that I did miss a bit of the camaraderie that can happen in the working world. Fortunately, I was able to take many of those former comrades with me to this new I have cobbled together. Goofy Girl, Average Jane, It's Only Me and Surrender, Dorothy are all leftover co-workers from my working days.

One of my favorite pieces in this book, simply because I loathed doing timesheets:

Input meetings made us happy because they meant we had work to do. We worked in the creative department developing ads and we considered our ad work creative, but it wasn't half as creative as the work we'd put in to pad our time sheets every Monday morning since layoffs began.

And this bit, as one character writes in an email to his co-workers:

.........What I'm doing is trying to generate a buck for a client so as to generate a quarter for us so that I can generate a nickel for me and have a penny left over after Barbara gets what the court demands. For that reason, I love my job and never want to lose it, so I hope no one reading this finds me smug or ungrateful. I'm only trying to suggest that as we find ourselves in this particularly unfortunate, miscontrued, ungodly juncture of civilization, let's not lose sight of the nobler manifestations of man and of the greater half of his character, which consists not of taglines and bottom lines but of love, heroism, reciprocity, ecstasy, kindness and truth. What a bloated bunch of horseshit, you will say. And good for you. I welcome you to shoot me up close in the head. Peace, Tom."

Yes, Ferris did not create a very tight story arc and the action weaved in and out of its timeline somewhat haphazardly. However, the ending was worth it and he wrapped up the story very nicely and quite appropriately. This book left me thinking and in fact, still has me thinking today.

I have always been very frank about how happy I am staying home. I feel so incredibly blessed that I am doing exactly what I have always dreamed of. However, I am glad that I did get the chance to have a crazy career, one that I could be 100% devoted to before I had kids. When I left it, I felt that I was not missing anything and still, I feel that I am not missing anything after 3 years of being out of it. While I do miss having co-workers and the adrenaline rush from traveling, meeting new people and pushing to meet ridiculous deadlines, I do not miss the tedium of getting up, fighting traffic and working for the Man. And I love the simple, lazy days spent with my kids because have to hassle with pesky school schedules. Overall, it is nice to be so happy and to not want for much.

Are you where you want to be? If not, why? What do you need to do to get where you want to be? One of my favorite quotes ever is "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" Roll that around on your tongue and in your brain a few times. Think about it. Long and hard.

While I am happy where I am, this is not the end of the road for me. These kids will be heading to school and then to college someday. I will need to find something else to occupy my time. I have some ideas and I am turning them around in my noggin. I have some time before I need to make decisions and it will also depend if we are living in Kansas City or elsewhere as to what I decide to do.

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

That quote is my inspiration and hopefully, will guide me to something as fulfilling as what I am doing right now.

You knew this would come eventually, right?

Oh sure, she could partake of a cheeseburger if she so desired, but truly, she prefers crickets.


moar funny pictures

Who coined the phrase, "coined the phrase"?

So, last week, one of our neighbors stopped by to chat and it turned to politics. When he found out that I wanted to put an Obama sign in our yard, he sort of (sort of not) teased me that he would stop talking to me if I did that. Which, you know, made me really want to put an Obama sign in our yard. Dude! Do not, do NOT tell me what I can and cannot put in my yard. So, signs and bumper stickers have been procured. Oh sure, I am just a tiny Red grain of sand in a vast beach of Blue, but whatever. It is my yard!

On my last post, someone asked about Parents as Teachers and how the timelines work. Basically, families are eligible for the program for 3 years total, it is not necessarily based on age. We began the program when Arun was just a few months old and since I had Anjali so soon after, she has gotten to piggyback on that overlap. Therefore, our visits have included her screenings as well. Again, I cannot stress what an excellent program PAT is - and it is free. I simply do not understand why more folks do not take advantage of such a benefit.

In other news, Arun has decided he would rather watch Curious George (his new BFF, as of late) on our bedroom television which, hello! Works for me so that I can actually watch programs downstairs that involve adults and complex dialogue and intriguing storylines. As such, I have to say that Fringe is really getting me - as I never got into Lost or Alias, this JJ Abrams guy is new stuff to me. I even watch it as soon as the DVR has recorded enough so that I can skip all commercials. And True Blood? Has grown on me. I did not like it at first, but I gave it my 3 Episode Minimum and I am now hooked. I am still not sold on Heroes, though. The main issue I have is that there seems to be no "rules" to which the writers adhere. They manipulate storylines that meander all over the place and they seem to have no point. I am also tired of characters "dying", then springing back to life. Bah.

In other news, here is my new favorite book that Masquerades As a Children's Book But Is Really For Mama:

With such lines as "A nation great, a Church and a State. A pair of towers and a balance of powers", what's not to love? I think my two favorite pages are "Goodnight evolution" which has a picture Jesus riding a dinosaur and "Goodnight Allies" which just has a blank page. Damned straight, mama will not mind reading this one over and over and over.

Goodnight Bush. GODSPEED.

Do you know what you don't know?

Today, our Parents as Teacher educator came to visit. She will have just one more visit and then will not come anymore since the program is only for 3 years. I am really, really going to miss her. She has been such an important resource for me and I look forward to our visits. Her children are 18 months apart (a son, followed by a set of boy/girl twins) so she has also been very understanding and supportive of the 2 Under 2 situation and all that it entails. I love bouncing ideas off of her and getting advice. She is someone I truly respect and admire.

I have always said that motherhood is about ideas, not answers. I have been so fortunate to have such good confidantes when it comes to parenting. In particular, I have really relished my relationships with my sister and with my friend Susan. With my niece and Susan's daughter being so close in age to Arun, it has been so much fun and truly enjoyable watching the all three of them grow up and leapfrog around each other in milestones. It did not matter who talked first, who walked first. We are able to celebrate their differences. As we should.