You know, I think I hate school more as a parent than I did as a student.  And as an adult, I am as frustrated with society as I was when I was a kid.  What in the world is wrong with people?

I know I am too old school sometimes. I think bicycle helmets are dumb for casual riding and I am appalled by all the tweens walking around with cell phones.  I think the teachers at our school spend too much time bossing, "expecting" and controlling and not enough time nurturing, teaching, and preparing.  

The kids work so hard these days. By the time my Son is done with his homework and his chores it is just about bed time.  It's tiring for all of us.  So when fun time comes along we are ready for it.

Which brings me to the topic of HOMECOMING! Yeah!  So much fun, so much spirit!  Our homecoming is this week.  My daughter is walking in it this year for 3rd grade student council.  She was so excited to pass out candy to the kids.

Oh wait!  There is no candy allowed.  Silly me.  Our district has adopted a new ban on parade candy.  They are even bringing on extra security to enforce the no candy rule and manage the crowd. Whoopdeedoo!

Apparently, it is okay to have Mountain Dew in the vending machine at the elementary school and it's okay for the teachers to sell candy during class, but candy floating around at a parade is too much of a health risk.

They have also decided that it would be easier to punish everyone in town than to address the issue of parents who leave their children unsupervised to run out into the street for candy.  

There is a lot of debate on the internet about the rise in brattiness among kids who know neither punishment nor consequence.  But I am starting a new campaign about kids having their fun robbed.  No wonder they're so bratty.  They're not allowed to be kids!!!

Well I did my quarterly workout today and I can't believe my glutes are already feeling the burn.  You know how it is when you start a new workout or work out for the first time in ages?  It kills right?  That is where I am right now.  Thanks Kathy Smith.

My all time favorite workout, and I have tried them all starting with Jane Fonda when it was new and I was young, is Turbo Jam.  Chalene Johnson is my favorite instructor ever, the music is the best, and the program itself is challenging and fun.  But today, for my return to exercising, I was simply not in the mood for Chalene's high energy.  I just knew I couldn't go there.  Enter the Kathy Smith Functionally Fit Workout.

This is actually in my top 5 I love it so much.  It has good energy too but it does not require all the jumping dancing and kicking that Turbo Jam has.  As much as I love Chalene, if I am feeling dark or melancholy, I want to punch her right in the nose to  bring her down to my level at the moment. Ha!  Fortunately I don't go to that dark place often, but I was there today.  

I had set my alarm an hour early so that I could workout and chillax a bit before waking the kiddies for school.  I was tired, cranky, and not feeling turbo at all.

The Kathy Smith Functionally Fit Workout is less about dancing and jumping, and all about lunging and squatting.  It is a great workout that leaves you with no doubt that you are getting results.  If you do start to wonder through the day if your workout had any affect, your aching bum at the end of the day will assure you it did.  

Besides REGULAR exercise, does anybody know how to avoid the new workout aches and stiffness?

The rains have hit us pretty hard here in Michigan for the last few days.  I was without internet connection at times over the weekend.  I know, I have no idea how I made it. But Sunday was the worst of it. 

My Daughter came upstairs at some point in the afternoon and said, "Guys, we have a problem.  There is a pond in the basement."

Mother Hubbard!

The back part of our house sits in a low spot and the yard makes an incline away from the house.  It creates a nice valley for the water to accumulate right up to my house.  There was so much water that it came seeping in through the basement windows. You know those Homedics water falls where the water trickles over down the wall to the rocks below?  That's just what this was like as the water flowed down my cement walls and down to the floor. 

It wasn't as bad as the flood of '06 when we came home a Little League double header to find Polly Pockets and GI Joes swimming in knee deep water down there, but it was very upsetting.  It didn't seem like it was ever going to stop.  Luckily it did and not much was damaged this time around.

The thing is I can't even really feel bad about my little inconvenience when there are people elsewhere evacuating homes and REALLY suffering.  It really brings into perspective and shrinks up the world when a storm can affect you so far away.

But you know what?  I still feel bad.  Between the weather, my in the toilet real estate job, abandoned foreclosed homes all over town, the gas prices, the middle east, fighting with my son to do his homework, my rapidly spreading ass, and the stress over election '08 I don't even want to get out of bed.

But then again... I know I still have it pretty good.  My Family is healthy, we are not having trouble with our mortgage, and we have everything we need right now.  So I am stuck working in a damp stinky basement for awhile.  It could always be worse.   

Some people start blogging because they want to make some extra money.  Woe is me.  I Pay a Price for Blogging.  And it's totally worth it.

My ass gets bigger every day.  That's a price to pay for sure.   I'm sitting here in front of the computer every day paying bills and reading email.  And then I am sitting here reading the news and getting fired up over ELECTION 2008! Then I sit here a little bit more to research houses to buy for my clients, followed by more emails and phone calls to set up appointments.  Then after than I sit on my giant butt a little longer to blog, write articles, comment, and research.  That's a whole lot of sittin'!  

The other price paid is in discomfort.  When we adopted our kids I lost my office upstairs.  I now have a desk in the cold dark basement.  To make  matters worse my Dell from Hell has begun overheating.  I have not had the luxury of buying a laptop cooler so I have rigged up a small fan to blow ice cold basement air at the back left corner to keep it cool.  Problem is it is freezing me out too!

In the middle of summer you can find me bundled up in my quilted winter coat, fingerless gloves and sometimes fuzzy hat depending on the temperature, banging my my cold, dry fingers against the keyboard.

Luckily I have to pee a lot thanks to my aggressive water drinking campaign.  This involves running up the stairs frequently which warms up my blood and gives my bootie frequent exercise breaks.  

Why is it all worth it?

I love to write.  I love words.  I love to read.  There is some really fantastic content out there from politics to entertainment and back and I have enjoyed reading all the different perspectives out there, even when I think they're insane.  :-)  I've become more passionate about politics, more sensitive of my husband's quirks, a better cook, and a more patient mom.  A wider bum and chilly fingers is not such a bad price to pay for all that.

Now Hubs would say the price HE pays for my blogging is living in a house that isn't as clean as it was B.B.  (Before blogging)  Leave it to the Man to focus on the one thing lost and completely ignore the riches gained. Good thing I have become so sensitive to those quirks!

Well, sort of. 

I was shopping at Gordon's today for cereal and lunch accompaniments for the kids.  Today we went with the fig newtons for a change.  My daughter is pretty excited about the break from the chewy granola bars that were bought in bulk for snacks last month.  It was as I was acknowledging the great prices but unfeasible portions of Gordons bulk style products that I started to wonder who these sale prices were actually meant to benefit.

I should let Gordons off the hook here.  I know who THEIR prices are supposed to benefit.  The business people, restaurant owners, office managers, etc.  I get that.  But my theory applies wherever bulk discounts are given.

The more you buy, the less you pay.  Maybe one sale at Kroger is 5 boxes of cereal for $10 which is an amazing price because each box normally costs $3.99.  Then 10 cans of Chef Boyardee for $10.  Another great savings.  But by the time I get done taking advantage of all the savings, I might have spent over $100 more on my grocery bill for that order than I ordinarily would.  I cannot afford that.

The fast talking salesman would at this point say, "But you really can't afford NOT to be able to afford it."  And he's right.  In the long run I could save hundreds of dollars by buying in bulk ahead of time.  The problem is I don't have all that money up front.  That extra hundred dollars is already ear marked for school pictures and new tennis shoes for my kids. 

Who CAN afford to pay the larger amount today?  People who have lots of money.  You know, the people who don't really need the discount?  Meanwhile, I shop every few days, as I can afford, paying two or three times more a month for groceries than the rich guy. 

It just doesn't seem right. 

2008-09-03

Finally I have a place where all my projects, thoughts, work, and goodies can come together.  Welcome to it.

Today is my first post and the site is still under construction.  I just started it last night but wanted a place to put all my links as I am busy building a great network of Freelancers, Bloggers, Moms, and Strong, Talented Women. 

I have  been itching to get set up for a couple of months now but decided to wait until the kids get back to school.  OH HAPPY DAY they finally are! 

I have been home most summers with them having been a SAHM the first summer of the adoption, then started building a career in real estate so that I had some power over my schedule.  I don't have power over the market, though, and the job I loved has become depressing.  The upside is that it encouraged me to pursue WAHMdom.  And I love it!  The downside is being home during the summer and trying to be creative and productive with kids running in and out, letting bugs in, letting the air conditioning out, fighting with the neighbors, fighting with each other, constantly trashing the kitchen and crying of boredom.

But today life is good.  The house is quiet except the hum of the dishwasher and the dryer.  <sigh of contentment>

So off I go to get some work done.  I'll get the place fancied up over the next few days so be sure and come back.  In the meantime, you might find something you like in my links. 

Have a great day!