Buying a New Car

We did it today. We bought my new car. Ok, it is an old, new car. We bought a 2004 Chevy Malibu hatchback with on 8,212 miles. This car is too cool and drives like a dream. The hatchback will be perfect for our Bernese Mountain dog.



I am very hip now. I have a CD changer, sun roof, moon roof, DVD player, and tons and tons of leg room. Leg room has really been very important as we have tried out different vehicles. My kids are not tiny, but in fact almost adults themselves. I did not want them to ride with their knees in their chest. Also, the car gets great gas mileage. It will be very refreshing to fill up once every couple weeks.

I think DH was finally inspired to move on this purchase when my needs for a vehicle started to impinge on his schedule i.e. my work this weekend overrode his need to go camping.


We ended up buying this vehicle at Carmax and I have to tell you that I was very impressed with their service. We did most of the research online. We were greeted at the door by our sales associate, Walter. We gave him the number of the car we wanted to see and after testing driving the vehicle and looking it over extensively, we were out the doors a couple hours later with the vehicle detailed and a full tank of gas. Thank you, Walter, Lori, Carmax, and the guy that did such a great job detailing the car (I did not catch your name). DH said it was probably the easiest sale of their life.

Political Joke of the Day

Ask anyone today, “Who is the president of the United States?”

Undoubtedly, the will say, “Obama”

Then you can catch them. Inauguration is not until January. The President is still George W. Bush. I already got both the kids.

Naming Your Baby

I found this article on NBC about choosing a name for your baby. They basically advise that both parents should make a list of 10 names to be considered, then swap lists to review and rank the others thoughts; put the name on a business card to see if the name will hold up as not just a “baby” name but as an adult name as well; and finally they suggest not to share the list with others because they may pull the name apart and sway your decision.

Ok, I’m all for suggestion one and two. DH actually was very concerned about their monogram and would envision their initials engraved on their future briefcase (Don’t forget to look at the initials in order and also with the last name in the middle like a traditional monogram). The idea though of not figuring out how your poor child will be tortured for the next 20 years of life is ridiculous. I think that parents should be keenly aware of how their name choice may affect their child. The suggestion implies that people will not say mean things to YOUR face, but hopefully you are adult enough not to care. What do you think will happen when your poor child goes to elementary school? You can have all the anti-bullying policies you want and you can be indignant about the situation, but your poor child is still taking the wrath for your “cute” choice. I would recommend that you think of every possible way that the name you choose might me made fun of and then decide if it is still a good name. In our case, I had the best possible test of names. When we drove back from upstate New York, I reviewed possible names from a baby name book and my DH and brother-in-Law made all sorts of bizarre comments (apparently they knew about childhood teasing). You would be amazed at how helpful this was.

Also, I would recommend that you go through your own genealogy. I did not do this when I was having children. My interest in genealogy did not develop until later in life, but this resource is a virtual treasure trove of potential names. And how cool is it to be able to say that you are named after your great, great aunt or uncle.

Top Baby Names according to the web site
2007 Emily Jacob
2000 Emily Jacob
1990 Jessica Michael
1980 Jennifer Michael
1970 Jennifer Michael
1960 Mary David
1950 Linda James
1940 Mary James
1930 Mary Robert
1920 Mary John
1910 Mary John
1900 Mary John

Note: I have one child with a name that doesn’t seem to exist anywhere in the universe (it is starting to been seen phonetically, but not in spelling) and one child with a most popular name.

If you are a billionaire, you can name the child whatever you would like and people will just think it is cool.

45 Minute Wait at the Polls

DH arrived at the polls at 5:45 am and exited at 6:38. Already the lines are long. He called to say that the idea of going at 6am for a quick vote may have been faulty. I said he shouldn’t judge too early because that could be the best all day. He told me that I better bring a coffee, juice boxes for the kids, and maybe pack a lunch when we go later.

Interestingly when he was there one voter walked out of the polls with one of the pens, so they turned around after being outside of the building, came back in and put the pen back in – a big no no! The moderator immediately came over. She then told the poll worker at the door not to let anyone back through that door. DH was just going by at that point so he chuckled and told the older woman, “That means you have her permission to give a full body tackle. Aim for the knees.” Both the moderator and the poll worker laughed. I can’t imagine. If things are this crazy in our small town, I can only guess what it is like everywhere else.

Last night I was mourning that I was not working the polls today. Frankly, we could really use the extra money. DH said, “You know, it may be better that you are not. It may not be worth the money.” Often we can be there for hours after the polls close reconciling votes checked in to votes cast. With the turn out today, this may mean hours and hours. Plus, we could be the 10% that are automatically called to audit our count to verify the new optical scan machines.

Let us know what is going on at your polling places. I will be heading out later today and will update you on the status of our small town.

Be Sure to Vote Tomorrow

This does not necessarily represent where my alliances lay this Election Day, but I think we can all appreciate the sentament. Tomorrow, will be decision making day. Don't forget to vote:

Les Misbarack | Funny Jokes at JibJab

A Family Friendly Media Giant Emerges

Did you see this report? This is a critically important report that all parents should see.



Many of us have already been concerned about how media is affecting the raising of our children. This report shows that we have right to be concerned.

I think that we have all know that it is up to the parents to oversee their children's viewing habits, but as a concerned parent, I think that it is time for a revolution. A time for a media giant to arrise that puts the family first again. Where I can feel safe for my entire family to watch, read, and listen to. There are plenty of these such things for our youngest children, but for pre-teen and teenagers there are far fewer. Also, if like my family, you try to limit or oversee, your teen begins to feel different from others (as we all remember this is the ultimate sin as a teenager).

As consumers, why aren't we screaming for more appropriate media. Why can't we have great shows that intertwine creating great stations. Imagine if you could create tv viewing that includes only those channels that you oked and those stations were devoted to family friendly, education viewing. The other stations did not appear on your screen at all. Imagine if the teens could buy magazines that did not have sexually provocative advertising or articles that talked about issues far beyond their ages. It is a fine line between information / dialouge about issues and repeatingly being assalted with images and storylines that make such behaviors acceptable and normal. There are some shows out there that meet this guideline, but the shows before it and after it don't. What if we had the power to change that?

We have seen some of these changes in even adult women magazines, but teenagers seem to be being ignored. I challenge the biggest and brightest in the media world to begin working on this. These are the changes that go to the core of keeping our families together. These changes are at the core of supporting the growth of our children. I think technology has caught up to this idea and there is not just a need but a desire for this. Imagine a family friendly cable company that allows you to choose your stations a la carte and block the others from ever coming in. Imagine if there was an online portal that you could log your children in where they were locked into a safe environment with constant monitoring. Imagine if magazines, for girls especially, had reasonably sized models without underlying sexiness, but were still hip and cool. Ok, stop imagining. . . If you have money and talent, do it, please!

Another Generation Adores Farrah Fawcett

DH and DS went down to his parent’s old house to finish cleaning it out. Most of the things that they brought back made sense: a wheelbarrow, a turkey smoker, a snow blower - - -but one thing snuck in that I did not expect, 2’ x 4’ poster of Farrah Fawcett circa 1986



Mind you it was on my husband’s bedroom wall when he was eighteen so you can be sure that this is not the same poster, but it will at least remind you of who she is. My DS now wants to put it on his wall. As they say “all things old are new again”.

Of course, I keep laughing that we should be cleaning up the house for a sale not adding to what we have, but who can turn down a 5500 watt generator for free?

Addendum: I edited this post because I learned later in the evening that it was not DS that wanted to hang Farrah. DH still has a little crush.