Everyday Life for Four Seasons

Thank goodness my girls aren't older, or I might be called upon to explain what's going on in the world and offer reassurance that we'll all get through it okay.

Too bad I'm too old to expect it to come from my own parents.

We're living in historic times. Make no mistake, my grandchildren will hear about us in their history class.

It feels like Monday because Jeff went back to work today after taking yesterday off.

In all of the collective turmoil we are going through, it feels good to have some hope about something that matters to me. Breastfeeding in the US has been on the rise. Surely now that photos of Angelina Jolie nursing her baby have hit the newsstands, it will become even more popular. Thank you, Angelina.

Jeff is back.


We spent all day playing.


Something happened while Jeff was gone. I reverted to my natural eating habits and I relearned something about myself. I don't like to eat meat, poultry or fish if I can have a meal consisting of grains, beans and vegetables instead. I've eaten very little meat over the past 4 weeks and I would be happy to not eat any going forward.


We talked about having chicken fajitas tomorrow for dinner, but maybe I can make it with seitan or something instead.


The girls are delicious. 'H' is a kid now, not a baby anymore. She walks and talks and likes to play big kid games. 'A' is speaking better than ever and is losing a lot of her shyness.


The foliage is fantastic this year. The yellows, reds and oranges are vibrant and alive. It's crazy that the leaves are so beautiful for just a short time.

I have several dream homes. Here is one in Tuscany. Note the plunge pool overlooking the vineyard and rolling hills. I love it! It's *only* $1,314,000. Maybe I could have gotten the loan before all of this Wall Street stuff blew up...

The Republican party is falling apart. They don't have a leader to unite them. We are living in a time of great change.

These are just for fun. I did them today in honor of the bailout discussions.

Today we went to the library...


and to the grocery store...


and then got ready for bed...


I'm not happy with what I heard last night from each candidate regarding how they are viewed by the men and women in our military. John McCain thinks of himself as Johnny Soldier, the one who understands what our troops are really going through, the one who truly supports them. But in reality, the troops who are serving now are supporting Barack Obama in large numbers and older veterans, who may have once supported McCain, are finding themselves backing Obama because his track record for supporting veterans is far superior to McCain's. Vets for Obama is one organized group that speaks out against McCain. And you can see Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America talk about it here: www.bravenewfilms.org/blog/51567-paul-rieckhoff-on-mccain-s-hypocrisy-toward-vets.

We need to spend a little more time listening to the people who serve and have served in our military. In this day and age, most everyone is close to someone with military ties. I think it's a bigger deal than we are making it.


On another note, I predict that Palin will "resign" from the campaign (be forced out) by late Tuesday or early Wednesday and a new VP candidate will have the pleasure of debating Biden on Thursday.

If that doesn't happen, then something else extraordinary will have to happen to keep Palin out of the debate. They can't risk having her go in.

Did you happen to catch the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC a few days ago? Keith Olbermann talked about the McCain strategy and how they are hoping for a win by doing one outrageous thing after another.


Every once in a while I get completely sucked into politics and current affairs. It's a guilty pleasure.

$700 billion? with no outside oversight, little mandatory reporting, and under the control of someone whose job could potentially end in 4 months? the whole thing is disgusting and pathetic.

Jeff got home late last night. He spent all day on a few different airplanes. He was tired.


One half of our family woke early, and the other half slept late (until 10!). I used up some ripe bananas and frozen local blueberries this morning in this yummy banana bread.


Then we went for a family walk at the Saratoga Battlefield. It's a very peaceful place and we always love going there. Jeff and I are spending time freshening up our American history knowledge, something that's always good to do.

Do they even make Spam anymore?
I'm very concerned about what's going on with the economy.
That's an understatement.
I'm totally freaked out.
I watch the news channels and the talking heads spend time reassuring viewers that we're not entering a depression, that we're barely in a recession, and that the events of this week, although very serious, are going to be fixed up with no problem and we shouldn't worry at all.


I don't believe any of it. I'm counting my cans of beans in the cupboard and thinking about how I can cut down on driving to save gas. I had already cut out wine and I am gearing up for a winter with minimal heat. In reality, as long as Jeff stays in his job and the prices of goods and services don't rise dramatically, my lifestyle won't change that much. What does change is the amount of fear and anxiety I feel. What will happen in the future? Will I be able to re-enter the work force full time in the next few years? Will I be able to retire? What about health care in the long run?

What I really want to know is how we are paying for this bailout. I know that at least $40 billion is in bonds that will be sold to... whom? Foreign nations? At what point do the other countries (like China) start to OWN us? That is what really scares me.


Now, onto some exciting news -- did you know that Rachel Maddow's show is on MSNBC of all places? I think she's great - she's not only a wonderfully free and critical thinker, but she's my age, too. I never thought of MSNBC as a progressive channel. I guess you learn something new every day.