fussing and rant, 18 april 2011

1. So we haven't filed our income tax returns on time, yet again...

2. I still seem to have pneumonia...third (THIRD) course of antibiotics...and lots of us are well and truly sick of my having pneumonia....

3. Does anybody out there have any idea how much I HATE the term "stay-at-home mom"? I know lots of women who stayed at home when their children were small, who DID NOT CALL THEMSELVES stay-at-home moms. I did NOT fall into the category of "stay-at-home" mom, and these days there is something faintly sanctimonious about the term that, shall we say, gets my dander up. I think it misses the point.

I repeat, I do NOT fit the definition of "stay-at-home mom". I did stay at home for about 3 months after Sarah was born, or maybe it was only two. I think maybe it was only less than two. They phoned me and asked if I would like to teach a couple of math classes and I definitely recall saying, "YES!!!". Which is what I did; I taught a couple of UK Math classes every semester for several years, was gone from home 3-4 hours/day, 3 days a week, basically, so I don't qualify as a stay-at-home mom. But hey, We had somebody come stay at the house while I was at UK; and it's also true that she went to nursery school when she was 2 (it was the two morning a week, 2 year old nursery school at UK), and again when she was three (three mornings/week, 3 year old class). And I was also teaching when Martin was born. They always got fed; they always had clothes; we always ate dinner together (a real cooked meal) at home; house was usually clean; and then I committed (as far as I can tell) the ultimate crime of getting a full-time job when Sarah started first grade, with Martin still in day care/whatever...

HOWEVER, they were still able to play soccer, take piano/French horn lessons, sing in the CCC choir, go on trips, all that stuff, AND we ALWAYS ate family dinners together, cooked by yours truly. I would respectfully argue that they didn't suffer all that much (perhaps I did), and also that both have turned out okay...

This in the era before cell phones...OK, where is it you're going? When are you leaving? Who will be there? When will you be back? How can I reach you if I need to? Phone us if you need to.

Know what? We basically NEVER had any trouble with either of them...

My point here is that NOT staying at home does NOT equal Neglect. You can't protect your children from the world; even if you aren't at home all the time, it doesn't mean you aren't there when you need to be...

I will shut up...have I told you lately that I hate the term "stay-at-home-mom"?

4. More later...but I painted my fingernails almost black (Martin says it is "maroon red"), I was so annoyed...

Cheers, Lillie

saving gas and more crazy weather

So on Sunday it was 83 degrees; today it's 43. Rainy, all my joints hurt, there's flooding everywhere.

And I've found a new way to save on gasoline costs after you buy a BMW. Get pneumonia. You won't want to go anywhere.

And an Air France superjumbo trying to take off from JFK en route to CDG, 480 people on board, clipped the tail of a Comair CRJ as it was starting to taxi for take-off. Spun the CRJ around.

Nobody went anywhere...

And that's the way it is, Tuesday, April 12, 2011...

Crazy weather, etc.

One day last week it was so cold and so rainy I not only wore a fur coat, but also it snowed and hailed, and was seriously cold, and then yesterday (Sunday) it was 83 degrees, setting a record for April 10.

Turns out I have pneumonia. Which explains why I don't feel like doing anything other than sleeping and reading. Have also found a new author, Henning Mankell, whose detective is Kurt Wallander. Evidently there have been TV series (BBC?) based on his mysteries. He is called the "best living Swedish mystery writer", evidently excluding Stieg Larsson. Actually the one I read was a seriously good read (the Fifth Woman), and not as gut-wrenching as the Dragon Tattoos series. Always glad to find another author. I like the Linda Fairstein series, too, but after about 3 or 4 they get to be a bit repetitive and predictable.

Have also been watching (for the ?th time) the Barchester Chronicles. Next, after I finish this, if I'm still sick, it'll be Jane Austen. Have to dig them out...but The King's Speech comes out in DVD next week, but I'll be good as new by then...

Cheers,...

April 8, Sharon Jistel's b'day

I went to high school with Sharon; she's two days younger than I am. We didn't do anything on my birthday on Wednesday; I wanted to go to Holy Hill but they weren't open. Turns out I have pneumonia, e.g., the bronchitis didn't go away with the Z-pac, and I now have pneumonia.

So Congress is going to shut the government down over miniscule funding for Planned Parenthood. So Republicans want to cut the deficit; how about re-instating the Bush tax cuts. Nobody was whining about the resulting deficit (except me) when we cut taxes not once, but twice, and started not one, but TWO wars. Without funding them.

If we're going to shut down the government, how about we REALLY shut the government down? We can't cut the soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. off, but we could indeed shut the government down at home. Air traffic controllers? Lay them off. Highway repairs? do them sometime later...the barberships and hairdressers and restaurants and cafeterias in the Capitol? Shut them down. The cleaning crew in the Capitol, the White House, the staff in the White House, all congressional aides, assistants, secretaries, etc., etc...? Lay them off. If there's to be a government shutdown, there should be a REAL government shutdown. It needs to hurt congress as well as the rest of us. The DOJ? Shut it down...Post office? Ditto. See how long before people really, REALLY scream. And hurt....

I'm disgusted...

two things, neither of them about food

Okay, folks, well, maybe it's only one, but this is NOT about food.

IMHO (which means: In My Humble Opinion), if the Tea Partiers in the House of Representatives want to refuse to pass a budget because they want to deny funding for Planned Parenthood and also funding for the EPA to enforce current law, which will cause a "budget shutdown", I would suggest that the "Federal Budget Shutdown", should include not just a shutdown of "nonessential" functions, but also:

EVERYTHiNG that the Federal budget funds, in whole or in part, e.g.,

Air Traffic Controllers;

The Secret Service;

All domestic-based military personnel;

ALL congressional benefits, e.g., salaries, benefits, barber shops in the capitol, all beauty shops in the capitol, the capitol cafetiria and restaurant, the capitol barbershop and capitol beauty parlor, the secret service., etc....I don't have a clue WHAT ALL the feds finance but if there's to be a shut down, it should be a SERIOUSLY REAL SHUT DOWN....