Tonight's The Night

Finally the time has come for the new season of ABC's "Lost." I don't even remember when the last show was, sometime in the Spring last year, I think. Anyway, my family and I have been waiting for a long time for the new season, and tonight we will get the little guys off to bed and the two older girls, my husband and I will settle in for the two hour premiere. We are supposed to be getting some bad weather tonight, so it will be perfect for staying in and watching some really good TV. I hope it will be the start of a great season!

Selling Gold

Recently, I have been seeing a commercial for http://www.goldkit.com on television. I haven't really been paying much attention to what gold prices are doing, but I thought that maybe, times being what they are, people are starting to sell their gold. It is sort of a strange yet intriguing commercial because it implies that we all have old gold jewelry stashed away in our homes. I really don't believe that regular people have all that much old gold in their homes. It really started me thinking, so I decided to go through my jewelry box. Sure enough, I actually found a few gold pieces that are broken or things that I don't wear and never will wear. I checked out the GoldKit website and a few others that popped up in my search. I just don't understand how this process works. What happens if you have gold jewelry and it has some diamonds in it? What do they do with them? What happens if you send your stuff off and never hear a word from the company again? What happens if you send your stuff and it is intercepted somewhere in the mail? I just don't get it. I do understand that it is an attractive offer; money for your gold. You may have thousands of dollars just sitting in your jewelry box. All very enticing, but I am skeptical. Maybe it is better to take your stuff to a local jeweler to see if your stuff is worth anything. Not sure about this one. . .

Sold At Last!

After six months of waiting and paying extra bills, and worrying, it finally looks as though our beautiful home in Fort Wayne has sold! The people who are buying it are getting a great bargain. In a normal market, the house would have been listed at $310,000. It has over 3200 square feet of living space, a covered deck, patio, $13,000 worth of landscaping, and is in a great school district. We didn't dare even list it for what it was worth when we first put it on the market in July. We listed it $29,000 under what it should have been. As the months dragged on, we ended up dropping the price another $10,000 and finally last night, we were able to draw a bit, but it was entirely too low, so we countered and then they countered, and I guess we are just too tired and worn out from all of this so we settled on a selling price that will only leave us $26,000 in the hole. It is sad that we had to settle on a price that is thousands under what we paid for it just four years ago, but there has to be some sort of value put on our stress and worry. Now it is over and it will no longer be our responsibility. We are thankful that our Century21 realtor stuck with us and patiently guided us to this final point. Now, I hope the new owners end up loving the house and neighborhood as much as we did.

Watch Your Grammar, Please!

Here's a little something I thought I would throw on my trash heap this morning: local news reporters' grammar. Last night I was watching the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "The Russell Girl" when the usual local news teasers came on during the break. Here is what the over-enthusiastic news reader yelled at me: "Join us at 11:00 news where we are working on the story of a shooting that left one guy dead, and another guy wounded. Hear what cops think happened!" I really didn't think I had heard the words correctly. I asked my husband if he heard what they said, and he too, was appalled. What is the idea behind using such casual, slang (not to mention disrespectful) language? What will they spew out next, swear words to emphasize a story? I am disenchanted with the news that comes at us all the time anyway--it seems reporters are no longer required to be impartial, but to hear such casual language somehow makes the story less serious than it should be. I don't like it, and I hope that it was just at one time thing from a station that was using inexperienced, young news readers on the late news to give them a little taste of what the job is really like. If it happens again, I will definitely be writing to the news director!

Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride

That is how my husband and I are feeling about the sale (of lack there of) of our house. It seems that we are always the buyer's second choice. Last night we got a call from people who were looking at our house. They had been to the house three times yesterday and had some questions about the surround-sound wiring and the security system. After talking to them and our realtor, it seemed a sure thing that we would get an offer on the house. So far, we haven't heard anything from our realtor. As has been the case on every other seemingly interested buyer, we end up second on their short list. It has to be one of the most frustrating things to go through. We need to sell this house by the end of next month to avoid financial ruin, but I'm sure the buyer doesn't care about that. Anyway, we are offering the house at for $4000.00 less than it's appraised value. What more can we do to get someone to buy it? Our former neighbor suggested we offer a free Wii to whomever buys the house. We couldn't swing the cost of a Wii for our kids for Christmas, we certainly can't swing it now, or I might consider it.

Google Trends & Busy Phillips

In addition to being homesick today, I have also been quite bored. I had to get a filling in my tooth replaced this morning and it sort of took all my energy. I decided I would blog a little. Sometimes I just can't come up with anything to blog about. Today in the news there are all sorts of articles on Heath Ledger and on Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, but nothing that really captured my interest, so I went to Google Trends to see if there were any interesting things that people were googling today. Sure enough, my eye caught a familiar name that has been written about recently. The name is Busy Phillips. I remembered the name because I used to watch the "Freaks and Geeks" show before it was yanked after only one season from the NBC primetime lineup. Although I, personally, had lost track of this interesting actress, it seems that she is very busy (pardon the pun). She was a writer for the "Blades of Glory" movie and has a movie coming out later this year entitled "Made of Honor." Anyway, her name came up in the Google Trends site because she is the godmother of Heath Ledger's daughter Matilda. Strange how small the world is, isn't it? Busy Phillips is friends with Matilda's mother. So, that has been my boredom buster for this afternoon. Having a little extra time on your hands can prove to be quite interesting.

Homesick

I'm feeling homesick today. I don't know what has come over me. I just want to go home and be near my friends and family. I want to be in a place where I don't feel so out-of-place. I really feel like a fish out of water here. The only people I talk to are my children and my husband (when he feels like listening). It is getting to the point where I will talk on and on to store clerks and telemarketers, if they happen to call. That feeling of homesickness actually feels like I am sick. I just want to be out of here. I want to belong; it's all very strange. The town I am living in has nothing to offer. You can't even buy underwear here. If you want anything like that, you have to drive to a town that is about 20-25 minutes away. There is no such thing as an emergency here. God help us all if there actually is one; we are about 30 minutes from the nearest hospital. I feel like this is all a terrible dream and I will wake up in my beautiful home in Indiana. I don't have any money, friends or freedom here. I just want to go home, but I know I can't.

Five Months on the Market--Still No Sale!

So, here we sit. Living in a house in Northern Virginia that cost us waaaaaaayyy more than the average home in the United States costs. At the same time, our house in Indiana is sitting empty with no buyer interested. The position we are in has to be the most stressful postion we have been in in the eighteen years of our marriage. It is getting to the point where it is going to break us financially if it doesn't sell by the end of the month. Our Century21 Realtor has been working hard to get people to look at the house, we have painted, cleaned, landscaped and dropped the price twice, and still no one has even come close to buying. The complaints about the house are things that we cannot do anything about. The neighbors behind the house have some cars that just sit there all year round. They are visible now because the trees that normally block that view have lost their leaves. Another complaint is the neighborhood size. That is weird. The neighborhood is large, but in a great school district and when we lived there people were close to each other and certain sections of the neighborhood would have block parties and would definitely help you out if you needed a helping hand. At any rate having a beautiful home (that I didn't want to leave in the first place) sitting empty makes me sick. My husband has a great job that pays well, but we are facing the real possiblity of him having to get a second job, and of me having to go back to work as well. It is a terribly frustrating situation and the media doesn't help at all. They keep reporting over and over again how bad the real estate industry is and how bad the economy is and how terrible the mortgage industry is. It all seems so hopeless and it is just about to break us financially.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Booing A 14-Year Old

I am so ashamed of my home state! What terrible, unsportsmanlike behavior they displayed by booing a 14 year old girl. I like the Colts and the team has generally been very upstanding, but the fans. . . that's another story. So and little girl wore an arch rival's jersey, big deal. No wonder people from other states think people from Indiana are stupid! Some people's behavior does not mean that all of us are boorish. The New England Patriots have had a super season, the booing from the Colts fans seems like sour grapes. The girl who got booed seems to be more mature than the idiots who booed her. She said that it didn't bother her, but it bothered other people. So all you New England Patriots fans, please know that not every Colts fan is so idiotic.

Gardasil Vaccination, MedcoHealth, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Finger Pointing

Well, if anything needs to be thrown onto the trash heap, this is it. Last year, I decided to have my teen & tween vaccinated against cervical cancer. You have seen the commercials for Gardasil--"one less" campaigns that run frequently on television. I did some research and soul searching, and decided that it would be of benefit to them to get vaccinated. I checked with our insurance company to see if it is covered. We happen to have prescription coverage with MedcoHealth and the rest of our insurance is through Blue Cross Blue Shield. Anyway, I checked coverage with Medco and discovered that they do not cover the vaccination. Blue Cross Blue Shield covered it though. We started the series of three shots to be given at very specific intervals. We had the first one done--no problem. We then moved to another state at about the time the second round was due. I had to scramble to find a place to get the second shot. Not being established with a doctor yet, I chose to take the girls to a Nurse Practitioner who could get them in. The second round was done--no problem. Along comes the time for shot number three. In the meantime, I had found a doctor who could take the girls as patients and got them established there. This particular doctor doesn't have a large number of young patients, so she doesn't keep the Gardasil vaccine on hand, rather, when it is needed, she writes a script and the patient goes to fill it at the pharmacy and brings it to the office and a nurse injects it. Okay, that's the way it is when you live in a rural area, I guess. I did that and, as I knew, the MedcoHealth insurance would not pay for it--it is not covered. I had no choice but to shell out the $365.98 for the vaccine out of my pocket. I took the girls to the doctor's office, and the nurse injected the stuff, but of course could not bill Blue Cross Blue Shield for anything other than the office visit.

To make a long story short, I am stuck with a $365.98 bill because I filled the prescription. After talking to representatives from both MedcoHealth and Blue Cross Blue Shield, I will now have to appeal to the people at MedcoHealth to pay for it. MedcoHealth, by the way, is one of only two insurance companies that I have heard of that doesn't cover the Gardasil vaccine. Maybe this will catch them up to the 21st century and get them current on what is happening with patients these days. At this point, each of our insurance companies is pointing their finger at the other as to who should pay. So far, I'm the only one who has put out any money.

UFOs in Texas? Hey Aliens, Come to Purcellville!

So, what do you think? Are people in Stephenville, Texas just "seeing things?" I, for one, love stories like these. This is what the media is really for. I think it would be cool and scary and fascinating if it were true. We all need a diversion now. What with all the terrible news about the economy, the housing market, Iraq and Iran. I can't think of a better story to distract people from all that depressing crap that is churned out of the news sources everyday. A good mystery is what we need! I wish something like that would happen in the dumpy little town I am living in. There is absolutely nothing here to inspire imagination or to excite the people living here. Dull, dull , dull. People here need to be shaken up a bit. They are upppity and sticks in the mud! Here is an invititation to all the space aliens out there: Please come and freak out the old poops that live here in Purcellville, Virginia!

Gas for Cars From Landfills in Three Years

Not much happening to blog about today. Last night I was briefly checking out the news and caught a small portion of a report from the Detroit Auto Show. I'm not sure I heard correctly, but I thought I heard them say that GM has been working on a car (or cars) that will run on fuel made from landfill refuse. I also thought I heard them say that this kind of fuel might be available in three years and would cost about a dollar per gallon. Was I dreaming? Yesterday was a rather long day, even for a Monday, and I was feeling a bit weary from the day, but could this be true? I know that GM has been using landfill gases to run some of their production plants--I think even the one in Fort Wayne, Indiana gets heated or something from landfill gas. Anyway, I think this is terrific and should be worked on furiously. It could be the much need boost that is so desperately needed in the American auto industry. We could all use a little good news, a little something to hope for, this is good new, if it's true. Let's hope it is!

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus and the Body Double

My girls, all four of them, love Miley Cyrus and her character, Hannah Montana. The Hannah Montana television show is a staple at our house. I'll bet I've watched every episode at least three times. I think it is a good show. It is funny and entertaining for all of my girls, and for me, there is Billy Ray Cyrus. Now comes word that Miley Cyrus tried to dupe people who paid good money for her onstage show. When will the media ever let up on this kind of stupid reporting? Why do people expect so much from celebrities? Of course when you pay a lot of hard earned money on tickets, you expect to get a good, entertaining show, but it is ridiculous to be crying foul for such an innocuous thing as a body double being used to stand in for Miley during a less than two minute costume change. That sort of thing probably happens more often than we realize. Why are entertainment "reporters" and paparazzi so hellbent on ruining a person who is in the entertainment industry? It seems to be almost a sickness that everything out there that is even a tiny bit good has to be peed on by the gossip mongers. I just hate it!

Did You Miss The Golden Globe Awards? Strike On!

So, the Golden Globe Awards were handed out last night. No hoopla, no red carpet, no speeches that go on and on, no big deal. Did you miss it? To be honest, I didn't miss it at all. I probably wouldn't have watched the awards show even if it had occurred. It all seems so shallow, and has no real meaning. Actors and actresses, most of the time, seem so self-absorbed and have that great need to be the center of attention that it is tiresome to watch the awards shows. I enjoy movies and watching television and I think that the writers have every right to strike. Hopefully they will get what they want out of striking. If the strike continues, however, I think it might be a good thing. Average people like me will probably become so bored with television that we will be forced to find other forms of entertainment. We have some puzzles we got for Christmas that are calling out to be worked. We have a whole basement full of books for all ages that we would all be better off by reading. We also got a Ping Pong table for Christmas. Family table tennis tournaments would be a great alternative to watching reruns on television. So I guess what I am saying is that the writers' strike may not be such a bad thing after all. Television serves its purpose, but some of us have become so accustomed to leaning on it for all our entertainment purposes that we have forgotten how to entertain ourselves in simpler, more intellectual and physical ways. So, strike on writers! You are doing us all a favor!

Joe 4 Oil Program Commercial

While I am on the commercial bandwagon, I have to say that probably the most irritating commercial on television these days is the Citizens Energy dealio with the former senator Joe Kennedy touting his heating oil program for low income citizens. The whole thing is a mess. First of all he is very condescending in the commercial. Second, he gives the example of a woman who supposedly organized and ran a program in her church that helped needy people get heating assistance, but when she ended up needing assistance, the woman didn't know what to do. That just doesn't make sense! How contrived is that? The other thing is that he seems to want to make the viewer think that "the people" of Venezuela have, out of the kindness of their hearts, donated their excess oil to the poor people of America. Bull roar! The people of Venezuela probably don't have a clue that America even has poor people! The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez called our president the devil and seems not to have any compassion for anyone but himself. The commericial just really makes me sick. I truly feel bad about the low income folks who are having a hard time keeping warm. Those of us who are able to heat our homes can't imagine what that would be like. Also, I am not stupid enough believe that the oil I use for my home and car is not from Venezuela, but the idea that the people of Venezuela and the man who is leading their country have any sort of feeling of goodwill toward our people is ludicrous! How dare Joe Kennedy exploit the poor like that!

Let It Out Kleenex Commercial

For some reason recently the "Let It Out" Kleenex commercial has been running more frequently on television. It is my favorite commercial. I did a little searching and found out that the song "Let It Out" is sung by the group Starrfadu. I also found out that the blue couch and listening guy are going on tour and could end up in a city near you. I think it is a unique idea and perhaps a good one. I have a degree in Social Work and I know that average people on the streets have a lot of stuff on their minds; stuff that they just never get a change to get out. It is true for me personally and I know it is true for others. Just having an opportunity to let it all out has a cathartic effect. It lightens the soul. Letting out both the good and the not so good; happy and sad stuff just feels good. I think it is an interesting thing to do. I would like the listening guy's job. It would be a great feeling to know that just sitting and listening to someone's story could be just what that person needs. In my research on the commercial, I also found that Green Peace is on a mission to thwart the filming of the commercials in order further their agenda of ruining everything for everyone else. They have planted people in crowds where the commercials are being filmed and pretending to have something they want to "let out," then they go into their tirade of how Kimberly Clark is cutting down ancient growth forests for their product. While I agree that companies need to be good stewards of our resources, I also think Green Peace and their zealot mentality is not going about it in the right way. Anyway, if you would like to find out more about the tour of the blue couch and the listening man, you can go to http://www.letitout.com/

How Did Perez Hilton Do It?

I have long lamented (in my various blogs) that I would love to make money blogging. I have several different blogs and I have to be really honest, I have earned a tiny (and I do mean tiny) bit of money using Google AdSense. It is fun to see that your account is earning money because of something you wrote. For me, however, the money is slow to trickle in. I am fascinated by people like Perez Hilton who somehow find a magical subject to blog about and then all of a sudden explode and the thing becomes quite lucrative. I just haven't found the niche that will earn the kind of money I need. Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and all the others that seem to be bloggers meal tickets just aren't appealing to me. I think they are all shameful and really not worth blogging that much about. Perez Hilton must be a genius with lots of time on his hands. Kudos to him. Maybe what I will do is study him and start blogging about him! I am desperate for money, can you tell?

Clinton/Obama Ticket Anyone?

It is still too early for me to decide whom I will vote for. I am an Independent, and there are so many candidates to choose from. There are a couple that I have definitely decided against. First, Rudy Guiliani. I just don't think he has anything to offer. Second, Mitt Romney, I just don't like him. He seems too slick and polished. So, that leaves a whole bunch of others to choose from. I like John McCain; he seems to be a real person and has a sense of humor. Mike Huckabee is interesting just because I like to say his last name--it's fun--try it, it will make you smile! He also is about the only one who has a really big idea--getting rid of income taxes--I don't think it will work, but the idea is new and a good one. John Edwards is just plain cute and I just like him, but he may be one of the weaker candidates. Hillary Clinton seems ready. She's a different person than when she was First Lady. She seems to really care about the future of our country and it is high time we had a woman president! Barack Obama is intriguing too. It is high time a black American was president! He is a bit of a mystery and his name, unfortunately sounds like the name of our country's enemies. He is a definite contender in my book, though. I think for me, the ideal presidential ticket would be Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton. Get them together and our country could be headed in the right direction!

Smithsonian Institution--Great Day Trip

Since we now live an hour away from Washington, D.C., we have been making rather regular trips into the Capitol city to spend a few hours or so. Today, we met a friend at the Air and Space Museum. I am not a real airplane afficiando, nor am I able to comprehend the vastness of space or anything to do with space travel, but the museum is well worth the trip. The best part about it is that it is free. There was something for everyone there. My youngest is 6 and the oldest in our group was 74. There was quite a bit of walking that was tough for the oldest person, but I think we hit all the exhibits. It is cool to look at how far air travel has come. From the Wright brothers to military jets, to commercial airlines; so much in only a few decades. While admission to the Air and Space Museum is free, you do have the option of attending a couple of shows in the planetarium. We chose to see a show there, which was interesting for the 20 minutes that it lasted. I'm not sure if it was worth the $8.50 admission though. There is also a very easy in, easy out food court that features Boston Market and McDonalds foods. There are also a few gift shops too, if you like that sort of thing. What I love about all the Smithsonian museums is that since admission is free, everyone can have access to these great American Treasures. If you are planning to be in Washington, D.C. for Spring Break or later this year, make an effort to go to any of the museums. You will definitiely get you money's worth and then some!

Now That Christmas is Over, What's Next?

I get a little bummed when Christmas is over. Today, I started taking down some of my Christmas decorations. I am not in a big hurry this year to get them down, but I like to get it all done and put away relatively quickly once I start. So, now I ask myself, "What's next?" Not much goes on between now and Spring. I have no idea what kind of winter we will have here in Northern Virginia since this is the first year we have been here. Right now, the worst weather we have had is wind! We have had three separate bouts of high wind here with the last one resulting in the mangling of our newly purchased trampoline. Anyway, I think I will put off starting any new projects until my mother-in-law leaves (she has been here since December 19). Let's just say that having her here sort of cramps my style and I am biding my time. My biggest project that is in the wings is the behavior contracts I am writing up for my three oldest daughters. Having my MIL here has reinforced the need to rein my oldest ones in. I will be writing more on this subject at a later date, so please check back!

Happy New Year; 2008 Is Gonna Be Great!

I, like many others I know, are very happy to see 2007 end and have a fresh new year. It feels more hopeful. 2007, for us was just about the crappiest year I can remember. This year, my hope is that within a few weeks, our house in Fort Wayne will sell. It has been sitting in this horrible market since the end of July. I also hope to make some friends in this new town we are living in, and I hope to be happy and supportive of my husband. I am also going to seriously look for a job, walk at least 30 minutes three times a week, and yell at my kids less. I am also feeling more hopeful about 2008 because we will be electing A NEW PRESIDENT!!!!!!! That has to be one of the most hopeful things of all. Everyone is ready for change and looking for some shred of hope. I think this might be the year for all of us!