Lucky Me!

I like it when I find clothes that I really like. I don't have a model's body, and neither do my daughters, so clothes shopping can sometimes be quite traumatic. The other day, I noticed that the local outlet shopping center opened a Lucky Jeans store. I have seen Lucky brand items in Macy's, and other higher end stores, but the prices were beyond what I could feel comfortable paying. When the outlet store opened, I thought I would take a peek at what they had to offer. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The store that opened is actually an outlet and the jeans and shirts offered there are the same items available online, so the stuff in the store is not past season--another nice surprise. My daughter and I decided to try on some of the jeans in the store just to find out how they fit. We were both pleased with the fit, andimpressed by the wide assortment of lengths and sizes. Not everyone is a size 0, and lately I have had a hard time convincing my daughter of that fact whenever we have gone shopping. Although I told my daughter we were just going to try on, not buy, we both fell in love with the comfort and style of the jeans. To be sure, the prices at the outlet were not cheap by any means, however, everything was at least 40% less than in a department store. The other thing that makes me feel better about spending a little more money than normal is that the Lucky Brand clothes are made in the United States. The quality of the Lucky Brand clothing is outstanding, and there is also a little fortune tucked in the pocket of each pair of jeans. Everything about the clothes is fun and colorful and they made me and my daughter feel like we looked good; not to mention the fact that every time we unzip our pants, we are reminded of how lucky we are. The fly of all the jeans has a tag sewn in that serves as a reminder: "Lucky You."

Now It's Broken

Something happened the other evening that has broken my heart: my oldest daughter called me a racist. I was totally taken by surprise by that and asked her if she truly meant it. When I asked her, she remained silent. In my mind that is a "yes." I was so heartbroken that I didn't know what to do. The incident that occurred that prompted her calling me the "r" word took place in the parking lot of a restaurant where we had just eaten. We were all loading into our car (which takes awhile since there are six of us) and as usual, someone had chosen to try to turn into the parking space next to our car. The driver of the car was bearing down on my daughter who was trying to get into her seat and quickly close the door so "Mr. Impatient" could squeeze into the spot next to us. Never mind that there were about a thousand other empty spaces for him to choose from, he had to have the one next to us. In addition to practically hitting my daughter while she got into the car, this fellow opened his car door so that it was a millimeter from my closed door and just sat there with it open while we were waiting there ready to pull out. To me, that is just inconsiderate, rude and basically stupid, so I said, "Well, no wonder he did that, he is from the Middle East!" Sure, what I said was not very nice, but I was not very happy with him and I said it--it was judgemental, and a generalization about a certain group of people, but a racist I am not. My daughter, in all her 15 year old wisdom, said, "You're such a racist!" I said that that wasn't being a racist, and she continued to say that I was judgemental and mean. I do not think I am racist. I do not believe one race of people is better than another. I do believe that people from different countries who come here to visit and to live are not always aware of the customs we are used to; common courtesies I was taught as a child. This not to say that all people from the Middle East are rude and have no right to be here, that all Asian people are terrible drivers. It just means that I have noticed that sometimes people who come here do not follow the same rules of courtesy and politeness that I was taught was the rule, and I find it annoying and tedious. I told my daughter that by calling me a racist, she was putting me in the same category as people in the Ku Klux Klan, Skinheads, and the Nazis. She still said nothing. So now I'm broken. This daughter who has been so close to me, so fun to be around, who once wrote a paper about how I was a renaissance woman, whom I thought respected me, apparently does not. I am broken now. I am no longer someone she looks up to--only someone whom she has judged to be something awful and wrong and intolerant. It hurts, but from now on, I will be more aware of my careless use of judgement of rude people in parking lots because she is listening and judging me.

13

Today my second daughter turns thirteen. I am now officially the mother of two teenagers. I'm not sure how I feel about that. So far, the teen years that we have already lived through with our oldest daughter have been only a little bit tedious. Sure, there have been many emotional outbursts, but at least they are not constant, and my oldest daughter has a great sense of humor. My "new" teenager might be a little different. She does not have good control of her emotions and the most common emotion she has been displaying (for the last 2 or 3 years!) has been anger. She is mad at the world and everyone living in it. On the other hand, she is a good kid when it counts, and is a superior student, so it makes it difficult to temper my interaction with her. She is great at pushing my buttons, and creating an environment that confirms (in her mind anyway) why she has a right to be mad at everyone and everything. The next few years should be quite interesting. I still have two other preteens, and have menopause lurking around the corner for me. Anyway, we will joyfully celebrate this birthday and just go with the flow with everything else that comes our way.

How Bad Is It For You?

Just wondering how all this crappy financial news every stinkin' day has been affecting you. I get so tired of hearing it because there really isn't anything I can do about it. Actually, we have been blessed to be doing not too bad right now. Perfect timing has never been our forte, unfortunately. It seems that we are always out of step with everyone around us. A couple of weeks ago, we got some really great news about my husband's job. Under any other circumstances, this sort of news would make people go out and celebrate, but, like I said, our timing is never right. My husband's brother-in-law just lost his job. Our retired parents' nest eggs shrank down to almost nothing in the last few weeks, and the housing market is still messed up. So what happens with us? We get the news that my husband will get a promotion and be transferred back to Fort Wayne--right where we want to be! This was very unexpected, but still great news. It seems selfish of us, though, to talk too much about it when so many loved ones lives are in such turmoil right now. We will have to sell this house so that we can buy a house in Fort Wayne, but still, it doesn't sour the good news for us. I believe that everything will get better for all of us . . .eventually. Heck, I'm still happy that at last George W. Bush will be out of the White House. He will leave a terrible mess that we will all have a part in cleaning up, and his "legacy" is in the toilet, but at least we will get a much needed change in personnel, and that is not so bad when you think about it.

Ready for the End (of the Election)

I don't know about any of you, but I am ready to get this election over! I am tired of the political ads, the pundits, the rumors, the comedy skits, the debates--all of it. I'm tired. I want it to be over. November 5 will be a great day, I think, uh I hope. There are so many scary things going on right now with the economy, job losses, climate change--ugh! I'm sick of it all. I have decided (I think) who I will be voting for and I'm ready to go. I think the ads should just stop and there should be "radio silence" on all that has to do with the nonsense of this election so that people can do their own research and truthseeking without all the mess of the media. People should quietly go about finding out what they need to know to make up their minds and then. . . just get out and vote for goodness sake. Let's put this election to bed!

Campbell's Soup Commercial is Disgusting

Okay, I've just seen it one too many times. You know the one. The totally stupid and disgusting Campbell's Soup commercial (there are a series of these stupid things) where this gigantic man is sucking on a microwaveable container of soup making sucking, disgusting, baby noises. The latest one is where his is sucking his soup down and someone comes by to get his name for a name plate for his cubicle. The guy is so into sucking on his soup container and making those awful noises that he doesn't really answer. The next day he comes to work and his name plate says "Num Yummy" and Mr. Stupid Soup-Sucker asks "who's Num Yummy?" I'm sorry, but the Campbell's Soup company needs to fire their ad firm. These commercials are so off-putting that I won't buy the soup anymore; I didn't buy much anyway, but I'm less inclined to do so now that those commercials have grossed me out. Get those things off the air! They are disgusting! This commercial is so bad that I can't even find the video on YouTube so you can decide for yourself.

Low Down, Dirty, No-Good. . .

There are not really any words that are sufficient in describing what I think about AIG and what they did with $440,000 (that's almost half a million folks!)of our $85 billion given to them to bail them out of the crap hole they had dug, but I will give you a list of some words that might come close: disgusting, appalling, arrogant, selfish, stupid, ridiculous, criminal, disrespectful, irresponsible, unacceptable, sh*tty, shameful, unforgivable, disgraceful, insolent, contemptible, dishonorable, disheartening, offensive, felonious, malicious, wicked, malevolent, sinful, repulsive, outrageous, sickening. I am sure there are many other words that could be used to describe this criminal behavior by AIG. We should all be enraged by this and call for heads of the people involved with this. If any of the rest of us everyday, hardworking people did such a thing, we would be sitting in jail. What AIG did is the same thing as stealing, and there should be consequences for their stupidity. That's just my opinion!

Real Estate Not So Bad in D.C. Area

I read today that even though the housing market is pretty stinky nationwide, there are a few places throughout the country where it is easier to sell a house. That is good news for me. One of the easier places to sell a house is in the Washington, D.C. area, which is where we are currently living. We just got word today, that my husband will be transferred from here, back to Indiana. It took us six months to sell our house back in Indiana last year. I am hoping that the powers-that-be will be looking down on us in the next several months while we try to sell our house here, in the greater D. C. area. We are currently living in one of the most affluent and fastest growing areas in Virginia, so hopefully that will be in our favor. With all the bad news spewing out of every news outlet, it is about time people hear news that has even a tiny grain of hope in it. Northern Virginia has jobs and houses that are selling and that is a good thing. Also working in our favor is the fact that the schools here are quite good. The high school in the community where we live is ranked 159th in the nation, so that's not too shabby either. At any rate, I have hope that our home will be one that gets sold quickly at a reasonable price. That's all we can hope for and really all that we need.

Join the Army. . .T. Boone Pickens Army

Have you seen the television ads featuring T. Boone Pickens? He is the man of our times. I have been following his blog and listening to everything he has been saying about getting our country off foreign oil, and becoming fuel independent. What Mr. Pickens has to say really makes sense. I have joined his "army" and urge you to do the same. It seems like such a small thing, but if each one of us does a little something, together we become a great "army" to better our country. Mr. Pickens has met with Senators Obama and McCain, Governor Palin, and is trying to get a meeting scheduled with Senator Biden. He is trying to get them to understand his plan and to realize that everyday citizens want something to be done and that his plan can and should be implemented. The time is now. Mr. Pickens has a reasonable plan. Won't you please join the army? I know this video is long--about 10 minutes, but this is so important that it is worth every second. Please watch and join!

Ball State Ranked 25--Go Cardinals!

Yay! My alma mater is now ranked number 25 in the AP college football poll for this week. I am so happy for them. What an emotional season it has been. After the terrible injury of Dante Love during the game with Indiana University, it could have been easy to just give up, but not this year; not this team. Way to go Cardinals!!!! Ball State football has not had this good of a record (9-0) since 1965. Go Ball State!

Bonnie Hunt Withdrawal

In addition to having my usual schedule mixed up this week, I have missed every day of the "Bonnie Hunt Show." I started going through Bonnie withdrawal on Tuesday. Before this week, I had watched all of her shows. She has only been on air for a month, but I am hooked on the show. I feel like I miss seeing a really good friend. Anyway, I will get my Bonnie fix today since I will be recuperating from our house guests and doing laundry. Can't wait to see you, Bon!

Recovering From Company

My parents were here this week; just left for home this morning. I was both sad and happy to see them go. Don't get me wrong; I like having company--for the most part anyway, but it is exhausting! With just our usual schedule, we seem to be running around like crazy people. Add just too senior citizens into the mix, and things seem to run amok. It felt like we were always taking the kids somewhere, waiting for someone to come home, going to grocery store, or doing dishes. Meal planning and preparations are such a bear when my parents are here. They are both diabetic, so I don't like to have them stray too far off their usual routine. Their eating schedule rarely fit into our running around kind of lifestyle. We also didn't want them to feel like they were just sitting around, so we took them to Washington, D.C. one day, and to a museum another day. We went to an arts and crafts festival, and also squeezed in a couple of shopping trips. I am exhausted! Now I have to laundry and the other household things that I let go so I could entertain my guests. We will be having more company in addition to my parents returning to spend Christmas here. I hope I will be fully rested up by then!