In honor of the debates ...

I really enjoyed the debates in Mississippi this evening. It didn't take much to confirm what I already thought, and that is that John McCain is, in my opinion, the right choice for America.

I admire his character, his dignity, and his ideals.

COUNTRY FIRST.

All about me ... but not really.

What are you doing tonight?
After my back-to-back rerun episodes of 90210 I plan on doing all sorts of fun things like cook, walk the dog, and dust. Please, try to contain your jealousness.

What is your current mood?
Hold on … let me check my mood ring.
Okay, it says I’m loquacious.

What side of the bed do you sleep on?
I always wake up on the WRONG SIDE!

Credit cards or cash?
I’ll take whichever you’re offering.

Do you drink the milk from the bowl after you eat all the cereal?
I don’t eat “the cereal”.

Who is your favorite football team?
Whichever one is NOT playing.
You know who doesn't liek football? This girl. [points to self, in case that wasn't obvious]

Have you ever lost a friend?
Yea, but I found her in the shoe section. She moves swift like a ninja!

Ever go camping?
Sentence fragment?

Do you like birds?
I like beans.

Do you have any tattoo/piercings?
No, but I’m planning on tattooing “Xavier Roberts” on my cheeks.

Has anyone ever told you you have pretty eyes?
I apparently have “bedroom eyes,” which makes me feel a bit oogie.

Does anyone call you baby?
I’m not a toddler. Or gay. So no.

Do you have a good memory?
All my past memories involve food. Food is good.

How many red lights have you ran?
I’m not sure that’s correct English. I plead the fifth.

Last thing you questioned yourself on?
I constantly question myself. Myself is interesting.

Bars or clubs?
Go Cubs!

How many kids would you like to have?
Uno.

Are you available?
I am available for birthday parties and bar mitzvahs.

Do your parents have myspace accounts?
Oh, that’s funny …
You know my parents, right? ... Right?

If you saw someone broken down on the side of the road, would you stop to help?
Dude … I’ve seen too many movies to do that …

What’s one food you could eat everyday for the rest of your life?
Chocolate is a food …

How many cousins do you have?
Two. We’re a ‘tiny tiny’ family.

You're in line at Taco Bell, what’s your order?
Does it really matter? You’re going to get the muddy butts either way.

I want a Ninja Cat ...

Watch to the end ... it's adorable!

Someone's not paying attention ...

More than just a great bargain!


Come on ... someone fell for it. Why not make $19.95?



"And my child is going to come out deformed because these gosh darned jackhammers!" I can't think about this right now... it's giving me a headache. I need another cigarette.



You know I can't pass up a great deal!

Get over it Jill ... you're lame.

Well ... I decided it was long overdue that I get rolling with this blog.
When my sister’s blog started to become more internet hip than mine I knew it was time to step it up a notch. [no offense Jen ;)].

I’d say life on my homefront is rather boring.
No, not boring … uneventful. Oh alright … boring.

My big exciting news is I have just 4 gifts left to buy for Christmas. HOT DANG! … I’ve always been kind of nerdy like that – I love buying Christmas gifts. Of course, I love receiving them, but that’s neither here nor there. And, it looks like my economy sized Hobby Lobby Christmas wrapping paper is going to see another, make that a third, Christmas.

I spent last Sunday at my sister’s house in Forney. Matt finally had a Sunday off … since he became the “lead mechanic” (don’t let that title fool you – it’s technically no different … nor is it more pay) he had to rearrange his schedule until they found an additional mechanic. So Sunday morning I’m laying in bed and I say “hey, what time do you get off today?” He then tells me he’s off … see, this valuable bit of information would have been helpful to know ahead of time, but okay … whatev.

So we had a great day playing outside on the “whing set” (as Caroline would say), getting into “gun fights” with Ethan, and just cuddling Wyatt. He’s a good cuddler when he’s not trying to lunge himself face forward onto the couch.

I then decided I’m going to quit my job and stop paying bills (I never really liked paying them anyway) and go work at Moore ISD (homeschool). I’d make a great drama teacher. Hey Jen, think about adding that to your curriculum.

Anyhoo … I’m at work and apparently there’s “work” to do. Hmph! The nerve.
Signing off …

Chicago Trip!

Well, Matt and I spent 5 days in Chicago, thanks to a brief act of generosity by my boss. This doesn't happen often, so we jumped at it.
Anyhoo ... I packed all my stuff for the trip, put my nice camera in the car since I have yet to take really nice pics in Chiacgo, and drove to the airport.

Mid-flight I realize I didn't remember to get my camera out of the car. So, my only option was to buy one of those one-time use disposable digital cameras at CVS. Even worse, the viewfinder was off, so nothing centered as I wanted it. The good thing is that it was digital, so I could at least retake if need be, but the screen was hard to see.

ANYHOO ... these are the pics we got.
We arrived Monday and Matt got really sick after getting off the plane. Turns out he was hungry (as I said he was) and felt better after our favorite Chicago deep dish pizza joint, Giordanos.
I was going to write a narrative about what all we did on our trip, but I'll just do a day-to-day list as I'm at work and pressed for time.

Monday - arrived, pizza @ Giordanos, hung out at Millenium Park, rented Untraceable at the hotel.
Tuesday - delicious crepe breakfast at "our" crepe shop, thenshopping on Michigan Avenue, and in the evening we saw the musical WICKED. (No photography allowed :( But it was SOOOO cool!!! Dad said Matt needed to "man up", implying it was girly, but he loved it too!
Wednesday - Chinatown! Good Chinese lunch, cheap shopping (whoo!), then headed to the Navy Pier (gorgeous!) to walk around and then see the Cirque Shanghai Gold. That was the coolest show ... so neat! No photography allowed there either but I put my finger over the flash and got a couple of lame pics anyway. Oh, and we went to the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant - well, we WENT, but we didn't eat. 2 hour wait? No thanks.
Thursday - Just walked around and enjoyed the town. It rained in the late afternoon, but we'd bought some cards, so we literally spent hours in the hotel playing cards and looking out the window of our 33rd floor room. We ordered pizza that night. Yum yum.
Friday - the weather was perfect again, so we spent our last day there just checking out the area again. We are nerdy, so we just enjoyed feeding the pigeons for over an hour and people watching at the park.

The trip was a success, and we just love it there!


Here are some of my not-so-professional pics ... but we had a blast!!!

Are kids truly damaged by daycare?

DISCLAIMER:

We're not having kids now (!!!) ... this is just a debate I'm having.

Someone made the comment about someone else that "if you have to put your kid in daycare, you shouldn't have kids."

This got me to thinking, because I'm a realist - I know that when my time comes to have a child I can almost guarantee (unless we win the lottery or a family member moves closer) daycare will be my only option. Realistically speaking, it's almost a given that neither Matt nor I will ever have six-figure jobs that will allow either of us to stay at home.


So the question is: if two people truly want a child, but neither can afford to be stay-at-home parents but CAN afford daycare, are they unfit to be parents?

I think the objection from stay-at-home advocates is that if your child is with someone else (nanny, church daycare, regular daycare, etc) during the day, they are instilling THEIR values into YOUR child. While I see that side of the issue, I dare say that I've met many people who have gone to daycare at some point of their life, and they turned out just fine.

The arguement is that there will always be people who just can't afford to be a stay-at-home parent. There's no debate that one income provides better than two. Now, would I love to be a stay-at-home parent? Of course! But I feel I can provide more to a child by supplying a second income.

What it all boils down to, in my eyes, is how well I can raise a child and instill my love, teachings, and values in them regardless of whether I'm home or at work. I might not be able to spend every moment during the day with a child, but am I truly hindering their upbringing by sending them to daycare or allowing someone else to watch them for a portion of the day?

Love is all that matters, and sending a child to daycare doesn't mean you don't love them.

Thoughts?


EDIT:
Don't forget that daycares/church groups, etc. are great ways in which children can learn social skills and make friends. And as for the arguement that only stay-at-home-children get values instilled by their parents, have we forgotten that children will be in school, taught by teachers, for at least 13 years of their life? It's the parent's job to teach right from wrong, no matter where your child is during the day. ???