I’ve said so many times that one of the best parts of starting this blog is the incredible people I’ve have the opportunity to meet. You must say hello to Kathleen, author of Forging Ahead. Ready to be impressed? She’s a triathlete. Yep. She swims, bikes and runs in quick succession. That blows my mind. And you know what else? She’s an expert with horses and dressage. For some extra eye candy, her husband’s stunning photography decorates her blog. I asked Kathleen to share some music to keep me motivated while I work out. Wait until you hear this mixtape. She knows how to rock too!

I would love nothing more than for one of you to win this. Just head over to BloggyGiveaways and enter to win a $75 gift certificate to Moon and Back Studios. It’s not too early to think about holiday cards.

C’mon peeps! I’m cheering for you!

It would seem that we have ourselves a New Deal in the form of a bailout. I promised Mikey not to discuss politics on my blog. He says it will just offend people. I’m sure he’s right. And I don’t want to do that. But I will invite you to discuss among yourselves in the comments if you so desire.

On to happy things…

We had a wonderful date last night. I’m talking sauteed mussels, Chilean sea bass, flowing wine, and lovely key lime tartlets. All of that and wonderful conversation. The reminiscing kind that makes our marriage stronger. It was a perfect night.

Hope you’re having a fabulous weekend.

Tonight is my 19th wedding anniversary. But I worked out because I’m taking my fitness challenge that seriously. Friday night we’re going out for a real, honest-to-goodness date night. Can’t wait.

Until then, even though everyone on God’s green earth has seen this, I believe the world needs just a little more Tina Fey. It would seem that she never got the memo to dumb it down. Good for her for being a smart girl when it wasn’t cool. Because now she gets to play dumb and carry her millions off to the bank. Actually, she’s probably too smart to put it in the bank. I’m sure she’s putting her money in T-bills. Whatever.

If you don’t know me, I can slip into accents pretty easily. And I just love doing Palin. But I don’t think I’ve mastered her as well as Tina. She, my friends, is the master. A true comedic genious.

Speaking of, I’m pretty sure tomorrow night’s debate will hold some comedic genious too. But it will be more in the spirit of “I meant to do that.”

Carry on Tina.

If you have it on your iPod, you could play Three Little Birds by Marley as you read this to take the edge off…

This weekend, I walked in the kitchen to find the TV yelling the latest chapter in the American Financial Debacle. I was prepared to tune out the drone when I heard Ted Nugent start his rant. And you’re not going to believe this: he got my attention. He was talking about responsibility, accountability, and how he wouldn’t trust congress to clean his dogs’ kennels. How could he be an (admittedly) simple, uneducated musician, yet even he could figure out that a trillion dollar buyout by our government doesn’t exactly support a free market system?

I read an article this weekend in Portfolio magazine by Michael Lewis. It absolutely captivated me. Michael is a brilliant and entertaining writer. And he makes sense. He says things like this:

To blame the people who lent the money for the real estate boom is like blaming the crack dealers for creating addicts.

The party is over. I’ve been waiting for a long time for accountability to matter again. I was beginning to think I was living in the twilight zone. Hello accountability, goodbye entitlement. My buddy Kim at Accidental Mommies said it pretty well:

I know that doesn’t help the banks when faced with all the bankruptcies and foreclosures, there is obviously a problem, but too many people are pointing fingers at the banks and the gov. when they need to look in the mirror.

I couldn’t have put it any better.

If you have time, this article by Michael Lewis is such a good read.

Also - I think we could get some good deals on Lear jets soon.

I’ve been light on the writing lately to focus more on work and family. And the little problem of our economy imploding before our eyes has been a minor diversion (except for when Michael is yelling from the living room that I need to see history in the making as another talking head jabbers about a plan for recovery).

Today was a nice break. A little picnic in the park with family and friends. It was a balmy 82 degrees, a welcome respite from the heat and humidity.

I took the opportunity to shoot photos of my nephew and niece’s son. They live out of state, and this was my first chance to meet him. Can you imagine the willpower and restraint I showed not to scoop this child up and shower him with kisses? But I remember how overwhelming that was for Jake at that age, and multiplied by 25, well, you can imagine. So I hung back and took pictures.

Of all the photos I took today, this is one of my favorites. Four generations of our family: my brother, his grandson, his son, and our dad. All together for one picture. And I got it (and about a gazillion others). Made my weekend.

When I was 20, I went into an electronics store with my husband. We wanted to buy a VCR. It was 1990, and back then, a Hi-Fi VCR cost about $800.00. We had the money in the bank. We were both employed. I was a college graduate, but had only been at my job for less than one year. Michael had been at his for two.  We wanted to use the one year - same as cash deal.

We couldn’t get approved.

It was demoralizing. I wound up writing a check instead. That was my humble introduction to credit. I have an unusual respect, distaste for, and fear of it.

Fast forward to 2008. No job. No problem. You could qualify for just about anything. People allow banks to tell them what they can afford. News flash: They wanted to sell those loans. It was a once in a life time deal.

President Bush gave us a lesson tonight. At a 4th grade level. President Bush: Yoo hoo? We are not idiots.

“The number of new houses exceeded the people willing to buy. With supply exceeding demand, housing fell. This created a problem.”

That statement is startling and profound. Without your explanation President Bush, I may not have ever understood that complex concept. I thank you.

This has been the subject of much discussion in our house for the last five years. It’s a bit surreal to see it finally playing out. What will happen next however, is anyone’s guess.

“Your back.” He huffed and walked behind me as I tried to straighten my posture and get ready at the machine. “It’s just a pile of bones with a little skin lying on top” my trainer announced. He’s Egyptian. He doesn’t mince words. I wish he would just chop them. That would be ok for starters.

“But I can leg press 90 pounds” I almost whined.

Don’t get me wrong. He is a nice man. But he’s made me painfully aware of the shortcomings of my upper body strength. Of which I have none. I’ve been working out a couple times a week at our local gym for the last month. I’m finally serious about moving past cardio, after listening to Dr. Oz’s warnings about maintaining muscle mass after (gasp) 40.

Like I said, I am good about cardio and working my lower body. In fact, I actually enjoy it. Biking, running, walking, stepping. Love, love, love. But - I am getting serious about getting totally fit for my 40th. I have until January 14. I’m not talking about doing an IronMan or anything insane. I’m not Jenny on the Spot or Kathleen or anything. But I am going to step it up. Anyone want to join me? Put some muscle on their back? Or whatever?

Hmmm?

I hate using the word “stressful”.  It’s easily flung about. So let me just say that I have an intense job that challenges my composure and taps into my life experience. I have a ton of PTO in the bank and needed to use some. So I took off Friday to volunteer in Jake’s 1st grade class.

Holy stinkin’ cow.

His teacher, Mrs. B., is a saint, sent straight from the Lord above. This lady, who has no children of her own, treats each of her first graders as her own offspring. I was overwhelmed by how her feet never touched the ground, moving from one exercise to the next, without even having time to consult her lesson plan. It’s funny how quickly I felt myself immersed in the elementary experience. The smell of Elmer’s glue sent me so far back in time that I could have been one of her students, except little people kept referring to me as “Mrs. C”, and “Jake’s mom”, shocking me back to reality.

So drowning in the busy work of stamping stars from shiny paper, stuffing folders with homework assignments, and delivering invitations for boy scouts into the kids’ mailboxes, that she stays until 8:00 each night just to get lesson plans done. She tells me I was a big help. I’m not really sure I put a dent in anything.

I know she needs more than I can offer. She needs an army of organized people. A support system of safe confidants to complain to when she simply can’t take that little snot in row two any longer. I can tell you that I was done after one day. How does she do it?

I’m not sure how many of you are teachers. But I have a new respect for all of you. Thank you for everything you do for our kids. And if you aren’t a teacher, could you please hug one for me?

This is a layout I made using a favorite photo from a recent shoot of Jake.