Does anyone on Earth re-arrange their house as much as I do? Seriously. Doug and I are trying to de-stress and simplify some things. We talked about the state of our house. I don't feel relaxed when it isn't tidy and yet picking up after a 2 year old and 31 year old constantly (not to mention myself) has me frazzled- so, after some great advice from his mom the other night we have chosen certain areas of the house that are the most important to have perfectly clean all the time and the rest can be done when there is time or on my strict schedule (meaning that since my schedule has Tuesday as the day to clean the upstairs bathroom it doesn't get done until then even if it needs it unless I have some time when I FEEL like cleaning it... I don't think that will ever happen.) Also, this means not picking up the toys throughout the downstairs and Abi's room every 15 minutes or so because I want it clean. I will let her play to her hearts content and before nap and bedtime we will clean. This led me to some other ideas because of how massive our toy problem can get because of having the preschool in our front room.
We used to have a 'sitting room' in that area. It was a nice, quiet, relaxing spot to visit with people and to sit as a family or read. I decided that since my preschool is very small that we will downsize it. Most of the toys and things will go to the basement to be swapped every few weeks to keep them interesting. This way what we keep up here at one time will fit into the 'family room' off the kitchen. The front room will be transformed over the next few days back into a 'sitting room'. This is also so that it feels more relaxing when we come in through that door.
That said, I re-arrange all the time. I know Doug thinks its funny how he can come home and have everything changed without his knowing it was even going to happen. I was talking to my mom about this today and I told her that I blame her and my dad!! It's that Navy Brat blood in me that keeps me from being able to settle. I have to constantly be changing my surroundings and if that isn't moving into a new state/city/house than it must be done by the re-assigning of where the bed is or the way the tv faces. I realized that come next summer when we will have been in this house 2 1/2 years (assuming we will still be here then) it will be the longest I've ever lived anywhere. Yes, it's true. I have NEVER lived anywhere longer than 2 1/2 years. In My Life. The funny thing is that most places were much less than that. It was fun though. I enjoyed the adventure so I will embrace now the adventure of furniture 'moving'.
While I have been doing this I have been watching the final debate of McCain and Obama. It was crazy. I didn't think McCain came off as eloquent as I have seen him in other debates/interviews but I think that has a lot to do with how everyone told him that he needed to take the gloves off with Obama. I don't think he was comfortable doing that... just my opinion. I still prefer him though. Watching them I just know that I agree with so much more of McCains platforms than Obama's. I do think it is important though to keep an open mind when watching these kinds of things so I did that- and I'm still for McCain. I kept thinking that if I was somebody who owned an insurance company I would really be sweating right now. I know a lot of them are probably pretty corrupt but not all of them and I have a feeling they are out of business if Obama wins.... the good along with the bad. AND I have to say that although we make nowhere near that quarter of a million dollars a year- I don't think that people that are successful should be punished for it. Why should you have to pay more just because you make more?
How is that fair? I will always believe that it should be an across the board percentage. Like tithing. If you are making 10,000 a year or 500,000 a year and you are paying the same percentage of tax the rich person is still paying more but it makes it fair. Anyway, that's what's going on around here.
Oh and a bit of news... in case you didn't know Doug's mom was called to our church's General Young Women's Board recently. I think that is really cool. She will be great at it and a huge asset to that program.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursdays Thirteen: Things I think about today
1. What I was doing 7 years ago this morning. I was home sick from work. The phone woke me up. I was laying in bed and could hear my mom on the phone downstairs. She sounded distressed. I distinctly heard "Oh no." Of course this freaked me out thinking something must have happened to someone in the family. I went down to see what was going on. When she saw me she said "We're being attacked." or something along those lines. The tv was on. I imagined a huge missile of some kind heading straight for our house. Then I saw what was really going on. We both sat and watched as the second plane went into the towers and as the information about the planes at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania was discovered. I felt in shock all day.
I was freaking out when they started setting up the triage at the bottom of the towers. I kept telling my mom "they're going to fall down.... they're going to fall down.. why are they staying near them." I guess no one else thought that was going to happen. I remember watching people jump. I remember watching the towers fall and people running. I will never forget those images or that day.
2. I remember that night watching as we attacked- our first strike I guess. I was so worried about it. I kept thinking, "What if they have nothing to do with it." I felt like we didn't know enough yet. But, obviously I don't know what they knew so I can't really say for sure.
3. I think about the way everyone seemed different right after. I would go to the grocery store and everyone was being friendly and actually looking at you. It seemed to bring us all together. I don't even remember when that changed. I don't remember the moment when people stopped acting that way. I think that is one of the reasons people say "never forget". It's hard to keep that feeling of how fragile life is, how special every person is with you in every day life.
4. I think about how many movies and tv shows take place in New York City and there is always that twin towers shot. It is still wierd to see that.
5. I remember feeling like I never wanted to fly again. I'm not a huge fan of flying anyway. It gave me one more thing to worry about.
6. I think about the day that my dad, mom, and I went to New York City one year later. We went to Ground Zero. I will never forget what it felt like to stand there next to the chain link fence littered with little flags and flowers and look at the massive hole that was once those landmarks. It was so much bigger than I had imagined. It was surreal to be there. There were construction vehicles cleaning up and moving things around still. It was only a week before the anniversary that we were there.
7. I think about looking toward Ground Zero from the top of the Empire State builiding and seeing the ginormous flag on the building behind it. It looked like it had got some exterior damage as well. It had become kind of a landmark in itself. You saw that flag and you knew where the towers had been.
8. I think about the guy on the water taxi. After our day in New York City we rode a water taxi back over to the parking lot in New Jersey. There was a man on with us that worked in the city. We were talking with him and he mentioned that he had worked near the towers. He had been there that day. He had experienced the running, the smoke, the chaos. He said he had thought he was going to die. After he talked about it he seemed a little haunted. I have a picture of my parents a little bit after that and he is in the background sitting hunched over looking very serious. I wondered if he was thinking about it. I hoped that he didn't regret talking to us about it. Yet, maybe it helped him to talk to someone that wasn't there.
9. I think about going to Arlington cemetary on that same trip. From the cemetary we could see the Pentagon. We could see the large gaping hole. Seeing all of these things made it so real.
10. I think about a few days later while we were on Prince Edward Island weathering a small hurricane in a little cabin watching the news and that even though we were in Canada it was a special for the anniversary of 9-11 and had stories of the people involved and affected. It was really moving to watch it after having just been there.
11. I think about the movie I watched a few months ago about the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. It was so hard to watch. I had no idea. I mean, I had known as much as anybody else, I guess, about what had gone on in the plane but I never really thought about how terrifying it would have been on those planes. It just made me more aware of how brave and amazing those people aboard the planes were. After the movie I watched the special features where it showed each actor and talked about the person they had played.... it gave some back story and showed the actors meeting the family members of the people they portrayed. They had done such a good job casting that some of the families felt like their loved one was with them. Most of the actors were crying. It was so touching. I also admired the fact that they got the permission of the families first before making this movie. They waited until all of them were ready for it and then were able to find out all of the phone conversations, etc from the people that knew exactly how they had happened. It isn't a movie to watch with soda and popcorn for entertainment, but it is good and powerful show and I think it is nice to remember the individuals instead of just the event.
12. I think about how much the world has changed since then. It is so weird that my daughter will never know what it was like to walk someone to their gate before their flight or meet them afterward at the gate. She won't know a time when she didn't have to line up with trays for her bags and take off her shoes. She won't remember the time when people came together over something-united as a country- even if for only a moment. She'll just hear all the yelling and fighting and slander thrown back and forth from both sides of every issue. Not that this is a new thing but for some reason it seems like it has gotten a lot worse in the past few years. No matter what I think of President Bush it still really bugs me to have people call him horrible names and talk about him like he is not a person in a public forum. I think everyone is entitled to their opinion and that is what is so great about our country but I always think about what it must be like for that persons wife/ parents/ children and themselves when they can't open a magazine, watch tv, watch an awards show without people saying really cruel things about them.I wonder why, at least in public, people can't be nice about their opinions. I don't know when it became okay to talk about someone the way he gets talked about just because you don't agree with them or because they don't give good speeches. I stopped watching the VMA's online because I was so annoyed about it. I don't know why celebrities think they know everything. I don't know why being famous all of a sudden means you are right and everyone else is dumb and you are supposed to tell everyone this anytime you get the chance.
13. I am thinking about how grateful I am to be an American. It's not that cool or PC to be 'patriotic' anymore but I don't care. It's not PC to say we are the best country in the world anymore. I don't think we are the only great country- I hope to go to Europe someday, I LOVE Canada... but I am so proud to live here. I think we are a great country founded on amazing principles that I wish we could get back to and remember. I think the founding fathers would be apalled at how some people interpret the things they devoted their lives to. I am feeling grateful that I live here. I am feeling grateful that I get to raise my daughter in this country. I am thinking about the sacrifice that those founding fathers went through to give us the freedoms we have, the sacrifice that my ancestors went through as pioneers to further our freedom to worship the way I do, I am thinking of the sacrifice made by all of those who died and helped out on September 11, 2001 and I am feeling grateful that so many people have been willing to make these kinds of sacrifices. (Dad in Vietnam, Brent in the first gulf war, etc) I am hoping we can never forget these things.
I was freaking out when they started setting up the triage at the bottom of the towers. I kept telling my mom "they're going to fall down.... they're going to fall down.. why are they staying near them." I guess no one else thought that was going to happen. I remember watching people jump. I remember watching the towers fall and people running. I will never forget those images or that day.
2. I remember that night watching as we attacked- our first strike I guess. I was so worried about it. I kept thinking, "What if they have nothing to do with it." I felt like we didn't know enough yet. But, obviously I don't know what they knew so I can't really say for sure.
3. I think about the way everyone seemed different right after. I would go to the grocery store and everyone was being friendly and actually looking at you. It seemed to bring us all together. I don't even remember when that changed. I don't remember the moment when people stopped acting that way. I think that is one of the reasons people say "never forget". It's hard to keep that feeling of how fragile life is, how special every person is with you in every day life.
4. I think about how many movies and tv shows take place in New York City and there is always that twin towers shot. It is still wierd to see that.
5. I remember feeling like I never wanted to fly again. I'm not a huge fan of flying anyway. It gave me one more thing to worry about.
6. I think about the day that my dad, mom, and I went to New York City one year later. We went to Ground Zero. I will never forget what it felt like to stand there next to the chain link fence littered with little flags and flowers and look at the massive hole that was once those landmarks. It was so much bigger than I had imagined. It was surreal to be there. There were construction vehicles cleaning up and moving things around still. It was only a week before the anniversary that we were there.
7. I think about looking toward Ground Zero from the top of the Empire State builiding and seeing the ginormous flag on the building behind it. It looked like it had got some exterior damage as well. It had become kind of a landmark in itself. You saw that flag and you knew where the towers had been.
8. I think about the guy on the water taxi. After our day in New York City we rode a water taxi back over to the parking lot in New Jersey. There was a man on with us that worked in the city. We were talking with him and he mentioned that he had worked near the towers. He had been there that day. He had experienced the running, the smoke, the chaos. He said he had thought he was going to die. After he talked about it he seemed a little haunted. I have a picture of my parents a little bit after that and he is in the background sitting hunched over looking very serious. I wondered if he was thinking about it. I hoped that he didn't regret talking to us about it. Yet, maybe it helped him to talk to someone that wasn't there.
9. I think about going to Arlington cemetary on that same trip. From the cemetary we could see the Pentagon. We could see the large gaping hole. Seeing all of these things made it so real.
10. I think about a few days later while we were on Prince Edward Island weathering a small hurricane in a little cabin watching the news and that even though we were in Canada it was a special for the anniversary of 9-11 and had stories of the people involved and affected. It was really moving to watch it after having just been there.
11. I think about the movie I watched a few months ago about the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. It was so hard to watch. I had no idea. I mean, I had known as much as anybody else, I guess, about what had gone on in the plane but I never really thought about how terrifying it would have been on those planes. It just made me more aware of how brave and amazing those people aboard the planes were. After the movie I watched the special features where it showed each actor and talked about the person they had played.... it gave some back story and showed the actors meeting the family members of the people they portrayed. They had done such a good job casting that some of the families felt like their loved one was with them. Most of the actors were crying. It was so touching. I also admired the fact that they got the permission of the families first before making this movie. They waited until all of them were ready for it and then were able to find out all of the phone conversations, etc from the people that knew exactly how they had happened. It isn't a movie to watch with soda and popcorn for entertainment, but it is good and powerful show and I think it is nice to remember the individuals instead of just the event.
12. I think about how much the world has changed since then. It is so weird that my daughter will never know what it was like to walk someone to their gate before their flight or meet them afterward at the gate. She won't know a time when she didn't have to line up with trays for her bags and take off her shoes. She won't remember the time when people came together over something-united as a country- even if for only a moment. She'll just hear all the yelling and fighting and slander thrown back and forth from both sides of every issue. Not that this is a new thing but for some reason it seems like it has gotten a lot worse in the past few years. No matter what I think of President Bush it still really bugs me to have people call him horrible names and talk about him like he is not a person in a public forum. I think everyone is entitled to their opinion and that is what is so great about our country but I always think about what it must be like for that persons wife/ parents/ children and themselves when they can't open a magazine, watch tv, watch an awards show without people saying really cruel things about them.I wonder why, at least in public, people can't be nice about their opinions. I don't know when it became okay to talk about someone the way he gets talked about just because you don't agree with them or because they don't give good speeches. I stopped watching the VMA's online because I was so annoyed about it. I don't know why celebrities think they know everything. I don't know why being famous all of a sudden means you are right and everyone else is dumb and you are supposed to tell everyone this anytime you get the chance.
13. I am thinking about how grateful I am to be an American. It's not that cool or PC to be 'patriotic' anymore but I don't care. It's not PC to say we are the best country in the world anymore. I don't think we are the only great country- I hope to go to Europe someday, I LOVE Canada... but I am so proud to live here. I think we are a great country founded on amazing principles that I wish we could get back to and remember. I think the founding fathers would be apalled at how some people interpret the things they devoted their lives to. I am feeling grateful that I live here. I am feeling grateful that I get to raise my daughter in this country. I am thinking about the sacrifice that those founding fathers went through to give us the freedoms we have, the sacrifice that my ancestors went through as pioneers to further our freedom to worship the way I do, I am thinking of the sacrifice made by all of those who died and helped out on September 11, 2001 and I am feeling grateful that so many people have been willing to make these kinds of sacrifices. (Dad in Vietnam, Brent in the first gulf war, etc) I am hoping we can never forget these things.
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