my heart is breaking for him

I think becoming a mother has made me so much more sensitive to the pain of others around me, especially when it is my child who is hurting. Andrew broke his wrist tonight. He was horsing around and it was an accident, but even knowing that doesn't make it any better. He has two "bubble' fractures on either side of his right wrist and we have to make an appointment for him to get a cast for it. Poor guy is in so much pain and I am sitting here crying right alongside with him. My, what a pair we make. You know the saying about mothers? That they let their heart walk around outside their bodies. It is so true. I wish I could just hug him and hold him and make all the pain go away for him, but I can't. He can no longer participate in swimming lessons or play soccer or even write out his own homework. My heart is breaking for him. These next few weeks are going to be a tough struggle for him. Please say a prayer for my little boy tonight. He's going to need all the help he can get.

morning commute (this one is for Grandma)

Hunter took his morning sippy cup of soymilk for a ride around the backyard in his newly rediscovered "Flintstone mobile". The toy car had been hiding in our garage but was uncovered when I recently did a fall cleaning for a yard sale. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner.

keep on truckin'

Our friends Jamie and Caden had an extra ticket to a truck race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway last night so they invited Andrew and I to come along with them. It was the first time either of us had been to a car race before and it was really loud and fun! Andrew was rooting for the "blue truck" and loved getting to see some of the cars up close in the parking lot.

Have you seen me?

Rocky decided to bail on us earlier this week and the boys are missing him fiercely. He is just about a year old, Basset / Lab / Shephard Mix (I know, that's funny!). He is mostly black but as you can see has some shephard brown in his face, ears and undercoat.

Andrew prays to St. Francis every night (that's who his Kindergarten teacher said he should pray to) and Hunter walks around the house saying "woof woof" looking for his four-legged pal. If you've seen him, please email me. He disappeared on Tuesday morning. We haven't seen him since. He does not have his leash on as I had taken it off to brush him that morning. He does have a microchip implanted so hopefully that will help in identifying him and returning him home. In the meantime we are keeping our eyes open and checking the animal shelters regularly.

Rocky, come home! We miss you!

White after Labor Day

It's a slow Friday night here and I've found myself sucked into another edition of TLC's What Not to Wear. I must admit I have a tiny fascination with fashion, but wouldn't dare wear half of what I think looks stylish or hip.

Every time I catch the show I sit there and take stock of what I'm wearing and how it stacks up to the participant on the show. Tonight I definitely win! But I wore white shorts today and it dawned on me that it's after Labor Day - oh my, what a faux pas? So I'm curious, just what is the reasoning behind this strange rule? So, like any curious soul, I headed over to Yahoo Answers to find out.

Originally, the rule was more along the lines of "Only wear white shoes between Memorial Day and Labor Day." Furthermore, it mainly applied to white pumps or dress shoes. White tennis shoes and off-white boots seem exempt, as are any shoes worn by a winter bride. "Winter white" clothing (e.g., cream-colored wool) is acceptable between Labor Day and Memorial Day too.

The only logical reasoning we could find cited temperature. Image consultant Nancy Penn suggests that because white reflects light and heat, wearing white would make you cooler in winter, and thus should be avoided. But others suggest the rule stems from a class issue. Acting Director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology Valerie Steele notes that in the late 19th century and the 1950s, more people were entering the middle classes. These nouveau-riche folks were often unaware of the standards of high society, so they were given specific codified rules to follow in order to fit in.

Several sites quoted a charming refrain about G.R.I.T.S. -- girls raised in the South. This bit of folklore states, "Southern girls know bad manners when they see them," and a clear sign of bad manners is wearing white shoes before Easter or after Labor Day. Because fashions in the American South can be a little more formal than elsewhere, perhaps the no-white-shoes rule came from south of the Mason-Dixon Line? Even Star Jones (an otherwise fashion-forward Southern lady) admits that white shoes "are for Easter Sunday and not the dead of winter."

We can only surmise that the point of this rule is to ensure that people only wear summer fashions during the actual summer months. The opposite probably applies as well, but people generally don't need to be reminded to avoid wearing a goose-down parka in 100-degree weather. If you live in a locale with summer temperatures year-round, we can't see the harm in wearing white shoes or a head-to-toe white outfit in October.

I guess that makes sense - and since I find myself in 90-100 degree Las Vegas heat, I'm going to assume my white shorts are okay. Okay, back to my boring Friday night.

Depression?

There's no doubt that the United States is in a recession fueled by rising energy costs, the ailing housing market, the credit crisis, and now financial institution turmoil. This recession has been building for a while and has become fodder for headlines and lead stories every day. Everyone is impacted in some way, shape or form by the tumultuous state of our economy. As the word recession becomes a dinnertime staple, a new buzz word is starting to pop up. Depression. Are we really in a Depression? Not yet.

We are so eager to slap "worst case scenario" on everything bad that comes along, but hold your horses folks. Compared to the 1930s we're not even close. Our unemployment levels, though up, do not rival the 25% unemployment rate of that decade. The bottom fell out of the stock market then. We still have a floor to stand on. Economically, we are less secure than we were a year ago.

What we're going through is an economic episode much longer and more significant than a standard-issue recession. It started with the stock market collapse of 2001-2002, was temporarily shoved aside by the housing bubble, but is now back and may stick around for a while. It's not a Depression. But it may be a depression.

And so it begins...

This is the start of my blog here on Blogspot. Everyone has one, I might as well join the crowd. I’m guessing that I will be including all kinds of tidbits of information on subjects that interest me... everything from professional PR and communications/politics buzz to parenting, pictures of me and the kids, traveling, and most likely some crafty vibes. Please feel free to comment on anything and everything. I enjoy the feedback and the open communication.

Past Blog Pages

Link to the old blog here... for some of our pictures etc!