Last week I spoke with the realtor who's selling the house we're living in. If the buyers whose initial offer was accepted end up with the house, then Paul and I get to stay for the same rent. So I'm crossing my fingers the negotiation process goes well. We don't want to have to move, especially since we only want to stay for 1 more year.
I was thinking about bellybuttons the other night. I know it's an odd thing to think about, but I realized I never dated anyone with an "outtie". I don't think it would be possible for me to be with someone who had an "outtie". I would have to tell them: "I'm sorry. I can't be with someone who looks like they were born yesterday".
I have a few favorite blogs that I like to check out on a daily basis.
I'm reading the book "The Two Income Trap" and am only about half-way thru it. I found myself crying after the first few pages though, so it's not for the faint-hearted. The good thing about it is that it's reinforcing a theory that I had (which of course I didn't have the data to support) but one that I couldn't help but observe. Basically, my theory was that for all the good that the women's movement had done for the liberation of women, it was in essence, a mixed blessing. Now that women have entered the workforce and can make a decent living, it has forced the cost of living to surge, hence created a society where families cannot succeed WITHOUT the mother working. What I couldn't explain was the direct connection between the women working and this increase in cost of living. This book filled in the blanks. I don't want to give it all away, but one of the main arguments the book makes is that families are so concerned about schools, that they will mortgage themselves to the tilt. In order to make sure they get that house in the right school district, the mother must work so that they have more income. This creates an over-inflated housing market where families are spending more on housing than any of their previous generations (see the book for actual figures). This is a dangerous situation for families to be in because there's no savings to act as a safety net in hard times. The rate of bankruptcies quoted in the book are astounding! There's lots of lessons to be learned from the study that the authors conducted, and it was somewhat refreshing when I saw one of the authors interviewed on "Now with Bill Moyers" discussing how she met Hillary Clinton and convinced her not to endorse the bankruptcies law changes that the credit card industry had lobbied for. Hillary spoke to Bill and got the law to not pass. *Whew* But we need people like her in Washington on a permanent basis.
I have just a quick piece of advice for those who are part of the Hale family. If you order pizza from a place where non-English speaking people are taking your order over the phone, don't use your last name. I used "Hale" one time (since we happened to tip poorly once under the name "Joyce"), and when I went to go pick up the pizza, I scanned thru all the filled pizza boxes looking for mine. I found it. "Yes, I'm here to pick up the pizza for 'Hell'". The cashier grinned and realized I wasn't joking.
