Mmmmm... sacrelicious.

Topher just came out of his bedroom with a white blanket over his head saying, "oooooooooooooh... Owwwwwww... Ooooooh... I'm the Holy Ghost..." I laughed so hard because:
A) It was so freaking funny and
B)It totally reminded me of an Eddie Izzard stand up bit.

And in my book Eddie Izzard = Funny!

Check him out: (Or don't if you're easily offended by swears and/or blasphemy)

Total Money Makeover

My big, fat disclaimer: If you’ve read my previous post, Mirror mirror on the wall…, then you know my feelings on arrogance. So let me just say that this post is in no way an attempt to brag or toot my own horn. If you’re going to take it that way then please stop reading now. I know that money is viewed as a very off limit topic among family and friends, but I feel that the more open we are about the subject the better off we’ll be. (At least that’s what Suze Orman told me.) So at the risk of committing a huge social faux pa, I’m going to talk about money.

For the first time in our married lives, Chris and I are out of debt!!!! (…except for our mortgage…)

This was our new year’s resolution at the beginning of 2008 after we received a copy of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover from Chris’s brother, Dan, who had read it and was already in the process of his own money makeover. We had accumulated a lot of debt in our first few years of marriage due mostly to student loans, two hospital stays from two unplanned births, a car payment, and the occasional frivolous spending. We thought we were doing everything we could to pay off our debt and were pretty much just planning to trudge along, trying not to accumulate more debt, until we eventually paid everything off. That was before we read this book. I don’t want to sound like I’m doing a paid advertisement for Dave Ramsey so let me just sum it up by saying that we were really inspired by his book and motivated to take action. So instead of just trudging along, we decided to attack our debt with all of our energy, time, resources etc.

Here’s what we did:

1. We refined our budget. We had always had one, but it was never very accurate. We would keep track of our spending and itemize it into categorize, but we never held ourselves accountable for when we went over budget. We just figured it would all work itself out. So the first thing we did was create a budget that changes month to month depending on the income we earned the previous month. If we go over in an area we have to take the money from somewhere else.

2. We both looked for ways to earn extra money. Chris took on extra projects and freelance work. I would work extra shifts whenever Chris had a day off and could be with the kids. I also started babysitting kids on my days off. This has turned out surprisingly profitable for us. I’ve even cleaned people’s homes and taken care of their pets. I’ll pretty much do anything that’s not immoral for money. Keep that in mind, people. :) This money was all considered “bonus money” and would go directly to our debt. Chris’s work bonus, our tax return, birthday money, and our “economic stimulus” money all went to paying off our debt.

3. We did our best to keep spending to a minimum. I’m constantly looking for deals on Craig’s List or KSL for the kid’s clothes or things we need around the house. We tried to only go out once a month. We got rid or our cell phones and now just use prepaid minutes as sparingly as possible. We even sold our second car and put the money towards... you guessed it. (This was not as big of a sacrifice as it sounds because it had actually broken down a year before and when we had an opportunity to get a little money from it rather than pay to get it fixed that’s what we did.) At first it was hard, but I’m to the point now where it’s harder to buy something because I find I get more satisfaction watching my debt decrease and our emergency fund increase than I do when I buy a nonessential. We did not live like monks this year, there is a lot more we could have done if we had wanted to pay it off faster, but for the amount of debt we had we felt like a year was a realistic and moderate goal.

It feels so good to be out of debt. It has really changed the way that we look at money and material possessions. We appreciate what we have so much more now because it’s ours. I would much rather buy something that I can afford than borrow money and pay interest on something nicer, newer, smaller, bigger, faster, fancier, etc. I feel like that’s living a lie. Almost anyone can go finance a nice new car if they’re willing to pay an outrageous interest rate and monthly payment but few people could go pay a few thousand dollars cash to buy a used Toyota corolla. And the sad thing is that in our society when you see them side by side the person in the nicer car (clothes, home, etc.) is often the one that gets your respect and admiration.

Again, the purpose of this post is not to give ourselves a pat on the back for actually following through on a new year's resolution. (Even if it is the first time in my life) It's to let any of you who may be facing the same challenge know that it is possible to get out of debt and that it feels really great. So best of luck to you if you're going to take this on, I know that you will be blessed. Let me know if we can help in any way or if you'd like to borrow Dave Ramsey's book.

Now will 2009 be the year that I finally lose weight?

Chris is coming out and needs your support

So, I decided to write a blog about my vegetarian diet because I don’t feel like I’ve gotten enough attention and I want to help all the poor unenlightened people to understand the destruction they are bringing upon the world by eating meat like savage beasts. I hope that these thoughts will stay with you and that I can remain in your mind as a visual example of someone who is willing to sacrifice in order to make a difference in this wicked flesh hungry world.

So, I’m kind of a vegetarian and I wanted to talk about it. Cool? We love talking about health don’t we? Every day I hear people talking about their latest health experiment whether it be starting Atkins, South Beach, the Lemon Cleanse, eating smaller portions, eating more meals, drinking more water, or maybe drinking juice made from mystical South American berries. At work or at family functions I always seem to be exchanging ideas about the latest, most effective work-out philosophies. It’s interesting stuff and I love hearing the latest.

So I’m sort of coming out of the closet (at least to some people) that I have seriously cut back on meat for about 6 months now (shameless pat on my own back I know). I think I said that just to refute Dave’s prediction when I started that I wouldn’t be able to stick with it. He knows me pretty well and I like that he has no problem being brutally honest. I said I was “kind of” a vegetarian because I don’t treat it like a religious commandment that others can judge me on for disobeying, nor do I expect anyone else to share my opinions. I hope that it can just be treated like any other diet that people do to improve their personal health. But I have to admit it’s weird that this is the only diet that I have felt an aversion to talk about (considering that I once lived on maple syrup and lemon juice for a week).

Unlike many vegetarians, my reasons are not about morality or ethical treatment of animals so don’t be nervous about me joining the picket line outside of the KFC. When I see a cat for instance, I know very well that if it were bigger it would probably not hesitate to bite my head off and play with it for a while (I actually went through a cat torture phase in my life when I found great joy in adding to my arrogant feline’s anxieties……good times.) So hey, I’m all about dominating the animals yo.

A friend of mine recently said “Imagine how stupid vegetarianism would appear to your starving ancestors. Poor baby, do you have to kill an adorable animal to survive? The fact that you are standing here is proof that your ancestors couldn’t care less about such discrimination when it came to getting through the winter.” That’s a very good point. Vegetarians can seem like pretty ungrateful whiney people I will admit. I worked with a Vegan who loved to tell me everything that was unhealthy about everything I ate; EVEN granola bars which evidently have dangerous amounts of predigested bee vomit (beware). Because my reasons are not religious, I would rather eat meat than have a friend feel awkward or uncomfortable. As a rule I will not turn down a meal that someone has gone out of their way to prepare. These types of occasions are actually quite rare and I feel no guilt about deviating from my diet every now and then.

When I was doing the South Beach thing, I remember the only thing I wanted in the world was CARBS because that was what I was not supposed to eat. My experience with vegetarianism has been quite different. I can honestly say that my desire to eat meat has diminished and has not returned. You know when you are on a diet looking into your fridge, nobody is around and you stare at that forbidden treat knowing that no one else will ever know. I haven’t experienced that temptation at all. I promise I haven’t even tried to get my fix when I’m alone. After a few months of not eating meat I ate a chicken sandwich and expected it to be heaven. I was really disappointed; It wasn’t that great. It was just as I remembered it. I’ve started noticing that meat has been mostly just a texture in my eating experience. Everything that tastes good in a sandwich is not the meat.

I have never felt healthier than when I made this change. I have not lost any energy, quite the opposite. As a personal observation I have also felt more spiritual. This is basically the reason why I am writing this. I am throwing this out there in case any of you are curious and want to experiment as well. I am also writing this to assert my elitist dominance over you impure creatures (I am truthful as well as wise).

We have been raised with a tradition that no meal is complete without a large portion of meat. It almost defines a true meal but I am convinced that physiologically our bodies are still designed to eat a predominantly vegetarian diet even though we are behavioral omnivores. If tomorrow we decided that we wanted to start eating tree bark, our bodies obviously wouldn’t be able to break it down and pull nutrients from it. It’s important to understand what our physiological makeup is designed for in order to be healthy. Both Carnivores and herbivores face different issues when dinner time arrives and have evolved to overcome them. For Herbivores plants are difficult to break down and digest. For Carnivores there food tends to run away. So it follows that herbivores are going to be designed to forage and require long periods of digestion. Carnivores will be designed to be predators that eat large but infrequent meals. (I hope this isn’t boring but I find it fascinating)

Characteristics of carnivores…

-Equipped for short bursts of extreme speed
-limbs are lightened for fast running and are also modified to be weapons
-most vulnerable parts of anatomy are shielded behind a muscular chest
-Incisors are reduced to pointy pegs and canines are like huge, sharp, elongated knives used for ripping flesh
-Their lower jaw does not move from side to side only up and down making their teeth work like a pair of shears.
-They do not chew their food but rather slice off chunks of meat and swallow it whole (think of feeding your cat)
-No digestive enzymes in their saliva
-stomachs are extremely acidic and able to accommodate for huge meals (60-70% of total GI tract).
-meat has no fibre and is therefore easily digested and so the length of their intestine is very short (only 3-6 times their body length) and are optimized for protein and fat absorption.

Characteristics of omnivores….

-They are social animals and live in large herds or communities
-Their limbs are modified for standing and walking long distances for gathering food
-Their nails are blunt and used for digging and peeling
-They have muscular lips, a small mouth opening and well developed cheek muscles which “wall in” their food for chewing
-The teeth rest on top of each other and do not slide past each other scissor style but work rather like a nutcracker
-Lower jaw has a pronounced horizontal side-to-side motion for chewing
-Molars are not sharp and blade-shaped, but are square, and flat-topped.
-many vegetarians have more pronounced canines (Like hippos or gorillas for defense), or shortened and reduced ones such as with horses and humans. Canine teeth do not indicate a design for eating meat
-Plant materials contain large amounts of fibrous material. The end result is that plant foods require extensive processing to extract their nutritional content. Because of this, herbivores consume smaller, more frequent meals and have long elaborate digestive tracts -Their intestines are 10-12 times their body length and have an unlimited capacity for carbohydrate consumption.

Sooooooooooo….where would you classify yourself?

Humans are slow runners with low stamina. We have a carbohydrate-digesting enzyme in our saliva called amylase. Our esophagus does not handle poorly chewed food very well (Over 90% of people who choke to death each year choke on meat). We clearly have a long intestine. When meat goes through our tract, it putrefies and fills our bodies with toxins which can cause cancer and dozens of other problems. Only herbivores have an appendix.

One of the most interesting facts to me is that whenever an herbivore eats animal based products, their arteries begin to be lined with a plaque that will eventually block off blood flow and cause death. Studies have been conducted where dogs are fed cubes of butter for days and NOTHING happens to their blood vessels. Rabbits die in no time when fed animal products. Coronary artery disease is directly linked to eating meat along with most of the diseases of affluence that seem to exist in America and not in places like rural agrarian China.

Ask yourself, “When I see a dead carcass on the road side does my mouth begin to water?” We are absolutely disgusted by meat in its natural form. The slaughtering that carnivores must live for we do out of human sight. The meat just appears in our grocery stores pink and clean. The next thing we do is treat it so that it no longer resembles what it is. We cook it, rub spices into it, and tell ourselves that it is not animal flesh. We just saw that beautiful exhibit “Body Worlds” downtown the other day and every time I saw an arm bone with muscle and tendons on it I thought…drum stick!


Now there are of course other factors to consider. Some lineages of people can handle foods better than others. Most people can digest milk because of the fact that our early ancestors have been drinking it for many millennia. It follows that meat would affect some people more negatively than others but the fact remains that we have not made the full evolutionary step toward becoming carnivores and why would we want to? It’s kind of a complicated system that we have going. Our ancestors no doubt supplemented their diets with protein sources such as nuts, larvae, and meat when they could get it, but we are definitely not designed to handle it in the amounts that our culture has demanded.

I was always under the impression that the reason people from the Amazon and Asia were so small was because of protein deficiency which has been found to be untrue. It is because they did not have a variety of nutrients in their diet. Their options were too limited. I was surprised to find out that meat (not including eggs) has little to no nutritional value. It’s all just protein (yeah yeah B12, but that’s it). I was also surprised to find out how much protein legumes, nuts, and whole grains have.

I don’t care if people eat meat. I agree it’s tasty as hell but what I don’t like from our society in general is the philosophy that it is somehow necessary; That a meal is not complete without it. It isn’t nearly as important as we have been lead to believe. I like to look at it like ice cream. It’s not evil but if I want to challenge myself to be healthier, I should really limit it.

A great book that covers the major research that has been done in this field is “The China Study.” It’s totally changed my thinking.

For those of you still reading (and I suspect Dave may be the only one) I would just like to conclude by thanking PITA for helping the cause by planting an association in everyone’s mind that vegetarians are terrorists that will choose to kill people over adorable puppies. Everyone knows that we vegetarians are just lovable run of the mill condescending elitists. Merry Christmas puppy killers.

The thrill of the hunt?

Why is it that my one year old will eat food that he finds on the floor... in the garbage... under the sofa that he would never touch if I put it in front of him in his high chair? He'll eat a green pea that he finds on the floor but not one on his plate. Just today he found the heel of a loaf of bread (still in the bag) in the top of the garbage and carried it around nibbling it for more than an hour. Weird.

My (conflicted) feelings on Prop 8...

The issue of gay marriage has been weighing heavily on my mind lately for obvious reasons. I know that this is just one blog of one million on this extremely delicate topic, but I wanted to get my conflicted feelings out there and receive feed back from all of my readers (all six or seven of you). I'm really lucky to have an amazing and diverse group of friends that always help me see things in a new way. I wish we could all meet in my living room and stay up all night talking, but since we're all so spread out this will have to do...

So, if you had asked me two weeks ago if I supported proposition 8 I would have said absolutely not. No way. Who am I to tell a couple that they can not enjoy the same union of marriage that I find so fulfilling in my own life? I don't feel like homosexuals getting married threatens what I have with Chris in anyway. To me the act of committing oneself to another in a monogamous relationship through marriage is something that can only bring about positive results. These are my personal feelings on the subject and they have remained the same.

What has changed, however, is my understanding towards those who oppose gay marriage. For many of them it's not an issue of gay rights as much as it's an issue of freedom of religion. Fear, which always sells, was used as the main tactic in getting Prop 8 to pass. I'm sure you're all as familiar with this (or more so) than I am, but in case you're not check out this blog:

http://protectingmarriage.wordpress.com/2008/09/14/six-consequences-the-coalition-has-identified-if-proposition-8-fails/

and this article, When Gay Rights and Religious Liberties Clash:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91486191

And even though you can just as easily search for written rebuttals to every argument, once the seed of fear is planted it is not easily removed. So while people may not have a problem with a homosexual's right to marry they don't want to feel forced to condone that behavior in their churches at the risk of being sued or losing their tax exempt status. I can understand that. I can understand how the perceived loss of religious freedom is more threatening to someone than gay marriage.

What I do not understand is all the hate and anger directed specifically towards the LDS church: riots outside the temple, churches being vandalized, blogs being written about wanting to "stick it to those Mormon bastards." It seems so counter productive to their cause. The latest thing is this blog:

http://lds501c3.wordpress.com/

urging people to write the IRS to report how the LDS church violated Section 501(c)(3) of US Code Title 26, which governs tax-exempt organizations in order to get its tax exempt status revoked. Personal feelings aside, I don't think they have a case. I'm sure that the LDS church has a legal team that would have advised against the first presidency's statement regarding prop 8 could there be any legal ramifications. But my point is, isn't this attempt just going to perpetuate the majority's initial fears that lead to the passing of prop 8 in the first place?

I totally understand why this is such a heated topic. My heart goes out to those who feel like their rights are not being recognized and that their voice isn't being heard. But I guess if it were me, I would recognize that the general population just isn't ready to change what they feel is the definition of marriage. They need another few years or so. I've no doubt that in the next decade same sex marriage will be legally recognized in the whole untied states. But in the mean time, I would perform a civil union and take out a living will. But then again I've always been a little passive. I'm a lover not a fighter.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you all have to say on the topic. So please share, and feel free to correct me where you feel I may have mis-spoke. (You can even correct my spelling and grammatical errors.) Like I said, I learn so much from y'all.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?

The other day one of my really close friends was expressing his complete and utter disdain for an individual that he considers "cheap." I know the object of his disdain fairly well and as far as I can tell this was the individual's only quirk. Aside from his frugality he is a really nice, funny, and caring guy. It kind of bothered me that my friend could not look past that single trait and get to know this individual for the great guy that he is. I asked him about it, explaining that everyone has their quirks: I can be fickle and overindulgent (to name just two), his wife, I pointed out, won't ever make a decision, and Chris can sometimes be a little self centered. Why is it that he can forgive us these quirks and still be our friend but the act of being frugal results in an automatic black listing. To which he replied, "I don't know, It's just not something I can get passed."

At first his answer seemed completely unreasonable, but it got me thinking if there are any character traits that I find unforgivable. And I realized that there is... over confidence in women. I'm saying confident to be fair but the truth is that when I'm around a confident woman I'm really thinking that she is arrogant and conceited. And that is so wrong, because when I'm around a confident man I'm impressed by his confidence and find it a turn on. If he's down right arrogant, I might find it annoying but still a little adorable. I know...HUGE double standard, and from me a former femanista. So then I had to ask myself if I rather someone show false modesty, and the truth is yes I would. I guess I reason that even if I suspect their display of modesty is false in a way they're saying that even though they think they're all that, they at least recognize that maybe not everyone else feels the same. (Unless of course they're just looking for even more validation to their wonderfulness, then that's just sickening.)

At first I thought this was a huge sign of how emotionally immature I am, but it's not that I'm intimidate around successful women. It's not a jealousy thing either. I have some amazing female friends, women that are beautiful, talented, smart, kind, and witty. It's just the act of being cocky (specifically from women) that I find repulsive. At the first sign of arrogance a barrier goes up that will usually prevent us from ever being more than just casual acquaintances.

So I guess that's why we all get to choose who we want to be friends with. I'll no longer pressure my friend to be buddy buddy with a cheapskate.What traits are your deal breakers, and/or are you guilty of having any double standards? Spill it!!

Moving is a bitch!

On August 25th we put our house on the market. We've been really happy in our current home, but we know it's just a matter of time before we outgrow it, and with the boys getting bigger we really want to have a yard. Our thinking was that with the housing market the way it is IF we could find a buyer, we'd be in a sweet position to buy. My hopes were low, but because we weren't in a desperate situation where we were being forced to move, we were fully prepared to wait months for the right offer to come along. My feelings changed as I realized what a huge pain it is to have your home on the market, keeping it not just clean but "show-ready" all the time with a toddler and a preschooler underfoot was near impossible. Also, because I don't have a car I'd always pack the kids in the stroller and take off to the park during the two to three hour window the agents would give me to show the house only to have them show up late just as I was putting the kids down to nap. This happened often and I found it infuriating!

In the middle of September we received an offer. By the time we were done negotiating counteroffers it was September 22, and part of the buyer's conditions were that we be out by October 1st. Say what?! So that basically gave us 8 days to find a home, make an offer on a home, arrange for a place to live until our new home is ready, pack up, find a storage unit, and move. Crazy! And it's not like we were able to put life on hold while we took care of business. We both still had to work and take care of the boys, although I fear they have been seriously neglected during the past week and a half. (Thank goodness for Nick Jr.)

I've been equating the stress and pain of moving to that of child birth. When you're in the midst of it you're thinking, "Why the hell did I do this to myself!?! This sucks!! I'm miserable! NEVER AGAIN!!!" But once you're all settled into your nice new home (or you're holding that precious new baby in your arms) you forget all the pain and you truly don't remember its intensity until you're going through it again. The problem is, I'm still waiting for my baby! We're currently at the mercies of the good graces of my mom and dad who have taken us in until we can close on our new home. The boys are loving it. I'm afraid they'll never want to leave! But obviously Chris and I are anxious (probably not as anxious as my parents) to have our own place again.

Our new home will be in Herriman. We're going to keep a bunch of $5.00 gas cards on hand to give to anyone kind enough to come visit us because man is it far! I never thought we would be so far west. But we looked at a ton of places and for our price range it was the best home for our money. And it really only adds 10 minutes to our commute each way. It's in a great neighborhood with a huge park right across the street and a library, gym, grocery store, gas station, and restaurants all within walking distance. We're really excited.

I want to give a huge shout out to those who helped us during this crazy move!
1. To Julie and Mike who, when I asked if we could live with them for a few weeks, didn't even hesitate to say yes, even when they thought that it could be as long as three months. They are really sacrificing the comfort and routine of their normal lives to accommodate our family and we really appreciate it! My mom provided endless hours of babysitting while I packed and moved, and my dad helped us move some stuff to the house on Tuesday.
2. To our dear friends Pedro and Paula who helped us pack and took time off of work on Tuesday to spend the entire day helping us move.
3. To our friend and favorite babysitter Alex who spent lots of time helping me pack and taking care of the kids. On Monday night when I was the most stressed she took the boys to the park and to Jungle Jim's and on Tuesday she stayed home from school to help us load the moving van and clean the house. She vacuumed the entire house for me.
4. To Judy and Terry for watching the boys Sunday afternoon.
5. To Robin for watching the boys while we house hunted.

We could not have done it without you all so thank you!!! And please let us know when we can return the favor!! If you're upset that you didn't make the list, don't worry, we'll be needing many more kind hearted volunteers to lend a hand when we move into our new home. :)

Trickle Down Economics, Let's hash it out

Don't be too disappointed that it is another Chris Post.

I do not consider myself a very intelligent person, but I am generally very
curious and really want to understand some things better, especially politics.
Luckily for me I am surrounded by exceptional family and friends who are sharp
and informed. This election has motivated me to try to dive deeper into politics
than I have ever before attempted. I have many criticism of both of our dominant
political parties but would like to continually provoke discussion on some fundamental topics that I don't hear enough about. I appreciate how professional and classy all of my associations have been as far as not stooping to the loaded manipulative language that we get from our general media. I'm so proud you.

Lately I have been trying to better understand "trickle down" economics and if
this approach has been valuable to our country. I have attached a link to an
article that is critical of Reagan era changes to the economy. The reason I
think this article may be valuable is because of the the information presented from the the Census Bureau regarding household income. (it is all cited and linked to the Census Bureau website) This writer argues that the intention of trickle down policies was never to benefit the poor from the beginning which I don't necessarily believe. But whatever the true motivation, it is important to evaluate how it has done.

Please, if you have time and would like to share your opinion, review the graphs and information presented here and let me know what you think. Is there additional information and statistics that you feel counter the claims in this article? Please share. I just want to use this article to spur a dialogue between friends and family on this subject.

If the information presented by the Census Bureau is correct, it would seem that
a trickle down approach to economics has had a 20 year trial to make its case
and has failed to benefit our society as a whole. Instead, it has increased the gap between the rich and poor. Though the economy has prospered, that money has never made it down to the middle and lower class who has averaged the same salary since the 70's. When taking into consideration how many more women are working and how much more accessible credit is, that fact is staggering. Do you disagree with this
information? Is there something that is not being taken into consideration? Please share what you know on the subject. I don't want people to use the reasoning that if you reject this approach you have to subscribe to the opposite extreme ( Ex. The whole dissing on a Democrat President to defend stupid policies of a Republican one, or vice versa ) I want an honest weighing of pros and cons. I would not ask your opinions if they did not mean a lot to me. Please share your opinion on the subject even if you do not feel entirely informed.

Thank you everybody for your participation. Be patient with me if you feel I am naive, but now is your chance to lay it down. Thank you.

here is the link

http://rationalrevolution.net/war/trickle_down.htm

Ellen + Portia = Forever

If you know me at all you know how I feel about my girl Ellen. I haven't crushed on a girl so hard since my kick boxing instructor at Gold's Gym. Chris used to find it amusing how I'd make up excuses to talk to her after class and at how nervous and giddy I'd get around her. But those feelings pale in comparison to how I feel about Ellen. Ah... So it's with much love and and equal amount of jealousy that I congratulate Ellen and Portia on their summer nuptials.

No matter your feelings on same sex marriage, you'd have to be a robot to not be touched by this video. Check it out...

A disturbing insight regarding VP Sarah Palin (A rare post by Chris)

Hello everybody. Since her amazing introductory speech at the Republican Convention last week, VP candidate Sarah Palin has been the hottest topic of conversation within all of my social circles. My friends, family, and co-workers have been talking about little else other than this firecracker who impressed us so much with her speech. Most people agree that Palin has been an excellent choice to balance out many of the concerns that people have against Senator John McCain. Some even think she has stolen the spotlight from him. Right now even Republicans seem to want someone who is not afraid to take on their own party to help it return to the traditional standards for which it originally stood. Sarah Palin has left a strong impression of being just that sort of person. However, I recently came across a reply post from a woman named Anne Kilkenny, a resident of Wasilla Alaska who has known Sarah Palin since 1992. She is on a first name basis with Sarah as well as her parents and in-laws. She is extremely active in attending city council meetings and has always been heavily involved in her community. She has submitted a very detailed review of Palin's work in Wasilla that I think sounds pretty legitimate but of course needs to be followed up on (She has posted her e-mail for people to folow up with to ensure that her information is not fabricated). I would be interested to know what other people's responses are to this post and if you think this opinion has legitimate weight. I'm not trying to be contentious. We all know she gave a really impressive speech, but I would like to hear some dialogue about some of the issues discussed in this posting. I think that this election is something for the history books. I have never known an election that has brought people into the issues more than this one. We are all very involved. I know that political issues, though very frustrating at times, are important for us to understand and I would like to encourage other people to discuss these issues in a non aggressive way. Thank you.

Here is the link

 http://my2bucks.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/a-letter-from-someone-who-has-known-sarah-palin-since-1992/

Why it’s phat to be fat… for me anyway.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been fat. Even when I was thin I was fatter than other girls my age. If you’ve known me for any length of time I’m sure you’ve been aware of some time that I’ve been on one crazy diet or another in an attempt to lose weight. Well, not anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I have no plans to let myself go completely, I just REFUSE to allow my weight to be an issue of stress and insecurity any longer. Why this change of heart? I think in part it’s because with the birth of my babies I’ve seen my body do amazing things. It’s really hard to loath a body that for nine months was the home and sole source of nutrients for the two most important people in my life.

Also, in the process of becoming more self aware, I’m trying to set realistic goals for myself. I am simply never going to be super skinny. I love food way too much. I dare say I love food more than the average person. It would require way more work and sacrifice than I am willing to give at this time. As it is, I feel like I work damn hard to maintain my current weight. I try to make it to the gym 3 times a week and I’ll occasionally slip in one or two extra work outs at home. I watch what I eat to a certain extent. 8 days out of 10 I really am ok with what I look like. I don’t love being in a swim suit, but I don’t avoid activities that require one either. I can pack one kid in a baby back pack and put two in a stroller, walk a mile to the park in the hot sun and not get winded. And, as my good friend Melissa pointed out a long time ago, I only take up one seat on an airplane.

I’ve also discovered how my fat serves me. (Let’s be honest, if it didn’t I might make it a higher priority to lose weight.)

Reason #1: Women aren’t intimidated around me. I give them a basis of comparison where they always come out ahead. In a social situation women are always happy to see someone among them who is fatter than they are, I’m that girl! It makes them feel better about themselves and also helps them feel comfortable eating. They can look at what I serve myself and as long as they don’t eat more they’re in great shape. Who doesn’t love a girl who can eat?! I can get away with talking and being friendly to their husbands without them feeling threatened in any way.

Reason #2: I can and do really enjoy food. I usually eat one sweet treat a day, something I couldn’t get away with if I was trying to be supper skinny. Also, if I miss a work out here or there I don’t stress about it.

Reason #3(my favorite reason): People assume that I’m GREAT in the sack. Let’s face it, when people see a really attractive guy with a chubby girl they think, “Wow! She must be a real generous lover!” Now I’m not going to confirm or deny anything, but I like it being assumed that I’m a good lay.

Watch out for the Mama Bear!

We took the boys to Arctic Circle for ice cream tonight. Topher quickly finished his ice cream cone so that he could play in their in-door play ground. A little boy (who I'll refer to as Booger for the sake of the story) was standing in the entrance and as Topher passed him Booger kicked him in the shin! Topher looked a little stunned but continued in and headed towards the slide. I immediately approached Booger (who looked to be at least 8 years old) and told him, "I saw that! Why did you kick him?" -no answer. I lowered my voice a little and looked Booger square in the eye and said, "I'm going to be watching you." He looked kind of scared and then walked away.

Not a minute later Booger saw Topher at the top of the slide and ran up to deliberately block him from coming down. Booger was in Topher's face, and Topher didn't know what to do. This time I loudly charged towards him saying, "HEY! Stop being so rude! He's a little kid. Let him go down." I know, scary right? I can trash talk with the best of them. Booger pushed past him, Topher went down the slide, and I went back to the table where Chris and Max were sitting. Chris hadn't seen anything, but when he saw me he said, "was that you yelling at other people's kids?" Damn straight. So obviously I had been loud enough that everyone outside of the play area could hear, and yet none of the parents seemed the slightest bit concerned that A)some stranger was yelling at their child, or B)that their child was being a bully.

I decided to stay in the play area until it was time to go, thinking that my presence would be enough to discourage Booger from picking on my three year old anymore, but before I knew it Booger had Topher cornered again, this time he had one of his friends block the back entrance of a tube while Booger blocked the front where Topher was trying to exit. Booger was holding a piece of string in both hands, teasing Topher by pressing it against Topher's face and neck.

This time I spoke as loudly as I could without yelling and said, "Where are your parents? Where are they?"

"I'm not telling you," Booger answered, in a classic 'you're not the boss of me' type of voice.

"Fine! I'll just go out there and ask who the parents are of the little boy in the blue stripped shirt who likes to be mean to little kids, and then I'll tell them that you aren't playing very nicely!" I threatened. This time Booger looked a little concerned.

But I was so mad and embarrassed by then that I just picked up the boys and left. As I was leaving I saw Booger go out and sit by his parents who still hadn't done a thing during this whole encounter. Grrrrrrrr! I was fuming the whole way home. I was angry, but I was also concerned that perhaps I had overreacted. Chris assured me that I hadn't saying that he feels like it's important for kids that age to feel the awkwardness and embarrassment of having another adult angry at them when they behave like a jerk. It's how they learn what's appropriate behavior in a social situation.

Have any of you ever yelled at someone else's child? Please share.