Rats

We've been so busy, I almost forgot to post about "the rodent." It has been a few months now that Anna's vehicle has been making the most awful sound when you turn the fan on - sounding like something is stuck in the fan. We finally took it into the Honda dealership to have them scope things out thinking we'd be in and out. What they found was the remains of an "unusually large rodent" and his nest. The strange thing being there was never any smell (thankfully). Oh, and thanks for nothing scrappy - the dumb thing was so big it broke half of the components in the system and cost us almost $500!

Stimulus or ....?

You know what bugs me? Hearing about the stimulus plan and never seeing the actual breakdown of where our money is going. What also bothers me is that there are so many fluff items on the plan. I'm sure that an average educated American could cut an easy $200 billion from the budget with a quick glance.

Check out this website - it's a great overview of the "stimulus plan".
http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/appropssummary.pdf

One thing that caught our eye is that we are giving $650 Million in DTV coupons - ummm....that's not helping the economy. Those converters' prices were jacked up by the guys who make them - so that $650 million is going to one company - one guy - one pocket. And I don't like paying $650 Million so people can watch more TV. Get off your couch and go to work.
On the flip side - they are giving $360 Million to new Child Development Centers. With the rate of children with Autism rising the "stimulus plan" gives twice as much to the TVs.

$1.15 Billion is given to border patrol. That's for everything from security, to buildings, to scanning items for weapons. $3.1 Billion is going to Lands and Parks. Really?? Our most vulnerable area of our country - the ports and border - is given a 3rd of the amount that our parks are given? Wow.

What do you think? Even if you are an Obama lover - how well do you think the stimulus package will work?

Anniversary

After 2 kids and 6 houses later Alex deserves a lot of anecdotes of love and appreciation. And even though I know he REALLY wants me to write a mushy love letter to him on my blog - I'll surprise him and just tell him Happy Anniversary.

Happy Birthday Zoë

Zoë had her 3rd birthday this month. Actually she had 2 birthdays - one during Christmas and one at home. Now she thinks that birthdays should come around every 3 weeks or so. She's such a vivacious little girl - definitely packed full of personality. We are so lucky to have her for a little girl - and my future children will thank her for being the first so I can be refined with fire at the beginning of parenting and not the end! (hopefully) She loves to dance, sing, draw, act like a princess, poke the kitty's eyes, and mother Emmett to death. She is a VERY girly girl and only wants to wear dresses, wear my lipstick, and anything pink or purple.