Believe it or not, I'm really excited to go to work today! I probably shouldn't be, because I'm sure I have a sh*tload of stuff to do when I get there... I missed two days last week and I'll be pretty behind from that. But I'm so ready to get out of the house!
We did have a good weekend this weekend. Well, I told you about some of it already. Saturday we had more snow *ahem* to shovel. Then that afternoon we spent with Shawn's family. They were having a sort of family crisis and we wanted to be there for them. And to spend some time with his parents, who Shawn doesn't get to see much of these days.
That night we watched another movie that Shawn had rented, which was pretty good. Sunday we went to church! Yes, sometimes atheists go to church. ;) It's important to us that our kids are educated as far as religions around the world, so they will be able to choose wisely when they are ready to decide which (if any) is best for them. We like the Unitarian Universalist church because of the things that they do for the community, the religious education programs for adults and children, and the fact that they are open and welcome ALL people - no matter what race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. They tend to look at people to find the similarities, rather than focus on the differences. I could go on and on, but it's almost time to go to work so I'll spare you. For now. :)
We have a couple that are within a half an hour(ish) of our house - which is a good thing because we currently live in the middle of nowhere. The closest of anything (except for a new gas station and a Sonic) is about 10 miles away. We are promised that that will not be the case forever, though. Anyway, we're going to check out the two nearest us and figure out which is the best fit and then try to make that a part of our lives - most for the kids but for us as well. We attended a UU church when we lived at our old house (which is pretty far from where we live now) and it was a pretty good experience. Because of Shawn's work schedule, it was hard to follow up though... so eventually we became lazy and started enjoying our Sundays at home. The boys absolutely LOVE going though, so I think we should keep it up.
Well hope you are having a great start of your week so far...
Monday, January 29, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Did you know about this??
First of all, we're having a pretty good weekend so far. Friday Gavin and I ran errands while Tyler was in school. After we picked up Tyler, we headed down to our Castle Rock (which happens to be the city our first home was in!) to meet my dear friend Erica at Chili's for a bite and some shopping at the Outlet Mall. The Gap outlet was having a fantastic sale - 30% off clearance prices! Woohoo! Sales make me happy... My best deal was a shirt for 68 cents. I don't get to see Erica as often as I'd like because our moving to our new home last year made the distance between us (She lives in Colorado Springs) go from 45 minutes to about 2 hours. The only drawback of our new house.
After we got done shopping, the boys and I met Shawn at the bowling alley for a bit. The boys LOVE bowling and I'm liking it more the better I get. I won the first game and Shawn won the second. Then we headed to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner. On the way home, Shawn stopped to get some movies.
Who Killed the Electric Car? is the documentary we watched last night. Which brings me to the title of this blog... Did anyone out there know there was such a thing? GM actually produced and sold electric cars back in the 90's in California! I had no clue! I was under the apparently mistaken impression that
the Honda Insight was the first vehicle to start the "green" trend in auto makers. But actually the Hybrid technology came later. I was just dumbfounded throughout the entire movie. Toyota had a RAV4, Ford had a Ranger and another smaller car, Honda had a little car and Saturn had the EV1 - pictured to the right. All of these companies leased the vehicles out and after the lease was up, promptly took the cars back without even giving the owners the option to purchase them. Eventually all the electric vehicles were recalled and then destroyed!! Not recycled, used for parts, or even better - sold to the owners who loved them and wanted them! This is just disgusting to me...
Our world is changing and we are to blame. Technology of this type would do so many positive things for our country and our world. For our country, it would help almost eliminate our dependence on foreign oil (a good thing to all Americans that do not work for big oil companies), which would in turn end our need to fight the types of wars we've been fighting lately. Also, it would almost eliminate our smog problem in big cities, which leads to health problems as well as looking nasty. In Denver some days you can't even see the mountains (which are not very far away!) because of the CO2 in the air. For our world, we would stop contributing in such large amounts to global warming and the subsequent climate change... which would ensure that this earth will be here for our children and other future generations.
I just don't understand how anyone in good conscience could not support a technology like this. I find it so frustrating. I haven't even begun to skim the surface, so hopefully if you have any interest in the movie, you will still find it educational. I do highly recommend putting it on your list of things to watch. It will probably make you angry (if you're anything like me that is), but I would never have known this was out there if I hadn't watched it.
So anyway... it's snowing (*again!*) and it's really pretty but I'm having a hard time enjoying it because I'm so tired of snow. ;) Gavin and I shoveled the driveway and we're planning on heading to Shawn's parents' place in a bit to spend some time with them over lunch. I don't think the roads will be too bad.
Tomorrow we're going to check out a new church and then the boys and I are heading to my friend Tiffany's house for an afternoon playgroup. I'll fill you in on all that later though, as this post is probably long enough for one day!
After we got done shopping, the boys and I met Shawn at the bowling alley for a bit. The boys LOVE bowling and I'm liking it more the better I get. I won the first game and Shawn won the second. Then we headed to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner. On the way home, Shawn stopped to get some movies.
Who Killed the Electric Car? is the documentary we watched last night. Which brings me to the title of this blog... Did anyone out there know there was such a thing? GM actually produced and sold electric cars back in the 90's in California! I had no clue! I was under the apparently mistaken impression that
the Honda Insight was the first vehicle to start the "green" trend in auto makers. But actually the Hybrid technology came later. I was just dumbfounded throughout the entire movie. Toyota had a RAV4, Ford had a Ranger and another smaller car, Honda had a little car and Saturn had the EV1 - pictured to the right. All of these companies leased the vehicles out and after the lease was up, promptly took the cars back without even giving the owners the option to purchase them. Eventually all the electric vehicles were recalled and then destroyed!! Not recycled, used for parts, or even better - sold to the owners who loved them and wanted them! This is just disgusting to me...Our world is changing and we are to blame. Technology of this type would do so many positive things for our country and our world. For our country, it would help almost eliminate our dependence on foreign oil (a good thing to all Americans that do not work for big oil companies), which would in turn end our need to fight the types of wars we've been fighting lately. Also, it would almost eliminate our smog problem in big cities, which leads to health problems as well as looking nasty. In Denver some days you can't even see the mountains (which are not very far away!) because of the CO2 in the air. For our world, we would stop contributing in such large amounts to global warming and the subsequent climate change... which would ensure that this earth will be here for our children and other future generations.
I just don't understand how anyone in good conscience could not support a technology like this. I find it so frustrating. I haven't even begun to skim the surface, so hopefully if you have any interest in the movie, you will still find it educational. I do highly recommend putting it on your list of things to watch. It will probably make you angry (if you're anything like me that is), but I would never have known this was out there if I hadn't watched it.
So anyway... it's snowing (*again!*) and it's really pretty but I'm having a hard time enjoying it because I'm so tired of snow. ;) Gavin and I shoveled the driveway and we're planning on heading to Shawn's parents' place in a bit to spend some time with them over lunch. I don't think the roads will be too bad.
Tomorrow we're going to check out a new church and then the boys and I are heading to my friend Tiffany's house for an afternoon playgroup. I'll fill you in on all that later though, as this post is probably long enough for one day!
Friday, January 26, 2007
The Great Mom Debate
One thing you should probably know about me (if you don't already) right off the bat, so you can draw any conclusions about it now - I watch Oprah. And I read her magazine. I find her shows entertaining, thought provoking and interesting. They sometimes give me good things to think (and later blog) about and they sometimes satisfy my celebrity fix.
That being said, yesterday's show got me thinking. They started out the show with a question for moms - can you really have it all? I would guess about half the audience said yes and half said no. They were debating the Working Mom vs Stay at Home Mom. First of all, it's so interesting to me that it's a debate. Because just like a lot of things - religion, politics, how you dress, where you live, etc - what's right for you might not be right for someone else. Regardless, it does seem to drudge up some pretty emotional feelings.
I, personally, think I have found the perfect solution! I work part time. Four six hour days per week.
That isn't how I set out in life though... My mom stayed home with me and devoted her life to me and my siblings. We did fun things all the time. She was there for us and in my opinion was able to raise us "right". I always thought I'd be that same mom for my kids. In fact, I was so set on the fact that I was going to be a wife and mom and that was going to be my career that when Nursing School got too tough, it was easy for me to drop out with the knowledge that I already knew what I wanted to be and it would be silly for me to waste my parents' money on a degree I wasn't going to use.
For me, however, being a stay at home mom was not the best option, at least not permanently. I feel like I did spend a lot of really good quality time with Tyler. We spent 95% of our time together from the time he was born until he was 22 months, when Gavin came along. I spent my days loving him, teaching him, admiring him and learning from him. I did the fun things with him that my mom had done with me. And for the most part I loved every minute of it! I was busy and it was often hard, but it was great for me. Then Gavin came along and it was just the three of us while Shawn was trying to find a job (Gavin came in between the Army and Colorado) and then later working. I was starting, by this time, to miss the interaction I'd had with my friends Beth and Erica in MD, where we moved from before Gavin was born... so when we got to Colorado I quickly sought out and was lucky enough to find the best mom's group ever. They did fun things as a group with their kids, like go to parks and museums, have playgroups at each other's homes and also mom's nights out (and sometimes in). It was the best thing that could have happened to us to help us learn about Colorado and ease the loneliness of being a family of a shift worker.
For awhile I was feeling really happy and fulfilled with being home with my kids. I feel like I really had the opportunity to get to know them and spend time with them and shape them. They weren't being raised by a stranger or a day care, which was something I'd always told myself I could never do.
After awhile, however, our financial situation changed a bit. We felt like we needed me to have an income also to keep us afloat. I jumped at the opportunity to find a job because I was starting to see my mama's less and less and missing that interaction with the outside world quite a bit. So I started looking on Craigslist for a job. I had one interview, with my boss Robin. It was a part time receptionist job for a new Allstate insurance agency. It was right up my alley because I'd done some clerical work in the past and felt like I could be the best little office worker ever! I really feel like working for Robin has given me the opportunity to have the best of both worlds... I love my job - my interaction with my clients, the opportunity to make their day a little happier after they've talked to me than before they called, the opportunity to meet new people, and also to contribute (a little) financially to my family. My boss is a fantastic person to work for - she is extremely flexible with me... from letting me take a 2 month maternity leave after having the twins, to letting me cut down my hours over the summer to spend more time with my kids before Tyler started kindergarten.
At this point, I probably could find ways to sacrifice and change our budget so I wouldn't have to work if I didn't want to... But I think for our family, this is the best. I'm not completely dependent on my kids for my identity. But at the same time, since I have a 3 day weekend every weekend and am home by 4pm each day, I still feel like I have the opportunity to know and spend time with my kids as well. I don't think I'd be a happy person if I were home full time, because I'd miss the grown-up interaction and the sense of accomplishment that my job provides me. At the same time, I don't think working a full 40 hour week would make me happy either because I'd miss too much with my family - and would likely have more stress too!
I consider myself one lucky mom!
That being said, yesterday's show got me thinking. They started out the show with a question for moms - can you really have it all? I would guess about half the audience said yes and half said no. They were debating the Working Mom vs Stay at Home Mom. First of all, it's so interesting to me that it's a debate. Because just like a lot of things - religion, politics, how you dress, where you live, etc - what's right for you might not be right for someone else. Regardless, it does seem to drudge up some pretty emotional feelings.
I, personally, think I have found the perfect solution! I work part time. Four six hour days per week.
That isn't how I set out in life though... My mom stayed home with me and devoted her life to me and my siblings. We did fun things all the time. She was there for us and in my opinion was able to raise us "right". I always thought I'd be that same mom for my kids. In fact, I was so set on the fact that I was going to be a wife and mom and that was going to be my career that when Nursing School got too tough, it was easy for me to drop out with the knowledge that I already knew what I wanted to be and it would be silly for me to waste my parents' money on a degree I wasn't going to use.
For me, however, being a stay at home mom was not the best option, at least not permanently. I feel like I did spend a lot of really good quality time with Tyler. We spent 95% of our time together from the time he was born until he was 22 months, when Gavin came along. I spent my days loving him, teaching him, admiring him and learning from him. I did the fun things with him that my mom had done with me. And for the most part I loved every minute of it! I was busy and it was often hard, but it was great for me. Then Gavin came along and it was just the three of us while Shawn was trying to find a job (Gavin came in between the Army and Colorado) and then later working. I was starting, by this time, to miss the interaction I'd had with my friends Beth and Erica in MD, where we moved from before Gavin was born... so when we got to Colorado I quickly sought out and was lucky enough to find the best mom's group ever. They did fun things as a group with their kids, like go to parks and museums, have playgroups at each other's homes and also mom's nights out (and sometimes in). It was the best thing that could have happened to us to help us learn about Colorado and ease the loneliness of being a family of a shift worker.
For awhile I was feeling really happy and fulfilled with being home with my kids. I feel like I really had the opportunity to get to know them and spend time with them and shape them. They weren't being raised by a stranger or a day care, which was something I'd always told myself I could never do.
After awhile, however, our financial situation changed a bit. We felt like we needed me to have an income also to keep us afloat. I jumped at the opportunity to find a job because I was starting to see my mama's less and less and missing that interaction with the outside world quite a bit. So I started looking on Craigslist for a job. I had one interview, with my boss Robin. It was a part time receptionist job for a new Allstate insurance agency. It was right up my alley because I'd done some clerical work in the past and felt like I could be the best little office worker ever! I really feel like working for Robin has given me the opportunity to have the best of both worlds... I love my job - my interaction with my clients, the opportunity to make their day a little happier after they've talked to me than before they called, the opportunity to meet new people, and also to contribute (a little) financially to my family. My boss is a fantastic person to work for - she is extremely flexible with me... from letting me take a 2 month maternity leave after having the twins, to letting me cut down my hours over the summer to spend more time with my kids before Tyler started kindergarten.
At this point, I probably could find ways to sacrifice and change our budget so I wouldn't have to work if I didn't want to... But I think for our family, this is the best. I'm not completely dependent on my kids for my identity. But at the same time, since I have a 3 day weekend every weekend and am home by 4pm each day, I still feel like I have the opportunity to know and spend time with my kids as well. I don't think I'd be a happy person if I were home full time, because I'd miss the grown-up interaction and the sense of accomplishment that my job provides me. At the same time, I don't think working a full 40 hour week would make me happy either because I'd miss too much with my family - and would likely have more stress too!
I consider myself one lucky mom!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Here we go again!
Well thank you to Ellen for introducing me to a new place to blog. The myspace thing isn't as convenient for those who do not want to sign up for an account, so I thought I'd try something new. If you want to catch up on what you've missed, however, go to my Myspace Blog . I think from now on, I'll post here. I like that you can put pics up on this page (though I might have to have Ellen teach me how to do that) and I like that you can make it prettier. Plus it has a spell check. Sweet! :)
So we're all on the mend. Normally I'd be at work today but seeing as how we're all recuperating from a nasty bout of Strep Throat, we're home. The boys are arguing more than normal. We're going to run errands soon, though, and I've told them if they can be good then we'll meet Daddy for lunch at McD's, so hopefully that will be all the inspriration they need.
Let's see... other than getting WAY behind at work because I'm missing two days this week, nothing much else is new around here. Just wanted to get started so I can let everyone know about the new blog.
Hope you're having a great day!
So we're all on the mend. Normally I'd be at work today but seeing as how we're all recuperating from a nasty bout of Strep Throat, we're home. The boys are arguing more than normal. We're going to run errands soon, though, and I've told them if they can be good then we'll meet Daddy for lunch at McD's, so hopefully that will be all the inspriration they need.
Let's see... other than getting WAY behind at work because I'm missing two days this week, nothing much else is new around here. Just wanted to get started so I can let everyone know about the new blog.
Hope you're having a great day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
