New Year

Here's hoping for a great New Year! I say that knowing that I have personally had a great year. I have done some reflecting this Christmas break and have realized how lucky my family and I are. Our kids are healthy and happy. My wife and I have jobs and we both love our jobs. Both sets of our parents are alive and doing well. When many families are struggling to make ends meat, ours is lucky enough to have enough money to live comfortably and enjoy life. My wife and I have some great friends, and like us, know how important their family is. I hope everyone realizes how lucky they are even if they don't think they are. You show me someone having a hard time and I will show you someone in even worse shape. Be thankful for what you have and enjoy life! It is too short! Although I don't really believe in making New Year's resolutions, I will allow myself to make a couple here since I am blogging about the New Year. Here they are:

1. Lose some weight. (I think pretty much everyone makes this one!)

2. Keep exercising. (I don't think this will be a problem. I love doing it!)

3. Have patience with my kids. After all...they are kids! I sure do love them!

Have a great New Year everyone!

Lincoln, IL

Breakfast at Crackbarrel on a freezing cold day.

Snow day feast

Chinese buffet on an icy day...yum!

Supper

Tiramisu tonight!

Blagojevich

As most of you know that read my blog I am not into politics. I am, however, into discussing injustice and misuse of power. Rod Blagojevich makes me sick! How he ever got elected is beyond me. I guess if you can carry Chicago then you are destined to be elected. First he refuses to move to Springfield and rumors of his lack of integrity run wild. Now, of course, he is in the middle of one of the biggest political blunders ever! I mean seriously, who in their right mind would think they could get away with selling a senate seat? Is he that naive or is he so impressed with his own political power that he thinks he is above the law? Either way it does not bode well for the state of Illinois. We need to clean house and get all of the political garbage in Springfield! I, for one, am not proud of saying I am from Illinois today. One of my friends today said she heard on the news that we are one of the top, if not the top, corrupt states in the nation! Aren't you excited to call yourself an Illinoisan? I would love to hear something positive about Illinois government. When kids hear about all the corruption and misuse of power in the state of Illinois in the backs of their minds they have to be saying "If they can do it then why can't I?" CLEAN UP YOUR ACT SPRINGFIELD! DON'T YOU WANT TO HAVE KIDS SAYING THAT THEY WANT TO GROW UP TO BE SO-AND-SO BECAUSE THEY ARE A GOOD MAN AND DO THE RIGHT THINGS?

Bail Out

Should we bail out the "Big 3"? That is an excellent question. I have heard both sides of the argument. I hear quite a bit "If I get in trouble the government doesn't bail me out!". Well no they don't but you are not responsible for thousands of jobs. I feel sorry for the hard laborers of these companies that are caught in the middle. That is about my only argument for the bail out. I think that the leaders of these companies have not handled money and devolpment well on their end and now they are paying for it. They do need to learn a lesson from this. The economy is in bad shape and we all are suffering which means we all have to make sacrifices. Taking a pay cut should just be the start for the leaders of these companies. I do agree with several senators that have stated that total restructuring needs to occur for something good to happen. It was nice to here the words "energy efficient cars" in the discussion of changes needing to be made. A "Car Czar" is another good idea but instead I think it needs to be a committee made of business leaders with different specialties. One person in charge of it all would be overwhelming and almost impossible. What are some of your ideas concerning the bail out?

Earth-Friendly Homes

My 8th graders are currently working on building (and describing) Earth-Friendly Homes. The imaginations of junior high kids always amaze me. They are working extremely hard and very few of them are doing the same thing. Some of the things they have to build and describe are a water system, waste options, heating and cooling options, and alternative energy sources.

I will keep you updated and will definitely have pictures up as soon as they are completed.