Unusual suspect

Future job prospect #54: Extreme skier

Like this dude.

There's a party going on right here

Celebrating 500 days on the planet from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

My math and the F-22 Raptor fighter jets

The economy sucks. So I can understand our knee-jerk reaction at the prospect of losing more jobs. Do whatever must be done to save the jobs. But wtf, America? It is estimated to cost AT LEAST $140 million to make these jets. Thousands of jobs would be lost if we were to cut these jets from the Defense's budget. The Air Force is currently asking the administration to sign off on the production of 60 more planes over the next three years. 

60 x $140,000,000 = $8,400,000,000

That's a whole lot of money.

Let's look at the potential job losses. The reports I found said cutting funding for these planes would cost "thousands of jobs" (not hundreds of thousands or millions - still a pretty varied field, there's a huge difference between 1,000 and 90,000).

So, for the sake of this post, we'll crunch a variety of numbers to see how much it'll cost us to keep those jobs building planes Obama referred to as "Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use" in his most recent address. 

To keep 1000 jobs building 60 planes at a minimum estimated cost of $8,400,000,000 = $8,400,000.

To keep 10,000 jobs = $840,000.

To keep 90,000 jobs = $93,333.

My point? My point is this - many apologies to my dear husband who was forced to listen to my tirade in the car on the way to work this morning - why not take a miniscule teeny tiny portion of that money and give it to the people who would have otherwise been employed had we gone forward with the building of those jets? You could give folks options. They could get generous severance packages or we could offer them scholarships to attend trade school or college or even money to help families relocate in the event their skill set could be utilized on some other governmental project (e.g., green energy projects like the one (I believe) California just signed up to do). That makes a helluva lot more sense than creating jets we don't need. Nobody likes the idea of handing over taxpayer money to folks without getting some immediate return on investment. But it seems worse to give tremendous sums of taxpayer money to hire companies to produce items we don't need.

Grace in small things, part three, four, and five

Here's a catching up post. Lest you think I exhausted my supply of grace in small things already.

Part three:
1. Clean sheets (not as good as line-dried sheets in the summer but still pretty good)
2. Our subscription to Cook's Illustrated (I'm not a cook but I'm learning)
3. A sturdy vacuum (necessary with our cats and dog)
4. Photos
5. My treadmill (it's a love-hate relationship)
6. A comfy pair of workout shoes
7. See's chocolates

Part Four:
1. Costco (keeps me in deodorant and toothpaste)
2. Laptop
3. Meals you can cook in one pan
4. My OHSU water bottle (a gift from our time there when Henry was born)
5. Music
6. OPB and NPR (keeps me informed)
7. Child safety electrical outlet covers (so my little one doesn't shock himself)

Part Five:
1. Rental movies from iTunes (don't even have to leave the house)
2. Rainy days ('cuz they make the flowers bloom)
3. Noises from Henry (particularly his firetruck rendition)
4. MicroMate reader (for easy transfer of photos from camera to computer)
5. Beer (Mmmm...beer.)
6. Dinners at the table with Henry
7. Our one piece of real art we have in our bedroom (it's an interesting piece)

When good babies go Kleenex

I've been sitting on this video for a couple of weeks but finally felt compelled to post it when Megan mentioned Miss Avery's predilection for emptying boxes of Kleenex as a form of baby entertainment. No tissues were wasted after the filming of this video.

The joy of box emptying from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

The artist formerly known as Puff Daddy

He's on the latest episode of CSI: Miami and I just find myself wanting him to not be there. Ugh.

Recipe Corner: Mini Frittatas with Mushrooms

I hosted my second brunch for mommies yesterday and we were joined by Amber, Miss Josie, Megan, and Miss Avery. I must say Henry is lucky to have some of the cutest girlfriends ever. I am hoping this early introduction to girls doesn't predispose him to become a gigolo. And probably he shouldn't go into puberty thinking it is this easy to get girls to come over and lift up their shirts. 

I had hoped to cook up some carb-happy pancake/waffle/crêpe-type treat but, alas, ran out of time. So we were left to munch on mini frittatas, fruit salad, fried potatoes, and bacon. Since mom-Megan asked, here's the recipe for the frittatas. This tried and true recipe comes from my friend and American expatriate, Jessica. (She was my next door dorm neighbor when I attended Linfield. Waddup, South Hall!) Anyway, there is cheese and cheese, some mushrooms, and cheese. They are good, although mine were slightly overcooked - whoops. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cups minced Portobello mushrooms, discard stems

8 eggs

salt and pepper

1/2 cup cream cheese, diced small

3/4 cup grated mozzarella

1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Sauté the mushrooms in a skillet over medium heat until softened. Remove from heat and set aside. In a bowl, beat the eggs and add salt and pepper. Stir in the cheeses, cream, and mushrooms. 

Pour into oiled mini-muffin pans. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and firm. Note: You can use regular muffin pans, too. I just watch for doneness a tad more closely.

Servings 36

54 out of 100

This is stolen from Dan's Facebook page. 

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.
How do your reading habits stack up?

Instructions:
Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read once. Enter a number for the number of times you read something. Make sure you delete my x'S!

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen- X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien –X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte- X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling - 6
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - X
6 The Bible- X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - X
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell -4
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman –
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens – X
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott – X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy -
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller – X
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare – 
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier- 
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - 2
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk -
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger - 3
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger - X
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot -
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell - 2
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald - 3
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens -
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy -X
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams -
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh -
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky - X
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - 2
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll – X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - 
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - X
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens -X
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - X
34 Emma - Jane Austen - X
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen - X
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis - 3
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - X
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres -
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - X
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne – X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell -X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown – X
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - X
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving -
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery - 
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood -
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding -2
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan - X
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel - X
52 Dune - Frank Herbert -
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons -
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth -
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon -
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley-X
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon - X
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - X
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - 3
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - 2
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt -
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - X
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas -
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac -
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding – X
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie -
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville - X
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens - X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker -
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - 3
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson -
75 Ulysses - James Joyce - X
76 The Inferno - Dante - X
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome -
78 Germinal - Emile Zola -
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray – X
80 Possession - AS Byatt - X
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell -
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker - X
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishigu
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - 3
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry -
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Mitch Albom - 
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-X
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton -
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - 3
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery -X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks -
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams - X
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole-X
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute -
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas - X
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare - X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factoy - Roald Dahl - X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo – X

Future job prospect #6: Ice cream taste tester

Future job prospect #6: Ice cream taste tester from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

I'll have a side of religion with breakfast, please

Me: I think for Lent I'll give up curse words. Wait, does it have to be food?

Darr: Okay, so what I heard was "I think for lunch I'll give up curse words."

Me: For Lent.

Darr: You're Catholic?

Me: No, but I maybe I should try it. Lent, not Catholicism.

A Second Haircut Story

My mum took me to Sit Still last Thursday so I could get my haircut for the second time in my whole entire life. It didn't go as well as my first time. I didn't much appreciate the lady spritzing my hair with water and making me look like this vampire dude from Buffy or this aspiring wizard from Harry Potter or this guy from Wall Street.

Yep, it was me in my trusty cab no. 954. She's a good cah. I do like to sit in her.

I made sure to look at my mom several times while the haircut was taking place so she would not forget how miserable I was.
Then the lady put in a movie called Cars and I was like, "Hey, cahs!" and all was forgiven. That is until the lady turned the blow dryer on.

Because there haven't been enough videos lately

Bahboos, people! from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

Diagnosis denied

Okay, so we got a call from Henry's doc a few weeks ago that preliminary results from his skin biopsy to test for Fanconi Anemia were negative. Phew. Another bad one bites the dust. And Dr. Kurre was a stone's throw away from determining that what Henry is actually suffering from is Chronic Benign Neutropenia. The chronic part sucks but the benign part is great. It's basically no big deal. A kid with CBN might have more infections but the neutropenia typically resolves itself by the time the kid turns five. All in all, if your kid has to have something, this isn't that bad. 

Enter phone call número dos. After talking with another pediatric hematologist oncologist at Seattle Children's Hospital, it turns out there are a few other tests that it would be prudent to have done. One is for a disease we had already crossed off the list. Hello, Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, it's not nice to see you again. And the other is for some crazy rare, progressive bone marrow failure syndrome called Dyskeratosis Congenita. As special as Henry is I don't think he's the one out of a million that has that. (It's estimated to occur in 1 in 1 million people.) Our doc recommends waiting for about six months to see how Henry does. When questioned, he explained that bone marrow failure is a protracted process so we don't have to worry about waking up three weeks from now to discover that Henry's bone marrow is failing. We've got some time to just let Henry be Henry without taking him back for more tests and appointments where he is poked and prodded. Right now we are optimistically hopeful that our little man has CBN and nothing else, well, except for a high level of cuteitude (for cuteitude definition, click here).

Recipe Corner: Sweet Potato and Bacon Fritters

A Henry favorite. And perfect for all those times you don't have anything in the house but some buttermilk, bacon, and yams.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bacon, coarsely chopped

1 large yam (orange-fleshed sweet potato), scrubbed and patted dry

1/2 cup buttermilk, plus more as needed

1 large egg, beaten

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

vegetable oil for deep-frying

pure maple syrup for serving

Directions:

Cook the bacon over medium-high heat until brown and crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Prick the yam and baked it in a 400 degree oven until tender. (For the quick version, microwave the yam on high for about six minutes.) Once the yam is cool, spoon the flesh into a bowl and mash with a potato masher. Place 1/2 cup of the mashed yam in a large bowl. Whisk in the egg and buttermilk. 

Sift the flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and allspice into a bowl. Use a pastry cutter and combine until a fine meal forms. Add the flour mixture to the yam mixture and stir until a soft dough forms, add more buttermilk as needed if the dough is too dry. Add the bacon and stir until just distributed. Cover the bowl with a towel and let stand for 10 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 1 1/2 inches into a Dutch oven [I recommended a Fry Daddy]. Heat the oil over medium heat until it registers 350-degrees Fahrenheit. Drop tablespoons full of the dough, 5 or 6 at a time, into the oil and fry, turning occasionally, until cooked through and brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fritters to the baking sheet. Place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter, letting the oil return to temp between each batch. Serve the fritters hot with maple syrup.

Man, husband, father

Copied from Heather Armstrong's Dooce, who copied it from somewhere in Facebook land.

What are your middle names?
Mine is Marie and his is James. Can't get more uninspired than that.

How long have you been together?
Married for nearly four years but we dated for just over a decade before getting hitched.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
I met him in high school but it wasn't until he returned from college that we started dating. That's a long way of saying approximately five years.

Who asked whom out?
I guess technically it was me but after I heard he was going to hang out at home on a Friday night with no t.v., how could I not invite him back to my co-ed dorm?

How old are each of you?
I'm nearly old and he's two years older than me. The closest I'm willing to admit to is that we're both in our 30s.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Equal time spent with both siblings that still remain in the same state we live in.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Discussing our shrinking retirement portfolio. He also hates it when I yammer on about the plight of the working class.

Did you go to the same school?
Went to the same high school but attended different colleges. In my case, that was multiple colleges.

Are you from the same home town?
Nope. I'm born and raised in Newberg, Oregon. He's from a suburb of that oh-so-like-the-U.S. town called Vancouver, B.C.

Who is smarter?
Darren, although I did get a higher grade in Statistics than he did.

Who is the most sensitive?
Definitely me.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
El Gaucho.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Bulgaria.

Who has the craziest exes?
Neither of us.

Who has the worst temper?
He does. 

Who does the cooking?
He's a better cook but I'm a better baker so we cover all of the bases. And that's important because at the end of the day you need fresh homemade pie.

Who is the neat-freak?
Absolutely 100% me. And if he tries to argue otherwise, I'll kindly point his memory in the direction of the time I flew down to San Jose to help him clean his apartment. And by help I mean he went to work and I stayed at home and cleaned all day.

Who is more stubborn?
Depends on what we're talking about and who's had more to drink.

Who hogs the bed?
We're both so busy working to sleep around the cats and baby neither of us has time to hog the bed.

Who wakes up earlier?
Me. Always. The only day Darren can count on waking up before me is the day I die. And then, he should probably let me sleep in.

Where was your first date?
The South Hall third floor dorm at Linfield in McMinnville.

Who is more jealous?
Me.

How long did it take to get serious?
Serious = marriage? Over a decade. I was beginning to lose my patience toward the end.

Who eats more?
Darren but I'm a close second.

Who does the laundry?
I do. Usually in marathon laundry sessions during the weekend.

Who's better with the computer?
As a computer programmer, I'd have to go with Darr.

Who drives when you are together?
Usually me, unless there is snow. Normal driving conditions are too boring to capture Darr's attention. And his reaction time is just a touch slower than mine so I'm usually huddled in my seat bracing for impact.

Feel free to answer some or all of the same questions about your significant other in the comments, or leave a link to your website if you prefer answering there.

Month Sixteen

Dear Henry,

Happy sixteen months, little man. It should be noted that you are a mere twelve days away from being 500 days old. And also that as I write this I am sipping my second half glass of wine. (This means I've only had one glass of wine. Consider this your introduction to fractions.) I have to say that your pops and I couldn't be prouder of the person you are becoming. At every opportunity you completely win us over. And here we thought it was almost the end of our baby test drive and time to return you to the dealership.In some respects life is much easier now that you are signing. When you're hungry, you point to your mouth. When you find a particular food you enjoy, you sign "more" until you get your fill. When you want down, you point to the floor. But now there is an expectation that we'll understand everything you say, a feat that is not yet possible because we are not always able to decipher your various hand gestures, some of which are remarkably similar. Truthfully, we're just happy none of your signs include the middle finger. It's this expectation that gets us into trouble, though, because it does irritate you a bit when we seem confused and unresponsive while you are trying to communicate. Perhaps you'll be a bit more forgiving when you have a greater understanding of how many words there are in the world. We have noticed a dramatic increase in your food intake the past week or so. It's fantastic. The weirdest item on your list of preferred foods - frozen puréed broccoli. I kid you not. You'd be amazed the concessions we are willing to make as parents just to get you to eat. The new bed time game you created goes like this - 1. We put you to bed; 2. You throw your binky on the floor and when we come in to retrieve it, you sign "eat"; 3. We bring you out to the kitchen and offer you whatever food is handy; 4. You eat and get to stay up longer or you don't eat and we take you back to bed; 5. Repeat. You enjoy both milk and dark chocolate. I'll take responsibility for the milk chocolate if your pops will take responsibility for the dark. Since we don't always make the best parenting choices, we let you try a potato chip but it made you choke. Needless to say, you won't be getting those again until we can be assured you aren't going to retch when you attempt to eat them.You're gunning to have us change your middle name to "Danger". I have come to this conclusion after watching you with Beauty the wonder dog for several days. You are still helping pops with the chore of feeding her. In fact, you initiate the process by grabbing the dog bowl whenever you think she might be hungry. But now, once the bowl is filled and set down, you get super close, reach your hand in, grab a kernel of dog food, and offer it to Beaut. This is the very definition of brave, my son. There are a plenty of dogs who would bite your hand without hesitating. And then they'd take off part of your arm for good measure. It proves that you have managed to win over the heart of the dog. You love to go outdoors. As parents, we are both making a concerted effort to see that you get enough time outside the condo. I'm sure the novelty of the nearly 1300 square feet in which you live has worn off. We don't even have to mention going anywhere and you'll head towards the front door trailing your shoes. The best part is when you sit down and attempt to put them on yourself. Someday soon you'll be able to do all of these things yourself and then what are you going to need us for? You are due for another haircut already. And you've almost outgrown your first pair of toddling shoes. Just the other day we dressed you in your first bona fide 18 month sized clothing. You are learning shapes and colors. You have survived your first visit to the dentist. You love bath time but are less fond of having your hair washed and rinsed. Your reaction to the water I pour over your head is what keeps me from signing you up for another round of swimming lessons. The trauma of the first lessons hasn't dissipated despite all of the time that has passed. One of the absolute greatest things about having you with us is that you let us experience the novelty of this world with you. It's easy to overlook the wonder when you're an adult but it's wondrous to view it through your eyes. Thanks for sharing, bean.

Love,
Mom

The Year of Living Biblically and The Shack

I actually finished The Year of Living Biblically awhile ago but it has taken me this long to figure out I'll never be able to fully understand my own thoughts about God enough to speak coherently about the subject. On the one hand, what a great story the bible is, full of mystery and magic and intrigue and, in some spots fire and brimstone and in others love and forgiveness. On the other hand, it's a mess with weird rules and very little of the tolerance I've come to expect from those of the Christian faith. I wish I was a gifted enough writer to take a year and live according to the bible's rules so I could record the experience from the female perspective. 

Believe me, life would be much easier if I was one of the religious majority. Certainly fewer people would immediately condemn me to Hell upon learning of my belief deficit. Also, folks wouldn't peg me as a soulless, immoral, jerk off with no values who does whatever I want because nothing holds me in check.

I'm open to the possibility of God but I have to say for God to get its message across to me, its going to have to do some fancy footwork because the bible just does not cut it. For me at least. So, yeah, back to the book. Not that book, the other one. It's informative. My favorite part is when Jacobs's wife sits on every chair in the house while menstruating so that Jacobs can't sit anywhere. For those who don't already know, when we women menstruate, we're impure and men are pretty much supposed to stay clear of us for seven days.

Anyway, there is more I want to say but I am still unable to gather my thoughts and I've really kept this book hostage long enough from the kind folks at The Wagners Five who lent it to me. I'll switch to the book I just finished, The Shack. It was a book, I can tell you that. I read it so words were involved. The one thing I did like was this idea that we're all interconnected. To the extent that when you see someone you love, these colors and light shoot off of you and wrap around that person. And then when you see someone else you love, since that love cannot be the exact same love as the previous person, new colors and light envelop that person, and so on and so forth. We can't see these colors, of course, but they are there, wrapping around the people we love. I like love.

The conclusion, read The Year of Living Biblically. Don't bother with The Shack. No real surprises here.

Meat on the pole, not on the plate

Leave it to Portland to start the world's first vegan strip club.

To comprehension and beyond!

Language Acquisition from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

I was somewhat disheartened when Henry's female peers started signing and saying words well before he showed any inclination of wanting to communicate. Despite his slow start, it's clear he is picking up a lot. His word count is significantly higher than it was a few short weeks ago and he's demonstrating an eagerness to learn more. It's time to buy an ASL book so I can introduce him to the various objects around the house and get words like "bogus" and "awesome" added to his verbal repertoire.

Slogan fun

Thanks to Ms. A for posting this fantastic find. 

Henryific

Discover the world of Henry.

Henry - One name. One legend.

Oh my goddess, it's a Henry.

Life's beautiful with Henry.

Henry - The Revolution.

Follow your Henry.

With a name like Henry, it has to be good.

Henry, created by nature.

Und auf Deutsch: 

Henry ist etwas Besonderes.

One part bedhead and one part balloon

Static Electricity from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

Quinn for Macs

Tetris, more addictive than the nicotine they pump into cigarettes. Today, I reached a high score of 198,106. It's okay to be jealous.

Little Smiles

Darren and I were driving through the neighborhood the other day and saw a sign for a pediatric dentist up on 17th so I checked a few local mommy sites and, after reading good reviews, made an appointment. Henry's teeth have become rather gray despite consistent brushing and I wanted to make sure he wasn't experiencing tooth decay. I am super happy to report Henry's teeth are healthy. The iron supplements Henry currently takes are causing the discoloration. Dr. Pelley can polish off the stains to bring out the pearly whites beneath but we decided to wait until Henry is finished with the supplements before doing so.

I like to pass along good finds when I come across them and Dr. Pelley is certainly someone I'd recommend if you're in the market for a pediatric dentist. The front office is spacious and clean with seating for both youngsters and adults. While I filled out the paperwork for our first visit, Henry kept himself busy with a choo-choo train, a kitchen, and a fish tank. We were called into the exam area about five minutes after our scheduled appointment, which admittedly was five minutes late but well within acceptable standards. Plus, given Henry's medical history, I believe the doc was doing some last minute research to figure out what affect, if any, neutropenia might have on teeth. Dr. Pelley was efficient and caring. She painted some fluoride on Henry's teeth before we left and advised us to contact her in the event we heard new information about Henry's condition. Should everything go as planned, we'll see her in another six months. On a side note, she worked as an ICU nurse before becoming a dentist. She definitely has a gentle touch.

Since I forgot our insurance card - I am oft forgetful - the receptionist called over to my dentist and was able to nab the info from them. Easy peasy.

How to live on 500K in that town

Here's my response to this New York Times article:

So, you and all of your finance cohorts have brought the financial world to its knees and now you're faced with the possibility of a reduction in pay. To 500K. How can you live on that salary? It's called SACRIFICE. It's what the rest of the folks in the U.S. have been doing since the economy started tanking.

These are the first cuts.
1. Summer home: $240K a year
2. Car and driver: $75K-$125K a year (added bonus - get rid of this and you also save yourself about $700 a month in garage fees)
3. Formal gowns for charity galas: approx. $35K

And then, look at axing these things from the budget:
4. Personal trainer: $12K a year
5. Nanny: $45K a year
6. Two vacations (winter trip to the sun, spring trip to the slopes): $16K

And finally:
7. Private school for the kid(s): $32K a year

I think this is my favorite excerpt:

Sure, the solution may seem simple: move to Brooklyn or Hoboken, put the children in public schools and buy a MetroCard. But more than a few of the New York-based financial executives who would have their pay limited are men (and they are almost invariably men) whose identities are entwined with living a certain way in a certain neighborhood west of Third Avenue: a life of private schools, summer houses and charity galas that only a seven-figure income can stretch to cover.

As if the solution isn't really simple given that these men have appearances of success to maintain. Whatever.

Here are some suggestions for replacing your exorbitant expenditures with what you'll be able to afford on your restricted salary.

1. Forgo buying a summer house, rent one instead and use it for your yearly vacation: $5,000 a week (not including a $250 cleaning fee and a $1000 refundable security deposit)

2. Goodbye personal trainer, hello Windsor Pilates DVDs: $59.80 (plus S&H)

3. For when you absolutely have to attend the galas, go ABS by Allen Schwartz: $310 (simple, elegant, lovely)

4. Need a car? Zipcar: $50 annual fee/$25 application fee + weekday rates ($11 hour/$77 day) or weekend rates ($13 hourly/$115 day)

You can, right after you win twelve gold medals for your country

Impromptu date night

There are far too few movies that Darr will go to a theatre to see so when he mentioned an interest in this movie, I knew what I had to do. Many moons ago, I had the pleasure of watching Miss E.B. while the adult McMillers ran a race. After the event, they extended an offer to return the favor. So, yes, Internet, I called in that favor. (It is now quite apparent why the Godfather was so fond of these.) Henry was deposited at the McMillers around 4 o'clock this afternoon and I headed downtown to meet DH* and catch the flick. For the most part the movie played out exactly as anticipated. Liam Neeson was excellent in the angry-dad-tearing-down-Paris-to-get-his-daughter-back role. Although we concluded the crazy "I was a preventer" language was a bit humorous. Seriously? What kind of job title is that? 

After the movie, we decided to swing by 3 Doors Down because I had a hankering for their pasta with vodka sauce. There is no other restaurant in Portland that makes the dish as well as those folks do. Mmm. So frickin' good. Anyway, the bad economy meant there was ample room at the bar for us to have a drink while we waited for the food. For me, a blood orange Amaretto sour. For Darr, some type of fancy Scotch. This is only our third date since Henry was born. Three dates in nearly sixteen months. Egads. And it is clear to me that we need to do this more often to recharge, particularly after reading this depressing op-ed piece about how having kids can ruin your marriage if you aren't diligent about maintaining the relationship that got you to think about having a kid in the first place. (Turns out the old wisdom about having a kid to save a marriage was wrong. Bringing a baby into the mix can sink a marriage faster than the iceberg that brought down the Titanic.) Being in the restaurant, drinks in hand, conversation flowing was fantastically familiar. We send our heartiest of thanks to the McMillers for taking care of Monsieur Henry for the evening. We owe them, big time.

*Stands for "dear husband". I see this a lot on mommy sites but probably won't ever use it again myself. Seems cheesy.

Parenting Tool #26: OMSI

In a word OMSI is awesome. Awesome because it is a place where you can take your kid when the weather is less than stellar. Awesome because it has lots of play options. And awesome because there are balls. Lots and lots of balls. 

Today, we met Cousin Amels and Megan at OMSI for some good, old-fashioned science fun. Henry definitely <balls> has his favorites<balls>, which he was only too happy to share with Miss Amels. Of course there were pictures...

My IM rant

Me: I'd like to know why we have the stupid $#^@ &#^hole mother scratcher landscape people using a #^@&@* @#$-master leaf blower when the ARE CURRENTLY NO #^@&@ **!HOLE LEAVES ON THE #&^&@#& GROUND.

Rodearmel v. Clinton

You knew someone was going to file a lawsuit. There are people who believe that Clinton is ineligible to serve as Secretary of State because during her tenure in the Senate the salary for the U.S. Secretary of State was increased multiple times. David C. Rodearmel argues that the language of the Emoluments Clause is absolute. It reads as follows:

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

So, yeah, if the pay has been increased it looks like she is ineligible. Enter the Saxbe Fix. Congress will just reduce the salary and all is forgiven. Problem solved. Used by both sides, the Saxbe Fix has become an effective work-around for those trying to appoint members of Congress to positions they would otherwise be ineligible for (thanks to the Emoluments Clause). But I digress because I'm not here to talk about whether or not reducing the salary satisfies the ineligibility clause. If Rodearmel wants to look at the language as absolute, I say we do that, particularly this part:

"No Senator or Representative, shall during the time for which he was elected..."

And I want to throw my support behind Prof. Paulsen's theory that Clinton has a shot at finagling her way through this pickle by arguing the Emoluments Clause does not apply to female U.S. Senators. Go Hillary!

Our very own little pee man

This just in...

Two minutes ago, Henry Finn, known to his friends as Monsieur Henry, went pee pee on the potty. It happened during a regulation diaper change. After the old diaper was tossed in the dirty diaper receptacle and before the fresh diaper was secured, Henry had his bare bum placed on the potty. In a surprise move Henry actually peed as his mom belted out a little potty ditty, which prompted a song change to that one hepatitis song in the ad about washing your hands after going to the bathroom.

And ... Action!

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours.

(Still a recession at this end--woot!!--and I'm hoping a happy recession for all of you.)

Because many Republicans are in denial about the harm that came from pursuing a hands off, let the economy heal itself policy during the Great Depression, and because they cannot accept the prominent role that fiscal policy played in ending it, they are making the same mistakes all over again. Unfortunately, and perhaps by way of explanation, they won't have to pay for the costs of the their mistakes, those costs will fall largely on others, e.g. households who suddenly and unexpectedly find their financial foundations ripped out from under them as jobs that could have been saved are lost.
--Read more at Economist's View

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"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." -- Sherlock Holmes

"How empty is theory in the presence of fact!" -- Mark Twain

"The great tragedy of science--the slaying of a beautiful theory by an ugly fact." -- Thomas Henry Huxley

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Here's George Will (a pretty smart guy) twisting a single fact of negative net investment to fit his view of the world.

Republicans are (still!) chattering on about needing to cut the corporate tax rate to stimulate the economy. The U.S. statutory rate is something like 35%, which is one of the highest in the world, but the effective rate is a much more moderate 22% (or so). The theory is that companies pay a ton of tax, but the fact is that the U.S. is (almost) a tax haven.

Another great quote from the main article above: "Republicans focus on cutting corporate taxes, as though the problem confronting American businesses was the tax on their profits rather than the fact that, in the absence of sales, they have no profits."

The world is not exceedingly complex: Increase aggregate demand with Government spending.

Yelling fire in a crowded office

I'm sure everybody's seen this, but in case you missed it...



A Lesson on Fire at hulu (Larger Size)

Reading status update

So I picked up The Shack at Costco without reading the back of the book because I thought it was a regular old piece of pulp fiction. It's not. But I am determined to make it through. The writing is not good but I admit that I have read worse. I have made it to page 89, this is a gazillion more pages than I managed to read when I attempted the first in the Left Behind series. And I had incentive to read that book because I bet Darr $50 I could. 

Spoiler alert: God just showed up. It is an African-American woman, an Asian woman, and a Middle Eastern man all in one. I didn't see that coming.

On a side note, I'm also reading Eat, Pray, Love and finished The Year of Living Biblically last week. (Thanks, Andrew, for the loaner.)

Goodbye global gag rule

from Associated Press writer Katharine Hourfeld. For the full story, click here. 

"Turnbull applauded the Bush administration for spending millions to fight AIDS and other health threats in Africa, but said the gag ruled* undermined that effort.

For instance, she said, groups that could have helped distribute the condoms the U.S. was supplying to fight AIDS were denied funding because of their stance on abortion.   ...

Clinics serving over 1.5 million women closed in Kenya, homeland of Obama's father, said Marie StopesKenya and Family Health Options Kenya. Contraceptive availability in Zambia was reduced. AIDS programs run by family planning groups in Ethiopia were affected."

*The gag rule is the U.S. government's policy that banned money from going to international organizations that offered or provided information, referrals or counseling about abortion. It was initially enacted by Reagan, ended by Clinton (woot!), reinstated and Bush, and just recently ended (again) by Obama.