The reason it’s called crap-o-rama…

Not much out of the ordinary today.

Hunter is sleeping like crap which means I’m sleeping like crap…nice.

I had a meeting at work, off-site. I got there and was told the meeting was canceled until next week. They never sent me the email.

It was 28 degrees outside today.

The Dow fell below 8,000.

Hunter ate part of an orange for the first time today, but refused to try a pineapple.

“Mom” sitting in his highchair eating breakfast.

“Yes Hunter?”

“What’s that?” to me, cutting some pineapple for lunch.

“It’s a pineapple.”

“Pineapple?”

“Yep, it’s a pineapple. Do you want to try some?”

“No thank you.”

Me giggling…

I’m taking promo pictures of my friends band this weekend. I’m excited and nervous. I still think I suck but oddly, I think I will do fine. wtf?

My Wednesday ends watching a new Ghost Hunters…

NaBloPoMo - day 19

Six degrees of an American Autoworker

I bet I can put anyone within six degrees of an America Autoworker.

My husband comes from a long line of GM employees: his Grandfather, his Father, his uncle, his brother and his cousin all work or worked for General Motors, and so does my husband.

My Grandfather came to Canada from England and worked for Ford Motor Company.

My brother works at Chrysler.

I have some pretty strong feelings about what’s going on right now with the economy and the automotive industry.

** rant warning**

I’m confused why there was hardly any resistance to the banking industry bailout <- not a loan. But when one of our largest manufacturing institutions needs a LOAN, everyone's panties are in a wad.

The banking debacle has a major role in the auto industries' problems. Are they the sole reason? No, I didn't say that. But let's face it; this Wall Street crap has scared the shit out of everyone. I think even if they could, people are afraid to go any deeper into debt. Not that the banking industry (that was bailed out) is lending out any money anyway.

I know the auto industry is making changes. Kev, as a new hire is making one half what veteran employees are making. He isn't eligible for health care benefits for seven months, no dental for five years and there is no longer a defined benefit retirement package. If he wants a retirement program, he has to contribute to a 401… and all of us who have those know how well THAT'S working out.

If the auto industry goes down not only does my husband, my brother and my brother-in-law lose their jobs, but hundreds of thousands of others will be out of work too.

Let me explain… if Kev loses his job, Hunter will no longer go to Daycare. If enough people stop going to daycare… daycare workers lose their jobs.

Automakers put the autos together and suppliers make the pieces. No automakers means no suppliers. Don't kid yourself… there are suppliers everywhere.

Trucking companies take the parts from the suppliers and bring them to the automakers. No automakers, no suppliers… no suppliers mean no trucking companies are needed. No trucking companies mean no truckers.

Dealerships sell autos. No autos to sell, no dealerships. No dealerships mean no sales staff, no service staff and no office help; all now in the unemployment line.

All of these people out of work won't be paying taxes. That would be Federal, State or local government taxes. Lower tax collections mean lower funds to run the governments.

In Michigan cities like Detroit, Pontiac and Southfield where the community has a city tax and counts on that city tax to run, less services will be provided.

Communities where these automakers, suppliers and dealerships are located count on property tax from these businesses. The decreases in tax revenue will cause cuts in services these governmental units provide.

States would have to cut school funding; cities could make cuts in parks and recreation, in the public services like police and fire or anywhere in between. These cuts would create less funding for teachers, school supplies, after school programs, police and fire services. All of which could potentially create more job losses in those industries. More people in the unemployment line.

In 2007, General Motors alone paid over 10 million dollars in taxes just to the local school district, state education, county education and community college. And that's just in the form of property tax from one community. In 2006, General Motors paid over 20 million dollars in property tax to state and local governments just on property located in one municipality. Do you still think losing the America auto industry won't have an impact?

If our government allows the auto industry to fail, they have done a grave disservice to us all.

Epic. Fail.

I believe that with all my heart.

If you can follow my logic and you think our government should be helping the auto industry, I am asking you to go to this site and send a letter to your public officials. All you have to do is enter your name and address and the site will automatically generate emails to your U.S. Senators and Representatives. Literally it takes less than two minutes.

If you don't agree, that's cool too. Thanks for taking the time to read my rant all the way to the end.

Here's that link, thanks for listening.

http://gmfactsandfiction.com/

Peace,
~Sheryl

NaBloPoMo – day 18

Greeblepix - November edition

I went through my photos, most of which haven’t been uploaded to flickr, to try to find a shot for this month’s Greeblepix contest. The theme for this month is grateful. I forgot about some Hunter pics that I never uploaded.

If you’ve been around this blog at all, I don’t have to tell you how grateful I am for this little boy. He is incredible. I think this picture truly captures the depth of his little eyes. I love this picture, especially in the large size.

Aimee has some amazing prizes for this little contest. So go enter one of your pics, it’s fun. And don’t forget to check out some of the other amazing entries.

NaBloPoMo - day 17

Missed a day, but I’m back.

Well I am officially out of the contest portion of NaBloPoMo.  I wasn’t able to post yesterday.  I was spending quality time with family and decided not to go in search of wi-fi.

But that certainly will not stop me from posting for the rest of the month.

Hopefully you will be getting some more substance in future posts.

On the road again

Well I’m headed north.  I don’t know if I will be able to find a wi-fi spot tomorrow, so this may be the end of my NaBloPoMo posting reign.  But I am going to be optimistic about it. 

I’m excited to see my boys, I miss them.  But I have also enjoyed my peace.  I am sure Tyler will be glad to see the boys and his girl Missy.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

NaBloPoMo - day 14

November 12 of 12

12 of 12 is the brainchild of Chad Darnell. Go and check his site out. Also, Chad is having a bit of a medical issue, so please keep him in your positive thoughts and prayers.

First thing I noticed while looking through my lame-ass pictures… I never set my camera clock back for daylight savings time. Crap!

And so the day begins…

7:11 am - Me getting ready for work.

I had a doctor’s appointment this morning. After the appointment I had to go get gas before heading into work.
9:14 am - Getting gas at Costco

I was able to leave work a little early today so I could hang with my boys before they left for the north.
4:06 pm - Everyday I drive home past this cemetery. Oddly, it’s peaceful and the trees are amazing.

4:07 pm - I also drive past this aqua house… everyday.

4:57 pm - Trying to round up the crazy boy and get him into the car… of course he’s running. When he gets older he is going to wonder why all the pics of him are blurry… and I will let him know. LOL

4:58 pm - ahhh, the reason Hunter was running. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Willow in a tree, obviously.

6:27 pm - Hunter in the backseat. We just got home from dinner. A rare occurrence, indeed (dinner, not Hunter in the backseat).

6:56 pm - Hunter and Grandma… but I’m not sure who’s reading to whom.

7:00 pm - Hunter is just obsessed with this book. Every time he sees it, he says “Read a story” and opens the book and says “Once upon a time” (only it’s in his 2 year old accent) and always manages to take my book mark out. I swear, I’ve read some pages 3 and 4 times now. Little worm.

7:51 pm - Have you ever wondered what a depressed 125 lb chocolate lab looks like? Well here you go… Hunter, Missy and Dad are all gone… he acts like he lost his last friend.

7:53 pm - Me! Sorry, but I knew I was going to be short on pics, plus it gives me a chance to show off my new do… that needs to be cut again.

7:57 pm - Even though is scares the shit out of me sometimes, I still never miss it. I’m hooked.

Well that was my 12 of 12. It’s weird; sometimes I have to sort through a hundred pictures and pick out 12. But this month, I hardly had 12 to choose from. I hope you enjoyed a little (albeit lame) peak into my day. Go and check out some of the other participants days. It’s really a cool project.

NaBloPoMo - day 13

Can I get a round of applause…

… for my Guest Blogger????

I’ve been telling you for years what a great guy I have… now you can see for yourself. I said to him yesterday, half joking… “Hey why don’t you write my blog post today?”

I was getting ready to go bowling (Tuesday is my bowling night) and I knew you guys were going to get another lame blog post from me.

After I said it, I thought we both blew it off. But as i was getting ready to leave for bowling, Kev said: “So are you going to show me how to post on your blog thing?”

So I ran through it once, quickly while jotting down some notes for him. I came home from bowling around 10:30 (way past my normal bed-time) to find he actually did write and post an entry.

How cool is he?

How lucky am I?

I have taken my 12 of 12 pics, but I won’t be posting them until tomorrow. But to feed your picture fix I do have a picture for you.

A little background first:
Even though I have a passion for photography, Kev and I decided that we would have Hunter’s school pictures taken. The daycare Hunter attends is part of a Christian Academy that has students in all grades up to 12th. So the opportunity for school pictures came about pretty early. Plus it was relatively cheap… $22.

Look at how great this picture is. I know I sound like an annoying proud Mom, but I love his smile and his little hands are crossed so nicely in front of him. Please note: this is a picture of a picture so it might be ever so slightly squewed.

Dude, I LOVE this picture!!

I often have to remind myself that Hunter is not quite 2 ½ years old yet.

NaBloPoMo - day 12

Guest Blogger

First let me introduce myself. I am the husband of whom she speaks. due to my lovely talented wifes absence, she asked me to fill in. So here we go.

I am so looking forward to this weekend. 4 days of up north time with my son. I will have the help of the grandparents and his uncle Brian. I am very sure they will enjoy his company as much as he will his. But there is another reason I am taking him to the great white north. Moms personal time.

My loving wife is the most loving, caring, supportive person I know. Any wife that allows a husband the time to do the things I do while spending her own time watching a 2 year old and not bitch about it, deserves at least a little personal time and probably a whole lot more. That whole lot more being a new touch screen lap top computer.

With times being tough and money tight, she does not want to spend the money. I am not sure how yet, but I will make sure my loving bride has this. Not sure how yet, but I shall.

So I hope she enjoys her alone time to do whatever she cares to, I know my son and I will enjoy the trip. As for her whole lot more, lets keep our fingers crossed that hubby can make it happen.

a third of the way…

It’s pretty early to be struggling so much.

I don’t recall having this much trouble keeping my commitment in the past two NaBloPoMo’s. I just don’t seem to be feeling it lately.

Hopefully, some inspiration will come back to me in the next couple of days.

Also? This is the two day warning for 12 of 12. Be there or be square.

Maybe tomorrow I will tell you how I actually told my two year old parrot son that I knew his dupa was broken because it had a big crack in it.

I later re-enforced this idea when I got him to point his butt at his Dad in effort to show him the “crack in his dupa”

…All Kev said was that I would have to take the call from the daycare.

Hehe

Or maybe I already just told you.

Hehehe

Over and out.

I got nothin’

Boy this weekend just flew by.

It’s gonna be a strange week.. Tuesday is a holiday - Veteran’s Day. I was planning on taking Wednesday thru Friday off… just sort of a mini-vacation. That would give me several days witout taking so many… But I found out last week I have a state deadline a week from tomorrow. Looks like no mini-va-ca for me. I may try to work on Tuesday to get Friday off… but it will depend on how much I get done.

I’m torn… if I work Tuesday and then can’t have Friday off… it’s all for nothing.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

NaBloPoMo - day 9