Spray'd Family Life

Tired ramblings

2011-03-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

So tired.

We let Josh taste a bit of plain yogurt last night as a test to see if he had outgrown his dairy sensitivity.

Test failed. Midnight to 7am was one big blur of 40 minute cat naps while he tried to sleep, woke up and whined, tried to sleep again. I will not be trying that again any time soon.

Since we were so out of it, Jeremy and I decided to walk to Starbucks, and ended up just having a great morning walking and talking and really connecting with the fact that we are moving in a week. Its surreal, and not just because I lack REM sleep.

We are so comfortable here, and we're jumping into something so unknown. Everything is going to be exciting no doubt, and challenging, but in what ways? All I can do is wonder and wait. Will the connections Jeremy and I have made in Portland grow? What new connections are waiting to be made? And what will life be like?

We had our going away party this weekend, fun and sad. But almost everyone there will be in the Portland area sometime this year, so it wasn't so awful. And we get to see Don and Cindy so soon, its hard not to be excited about that. Everything is working out....so now what do I focus on next?

In which I write far too much about my life

2011-03-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Wow, life has been busy. I've barely had time to think, let alone blog, so this post is way overdue. Life hasn't been particularly difficult or stressful, but with the move so close Jeremy and I have been busting our butts getting ready. Add to that the crazy growth Joshua's been experiencing (with the additional needs and time that takes) and it adds up to one tired mama.

We found what we think will be a great apartment in the Bull Mountain neighborhood of Tigard, 8-10 minutes southwest of Portland on the 99W. Its a two bedroom on the third floor (top floor) in a nice complex with its own playground. Hopefully that bodes well for the family friendliness of the neighborhood. My brother Dirk checked it out, and he's the type of guy that if he likes it, then you know its good, cause he doesn't get excited all that easy.

We got all rushed and packed everything away, only to discover that the move date is 9 days away, and we don't have anything left to pack but the last minute pieces. (And all of Josh's toys. I keep explaining that its just for a couple weeks, but he's not buying it.) So, all the prep that can be done has been done. Moving Van, Apt, Utilities set up, Non-Essentials packed. Done.

Now what?

Catching up with my life. I finally got to send some recent pics to the family members, and posted some on facebook for the rest of y'all. Josh has four teeth now. The top two are very much in, but will probably grow a bit bigger before they are done. He's a speed demon crawling master, getting into EVERYTHING, way too strong for his own good. Pulling out the cat box, lifting up the baby gate (when its not snapped in), he can even lift himself up briefly by pulling on our dresser drawers. He's pulled himself to standing, one handed, and is letting go more and more frequently to see how long he can stay up.

He's also learning some pretty big things. The internets say he's learning categories right now, and lots of dexterity with his hands. I can totally see the second one, cause he's picking up every little tiny thing he can see, and then putting in his mouth and scaring me half to death. And he's discovered that saying "mum mum mum" gets him picked up and loved, so its become his mom/dad/caretaker word (it occasionally shifts to "mama" and I get all excited)

Until yesterday, he really was having a hard time sleeping, and eating solid foods, all due to his crazy busy brain, so they say. (They being mommy-bloggers, child development experts, and various other parenting websites) But finally, we've had two nights in a row of decent sleep, and he's napping IN HIS CRIB right now. (For almost three weeks, we've had to hold him or drive him in the car to get him to nap at all) So maybe he's finally finished the growth spurt he was working on, and now is winding down to routine and normalcy again. God, that would be great. Fingers crossed.

And now I'm going to stop typing cause this is becoming an novel. Next chapter: How to keep a 9 month old (yes, he really will be 9 months old on the 8th) busy and calm during a three day moving trip across state lines. Woo!

More Big Happenings

2011-03-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

Things are progressing at a very fast pace. I have a job offer from Accountants International, official documentation pending, to start on April 6 in Portland. Katy-1, Unemployment rate-0!

Good pay, great benefits, and I like my new boss a lot. I'm very excited. I'm nervous that its so different from what I've done before, but I feel like the skills I'll be learning will be great for the future, even if I go back to accounting.

My last day at Roadside is March 31, and we move on the 1st! We just sent Max off to be in his PAALS Doggy Sanctuary in CO this morning, and are now looking for places to live in the Lake Oswego/Tualatin/SW Portland area so that I will be close to my work. One nice thing about only having one small dog is that we don't need a yard so we can look at townhomes and apartments as well as houses for rent, which makes a big difference with our budget. Yay for money savings! And yay for Max finding a happy home with lots of other doggies. I'm sad to see him go, but its such a better thing for everyone involved, I have to be happy for him too. I hope he likes his new home.

I hope we like our new home too. More to come...

The Portland Vortex

2011-03-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

My Mom coined the phrase. She said we had opened up an energy vortex, the Portland Vortex, gave it a direction, put energy in it to make is spin, and now we are all being swept up because its taken on a life of its own.

Well yes, that is exactly how I feel. Its all of my own making, but right now, I totally feel like I am being swept up into a whirlpool, partly laughing cause its fun and cool, and partly freaked cause I might drown.

I just sent my references and salary history to Randi at Accountants International and am expecting a job offer within the week. Randi asked me how soon I could move, cause they want me now, and I said three weeks was the soonest I could possibly be there. And now its hitting me, I may be in Portland in less than a month. And we need a place to live, and to pack and to drive up. And I'll be away from my parents, who have been so amazingly helpful to have around (instant babysitters, and wonderful emotional support). And I'll be away from my friends. Yeah, the panic is trying to come up.

And then there's the additional stress of Max. Wonderful Max the Dog who just doesn't get babies. Who tried so hard, but just can't get it. He hasn't bit Joshua yet, but he's come close enough that we have decided he needs a new home. So we are calling everywhere, trying to find a shelter that will adopt him out. Sigh. It is really hard to let him go, even though it will be best for everyone. And in the midst of this other stress, its just crazy. But it'll get worse before it gets better, and that scares me the most: that Max will get more violent with Josh as the vortex continues to spin. He's never been good with stress or changes.

So, on we go, one foot in front of the other. There's no turning back now, just moving forward. Deep breaths.

My Interview

2011-03-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

My interview with Accountants International is done, and from all signs it went great! It didn't end in a job offer, but it really felt as if they were ready to hire me today if I were available. Hopefully, they will be willing to wait until my move date, or to help me with moving expenses so I can be up there sooner.

I am nervous, and feel a bit like this might be an awful move. But at the same time, it feels exciting, exhilarating to see a new path in front of me, rather than the well worn accountant's path.

I wish I knew that they would for sure offer me the job. Or that some mention would be made. I'm getting worried that my timeline might make or break this opportunity. I think I'll ask Randi to be sure. (Manager at the Lake Oswego office) I'd rather be proactive about it than lose the position by playing coy.

Yes, if I'm really honest with myself, I want this job. Its scary and new and might be the wrong place for me, but despite all that, I want this job. And I am going to do what I can to get it.

Portland: Update

2011-02-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

After a phone interview and some emails back and forth, it looks like I may actually become a financial recruiter. Accountants International is flying me back to Portland on Friday for an in person interview!

Unfortunately its just a quick trip, barely a few hours, but it feels pretty awesome. Every way I look at it, this seems like a great opportunity. I get to learn about the companies in the Portland area, learn some sales and negotiating skills, and have a job right when I get to Portland. Worse case senario, I can leave after a few months. But there's a very real possibility that I will like it (from everything I've heard it sounds like something that would really suit me) so I could very well stay for quite some time. And if that happens, I could work on my MBA much easier at this type of job than in a controller type of position.

The only thing that really scares me is this sense that at this point in my life, I should be specializing rather than switching careers. But the skills will be so invaluable, that doesn't bother me very much. Anyway, the interview is on Friday, so I will know more once that is complete.

Yay! Big adventures!

Portland Trip: Download

2011-02-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a whirlwind trip I had. Six days in beautiful Portland (hardly any rain while I was there - really gorgeous).

First let me just say to everyone one I met and everyone who reached out a hand in friendship, thank you. You cemented my love for Portland.

I'm just going to list highlights, to try keep all the amazingness straight. (No promises)

When I arrived Monday afternoon, my first meeting was with a recruiter at Boly:Welch, a smallish firm in downtown Portland. I missed my exit, freaked out, finally found my way and parking, and walked six blocks in pouring rain (which is only did for the 10 minutes I was walking those six blocks). It felt like an awful start, and then I got to office. A fabulous office. With smiling people, free tea and coffee, and a dog at the receptionist desk. Sigh. I love you Portland.

The meeting with Juanita, the recruiter, went great. She said I should have no trouble getting a position, but that I may need to move up to Portland before she can place me. No big, I mostly wanted to get the inside perspective on hiring in my field. And it is good.

The next day I met with Amy, a friend of my boss Eric, at Water Ave Coffee. BTW, best cappuccino ever, even if it is served with a side of attitude. (my guy was very nice, but Amy's not so much) She gave me the low down on child care, schools, neighborhoods, and few companies to check for work as well. And she sent me over to PSU to check our their PBAC (Post-Baccalaureate Accounting Certificate). As a student I can put Joshua on the waitlist for PSU's awesome version of day care, the Helen Gordon Child Development Center. I went, I saw, and I'm in love. Josh is on their waitlist now, assuming that in a year (about how long the waitlist is) Jeremy may want to re-join the working class. And I'm applying for PSU as well, so we'll both be in school!

Wed was all about fun in Portland. Met some friends of my stepdad, Greg, had myself a VooDoo Doll, from VooDoo Dounuts, complete with pretzel stick 'pin' stuck in its heart, and just enjoyed downtown. Love this city.

The rest is a bit of a blur. Met with two controllers at Intel, who had great advice as far as career choices go (they also said PSU was the place to go). Had dinner with my uncle Tony and his wife Lynn (so so so good!) Had the best meeting of all with Kirk, another friend of the boss, who had so much advice and help offered, I was almost overwhelmed by all of it.

AND in the midst of this, I went to a bunch of networking events, meeting even MORE people who wanted to help me, and are still sending me listing and links and whatnot. I also met Randi, a recruiter at Accountants Int'l, who said she wanted me to interview for an open position they have as a finance and accounting recruiter. I had the phone interview on Tuesday, and I think it went really good. So who knows? There are so many opportunities and openings, I almost wonder what I'm still doing in LA!

On the move!

2011-01-25T16:52:00.000-08:00

So yes, I am still freaking out and stressed and scared and all that. AND I am excited!

On Wed I pulled the trigger and bought a round trip ticket to Portland for February 7-10. Hopefully for interviews. If not interviews, than informal meetings with potential employers. If not informal meetings, than networking with people in or connected to my target companies.

Since the money has already been spent, I have a HUGE incentive to push and create these interviews/meetings etc. My first two days, it was damn terrifying, but now...I actually feel empowered.

So here's the deal: Since I have this small window, I have to be really proactive about my search, and in trying to be proactive I found out that I have no idea how to do that with a job search! Its all so passive - respond to listed openings and hope someone calls you. Yeah, not gonna work for me. So, though I am still doing that, I spent the weekend really drilling down to specifics that I could act on: 1)What do I want? Specifically? 2)Where do I want to do it?

What I want is a mid-level accounting position in a dynamic company, specifically software, publishing, marketing. Target companies are Intel, Dark Horse Comics, Nike (a little off of my target, but their accounting dept is pretty interesting), Knowledge University (education software), The Partners Group Ltd, and a couple others that are on my backup list.

And now I'm using linkedIn, Twitter, Google and anything else I can get my hands on to actually connect with someone at these companies and set up some form of meeting (lunch, coffee, 15 min at the office). It feels so great to take real action and be in charge of something! (way better than the normal job hunt, btw)

The hope is that even if these companies don't have a current position open for me, they may in the future, or know other companies in similar industries that have an opening, and my resume will come up because (unlike other applicants) they actually know who I am. The proof will be in the pudding, but honestly, this feels like the best way to find a job and every email I send feels like I'm getting just that much closer to my next dream job.

What's holding me back?

2011-01-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

More specifically, what am I scared of? So, the whole story is that we are moving to Portland. But in order to move to Portland, one of us has to find work up there first. Jeremy is on track with TSA, but they move at their own slow, governmental, beaureacratic speed, so we can't really count on them coming through. Which means I am actively looking for a new job in the Portland area.

Or at least, I'm going to. I've dragged my feet putting my resume together, dragging my feet getting a cover letter written, dragging my feet looking for companies to apply for. Every step of the way, I do research, and read and think and plan, and then I feel accomplished enough that I call it finished, at least for a while. In fact, the only reason I even have a resume right now is two things:

One, I gave myself a deadline of Jan 15, which I am overdue on, but not by much. I did do a last minute push to reach that date. Two, I signed up for an online 'class' on hustling, mostly because the first topic interested me: 'Our invisible scripts and how to get over them'. This email list is constantly talking about how people don't take action on what they talk about, or how they let failure stop them before they even really start. It shames me into working for half an hour or so every time I read it.

So, even though I do have a resume and letter close to ready, it happened way later than it should have, and I'm still pretty uncomfortable sending them out at all. But why? What is the 'invisible script?' The underlying belief that stops me in my tracks?

I think its something along the lines of "There are no jobs for me up there, and no one can help me, and I'm just going to be stuck in LA forever, so I should just get used to it." Not helpful. Self-fulfilling, but not helpful. Its like I don't think I deserve a decent job or to live in the city I want to live in. I've also got another one that goes "Portland is going to suck and you are going to be so upset that you moved there, just stay in LA where at least you know you can get along ok." But I know I can get along anywhere, if I keep an open mind and let myself enjoy it, so that really is just a bunch of hooey. But its powerful hooey.

I have to keep myself aware of these "scripts" and take actions in spite of them. To test them. To prove to myself that they are bunk. The actions I'm taking right now, are to just keep moving forward. Sending my resume and cover letter to others to edit and help with, so its not just me that as a stake in it. I have to tell others about my progress. I'm making a list of companies to apply to, and I think I'll make sure Jeremy knows what I'm doing, so he can keep asking me about it too.

Most of all, I'm not letting myself stop. And not letting myself feel like simple research/reading/surfing the internet is 'progress.' I have to have something concrete. At the very least, I will write down what I'm learning and my thoughts, if researching is all I'm doing for a night, so there is something real I created that day. The only way to get there is to keep moving forward.

Holy baby bouncer, Batman!

2011-01-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness Josh has grown this week! He's crawling around now! Not super far, super fast, but three or four feet at a time, and pretty consistently too. He chases Topper around the room, to Topper's chagrin. Where before Topper was safe just moving a few feet away from Josh's grabby hands, that safe zone has now basically disappeared. Its so cool!

Also cool, he's created another hand sign. He's already been rubbing his eyes when he's tired. Which of course started because its a natural movement when he's sleepy, but now its also a communication. And tonight we found that when he grabs his fingers and holds them over his head he's asking to be picked up. He thinks its really fun that we can do what he asks. I think so too. Makes for a much less fussy baby.

He's been communicating when he likes things and doesn't like things, but its cool to get something so specific. We're going to look into teaching him baby signs, so he can tell us more stuff too. More to come.

Motivation!

2011-01-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and I haven't been to the gym in a while. There wasn't a 24 hour fitness close enough while we were in Colorado, and when we got back, life was such a whirlwind that we felt there were more urgent things to handle before we could get back into our workout groove.

BUT we did get a Wii Fit for Christmas (Thank you Motleys!) and Just Dance 2 from a giveaway (Thank you Rookie Moms!) and this week we've tried them both out. Sunday it was the Wii Fit, which is mean! Not really, but it certainly doesn't pull any punches. It adjusts your Mii (Wii's version of an avatar) to be as unfit as it thinks you are, which means my mii has a big fat butt and Jeremy's is just overall fat. But then you get to the games which are totally fun. I like the balance games (hula hoop, skiing, etc) and the yoga has a center of gravity sensor that you have to keep within a little circle on the screen. Harder than you think.

Monday, we tried Just Dance 2. Very fun. Jeremy and I got two whole songs in before Joshua got antsy. And boy were we tuckered. Its a really diverse selection of music, and all of it is fun dance/party music. :D

Then comes Tuesday, where we didn't want to do either of those things OR go to the gym because Biggest Loser was on (on our new HD TV - Thank you Asburys!). And you can not interrupt Biggest Loser. No, you can not. Oh dear, what's a girl to do...I can't workout because I'm too busy watching people workout. And then, Jeremy found a solution! He pulled out the fit and did step ups, pushups and crunches while watching the show. Yay!

We each did our own 10-15 minute workouts while watching the show. Its not much, but it sure felt good. Way better than sitting like blobs in front of the TV. And it is WAY motivating to workout while they are working out. Its like Jillian is right there!

So the gym is still on the list - I need to run more to train for the Warrior Dash, and Jeremy and I both love their BodyPump weight lifting class, but now we have multiple options to get just a bit of exercise in on the days when we can't get to the gym. :D

Christmas is coming!

2010-12-20T14:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming! Or is, perhaps, here already.

Our Christmas this year is less of one big day and more of a gift giving, family-visiting fortnight. There's just so much love and generosity going around, Christmas is spilling over. It also has much to do with our lack of Santa-aged kids around. Without the "gotta wait til xmas" Santa build up, our family is free to express the season as we want.

Jeremy found a great deal, and bought himself his present from me early, and then, ta-da! I found a great deal and did the same. We had a wonderful Christmas-y weekend with my parents with cookies and cider, and skyping of relatives. :) So that part of Christmas has come an gone. (Don't worry everyone. There will be more skyping on Christmas)

Its been raining for three days, and is said it will continue until the end of the week, which is just so wintery and beautiful. Its not too cold and there's very little wind, so its actually a bit enjoyable, even if its wet. We had the most amazing afternoon yesterday, where the fog was so thick, and it was like 65 degrees, and raining hard enough that the gutter sounded like a waterfall. Jeremy and I felt just like we were in a rainforest. Really magical.

So even though we continue to prepare for the actual day, and all the people we will see and presents we will exchange, I'm very grateful for this Christmas feeling now. Not only does it just feel fabulous, it also takes the stress off everything having to be on that one day. We are even extending Christmas into New Year's by visiting our Colorado relatives. So here's to the holidays! May they not be too long, and certainly not too short, and mostly, may they just be wonderful.

Playing Catch up

2010-12-14T14:08:00.001-08:00

Wow, it has been so LONG since I posted here. My last post was just a week before I found out I was pregnant, so I guess pregnant me wanted nothing to do with blogging.

But now I keep seeing things and wanting to share them, so I'm back online again!

Ever since Josh was born, all I want to do is share share share! But for today, I really want to talk about the new car we just got.

Joshua is about to outgrow his infant carseat, but is not yet heavy enough (or old enough) for a forward facing seat. Thus we move up to the larger sized car seat, but with it oriented in the most space-using way possible: rear-facing. Its not just turning the carseat around, but it also has to be tilted to be in a more 'lying down' position. Way way WAY to big for our car.

So we got a new one! This came up much sooner than we had expected, so we didn't have a down payment saved up at all (in fact, we had just spent our extra money on xmas gifts, knowing that I have a bonus coming) so we knew leasing was out. Besides, neither of us are good candidates for leasing. We ding cars, we drive them too far, and with a baby in tow, are likely to stain upholstery now too.

So we applied for a loan in a few places, and dear LORD! Would it kill car salesman to give a straight answer occasionally? It was like pulling teeth just trying to find out how much car we could afford and whether they could help us with that. Finally, we applied for a loan at carmax.com. Thirty minutes later we got a call from Jerry, who was able to tell us the loan terms offered (a range, since it depended on the car price and age) and, given our limits on what we could pay monthly, how much car we could afford. And then he told us a few that he had on the lot that we could test drive.

We drove some on Saturday, and liked them all, but they were just a bit steep. So we requested an older model Kia Sedona (yes, its a minivan) to be transfered from the next Carmax over in Ontario. The next day, we got to drive that one, and though it wasn't nearly as nice as the newer models, it was much more affordable for us. We were even able to afford the maximum extended warranty and GAP insurance (with 60K miles on it already, those HAD to be purchased for me to feel secure).

Jeremy and I were kind of sad to not get the purty new(er) cars, but we came up with a plan to save the money we aren't spending, because our car payment is low, and then take that money and upgrade in two years. We'll be more secure in our living situation (in Portland!) and in the meantime, we aren't gambling our future in the name of bling.

More swing dancing

2009-10-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been writing some nice deep stuff, and at some point I'll post it (I want to get it just right) but an update. I haven't danced in two weeks due to sickness and car issues, but right before I got sick I discovered something awesome. The Lindy Technique class at Lindy Groove. Its not advertised and its hidden on the calendar section of the website, but it does exist. Basically, its just breaking down the balance, timing, foot and body technique that allows you to dance at the next level. And boy did I need it! I was feeling stuck, at a plateau, and now I know exactly why! (For those technically inclined, I was disconnecting my hips from the rest of my torso, so my following hand wasn't connected to my feet, and I thus missed a lot of the faster and more subtle leads)

I need to get back to this class, and personally I think everyone should go to one or two, once you have the basic dance under your belt. :)

"Hope is not a plan"

2009-10-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

I've heard this quote attributed to multitudes of people, from the Marines to Anderson Cooper. Its very powerful, and very misunderstood. Mostly, people use it to put down hope, to say that hope is worthless and won't get you anywhere. I don't think that's what it means, not really. I think it means that hope by itself won't get you anywhere. Hope is not a means to an end. It will not get you past finish line, or even closer to the finish line, but it will get to the starting line. One step won't win a marathon, but it starts every one. And hope is that one step.

The danger of hope is that it isn't a plan, but it feels good enough that people get tricked into thinking it is a plan. When we work hard for that raise, look forward to the (better) new year, or figure everything will work out once we sell our house, that's hope talking, and its a start, but that's all. Hope alone won't give us a raise, a better year, or make everything work out. Even worse, hope alone lets us feel like we are working towards something, making some progress, while not going anywhere. Not only does it keep us from reaching our goals, often it keeps us from making clear goals to begin with. Without a clear goal, you have no idea how to attain what you want, or even if you've attained it!Its the equivalent of getting in the car and starting to drive, but with no map, directions, or set destination.

Hoping for more money, more time, more customers, or more happiness won't get you anywhere, even if you feel you are working towards your hopes, and here's why:

What does "more" mean? If its money, is it making more money, having more money in the bank, having your money go farther, or something else? Without more specifics, its impossible to gauge your progress. And if you can't gauge your progress how can you know you are actually working towards your hopes? You could be running in circles, or even counter to what you actually want, because you have nothing to compare your "progress" to.

Swing dancing hysteria

2009-09-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

More swing dancing tonight! I was out last night for a pretty fun night at Joe's with the Campus Five, and tonight Big Manny is playing Joe's so I'm going to be right back there again. I love all the dancing I'm doing and not just cause its fun. It feels like I'm getting in touch with a part of me that's been on the back burner for a while: the chipper, flirty, up for anything Katy. That, I love. (LOVE!) But what comes with it, cause nothing is ever simple, is the doubt and the need for acknowledgment (Somebody like me....) I wish it wasn't the case, and on days when I'm already feeling good, its barely an issue, but some days it really gets to me.

Last night at Joe's I was definitely having an off night, though none of the dances I had were bad, per se. The trouble is that now I'm all nervous about going tonight. ("Oh look, its the girl who can't keep her center.") Even more so, I'm nervous about who I'm going to talk to while I'm there. Before I've always gone with Jeremy and we've had a great time. But this time, I'm on my own. Other than like two people, all I know of the LA dance scene are faces, and a few names (if I can even remember them.) And now its gonna be like "Oh, its the girl who can't keep her center, and she keeps talking to me..." Great. I'm THAT girl. Sigh.

I think the worst out of all of it is that there's one dancer that I click with REALLY WELL. Like "Holy crap where the hell did you come from and is there any way I can get you to dance with me for EVERY SONG cause you are AWESOME" type thing. Our movements just sync up. And he's even said the same thing. After dancing anyway. If I see him off the floor, just walking around, he gives me weird 'who are you' looks. I have no idea what to do with that. Its like I'm 14 and being ignored by the cool kids again. (Did I say something? Is my hair messed up? Do I have something in my teeth? WHAT?!)

Hopefully I will get to the bottom of this mystery, and get over some of this neediness and wallflower syndrome. (BTW, why is there not ONE LEAD that actually asks girls to dance here? If I weren't comfortable asking myself, I swear I'd NEVER get a dance in LA. WTF?) So yeah, nervous nelly over here will be taking the plunge tonight. Wish me luck!

Valley Swing Dance Club

2009-06-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun last night. I went West Coast Swing dancing with my friend Maia, a dance I haven't touched in almost four years. One word: Really-really-fun!

The Valley Swing Dance club is in Reseda on Wednesday nights, in the American Legion hall. They have a beginner's and intermediate lesson which must be pretty good, cause I danced with quite a few new people (2 or 3 lessons) and they were all really solid.

What I particularly loved about this place was how friendly it was. Everyone danced with everyone, there didn't seem to be any cliques, and there was a good mix of all levels. If any of my friends want to learn West Coast Swing, this is totally the place I would take them. I only sat out maybe three or four dances, and I saw that everyone else was the same. There weren't any wallflowers (except this one guy who said he didn't dance, he was just waiting for his girlfriend). The music was a great mix too, lots of medium tempo for new people, but a few fast songs to challenge you too. If only I could find a place like this for Lindy Hop and East Coast Swing, I'd be in seventh heaven.

A note for those who don't know what West Coast Swing is: West Coast Swing is a partner dance that evolved out of Lindy Hop. It is the official dance of California, and has its own community, separate from other types of swing. Though the footwork has a lot of swing in it, the feel of the dance is closer to ballroom to me: lots of spins and flash, and the posture is upright instead of low to the ground. Its danced to pop, disco and R&B music instead of swing, and is very flashy and fun. Here's a video of some really great West Coast Swing, though of course the social stuff is a lot simpler.

Why is gas so expensive?

2009-06-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

Jeremy asked me this question yesterday, and though my first response was "summer driving season," about five minutes later I realized its actually because our dollar's value is plunging.

I haven't written about economic stuff in a while, mostly because I was sick of sounding like Debbie Downer. But this is kinda interesting, and since I don't know how many people out there are aware of it, I figured, why not.

Here's the basics of it: Our government has decided that its a great idea to put America even further into debt, in order to stem the financial losses that have happened so far. Basically, our economy is fueled by spending and debt, and when we the consumers stopped borrowing and spending, the Treasury decided to pick up the slack. (yes, its more complicated than that, but we're keeping it simple here)

I have mixed feelings about this, especially since some of that spending has gone to support social services I like. But its a bad idea. Just like an individual, no one can borrow and spend indefinitely. Eventually you hit your credit limit.

The same thing happens to governments, but its a different process. Instead of borrowing from one place, the US Treasury sells bonds and Treasury bills(IOUs) to multiple investors. Many countries also buy these bonds, and in fact more than half of these bonds and T-bills are owned by foreign countries, mostly China.

Now, as the global economic crisis continues, and our personal economy falters, its getting harder to find people who want to invest in America's IOUs. And of course the issue is not simply that people don't have the money, its that they wonder how sound of an investment it is. Now, no one thinks America is going to default on its debt. But they wonder about the value of the dollar.

Put it this way: your friend in Bilderia needs money, so you lend him $10. He says he will pay you in a year with $22 Bilderbucks, $20 Bilderbucks being the equivalent of $10USB plus $2 Bilderbucks in interest. A year goes by, and because Bilderia had some economic issues the value of the Bilderbuck has dropped. Now, the $22 Bilderbucks he pays you is only worth $9.50 US. Not only did you not make any interest, but you lost 50 cents.

That's what investors are worried about. Treasury bonds and bills work the same way. You get paid back in US dollars, and it is a specific number of US dollars. Exchange rate doesn't matter. So if the dollar sinks too low, these foreign investors lose money. The dollar's value sinks for many reasons, but us borrowing so much is a big one. Cause its not too hard to find someone to lend you $500, but its harder if you need $50,000. The same thing is happening. We are borrowing so much that there jsut aren't enough people who want to lend it.

So the Treasury raises the interest that is promises to pay, trying to lure more investors to lend to us. And guess what that does....it lowers the value of the dollar. Which then makes the investors skittish, and thus the cycle continues. The higher this rate goes, the worse the dollar will do, and the more imported goods like gas will cost. Which, unfortunately, means higher prices for you and me.

This is highly oversimplified, but hopefully you get the gist of it.

Is affordability the best way to think about things?

2009-06-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

I was struck the other day by the difference in how I view purchases of stuff, and stuff in general, from how I used to view them. Until the last year, how I used to view stuff was always in terms of whether or not I could get it. Not how good is it, or is it worth it, but can I afford it?

For example, when I wanted to buy a new dress, I didn't ask myself if I needed it, or if I had a use for it. I didn't think about the ten other dresses I had in my closet, or whether this dress was well made or was a good value. Basically the only thought going through my head (other than "I want this") was 'can I afford it?'

Of course this brought up some issues, all of which come from the basic fact that just because I can afford it, doesn't mean its a good idea. I may not need it, it may be a bad deal, it may be a poor value, I may have other things my money would be better spent with. And, from a financial planning perspective, its an awful mindset. As long as I keep buying stuff cause I can, I'm not saving anything for later!

I can't point to what caused me to change, or the exact day I did, but, a little at a time, I switched from 'can I afford it' to 'why do I want it.' And the wierdest thing happened: I stopped buying stuff. When I starting thinking about why I wanted something, it became very clear that most of the reasons I had were superficial, fleeting, and generally stupid.

To use the same example, if I had stopped to think about why I wanted the dress in the first place, a whole other set of thoughts come up. If I want it because it makes me feel pretty, then is this dress the best way to feel pretty? Or is there something else that would fill the need better? Why do I need to feel pretty anyway? Maybe that is something to look at within myself. OR maybe I want to feel wealthy? To cheer me up? Because I'm bored? Because I've been shopping too long?

There are a whole host of reasons why I, or anyone, would be drawn to buy something, but most of them look pretty vacuous in the light of day. And after you see that, its really easy to walk away from purchases. The upside is that when I find really solid reason to buy something, I feel great about it days or even weeks after the purchase. AND I spend money on things that really make me content and happy long term, instead of just for the moment.

Bike to Work day

2009-05-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was Bike to Work day, and though I usually bike to the bus stop, I decided to go farther in honor of the day. So I biked from my home in Lake Balboa to the station in North Hollywood. And Jeremy joined me.

It was GREAT! Took about 40 minutes biking at a relatively easy pace (its usually 20 on the bus) and felt really fabulous. By the time I got to work I was awake, alert and calm all at the same time.

What was even better was getting to do it with Jeremy. We talked, and smiled, and were just together. It felt wonderful. And most of the trip was on the bike path that is next to the Orange line, so it was wide enough and safe enough for us to bike side by side and talk. Yay!

In contrast, this morning I woke up late, have been groggy and unfocused most of the day, and can't get much done. I'm starting to think biking to the station in North Hollywood on a regular basis is a pretty good idea. At least while its still cool enough to consider.

Check this out!

2009-05-13T12:47:00.001-07:00

I know I've mentioned it before, but here's a direct link to Robert Kiosaki's book in progress: The Conspiracy of the Rich.

The latest chapter, Ch. 7, begins the discussion of "ok, now what?" that we have all been feeling. The most important point he makes is the difference between capital gains and cashflow. Most people invest with capital gains in mind: profits you make when something goes up in value. Think stocks, real estate, commodities. But these types of investments are completely dependent on how the market moves. If the value of your investment drops, then that's it. You lost money. (Unless you were shorting a stock, but that's a different conversation)

Investing for cash flow is different. Cash flow is money that comes into your pocket no matter what the market does. For example, selling a house for a profit is capital gains. A one time payment that can only happen if the value of your house goes up. Owning a house and renting it brings cash flow. That rent check will come in whether the house's value goes up, down or sideways.

I LOVED getting this reminder, because, with all the focus on what's going on in the market, I'd almost forgotten that there is another, smarter way to invest. One that Jeremy and I will eventually get into, though when is a bit up in the air.

The difference between Positive Thinking and Positive Being

2009-05-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

This seems to be coming up a lot lately in my life: people asking me what I thought of The Secret (odd timing since its been out for years), or talking about how to get things in life, or how I feel about what's going on in the economy, world, etc. Which all culminated in an amazing thought provoking conversation with my Dad, one of the most masterful people with this topic that I'm close to.

We talked about a lot of stuff, and I have a feeling that I'll be talking about each topic in turn, as it bubbles to the surface of my brain and I'm forced to process it and chew on the ideas like, um, mental cud. Ew.

Anyway, the question that seems to come up from the outside universe is how do I handle difficult times and still seem happy? (most of the time, anyway) Recently, I've tried to explain it using an expanded (and convoluted) theory of positive thinking. The trouble is that no one is ever able to understand me. I've internalized the process so much, I have real trouble explaining it. But, I've had a revelation about how I frame things in my mind, and how I live. I don't practice Positive Thinking. I practice Positive Being. What the difference and why does it matter?

Positive Thinking as people usually understand it is lacking: Note something you want changed and think about how you want it to be. This is probably the least effective and most frustrating form of positive thinking, yet, from what I hear from others, is the most common form. But look at it. All you do with this type of thinking is remind yourself why you want x changed to begin with. There is nothing powerful or life changing about this type of thinking. You want x, and you don't have it, and you are reminding yourself of not having it in a deceptively positive way.

Some people I know have a more powerful way of understanding Positive Thinking: Note something you want changed (x) and envision x in its changed form. This at least has you begin to act as if x is changed already, but only when you keep the new form of x in the forefront of your mind. Thus, it is also limited. You have to concentrate a lot, and it also sets you up for disappointment, because if x changes in any way but the one you envisioned there is a potential that you either won't notice it (cause that's not what you were looking for) or, you will notice but be unhappy with the result.

The way I live, and the form of Positive Thinking that I find to be the most powerful isn't thinking at all. Its being. Being a person to whom positive things happen. Its like being a red-head, or being a 29 year old, or being a woman. Nothing that happens to me, or that is said to me, can change any of those things. Sure, there are times when I feel older or younger, or maybe less of a woman, or less of a red-head, but those times are short lived, and, because they are inherently false, it never occurs to me that I will feel like that permanently.

The same concept applies to being positive. I am someone for whom life works. I am someone who has a great life. And because I am not just thinking these things, but being them, there isn't any space for anything negative in my life for long. In fact, because I am BEING positive, I rarely think positive at all. Why would I? Its like feeling the need to think red-head. I am one. Why would I think about that?

What's truly amazing, is when you are being something, you draw that to you. Because I am positive, I experience everything in a positive light. I see openings for more positivity that I might not if I wasn't keyed into it. I draw positive people to me, because everyone likes to be around people who are like them.

Positive Thinking can most definitely lead to Positive Being, but they are not the same thing. Each has their place, and if transforming your being is a difficult process for you, if it is new to you, then thinking is a good place to start. But if you find yourself frustrated with the results you get, or don't get, with positive thinking, look at who you are being. I would bet that's where the answer is.

Homemade Pizza

2009-04-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

My latest and greatest weapon in the fight to find something cheap and good to eat: homemade pizza. A few months ago I found a tip online that changed homemade pizza for both me and my friends forever: bake the dough first.

Its not easy to get your oven to the temp that a pizza oven gets to, and because of that whenever anyone I knew made homemade pizza it was always soggy and soft in the middle. Not undercooked necessarily, but the dough would get soaked by the sauce and toppings before it crisped. The outside of the pizza was fine, but the inside was eaten last.

Then I read a frugal cooking blog that recommended baking the crust alone for 5 minutes or so and THEN put sauce, cheese and toppings on. All I can say is, its a raging success! Not only that, but it solved something else I had been thinking about: frozen pizzas.

I really wanted to have frozen pizzas in my freezer, but you have to have enough space in your freezer to lay the pizza flat on a cookie sheet, with nothing else on it until it hardens. Then you can wrap it up and stack it with everything else. I have a small freezer, so that just wasn't an option.

But with pre-baking the crusts, I can make dough or buy it at the store, roll it out, and bake it. Then stack the crusts in a ziploc bag and stick them right in the freezer. Its not a complete pizza, but its close. All the hard parts are done.

I keep a jar of sauce in the fridge and some shredded mozzarella in the fridge or freezer. Then I just heat the oven, take out a crust, put sauce on and cheese on (and any toppings around) and bake. So easy, and way WAY better than delivery or frozen pizzas are.

Its also super cheap. I make the dough in my bread maker (or buy it for a buck if I'm not prepared.) I make the sauce myself too, using canned tomato sauce as a base. I saute some garlic and onion, pour the tomato sauce in, add spices (I like oregano and fresh basil, and maybe some salt since the sauce is low sodium), and then pour it into a jar and put it in the fridge. Easy peasy. I figure each pizza costs $1 if I buy the dough and some toppings, or as low as $0.40 if its just cheese and I make the dough myself. Nice.

NOTE: staples like tomato sauce are CHEAP at warehouse stores. The only problem is, you have to have a plan for the sauce, because its a LOT

The Truth Will Set You Free

2009-04-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Don posted a blog post about his struggle with what to do with himself right now. Specifically, whether he should pursue his love, film-making, or pursue a paycheck and dabble in film on weekends he had free. Its a difficult choice: saftey and security or happiness and self-fulfillment.

Its a choice we've all had to make at some point, for me at several points in my life. The most recent was applying for and taking an accounting job when I really wanted to do was to continue to teach voice, because accounting was a steady (and larger) paycheck.

You might think that I'm unhappy, defeated, etc about it, but I'm not. Something fairly interesting happened to me, and to my mindset, several months ago that changed my situation from where I had to be to where I wanted to be. I've struggled with explaining to people how this happened, or how it works, and I've written and deleted several blog posts that weren't quite right. Hopefully, this one will be better.

I spent time trying to live as a singer, and then as a voice teacher. Before that I tried a soul sucking but well paying job in genetics (my major). Neither really worked. Obviously the soul sucking job didn't work. I hated it, and I hated myself for accepting it. At first pursuing music was great, but because I didn't just have to enjoy it but live off of it, that faded quickly. When your livelihood is dependent on whether people like you and what you've created, its takes all the joy out of creating and replaces it with varying degrees of pressure, fear, and insecurity about why it works one time and not another. In the end, neither makes me happy.

I started working at Roadside as an accountant to survive, but found I actually enjoy it. The work is decently challenging and I like the people who are here. Even better, the work is fulfilling my actual dream: to do the things I love as much as I want without needing to make money from them. To have my entire day free to sing, write, dance, spend time with family, spend time with friends, work on a new skill, or travel the world.

How does this happen? Passive income. We've been chasing that for a while, but the book Your Money or Your Life gave me a fail safe path to it, even if Jeremy's real estate never comes through. After reading this book, it became completely and totally real to me. It will happen, there is no doubt in my mind. I've done the math, I've charted the course. Worst case senario is that it won't happen for 18 years. More likely is around 10 years, and if we do well in the next few years and there are significant increases in our income, it could as little as 5 years. 5 years. That's retirement at age 35, without major windfalls or making millions of dollars a year.

You should really read the book, but it involves paying off debt, lowering expenses, increasing income and saving all the extra income until it builds up to paying interest and dividends high enough to cover all your living expenses. There's a lot of math and explanation to our plan, but here's the first part: paying off our debt by the end of the year.

We pay over $1000 a month in debt payments: credit cards, personal loans, car loan, timeshare mortgage and taxes. We have put together a debt snowball to pay all this off, and when that's done, the $1000 in minimum payments plus the extra we pay all goes into savings every month. Currently we expect to have $3000 extra a month to put into savings. And that's without Jeremy making more as a grip or me getting any raises.

That adds up fast, and the end result is enough savings to kick off interest payments that cover our living expenses. Knowing that I'm creating that life for myself, every day I work, makes me feel so good, so fulfilled that I don't need to do the artistic stuff also. When I have a bad day and I don't like my job, all I have to do is look at this and I'm inspired again.

I would never have believed it if someone had told me this five years ago. I believe my response would have been something like "that hasn't worked since the 50s." But you can't get away from math. The math shows the truth, and that truth has set me free. I have a job that's secure AND emotionally fulfilling. Who knew it was that easy?

A Day of Cooking

2009-04-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

This week, I decided to take the plunge: a Once-A-Month Cooking(OAMC) day. Jeremy has work for the next three weeks, and his days off are not on the weekend, which means I won't have the car. He's filming 12 hour days, many of them night shoots, so I won't see him much on those days. That means no help for dinner, even if I have to work late.

Last week he worked three days during the week, and the lack of his help had me forgetting to take my lunch with me to work (an extra $4 spend a day on lunch) and arriving home at 8pm only to then think about what to make for dinner (we had some enchilada leftovers, so that worked, but only just). Looking forward to three more weeks of that, and I knew I'd eat away a lot of the money he was making, because I had no time to prep meals.

So I Jeremy him look at the grocery flyers on Wednesday to find out what meats are on sale (Tip #1: use the wednesday flyers to plan your meals, and your weekend shopping trips. You can find them online as well as in your mailbox. The deals usually start Thursday or Friday, and go all week. Sometimes there are additional savings on a particular day, like Saturday, so read all the fine print.) Turns out ground beef, chicken breasts with ribs, whole chickens, and boneless beef bottom were all on sale, as well as mushrooms and bell peppers. Wednesday night I planned out seven dishes I could make in bulk based on that list:
Ginger Beef for the slow cooker (using the beef bottom) - 2 entrees
Cheesy Chilada Bake (using the ground beef) - 4 entrees
Arroz con Pollo (chicken breasts, ribs removed) - 2 entrees
Swimming Rama, a thai curry dish (chicken breasts) - 3 entrees
Berry-Roasted Chicken (whole chickens) - 2 entrees
Thai Red Curry with vegetables (mushrooms and the leftover ingredients from Swimming Rama) - 2 entrees
Tofu Stir Fry - 1 entree
Breakfast Burritos - a whole bunch

For clarification, an entree is feeds 4-6, depending on the meal. Most of the recipes came from my OAMC cookbook: Fix, Freeze, and Feast. You do prep and some cooking, then freeze the meal and do the last bit of cooking the day you want to eat it. Very nice. And all the recipes are for multiple entrees, using warehouse sized meat trays. Arroz con Pollo came from the Dream Dinners cookbook (which I will be checking out of the library soon. I love this company, had no idea they had a cookbook until I searched for my favorite meal from them: Arroz con Pollo.) Ginger Beef was in Fix, Freeze and Feast, but I used a variation of the recipe I found on crockpot.com, and the breakfast burritos were just made, no specific recipe. I'm posting the recipes on my other blog I write with my friends: Cooking Kama Sutras

The night before I did some prep: soaked the black beans, made rice, chopped onions and peppers, and really cleaned the kitchen. In the morning I started the beans right off (So easy! Just a little salt and bay leaf, and in an hour, $2 worth of dried black beans had grown to more than 8 cans worth, and tasted WAY better) and whisked up 2 dozen eggs. Cooked some onions and peppers with the eggs, and got started making burritos. Super easy, and in a flash they were in the fridge, and the utensils were in the bowl of soapy water I had laid out.

Then I cooked the ground beef for the Chilada Bakes, put those together in foil trays and into the freezer, and mixed the marinade for the Berry-Roasted Chicken, poured it over the chicken and threw those in the freezer too. I was rockin! Then lunch, and a break and 'do I really HAVE to got back to working? I've done so much already!!' But there were 15 lbs of chicken to be deboned, and 3 lbs of beef to be prepped.

So I started deboning. I've gotten pretty good at this since for the last month only breasts with ribs have been on sale, but this was awful. The chicken was Foster Farms. Foster Farms doesn't butcher their chickens at all well, or even consistently the same. Each breast I had to stare at to figure out the best way to attack it, and by the end I was doing ok, but if I have a choice, I won't choose Foster Farms again.

Once it was done, half the chicken got cut into pieces and went into the curry, and then other half was layered in the Arroz con Pollo and put in the freezer. While the curry simmered, I browned the beef for the Ginger Beef and then made the Veg. curry. While the two curries cooled (I didn't want to pour hot food into ziploc bags. They get too weak) I toasted the tofu, and then put the veggies and tofu bits in a bag for the Tofu Stir Fry (I didn't freeze this one...decided to have it for dinner last night.)

The last bit was the udon noodles for the Ginger Beef. These noodles are intense! (At least as far as noodles go) You have to boil them, then cool them with a cup of water, then boil them and cool them again, then boil them and let them sit for 5 minutes. No wonder they always come precooked (and triple the price.)

At the end of the day, I didn't have a whole lot more dishes than any other big cooking day, as I used the same ones over and over, simply rinsed or wiped clean (as long as they had no raw meat in them, of course.) And cooking on Sat meant I had all Sunday to clean up, which took maybe 30 minutes. Now I have a freezer full of food, a clean kitchen, and a whole new skill set!

I'm thinking about making some marinades next weekend so that if we want something else, we can just pick up meat and go.

It took a fair bit of planning everything out, and knowing what cook when, but when it came down to it, It was pretty simple. I printed out an inventory to put on our fridge that also has the directions for cooking the meals, so as we eat them, we can keep track of what's left, and the cooking directions are never far away.

For those who think they need it, I totally recommend Once a Month Cooking. In the future, I'll hopefully be doing some of it with my friends, a OAMC party. :D

LA Library

2009-04-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

My new favorite thing? Downloadable audiobooks from the LA library! I can log in with my library card and download audiobooks to listen to on my commute to and from work for free! Most of the books are in WMA format, so that's a bit of an issue, but they are getting more of them in mp3 format now. A LOT of recent fiction and some great non-fiction stuff too.

I love it! I can download them to my phone, and listen through my earbud while I crochet or whatever. If your local library has a website, ask if they have e-books and e-audiobooks.

Tea Party Protests

2009-04-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

Today thousands protested government bailouts with "Tea Bag" parties. Clearly these people are about 20 years behind the times. 'Tea bag'? Seriously? You seriously don't know what that means? ok....

Jokes aside, I probably would be supporting these yahoos, cause their point is pretty accurate. Here's my issue though: Its not a Democratic problem, and not an Obama problem, its a GOVERNMENT problem. Most of the bailouts were started under Bush. Bush got us into this huge deficit in the first place. Stop with the partisan bull and wake up.

I'm not against gov't spending to help us get out of this hole. Not at all. I'm just against throwing good money after bad. Every bit of research I've done has proved to me that there is no way our gov't has the funds to bailout all these large institutions. No way. And trying to bail them out only means we have less money for what is really needed. We are in a recession. Possibly entering a depression. We don't need bailouts, we need extra unemployment insurance, homeless shelters, food banks, and low/no cost health care. These programs were all cut to within an inch of their lives in the last decade. They now only cover those who are well below the poverty line (unemployment is the exception), leaving those at or slightly above the poverty line S.O.L.

Right now, and into the coming months, we will need more support and funding for these programs. So lets stop throwing money away on bailouts that won't save anyone, and spend money on programs that actually will save people. You want the market to grow? You want people to have confidence again? Then let the populace know their needs will be taken care of.

Swapluck!

2009-04-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

I just read this fun blog about Swaplucks. Basically, its where you bring stuff you made and swap with other people who also bring stuff they made. Veggies from your garden, cookies you just baked, a hat you crocheted, soap, jam, freezer meals, potholders, pots, whatever!

What I really like is that the idea encourages everyone to try out new crafts, cause you know you have someplace you can bring it.

I don't know if there are enough people here who would be interested, but I'm definitely keeping the idea in the back of my head for when there are enough people! And who knows, maybe I can scrounge up enough friends to get this going.

One More cool link

2009-03-31T14:19:00.001-07:00

This is a video interview of my Aunt Lynne. She wrote "The Soul of Money" which is an amazing book about transforming your relationship with money, how you think about it, into one of empowerment, opportunity and growth. Amazing, inspirational book. And a great, thought provoking interview:

2009-03-31T12:26:00.000-07:00

Another cool link: Why Money Messes with Your Mind

The Art of Non-Conformity

2009-03-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

The Art of Non-Conformity is a great thought provoking blog post about choosing a path different from the road most travelled, or, as he puts it, those who "have taken the blue pill."

For those of us struggling to find a new way to live and experience the world (since the "normal" path pretty much sucks now with the whole economic collapse thingy) check it out.

One more piece of the puzzle

2009-03-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to really blog in quite a while. Hopefully, I'll be able to blog soon about what's actually going on in our life, and how we're adjusting to the new economy, etc.

But in the meantime, I can't keep quiet. I just read chapter 4 of Robert Kiosaki's Conspiracy of the Rich, and between that, and what I've been reading in the media, I'm about to explode.

Hopefully, you've watched the video on how the credit crisis happened. If not, watch it.

Last week, the Fed announced its going to buy $1.2 trillion in US Treasury Bonds. That is, it is going to loan $1.2 trillion to the US treasury to help stimulate the economy. Sounds nice right. But where does that money come from? Sure, its called the Federal Reserve, but that is a misnomer. It is neither Federal, nor a Reserve. It doesn't hold money or assets. It only prints money. Got it? The Federal Reserve announced it is going to print $1.2 trillion dollars to lend to the US treasury.

Seriously? Are they TRYING to cause inflation?

At first I was scared, and then I thought about it: maybe that's a good thing, since a depression happens when there is massive deflation, not inflation, right? That's what happened in 1929. Trouble was, that didn't make me feel any better, just more confused. How could this possibly help?

That's when I read Chapter 4 of Conspiracy of the Rich. It talks about the two types of inflation. The American type, caused by deflation, and the German type, caused by inflation. In 1929, our depression was deflation related because our money was tied to the gold standard. Inflation was controlled at that point. Savers made out huge, cause every dollar they saved bought more.

At the same time, Germany experienced hyperinflation. Their money wasn't tied to any asset, so to get themselves out of deflation, they printed more money. And more. And more. Until it was completely useless. Savers lost big time, but debtors made out because their debts could be paid back for practically nothing.

Now, our money is off the gold standard, or any standard, and our central bank is printing more money to fight deflation. Looking at Germany, I can start to understand why I don't feel like any of this is helping. Why there's no great upswing in the economy. Sure, deflation isn't a problem any more, but inflation can hurt just as bad. And I'd say from my vantage point, it is hurting. Hopefully, Ben Bernake at the Federal Reserve will be able to tell just when to stop printing money and that will help stabilize the economy. But if he goes too far, we may be in for one nasty ride.

Personally, I think he's playing a dangerous game.

Oh, and for those who are wondering, the next two chapters of Robert's book are supposed to be released very soon, and they are about how to figure out what to do: what action is best for you at this time. Personally, I can't wait. This book has been a huge piece of the puzzle for me, pulling together all the separate bits of info into a whole picture.

Best explanation of the credit crisis. Ever.

2009-03-20T12:56:00.001-07:00

AND its a cartoon!

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Passive Barriers

2009-03-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Great article about why we don't do the things we keep saying we want to do (exercise more, balance our checkbook, clean our garage), AND how to get past those things that keep you stuck. This article calls them barriers, and though active barriers (like a locked door) are easy to see and deal with, passive barriers are harder to see, and thus, harder to deal with.

A great read, and food for thought: The Psychology of Passive Barriers: Why your friends don't save money, eat healthier, or clean their garage.

The Shack

2009-03-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law sent us a book that she said was very moving to her: The Shack

I'm really enjoying reading it. Its about a man who gets to have a very frank and revealing conversation with God. I'm not really into religious material, but this turned out to be very non-religious. In fact, anti-religious, in that God doesn't care for much of what organized religion creates and stands for (neither do I for that matter.)

Its also a beautiful story of healing and growth, as the character has some major trauma in his life that he is struggling with years later, when he meets God.

Its a great read, and I recommend it. I also recommend two other books I love that contain similar ideas: Conversations With God (my favorite is book 1), and http://www.amazon.com/Celestine-Prophecy-James-Redfield/dp/0446671002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236973579&sr=1-1

I'm hoping the receipt of this book also means I might be able to talk more openly with my sister-in-law about religion, and the things in our life that she has previously considered offensive and evil, often because they are secular. I'm somewhat confused she even enjoyed the book, as it has so many messages that go against things she's told me she believes. We'll see how the conversation develops.

More awesome banking info

2009-03-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

It seems like more and more people are waking up and paying attention to reality. I just watched Jon Stewart interview Jim Cramer about the bad calls CNBC made with regards to the stock market, and I think Jim said something very telling:

Talking about Bear Sterns being leveraged 35 to 1:

JS: But honest or not, in what world is a 35 to 1 leverage position sane?
JC: The world that made you 30% year after year after year beginning from 1999 to 2007

Jon swept past it, but its absolutely true. We have been in an up market for over 25 years, with a huge boom for the last eight of them, and reality, intelligence and responsibility just went out the window. And no one really cared cause it all just seemed to keep working, and everyone made money.

And now here is an article about how Ben Bernake wants to keep acting that way:
Creative Accounting Won't Solve The Banking Industry's Problems

Actually, most of the gov't wants to pretend that's still the world we live in. That we still live in a world where things are growing so well that if we just wait, we'll make money again. Not going to happen. The past is the past. I highly recommend reading Conspiracy of the Rich, (what's been released so far anyway) or if you are into reading technical economic books, Human Nature and The Grunch of Giants. This is a fascinating thing going on, and its fascinating how people are reacting to it, but I hold to my original metaphor:

The US has become morbidly obese and now is on a forced diet, but Uncle Sam keeps trying to feed us pie and cakes to ease our pain. The pain is healing, and good. Let it happen. Pie and cakes will only make our diet last longer.

Great Resource

2009-03-12T13:28:00.001-07:00

Robert Kiosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and a bunch of other stuff) is writing an online book called The Conspiracy of the Rich. He is releasing it to a group of registered individuals for free, as he writes it. I just read the third chapter.

There are a lot of really great things he brings up in the book, about how the economy works, how money works, now and in the past, and what's going on with our economic collapse. To be fair, a lot of the concepts he brings up are not new to me, so I understand this book better than others might.

That's actually why he's releasing the book this way first. After each major concept, he asks those who have registered to go to the discussion board and list their questions or anything that is confusing to them. This way he can explain and expand the book for final release and make sure that the major questions of his readers are answered.

I highly recommend checking it out if you are interested at all in what is going on with the banks, the bailout, the stock market, or just the economy in general. Even if you don't understand everything, its a great place to find out what you don't know, and use that as a starting place for further research.

http://conspiracyoftherich.com/

Doom

2009-03-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

And Gloom. It seems like you hear a lot of that these days. But I think its all perspective. Sure, I write about what's happening in the financial sector cause I find it interesting, but on a day to day basis it doesn't affect me.

Some say the next Great Depression is coming, because they watch the stock market plunge. I say "I don't see any soup kitchens around."

Sure, its bad, and its gonna get worse in the financial sector. We may see nasty inflation and high unemployment. We may have retired grandparents move back in with their kids cause they lost their portfolio, and a high foreclosure rate, but we are so SO much better off than in the 1930s.

We have the FDIC, which kept everyone who's bank closed last year from going bust. We have unemployment, disability, WIC, food stamps and all sorts of other programs that help pay bills and buy food when we need help. Are chemical based agrobusiness (while bad for the environment and long term health) ensures that there's no possibility of a dust bowl the way there was in the 50s. I'm sure we could all add more to this list, but the basic message is, that sure, it hurts, but I don't think it'll hurt that much. We are much more prepared to help each other than we were then, and we already are helping each other. In the end, we'll probably get a stronger, better society out of this, so don't panic. It'll be ok.

Confidence: follow up

2009-03-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

On my blog entry about Confidence, Sarah asked a great question in her comment. Sarah, if you don't mind, I'm going to paraphrase: Why is it a stupid idea to lend to banks like Bank of America and Citibank? If they go under, that's a lot of jobs lost.

Its true, Bank of America and Citibank are in trouble, much more so than they say, and could go under. And if they do, that's a ton more jobs that are lost, not just from the banks, but from companies that had their money in those banks.

I'm not nesecarily against the gov't paying these banks if it helps them to stay solvent. a) I'm not sure the gov't has enough money available to do this, and b) I'm not convinced its the best use of limited gov't funds.

First, lets assume that Bank of America and Citibank are actually salvagable. The US gov't spends several hundred billion dollars to save them. The reality is that, though they are now solvent again, they still have to lend significant amounts of money to stimulate the economy. This not only means that their balance sheets have to allow for this but that they must also take the time to process each loan. For the balance sheets to allow this, they must have enough capital on hand to cover the estimated loans that have defaulted and are going to default, plus extra to loan out. Then they must, over the course of time, loan out enough money to enough companies that it stimulates employers and consumers and the economy recovers.

Would it work? Eventually, yes. But it is a lot of money (no one knows exactly how much, because the banks won't value their bad loans at market value currently. If they did, it would be immediately apparent they are insolvent and they would be closed) and it is a significant amount of time. The gov't doesn't lend money quickly or all at once. Nor do I expect lenders to all apply at once for loans (though I could be dead wrong on that) And all that time that passes means more job loss and economic slump.

Honestly, its not a bad place to put our money, I just think its not the right place. I think its too risky to loan money to the banks to cover their loans, given that they could fail anyway, and that it'll take too long to work. So I feel the money is better spent on things that make us, as a country, feel more confident: social services, health care, and more jobs. I have heard people point out that those types of services are harder to cut after its all said and done, and people don't need them anymore. A valid point, but still, this is where I think the money will be better spent.

As for tax cuts, sure I appreciate them, but much more would be done for the economy if that money was used for a lot of new gov't jobs instead of a few more bucks in each of our pockets. Tax cuts help politically, not economically.

Maybe its because I'm coming from a frugal perspective: I'd rather see us pay for actual services and jobs than loan money to risky companies that we hope can pull us out of this thing. It is a really hard decision, and I can see where Obama's plan makes some sense: try a bit of everything, and see what works best. I guess I just feel like we tried the tax cuts and bank bailouts already, and they didn't do much good. So how does trying it again make sense?

Stupid FOX

2009-03-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

I've been sick all week, so needless to say that inbetween all the sleeping, I've watched a lot of television. All on hulu, my new favorite website. Free TV and movies streaming legally from NBC/Universal. And one of the shows I watch is Joss Whedon's new show: Dollhouse.

Its got a decent premise and could be really intriguing, but has yet to completely grab me. Moments, sure. And the last two episodes finally started to have some decent intrigue with regards to Alpha (those who know, know. Everyone else, watch the show.) I'm particularly into the show not because its good (it is decent, and very pretty), but because the last show Joss had on FOX was amazing. You just couldn't tell. FOX reworked the pilot so it sucked, changed the order of the episodes so they made less sense, and basically screwed the show up so it was no surprise when it got cancelled first season. The show was Firefly and it was amazing. If you haven't seen it, see it. All the episodes are on hulu for free.

And now it looks like the same thing is happening with Dollhouse. I just read the script for the original pilot. Totally awesome. Intriguing, fast moving, quixotic. I would have been hooked on this show. Sure, it may have moved too fast for some veiwers, particularly those not used to scifi. Ok. Change it a little.

No, fox has a completely different pilot written, and all I can say is that it severly has changed where the characters are going and what's going on. They even cut the cool sciency bits that make scifi awesome.

Sigh. I will still watch Dollhouse, cause I believe all the cool parts I read about in the pilot will show themselves eventually. I just hope Dollhouse can stay around long enough to get to those parts, especially if FOX continues to make Joss write them out.

Confidence

2009-03-04T16:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, the DOW below 7000. And I'm not very surprised. I think just about everyone understands that this market isn't going to recover any time soon. And though Obama's heart is in the right place, the money alone isn't going to do anything but prolong the problem.

Our main issue right now, as it was in 1929, is confidence. Its why the DOW is going to keep dropping, quite likely to somewhere around 5500, why unemployment is going to go up, and why the GDP is going to keep going down. To explain one aspect of why confidence is important: if you as a consumer aren't confident in a products ability to do what it says it will, you don't buy it, right? Well, the same thing applies to investors buying a companies stock, or lenders lending to a company. And currently, everyone is so scared, they won't even invest in stocks that ARE good. And lenders are so scared about making a bad call, they aren't lending to anyone either. Just as a consumer will avoid cream cheese if it made him sick once, the investors and lenders are avoiding putting any money at all into companies that need it.

Fewer lenders supporting businesses means those businesses can easily become sickly and have to cut their workforce, close stores and factories, etc. And if the businesses look sickly, any investors left who believed in them bail too. Its that simple. Investors flock to cash and bonds instead (creating a bubble in the bond market, but that's another story) and lenders just don't lend.

In the meantime all us little guys get hurt as our jobs are cut, our stores are closed, and prices are raised (I think we'll see more of this later on this year.)

Obama is headed in the right direction: putting more money into social services, health care, investing in science and green technology, basically trying to get our country to believe in itself once again. He also continues to give money to banks and lenders to hoard, and tax breaks that cost the gov't billions but don't help any single person enough to make a difference. Those moves, while they are bipartisan, aren't smart. They don't do anything to create confidence in the long term, which is exactly what we need.

With confidence, lenders will lend again, investors will invest, employers will hire, and in general, people will breathe easier. Unfortunately, confidence doesn't come quick, easy or cheap. A lot of time and work will be involved, and in the meantime, the DOW will continue to slide.

Its not all doom and gloom though. As I have said before, though this is painful, its forcing us into a smaller, more sustainable standard of living; one where its not about how many toys you have, but how well you live and how fulfilled you are. That's a good thing. Its also had the side effect of encouraging Americans to save for the future and to pay off their debts, also a good thing. So yes, the economy will shrink more before it gets better, and yes, it looks dreary and upsetting, but at the core of this is a whole new life for us as Americans. One where we know the value of the word "enough," where we have confidence in our country, and one where America has an inner strength that means much more than her outer economic might used to mean.

A family dinner with a great conversation

2009-02-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

Monday night we had dinner with my family in remembrance of my Grandma Ellie, who passed on Feb 23 last year. It was a great evening, with a lot of wonderful conversation. We talked about her and what she stood for, and how she gave us this amazing gift: she taught us how to important it was to keep together as a family. This is becoming true even more now that economic reality makes it so hard to stay on your own.

What was really great for me though, was the conversation about how we got to this place as a country. I brought up the articles I had been seeing about how "upsetting" it was that Americans will be forced to lower their standard of living, and how completely odd it is to me that this is seen as a bad thing. Mom brought up a lot of interesting ideas that totally helped me to understand how me got here.

The one that really got me was this one: that parents want a better life for their children than they had. Sure, it sounds great on the surface, and it totally makes sense in context of human history but really, how long that can continue? And in terms of survival and material things, that's been the case. Every generation has more stuff, and less of a struggle for survival (as a group, anyway).

Since I'm not a parent, I'd never thought about it that way, but that little thought drives so much of cultural momentum. So of course, we talked about changing what "better" meant. Instead of more stuff, larger houses, cooler cars, what if better meant a more meaningful, fulfilled and sustainable life? Which (my Mom said) was exactly the direction they were trying to go in the 60s. But something happened. She was so confused about it, and had no idea what happened, or when it did, but everyone kind of forgot what they had believed in just a few years earlier.

I can relate a bit, since the same thing happened to my college age idealism for a while, but at our dinner table we agreed it was a conundrum. This huge movement for whatever reason just fizzled. It was our chance to change at our own pace. Now its too late, the change is more forced, and more painful.

Still, at the end of the dinner, we were all very clear, what's on the other side of this is in fact a better life. Just not the type of better we are used to.

SAG negotiations fall through

2009-02-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

Stupid SAG. Don't they know how many people are out of work because of them right now? I do get it....they just wanted the contract to come to term at the same time as everyone else (so they can all negotiate a better deal together in 2011) and actually, I think its the right thing to go for. But I'm annoyed because I was really hopeful that they could work it out and get some sort of contract signed so Jeremy will be able to work again. Grrr.

The End is Coming!

2009-02-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

Or so they want you to think. I keep reading all these doom and gloom type articles saying how the American "standard of living" is going to drop permanently. And?

Look, Americans have been living above their means for decades. The household savings ratio (what the average person made versus what they spent) was either below one or negative for most of my lifetime, and a good section of my parents as well. Negative means the same thing as when you see a negative balance in your checking account...you spent more than you had.

How bout the whole "America uses around 25% of the world's resources" statistic that I hear so often? I'm also hearing a lot of sound bites along the lines of "America is the world's consumer. If we stop consuming, China (or any other export country) has no one to sell to."

Seriously? We don't save, and have, as a country decided to actually deficit spend in our households. (The gov't deficit is a whole separate thread) We use and buy so much crap that we are the number one waster, polluter and consumer of natural resources, and whole sections of other country's economies are built around our need to buy buy buy! Heck, our own economy is based on it. Why else would everyone tell us to "Go Shopping" in order to strengthen the country?

Take a step back and it seems pretty clear that this is a trend that cannot and should not continue. We had a chance in the 80s and 90s to change our ways and be a bit more responsible. Now we are forced. Sure it hurts and its hard, but its also what had to happen. Its not the end of the world, its the beginning of a mature America.

Finances!

2009-02-19T20:58:00.000-08:00

This week feels schizophrenic. Jeremy and I are both vacillating between happy and hopeful about the future and freaked out, overwhelmed and stressed about . Of course, the major topics to insert were centered around finances: job hunting, taxes, debt, bank fees, and missing disability checks.

But no fear. For the most part, the stress is short lived, and the reality is that we are sailing along pretty well. We did our taxes for 2008 on Sunday, which felt great. Our refund will go straight to paying off taxes owed from 2007, but hey, that's less debt for us to pay. Jeremy has a job this weekend, which doesn't pay anything, but will help in the networking department.

Last week he went to the Local Union Branch 80 - the union that handles grips and whatnot for film and TV production - and took the first steps to becoming a member. In order to be eligible, he has to work 30 days on a union job within a year. And the only time he can work on a union job is on days when a production needs so much extra help, they get a permit to allow for non-union workers. So Jeremy gets to call in between 4 and 6 am in the morning to check which productions have permits that day. Yikes! It'll be a while before he gets any permitted work through them, as the whole industry is suffering and there's currently not enough work for all the union members, but eventually, things will turn around.

In the meantime he's getting disability from his injury in November. We were getting pretty frustrated that his disability check was so late, and I was worried that it was delayed because of the whole CA state budget thing (they finally signed a budget today!!!), so I asked him to call, and what a relief! It wasn't delayed because of a lack of money, it was delayed because they were waiting on the lame ass worker's comp insurance company (who are not paying him) to send proof that they are not paying him. Lucky they sent it to Jeremy a couple weeks ago. Jer was able to fax that letter right over, and we should be seeing a check within a week. Not only that, but they are also sending forms over for him to get his doc to sign, so he can get payment for the month of December as well.

This totally relieves our stresses about paying for rent, car insurance, loan payments and food from one paycheck. We had gotten ourselves a bit stuck with this last one, and really could use that extra income.

Overall, things are good. And as long as I keep reminding myself how lucky we are, the stress doesn't stay for long. :)

And for some fun

2009-02-18T11:17:00.001-08:00

Hello World!

2009-02-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, its been almost two weeks. Sorry guys, I've been so swamped with accounting crap that any extra time on a computer just felt like torture. But its over now (the crap, not the accounting, thank god) and I am back. Woo!!

SO much to blog about. Lots of rants I could go on, and lots of interesting topics, but I'm going to focus on two that affect us here in the entertainment industry in the state of California: the SAG strike negotiations and the California legislature.

/begin rant

SAG is STILL in negotiations with the studios. They are meeting today, hopefully to finally agree on something. Cause this is not the time to strike. EVERYONE connected to the film and TV industry is hurting because of this stupid contract negotiation. The economy is tight, so no one wants to waste money starting a project only to find out SAG is striking and they have to stop production, and that means that not only the actors, lighting, sound, camera men, directors, and producers are out of works but the caterers, the cleaning people, the costumers, the day care people, the limos and cabs, the delivery guys, the security men, etc etc. Yes the contract is crappy, and yes if you had leverage you should strike, but SAG, you do not have leverage, you have thousands who are out of work and hurting, so suck it up and take three more years of crappy pay.

And for all those guys who are out of work, do you get unemployment? You thought you did, but its all going to be taken away (or possibly never given), because the Republicans in the legislature won't pass the budget. It has temporary tax increases in it, which they just can't stand. So 20,000 people are laid off, benefits are being slashed or delayed, and everyone in California is not going to receive tax refunds anywhere near to ontime. And just for kicks, I checked out what they said would be a better solution: they want to cut the "bloated" state dept. Ok, except that even if they fired everyone (which would close prisons, hospitals, national parks, and their own legislature) it still wouldn't fill the budget deficit. So, that's not going to work.

Two groups who are so focused on their own version of "right" that they aren't noticing the reality of what's around them, and California is hurt for it. If there was anything I could do, I would. None of the Republicans are in my district, so they won't accept letters from me, and I'm not a member of SAG. But if anyone reading this is a member of either, do your own research and then write letters, faxes, emails or even call to tell these people to get their heads out of their asses and actually help their constituents.

/end rant

Kiva.org

2009-02-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

Many of you may remember me mentioning Kiva.org once or twice. I LOVE this organization. They distribute micro loans to entrepreneurs in third world countries. Its empowering, for both the giver and the receiver of the loans, which the main requirement for any charity I support: it has to empower the receipient.

Here's a video story of exactly how a Kiva loan works:

A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.

Sleep is the AWESOMEST OF THE AWESOME!

2009-01-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

Those who have been close to me (read: husband) know how tough I've had it this week. And its only Wednesday. Here's how it went down:

Monday I worked with Nancy all day. This, in essence, is the crux of the problem. Nancy is our outside accountant. She writes our financial reports every quarter so that Paul and I don't have to. Without ranting, I will just say that this woman spends every moment of her life tense, panicked, stressed, or upset. Period. And she doesn't find it an odd or difficult way to live, specifically because she's forgotten (I assume) what its like to be relaxed and trust that things work. Oh, and she blames everyone else (read: me) for anything, even if its her fault.

Because of this I was so stressed I think I got a max of five hours of sleep, broken into two parts with a 2+ hour panic fest in the middle around 3am. And I STILL was stressed out all day Tuesday, though the panic stopped around noon. Tuesday was a total bust.

Today, I woke up at 6:30 or so, uber refreshed. Didn't move a muscle all night, so I was sore and numb in places. But mentally, I was great! All I can say is this: peace of mind is the best sleep enhancer EVER.

Oh, and I will never spend a full day working with Nancy again. Done.

Mint.com

2009-01-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

For those of you who do not have a bookkeeping software, or are new to keeping track of your finances, I present: Mint.com

Mint.com automatically updates your transactions nightly, and automatically categorizes as well (though you can change the categories if it gets it wrong). Setting up a budget is pretty easy, and you can see your spending trends, and even ore importantly, your cash flow.

Cash flow is basically just the difference between the money you bring in, and the money that goes out. Positive cash flow means you spend less than you earn (yay!), but in this world of credit, it is easy to have a negative cash flow, especially if its only a little negative, and not notice. Its the main contributor to that feeling of never getting ahead. Even as you move forward with a raise or something, you've been picking away at that raise with a negative cash flow, till you wonder where all your money went!

Mint.com fits in PERFECTLY with Your Money or Your Life. Step 2 in YMOYL is to track every penny that comes into or out of your life, and Mint.com is a great way to do it. Caveat: It only works if your banks, credit cards, and loans are supported by the software. If you are at a major bank, no worries. Even one of our credit unions was supported. But the other one, no luck. And no way to enter it in manually either. So that's a bummer.

But if you bank at (lets say) Bank of America, have credit cards with BofA, Capital One, and Chase, have student loans with Sallie Mae, and a car loan with GMAC, you are golden. All those accounts will automatically update, and all you need to do s make sure everything categorizes correctly (Fresh & Easy, for example, shows up as uncategorized....I guess it is kinda new as a Grocery store tho), and have a budget entered in. Note: it categorizes well for the most part, though you will need to categorize checks and cash purchases yourself.

It give you email alerts when you close to your budgeted spending, or when a credit card bill is due (no help on those utility bills tho), gives you a month by month graph of your cash flow (a BIG motivator) and, as it tracks your spending habits, can recommend services (such as rewards cards and high yield savings acccounts) that would help you save money by being focused exactly on how you like to spend.

All in all, a great service for those who are learning how to track their finances, and helpful if you want to check your eating out budget right when say, a coworker invites you to lunch (everything is online). However, for those of us who have moved beyond simply categorizing our spending, or who want to keep track of all bill due dates(not just credit cards), or who have accounts that are not supported by Mint.com yet, keep your at home bookkeeping software.

In which Katy struggles with her workday

2009-01-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

I am having the roughest workday. I want to yell at everyone. Everyone suddenly seems ridiculously stupid. I swear they lost at least 40 IQ points over the weekend each. And there is this massive pile of this-will-never-end-and-you-know-it work in front of me. Plus tax stuff, which is just like this-will-never-end-and-you-know-it work with the added benefit of being on a giant deadline that I get absolutely no help with.

And people wonder why I'm cranky.

Best finance book EVER

2009-01-19T17:59:00.000-08:00

Jer and I spent two hours on Sunday walking through Costco and just learning where stuff was, and what type of stuff they had. Very informative. And while we were there, we stumbled upon the book section and saw Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vick Robin, Joe Dominquez, and Monique Tilford. Now, I had heard of this book as one of the top finance books out there, and since we are all about finances this year, we picked it up. And let me just say, this is the finance book to read before you read anything else.

Its not about budgeting or living thrifty, investing, or making more money. Those are all great topics, but this one really starts at the beginning. And I'm not talking three year old "toys cost money, dear" type of beginning. It goes to the root of our financial issues: Why we earn and spend the way we do. The book takes you through 9 steps. The first two steps are all about grounding you in the present: totaling up all the money you earn, all your assets, and all your liablities; keeping track of all your expenses for a month; and calculating your actual hourly wage (including time spent commuting, decompressing, preparing for work, clothes bought for work, etc).

Once you are finally in the present and aware of exactly how much money you have (or don't have), how much you spend, and how much you earn, then the fun begins. And this is the part that's really exciting for me. You are asked to look at expenses not in money, but in hours of your life that is costs to earn that. And THEN you look at whether you got fulfillment from that item, whether it aligns with your life purpose, whether it would stay the same if you didn't have to work.

There's a lot of introspection that goes into that step, and the further steps that build on it, clearly. (Seriously, this is a lot of personal growth stuff) But it is so empowering. Instead of saying "I'm cutting my expenses by $200 this month" and going on a money diet, you get to say "Eating out just doesn't fulfill me. Maybe I'd like to spend that money on something that does." Or whatever you end up saying to yourself.

It makes money really easy to think about, make choices about, and even talk about, cause its no longer tied up in who you are. Its just a tool to get you to where you want to go.

Of course, once you know what you REALLY want to accomplish (life wise, and money wise) then it makes sense to research how to get there (investing, frugal living, second job, whatever) but how great to be doing it because you are called to it, instead of because you feel like you should. I swear, this is the best money book I've read, and really one I recommend reading before you read anything more specific.

If you're over at our house in the next couple weeks you'll see our charts on our fridge as we bring our money into alignment with our goals and purposes.

Oh yes, there is Evil in this world.....

2009-01-15T12:43:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading this article, about how putting a rediculously low monthly payment on credit card bills actually causes most of us to make 43% lower payments than we would normally (excluding those who pay bills in full each month. You lucky dogs.) Do you know how much more money that is for the credit card agencies?!

It got me thinking, so I did some research, watched this frontline episode (from 2004, still relevent tho) and took a big ole step back. How is it that it never, ever occurred to me as odd that credit card companies can change the rate on money I've borrowed AFTER I've borrowed it? Home loans, car loans, and personal loans can't do that, but its ok that credit cards can? I have seriously "drunk the koolaid" as they say.

Good news though! In July 2010 (not nearly soon enough), new regulations come into effect. I'm going to post them here because I found WAY too many articles that inaccurately reported them. Most of the articles just reported what was "proposed" as if it was law, but sadly, many of those proposed regulations just didn't make the cut. Those that did:

~Credit card companies can no longer raise interest rates on money you've already borrowed, UNLESS you have a variable rate card, or you've paid your minimum payment more than 30 days late

~No rate hikes in the first year, unless that was part of the original card agreement.

~Zero percent interest now actually means zero percent interest. No more deferred interest offers.

~No late fee if the bill was mailed less than 21 days from the due date. (I personally have been hit with this one, and threw a fit, and got nowhere. Apparently I was "responsible for knowing my due date and payment amount, whether or not [I] got a bill." WTF Same card that changed my due date twice in the same year without notice, btw. I don't do business with them anymore.)

~Credit card companies must now split your payment amongst all balances, or allocate it all to the balance with the highest rate. No more paying off your 0% balance transfer first while your 25% cash advance builds up interest charges.

~No more double-cycle billing!!!! (Lemme explain: double-cycle billing is when you have a $500 balance, and during the billing cycle you pay $450 before interest is calculated, but they still charge you interest on the full $500 as if it hadn't already been paid)

~Subprime cards can not charge fees or deposits that are more than 50% of the card's limit, and they must give you a full year to pay those fees off.

More info here.

Of course this means that there will a bit more responsibility in the credit card industry, since they can't gouge people as much, and that means fewer offers to higher risk people. Sounds bad, but its so not. Nothing that causes greater responsibility is ever a bad thing. Inconvenient, yes. But always good for you. Like broccoli.

How could I forget?!

2009-01-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

We got a CostCo card! It must be because I've been so swamped at work, and going crazy with taking care of dogs and husband combined (can't wait for his cast to come off---5 more days!)

So we made our first foray into CostCo on New Year Eve. I do NOT recommend it. The store was SO crowded that day, it was awful! And then there was the issue of getting Jeremy through the crowds with his crutches. Ick. But we didn't want to just give up right there.

We went back last week on a Saturday (I know) and though it was crowded too, it was MUCH better than the holiday. And we had a slightly better idea of how to attack the store: avoid the clusterf#$k at the produce section (who needs 8lbs of asparagus anyway?!), walk the backs of the aisles instead of the fronts (too many people oogling clothes, electronics, etc in the fronts,) and know your store layout (this one we're still working on - there are NO aisle labels!! I think I'll just spend an afternoon wandering some day or another - to get the basics down)

So far, what we've found is that Costco prices are pretty low, but only to about what would match other stores' sale prices. So rather than buy everything at Costco, we're going to buy staples and meat. So, flour, bread, beans, rice, and meats, particularly meats in large quantities, like 15lbs of sirloin (that we'd have to cut into steaks ourselves, but that is rediculously cheap!)

I'm looking forward to spending the next few months figuring out the best way to make use of our Costco membership for both healthy living, and a healthy balance sheet.

OAMC

2009-01-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

Stands for Once A Month Cooking. There's a cookbook out there that gives you a menu list, recipe list and grocery list for once a month cooking, and then you basically spend one day a month cooking everything for your family and putting in your (very large) freezer.

That type of plan isn't really for me. I like cooking, and I like fresh foods. But I also like not having to cook ALL the time. So I started searching for good make ahead and freeze type meals, and guess what? They all seem to be labeled OAMC.

Search OAMC on Google and you will find a ton of website where people just post up their favorite recipes. And they are great recipes (mostly). There's also some pages titled things like "How to use 35lbs of hamburger," which may come in handy with our new CostCo card.

Since Jer and I aren't eating out much any more, and we are cutting our grocery bill, its seems like making a few of these OAMC recipes and having them ready in the freezer would be a great idea for us. I'll keep Cooking Kama Sutras updated with anything good that I find.

Picnic Day

2009-01-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the park with our friends and had a picnic. It was great! A little windy (ok, a lot) but really nice, warm sun, and we got to take the dogs. My favorite part was how much it cost: Nothing! We made sandwiches, brought water, and had a blast!

I love watching our mindset switch over, to where we aren't thinking about what we can go buy, but more what can we do without buying. Cindy came up with the picnic idea (thanks Cindy!) and it was great to see everyone just hanging out and talking. Not playing the latest video game, not spending money on a movie, just talking and having a great time.

Woot!

Pushing through the haze

2009-01-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

Its been a few days since I've been able to write, mainly because I'm so doggone tired. I've been spending most of my work week trying desperately to get our books to match our CPA's statements so our producers stop asking embarrasing questions, and after two weeks, we've finally gotten over the first hurdle. The general ledge (read: main account) is DONE! Now its onto each individual movie, making sure that those books are all good.

The trouble is, during these two weeks (and, probably, the next two weeks) I also have all my normal accounting duties to complete. As you can guess, I'm pretty swamped. I just now finished up entering all the payments and deposits (and credit cards, and bank statements) for November. December should be worse, because there's WAY more stuff that is behind. Sigh.

As one would expect, I have gotten frustrated, overwhelmed, sleep deprived, and, today, my entire brain feels like its swimming through some type of haze. I have no idea how I started functioning today (I should have just shut down or fell apart), but I do know how I kept going once I got started: I didn't let myself stop.

Of course I took breaks, and I took a walk, but whenever I found myself zoning out, or getting too overwhelmed, or just plain not wanting to keep going, I kept going. I recently read that its easier for people to work in 10-15 minute spurts, so that's what I did. At first I didn't even realize what I was doing, but it does really work. I worked on a task for 15 minutes or so, then got stumped or frustrated, so I put it down and moved to something else.

Seriously, I can not believe how much I got done today, especially given how crappy I'm feeling. I can barely put a decent sentence together (when talking. typing, thankfully, isn't so much of a problem), and yet, I've gotten most everything done that I wanted too! I can go home feeling satisfied because there is no GiantNumbersPile monster waiting for me on Monday. Just a Baby GiantNumbersPile Monster, who's Underdressed and Distracted....totally pwnable.

Lessons learned from D&D

2009-01-05T17:46:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and I had a great conversation a couple days ago about what worked and didn't work when we played various D&D campaigns. Lots of interesting stuff came up, but one thing was most interesting to me and it happens to be a great relationship lesson too.

The campaigns where our group did the best, and where we have had the most fun, are ones where everyone's goal is the same. In the game, we start out with a basic character and some vague idea of what we want to do, and end up shaping our goals and the reasons for reaching those goals together.

When the characters have their motivations and goals sorted out beforehand, it messes with the team cohesion, the team doesn't work quite as efficiently together, and it isn't as fun (at least for us.) To be fair, role playing wise, it puts an interesting and different spin on things: forcing us to figure out how to work with this person, communicate with someone who doesn't want to, etc. But it is more work, and the results we get as a team aren't as awesome.

Cut to the relationship. Seems like common sense, but it did kinda hit me over the head: The same thing applies! I'm seeing it already in our finances. Last year we had all these things we wanted to accomplish with the finances, and though Jer and I were both headed in roughly the same direction (spend less, save more, pay down debt) we had significantly different reasons for doing so. I wanted to be more secure and to feel like I had a bit more control over money. He had big goals like investing in real estate. And sure, we both related to the other's point of view, but there were times when he didn't get why I was upset at a small charge from Taco Bell. And then I didn't get why he was so upset at the real estate market doing what its doing now (after all, it will be a good thing for us, eventually.)

Now I see it. We were reacting to our different motivations. So we weren't completely together on our goals. This year, its different. We both are solidly on the goal of paying off our debt by 2010. Everything else is secondary, and already I can feel the difference. Its easier to talk about, and it feels more fun and less like pulling teeth. I'll definitely keep this site updated with how we do. But the big lesson I'm taking away is that its not enough to be walking in the same direction. It makes a huge difference when you are also heading for the same goal, and have the same or similar motivation for getting there.

New Year's Resolution

2009-01-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

I have been so remiss! I told everyone about our resolutions, but I forgot to post them!

Our big one is be debt free by the end of 2009. That includes finding ways to save more money, but mostly its about planning. Two weeks ago, we used this spreadsheet to put together our debt snowball. We entered every debt we had in it, and how much we would pay each month, and it showed us how long paying off our debts would take, and how much interest we would pay. Though our major debts are at very low or zero interest, paying everything off this year will still save us over $2000 in interest payments!

It was extremely empowering to see everything on paper. Instead of just intending to pay down our debts as much as we can, we can see exactly how much we need to pay every month to reach our goal. Its inspired Jeremy to get a solid job, and me to get going on my other resolution:

To learn to do something new for myself every month. This absolutely feeds into my MIY workshops, so I'm stoked. This month, I'm learning to do my own manicures (see below) as the first MIY workshop is for bath stuff, which I already know how to make.

Next month, isn't planned yet. But I do really want to get on trying out that earthbox, or a container garden with an olla. So maybe that'll be February.

My first at home manicure

2009-01-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

Was not a great success. Its not that bad, but had I paid for this manicure, I would not be happy.

Couple of things I learned:
1. Clipping cuticles yourself is a bad idea. I'll just clean them and not worry about trimming at all. Its not worth the hassle

2. Give yourself time to learn to be a bit ambidextrous. It takes some work.

3. One of the best tools a manicurist has is her own nails, particularly when it comes to cleaning up a bit of misplaced nail polish. Unfortunately, your nails are covered in polish already! So find a tool that can be used in the same fashion. I'll update when I find such a tool.

Overall, I'm not unhappy, and I'm gonna keep going doing my own manicures. I just see how much practice I need!

MIY day #1: Bath stuff

2008-12-30T18:01:00.001-08:00

Ok! I'm scheduling my first MIY day on Jan 17, at 2pm. The agenda? Bath Stuff. All the easy guys, so no worries. It is our first time after all.

Bath salts (of varying colors and scents)
Sugar or salt scrubs (those with ants may want to avoid the sugar)
Bath bombs (or bath fizzies) and their variant
Bath melts, and
Milk and honey bath mix

So fun so fun! and so luxurious! The point is to learn to make some really great bath stuff, without spending a ton of money. All the ingredients will be stuff you can pick up at the drug store, except perhaps the scents. I'll be splitting up the shopping list between everyone, so be sure to RSVP by Jan 10. And if there's a particular scent you would like, let me know so we can make sure its there.

Here's the details on each product:

Bath Salts can be made with any type of salt, though some are definitely better than others. We'll be using a mix of epsom salts, sea salt, and rock salt, as those are the easiest to come by, and are the base of all bath salts. Epsom and sea salts are the most theraputic for the skin and muscles. There are other types of salt that hold fragrance better, but as these don't need to sit on store shelves for two months, why worry about it?

Sugar/salt scrubs will simply involve mixing various oils good for the skin with our course ground sugar or salt. Sugar tends to be a bit gentler as an exfoliant, but as mentioned before, can be a disaster if anyone has ants, so depending on who attends, we may make both types, or just the salt scrub.

Bath bombs (fizzies) are so easy, but seem so mysterious. We're going to take the mystery out. Made with baking soda and citric acid, these are fun, and very impressive when you mention to someone that you made them yourself. You'll never pay $5 for a bath bomb again.

Bath Melts are the silky, oily cousin of bath bombs. We take the basic bath bomb recipe and add shea butter and cocoa butter, and if you like, even some dark chocolate. Instead of fizzing everywhere, they slowly foam and melt into your bath, creating a soft, moisturizing experience.

Milk and Honey bath mix is pretty simple too. There are a zillion variations on dry milk baths, and this is one. Dry milk, honey, oatmeal and some bubbles and viola! A milk and honey bath with yummy relaxing bubbles. If you want, leave the bubbles out, and just use the mix. Also works as a bath bomb, and hey! Since we've got the ingredients already, why not go wild. ;)

Indoor gardening

2008-12-29T14:23:00.001-08:00

I haven't been to my community garden plot in ages. Between rain, cold, and the early sundown, there's been no opportunity. I'm looking forward to making up for lost time this weekend, but in the meantime, I've also been mulling around an idea of container gardening. Jeremy would never let me do too much, but two vegetables we like, buy a lot (and overbuy so they can rot in our fridge a lot) are lettuce and chard. And surprise! Both are extremely container friendly!

So I'm ordering some lettuce and chard seed and seeing what I have around the house for a container, or maybe picking up containers from a thrift store. Since both plants have shallow roots, I can use anything that is a foot deep, and at least a foot in diameter. Plastic storage containers, old pots and bowls, whatever. Drainage will be an issue, but if its a container I can't drill, then there are some creative ways to deal with drainage, starting with a thick layer of gravel at the bottom of the pot.

At some point I also want to try this. But that's another project for another day.

Good resources for frugal finances

2008-12-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

Top 9 Good Habits for a Recession This is just a good article, with links to many other resources, including free financial planning software and a free excel spreadsheet to plan out a debt snowball.

12 Steps to a Prosperous New Year is also a great resource, linking 12 different articles, one for each of the 12 days of Christmas. The end of the year is a great time to plan out your goals for the new year and get your finances in order.

Jeremy and I are doing that this weekend (hopefully) and I can't wait. It makes me feel so much better when I know we are on a plan and that we are moving forward towards whatever goal we decide to set. This year it will be being debt free by the end of the year, with a good emergency account saved up, as well as saving something for a down payment on a house. (Those things might actually be affordable by the time we're ready to buy one!)

Following in Japan's footsteps?

2008-12-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

Great article in the Wall Street Journal today comparing our crisis to the crisis Japan had in the 90's, referred to as Japan's lost decade. They had a paired crash of both their real estate and stock market, and a decade of recession as a result. During that time, Japan's government made stimulus payment and bailout after bailout. Lots of public works. They didn't make a dent, and ended up putting Japan $1.35 trillion further into debt.

In fact, despite multiple examples in history and around the world showing otherwise, we are still convinced that the government can borrow, tax and print more money, and pay enough to stop any sort of economic crisis. Sorry, but no. Its never worked. Ever.

"Not to spoil the party, but this is not a new idea. Keynesian "pump-priming" in a recession has often been tried, and as an economic stimulus it is overrated. The money that the government spends has to come from somewhere, which means from the private economy in higher taxes or borrowing. The public works are usually less productive than the foregone private investment." - Barack Obama-san, WSJ

Honestly, we are seeing a "cleaning out" of our markets bad and inflated investments. Unfortunately, we're also seeing some deflation happening, which, if it catches momentum, could spell real trouble for us long term, economically.

As individuals, its pretty great. The ratio of debt to income in America has lowered for the first time in 52 years!! (We've been borrowing more and more and more for 52 years....and now we're surprised to get the check. We have been so spoiled) The amount of dollars saved per person actually raised and is close to being a positive number. (That's right, we've borrowed so much that even when every person's savings in America is added all together, we're still in the red!)And with deflation, it means things are more affordable, and cash savings are easier to hold onto.

All in all, yes, its painful, but this is a step in the right direction. Its like when you go on a diet after eating McDonald's for years. The first couple days you are starving and feel really crappy. And here's your Uncle Sam trying to hand you another Big Mac so you don't feel so hungry. Gee thanks.

Someone Else's Junk

2008-12-16T12:25:00.001-08:00

So, prior to today's major happenings (see Miss Piggy moment below) I was excited to write about yet another amazing trip to the Salvation Army. thrift stores are such an under-utilized asset. (yes! triple word score!) Recently, Jeremy and I were talking about getting a bread machine, so we can make our own bread, pizza dough, etc.

And, for those who don't know, there are two kitchen appliances you are almost guarnteed to find at any decently sized thrift store: ice cream makers and bread machines. (If you don't see any, wait a couple weeks...they'll show up) They always seem like good ideas at the time, and then get used maybe twice and put away. And then someone finds a dust covered "thing" and donates it.

So, instead of spending $200 on a solid bread maker, we spent $4.

Our Salvation Army is good for a lot of other stuff too. I bought a ton of Christmas decorations this year from them. When I needed new work clothes, they were totally there for me. And creative plates, baskets, bowls etc to put homemade goodies in for Xmas? Yup, they set me up.

I used to think that they never had anything good, and then I took more than two seconds to think about it. Seriously, what do I see the people in my life donate? What do I donate? Its usually clothes slightly out of style, working but unused electronics, and other cool sundries.

So maybe I don't want the sweater that doesn't fit anymore, but someone will. And that street goes both ways. The prices are rediculous (especially on 50% off days - check your local thrift store to see if they have these) and you can find some seriously awesome stuff. Just plan enough time to sift through all the ungl bridesmaid dresses and julienne french fry cutters.

Oh, and awesome tip for those into brand name bling. Thrift stores based in rich areas like Beverly Hills will carry pricier items, at pricier prices but still way below retail. Milano Blahnik's for $50, anyone?

My Miss Piggy Moment

2008-12-16T12:09:00.000-08:00

I am so pissed. Jeremy practically kills himself trying to get everything done for these people. (student film) They don't feed him well, they constantly ask for him and the crew to be okay with less than 12 hours to rest, and they treat him with no respect on top of it. And now, weeks after he hurt his foot, after he finally was seen limping be enough people to get attention, he goes to the doctor and his foot is fucking broken.

Not only is it broken, but its broken in a way that he can't walk on it at all for two months. And if it doesn't heal correctly, which sometimes happens with these breaks, then they may have to do a bone graft from his hip. We're not there yet, but I hate that the doc even felt he had to mention it.

They (the student director's school) are paying for the initial doctor's appointment, and should be paying for all the follow up as well, so at least they are doing that. But I am having a serious Miss Piggy moment. I thought about reporting to the union or talking to the producer directly, but didn't for Jeremy's sake. (It made me happy to think about though) and now, I am so ramped up. "You hurt my Kermie!!!! Hi-YAH! Hi-YAH!"

Either they will pay for worker's comp or we will file unemployment. And they are covering the doctor's bills, so that's good. At least they aren't total scum. But that protective energy is on full blast baby. So watch out. I am NOT a happy camper.

Biggest Loser: Spray Family Edition - Week 6

2008-12-15T13:50:00.001-08:00

So, three posts for today. Sorry bout that, but this way, you can read about what you want, and skip what you don't. :)

So Sunday was our final weigh-in for the CoreGym informercial to show the results. I wasn't so sure about whether we would do well enough, but wow. Looking at the "Before" pictures, its really stunning. Final total: Katy lost 13 lbs and 16 inches, Jeremy lost 10 lbs and 13.5 inches.

Winner: Katy! Though its not quite fair, cause he's injured and his job made it much harder to workout and eat healthy. But still. Woo!!!

We filmed testimonials about the CoreGym and how awesome it is. (It is btw, I'm not lying) and the whole time I was still just blown away by the difference in the before and after pics. I was so gross looking! I'll post the before and after pics when I get them. I asked for an email with them, but who knows how long that'll take.

Jeremy and I are still going to keep up with our CoreGym workouts, but I'll stop the weekly updates. I still want to get down to 135, but now that there's no timeline, I've decided it'll be healthier and longer lasting if I do it slowly. So no more big goals, just happy happy Katy and Jeremy. Happy, thinner, sculpted and hotter Sprays. Woot!!

Do-gooding for the holidays, and beyond....

2008-12-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

So on Saturday I went to an orientation for School on Wheels, an organization that puts volunteer tutors together with homeless kids in LA, Ventura, and Orange County. I went with my little bro, and sometime in January, we will be matched up with homeless kids in the Pasadena area (that's where my bro is) to tutor for one hour a week.

The whole orientation I was on the verge of tears for these kids. Pulled from one school to the next to the next as shelter space becomes available. Some, in domestic abuse shelters, can't even go to school, cause its too dangerous. And the simple things that make so much difference in their lives, like a little bit of stability and someone believing in them, those things just aren't there.

So that's what Ryan and I are going to do. We are going to be there every week for them, and to say yes, you can do it and we're going to help you.

I'm really excited, and especially happy that in this organization, unlike other volunteer groups, they feel really strongly that no matter how motivated you are, you should not take on more than one or maybe two kids. Cause to commit to too much, and then bail on the kid, that is the last thing they want.

I see more and more homeless people on my bus ride to work. Normal, adjusted people who are just down on their luck and don't have anyone they can lean on. I felt like I had to do something. And to do something to break the cycle. Giving these kids support, a chance at a better life. That's something I can really believe in.

New addition to the family

2008-12-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

No, its not that. Its our new dog, Topper! (Sorry Dad) Topper is a chihuahua, dautshound (wiener dog) mix, or as we like to call it: a chihueenie! He is the sweetest, calmest, mostly lovey dog and he was at his no-kill rescue for 8 months!!! WTF? Maybe he was too calm and not excitedly affectionate enough? No idea, but he's perfect for us.

He and Max get along really well, though it'll take a while before they really gel as a pack. And he's doing well with the cats. :D Last night, while watching movies, Topper just curled up on my lap and fell asleep. He is so adorable, and I can't wait for everyone to meet him.

The rescue we got him from, Pet Orphans of Southern California, are very responsible, and had us talk with a behavior specialist for two hours before we could take him home. She told us how to acclimate him to the new place, and to the cats and Max, how to ensure he would bond with us versus Max as the pack leader, and how to train him about various things. Topper was on the street before being in this kennel, so he's never had a consistent pack leader or family to look to or bond with. Very different than a puppy from a breeder, who's born into home dynamics. So he's still kinda skitish, cause he's not quite sure how long things will last. Nor is he used to this kind of living as "normal." With that in mind, we were advised to not introduce Topper to anyone until Wednesday, so he has time to adjust. Make sense, but sorry to all our friends who want to meet him. We'll have to have you over later in the week.

She also said that he's gonna want to run, cause the street, awful as it is, is known to him, versus a home that's all weird and new, so no taking him to anyone else's place for a couple weeks. He needs to learn where home base is first. And they told us to keep him a leash in the house the first few weeks, so he's connected to us and knows who's in charge, the other animals in the house know if he's annoying they can walk away, and he knows that there's someone else in control and that he only needs to deal with a 6' circle of territory at a time. Its something I would never have thought of, and a lot of rules, but I have to say this is the smoothest adoption of a shelter dog I've ever had, and my family has always adopted from a rescue or shelter. So, I guess it works. He's calm, the other animals are calm, its great!

Can't wait until Topper feels like he's really part of the family.

Thoughts on the economic panic

2008-12-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

So, I know the technical definition of what's a recession versus a depression, but I'm starting to get a glimpse of what may be a more usable definition to those of us actually living it. A recession seems to be characterized with the economy contracting and inflation going crazy, while a depression would be the same, but with deflation taking the spotlight. I know economists might disagree with me, but I'm reading all this panicky stuff about how inflation would be bad, but the deflation we're seeing is really bad, cause it'll stretch this recession out much futher. And I'm thinking, so its the deflation that is putting us in danger of a depression then?

Anyway, reading all this stuff has got me even more inspired to do MIY days. I've been googling "Make Your Own XYZ" all over the place. I am now excited to make my own laundry detergent (when we run out), yogurt, ricotta and soft farm cheese, pizza dough, bread, bath salts, shampoo, and who knows what else. :)

I know we'll be saving money with prices deflating, but I also know how bad that is long term for the economy, and want to save as much as I can now, while I can, just in case. It'll also help us pay off our debt anyway, so saving is good.

Actually, I also just have to put this out there: Thank God this is happening. I know its really painful right now, and scary, but check it out. People are actually being responsible with their money! The amount of credit applications and credit purchases has dropped dramatically. Luxury items that people can't afford are not being bought. Even with the holiday season here! Its like our country is finally waking up! Its a great silver lining to this cloud, and I hope people's lifestyles actually change long term, instead of just while things are tight. Its very inspiring, seeing people learn to live sustainably on the money they make, rather than always spending more.

A little statistic to show you what I mean: in 2007 it was estimated that consumers in the US spent $2-$3 TRILLION more than they made. (its just an estimate, and clearly has a wide margin of error, but STILL!) There's no estimate for 2008, but I bet its gonna be way lower. :)

Quantum biology?

2008-12-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading a really intriguing book: The Biology of Belief. Written by a former cell biologist, it explains the issues with our current theories of how biology works, based on Newtonian physics (which we now know to be gross oversimplifications which only prove out in large scale, macro type reactions). What is amazing is that, when you apply quantum physics to biology, not only does it make about a million times more sense (especially when you spent hours and hours and hours in lab trying to get molecules to behave, like I did), but it also explains how alternative, energy based medicine works, and why it works, AND allows us to recognize the amazing power we have over our own bodies.

The thing I love the most is the science (which he backs up with multiple studies done over the last decade) the shows that our cells and bodies are extremely reactive to energy fields, even the weak ones we create with various emotions. AND he shows how emotions aren't so much an affect of our brain, but rather are an effect from our bodies, caused by some outside stimulus. But it explains why emotions are so illogical. And then he goes through the ways (actual pathways with hormones and stuff) that people can makes themselves sick or heal themselves, through emotions and mindset.

Its things that I came to believe after studying genetics for several years (not to popular with the co-researchers), so I was already primed to get this, but its really neat to read about the science behind it, and what we are finding out.

Also, he has a tail end about a new type of psychology called psych-k, which uses this new research to alter the way your body reacts to things, like phobias and self-esteem issues, extremely quickly (like 15 minutes quickly) by bypassing the brain and going straight to the body. Sounds pretty awesome.

I highly recommend the book, (the science is very simplified for laymen, so no worries), and if you haven't seen it, you might want to see "What the #@#$% Do We Know?" before you read the book. It's a bit like an intro, though it was made a few years earlier.

Survivng by Thriving

2008-12-08T18:07:00.000-08:00

I am very moved by this weekend, by the conversations I had with my parents, by what I hear and read about what my friends are going through, and by what I see around me. The world is changing, and the same old, same old is just not going to cut it anymore.

We are being called to step beyond what we thought we were capable of, beyond the limits of who we thought we were. To not do so is to flounder. But to do it, there will be major challenges and upsets.

So far, I've used this blog to keep people up-to-date with what's going on in our lives: little comments, a few thoughts here and there, but mostly just "this happened, and then that happened." I'm not going to stop that completely, but it doesn't satisfy me anymore. More needs to be said, and more done. And with that, I declare my blog as place to come to be inspired, to be educated, to be challenged, and occasionally, just to enjoy life.

And as my blog changes, so does the title. This is theme: to feel complete we must thrive. Survival is simply not enough...and frankly, I never feel like I'm "surviving" when I live like that. I always feel lost, and panicked, and like the slightest thing will topple my house of cards. So my only other option is to thrive, and this is where I'm gonna put anything that helps me do that. Hopefully it'll help everyone else too.

Weekend Update

2008-12-08T17:19:00.000-08:00

Lots happened this weekend. Saturday was pretty normal: cleaning, bike riding, etc. But Sunday was a whole other story. My sister (in-law), Donna, broke her foot pretty badly when coming back from my bro's holiday concert. Slipped in the street and caused a huge ruckus. Apparently there were two fire engines, two paramedic teams, and four police cars out for her lil old foot.

The paramedics did a great job and saved her about six months of extra physical therapy by immobilizing the foot and saving the tendon from snapping. (Go EMTs!!) But she still had to have surgery to get the bones placed correctly, with two plates and six screws.

So Sunday, we moved her and Dirk downstairs to my parent's rented room and moved their renter upstairs (he was awesome to say yes to moving, Thanks Davy!) I got there about 3 in the afternoon to help with the unpacking, and by the evening that little space looked so homey and welcoming. I was kinda jealous! ;) I hope she likes it. She's closer to everyone, and on the first floor, so that should help a bunch.

Before I got to my mom's to help with the move, I had to get the laundry done, which is where issue number two happened: my purse was stolen. I thought for sure I had accidentally thrown it in with the laundry, but when the machine finished, I searched and there was no purse. I figure it must've happened when I was wrestling with our duvet cover and mattress pad. Nothing of any value in the purse, but its damn inconvenient.

I had to buy a day pass for the bus and then go to Union Station on my break to pick up a replacement for my monthly pass (thank god for electronic passes. They can cancel my old one and give me a new one without me having to buy anything!) And I lost my office key (though thankfully not my car keys. That would've been nasty) I canceled all my cards, and put fraud alerts on all my credit reports, and ordered a new license. So everything's taken care of. Its just so...annoying! grrr.

I get that people are feeling the pinch, and may be getting desperate. But grrrr anyway.

Thank goodness for family. Any negative feelings I would have had melted totally away when I was with mom and Greg helping move. I had such great talks with them about all sorts of cool spiritual stuff, and about nothing. It was AWESOME! I love my family. :)

Biggest Loser: Spray Family Edition - Week 5

2008-12-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well, we're working on it, but life has really interfered with our exercise program. Jeremy broke his CoreGym, and we picked up a new one for him yesterday. He's decided to use his down time at work to workout, cause all week he's wanted to workout, but been exhausted after working 12-14 hour days. So working out at work will (hopefully) work better than working out after work.

He did lose a pound this week, putting him at 187 lbs. currently. (Woo!)

I am having a hard time telling what my weight should be. PMS related bloating and water retention have totally messed up my weight. One day I was 149, the next 152, then 153, then 148 (at least that was normal!) and on and on this week. I weighed in as 147 this morning, but who knows if that's accurate. For now, lets say that's my current weight, just for kicks. ;)

So with that, it means we both lost a pound this week. Moving in the right direction! Now, we just need to get some momentum going!

Biggest Loser: Spray Edition - Week 4

2008-11-30T12:52:00.000-08:00

Today ends week 4. What a crappy week. Thanksgiving, days off, too much sleep. Jeremy hurt his ankle, so standing exercises are out for the moment. And I took two days of no working out for me. Motivation was at an all time low.

The good news is, despite all that, neither of us gained any weight. We didn't lose either, but since AP reported today that the average American gains 1 lb on Thanksgiving alone, I feel decent about maintaining. Well, I feel decent now...I had to kick myself in the butt a few time first. >:-/

Seriously though, one pound in a day?!!?! This holiday is totally messed up. And if that's the average, you know there are people who gain two or even three pounds on turkey day. CRAP! It does make me feel better about maintaining, even if I did have two servings of pie. (sugar free apple pie, but the crust was still there, filled with butter and carbs)

I did happen to get a ton of half off food from Fresh and Easy yesterday (leftovers from their Thanksgiving day stock). Lots of fresh veggies and turkey breast. So we should be eating well and working out next week.

I'm still holding to my goal of losing another 10 pounds by Week 6, though now its going to be really really hard. Lets hope a couple of those pounds come off as water weight. :)

Jeremy - 188 lbs; 15 lbs lost Katy - 148 lbs; 10 lbs lost

Inspiration!!

2008-11-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

I am totally inspired and want to share it with everyone. I want to start a recurring make-it-yourself (MIY) afternoon in 2009. I started thinking about all sorts of fun and easy bath stuff that can be made in an afternoon, inspired by the thought of christmas gifts. :) Unfortunately, I think its a little too late for me to put an afternoon together in time for Christmas gifts. And besides, most of whom I would gift with these great bath products are the same people I'd invite to the MIY day!

So my idea is to do one a month or so, but timing is less important. What I really want to know is who's interested, and what do you want to make?

Here's my ideas for three different weekends that we can do. Tell me what you think, or let me know of any other ideas you might have. Even if its just an idea for one product, we can probably brainstorm around it to create a whole afternoon.

Afternoon #1: Bath Products (Of course!) which can include bath fizzies (or bath bombs), bath melts, bath salts, honey and milk bath powder, and bath teas. We could also do a more ambitious afternoon later with lotions, soaps, creams and lip balms, but we can come back to that if we're into it. Those products definitely take more work and planning.

Afternoon #2: Bread Mixes, which could have pancake mix, biscuit mix, cake mixes, sweet bread mix (like pumpkin or gingerbread), cookie mix, and maybe even some yeast bread mix (like basic white bread).

Afternoon #3: Soup mixes, of varying types. My first thoughts are to bean soups (cause the colored beans look pretty) but I bet we could find a bunch of other dry soup options, like chicken noodle (sans chicken of course).

Afternoon #4: Sauces maybe? This could be really fun, but it would be a little messier than the others, cause it would have wet ingredients.

We could also try doing some household cleansers, or get crafty and do home decor stuff? The sky's the limit really.

So there's some ideas. I just think it would be really fun to have lunch together and make fun things. It could also save us all a lot of money, unless we decide to get really gourmet with some of the materials. My thought was to make things cheaply, with normal household ingredients, rather than mail ordering a bunch of specialty stuff. And for the food stuff, it could help us be healthier too, cause we'd all know exactly what was (and was not) in our mixes. (No chemical preservatives! Yipee!)

Ok, I now open the floor...what say you all?

Biggest Loser: Spray Edition - Week 3

2008-11-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

This post is totally late. Sunday was the end of week 3, and what a disappointing week it was (for me anyway.) I got a stomach bug, something in our tap water I think. And let me tell you, abs and core exercises when you are already nausious and weak, those are not fun. Needless to day week 3 was kinda a bust for me. I also slept a ton, being sick, so getting up in time to exercise in the morning, or having energy to do it at night, was pretty frickin tough. This is where having a partner around to motivate me would have really helped. But alas, Jer was working again.

Jeremy, however, lost a ton of weight on his job. I haven't had his numbers till now, so I hadn't posted them, but during the first two weeks he lost 5 pounds total, to bring him down to 195. This Sunday he weighed in at 185. 10 pounds!!!! So awesome! ( I am SOOOOO jealous.) My competitive streak is totally showing. Look out Jer, I'm coming for you!

My weight loss this week was a measly 2 pounds. Due almost entirely to watching my diet and not eating much at all (being sick). But the holiday weekend is here, and that means lots and lots of time to work out. :D I even picked up a sugar free apple pie for Thanksgiving, so I don't have to feel left out when it comes to dessert.

Three more weeks left before the big weigh in. 20 pounds, here I come!

Total pounds lost: Jeremy - 15lbs. Katy - 10 lbs.

The Word

2008-11-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

NOTE:This blog is inspired by Jeremy's current film shoot, but its not limited to that in the least.

RESPECT

You know, we as adults are willing to put up with a lot. We'll work for less pay, or go overtime to get a project done. We'll pay for our own expenses. We'll deprive ourselves of sleep. Basically, we'll work ourselves to the bone. (and even if you wouldn't, go with me on this...)

We do it for many reasons: to get something from someone, to earn ourselves a little time off, to make sure someone else is taken care off, but mostly, because we said we would. We keep our word (Remember I'm talking adults here. Overgrown teenagers who never emotionally matured don't count)

So if you see someone doing this on your behalf, and you're an adult, what do you do? You show respect back. Cause you know what they went through. And if you're a NICE adult, you might even show a little gratitude. (GASP!)

Cause what happens if you don't show it? You are way less likely to have that person push so hard for you again. Because who wants to work for someone who doesn't show respect? Not me. At that point, you've lost MY respect.

So the next time you're about to take for granted stuff that people do for you, remember, respect is hard to find and really easy to lose. Give it back, and you might actually not have to work so hard to get it.

Biggest Loser: Spray Family Edition - Week 2

2008-11-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

So our second week ended on Sunday, and I'm 152 lbs! Getting very close to that elusive "under 150" number. :D Hoping to get there by the end of this week.

My right knee has a twinge in it, so I've been laying off the cardio stuff, and I know that'll slow my weight loss. But I really don't want to further hurt my knee. I've got a good knee support wrap, and after two days of cardio rest, I'm gonna try a little tonight, and see how it goes. I'm totally babying my knee, and I hope that pays off.

Jeremy hasn't been able to do his CoreGym workouts in two days, cause he's been working 12 hour shifts on his film shoot, plus the hour commute each way. Ouch! I totally miss him. But I know he's been getting "other" exercise, running back and forth from the lighting truck, lifting 40 lb lighting kits, etc. So he's probably going to be ok. :) I'm more worried about me. Working out alone is so much HARDER!

We also have a TON of smoke in the air from the fires, so that's another good reason to lay off the cardio, or take it easy. Cause if you breathe too hard, you can feel it burn, and it is NOT a fun type of burn. Its that "I can't get any oxygen!" type of thing, so that sucks.

The office smells like smoke this morning, but thankfully it looks like the air is starting to clear up some, even though there are still fires going. Thank you wind!

So even with all those things blocking me, I am committing to being 148 by next week. Wish me luck! (and don't offer me any sweets) ;)

Quote of the week

2008-11-11T16:11:00.001-08:00

"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how
infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things
that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever."

~ Isak Denison ~

To the veterans,

2008-11-11T13:59:00.001-08:00

Thank you.

"Separate but Equal" is never equal

2008-11-11T10:50:00.000-08:00

So Prop 8 was passed, gay marriage was banned, again. And I know most of my friends who read this blog are against banning gay marriage, so I'm kinda preaching to the choir, but I can't help it. I have got to get this out.

In a country where everyone is supposed to be treated equally, banning gay marriage is wrong. And here's my two biggest reasons why:

First, the legal stuff. A lot of people want to protect marriage by banning gay marriage. Not sure if I get this, but ok. They say it would open us up to polygamy and other alternate marriage forms. Wow, very reactionary, but I'll accept it as a legitimate view. They say gays should be happy with their domestic partnership, since that's just the same. Really...

News flash people. Its not the same. Its absolutely, 100% not the same. And I'm not talking about the name, or the feeling of segregation it engenders (though that's pretty valid in and of itself.) I'm talking about rights. Like the right to visit your spouse in the hospital. Or the right to be a guardian to your spouses' child from a former relationship. Or the right to be included in your spouses' final wishes should the worst happen. Or about a hundred other rights married people take for granted. None of these rights are recognized nationally for a domestic partnership (or civil union.) In fact, a domestic partnership itself isn't recognized nationally, its state to state.

Now, I'm married in California. But if I moved to Oregon, I'd still be married. Not so for a gay couple, even if they move to another state with domestic partnerships. Which also means that a domestic partnership isn't allowed to take the marriage tax credit on their income taxes. They get a somewhat similar credit, though it is less overall.

Sure, a gay couple can get almost all the rights of a straight couple by seeing a lawyer and having papers drawn up (wills, powers of attorney, legal guardianships, etc) but they have to spend thousands of dollars to do that, while I, as a hetrosexual, can get them for a measley $100 with a marriage certificate.

So I said I had two major reasons, and here's the second. Banning gay marriage is about the belief that gay marriage is wrong. That is goes against nature, or it goes against God, or that its a choice, or whatever it is. Its a BELIEF. Not only is it a belief, but its a belief that many, many people do not agree with.

So tell me this: At what point did we become a country where the beliefs of a majority could be used to force restrictions on the minority who believes differently. When did become ok? Cause if I remember correctly, that goes against our Declaration of Independence ("All men are created equal" anybody?) and the Constitution, particularly the 14th Amemendment (Requires states to provide EQUAL protection under the law to ALL persons under their jurisdiction.)

If I go by what I learned in Civil History, Prop 8, whether I believe in it or not, is unconstitutional, and should not have been passed. Heck, it shouldn't even have been on the ballot. Cause a domestic partnership is certainly not equal protection (see above.)

So, WTF California?!!?!

In case you were wondering...

2008-11-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to Core Gym:

http://www.coregym.com

Biggest Loser: Spray Family Edition

2008-11-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

We're into week 2 of our weight loss plan, so I thought "Hey, maybe its time to actually tell people we started." :)

Jeremy and I are part of a test group using this new product called the Core Gym. Its mostly pilates based stuff, and is an at home thingy that lets you do a lot of stuff you would normally need much larger equipment for. There's eight 8 minute workouts that they gave us, and a schedule of which ones to do which day. We started with one, and it looks like by the end of the month we should be up to 5 a day.

We are loving it. There's some cardio, some arm stuff, and a lot of leg and core work. We are sore, but we are loving it. I have to estimate a little, cause I'm using a different scale than the one we did our first weigh in on, but it looks like I've lost 3 pounds so far! (Starting weight was 159.6 lbs -- EW!)

The great thing is that the workouts are short enough that they are easy to fit into the day. And we are both getting strong enough to do two or three at a time, which feels awesome! (even though we can't lift our water glasses afterwards)

My understanding is that if we show good enough results, we get featured in their infomercial, which will be very cool, cause we get paid for that (I think). So we're watching what we eat, taking the fiber supplement they gave us to curb appetite, and working our little touchies off! (literally)

Wish us luck! More updates to come.

The Great Camping Weekend

2008-10-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Or, more accurately, The Great Camping 24-Hours, but whatever.

Camping with Jeremy this weekend was so, SO nice. Quiet, peaceful, amazing. We attempted to drive up the 2, only to be thwarted by some type of accident blocking both lanes, right at the entrance to the Angeles Forest.

So, a little creative navigating and we found ourselves entering the Forest not through La Cañada, but through the nether-regions of Tujunga. Desolation, desert, and depression....for an hour. Jeremy was getting all disappointed that my California mountains didn't have any pine trees, and that everything in LA was a desert.

Chilao campground did not help. This was our first choice of campgrounds (once we got back on track and on the 2 again), since it was the closest. It has rave reviews, so I figured it'd be great! Not so much. The two best areas of the campground were closed to either protect a native species or for fire danger, so the only area left was the RV area called Little Pines. Little indeed...all the trees were 8 feet max! With almost no privacy, camp sites practically on top of each other, and to top it all off, just about everything was brown and dead, cause of the dry summer. This place might be a beautiful meadow area in the spring, but its awful right now. We didn't even bother getting out of the car.Onward to Buckhorn, 10 miles down the road.

Buckhorn is BEAUTIFUL! Tall tall trees, the camp sites are nicely spaced out, great hiking trail to a waterfall (at least, that's what they say...we only saw a trickle) and a creek running through the main part of the site. The creek was dried up into stagnate pools, but there was still water there, and it attracted all sorts of butterflies and chipmunks and stuff. Here's the view from our chosen site:

And our camp site:

We got there, found a perfect site, set up, and then went exploring. This campground is really well laid out. Lots of pockets of 5 or 6 sites, rather than all 38 being right on top of each other. So we hung out and just relaxed for most of the afternoon, playing cards and talking and stuff. Really nice. I gave Jeremy his birthday gift so he could use it that night:

A Jayne Hat! Made by me, in four days, and with much stress over the keeping of the secret. (My hubby is a hard man to surprise) He was so stoked, and had NO IDEA! Birthday surprise FTW!

We had fun cooking beanie weennies on our fire for dinner (Jeremy's choice), along with some biscuts and cocoa, and left s'mores for breakfast, cause we were so stuffed. Sometimes oldies are the best. Yay campfire cooking!!! I'm totally inspired for next time too...the campfire gourmet is on the case!

Buckhorn campground is totally my new favorite now. Its closed Nov-Apr but I can't wait to bring friends up for a group camping trip when it opens again. Its at about 6300 feet though, so very cold at night, and pitch black. Boy howdy were we thrown by how quiet is was, even with all the people camping and a youth group of about 20 teens screaming and laughing all the time. And dark. We totally failed our night vision check. Pretty stars though. :)

The next morning we took it nice and slow, slept in, and then packed up. We didn't feel like hiking again, so we drove up the road a bit to a picnic spot on the crest of the mountain called Eagle's Roost. Gorgeous view:

Those really blue mountains in the back are the mountains we see from LA, much shorter than the ones we camped on. So amazingly gorgeous. It was a great place to hang out, but eventually, it was time to come back to civilization....and take a nap (Apparently it was colder than we thought at night...we didn't sleep as well as we thought) :) I for one can't wait to go camping again (with a warmer sleeping bag) and I have the next place picked out! Just have to wait for some actual rain or snow and then its ON!

Quote of the week

2008-10-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

First, some context: in Wednesday's debate, John McCain accused ACORN (a non-profit organization that focuses on registering minorities and low-income earners to vote) of "committing one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country; maybe destroying the fabric of democracy"

"Thank you Senator. The fabric of democracy is being destroyed by ACORN. I am so tired of hearing people say it was being destroyed by concentrating unchecked power in the executive branch, or politicizing the justice department, or condoning torture, or warrentless wire tapping of American citizens. It was actually destroyed by homeless people filling out registration forms with the name Mickey Mouse!" ~Stephen Colbert, Thursday, Oct 16

Hello Inflation, how are you?

2008-10-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going to blog a bit on the economy, because I feel like I should be sharing some of my insights on what's going on, and I've had more than a couple friends who have asked me what it all means.

The latest news is the raise (again) of 30-fixed mortgage rates (currently 6.48%) AND the bond yield (interest) on Treasury notes(currently approx. 4%, up from 3.7%). Why do I bring up both? Because the are intrinsically related. Basically, when the yield on Treasury bonds or notes go up, so does the interest on your consumer loans (car, mortgage, etc).

"But wait!" you might say. "I thought the government was fixing the credit crunch, giving money to the banks. How can the credit crunch be fixed if credit costs more? I need things to cost LESS not MORE!" I hear you. The missing piece of this puzzle is the federal debt. Where did the money come from for these bailouts? Debt. Where does a lot of our government's money come from? Debt. And who lends the debt? Investors. Specifically investors buying treasury notes and bonds.

To attract more investors, the US has to raise interest (yields) on the loans they take out (Treasury notes and bonds.) What makes things worse is that many investors are selling their Treasury notes, or not buying new ones. Cause no one wants to invest in a country that's struggling until they are sure that country will come out on top.

So, the US Treasury raises yields, to attract money to fund the bailout, and those raised yields raise interest rates that you pay for your mortgage. Worse, high yields typically result in a lower dollar value and inflation, though it may take a few months before we see it. You see, the dollar's value is also tied into the yields on these notes.

On a more common level, the buying power of your dollar is tied to how much you can buy with it, and as living costs raise (by people paying more for cars, mortgages, store front leases, etc), the cost of everything else raises too. So your dollar buys less.

So, for those who are still with me, the point is there is no free lunch. Our government would like you to think that they can create money out of nowhere, or that they have gobs of it to pull out in an emergency. The truth is they don't, and we will be the ones who pay with inflation and further economic recession.

PS. I now return you to my regularly scheduled blogging

Jeremy's Job

2008-10-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, Jeremy has been looking for work. He went through an amazing internal process about what he wanted to do, and what he was really worth and capable of, and at the end of it, realized he really wanted to work in TV production and act. So he's been throwing his resume out to any and all people who will take it, pass it on, might have a gig, have a gig that is even remotely something in his field, etc and its been paying off. He's had many calls for gigs that are no pay, or deferred pay (same thing, usually) and a couple paying gig calls.

This last weekend, he was called in for a deferred pay gig, 5 days, that was done by a producer who usually has a bunch of well paying work and was doing this deferred one for a friend. He said to Jer, come and show me what you can do, and I'll hire you for my paying gigs. Ok..rocking. Except, that a few hours later, Jeremy was offered another 5 day gig, that paid $100 a day. What to do!

Well, he took the deferred pay gig, cause it had more opportunity for networking, and he'd already said he would do it. Then comes Friday, the day he's supposed to start...only, no call sheet. No phone calls, no emails. There is no info on when to be there, or even where to go. Six messages and several hours later, the producer calls to say that "oh, there was some creative differences with the writer and director, so the shoot's postponed"....gee thanks. So, Jeremy turned down a paying gig, and several other gigs in the interim, and no one bothered to say "hey, take some other gig, cause this one's not happening." So unprofessional!!! I was majorly pissed! (on his behalf...he seemed pretty calm about it, actually).

So, the happy ending is that I got to spend the weekend with my hubby, which was really nice. :) AND he got a call for a one day gig tonight, that may turn into a long term solid job. :D Its for an entertainment news show, and they are shooting the pilot tonight. By next week, they should know if one of the eight networks who are interested is going to pick it up, and if they do, Jeremy's in! AND he's in as a gaffer, which is a big promotion for him. Woo!!! Crossing my fingers!

See, the world does work out! Even when people are lame and rude. :)

Could it be Fall????

2008-10-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

I love Fall. I think it may be my favorite season (though Spring can definitely give it a run for its money). After the sweltering heat and monotonous sunny days of summer, it is so wonderful to get clouds, and wind, and coolness, and even some rain. I know, summer isn't supposed to be monotonous, but in LA, it definitely gets there....gee, another 95F day, what is that, the 35th one in a row? Yeah, I get sick of that.

Its something I do miss a lot about Davis. I've never dealt well with really really cloudy or cold climates, but Davis was great. It had a very solid Fall and Winter, but with enough breaks in the weather that you got some sun once in a while. While LA is the exact opposite, lots of sun, with breaks in the weather that allow cloudy cold days.

The coming of Fall also makes me wonder how I would handle a Fall and Winter season in more northernly climes now that I'm taking my thyroid pills. Being an undiagnosed hypothyroid sufferer made anything dark and cold really hard to deal with. But who knows now! I could completely skip over the depression, the I-can't-get-my-toes-warm-even-with-three-pairs-of-socks-and-a-fireplace issues, the low energy, and just get out there and enjoy the fabulous Fall weather like everyone else.

What I want more than anything else is a really REALLY good rain. OH GOD that would be nice. Everything clean, and alive, and that wonderful smell in the air, the sense of everything jsut drinking it in around you. So nice. I miss that. A lot. Hopefully, we'll see at least some rain this month. I'll cross my fingers. :)

Stuck in a rut

2008-09-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

I've just completed a massive accounting project for quarter end (ACCPAC issues from our go-live date come back to haunt me....again) and I know I should get back to real life, and normal work, but I'm so overwhelmed...I just feel like collapsing and reading my book. And somehow, that's almost justified, since I stayed at work until 7 last night, with no more than 10 minutes of breaks, total.

But still, I want to move on. To shrug off the tense exhausted feeling in my shoulders and the adrenaline crash that is currently shorting out my brain. But I can't. I'm so caught up in everything that it took for me to do that work, that I'm stuck.

At least there's only 2 and half more hours left in the day, and I get to game tonight too! Really looking forward to that. Matt is teh awesome DM, and there are some really great mental challenges in addition to kicking major ass.

Being the cool older sister

2008-09-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

I spent the last few days housesitting/brothersitting for my parents, who are in NY until this afternoon. So you know what that means? Awesome fun time with the little bro, who is not that little anymore. He's 13, which means I don't have to worry about the violence/language/etc in any movies we want to watch, and I can stay up kinda late with him and its cool. (Just don't tell mom!)

Sunday night was movie night with The Gamers: Dorkness Rising. He loved it!!! I loved it too. I am constantly amazed at how funny that movie is, even when I know it by heart. :) Woot to the DG! And Ryan is clear that he must have a movie night with his friends so they too can know the hilarity that is The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.

Monday night we were going to watch Forbidden Kingdom, but alas! It was not "On Demand." What was though, was even better: The Matrix. Which, since Ryan was four when it came out, was a movie that he missed. I have so many great memories of Dad sharing awesome movies with me as I grew up, movies that were before my time or that I was too young for, and now I get to carry the tradition onward! And look uber-cool cause I have a "never-ending" list of great movies....at least until he gets caught up. BTW, Watching The Matrix with a first timer is really fun, highly recommended.

But I think the cool person of the week award definitely went to Jeremy. First he helped Ryan create his first character, a human Monk. Then he bought staffs, dressed them up with tape, and they got to practice staff fighting. And last night, under my suggestion, he bought some 4th edition minis and we had a three way mini battle! Yar! Ryan totally won the points battle, and then I killed him. And Jeremy. I rock. :P

Fun was had by all this week, and tonight, Eversea! I am so lucky.

Missing you

2008-09-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

I am really missing all my GenCon friends. The normal decompression, getting-used-to-normal-life-again blues have come and gone. But now that I'm back to my life and have been here a while, I can't help but miss all the smiles, humor, love and fun times we all shared for our brief weekend.

I do love the internet. Without it, I would not be able to communicate at all with friends in Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. But it is not the same as being with them, and it bums me out.

So here's to all my newfound Dead Gentlemen and Margaret Weis friends, may I see you all very soon. And in the meantime, Facebook will keep us together. :)

2008-08-22T10:49:00.001-07:00

I have to say, the biggest thing I've come away from GenCon with is the overwhelming sense of being fully and truly healthy again. :D I wasn't even thinking of it at the time, but GenCon was the biggest test yet of my health and fatigue level. Sleep devprivation, sensory overload, and energy requiring late night parties....and I was at work at 9 in the morning on Monday, for the most part doing pretty ok!

For those who may not know, I had chronic fatigue for a year and a half. (HAD....I can actually say HAD!!) I was unable to stand many days, work almost always...had to decide whether to shop for groceries or do laundry, cause I sure as hell couldn't do both in a day. And Jeremy and my family were totally there for me the whole time. We use accupuncture and herbs to control it enough for me to get married and go on a honeymoon, only to come back sick again..once again the "cure" was, well, not.

Enter the Holtorf medical group. They are awesome! At first I felt like they were taking me for every dollar they could, expensive doctor's visits, bagfuls of meds, lists of blood tests that seemed to go on forever...but they are awesome. A year later and I'm off all but two of the meds, the doctors visits are short and reasonable (longer initial visits are the expensive ones...they talk to you for like an hour about every possible symptom so they can treat you effectively) and I've been told that soon, I may not need treatment anymore at all.

So, background over, here's the bottom line. I stood my ground through every energy sucking, crazy funtime event that everyone else did, and, of everyone in LA, it seems like I'm the one who recovered the fastest, with no days off, no two hour naps (though I would have loved one), no getting sick. Not saying that everyone wouldn't have bee able to function were they not allowed their days off and naps. What I am saying is how amazed I am at how I did, and watching my friends take their extra rest makes me even more aware of it. Two years ago, I would have come home from GenCon (not having been able to stay up for most of the parties) and been sick and sleeping and unable to move for days or more.

I feel like jumping up and down and singing to the whole world: I'm healthy!!!!

NOTE: for anyone else who suffers, check out http://www.hormoneandlongevitycenter.com and http://www.fibroandfatigue.com

GenCon Details

2008-08-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Want to hear about the tons of crazy antics at GenCon? Wonder how on earth I survived?

Then check out this blog! Matt tells it better than anyone, and I was with him most of the whole time (except that I actually was at Killer Breakfast) ;)

I'm back!

2008-08-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

GenCon was amazing! The people I met and got to hang out with were great! I love you Dead Gentlemen and Margaret Weis Publishing! You guys are the best!!!

I also finally, finally, FINALLY shook off the last of the funk that I've had since I was sick. I am now truly ME! Outgoing, high energy, crazy, funky ME!!!! So happy.

and I've made a promise to myself, that I'm making to all of you now too:

I am not turning back. Any time I (or anyone else) notices I'm going into a funk, I am going to stop, look at myself, and figure out why, what's wrong, and what needs to change, what's not working for me.

The first part of that: taking a break from voice lessons. I do love to teach, but it takes a lot of energy that I don't always have, and I have to drive a long way to do it, and it takes away my evenings and weekends. So, I'm taking a break. Not sure if it'll be a clean break, or slow, but it will happen. :D

GenCon!!!

2008-08-12T17:55:00.001-07:00

I am SOO excited! Equally for the fun time that is GenCon and for a very much needed vacation! It'll be great to take a break.

I'm working as a salaried employee at Roadside now, and its still a great job, but I am starting to feel just a bit run down (entering bills all day will do that to you) so the two extra days off will be really nice. :)

I really don't know exactly what to expect at GenCon, but everyone says it'll be fun, and I know that even if the Con itself is not what I expect, I'll have a blast cause I'll be there with all my friends.

The one bummer is I won't be swing dancing this week cause I'm going to the Con, but there's a small hope that there may be a swing dance there. Here's hoping!

Sick

2008-07-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

Ugh.

Update: in rapid fire format (I warned you!)

2008-07-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

You're still reading? Wow, brave. Ok, here goes:

~Asked to stay on permanent with Roadside Attractions
~Got a raise
~Moved in and feeling at home
~Nice landlord that actually fixes stuff without charging us
~Asshole landlord still not given us our deposit back
~May be going to court/arbitration in near future
~My parents (in Pasadena) are now senior advisers to the President of the General Assembly of the UN (more on this later)
~My brother's turning 13 in a week (Happy bday bro!)
~Biking rocks, driving sucks (get out of your cars people!)
~Discovered Lake Balboa - what a paradise! BBQ to come
and finally:
~Vote Obama! and
~See Wall-E!

Landlord drama

2008-06-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Sigh....I just sent my answer to the discussion going back and forth on email between Jeremy and our ex-landlord, Richard. I am just so disappointed, and hurt. I thought we had this trusting relationship, and that because of that, we would have no issues with our security deposit, or at most, minor things. But he wants us to pay for practically everything, basically covering his costs as a landlord.

I sent a very calm, very clear email outlining my views on each item, and why its ridiculous to ask us to pay for them, and I feel somewhat better, but at the same time, I feel all knotted up, ready at any moment for the response of "no, its my money and I'm keeping it." I don't want this to get legal, but I'm dreading that it might...

Best date ever!

2008-06-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe not ever, but it was pretty good. ;)

We were trying to figure out what to do for dinner, and then Jeremy said "We can bike to Pho." Awesome! (btw, I LOVE where we are located. We are close to everything!) We had this great bike ride together over to Pho So 1 on Sepulveda, super cheap, super good. And then on the ride home we took a pretty private bike path that runs next to the bus freeway, and stopped for cookies before finishing the night. So simple and so much fun. I can't wait to do it again. :D