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When son grows up

Yesterday Son told me that when he grows up he wants to build houses. When the houses are complete he intends to put a sign in the front that says "For Homeless". Then whoever doesn't have a home can come live there.

I think when I grow up, I want to be him.

Marty and Terrah

My Father In Law

My sister in law forwarded me an email interchange she'd had with a friend. I thought she did a really fine job of describing my dear Father-in-Law. I got her permission to share it with you now:

When my dad got cancer in 1991 he did not take the time off to recover as instructed. On the way to a followup appointment 6 weeks after surgery, he fell asleep at the wheel with the car on cruise going 76 miles an hour. He had a horrific single car wreck over a high railroad embankment (in his new car of 2 weeks that "happened" to have the first airbag he had ever owned). Countless bones were broken (all seat belt related as the seat belt and air bag saved him) ribs, pelvis right foot (from stomping on the brake), punctured lung (which the re inflated at the scene without pain killers and say he never even groaned (my daddy was a tail gunner in a B24 in World War 2 and the strongest man I have ever known).

He spent weeks in ICU and rehab and recovered fully. They released a different man from that hospital than the one who arrived by ambulance and I can happily tell you that the man my father was before the cancer and wreck was and is the most honest, ethical hard working and fair I have ever known, but in addition, the man they released became the most loving, demonstrative, affirming, affectionate, emotionally supportive father any child (adult or not) could ever wish for. and although I didn't think it was possible to ever respect and love him more than I did, I do.

At times I have tried to let him know how much, but since his cancer has returned, I hope I am doing even better at it. We talk about it regularly and I think that he knows I cannot fathom a world without him in it (don't ever want to experience that!) and that he has always been my rock, and in the last 10 years he has been my mountain. Having my mother and father to come home to after an awful divorce has been a gift from god and healed me in ways i can never describe. Shoot, i didn't feel any need to date because i had my dad who i love respect and trust to rely and lean on... what man could measure up to that??

So we are going to beat this cancer and get his scores back down because when I need to be, I can be a quite formidable (haven't been so in a few years, but it is coming back to me) force of nature and because I am actually finding people like you who know what i don't and are showing me the way...thank you.

But, just in case my dad hasn't realized today how much I love him, I am going to forward him my response to you. He is truly my hero and, one of the finest members of (as Tom Brokaw said) the greatest generation.


Well said, Cile.

Son's Birthday Wishes

My son's birthday was in April. In his class, to celebrate each birthday, classmates give a "gift of words" to the birthday boy or girl. These come to the student in the form of a message written on a strip of paper from each child in the room. Here are what the ones written to my son said:

"You are the Pokemon master"

"Dear [Son], You were amazing yesterday at the preforments."

"Happy Birthday [Son]"

"[Son], you are very funny"

"Nice"

"Have a happy Birthday"

"[Son], you rock! P.S. I am sad I missed your party."

"We need to have a playdate, keep kissing your sis."

"What else could I say? Rock and Roll!"

"Dear [Son], you are funny"

"Dear [Son], hope you have a grate birthday"

"You were funny at the performence"

"You have a lot of baukugan"

"I am fast, faster than Abigail"

"Dear [Son], you are nice"

Animal Kingdom in our Yard

Tonight Lacy found a duck in our pool. This video is but a small clip of the mayhem that ensued. At one point she fell in the pool. The duck was less than thrilled. We believe that the duck may be injured because she he can't get enough altitude to get out of the yard. When he tries to fly it becomes quite active between Lacy chasing and the poor duck trying to escape. In the pool he's safe because Lacy won't jump in on purpose. (Although she is mightily tempted.)

Health Care Reform

First of all, let me say that blogging about a politically charged issue is completely not the norm for me. This issue, however, directly and immediately impacts my life more than most issues do. I do not have a clear vision of what I believe should happen with health care reform. I am writing this post as a way to be clear on my thoughts as well as to ask my readers (there are 10's of you!) for your opinions and feedback.

In the interest of full disclosure I should say that I generally would be considered a conservative. I do try to look at each issue independently, however, and make my decision without regard to how any particular ideology or group would like me to think.

One thing I know is that the way health care is done in this country right now just doesn't work. As a small business owner I provide health insurance for my employees. I care about them a great deal and want them to be able to afford to get the healthcare they need. Likewise, I have two kids for whom I am responsible. My son just had the tubes removed from his ears. We had to pay FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS for the 15 minute procedure.

We spend thousands of dollars each month to cover our family and three other employees. The only benefit we see from it is that we get to pay just a co-pay for our prescriptions. So far we have never once had expenses that exceed our mammoth deductable.

One case against social medicine I hear is that the government doesn't run much else well, so why do we want to hand them our healthcare? My thought on that argument is that I'm not doing cartwheels about my private healthcare company anyway!

I am generally in favor of smaller government, of government staying out of people's lives. It seems in this case there is room for at least some regulation.

It seems to me also that health care reform and tort reform need to go hand in hand. A huge amount of the cost of our health care is directly associated with doctors and hospitals needing to protect themselves from legal action. I've always been a big fan of "loser pays". Let's eliminate lawsuits in this country except is such cases where wrongdoing is so clear that there is little question.

Your thoughts? Is US health care working well for you? What do you think about this issue?

Fun

The section of our client database that greets our agents each morning is something that we change a couple of times a week. I just put up a new one and here it is.

Dinner Last Night

We got to go to Hibiscus Restaurant with some very good friends from Mexico. It was a great evening!

Looking to Save Money on Your Vacation?

Recently one of our staff member's sisters decided to go on vacation. An easy enough proposition. Like many prospective vacationers, they looked into one of our fabulous all inclusive vacations. Because of economic implications, they ultimately decided that they would stay in a friends condo in Florida. I mean, everyone is watching pennies right now...right?

So, off to Florida they went to enjoy their free lodging. During their trip they kept track of their expenses (watching pennies, remember?). They are quite stunned to realize that they actually spent more on their "free" Florida vacation then they would have taking an all inclusive.

The Breakdown:

Our lodging was free

2 round trip plane tickets was approx $400.00

Baggage fees another $100.00 (15 per bag each way - 2 bags checked - plus one way the guy stuck us with a 40 dollar excessively sized baggage fee on top of that)

Split rent car $100.00 (Shared with another couple)

Eating Out @ Restaurants: $500.00

Groceries&Alcohol: $200.00

Excursions (kayaking, shark fishing, etc) $100.00

I'm sure there's also some other small stuff (toll bridges, gas, t-shirts, etc)


With an all inclusive vacation, you don't have any surprises! Don't be fooled!

Look what I just got!

These just arrived courtesy of a wedding couple who got married in the lovely Riviera Maya last weekend.

How nice and thoughtful! I'm so touched!