The "Public Option"

OK, I am officially starting to get irritated.

Let me start by saying that I have been following the public debate about the part of President Obama's health care reform bill called the "public option" insurance plan.

Have you guys heard of this? Does it scare the pants off of you? It does me.

Basically, the public option is government health care, which is allegedly going to provide a little friendly competition for the 1700 other insurance companies out there. But if the public option idea passes on the floor, it will inevitably do just the opposite - it will put insurance companies that need to make a profit out of business with its lowball rates. And once everyone is out of the way and the whole nation has no choice but to accept socialized health care . . . that's where it gets really ugly, don't you think? I mean, who wants the same kind of agencies running the medical world that run the post offices?

So why I am I irritated? Because my husband came home with a letter from work stating that our insurance rates for this year have increased by 25 percent. 25 percent! That is a painful chunk of our spending money gone, for the very same insurance that we had this year! Which leads me to believe that the insurance companies are in trouble (since all the companies on the list were raising their premiums), and that the public option is going to be the thing that could come in when they're weak and topple them.

Is anyone else worried about this? Is anyone else worried for our democratic, capitalistic, amazing country?

My Future in Chinese Advertising

As some of you know, I am currently pursuing a dgree in writing. What you might not know, however, is that i'm not really sure why I'm pursuing a writing degree. I don't really know what do to with it after I finish. I don't know if there are any jobs waiting out there for old has-been stay-at-home moms who haven't ever written professionally.

I didn't, anyway, until now.

After reading the advertising on the boxes that contained some dollar store treasures --- a back support and a knee support for a buck each --- I saw a bright future in Chinese Marketing.

Surely, this company could use my talent.

OK, so check out the main slogan: "Victory Belong to You Forever." I'm not going to say that it isn't inspiring, but it might be the slightest bit deceptive. Let's leave out forever, shall we? Forever is a long time. And maybe it would sit better with a cynical audience to use the subjunctive mood.
Finally, the slogan could use a little subject-verb agreement (maybe the proofreader had something in his eye, or something)

So, should the Yechun company choose to hire me as their advertising director, here is the slogan that I would propose:

Victory Might Belong To You.

Better, don't you think?



The back of the knee support made me even more excited about getting hired with this company than the front. Here's what it says, since the camera shot was a little out of focus.

• To protect your joints of knee.
• Tightness construction and the even protection based on tridimensional sewing technology, maintain the best support during movement conditions.
• Similar tension as muscle stretch which leads to nature protection.
  
• Soft, comfortable, cool, sweat absorption without swelter.

Need I say more?

Here they are, Mom

Hey Mom,

Here's my first attempt at flower arranging. What do you think? Are the grapes a little much?

Here's a shot from the back:

Here they are on the mantlepiece:

And here's the living room. Don't look at the curtains - I'm changing them this week.

Is the is the same thing that you have? I bet it is - these flowers fall off in a day, too.

And here are some cute pictures of the kids. We decided to cut Cami's hair short (with her blessing) to cut some of the hassle out of the morning routine.

Split Personality

So what would you call the 2nd voice?
(Watch the video and you'll know what I'm talking about)

How More Philosophers Would End Discussions if They Had the Guts

The following is an excerpt from a conversation Cami and Joseph had in the back seat of the van. They had been talking for a while, but this is where I zoned in.

Joseph (age 6): How did Heavenly Father appear?

Cami (age almost 8): His Heavenly Father made him.

Joseph: But when did the first Heavenly Father appear?

Cami: Why don't you just ask Mom? She would know. (Mom starts to sweat.)

Joseph: She wouldn't know!!! She wasn't even born yet!

Cami: What?!? Wasn't even born??? That doesn't even make any sense. If she wasn't born, that means she was in Heaven. Of course she wouldn't know if she was on Earth!! That doesn't make any sense, Joseph.

Joseph: (after a long pause) Oh. . .quack quack quack.

And a happy change of conversation seamlessly ensued.

One More GC Picture

Here is what Pablo did while he was listening to General Conference.

General Conference Images

Here are a couple of Joseph's drawing from stories told in the most recent LDS General Conference.

“As we touch the temple, the temple will touch us.”Pres. Monson

"Finally, as she was reaching the end of her journey, the baby died in her arms. The spoon was gone now, so hour after hour she dug a grave in the frozen earth with her bare fingers. Her grief became unbearable." - Pres Monson