Car 54, Where are You?

Car 54, Where are you? (1960’s sitcom)

Is it me?

Have local municipalities and government decided on an old-fashioned way to start paying off the deficit?

Through the headlines we keep hearing about bankrupt states and cities. The first line of reaction is usually raising taxes. While it is hard to keep track, Cook County goes back and forth with its bragging rights of having the highest sales tax in the country. California and numerous other states are bankrupt. Recently, in Maryland, the famous “sin” tax on cigarettes had been raised by $1.00 per pack of cigarettes. Because very few smokers will quite due to the high cost of cigarettes, the cigarette “sin” tax is an easy levy on taxes. The “sin” tax has been extended to candy! When they start taxing my vice, like a smoker, I continue to eat candy.

Officials and the legislations are scratching their heads. Where, oh, what can we tax next? Can you guess?

Monday through Friday, I commute 42 miles each way to work or 98 miles a day or very near to 500 miles a week. Over the last 7 months of commuting to and fro, I estimate on the high side of 15,000. In the last two weeks, I have noticed way-more flashing blue & red lights on the side of the road. Currently, every day I notice at least 2-3 pullovers on the road. When you think of it, who does not speed? Come on, tell the truth!

When you think of the high cost of a speeding ticket, doesn’t it make sense to rake in extra revenue through ticketing speeders? The force is out there any way – why not have them collecting additional revenue for their employer?

Why do I know this? On my return trip from Marquette on Tuesday, I was nabbed for speeding – 81 mph. The ticket will cost me $200! Believe me, Officer, I was just keeping up traffic (in Chicago).

Speedy MOM

On the Road Again (Willie Nelson)

This weekend, I embarked on the 7 hour drive to the Marquette in Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I took advantage of the longer holiday weekend to visit with my Monkey.
For the first part of my drive, I listened to my ipod of tunes. Since I had not updated my ipod selection, I went into think mode. While driving a long distance, think mode is one of my favorite activities while driving.

You may or may not be asking, “What does she think about”? Who knows? This think mode started seconds after I crossed the Illinois-Wisconsin border. It has been a long standing rite (tradition) in my family. Three generations have been practicing this ceremony while driving into various states. It is my deep seated hope that Neptune will pass this tradition onto Coco. My father would always say, “Pick up your feet, we are crossing the border into…..(name your state). You don’t want to trip on the state line.” Even when driving alone, I lift my feet for a few seconds as I cross the state line.

So my mind wandered into the good old days and how road trips have evolved since my childhood. My girls and I were raised on road trips and in the car. There is nothing like a heart-to-heart chat driving at 55-80 mph. As a child, many of my better memories are of going somewhere or the 1960’s event – the Sunday drive after an early dinner. Monkey was only 10 days old when I packed her and Neptune into a car and drove to visit family in another state.
For most of my childhood, my father drove a 1960 Chevrolet Biscayne. Yes, it had the fin! These cars were something akin to a living room on wheels. They were spacious!

Today, we talk about texting while driving. While I am not advocating it, I want you to picture my father driving from Illinois to Minnesota every year with two daughters. This was a time when cars did not have seat belts, car seats, cup holders, CD players, or TV. To this day, I still think my father was the best driver in the world. This car had a bench seat . (When was the last time you rode in a car with a front bench seat?) The stick shift was on the steering column. There was no radio. My sister and I sang show tunes for hours. With no seating restraints, we would hop back and forth between the front and the rear seats. My father was speeding, shifting the car, eating a hamburger or ice cream cone or a sipping a cup of coffee or smoking a cigarette. He was amazing. What concentration!

With all the excitement and fun being sucked out of air travel, it is my feeble prediction that more families will be taking road trips. Have fun! But don’t forget to lift your feet while entering a new state. You don’t want to trip on the state line.

Enjoy the memories……Travelin’ MOM

SLOW RIDE - Take it Easy - (Foghat)

On Christmas Day, I received a slow cooker. Yes, indeed, this item was on my Christmas list. But of course, there was a color stipulation. I wanted my slow cooker to match my other small appliances in the kitchen. The slow cooker needed to be “Target” red. Santa came through with flying colors.

My daughter, Monkey, also asked for a slow cooker. You may be asking yourself what is a slow cooker. Well, we commonly call them crockpots. The brand name of Crock Pot has become one of many generic names.

Many moons ago, when I was in college marketing, generic meant that a brand had become so popular with the consumer, it lost its brand identity. Some examples are: Coke (a type of pop), Kleenex (a brand of tissue), Q-tip (cotton swab), and now Crock Pot (slow cooker). Today, when I “googled” (another generic brand) “generic.” The descriptions are more about generic drugs and no-name brands in stores.

Well, the point of the story is after all these years of cooking, I finally asked for the slow cooker. My first entrée prepared in the slow cooker was a raving success. I made Italian beef using Darling’s recipe. Darling cooks like I do. No real recipes, just a list of ingredients.

Maybe next week, I will make a slow chili.

Slow cookin’ - MOM

12 days of Christmas

Where did Christmas go? The 12 days of Christmas went right to my waist and hips. During these 12 days, I have eaten cheesecake, dark chocolate covered blueberries, French toast with blueberries, various homemade cookies, cream cheese spreads, cheese and sausage, crackers, meatballs, pizza, Chinese food, etc. In short, for the past 12 days, I have lived on party food.

Let’s face reality; I will not make a non-stick resolution to eat better. Once I have recovered from my sugar-carbo-high (approximately January 21), my eating habits hopefully will return to somewhat heart-healthy fare. But in the meantime, I am going through an ugly withdrawal period. Talk to you then.

I Will Survive!

To continue this brief series on the end of 2009 and its entire decade of the ZIP.

How many of us just survived this decade and in particular this year? How many of you are in better shape than you were in 1999? Or, did you just survive? Was your gain ZIP?

Today is the first day of the new decade and 2010.

Happy New Year and may 2010 be the best ever.

Zippity-do-dah

00

What do you see in the first line? A pair of empty eyes starring at you? That is a the big question. What do we call this decade?

Yes, the Obama administration has difficulty branding things, but America loves a brand name. In a prior blog, we discussed the "stimulus package" name as blah and boring. For details, see the blog, "Choosy Mothers Choose Jiff."

For today, I am moving on to the branding of the last decade. In the last "TIME" magazine there was an article devoted to what to tag or brand this decade. Some of the options were:

• Aughts - awful!!!
• zeros - that could apply nicely
• 2Ks -
• naughty-aughties
• the nulls - I wish we could null and void this decade
• OH-LA-LAs - if it were the eighties, I could accept this title
• Double OHs -
• The First Decade - appropriate, but not descriptive
• Nothings - very descriptive and sadly accurate

But my personal choice is ZIPs. While a few of the above names are better than others. I am voting for "the ZIPs." To me and many others I know, this decade was more than difficult than expected or desired. Many of us can't wait to flip the calendar to 2010.

Remember back in 1999, we did not know if the party would continue. We had Y2K looming over us. For the entire 1998 and 1999, my Aunt Sis would start every conversation with the question, "Do you have your generator yet"? After a few times of the question, I just said "yes, I do."

The next part of the conversation would be her list of supplies she had stock piled in her storage area. She actually mailed me a three page list of the supplies I would need to "bunker down" for the rest of my existence. In those conversations, I did not need to blatantly lie to her. Of course, I would buy cans of tuna, beans, bottles of water, etc.

This whole hysteria was something Aunt Sis enjoyed. As a child growing up, I watched her save jugs of water (pre-bottled water) in her basement. She had a pantry filled with canned foods and survival things. Back then in sixties, she feared the "end was coming."

So ZIP happened! The 1999 party continued for awhile. Stay tuned for more on zip........

Jingle All The Ways

Where oh where did December 2009 go? Somehow, I lost the entire month. So for this Christmas season, I am going by the saying, “better late than never.”

2009 was a fairly decent year. In late June, after 7 months of unemployment, I started a totally different career with Dale Carnegie Training (“How to Win Friends and Influence People”) as an Account Manager (sales). The skills I acquired spending 20+ years in the executive search business transferred quite nicely. So far so good.

Even with being a “FIB”, Katie is doing well at Northern Michigan University in Marquette (da up yah). She enjoys the Upper Peninsula and her studies. In about two years, she will graduate with a degree in special education.

This year for Thanksgiving, I drove to Marquette to spend time with Katie and see snow mountains. But there was no snow! But when I was up there in May for my birthday, there were snowflakes in the air?

The Chaftons (Natalie, Rick and Chelsea) are doing fine. Rick has started attending school. Natalie has continued her banking career with a local bank in Harvard, Illinois. AAAAH!. Then there is Chelsea. She will be two in January 2010. If you haven’t guessed, she is the love of my life. As a family member mentioned, “do we need to hear about every step she takes”? She has started talking. Personally, I am coaching her to say, “Mimi is fabulous”!

This summer, Katie and I took a vacation back to Grand Marais, Minnesota. While Grand Marais and Lake Superior are beautiful, it’s the company. Spruce Point and the Allen family always call us back there to visit and enjoy the traditions. Our favorite tradition is the evening gathering at the cabin to play card games, especially the tripoly game. Good times!


Here’s to a Merry Christmas and an absolutely fabulous 2010!