Wow, it's been a long time.  Sorry to say, this blog got left behind to a great degree with my attention to my money saving blog dealsindenver and my facebook page.

I wish I could say I was back here with good news.  Unfortunately, I'm not.  I am very concerned about the state of the economy, and I want to put a warning out to those I care about.  I am only a armchair economist.  I don't really know that much, but I what I am observing is rather alarming.  The stock markets worldwide are shaky.  Commodities are rising exponentially.  Though the news is reporting that inflation is flat, a year or two ago food and fuel were removed from the inflation calculations.  Uh, been to the grocery store lately?  Prices are rising and quickly.  General Mills issued a statement recently stating that in the new year you can expect a rise in the prices of their products (20% if I remember right).  Cotton is at it's highest price ever.  JC Penny, Gap and more are also predicting a 30% jump in clothing prices in the new year.  The National Inflation Association is predicting price inflation that will literally steal your breath.  This isn't good.

In the past, I've written doom and gloom pieces based on overspending, and inflation.  My money is on that those predictions are headed towards happening.  I wrote about how the inflation and difficulties in the late 70s and early 80s were caused by increasing the money supply by 12% and asked what we thought would happen with an increase of 120%.  We've left 120% in the dust, and I think things are going to get REAL HARD, REAL FAST.  I know, I'm a nut.  I get that, and I hope to God I'm wrong, but seriously people, I believe we are going to be facing something you've never dreamed of.

Seriously, I hope you will consider making it a practical Christmas this year.  I know it sucks to get socks and undies for Christmas, but you might want to consider doing just that.  Socks, undies, jeans, shirts, shoes, coats, whatever it is you could use more of.  I also want to suggest buying some extra food.  Commodities like sugar, wheat and corn are WAY up.  That means it won't be long until those prices are passed along to up.  You might want to buy some extra flour and sugar now.  It won't fix the problem, but it might ease the pain of the higher prices headed our way.  I know it's nuts and nobody wants to hear it, but please do a little research people and think about it. 

Wishing you all well,

Pinkie

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted on here.  I'll admit it, I've been wooed away by Facebook.
Today I felt a need to say something more than I could in the two hundred some characters I'm allotted one Facebook.

I've heard about yet another infidelity scandal today.  Yet another male celebrity has been unable to keep his marriage vows intact and his pants up.  Now, I understand that these things happen in life, and that they are even more common in the fishbowls of fame, but one thing has my hackles up.  Like Tiger and so many others, David Boreanas is describing his behavior as irresponsible.  Uh, well, yeah, it was that, but I don't think that these men are using the right words.  I think a much better choice would be wrong.  Or how about immoral?  Perhaps sleazy?

I'm getting tired of living in a society where we call a spade a club.  Let's be honest people, there is such a thing as right and wrong.  Yes, much of life is shades of grey, but without black and white, there are no shades of grey.  I'm getting sick of the lack of acknowledgment that there is such a thing as right and wrong.  One of my biggest pet peeves are the people who have committed heinous crimes and sit there and say: "But I'm a good person!"  Never mind the fact that you hacked the heads off of your neighbors, of course you are a good person.  Can we all get real for a moment??  Come on!

Yes, sometimes good moral people for whatever reason commit crimes, but overall, that isn't the case.  In general if you do a lot of bad things, you may be a bad person.  I think we've gotten so hung up on self-esteem, on the idea that we are all good people, that as society we're feeling like if we are good people, whatever we do is right.  No!  I will acknowledge that we need to be careful on the spectrum and not make everything black and white, but right now, I think we're too far to one side.  There is such a thing as right and wrong, good and bad, moral in immoral, and I'm sorry, but in almost all cases infidelity is wrong.  Let's call a spade a spade and be honest about it.

I just heard a comforting thought courtesy of our local radio news.
A very sweet female news anchor read the following advisory: "And Denver police would like to remind you again NOT to fire guns into the air tonight."

After a big rush to Christmas, since we left home for the holidays on the 17th, we had a number of holiday adventures.

Our flight in on the 17th was pretty uneventful. Unfortunately, the traffic getting away from SFO was not so dull. After a crazy path weaving through the city streets of SF, we finally made it out of the city and towards our goal. After a stop at In and Out for dinner, we arrived home at the same time as my brother and sister-in-law and my nephews.

It was pleasant to spend time with my in-laws and nephews. My nephews are all-boy and very energetic. I needed those extra Christmas cookies to keep up with them. We exchanged gifts early, did family photos, and the So Cal contingent took off on the 19th. We had a couple extra days alone with Daemein's Mom. Daemein was able to see Durodragon, and the MIL and I went off for a little shopping expedition into downtown Petaluma which has the most excellent heirloom seed store called The Seed Bank. I picked up 3 different kinds of tomato seeds, purple kohlrabi seeds, and seeds for a black hollyhock flower. They had A TON of different kinds of seeds. It was awesome. We also enjoyed a nearby vintage shop.

On Tuesday, in an even split, my Dad came and picked us up. We had a wonderful time finishing up Christmas preparations and spending time with family. My sister flew in on the 23rd. We had a lovely Christmas, and thanks to my father we had a low stress Christmas dinner because he ordered a pre-made dinner. It saved a lot of time and struggle!. We all flew out on the 27th; my sister early in the morning and the two of us late in the evening. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed, and then the gate was moved. We finally got off the ground an hour and 35 minutes late, but the flight itself was uneventful. The flight-crew on our Southwest flight was an absolute hoot, and we had more than one chuckle. Once we got off the plane though, the transportation trains which take you from terminal to terminal were not working, and there is no other way to get from terminals out without those trains (I suppose there is an emergency way, but nobody knows what it is..). We stood on the platform for about a half an hour waiting. Thankfully, there was no trouble getting our luggage, and my Uncle kept to his word and picked us up from the airport despite the fact that we arrived home at about 2 AM. Poor uncle! :(

And now we are home safe and sound and tired.
And I have 4 days to unpack, clean the house and put together a New Year's party. Thankfully it's only for a few people, and it's pot-luck, but still!!

Happy Holidays!!

This weekend was a whirlwind of shopping and holiday activity. Here are the highlights:

On Saturday we were out the door before 10 AM. We went straight to the clinic for our H1N1 shots, and sat there for almost 2 hours. We got vaccinated as luck would have it by a nurse who graduated from Amador high in 1993! How small world is that?
Then a return, lunch, and marathon shopping. We crisscrossed the area looking in every shop we could think of for difficult to find gifts. We took a break around 6 stopping at a pet store for some fuzz therapy and then went on to Panera for dinner. After more crisscrossing across town, we had some success and called it a night at 10.

Sunday we were up early for church. After services I had coffee duty for the fellowship ministry. Then we hurried home to give some of my homemade candy out to neighbors. After that, we ate a quick lunch, made a quick grocery list and hit the road. We got our groceries, did a couple of errands, and met with some friends to go to the ChristKrindel Mart in Downtown Denver. We looked at the cute little shops, enjoyed hot chocolate, cinnamon toasted nuts and being pelted by snow pellets.

And that about covers it.

And the rush is on to Christmas!

It's about 6 degrees out right now, so I wasn't really happy about going out and shoveling my driveway, walk, and corner lot of sidewalks, but I suited up and got out there, and just after I started the son/grandson of the ladies who live across the street came over with his snowblower and did the whole thing for me. He wouldn't even take the home-made candy I offered him, and when I thanked him, he repeatedly said it was nothing. Well,maybe not to him, but he probably saved me a half hour of freezing my tush off out there, so it was to me! People can be awesome!

Well, my Dad came out to visit for Thanksgiving. We had a really nice visit. We went out to see my Grandmother a couple times, and to visit my Mom's grave. We put flowers out there and did a little information gathering about getting a stone. He seems to like the Colorado mined granite with pink flecks in it.

For Thanksgiving we invited Dad's single sister to join us, and for the first year since we arrived she came. She seemed to have a good time, and except for a small incident where she kept eating the raw cranberries (which I didn't have enough of in the first place) it was surprisingly smooth sailing.

We took him out to Hammond's Candy factory on Friday where they make fancy candy canes, ribbon candy and art candy (the kind with little picture in it). He really seemed to enjoy the factory tour where you get to see how they make the confections. We bought our yearly stocking stuffer candy canes. This year we went with cranberry, chocolate filled cherry and sugar plum. And Dad picked up some for a bunch of his friends back in CA. All in all it was great to have him come visit. I was really sad when he left, but I will see him again for Christmas, so I guess it's not so bad.

My fledgling entrance to social networking via Facebook has left me pondering the nature of the word friend.

The usual crowd of high school and college friends were no surprise, and Facebook does make it easier for me to keep up with what everyone is up to. Beyond that I have been able to locate a few long lost pals and reconnect with them, and that has also been wonderful.

But, the further I venture in, the murkier it feels. I have "friended" a number of people who were more like acquaintances from different eras of my life, and now I am getting requests from people who I don't think would have ever called me friend back in the day. Now, I've been told that etiquette wise, I am under no obligation to accept friend requests from these people, but I haven't had the heart to hit ignore yet. I think about all the playmates of my childhood who were too cool for me by high school who I have wondered about over the years. If I sent them a friend request, how would I feel if they just hit ignore? I wonder if perhaps these were people who I knew at one time, and my holey memory has allowed to slip through the cracks, if these were people who I meant more to than they meant to me, or if they are just friend whores who are just seeking the biggest friend number they can manage. And how does one know the difference? Do these people really care that I just made soup or that my Dad is flying in for Thanksgiving? And if they do, what does that say about them..? Do I really want the whole world to know these details about me? Not really....

I just used Facebook to offer an apology to a boyfriend from the distant past who I had hurt deeply. Now he wants to friend me. Oh dear. I was right to offer the apology, it was long overdue, but the consequences have me puzzled. Do I really want my former paramour to have a window into my current life? On the other hand, if I ignore his request, does that negate the apology I offered?

I think the 21st century is just too complicated for me. *sigh*

Ok, I finally joined the 21st century.
I'm now on facebook...

The recent snow is long gone and I was able to have the windows open today!
Tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 78!!
Yay!
What a great day to rake leaves!