Space: The-Final-Frontier-in-a-Galaxy-Far-Far-Away-Danger-Will-Robinson!

With the launch of the last shuttle up to space the other day, there's something that came to me that Jason's been saying for months now. Given the current state of our economy, and the world economy for that matter, Jason keeps saying, (imagine semi-yelling and a few fist pounds) "If I were in charge, the first thing I'd do is scrap NASA!" My first instinct was, "No! NASA's in charge of space!" Since then, when it's brought up, I've tended to flip-flop around on my opinion, as I'm sure I'll do here.

Against NASA: It doesn't really do anything. When's the last time the discoveries about the nature of space have helped us here at home? Has that red dwarf millions of light-years away told us how to better harness our natural resources? Have sunspots spelled out a secret way to end child hunger? Did the pluto-ing of Pluto help midgets feel taller? What I'm getting at is that the funds alloted to NASA (which is A LOT!) could be put to much better use here on our home planet. Money spent on researching black holes and dying stars should be put towards the federal deficit, into (necessary) committees that have been nixed, help to lower taxes, or into education, for example.

For NASA: But space is cool...

Against NASA: It's not like were in an arms race with the Soviets anymore. Who are we competing with, and why are we competing in space? Americans have already proved that we're better and ballsier than everyone else--many times over.

For NASA: But space is cool.

Against NASA: Who wants rocket scientists to make money actually working on rockets?! Put them to work elsewhere; somewhere that will benefit other earth-bound organizations. With all my sarcasm, I honestly have no idea where a rocket scientist would work. In the automotive industry designing cool, futuristic cars? Teaching about rocket science as a lost art in community colleges? Government energy programs? Who knows... In all my infinite compassion, I don't give a hoot where they'd work. I'm sure someone else will figure that out.

For NASA: Space is coooooooooool!!! I took an Astronomy 101 class in college and, while I didn't enjoy all that math stuff, I learned a lot about the awesome things that happen in space. Dying stars, galaxies, gaseous nebulas... All things that give us a glimpse of God's awe-inspiring creations. We recently attended a photography presentation of collages taken by Hubble. It was ama-za-zing! Huge systems billions of miles away, millions of galaxies in one snapshot, the colors, the energy, all those molecular interactions caught by a human-made telescope. It's humbling to see how truly small we are.

Considering the great Classic-style debate we've just taken part in, I have some solutions. They shall be implemented straight away, saith the Great Liz.

1. Scrap most of NASA. Get rid of the shuttle programs (done!). Unfortuately the cool profession that about 47% of kids growing want to be some day, astronauts, will become almost obsolete.
2. Keep overseers/maintainers/regulators for the satellites in orbit.
3. Keep a committee of people in charge of making sure asteroids aren't going Armageddon all up in our bizness.
4. Keep Hubble to take cool pics, but decrease the number of astronomists to analyze all the deep space happenings. Things happening that far away aren't affecting the needs of Earth at this point in time.
5. Keep the "aeronautics" part to help us become even more efficient while buzzing around on our little blue marble.

My point! Focus on the needs of those who live here on Earth! Spending millions and billions of dollars out there that could be spent here would be nothing but beneficial. But remember--space is cool. And I'm totally okay if they decide to keep programs, albeit on a smaller scale, to further our knowledge of the universe. This is a topic easily debated... please, discuss.

I Want to Live HERE:

And I want to live here FOREVER.

...With lots of money, a good tan, and a drink with one of those tiny umbrellas in it.

So Grateful for Good Neighbors

I complain about living in a tiny house, but our tiny house is in a great neighborhood. Our church group is awesome and our neighbors are even awesomer.

We live right next door to a little old lady and her older, single daughter. We try to help her with her yard and shoveling snow in the winter and she's always so cute when she calls us to say thank you. Jason helped her prune her trees last week and she comes over a few days later with a whole bag of strawberry shortcake fixins' for us as thanks. (We never look for thank you's, but I'm not complaining about strawberry shortcake!) She doesn't have a sprinkler system so we see her outside all the time during the summer watering her yard and sweeping sweeping sweeping her driveway. She loves Troy and is always up for a short conversation.

On our other side is an older couple. They work at the Museum of Idaho part-time and we see the husband outside all the time as well. He's kind of a quirky guy but I have never had a neighbor so willing to give of his time and resources for us. I would say that he does some little act of service for us most days. When they first moved in last year he told us he had every tool imaginable and that we were welcome to them should we ever need to borrow. Since then he's snowblowed our driveway, edged our lawn, helped us winterize our sprinklers, and helped stabilize our fence (which is due to blow away any day now). While he was looking at the fence he noticed that the latch on our gate is broken/missing and decided to also fix that for us. I had a recent breakthrough with his wife that I was so excited about. Whenever I see her I try to wave and say hello, but she never responds. I don't know if she's self-conscience about her weight or what... A few weeks ago she, out of the blue, came over and told us Troy was welcome to pick flowers out of their yard. Since then she's initiated hellos and short conversations a few times. Hooray!!

We have another little old lady across the street that loves the rhubarb out of our backyard. I took her over a huge bag a few weeks ago (we're not big rhubarb fans) and she was so excited. It looks like I'll be transplanting some of my plant into her backyard later this summer when I dig mine out. She likes to come across the street and chat while we're outside. She has this cute little shitzu dog that Troy likes to pet.

We have a few neighbors that haven't been interested in being too friendly. To each his own, right?

I just think back to our apartment-dwelling days and how miserable it was sharing walls with other families, some of whom were NOT pleasant. I could go on for an hour about horrible experiences we had with neighbors, but that's for another post. I'm just glad we don't have to deal with that crap anymore; instead we get to make friends and be happy in our little spot.

Woe is Me!

This is somewhat of a boohoo post. Start playing world's smallest violin background music. As most of my family is well aware, I am a severe allergy sufferer. I'll go into the boogery details in a minute, but first, here are some stats:

• About 55% of adults test positive for at least one allergen.
• Allergic rhinitis (nasal allergies) affects up to 30% of adults and 40% of children.
• From 2000-2005, the cost of treating allergic rhinitis went from $6 billion to more than $12 billion, with more than half of that being spent on prescription meds.
• It's estimated that allergic rhinitis affects more than 60 million people in the US.
• www.aaaai.org

I have been suffering from allergies from day one. I've seen doctors, taken the meds, been on shots, moved around, and have never experienced relief. I am allergic to any plant that lives outside (and cats), which means I'm doomed wherever I go. My symptoms include swollen, running, itching eyes; itchy, burning throat; boogery nose; sneezing; coughing; sinus headaches; clogged ears; fatigue... all at the SAME TIME! Also, when I was a teenager I developed growths in my nose, that, when inflamed, swell up and make it impossible to inhale or exhale (so blowing is hard). Great mental image... So, yes, I am as miserable as I sound. Last year, I had to stop driving because I couldn't see through my running, swollen eyes. I live with boxes of tissues in every room. It's hard for me to give Troy the attention he needs (especially when he wants to be outside). Sleeping at night is near impossible with a swollen nose and sore throat.

I had a visit with our local allergist last summer and that didn't go well. Not only was the doc rude and unsympathetic, he was also unwilling to work with my budget which means there was absolutely no way I could afford to even get tested. (Really?! It costs how many thousands of dollars to have a scratch skin test done?!) None of the sample meds he gave me made a dent. He lectured me on things I've known for 15 years now. Fast forward to this summer, I've already gotten so desperate for relief that I scheduled an appointment to see an Ear, Nose and Throat doc that says he also does allergy testing/treatment. I'm hoping he can do something about my swollen nose and maybe that will help with some of my other symptoms. Hopefully he has something positive to tell me. And it also helps my medical insurance deductible is already met from my gallbladder surgery in January.

The reason I'm posting this is because misery loves company, right? I don't know if anyone reads this page, but if you do I could use some advice--what's worked for you? Has anyone tried homeopathic allergy remedies? What locales are good for allergy sufferers? Are you as miserable as I am?

I sympathize with anyone who is chronically ill--it affects every aspect of your life. Come complain to me! I experience the WORST of EVERY symptom, so I can provide good understanding if no one around you quite gets it. Love to all!

Summer Is...

green trees

hot sun, cool breeze

open windows

ponytails

CCR

naps

swimming

neighbor kids playing night games

picnics

sodas

taking walks

shorts and flipflops

tennis

smell of sunscreen

sound of lawn mowers

soccer games

patriotism

seashells

feeding the ducks

BBQ's

reading on the porch

naked baby buns

strawberries

"Here comes the sun, do do do do..."

a feeling of contentedness

lemonade

no school

reggae

floating the river

otter pops

sandcastles at the beach

vacations

thunderstorms with the windows open

fresh flowers

block parties

melting ice cream cones

smiles!

Count Your Blessings

Our little family is going to be hit with some rough times a little later this year. Job hunting for Jason and me has been a complete disappointment. Jason applied to be a summer school teacher (a position that was about 99% guaranteed once his application was in), however someone at the school district office dropped the ball and didn't submit his application to the next higher-up. So he's out a summer job, and, subsequently, much needed fundage. I have been putting in job applications since October of LAST YEAR for both full- and part-time jobs to no avail. Apparently a Bachelor's degree and previous work experience doesn't count for much anymore. (Seriously...I'm not qualified to be an admin assistant?!) Also, with all the state's education budget cuts, Jason's district is having teachers take five or six furlough days. This is a difference of about $100 on each paycheck--which is a lot for us. Dental insurance is also being cut for family members; they've nixed a committee that Jason sits on for a stipend; the conference he normally attends in the summer for a stipend is booked full.

Our financial woes seem endless right now and it looks like our belts will be pulled even tighter come September. It's amazing how these financial problems are coming and not once have I felt panicky. I'm worried, of course; it would be stupid of me to not be. It's on my mind every waking moment of the day about how we're going to pay to get the brakes replaced or make sure Troy has dental coverage, etc, etc, etc... We're commanded by God in the Bible (Malachi chapter 3 to be exact) to pay tithes and offerings to His church. If we do so God will "open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." We see the blessings of faithfully paying our tithing often--several times a year in fact. I know for an absolute fact that we may have hard times but the Lord will ALWAYS provide.

For example, I have been to several job interviews within the past month and none have worked out. I was sitting in bed fuming about a week ago because I was promised that I would hear back about a position the day before and hadn't. It was a job I was fairly certain I would get and I was upset that I didn't have any contact information for the interviewer and that they hadn't called in a timely manner. I still haven't heard anything. Anyway, I'm sitting in bed furious to the point of tears and Jason gets a phone call. A good friend at work needs a nanny for her two youngest sons when school starts in August and does Liz want to do it? She pays well and it would allow me to stay at home with Troy. My tears of fury quickly turned to tears of gratitude for a Heavenly Father who knows the desires of our hearts. It makes me physically ill to think of sending Troy to daycare and that's what needs to be done if I'm to work outside the home full-time. There's a reason none of these jobs have worked out--there would be an even better opportunity for me to stay home and make a little extra to help make ends meet.

I am so grateful that the Lord has provided for us. We won't be rich, but we'll be able to get the bills paid.

Pooooooop

I've been having some serious issues with blogger lately. I finally figured out how to post (through Safari! Explorer won't do it for some reason.) and so I typed out my Brat Part II all out, just to have it not save. So I'm stuck trying to remember I said in my second installation about military life...

...

...not coming back anytime soon unfortunately.

We'll see if I can get back on the ball sometime soon. Again--poooooooooooop!