The Economic State of the Neighborhood

This is an unpublished post I found from August 2009 that I found when I converted from Blogger to WordPress.  Enjoy!

Carol Anne

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I found out yesterday that the family-owned photo developer that I’ve been using for years will close up shop by the end of the month. This is the only place (other than the photo shops of China) that I trusted to develop my precious China photos because they do it in-house.

They found they’re not doing as much business because of digital — and because people aren’t traveling as much anymore. Pictures are snapshots on a cell phone, not something to be cherished.

Tonight, the owner of another local shop I frequent asked me and the other customers in the shop if we’d still come if he had to raise his prices. I don’t think he was joking either.

There are quite a few houses for sale in the neighborhood. The house that we called “The Republican House” (because it always had pro-Bush signs out during election years*) has either finally sold, or they took it off the market after 12 months. It’s hard to tell, because it looks as deserted as it always had these past 12 months.

One house that sold in the neighborhood has a great big “SOLD!!” sign on it. As if to celebrate that finally, someone, somewhere sold a house. There was also a celebrating in the newspaper that housing prices in the Twin Cities didn’t drop as much as they had in previous months.

We’re holding in there. The kids are getting some serious economic lessons every night at the dinner table, and every time we go grocery shopping.

Today at Target, we got most of their school stuff. The kids were happy to scrounge around to find things. Another mom doing the same type of shopping with her daughter was pointing out some bargains we had overlooked in the crayon department (24 colors for 29 cents!) The daughter was throwing a fit because she couldn’t get “cooler” folders. Sarah and Rachel were wide-eyed.

I thanked them later for not throwing a fit about the “coolness” of their stuff. I think they understand we splurge when we can (can you say Scottie stuff from Gymboree?), but try to watch our money otherwise. It’s a fine line, and I don’t know how much longer it will last. Sarah’s getting to the age when clothing, folders, etc. will start to matter as status symbols.

* Our neighborhood is heavily Democratic-leaning. Republicans stick out like a sore thumb around here.

Saturday Night’s NOT Alright for Fighting

Today is a day to recover from yesterday.

Yesterday, I bicycled to and from work for the second time this week. Eight miles, round trip. I had a stiff head wind going home, so that wasn’t fun. But I did it, and I’m proud of myself.

As I noted in yesterday’s post, I watched my recording of the Royal Wedding with Snookie and her oldest daughter, and Sarah. The “party” started at 8 and ended at 10:30 pm. I don’t think my kids got to bed until close to midnight. Mostly because they wouldn’t go to bed. Today I have cranky kids.

I’m just plain tired. I’d like to be off by myself somewhere. But the kids aren’t letting me. Sarah, in particular wants to go-go-GO! I swear she’s hyperactive, really I do.

John wants to go off to a music thing this evening, which would leave me with the kids. Sarah wants me to do my usual Saturday stop at the coffee shop — of course taking her and her sister with her — or go to Snookie’s church for Game Night. I said no, because of all the crankiness and bickering. I know it will continue if I take them anywhere. Plus I’m tired.

Now Sarah’s mad. Oh well.

Maybe she and her sister (who’s looking at this over my shoulder right now — Rachel, you shouldn’t read over people’s shoulders, it’s rude!) should learn not to wear their mama out with their fighting. Oh well. Again.

It’s time for me to make some supper. It’s egg salad sandwiches tonight. Leftover Easter Eggs put to good use.

If anyone has tips for dealing bickering kids that DOESN’T involve large quantities of duct tape, let me know in the comments.

Yes, It’s Royal Here, Too

My various UK scrapping associates are all blogging about The Royal Wedding. It’s fun getting the “hometown” perspective on the event.
I’ve been caught up in it, too.  I recall Diana and Fergie’s weddings, watched them with zeal. I’m not missing this one, either.
My DVR has been recording the wedding, via BBC America, since 2 am. It will stop at 2:30 pm.  Tonight, Sarah and I, and possibly my friend Snookie (the original Snookie, BTW) will watch what’s been recorded.
I may need to make a Trader Joe’s run for snacks after work. It should be fun.

Sent from my Palm Pre on AT&T

It’s the Simple Things

Bought a can of Trader Joe’s whipped cream yesterday. It’s the only spray whipped cream I’ve found that doesn’t have carrageenan in it — that’s the MSG derivative that gives me migraines and makes Sarah even more hyper than usual.

If there is any cream left after Easter Dinner, I will bring it home. Then Sarah and Rachel can stand in front of the open refrigerator and spray whipped cream into their mouths. It makes them happy, and makes me smile.

A Day for Beautiful Things

I was taking a quick run through my “Professional Development” folder in Google Reader, and ran across two absolutely stunning pieces of art. Do yourself a favor and view these blog posts:

  • CyberText Newsletter: The Power of Good Copyediting. Don’t be fooled by the title. There’s so much more to the video clip Rhonda has included in this post.
  • Wise Living Blog:  The Quiet Power.  An amazing piece of poetry.

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Note to those of you subscribed to this blog, my family blog, and my creative blog:  Yes, you are seeing double.  These two pieces are too good to be missed, and I wanted to make sure all my reader subscribers could experience the power of these two pieces of art.

Some Visual Enhancement

I will be talking about public speaking and presentations in my class tonight.  Some basic principles of organizing a good speech and using presentation materials.  I’ll also have some tips on overcoming jitters.  So I thought I’d use this little graphic in one of my slides:

Oh, and I’m going to use the movie trailer for “The King’s Speech”, too. 
My message for the evening:  Anyone, even a King, can have problems speaking in public.  With help and practice, we can all improve our public speaking skills.