how apropos.

the final hour of tax day is ticking away & i'm guessing it's a pretty safe bet to assume that just about all of us are broke, so...

for your listening pleasure i give you:


i heard the song on the radio this morning {a local radio station does a 'nine at 9' feature and today's them was - surprise, surprise - money!}.

yes, you heard right...reaganomics. this song came out in the mid-1980s. and, yes, they said 'cut back!' too.

just read the lyrics...very apropos for our current day, dontcha think?

I been laid off from work
My rent is due
My kids all need
Brand new shoes

So I went to the bank
To see what they could do
They said son - looks like bad luck
Got-a hold on you

Chorus:
Money's too tight to mention
I can't get an un-em-ploy-ment ex-ten-sion
Money's too tight to mention

I went to my brother
To see what he could do -
He said bro-ther like to help you
But I'm unable to
So I called on my fa-ther fa-ther
Oh my fa-ther
He said

Chorus:
Money's too tight to mention
Oh mo-ney mo-ney mo-ney mon-ey
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
I can't even qual-i-fy for my pension

We talk a-bout rea-gan-om-ics
Oh lord down in the con-gress
They're passing all kinds - of bills
From down on cap-it-ol hill - (we've tried them)

Chorus:
Money's too tight to mention
(spoken) cut-back!
Mo-ney mo-ney mo-ney mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' 'bout the dollar bill
And that old man that's over the hill
Now what are we all to do
When the mon-ey's got a hold on you?
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
Oh mon-ey mon-ey mon-ey mon-ey
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
Di-nero - mon-ey oh yeah
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey…..
{'money's too tight to mention' by simply red}

the vote.

Today was Election Day. Election Day means that the schools are closed, so the kids were at home today {and I took a much needed day off from work}.

As soon as I woke up this morning the kids wanted to know, "When are we going to vote?"

Sheesh. Give me a chance to get up and pee, will ya??

We made it through breakfast...barely. I think I was asked once or twice an hour about when we would go to the poll or if I forgot that today was the day to vote. Good to know that my 6 year old and 8 year old are on top of Virginia politics.

Just before lunch, we head to the poll at an elementary school close to our home. The first thing out of Aidan's mouth is, "Remember when we came to vote & they wouldn't let me use the bathroom?" We were in a 2+ hour line last year during the Presidential election and the people at my polling place would not let my son use the bathroom. The people around us in line rallied, complained & held my spot in line as I whisked my children into the school to use the bathroom.

I told Aidan that there would be no peeing at the polling place this year.

Malia was more interested in when SHE could vote. Ten more years, sweetie...ten more years. Wow.

As we walked to the school Aidan noticed the signs for those running for sheriff. HE wanted to vote for sheriff. Instead, he had to settle on pamphlets.

Once inside, however, we were all quite pleased to find: no wait, no line AND a special voting booth set up especially for the little people of non-voting age.

If you're curious to know, here is just a sampling of who the children voted for:
President - Thomas Jefferson
Commissioner of Transportation - Amelia Earhart
Commissioner of Comic Relief {I really think this should be a REAL political office} - Carol Burnett
Commissioner of Literature - William Faulkner

I don't remember who else they voted for as I was busy casting my own real votes. But, what a nice set-up for parents and what a great way to introduce how voting works to the kids.

In the end, all three of us walked out with "I voted" stickers on and both of my children were quite pleased that they did not miss out on the vote today.

If looks could kill...

In this Dec. 11, 2008 file photo, President-elect Barack Obama, right, stands with Health and Human Services Secretary-designate, former Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, during a news conference in Chicago. Daschle recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in unpaid taxes and $11,964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Wow. I don't know which is worse -- the cold, hard stare Obama is giving Daschle or the red glasses. Here's the whole article:

http://hamptonroads.cox.net/cci/newsnational/national?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=article&id=D963G5C80&_action=validatearticle

Today is just a cool day

A view of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as thousands

upon thousands await the inauguration of our 44th President,

Barack Obama.

I can't take credit for the photo posted above. It's from MSNBC's website. I've got some live video streaming right now on the computer. Today is quite an exciting day! What makes today even more exciting is the fact that my children, who are only 5 and 7 years of age, know what is going on and know who Barack Obama is. In fact, during their school's mock election, both kidlets voted for Obama. My daughter's reasoning was pretty straight forward -- she just liked him better than McCain. I think it was maybe because Obama's name is just cooler sounding. My son, however, was very honest and said that the ONLY reason he voted for Obama is because his wife's name is Michelle and his daughter's name is Malia -- just like Aidan's mom and sister. :)

This is a stick up!

Well, no...it wasn't.

But, I did feel semi-violated.

I was at the mall today with my mother and we went into Old Navy to look around. My mother and I were checking out the $30 cashmere sweaters (aaaahhh!) and I walked by a woman. She said hello to me and I smiled. I figured she was just being nice. Well, she said hello again and this time walked up to where my mother and I were standing.

My mother walked away...thanks, Mom!

She had a notebook in her hand and some pamphlets and a sign-up sheet. She was asking for donations for a group that sent Christmas gifts to children in Asia. Where in Asia? I don't know. What was the name of the group? I don't know. What was HER name? I don't know. She just wanted my money. I noticed that there were four people on her list with their donations listed next to them.

Don't get me wrong people, I'm not a scrooge. I'm not stingy in the slightest and I do like to help different charities and fundraising groups. However, I am NOT fine with being solicited in the mall while I'm in a store. I don't know if that lady was crossing any "go out and ask people for donations" line, but I really did not appreciate being approached like I was. Perhaps it is no different than someone knocking on my front door, but I just found the whole situation odd.

Needless to say, I did not donate any money. I didn't get a cashmere sweater either.

Ooh, SarahCuda...

So, McCain & Palin were in town today. They were at the convention center along with Hank Williams, Jr. (looking very nice in his Redskins jersey...hail to the Redskins!). What I would have given to have been a fly on the wall there. This thing called work kept me from even attempting to get a ticket for today's rally. The newspaper article and pictures online will have to suffice.

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/10/mccain-virginia-beach-vows-fix-ailing-economy