My mom is such a girl. My stepdad, the sports writer, gave her an assignment. She was to go to MAC Media Football Day and interview the coaches and players about football. What does she end up doing instead? She reports on how the players dressed for the event. Yes, she chose fashion over football. I’m sure Dave was mortified when she returned home with her notes, but it actually turned out to be a cute article. Enjoyable to read. Check it out:

The Sartorial Splendor of Football Media Day

Great article by Scott Burns from MSN Money:

Foreclosure ‘crisis’ is overblown

This news will disappoint the gloom-and-doom crew and all those seeking the excitement of financial upheaval.

The media exaggerates? Unbelievable. 

My mom and I were talking awhile back about all this doom and gloom hype about global warming. She remembers a time when everyone was worried about global cooling, so I looked it up. Sure enough, 30 years ago they were getting everyone riled up and worried about the weather just like they are today.

Headlines and excerpts from the The New York Times archives: 

Scientists Ask Why World Climate Is Changing; Major Cooling May Be Ahead; Scientists Ponder Why World’s Climate Is Changing; a Major Cooling Widely Considered to Be Inevitable

By WALTER SULLIVAN
May 21, 1975, Wednesday

The world’s climate is changing. Of that scientists are firmly convinced. But in what direction and why are subjects of deepening debate.

Also:

International Team of Specialists Finds No End in Sight to 30-Year Cooling Trend in Northern Hemisphere

By WALTER SULLIVAN
January 5, 1978, Thursday

An international team of specialists has concluded from eight indexes of climate that there is no end in sight to the cooling trend of the last 30 years, at least in the Northern Hemisphere.

I hear now they aren’t calling it “global warming.” They’re calling it “climate change” instead. I guess then whichever way the temperature goes, they’re still right. I guess. So what if the climate is changing? The earth’s climate has been changing since it’s creation. Why are we freaked out about it now? Why were we freaked about it 30 years ago? Michigan’s climate changes daily and we’re not freaked out about it. The climate on Mars is changing too. So what?

Call me a cynic but I’m just sick of the media steering the public and causing them to be afraid of things they have no control over.

The stimulus package has been approved by Congress which means in 12 weeks or so we should be receiving up to $1500 of the government’s borrowed money! If we were good little consumers we would go out and spend it but unfortunately for the politicians and economists, our family will be applying it toward our debt. See, we already spent many years feeding the economy. We were good little consumers… a little too good if you ask me. We spent money we didn’t have and now we are being responsible little adults and paying back what we owe. No worries, once we are freed of those stupid monthly payments we’ll have more cash to play around with!

Congress Votes for a Stimulus of $168 Billion

Here is an interesting piece to the plan:

 ”In a nod to the housing problems, the stimulus plan will increase the limits on home loans that can be purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored finance companies, and on loans that can be insured by the Federal Housing administration. The one-year increases will make it easier to refinance loans or obtain new mortgages in expensive markets.”

There has been a lot of media attention on the crappy housing market and all the foreclosures. I don’t know how real it is in other states but in Michigan it truly is crappy. People are losing their homes to foreclosures because they bought houses they couldn’t afford. Here’s a solution! Let’s up the limits and make it easier for people to buy homes they can’t afford!!

What is with our bonehead government? Geesh. I think we need to send them all to Financial Peace University.

I have been reading “Buy, Buy Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds” by Susan Gregory Thomas and it is fascinating. In the book, the author mentions an 1899 meeting of the National Congress of Mothers, a meeting that marked the start of “professionalizing” the art of childrearing. What followed was a big shift from the days when mothers sought advice and guidance from their mothers and grandmothers as new emphasis was placed on the knowledge and expertise of doctors and other professionals. This intrigued me so of course I had to Google it. I found a wad of information, including several archived articles from the New York Times. Here is one I found particularly amusing: 

It’s funny, mothers now have more instruction and understanding on childrearing than we know what to do with, yet this nation seems far from a state of perfection. Things have changed a lot since 1912 but in a way it seems like we are dealing with the same issues they were.

By the way, the National Congress of Mothers was later renamed the National Congress of Parents and Teachers in 1924 but is better known today as the PTA. You can find a complete history at the PTA website.

Behind the Abortion Decline

“Between 2000 and 2005, the last year in the study by the Guttmacher Institute, the number of abortions performed yearly dropped from 1.3 million to 1.2 million, the fewest since 1974. The proportion of pregnancies ending in abortion also declined significantly.”

I am 100% pro-life. I used to be extremely vocal about it. I was hard core and fought for my cause often at the expense of others. I stepped on a lot of people’s toes. I looked only at the issue and not at the people. Somewhere along the line God softened my heart and helped me to see with Christ’s eyes. I have always been on the Republican side of the fence (and still am) and have always been fairly ignorant to the view of the “other side.” It was when I began working with a bunch of pro-choice Democrats (gasp!) that I started to see things differently. (more…)

Michigan makes headlines news and it’s not about our crummy economy and housing market! No, instead it’s about the foot of snow that dumped on the west side of the state last night:

Foot of snow closes schools in Michigan and Wisconsin

Of course we had to share the spotlight with Wisconsin, but that’s okay. Apparently the snow was enough to close almost every school in the Grand Rapids area. Lansing is about 60 miles east of Grand Rapids and we got snow last night, but not even enough to make me pull my boots on. I just hope the snow lets up in Grand Rapids and the roads are cleared by Thursday. We’re driving there for Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover Live Event! I can’t wait!

This is a great article courtesy of the Parenting Squad: Yes, You Can Drink While Pregnant. 

Experts tell us that consuming excessive amounts of alcohol is harmful to a fetus, and since pregnant women can’t be trusted to know the difference between excessive and moderate, they just tell them to abstain from drinking altogether. The truth is that a glass of wine or beer now and then will have no adverse effects on a fetus. Your liver will metabolize almost all of it before it reaches the placenta, and whatever may be left is super minimal.

This quote from the article speaks to one of my favorite soapbox subjects, kids and nutrition: (more…)

I’m in the process of creating some new habits and I think I need to add reading this scripture to the list.

Luke 6:37 - ”Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.”

It’s the judging and criticizing that’s always been tough for me. I’m not exactly sure why, but it’s probably because I was such a perfect child, and it’s easy to get up on a high horse when you’re perfect. Of course I know I’m not perfect anymore, because I only brush my teeth once a day and I said sh** last week when I stubbed my toe, but it’s still pretty easy to get on that horse.

Hi, my name is Mindy, and I’m prideful.

I have been struggling with this for too long. See this article I wrote in September of 2003: The Dangers of Horseback Riding. It was a problem then and it’s a problem now. I thought I was doing okay and I let my guard down. I let that pride creep back in. How horribly frustrating. I guess the only thing to do now is to climb back down, crawl to Christ’s feet, and request forgiveness. Thank God for giving us that option!