BAIL OUT, SCHMAIL OUT


okay so i am plunging into the abyss otherwise known as my thoughts on the current status of our economy.

i know i'm not the only one that saw this coming. our country has too long been abusers of our wealth and success. we've taken a few too many things for granted and have been a spoiled society.

can you say: hummer, hdtv, flatscreen, bluetooth, ipod, iphone, portable dvd... i could go on.

the current standing of the stock market and economy has me a little unnerved. but then again it has me taking another look at my own life and my own way i've come accustomed to living. okay so i don't need that new iphone that i have been eyeballing. and a fancy-schmancy brand new car? yes please... but the hasselhoff should be good for now and i don't need to get him a new paint job just yet. or get a new computer that doesn't take 8 years to do anything. or a brand new ipod to make me look as cool as you think i am. and cute new clothes and shoes and bags every week? fine, i can make-do with what i've got!

so what's wrong with holding on to something until it doesn't work anymore? do i really need the latest and greatest or to upgrade just because i can? is it that necessary that i get a new outfit ever sing week to feel cute at church? well certainly not if it means that i go into debt for it. if i go out and get a credit card just so i can have these latest most amazing luxuries.

and same goes for you big dudes that still on capitol hill looking for earmarks to fund research on this, that or the other or for budgets that include your personal jet whisking you and the mistress off to cancun to have a "meeting." it's time to start living more carefully. time to save instead of spend. time to really ask if we REALLY and TRULY need all of the things we tack on to each and every bill that is trying to get passed... don't you think?

you'd think with 200+ years of making these same kind of mistakes and riding the economic roller-coaster we would have figured it out by now. but somehow the lure of THINGS and POWER and PROGRESS is far more seductive than prudence and humility and planning.

i guess until we get it, we'll always find ourselves having to ask for a loan. again.

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...

• i miss boston. i know i have said it before but i guess i will just keep saying it until i don't need to say it anymore. it's funny but i miss the weirdest things: taking the bus/train every day. the way davis square sounds on a busy afternoon. i miss harvard square and cvs and night drives going east on mem drive. i miss the faces i saw at church every sunday and the people at wheelock that made me feel like i was part of a family. i miss the way the zakin bridge looks at night and nahant beach on saturday. i miss all of the mom and pop pizza shops and delis and dunkin donuts on every corner. i miss night swimming with my best friends in walden pond and kimball farm ice cream.
  
• my sister's dog grizz almost died last night. he had accidentally found one of my brother-in-law's heart medication pills on the floor and by the time we found him we pretty much thought we had lost him. the doctor at the emergency vet said that a normal blood pressure for a dog is anywhere between 90 and 150. grizz was at 26 when he first came in. luckily we were able to save him and he's home now. but i am still somewhat reeling from all of the adrenaline and fear.
• utah is truly the land of fast food restaurants and 24 hour super walmarts. it's no wonder why so many people suffer from obesity in this nation. it's WAY TOO convenient to find yummy, fatty foods at the drop of a hat!
• did i mention that i got a new old car? i call him the hasselhoff. i love him. he's so ugly and doesn't have a working radio. but it sure is nice to be able to drive again. i've already marked him with red sox paraphernalia and boy does he look sexy now!
• i got asked out 2 days after being here and it gives me hope that my dating life won't really suffer because i'm in "zion."
• what an interesting time to be living, no? the presidential campaigning makes me want to give all politicians a time-out for not being able to say nice things to each other and for lying to the american public. the corporate bail-out has me wondering what life is going to look like next year as i'm trying to move myself to CA and get a job and it really has me worried when a magazine such as TIME (in THIS issue) does an article asking "famous" politicians and public figures about how to change the economy crisis and they include MILEY CYRUS! are you kidding me? why are you asking a 15 year-old pop star what she thinks when the biggest problem in her pampered little world is what color extensions will match her new prada bag??!!
• i love my family. everyone has been way supportive of me in this move and the up-coming few months. i'm so grateful for each of them. and it's been super awesome reclaiming my spot at the most FAVORITE aunt! yeah that's right- i AM all that!
  

THE BIGGEST.... BABY


so i moved. it's been a week, today.

with all of the crazy travel stories to report, the craziness of getting my new car all ready to drive, getting to doctor's appointments and plain just getting settled, i had not given myself time to cry. because let's face it, boston and i were WAY in love. and i have just left my heart behind floating atop the charles river. it's been wicked hard.

so currently i am at my parent's place in st george, utah. and for those that don't know utah geography, st george is the southern most major city before crossing the nevada border... a 4 hour drive from salt lake city.

so this past tuesday i jumped in my car and headed south to spend time with my parents for the week. 4 hours of alone time is plenty of time to pull the cork from the proverbial emotional soda bottle that had been shaken for several days and is ready to burst. and burst i did.

i had had a good cry by the time i reached my parents house and had pretty much gained my composure long enough to get settled in.

my mom was gone, so my dad cooked his typical dinner (steak) and we sat in front of the TV with our dinner to watch my parent's favorite show "the biggest loser." so there i was, eating dinner and watching the first episode where we get introduced to all of the players, when i got sideswiped from two of the contestants.




tom and tom jr are a father/son team from boston. and of course we watched as the cameras followed the two gentlemen around their home town.


then they announce that tom and tom jr are both cab drivers in somerville-- my old home-- and i LOST IT!!!


tears were streaming down my face as i watched tom jr pull into the burger king that was right down the street from my house. the burger king that was a life support after a long or bad day. the burger king where late night runs that may or may not have happened on a late sunday night when a few girlfriends and i were desperate for fatty foods and a diet coke!!!

there was my poor father, sitting there helpless, watching his 29 year old daughter have a breakdown over a burger king. his fork had stopped mid stride to his mouth. and then in typical dude fashion he snapped out of it and turned back to the TV.


i, of course, took a little bit longer coming back to reality but was able to finally gain control and watch the rest of the episode without creating my own "episode!"


i would personally like to thank the biggest loser for turning me into the biggest baby. oh and for inspiring me to get in better shape!

I COULDN'T HATE THIS MORE...




if i have to see another guy wearing this-- i think i literally will go POSTAL. this has to be the absolute stupidestest thing i have ever seen members of the male species wearing. i don't know why it angers me so much... but it boils my blood. maybe because it's this kind of crap that makes me think of the emperor's new clothes-- no one is out there telling the men that they look ridiculous- no matter who in hollywood or who in the fashion world tells them it's good.

nope. wrong. try again.

hey dude... dolly parton called and wants her skirt back!!!

MOMENTS LIKE THIS...


.....make me miss boston already!