2008
Denial
01/02/08 18:02 Filed in: Märia's
bLog
So Felicity has reflux,
I guessed it around 6 weeks but didn't want to say it
out loud. Instead keeping it to myself, in denial,
saying there wasn't anything wrong with her. I mean
this is MY baby, not someone else's. I initially
couldn't even say colicky until someone else said it,
I just said fussy. And to say she has reflux means I
have to do something about it. As much as I give out
medications, the thought of giving my baby medicine
on a daily basis isn't so cool. However reflux is
fairly easy to treat and she'll outgrow it within
6-12months. So here is a list of diseases that I see
in other people's babies on a daily basis that I
should be thankful my own don't have (instead of
whiny about a little reflux).
Diabetes
Cancer
Sickle Cell
Tracheolmalcia
Recurrent Ear Infections
Recurrent seizures
Being born prematurely with all the crap that goes with that
One of thousands of disorders and syndromes
Diabetes
Cancer
Sickle Cell
Tracheolmalcia
Recurrent Ear Infections
Recurrent seizures
Being born prematurely with all the crap that goes with that
One of thousands of disorders and syndromes
|
And we wonder why the Gov't can't balance a budget
31/01/08 13:56 Filed in: Steven Says
So I did our tax
returns and we are getting a $6100 tax refund from
the government. Woo Hoo! That is the best we have
ever had, far beating last years $3400. And then I
look through the documents, and something kinda weird
pops out at me. We only paid $5500 in taxes. So um,
how does that even begin to work? Basically having 2
kids is what did it. The government gives "child tax
credit" for each of them, and with all our other
deductions and credits we ended up getting crazy
money back from the government in excess of what we
paid.
Now I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. But this gift horse has trillions of dollars of debt that I am going to have to deal with and my children and their children will have to deal with. I don't even believe the government should have ANY right to my income and if I was single at this point, would simply not pay income tax and let the IRS do what it would. But that is no excuse for the government to be giving me a $5500 tax rebate PLUS a $600 welfare check. I mean, we have had a rough couple of months with Märia not working, but overall we pretty good for ourselves. If there has to be an ignorant income tax forced upon the backs of the American people, I want to share at least a little of the burden. And barring my sharing a little of the burden, I sure the heck don't want to jump up on the load and have others carrying me along with it!
The income tax is illegal and immoral. And it just doesn't make sense. The top 1% of American earners pay just over 50% of all income tax. The lower 50% of Americans pay .03% of the national income tax. That is simply unfair and makes zero sense. We should reward success, not penalize it. How can that be considered "equal treatment before the law"?
Here is a statistic that is TRUE that few people ever hear. If you abolish the income tax today, the US government will take in as much revenue as in 2001. That was just 7 years ago! That just shows how much our government has grown out of control. It shows how much spending has gotten out of control.
Abolish the income tax, and eliminate the IRS (as it would become unnecessary) and you have the same amount of income for the government that it took in 2003. Just 5 years ago.
Abolish the income tax. Abolish the IRS. Limit government. National DEfence.
Yeah yeah, I know I sound like a Paul pod. Whatever. Sometimes the crazies are right.
Now I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. But this gift horse has trillions of dollars of debt that I am going to have to deal with and my children and their children will have to deal with. I don't even believe the government should have ANY right to my income and if I was single at this point, would simply not pay income tax and let the IRS do what it would. But that is no excuse for the government to be giving me a $5500 tax rebate PLUS a $600 welfare check. I mean, we have had a rough couple of months with Märia not working, but overall we pretty good for ourselves. If there has to be an ignorant income tax forced upon the backs of the American people, I want to share at least a little of the burden. And barring my sharing a little of the burden, I sure the heck don't want to jump up on the load and have others carrying me along with it!
The income tax is illegal and immoral. And it just doesn't make sense. The top 1% of American earners pay just over 50% of all income tax. The lower 50% of Americans pay .03% of the national income tax. That is simply unfair and makes zero sense. We should reward success, not penalize it. How can that be considered "equal treatment before the law"?
Here is a statistic that is TRUE that few people ever hear. If you abolish the income tax today, the US government will take in as much revenue as in 2001. That was just 7 years ago! That just shows how much our government has grown out of control. It shows how much spending has gotten out of control.
Abolish the income tax, and eliminate the IRS (as it would become unnecessary) and you have the same amount of income for the government that it took in 2003. Just 5 years ago.
Abolish the income tax. Abolish the IRS. Limit government. National DEfence.
Yeah yeah, I know I sound like a Paul pod. Whatever. Sometimes the crazies are right.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder.. and other nonsense that no one really believes
27/01/08 23:42 Filed in: Jason's
Thoughts
Well.. it's been quite
a while since I've talked to all of my adoring fans..
so I figured I'd tell all of you why that is.
Unfortunately.. I lost them all in the trunk of my
car which looks like a toddler's toy room when left
to her own devices. There is SOO much going on over
here in my life and I guess I can go ahead and let
you in on the first bead in the string of events
which will eventually alter the entire way I live my
life.
First, I am taking English.. and it's kicking my butt. I'm currently two weeks behind and I'm about to do my regular corner cutting to catch up.. This should be a very interesting two weeks coming up.
Second, Next weekend I am flying up to Oregon to meet up with the guys I've been playing video games with over the last 5 years. Some of which I went to highschool with, but most have been added in the meantime. They do this every year, but this will be the first (and probably the last) year I will ever be able to attend.
Okay.. well that's what I've been busy with kinda.. but this is the REAL secret. You all have to swear to keep it an absolute secret.. even though I know no one who bears the last name Rushing is capable of doing that. So this should shock no one :-). I'm asking Sarah to marry me. This decision and those ensuing afterwards has been an adventure I'd love to share with all of you, but it has to wait til the due time. I obviously can't tell all of you the way I intend to propose, as Sarah might read it, and it would ruin the surprise. But let me tell you about the first step in this adventure, and I will tell you about the finding the ring another time.. (after I've proposed, so I can show you pictures and such).
I am thrilled about this development and am eager to see how in the world I'm going to kickstart this life when I get back to Texas with my wife. Feel free to advise me on the whole furniture adventure..
:-( - getting all the things you need as a married couple.
Next episode:
Asking the Father's blessing
STAY TUNED!
First, I am taking English.. and it's kicking my butt. I'm currently two weeks behind and I'm about to do my regular corner cutting to catch up.. This should be a very interesting two weeks coming up.
Second, Next weekend I am flying up to Oregon to meet up with the guys I've been playing video games with over the last 5 years. Some of which I went to highschool with, but most have been added in the meantime. They do this every year, but this will be the first (and probably the last) year I will ever be able to attend.
Okay.. well that's what I've been busy with kinda.. but this is the REAL secret. You all have to swear to keep it an absolute secret.. even though I know no one who bears the last name Rushing is capable of doing that. So this should shock no one :-). I'm asking Sarah to marry me. This decision and those ensuing afterwards has been an adventure I'd love to share with all of you, but it has to wait til the due time. I obviously can't tell all of you the way I intend to propose, as Sarah might read it, and it would ruin the surprise. But let me tell you about the first step in this adventure, and I will tell you about the finding the ring another time.. (after I've proposed, so I can show you pictures and such).
I am thrilled about this development and am eager to see how in the world I'm going to kickstart this life when I get back to Texas with my wife. Feel free to advise me on the whole furniture adventure..
:-( - getting all the things you need as a married couple.
Next episode:
Asking the Father's blessing
STAY TUNED!
Seporah wants to be like Mommy
26/01/08 15:43 Filed in: Steven Says
| Pictures
Busy Busy
25/01/08 17:09 Filed in: Steven Says
I hope you all will
forgive me for how long it has been since I have
updated. There is some news out there I guess, but it
has been busy busy. So let me start telling what I
have been busy with and what I have news about.
1. Two babies. Yeah, Märia catalogues their lives very well, and so you all know they are a handful. Enough about them. =)
2. Super Mario Galaxy. Ok, so I haven't actually played this game in about 2 weeks now, but for about 2-3 weeks I played quite a bit of Wii when this game first came out. I have absolutely no qualms about calling this the best Mario game ever. It has firm roots in the original 2D games but expands them into a totally new way. Gravity is constantly shifting so that you never know which way is up. The soundtrack is great! It takes full advantage of the Wii motion controls. If you own a Wii, and have ever liked Mario, you owe it to yourself to get this game.
3. Rokit Fuel. I have put an incredible amount of time into this new company from my good friend Spencer Taylor. The Albrights will remember him and his family from Thanksgiving 2004, when we invited them over to eat with us. He and his father are starting a cereal company and I have had a large hand in building and refining the webpage for it. Look for an official launch announcement here when the time comes.
4. Vudu. I have had my Vudu for about 7 weeks now, and although I love it, until yesterday I couldn't really recommend it. As of yesterday, the price dropped from $400 to $300 and now I feel it is worth the initial costs. The Vudu is essentially Blockbuster in a box. It allows for purchases and rentals of 5000 (and growing!) standard definition movies directly to the Vudu box, and also 70 (and growing!) high definition movies. Basically it is a convenience box. Just like a microwave doesn't do anything that the oven/stove doesn't do, the Vudu doesn't do anything that running down to Blockbuster wouldn't accomplish. But it is so darned convenient! I can sit in front of my TV with the WONDERFUL Vudu remote, and browse through 5000 movies, and press one button and start watching a movie for as little as $2. It also has TV now (12 shows, full seasons, although it will expand). The only real downfall is the studio mandated 30 day sales only on new releases. That means that when a DVD comes out in Walmart, you can purchase the movie (typically for $15-$20) directly to your Vudu box and own it forever. But you have to wait 30 days to rent it for $3. Anyways, I can now recommend it over at Vudu.com
Yeah, there is more than this, but I have been sitting here typing too long already, and Seporah wants something. Have fun, and until next time,
Steven
1. Two babies. Yeah, Märia catalogues their lives very well, and so you all know they are a handful. Enough about them. =)
2. Super Mario Galaxy. Ok, so I haven't actually played this game in about 2 weeks now, but for about 2-3 weeks I played quite a bit of Wii when this game first came out. I have absolutely no qualms about calling this the best Mario game ever. It has firm roots in the original 2D games but expands them into a totally new way. Gravity is constantly shifting so that you never know which way is up. The soundtrack is great! It takes full advantage of the Wii motion controls. If you own a Wii, and have ever liked Mario, you owe it to yourself to get this game.
3. Rokit Fuel. I have put an incredible amount of time into this new company from my good friend Spencer Taylor. The Albrights will remember him and his family from Thanksgiving 2004, when we invited them over to eat with us. He and his father are starting a cereal company and I have had a large hand in building and refining the webpage for it. Look for an official launch announcement here when the time comes.
4. Vudu. I have had my Vudu for about 7 weeks now, and although I love it, until yesterday I couldn't really recommend it. As of yesterday, the price dropped from $400 to $300 and now I feel it is worth the initial costs. The Vudu is essentially Blockbuster in a box. It allows for purchases and rentals of 5000 (and growing!) standard definition movies directly to the Vudu box, and also 70 (and growing!) high definition movies. Basically it is a convenience box. Just like a microwave doesn't do anything that the oven/stove doesn't do, the Vudu doesn't do anything that running down to Blockbuster wouldn't accomplish. But it is so darned convenient! I can sit in front of my TV with the WONDERFUL Vudu remote, and browse through 5000 movies, and press one button and start watching a movie for as little as $2. It also has TV now (12 shows, full seasons, although it will expand). The only real downfall is the studio mandated 30 day sales only on new releases. That means that when a DVD comes out in Walmart, you can purchase the movie (typically for $15-$20) directly to your Vudu box and own it forever. But you have to wait 30 days to rent it for $3. Anyways, I can now recommend it over at Vudu.com
Yeah, there is more than this, but I have been sitting here typing too long already, and Seporah wants something. Have fun, and until next time,
Steven
Proofread
24/01/08 15:50 Filed in: Märia's
bLog
Even More Random Stuff
24/01/08 11:13 Filed in: Märia's
bLog
-Herbal Essence in
toddler eyes will make the toddler scream "EYES!
EYES! EYES!" for 20 minutes.
-2 sick babies are even more fun than 1 sick baby.
-Baby diarrhea when squeezed out the leg and onto the couch stains the couch.
-When you haven't seen anything but Disney movies in a long time, Toy Story 2 will make you a little teary eyed.
-Washable markers wash out of clothes, Sharpie permanent markers do not.
-The board books with extras like magnets on them are actually more entertaining for adults than toddlers during church.
-Popcorn when mixed with water is really gross and no longer tasty.
-Lincoln Logs make excellent play swords.
-Stickers are the coolest thing sine sliced bread.
-A bag of fruit snacks will shut a toddler up for about 73 seconds, then they'll need another bag.
-Raisins are very difficult to get out of the carpet once they are ground in.
-You may have 10 pacifiers in the house, but when you really need one, you can't find 1 anywhere.
-"A cow goes 'MOOOOOO!' " is the first line of my toddler's favorite book that has unfortunately fallen apart.
-Board books are between $5-15 each, finding them used is a good thing.
-Toys break way too easily.
-The computer is the most expensive toy in the house and perhaps the most fun for a toddler.
-Before children, your topics for conversation include (but are not limited to) politics, the weather, work, real estate, movies, music, religion, entertainment, clothing and celebrity marriages and divorces.
-After children, your topics for conversation include (and ARE limited to) child#1 and child#2.
-2 sick babies are even more fun than 1 sick baby.
-Baby diarrhea when squeezed out the leg and onto the couch stains the couch.
-When you haven't seen anything but Disney movies in a long time, Toy Story 2 will make you a little teary eyed.
-Washable markers wash out of clothes, Sharpie permanent markers do not.
-The board books with extras like magnets on them are actually more entertaining for adults than toddlers during church.
-Popcorn when mixed with water is really gross and no longer tasty.
-Lincoln Logs make excellent play swords.
-Stickers are the coolest thing sine sliced bread.
-A bag of fruit snacks will shut a toddler up for about 73 seconds, then they'll need another bag.
-Raisins are very difficult to get out of the carpet once they are ground in.
-You may have 10 pacifiers in the house, but when you really need one, you can't find 1 anywhere.
-"A cow goes 'MOOOOOO!' " is the first line of my toddler's favorite book that has unfortunately fallen apart.
-Board books are between $5-15 each, finding them used is a good thing.
-Toys break way too easily.
-The computer is the most expensive toy in the house and perhaps the most fun for a toddler.
-Before children, your topics for conversation include (but are not limited to) politics, the weather, work, real estate, movies, music, religion, entertainment, clothing and celebrity marriages and divorces.
-After children, your topics for conversation include (and ARE limited to) child#1 and child#2.
Goo Cookies
20/01/08 18:17 Filed in: Recipes
So we like to cook, a lot. For those of you that have known me, Märia, in my younger years that may seem crazy. I told Steven when we were married he better like cooking because I doubt I'd ever do it and for the first 4 years of our marriage, he was the chef. Then one day I decided to actually go for it. I now cook and we like to cook. So, we decided that we would make a recipes section.
The first recipe is fun to make with a toddler "No Bake Oatmeal Cookies." These are good because toddlers love cookies and you don't actually have to use the oven. Please be warned however, if you are cooking with a toddler, you will make a mess. It doesn't matter what you're making, the kitchen will be trashed. In the following pictures the kitchen was already trashed to begin with though. Felicity was asleep and Seporah needed attention, I was trying to clean, but it just wasn't working. Seporah needed Mommy. I said ok, let's cook!
First put 1 cup chocolate chips, 4 Tablespoons peanut butter, 3 cups oats, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.
Then put 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup milk, and 2 cups sugar in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute.
Combine the hot mixture with the oatmeal an chocolate chip mixture and stir well. Then drop by the spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Let cool and harden. You may place in the fridge for faster hardening.
Um, Random Stuff
20/01/08 13:40 Filed in: Märia's
bLog |
Pictures
MADE IT!
17/01/08 20:30 Filed in: Märia's
bLog
Wisdom Teeth and updates
13/01/08 09:15 Filed in: Märia's
bLog
Well recovery from
wisdom teeth extraction, what can I say. It was a lot
more difficult than I thought it would be. Probably
because I was so sleep deprived that anymore dings to
the body was too much. I'll spare you the details,
but my bottle of Vicodin is now empty (unfortunately)
and I have a bruise on my face that makes it look
like I should go to a woman's shelter (Steven's not
too pleased about that).
Thankfully over the past week Felicity has been sleeping a little better. I've been getting 6-7 hours of broken sleep as apposed to 3-5 hours. She can still cry and scream quite well, although it has subsided a bit. I appreciate and like my children and husband significantly more when I don't feel like the walking dead. It's nice to be able to quietly admire their beautiful features, both physical and personality wise (maybe that's the vicodin haze I'm feeling).
For those of you that don't know, I am going to be an aunt again. Jeremy and Heather are expecting and it's going to be a....GIRL!!! I was actually pretty surprised, since as Jeremy puts it "I only have Manly Sperm." I better go, it's time to start our bedtime routine, sometime I'll have to tell you guys about that. Who knew I would have to start at 7pm to get everyone asleep by 9?
Thankfully over the past week Felicity has been sleeping a little better. I've been getting 6-7 hours of broken sleep as apposed to 3-5 hours. She can still cry and scream quite well, although it has subsided a bit. I appreciate and like my children and husband significantly more when I don't feel like the walking dead. It's nice to be able to quietly admire their beautiful features, both physical and personality wise (maybe that's the vicodin haze I'm feeling).
For those of you that don't know, I am going to be an aunt again. Jeremy and Heather are expecting and it's going to be a....GIRL!!! I was actually pretty surprised, since as Jeremy puts it "I only have Manly Sperm." I better go, it's time to start our bedtime routine, sometime I'll have to tell you guys about that. Who knew I would have to start at 7pm to get everyone asleep by 9?
Seporah's Words
11/01/08 09:14 Filed in: Märia's
bLog
Well, I've been telling
people Seporah has about 200-300 words, but I wasn't
sure exactly how many. So we decided to write them
down. This isn't quite all of them, but it's what we
could think of. Apparently we were off on the count.
Only about 100.
OBJECTS - box, ball, dog, duck, book, balloons, mommy, daddy, baby, Seporah, Felicity, shoes, tree, flower, moon, car, shirt, bottle, fish, bird, Jesus, Pooh (as in Winnie-the-Pooh), Roo (Pooh again), Avu (TV), crayon, sticker, paper, poop, bubbles, pool, swim, teeth, swing, bed, block, bowl
PHRASES - hi, bye, hello, please, thank you, you're welcome, sorry, let me out, it's all right, you're all right, here, no, yes, me, mine, here you go, side (as in outside), go, I see, yummy, owie, I know, all done, all gone, uh oh, it fell, jump, good morning, good night, stuck, what is this
FOOD - raisin, apple, banana, juice, milk, drink, pop-pop (popcorn), cereal, cheese, fries (as in french), rice, eggs (normally for omelets), pepper (she loves red bell peppers)
NUMBERS - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 (although not always in that order)
LETTERS - a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,x,y,z (although not always in that order)
MISC - stinky, dirty, bath, cook, help, color, brush, hug, mmmmm (kiss), hot, really really hot (weally weally hot is quite cute =)
OBJECTS - box, ball, dog, duck, book, balloons, mommy, daddy, baby, Seporah, Felicity, shoes, tree, flower, moon, car, shirt, bottle, fish, bird, Jesus, Pooh (as in Winnie-the-Pooh), Roo (Pooh again), Avu (TV), crayon, sticker, paper, poop, bubbles, pool, swim, teeth, swing, bed, block, bowl
PHRASES - hi, bye, hello, please, thank you, you're welcome, sorry, let me out, it's all right, you're all right, here, no, yes, me, mine, here you go, side (as in outside), go, I see, yummy, owie, I know, all done, all gone, uh oh, it fell, jump, good morning, good night, stuck, what is this
FOOD - raisin, apple, banana, juice, milk, drink, pop-pop (popcorn), cereal, cheese, fries (as in french), rice, eggs (normally for omelets), pepper (she loves red bell peppers)
NUMBERS - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 (although not always in that order)
LETTERS - a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,x,y,z (although not always in that order)
MISC - stinky, dirty, bath, cook, help, color, brush, hug, mmmmm (kiss), hot, really really hot (weally weally hot is quite cute =)
Webpage down att
11/01/08 09:13 Filed in: Steven Says
All updates for the
next 5-7 days will be on this static page. This is
due to the Mac being in for service. Good news is
that it is getting a brand new logic board
(motherboard in mac-speak), power supply and display.
All on Apple's dime. It has been acting really funky
for a long time (sorry Pam, didn't act so great while
you were here) but it has gotten worse and worse over
the last 6 months really. Anyway, it seemed like it
was due to some lowest-bidder capacitors that were
crowning. So basically I get a brand new computer in
my 3+ year old case. =) Gotta love Applecare.
Ladeda
08/01/08 05:56 Filed in: Märia's
bLog
So they tag teamed it
last night. I slept from 10:30-12:30. The rest of the
night, one of the two of them was screaming. Security
came to talk to me it was so bad. I'm getting my
wisdom teeth out this morning. I don't care that it
will cost me $515.83. I don't care that it will be
drug induced. I don't care that I will wake up with a
very sore mouth. I am going to go to sleep for an
hour and a half and not wake up to a screaming
baby.
Happy Birthday Steven OR The Zoo was a Success
07/01/08 15:37 Filed in: Märia's
bLog |
Pictures
Meaning, everyone was
happy. See, I have the pictures to prove it. Look
again, yes indeed those are smiles.
You'd never believe she's the type of baby that could/would scream/cry for 6 hours straight, but it has happened on more than one occasion. However not today. It was Steven's 27th birthday and we were going to go do something. First Steven went to go donate blood (insert plug to encourage all who can to please donate blood). Then we went to the zoo.
As we were all kinda tired and didn't want to walk around so much, we skipped over most of the big animals and went straight for the petting zoo. Every single animal on 4 legs was a dog according to Seporah. The elephants were dogs, the llamas were dogs, the pigs were dogs, the goats were dogs and the miniature horse was a dog. Thankfully the fish were "shishes." We hung around there for 45 minutes and then went to the playground.
There's actually a pretty decent playground inside the zoo and it is always packed. There must have been 50 kids playing on it (and 30 or so exhausted adults sitting on the benches next to it). Anyway we were there in total about an hour and a half and we didn't get any tears, any crying, any screaming or any fits for the whole time. It was great.
You'd never believe she's the type of baby that could/would scream/cry for 6 hours straight, but it has happened on more than one occasion. However not today. It was Steven's 27th birthday and we were going to go do something. First Steven went to go donate blood (insert plug to encourage all who can to please donate blood). Then we went to the zoo.
As we were all kinda tired and didn't want to walk around so much, we skipped over most of the big animals and went straight for the petting zoo. Every single animal on 4 legs was a dog according to Seporah. The elephants were dogs, the llamas were dogs, the pigs were dogs, the goats were dogs and the miniature horse was a dog. Thankfully the fish were "shishes." We hung around there for 45 minutes and then went to the playground.
There's actually a pretty decent playground inside the zoo and it is always packed. There must have been 50 kids playing on it (and 30 or so exhausted adults sitting on the benches next to it). Anyway we were there in total about an hour and a half and we didn't get any tears, any crying, any screaming or any fits for the whole time. It was great.
If the Shoe Fits, Buy One in Every Color
04/01/08 13:07 Filed in: Märia's
bLog |
Pictures
They were cute
They were comfy
They were on clearance
They look like I can wipe baby spit up and dirt off easily
I had a gift certificate
I still don't like going out to buy real clothes, I've got about 18 more pounds for that
And they may not buy lasting happiness, but with a colicky baby I'll get my kicks where I can
In other fashion news: Seporah's known how to dress and undress herself for awhile (how do you think she ends up naked with poop all over her crib), but now she's really getting into it. She'll dress up in Mommy's clothes and Daddy's ties. Try to fit Felicity's socks on and put her own shirt on the bottom half of her. It's great and often very funny to watch, as long as her diaper stays on.