Claustrophobia

We've been a little busy this past month. I haven't had much time for blogging and internet use. So I apologize for the "boring" site. I hope that you have not been classically conditioned to not check Los Dos Daubertos blog. 

Many things have gone to the wayside....I hate to admit it. House work is one of the hardest things for me to keep up. I'm pretty much gone from 8am till 5:45pm each day which doesn't leave much energy to prep food, cook, wash dishes, throw in a few loads of laundry, vacuum the floors, clean the baths, change the sheets, and on and on and on. 

Changing my sheets can be difficult to do. We have a duvet cover on our bed, which means we also have the down comforter insert. I like to wash the duvet every so often (A fabulous wedding gift from the bedding line of Tommy Bahama) to keep it looking great. However, can anyone offer a better way to stuff a king size down comforter back into a king size duvet??? If you've ever done it, you can imagine the drama that it entails.  I spread the duvet out as good as I can on top of our bed, crawl under the opening at the foot of the bed and drag the huge insert in  behind me.  I struggle inside the duvet cover fighting against static electricity, an uncooperative down comforter, and unmarked trails of where the corner of the duvet actually is located from the inside out. Even if I manage to get the whole down insert in the duvet, I now have a mangled duvet cover to spread out.  

This time I am completely inside the duvet cover in the midst of a struggle to pull the down insert up while I hop in the air on all fours. I hear Michael walk in the room talking to himself then realize, no, he's video taping me. I must look ridiculous when I do this, like a child playing inside her sleeping bag. As far as I know, though, it's the only way to put our comforter together. Maybe next time, I will opt for a normal, non-duvet comforter.

I would put the video clip on here if I knew how, just to show you how frustrating it is. So it's house work like this that keeps me away from the blogosphere. But at least we have a clean bed.

Joke

My favorite blonde joke of all time:

A blonde girl opened a box of Cheerios and yelled, "Look Daddy! Donut seeds!"

I'm laughing right now it's so cute, and I get blonde highlights.

Park Here

Over the past four years UVA home games have been quite the "to-do" with my family. The parents have 4 season tickets, in a fantastic section of the stadium I might add, and with a sports fanatic Father, Brother and Husband every game is a big deal. But the best part about home football games is the money making opportunity. In the back of my parents UVA house, "The Chateau," is a huge gravel lot. Why is that important? Because you can craftily fit 35 cars in the space and at the rate of $25 a car - that is a beautiful sight. Yes folks, football fans will indeed pay twenty-five dollars to park. 

We have quite a system worked out and I will venture to say we have the hottest venue on Price Avenue. My dad is the parking facilitator, money collector, friend maker, tailgate overseer. Preston and Michael stand at the bottom of the driveway sporting the hot pink sign I made that reads "PARK HERE." Competition with the neighbors has increased this year so their role is vital these days. And I, well, I work the corner. 

Four years and counting I have stood on the corner of Maury Ave and Price Ave holding my neon orange poster that says "PARK" with an arrow pointing towards our house.  I might be a bit prideful in saying this but I do believe that I am famous among the football regulars. No no it's not all glamour and sunburn, I deal with my fair share

 of drunk rednecks. The following are a brief sampling of comments hurled my way - every UVA home game:

-"Hey there! Can I park next to you?"

-"How much hunny?"

-"Park? Where's the park?"

-"I bet if you hike up them shorts you might get more people."

-"I like your boots." 

-" So that's how y'all do it! Send a pretty girl to hold the sign." 

-"Why don't you put a bikini on?"

-"Wanna come drink some moonshine?"

-"Hey hunny! Haven't seen you in forever" (Mind you I am there every week.)

-"Woo Woo Hey girl!"

Here's a pic of some of the Hoo Crew in 2005:

#1 Fan

Sunday has been a beautiful day here in Charlottesville although unusually hot for October. Michael plays on a local adult soccer league and had a game this afternoon. He's been out of sports for a few months because of knee issues and was therefore really excited to play today. I, being the supportive wife, went to watch. I took pictures and video footage of the boys playing because I thought it'd be nice to document their youth and agility. Here are some fun shots from the day, he's in the green:

Michael the goalie
  

Brad's Booty

Take THIS Media!

Warning: What you are about to read is not "politically correct."
Read it and weap. But do take the time to read it, be informed. I love the truth, don't you?


The Rest of the Meltdown Story
by Neal Boortz

What in the world is going on here?
You’ve seen the headlines, and you heard of the failures and buyouts. Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, AIG; all big names and all in big trouble. Then those mysterious quasi-government agencies with names like Freddie and Fannie become wards of the state and you learn that you and your fellow taxpayers are potentially on the hook for tens of billions of dollars. At the end of the week Washington Mutual is looking for a buyer, and you start to wonder about the security of your own bank and your own savings account. Let’s change that ad copy to WaMu -- boo hoo.
Somewhere in the back of your mind you understand that this is all tied somehow to bad mortgages. If you start reading a bit further to enhance your understanding you run into terms like Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) and credit-default swaps, whatever in the world those are. Read further and you find out that a combination of falling home prices and mortgage defaults have put many investment banks and other financial institutions in deep puddin’. All this reading, all this watching the talking heads on TV, and you still don’t really know what in the world is going on here.
Fear not. I’m here to help. I know … I’m just another talk show host; but the fact is that when the stage was being set for the problems we’re seeing today I was making most of my money as a real estate lawyer .. closing loans for some of the very institutions that are the tank today. This rather unique combination – closing lawyer and radio talk show host – gave me a front row seat to the politicization of mortgage loans that led us to today’s headlines.
OK .. so we all know that a lot of really bad real estate loans were made. The political class would sure love for us to believe that the blame here rests squarely on “greedy” (try to define that word) mortgage brokers and lenders. The truth is that most of the blame rests on political meddling in the credit decisions of these mortgage lenders.
Twenty years ago the buzz-word in the media was “redlining.” Newspapers across the country were filled with hard-hitting investigative reports about evil and racist mortgage lenders refusing to make real estate loans to various minorities and to applicants who lived in lower-income neighborhoods. There I was closing these loans in the afternoons, and in the mornings offering a counter-argument on the radio to these absurd “redlining” claims. Frankly, the claims that evil mortgage lenders were systematically denying loans to blacks and other minorities were a lot sexier on the radio than my claims that when credit histories, job stability, loan-to-value ratios and income levels were considered there was no evident racial discrimination.
Political correctness won the day. Washington made it clear to banks and other lending institutions that if they did not do something .. and fast .. to bring more minorities and low-income Americans into the world of home ownership there would be a heavy price to pay. Congress set up processes (Research the Community Redevelopment Act) whereby community activist groups and organizers could effectively stop a bank’s efforts to grow if that bank didn’t make loans to unqualified borrowers. Enter, stage left, the “subprime” mortgage. These lenders knew that a very high percentage of these loans would turn to garbage – but it was a price that had to be paid if the bank was to expand and grow. We should note that among the community groups browbeating banks into making these bad loans was an outfit called ACORN. There is one certain presidential candidate that did a lot of community organizing for ACORN. I won’t mention his name so as to avoid politicizing this column.
These garbage loans to unqualified borrowers were then bundled up and sold. The expectation was that the loans would be eventually paid off when rising home values led some borrowers to access their equity through re-financing and others to sell and move on up the ladder. Oops.
Right now this crisis is being sold to the American public by the left as evidence the failure of the free market and capitalism. Not so. What we’re seeing is the inevitable result of political interference in free market economics. Acme bank didn’t want to loan money to Joe Homebuyer because Joe had a spotty job history, owed too much money on his credit cards, and wasn’t all that good at making payments on time. The politicians told Acme Bank to figure out a way to make that loan, because, after all, Joe is a bona-fide minority-American, or forget about opening that new branch office on the Southside. The loan was made under politicial pressure; the loan, with millions like it, failed – and now we are left to enjoy today’s headlines.
So … why aren’t you reading the whole story in the mainstream media? Come on, are you kidding me? Do you really expect the media to blame this mess on deadbeat borrowers and political interference in the free market when it is so easy to put the blame on greedy lenders and evil capitalists? Remember … there’s an election going on. One candidate is decidedly anti-capitalist. Do the math.

Bocalicious

Michael and I have a secret splurge. We order our coffee online from Boca Java. It's this gourmet coffee that my aunt sent to me one time as gift. The reason we love it is because it can come in so many delectable flavors that have an incredible, irresistible smell. For example, "Tropical Two-Step" is vanilla and cinnamon coffee, "Courtside Chocolate" is the flavor of German chocolate cake, and my personal favorite "Chocolate Hazelnut Heaven" - basically the smell nutella in coffee form. They offer the normal coffee for the old folk, fruity flavors for the adventurous and a whole lot of chocolatey caramely goodness for people like us. 

I kid you not the smell of those coffee beans is life changing. You can only order online, they roast your beans only after you order them, and some of the proceeds go to fighting leukemia. I feel good ordering from Boca Java. If you want a sample of this coffee, come on over and I'll brew you a cup. Cheers.

Oh, and no one is paying me to say this.

Gems

Take a look at my bomb shell best friends. I came across these pictures today and I thought that they deserved more recognition. Through the past eight years, these four girls - now women- have meant the world to me. I know that God has blessed us with a unique closeness that not everyone gets to experience in a friendship. We have hopes and dreams of living and growing up together in the same cul-de-sac with many little children who all inter-marry so that we can all be related. Although, we do want to avoid cult-like criticism. I trust the Lord that some day we will all be together again in this side of Heaven...cause we sure do have an amazing time when we are with one another! I hope that everyone has at least one friendship, one relationship in their life that brings them as much joy as these sisters bring me.