A New Chapter

We've been here since May. It's time to admit that we live in the suburbs. I started a new blog that will keep up with my new status. You can now read the blog at http://lifeinburbland.blogspot.com/

The Stars Align

I did a job search. I get a call. I do some research. I connect the dots. They all lead to one agency. I will probably have a job as soon as I'm ready. In the interim we are looking to move to a less taxing neighborhood. I love Nyack, but hate taxes more. Taxes have gone up 5% a year for the last few years. Enough already. People - stop paying so much for houses in Nyack.

The Joy of Outsourcing

I figured out why I don't like the current Republican thinking. It can be called the new teflon factor (teflon , I believe, is deadly and causes cancer) known as outsourcing. Hire people to do your dirty work and if they mess up they can't blame you. The Bush Admin did this with Blackwater and other security firms. They want to do this with health insurance agencies for the poor.
Nobody's making the connections.
The thing is we have means and I hate health insurance. I'm forced to have it and we pay $15,000/year for our family of three. And my insurance sucks. 10% copay and I can't find out how much I'm to pay until after the fact. I'm supposed to trust them. Ha.
Now Bush want the poor and uneducated to play this game. I hope someones uses this info. Not that I like them any better. It's time for a truly independent.

Feeding The Economy with Fashionistas

We have a new baby boy in the family. Cutie and I went to the bris. The mom looked radiant. I can't believe she had a baby 8 days ago. I thought I looked good a week later weighing in at 10 lbs more than pre-pregnancy weight. Anyway, she's in the fashion industry as are her friends and family. I'm amazed. People still where high-heel shoes with pointy toes. We're talking 4-inch heels.

I'm so out of it. I got comfortable in the late eighties and never looked back. I came to the conclusion that only secretaries wore heels. I forgot about the fashionistas. There was someone in my old apartment building that had the bleach blond hair and wore heels. It really is their uniform. Just as jeans is mine. Their uniform is much better for the economy. They get to buy among themselves creating a special economic unit with teens and 20-somethings drooling for brands.

It's so good to be 40-something and past all that.

Taxes

Our taxes right now are high - but I can deal. Our neighbor with twice the property and a 4500 square foot house built in 1995 is over $33,000 and their neighbor is paying $40,000. If we are to knock our house down and build Paulo's dream house our taxes will go up close to those levels. I refuse to pay that amount in property taxes. We will have to rethink our plan.

It's really a pity. Taxes that high are absurd. We need to rethink the plan or move. It's better to buy a fixer-upper with regutting and new kitchens and bathrooms than a knockerdowner.

Little Blue Ladies

After dropping Cutie off at school on Wednesday I took a side trip to the Nanuet Mall. There's the usual stores Sears, Gap and The Children's place but there's also a thriving beauty shop for seniors at 9:30 in the morning. There were vans outside and little blue ladies having their hair done. It was so comforting to see. It reminded me of my childhood when all the ladies had their hair done once a week - even my mom.

I've been breaking out in pimples a lot these days. I thought I had a sugar allergy. But now I think it's a dairy allergy.

Tomorrow I will eliminate dairy from my diet and see if that helps.

Birthday Presents Galore

Cutie got a bicycle and princess dress-up costumes from her cousins. She also got two Webkinz's (how awkward is that to say???). Webkinz's is really cool. You play games to collect points to buy things for your pet. She gets it. I just need to start her off on a game and she can play for 1/2 hours. She moves to shopping on her own and then it's "mommy - I need another game (aka more money)" It's pretty cute at 3. I hope I can remember her user name and password.

Some other favorites - clothes, Tinkertoy, Dora memory game, modeling clay (say goodbye playdoh - I never liked the way you smelled), art projects and a big one - My Little Pony Castle - The really big one that needs batteries. I have to go out and get the ponies.

Can't wait for school to begin again.

What No Camera!!!

Yesterday we had our first real birthday party for Cutie who turned 3 yo in our yard. It was a huge success. The weather was sunny at 76 degrees. We had a fabulous local children's singer. Cutie face sang "Twinkle Twinkle" on stage and did a great job. Most of my family came. The older children played ball on the yard. The younger ones listened to the singer. It was the best party I've ever thrown - but wait. We have no photos or video of the concert in the park. Yikes.

The only thing I would do differently next time is food. Since you really can't get 8 pies of kosher pizza delivered by 11:30am on Sunday, I heated up frozen ones. I was so busy cooking I missed the party. The nice thing is that there are two windows in the kitchen that look out to where the party was.

Note to self - We will lose the kitchen view with our current work-in-progess building plans.
Note to self - Hire people to heat and serve food.