Buyer's Remorse (The Costco Version)

I just put two wild-thing boys to bed. I'm hoping they stay there and maybe even fall asleep before morning. To settle my nerves I had a (small) dish of vanilla bean ice cream with too much chocolate syrup. It was good, and relaxing, and I'm feeling much better (although I am shivering under my blanket and may need to go warm up my heating pad).

The bad news is that the ice cream is almost gone. And there won't be any more until March. The problem is Costco. I allow myself one "big" shopping trip a month and other trips are only for things like milk (and maybe some sort of fruit or lettuce or something like that, but that's it, really!). This month (I actually went January 28th and decided to count it for February since I had already been in January) I spent way too much. It's a common problem with shopping at Costco. It's nearly impossible to get out the door with less than $100 worth of groceries (unless you only buy milk), and it is much too easy to spend quite a bit more than that.

The last trip, I (and my Mr) spent nearly the entire month's grocery budget. Then Winegars had a case-lot sale of sorts (which I find impossible to resist) and there went the rest of the grocery budget. My Mr. has challenged me to make it through the entire month without buying anything else but milk. That means once the current jumbo-costco-sized bag of lettuce is gone, no more salads. Sadly, that also means no more ice cream.

The good news is that from our recent food-shopping-sprees, we are well stocked and since this is a short month, we'll probably survive. I need to make yogurt though (and some hermits) so that I don't feel too deprived.

Go have some Ice Cream

The last few days of warmer weather are making me excited for spring. (Punxsutawney Phil said it will be an early spring this year!) I've been watching the front flower bed for the first tips of crocuses to pop up through the soil. I'm feeling the need to go to the garden center to pick up some pea seeds (I have to plant them before my neighbors do, you know- and now that I'm thinking about it, the new raised bed in the front yard that didn't get bulbs planted in it last fall would be a great place for peas- then pumpkins...).

My blog has been fairly well consumed by politics lately, so I thought it would be nice to have a post about something else.

Spring is wonderful all by itself, but spring also means that summer is coming, and what does summer mean (besides fresh tomatoes from the garden)? Ice cream! I can eat ice cream without shivering under a blanket. I suffer, because I love ice cream, but summer is much nicer. Here's a picture of the then-two-year-old enjoying an ice cream cone in the backyard last summer.

Health care for children, Medicaid not top priorities

I'm so glad that our legislature keeps busy with "message" bills. What would they do without those? Hmmm, maybe talk about things that would actually improve life for the residents of Utah?

An article in today's Tribune says that funding to expand CHIP is likely to only get half of what Governor Huntsman wanted.

What will it take to convince our government to stop wasting time and money on morality bills (and I'm all for morality) when we have children and families who don't have access to health care.

Access to quality health care for all SHOULD be a priority, shame on our legislature for thinking otherwise.

Choice

It's amazing what happens when you take some time to think about something (really, I encourage everyone to try it!). I was thinking about what might happen if elective abortions were suddenly made illegal in Utah.

I think that there would be a lot of desperate women who really feel like abortion is their only choice seeking other methods of ending their pregnancies. I'm not using this as a justification for allowing abortions, but I think before we make something illegal we need to think out the consequences of doing so.

M.A. commented in my earlier post on the abortion bill that ideally people would always be conscientious and responsible, but that real life doesn't always work that way. I don't know what the statistics are on abortions in Utah or why women seek an abortion, but obviously there must be women who feel like it is their only choice. I'm disgusted that there are still insurance companies who will pay for drugs like viagra but not birth control.

So, it seems to me, that before we go banning something, we ought to work a little harder to reduce demand for it. Spend the 2-4 million dollars on education and health care reform so that all women in utah know what their options are, and that those options are accessible to everyone. Reduce the demand for abortions, give women options and information, then talk about challenging Roe vs. Wade.

Until all women in Utah have some basic level of sex education and accessible options for pregnancy prevention, banning abortion would only shift the procedure into a much less-safe black market.

Weightier Matters and the Abortion Bill

I remember reading this article by Dallin H Oaks when I was a student at USU. It has stuck with me ever since. I used to feel really conflicted about the abortion issue, after all, shouldn't a woman be able to choose? It's her body.

Yes, she should be able to choose, and she can. Aside from rape and other circumstances where the choice has been taken away from her, a woman can choose whether to have sex or not. A woman can choose to use some form of birth control. It should not come as a surprise to any woman that having sex can result in pregnancy. If it does, then we need some major education reform in Utah (either in the home or in schools, I'm not picky). It would be nice if males had a more direct consequence from having unprotected sex. They don't though, and using that as an excuse for a woman to avoid responsibility for her choices is ridiculous.

Somewhat as a side note, I learned something new recently. On my gardening/composting discussion forum (obviously we talk about other things too) someone posted an article about a woman who was arrested after she had taken the first part of the Morning After Pill. The jail's nurse for whatever reason did not allow her to take the second pill. I don't think the original story had anything to do with moral objections by the nurse, but on my discussion forum, that's how it was brought up. I didn't know anything about the morning after pill, although I did do some reading about RU486 in college. I had always assumed that the two were the same. I was wrong, and I think a lot of people make the same assumption. The Morning After Pill (also known as Plan B) is not an abortion drug. It prevents pregnancy much in the same way that birth control pills and IUD's do (and it is supposed to be available at pharmacies without a prescription for women over 18 years old). Anyway, back to the main issue- I just thought this was interesting.

Abortion is a responsibility issue, not a choice issue.

That said, I'm not sure how I feel about the bill to ban abortions. I'm glad to see that the bill includes the exceptions that it does, but I'm unsure about the financial cost of defending the bill. Who decided to change it from the original trigger bill anyway?

Voucher Discussions with Paul Neuenschwander

I sent an email to Sheryl Allen and Paul Neuenschwander asking them to vote No on vouchers. I heard back from Sheryl Allen within a day or two. She encouraged me to email Paul Neuenschwander, which I found amusing (she voted no, he voted yes).

After the voucher bill passed, I heard back from Paul (we've had quite the email conversation lately, so I can call him by his first name). Here's what he had to say:

Thank you for writing. You likely know by now that the bill passed and I voted in favor of it. Let me give you my reasoning. As I examined the matter and stripped out the emotions, my decision came down to a pure business decision. We have 150,000 students coming in the next 10 years and that is on top of the 550,000 students we
currently have. We need to fund the students in some way or another. I found this to be a partial answer of that funding. If I can move a student out of the system in which the tax payer has a $8,000 burden for only $2000 (the amount the fiscal analyst thinks will be the average) that makes sense for me. We can save many thousands each student by building this private/public partnership. The fiscal analyst also thinks not more than 4000 leave the system. Even at 4000, if we save $5000 per student, that would amount to about $20,000,000 in savings. This would be good for the system. I hope that helps you understand where I am coming from. I know it will not satisfy everyone, but I did receive numerous emails from other constituents that wanted me to vote for them. Thanks for writing and please feel free to keep me informed of your opinion. I will be happy to share my thinking process. Paul

I emailed him back:

Thank you for your reply.

I am disappointed in the way you voted. Tax money should not be spent to support private, for-profit businesses. In business, the higher the demand, the higher the cost. With more children able (although I have serious doubts as to how many children this bill will actually "help") to attend private schools, the cost of private schools will increase. Supply and demand. Pure business.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

I was surprised when I got another email from him...

Thank you. We have numerous public/private partnerships. Most of the health delivery system is provided by companies in the private sector. They can provide the services to those who need them better than the state can do it. It is the second largest budget item. Historically only tax money has been used to fund public schools. With this public/private cooperation, we are hoping that some of the services (in this case education) can be provided less expensively than just funding the public schools. It will certainly relieve the situation. It is not the only answer and in fact the fiscal analyst said only 4000 students will take advantage of it. Given our current enrollment that is less than 1%. But, if we had to finance them in the system it would be upwards of $28 million. With this partnership it is about $8 million. No matter where we have them, we have to pay for them. I for one want to make sure we do all we can to help educate our kids in the best possible way and I think this partnership is one step. Paul

And my final email back to him (you never know though, he might email me back again- if he does I'll edit this post to include it)...

Paul,
Like I said, it will be interesting to see what happens. I truly hope that vouchers are able to help the education system. I have my doubts, but we will see.

I do find it rather amusing that you use health care as an example of sucessful private/public partnerships. Our health care system is probably more messed up than our education system.

Thank you for the discussion. :)

He has voted completely opposite of what I would have liked for him to vote. I realize that my views are more moderate than many of the conservative voters of Davis County, so I can't expect to always feel represented, but his voting record has been frustrating for me. It's nice to have civil discussion with him about an issue, even if we disagree. It helps me to remember that he really probably is a very good person. It's been interesting.

What Number Do I Call For This?

I'm not sure what the outcome was, or if there has been one yet, but it seems like someone was proposing a bill to allow anonymous reporting of bad driving. I really could have used that number the other day. My family was driving home from visiting with Grandma and Grandpa on a Sunday evening. The car ahead of us was veering in and out of three different lanes, obviously not just intending on changing lanes. The driver wasn't speeding, and my Mr. made the comment that the person must be aware enough to know they were drunk. It would have been nice if there was some number I could have called to report that driver and have a UHP officer get them off of the road.

Along the same lines, I think it would be nice to have an anonymous tip line that we could call and report idiotic legislation. Then if one legislator gets enough complaints, we could have them removed for being incompetent.

Are We Ready to Face Facts?

No one is asking for radical changes, but if we don't stop pretending that what we do doesn't matter, they might be forced upon us (or our children).

PARIS (AP) - The world's leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is "very likely" caused by man, and will be unstoppable for centuries, according to a report obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
The scientists - using their strongest language yet on the issue - said now that world has begun to warm, hotter temperatures and rises in sea level "would continue for centuries" no matter how much humans control their pollution. The report also linked the warming to the recent increase in stronger hurricanes.

"The observed widespread warming of the atmosphere and ocean, together with ice-mass loss, support the conclusion that it is extremely unlikely that global climate change of the past 50 years can be explained without external forcing, and very likely that is not due to known natural causes alone," said the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - a group of hundreds of scientists and representatives of 113 governments.
The phrase "very likely" translates to a more than 90 percent certainty that global warming is caused by man's burning of fossil fuels. That was the strongest conclusion to date, making it nearly impossible to say natural forces are to blame.

What that means in simple language is "we have this nailed," said top U.S. climate scientist Jerry Mahlman, who originated the percentage system. The 20-page report, which was due to be officially released later in the day, represents the most authoritative science on global warming.

On sea levels, the report projects rises of 7-23 inches by the end of the century. An additional 3.9-7.8 inches are possible if recent, surprising melting of polar ice sheets continues. But there is some cold comfort. Some, but not all, of the projected temperature and sea level rises are slightly lower than projected in a previous report in 2001. That is mostly due to use of more likely scenarios and would still result in dramatic effects across the globe, scientists said. Many scientists had warned that this estimate was too cautious and said sea level rise could be closer to 3-5 feet because of ice sheet melt.
Nevertheless, scientists agreed the report is strong.

"There's no question that the powerful language is intimately linked to the more powerful science," said one of the study's many co-authors, Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria, who spoke by phone from Canada. He said the report was based on science that is rock-solid, peer-reviewed, and consensus.

"It's very conservative. Scientists by their nature are skeptics." The scientists wrote the report based on years of peer-reviewed research and government officials edited it with an eye toward the required unanimous approval by world governments. In the end, there was little debate on the strength of the wording about the role of man in global warming.
The panel quickly agreed Thursday on two of the most contentious issues: attributing global warming to man-made burning of fossil fuels and connecting it to a recent increase in stronger hurricanes. Negotiations over a third and more difficult issue - how much the sea level is predicted to rise by 2100 - went into the night Thursday with a deadline approaching for the report.

While critics call the panel overly alarmist, it is by nature relatively cautious because it relies on hundreds of scientists, including skeptics. "I hope that policymakers will be quite convinced by this message," said Riibeta Abeta, a delegate whose island nation Kiribati is threatened by rising seas. "The purpose is to get them moving."

The Chinese delegation was resistant to strong wording on global warming, said Barbados delegate Leonard Fields and others. China has increasingly turned to fossil fuels for its huge and growing energy needs. The U.S. government delegation was not one of the more vocal groups in the debate over whether warming is man-made, said officials from other countries. And several attendees credited the head of the panel session, Susan Solomon, a top U.S. government climate scientist, with pushing through the agreement so quickly.

The Bush administration acknowledges that global warming is man-made and a problem that must be dealt with, Bush science adviser John Marburger has said. However, Bush continues to reject mandatory limits on so-called "greenhouse" gases.

Enough is Enough

Representative Glenn Donnelson is at it again. Now he wants to make local police officers play the part of ICE too. Now, instead of just trying to keep up with KEEPING US SAFE FROM REAL CRIMINALS, local police officers will also have to take on the role of immigration officers.

People live here with out documentation. They are part of our communities, their kids go to school with our kids, they go for walks around the block pushing strollers, just like I do. They are witnesses to other crimes, just like the rest of us could be. Do we really want them to NOT report crimes because the local police could have them locked up and deported?

Sounds like a grand idea Mr. Donnelson.

I am so tired and frustrated with people who spend so much time and energy attacking people, when they should be attacking the real problem. The immigration system in our country has some major problems. If we could get it fixed, we wouldn't have to worry about paying for emergency room care for undocumented workers or their families, we wouldn't have to worry about whether it is "legal" for undocumented students to get instate tuition, and we wouldn't have to worry about "those darn illegals" stealing our identities.

We all need to contact our representatives and our senators and our congressmen and tell them to stop dinking around with immigration bandaids when they should be curing the illness.

Too Much Time on My Hands, or Diversionary Tactics...

This is what the boys ate for lunch today. I wasn't sure if they'd eat the cold whole wheat pasta, but since there was ranch dressing to dip it in, I shouldn't have worried. There was also a side of slightly-runny-home-made-yogurt (with berries in it). If I use real milk, it turns out pretty well, a little runnier than store-bought, but spoon-able. If I use powdered milk it's pretty runny, which is fine, I just have to remember to serve it in a cup.

The boys love eating things that can be shaped into faces or flowers or whatever. I think it must be similar to the satisfaction of biting the heads off of animal crackers.

After I got the lunches assembled (mostly from left-overs out of the fridge) I thought to myself, wow, you have too much time on your hands. It's not really true, I realized, it's just that all of the things that I should be doing are not what I want to be doing, so I find ways to postpone them.

My lunch was also left-overs, but not in the shape of a face, in case you were wondering.

In-State Tuition

There was a nice editorial in the Trib yesterday. The author of this editorial says that Rep. Glenn Donnelsen who is sponsoring HB224 (to prohibit undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition) has misinterpreted the federal law. Reading the federal law, I can see how it might be misinterpreted.

US Code, Title 8, Chapter 14, Subchapter II, Section 1623a says:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not
lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the
basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for
any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of
the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an
amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen
or national is such a resident.

It's confusing, and from what it looks like to me, Donnelson might just be right (as far as following bad law goes). It looks like unless a citizen of the US can get in-state tuition regardless of residency, an undocumented student can't. But non-resident citizens CAN get in-state tuition after meeting some other requirements (one of which is residency for a certain period) which an undocumented student who has lived here and graduated from a local high school has already met, so then it would seem that an undocumented student should be eligible for in-state tuition.

I guess after reading the actual law, I would have to support Donnelson's bill IF he left out the part where undocumented students can't ever get in state tuition, because that is not what the law says. Leaving out that part makes the whole bill a big waste of time. It would be passing a bill that changes nothing. I'm glad they're making good use of their time up on the hill.

Who's Responsible?

My son wants a bird. A parrot specifically, so that he can teach it to talk. He also asked recently when he would stop being a kid and become a grown-up. You might wonder what these two things have in common... After he asked when he'd be a grown-up, I told him that there wasn't a set age at which someone becomes a grown-up. He then asked, "are some people kids forever?".

In some ways, yes.

It all comes down to one word. Responsibility.

One of the requirements for my son to prove he is responsible enough to help take care of a bird (which will NOT be a parrot) is to keep his toys picked up without whining. It's an important lesson to learn, to take care of the things you have and not expect someone else to come along and clean up the messes you make in your life. Be responsible for yourself and for the "things" in your life.

Responsibility is a big issue to me, and I could go on, but I'll save it for future posts.

Not so Inconvenient...

I finally saw Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth yesterday. I'll admit that I was not looking forward to it. A movie with Al Gore doing all the talking? What could be more boring!

I was pleasantly surprised. It was really well done. According to my father's science-community friends, it is pretty accurate too. There is some question as to whether warmer ocean temperatures increase the strength of hurricanes, but otherwise, the science is there and backs up everything in the movie.

I've seen and heard people argue passionately about whether global warming exists. My first thought is that whether global warming exists or not, there is nothing wrong with conserving resources. If it doesn't exist, you've saved yourself some money by using more efficient light bulbs, walking or using mass transit (or carpooling), and insulating your house. If it does exist, you've saved yourself some money, and done a small part to help keep our planet healthy. It's way too easy to blow off the idea of recycling or doing anything else that might seem "crazy, liberal, hippie, sierra club"-ish. I believe that we were created by a loving Heavenly Father, and that he placed us on earth and asked us to be good stewards to the things we have, so why do we go around driving SUV's when no one else is in the car? Why do we need to fill two huge cans with garbage every week? Why do we waste so much, and then make fun of people who are trying to be good stewards?

Between this movie and the current inversion we are suffering through, I'm really interested in learning more about what I can do. I hate that I can't let my kids play outside because the air is so disgusting. I don't even want to walk to pick up my son from school because I don't want to be outside any longer than I have to. We all have sore, tired eyes. We all feel a little more congested than normal. I blame the air.

Back to the movie, the title is interesting to me, because no one is asking anything terribly inconvenient of anyone. No one is suggesting we go live in a tree somewhere. The suggestions for improving carbon dioxide emissions are mostly small things that any of us can do without much trouble.

This website has the following list of suggestions, for more information on each suggestion and links go to the website.

What can I do?
Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)
Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer
Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner
Install a programmable thermostat
Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases
Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket
Use less hot water
Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible
Turn off electronic devices you’re not using
Unplug electronics from the wall when you’re not using them
Only run your dishwasher when there’s a full load and use the energy-saving setting
Insulate and weatherize your home
Be sure you’re recycling at home
Buy recycled paper products
Plant a tree
Get a home energy audit
Switch to green power
Buy locally grown and produced foods
Buy fresh foods instead of frozen
Seek out and support local farmers markets
Buy organic foods as much as possible
Avoid heavily packaged products
Eat less meat
Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible
Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates
Keep your car tuned up
Check your tires weekly to make sure they’re properly inflated
When it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle
Try telecommuting from home

Many of these things are things that my family is already doing, and most of them are things that are also money savers.

Save some money, take care of the earth, help improve air quality.

Someday, if my Mr. and I ever get to build a house, we'd like to include a solar panel, so I've been reading about solar panels and discovered that Rocky Mountain Power has a net metering system, where any power you create off the grid, is used first, reducing demand during peak usage times, and reducing your power bill. Any power you generate that you don't use is sold back to the power company. It's a good deal for everyone! Solar panels are not cheap, so it will have to wait until it can be bundled into the cost of building a new home.

In the meantime, I've signed up for one block of wind generated power from Rocky Mountain Power. The more demand for renewable power, the less it will cost. One block is equal to 100 kwh and adds $1.95 to your monthly power bill. I'll increase the amount we are purchasing in the future to cover all our power usage, but it's a start. You can find out more at theRocky Mountain Power website.

Growing Up

My Mister (who is wonderful) has been having discussions with his brothers about upcoming vacations. In their family, (off road) motorcycle riding is a big deal, and most (if not all) of the camping trips revolve around "rides".

The youngest of the brothers, who is married with a fairly new baby, made the following comment in an email: Let's talk about who this vacation is for. It is a vacation for our family to disrupt the blidge of daily living. I go to school from 7:45 am till about 5 pm everyday. I work twenty hours a week. Every other time I have avaliable is spent with my family. I love to play with my little girl and talk to my wife and be with her. I see them everyday!!! Is that bad? Do I love to see them everyday? Of course I do, but the point of the vacation is to have a break from that daily routine. Why in the world would I go [on vacation] to do the exact the same thing I do at home. I want to ride my motorcycle and go to the river and swim and have fun around the campfire.

My Mister LOVES to go riding with his brothers. I think that there are very few things which rate above that particular activity, but after reading that email from his brother, he was a little irritated. Little brother needs to grow up. Fun with brothers is great, and I try to encourage appropriate amounts of that sort of activity, but not at the expense of my sanity or my children's time with their dad.

I'm not all that old (although sometimes I feel otherwise), but I can see over the last 10 years or so what "growing up" means. I appreciate my parents even more for all the sacrifices they made for me. As a child, the world revolves around you and what you want (or what you don't get). As you get older, you realize that you have to sacrifice your own wants in order to fulfill your responsibilities.

We can't live "college life" forever, no matter how hard we want to hold on to that time in our life. I loved college. There was always something going on, something to "do", and everything was about having fun with relatively few responsibilities (that's leaving out the actual school, homework, and job part, but I managed to fit those in and still have plenty of fun). I have a friend who didn't get married as early as I did. She is now done with her MSW and is working on getting her LCSW certification. I'm envious. Part of me would like to be there, but that's something I sacrificed because I wanted other things in my life. There will be a time for those things later.

Little brother is obviously still in the egocentrism part of his development. We all go through it. Some people just have a harder time moving on than others. For his wife's sanity, I hope he figures it out soon. Family vacations are not so much fun if the "men" go off and leave the wives at camp to tend the children.

Sometimes you just have to grow up (and you just might find that being a grown up has it's very own set of perks and amusements).

A Commentary on School Vouchers

This was in today's deseret morning news....

Proponents of private school vouchers have seized the rhetorical high ground, using terms like "equal opportunity" and "parental choice" to justify their efforts. The Deseret Morning News has apparently been dazzled by this doublespeak.
Let us set the record straight.
Salt Lake City School District supports both universal excellence and public school choice. We offer a variety of programs, philosophies, and instructional strategies. Twenty-five percent of our students exercise meaningful choice, enrolling in schools outside their residence area. We are proud of our ability to use data to drive instruction, our menu of effective interventions, and the pathways we have built for advanced learners.
Our committed public educators have much in common with talented teachers in private schools. We do not blame parents who think vouchers may help them do what is best for their children. On the contrary, we hope they'll stay with us, work with us, to find the solutions they desire. Nevertheless, we challenge those who have already abandoned public education to think about the harm vouchers will do.
Vouchers let Utah legislators off the hook. They do nothing to address underfunding of public school programs. They will not reduce class size, train teachers, develop innovative curricula, rebuild unsafe facilities or pay rising transportation costs. Powerful legislators say, "More money is not the whole solution." We agree. However, less money is no solution at all. Vouchers mean fewer dollars for public schools in a state that already ranks dead last in per-pupil funding.
Vouchers deepen social divides and leave taxpayers without a voice. Even "means-tested" vouchers cannot provide equal access. Transportation and tuition costs will continue to discriminate, further dividing our community. Private schools choose the children they serve, and they tend not to serve children with special needs. Who will ensure that students on vouchers will not be counseled out of their private schools because they prove difficult to teach or discipline? Private schools typically do not meet accountability standards required of public schools, and taxpayers would have little say in how voucher dollars might be used.
Vouchers do not prevent "double taxation." All families pay education taxes only once. Tuition is a voluntary payment to a private institution. People who hire private security firms do not get vouchers from police departments. Private school tuition is not a tax in any sense of the word.
Vouchers compromise the separation of church and state and violate the Utah State Constitution. Respect for religious diversity has never been more important than it is today. We must shore up the 200-year-old constitutional protections for our rights of conscience. By opening the door for public money to flow to religious institutions, in direct violation of Utah's constitution (Articles I and X), vouchers chip away at those safeguards.
Make no mistake. Vouchers are weapons employed in a strategic attack on our public institutions. The voucher movement betrays the public good by encouraging narrow-minded self-interest and a willingness to turn away from our responsibilities to each other. The goal is to funnel government support toward private and corporate gain and to de-emphasize government's social stewardship.
Voucher proponents do not care for the students who will suffer as a result of their plans. We hope our representatives will care and will refuse to give up on the civic mission of public education.
Heather Bennett, Doug Nelson, Kristi Swett, Cliff Higbee, Mark Maxfield, Alama Uluave and Laurel Young are members of the Salt Lake City Board of Education.

Honeycombs

I haven't bought honeycombs for awhile, although it's one of our "favorite" breakfast cereals. It goes on sale fairly often, so the other day, I bought a couple of boxes.

Something has changed.... From internet searches, it appears that Post has changed the ingredients a bit, upping the fiber content. Normally I'd say that's a good thing, but the texture is now reminiscent of styrofoam pellets. I'm very disappointed.

I'm going to have to start buying the fake brand. Hopefully they are not as concerned about fiber content.

Ethics Reform

Here's a quote from a Deseret Morning News article about Governor Huntsman's State of the State speech. (emphasis added by me)

The biggest surprise in the speech that came on the second day of the 2007 Legislature was the ethics reform package, which includes a gift ban as well as a two-year "cooling-off" period for executive branch employees who want to lobby after leaving government. "It's an idealistic experiment," Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said of the reforms, which the governor said he would implement quickly through an executive order. "We've got to see how it works. ... There are a lot of unanswered questions."
Both Valentine and House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said they saw no need for the reforms and questioned whether they'd be able to talk to former lawmakers who have joined the administration, including Jeff Alexander, a former member of House leadership. Lawmakers have long been reluctant to pass ethics reforms, even for the executive branch. Curtis said Huntsman was no doubt attempting to pressure lawmakers to enact their own reforms. "That's the role of the governor. Absolutely," the speaker said.
House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, said he hoped lawmakers would feel obligated to take action but wasn't holding his breath

I have never thought much about Governor Huntsman. I always kind of viewed him as buying (through money or his name, take your pick) the position, but I have been impressed with some of his goals recently. Funding education, doing more than just throwing money into the prison system as a way of dealing with meth addiction... I also liked what he had to say about ethics reform.

I find it interesting that the senate president and the house speaker both think the reforms are not needed. It seems to me, if reforms aren't needed, then they aren't going to negatively affect anyone, but they would make the general public feel warm and fuzzy, so they would be a good move politically. If Valentine and Curtis don't see that, then maybe they're trying to avoid ethics reform for other reasons...

Building Forts

A few days ago during lunch, my Mr. told our kids all about the forts that he and his brothers built when they were kids. The 5-year-old's eyes, especially, got bigger and bigger.... Here are the boys with the flag that the 5-year-old designed. He spelled the words "Stop" and "No" all by himself, but had to ask for help when he wanted to write "Please Knock" on the back side of the flag. I believe the main pictures on the flag are of skulls and cross bones.
The kids often make little forts out of their small blankets and couch cushions, but with their dad's help, they had a fort that filled the whole family room. I think they are planning on doing it again (and sleeping in the fort) when the baby is born.

New Posts

In the past, to post photos, I have used Photobucket to post pictures on my blog. For the past several months, photobucket has not been working- I can't upload any pictures to it, so my blogging has kind of slowed down.

Today, thanks to my sister's Mister, I signed up for a Flickr account and am now able to post pictures again.

That's why there's a rush of posts today- I'm catching up.

Better than eating out...

One of my new-year's resolutions was to plan ahead better for meals. The first week, was really good (we ended up with way too many left-overs though). Since then I have not done as well, although I think it is too much to expect to have perfectly planned meals every night. Sometimes you just have to have pancakes or chipped beef gravy on toast.

I was in the mood for mexican food, but our dining-out budget was used up, so I decided to make enchiladas one night. I planned ahead, and when the Mr. was grilling up some chicken for another well-planned meal (chicken broccoli alfredo), I had him grill some extra chicken. I chopped it up and put it in the freezer. On the day I wanted to make enchiladas, I took it out to defrost.



The enchiladas are made with chicken, olives, sour cream and enchilada sauce from a can. The filling is rolled into corn tortillas, then smothered in more enchilada sauce. On the side, I made spanish rice (in rice cooker, add a little tomato sauce, garlic, and chili powder to water- mix well, add rice and turn on), refried beans (we bought a bunch of dehydrated refried beans for our food storage, and they are actually pretty good), and topped everything off with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, olives and a dab of sour cream (oh, and shredded cheese of course). The Mr. had to take a picture of it, he thought it looked so nice.

Usually I just let people serve themselves, but this meal needed to be served plated. The kids were not huge fans of the meal, I think the enchilada sauce was a little too spicey.