My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Florida Woman, 90, Behind the Same Wheel 559,000 Miles Later - Auto - FOXNews.com

Florida Woman, 90, Behind the Same Wheel 559,000 Miles Later - Auto - FOXNews.com

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Entitlement

Someday when I'm feeling creative (and not insane...) I'll take the time to write my own thoughts on the subject(s) of doing without and entitlement - which I think are huge issues in our society.

However, I ran across and oldie-but-a-goody post from Owlhaven on the topic and she says it very well. :) So, I'll cheat and share her wise words instead:

One of the reasons we decided to do the 30 Days of Nothing is simple: bills. Our daughter’s health issues this summer used our medical savings plan faster than we’d anticipated, and I’m eager to get things paid off. We don’t have much debt, and I get uncomfortable when the bills stack deeper than usual. But there’s a deeper reason to take this journey, one I haven’t talked a lot about this year. It has to do with the concept of entitlement.

Currently I’m sitting in a coffee shop with a Mexican mocha steaming in a cup in front of me. Once a week I take a writing day, and this is just what I do: head off to a coffee shop, and plow through some writing assignments undisturbed. Thinking of next week, I’m not sure what I’ll do on my writing day. Part of me thinks, oh, it’s $3. Let’s call that an essential. I’m entitled after rassling a zillion kids all week long.

But that sense of entitlement is a tricky thing.

I’m entitled to a cup of coffee, even though I can make something just as good at home. I deserve a new blouse, even though my closet is bulging. I earned the money (or at least the stellar credit rating) to buy a new car- never mind that my 10 year old paid-for rig is still chugging along. And the chipped-up vinyl floor in my kitchen– no one’s floor should look like that– we really should do something about that. Or so the thoughts go in my mind.

Meanwhile, the coffee farmer who grew my posh coffee can barely feed his family. My closet could clothe half a village, and the clothes I just discarded from my little girls’ room could clothe the other half. My 1998 Ford Econoline would make most people in this world feel as rich as a sultan (though, granted, the gas would bankrupt them). And kitchen floors in homes all over the world are just dirt.

How much am I really entitled to? And if I didn’t have such a large sense of entitlement, what could just a bit of my excess accomplish for someone else? Tough questions. Questions we’ll be thinking about this month.

And we wonder why our kids don't play outside?

Where Does Your State Rank

Very interesting.

Sad, not shocking, but interesting.

It is no secret that Michigan has been kicking the unemployment rate statistics (and I don't mean that in a good way...) but I thought this map showing unemployment, state budget deficient and foreclosures was interesting. The deficient (although terrible) was slightly less bad than I expected given the recent climate. And I was very surprised foreclosures weren't higher. I hope that bodes well for the real estate market here ... someday....

My Baby Boy is FIVE (5) -- (loooong overdue)

So, you think with all the excitement these past few weeks, I would be a blogging machine. Eh, not so much. Apparently I enjoy blogging much better when I have no real topics to write about? ha.

But getting to the point. Last Sunday (yes, over a week ago), my little boy turned five years old. Five. Can you believe it? He is SO not the same little guy that joined our family a year and a half ago...

We spent the weekend camping with other families that had adopted from Ethiopia (our 2nd annual - we went last year too). So that was pretty fun in itself (and yes, post-worthy, but I'm behind you know). Very fun weekend that tired us all out. So Sunday was a little anti-climatic unfortunately. But Abi was a trooper and enjoyed himself. It was pretty low-key, a few friends came over for dinner and brownies/ice cream. The weather was beautiful. It was lovely.

Since I'm really feeling the blog-block these days, I'm going to steal an idea from Erinand use as-many-words-to-describe-as-their-age. So, since Abi is 5, here are 5 words to describe my little guy:

adorable, sweet, stubborn, charming, well-liked.