Results tagged “economy” from Momtourage: Blogger Knows Best

  With the economy being so...for lack of a better word....slow....and airfares being at an all time low, I packed up our daughter and took her to England for a real summer vacation.  Well, it wasn't actually what we'd define as 'summer' over there but at least school was out of session.  We did some sightseeing in London and then headed southwest to spend time with family in Cornwall.  Cornwall is farm country and Lily, being born and raised in Brooklyn, was thrilled to see sheep, cows and horses on a regular basis.  When I informed her that her cousin owned ponies she replied, "Real ones?!"  Here are some photos from our trip.  By the way, those other blonde children in the photo with the lambs are her cousins.  I know, it was like the aryan children ver playing dahlink (imagine bad German accent).  And don't worry, that cow in this photo was a fake.  They only teach milking on fake cows as the real ones are waaaay too dangerous....and stinky.

Yes, THAT The Artist's Way. You know the one. I did a group Artist's Way workshop almost a year ago now and it still resonates with me. However, once the structure of weekly meetings and reading assignments went away, so did my dedicated practice to the work Julia Cameron sets forth.

Remember when the movie Mr. Mom played the whole idea of being a stay-at-home dad for laughs? Times, apparently, have changed--and thank goodness. The stereotype that men are somehow unable to take care of children--that their days will be inevitably filled with crisis and exploding pans of pasta--is hopefully dying, and with good reason. There are suddenly a lot more stay at home dads out there.

Maybe your husband is, for all intents and purposes, out of work. Maybe he's been the major breadwinner in your home for the last 13 years while you've put your career on the back burner to raise the children. Maybe your marriage is structured this way and maybe it works like a steady farm horse.

But maybe, suddenly, in the scheme of things, you've got a sullen stranger on your hands with a crazy-man's beard, wandering the house in his college sweatpants. And you really don't have the heart to tell him that they don't fit anymore. (Remember what Seinfeld said about sweatpants? That's when you know you've given up.) Dare I say, he had.

I had the surgical procedures (on May 22nd) to correct all the fertility problems associated with Endometriosis.  It's almost two weeks since I had the surgery and I'm still sore.  I was assured I'd heal quickly but I think Lily being home sick from school all last week didn't help.  It's hard to heal when you're cleaning up vomit....every 2 hours.  I went for my follow-up exam yesterday and was quite surprised to hear what my doctor advised.......

As you may or may not know, my husband is no longer gainfully employed in the financial world....and I'm sure will never be again....at least at the level he was.  A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece here about it and I have been talking about it onstage.  I've been talking about his desire to go back to school to become a nurse (and when I say his desire I mean my desire for him) - to have a recession proof job.  Well, a news producer with ABC heard me talk about it onstage and caught the article that was done on us in the Financial Times, and they filmed a segment on us that will most likely air this Monday, May 4th, on World News with Charles Gibson between 6:30 - 7:00pm.  We were interviewed by Dan Harris.  Please tune in!  If for some reason it doesn't air Monday most likely it will air Tuesday, May 5th, same time same bat channel.  Have a great weekend!

At least three days a week after school at the playground, we buy Lily (and at least 2 of her friends) popsicles from the ice cream truck.  They're pretty cheap - only $3.00 a day for 4 small popsicles.  However, since my husband was laid off....again....I've been taking a hard look at our finances.  Fortunately, I've been busier than ever however, we need to be more careful with money.  We still have $3 for popsicles but should we be spending $9 a week on popsicles from the truck when they're cheaper to buy from the supermarket? I don't think so. 

Sorry I've been out of touch but we've had bad news around here lately:  my husband's company had another round of lay offs and he was included.  It was the fourth round of lay offs since they started having them back in January of 08 (hello churning stomach acid and explosive diahrea).  He managed to cling to his job for a very long time for which I'm very proud of him......it appears that the same stalker qualities he exhibited when meeting me came in handy around the office.  However, it appears the financial industry he worked in for many years is just disintegrating.  So now it's time for more change.........

Despite the economy or perhaps because of it, I'm on a quest to have Lily visit with her oldest relatives this year.  Not that we're looking to have her grandfathered into any wills, we're just happy to see her with grandmothers and great grandmothers on both sides.  No great grandfathers left I'm afraid.  The men in our family usually die early....because they can.  This photo of four generations of my husband's family was taken last week in Florida.  That's my husband's grandmother on the right and she's almost 94! 

You know, it isn't only the fat cats on Wall Street who have become synonymous with greed and excess these days.....self-important celebrities are right up there too with the overpaid and undeserving.  Today, I learned that Oprah just penned a deal with XM Satellite Radio for $55 Million.  

If you need a laugh this weekend, a time out from all the bad news about the economy, join my friends Nancy Witter and Karen Morgan and I for our own laughter stimulus package, Mama's Night Out, in Pennsylvania:

March 6, 2009
8:00 PM
Majestic Theatre
Gettysburg, PA

March 7, 2009
Sellersville Theater
Sellersville, PA

 "Obama said he hopes the terrorists don't follow us home, but if they do, and they want to bring down a building, the CitiCorp Center is at Lexington and 53rd." --Bill Maher

I have always tried to shield my child and other children from bad news or tragedy....which both apply to this economy.  However, there are some invaluable lessons to be learned from the current global financial crisis.  My in-laws, frugal as they are (admittedly sometimes embarrassingly so), grew up in the post-depression era Midwest.  Consequently, they really know how to squeeze a penny and have never lived beyond their means.  They, like my Hungarian refugee father, live by the mantra, "If I don't have the cash I can't afford it."  Very wise words indeed. 

I have to say, the phrase necessity is the mother of invention is very true....now more than ever.  Years ago, when my husband was unemployed and I could no longer go on the road for weeks doing comedy, my mom comedian friends (Karen Morgan and Nancy Witter) and I put together our mommy-centric theatrical comedy experience Mama's Night Out.  Three years later, I'm thrilled to report Mama's are selling out theatres all over the country.  We saw a niche and came up with a product to fill it.  We had to.  We're not bragging.  There were simply no producers out there willing to take on three non-famous, over forty-something (two of us overweight too) moms.  So we produced ourselves, got a manager, eventually an agent and years later here we are. 

When Lily was a tiny baby, my husband and I joined the organic food revolution.  We started shopping at Whole Foods and went out of our way to find local farmers' markets.  Every time we'd pass a McDonalds we'd shudder and say, "The horror, the horror."  However, with our current household budget shrinking, I've had to make cuts (many) where I can and sadly, organic food is one of them.  We can always go back to our healthier, more expensive, nutritional lifestyle when things improve but for now, we'll just have to stomach preservatives, fill-ins and chemicals.  Which all makes me sad because contrary to what you might think, I don't believe organic food makes us live longer it just makes the time we have here healthier.  In a strange twist of fate, I believe it's all those preservatives that actually make people live longer and at the rate things are going - global warming, potable water shortages - I don't know if I want to be around for all that.  I hadn't planned on it.  However, I had to remind my husband last night that we should just be thankful we have food in the fridge to even debate over (and now we at least have a little extra for the beer we need to help us forget).  What cuts have you had to make in your budget?  Please share, you'll feel better about it.

by Kris

Last year, way before I knew what truly horrible shape the economy was in, I started bypassing the type of exchange that centers on cold hard cash and began bartering for a couple of things. What skills do I have to trade, you may wonder (and I did too). Well, they're pretty darn basic - knitting and cooking - but they are standing me in good stead thus far. In fact, I am proud to say that I am now bartering for the following things:

Considering our bleak economy (or at least that's what the media war drum keeps beating), the war and all the job losses this past year, I made it very clear to many of our friends that we are no longer exchanging gifts for Christmas & Hanuhkah.  I explained that not only were we doing it for monetary reasons but to reduce stress levels (mine, as I do ALL the shopping) and to emphasize "less is more" for our children (or at least my child).  I explained that we'd much rather spend time with our friends and loved ones this holiday season (and from now on) rather than money.