knitta, please

Eric and I have been following a few theories for a while. Peak oil, which is mainly the idea that the majority of the world's oil supply has already been spent and we are at the beginning of a swift decline in supply. The housing bubble, which has been covered a bit in the news as the subprime mortage problem. The subprime thing is just the tip of the iceberg though as the news coverage doesn't even touch on what's to come as ARM loans reset, millions of people that bought homes beyond their means default, and banks that sold these loans all over the world falter. And the dollar dropping in value as the fed lowers interest rates to try and stave off a crisis. And we've also been watching the general problem of affluenza grow and grow.
Here are some sites to look at.

peak oil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil
the housing bubble
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_bubble and here http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/
and affluenza
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluenza

If you're not familiar with these ideas it might be a good time to read up on it all. Watching the news lately it's hard not to feel like all these things are coming together to form a kind of perfect storm, financially speaking.

It's hard to know what you can do as an individual to change the flow of things or to even go against the tide. This year, besides going minimalist, we're going to try and do Xmas without buying anything from China. Since it's so hard to find things made in the US we might try and make our gifts this year. I, for one, have taught myself to knit. I'm sure all my friends and loved ones will really appreciate a hand made scarf.Now, I don't know how they're all going to manage to share it over the long distances, but that's not my problem. It's the thought that counts and my thoughts are worth more than the American dollar right now.

Despite the gloom and doom of what I see on the financial horizon, I'm actually in a pretty festive spirit. This song and the 5 cd box set I got from Sufjan has a lot to do with it. It's like a candy cane for my ears, but way less painful than that actually sounds.

Proof

While we were down in Macon hanging out at big Dave's house a firetruck pulled up outside. It seems that the firefighters knew the homeowner across the street and stopped by to see how his repairs were coming along. I brought Felix outside to see it. Audrey tried to bring him farther down the drive to see better but he just shook his head and went back into the garage. She walked away muttering that she'd never seen a kid less interested in firetrucks. Meanwhile Felix had gotten the box of chalk from the garage and commenced to plop down on the drive and to draw the firetruck.

You have to understand that I have been a pretty good sport about the fact that my kids look nothing like me. I can't begrudge Eric's strong genes, but this spontaneous fit of art from my boy felt like a clap of thunder and it was all I could do not to jump around hollering "You see that? He is mine!"

Afterwards the truck had driven away Felix wanted my help finishing the picture and I told him that I thought it was great and didn't need a thing. He answered that he hadn't had time to draw the circle with the bird inside it or the line along the side -things that I hadn't even noticed. He was describing the town seal. I can't describe how excited I am to realize how visually oriented he is.

Oh, and he's also learning to read -which I have to say is one of my favorite parts of parenting, watching and helping while a whole new world opens up to them. Happy happy.

Back above the kudzu line

After a quickly planned trip down to Macon GA to visit Eric's dad and Aunt Audrey we're back. It had seemed like it was the only available break in Eric's schedule before launch that he would be able to see his dad. So of course, while we were down there he got the call that his launch has been delayed and is now set for February. As happy as I am to know that we'll have Eric here for the holidays I really wish this schedule would stay put for a bit as it's a little hard to plan a life around.

We got back the evening before Halloween. So most of the following day was spent pulling together the bits and pieces for Emer's costume. She had wanted to be Padme from Star Wars, but that's a bit tricky. Instead she was Ginny, from Harry Potter. For anyone that knows her this makes perfect sense, since she loves Harry. She especially loved the fun of being a red head temporarily. Since we got home late from trick or treating and there was not time for baths, she was able to go to school today with some of the red still in her hair. To pretend she is still Ginny she wore fairly mismatched clothes today in her impersonation of a wizard ackwardly trying to fit in with muggle clothing. With her bright pink sweatpants, striped blue shirt and orange hoodie and the still red hair, she was a sight.

Tully was a monster bear. To the casual observer she may just look like your average bear, but as with all things Tully, don't let the sweet appearance fool you.

Felix was an alien skeleton. Alien, because he knows that human bones don't glow in the dark. If they did graveyards would be brighter more cheerful places.




Speaking of the holiday. One of Emer's friend's at school told her that you shouldn't eat candy on Halloween because it's the Devil's birthday. I briefly explained how different folks believe different stuff and it's important to respect other people's beliefs. But I love this idea, so many details to ponder. Does the party hat fit with the horns? Does he pop all the balloon decorations as he sweeps through the room? How old is he? Did his mom bake the cake or pick it up on her way home from work at Halburton?