I Love King Leo!

Today, while I was shopping at CVS, I discovered King Leo Soft Peppermint Sticks. They came in a box containing ~30 sticks, each one worth about 45 calories, and I think I have consumed 10-12 sticks since around 4:00 PM. Make no mistake about it, folks; these are incredibly addictive little treats (and I normally get tired of candy cane-like confections pretty quickly). The next best thing about these? The company has a store in one of my favorite places: Julian, California. If you are ever in southern California, don’t miss it --- the town or the store.

Chicken Soup That’s Tested

Katherine the Great finally came down with the cold that has been circulating through our locale of late. In an effort to keep on top of the nasty respiratory bug, I made some chicken soup for her from a recipe I found online: Grandma’s Recipe from Dr. Stephen Rennard of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. For a PDF copy of the recipe, click here. For the research article, click here. For a video about the tested soup, click below. As of yet, I cannot attest to its effectiveness. I can, however, attest to its flavor: extremely delicious.

DYK? A Tip About Potatoes

One of my recent RealAge mailings had an interesting tip on how to keep more nutrition in your potatoes: boil them whole.

Cubing your potatoes first will slash their potassium content by as much as 50 percent.

Roasting, baking, or microwaving whole potatoes also preserves more iron, zinc, and magnesium. Who knew?

For more information, go to Max Out Your Mashed Potatoes.

Eek!

Last night, just before the evening news at 6:00 PM, my littlest cat rushed over to the wall by the back door with an extremely curious expression on his face. As he listened intently to what was a high-pitched squeaking/scraping sound, my husband and I became interested as well. Within seconds, King Richard was investigating. And what did he find? Yep, you guessed it, none other than a bat! Actually, he found two bats but one of them flew away. The other guy took a hit of wasp killer that my husband sprayed in the hole that the critters had crawled into. Not to worry, though, King Richard cleaned the vermin and made a temporary shelter for him in the garage while he recovered from his ordeal. Eventually, he left for parts unknown.

Herr Fledermaus should consider himself fortunate. If he had encountered the woman of the house first, he may be dead because I am NOT a fan of bats.

Egad!

Yesterday, I received a fund raising letter from the Museum of Science in Boston, MA, the content of which made me do a double take (and not because my forty-seven-year-old eyes are deteriorating). Consider the opening sentence:

A survey by the National Opinion Research Center showed about one in four American adults believe the Sun goes around the Earth.

One in four adults. That’s 25% folks. 25% of American adults do not know enough basic science to understand that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the original survey to check if this same percentage of people were also missing the fact that the Earth rotates on an axis whilst traveling about the Sun. I tried to defend these survey interviewees to myself for a moment, thinking that this statistic was returned by the survey because of how the survey designers asked the question, but the letter continued with this:

The same survey found people who believe that electrons are larger than atoms…that lasers work by focusing sound waves…that antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria…

And people wonder why I homeschool.

Anniversary Gift

As I mentioned in my previous post (How Did I Get Here?), I went shopping for a new clothes dryer yesterday. I had to engage in this exciting activity, on my anniversary of all days, because the dryer that I purchased when my daughter was born (over eighteen years ago) finally “expired.” The post that holds the drum broke in two; definitely not a repairable problem. Hence, my husband and I spent the afternoon shopping for a new appliance.

What did we find? A great deal! The first dryer we saw was on clearance for $399.93. The washer we eventually settled on was also on sale for $284.93. After taxes and a 10% discount on the washer, the total came to $695.76. Not bad considering that I was ready to put close to $2000-$3000 on my credit card for a brand new, steam treatment, silver ion, front-loading washer and a high-speed extraction dryer. Apparently, the Lord knew I needed a price break this year.

Not exactly the activity I would have planned to commemorate 23 years of marriage, and not exactly the gift I would have liked to celebrate such a well-established commitment, but it was appreciated nonetheless. Maybe next year I will go to Colonial Williamsburg and have dinner at Christiana Campbell’s Tavern. Now that’s my idea of a great anniversary gift.

How Did I Get Here?

OK, so much for quoting the Talking Heads (“Once in a Lifetime” from the album Remain in the Light); now, on to the news:

Today is my anniversary. I have been married to the same man for 23 years, a fact that I have trouble wrapping around my brain some days. I don’t have trouble with the idea that I have been committed to him for that long. No, I have trouble with the idea that 23 years have flown by at the speed of light. Wasn’t I just 25 and learning to be a Navy wife? Wasn’t I just 28 and pregnant with our only child? Wasn’t I just 33 and sitting in a surgeon’s office listening to a description of the care plan for my husband who was stricken with thyroid cancer? Outside of the grace of God, I have no idea how I made it this far. It has been quite an adventure, and I am certain it will only get more interesting.

So how did I celebrate? Believe it or not, I did a totally middle-aged thing: I went shopping for a new clothes dryer.

Diocese Choir Concert Program

In case you were wondering what was on tap at the choir concert, here is a partial program. Enjoy!

Mozart
Exsultate Jubilate
Mary Beth Lee, soprano

Telemann
Psalm 117

Purcell
Jubilate Deo
Mary Beth Lee, soprano
Scott Reeves, countertenor
Ed Tyler, baritone

Donations accepted at the door.

How Should We Handle This?

Get a load of this, as reported on Right Michigan. I went to this website to read the source of the story I originally saw on American Thinker:

Prayer had just finished when men and women stood up in pockets across the congregation, on the main floor and in the balcony. "Jesus was gay," they shouted among other profanities and blasphemies as they rushed the stage. Some forced their way through rows of women and kids to try to hang a profane banner from the balcony while others began tossing fliers into the air. Two women made their way to the pulpit and began to kiss.

Their other props? I'll let them tell you in their own words... from another of their liberal blogs:

"(A) video camera, a megaphone, noise makers, condoms, glitter by the bucket load, confetti, pink fabric...yeh."

- snip –

The "open minded" and "tolerant" liberals ran down the aisles and across the pews, hoping against hope to catch a "right winger" on tape daring to push back (none did). And just in case their camera missed the target, they had a reporter in tow. According to a source inside the church yesterday there was a "journalist" from the Lansing City Pulse along for the ride, tipped off about the action and more interested in getting a story than in preventing the vandalism, the violence and anti-Christian hatred being spewed by the lefties.

- snip –

The church's response? After things settled down, the blasphemy ended, the lewd props removed and the families safe from fear of additional men and women running into and past them the pastor took the stage and led the congregation in one more prayer... not for retribution, or divine justice or a celestial comeuppance (that's what I'd have prayed for) but instead that the troubled individuals who'd just defiled the Lord's house, so full of anger and hate, would know Jesus' love in their lives and God's peace that exceeds human understanding.

My daughter had some interesting questions about this:

1) Should the church members turn the other cheek as Jesus instructs us to do?

Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. --- Luke 6:29

2) Should church members defend God’s house as Jesus did?

In the temple courts [Jesus] found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area both sheep and cattle; he shattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” --- John 2:14-16

3) How do church members decide between these two options? Is the sanctuary the tipping point? Is an invasion of the sacred space more serious and deserving of defensive action? Or is any intrusion, even if confined to the church grounds or a classroom, enough to activate a defensive response?

I have never been a fan of “security forces” at a church, but this incident has prompted me to begin re-examining my opinion on the subject. It may be awhile before I reach a sure conclusion. In the meantime, I will keep praying.

Fight the Good Fight

A hymn from today's church service based on this Bible verse:

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. --- 1 Timothy 6:12

Written in 1863, it was composed by John S. B. Monsell (1811-1875).

Fight the Good Fight With All Thy Might

Fight the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy Strength and Christ they Right.
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.

Run the straight race thro' God's good grace;
Lift up thine eyes and seek His face.
Life with its way before us lies;
Christ is the Path and Christ the Prize.

Cast care aside; upon thy Guide
Lean, and His mercy will provide;
Lean, and the trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its Life and Christ its Love.

Faint not nor fear, His arms are near;
He changeth not, and thou art dear.
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is All in all to thee.

Fortune Cookies...Again

My family succumbed to weakness this evening and ordered Chinese food --- egg foo young and a pu pu platter. This time, we received six fortune cookies, two for each of us. Here are the fortunes:

No problem leaves you where you found it.
There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't met!
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that extra.
Be a generous friend and a fair enemy.
The days you work are the best days.

And my favorite, which I plan to keep as a time management reminder:

The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you think you can do only a little.

I wish I could figure out a way to send the Chinese vocabulary words on the reverse side of my fortunes to my American friend who just moved to Beijing. It would be interesting to see how accurately the manufacturer translated the words.

Don't Forget to Set Those Clocks

The end of Daylight Savings Time has finally arrived, so don't forget to set your clocks back an hour before turning in tonight. Remember, the time change does not apply in Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. It is also recommended (and customary) to use this time change as a reminder to replace the batteries in your smoke alarms.

So, check those smoke detectors and enjoy that extra hour of sleep. The holiday season is just around the corner!

This Day in History...

For most people, October 31st means Halloween and all its related festivities, but what else happened on this day in history? Infoplease had this to say:

1517
Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

1846
A heavy snowfall trapped the Donner Party in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

1864
Nevada became the 36th state.

1941
Work on the Mount Rushmore monument was completed.

1956
Rear Admiral G.H. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.

1984
Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.

1992
Pope John Paul II admitted that the Roman Catholic Church had erred in convicting Galileo of heresy 250 years earlier.

Some Interesting Local Events

More from my weekly community newspaper...

SCULPTURE DAY IN OLD LYME
In honor of the Florence Griswold Museum's current exhibition, "Bessie Potter Vonnoh: Sculptor of Women," the museum, the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and other venues along historic Lyme Street in Old Lyme are celebrating by opening their doors for free and offering special exhibitions, artist demonstrations, and hands-on activities. The even is made possible by a grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and will take place Saturday, Nov.1.

The museum, including the special exhibition, will be open free of charge. Visitors can tour the exhibition and the historic boarding house for artists, where Bessie and her husband, Robert, stayed before moving to the area. From 11 am to 2 pm participants can watch Sculptor-Residence Sue Chism and her model demonstrate the sculpting process in the museum galleries and then try their hand a t sculpting using clay in a drop-in workshop in the Hartman Education Center.

At the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts from noon to 3 pm, visitors can explore sculpture studios and meet students and faculty. Instructor Jeremy Davis demonstrates the sculpting process from noon to 4 pm. Visitors are invited to explore the special exhibitions, "A Slice of America: Selections from the New Britain Museum of Art" and "Excellence in Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Samantha Weber and David Krevolin."

Also on Lyme Street, the Cooley Gallery has the work of a variety of artists on view, including a sound sculpture by Harry Bertoia and a new work by Michael McLaughlin. There are open houses at Studio 80, the studio and sculpture garden of artist Gil Boro, the Lyme Art Association, featuring the sculptures of female elected artists, and the Bee & Thistle Inn, where artist Andrews De Vries pours a bronze sculpture at 2 pm.

More information can be found at www.FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org.

The best part of this event is that it features the work of a young lady, Samantha Weber, whom I have known for a number of years through my homeschooling circles. Congratulations, Samantha!

AUTHOR TO SPEAK ABOUT PILGRIMS
Connecticut author Glenn Alan Cheney will speak about his book Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims First Year in America on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 7 pm. at the Lyme Public Library. The book covers the pilgrims' struggles for religious freedom in Holland, their decision to try life in a new world, the harrowing ocean crossing, and the crucial first year between the land of the Mayflower and the famous harvest feast that followed. The pilgrims survived in the new world and laid the foundation for a new nation, but their survival was far from guaranteed.

In addition to writing, Cheney has also been a businessman, and an adjunct professor at Fairfield University, Albertus Magnus College, Connecticut College, and Three Rivers Community-Technical College. He will sign books after the presentation. Copies of his book will be available for purchase at the program.

Call 434-2272 to register or for more information.

Halloween Safety

Even though I no longer celebrate Halloween for personal reasons, I think it is important for those who do participate in the festivities to do so safely. To that end, I offer this list of tips from Gabrieles Martial Arts. I found it on Zip06.

Trick-or-Treaters
- Carry a flashlight.
- Stay on sidewalks.
- Always stay close to an adult.
- Don't run ahead of the group.
- Know who is around you.
- Try to have a bright costume so people can see you.
- Only go to the houses that are lit.
- It wearing a mask, take it off in between houses for air and good sight.

Parents and Guardians
- Make sure the neighborhood is a familiar one.
- Know exactly who your kids will be with, try to supervise personally.
- Have your child wear a watch they can read in the dark.
- Fill out an emergency contact paper and have your children keep it on them.
- Make sure they know how to reach you.
- Do not let children run ahead without adult supervision.

Homeowners
- Make sure the yard is safe to walk through.
- Put pets in a safe room so they don't get frightened or harmed.
- Use battery-powered ornaments, not real flames.

DYK? Preparing for Colds & Flu

Note: These are only suggestions and are no guarantee that colds and flu will stay away from your home. Since I got my first cold on Saturday, it appears that I need to be taking my own advice more seriously.

Newsflash! Did you know that cold and flu season is here and that it is possible to navigate this time of year without getting horribly sick or, for that matter, without getting sick at all? Try these strategies from WebMD, as posted on The Weather Channel.

1. Get immunized.

I know this is a controversial/contentious subject for many people; however, being the survivor of an extremely severe case of German measles (contracted when I was sixteen) and being the child of parents who can remember their friends dying from diseases like diphtheria, I fully admit that I am an advocate for vaccination. The recommendation for cold and flu season is to check with your doctor about whether you should consider getting a flu shot, a pneumonia shot, or both. This may also be of interest:

...there is concern now about a resurgence of whooping cough, which is most contagious before the coughing actually starts. The best way to prevent whooping cough is still through vaccinations. The childhood vaccine is called DTaP, and there's also a whooping cough booster vaccine for adolescents and adults ages 19 through 64 called TDaP. The booster not only protects against whooping cough but also against tetanus and diphtheria.

2. Wash your hands.

This has got to be the king (or queen, depending on your perspective) of illness prevention strategies!

According to the CDC, frequent and thorough hand washing is the single most effective way to prevent catching cols, flu, or any contagious disease. Be sure to wash your hands frequently, including the following times:

- Before and after you prepare food
- Before you eat
- After you use the bathroom
- Before and after changing a baby's diaper
- After handling animals or animal waste
- After coughing or sneeze
- When your hands are dirty
- More frequently if someone in your home is sick

To wash hands properly, follow these steps:

- Wet your hands and apply liquid or clean bar soap. Place bar soap on a soap dish that allows it to drain.
- Rub your hands together vigorously, scrubbing all surfaces for 15 to 20 seconds. That's about how long it takes ot hum the song "Happy Birthday to You" twice.
- Rinse well and dry your hands. In a public restroom, use the air dryer or paper towels.
- In the absence of soap and water, use alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers.

3. Don't touch your eyes, nose, or mouth without washing your hands.

Great advice! Tough to follow.

4. Don't share food, toiletries, towels, or pillows.

From a very young age, we are all taught that sharing is a good thing. Absolutely! But during cold and flu season, we need to be a little more conscientious about what we share. In our effort to be kind, we may give more than we intend.

5. Cover you mouth before coughing and your nose before sneezing.

If tissues are unavailable, cough or sneeze into your crooked elbow. If tissues are available and you use them, dispose of them quickly and (preferably) in the toilet so they can be flushed. If your are sick in bed, don't pile your used tissues on the nightstand or throw them on the floor next to the bed. Place them in a trash receptacle tat can be emptied and disinfected easily...and often.

6. Eat right, drink water, and get plenty of rest to improve your resistance.

Concentrate on foods that contain plenty of beta carotene, vitamin C, zinc, and garlic. Eat chicken soup. Drink the recommended eight glasses of water a day or, as some health professionals suggest, one-half ounce of water for every pound of body weight (in my case, 0.50 x 172 = 86 ounces). Sleep for six to eight hours per night; more if you are ill.

7. Stock up on supplies.

Here is what the WebMD article recommends:

- A thermometer for each family member
- Extra toothbrushes and personal tubes of toothpaste
- Plenty of tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels
- Throat lozenges and anything else that makes the sick person comfortable

My stock up list also includes:

- Expectorant, either liquid or tablet
- Cough suppressant (this is often combined with the expectorant)
- Acid reducer (sinus drainage often gives me heartburn)
- Ginger ale (in case sinus drainage causes nausea)
- Salt cartridge for my inhaler
- Humidifier filters

I also make sure my steamer is in good working order and my humidifier is cleaned and ready to go.

8. Disinfect germ hotspots.

Bacteria and viruses can survive on surfaces for as long as a few days or as short as a few hours. To keep on top of the contagions in your home.

...use a common disinfectant on the following household hotspots.

- Phones
- Remote controls
- Microwave and refrigerator handles
- Door handles and doorknobs
- Toilet seats and handles
- Faucets
- Light switches
- Computer keyboards/mouse
- Video game handheld controls
- Toys

What's the best disinfectant? The CDC recommends inexpensive chlorine bleach, which is effective against viruses. Add one-fourth of a cup of bleach to one gallon of warm water and allow the mixture to sit on the hotspot surface for 10 minutes before rinsing. Whenever disinfecting surfaces, you should wear rubber gloves, ventilate the area, and, if you're sensitive to chemicals, wear a mask. Wash your hand after removing the rubber gloves.

Personally, I use Shaklee Basic-G and wipe down most of the items listed above on a daily basis. It takes a few minutes, but the payoff is worth it fi you don't get sick.

9. Keep up with the laundry.

Containing illness is hard work. When you or a loved one is ill, it's advisable to wash towels, washcloths, pillows, and bedding daily. You may want to wash the stuffed animals that kids cuddle to remove germs.

I would also add heating pad covers to the aforementioned laundry list. Personally I don't wash my pillows. Instead, I cover them with both a vinyl pillow protector and a cloth pillow protector before putting on a pillowcase. Then when I change pillowcases and cloth protectors, all I need to do is spray and wipe the vinyl protector with some Basic-G to sanitize them. I also don't wash my sheets every day unless the severity of the illness dictates. Twice a week has proved sufficient in my home. I would be exhausted just from doing laundry if I washed sheets every day!

10. Know your enemies

Familiarize yourself with the "bugs" you could encounter during the season. Know the symptoms of each and their recommended care protocols, especially those symptoms that should trigger timely medical intervention. To learn more about the following diseases, visit this WebMD cold & flu information page. These are some of the illnesses you should be watching for:

- Common cold
- Acute bronchitis
- Strep throat
- Flu
- Chickenpox
- Stomach flu (viral gastroenteritis)
- Whooping cough

Filled for $37.00!!!

On Sunday, my husband filled the gas tank in my Subaru Outback (from the empty light, mind you) for only $37.00. In the past few months, that same amount of gasoline has set me back almost $60.00. One tank of gas at these new prices and I saved enough to pay for thirty minutes of voice lessons for my daughter. You gotta love it!

Price per gallon: $2.599

Will He Defend the Constitution?

In light of this old radio interview with Senator Obama, I got to thinking...

If this is the Oath of Office for the President of the United States:

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

and the Illinois senator who is currently running for President had this to say in 2001 (emphasis mine):

...the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent as radical as people tried to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical. It didn't break free from the essential constraint that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as it's been interpreted, and the Warren Court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. It says what the state can't do to you, it says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. And that hasn't shifted. One of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributed change...

- snip -

...I'm not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts. The institution just isn't structured that way. You just look at very rare examples during the desegregation era, the court was willing to, for example, order changes that cost money to a local district. The court was very uncomfortable with it. It was very hard to manage, it was hard to figure out. You start getting into all sorts of separation of powers issues in terms of the court monitoring or engaging in a process that essentially is administrative and takes a lot of time.

Then:

- Does Senator Obama, who is trained and educated in the Constitution, believe in this most important foundational document as it was/is written, or does he see the document as irreparably flawed and inconvenient?

- If Senator Obama does not believe in the Constitution, can he honestly take an oath of office that requires him to "preserve, protect, and defend" the document itself and the government that it establishes?

Just a couple of questions that are worth pondering before the vote on Tuesday.

Survey: Mortgage or Credit Card?

If you have to choose between paying your mortgage and paying your credit card, which do you pay? Have you ever had to make this choice?

Answer in the comments, please.

What Would I Do?

Tonight (10/16/08), I was watching yet another newsmagazine program when I heard that familiar sound byte of the day: being upside down in a mortgage. Sometimes I hear the variant: being underwater. Readers, you will need to forgive me on this one. Listen up: this is only part of the problem! The problem is cash flow…combined with falling home values. The problem is that the folks who are having trouble being in this condition on their mortgages are the folks who are not making/cannot make their monthly mortgage payments and/or the folks who need to sell their homes immediately. If you are making your monthly mortgage payment, have no intention of selling your home, and have no other debt being secured by the value of your house, it is ok to be “upside down” or “underwater” for a short period of time. My husband and I were in this condition when he was a cancer patient. We owed over $100,000 on our home; the housing market in the Northeast had tumbled, valuing our house at less than what we owed on it; and the Navy transferred him to Virginia. Hard truth: he commuted for 29 months and I stayed put because we couldn’t make enough on a home sale to pay off our mortgage so I could move with him.

The other issue that is not necessarily a problem: lack of a down payment when purchasing a home. Why do reporters always bring this up? What is the purpose of putting money down on a mortgage anyway? Simple: it lowers your monthly mortgage payment, making your home more affordable, because it lowers the total amount you need to finance. My husband and I did not put any money down when we purchased our house in 1989. We financed the entire amount --- $125,000. Our interest rate: 10.50% fixed. Our initial mortgage payment, plus escrow: $1354.00. We used a mortgage company instead of a bank or a credit union, something we will never do again. They sold off our mortgage within about three days of closing. Thankfully, within a couple of years, the interest rate had dropped to 8.00%; we were not “upside down” in our mortgage at the time; and we refinanced with a credit union that didn’t sell mortgages. Sadly, not everyone is so fortunate.

So, what would I do now if I had a cash flow problem and an “upside down” mortgage? First, I would pay only the necessary part of my mortgage payment; no extra principal payments for awhile. If I absolutely had to, I would investigate participating in one of the “bailout” plans so I could stay in my home and renegotiate my mortgage. If all else failed and I had no other options available, I would short sell my house and take the loss. Second, I would find a way to generate more income, either by getting a second (or a third) job or by finding a way to make money online. Medical transcription work, maybe. With a plethora of baby boomers approaching retirement age, employment in the medical sector is certainly in demand. Being a home educator, tutoring might be a reasonable alternative as well. If either of those options didn’t pan out, I would check the local businesses in my area for help wanted signs. At the moment at least three businesses within one mile of my home need help: Auto Zone, Starbucks, and Dominos Pizza. I would focus on jobs that didn’t have huge travel or wardrobe expenses. That way my employment costs wouldn’t eat all my earnings. Third, I would find ways to reduce my expenses. For example, I would park my Subaru Outback in the driveway and start sharing the Mazda Protégé with my husband; the former gets 22 mpg, while the latter comes in at 34 mpg. This strategy would save quite a bit of gas money, especially now that the price of fuel is dropping. It would require some pretty creative time management, but it would need to be done for the sake of saving money.

More importantly, I would try to adjust my thinking to accommodate the short-term reality of longer work hours, less time with family, and a new definition of fun that looks more like roasting marshmallows with friends in the backyard than like an excursion to Disney World. If necessary, I would also patch up my differences with friends and family members with whom I could cooperate in money-saving, expense-reducing efforts like childcare, carpooling, hand-me-down clothing, and the like. Lastly, I would reexamine my expectations about what I desire versus what is necessary to rebuild my financial well being. A four-bedroom house with a family room and a pool may be what I want, but a three-bedroom apartment and a few trips to the beach may be what I need to survive.

Most importantly, though, I would pray…a lot…for guidance about the best course of action, for protection from unexpected events that could cause my family more financial distress, and for the ability to endure gracefully whatever challenges I had to face. Since living in Connecticut, I have experienced two recessions: one from July 1990-March 1991 and the other just after 911. This one, if it truly is a recession, will be my third since getting married. I didn’t panic during the other two and I don’t plan to panic now. I plan to trust God.

He [the man who fears the Lord] will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. --- Psalm 112:7