A Summer Day to remember.

Despite the fact that Friday is not officially a weekend, the afternoon feels like one. Hence summer Fridays are usually very good days. As we get older we learn to savor all the good moments with the kids still around and are still kids. This Friday had a slow afternoon, made exciting by a promising solution to a technical problem at work. I felt good about treating myself to an early departure from work. Opening the sunroof and driving home, I called home to see if dining out sounds good to the family, it usually does. We decided Italian is the way to go.

A locally owned non chain restaurant with a house setting was the choice. It is usually a very relaxing setting, but a bit of excitement thanks to a wasp that snuck into the restaurant was an added bonus. The treat came in the form of deep dish pizza piled with a healthy set of toppings. My little one was soon busy picking away all the healthy stuff of the pizza. We have given up these losing battles sometime ago and decided we will enjoy our dining experience and leave the health education to dinners at home. I think it was more of the company than the food, but it was a great meal. Feeling a bit of guilt, I suggested to my family that I would walk home. It is a couple of miles and should help relieve some of the guilt if not all of the calories. The suggestion was met with enthusiasm from the kids to join in. They usually appreciate new experiences such as this. Even my youngest decided she would walk home with me. Another losing battle to my little one and we were soon walking home. The sun was behind us as we walk and the road was full of shade, which added to the joy of the family walk home. Few dogs got excited along the way as we passed raising our adrenaline level. I wonder if this would help burn a few more claories. We made it home in less than one hour with a lot less effort than I expected. My kids were very proud of the achievement that they announced that "we can now walk anywhere we need to in town." With the gas prices, maybe it is not such a bad idea.

My little one soon regained her energy level and decided we needed to jump on the trampoline. It is her favorite pastime and hence, to her, it should be mine as well. I need not say who lost the battle. Actually, I won half this battle. Instead of jumping, we laid on the trampoline and I managed to get her attention off of jumping and into watching the late afternoon clouds. My other kids join in and it was soon a competition of imagination. Although it hurts my ego to admit it, but I was happy to find all kinds of animals in the clouds than bouncing around. "This is actually fun" she announced. After a while it got a little breezy and we soon had a volunteer to get a cover so we can stay on the trampoline for a little bit more. Time actually passed quickly and the game changed to telling stories from my heritage. I think my stories usually seem a little alien to my kids, yet they stayed attentive. It was then completely dark outside except for the street lights from a distance. Although my youngest became a little restless, she did not want to leave the family gathering until she fell asleep.

I am happy to realize that this has turned out to be a great bonding experience with the kids, in the middle of our own back yard. All I needed to invest is time and imagination. I am sure to remember this simple yet memorable day for years to come and I hope it makes it to my kids permanent memories as well.

Invest in yourself!

It took a lot of hard thinking, but I finally found what the best way to spend your stimulus check is. The normal use of the money in one of the retail stores would just return the money directly out of this country into a foreign land leaving you with some toys that would soon become obsolete. Some have advocated the use of the stimulus money to pay off debt that was incurred as we collected old toys. This may be prudent, but would not stir the economic activity that uncle Sam wants. My objective is to spend the money, yet get something valuable in return that is useful in case the economic woes continue.

Here is my idea, invest the money. No, I do not mean in the stock market. I mean invest it in yourself, how? Use it to learn something you have always wanted to learn. The government is giving you a free shot at doing that. Go back to school. Sign up for a summer class at the local university or community college. Learn a new skill at a trade school. Brush up on a foreign language. What you learn will always be there wherever you go. I guarantee it will come handy at some point in your life. It will be there if you need to find a new job or search for a better one. It is a down payment on an insurance plan in case the government's genius stimulus plan does not work. Unlike toys that break and get old very fast, no-one can take what you learn away from you, it becomes part of you, the new better you. It will help you someday find a new job or just be better at your old job.

Unaffordable

The economic down turn and the other political and social issues facing this country have made so many things beyond the reach of many of us. One of those that has become unaffordable in this country is hate. We all know hate is a divisive feeling that burns, blinds and obscures our judgment, but nonetheless plenty seems to go around. This is time where this country needs to be united: whites and blacks, liberals and conservatives, Christians, Jews, Mulsims and all others. We cannot afford to hate those we disagree with politically, religiously, ideologically or in any other form. Disagreements and healthy differences in opinion are sources of strength if well harnessed, yet they can turn destructive when they turn into hatred. We need to remember that we all live in the same boat and that our survival depends on our success in using the power of being different yet united.

We are in the midst of the political season with elections that has probably the highest stakes in a long time. However, the level of political discussions from the pundits and on the different forums seem to focus on the trivial and the silly. Where are the discussions about all that matter? So much is being written, spoken, read and spun on endorsements and unendorsements, on past associations and on gaffes opening old wounds and leaving the issues that matter to me and you out in the cold. We cannot afford not to push these politicians to create, examine, discuss and debate real plans not just promises before they step into their elected offices. This will not be achieved when the debate is about Hagee vs. Wright instead of the real issues.

The unaffordability goes beyond politics to much in our personal lives. We cannot but question so much of what we have done in the past, even if we individually can afford to stay the course, for we may be hurting others by staying the old course. We may be hurting our dear neighbor and friend who struggles to keep up with the cost of fueling his little vehicle because we can afford to drive a gas guzzler. With a similar logic, we may have to examine the setting of the thermostat this summer. We may have forgotten, but we have survived on this planet very successfully, until recently, without air conditioners. You may afford to use regular lights, but consider it a charitable act towards your fellow Americans and change the lights in your house to energy efficient ones. This is charity for which you would be rewarded on earth and in the hereafter.

There are plenty of things I can add to the list of things we cannot afford anymore in this competitive world where competition is global and the job demands are ever changing. We cannot afford not to seriously invest on continuously educating ourselves and our kids. We cannot afford not to ask our kids to think time and again about their future goals and how they intend to achieve these goals. We cannot afford not to ask our kids to turn off the TV and read a science, math or history book. Please remember this as you plan to spend your stimulus check rebate!

In conclusion, we may have hated to think before we did many things in life, but we can no longer do that. It is Unaffordable!!!