A Capitalist Brew

I am very thankful for the blessings in my life this year.  I am thankful for the people in my life.  I am thankful for a loving and thoughtful husband who puts up with my insane schedule, exhaustion, and many unpleasant days in my last trimester.  I am thankful for my great kids.  They are the source of boundless sunshine, laughter, and love.  I am thankful for my parents.  They were especially helpful this year by taking care of Brooke when I was in the hospital and offering to let me bring the kids to their house this summer for 10 days.  This was when we were all suffering from Luke’s colic and nobody else wanted to help.  For this they get my unending gratitude.  I am thankful that my grandparents are here to celebrate another Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for my fabulous friends who keep me from going over the edge so many times.  I am especially thankful for a recent care package, homemade dresses at the last minute, and offers of help doing shopping and Christmas cards.  I am so lucky to have an amazing group of friends.  And I am thankful to our Lord and Savior for giving me more strength, compassion, and energy than I ever thought possible.  The way He sustains me is nothing short of miraculous.

I am thankful that I am almost done with classes and soon will not have to endure another exam ever.  I am thankful that the cars are almost paid off and that we are making progress on relieving the enormous debt burden (well, until we get a mortgage).  I am thankful for the financial blessing our and lifestyle our business provides.

On a light-hearted note, I am thankful for coffee and the lovely ladies that work at the Bidgood Bistro Starbucks location.  I am thankful for the Gilmore Girls and Grey’s Anatomy because they assure that for two hours a week I will actually sit down and relax.  I am also thankful that my car, my computer, and my washing machine are all working (I try to never take them for granted).

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I was at the Southern Finance Association conference last week when I got the news of Milton Friedman’s death. Only among a group of finance and economics academics would that have meant something. Everyone shared the jaw dropping sense of loss. For among our types, Milton Friedman was someone whose contribution changed the way that people thought and policies were made. Not many people can claim to have such an effect. In many ways, one might consider Milton Friedman to be the grandfather of free market capitalism. He believed in free markets and the ability of the people to better manage markets than the government. His views on monetary policy changed the way the Federal Reserve operated. He advised Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. He won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976. His ideas will live on far beyond his 94 years on this earth.

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Mothers are not allowed to get sick. The cold germs in the house, however, seem to have missed the memo. Last night I started to come down with Brooke’s cold. Tylenol cold controlled my symptoms for most of the day, but I was still suffering from that sickness-induced exhaustion that makes you weak to the core. I had to walk across campus today for a stupid exam blue book and thought that I might awake in the medical center after splattering myself on the sidewalk. Luckily I survived and managed to push the keys on the financial calculator to get through my real estate exam. I am thankful it was all problems and not essays since I am not sure I am creating comprehensible sentences today.

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Due to a sick Brooke, Halloween came and went without much of a fuss or celebration. She came down with a fever and really sore throat on Sunday. This was the first year she really understood Halloween and was so excited to get dressed up, go to parties, and trick or treat. I felt horrible that she was going to miss it all. So, we did take her to our church’s trunk or treat Sunday night for maybe 15 minutes. On Halloween we took her to the Children’s Museum for trick or treating, again staying maybe 15 minutes. She got to dress in her costume, get a few treats, and at least have a little fun.

Leaving for school yesterday was a chore. Brooke was clinging to me and crying for me to stay. She has never done this before, and I felt extremely guilty for deserting her in her hour of need. Daddy was home with her, but I guess it is just not the same. My econometrics professor made a big deal on Monday about not missing class on Tuesday, which irritated me and caused some conflict for me. Going to class meant I was going to be away from my sick little girl even more and miss spending Halloween with my kids. I finally decided that my family had to come first. In the end it will matter far more that I was with my kids when they needed me to be home. One lecture on econometrics is just not on the same level. I did send a tape recorder with a classmate so I could listen to the lecture later, but I was home where I needed to be. I have yet to listen to the recording, but I am told that there were a lot of laughs at my expense.

Can you believe John Kerry? I have no real love for George Bush, but listening to anything John Kerry says makes me want to smash my head into the nearest hard object to stop the pain. I am sure all my college educated soldier friends are oh-so-thrilled about the latest idiotic thing to come out of Kerry’s mouth. It’s like every time I see Kerry on tv I ask “what stupid thing did he say this time?” At least he is good for a ridiculous soundbite.

The kids have had me up for the day before 5 am for the past four mornings. Add in the 1-2 times I am still up with Luke at night and the time I get to bed, and that makes for 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I think that may be considered torture under the Geneva Convention.

And that’s all I have to say today. Off to study for a real estate exam tomorrow…

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