the little lessons we learn...

Today another mom wrecked into the back of my car.  Today yet another mom was looking down as she drove through the school parking lot, and admitted it to me (again) that she was just not looking up while she was driving.  Today i wish i could stand out in front of the school with a sign and scream my frustration.... have a sit in.... have a protest... something to get these parents to wake up and pay attention as they drive.

My car was bumped into.  My bumper cracked in half.  My pride was hurt because hubby was in the car (again!) and (again) he says that my overly cautious driving is what caused yet another person to ram into me from behind.  My being at a complete stop, on a road, with a stop sign, and not going super fast and cutting people off who are on the other road... that i caused this wreck.  OK, so my pride was hurt (again).  But the parents drive like they are in the Indy 500 (if you are not originally from Indiana - look up Indianapolis 500 to get that reference).  These parents drive like crazy, pull up, drop off their children, and then speed off into the parking lot and then onto the main road.  My only hope is that they never hit a child.  My only hope is that they never cause such a wreck that any person is hurt.  My pride will heal. My car will be fixed.  My opinion of these parents, will not.

***

The Great Depression.  I keep hearing people on the news saying we are in a recession.  They say that if things do not turn around we will be in a DEpression.  So i keep thinking about how people acted during the Great Depression.  Sure there were some bad people, but on the whole neighbors looked after neighbors... family looked after family. And on the whole people just did all that they could do to help their fellow man through the hard times.  We now have BIG government, so we do not see "soup kitchens" like you would have back in the day.  People now go on welfare and get food stamps.  It is a much better "set up" than the 1920's.

Currently we are living off of our savings.  We have no income coming in.  We did not expect to be in this place in our life a year ago.  1 year ago... it seems like a lifetime away from where we are today!  Michael was working at SIA.  He was leaving on Sunday morning and he would then be gone all week and return the following Saturday late afternoon.  We only got to see him for a few hours before he left again.  WE made the choice.  WE put ourselves in our current position by making a family choice for him to branch out and go on his own with his company.  WE are not to blame for the economy going bad and making our grand plan turn from awesome to... not so awesome.  But we do not place the blame for us having our living conditions be what they are... WE made a choice and it turned out not to be such a good one.  So we are having a hard time even thinking of any kind of a "hand out" at the moment.

Where we go from here... we'll if you know me or if you follow me, you know we are heading West.  We are selling our house, picking up from the mid-west, and transporting ourselves to California. It is a BIG move and a HUGE change.  But we are hopeful for making this change happen for a better life for us all.

I have been thinking recently about this "recession" and wondering if in 5 years when we all look back if they will say it was greater than a recession and perhaps a "depression"... and will we all look back and say, "i lived through it... and it wasn't too bad..."  Or will things actually get worse and we end up looking back with a grateful attitude and be just so thankful that we made it through such a hard time.  My great-grandmother died a few years ago.  But i remember her one time saying that the Great Depression was something she "lived through" and that it was "impossible times" but that she was so grateful for all that she had in her life each day since then.  She lived to be 98 years old.  She lived a long life and the depression was something she never forgot.  Perhaps i am not seeing our situation in such a bad light because we prepared (as best as we could) for the situation we are in right now.  Others may have not been so lucky to have thought ahead or prepared for the worst and losing their job caught them off guard?  Perhaps one day when we are back to our very nice life style we will look back and think "wow... i can't believe we lived without so much!"

For now, i am humble... i am grateful for all of the things that i do have in my life.  i can only look to the future with an open mind and a feeling of optimism for having a better future.