You are an Awesome Driver

Winters in Michigan.  They happen every year, it's almost predictable.  Even with that, people tend to forget how to drive when there is any speck of white precipitation falling from the sky.  Usually there's two types of winter drivers-- those who drive an SUV and feel the need to keep traffic moving at 60 mph, regardless of the road conditions and those who drive with wipers at full blast, going 15 mph.  Both are excellent examples of ways to deal with a winter that will last approximately 574 more months in Michigan.

While these are both extremely effective ways to handle our lovely winter weather, perhaps we could come up with a third option? Maybe drive responsibly, taking others and the road conditions into account? Nah, I think that's a horrible idea too....

Finding the Passion is easy; Finding the Research Isn't!

I want to write my next paper about the legalization of gay marriage.  I think that if you're of legal age and want to get married-- go for it.  I have been married for (ahem!) quite a few years now, and never in that entire time, has someone else's ability to get married affected my marriage.  That is an argument I cannot understand. Also, the "sanctity of marriage" debate makes my skin crawl. With a national divorce rate of over 50%, it doesn't seem so sacred to most people.  
However, I am having trouble finding credible research.  I've found oodles and oodles of opinions, but facts are hard to come by.  I'm hoping we will go over in class some researching ideas, so I can find some sources to back me up.

Sometimes Being A Grown Up Sucks

As adults, occasionally there are things we do that make us miss the good ole days of being care and debt-free.  Shopping for a new home and new cars are two such things.  When looking for a new car, a major decision that needs to be made is either to lease or to purchase.  There are a lot of factors, but they boil down to 2 basic choices.

Leasing will be a smaller monthly payment and more car than would be affordable if purchased outright. It will also have little to no maintenance costs during the term of the lease. 
In buying a car, you have more options available in modifications of the vehicle. You are not restricted to any set number of miles driven.  Finally, at the end of the car loan, you own it.  You can sell, keep or trade it in towards a new car.  

I like the idea of buying a car, because if I'm going to pay for something, I want to be able to get exactly what I want and be able to own it at the end.  

One of the reasons I am a mean mom

Colin Powell: Kids Need Structure

In Colin Powell’s TED talk “Kids Need Structure”, he discusses how if you can start children in life with structure, they will be able to be more successful later.  Structure teaches kids to listen and follow directions.  It also teaches them personal responsibility.  Good starts begin at home.  In a community and network-if there are people who will be disappointed if you fail, you will be driven to do well.  He gives examples in his own life, how he started out without much direction but once he joined the ROTC in college, which gave him structure, he flourished.  Once you have your gift of a good start, he encourages people to give back in various ways: mentor kids, work with schools to give kids a positive role models.  

I think this idea is amazing.  We have chosen to raise our kids with quite a lot of structure and personal responsibility.  We also feel that it will help with character building and future successes.  In addition, giving back is a theme in our home too.  We have always said that you don't raise children, you raise children to be adults. We want our children to grow into kind, thoughtful, generous adults, so we start out teaching them that young, not waiting for them to grow into it.