Wisdom from Michael Moore?

I don't agree with Michael Moore's typical tactics, but when he is just talking, he says a lot of things that I agree with. This is one of the best things I have ever heard about health care. This came from an interview with Larry King.

"Health care is one of the basic services society needs to function. You wouldn't have a police department if it needed to turn a profit every year. You wouldn't have a fire department if it needed to turn a profit every year. We shouldn't have a health care system that needs to turn a profit."

Good Idea

ICE (In Case of Emergency) is a campaign to help paramedics and hospital staff know who to contact in case of an emergency in which you are unresponsive. Most people now have cell phones, but how does anyone, but us, determine quickly which person in our contacts to call? So a paramedic came up with the idea of ICE. All you do is program your emergency contact in your cell phone under ICE. If you have more than one number or contact list them as ICE1, ICE2, etc. As this grows nationally, we will be able to help medical professionals find the right contact, saving time and stress for them and us.

Not just your imagination

I did change the title. I never liked my title, but I had to pick something, and I wanted something that reflected the imperfections in life. Not because that is all I want to talk about, but because life isn't perfect and those imperfections can be some of the most interesting moments.

So, now it's "Sometimes it's a Boat." Which plays into my love of a good obscure reference. It's a line from Winnie-the-Pooh. The whole passage is:
"I ought to say," explained Pooh as they walked down to the shore of the island, "that it isn't just an ordinary sort of boat. Sometimes it's a Boat, and sometimes it's more of an Accident. It all depends."
"Depends on what?"
"On whether I'm on the top of it or underneath it."
I realize that most people probably wouldn't worry too much about their title, but I like words. Finding the right ones is very satisfactory. By the way, if you have never actually read Winnie-the-Pooh or House at Pooh Corner, you really should. The language is brilliantly simple and they really are just as much for adults as children.

New car

We have a new car. The little blue car was totaled and we traded the truck. It's funny how used to things we get. It's a little sad to let the cars go. But we are happy with our new car; it's a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The Freestyle is a crossover between a wagon and an SUV. It's made on a car chassis not a truck like the SUV, so it handles very well. It's loaded up with power everything, something neither of our old cars had, and it can seat seven. The third row folds down flat, sort of like the "stow and go" seating you see advertised.

Gabe sometimes likes it because it's big and it can play his favorite CD, but sometimes he says he doesn't like it. He can't get in by himself, it's too high off the ground and there's not good hand holds for him. Plus we yell at him more than usual for kicking the back of the seat with his muddy shoes. :) It's a bit confusing for him. Sometimes he thinks we are getting the blue car back when they fix it, so we have to tell him again that the car can't come back. He actually cried when he finally understood that we don't have the truck anymore either. I feel bad for him. He's had a lot of drastic changes in his life lately. It must be hard to keep adjusting when you are only three years old. It makes me worry about the move this summer.

We still don't know where we are going. Matt's been sending out info and talking to people all over. The people in the Netherlands have asked him to come give a talk (which is an interview), but that wouldn't happen until June. I hope to know before then. The reason it may happen in June is that Matt will already be in Europe. He has been accepted to the conference in Germany for grad students and Nobel Laureates.

I am starting the end of the school year craziness. I have parties to plan for all the different age groups. I have done some great parties for the junior high kids and they want me to recreate the magic. :) I know I sound full of myself, but they really were fun parties. Two years ago I created a Fear Factor themed party. They ate gross stuff and got messy. Last year was even better though. I did a Survivor theme and divided them into tribes: Benjamin and Judah (two of the seven tribes of Israel). Matt even made a contraption that they had to fill with water to a certain level to drop the bag of puzzle tiles that they then had to solve. It's going to be hard to top that. I'm considering using The Amazing Race somehow, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Chi is fine. He seems to be fearless. Nothing seems to faze him. He's a happy little guy (most of the time), who so wishes he could move on his own. But, boy, does he demand attention. He wants all eyes on him. And so does his brother. We are going to be exhausted all the time at this rate!