I'm a big fan of the show Jon & Kate Plus 8 but this season just hasn't been as much fun as previous seasons. And last night's show proved why. Turns out that Jon and Kate have been having marital troubles for the past '7 or 8 months' with it being really bad for the past '4 months' and have decided to file for legal separation. I have no idea if this is the first step to a divorce in Pennsylvania or if they are taking the separation step first to see how things go. I guess I'm just disappointed (and really, how sad is it that reality TV can disappoint me) that there wasn't any talk about counceling or trying to work on the marriage or even cancelling the show/getting out of the contract to focus on the family. It seems like now adays people hit a rough patch in the marriage and instead of following their marriage vows they throw their hands up and get a divorce.
I truly believe that the reason why there is a 50% divorce rate in America is because we've been taught from a very young age that success and goodness of life should come easy. Oh, sure, there's the saying "if you don't succeed try, try again", or "it's not winning it's the experience that's important" but when we turn around and sue people because Suzy got a B on a test it's showing Suzy that you don't really have to work at things to succeed at them, you just have to know how to beat the system. Well, the system doesn't equate to success. Hello, have you seen our government in action lately. I mean, come on. The South Carolina governor goes missing and it turns out he thought he could fly to Argentina to see his mistress without getting caught. These are the people who run the system. The system is flawed.
Or maybe the divorce rate is so high because it's so easy to get one. Irreconcilable differences and boom, you're divorced. What happened to working at marriage every day to make sure it's successful.? What happened to 50 years being a normal celebration of a married couple instead of an anomoly? More importantly, how do we get these things back?
June 24, 2009
Playing Pretend
Over the weekend I went to hang out at my parent's house and ended up playing with my niece. Haylee is only 29 months but she's suck a kick in the pants. While I was there she started playing 'pretend' with me by wanting to tuck me into bed. This involved spreading one slightly damp dish towel on the floor, having me lay down on the dish towel, and then covering me with an even wetter dish towel. I finally convinced her that we should move from playing on the kitchen floor (ouch!) to the living room floor. Eventually I even got her to rub my back and sing me a song to get me to go to sleep. The funniest parts were when she'd yell 'eyes' to tell me to close my eyes as that's what her mom (my sister) tells her when it's Haylee's bed time. Kids are just too precious.
June 18, 2009
Ring Shopping
Well, it was bound to happen. Nate and I (finally!) went engagement ring shopping tonight. I've been mentioning doing this, both jokingly and seriously, for a while now. Mostly since our year anniversary in March. We'd tried to set some time previously but life (usually Nate's work) kept getting in the way. I sort of expected the same thing tonight so when Nate called and said that we had plans for the night I tried to be a good girlfriend and give him an out by playing dumb. He wasn't going to have it, though. He mentioned right off that tonight was ring shopping night and he was ready to go.
I was a little concerned as we were leaving as the one jewelry shop I wanted to hit closed at 6pm and it was 5:30 by the time we left Richland (the store was in Kennewick). But we made it with 15 minutes to spare so I figured I'd show him the ring that I'd picked out when my mom and I had visited there earlier and call it good. But I was wrong. After pointing out the ring (sans center stone) he wanted to see what it would look like with the center stone and then starting asking questions. How do you tell a good diamond from a bad one? What's the rating differences? How much is the typical price you spend? And so on. It was really cute how he was getting into it all.
Then, the shocker of the evening. Nate asked if there were any men's wedding bands he could try on! What?!?! This was TOTALLY unexpected. I figured we'd look at my ring, he'd say it was cool, and then we'd leave. Next thing I know it's past 6pm (store closing time) and he's trying on rings. Granted, he only tried on four and he had this cute red flushed face going on the whole time, but he did it. On his own and without prompting. How could I not love him?
No, we didn't buy anything at that time. And truthfully he's probably going to have to special order the ring he decides to get me. The 'in style' right now is white gold or platinum and I want a yellow gold ring. They're practically non-existent in stores. Kantor Diamonds (the store we were at) had six out of two cases. But you carry what's selling, I suppose.
So our first ring shopping extravaganza ended on a good note and I spent the evening grinning from ear to ear. I can't wait for the next trip to see how that one ends up. One step closer to the big M. Marriage!!!
I was a little concerned as we were leaving as the one jewelry shop I wanted to hit closed at 6pm and it was 5:30 by the time we left Richland (the store was in Kennewick). But we made it with 15 minutes to spare so I figured I'd show him the ring that I'd picked out when my mom and I had visited there earlier and call it good. But I was wrong. After pointing out the ring (sans center stone) he wanted to see what it would look like with the center stone and then starting asking questions. How do you tell a good diamond from a bad one? What's the rating differences? How much is the typical price you spend? And so on. It was really cute how he was getting into it all.
Then, the shocker of the evening. Nate asked if there were any men's wedding bands he could try on! What?!?! This was TOTALLY unexpected. I figured we'd look at my ring, he'd say it was cool, and then we'd leave. Next thing I know it's past 6pm (store closing time) and he's trying on rings. Granted, he only tried on four and he had this cute red flushed face going on the whole time, but he did it. On his own and without prompting. How could I not love him?
No, we didn't buy anything at that time. And truthfully he's probably going to have to special order the ring he decides to get me. The 'in style' right now is white gold or platinum and I want a yellow gold ring. They're practically non-existent in stores. Kantor Diamonds (the store we were at) had six out of two cases. But you carry what's selling, I suppose.
So our first ring shopping extravaganza ended on a good note and I spent the evening grinning from ear to ear. I can't wait for the next trip to see how that one ends up. One step closer to the big M. Marriage!!!
June 13, 2009
Do, Re, Mi...
I was catching up on an 'old' friend from high school's blog and saw this YouTube posting. It was Amazing with a captial A. I'm sure it's been seen by many, but I liked it so much I wanted to post it. Hopefully the link works for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
June 10, 2009
Work Troubles
Lately work has been causing many stomach-aches and headaches as I try to navigate what my job will be like in the next few months. Basically I'm looking at working super hard for the next three months with the looming prospect that after all that hard work I'll be laid off. I work for a company that's in charge of cleaning up the Hanford site. Per Department of Energy requirements every ten or so years the contract that determines which company gets the Hanford clean-up work is rebid. That means that every ten years you have a company change over. We're currently in the midst of the most recent contract/company transition. I'm also in a unique position in that the company that pays me is not the company that I work for. Company A, the company that pays me, subcontracts me out to Company B, the company that is currently undergoing the contract transition.
Well, Company B no longer wants to subcontract out work to Company A. Which means that if Company A wants me I'll be directly hired. Great, right? Um, no. See to save costs the rumor going around is that Company A is not going to transfer our benefits that we currently have (like they're doing for the other employees) they'll hire us as brand new employees. This means that my vacation balance gets reset to zero, my service date will be reset to the date of hire, and my seven years of seniority in the company will be reset to zero years. All that hard hours and years worked will disappear in a second so that Company B can save a few bucks. Needless to say I'm not very happy about this.
So for the next few months I'm hoping that rumors are wrong, that continuity of service 'stuff'' will transfer over without resetting, and that the new company realizes that employees like me are just as valuable as the other employees on the contract. By August 24th, come heck or high water, I guess I'll find out what my job situation is like. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Well, Company B no longer wants to subcontract out work to Company A. Which means that if Company A wants me I'll be directly hired. Great, right? Um, no. See to save costs the rumor going around is that Company A is not going to transfer our benefits that we currently have (like they're doing for the other employees) they'll hire us as brand new employees. This means that my vacation balance gets reset to zero, my service date will be reset to the date of hire, and my seven years of seniority in the company will be reset to zero years. All that hard hours and years worked will disappear in a second so that Company B can save a few bucks. Needless to say I'm not very happy about this.
So for the next few months I'm hoping that rumors are wrong, that continuity of service 'stuff'' will transfer over without resetting, and that the new company realizes that employees like me are just as valuable as the other employees on the contract. By August 24th, come heck or high water, I guess I'll find out what my job situation is like. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
