Clara and Margaret are both interested in the newspaper. They ask for parts of it if I am home during breakfast and they pretend to be reading it. Heck, maybe they are reading it for all I know1 When we walk to Earthfare, they pick up the free weekly newspapers that are available, Flagpole and a Vegetarian publication of some sort.
So it pains me to realize there will probably be no print newspapers by the time they are able to read and comprehend the information. Thanks to a drumbeat by Hate Radio berating the "liberal press" for decades, plus arrogance on the part of some larger papers, plus the explosion of the Internet, the once-sure foundation of newspapers across the country has been rocked. Even a big, regional paper like the Atlanta Constitution is reeling.
A friend came over today from Atlanta, a colleague, who told me there's going to be an announcement this coming week about voluntary separations. A nice term for layoffs with benefits. The company is supposedly offering two weeks pay for every year of service, but if you aren't 55, you don't get to take the health care coverage with you. So I don't qualify for porting the healthcare. Should I take the money and hope, in the meantime, to find a job that comes with healthcare? Or should I turn it down, hoping to make it to 55 so i can get the healthcare forever, and then face what might be sn involuntary separation, a nice term for being laid off, with no benefits?
I don't know. We don't know who is going to offered this deal, if there is going to be any deal, how many people they are wanting to be shed of, if this is going to happen again next year, or what. So much is uncertain.
Long ago, I realized there's not much I can do about forces outside of my control, so I have tried not to waste my time worrying. Clara and Margaret are fine, healthy and happy, and I am happy, even when looking, possibly, at the end of a job I have loved and enjoyed for years. At least I got to work at a regional newspaper when it was great, and to make a difference in improving the lives of thousands of people, if only by making them laugh or cry over their morning coffee.
Stay tuned. Will let you know what happens.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Summer Evening
The girls went down for a nap late in the day, like five o'clock, and when they woke up, or rather, when I woke them, they were sweaty and groggy. Margaret wakes up like I do, immediately. Gene once said I go to sleep and wake up like a dog, and Margaret is the same way. At least the waking part. Clara finally woke up after I plopped her in her high chair and she began to protest not being allowed to climb in.
After supper, they really woke up. They chased each other around "the block," as we call the interior track of our house. We were hoping to go swimming, but Gene's foot was hurting him so we postponed this activity. Then I thought I'd take the girls to a nearby park, but it was around seven, and the ducks that live there start to settle down at seven. Ducks are a big attraction for Margaret and Clara. Then we talked about going to the store---how can we be out of onions? I have to make potato salad for the Fourth---or to the library.
But what we ended up doing was just playing. Margaret got in her swing on the porch and Clara pushed her, much to M's distress. She prefers pushes from Mama, who can swing her higher. Clara has almost figured out how to push without getting smacked by the swing. Then Clara got in her sandbox and dug around for a while. It's on the porch as well, at one end, and it works well. No mosquitoes or hot sun can get them there.
Out of the swing, Margaret left for a while, then returned with a stuffed bunny and one of Clara's running shoes. She wanted me to stuff the bunny in the shoe, which I did.
"Look! Bunny's driving!" and that started at least a half an hour's play with Clara's stuffed bunny and her other running shoe. Those bunnies drove all over the porch, stopping at red lights, going at green lights. They drove to Earhfare, our nearby organic grocery, and bought--what else?---muffins. (The girls love muffins, and I used to buy one for all three of us sometimes when we went to Earthfare. At 99 cents, it was money well spent. In the past three weeks, the price of muffins has jumped to $1.69 EACH, and I refuse to pay that. Instead, I've been making muffins myself.) The bunnies were very good drivers.
Not satisfied with letting the bunnies drive, Margaret wanted to search magazines for pictures of go-go's, as they call cars. She brought a few out to the porch and we found a few go-go's for her. She would like nothing better than to have a chauffeur driving her around all day. She loves riding in the car. She likes looking at cars and playing with them.
By this time, it was at least 8:30---it stays light so late, I get fooled. Back in the house, they circled the block at top speed at least 20 times. Probably the equivalent of a mile or more for an adult. Then I changed their diapers---"Mama, I can wear Big Girl Undies in the bed," says Miss Big. Not an option right now, I say--and dressed them in their pajamas, Margaret in the much coveted frog shirt, and Clara in the tolerated butterfly shirt. (Note to self: remember to always buy the same item.) They had a drink of milk and we read "Baby Animals" by Garth Williams. The last baby animal in the book is a baby owl. Clara was hooting pretty well, and Margaret was trying hard to form her lips into a pucker so she could go "Oooooooo." She's going better.
After they were in their cribs, I could hear Clara singing her version of "Twinkle, Twinkle," and could hear Margaret hooting. The door to the porch was open, and I could hear the bugs and frogs singing as well.
After supper, they really woke up. They chased each other around "the block," as we call the interior track of our house. We were hoping to go swimming, but Gene's foot was hurting him so we postponed this activity. Then I thought I'd take the girls to a nearby park, but it was around seven, and the ducks that live there start to settle down at seven. Ducks are a big attraction for Margaret and Clara. Then we talked about going to the store---how can we be out of onions? I have to make potato salad for the Fourth---or to the library.
But what we ended up doing was just playing. Margaret got in her swing on the porch and Clara pushed her, much to M's distress. She prefers pushes from Mama, who can swing her higher. Clara has almost figured out how to push without getting smacked by the swing. Then Clara got in her sandbox and dug around for a while. It's on the porch as well, at one end, and it works well. No mosquitoes or hot sun can get them there.
Out of the swing, Margaret left for a while, then returned with a stuffed bunny and one of Clara's running shoes. She wanted me to stuff the bunny in the shoe, which I did.
"Look! Bunny's driving!" and that started at least a half an hour's play with Clara's stuffed bunny and her other running shoe. Those bunnies drove all over the porch, stopping at red lights, going at green lights. They drove to Earhfare, our nearby organic grocery, and bought--what else?---muffins. (The girls love muffins, and I used to buy one for all three of us sometimes when we went to Earthfare. At 99 cents, it was money well spent. In the past three weeks, the price of muffins has jumped to $1.69 EACH, and I refuse to pay that. Instead, I've been making muffins myself.) The bunnies were very good drivers.
Not satisfied with letting the bunnies drive, Margaret wanted to search magazines for pictures of go-go's, as they call cars. She brought a few out to the porch and we found a few go-go's for her. She would like nothing better than to have a chauffeur driving her around all day. She loves riding in the car. She likes looking at cars and playing with them.
By this time, it was at least 8:30---it stays light so late, I get fooled. Back in the house, they circled the block at top speed at least 20 times. Probably the equivalent of a mile or more for an adult. Then I changed their diapers---"Mama, I can wear Big Girl Undies in the bed," says Miss Big. Not an option right now, I say--and dressed them in their pajamas, Margaret in the much coveted frog shirt, and Clara in the tolerated butterfly shirt. (Note to self: remember to always buy the same item.) They had a drink of milk and we read "Baby Animals" by Garth Williams. The last baby animal in the book is a baby owl. Clara was hooting pretty well, and Margaret was trying hard to form her lips into a pucker so she could go "Oooooooo." She's going better.
After they were in their cribs, I could hear Clara singing her version of "Twinkle, Twinkle," and could hear Margaret hooting. The door to the porch was open, and I could hear the bugs and frogs singing as well.
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