Goodbye to Diapers??????

I never thought I would get excited about pee-pee! Tonight, Maura who just turned 2 announced to her Daddy, her 3 sisters, and me that she was going to sit on the big girl potty. We all laughed at how adorable she was......and then turned our attention back to American Idol. A few minutes later, she emerged with no pants and no diaper on her cute little dimpled bottom insisting "I pee. I pee." She was so excited, clapping for herself and grinning from ear to ear. Out of curiosity (and to make her happy), I went to check the potty seat as I have done a million times and all the while expecting to see the bottom as dry as a bone. But, what to my wondering eyes did appear......yellow liquid! Could it possibly be that my baby peed on the potty with no coaxing and no assistance? I felt like I just hit the lottery. My mind was racing with the prospect of seeing my last of 4 children exit diapers! Wow, what will I do with my new found wealth? As I was making grandiose plans for our new-found family wealth, my 2 year old little potty genius says "uh-oh. Mommy". I walk to the dining room only to find her bare bottom positioned perfectly over the heating/ air vent and clear liquid running from her leg into the vent. Okay....maybe we have a little more work to do before we can say goodbye to diapers for good!

Happy to Be Poor!

Of course I am up late/ early A.M. paying bills! I never go to bed before 1 am so why not get depressed and pay bills. So, just as I am finishing up and stressing over the deductions about to come out of my checkbook, I see a story on-line about Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico. Based on my line of work, I am always interested in how insurance companies are performing. I also am aware that Geico lost their number 1 spot in Auto Insurance sales to a competitor recently. So, I bite at the catchy title and read on......Buffett gave a speech at Berkshire Fest (sounds like a place where women would burn their bras!) that was doom and gloom telling everyone interested (accounting geeks like me!) that operating profit fell and the company's book value declined 6% during the first quarter! The company's stock has fallen 39% since 2007 and profit fell 62% last year alone. Might not sound like much but take your annual salary and multiply it by 62%.....now pretend your employer tells you to give that amount back (come on, just play along with me here)! All of the sudden, paying my mortgage and car payments doesn't sound so bad! Now, I am sure that Mr. Buffett is still a very, very rich man! But, it sure sucks to be him right now! At least when you start out with $0 in the stock market (like me), the most you can lose is $0 (Wow! Being poor has its advantages)...imagine Berkshire Hathaway with $25billion that is highly dependent upon the stock market. For some reason, I am no longer depressed and can go to bed resting easy on the reality that I have nothing to lose in the stock market right now (tomorrow I will admit that my 401k is taking an ass-kicking....but for tonight, just let me have this small taste of victory). Warren Buffett ain't got nothin' on me right now! Sleep tight!