One of the happiest days of my life was becoming a grandmother. I was completely unprepared for the emotion I would feel when I first laid eyes on my grandson, Liam. He was perfect. And I was blown away at how good life can be. 

This is a picture of my only granddaughter and me. She's my youngest grandchild. We have a great relationship; a special bond. It might be because we do 'girl stuff' together - like in this picture where we're playing Barbies and took a quick break for a selfie. Or maybe because she enjoys my CCD craft and activity bin. Each time she visits, she can be found digging in that bin! She's smart AND beautiful! What a combination!

Being a grandparent is everything they promised! I highly recommend! 

 

 Happy New Year! 😀🎉

It's been a while since I've stopped by to post an update. We've had so many changes in our lives - I won't bore you with all the details. But I will summarize briefly....

 

My husband, Dave, and I have started a successful small business. We're in our 10th year, soon to start our 11th. It's an engineering consulting firm, specializing in vibration and sound monitoring and control - sounds like a snooze fest, but it's really pretty interesting...and most times, fun. We monitor vibration and sound producing events with a seismograph. Many times this is for construction projects, demolition projects, coal mines and gas wells. We are monitoring to assure compliance with State, Federal or other specification levels.

We also inspect houses and buildings that are close to these events; the idea being any defect in the building is documented. After the project concludes, we verify no changes in the structure due to the project. 

Talk about a niche....

In any event, our company is a certified Women's Business Enterprise (WBE), which means I am the majority stockholder. Our company is called Terra-Mechanics, Inc. - TMI for short. Check us out www.Terra-Mechanics.com

Empty nesting has been good for us. We spend a good amount of time together at work and also seem to know when the other needs space. Dave golfs with our son or in his league during his 'time to himself'. He's also active in his bowling league that he joined more than 30 years ago. He says it's a good way to decompress. 

I prefer to stay to myself. I read, work on my lesson plan for CCD (Catholic Sunday School for any non-Catholics), or just hang out with the kitties. 

But lately I've begun to return to my writing. I've been away from it for close to 12 years and I've missed it. I'm looking forward to restarting this blog as well as some other writing things. 

I hope you'll join me here! Please leave me a comment or say hello and I'll follow you back if asked.  

 

I hate guns - really, I do. But I support YOUR right to have them. As an American, you have the legal right to bear arms and I am 100% in favor of it. But - I still hate guns. The sheer sight of a gun hanging in my son's gun cabinet is enough to send shivers down my spine.
I have to wonder, though, where is our common sense? Guns don't kill people - people kill people.

Changes

Nearly a year has passed since my last entry. So many events have transpired in my life since then - the worst being an emergency appendectomy gone awry. A blood clot followed by an abscess and an allergic reaction to the pain meds led to weeks in the hospital. Oh, and I nearly forgot the collapsed lung. I felt my world was spiraling out of control and there was no way to stop it.

The best thing to come of all this was I managed to stop smoking. Lord knows I miss it (30 years of smoking is a long time), but it's for the best. I was fortunate to have good vital signs and strong lungs as a smoker, but frankly, I don't want to push my luck. October 23, 2009 was the last time I smoked - almost a year.

So, life has taken on a new normal for me. I have gained a few pounds since the surgery (coumadin, synthroid and smoking cessation have all contributed), but I am attempting to eat healthier and exercise. Daily exercise isn't a habit yet, but I'm working on it. And I'm snacking on baby carrots as I write this.

It's a start.

Returning to School

I took the plunge and enrolled in online classes. I've been at it since August 31, taking 4 classes consisting of a total of 13 credits. So far, so good. But this one class - Excel - is demanding and extremely time consuming. I doubt I will ever use Excel simply as a way of thumbing my nose at it once the semester is complete.

I enrolled in these classes because I have found technology is passing me by at an astounding rate. Instead of sitting back on my haunches, I decided this was the best alternative. And frankly, I've surprised myself.

I wasn't sure I could still learn. Once you reach a certain age and place in your life, structured class learning isn't something you expect to embrace. But I am thoroughly enjoying this. I find myself eager to learn and this is a wonderful change from my youth.

Back to the books....

World Unemployment Rates Are Up

My liberal friends tell me that wealthy American corporations are creating jobs overseas while taking them from the US. This report by the Associated Press tells a different story.

http://www.wpxi.com/money/21178151/detail.html

Taxation In Sweden

The following is copied from Wikipedia's link to 'Taxation in Sweden'. Seems many liberal lefties in the US feel the Swedish system of cradle to grave is admirable and would be wonderful here. Read on....I think you may feel differently after reading the example.
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Taxation in Sweden may involve payments to three different levels of government: the municipality, the county council, and the central government. The payments are collected by the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket). In addition the Swedish Tax Agency collects a church tax from members of the Church of Sweden. The tax rates in Sweden are commonly cited as among the highest in the world.

Sweden has a taxation system that combines a direct tax (paid by the employee) with an indirect tax (paid by the employer). In practice, the employer provides the state with both means of taxation, but the employee only sees the direct tax on his declaration form. The compilation of taxes that compose the final income tax (2009): tax on gross income from the employer: 31.42% (indirect, fixed), pension fee on gross income: 7.00% (indirect, fixed), municipal tax on gross income less pension tax and a base deduction: ~32% (direct, varies by municipality), state tax on gross income less pension tax and a base deduction: 0%, 20%, or 25% (direct, progressive)[1]. In addition, an earned income tax credit applies for gross income, effectively reducing mean income tax.

Although the pension fee is stated as 7.00%, it is effectively cancelled out through an income tax credit for the entire pension fee sum assessed. Pension fees may not exceed 28800 kr/year.

[edit] Example

(Assumptions: Income tax (Direct - 32%), Employer social fee (indirect - 31.42%))

From a pay of "100", the Employer first pays "32" in Income tax (direct - 32%), on top of that the Employer also pays an additional "31.42" in Employers social fees (indirect - 31.42%).

Thus, from a pay check of "100", 63.42/131.42 (i.e. 48.3%) is paid as income taxes. This effective rate may be lowered by for example earned income tax credits and private retirement savings contributions.

[edit] Value Added Tax

The value added tax (mervärdesskatt or moms) rate in Sweden is 25%, with exceptions for food and services like hotel room rental fees (12%), and for sales of publications, admission tickets to cultural events and travel within Sweden (6%)[2].

[edit] References

1. ^ ''Belopp och procent - inkomstår 2009/taxeringsår 2010, Swedish Tax Agency (in Swedish)
2. ^ ''Momsbroschyren (SKV 552), Swedish Tax Agency (in Swedish)