Collected Thoughts

Okay, so, now on top of the intermittent morning sickness, I am completely stuffed-up due to a cold or allergies (the trees are blooming here!). And, I can't take anything for it. So, now I drag around the tissues and the humidifier along with my wonderful Zofran (anti-nausea medicine). Gee, being pregnant is GREAT. :-)

My comments on the DePauw sorority debacle . . . but first, I think I have "talked" to more sorority sisters in the last week than I have in the last two years! Okay -- so, this whole issue struck a little close to home because my sorority closed due to lack of members at DePauw not too many years ago. I don't remember our house being the "dog house" and, in fact, I have some kind of memory that while I was there, we were actually the house that was rated most fun to party with -- because we were normal girls who had fun, and did not act all princessy and stuck-up.

But, since being somewhat princessy and stuck-up is the norm for DePauw girls (I think that's fair), my sorority was definitely regarded as "different" and not among the elite. And, within such a small community and at college age, it is hard to be different and not among the elite. I still remember being amazed when I was at Michigan for law school that nobody dressed up for class, nobody wore pearls to anything, and they CERTAINLY did not wear them while working out (a certain Ms. Hoopis, ring bells with anyone?). And, then I was amazed at myself that I was amazed.

From what I understand, the ills of the rush system at DePauw that allow some sororities to become anemic in terms of members and others to literally bust at the seams are going to be addressed in the next year. For me, that development is HUGE. If they do that AND DePauw has the balls (sorry for being crass) to kick Delta Zeta off campus, then, I still feel terrible for these girls, but there is hope. Otherwise, I am afraid that I may have to tell DePauw that they have managed to marginalize and devalue intelligent and valuable women, and I cannot support any institution that does that.

Queasy

So, I am now in my seventeenth week of pregnancy and am still having morning sickness. It has taken on new and unexpected dimensions -- such as the one moment you're fine, next moment you're puking on the garage floor aspect OR the feel sick if you don't eat enough, eat too much, eat protein, don't eat protein aspect.

I keep feeling as though I should be able to "crack the code" and reliably follow a certain diet, eating schedule, SOMETHING to stop from getting sick. But, nothing seems to make a difference. And, I think I am mentally exhausted from trying to take all of the data about what makes me sick and calculate a sick-proof approach.

So, I think I just have to face the possibility that I will:

1. Be sick for the rest of the pregnancy;
2. Not be able to figure out a method to the sickness-madness; and
3. Need to take my anti-nausea pills regularly.

That's hard for me to accept, but, as I said, I am tired of coming up with theories about what will stop it.

So, I just look at my little boy and know that I would definitely, no doubt about it, have felt/been sick every single day in order to be blessed with him, and I will feel no differently about this little one. I just wish I could get away without having to actually feel/be sick! :-)

Just Some Thoughts

I know my posts are really long. I just do not seem to be able to make them shorter -- there is so much to say once I get going, you know. But, I will try to do better. So, here are my thoughts of the day:

1. I wonder if my little boy will ever know how much I love him. I have the menu for his pre-school taped to the wall behind my laptop screen at work, and I obsess over whether he will like the food or not everyday. Today was Salisbury Steak and peas. Drew has had neither, ever (Brooke and I HATE peas). The report from Brooke is that Drew did not eat his lunch, much as Mommy expected.

2. I wish it was Thursday already.

3. Girl Scout cookies are addictive. There are two, cute-as-a-button blonde little girls walking around the legal department right now, pushing a mail cart full of cookies. Do I buy more?

4. Morning sickness blows, especially while you're visiting with friends you hardly get to see or sitting in a meeting, and especially when you're at 16 weeks and it should have stopped by now!

5. Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly (go on, click on it!)

Memphis

The Family Tunstall spent the past weekend in Memphis and environs visiting friends. We got to stay on Mud Island with Kelly Shoop and see the city through the eyes of someone who lives there. Brooke and I both agree that it is most fun to see a city with friends who live there (or who have lived there).

We ate like crazy people -- so, here's the rundown:

The BBQ Shop -- we had BBQ spaghetti (sounds gross, but is really good) and ribs (mine were a mixture of wet and dry). For me, the ribs are better at Rendezvous, but you cannot beat the ambiance of the BBQ Shop, and as I said, the BBQ spaghetti was worth it.

Arcade -- featured in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, which was waiting for us when we got home. This is the classic old diner -- we had a wonderful breakfast starting with beignets (nothing like those you get at Cafe Du Monde) and then blueberry pancakes, eggs, and buttery grits. In the Carolinas, we have found that the restaurants do not butter up the grits for you -- they are served plain and you add the amount of butter/hot sauce you like. I hate plain grits, but the buttery ones at Arcade were GOOD.

Huey's -- Burgers. Very good burgers. And, Kelly was only hit in the back with a half-dozen toothpicks as the kids behind us tried to put them into the ceiling (it's the thing to do at Huey's.)

Donald's Donuts -- On Union Avenue on the other side of the highway. Glorious donuts that avoid the puffy commercialism of Dunkin' Donuts. The best variety, by far, were the Buttermilk Donuts. It sounds like these would be heavy (kind of like the sour cream donuts at DD), but, they were surprisingly light and full-flavored with a really cool, kinky shape.

And, then we hiked out to the "environs". Our friends Mary Beth and Jay (and little Joshua), who lived in Chicago when we did, now live in the biggest city in Tennessee between Memphis and Nashville -- Jackson. They have a cool house on five acres of land 1 1/2 hours from Memphis and 2 hours from Nashville. We ate a lot there too . . .

Corky's Barbecue -- This time I opted for the pulled pork -- it was really good in that Tennessee smoky style, served with a sweeter tomato-based sauce on the side. Although I can say that after the BBQ Shop and Corky's, I could not bring myself to have barbecue the next day. I like Carolina BBQ -- East, West, it doesn't matter. I also had the fully-loaded baked potato. It's hard to screw up a fully-loaded baked potato, but, I can say it was really good and HUGE.

Casey Jones' Buffet -- We are not buffet people, but, MB and Jay both told us this buffet was different. And, it was surprisingly good -- and consistently good across the many dishes. There was a decent salad bar and option of various fruits in light syrups, Johnny cakes made right there in the buffet area, and I loved the mashed potatoes and pot roast. The beef in the pot roast was tender and not gristly, and the sauce was perfectly salted. The other "star" attraction at the buffet is fried chicken -- I do not like fried chicken -- but, my husband ate just the skin off a couple of pieces!

So, a very filling weekend in Tennessee. Seeing the history and character of many of Memphis' neighborhoods made us wish that Charlotte had a little more of that to offer. Charlotte is a pretty city in a pretty part of the country, but it is mostly brand-spanking new. Thanks to Kelly and Jay and Mary Beth for their hospitality!

Y'all come to Charlotte and we'll show you a good time!

The Credit Bureau Monopoly

Since I work for a financial services insitution and have, in various capacities for several years now, I have spent a lot of time thinking about credit reports. I know the ins and outs of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the problems that can happen with an individual's credit report.

And, like it or not, we are all defined by our credit reports. This single document can make the difference between owning a house and not, between getting a job or not, between being able to send your kids to college, or not. Credit bureau apologists will tell you that the document is reflective of whether the person has been responsible with their finances over time or not, and if someone has a bad credit report, that is because they were irresponsible. And, often, that really is true. Except.

Except when someone has a singular, long-standing dispute with a company over a bill, and on principal, that person refuses to pay the bill. Except when someone's ex-spouse runs up the credit card bills in that person's name without telling them, declares bankruptcy themselves, and then leaves that person stuck with overdue bills and significant "late payment history" on their credit report. Except when someone is a vicitim of identity theft.

It used to be that credit reporting was fractured and inconsistent, so, financial service institutions had to take into account a number of other factors to show the customer's likelihood for financial responsibility. And, yes, those factors included personal interaction with the customer themselves and personal references from the customer's employers, friends, business associates, etc. But, with the improvements of technology over the years, personal factors do not matter at all compared to the line items on your standardized credit report. So, any of the personal trauma leading to the exceptions listed above do not matter -- typically.

I applaud financial services institutions finding alternative ways of granting credit to folks that do not include the almighty credit report. There are a lot of underserved populations who either have no credit, little credit or abysmal credit out there -- and most members of that population are legitimate U.S. citizens or have every legal right to be in this country. Some of those folks really are irresponsible with credit and should be viewed as very high risk. But, if the financial institution can figure out a way to separate those out, without the benefit of the credit report, why shouldn't they use that methodology?

Innovation like this in financial services is unusual and should be encouraged. Sure, maybe there are some issues with the initial implementation of the methodology, but, the idea itself is solid and important and good.

That's my soapbox speech for today.

My first post!

Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to my brand new blog!

There are about a million things that I want to talk about in this blog, and we will see how that goes. Please take a look at the "About Me" for more, but, in the meantime, I am just going to jump right into it!

Okay -- so, the New York Times had an article today talking about Intrade.com:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/business/14leonhardt.html?ex=1329195600&en=5af2f211e2418739&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Intrade.com, if you don't know, is a type of stock market concept where you pay to wager on the outcome of, well, basically anything. For example, you can put money on the prediction that Barack Obama will win the Democratic presidential nomination or that Helen Mirren will win the Oscar for The Queen. It's a cool concept and according the Times article, was actually more effective in predicting the final outcome of the last elections than the pundits.

In any case, the point that I found most intriguing is that certain corporations have set up a similar type of system for their employees, at all levels of the organization, to wager on issues affecting the company. Everything from what vendor will ultimately succeed on a bid, to whether a new product should have this feature over that feature.

What a neat idea and what a great way to engage everyone in the corporation on issues big and small. I am not suggesting this is the way to make major decisions in the company -- I just think that it might provide an interesting and sometimes useful perspective. I love technology and the innovative ways it can be used to get new types of information, so, this has really captured my imagination for the time being.

And, that leads me back to this new blog. I know that I am way behind in blogging and that is unusual for me -- I am usually all over new technologies. But, between working and having babies, I just have not been ready to start a proper blog. My excuse now is that because of my new job -- where I provide advice on e-commerce issues -- I really need to understand the blogging community from within its midst.

As I said, we'll see how this goes!