Barbara Ortagus »

I don’t want to perpetuate an unfortunate stereotype, but I am a woman and I am a lousy driver.  I know, I know I am probably setting our movement back 100 years, but I can’t help my honesty.  I get lost and disoriented easily and I inspire fear and close encounters with death for my passengers.  And really, that is just the tip of the iceberg.  And no that picture above is not really me.  I am not that bad.

With winter approaching I took my Yukon in for an oil change.  While going through the drive-thru to pick up a coffee I clipped off my rear view mirror on one of those big yellow concrete posts they have to prevent people like me from knocking the whole building off its foundation.

Slightly depressed I continued on my way to one of those "while you wait" oil changing service stations.  They did things to my truck and while the tried to tell me what they were I just smiled and nodded.  The could have replaced the oil with kool-aid for all I know, but I figure these guys aren’t in business by doing things to far off from what is expected.

I asked for some advice on the mirror thing and they suggested the dealer down the street.  I proceeded to the dealer to get a quote on the repair.  Turns out this sort of thing is kind of pricey but what can I do?  The work needs to be done so I booked a time to bring it back.  Turns it into one expensive oil change though!

Today my 5-year old daughter asked me when we would be putting up our Christmas tree.  Oh my goodness!  I feel like we just finished carving pumpkins and already we are thinking about decorating for the next holiday.

There is little debate that the holidays have been significantly commercialized.  Whether this has gone to far depends on your perception I guess.  I don’t have anything against decorating in the spirit of the holidays, especially if it brings forth feelings of generosity, kindness and goodwill untoward others.

I am not a fan of retail stores simply trying to make a few extra bucks by pimping the next holiday in hopes of eking out a few more days of sales.  That is taking things too far in my opinion.  The best compromise is commercial activity that endeavors to promote the true meaning of the holiday.  Then everybody wins, but this is often a lofty goal.

When I was growing up we never put the tree up until just a couple of weeks before the big day.  We never put it up in the middle of November, but as I drive through the neighborhood I can see other families have already put up their trees and are displaying them in their windows.  Is this not ridiculously too soon?  When do you guys put up your trees?

Welcome to my new blog.  If it is your first time here pull up a chair and stay a while.  It probably is your first time here if you are reading this post because it is my first post and the blog didn’t exists before this.

Anyway I have never done anything like this before and I hope I can live up to the expectations that a blog should be at least somewhat interesting to read on a frequent basis.

For friends and family I’ll be updating you and what is happening at Chez Ortagus.  How the kids are doing, how hubby is doing, what we ate for dinner etc.  (just kidding, I hate it when bloggers yak about what they ate for dinner.

For new visitors, and I do hope I attract some, I will share with you my ramblings about current events, politics or anything else that enters my mind or tickles my fancy.  Please leave a comment to let me know what your thoughts are on the topic of the day too!

I am a pretty down to earth individual and I don’t lean to far to the left or the right (but we do need a change next month).  Some of my posts might just be about what movie I saw or what was on TV last night, while others may get a little deeper and introspective.  But not too much to scare anyone off.  I am pretty set in my beliefs, but I always enjoy hearing a different opinion.