Happy Earth Day

I've got such exciting news. We have some friends that moved to Zimbabwe (which you may remember) and we wanted to send them some Christmas presents but true to our style we got them sent out a bit late near the end of January. They just got it TODAY. We had given up hope of them ever receiving it and ironically our friends emailed us just a few hours before getting the package and said that they thought that they would never receive it which is exactly the sad conclusion we had come to. Lo and behold they got it today. Julie and I are SO relieved that they got it. I'm super surprised that it took three months for it to get to them, but nonetheless happy they finally got it.

So today was Earth Day and all I really did to celebrate was ride my bike to the village board meeting tonight instead of driving. I slept late this morning which also says that Grace did too because she didn't wake me up. She's supposed to be to school at 9 am and I woke up at 8:30. So she was about 10 minutes late, but we made it. While she was at school I ran to get a few things from Lowe's and I went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients we needed for dinner. Julie got her favorite meal tonight which is an italian sausage, mushroom and tomato pasta dish.

So I'm wondering what exactly would explain the gasoline prices right now. Does anyone really know? Are you as appalled as I am? I don't want to drive anywhere anymore and I'm driving a hybrid vehicle. And the way the prices are changing just astounds me; you go to bed and the price is $3.44/gal for regular unleaded. You wake up the next morning and it's $3.67/gallon? And then two days later it goes up to $3.74/gal. I don't understand and I don't know who is raking in all these millions of dollars, but it's at the point now where it is affecting the way I live my life. You do realize that the gas companies have had (brace yourself) record profits into the hundreds of millions of dollars since prices started to rise last year. I can only imagine what their profits are now. Just incredible and disgusting.

I really wish we'd stop relying on foreign oil for our gasoline consumption and use the oil we have but aren't using. And I wish the government would remove the restrictions stopping the gas companies in our own country from building more refineries that would reduce supply and demand issues. If the government really wanted to turn around the economy this would be a great first step.

You may have noticed my new "feature" in the column to the left which lists the book I'm currently reading, but the book I just finished is called "Real Change" by Newt Gingrich. If you're tired of bureaucracy and the current state of "politics" in our country, you need to read this book. I highly recommend it; it's amazing. Also see the website where they have created the red, white & blue platform - The Platform for the American People. Please read it - it's great for our country and it's something we all need to read and be a part of to make a difference.