Not photogenic

Those two words describe me most of the time.  Every now and then I will take a pretty good picture, but the majority are not too great.

This problem began back in grade school.   I kid you not, on picture day when the photographer would look to see who was next in line for their individual picture, and see me, she would literally cringe and mumble something about taking my picture.  She wasn't mean about it, she was stating truth.  (She was a family friend, so I didn't take offense to it.)  You could bet that I would either have my eyes closed or they would barely be open.  She took more of me than the others because she knew this.

Not a lot has changed.  About six weeks ago, Jay and I went to my cousin/friend's 40th birthday party in St. Louis.  Her sister and two of her brothers (also my cousins - ha) and their families were there and a few of her good friends.  We had a great weekend.  We stayed at the Lumiere Casino, ate a fabulous meal at a place called Carnine's, went to a dueling piano bar and played in the casino until about 1:30 a.m.  We had a blast.

Up until Jay and I left for St. Louis, I felt terrible.  I had had a horrible cold and really didn't feel like going, but I wanted to go so bad and so did Jay.  Off we went, and we are both so glad we did.

Growing up, Danielle (my cousin/friend) and her family lived just down the road from me so we spent a lot of time together.  She has three 'little' brothers.  One of the brothers I hadn't seen for a very long time (sadly, probably a family funeral a few years back).  It was so good to see him and his family.

Funny thing - after listening to him talk and carry on, making everyone laugh (he's a jokester - as is the whole family), I leaned over to our friend, Krista, and said, "Andrew hasn't changed a bit.  He is exactly the same as he always was."  (The only difference is that he goes by Drew now instead of Andrew, but he'll always be little Andrew to me.)

A while later, he and I were chatting and he said, "You know, I just told Krista that you had not changed at all, you're the same ole Sarah."  Ha!  How funny is that?!  

Anyway, we decided we should take some pictures, especially since we don't often all get together.  Sounds simple, huh?  (See the first and second paragraph of this post...)

We first tried to get a picture with our friend, Krista, and so it began.  Photo after photo of silliness. I could not keep it together.   We moved on to a cousin picture and that was a disaster.  We never did get a decent photo that included me.  Jay, Krista and the three siblings looked great in all of them, and I look like a crazy woman.  It was dark in this piano bar and I think I tried to over-compensate at times to keep my eyes open but not look deranged...it didn't work and then the giggling started...and the crying.

I went through all the Kleenex I had brought.  This giggling-til-you-cry scenario is a common occurrence with the Bennett clan.  And once I get started, I cannot stop...all they wanted was one decent photo, but I could not get it together.  (It could have been all the cold medicine I was taking.) The last photo was in the casino later on...I'm calm, but geesh, there I go trying to keep my eyes open.

No wonder Bev, the local photographer, would frown when she saw I was next in line...

Closed tight

Getting cracked up

Normal picture of me - eyes barely open

Couldn't stop laughing.

Need more tissues...

Around 1:00 a.m. but my eyes are open!

Whirlwind budget issues

In January court reporters across the state were notified of a little snafu in the budget for our salaries. The mistake occurred in July, but no one fixed it.  Fast forward to January, and we have a new governor.  The tables have turned and the issue has exploded.  It is a political tug-o-war, no doubt, and one in which the low-on-the-totem-pole official court reporters in our sweet state will suffer.

In the past, we have had hints of problems like this before and they always resolve.  No one ever really worries about them, but this time is/was different.  Two weeks ago, the Supremes directed our chief judges to come up with emergency plans for the crisis.

The present crisis is this - the court reporting salary line item depletes on April 24.  It needs to last until June 30.  Three full months.  There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 550-600 reporters in our state, I'm guessing the majority are women.  Can you imagine the chaos that this has created?

Every circuit has implemented their own plan, or will implement their own plan on April 1.  Many have already started.  It is sad to see that reporters with 35+ years of experience are being laid off come April 1.  Yes, they are eligible to retire, but they don't want to or they would have already.

Our plan doesn't begin until April 1.  At that time, the reporters in our circuit will work two days a week and be furloughed three days.  My little county will be able to carry on, pretty much without complete disaster, but I cannot imagine the much larger counties!  Even with our plan in place, it doesn't stretch the money our circuit has through the end of June.  Something else will have to go down...that could get interesting.

I'm very fortunate in that my family receives our health insurance through Jay's employer.  If that were not the case, I might be in a bigger panic myself.  The powers-that-be are very aware of that situation and say they will do their best to make sure the majority will work enough to keep their insurance.  One has to be furloughed 31 days to lose the insurance.  I saw one reporter that has just been diagnosed with breast cancer...I pray she doesn't lose her insurance.  The stress that poor girl has to be under...

We have a Facebook page for our state reporters and it really has been informative, but also depressing.  I try not to get too caught up in the postings because some people are really struggling and having a very difficult time.  I'm more of a positive person, so I just keep thinking, it will work out.

I have learned that despite what is catastrophic to us, as reporters, the powers-that-be have continued to work on important issues such as declaring Pumpkin Pie the official state pie, sweet corn as our official state vegetable and implementing a Dan Fogelberg day.  I laugh because it is truly laughable.

As of last night there has finally been a little bit of sunshine in our storm.  A house bill has been proposed to be voted on.  It is positive, but as I said, this is a political battle, and we are very low on the totem pole.  I'm somewhat hopeful it will be resolved sooner rather than later, which is what I was beginning to think.  I just looked and the bill has passed through the committee.  I really don't understand how it all works, I suppose now would be a good time to learn.

I wouldn't mind a couple days off, even without pay, but long-term it doesn't sound so great...and for many that have serious situations it could be a nightmare.  I remain hopeful!

Lynch Breakfast Special

I get into ruts with breakfast.  I find something fast and somewhat healthy and filling and then I eat that for months, get tired of it and have to find something else.  And I have decided that maybe I needed to eat more at breakfast so I wouldn't be so hungry by 10:30.

If only I liked eggs...they are so good for you, have protein and are quick, cheap and easy.  I only like eggs in brownie, cookie or cake batter.  I have tried to like them, but it's just not in me to eat them and honestly I cannot stand the smell.  I truly wish I did.

So I have moved on to my latest breakfast combo - either a couple pieces of bacon or a container of Greek yogurt (for protein) and a bowl of Honeynut Cheerios with almond milk and sliced-up bananas.  It is quite filling and tasty.  I am changing it up here and there depending on whether I have bacon or yogurt in the fridge.

I have noticed that I am not as hungry mid-morning and can almost make it to lunchtime without a snack...almost.

The cool part - every morning as I slice up my banana, smell the Cheerios and pour the milk, I think of my grandparents, Scottie & Margaret.  They ate Cheerios with bananas a LOT - maybe not as much as jello with fruit, but almost.  I can picture us sitting in their kitchen up in Mazon having cereal.

Sometimes I think my kids will miss out just a little bit on having to travel to their grandparent's house because that made it even more special.  I know they reap many benefits from having both sets of grandparents here local, but it was sort of exciting to pack up and head north to Mazon to visit Grandma & Grandpa Lynch. I'm sure as I got older, I may have complained about it (who me?), but I know when I was younger, I loved it.

Isn't it great how the oddest things can cause a memory to surface?  Sometimes it's a certain scent, sometimes it's a song, but sometimes it's simply the Lynch breakfast special...

Stupid Tax

If you have ever listened to Dave Ramsey, you know that is where I get today's title.  Jay and I paid a little bit of stupid tax last week.  A stupid tax usually comes from someone in the Murphy family, if you know what I mean.

Last week Jay picked up the bud after school and headed to the gas station for fuel.  He wanted to get some diesel for the tractor so he could blade the driveway while the temps were up.  He also went ahead and topped off the tank in his truck.

They came home, he filled the tractor up and away he went to shove snow.  Not long into his blading, the tractor simply shut off.  Died.  Wouldn't start for nothing.  He looked it over a few minutes and decided to get his truck to pull it out of the middle of the driveway and take it over to the barn.

He got in his truck, turned the key and nothing.  Hmm.  He sat there a minute and was starting to fume at the notion he had received 'bad' fuel from the gas station...then he noticed the odor from his gloves and looked down at his receipt.

$2.19/gal

Diesel costs more than $2.19/gal.  Jay had inadvertently put gasoline into his truck and the tractor diesel can.  That is not good.

I am just about home when my phone rings, it's Jay.  "You will not believe what I just did."

Let me stop for a moment and say this, if you have followed this blog any at all or know my husband, the above statement could pertain to just about anything under the sun.  My first thought was he got another dog.  (I would've strangled him, seriously.)

"Just tell me."  (It's best to just get it over with.)  "I put gas in my truck and the tractor."  Oh Snap!  "The tractor died in the driveway."  "Can I get around it?"  "Yes."  I continue on to our driveway.

I look at the narrow passage and decide to go for it...and should not have.  I was quickly 'stuck' sort of.  Enough that I knew better, so I stopped the car, turned it off, gathered my stuff and walked to the house.  There are certain times in life where it's best to just walk away...

After talking to his diesel mechanic and working out the details of getting the truck picked up, he quickly wiggled my car out of the snow.  He and Lane used the winch on the four-wheeler to pull the tractor over to the barn, and the Quackdaddy came over with his truck to move Jay's truck in a position that could be easily reached by the flat bed coming our way.

About the only thing I could think to say was "I'm glad it was me or the kids."  And ladies, you know exactly what I mean.  I really wanted to shout "Thank you, JESUS, it wasn't me or the kids!"

Fortunately, there was no serious harm.  The truck hadn't broken down along the road.  No accident or injury came about and everyone was safe.  As 'luck' would have it, Jay didn't seriously damage his fuel system.  It was drained and after a change of fuel filters and some REAL diesel, it was running fine.

Funny thing, the mechanic did discover a potential problem in the 4WD mechanism that was about to break.  Had that happened, it would have been a much more serious repair.  And maybe that would have resulted in an accident or injury...

Yes, we paid a stupid tax, but I'm thinking maybe God intervened just a little.