Moving

I'm trying out Yahoo 360 and have started a little blog over there. You can find my little 360 site at 360.yahoo.com/lindamry or click on the title of this post.

A Little Politics

So, most of you know that my politics lean definitely left. Last week I called my Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, asking them to vote no on Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court and to support a filibuster. I also emailed Harry Reid, the Senate Minority leader, telling him that if he didn't support a filibuster he would need to rename his website: www.giveemhellharry.com since he wouldn't be giving them hell, he would just be getting out of the Republican's way.

Anyway, Patty Murray and Harry Reid voted to support a filibuster, but Maria Cantwell did not. Here is the message I just emailed Senator Cantwell:

Dear Senator Cantwell,

I am writing to express my utter disappointment in your decision to vote to end debate on the Alito nomination. I feel that Justice Alito is a direct threat to American Civil Liberties. Your decision to not support the filibuster was a decision to let the Republicans do (yet again) whatever they want.

I was planning on supporting your re-election campaign this year, but at this point I am looking closely at your Democratic rival since I feel that you are losing touch with me and your other constituents here in Seattle.

I am looking for leadership from you and my other Democratic representatives and would like to see you take a stand against some of the bad legislation or incompetent nominees proposed by the Republicans and the Bush Administration.

Sincerely,
Linda Yaw

I'll be sending Patty Murray a little thank you note.

Sigh, we just can't get anywhere. Sometimes I feel like "this country is going to hell in a handbasket."

Anyway, onward!
Linda

Now what?

OK, now that I'm the big 4-0, retirement is starting to seem a bit more real to me. So, I've made a long-term goal. . . But before I get to that, I want to say this. . .Up until now I haven't felt comfortable enough about this blog thing to put anything very personal into it or, I guess, "reveal" myself. I've decided to take a step in that direction. I feel the need for support and accountability. I'm also hoping that someone else can benefit from what I learn.

My long-term goal is to be financially independent by the time I turn 50. That means that I want to have enough assets and passive income that Ron and I don't have to work unless we want to, but we still have enough money to do fun things like travel some and to live on for the rest of our lives. I have been thinking about this since my birthday in September. You may think that this goal is overly ambitious, but I really believe that it is possible. I intend to focus on this goal and put a lot of time and effort into it.

So, I'm going to use this blog to document my journey.

Now, the rules.

For anyone reading this blog, I request that you not dismiss anything out of hand. If you have specific comments, questions, or ideas, then I would love to hear them. I will not listen to any gloomy predictions of my failure or out-of-hand rejections of things that I look into or try.

For myself, I will not spend unreasonable amounts of money on learning new things or trying to "win the lottery." I will not accept anything I read without question, I will apply my common sense and look for corroborating evidence when it seems necessary. I will, however, approach most things with an open mind.

Anyway, hang on and enjoy the movie.
Linda

Next post, what I've found so far.

My new website and headshots

Hello everyone,

My new website for my Personal Assistant/Household Manager business is now up and ready for viewing at www.lindayaw.com!

If you have a few minutes, please take a look at it and let me know what you think. I would love to hear if you have any ideas for things to add or change. In addition, those of you that I've worked for, please take a few moments to email a testimonial of your experience with my service to put up on the site. I would really appreciate any suggestions or testimonials.

In addition, for those who are interested, you can help me choose which version of my new headshot becomes the permanent one on my website. You can go here to look at some and let me know what you think.

And, lastly, feel free to forward my website address to anyone who you think would find my service useful.

Thank you,
Linda

www.LindaYaw.com

I'm finally posting again just to let everyone know that my new website for my business is up! I'm so excited! Go to www.lindayaw.com and let me know what you think by either emailing me or putting a note in the guestbook. The button is on the first page of the site.

Knitting sites

About a year ago I decided to try knitting again. This was (I think) the third time I learned how to knit and this time it actually "took." I retaught myself from Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook by Debbie Stoller. Here are some of my favorite knitting sites:

• Knitting Help.com has everything you need to learn how to knit including free online videos.
  
• Knitty Magazine has a lot of cool patterns and some good feature articles. It comes out four times a year.
• Knitter's Review is a weekly online newsletter with reviews of different yarns and knitting related "stuff."
• Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles is my favorite knitting tool. It gives you all straight and circular knitting needles from US size 5 to 15.
• Bella Online is similar to About.com but targeted toward women with a pretty good knitting section.
• About.com's knitting section is pretty good, too. A good place to start looking for patterns.

I imagine this should be enough to keep anyone busy for a little while. If you have your own favorite site not mentioned above let me know and I'll check it out for addition to the list above.

Smiles,
Linda

How my hubby and I met

Following the theme of How We Met started by my friend, Beverly, and her mom, Grandma Marge, I thought I would write our story (at least as I remember it).

At Walla Walla High School, they had something called "arena registration." This meant that we would go to the school gym a few days before school started and walk around signing up for the classes we wanted. When I was starting my Junior year, I ran into Cathy at registration. I'd seen her around, but didn't know her very well. She invited me to tag along to a Dungeons & Dragons game that she was going to. I was at loose ends, so I agreed.

We went over to Chris's house where I met Chris, Cecily, Beverly, and Ron. I can't remember if Jack or anyone else was there. Cathy was, and still at times is, the "instigator." She seems to like getting her friends together and then observing what happens. Chris was the Game Master and a fairly good looking guy. Cecily was the strange red-head sitting under the table. Beverly was the cute blonde with curly hair. And then there was Ron. The main impressions I had at the time were that he was awful young to have a beard and his character kept getting killed. He was wearing his standard summer uniform of cut-off jeans and a red tank top. I'd like to say that I really took notice of him when I met, but that wouldn't be true. He worked very hard over the next three years to worm his way into my heart, and he's never managed to worm his way back out no matter how hard the two of us tried at different times in our relationship. Something that I'm very grateful for.

And so, here we are, some 22 or so years later, great partners on our life journey.

Happy Valentines Day,
Linda