#1 No Longer - Cards beat Pitt!!

Louisville beats Pitt 69-63!!!!

Economic Update

I've been scouring all the articles and came across one that I thought had interesting points and analysis. The article titled, "Economists see longest U.S. recession since WWII" by Emily Kaiser for Reuters starts out saying, "The U.S. recession will probably be the longest since World War Two and could worsen without heavy government spending". This is apparently from a survey of 52 economists from top financial firms, major companies and academia. Most of those polled think the recession will end in the third quarter of 2009.

That's the good news, sort of. The bad news . . . most seem to think the peak of unemployment won't occur until early 2010 implying a slow recovery. Here's the link to the article for your reading pleasure: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN0949925320090110

Want some more good news, nationally, home prices in major markets have seen a 22% decline on average. However, the Louisville area has not seen this level of depreciation in prices. In fact, many areas seem t be holding prices steady. Mortgage rates have been on the decline since December and mortgage officers and appraisers have seen activity spike dramatically after an extremely slow November. This activity has carried over into January. Most of the activity seems to be coming from refinances of existing mortgage with very few new home purchases being involved.

However, I had a conversation with a realtor this week and they are indicating activity is definitely on the rise and they are optimistic about a turn around in real estate purchases.

Stay positive!

Go Cards!!

Well, I've been bad about posting lately but I do have a few things to share today. First, the planets have FINALLY realigned and the stars are all back in place as they should be after the University of Louisville mens basketball team led by Coach Rick Pitino defeated the University of Kentucky last week.

The game unfortunately went down to the wire as Louisville gave up a lead and the game became tied until the 3 second mark when Edgar Sosa pulled up and drained a huge 3 pointer.

Good luck to the Cards tonight as they have just tipped off against #1 Pittsburgh on our home court at Freedom Hall. Believe it or not, I just saw that Louisville is favored by 2 points even though they are currently ranked #20.

Go Cards!!

Look familiar?!

Announcers were loving Michael Bush today who played his first full
game of his career due to McFadden and Fargas injuries. Said something
like, "It's great to see a guy seize his opportunity like this."

Then they said, "What a run by BUSH! He has taken this game by the
throat and squeezed fruit!"

Hey, I can't make this stuff up!

Bush finished with 27 rushes, 177 yards and 2 touchdowns and was about
2 yds from his 3rd TD. He also scored the 65 yard game winning
rushing touchdown.

Great game Michael Bush!!

Funny Things Kids Say & Do

This morning as I entered the kitchen, I was greeted by the sight
below . . .

This was the Post-it note that Mark brought into our room last night asking, "Is Mom awake?"

Me: "No, she's not. What do you need?"

Mark: "I need a blank piece of paper to stick this to. It's a note to my teacher telling her that I want to be called, Buddy."

Me: "You want to be called Buddy?"

Mark: "Yeah, I want to change my name to Buddy."

Me: "Okay Buddy, how about we just make Buddy your nickname and leave your name - Mark?"

Mark: "Yeah, that's what I want! I want my nickname to be Buddy!"

Me: "Okay, why don't you stick that on the refrigerator so we don't forget and we'll get the blank paper tomorrow?"

Mark: "Okay Dad. Goodnight."

Me: "Night Buddy."

P.S. The note says, "My" with a line thru it, "Mark's name is Buddy".

Happy Thanksgiving!

So you've returned home from visiting with family and friends and eaten enough for an entire week, or so it seems and now you're sitting watching football, putting up the tree, or whatever it is that you do when you get home.

Well, maybe you haven't thought about it yet or maybe you're thinking, "I'll worry about it tomorrow", but now how are you going to work off the pounds you possibly just put on by gorging yourself all day?

I've mentioned before that I'm a new iPhone owner and am enamoured with it. My latest addiction is the Application from Livestrong.com. Now if you don't own an iPod, don't stop reading here. This same info is available on their website. If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch, the App makes it even better. Plus, the App is free on iTunes.

You can search its database for various foods including most restaurants dishes. When you find the food/drink you're looking for, click "I ate this" to add it to your "Daily Plate". It will track calories, fat, carbs, fiber, etc. and show how much of your daily caloric goal you have met for the day.

I've been tracking EVERYTHING as I eat or drink it. It definitely makes me think about what I'm eating and even what my next meal is going to be. It also tracks any exercise you do and estimates calories burned. Today I made sure to start the day off with exercise after my morning coffee and actually was able to leave the house headed to our Thanksgiving festivities with negative calories since I had exercised.

Below is the chart of my daily weight since I've started using it! I'm anxious to see how the scale looks tomorrow but think I did pretty well today.