A Christmas Poem

’Twas the night before Christmas, my shopping was done

I’d gotten great bargains, gee, aren’t low prices fun!

But less costly gifts are but small consolation

For my four-o-one K’s brutal devastation.

This year of o-eight ranks surely one of the worst!

It all started when the housing bubble did burst.

How could such a mess happen? And, who should we blame?

The fault lies with culprits far too many to name.

But my rhyme needs a villain, and for me that’s a cinch.

It’s none else but that vandal — the nasty old Grinch,

Who’d slinked into town for some real mischief making

And our long expansion he planned to be breaking.

From that first day on, he was brewing up trouble,

Aiming his sights first on the housing price bubble.

So the Grinch posed first as a home mortgage lender

His too easy loan terms sent some on a bender.

Prudence and judgment the Grinch deemed simply passé

Neither income nor job would stand in his loans’ way.

For a Grinch-loan nothing had to be verified.

‘Cause in MBS bundles these risks would he hide.

When agencies scored these loan pools triple-
A sound
Investors chased his high yields like fox-hunting hounds.

All this was part of the Grinch’s mean little scheme,

Popping the bubble, he wrecked the home owner’s dream.

With his handiwork done, the Grinch felt elated

He knew what came next as these assets deflated.

The fortunes amassed in the boom years just vanished,

And Wall Street’s wizards from their boardrooms were banished.

Then the Grinch plot did from Wall Street so quickly spread

As surging gasoline prices deepened the dread.

And though the oil price upsurge had no lasting cause,

It surely led soon to a severe spending pause.

When Lehman House failed and the markets did seize

Nothing the Fed did could halt the deep credit freeze.

Though the Treasury and Fed tried ev’ry trick,

Nothing could stop the markets from growing more sick.

There’s not any doubt we’re the grip of recession

That doomsayers warn we’ll lead soon to depression.

With bus’nesses shutting ’and big banks a-failing,

The Grinch felt pure joy and his spirits were sailing.

But that nasty old Grinch shall not our Christmas steal,

We’ll drive him from town or we’ll cut him a deal.

We’ll line up for some help from Tim, Ben and Hank..

We’ll use the might of the Federal Reserve Bank.

Since not all the problems are to Wall Street confined

Some fiscal injections too must now be designed.

The president in waiting has named his new team

And shown us the outlines of a grand fiscal scheme.

A middle class tax cut plays a very key part

In hopes it will give spending a hefty jump-start

On new infrastructure too much more must we spend

“This plan will bring” so he says, “this slump to an end.”

New regs for markets will stop all Grinch-like deceivin’

“This,” says Obama, “will be change you can believe-in.”

In the end we know too the Grinch will change his way,

So a brighter future will start this Christmas Day.

We are busy...

Lack of posting is due to correct priorities. I have found myself striving to enjoy every last minute of the dwindling sunlight as we approach winter solstice. Just kidding, the inner locale of the college library has been demanding more and more of my time. Anyway, a quick update:

June-trip to Australia, too far back to remember anything else
July-we turned 26, trip to Lake Tahoe,
August-three weeks of uninterrupted break from school, trip to Seattle, Portland, fishing in Idaho
September-LOTOJA bike race,
October-Leah's marathon in Portland
November-cyclocross race...

Pictures coming soon.

Down Under

Any guesses where we might be this week?

Yes, we are having fun but missing our dogs.

David Archuleta

I just wanted to brag for one quick second. If anyone doesn't know what I do (this is Leah typing not Paul) I am a private singing coach. I teach with Dean Kaelin here in Salt Lake City and have been there for over 6 years. This year has been extra exciting because David Archuleta, soon to be American Idol winner, if from our studio and is Dean's student. I just wanted to say how fun it is to be at a studio with all the energy and excitement that is happening. So if anyone reading my blog wants to be the next American Idol or at least sound like one they should contact me. Oh and of course...don't forget to Vote For David!!!

I chopped down a tree

I chopped down a tree today. (Actually a few days ago)

After which I farted and scratched while marveling at the destructive capabilities of a true man.

Happy Earth Day!!

As many of you can read---my husband posted this. I love trees, but in our defense this tree was really ugly and dying and we had to chop it down to build something in its place. We are not tree hating people- more like tree hugging type.

Hug a tree today in memory of our tree.

A new post is due...

I figured I've kept all you blog stalkers waiting in suspense long enough. Life is good, married to the hottest woman on Earth, have two kids(we call our dogs kids, less of a time commitment and much nicer), found out that I am so popular that 14 messages have accumulated since my last post(woo woooo), and found they sell mini frozen pies, of all flavors, at your local frozen food section. Just enough for one or two people. Life is good.

Here is a quick update:

January was cold, snowy, and I had fun. My better half would have rather gone South with the birds. Plenty of snowshoeing, summitted two peaks to snowboarded down, lots of deer, moose and elk. I found myself waking up to go back to school in an attempt to become smarter. We also took a quick trip to Colorado to visit some good friends. We went to a neat little town(Ouray) that is world famous for their ice climbing, so we checked it out from the so conveniently placed hot springs.

We skipped February for some reason, at least to my remembrance. I'm sure Leah would attest that in fact it did happen and we participated in many things.

March was the month I had been waiting for since last year. Although, our three year anniversary was an important date(March 5) it was slightly overshadowed by March 6th. Jack, our new puppy, arrived in the evening. After Vixen died, the breeder promised the pick of the litter the next time around. We gladly accepted his offer and are now paying for it. Lots of peeing and pooping in the house and razor sharp teeth. Also plenty of puppy breath and eyes that will melt your heart.

April is still here and I cant wait for it to be over. The semester is almost over, freedom until summer semester starts. Although, the month of May will be spent studying for the LSAT. Jack has gained over 15 pounds and growing fast.

He got his dunce hat off and now has taped horns for ears. I also quit working with Coldwell Banker and now work with a neighbor's company, Salt Lake Investment Co. Lots more opportunity and really enjoying the move. Leah has been revamping her schedule to accommodate more students...if you want a spot you should give her a call. We have been trying to cook more and have been exploring many types of foods and new recipes. If you have any you would like to share, please do.

Gardening has already started as I have turned our flowerbeds into greenhouses. We have a plethora of flowers, fruits and vegetables planted. It seems like all the work we put into that thing would would be able to survive through the winter, but I'm sure there is less than two weeks worth of food. But its fun nonetheless.

I finally finished Leah's music studio in the garage, pictures later. It looks pretty good, but I would definitely do things differently if I had to do it again. The best part is, with the rest of the garage I was able to make into a man lair.

This should satisfy all you stalkers for a while. If your lucky I might post before the month is over...