Thoughts for Thursday...

First a photo.

We spent part of Wednesday with my mom. We took O to the park. He had a great time. He's so funny. He loved running around and climbing and having us try to grab him through the holes in the tunnel. I had to pick him up and haul him to the car but he didn't pitch a fit. We had lunch at my mom's and Owen played and messed with the cat. She isn't so into him. While we were there I took some pictures of these huge dandelions in my mom's yard. I think if you click on it you can see it bigger. There's a lot of detail in this photo. I wish I could figure out how to make the pictures larger in the post. I just love all the things that I find when I upload pictures after using the macro lens. All those little curlyques are so neat.

The challenge posed for today by Maureen is: What are the values you cherish even though they run counter to societal values?

Well, first and foremost I'm a follower of Christ. I believe in doing what is right and good and treating people as best I can. This is sometimes very hard and I struggle with it often. But I believe it is important.
What is the opposite of materialism? I value that. There are tons of "things" I'd like to have but they won't make me happier or a better person. I try to be happy with what I have and what we can afford and live within our means. This is tricky sometimes because our income is significantly less than what it used to be and there are lots of things that just aren't options for us right now. But it's important to us that I stay home with Owen and that always comes first. In relation to this, we live debt free. At least bad debt free. We have a mortgage and I have a student loan. This took work but it's cheaper to live this way than to carry the baggage of interest on credit cards and the stress it can have on a relationship and an individual. This is not to say we are experts in managing money. We continue to work on that! These things seem to be counter to our American culture. For example the economic stimulus check we got! Money given to people to go out and spend. Many of whom have thousands of dollars in debt. Doesn't seem right to me.
Being a stay-at-home-mom seems to be counter to our culture too. It's not supported or encouraged in anyway by our government. Many countries encourage this by providing some kind of incentive. Not the US. Here everything is about BIG, BETTER, BEST and MORE.
I also believe in putting garbage where it belongs. I don't like litter. Apparently lots of other people are okay with it as evidenced by the amount of trash all over public parks and roads. Yuck.