My Vote is for Jenn Daniels

I have been helping Jenn Daniels on her campaign run for the Gilbert Town Council seat. In February, I invited many of you to my house to meet her and to see for yourself the woman whose face is on the signs at every intersection, that is before someone started stealing her signs right after the primary election.

Ms. Daniels has so much energy, a great attitude and a willingness to communicate with every resident of Gilbert. She wants to streamline and cut the red tape that keeps businesses away from our town. Gilbert is known for being the worst city to start a business in and most companies are nearly broke before their front doors even open. The process needs to be examined and Gilbert needs to start improving the process sooner than later if we are to sustain the growth and cost of this growth over the next few years. The Town of Gilbert NEEDS small and large corporations or we will likely see our taxes increase.

One last thought: Why can she handle this job being a mother of young children? First, the town council meetings are at night, twice a month. Other meetings are also held at night. Second, any woman who can handle three young boys, be on the board of a pro-family organization, being fully active in her church, being married to a man, managing a household of five, surely knows more about anger management, conflict resolution, time management, employee disagreements/strifes, laundry detail, class warfare, economic sanctions, and job security than any of the other candidates.

Just my 2 cents on the subject of experience. I believe she can handle the job just fine!

The following is an outline of her platform from her website (www.voteforjenn.com):

As a member of town council I will work hard to:

* Balance the town budget with NO NEW TAXES

Gilbert is running an 8.5 million dollar deficit. We must confront this challenge head-on.

My plan to stabilize the town budget is a four step process.

1.) Eliminate waste – this will necessitate expedient line by line critique of the town’s general fund budget.

2.) Prioritize the expenditures – define between the wants and needs of our community while sufficiently funding our core services (police, fire, streets & water).

3.) Increase the tax base – make it easier for businesses to do business in Gilbert. Change the mindset at the town level to work with local business, not against them.

4.) Save for the future – State shared revenue makes up 35% of the annual revenue budget and there is a two-year lag time on that funding. We need to be looking ahead 2-4 years and beyond to make sure that our spending isn’t exceeding our revenue.

* Create and open lines of communication within our community

There is an inexcusable disconnect between the people of Gilbert and our local government. It is essential that the council return to open and transparent communication with the people who elected them.

Want to know more or help with the campaign...leave a comment for me!

Family Pictures

My sister-in-law, Lalani Hunsaker, took our pictures and here is a sampling. Thank you for taking our pictures! I keep promising family I would upload these photos so here they are without captions for the time being.

Family Picture Shoot - March 2009

Scooby Doo, where are you?

It is a mystery worth solving.

Scooby Doo has become a favorite or more like an obsession to Nathan. I don't really care for it but he loves it so he wins the battle some times. So we found this copy at the library and brought it home only to lose it within three days. I have been searching everywhere for it.

Yesterday I had to go to the library to pick up Jane Eyre and to finally tell the librarian that we lost the beloved Scooby Doo. She talked me out of paying for it right then and said I had three more renewal periods left, so I listened to her and decided to hold off. I thought for sure this is only prolonging the inevitable and I would be back soon to pay the $20 for the video.

So today I got around to filing the stack of papers next to my desk and guess what was under a few bills... A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Volume 2!! I couldn't believe it. I vaguely remember putting it in a safe place before the Valentine's rush so we wouldn't lose it. Haha! I will always remember the Andersen home Scooby Doo mystery adventure. Next time I think I'll make a post it note of where I put things I want safe. I'm just glad I saved $20. Now we can afford a babysitter for tonight. Any takers?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are the valentine cards I made for my kids. I actually ran out of time and energy, so Tim had to share his Valentine with Nathan. Sorry about that Tim!

Communicating with Tim

I have a son who cannot communicate without crying and choking. He gets upset at the slightest thing and every time it is almost to the point of throwing up. It is absolutely driving me crazy! I'm not sure what to do, maybe it's a stage and he'll grow out of it. Let's hope so!

He cries when he wants me, he cries when he doesn't want me. He gets upset when he cannot find me. Should I think this is so sweet that my child actually wants me that much?

BTW: He only does this at home. He is like a perfect angel at church or in other people's homes.

Let this be a stage that doesn't last much longer!!