Boy, I must have set a record for time between blogs. Now that both my children and my two older grandchildren have their own blogs, I guess I'd better get with it so they don't think I'm a quitter.
I just read my very first, very short, entry and noticed that one of the things I wanted to talk about was health care. Boy did I miss the boat on that. But I do have something to say about it.
I think the bill that congress just passed is horrendous and that we are all going to regret it if the senate doesn't step in and either stop the bill or make changes so that it will be workable without costing over 1 trillion of our dollars. I wonder how much of the bill the congressmen actually read (of 1990 pages). Who can read that much? The government has already proclaimed that the funds for health care will run out before the century is half over. So how are we going to be able to afford subsidized health care for everyone ? And why should we have to be taxed if it's our choice to not be insured.
Perhaps what we need is an option where one can buy insurance for major illnesses and injuries if we are willing to pick up the tab for ordinary office visits and nominal illnesses (strep throat, sprained ankle,etc)
It seems to me that, as others have suggested, if we were to open up health insurance across state lines, making health insurance as competitive as auto insurance, and limited the amount of money allowable in law suits we could probably cut the costs of health care substantially without having to cost the country over 1 trillion dollars.
In the meantime, of course, we should all concentrate on ways to stay healthy so that we don't need a lot of expensive health care: eating properly and getting enough physical activity are a good start. But I don't want to get preachy on the subject. Especially since, over the past week, I have eaten an entire bag of snickers bars. If only we'd had some trick-or-treaters I might have avoided all those calories, but boy did I enjoy them.
Now I'll sign off but am really going to try to make regular entries.

First Edition

I saw this sign over a store with a variety of offerings on a downtown street in Copenhagen last month. The sign cracked me up because it was so American.
My cronies and I have a "thing" when we play bridge. If one of us is holding out on a card or it appears that one of the opponents has all the outstanding trump, an aside of "bitch" generally causes everyone to laugh. I'm not sure what a kitsch bitch is but I couldn't resist including the sign.
Why was I in Denmark? For a very special reason - to make the acquaintance of my newest granddaughter. Born nearly two months early in December and weighing in at a meager 2.2 lbs, by the time we saw her she was a healthy 8 or 9 lbs and 3 months old. Here is a photo of Maddie at 3 months. That's her grandfather's hand holding her head.
As any grandmother will tell you it's tough living far away from your children and grandchildren. My son and his wife have lived in Denmark, where she grew up, for six years and this is their second daughter. The older one, Molli Malou is now 4 1/2 and created quite a stir with her name when she was born because the Danish naming police weren't sure they could accept Molli with an i as a first name. Ultimately the name won out and was written up in an article in the New York Times. So at the age of several months Molli Malou was already known worldwide. Also premature, Molli Malou was a little over 4 lbs at birth but has grown into a beautiful, willful and rambunctious 4 year old. Here's a look at Molli Malou in her roller blading gear. That's "Nana" holding her still before she took off down the street, scaring me half to death!
Here's the bragging part: at 4 1/2 she had perfect control of her roller blades, even going down hill. But I think I aged 10 years while she did it. She also taught herself to ride a two wheeler last summer before she turned four. Amazing!
Now you've met my Danish family, or at least the youngest generation. It's headed by my son, Greg and his Danish wife Trine.
Now as a grandmother I would be in deep doo doo if I didn't introduce you to the other half of my family. My daughter Deb, her husband Gene and their two daughters live only two hours away from us so we get to see them with more regularity, though the two girls are older now and so busy with activities on the weekends that we see them less than when they were preschool. Hannah will be 12 in another month, an age which only makes me realize how old I must be. (Note: no matter what the mirror tells me, I don't feel old so therefore I must not be!) Her sister, Sophie is nine. And here they are with their dog, Teddy. Sophie is on the left, Hannah on the right. You can figure out which is Teddy.
Today was my first real entry into the blog world and since I'm going to be writing as a Nana, I thought it appropriate to start by introducing my grandchildren. There will be plenty of the bitching part in future blogs.

Beginnings

Hello out there. I've never done this before so I'm feeling my way. Pardon any mistakes.
Actually, I know where my blog is going but am so computer semi-illiterate that it's taken me two days to get this far.

I have lots to talk about: for instance, all my grandchildren, though they are pretty well covered by their parents who have their own blogs.

So a lot of my blogs are going to deal with health care - good and bad and believe me I've had massive doses of both in the past six years. If you're interested please come back because once I figure out how blogging works I'm going to be one hot mama!