some good advice for uncertain times

Yipes! Woke up this morning to the news that WaMu has failed, and while I am not normally someone who a) pays very close attention to financial news, or b) panics about money and starts making a list of all her assets (turns out, ha, there aren't many), I did get a bit jittery and anxiously started to talk about the need for us to "really tighten our belts," and how it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to start concocting a worst-case-scenario plan. Really beautiful timing - talking about cutting back while lounging in our luxurious room at a fancy-schmancy hotel in Manhattan. Nice.

I tried to lighten the mood by joking to Kevin that we should take a walk down to Wall Street and get a picture of ourselves next to the famous bull, with really sad looks on our faces. I changed my mind when I imagined some desperate, half-crazed, banker making a run for me and tackling me down to the ground while yelling "THAAAAAAAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

In all seriousness, though, these are precarious times and although I'm not sure what the coming days will bring, I have a pretty good idea that (after this vacation) the Shevlins will be just like a couple of little Minnesota squirrels saving up and putting it all away for the long winter ahead.

Some good advice for these uncertain times.