Our Christmas Mantle

I wish I could slow time and freeze these magical days spent with a little baby-turning-toddler running around.  I know I cannot, so I try to savor every moment and soak it all in.  I try not to cram too much into our already busy lives and I try to give him my full attention although I know I often fall short.  But I love each new day and we are really enjoying the holidays over here.  I hope you are too, as imperfect and wonderful as each day may be:)



Today our Christmas Cheer Holiday Link Party is showcasing mantles at Ten June.  Can't wait to see your mantles!

Many of you know we don't have a true "mantle" in our home, but that doesn't stop me from creating "mantlescapes" on a console table or, this year, on a counter in our butler's pantry.  I continued with the metallic theme we've got going on in the stairs and tree and used fresh garland from Lynch Creek Farms after reading the recommendation from Centsational Girl. I like the addition of real greenery, especially since our tree isn't real.

I added some vases of varying sizes for height and scattered ornaments, pinecones and decorative birds. 

The large mercury glass vases are from Home Goods, the tall candle holders are from Target.  

I've had these ceramic birds from Hobby Lobby for ages, but recently spray painted them gold.  I love how easily a shot of spray paint can transform anything. 

Snow and holiday ornaments in a glass vase always looks festive.  I've had the snow for years- I bought it on sale at Pottery Barn after Christmas one year.  I keep reusing it!

baby james (20 months)

Is our little baby actually turning into a toddler/little boy??  Ahhhh, where does the time go?  It's so fun to see what he's interested in and the best part is how much he's talking and how he understands what we say to him.



He's singing the ABC's, counting to 10, singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and talking in general.  Too many words to list in a blog post.  Is it weird that he says "Starbuck's"?! :)  And he's learned "no" - as in, "Ready for bedtime, James?" To which he sometimes replies, "No, no, no." Or if we try to give him a bite of food he doesn't want, "no, no, no."  But the cutest is how he says, "okay" to everything. In the sweetest voice ever, like, "Oh-kaaay".



Tantrums are upon us as well as the sweetest cuddles and "love yous".  He runs, twirls around in circles, and climbs like a monkey.  I'm still mostly "Mana" but I love to hear his little voice say it.  

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If you missed it, go HERE to enter the $50 MA Hadley hand-crafted American pottery giveaway.

Mark Thoma on the Ec 10 Walk-out

I really liked this:

I was going to stay out of this, partly because I don't find this particular expression of the protest very compelling, but I'll add one thing. A big part of the problem is what we are not supposed to talk about in economics, the politics that surrounds the profession and, in particular, policy prescriptions (and don't let Mankiw kid you, through the things he chooses to link, say on his blog, etc., he plays the political game, and plays it fairly well). The fact that one introductory class at Harvard has this much power to affect the national narrative is part of the problem not the solution. It is yet another reminder of just how concentrated power is in this society, and where it lies. Would a protest at a typical state university have gotten as much publicity? Nope. But when it's the institution that educates the rich and powerful, suddenly we are supposed to take note. And we do.

I started blogging in part because I was fed up with the way in which economic issues were presented at CNN and other mainstream news outlets prior to the Bush reelection. Those with the power to get on the air would make claims that were supposedly based upon economics, but were clearly false or at least highly misleading, and they would do so without an effective challenge from the hosts/anchors or other guests. It clearly had an effect on the national conversation, but it was all based upon using economics as a political rather than an analytical tool. So I don't think the problem is what we teach in economics courses, though we could certainly improve in some dimensions. Most courses are careful to cover market failures, etc., and how those problems can be solved through various types of interventions. The problem is the way economics is used by those with a political agenda. If the powerful had an interest in promoting ideas about market failure and the need for government to fix the problem, we'd hear about these ideas endlessly in the media. But those with power want the ability to use it unconstrained by government or any other force, and it should be no surprise that anti-government, anti-regulation, and anti-tax ideas come to dominate the conversation.

One strange thing about introductory economics: it emphasized the virtues of competitive markets.  Yet if markets are competitive, agents can't earn economic (i.e., abnormally large) profits.  Consider the implications of this as certain members of the political class praise the "job-creators."

Giveaway {M.A. Hadley- Handcrafted American Pottery}

Happy Saturday!  Today I'm enjoying a leisurely morning at home, drinking my coffee while admiring the beautiful Christmas tree and then I need to figure out what we're doing today.  I think James and I will do some playing at the park and then start our Christmas shopping while hubby is away at the game:)



If you have holiday shopping to do, you'll love this $50 giveaway from M.A. Hadley.

M.A. Hadley creates handcrafted American Pottery.  They have retailers in several states, or you can shop via their website.  Here's just a sampling of their pottery.

And their holiday patterns are particularly special this time of year.

M.A. Hadley is giving away a $50 Gift Certificate!



To Enter (leave a separate comment for each):

• Visit MA Hadley and leave a comment with your favorite product.


• Join the MA Hadley mailing list


• Follow/Like MA Hadley on Facebook


• Tweet about this giveaway


• Facebook about this giveaway


• Blog about this giveaway


• For another entry, follow MA Hadley blog. (click the "follow" button on the bottom right corner)

The winner will be announced Saturday, December 10, 2011.

Thank you for entering!

New rule: if you are going to call yourself an economist, you need to know the meaning of a confidence interval

I was listening to NPR on the drive in to work this morning, and a heard a man who was labeled "an economist," say that the job growth numbers were disappointing, because measured job growth in November was 120,000, whereas the consensus forecast for job growth was 130,000.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the 90 percent confidence interval of the monthly job growth estimate for the estalishment survey at 100,000.  This means the standard error of the estimate is about 56,000, so the difference between the BLS estimate and the consensus forecast number was less than .2 standard errors, which is essentially zero.  I suppose Mr. Economist would be happy had the number come in at 140,000, which would have been above expectations.

One needn't have a Ph.D. in economics to understand confidence intervals--one undergraduate course in statatistics will do the trick.  Yet week after week, I hear people who call themselves economists yammering on about small movements in numbers that are as likely noise as anything else. 

Holiday Vignette

Hi all!  How is your week going?  I can't believe we are in December already!  Today is all about holiday vignettes and I'm linking up at Courtney (A Thoughtful Place) blog today.  Come join in HERE:)

A little holiday vignette I put together this year was really simple, with some silver and gold wrapped presents, some faux flowers in a silver Target vase and a little greenery I ordered online to add some freshness.  And that cute green trellis pillow is from Milk & Cookies.

And last year I decorated our butler's pantry with aqua, red, white and silver.

First I filled the glass vases (from Target and Home Goods) with faux snow and ornaments.  Then I wrapped “presents” and made a few bows.  

Snowflake ornaments from Hobby Lobby hang from above.

I couldn't believe that I did all of the decorating and snapped most of the photos while James napped! 

 

I love this “naughty” and “nice” gift wrap I found at Wal-Mart last year.   The other wrap is from Hobby Lobby and The Container Store.

You say it doesn’t snow in Texas?

 

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