Economic Realities Hit the Mulder Household: Mulder Moose changes his career plans

Editors Note: As we prepared this post for publication, we realized that it was most powerful if told in the first person. So we would like to welcome the Mulder Moose to his first Cliff Notes blog posting.

In the State of the Union address last night, President Obama spoke of vast changes in the economic landscape. No longer can our children count on finishing high school and getting a good job at the local factory - perhaps the same factory where their parents worked. As one of many Americans who are chronically unemployed, I can relate.

My father was a lumberjack in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In fact, all my relatives worked in the lumber industry. But in 2001, I was stuck in the UP unable to find work as a lumber jack. My only job was holding a welcome sign at a local gift shop. Luckily, Cliff Mulder spotted me and brought me to Portage to start a new life. Unfortunately, the economy turned worse and I have remained unemployed - no lumberjack jobs to be found. To make ends meet, I was paid to dress up as an elf at Christmas and would also welcome people to high school graduation open houses. While I love living with the Mulders, being unemployed has been difficult and these part time jobs were humiliating (I don't look good in an elf costume).

After hearing the President last night, I have decided to take charge of my future. I went to Macys to buy a professional suit and tomorrow I am signing up for computer classes at Western Michigan University. Now that I have shed my "lumber jack look", my potential is unlimited.

Wish me well,

Mulder Moose

Dad reclaims the title of "Technology King"

Since I was the first one in the Mulder family to buy an iphone, I have been the self anointed Technology King. Over the last year, however, this title was lost to Bryan and Keith. Both Bryan and Keith bought 50" LCD TV's that put our 2000 vintage 36" box television to shame. Every time Bryan, Keith and Laurel came home I was endlessly taunted about my 20th century TV. Philip felt technologically challenged and it began to hurt his performance in school.

Well guess what kids...The King is back!

This week Brenda and I bought a Panasonic 50" plasma TV for the basement. In addition, we picked up a new receiver and a blu ray player. The change is incredible. The TV has a SD card reader for photos and movies and is wireless and is 3D capable.

I can't wait for everyone to see it.

Signed,

Dad aka The Technology King

P.S. I was also able to make great use of our existing entertainment center!

If you can beat it, you should enjoy it.

Tom likes the Darth Vader look when he skis. We went to Bittersweet.
Who ever thought Brenda would be so happy in 20 degree weather?

The snow has been so light, it looks like cotton on the bushes

Bruce likes the Russian KGB look

While many people complain about winter in Michigan and the snowy weather, Brenda and I have learned to enjoy it. This is my 47th year in Michigan during the winter (We missed the winter of 1984/85 since we were in Georgia for graduate school), and I still enjoy the snow. In the last two days, I have been snow shoeing with Brenda and went downhill skiing with Laurel and Tom. It makes such a difference to get outside and enjoy the snow. We have discovered several beautiful spots for snowshoeing and our friends, Bruce and Sharon, like to go with us.

Philip performs before the Kalamazoo Symphony

Philip had a great opportunity this week. As part of the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra, Phil played in a brass quintet ensemble. They were invited to perform in the lobby of Miller Auditorium before the regular Kalamazoo Symphony concert. They sounded great - here is a sample.

You know you are old when...

...this is the type of mail that you receive.

While some of my family think I should use the gift card immediately, I think I can wait several more years.

What really matters! Who really is #1

It is hard to turn on the TV or read the newspaper today without hearing about how the SEC conference destroyed the Big Ten conference in football bowl games. If this was your only news about college, you would assume that Auburn and Alabama are the places to be and that Michigan and Northwestern need to go "back to the drawing board".

Luckily, the ONLY reason we have institutions of higher learning is to provide challenging and rigorous academic programs, not successful sports teams. The future engineers and doctors are going to add more to society than the successful wide receiver. So I opened the latest U.S. News and World Report to see how the Big Ten competes against the SEC in what really matters - academics. If academic excellence took place on football field, Michigan and Northwestern would be three touchdown favorites over the SEC teams.

Let's just keep things in perspective!

P.S. For full disclosure, I received my Master's Degree from a SEC school - The University of Georgia. Plus Vanderbilt is a excellent school and is part of the SEC conference. They just have a lousy football team.

Photos of Mulder Christmas 2010

Breakfast in Bed

A Mulder family tradition is the opportunity to have breakfast in bed on your birthday. While it is a wonderful treat, it is hard to eat in bed and not everyone is hungry right away in the morning. So for Keith and Lisa, we tried a different twist.

Keith and Lisa share the same birthday - 01/01/1986 and since they were going to be back in Houston on January 6th, we did their "breakfast in bed" before they left. Brenda offered them breakfast by the fireplace instead and it was a big hit. Maybe a new tradition?

Linda and Mitchell's Surprise Visit

On Christmas Day, Linda called me to say that she found really cheap tickets to Kalamazoo and that her and Mitchell were coming to surprise Brenda. Well, we pulled it off. I got them from the Detroit Airport while Brenda was in Grand Rapids with Keith and Lisa. When they arrived home, Linda and Mitchell hid in the pantry until Brenda opened the pantry door. You could hear Brenda's screams of joy all the way to Houston. Needless to say, we had a wonderful four days plus Mitchell and Linda had some great times with Noni and Popi and the other Hudsons.

New Cliff Notes Feature

Google keeps adding new features to their blogger website and this week I decided to add one to Cliff Notes. At the bottom of each posting, you will notice several easy ways to share my posting (by email, facebook, twitter, etc.). Just click on the link and you can send my blog posting to anyone instantly. So next time you are on Cliff Notes, you can let everyone know (kinda like if you were winning an Oscar, you would want everyone to watch the Academy Awards).

We love playing board games!

We played a lot board games while the kids were home - one of the best parts of having everyone here. This rousing game of Agricola was won by Keith. My favorite board game is Ra and the kids were kind enough to let me win at least once.

Look at Jessie plot her next move!

That is a lot of grandchildren

When we all gathered for a Mulder Christmas on December 29th, my Mom arranged to have a family photo taken by a professional photographer. I can't wait to see the pictures and I hope to have them on my blog. Here is one photo I took with my camera of Mom and Dad and all their grandchildren. Bryan is the oldest at age 26 and Thaddeus is the youngest at age 4.

Christmas Baking

One of Laurel's favorite activities when she returns home on Christmas break is to bake. This year Lisa put on an apron and pitched in. The white chocolate oreo's are one of Laurel's favorites.

Why do I gain weight over the holidays?

This is the shopping cart from when we let Phil purchase a "little" ice cream to have for Keith and Lisa's birthday celebration. No wonder I am hitting the gym so hard in early 2011.