Hi Christy!

ReddHead!

And then there’s this.

Americans are rolling over loans, often ending up owing more for the vehicle than it’s worth.

When Jennifer and Bobby Post traded in their 2001 Chevy Suburban last year for a shiny new Ford F-350 turbo diesel with an extended cab, it seemed like a great deal. Even though they still owed $9,500 on their SUV after the trade-in value, they didn’t have to put a penny down.

The dealership, near the Posts’ home in Victorville, made it easy; it just added the old debt to the price of the new truck and gave the couple a seven-year, $44,276 loan.

It’s not just individual consumers who are at financial risk. Nationwide, an estimated $575 billion in new and used auto loans are written every year by auto manufacturers, banks, credit unions and other lenders. About 30% of the loans that are originated by banks, and 100% of those issued by automaker financiers, are, like mortgages, repackaged and sold as securities, according to the Consumer Bankers Assn.

http://www.latimes.com/busines.....ome-center

i have just received a very disturbing message on my voice mail from and old friend,she said…i have lost everything…i cant find her(called all day) to find out what has happened…husband died a year and a half ago of a brain tumor….dayummmmmmm i wish she would call back

its called upside down

My friend was foreclosed. 11 years of paying mortgage. His wife lost a job for to long and he could not sustain 2 hard jobs.

So much for the free market helping him or themselves. He worked up a deal for a price and they rejected it - ending up selling his house a few months later for 2k more than his deal (after all the work to sell it).

Read up on some Bear websites, its pretty scary. Not may Bulls out there. The worst is personal stories since in aggregate its may be getting clear that tons of people are on their ear before the “coming” recession/depression begins. And this with the first “recovery” were we the middle and poor did not acheive recovery from the last recession. Most massive transfer of wealth of all time - at the same time when billions and trillions are lost and wasted.

Hope you are all well.

I saw Edwards speak on TV the other day in Iowa, I hope he is elected and I hope he is telling the truth. He is the only one with a tie/lead in a state that is saying anything close to what needs to be done (hat tip to DK as well). We are way far off course.

One open thought to folks…. what the heck do you teach your kids these days. I can only imagine what some rich folks teach there kids, but what do you do when you work all those hours, commute all those hours, pay all those taxes and all your kids here is how great our Presidents are? Per the NYT the other day - what do you do when you can’t recoginze your own country?

Song:

Natives Lyrics by Christy Moore
(composed by : Paul Doran)

For all of our languages, we can’t communicate
For all of our native tongues, we’re all natives here
Sons of their fathers dream the same dream
The sound of forbidden words becomes a scream
Voices in anger, victims of history
Plundered and set aside, grown fat on swallowed pride

With promises of paradise and gifts of beads and knives
Missionaries and pioneers are soldiers in disguise
Saviours and conquerors they make us wait
The fishers of men they wave their truth like bait
With the touch of a stranger’s hand innocence turns to shame
The spirit that dwelt within now sleeps out in the rain

For all of our languages, we can’t communicate
For all of our native tongues, we’re all natives here
The scars of the past are slow to disappear
The cries of the dead are always in our ears
Only the very safe can talk about wrong and right
Of those who are forced to choose, some will choose to fight
For all of our languages, we can’t communicate

I read that and was wondering why these people thought it was such a good deal.
I mean, you’re not only paying for the new vehicle, you’re still paying for the old one you just turned in. That’s really not-bright.

Of course, there’s no 115% rule with car loans like there is with houses. You can’t just mail them the keys to your car when your loan exceeds 115% of the car’s value.

Thanks, Joe Biden, for making MBNA safe from predatory consumers!
You go, Joe!

Spanish-language TV is having the year-end woundup of predictions by witches, warlocks, etc., and the economic news is that the U.S. is going to be in recession until 2020. And that doesn’t include the natural disasters slated for North and South America and Europe, they say.

OK, that was just in case you haven’t been keeping up with your psychics.

Everybody have a safe and happy evening, however long it lasts.

think ill go bake…maybe ginger cookies

{{sadlyyes}} Prayers for you and your friend…

It appears Barney Franks and Charlie Rangel have a busy new year ahead of them… 8-(

And the really sad thing is that all the executives who overwaw these policies will be long gone from their respective organizations with the baloon bonuses for the ‘profitable’ years, leaving taxpayers and the securities markest (read - all those 401k plans which ‘outperform Social Security’) holding the bag.

I REALLY miss ‘Edit’. That’s ’roundup’, not ‘woundup’.

And I forgot to mention: supernatural news sez: two wars in the Middle East in 2008. Goodness, I hope that they’re little ones…

OT
Josh announced Golden Duke awards, if you haven’t seen it.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/062327.php

thank you she is not given to hyperbole,and im worried…i tried to tell her last June,things were gonna get ugly,she did not listen and chided me alas

pjevans
but the kicker is that even after the ‘not so bright’ people lose everything - there’s still a defecit for us ‘bright’ people to pick up.

still feel superior?

Did I mention that I think this will be good news for Republicans?

I dunno. But there’s a lot of folks out there like that. Me… I drive a 1987 Chevy S10 V6 Blazer, with 160,000 miles. I take care of the old girl (Nellie Bell) and she takes care of me. My lady drives a ten year old Toyota PU, four banger. And it’s a sweet truck. ;0)

behindthefall — Sorry about that — edit takes a LOT of space for us. Jamie the genius is likely working on some sort of workaround that doesn’t eat up so much server load, but I haven’t heard if and when that may be added in. Will pass along that you miss it, though…

Herpes would be ‘good news for the Republicans’.

There are various reasons why I drive a ‘92 Ford Escort with 120K miles on it.

It runs OK.

It’s paid for.

And other reasons as well.

I read that and was wondering why these people thought it was such a good deal.
I mean, you’re not only paying for the new vehicle, you’re still paying for the old one you just turned in. That’s really not-bright.

People only see — and are only sold — the lower monthly payment. It seems like magic under the bright lights with all the shiny new cars: new truck, lower payment! How could it go wrong?

Based on this gem from Krugman (with an assist from this Ian classic), I heartily concur with Atrios’ designation of Greenspan as Wanker of the Day.

I’d go with Greenspan as Wanker of the last Quarter Century! This guy has been a boob for a lot longer than many people like to give him credit for.

I luv me some CEO platinum parachutes. ;0)

Herpes would be ‘good news for the Republicans’.

And bad news for Democrats as well, like most other things observed by Very Serious People in their Village.

I’ve got a 1 year old Civic Hybrid, but that’s only because the lease on the 4 year old Civic Hybrid was up and the trade-in was $4000 more than the buyout of the lease. (I don’t buy new technology, I lease it…!) Love that hybrid, though.

add Andrea,and you have WANKER POWER COUPLE OF OUR ERA

My favorite auto strategy was to buy 50k mile hondas from upper class suburbs, then drive them into the ground.
Mrs. Mack gave me hell when the timing belt went on her on a Chicago freeway with our 3-month old in the back seat.
We bought a 2 yr old Suburu, which we replaced with a new Civic last year.
I am hoping to never buy another new car again.

they are becoming rhodium
google a 5 yr chart on rhodium

Perhaps we need to lower our standard of living. To say,,, the “Great Depression” levels. Or shall we just spin it and say ‘great recession’ levels.

I wanted the hybrid, but require a manual transmission to stay awake.
Interesting that the manual transmission now gets (very slightly) poorer milage than the automatic.

RedX — I’m so sorry for your friends. That is such a heartbreaking thing to watch. I remember that so painfully from several of my bankruptcy clients back in my private practice days, almost all of whom had either been downsized from jobs they’d had their whole lives or had some emergency medical condition and no health coverage.

We do well in our family, mainly because we’re both lawyers who have been very careful with our own finances through the years — but I have spent my entire career around folks who were barely hanging in there, and we’ve spent a lot of time trying to give a helping hand as often as we can in our own community.

I worry about The Peanut growing up, because we are so much better off than either I was or Mr. ReddHedd was as a kid, and we’ve been talking about things we want to do to make certain she understands that with her own comfort comes a responsibility to help others who need a hand. We do Christmas stockings every year for several needy kids in our area, and we pick out a few angel tree kids as well. We volunteer time, we donate…but as she gets older, we need to do more regular and tangible things like volunteering at the local shelter. If anyone has thoughts on how you’ve done this with your own kids, I’d love to hear it. My parents and my granny raised me to be generous and to never, ever think of myself as being better than anyone around me — or to think of them as being better than me — simply because of money. I want to do that for her as well as she gets older and starts being more aware of all of that. So any ideas would be much appreciated…

Mr. Bush says our economy is roaring. And any one of the GOP prez candidates are ready to perpetuate that ridiculous nonsense.

You want lower payments, you put down more money. Then you hold on to that set of wheels until it’s paid for. Don’t turn it over unless you need to, because that’s all profit for the food chain when you do: they get to resell it for a good price as well as get your payments.

(My family believed in this: we keep the vehicle until it’s dead, or until we really don’t need it any more. They never go out without being paid for. ‘02 Prius, paid for (credit union). And I was making the payments even during the months I wasn’t working.)

Bonne annee a toutes et a tous.

I do not think people can equate having thier car paid-off while others do not to the cause of the coming financial problems. It is wise and prudent but its not that everyone else is irresponsible and that is the problem. Look at the loans some folks got where an African American with the same income was drastically more likely to get sub-prime over a white borower. Also some of the packaging of these loans into investment vehicles being sold as AAA rated bonds/investments that went to junk bonds overnight.

Also folks with a nice healthy 401k — well what happens when companies have a fire sale to foreign (and other) investors in order to raise capital from hard assets to cover paper losses (Ex. borrowing to invest and then borowing more based on paper assets as collateral). If the market tanks then that 401k is gone for who knows how many years. Not good for the major bubble of folks set to retire. Also if the down-turn mixes in higher un-employment…

It would appear they are trying to hold off the down-turn but I do not think it is possible anymore. I do not know by what means or if this is possible but looking at the promises and policy and the environemnt (massive debt, treasury obligations, war funding, dollar, credit crunch, housing market, math & science shifting overseas, Intellectual Property being outsourced with jobs as fast as CEO’s can) it would seem to anyone near awake to be unsustainable.

Paying off a car is all well and good - but what about a house - if the price goes down (as it is) many people will be stuck unable to move trying to fight off bankrupcy (may be better to cut losses), and look at jobs - with no health care many Boomers do not want to retire only to hold onto their health benefits … this reduces fluidity in the jobs market and keeps wages down (and CEO’s don’t want to have to pay more, retrain people, etc - especially in fields that do not have great graduation rates such as engineering).

Would you buy and finance a used car from Richard Nixon, Bush, Romney, Rudy, or Huck?

Christy, when I was still in New York City my church prepared dinners for the homeless on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. The year that I left we fed in the neighborhood of 750 people in the Upper East Side, on 90th Street and 5th Avenue. We thought it would be hard to find people to prepare and serve the Christmas dinner, but we had families with children coming together to work. The day before (remember this is Christmas Eve) the little ones would set the tables, mom and dad would work in the kitchen, and the same people would be back on Christmas day to serve food, pour coffee, and make our guests feel welcome. We were invariably told it was the best Christmas gift they could give themselves as a family.

I recall how unwelcome I was at real estate open houses when I asked the agent proferring the mortgage summary papers, “But what happens after three years of an interest-only loan?” The usual response was a blank look or “You refinance based on your home’s appreciation” or, more likely, being shown the door. They didn’t want anyone who asked too many questions.

For Republicans, economic theory, and applications are about the middle class and working and non-working poor lowering their expectations. It’s called ‘trickling’.

But with a new car you shouldn’t expect much problem for 10 years, also new cars are more fuel efficient. In the UK people don’t hang onto cars beyond five years because insurance goes up disproportionately - it was one way force more fuel efficiency on consumers. I have a Toyota Corolla LE in Australia, not quite 3 years old, and tend to get 42km per litre and this driving around the city. On long distances I have managed almost 58k per litre. I didn’t have to borrow to finance the purchase. I can’t be bothered to translate that to miles per US gallon.

Refinance enough times and there will be no equity. Or perhaps you’ll have to pay someone to take your home. And you’ll likely have to take out a loan somehow to do that.

Christy,

Just over three years ago, we sold our large house in town and moved to the outskirts where we would have more land, a smaller house and no mortgage. This let me stay home with the kids. They and my wife are into horses, so we have three here on the property and the kids have to get up before school to feed the horses. Our older child was not happy about inheriting mom’s seven year old Volvo because it didn’t match up to the other cars seen at the private school. We also work hard on charities and on pointing out that assets come with responsibilities. I really think the animals are a good daily reminder of that.
Overall, I think the biggest impact on your child will be the attitude in the home. Given your work here at the lake, I have no doubts the Peanut will turn out to be wonderful person.

Thanks, Marion — We’ll likely do that as she gets a bit older. Mr. ReddHedd and I have both helped with that sort of thing through the years, at the homeless shelter/soup kitchen and/or the abused women and families shelter and I’d like us to get back to that as she gets old enough to tell me if something is amiss (my prosecutorial background makes me leery of a lot of public action like this until she’d old enough to be proactive in an uncomfortable situation…).

OT
Josh announced Golden Duke awards, if you haven’t seen it.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/062327.php

Speaking as an Alaskan - We wuz robbed!

It didn’t seem to hurt Neil Bush any. He’s getting richer every day - even after a nasty divorce - wonder how come?

America. The land of opportunity! For who?

The media have misnamed another crisis. This ain’t the subprime crisis- or even the credit crisis- this is the “housing bubble pops” crisis.

Our president and the fed sat and allowed the housing bubble to grow to the size of a cosmic blimp- while strokin their dicks and braggin on their great “economy”. The great economy was growing only because of private and public debt. We had historic deficits and historic debt of all kinds. Kids were buyin houses for zero down- and then runnin off and gettin a line of credit after a few months to buy a couple of cars and vacations.

Greenspan, afraid to make a gooper prez look bad, went along for the ride and did nothing to keep the bubble from inflating to the size of the Milky Way.

KAPOW!!

Hell recession!

I drive a ten year old Subaru Forrester. Change the oil religiously. Feel lucky so far

A friend’s parents in Detroit sold the hous his mother was born in (literally) in ‘89 for $24k on a land contract… the same year we bought our first condo in Chicago for 3 times that.
The sad thing is that Michigan has gotten worse.

My folks always said I could have a car - when I could buy it and support it myself.

And I got my first job when I was thirteen because I wanted something that Dad wouldn’t buy me so I said, I’ll show you and get my own money. boy was I an id10t.

I keep seeing TV commercials pitched at older, retired people for “reverse mortgages,” that seem to involve sucking all the equity out of your home so you can oh, go on a cruise or buy stuff. Does anyone know what that’s all about? It feels like a vile, scammy thing to me, but I may be wrong…

ding!

Now c’mon kiddo! As a teacher you say that? It’s “For whom?

Car talk o-boy i just bought a 2000 new beetle,(d) well cared for.. 80,000 on the clock ,gets 40 to 55 mpg and its paid for

You are not wrong.
The idea is you bet you will die before you are homeless.

Reverse Mortgages can be a good deal. They work in different ways but some give you money for life and nothin is paid back until after you kick the bucket.

The idea is you bet you will die before you are homeless.

That’s what I thought it was, but I was hoping that there was some other, more benign outcome somewhere. I wonder which Republican dreamed up the concept of the “reverse mortgage?”

Speaking of “economic kinks”. It seems I read the other day that the Romney campaigh has thus far spent $87,000,000, including $15,000,000 in “loans” by the candidate to his campaign.

A wise older gentleman once told me that if your car costs $100/month depreciation and maintenence, you are ahead. That was 20 years ago. I would revise that up to $200 today.
Buy a car for $5000, put a couple thousand in it over 3-4 years and you are a stone winner. Stretch it out longer. Win Win Win.

With a reverse mortgage, you get a bumper sticker for your shiny new RV:

“We’re spending our children’s inheritance!“

And a yellow ribbon

What The Guardian is reporting on effects in GB.

A “reverse” mortgage is a loan against your home that you do not have to pay back for as long as you live there. With a reverse mortgage, you can turn the value of your home into cash without having to move or to repay the loan each month. The cash you get from a reverse mortgage can be paid to you in several ways:

all at once, in a single lump sum of cash;
as a regular monthly cash advance;
as a “creditline” account that lets you decide when and how much of your available cash is paid to you; or
as a combination of these payment methods.
No matter how this loan is paid out to you, you typically don’t have to pay anything back until you die, sell your home, or permanently move out of your home. To be eligible for most reverse mortgages, you must own your home and be 62 years of age or older.

AARP

My rule has always been to hold onto the older car until the cost of repairs is averaging what a new car payment would cost.

For some reason, the FEC presidential campaign reporting period we’re in now lasts four months, not three. So we won’t see any documentation of how much more Mitt has “lent” his campaign until 1/31/08. And the campaign isn’t telling.

There are some stipulations in some that will f**k the customer sideways. Review all deals with a trusted attorney. For example: Some contracts stipulate that the customer must occupy the dwelling for 6 months per year. If or when illness strikes - BAM! - you’re out on your ass. Certain home/land maintenance requirements can also create a tricky SNAFU.

It can be a scam, especially if the elderly person is relatively healthy. But it can also make sense in certain circumstances — but it really depends on a whole lot of factors that have to be discussed and considered extensively. Unfortunately, a lot of elderly folks are not at a stage in their lives to really consider all of those fully.

It is amazing the monetary scams that target the elderly — especialy thoroughly faux “charities” set up to rake in the cash and barely enrich anyone but the people running them. Remember the College Republican fundraising scam from a coupla years ago? Completely marketed to very elderly folks who, in a few cases, sent those asshats their life savings.

In WV, our state AG’s office has an entire segment of their staff dedicated to looking into mail and advertising scams against the elderly because we have such an aging population. It is such a problem, they have to investigate these claims full time. And we’re a small state…

This is awesome… MIT is offering it’s courses online free of charge, basically, one can audit most of their courses…

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Poli...../index.htm

Reverse Mortgages can be a good deal. They work in different ways but some give you money for life and nothin is paid back until after you kick the bucket.

So your estate consists of a debt? I thought the “American dream” was to create a life for your kids that was better than the life you had… One of the ways folks used to do that was leave a major investment in a house. Well, maybe not so much any more.

Marion

Well SOME want to leave a pile for the kids- and some say “fuck em if they can’t take a joke”.

Speaking of scams that target the getting-elderly, I have to wonder how much extra cash my mom would have right now just from the postage she’s spent on that stupid Publishers Clearing House sw&&pstakes.

Hack

Yeah- lots of things to look at carefully- but they can be a smart thing for some people.

I teach math ;0) But a couple of weeks ago I subbed for my lady in one of her elementary school English classes. Just an hour on my planning period. The lesson was singular and possessive nouns. I had to review that so I went to a fourth grade English book. We have elementary, middle and high school all in the same school.

Parents mortgage:
$55 per month

Boston area mortgage today:
$2500 per month

Difference:
45x

Kids future mortgage to be on same scale:
$113,600 per month

….pop

It can be a debt — or not, depending on how much equity you had in your home at the time you took out the loan. And that’s only one of the criteria that need to be considered in each, individual circumstance. It can be a good thing for some people — but a complete disaster for others — and needs to be reviewed individually by someone who knows what they are doing with finances AND will give you an honest assessment from YOUR needs being taken into account as a perspective. (In other words, a family member who will think about you and you alone and/or a professional who you hire to look solely at your stake in the issues involved.)

*sigh* Well, London just rang in the New Year, I’ll be the last in the World…

Last but not least.

Last is best.

Lots of cliches raise your status above all others.

The “system” has been squeezing the hell out of people. Well, since the bubble has burst, a “correction” will faciliate new buyers with lower home prices and mortgage rates - but a lot of people are going to be out in the street.

Hi Christy. Hi all.

How it collapsed: Mortgage lobbyists doled out stacks of Rolling Stones tickets to keep legislatures from tightening subprime laws: Developing…
from Raw Story Breaking News
How it collapsed: Mortgage lobbyists doled out stacks of Rolling Stones tickets to keep legislatures from tightening subprime laws: Developing..

For those interested in the issue, here is an explanation of the formation of CDOs from the Wall Street Journal. I didn’t quite understand why people blamed the rating agencies until I saw this.

My first home purchase in 1983 had a 12% Reaganomics adjustable rate mortgage. My down payment was just enough to cover closing costs. I had my girlfriend and two roommates to help pay the bills. After year one - the interest rate clicked up to 14%. I thought I might not make it. I was lucky that I did. Many first-time buyers today are screwed worse than I was.

unless, like my 92 year old neighbor, you live too long. she’ll be one the street if she lives another two years, and she still goes dancing once a week. it sucks.

More and better Dems. Better being the operative word. The crap we have posing as leadership is about to give me a stroke.

Dems who care more about the middle class than about the corporations.

We are going to have eleven friends over for a N. Years Eve party tonight. They are all teachers. About a third are Republicans ( i realize that will not come out even) and the rest divided between Demos and Indies. We are going to watch a movie, but the conversion will inivitably turn to politics. Should be lively. And anyone w/out a sober designated driver will spend the night here. We will confiscate car keys if necessary. I told everyone to bring sleeping bags.

lahoma and i wish you all a great coming year. And do be smart and safe tonight. Please.

happy 2008 Kiddo & Lahoma.

It is amazing the monetary scams that target the elderly

i was once going to rent a house, but the older woman who owned it wasn’t well and was living out of town with her daughter. so she sent me to her elderly friend’s house for me to be checked out by the friend. when i got there, the friend, whose husband had died the year before, was ready to start dating and had some questionaires from dating services she was filling out. she showed them to me and i was just stunned to see how many questions were about her income. i advised not dealing with those dating services. (i did get to rent the house - and loved it there).

Digg this post

Here’s a little fod for thought from economist Doug Henwood (”After the New Economy”):

The majority of americans think of themselves as middle class. This is not statistically true.

We have the largest low wage sector of any western country.

And the smallest middle income group of any country in the developed world.

take that mr greenspan, and that goes for the rest of the free market poseurs too.

In Florida, Suzanne Kosmas(D) will challenge Clint Curtis(D)in a primary race to determine which candidate will run against Meany Tom Feeney. Which is the better Democrat?

It’s like listening to the villain, going away with him and shocked when he ties you to the railroad track with the oncoming train barreling down on you. If this was being done to children or very young adults I could understand but these are adults signing on the bottom line of a document they have no idea what it says.

I’m really not callus about people getting massive loans but this is simple math. When I hear the defence for foolish buying that you’ll never have anything if you don’t go into debt, my response is save yourself a lot of money and don’t buy it. Logic tells me I will increase my debt by the interest added to the principal. That is a very high price for something that doesn’t have the value you just committed to pay.

I was laughed at when I purchased my car with cash. Owe nothing. I researched cars that suited my demands for safety and effenciency, selected the car I wanted, went to the dealership and told them I wanted to buy a ….. I also told them exactly how much money I had and if they couldn’t work out a deal with me I’d find someone who would. They worked out a deal with me.

No matter what the purchase, as a consumer we cannot be domb animals (apologies to all animals who really are a lot smarter than many humans) and accept any price sticker on an item. Negotiate.

Too many Americans want someone else to take care of them and do not take responsibility for their decisions. I’ve had to compromise my dream and desires for reality and needs. That’s just the way it is. And will be until I win the lottery.

Anyone notice that Jane’s HuffPost Iowa post earlier today seems to have disappeared?

Christy, just back from starting dinner. I was thinking about things you and Peanut could do other than homeless shelters, etc. What about Heifer International? You could sit down around times like birthdays or Christmas or Easter when gifts may be involved and pick a gift for a family on the other side of the world. Some are very reasonable, like chicks or honeybees. Just a thought…

Quakergirl, I think you and I are on the same page. I have a lifestyle that fits my budget and I owe no one.

Link is still up, but not on the front page.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....78982.html

I worry about The Peanut growing up, because we are so much better off than either I was or Mr. ReddHedd was as a kid, and we’ve been talking about things we want to do to make certain she understands that with her own comfort comes a responsibility to help others who need a hand.

Maybe you could read some books about the Kennedy clan. Honestly, I’d like to know what they put in the kids water growing up to make them all seemingly so conscious of their responsibility to others. Listen to the “old lion,” Ted Kennedy speak. So many of that generation of the Kennedys had such a deep seated sense of service to their fellow man as a means of giving back for the gifts they were given in life. I think it’s quite astounding!

I think you and I are on the same page. I have a lifestyle that fits my budget and I owe no one.

I noticed that, too. Bet we have a lot of good tips for people on how to live well on a stipend.

What about Heifer International?

this is what my daughter did for all of us this christmas. One got a flock of geese that would eventually feed many families; another got the gift of having given honeybees to a group of people so they could make a living from that. And she gave me the adoption of a polar bear through Oceana. I can tell you, these were the most meaningful gifts under our tree this year. She makes me nuts, but she has a big heart, my girl.