Vote G.I. Joe

"Hillary is a woman. I'm a woman. I'm going to vote for her."
"Obama is good looking. I will vote for him."
"Obama is black. I'm black. I'll vote for him."

If this is your logic in picking a candidate then I have a recommendation. Vote for G.I. Joe. He's a good solid American with a military background who looks amazing in photos. That's all you need to know. If you aren't going to THINK about what the candidates abilities are, listen to what they say, and use your cognitive skills to assess whether they would make a good President then just vote for a plastic action figure. After all, that's exactly what got us in the bind we are in now.

"Dull Women Have Immaculate Houses"

I was talking to my friend AbbyLadyBug today about the wonder of people who have clean houses. We are perplexed by the phenomenon of people who's houses look like showrooms all of the time. How do they do it? I'm not saying that I don't clean my house. I do. A lot. Between laundry, picking up, doing dishes, etc. it easily is an hour a day and then on the weekends it's even more. So, why is my house always messy?! I know it's possible for people with kids to have neat and tidy houses, but how? HOW? My only answer is that they don't have anything else in their lives but cleaning. That IS their hobby, their pastime, their exercise, their entertainment. It's the only conclusion I can come to. Honestly, I love having a clean house, but having it clean 100% of the time is not worth the sacrifices I'd have to make elsewhere. You will never hear me say, "Sorry, I can't go skateboarding today because I need to mop my floors."

Mama said there'd be days like this...

When I got into work I had an e-mail waiting for me that began "Oh My God!" Following the internal link I discovered that somehow we had received 33 new resumes over night for a position we've been trying to fill for what seems like an eternity. We are into second interviews, but quite frankly haven't found "The One." I headed over to the resumes and the first one I read had this in their signature line:

"There is no compromise or negotiation when it comes to who will run your life. Either you take charge and live a productive life of your choosing or you allow yourself to be ruled by circumstances. But there will inevitably be setbacks. In the old West, a cowboy expression went: "there never was a horse that couldn't be rode, and there never was a rider that couldn't be throwed." Like everyone else, you will have days when everything goes right and you are on top of the world. Relish those days enjoy them, and remember them. Recall the euphoria that accompanied them when you need an extra measure of positive thinking to get back in the saddle after you've experienced an embarrassing and painful fall. ~Napoleon Hill"

Maybe I should have taken it for a a sign and taken stock of all the awesomeness in my life. It's a pretty good list to be honest and I don't really take the good for granted. However, you just never know when you are going to need to recall the good to help you overcome the bad. Today is one of those days. It's not the big stuff that does it, but the minutia that adds up. So, rather than eating my lunch that someone stole from the fridge I am here, eating a banana that I fortunately didn't eat yesterday, looking at the beautiful smiles of my children.

Now, what's next?

Happy Birthday, Mynxie!!!

All I can say is that I love this woman! She's amazing. I hope her birthday is all that she needs it to be.

Happy Birthday, NeeNee

Today is my grandmother’s birthday. If she were alive she would have been 88. Today is a day to celebrate and a day to mourn. I cried today and laughed today thinking about what an amazing person she was and how lucky I was to have her raise me. I love you, NeeNee. Happy Birthday.

On the Children's return

Today you come home.
A little holding my breath.
Old fears come forward.
There you are. I sigh.

No Trying

I’ve probably quoted this here in another post, but it being January 1, 2008 I’m going to repeat it. A successful year is one where when you look back you can find tears and laughter both. I think 2007 was a year like that for me.
In 2007, I fell in love with my boyfriend again and again. He is such an amazing man. I was proud of my children time and time again because they are phenomenal kids. I love them so much. I cheered my family and friends on in their various endeavors watching them succeed and fail and always trying to be there to support them either way. I accomplished some minor goals and stuck to my guns to do the right thing. In turn I cried at my failures, I worried over things that I couldn’t change, educated myself about some important matters and I felt the loss of loved ones deeper than expected. My 2007 wasn’t an apparently ground breaking year, but for me it was a foundation for amazing things to come. It was a wonderful year.
I think 2008 will be just as good for some of the same reasons and some totally different reasons. I don’t have any resolutions really. I need to lose a couple of pounds. I have some financial and educational goals. I’d like to get better at a few things. And of course there are things that I’d like to help my children accomplish and things I’d like to do for/with them. You see, to me a resolution is a promise to myself to do something. I don’t need to promise myself. I just need to do them. It’s like that cheesy “Star Wars” quote, “There is no try. Do or don’t do.” It’s true though. Either do it or not. So, I’ll just follow my plan and see how it goes.

Way to go wOOt! Now you're defined!

Remember back when School House Rock was popular? One of my favorite episodes was the interjections one. Well, I'm happy to note that my favorite interjection has been named Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2007.

wOOt! (expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word "yay" "w00t! I won the contest!"
Submitted by: Kat from Massachusetts on Nov. 30, 2005 23:18

I can't take any credit. WooT is just a cool freakin' work all on it's own, but I'm glad it won.

By the way, thanks to DRS3 for clueing me in on this fact. She rocks.

What? Work?

"I have many friends in the position where they have to work night jobs or work weekends, trying to do what they can to make some money," he said.

Oh my GAWD!!! Someone has to work to afford to get a college education?! They have to spend some of their free time to help pay for something that will get them a significantly better pay check? Heaven forbid! Can you even imagine having to WORK while going to school? What is the life of an over-priviledged, entitled frat boy come to?!

I agree that state colleges should be more affordable. Parents work hard to make sure that their children have the grades to get into a college and it's often hard to find the money to get them there. States should try and do what they can to keep tuition at a reasonable rate so that their citizens can afford to go. Having an educated workforce is key to a states economy in many ways. More economically stable people mean more income tax, less drain on state resources, etc.
However, I think arguing the point that they are actually having to work for tuition is absurd and hardly a college level point of debate. That which is free is rarely ever valued. If you don't believe me take a look at how many students lose the Georgia HOPE scholarship because they can't maintain the B average that full ride requires. I'm not sorry that these kids have to work a part-time job when their friends are partying it up. Part of being an adult is working for the things in life that you want, and if it has to start for some people in college then so be it. I did it. My boyfriend did it. Lot's of people I know had to do it. Deal you big friggin' CU whiners.

Why I love Keith Olbermann

Deceiving the U.S. on Iran

Well Said

I have been somewhat quietly following the national political scene of late. Not my usual M.O. by being quiet. I've been reading a lot and saying very little. Why? Because there are other people who are just a lot more eloquent than I am about this stuff.

A prime example is here.

Check out Dan Froomkin on the Washington post for the full story.

Really, can anyone really take Bush seriously anymore?

R.I.P Evel

When I was a kid I loved Evel Knievel. He was a true 70's idol. I even had the cool Evel Knievel motorcycle that you'd wind up on the base and then it would shoot off down whatever crazy ramp set up a kid could devise. He was a one of a kind and will be missed. Rest in peace, Mr. Knievel. Rest in peace.

Way To Go, HARRY!!

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said he would schedule "pro forma" sessions during the two-week break..."


I would just like to say thank you to Senator Reid for giving us all something to be thankful for with regard to our government.

Happy Birthday, Abby!!

THIRTY-EIGHT!!!! Feelin' GREAT!

Days like this.

You know there are days that are just rolling along fine. You might be waiting for the outcome of something or just doing your normal routine. Whatever. Then out of the blue something comes along to complicate and annoy. Yep. That's the kind of day this is. It's the kind of day I'd like to win the lottery so I just don't have to work anymore.

Farewell, Mr. Goulet

r.i.p.

Lars

The main thing that drew me to this movie was the name "Lars." It's always been one of my favorite names. In fact it was one of the name choices I was thinking of before I had my son. I have to say that this movie completely lived up to the name. I loved it. Ryan Gosling is adorable and amazing in this role. Yeah, go see it.

Peers?

GNP of:

Liberia is $2.821B
Swaziland is $5.936B
Papua New Guinea is $15.41B
United States is $13.13 TRILLION

What could these countries all have in common? Of the 177 countries worldwide these 4 are the only nations that do not guarantee paid leave and/or a substantial birth payment for parents to care for their newborn babies.

It's time for the United States to start matching their 1st world peers in taking care of it's workers. Find out more at www.9to5.org on how we can be leaders in promoting the family value of having time from work to take care of your family.


Statistics taken from "Family Values at Work: It's About Time" found at the www.9to5.org website.

GO Rockies!!

Since the Braves are out of it I am free to root for my home team. Woohoo!!! So, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ROCKIES!!!!

Know when to take your own advice

Today's quote:

"In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development," Rice told reporters after meeting with human-rights activists.

I think the Bush administration that she (Rice) represents needs to take these very same words to heart. Executive priviledge is a falsehood.