mad mommy

To the silver Honda Odyssey mommy in a hurry to get her daughter to preschool today: I wrote down your license number, when I caught you at the stoplight, after following you through my entire neighborhood - no easy feat, considering the fact that you blew through EVERY stop sign and drove 20mph over the speed limit! Thank you to that pesky/lucky pedestrian that happened to be crossing, as he stopped you in your tracks, enabling me to barely make out your license plate number. And believe me, as I watched you pull into MY girls' preschool carpool line and drop your daughter off, right in front of me, I could only stare in astonishment and think oh no you did NOT!
You will be getting a letter! I have friends on the citizen's auxiliary police force! And failing that, I know by your carpool number exactly which class your kid is in! I guess you just didn't want your little doll to be late, and miss handing in that huge sparkly, hot pink butterfly posterboard with her favorite things posted all over it.

Rah Rah Obama!

Yeahhhh. Way to throw around the words like you speak the language! Way to bring eloquence back! Way to bring the facts and figures back! Way to actually answer the questions! Way to... well, you get the point.



I found the, ahem, debate (if I must call it that) very enjoyable. And found myself wondering what exactly are people hearing when they listen to The Opponent? Is it like Children of the Corn? Do they watch him and recite the talking points in a brainwashed monotone? Come on people! How many times can you answer a question with "I will cut spending." Thanks. We got it the first time. And please, have your cake or eat it - though canst not do both! Are ya gonna be the maverick (loner), or the guy reaching across the aisle, facilitating solutions? Pick one, I'm getting a mixed message.



I have a theory that The Opponents followers are being thrown off by the maverick nickname. They hear that word, and in their heads go somewhere, oh, late 80's, a military base... fighter pilots... Tom Cruise... with me here? And they think The Maverick! H&ll yeah!! I'll vote for HIM! :-) I didn't know HE was running!



My favorite part of the night was Obama's view on foreign relations, and restoring the world's respect for America. He is so well-rounded, from his grasp of economics, to his acknowledgement of America's natural place in the world as a beacon of hope for those less fortunate. So Round One goes to the one who actually IS Mr. Congeniality, because that actually works when trying to get things done and run a country. You know, working together, melding ideas, cooperating... somehow it seems so simple! :)

Look here, missy

A certain BFF has razzed me about my recent adoration of Twilight. Because, technically, it is a "young adult" novel. Technically. Oh alright! I'm the "loose woman" of the book! I'll read anything! I've said it before and it will be repeated - I like big... books and I cannot lie..." Come on, you know you can sing it...
Besides, what are these classifications about anyway. Lack of R language, intimate scenes - come on. Sometimes the best writers say more by saying less. And Lord knows, the teen set is reading more into every scene anyway, regardless of mmmphmm details. uhyeahyeah. Anyway, while the grown-ups of the world were moving on, I have apparently been scoping out the teen crowd & loving it. Can I get a hollah from the one other Anne McCaffrey fan?? Another friend recently told me he was into those Pern books "years ago." I didn't mention that I watch her site for each new release, and read her son's books too... Oh well, some habits die hard. Particularly the sci-fi ones, because hey - it's hard to write sci-fi and make it believable and appealing! I have enough daily experience of The Real World - so please, take me away! Tell me about lovers who *don't* have to clean up messes they didn't make! Throw in a little crrrrazy vampire action! I will read it and be glad that for a moment I got to leave these four walls. Lord knows, the screamer keeps me in a 4 block radius these days , and my how that chafes.
The world has enough going on that is of momentous import, so I like to go off-worlding now and then, and enjoy it enough to share the love. So just smile and thank me in the morning. Because you WILL be up late finishing Twilight. Betcha. BFF. ;-)

She has read too many books...

...and it has addled her brain. :)
I'm back on the subject of "Twilight" - or I should say I never left it, since I thought about that book all night while I whack-a-moled my boys. It must be a particular knack to get lost in a book, and I've possessed that knack for many a year. I remember adolescent days of my Mom having to come up to my room and rouse me out of a book, when she had been calling me to come for dinner. At that time it was The Black Stallion series, and anything else horsey, or anything Madeleine L'Engle/fantasy.

What you may find amusing, astounding, or downright impossible is the fact that I have retained that knack - even in the midst of the 5 o'clock mayhem, I can mentally transport. (Quite a useful skill, I might add! And you would agree, if you have ever stepped foot in a houseful of under-10's before dinner.)

It happened yesterday, in the late afternoon. "Twilight" was so riveting that as I sat in the den reading, with the kids noise in the background, I did not even notice that the 3 had migrated to form a semi-circle around my chair. They were taking turns calling my name and I barely noticed. Finally Cole, gave a louder shout and I looked up, startled. The three of them cackled at that, thinking I was playing with them, pretending to ignore them. I felt a little disoriented and actually agreed to immediate rounds of ice cream. I think. At any rate, I felt mildly disapproving toward myself.
Can a book be "forget-to-feed-your-kids" good? That should be on the rating scale, along with "forget-to-pull-ahead-in-the-carpool-line" good, "forget-to-go-to-bed" good and "forget-you-even-have-kids" good. My favorite fall books are the "forget-there's-a-football-game-on-and-we-won't be-going-anywhere-all-season" type. :-)
So, this book was all that good, so good in fact that as I got within 40 pages of the end, I reserved the next 3 in the series at the library. They had one available immediately, and I wanted it so badly, that I actually took the girls and Phoenix into the library first thing this morning. Whoa. Be still my heart! I know, it astounded me, too.
Alas, book 2 was MIA, despite the librarian's search. All that effort for nothing - now I have to wait for the transport truck to bring My Books from south of town. *evil eye at that other fan who is holding onto the book past the due date*

Here's to book-addled brains and mental transportation! ;-)

Friends, Romans, Countrymen...

OK, that's all the Shakespeare for now, it just sounded like a good intro. Could have just said friends, but the rest rolled out.
I'm here! Present and accounted for! When 3 friends wrote to ask where I was, all in the same day, I realized I had fallen off the face of the earth for a week. =)

I didn't think I could be humorous this week about this pack o' Lears, until I kept repeating a funny quote I read recently. This author, Stephenie Meyer, was describing her 3 small boys, and called them "chimpanzees on crack." :-) That's it! That's where I was all week, handling my cracked up chimps.

Then, because simply being crazy is not enough, I started a painting project. Our banister, which curves around with the stairs, and continues upstairs around the loft, looked boring to me. So I decided to paint it a deep espresso color. Only, I had to tape off 5,000 white spindles so they wouldn't get painted too. And that's only the beginning. The clever paint dude at Lowe's directed me to prime the banister first. I taped and primed for 20 minutes before Baby 4 woke up in an ornery mood, and I'm realizing this lovely project will be on-going... because when Jadyn aka Peelerina got home from school , she went around peeling off the painting tape. Ah.

So I decided to read instead, since I can do that while jostling said baby on one knee. And I got totally wrapped up in this book, Twilight. The aforementioned author, of chimpanzee on crack fame, is riveting! But on my way to reserve the next 2 books, through my library online, I saw emails that lead me here, and well, that's that.

I'm sure I can manage some project pics in the next few days! Or at least a book report on this really good book.... ;-)

Roadkill

It's a little disconcerting to me that my kids are essentially "city kids." And so miss out on the dubious educational experience of roadkill that most country kids like myself find commonplace.

Well, this week while walking around our neighborhood, the kids found a mangled dead bird. And they were SO fascinated. It's curious to me how kids don't shrink from the word dead, because they don't have any emotional association with it yet. They just say over and over "It's dead! Look! A dead bird!" So they poked that bird with sticks, bounced rocks off of it, and asked if I could make it fly again. Finally I herded them along, feeling the little birdie should be left in peace, and slightly uncomfortable with their morbid fascination.

Then, roadkill visited our yard, having been dragged into the yard by some unknown predator. The kids came running inside, yelling excitedly that there was a dead possum in the yard. Though, how they recognized *what* it was, I have no idea. It was only a furry, headless torso. And so the stick-poking, dead conversation began again. I let them examine it, as long as they didn't touch it, and listened to their chatter. The girls chattered & poked and finally decided on a solution to the presence of a dead possum torso.

"Mommy, someone took this possum's head, can you find it and put it back on?"

See? We're all just puzzle parts in their minds... or Mr. Potato head...

Caught up... again...

I know I should just turn off CNN sometimes, and be peaceful and content to not think about politics. And yet... here I am again, watching, soaking it all in, googling comments made by The Opponents, and holding imaginary conversations with myself.
And since I've already delved into politics, why not religion? Ooh, scary. Either draws people closer or scares them off every time! :)
The repeated line in my head today was to Palin (yes, again).

"Hey Palin, God called. He said to tell you that there's only one of Him, and He's on both sides."

But she will be bold, and she will insist that we are in Iraq doing God's task - which smacks of superiority. Because the people we war against are also praying to God for assistance, deliverance and victory. As are the soldiers, bystanders, townspeople and children of all nations involved. God is God. He goes by many names, in fact too many to count.

Here is an awesome song by one of my favorite artists, Jack Johnson. I'll try to post the link, because you can read the lyrics AND hear the song here: http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/jack_johnson_lyrics_3161/sleep_through_the_static_lyrics_73873/sleep_through_the_static_lyrics_728706.html

Overheard

The girls were feeding their stuffed puppies and animals today, and it cracked me up.

They got the nursing pillow, and sat together on the couch breast-feeding their various animals, and carrying on conversations between each other and the animals.

Isabella told her puppy to save some for the rest of the animals.

Jadyn declared early on"Everyone, I can't feed you, I just got 2 little bweasts." Then she told the Beanie crab, "I gonna feed you, 'cause Bewa feeding her puppy a LOT like Mommy feeds Phoenix a LOT."

Isabella tells one baby, "Why did everyone cry? She's gonna drink 2 milkies, so I can't feed the other one." "We need some bigger bweasts so we can feed Po (a big panda)."

Jadyn: "You can't feed my puppy, 'cause he delicate."

Isabella: "Puppy! Don't dwink too much milkie!"

Jadyn then begins to throw her animals around the room like they are in a hurricane. Isabella jumps up to rescue them, but decides throwing them is more fun.

Ah, the balance between maternal feelings and the desire to be wild... :)

One small step...

I came up with a phrase that amused me this week, and since it won't stop running through my head I'll exorcise it here.

Sarah Palin: one small step for Republican-kind, one giant leap back for womankind.

This week, part of the "it" that irks me was said better in 2 news articles than I could have hoped for. And so I'm simply going to share 2 articles as food for thought. 'Cause I've sure been thinking about them, though I try & try to move on and not get agitated. :) Maybe agitated isn't the word... incredulous? boggled? fired up!

The fact remains that the women of my generation stand on the shoulders of women who fought for equality of the sexes. And though I may not choose to exercise every one of those hard-won rights, I hold tightly to the freedom. And I refuse to countenance any potential leader that would revoke those rights. My girls will not grow up in a world without personal freedom, a world where the government dictates to their potential harm, what they can and cannot do with their bodies. It's not about whether or not a woman chooses to exercise her rights - it's the simple fact that the rights exist. And should continue to do so in a world inhabited by equal peoples.

First some humor...
Sarah Palin and foreign policy:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/04/politics/animal/main4414663.shtml

Then some meat...
Gloria Steinem on Sarah Palin:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-steinem4-2008sep04,0,1290251.story

Bike derby!

A busy week... aren't they all?! :)

Isabella & Jadyn had school Tuesday, and Rick took a vacation day. Imagine our delight - only one child - free sailing! So we packed our car-screaming bundle of joy and stayed out riding around, browsing, just hanging out the entire morning. And had lunch out... what a treat for me... And Phoenix fell asleep in the car after 6 minutes (seemingly 16!) of crying, so we were practically alone! :)

This seems to be the way post-preschool will go: Isabella sits me down, and slowly takes each picture/drawing/project out of her bag, describing it in detail all the way. Jadyn throws her bag at me and says "You take it out." Then Jadyn says "Bewa played with a girl today. A girl in a pink shirt." Isabella nods sagely, "Yes. We played ponies." I ask, did Jadyn make a new friend too? Jadyn stares at me and somersaults away. She later names 2 boys in class that she "loves." I'll keep you posted on this.

The big fun deal of the week is the new bike-riding frenzy! A co-worker of Rick's had given us 2 bikes back when our girls were born. They have been in the attic for the past 3 years, and we decided... what are we waiting for?? Bring it on!! So began the daily bike derby in the clubhouse parking lot. And getting there (one block away) is half the battle. Keeping the teetering girls away from the curb, out of the middle of the road, off of each others tires, away from the stroller... whew! But to see them slowly cruising around, sticking close together like they're towing each other with a short rope - it is too cute.