You had me at "You..."

This delectable note was in my inbox this week:

You were one of the first‏
From:
Barack Obama (info@barackobama.com)
Sent:
Mon 10/13/08 1:26 PM
To:
Bethany

Bethany --You were one of the first 100,000 people to own a piece of this campaign. You provided the strength needed to build a movement. Back then, few pundits or insiders thought we had a chance. But thanks to you, we overcame steep odds. Twenty months later, millions of Americans all across the country have joined you, working for change.

Oh Barack. You had me at "You were one of the first...." Oh wasn't I. I read about you, googled, youtubed and generally stalked you for the past 4 years. When others had never heard your name, I toted a Barack button on my handbag. When your name was but a blip in the Chicago legislature, I forwarded your local speeches. I fell for you. Your crisp diction. Your controlled eloquence. The way you say "Well. Look." as you gather your thoughts.

I have enshrined my fridge with your smiling countenance and love letters, pushing my children's artwork to the fringes. My little ones see your face on tv and come shrieking for me - "Mom! It's A-wok-a-bama!" *sigh*

Waiting for your call‏
From:
BarackObama.com (info@barackobama.com)
Sent:
Wed 10/15/08 11:06 PM
To:
Bethany

I know you are waiting for my call. I will place it very soon now, when early voting week opens.

Your siren song of change has captured me. Please don't break my heart.

Sincerely yours,

"one of the first"

Song for today

This song has been running through my head all week.

Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCxZvD_wZ6I

A jumble of unrelated ideas

I had a coupla things brewing up into stories overnight.

The first one was "My grandmother thinks Sarah Palin should be President and I have been struck dumb." Something about the cute little suits she wears, combined with her cute mannerisms, or somesuch notion. But she is so cool for a granny, that I could only listen and mumble respectfully that I disagreed. And finally admit we would get nowhere with this discussion and besides that, my throat was closing up on me and my eyes were bugging out. Such is the toll that stifling of political opinion takes on me. Such is my respect for my beloved Gig. :-)

But I have just the solution for people of like mind:


Write her in on your ballot! Really! Go ahead! There's a spot for people that you think could get the job done, so use that blank space! I think that's exactly what you should do, and get a few of your friends to do the same (but only a few friends, mind you).


And then I'll see you in November... :-)


(What?! You think I'm kidding, and there must be some trick to this?? I promise not. You're truly allowed to write in your own choice. Just don't hold me accountable for the outcome.)


Then I was going to post some fun action shots of the kids playing in puddles yesterday, which I may still do.


But when I walked out to the mailbox, and saw this on the driveway, courtesy of Cole, I knew I had my post:





A propos of nothing, my boy graffiti'd peace slogans on the driveway! With exclamations galore, to show his extreme emotion! "No hate!!!" and "Love is best!!!" - a 2nd grade view of the ideals of life. I love it. (Sorry, pic wouldn't turn...)

Happy Friday all - have a no hate kind of weekend...

Teen angst!

I know this will not be funny to some people... but it really cracked me up! All due respect to overwhelmed parents and all, and feel free to remind me of my hilarity when I am a mom of 4 teens...

On the news this morning, there was a story on a recent problem. It seems that the Safe Harbor law that was passed is being misused. The law was intended to stop infant abandonment, by making it legal to leave unwanted babies at certain locations like fire stations and hospitals.

But lately, parents have been dropping off their TEENAGERS! What an option!

Your kid throws you some teen angst and -BAM! Dropped off!

I called my Mom to tell her I was thankful that this law was not in effect when I was a teen, or I surely would have grown up as a ward of the state. :) Mom asked if there was a limit to the amount of times you could drop a teen off, or was it only allowed once. :) Sorry Mom, Jeremy's not a teen anymore, he's yours for good...

Hawks a-swooping

Phoenix is deeply enamored with trees (said the woman who named him after a bird, sheepishly) (not that I named him sheepishly, no, that was with confidence. Just that I am noticing his avian tendencies rather sheepishly!). He will lie on a blanket in the back yard for a very long time, delightedly cooing and kicking. We call it “watching the leaves dance.” He gets all of his appendages a-going, just a-thrashing away, and is so a-thrilled when the wind a-blows and all of the branches a-wave. Haha. That was a-irresistible.

I discovered today that it works from inside too. He was discontent, and it was raining out. So I put him on a blanket by the back door, which is glass, so he could see the tree right outside the door. Magic in the forest – it worked! He saw those branches, with the rain all drip-dripping through them, and the leaves all jiggly with the breeze, and he became content.

But yesterday when we were out back, Phoenix wriggling in delight, me reading alongside him in delight, a hawk flew into the yard again. It was smaller than the one that visited earlier in the spring (pictured in my blog headline, and responsible for the confirmation of Phoenix’s name), but still very cool. It landed briefly in the tree near me, then swooped down into the neighbor’s yard. I soon heard small squeaks and assumed it caught whatever it was after. I couldn’t stand up to look over the fence though, because I was all of a sudden struck by the notion that it might swoop in and take Phoenix!

And that notion snowballed until I was decidedly & weirdly superstitious about leaving his side at all. Like the tales of fairies returning for changeling infants, my mind raced with the idea that my boy might return to his home in the sky… I mean, really. He does a great hawk cry – truly authentic. He would be an asset to any raptor family.
I know. I clearly spend too much time in the company of kids, fairy-tales, my lonesome, and reading sci-fi/fantasy. Part-bird, part-boy! Maybe he has owl blood, which could explain his nocturnal tendencies. Well, no, he doesn't exactly hoot. He only screeches. I'll have to think about this some more.

Ode to Costco

I think that I shall never see
I sight that is so joyful and lovely
As 3 hungry pumpkins sitting on a bench
Sharing one slice and one drink to quench
The hunger! The thirst! The ravenous hordes!

Well, my rhyming petered out, but this is all true - take one giant Costco cheese slice, divided by 3, and one medium drink - and you've got dinner for 3 for less than $3. No whining, no pouting, just glorious silence accompanied by munching and swallowing.

And 2 snickering strangers, avidly watching the carnage that is our kids eating Costco pizza. These people said it was such a treat to get "dinner and a show" but even more of a treat to see us feed all those kids with ONE slice. I told them that's how I keep them lean and mean, at their fighting weight. Then I told them we would be back next week, and may possibly charge a next-table fee for interested patrons.

Such is life when you roll 6 deep.

Gentleman Joe

Happy Friday folks! =)

Well, I honestly cannot say I "watched" the debate, because I kept getting distracted by Palin's beehive, and had to look away. So I listened, and heard waaaay too many Beaver-Cleaverish phrases. Those gosh darn maverick hockey mom outsiders just make me want to say gee whiz and wowsers!
Biden certainly played nice, and even when he called Palin on dodging questions, he did it in a soft way. So that was a little disappointing. I like attack-dog Biden! Of course he had to moderate it, but could have gone with a bit more spunk I think.

I feel like Joe Biden stated clearly the goals of the Obama-Biden ticket, and connected the dots on salient issues. So I was satisfied on that account. But boggled on the so-called mommy appeal of Palin. The persona, charisma and experience of Obama & Biden weigh heavy with me. And the thought of Palin in crucial foreign policy negotiations makes me nervous. Her mid-western pet phrases will not seem half so cute in those situations, and will hardly get the job done. Cuteness can only mask ignorance for so long - and should never replace a firm grasp on policy. Not when our national security is at stake. Cuteness is off my radar when it comes to representing American interests on the worldwide stage. Talk about starry-eyed surprise - when the glaze of Palin's physical appeal has been rubbed off of Republican eyes, that's when you get the surprise - as in, Surprise! I don't know a thing about world politics!

So the only real debate question at this point should be this: Who do we all want to stand up AS us? To speak FOR us? And I am infinitely more comfortable with a well-versed, well-traveled team of leaders who are able to move among a variety of cultures both domestic and international. Maverick won't mean a thing once you're out of US borders. On the world stage a maverick is more akin to a rogue nation - that goes its own way regardless of international opinion.

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. ;-)