Why do banks have branches if money does not grow on trees?

I am beginning to feel slightly obsessed - between the whole "Palin Is Failin' Yet Is Still Not Bailin'" fiasco and the sinking economy (where are the Baywatch Babes when you really need 'em?), I am not getting much done. I am constantly resisting the urge to Twitter every article I come across on both topics. I cannot quit refreshing CNN.com and the NYTimes. X and I wondered at the fact that we were sitting and watching MSNBC of all things last night. Sigh. Actually, I will link this one piece on DailyKos titled "I'll Speak Very Slowly". It gives a pretty analogy of the different pieces of our economy if it were a human body, with the IT sector being a leg (you can survive without one) and with the financial services sector being the heart. Sadly, the article did not offer who the hell is the brains of all this mess, but it did explain nicely why this bailout, rescue, whatever is desperately needed.

I am also way more excited about the VP debates on Thursday than probably I should be. I predict it is going to be a grand, flaming fireball of a trainwreck of distastrous proportions. You heard it first here, folks (not really.) I have invited the lovely Average Jane over to view the spectacle with me. I am really tempted to just have a party - something along the lines of the SuperBowl because..... why the hell not? Jane and I suspect there is a fabulous drinking game to be had in there somewhere, we just need to figure out the rules so that no one gets inordinately smashed.

I have not looked at my retirement account, nor will I. Fortunately, our little sphere here is relatively safe, X and I are conservative with our nickels and dimes so in the short-term, we will be fine. However, long-term? That is what frightens me. No one is safe from the long-term if it all blows up.

I am not sure what else to say. Like most folks, I am just trying to ignore the clenching of my stomach and quell the rising bile.......

Are you where you want to be?If not, why? What will it take to get you to where you want to be?

I just finished Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. In short, I loved this book. Loved it. This novel hit a sweet spot for me -I was desperately in need of a Thinker and it was cleverly written in first-person plural (the voice of "we") while possessing some amazingly spot-on observations of the so-called professional world of Corporate America. I found myself laughing, nodding my head vigorously in agreement and even getting teary-eyed at some parts that brought back so many memories of my former professional life. When I finished the book, I will admit that I did miss a bit of the camaraderie that can happen in the working world. Fortunately, I was able to take many of those former comrades with me to this new I have cobbled together. Goofy Girl, Average Jane, It's Only Me and Surrender, Dorothy are all leftover co-workers from my working days.

One of my favorite pieces in this book, simply because I loathed doing timesheets:

Input meetings made us happy because they meant we had work to do. We worked in the creative department developing ads and we considered our ad work creative, but it wasn't half as creative as the work we'd put in to pad our time sheets every Monday morning since layoffs began.

And this bit, as one character writes in an email to his co-workers:

.........What I'm doing is trying to generate a buck for a client so as to generate a quarter for us so that I can generate a nickel for me and have a penny left over after Barbara gets what the court demands. For that reason, I love my job and never want to lose it, so I hope no one reading this finds me smug or ungrateful. I'm only trying to suggest that as we find ourselves in this particularly unfortunate, miscontrued, ungodly juncture of civilization, let's not lose sight of the nobler manifestations of man and of the greater half of his character, which consists not of taglines and bottom lines but of love, heroism, reciprocity, ecstasy, kindness and truth. What a bloated bunch of horseshit, you will say. And good for you. I welcome you to shoot me up close in the head. Peace, Tom."

Yes, Ferris did not create a very tight story arc and the action weaved in and out of its timeline somewhat haphazardly. However, the ending was worth it and he wrapped up the story very nicely and quite appropriately. This book left me thinking and in fact, still has me thinking today.

I have always been very frank about how happy I am staying home. I feel so incredibly blessed that I am doing exactly what I have always dreamed of. However, I am glad that I did get the chance to have a crazy career, one that I could be 100% devoted to before I had kids. When I left it, I felt that I was not missing anything and still, I feel that I am not missing anything after 3 years of being out of it. While I do miss having co-workers and the adrenaline rush from traveling, meeting new people and pushing to meet ridiculous deadlines, I do not miss the tedium of getting up, fighting traffic and working for the Man. And I love the simple, lazy days spent with my kids because have to hassle with pesky school schedules. Overall, it is nice to be so happy and to not want for much.

Are you where you want to be? If not, why? What do you need to do to get where you want to be? One of my favorite quotes ever is "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" Roll that around on your tongue and in your brain a few times. Think about it. Long and hard.

While I am happy where I am, this is not the end of the road for me. These kids will be heading to school and then to college someday. I will need to find something else to occupy my time. I have some ideas and I am turning them around in my noggin. I have some time before I need to make decisions and it will also depend if we are living in Kansas City or elsewhere as to what I decide to do.

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

That quote is my inspiration and hopefully, will guide me to something as fulfilling as what I am doing right now.

You knew this would come eventually, right?

Oh sure, she could partake of a cheeseburger if she so desired, but truly, she prefers crickets.


moar funny pictures

Who coined the phrase, "coined the phrase"?

So, last week, one of our neighbors stopped by to chat and it turned to politics. When he found out that I wanted to put an Obama sign in our yard, he sort of (sort of not) teased me that he would stop talking to me if I did that. Which, you know, made me really want to put an Obama sign in our yard. Dude! Do not, do NOT tell me what I can and cannot put in my yard. So, signs and bumper stickers have been procured. Oh sure, I am just a tiny Red grain of sand in a vast beach of Blue, but whatever. It is my yard!

On my last post, someone asked about Parents as Teachers and how the timelines work. Basically, families are eligible for the program for 3 years total, it is not necessarily based on age. We began the program when Arun was just a few months old and since I had Anjali so soon after, she has gotten to piggyback on that overlap. Therefore, our visits have included her screenings as well. Again, I cannot stress what an excellent program PAT is - and it is free. I simply do not understand why more folks do not take advantage of such a benefit.

In other news, Arun has decided he would rather watch Curious George (his new BFF, as of late) on our bedroom television which, hello! Works for me so that I can actually watch programs downstairs that involve adults and complex dialogue and intriguing storylines. As such, I have to say that Fringe is really getting me - as I never got into Lost or Alias, this JJ Abrams guy is new stuff to me. I even watch it as soon as the DVR has recorded enough so that I can skip all commercials. And True Blood? Has grown on me. I did not like it at first, but I gave it my 3 Episode Minimum and I am now hooked. I am still not sold on Heroes, though. The main issue I have is that there seems to be no "rules" to which the writers adhere. They manipulate storylines that meander all over the place and they seem to have no point. I am also tired of characters "dying", then springing back to life. Bah.

In other news, here is my new favorite book that Masquerades As a Children's Book But Is Really For Mama:

With such lines as "A nation great, a Church and a State. A pair of towers and a balance of powers", what's not to love? I think my two favorite pages are "Goodnight evolution" which has a picture Jesus riding a dinosaur and "Goodnight Allies" which just has a blank page. Damned straight, mama will not mind reading this one over and over and over.

Goodnight Bush. GODSPEED.

Do you know what you don't know?

Today, our Parents as Teacher educator came to visit. She will have just one more visit and then will not come anymore since the program is only for 3 years. I am really, really going to miss her. She has been such an important resource for me and I look forward to our visits. Her children are 18 months apart (a son, followed by a set of boy/girl twins) so she has also been very understanding and supportive of the 2 Under 2 situation and all that it entails. I love bouncing ideas off of her and getting advice. She is someone I truly respect and admire.

I have always said that motherhood is about ideas, not answers. I have been so fortunate to have such good confidantes when it comes to parenting. In particular, I have really relished my relationships with my sister and with my friend Susan. With my niece and Susan's daughter being so close in age to Arun, it has been so much fun and truly enjoyable watching the all three of them grow up and leapfrog around each other in milestones. It did not matter who talked first, who walked first. We are able to celebrate their differences. As we should.

What fresh hell is this?

In July 2005 while in Vegas during our last Kid Free Vacation shortly before Arun was born, X and I had a fabulous steak dinner with my friend J and her husband J at the Wynn. As we enjoyed our lovely meal, we discussed the ridiculous state of real estate and subprime mortgages. You see, J and J are in the "mortgage business". That is what they do. Furthermore, X and I had just sold our townhouse in the DC/VA area because we suspected that a real estate bubble was at hand with the silly manner in which our townhouse had appreciated in value.

I think that first paragraph should illustrate an important point. If four yokels such as X, J, her husband and I knew about the impending disaster three years ago, then it is safe to assume that others were privy to such information. Perhaps. Bear with me on this vein of thinking, folks. Let us say that, hypothetically, of course, that maybe, just maybe, Senator Obama, Senator McCain and Senator Biden had an inkling that maybe, perhaps, banks should possibly rethink their policies regarding subprime lending. (Palin gets a pass on this one because at the time, she was most likely up in the frozen tundra hunting moose and teaching her children that the word "Trojan" is Greek for "sin" and is synonymous with "a bridge to nowhere but hell".)

The response from the Obama and McCain campaigns is disappointing, to say the least. What a joke. Or rather, I wish they were joking. Let us just hand over 700 billion Big Ones with no restrictions. No salary caps, nothing. Awesome!

Do not even get me started on BeelzeBush.

Furthermore, let us not only jab our fingers in the direction of the Fat Cats running these banks. How about the folks who signed the dotted line for all these loans? No one forced these folks to take out loans even though in many, many cases, they had no business commiting to such debts (particularly those with "interest-only" payments which makes me want to blow a gasket even contemplating why on Earth anyone would take such a loan, much less give it.)

Even more sad? Nothing I have said thus far is profound, for sure. Everyone is pretty much saying that same damned things as I am.

I have included such a few resourceful links about all of this that do a more eloquent job, for sure:

A great explanation using Tickle Me Elmo as an example.
Interesting article on why we may not be in a recession.
A nice little diddy on Bubblenomics.

Now, please excuse me while I go bang my head on the nearest wall.

Why is there a light in the refrigerator, but not in the freezer?

I....I... I have been out of sorts lately blogging wise. I am not sure what to write about or rather, I want to write about everything.

I want to write about the meanness on the blogosphere. About how quick folks are to label someone a troll simply because that person disagrees with them even if said troll had a valid point. About how folks are quick to label someone an elitist just because that person has high educational standards.

I want to write about television. About how I fear for the state of my DVR because there are too many shows, not enough time. About how I am tempted to just delete Heroes because they have blown the last two season finales, completely and utterly. About how much I love, love Fringe, thus far. About how much I hate Entourage these days. About how much I am enjoying Mad Men this season. About how much I need, need new episodes of Antiques Roadshow.

I want to write about how frustrated I am with this election. About how if Sarah Palin went to Ireland, then I guess I have been Paris, London, Oman and Qatar, since my plane had layovers there when I went to Pakistan. About how I might as well throw in Afghanistan and Kashmir, since I saw the borders. About how disappointed I am in John McCain, someone I used to have respect for and would have voted for in 2000. About how I am tired of all the lies. About how tired I am of hearing that "small-town" values are superior, in some way. About how I grew up in a "small-town" and I can report they most certainly do not have the monopoly on values. About how I will cry either way on November 4th. About how I fervently hope it is in relief.

I want to write about Wall Street. About how concerned I am for this country's future.

I want to write about how the "rolling my foot on a frozen bottle of water" trick was making a huge difference in my plantar fasciitis issue, but then I stepped on the cold corpse of a Little People which did not help.

I want to write about how last week, an impatient asshole took an illegal left turn right in front of me. About how I thought I was going to puke from the adrenaline rush when I almost T-boned him while doing 45 MPH in the pouring rain. About how grateful I am for my ridiculous, expensive car and its silly safety features, like Vehicle Stability Assist.

I want to write about how obsessed I am with McDonald's Happy Meal toys right now. About how they have the most adorable Madame Alexander series of dolls from the Wizard of Oz. About how Anjali I must have them all. About how I am really not a fan of the movie, but the book is one of my favorites.

But. I cannot really cobble together anything meaningful from any of that. However, at least things are good here.

Really, really good.

Can you talk to me?

.......piped the small voice from the back of the car last night as we made our weekly trek from Lawrence back to Olathe. And? So I did. While Anjali fell asleep, Arun and I discussed our favorite animals (snakes! spiders!), which ones are good to eat (chicken!) and which are not (frogs!), his Halloween costume options (rocket!) and his current strategy for going to the moon (which involved obtaining some wings, transforming into a bee, then flying there.) As difficult as Three Years Old is turning out to be (the constant defiance, the incessant whining and the relentless demanding is straining my very last nerve to shreds), I do adore the imagination of a three year old. Anything can happen, in their wee noggins. And I relish hearing what they believe could.

So.
First and foremost, I would like to take a moment and frantically wave "Hi!" to Kenna from Lawrence. Last night, I was at a Walgreens there and I heard someone say "Are you Rancid Raves?" I turned around and met a reader who recognized me. *stutter* I was very flattered, of course. But now? Kenna knows that my glamorous existence is vicious facade and that I am really just a dumpy housewife from Kansas. Darn it! Instead of dripping in diamonds, I was dripping in rain, after having frolicked in my mom's yard with the kids.

So.
I was very distressed yesterday. I received an email from a dear friend asking me why I had not replied to any of her comments or Tweets lately. My response? In short, I suck. I have been such a lazy loser with my email correspondence. I still have not really figured out a good method for dealing with my bloated inbox. I clear out messages, then it seems to slowly grow to astronomic proportions yet again. Innernets, how do you handle your emails? Do you reply as each message comes in? Do you file things away into a special folder for "needs response"? Do you designate a specific period of time daily or weekly to catch up? How? I need to get this in line. And now.

Part of the problem, is that I am simply lazy. The other part, is that my time online is unplanned, unscheduled and at best, sporadic. If I can grab a few minutes, then I do. If I cannot? Eh. No biggie. Anyway, I felt absolutely horrible that my friend's feelings were hurt and it was a significant wakeup call for me. Therefore, this weekend, I am going to catch up on my email. And next week? I will respond to every comment (which includes an email to which I can reply.)

However, Twitter? Will probably not change. I am really a broadcasting type of Tweep and rarely reply to Tweets. This is not helped by the fact that I tend to Tweet and check Twitter via my phone, which hampers my efforts at replying in a timely manner.

No, this is not a post complaining about how incredibly busy I am. I am certainly not any busier than anyone else out there. I am terrible at organizing my time. That is all. To add to all of this, I have been sucked into the social maelstrom that is Facebook. Oh My God. It is my friend TLC - she has tracked down tons of our old friends from high school. Then, I tracked down some college friends.

Oh. Speaking of TLC, notice how I linked to her ass? Oh yeah, she has a BLOG now, folks. We infected her and she could not resist our little cult we have going on here. The Koolaid goes down quite easily, no? I am thinking of roping her into some sort of "memories based on a picture" sorta thing. Stay tuned. In the meantime, check out her current post. The one that made me cry - I saw what TLC went through since we experienced so much of both of our childhoods together. I have been the stepdaughter. However, I love my sweet, lovely stepmother so much, it hurts. But, I did not appreciate her when I was younger. I fervently hope that TLC's stepgirls learn the same lesson that my own sister and I did.

I just hope they learn it sooner.

How much is your sanity worth?

Dude. I went to one of those Just Between the Two of Us Friends and Lovers (or whatever) consignment sales today. For those of you not familiar with this special level of hell reserved for mothers (perhaps, fathers have a better sense of self-preservation?), this is how these things work: A company gathers used baby and kid items from folks, prices them, and then takes a commission off the top (I have heard 40%.) Then, they pack all this crap into a teeny, tiny space so that a single stroller barely fits through, much less a double (which of course, half the folks are pushing). Then, they crank up the heat so that everyone develops a fine sheen of sweat the minute they enter. The best part? They hire like a total of four people to cashier for all this. FOUR.

Dude. These events are complete chaos with frantic bargain hunters pushing themselves through the mayhem. I have been to one of these consignment thingies before, with mixed results. They are such a pain in the ass, but the selections are fairly good, even though the prices are a bit steep (garage sales are The Way To Go for steals.) So, why did I bother going today? I happened to see the signs for it yesterday and it worked out that I could just run by it this morning since it was near to me. I had a doctor's appointment, but I carefully budgeted time to wait in line. After 20 minutes of waiting in line, I knew it wasn't happenin'. I had to chuck all of my selections because I knew I would not make it out in time and there was no point waiting. Argh. What a waste of my time! I was not even going to save that much money, it was just that I liked the outfits I had picked. Bah. I will never attend one of those silly blackholes of my time again. I would much rather peruse garage sales and hunt clearance racks.

Dude. Remember that one time when I wondered if I had plantar fasciitis? The doctor confirmed that yes, plantar fasciitis is probably the root of my current podiatric evil. The other day, I stepped on the lifeless form of Baby Jaguar and holy CRAP, I thought I was going to die. So, the problem has not gotten better and until some certain people in this house learn to pick their shit up, I foresee a certain beloved baby feline will make his way to the Humane Society. Hopefully, a more giving family will adopt him. Oh. My. God. The agony.

Why?

I have decided on what I shall respond with to receiving weird questions or comments such as the one from the last post.

Why?

Because asking a question will require an answer. Maybe that white guy in his early 60s meant something nice, but holy CRAP, he phrased it wrong, wrong, wrong. Asking the simple question "Why?" allows someone to redeem himself/herself and vice versa, allows someone to see how rude they might have come across.

End of story.

X and I have seen a lot of subtle racism over our years together. Folks. This is nothing, let me tell you. These are days when I love and adore my family to teensy-weensy bits because I have never felt it once from them. Not. Once. Ever. But my friends? That is another story. I will never get into that but trust me on this. When a friend does not approve of my "mixed" marriage, I know. I know.

And this is not why I am surprised that McCain is all of a sudden neck n' neck with Obama in the polls. *sigh*

Oh. Speaking of which. I am SO weary of folks bashing McCain for his marriage to Cindy by insinuating something raunchy happened in a bar. I have it on good authority from a family member who was also Military and lived in McCain's neighborhood that he is not the cheating scoundrel the leftist media is trying to depict. Still voting for Obama, but just sayin'.

Okay? On to lighter topics now?

So. I am going to do it. Um. Halloween? Just around the corner. And yes, I am already obsessing over it and resisting whipping out the plastic at every chance. And oh my, OH MY - when Costco is selling a HUGE spider, it is difficult to resist when BOTH children are wildly gesturing towards it with excitement.

I resisted the giant spider, but could not resist this:

Arun found this at Border's the other day and how could I say no? This is such a lovely book with really fun illustrations that are spooky but are not necessarily scary or gruesome. Bonus? It is written in very same cadence as "Goodnight, Moon" which means that it crosses a few other literary genres. However, I will probably designate it as a Fall/Halloween book to keep it super special. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Fun stuff. Halloween is my very favorite holiday. Look for more posts about it around here.

Is it okay to tell someone to "Put it where the sun don't shine " even while on a nude beach?

Scene: Mexican Restaurant
Characters: Cagey, X, Arun, Anjali, and 3 Random Men Sitting Nearby

Man #1, says to X while gesturing to Arun: "It's a blessing he looks like your wife."

And that is a direct quote.

What? Huh? Seriously, folks - I can think of absolutely nothing positive from that statement. Please enlighten me if you think that man meant something nice or thoughtful. I welcome any thoughts on this because I am drawing up blanks here.

So, I just finished #3 of the Twilight series late last night. I really need to hear that Breaking Dawn makes all this misery worth it. I mean, I really enjoyed #1...... enough to purchase #2-4 all at once. But Bella's constant guilty whining? Is grating. I hope Breaking Dawn pays off because at this point, I am picking it up to just finish off the series so that I can pick up Joshua Ferris' "Then We Came to the End" - a read that I am quite anxious to get started.

In other news, it had been awhile since I had last shaved. And. Um. Oof. As I went all Paul Bunyon on my legs in the shower today, I could not help thinking, "Wow, if I would just lose some weight, it would be that much less to shave!" That is what is referred to as"incentive" in polite societies. Something like that. So, off to the gym we went today. I love the irony that although my gym habits have been sporadic as of late, I am able to life more weights than ever before. Schlepping over 50 lbs of child meat on a daily basis will do that.

Speaking of the gym and books, I have made 2 goals for myself for the next four months - by December 31st, I need to have done 65 units of exercise (1 unit = 45 minutes) and I need to have read 14 books. I have done exactly 1 unit of exercise and have read 1 book. Stay tuned for details of my failure. Bah.

In other news, I used to have a daughter and her name was Anjali. However, last Saturday, I made the most delicious garlic mashed red potatoes ever. And she spit them out. I swear I heard three generations of my ancestors rattling around in the local cemetery. What the hell? Next to sunflower seeds and chips with salsa, mashed potatoes are my 3rd most favorite comfort food. I was very disappointed in my little girl. I will miss her.

"Marching" Band, Old Settler's Parade

Marching Band, Old Settler's Parade

Toilet, Old Settler's Parade

Bubbles!

What is a synonym for "thesaurus"?

Have always wondered. Anyway, not much cohesiveness here today, so I will throw out some bullets instead.

Bang!Bang!

1. Thank you, THANK YOU for all the awesome comments and advice on the Legos! I would rather get opinions from folks I know, than some random dude on Amazon. So, really - thanks. We are going to go with the simple 71 piece set of Duplos. If it turns out he is a Lego Builder Extraordinaire, we will investigate getting something fancier. A big selling point to the Duplos? Someone remarked on the pieces not being as painful to step on. Less pain? I am so there.
   
2. School lunch price increases are putting a hardship on parents. WTH? That is wrong. Wrong. No parent should have to stress about his or her child's lunch.
3. Okay - that little girl Caylee who has been missing, and yet her mother did not report it for over a month? Um, that is, in and of itself, so very, very disturbing. But now? They find chloroform in the mother's car trunk? Truly, I cried reading this. A little girl is missing, folks. Vanished. Something is so very terribly wrong with this entire story.
4. Every year, before the Johnson County Old Settler's parade, the nearby junior high's marching band makes a practice trek right in front of my house. I heard the distant *boom!boom!*dum*dum*dum* of the drums and got my ass out of bed and down the stairs so that I would be waiting on the front steps. They were playing the Theme Song from Peter Gunn, a classic in the annals of marching band goodness. Ah, the sweet, sweet memories of a marching band.
5. Watching a friend bask in some hard-earned glory is truly inspiring, folks. We had the book signing for the Sleep is for the Weak book last night. So many of our friends and family showed up - it was so cool. Rita has earned this due and I was so thrilled to see her get it. I was also so touched by the friends and family of mine who drove from far and wide to attend.
   
6. And finally. My daughter? Is breaking my heart. It seems that she prefers shoes over handbags. WTF? The other day at Wal-mart, as we passed the shoe section, Anjali leaned out the cart and cried while wailing "Shoooooes! SHOOOOOES!". At home, she frequently brings her shoes to me. Apparently, I am her Al Bundy in all of this. And no, it does not matter if Mary Janes do not really accentuate her green set of dinosaur pajamas, the shoes? They must be put on. NOW, sister. Chop, chop! What did I do to deserve this? I blame my sister for this. She is the shoe hound in the family.
   

Do Chinese folks get English sayings tattooed on their bodies?

Regarding the Sleep is for the Weak giveaway, commenter Mary has won! The drawing was highly scientific - I cut little sheets of papers with names and Arun drew one. Mary, please email me your info (cagey333ATgmailDOTCOM). (Also, do NOT ask Haley if she has received HER giveaway yet. Gulp.)

Regarding the book, Rita and I are doing a Sleep is for the Weak book signing at the Barnes and Noble on the Plaza here in Kansas City. It starts at 6:00pm. Please, oh please come to see us so that we do not look like two assholes wielding a box of Sharpies just hanging out at an empty table. Or something like that. Otherwise, we will have to put all those Sharpies to good use giving each other tramp tats (Although, I should warn Rita, I totally have dibs on The Hungry Little Caterpillar tat. Oh, sister.)

Okay. So...... This is one of those days when I actually wish I was a Power Blogger. But not for what you would think. You see, I am on the hunt for Legos for Arun's birthday. He has already requested a rocket ship and that will soon be ordered. However, I was also thinking he would enjoy some Legos. Lately, I have noticed that the Mega Blocks are maybe not enough and that he really needs something a little more versatile. He is having fun with the Mega Blocks making "chickens", "rockets", "telescopes", "trains" and "cameras". His little imagination is taking off and I would like to encourage that.

So, I began by looking at the Legos website and good gravy. My head exploded. The variety, the choices, the decisions. What the hell are the Duplos? They are supposed to be for Arun's age groups, but what is the difference with them? However, Arun has really good fine motor skills, so I think he could handle the regular ones. I am confused.

Now, if I was a Power Blogger, I could post this question and within a few minutes have over a hundred comments telling me what to buy, where to buy, how to buy and when to buy these damned plastic pieces. So, here I go. Blatant begging. I am a Lego Virgin, I did not really have a set growing up and have little to no experience with Legos. The Lego website sucks and is not very helpful. What, oh what do I buy?

And yes, I am absolutely looking forward to crunching my feet on those little plastic bastards in the middle of the night. Totally.

When you find yourself caught "between a rock and a hard place", is the rock still not hard?

I do not discuss politics much around these here parts. For no reason other than I am not really a political blogger and just do not feel the need to write much about politics. However. Folks may be surprised, but politics are akin to sports in our household. It is something that X and I actively watch, follow and discuss. Okay, okay, we also discuss sports around here. But still......

So. The truth?

• I used to be an ardent Republican and even voted for BeelzeBush in 2000, but later became disillusioned. I did not vote for him in 2004 (admittedly, marrying a Gandhi-worshiping pacifist within that time frame probably contributed.)
• I am now a soft Democrat, but do not truly like any of the parties with all my heart. Maybe, the Libertarians. Maybe.
  
• I like Joe Biden better than Sarah Palin. He is a loudmouth, but what you see is what you get. And he is knowledgeable.
  
• I was relieved that Palin's last pregnancy was not faked and was not horrified in the least that her daughter is pregnant instead. Sad, but not horrified.
• However. I am absolutely horrified at Palin's utter lack of experience. DUDE. 8 vice-presidents have had to step up to the plate and SERVE. I take our VP nomination seriously. You should take it seriously, also. I am tired of the silly question "but what does a VP really do?". Who CARES? They are 2nd in line. That is enough for me.
  
• I am fervently anti-abortion, but am equally fervent in my belief that a woman should have the right to choose. Anyone interfering with that choice scares the hell out of me.
  
• I believe that we have the right to bear arms. It is in our Bill of Rights. No, I do not own a firearm, but I grew up in a household full of them. In a responsible household that taught me the proper respect of them. Do not mess with my rights. If you question that particular right, you are placing an unquestionable faith in our government. Are you ready to do that? I am not.
• I am against the estate tax and in general, love tax cuts because I think the government is frittering away the money that we already give them.
• I am so very, very ashamed of our presence of Iraq.
• I am so very, very ashamed of our lack of presence in Darfur.

And finally.

I like John McCain better than Barack Obama.

My dad came home from Vietnam in May 1969. I was born in April 1971. I will always have a special reserve held in my heart and soul for a Vietnam vet. Always.

I grew up with a haunted father. My dad began turning his life around when I was about 10 years old, but I will never forget the effect that Vietnam had on him. I will never forget the few times that he was willing to share his horrific experiences with me since he mostly kept those to himself. It is a small part of my story as much as it is a major part of his. My sisters and brother are so much younger than me, this is not even something that I have been able to share with them. I remember the agony, but I also remember the recovery. They do not.

So, yes. I have a profound affection for John McCain. I have been following his story since long before he had presidential aspirations (thanks Reader's Digest!) I would have proudly and enthusiastically voted for him in 2000, had he won the nomination then.

But.

I am older. I certainly cannot claim wiser. But I am older and now? I cannot vote for McCain. I am a mother. My children are not 100% white. I am furious and ashamed about our presence in Iraq. I am frustrated about our dependence on oil.

I need hope that our country can turn to a new direction. Obama embodies that hope in ways that McCain cannot.

Therefore, I will be voting for Barack Obama.