political outburst

(perhaps it is unnecessary to apologize in advance on your own blog, but i am sorry if any of my pro-democratic/anti-republican rants and comments offend you in any way)

sarah palin...are you kidding me?? who??? if there is anything scarier than the thought of 72 year old john mccain presiding over our country, it is the thought of sarah palin being given the honor of the first female vp in The White House. the hypocrisy is suffocating me. neocon's trash obama for his lack of experience, yet now they adore a chick from a tiny town who was a mayor and then governor of alaska for less than 2 years. she does not believe in evolution. she believe only creationism should be taught in public schools. she tried to ban books from the library of her children's public school, she believes that we are in iraq because we are fighting God's war - seriously?? This fanatic neoconservative mother of five, who took only 3 days of maternity leave after giving birth 4 months ago to a baby boy with down's syndrome, whose unmarried 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant (remember she is a "family values" christian girl)...is ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency of the oldest man ever to run for president?! seriously?? aside from her cynical, snarky, visciously sarcastic personality (if she wagged her freakin finger at the camera one more time during her speech i was going to smash it through the tv) her claim to fame is being a life-long hunter who can "field dress" a moose - and I don't mean put it in a dress and heels after she killed it! If you aren't familiar with this term, do yourself a favor and google it. describing it to you here would cause me to puke on my computer and i'm not willing to do that. she is a former runner-up Miss Alaska, married her high school sweetheart, has gorgeous children and man, can she talk up a storm! but ask yourself this - does anything you have learned about sarah palin lead you to believe that she is in any way qualified, capable or ready to run our country? have her hand on nuclear weapons, negotiate with foreign leaders (hell, she won't even talk to the press and answer any questions), create jobs, solve the mortgage crisis, provide millions of people with healthcare, be commander-in-chief in a world that HATES america and is engaged in two wars already, help the suffering people in darfur, support the fight to cure HIV/AIDS, balance the budget, reduce our $12 trillion deficit (she couldn't even leave her home town in the black...she left behind an $18 million deficit when she became governor), completely overhaul our public education system, help students be able to afford a college education, solve the climate crisis (oh, she doesn't really "buy into" global warming...seriously), help choose the next 3 supreme court justices, maintain a women's right to choose??(she doesn't even believe in a woman's right to choose in the cases of rape and incest - seriously).

the answer is a profound, definitive, absolute NO. she is in NO way qualified to be the vp or president of our country. NO way, NO how, NO mccain/palin...

i am frightened. frightened for the country and for the future of our children. frightened for the planet. frightened for our troops. frightened for those living in poverty. frightened for the world. in one of the most critical times in our history, we just cannot allow an out-of-touch 72 year old, war hungry, defiant, hypocritical man to win the white house with a 44 year old, unqualified, unprepared, small town, moose hunting, pro-life fanatic. we just cannot let it happen.

sports, politics and me

Okay - so I must admit that I really do love television and without TiVo I would surely drop dead. These past two weeks have been bliss for my tv addiction - the ultimate trifecta = Olympics, Democratic National Concention and the US Open! These three events tell you a lot about me - sports junkie, political junkie and hot athlete junkie (i.e., Andy Roddick, James Blake, Roger Federer). It also tells you that I must be a little schizophrenic because how many people get excited by Michael Phelps one night and Chris Matthews the next?? Maybe at the core is how freakin competitive I am. I love competition! I get that massive adrenaline rush, my heart races and I feel euphoric at the mere merging of human drama and competition of any kind, be it athletic or political. Hell - I even love that ESPN now covers the National Spelling Bee! what could be more compelling than small children sweating profusely while they wait to hear what completely obscure word they will have to stand and spell in front of thousands of hoity toity academic types??

What have I learned about myself in all this obsessive watching and overly emotional involvement in anything competitive...I think I am just a cheerleader deep down. I love to cheer for the underdog or the person whose life story I am touched by. I would fight to the death for my favorite teams (i.e., NY Yankees and NY Giants) as well as any athlete that has the fortitude to withstand years or training and sacrifice to compete at the Olympics.

I cheer for Barak Obama and Joe Biden even louder than Andy Roddick this week, believe it or not. If Barack Obama can win the presidential "competition" he will surely have the opportunity to make the many profound changes that our country so desperately needs. If Andy Roddick wins the US Open, I just get to check out his ass for hours on end :)

letting go...hanging on...

I can't believe my baby boy is going to Kindergarten in less than 2 days. I feel like my heart is getting ripped out of my chest - I'm just so worried about him. He is the sweetest, most sensitive boy with an absolute heart of gold. While he is an amazingly bright boy, reading fluently and so inquisitive, he is so soft-hearted and gets his feelings hurt easily. He doesn't play as rough as some do and takes things so personally. I wish I could go with him and protect him from anything hurtful...I just want him to love school, make friends, and never get his heart broken...is that too much to ask? My brain keeps going back and forth...letting go and hanging on...I guess that is at the heart of being a parent - knowing when to let go and when to hang on. God - I'm trusting you to protect my baby boy when I have to begin the letting go part...

olympic fever

i admit it. i have olympic fever, just like I do every two years. i especially love the summer olympics because of the swimming, diving, gymnastics and track and field. i am like a little kid as i anticipate the chills when the American athletes enter the "bird's nest" stadium marching proudly behind our flag...i am filled with excitement at the thought of Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals, Dara Torres, age 41, swimming in her 5th Olympics, Shawn Johnson helping the women's gymnastics team win gold...all of it. i absolutely love all of it. the pride, the thrill of competition, the victories and defeats, the personal stories of the athletes, the buttons, pins, flags fireworks, seeing the people of China (instead of their ridiculous leaders), all of it...but especially the example these young athletes set for the rest of the world - it is a global get-together that highlights what is best about our countries...and it focuses on peace between our nations and each of us working to find our personal best. i have olympic fever and i can't wait!!!

get it together

i am in such a funk these days. i can't seem to get it together. i feel like every single aspect of my life is out of control. i can't get the house clean. i can't get the laundry done, folded, put away. i can't plan meals. i can't get the kids to behave better. i can't get prepared ahead of time for anything. i can't find time to just play. i can't find time to create a "responsibility" type chart to reward the kids instead of just punish them. i can't find the time to rest. i can't find time to read. i can't find time to get my health issues in order. i just can't seem to get it together.

just when i thought i had lost my mind

so yesterday was a really rough day with the kids ~ the summer of little structure and almost no normal routine has really taken a toll on all of us ~ katie and matthew were fighting with each other, hitting, saying really mean things and i completely lost my temper for like hours ~ i couldn't wait for bedtime because i just wanted the day to be over so another one, hopefully better, could begin ~ then a miracle happens just when i thought i had lost my mind ~ i had sent the big kids upstairs to brush teeth, put on pj's, pick out books ~ when i started to walk upstairs about 5 minutes later, i hear katie's authoritative voice start to speak to matthew ~ i stopped dead in my tracks sure that i could bust her saying something horribly mean as she had been doing seemingly all day ~ instead what i hear goes something like this:

Katie: Now Matthew, I want you to sit here by me and repeat after me. Dear God, thank you for making the world and everything in it. Thank you for making my family. Thank you for sending Jesus to save us from our sins. Amen. (Matthew perfectly and obediently repeated every single word)

Katie: Now Matthew, let's talk about sin. Do you know what sin is?

Matthew: What does sin mean?

Katie: Sin is when you do something really mean or really horrible, like when the boy at camp hit you in the stomach today. That's a sin. Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

Matthew: Why did Jesus die?

Katie: (pause) Well, he died on the cross to forgive us for all of our sins. He took them all away and died so we wouldn't have to.

Matthew: He took all of them away?

Katie: Yes, Jesus forgives us and saved us from all the sins.

well ~ i had such a surge of different emotions and i just sat on the stairs and cried ~ i was ashamed of myself for having gotten so mad at them and for yelling so harshly ~ i was so proud of katie for the depth of her understanding of the gospel at age 6 and for sitting matthew down to teach him what she has learned ~ and i was so thankful for the miracle that they are ~ these beautiful gifts from God, who often make us lose our minds, are truly miracles who God sent to us to love, nurture, teach and just do the very best we can with ~ we ask so much of ourselves as moms and daily lose sight of all the good that we do with and for them ~ despite the noise, yelling, name calling and rivalry, God has placed in their hearts an understanding of His love and the seeds have been planted ~ they're getting it...they're really getting it...

i never learn

can someone please explain to me why i put spf 50 on my children every time we are outdoors, yet I never manage to get any lotion on myself?? sometimes i put the leftovers from the kids on my face but never on say my shoulders or back that are going to FRY in this flippin heat! it never fails - the kids have this nice brown tan and i am red and miserable. what a dope.

got all geared up for Aquatica this morning, had everyone excited and ready, drove over and by 10:30am it was already CLOSED because it had hit capacity! see i never learn - wake up early and get everywhere early! early is just a dirty word to me i guess especially on a sunday. now picture my little darlin's as we drive away. we are peppered with questions and crying and what are we going to do now?? so we went to denn john instead - a bit of a let down i must say. actually we had a blast and it was so manageable for malaina. she loved it and aquatica might have been a bit more overwhelming for her. for a little community pool it really is a fun place for an afternoon. but if you go, put lotion on yourself first then the kids (kind of like airplane oxygen masks).