My pride wrapped in yarn

Random Great American picture. Trusty old point and shoot!

I had no idea we needed a stadium blanket for soccer practice tonight. Meredith and I froze while watching Alex run up and down the field, weaving in and out of tiny orange cones. I conned Merdi into sitting on my lap as much as possible; but she doesn’t understand the human blanket concept yet.

As we pulled into soccer, my cell phone rang and I noticed it was a call from the elementary school. I had Alex with me, so I knew it wasn’t a your-son-just-threw-up-in- gym-class call. As soon as the sweet lady told me she was with Market Day, I cringed. I KNEW today was Market Day pick up, and even fielded my reminder call last night. I became a self-fulfilling prophecy by joking with the reminder mom that I would most likely forget to pick up my order. I kept my promise.

While Meredith was at school this morning, I made an honest attempt at buying her some warmer clothes. If she can avoid wearing pants, she will, but my dress and tights combos seem to be limited this year. I hit my regular haunts and didn’t find much. A friend suggested I try a department store, like Macy’s. Never even occurred to me! I am easily overwhelmed and I don’t like to shop. Department stores do me in. I think I might have to go to an actual indoor mall, rather than my normal lifestyle centers. I’m sure I’ll just wind up buying a bunch of stuff on line that doesn’t fit. That way I’ll have an entire post written while I wait in line at the post office to return it all.

Alex was out of school early today for a teacher in-service day, and I feel badly that I didn’t really do anything special with him. I don’t really know what I was so busy doing this afternoon, but I know I should have taken him up on his offer to play a game of “Go Fish.” My laundry will be here tomorrow and Alex won’t.

I forgot to mention Meredith and I had very special lunch guests yesterday. My Grandpa and Grandma Berger came to visit. They were in West Baden Springs to celebrate their 63rd wedding anniversary. That’s twice as long as I’ve been alive. At least I think it is. Math isn’t my thing. I was kicking myself after they left because I didn’t pull out my camera. Sometimes it gets in the way of me being a part of the day, so I leave it in the bag, but I almost always regret it. My Grandpa will be 82 next week and my Grandma will be 81 in December. I think it’s pretty impressive they made it all the way here from West Baden with little direction from me. My Grandma had it all under control with her Mapquest directions. It was such a treat to see them! I so appreciated them driving the extra 2 and half hours. It means a lot to me for a lot of reasons.

Tonight at dinner Alex shared something from his day with us, which is pretty monumental. I could earn an oral surgery degree with the amount of teeth pulling I do with that kid. Alex voluntarily told us he was the star student in art today. I was visibly proud and he quickly brushed off the praise and told me it was probably just because he helped clean the art room. I choose to believe it’s because he’s a brilliant artist and made the best yarn collage ever.

Great Weekend

Whew, this weekend went by in a flash. Brandon’s company rented out Six Flags, Great America near Chicago on Saturday. This used to be somewhat of an annual event for us, but the last time I was there I was six weeks pregnant with Alex. I was very cautious, and had to be talked into riding the carousel. The weird part is, that trip seems like it happened a week ago. I swear time moves faster once you have children.

We left fairly early Saturday morning thinking it would take us four hours to get there. Turns out, it only takes three hours including a lengthy stop for breakfast.

You know what’s funny about having the new car? When we had the van and were traveling; we hit the through drive-thru and ate with wheels turning. I’m determined to keep this vehicle clean. (I once stepped on an errant juice box on the floor of the van. If you want a physics lesson in velocity, try stepping on a juice box with a size 10 loafer.) So now we go in to eat and it turns out it’s much easier. I’m not fiddling around opening apples with my teeth and handing out napkins in a panic.

But, I digress…Even with a breakfast stop we made it to Great America an hour early. Oops. I had us dressed like we were headed for the slopes. I thought since the high temp for the day by us was 78, it would probably be around 70 there. You know, it is three hours north after all. It was warm, and thankfully I packed shorts for Alex. Brandon wore shorts despite my warning that he “would freeze to death.” Meredith and I hoofed it all over the park like Nanuks of the North. After nearly boiling in my three quarter length black sweater, I finally shed the top layer and schlepped around in my coffee spotted t-shirt, which was a bit too tight. I looked the part of an amusement park goer to say the least. I was horrified to see my rear in side view. I realize why I tend to wear longer sweaters.

We rode all the rides for which the kids met the height requirement and/or were willing to ride. I really wanted to ride some of the bigger roller coasters but Alex wasn’t interested. Meredith had the chutzpah, but lacked the height. The big hit of the day was the log flume. The kids thought it was hilarious that Brandon and I were both soaked. We left late in the afternoon and we were exhausted. We checked into our hotel before getting some dinner. Alex checked out the place, and said, “Well, this is a fairly nice hotel.” Again, he’s six going on 40, and yet still throws tantrums. He gets it honestly, I threw one on the way home.

Our hotel was in the middle of a business park in Deerfield, so there weren’t obvious choices around for dinner. This is the reason I love navigation systems; we typed in Portillo’s Hotdogs, and viola it took us to one. I know I’ve rhapsodized about my love of Portiollo’s before, but just to reiterate; a Portillo’s hotdog is on my “last meal” list. Yes, I think about what I’d eat before an execution. I’ve converted our children. It didn’t take much. For whatever reason, I can't figure out how to rotate this video. Argh! It's a very enthusiastic restaurant review from Meredith, so just watch it with your head cocked sideways. Oh, and kindly ignore my Marge Simpson voice and Brandon clearing his throat. And one more thing...click on play and then immediately click on pause so the video will load completely. Then click play, othewise it's jerky.

Slept in Seattle

I’m home and with any luck, I’ll be caught up on my housework by Halloween. It’s amazing how much laundry can accumulate in four days. Yowzers, let’s hope the ole Kenmore holds it together.

Dark and early Saturday morning, Brandon and the kids dropped me off at the airport so I could catch a flight to Seattle. The day before, Meredith asked how I’d be getting to the airport and I told her they were going to take me. It didn’t occur to her Brandon would be home and she said, “Oh. Do I have to do the steering wheel?!”

Brandon had soccer duty and I was relieved to hear I didn’t miss Alex’s first goal.

I got into Seattle around noon and my friend Michelle, whom my mom calls “Peaches and Cream,” picked up me and our friend Sarah. It was a rainy day in Seattle, which doesn’t sound surprising, but every time I’ve gone to visit, it’s been gorgeous! We grabbed some Mexican and went back to Michelle’s house to get ready to eat again.

Michelle is the hostess extraordinaire. (Is that right? Spell check says it’s right. I think spell check gave up.) Michelle whipped up quiche, Caesar salad and a caramel apple cheesecake. That’s right; I consumed all my WW points for the week in one day. Our friends Jeannine and Joe, and their pug Cheech, came over for dinner. *All these people are friends from college and even though I don’t get to see them all that often, we always pick up right where we left off, except we’re no longer wearing flannel pants and Sigma Kappa sweatshirts. Oh, and Cheech didn’t go to Bradley.
They came over so we could finalize our plans for our winery tour. I thought it was going to be a winery tour, but it was really more of a tasting room tour, which was fine by me! It was really fun and Jeannine and Joe know a lot more about wine than I do. I’m sure they cringed while I purchased several bottles of wine too sweet for regular consumption to bring home.

Monday we spent the day hanging out with Michelle and just spending time as old friends. We pulled out all kinds of scrapbooks this weekend. I would like to know why there were no stylists when I was in school. Not that I could have afforded to hire one, but looking back at pictures, it would have been worth every penny.

Tuesday morning Sarah and I flew home. I grabbed a book to read on my way home. I finished my library book on the way there, and I found one for $5 in the clearance section. When I paid, it was only $1.24. I felt really cheap and even cheaper when I got to the portion of the book that I was embarrassed to have my seat mate see. It isn’t a romance novel, so I wasn’t expecting it.

I was so glad to get home to see the kids. They were very excited to see me and I never realize just how much I’ve missed them until they crawl into my lap or make me laugh. I’m excited to see Brandon too, but it’ll have to wait until Thursday. If the kids can hold it together, behavior wise, Brandon has a big surprise weekend planned for them. Brandon is proof you can be a good dad even if you live out of a suitcase.

Campaign Announcement

I wanted to wait until the right time to publish the newsreel found above. I will be gone for a few days, and I thought I would leave you with my BIG, EXCITING news! If you're interested in knowing why I've been so busy lately, please click on the play button on the above video. It contains a segment that ran locally last night. I'm scared and nervous, but incredibly proud to finally find a use for my degree. Wish me luck!

A pumpkin with flair

In a ploy to avoid deep cleaning our living room, I decided to put out a few Fall and Halloween decorations. I got out a few pumpkins and a wreath or two. Meredith pulled out all sort of odd decorations I’m embarrassed to admit I once displayed with great pride. As most of you know, we go overboard on Christmas decorating and the kids have their own trees. They don’t understand why other “holidays” don’t get the same respect. So, they both insisted on having these little battery operated light-up jack-o-lanterns in their rooms.

Alex plopped his on the dresser and made it his job to make sure the pumpkins both had fresh batteries. Meredith took it upon herself to make her pumpkin match her décor and sense of style.

Today was a hectic day. I dropped off Merdi at school and ran errands ALL DAY. I mean that. My rear was in the driver’s seat until I picked up Meredith. After school, Joe and Annie came over to play for awhile and that made the kids’ day. We’ve been outside as much as possible because I know it won’t be long before our backyard is barren and I get wind burned while getting the mail.

I’m getting ready to head to Seattle to visit my dear friend Michelle, who is perhaps one of the sweetest women I know. Michelle recently lost her father, so our friend Sarah (Sarah with an “H,” not Beckman-Alexander) and I are going out for a visit. It will be a bittersweet trip. There’s little that bothers me more than not being able to physically be with a friend in need, so I’m anxious to hug her! Rumor has it there is a winery tour planned for Sunday, so I’m really excited! You know how I found out about the tour??? Facebook!

Facebook will be the death of me!

These two are entirely responsible for my demise!

I realize I’m a little late to the party, but at Sara’s suggestion, who was conned into joining by Stephanie, I joined Facebook. I’ve officially given up hope for a spotless house. I was very reluctant to join because frankly I felt silly and too old. I once joined MySpace and had a page for all of an hour. I felt like a predator.

So, when Sara suggested Facebook, I balked. Sara then told me about several of our friends from BU who had pages and I started to reconsider. Sara is in sales and is very good at her job. I caved, created a profile and lost several hours over the course of the weekend.

You all know how much I love pictures. I love pictures of people I know and don’t get a chance to see all that often even more! Facebook allows you to upload pictures to a little album and most of my friends have filled them with fun pictures of their families.

I’ve been in touch with people I haven’t heard from in years and I’ve had an account for four days. I’m even having lunch next week with a friend I grew up with, and we’re meeting right by our house! How fun!

If a few more people join from my high school graduating class, I see no reason to ever attend a reunion. I can see their families, read little snippets about them, and won’t get stuck by the bar in an awkward conversation with no end.

Don’t worry Brandon, I did get all the laundry done today and managed to plant the GIANT mums we bought at Costco. Meredith and I also cleaned the bonus room. See, I’m a great multi-tasker!

I put Merdi down for her nap and after an hour, she announced she was finished with her nap. Meredith loves her nap, so I was a little surprised. I told her since she was up she could help me clean the toy room. She was suddenly exhausted and slept for another hour.

We have our first Cub Scout meeting tonight and I wish I was more excited. I just loathe the thought of not getting home until 8:00 and still having to do baths and bed. I’m a creature of habit and really don’t like to throw off our nightly routine. Blurg!

Fun in our mailbox

Yesterday was a Holy Day for Meredith. The new American Girl catalogue arrived in the mail. For starters, Meredith thinks her friend “Miss Barbara” sends her the catalogue. I think she just wants it to be from Miss Barbara. Meredith thumbed through the pages as we ran our errands and she would occasionally squeal about something she found and want me to pull over so she could add it to her Christmas list on the spot. When Meredith finally finished pouring over the pages, she closed the back cover and said, “Oh, wow! That’s a bad hair day!” She was referring to this:

Poor Kirsten had to have some work done. Don’t feel bad Kirsten. I’m in need of a little work myself.

One of our errands was to pick up the dry cleaning. Note to Brandon, not a good idea to wear a silk shirt while scrubbing my parents’ grill. The spots are still there. I bet all of you are picturing Brandon scrubbing the grill in an early 90’s shirt your date might have worn to Homecoming. Don’t worry, it’s not that kind of a shirt and anyway it doesn’t look like he’ll be wearing it anytime soon. Our dry cleaner has a bowl of suckers for the taking, so Meredith loves the cleaners. Before we went in, Meredith told me she would be getting an extra sucker, “Not two for me. One for Alex.” She did just that and she stuck it in his door handle to surprise him. What a sweetie.

Meredith’s kindness was outdone by her brother who used one of his two library allotments to check out Enchanted for his sister. Of course, he’s completely obsessed with the level of care Meredith is to give to the book. Nevertheless it was a really kind gesture!

They both washed away any bonus points they earned today when we went shopping for pants for Alex. I remembered why I just shop when they’re in school, do a fashion show at home, and make returns the next school day. Dear Lord! There were requests for everything from a cupcake coin purse to a plug in air freshener. Give me a break! For the record, we still have no pants that fit Daddy Long Legs. Alex has long legs and no rear. I have short legs and…well, you get the idea.

Colts Win!

I "borrowed" this picture from the Colts website. I don't have that great of a lens, and I've never been to a game. The picture is also a link, so Amanda if you need a Colts fix, here it is.

Are you kidding me?! Did anyone else see the ending of the Colts/Vikings game?! Jill, please tell Scott I am so, so sorry. Seriously, I cringed for him. Like a bad fan, I took a nap with Meredith during the second half. I loose interest when our team starts to loose. I’m loyal that way. Holy cow was it an exciting last minute and 42 seconds!

It feels like we’re about to get blown off the map with the remnants of Ike. At least that’s where Alex told me the wind is coming from. I believe him. He knows more about things than I do. He does not however know how to read completely.

We were discussing what Alex had to eat for lunch at school last week.---Hey, I’ll take whatever details about his day he’s willing to share. Alex’s teacher has the children choose from three options at the beginning of the day: “Hot,” “PB&J,” or “Salad.” He told me he often goes for the PB&J or the yogurt meal if he doesn’t get the Chef’s salad. I said, “Don’t you get tired of that? You know I will make you a lunch anytime you want.” He said, “Well, the hot lunch is always a mystery and I’ve had a couple bad experiences with that choice.” I laughed out loud and asked him what he meant. Bless his heart, he said, “I can’t read well enough to always know what the hot meal is.” It was one of those mom moments when I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. It didn’t seem to bother him and it was funny, but it just killed me to think how it must feel to stand there and not be able to read the lunch selection.

You would think situations like that would serve as motivation for Alex to practice and hone his reading skills. You would be wrong. Alex would do 115 math sheets before he would sound out three words.

As for our weekend: Friday night we went to our favorite BBQ place. I always forget how good it is. Saturday we had a soccer game. It was 88 degrees and impossibly humid. We sizzled during the game, but really started to sweat when Alex played goalie. It went better than expected.

Saturday evening Brandon grilled and the kids played in the pirate pool I bought at Kroger in the clearance bin. It is a blow up pool that is shaped like a pirate ship. It has a sign on it’s side proclaiming the ship, “The Scurvy Dog.” I guess if you want to scare other pirates away you give them the impression your ship is full of disease. Then again, is scurvy contagious? I thought you were only prone to it if you didn’t eat enough citrus. This is why I don’t have room in my brain for math.

Frozen Veggies

I didn’t post anything yesterday because I really struggled with what to write. I found myself at a rare loss for words. The only other time that happens is when I stand on the scale.

September 11th is a hard day for everyone, and I dread it all year. This will sound incredibly contrite, but I love our country so much that those attacks felt like an attack on my family. On a normal day, I get choked up watching kids say the Pledge of Allegiance and anytime I hear the Star Spangled Banner played, so when I see images of our country in peril it hits me in the gut. You should have seen me when we visited Pearl Harbor. It wasn’t pretty and I was so thankful for my oversized sunglasses.

It’s also a hard day because it marks the anniversary of the death of my beloved Grandpa Rogers. The last thing he would want is for us to be sad. He went through most of his life laughing, unless of course he was talking about “draft-dodgers” or a certain U.S. Senator, or a combination of both. When I really miss him I don’t have too look far because Meredith is a miniature, female version of him. The personality, the zest for life, the love of dance, and yes, the feisty temper.

My melancholy mood was extinguished the minute I turned on the Today Show. Evidently, they are tired of covering politics and they are marking anniversaries of certain movies. Last week was The Big Chill, which Jennifer and I watched a little obsessively in our early 20’s. Today though, it was Footloose! I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Footloose, but I do know I watched it so many times the tape it was on literally disintegrated. Either that, or my dad purposely cut it. My dad had Showtime, a VCR, a label maker, and a daughter who was easily entertained. I wanted to grow up, go to prom, and have a daughter named Ariel. That was waaaaaay before the Little Mermaid.

I also had a good laugh while coming home from the bus stop. Alex rides his scooter to the bus stop every day. Meredith rides her bike. I can either carry the scooter home, or risk early knee replacement and ride it home. Usually, I ride it home. It’s too heavy to carry. Meredith LOVES to race me home. I goad her on and she giggles so hard she can barely pedal. It makes my morning and I wish I could freeze her.

Speaking of the freezer…I was packing Meredith’s lunch yesterday and couldn’t find the baby carrots I bought at the store. I thought maybe I left a bag in the cart and drove away; which I’ve been known to do. I found them this morning in, you guessed it, the freezer!

There’s not a doubt in my mind my brain has atrophied. This morning I replied to an e-mail and spelled “hired” like this…”highered.” That’s ridiculous for a number of reasons, but is a stand out because 95% perfect of my professional life was spent working in human resources; where we highered many people.

Have I told you how much I LOVE fall?! I am so ready for sweaters and mulled cider. I am not ready to wear my unforgiving jeans.

It’s a gorgeous day and I think I’m going to pull out all my summer flowers and replace them with mums. The flowers would probably last a few more weeks, but I’m tired of looking at them. Honestly, my first thought his morning was whether or not it was too early to buy pumpkins. I’m shocked my brain has shriveled when I have to contemplate such serious issues each day.

My kids were full of it yesterday. At breakfast, Meredith once again reiterated her longing for a pet chicken. “Oh, I wish I had a chicken to wake me up in the morning.” I’ve never had to wake Merdi up in the morning. If we had a rooster, she would most likely wake it. Roosters sleep until sunrise.

Yesterday was picture day at school. I felt like a tightwad when I ordered the smallest package, but I knew we didn’t need an 8X10 of another picture of Alex looking like he sat on a tack. When Alex is asked to sit for a picture he has the most strained smile I’ve ever seen. I lectured him on trying to look a bit more relaxed and not like someone was branding him. I caught him practicing in the mirror, so maybe my coaching was over the top. When he came home, I asked him how the pictures went. He made this face, and said, “And by the way, I blinked. There are no retakes.” Please, take note of the two different shoes, worn WITH socks, and the boot he's using as a vase.

Our weather couldn’t be better. I’ve thrown open all our windows, which is practically a guarantee someone will wind up at the doctor’s office with severe allergy issues. Our house needs to breath and I’m hopeful the dust will somehow be sucked out through the screens.

Leslie and the Giant Sunflower

I’m not a prop person. I don’t like to pose kids. Some people like that sort of thing, and by all means, more power to you if you happen to be one of those people. There is after all, a time and a place for everything, and I for one am so glad I posed with a giant ’94 in my senior pictures. So, I surprised myself by buying a big sunflower at the Farmer’s Market last weekend. I had no idea how I was going to use it, I just knew I wanted to.

I didn’t have any shoots scheduled for this week, and with its limited shelf-life, I needed to use the sunflower before it went to seed. Enter my on-retainer models, Alex and Meredith. It didn’t occur to me when I purchased the sunflower that to get the sort of shot I sort of imagined, I should have purchased all the flowers the guy had. I just handed the flower to Meredith and let her go. Alex is normally averse to being in front of the lens, but when I mentioned I’d be using the sunflower, he was more than willing. Should I be worried?

I'm feeling indicisive today, so you'll have to tell me which you prefer.

color: or black and white?

Please, someone help me, I don't make decisions well.

Hot Air

We spent our weekend on the soccer field. One would think this entry would share at least one soccer picture. It was too sunny to shoot and sometimes I’m just too lazy to cart my ginormous camera bag around. I’ll have to wait for the perfect overcast day before I drag it along. It’s hard to shoot through sunglasses. Plus, and don’t tell Alex this…you’ve seen one of my soccer shots, you’ve seen them all. Oh, an ambulance did drive out onto one of the fields. That’s something. I wished for my zoom lens so I could see what was going on. Maybe I should get a scanner!

Of course I got a sunburn during Saturday’s game. My body looks just like a sewing pattern. It’s ridiculous. Nothing a little aloe won’t help. I made sure to better protect myself for Sunday’s game and with any luck, I won’t look like a piece of leather.

Between soccer games, we went to the Farmer’s Market and Brandon grilled all weekend. I am ready for Fall, but I will really miss the grill. The food and the fact that Brandon doesn’t allow me anywhere near it.

Brandon and I watched “21,” a based-on-a-true story movie about a group of MIT kids who counted cards in Vegas. It was a really good movie. Here’s the amazing part, well there are two actually. 1.) I made it all the way through the movie without falling asleep. 2.) It involved math and I was able to follow the plot. Sunday night, we watched the Colts game. Ugh. Well, at least they lost to my original favorite team. It wasn’t pretty.

I hosted a Moms in Touch group at our house this morning. I felt so bad because I had to rush everyone out the door by 10:30, so Meredith could make it to her ballet class. Wow! What a difference a year of experience makes. The girls all jumped right in and followed their very animated teacher from the word go. I never get tired of watching Meredith through the two-way mirror. I miss seeing Angie and everyone’s favorite ballet dad, Scott.

Oh, Napa Ehnes should not read this post. (That’s funny to two…maybe three people reading this.) I’m amazed at how many hot air balloons tend to float around our neck of the woods. When Brandon and I moved into our first house, I got so excited anytime I saw on. Once, they even came low enough to wave to Baby Alex. Now, it’s sort of routine. I happened to have the camera handy last night when one we see almost nightly floated by. Once, this very balloon landed in our neighbors’ backyard. For awhile, I had Meredith convinced our neighborhood had hot air balloons instead of school buses. It worked until her brother started taking one.

Forgive the over-editing on this one. I was in a Wizard of Oz kind of mood.

I knew I missed out, not having a brother!

What would Meredith do without her big brother? The following is going to sound like we think of Alex as a saint. Believe me, we have our issues with him, but one thing he is great about is helping. I truly believe his gift from God is a helpful heart.

Alex has been helpful since he could walk. He lived for delivering laundry to rooms when he was a tiny tot. Meredith on the other hand will run the other direction at the mere mention of a future task. She doesn’t even like to help make cookies, but will gladly lick the beaters. Meredith will sob at the suggestion she clean her room. Alex will have cleaned his room and scrubbed his sink and she’s still in the middle of a tantrum.

Today, for whatever reason, Alex decided he would clean Meredith’s closet. He is a brave little man. Merdi pulls down outfits and tries them on at will, which I’ve mentioned/cried about here more than once. It’s sometimes hard to find the carpet in Meredith’s “dressing room.” Alex cleaned Meredith’s closet and moved on to do her entire room. I was lavishing praise on him and asked Meredith if she just sat in the chair the whole time while her poor brother did all the work. She said, “No. I laid in my bed part of the time too.”

Nothing else needs to be said...

"I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God."

So Inspired!

Last night I remembered why I chose to study political science. I remembered why I chose a major that required countless internship hours spent knocking on strangers’ doors in an unfamiliar town with volunteers I’d never met. I remembered why I chose a major that forced me to write--on average--a ten page paper a week comparing European governments to that of our own great country. I remembered what I initially planned to do with my life.

Sarah Palin reminded me I once believed I would lead a life of public service. Not just in the service of my family, but serving the people of my community in the greatest country on earth. In the early days of discussing marriage, Brandon and I decided I would stay home and raise the family we hoped to have. I shelved any notion of law school, because who wants to be saddled with law school debt while they’re digging in the sandbox?! Any sort of pubic service aside from the PTO was the last thing on my mind. Until I saw Governor Palin and her children on stage last night.

I will be the first to admit I wasn’t thrilled with the outcome of the GOP primary. I was supportive of Rudy, Mitt, and Mike. I had NO intentions of voting for a “community organizer” and a socialist, so there was no chance I’d cross party lines, but I certainly didn’t have a fire in my belly over McCain. (By the way, if someone would like to explain to me what it is that a community organizer does, please feel free to drop me a line. Bradley University doesn’t cover this as a part of their degree program. Maybe I should have gone to grad school.)

I was hopeful McCain would choose Romney as his running mate. I dreamed of Huckabee on the ticket, but knew better. I sat glued to the TV last Friday morning, almost in a cold sweat. I nearly dropped my hairdryer when they started mentioning Sarah Palin. Who?! I vaguely knew of her. I knew she had given a lot of people the boot that deserved it. I heard she was a spitfire, but I knew little else about her.

I ranted and raved and told Brandon we might as well get used to the idea we’d be forking over more of our income to the government and we better buy a large SUV while we still could. I fielded phone calls from confused friends who wanted to know what I thought. Which always amazes me, btw. I even said, “Forget it. I’m not even requesting a yard sign this year.” That’s a BIG deal when you watch these races as closely as I do.

I started to get more excited about Gov. Palin the more I researched her. She started to sound a lot like someone I know. I dug into her policy background and found I agreed with her nearly 100% of the time. She’s a mom. I’m a mom. She’s a mom that runs a state. I’m a mom that runs carpool. I started to identify with her. As a life long Republican I’ve NEVER so closely identified with a national candidate. Usually Republican women are portrayed by the media as one of two ways. We’re either supposed to be buttoned up, Nancy Regan types or we have bangs to the ceiling, a skirt that skims the floor and do little aside from run church bake sales and yell about our right to own guns. Gov. Palin excites me!

I was inspired by Sarah Palin’s enthusiasm, freshness, and normalcy. I can relate to her as a conservative, a woman, and a mom. I could be her. She saw a situation in government she didn’t like and she decided to run for office and do something about it. She governed a town that is almost the same size as the one in which I was raised. Do I for one minute think that would be easy? I view running a small town the same way I view working for your parents. Your boss always knows where you are, when you’re available to work, and they aren’t afraid to call you a moron in front of your customer.

Alaska is an entirely different ball of wax. They are somewhat removed from the lower 48. They run their own show so to speak, and they manage the largest amount of natural resources our country has. Governing Alaska, managing Alaska is no easy task. Alaskans are independent spirits and Gov. Palin has an 80% approval rating.

True Governor Palin hasn’t been running a state all that long. Still in that short time she’s authored and sponsored more legislation than the community organizer ever has. If you’ll check voting records, the c.o. voted “present” more than he voted for or against anything and he has yet to author or sponsor ONE bill in the senate or state legislature. Even if Gov. Palin had been governing Alaska for a week, my money would still be on a mom of five. If you can survive that, you can survive anything.

I am a huge advocate of one parent being home with their children, if at all possible. I wouldn’t trade my job for the world. I love spending every minute outside of school with my kids. Brandon and I both feel that’s best for our family. However, I have a choice in the matter and so does Gov. Palin. SHAME on anyone who would dare say she shouldn’t be a running mate. How dare they?! It is especially infuriating to hear women who are themselves working mothers question her choice to run for office. Not just disheartening. Disgusting. Regarding the disabled child…because our family includes a member with Down Syndrome I will also shout from the rooftops that it can be done.

Sarah Palin gave me goose bumps. Sarah Palin made me excited to vote for her and thereby McCain. I am so energized by her strength, tenacity, and yes experience that I cannot wait to volunteer for our ticket. I am honored to vote for a spunky mother of five who doesn’t tolerate any nonsense and a war hero whom I believe is the only one to guide our troops home safely and with honor!

Meredith's first day of Pre-School

Remember how I planned to spend the holiday cleaning our house? I believe I used the rather dramatic phrase, “laborious Labor day.” It will likely come as no shock that I did not spend the day cleaning.

Brandon works so many hours during the week and is away from us so much that he really relishes our weekends and tries to pack as much in as possible. I told him I had to get some stuff done around the house and he said, “What fun is that? This is a holiday.” He and the kids agreed to at least clean the toy rooms if we did something fun later.

We went to lunch and then bowling. Alex wanted to bowl and I was up for anything that offered air conditioning. Brandon embarrassed me by bringing along his own bowling ball and shoes. Honestly, who does that and is not a professional bowler? Evidently, he bowled on some sort of league in high school and has yet to give up the dream. For the record, I don’t think we would have been friends had we known each other in high school. Not that I was all that cool, but I wasn’t on a bowling league. I was in the Latin Club.

As usual, Meredith was a show in and of herself. She would throw the ball and then tap her foot and talk the ball down the lane. She danced like a maniac in her slick rental shoes and thought she got a strike if she knocked down more than one pin. We were barraged with high fives. Alex on the other hand, could barely bring himself to watch his ball make its way down the alley. He did his best to stifle any hint of a smile over a decent frame. Night and day.

Today was Meredith’s first official day of Jr. Pre-School. She was more than ready to go and is confused as to why there is no bus for her school.

One of the things I treasure most about our preschool is the fact that we’ve been attending so long, I know most of the moms. I’ve built some wonderful friendships and always look forward to seeing everyone. Today, I ran into a friend, Sally whom I’ve known for several years and she convinced me to go to breakfast with her. Never mind that I’d already had breakfast and had errands to run, I went.

Sally is every bit as fun as she looks.

Sally and I had a great time catching up at a little outdoor café. We were so loud and laughing so much that I apologized to the insanely well-manicured family sitting next to us. The sweet (and possibly crazy) woman said, “Oh my gosh, no! We are having a ball listening to you and I want your number!” She pointed at me. Apparently, she overheard me talking about photography and viola, I booked another shoot. It pays to be a loudmouth and eat two breakfasts a day. BTW, once again I was without business cards, and honest to goodness wrote my contact info with a crayon on an index card from the waiter. If I’m anything, I’m professional.

Our breakfast took the entire two hours and fifteen minutes of Meredith’s “short” day of preschool. She was happy to see me and full of news. I know how excited she is for her long day on Thursday because she has a new nap mat and loves to take a lunch. I’ll be at Weight Watchers after I drop her off.

The rest of the story...

We did get to the lake before dark and within minutes, we were out on the boat. What a great way to spend a Friday night. Saturday morning, the boys headed out for an early fishing trip. They came home with three bass, and claimed in complete seriousness they had lost a really big one. After breakfast we were back on the boat with a tube full of kids. I think Meredith was born for boating. She perched herself at the bow of the boat, Titanic-style and never moved.

Alex and our neighbor's little guy, Eli spent the majority of their time on the tube. Which really wasn't a tube. It was more like a small island. It was so funny to watch Alex white knuckle the handles, while Eli, who is three years old, was practically standing up. I was just excited Alex was brave enough to ride the tube solo. His self-confidence is finally showing itself.


Meredith liked the tube so long as we were going at a snail's pace. She really didn't like it if we went the slightest bit fast. I'm not sure if you can see the look of horror on her face, but it was as funny as it looks.

While we were on the water, we ran into our neighbor’s mom and dad. They pulled along side of us and after their little guy said, “Hi Pappy! I want to go on your boat.” Meredith said, “Me too! I want to go on Pappy’s boat.” She had one leg over the side of their boat before we could blink. The child has never met a stranger.

We boated to a fun place for lunch and I lost track of Meredith pretty quickly. Brandon told me she was with our neighbor so not to worry. I found her sitting at a table, chatting with some new friends, eating their French fries. Merdi table hopped and wasn’t all that thrilled about sitting with us for lunch.

After a much needed rest for the kids, we climbed back on the boat and the grown-ups tried to throw each other off the tube. Everyone stayed dry but Brandon. In his defense, we did our best to dump him in the drink. I woke up sore Sunday morning. My poor core muscles are gone. I really need to do something to whip this aging body into shape.

We didn’t want to overstay our welcome, and Lord knows it doesn’t take much with our family. So, we made the trip home late Saturday night. We were all exhausted but it was the most fun we’ve had as a family in a loooong time. The kids were asleep within seconds of hitting their beds. There was a huge fireworks show visible from our backyard, and I went in to get the kids so they could see it, but they were already down for the count.

Sunday evening we went over to the Ehnes’ for a cookout with the Smith’s. The girls all played really well together and for the first time in a long time, I don’t think anyone left in tears. In fact, they all hugged each other good bye. Maybe they were all too tired to squabble over plastic high heels.

Today is going to be a laborious Labor day for me. I have to get our house back in order so I can start the week off on the right foot. I’ll feel really guilty about lollygagging around the library while Meredith is at school if I have grimy bathrooms. I think I’ll try to enlist the help of my family, but knowing them, they’ll unionize and demand some elaborate dinner in return.