Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Thanksgiving Eve

Well, once again I am busily packing for our annual Thanksgiving trek. I love Thanksgiving and this year is going to be great. Once again, I have so much to be thankful for.

I continue to be so thankful for the love that God lavishes on me each and every day.

I am thankful for Rob and his wonderfulness. Each year gets better and better.

I am thankful for my wonderful children. They really, really are amazing, fun, challenging, rewarding, exciting, exhausting little blessings.

I am thankful for having a wonderful extended family that keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I am thankful for great friends who continually inspire and encourage me.

In a year that has been filled with lots of twists and turns and unexpected little things, I really have a lot to be thankful for. I'm sure you do too. So, what are you thankful for?

Monday, November 20, 2006

A Christmas Carol

For those of you who have asked, here is Trisha's scehdule of performances:

Dec 1 10:00 and 7:30
Dec 2 2:00 and 7:30
Dec 3 2:00
Dec 8 10:00 and 7:30
Dec 9 2:00 and 7:30
Dec 10 2:00

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for kids. Thanks for being interested in coming to see her. I know she is very, very excited!!

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Like I said...


Boys will be boys!

Friday, November 10, 2006

Boys will be boys...

Having three boys is quite an adventure. The fact that I am not a boy makes this adventure all the more interesting. As I watch their little lives and habits on a daily basis, I often find myself perplexed and confused by their behaviors. For example....

1. Why is farting so darn funny? I was making lunches for school this morning, when all of a sudden I feel someone sneaking up behind me. I don't really pay much attention, until a half full balloon is let go by my bottom to let all of the air out making a loud farting noise. All three boys yell in chorus, "Mommy! Say excuse me" and explode into laughter. Oh, boy, when I said, "sorry" it was even funnier. Perhaps this could have been OK if it was only done once. By the time they got on the bus, this episode repeated itself many, many times. Each time the boys laughed and laughed.

2. Why must I constantly tell them to get their hands out of their pants? It's not that they are "playing", it's just more like somewhere they like to rest their hands, like a pocket or something. Or maybe they just feel better knowing that the thing is still there, I don't know. I don't understand.

3. What is it that makes boys tell dumb jokes? My dad does it. My husband does it. And, now, my older two sons do it.

4. What is it about boys that make them want to things that either a) extremely dangerous or b) extremely dirty? If it's not risking your life, or putting grass stains on your pants, it's not worth doing, I guess.

5. Don't even get me started on how they act around a girl they think is cute!

All this craziness aside, I wouldn't trade them for the world, my boys. It seems strange; the farting, the hands in the pants and the crazy jokes. But, they do make me laugh. And, while I don't enjoy scrubbing pants to get grass stains out, or taking my boys in for the occasional stitching, I love watching them play with abandon and high energy. In some ways, as I parent my boys and try to understand the mind of a male, it has helped me to understand Rob more too, which is a good thing. It reminds me of the old saying that if I can teach my children half as much as they have taught me then I have done a good job.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Why I can be happy today....

As expected, it wasn't a great night for Republicans. I really am most sad about Rick Santorum. I think he's a good guy. But, I am also certain that his career in politics is not over.

Last night was continually compared to what the Republicans did in 1994. I don't really think that is afair comparison, actually. If you will recall, in 1994, Newt Gingrich, a right-wing conservative, authored the Contract with America. In it were such things as term limits, tax reform including the elimination of capital gains and death taxes and the marriage penalty. It included pro-family, pro-life iniatives. The candidates that signed that were the candidates that won. By sticking to true conservatism, we were able to win.

Now to 2006. You just didn't see the same thing, I am sorry. You didn't see Nancy Pelosi talking about her very left agenda. You didn't see the democrats recruiting candidates that are left of center like their leadership. Heck, Howard Dean wasn't even allowed out during the campaign from what I could tell. In fact, most of the seats that were lost, were lost to very conservative democrats. For example, Casey in PA, Whitehouse in RI among others. Last night was not a victory for the left, except that they were brilliant in who the recruited to run in these key states. By sticking to conservatism, the democrats were able to win.

Oh yes, lest I forget, another eason to be happy today is that pro-marriage iniatives won in every state where they were on the ballot.

I remember after 2004, Hilary Clinton said something about the democrats getting the message that America wanted the dems to move more to the right. They did this year. Maybe, just maybe, it's a permanent thing. I seriously doubt it.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Elections

I am a Republican. Oh, sure, sometimes, I will try to be all PC and say I vote for the best candidate, blah, blah, blah. In my Republican heart-of-hearts, I know that the worst Republican is always better than the best Democrat.

Case in point: 1996; Clinton vs. Dole. Now, I like Bob Dole. I appreciate his service to our country, and I cheer him on in his struggle against erectile dysfunction. However, I don't think there's a person in the world who really thought he could win, or if he did win, really do a better job than Bill Clinton. (Of course, in retrospect...but, I digress) I still voted for Dole. Why? The worst Republican is always better than the best Democrat.

I think the last time I considered voting for a Democrat was in 1990 Blanchard vs. Engler for Governor of Michigan. I was going to vote for Blanchard; however, I didn't make it to the polls. Apparently, neither did lots of other Blanchardites since Engler won. Which is another point, see it used to be that Democrats wouldn't vote. But, they will tomorrow. They are charged up, much like we were in 1994. Oh yes, rain or shine, Democrats will vote tomorrow.

Fellow Republican, I know you're upset about Iraq. I am too. Who isn't? If only Bush had fired Rumsfeld last week or something, maybe we could've gotten a bounce. I know that you don't want to vote for same old, same old; but you also don't want to vote for Ed Rendell. I get that, but I urge you not to stay home. GO vote. The worst Republican is always better than the best Democrat.

We will probably lose and lose big tomorrow. After years of winning, the cycle is going to turn. It will turn in our favor once again. It is the cyclical nature of politics, finance, life afterall. Let's just hope not too much damage is done in the meantime.

Oh, and to the three democrats that read my blog...if you ran for office, I would make an excpetion to my rule! Would you really expect any other kind of post from me? ;-)

Thursday, November 02, 2006

I'm so depressed...

I just found out that the Steelers have the same record as the Cleveland Browns...
how pathetic is that???