Tell You [a] Little Story

For me, one of the favorable things about Barack Obama is that he's black. Half black, but black nonetheless. I've heard a lot of hullabaloo -- especially in the media -- that we really ought not let race play a factor in this election. Geraldine Ferraro was lambasted for suggesting that Obama's race was to his advantage in beating Clinton. But I agreed with her, as far as I understood her comments correctly. His ethnicity makes me more inclined to vote for him. If we don't elect a black president this year, it will be a very, very long time before we ever elect a black president. Or a Chinese-American president, or a Jewish president, or a Mormon president and I could go on. The black cultural things about Obama make some people very nervous: his African-American church, for example, or the racially-charged thesis that his wife supposedly wrote at Princeton, or was it Yale? 1 There are way too many people, of all political parties, in this country who harbor biases t...

Not to offend any of my Repub friends (ahem, Abby), but Sarah Palin is a train wreck. She's just. not. ready. (Steve's offended.) Okay, funny. I didn't think it was working when I tried to embed. But it was, and I'm leaving it. Lots of Sarah Palins for your viewing pleasure.

Is there anyone cooler in the world? I love him. I love his music. And I love that he's using his fame to change the world. Bono for Secretary-General?

The world economy is in crisis. Our disposable money in the stock market (which really should not be there because we have pending plans for that money) is quickly being disposed of due to said crisis and falling markets.  So what do Steve and I do? Book a tropical vacation for the family for the middle of January, that's what. Because who wants to be in Utah in January? Our justification is thus:  a) Steve has to go anyway, so his ticket and hotel and rental car and food will be paid for.  b) It will be a giant Christmas present to give to the kids, therefore we will not buy them much of anything else.  c) Better spend the money before Wall Street blows it even more.  d) Who wants to be in Utah in January anyway? Please do not tell our children. It is really going to be a Christmas surprise.  I get so nervous after spending a lot of money. Yikes.

I really love our neighborhood. The people are highly educated , well-traveled, down-to-earth, accomplished , talented , faithful, knowledgeable about Hugo Chavez , neighborly, and really good gardeners. Some are famous . Some are Democrats . These are all lovely things to be. But, neighborly and good gardeners are the attributes about which I wish to rejoice at this time. The last few months have been a boon to our big, yellow produce bowl that sits on the counter, and consequently, to our bellies, and also consequently, to our grocery budget. Our neighbors have most generously offered to us: blackberries, raspberries , strawberries, peaches, nectarines,  apricots, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, grapes, and corn. In abundance. It's really quite delicious and wonderful.  Just tonight, as I was engrossed in a fierce match-up of Scramble because that's what I do and that's what I do best, the doorbell rang and the kids opened it to see a bag of squash and a lady ...

This weekend I have been sick, all around pretty miserable. In surfing around to find some answers, I came upon this very helpful medical advice . I hope it provides you with clarity and enlightenment, as it has for me. {Neil, I'm counting on you to appreciate this.}

I just watched Wordplay . If I had crushes on men other than my husband, I would have a little one on Will Shortz and his geeky crossword puzzle-ness. It's funny that I don't enjoy crossword puzzles. I usually am very well suited for all things tedious, challenging, left-brained, and time-wasting. Plus, my mom and my dad like them*, which is not only an unusual occurrence, but should mean that I ought to be predisposed. I have no explanation. *Other things that my mom and dad both like: board and card games (I like), eating out (I always like), movies (not necessarily my favorite), and Abby ( everybody likes!) Update: Steve just offered to memorize all the two-letter words in the dictionary. Who needs geeky crossword puzzle guys when I have Steve? I'll stay true, after all.

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It just occurred to me that since Steve bought a nice camera, why am I guilting myself into taking the kids on their birthdays to Target Photo Studios with the fake crappy backgrounds and forced smiles? I loathe taking my kids in to get their "professional" photos done and always put it off until well after their birthdays that I want to document. So no more. Isaac is 5 today, so we went outside for a photo shoot. Someday I'll learn how to take pictures, but here are some decently cute ones with classic Isaac facial expressions. I spy: freckles, beautiful brown eyes, thick and curly hair, nicely-spaced itty bitty teeth, the obligatory Spiderweb pose, and his two favorite presents (a feather hat and a cardboard boomerang that he'll "always use" which were made by his sometimes-nemesis-sometimes-kind-older-brother Aaron*) *We are actively promoting the kind older brother version of Aaron, and so it's okay that Isaac was more excited about the homemade gif...