November 28th, WOW. Why does it NOT surprise me that it has been almost one month since I've had 30 seconds to myself to write an entry on my blog. Honestly, I wish I were surprised. However, I know there are many other working moms, single moms, stay at home moms, and dads who are feeling exactly the same way. My self pity regarding my lack of free time ends here and now on to the more than a month old entry on how it is true, you can never go home again.
As I approach 40 here in perfectville, one and a half years after giving up my 'citygirl' status for that of the burbs, it only makes sense that I would jump at a chance to head back intown to celebrate a friend's birthday, right???? But ofcourse, who doesn't look for an opportunity to hang out with friends in a familiar place, sipping cocktails and comparing stories.
My friend's birthday fell on a Saturday night I'd already committed to attend a coworker's going away party. (YIKES what to do, 2 engagements in one night? Mrs, popularity all of the sudden) No need to worry, all would work out. Sitter booked, outfit selected and a work party requiring at a maximum 2 hours of face time. Work party begins at 7 pm and the birthday party begins at 9pm. All is set for the perfect return to the city at a familiar pub with familiar bartenders and imported beer! Not to mention a kidless night with my husbnand,
I should have noticed the night would not go as planned when my husband's flight did not land until 12 pm on Friday night. And as those from the ATL know, when a flight lands at midnight at Hartsfiled Jackson, the chance of you getting home to the burbs prior to 1 am are slimmer than the Olsen twins.
Ok, no night with my husband, but I still had the babysitter to help him out (check), outfit (check), time with friends(check) at a familiar place with good beer (and check).
The second clue to a less than perfect night should have hit me when the oh so perfect outfit went MIA the day of the party. No worries, my husband has my son at a birthday party, and I head to the mall with my little one to look for something new. (ok yes, I had other smashing things to wear, but what self respecting woman doesn't take the opportunity to buy herself something new when she has an excuse)???
With 4 hrs and counting, I get to the mall with no problems, and find the perfect outfit. My nutty 18 month old was even cooperating. Could it be that all was well with the world???? Almost. I just needed a new pair of brown leather boots as a finishing touch. So with 3 hours to kill and a cooperating 18 month old, I head to Macy's (Nine West has apparently moved locations since the last time I shopped there in 2002).
WOW, what's up with this crowd? Macy's is packed. Apparently the best shoe sale in the US is going on precisely at the moment when I need a quick in and out shoe buying experience.
Determined to keep on schedule, I grab the first sales person with empty hands and shout over the crowd 'I wear an 8, I need a pair of brown boots, bring me out your favorites'. You'd think he'd be thrilled, his favorite brown boots for a lady who was purchasing, not wasting his time and with an 18 month old, again who is cooperating fully. Clearly he was not impressed by my willingness to let him be the boss and decide my boot choice nor was he impressed with my 18 month old's fabulous behavior because I received plenty of attitude while being told to pick out my own boots and he would get the size.
Ok, who cares about the attitude I think, clearly (judging from the crowd) there is a major sale going on and I am going to save some cash moeny that I can spend on another sitter in a week!
The longest 10 minutes of my life pass and Mr. Attitude is back with 3 of the first 5 boots I stumbled across. One pair not only fit, but looked pretty good. Pleased with myself for being so efficient and frugal, I head to the register. The third clue to how my trip intown may not go as planned should have been crystal clear when I find out I am apparently the only person in the entire store who is paying full price for her shoes!!!!!
Ok, home by 6! Plenty of time to make it to the work party at 7 pm for someone who is not looking to impress. I am out the door, at 645 for my night OTP and ITP. The sitter is out with the kids and my husband is asleep, deservedly so.
Did I mention the party is in Cumming, GA????? Now I live in the burbs, but this is truly OTP! I almost stopped for a snack on the way there!
Arriving fashinably late at 7:20, with a max of 2 hours facetime, things are headed in the right direction! By 9 pm, I am headed ITP from OTP East Atlanta bound (or is that East Down and Bound???).
One of my ITP friends text me as I am leaving the work party, 'where are you'? I text back 'headed there, be there in about 45 mins'. 'Great' or GR8T she texts me, because afterall who needs to speak on that thing they call the phone once texting was invented????
Worrying I would be late, I go as fast as my company car allows and get to the bar at 10pm, (oh I forgot to mention clue #4, receive text.... 'bar no longer open due to loss of liquor license, meeting next door' so much for the familiar bartenders who ensure prompt service in getting the imported beer in my belly!!!!).
I arrive at the next door bar rushing and apologizing for being late. I find my ITP friend at the bar carrying on a conversation with a perfect stranger and not worried in the slightest about my late arrival. I'd forgotten the number one rule of ITP time.... no one goes out before 10 pm--oh my memory, it's been at least 2 years since I'd been out with my intown friends (think daughter 18 months, pregnant 9 months, you get the picture), I had conveniently forgotten that being 45 mins late in ITP time is like being 2 hours early! the birthday girl remembers this rule and arrives at 12 am to her 9 pm party, only an hour late!!!! And did I mention she was late arriving from her dinner at a restaurant in perfectville???? Are you f'in KIDDING ME????? I raced from Cumming to East Atlanta at the speed of light, worried about being 45 mins late for her party and in the meantime she is finishing dinner less than a mile from my house!!!!!!!
Whatever, at least I am out of the house being (pretending to be) cool with my ITP friends. I just need a cold beer to relax. So after 15 mins of standing on my head to get the bartenders attention, (apparently there is some unwritten rule that very slight pale girls and boys with uncombed hair who pay their tabs in nickles are all to be served prior to nicely dressed middle aged women from the burbs).
So finally, the beer arrives if only slightly ahead of the birthday girl. And while it's never the same going back home once you've moved on, we all managed to have a pretty good time and although the bartenders serving the beer were not as familiar it still went down just as smooth!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
If you've just found out you have but one hour to live......
Then I highly suggest you request that you spend it at your child's fall school program with your 15 month old who you swear is going through her terrible two's. Oh and make sure you husband is out of town so you go alone! This last hour of your life will indeed feel like it has lasted a lifetime, but I cannot promise you it will be the most enjoyable longest hour of your life, only the longest!
So as you can tell the election is over, and I am back to blogging about my life in 'perfectville'.
Tonight, as you may have inferred from the above, I spent my evening at my son's elementary school for his fall program. Have I mentioned that our school is ranked number two in the entire state??? If not 'I will'. (inside joke) EVERYONE who is anyone wants to be at the fall program at perfectville elementary school.
So instead of taking my favorite client out for happy hour to discuss 2009 planning at some swanky 5 star bar, I instead rushed home and put on my workout gear(I didn't dare show up in my business suit because I did not want to be identified as one of the few working moms and I don't play tennis so couldn't grab the standard acceptable gear), I grabbed the kids and headed out for school. We were strictly instructed to be there no later than 6:15 with the kids fed. Yes Ma'am. I followed my orders precisely and arrived at our teachers door at 615.
What the instructions left out was that while you had to be there no later than 6:15, the chance of seeing your child sing the 4 songs he's been practicing over and over and over again within say 15 minutes had about as good of a chance of happening as me getting a tax cut under the Obama tax plan. (Read, it ain't gonna happen).
So my 15 month old and I drop big brother off at his class and head to the cafeteria where I am assuming the singing will commence and in short order. Did I mention the #2 ranking and the overcrowding???? If not, I will mention it here AGAIN. The cafeteria was jammed packed with every mom, dad, brother, sister, grandmother and grandfather of each kid from K-2nd grade. They have to split the fall program over 2 days bc there are over 1100 students in our perfect elementary school.
So assuming that because the time frame was so imperative, I took a seat up front quickly to see my other little one sing. This lasted all of 5 seconds because my terrible 2's 15 month old decides she is not sitting, she is walking and takes off through the crowd of 500+ strong. When I finally get to her and scoop her up, she is having none of it and proceeds to scream at the top of her lungs during of all things, the pledge of allegiance. I am mortified, because clearly I cannot handle my child, will the other moms see through the work out clothes' disguise and realize I am one of the working moms trying to fit in???? The stares are making me sweat, or is it the fact that PES was built in the 60's and has no AC???? I can't tell which one, so I head out the door and enlist the help of a dad furiously typing on his blackberry outside waiting for his 1st grader to get up and sing. Whew, someone I can relate to! I asked him to scream for me when he saw the kids come on stage with the balloon dragon. He said ok but said not to worry there is a PTA meeting prior to the fall program, so I had at least 45 more minutes of time to try and tucker out my youngest. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? He then mentioned something about moving his money overseas prior to the stock market further reacting to BO's election. To thank him for watching out for my oldest, I offered him a BO sign I stole out of a neighbor's yard because I heard there was no need to worry about anything once he got into office if you supported him. I heard from one of his supporters that we did not even have to pay our mortgages anymore. This is fantastic news I thought, maybe now I can afford to stay home with the kids.
So after an hour of chasing a 15 month old around the school, inside and out, the fall program began. My sweet oldest sang puff the magic dragon and 3 other tunes I could not hear over my 15 month old's screaming, but I did not care. The screaming helped him find me in the crowd, he immediately smiled which warmed my heart and matched the sweat running down the back of my neck and made the whole night worth while.
So as you can tell the election is over, and I am back to blogging about my life in 'perfectville'.
Tonight, as you may have inferred from the above, I spent my evening at my son's elementary school for his fall program. Have I mentioned that our school is ranked number two in the entire state??? If not 'I will'. (inside joke) EVERYONE who is anyone wants to be at the fall program at perfectville elementary school.
So instead of taking my favorite client out for happy hour to discuss 2009 planning at some swanky 5 star bar, I instead rushed home and put on my workout gear(I didn't dare show up in my business suit because I did not want to be identified as one of the few working moms and I don't play tennis so couldn't grab the standard acceptable gear), I grabbed the kids and headed out for school. We were strictly instructed to be there no later than 6:15 with the kids fed. Yes Ma'am. I followed my orders precisely and arrived at our teachers door at 615.
What the instructions left out was that while you had to be there no later than 6:15, the chance of seeing your child sing the 4 songs he's been practicing over and over and over again within say 15 minutes had about as good of a chance of happening as me getting a tax cut under the Obama tax plan. (Read, it ain't gonna happen).
So my 15 month old and I drop big brother off at his class and head to the cafeteria where I am assuming the singing will commence and in short order. Did I mention the #2 ranking and the overcrowding???? If not, I will mention it here AGAIN. The cafeteria was jammed packed with every mom, dad, brother, sister, grandmother and grandfather of each kid from K-2nd grade. They have to split the fall program over 2 days bc there are over 1100 students in our perfect elementary school.
So assuming that because the time frame was so imperative, I took a seat up front quickly to see my other little one sing. This lasted all of 5 seconds because my terrible 2's 15 month old decides she is not sitting, she is walking and takes off through the crowd of 500+ strong. When I finally get to her and scoop her up, she is having none of it and proceeds to scream at the top of her lungs during of all things, the pledge of allegiance. I am mortified, because clearly I cannot handle my child, will the other moms see through the work out clothes' disguise and realize I am one of the working moms trying to fit in???? The stares are making me sweat, or is it the fact that PES was built in the 60's and has no AC???? I can't tell which one, so I head out the door and enlist the help of a dad furiously typing on his blackberry outside waiting for his 1st grader to get up and sing. Whew, someone I can relate to! I asked him to scream for me when he saw the kids come on stage with the balloon dragon. He said ok but said not to worry there is a PTA meeting prior to the fall program, so I had at least 45 more minutes of time to try and tucker out my youngest. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? He then mentioned something about moving his money overseas prior to the stock market further reacting to BO's election. To thank him for watching out for my oldest, I offered him a BO sign I stole out of a neighbor's yard because I heard there was no need to worry about anything once he got into office if you supported him. I heard from one of his supporters that we did not even have to pay our mortgages anymore. This is fantastic news I thought, maybe now I can afford to stay home with the kids.
So after an hour of chasing a 15 month old around the school, inside and out, the fall program began. My sweet oldest sang puff the magic dragon and 3 other tunes I could not hear over my 15 month old's screaming, but I did not care. The screaming helped him find me in the crowd, he immediately smiled which warmed my heart and matched the sweat running down the back of my neck and made the whole night worth while.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Unfortunately, the race is over....
Ohio and Pennsylvania have been called for BO(does it stink in here, not yet, it will!), and I think FL and NC will be called at 10pm, and yet I am calm and have a sense of peace.
Given the obstacles McCain had to face in this election he did a valiant job at coming much much closer than any of the polls had predicted. Among the obstacles was the complete 'in the bag' media coverage of Obama.
I always wondered why the BO camp wanted his supporters to vote early, and now I know. Much of the negative information was unavailable to the 'average' voter until the last five days of the campaign(think bankrupting the coal industry, spreading the wealth, Rev Wright, Khalidi). I imagine that once BO takes office the media may do their job and cover the guy in the way they should have during the election campaign, maybe much like they covered Sarah Palin when they unleashed over 20 reporters to dig up any dirt they could on the lady and pretty much found nada.
I believe many many voters will have buyers remorse the more they learn about the guy they have just placed in charge of the most powerful country in the world. Our poor soldiers, can you imagine reporting to a commander in chief who while running for the democratic nomination said the way he would pay for many of the social programs he proposes would be to tax the evil rich and to pull our troops out of Iraq and gut military spending!
Make no mistake, BO is a liberal who understands that the country is center right. Why else would such a liberal run on the basis of tax cuts for 95% of the country? The most ironic thing about him and the people who voted for him was that they wanted 'change' from the Washington establishment and yet they got more of the same--an excellent politician who sought out shady characters in Chicago only to further his political aspirations, and a politician who knew how to say exactly what you want to hear in PA while telling the San Fran elite he plans to bankrupt the very industry that employs the majority of PA's citizens in one form or another. He's good, very good but he is the apitome of the typical politician that most BO voters were voting against.
I'm not a huge fan of BO for many reasons least of which is that he considers my family 'rich' and wants to take 40% of our income for federal taxes, please keep in mind that this does not include state, fica, property taxes etc., and yet I am not worried. Because I do not look to the government to solve problems I face each day, I look to myself and my family.
However I think I will now subscribe to the Peggy Joseph theory of an Obama Presidency and follow her lead beginning in 2009. If any of you BO supporters have not seen it, you will be so proud. Welcome to Obamanation, I plan to sign up and stop paying my mortgage immediately!
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=32999538485&h=RVyaV
With all of that said, I can only hope that there is a brain in BO's head that tells him he won the Presidency (not the Dem nomination) by running center right and that he will govern in the same way. Unfortunately I have nothing to base this hope on because his past actions and governing has been completely to the left.
Given the obstacles McCain had to face in this election he did a valiant job at coming much much closer than any of the polls had predicted. Among the obstacles was the complete 'in the bag' media coverage of Obama.
I always wondered why the BO camp wanted his supporters to vote early, and now I know. Much of the negative information was unavailable to the 'average' voter until the last five days of the campaign(think bankrupting the coal industry, spreading the wealth, Rev Wright, Khalidi). I imagine that once BO takes office the media may do their job and cover the guy in the way they should have during the election campaign, maybe much like they covered Sarah Palin when they unleashed over 20 reporters to dig up any dirt they could on the lady and pretty much found nada.
I believe many many voters will have buyers remorse the more they learn about the guy they have just placed in charge of the most powerful country in the world. Our poor soldiers, can you imagine reporting to a commander in chief who while running for the democratic nomination said the way he would pay for many of the social programs he proposes would be to tax the evil rich and to pull our troops out of Iraq and gut military spending!
Make no mistake, BO is a liberal who understands that the country is center right. Why else would such a liberal run on the basis of tax cuts for 95% of the country? The most ironic thing about him and the people who voted for him was that they wanted 'change' from the Washington establishment and yet they got more of the same--an excellent politician who sought out shady characters in Chicago only to further his political aspirations, and a politician who knew how to say exactly what you want to hear in PA while telling the San Fran elite he plans to bankrupt the very industry that employs the majority of PA's citizens in one form or another. He's good, very good but he is the apitome of the typical politician that most BO voters were voting against.
I'm not a huge fan of BO for many reasons least of which is that he considers my family 'rich' and wants to take 40% of our income for federal taxes, please keep in mind that this does not include state, fica, property taxes etc., and yet I am not worried. Because I do not look to the government to solve problems I face each day, I look to myself and my family.
However I think I will now subscribe to the Peggy Joseph theory of an Obama Presidency and follow her lead beginning in 2009. If any of you BO supporters have not seen it, you will be so proud. Welcome to Obamanation, I plan to sign up and stop paying my mortgage immediately!
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=32999538485&h=RVyaV
With all of that said, I can only hope that there is a brain in BO's head that tells him he won the Presidency (not the Dem nomination) by running center right and that he will govern in the same way. Unfortunately I have nothing to base this hope on because his past actions and governing has been completely to the left.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Greetings from NC
WOW, I must be committed to the election of John McCain. I scheduled myself to volunteer in the swing state of NC during the UGA/FL football weekend. Am I committed or just that brilliant? Did anyone see the game? It was literally the worst I've seen GA play since I was in college many, many, many years ago. Anyway, I digress.
I spent Friday night trick or treating with Harry Potter, Lady from Lady and the Tramp, and the Burger King guy. And then hit the road for the great state of NC to volunteer in Hickory.
Saturday, I spent about 4 hours in the GOP headquarters making phone calls to local registered voters to remind them that Saturday was the last day to register in NC, and that early voting was going on until 3:00 pm.
In the beginning it was a little uncomfortable calling strangers and asking for their support but after some hang ups (very few) and stumbling through the script, I hit my stride.
It was actually a lot of fun talking to people who landed all over the spectrum from staunch McCain supporters (my favorite was a southern belle who said she did not realize there was another candidate in the race while using her best southern drawl), to Obama supporters (who were very polite once I thanked them for participating in one of the many things that makes this country great, and then hung up and thought, buyers remorse should set in early in 2009 when they realize that someone besides the top 5% of earners has to pay for all of the programs Obama is proposing) to finally the undecided voters. (Seriously, this late in the game. What are you, living under a rock??? and to those who know me well, no I did not say this to the potential voter). I know, SHOCKING.
Instead I engaged the undecideds in a brief conversation about why they remained so. Most felt that neither candidate offered them much in the way of solutions to the current issues facing our country but were committed to making a decision by Tuesday. I encouraged them all to go to McCain's website to really research the issues important to them and see how McCain proposes to handle them since most of what they are being barraged with on a daily basis are 30 second spots with alot of promises but not much substance. (Crap, I forgot to encourage them to research Obama's website, bad McCain supporter!!!!)
After the Saturday polls closed, it was time to hit the pavement in Hickory NC neighborhoods. It was so much fun to go door to door and hear directly from residents of the area who again fell all along the political spectrum. For me, I am happy to report that the vast majority of the areas we visited were overwhelmingly in favor of McCain but I did run into a few Obama supporters as well.
My favorite was a home where an older gentleman answered the door while his daughter in law (the home owner) came out to greet me from the garage area. She informed me she and her husband had already voted and not for my candidate. You would think that in this heated election and in a battleground state that she would have then kicked me off her lawn. Instead she was quick to point out that her father in law, the older gentleman had voted for McCain in FL-YEAH! I shook his hand and thanked him for his vote, and then thanked her too. She looked surprised, but I told her I am always thankful for anyone who participates in this great nations political process (and in my head said, even as ill informed as you clearly are). :)
She thanked me too, and as I left I found even less that we had in common, her license plate had a Gators tag on it. Are you kidding me??? I told her that I could not believe I found another thing we disagreed on. She laughed and said she had no 'Dawg' in that fight. She graduated from the University of Colorado, her husband from Florida. She said Florida was his problem, and finished it out with 'Go Dawgs'! It was nice to have such a pleasant conversation with someone I could not disagree with more politically.
This has been a very energizing experience for me. It reminds me that we can each make a difference in this upcoming election, and if the election does not go our way we can continue to be involved and keep these candidates on their toes.
Think about how many of us were up in arms about the $4 gas prices and called our congress people to say, get busy, get on with it and do our work- the peoples work. We as a nation, around 80%, believe that we should not only drill in America now where we have an abundance of oil available but also should develop alternative forms of energy. Our reps listened and we made a difference. While it was not completely successful because of the Democratic majority in the house and more specifically Nancy Pelosi--a staunch environmentalist who thinks we should never drill here, we made a difference. We showed that when we pay attention and call our reps out, they have no choice but to listen.
Now we need to pay attention to the needless and worthless programs we continue to throw money at with no discernible results. We could redirect money (our money) from useless programs and special interests and put it to work for things that work for all of us.
Regardless of party, I think we all would like to have energy independence and for all to have good health care, but the bottom line is we have to pay for it. In order to get to this place, let us all agree to pay more attention to this government who works for us and keep them in line, if not FIRE them, we have the power at the ballot box.
I spent Friday night trick or treating with Harry Potter, Lady from Lady and the Tramp, and the Burger King guy. And then hit the road for the great state of NC to volunteer in Hickory.
Saturday, I spent about 4 hours in the GOP headquarters making phone calls to local registered voters to remind them that Saturday was the last day to register in NC, and that early voting was going on until 3:00 pm.
In the beginning it was a little uncomfortable calling strangers and asking for their support but after some hang ups (very few) and stumbling through the script, I hit my stride.
It was actually a lot of fun talking to people who landed all over the spectrum from staunch McCain supporters (my favorite was a southern belle who said she did not realize there was another candidate in the race while using her best southern drawl), to Obama supporters (who were very polite once I thanked them for participating in one of the many things that makes this country great, and then hung up and thought, buyers remorse should set in early in 2009 when they realize that someone besides the top 5% of earners has to pay for all of the programs Obama is proposing) to finally the undecided voters. (Seriously, this late in the game. What are you, living under a rock??? and to those who know me well, no I did not say this to the potential voter). I know, SHOCKING.
Instead I engaged the undecideds in a brief conversation about why they remained so. Most felt that neither candidate offered them much in the way of solutions to the current issues facing our country but were committed to making a decision by Tuesday. I encouraged them all to go to McCain's website to really research the issues important to them and see how McCain proposes to handle them since most of what they are being barraged with on a daily basis are 30 second spots with alot of promises but not much substance. (Crap, I forgot to encourage them to research Obama's website, bad McCain supporter!!!!)
After the Saturday polls closed, it was time to hit the pavement in Hickory NC neighborhoods. It was so much fun to go door to door and hear directly from residents of the area who again fell all along the political spectrum. For me, I am happy to report that the vast majority of the areas we visited were overwhelmingly in favor of McCain but I did run into a few Obama supporters as well.
My favorite was a home where an older gentleman answered the door while his daughter in law (the home owner) came out to greet me from the garage area. She informed me she and her husband had already voted and not for my candidate. You would think that in this heated election and in a battleground state that she would have then kicked me off her lawn. Instead she was quick to point out that her father in law, the older gentleman had voted for McCain in FL-YEAH! I shook his hand and thanked him for his vote, and then thanked her too. She looked surprised, but I told her I am always thankful for anyone who participates in this great nations political process (and in my head said, even as ill informed as you clearly are). :)
She thanked me too, and as I left I found even less that we had in common, her license plate had a Gators tag on it. Are you kidding me??? I told her that I could not believe I found another thing we disagreed on. She laughed and said she had no 'Dawg' in that fight. She graduated from the University of Colorado, her husband from Florida. She said Florida was his problem, and finished it out with 'Go Dawgs'! It was nice to have such a pleasant conversation with someone I could not disagree with more politically.
This has been a very energizing experience for me. It reminds me that we can each make a difference in this upcoming election, and if the election does not go our way we can continue to be involved and keep these candidates on their toes.
Think about how many of us were up in arms about the $4 gas prices and called our congress people to say, get busy, get on with it and do our work- the peoples work. We as a nation, around 80%, believe that we should not only drill in America now where we have an abundance of oil available but also should develop alternative forms of energy. Our reps listened and we made a difference. While it was not completely successful because of the Democratic majority in the house and more specifically Nancy Pelosi--a staunch environmentalist who thinks we should never drill here, we made a difference. We showed that when we pay attention and call our reps out, they have no choice but to listen.
Now we need to pay attention to the needless and worthless programs we continue to throw money at with no discernible results. We could redirect money (our money) from useless programs and special interests and put it to work for things that work for all of us.
Regardless of party, I think we all would like to have energy independence and for all to have good health care, but the bottom line is we have to pay for it. In order to get to this place, let us all agree to pay more attention to this government who works for us and keep them in line, if not FIRE them, we have the power at the ballot box.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Anyone ever wonder why the Obama camp pushes hard for early voting?
My best guess is that it is due to the unguarded moments and the last minute information voters will undoubtedly receive during the last week of the campaign. I wonder if any of the early voters will have 'buyers remorse' and claim voter fraud?
I can say one positive thing about Obama's campaign--it has been artfully crafted from the Democratic Primary to the General Election. Whoever is running the show for O makes Karl Rove look like a child playing with legos rather than 'the architect'.
For those of you who did not pay attention to the long and drawn out Democratic Primary, Obama ran as a liberal extremist in the primary to attract the move on.org crowd to his camp in order to beat Hillary for the nomination. And it certainly helped that the press was and is in Obama's corner. Hillary did not stand a chance.
Hillary, realizing the media would not be so deeply committed to her election to the presidency, understood that in order to win the general election she would have to appeal and appear more to the center in order to win. Fortunately for Obama, he does not get the same media scrutiny, so he was able to run as a liberal extremist to get the nomination and then disguise himself as a centrist to win the general election with not a single question about his inconsistency from the media. So which is it? Is Obama an extreme liberal or is he the centrist he 'plays' on TV?
I submit to you that Obama is indeed the extreme liberal who ran in the Democratic primary based on the following facts which will most certainly come to light in the last 7 days of the campaign and thus the early voting push by the O camp:
Radical Ties: This will not change the ill informed O voters mind, but hopefully it will resonate with the undecideds in this election (which is higher than any other Presidential election)
Rev Wright: Obama sat in this man's church for 20 years listening to him spew hatred not just for America but more specifically for white America calling the USA among other things, the USKKKof A. Rev Wright went on to state after 9/11 that we were to blame for the attacks, and as he so eloquently put it, 'our chickens have come home to roost'. Obama claims in the 20 years he was a member of Rev. Wright's church he never once heard him speak such ill things of America, and yet these same statements were available for purchase on DVD's sold at Trinity United Methodist Church. REALLY OBAMA????
Did the press investigate this, NO. Did Obama disassociate himself from Rev. Wright, NO or at least not until it became apparent this would be an issue for the average voter in the Democratic primary. So then, and only then did Barack and Michelle decided to withdrawal their membership in the church. And so as with every other radical relationship, all was forgiven.
Does any thinking person really believe that in 20 YEARS Obama never heard such divisive statements????? Of course not, but was any investigative journalism done, OF COURSE NOT!
William Ayers: He is a radical terrorist from the 60's who bombed among other things, the Pentagon. Obama and Ayers served on Boards together and Obama, raised money for education in Chicago, and Obama wrote a 'blurb' for Ayers book in 1997. Yet Obama said he does not know Ayers well, he is just a 'guy from his neighborhood' who did deplorable things when Obama was 8. But when was the last time you were asked to write a blurb for someone you hardly know? Oh and BTW, how old was Obama when he wrote the blurb and served on the Boards? I am guessing he was older than 8, but maybe he ages differently than the rest of us, he is after all the Messiah.
Tony Resko: Slum lord, convicted felon. Worked as a fund raiser for Obama and helped he and Michelle purchase their home in Hyde Park in a shady real estate deal. Is anyone investigating this deal, No. Surprise. However, Tony is talking and working on a deal with the prosecution. Being a betting person, I'd say he is waiting on the results of the election before turning on the Big O. After all, Obama may be his early release ticket from the clink. Think Presidential Pardon.
I could go on and on regarding his questionable relationships, from Acorn to the latest video that the LA Times refuses to release with Obama praising yet another radical guy, (the link is here if you wish to read it) http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obamamideast10apr10,0,5826085.story but will summarize by saying it should give any undecided voter pause that a man we may elect as the President of the US is comfortable at the very least keeping this type of radical company. I do not believe this could be said of any other Presidential nominee from either party, at least since I've been around.
Inexperience: The left continues to go on and on regarding Palin's lack of experience, but has anyone ever considered Obama's lack of experience. After all, since becoming a Senator in 2004, he has been running for President. He served one year and then started campaigning. And in his own words he said that this somehow serves as one of his qualifications to BE the President--that he has been running for President since 2005. SERIOUSLY???? If it were not so absurd, I would be laughing. I assure you I am not.
I will leave you with two last points about Obama's lack of experience:
His own running mate said that Obama is going to be tested within the first 6 months of his administration because of his lack of experience. The Obama campaign is trying to spin this by saying that regardless of who the next President is, they will be tested. But this is not what Biden said. He said OBAMA will be tested because of his youth and lack of experience.
Lastly. I think we can all agree that the Europeans want Obama to become the next President of the United States, and none more than French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But here is what Sarkozy had to say about Obama and his policy toward Iran:
The respected Israeli newspaper Ha'artez reports that according to a "senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as 'utterly immature' and comprised of 'formulations empty of all content.'"
And this guy wants Obama to win. I think Sarkozy's statement truly says it all.
I encourage you to forward this posting to anyone who is undecided or can be persuaded to vote for McCain. We need every person out there supporting him on Tuesday. I am headed to NC to help get out the vote, and I encourage you to do what you can as well!
I can say one positive thing about Obama's campaign--it has been artfully crafted from the Democratic Primary to the General Election. Whoever is running the show for O makes Karl Rove look like a child playing with legos rather than 'the architect'.
For those of you who did not pay attention to the long and drawn out Democratic Primary, Obama ran as a liberal extremist in the primary to attract the move on.org crowd to his camp in order to beat Hillary for the nomination. And it certainly helped that the press was and is in Obama's corner. Hillary did not stand a chance.
Hillary, realizing the media would not be so deeply committed to her election to the presidency, understood that in order to win the general election she would have to appeal and appear more to the center in order to win. Fortunately for Obama, he does not get the same media scrutiny, so he was able to run as a liberal extremist to get the nomination and then disguise himself as a centrist to win the general election with not a single question about his inconsistency from the media. So which is it? Is Obama an extreme liberal or is he the centrist he 'plays' on TV?
I submit to you that Obama is indeed the extreme liberal who ran in the Democratic primary based on the following facts which will most certainly come to light in the last 7 days of the campaign and thus the early voting push by the O camp:
Radical Ties: This will not change the ill informed O voters mind, but hopefully it will resonate with the undecideds in this election (which is higher than any other Presidential election)
Rev Wright: Obama sat in this man's church for 20 years listening to him spew hatred not just for America but more specifically for white America calling the USA among other things, the USKKKof A. Rev Wright went on to state after 9/11 that we were to blame for the attacks, and as he so eloquently put it, 'our chickens have come home to roost'. Obama claims in the 20 years he was a member of Rev. Wright's church he never once heard him speak such ill things of America, and yet these same statements were available for purchase on DVD's sold at Trinity United Methodist Church. REALLY OBAMA????
Did the press investigate this, NO. Did Obama disassociate himself from Rev. Wright, NO or at least not until it became apparent this would be an issue for the average voter in the Democratic primary. So then, and only then did Barack and Michelle decided to withdrawal their membership in the church. And so as with every other radical relationship, all was forgiven.
Does any thinking person really believe that in 20 YEARS Obama never heard such divisive statements????? Of course not, but was any investigative journalism done, OF COURSE NOT!
William Ayers: He is a radical terrorist from the 60's who bombed among other things, the Pentagon. Obama and Ayers served on Boards together and Obama, raised money for education in Chicago, and Obama wrote a 'blurb' for Ayers book in 1997. Yet Obama said he does not know Ayers well, he is just a 'guy from his neighborhood' who did deplorable things when Obama was 8. But when was the last time you were asked to write a blurb for someone you hardly know? Oh and BTW, how old was Obama when he wrote the blurb and served on the Boards? I am guessing he was older than 8, but maybe he ages differently than the rest of us, he is after all the Messiah.
Tony Resko: Slum lord, convicted felon. Worked as a fund raiser for Obama and helped he and Michelle purchase their home in Hyde Park in a shady real estate deal. Is anyone investigating this deal, No. Surprise. However, Tony is talking and working on a deal with the prosecution. Being a betting person, I'd say he is waiting on the results of the election before turning on the Big O. After all, Obama may be his early release ticket from the clink. Think Presidential Pardon.
I could go on and on regarding his questionable relationships, from Acorn to the latest video that the LA Times refuses to release with Obama praising yet another radical guy, (the link is here if you wish to read it) http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obamamideast10apr10,0,5826085.story but will summarize by saying it should give any undecided voter pause that a man we may elect as the President of the US is comfortable at the very least keeping this type of radical company. I do not believe this could be said of any other Presidential nominee from either party, at least since I've been around.
Inexperience: The left continues to go on and on regarding Palin's lack of experience, but has anyone ever considered Obama's lack of experience. After all, since becoming a Senator in 2004, he has been running for President. He served one year and then started campaigning. And in his own words he said that this somehow serves as one of his qualifications to BE the President--that he has been running for President since 2005. SERIOUSLY???? If it were not so absurd, I would be laughing. I assure you I am not.
I will leave you with two last points about Obama's lack of experience:
His own running mate said that Obama is going to be tested within the first 6 months of his administration because of his lack of experience. The Obama campaign is trying to spin this by saying that regardless of who the next President is, they will be tested. But this is not what Biden said. He said OBAMA will be tested because of his youth and lack of experience.
Lastly. I think we can all agree that the Europeans want Obama to become the next President of the United States, and none more than French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But here is what Sarkozy had to say about Obama and his policy toward Iran:
The respected Israeli newspaper Ha'artez reports that according to a "senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as 'utterly immature' and comprised of 'formulations empty of all content.'"
And this guy wants Obama to win. I think Sarkozy's statement truly says it all.
I encourage you to forward this posting to anyone who is undecided or can be persuaded to vote for McCain. We need every person out there supporting him on Tuesday. I am headed to NC to help get out the vote, and I encourage you to do what you can as well!
Monday, October 27, 2008
It's official, I'm leaving perfectville for NC......
At least for a weekend! I am headed to a town called Hickory to help get out the vote for McCain(more on this in a moment). And I've discovered that leaving perfectville even for a weekend can be even more work for a working mom. Is this even possible????
From talking with my new perfectville friends there are some rules to be followed when leaving the house even for a night. After all you are leaving the man of the house alone with the kids! Whatever will he do without my help, so I got right to work.
I spent the night on the phone arranging play dates during the day and sitters at night so he would hardly notice that I had left. After the play dates were set I got busy in the kitchen preparing meals for the kids and for my husband so everything would be on automatic pilot, he would not have to think without me. What a wonderful perfectville wife I've become. Who'd have ever thunk it???
Actually, I did not mind doing any of this for the family. I know how hard it is on me when I am working and my hubby goes out of town for the week, so I know it will be equally if not harder for him. Problem is, no one ever does this for me when he goes out of town, I would not expect it. I think I am setting a precedent that is going to be practically impossible to live up to, and takes responsibility away from my very capable husband. I find that if we lower expectations, we get what we expect.
So next time I leave for a night or a week, do I chance it? Do I leave my kids in the hands of my husband to be fed pretzels and fruit loops for dinner? I think so, a little extra carbs, sugar and no bathing never hurt anyone. Shhhh, don't tell the other moms.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Is Joe Biden working for the Clintons?
I ask myself this on occasion when certain things come out of dear old Joe's mouth, today is no exception. Today while campaigning in Seattle Joe said '"Mark my words, It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."
So I have a great idea America, let's vote for the guy whose VEEP candidate believes will be tested by our enemies because of his inexperience rather than McCain who our enemies know they need not test because he will deliver.
If you look at the way the US has been tested in the past and our response to such tests you can see a pattern. As an example, The Clinton administration was tested with the bombing of the WTC in 1993, they did nothing and treated this bombing as a police matter, essentially they failed and we were attacked several more times during his administration including the bombing on the USS Cole.
In 2001, George W Bush was tested and he passed. We have not had an attack since 2001 and our enemies know that McCain will follow suit and protect this country. I cannot assure that we will not be attacked again with an McCain administration, but what I can tell you is that his VP is not on the campaign trail guaranteeing an attack within 6 months of McCain's administration. McCain's VP did not say during any debates that he was not prepared nor experienced enough to be our leader, but Joe Biden did say this about Obama during the Democrat primary. Apparently Obama got much more experience to lead the country in the months following this debate and Joe's appointment as VP??? Maybe he took an accelerated class on foreign policy experience, my son is in an accelerated reader program so it makes sense that they must offer something comparable at the world leader level?
Biden went on to say 'But he's gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you're going to have to reinforce us." "There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, 'Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don't know about that decision'," Biden continued. "Because if you think the decision is sound when they're made, which I believe you will when they're made, they're not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound."
Did he really say this??? Biden is essentially explaining why George Bush's polling is so low. He is making sound decisions but unpopular ones! WOW I love this guy, keep them coming Joe. If you keep these type of statements coming and undermining the Obama ticket, I think you will have a bright future in the Clinton campaign in 2012.
So I have a great idea America, let's vote for the guy whose VEEP candidate believes will be tested by our enemies because of his inexperience rather than McCain who our enemies know they need not test because he will deliver.
If you look at the way the US has been tested in the past and our response to such tests you can see a pattern. As an example, The Clinton administration was tested with the bombing of the WTC in 1993, they did nothing and treated this bombing as a police matter, essentially they failed and we were attacked several more times during his administration including the bombing on the USS Cole.
In 2001, George W Bush was tested and he passed. We have not had an attack since 2001 and our enemies know that McCain will follow suit and protect this country. I cannot assure that we will not be attacked again with an McCain administration, but what I can tell you is that his VP is not on the campaign trail guaranteeing an attack within 6 months of McCain's administration. McCain's VP did not say during any debates that he was not prepared nor experienced enough to be our leader, but Joe Biden did say this about Obama during the Democrat primary. Apparently Obama got much more experience to lead the country in the months following this debate and Joe's appointment as VP??? Maybe he took an accelerated class on foreign policy experience, my son is in an accelerated reader program so it makes sense that they must offer something comparable at the world leader level?
Biden went on to say 'But he's gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you're going to have to reinforce us." "There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, 'Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don't know about that decision'," Biden continued. "Because if you think the decision is sound when they're made, which I believe you will when they're made, they're not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound."
Did he really say this??? Biden is essentially explaining why George Bush's polling is so low. He is making sound decisions but unpopular ones! WOW I love this guy, keep them coming Joe. If you keep these type of statements coming and undermining the Obama ticket, I think you will have a bright future in the Clinton campaign in 2012.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Obama camp makes fun of 'average joe'
WOW who would have thunk it? The Democratic candidate for President is making fun of ‘the little guy’ out on the campaign trail. Say it isn’t so Barack.
Joe the Plumber dared ask a question about Obama’s tax policy and his answer as mentioned in my last blog was that Obama believes in spreading the wealth by taxing the earners and spreading it to those who don’t earn enough in Obama’s eyes! Great Answer Barack! I’ll bet after that truthful nugget your campaign staffers cringed and immediately ordered additional teleprompters to help you stay on point rather than showing Americans who you truly are in your door to door visits.
So while on the campaign trail this week, Barack pokes fun at Joe by stating ‘how many plumbers do you know who make a quarter of a million a year’ as to dismiss Joe for having an opinion on tax policy and assuming that he buys into the class warfare for which the Democratic party is so well known. Truth is Barack, many working class Americans can earn plenty when the government gets off of their back and out of their way. Please, oh please Obama continue to make fun of the working class guy who doesn’t envy the rich and successful but rather aspires to be one of them. This tactic will work perfectly for you for the remainder of the campaign, I promise. :)
Has anyone noticed a pattern yet? If you dare challenge Obama in a manner that gains traction you will be destroyed, even if you are one of the little people he purports to represent? Did he forget to mention that you do not matter unless you agree with him???
This tactic first began with Palin. Like her or not, she came on the scene with as much star power as Obama, and McCain’s numbers began to rise in a year where he should lose by double digits simply by being from the same party as the current president. Released by the left wing were media and Obama supporters who went to Alaska in droves to dig up any information that could be deemed as questionable from Palin's past. And now, the same leftist journalists have gone after the now infamous ‘Joe the Plumber’ who dared ask Obama a question about his tax policy. Joe wanted to know why Barack proposed a tax system that would basically punish families and small businesses for working hard and being successful and got an honest answer, one that has gained traction and is hurting O’s numbers.
So what does Joe get for eliciting such an honest response from Obama? He gets reporters camped out on his lawn, digging into his past to find out of all things ‘he’s not a licensed plumber, and he has owed back taxes’. The media has even gone so far as to write a story in the New York Times trying to show that old Joe would be better off under the Obama tax system because after all of the deductions Joe’s business is able to take, he would earn just under the $250k threshold O has chosen as the rich threshold and would not receive a tax increase under Obama’s plan. Problem is that Obama and the media miss the point: Joe does not want to make just under $250k with tax deductions, he wants to make more. He does not want his hard work to be taken from him and distributed to others who have not worked as hard in order to be deemed as ‘patriotic’ by the left. Rather, he would like to be free to live the American dream which by they way would end up helping others ‘less fortunate’ because small businesses create more jobs in America than do those evil large corporations.
I can see now why the press has not had time to properly vet Barack Obama, they’ve been too busy researching Palin and Joe in an effort to destroy them in order to get their guy elected! Maybe once he is President the media will have an opportunity to research Mr. Obama and some of his associations from Rev. Wright, to Bill Ayers to ACORN, but alas it will be too late.
Joe the Plumber dared ask a question about Obama’s tax policy and his answer as mentioned in my last blog was that Obama believes in spreading the wealth by taxing the earners and spreading it to those who don’t earn enough in Obama’s eyes! Great Answer Barack! I’ll bet after that truthful nugget your campaign staffers cringed and immediately ordered additional teleprompters to help you stay on point rather than showing Americans who you truly are in your door to door visits.
So while on the campaign trail this week, Barack pokes fun at Joe by stating ‘how many plumbers do you know who make a quarter of a million a year’ as to dismiss Joe for having an opinion on tax policy and assuming that he buys into the class warfare for which the Democratic party is so well known. Truth is Barack, many working class Americans can earn plenty when the government gets off of their back and out of their way. Please, oh please Obama continue to make fun of the working class guy who doesn’t envy the rich and successful but rather aspires to be one of them. This tactic will work perfectly for you for the remainder of the campaign, I promise. :)
Has anyone noticed a pattern yet? If you dare challenge Obama in a manner that gains traction you will be destroyed, even if you are one of the little people he purports to represent? Did he forget to mention that you do not matter unless you agree with him???
This tactic first began with Palin. Like her or not, she came on the scene with as much star power as Obama, and McCain’s numbers began to rise in a year where he should lose by double digits simply by being from the same party as the current president. Released by the left wing were media and Obama supporters who went to Alaska in droves to dig up any information that could be deemed as questionable from Palin's past. And now, the same leftist journalists have gone after the now infamous ‘Joe the Plumber’ who dared ask Obama a question about his tax policy. Joe wanted to know why Barack proposed a tax system that would basically punish families and small businesses for working hard and being successful and got an honest answer, one that has gained traction and is hurting O’s numbers.
So what does Joe get for eliciting such an honest response from Obama? He gets reporters camped out on his lawn, digging into his past to find out of all things ‘he’s not a licensed plumber, and he has owed back taxes’. The media has even gone so far as to write a story in the New York Times trying to show that old Joe would be better off under the Obama tax system because after all of the deductions Joe’s business is able to take, he would earn just under the $250k threshold O has chosen as the rich threshold and would not receive a tax increase under Obama’s plan. Problem is that Obama and the media miss the point: Joe does not want to make just under $250k with tax deductions, he wants to make more. He does not want his hard work to be taken from him and distributed to others who have not worked as hard in order to be deemed as ‘patriotic’ by the left. Rather, he would like to be free to live the American dream which by they way would end up helping others ‘less fortunate’ because small businesses create more jobs in America than do those evil large corporations.
I can see now why the press has not had time to properly vet Barack Obama, they’ve been too busy researching Palin and Joe in an effort to destroy them in order to get their guy elected! Maybe once he is President the media will have an opportunity to research Mr. Obama and some of his associations from Rev. Wright, to Bill Ayers to ACORN, but alas it will be too late.
Monday, October 13, 2008
'Spread the Wealth' -Isn't that code for socialism?
On the urging of another suburbanite, I am back to blogging again. No one told me that having two kids and working full time would get in the way of keeping up with my suburban blog. It seems so unfair!!! Maybe Obama/Biden can help me since they are all about fairness. And by fairness, I mean wealth redistribution.
Obama was in Ohio this week going door to door to gain support. He ran into a plumber who questioned Obama's tax plan. The plumber asked, "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" complaining that he was being taxed "more and more for fulfilling the American dream."
Obama's response was startling. He said and I quote, 'It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too, My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
WOW, many McCain supporters often discuss Obama and his leftist point of view and now you get to hear it straight from the horses mouth(oh my, was that a racist statement?). Since when did wealth redistribution replace hard work as the American Dream??? Taxing the wealthy is always popular among some Americans, however, here are a couple of points that they tend to miss:
1.) The wealthy does not mean Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney and Bill Gates. Obama plans to increase taxes on families making $250,000 per year. For many who make $40,000 per year this may seem like an a ton amount of money, but for two professionals working full time $250,000 can be achieved through hard work. As Americans we should aspire to this, not be penalized for it.
2.) Many small businesses file individual tax returns. An increase for individuals of $250k + will increase taxes on job creators in America. And who gets hurt more??? the employer or the employee who is laid off because the employer can no longer afford the additional taxes and the employee's salary. That bottom up approach works great.
3.) Obama plans to cut taxes on 95% of Americans. This sounds GREAT! But the fact is only about 68% of Americans pay Federal income taxes. So how is he going to cut 95% of Americans, the answer-Wealth ReDistribution.
In addition to all of these tax cuts, Obama plans to keep spending and spending and spending. One may ask how, however the media will not so I encourage you to find out more on your own. The world wide web is a wonderful thing. Do not go to the candidates site, go to google and type in things that are of concern to you.
On another note....
No news to report on the 'perfectville' front except for the fact that my son, who just started Kindergarten, is extremely interested in the presidential election. (I wonder why) He wanted to put a McCain bumper sticker on his backpack--I of course thought this was a fabulous idea, but alas my husband intervened as many of his wonderful teachers may support Obama.
Each day he comes home and tells me of another person who is voting for Obama. I wonder if he is engaging everyone he meets on the election (good boy!!!)
The latest two are Pat and Ryan. Pat is my son's friend's grandmother. She told me that Tyler asked her who she is voting for and when she said Obama, he went on to ask her why and to tell her that Obama was going to lose because John McCain has more experience. He then came home and asked me again why 'we' support McCain, so I gave him a few very harmless and unoffensive reasons to share. Pat said she thought is was the cutest thing ever, but she is still voting Obama. I am still working on her!
Today he told me his buddy Ryan is voting for Obama because he wants the war to end. I told him John McCain does too, but that he wants it to end with victory and not by giving up. Thank goodness Ryan's vote doesn't count. He is after all only 8. But don't tell Obama's camp that he supports him, the next thing you know Acorn will be knocking at his door.
Obama was in Ohio this week going door to door to gain support. He ran into a plumber who questioned Obama's tax plan. The plumber asked, "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" complaining that he was being taxed "more and more for fulfilling the American dream."
Obama's response was startling. He said and I quote, 'It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too, My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
WOW, many McCain supporters often discuss Obama and his leftist point of view and now you get to hear it straight from the horses mouth(oh my, was that a racist statement?). Since when did wealth redistribution replace hard work as the American Dream??? Taxing the wealthy is always popular among some Americans, however, here are a couple of points that they tend to miss:
1.) The wealthy does not mean Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney and Bill Gates. Obama plans to increase taxes on families making $250,000 per year. For many who make $40,000 per year this may seem like an a ton amount of money, but for two professionals working full time $250,000 can be achieved through hard work. As Americans we should aspire to this, not be penalized for it.
2.) Many small businesses file individual tax returns. An increase for individuals of $250k + will increase taxes on job creators in America. And who gets hurt more??? the employer or the employee who is laid off because the employer can no longer afford the additional taxes and the employee's salary. That bottom up approach works great.
3.) Obama plans to cut taxes on 95% of Americans. This sounds GREAT! But the fact is only about 68% of Americans pay Federal income taxes. So how is he going to cut 95% of Americans, the answer-Wealth ReDistribution.
In addition to all of these tax cuts, Obama plans to keep spending and spending and spending. One may ask how, however the media will not so I encourage you to find out more on your own. The world wide web is a wonderful thing. Do not go to the candidates site, go to google and type in things that are of concern to you.
On another note....
No news to report on the 'perfectville' front except for the fact that my son, who just started Kindergarten, is extremely interested in the presidential election. (I wonder why) He wanted to put a McCain bumper sticker on his backpack--I of course thought this was a fabulous idea, but alas my husband intervened as many of his wonderful teachers may support Obama.
Each day he comes home and tells me of another person who is voting for Obama. I wonder if he is engaging everyone he meets on the election (good boy!!!)
The latest two are Pat and Ryan. Pat is my son's friend's grandmother. She told me that Tyler asked her who she is voting for and when she said Obama, he went on to ask her why and to tell her that Obama was going to lose because John McCain has more experience. He then came home and asked me again why 'we' support McCain, so I gave him a few very harmless and unoffensive reasons to share. Pat said she thought is was the cutest thing ever, but she is still voting Obama. I am still working on her!
Today he told me his buddy Ryan is voting for Obama because he wants the war to end. I told him John McCain does too, but that he wants it to end with victory and not by giving up. Thank goodness Ryan's vote doesn't count. He is after all only 8. But don't tell Obama's camp that he supports him, the next thing you know Acorn will be knocking at his door.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
2008, The Year Journalism Truly Did Die!
I've heard all the right wing talk show hosts repeat this phrase over and over again, but I ignored it mostly as the partisan attention getting statement it is intended to be. But now, with Gwen Ifill moderating the VP debate I would have to agree.
Gwen Ifill is writing a book she did not disclose to the Commission in charge of selecting the moderators for the various presidential debates, nor has she recused herself. Her book, titled Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the age of Obama will review the historic election of Barack Obama as the first African American male nominated to run for president. The interesting thing about this book is it's release date: Inauguration Day.
Should Barack Obama be inaugurated, she will have hit pay dirt, if not, not so much.
The reason I feel journalism has died is not that Gwen Ifill will not necessarily do a fair job at moderating the debate, but that more will not be made of this.
If for instance, Bill Sammon, a Fox News contributor, was selected to be the moderator and he was writing a book about McCain's journey from the Hanoi Hilton to the White House, every news person from GA to Washington would require that Bill recuse himself from this debate. Instead, the debate will go on as planned with limited mention of her financial conflict of interest and with Gwen acting like any other American journalist.
She will make sure she denigrates Sarah Palin for pausing before answering a foreign policy question while letting Biden have a pass for not knowing that FDR did not get on television during the stock market crash of 1929, 1.) because he was not president, Herbert Hooever was, and 2.) because radio, not TV was the medium at the time. (from Biden's interview with Katie Couric)
Or for that matter when Tom Brokaw hosted Nancy Pelosi and asked her about when life is conceived and she said 'I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition … St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose.' I'm pretty sure the Catholic church is clear on their point of view of when a life begins, but interestingly enough, no follow up question from Brokaw.
Wow, welcome to the new Journalism of America. As long as I agree with your point of view, I will not bother with the facts.
Gwen Ifill is writing a book she did not disclose to the Commission in charge of selecting the moderators for the various presidential debates, nor has she recused herself. Her book, titled Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the age of Obama will review the historic election of Barack Obama as the first African American male nominated to run for president. The interesting thing about this book is it's release date: Inauguration Day.
Should Barack Obama be inaugurated, she will have hit pay dirt, if not, not so much.
The reason I feel journalism has died is not that Gwen Ifill will not necessarily do a fair job at moderating the debate, but that more will not be made of this.
If for instance, Bill Sammon, a Fox News contributor, was selected to be the moderator and he was writing a book about McCain's journey from the Hanoi Hilton to the White House, every news person from GA to Washington would require that Bill recuse himself from this debate. Instead, the debate will go on as planned with limited mention of her financial conflict of interest and with Gwen acting like any other American journalist.
She will make sure she denigrates Sarah Palin for pausing before answering a foreign policy question while letting Biden have a pass for not knowing that FDR did not get on television during the stock market crash of 1929, 1.) because he was not president, Herbert Hooever was, and 2.) because radio, not TV was the medium at the time. (from Biden's interview with Katie Couric)
Or for that matter when Tom Brokaw hosted Nancy Pelosi and asked her about when life is conceived and she said 'I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition … St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose.' I'm pretty sure the Catholic church is clear on their point of view of when a life begins, but interestingly enough, no follow up question from Brokaw.
Wow, welcome to the new Journalism of America. As long as I agree with your point of view, I will not bother with the facts.
Monday, September 29, 2008
YIKES!!! Obama may actually become our President
I must apologize in advance for the length and randomness of this post......I am stressed about this election.................
The big O's election will either be the absolute worst thing that could happen to our country and move it in a direction I will not recognize, or it will last four years only and be the best thing that ever happened! What, really, this doesn't make any sense???? Or does it?
It does if his presidency and the Democratic control of the House and Senate does indeed last four years only and the average American wakes up and realizes they elected the most liberal, inexperienced, blow hard to run our country directly into the ground with his cronies Nancy Pelosi and MoveOn.org.
Honestly, who in a million years really believed that a guy we know nothing about, who has been a Senator for 3 years while running for President for 2 of those years, who has the most liberal voting record in the Senate, who has received more $$$ in three years as a Senator than all but one Senator in 10 years from the Freddie/Fannie crowd largely responsible for our economic meltdown, who in a time of crisis does what he always does essentially votes 'Present' during the economic crisis while playing partisan politics and criticising McCain for trying to lead during the worst financial crisis we have seen since the Great Depression, who changes his mind constantly on his positions because he essentially has no core and needs approval before having a position, or at least a teleprompter to tell him what he thinks, who is essentially a socialist to run our country? I could go on and on and on, just ask my husband.
With that said McCain made a colossal mistake by refusing to be more of a leader during the most critical financial vote in our recent history. He should have come to DC and lead the charge to get this bailout package passed so that our financial markets will remain viable. He should be leading the charge that this is not a 'bailout of Wall street' which the media loves to continue to coin--can anyone say class warfare or I am a supporter of Obama????
This 'bailout' package does indeed do what everyone thinks it does not, it helps main street. Did anyone notice the 777 drop in the financial market. You may say oh those fat cats noticed it!!!! But so did teachers, and firefighters and police officers. All of our 401 k's decreased in value and if congress continues to play politics with this bill we will all notice our borrowing ability dry up, lack of home loans, auto loans etc.
When we elect our representatives we expect them to lead in a time of crisis and not play partisan politics. If you question whether they are indeed doing this, note that politicians who are retiring from office voted for the package, those running for re-election voted in large part against this bill. They are listening to the public at large who understands less about this crisis than they do in order to remain in power. Can anyone say term limits?
This is a pivotal election in our nations history (did I really say that, the phrase is so tired and overused). Can McCain recover, I doubt it, but if he can he will need to get a consistent message going regarding Obama and his big spending plans for the country, nationalized health care and increase in taxes. In the words of Dick Morris--
'Remember: Whenever we raised taxes amidst a downturn, we triggered a massive falloff. It was the tax increases of the early 30s that worsened the Great Depression and it was Bush's 1990 tax increase that created the 1991 recession that cost him his job. America understands that we can't raise taxes now. American grasps that Obama will not just raise taxes on a handful of rich people but will raise them on everybody. And we understand that Obama has no real answer to this charge. McCain just needs to begin to make this central attack his campaign theme from now on.'
But will McCain do it, it remains to be seen, and it remains to be seen if Obama's Presidential election will be the best or the worst thing for our country. One thing is certain, Hillary and Bill are laughing all the way to 2012!
The big O's election will either be the absolute worst thing that could happen to our country and move it in a direction I will not recognize, or it will last four years only and be the best thing that ever happened! What, really, this doesn't make any sense???? Or does it?
It does if his presidency and the Democratic control of the House and Senate does indeed last four years only and the average American wakes up and realizes they elected the most liberal, inexperienced, blow hard to run our country directly into the ground with his cronies Nancy Pelosi and MoveOn.org.
Honestly, who in a million years really believed that a guy we know nothing about, who has been a Senator for 3 years while running for President for 2 of those years, who has the most liberal voting record in the Senate, who has received more $$$ in three years as a Senator than all but one Senator in 10 years from the Freddie/Fannie crowd largely responsible for our economic meltdown, who in a time of crisis does what he always does essentially votes 'Present' during the economic crisis while playing partisan politics and criticising McCain for trying to lead during the worst financial crisis we have seen since the Great Depression, who changes his mind constantly on his positions because he essentially has no core and needs approval before having a position, or at least a teleprompter to tell him what he thinks, who is essentially a socialist to run our country? I could go on and on and on, just ask my husband.
With that said McCain made a colossal mistake by refusing to be more of a leader during the most critical financial vote in our recent history. He should have come to DC and lead the charge to get this bailout package passed so that our financial markets will remain viable. He should be leading the charge that this is not a 'bailout of Wall street' which the media loves to continue to coin--can anyone say class warfare or I am a supporter of Obama????
This 'bailout' package does indeed do what everyone thinks it does not, it helps main street. Did anyone notice the 777 drop in the financial market. You may say oh those fat cats noticed it!!!! But so did teachers, and firefighters and police officers. All of our 401 k's decreased in value and if congress continues to play politics with this bill we will all notice our borrowing ability dry up, lack of home loans, auto loans etc.
When we elect our representatives we expect them to lead in a time of crisis and not play partisan politics. If you question whether they are indeed doing this, note that politicians who are retiring from office voted for the package, those running for re-election voted in large part against this bill. They are listening to the public at large who understands less about this crisis than they do in order to remain in power. Can anyone say term limits?
This is a pivotal election in our nations history (did I really say that, the phrase is so tired and overused). Can McCain recover, I doubt it, but if he can he will need to get a consistent message going regarding Obama and his big spending plans for the country, nationalized health care and increase in taxes. In the words of Dick Morris--
'Remember: Whenever we raised taxes amidst a downturn, we triggered a massive falloff. It was the tax increases of the early 30s that worsened the Great Depression and it was Bush's 1990 tax increase that created the 1991 recession that cost him his job. America understands that we can't raise taxes now. American grasps that Obama will not just raise taxes on a handful of rich people but will raise them on everybody. And we understand that Obama has no real answer to this charge. McCain just needs to begin to make this central attack his campaign theme from now on.'
But will McCain do it, it remains to be seen, and it remains to be seen if Obama's Presidential election will be the best or the worst thing for our country. One thing is certain, Hillary and Bill are laughing all the way to 2012!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Buckhead Housewives makes Perfectville stay at home moms look like white trash underachievers
:)
I was invited to attend a coffee sponsored by The Atlanta History Center this week. It was held at a members home off of Tuxedo Avenue in Buckhead. WOW. So this is how the other half lives???
I thought we had made it when we moved to Perfectville, but being surrounded by the Real Housewives of Buckhead, I immediately realized I was still in Pre K and they were graduating college with honors. They made the stay at home moms of perfectville look like underachievers who shop at target. Suddenly I felt like fitting into Perfectville would be a cakewalk compared to navigating your way through this group of pros!
It was quite an eclectic crowd at the coffee. There were young and old, new and old money, and those who happened to know someone with money who got to take a break from peering through the windows and actually come inside. If only for a couple of hours!
It was difficult at first being alone at the event. Not knowing a soul in the crowd was intimidating, but it gave me a chance to do what I love best, people watching! At first, I felt great walking up the cobble stone drive in my most fashionable outfit-- billy blues pants and an Anne Taylor shirt. But upon arrival I realized that my entirely too expensive pair of Billy Blues cost less than the buckle on any pair of Giuseppe Zonotti flats I saw walking through this lovely home.
The home was an older buckhead mansion that was restored with craftsman style rooms, and perfectly decorated. The lady of the manor had to be in her early 60's but looked no older than 49. She was absolutely gorgeous, poised, and dressed to perfection. I happened to meet her plastic surgeon while listening to all of the fund raising efforts planned for the 2008-2009 season, the most exciting one to the crowd was cocktails and croquet on the lawn of the Swan House, the ewws and awws were overwhelming! The plastic surgeon leaned over to ask if I played croquet, sadly no I said unless you count the animal croquet set we play in the back yard with the kids. The Dr found this a delightful answer from someone so refreshing and real, thus our conversation began and ended with me getting her card and telling her what amazing work she had done on the host. Truly gorgeous!
I've been to this event three years in a row, but enjoyed this time the most. I think because I am more comfortable in my own skin. If I suddenly became 'new money' I would not be any different than I am today. Well, maybe a little thinner due to lipo! And these women and I have some things in common. I've been feeling the pressure of fitting in in perfectville as these ladies have in Buckhead, except the pressure they feel is real, not self imposed. I felt for them, because once you get to know them a little better, they are extremely nice people with good hearts, and insecurities, just like the rest of us. They just have to do more work to keep up the facade! I left thanking god that I only had to fit in in Perfectville, it shouldn't be that hard, I shop at Target too!
I was invited to attend a coffee sponsored by The Atlanta History Center this week. It was held at a members home off of Tuxedo Avenue in Buckhead. WOW. So this is how the other half lives???
I thought we had made it when we moved to Perfectville, but being surrounded by the Real Housewives of Buckhead, I immediately realized I was still in Pre K and they were graduating college with honors. They made the stay at home moms of perfectville look like underachievers who shop at target. Suddenly I felt like fitting into Perfectville would be a cakewalk compared to navigating your way through this group of pros!
It was quite an eclectic crowd at the coffee. There were young and old, new and old money, and those who happened to know someone with money who got to take a break from peering through the windows and actually come inside. If only for a couple of hours!
It was difficult at first being alone at the event. Not knowing a soul in the crowd was intimidating, but it gave me a chance to do what I love best, people watching! At first, I felt great walking up the cobble stone drive in my most fashionable outfit-- billy blues pants and an Anne Taylor shirt. But upon arrival I realized that my entirely too expensive pair of Billy Blues cost less than the buckle on any pair of Giuseppe Zonotti flats I saw walking through this lovely home.
The home was an older buckhead mansion that was restored with craftsman style rooms, and perfectly decorated. The lady of the manor had to be in her early 60's but looked no older than 49. She was absolutely gorgeous, poised, and dressed to perfection. I happened to meet her plastic surgeon while listening to all of the fund raising efforts planned for the 2008-2009 season, the most exciting one to the crowd was cocktails and croquet on the lawn of the Swan House, the ewws and awws were overwhelming! The plastic surgeon leaned over to ask if I played croquet, sadly no I said unless you count the animal croquet set we play in the back yard with the kids. The Dr found this a delightful answer from someone so refreshing and real, thus our conversation began and ended with me getting her card and telling her what amazing work she had done on the host. Truly gorgeous!
I've been to this event three years in a row, but enjoyed this time the most. I think because I am more comfortable in my own skin. If I suddenly became 'new money' I would not be any different than I am today. Well, maybe a little thinner due to lipo! And these women and I have some things in common. I've been feeling the pressure of fitting in in perfectville as these ladies have in Buckhead, except the pressure they feel is real, not self imposed. I felt for them, because once you get to know them a little better, they are extremely nice people with good hearts, and insecurities, just like the rest of us. They just have to do more work to keep up the facade! I left thanking god that I only had to fit in in Perfectville, it shouldn't be that hard, I shop at Target too!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wisdom in a time of chaos
As I sit down with my popcorn and Sierra Nevada readying myself to watch the complete season 2 of Dexter in one night, I find myself drawn back to my blog to blog about the current state of our financial crisis and the wisdom I've gained in the past 48 hours.
Many are in complete shock about the state of our financial markets and the drastic measures that the administration has taken. And while some may understand what is truly at play, most do not and watch continuous news coverage of this crisis and how serious the situation is and assume or are told that the current administration and the evil republicans and greedy corporations are to blame for the current state.
Some of this is true. I believe that congress is largely to blame for the current situation we find ourselves in, but as much as the media would like this to be a republican issue, the truth of the matter is that each party is equally responsible for their inaction to prevent such a crisis in our economy. They both take plenty of money from the lobbyist to turn their heads to the issues, (and by the way over the past 20 years of lobbyist payments from now debunk firms, the two largest recipients of $$$ were DEMOCRAT Chris Dodd (who by the way heads the banking committee, and BARAK OBAMA). Does anyone else find it interesting that over 20 years of giving money to congress, that Obama was the #2 recipient and he has only been in the senate for 3 years.....
Anyway, I digress.
The wisdom that I gained is that Congress with the lowest approval rating ever, INCLUDING Bush, adjourned to campaign for their re-elections rather than addressing the current crisis, some lawmakers even commented that they did not know what to do. Do you know who did???
That rascally George Bush, who certainly will be vilified as the one person responsible for this situation as with pretty much every other thing that goes wrong in the nation and the world. You know, my popcorn is slightly burned, I'll bet George W. Bush is to blame.
In reality, GWB stuck around to work with his treasury secretary and the head of the federal reserve to develop a plan that will essentially settle our economy in the short run. And how long did it take???? Basically 24 hours. And why so quickly, because these men are financially savvy, understand what is at stake and are not concerned about getting re-elected.
However, with the quick turnaround of the economic plan, don't expect it to be approved without more pork barrel attachments by all involved. I am assuming that congress will do what it always does and only approve with a 'me too' attachment.
The whole situation is a shame, and it certainly will get worse as the election gets closer. This bailout of the financial markets will be deemed as a bail out by the republicans of their wealthy cronies rather than a drastic measure to stabilize a financial institution that has all of our money tied into it. From the uber wealthy to the teacher and fire fighters in each of our communities. Rather than trying to act in a way that is bipartisan and helpful, the politics as usual class warfare will be enacted again with little to none of the community understanding what this bailout of the market is intended to do, save us all.
Many are in complete shock about the state of our financial markets and the drastic measures that the administration has taken. And while some may understand what is truly at play, most do not and watch continuous news coverage of this crisis and how serious the situation is and assume or are told that the current administration and the evil republicans and greedy corporations are to blame for the current state.
Some of this is true. I believe that congress is largely to blame for the current situation we find ourselves in, but as much as the media would like this to be a republican issue, the truth of the matter is that each party is equally responsible for their inaction to prevent such a crisis in our economy. They both take plenty of money from the lobbyist to turn their heads to the issues, (and by the way over the past 20 years of lobbyist payments from now debunk firms, the two largest recipients of $$$ were DEMOCRAT Chris Dodd (who by the way heads the banking committee, and BARAK OBAMA). Does anyone else find it interesting that over 20 years of giving money to congress, that Obama was the #2 recipient and he has only been in the senate for 3 years.....
Anyway, I digress.
The wisdom that I gained is that Congress with the lowest approval rating ever, INCLUDING Bush, adjourned to campaign for their re-elections rather than addressing the current crisis, some lawmakers even commented that they did not know what to do. Do you know who did???
That rascally George Bush, who certainly will be vilified as the one person responsible for this situation as with pretty much every other thing that goes wrong in the nation and the world. You know, my popcorn is slightly burned, I'll bet George W. Bush is to blame.
In reality, GWB stuck around to work with his treasury secretary and the head of the federal reserve to develop a plan that will essentially settle our economy in the short run. And how long did it take???? Basically 24 hours. And why so quickly, because these men are financially savvy, understand what is at stake and are not concerned about getting re-elected.
However, with the quick turnaround of the economic plan, don't expect it to be approved without more pork barrel attachments by all involved. I am assuming that congress will do what it always does and only approve with a 'me too' attachment.
The whole situation is a shame, and it certainly will get worse as the election gets closer. This bailout of the financial markets will be deemed as a bail out by the republicans of their wealthy cronies rather than a drastic measure to stabilize a financial institution that has all of our money tied into it. From the uber wealthy to the teacher and fire fighters in each of our communities. Rather than trying to act in a way that is bipartisan and helpful, the politics as usual class warfare will be enacted again with little to none of the community understanding what this bailout of the market is intended to do, save us all.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The perfect suburban birthday party
My son was a guest at his friends 6th birthday party this weekend, and it was lovely, but for reasons other burb moms may find disturbing--lots of cocktails, and comradery with other women trying to find their way in this world!
Some of us felt pressure to explain why we continued our careers with 2.5 kids, and yet really did love them, others felt pressure to explain why they had given up lucrative careers to stay home with their kids and really had much to offer the community at large. The funny thing to me was that we all wanted each others approval for the life changing decision we made.
Whether you ended up being in the stay at home crowd or the working mom crowd, I found that we had much in common, but that two things really got us talking--an appreciate of good television and/or movies and figuring out a way to make 30's the new 20's and to make the 40's the new 30's.
Once we let down our perfection guards, we realized that we needed each other to vent, commissurate, or to use one another as a muse for the lives we thought we had left behind. And after even more cocktails we each realized that grass may or may not be greener on the otherside, but if it was greener, we knew we could each change the angle of the slope to get the color we were meant to have.
Some of us felt pressure to explain why we continued our careers with 2.5 kids, and yet really did love them, others felt pressure to explain why they had given up lucrative careers to stay home with their kids and really had much to offer the community at large. The funny thing to me was that we all wanted each others approval for the life changing decision we made.
Whether you ended up being in the stay at home crowd or the working mom crowd, I found that we had much in common, but that two things really got us talking--an appreciate of good television and/or movies and figuring out a way to make 30's the new 20's and to make the 40's the new 30's.
Once we let down our perfection guards, we realized that we needed each other to vent, commissurate, or to use one another as a muse for the lives we thought we had left behind. And after even more cocktails we each realized that grass may or may not be greener on the otherside, but if it was greener, we knew we could each change the angle of the slope to get the color we were meant to have.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Getting 'Plugged In' in Perfectville
I may have mentioned on a prior post that making friends in perfectville is not the easiest task I've undertaken, even for those of us who consider ourselves quite 'the catch' as a friend. It can be so difficult that someone(probably an ex executive or prior litigator turned stay at home mom, coined the phrase) 'getting plugged in' to describe it. The phrase reminds me of some our home office uses, words like drill down, or cross pollinate.
Apparently growing up in perfectville is such an amazing experience that many kids return to the community to raise their own families, buying a home right down the street from mom and dad, or possibly their best buddy Joe from 1st grade.
This speaks volumes for this community and is one of the reasons we chose to raise our kids here. But when you are new to such a close community making new friends can be like a political campaign. You find yourself being on your best behavior, choosing your words carefully and making sure that you are meeting the right people who can get you in 'plugged in'. It's exhausting!!!! And did I mention looking your best????
My hubby and I moved to perfectville from downtown Atlanta where we went to the corner coffee shop hung over and unshowered every Saturday and Sunday. Downtown, we fit in quite nicely, and sometimes appeared overdressed. I still remember the first time we went to the local coffee shop in perfectville in between unpaking moving boxes. We showed up on a Sunday, unshowered and sweaty only to be greeted by a crowd of moms and dads with their 2.5 kids in their best sunday dress. Although no one said it, or even looked for more than a split second, I am guessing that if we could have seen the bubble over their heads it would have read something like, 'oh those poor souls, they thought we made a wrong turn off of the interstate, while looking for the homeless shelter, I wonder if I should offer directions. :)
In the first months I found myself wanting to reject perfectville and all of its trappings to show I was still hip and cool and did not need to conform to the community norms. But then I saw my son being embraced by the kids next door and at school. I saw him follow the trail to a new friends house and be welcomed with open arms, and watched his eyes literally light up the first time he saw kids his age playing in the yard with their moms and dads. So I guess the openess and the generosity of the kids surrounding us opened me up to being able to embrace the adults as well and to stop being such a child myself with all the insecurities you feel when you are introduced into a new situation.
It's taken over a year of shaking hands and kissing babies and I am now beginning to feel plugged in. And the more moms I meet, the more I realize that we all seem to have more in common than we or at least I first thought we would. HOWEVER, I do have some funny tales to tell about some of my life in perfectville, but this entry is getting a little long so I will enter again tomorrow.
Apparently growing up in perfectville is such an amazing experience that many kids return to the community to raise their own families, buying a home right down the street from mom and dad, or possibly their best buddy Joe from 1st grade.
This speaks volumes for this community and is one of the reasons we chose to raise our kids here. But when you are new to such a close community making new friends can be like a political campaign. You find yourself being on your best behavior, choosing your words carefully and making sure that you are meeting the right people who can get you in 'plugged in'. It's exhausting!!!! And did I mention looking your best????
My hubby and I moved to perfectville from downtown Atlanta where we went to the corner coffee shop hung over and unshowered every Saturday and Sunday. Downtown, we fit in quite nicely, and sometimes appeared overdressed. I still remember the first time we went to the local coffee shop in perfectville in between unpaking moving boxes. We showed up on a Sunday, unshowered and sweaty only to be greeted by a crowd of moms and dads with their 2.5 kids in their best sunday dress. Although no one said it, or even looked for more than a split second, I am guessing that if we could have seen the bubble over their heads it would have read something like, 'oh those poor souls, they thought we made a wrong turn off of the interstate, while looking for the homeless shelter, I wonder if I should offer directions. :)
In the first months I found myself wanting to reject perfectville and all of its trappings to show I was still hip and cool and did not need to conform to the community norms. But then I saw my son being embraced by the kids next door and at school. I saw him follow the trail to a new friends house and be welcomed with open arms, and watched his eyes literally light up the first time he saw kids his age playing in the yard with their moms and dads. So I guess the openess and the generosity of the kids surrounding us opened me up to being able to embrace the adults as well and to stop being such a child myself with all the insecurities you feel when you are introduced into a new situation.
It's taken over a year of shaking hands and kissing babies and I am now beginning to feel plugged in. And the more moms I meet, the more I realize that we all seem to have more in common than we or at least I first thought we would. HOWEVER, I do have some funny tales to tell about some of my life in perfectville, but this entry is getting a little long so I will enter again tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Are we really arguing over a pig in lipstick?
Is anyone as concerned as I am that we live in a country where two men are running for the most important position in our country and rather than discussing the issues in this pivotal election we are instead attacking a VP candidate for everything from having a potentially demanding job to having a teenager who is pregnant and a baby with down syndrome
I feel like I am watching Jerry Springer rather than watching news coverage of the 2008 Presidential election.
I think someone should tell Obama that he is running against McCain and not Sarah Palin. And someone should tell McCain that using a common phrase to compare policies should not be assumed to be sexist. Besides, I think Sarah could kick Obama's Arse. This is not victim politics. This is an election in a pivotal moment in history which will impact us for many years to come. Rather than discussing what color lipstick a pig is wearing, we should be discussing the following:
Energy independence -through drilling in this country now because we have the resources and know how to pull it out of the ground relatively quickly
Developing alternative energy sources-who wants to be dependent on the middle east or Russia for that matter when we have plenty of oil in this country and plenty of know how to develop alternative forms of energy including natural gas, solar, nuclear and wind
Taxes-whose policy will best assist this country in recovering from the bloated government spending which includes the war on terror and the declining markets after the attack on 9/11?
FYI 45% of our population does not pay federal income taxes and the top 5% of income earners already pay more than 80% of taxes so how can we ask the top earners to pay more. Oh and have you asked your candidate what amount of income is the top 5%.
I think most of the country believes that when someone says they are going to tax the rich that we are taxing the bill gates, oprah winfreys and the warren buffets of the world. In reality we are taxing a family with two working parents at the highest level when they bring home $250k as a couple.
In todays declining dollar and ever rising costs, this is not RICH. This is not the CEO of your evil corporation, this is the manager of a department whose spouse also works. These are some of your co workers not your boss or your bosses bosses boss.
My family cannot deduct interest on student loans because we make more than $75k per year as a couple. Is this fair?
Forgive me, I digress. We have serious issues to be debating at this time, and no one, not the candidates, and certainly not the media want to bring the important issues to the table. Instead the want to report personal attacks between the campaigns as news. Welcome to the 2008 election for President of the USA. The Jerry Springer land of politics.
And we are accusing the other campaign of a dirty blow for saying 'you can put lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig' and calling that a sexist remark.
I feel like I am watching Jerry Springer rather than watching news coverage of the 2008 Presidential election.
I think someone should tell Obama that he is running against McCain and not Sarah Palin. And someone should tell McCain that using a common phrase to compare policies should not be assumed to be sexist. Besides, I think Sarah could kick Obama's Arse. This is not victim politics. This is an election in a pivotal moment in history which will impact us for many years to come. Rather than discussing what color lipstick a pig is wearing, we should be discussing the following:
Energy independence -through drilling in this country now because we have the resources and know how to pull it out of the ground relatively quickly
Developing alternative energy sources-who wants to be dependent on the middle east or Russia for that matter when we have plenty of oil in this country and plenty of know how to develop alternative forms of energy including natural gas, solar, nuclear and wind
Taxes-whose policy will best assist this country in recovering from the bloated government spending which includes the war on terror and the declining markets after the attack on 9/11?
FYI 45% of our population does not pay federal income taxes and the top 5% of income earners already pay more than 80% of taxes so how can we ask the top earners to pay more. Oh and have you asked your candidate what amount of income is the top 5%.
I think most of the country believes that when someone says they are going to tax the rich that we are taxing the bill gates, oprah winfreys and the warren buffets of the world. In reality we are taxing a family with two working parents at the highest level when they bring home $250k as a couple.
In todays declining dollar and ever rising costs, this is not RICH. This is not the CEO of your evil corporation, this is the manager of a department whose spouse also works. These are some of your co workers not your boss or your bosses bosses boss.
My family cannot deduct interest on student loans because we make more than $75k per year as a couple. Is this fair?
Forgive me, I digress. We have serious issues to be debating at this time, and no one, not the candidates, and certainly not the media want to bring the important issues to the table. Instead the want to report personal attacks between the campaigns as news. Welcome to the 2008 election for President of the USA. The Jerry Springer land of politics.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
PTA and the Working Mom
WOW! As a working mom in perfectville, you try and find a way to get involved that will take the least amount of your time. Because let's face it, you want to be involved with your kids school and meet other parents but you want to do it in a way that makes you look good. i.e. I will not be the parent dressing up as a dinosaur to read a story about dinosaurs to my kids Kindergarten class every Friday, or be the parent who comes in every Thursday to help with the special craft for the class. Who has that kind of time on their hands? Even if I were a stay at home mom, I say when they start school it is my time to discover me again! I could figure out some way to spend most of my day rather than being at my kids school for hours on end each week. (not that there is anything wrong with this, there just needs to be some sort of balance for me)
I will be the parent who gets involved with a committee with some nameless name in a sea of nameless name committees where I can show up once a month for 30 minutes spout off some enlightened commentary on the subject of the day, go home, pat myself on the back and open up a bottle of wine.
So I joined what I thought was the perfect committee that would take at the most 6 hours of my precious free time a year.
For the sake of keeping names out of my blog I will call the committee the nameless name committee that is taking up more than 6 hours a day of my time since signing on to be a volunteer.
Meet chairman of the nameless name committee, we will call her Jill. Jill is a stay at home mom with one child attending perfectville elementary school and like me was new to perfectville. She moved from a west coast state where she was an executive at a very popular company. She is a lovely lovely woman, who clearly had a very important position within her company and now uses her experience to run the nameless name committee and to be a dedicated mother of one in perfectville. I admire her very much, she is one of the best moms I've ever met.
She has gathered each of the volunteer moms for a meeting to discuss in which direction we would like to see the nameless name committee head in 2008.
I thought I was there to have a cup of coffee and dish with the ladies, but our committee head Jill had another idea.
I walked in to this beautiful home, and was sent to the kitchen table to begin the meeting. We spent the first 10 mins doing what I anticipated, drinking coffee and dishing about our wonderful offspring. And then the white board was introduced. Clearly a prop from her executive days.
On the white board we had an agenda listed with time frames for each discussion point, we were each encouraged to take on a task within the committee, we were given a deadline (less than a week) to come up with a final draft of something that was going to be reviewed, critiqued and approved by the BOD of the PTA, and distributed to the school.
What happened to my 30 minutes a month?
I have to hand it to Jill, she is a doer. We all took an assignment, she followed her agenda and dismissed us after our hour of 'socializing' was over! WOW. I could not believe this was my life on the nameless committee in a sea of committees. Why didn't I just choose to be the room parent where it may take up an hour of each day, but you know that going in, and let's face it, the room parent gets all the glory!
I have to say we pulled it off with the style, grace and professionalism of 8 stay at home moms who all had extremely responsible positions prior to staying home with their kids and one working mom who is barely making it with a somewhat professional position and a family to raise in perfectville.
I will be the parent who gets involved with a committee with some nameless name in a sea of nameless name committees where I can show up once a month for 30 minutes spout off some enlightened commentary on the subject of the day, go home, pat myself on the back and open up a bottle of wine.
So I joined what I thought was the perfect committee that would take at the most 6 hours of my precious free time a year.
For the sake of keeping names out of my blog I will call the committee the nameless name committee that is taking up more than 6 hours a day of my time since signing on to be a volunteer.
Meet chairman of the nameless name committee, we will call her Jill. Jill is a stay at home mom with one child attending perfectville elementary school and like me was new to perfectville. She moved from a west coast state where she was an executive at a very popular company. She is a lovely lovely woman, who clearly had a very important position within her company and now uses her experience to run the nameless name committee and to be a dedicated mother of one in perfectville. I admire her very much, she is one of the best moms I've ever met.
She has gathered each of the volunteer moms for a meeting to discuss in which direction we would like to see the nameless name committee head in 2008.
I thought I was there to have a cup of coffee and dish with the ladies, but our committee head Jill had another idea.
I walked in to this beautiful home, and was sent to the kitchen table to begin the meeting. We spent the first 10 mins doing what I anticipated, drinking coffee and dishing about our wonderful offspring. And then the white board was introduced. Clearly a prop from her executive days.
On the white board we had an agenda listed with time frames for each discussion point, we were each encouraged to take on a task within the committee, we were given a deadline (less than a week) to come up with a final draft of something that was going to be reviewed, critiqued and approved by the BOD of the PTA, and distributed to the school.
What happened to my 30 minutes a month?
I have to hand it to Jill, she is a doer. We all took an assignment, she followed her agenda and dismissed us after our hour of 'socializing' was over! WOW. I could not believe this was my life on the nameless committee in a sea of committees. Why didn't I just choose to be the room parent where it may take up an hour of each day, but you know that going in, and let's face it, the room parent gets all the glory!
I have to say we pulled it off with the style, grace and professionalism of 8 stay at home moms who all had extremely responsible positions prior to staying home with their kids and one working mom who is barely making it with a somewhat professional position and a family to raise in perfectville.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Arguing on facebook, seriously???
I have just been arguing with a good friend of mine over facebook. Seriously? What happened to talking on the phone? or emailing for that matter? Now I communicate via facebook? Seriously.
Apparently yes, I am serious. Facebook has been a nice way to reconnect, with those from days past, but it is also serving as a way that we become less connected to one another. So while we can get in touch with more people, more often, there is less human contact as we move forward.
One wonders if this is healthy? Well not one, I wonder.
I guess 'the one' would be Obama, and clearly he doesn't care to get real, just really connected to many. Many who are clearly uninformed about him and what he represents to this country.
And thus the reason I was arguing with my good friend on face book.
She continues to spew off the talking points from ABC, CBS, NBC and my favorite MSNBC and take them as gospel without question. For such an intelligent lady, she is completely uninformed and looking for a way to distinguish herself from every other person around her. So she decides supporting Barack without question.
This is fine, it is her right. But I have such an easier time listening to this drivel from someone who truly believes in socialism and what it represents vs. my dear friend, who represents pretty much the same positions as I do, but cannot be honest with herself about it, because it wouldn't be cool!
Anyway, I digress.... My point was arguing over facebook. We continue to use technology to reach more people and more often, but with no connection. So the faster the connection on your phone or cable line, the lower the intimate connection will be in your life on a day to day basis.
Is this good for any of us? Seriously????
Apparently yes, I am serious. Facebook has been a nice way to reconnect, with those from days past, but it is also serving as a way that we become less connected to one another. So while we can get in touch with more people, more often, there is less human contact as we move forward.
One wonders if this is healthy? Well not one, I wonder.
I guess 'the one' would be Obama, and clearly he doesn't care to get real, just really connected to many. Many who are clearly uninformed about him and what he represents to this country.
And thus the reason I was arguing with my good friend on face book.
She continues to spew off the talking points from ABC, CBS, NBC and my favorite MSNBC and take them as gospel without question. For such an intelligent lady, she is completely uninformed and looking for a way to distinguish herself from every other person around her. So she decides supporting Barack without question.
This is fine, it is her right. But I have such an easier time listening to this drivel from someone who truly believes in socialism and what it represents vs. my dear friend, who represents pretty much the same positions as I do, but cannot be honest with herself about it, because it wouldn't be cool!
Anyway, I digress.... My point was arguing over facebook. We continue to use technology to reach more people and more often, but with no connection. So the faster the connection on your phone or cable line, the lower the intimate connection will be in your life on a day to day basis.
Is this good for any of us? Seriously????
Friday, September 5, 2008
Oprah dissing Sarah?
Well it is published on the drudge report. She is not going to have Sarah Palin as a guest on her show. Why? Most common thinking people would surmise that since she is a supporter of Obama that it would not be in his best interest to have Palin on as thus far she seems pretty impressive. However, in her statement she says she will not have any candidates on her show until the election is over.
I will have to do some research and see if she had any of the prior presidential candidates on in the past, or if this is a new rule since she is supporting Obama in 2008.
If her statement is true, and I will take her at her word, the backlash she WILL receive will be unfair. If it is not true well then let the chips fall where they may. But even though I predict a backlash will come, it will not make a dent into her popularity one bit.
I will have to do some research and see if she had any of the prior presidential candidates on in the past, or if this is a new rule since she is supporting Obama in 2008.
If her statement is true, and I will take her at her word, the backlash she WILL receive will be unfair. If it is not true well then let the chips fall where they may. But even though I predict a backlash will come, it will not make a dent into her popularity one bit.
My very own blog
This is crazy, I cannot believe I am actually blogging for the first time. WOW I've come a long way from being a pretty much technically challenged mom of two in the burbs. We moved to a suburb of Atlanta last year, let's just call it 'perfectville' where it seems all the moms stay home and all the dads have super important jobs. The moms all play tennis, have playdates and carpool. And all the dads coach some sort of sport in every season of the year.
It has been a transition for this city girl. My husband drug me kicking and screaming out of our intown home. But he was right, we needed a yard and a good school district. Private was no longer an option with a second one on the way.
So we researched schools and found some lovely ones to choose from, hired and agent and began looking. We found our dream home that was move in ready in a week, and we landed in perfectville.
After a short time in perfectville, I realized it may not be the most perfect place for a working mom. I quickly learned as I looked for a full time church school, that apparently no moms work full time in perfectville.
In Atlanta there must have been plenty of working moms because all of the church school programs ran from about 7 am to 6 pm, not so in perfectville. In perfectville, church schools ran from 9 am to 12 pm, just enough time for moms to drop off, grab a cup of joe and head to the gym or their doubles match. And if you were really lucky you could find a spot in a program that was for more than 3 days a week and had a lunch hour from 12-1. But what mom would want to drop off their little joe or precious patty five days a week for three hours a day?
So we had a choice, quit my job or hire someone to come to the home and take care of the kids.
Quitting my job was appealing for various reasons I will not go in to. But did I mention we just bought our dream house? On two incomes. Quitting now would be financially impossible at least for the first couple of years, but we would keep looking a this option.
We hired a nanny to come to the home, which has actually been alot easier on me and my hubby. A lot easier to not worry about getting the kids dressed and drive them to school. Some times they sleep in and I only have to feed and clothe myself in the mornings. I label these dream days.
It has been a transition for this city girl. My husband drug me kicking and screaming out of our intown home. But he was right, we needed a yard and a good school district. Private was no longer an option with a second one on the way.
So we researched schools and found some lovely ones to choose from, hired and agent and began looking. We found our dream home that was move in ready in a week, and we landed in perfectville.
After a short time in perfectville, I realized it may not be the most perfect place for a working mom. I quickly learned as I looked for a full time church school, that apparently no moms work full time in perfectville.
In Atlanta there must have been plenty of working moms because all of the church school programs ran from about 7 am to 6 pm, not so in perfectville. In perfectville, church schools ran from 9 am to 12 pm, just enough time for moms to drop off, grab a cup of joe and head to the gym or their doubles match. And if you were really lucky you could find a spot in a program that was for more than 3 days a week and had a lunch hour from 12-1. But what mom would want to drop off their little joe or precious patty five days a week for three hours a day?
So we had a choice, quit my job or hire someone to come to the home and take care of the kids.
Quitting my job was appealing for various reasons I will not go in to. But did I mention we just bought our dream house? On two incomes. Quitting now would be financially impossible at least for the first couple of years, but we would keep looking a this option.
We hired a nanny to come to the home, which has actually been alot easier on me and my hubby. A lot easier to not worry about getting the kids dressed and drive them to school. Some times they sleep in and I only have to feed and clothe myself in the mornings. I label these dream days.
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