Unauthorized Political Commentary

I know how you, my faithful readers, look forward to my weekly political commentary. Here it is, in little bite sized pieces.

1. President Bush doesn't want to authorize additional spending on SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) because Democrats propose expanding eligibility which the President fears will be harmful to private insurers. He also opposes the plan to pay for it by increasing excise taxes on cigarettes. Even Republicans support this program. So much for the branches of government working together.

2. The sleepover at the Capital was a bust. Democrats failed to secure enough votes. Debate will be suspended until after Labor Day, most likely. And it sounds like there were no games of Truth or Dare and no one produced a Ouija board. Very disappointing.

3. A steam pipe burst in New York yesterday, causing widespread panic as people feared the city was under siege by terrorists. One poor soul died of a heart attack and reports indicated there were some serious injuries. This as it is announced that DC and NY will receive the largest boosts in counter terrorism funds. Sounds like some infrastructure funds would be more appropriate.

4. North Korea finally shut down it's main nuclear reactor and four related facilities in exchange for fuel oil needed to run electrical generators. North Korea still needs to disable the reactor and turn over nuclear materials, but it's a start.

That's all for today! It's a lovely cloudy day, perfect for reading. I may take the kids to the pool now before the severe weather arrives so I can read later.

Sleep Over

Our senators got to have a sleepover at the Capital last night so they could stay up all night and debate a proposal to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home. I have some questions about this sleepover.

1. Did anyone steal Hillary Clinton's bra while she was snoozing and freeze it?

2. Did Nancy Pelosi take the dare in "Truth or Dare" to kiss Barbara Mikulski on the lips?

3. Did Dennis Kucinich loan Olympia Snowe his Ouija board so she could talk to John Kennedy?

4. Does anyone really believe these blowhards stayed up all night last night? Please!

Stumps

Did you ever try and try to do something and you just couldn't get it done? Or did you ever try and try to work with a person and they were impossible to deal with? I once had a boss who told me that there were going to be some people you encountered in life who were like immovable stumps. They were too big to dig out so you would just have to go around them. This, ladies and gentlemen, is my mother. I'm exhausted from a day of dealing with her "stumpness" so this little tale will be short. My mother got into a minor car accident on Monday. She left me a message about it on Tuesday. I called her back and asked her what happened, had she called the doctor, etc. Her greatest concern was replacing her car. Though she takes coumadin and it's advised that any coumadin patient who suffers trauma contact their doctor immediately, she didn't see this as important. This puts her children in the awkward position of pleading with her to make the call, as well as encouraging her to learn more about the cars that she wants other than that the seats are comfortable. She is a stump. I must now go around her.

The Potter movie party was a success last night. We found a dementor-esque costume for $5 at the Party store. I made "cauldron cakes" though very few were eaten. My friend and her family had some excellent costumes. It's pretty amazing when you can get a grown man to wear a costume. That would never happen in this house. My friend's husband was Professor Quirrell complete with a turban. I didn't get to see if they had fashioned a face on the back of his head. We did have a frightened boy last night who needed some happy thoughts to go to bed and needed to snuggle sometime in the middle of the night. Hopefully he'll sleep in. It's a good sign that he isn't up already.

It's been a big movie week. We saw "Ratatouille" on Sunday. This would rank fairly low on the Pixar scale, in my opinion. The story was dry, the animation was a little boring, the characters weren't terribly interesting and there were no funny lines. Funny, memorable lines are key to a successful Disney movie experience. We even thought of an alternate ending that would have made the story 1000 times better. It involves Remy learning that Gusteau was actually controlled by his father (or Grandfather). We thought this was where the movie was going when the evil chef's attorney made mention of needing to have DNA tests redone because the first test indicated some hair was from a rat. The only hair you see anyone with is one that's plucked from Gusteau's toque which is in a glass case in the restaurant office. The movie never went that way and we were very disappointed. We preferred our alternate ending. The kids seemed to enjoy it and that's what matters most.

Another hot and humid July day on tap. Stay cool!

Midway Point

Summer is about half over. We've been doing okay with my lofty summer goals. I haven't quite made it to the gym 4 times a week. Only one wall in the bedroom is painted. The boys have been doing some reading and math, but my ten year old hasn't been writing as much as I would like. We've gotten lots of exercise at the pool. They've spent a ton of time with their friends, as have I. This was my first summer at home with my kids after leaving the workforce. I was extremely tense about how we would all do together. The only organized activities they have will be vacation Bible School and an art class for the oldest. I think we've done pretty well. I've learned a lot about the boys and what they need from me. My oldest needs time to himself, at least an hour a day. It's my job to keep the annoying little brother away. My youngest needs time with me alone. He needs me to swim with him, or read to him, or play cars with him, or take him on errands without his annoying older brother. We've survived on even less money than during the school year, since I don't even have my meager bakery salary. It's been a good summer. Now if we can just get my husband to commit to taking some vacation, it might even be a perfect summer.

But the school supply list looms in front of me on the refrigerator door. Reality is around the corner with homework battles, auditions, unending requests for money, PTA responsibilities, etc, etc, etc... This year, my youngest child goes to Kindergarten and my oldest is in 5th grade. It's the only year they will be in school together. I look forward to seeing them walk up the path together, possibly hand in hand, backpacks bouncing, milk money jingling. It's going to be an adorable school year.

I handed "Summer at Tiffany" to a friend at the pool yesterday. She was pretty excited about it. It's a cute book with it's Tiffany blue cover. It invites you in and then holds you captive. I think I finished it in about 3 hours, not in one sitting, however. Back to "Charterhouse." It takes a little while to get used to the writing in books written in different centuries and in different languages. The first few sittings will be somewhat brutal until I can connect with a few characters.

Tonight is the big Harry Potter viewing. We still have to figure out what to bring and somehow come up with a Dementor costume. I have to hand it to my son for not wanting to go with Harry Potter, but he could have given more than one day to come up with a dementor costume. I have been informed that none of the party stores have any Harry Potter costumes at all right now. That seems pretty weak, considering in the span of a week, a movie and a book are coming out. I guess we'll be left scouring the mall for something. Pray for me.

Time to take the Vets donation outside for pickup and hunt down the small child. I think he's in my bed. Enjoy!

All's Well that Ends Well

The family is gone. The visits are over. We may have accomplished something with our mother over the last few days and we may not have. Only she can answer that. I know what my motivation was in visiting assisted living facilities and I'm comfortable with it. The weekend wasn't too stressful except for my sister trying to force us into these group therapy type discussions. Ironic, since she was the one who also said she hoped we would not spend the whole weekend talking about our parents. Enough of that.

I've really been enjoying my reading time this summer. We went to the bookstore yesterday and picked up a few interesting books including "Summer at Tiffany" by Marjorie Hart and "A Savage War of Peace" by Alistair Horne. The first is a woman's reminiscences about the summer of 1945 when she and her friend went to NYC from Iowa and worked at Tiffany. She does a wonderful job describing what New York was like that summer, the patriotism, the fashion, and how exciting it was to be at a place like Tiffany where she ran into people like Judy Garland and dreamed of seeing the Duke and Duchess of Windsor who were known to shop at the boutique next door. I'll be done with this today. This is simply a pleasure to read. It's a book that begs to be shared among friends so we all remember simpler times.

The other book is about the Algerian War for independence. We got it because it was mentioned in an article in "Christian Science Monitor." The Algerian War, as I've mentioned in an earlier posting, is studied for its similarities to the Iraq War. We decided to see for ourselves. Obviously not a book about anything simple at all, but a reminder that in order to understand the present, you must know about the past. And perhaps it's books like "Savage War" that make books like "Summer at Tiffany" more meaningful.