Russia growls

Well, this is cheerful:  Russian Analyst Predicts Decline and Breakup of USA, via Drudge.  Holy cow.  Professor Igor Panarin has been predicting this for a while now, and a lot of the problem (according to him) is our enormous debt.  And it is just spiraling out of control.

Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Medvedev and Chavez play footsie with their war ships.  This is in our backyard!  Russia and Venezuela are working on a nuclear "energy" deal, and check out what else Chavez wants:

He also wants weapons — Venezuela has bought more than $4 billion in Russian arms, including Sukhoi fighter jets, helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, and more deals for Russian tanks or other weaponry may be discussed after Medvedev arrives Wednesday.

What are they doing with all of that firepower?  Chavez is sitting on a lot of oil.  This is worrisome.  

Meanwhile, oil has dropped below $53 dollars a barrel.  Great, right?  Maybe not.  Saudi Arabia isn't the only one who stands to lose as these prices drop.  Chavez is one, but so is Russia.  They are the second-largest oil producer in the world.  And they really, really need money.  They are willing to kill for it...witness what happened in Georgia this summer.  Russia wants that pipeline and port.  Interesting times we live in.

Food blogging

Yes, there's a lot of news, bailouts, yucky stuff.  But it's also Thanksgiving week, and so I'm going to post some of my favorite recipes this week.  Feel free to try, comment, share!

I make the sandwich bread at my house.  I read this book about two years ago and got weirded out about mass-produced food for a while.  Well, the cereal and Hostess treats and granola bars have made their way back into our house but the bread habit is here to stay.  Here's the recipe, modified a lot from the Betty Crocker recipe I started with:

Whole-Wheat Bread, two loaves

3 cups whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur flour for our bread)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup honey, molasses, or grade B maple syrup

4 1/2 tsp. yeast

1 tbsp. salt (DON'T FORGET THE SALT!)

Put these in the mixer fitted with a bread hook and blend for a minute.  Then add:

2 1/4 cups hot tap water

Mix again for about a minute.  Now add:

3 1/2 cups bread flour

Now mix/knead for about 10 minutes.  The mixer will get hot!  (I've burned out one mixer already on this recipe.)  If the dough looks too loose, too batter-y, add a little more flour.  By the time you're done the dough should form a mass around the bread hook.

Now, if you want, dump the dough onto the counter and give it a couple of kneads.  This is part of the fun of baking bread!  Then, pull it into a ball and put it into a large greased bowl.  (Pam is fine for this.)  Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for about an hour--here is what I do:  Fill up a big pot with hot tap water.  Put it onto the bottom of a cold oven.  Put the bowl with dough on a rack above the water.  The oven will get a little warm with that hot tap water and it's the perfect way to let the bread rise.

Okay, after an hour, pull out this beautiful, puffy dough and punch it.  Yes, deflate it...it's okay, like the South it shall rise again.  Divide the dough in half, then stretch and pull one piece into a wide rectangle.  Fold it in thirds, then roll it into a loaf starting from one of the open ends.  If it's not quite as long as your loaf pan, that's okay.  Roll it a little (like you used to with playdough when you made worms), just enough to get it a little longer.  Put it into a greased loaf pan.  Repeat with the other loaf.  Now pop them back into their rising oven for another forty minutes or so.  Don't panic if rising times aren't exact!

Now for the baking:  375, for forty minutes.  Now take the loaf out of the pan (doesn't it smell good?!) and place the loaf back in the oven UPSIDE DOWN for about three minutes.  This browns the bottom and keeps the loaf from getting soggy.  When you take it out of the oven this time, lay the loaf on its side on a wire rack.  That's it!  It looks like a lot of work but really it doesn't take much more time than a batch of cookies.  Most of the time is rising and waiting.

Enjoy!  I'll post some pictures when mine gets out of the oven.

I'd have to get really thirsty...

to be drinking this.  Ick.  I know that technically it should be okay, but doesn't it just kind of curl your toes?

Maybe instead I could drink this.

Back to the shuttle for a sec...THREE Yellow Jackets on board, very cool.  In fact, Sandy Magnus went to grad school with DH.  My six degrees have just extended to everyone at NASA.  Cool.

Jack's back, baby!

Kiefer spent some time in the pokey so I didn't get my 24 fix last year, but...tonight!! 8 p.m. eastern!!  I'm ready for some fine action television, lots of grim-faced Kiefer, dark shadows, and shooting.  Yes, I know, this is the two-hour set-up for the season that really begins in January. Whatever.

Okay, your assignment is to watch, and then come back tomorrow so we can discuss.  This used to be just about the best show on television.  I'm willing to overlook the last season.  It was perilously close to jumping the shark, I'll admit.  But for some mighty fine viewing, go back to season one, get all the DVDs and prepare for a solid weekend of viewing pleasure.  Season three works, too.  And so will this year!

Giving Thanks for School

Three Thanksgiving programs today, the last day before the kids' week out of school.  My big three are in a private school, small enough to feel like a family and large enough to have lots of opportunities for making friends.  

Today, I'm thankful for a place where my kids are loved and valued for who they are, but also where the teachers can call them out when they need to be.  Where there is trust between the teachers and parents and administration, because we are all focused on the same goal of raising fine, Christian adults.  I know it's a luxury for a school to be able to take the long view, but I'm grateful we can.

The automotive bailout

I know this happened a couple of days ago, but I've been mulling this over and have the following observations...

First, how clueless do you have to be to take a private jet to beg for money?  It is indicative of their sense of entitlement and hubris that they would be so unconscious of their image here...their PR people should be fired, at a minimum.  Apparently they are still doing business as usual, utterly unconscious of the fact that the world is changing dramatically around them. 

Imagine the powerful image had they decided to DRIVE from Detroit, a convoy of maybe 15 cars, driving straight through to DC.  What a message!  It wouldn't have changed my mind, but it might have made me feel a little softer towards them, believe that they were really doing everything they can to save their respective companies.  

The UAW didn't do themselves any favors, either.  It's obvious that something big has to give on their end, but they just won't budge.  Sorry, no sympathy there from me.

However.  They are obviously getting their money.  Harry Reid stood up and said that they hadn't done so many things, how could we give them more money?  What he was doing was setting the table for a bailout in the next six weeks or so.  The big guys go back to Detroit, fill the in the boxes that Reid & Co. laid out for them.  Then when they come back they'll say, "We did just what you wanted, see?"  And then Washinton will cut their checks.  Watch for it.

Good Christmas Idea

A friend, home from two tours in Iraq, sends on the following:

When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.

The Red Cross is sponsoring "Holiday Cards for Heroes."  Their goal is one million cards!  Here's the address:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

I think this is a great idea.  Please pass it along.

UPDATE:  My friend had been sent an address to Walter Reed--don't use it!  I've changed the address and the Red Cross program is correct.  Sorry for the confusion.

And now for something completely different...

Somehow, someway, DS8 has gotten obsessed with Monty Python.  (Maybe it's in the genes?)  Anyway, maybe this will keep him satisfied...

(via Althouse)

Good Morning!

The video is behind me...I'm waiting for the grade.  That class is pass/fail, pretty much all dependent on the video.  So, no pressure.

Lot's happened yesterday in the news!  It was killing me not to get to read a bunch...I need to think about things more before I post about bail-out news, economics, or politics.  Meanwhile, the barbarians seem to be at the gate around the world, too.  Look:

Pirates!  (Shiver me timbers!)

Riots!  (Yes, I know this has been a bad situation for a while)

Self-indulgence on a grand scale!

Silver-sequined jumpsuits!

Enjoy, and I'll be back later, after I get everyone off to school.

Freaking out

So much going on in the news, but I have my final video in my skills class today.  If you read this before 12:30 Eastern, pray for me!  I'm really nervous...the class is pass/fail, and it pretty much all hinges on this video.

Also a paper due today, but that's small compared to the video.  Have a great day!

Chaplain Pat

Chaplain Patrick McLaughlin is the brother of a friend of mine.  (Hi, Mary!) He's had a host of experiences, including two tours in Iraq and serving as chaplain at Camp David.  He's written a book, No Atheists in Foxholes, and was interviewed recently on 700 Club.  Here's the video.

Pat is quite a writer...while in Iraq he would send a prayer out by email just about every day.  Take a look at the video (I can't embed it) and check out the book. Think of all the people he's touched in his life...it's staggering.  The book looks like a great Christmas gift for all kinds of people on your list.

Have a great Monday!

The Other

That's the title of a short paper I had to write last week.  The topic was to describe a situation in which I had felt like the "other," and a situation where I had made someone else the outsider.  In both cases I was to only spend a sentence or two describing the situation, and the rest of the paper elaborating on my feelings.  It wasn't much fun to write, especially the time(s) I've made someone else the outsider.

In our small group study we are working our way through Matthew, and yesterday evening we talked about the stories in Chapter 8 in which Jesus heals the leper by reaching out to him and touching him.  "I do choose," he says, when the leper says that his healing is Jesus' choice.  The question in our book (Three Months with Matthew, by Justo Gonzalez) asked who were the lepers in our lives.  Of course, this is exactly the same question I'd been asked in my class--who had I treated as a leper?

It is interesting to see how the question is treated in a secular environment, compared with how my faith compels me to act.  As a client-centered counselor, I need to be empathic and accepting of my client, although I don't necessarily have to accept his or her actions.  The funny thing is that this would be really hard to do unless I had Jesus' example to follow.  It will be hard enough to summon a font of empathy when I see clients; it seems like the source of empathy and humility comes from God, and recognizing that fact keeps me out of the center of the relationship.  It makes room for me to help someone else, even if we never explicitly talk about God's role in our relationship.

I've also been thinking about that other paper that I've researched this weekend, about conservative Christians as a culture and what their norms are.  One group of outsiders there, lepers as it were, is women who are victims of domestic violence.  There is incredible pressure to submit to husbands who don't necessarily see the admonition to love their wives "as Christ loved the church" which immediately follows the infamous submission statement in Ephesians. These women are shunned within their church communities when they try to protect themselves and their children, and they're misunderstood by counselors who don't have a background in understanding and respecting their conservative beliefs .  Thankfully there are a growing number of organizations that understand those beliefs and also can work within that culture, and they are reaching out to these women and families.  The result is a lot of healing, whether it's within or outside of the marriage.  Both can happen and be supported.  To me, reading this story about Jesus and the leper has helped me to frame the counseling profession a little better.  It's a lot of food for thought.

A sensible politician.

John Howard is very sensible.  He is also, unfortunately, both Australian and retired (defeated?). He was until this year the Prime Minister of Australia, a conservative and a stalwart ally of our War on Terror.  (I hate that name.)

I caught an interview he did yesterday with Neil Cavuto.  I've tried to find a video, transcript, anything, because what he had to say was so clear and so simple.  Neil asked his opinion of how the worldwide economic collapse had happened.  Howard was very clear:  you can't force the financial markets to carry out your social policy.  Let the financial markets carry out their purpose, and let your welfare be welfare.  So the U.S. incentives (strong-arming?) to provide mortgages to people less than fully qualified for them was completely ill-advised, in his opinion.  

I like that...I don't mind providing welfare for some people, but call it what it is.  Don't call it "subprime mortgages," and don't call it a tax rebate for people who never paid taxes.  Just call it welfare.  There is power in the language that you use.  And if I can find a copy of the interview, I'll post it.  Howard's speaking style is striking, direct and clear, not only because of that Aussie accent.

Weekend Update

Bulletin!  The Office of the President-Elect issued its weekly address:

I didn't know there WAS an office of the president-elect.  Where, exactly, is it?  In Barack's basement, judging from the cheesy paneling and the souvenir basketball in the corner.

But to move beyond the snark, listen to what he has to say, if you can.  It's really, really boring, and he doesn't say anything new.  Just that we can rise again, together, one nation, blah blah.  I'm concerned that he's going to drown us in this controlled access--always scripted, never questioned.  This will be interesting to follow. (Assuming, of course, we can stay awake.)

The questions go on...

I meant to post this when I saw it, but commenter hpcc19 (in the post below) points out a similar college question on another blog.  Thanks!  And here's the link.

And the paper's coming along nicely, thanks.  I'm in the fortunate position of enjoying what I'm reading, so it doesn't seem so bad!

Another paper

After my (very exciting) blogging yesterday, I've got to work on a paper.  My topic is interesting so it's not so hard getting away from the depressing news.  

It's a new group project...different people, different class.  THAT class, Social/Cultural Issues.  We are presenting on religion and spirituality.  Specifically I ended up with Christianity, which is good, I guess.  It feels a little like I'm trying to explain myself to the class.

However.  I've run across a bunch of research about perceptions, specifically Christians' perspective of their counselors, and how that affects their counselor-client relationship.  I know the book Unprotected, which came out a couple of years ago, discussed the disparity in religiosity between psychologists and the general public, and the effect that has on treatment. For way too long the view has been to treat the religious belief as a pathological problem, rather than as a value to be respected like most others.  It looks like the view is shifting, which is one of the benefits I can see in the multicultural approach to counseling.

So that's what I'll be doing tonight, rather than looking at Drudge or my own comments.  Have a great evening!

Oh, and read this.

I'm conservative.  (Did you guess?)

If you have any leanings, and find yourself, like me, wondering what in the world happened, go read this.  P.J. O'Rourke is a great writer, at his finest here.  And until conservatives quit worrying about whose turn it will be, like Rove does here, we're toast.  This stuff doesn't matter--the ideas, and effectively sharing them, are what matter.  Quit counting votes, and start saying what we believe.

You don't say...

Now they tell us.

More Bailout stuff

I started this blog with the intent of writing about school but the world keeps getting in the way. 

First, did you see that about AmEx yesterday?  The Fed fast-tracked their bank application specifically so they could take part in the bailout.  They don't have mortgages!  That $700 billion is because of mortgages...that's what we were told.  And the bailout is extending to student loans, cars...This is not right.  All I can think to do is write to Congress.  

And then, we have this whole "too big to fail" mentality.  I heard someone say on the radio (I think it might have been on FoxNews Sunday) that Obama would be good for "big business."  This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how the economic engine of the United States works, and it's dangerously like the FDR's administration view of a three-legged stool of the economy.  They looked at the US as having big government, big business, and big labor. What's missing?  Right.  The little guy.  And it drove us deeper into the Depression even as the rest of the world was recovering.  (See Amity Shlaes' The Forgotten Man for much, much more.)

Yes, I'm speaking a little out of self-interest.  DH is self-employed, and over the years has grown his company to employ a bunch of people.  This is how wealth is generated in this country.  And as his customers fail, because they are too little to save, his unsecured loans (in the form of items shipped with payment terms) to the customers become bad loans.  But we're too little, too.  Too little to save, but not too little to pay for the bailout of the big guys.  I can't believe we're still dealing with a Republican administration (is it really RINO?).  And I shudder to think what we'll be dealing with in a year.

Instalanche Redux

Wow! Instapundit posted my questions below, and I had a ton (for me) of traffic here today.  Thanks for a great discussion in the comments, which hopefully will continue.

Instapundit definitely draws a conservative/libertarian kind of commenter, based on what was going on in the comments.  Isn't it interesting that so many comments reflected the belief that everyone should pay some tax, no matter how little.  I really think there's something to the "buy-in"  that the Swedish Social Democrats have figured out. (I think that was "Terminal Frost" who contributed that idea.)

Mostly it bothered me that these basic questions are never even offered, maybe because the answers seem obvious on the surface.  And the vast majority of commenters seemed to agree with this.  I especially liked the point about looking at taxation as a confiscation not of money but of time.  Talk about clarifying the problem!  But apparently SOMEONE believes that it's okay for a large chunk of the electorate to not be taxed.  

I really liked the house discussion.  See, I have a feeling that home ownership has changed, especially in light of the bubble.  How much worse is it to live in a neighborhood with several foreclosed, vacant houses than a full apartment complex? There seems to be room to question encouraging home ownership, even though it's been treated as a tacit good thing for many years.  Same with the college education--it is a given, isn't it, that a college degree is necessary?

Back when I was an actuary, sometimes we would get answers which didn't make any sense.  We couldn't figure out what was wrong in the formulas...it wasn't until we went all the way back to the initial assumptions, to how we framed to the problem, and then we could see that we had been looking at the problem all wrong.  Maybe that's what is going on here.  There needs to be time and space to really examine our principles.  Thanks for participating in the discussion.  I'll try to keep up the questions; please check in once in a while and throw around some answers.

Well, that's just cool

I know what DH and the boys will be playing with tonight...Google Earth will now allow you to walk around Ancient Rome.  Man, sometimes technology is just cool.

I have questions

And I haven't seen them addressed anywhere, not during the campaign or after.  So I'm just going to lay them out here:

1. Is it good public policy to have your entire electorate pay taxes?  If so, why?  If not, why not?  I'm trying to figure out how it is healthy to have 35-40% of the electorate outside of the income tax system.
2. Why is home-ownership favored so heavily over renting?  Is there something intrinsically better about owning?  Or is it that the type of people who traditionally buy houses are "better" for a community?  And that leads to the question...why should the government incentivize any sort of living arrangement, renting or ownership?
3. Let's assume that cheap-and-easy credit made the run-up in housing prices possible, at least in part. And, this run-up in value has been bad in the long run, because it turns out to be kind of bubbly.  (Okay, really bubbly.)  Now consider the price of a university education, where price increases have been running roughly double inflation.  Is cheap credit to blame for the price inflation there?  Does the availability of credit diminish the price sensitivity to any particular asset, because it defers the pain?  And does it also diminish the relative value of a college degree?  I'm thinking yes, but I want to know what other people think.

I'm serious about these questions.  If you don't normally comment, I wish you would here.  I'd really like to start a dialogue about these things.  Thanks!

UPDATE:  Instalanche!  My first.  Welcome, take a look around, and thanks for the comments!

Is the inexperience showing?

Sen. Obama met with President Bush yesterday. To me it seemed like, all of a sudden, he looked way more inexperienced that I expected.  I find it a little scary--like all of a sudden Obama and his aides realize that this isn't theory anymore, these are Americans' lives and futures at stake.

The avalanche of changes that were floated surrounding this meeting has the feel of a bunch of amateurs right now--people who are still operating with an incomplete data set and yet aren't aware of it.  For example, the closing of Gitmo.  There aren't any clear, good alternatives, but he's most likely going to close it because of pressure from the ACLU and other parties.  (And on that link, I don't know that I've ever heard the ACLU called a "human rights group" before.  Just sayin'.)

Another thing:  this leak concerning an auto bailout.  There were only two people in that office, and I just don't think it was the President who went out and started talking.  This kind of thing smacks of inexperience, almost as if Obama doesn't realize that everything he says now has a weight he could never have imagined before.  It really worries me because it plays into that "oops" mentality he's shown before.  I'm afraid that the next time it will be a national security issue.  You know, as I write this, I'm realizing that the markets ARE a national security issue.  I hope he learns really, really fast.

UPDATE:  Cyrus, in the comments, calls this "dog chasing the car syndrome."  Yes!  That's exactly it.  Also, here are Joan Didion's comments, the "unexpressible uneasiness." (That Joan Didion post via Instapundit, and I also saw Althouse commented on it.)

Weekend at the movies

We watched a ton of movies this weekend for some reason.  Friday, with the rainy evening, we ordered pizza and introduced the kids to E.T.  I hadn't seen that movie in at least ten years.  It held up really well and we all loved it.  It's amazing how darn CUTE that little Drew Barrymore was!

We also saw what I think is my favorite Tom Hanks movie, Road to Perdition.  I think I'd seen in before but not all the way through.  What a great, thoughtful movie!  Paul Newman does a great turn as a truly evil villain, but our boy Tom--you have to be a gifted actor to turn such a bad guy into a sympathetic character.  

I'm not going to spoil the ending here, but if you've seen it, here's the question I'm left with:  was he redeemed at the end? And if he was, what does that say about his life? And if he wasn't, what does that say about God?

Keeping an eye on the bail-out

Look at this...the Fed says they don't have to tell us where they are spending OUR money.  Right now, I'm feeling kind of confused.  I thought they voted on $700 billion but now we're talking $2 TRILLION.  And more industries are wanting bailouts, like the auto makers.  (Um, NO.)  And our friends over at AIG are getting even more.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling helpless.  Last Tuesday I said to DH, "No matter what happens, I'm paying attention from now on."  I think this is part of paying attention.  If you have a problem with "King Fed," contact your Congressmen.  Go here. Link to the articles on Drudge and Bloomberg and even my blog (more traffic, yea!).  Let's all pay attention.  I'm tired of being messed with.

UPDATE:  I just realized...it's the arrogance.  What supreme arrogance on the part of Paulson and Bernanke, that they don't feel the least bit accountable.  They certainly regard us taxpayers with contempt.  But not our money.  Good Lord.

A generation gap

We have a check-in at the beginning of every skills class, a very touchy-feely way to let everyone know whether or not they can mess with you that day.  Might be what weather you're feeling like, the music you last listened to, that kind of thing.  Thursday we checked in with what cartoon character we were feeling like. 

Man, I felt so old!  They were Bubbles (the Powerpuff girl) and Angel Bright, a Pokemon, some other things I'd never heard of.  A couple of them started talking about Fraggle Rock, something the kids I would babysit used to watch!  And then another girl mentioned the Smurfs.  I brightened up (they're MY generation, kind of) and then she talked about how she loved the "old" cartoons.  Jeesh.

I felt like Road Runner that day...things were going well and obstacles just weren't getting in my way.  Except that yawning chasm of a generation gap.  Meep Meep!

And now for something completely different...

I totally forgot!  November is National Novel Writing Month.  If you've ever wanted to do something crazy, this might be it.  Fifty thousand words, one month, ready, go.

I'd join you if I didn't have school. Honest. 

Hopey Changitude

That was snarky, but I really wanted to use it.

Whew.  A huge election, and I'm glad it's over.  My guy (and girl) didn't win, and we'll have a new president in a couple of months. I do think it's amazing that we have a Black president, but I have to say I always thought he'd be a conservative in the David Palmer mold rather than a socialist, I mean a very liberal guy.

On that front, I'm sad about a few things.  First, he is relentlessly pro-abortion.  I used to be kind of agnostic about this issue, but I've come to see that every baby is a gift.  (And the psychological effects of abortion on the women who have them is a tragically under-reported phenomenon.) It is heartbreaking to me to think of the loss of life that will continue under an Obama presidency.  Second, he hasn't looked to be a friend of Israel.  They are the only (soon to be one of two) democracy in the Middle East and they are a good ally.  Third, I think he has very poor judgment, in friends and mentors, even little decisions like whether to appear on Access Hollywood. That worries me, but it also just makes me feel kind of sad.

No matter what, this untested young president will need our prayers.  I hope after four years we can say he's still untested, but I know in my heart that won't happen.  And so it's time to get on with our lives.  I told DH yesterday that no matter what, from now on I'm keeping a closer eye on things, and I'm going to try to be more active in shaping what happens.  We owe it to the country to take the time to do that.

On that front, I'm going to say something about the DISGUSTING local elections here.  We have a terrible school board in charge of a pretty good school system here.  In fact, the system is top-notch, but that is in spite of rather than because of the board and county-level leadership.  The board has built not one but two schools that aren't needed, in areas that aren't viable for schools, and has engaged in other "land-investment" practices.  In fact, one board member has actually made a lot (high six, low seven figures) of money on some of these land deals through her developer-husband.  The state needs to investigate this situation but it takes a lot of work to get their attention.  

Back in the summer she and the other board members were all re-elected to their positions through the primary system.  ONE WEEK after that election the board came out with the fact that they need a SPLOST to keep the paraprofessionals in the classroom.  Nevermind that the bloated county administrator payroll could be cut, that the county could quit speculating on land, and that they could put a sensible technology program in place.  They needed the money.  AND THE SPLOST passed.  The stupid, stupid electorate (normally I have more resprect but not this time) allowed the board to bully them with presentations threatening the teachers' jobs, threatening the sacrosanct test scores, threatening the competitiveness of the real estate market here that has benefitted from the high-scoring school system.  The county voted to give them more money even though they can't take care of what they have.

Yes, I'm mad.  And isn't it interesting that politicians at all levels are just alike--can't take care of what they have, they just need a little or a lot more to make things all better.  We get the government we deserve.

Are you watching?

I've let the boys (10 and 8) stay up to watch the returns...it's nice to have the company since DH is winging his way to Vegas.  Woo hoo, the super swanky life of a hot tub guy.  (Hi, honey!) We've got Fox News on, and just watching Britt Hume makes me a little sad.  Did you know he's retiring after all of this?  He's in fine form, laughing at the stupid "boards" and "studios" and all the junk surrounding this frenetic coverage.  I'll miss you, Britt!

I can't watch CNN anymore.  So I'll stick with my Fox guys.

It is fun trying to explain our crazy system to the boys, and hopefully they'll remember this.  No matter what the outcome, it is historic.  I want them to realize how important this is.

So, cheers!  Hopefully you are enjoying a beverage of your choice. And if you need some good places to check periodically, look here:

Instapundit

Vodkapundit

Ann Althouse

DrudgeReport

Pajamas Media

That group project

Anticlimactic...which I guess is a good thing.  Slacker dude didn't even bother to come to class that day, so now I'm having a hard time seeing how he even passes the class.  Little chickie who had originally volunteered to do the presentation, then tried to back out (chicken?), she started to lose her voice during her talk.  Could she have let us know THAT?!

I did some really cool research, which didn't get used.  Oh, well.  I'm interested in it, and I'll probably share some of it in the next couple of days:  stress reduction and anti-anxiety techniques.  Of course, no one has ever researched my favorite mantra:

Ah, yes, sanity later.

I voted.

It was a ten-minute trip.  Since more than half the voters in this county voted early, I decided to wait.  Good call...it was a steady flow of voters but no real lines.

I voted based on the shoes.

Election Day!

These four-year election cycles are brutal, and here we are at the end, the big day.  DH went and voted this morning already (39th in line), and I'll stop after I drop DD5 at school.

Go vote, but PLEASE only if you've informed yourself...this is too big a deal to decide based on the way you feel at the moment, or the last commercial you saw, or who has the better shoes. (Okay, vote based on the shoes.  Because then we know who'll get your vote!)

Teddy Roosevelt wrote about the state of the country after the Civil War, in particular the preoccupation with business, "exploiting the natural resources as quickly as possible," and the general military unpreparedness of the country here:

It was reënforced by the large mollycoddle vote—the people who are soft physically and morally, or who have a twist in them which makes them acidly cantankerous and unpleasant as long as they can be so with safety to their bodies. In addition there are the good people with no imagination and no foresight, who think war will not come, but that if it does come armies and navies can be improvised—a very large element, typified by a Senator I knew personally who, in a public speech, in answer to a question as to what we would do if America were suddenly assailed by a first-class military power, answered that "we would build a battle-ship in every creek." Then, among the wise and high-minded people who in self-respecting and genuine fashion strive earnestly for peace, there are the foolish fanatics always to be found in such a movement and always discrediting it—the men who form the lunatic fringe in all reform movements.

So are you part of the mollycoddle vote? Or the high-minded one? Where do you stand?

I. Hate. Group. Projects.

A group of seven of us have a presentation and paper due today.  Originally, we agreed that one person would do the paper (it was short) and one other would present.  I had done a lot of the front end work and didn't feel too bad about coasting on the back end.  

Cut to last Thursday.  The requirements for the paper got slightly modified by the prof (GRRR).  So I agreed to prepare a short section of the paper.  I did my research, wrote part of the paper, and sent all of my references to the person who had agreed to prepare PowerPoints. Another teammate did the same with her part of the project.  Okay...we did the research, wrote a paper, and fed our information to other teammates.  A fair amount of work.

Now the person who said she would present is backing out.  OH MY GOD.  Says she's just not comfortable.  And I've had to go back and re-do the powerpoints for my section.  And the other person who also did research is doing the same thing...tons more work than anyone else.  Three other people have done nothing...one has even been unavailable by email all weekend!

I want to be grown-up about this, but here's the deal:  I will go out of my way to avoid working with most of these people in the future.  And my research was really, really interesting.  So I've learned some things and I'm not going to make this mistake again, if I can help it.  Fool me once...

Happy Halloween, too.

I've decided to "live-blog" Halloween, in homage to or just plain copying Ann Althouse.

6:30:  The house is quiet...the kids and the neighbors have all left, under the watchful eye of two dads and a bottle of merlot.  I've finished up another Monteagle bag, and will probably start working on a paper due on Monday. (after I get this post going)

6:42:  A bunch of very familiar-looking spooks, angels, fairies and Supergirl just became my first trick-or-treaters.  So far I've had two Milky Ways and three Pixie sticks.  Just writing that sounds gross!

6:53:  I added the picture up there.  This Mac still isn't intuitive, at least for me. 

6:58:  Four Fourth-grade witches.  And I figured out how to one-click this editing.

7:17:  "Halftime!" called by Supergirl (aka DD5).  Only one other little cheerleader at my door.  The paper is progressing.

7:35:  Halftime consisted of water, a candy break, and blankets for the golf cart--I mean, for the cold kids on the golf cart.  DD7 (the sick one) is hanging in there but may quit in a little while. A witch, a pirate and a ghoul have come to the door. 

7:52:  Finally! A traffic jam of golf carts and about ten kids, all boys, all ghouls and soldiers.   Ghouls seem to be really big this year.

8:03:  Good grief...I've sent two emails in the last hour or so and BOTH of them got answered.  I don't know ANYONE who has a life on a Friday...I must really be old.

8:23:  Two belly dancers, with bare bellies.  They looked really cold. (It feels like it's around 55 outside.) And just now a couple of hippies and another pirate.  No real theme is emerging in the costumes.

9:24:  We had a run of kids around 9 p.m.  Mine are still out, but trick-or-treating at the grandparents', so I've decided to turn out the lights at 9:30.  I'm ready for dinner.  I didn't have any more candy after that first post!

9:34:  Everyone's home, lights are out on the porch.  Now it's time for sorting and trading, the REAL point of Halloween.  Good night!

Happy Reformation Day!

Check out this RAP (I know, a rap of Luther?) of Luther's 95 Theses:

I love being Lutheran.

If you're Lutheran, too, or just know one, check out this link, too.

Happy Reformation Day!  Thanks be to God!

This poor lady

Okay, she says, "I won't have to work to pay my mortgage, I won't have to work to put gas in my car."  Does she really, REALLY believe that?  

Really? Wow.

A couple of videos

Just because I have the platform, here are a couple of items:

Fashionably late doesn't apply in the Senate.

And then there's this:

I like that Manolo party idea.  Happy Friday!

And they have a problem with Palin?

The more I see him, the more I wonder about Biden.  There's just something evasive and creepy about him...these pictures tell a little of the tale.  Look how very alone he is in that airplane picture.  And the Botox-ification gives him a bizarre eyebrow thing.  It seems shallow to look at the pictures, but don't they make you wonder?  Why is Sarah Palin attacked so viciously while Biden gets a total pass?  Is it because he's so familiar, that to take a hard look at him now would just point out how the press has given him a pass in the past? 

Just wondering.

Eavesdropping

DD5 was playing Barbies with her six-year-old cousin:

"I'm Sarah Palin's daughter."

"No...you're JUNIOR Sarah Palin.  I'm Sarah Palin.  Come on, let's go pound those bad guys."

I love my kids.

Join the team!

I joined Team Sarah yesterday, a group that supports my (current) favorite in politics, Sarah Palin.  There is a lot going on over there, especially if you're in a battleground state.  My state isn't, in theory, although the polls indicate that we are right on the edge.

Get your Flu Shot!

Not to be a nag, but the season has begun.  My two-year-old nephew has the flu (confirmed and everything), even though we can't figure out where in the world he caught it.  We are going this afternoon.  The flu isn't something to mess around with...at a minimum it's four days of miserable.  We all had it five years ago, when the youngest was a newborn.  TEN DAYS at the beginning of December with three sick children (ages five, four and two), two sick parents and a newborn. Don't go there.

Just get the shot.

UPDATE:  I have one sick in bed, and it's the day before the second most important day of the year (ask any kid).  AND I have to attend class today because we have an in-class video today. Pray for us!

UPDATE 2:  No flu, no strep. She just has a virus!  So it's rest and cartoons and lots of liquids so she'll recover in time for the "funnest night of the year!"

I am NOT making light of this, but...

Chick or dude?  Yeesh.

Read this

Important reading...I'm actually a day late on this article by the esteemed Arthur Laffer.  (Ever heard of the Laffer curve?  THAT Laffer.) So many quotable lines in there about the economy, and it gives a great historical perspective. In my opinion McCain's tax plans aren't great, but Obama's are terrible. Laffer does an effective job of explaining how neither plan is looked on favorably by the markets, and why that is.

Sorry to be depressing...hopefully I'll come across another entertaining video to share.

Lighten Up!

Just because...

UPDATE:  I fixed the link so the video is working again.

African Feminism

It's good to realize there's more going on in the world than this presidential election and the economic tumult.  Here is an interesting article about what's going on in the African country of Rwanda--remember them?  It seemed like, for many years, we would hear reports of atrocities (that somehow never rose to a level important enough for us to really notice) with these groups of Hutus and Tutsis.  Even the tribal names seemed to minimize the violence to my American ears.  More than 800,000 people (mostly Tutsis) were systematically eliminated, mostly men.  The women, they were raped.  (The great but harrowing Hotel Rwanda depicts this terrible time.)

That was back in 1994.  Today, Rwanda finds itself with more women than men in the adult population, and the women are stepping up to lead.  The male president, Paul Kagame, has made that an important part of his government is changing the way this very paternalistic, even misogynistic, and very tribal society includes women.  

I'm of two minds about this.  One of my favorite things about Sarah Palin is that she's a mother of five.  In my experience, mothers don't have time to be idealogues.  Pragmatism is the name of the game, even though Palin clearly has some ideas that she measures her decisions against.  I believe that these Rwandan women love their children as much as I do, and they want a good future for their children (boys and girls) just like I do.

On the other hand, marginalizing the men, especially the young men and teenage boys, is tempting.  Societies in which the young men see little to no path, to a family or a future, have traditionally become bellicose.  I pray that President Tagame and the leadership there are inclusive, keeping opportunity wide open for anyone willing to work.  It would be so easy to let that pendulum swing from the highly male-dominated (and female-oppressive) culture they are surrounded by (see what's happening in neighboring Congo) to a female-dominated (and male-oppressive) one.  Wisdom and discretion will be necessary on all sides within this tiny country.  I hope they have it.

Frankly, I'm more surprised to see they believe in God. (via Drudge)

Lovely for Friday

Random thoughts for Friday

A rainy Friday, again.  But we need the rain so much, and it makes it kind of cozy in my kitchen with a second cup of coffee and DD5 (birthday last week) playing with her Barbies over there on the floor.  An ideal time to tie up some loose ends...

When the financial crisis started in earnest, back in September, I wrote a post about McCain suspending his campaign and heading back to Washington.  I was glad he did it, but have been pretty quiet since then.  Truth is, I'm disappointed.  He went back and didn't really DO anything.  It was ineffectual.  I will continue to say that any solution that includes the guilty parties (Dodd, Franks, and let's extend that to Pelosi, Waters and Reid) is no solution to me. And the bailouts seem to continue.  Disturbing.

Closer to home, we can problem-solve in my skills class! Me--the advice-giver--I'm having a hard time with this.  For the last two months we could only reflect and ask open-ended questions.  The shift to problem-solving (admittedly, not the same as advice-giving) is tough.  I find myself tongue-tied part of the time in my interviews.  Practice again this weekend, with another twenty-minute tape.

And finally, the redecorating (here) which started so long ago is coming to an end.  The drapes are being delivered and installed today.  I mentioned that I like to sew, but NOT for my house! So those are arriving and things will be complete. Sort of.  I could use a couple of new lamps, something for the hearth...it never ends, does it?

We are headed to the lake for a beautiful fall weekend.  The rain should be over by this evening and then we'll sit outside and grill some steaks. And then back home on Sunday for all of our obligations. What a blessing to have a haven to escape to once in a while. Best wishes for your October weekend!

Format Change!

I got tired of the pink.  What do you think?  Too  masculine?  Comments always welcome.

Field Trip

As part of my ethics class we went to visit a practitioner in our area of choice. For me, that meant joining a bunch of classmates to visit a marriage and family therapist.  She was so generous with her time and absolutely gracious in sharing as much information as she could with us.  Students can ask some pretty nosy questions, but she was open with her answers of how she came to be a counselor and her educational path.

The most important thing I heard her say was regarding play therapy.  She hadn't been too excited to work with kids--she was more interested in working with the family unit and the parents.  And then she started playing with her first pint-sized client.  "What an honor, an absolute privilege, to be invited into her world." 

I sat there and thought of my little guys at home. I'm not the best about getting down on the floor and playing Barbies and I am terrible at Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii.  But she was right--it IS an honor to be invited into their world. I've resolved to accept their invitations a little more often and to prize the time we spend together on their level.  Another change, another something to be aware of...

Are you Joe the Plumber?

I am.

Shoes!

Gotta love all of these...I think my faves are the alligator pumps she wore with the black suit at the debate.

(via the Corner)

As the Corner points out, it is SO MUCH harder being on the Palin-pump beat than, oh, the ACORN connections or the umpteenth bailout.  Those reporters really sacrifice for us.

I wonder what this means:

"Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking," Biden said.

"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. And he's gonna have to make some really tough -- I don't know what the decision's gonna be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it's gonna happen," Biden continued.

He "guarantee"s it.  What have Obama and Biden been doing lately? 

They'll take my gun...

DH and I like to shoot sporting clays. It's great fun, much more satisfying than hitting a little white ball around a course. I found out this week that our 12-guage would have been classified as an assault weapon according to Obama.  This is totally ridiculous.

I believe the Second Amendment guarantees our right to own this firearm. And I believe the First Amendment gives me the right to tell you about this. Please check this out--it's one thing to disagree with me on the gun thing, but crushing dissent about it is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Therapy and the Economy

Hmmm. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this article on their front page today, about how many people are seeking therapy in light of all economic turmoil these days.  I had wondered if this might happen, even in an anecdotal fashion. 

I know things had gotten too high, but I really worry about people like my parents and my in-laws, both of whom are retired and counting on stocks and pensions to pay out.  They did everything "right," working hard and saving their money, planning for the future.  Responsible people, the kind of people who form the backbone of the economy. And now their money, or a lot of it, has evaporated, simply disappeared with absolutely no trace. They're left wondering what else will happen, how things will ever improve.  I wonder the same thing.

I think, for my part, these hard economic times would be easier to take if it seemed like the parties who created this mess were going to be held responsible in any way. As it is, the heads of Fannie and Freddie, Lehman and Bear Stearns, Wachovia, WaMu, and AIG, their compatriots in Congress and the SEC, none of them will lose anything.  And that is not right. I get that life isn't fair, but this is also not just, and seems to go against the very Rule of Law that was always held so sacred when I took American History.  

Freakonomics wrote about this a few days ago, and there is a lot to their idea:  People are willing to lose a little themselves if they know that those who caused so many problems will be punished.  They aren't willing to accept minimal losses if it means the perpetrators get off scot-free. If McCain would just take a look at this, to get a handle on the anger that is out here in elector-land, and come up with a plan that concentrates on making the perps pay (even with their time in jail), I know it would help him.

And then we can all line up for anger-management therapy.  But AFTER the bad guys pay.

Midterm Fatigue

School was wearing me out.  It's not the constant reading or the papers...truly, the workload has not been terribly heavy.  But I have been thinking about things, and even my thought processes are different.  My earlier post about Madama Butterfly is a great example of how my social/cultural class has affected my thinking.  Two days after the opera DH and I went to a Falcons game--it was the one where the guy kicked a field goal with one second left and made it!! Very exciting.  But I spent half my time kind of looking around at the crowd and thinking about how different this group was than the opera group, and why, and did it matter, and what did I think about that. To top it off, there was a Hindu festival going on in Centennial Olympic Park before the game.  If we hadn't been at the game with (Chinese) friends who have ABSOLUTELY no interest and think I've lost my mind, DH and I would have stopped and checked that out, too. (DH is a super-good sport about his crazy wife!)

Even when I'm just talking to someone, there's this constant little voice:  "Ooh! Closed question! Focus on the positive! Empathy! I need Empathy! How's that body language? Are you mirroring? Don't forget to reflect--but go for the feelings! Get off the content! Move to feelings, or even values! Where is the  meaning? WHERE IS THE MEANING?" Good Lord, it's like I have my own personal film director constantly after me to make a freaking blockbuster.  It ain't happening. Or, not quickly enough to make this nag go away.

One of the problems with all of this is that I feel really anxious a lot of the time...I feel like I'm always getting caught doing something wrong (that stupid director again).  In some ways this has been like opening a Pandora's box of ideas in my own head, and now I'll never be able to silence it.

I know (somewhere) that this is really temporary--at least I hope so.  Until then, I've got to figure out a way to accept this, take it maybe as encouragement and not nagging. In the long run it will produce some changes that will make me a better counselor and maybe even a better wife and parent. It's just that parts of this road are bumpier than I'd anticipated, and so early in the journey!

Now these, on the other hand...

I love high heels as much as the next girl, but really.

Heidi's Challenge

I was just checking in at my dear friend Heidi's Team-In-Training site.  Sad news...the boy in whose honor she is running her marathon passed away late last month.  He had been in remission for several years, but when the cancer came back, it returned with an evil vengeance.  

Please consider contributing to her marathon here, or just to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in general.  Heidi's a pediatric oncologist and so she is on the front lines of generating the good that comes from this money.

"I ran and ran..."

Read this. (via the Corner)  Awesome.

Madama Butterfly and Multiculturalism

We went to see Puccini's Madama Butterfly last night.  DH and I both like opera and we've talked a couple of dear friends into season tickets with us.  Last night was our first night of the season. This darn social/cultural differences class that I'm taking got me thinking about this opera in a way I would have never thought before...

First, wow, Americans sure don't come off very well. Or, one American, Lt. Pinkerton, the man who "marries" Cio-Cio San (with the option to renew every month). Pinkerton is shallow, swaggering, eager only for adventure and conquest of any sort. Turns out that Puccini wrote this during the Spanish-American war.  I thought the European snobbery regarding us Americans was a much younger phenomenon than that. Sharpless, on the other hand, is a good American and could have been written to be the real hero in the show.  That he wasn't just reinforces Puccini's apparent disdain for Yankees.

Then, Japanese culture doesn't come off very well, either.  Apparently some critics think that it is patently racist to even stage a traditional show of MB. The culture does come off as weak and feminized, even in the men's roles.  Problem is, maybe that's how I've always thought of Japanese culture.  Except for the samurai stuff.  Anyway, the other part of this is how Cio-Cio San commits suicide at the end of the story.  She does this to preserve her honor, and uses the same knife her own father had used on himself years before, to avoid dishonoring his family.  I don't know what to make of a culture that sees the honorable thing as the quick exit, rather than hanging in there and doing all of the hard stuff. That seems so utterly foreign to my way of thinking that I can hardly wrap my head around it.

So, neither the Americans nor the Japanese really come off very well. What in the world did Italians make of this when it debuted (other than it tanked the first time it was staged)? What did this tell us about how we all related a hundred years ago, and what about now?  The most bizarre part of this is really that I would probably not have considered these questions before my class. My world is getting bigger in spite of myself.

Research they could have saved their money on

Via the WSJ today, housewives DO wield power in their homes. The great feminist argument that it's necessary to earn money in order to achieve power parity in your home is not really true for most couples.

You know, really, I could have told them that.  A good marriage relies on shared values, beliefs, and decision-making. (See Ephesians Chapter 5 if you want more details.) DH has his areas he is better at, and I have mine.  And we respect those differences.  Does it take trust and effort?  Sure, but that's life.

Honestly, some of the people who generate this blather about the damaging effects of women making their own choices to stay at home (and not work) need to get out and actually talk to those pathetic women they revile. We have brains, we're not stupid, and we're quite aware of the effects we are having on society--great effects, being home to take care of the kids and the house, volunteer, and create the network of community in our neighborhoods, schools and churches that helps tie us together.  

Wow, that sounded defensive! I suppose it's kind of a relief to find what I know in my heart to be supported by research.

"An Excellent Use of Silence"

Ha!  That's what my instructor said about my last videotape...I was really quiet, only talked a little and gave my "client"/classmate lots of room to think.  How rewarding!

Learning to let someone sit and think is tough, especially since I always want to jump in and give advice. It's paying off, though.  I think my "client" had time and space to really consider the problem she shared with me and the conflicts that were inherent in it.

The other part that is hard is to try to go to feelings and values.  It's a lot more fun, and much easier, to focus just on "what'd you do next?" questions.  But then, that isn't what is going to help people learn to solve their own problems, the heart of what this profession is about. 

Weddings and Kids

My cousin got married last weekend in Beech Mountain, N.C.  Congratulations, Kellie and Jared! Her husband is a wonderful man and has a really delightful family.  We had a great time getting to know each other over the short two days we had together.

My cousin was gracious enough to include all the kids (my four, my sister's three) as guests at the wedding.  They had so much fun! They loved seeing the beautiful bride and bridesmaids, the cake, and the band.  And what a fun way to introduce them to the corny tradition of tapping the glasses to get the bride and groom to kiss.  I thought Kellie and Jared were going to need some chapstick by the end of the evening! I know the kids' ideas of romance and love and princesses (for the girls) have been permanently affected.  My DS (10) was even invited to dance by one of the bridesmaids--huge props to her, since he was absolutely glowing for the rest of the evening!

I also loved that it was important to Kellie to include all of the family at this event, a milestone that we ALL got to share with her.  Somehow including (well-behaved) kids in a fancy event like this livens things up--the event in no way revolved around them, but it was fun to get to see the wedding through their eyes.  My favorite moment was when Kellie and Jared first turned to face each other, on the deck of the country club, overlooking a patchwork quilt of autumn color and surrounded by friends, family, and clergy.  DD4 looked at me, squinched up her nose, and stage-whispered, "This is so romantic!"

Yes, baby, it sure is.

School Notes

A quick post...today my first social/cultural paper is due.  The topic is a cultural immersion experience.  I fell into mine by taking a great tour while we were in Caneel Bay.  It was great to hear about island life and history by someone who had experienced it first-hand.  Thanks, Chris!

I also have to be both client and counselor (not at the same time!) today for videotapes in our skills class.  My problem has been more in being the client!  I talk a lot and tend to inundate my poor classmates with a sea of words.  I guess it is one way to get used to different clients, but I hate feeling like I'm just "too much."  Every time I think I have some little problem but then the more I talk it just grows.  Today I'll concentrate on using very short sentences.  (Like that one.)

Being the counselor is actually easier in many ways, and one of my natural skills is empathic listening.  Of course, I have to peel all the other natural "skills" I have, like interrupting and advice-giving, but I just spend a good deal of time biting my tongue and nodding.  It works, and not interrupting is gradually getting easier. 

First, the Politics

Okay, so it's been a few days.  I want to catch up but I'll do it in a few short posts.  I'll talk about politics first, even though that's not really the point of my blog here, because that's the last thing I talked about.

The bailout, or rescue, or whatever you want to call it--how about graft on top of more graft?  I wanted McCain to start calling people out, talk about why this happened and who took the money.  Most importantly, I believe that any solution that includes Frank, Dodd, Cox, or any of the current Banking and Financial Services committee members is NO SOLUTION AT ALL. Frankly, Frank and Dodd should be doing the perp walk right now, along with the CEOs of Fannie, Freddie, WaMu, and Wachovia.  I'm sick of all of them.  And then, this so-called "urgent" bill wasn't so urgent that it couldn't include, for example, $192 million for our friends the rum manufacturers in the American Caribbean, or several million more for the manufacturers of wooden arrows.  If it was so very urgent, leave out the other stuff.  We aren't stupid, and now we are PAYING ATTENTION. Maybe this is what it took to wake us up.

Second, Palin rocked.  Totally.  I wanted to be convinced that I understood why McCain chose her.  I'm convinced now--I see her strength and her humor and how very down-to-earth she is. Her outsider status is a total asset.  And she held her own against a 30-year Senator for a 90-minute debate.  Did she technically win?  I have no idea. It doesn't matter.  I would trust her to lead the country through a crisis.  

Oh, here are a couple of adds or funny things, all political:

What just happened?

O'Reilly's Fury

Manga Sarah

Enjoy!  More to come...

Finally!

Leadership!  McCain has declared that things are bad enough to stop campaigning, and he is leading on this.  I am so relieved.

I have been a grudging McCain supporter, until he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate.  Then he had me, hook, line and sinker.  The pink McCain/Palin stickers have been ordered, the RNC envelope has been filled out (just need to stick the check in there, a crucial step, yes). 

But then the bottom fell out of the market last week and both our presidential candidates have done little to nothing.  For a while there it looked like neither guy would even show up for the vote.  I expected Obama to avoid a position, but the Maverick?  I wanted him out in front, saying the hard thing, taking names and kicking some--well, you know.  (And, by the way, my envelope sits unfilled...are you listening, RNC?)  

Now he's leading, on to Washington!  I'm looking forward to his trying some things, even if I don't agree with all of them.  The next couple of weeks are looking up.

UPDATE:  I really love this idea.

What I miss

I need to do a time (mis)management post, about what it is really like to fold graduate school into an already pretty full life.  This is not that post.

I miss some of the stuff that I used to do, though.  I sew, or I did, and I miss the rhythm of cutting and pinning and I miss the sound of the sewing machine.  I have to think really, really hard about what I'm doing when I sew, and it is refreshing to be able to completely focus on a task.  I always emerge from my sewing sessions feeling cleaner, like I've been meditating for a while instead of actually producing something cute.  And my DDs love my sewing for them.

I also miss the painting I used to do.  I'm not much of an artist but I do have this nifty easel that sets up anywhere.  Putting those colors on a canvas...well, the first few times it takes a lot of nerve to destroy the pristine whiteness.  I'm not the first person who thought that--Winston Churchill himself said the same thing!

I used to take a Tuesday morning Bible study, and I think I miss that most of all!  The camaraderie was awesome and we had the best teacher ever.  But the "problem" with the Disciple Bible studies is that it presses you to do things.  In my case, it pushed me to confront my desire to help people one-on-one and my passion for helping teenagers and families.  And that pushed right out of the class and into the Professional Counseling degree program I'm in now. Rats.

There are plenty of other things, but it makes me sad to dwell on too much.  And it totally ignores the cool stuff I've been learning and the progress I'm making toward a much bigger goal.  So, sometimes part of following a path means lightening my load, even if it's only for a season.  Something else to think about.

Getting off the high horse

I've settled down a little, and it only took me three days!  I've decided my approach to my perplexing class is to keep a sense of humor and to remember why I decided to come to school in the first place.  (Why? Because I like people and want to help them live the best life they can--like Oprah but without the cash.) The key for me is to take the useful insights, the things I didn't know, and leave the politics at the door.  There are plenty of research-driven techniques that I can learn from with out drinking the kool-aid.  Thanks, Dr. Helen!

In the skills class we are practicing and practicing: reflection, check-in, open question.  Over and over, questions to friends, strangers, children, and inanimate objects.  Nothing makes you feel like you need to some counseling yourself faster than walking around asking the car, the sink, or the lamp an open-ended question.  This class, though, has some lasting effects.  I find myself able to listen to my kids better, without interrupting and without telling them what to do quite so fast.  I'm still their mom, but I'm definitely getting more information out of them now!  Someday I'll probably pay for their being my little guinea pigs, but right now having my own practice lab is a total bonus.

Sunday...time to teach my Sunday School class, go to worship, and then spend a quiet day in this glorious fall weather.  DH is finally back home after a whole week away and we have so much catching up to do!  And then there is always reading and reading and reading.  And writing.  The papers are starting to kick in and the first one is due tomorrow.  Juggling all of these priorities takes a lot of attention.  I need to think about this some more and then maybe I'll post about it.  Happy Sunday!

Palin-censed

My classmates are mostly much younger than me, one of the hazards of attending college as a (I hate to admit it) forty-something.  They are much, much more liberal, as a group, than any people I have ever been around in my life, one of the hazards of learning to be a therapeutic counselor.  And it's the liberalism that I'm struggling with--some days I say to hell with it and say what I think.  More often, though, I just listen and bite my tongue.  It really isn't the wimpy way out, I hope.

Here's what happened today, though.  Palinsanity broke out in front of my eyes during our discussion of gender differences.  (Or maybe they were just Palindignant?) She was run down for not having the "right" views, and for having her baby at her acceptance speech, and for her daughter being pregnant at 17 while the governor advocates abstinence education.  And for trying to have it all when she should be home with the kids.  I kept quiet except to point out that Geraldine Ferrarro had given Palin full marks for running, even while she disagreed with Palin's politics.  But I want to talk about this here, lay out my thoughts and see how it sounds:

First, even Camille Paglia, a renowned feminist who I don't always agree with but who does have a history with feminism, thinks that Palin is great for women.  Expecting a woman to hold certain views merely because she's a woman--that is the opposite of what feminism should even be about!  I agree with Gov. Palin about lots of things, and it doesn't make me less of a woman. More important is the alignment of professed beliefs and actions.  I don't find the governor to be hypocritical at all, which is key for me.

As for Trig being at the speech, and Piper, too, for that matter:  Some days in the life of a family are bigger than bedtimes and an orderly schedule.  Some days need to be experienced together, even if everyone doesn't realize exactly what is going on.  Maybe this is an observation borne of having a bunch of kids myself, but "the team" needs to hang through things together.  When you have big good things happen, like this, you get to experience them together.  Then, when the hard times come, and they will, you can experience those things together, too.  I think it was important to Gov. Palin and her husband to see ALL their children and her parents there.  I even think it was terrific that "the boyfriend" was there.  He isn't "the boyfriend" at this point:  he's the Palins' future son-in-law, hopefully a member of the family from now own.  

The snickering, the schadenfreude that ran through the room when discussing Bristol's pregnancy...disgraceful.  I really believe the Palins handled this beautifully, issuing their statement that didn't endorse her actions but emphasized their love for their daughter, and their respect for her as an autonomous person and adult.  If I'm ever faced with such a situation in our home, I hope I can handle it with that kind of grace.

Finally, has anyone actually asked Gov. Palin if she thinks she has it "ALL?"  I'd be surprised if she answered "yes."  I don't think I know one woman who truly believes she has it all.  I have a really great life, but there are always things I'd like to change or have more of--time with the kids, more exercise, an actual job (shoe money!), more time to spend with friends or my DH, or a better prayer life.  I believe each one of us can have it all, just not all at once.  Until anyone asks the governor this question, I'm of the opinion that Gov. Palin and her husband have figured out how to make their family life and working lives work for them.

As I write this, though, the worst part of my day is realizing that the people in the room all want to be counselors, people committed to empathic, nonjudgmental listening and helping. What happened in that classroom was the furthest thing from empathic or nonjudgmental.  How in the world will they deal with people who have values so different from theirs?  For that matter, how will I?

Reboot

Wow.  Things have gotten crazy, between the kids' school, my school, all the concomitant activities, the birthday-palooza that is late August/early September around here.  And this poor blog has gone neglected.

I've missed it, and need to have a space to reflect on everything going on, the relationship between what I'm learning and what I believe and what I've experienced.  And also the shoes.

More later (really, I promise!).  I find myself with a couple of open hours, unexpected, so I'm going to blow through the house and then I'll be back.

UPDATE:  Yish.  I just read my last post, about not finishing.  Okay.  I'm back.