Excited

Okay, so this might sound weird, but I'm already starting to get excited for November and December to come around. I'm definitely a fan of fall and winter weather, I look forward to school delays and cancelations and I find my best clothes come from those seasons. But this year it's all about Max.

For the last year and a half, I have imagined what it would be like to have a child at the holidays. This time last year, I was still pregnant. Big, miserable, sweaty, huge legs and feet, and ready to pop the little guy out. Even the day after Thanksgiving, I was out hoofing it with a giant belly. And I know that I "had" Max last Christmas, but he was like 3 weeks old and a little blob. A cute little blob, but still a blob. But now, the holidays are really just around the corner. And I can't wait!

I imagine the delight on his face as he eats his first bites of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. I imagine him watching us from his car seat and clapping to the Christmas songs while Kendall and I sing along in the car. I can see us chasing after him as he almost pulls down one of the 4 Christmas trees we have in the house. And I can almost imagine how amazing it will be to tuck him in on Christmas Eve and hide his presents from Santa under the tree for the first time.

I know that we still have 107 days until Christmas, but I'm already feeling the holiday spirits come on me, knowing that FINALLY we will start our own holiday traditions with our little boy. :)

Just One Question

When the frick in this hot weather going to go away??????

For those of you working in air conditioning- No booing this question. Because it's flippin' nasty in my school building!!!!!

Politics

Let me start by saying I don't think Obama is a socialist who is trying to take over our country. I don't believe in the Obama Army. I don't believe he's trying to push a bill through Congress that gives him control of the Internet like China's dictator has. I don't think he's a Nazi. And I think people who do believe these things don't do enough research to get the real answers. So this week has put me in two situations involving politics and President Obama that annoy me.

1. My mother-in-law wants to go to a Tea Party on Saturday. That's fine. It's your constitutional right to bitch. But I've already voiced my opinion to her that I don't agree with her political opinions. And yet she felt the need last Sunday to tell me that she feels we should be going to this tea party too. She even tried to show me the flier. I just ignored her. I didn't know what else to do short of saying, "I don't think Obama is a socialist Nazi who is trying to become a dictator." I get so annoyed with the fact that she just won't respect that I have extremely different views on the world than she does. *sigh* If I end up in a concentration camp, then she can tell me, "I told you so." Until then, please stop pushing your politics on me! It won't work

2. Our building principal sent out an email about Obama's address to school children that is coming up on Tuesday. He told us that if we were going to allow students to watch the address we needed to send home a letter to each parent and have an alternative assignment ready for any student whose parents didn't want them to watch the address. I guess several parents have already called the building saying they won't send their children to school that day if teachers are showing it.

Here's my issue- we show Channel One (a student news program) every day. Does the principal not think that Channel One will be covering this address the day AFTER he gives it? Will we not be showing Channel One that day? Isn't that censorship??? Will parents be keeping their kids home from school any time President Obama is on Channel One? Since he's going to be the president for the next four years, don't they think he's going to be on the news quite a bit?

Furthermore, did these parents do any research? The White House has specifically said that it is not about his political agenda, it's about studying hard and staying in school. Bush senior gave an address like this 8 years ago. Ronald Reagan gave a politically charged speech to students about taxes during his term. I somehow doubt Obama is going to ask children to stand up and unite against Republicans. I'm not worried about some secret subliminal message. What is the hoopla about? One sentence in a lesson plan from the Department of Education that said, "students draft letters to themselves discussing 'what they can do to help the president'"? I don't think they meant join the "Obama Army". I think they meant, how can they help him further his educational agenda for children to stay in school. I read the lesson plan. It's not bad. I think it's unfortunate that people have put anything and everything that this administration does under a microscope, looking for things they can jump on.

When I told our building principal (who's a Republican) that Bush senior and Reagan had both given addresses like this in the past he said, "Oh." Idiot. This is the same man who told me I couldn't wear my Obama t-shirt to school during the election, when just four years before he had worn his Bush/Cheney polo to school almost every week.

I think what really outrages me is that it feels like he's only doing this because he hates Obama. He didn't even send the email about getting parent permission until TODAY. How does that give me time to draft a letter and get it to parents before Tuesday on a LONG WEEKEND? I think the parent phone calls are a convenient excuse.

Whether you agree with me or not, I just felt the need to vent these things. I find our current political climate very frustrating and hostile. I question what the country's sentiment would be right now if McCain had been elected. Would we really be in some magic kingdom where everything was fixed? I don't think so. What I'd really like to see happening right now is less resistance and more willingness to work TOGETHER to find solutions. That goes for the Obama Administration and the Republicans.