Friday, February 29, 2008

Sharing the Love

So I caught Tim's funk. Oh it was nasty. We were out of commission as a family for 5 straight days. Tim ended up having a seizure after carrying Maya upstairs on Sunday night and I woke up Monday morning coughing up blood.

All in all it was a nightmare.

But we are all much much better and moving on.

I returned to work on Wednesday and went to school to find a letter about the boy in his school folder. The letter basically illustrates all the things he has been doing wrong for the past few months and seemed like a first step toward expelling him from the school!

To say that I was not in the right frame of mind to get such a letter is an understatement.

Anyway after talking with the director about it we will be meeting with her and his teachers on Tuesday to see what we can do to get him in line with the program. She did admit that if he doesn't improve they are considering asking him to leave.

His biggest problem is that he thinks "no" is funny and is amused by time out. They are in fact having a hard time with him...

He'll be two next month. Already a juvenile delinquent.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

On illness and the ilk

My husband is ill.

This is a rare and unusual occurrence and it makes me appreciate him more. And it makes me appreciate me more. I have the patience of a saint!

And my mother is visiting. And I have become aware of the fact that my parents have stopped making (many)critical comments to me. And her visit has made me aware that this does not mean they have stopped being critical of me, they've just stopped making the comments.

And part of me says, what the f? And the other part of my smiles and sighs and says think what you want as long as I don't have to hear about it.

So two things.

I have taken my car back. I no longer allow snacks to and from school and no milk sippy cups are allowed EVER (see my previous blog on this). I also make a point to clean out all school stuff each night so that nothing piles up. I am also limiting the number of toys per child to one at a time. So my car feels like a car again and I feel less like a slob.

My mom's comment: "Well I know your dad will be happy to hear that!"
hmmmmmmmm???????

And I got a cute new do. And I am becoming much more comfortable about the statement. I like it and I like the way it makes me feel. I have become a more active ummm "female" because of it. Or due to it. Or whatever.

My mom has said very little. Which also speaks volumes.

So I am okay with this new strategy. It works for me.

Oh and it is works for me wednesday.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

My president (revisited)

So I too am officially casting my blog vote.

And I have a lot of reasons. First let me say two things:
1. Huckabee scares me to the core.
2. I think McCain would not be a bad president and while I disagree with him on many key issues, I actual admire him a great deal for many of his past actions and statements.

But I lean much more toward the democratic side. (surprise!)
So having acknowledged the Republicans, I move on to the dems. First a great big THANK YOU to Edwards for pulling out when he did. Loving Edwards for being the big man in the situation and making a decision for the whole instead of for himself.

And I don't think he will be a VP but he seems to be a stellar guy. Now that he's gone, I find that I like him a whole lot more.

And that brings me to Clinton. I LOVE Clinton.

And as a woman I would love a female president but more than that, I think Hillary is true presidential material. I feel that she knows what she is doing and how she will do it. I think that she has great ideas and platforms and has the strategies needed to see most of them come to fruition if elected. I know that she lacks the polish and panache of her husband but I think she makes up for that in true conviction and fortitude. She strikes me as a woman who can get the job done.

But if given the choice I won't vote for her.

Not this year.

Not this election.

And before I go over the whys I want to talk about Barak Obama.

Mr. Obama inspires me. (And it is not because he is sort of black and so am I). I have read his memoirs and I find him interesting, human and most importantly, dedicated. He seems to be my truest reflection in a candidate. He speaks my issues, and seems to value the same things I value. And he is new and different and fresh.

And it is his rookie status that, in my very humble opinion, makes him the best candidate for this election. He has the opportunity to bring a cohesiveness to our government that it sorely needs. He has not been around long enough to burn (many)bridges or form (many)alliances. He is our clean slate. (you know, relatively) And I think in this America, in this election, that is his strongest asset.

Also he is an excellent orator. And he is a vote for change. And so is Hillary. I think as a nation we are ready for change. I think the world is ready for us to make it clear that we are ready for change. And I think either candidate is good for this purpose - this declaration against sameness. But I think Obama has the best chance to beat the Republican nominee.

I know people (Anjali) will get annoyed when I say this but I think Hillary is the best chance we have for a Republican president. And I am so glad it will not be Romney, and I don't think Huckabee has a snowball's chance but I would rather it not be McCain either.

And I don't think that saying that this nation is not ready to elect Hillary is saying that this nation is not ready to elect a woman. I think it is just saying that this nation is not ready to elect Hillary Clinton.

As a nation we know her already. And too many of us have already passed judgment on her as a first lady.

And just a note on the election in general. Here's the thing that I keep coming to whenever I think of the next administration. Whoever takes office - they have their work cut out for them. We are a nation in trouble. With all that we know that this administration has done to our nation and the world, there can only be so much more we don't know. And our next president is severely handicapped in that regard.

It worries me that our first election for change will be ill-fated.

But I still have to make my vote.

And as my new bumper sticker says - I am an Obama Mama.

How did this happen? Or my life as a non sequitor.

So the title is a bit misleading. I know how this happened. But I am not sure how I let "this" become "me".

How did I become this category? This "full time working" mom. This mom who literally needs a village to help her raise her kids. This mom.

So I got a cute new hair do. (Thank you Rosalie)and my husband's proclamation is "not at all momish". Which was my goal. I am trying to break out of the mold.
The moldy moldy mold. I have hair that swings and has streaks and is cute. I am trying.

And I have had a lot going on. My husband left his job. His new job, the one he had for all of six weeks. And I can say "good riddance", but the cost of that foray into unhappy employment cost us a good deal of money. Well into the thousands of unrecoverable expenses. And now he is working for a company that could potentially be his perfect fit. I am too pessimistic to be optimistic about it yet but I find myself thinking "yahoo!" from time to time so it is good stuff.

In other news, My husband went to the Dr because he is having pain in his side. He had a CT scan, and blood work and a chest xray because when he went in the Doc said his lung sounds were uneven.

The good news? His lungs are fine and he has diverticulosis. Not the same as the itis of the similar name but close. He now has to eat more greens and avoid spicy foods.

The bad news? The CT scan showed a gumball sized "something" on his kidney. So Monday he had an MRI. (which the doctor called in from his vacation to insist he do THAT day).

The good news? It's not cancerous. May be a cyst, may be a benign tumor but they will just keep an eye on it and see if it does anything in the next 3-6 months...which is also the bad news. I hate waiting. (did anyone else hear Inigo from The Princess Bride when I wrote that?)

Okay I am done with the good news bad news game. I mean if you thought it was annoying to read, just imagine what it has been like to live.

Along the same vein - I got a concerned email from my dad about my mom's weight and health. It seems that the effects of her near death experience(s) has warn off and she is now back to just watching TV and eating (his words). She is coming to visit and my dad asked me to talk to her. I have to say that if nearly dying twice didn't do it - I don't know what I can possibly say that will...

And now for a complete change of topic. I had to sign a non-compete at work. This form included language about all "ideas" or "inventions" that I create while employed here being owned by the company. I had a lawyer friend look at it because it seemed to me that the language was not specific to ideas related to the company and he agreed.

I mentioned it to my boss before signing it. She mentioned it to her lawyer who advised against changing any of the language. She passed this along to me with a verbal "agreement" that she does not feel that anything I create that is not work related belongs to the company. SO WHY NOT CHANGE THE LANGUAGE you might ask?

Well anyway, I signed it. And got a nice bonus and a swanky new title. But I have to say I just have a bad taste in my mouth because of this (it may also be the bad coffee I am currently drinking...). And so it goes.

I have to go now because I don't want to put too much in to this blog since it is company property...

Okay. To be fair? She also put together a phenomenal bonus and compensation package and made it so that I will get a percentage of all proceeds should she sell the company.

I might have sold my blog to the company, but I got a great price.