Random

So we are in Boston, staying with Ben's mom who has been very generous and we are very grateful and having a great time.

Here's the random part.
Last night Ben and I watched "State of Play" about a journalist working for the 'Washington Globe' (not a real newspaper) who solves a crime.
Anna sleeps in a pack and play at the end of our bed in the guest room. Around midnight I got up and woke her up. Which woke Ben up. I told him I couldn't find the pacifier to get Anna to stop crying. So he turned on the light and found it under the chair. Now I couldn't put her back in the pack and play because we were right there and she would just cry until we either left the room or let her sleep with me in the bed. So she and I cuddled up and Ben was, unfortunately, sent to the couch.
So you might be asking yourself, "Why did Toni wake her up in the first place?"
here's my answer. "I'm not quite sure"
It could be because I had a dream that she was the editor for the 'People' section of the Washington Globe and was getting paid either too much or too little, and for that reason, I had to wake her up.
But that answer doesn't make sense, does it?

No, it doesn't.

OkBye

Shoe

(from the bedroom) "Who's shoes are these?"

"Oh, those are mine"

"Since when?"

"Since today at Target when Anna hid behind a tree and I had to walk through a pit of gravel, only to find that cleverly hidden amongst the gravel was an enormous wad of bright red chewing gum, which I tried to wipe off using the top of my other shoe which obviously only led me to spread the gum all over both shoes, at which point I decided that these shoes were the pits anyway and the universe finally pushed me into buying a new pair of shoes. Immediately."

ugh

Follow up: As soon as I had successfully wiped gum all over both my shoes, I placed Anna in a shopping cart just outside the store. Little did I know that for no justifiable or explained reason, the automatic doors were broken. If you haven't seen someone try to open heavy doors while pushing or pulling a large stroller or shopping cart, you should know that it is extremely awkward and aggravating. Especially when you know there is bright red gum all over your shoes.
Then I walked around the store, sticking with each step.

I don't like shoe shopping much - hence the reason these last shoes have been around well before Anna and have the distinct look of potatoes - I hate the possibility that for the first 3-4 days, new shoes may kill your feet. They don't have your arch perfectly ground into them or give in just the right ways. Additionally, I somehow always end up thinking about it in the fall, when the winter snows are just around the corner, and the memory of wet feet makes all fashionable shoes look silly. It's such a frustrating thought that I just give my old shoes a pep talk to get them through another month. And up until now, it has worked.

In the end however, the new converse I bought aren't too bad, although they did rub the back of my heels a bit (someone tell me this is temporary!) and I only had to look for 2 hours to find a store that sold recipe cards. Additionally, Anna had refused to eat lunch and was thus an extreme fussbudget for the entire, frustrating, gum-ridden adventure.

It's Politics people.

My tweet from earlier today: I am outraged that schools and PTA's refused to show Obama's speech. Can we really be that polarized? He is the elected President, right?

The Tribune article that got me started (please notice the misspelled 2nd word)

My GChat Conversation with Ben later on:

Husben: i re-tweeted your tweet

i liked it a lot

me: thanks

I just talked to the kids coming back from elementary school - they didn't watch it

What do people think he is going to make ridiculous socialist statements without thinking of the consequences?

Husben: apparently

what's stupid is that you don't talk to kids about policy, you talk to them about values. and liberals and conservatives do have the same values at heart, they just disagree on how to bring those values to pass.
me: yeah, and these are exactly the kinds of speeches that president's should be giving - addressing the entire nation of young people to encourage them to do their best

would this happen to any other president?

ALSO - he released the text of the speech on MONDAY so that parents and teachers would know there was nothing bad in it

ARG
Husben: and what if he did say something to forward the liberal agenda? wouldn't this give parents an opportunity to discuss the future of the nation with their kids?

me: Then some 5th graders told me "it's ok if you voted for Obama, it doesn't make you a bad person
me: and I totally agree with your point about values. What conservative doesn't want their kid to learn about working hard and staying in school?

In Summation: When the President addresses the nation, it's a lot like General Conference. He might introduce a new way of looking at things, but he has to keep it pretty vague to catch everyone who's watching and retain his approval ratings. So he can't really fly off the handle in those situations.

A new one

I have now twice seen a new kitty in our backyard, s/he is not one of the regulars.

What is so attractive about my house that makes every cat in the neighborhood want to poop there?

Time to bust out the moth balls.