18-0!!

Next stop....

Super Bowl!!!

Where Today's Action Is

Last year -- it's all blurry, I know.

Must be because I was so excited to finally see Tom live. Pretty, ain't it?

17-0!!!

18-0?!! You can bet on it!

17-0

Seventeen and ohhhhhhhh!!!!

If you understand what it means, you know what it means.......Winston.

Woooooooo-eeeeeeee!

Just This Once

I've always made it a personal policy not to discuss politics on this here blog. I've gotten myself into trouble "talking" politics, so I hesitate...but just this once...here's what I think.

VOTE -- any American reading this who is eligible to vote but doesn't has no right to whine, whine, whine when things don't go his/her way. I won't go into that it is a privilege, right or responsibility to vote. We all know that. We all know that there are people in the world who have been killed for simply trying to vote. It is easy for us here. I am well aware of the exceptions. But for most of us, it really is simple (I only have to walk across the street). There are no excuses. I don't care if you vote in a primary for the person you want elected in the end or if you vote for whom you perceive as the weaker candidate simply to make your candidate appear stronger (I don't understand it, but I don't care). Just VOTE with a conscience.

RESPECT THE OFFICE -- this is what's gotten me into trouble in the past. If we Americans were to truly respect the office, any office, then we would choose people who are qualified to represent us. A man or woman may not be worthy of respect, but the office is. I'm not talking about any other country's offices. I am talking about the United States of America.

CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION REFORM -- seems a no-brainer to me. It is sorely needed. I'm sure that there are major flaws in my reasoning, but why can't there be a campaign contribution fund that divides funds equally between all candidates? The rich are not representative of most Americans, and I'm sick and tired of only the wealthy being viable candidates. Daddy's money doesn't give you brains or morals or the ability to run a country. For those who insist upon being recognized for their contributions, I suggest that the public records include an "in support of" section where someone who wants to contribute money can choose to list their candidate of choice. Everyone will see who has the most supporters. I wonder how many wonderful candidates who are truly interested in public service have been shut out of political races of all kinds.

DEMOCRATS VS. REPUBLICANS -- call yourself whatever you want. Personally, I am registered independent. In my state that makes me eligible to vote in either party's primary (only one per election). I've been known to vote either side. I can walk into the Democratic primary, vote, and then declare myself an independent again on my way out of the polls.

Straight party voting seems stupid to me. I've met Democrats I've liked and hated. I've met Republicans I've liked and hated. And I believe the line between the two parties is fading. Vote your conscience. The right man or woman for the job. Simple.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease -- we all need to squeak loud and clear. Make some noise by making your choices heard. VOTE VOTE VOTE!

The end.

Enough

Daughter recently told me "I need to be perfect." Needless to say, I completely disagreed, and we had a long talk. I told her that I understand that sometimes it seems important to be perfect, but as I heard somewhere once upon a time, good enough is good enough. But is good enough really good enough? And now I'm wondering:

• Am I good enough? (I try to be, but I'm often left thinking I'm not quite good.)
• Am I smart enough? (I'm smart enough to know that I don't know everything.)
• Am I rich enough? (I'm not rich, but I don't want for anything and have plenty to share.)
• Am I thin enough? (Nope, but the way my husband looks at me still makes me feel beautiful.)
• Am I young enough? (Relatively speaking, in the terms of life span, I suppose I am. I'm young enough to still be in good health, have fun with my kids, and enjoy a satisfying sex life).
• Am I kind enough? (I try. Boy do I try. But I sometimes lose my patience with people and am working on that.)
• Am I funny enough? (I sure can make my children laugh, if that counts.)
• Am I simply enough?

I could go on and on, but then I get sick of thinking about this stuff. As Popeye the Sailor Man said, "I am what I am, and that's all that I am."

Enough is Enough.

What Has Been (Recently)

I've got nothing worth saying. Here are a few photos.

The house across the street.

Snow's gone now.

The one photo I took in New York.

Menu with Mary's shiny hair.

My creativity never ceases to amaze me. Hmmmph.

What is this disgusting thing?






Niece made many meese.

(Inspired by Dr. Seuss)

I ate one.
It was delicious.

"A positive attitude might not be enough to improve your life, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth it."

-- Unknown

2008

This year I resolve to put myself first, sometimes anyway. So far, so good.

We rang in the new year at home, a bunch of us, tired but together. Off to bed at minutes past twelve. Six a.m. comes early on New Year's Day.

A shiny new year! Off at 8 a.m., headed for the Bronx. But the very best part was knowing that in a few short hours, I'd finally be meeting Mary of ShortyPJs fame!!!! The drive wasn't great. It was raining cats and dogs. We'd travelled about an hour and a half when the cell phone rang. It was our little friend's mom calling to tell us she was in Springfield (MA) and asking if we could bring her boy there, a state away, instead of to the Bronx. Now, normally, I would have said yes, even though it would mean travelling another two hours out of our way (talk about the long route to Springfield), but c'mon, it wasn't even noon on New Year's day. I wasn't about to break my resolution yet! And, just last New Year's Day I had already broken a date with Mary. No way was I going to do that again. So, believe it or not, I said no. I was going to Manhattan with or without her son (yes, I would absolutely have dragged him along). She told me that she'd see what she could do. We reached a compromise. We'd drop little guy off in Bridgeport. After driving around Bridgeport for 30 minutes or so, we finally stumbled upon a very kind police officer who got us just where we needed to be. Back on the road. Sticking to our original plan, we drove to the Bronx where we spent another half hour looking for a place to park. We're now four and a half hours into the trip, soaking wet (from our romp around Bridgeport), but excited to be nearing our destination. Poor Mary had to listen to our tales of woe as we kept her posted during our adventure. Finally, I was able to call Mary and report that we were at the subway and would probably reach meeting place in a half hour or so.

Husband and I rumbled along beneath the streets of New York. Bedraggled, but happy, we made our way to our meeting spot. THERE SHE WAS. I would have recognized her anywhere. At first, she looked right past me. I know. There I was, hair frizzed from the rain, no make-up, wrinkled, probably looking nothing like any photo I've ever posted (don't you all choose only the best ones to show?). As my mom would say, I looked "like a drowned rat." Not the first impression I'd like to make, but from reading Mary's blog for a long time now, I knew that she wouldn't care one little bit. And if she wouldn't care, neither would I! I introduced Mary to husband. Then Mary and I were off!

One thing is for sure. When Mary says that she walks quickly, she means it. I'm usually the one everyone tries to keep up with. Not Mary. We walked our way to a delicious lunch. Then we walked off only a tiny bit of lunch on our way to ice cream. A great little shop offering flavors I could never have dreamed of. Delicious cone of honeydew and banana. Yum. Mary suggested we sit on a bench in a small park to finish our cones. There we ran into hubby. The three of us chatted. Bob found Mary quite charming and was pleased to learn that I'd invited her to come visit us here. After finishing our cones, the three of us rumbled our way underground back towards the Bronx. Who knew I'd ever take a subway ride with Mary?!! Mary exited at her stop, and wished us a Happy New Year. She had no way of knowing that, for me, it was one of the best and certainly the most memorable New Year in a long time.

I hope to see Mary again sometime over the summer. Yup, the two of us (with cocktails in hand) sitting somewhere outside overlooking the Atlantic. Or maybe just sitting on the boat's deck at the slip (still with drinks in hand).

I hope all of you have as much fun keeping your resolutions as I have. Happy New Year.