Glass Houses ...

People in glass houses really should hold back on the tossing of stones. I am not a huge fan of Keith Olbermann. He is a bit intense for me ... but this makes it all ok.

Watch and learn about why its dangerous to start making people guilty by association.

2 More Reasons to Love Samantha Bee

Vintage from the Republican convention



And from last night's Daily Show
(its all good but it gets to Sam Bee at about 3:30)

This Just In

Rest easily, Obama is not muslim after all. He's really the son of civil rights leader, Frank Marshall Davis. Couldn't make it up folks.

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Nephew

My husband has 4 older brothers. Thanks to all of them and my one older brother I am the proud aunt to 13! Yikes...there are 3 girls (not including my own) and 10 boys (also not including my own). But there is this one, to the left, aka Andy aka my 2nd son. Sometimes I call him my Maddox. I know its not PC but he's totally my favorite. (Andy if you are reading this please don't forward to your brother and sister! I love them very much too.)

He manages to drive me insane with his Hung-like behavior, but I am closer to him by a mile than all of the rest combined. I still remember the immediate stomach turning feeling I had when I first heard about the Virginia Tech shootings. I remember his voice on the other end of the line when he said he was ok and that he'd be sitting tight. I remember telling him to call me anytime, any place and I'd be on my way if he changed his mind. I remember the utter lack of hesitation when I got that call and drove the INSANELY long way there and back to pick him up and bring him home. I remember him with a backpack and trying to shove his bike in the back of my SUV. I remember feeling thankful that he was ok and that he was coming home.

We are close by virtue of the fact that for some strange reason he likes hanging out with us. He always has. I don't think its just the stocked pantry and fridge either, though I am sure that is a contributing factor.

I first met his uncle when he was younger than Ella. It has been amazing to watch his transformation from a little boy with a bit too much energy (or was it sugar) to an adolescent who just needed a ride to basketball practice to a young man who is interesting, passionate and fully engaged. He is one of the few teens I have ever known who genuinely likes to delve into deep conversations about politics, morals, the world.

He is intelligent, thoughtful, friendly, outgoing and open minded. Quirky and fun. Funny. He makes me laugh and he laughs at my jokes. I respect him and I feel respected by him. He is warm and real. There is no pretense or falseness. He recognizes the less pleasant side of life but he refuses to be drawn into it. He is positive, upbeat and creative. He even knows my dark, moody, grouchy side and he totally gets it. Sometimes I wish he would explain me to my husband.

He basically ran his own business over the summer and is willing and able to take risks I would have never considered at his age. He is the best older cousin my two kids could ask for. Both of them love him like a brother. Both miss him when he's away at school.

I am proud of him. As proud as if he truly were my own son. I am grateful that his parents found each other and produced such a great kid. I mean, young man. My heart, my home and my family are always open to him. I take it as a great compliment that he chooses my home as a 2nd home. Even if I complain about the grocery bill spiking over summer and winter breaks, I would not have it any other way. I am looking forward to him being around again in just a few weeks.

Happy 21st to my 3rd child. BE RESPONSIBLE as you celebrate. We love you!

A Picture Worth 1000 Words

Cutest Kids Ever

Yes, I mean MINE. Max spent most of last week sick and pitiful with a fever. He rallied for the weekend and we were happy to go out and get flowers and pumpkins! Ella wanted to carve them right NOW thank you. I had to explain they would rot.

I can't believe its October! Time truly flies!

Couldn't have said it better myself...

What she said...

John McCain on Feminism

Just in case you missed it. Wow, has he always been like this and I just didn't know it? It would explain Cindy.



WALLACE: "Hasn't Governor Palin become a drag on your ticket?"

MCCAIN: "As a cold political calculation, I could not be more pleased. She has excited and energized our base. She is a direct counterpoint to the liberal feminist agenda for America. She has a wonderful family. She's a reformer. She's a conservative. She's the best thing that could have happened to my campaign and to America."

I also Heart David Gergen

I saw this piece on Anderson Cooper and totally agree with Jessi. I don't know what it is about David Gergen (ok its his voice, his calm, his humility, his COMMON sense), but I love him. LOVE him.

He served in multiple Republican administrations (Nixon, Ford, Reagan) and I believe was associated with Bush 1's campaign (the first time when he tried in 1980). He also served as an advisor to Bill Clinton. Did I mention I love him.

Let's let Jessi sum it up for us...

I Heart Amy Poehler

And Tina Fey. And Rachel Maddow.
'Nuff Said.

Thanks for reading ;)

Women's "Health"

Ok, I thought I had simmered down and wouldn't be writing a diatribe on the debate last night, but I am still steamed. Yes, I was already on Team Obama (having reluctantly found my way through my disappointment at not seeing Hillary at the top of the ticket), but McCain has just gone off the reservation.

As I told a friend, Obama "had me at hello"! A silly but true assessment.

McCain lost me and any chance I see at personal or professional redemption with his smugness, his negativity, and his total disrespect of a large segment of the electorate, and an obvious and true disdain of women and their right to make medical decisions for themselves. Yes, I am fervently pro-choice. Please do not mistake that for "pro-abortion". No one is pro-abortion. No One. To remove the nuance and dismiss the "health" of the mother as merely a far left, radical, and false argument is beyond infuriating. MORE infuriating than propping up Sarah Palin as an alternative for those of us who love and respect Hills. She's my home girl, I can call her that!

If he was the McCain of 2000 I sincerely believe that this race would have Obama heading toward defeat. The centrist, rational, "maverick" approach might of worked. But finally someone is beating the Republicans at their own game. Empty pledges, thinly veiled racism (I said it) and attempts to provoke fear or hate are not working. Ok, perhaps they are working among the fringe far right and even his base. But he had them. Independents and Republicans disillusioned with the last 8 years of mess and mayhem are simply saying no more.

McCain's positions and statements are falling on deaf ears, not because the public has been hypnotized by Obama's oh so eloquent speech. Many of us are educated. More of us, in this election particularly, have started paying attention to more than soundbites and swift boat tactics. We are not so stupid to believe that Obama is a friend to terrorists. So naive to believe that being a part of Washington for almost 30 years automatically places McCain on higher ground. We are not so blind to not notice that what he is peddling is at best empty and at worst a repeat of the last 8 years. He is out of touch and seemingly out of his mind.

At the end of last night's debate I found myself thinking, is he trying to lose? Are his advisers losing it? Is he losing it? Perhaps he had some strong words for Obama, "I am not George Bush" but they were not enough. He repeatedly opened the door for Obama to look like the thoughtful, patient, measured, rational, cool candidate. Not because he is so eloquent, but more because he was not flailing almost seething. I can't imagine this man in a diplomatic situation. I was left with the distincet and unbelieveable feeling that I dislike this guy even more than I dislike W. I never thought that would be possible. Surely 8 years ago, it would not have been the case.

I was one of those primed to be stolen from the Dems this time. After Hillary lost the nomination I was pissed. It wasn't so much that I didn't like Obama, it was that Clinton was just so emminently qualified for the job and it pissed me off that it didn't go her way. I doubt seriously I would have voted Republican but if McCain had presented a centrist, open minded, thoughtful and rational approach to the war in Iraq, our economy, a woman's reproductive freedoms, and other issues that matter to most people, I may have had to think long and hard.

Unfortunately for McCain, he decided to sell his political soul to the far right. He solidified that base, but in the process he alienated millions of voters. I am hopeful that optimism, openmindedness, tolerance, appreciation for differences, and a pure and deep intelligence will win over these people.

I, for one, hope McCain goes down and I hope he goes down in flames. Metaphorical flames, of course, because otherwise I would be just like one of the nut jobs at his rallies.

P.S. For the record on Joe the Plumber...

1. Joe doesn't have a license
2. Joe is a registered Republican
3. Joe 6 pack is his cousin (just making that one up, I think)
4. Well just read for yourself...More about Joe.

Rut Ro

Ellaism #2344

Ella: Mama, will you take me to go with you when you go to that place where you are going to decide who the next president is? (I think she thinks that I, personally, get to decide)

Me: Of course I will.

The Artist Currently Known as Ella

Ok this post is mostly just to move Dale Jr/Joe 6-pack below the fold. I am tried of seeing that belly when I open my own blog!

Two weekends ago now - whew times flies - we hit the grand opening of the new Workhouse Art Center in Lorton (5 minutes from our house). Housed in what used to be a prison.

We had no idea there was going to be a kids art class for the public. We saw a line and decided to get in it. The artist, Alex Beard, did a fabulous job with the kids. This was Ella in phase one where they were told to do the hand tracing thing and then they could make it any animal they wanted to except the infamous turkey! She decided to go with giraffe. I am still trying to figure out why the giraffe's head ended up bird-like. She is totally outside of the box.

News Flash...

Breaking news. They have located the elusive Joe 6 Pack.

The Boy: 20 Months (Or the Age of the Uh UHH)

Don't let this face paint a picture for you of what Max Month 20 has been like, but it does show you at least one side of it. He is sweet and curious and way too smart for his own good. He understands every thing we say to him. He is not compliant.

His favorite expression is "UH UHH" (not the agreement form of uh huh, but the NO WAY NO HOW form). Imagine this.

Me: "Give that to mama."

Him: "UH UHHHHH" (throw in a stomping of feet for effect).

I can't help but laugh at him and simply make him bend to my will. Hey, the day when I can exert no physical control over him will come, I might as well impose my will when I can. In a nice but firm manner. As if to explain that mama does not play that!

Simply put, he is independent and hard headed and has his very own opinions about how things should go down. Usually he and I are on the same page, occasionally we are not and that's when we get a look like this. GRUMPY.

I asked him the other day "Max are you a bad boy?" He vigorously shook his head no. I followed up with "Are you a rotten boy?" Strong nods in the affirmative. As long as we all are on the same page.

As for growth, he is growing taller and "slimming" a bit. He's talkative, though often we have no idea what he's talking about. That doesn't seem to bother him at all. He is a total mama's boy. I don't try to make it that way, it just is. He doesn't like for me to leave the room much less the house. He gets worked up easily but cools down just as quickly.

His favorite thing in the world is to play hide and seek, especially hiding in his room and collapsing in uncontrollable laughter when you open the door. As if you are a genius for finding him!

The Evolution of Max's Speech

He's never been able to pronounce Ella. For a long time it came out Eh-wuh. Now we have Lell-La. I LOVE IT. I constantly ask him to say Ella...just to hear him say "Lell-La!" Over and over.

Mccain goes negative...

Good reading for likeminded friends.

Embarracuda by Joe Klien

Another Baby!

Gotcha...

We are contemplating adding this little one to our brood. If I can talk her current dad out of her! She's the runt of her litter. She's about 1/2 the size of her litter mates. Teeny, tiny little baby beagle. My best dog EVER (sorry, Butter) was our childhood beagle, Miss Sadie. My husband is supposed to be the reasonable one and talk me out of this ... he's failing miserably!

1 Question, 2 Very Different Answers

Differences of opinions aside, I can't even figure out what it is she is saying.