Introducing... Tuesday!

We've added a new (temporary) member to our family. Tuesday is a four-year-old, border-collie mix that we're fostering from Stray Rescue St. Louis.

A few weeks ago Ryan and I started talking about fostering a dog and then he found Stray Rescue. Stray Rescue basically takes strays from the streets and some abused, neglected dogs from homes and puts them in foster homes until they find families to adopt them.

Our job, as the foster parents, is to give Tuesday a normal life in a house, try to teach her some basic commands, get her more comfortable with people/other dogs and take her to adoption events to try to find her a forever home.

We met Tuesday on... you guessed it, Tuesday (though she was already named Tuesday - that wasn't our doing.) We decided she'd be a good fit for us and we picked her up last night.

She's actually a very sweet dog. She's a bit skittish (and barky) with strangers, but warms up pretty quickly and is tolerating Irie quite well. Irie, of course, is not so sure about this new intruder, but they made it through last night with flying colors and have actually been playing together this morning.

The biggest challenge so far is that Tuesday is not a fan of coming back inside when called. We let her out in the backyard last night and it took us a good 10 minutes to get her back inside when we were ready. This isn't such a big deal except that it's about 2 degrees outside. So except when we have plenty of time to corral her, we've been taking her out on a leash. There's also the fact that two dogs just seem to set each other off more, so I'm dealing with a bit more barking than I'm used to.

All in all though, I think it's going very well. And I'm hopeful some TLC and boundaries will help get Tuesday ready for a good forever home.

Tuesday and Irie playing on the couch.

Street patrol.

2009 Resolutions

• Work out at least 3 times a week
• Find some friends in the Lou
• Find new hangouts in St. Louis
• Go somewhere new and fun
• Find a class to take with Irie
• Be able to walk Irie on a loose lead
• Go on excursions with Sarah and Nicole
• Practice patience
• Plan for an out of country trip in 2010

Ringing in the New Year

Happy 2009!

Ryan and I spent the last hours of 2008 in a blues bar trying to talk over very loud music. It was a nice, laid back evening though.

Enjoying the midnight toast.

Ryan trying out his waffle making skills. It was quite the mess but the results were pretty tasty.

Christmas Part I

We had a lovely (and unique!) Christmas dinner last night of standing rib roast, goat cheese scalloped potatoes, broccolini and pumpkin custard pie. Delicious.

Lily was a particular fan of the broccolini.

And then it was on to the gifts which Lily just couldn't wait to get into. To her credit, I thought she was pretty darn patient due to the many delays. It was pretty funny when she snuck into the other room and finally broke down and opened one. Here she is showing off her new camera.

Irie sporting her new sweater. So cute.

Lily and Sha-shawn (they both have very similar dresses on amazingly enough.)

All tuckered out.

Hurricane Ryan

has hit St. Louis.

Ryan arrived in St. Louis a week ago tonight. He had packed his car much like mine had been only a few months before. He decided to ship the few things that wouldn't fit in the car rather than renting a truck which made a lot of economical sense. The only downfall to this plan is things like his dresser have not arrived yet, which leaves him nowhere to put his clothes except on the floor, as you can see. :-)

Good news!

Many of you have already heard as I saw most of the family this past week, but we got some exciting news last Tuesday. Ryan got a job! He'll be moving here one week from Thursday.

I can't believe how quickly it's happening, but I'm definitely ready! I hope the job turns out to be a good fit for him - I know he's leaving a job he likes a lot, but I also know he's ready to get back to the midwest as well.

As I've been waiting for Ryan to find a job, I've been busy getting my life in shape here. I've joined a couple of meetup groups that have led to meeting some nice people who I hope to get to know better. I also just joined a winter kickball league that I have really high hopes for. We've only played one weekend so far, but my team was very nice and welcoming. (Much better than the Baltimore team!) And I'm intrigued by the idea of playing in the snow! I also have gotten into a couple of volunteer activities, both involving local animal shelters. While I haven't met anyone that I'm spending a lot of regular time with, I definitely see lots of possibilities here.

Photo shoot at the dog park

Irie was sporting Terra's old jacket at the dog park today and looking pretty darn cute.

Pajama Party

Saturday night Lily and I had our first pajama party. Apparently she was so excited about the prospect she wore herself out and when I came to pick her up at 5pm she was zonked out. Reminding her about my promise to take her to the toy-store seemed to revive her though.

We hit up Toys R Us and checked out all the exciting new toys. Lily had picked out a baby doll that she wanted within the first two minutes we were at the store, but she humored my request to continue looking. Anytime I'd point something out that I thought was cool though, she'd play with it for a second and then remind me that she still wanted the baby. But then we came across a My Little Pony that had a tattoo which kind of threw her for a loop. She couldn't quite figure out how to finagle both the doll and the pony, so she decided that it was the baby's birthday too and we should get the pony for her. It was just such a good argument, I had to give in.

After our shopping excursion we went to Cici's pizza (home of the cheap pizza buffet!) and managed to freak out several people with Lily's new life-like doll. It's face really does look like an actual baby and no less than three people shrieked when seeing the way Lily was carrying it or had it placed precariously on the edge of a chair. I guess Cici's is the kind of place where something like that may be a bit more likely to happen....

Some of my favorite quotes from dinner were,

• Lily choose seats that happened to be right by the soda machine. Apparently the soda splashes a bit when dispensing because my chair was covered with a sticky film. Awesome! I switched chairs and Lily commented with a devilish grin, "Maybe someone put glue on your chair!" And then her famous laugh.... "Isn't that funny?!!!"
• Out of the blue, after taking a bite of pizza, Lily flashed a coy smile and nearly whispered, "I'm going to tell mommy about all my adventures."

When we got back to my place we popped in a Care Bear movie that Lily deemed to be too scary, so it was switched to a My Little Pony movie. "See, Ingrid, this one's not scary.

We played school and I got to participate in "family meeting time" and "cooperation time." We sang Hey Diddle Diddle and she filled me in on her beliefs about the role of big sisters in the world and how she didn't care that her parents had gone to the movies. She said, "And I said fine. Go to the show. I'll have fun."

She thought it was hysterical that she was going to spend the whole night at my house and sleep in the same bed with Irie and me. But when her parents called to see if she wanted them to pick her up, she said she'd rather stay. She fell asleep while we were reading books and slept like a champ the whole night (well, except when Irie decided that she needed a good licking.) I can't say that I slept very well as I'm not accustomed to being told exactly where I need to lay and that my arm needed to be under her head etc, but it was fun.

And when we left the next morning, she said (in a sweet but somewhat threatening way), "I'm going to come stay over here again, Ingrid."

I look forward to it, Lily.

Lily, the new baby and Irie in "the baby room" at the "school."

It just doesn't get any cuter than this

When I came back from making dinner in the kitchen this evening, this is how I found my puppy dog. I guess perhaps I've been keeping it a bit cold in here! :-)

Thrilling 3s

The birthday girl gets some swinging action in.

I love the look on Lily's face in this picture.

I mostly love this picture because it shows off some of Lily's tattoos and multiple stamps. I told Lily that for her 18th birthday I would take her to get a real tattoo, but her mom didn't seem real excited by that one. I have a feeling this little one may have a tattoo well before her 18th birthday! :-)

The making of a koala

The red-eye doesn't allow for the best picture of the cutie koala, but despite some serious attitude, I still think she was pretty adorable. She didn't quite get the concept of collecting candy and saving it until we got home, so after each house we had to "OPEN IT!". She really did seem to get the hang of it towards the end though and we all enjoyed watching her figure it all out.

Fall festival fun

Last weekend, we went to a fall festival with a meetup group I recently got involved with. It was a roaring good time with a huge bonfire, hay rides, bobbing for apples, tug of war, fireworks and more! It seems like a really nice group of people that I'm looking forward to getting to know better.

Exploring St. Louis

While Ryan was in town last week, we went into downtown for the first time. Neither of us have spent much time in St. Louis in the last several years, so it took us awhile to re-acclimate. It'll be awhile before we get everything figured out I'm sure, but it was fun to begin the exploring.

Funny halloween dogs

I've seen some of these before, but they still make me laugh. Dogs are just funny. And the things humans come up with to do to them....

This is a new one to me

I think MoveOn.org has outdone itself here. I received this video clip earlier tonight as a way to help remind me (and to pass it on to others to help them remember) to vote. Don't worry MoveOn - I'll vote. But this will definitely keep it fresh in my mind.



If the video doesn't play here - you can also watch it by following this link.

Moving is expensive

I realized this weekend that it's probably a good thing I don't have much of a social life right now, because this move has definitely cost me some mula. Anytime you move somewhere new there are things that need to be purchased and I was lucky enough to have a lot of the basics already covered, but I feel like Lowes and Target have become my second homes. I'm still working on making the place feel "homey", but as I unpack more and more boxes it gets a little closer. I think the main things that are needed right now are drapes and probably a couple of area rugs in the rooms. Hardwood floors are nice, but there's something that just doesn't seem warm and cozy about it. Especially as it gets cooler. Irie is great about sliding all over the floors, but I think she too would be a fan of having a little more rug action.

My major purchase for the weekend was a new mattress. My initial plan was to bring my futon down and use it as a bed until Ryan moved in and brought his mattress. However, my futon is not currently available (it's a long story), so I've been sleeping on my couch for the past two weeks. Now, my couch is comfy, but two weeks of sleeping on it was about to push me over the edge. My back is killing me! So I broke down yesterday and started shopping around. Tomorrow my brand-new queen size mattress will be delivered and I just can't wait! I am soooo looking forward to bed tomorrow night! While I'm happy about the purchase, geez, mattresses are expensive!

Otherwise, life in the new place is moving right along. This was my first weekend in town and it was a relatively busy one. I got in some quality family time with Carl, Kathleen and Lily during their family fall fun on Saturday (and got my laundry done - thanks guys!) And today I got to visit the entertaining atmosphere of New Town where Kathleen's parents live. They were having a cook-off that Kathleen had entered, so I went out to vote early and often. :-) New Town was setting up for the McCain rally being held there tomorrow, so it was a bit crazy. It's quite the little town though. Out in the middle of some corn fields, there's this little enclosed bubble of a community. Kinda reminds me a bit of Pleasantville. Not in a bad way though - just different.

Irie is still loving having a backyard. I have put a little wire fence around the trunk of one of our big trees to keep her from gnawing on the bark (weird habit of hers). Today I purchased some outdoor toys for her so she now is the proud owner of a kid's soccerball and a soft-sided fresbie that she LOVES.

The neighbors have all been pretty nice. I haven't spent a lot of time with any of them, but I've met the people on either side of us and one across the street. All seem friendly.

I'm loving having more time with Lily and am constantly entertained by her imagination and expressiveness. There's never a question of what she's thinking or feeling. The rolling eyes, the sly smile, the shrug of the shoulders.

We were talking about birthdays the other day (a topic of choice these days) and I mentioned that her daddy and I have the same birthday. Her reponse? "Yeah, I know that, Ingrid." with the classic roll of the eyes and slight shake of the head. Well, sooory.

Ryan continues to job search. He amazes me with the number of jobs he can apply for in the course of a day. I guess there are a lot of computer jobs out there, but there's an equally large number of people out there looking for them, I'm guessing. Happily, he'll be coming back out to St. Louis this coming weekend to celebrate his birthday!

Work is going good. Well, except for the fact that the economy sucks and it's never easy in the non-profit world, but it's going as well as it can. It's busy as usual and I'm working hard to cram trainings that have to be done this year into the next few months - still playing a bit of make-up from working part-time for awhile. But some new and exciting things are in the works as well, so I'm trying to focus on that. I am really glad that I'm doing something that the majority of the time, I enjoy.

And I think that's the update for the moment. Once I feel like the place is a little more put together I'll get some pictures up!

A good laugh

I've got a nasty cold and have been feeling pretty terrible these past few days, but I found myself in the midst of a good belly laugh several times tonight watching re-runs of yesterday's Daily Show. The whole show was really good (and I recommend checking it out online), but here are two of my favorite clips.



and

We made it!

It's day #4 in the new place and this is the first night I've felt alert enough to post anything. I've moved before, but I've never moved like this before. It was simply... exhausting.

It started with filling my car to the gills (maybe that analogy doesn't work for cars, I'm not sure) and driving cross-country. I was a little nervous about something sliding out of place and hitting me in the head, but apparently everything was packed in so tightly it really couldn't move. On day one of the move, Irie and I made it from Baltimore to Waterloo, IN and spent the night with Grandma Deetz. The next day we continued on our way to Chicago where we picked up the moving truck, Ryan (from the airport) and my old couch in that order. Then, with me behind the wheel of the truck and Ryan driving my car, we headed out to Freeport to Mom's. We loaded up the truck Saturday morning and made the last leg of the trip down to St. Louis. We arrived in St. Louis around 7pm and were met at the house by our new landlord and two of Ryan's friends from highschool who just happen to live nearby.

His friends were nice enough to bring over dinner, so we all had a quick dinner of pizza and then unloaded the truck. With Ryan's friends, their wives, kids, Carl, Kathleen and Lily and a neighbor - the truck was unloaded in record time!

While there's still some unpacking and organizing to do, the house is looking good and Ryan and I both really like it. (And so does Irie - especially the backyard!) The neighborhood is what I like to refer to as "up and coming" but our immediate neighbors all seem nice and one of Ryan's best friends from highschool actually lives 10 doors down from us. What are the chances of that?

Some of my favorite things about being in St. Louis so far are...

• The proximity of the house to all kinds of good shopping including the Galleria Mall and pretty much every store you could want.
• The fact that you can buy alcohol in grocery stores.
• That our town's city hall is tiny and when we went in to get our occupancy permit there was absolutely no wait.
• The price of pretty much everything being lower.
• Being closer to (pretty much) everyone!

In fact, there's only a few things that I'm not a big fan of - one is that St Louis isn't smoke free yet like Chicago and Baltimore are. Basically this means that people can still smoke in restaurants and bars - so whether or not you're a smoker you smell and feel like one by the end of the night. The other is just the lack of a social network, but I know that will come with time. The meetup groups are a bit less active here, but I'm sure I can do something about that. And then there are those nasty cardinals.... :-)

All in all, everything is moving right along. Ryan even had a preliminary interview today - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something will come up in that area soon! I have to give a facilitator training in Austin on Saturday, so unfortunately I won't have this weekend to just kick back and continue getting acclimated, but maybe by the weekend after I'll be truly settled.

Has it only been a year?

A year ago today I was flying out to Baltimore to interview for a job at BELL.

Frequently (more frequently than I'd like) I can look back at a year and think that nothing too impressive has happened - no major changes have occurred. But this year... this year there seems to have been a lot! Jobs, cities, living arrangements, relationships, family.

In some ways I can't believe it's only been a year since I was just starting the process of moving to Baltimore and in other ways it feels like a lifetime ago. And I think what really impresses me is nothing bad came of it. It was a total shot in the dark and lots could have gone wrong. But in fact lots of good came of it instead! I didn't totally screw up my professional life - and I think I'm now in a much happier place with my job. I got to spend a lot of quality time with Carl, Kathleen and, of course, Lily. I got to learn that I can happily live somewhere other than Chicago and make new friends. I met a great boy. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful whirl-wind move!

And now I'm about to do it all again. On Thursday I will be moving to St. Louis to start the next phase of life. Ryan will be joining me for the actual moving part, but will be coming back to Baltimore to continue looking for a job for at least a little while longer. We're both hopeful it will be a short lived separation. I think we're both really ready to be living together and taking that next step. I'm definitely ready to feel a bit more settled and back to having my own furniture and more of a sense of permanence!

I was saying to Ryan last night though that I think I'm, in some ways, sadder to move from Baltimore than I was Chicago. I'm excited about moving, but I think when I was leaving Chicago I knew it would always kind of be home and I could always go back to it. I know I won't be coming back to Baltimore. I mean, sure, maybe for vacation here and there, but probably not too frequently and not to live. So saying goodbye to people and things here just feels a little more permanent.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really excited to be moving, it's just a little harder than maybe I thought it would be.

But on that note, I must get back to packing. How I'm going to fit all this stuff into my car, I have no idea. But one way or another it will work out. It always does.

Eureka!

After reviewing hundreds of ads for possible houses in St. Louis, making dozens of phone calls, multiple site visits made by Kathleen and feeling like I was going to pull my hair out daily - we finally have settled on a place to live! And how did we end up finding it? Oh, Kathleen just happened to be driving by and saw a For Rent sign in the yard. Go figure.

It's a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house with a fenced in backyard in Webster Groves. From what Kathleen and Carl say, and the pictures show, it's a really nice place. Seems to be very well kept and has all the features we were looking for. Well, except for including a washer and dryer, but we should be able to get our hands on those pretty easily.

The landlord is very particular, but has approved our application and the signed lease and checks are officially in the mail. I guess it takes a particular landlord to keep a property in tip-top shape!

I'm still trying to figure out my exact process of moving from Baltimore, picking up my stuff in Chicago and Freeport and transporting it all to St. Louis, but I'm working on it. Ryan won't be moving until later in October or November so there are some quirky overlap issues (like a bed) that will also require some thought, but I'm sure it will all work out.

Anyway, I'm mostly just super relieved to have a place to live as of October 1st! And one that I feel good about at that! I can't wait to have a backyard! (And to be closer to almost everyone!)

Welcome to my newest little quasi nephew!

Sarah and Michael added another little boy to their family early this morning! Unfortunately I only have one picture (from a camera phone), so he's a little hard to see, but it's the best I can do at the moment. Congratulations, guys! I can't wait to meet him in person!

Introducing... Preston Michael

And not to be outdone...

Proud big brother, Payton Ray. (In his halloween best!)

My happy place...

On a much happier note, I wanted to share with you all that this past weekend I took Irie to an Ice Cream Social that her doggie daycare was putting on. She got to indulge in peanut butter flavored, doggie approved ice-cream, play in the nearby river and participate in dog games.

She loved every minute of it. Especially the ice cream that she woofed (hehehe) down. But the highlight of the day for me was when she won the "Longest sit" contest.

Granted it was a three way tie, but she was still amazing! She sat by my side without moving through little kids jumping around in front of her, other dogs walking by, a tennis ball being thrown and more. I was super impressed! The other two dogs that also won were being coaxed by owners who had treats in hand, so I consider her the real winner.

We've still got plenty of work to do, but we've come along way from beginning obedience where I couldn't get her to stay for anything. :-)

And so it begins...

I've been keeping a bit of a low profile surrounding politics lately. Mostly because (and some of you will laugh at this), I don't like to fight about politics. I'm happy to talk to people that share my views, but at the slightest hint that people don't - I would much rather walk away. I'm not entirely sure why this is, but I do know that politics get me heated up quicker than just about anything else. It actually makes me physically ill to hear people say things that I vehemently disagree with.

Anyway, after Sarah Palin's speech last night - I was definitely sick. Not because of anything she really said - there wasn't much substance there in my opinion, but over how people reacted. "Oh what a great speaker she is." "What a good choice McCain made." Seriously ill.

I just don't even understand how people can say it. I didn't find a single thing she said even slightly awe-inspiring. She's governor of a minuscule town in Alaska, she has no real experience in politics, she's completely anti-choice, she's into banning books, and she didn't say ANYTHING except to deliver snide remarks about her opponents. And I'm sure that's not even the worst of what we will come to find out about Mrs. Palin.

Anyway, nothing has been able to make me smile about last night's speech until I watched this clip. I love the Daily Show. I know it's silly, but I do. Anyway, I really hope that people will do a little more research and base their opinions on more than one speech... and maybe see that being a pitbull (I'll be it with lipstick) isn't necessarily what this country needs.

Oh, and by the way, republicans... get your own slogan rather than playing off the democrats. OK, I'm finished... for now.

Rolling down the river

Ryan and I have a list of things we want to do before we leave the east coast. One of the items on our list was tubing, so this past Saturday we decided to drive up to a branch of Gun Powder Falls and do a little tubing.

Because I'm a bit obsessed - I wanted to take Irie with us, so on the way we stopped at a pet store and picked up a doggie life-vest.

The water was FREEZING, but we had a great time floating along. Irie quickly determined the water was really too cold for her, so she spent the majority of the time sitting on either Ryan's or my lap as we drifted down the river. We did occasionally throw her in and she did jump out on her own once or twice - mostly to investigate leaves passing by or other tubers. But mostly she was content to keep an eye out from her perch on our laps.

Unfortunately we didn't have any cameras with us out on the water (I really need to get one of those underwater digital cameras), but I did take a quick shot of Irie in her life-vest when we got home. Just adorable.

The most disgusting thing...

happened yesterday. (I'm not kidding. Don't read this if you've got a weak stomach.)

In the morning, I went into the kitchen to get something and noticed a bad smell. I figured it was some food gone bad or something of the like and didn't think much of it. However, when I went back to the kitchen a few hours later it seemed even worse. I looked through the refrigerator and on the counter and didn't see anything that seemed to be producing that smell. I determined it must be the sink and decided I'd go get some draino or something later to freshen up the sink pipes.

When I came downstairs after work though I noticed the whole lower level of the house was smelly. Shari came home and we set off to the kitchen to investigate. After moving the refrigerator out, we discovered the root of our problem. Somehow, and I have no idea how, a mouse (or maybe two, we're not sure) had gotten squished between the refrigerator and the side of our cabinet. It was truly the most disgusting thing I've seen in a long time. Probably since Dad turned on an old air conditioner and mouse parts came flying out. (Why does it always involve mice?)

I can handle lots of things. Bugs really don't bother me, live animals of pretty much any kind really don't bother me, but dead ones... especially of the mammal variety - yeah, I have problems with that. Luckily Shari has the opposite aversion - she can't handle the live ones - so she got the awesome task of getting rid of the squished mouse. We were hopeful that we'd be able to brush it off the side of the refrigerator with a broom, but ended up having to scrape it off with a knife. I know, I know - probably too graphic. I won't even go into the maggots that came with it.

But the good news is, now that our little friend is gone the house smells much better. I'm still a little grossed out to enter the kitchen, but I'm hopeful that over time the pictures in my head and the smell in my nose will dissipate.

How it happened, or even when it happened I have no idea, but with any luck we won't have any more repeats.

It's tough being a dog

This is how Irie generally spends her days while I'm working....

"zzzzzz"

"Why are you taking pictures of me? Is it time to play yet?"

"I'll just position myself this way so I can keep an eye on you and your camera."

Project IRIS

Ryan and my search for housing in St. Louis (now lovingly referred to as Project IRIS - Ingrid, Ryan, Irie and Sierra) is moving along, but it's mostly frustrating at the moment. I don't think I realized how hard it would be.

There's just not a lot of fun to be had when you're trying to make a decision about where you're going to live from about 1000 miles away. I've tried every site I can think of that might have housing we'd like, but between not really knowing the area and not being able to physically see places - it's just a pain. In addition there are a slew of people out there that are just monumentally unhelpful in this process. I simply don't understand having your house listed for rent and not being able to answer basic questions about it or have some (ANY) pictures available. I'm being pretty straight forward about what we're looking for and the things I get back... just a waste of time.

It makes it even more fun to try to find places that are dog friendly (both in terms of renting and places that the dogs will be safe and happy.) And, as with any apartment search, there's always that sense of "should we hold out for something better/more/cheaper or just jump on something that seems good." I hate making decisions when I don't feel like I have all the information I need. And I'm also just an extraordinarily impatient person when it comes to big decisions. Where I think Ryan could happily wait to find a place until we actually drive into town, I just can't stand the idea of not knowing where we're going. In truth, it's probably not that as much as I just know I'll just keep looking for places obsessively until we decide on something. :-)

Regardless, I know it will all work out and we'll find something that will be just fine for us all, but in the meantime... it's just frustrating. I do want to send a big thank you Kathleen's way for all the questions she has answered and for going to see one of our potential places. It's soooo helpful to have someone actually in the city we're moving to help us make some decisions.

Much awaited pictures???

I felt like I needed to post pictures from our roadtrip back in June, but as I looked through the few I had, I decided I didn't really have much to post. Guess we just weren't on our picture taking game. But here are a couple I decided I wanted to share for various reasons.

Irie had no interest in sleeping in her bed... until she threw up in it. After I had mostly cleaned it out, I put it in a plastic bag to keep the remaining nastiness from getting on the car. At this point Irie decided it was the best place to sleep. Weird-o.

On our way to Indiana from Kansas City, we stopped at a Sonic for lunch. While we were there we realized just how far away from "city-life" we really were when a tractor pulled in to the drive-in. We had a great time watching the young couple in the tractor exhibit their superior coolness.

This is the results of spending a day on the beach with a certain someone who claimed that sunscreen doesn't work on him. Shockingly, the designs in sunscreen I drew on him were still perfectly white at the end of the day while the rest of him was as red as a lobster. I love to prove people wrong.

This picture is representative of probably my favorite story of late from Ms. Lily. On this lovely evening at the cabin, Lily was introduced to S'mores. She was not remarkably impressed with the combination, but she greatly enjoyed the Hershey's bar. After she had eaten probably one full one, we all decided to claim the chocolate bars were "all gone." She retired to her chair without an issue, until a few minutes later when Kathleen pulled out a candy bar to make a s'more. Lily leaped from her seat, ran to Kathleen, snatched the chocolate out of her hand and gave Kathleen a look that clearly stated her disbelief that her mom had held out on her. It was hands down one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

The elections are coming, the elections are coming

Ryan and I went to see Swing Vote tonight. It was pretty funny and I mostly enjoyed it - except for the occasional moment when I almost had to cover my eyes from offense. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Kevin Costner - what else is new? I've been enjoying watching him since I was 6. And the actress they had playing the daughter did a really good job with the role, I thought.

So why then did I feel - well, let's be honest here - pissy on the way home? On deeper inspection, I think I was really bothered by the way the democratic candidate was portrayed. He was played by Dennis Hopper and I swear it seemed like he was the same character as in Hoosiers. Okay, okay - maybe minus being a big drunk. Just a total push-over, spineless, wimpy guy. And I know the writers were just trying to accentuate the differences between the two candidates and their platforms, but man, they made the democratic platform into a virtual joke. Maybe I'm just more sensitive to that side, but I didn't notice the same gross exaggerations on the republican side. OK, maybe there were a few, but not quite to the same level - or maybe I just think they're more true....

I guess I still want to believe that there are candidates out there that stand by what they believe and have not been totally corrupted. At least initially. I know the majority have, and I know that it is a game in a sense to get the most votes, but I still need to have hope that it's not always the case.

And it also served as a reminder for how close the elections are now. And how out of the loop I'm feeling with all that. I already know who I'm voting for. There's no question in my mind. But I've gotten away from paying any attention. Somehow I want to find a way to balance keeping up-to-date without getting obsessed and increasingly bothered by it all.

It's late, I'm tired and I have a headache. Never a good combination for thinking politics. But sometimes it helps to purge thoughts on the blog - even if it isn't a well thought out entry. :-)