Chez Lawver has had the crappiest week ever. I would sort of request a do-over but I do not want to relive it. Instead, I am requesting a fast-forward to… Thanksgiving vacation, ok? OK! So, someone make it so.
Author: jclawver
The ugliness of the GOP
This is so outlandish, the world needs a new word to describe the fuckery going on here. A new attack ad that John McCain released is so disgustingly twisted, I’m just left stunned by his lack of honor in campaigning and his penchant for distorting the facts.\
Here’s some backstory to preface: while in Illinois, Barack Obama supported legislation that basically advocated providing K-12 students with age appropriate sex ed (I had sex ed in school, who didn’t?) For the young children, it would be about the difference between a “good touch” and “bad touch” – it was meant to protect children from child molesters! But yesterday, John McCain put out this ad entitled “Education”-\
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They use a smiling image of Obama under a voiceover implying the man wants to teach inappropriate sex ed to kindergarteners? That is SICK. We can debate the merits of educating kids in public schools about pedophiles, but to pretend that wasn’t the aim of the legislation to begin with, is disgraceful. (eta- except no, we can’t debate the merits of protecting kids against pedophiles. This is the most heinous crime ever and our kids really need as much protection as possible.) But even worse, did you know some of those articles cited within the McCain ad either go on to criticize McCain’s own education plans, or even compliment Obama’s? Yep.\
Obama’s campaign released a statement:\
“It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls – a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn’t define what honor was. Now we know why.” \~ Obama spokesman Bill Burton in an emailed statement.\
Oh, but let’s not stop there. McCain released a new ad today accusing Obama of sexism against Palin because he used that old saying, “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig…” when describing McCain/Palin policies. But guess what? McCain used that SAME PHRASE this year to describe Hillary Clinton’s health care plan- Click for video.\
Am I to understand it’s OK for McCain to use that phrase? Was he calling Hillary a pig? This is utterly ridiculous.\
Obama’s campaign has not released ONE ad that stoops to these sorts of distortions. Not ONE. Check out Obama’s YouTube profile, his ads are usually in response to some attack ad of McCain’s, OR they talk about substantive issues. Now, check out McCain’s YouTube profile. It is jam packed with attack ads aimed at Obama.\
After the attacks John McCain suffered against George Bush back in 2000, WHY is he doing this now? He’s no maverick. He’s doing exactly what George W. Bush did, so I can only conclude a McCain administration would be exactly the same too. He talks about honor and country first, but these sorts of distortions don’t benefit America. They benefit him.\
I was horrified by what McCain suffered in 2000 and am equally horrifed now. McCain used to be a man of honor and deserving of respect. I am appalled by the changes in him as he tries for the White House. Political opinions aside, this is not the type of person to be the president.
Don’t dislike Palin because she is a woman; dislike Palin because she is WRONG
Just so you know, I disagree with Palin about everything. Here is someone else’s take: Jesus was a Community Organizer, and Pontias Pilate was a Governor.
Wastin’ my time and energy
We live a half of a mile from the school, and yet I spent an hour each day dropping Max off and picking him up. UGH. If it weren’t a thousand degrees outside I would just walk to get him. Hmm. Maybe I will just suck it up.\
ETA- Virginia, kids, and old age has turned me into a sissy, I admit. Back in Arizona, before Virginia, kids, and old age, I would walk 4 times as much in much hotter heat. Sigh.\
I decided to walk to get Max and it took just as long as driving and is a helluva lot further than a half of a mile. But by walking to drop off/pick up Max, Brian and I don’t need other walking time. So, I just gained an extra hour in my day! YAY! Except, now I have to find something else to occupy Brian for an hour. Drat. Next year, when he starts school full time again, I am going on a cruise. For a whole week. Maybe even two.
10+
I am so in love with my husband, he makes me speechless yet giddy.
Raspberries the world
My parents live in southern Miss. I was telling a friend that I am not worried about them though. I went on to say that around their town, you can see roofs with blue tarps from where they still haven’t been fixed since Katrina. And then I was like, “And why am I not scared again?” Kevin was like, “Yea, why aren’t you scared? They are pretty much right in Gustav’s path.” Gee, thanks a lot, Kev.\
Hanna is heading straight for us. Is this what the whole Fall is going to be like?\
Our landlord is going through bankruptcy and is desperately trying to short sell the house we are currently renting so the bank won’t foreclose. This means that we will probably be moving again. Booo. Remind me next time we rent to check the credit of the homeowner, ok? The worst part (as of right now, when I am not packing/unpacking again) is the uncertainty and the unclear time line. How long does a foreclosure take, if it comes to that? How does his bankruptcy affect ownership of the house? If he’s asking less than the market price, what is the liklihood of it selling quickly, to someone who actually wants to live here? (If it sold to someone who wanted to rent it out, we’d stay.)\
So, Palin, huh? Yea, no thanks.\
In happier news, Max was placed in the advanced class of his grade. We didn’t have to wait for testing because I had the standardized test results from last Spring. YAY! He is really excited about school. There are all sorts of clubs he can join too. Savannah has 5 magnet elementary schools, so I was worried that the neighborhood elementary schools would suffer. So far, so good though. I’ll be keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the school actually will be as awesome as it seems. When I told a friend of mine that this school seems better than the one we left in No Va, she was shocked. Cuz yea, No Va schools have a great rep and Ga schools not so much. But we’ll see!
Ga to Va, and back again
The kids used to have Babba Day, where they would get to spend the day with Babba (Kevin’s mom). This time they got Babba Bonanza, where they got to spend more than a week with her. She flew down on Friday, spent the weekend with us, she then drove the boys and me back to Va, we spent the week there, she drove us back to Ga, and then she flew home. How awesome! Here’s how our time was spent.\
Friday: Picked Babba up at the airport. Her plane was delayed so we truncated our plans. We were still able to take a quickie tour of downtown, the cute squares and historic buildings; stop at Leopold’s for ice cream; and took the boys to the beach. Babba and the boys had a blast playing in the water. Every time I tried to take a pic though, Babba would throw sand at me! So, no pics of her from that event. Sad. We came home to the hot lasagna I made earlier. YAY for great timing.\
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Saturday: Dolphin tour and dinner at a seafood place that had a great view of the water. I had crab, two types of shrimp, and scallops. YUM! (Erm, Kevin had an allergic reaction to the fresh scallops. Not so fun.)\
Sunday: Church and fabulous homemade enchiladas and tortilla soup. Wooo. Babba sat next to an outgoing woman that I’ve decided should become my new BFF.\
Monday: Drove up to Va. Long day. Babba drove since I have a notorious light foot and we wanted the drive to only take one day. She asked me to stay awake for the entire drive and entertain her while she was driving, which was the least I could do. But, staying awake the whole trip??? Waaah.\
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Tuesday: Babba treated us to lunch at a Japanese Steakhouse, the boys’ favorite type of restaurant. Then I did a bit of shopping- both at stores, the internet, and Babba’s closet- yay! I scored the most beautiful pink flats from Babba. And some white flats, and (faux) snake skin flats, and black flats, and beige flats, and another pair of pink shoes, and…\
Wednesday: Took the boys to the LDS Temple’s Visitor Center, a greasy diner for lunch, this amazing park (we had an awesome train ride there too!), and a butterfly house.\
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At some point in the week I exclaimed, “Don’t make me go back!” Babba had been treating us really well- turkey dinners, fresh peach muffins, trips to new playgrounds. And I’d been sleeping on some magical, pillow-topped bed that allowed me to wake without pains in my legs and back.\
Thursday: I don’t remember much of Thursday. Oops. I know Grandpa played frisbee golf with the boys in the yard after dinner. It’s now Brian’s favorite game. ETA- I think the boys decorated t-shirts with Aunt Heather. Oh, we also went to the library to score some cheap books for sale (I found The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide for \$1!!) and then let the boys play at an indoor playground. (No sunscreen means no outside play.)\
Friday: The boys played with our old neighbors, Daisy and Mico, and then checked out a new playground with Babba, while I did laundry and took a nap. It was like everyone’s-favorite-activity day!!\
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Saturday: Drove back home. Babba made excellent time, woot. Kevin made an excellent dinner. Woot, woot.\
Sunday: Babba flew home. Brian cried.
Justify!
Some things should remain private. Like what goes on between a person and her tivo. Know what I am saying?
Bad mommy # ohwhocares
I am the worst purchaser of Max’s school clothes. For the third year now, I bought the wrong size clothes- twice. Boo.
Lucky, lucky me!
I have the best, most well-behaved kids ever. EVER!! Want proof? Four hours at the health department and nary a peep (and we went unprepared without toys! or books! or crayons!), except when Brian received five shots (Max only needed one).