Who cares what I think.

***Update: Wow!! What a close race! This is going to get ugly. The candidates will need to tread lightly though, because they'll probably end up on each other's ticket. Can you imagine? Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama...this is just the beginning. Exciting stuff...

Well, I wasn't on the fence. I had chosen a candidate that I felt reflected the ideas and intentions of the majority of America. I said America, not Texas, because that's a whole different story. I don't claim loyalty to either party. I have never donated to a campaign until now. I have never looked for opportunities to volunteer for a campaign- until now. And that impresses me. It impresses me because I am a skeptical person and a cynic. I have never felt any kind of faith in the world of politics, because it is run by a far greater power than us little 'ol citizens...until now.


I feel motivated and captivated by Barack Obama's message and his goals for this country of ours. We could say it's the same old song and dance, but that's not a valid argument. A president must be chosen. There's no guarantee from either party that change will be made or that we all will be better for it. I'm sure you could pluck any candidates campaign rhetoric from the past and it would sound quite similar. But, it's about delivery and presence. And, you can't deny that Obama has a refined ability to incite his audience and create a momentum that has yet to be dismantled. I do not believe that he holds the golden key, that everything will be miraculous and it will be a perfect world. What I am saying is that our leader should have half a brain and be well respected. The president has to be a good salesman. He's got to believe in his product and make you believe in it too, otherwise he's useless. I believe he would be a great representative of the USA and that will help him build bridges. Obama is like the equivalent to a "Joel Osteen" presidential candidate. If America is his church, you'd find me there every Sunday.

Some say Obama lacks in experience and that would be potentially dangerous within the realm of foreign politics. Well, that's what advisors and the apparatus of government are for. I would hope that a Harvard law degree, 8 years as a state Senator and 4 years as a U.S. Senator would add up to something...I do know it adds up to whole helluva lot more than Governor of Texas (Dubya). Look, I'm all fired up and I already voted. So, now it's your turn. If you're undecided, please check out http://www.barackobama.com/. I promise you won't be disappointed.


And PLEASE, PLEASE VOTE EARLY BY FRI 2/29 OR ON TUES 3/4 (but, you can only caucus the evening of the 4th if you voted early). It takes like 5 minutes to vote. Do it!


On another note...

I asked Kale on Monday if he wanted to go to pick out a new fish for his aquarium. Kale's goldfish Dorothy took the C-train to Sewerville, much to our dismay, a while back. He was all excited, saying "otay, otay". Then, he scrunches his face and says "No, I don't wanna fish". "What, why not?". "I wanna shawk" he says. Who am I to deny my child? Baby wants, baby gets. Here's a picture of the newest member of the family...

The fence is not the most comfortable place to be

Hey all you Texas folks out there...are you doing what I think you're doing??? Well, if you're not, get to it!! We have until the 29th of February to vote early and then we MUST caucus on March 4, so this way our vote really counts (100%). I'm doing my research on the candidates and I hope you do the same. I'll post my findings when I've come to a conclusion. Good luck!

Mack 101 and Kale 101...cont'd

Mack apparently forgot to take his first steps prior to my previous post. With that said...Mack took several steps on his own today!!!!!!!!! How awesome is that?

And, on Kale's side of the world--we have confirmed that when he commands his pee-pee to go to time-out it is because he is in fact experiencing a...ummm...ahem...well...how do I say this...an erection. So, yeah. Good for him. I'm sure he'll find other colorful ways to label that later in his life. One for the baby book.

Mack 101

AKA "The Non-Negotiator". Simple. Short and sweet. It's his way or the highway. We already know it's going to be an adventure with this little one too. Grey hairs- here we come. Mack is highly attentive and wants you to reciprocate all that attention back on him. He doesn't care if you have another toddler to attend to, dishes/clothes to wash, dinner to cook or just need to relieve yourself. Nope, things need to be done and they need to be done NOW. But, we've learned to balance it out and stay one step ahead of him. We gotcha...we gotcha.


Mack's personality is in full swing. Mack came here to drink some beer and kick some ass...and it looks like he's almost out of beer. Watch. out. world. He's standing and cruising every now and then. He enjoys walking with his walker, but prefers crawling because it's the fastest way to turn his brother's world upside down. What are little brothers for, right? But, he's still uber lovable, kissable and so, so ticklish...just don't piss him off. Mack is independent, but still wants you to be right there...you know... should he need you for anything. It's been 10 months and it's flown by----You've come a long way, baby.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My significant other has been out of town this week for work and so, me and the boys have been out enjoying what the city has to offer. I try and do something everyday with them, so this way they're not totally bored with me and I get a little break...you know like they are actually busy doing something else and not so much like this cartoon (which is the norm).

The whole traveling thing doesn't freak me out anymore...well, as long as you don't count the mental anguish of your loved one and the father of your children physically traveling ...you know the "what ifs". I definitely don't prefer it, but I don't run around stressing out about it as much. The kids and I jump into our routine as usual. The only thing that sucks is the part of the day when Kale usually hears the garage door open and jumps up and down and yells "It's Daaaaddy, It's Daaaaddy, It's Daaaaddy"...and in the mornings when Kale clumsily walks in to our bedroom straight to his Dad's side of the bed (which he does every morning) holding Teddy and Mr. Cheese, then asks me "where's Daddy?" when I lean over. I tell him he's at work and then I heave him into the bed, lay him in his Dad's spot, pull the covers over him and back to sleep he goes.

And, then there's the evenings after the kids have gone to bed. We both come out to the living room and quietly finish picking up the toys and putting everything in its' home. We sit and listen to the evening set in, it's as if the house as a whole takes a deep breath. We relax and talk and laugh. We stay up as late as possible...together...just us. When KD is away, there's a lot to miss. And the three of us are a little different when he's not here. We're fully functional, keeping our attentions diverted, counting down the days, waiting for him to open the garage door...so we can all jump up and down.

Kale 101

Kale is 2 years and 9.5 months. If you know Kale, you know he is cah-razy. Justin doesn't call it ADD, he calls it KAD, (Kale's initials) because it's just who he is. His mind goes 100 miles per hour and his body tries to keep up. He's got lots to say, but doesn't know how to say it just yet...so you'll hear several words you recognize sprinkled within gibberish.

Kale makes us laugh all the time. I would tell Keith "omg, this guy is going to crack us up, he's that crazy" and that was before he could crawl. And we do. We laugh our asses off all the time with this kid. Kale's been telling everyone and everything time-out lately. Kitty scratches him "time-out Kitty!" he says. Mack knocks over all of his cooking stuff "noooo Mack, time-out Mack!". I tell him "Kale, it's time to take a nap"..."okay, okay, okay, no, Mommy time-out". This morning while Keith and I had coffee, Kale comes up to us and says his pee-pee hurts. We assume someone just needs to readjust. But, before we can react...he says while looking down at his diaper "pee-pee time-out!". Everyone is equal in his book and therefore can be punished. So, go to your corner pee-pee.

I love Fridays!

We can't take pictures of Mack without him blinking with anticipation of the flash. It's too bright, dammit! I almost pee my pants everytime. And, of course, I can't stop taking pictures of him like these.

What's not to love? It's Friday, it's jeans day! Sarah and I used to declare that to each other every Thursday/Friday when we were workin' women. Even if it wasn't jeans day. Our then boss, Terry (a character to say the least), in which Sarah and I probably gave several gray hairs to, would inform us that on this certain Friday, jeans were prohibited because we'd be having an important visitor (a University big shot or someone from Corporate)...and we'd need to look professional. Boo. But, just to piss him off, we'd run around the office yelling "It's Friiiiiidaaaay, it's jeeeeeans day". He would remind us that "no, it was not jeans day". For godsakes man, we get it. We tortured that poor man.

I totally got most of my laundry done today. yea buddy. No, it's not put away yet, but get off my back! And, I e-filed our taxes. yea buddy. I cooked dinner and I'm about 8 pages away from finishing my book. yea buddy. The wine is in the fridge getting a little chill on it and my day is done. yuu-eahhh buddy. oh, and I'm listening to Jack Johnson's new cd...killer tunes man. Ah, the sweet sounds of JJ...and everything is right in the world.

If you're not sick of us yet...check us out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/3menandalady

Things I need to do...

1. Wash, fold and put away laundry (there are a multitude of piles invading our space)
2. Sweep and mop floors.
3. Clean bathrooms.
4. Clean litter pan.
5. Vacuum.
6. Quickly finish reading "The Road", which is overdue from the library.
7. Complete our income taxes.
But...today was a day to fly a kite...and he was pretty darn good at it.

"I want to be a part of it...New York, New York"

Dude, the Giants won. I'm sure you saw it. It was awesome. I admit, going into it I was rooting for the Patriots, because...seriously...18-0, that is unbelievable and they deserved to go all the way. But, I've also been partial to the Manning brothers, because, well, they're class acts and hello...they're brothers! So, I was flip-flopping throughout the game. My emotions were all over the place. Happy both ways. It couldn't get any better. I was loving it. The Patriots score a touchdown in the last minutes of the game. A few minutes before that when Brady couldn't make anything happen in Giants territory I was: "uh, looks like someones little girlfriend needs to stay at home". Then they scored and I was: "yeah baby, oh yeah, nice job!!!" The Giants get the ball back with 50 something seconds to make it or break it. I was: "alright, here we are, we can do this!". They show Peyton Manning up there cheering his brother on. I can see Kale and that's Mack down there on the field. I was: "C'mon Eli, you can do this, do it for your big bro!" Eli gets out of a hold and eventually throws it in for a touchdown, winning the game and ending the Patriots streak. I was jumping and screaming. "YES YES YES...THAT'S FREAKIN' AWESOME" Those were my boys, too. Brothers rule.

A Bug's Life

Well, I've managed to make my eldest terrified of bugs. I didn't do it on purpose! I'm just scared of bugs and I can't hide it well...okay...at all. Where it all started, who knows. There's been so many instances of me nearly crapping my pants when bugs are involved and Kale has unfortunately been witness to these such things. It could've began in the womb. Example-I was full on 7 months pregnant with Kale, talking to a neighbor in the front yard. Grasshopper appears. (HATE GRASSHOPPERS, no discrimination on size) Heart pounds and almost bursts. I leap over the huge flower pot and flower bed I'm standing near. Neighbor says "Wow, I've never seen a pregnant woman jump so high".


Another example- Walking hand and hand with Kale in the park towards a table to eat watermelon in the summer. Wasp appears and makes several attempts on my life. I scream like I'm being chased by Freddy Krueger, let go of Kale's hand, dropping the watermelon (and knife) and screaming like a wild banshee in the middle of the field. I look back and Kale is running after me crying, so scared. I felt so ridiculous.

Oh, I like to take Kale to see the butterfly exhibit at the museum. Butterflies, okay, bu-tt-er-fl-ies. Harmless? Right? I'm fine for a little bit. I'm all "oooohhh, look at that butterfly Kale. Look at this one...isn't that pretty?". And then, aaarggghhhh, I'm scared and I'm the idiot flailing my arms, trying to kill the damn things with my museum map.

And I wonder where this fear is coming from?

Anyway, we went to Victoria for lunch and to visit my Grandfather today because it is his birthday. Kale and Nathan played soccer, had so much fun with sidewalk chalk, then Keith and Justin took them on a bug scavenger hunt. We also bought "A Bug's Life" Disney movie for him to watch on the way up there. We had to turn it off and give him a book to read. He was almost in tears when the grasshoppers appeared. How dare you put in a Disney movie with your child strapped into his carseat and no where to turn!!!!!!!!!! And we call ourselves loving parents. Hence post.

Kale wouldn't touch a bug. Wouldn't let Keith or Justin even get really close to show him a bug. Only with a stick (which he pronounces "dick" ) Can you imagine "where's my dick" a gazillion times. Oh yeah, it's worth it. My poor baby. I'm going to work on it buddy. I promise to be a little better around bugs. A little less terrified and more inquisitive. I can't make any promises about roaches, though.