BadAngel

Such A Sick Feeling!!

Watched the debates. I almost couldn't tolerate it. Looking at and listening to George Bush has become just about unbearable to me. He is ruining the nation and the world. The security of our world, the world my children are growing up in, is at serious risk if this man is allowed to stay in power. It sickens me. I never thought I could feel so much fear and dread and disgust in my heart.

I stay the course. I don't change my position. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...... IF YOUR CHOICES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE INCORRECT AND HARMFUL, YOU RE-EVALUATE AND CHANGE!!! IT TAKES A STRONG PERSON TO ADMIT MISTAKES AND MAKE CHANGES TO CORRECT THINGS. THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS DEAD FOR NOTHING! THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONALITIES KILLED BECAUSE THIS WORLD HAS BECOME EVEN MORE UNSAFE SINCE 9/11/01. I never thought I could feel as much anger and fear and emptiness in my soul as I did the morning of 9/11/01, but I feel it even moreso today, because of the things the Bush administration has done. Our world would be safer with a monkey as president than George Bush.

I'm literally sick!! I am sad and worried for my kids and all the kids of today's world. My heart and soul are filled with sorrow. I am beyond hate for Bush and Company. I've passed that stage and am in deep mourning. That is how I can best describe it.

Let me say first, before I write this, that I am NOT a person who feels no one should be allowed to own any gun. But what the hell do we need with assault weapons?!? Insanity!!!

Here's the full text of the comments Kerry made after receiving the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers:

Thank you. It's great to be here at the Thurgood Marshall Center. For so many years, this is a place that has given our children the gift of hope. And today, I am proud to stand with the heroes who risk their lives every day so that our children can live that hope on safe streets in protected communities.

I want to thank the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers for their endorsement today. These organizations, along with International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the International Union of Police Associations, and police officers all across the country are standing with me in this campaign because they know we need to set a new direction for America. And like me, they're tired of a President who takes cops off the streets with one hand while he puts AK-47s back on with the other.

Ten years ago today, with the leadership of Sarah Brady and police officers all across the country, we passed a tough crime bill to protect America. We made sure that criminals couldn't get their hands on assault weapons. And I'm proud I led the fight to put 100,000 cops into our nation's communities where they could make an impact and stop crimes before they happen. And it worked. We saw record drops in violent crime all over America, including gang violence and school-related murders. We saw assault weapon-related crimes drop 65%. Criminals were on the run and communities were able to live in peace because of the tireless work of brave officers.

But then George Bush became President. And when his powerful and well-connected friends asked for a massive tax cut he said "sure," and he paid for it by gutting the COPS program, slashing gang prevention, and cutting enforcement programs that keep drugs like meth off the streets.

Sure enough, over the last four years, crime has made a comeback: 800 more murders a year. Gang-related deaths up 40%. And more school murders last year than even the year of the Columbine shootings.

So when it came time to decide whether to keep the ban on assault weapons, the evidence was staring George Bush in the face: crime on the rise. More criminals looking for more dangerous weapons. Al-Qaeda telling terrorists to get their assault weapons in America. Police officers begging the President to keep the ban so they don't walk into a drug bust staring down the barrel of an Uzi.

George Bush gave them his word that he would keep the ban. But when it came time to extend it and George Bush's powerful friends in the gun lobby asked him to look the other way, he just couldn't resist, and he said "sure." And so tomorrow, for the first time in ten years, when a killer walks into a gun shop and wants to purchase an AK-47, he's gonna hear one word: "sure."

Today, George Bush chose to make the job of terrorists easier and make the job of America's police officers harder. That's wrong. Let me be very clear. I support the second amendment. I've been a hunter all my life. But I don't think we need to make the job of the terrorists any easier.

I'm a former prosecutor who knows what it takes to fight crime. After I returned from Vietnam, I worked in the DA's office in Massachusetts. We put murderers and mob bosses behind bars for life. As President, I will continue to fight crime and stand with police officers in doing whatever it takes to protect our communities and keep our families safe.

Our plan for a safer America puts more police officers back on the beat by restoring every last dime of funding to the COPS program. We'll also put 5,000 new prosecutors in our communities to help our police officers fight crime and put criminals behind bars.

We'll take on gang violence with a zero-tolerance policy and a message to our young people that there is another path. And we'll help local law enforcement shut down the methamphetamine labs that are taking the lives of our children and we'll make it harder to buy the drug in the first place.

Finally, we will always keep ban that keeps dangerous, military-style assault weapons out of the hands of killers and terrorists.

George Bush made a choice today. He chose his powerful friends in the gun lobby over the police officers and the families he promised to protect. The President made the wrong choice. When I am President, we will set America in a new direction with a plan to fight crime and keep our communities safer.

9 Year Olds and Politics

Dylan and I had our first meaningful political conversation this evening. He was flipping the channels in the living room while I was nearby in the kitchen cooking dinner (Charles was at band practice and Alyssa was in the back room). He came to MTV, which he sometimes tries to sneak at watching things I deem inappropriate for his age, like Real World or many of the videos. This time there was an interviewer asking questions of John Kerry. I waited for Dylan to change the station, but he listened intently for 15 minutes. Afterward, he asked me about John Kerry and about the war in Iraq, since Kerry had been asked about his goals for reducing our presence in Iraq and doing more nation-building to get other countries involved in the process. Dylan said he didn't understand a lot of it, but wanted to know why there was a war in Iraq, why we had soldiers dying there, who sent them there, what a president does, is the President our ruler, why we have weapons of mass destruction here but get mad at other countries for having them (his words, not mine - but hey, nice question, kid!), do I think President Bush lied to us and other countries so that he could send soldiers and be in a war with Iraq, what are laws, who makes them, how do you vote, how often can you vote, who is in charge, and on and on. I tried to point out to him whenever I was giving my OPINION and told him that I read lots of things and stay informed before I develop my opinions. I also told him other people can and do have different opinions than I have, and that's okay, that's the beauty of our country. We have the freedom to have opinions. We have the freedom to make choices and vote. I told him if there's anything I encourage most in him it is to be informed and to take a stand on things he feels strongly about once he understand them, but to always respect that other people are allowed their opinions too. I told him he does not even have to agree with me, as long as he learns about the things he is taking a position on and knows why he holds those opinions and why he is voting for someone when he is old enough to vote. I was SO IMPRESSED with my son. He just turned 9 yesterday. Somedays he is a confused, selfish boy who doesn't care about anything in the world except what's cool to wear to school. Then he amazes me with his insightfulness and intelligence and way of looking at the world and trying to understand complex things. I love watching him develop into a "person" and I can't wait to see who he becomes. Tonight was a great parenting moment, one that I'll remember forever.

This Is Education Reform??

Today and tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives is considering the education funding bill for Fiscal Year 2005 and a vote on the bill is expected tomorrow (Thursday). This bill falls far short of providing the necessary funds to implement the reforms under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Under this bill, NCLB will be funded at $9.5 billion less than was authorized for this year and IDEA will receive $2.5 billion less than authorized. While the bill provides some increases, the total increase is the smallest increase for America’s students in nearly a decade. At the same time, the White House has proposed to cut education funding by $5 billion over the next five years. Congress must not allow this to occur.

Take Action

Call and/or email your U.S. Representative and urge them to support all amendments to this bill that will increase education funding. In addition, urge them to VOTE NO if amendments to increase education funding are rejected. You can be connected with your Representative by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Tell Congress that this budget has the wrong priorities for our nations’ children and families.

America’s students struggle under current funding levels:

* These cuts come at an especially inopportune time, as state education budgets continue to shrink and schools are struggling to provide quality services to increased numbers of disadvantaged students and students with special needs, while also being required to implement accountability and testing mandated under NCLB and IDEA.
* America’s 4.6 million low-income students remain inadequately equipped to meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act. This coming year, over half of the nation’s school districts will receive less Title I funding than they did last year while the federal government is demanding more of them.
* America’s 6.9 million students with disabilities across the nation are receiving less than half of the federal funding for special education promised to states and local governments when the law was passed .

America’s Students will struggle if funding is not increased beyond what is included in the House bill. The House bill would:

* Eliminate over 20 vital proven education programs including dropout prevention, state grants for innovative education, parental assistance centers, , arts in education, and community technology centers.
* Cut vital support services necessary for student success such as comprehensive school reform, educational technology state grants, and smaller learning communities.
* Level fund many essential support services for students such as elementary and secondary school counseling, magnet schools, school libraries, and after school learning centers.

Remind your Representative that:

* A December 2002 National PTA poll of citizens who voted in the 2002 mid-term elections found that 61 percent of American citizens feel federal spending for education must be increased to fulfill the commitments made in NCLB. Further, 74 percent felt the law would not be effective if Congress failed to provide the funding authorized in the law.
* 5 Cents Makes Sense: Increasing federal education funding from 2.7 cents to 5 cents would enable schools to provide universal preschool/early childhood education, recruit, hire, and train new, quality teachers to reduce class size and serve 2.4 million low income students with Title I services.

The Horror

The Russian hostage situation at the school: what a HORRIBLE atrocity. Could something like that hapen here in the U.S? Having 2 children in school and helping schools being one of my biggest passions in life, I wish I could say, "Definitely not. That could never happen here." Unfortunately, I must admit I believe it can. Recently Russian citizens have been the target of many attacks. Almost all of these attacks are the direct result of Russian policy in Chechyna, of policies the Russian government has influcted on Muslims in that region. Just as Al Queda called for jihad on America due to its governments policies over the years - i.e. the American governments invading Middle Eastern countries, trying to get rid of all things Muslim, propping up puppet regimes that committ horrible atrocities against Muslims, so Al Queda and other such groups have called for jihad against Russia. When is any government going to realize that Al Queda provides compelling reasons to Muslims to go to war against the U.S., Russia, and other nations simply by using our government's actions and words to incite people who believe it is their duty to go to jihad or suffer eternal damnation? Governments really need to begin to examine what they are doing that causes such hatred and such a wanting and needing to punish what they call the "infidels". Citizens need to demand their governments halt treating Muslims so harshly, that their governments stay out of Muslim affairs.

That being said, no, this writing is NOT in support of groups perpetrating violence on others. In their eyes, they are only doing to us what we have done to them for decades. Instead of vowing to track down and destroy the people responsible for the travesties at the Russian school, Russian leaders need to examine their policies, LEARN about the attackers, and change their policies so these things do not happen anymore. Before more innocent children are killed. The U.S. leaders need to do the same, before we have to deal with a horror worse than 9.11.01, one I'm sure Al Queda is capable of, even moreso since Bush and Company have given their cause more relevance and have caused more recruits to believe in and follow Bin Laden. After 9.11.01 the U.S. had the sympathy of much of the world. Today we do not, and it is BECAUSE of the policies of Bush and Company. They have made America and the world MORE dangerous, and will continue to endanger the world's citizens with their insane, imperialistic policies. We need a new President. I cried as I watched the Russian hostage situation unfold, and it made me more convinced that the United States needs to get rid of Bush and his entire administration and take a look at the world from fresh eyes if we want to avoid having something even more horrible happen here.

Schools In Session...Almost

Busy, busy times in the life of Keena.

Kids go back to school Monday. Yes! I labeled their items today (purchased a month ago) and their bookbags are loaded and ready at the bottom of the stairs near the front door. Alyssa is very happy to be going into 2nd grade, though two of her "bestest" friends have different teachers than her, but one of her other "bestest" friends is in her class. Dylan - he is quite the opposite. He is very anxious and unexcited about 4th grade. He has a lot of buddies in his class, but he doesn't want to do all the work 4th grade will involve. He has to learn long division, adding and subtracting fractions, writing book reports, the history of Maryland, about the culture of Japan, about communicable diseases and keeping healthy. Oh, the tortures of being an almost 9 year old. Why can't he just stay home and ride bikes and skateboard all the time?

I've been busy with the other PTA board members planning the school year. I've been arranging sponsors and donors for our January Basket Bingo - you must start early or all the good sponsors get taken. I could start an event planning business with all the contacts I now have. I've also been writing and re-writing letters to send to parents to get them to join PTA and to actively participate. Three people (our board) cannot possibly accomplish all the goals we've made on our own. So my wording has to be exceptional. Then I've got to make copies Monday once I drop the kids at school. And attach labels to envelopes, and staple envelopes to letters. Oh, and I've written and re-written my letter to teachers. To let them know our plans. To get them to join and participate. To let them know areas we need them to volunteer time. Plus I've been arranging school family nights at local restaurants - we'll get 15% of the profits. Oh yeah, I've had to work too. Things will slow down in a week or so. There are always these cycles. Busy, then not. Busy, then not.

Dylan had 3 teeth pulled Friday morning. I had to calm him down and hold his hand through the process. The needles to numb his mouth scared him most - he got 5 of them. He's been sore and sleepy ever since, the least active I've seen Dylan since he was a baby. Never mind that. He was active even in the womb, kicking and punching even before birth. I hope he's feeling better for school Monday.

Watched Hidalgo last night. Can I just say one word - BORING!!! Charles liked it. I said yuck, yuck, yuck. I loved 'Osama'. Well, I can't really say LOVED. It was very enlightening. Very disturbing. Very unsettling. Very thought-provoking. Charles found it BORING. We watched 'Honey' earlier today. Okay. Nothing amazing. But I'm testing out all sorts of movies - what the hell, I pay the monthly fee and get as many as I want.

I must also say I am SO ANGRY that Will, my favorite Big Brother player, the one I thought FOR SURE would win, was kicked out last week. That back-stabbing Adria. Well, Natalie (the evil twin!) got hers this week - she got the boot. Too bad Will now has to put up with her in the beautiful house where he's now sequestered. I like his comment about having a dirty, hard brick pavement where the evil twins can sleep. And what the hell is with Adria? Her comment about not knowing what "karma" is was just so amusing. Huh? Carmen Electra?

Also, boo-hoo, Charla and Myrna are gone from Amazing Race. I want Colin gone. How rude is he!!?!! And he treats his girlfriend like shit. She apologizes to him - NO WAY!! There would be none of that for me. He'd be gone, gone, gone if he treated me like that. He is so crude and rude and angry with everyone. Can you say Prozac? And maybe some Lithium and Depakote?

Season premieres are coming soon! I'm so excited! I love my shows. And now that Tivo has gone down in price, I must say, I want it for Christmas. Or my birthday. Either occassion is fine. I need it for when Alias begins in January. This videotaping shows is NOT for me.

I'm generally a much busier person near the end of the summer and once school starts (here it is Mon, Aug. 30). That's why I haven't written as much or as often. I have to leave in about 45 minutes to take Dylan to have 3 baby teeth pulled. Ouch! They are so rotten it is down to the root, there is an infection in the gum, and the dentist fears they will hurt the adult teeth if they aren't pulled. Dylan is very scared, but I'm hoping we get through it without too many tears or hysterics. He has a tendency to get very anxious and nervous about things. He can ride bikes and skateboards like a daredevil, but getting needles in his mouth to numb it - that scares the hell out of him. Poor guy! I don't know if it will help or hurt him to have me with him. I have little tolerance for fear of things like dentist, doctors, tests, needles, etc. I guess because I've been subjected to every medical test known to mankind. Not really, but close. Still, I have to remind myself he's only a frightened child, despite the bravado he displays in front of friends.

We went to Kings Dominion this past weekend. Stayed overnight at Knights Inn Saturday. Had tickets where we could go to the park Saturday 5-10pm, then all day Sunday. Took advantage of it and had a great time. Both kids were finally tall enough to ride almost every ride, except for the 2 largest roller coasters. Alyssa was terrified, especially when we did the drop from the Drop Tower (a free fall), but she was a brave soul, faced her fears, and rode most rides. The one she hated afterward was the Reble Yell, of all things. That coaster is so old - I got on it when I was her age. It is one of the tamest coasters there. But she bit her lip while riding, and that was the end of that ride for her. She said she is NOT getting back on that one again. She loves the high flying rides that spin you harder than a dryer spins clothes. I had to get on all those types with her, as Charles and Dylan get dizzy from them. At the end of each day, Alyssa thanked me for teaching her to try the rides, even when she was afraid. She was so happy with herself for having done it.

School starts Monday. HOOORAY!!! Supplies are bought and we are ready to go. Alyssa has been wanting to go back for a month. Dylan still doesn't want to go back. He enjoys his playtime too much!

So much I could have talked about over the past week... swift boat ads, prisoner abuse follow-ups, economic woes of the country, Big Brother 5's Will (my favorite player) getting evicted last week, Charla and Myrna (my favorite team) being eliminated from The Amazing Race, watchng the movie 'Osama' (you MUST see this!), going to my first Basket Bingo and not winning anything, organizing events for PTA, the new shows coming on this fall, the Olympic men's gymanstics medal controversy, the fighting in Iraq, the crash of the 2 Russian planes. So many topics, so little time. And it will only get worse since my other job is added once the school year starts - I substitute teach also. Plus, the kids birthdays are coming soon, and there's planning to be done for them.

So, until next time, adios.......................

Insomnia, Jeopardy, Trading Spouses, Olympics, and Plumbing

Tonight I'm going to do an exercise from middle and high school. You know, the one where you write and write about whatever comes to mind for a certain amount of time or space to come up with ideas for writing. Well, this isn't to come up with ideas - it's more to get the damn ideas out of my freakin' head so I can go to sleep. Insomnia sucks ass! Anyone have any cures (besides medication - I'm trying to limit my meds to just those that are necessary - like when I was dying in pain from my migraine the other day - seems to me as though sleeping pills will just make me rely on them to sleep anytime)?

My brother Brad is trying out for Jeopardy. He has an invite for the San Francisco Contestant Search Sept. 11th. I wish him great luck! Maybe he can become the next Jeopardy winner to go on for months. I hope the subjects are music, gay culture, designing, furniture, and clothing brand names. If so, he will do well.

Charles and I want to nominate our family for Trading Spouses. I really want some woman to come here and be mommy for a week to my kids and try to do the activities we do here. She'd have NO problem with Charles - he is easy-going and would probably appreciate anyone here who is easier to live with than me - I think that'd be a pretty easy person to find. I am a bit moody and difficult to comprehend at times. Hah, but let the woman try to find effective strategies for parenting Dylan and Alyssa. I love my kids dearly, but I know a mom not used to them and their temperaments would go crazy. She'd be crying to go home. Plus, I really want $50,000. I know the other mom would decide how we spent it, but Charles would know just how to plant the ideas in her head so she knew what to let us spend the money on. Just don't send me to a staunch Republican household or a household where the guy is into someone like Rush Limbaugh or obssesses about sports. Then I may have to hurt some people. You'd see crazy lady on the tv screen. It would make for good tv, though I might get sued. LOL

I didn't think I'd watch the Olympics. I hate how we're supposed to root for the USA to win everything. Other Olympians have interesting stories and spend years of their life devoted to preparing for the Olympics too. They deserve praise and cheers as well. Although I didn't think I'd watch, I've actually watched quite a few events. Gymnastics has always interested me - I can remember the 1984 games the most- maybe because they were in LA and boycotted by several countries. Hey, I bet if this year's Olympics were being held here in the US, there'd be some boycotts from other countries. Anyway, I loved watching the Japanese men's gymnastics team win gold tonight, and the US team win silver. The contest was tight and the performances were amazing to watch. The Japanese were amazing on the high bar. I've also watched the women's quailification rounds and several swimming events. Charles was up last night, unable to sleep due to a belly ache (poor guy), so he watched water polo at 3 am. That doesn't sound like a fun sport to play. Not at all. All that treading water. Yuck!

Oh, I saw this story on our local news station yesterday. A local reporter from Baltimore was over in Greece, making all sorts of freakish comments and joking about the Greek plumbing system. How the pipes are only about 2 inches wide, so people are not supposed to flush toilet paper in the toilets. There are trash cans with lids for that purpose. People who live in Greece are used to this - it is part of their culture. Their plumbing system is centuries old and toilet paper can cause terrible problems. Signs are posted everywhere to make athletes and visitors aware. This stupid reporter went so far as to laughingly report "violators" to Greek police and mock the way things are done. Does he not realize he is perpetuating the stereotype of the ignorant American who expects all cultures to be just like ours?! Idiot. If he was working for me, his ass would SO be fired!

Times up for my free thoughts. I bet you're glad. Until tomorrow.....

Losing My Brain, Going Insane, or Just a Bad Week??

Where has my brain gone this week? Was it the week from hell for others? You may be asking, "What the hell is she talking about now?" And, of course, I am going to tell you, whether or not you are asking that question.

The week began badly. I had a migrane from hell. I don't get them too often, though I've had several in recent weeks. I actually had to go to the dr. to have a shot (needle, not vodka) Thursday. The pain was THAT bad. The headache has been with me on and off all week long, though today I wouldn't call what I had a migraine, just what felt like the beginnings of one. Then I took an Imitrex, which seemed to stop it in its tracks. I'm glad of that - I didn't want anymore pain!!

Last week was also confusion in marriage week. Charles and I didn't seem to be on the same page about anything at anytime last week and we basically drove one another nuts. I pissed him off, he pissed me off. I didn't understand him, he didn't understand me. It's a new week, so hopefully the strain we both experienced does not continue. Today I found out that another woman and her husband got on one another's nerves last week too, and he said he didn't understand why she was mad, she didn't get why he was doing what he was doing, and so on and so forth. Arguments happened, feelings were hurt. I hope they are fine this week too.

Last week the dog drove us nuts also. He is whining about everything. He howls in the middle of the night. He won't go out when we want him to go out. He won't come in at night. He won't eat his dog food. He paces the house for hours each night for no discernable reason. He cries at the bottom of the stairs at 6:30 each morning. He barks at nothing in the middle of the night. Basically, I believe he is going insane, and he's leading us to the brink of insanity with him.

Dylan was quite well-behaved last week. He listened to most things we told him to do or not to do without questioning us. He didn't get in arguments with his friends twenty times a day. He was reasonable and respectful MOST of the week. These behaviors usually aren't ones I associate with Dylan. I'm not complaining, but it was quite out of the ordinary and mind-boggling.

I did a self-analysis last week. I think too much. My mind is constantly working. I am using more and more space in my brain. I know we humans don't use anywhere near the brain capacity we actually have, but I feel as though many times my brain can explode (or maybe implode) at any moment from absorbing too much, feeling too much, thinking too much. I missed doing 2 things I was supposed to do last week with PTA, and it was on my calendar. I was sick, so rescheduling or rearranging how things were to be done was necessary, but I completely FORGOT about 2 things and didn't even look at my calendar, which I usually rely on daily to know what I have to do, what the kids are doing, what Charles is doing, and what "deadline" is pending for some project. I'm usually not over-scheduled, but when juggling a variety of things, I need to have the calendar so things don't overlap and so I know what I'm doing when. My mind was gone. Can I blame it on the migraine? Or the medication? Or the stress of so many "weird" happenings last week? Or Friday the 13th?

At least this week began better. Saturday morning was a bit stressful, with another misunderstanding or miscommunication between Charles and I. But it got better when Dylan went to a birthday party for a friend from school in the afternoon. While he was there, Charles and I took Alyssa to see 'Princess Diaries 2: A Royal Engagement". I usually go alone with her to "girlie" movies, but she really wanted Daddy to come this time, so he did. She loves hanging out with Daddy. I don't care what the critics say - we liked the movie and Alyssa wants to own it when it comes to DVD. After the movie and picking up Dylan, we watched 13 Going On 30. Alyssa and I had already seen it, but this time Charles watched it with us. Dylan chose to watch a Tony Hawk skateboarding DVD in the back room. Now, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE 13 Going On 30. Nevermind that the 13 year old Jenna in the movie is 13 in 1987 and the music, clothes, and videos were popular in 1981 and 1982 (I should know - I was actually close to 13 at that time). The producer and director and writer were well aware of that - it just served their purpose in the movie. Suspend a little reality and you've got a funny movie, not your typical romantic comedy ending, plus my favorite ass-kicking super spy Syd from Alias, Jennifer Garner. Gotta get the soundtrack. So many "cool" 80's tunes.

Later, Dylan had a friend who was going to spend the night. There was an amusing little poopie situation surrounding that, which I won't go into, but then the kid left at 10:40 pm because he was a little "homesick" - he's only spent the night away from home once before. After dealing with the poopie and the "sickness", we put the kids to bed and we watched 'Cold Creek Manor". OhmiGod - such horrible editing. Choppy, choppy, choppy. And was I supposed to be scared? I never was. Bad story. Or bad directing. Or bad editing. Not sure which was the primary reason the movie was so tedious to watch.

Today, off to a good start. I woke at 10 am. With no headache. Very good start. We left at 11:45am to got to Kelly and Stacey's house for a soundcheck "party" the band is having. The women decided that we could not handle such a hobby as playing in a band - the set up of equipment, the sound checks, the wires here, there, and everywhere, was excrutiatingly long. We fixed food and drank spda and beer. We ate. Set up continued until 3:30pm. First song was played and sang at that time. Jim had to leave at 4 pm - he had a solo gig at a pub. But the rest of the guys, Charles, Rick, Kelly, and Tom, plowed forth. For hours. They finally stopped playing at 7pm and took some time to disassemble.

Kids had a fun day. Alyssa played inside in Stacey's back room many times through the day, setting up horse stables, having dolls ride pretend horse, acting out a dream world. Dylan was outside all day riding bikes around the property (its a wooded area with a lot of open play space). He swam. He explored the club house. He even rode a horse on his own - they have 4 horses. Alyssa also rode a pony for a few minutes. It was exciting for her, something scary she overcame her fear in order to do. She swam in the pool later in the day while a bunch of the women used plastic PVC pipes to shoot mini marshmallows at the band members at the end of the day.

Finally, we got home. Watched a bit of the Olympics with the kids - woman's gymnastics and men's swimming. They went to bed. Now we're off to bed. Nightie night. I'm already in la-la land.

Life As It Should Be