The One Sponsored By The Letter "P"

Some recent items filed under the letter "P".....

Picnic--- We attended the picnic event for the agency we hate. Himself and I both felt that it would be good for the Eggroll. That, and we were curious about the whole event anyway. The verdict? Something between plain and pitiful. Since there was no actual fee, I didn't feel all that bad, but I will say that I donated the same amount to this years block party and we certainly ate better and had more fun. I understand that they use it as a fundraiser, but really, folks are more apt to dig in their pockets if they're distracted and/or drunk.....I'm just saying....

Politeness---Two encounters at the aforementioned event really pissed me off. The first was the encounter with the resident Looneytune of my travel group. Once again she found it absolutely necessary to NOT ADDRESS ME AT ALL. For heaven's sake Looney, were you raised by wolves? One of the first things evolved people are taught and teach their children is to be kind and polite to EVERYONE. It's a shame that your hubby's such a nice guy...it keeps me from calling your ignorance out on the spot....because...that wouldn't be POLITE. I was however, pleased to see that your daughter had shoes on. Oh yeah, if you cannot be polite, please stay the hell away from my Eggroll. I'm at a loss as to how to explain to a child why the crazy lady keeps taking her picture while not speaking to her mother at all.....oh yeah, and that slip about me being in the shot WITH MY OWN KID?? I heard you.. and there's currently no way I can explain that ignorance.
The next encounter involved a lady who brought home a toddler in March. Her daughter is talking up a storm, the Eggroll mimics whatever you say, but she does not initiate...at all....even when in obvious distress. So I asked, "did you encounter this with your daughter?" The Eggroll is a puzzle to the professionals and I was curious to see if anyone else might have encountered this particular behavior. Blonde snotty lady informed me that it was a behavior learned in the orphanage since they were neglected anyway. I replied that Himself and I believed that the Eggroll experienced exactly the opposite. Since the orphanage that Eggroll came from was very small, we feel that she wasn't neglected, she never had to ask for a thing. Blonde snotty lady informed me that while it was nice to think that, I was certainly wrong, all orphanages neglect their children. Ummm, Snotty Lady.... I didn't ask for your opinion on all orphanages....and.... my kid is the very first child to be adopted from her province by our agency....sure you want to do the condescending ass thing? You very well could be right, but you very well could be wrong...it is condisidered POLITE to acknowledge that....

Politics---- Currently both my eyes and my ears are hemorraghing from the current campaign bullshit.

Projects--- Yes, I'm overrun by projects. I hate the spring and the fall for this very reason. Something about living in the Midwest... the to do list get exponentially longer twice a year.

Pictures--- the best part of the post...can't be posted until I "anonomize" them....

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The One Where I Toss P.C. Aside (again)

Well, then, here we are, together again. And yes, I'm still composing the China posts, but today I thought I'd chat about the latest adventures in the House of Nyt. It's been several weeks of the krazee around here, but we've managed to have a little bit of fun as well.


First off, Himself's other eye turned out to be defective. We discovered this while at a consultation on repairing the first defective eye that was repaired (sort of correctly) in March. Three doctors, two hospitals, and roughly eight hours later we had a fourth doctor and an appointment for the next day. Ever try to amuse a 2 and 1/2 year old with nothing more than a dress-up monkey and a pair of shiny shoes? Yeah, I rock. Actually, the Eggroll rocks, she really sailed through that day with nary a problem. Over the next 7 days, we travelled to the doc's office 5 times, for gas bubbles and check-ups. We survived the worst of it (himself is a LOUSY patient) and hopefully this coming Monday will be the last of the appointments for a while.

Now for one of the politically incorrect portions of the program. Why the hell are all the good doctors in areas of this city where the poorest folks are? Can someone please explain to me why I must ( yes, must) travel a minimum of 30 miles one way to see a teaching doctor in any specialty? Why are there no quality doctors here? We live in a middle to upper class suburb, we pay exorbitant taxes, and yet our community hospital is good for nothing more than stitches. And why are all the liberal blow hards whining about health care? I walked the halls of these hospitals, I sat it waiting rooms, and I can pretty much guarantee that we were the only folks there who weren't on Medicare or Medicaid. What gives? And why are so many doctors saying they can't make any money?? Hello!! Life is simple fellas, go where the money is.....

More incorrectness....the Eggroll is fascinated with people of color. I can't fault her for it, she's probably never seen them before she came to this country. She's only been here a couple of months folks.... Anywhooo... standing outside one of the jillion hospitals I visited, I struck up a conversation with an older lady who had a small child with her. The Eggroll kept poking at the small child, and I couldn't figure out why. Then, the following week at pre-school (she's enrolled in a pretty diverse place), she tried to wash the black off the teacher. Now, actually, to me, that's pretty damn funny. She's tried to wash the scar off my hand innumerable times. However, other folks don't find it so funny and I'm stuck explaining that she's only been here several months and has never really seen people of color before. It annoys me that people just can't take any action for what it is. It must mean something else. Or that everything must be explained... Like the lady we walked past who Eggroll was staring at, and the woman felt it necessary not to say hello, but to announce to my 2 and 1/2 year old "I'm African American" literally, no greeting, nothing. Seriously? And what's with that anyway.... is it a nationality, is it a race, what?? Is everyone of color African American, or are they Kenyan African American? or Ghanaian African American? What's up with that?? Why does it matter? I don't saunter up to every person who's different from me and announce that I'm Nyt and I'm Caucasian Irish American and this is my husband Himself, who is Caucasian German American, and this is our Eggroll whose Asian Chinese American......although, maybe I should....

We did manage to have a lovely day at the zoo during all this hoopla. You've just got to love the zoo in the middle of the week. Not crowded at all..

I love a good merry-go round. I'm glad she does too.....Props to Himself for making this shot work. He never uses my camera and of course, he's rocking the busted eye. I told him to hold the camera up and hold the button down. LOL! And wouldn't you know, he got a shot worth keeping....


Butterflies with Himself.

And then, there was the Sandwich Fair. The last fair of the season. We really had a good time. I'm not a big "country" girl...something about nature getting all over my shoes, but it really is fun to see all the tractors and animals. The Eggroll had a blast as well. I was so excited that she decided that the backpack was a good thing. (we toted that damn thing all over China and she HATED it) She hung out in it whenever there wasn't something that she wanted to see, it really is sooooo much easier in crowds. Himself wore it for a while and then it was my turn for the rest of the night. It didn't feel like much when I was wearing it but OMG! the next day my legs hurt, my abs hurt.. I must be in really bad shape, I have purses heavier than that. I guess because it forces you to stand aligned... you get a bit more exercise than what you think...
One thing I did notice, traipsing around in the wilds of farm town. People have some pretty strong feelings about blended families. And often times, it's written all over their faces. Some were happy, but there were some that had disapproval written all over them. No one said anything, as X and I (we went with our friends X and Y) were walking one particular path, I asked her.... do you feel it... she did... That's precisely when the Eggroll threw her hands up in the air and yelled "Ta Daa". It really doesn't get any better than that.....


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The One Where I Bang the Political Drum

It happens every election season. The vein above my right eye begins to pulse, my hands get sweaty, my brow furrows and I find myself counting to ten before speaking quite often. It's not the necessarily the candidates that do it to me, it's not even the media (although, I confess I have come close to denting the LCD).
It's the people.... the regular, ordinary people that bring on the stroke symptoms. All one of then has to do is open their mouth and I can feel my eye twitch and my ears begin to bleed.....

This election season is not different. Once again, I'm not on the "side of the angels" and Oprah has not endorsed my candidate. (seriously?!? Oprah!?!)

The common intellect of American society blows me away every time. So, I going to be my usual incorrect self and just lay it out there......

On the issues;
Iraq--- No one really wants to be in Iraq, but so many people refuse to educate themselves on the geo-political consequences of not being there. The Middle East is still (and probably always will be) the hot-spot of the world. Simply put, do we really want to leave it unattended? Just how much are we willing to pay for a gallon of gas?
Terrorism--- Let's face it, whether you agree or disagree with what Bush has done, the fact remains that there have been no more attacks on American soil. That being said, should there be another attack, do you really want someone who'll just negotiate? I don't.
Energy--- There is no question that we as a nation need alternative sources of energy. That being said, we must acknowledge that our energy needs and desires are a mult-level problem. No matter what form of energy we choose to use, we have to be willing to develop it, build it, and use it. That means uncomfortable people. We're going to have to give up the idea of "not in my backyard". We're going to have to accept that energy is going to cost us more before it costs us less. We're going to have to accept the fact that it's going to require some governmental interference to get it done. No matter what our choice, it's going to affect us in our own homes and in our everyday lives, we'd better be prepared for the cost to come.
Enviroment--- Once again, it costs to save the enviroment, and we have to be prepared to pay the price. That means everyone. Fining and taxing corporations raises some money, but ultimately, the end user must also pay the price. I think people are overlooking that in their zeal to condem the current policies. We must also be prepared to sacrifice convienience in our own homes. Anyone out there know what percentage of our everyday products impact the enviroment? We know it takes forever for a plastic water bottle to degrade, but do we really know how much of our enviroment is impacted to make that bottle? Or your shampoo bottle, or the bottle for your dish soap.....etc. etc. etc.....
Health Care--- Everyone's favorite whipping post. It would be wonderful to have health care for every American. It's not possible without moving towards or directly into socialized medicine. And again, someone has to pay for it. And again, that someone is the regular guy on the street. It flat out means more money out of everyone's pocket....
Housing--- The housing crisis is an individual-created crisis. That means that there is an entire section of this country who bought homes that they couldn't afford based on the idea that we are ENTITLED to own a home in this country. Predatory loans, are a product, and only exist because there's a moron out there that's willing to purchase it. Now, the government (who just bailed out Fannie and Freddie) will be asking you to pay for it, and me, and your kid, and my kid..... Seriously, how much are you willing to pay for your neighbors stupidity??

So here's where I am. I support the McCain/Palin ticket. And I don't agree with all of their positions. But, when I sort through the chaff, the grain works for me. I want a team with political experience. I want a team that has been dedicated to public service, not just politics. I want a team that's willing to cross the aisle to get things done, and I want a team that is unafraid to make the "unpopular" decision. Actually, I want a team that will MAKE a decision, not just talk about it.

Change is always uncomfortable folks...just how uncomfortable are you willing to be??

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The One Where We Talk About Boobs and Boors

So Sarah Palin wowed them last night at the GOP convention. If I had any questions before, I don't have any now. I'm good with it. Now let's not make any mistakes here, I'm not totally supportive of her platform. I'm not pro-life, and I'm a spiritual person rather than a religious one. But I'm in.....

From my seat, I don't care if she was chosen because she's female. And I don't believe that her gender is the only reason she was chosen. I think in the whole process of vetting and scoring potential candidates she got a few extra points for having boobs. On the Dems side, I find it very hard to believe that Barack didn't get a few extra points for being an African American. We'd be extraordinarily foolish to believe otherwise. The question is, do we take offense? I don't. Life is a plus/minus and people would do well to get right with that. After last night's speech, it's hard to believe that there was any other potential nominee that would have made the kind of connection that this woman did. Score one for the boobs!

Now for the boors. Since the announcement of Palin as McCain's running mate, the press and the interwebz has been buzzing with her personal and family life. Is that perhaps because they have very little to attack her for professionally? Today, rather than address the points that she made, the Obama camp declared it more Bush rhetoric. Mmm-hmm.. I didn't here a single reference to Dubya, did you?

Much has been made about her "lack of experience". Point for point, she actually has more government experience than Barack. Hell, she has more experience than Hillary. I won't say that she's more savvy than Biden, I'll reserve that call for after the debates (and a bit more research on Biden) but I think it'll be a close call.