Saturday, September 27, 2008

turn on, tune in

Attending to our civic duty, the girls and I (widowed by the grape harvest) packed into the car last night and headed for the hills. Over the river and through the woods to a friend's house to tune in to the first Presidential Candidate debate.

We brought the radio into the kitchen, tuned it to NPR and gathered around as we cooked dinner and the kids played and picked teaser bites off the counter.

There was a disappointing lack of details and a few frustrating sound byte repetitions, but neither candidate got cornered or mired down, which was a refreshing change from all the attacks that have been flying around recently.

McCain highlighted his age when he kept talking about Ronald Reagan and the cold war, and Obama put in a good defensive jab when he reminded everyone about McCain's song about bombing Iran.

The reception got a little dicey at one point and Matt had to stand in a corner with the radio in his hand in the air like the Statue of Liberty.

The kids were great, the food was yummy, the drinks were plentiful and we were feeling proud to be Americans, which is a break from the norm. Not the kids part, the Americans part.

I can't wait until the next one, I think we've come up with a good tradition.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

mmm hmmm.

Such a negligent blogger! I've gone and bored the two of you who read this. Sorry.

Not that nothing's been going on. The opposite, really. My husband has a new job. My daughter had her first day of her second year of school, a day that passed with very little fanfare compared to last year. A king snake slithered into my front door one night. Our rooster learned how to crow. Every day my littlest girl says something new. Today it was "I'm alright, mama" after she got through a little coughing jag.

The thing that finally moved me to sit down and write was the weather.

It's perfect outside right now (why am I in here?!) The air is body temperature, not hot, with a breeze that's not cold. There are big fluffy white clouds that are fun to watch change shape. It's the kind of day that makes you thankful for everything that's going right in your life, instead of that feeling I have too often that there's something more I should be doing.

My life, and probably lots of you working moms', is so full of stuff that needs to be done. It feels so much easier for me to sweat it all than to relax. It takes a concentrated effort for me to relax. I have to be working with one hand, cleaning with the other, and entertaining and stimulating my kids with my go-go-gadget arms.

But not today. All we need today is some fresh air and sunshine, our lungs and hands, some blueberry pancakes, a few sticks and a couple rocks and some little shiny things and we're good.

We're good.