6:45 PM on a Sunday Night.

68 degrees on the patio.

Great view and a nice bottle of Snoqualmie Merlot (Fantastic Washington State Vineyard).

Sports, Sports & more Sports

Shawnee Mission West Cross Country meet today at JCCC hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas. Man those meets are early. We had to get up at 6 a.m. to get her there on time. They are also very hard to watch! Her JV team placed 1st!!!



Then we hurried to drive to Leavenworth to watch the youngest play soccer. It rained the whole time (this picture is from last weeks game) We were so cold, wet and we lost 2-1 so it was a long day.

On the way home we cheered up because our beloved KSU Wilcats are kicking the crap out of Montana : )

And last night our Shawnee Mission Vikings beat Lawrence Free State in Football. Sweet!!!

Tomorrow, we get up and do more soccer!

Thoughts....

At the age of 10 I passed out flags & pins for a candidate during a county parade. In college, I took classes in Political Campaigns, Rhetoric & Persuasion and Public Administration. I just like the whole process. My dad always said that if you didn't take the time to pay attention to your town, state & the world around you had no business criticizing the people who were out there trying.

I worked on Jill Docking's failed campaign for US Senate and gained a lot of experience & saw a bit of the "dark side" of campaigning. I've also worked on several successful campaigns for a US Representative in Kansas. I have helped with "Rock the Vote" campaigns for high school students, I enjoy that type of thing. I want people to care, to pay attention and to VOTE.

I enjoy researching the people who are brave enough to actually run. I could never do it. I'll be the fact-checker or the polling person and even sit in on focus groups but I could never put myself out there like a real candidate does.

I like to be inspired, I like good speeches, I love debates.

I think John McCain has been a great Senator and I would have voted for him if he had run 4 years ago instead of Bush. I liked him because he challenged the rest of his party more than others. He is totally qualified to be President. But, the last 4 years he has reigned in that maverick attitude and fallen in line with The Bush Administration. I get why, he needed too...he needs their backing/funding/support. But, it made me like him less. I feel like the last 4 years have been a disaster!!! And I love my pin that says "Is Bush Gone yet?".

I want someone who can rebuild our crumbling credibility in the World, I want someone who I think will place highly qualified people in positions of power (Brownie & Ashcroft....Bush was such an idiot). I want better health care and "No Child Left Behind" was a huge disaster that will take years to fix.

I like Joe Biden alot. I respect his experience and think he will add good things to his ticket. I think that Sarah Palin is a risky choice for McCain. I did my research and two things bother me. 1. The ethics charge with her brother-in-law, YIKES...maybe the final finding will rule in her favor but it is a red flag for me. 2. Her goal for a long time was to be a sportscaster. I think she just kind of fell into the Mayor's race and it sounds like she did a good job but the V.P. spot is a big deal. McCain is old.....if he goes I'm not sure she has the educational background and experience with "the lower 48" as she called us when she campaigned for Governor.

I'll keep listening and I will vote because I have 4 kids myself and this election is going to effect their lives in a big way as they head off to college & the workplace in the next few years.

Soccer Slide Show

Kate's team moved up to a premiere league and last weekend was the first game. I threw together a quick slideshow because I'm bored waiting for dinner to be ready!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Running Mate

Wow, McCain's pick has me completely surprised. I don't care if she is a woman or not, I'd never decide a vote on just that. But, she was a small town mayor and just a few years of Governor experience.

I get that she brings him some much needed help with the more conservative voters but here is my concern.....

McCain IS OLD.......and she isn't qualified to take over as the President. I see some very bad Moose Burger jokes on late night tv. And I wonder how her husband, a commercial fisherman, is going to like the belt traffic and Washington Business.

Lot's of my friends have already turned the big 40 this year and I'm close behind them. Where does the time go? More importantly, where did all the muscle tone go??

I found the perfect piece of flair to celebrate this momentus year. My co-workers, will like this one :)

Why Some Women Stay Single

This was just what I needed to get through the day today. So funny, enjoy it.

Why Women Stay Single | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Back to School

My motto every August is this:



I have 3 high school and 1 grade school kid to get ready for school in my own house. That alone requires hours of work. But I'm an assistant to a Principal, so I have a staff of 50 and 500 students to deal with from 7 a.m.-4 p.m.

The school just bought all new copiers that are state of the art! Scan to network folder/scan to email/ color/ staple/ fax etc... which is making the staff members turn back into tantrum throwing 2 year olds (not all, most are great but there are a few that I do hide when I hear them coming).

Did I mention 3 days before school starts we added a new section/teacher due to enrollment overflow. So that required 3 teachers to move or combine rooms and free up 1 new room. Did I mention we had just had the phones digitally programmed to display the correct name & link the right voicemail boxes and that we had the entire building resigned with teachers names attached to the side of the cement wall with the strongest fucking adhesive known to man!

School starts Monday and I'm working Sunday. Shit!



The office staff has 1 person in charge of registration, 1 receptionist, 1 bookkeeper and ME (trying to hold it all together). The staff needs Valium piped into the drinking water!!!

With the heat index today it is 105 degrees!!! OMG.....we are melting.

We now have 2 high school girls living in our house, they both left for the pool (wearing bikinis) talking about boys. My poor husband, he may not survive it.

I think he thought they would stay in pigtails and say "Daddy" forever. Poor guy, we're sending him off to a Royals Baseball game so he can forget all about it.

The Pickens Plan

I encourage everyone to check out this website The Pickens Plan

Blogher Obama Interview

Obama Interview at Blogher 2008

Sting Ray Swim Team!

My daughter Katey joined a swim team this summer and has just had a fantastic time!
Check out some of this weeks swim meet photos.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I am a MOMocrat on Facebook. They had a nice story on Barack Obama's younger sister.

Plastic Beer?

Okay, I'm from western Kansas and Coors Light is like a food staple.

My husband and I love to try different microbrews. Boulevard Pale Ale is a favorite and every Christmas we get The Nutcraker Ale. Samuel Adams also has so cool flavors Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat
is my favorite (but my husband says Cherry isn't a beer flavor....malt snob!)

Anyway, back to my topic of Coors. Have you seen their new plastic beer bottle? I've drank plenty of Octoberfest beer in a plastic cup but I can't handle this plastic bottle. It just feels weird. It is lighter and you can squeeze it...it just feels wrong! I also swear the beer gets hotter faster, but the packaging says "insulating plastic bottle".

I'm totally bummed about this bottle, so tonight I brought a six pack of Corona and some limes to the cookout......Coors are you listening....you're losing me man.

I think I will email them with my thoughts. I'll let you know if they take the time to care or not.

Cheers!!!

Mike Birbiglia is a funny Guy!

Happy B-day!

Happy Birthday Abbey! The big #14

Sunday Mornings.

Most Sunday mornings I made a big cup of coffee, grabbed the paper and listened to Tim Russert on "Meet the Press". Sunday mornings just won't be the same, he was an incredibly smart journalist.

I am a debater by personality. I love nothing more than to sit with friends or family (however that can get dangerous!) and talk about current events, politics even the latest plot line on Lost. I think Tim Russert was one of the best and he will certainly be missed.

This morning they had a very fitting farewell to him on Meet the Press. If you missed it check it out here

Today is Father's Day and I feel terribly sorry for Tim Russerts family. He leaves behind a dad and son.

Father's Day is always a sad day for me because I lost my dad over 10 years ago. I was a Daddy's Girl and I miss him. He had me late in life and I was the last chance for a son in a second marriage. He never missed a single thing I did, from watching my school plays to my tennis meets. It is a hard thing, losing a parent. You always feel a tiny bit sad even when something good happens because it makes you remember there is one person "missing" in the sharing.

Happy Father's Day

Could she be the next V.P?

Kathleen Sebelius is a fantastic governor. It is tough to be a Democratic Governor of a very RED state! But, she is tough and gets the job done. But she can be tough without coming across like a bitch, I think people respect that.

She is fairly moderate and I've met her and listened to her speak several times and she is great in person. She really listens when she is at a forum and if she doesn't agree she says, "I can see you point" but... and then she usually smiles and the amazing thing is the person she just disagreed with usually goes away feeling okay because she listened!

I'd love to see her be Obama's running mate!!! I know it may be a long shot but I'd love to see an Obama/Sebelius ticket.

Link here to yahoo buzz article.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

When I was a kid I loved to watch the summer storms come rolling in. I lived in Western Kansas and you could see the storm coming from miles away. When you are 10 its just exciting to watch, I was rarely scared.

As an adult I feel differently about them.... I feel the dread. "Will the basement flood?" "Will the games be cancelled?" And the worst of all is when one of your kids are out somewhere and they aren't answering their cell phones!!!

Kansas has had so many storms in the past month, I'm ready for some nice summer weather. But, it will probably go from stormy to 100 degrees!