Monday, October 27, 2008

Sickies

Poor Natalie...she isn't feeling too good today. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow. She has been a miniature snot factory today!!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

All sorts of Natalie tricks!!

We've got some singing, Trick or Treating, body part identification, and dancing!!

Natalie loves Baby Einstein!

Halloween preview!

Not sure how she feels about the costume. Sometimes she likes it, sometimes she doesn't. Keep your fingers crossed for Halloween!

Um, seriously Mom??????

Natalie's first PONYTAIL!!!!





Pumpkins!!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch was sort of a bust. We got some great pumpkins, but Natalie wouldn't stand still for a picture! It didn't help that we were bordering on nap time and she fell asleep in the car on the way there! Natalie was very helpful when we got home and arranged all the pumpkins on the front step!

A snooze on the way there!


I got one!


Dad, I like this one






Wait Mom! I'll help!






I got my pumpkins!


I'm going to set them up!




Oh the DRAMA!!

I was able to sneak a picture of Natalie while she was in time out. Notice the hand to the face as she's "sobbing" - can we say Drama Queen??

Parade!

Here are some pictures of Natalie at the Lake Shore High School Homecoming Parade. Its just a cute little parade that goes down Main St. Lucky for us Natalie's babysitter lives on Main St so we get a great view! And we get to have a cook out too! Maybe when Natalie gets a little older we'll go to the school for the big bonfire!

Natalie wasn't that into the parade this year, maybe next year!!



Thursday, October 16, 2008

Trip to Baltimore!

We went to Baltimore this past weekend - whew! What a whirlwind!!! Natalie did pretty well in the car, thank goodness for Baby Einstein!!!!

We arrived on Saturday in the late afternoon. We had dinner at Katie's bar - Pub Dog. On Sunday we met up with some of my Mommy friends Gina and Sue at Federal Hill Park. We had such a good time! After Natalie's afternoon nap (and a very disappointing Raven's loss - sorry Kevin) we went to dinner at Kevin's Mom and Dad's house. Wow - SUCH a beautiful home!! And Mr and Mrs Hebbel were SO nice and welcoming! Monday we went to breakfast as this place called Spoons and then we went to the Aquarium (thanks again to Kevin and free passes!!). Natalie enjoyed it, but pooped out at the end. She fell asleep in her stroller for the first time EVER. Jeff and Kevin took her home while Katie and I did a little shopping! Then Katie went to class and Kevin took us to...IKEA!!!! Soooooo much fun there! After IKEA we came home and Katie made us a yummy dinner.

Thanks for a great time Katie and Kevin!!!! P.S. Kate - send me the pictures you took so I can post them!

Mommy pals!


Hugs to new friends!


Aquarium



Friday, October 10, 2008

Readability Test

I was hoping for genius level...but a writer I am not. Oh well. College grad is better than a 5th grader, right?

blog readability test

Movie Reviews

Friday, October 3, 2008

An issue I have with Sarah Palin

I cannot stand how she speaks. And I'm not talking about her accent.

I want my President and VP to sound like they're educated - unlike what we've had for the past 8 years! I want my leaders to be articulate. Especially after 8 years worth of Bush-isms!!!

"I'll betcha" instead of "I'll bet you"
Ending her words with -in instead of -ing
"yeah" instead of "yes"
"ya" instead of "you"
"ain't" instead of "isn't"

Its one thing if you use improper english once in awhile, possibly even in casual conversation. But when you're doing formal interviews and a formal debate? I'm not impressed by that.

I heard a commentator on conservative talk radio this morning say that American's relate to her because she speaks on their level - the guy even said she "dumbs it down" for people. Wow, seriously? She's dumbing down what she says so the American people can relate to her? I find that offensive. And yes, I know SHE nor anyone in her camp said that and I'm not saying they did - I find the speculation alone rather offensive.

I've been trying not to comment on the debates too much because I know I'm not a fan of Palin and therefore know I'm biased. And I really like Biden. So of course I think he won the debate. I think she did well, far better than I expected. But I don't know if people will take what I think seriously or respect my opinion because I didn't support her before the debate and probably will be more critical toward her than her supporters or those who are still on the fence. But I really had to share this issue because it is driving me NUTS! (and I would feel this way with anyone, not just her).

Thursday, October 2, 2008

America's chilling future - CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/01/beck.future/index.html

Dear America:

Happy 300th Birthday!

It's 2076 and we've just invented the time-fax machine. (Actually, "we" didn't invent the time-fax machine, the State did -- they pretty much control everything now.)

I'm faxing this back to you in 2008 because that seems to be the year we had the best chance to reverse our course and get back to the vision laid out by our founding fathers -- a vision that didn't include the government being in the insurance business.

I don't have a lot of time (the State only gives us one 30-minute break per day) so let me give you some advice: Stop worrying so much about who runs the country and start worrying about who runs your towns, your states, and your Congress.

I know you're all distracted by the presidential election, but for all the money and time poured into it, the truth is that you're choosing between two roads that will lead you to the same destination. Sure, one may be the Autobahn and the other a two-lane highway, but you'll end up at the same place either way.

Decades of Republicans and Democrats alike have all chipped in to lead you to where you are today. Believing that one person, from either party, can change that by themselves is a big mistake.

Presidents are like captains of a large ship: They can map out a course and shout out orders, but without the trust and hard work of the people who actually move the rudders, their commands mean nothing.

In retrospect, the lack of trust and confidence you now have in your leaders was really the root cause of everything that's happened since. While our founding fathers designed a brilliant system of checks and balances, separation of powers and democratic elections, trust was the one thing they couldn't mandate in the Constitution.

Unfortunately, it's also the foundation upon which everything else is built and once it began to erode, our whole house inevitably began to crumble.

Looking back now, it's pretty obvious that our trust in government declined at about the same rate as our partisanship increased. People became so concerned about getting their party into power at any cost that the truth didn't even seem to matter anymore.

That's probably one of the reasons why George Washington hated the idea of political parties so much. Here's what he said about them in his 1796 farewell speech:

"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty."

I know that George had a habit for using big words, so allow me to translate into 2008 English: Political parties that put their own success over that of the country's will be the death of America.

If you don't believe him yet, just wait a few more years...you're about to see firsthand how right he was. After all, if power corrupts, then the kind of absolute power gained by political parties (and feared by Washington) corrupts absolutely.

The best advice I can give you is to stop thinking in terms of left and right and start thinking in terms of right and wrong. Demand the best leaders possible, and then demand the best out of them.

Believe me, when you see what's coming your way, you'll realize how little the donkey and the elephant really ever mattered. Oh and while we're on politics, one quick thing that I'm sure you're curious about: Yes, Robert Byrd is still in the Senate. He's 159, but doesn't look a day over 91.

Now, let's talk about the economy. Let me see if I have this right: Money and power made people greedy, so you decided to hand over a bunch of money and power to greedy politicians instead. Smart! After using that money to nationalize a bunch of banks, mortgage companies and insurance companies, they moved on to bigger things.

The airlines came first -- we just couldn't live without them. Then it was the automakers (Detroit would've died), health care (they said they could manage it better), and eventually, the oil companies (I'm not sure where all of those "windfall profits" have gone).

The idea behind it all (an idea that was eventually turned into law with the passage of the Securities Exchange Act of 2011) was to "socialize losses" by spreading them out among all taxpayers. The pain, our leaders argued, would be minimal that way.

They were right. At least until the bills came due. See, we didn't actually have any of the money we were promising everyone; we were borrowing it.

It didn't take long before so many of our tax dollars were going toward interest payments that we couldn't fund even the most basic of government programs without massive tax increases on everyone. People now work most of the year just to pay Uncle Sam (or, as we now call him, "Comrade Sam").

I hear the State censors coming, so let me leave you with a few other quick things:

• Good call on not worrying about protecting our borders. That works out really well for you in 2019.

• You might want to spend a little less time worrying about carbon and a little more time worrying about Iran. We're now in a new mini-Ice Age but, believe me, Iran isn't using their nukes to warm any homes. (PS The International Atomic Energy Agency just revealed to you that Iran appears to be refitting their long-range missiles to carry nuclear payloads. Did you think they were joking or were you just too busy with lipsticks and pigs to notice?)

• The currency of the future is energy. Those who have it are thriving and those who don't -- well, let's just leave it at that. Drill for all the oil you can, but you also better start seriously looking for some other options.

In closing, remember this golden rule and you should be fine: Your Constitution will never fail you, but your leaders will. Be wary of anyone who tries to convince you that it's the other way around.

Best wishes (you're going to need them),

Worker 2744A

PS It's not all socialist doom and gloom here in the future. We just thawed Ted Williams' cryogenically frozen body and he hit 87 home runs for the North Team!