Happy Halloween!

Happy because honestly, there is no other way to describe how my kid felt on Friday. I was able to schedule the morning with no conferences so I could be at her Harvest Party in the morning, she called it doing parent hours. We got dressed up, the best part of which was putting her in the bathtub naked and spraying her hair bright pink. Her traditional trick or treat partners met up with us and we hit around in their neighborhood, made an impressive haul even though Trueby wouldn't go to any of the houses that had dogs. Finally we headed over to meet up with her two best friends in the world to terrorize the joint. While the adults visited and ate, the girls ran screaming through the house for no apparent reason other than they are little girls who love being together. I adored watching her have so much fun, be so at home, feel so comfortable. Literally, she stripped to t-shirt and tights as soon as we got there, and her buddy made it down to only panties! Those two girls are family to her, they've been part of her life every day for as long as she can remember. Luckily, all three moms are a little photo manic, so it's all well documented.
So my friend inspired me to create a new scrapbook this month. I'm going to document one thing I am grateful for every day of November. I'll put some of them here, keep an eye out. While a great time on Halloween doesn't count, since it was October, I am so incredibly grateful my girl has friends like these!

Nope, still a pig

Seriously? The republican campaign wants the public to believe this is what Obama said? And McCain intoning at the end..."I'm John McCain, and I approve this message." I said it before, and I'll say it again, he is going to hate himself from the inside out after this over. That is giving him credit for retaining any shred of the honor he has touted and used and sold during this campaign. Sex ed for kindergartners, for god's sake? Apparently old Johnny has an asking price, and it is embarrassingly low. On the upside, I got to see this picture. I guess there is one thing about Cheney that I can find the silver lining for. Heh heh.

Here's another thing I never thought I'd say. The toughest interview I've seen of McCain so far was on, wait for it, The View. You heard me. Why are Comedy Central and Stay-At-Home Mom Central the hardest hitting journalism on the campaign trail? Check this out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/12/mccain-grilled-on-the-vie_n_125972.html

Damn, I love me the Huffington Post. You do need to take it with a grain of salt, very very very left, but I've double checked them a lot and while they may slant a bit, they don't spin and they don't make anything up. They also have a link to a compendium of articles from other publications lately that are just starting to talk about the fact that McCain is lying like a rug. While it's astonishing that the volume of lies needed to reach this point before the main stream media began to go, "Ok, hold on there a minute," it's even more alarming to read the comments to the list of articles. "Oh, those are all liberal left papers commenting on republican ads. Of course they say it's all lies." They're talking about the New York Times and other major publications quoting actual documented facts that show McCain is a liar. Really, just how blind an eye can you turn? Jesus! I'm totally not making this up, look! http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/12/1382169.aspx


On a much happier note, Trueby declared she needed to visit "the salon" (she pronounces it with an umlaut) today. Her hair was much too long for good taste, apparently. I offered to cut it on the deck, as I always do, but after some consideration, decided a professional would be the best bet. It was starting out way shorter than it usually is when I attempt it, and I need a good 2-3" grace period to even up the sides, so I figured I'd let a trained hand at it. True will never let me do it again now!

Maybe if I gave her a sucker after, she'd be more willing to let me try?

Taking stuff for granted

So here's what I'm wondering. It is highly possible that I live in the most beautiful place on the planet. Also, that I have the most perfect child ever. Equally possible that I have an idyllic life, marred only by petty grievances and my own shortcomings. So my question is, am I doing enough to A)deserve this and B)preserve it for my kid? Today was so gobsmackingly alluring that we got subs for dinner ~ apparently we do this more often than I think. The chick knew Trueby's sandwich! Turkey and cheddar on white with pickles and olives and that's all! ~ and met dad at the park. The water, the light, the temperature...everything exactly perfect.




Check this one out. You don't often get to catch an actual "knee-slapper" on film

We talked about her second day in kindergarten, in which she was totally on her own, no parents holding hands today! I obsessed over upsetting the delicate apple cart by throwing a spoke in the brand new routine wheel and letting her get hot lunch (chicken nuggets, baby!) tomorrow. Will she be able to handle it? Will she lose the money? Will they take cash since she doesn't have an account open? Will she eat the lunch? Will she have enough? Will she be nervous carrying her tray around to get the stuff? Will she speak up if she needs help? I know. I said I was obsessing. It doesn't count as psychotic if I recognize it myself so back off and keep your judgement to yourself. (Whenever I hear "judge" in any context it reminds me of the brilliant film "Hot Fuzz," which is a follow-up to the even more brilliant "Shaun of the Dead," seriously, if you haven't seen both, stop reading, go rent them, come back and we'll discuss it, in which the first cop accuses a guy of "acting as judge, jury and executioner..." and his somewhat less sharp partner replies, "He wasn't acting as Judge Judy and executioner..." Damn, there is no topping British random wit!) Ok, having completely laid the psychotic discussion to rest...We were having a lovely evening and I started thinking to myself how tragic it would be if just over half our registered voters fuck it all up for the rest of us.

Take a look at this article and tell me if you aren't desperately afraid.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-mckay/were-gonna-frickin-lose-t_b_124772.html

I don't want Trueby to have to clean up an even worse mess than I am already leaving her. The debt, the environmental destruction, the closed-mindedness... I just don't want her to have to live in the world it will become if we hand them this election too. Honestly, if we give them yet another go-round, after all they have done so far, what is ever going to stop them? We would be outright saying, "Yes. Lie to us. Yes. Make fortunes at our expense. Yes. The Constitution is your plaything, have at it. We don't care if you are breaking the law you have sworn on your god to uphold. We will never stop supporting you in shitting all over us."

I don't want to sound like a sycophant, but when I watch Obama talk, I just cannot figure out what people are against. I swear I have tried to see both sides. I have tried to see what others don't want about Obama, and I have tried to see what McCain has to offer. I don't get it. I can only hope things go well in 57 days and I can lose this awful knot in the pit of my stomach. Ha ha suckers...you thought you were in for a nice, pastoral family picnic post, huh? That'll learn ya.

Look at this bowl of flowers. At first glance, just a leggy bunch of late color on the deck. But as True and I were playing on the deck today, ok ~ she was playing, I was being ordered around by the world's most imperious puppy dog ~ I started seeing them differently. Look at them seriously for a second. Notice how their faces stretch eagerly to the last of the warm summer sun? That's the 'ham in a pot (and not in its traditional sense) right there. Way too soon the unbearably hot days of 78 degrees will be the stuff of dreams for next year. I know we don't have it the same as places like Vermont or Alaska, where you bed down and hibernate for months at a time. Still, the summers here are so achingly glorious, it's a bona fide tragedy when each one ends. I was looking around our deck at all the signs of a summer well-spent, that will soon be packed away until next year while we go inside, loose touch with the neighbors again, dash from car to house, huddle inward when we're out there. All these pretty little nothings mean we're outside whenever we want to be

So the mood seized us this evening and we cranked up the fire pit on the deck and busted out the makings for s'mores!

True was ecstatic that I was so moved by the mood that I let her have twoI gotta say, cleaning marshmallow off a five-year old is probably the world's quickest way to squelch nostalgic melancholia