Sam of the autumn

Sam, my dog, loves the fall. He is a 65 pound German Shepherd-something mix. He has a rather bushy, blonde coat and the summer months are really hot for him here. He will romp outside for a bit and then come in the house, completely wiped out, and sleep on the kitchen floor for hours.

Now that the cool weather is approaching, he knows it. He scratches at the back door as if his need to get outside is life or death. I let him out, thinking that he has urgent bathroom needs, but no....he runs around the yard like a meth addict. He takes a seat in the grass, turns his nose upwards toward the sky and sniffs as if he is trying to suck in the stratosphere. This is the time of year that is perfect for him, he can play outside sporting his coat, au natural. At the beginning of the warm months, I get him a summer haircut, which basically means I have him shaved. He always seems a bit embarrassed by it, I think it makes him look youthful. Here he is with the short cut:

The car pool line

My boys go to preschool at a Methodist church. I chose this school for several reasons, one was that my friend's kid loved it there and another big one was that the teachers all came back each year, there was hardly any turnover and they had a list of teachers who wanted to work there should an opening come up. So, with much trepidation, in 2004, I took my barely 2 year old twins to preschool. Two days a week they went from 9-12. The first few days they were sad and cried a little. And then they loved it. And this year, they went back, to the three year old classroom. Now they go four days a week from 9-12. And they still love it.

As I was sitting in the car pool line yesterday, waiting to pick my boys up, I pulled the car around the corner of the building and could see all the kids getting into the cars in front of me. They were being walked out to their cars, holding hands with a teacher. They all looked thrilled to see their moms, all were smiling and looked happy-tired. The good kind of tired, after you have done something that makes you happy. And I thought to myself, why are so many mothers opposed to any kind of preschool at all?

I can understand the reluctance to send a child to daycare all day long, but these short, morning programs, why are there such die-hard, only I can do right moms out there? I mean, I know that I am the person who loves my kids the most, along with their dad, but how could I deprive them of these other loving adults in their lives? I can't see anything negative about sending the young ones to preschool, where they learn to function with other people while mom isn't there and they bond with other adults. How can it be bad to teach them that they can trust other people and that they can't get everything they need from one person? My boys still talk about their teacher from last year and when they see her, they run to her open arms with such abandon, it brings little tears to my eyes. I don't feel jealous of their love for her at all, in fact, I feel proud of it. I am over-the-moon excited that they can and do love other people and that they have no reservations at all about me being away from them. They seem to be strong, outgoing, independent kids, all three of them. That has to be one of the things I am most proud of, that they are not and have never been, clingy children. So, I wonder still, do mothers who refuse to leave their kids with anyone else, ever, do so because they need to feel like they are the be-all, end-all for those kids? Are they so over-protective because it gives them a purpose in life? Or what? What's the deal? Or perhaps I am just a reckless, irresponsible mother because I do not hover over the children and I do not dote on them constantly. Maybe that's it?

Shoe plug

These shoes, from Land's End, rock it. The picture shows them in blue, but I have white. They are so easy to put on the little feet and when they get totally gross and dirty, you can throw them in the wash and they come out looking all clean and white again! Love them.

The question and answer game

I lifted these questions from Krystyn. If you want to play along, leave a comment and give me a link!


Hey baby, what are you wearing?
A t-shirt that says "Croak Creek Tavern" on the front and has recipes for drinks with frog names on the back. Shorts.


What are you currently reading?
I just finished "The Kite Runner" last night. I am currently reading: The Order of the Phoenix, The World is Flat, Freakonomics, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Don't Let's go to the Dogs Tonight. I clearly have commitment issues.


Name five songs you know all the words to.
Satellite, Two Step, Seek Up, One Sweet World, The Space Between - All Dave Matthews songs, because I have an unhealthy obsession with DMB.

If you could change anything about your job, what would it be?
Those who make the big decisions, like how much people will get paid and what processes will be put into effect, would listen to those of us (me) who actually do the work.

What's the funniest thing you've overheard lately?
My twins talking to each other just today:
Jonas: Mommy no have a penis
Tristan: Oh no! Mommy no have penis?
Jonas: No penis! I have penis, see it?
Tristan: Oh yes, me too, see my penis?

Are you religious?
No. I am spiritual and I feel like I work very hard at evolving that part of my life.

What makes you blush?
When people compliment me in a public forum.


Have you ever met anyone famous?
Yes.

What gives your life meaning?
Kevin, Hayden, Jonas, Tristan, Rachael, Stephanie, Angela, Barbara, Macy, Mom, Dad, Brandon, Ray, Sarah, Diana, Stuart, Jeff, Lisa, Bill, Shawn, and all of those who have passed on and so many other friends that I can't even list them all. It is all about the people in my life, they give me my meaning.


Google your first name. How many results come up
13,300,000 for Stacy

Not another rant about the New Orleans disaster and the response to it

Well, maybe it is a bit of a rant. I won't write lines and lines and lines of opinionated verbage about how pathetic the situation was in New Orleans directly after Katrina. Nor will I go on and on about who is to blame or how stupid our president sounds when he speaks off the top of his head.

But I just have to share this article. Here are my favorite little gems from it:

In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of
evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost
everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to
Houston."

Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of
scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is
so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? (Those are my words, not Barbara Bush's)What the hell is wrong with her?

Oh the irony

Me: I want to get a motorcycle, I think I will get my bike license.
Mom: Oh Lordy, why in the world do you want to do that?
Me: I have always wanted one.
Mom: Stacy Michelle, you are gonna kill yourself.
Me: No sooner than Dad will with his 3 packs of smokes a day.
Mom: You know people get killed on those things.
Me: Really? Is that why they are called donorcycles sometimes?
Mom: You are gonna get killed and leave those babies with no Mama.
Me: I could get killed driving to work.
Mom: Or you could get hurt and be like a vegetable or something. Then how's that gonna feel?
Me: Well I suppose it won't really feel all that great, to be a vegetable that is.
Mom: Why Stacy? Why do you want a motorcycle?
Me: Well, my friend just died at the age of 34. She was always careful, always ate the right food and exercised, she went to church every Sunday and Wednesday, she worked hard, volunteered in her community and she just died, leaving behind three kids under the age of 6. So, we are all going to die and we don't know when, so what are you going to do with that? I don't want to sacrifice the fine things in life just so I can merely exist. I want a bike, so I can ride it, alone, to clear my head when I need to.
Mom: You know, I have always wanted a motorcyle too. Your daddy used to have one when you kids were small. He loved that thing!
Me: Okay, mom, I have to go. You are totally nuts. You need medication.
Mom: Well, honey I am taking all kinds of medication!
Me: Yeah, ok, love you! Bye!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three hours later.....
Mom: I talked to your brother, he wants to sell his motorcycle. It is a 2002 Honda 1100cc. He has added lots of chrome and saddle bags and a sissy bar. He says he will take $5600 for it, it just has five thousand miles on it.
Me: You just lectured me about getting a bike and now you have gone out and found one for me to buy? What is wrong with you?
Mom: Well, I want you to have a good one and not get ripped off.

Thoughts on the Bible

This is suppose to be the word of God, this book. And I have often wondered why Jesus didn't write the book himself? Why did he need to have all of these other men write it down? And why so many men? Why not recruit a project team to carry out the task of writing down his teachings? And then of course, one of the most popular versions of the Bible, the King James Bible, brings this question to my mind.....was King James the editor of this translation? Did he get to pick and choose what would be passed on to his people at the time? And people never really address the issue of translation. Do they really think that nothing gets lost or changed when being translated through 5 or 6 or more languages? And why is the Bible so sexist? I realize that people of that time period were indeed sexist, women were mere posessions. But Jesus didn't feel that way and surely he didn't teach that, so why didn't that get worked into the Bible instead of having the chauvinist slant that it does? If the Bible is really the word of God, then why are there so many contradictions? And why would He leave so much open to interpretation when He knows better than anyone that we are not up to the task of interpreting His word correctly. Why wouldn't He just write what he meant in the first place? Why would He want the access to His word to be so difficult or to take years and years to understand?

It just doesn't make any sense to me. Do other people ask these questions? Do they get answers? Will all be revealed once I am dead?

Michael Moore's letter

I realize that there are a lot of Michael Moore haters out there, and I can't say that I love him. Actually, my feelings about him are ambivalent. But I couldn't resist this letter.

Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush


Friday, September 2nd, 2005

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com

Home sweet home

I have been away in Salem, MA for a wedding. A dear friend of mine finally tied the knot with one of the most perfect men (besides my own man) on the planet. The ceremony was genuine, simple, and not infused with tons of Jesus references. The food was outstanding, particularly the chocolate wedding cake that was topped by Han Solo and Princess Leia. The weather was absolutely perfect and the other people I met there were fantastic. After all of these years I finally got to meet so many of the important people in Angela's life. I felt like part of the family and I felt totally at home. This was the third trip I have made to Salem to see Angela and Chris, and now it does indeed feel like another home to me. They are the most wonderful couple, always an example of true love and kindness. Coming home to Atlanta was of course a joy as well. After four whole days away, I missed my boys terribly! Hayden and I had a great time on our vacation, but still.....it was awfully quiet without our boys there. Here are a few pictures, there are many more that I will eventually post to the site where all my other pictures go. You can find the link over to the right in the sidebar.