Potomac Primaries

Today is Potomac Primary day. That consists of Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland. I feel like I have been waiting to vote for a long time even though it really hasn't been that long. My candidate got out of the race, and those candidates I would call a second choice are gone as well. Really, the candidates left are varying degrees of cringe inducing for me. I thought about what I was going to do. Virginia is an open primary, so I could vote in either party's primary. I tossed out the idea of voting/meddling in the Democratic primary, because I am unlikely to vote Democrat in November. (I haven't ruled it out though) To vote/meddle in that primary would be to make a hypocrite of myself as I have previously criticized that exact behaviour. Initially, I was just going to vote for my guy even though he is out of the race. It would be making a point of some kind I thought. Then this weekend happened, and I thought a lot about what I wanted to accomplish.

In the end, I figured anything I was going to do was going to amount to a protest vote of some kind. I chose to vote for John McCain, the remaining candidate I have the fewest gripes with. However, I didn't vote for John McCain so much as I chose to vote against Mike Huckabee. The faster he is finished with this campaign, the better for America in my opinion, and voting for McCain is the more effective way of achieving that result. Trent mentioned that I might regret this vote if Huckabee is the VP candidate for McCain. I decided that would not be the case. I would simply have the opportunity to vote in protest again in November. I probably sound bitter. Perhaps I am a bit. For now, I have voted in protest. Now I am going to indulge in some angry and sad music while completing chores. Besides, I e-mailed in my quandry and made the Corner at National Review. That's got to be worth something as far as getting my opinion out.

Hiding Places

My kids all have their favorite hiding places. Sami's favorite place to hide is in the back of the closet in her and Ashley's room behind the stuffed animal and shoe cubbies with the stack of bigger stuffed animals.

On Monday night, we were looking for her to put her in bed, and we couldn't find her anywhere. Usually if I can't find Sami at bed time, I go into the girls' room and call her name. She then answers, "I'm in here," from her hiding place in the closet. This time she didn't answer. Trent and I both looked in the closet first and then started searching the house and backyard for where she could have gone. Knowing that the closet is her favorite and that she was very sleepy, I tried the closet again. Sure enough, we had both looked right at her and missed her the first time. In her pajamas, she blends right in with the stuffed animals. Keep in mind that it was dark as well. You have the benefit of a flash in these pictures. Anyhow, she had crawled into her favorite cubby and fallen asleep. I would say that this will teach me to look more carefully in the future. If I am being honest, however, I would likely make this same mistake again. I've done it with the other two and their hiding places as well. Do all kids do this, or is it just mine?

Super Tuesday

It is Super Tuesday. This doesn't affect me as Virginia doesn't vote until next Tuesday (Feb. 12). For all of you this does affect though (all of you in California, Utah and Colorado for example) go out and vote in the primaries if you can. It doesn't matter if we don't like the same candidate or even vote for the same party. The best chance of a nationally vetted candidate is for as many Americans to vote as possible. I also don't deny that I want to be able to vote for my guy next week. For some of you that may mean putting on cross-country skis, but get out and vote.

This Weekend's Holiday

Well, it is Groundhog's Day again. This Saturday, poor Punxsutawney Phil was pulled out of his hole and among countless flashing cameras, it was determined that he saw his shadow. As a result, we will have 6 more weeks of winter.

It is no secret that I think Groundhog's Day is a joke. Now that I am a parent of children who seem to enjoy sleeping in on a school day and waking up bright and early on Saturday, I empathize more than ever with poor Phil. Here he is asleep and cozy in his ground hog home and some very rude people pull him out of his rest and force him to pose for flashing cameras and jabbering reporters. I suppose Phil at least gets to go back to bed when it is over.

Trent wants me to note that he thinks Groundhog's Day is a noble tradition and a great holiday as well as very uplifting to the soul. Whatever.

Brownie Smile

This week at Brownies, they had an informal ceremony where the girls were awarded all of the try its they have earned thus far. Try its are remotely similar to merit badges. The try its are the triangular patches now on the front of Ashley's brownie vest. Ashley was actually shy during the ceremony and talked very quietly when it was her turn. That was surprising.

The other patches they earn for various things all go on the back of the vest. For those of you wondering about the patch you helped her earn when she sold you candy and nuts, it hasn't come in yet but will be displayed proudly on the back when it does.

By the way, Ashley is now currently selling girl scout cookies. So, if you need an order source, she would love to sell to you. Trust me. She loves it. Cookies come in for us on Feb. 12, and they will continue selling through March.

Our Grandpa is cooler than yours

O.k. My kids have three grandpas, and they are all very cool. You have to admit that makes a great title though.

For those of you I haven't told yet, my dad occasionally djs various events where he lives in Colorado. He does it in his spare time. He's done various things from a breast cancer fundraising walk/run to a Halloween party. This weekend he was the dj at a birthday party for a girl celebrating her 16th birthday. He called me this weekend for some input. In reality, I am certain I didn't help much, but since it makes me feel cool to say I did, I will go ahead and mention it. The girl was a little nervous that he wouldn't be able to play songs that she and her friends like.

In the end, he was able to cover 90% of their requests and had a great time. He might be doing another high schooler's party and was asked if he could find out about djing some of their dances. I love it and think it is great. I thought it was particularly funny that he got requests for Thriller and for Love Shack. I guess some things are timeless. The girl also wanted Baby Got Back. I was surprised as that was a song we listened to at Morp when I was in High School. My dad then sent me a pop culture web site that reminded me that it was the number one song on the charts when this girl was born. That is right, she was born in 1992. Still, I refuse to feel old. Look how cool my dad is. How can I possibly be old?

For fun, I thought I would relay what he said were some of the popular requests:

"Some of the most requested songs were Gimme More by Britney Spears, Get Low by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, Crank That by Soulja Boy, Low by Flo Rida , Get Buck In Here by DJ Felli Fel, Fergalicious by Fergie and Casper Cha-Cha Slide by Casper & The Live Platinum Band. Even had requests for Thriller and Love Shack. I covered more than 90% of the requests. There were some I never heard of and didn’t have like Walk it Out, Ay Bay Bay and a group called Young Jeezy. There was numerous request for Spice Girls, Britney, Infected Mushroom, and Tech-9."


Yes, THAT Britney, and I can't believe it either.

Inclement Weather

I received an e-mail yesterday telling me that the LCS coffee (scheduled for Thursday night) was cancelled due to expected inclement weather. I knew there was an anticipated snow storm, but we have had several anticipated storms turn into not much. I thought it was a little strange to cancel before seeing what the end result would be. It didn't really matter though, because I couldn't go as Trent is busy writing his first submission of his research paper.

This morning at 6:35 as I was fixing Ashley's breakfast, the phone rang. I figured it was the instant alert system from her school. It was. School was cancelled due to inclement weather. I encouraged Ashley to go back to bed and as I headed back to bed myself, I laughed a little. It wasn't doing anything outside. The roads were dry. I have heard that they shut things down here at the slightest bit of ice or snow, but I thought this was a little silly. Well, Ashley couldn't sleep, so at 7:10, she got me back out of bed. I told her she couldn't wake Jon and Sami yet, so she watched some t.v. and ate. She informed me shortly after that it was snowing. Well at least there was now a reason for the inclement weather. Jon joined us around 7:30, and he and Ashley watched it snow from the window because I wouldn't let them outside yet. Last time it snowed here, it was barely a dusting and only lasted a few hours. I was bracing for their disappointment. It is my cynicism that was disappointed, however. By the time 9:00 came and the kids were all bundled up, there was around 2 inches of snow, and it is still snowing. Definately inclement weather and a snow day particularly, because things tend to shut down around here with the slightest sign of ice or snow.

Since Trent is obviously writing from home today, he got in on the fun for awhile too.