Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween Pictures


Our Next President


The kids with all the pumpkins. Frank did "Pumpkin π" har har



Cowgirl Sarah


Sarah and her teacher, the Werewolf of London on the school costume parade.
They walked across the schoolyard, over the pedestrian bridge and down to the waterfront. Can I just say how much I love living here?

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Pumpkin Carving Today

Today's the big pumpkin carving day. I'm a bit obsessive about carving. I used to spend hours at Norma's house carving with her and the boys. We'd do at least 4 or 5 pumpkins. Not just faces, but the intricate template carvings.

Now today we're having a few friends over after school and I've already found my template:
www.YesWeCarve.com

I'll also do a silly one. Sarah's decided to make a Michael Phelps pumpkin with goggles and a swimming cap and flippers. She swims a little like Phelps, so she was super excited to see him in the Olympics and I guess he really made an impression.
Now off to make a gingerbread cake. Yummmmmmm

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Ooh ooh, Mr. Kotter, Mr. Kotter!!

The headlines today should read:

Woman wears button up pants for the first time in a week.

That is all.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Meal Planning

Do you meal plan for the week? We started meal planning after Frank was laid off and money got much, much tighter. We'd always done some meal planning, but not to the obsessive degree that I do now.
Since there are only 3 in our family, leftovers can be a hassle. A full size dish feeds us twice usually. But no one wants to eat the same meal two days in a row. So our leftovers used to just rot in the fridge.

Now I freeze a half portion, pack lunches with portable leftovers or plan another meal with the base of the first meal.

This week we are having:
Monday:
Pizza night. Homemade pizza with whatever topping we can pull out of the fridge. The mozzarella I bought last week for lasagne should be used up with this. Salad and some other veggie side dish

Tuesday:
Salmon and quinoa with sweet potato french fries and another veggie. Leftovers will be turned into stirfry

Wednesday:
Stirfry frozen shrimp or tofu with leftover salmon and veggies. Brown rice , possibly potstickers

Thursday:
Pumpkin carving party afterschool.
Figs from the state park wrapped in prosciutto I had frozen from Grocery Outlet
Prosciutto egg cups
gingerbread cake
giant pot of pasta with leftover veggies, crispy prosciutto, olive oil and parmesan
Friends are bringins salad and another sweet

Friday:
Sarah is off with her dad for Halloween. :( But Frank and I will have leftover pasta, possibly like baked ziti and salad.

Saturday is up for grabs and I work Sunday. So I'll have to see what we can do for those days.

P.S. I voted today. :)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Home

I'm home. The surgery went well. My heart seemed to do fine, I don't have any swelling or shortness of breath.
I'm sore of course. the pain from the gas in my abdomen is surpisingly the worst.
it takes a while to focus on the computer screen and my eyes don't want to stay open.
back to sleep now

Monday, October 20, 2008

Deadline

Today is the last day to register to vote in California. Go out and make sure your voice is heard, whoever you're voting for.

Although, if I had my way, you'd vote for Barr not McCain. Just saying.

My tubal ligation is Wednesday. I haven't had the full weight of it hit me yet. I spent the weekend helping at the Growing Families Expo for Moms in Bloom and then cooking and cleaning yesterday. We now have meals for the week set and frozen.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Presidential Debate

We went to the Solano Democratic Headquarters last night and watched the debate. What a great debate!
It was much more spirited and revealed so much more about the candidates than the previous debates had. I think Bob Schieffer (sp?) did a good job as moderator and got in some great questions. I think McCain showed a lot of anger and disrespect. I felt that Obama showed a very calm and confident manner. I do like Obama's healthcare plan, a lot. I freak out at the idea of McCain's Troops to Teachers. Oh, that pesky CBEST, shoot, we should just let anyone teach, especially those at high risk for PTSD and depression. Now, if he were to say, "Let's train these soldiers to put away the fighting mentality, train them to teach and get appropriate credentials and find a way to pay for all of it, then put them to work in the areas of most need." Now that I could get behind. But it all comes down to training and funding.

My WTF?? moment:

McCain using air quotes to say "health of the mother" as a reason behind abortion. I can understand why someone is totally anti abortion under any circumstances. Just say it. I do not shy away from discussing my views on abortion and the reasoning behind it, because I am secure and confident in my own decision making. Don't belittle half the human race by doing it in a condescending way. As someone whose health would be at risk in a pregnancy I call him on it. I emailed the McCain campaign to let him know my displeasure and my story.

You can see the youtube clip of this here. It's at 1:32 of the discussion.

And btw, no one is PRO abortion. Everyone seeks to reduce the need for abortions. Yes, I said need. Because if my pregnancy test before my tubal ligation surgery next Wednesday comes back positive, I will NEED an abortion. Not because I want one, not that it won't break my heart, not that any child wouldn't be wanted and adored, but because I want to live to mother my existing child.


From a recent Momocrats.com discussion I have this to say:

http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/10/go-read-it-mcca.html

Read the comments to see why I am posting this.

We as a society have a responsibility to behave a certain way. We all share this responsibility. No one side is always right, nor is one side always wrong. However, we need to treat each other with common decency and respect. Calling Sarah Palin a C*** on a tee shirt shows no respect. Yelling, "Sit down, boy" at a rally shows no respect. They are not equal statements, they do not carry equal weight, but they both must stop.

So this is my challenge to you, America. Do not lower yourself. Respect yourself and your neighbors by engaging in polite, thoughtful discourse. Name calling, race baiting(I'm looking at you Gov. Palin and you Sen. McCain and the lines of people with monkeys, signs and shirts at your rallies), spewing hate and misogyny (yes, calling anyone a c*** is misogynistic in my book) is not allowed. Now, go play nicely.

And Go OBAMA!!

Friday, October 3, 2008

VP Debate

Did you watch it? What did you think?

We made it a family night with Sarah. Since we are politically active, she knows who we support and why. But we've always made it clear that she is free to have her own opinion and support who she feels is the best candidate. She definitely went into the debate with a bias, since Sarah Palin shares a name with her. But by the middle of it, she was asking, why doesn't she answer what they ask instead of talking about something else, it's like she doesn't want to answer any questions.

BINGO!! Such a smart little girl already. I'm so proud of her for being able to see what many adults didn't see last night. She came to her own conclusions and truthfully, got tired of it and started playing legos by the middle.

I felt that Biden was sincere, passionate and did very well. I'm disappointed in some of the "mis truths" that he used, I've checked the fact checkers websites and found quite a few. However, I do feel that that is unavoidable, being up there, on the spot pulling facts out of your ass.

Palin did better than I thought she would, since I based my expectations on her last interview. She seemed together, well schooled in her phrases. Her "mis truths" were a bit more blatant, but all in all, not a bad job. She has really done her homework in the past few weeks. It's unfortunate that everyone was just hoping she didn't screw up instead of hoping for a real concise view of this candidate.
And if she would stop playing the damn "folksy" card, I'd take her much more seriously.

Here are some of my fave non partisan fact checking website that I check every day.

Fact Check
Politifact

Polling sites
Zogby
Gallup

Totally partisan and funny if you want to see what the extremists think
Drudge Report
Daily Kos
Foxnews