Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Two America's of John Edwards

Apparently, there are two Americas: The America that would give John Edwards a standing ovation and the America that would laugh him out of the room. I belong to the latter.

Here's what happened after Edwards said he would tell Americans to give up their SUV's:
Edwards was asked during his appearance how he explained the contradiction of asking Americans to sacrifice while he’s living in a 28,000-square-foot mansion.

He said he came from nothing, worked hard all his life, has always supported workers and fought big corporations as a lawyer.

“I have no apologies whatsoever for what I’ve done with my life,” he said to loud cheers.

Well, la de da. Edwards always pulls out this "I worked hard and can do whatever I like with the fruits of my labor" argument. Great. I agree. But apparently he is the only American who came from nothing and gets to do whatever he wants with no apologies. It's the rest of us that owe him an apology for only being successful enough to buy one or two cars, not successful enough to have a car for every occasion, or, as I'm sure Edwards does, hire out all hauling and landscaping and moving that needs to be done.

We use our truck all the time and have a hard time seeing how people get by without one. I have my tiny, fuel efficient Jetta, but once the new baby arrives, it will no longer qualify as a family car since, with the rear-facing car seat, there will not be enough room for an adult in the front passenger seat. But when you let the servants deal with the children, I guess you don't have to take such things into consideration.

Update: Allah's got more, including this lovely quote:
Campaign spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said the Edwardses, who have two small
children, use the Pacifica when they need more than two seat belts in the back, and the truck when they need to move furniture or haul something.

Edwards has good reasons. You? All you've got are lame excuses.

Monday, August 27, 2007

First Day of School

Technically, today was the first day of school for us. Actually, we started yesterday, because Mia demanded to "do school. Right now". Who am I to object? But today we did all the subjects I had planned, including this: The Body Project.
This is a tracing of Mia's body. Each day, we will read about another organ and she will color and cut it out and glue it to the body. This was a big hit. We also did penmenship, math and reading. Then we read and acted out The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Mia's idea). All that took less than 1.5 hours. I want to add in some grammar and history on alternate days once we settle in.

I've Been Fired

My midwives let me go. :( Seems this latest complication is more than they can handle. Now I have to see the doctors. There's pretty much no chance of meeting them all before the big day. I can't tell you how excited I am about some random (knife-wielding) stranger delivering my baby. Also, my chances of getting a C-section just doubled and my chances of being induced... well, pretty much 100%. I was sort of looking forward to actually going into labor with this one.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

School Started Last Week

and Mia didn't go. I've decided to homeschool her indefinitely. That went over big with the in-laws. My own fault, I guess. I knew the decision wouldn't be popular, so I never said a word about it until they asked. Of course, I obsessed over the decision and spent crazy amounts of time planning everything, but they don't know that. I think I left the impression that I just forgot to enroll her.

Anyway, we've had our first happy result and we haven't even started school yet. Last week we drove to Chicago for a family reunion. Mia met a bunch of cousins I didn't even know she had. I saw family I haven't seen in 10 years. Since school started here last week, if she'd been enrolled, we wouldn't have been able to go. Ah, sweet freedom.

Life's not fair, part 234

When I was a kid on a family road trip, my parents made me listen to Country Gold on the AM radio. Not much else was available. On our latest road trip, did Mia have to listen to my choice of radio stations? No. I had to listen to hours of Rock and Learn DVDs. It almost made me wish for the good old days of AM radio.

Criminals Are Many

Cops are few.
Criminals have guns,
Why can't you?

--Sign in a cornfield in central Illinois

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Baby Pics

Here she is: the little person who has put a complete stop to my blogging. The top one is a profile, the bottom one, a little leg. I have a low lying placenta, so I should get at least one more round of pics, maybe more. I planned my life around having the same complications I had with Mia. Turns out I'm experiencing a whole new set of complications with this one. Who knew?