Another Kind Of Voting For Color

E3: I'm voting for John McCain because he has white hair and white is my favorite color.

Speaking as her mother, you should not believe her. She told me only a few hours before this that purple is her favorite color.

Also earlier today she asked (after some political commercials): Why do they all keep talking about John ACain and AHrock Abama?

So, maybe don't even believe she knows who she's really voting for, you know? Although it would be nice if it were simply a matter of favorite colors...which guy wears Cardinal red ties more often?

Is There Race In The Race?

I picked up this month's Good Housekeeping because of the cover photo of Jon and Kate Plus Eight. It's a show that makes me appreciate how simple my life really is and I've been eager to read the article ever since the cover shoot was featured on their show. Little did I know the issue was chock full of other interesting things (and I'm only about halfway through).

As I was reading through the rest of the magazine earlier this week I came across interviews by Good Housekeeping's Editor In Chief Rosemary Ellis with both Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain. The interview questions are basically the same, save for a few added in when the interview answers changed the course of things. What struck me was the difference in the responses to this question:

Do you think this election has changed how we think about race? Why or why not?

Michelle Obama

Cindy McCain (scroll to halfway down the page)

I'd like to hear what you think about their answers.

A Productive Morning

Jumping to commence at 3:30p.m. CST.

Slightly above average height 5 year old included for the purpose of scale.

Chicago 2008

I'm so darn excited I finally figured this out...although I think it could use some adjusting.

Still.

Cool.

Edited to add: Most of these were taken on the River Architecture tour.

Nuts

We're rolling in them. We have a project underway to grow some trees, using instructions found at WikiHow.

I'll keep you posted.

Do You See It?

No, not the dust. The spider legs. This little crawlie was living in the outlet by the nightlight. I pointed out the genius of this to E1; it's warm for the spider, and the light attracts other insects so the food is coming to the spider.

E1: I hope he gets fried.

I sucked it out using the Dustbuster with the crevice tool.

President Signs ALS Registry Act!

(From the ALS Association)

President Bush signed the ALS Registry Act into law late today. Our victory is now official!

It has been a long difficult fight, and we want to thank everyone who continuously reached out to their Members of Congress throughout the legislative process to make this victory possible. You have made a difference!

We are now prepared to take the next steps in partnering with the government to build the registry. However, we need you to continue to stay involved. That's because we must work with Congress to secure funding for the registry. Over the past three years, The ALS Association has worked with Congress to appropriate nearly $5 million to launch registry pilot projects, but much more will be needed in order to expand upon these projects and begin to collect information on a broader scale.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments. In the meantime, please remember to thank your Members of Congress! Let them know that the ALS community appreciates their support in the fight for a treatment and cure. Thank you letters you can send are available in the Advocacy Action Center of our website: http://capwiz.com/alsa/home/.

Once again, thank you and congratulations to everyone. GREAT JOB!

What Are They Singing Now?

Did I mention we got tickets to the Cards/Cubs game in Chicago? We did! More than we could use, actually.

When the Person of Connections we thought could help us out didn't get back to us, I started looking for tickets on Ebay. After getting beat out on numerous auctions, I finally bid on one that started at the top of our price range. Since there were a few others that were starting at a lower price I felt pretty good that the auction I was in would be passed over. I was right!

However, the day before that auction was to end we heard from our Person of Connections and he had tickets! We hemmed, and hawed, and asked about the tickets and if Person of Connections and his wife were going too...Reserved Bleachers, and yes, they'd be sitting right next to us!

So, of course, I won the auction for the overpriced tickets in section 218.

We had them shipped to our hotel (first time ever hearing, "We have a package waiting for you." when checking into a hotel), and set off with the idea of scalping the tickets even though neither of us has any scalping experience.

Rob and I successfully navigated the train (with the help of the public transportation link on Google Maps), and as we walked out of the stairwell and turned towards Wrigley Field I heard the magic words, "Tickets for sale! Who wants to sell tickets?"

Tickets unloaded for full purchase price - check.

We ate lunch at Sports Corner (Chicago dog and onion rings for me, bratwurst with sauerkraut for Rob).

We met our Person of Connections and his wife at Murphy's Bleachers, consumed Anheuser-Busch products, and started the game in these reserved bleacher seats...

Then, because Person of Connections had also come up with three other tickets, he sent us to these seats while he went to visit one of the party rooms.


So we sat, relishing the shade with his wife - a Cub's fan.

And then the Cubs won, clinching the National League Central Division.

Go Cubs Go!

Sorry. That song's going to be stuck in your head all day now.

That was played over and over (or the refrain was) and every Cubs fan in the place was singing along - including the ushers and security.

Since the crowd was on it's feet, and the usher missing from the top of our aisle, our Person of Connections was able to slip into our row and stand with us. He brought a good portion of the rest of the stadium with him, and the people just kept filing past our row, going down the steps to... I don't know where but they just kept going , and yet none of them surfaced on the field or were carted off by security.

On the way back to the train we saw the largest Ozzie Smith impersonator ever.

As we waited on the platform for our return train trip, and marveled at the crowds down below that filled the streets, the Cubs fans reprised Go Cubs Go! for the conclusion of our day of baseball adventure.

This weekend the Cubs were swept out of the playoffs. I guess it's time to start practicing the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Word Verification Survey

When you're on a website that requires Word Verification to leave a comment, and you ARE commenting, how often do you type the Word Verification word correctly on the first try?

For me, it's almost never. I'm just wondering if I'm special.

Woo, It's Friday!

It doesn't seem like it's been over a week since I posted. I mean, I know I've been a little slack lately, but I could have sworn that I'd posted more recently.

That's what happens when you spend your days listening to a four year old and a five year old pretend to be hamsters that are pretending to be dogs.

I'll give you a second to wrap your mind around that one.

I know, right? All things considered, I think it's amazing I can still form coherent sentences.

I've been volunteering at our school library as they move toward a computer-based bar code system of check-out, spending an hour there every afternoon as I'm able. E3 is my official library helper, doing everything from taking the non-coded books from students that want to check them out so we can do a quick entry into the system to planting a snake (stuffed) in the hallway and watching to see how many students notice.

By the time we get home and chill out watching The Dog Whisperer for a while the big kids are home from school and it's time for snacks, homework, and the dinner grind.

Girl Scouts and Brownie Scouts are both under way. E2 and E3 are still in gymnastics - E3 is being bumped up to the next level after this session and she's very excited. E1 is thinking about playing volleyball this winter.

In the next few weeks I'll be going on an overnight field trip with some 5th and 6th graders to a nature center; not exactly my thing, but Rob wouldn't be able to chaperon in the girls' cabin so there you go.

I've got some photos that I want to post, but they're on the computer downstairs. I also have some photos to upload...and I never told you about our trip home from Texas...let's not even talk about the Memphis post that never appeared.

NaBloPoMo is coming up and I may just be posting a lot of catch-up pictures. Sheesh.