iBeth

Political Links

These are just some links that have interested me lately.  I'm cramming them into one post to avoid scrolling the family news off the page completely:

This website posts "memes," e.g., concepts that reproduce themselves quickly across the Internet.

At a recent Florida rally, Bush supporters recite a loyalty oath, aka "the Bush Pledge."  (And, btw, I would have tried to attend one of the local Bush rallies recently--after all, he IS my president even though I'm not going to vote for him--but only registered Republicans who sign loyalty oaths are able to get tickets.)

Political Volunteering: Three More Days

Three more days until we learn who our next president will be--or at least I hope we will know. Based on David's & my volunteer experiences w/the Dems, again, all I can say is this: it will be a miracle if we win.

Today, David attended yet another disorganized time-wasting "training" session, this time to be a poll-watcher on election day. After many phone calls to and from the Kerry-Edwards campaign, two highly inconvenient hours standing in an unairconditioned room listening to various "pep talks," and multiple conversations with campaign workers, David left not knowing whether or not he will be a poll watcher at all.

My Kids Do Not Curse

Just so you know, Emma's colorful typing in her latest "By Emma" post is NOT cursing. She is just learning how to use the shift key to get special characters. It looks pretty funny though, doesn't it? :)

Also, the last sentence is a description of a Halloween party Emmy went to with her best friend Jessica. At the party, they did "trick or treat" by going from room to room.

By the way, whenever my children do start using "adult" language, it will NOT be because they overheard me or their father expressing strong emotions. It will be because they heard the words on tv at someone else's house accidentally, probably while someone was flipping channels. They NEVER hear bad language in their regular life. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

By Emma

on the slide stars amelia cries  HELP!
!@#$%^*&()/?.
who,s emma?
TRICKorTREAT in the HOUSE.we did HALLOWEEN BAGS.

Snuggle bunnies

I worked late tonight. (I'm on my union's collective bargaining team and we had a negotiating session.) So I didn't get to spend as much time with the girls as I'd have liked, but I did thoroughly enjoy the time we had.

We brushed our teeth. Amelia LOVES brushing teeth, and will beg, "TEETH! TEEEEEEEETH!" when tooth brushing time gets closer.

Miss Spider's Tea Party

Yesterday, Emmy's preschool had a tea party just like Miss Spider's Tea Party. Parents brought supplies--our family brought in a teapot given to us by Grandma Jinny (my birth-grandmother). And Emmy came home with a clear plastic "teacup," a placecard with her name on it, a pink plastic spider, and a crown with spider legs peeking out from underneath it. They served purple tea and pink tea and water and orange juice, and they ate peanut butter & jelly sandwiches or cheese sandwiches. And that's all she has told me. *sigh* I wish her school had web cams!

Warm chick pea salad

Before Amelia's nuclear meltdown (and no, I don't know what the problem was--she is perfectly happy right now, reading a book to herself, while her daddy's and my nerves are completely frazzled), I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight, courtesy of The Splendid Table.

WARM CHICKPEA SALAD WITH SHALLOTS AND RED WINE VINAIGRETTE Excerpted from Fresh Food Fast: Delicious, Seasonal Vegetarian Meals in Under An Hour by Peter Berley (ReganBooks, 2004). © 2004 by Peter Berley.

Why I wrote nothing particularly insightful tonight

Click to listen (.wav 187.3K). Throughout, Emma slept.

Unive_sity

Emma and I sometimes play a game on the way to school.  We pass a sign that says "Unive sity"; the "r" has been missing since Hurricane Charley.  Where could the R be?

Maybe it's on the playgroundR.  Maybe it's driving a carR.  Maybe it's in a boxR.  Maybe it's under a treeR.  The possibilities are endless.  We list them and giggle the rest of the way to schoolR.

Speaking of school, here's another wonderful piece of Halloween art--a ghost with a heart.  She put it in an envelope and addressed the envelope to "DAViD." He was suitably charmed.

Okey-Dickey

More and more, Amelia is communicating with us rather than just echoing our words. This evening, she said "hello" to me over the phone. Right now, she is telling Daddy to "Read the book" (Spot's Halloween). Before our shower, she announced, "Dress off! Mommy do it!" Then, "Diaper off! Amelia do it!" She said, "Have it," to her Daddy when she wanted him to let her hold the tube of Balmex. Earlier today, she said, "Ring ring" to him when he hadn't heard the telephone ringing. And when he said, "Let me put on my shoes and then we'll go see Grandma," she responded, "Okey-dickey!"