Bill Press is an Ass

This morning, Bill Press was ripping on former Senator Al D’Amato’s announcement that he and his new wife were going to have a baby. That sent Bill Press and his crew into a hysterical fit because Senator D’Amato turns 70 in February.

I got pissed. They were making total jackasses out of themselves. So I sent this email to the program.

***Begin email***
As part of an infertile couple, I NEVER begrudge someone else’s fertility.

I also noticed that you were happy to list Senator D’Amato’s children. What about his wife? Is this her first child? My guess is — this is her first child. I applaud the fact that she is able to get pregnant at 41. I hope she has a wonderful pregnancy, an easy childbirth and a healthy baby.

We had to build our family through adoption. My guess is that if the D’Amatos want to build a family, this is their only option. There are age limits on adoption, both in the U.S. and internationally. You so easily dismiss their desire to have a family together.

Since you’re so concerned about “dad not being around for the kids”, what do you say about all the fathers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan? They don’t know if they will live to see February either. Or fathers everywhere that are walking around with undiagnosed cancer, or heart issues, or that work in jobs with more than average risk of injury or death. Truth is, none of us knows how long we’ll be around. You could get hit by a bus anytime.

My husband is 11 years older than me. I’ve been able to build a small safety net for my children and I in the event of my husband’s death. As long as the child is provided for — it’s none of our business.

And for those listeners who have trouble keeping up with their kids — I think that’s a matter of will and priorities. Because this 49 year old mama is doing just fine with her 5 and almost 9 year old. As does their 60 year old dad.
***End Email***

I am no fan of Senator D’Amato’s politics. But his family matters are his own. I don’t see how adding a new baby to a family is anyone’s business but their own.

Bill Press and his crew are ASSES.

Stop Me Before I Drink Again

My name is Carol Anne. And I have a drinking problem:
Starbucks.

I swear Starbucks must put illegal and/or addicting substances (other than caffeine) into their Mocha Frappucinos. Why else would I be jonesing for one RIGHT NOW, at 8:30 pm. A great big one, no whip cream.

This is as bad as my other addiction: Office Max. However, I’ve been able to handle that one lately. I just make long lists of office supplies I’d love to buy, if I had an unlimited budget.

If I tuck in a kid or two, bribe the dogs, I may be able to sneak off to grab a mocha frap to go. It’s not like I have anything better to do… like laundry.

Go-To Products

In Ali Edwards’ latest newsletter, she asks her readers to consider their go-to products. The scrapbooking products you always use.

Here’s my list:
Adhesives
— Tombo MonoAdhesive
— Zots Glue Dots
— 3L Photo Mounting Squares

Pens
— Zig pens

Miscellaneous Items
— Eyelets and Brads. Can’t live without ’em
— Tonic scissors. Love the Teflon coating.

Storage Stuff
— Club Scrap pizza boxes. They are sturdy and versatile. I can turn them into vertical or horizonal storage, without worrying that I will damage my paper.

Trimmer
— I am slowly giving up my Cutterpede for my Purple Cows digital photo trimmer. It does great on cardstock, too.

Camera & Lens
— If I am around home, I will always grab my Canon G3 digital camera. It only has the lens it came with.
— However… if I’m traveling, I go back to my old reliable: Pentax K-1000 and throw the 135 mm lens in the bag as well. And I’ll also drop in the Canon Elph APS camera that does panoramic photos. On a trip, I HAVE to take panoramas. It’s my signature travel photo.

Forty-Two

Rachel just dropped by as I was cleaning my office/craft/crap area. She asks:
“Mama, what is the answer to Number 6?”

Not clear on what she was asking, I gave the only possible correct answer: 42.

She walked away happy. That’s all that matters.

Better Than Michael Stipe

I’m turning my kids into R.E.M. fans. Their Aunt Kay would be proud.

After getting the class under control last night, Sarah came upstairs to hang out with me. I had told her a couple days ago about the “Man in the Moon” and “Stand” videos I had found on the ‘Net. Last night she asked to see them.

Well, we watched those two. Then I found the video for “Bad Day” — we laughed so hard we had to watch it three times. “Fall on Me”, “Losing My Religion”, “The End of the World as We Know It”, and several others followed. We sang, we laughed. We bonded.

And then, I hit gold. I found several videos from the Washington D.C. “Vote for Change” concert from October 2006. So, we had to go through not only all the R.E.M. videos, but all the Springsteen videos as well. Again, Aunt Kay would be proud. Sarah now knows who The Big Man is.

The funniest thing is watching Michael Stipe dance on stage. It’s like watching a programmer dance — flailing arms, disjointed movements, jumping up and down like a maniac. It is quite the sight to see. But through all of it, his voice remains strong and clear.

After we had missed Sarah’s bed time by two hours, it was time to stop. Sarah left me with these parting words: “Michael Stipe sings better than you, but you dance way better than Michael Stipe.”

My First Meme

I’ve been tagged by the 108 for an interview meme. This is my first. Be gentle with me.

Here are the rules:
There are five slots in the meme list. As you are tagged, remove the name in the first slot and bump everyone up so that your name can be added to the bottom.
1. Freelance Cynic
2. Are We There Yet?
3. Maggie Moo
4. the108
5. The Walls of St Paul

Then, select five people you’d like to tag.
1. Miss Cellania
2. Write from Karen
3. Figlet
4. Omegamom
5. Me and Chairman Mao

Finally, answer these questions:
1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, we were getting jerked around by a local adoption agency as we were trying to qualify to adopt a Minnesota waiting child. The “social worker” was a pompous ass, trying to prove himself and just out of school. He would “lose” our paperwork – and I would find it sticking out of our file whenever we’d meet. Pissed him off when I would see it and pull it from the stack. Yippee for colored paper. It was stressful and aggravating time. We lost a year of our lives and a significant (to us) amount of money when it became clear they didn’t want to help us have a family. Asses.

2. What were you doing 1 year ago?
Working to keep our family together while John was undergoing neuropsych testing and dealing with an idiot psychiatrist with the couch-side manner of Frazier Crane.

3. Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Dove Dark Chocolate
2. Almond M&Ms.
3. Haagen-Daz ice cream
4. A spoonful of peanut butter
5. Raw elbow macaroni

4. Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
1. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
2. Shattered by The Rolling Stones
3. The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key
4. Any song by The Who
5. Fall on Me by R.E.M.

5. Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Other than paying off all the bills…
1. Trip to Germany to visit my brother’s family and his in-laws. His mother-in-law is the world’s greatest cook.
2. A long trip to China with the family to visit old haunts and the girls’ birth cities.
3. Buy a 1940’s or 1950’s vintage car and a place to store it in bad weather.
4. Set up a foundation/adoptionship program for our adoption agency — Crossroads
5. Add on the 2nd half of the second story of our house to create my dream scrapbooking/stamping/sewing craft room.

6. Five bad habits:
1. Biting my fingernails
2. Mochas from Starbucks
3. Blowing my nose really loudly
4. Snorking my nose to clear my sinuses
5. Snacking at night

7. Five things you like doing:
1. Writing
2. Scrapbooking
3. Hugging kids and/or dogs
4. Reading
5. Beading

8. Five things you would never wear again:
1. Peasant/BoHo clothing.
2. Mid-thigh shorts – even if my legs were good.
3. Clogs
4. Bikini – had one when I was 12. I hated it.
5. Bright blue eyeshadow.

9. Five favorite toys:
1. Computer
2. Digital camera
3. Playdough or clay
4. The dogs
5. Paper crafting supplies

A Visit from Cousin Nit

The message light was glowing when I got back from coffee early Wednesday morning. It was daycare.

“We think Sarah has head lice. We need you to pick her up right away.”

What a way to ruin what was shaping up to be a perfect workday! I had a particularly odious meeting get canceled, and it looked like I’d be able to snuggle up with Word and Visio all day long while I worked on internet security use cases. OK, I know to most of you, that last sentence made no sense. But to a technical writer, it was going to be a day of pure creative, productive bliss.

Damn lice.

Hop the bus. Pick up the girls. Confirm the lice. Head to SuperTarget for supplies. And then the marathon cleaning extravaganza began. Kids, me, clothing, toys, dolls. I check out clean, everything else gets a thorough scrubbing or set up for a six week bagging. Mass laundering begins.

24 hrs. post louse, John comes home from a conference. I have to check him out. I feel like a gorilla at the zoo, checking over his (sparse) hair. He checks out OK. Back to the laundry.

48 hrs. post louse, I’ve done 13 large, hot water dependent loads of laundry. There are three more large contractor garbage bags full of things to be washed. Rachel finally checks out clean. Sarah still has micro-louse crap in her hair. Cries when I comb her out. Cries when I wonder aloud if I should get her an orphanage hair cut (with our hairdresser’s blessing). Cries because she is missing her dolls. Cries because we call her Cousin Nit. She is miserable.

**Sidebar** During the comb out, at times she looks like Cousin It from The Addams Family. I said “Cousin It”. Rachel thought I said “Cousin Nit”. Rachel runs around the deck yelling “Cousin Nit! Cousin Nit! Cousin Nit!”
**End Sidebar**

No clue where these things came from. I think this is another lawn crapping event from on high.

My life is constant battle with the washing machine and dryer. I’m up to 15 complete loads of laundry now. Tomorrow’s Saturday — I might finish it all, and the REGULAR laundry that accumulates day-by-day. Or I may collapse in a heap by my computer, and play Solitaire all day and write our the meme Kyra tagged me with.

In the meantime, it’s time to switch out another load.

And Speaking of Great Music…

… I must be breaking several laws, both natural and unnatural, bopping along to Robert Palmer at 1:09am. This is my reward for grading another stack of papers (one more to go… tomorrow).

“She’s so fine… there’s no tellin’ where the money went… “
— sounds like a Wednesday night at the MOA to me.

Who needs sleep when you have Robert Palmer cranked? Too bad the guy’s dead. Love that voice…

I should end this before the Ellipses Police come to get me…