Singular or Plural?

I’m starting to wonder if this blog should be renamed Married Geek. You know, singular. Hmmm…

Could I BE Any More Out of Place?

Last night our local Borders was having a Twilight movie pre-release party. For anyone who has been doubling as a troglodyte for the last few years, Twilight is the first book in a vampire series written by the Mormon housewife, Stephenie Meyer. And it is brilliant. If you are interested in reading it, don’t make the same mistake I did when I tried hunting it down in the book store. You won’t find it in the fiction section. Nope. It’s in the kid's section. OK, OK, not exactly the kid’s section. You will find it in the “Young Adult” section of the book store.

Now I don’t want to give any spoilers for anyone reading it or who wants to read it, but I would like to say that it would be nice if someone would write the steamy stuff that was left out. I don’t know if it was left out because it was written with a “young adult” crowd in mind or because it was written by a Mormon housewife who believes sex is something that ONLY happens AFTER marriage, but please someone, let me know what happens between Edward and Bella in the sac. Really, I WANT to read it. Hmmm… maybe that is my calling. Write all the hot, steamy love scenes for all the Mormon housewife authors out there.

Anyway, I digress. I decided to go to the movie pre-release party at Borders. Even knowing that this incredible series was marketed toward “young adults” I shamelessly thought, I’m only my mid-thirties, I fall into that category, right? After going to this event, I painfully know the answer to that question. Yeah, it would be a resounding NO.

The place was packed with budding-sexuality teenage girls. You know who I’m talking about. The 12 to 16 crowd. I think they were staring at me and the friend I dragged along not because we were old but because they were wondering which of the kids in the crowd were ours. Yes, that’s right. I quickly calculated the average age of the crowd and realized much to my dismay that I was easily a whole drinking-age person older than the majority of the crowd. There were exceptions. You know, the moms who actually did bring their budding-sexuality children to the event. You know, because THEY COULDN’T DRIVE YET.

So, the event itself was entertaining. The young lady who ran it was really energetic and boisterous. We started with a cast-member approval rating, starting with Edward and ending with some of the more minor characters. The nubile audience said what they liked and what they didn’t like about each actor chosen for each role. You could FEEL the passion oozing from these young girls thoroughly in deep, head-over-heels in love with Edward, the main hottie in the book. Oh, wait, that’s a felony for me right? Wait, he’s actually over 100 years old, but trapped in a 17 year old’s body. That doesn’t make me jail material, does it?

The 90-minute event included a portion where the audience was asked to name the character who said a particular quote. I realized how far from profound this was when the quotes included things like, “I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me.” Don’t get me wrong, I DEVOURED all four novels in about three weeks, a record for me. It is a great story, but it is really light reading. You aren’t going to be questioning your mid-life crisis or the current economic state of our country while reading this book. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much.

During an intermission on this highly fascinating and soul-searching event, my glutton-for-punishment friend and I decided we’d stick it out until the end. Why? To try and win the free movie tickets of course. We decided this before we heard there was a charades portion of the event. Seriously. What was even more entertaining than the thought of this was actually watching the event itself. One young girl after another (oh, and one tween boy) walked up and pretty much did the same thing. They would stand there clueless and wait to get the help of the young lady that ran the event. It wasn't like watching a reenactment of Moses parting the Red Sea. It was more like trying to guess who at one point opened a door in the book or trying to guess which vampire had the biggest muscles.

Well, we didn't get the tickets in the end, nor did we get any of the smaller raffle prizes that included wax fangs and a vampire-in-a-box. Bummer. I'm still going to see the movie. I might do a matinee during the week in the hopes that most of those wanting to see the movie will be in school. Elementary or otherwise.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Greg has been digging through all of his old Australian Operation Raleigh slides and negatives, scanning them, and recreating this important part of his history. Or reliving his youth. Whichever. Anyway, in one of his boxes of negatives, there were two crystals. With some sort of honing device, our children were drawn to them. Sort of like the orphan Jen seeking the shard of the Dark Crystal. Or Gollum being mesmerized by the Ring. They thought they’d hit the mother load when these precious little gems were discovered.

This morning they were granted permission by the king of the stones, their Daddy, to play with them. Here they are in absolute awe of their innate powers:

 

Against my better judgement I let them bring their “diamonds” into the car with us on our way to a play date. Now Emily can’t find hers. I’ve hunted with a flash light in all the food and crumb infested crevices of the van. I’ve sent in Koko and Charmin in the hopes they had some inkling of hunter ability in them and could sniff it out. Yeah, no luck with them either. They didn’t even clean up the abundance of crumbs strewn throughout the van. Some dogs they are.

Emily is devastated. I can only hope that it will be found at some point in the near future. Who knows, maybe this is the inspiration for some children’s book that will incorporate the pure determination of Jen and the utter insanity of Gollum. Sounds like the makings of a winner, yes?

Reno Mapes Demolition

Deep from the archives I found a series of images that I took of the demolition of the Reno Mapes.  Taken handholding the camera I started shooting film prior to the detonation and ran out of film before the final brick hit the ground.

From Mapes

Eight is Great

Today is my eighth wedding anniversary with Greg. And eight is great. Greg has more patience than I deserve. Oh sure, he has his quirks, but his ability to deal with mine is uncanny. Seriously, he GETS me. And that is a tall order. I know I can be difficult.

To celebrate this brilliant occasion I would like to share a story about us. When we were dating, the issue of kids came up. At the time, I didn’t think I wanted to have kids. I attribute this feeling to the fact that I had never been with anyone I wanted to have kids with. Before him, having kids seemed like something I would have to do alone if I ever wanted any. Greg on the other hand knew he didn’t want any more kids. He already had one beautiful boy from his first but failed marriage. He was certain he didn’t want any more. His adamancy about this became a hot topic for us as we plunged further and further into head-over-heels-in-love land. I wasn’t sure I wanted that door closed, and as far as he was concerned he had locked the door, swallowed the key, waited for it to be pooped out, and then buried it in the middle of the Nevada desert. Somewhere.

Then one day, one remarkable day, Greg took Jacob to his swim lesson. As he sat and watched his boy swim, he swelled with pride and unconditional love. At that moment he realized this was something that he didn’t want me to miss in life. I want to be clear about something. I love and adore Jacob. We had then and still have today a great relationship, but I was never any kind of replacement or substitute for his own loving and adoring mother. I was more of a loving addition to his growing family.

Fast-forward four years or so, and Braedyn was born. I enjoyed being a mom more than I ever could have imagined, so much so that I had a confession for my ever-giving husband. I wanted one more. Just one more. C’mon. I mean, really, what’s one more when you’ve already got the house baby-proofed? His response? Um. No. Resounding and certain. No.

Valentine’s day was several weeks after my emotionally charged confession. This is one Valentine’s I will never forget. This is a picture of what I received:

This locket with a picture of Braedyn on one side and a spot for “Baby #2” on the other exemplifies what kind of man I am lucky to be married to.

I’m sure it was painful and a tad disgusting to locate that damn key, but I’m so glad he did it. Twice. We now have a charming and energetic boy that can unabashedly look up to his father as a wonderful example of how to be a great man and a beautiful and painfully stubborn daughter that has him wrapped around her little finger.

Thanks, Greg, for digging through the poop for me. I love you, and happy anniversary.

A Letter to My Children

Dear Braedyn and Emily,

Yesterday was an historic day in our lives. Your father and I helped elect Barack Obama as our country’s 44th President. There are many, many reasons this was an historical and ground-breaking moment in time. What I’d like to do with this letter is to help you understand why this day was so important to me.

Barack Obama is an amazing man who has ignited people to do good for their country. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and help in a way that I have never felt compelled to do before. By winning this election, he has made us realize how each of us is a part of his well-deserved victory. It is our victory. He is compassionate, intelligent, articulate, and has a clear vision for our country’s success and prosperity. He has united people like no other in my lifetime.

Beyond his concise and thoughtful approach to tackling the economic crisis and the wars we are fighting, I was so engaged by this election because of his kindness and humanity. I believe he understands the complexity and diversity of life, and by doing so makes me feel like he truly represents me.

He has helped to bring people together in a way that just thinking about makes me awestruck. It’s not that he himself did this unilaterally, but rather he rallied people to do what was already in them to do. He fired people up! To see Americans of each creed and color celebrating his victory, our victory, together, he has helped bring out the good in people. The good that I believe people want to share with one another, regardless of skin color, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, economic status, gender, age, ability.

I am vehemently pro-choice. Barack Obama was the candidate that fell into line with my beliefs on this tough issue. His approach to such a heavily-debated topic is one that is filled with empathy. His approach is simple. Let’s work on educating people about birth control. Let’s promote sex education that is healthy, informative, and realistic. In doing so, let’s reduce the number of abortions. Let’s leave Roe v. Wade alone so that women’s lives will not be at stake. Educate. Educate. Educate. And by all means, let’s be compassionate about an outcome that no one “favors”.

I also passionately believe that non-heterosexuals should have every right that I do as a heterosexual American citizen. I do not believe the family unit as we know it today will suffer by allowing homosexual couples to marry or have children. Who someone chooses to marry does not diminish or tarnish the love that your father and I have for each other or for you. Frankly, who someone chooses to marry is none of my business. If being with someone of the same sex makes someone happy in this short life, by all means, be with that person and be happy. Enjoy it. Relish it. I know I cherish the life your father and I have built together. Far be it from me to stand in the way of someone else experiencing the same joy. Furthermore, by allowing someone to be at their partner’s deathbed in a hospital is not only the compassionate thing to do, it simply is the right thing to do. I hope by the time you are old enough to read and comprehend this letter, you have to dig into some history books to figure what the hell I’m talking about. I hope that this election helps incite much needed unity, compassion, and tolerance in this country.

I also want you to grow up around a diverse group of people and cultures. I believe this election has helped create an opportunity in our society to do something very simple -- to get to know one another. It truly is a simple thing, really. I think as Americans we needed someone to say, “hey, we are capable of doing this” and we needed a group, thirsty for change, to say, “yes we can.”

I love you both so very much. I want you to look back at this election and at this letter and realize your voices count in life. I want you to embrace the knowledge that nothing is outside your grasps. I want you to better understand me. Please live your life to the fullest. Every day. Every minute. And never, never forget how much you are capable of.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I am going to update these sayings as they occur. I don’t want them to be lost.

11/2008
Braedyn: When Granny was here last night, she let us have ice cream.
Me: Well that was a special treat!
Braedyn: Yeah, she splitted us.
Me: You mean she spoiled you?
Braedyn: Yeah, she spoiled us.

11/04/2008
Me: Today is an important day in our country. We are going to find out who the next President is. Mommy voted and hopes the person she voted for gets the job.
Braedyn: Yeah, but when Daddy gets home can I show him my new Power Rangers phone?

10/2008
Emily: Mommy, what’s your name?
Me: Susanne.
Emily: What's my name?
Me: Emily.
Emily: What's Braedyn's name?

09/2008
Greg to Emily: Who’s your Daddy?
Emily: Mommy is.

Me: How did you get all that ink on your legs?
Braedyn: I don’t know. It just bounced off the paper onto my legs.

Braedyn after I snuck up on him: Agh!!! You fartled me!

Braedyn: Mommy! Emily is going to tell on me!

Braedyn: EMILY! Be quiet! I can’t hear the lightning with you talking!

08/2008
Braedyn: Mommy, Emily wants an Elmo party on her planet.

Emily: Take a picture of my bones.
Braedyn: I can’t! Your skin keeps getting in the way.

Emily: Mommy, turn off the wind!

Emily: (Covering and uncovering her eyes) Pee poo!
Me: Peek-a-boo!
Emily: Pee poo!

Braedyn: Mommy, when I trick my treat, can I be Batman?

Braedyn: Daddy, I remember when you were a kid.
Emily: Daddy, you’re an old guy.

Braedyn: (While trimming his toes) My big toe is getting old.

Braedyn: Mommy, Emily is taking a long time to grow up.

A Reason to Not Sound So Smug. Ouch.

Many moons ago when I was a wet-behind-the-ears 18 year old, I met a guy. It was July 4th, and I was hanging out at “the bar” with my Dad during a visit with him in El Paso. You only had to be 18 to get into most bars in Texas at this time. You couldn’t legally drink at 18, but you could hang out with all the people who could. Yeah, interesting law. Maybe they figured this was the best way to have a designated driver on hand. Or wait, maybe that was just in my family. Anyway this guy, whose name I can’t even remember now, was older, recently divorced, and had a couple of small kids. He was a nice enough guy, but I think he thought he was going to get something from me other than some good conversation. You know, good conversation with an 18 year old. Uh-huh. Let me be clear up front, he didn’t get anything more than conversation from me. Let me repeat this. He did NOT get anything more than conversation from me. Even though he wanted more.

He and I spent some time together. We went to White Sands and hiked around on the dunes one afternoon. We had fine dining experiences at the local Denny’s. And then one fateful day, we played racquetball. I had never played before but figured, hey, this guy’s old, how hard could it be to beat him? And it wasn’t. We played some intense games of racquetball, and I kicked his ass. Sure, I can hear the questions now. Did he LET you win? Was he trying to make me feel euphoric from the slaughter, so much so that he could take me back to his place for a roll in the hay? Um, NO. No, no, no. It was a heart-thumping, intense game. And did I mention I never played before and still kicked ass? Oh, and this was the last time I saw this guy. So, if that was intention, it totally backfired. As you can see, this slaughter made me smug about what I thought were natural racquetball abilities. At least I can admit it.

Fast forward to the present. Almost two decades later. *Shudder.* Last week I joined a gym. This gym even has a place I can take the kids while I work out, so I have no excuse not to go. I even convinced Greg to sign up. Here’s why I thought this was a good idea. We don’t have date night. We rarely get to go out by ourselves. Here’s an opportunity to get as many dates in a month that we want, all for only an additional $25 a month. Granted, these dates will not consist of candlelight and fine wine (or box wine, for that matter). There will be no long and loving gazes as we walk down a moonlit path. No, these will not be traditional dates. The upside? Two incredible things. One, we don’t have to worry about getting a babysitter to get some alone time. Two, there will be some ass-kicking on the racquetball court. Me doing all the ass-kicking of course. I mean, Greg is older and has two small kids and one big kid. He fits the perfect mold for one of my court dominations.

Yeah, smug. Right? Well, I learned my lesson yesterday. Never estimate an old dog. (Sorry, Greg. You ARE older.) Greg kicked my ass in the racquetball court yesterday. He even stung my ass once with the ball when I didn’t move fast enough. I held my own, for sure. I hadn’t stepped foot in a racquetball court for 18 years, and I think I did an ok job. But Greg, well, he did better.

About 40 minutes into our first “date” on the court, I felt a snap. A foreboding and painful snap. So, now I am nursing an injured wrist. Boo hoo. Sniff. Sniff. That’s ok. This will give Greg some time to get really smug about his victory. That’s my game plan. Let him *think* he’s all that and a bag of chips. I just needed a warm up, a refresher course. And now I just need a little time to heal. He better watch out because our next date is sure to be a knock-out! Get your protective gear ready, Greg!

Nothing Like A Pup Picture To Cheer You Up

From the Archives.  I was scanning my old Australia photos and found this puppy pic from the late 80’s.  Even if the exposure is so poor than you cannot see her eyes, it sill warms my heart.  Sierra was a wonderful pooch who has been gone for many years. I miss you girl.

I Love Socialism, So I Am Moving To Alaska

I have been saying it and I am surprised it took A) the media so long to print it, or B) me so long to find it in print. 

If I hear Palin accuse Obama of socialism without preceding it with a full disclosure of how Alaskans get a check for oil produced in the state of Alaska, I think I will puke.

"And Alaska we're set up, unlike other states in the union, where it's collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs."(1)

I guess that's not spreading the wealth, its sharing the resources…oh wait, its redistribution of income to those who have not earned it…oh wait crap, those are all “socialist” methods of financial distribution.  Never mind “we are mavericks”, and oh, look over there, look over there…  RETCH.

If you can’t see or smell the hypocrisy here, you are pinching your nose, closing your eyes, and holding your breath underwater pretending its not there.  The socialism claims are hatemongering fear tactics and I am so done.  Bring on the election.

Who Takes Hope Away from Grown Ups?

OK, I was trying to keep politics out of my last post, but then I felt I was self-censoring, and I didn’t like that. Not one bit. So, here is my addendum.

Braedyn has learned a tough lesson about having something stolen from him. I feel jaded about this because I’d love to tell him that it won’t happen again. That he won’t ever have to feel the violation of having something taken from him. But as the election nears, I can’t help but feel I might have something stolen from me. If McCain/Palin win next Tuesday, they will have stolen something very precious from me. They will have stolen my hope that women’s rights aren’t going to take a huge backward leap. They will have stolen my hope that our country won’t become a joke to those in the scientific community. (Um, fruit flies, anyone?) They will have stolen my hope that our country hasn’t forgotten about the principles of separation of church and state. (God will take care of the election?? WTF?) They will have stolen my hope that we can be unified as a country. I don’t like how that possibility makes me feel.

What can’t be taken from me is my hope for my children. I hope when they are my age these are no longer the issues on the battlefield.

Who Takes Candy from a Baby?

A couple of weeks ago, Braedyn learned a rough lesson from a bad experience. From what I can tell of discussions we’ve had since, this is one lesson that is going to stick. What is the lesson? That there are bad guys. Real bad guys, not just pretend bad guys that his beloved super heroes fight and win.

Braedyn’s Grandma and Auntie Mama took him out to celebrate his fifth birthday. During this joyous and much anticipated outing, he got to go to the toy store to pick out a toy and then go to a lunch house of his choice for dinner. Guess which one he picked? Yup. Red Robin. No surprise there.

But first, they went to Toys ‘R Us. Amazingly Braedyn’s head did not pop. In fact, I heard he was very deliberate and picky when it came to the toy he wanted for his birthday. When he saw it, he just knew it was the one! He very excitedly picked out the Tyco R/C Air Blade. So, with the Air Blade purchased, they were off to dinner.

After a scrumptious meal of mac and cheese and a devoured dessert over a melodious “Happy Birthday” song from the Red Robin staff, they headed back to the parking lot. And there was my van, side door open. And new toy gone. Braedyn decided NOW was the appropriate time for his head to pop. He was very upset, understandably so. He had been violated. He had his new toy, not even out of the box yet, stolen. (Side note…I’m SO, SO thankful they didn’t think to look in the glove box and take my iPod!)

Grandma and Auntie Mama calmed him down and assured him they would get him another. Braedyn was very lucky. Not all families could get him a replacement toy for the one that had been so wrongfully stolen.

This event continues to surface in our lives. Today we were getting a few groceries, and he spotted a Batman set of pajamas. That light up. The only thing that could have made them even MORE appealing to him would be if they had sewn candy corn around the neckline for him to munch on. Seriously, I thought his head would pop if he didn’t get them. Now, I don’t normally give in to whims at the grocery store, but he DID need some new pajamas, since last year’s look like capris on him now. So, I got them.

On the way home from the store as he lovingly embraced his new light up pajamas, he said, “I really like my new pajamas! I don’t want a bad guy to take them, Mommy.” Ugh. I assured him that no one was going to take his new pajamas. I promised we’d take them right into the house. Which we did. By the way, It is now 2:30 in the afternoon and he’s had them on for about 3 hours now. I’ll be amazed if we can get him OUT of his Batman pajamas and INTO his Batman costume for trick-or-treating. Tomorrow night.

So, this was a tough lesson for him to learn. It was ultimately a good one to learn, I guess. I mean bad things do happen to good people. But I can’t help but feel sad that he EVER had to learn this.

It’s not the item being stolen that is the real offense. It is an innocence that has been invaded. The thief didn’t get his hope though. The other day he told me, “Mommy, I think the police got the bad guy.” I sure as hell hope so.

Keating Five For President ‘08

Let me preface this with the fact that until the spring of 2007 I was a registered Republican.  I registered Republican the day I could register and was proud to do so.

I continue to receive emails telling me how the current financial debacle is the fault of the Democratic party. Let’s look at some facts:

• Republicans have had control of the White House for 20 of the last 28 years.
• Republicans took control of Congress in 1992 for the first time in 50 years, and they held onto that control either in Majority or Plurality until 2006. (You can verify my facts from Wikipedia).

So, lets ASSuME that President Jimmy Carter and the "Liberal Democrats", and hell let’s even throw in the Acorn scandals, are to blame for the current financial crisis. With that assumption in mind, let’s analyze this.

For the last 28 years, any of the seated Republican presidents, the Republican controlled Congress were UNABLE, unwilling even, to see, stop and fix the “Carter/Liberal Democrat/Acorn” financial Tsunami that we now find ourselves in. Sounds like someone was asleep at the wheel.

On top of it let’s throw in a little fact that people seem to be ignoring this election.  Anybody remember the Keating Five?  I won't bother writing all the details here (feel free read all about it here – take your time, I will wait, I want you to be educated). Summary:

The U.S. Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s was the failure of 747 savings and loan associations (S&Ls) in the United States. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.^[1]

That’s about 308 billion dollars today to you and me, paid for by the American taxpayer.  Sounding familiar? Who was behind this scandal, a one John McCain and four other U.S. Senators (full disclosure - the other four were Democrats). McCain was cleared of acting improperly, but was criticized for "poor judgment".

This is the same man who has a history of deregulation.  The same man running for President of the United States who wants to fix the financial debacle we are in.

Really.  The current financial crisis can be blamed on the Democrats? 

Tell you what.  If it is their fault, maybe they have a better understanding of the problem and we should put them in office to fix it. If it is not the Republicans fault they sure couldn’t see it coming over the last 28 years.  Talk about running the government blind.

It’s looking like the late 80's all over again but with a bigger bailout, a bigger financial crisis and a former Keating Five member wants you to put him into the White House to fix it.

Think about it.

Gotta Love My View

As I look out my window and type this, I can’t help but hum a ditty that was sung for years by our old pal, Mr. Rogers…

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...

I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?

Oh, I am SOOO ready to run over and introduce myself.

I canvassed for Obama yesterday. It was only for a couple of hours, and I got to walk around in a beautiful neighborhood with gorgeous old trees donning every Fall color imaginable. I don’t know how much of a difference I made ultimately, but it was certainly a great experience for me. Most of the people I talked to were friendly, and those that did take the time to chat with us were overwhelming pro-Obama. It was a heartening experience during such disheartening times.

I haven’t felt moved enough to volunteer for a political purpose since I was at Texas A&M in the early 90’s and proudly held my Pro-Choice sign along with about 15 or 20 others in front of the football stadium before a big game. Anyone familiar with the combination of East Texans and football can speculate correctly that this experience was highly volatile, er…memorable. It was an important moment in the shaping of my voice.

I encourage everyone to go out and early vote. The process was so convenient and easy. I was giddy with excitement as I voted and was practically moved to tears by the process.

Go Obama ‘08!

OK, now I’m going to have to excuse myself to go introduce myself.