Dear Future President...My Offer Still Stands

I am thrilled to have had the experience to hear Elizabeth Edwards answer our questions in our meeting with her today. My thoughts are racing after the call.

I would love to have the opportunity to talk to the other candidates. I wonder if I would be as excited about their campaigns after listening to them. If they don't reach out to us, we'll all be left with only this very positive experience upon which to make our decisions about who we'll vote for.

I have to say the Edwards campaign is not only the only campaign that's responded to our request to meet with them, they are the only campaign that has extended an invitation to have us blog for them...or the only invitation I've received as a mommy blogger.

I still haven't made up my mind. But if you aren't willing to talk to us Senators Obama, Clinton, Biden, Dodd or McCain, Mayor Guiliani or Governors Romney and Richardson how will we know that you deserve our vote?

Quotes from Elizabeth Edwards

"I don't think we get the change we want unless we're willing to work for it.

I deal with supporters...I'm doing fundraising. People write a check and they think they've done their part. We're on a bad path right now. We need to be committed to working to make a change.

John is committed to that.

The way people run their campaign tells you a lot about them. Are they running a different campaign?

We have an opportunity for real change if we have someone who is dedicated to it. We can get more of the same. John isn't the flashiest candidate.

This campaign isn't about John Edwards as a person...if you don't like his hair cut...that isn't going to get us anywhere. If people are going to vote for him it's going to be about the ideas. Not about the person. That's why he got his policies out there early. All the rhetoric sounds the same, but it tells you something about the person when they run their campaign a particular way. It's not about the guy, it's about the vision.

You cannot sit on your hands and expect the change to happen.

If we get to Novemeber 2008 and have two candidates who aren't going to represent change, you're going to be sorry that you didn't do something when you had the chance. This isn't about February. This is about November. You have to do what you can now to start making changes."

Elizabeth Edwards

Vision of national health care system in under universal health care. The ability to have national system means that we'll see outbreaks of illnesses earlier, we'll have translators available 24/7.

Dependent Care:

What would that look like under the Edwards Presidency?
"I wish I knew the answer. Every employer regardless of size would give seven days paid sick leave a year (regardless of size). That's the only thing I know at the present time. That doesn't mean there isn't a plan."


My question:

How will our lives change if your husband becomes president? We've heard many positions on issues, including health care, but howwill our world be safer and more prosperous for our children if JohnEdwards is President?

"John's policies are about the ladder that people used to climb toward the American dream. Many of the rungs are broken. Education, a good wage, people were healthy and hearty. There is not as much mobility between the parts of our society that there used to be. Top 300,000 wage earners in this country earn the same as the bottom 150 million in our country. Want to reinstill that we can move through our work. Universal health care is a big part of that. You have to be healthy to work hard, go to school. People aren't sitting around worried about their health care, people aren't worried about their schools because we'll have schools that are working to educate our children. We have 11,000 HS that are graduating most of their students. We keep failing our teachers and students but we can't do that any more. This isn't something that will change in one term. This is a long term plan. John's plan for college for everyone...means that people who didn't have a hope for upward mobility for will through education. Reestablish our moral authority in the world-get out of the war in Iraq. Beacon of morality--not as difficult as it seems. We have to change the way people feel about us by being their benefactor. John agrees with Gordon Brown. We need to educate people around the world Middle East, Africa, etc. so they don't have to rely on madrases for their education. We can provide clean water, sanitation, microlending. John would travel the world and give a new face for America. This won't change on a dime, but faster than changes in education will be accomplished. We have young people around the world who are trying to decide if they are with us or against us. If we're providing their education they might feel different. We drove them away. We have the capacity to change their opinion.

I have to say one thing. I know my answers are always too long.

John has started this community action corps (2000 groups across the country). We don't tell them what to do. We tell them to see what needs to be done in their community and do it. They don't have to campaign for them, but if they want to they can. They see [through their experience] they have the power to make change.

One thing that sets him apart. He believes we can individually accomplish things. If what John was offering was more of the same I wouldn't have made the decision to support him to run. It had to be that he can change things through the campaign. He wants to make dynamic changes in this country and the world.

EE is in the Room

Still waiting.

But Shakey is so sweet. He started to mow the lawn and then came up to make sure it wasn't too loud for my call. Not sure if was looking for an excuse not to mow or not.

Okay it's 4:30 and I think she just walked in. Hard to hear on the phone.

With Elizabeth (she insisted we call her Elizabeth):
Hargrave McElroy--teacher and travels with EE
Ryan Montoya--does some technology for the campaign

Jill Asher welcomes Elizabeth.

How did you find out about the post Rebecca put up? You responded so quickly...
She responded first and then sent the campaign a link and said oh by the way you might want to know.

"I know you need to respond to blogs right away. You can't wait 36 hours. It's out of date by then."

Jill: we had to check and confirm it was you.

EE: I do have a static IP. The guy from Whole Foods should have had a dynamic IP.

Q: How do you see yourself in the role as First Lady.
EE: "I have no idea. I have nothing to reference it to. I talk about the things I do now...I don't have grand ambitions. After school programs, stuff on breast cancer, fairer elections, trying to register women on ironing boards. Trying to get more women with busy/complicated enough lives who don't have time. Trying to improve the electoral process with more participation and better practices."

"I will not be sitting in cabinet meetings."

Health care: "I know you want a should, but it's hard. Truth of the matter, for profit insurers have been more innovative than govt providers. Looking for new way to provide services. There is a role for the for-profit companies in the process. The competition creates innovation. Single-payer eliminates. If we really do what we need to do w/respect to preventive med, screening and prev cures we'll be in better place in 15 years in terms of need for coverage."

Cancer: "if we find the cures for cancer, think about what that will do to the cost of long-term care. We'll be looking at a whole different picture."

"If we continue to let ourselves age without investing in developments and research for chronic illness we'll have a huge problem on our hands."

"would like to see a proliferation of public health care facilities. Would like to see them in elementary schools. Right now they're stigmatized....we need to take that away. We would have an aggressive public health care system but still have private providers. "

"Under universal care we'll still see the bigger providers but we'll see the smaller companies to go away. It's not bad to continue to have private companies to drive innovation.?

Still Waiting for EE

As we're waiting...

I had the opportunity to hear Mrs. Edwards speak at BlogHer the summer. She was articulate, open, honest and well-versed on the issues. She was strong and yet felt approachable. Personally, I walked away from the experience wishing she were running. Talk about a candidate I could get behind!

I was lucky enough to have the chance to shake her hand and say hello at the cocktail party that followed her session. She's tiny and very pretty in real life. She has a warm presence--especially when you consider all she has been through in her life. Obviously she has embraced a positive outlook.

She still has not entered the room. Ah, campaign timelines...

Elizabeth Edwards

Tracy Russo is on the line. She is the blogging and online outreach for the Edwards campaign.

She said EE insisted on meeting with the SV moms again--scheduled be damned.

Personally, I had to lock myself in my bedroom to make sure that none of my three boys ran through the room as Mrs. Edwards was speaking. Ah the challenges of a mommy blogger.

This and the next few posts will be live-blogged. Please ignore any typos as I try to get this all down quickly.

Live Blogging Elizabeth Edwards Call

It's noisy as we all get on the call.

You can hear the excitement in the room out in San Jose. They are meeting with Mrs. Edwards at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose.

We have a few minutes until she gets into the room.

24 women in the room there. We are able to live blog. They are able to take pictures. Not allowed to podcast or invite the press.

They will introduce everyone in the room and then the Chicago and DC moms on the line will be introduced. We're going to get as many questions asked as possible. The campaign has said that there are no questions that are off limit.

The Edwards Campaign is the First

A while back I wrote an open letter to the Presidential candidates inviting them to meet with some blogging mammas.

The Edwards campaign is the first to take us up on the offer.

At 4:00 p.m. EST today, Elizabeth Edwards will be meeting with the moms from the Silicon Valley Moms Blog and all the moms from the sister sites (Chicago Moms Blog and DC Metro Moms Blog) have been invited to participate via conference call.

Elizabeth Edwards has a history with the SV Moms. She met with them a year and a half ago while on a book tour, before her husband officially announced he was running. She spent two hours sitting down with them answering all of their questions. I know attempts have been made by the Edwards campaign to find time for the candidate himself to meet with some of us mom bloggers. And as I've mentioned before, I have yet to make up my mind, but I have to say the fact that the Edwards campaign is so interested in reaching out to smaller bloggers to talk about their vision for the country says quite a bit about them to me.

I'm going to try and live-blog the call. I may forget to hit publish, but I promise I will once it's all over.

I'm Not Breaking In, I'm Just Dancing

I'm pretty sure I was the only 37 year old mom in my neighborhood standing in her driveway this morning at 3:10 a.m. with her reading glasses on her head, waving a dish towel and channeling Christina Aguilera through her iPod.

There may have been one other, but I think she's only 35.

Ain't no other man
on the planet
knows what you do...

The Bidding is Open

You may not come with millions. You may not need 30 minutes to make a meal.

But, the family has taken a vote and it was unanimous.*

For those of you who haven't been following along (what? you don't stop by her five times a day?), it started yesterday with an email from dear old dad.

Then came the grateful response:

Thank you family for all the love and support and guidance and advertising and marketing and, and, and… holy cr@p!!!

The testimony from a friend (see anonymous).

And of course the vote (have you ever tried to get four sisters to agree on anything?).

We have decided it might be time.

So...

My brother is now officially on the auction block.

If you're interested, we'd be willing to entertain your offers for a date with my brother.

Despite the suggestion on the earlier post that we might be able to let him go sight-unseen, we felt we'd get a much better price if you could see the quality of the goods (not those goods--ewww he's my brother).

Here are the stats:

• Lives in Houston, TX
• Has a PhD in something science related--it's too complicated for me to understand
• He's a young 40
• Owns his own home--and it doesn't have wheels
• He's gainfully employed--it was a nail-biter there for a while
• Remembers birthdays (he sent me flowers this year!!)
• Has been on the vomit comet
• He has four fabulously gorgeous sisters
• He doesn't live near any of them
• Not a butter face

• Skilled in the way of the ninjas

• Not claustrophobic
  
• Has incredible muscle control

Oh, and he's willing to make an ass of himself for fun.

The bidding will open at a long weekend of babysitting for his three "spirited" nephews.

*Dad was going to object but we just stuffed a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth.
**Serious inquiries only please.

What a Day!

It wasn't really out of the ordinary, but it was just good.

I was able to follow Emily's incredible opportunity with the Clinton Global Initiave. Read back a few posts as she live-blogged her day.

I was greeted by this email from my dad.

Yeah, there was work to do--too much in fact--but I was able to have one-on-one time with my eldest tonight as we shopped for clothes.

The moon is full.

And, it's probably the last warm night of the year.

I should be in bed, but I had to enjoy some time this evening outside.

Some days it's just the little things.

Brother for Sale

From the same guy who brought us this, I submit the email my brother received today (and which we as his sisters were carbon copied).

Hi there Son,

I was in the grocery store line yesterday looking over the magazines for gossip, and there in that inimitable publication "The National Enquirer" was the news that Rachel Ray is getting divorced--is she a great prospect, or WHAT!!

Her husband--soon to be ex--is asking for the modest sum of $500 million for settlement, so you can detect that she can easily absorb the cost of a wedding. So CALL HER UP, and ASK HER OUT--I suspect it's been some time since she dated a rocket scientist*, so she should be receptive, even enthusiastic.

An aside, in case you don't know about Rachel, she is a young (?30-35) woman who has at least one (perhaps two) TV cooking shows, has written books on Italian cooking, travels the world doing feature shows on cooking in different countries and is very attractive, personable, and engaging. Her only possible weakness is that I have never seen her demonstrate compelling cookie cooking skills, an imperative--nay, mandatory--cooking strength. (This is not important since we can all help her with the cookies if she becomes part of the family--Hee-Hee.)

After all, sons-in-law are terrific, but really all they do is work and get fed and grumble that it's time to go. What we need in the Hurst family is a prospective daughter-in-law immersed in a long (but formal) engagement to keep her alert as to how best to please her aging prospective father-in-law. The occasional dutiful hug and kiss is fine, but we're talking ITALIAN COOKING here, and LOTSA dough for pasta AND travel expenses.

In addition to your status as a rocket scientist, I think you could also truly capture her interest if you told her your spaghetti sauce is better than hers--and then if neither of you are impressed after the first few dates you could at least get some wonderful recipes... While I have not consulted everyone, I am certain the remainder of the family joins me in this recommendation with the same unbridled enthusiasm.

Lotsa love, your old Dad

So then I asked dear old Dad if I could post his letter on my blog and here was his response:

Amie, glad you liked it, I think we all have to join to keep steady gentle pressure on such a timid family member. Of course you can post it on your blog, and I don't care about the whether you use my name or not--however, perhaps you should use your brother's name AND Email, since with such a blog as you manage he might turn up a whole HOST of prospects--all of us know that NOTHING gets the attention of Moms more than a stray single male... Lotsa love, Dad

I'm thinking he might want my brother to settle down. Any funny, cool, athletic, nice, women in the greater Houston, TX area want a date with a handsome 40 year-old NASA scientist??

And apparently, my dad would also prefer it if you were a good cook.

*in the spirit of semi-disclosure, my dear brother is involved in space medicine.

Shelfari Is Not My Friend--Yet

Do you ever have those "oh crap!" moments?

I was invited to join Shelfari by the lovely Anne Glamore (don't you love that name?). Well it seemed like a good idea. I love books. I love to hear what others think of books. I'm in a bookclub dammit!

What I didn't intend to do was spam every single person I have ever exchanged an email with.

Maybe I need to just turn in my computer as Shakey so gleefully suggested (nice husband huh?), OR maybe Shelfari shouldn't have the send button that appears at the bottom of one list apply to the list below it as well.

Should be intersesting to see what sort of conversation starter this is. Many of the people on the list don't know who MammaLoves is. I'm hoping they won't put two and two together. I'm not so sure I want old boyfriends reading my blog. They might find out I was faking it the whole time.

Let's hope this Shelfari thing is worth it.

***************
Edited to add: For any of you reading this, I was meaning to send the invitation to you. I just thought my boss, my neighbor and my old clients from a past job probably didn't need to receive the invitation. They probably didn't want to know about the dildos??

My Pride Knows No Bounds

And I'm not talking about the 18" zucchini we just harvested from my garden--though the sucker is big.

No, tonight it's Mr. 5.

Mr. 5 is my son best characterized as a golden retriever (right now Mr. 11 is a whippet and Mr. 3 is a Jack Russell, but that's always subject to change). He's sweet and happy and full of love, and playing with my hair has always been his comforting device--even as far back as when I was nursing him in public.

Mr. 5 and I were laying in bed tonight. He played with my hair as I read him his story. Tonight's selection was Johnny Appleseed. We came to the part that described Johnny as a peace-loving pioneer who wanted all people to live together as brothers. And that's when Mr. 5 did it, when he made my heart swell. He stopped me and said, "and sisters too."

My budding feminist!

To top the whole evening off, he snuggled his nose up to mine as the story finished and told me he loved me. "I love you mama, so much."

Thank you my sweet boy. That is the best gift I could ever receive. I will love you forever.

I'll Give You an Excuse

I wear my excessive weight like a suit of armor. It gives me an excuse for you not to notice me or like me. Then when you don't want to interract with me I know it's not because of me--of who I am--but because who wants to talk to the fat girl??

Ironically, I snuggle into my armor time and again anticipating the comfort that awaits, but as soon as it's on I realize it doesn't fit. It's too tight. It becomes hard to move. My heart can't beat as loudly with it on. Of course, when I go to take it off I realize I can't. I'm stuck.

And there I am--alone. Exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place.

I'm so uncomfortable I don't think I can stand it one more minute. But, the task of exposing myself once again is frightening. The job of disassembling the intricate fit from the inside out is formidable. I feel so helpless, and I begin to lose my will to try.

So there is one more reason for you to turn away in disgust.

Cold, hard, lazy, unwilling yet needy, needy, needy. Why would you stop to engage me?

Please though. Just for a moment understand I wasn't always this way. It's just so much easier if I give you a reason not to like me before you decide you don't.

It's very lonely in here. I know that will never change as long as I keep the armor on. I just need to remember it's never serves as protection but rather a wall.

This Morning

While standing at the table doing puzzles:

Mr. 3: I fart in the tub and bubbles come out.

Mr. 5: Awesome.

Truth or Dare?

I don't know why, but this sounds like fun. And I don't know what came over me to pick Dare, but I'm all in on this one.

I pray there is no public nudity involved. I'd hate to send that many people to therapy.

Head on over and pick one. I'll set up some linky love to all participants who took part at my urging.

Edited to add: I'm a little disappointed by the lack of male participation in this fun. What are ya? Wimps?!

Arachnophobia: An Indication of Gender?

One of Charlotte's babies has taken up residence under my eave. Protecting her safety has become an act of daily vigilance on my part.

Why are bearers of the Y chromosome so horrified by spiders?

Some of the burliest men I know (my brother and the four penis-bearers in my house, as well) can be reduced to wimpering ninnies at the sight of a spider in their path.

And I don't get it.

Spiders eat the other insects that aren't as pleasant to be around. They protect small pink pigs (one of my favorite books as a child) and they do cool things in space.

What's to fear?

Now disease carrying rats, venom-spewing snakes and squirrely administration officials--that's the stuff of horror films.

Armed Forces Appreciation

To the beautiful Marine Major eating his lunch today at Cosi--the one with the strong shoulders, experienced hands, gorgeous face and cute little scar on the back of his head:

Thank you sir for turning a typically dull wait for my salad into a mini-museum outing.

Your well-worn wedding band probably made you even more attractive. Your wife is a lucky woman.

I must apologize if I stared just a little too long. I tried to look away. But damn!

You made my day. Feel free to serve my country any time.

Sincerely,
Mamma

NOTE to the Manager at Cosi in Rosslyn, VA: Pay this serviceman to eat in your restaurant every day. I promise. You'll do a booming business.

Organizationally Challenged

That's the nice way to say I'm a slob, right?

Don't get me wrong. I love clean spaces. I love uncluttered homes. I love for my space to be light and easy on the eye, but I CAN'T SEEM TO MAKE THAT OCCUR IN MY LIFE!

Can you tell I'm frustrated?

I've been this way forever. Ask my mom. The poor woman tried to teach me better. She's the most organized woman I know. She cleaned my room so many "one last times" when I was a kid. No matter what her threats, it always fell apart. Because of this I started doing my own laundry at a fairly young age.

My office isn't usually bad. My car can be kept neat for long periods as long as no one else ever drives it, but my house? UGH!

My messiness does not tend to get in the way of my ability to do things. I can always find my keys. I know where my important papers are. Usually I can find both shoes in a pair. The clutter and the unkempt look of things stresses me out though. So you'd think I'd do something about it. But I don't. I can find a gagillion other things I'd rather do. And if I get it partially organized? It falls apart after a few days.

I know there's probably some deep-seeded "issue" I haven't dealt with that makes this so. Some of Fly Lady's thoughts hit home (yes, I even thought about trying Fly Lady but I could never get my sink clean to start). But really! It's just stuff.

I don't know what I want to hear from you dear readers. Tell me how it works for you. Tell me you suffer the same challenges. Tell me if you WERE organizationally challenged by now you're reformed. If you have recovered, I want you to pour your secrets into that comment box. PLEASE.

I'm tired. I need to sleep. See, another thing I'd rather do than organize my life.

I don't feel like I am really a grown up until I can have a house that looks put together. Hmmmm......

PS--I don't want you all getting the wrong idea. There aren't old milk cartons piled in the corners. You don't have to weave through stacks of magazines to get from one room to another, but there is a big pile of clothes in my room which has become a permanent fixture in my room around which I must decorate.

HELP!!!!!

It's Okay

Driving in the car--alone--with the windows down and the radio turned up, it's easy to pretend that you have no responsibilities, no one to answer to, no one counting on you to protect them and nourish them. For a moment, I am a single woman and I have my whole life ahead of me but with the knowledge I've gained over the last decade or so.

And I'm free.

I can feel passion. I can be gorgeous. I can travel the world. I might still be a doctor, or a photographer or a dolphin trainer. I'll dance under the stars. My clothes will be stylish. There will be fabulous dinner parties and views of the ocean. The births will be natural and the babies will sleep through the night.

I look forward to the life ahead of me.

Then my phone buzzes. A client needs something. Will I pick up milk while I'm out? Back to School night starts in twenty minutes. At that point it's as if my body stopped short but my heart kept moving forward. It's pressed up against my ribs aching to keep going. I give it a pat and soothe its racing beat.

Choices have been made.

But what do I tell it, my heart? Why does it yearn to start over again and do it "right" this time? What would it change? What would it be willing to give up? Nothing. Then why does it press its face against the window and dream?

I Wasn't Going To

It was a beautiful day here that day. All the descriptions you've read of the bright blue sky and crisp air are true. It wasn't a day you'd expect such horror, but when would you?

I wasn't going to write about the events of this day six years ago, because I wrestle with many of the actions that have been taken since in the name of that ghastly day. I had to write about it though upon reading many of the thoughtful posts featured in that little box of wonderful posts in the left column of this space.

Because we must remember.

September 11, 2001. I doubt there is a person in this country who doesn't know where they were when they found out about the attack.

I was in my office, exceptionally early for me, going through email when a co-worker came in to tell me about a plane hitting the Twin Towers. We assumed it was an accident as most others did I believe. Our company didn't have a TV so we sought one out in a neighboring office on our floor and sat down just as the second airplane hit. At that moment, we knew this was no accident.

As we sat there, the phone rang and the woman whose TV we were watching took a call from a friend. Her friend was calling to tell her that his wife had just called and she was on the plane that hit the Pentagon.

Immediately, we went up to the roof of our building to see the smoke rising from the Pentagon just miles away. It was so surreal--the beautiful day, the plumes of black smoke and the silence. Our building was in the flight path for National Airport and yet it was silent--until the fighter jets screamed across the sky. Seeing fighter jets fly that low over the nation's capital is something I never want to see again. To this day, if I hear a jet (typically from Andrews AFB) fly low over head, a surge of panic freezes me in my spot.

I was pregnant on that day. I had just found out and only my husband knew. That fact prevented me from truly experiencing all that was happening around me. I called my mother and tried to reassure her that I was safe. I wanted to say, "it's okay I'm pregnant!" I knew that would stop her tears, but I couldn't. Secretly, I was worrying about the world that was going to exist for my child. Would it ever be the same?

Now that baby is five years old and he runs and he laughs and he plays baseball and he doesn't yet know about that terrible day. And each day on my way to work, I drive by the side of the Pentagon that was destroyed. Never do I pass that spot without looking to the right at where the building was hit and to the left from where I imagine the plane must have come. Never do I forget the people who died there.

I wasn't going to write about this, because I didn't lose anyone that day. But, many people did. And, I will never forget.

They've Got Issues

A number of mom bloggers, myself included, have been reaching out to presidential candidates asking for time on their schedule to meet with them--to discuss the issues that are important to us as voters. As I mentioned in my invitation to the candidates, the concerns of our nation are OUR concerns. We care for our children. We care for our parents. We care for spouses. Anything that affects them affects us. It's as simple as that.

Now I have yet to receive any RSVPs, but one of my colleagues on the Chicago Moms Blog did receive a response to a similar invitation she issued to the Obamas.

Good Afternoon Veronica,

Thank you for your invitation for Michelle Obama to join a discussion with the Chicago Moms Blog. Issues of parenting are very important to Mrs. Obama; however, due to time constraints she will not be able to participate. As you can imagine, we receive many invitations and unfortunately cannot accommodate them all.

We hope that you will remain engaged in this campaign process and continue to discuss these important issues of parenting, health care, education and child care.
Thanks again for your interest and understanding.

(I'm keeping the name off this post)

Director of Scheduling for Michelle Obama

SERIOUSLY?!

Talking to mothers (mothers with blogs no less) is so unimportant to the Obama campaign that they can't find time for the wife of the candidate to meet with this group for one hour some time in the next 13 months? What's with the Women for Obama page on your site? We certainly seem important there.

And we're supposed to think that you'll listen to us once you get into office?!!!

Don't even get me started on my whole "it's mommies we can send the wife to cover this one" tirade.

I just wonder. Have any your consultants looked at the voter files lately? Have they missed the fact that women are more likely to vote on Election Day? That, as Mr. Obama put it just last Friday,

"Women have always made the difference in every election, and this year, your voice, your hope will be the deciding factors in forging a new future for America."

My offer still stands to all the rest of the candidates. My house, mom bloggers and snacks.

Just let me know when. I'll see if I can fit it in. Don't worry though, if I can't maybe my husband could stand in for me.

********************************************

Until the candidates figure out that we're worth talking to, I decided to go and see what they had to say about issues. This exercise alone was informative, entertaining and, in some cases, down right horrifying.

Some of them get it, and some of them don't.

I give you the Issues sections (or the closest thing I could find to it) from the Presidential candidates of each major political party currently registered with the Federal Election Commission.

Joe Biden (D)

Sam Brownback (R)

Hillary Clinton (D)

Chris Dodd (D)

John Edwards (D)

Mike Gravel (D)

Rudy Guiliani (R)

Mike Huckabee (R)

Duncan Hunter (R)

Dennis Kucinich (D)

John McCain (R)

Ron Paul (R)

Bill Richardson (D)

Mitt Romney (R)

Tom Tancredo (R)

Fred Thompson (R)

Scents Memory

You, who shattered my heart so completely that I never thought it would mend itself. You, whose voice I knew immediately even though it had been almost twenty years. You, who thinks only old women garden, are the one who came to my mind today as kneeled over my flower bed.

The sense of smell is so strong that it hurdled me back twenty years in a nanosecond. There I was again standing in front of my parents' house on a humid summer night with the scents of mangroves and night jasmine and freshly mowed grass swirling together in my nose. And of course the butterflies were there just as they had been then --not in the air, but in my stomach and in my chest rapidly fluttering their wings.

You're still hung up on the first sentence. I know you have not processed the rest. We'll probably never agree. I hope some day you will understand.

Why is it that some memories won't die? There is so much to remember from day to day. Oh the times my wallet was left at home...or my keys. A birthday missed, an errand not run this happens all the time. So why is there still room for those memories? They're so vivid and equally bring such pleasure and such pain. Would I miss them if they did disappear? Maybe that's why I haven't let them go. Is it possible to let them go? Will they go? For good? Should I?

I'm Going to Need More Stationery

What a night of correspondence!

First, there was this comment from the CEO of this sex toy company that demanded my attention. Of course, I had to reply. It would have been rude not to.

I do wish she had read more carefully. I wasn't dissing the toy. I was merely shocked by the price, which I've subsequently discovered is in line with other toys of its caliber. I offered to try out some of their other fine products and review them. Who knows if they'll take me up on my offer. I will say the Jollie is far more fun that it first appears.

Then it was on to organizing a little get together at my house. No RSVPs so far, but I might vacuum if they take me up on the invite.

Shakey walked through the room as I was composing the invitation. I thought I should give him the head's up that I was inviting all of the viable presidential candidates to the house. You know, since he lives there and all. I got the typical response: head shake.

It stinks that I can't surprise him anymore.

Tonight the Southern Living at Home invitations go out. They have a great deal for hostesses on their fireplace screen this month. I'm such a sucker. Sorry to any of you who get the invitations. I swear you don't have to buy anything!! Just come over. I'll have drinks!

So that's what's been on my writing desk. Can you imagine if I had had to do this all with quill and ink? Yet another reason to be glad I wasn't born in the 1700's.

There Ain't No Party Like a DC Party

That's right. There's a big party going on in these parts and I'm cordially inviting you all to attend. Hop on over to the new cool site--DC Metro Moms.

Today was the big launch with a press release and everything. The cool chicks behind the Silicon Valley Moms and Chicago Moms blogs decided that DC offered some unique challenges to parenting and asked some of us if we would like to start one up here.

The collection of women who are participating is just too much for a little ole blogger like me to ask for. I'm still not sure how I got invited, but they haven't figured out yet that they asked the wrong girl so don't tell them, 'kay?

The blog is sure to offer a number of interesting perspectives on living in the DC area and parenting in general. I hope you'll stop on by and say hi.