Ecstatic!

We have a chance to pull this nation back together. Good-bye Bush, Hello Sanity!

I Voted for Obama!

Yesterday John and I voted early to avoid the crowd on the 4th, and there was still actually quite a line of people waiting to vote. For once, in all my years of voting, I am actually happy with the my candidate. I believe Barack Obama will be our next president, and I believe he is going to be a good president. It is a monumental job, cleaning up after 8 years of W., but I think we will be in capable hands. There is light at the end of the tunnel afterall!

This could be our presidential understudy? Seriously??

Ok, so last week when Sen. McCain announced his running-mate, Sarah Palin, my immediate response was, "Never heard of her, but probably shrewd to choose a woman." Then I got to looking into Sarah Palin's background. You know, what is this woman about? What I discovered about Gov. Palin was really quite concerning. John McCain chose a woman who could feasibly end up in the position of President, and he seemed to have chosen her simply to try to lure Hillary supporters and men who like a pretty face with a total disregard for our best interest. Please! This was his attempt to win the votes of American women and the working class? We are smarter than that, aren't we??? What I was discovering, I was not liking much. She had a history of getting rid of anyone that didn't agree with her. I discovered that she is somewhat of a religious zealot, she is hardcare anti-choice, she has been almost a lifelong member of the NRA, she cares only solely about "drill, baby, drill"-ing throughout Alaska including the Artic National Wildlife Refuge. She has made many misleading claims including her statement about telling the federal goverment "Thanks, but no thanks to that Bridge to Nowhere". In reality, she supported that 'Bridge to Nowhere', took federal earmarks (oh, which she also claims to be highly against) to fund, and THEN said "Thanks, but no thanks to that Bridge to Nowhere" but kept the federal funds! She claimed to stand up to lobbyists and the oil companies, but there seems to be some very questionable behavior here, as well.

I did listen to Palin's speech, though, during the Republican Convention. Well, if I had my doubts before, her speech just made me more certain of my choice to support Obama. I found her speech to be sarcastic, condescending and, frankly, snarky. She seemed anything but genuine. I was put off, to say the least. To be fair, I have very democratic ideals, and I would probably never would have supported McCain, but it is offensive to me that anyone would think that we are so shallow that we would be swayed by this pathetic attempt. Apparently, even Republican strategists think Palin was a mistake, according to their "off the air" statements. Oops!

As far as the pregnant daughter goes... do I care that Bristol is pregnant? No, I don't. I DO care that Palin's political views regarding family values and sexual morality are very conservative, and she is an advocate against sex education in school and for teaching abstinence. Well, that apparently isn't working, right? I care that she is whining about people talking about her pregnant daughter! She is the one who chose to throw her into the limelight!! What did she expect??? What kind of mother does that, really?? I am career-oriented, but it is hard enough to be pregnant and unmarried at 17 and just have the people in your hometown know about it, but the whole world? And have it plastered all over every TV station, every blog, every magazine? In my opinion, that shows bad judgement.

I think the scariest thing about this woman is that she is a religious zealot who believes we should be teaching creationism in schools, and I believe that we need to move church and state so far from one another that they may never meet again.

The things that are important to me are the economy, the environment, the need for us to move towards alternative energy sources, revamping our country's healthcare system, preserving a woman's right to choose and cleaning up the politics as usual in Washington, and I honestly believe Obama has more of a chance of accomplishing these goals, or at least moving forward in that direction. I know with another Republican in office, we will have nothing but a bigger mess to clean up!!

I may be a little keyed up about this whole thing, so you may hear more on the subject of Election 2008 from me before it's all said and done, and if McCain wins, I'm seriously considering a move to Canada! Afterall, I did fall in love with Vancouver!

I would like to say to any Hillary Clinton supporters who may stumble across this blog... Please, please do not be fooled by this ridiculous ploy to get votes by the Repubs. It was never about Hillary being a woman. It was about Hillary's stance on the issues! Do some research. Find out what she is about, because it was never about putting a woman into office. The fact that Hillary Clinton is a woman was just icing on the cake for us!

Starfish and sea anemones

These were so cool!!

Trees on Haystacks

Backstroke duck --

Jeremy's driftwood beach sculpture. I love this.

Rialto Beach

What a way to end a perfect vacation! We headed for the Olympic Peninsula -- Rialto Beach. I've never seen anything like it. Far cry from Texas beaches, I must say... although I do enjoy heading down to the Gulf and kicking around. This was just a totally different experience. We camped on the beach. The beach is littered with the most incredible drift wood and massive trees bleached from the saltwater and sun. They looked like massive sculptures along the beach. We took photos of starfish and sea anemones. It was such fun to explore the beach.

Day 4 - On to Mt. Baker

I've seen these mountains photographed a lot... calendars, posters, magazines, you name it; but as beautiful as the photos are, nothing truly captures the magnificence. Absolutely amazing.

At the Aquarium

Mom, Mike and Jeremy in front of the Aquarium in Vancouver

Stanley Park

This is what my garden looks like.... in my dreams!

Breakfast in Vancouver.

I think I'm supposed to live here someday.

Vancouver!

Wow, do I love Vancouver! It's one of those cities that you could immediately see yourself living in. What struck me about this city is that it is really clean, and even though there is the noise of hustle and bustle, there is not obnoxious city noise. We stayed at a hotel right on Robison in what I would consider to be the downtown area. I did not hear horns honking from impatience. I didn't hear sirens wailing.

Jeremy had a great time taking photographs while we had breakfast at a cute little sidewalk cafe.

Seattle Center

Day 2 -- We went into Seattle to the Seattle Center. Jeremy got to see the Space Needle, which he was really excited about doing. He and I rode the rollercoaster. Don't ever be fooled by the rollercoaster at the Seattle Center. It is quite a ride. I'm pretty sure I left part of my tummy back there on that ride! I think my mom has the amusement park photos, but Jeremy did conquer the big water fountain.... or maybe the big water fountain conquered him!!!

Animal Farm

There is a sweet little animal farm in Everett that Mike and I took Jeremy to. At first he was way to cool to pet the animals, but who can resist such soft little sweeties?

Little Forgotten Treasures!

Such treasures in this house... so many things I'd forgotten about from when I was growing up, and so many interesting little pieces.

No Staycation for Us!

Jeremy and I took a vacation to Washington State to visit my mom. The older kids have both had vacations to Washington before, so it was Jeremy's turn... Lucky me! I got to go with him! This is us taking our own picture on the plane!

My Poppin' Pathway

Today I woke up to the beeping sound of a big truck backing up, so I quickly ran to my window expecting.... I'm not sure, maybe Santa??? No, it wasn't Santa afterall, but it was a big truck unloading a ton of tropical plants at my neighbor's house across the street. Well, I can't even drive by Lowe's or Home Depot this time of year without my car mysteriously ending up parked right in front of the garden center, so you can imagine my delight when I started seeing signs going up that looked remarkably like garage sale signs... and all these wonderful plants! Could it be? I could not get dressed and over there quickly enough. While John headed straight or the printer/copier/scanner (like we need another one of those) and the DVD player (like we need another one of those) and quickly scooped those up, I wandered around the plants in awe like a kid in a candy store. I finally decided on mother-in-law's tongue, a Janet Craig's dracenea, some other really fun indoor plant that I do not know the name of, and 3 bromeliads that looked like they needed my backyard as their home. Typically, when I buy new plants/flowers, I have to set them out on my patio for a couple of days to get a feel for where I think they may look best, and then, even after my punctilious pondering, I often end up digging them up and moving them. This time it took me about 10 minutes. I have this lovely little pathway that leads from the house to the back-back yard where my husband's home away from home and my vegetable garden live, and along that path, I had been noticing that it just didn't "pop" (for lack of a better word - even though if I never heard "pop" again after watching 1 too many episodes of anything on HGTV, it would be too soon). So, now my pathway "POPS"!

New Endeavors into Video Security

My husband, John, is starting a new job designing and selling video surveillance systems. What a cool system - small systems for home use or larger systems for business. Great way to decrease your risk, monitor employees, etc. And you can tune in to your video system from anywhere you have internet access! The company is called L&L Security Concepts. Check it out!

The legacy continues....

John T

Paolo Pansinini

Did you ever notice how much pansies look like grumpy men with mustaches, round noses and funny hats? Just an observation...

Who knew tomatoes could make me so happy?

These are the first tomatoes of the season in my new garden. I have been able to enjoy some shallots, red cherry peppers and fresh basil from the garden, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into these beautiful tomatoes!

Mmmmmm..... good food

My mom sent me this blog "Pinch My Salt", which I really enjoyed. The entry she sent me was for the recipe for Potato-leek soup for cool weather days, and I would probably enjoy that any time of year, but I also really enjoyed the style of writing and the other blog entries as well.

John

John is my husband. He is a wonderful guy. Great husband, very giving and loving. He is also the best musician I've ever known with so much talent. He plays and sings straight from the soul. And he is my very best friend.

Parenthood

One brief moment of peace and harmony....

Karen and Jeremy

Fix Your Mood

I found this article, and I thought it had some really cool ideas about how to improve a bad mood, control anger, etc. Actually, just reading it made me feel more calm. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually try some of the techniques!

Gardening

I have found a new (well, not entirely new) obsession. I've always enjoyed putting some flowers in pots in the spring and then watching them slowly die as the summer heat becomes overwhelming for both them and me. But we moved into a new house this year, and I have the yard I've always wanted. I have become completely consumed with gardening. Some people spend money on clothes and shoes... Not me! I spend money on flowers! Good for me, this house has a nice watering system in the back, so when the summer gets too hot for me, my pretty little sprouties won't have to suffer as well!