I Have Opinions on Things Outside Momhood

So clearly I think Obama hit it out of the ballpark last night. There's never been a doubt in my mind that I would vote for him. I love the man ALMOST as much as Lulu does. My plan for the day was to read the blogs about his speech. (In between work tasks, of course! And besides, reading that kind of stuff is my job too.) But that plan was derailed when by 10 am the only topic for discussion in the progressive blogosphere was McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as running mate.

I think she was choice made out of desperation. She doesn't have the experience. And she is so ideologically to the right that it makes me kind of queasy. She's under investigation for abusing her power. I could go on. And so could many other progressives.

So why did the topics on blogs like Daily Kos move pretty quickly to her looks, the fact that she's a mom, jokes about McCain thinking she's hot, and her son with Down Syndrome? In other words, things that would be off the table if she were a man. These are self proclaimed liberals!

On the other hand mainstream media has also told me that she was an beauty pageant contestant and a high school basketball star. Um...relevant how???And of course she rides a snowmobile and eats Moose...she lives in ALASKA for christ's sake! Not any more interesting than a woman in the North Country who eats Michigans and, well, rides a snowmobile. We don't all do it, but it's not newsworthy when one of us does.

And finally. I think people need to separate her opinions on choice from her own family composition. Mentioning her son with Down Syndrome and her 5 other kids in the same breath as her opinions on abortion implies that any pro-choice woman would have terminated the pregnancy...or would not choose to have five kids. Her decisions on these fronts are, I am sure, related to her politics, but they have nothing to do with mine.

But at any rate. She stinks. And no one should vote her and McCain. Who also stinks. 'Mkay? her being a woman is irrelevant to her stinkiness. Thought it is relevant to the world today. Know what I mean?

Home Alone!

Well, not really. But for the next two months it is just us girls while Bill is Alaska. There are definitely things that suck about this...missing Bill, being the only one who can handle bed time or coordinate my sometimes late or early work schedule. But overall it always turns out ok. You know, except for the separation anxiety. (I won't say who has it!)

I had my 24 week appt today...which means I get my glucose test in 2 weeks, and after my late september appointment I start going every two weeks. Best part is that I have only gained 20 lbs. thus far. I hope to gain less than 40 this time, after gaining more than 60 with Eva.

Other than that, I am allowing her to rip up a package of post-its while we watch "the Little Mermaid" before dinner. Hey, she's happy - I'm happy.

On Saturday we went to Vermont to my cousin Hannah's graduation party. It was great to see the extended family, though Eva was sad her friend uncle Jon was stuck in Kalamazoo.

Marvelous Marthas!

A few months ago, Martha emailed me and some other Marthas about the fact that there are so many of us in this area and suggesting we get together for an all Martha luncheon. And we did it today! At one point, there were TEN Marthas gathered around a table in Keene Valley today. One of the Marthas is news director for North Country Public Radio and she was recording, so expect to see a link to a radio report on this momentous Martha moment!

Tonight Lulu took a shower. By herself!

on the way home we passed a school and she said she couldn't wait to go to school. When I asked what she would learn there, she said, "to write my names, and show them to my mommy and hang them on the wall." Only three years to go, kid!

County Fair!

We took EvalaLou to the county fair today. After utter panic ("I want to get out of here!"), in the animal barns, we settled in for a long afternoon on the rides. She first thought the ferris wheel looked great. She was tall enough to go on with Bill, but we were worried she would have a freak out at the top. Luckily the line was long and she was distracted by the train ride. So she rode that. Thrice. And the merry-go-round four times. And the flying dragons (ALONE!) twice. And the fact that they went up in the air made it even better.

After all that she scarfed a hot dog and made four new friends, including a little girl who actually lives here in Wilmington. After a minute together they were holding hands and kissing.

She "won" a game (sanctioned cheating, of course) and picked a stretchy rubber lion/ball that Bill immediately named Scrotee. Yeah.

The rest of the weekend she made eyes at our house guest, Mike, and took a special trip to the park with old Bunkhouse guest Daniel and his fiance, Adrienne. They camped in our backyard last night.

23rd week!

Dern blogger

Damn you blogger. Why can I not upload pictures???

And also, damn you toilet, why won't you fill with water?

Independence

This morning Bill brought Lulu into my bed when he woke her up (accidentally). Before long, she turned to me and said "Mom, I want to go back to sleep in my bed!" And then she did.

Later, when I came out of the shower, I found her sitting on the couch, an opened yogurt in hand. She managed to open the fridge, find a yogurt, and open it. Undaunted by the inability to retrieve a spoon, she was using her hand as a scoop to move yogurt into her mouth. And somehow, this made less of a mess than a spoon does.

Hot Mamas

Somehow, at the bar tonight, I ended up at a table with the only other pregnant woman and two of the nursing moms at our conference . Needless to say, we were sucking back iced teas, water, and milk all night long.

This conference has been amazing. We've talked about a lot of great practical things, but we've also gotten into some wonderful philosophical discussions about social justice and philanthropy and how some of the ways we raise money are antithetical to the idea of social justice. Awesome conversation.

And also, we have played trivia games at the bar and ordered room service. Best. Conference. Ever.

What's my number?

Here I am in Minneapolis for a conference (an awesome conference, so far, by the way) on fundraising. My hotel room is huge and my bed is about as wide as our whole bedroom at home. All last week I was excited about this, as the hotel promised the famous sleep number bed. Yesterday afternoon I spent half and hour exploring the possibilities of 5 to 75. I settled on 15, which is a cotton ball as compared to my plywood at home. Let me tell you that my sleep number is NOT 15. Will readjust tonight and report back. But I can see how this could lead to a whole new level of obsessions...as if there is some magic number that is correct and if I land on it, I won't have a disturbing dream involving a knife fight, I won't wake up feeling like I am carrying around a 7 extra pounds, my back won't be stiff and I will be ready to run a marathon.

It could happen. Tonight I try 35.