The Post Where I Eventually Wish You a Happy Holiday!

On the way home from work on Tuesday, the NPR station out of Tallahassee was being flaky, so I was flipping through the dial looking for some Christmas music and came across some Talk Radio program that I had never heard.  The host was a guest host or something, and the discussion was on this newly proposed Constitutional Amendment where the states could vote to overthrow the Federal government.  What?  That isn’t what is being proposed?  Maybe not, but it sure seems like the states want the right to tell Washington to “Go to Hell!”  Or at least be able to say, “We don’t have to have health care if we don’t want it.”  Which, of course, is where the idea of and the push for this Amendment started.

But I digress.

The host went off on what he called “the allegedly fiscally responsible Republican party” and lambasted my beloved state for the monstrosity it just spent millions on for the Florida Supreme Court.  He said he didn’t want to allow Florida (he was in Tampa) to spend his tax dollars if they couldn’t do better than that and he wanted callers to tell him why their state was better.

Of course no one could.

But the next caller didn’t even try.  He just said Hi and started being critical of the new law passed to allow more inspections of food.  Apparently this new law is going to cost the taxpayers over a billion dollars a year.  Wow. 

But I don’t mind an extra billion being spent to ensure my food is safe, even as I plan to try to grow more of it at home myself.  (TRY being the operative word here)  I don’t mind an extra billion being spent to ensure equality.  I don’t mind an extra billion being spent on AIDS research. 

I do mind when extra billions are put into the hands of those who already have more money than they or their descendants will ever need, but the long term unemployed can go EFF themselves.  I do mind when extra billions are spent propping up wobbly dictators, but our military with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) cannot get the best cognitive care available because it will run over $50,000 per soldier/sailor/airman.  And then many trillions are spent sending in the troops to take out those dictators once we no longer find him (or her!) useful, but still no money for TBI rehabilitation.

Still, it is the holiday season, whether your holidays include Christmas, Hanukah, Ramadan, Winter Solstice Celebrations, or just a couple of extra days off work and I would like to think that I can count my blessings. 

1.  Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is now just a fading nightmare for many.  It is not yet perfect, and it will take months to allow gay service members to live their lives openly and honestly, but it will happen now.  I hope this is a sign of the equality to come.

2.  My taxes are not going up.  With DSD still out of work (he has completed 2 years of unemployment) things are getting a little tighter and I don’t think we could afford a tax hike right now.

3.  My step daughter and I have patched up our relationship and I am enjoying this grandparent thing.  And my growing friendship with her.

4.  I can see the end in sight for my Bachelor’s Degree.  About 18 more months and I can make the walk.  It is going to be work for those 18 months, but I will have that degree.

5.  The Republicans didn’t win the House.

6.  W is still no longer President.

7.  Health.  Mine.  DSD’s.  My in-laws who are in their 70s.  My parents who are in their 60s.  The children.  A friend’s mother lost her battle with cancer last night.  My heart breaks for the family even while I rejoice in the health that we have.

8.  All of you in blog land who stick by me even when I have no time for you.  Who post the things I wish I had written.  Who make me laugh and cry and so thankful.

Happy Holidays from me to you.  I hope yours are the best ever.

Equal Rights are NEVER Wrong

Getting There and Thankful For It

I am in the last two weeks of this term and ready for it to be completed. I have one last speech to give tomorrow night, which is 99% complete. The Powerpoint is probably only 35% complete, so I have work to do tonight. I am looking forward to it, since it is about college football and (even though I have not blogged about it much this year) I do still love college football AND my Gators... even when they suck!

So, finish the speech and the Powerpoint, write one paper about a speech given by someone else (imagine, I chose Jon Stewart's end of Rally speech) and take two final exams. Hooray! I am ready.

Our Thanksgiving was fun. DSD's oldest boy decided he wasn't coming for dinner if he couldn't bring his dog... who has never met any of us OR Lola. It would have been a nightmare. He wasn't missed. A friend who normally comes brought her mother and her mother's boyfriend. SleepyEd is our nickname for him. They arrived at 2 and he had to be awakened for dinner... at 3. Then he was in the kitchen with BabyBoy demanding dessert before most of us were done with dinner. No offers to help with the cooking or the cleanup. He then proceeded to go BACK to sleep until time to go. WOW!

There was a slight discussion on taxes and how unfair it is to raise taxes on the rich, but it was held outside of my hearing, because they were afraid they weren't going to get dinner if I overheard probably.

Still in a funk, but I am blaming it on hormones and exhaustion (and the exhaustion can be partially blamed on the hormones and the fact that I am not sleeping).

So for the rest of you in a funk. Read this. It is a really beautiful story. It may not help your funk, but it may give you a nice happy tears cry.

AND, I just received an Email from the NewYorkTimes saying that the Senate passed a bill on food safety. 75-25. Huh. Bi-partisan? Must be something wrong.

Do You Just Get Tired Also?

Maybe it is the demise of Daylight Savings Time. This year I think I can blame the election and the vitriol of it, both before and after.

DSD and I just returned from his parents' home in the central portion of the state. They are wonderful people, but I just don't relax when I am around his mother. I am always terrified I will spill something.

So I have been out of town for an extended amount of time for 3 of the last 5 weekends. And I'm tired.

And a little depressed. I look around at the stupid. I read glaring examples of it. I see it at work. I see it on TV (if I watch it).  I even see it in my college classes, people who can not (or do not) use the English language correctly in the written form, an instructor who is too lazy to even think of the weekly questions on her own.

But classes are winding up. Less than a month to go. And everyone who stops in here makes me smile. Especially those who comment. Hint. Hint.

So please be patient. With me. With each other.

And I will eventually get the post up about the rest of my DC trip and the lovely little (really, she is TINY) DC blogger I met in person!

And Why Not?

I'm glad someone is getting it right. I wish we would!

STRAIGHT COUPLE SEEKS GAY RELATIONSHIP IN THE U.K.

Why didn't I think of that???

A Couple of Pictures from the Rally

The Rally

BabyBoy, my friend, Em, and I left our hotel on Saturday 30 October about 8:30 am.  We quickly made our way to the Foggy-Bottom/GWU metro stop.  There weren't a lot of people milling about on the platform.. but, WOW, that first train was packed. PACKED.  We looked at each other and moved closer to the place where the first car of the next train would be (just a note... in DC, no one seems to want to move all the way to the front, so it is the car that will be the least full) and we waited a little nervously.  A man showed up with an ENORMOUS paper mache' head of his own head with a look of fear on its face. We were a little nervous for him. But the next train was not packed and the first car was almost empty and he and his big head were safe.  As we were. We even managed to sit... which was a good thing.

A few stops later, we emerged at the Smithsonian stop, into the sun, with what appeared to be quite a few others. We meandered. We shopped. We got FREE stuff! We took pictures of signs. And of BabyBoy with QuailMan. We wandered as far up to the stage as we could.  Em wanted to shove our way into the front group, but I am not into shoving if I can help it. So we turned around a found a nice spot close to some port-a-potties and a jumbotron where we could still see the stage.  We spread our free Rally towels out to sit on (I only forgot a couple of things but a large sheet and/or blanket was the one I missed the most!) and made ourselves comfortable. This was about 10:30ish.  We had a beautiful day and a lot of space and a great spot. Em and BabyBoy decided they wanted to walk some more, so I got comfortable, and I visited with many around me. And I waited. And waited. And waited. As the crowd got closer and closer and closer.

I started texting the other 2 members of my group about 11. I wasn't worried yet, but I was concerned that they would not be able to find me by the time they returned, because the demographics had changed. Text. Text. No replies. Then I had to go potty. And I didn't want to leave our STUFF. Text. Text. No replies. Who knew the overwhelming crowd would make Verizon virtually worthless?

They did finally make it back about 11:30, with a pretty warm Diet Pepsi. And wasn't I the hit of the group surrounding us? Guess who remembered the hand sanitizer? It sure came it handy after using the Port - A - Potties!

Then! It was time!

The Rally to Restore Sanity.

The Roots. For 40 minutes. The Roots. And some guy. Wow. Wow. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Really? I got up off the ground, where I was in danger of being trampled, for this? Not my bag, baby. What if this is all there is? Ok music and sore feet?

Wait, ok, it's 12:40 and Look! It's Adam and the.. other.. guy.. from "The Mythbusters." And they want us to.. WHAT??

Ok, the Wave was fun. The rest of the stuff (cry, laugh, jump) was pretty lame.

Finally at approximately 1:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, with the Capital Building in the background and a crowd of OMG! in the front, Jon Stewart took the stage. And the crowd went wild. It felt right to stand with 200,000 of  my closest friends to sing the National Anthem. And it felt right to yell for Stephen Colbert (stuck 2,000 feet under us in his bunker, because he was afraid no one would show up) to come out and join us.

There was a lot of silliness, which was a lot of fun. BabyBoy is still not sure if his favorite part was seeing Ozzy in person.. or R2D2.

The people around us were great; we shared cough drops and napkins and someone's airplane bottle of vodka. And I'm also certain we all shared at least one contact high. What's a rally without a little pot?

Then the silliness ended and Jon Stewart gave a great speech on how Americans work together every single day to accomplish things that we probably never wanted to do in the first place. It's all over YouTube, but if you can't find it, give me a shout and I will post it here.

It was the best of times and I am so glad that I was able to be there. I wish I had managed to meet up with the other bloggers who were there, but maybe next time.

I will be starting a post soon about the blogger I DID manage to meet on Sunday and the rest of my DC trip. But school must come first.

Home Safe and Sound and Sane

Wow! What a great time! What a great city!

I'm home, FINALLY losing that cough, and, of course, behind in school and work.

But I have some great pictures and some great stories and I am hoping to get them up soon. I will probably just write a bunch of short posts, because no one wants the entire 4 1/2 days in one 4 1/2 day post.

Soon... I hope.

Because I don't want to discuss the elections. At least not until the wound has a nice scab.

Email Me!

There are details at my previous post on where I am staying and when I am planning to meet with TrueBlueTexan on Saturday morning. If you can't make that meeting and want to try for another, email me at LeftLeaningLady@gmail.com. I can access that email account from my phone.

I don't think I will be able to do a lot of blogging from D.C., but I am hoping to have a lot to say after I return. I just hope I have the energy to do all of the things I want to do!

Have a great weekend!

I'm Leaving.. On a jet plane!

Which is a bonus, because until our new airport opened we only had props!

For stalking purposes:

BabyBoy & I will be on the 6:05am flight out of Panama City and will be arriving in Baltimore at ~ 9:15 (we are changing time zones, it is only a 2 hour flight).  We will be taking the B30 bus into D.C at a cost of less than $10.00 each, instead of the $100 or more it would have cost to fly into Dulles.  I think the bus takes us to the green line, but I will have to check. We will eventually be switching to the blue and orange line (it's an omen) which we will take to the FoggyBottom metro station and then make our way to our hotel! (Pretty fancy, huh?? Thank goodness for credit card points or we would be camping under a bridge!)

The plan is to check in and then wander around D.C. gaping like tourists and asking strangers to take our pictures, because, we will be tourists and we will need to have proof we were there.

On Saturday we will be meeting TrueBlueTexan at 9am at the refreshment stand across the street from the National Air and Space Museum. I think there may be many other bloggers there at that time for a giant group hug... or at least some handshaking with alcohol wipes. :-) (If I still have this hacking cough, may I suggest a 4 foot radius? And, possibly a Lysol bath after?)

I am planning to carry a sheet or blanket to sit on during the festivities, I think, because I am not carrying chairs on the plane, but I have no idea where we will be parking our behinds.. or if we will.

I also do not plan to be arrested for jumping on Bruce Willis, but if I am... trust me it was worth it! :-)

Someone on Facebook was trying to set up an "Insanity after the Sane Rally" party, but it didn't seem to take off. I think there will be plenty of open pubs and bars and restaurants to re-examine the day.

What did I forget?? I hope you all make it!