Satchy Meets the Snow!

We got about six inches of snow when it was all said and done this evening. We went outside to get the mail and decided to see how Satchmo would enjoy it. We also wanted to see how our camera did with videos...so here you go, the Ebert's first video!

The side effects of the snow are amazing. It's so incredibly quiet outside. Plus, it's actually lighter than it usually is at 7:00 p.m. I tried to capture some of the post blizzard glow.

Let Them Eat Snow

Not 10 minutes after we realized it had started snowing did we decide to do what anyone would do...

Go out for ice cream. Of course, being former Californians, we didn't think that the longer we sat in that ice cream shop, the more time the snow would have to turn into ice. If our experience in the desert stirred any thoughts, it was only that the snow would be completely gone by the time we were ready to head home.

Of course, we're in Washington now.

We figured that out as we were sliding down a sloped street in our neighborhood. As Derrel was saying, "I don't have it! I don't have it!" I realized that this was probably the stupidest thing we've ever done. Neither of us have a very good track record with snow. Even walking in the snow has been a problem in our pasts.

Finally, Derrel was able to slide us right into our driveway. It was enough of an adventure to render us homebound today.

Update in the Real Life

Not to say that '24' is not real life, but I suppose not writing in well over a month warrants some reality as well.

We're raking the leaves for the fourth time since we moved here as the season is rushing to it's transition to winter in less than a month. I was about to say that the rainy season has officially started here in Bellingham, but it looks like the sun is actually finding it's way out as I write. Even when it's overcast, it's incredible to be driving around town and see a light layer of fog nestled into the trees. It's amazing how everyday things here can leave you in awe. More evidence that God is everywhere.

The folks were out to visit over the last couple of weeks. There was a weekend where all four of my parents were here visiting. I'm so blessed that all of my parents get along the way that they do so that we don't have to miss out on visits if schedules overlap. It was fun to get to show off our town twice over. We even made it up to Canada one day!

Derrel is still enjoying his job. They've hit a little bit of dry patch as far as selling sponsorships for the season goes, but Derrel loves challenges. And with that big brain of his, he'll figure it out.
My own job hunt has had it's highs and lows. I had interviewed for a position at the university in town, and even made it to a second interview this past Monday, but that didn't pan out. I know He's got something in the works for us, so I'm anxious to continue with the search and see what what that is.

With Christmas coming up and being just a few clicks shy of a new niece (who we've deemed Audreden) and our first anniversary, it's hard to ignore all the good things God has given us. Thus far, our experience in Bellingham has been stellar. Being in a place where we are the only family we've got has done nothing but turn us closer to eachother, and closer to the God that brought us together. We've found a church and church family we're quite fond of, and I really feel like our life together has officially started. I am very much looking forward to traveling with my new family this Christmas; sleeping on his shoulder in a crowded airport between flights, finishing half-completed sudoku puzzles in airline magazines, relying on eachother to remember what city we're in, and, ultimately, when the dust settles in mid January, returning to the bedtime television ritual that I've grown to love so much. Oh yeah...then we go on a cruise. :O)

And of course I'm anxious for the times between. I can't wait to see my family and be able to help welcome Baby Mitchell into the world. I'm anxious to see how Derrel's folks are settling into their new home in Arizona and am looking forward to coloring with our nieces out there. Both of our families have had a big year and have seen a lot of changes. It will be nice to settle in with everyone and see what new gifts those changes have brought.

I hope it's a pony!

Good thing your father has been in Africa, Kim.

The Ebert bedtime television ritual is usually a combination of the following: House, ESPN, some police reality show, and a rerun of some UFC fight. Mind you, we don't spend four hours watching TV as we nestle into sleepy mode. Derrel has what we in the field call Remote ContrOCD. In our studies we have learned that often times, he will change the channel merely out of habit, and not necessarily because he is unhappy with the current programming. When I say 'we', I mean wives, and 'the field' would be husbandology. This should not be confused with the breeding and raising of livestock. That was their mother's responsibility.

But I digress. In the blip of Sports Center that we caught last night, we heard Dallas Stars hockey player Sean Avery make a very crude comment in reference to his ex-girlfriend dating other hockey players. We didn't hear all of the interview, but the term "sloppy seconds" found its way in and, thankfully, that was the trigger that got us over to channel 58 (for a second). This morning the front page of our internet had a picture of Kim Bauer, Jack's ridiculous daughter in the world that is '24'. She is the American Idol to my Arrested Development; the Cameron to my House. I clicked on to the back section of the internaper to make sure she didn't mess with January 11's launch of season 7.

Turns out Kim Bauer is the ex-girlfriend of the gentlemanly Sean Avery. Apparently the gal likes hockey. Whatever the reason, let's just be grateful that her antics will keep her out of CTU. You're a lucky guy, Sean. Had he not been helping African kids to asylum in the U.S., Jack Bauer would have been dropping down from the Teletron during your game, in a hail of gunfire.

Proud Parents

Satchmo (and his folks) had his first dog park experience this weekend at Lake Padden. We were a little nervous about cutting him loose in this suprisingly large field with all the other kids but, after some initial nervousness, he made a lot of new friends.

In all honestly, it was actually a pretty sweet experience to just watch him play with other dogs. At one point, he got an opportunity to show off his mad frisbee skills in front of his playmates. Lake Padden also has a "dog water exercise area," which we had to take advantage of. Ever since I first saw Satchy diving for toys at the bottom of grandma and grandpa's pool I've been anxious to see how he does with non-man-made bodies of water...like a... lake.

Hmm...wait a minute.

Our Home and Native Land

Right off the bat, we had to go on a business trip for Derrel's new job, which he's very happy at:

We went to Cologna, Canada ( or Kelowna, as it's spelled everywhere else outside of this blog). Seriously, there's some Frenchness going on in Canada, I just assumed some silent letters were involved somewhere. After four hours of gorgeous scenery and at least three partial renditions of "Oh Canada" from my oh-so-cultured husband, we reached the waterside nugget.

But that's when things got interesting. The bridge we had to cross to get into Kelowna was trying to earn its place into the Guinness Book of World Records...

...for the longest bra-chain. Seeing as it's National Breast Cancer Awareness month, a local radio station decided to give it a go. The string of ladies undergarments crossed the bridge three times, amounting to a length just shy of two miles (over 3000 bras). Of course, when we were crossing the bridge, we didn't have this information. We thought that all of the women fallen victim to Canada's male-centered, oppressive rule were finally speaking out. The oppression continued, however, as I had dinner with the other nine men attending the league meeting. I would like to call this particular episode of our lives, "Ego and the City." For a moment, it did feel like I was dining with nine other women, all talking over each other about men and other women, drinking wine and hitting on the restaurant's staff. Only this time, it was men talking about themselves and baseball and hitting on much younger and more married female wait staff. They did still drink wine. I'm so grateful that the game and "the game" have never caught up with Derrel the way they have with the other attendees. It was a definite case study. I knew I should have packed my safari hat.

I was recently reminded that our lives have had a pretty major change, and that I should probably mention it to the blorld (blog world).

We just recently finished the 22-hour trek to Bellingham, Washington; about 90 miles north of Seattle, and just close enough to the Canadian border to be picking up radio stations in French. Satch kept a close eye on our folks in the U-Haul behind us, and we blazed the trail in just about two days.

So far, we LOVE it! We've played in the downtown area quite a bit (which is a bit Davis-like), we've gone hiking (which is a bit exercise-like), and have really enjoyed napping through overcast afternoons (much more us-like).

Derrel started his new job yesterday and seems to like it. We're off to Kelowna, Cananda, this weekend for his league meeting, so the adventure continues!

Being Bellingham

Our first venture to Bellingham was an adventure. We didn't have much opportunity to enjoy the city beyond it's residential offerings. After two non-stop days of looking for a place to live (there are actually entire societies out there that survive without fences), we found a GREAT place to live, with a nice, grassy backyard for Satchmo. And, as of a few hours ago, it is officially ours!

Here are some shots of our trip:

We went to a trendy little pizza place downtown and got "The Spuddy":a pizza with bacon, chives, sour cream, barbeque sauce, and a potato sauce. I don't know how a potato sauce comes about, but it was pretty awesome, and something that I think Rodney would totally dig. Because Washington has enough trees for everyone to hug, Bellingham is a very eco-friendly city. Everything in this pizza place is completely compostable. All of the to-go cartons and utensils are completely made of corn! Crazy. Then we went for ice cream at Mallards, the downtown hipster hangout. It's Leatherby's all grown up... with massive dredlocks. It can never be Leatherby's but, then again, Leatherby's can never have dredlocks.
And that's our new house!!!

Two years ago...

at about this time, I was sitting in a labor room watching Rodney eat hospital food because Stacy was 18 months pregnant and not interested in eating it herself. Until about noon o' clock I was looking forward to what I thought would be a day full of Arrested Development, sporadic pauses to let Stacy know she was having a contraction, and at the end of the day, a baby. In just over an hour we will have found out that Stacy was going in, Nathan was coming out, and that all of our lives would be changed forever. At 12:51 I'll probably get a bit teary-eyed. Oh, I guess 10:50 is as good a time as any.


Happy Birthday, Nathan. We thank God everyday for the blessing that he's given us in you.

And may I say, AHHHHHH
For those who may have missed the sky-writing, I no longer like my job. The past few months, in particular, have completely erased my memory of any silver linings.

I get to start my day talking to vendors that have dropped the ball on delivering furniture and are talking fast to keep business. I spend the middle parts of my day scheduling/ having meetings with vendors that either lie or talk to me like I'm stupid. Then, I get to wrap up my day by explaining to an appliance company that no, I didn't ask to pick up the stove. Why would I have negotiated for free delivery if I was going to pick up the stove and not have you deliver it?
Then, just as I'm seeing the light at the end of the daily tunnel (not to be confused with the Daily Double), I get to talk to a slimy car salesman who, again, talks to me like I'm an idiot. So the day comes full circle. The bonus? The sexist joke the salesman wraps up with.

Do you think "overabundance of misery" sets a good tone for a resignation letter?

Update

I DID try a chocolate cream pie shake from our new Sonic. For those of you that truly appreciate the magic and pure joy of the traditional chocolate shake, I would not recommend it. The crumbs of crust on the top helped slightly, but it could not completely compensate for the overall lack-luster of the cream pie shake.

When did everyone cross over to selling half-shake, half-whipped abominations?

God bless you, In-N-Out. May you never be changed by the corruption of this world.

Week in Review: Volume....

I made a bold move today. As I stuck my lean cuisine in the microwave for dinner, I found myself staring into the dreamy eyes of a double-layer chocolate cake and was able to say, "No,
I will NOT have a fourth piece of cake." It was an awakening. Some people have will power, some people have three pieces of cake.

In other news, we haven't posted in a while. Derrel's wrapping up a three-game homestand tonight, while I'm entering into day two of my anti-gym homestand. Let's see...other things I'm failing at. I've decided to try to memorize some Bible verses that were brought up during the Women Discipling Women conference a few weekends ago ( a truly convicting weekend slash blessed time with my sister). I picked some that would humble and encourage me where I'm most frustrated, so they've been taped to my computer monitor at work (the tape wouldn't stick to Satchmo's fur). One of the most encouraging has been Matthew 6: 33-34. And no I won't write out what that is.
Open your Bible....DO IT.

We went to San Diego last weekend for Derrel's birthday and had a good time. We saw Phantom of the Opera, went to Sea World, and ate at Benihanas. Best part of the weekend? Being asked TWICE in one day if we were newlyweds. Ok, yes, we're only 6 months in (as of last Friday!), but one of the goals of our marriage is to make people sick for years to come. It's lofty, but something we can really commit to. Plus, my husband just got glasses...prepare yourself for squishy overload, people.

Other than that there's not much that's new. I could tell you what happened on last night's Seinfeld rerun but I won't.
Turn on TBS...DO IT.

Nathanemia

Everyone's got coping mechanisms. When I'm in a bad mood and at work (not a coincidence), I always take up refuge in the ol' Baby NRM blog. It's really hard to watch the photographic progression of Nathan's almost two years on this planet and not think about the blessings that God gives us everyday.

I've had a lack o' Nathan since...hmm...the end of May and, despite my doctor's recommendations, New Picture Wednesday isn't making the cut. So here are my non-Wednesday favorites that are helping me bide time until the little guy's birthday in August.

Is this the same kid?
Too much fun indeed.
Our little Chris Farley.

Love you kiddo.

I can't remember what I left in San Francisco...

...but I went back to look for it anyway.
For the 4th of July Derrel and I headed up to the Bay Area to take in a Giants/ Dodgers game (that night, it happened to be the Giants' game). We also had Dim Sum for the first time, which Rodney was so considerate as to come out and introduce us to (you rock dude). After that we hit the Exploratorium. I'm not sure for exactly what purpose they had freaky purple masks, but we saw an opportunity, and took it.

Then, just this past weekend, I returned with a friend of mine to celebrate her birthday. This involved a 6 mile bike ride (not too daunting until you remember what SaN fRaNcIsCo is like), and a Swedish fondue restaurant with other friends. The restaurant was amazing. They had 13 different kinds of cheese. I'm not sure what gruyere is...but it was pretty good. That's right, family, I tried stuff that I had never even heard of before. Can I get a booyah?



The last picture is of our newly engaged friends Adrienne and Cat Stevens (a.k.a. Yusef Islam, or Anthony). Anthony is starting law school this fall, so Adrienne has to marry him for at least one guaranteed day of time with him (and 200 of their closest friends).

The weather was so gorgeous up there. I knew we were close to home on our seven-hour trip when I stepped outside at the gas station and thought, "Yep..this really sucks."

Home, sweet home.

Free Headsets for your Cell Phone

www.freeheadset.org

Seriously...it beats the $40 bluetooth.

Those Burned Bras are Rolling in their Ashes

I had the pleasure of meeting my husband for lunch today at a little sandwich shop by my office. We were wasting away to All My Children when someone (finally) changed the channel. When the channel-flipping stopped, all I saw was cleavage, then thick lip gloss and...wait, what was that? California's on fire? From the flesh buffet that laid before us (which did not mesh well with my chicken salad), it took a wee bit to realize we were watching the news.

It got me a little fired up. There went Derrel's peaceful lunch with his wife.

You know, between Katie Courics' "great legs" and the cover charge viewers have to pay to join Gillian and Co. in the apparent club scene that is Good Morning LA, we have to wonder: have women come all that far? I would not consider myself a feminist, unless thinking that women should be respected by others and, more importantly, by themselves, is a radical feminist idea. That being said, it seems as though the women of the most recent generations have completely diluted themselves into thinking that showing off their body (all of their body, these days) and having promiscuous relations makes them a strong, independent woman. I know I've written about this before, but I haven't fixed the problem yet, so I'll blog on.

It seems to me that the women who started the feminist movement would be disgusted. The Susan B. Anthony's who first started the fight for women's rights would be extremely disappointed. Are we just too lazy to keep making strides? I'm not saying we should be spending every evening preparing our protest signs for the next day, nor should we encourage any animosity towards men ( I kinda like my husband, actually), because it's no longer just their fault that things are the way they are.

Women (the 2 that are reading this) I charge you with this: stop watching those news channels. I think that evening news is often a waste of possible Seinfeld time anyway, but if you are a 5:00 news viewer, look for something else. I feel, if ratings went down for some of these shows, the industry may start to learn the maybe sex doesn't sell. Maybe when people watch the news they are looking for information, not Girls Gone Wild with a teleprompter.

Just a thought.

Fantasticful

Though the Webster-Merriam dictionary may not hold as much clout as it used to (the year it added "uber" to the dictionary it lost my respect), they still feel the need to annually add words to the dictionary. Webster-Merriam swore in 100 words yesterday. Here are some of my favorites:

Fanboy (1919): boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies
Also known as "single". Fanboy just sounds like a bad email address. If I ever wrote it, I'd feel the need to add a "96" or something at the end.
Actually, Derrel is an Anchorman fanboy. Well.........
This is awkward.

Mental health day (1971): day that an employee takes off from work to relieve stress or renew vitality
Soon to be followed by "Bad Hair Day", and "I Can't Fit Into My Favorite Pants Day". I'll
keep my fingers crossed for the 2009 Webster Word Draft. Show me a person that only
needs one day to recuperate from job-related stress, and I'll show you someone that has
only worked one day in their life.

Mondegreen (1954): word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung. From the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen."
I actually like this one. The other example that was given was the Creedence Clearwater
tune "there's a bad moon on the rise," also loving known as "there's a bathroom on the
right." I think the Dave Matthews Band should release a cutting-edge spoken word album
entitled Mondegreen. Can't understand a word that guy says.

AP only had a few of the new additions published, so we'll have to look a little deeper to figure out which words are stupefying and which are just plain stupid. One thing is for sure. With the help of Webster-Merriam, we can fend off the threat of Orwell's Newspeak.

Crisis averted.

Myrtlemond

Sooo.....
We just got back from our trip to Myrtle Beach/ Richmond, and the Minor League All-Star game. Yes, there was baseball, but there was other goodness too. Myrtle Beach is known for its massive amount of top-notch golf courses. What you don't really hear about, however, is the mass amount of miniature golf courses. AMAZING miniature golf courses. This first picture is the course we chose to play over those on the north, east, and south side of the same intersection.

The other spat of coolness was Hard Rock Park, where the All-Star gala was the night before the game. There was the "Whac a Boy Band" game, the whirling taxi cabs in the land called "British Invasion", and the Hard Rock VW Bus (documented here for my sister). I did have to explain to Derrel what "Abbey Road" was, but if there's no fiddle or verses about tractors, D can't be held responsible for his musical knowledge. Then of coures, the Waffle House. I realize this is not just an East Coast phenomena, but we didn't really have anything smothered in gravy all week, so we had to make up for it somewhere.

And lastly, the Richmond Braves. When we popped into Richmond, we took in a minor league game up there. They have this statue climbing out of their concourse.

It only graced my dreams for a few consecutive nights thereafter.

LA Times, is that You?

As everyone is well aware, same-sex marriages were legal as of 5:01 yesterday afternoon. It is, of course, what everyone is talking about this morning. Though not a reporter for the paper, the LA Times voluntarily published a piece that I was surprised to see on its pages.

Truth and Grace.

So now that I share an office, my coworker and I often chit chat about whatever is going on: the crazy stories we read, the wacky vendors we work with. It's only natural that same-sex marriages came up. I told her that I had had a brief thought this morning that what Christians are trying to do by banning same-sex marriage won't be the obliteration of homosexuality. Those people will still be sinning against God regardless of whether or not they can marry. I can understand the desire to not sanction these things, and the article I referred to above further discusses how religious freedom may be inhibited by equal rights. My coworker, a non-believer, says she had a hard time with religious people when Catholic priests are participating in what some of them have been and are being protected by other priests. I can't argue with that. I know that sinners need a savior, that's what we believe. For some reason, though, I'm not able to vocalize that in a way that I feel truly holds up The Word. I feel that it would fall flat.

Then again, I know I'm not in the business to convert anybody. I don't have the right qualifications, like, dying on the cross to pay the debt for sinners. We prayed last night the God would provide us opportunities in everyday situations to be a witness, and that he'd give us the words to say. I feel like I blew my opportunity today. How can we, sinful by nature, strike a balance between truth and grace when talking to non-Christians? D and I were very convicted this past Sunday sitting in our new church. We were bought at a price. We are not our own. We are either the property of Christ, or property of Satan and lead man-pleasing lives. I just pray that if I am afforded an opportunity again, I will not cower from a fear of saying things that will not be pleasing to other's ears.

Life was not promised to be easy for true believers. I am thankful for the challenges we are given in our current time. I hope that all believers will be given the strength and the wisdom to stay rooted and share God's Word, even when it's not comfortable.

So...

... I thought it was phase. In the whirlwind four months tween engagement and wedding, I had spent an unquantifiable amount of time watching the Wedding Channel (a.k.a. Style). Bridezilla, Platinum Weddings, and (really?) Whose Wedding is it Anyway? It wasn't so much about looking for ideas (I wasn't crazy enough to think I could turn the High Desert into the Manhattan skyline), but more about building on my anticipation for this one swell day in January.
Now, going on episode 5 of the Whose Wedding is it Anyway? marathon, I've come to an unbiased conclusion:
Our wedding was aweseome.
We were so blessed that our biggest concern was figuring out how to keep our centerpieces together; our biggest fight was trying to understand why getting garlic bread on the tables before dinner would require an act of Congress (and, like in Congress, no action happened).
Anyway, I was emotionally charged and decided to post some of my favorite wedding pictures.

A past-time that's actually worth the time..

Thanks to Diapers for Three, I happened upon this awesome "activity" (can't say game, work time).

You should happen on it too.

Tonight is the Night

More suspenseful than any game 7, the Air Guitar Championships are kicking off their U.S. Round tonight in Washington, D.C. All contestants are competing for a chance to show their gift at the World Championship in, where else could it possibly be, Finland.

Don't bother trying to rush home to set the DVR, this championship is not televised. Call the cable company, write to your congressman, and text message your mom. Something must be done to end the censorship of the next, great Olympic event.

And remember: Make air, not war.

Church Discipline vs. "Communion as a Weapon"

I just read this article and am interested to see what other Christians think about it. In case you can't stand to leave our blog, I'll give you a quick summary: Douglas Kmiec, a former Justice Deparmenter turned private university professor, was refused communion at his church for endorsing Barack Obama, who's running on a pro-choice platform. The article mentions that there are politicians that have also been refused communion at their respective churches for the same reason, but that Kmiec's situation is quite unique because he's no longer a public figure, but a citizen.
My gut tells me that it doesn't really make a difference. I can only say what is true for my family and, if it falls short of God's truth revealed in His word, I hope that my favorite, more Biblically-educated readers will not hesitate to hold me accountable. As a Christian, I vote my conscience. To me, life issues would seem to outweigh any other political issue currently being discussed and would, therefore, sway my vote for a presidential candidate. However, I've learned that every issue out there is a Christian issue.
In our house, there's an on-going discussion about taxes. One of us feels that a flat tax is the most equitable option that doesn't punish the people who work hard for their money, and the other feels that a flat tax would hurt the poorer people by taking a bigger chunk of their pie. There is a Biblical context for these issues regarding our responsibilities with the gifts that God has entrusted to us. Healthcare. Plans are being crafted to enlist the United States to pick up every man beaten on the road, throw them on the back of her horse, and take them to a place to be taken care of. Yes, an exaggerated allusion, but you see the direction it's going (side note: if a boat and a car is a 'she', does the same rule apply to a country? Discuss).

So how do you decide which issues outweigh the others in the matter of moral importance? Boundless.org started a good discussion last month about finding a balance between truth and grace. Unfortunately, I can't find the article now, but one of its main points was that, in the end, all will be judged. I think that's also referenced in some other writing (i.e. John 12:48). So some folks use this when they argue that abortion should not be a governmental issue.

So I throw up my hands to my brothers and sisters in Christ. No candidate will hold 100% of the beliefs that my family has written on our hearts, so how do you decide what your conscience can live with and what it can't?

Note to self: add "discernment and guidance to all peoples" to prayer list.

It's a relief to know...

...that the 15-year-olds, armed with their mad text messaging skills, are still not strong enough to take over the world. I went into the American Idol 15-hour finale figuring that David Archuleta would come out on top because there's no way the average adult can compete with the 500-letters-a-minute teeny-bopper crowd and their all-powerful crush on the 17-year-old crooner.

David Cook, thank you for showing us that there is hope. Thank you for showing us that there is still a chance in this world for conversations that don't begin with OMG and end with TTYL.
Furthermore, thank you for being a rocker.
I can't wait to buy your album.


I survived my first season as an American Idol fan. Hey, some things you just marry into.

Laser Tag, Tetherball and the Itch That Won't Quit

Just to get the uncomfortable part out of the way, I was bit by at least a million mosquitos on our camping trip last weekend. My modest estimation is based partly on the 10 bites I have on one ankle.

Despite the mass amount of bugs (our tent site was backed right up to a marshy area), we had a great time. Derrel actually likes camping! At least our latest version of camping. Because of the heat, and the tireless bug situation, we decided to take a quick jaunt around the corner to visit a couple of wineries. WARNING: The wineries in Temecula all charge for tastings; don't expect any generosity off of that vine.

We also may have enjoyed the great outdoors by way of bumper boats and laser tag at the closest Mulligans in Murrieta. So yes, we had a good time. Whether that relates to our actual camping trip or not, I'm not sure.

And yes, that is a bar right in the center of a campground.

Three's Company, but Four's a Mean Round of Settlers of Catan

Congratulations to Home Sweet Ebert on recently finding out they're going to be an aunt and uncle again.

We are about 6 and 1/2 weeks along, and are expecting little Jemimah/ Japhael in early January. A video of our budding bundle of joy can be found on this other website
(possessive parents, always trying to claim all the bragging rights).

All right, I'll share the joy. Congrats to the Mitchell family for being the ones to give us our newest niece/nephew!


Love you guys.

Wine, Paddle Boats and the South Beach Diet.

The conversation started something like this:
"Pleeeeeease?! Two s'mores never killed anybody!"

Derrel and I have been on the South Beach Diet for about a week (halfway through the treacherous first phase). We are also leaving for our first camping trip together this afternoon. Despite a couple of modifications in my own diet plan (my lack-o'-chocolate-milk meltdown last Saturday), we've been good about sticking to what we can eat, but I knew that once Derrel conceded to my s'more pleas, it was all downhill from there. We may be wavering a bit this weekend ("In-N-Out is the only logical dinner option when we have to get there in a mad dash to put up the tent before the sun goes down,").

Originally I had decided to camp in Temecula because Derrel is a wine fan, and I thought that would soften the tent-pitching blow of the trip. That was, of course, before we went on a diet where there's NO alcohol in the first two weeks. Another instance where South Beach must never know of our activities this weekend. I'm hoping this trip goes well. Derrel has been camping 1.3 times in his whole life (the .3 being when he slept in his truck). We've got an air mattress and plenty of beef. He should be able to survive.

I guess I have to incorporate paddle boats somewhere.
There will be paddle boats where we are going. If we can trick ourselves into not realizing how much like exercise it is, way may give it go.
Otherwise, you'll find us playing Scrabble with melted marshmellowey tiles.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Excuse me, ma'am, but your Republican is showing...

Look at me.
This is my frustrated face.

I thought that working in education would make me more sympathetic to the plight of the state worker. That I'd be down in the trenches shoveling the oppression that the teachers and the classified staff were being buried in, and that I'd be more than grateful for the good ol' California State Employees Association, rather than viewing it as a parasitic organization.

My experience has shown me no trenches. There are some gopher holes, burrowed and lived in by the President and "representatives" of my local CSEA chapter. Wow...where are we, and why do I want to sing the Caddyshack song all of a sudden?

Anyway, it all started one day last December. I was signing all of my paperwork for my new, big-kid job with the School District. This was when I found out that, even as a classified employee, the school district was a closed shop. I could either pay $36 a month to "have a voice, but not a vote," or $38 to be able to do both. Choices, choices.

There have been multiple personnel issues where the union has automatically assumed that the fascist supervisors and directors in the district are in the wrong, and that the problem has nothing to do with holding an employee accountable for constantly coming late and never finishing projects correctly or on time. Because of the ridiculous amount of power that the union holds in our district, the employee has to be put on an improvement plan, which means the supervisor has to babysit him every moment of the day, give him his tasks and they order they're to be done in, every day. So when his supervisor is out for a day, he can also take the day off, because she is not there to feed him his Cheerios and change his diaper. I had friends in college that went through years of school to get a degree in the job this guy hasn't been doing. It's frustrating to think back to how difficult it was for them to get jobs after graduation, while this guy is cozy and coddled in his mindless existence in the department.

I'm bitter that, every month, my family is making a contribution to this lunacy. I should have just as much of a right to refuse union "protection" than I do to request it. I'm bitter that our district is allowing the union to have this much power. It seems to me that those of us who are doing our job have no retribution to fear. If we feel we have been fired unjustly, there is wrongful termination suits that could be filed. If people don't want to work, then they shouldn't be employed. In my experience, every personnel situation that has come about thus far the union has latched onto and exacerbated solely for the purpose of sucking the situation dry to sustain it's own existence.

CSEA....punishing the people that work so you don't have to!

But...why?

I just recently learned about a "campaign" that Barack Obama has been running called "Change Rocks". He gets on stage with a couple of popular rock stars and talks about his candidacy for the presidentcy, as if somehow, between riffs and pop songs about lady lumps, a political consciousness and intellect could be stirred somewhere between the crowd surfers and the mosh pit.

Now, I understand that candidates are trying to grab the attention of the younger voting demographic; that's why they have campaign ads on YouTube, and profiles on MySpace and Facebook...all in attempts to reach the 20 somethings who are among the groups with the lowest voter turnout.

But...why? As a member of this group, may I say...we are not educated, you don't want us selecting the leader of the free world. In 2004 I was a sophomore at a state university, meaning I was one of two Republicans on campus (we had a secret nod when we saw eachother, as to not be recognized by the oppressive majority). During the presidential election that year, I heard a ton of flack about President Bush, and how he needed to be replaced because he was a horrible leader. This fence I won't lay on either side of (not now, anyway), however, when I finally asked someone why he was so horrible, I didn't get any real answer. It was a series of "well...uh"s grunts, and scoffs; there may have been some Morse code in there. I didn't think about that.

Anyway, it was a fad. Hating Bush was the new cigarette. It was so cool because of its rebelliousness, , even though 99% of everyone else on campus heard the same political blurb on Jimmy Kimmel Live the night before too.

I'm not saying people my age shouldn't vote, I'm just saying that we mostly shouldn't vote. There should be a test that stipulates who can and can't vote. You should be able to know the top members of the current administration. You should have some familiarity with the domestic issues that you claim to be so passionate about, and you should know what country our troops are actually in before you say we shouldn't be there (locating it on a map wouldn't be such a bad skill either).

Edible Rite of Passage

I was chatting with the gal behind the Deli counter today when I realized that a conversion had taken place. Most of my sandwich-meat-buying years were spent with Oscar Mayer and Hillshire Farms over on the other side of the produce section. I used to roll my eyes at the people who paid three times as much as me for some sandwich meat. Why in the world would you pay $7.99 a pound for some ham? I can get five pounds of perfectly good bologna for a $1. I thought those premium-gas buying, tweed-jacket-wearing snobs were way too frivilous with their money. It reminded me of the times I used to dream about one day being able to buy Home Pride bread and still have money left over to buy the $1 bologna to go along with it. It was ambitious, but I knew it was my destiny.

This afternoon, I glanced over at the pre-packaged meats and cheeses until I noticed an obstruction; it was the end of my nose. In two trips to the Deli counter I had become a woman in purple heels and a matching hat, shopping for my picnic lunch for the polo match in the Hamptons next weekend ("Yes, ma'am, the oven-roasted, sun-kissed ham is for my stock broker husband"). As I enjoyed a piece of my orignal swiss (aged for 60 days), I realized I would never see Oscar again, and my frequent visits to the Hillshire Farm were no longer on my itinerary. Perhaps one day, should the stable run out of feed for our thoroughbreds, I may become desperate.
Until then, I will enjoy by Maple Buttered Ham.
I have arrived.

Neighborhood Rejuvenation

When I left Washington, D.C., it was still just a heap of tarp-lined fences and steel framing. As of last week, it's a two-story Target, with a whole array of other stores to open in the weeks to follow. I've been watching some of the Columbia Heights neighborhood blogs and it's a mixed bag between residents that are crossing their fingers that the DC USA complex (clever name) will salvage the neighborhood, and there are others that think the stores that are moving in will draw in more lower-income people (which they've deduced because of a possible Ross being planted there-I'm highly offended by that insinuation).

I can't wait to get back there and see what the neighborhood looks like as a result. I just lived a few blocks from where the complex has been built, and I was just a few blocks shy of a rougher part of Columbia Heights. It'll be interesting to see how the dynamic between the two has changed (if it all).

I also can't wait to get back there and see the *new* American History Museum. That bad boy has been completely closed down for a year and a half because of reconstruction. I think that has to be my favorite museum of all time, with the exception of the International Banana Museum, the bread and butter of Hesperia's cultural heritage (which apparently sold for at least $750,000 from it's original home in Altadena).

I've never really...

...listened to 80s music at work before. I could never get a station to stream online, but now that I know what it's like, I may not do it again. It's like a soundtrack: I'm stuck in some made-for-TV-movie about women breaking into the workforce with big hair and puffy sleeves. It was very much Workin' 9 to 5, sans kidnapping my boss.

So, I guess we're married now...a little over a month in (any requests for marriage advice should be sent to nebert125@gmail.com).

We watched disk upon disk on our honeymoon, even squeezed some in on our Valentine's Day cruise, only to find that because of the writer's strike, 24 won't be back on until January, 2009. So the rest of us are left to rock in our corners for another year because of some quibble that had nothing to do with us, with the exception of the percentage of "us" that are watching shows online. But I digress...
...and the pasta is boiling over....