It Is February

as my friend Molly pointed out a couple of weeks ago. I have had a good blog-vacation. I actually meant to start up again last week but have been very undecided as to what kind of post to come back with. Chatty? Insightful? Dramatic? Informative? I give up trying to pick an angle & I'll just be random.

I survived my job last month. All my accounting duties came off without a hitch, for once. At the end of January we had a weekend long church celebration & set in 2 elders. (For those of you unsure about the definition of "elder" it basically means a pastor. We are a church that believes in team leadership so we have a senior pastor, some elders & other leaders who all meet & pray & discuss & wrangle together to help lead our local body.) It was a blast of a weekend with friends from Denmark, Sweden, England, and several US states all coming together to eat, hang out, tell bad jokes, and, oh yeah, set the guys in.

February has seen our house mightily afflicted with that nasty, nasty influenza that you are reading about or experiencing in a real & personal manner. It totally ticks me off that I got a flu shot & drug Harold to get a flu shot & we still got sick! Grrrr! Evan has stayed above it all though. We had been worried about his immune system going into this winter but apparently he's stronger than we are.

I am obsessed with the Presidential Campaign. In fact, I'm listening to Barrack & Hilary as I write. Obama reminds me (and everyone else my age) of the Kennedy brothers. I'm convinced that he is going to be president. That doesn't mean I'm going to vote for him, just that he exudes change, different-ness, newness. And that will probably be enough to carry him to the White House. I keep trying to figure out who he would surround himself with as advisors but haven't been able to track any info on that down.

I was trying to think of alternate ways of us getting to know the candidates besides all the debates. Here is a list I think might be useful to someone who plans these types of things:

1. Skeet shooting: hand/eye coordination could be a good indicator of their physical health & mental acumen;
2. An appearance on The Singing Bee, which could show how in touch they are with popular culture. Any candidate who knows all the words to "American Pie" by Don McLean could surely remember which leader is in charge of which country.
3. A quick stint on "Celebrity Apprentice" would show us tons about how they work under pressure with people they don't like and how they handle stinkin' rich billionaires.
4. Iron Chef America would show us if they can stand the heat or if they need to get out of the kitchen. 
5. Real World Washington D.C.: throw them all in the same house together and let the cameras roll 24/7. (Wait, that's too much like the campaign trail isn't it?) I, for one, would really like to see Hillary's hair first thing in the morning. Or not.

On my popular culture radar is the new M. Night Shyamalan movie "The Happening". Click on the link to check out the trailer. It looks like a fun ride! Also, anyone who know me well, knows I'm a huge Michael McDonald fan. His new CD "Soul Speak" comes out March 4th & I can't wait to get my copy. (I pre-ordered on Amazon already, of course!) Also, Harold & I have been watching "Celebrity Rehab" which features Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction medicine specialist, trying to get a bunch of celebrities sober.

I watched the first episode out of boredom & curiosity, prepared to really not like it. To my surprise, it is one of the most educational and moving things I have ever watched. It is definitely"R" rated in spots, so be forewarned. Overall, it is a raw look into the process of getting sober. The not-so-surprising link between all these people is suffering abuse at a young age. Dr. Drew & his staff are alternately kind, compassionate, patient & very blunt with this group. No coddling going on here! (Which is what I thought it was going to be all about.) I have even learned some things from Dr. Drew that put my own battles with addiction into a new light. There have been some definite "Ah-ha" moments for me. As I watch this, though, I know that without God in your life, you can't stay sober or be truly healed from the abuse of the past.

That's it for now. Thanks for letting me stretch my legs. Blog-wise I mean. A more focused entry to come...

Comments

[Molly]

Ahhhhh, glad you're back. I've missed you. :-)

[Kathy N.]

The hair thing is one of the reasons I'm against a woman president. If President Bush has to jump up in the middle of the night to deal with a crises, I figure he can just run his fingers through is hair and get on with it. Wouldn't Hillary have to grab a can of hair spray first? And maybe throw on some make-up? Seriously, I think it could be a problem.

[Serenity]

I love this idea! Putting the candidates through some relevant tests like that. And I love the way you have written about Barrack. I have felt rather convinced as well; and thinking about what that will mean and with whom he will surround himself is a good place for our focus. Mike Huckabee was on Saturday Night Live last night poking fun at himself for not knowing when to quit. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt proud of him somehow (as if I have some claim to him since many of my tendencies are conservative). I know there are much more specific and important areas to address in an election than this, but I do enjoy the idea of living in such a historical time. I thought that about either of the democratic candidates, but Mom has set me straight. I had not thought of the hair issue as it concerned midnight crises. I feel very concerned about that now.

[Lori]

I miss you, too, Molly, all the time! Kathy, I laughed hilariously at the hair thing. I think it's a very good point. I mean, how scary would it be for us to see her w/o make-up? It's scary enough looking at myself! Seren, I saw that last night & thought the same thing. I like it when candidates can poke fun at themselves. I remember Obama was on last fall in a Halloween party sketch.