Grrr....

Couldn't find one of the houses I was supposed to visit yesterday. I hate that.

Mummy/Crit asks:

"Helicoptor ride? Tell me more!"

One of the fantastic things about having an elected official in your family is that sometimes you get invited to do fun stuff - like getting to ride in a helicoptor for an aerial tour of Leesburg and its environs. Saturday was Leesburg Airport's Open House (at Goddard Field) and they were giving helicoptor and F17 rides.

MM went from, "but what if I get airsick?" to "YEEEHAAA!!!" in less than 2 seconds. He loved wearing the headset and talking to the pilot. He loved counting swimming pools from the air. He loved looking at the little toy cars and trees. I loved looking at him looking at all those things.

We flew over the Leesburg Animal Farm Park and generally all agreed that the flight was too short and that we could have done that all day.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

Errands, soup and bread, helicopter ride, playdate at a friend's house (they have a pool!), thunderstorm, 115 doors, sushi, work.

Bawk!

This is MM, acting like a chicken at the local soup and salad place. He's wearing his daycamp shirt, which is bright orange, white, and dark blue.

If you know the word's offensive, why would you say it?

It's not about being PC, it's about not being a douchebag.

Deliberately using words that are hurtful, when you KNOW THAT THEY ARE HURTFUL means that you are not a nice person.

Two people who have children who fall into the category of people you have just insulted are sitting within hearing distance of you and you know it and you used the word anyway. And you'll use it again. Because you, YOU*, are a douchebag.




*Obviously, the YOU that I am talking about is a co-worker who doesn't read this blog. But I did tell her to her face that I thought she was being pretty horrid.

More NARAL Goodness!

They are totally behind Mr. Spock!

Saturday saw us back at Old Navy

SQUEE!

DanielK @ Blue Commonwealth wrote some lovely things about Mr. Spock!

The Truth About 200 Doors

• No matter how comfortable your shoes are, after 200 doors, your feet will hurt.
• No matter how cool and breezy it is, after 200 doors, you will be sweaty and stinky.
• Wearing an Obama '08 shirt saves time at the doors. People who love him and people who hate him declare themselves immediately.
• It's much easier to find people who will volunteer for a campaign on a beautiful sunny breezy day.
• Ground-floor-entry town-homes are still my favorite.
• Two 32-oz bottles of Gatorade are not enough for 200 doors.
• The Thermos Hydration Bottle works beautifully. I left it in the car while walking (my walk was broken up into pretty separated locations) and even after hours in the car, my gatorade was still icy cold. The lid locks down so that it doesn't inadvertantly flip open in your bag, but when you do flip it open, it stays open without needing to be held. I love it. Will buy many many more as gifts for the campaign staff and volunteers. (I bought mine at Wegman's. Thermos has neither solicited nor paid for this review.)
• Next time, I'll start earlier and see if I can do 250.
  

Too pooped to post

Two hundred doors today. Fun, but very tiring.

The Pours, The Pours!

Had a good canvass last night. Great conversations, picked up a volunteer, got sympathy for looking like I went fully-clothed into a sauna (it was just a wee bit humid). And then, suddenly, the breeze picked up, everything felt fresh and cool and fragrant.

And the sky turned a roiling, ominous, purple-greyish colour.

And I tweeted this: "Good news is it's cooling off. Bad news is it's about to pour."

And then the skies opened up. And I kept going. I rang the doorbells, I wrote my personal notes, I left my lit at the doors. And the ink on my personal notes washed away. My lit became wet and crumpled. Covering it with the clipboard was ineffective.

I tweeted this: "I am a drowned rat."

But it wasn't me that was melting, it was my lit. And then it started raining harder.

And I packed it in for the night. I walked back to the car, my sandals going squitch, squitch, squitch, my hat brim pouring rain like a store awning, the back of the clip-board swelling up and losing little pieces of itself, the world barely visible beyond my fogged and spattered glasses.

And I thought, "I've really got to remember to pack the rain-poncho and some zip-locks in my lit-bag! Then I could have kept going."

The doors! The doors!

The poor things are being so neglected. Our sitter, a wonderful woman who works at Posh Place, has been ill and the doors aren't getting done*. Which is actually okay since I have a deadline here at work. Which makes me ask, why am I posting?

Procrastination. It's like guilt you make yourself.



*by me. Mr. Spock is diligently door-knocking.

At first, I couldn't find him

We were at Old Navy, buying up some of those $2 tank-tops. I turned around and MM wasn't immediately visible.

Can you find him?


He fooled some customers and a store clerk!

Did I tell y'all about NARAL?

They endorsed my very own Mr. Spock!

NARAL PRO-CHOICE VIRGINIA PAC ANNOUNCES ENDORSEMENT OF DELEGATE STEVENS MILLER, DISTRICT 86

Endorsement highlights organization’s dedication to building a pro-choice majority in the Virginia House of Delegates

(Alexandria, VA) – Today, NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia PAC, the commonwealth’s leading advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose, announced its endorsement of Stevens Miller for House District 86, who is challenging anti-choice incumbent Delegate Thomas Rust.

“Voters in House District 86 are fortunate to have the opportunity to elect Stevens, who is committed to fully protecting women’s health,” said Tarina Keene, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. “Stevens Miller is running against Delegate Rust, who has promoted politics and ideology over comprehensive reproductive healthcare. Delegate Rust has moved from being a moderate to an 100% anti-choice delegate.”

“Stevens Miller is a pro-choice leader who is vowed to work on the legislative level to help prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion – values the residents of the 86th District look for in their legislators. We are thrilled to endorse Stevens and look forward to working closely with him in years to come.”

NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia supports candidates who are dedicated to family planning, preventing unintended pregnancy, and increasing access to reproductive healthcare for women and families. The organization’s powerful statewide network of activists will mobilize pro-choice voters throughout Virginia to help elect Stevens Miller and other pro-choice candidates in November.

Mr. Spock says:

"NARAL’s endorsement makes it clear there is no comparison between my opponent and me on the issue of choice. I am honored by NARAL's faith in me and pledge to work in Richmond to protect the reproductive rights of women."

Delegate Rust (R), along with his slate-mates McDonnell, Bolling, and Cuccinelli are anti-choice and anti-birth-control. We need to get Rust out and keep his slate-mates far away from the writing and enforcing of laws that limit the choices of women in Virginia. So once again, I'm asking you to donate to Mr. Spock's campaign. The ActBlue thermometer is back up at the top of the page. And once again, I'll blog your requests! A donation of $5 helps us buy paper to print walksheets, and sunscreen for walkers. A donation of $500 helps us print mailers. Help us keep their laws off our bodies.

(Edited to add) Lowell had a timely post on his blog about Bob McDonnell that included this spot:


We can't allow that man to win, nor can we allow him any anti-choice friends in office. Please help Mr. Spock kick one particular anti-choicer out.

Question about Mancala

MM's been playing Mancala at camp a lot and they play this way:

Your turn starts when you pick the stones from a cup. You put one stone in each cup you pass including your own (but not the other person's) mancala. If your last stone goes into your Mancala, you go again. If your last stone lands in a full cup, you pick up all the stones from that cup and keep going until you hit an empty cup. Then your turn is over.

Over the weekend, I bought Mancala for us to play at home ($4.99 at Target). It came with some printed rules. They are as follows:
Your turn starts when you pick up the stones from a cup. You put one stone in each cup you pass including your own (but not the other person's) mancala. If your last stone goes into your Mancala, you go again. If your last stone lands in a full cup, your turn is over. If it lands in an empty cup on your side of the board, then you can take the stones in the cup opposite and put them, and your last stone, into your mancala. Your turn is over.

My question is this: How did MM's day camp start to play with different rules? Their mancala sets are identical to ours at home (except that they've replaced the slippery clear glass half-marbles with less-slippery and more visible stones from a "gem-mining" field trip).

At home, we stick to the rules that come with the games. Variations tend not to be fair to the "away" team, as it were. Is the summer camp version a version in common play elsewhere?

Mommy, somebody told me luck doesn't exist..."

"...what do you think?"

"I think we make some of our luck ourselves."

"How?"

"By keeping our eyes open and our ears open and our mouths closed. And by being kind and thoughtful to others without being asked."

"Oh! I get it. Like if you're talking and not listening, you'll miss it when the teacher tells you something important? And that's bad luck? But if you listen and don't talk, you'll hear what you need to and if someone sees you being helpful at school, you can maybe get a prize and that's good luck!"

"That's it. And when you found that penny, it's because you were keeping your eyes open."

"People make their own luck. I like that."







I just realized that I'm going to have to tell him that sometimes bad things just happen and sometimes good things just happen, even when we haven't done anything to "deserve" it. Yipes. I've told him this before, but I'm afraid that the "you make your own luck" theory may be contradictory.

Yesterday was hot. Really, really hot

Maybe not Texas hot, but hot nonetheless.

I had 2 packs of doors to get through. One, a pack of 59, the other, a pack of 53. Single-family detached, one-car garages. I finished the pack of 59 in a bit under three hours. And I was soaked through. Drank 3 bottles of water on that walk. It was HOT. Except when it was breezy. The breezy was nice.

Then I went back to HQ for a meeting, looking as wilted as a corsage three days after prom. Ate a sandwich. Drank a vitamin water. Went back out into the fiery sunshine to do more doors, passing SturdyCampaignStaffer as he came back from doing nearly 100 doors ("mostly apartments").

I did another 29 in a bit over an hour and then had to stop for the day to pick up MM from the sitter's house.

I was soaked through again. Had gone through another bottle of vitamin water. I was a limp rag doll.

It was hot.

But I did 88 doors. I wish I had gotten through all 112, but I did 'em. Today it's hot again, and I'm going to finish up the last 24 from that pack I didn't finish yesterday and then I'm going to pick up another pack and get 'em done.

Because I am Mrs. Intrepid Campaigner, Queen of the Doorbells! SturdyCampaignStaffer out-canvassed me yesterday, but I WILL earn the title!

On Earning the Title

Folks, my daily average is about to go way down because my walking schedule's about to get wonky.

Here's my new walking schedule:
Sunday: 12-6 (babysitter)
Monday: 5-8 (babysitter)
Tuesday: 5-8 (babysitter)
Wednesday (most weeks): 5-6 (between work and MM pickup)
Thursday (most weeks): 5-6 (between work and MM pickup)
Friday: 5-6 (between work and MM pickup)
Saturday: The occasional shift if MM has a b-day party or playdate, or when he feels like coming with me.

So, 3 days a week I'll do 70 - 100 or more doors and 3 days a week I'll be doing 25-35 doors.

That's 15 hours of walk time, over 400 doors a week. I guess I'll track my weekly average too!

The Tweets That Went Astray

Here are the Tweets that never went through, much to my chagrin. I thought I was keeping everyone updated and excited, but no...the tweets went into the ether never to return until today! With commentary in the parentheses!

• On line at Obama/Deeds event! So many happy people! (waiting to go thru the metal detector, the secret service guys were really nice and friendly)
• This is so much fun!
• Amazing how many people I know at this event! (Seriously, out of the thousand-plus people there, I had met at least 150 of them before! Including several from non-political sources - like my friend whose son is friends with MM.)
• It's like a big party!
• Ryan Myers is talking 'bout Loudoun! (The Loudoun crowd is loud and proud! Our cheering rocked the hotel!)
• So many people here! If everyone here does doors this wkend, 100,000 doors'll get knocked! (@EliseRichman points out that not everybody is a door-knocking demon like the Doorbell Queen. I say, pfft! What's 75 to 100 doors each among friends?)
• We need to get walking and knocking!
• Tell 'em Tim! (Tim Kaine was talking about McDonnell and the Republican-led House of Delegates turning down $125 Million in stimulus funds)
• Tell 'em Creigh! (Creigh was talking about how foolish McDonnell is for wanting to pay for roads by taking away money from schools)
• We are FIRED UP!
• Obama's roasting Deeds. The crowd loves it. Now he's reminding us of Creigh's xlnt record.
• Now Obama's reminding us of his own xlnt record.
• I love listening to our President talk intelligently about problems and solutions.
• Wonderful event! I sent many tweets and not one went through.

Question for the health conscious

MSN has an article up today on 10 Common Medication Mistakes That Can Kill. At the end of each segment they have a suggestion on "how to avoid it". Each of their suggestions requires questioning the doctor and/or pharmacist to make sure they know what they are doing, that they haven't overlooked something important (like your age! and the fact that you're taking something else that contains that ingredient or has that side effect!), and that they've prescribed/dispensed the correct dosage and/or medication. One suggestion is that you ask the doctor to put on the precription why sie is prescribing that medication to help eliminate confusion at the pharmacy.

And all of that is very wise and sensible and good but...given that the AMA just considered a resolution to code for non-compliant patients (defeated - this time - thank goodness), how well will MSN's methods go over with some doctors and pharmacists?
I'm not even starting on the question of how the patient is supposed to get the doctor's attention back to even ask the questions considering that by the time a patient receives a scrip in a doctor's office, the doctor is on to the next patient.

I am, again, thanking goodness that my doctors and pharmacists seem to actively encourage questioning, but holy guacamole, that's by no means universal, is it?

Found another McCourtish post

Can you tell me what time it is?

This one was written at work at the end of a long irritating day, when I was facing an hour-plus commute back home. I remember writing it with McCourt's voice in my head. I still like the footsteps going to and fro and the note at the end. It's short, but I took my time with it and it kept my spirits up the whole grinding way home.

72 doors and the Skechers were not up to it.

They're cute as all get out, but they're not ready for prime time campaigning. Three blisters. Not Cool, Skechers. Not cool. I finished the doors, but my feet were Officially Pissed Off. And my hourly door rate went into the cellar. 24 doors/hour? What am I? An amateur?

I've got my trusty Liz Claiborne sandals on today (can't find a link). I think I've got 80+ doors to do this evening.

And! (Now with picture!)

I forgot to tell you that my mom dyed my hair for me.
I has no grayz! Not one person has noticed without my pointing it out to them.

This is me taken with my cell phone in natural light. No makeup. And no grey.

Back from a weekend away.

Had a great time talking with assorted wonderful people about politics, skylights, and expanding houses. And then we did active things like jumping rope, jumping into a pool, watching the wildlife (I got thisclose to a wild deer), sitting on a screened porch while the rain came pouring down outside, and playing Scrabble. For the record, the Scrabble Player's Dictionary (4th Ed) doesn't include "jew" but it does include "nazi."

Discuss.

I Added Some More Folks to the Blog Roll -->

And you'll notice that they have the little asterisk indicating I've met them in real life. They are high school friends who also took McCourt's class and who write much better than I do.

(ETA: also added a political blog. It's asterisked, but it's a cocktail party meet, not a high school friend! Also added Rev. Songbird who I was missing for some unknown reason.)

I need to clean up the rest of the roll pretty soon. Several out-of-date links.
(ETA: Done, for the most part.)

Also, if you link here and you'd like me to link back to you, send me an email! My email is liz AT (mylastname)household DOT com. I don't promise reciprocal linking (f'rinstance, I tend not to link to blogs that are purely about selling things, or to ones with really mean commenters and no comment policy in place to control them), but I love broadening my blog community.

Small whine.

I really want to go to the Sock Summit.

Question about stats

You may have noticed that I'm keeping track of days and doors there on the right -->

I have it broken down by days, doors, and average doors per day. But the truth is, I don't do the same number of hours per day. So...to keep the stats more honest, should I break it down by doors per hour instead of doors per day?

F'rinstance, on weekend days that MM has a playdate or a babysitter, I can do six to eight hours of steady door-knocking. Most weeks I do three to four hours per night on Mondays and Tuesdays (I have a sitter take MM home from daycamp.)

I do tend to do about thirty doors an hour, except of course for last night, when I only did twenty, but to be fair, I did have general anesthesia the day before.

Tell me, friends in the interwebs, which way best satisfies the stat geek in you?

All done!

So Sunday was unpleasant, as was Sunday night into Monday morning, but the procedure itself was fine.

Anesthesiologist: "I'm going to add the anesthesia to your IV now. You'll feel a little dizzy."
Me: "Oops! I forgot to take off my glasses!"
Anesthesiologist: "It's time to wake up now!"

Seriously.

And the Gastroenterologist's report says I did excellent prep. So Sunday was worth it.

And I slept for 19 out of the last 24 hours.

And I don't have to do this again for another 10 years.

Today I am missing out on a picnic I wanted to go to

Instead, I am staying in the house drinking lots of fluids and eating Jello. Am I sick? No. I am not.

I am prepping for a lovely procedure tomorrow morning.

The prep involves a bit of unpleasantness.

Basically, they're checking to make sure that all that todo back in May hasn't done any damage.

So far, I can tell you that orange-flavored Jello isn't half bad. I will report out on Peach (Edited to add, Peach isn't as good as orange, but still edible) and Lime later. I will not report out on orange-flavored Gatorade with added preparatory ingredients (Edited to add, tastes fine, especially cold).

So you're not going to see me at the doors today or tomorrow. And I really think that's a good thing.

...And one he would have torn apart.

"Who is speaking here? You never speak that way."

Dark Chocolate

More McCourtish Posts

Lost:

He's Serious

A Recipe for Takeout

Posts that read like a Frank McCourt assignment:

Taking a Stroll Down Memory Avenue
The Nurse
Dreaming of a Ham Sandwich
Some of the Most Wonderful Sounds in the World (written the day HP7 was delivered to my house).
The Essay I Wrote for Nearby U.
I Am (although he would have made fun of how stilted it is).
Works So Well, I Should Patent It

There are others, but these are the ones that spring to mind.

Doing Doors in the Rain

Was still fun and rewarding, but involved complicated fussing with the rain poncho which slowed me down. Also, it was too hot to wear the poncho and I got sweaty, so I took it off and just carried a few sheets at a time with me and just enough literature for those sheets' doors. 'Cause the literature was getting wet and puckering.

Fortunately, the rain stopped after the first street. But then the mosquitos came out. And they LOVE me. Yum yum!

So, for tonight, I'm going out there bathed in bug repellent - and you'd better believe that I'm doing doors rain or shine. Bugs or no bugs. Because I AM the Doorbell Queen.

65 doors last night.
87 the day before.
588 total in 8 days.

Frank McCourt died yesterday

He was my favorite teacher in High School. He was funny, and cranky, and made fun of Ernest Hemingway ("We went fishing. It was good.")

Our assignments in his class were to read short stories by famous authors and then to write a short story about something we knew in the style of the short story we had just read. Mr. McCourt insisted that we only write about things we knew - even if it was a fictional story it could not include people whose lives were very different from our own.

I will write more about him later, but I think I won't be able to top what my classmate, Daniel Radosh, says about him in his blog.

Goodbye, Mr. McCourt. I will always be so grateful to you.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Annoying and yelling and awful is he.
If high pitched whining is something you wish
Then you'll find this cartoon to be just delish.

MM is ill and Nickelodeon is having a Spongebob Marathon.

Somebody please send earplugs.

Thank you.

The truth about doing doors

My favorite doors are apartments. They go really fast and you can spend more time talking to people who are home since there's less time waiting for someone who isn't to answer.

My least favorite are two-level homes without doorbells. I never know if I've knocked loud enough.

My least favorite walk sheets are the ones where there is a lot of walking and not so much doors.

My favorite walk sheets are the ones where you can park your car once and chart a path that has you knocking every door without retracing your steps EVER.

If you weren't home when I knocked on your door, you'll know it was me who came by if, on the literature that was left rolled up between your door knob and the jamb, there's a note that says, "I'm sorry I missed (your name)!". And a little dash and my name and an arrow pointing to my face in the picture of Mr. Spock, MM, and me.

I love talking to people on my walk sheets. My favorite encounters are with folks who are out gardening or washing their cars or walking their dogs. I like being able to stop and chat with them without having to ring the doorbell to summon them from what they were doing.

I don't know how many doors I'll knock by the time this is over, but I know I'm going to savor the time walking outside, meeting nice people (and some grumps), and having stories to tell.

84 doors today

That's all I've got to say.

Goodnight, all.

You know you are built like a chesterfield

When you find bits of your lunch down in the sofa cushions. As it were.

Knocking on those doors

Today was not the best day, door-wise. I finished up that pack from a couple weeks ago (first time the gate was open since then), and then found out that my directions to the next location were just a smidge off. By about a half-hour's drive. So I called TerrificCampaignManager, and he texted me the correct directions while I got an iced coffee. Then I started on that new pack and got a call from my SIL who had taken MM to the movies that they were done with the movie earlier than she expected so I went to pick up MM from her. All told, I put in an hour and got 30 doors done.

Sigh.

Still, two minutes a door is a good average. But...I wanted to get in more hours.

Again, sigh.

In any case, I just finished entering my walk-sheet data from the big pack, so that takes some pressure off the staff.

Now it's grocery-shopping time and then I'll do some phone calls.

Important Announcement

Look! I'm so proud!

To dye or not to dye, that is the question

Whether 'tis nobler to have frizzy ventral locks of silver
Or to take hours in a salon and by coloring smooth them?
To dye, to be gray no more and by this dye to say we end
The heartache of frizzy brittle natural locks that age is heir to?
'Tis a consumation occasionally to be wish'd
To dye, to maintain, to maintain...ay there's the rub
For in that coloring what roots may come.

Seen while getting the car scrubbed

...the weirdest commercial ever. At lunch time. On a Summer weekday. On CNN. For a product the purpose of which I thought was not able to be talked about on television during daytime hours. Which I will not be using the name of here.

I believe it rhymes with Decks Kens.

This was an "HBO shows this feature only at night" commercial, people. And it was at lunch time. On a Summer weekday. On CNN.

I am........

Speechless.

Back!

Boy, that was great!!!

Nephew was terrific as Prince Chulalongkorn. He has a deep voice (had to lipsync during children's chorus due to deepness) and so when he sang his solo, the audience was totally surprised and laughed and then applauded.

Everyone was in a good mood. Fun was had on all fronts. Taboo was played, homemade ice cream was eaten, fireworks oohed and aaahed at.

The weekend was an unadulterated success.

How was yours?

Off to Vermont for the weekend!

Going to see my nephew perform in The King and I!

Plus, I'll see all 4 parents, my grandmother, my sister, her husband, probably his mom and sisters and their kids!

Yay!

Posting will be light.

Have a happy Fourth!

Photos (will be updated as I get more pix)

On my way to the event. Taken with my cell phone, windy afternoon!

I found it!!!

This is the song that explains WHY I use the label "Butter" for anything to do with chocolate.

Event! Tonight!

Come see me in my new dress! Details here.

"THAT'S Michael Jackson??"

Says my son, incredulous, on seeing the video in the last post. He'd only ever seen "Bad" and "Beat It" (as introductions to "Fat" and "Eat It"*).

"That doesn't LOOK like Michael Jackson".

No, my son, it doesn't look like the Michael Jackson you've seen in the later videos. Alas. Michael Jackson was a prime example of a person who seemed to have everything, but hated what he saw in the mirror everyday.

*Weird Al gets a lot of play time at our house. Firstly, I think he's brilliant, and secondly, there's a video of "Yoda" using Lego figures...and that's a combination that's hard to beat.

Wishing he had been as happy as he appeared to be here

I want to be these people when I grow up

As seen at The Seated View: 90 years old and cuter than puppies

Yes, it is ON, plus link to details of a fun event!

Mr. Spock did ninety-SIX doors last night. Huh. I'll out-walk him this weekend, yes I will!

I'm gonna walk his shoe leather off. It is so on. He can't outwalk the Doorbell Queen and get away with it!

In other news, I spent the evening cozily in the Campaign office with two bright young campaign staffers burning up the phone lines to let folks know about an event Tuesday night. MM patiently played with his DS and ate Oreos while I said this over and over and over:

"Hi! MysteryMommy calling to invite you to an event that the Dulles Area Democrats are hosting for my husband, Mr. Spock! Mr. Spock is running for the House of Delegates against RepublicanIncumbant this year! The event is this coming Tuesday night from 6:30 until 8:30 at our friend ReallyGenerous's house in Herndon. His address is (details here). Steve Shannon, Ken Plum, and Sharon Bulova will be co-hosting the event - along with many others! I really hope you'll join us. Please call (RSVP number) with any questions or to RSVP!"

Left lots of messages and talked to some really nice people. If you're in the area Tuesday night, come and mingle!

The BlogHer ads really annoy me

Have you noticed that if you try to use the back button to get out of the pages that have them, you find yourself stuck on that page? I'm going to leave a comment about it on the blogs that carry them to see if they can solve that problem.

I am Mrs. Smug Campaigner, Queen of the Doorbells

That's right, uh-huh. I did 95 doors in just a little over three hours. Yes I did. I would have done 110, but I ran out of hand-outs.

Beat that. I dare you.

And now, can someone please remind me of the mechanics of getting out of a chair? My legs seem to have gone on strike.

Last days...first days

MM's last day of first grade was Friday. He's sad that Ms. LovesTheHokies won't be his teacher any more, but is very pleased with his experience as a first grader and is ready for summer camp.

The stuff he learned this year just amazed me: they started on multiplication (he knows what 7 * 9 is!!!) I don't remember doing multiplication until 3rd grade, but then again, I went to a somewhat strange elementary school.

His handwriting and spelling are miles above where they were last year.

And he's just the sweetest little big guy in the world.

Today he starts summer camp at Posh Place. The new camp shirts are great: tie-dyed orange, white, and blue in big stripes. There's no way these kids are getting lost on field trips.

It's Monday, and that means they're going to a water park today. I don't remember where they're going tomorrow and Wednesday. This Thursday they're going to the restaurant with the pizza-serving, singing rat. Thursday night, I'm going to scrub him in water as hot as he can stand, with lots of soap, and then I'm gonna make him gargle. He is NOT going to come down with Upchuckie Sneezes.

Starting in July, they'll be having swimming lessons on Friday. This is yet another reason I love PP. I asked at the end of last summer if they could provide swimming lessons this summer, and they asked other parents if that would be something they'd want too, and they worked it out. I love that they listened and responded so well to my request.

Public Service Announcements

1) LIBRARY BOOK SALE!!!

2) Laugh for a Cure (July 11, 9:00 PM at House of Wing in Herndon). Several comedians lined up to make us laugh for the small donation of $15/head.

Thirty-six doors yesterday after work

Took me less than 2 hours, which isn't bad but could be better. Met lots of nice people and had some great conversations, including one with a "big fan" of the other guy.

I can't wait to get some lit from the state-wides so that I can get double duty from my doors.

If you're free this Sunday, do you want to come with me?

Another reason to be FIRED UP!!!

This was in my inbox when I got home from the kick-off:

Mystery Mommy --

Last Tuesday, Creigh Deeds won the Democratic primary for Governor of Virginia. In a hard-fought race, Creigh ran a terrific campaign and beat two fierce competitors by winning votes in every corner of the Commonwealth.

I know a thing or two about tough primaries, and I know a thing or two about running tough races in Virginia. Creigh Deeds' victory once again shows the power of people at the grassroots to win elections and bring about lasting change -- and he will be a better candidate this fall because of his hard work to win the nomination.

Creigh has been a dedicated public servant his entire life. As a county prosecutor and state legislator, he's been a strong advocate for economic development, high-quality education, and affordable health care -- and he's gone to great lengths to protect the environment and institute smart public transportation.

Now he needs your help to make sure Democrats retain the Virginia governorship. Please visit his website and get involved today.

Creigh has an ability to bring people together, build consensus and deliver results. He will bring the same bipartisan, pragmatic approach to politics that former Governor and now Senator Mark Warner and my friend Governor Tim Kaine used to help Virginia move forward over the past eight years.

I know that approach works because I've spent some time in your great Commonwealth. In my experience, Democratic candidates with a pragmatic approach to solving problems can be successful. That's the approach my campaign took last November to put Virginia in the Democratic column for the first time since 1964. And that's how Creigh Deeds will win this fall.

Learn more about Creigh, and get involved today:
http://www.deedsforvirginia.com/

I look forward to working with Creigh to keep the Commonwealth strong and to bring about the economic recovery and renewed prosperity Virginians demand and deserve.

Sincerely,
President Barack Obama

WOOT! Point me at some doors, people!

I don't know about you, but I'm getting fired up!

Was just at Jay Fisette's kick-off and had a blast. All sorts of people were there getting totally jazzed about the election. Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner, Steve Shannon, and Jim Moran were there, along with Ken Plum and a host of other luminaries.

And, bloggy fangirl that I am, I am totally psyched that I met teacherken!

The whole crowd was truly buzzing with the energy generated by our great candidates. It's going to be a great campaign season, folks. I can feel it.

Can you?

Been a bit crazy around here

Seriously, and yet not much to write about.

Except this coming week is the last week of MM's first-grade year.

I'm all verklempt.

And the Democratic Party Nominees are...

Creigh Deeds and Jody Wagner!!!

Congratulations to the both of you!
As I said two posts ago, we had an excellent crop of candidates this year. I am really pleased that both our new nominees won so decisively - great momentum going into November!

I'm so excited to start knocking doors this weekend! MM's coming with me.

Virginia Primary Day - RIGHT NOW!

Polls opened at 0600. I voted at 0710. Was third person at my polling place to vote.

No yard signs, nobody handing out lit. Granted, our polling place is small, but still!

Candidates! Step it UP!

MM marked the ballot for me. Moran & Wagner. We both got stickers.

Now, it's your turn. If you're a Virginian, go vote!!!

Virginia Primary Day TOMORROW

I'm voting for Brian Moran for Governor and for Jody Wagner for Lt. Gov.

While I like all three candidates for Governor, Moran and I agree on more issues than the other guys and I.

And I've already told you about my lovely conversation with Jody.

Wednesday will see me happily packing the winners' lit into a bundle with ours* no matter who that is, but today I'm asking you to go tomorrow and vote for Brian and Jody. I think they are the best choices for the job.


*Look at the fun time we had at the Herndon Festival!!

UP

...Was delightful. I think I enjoyed it more than Muffin Man and DeepVoicedFirstGrader, but they liked it very much as well.

They are now down in the playroom plotting to use Lego to take over the world while I bake brownies in the hope of achieving world peace through tummy dominination.

Blogging the Lost

Anyone see my copy of HP7? We finished HP6 last night and I can't find it.

Maybe I loaned it to someone?

I guess I'll borrow it from the library if I can't find it.

Fluff

Bought some dresses on-line from JC Penney and they arrived yesterday. One was a YES! (though it needs a bit of hemming on the bottom and taking up the shoulders on the top), one was a NO! (truly a no-hoper), and one required a second opinion. It has now been agreed that the third one is a keeper with hemming and the inclusion of a button on the jacket to make it say, "tailored" instead of "potato sack".

This is truly helpful since I will be attending several summer events and don't want to show up in the same primrose dress for all of them.

In other news, we bought new Keen sandals (alas! no orange this year) for MM and, due to the fact that I had a LOT more money on a Nordstrom's card than I thought, they cost us a grand total of $1.24.

On re-reading Jeeves and Wooster

Has there ever been so nice and easily imposed upon a person as Bertie Wooster? Yes, he's not an intellectual powerhouse, but what he goes through for his friends!

Once again, Cecily nails it.

If I weren't already pro-choice, reading Cecily's blog would have made me so. Please go read what she has to say about Dr. Tiller.

Also, read this post on Daily Kos.

MM is a great little campaigner

At the Herndon Festival he handed out lit saying, "This is my dad!", he handed out balloons, he handed out stickers.

He was adorable and worked really hard. I rewarded him with fair ware. He's now the proud owner of a red sparkly handmade snake from the quilting booth and a helicopter from the vehicles-made-from-soda-cans booth.

He also had ice cream, lemonade, and funnel cake. All-in-all, a good festival.

Before I go out to the next thing...

I need to tell you all that Jody Wagner is terrific. She's smart. She's knowledgeable. She's sensible. She's a great listener. She knows a whole big bunch about how to properly run a state. Plus, she's nice and funny and still in good spirits after a long slog of a primary campaign.

Please vote for her June 9.

Where you can find me this weekend

• Tonight: Handing out lit at the Herndon Festival. Then sleeping.
• Tomorrow: At MM's skating lesson, then handing out lit at the Herndon Festival, then co-hosting a women-only event for Jody Wagner (if you're in my area and want to come and meet Jody, let me know!), then attending an event for the League of Conservation Voters. Then sleeping.
• Sunday: UU Services if I wake up in time, then handing out lit at the Herndon Festival (this is probably the best day to come by if you want to say hi!), then the FCDC JJ Dinner. Then sleeping.
  
  We will gladly accept help handing out lit at the Herndon Festival! Please let me know if you'd like to pitch in! Here's a picture of me doing something similar 2 years ago. Handing out lit is always a fun time.

Just finished reading chapter 27 of HP & HBP to MM

He bawled.

Venting

Yes, I probably DID lose some weight. Six days of non-stop diahhrea will do that. It's not a weight-loss method I recommend.

Stuff I am learning

• I have to take my antibiotics 4 times a day at precise times. Yesterday, I knew I'd be away from home at noon, so I took my pill with me in the morning. However, I was surprised to find myself still away from home at six so needed to rush back to take my medicine. (I was supervising clean-up at the old house)

Lesson learned: I have to take an extra pill with me even if I'm sure I'll be back in time.

• The cafeteria is a long way away from my desk at work (embedding was goofy). I work in the far-right-hand building. The cafeteria is in the big central one. It's a half-mile round-trip walk. And, while normally it's not a problem for me - I'm a pretty good walker! - right now it's exhausting. I have no idea how folks who are facing mobility problems do it.

Lesson learned: Bring my food from home for a while.

More lessons posted as I learn them.

Also! I am so proud!

Give this a listen.

If you are a bit confused, here is a hint (which is a better hint than the first one I put up).

Personal Carbon Footprint: Increased.

Hand washing technique, per doctor's intructions:

1. Wash with lots of soap under warm running water for at least 20 seconds (previously used cold and turned off water while scrubbing).
2. Use paper towel to dry hands and then turn off water with the paper towel (previously turned off water first, then dried hands on cloth towel)
3. Throw away paper towel.

The bacteria I had isn't killed by anything less than warm soapy water or bleach and can live on surfaces for a long time. If you turn off the water with your bare hands, then you might as well have not washed at all. So! Question for you folks: How do I reduce my footprint without sacrificing hygiene?

Towels, sheets, napkins, and placemats must all be washed in hot water, btw.

I'm home!

Hi there! Here's Self-Portrait In Gown (taken when I was already feeling much better):

My hair is pulled into an inside-out french braid courtesy of the elastics brought to me by my good friend, DeepVoicedFirstGrader'sMom who works at HospitalIWentTo (for those of you who live near me, it's the one near and named for LovelyTownCenterWithAnOutdoorIceSkatingRink)

The Last Supper. Excellent iced tea, pretty good meatloaf and green beans, and absolutely horrible mashed potatoes and soup. I don't know how they managed that.

Nectar of the Gods. Not even remotely kidding:
And best of all, MM learned to tie his shoes YESTERDAY at PoshPlace. He showed MS and me this morning. I'm so glad I didn't miss that. Here is his very first double-knot tied all by himself.

It is very good to be home.

Most likely getting out of here this evening

If the Hospitalist ever comes around to discharge me.

I can't wait to get home to be with my boys.

ETA: They're bringing me SOLID FOOD for dinner! WOOT!

Got no strings on me!

The IV is out. Am still in hospital but things are definitely moving in a positive direction.

Am still sick

Fever and other unpleasantness. No rash, no sniffles, no sneezing or coughing.

Am drinking lots of fluids (including juice and Powerade) and have hardly moved from bed except to (ahem) deal with unpleasantness. If I'm not better by morning, I will go to the doctor. I feel, aptly, drained.

MS and MM have gone to see Star Trek. I wish I could have gone with them.

How are you all doing?

Classic pose

I've spent a good portion of today like this:

and this:

Hmmmm...looks like there's a common theme:

The top picture is me in Cape Cod, age 5 or 6. I am reading All of a Kind Family.
Underneath that is me at age...I'm going to say 17...re-reading Poirot Loses a Client.
Underneath that is me in 5th Grade. I don't know what I was reading that day. But wasn't I fashion forward?
Under that is me at The Redcoats Return Inn in Woodstock, NY. Reading, as you can see, Deenie. I think this is 4th grade. My arms have not changed one whit.

No need to gimme fever

I've already got one. 100.7, and no accompanying sneezes or sniffles or rashes.

Feh.

Roller coaster

Emotions in order of having them today:

(still) Thrilled
Bored
Anxious
Furious
Seriously annoyed
Curious
Happy
Annoyed
Tired

SQUEEE!!!!

Kvelling

My son, who beat my assets at Uno last night, did the score keeping. He took his duties very seriously and did a great job of adding up 3 digit-numbers, carrying the one, and telling us that 29 plus 35 is the same as 20 plus 34 and that equals 54.

He told his Grandy that math is his favorite part of school.

It's so much fun watching him confidently do things that he just could NOT do a year, a month, or even a week ago.

I love that boy.

Lovely weekend, lovely mother's day

Yesterday was skating lessons, followed by a practice skating session followed by chores followed by leftovers for dinner.

Today was:

Homemade prezzies from MM and Godiva chocolate ("dark, so I won't be tempted to ask you to share!") from MS, a pajama breakfast and then hurrying into nice clothes.

UU services (the flower communion), lunch at Anita's in Leesburg, dessert at South Street Under (where we saw folks we know from UU), and then a trip to Wegman's where we saw 7 people we knew before we even walked in the door. And everywhere we went, we enjoyed the fact that it was a really truly Spring Day.

Dinner at home (roasted garlic chicken, mashed taters, and fiddlehead ferns) and a rousing game of Uno which I LOST (how DARE they beat me on MOTHER'S DAY!!!).

And that sums it up.

How was your Mother's Day? I hope it was a happy one.

That was enormous fun!

Mr. Spock went to one gala, while I attended another! We texted each other during. I got the better food and the more fun company, he got the brighter stars.

Talked for a while with an elected official from a nearby district, and to his friends. Turns out we were seated at the table of a former employer of mine!

Ended up not wearing the elbow-sleeved dress. Instead, I wore a yellow flowery dress that I got for Mr. Spock's sister's wedding.

I wish I could have bid on some of the items at the charity auction, because they were GLORIOUS. But waaaaaay too rich for my blood.

They never got their act together.

I scheduled for tomorrow, but I'm going to have to reschedule for next week because I have a thing to go to and a big ol' bandage and bruised arm won't go well with elbow sleeves.

The obnoxious thing is, that the blood donation center sent me an email on Wednesday asking me to come in today because they didn't have enough platelet donors scheduled and then, when I called to schedule my donation, it turns out that the center was CLOSED today for an O neg Only event.

Left-hand, meet Right-hand. Right-hand, Left.

On the agenda for today

• Donating platelets if the blood center gets its act together.
• Paying bills
• Playing Uno
• Oh! And work.

My life is so terribly, terribly exciting.

Recommendations from my weekend in Connecticut

MangeTout in New London is delicious. Please don't miss their Black & White Chocolate Macaroon Tart. Oh. My. God. That was amazing.

And The Westbrook Inn took really great care of us, they greeted us with fresh-baked oatmeal cookies and sherry. We stayed in the cottage, which has its own kitchen, living room (with gas fireplace), and very very very comfortable beds. Their breakfast was fabulous, and their coffee was plentiful and strong.

My dad, my sister, and I had the most wonderful weekend. Very refreshing!

Comments policies and why I like 'em.

There's a local politics blog 'round these parts that I've stopped reading the comments on because the commenters have gotten so nasty and - while the blogger steps in once in a while to shut them down - on the whole, the nastiness continues unfettered.

It's like school yard bullying. And it's one reason why this blog is semi-anonymous. I don't want those commenters coming here. But IF they come here, I will delete any and all nastiness they might care to spew.

I'm taking this opportunity to call attention to my comments policy which I posted awhile back in the side bar over there --->

It reads:

Rules for commenters
Here at Mystery Mommy, I'd like to welcome all commenters. Here are a few rules:

Anonymity: I allow anonymous commenting because I have friends in the interwebs who'd rather not be tracked from site to site. If you want to comment anonymously, that is fine with the following limitations: be kind; be respectful; no spam; and, when possible, shoot me a private e-mail letting me know who you are. Thanks.

Spam: I don't allow it. Spam gets deleted. If I want to sell something, I will sell it. If you want to sell something, get your own blog.

Mean-spiritedness / bullying / disrespect: Deleted. That is all.

So, welcome! I hope that you will come often and comment freely within these simple rules. Thanks so much.

I hope you come back.

I will miss your blog so much. Take good care.

Singing! Dancing! Knitting!

Brilliant!

I am here. Truly I am

But...

Overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I need to do and the lack of time to do it in.

So quick bulleted update:

• MM's teacher sent home a long-term project before Spring Break and due this Friday. Make something useful out of recycled materials. MM and I discussed it early on, and picked out an Old Dominion root beer box to cut down and turn into a Bakugon Brawlers storage crate.
• Naturally we only actually started working on it tonight.
• He printed out pictures of his favorite Brawlers on the backs of already used paper.
• I cut down the box and the bottle separators, and glued a scrap strip of cardboard over the gap on the bottom.
• Tomorrow, when the glue is dry, MM will paste the pictures all over it, write up how we did it and what it's for, load it up with his Bakugons and bring the whole thing into school.
• Which means we won't have time to go skating in the evening.
• Missing free-skate practice time AGAIN = FAIL. Especially since we have a free pass for MM.
• Oh well, we did one on Saturday.
• And we didn't wait until TOMORROW night to start it. So not an example of extreme procrastination, but close.
• And, y'know, yadayada laundry, bills, work, grocery shopping, etc etc etc.

Life, and lots of it.

Hello!

Greetings to GotAHandClaspAndASignedBook and to KeepingTheMovementGoing!

I value the two of you more than I can say. I'm so glad to call you my friends.

The weekend in a nutshell

Solo-parenting Friday night read Harry Potter fed the boy washed the boy read Harry Potter went to bed woke up fed the boy took him to skating lessons went home paid the bills got keys made went back for free-skate session went home left MM with the sitter so that I could drive 45 minutes to attend a really long rally for a great guy talked with another great guy and his aide drove an hour home paid the sitter played Uno fed the boy read Harry Potter went to bed woke up MS BACK! fed the boy played Uno talked to friends fed the boy did campaign stuff played Uno talked to friends fed the boy read Harry Potter...

Deep breath

How was your weekend?

Yeah, I actually CAN believe they'd do that.

One of the largest employers in my neck of the woods has decided that it makes good sense to alienate a goodly portion of the flying population. I'm not a big fan of this company in the first place, but some commenters over at Shapely Prose may have figured out what's behind this move (after Kate talks about the sexism inherent in this system).

First, punkrockhockymom pointed out that this allows airlines to bump people without reimbursing them, in fact forcing the passenger to pay extra for being bumped.

Then bigliberty comments that the airline can then make the seats even smaller, forcing more passengers to fall into the bumpable category.

Because really? 700 complaints gets you a whole new policy? Where's the "you have to pay extra if your baby disturbs someone" policy? Where's the "You have to pay extra if you wear too much perfume" policy? Or as OTM put it:

"surely you receive significantly more complaints about any one of the following...terrible food, insulting beverage charges, broken equipment, terrible customer service, lost luggage, delayed flights, frightening turbulence, filthy bathrooms, unexpected gate changes, tedious in-flight magazines, horrible movie offerings, and that insufferable flight safety video narrator. "

And she notes that none of those things seem to have been fixed.

This also keeps folks from complaining about seats that are too small and getting smaller - who's going to complain when it might mean you'll get booted off the flight and charged for a second seat?

Anywhooo, read the post, then read the comments. I really do think that punkrockhockeymom has it right on this one - that this is how the airline is trying to get around the reimbursement for bumping rules.

I read an article on Daily Kos

Basically saying that the teabag protesters should give up the things their taxes buy. And here's the flaw in that argument: I'm guessing that many, if not most, of the teabag protesters come from rural and suburban locations. Which, if true, means that they don't get or pay extra for some of the services that urban folks take for granted.

They probably have a volunteer fire service, many dirt roads, and either haul their own trash to the dump or pay a trash service. They may have to go to the local post office to pick up their mail. Many probably home-school. And in any case, all of the services (except for the Post Office and Armed Services) listed in the article are provided for through state and local taxes, not federal.

Here's the thing: the only direct contact many folks have with the federal government is through the annual tooth-grinding extravaganza that is filling out their tax return, or waiting in line at the post office to buy stamps and send packages at Christmas. These are not contacts designed to get the people to be happy about the government.

Ideas for making people feel more connected to what their (federal) taxes purchase? Aside from uniforms for our nation's sons and daughters?

Got my hair cut

No, not like thisIt's now just a bit below my shoulders instead of near my bra band. Still long enough to put into a ponytail or up for a fancy thing.

I like it!

Yesterday's agenda read:

Meet the Governor.

The Governor changed the agenda and added a word.

One word.

This word:

with


What a difference a word makes.


Meet with the Governor.

I had a really really really great day yesterday.

Hooray for Vermont! My sister's home state!

WOOT!!! WOOT!!!