"I thought the President was repetitive and reactive."

-Kate O'Beirne, National Review Online’s the Corner


The above quote sums up my feelings on how Bush did in the debate last night. I've been somewhat worried in the last month about Kerry, but last night I felt that he stood tall and presented us with the facts. He looked presidential and he kept his cool. Bush's facial expression during Kerry's speaking time were reminiscent of Al Gore's constant huffing and puffing during the 2000 debates. Did somebody in the Bush camp forget to teach him how to use his 'neutral' face? Kerry seemed to concentrate on taking notes while Bush spoke, and there were just a few times I saw a facial reaction. Even then, it was no where near the frustrated, annoyed and belligerent look that President Bush kept conveying.

While the President is said to be 'folksy' and tries to come across as everyone's friend, I don't see that. I get the folksy, but I've never felt like he was trying to reach out to me. But, he may do better during the Town Hall Meeting debate because it may fit his style a little better. I'm still confident that Kerry can come across that way as well. Even John McCain commented that Kerry 'came out slugging.' Another key quote I liked about Kerry was from Tim Russert: “Tonight he seemed to find his voice for the Democratic view of the world.”

This morning on the Today show as Matt Lauer was interviewing someone from Bush's camp, Matt asked this person about the whole 'flip flop' thing they keep using against Kerry. Lauer said it to this effect: Isn't the ability to be flexible on key issues, make decisions based on information (even if it means changing where you were going) and admit that some of the things you have done were wrong are what people want to see in a President? This dude's response was that President Bush is flexible and that's what he is doing. Ummmm, no. If that were the case, he'd be able to step in front of us and say that he made an error in the invasion of Iraq and that he is doing his best to fix it. The guy DOES NOT like to admit that he is wrong!

The tides are changing...check this out from John Eisenhower:
As son of a Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. With the current administration’s decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to independent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry.

I had to laugh while watching 60 Minutes on Wednesday night as Mike Wallace interviewed one of my favorite NASCAR drivers, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Turns out, Junior's a Republican. In some ways it surprised me, but in others it didn't because A) His Dad was a Republican B) He's from the Deep South C) He makes a lot of money. Not that any of those reasons automatically point to a Republican, they are just very common qualities found in many of them.

And it's no secret that the candidates are trying to appeal to the coined term 'NASCAR Dad'. Junior was quick to point out that many of his fans (and they showed a bunch of rednecks sitting outside their motorhomes at the track drinking beer, sitting in kiddie pools, and waving their rebel flags) are typically white, southern, and conservative. When Wallace questioned him on the rebel flag bit, and if NASCAR was pretty much all white, Junior said that they go hand in hand. Although Junior considers himself a 'good ole boy', he did say that he didn't agree with the rebel flag and that the sport is predominately white and that it didn't fit with his personality, although all the other stuff did. (In which Wallace replied, "So, if you weren't a driver, you'd be sitting outside your motor home, at the track, drinking beer and raising hell?" The answer? "Yep.")

Anyway, I just thought that was interesting. That's my two cents on the evening.

As for new television programming this Fall, I have only watched Joey. And, I like it. It's dumb and funny and a nice guilty pleasure. The writing isn't as good as Friends, but it still is enjoyable to watch because the character of Joey is likeable. Mike & I have always loved Joey and the dumb things that come out of his mouth. Plus, I really like the guy who plays his nephew. Drea de Matteo that plays his sister is okay, I'm not overly fond of her. I just read the other day that she is dating Shooter Jennings-none other then the son of the late, great Waylon Jennings.

Otherwise, the television doesn't get watched much when Mike isn't around. Some nights when he is at school, I don't even turn it on. I've been re-reading my Little House on the Prairie books for some reason. Return to the days of being a little kid. It's funny how much more I understand of the books now then when I was little. Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble and purchased Bleachers by John Grisham and A Man Called Cash (brand new) by Steve Turner. The latter I just started today and it's already excellent, but sad.

This weekend: nothing on tap. Mike's with the boys at his NOME weekend, so it's just me and Madison taking it easy.

To quote James Brown, "I feel good..." Or at least I'm getting there.

Went to the doctor for a follow-up on Friday for some other tests I had done, so they checked me out for my sickness crap too. Not much that could be done. Just that typical upper respiratory stuff. Otherwise, I was given a clean bill of health. My heart is in fantastic shape, my weight is normal for my height (although I disagree because I found out I have gained 12lbs since February). My blood work was good, with the exception of some elctrolite that I have to have re-checked. All in all, the symptoms I was experiencing before getting sick (shortness of breath, bruising, insomnia, sleep disorder, etc) all look like they are side effects of the medication I take for depression. So, to sum things up, it's all in my head.

I'm working on things. I'll get there.

My co-worker Amy had her baby last Thursday morning. Sophie, 7lbs 8oz. I stopped at the hospital on Friday to visit with them and she is absolutely adorable. Amy was in labor for 48 hours, pushed for 1 1/2 hours, and ended up with a c-section. The baby wasn't coming because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck FIVE times! Mom and baby are fine, although Amy is obviously recovering, slowly, from her surgery. Poor thing-she looked tough at the hospital.

My cousin Jenni also had a baby girl on Monday! Congrats to Jen and Tim, and the new grandparents, my Uncle Mike & Aunt Sue. Emily Elizabeth, in the same 7lb range as Sophie. New babies everywhere! I can't wait to see Emily. We haven't had a new baby in the Webb family for a very long time!

Her picture reminded me of when Jenni was a baby. I remember when she was born (I was 4) because although I liked her very much, I was also a bit jealous because of the attention Grandma Webb was giving to her! I also remember when my cousin Molly was born because she had to spend some time in the hospital. I have a vague memory of looking at her in the nursery of the hospital window and wondering why we couldn't hold her yet. She had lots of red hair! I wasn't as jealous of Molly, because I was older.

When I got home on Friday and showed Mike the pictures of Sophie, he asked if I was getting baby fever again. (I had it bad last October after Sam was born). He's always checking to see if I have it!

Mike & I went over to Cretin Durham Hall H.S. in St. Paul last night to watch Tyler play football for Century. They lost, but it was really fun to see him play at the JV level. They had him at running back, and I can't remember what he played on defense. He scored a touchdown as well! I'm glad we at least got to see one game this season. Sometimes it's hard to believe that is my little buddy that I used to carry around and take care of when he was little!

Fall is here...temp was 41 degrees this morning. It was awesome to wake up to. I love Fall weather. And, yesterday was Paige's 9th birthday. Happy Birthday kiddo!

Mike & I have now known each other 8 years as of yesterday. We'll celebrate anniversary #4 next week. Things have been tough lately as we deal with adjusting our schedules to his with school, taking care of his parents, worrying about grandparents, trying to remain social and have fun, on top of every day responsibilities and running a house. I realize daily that marriage is about communication, compromise, love and understanding. And, it's only your spouse that can laugh at your dumb jokes, love you even when you look like hell and are coughing your brains out, share in the responsibilty of a pet, understand when you lose a family member, feel your pain at losing touch with friends, it goes on and on.

There was much discussion when we started living together because of friends and family that didn't necessarily agree with that idea. For me, and I think for both of us, it came down to helping us be sure that this was what we wanted. Many people say that when you get married after living together, the divorce rate is higher because there is no difference in the feeling of being married and living together. Experts say that couples still have a tendency to think they can walk away from it all with no strings. I can honestly say that was not the case with us. The day we walked back into our apartment after getting married FELT different. I knew that there was no walking out that door without looking back.

After watching my parents go through a divorce, this was my way of ensuring that this marriage was going to last. No one has a crystal ball and no one can predict the future. But for me, this was my peace of mind. I'm not saying we didn't have the usual ups and downs of the first year of marriage. It was just that we knew how to deal with them. I love being married, and we really do have a great relationship, but we've also worked hard at achieving that. And it helps that we are also friends and like many of the same things. One thing that always stumps us though is our personalities. We are opposites here, but since we like many of the same things (i.e. hockey was the first thing we talked about) that is our common ground. But, we also are alike too in that our values are similar. We both think the world of our grandparents and spent a lot of time with them, our families are important, we believe in respect of one another, our ideas about raising kids are similar, we pretty much agree at what direction we want this country to go in, and we are both liberal. (me WAY more then him!) I guess it all comes down to a perfect mix of things that just work.

Mom & Barry leave for Pat's tomorrow-have a safe trip! Pat, hope you've recovered from Dave's visit as well. I received a crazy phone call from them on Saturday night from the baseball game they were attending, during the 7th Inning stretch of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." It sounded like a lot of fun!

Happy October!