I'm supposed to be working, so I'll have to keep this brief. But I wanted to share from my kids' journals today. It's such a picture of the difference in boys and girls.

Today we read the end of Genesis 24 and beginning of Genesis 25. It was the conclusion of the story of Isaac and Rebekah getting married, followed by the death of Abraham. After we finish reading the Scripture, they write in their journals whatever they want about the story and usually choose to illustrate.

So Bradley chose to write about the death of Abraham. In the top picture, you see Abraham sitting on a rock, desperately trying to draw his last breath. The tree and stars are all smiling.

In the after picture, Abraham has now croaked and the tree and stars are sad. Very moving, don't you think?

But of course my daughter would have chosen to write about the wedding. I so loved her picture that I had to share.

She dictates to me, and the caption for today read, "Today we talked about Rebekah and Isaac. That's my middle name, but I've already told you that before. Remember at the beach there was these flowered things that you go in and the guy comes beside it and reads from the Bible? This is Isaac and Rebekah getting married."

I love that her picture of their wedding was what she's seen at beach weddings. I love that she drew such a beautiful trellis. I love that Rebekah is holding a bouquet of roses.

I LOVE that she was so taken by the fact that Isaac's servant gave Rebekah a gold nose ring that it is perfectly placed in the picture. Look closely. That's just beautiful.

I think she can pull Mississippi, don't you?

Fairness, Mad Cow Disease and Indian Cuisine

While they may seem completely unrelated, all three of these things helped define my day yesterday.

First, those of you living in the Nashville area know that we had a teensy, weensy bit of snow on the roads yesterday morning, so most local school districts were closed. It was very pretty to watch, but bitterly cold, so I wasn't all that excited about sending my kids out to play in it. But they had other ideas. Where it got interesting was when they realized that school was not in session and their friends were out and about. I immediately got hit with, "We want a snow day, too! It has to be fair!"

So I gave them the look that all kids hate and sweetly said, "Okay. If it needs to be fair, then from now on we will do school from 8:30 to 3:30, Monday through Friday. No more relaxed Fridays, and we're going to have to add some new coursework to our day."

Looks of frustration and despair caused a moment of pause. And ultimately, "But that's not the kind of fair we mean!"

It was a fantastic lesson in how fairness doesn't always equal a good outcome. And how making all things equal always means pulling someone down to bring someone else up. Could it be that my children, albeit unknowingly, got a taste of Socialism yesterday?

They chose to do school on a snow day. They have chosen wisely.
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Last night the Red Cross did a blood drive at my church. I, being the good citizen, signed up over a week ago to make an appointment. I have one of the more rare blood types, and I know they definitely need folks like me to give. (Out of 100 people, only me and my daddy have it.)

So I picked up the little piece of paper sitting there while I was waiting and read all the reasons why you shouldn't give blood. I'm not taking any antibiotics. Check. I haven't had a recent blood transfusion. Check. Haven't been to Africa or had sex with anybody who's from there. Check. Haven't been doing IV drugs or had a recent tattoo. Check. I'm feeling pretty confident here that my blood will be good with these people.

After getting called back and giving my personal info, I begin taking the confidential health survey. There are a couple of questions on there that make me begin to worry a bit, but I'm still 75% confident that everything will be okay.

The lady comes in and asks me about my recent travel outside of the USA. Well, last summer I went to Thailand, I tell her. She wants to know where and puts it in. Anywhere else? I'm thinking about my cruise last February and wondering if it counts. So I tell her the Caribbean. She wants to know where. Oh, man. This cruise had 5 ports! So I have to slowly tell her each place I got off the boat and tell her how to spell them. This takes a little while.

And then the question that had me worried pops up. She says, "Between the years 1980 and 1996, you spent a period of time totalling more than three months in the United Kingdom?" I say yes. She says, "How long?" I tell her three and a half months. In college, I had the amazing privilege of spending the Spring semester of my sophomore year at the London Study Center for Samford University. It's definitely one of the highlights of my 34-year lifespan. But apparently this is a problem for the Red Cross.

She asks me when I left and enters May of 1993. Then something starts flashing and asking for a comment. She's apparently never seen this before and leaves to retrieve upper management.

He comes in and looks at my profile and starts talking to her under his breath. This is starting to worry me. He looks at me and says, "Unfortunately, you can't donate today. In fact, we're going to have to give you an indefinite deferral."

"Why?" I ask in a puzzled sort of way.

"Well, it's because of Mad Cow Disease." Apparently, there is no way to test for Mad Cow Disease, and those of us who lived in England during this 16-year period may have it. I know some of you are thinking this may explain a lot, but no comments are necessary. (Seth - I'm watching you.)

So I stand up to leave and he tells me I need to wait for the paperwork. I feel like there is this giant spotlight on me screaming "BAD BLOOD! REJECT!" It's totally humiliating.

He brings in a letter that states I can't give blood, and I'm entered in the Red Cross system as a disqualified donor. Oh, but the good news is, if they ever do come up with a way to test for MCD, I'm free to come back and let them stick me with a needle again. That's so comforting.
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And last, but not least, I tasted real Indian food for the first time last night. As some of you know, I leave a week from this coming Monday for Hyderabad, India. I'll be gone for 12 days with a group of nine other people from my church on a mission journey. I am so excited about this. I'll supposedly have Internet access while I'm there, so hope to keep up my blog. But obviously I can't promise how often. It's 11 and a half hours ahead, so almost just like Thailand last year.

Anyway, my group met at "Cuisine of India" over by Vanderbilt. Other than about 5 other people (only one of whom looked Indian) we were the sole patrons. Our fearless leader Kim ordered for us since most of us were Indian cuisine virgins. We had some flat bread that was pretty good, some deep-fried something-or-others for appetizers, which is good, because I can eat virtually anything that's been deep-fried. It's the Southern way, you know. For our entrees we had lamb and chicken, both pureed and both really red. It was hard to tell them apart other than the fact that the chicken was more lumpy. They also brought out fried chicken, which looked really scary because it was that same really red color, but it actually tasted pretty good. No dessert.

All of it was entirely edible, so I feel pretty good about being able to find something to eat while we are there. Now, I'm sure that this was cleaned-up, Americanized Indian food, so I'm not expecting it to be exactly the same. But I know I can at least eat the bread. Worst case scenario, I lose a little weight. Or I guess that would actually be the best case scenario! :)

So that was my day yesterday. Today is Valentine's Day, and my sweetie and I are going to eat with some friends and then go see Spamalot at TPAC. Can't wait!

Bradley asked me today why we celebrate Valentine's Day. I told him that I had no idea, so we looked it up. Guess what? There is no reason. This is a purely made-up holiday for Big Candy and Big Flowers. I'm dead serious. There was a St. Valentine, but he apparently had nothing to do with Cupid or candy or anything. Fascinating.

So if you are a Valentine's Day fan, I hope you enjoy it to the fullest. If you aren't, take heart in the fact that it is completely contrived and has no significance whatsoever.

But either way you go, you should definitely enjoy the excuse to eat some chocolate!

Update on Dana- the surgeon DOES NOT think it is cancer. Praise God! :)

Please pray for my dear friend Dana on Tuesday, February 12. She is facing an MRI, chest x-ray and needle biopsy to determine whether or not she has breast cancer.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

profound thoughts

Earlier today Bradley was trying to imitate the sound that a certain type of bird makes. What he doing, however, sounded strikingly similar to the very horrible sounds that he makes when he is puking.

I said, "Bradley, you sound like you are vomiting."

Bailey pipes up, "Yeah! And you also sound like you're throwing up!"

--------

After he returned from a trip to the restroom, I asked Bradley if he had washed his hands.

"But Mom, I only went number 1."

"That doesn't matter, son. Go wash your hands!"

Grumbling, he walks back to the bathroom. I hear him saying, "I only did number 1. That's not as bad as number 2. Number 3 is pretty bad, but number 4 is disgusting!"

Of course I'm wondering what those other numbers are, but there's no way in this world I'm going to ask.

He comes back in and asks Bailey if she knows that the numbers mean. She doesn't, and I'm so curious I decide not to intervene.

"Number 1 is when you pee. Number 2 is when you poop. Number 3 is when you share your pancakes. You know, puke?" (Giggles and snickers.)

"What's number 4?"

"That's the worst. That's when you have... you know."

"Diarhhea?"

"Yeah!"

Screams of laughter all around.

I give up.

So now my second choice has quit. I understand why. I applaud him for putting his self-interest aside and attempting to defracture the Party, if that's what he felt he needed to do. But what am I left with now?

Can I tell you how much I wish Obama was my candidate? I really like that guy. I think he's funny, articulate, at times inspiring. He makes me believe that he has the power to do great things for this country. Until I actually listen to what he wants to do. That's where we have a slight disconnect.

I don't know if you saw him give his speech on Super Tuesday. If you liver here and you're like me, you were going back and forth between that and the weather coverage. (By the way, can I just give some props to Lisa Patton and the gang for staying on the air from the early evening until the wee hours of the morning? I know they were doing it on the other channels too, but I just love that News 2 Weather Crew.)

But if you saw Obama give his speech that night, you would have noticed a middle-aged blonde woman over his right shoulder. This woman was hanging on EVERY syllable that came from the Senator's mouth. She was jumping up and down, looking at him with adoration, wiping tears from her eyes... the woman was in complete love with her candidate. I want that. I don't have it.

As of right now, when I see McCain or Huckabee on TV, I turn it. I have the same feeling of disgust that I used to have when I saw Bill or Al. And I know I'm not the only one. This is not good news for my Party.

What is going to be really interesting now is the dynamic between McCain and Huckabee. With Romney in there, we practically had a civil union going between those two. Suddenly, a vote for Huckabee is no longer a vote for McCain. A vote for Huckabee is now a vote McCain doesn't get. I think he may be in for a pretty nasty surprise now that he is no longer needed.

However, I still see the potential for a joint ticket. I think McCain is still going to need a southern conservative on his ticket. I personally hope that is Fred, but my hopes haven't gotten me too far this election cycle.

Something to speculate about is the Democratic ticket. It's widely spread that Hillary, if nominated, will pick Bill Richardson to gin up the support of Hispanics. I can totally see that.

But who will Obama pick? Will it be Joe Biden, who would offer a wealth of experience to the ticket? After all, he was so nice to call Obama the first clean, articulate black man to ever run for President. (I still laugh out loud every time I picture Al and Jesse's faces when they heard that!)

Or will it be Ted Kennedy? There's kind of a little love fest between the two right now. He'd play the anti-Cheney pretty well, I think.

I honestly have no idea at this point what to expect. But I think Hillary is getting stuck in some pretty deep and murky waters. Obama raised $30 million this month, while she had to loan her own campaign $5 million. That's not a really good sign for her.

I will make this prediction, however. If Obama wins the nomination, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be the next President of the United States. McCain's only chance of winning is if he runs against "his dear friend and colleague, in the most civil election this country has ever seen."

Gag me.

So here's what we know. For whatever reason, it appears inevitable that John McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. It's not completely over yet, but I can hear the fat lady doing her warm-ups.

There are all kinds of theories behind who is voting and why they might be voting for McCain. I still think there's a lot to the name recognition and the sense that it's his turn, plus the fact that the Media has tried to do everything they can to get him in this position. But it doesn't really matter.

I could whine and get upset and spend my time now mulling this over and over and working up a nice ulcer, but the fact is this is completely out of my control. My voting is over until November. So I thought it might be time for some perspective.

If I lived in Darfur, Sudan, I could be one of the estimated 2-400,000 casualties of war, or join the 2.5 million refugees who have been displaced from their homes in the face of this catastrophic war.

If I lived in Saudi Arabia, I could be arrested, tortured or even killed for having public contact with a man that I'm not related to. (See this article in The Times.)

If I lived in South Africa, there's at least a 30% chance that I would be infected with HIV/AIDS, and certainly would live constantly surrounded by its grim reality.

If I lived in France, I'd be faced with 10% unemployement, an alarming rise in radical Islam and a newly-elected president who just married an ex-model and is traipsing her around the world wearing a red heart-shaped ring that looks almost identical to the one his ex-wife used to wear. I mean, that's just weird.

Ultimately, as we discussed in Bible study last night, the outcome of this election is not going to surprise God. This is one dot on the time and space continuum. And if I believe He is in control of all things, then I have to believe He's got this one covered too.

There is a lot of time between now and November. So many things could happen. Yes, I am discouraged. Sick to my stomach, even, if I allow myself to go there. But if I'm going to trust God, then I need to let it go.

"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
James 4:13-14

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
1 John 2:15-17

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."
Psalm 42:5

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."
Hebrews 10:22-24

Of course I will continue to stay involved in the political process. I'm stunned right now, and there is part of me that really does just want to walk away from the whole thing and leave my Party to lie in the bed it's made. But I don't think that's how God made me.

For now, I will take my time to mourn. But I'm so thankful that I don't have to mourn as those who have no hope. Today, at least, my eyes are on things higher.

Tuesdays are usually our busiest day homeschooling, because instead of staying home we take Bryant up to his school and our friend Russ up to the church for his school. Since it's all the way in Brentwood and we have to pick them back up at 2, we just stay at the church and do school in one of the upstairs classrooms.

Bailey got sick again during the night last night, so I really didn't want to take her anywhere. Plus, with all the sickness going on out there, I kind of didn't want to expose Bryant to a bunch of other 2-yr-olds either. After all, one of them might throw up or something.

On days when we are all here together, we wait to do a lot of stuff until Bryant goes down for a nap. But after Bradley finished his math, he went to practice piano. I've learned that he has a really great ear, and he's started picking songs out on the piano from memory. His newest one is "The First Noel."

Today, Bailey started singing it with him in the form of "la, la, las" while he played. Where this ended up completely blew my mind.

First, Brad came up with a tag ending where he would hold out the last note of "Noel" and Bailey would keep singing. It actually sounded really good. He was working hard at different endings to see what would sound the best.

Somewhere along the way they decided they needed a microphone. So with the help of some black construction paper, tape and string, they ended up with this...
Bradley even took the time to make the bottom of the mic have an on/off switch, complete with a red light power indicator. I didn't even know that he had looked at the bottom of a mic, but apparently he has. I thought it was interesting that they decided to put a power cord on the mic, since all the ones we use at church are cordless. I think it just made the whole thing look cooler to them.

After they had a mic, of course they needed an amp to make sure everyone could hear. One Amazon box and black marker later, and Voila, you have a pretty cool sound system! They even put a hook on the side to hold the mic on when not in use.

But what totally blew my mind was when Bradley said he needed a mic for the piano. As he said, we need the ones that hang from the ceiling so the instruments can be heard. This one came in orange...
And here is our worship team, completely decked out with the latest in sound equipment and ready to go.

I just stood back in amazement at how much they have picked up from being in church, being in choir and having to sit through early morning worship team rehearsals. I couldn't be more proud of them right now. I feel like it's just a glimpse of one of the ways God may use them in the future.

Oh, and the cage? That's to keep Bryant out. He was determined to get a piece of this action before it was all over!

In the future, I'll be sure the dryer door completely closes behind me.

Please read this article from the Washington Post before casting your vote for McCain. It's worth considering.

Obviously the man struggles tremendously with his temper. I'm personally uncomfortable having someone with this much of a hothead being in charge of our nuclear arsenal.

I know it's not PC to suggest, but there is no telling how much Senator McCain suffers from PTSD after being tortured in Vietnam. Who knows what kind of flashbacks, nightmares and even hallucinations might plague this man. I don't think he's the only person on the planet who can go through being tortured without having it affect the rest of their life. This is why he is so anti-torture when it comes to our military. Do we know that he would allow American intelligence to do what it takes to save millions of Americans from another terrorist attack? I'm not so sure.

Please don't vote for him just because he seems to be inevitable and because the media loves him. They will turn on him in an instant once it's time for the general election. I really believe a vote for McCain will be a vote for the Democrat party.

Up until it looked like McCain would be our nominee, I felt like Hillary Clinton wouldn't have a chance. She polarizes people, especially Republicans, so much, that it seemed like it would be no problem. But if she's running against McCain, I think she'll be our next President. If Obama is running against him, there's no question. There are so many conservative Republicans who can't stomach voting for McCain and will stay home. I've heard some prominent Republicans in the media say that they would vote for Hillary over McCain. That is scary, scary stuff.

Sadly, there's no one left that I feel strongly about. But I do feel like Romney has a better chance of beating Hillary (or Obama.) Just something to think about.

Now for the family stuff. If you have a weak stomach, just skip on down to the political post below or check back tomorrow.

As many of you know, there is a very contagious and nasty stomach bug currently going around our area. I had to pick up Bryant from preschool on Tuesday because he had thrown up. He threw up again on the way home, fell sound asleep and woke up fine. He had a few runny diapers on Thursday and Friday, but basically all was well.

Friday night, Jeff came down with it. He was sick all night long, and being the faithful and loving wife that I am, I slept through the whole thing. I seriously had no idea this was going on, and I feel pretty guilty about it. He was still sick yesterday for a great portion of the day, and although the nauseau passed, he was completely wiped out and had a killer headache.

As we were going to bed last night, Bailey mentioned that she didn't feel well. Fearing the worst, we put a trash can by her bed and a towel by her head, hoping that if she got sick we'd be able to contain the mess. Sadly, it didn't play out quite as we'd hoped.

At 10:45, I heard Bailey go into the bathroom coughing. I jumped up (apparently my mommy sensors are much more sharply tuned than my wifely ones.) When I got to the bathroom I discovered a scene out of the Exorcist. In my almost 9 years of parenting and dealing with vomit and various other nasty things, this was the worst.

I will spare you the most disgusting details, but let's just say that it looked as if an evil clown had smashed her in the face with vomit pie. My sweet darling had throw-up in her eyes, ears all over her clothes and deeply entwined in her curly hair. It was enough to make me call on Jesus to please come back right away.

The only thing I could do was put her in the shower while I tried to deal with the crime scene. She ended up taking a pretty long shower, because there was much that had to be cleaned up. I didn't have the heart to wake Jeff up due to the circumstances of his past 24 hours, so it took me a while.

I finally got her back in bed and was able to lay down at the foot of her bed with her around midnight. A few minutes later she sat up and threw up again. This time she hit the bucket, so not much was required other than TLC. I laid down on her bed with her until about 1:00, when I snuck off to my room.

Of course I couldn't go to sleep for a while, but I finally dozed into semi-consciousness somewhere around 2:00, when my precious came in and woke me up so I could come back and lay in her room. I told her I needed to be able to stretch out, but assured her that if she needed me I would be there. About 45 minutes later she came in asking for water. So I still hadn't had a chance to slip back into slumber.

At 4:30 a.m., I hear Bradley run for the bathroom. I jump up, hardly able to believe what is happening. Now, Brad didn't throw up in his sleep, and tried very hard to hold it all in with his hand. He made it almost all the way to his door. So instead of cleaning up all his bedding and him, there were carpet issues.

At this point the sensitive wife was replaced by the utterly-exhausted-out-of-her-mind wife. So Jeff was politely asked to get up and help me. I gave Bradley the miracle drug Zofran (Bailey had received it as well) and he actually didn't throw up again until he woke up this morning around 7:30. That's been it for him. Thank you, Lord.

But the silver lining to this dark and thoroughly disgusting black cloud is the fact that the Lord answered my prayer last night. Before we went to bed, I was starting to feel seriously queasy. I knew that my time was coming. I earnestly prayed that God would spare me, because I knew in my heart that Bailey was going to be getting sick very soon.

I've prayed to not get sick before, but never with such passion and faith that God would answer. Obviously He is more powerful than any stomach bug. So I called on Him to take it away from me so I could be helpful to those who need me the most. Plus I was scheduled to teach Sunday school this morning.

The Lord was faithful and answered this prayer for me. I was able to get to church and teach. As of right now, I've been nauseous most of the day, but so far that's been the extent of it. I think some of mine comes from having been up all night and not having a nap. But I truly believe that God just gave me some extra favor this weekend, and I wanted to give Him the glory for it.

So instead of having a Super Bowl party like we'd planned, we've all just been sitting around all day. For some reason, pizza and buffalo shrimp didn't seem like an appropriate menu. So we're watching the game with scrambled eggs and toast. It's not too bad.

Stay well out there!

My friend Meredith has brought up some interesting information that I thought I would pass on for those of you voting in Tennessee on Tuesday...

When you vote Tuesday, you will see “I hereby declare my preference for candidate for the office of President of the United States to be as follows:” Then you'll see a listing of Presidential candidates.

However, by voting for a particular candidate, you are not technically voting for your choice for President. This list of Presidential candidates is just for informational purposes for the TN Republican Party and the TN Democratic Party. The delegates to the National Convention choose the candidate. The election of the Presidential candidate is the responsibility of these delegates. You are voting for these delegates this Tuesday.

Following your “vote” (better known as preference) in support of a specific candidate, you will then have the opportunity to vote for 12 Delegates at Large and 3 Delegates from your voting district. If you do not know your district, call your county election commission or go to: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/election/maps/index.htm.

In each party's primary, the voter may cast one (1) vote for his or her preference for candidate for president or for the uncommitted designation. However, TCA §2-13-312 permits the voter to vote for as many delegate candidates as there are to be delegates elected from that congressional district. According to the number allocated for any presidential candidate, the delegate candidate(s) receiving the most votes shall be certified as the delegates to their parties' national conventions. TCA §2-13-315.

What does this all mean? You do not have to choose your delegates to the convention based solely on the fact that they are listed as “Committed to …” a certain candidate. It does not matter if their commitment is to Romney, McCain, Huckabee or a candidate that is no longer in the running for President (such as Thompson and Giuliani). Some of the best delegates for the convention are listed under “Committed to Fred Thompson.” These folks are very conservative and believe in smaller government, less taxation, etc. They are fellow local residents who have our best interests at heart, not that of the National Party.

All of the people below are listed “Committed to Fred Thompson.” So if you were planning to vote for Fred, you might want to still consider voting for his delegates.

Jim Bryson (formerly served on TN State Senate, ran for TN Governor in 2006)
Tim Burchett (R-Knox County; TN State Senate)
Steven Buttrey (2005 Republican caucus Secretary)
J. Wayne Cropp (Chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party)
Glen Casada (R-Williamson County,TN State Congressman of Franklin, member of Brentwood Baptist Church)
Delores Gresham (State Representative of District 94)
Tom Leatherwood (Shelby County Registrar of Deeds)
Ron Ramsey (Lt. Governor and Speaker of the Senate)
Jamie Woodson (R-Knox County; TN State Senate)

If you’re in the 7th District, you can also vote for the following:
John Allbrooks (TN Republican Party Exec. Committee – Williamson County resident)
Monty Lankford (founder and owner of TLC Medical in Franklin, TN)
Joseph A. Woodruff (Served on Thompson’s financial team, Board member of the Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County)

I'm posting this because I think it's important to be informed of what you will be facing in the voting booth. To be honest, it makes me a little bit uneasy to vote for Fred's delegates without knowing who they plan to vote for. Now, it will probably not matter by the time the convention rolls around, because by then it's very likely that we'll know who is going to get the nomination and it will all be pageantry.

But, again, I wanted to put it out there that you are going to have the option to choose delegates, so it's worth looking into before you head to the polls.

Thanks for the info, Meredith!

Table Talk

I don't know how your dinner conversation went, but here's how ours ended. After Bryant sneezed out a nice chunk of apple, I said, "Jeff, what are we going to do about this?!"

Brad pipes up, "We could just not feed him for a couple of years."

"Yeah. That would work," I say.

"Mom, how long can people go without eating?"

Teachable moment, right? "Well, we know at least 40 days, because that's how long Jesus went."

"Yeah. But that's Jesus."

"Well, Jesus was human, you know. I think you can go something like 50 days without food, but only about ten without water."

"A cockroach can live ten days without its head!"

And now you know. Don't even bother to look it up.

Last night I pulled a 1/2 inch-long french fry out of Bryant's nose. It was so far up his nasal cavity that tweezers and a flashlight were required. As I began pulling and it just kept coming and coming, I truly felt I would be sick. There are some things God meant to be in our noses. I'm quite sure Combo #5 was not one of them.

But I've had a couple of requests to quit discussing all the interesting things going on in my family life and get back to the important stuff, like Decision 2008. Apparently, some of you don't really care about Leigh Ann the mommy and are only interested in Leigh Ann the policital science enthusiast. I guess I'm okay with that. I can multi-task. Just know that as I type this I'm wondering if I got all the pieces of pink animal cracker out of Bry's nose before he went down for his nap.

So I have a prediction to make. I may be going out on a limb, but it seems reasonable to me. The way things look right now, it's pretty safe to say that McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. (Imagine me coughing the word "McCain" as I type it. It hurts.) In Florida, votes that might have gone to Romney went to Giuliani. Votes that might have gone to Romney went to Huckabee. Giuliani has gotten out and endorsed McCain. Huckabee apparently has no plans to get out, at least not until after Super Tuesday.

I believe that Huckabee is purposefully staying in the race to split the votes away from Romney. None of those guys like him for some reason. He seems to be the kid on the playground that everybody picks on. Probably because he has more money than all of them put together, and that just doesn't seem fair. Or maybe because he's better looking. I don't know. But the fact is they don't like him and want him out of there.

I know a lot of people who don't like Romney based on the Mormon thing. I personally don't have a problem with this. If you haven't read the speech he gave last December on his views of religion and politics, please do so. I think you will be impressed, and I don't think you'll come away with the idea that he plans to turn the country into the United Followers of Joseph Smith.

Mitt Romney is a wealthy guy. But this didn't come to him without hard work. He worked for many years for a management consulting firm and then a private equity investment firm, which bought up or invested in such companies as Staples, Domino's, Sealy Corporation and Sports Authority. His original company asked him to come back in 1990 when they were facing financial collapse. He was able to completely turn the company around within a year to making a profit, all without layoffs or losing partners.

As the president and CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT, Mr. Romney inherited a mess. Remember the scandal of those Olympics about the bribery of officials? When the CEO/president stepped down, Mitt Romney was brought in. He was facing a $379 million revenue shortage, and plans were being made to scale back. Mr. Romney was able to turn this around, instill a post-9-11 $300 million security budget, and still manage to make the games a $100 million profit. He personally donated $1 million to the games, and donated his salary to charity. You can read about this in his book, "Turnaround."

As Governor of Massachusetts, Romney faced a $1.3 billion defecit when he took office in 2003. By 2006, with massive spending cuts and various taxes, the state was back to a $700 million surplus and he was able to cut taxes. With our economy in apparent trouble, he would bring a wealth of experience to the table.

The man is not perfect. But he clearly knows how to lead and get things done. His Mormonism doesn't bother me, other than the fact that I wish he knew the Truth. Mormons have great family values and strong faith. Yes, they believe in some things I find a bit wacky. But, again, I do not think his personal beliefs would be imposed upon me, nor do I think they would affect his ability to be a good president. I'd rather have a Mormon in the office than a lot of other things.

So am I endorsing Romney? I don't know. But I'm probably going to vote for him.

John McCain is winning right now. I'm not quite sure how this happened, considering his candidacy was in the toilet about 8 months ago. The most likely reason he's winning is because the Republican base is fractured all over the place. I'm convinced that Huckabee is staying in to help McCain beat Romney. And here's why I think that is.

It occurred to me this morning that there's probably a very good reason for this backroom deal McCain and Huckabee have going on. At first I thought the love fest between Giuliani and McCain earlier this week might indicate that we were going to see a McCain-Giuliani ticket. But I don't think so anymore. I think we are going to have a McCain-Huckabee ticket. Huckabee will supposedly bring McCain what he needs most, which are conservative voters. He brings the South. He brings the Evangelicals. He brings social conservatives. McCain is none of those things. So I think it will be irresistable to him.

Is there anything good about John McCain? Yes. You have to be impressed with his record on foreign policy and Iraq. I do believe that he will allow our military the freedom to do what needs to be done to win. And that is hugely important to me. Obama wants to start bringing the troops home the day after he gets elected. That scares me. I believe McCain will be tough with Iran, and any other enemy that comes forward. I feel pretty good about him being in charge of the war on terror.

But in every other way the man is a Democrat. McCain-Feingold is one of the most blatant attacks on free speech this country has ever seen. It is specifically the reason Mitt Romney was unable to run ads defending himself against the lie McCain put out there a couple of days before the Florida primary that Romney was a proponent of timetables in Iraq.

McCain-Kennedy was an attempt to quickly shove an amnesty plan for illegal immigrants through the system without giving Americans the right of protest. Protest, they did, and the bill died an unpleasant death. McCain proved himself to have contempt for the conservative wing of the Repulican party throughout that very ugly process, which is why he's struggling so much right now.

McCain-Lieberman is an attempt to cap greenhouse emissions in order to save the world from global warming. Need I say more?

When Governor Schwarzeneggar endorsed him earlier today, his reason for doing so was because McCain has proven over and over that he is willing to reach across the aisle and work to get things done. That would be great if he didn't seem to be the one giving in on everything. Compromise is one thing. Bending over just to get your name on legislation is another.

In summary, if McCain gets the nomination, I will vote for him. I will do so because I believe our military needs him. I feel that with all we have at stake, we need a guy in the White House who can recognize our enemy and be willing to do what it takes to fight. But I will not be putting a sign in my yard or on my car, drinking out of a McCain-Huckabee coffee mug or proudly sporting an "M" tee-shirt. It will be duty, not passion. Kind of like when the Clintons consummated their marriage.

Electile Dysfunction

According to Urban Dictionary, is the inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either party during an election year.

"Is anyone appealing to you in this year's presidential race?"
"Naa... No one excites me. I think I'm suffering from Electile Dysfunction."

Maybe we should start a support group.

(Thanks for the diagnosis, Vicki!)

McCain wins Florida.

Rudy's out. (Sorry, Jason.)

Leigh Ann's depressed.

Tomorrow is another day.

There is so, so much to talk about politically today, but unfortunately my time is limited. But I have to comment on the Kennedy endorsement of Obama today.

First of all, Hillary is having a bad day. Things are looking quite bleak for the former first lady, and although I truly would prefer having her as the Democrat nominee over Obama, I can't help but feel a sense of delight over watching the Clinton machine self-destruct. Al Sharpton actually told Bill via his radio show this morning to "Shut Up!" Delicious.

But the funniest moment of my whole day came this morning while I was on the treadmill watching Good Morning America. Diane was all aflutter over the Kennedys endorsing Senator Obama. She actually said, I kid you not, that Ted Kennedy is the standard-bearer of the Democrat party. I just about pulled a George Jetson. I literally had to hold the side rails to keep from flying off the back of the treadmill, laughing hysterically all the way.

Is that really what it's come to? Ted Kennedy, the standard-bearer of anything other than his favorite Cognac? I realize that she just meant he's the symbol of the party, but even that should depress them. Obama could do better, I think. If he wants to come across as the candidate of change, I'm thinking he might want to keep his distance from Old Chappaquiddick.

This is just too much fun. If tomorrow's workout is as enjoyable as today's, I might be in shape by the convention.

Mini Me

We can't help it. We're girls. This is what we do.

Last night we took Brad and Bailey to see High School Musical at TPAC. It was their first Broadway play, so I had great expectations.

Let's just say, I'm not counting it as their first Broadway show.

If you are unfamiliar with the show, none of this will interest you, so check back later. But if you know the movie and care how the Broadway show measures up, read on.

First of all, the mikes were so hot last night that I felt like I was pushed into the back of my chair by the sonic boom when the first song began. Bailey has sensitive ears like me, so she was a little taken back as well. But we both got used to it and our ears adjusted until they started screaming at us again right after intermission. I could understand the need for this much noise if we were at the Sommet Center, but this was Andrew Jackson Hall. It's just not necessary.

Secondly, Troy. So disappointing. He sung every high note as if he were constipated and pushing it out with all his might. Zac Efron might be cheesy, but at least the dude can actually sing. This guy was nails against the chalkboard.

Third, Ryan. Now, in the HSM the movies, Ryan is what you might call effeminate. He dresses a little flashy and he has no backbone to stand up to his overbearing sister. But he's not flaming. In fact, in HSM2, he has a pretty impressive number on the baseball field that really shows the testosterone is there. But the Broadway show chose to portray him as queer as a $3 bill. I mean, picture the designer guy on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and gay him up about 3x more. Then you have last night's Ryan.

Fourth, Kelsie. In the movie, Kelsie is a cute girl who just really loves music. She is extremely talented, and has managed to write an entire musical while still in high school. She's just portrayed as a slightly-eccentric music type, but totally likeable. The closest parallel I can come to for last night's Kelsie was Pat, the androgynous one from Saturday Night Live. She was creepy. Seriously creepy.

There were, however, some positive elements. The set was outstanding. They were able to change scenes very quickly and really make you believe that you were now in a gym or a theatre or whatever. That was very impressive

There were some funny moments. I thought that Ms. Darvis was fabulous in her role as drama teacher. She was probably the best of them all.

But what's important is that my kids enjoyed themselves. They didn't know that they were experiencing the theater's equivalent to a B movie. We had a great time together eating at Demos' and driving around downtown before heading to the show. They loved sitting in the front row of the balcony looking down at the stage. The show's finale had streamers shoot out at the audience from cannons, and that was a thrill.

One day I will take them to a real Broadway show. I want them to see that there is so much more out there than this. But for now, they have a great memory, and our family enjoyed time together and with friends.

What could be better than that?

I need some parenting help.

Ever since Bryant has been on this planet he has been perplexing me in ways the other two never did. He's the child who put random objects into his mouth way after the "normal" time for this. He's the one that would stick his fingers so far in the back of his throat that he would gag himself and puke. A couple of months ago he began shoving things down the front of his diaper. I go to change him and never know what kind of special prize will await me there.

But recently he's developed an affection for putting foreign objects into other orifices as well. It started with his ears. This didn't worry me to much, because he was just putting them in the outside part. Easily seen; easily fixed.

But over the past week he's begun shoving things up his nose. I realize this sounds funny, but I assure you, it is not. I will hear him blowing out his nose really hard, and then he'll sneeze out a bead or piece of foam or something. Or I'll find a piece of something covered in mucus and realize that he's already been through the process.

What scares me about this is that I've heard horror stories of kids having to have things surgically removed, like beans that get up there and swell or even grow roots (I'm picturing last month's experiment and getting palpitations.)

This morning when I got him up out of his crib he was saying, "Nose. Nose." I immediately knew something was up there, so I laid him down on the changing table and tried to look up his nostrils. His right one was completely blocked, but whatever it was, was so far up there I had to get the tweezers. It obviously was bothering him because he lay perfectly still and allowed me to stick the tweezers up his nose. I pulled out, not one, but two wads of paper from his nasal cavity. He had torn them out of a book I'd left in his bed overnight.

I've tried being very stern and telling him we do not stick things up our nose. I've tried spanking his hand really hard when I see him going for it. I'm just not really sure what else to do. Obviously I don't need to leave anything in his crib anymore.

Anyone have experience with this and can offer some advice? I'd be in your debt! I fear what I'm going to hear is, "He'll grow out of it." Sadly, that's just not helpful at the moment.

"Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," the former Tennessee senator said in a brief statement.

I knew it was coming, but it still makes me sad. Can't you just hear the lone bugleist sounding out taps in the silhouette of dusk? Forgive me, but I'm in mourning.

I'm wondering what the socially-acceptable grief period is for a candidate. How long before I need to take my bumper sticker off the back of the van? I see people driving around in cars with Gore/Leiberman stickers on them and think they are either living in a serious state of denial, or the laziest folks on the planet. I don't want to be like that, but it just seems harsh to go out and strip it off the day he withdraws.

Anyway, I don't think I'll be replacing it with anything. I just don't feel strongly enough about any of the guys who are left. I'll be much more in the shoes of those folks four years ago driving around with the slash through the W sticker. How sad to be in this place.

Day is done, gone the sun...

I think that people have been laughing about flatulence since the beginning of time. I don't know why God created the human body to make the noises that it does, but I can only imagine Cain and Abel were cracking each other up with it before things turned sour in the teen years.

But NOTHING cracks my kids up more than anything related to farting. Just the very word will send them into hysterics.

So we've had a discussion about this, because they've been known to bring up this bodily function at extremely inappropriate times. Now, the problem is, I hate to hear Bailey use the word "fart." It just sounds so crass coming from her sweet little mouth. But I can't make Brad say "poot" or "toot," because that's just too feminine. So at dinner the other night, we decided that Bailey is allowed to use "poot" or "toot," and Brad should just say "pass gas." He's the one that came up with that, by the way.

I know you may be wishing I had kept this side of our family dynamics to myself, but I had to share what had me in bent-over hysterics last night.

First of all, you must know that Bradley is the king of stalling. There is no kid in America that has this down better than him. He is physically unable to go to bed without coming downstairs at least once, several times more than that if his daddy hasn't had it with him yet.

So last night, Bradley comes down and says, "I think I want to be a doctor when I grow up."

"You do? Why?"

"Well, when people come in and don't know what's wrong with them, I'll just ask them, 'Do you have a headache? Fever? Uncontrollable gas?'" At which point he just cracks himself up, and Jeff and I do a really bad job of trying to hide our amusement. I can't believe he made up this whole scenario, just so he could use the phrase "uncontrollable gas."

So immediately after he tells some other joke that wasn't really funny and we both just look at him. He says, "I stink."

I, being the ever-so-conscious-of-my-child's-self-esteem mother say, "You do not!"

He goes, "No, seriously. You don't want to come over here."

Next show at 11. :)

The Big Snow of '08...

The kids made it outside this morning just in time to play with the last remaining flakes from our big snowfall yesterday. Leave it to kids. If a snowman can be made, one will be made. You have to love the sheer will and determination.

He's a cute little guy, isn't he?

I know I was the only person in the neighborhood praying that school wouldn't be cancelled today, but I NEED Bryant to go to preschool on Thursdays. It's our most productive day of the week. Thank you, Lord!

Now, if we should get a big storm on Saturday, that would be fine with me! Dare we dream?

My heart is so full right now I have to take a moment to share. And it's not about Romney winning Michigan, although I'm kindof glad about that.

I'm so filled with joy because my girls are back. Our new Bible study began tonight, and I've just been excited all day to see my sisters in Christ. When I started this Bible study this time last year, I had no idea how it was going to turn out. I just knew that God was telling me to open my home to ladies that wanted to know Him more and I agreed to do it. Tonight we had fourteen and I know of at least one more who couldn't be here. It's overwhelming to see them show up each week ready to dig in to the Word. I feel so unbelievably blessed to be a part of this.

I know some of you will read this, and I just hope you know how much I love and you and am thrilled that the Lord has brought us together. I can't wait to see what He teaches us over the next ten weeks. There is nothing that bonds us together more on earth than a common faith and a love for Christ. I'm just so happy that I have the privilege of learning with you.

This time around we are studying the tabernacle. It's a study I've done before, but it has been updated. A lot has changed in my life since the first time around, and I hope that I'm more mature in my faith than I was then. I can still remember the pain I was carrying around at that time from a time of self-imposed separation from God, and the joy I found when I realized that He had never stopped pursuing me, no matter how hard I tried to run from Him. That is what this study is about. And I can't wait to relive it.

When I am focused on those things that are eternal, the things of today seem far less significant. In the entire span of time, who is going to be president for the next four years probably isn't so crucial. And you have my permission to remind me of that if we lose.

I have very little time this morning (actually, none) but I just can't let this media frenzy over Hillary's "comeback" go without comment.

Hillary squeaked out a win in New Hampshire yesterday by two points, 39% to 37%. Because of her apparent campaign freefall ever since Iowa, this is seen as a huge crushing victory. Suddenly, in the course of one day, she's being touted the winner and Obama can't buy any media time. Doesn't anyone realize how ridiculous this is?

In October, Hillary had a 43 to 21 lead over Obama in New Hampshire. That's almost 20 points. In November, the margin began to shrink rapidly, so by December they were almost neck and neck. Yesterday, everyone in the media and political punditry had her losing by almost 10 points, until the numbers actually started to come in. Did 2000 and 2004 not teach us that pundits and exit polling can not be trusted?

So, yes, she carried the state by a slim margin. Congratulations. In New Hampshire, over half of the voters are over the age of 50. I think that says something. There are a ton of Massachusetts transplants in New Hampshire, and it's an East Coast mentality. Senator Clinton should have blown Obama away. But she didn't.

The fact that Senator McCain took this state for the Republicans when he is in the bottom tier of Republican candidates should say that we might not need to take New Hampshire all that seriously. This is the only state where McCain had a prayer, and he's acting as if the election is in the bag. Sorry, Senator, but the rest of us would like someone who at least pretends to be conservative heading up our party. You don't fit the description.

My only nagging fear is that voters will see a McCain victory and it will give him some momentum that he never would have had otherwise. After all, no one was planning to vote for Kerry until he won in Iowa. Howard Dean was the clear frontrunner up until the point where votes were cast. Once Kerry took that first state, he suddenly sported a bandwagon and Dean ended up chairing the DNC. Not exactly what he'd had in mind.

So let's try not to get caught up in the media hype. So much remains to be seen in the coming days and weeks. One thing we can be quite sure of, though, the Senator from New York will be shedding tears from now until February 5 on a daily basis. Somebody might want to invest in Kleenex.

I've avoided being political for a few days, because I'm not sure that I have anything more to say than I've already said. I was a little surprised at how wide the margin for Huckabee and Obama were in Iowa. I think it will be very interesting to see what happens to the numbers over the next couple of weeks. Senator Clinton is surely still reeling from coming in third, and the pressure seems to be getting to her. They all look bad right now, though, don't they? The exhaustion must be crushing.

Earlier this week, I listened to a pretty lengthy interview of Mike Huckabee by Sean Hannity. As usual, Sean didn't beat around the bush, but asked him point blank about his multiple pardons of criminals, including murderers, and his ideas about immigration and taxes. I will give the governor credit for this. He is a smooth talker. The guy can clearly spin with the best of them. He's funny and sounds like he's talking to just average guys, not like a lofty politician talking down to his subjects. I can certainly see the appeal that he has to those who are simply looking on the surface.

However, there is something about him that makes my skin crawl. He talks just a little too slick. He reminds me so much of Bill Clinton, much more than poor Hillary does. He can take a truth and spin it around until it looks like something completely other than what it is. If you lift up the covers and peek around in Huckabee's record, it doesn't take long to find that the game he's talking is not the game he's been walking.

But the thing that bothers me the most about him is his nonchalant attitude towards foreign policy. His attitude about Iran specifically is frightening. There's a great editorial from the National Review Online quoting him joking about not having as much foreign policy experience as some of the other guys, but he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express the night before. Say what? That's just a lame attempt at using lame humor to cover up the fact that you have no business stepping onto the world stage at this critical hour.

He actually seems to be evoking the Golden Rule as the basis for his foreign policy, saying he believes we should treat other countries as we would like them to treat us. Isn't that sweet? That might work if we were not dealing with radical Islamic extremists who want nothing more than to see our entire nation either convert to Islam or evaporate into nuclear dust. What a naive thing to say. I believe in the Golden Rule. It is a fine way to live your day-to-day life, and follows the example of Christ. But are we really supposed to just sit back and be nice and wait for Ahmadenijad to carry out his very blatant threats, all the while coming closer and closer to nuclear proliferation? I think not.

My boy Fred actually did very well last night, but he just looks horrible. He seriously looks like he's been through the welcoming ceremonies at Sing Sing. Those bags under his eyes could get me all the way back to Thailand. The biggest problem with him, however, is that you have to be willing to listen to him to get a sense of who he is. He doesn't speak in sound bites. His speeches aren't flashy. But he says what he thinks, and he is who he is. You can't claim that he's a flip-flopper or that he's not a conservative. I wish he'd gotten in earlier so people would have taken him more seriously. But at this point I think the best I can hope for is that he makes the ticket as veep.

It will be very interesting to see what happens in the weeks to come. It's such a bizarre feeling to have the candidacy so up in the air. Huckabee won Iowa. Romney won Wyoming. McCain is probably going to win New Hampshire. Thompson is hoping for a win in South Carolina. And poor Rudy is just holding out for Florida. It's going to be quite a ride unless one of them begins to pick up momentum. If Huckabee were to win South Carolina and several of the Super Tuesday states, for instance, he would probably take off like Kerry did in 2004. But what if the winners are split all over the place? This could be crazier than the BCS having to put Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl.

On the Democrat side, I think Hillary is in big trouble. I watched the Democrat debate last night as long as I could stomach it. That John Edwards needs a good slapping. Or what would be more fun is just running up behind him and messing up his hair really bad before taking off in a sprint. Now THAT would be funny. But I digress.

I think anybody watching and listening to a side-by-side of Hillary and Obama would be hard-pressed to come away really wanting to vote for her. Yes, some people feel compelled to vote for her because she's a woman. And some people want to vote for her because they want Bill back on the scene, although I can't fathom why anyone would want to do that to the country again. And I guess some people still think she's the smartest woman in America.

But that Obama is slick. He's a likeable guy. He's young, energetic, and his speeches can be downright inspirational. Unfortunately, he stands on the opposite side of nearly every issue from me. He's incredibly inexperienced, and seems to be somewhat of a lightweight. But he looks like the kind of guy you would enjoy hanging out with. And that is something Hillary definitely can't claim. I have no doubt that I would be backing him whole-heartedly if I were a Democrat and believed the same things he believes. And I think there are lots of folks out there who are going to do just that. How many viewers does Oprah have again?

What it's going to come down to is the Clinton machine. Do they really have some seriously damaging dirt on Obama that they haven't released yet, or is that just an attempt at making something appear bad that isn't? If they do, are they strategically saving it for release at the optimum moment, and will it be bad enough to kill his campaign? Or would it backfire on her for playing dirty? I'm willing to be we're going to get a chance to find out.

The whole thing is just weird this year, because there are so many candidates and no one is a clear frontrunner. It's much more enjoyable to me to watch the Democrat race, because I don't have much of a stake in it. I can sit back and spectate. But watching the Republican race makes my stomach hurt.

New Hampshire on Tuesday. Michigan and Nevada next week. Florida and South Carolina the last week of January. And then a whole bunch on February 5. We should know something by then. The trick is avoiding an ulcer in the meantime.

Somebody might have to slap me.

Pics from Florida

Picture Day...

To keep Bryant happy, we kept feeding him little pieces of candy between snaps. For some reason he was wired out of his mind that night...

Here's Jeff attempting to show Bailey how easy it is to ride a bike without training wheels.

And here's Bailey realizing that I let go. This is when things got ugly.

My very serious father-in-law.

Bryant got a motorized four-wheeler, but it has no brakes, so must be on flat ground at all times!

One of our favorite things about the Villages, the golf cart rides!

Here's Bryant learning the fine art of lawn bowling.

What are you looking at?

Two mischievious peas in a pod.

These pics can only convey a tiny portion of the fun we had at MiMi and Poppa G's this Christmas. We miss everyone already.

I asked Bailey at dinner the night we got home, "Even though we love being in the Villages, isn't it nice to be home?" She looked at me like I must be from another planet. I took it as a no.

Technology is simply amazing.

As I write this, we are driving down the interstate about 40 miles from home. Jeff got some thingy for his computer that allows Internet access anywhere that you can get cell coverage, so not only can I entertain myself by checking my e-mail, but I can blog too! What a world.

Just thinking about the long car trips we took to Florida when I was little compared to what my kids experience is crazy. They think they have it so hard being cooped up in here for twelve hours, but what would my parents have given for a DVD player with headphones and miniature game systems to pass the hours away. As I recall, I read a lot on those trips, though, and that makes me feel a little bit guilty about how I'm letting them spend the day. Oh well. When I get home and get to a place where it's possible, I'll post a picture of Bryant wearing the headphones. It's quite hilarious!

As for the news, so much to say, so little time. I can't believe the Iowa Caucus is already here. I am filled with nervous excitement about this, just because it's finally happening. The table for the next four years of American government is being set over this next month. Isn't it thrilling? :) I can't remember being this excited about Iowa before, but primarily because 12 years ago I didn't care all that much, and eight years ago, W was pretty much a shoo-in once McCain started freaking everybody out. But this year, literally anything can happen. I don't think Iowa will hold as much water as it has in the past, simply because so much is at stake, and I don't think the country wants to leave the choice of our next president up to 150,000 or so voters in the Midwest.

As for this whole Huckabee showing it/not showing it business, what can I possibly say? I feel he made a lame attempt at manipulating the media, and did it very badly. Yes, he got his negative ad out. But does anyone really and truly think he didn't want it out? The guy is so Clintonesque, it blows my mind that he has so many people snowed. Let's remember, Bill talked up his Southern Baptist roots too, and I'm sure if he had thought he could get away with it, he would have claimed to have a degree in theology too (which, by the way, is something Huckabee doesn't have, even though he has claimed to on several occasions.) He is not conservative. He is a vocal evangelical Christian, period. How many of his supporters would have wanted Jerry Falwell in office? Is that really the criteria we are going on? If so, Ronald Reagan would have never been elected. He never went to church, but said he preferred to find God on horseback. I'm not advocating that, because I believe in corporate worship, but I don't think it disqualified him from being President of the United States.

What I'm really sincerely hoping is that Huckabee and Romney have gone back and forth so much with their negative ads that Iowans are sick of both of them and Fred is going to sneak in. That would just be ideal.

I'm also excited to see what happens on the Democrat side. I'm kind of torn on this one, because I think Hillary will be easier to beat than Obama, which makes me want her to get the nomination. She is just another John Kerry waiting to happen, tripping herself up in her own lies. (Please see the story of her harrowing trip to Bosnia in 1995, or was it '96, when she risked her life on an important mission for the White House. It is too funny.)

But on the other hand, if we lose the White House this year, I think I'd rather lose it to Obama than Hillary. As terrifying as it would be to have someone with so little experience and no apparent backbone dealing in our National Security, it couldn't be worse than her. So it's kind of a toss-up. Although calling Hillary's eight years in the White House a glorified tea party obviously took some guts. Watch your back, Barry. You are ticking her off now.

More to say, but the battery is getting low. Hope you are all enjoying your first week of 2008. Only ten months till election day!

So wishing I had had this picture before sending out my Christmas cards! :)

There are so many things that upset me about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto that I don't even know where to begin. The whole thing seems so surreal, like something you would see on a movie or read in a Clancy novel. I remember feeling this way after 9-11, as though what we were witnessing was not reality, but just an out-of-control movie plot. But the same sick feelings of being forced to confront the situation as very real and very able to change world history are causing my stomach to churn.

There's something so raw about murder, and yet we are completely jaded to it. All you have to do is watch the evening news and the chances are great that you will be treated to the details of anywhere from 3-5 murders a day, or at least some form of great bodily harm and violence. Our culture is addicted to it. The news mantra is if it bleeds, it leads. Even my kids are jaded to violence at 6 and 8 years old. This is the reality of our world.

But it takes on a new tone when someone who you have watched being interviewed and listened to and hoped would succeed is just stripped of her life right before the camera's eye. Someone who had potential to stabilize a wavering nation is just assassinated, right there in living color. I guess it was a similar feeling when JFK was shot, except on a much grander scale for our country. There are millions of people in America who have no idea what's going on in Pakistan, I realize, nor would they care if they did. But they should.

What we need to understand is that Pakistan is a nuclear country. They have the potential to use nuclear weapons on their enemies. As of right now, the country is in chaos. There are militant Islamists who are doing everything they can to take over, much like the Taliban did in Afghanistan. Understand, this means that Osama bin Laden and his cohorts have the potential of taking over a country with nukes. The writers of 24 haven't even schemed up a plot this scary.

Bhutto wasn't perfect, by any means. But she was pro-Western, pro-Democracy and had a huge following. She and her party were very likely going to take over the government in the January 8 election, which would have been a good thing for the war on terror. Now everything is in complete turmoil, and the conditions are ripe for a disastrous result.

Keep in mind that we have funneled $10 billion into Pakistan since 2001 in the hopes of keeping them a strong ally in the war on terror. They've been supposedly helping us make life difficult for al-Qaida and helping us find bin Laden. We've needed them as a strategic ally in the war in Afghanistan.

But lately, President Musharraf has been doing some extremely unsettling things. Most recently, he suspended the constitution and threw his political opponents in jail, and refused to step down as the military commander. Our government was able to put enough pressure on him to change his mind a little bit, but relations are far from rosy at the moment.

Whether he is responsible for the death of Bhutto is the question of the day. Did he actually order her assassination, or was he more covertly responsible due to his failure to properly protect her from innumerable threats and barely looking into the attack on her back in October upon her return to Pakistan from self-imposed exile when 140 people were killed and about 450 others were injured? Will he now use this chaos as an excuse to suspend elections and impose some kind of martial law, allowing him to stay in power far past the intended January elections? All of these things remain to be seen.

For now, we need to be concerned. We need to be watching this situation very closely and understanding that things in the Eastern hemisphere could spiral downhill very quickly. Not to be an alarmist, but it is vital that we pay attention so we are not caught off guard.

We also have an election coming up in this country in a few months. It is in full swing right now. Imagine sometime in October that al-Qaida carries out an attack and the front-runner is assassinated. What would we do? This is unfortunately not implausible. Remember about four years ago, in March of 2004 in Spain, when al-Qaida carried out the commuter train attacks in Madrid, killing a couple hundred people and wounding ten times that many? Three days later the party in support of the war in Iraq was voted out of power, and al-Qaida received affirmation of their policies. They won in Spain that year.

What would happen if they managed a major terrorist attack sometime late this summer, or an attempt on the life of a candidate? It's worth thinking about, because the possibility is very real. If al-Qaida gets its hands on nukes, who do we think will be their first target?

We have gotten so complacent over the past six years because nothing else has happened to us. So much so that we are able to attack our own military for doing the very things they need to do to keep us safe. It is ludicrous. One major political party in our country believes the war on terror can not be won, and wants to be voted into office based on that premise. Could we make a bigger mistake as a nation when it comes to our national security?

The American Thinker has an article today quoting Fred Thompson that demonstrates he understands the problem. I believe that he would be a great man to have in office in these troubled times. I don't think he's going to be the guy, though. As much as he looks great on paper, he's just not coming across so well on TV, which I don't understand since he has been an actor all these years. While McCain has many years of experience in American foreign policy, I don't trust that he would be able to keep a cool enough head under pressure. I think Giuiliani would do well in national security, but I worry about returning the White House to an era of questionable ethics. I honestly have no idea what Romney or Huckabee would do, but I'm quite sure Huckabee would do it in God's name.

I have said it so many times, and I will say it again. National security should be on the top of every American's mind when voting this year. All the other issues should take the back burner, no matter how passionately you feel about them. If America does not stay at the top of her game and we allow our leaders to go back to squabbling over the trivial, we will leave ourselves dangerously vulnerable.