A BIG, BUSY WEEK OR SO



Zac & Maggie



Our daughter Maggie came home for the first time in 2 years!  We have not seen her since her graduation last May.  She saved up her days off and came out to attend her twin brother Zac's graduation and little sister Ally's Senior Ball send off.

We have been having a lot of fun shopping and lunching and visiting.  We 3 girls even went to see the movie "Bridesmaids" and had some major laughs. 

 I squeezed in a few days of work between events and now Maggie and Zac are off on a camping, hiking and beer tasting trip before Maggie has to go back to work in Philadelphia and Zac back to Monterey to pack up his school apartment and move into staff housing at CSUMB prior to starting his new role as a post-grad staffer.



Zac showing us his rope bridges.



While we were in Monterey we attended an ceremony where Zac received an award recognizing his  contributions to the Service Learning program.  We also attended his Capstone Presentation where he showed the documentary he made of his teaching project incorporating cultural awareness and math with 15 high school students who built rope bridges like the ancient Incas.  He was mobbed by teachers in the audience wanting copies of the documentary and his curriculum! 



Family dinner following awards ceremony.



My parents came for the events and then left to drive up to Idaho for another grandchild's high school graduation.  They will visit with some friends then make their way back to us for Ally's graduation in mid-June. 

I agreed to rush back from the ceremony on Saturday morning to work my shift in the hotel in the afternoon with the provision that Ally and her friends could meet at the hotel for the pre-Senior Ball photo session.



Ally & Christian

There were 4 couples and therefore 8 sets of parents - it was like a paparazzi storm!  My camera did not do well in the low light so I am hoping to get some copies of the group photos from the other parents.

The kids had fun and so did the parents.  They brought snacks and had drinks from the bar before they caught the bus to San Francisco and the boat which cruised the Bay all evening.  It sounds like they all had a really good time. 

I am pooped out from all the activity - good thing I have a few weeks to re-group before the next big event!

REALLY MIKE HUCKABEE?

I was asked about Oscar-winner Natalie Portman’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Natalie is an extraordinary actor, very deserving of her recent Oscar and I am glad she will marry her baby’s father. However, contrary to what the Hollywood media reported, I did not “slam” or “attack” Natalie Portman, nor did I criticize the hardworking single mothers in our country. My comments were about the statistical reality that most single moms are very poor, under-educated, can’t get a job, and if it weren’t for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death. That’s the story that we’re not seeing, and it’s unfortunate that society often glorifies and glamorizes the idea of having children out of wedlock.

So among the other strange and contradictory things Mike Huckabee is going around saying these days, he does not see his comments about grown adult actress Natalie Portman, engaged to be married to a grown adult man (who happens to be out in the public eye because she was awarded numerous prizes for her job) as a completely different sort of "unwed mother" than, say Bristol Palin, out in the public eye to glorify her famous redneck, "Christian" politician mother, pregnant at 16 with no real intention to marry the father of this abstinence ooops baby? Really? It seems to me that if anyone was going around "glorifying" unwed motherhood - it was Sarah Palin, not Natalie Portman or the media.


Not to mention that there is a big difference between single mothers and unwed mothers. Many single mothers have been left or widowed and did not have their children without "benefit" of marriage. However, our society and laws do not always protect them financially and many of them do end up needing public assistance. If Mike Huckabee was really interested in helping these women and their children he should be coming up with childcare and health care for the kids, decent and equitable pay for their mothers and better enforcement of support by the fathers of the children. 

But Mike Huckabee and his gang  are not really interested in so solving the problems, are they?  They are just really good at pointing the finger at the other guy and laying on judgment.

THOUGHTS PASSING THROUGH

As a long-time fan of the Oscars - I loved the show this year. I think Hugh Jackman was wonderfully entertaining and the way they presented the actor and actress awards was inspired. they actually made it an honor to be nominated.As a long-time fan of the Oscars - I loved the show this year. I think Hugh Jackman was wonderfully entertaining and the way they presented the actor and actress awards was inspired. they actually made it an honor to be nominated.

*****

I drive to the gym every most mornings down a long stretch of road which runs between gravel pits and cement plants. There is one brief part where one of the abandoned pits was filled with water, stocked with fish and landscaped to create a very popular regional park. Today I saw a huge herd of goats Set loose to munch on the overgrown grasses. The sight of this made me inexplicably happy.

*****

I have tried to see what is so interesting about "The Real Housewives of..." shows. I don't get it. I also don't understand why the Oxygen Network - Oprah's Network produces and promotes "Bad Girls Club." It seems that the women on these shows are encouraged to be trashy, ignorant and catty. I wish these women would refuse to play out such demeaning roles. Shame on Oprah.

*****

I am really tired of hearing about "Octamom" and have refrained from commenting on the situation. I will say that the young mother is obviously in denial and as intelligent as some may find her, I say that love is not enough. Love is wonderful and life affirming, but it is not anywhere near enough.

*****

I was unimpressed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's canned speech and especially with the riff on the monies being directed to volcano monitoring. The governor of a state still reeling from the results of a natural disaster should have have nothing but respect for those who seek to protect people and property with the ability to anticipate volcanic eruptions. Personally I would rather 140 million go to the Geological Survey, to pay for dedicated scientists, than to a bank or brokerage firm.

*****

I will be very happy to put February behind me.

NOT SO CHIC

I asked for and received one of these ruana/shawls to wear when I don't need a coat - which with my body heat index these days, is not often. I wore it when Maggie and I were in Napa, but had not worn it at home until last night.

We went out to have dinner at one of Maggie's favorite places before she leaves for school and on the way out to the car I put my ruana on. Ally saw it and said "Mom you look so stylish." I was so pleased. I hugged her and say it was the nicest thing she has said to me in a long time. She drew away and said "I was just kidding."

Those 15 year old's really know how to hurt an old broad.

I'M SO EASY

Our phone died and Tom brought home a new one with 2 phones, so one is plugged in at the desk in the kitchen, and the other is in the family room. This is cool because it saves us from having to jump up and charge into the kitchen to answer it within the 3 rings allowed before it goes to message.

The feature we didn't realize it had was the mechanical voice stating who is calling. After we got over being startled by it, we were creeped out. (Does anybody say creeped out anymore?) The strange thing about the voice now is it's complete inability to say the names of my children correctly.

Which brings me to the subject I have seen discussed on various blog about using the real names of your family and others you write about. When I started blogging a couple of years ago, I never used the names of my kids. When my oldest daughter asked why, I thought it was to protect them, but, really? I can't think of the danger to them unless someone actually finds this blog and recognises our family and then ...what?

So, the phone voice can't pronounce Ally or Zac or Mags, well, it does ok with Mags. It would really sound funny if I programmed it to read Maggie. I keep thinking of things to program it to say - just for a laugh. Sometimes I amaze myself with how easily I am entertained.