So, It’s Come to This…

This week, we have the privilege of watching @transitionpete’s daughter while he and Mrs. Transitionpete are in Korea picking up their little bundle of blessing.

The youngin’s are having fun playing…

[Click on pics to see giant versions]

Playing Together

…getting all dressed up for Halloween….

All Dressed Up

…and collecting a TON of candy.

Trick or Treeeeeeat

Some of our neighbors displayed their talents with a knife….

Fancy Pumpkin Carving

…and others tried their best!

And then there’s mine…

I watched the debate. I won’t comment much on it, though. The purpose of this post is to tell you what I’ve learned about politicians. When a politician gets on the radio or television for any reason he/she has a finite amount of time to get a message across regardless of what they are asked. That’s why they are often criticized for not answering the questions they’re asked. They know that and they don’t care. And nationally televised debates are no different. If the moderator happens to ask a question they want to answer, they’ll answer it, but only if it’s on message. If I were a politician I could care less about what Jim Lehrer wants to know. I’ve got the American public watching live. I’m gonna say what I want to say.

This is also true for congressional hearings. It’s all a show.

While Heidi was at a birthday party, Evan and I took the opportunity to spend some time together. We went to the mall and ate lunch:

Then we rode the merry-go-round, the choo choo train and played on the airplane playground:

Ocean City looking north from our 18th floor balcony.

Looking down at the beach

Oh. Well. I guess that’s it.

One more.
Sunset on the bay side.

My wife, bless her thrifty heart, has been buying and selling stuff on Craig’s List like nobodies’ business. It has gotten so bad that she received a message directly from Craig’s List. She was logged onto the site surfing around. She went to tend to the youngin’s for a while. When she returned to continue browsing, the following message had mysteriously replaced the page she thought she left and to which she was expecting to return:

Dear Terri,

Craig

She was a little shocked at first. How on earth could Craig of Craig’s List have known she was browsing and how on earth could Craig’s List have run out of stuff?

(I’m bad. Very bad.)

Thank goodness she thought it was funny. She could have rebelled and vowed to pay….retail. AAAAAAH!

I bought a new bass pad for my electronic kit because the old one was barely hanging on by a thread (connection cracked). Ever since setting the kit up in the new office at home, the kids have had access to it. It’s their new toy. I cringe at the thought of the beating it’s taking. Well, let me tell you that I have not had more than 5 minutes of uninterrupted drumming time since I hooked up the new pad. Every time I start playing, they rush in and start asking if they can play. Asking turns to whining. Whining turns to crying and grabbing. I don’t want to be a big meanie since in the grand scheme, it’s not that important that I play and I want to encourage their interest, but dogonit I WANT TO PLAY MY DRUMS!!! The office door doesn’t have a lock. I need to change that.

As far as the RNC went, I only watched Palin and I think she did a great job delivering that speech. She seems to be a natural. People are comparing her to Reagan. I think it’s a little early for that.

I didn’t watch McCain’s speech. I’ll vote for him, but he doesn’t really inspire me politically [I should re-think this statement since McCain has been much more fiscally conservative than most GOPers. I’ll try to be less cynical towards him and try to listen more openly.] The Conservative “movement” (couldn’t think of a better way to put it) needs inspiration and who knows? Maybe Palin can help get those dingbat Republicans on the Hill back on track.

I don’t want Republicans to lose seats in this election, but in a sense they deserve to. They’ve acted (i.e. spent) like drunken Democrats for eight years and Bush let them do it. I’m hoping they got the message in the ‘06 power shift.

Palin: The double standard she’s being subjected to by the mainstream media is annoying. I’ve yet to hear CNN really question Obama’s qualifications to be president. The way I see it, Palin’s experience as mayor of her hometown of 7,000 makes her 7,000 times more qualified than Obama. [Oh, wait, isn’t she the governor of Alaska, too?] What has he governed? Who has he governed? (You have to know that I’m not a fan of senators being president. Being a senator is nothing like being president.) Just based on my memory of what I’ve heard and read, Palin has been a mayor, sat on the Oil and Gas Commission of Alaska, rooted out some corruption even within her own party, beat a Dem. incumbent to become governor, balanced the budget with a surplus, at some point either as mayor or gov., lowered property taxes (when has THAT ever happened!), pro-2nd Amendment, pro-life. Wow. I’m getting excited! I can’t wait for McCain’s term to end if he’s elected. I’d like to see a Palin/Rice ticket in 2012. Now THAT would be historic.

Oh, and one last thing. If McCain is elected, imagine the fun Saturday Night Live would have with that. They’d spoof Palin nursing babies during high level meetings, walking around in beauty queen gear, automatic weapons hangin’ around her neck. Much to his chagrin, Lorn Michaels is secretly hoping for a McCain victory.

If I were a good/conscientious (sp?) blogger I would have taken pictures of the nasty hotel room we vacated after one night of a two night stay. But I didn’t. It was nasty, but it wasn’t visually nasty. My wife sent me in to look at it before we paid our final deposit, but my male inability to smell through the freshly sprayed air freshener locked us into a night of nasal nastiness. We went to Wildwood (we were in Cape May) for a couple of hours and when we got back, the place wreaked of a combo of urine, mustiness, stale cigarette smoke and Lysol. I likened it to the smell of a men’s bathroom at a football stadium around the middle of the fourth quarter (minus the vomit).

If that wasn’t bad enough, around 10:30 pm while watching some TV, a bug crawled across the bed. Terri freaked. I sprang into action and beat the tar our of it. Or so I thought. It was one of those beatles. After giving it a good wallop, I went to get some toilet paper to dispose of the carcass, but when I returned…it was gone. Terri freaked, again. I found it. THANK YOU GOD!! I needed somme sleep.

So, the next day I started packing while Terri went to the front desk to complain about the smell and the bug. It took some convincing, but they finally relented and gave us our money back for the second night. We then went and got a room an actual hotel that didn’t stink.

Oh, and, yes, despite my best efforts, I sunburned my back and only my back. I’m “that guy” when it comes to the beach.

My 3 year old is in the mud room making a poopy in his dipey. I go in to get something.

Son: No. Don’t come in. I’m going poopy.
Me: That’s okay.
Son: No. It’s stinky.
Me: That’s okay, buddy, your stinky poopies don’t bother me.
Son: It’s okay. It’s behind me.

Convo my wife just had with our 3 year old son:

Mommy: “Let’s get to bed. These late bedtimes are for the birds.”
Son: “Where are duh birds?”
Mommy: “No. It’s an expression.”
Son: “But where are duh birds?”
Mommy: “No. It means we have to get to bed.”
Son: “Wiff duh birds?”
Mommy: oy