the tag team....yes, you are it.

My boss is coming into town in December and will be meeting with the head of the marketing department and the Director of the whole enchilada about next year's conventions. Which ones can we attend?  Will they send both of us? Both conventions he has targeted are going to be held in my 'home' state's capital....which could be very fun!

In other news.....hubby and I attended the Town's 'thank you' reception last night for all those volunteers serving on the various Boards. Same faces year after year, but it is always a good time to see all of those folks in one place. We were both asked if we were going to run for office next year! Uh, NO!  I may, however, fill out a volunteer application to be appointed to a board. Maybe. I'm thinking about it. Seriously. Someone slap some sense into me!! Please!!

While I was gone on my trip I read "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" by Helen Simonson. It was a delightful, easy to read debut novel. I also started reading the latest from Sharon Kay Penman, "Lionheart." No one does the Devil's Brood like Penman; she captures Henry, Eleanor and the gang the best of any historical fiction writer I've ever read.  Unfortunately, I had to return it before I finished it. I must get back over there and check it out again; I wrote down the page number where I had to stop reading.

Up for tomorrow....the fantastic trend in TV this year: fairy tales!!

speaking my mind

Hubby and I hadn't planned on attending the third and final reading of our town's budget and property tax increase proposal. The phone rang about 4:00 and one of the alderman was on the phone. She called to make sure we were coming and she was quite upset about what could possibly happen at the meeting. We went. I filled out a comment card and when my name was called, I spoke, unprepared, to the Board and those gathered.

I thanked the Board for their hard work and reminded them I had addressed them weeks before at one of the public information sessions on this issue. I commented that audience contained some faces of folks who I hadn't seen before at the over 5 meetings on this issue and I congratulated them on attending and participating. It is important. I reminded the Board that I'm one of the 714 Town volunteers who donates a lot of time and talent to the Town, in my case, the Library. I thanked those on the Board who take an interest in the Library and said we don't see several of them over 'there' very often, if at all.

I spoke on how I love our Town and how we all understand times are tough. I spoke on how after 17 years of being at home, I've returned to work because times are tough and we need the money I can bring in to the family. I spoke on how taxes are an issue of perspective and that moving here from another part of the country, we felt we were getting a huge deal for our tax dollars and that after 8 years, we are still getting a huge deal. A lot of other places pay so much more and get so much less.

I asked them to support the budget and the proposed tax increase as I felt that it was our last option.  Then I sat down.

Shortly thereafter a 'man'....I use that term loosely, leaned forward from three rows back and told me to get out a checkbook and pay his taxes then move back north.

Really.  My hubby said, "That is not necessary."  The guy sat back down.

The vote went 3-2 and the budget and increase passed. Ironically, on the first and second readings, the two alderman who cast nay votes voted in support of both the budget and the increase...they were the ones who actually initially proposed the .25 cent number and made the motion and the second.

As soon as the vote happened, the 'man' got up and stormed out with several of his friends. I was only one of three tonight who spoke in favor of the budget. The other five folks spoke against it.

Afterwards, several Town employees thanked me. Well, that is nice, but it wasn't really about them. It is about us. You get what you pay for and I like the life we live here. I'm willing to pay a little more for it. Other folks aren't. They are entitled to voice their opinion just like I am, even if they get a bit Ugly about it.

But, our Town is a small one, and I bet I hear more about the man who scolded me.  I'm pretty sure he's in the Sunday school class of one of the gals who also spoke in favor! Now isn't that funny!!

Just some excitement for a Monday night.  

Sarah Palin and Vanity Fair

I just finished reading a news article summarizing the new Vanity Fair piece on Sarah Palin.  That old saying that even bad press is good press is going to prove true yet again.  Of course, from a journalistic standpoint, I really dislike articles written about anyone when the subject of said article is never interviewed. But.....and here comes the big but, everyone on the planet is defined and viewed through other people's lenses.  Yep. We do define ourselves, but our actions and our interactions also define us and all those folks around us are the ones who accumulate that knowledge and share it with others.

It is possible to get a picture of who Sarah Palin really is by examining what the people who interact with her have to say.  I'm sure some of them have an axe or two to grind. No one moves through life without irritating other people.  But I'm guessing that some folks were probably fairly objective in their comments and just relayed their Palin stories.

It is really too bad that Palin didn't grant access to the writer.  It would have lended another dimension to the article beyond the soundbites and carefully groomed comments she usually makes to the media. A good reporter shadowing her would have been able to gather the details to paint a real picture of who this woman is.

I'm not a Palin fan, in fact, I find her distasteful on many levels, but I know that this article will serve to keep her in the spotlight.  In fact, I purposefully used her name in the title of this post just to see what my stats do on the blog.  Blogger now has a very nifty stat feature that monitors how many page views a blog receives. My highest blog view post came when I titled one entry 'attention span'.  Timing is everything and I'm sure that with the start of school lots of parents and looking for info on that topic and if they bothered to read my blog would have learned in short order that the post had nothing to do with academic learning and everything to do with a middle aged mom who needed a break. Who knows, I might even get some comments from pro-Palin supporters.

Friday is here at last which means a bit of cleaning, a lunch out with a neighbor and a cross county rivals football game tonight.  

Enjoy.

what is up with that?

Sometimes I just have to shake my head and bite my tongue. Other times I can't help from saying 'what is up with that?' I'm not really asking a question, you see, I'm usually commenting on the totally inane activity, position or quip I've heard or seen on the tv.

The latest is Palin's remark about Tina Fey's 'spot on' performance on SNL, which she watched, but had the volume turned down. Yep, 'wtf.' Oops, yes, I meant 'wiuwt.' Oh, heck, wtf is shorter and that is what I really mean.

Of course the whole bailout mess my grandkids will be paying for is another example of wtf.

To totally switch gears, the oldest kid's team, the Dragons takes on St. George's today. How funny is that! Most likely George won't be slaying a dragon today. Middle kid learned her character, Patty Simcox, has more lines in Grease than Frenchy, the character she originally wanted. Youngest kid is getting ready to do a cereal box book report. Let's not teach kids how to write, but gluing is all the rage.

I'm in a really weird mood, so I better stop while I'm ahead. wtf.

mid week political update

Tis the season for all things political. Yep, even on the local front the yard signs are plentiful, the hot air more so. My town is no exception and the race for mayor should prove interesting. We sort of have four candidates running at this point. Our current mayor is possibly going to run for a 3rd term, but may decide not to. That explains the sort of four candidates issue. The hubby and I have decided to back one individual and attended a catfish fry last night for this person.

Met some very nice people and heard some very interesting stories. We both knew quite a few folks already, but ever pushing our comfort zone boundaries, we ate dinner with people we didn't know.

Other than it was hotter than hell outside, we had good time and left with our checkbook a bit lighter. I'd have liked to have stayed a bit longer, but we had to scoot over to the soccer complex and pick the middle kid up from camp.

On a different front, I talked with my 87 year old grandmother yesterday and she told me that she is voting for Obama. Go granny, go. She said McCain is too old and if anyone would know, she would. I roared!

I need to go and do the whole early voting thing for our congressional race and some county level offices. I may have to declare a different party than I usually do so I can vote against our current congresswoman. Can't stand her....and she needs to be booted.

Politics aside, I've almost finished Laurell Hamilton's latest Anita Blake book, "Blood Noir." I will let my thoughts be known on this effort tomorrow.

Try and stay cool....