Hey, Y'all

I've been a berry berry bad blogger.  My only excuse is that I've had a lot on my mind that I haven't really wanted to talk about.  For a start, the election. 

I saved all my political ravings for Facebook, because I know that some of you are not in agreement with me, politically speaking.  The fact remains that I am extremely relieved that the President will be the President for another term.  I like Big Bird.  I like Obamacare.  I really, really don't like Mitt Romney and the right wing bat shit crazy republicans who have replaced the thinking, articulate conservatives who were around when I was young.  I don't like Mrs Romney, either.  Every time she opened her mouth, she pissed me off.  From "you people," to her cheerful account of their collegiate struggles when they ate a lot of tuna (at least they had tuna!) (and no student loans), never mind her confusion of a Mormon mission with combat  ("I sent off boys and got back men.").  Congratulations on that, you insensitive woman!  Many of the rest of the mothers in this land sent off boys and got back coffins.  Apparently that is not a part of Ann Romney's world.  Still, my biggest problem was with her husband.  The lies and hypocrisy, mostly...the tax records, the offshore accounts, the outsourcing of jobs, the promises to remove Obamacare and Planned Parenthood, and the opening of the door to the billionaires who would love to run the rest of us.  I cannot tell you how glad I am that they all learned that some things are not for sale.

Right now, I am chuffed about Brendan, too.  He told me yesterday that he is about to depart for Harlingen (way south Texas) to be trained in disaster relief by the Red Cross.  When he's trained, his job will be to train others.  This is exactly the sort of work he wants to do, and I am very proud of him and thrilled that he has found himself a niche.  A few weeks ago, he was under some pressure from his dad's side of the family to join the navy, which was giving me nightmares.  Under normal circumstances, I would have been much more enthusiastic about that, but these are dangerous times and I just don't want to think about him being...oh, I don't know...stuck on an aircraft carrier in the Straight of Hormuz.  Apparently, his stepmom was very frustrated that he didn't come home from college with a ready-made Life Plan.  She is a lot more organized than I am.  I was willing to give him some space to figure out what he wanted to do, but my house is too full for him to stay here.  Never mind, he has found his own way.  He will be off on an adventure in a couple of weeks.  Go Brendan!

Things are looking up slightly for Chandra and Vanessa, too.  Chandra bought a car, with assistance from the successor to the "Cash for Clunkers" program, which makes it much easier for her to find a job, and Vanessa is babysitting a lovely little girl which puts a bit more money in her pockets, too.

So, all in all, I'm a pretty happy camper right now.  How are you folks doing?