Ahhhhh, Friday!

It's really been a pretty good week all things considering. To get through the psychological hurdle of the whole steroid thing, I decided to increase my water intake, decrease my coffee consumption and....do more walking. I think it has made a big difference for me. Even if it's a placebo effect...who cares! Yesterday I really felt like I had much more energy and was getting back to myself again, which was a relief. I got the house cleaned up again, caught up on the laundry and I managed to get everyone dropped off and picked up as needed.

The sleep thing is still an issue, but it was better last night. Sleep is always a good thing!

Last night is the first night that Zoe has slept in her room for the entire night in a good 6 months too. I'm sure that helped! I put her down every night in her room, but she screams so much in the middle of the night that if I don't go get her she wakes up Amanda, Alex and Aidan. I laid her down and left the radio on in the background to see if maybe it would serve as a little white noise. It seemed....to do the trick! (fingers crossed that it works again tonight!)

Things have been eerily calm here all week. I'm almost afraid to post that the kids have been getting to bed on time ... with their homework done, that the sass has been kept to a bare minimum and ... that happy voices have been heard around here, because once I say it ... it might go away! It really does seem like the kids are a bit more settled this week and that things are going smoothly.

Andrew and I finally had a talk about his anger and frustration and it ended in him saying "Mom, get over it. I am separating from you. I don't want you in my life anymore."

hmmmm. My baby boy...separating from ME? I tried not to take it to heart and let him know that I completely respect that he is growing up and that I will give him as much space as is appropriate. I told him "you don't have to be mean to me to separate from me...." It seems to be working.

I had to completely resist the urge to meddle (who me? ) in his Valentine's Day plans yesterday. Ok...well, I meddled just a bit...but not like I ordinarily would have. He has a first crush and I had asked him if he wanted to get her a card or something. "Go Away, Mom. Leave me alone."

uh huh.

Soooo...being the non-meddling mom, I bought him a bag of little valentines Nerds candies to hand out if he "so chose"... I did add that "if" he wanted to give one box to a particular girl, this would let him do it very casually. She wouldn't have to know how he felt.

He was so offended by my suggestion that he made Thomas drive him to school so he didn't have to sit next to me. Of course, he did take the bag with him and...I found out that he did give her the candy and...she said "THANKS".

Hmmmm, the only drama that we've had all week is that yesterday on the way to kung fu, the seat that Amanda was sitting in sort of....caught on fire. Amanda said "man, this seat sure is hot"...and then we started to smell burning feathers and plastic....



Fortunately, Amanda wasn't hurt in any way. The car is no longer under warranty, but I still think that VW should have to replace the seat. I have never heard of an in-seat heater burning through like that! It could have been really dangerous.

I guess the other excitment going on in my life right now involves politics. I'm trying really hard not to discuss it with anyone that I know because I understand that we all have our own opinions that we're kind of married to. It's probably no secret that I'd really like to see Hillary Clinton get the nomination even though I have a feeling that it has slipped from her grasp.

I've been trying to figure out why that fills me with such sadness and outrage. I love getting involved in politics, but I don't usually have my heart as invested in a candidate. This primary season, it seems like a lot of people have their hearts really set on one candidate or another in a very emotional sense, so I know I'm not alone...but I really, really wanted this.

It finally became clear to me this week why I have become emotionally so invested in this choice.

I talked to my dad this week. He is a self-professed neocon...a swift boat veteran bank rolling republican who HATES Hillary Clinton. He hates her so much that he told me that he and his friends will all be going to the polls to vote for Obama in TX. There is a republican movement to prevent Hillary from getting the nomination...and just like the with the Kerry swift boating, my dad is involved at a grass roots level. :huh:

I tried to pinpoint the reason that he hates Hillary so much, but the only thing that I could come up with is that he hates her because she is a woman. She is "controlling, hard, imagine what a nag, a bitch". really? It all boils down to the idea that Hillary should have been a good little wifey and not tried to be her own person...that the best man for a job is...a man. He will do everything within his power to make sure that that "bitch" doesn't get the nomination.

And...he will.

My take-home message is:

Strong woman = bitch

This is democracy at work? Holy Cow. Republican hacks get to help decide who the democratic nominee will be?

My mom isn't much better though. She was a Hillary supporter until she "heard" that Hillary was going to abolish medicare and that she had said "mean" things about Obama. When I tried to tell her that Hillary wasn't going to get rid of medicare and that both Obama and Hillary were engaged in a slapdown, she just didn't seem to get it. It's ok for the man to take the upper hand...but not the woman.

At a gut level, it makes me want to stand up, declare "I am woman" and create a strong independent life of my own. You know...I would have made a good doctor...but I made a choice to support my husband in his career and raise our children. It bothers me that there is still the public perception out there by both men and women that the only way to be a really good woman is to stand by your man and not make waves. Heaven forbid we all rise up and start being "bitches".