I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR!!!!!!!

I keep thinking I am going to come down from the emotional high that I have been riding since late yesterday morning -- nope, not yet. I woke up this morning and Sarah Palin really IS the GOP nominee for Vice President of the United States. Finally..... someone got "it" and realized that is far past time for a woman to be considered as a valid candidate to hold the highest office in the land. The Democrats can scream and whine until they're blue in the face that Governor Palin isn't "experienced" enough for the job? What experience does the TOP of their ticket have? With all due respect to Senator Biden (and I mean that very sincerely since I believe Joe Biden to be a good man), Senator McCain hasn't lost the "Experience Argument" by picking a sitting governor.

For months and months, I have been a truly undecided voter. Somewhere back in February, I realized that Hillary Clinton (a woman I admire tremendously despite disagreeing with her on almost every important issue) was going to be eviscerated by her own party and by the media long before my own GOP ever got a chance to do it. Senator Obama is new and "sexy" and all about CHANGE (whatever THAT means; he's never defined it) and Hillary was going to get thrown out on her face. I watched over and over as new barriers were erected before the first qualified woman to ever run for the presidency: "She has to win Ohio and Texas." She did. "She has to win Pennsylvania by 10%." She did. "She has to win Indiana and Kentucky and West Virginia." She did. None of it mattered -- Hillary Clinton won the NJ primary on my birthday by approximately 20% of the vote; at the "roll call" (or the Demise of Democracy which is the better name for it) this past Wednesday night, New Jersey "casts all 127 of its delegates for Barack Obama." No... they did no such thing. What a farce. I was quite literally devastated watching a qualified woman get raped on national television by a bunch of people who claim to support women's rights.

And then came Sarah Palin. I had heard her name buzzed several weeks ago but after watching what happens to women in politics, I wasn't really thinking McCain would look twice. My only concern, after watching Obama and his people publically crucify Hillary, was that so long as Mitt Romney wasn't on the ballot, and assuming PA was going to be close, I would vote for Senator McCain because I supported him in 2000 as an honorable man -- he was NOT my first choice as all of you know. Had Mitt Romney been on the ticket, I would have written in Hillary or voted for Bob Barr from Georgia. That's what made me undecided -- there was never a question after the DNC convention and Obama's disrespect of Senator Clinton that Obama would get my vote; that wasn't happening.

And then came Sarah Palin again... yesterday morning very early, I knew the VP was not Romney. WHEW!!!! I don't like that guy at all. I guess I'll vote for McCain. Hmmmm... they're buzzing Tom Ridge's name. Puts PA in play. I guess I'll vote for McCain. Governor Palin is still in Alaska (this was about 10:30 yesterday morning) so it CAN'T be her. That's ok... Romney isn't the VP. I guess I'll vote for McCain.

And then it WAS Sarah Palin for VP!!!!! I watched her introduction with tears streaming down my face and my hands clapping together like a little girl. As each new detail came out, I became more excited to the point of sheer joy. Look... she's 44 like me -- ok, I'm six days older than she is. She's got five kids like me. She's been married to her husband for 20 years like me (almost... October 1st for us). She's a teacher's daughter and her husband is in a union. She is JUST like me!!!!!

I do not agree with Governor Palin's views on every topic but I have always known that I would never wholly agree with any one person -- how boring that would be! She is a marvel though; a force of nature. I have no doubt that Sarah gets "it." I am so on board that my McCain sign is actually up in my front yard and I gave money (and with our tuition bills, money is hard to come by!).

The last few weeks have been brutal for me and it feels wonderful to feel good again. My knee is healing, my knitting projects are flying off the needles (because I still can't walk all that comfortably yet), my over-active 7 year old goes back to school on Tuesday and the Eagles open their 2008 season one week from tomorrow -- my fabulous Eagles socks from my hand-dyed yarn that I colored will be done tonight. Life is stabilizing as it always does.

But perhaps it takes a working mother of five to understand that.

I wonder if she's a knitter??? I bet she is. It's COLD in Alaska!!

I am over the moon with excitement to the point that I can barely type!! A 44 year old woman who is NOT from Washington DC with 5 kids with an age range like that of my own children. After watching Senator Clinton get raped on national television in order to put forth a candidate for whom I could never vote and being faced with a GOP choice that I was not thrilled about, John McCain has just come through HUGE!!!!!!! She is smart and athletic and downright beautiful. She has executive experience and is NOT a Senator.

McCain/Palin in 2008!!!!!!!

Ravelry Olympics

So.... I had to add these "medals" for the Ravelry Olympics. I finished my new cable hat in two days (from cast on to finishing) and finished the felted bag for myself (a modified version of the Booga Bag pattern) which I absolutely LOVE and have already crammed all my stuff into!!

I also saw my orthopedist yesterday and do NOT need surgery on my right knee (Thank you, God). I do need to wear a brace (and a matching one on the right because the strain on my bad knee over the past four weeks has been pretty bad) and do physical therapy, but the relief at NOT needing surgery was monumental.

Have been working all week to catch up from the staycation, but managed to get to the pool last night and swim some laps (arms only, but got a good work out). TOnight is Knitting Night and I am very excited to spend some times with my friends and to swap some yarn.

Staycation plans not quite what I planned

So..... somehow and with a LOT of stress, I survived last week. I got done everything that I knew needed to be done prior to me taking a week off from the office (HAH!). Had the custody hearing from Hell on Friday afternoon and was waiting to go get the MRI on my right knee when the phone rang LATE Friday afternoon or maybe it was an email -- can't quite remember now. It was another lawyer advising me that, despite a verbal agreement, his/her client had decided to play custody blackmail games with my client. THAT consumed part of Friday afternoon AND part of Monday (when I wasn't supposed to be working). Whatever... it will be fixed next week or it won't and I'll need to file an emergency petition with the court. I really hate game playing!

Then... got called into court for Wednesday morning and when I was on my way to take the littlest ones to their sitter's house, got a call cancelling. All fine, but they wanted to go to their sitter's (who they hadn't seen in more than a month) and I figured I would get a day of scrapbooking and quiet time in. Not so much. My doctor's office called at about 11:40 a.m. with the MRI results. Without going into depth about fluid pockets and bulges and degeneration of cartilage, suffice it to say I'll be seeing my orthopod next Wednesday. It was a very emotional and traumatic phone call for me and I spent half of the day crying. Knee may or may not be surgical, but it's my good knee... or at least it used to be.

I'm still getting around, better with the brace on. More importantly I did NOT cave in to my almost irresistible impulse for a pint of Dove ice cream last night. I bought myself a book, took the kids to the pool and hung out with a new and AWESOME friend from knitting group, ate a dinner within my weight watcher's points, watched some "West Wing" and went to sleep. I kept telling myself that there is NO point in letting this drag me down and I'm tougher than my knees are.

I'm also really excited to cast on my cabled hat for the Ravelry Olympics tomorrow morning. I taught myself to cable FOR this project, made a baby hat and a hat for Jenny as swatches and am really excited to actually make something for myself for once. Yarn is a MUCH better addiction than food (even if it's a tad more costly). Picture of Jenny wearing HER hat is above. You may notice that it's green, not purple -- that's because the initial hat I made with the wrong type yarn and too-small needles didn't fit. Go figure. Of course, I have absolutely NO sense of size or depth perception, so I didn't KNOW it didn't fit her until she tried it on. Luckily, I can add the purple baby-sized hat to the gift bag I've finished for a friend and his wife. One more baby blanket/sweater/hat to go. Then, until MY kids have kids... I am done knitting for other people's babies. I think I felt obligated to do 12 sets this past year and my holiday knitting is woefully behind.

No song title comes to mind -- just too tired

SOOOOOOOO tired. SOOOOOOOOOO glad the past month is over. SOOOOOOOO excited that I am not going anywhere NEAR the office next week for any reason except to check mail maybe once -- I think I would have a nervous breakdown if I walked in the doors.

Haven't posted in more than a month. My days have been filled with a crazy amount of work and my evenings and weekends with summer swim team, chores, meetings and generally feeling overwhelmed. My little guy started the swim season very strong, but ended up with Lyme DIsease (and a case of the 7/8 year old lack-of-focusitis) so his earliest times were his best times. He is finally almost done the antibiotics, but sheesh!!!!! Then there is my knee.... no, not the bad one, the other one! I stood up to make an objection in court two weeks ago and felt something go POP -- had MRI last night at the end of the most awful and grueling week I have ever had.

However, in the midst of all that.... I taught myself to cable this past week and ended up (without intending to) making the toddler a purple hat to match her purple sweater. I finished a BUNCH of projects from baby hats to baby socks to afghans and found a top-down, seamless sweater pattern that WOrks!!!!! I also went to a yarn dyeing and made myself hand dyed sock yarn.... WAY fun!!! Today, I'm going on a yarn crawl (that means a trip to multiple yarn stores!) with a friend from knitting group which turned out well since the weather today is not pool conducive.

Those of you on Ravelry need to cheer me on in the Knitting Olympics which start Friday, August 8th at 8 p.m. It's really cool -- cast on during the Opening Ceremonies and finish by the Closing Ceremonies. I am making a cabled hat (which is how Jenny ended up with a hat -- was teaching myself HOW to cable and ended up with a toddler hat!) for myself. If I finish it sooner, I'll join the work-in-progress team and finish some projects.

I also, despite the knee preventing much exercise, have lost close to seven pounds. I went back on Weight Watchers at-home program as soon as tomatos were cleared for human consumption. And then I found "SparkPeople". OMIGOD!!! It's a free web site that lets you track food, read articles, use message boards, get motivation and support. I had heard about it from a client about 10 months ago and for some reason, the name stuck in my mind so when I wanted to go back on WW but didn't want to pay for their monthly website, I joined Spark and have been religiously logging in every day, tracking my food, etc. As soon as I started tracking my portions, the weight started peeling off... five of those pounds are in the last ten days. So I'm getting healthier and feeling damn proud of myself!

But finally and most importantly.... I am officially on vacation for the next week. I'm not going anywhere, but am NOT going near the office. Hubby taking a grad class and even though my sitter is available, I need to spend a week with my babies and away from my clients and other lawyers. Next week is that week -- Thank God.