Baby Booty

I have the good fortune to work with a great group of women. While there have been a very few people who came and went, our core group has been working together since 2000, and several of us have been together even longer. This means we've known each other through some pretty life-changing experiences, and have come to trust and respect each other. In addition to their other wonderful qualities, my work friends are amazingly generous. We have a tradition of Grandma Showers. This is what I received in honor of Logan Daniel this week. Everything is so cute. We joked that with the items I've been knitting and these gifts I will not be able to pack up any clothing when I go to visit him for the first time. I may have to seriously consider shipping the baby things ahead, because the weather in Boise has been so cold I don't think I'll be able to pack lightly without freezing to death.

Friday was Samantha's birthday. She had already received her gift from me in the form of a pair of tires for her car. Not glamorous, but spendy and necessary. For her actual birthday I took her to lunch at her favorite restaurant: Red Lobster. She had one of the feasty platters. Then we zipped over to Starbuck's for one of the fancy cold coffee concoctions. Not too thrilling, but both items are outside of our usual budgets, and therefore qualify as festive. We had a nice time, and a very nice visit. She had to zoom off with her coffee drink to get her car washed in advance of a celebratory evening of bowling. Her gift from her dad was a great digital SLR. It's a requirement for her photography course, but also she takes a lot of pictures and this will give her great quality. I must admit a passing envy. Only passing because it is even bigger and heavier than my current camera and I know myself well enough to know that I do not enjoy carrying around a serious camera.

Super Tuesday is coming next week. Although I do not do a great number of political posts I will volunteer my opinions for anyone who is interested. I was very disappointed when John Edwards dropped out. I must admit that come the General Election I will vote for the Democratic candidate no matter who it is. Both candidates still standing are equally qualified, in my opinion. That said, for the primary I will be casting my vote for Obama. As I have often said, while I admire Mrs. Clinton's abilites, intelligence and drive, I am less impressed by her character. I thought that during President Clinton's administration they were both too quick to throw loyalists under the bus, and too quick to sacrifice principle for political expediency. While I truly believe she understands the needs of families and the inadequacy of our current health care system for many Americans I think she also has strong ties to corporate interests and a vested interest in the status quo which will make her slow to consider solutions which will be unpopular or unprofitable for her corporate friends. Also, recent events surrounding her campaign make me pretty sure that her administration will be full of distracting drama and division. Although I think Obama has been less decisive and committed than I would like, I see less of these kinds of issues. And as a practical matter, the Republican's are prepared to fight Hillary Clinton, and have a less sure idea of how to tackle Obama. I think they would strongly prefer that she be the candidate, and this makes me uneasy. For months now I have not heard a peep against Mrs. Clinton from the Republicans - it makes me think they are holding their fire "until they see the whites of her eyes". My opinions, of course, and as always: your mileage may vary.