Can someone help me with the election?

While visiting my friend Jen in Florida something occurred to me. Her and I and probably millions of other busy moms in this country need a candidate cheat sheet. We were exchanging what info we knew about candidates and realized we need some serious help!

Yeah, we could get online and research yada yada yada, but who has time? I can barely find time to write this blog!

So can someone please create a spreadsheet with each candidates name, party, and what their platform is with maybe some good quotes, article references, what they claim they will do, etc -- all the time being as unbiased as possible! Ya know, cover their plans on the big issues - health care, taxes, war, education, small business, big business, economy.

If someone does that, I will post it here and send to all my mom friends. I am sure Jen and I are not the only half-informed voters out there!

Besides, I will bake you some cookies or something as a thank you. Except, they might not get to you until I do my Christmas baking. Again, no time for baking even!

UPDATE:
The following were submitted to me and I thought I would post them here for eveyone else to easily find.

1. Candidate Survey - My cousin dawn sent me this. Answer 11 questions to find out which candidates are most aligned with your views and opinions. You may skip questions if you do not want them factored into the results. This quiz is not meant to pick your candidate for you. It is designed to inform the public of the various stances candidates make.

4. Candidate Table - A cool table with check marks for supports and "x" opposes. Issues down the left. Candidates across the top. Easy to scan and decide! Thanks Krista for sending!

5. Wiki's Who is Running - This page is a good resource just to see who has thrown in their hat for each party! Thanks Krista for sending!

6. League of Women Voters - For those living in St. Tammany Parish this site will help you with local candidates. Thanks Greta for sending!

Seeking Leapster Games

A very generous friend passed along a leapster game system to my daughter. She absolutely LOVES it! She has played the standard games so much I am now seeking new ones for her. Ugh, but the prices are outrageous. So I am letting the world know that if they have any laying around they want to clear out of the house to please shoot me an email!

My brother is for sale too!

Mamma Loves had a post yesterday about her brother for sale. It made me laugh so I would like to follow suite and offer up my brother as well.

Tall, Dark, Handsome and Athletic
37 years old
Never married
No kids
Home owner
Employed
Lives in Ohio
Enjoys being active - running, biking, working out, etc
My kids think he is funny!

Not sure if he is interested in long distance relationship, but I don't care ;-)

All interested, please email me info about yourself and a pic. I will pass along to him. Can't guarantee any interest or a response, but worth trying!

Virginia Beach Trip

I took a trip with the kids to visit my 92 year old grandma in Virginia Beach. Met up with my parents and brother who flew in from Ohio as well as my aunt and uncle who live there too. It was a nice visit for all and the kids loved seeing the family. Here are just a few of the 63 pics I took.

Virginia beach in late september

The clouds - taken from my window seat on the airplane.

My favorite photo from the trip

Sun worshipper

Checking out what is happening on the tarmac before we takeoff

My thoughts on the new series K-Ville

Back in july I posted about the new TV series that takes place in New Orleans, K-Ville (read it here)

Yesterday I watched the pilot on TV. I had to.

So what did I think? Well, it certainly doesn't do the city justice so far. I mean, what you see in the show is about the same ole' crap you hear about on the news. To me, it is like beating a dead horse. There is so much more to this city! When it started out with September 1, 2005 and the officers in boats on flooded streets trying to rescue people I said, "Oh here we go . . . "

I can only hope that it takes on more positive angles then it did in the pilot. Otherwise, I won't be watching it. I don't watch the news because of the negativity why would I want to watch K-ville for entertainment?

Can we move on people! New Orleans is drowning again. This time in negativity and the drama of Katrina!

New Orleans Care Package Drive

If you live in the New Orleans area and would like to donate items to be sent to our troops overseas, see the following link for more info:

Care Package Drive

Where were you when the planes hit the towers?

Everyone has a story of where they were when something tragic happens in society. Like Pearl Harbor, JFK being shot, annoucement that Elvis or Diana died, etc. etc.

Here is my 9-11 story:
I was at work in the computer services center at US Steel. A dark, practically windowless old building with a low hum everywhere from the computers throughout. It was pretty large and walking from one department to the other could take a few minutes. One thing I will also note it lacked was televisions. We are talking old school here.

Anyway, I was upstairs dropping something off in another department when the secretary asked me if I heard that a plane hit the WTC. Of course I hadn't. We also didn't have radio reception in our buildling so we were confined to listening to CDs with headphones in our cubes. Apparently, her sister had called her to tell her. She told me it was a 2-person personal aircraft.

I was on my way back to my department when I passed someone I knew who said a second aircraft had hit the building. I knew that didn't sound right. I immediately headed for the only TV in the building that I knew of - some 1960s small tv in our conference room. I turned it on and watched the footage from then on. The word started spreading and the conference room quickly filled up. We all watched in amazement, horror and silence. When word went out that another plane went down near PIttsburgh (where we were) the phone lines went down. No one could call out anymore.

Eventually, I managed to get a call out to my mom from a landline to tell her it was not anywhere near us. She was just crying. She was heading to the dentist that day and never made it. She remained glued to the TV.

When the towers fell I muttered to my friend next to me that the skyline of New York will never be the same. He looked at me in disgust and horror and said that was all I could think about right then. I was taken aback. I didn't mean to be insensitive, I just think I didn't know what to think or say. That was the only truth I knew at that moment. So I said it.

I didn't shed a tear until I got into my car and drove home. The radio played that "Hero" song and I just started weeping. I cried all the way home. I walked into my house and right into the arms of my husband. I just wept. I don't know if I was scared, sad, shaken or what. I just felt sad. Very very sad. I also felt violated. Not personally, but as a country we were violated. I guess it would be the same feeling as if someone broke into your house. Stunned, shocked, and forever after unsure.

Shell collection

Jen and I collected shells for my girl when we were at Siesta Key Beach. Today I helped my girl make a craft with them. I took an old picture frame that had a broken glass and glued down the background paper she chose to the cardboard backing of the frame. Then, my girl layed out the shells just as she wanted them. Since there was no glass she just worked within the borders of the frame itself. I then helped her glued down the shells. What you see is exactly how she laid it out herself. I think it came out rather cute and will look great in our seashell themed bathroom!

PNN Posts

Hop on over to my PNN blog for the latest in Positive News!

My Girl's Rainbow

Look what my girl found over her house today!

Florida, Friendship, FUN!

In a previous post I told you that hubby was letting me go child-free to Florida to visit my best friend for 5 days. What a saint he is!

It was great! The first night I arrived I didn't get to her house until 8:30pm (3 hours late, but that is a whole other post!). I had traveled all day and she had worked all day yet we managed to stay up until 1:30am talking. We could have talked all night. Neither of us tired of the conversation. I reminded her that she had to get up with her boys in the morning and get them off to school. Right. 5:45am was creeping up quickly.

The next day we grabbed a bite of breakfast and a coffee and headed out to Siesta Key Beach. Of course we yakked it up the whole way there. By accident we found public beach access 7 that led us out to a very open stretch of beach with like two other people on it. The sand there is so white and as fine as sugar. Therefore, it was not hot on the feet. The weather was perfect that day. Not too humid/hot and a steady breeze! The water was so clear that you could see your toes in three feet of water!

We set up camp and went right into the water. We just floated and chatted. We then walked all the way down to the main public beach area to use the restroom. We walked all the way back and past our camp to the other end of the beach. We brought ourselves lots of water and a rum/juice concoction. We filled our water bottles with the rum treat and headed back out for more floating and chatting. When we returned to our blanket to finally get some tanning in I asked Jen if she wanted her book to read. She said, "No, the conversation is too good.". I don't think we quit talking the whole day! At 3pm we decided we had enough and packed it up only to find out later that we had a nice burn despite our many applications of SPF 50!

Later that night we went out to eat at Joe Crackers??? with Jen's hubby and two neighbors. What a blast! The food was Yummy! The drinks kept flowing! Thank you dearest Andy (Jen's neighbor) for picking up the tab!

After dinner we headed to a local bar for another beer and then decided to take the party back to Sherry's house. (Jen's other neighbor) We hung out there until 1:30am again. I think 1:30am must be my cutoff. I would suddenly be extremely tired.

The next day we packed it up again and headed to Jen's camper that they keep at a nearby campground. We were sorta spent from the day before and it was very hot so we just lounged under the camper awning and read/chatted/drank. That night we started a campfire and played Sequence where Bart kicked our butts to many times. Damn!

The following day we woke to Bart cooking up a big Sunday breakfast. After that we headed out to play a long afternoon of Shuffleboard - just Jen and I. I had never played before and it was actually pretty fun. Although, anything can be fun with a little rum to go with it!

We dipped in the pool after shuffleboard and headed back to cook up some burgers, corn, baked beans and tomato/onion/mozzerella salad. YUMMY!

The next day I left and was glad to be going home as i missed my family, but was so refreshed from the time alone.

BTW, Hubby did fine with the kids by himself. He actually said he enjoyed it!

Thanks, Jen, for the good time and good conversation! Next time, you, me and the french quarter baby!

No, Bart, you can't come!

What happened on my vacation.

It happened in just an instant.

There I was all alone heading from terminal D to terminal C in the Atlanta airport. Purse backpack and a magazine my only possessions. I am walking briskly, head held high, smiling, face glowing with a nice tan, thinking of all the fun I just had with my best friend over the last five days in Florida. I glance to my left and that is when I saw her . . . She was pushing a double stroller, very stuffed LL Bean day pack on her back, husband in tow with car seat flung over his shoulder and diaper bag on his shoulder. She looked haggered, hurried and winded. She was struggling to navigate her stroller onto the people mover. After she succeeded she looked up and we locked eyes. Just for a second. We exchange knowing and longing looks. She thinking "I wish I were you - traveling all alone, free from the extra baggage children require when traveling and moving along so easily - looking happy, rested and radiant." I thinking "I've been there so many times before and know exactly how you are feeling right now" The glance ended as quick as it started and I was suddenly overcome with sadness. I missed my kids and my hubby.

For an instance I was glad I wasn't her and this time around I got to go solo. However, I also felt that longing to see the 3 most important people in my life.

Heads Up AirTran!

Okay. So I decided to try AirTran for the first time. I had a 5 HOUR layover in Altanta on my way home from Florida. Anxious to get home I immediately stopped at the ticket counter when I exited the plane to see if there was an early flight I could jump on. The lady checked and said, "Yes, there is a 1:10pm but I don't know if you will make it." I asked why not? She said, "You must alert them 1 hour in advance so they can pull your luggage in time." So I asked her what time it was. 12:05pm exactly. She told me I needed to go the next terminal over and check in with the lady at the gate. I don't know if you have ever been to the Atlanta airport, but getting from one terminal to the other is a hike! So I hoofed it as fast as possible. I was walking faster than the people who were walking on the people movers! I got to the desk and inquired. She said I was too late. I asked the time. 1:13pm. 3 minutes late!

I asked if they could make an exception since I was only 3 minutes late.She told me to walk down to customer service. It was just down a few gates so I did. The lady there told me the same.I inquired about the strict rule. She explained it was for security reasons. They can't allow my luggage to travel on an airplane without me. So they wouldn't have time to pull it in order to make the flight I was wanting to change to. Therefore, it would not get to New Orleans with me.

So I sigh in defeat and wait 5 hours for my original flight home.

Here is where it gets good . . .

I am standing in baggage claim after arriving in New Orleans waiting with everyone else from my flight when over the PA system I hear them paging me and telling me to come to the luggage office. Guess what? They sent my bag on the 1:10pm flight - WITHOUT ME! When I inquired why? The guy said it must have been a mistake.

So I could of taken the damn earlier flight - my luggage did anyway! So much for rules!