This and That

Late start this morning. My son had an orthodontist appointment at 8:00. They promised me that if I took the early time, they would have him out in 15 minutes. At 8:45, I knew this might not be the case. What is amazing is how many times they look you in the eye and promise it will only be 5 more minutes. This always happens at the gynecologist too, but it is even more frustrating because you are lying naked and freezing on that horrible table. At least at the gynecologist, my doctor makes a nonchalant apology about making me wait an hour. The orthodontist always has that air of "we are doing such important work that you don't get to question the fact that we over-schedule in order to make a boat-load of money." ...Anyway, Matt was glad that he missed Spanish class, so I suppose I need to chill out.

Gabrielle had softball practice last night. We had assumed it would be cancelled due to the rain, but we were wrong. For an hour and a half, she stood out in the freezing cold rain and listened to the coach explain the infield fly rule. Due to my passive/aggressive personality, I didn't confront the coach and suggest he end practice. Instead I paced up and down like an idiot thinking this would somehow suggest to him that he needed to cut it short. The only thing that got me was cold and frustrated. Gabrielle said "Mom, you might just want to sit in the car next time." Yes. I think I'll do that.

American Idol was entertaining last night. I love those old Motown songs anyway, and I thought there were some really good performances. Unfortunately, Gabrielle's favorite girl, the lovely Megan, did not do well. I made the mistake of pointing this out, and Gab pouted the rest of the show. Matt's pick Chris did very well, which I also mistakenly pointed out, so he gloated the rest of the show. This did not make for pleasant viewing...However, we all agreed that strange Adam was really good. I never liked that song "Tracks of My Tears" when Smokey Robinson sang it, but I would probably buy Adam's slowed-down, mellow version. And I was glad that he left off the black nail polish. I like the blind guy, Scott, a lot, but he gets worse and worse every week. I hate when Simon is so harsh, but I thought he was right about Scott. The 16 year old Allison is terrific. Her version of "Papa was a Rolling Stone" was really soulful. She has a great voice. I think the final 5 will be: Adam, Chris, Matt, Allison....and the final spot will be between Danny, Lil' Rounds and Anoop. Of course if these are anything like my final four picks...

I saw on the news this morning where a number of women are taking up stripping as a profession due to the tough economic times. Here is what I would like to know: If these are such tough economic times, why are strip clubs still doing well? I'm not sure what my reaction would be if that was an expense that we had to work into our budget...

An article in the Economist says that the White House team is demeaning Michelle Obama by pushing her into this "mommy/fashionista" role. I totally disagree. First of all, does anybody believe that Michelle gets forced into anything? Secondly, the fact is, she is a 45 year old woman who left her powerful high-paying job because she decided that her husband and kids needed to come first. I happen to admire her for this. I think that there are many of us who look at her and know that her decision was very unselfish and modern. Instead of trying to hold on to her former self, she is daring to create a new life for herself by taking on new behind-the-scene projects. Recently, she started an organic garden on the White House grounds to teach her girls about healthy eating, while at the same time, giving left over goods to the shelters in the area. As far as this "fashionista" attack, look, if I had hundreds of photographers taking my picture at every juncture of my day, I'd be doing my best to look good too. (And by the way, if I had arms like hers, I'd never wear sleeves again! Is there really a "drama" about this?) I may not be a big Obama fan, but I really think Michelle is doing ok so far...

That is it for today. It's that perfect mixture of rain and cold that makes me want to cozy up and write the rest of the morning...I better take advantage of it...

So until tomorrow...is it Friday already?....