Governor Sarah Palin, my HERO!

Thank you John McCain! What a SHOCK! This is a game changer. I had no idea who this woman was until he chose her for VP. The more I read about her, the more excited I get. A few stats on the presumptive Republican VP nominee.
1. Biden, Obama and McCain have no executive experience. As a mayor and then governor, she is the only one with any experience in that arena, 8 years in fact with an 80% approval rate as Governor.
2. 2nd Amendment. She is an avid hunter and pro-gun rights.
3. Anti-Abortion.
4. Believes that Creationism AND Evolution could be taught in school. Believes in debating differing views. Amen to that!
5. Supports traditional marriage.
6. Has a reputation of being a bad ass reformer (she's known as the Barricuda). Earned a reputation fighting establishment corruption, even within her own party.
7. Supports drilling in ANWR and supports the oil industry.
8. She is a marathon runner, pilot, hunter. Her high school sweetheart and husband, Todd, works for BP in the oil field. He is also a commercial fisherman, hunter, and 4 time, 2000 mile, "Iron Dog" snowmobile race winner. Frankly, he seems like a bad ass. They have a very nice young family and seem to be very down to earth.
9. Although lacking in foreign policy experience (as nearly all governors do), she has a vested interest in the war in Iraq. Her oldest son, Track, is deploying shortly to the region.
10. Does not believe Global Warming is human caused. Thank You!
11. Hates wasteful government spending and is a tax cutter.

Gov. Palin is very difficult for democrats to handle. Because of the pissed off Hillary supporters, they can not be too harsh and negative in their criticism. Initially (and even still) they lash out against her due to her lack of experience. It is true, she is young and relatively new to politics. However, since she has more experience than Barak, that argument quickly gets turned around to emphasize Obama's own lack of experience. Oops. So today they changed strategy. Now people are suggesting that her kids are too young, she should be tending to her family, not running for VP. OHHH REEAALLYYY! Try telling an already pissed feminist that she shouldn't be working and should be at home raising babies. Having a supportive husband willing to be an active participant in raising the family, she has been able to balance being governor and a mother. Besides, how old was JFK junior when JFK was pres? Bad strategy attacking her for being a working mom. That will backfire hard.

As we learn more and more about Gov. Palin, I think Americans will get increasingly excited about supporting her. Her story, family, youth and her personality is very attractive and really brings life to McCain's run for the White House. With adding her to the ticket it secured and rejuvenated the conservative base and creates an equally historic ticket as Obamas. It also will undoubtedly attract some centrist democrat female voters who voted for Hillary. I guess we will see how it pans out. This is a big gamble for McCain. I truly hope it works out. I wish her the best of luck.

I feels good to be excited to vote for a ticket instead of just voting against the other.


Perhaps in 4 years if we lose or 8 years if we win, we can see some dream tickets like Palin / Jindal, that would be sweet.

I'm so ronery! So ronery and sad reary brue!

Well, my darling bride and baby boy are out of town. I miss them. Thankfully I was able to pick up a week or so of overtime. I will only get about 4 days off in 6 weeks. The money is nice but I miss my family and my home.

I am kind of glad that they are in Utah whilst Gustav threatens the region. It is nice to not have to worry about them.

But still, I am a rittle ronery, poor rittle meeeeeeee!!

Perfect Sandwich

My idea of a perfect sandwich is thick white bread, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, avocado, provolone and Miracle Whip. I like sunflower seeds on it as well. Cutler's or Leger's has the best!

Broccoli n such

What the...?

Contrary to popular belief, I DO take him out of his high chair occasionally. I just forget to take pictures anywhere else.

First taste of broccoli (I know most of you don't care, but this is mostly for Keith)

Baby Food

Remington has been eating solids for about a month now. Started with rice cereal mixed with milk, but it got difficult pumping that much so I switched to water. I can't believe he tolerated that tasteless gruel for so long! We moved onto veggies after a week of that. I decided long ago that I was committed to making my own baby food, for economic reasons and because I know exactly what's going into his tummy. I actually look forward to the long process of steaming, pureeing, straining, freezing and storing Remington's food. I enjoy experimenting and tasting all the mush. Today I made plums, peaches, apples, green beans, and broccoli, all of which he has yet to try. I flash freeze puree portions in ice cube trays, then label and date freezer bags and store. Then when Remi Boy is ready to eat I just pop one in the microwave and mix with rice cereal or water. So convenient and delicious.

Love/Loathe

List of things I absolutely love:
Lilacs
Unique jewelry
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
Antiquing
Autumn evenings
A good sneeze
Thai food
Talk radio
Jergens body lotion
Chapstick

List of things I absolutely loathe:
The sitcom Friends
Winnie the Pooh
Any movie with Kate Hudson
When people use the 'F' word in casual conversation
Country Music
George Stephanopoulos
Onions
Toe hair
Pronouncing 'important' 'impordand'
Family Guy

Say WHAT?

Seen today on a strip club billboard while driving down the freeway:

We have 54 beautiful ladies
and 1 ugly one.

Classy. Wish I could have gotten a picture.

Countdown

I have exactly two weeks until I get to redeem my glorious gift from the Pipers! I will be heading to Utah with Remi Bemi in tow to visit and play and cook good food. I am looking forward to a special Happy Nut Party (I am the only adult member of the Happy Nut Club)and to hanging out with family and friends. I can't wait for the beautiful mountains, sunsets, grass you can lay on, and lots of loving for Remington. See you soon!
I'm still trying to convince Keith to come but he says we need to spend the money on a garage door instead :P That, and I'm sure he is looking forward to 10 fun-filled days at home with no poopy diapers and no nagging wife!

Newsletter: Month Five

Dear Remington,

Today you turn five months old.

You are changing each and every day. We have worked ourselves into a nice little rhythm this month. You have been sleeping through the night and now you take two naps during the day. The first one is long, the second short. It is working out quite nicely for everyone.
Your fussing has cut back dramatically since we introduced rice cereal into your diet. You take it mixed with water and you eat from a spoon like you've been doing it forever. Last week I tried making homemade baby food. Started by boiling, mashing and straining sweet potatoes, peas, or carrots then freezing portions in an ice cube tray. You absolutely love sweet taters! You 'Mmm' the whole time. Giving you solids has certainly changed what Daddy refers to as 'events.' That, and you have the most vile smelling farts on the planet. I guess we can handle it, given the fact you are so darn tootin' cute. People have really been commenting on how stunning your blue eyes. This surprised me because I thought most babies eyes were blue. But the compliments you get have encouraged me to dress you in blue as much as possible.
Daddy has started to wonder aloud how you became so adorable. Maybe it is because of the frequency in which you smile at him. Actually, you can barely function if he is in the same room because all you want to do is stare at him and gain his attention. We were worried that you wouldn't know him as well as you know me, simply because he has been away for a good chunk of your short little life. His absence seems to have the opposite affect. You coo and kick and squeal with delight when he holds you, and you laugh at him for absolutely no reason. He walked past you in the grocery store the other day, and you began to giggle just to get his attention. It is such a musical sound and it melts our hearts every time we hear it. Your little cheeks turn pink when you smile and they look like little tomatoes. That toothless grin has become more and more frequent the older you get, as are your laughs.

Your dislikes are becoming far more obvious to us these days. You still loathe riding in other people's cars and I swear you have a serious aversion to one-year-olds in general. We have discovered that you become easily offended when people scream, in delight or otherwise. Your feelings got especially hurt when we were watching TV with my cousins, Alex and Alicia, and they were screeching over a montage of people falling off trampolines. The same thing happened when Daddy was dangling you over my face while I was laying on the couch, pretending to scream as the two of you bent over me. Your bottom lip juts out, followed by the saddest cry on the planet. Funny thing is, we have taken you to several movies and the noise doesn't seem to bother you, so it must be the actual screaming.
This past month I took you to a mommy's group where all the kids were around your age. We sat on the floor and you sprawled out on your tummy. All the babies took turns grabbing each others faces and limbs. You really liked the kids your age. I wonder why you hate 1 year-olds so much...
A few other tidbits:

New nicknames: Remi Bemi, Remington Baby Son #1, Son of sons,
You kick me with your left foot when I'm trying to get you to sleep. I have the bruises to prove it.
Putting you down for bedtime takes forever. You always open your eyes just when I think you are asleep and smile one of your big, toothless grins.
You are the happiest first thing in the morning, and you love to talk and play.
You have abandoned your binkis. You simply have no desire for them.
You are playing with toys, FINALLY! I was worried there might be something wrong.
You roll if prodded.
You like to be involved in what we are doing. From eating dinner to watching TV, you like to be in the thick of it.
You like to bite my finger and lick my face.
You grab your toes whenever you are on your back.

We are looking forward to the next month. You are so much fun that at night I want to wake you up so I can play with you! You are turning into quite the little man. Daddy thinks you are such a good kid, and I couldn't agree more!

I love you, baby!

Love,
Mama

Voyeur

Remi and I walked to the neighborhood pool today to cool off and get out of the house. I was completely in my own world and was playing with him on a lawn chair for a while. I got up and took him back to the kiddie pool. I happened to look up at the fence, and was startled to see and rough looking man staring at us from the other side of the wrought iron. It took all but half a second to realize it was KEITH! He was so out of context in a pool setting that I didn't even recognize him. Apparently, he had just walked up to the fence to watch us play. I never bother asking him to go to the pool, and those of you that know him understand that he has a serious aversion to public pools of any variety, even our small community pool. This all stems from a very traumatic incident at the Bountiful Bubble involving, how shall I say, a floating 'Baby Ruth.'

Adios Edouard!

The BIG STORM has finally passed us. Actually, it was nothing more than a big ole rain storm. No big deal. We have had an incredibly lazy couple of days, which has been glorious. I have been reading Breaking Dawn as much as baby son has allowed and Keith has been playing around on the computer and breaking ceramic coffee mugs. Remi-boy is completely devoted to starting at Keith. He waits and waits until Keith glances over at him. Keith is rewarded with a toothless cherub grin. So so worth the wait. They also spend a lot of time fake-yelling at each other, which is one of my favorite sounds in the world.
A few random thoughts for the day:
I love my new peep toe heels.
Oddly enough, I love Keith's new flip flops even more.
We've been in various stages of cleaning the kitchen for 3 days.
I can't wait to take baby to Utah.
I hate the Air Wick commercials with the animated animals.
I love Keef.

Edouard...should be Edward

This stupid storm looks like it's coming right for us. I personally think it should be named Edward for my mother's sake.

Keith's Movie Minute

I am kind of a movie freak. I love a good flick, especially the lesser known or foreign films. I thought I'd start a movie suggestion thing every now and then on the blog. The movie I am going to recommend this time is "Everything is Illuminated" starring Elijah Wood. It is a comedy/drama about a young man traveling to the Ukraine in search of a woman who saved his grandfather in WW2. It is one of those indie/lesser known movies that you stumble on and love it so much that you want everyone you know to watch it. My parents, who rarely watch movies, liked it so much they watched it twice. Candice and I have seen it three times and I believe this is her current favorite movie. It's rated PG-13, I can't remember anything really objectionable, a little language perhaps. Very funny and meaningful show, well worth the rental fee or purchase price. Enjoy.

Search

We had an evening very reminiscent of the great calamari hunt of '06. We are having friends over for a slow-smoked brisket tomorrow. We went to no less than 4 grocery stores looking for a good one. WalMart's was too big (we thought) Kroger's was a sickly brown color, HEB's was $30 and small, so we finally settled for Randall's. Keith was a regular Goldilocks looking for the perfect bed and porridge. We should have purchased the first one we saw, but why would we make it that easy on ourselves? I feel as if only Keith's family can truly appreciate this little tale of woe...Actually also reminds me of the great chicken tragedy of '03. It was Christmas Eve when Frank threw away Keith's chicken, and Keith spent all of Christmas morning looking for an open store, desperately searching the streets of Salt Lake to find a chicken to go inside his Turducken. Well, tonight was not so dramatic as all that, and the story has a happy ending.
No other people on this planet would go to so much trouble and heartache for a good meal besides the Sanos! Silly and delicious. And expensive!