Facie’s Ramblings

But I am. I promised myself and others that I would give Obama a chance, that I would show him the respect that so many others did not give Bush. So far, I am breaking that promise. Pretty much any time I see an Obama bumper sticker, I have a visceral reaction. I wince, make a snide comment, or roll my eyes. I pretty much always roll my eyes. I want to like the guy. I want to want him to do well, so why can't I get over this? Partly, I guess, because ever since I started following politics, around 2000, my guy has won the presidency. I was not a big Bush supporter, but he seemed the lesser of two evils in 2000, and mostly I wanted all traces of Bill Clinton out of the White House (that was when I voted on the basis of morality, which I no longer do). And in 2004, there was something about Kerry that made it impossible for me to vote for him, so it was Bush again. Maybe I am sore loser? Last night during Obama's address to Congress, when I saw Nancy Pelosi in what appeared to be...

Yesterday, I booked a vacation at Ocean City, Maryland, for the end of June. This will be the first vacation we have taken since our honeymoon almost 10 years ago. Twice we have gone with Brian's mom and her friend for a couple of nights to a resort in Virginia, but this is our vacation, to a destination we wanted to go to, staying at a condo we picked out (and by we I mostly mean I), where we can have our own bedroom and not share it with a kid. Growing up, we went to OC a lot, but since I have been married, I have mostly avoided the sun, so it is kind of odd we picked a beach. But there is a lot to do in OC, and the place that we picked has some amenities that I am sure Jordan will like (if only Brian had someone to golf with...). Plus, one assumes it should not be as hot in June as it would be in later summer, so hopefully that will help. With all the gloom and doom going on with the economy, it is nice to have something to look forward to for the next four months. I definitely...

I have this capability (for lack of a better word) to cry over the simplest, silliest things. On Saturday, while driving home from a party, I saw a "canner" collecting donations for Penn State's Dance Marathon, which is or was, to the best of my recollection, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, and benefits the Four Diamonds Fund, a charity for kids with cancer. When I saw the canner, tears filled up my eyes, as they pretty much do every year around this time when I see college kids canning. Why? Maybe I was thinking back to my being in Thon, staying awake and standing for those 48 hours. Maybe I was thinking about my friend who died from cancer just a month before Thon, who was my inspiration for doing it. Maybe, just maybe, seeing the young guy reminds me there is still good in the world. Today, I dropped off Jordan's registration form for first grade at the Catholic school of the church we attend. As I walked through the cafeteria filled with eating ...

I am still angry about the ridiculous mom of 14 children (my how I miss writing about the Steelers). My boss and others do not understand why I care or am so mad about it. When he was laughing at me/about it, at that moment, I wanted to quit my job and start trying to have more kids; perhaps three or four. Why not sponge off the government? So many others are doing it. Despite what some of you may think, I am not against government assistance programs. Some people need help because of circumstances beyond their control. Shouldn't we help the family whose head of household lost his or her job? And by help, I also mean charitable donations. I know I am better off than a lot, and I try to share some of this, now more than ever. But why should taxpayers help those who take little to no responsibility for themselves and their actions? A single woman who is not working yet living on disability should not have herself implanted with six embryos. That she had six kids already makes it more...

I worry about the spendulus bill. Is it really going to right the economy without dire consequences? I am thinking in a few years, I will be taking home about half my pay, but maybe I am just being too cynical. Part of me says, let's just print millions of dollars and mail it to everyone, but isn't this kind of what we are doing? I would love to go through and see exactly what is in this bill, but reading over 1000 pages does not appeal to me. And I bet many of our senators and reps did not read it either. But from what I hear and what I have read, there appears to be a lot of pork. This is where I am torn. Many states, PA included, need money; we are in trouble. So I certainly would not want to turn down whatever Obama is doling out. But at what price? And how much will it help? Governor Spendell can talk about what he wants to do to help reduce the deficit, but what about reducing the size of the legislature? And how about not hiring a former legislature at a newly created jo...

As some of you now know, after months of being hounded by friends to join Facebook, I finally caved in. Why did I resist for so long? Several reasons, not the least of which is I was afraid it would turn into one more thing on the Internet that I would find myself constantly checking. So far? Yep, pretty true. Part of me thought that if I really wanted to keep in touch with someone and vice-versa, wouldn't we have done that without the aid of this intrusive little bugger? But then I realized that few of us have the time or desire to regularly email or call all our friends and acquaintances. Now, I can find out what people I went to high school and college with (and in some cases have not talked to in 20 or more years) are doing, all in one place. Not too bad, even if some of the things people comment on seem a little odd to me. Actually, what got me to join last night is one of my clients has pics of the inauguration on her Facebook page, so she encouraged me to join. That is odd f...

I wish I could capture the feeling I had driving into work on Monday. Sure, I was tired after having stayed up to midnight to revel in the Steelers sixth Super Bowl win. But the feeling of euphoria, helped by a local radio station playing various Steeler songs as well as "We Are the Champions" was something I cannot put into words, something that a lot of people just don't get. The good times continued right into Tuesday with the Steelers parade. I hardly noticed the 30-degree weather and occasional snowfall. What I was well aware of was that I and my closest 350,000 friends were celebrating in style. That day we were all united members of the Steeler Nation (except for the black-and-gold clad jag-off who apparently robbed a bank during the festivities). This year, one of my coworkers had the best idea of his life (his words): bring a ladder, which was made possible thanks to Bob, the office guy, dropping us off. So many people walked by telling us how smart we were or wh...