The Grind Begins

Wednesday was the first day of school for the kids. It just seems wrong to send the kids off to school on Aug. 12th. Anything prior to Labor Day seems too soon to me, but I'm a law abiding citizen so I insisted that they go to school.

Amazingingly when I asked them if I could take their "first day of school" picture, they both agreed. Chelsea, of course, had a precondition which I will share in just a second.
It's hard to believe that Cody is a sophomore and Chelsea is now a junior. It is beginning to feel a bit like a countdown. A countdown to their leaving home and beginning their adult lives. I try not to think about that too often. I simply banish it from my thoughts, but it does creep in every now and then, like when I remember that on Aug. 27th Chelsea will be taking her driving test for her driver's license and I will no longer be driving my kids to and from school. While I'll celebrate the lessened demand on my schedule, I'll miss the time together each morning and afternoon.

Now for the precondtion. Chelsea said I could take her picture if I didn't show her picture in my blog. I believe that I've stayed within the spirit of our agreement with the following picture...

See, you can't tell who it is in this picture. I could have googled images for a young headless woman and this is what I found. I could have!

I've been busy setting up my websites for my classes. While I've felt very pressured because of the short time I have until classes begin, I remind myself how fortunate I am to have a full schedule. They have posted the schedule and there are a couple of people who's names are sadly missing and many names who have less than their usual load. I recognize that I could have just as easily been given a smaller load, but was not.

On a political note, our tea party organization is growing and strategizing for the 2010 election, in addition to keeping the pressure on healthcare and cap and trade. It is very frustrating and sad to see our efforts dismissed and denegrated by this administration and most of the press. This movement is real, comprised of people just like me, who have stayed passive for all of their political lives and for the first time ever we are engaged and active. One really good thing that is coming out of all of this is that I have never seen a more non-apathetic citizenry. Our local congressman has had to change the venue for his town hall meeting twice to accommodate the number of people who wish to attend. I, along with many of my fellow tea partiers, will be at the meeting next Wed. I'm taking my video camera and may have some footage to post. It is important that we document for ourselves the reasonable, yet passionate, questions that are being asked of our representatives, while the press cherry picks the most emotional questioners and spins the footage as examples of the "angry mob." The internet is proving to be our best solution to this problem as we have the ability to show what is really going on at these town hall meetings by posting our own videos.