The Downside of Politics October 30, 2008

That title might sound redundant, but I do have a point. Every four years, America becomes divided. Its no secret that I lean to the Democratic side of the scale. I would not consider myself an extreme leftist, but given the choice, I have to side on the left. I have several friends who side on the right, and while its generally an unspoken agreement to not talk about politics, when election time rolls around, its sometimes hard not to voice your opinion.

Watching The View just emphasises my point. Look at Joy and Elisabeth. They claim to like each other and be friends off camera, and perhaps they are. But on camera they represent the division of a whole country. Why can’t they have a co-presidency? Why does it have to be one person, from one party or the other? Ok, so a joint presidency doesn’t sound efficient, and yeah there’s a senate and house of representatives and whatever for checks and balances, but its just, well its exhausting.  All these months of campaigning, all the mud-slinging and slander. By November aren’t we all just sick of it all? I know I am.

Neither of them are perfect. No one is perfect and no president will ever be perfect. You can’t be, because with all these opinions and this divided country, every president will always have a downfall. I am rambling, but I guess I’m just ready for this election to be over. That and a nap wouldn’t go astray right about now.

Naming Ceremony October 29, 2008

This Sunday we’re having a naming ceremony for Nicklas. Neither Mike nor I are particularly religious, but we wanted to have some kind of “welcome to the world” ceremony. I have a list as long as my arm of things I need to get or do before Sunday. Making the list was the easy part, carrying it all out will be the difficult part! And I just checked online, and the forecast for Sunday morning is showers. The last time we planned an outdoor event (our wedding!) it rained and was a miserable day. Perhaps we are just not meant to plan outdoor activities. Perhaps it is God’s way of trying to get us in churches! I am mostly joking about that.

Nicklas started rolling over last week. He thinks he is quite clever. He’s also decided he likes sleeping much better when he’s on his tummy. They tell you not to put newborns on their tummies, that they should sleep on their backs. Of course, when I was a baby, mum was told the opposite. I guess when they start rolling, there’s very little you can do as far as keeping them on their backs is concerned. No matter what side he is on, I still find myself constantly checking to make sure he’s breathing. Especially when he takes these long naps.

Mike had his interview in Sydney, now we wait to hear from the actual company (he has only met with the recruiter). We should know next week if he gets to the next interview. I can see the good to the job and the move, but I feel like the bad (moving again and leaving family/friends behind) heavily outweighs those goods. And one of those “goods” is a very cheap lease on a brand new car. I’ll give more details if we get to that, but now we wait. If you know me or have read this blog for any length of time, you’ll know how much I suck at waiting!

Opportunities and Support October 19, 2008

All the accomplishments I’ve acheived, from going to college in the US, to working for American Junior then Atlanta Junior, to spending a summer in England, to traveling through Europe and even moving back to Australia, have been possible because I took the opportunities when they presented themselves.

So it is difficult for me to even contemplate telling my husband not to pursue an opportunity that has come his way. Well, its the possibility of an opportunity. There is a job in Sydney that he has applied for, and I can tell he really wants it and is really excited about it. Which is why I support him through this whole process.

The thought of making another big move so soon after moving to Australia honestly frightens the life out of me. It was so hard to settle in again when we got here, and I feel like I’m finally starting to find my way and feel at “home” and now that is up in the air again. We have no family in Sydney, but I do have a high school friend down there. I would have to try and get involved in mum/bub groups or a tennis community or something, but that presents another challenge. I feel like I used to be a pretty outgoing kind of person, one who could make friends easily. But over the years I’ve become much more of a recluse and I like sticking to myself and my known circle. We left our circle in Atlanta and are slowly getting a small circle here, and now we’re contemplating leaving them again.

I know its only an hour flight away, but I hate to fly. And its not like mum can make the hour flight just to babysit! Who would babysit for us? We’d have to find a babysitting service or something. I guess these are all things we’ll figure out if the next couple of weeks go in his favour. Until then, I’m going to try not to think about it too much, but that is really difficult. It is pretty much consuming both our thoughts, 24/7.

It would be easy for me to say that I want to stay here, but I think he needs to pursue this and see where it may take him. It could be a very good career move. I’ll just be glad when we know for sure if its going to happen or not, then I can stop letting it consume me.

The Baby Whisperer Is My Hero October 15, 2008

So, I have been posting on a parenting forum based in Australia, and someone posted the Baby Whisperer’s schedule, so I printed it out. What a God send! We’ve been doing it since last Saturday, and I think he’s starting to get the hang of it. I think newborns should be fed and napped on demand, but Nicklas is 3 1/2 months now and was showing no sign of developing his own routine, so we are trying this one.

He gets feeds at 7 am, 11 am, 3 pm, 6:30 pm, and a dream feed at 10:30 pm (if you can stay awake that long). This SHOULD last them until 6 or 7 the next morning, but it usually only lasts Nicklas until 4:30, at which point I feed him.

Then he is supposed to nap at 9, 1 and 4:30, but he usually alters this. As long as he naps between his feeds, I’m not too worried about when those naps are or how long they’re for. This morning he slept after his 7 am feed and didn’t wake up until 9:20! He just went to sleep 45 minutes ago, so we’ll see how that goes. he generally doesn’t last much more than 45 minutes to an hour.

It is so nice to know when he is going to eat. All those times he fussed and I fed him, I’m not sure he was really hungry. This makes it easy. He’s also developing little signs of being tired. He sucks on his thumb and gets a little fussy…at that point its pretty easy to get him to go to sleep.

This weekend we are taking our first trip away since we moved to Australia. I can’t wait! We’re going to the Sunshine Coast Friday morning and staying up there until Sunday. Not entirely sure what we’re going to do other than go to the arts and crafts market up there. It will be nice to just get away for a couple of days.

What Worries Me October 6, 2008

Another political post. I appologize, but it is so very important at this time of year.

I started reading this blog because she writes a newsletter to her daughter every month.  I kept reading because she is an incredibly talented writer and I agree with her political rants. In this recent blog post she called for Palin supporters to comment and explain why they like her and why they will vote for McCain/Palin. It took quite awhile for any Palin supporters to come forward, and when they did, their logic for supporting the Republicans scared me.

Not just in Dooce’s blog, but all over the web and news, peoples’ reasons for supporting Palin are mostly because of her “religious values”. It wouldn’t surprise me if most of these same people were really voting McCain because they’d rather have an inexpereinced, female VP than a black President. In the video posted on Dooce’s blog, Palin talks in circles to answer Katie’s questions. And that wasn’t even the worst part of the interview. I saw Katie ask her what other supreme court decisions she opposes, other than Roe v Wade. And she couldn’t name one. To be fair, I couldn’t name another supreme court decision, but I am not runnig for VP of the US. She ended up answering something to the effect of, “Any other decision that would go against my values” or some crap like that.

I think many republicans who are still supporting their party are doing so in a manner that is not unlike the way you support your family members. You can talk trash about your family, but if someone else does, then by God you will let them know that is not acceptable. I think party supporters are taking this VP election in stride, and defending it because they are defending their party and their beliefs. It is fine to be pro-life, anti-gay marriage, for the war, against gun control, and everything else the republicans stand for. However, the thought of this woman, who thinks that running a State that borders Russia and Canada gives her foreign policy experience, one day running the country sends chills down my spine. And lets face it, its pretty much inevitable that she will have to take over from McCain at some point in the next 4 years.

She’s also buying into the “Obama is a muslim terrorist” slander. That is not the kind of person who should be in negotiations with world leaders who come from all kinds of religious backgrounds. It shows ignorance and intolerance. I am glad we are in Australia, but will be even more glad should McCain/Palin end up in office. I’d like to think its impossible that will happen, but I honestly thought it was impossible that Bush would be given a second term, and look how that turned out.

Palin’s Family Values October 4, 2008

I’m just curious, for a party that preaches family values an awful lot, what made Palin think running for VP is the smartest choice for a woman who just earlier this year, gave birth to a down syndrome baby? Last I checked, the jobs of President and Vice President of the United States were not easy ones that would allow her the kind of time off that her baby will require. How does she propose to juggle such a huge job with her family time? I am not questioning her ability to be a mother, or her love for her child, but I know if I had just given birth to a child with any kind of disability, running for Vice President of my country would not be at the top of my “To-Do” list. I seriously question that move. I am also all for stay-at-home-dads, but that is a lot of responsibility to put on any one person to do (mostly) alone. Our baby is healthy, thank GOD, and it is hard enough with two of us. Also, her child is going to have a neice or nephew that will be just months younger than him. That is bizarre in my mind…just sayin’.

Do any of these things have an impact on how she would do her job as VP? Maybe not, but you still gotta wonder…