The Audacity of Obama's Speech

Well, I just finished watching Obama's speech, which grated on me much more than the other speakers I've heard. I enjoyed Michelle's speech, Joe Biden's speech, and heck, even Hillary's speech!

But this line was infuriating:

"John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won't even go to the cave where he lives."

ESPECIALLY considering Obama's war record. ESPECIALLY considering Joe Biden's I-was-for-the-war-before-I-was-against-it philosophy.

Is he calling McCain a coward? Really?

Then, this annoyed me to no end (from memory):

Sen. McCain, we all put our country first.

Is that even remotely true? Do we?

Oh my. I bet McCain's donations are skyrocketing tonight. Me? Well, I'm waiting to see who his VP pick is.

Fire Destroys Romney Treasurer's Home

Did you see this news item?

A multimillion home fit for the pages of a home and garden magazine burned to the ground last night in a fast-moving, three-alarm fire in Beverly Farms.

The fire quickly spread throughout the 21’Ñ2-story wood-frame home with stucco exterior that is tucked away in the woods a quarter-mile from Hale Street.

Police reported no injuries in the blaze.

The home is owned by state Republican power player Darrell Crate, who recently served as treasurer of former Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

The Crates were a partner family of SixSeeds, which is the organization (you may remember) which did Send-a-Box for us. As a tribute to their family upon this disaster, I wrote the following, called "Something's Missing."

It was a sunny afternoon, the last time we saw our home in Kentucky. We packed up the house and the kids chased each around giddily in the empty space. Our friends came over to do last-minute touch ups to the paint and afterwards we ate Chinese food on the steps of the house. It was near the airport and beside an open field -- the only barrier between us and a minimum security federal prison. While some don’t appreciate prison real estate, we took pride that we lived next to infamous people like “Squeaky” Fromme and Leona Helmsley. So, the kids slept in snug beds under planes which roared all night and the occasional prison siren which alerted us to an escape.

After all the touch ups to the bare walls, it was time to leave. The pudgy faces of my children fell, as the keys clanked on the kitchen counter and the doors locked behind us for the last time. Tears rolled down our faces as we got further and further away. About an hour down the road, our noses runny and red, Austin said in a panic, "I forgot my Hunter helmet!" He was referring to a one inch long maroon, Power Rangers helmet belonging to one of his action figures. He'd left it in a corner of the house that was all locked up and no longer ours. The object itself was of very little real significance, but -- in the moment -- that tiny plastic helmet came to symbolize all that was left behind.

While it’s true that “home is where the heart is,” material things somehow embody the notion of home -- the worn slippers, Dixie cups next to the sink, the first grade photo of the kid without his front tooth.

That’s one reason why we were grieved to hear the news last week that SixSeeds partners Darrell and Nancy Crate’s house in Beverly, Massachusetts burned to the ground. While my family intentionally left our home – and had a chance to empty it of everything except that silly helmet – the Crates drove out of their driveway without realizing it was the last time. The ravenous fire consumed their home and belongings in less than two hours.

Read the rest here.

David Appears in Celebrity Gossip Mag

This here is funny, I don't care who ya are.

TIME IS DRAWING NIGH

Well, after much speculation, trial balloons, and downright guessing, the time is actually approaching when we'll know who the Vice Presidential candidates will actually be.

Apparently, Obama will announce his choice tomorrow and McCain will announce his on Sept. 29th -- his birthday.

Perhaps between now and then, we should add the VP selection to our prayer requests. I should go on record to say that McCain could do worse than this guy, although I prefer this one.

Success in Aisle Nine

From the SixSeeds blog! Hop over there and leave us a comment or two.

Because we're trying to raise kids who know the value of money, my husband and I pay our children “commission” to make their beds, wash their plates, and sort the spoons from the forks. Every Saturday night, we gather at the kitchen table for "payday" and drop coins earned from daily chores into different jars labeled "Give," "Save," and "Spend." The first ten percent goes into the Give jar, which is emptied onto the collection plate at church on Sunday mornings. The Save jar is placed back on the windowsill for the day they can afford the items they’ve picked out to buy. (My daughter wants a friend for her American Girl doll, and my son wants to buy a $75 ride in a NASCAR on the Nashville Motor Speedway.) But the glorious Spend jar is filled with most of what they’ve earned over the past several weeks as they try to figure out how to spend money wisely.

It’s not easy.

All of their little lives, I’ve bought them things they didn’t need spontaneously at the store. When their birthdays arrive, I always have to think hard to figure out something they actually want or need.

Well, the times, they are a’changing. Now that they have their own money, they must buy their own items. (Other than the necessities.) On the airplane the other day, the Delta stewardess had free snacks and snacks you could buy. I wasn’t sitting with my daughter, but I heard her ask the stewardess the price of the M&Ms.

“$3?” she asked. I could tell she was shocked. It takes a lot of sock sorting to get that kind of cash. She settled for the free snack, and never mentioned it to me.

Read the rest here.

New Blog -- By Some Friends and Me

Hello, Niche fans. I've started working for the cool organization that brought us Operation Send-a-Box, called SixSeeds. We're really just a group of parents trying to raise good kids in an ever-increasingly materialistic world. Please read my first entry and also the entries of my friends Jean and Curtis on the homepage of SixSeeds. It would be very encouraging to hear from you -- to see if you share the same struggles. My first post begins:

“May I help you?” the congenial salesperson greeted us.
I took a deep breath, imbibing the Macintosh vibe, checking out the crisp white décor, and the latest in hip technology. “Honestly, I’m just happy to be here.”

Although I own an iBook, an iPhone, an iMac, and a titanium MacBook Pro, I instantly scanned the merchandise before making an appointment at the “genius bar” to fix my 8GB iPhone. The “genius bar” is literally a bar, but no drinks. The bartenders are dubbed geniuses because they’re supposed to fix whatever technological problem you have.

I happened to be there with Jean Kingston – and we were on our way to discuss this blog – this very blog – which purports to raise kids who are not slaves to consumerism.

I played it cool. After all, I am the one who was supposed to have a handle on these things.

But, after I consulted with a “genius” about my poorly performing iPhone, he said I might just need a new phone.

Jean hit me in the side. “A new one?!”

Jean laughed at being helped by someone called “genius.” Once she walked into the store with a litany of problems, and the guy looked at her with much concern and regret.

“I’m sorry ma’am. I’m not a genius,” he said. “I wish I were, but I’m not.”

Please keep here -- you'll see we haven't even gotten our blog name up there yet!

Thanks!