Sunday Six - 11/9/08

1) Wow - what a week this has been! I think I'll start with Sunday and work my way back. Today was officially my third go-round as primary president. It was also the primary program. Now, I must say the whole thing went off pretty much without a hitch. The kids were awesome! I received many compliments (none of which I will take any credit for, since I didn't perform OR write the program), one of which was, "That was the most doctrinal program I've ever heard!" To those ladies who DID in fact write the program, and to my new crew of awesome gals who have worked so hard over the last three weeks, I want to say a huge thanks. And boy, am I GLAD that is over!

2) I'm so bummed. Saturday afternoon was the Met Opera's live HD broadcast of "Dr. Atomic", the opera in which my brother so amazingly performs. I talked to my sister and she said it was awesome! Closeups of him and everything. I wasn't able to go because my sweet Mari had a basketball game at the same time. Oh, I hope hope hope there is rebroadcast here in early Dec. Keeping my fingers crossed...I'd love to see it again - this time with a bucket of popcorn and a Diet Pepsi.

3) Ok, I guess since I'm probably the last one to do it, I will comment on the election results. I stayed up to watch the results and saw John McCain's speech live. I was very touched - he looked so sad and seemed to have a tear in his eye throughout. I was disappointed at the people attending who seemed to "boo" any time that Obama's name was mentioned - classless *tsk tsk*. I thought his graciousness was something that we should all strive for. But you could almost see the pain in his face, knowing that he would probably never have a chance to run for President again.

Obama's speech fell way short. Sure, there were the token statements that seemed to bring tears to the eyes of his supporters, but I thought it was just flat. It didn't really do much for me. But to his credit, I'm sure he was pretty exhausted/overwhelmed/etc. I couldn't stay awake for his speech - when they announced it would be on at midnight live, I just couldn't keep my eyes open for 15 more minutes. I watched it on CNN the next day. I think he'll be an ok leader. I thought that Jesse Jackson's crying episode was so laughable. I've seen him speak live and so I've had a taste of his flair for the dramatic - and granted, he is part of the generation who fought through the thick of the civil right movement - but I guess I would have preferred more pride, and less boo hoo.

I was very torn in this election - didn't really feel like either candidate represented me well...which is why I registered as "undeclared" a few months back. But we'll just see. Any candidate would be facing an extremely difficult uphill battle to get our economy back on track. I feel a strong push of optimism - for my own situation mostly - to work harder to set some goals and hopefully achieve them.

4) Mari had her first bball practice and game this week. As anticipated, there were lots of tears. She's so sensitive and was no doubt scared. As we would run the drills she would look at me and cry, "I don't know how to do this!" I so remember feeling that way about learning to ski or play volleyball. One lesson I should have learned was this: if you don't try, you'll never know. My dad really tried to teach me that, and there were times in my life when I didn't try - out of fear mostly. And he's right! Now I'll never know. I don't think parents should push their children too hard, but I often think of those things I never tried - ok, we're not talking drugs and premarital sex people... - and wonder what might of been. I hope my children never live with that regret.

Her game was about as good as a basketball game of 6- and 7-year-olds can be. Most of them have never played, some of them very obviously have. We got creamed 18 to 10. It sure was fun though! I mean, aside from my 3-year-old screaming his face off on the sideline because he couldn't play. Good thing it was loud in there!

5) There is one more race to the finish of the Sprint Cup Series. I'd say that I'm totally excited about that, but knowing how short and extremely busy the "off-season" is for Philip, I'm just taking one day at a time. At least for him, after this next Sunday, he'll be able to say, "I'm going to Disney World!!" and it actually be true! Oh this crazy sport...

6) This week we'll be busy getting geared up for our trip. Anyone have any tips for things we must pack? I've got the bottled water and snacks, and I also picked up some "autograph" books for the kids. I haven't checked the weather, but hopefully it will be nice. The kids are out of school Tuesday, we've got basketball, ballet, parent/teacher conference, hair cuts...the list goes on.