Presidents aren't perfect, just like the rest of us

While watching the President's press conference this morning, I discovered something about him that I hadn't realized previously: I like him.  I'm not saying he's an awesome president and I love everything he's done; on the contrary, my mental jury is still out on just how successful his presidency has been and what it's long-term consequences for our nation and me personally might be.  But as a man, as a human being generally, I found today that I really like him.  I enjoy his sense of humor and the slow, well-considered way that he answers questions, the way he refuses to get baited into making comments on topics he chooses not to comment on, the way he didn't allow shouters and hollerers to take over his conference and stuck to his agenda of speaking points and questioners.  And then he still gave a few free questions to the loudmouths at the end too, and with a smile.  I liked how he pointed out that a quickie air strike a la Libya is not always the appropriate answer to an international situation such as Syria or Iran, and asserted that politicians who like to casually suggest such actions should be held accountable for explaining the true risks and costs of such actions.  Today my respect for the man increased.  Again, not saying I approve every action he's taken as president, but I respect him.  I now believe that whatever the outcomes may have been, his intentions were absolutely to improve the lives of the citizens that entrusted him with a role in their government.

New adventures, new blog

If you'd like to follow my often humorous stories of surviving my new life with a spinal cord injury and a rare form of cancer, you can find it all at fallingdowngracefully.blogspot.com and please feel free to share it with your friends, particularly if you know someone who is facing medical challenges of their own.  We gotta hang together!

Politicians - What are they good for??

I am so frustrated with ongoing news about the shortcomings of our inactive government. Why is everyone so fricking happy that we finally managed to pass a last-minute measure to keep the entire government from defaulting on its debts and coming to a disastrous credit precipice? That budget work should have been done years ago.

Not to mention that while they stomped around refusing to compromise on that issue, they completely failed to address the FAA funding problem that just causes 4000 workers to be laid off and costs, according to NPR, around $30 million a day in uncollected airline ticket taxes....so basically a billion dollars thrown away by the time our congress, who is currently taking a goddamn VACATION, comes back to work in September. A vacation. Really? 'Cause you got so much work done lately?? How about you think about those airport inspectors while you're flying home from D.C. for a break; think about how that guy, whose job is to keep you safe, is currently working without a paycheck and without any reimbursement for his travel expenses. You think he wants to come back to work and serve you and the rest of the public again tomorrow, knowing you don't give a damn about his job, Congress?

I bet if your jobs were on the chopping block, your paycheck and your private congressional healthcare and your fat congressional retirement plan, you would find it in your hearts to call a special session and pass a freaking bill to authorize THAT funding, wouldn't you?

We're so proud

There are giant, healthy babies in my belly! Seriously, our girls on today's ultrasound weigh in at a healthy 5 lbs (Baby A) and 4lbs 11oz (Baby B) which is slightly ahead of the average for 33 weeks gestation! Way to go, girls! At this rate they should be very healthy and well-developed by their 37 week c-section date of October 29th, and might even be "done" a little sooner. My perinatologist expects I'll go into labor sometime before my scheduled date, and if that happens my OB will proceed with a c-section at whatever time the girls choose to arrive. Me (and my aching body) can hardly wait to finally have these girls on the outside where we can really get to know and enjoy them! (For those of you who like math, please note I'm currently carrying almost as much baby weight as when Little Blue was born - he was over 10 lbs - and also keep in mind the average baby will continue to gain about half a pound a week until delivery, so if these girls stick around until week 37, they'll have a combined weight over 13 lbs!!)