Getting Political

OK. It's that time again.
Time for me to throw on my political pundit hat and start talking about this election.

Last night I watched the speeches from Hillary, Bernie, and (forgive me for even typing this) Donald Trump.

I can't believe I just typed his name. I hope it's not like Beetlejuice - if I type it three times he'll suddenly appear in my home office and start yelling. Just to be safe I won't type it again. Once was my limit.

Anyway...here's my takeaway from those three speeches.

Hillary needs to stop saying "I" and start saying "we." She comes across as angry and a bit shrill (and yes, I went there as a woman...get over it). Her speeches seem forced, almost as if she's pissed that she has to work so hard for something she assumed was going to be in the bag. She claims to share some of the same ideas as Bernie but I'm not impressed with her. Will I vote for her if she gets the Democratic nomination? Yes, because the GOP field is terrifying and we can't let any of them near the White House.

Bernie says "we" a lot. I like that. I like that he wants a political revolution and that he wants to bring change to the political process. I like that he want universal Medicare for all and wants to work to reduce student loan debt (as I owe about $60,000 from law school). I like his ideas. I like Bernie. He's personable and he's not a typical politician. And yes he yells too but I think that's just how he always talks. His speech was full of ideas about what he wants to do and what he will do when he is president. I was impressed.

And then we get to the former reality TV star. The racist, xenophobe who hates women and everyone else. This is my takeaway from his speech: He's going to (1) build up the military, (2) build a HUGE wall, (3) give everyone guns to protect the 2nd amendment, (4) take away your healthcare, and (5) fix the 40 percent unemployment rate that he claims is happening in this country.

What. The. F*ck.

Unemployment at 40 percent?
Um, no.

His entire speech was full of untruths, lies, overblown statements, blustering, and idiocy. And yet the people cheering for him ate it up. They drank the Kool-Aid and then some. I just sat there with my mouth agape wondering how in the hell HE managed to win New Hampshire. It's very, very scary.

One can only hope that someone else - anyone else other than Cruz and Rubio - can manage to overtake that moron in the remaining primaries.

As it is, right now my support is for Bernie.

#FeelTheBern people.

2012...a year in review

Yes, I fully realize that it's now the 3rd day of 2013 and I'm just now getting around to doing a 2012 recap. I have good excuses (as usual). We had the stomach plague in the house. And I didn't feel like blogging. And I'm feeling rather "meh" about the new year so far. All valid reasons to not blog about last year. And really, this is so new still. It's almost like it's still last year.

So I did some "research" (ha) and it appears that I wrote 137 blog posts last year with my "wordiest" months being January, February and March. You know, those were the months when I actually attempted to write every single day thanks to "NaBloPoMo." Clearly I "failed" those attempts. :)

Anyway....here goes. 2012 as I remember it.

January started out rather 'blah' ... I was not in a good mood when the new year started (shocking, I know). I was feeling discouraged and disgruntled and I was trying to figure out where my professional life should go. You know, same crap different year. But on the BRIGHT SIDE my girls celebrated their birthdays (parties! cake! presents!). And I continued to "train" for my first 5K "race." Oh, I also instituted a lifetime ban on Girl Scout Cookies in this house. So don't try selling me any Thin Mints. Ever.

February was an OK month and not just because it is the shortest month of the year. I celebrated my 39th birthday (yes, that means I'll be FORTY next month...whatever) and birthdays are always a good thing. But the highlight of February was my #PrincessPartyCrew weekend with Kristen, Rebekah, Jackie and Tori.

We spent a weekend at Walt Disney World for the Royal Family 5K (part of the Princess 1/2 Marathon Weekend). We lived it up at a Global Resort Homes vacation home (thank you again Global Resort Homes!). We went to the Magic Kingdom and cried during Wishes. We at dinner at Via Napoli. We saw so many Disney friends. Oh, and we walked a 5K. And it was amazing. And it changed my view of a lot of things. And it empowered me to think anything was possible. Yeah, it was an amazing 3.1 miles. The ladies and I had such an incredible time together .. and we're already talking about a #PrincessPartyCrew "reunion" for the 2014 Princess 1/2 Marathon weekend. And this time, I might actually run the 1/2 marathon. Maybe.

I wrote a post that sums up what the Princess Weekend meant to me. Click here to read.

At the end of my Princess Weekend I was actually lucky enough to spend a few more days in Orlando with Kevin. And, I went to Hogwarts. And my wand chose me! (And if you're not a Harry Potter fan you have no idea what I'm talking about).

March was a somewhat slow month. The highlights included being invited to be a member of the Children's Clairtin Moms Crew. And then, there was the post about the absolute weirdness of job interviews.

In April I got a new job. And then it was May. And May was really cool. Olivia celebrated her First Communion. Emma danced in her very first recital. And I went to Atlanta to be part of the Conversations with Coca-Cola Social Media Conference. Let me just say when I received the invitation to this event I nearly fell out of my chair with excitement. This conference was an incredible event - I met amazing bloggers, learned a lot about myself (and social media) and had a great time thanks to Coca-Cola. One of the highlights of the event was creating my vision board. It still hangs next to my desk and I look at it daily for inspiration.

June and July...what can I say other than it was HOT. And I sort of sucked at blogging during those months. I guess I was busy. At the pool. I also started working for a congressional campaign in June, as the "social media person." More on that later. Oh and in July I was also offered a job that I thought (for a few minutes) might be a great job. Then they told me I wasn't allowed to blog without their permission. Or be involved in politics - at all, ever. And so I told them to take a long walk off a short pier. Or something like that.

In August we took a family vacation to the Outer Banks. It was a lovely relaxing week on the beach. I think I fell in love with the OBX. On the way to the OBX we spent a day in Washington DC and while I'm not sure, I think that was probably a highlight for Olivia - she loves her presidential history and she was able to see the Lincoln Memorial in person! At the end of August the girls went back to school .. Olivia started 3rd grade and Emma started Kindergarten (gulp!). Oh, and I discovered that my ongoing ankle pain was the result of a partially ruptured (but healed) Achilles Tendon. And that's when I realized I wouldn't be running/walking the 2013 Princess 1/2 Marathon for my 40th birthday.

September was slow according to the blog. We did spend a day on Put-in-Bay and that was a ton of fun. And I got bronchitis. Again. That was not fun. In October, Kevin and I celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss. And I blogged about workplace bullies.

November. Ah, the start of the holiday madness. We had an extra furry and fat house guest during Thanksgiving ... when Emma brought home the classroom guinea pig. For six days. Yeah. I learned that (1) I'm allergic to alfalfa hay and guinea pigs love the stuff and (2) Emma wants a guinea pig for her birthday. (Shhh..don't tell her this but she's getting one). And then my third grader started learning about how babies are made.

The biggest thing from November though wasn't the guinea pig or the sex education in third grade. It was the election. And the end of my friend's congressional campaign. I spent six months as part of the campaign and it was an incredible, life changing experience. I met some great people. We had some laughs. We shed some tears. And even though my friend lost, I would do it all again.

And that bring us to December and if you're still reading this you get a gold star. And you're in luck, because I didn't blog much at all in December. Except when I talked about ugly plus size clothes and how unfair that is to women with curves. And then December 14th happened and I tried to process the unthinkable. And then the world kept turning and it was Christmas.

And then poof! Just like that it was the new year.
So here we are. Another year to do amazing things.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year and to everyone who keeps coming back to read this blog...thank you so very much.