A Special Place In My Heart

If you look through any of the photo albums from my childhood, no matter the event, my Uncle Jody was there.  I have always adored him.  I can't even tell you how many phrases he has coined that pop up in conversation, or how many great memories I have of him taking my cousin Kelley and I to the zoo (and the liquor store).  Unc has forever had a knack for making me laugh.  Still does.















Today Uncle Jody called me to celebrate a success at his work.  I couldn't possibly be more proud of him and what he has done to deserve this achievement.  I wish he lived closer so I could invite him over for dinner to celebrate together.

I keep urging Unc to write down his story.  He spins words beautifully into a raw and emotional tale that provides insight into the darkness in his life, and the new light here on the other side.  Someday I hope he takes the time to put it all to paper and document his journey.

Meanwhile, I will continue to adore my Uncle, and smile every time I see a call, text or email from him.  Because I know whatever it is he wants to tell me, it will be true, uplifting and funny as hell.

Why I'm Endorsing Mitt Romney

You know that I have been watching this GOP primary season with supreme interest.  I believe Barack Obama needs to be a one term President - and not because I'm racist as the Democrat party would have you believe - but because he's absolutely destroying this country.  You can blame Bush if you want for the mess that Obama inherited (and I don't entirely, but that's a different post) however, President Obama has had three years to turn things around and instead he has our country in a death spiral.

Picture taken from http://www.mittromney.com/

So I've watched the field of GOP candidates closely, trying to determine the candidate I most identify with and the candidate that can earn the votes of the independent voters in the country.  I've gotten excited at times about all the candidates, only to see most of them fizzle out from media scrutiny and the political machine on both sides of the aisle.  Some people believe this primary has been damaging to GOP candidates, but I don't believe that.  We've seen from past elections (and from this primary) that the extreme liberal Democrats will stoop to all levels to damage the credibility of the Republican candidates (cue Gloria Allred and Michael Moore), and some Republican candidates will crash due to their own past stupidity without the help of the Democrats.  With a projected $1 BILLION to spend on his campaign, I have no doubt that Obama will throw everything at the eventual Republican nominee, so I'd rather get it all out in the open now and not deal with any October surprises.

My hope is that we ferret out all these political sound byte issues now, so we can actually focus on the economy and creating jobs in the general election.  

Before I tell you why I'm endorsing Romney, let me tell you why I'm not endorsing the other candidates:

Ron Paul - I actually like a lot of what Ron Paul has to say about our economy.  But the guy is friggin' crazy when it comes to foreign policy.  For example, Ron Paul has no problem letting Iran get nukes, and he thinks our current economic sanctions only anger Iran against us.  Yoo-hoo, earth to Paul, Iran doesn't hate us because of our sanctions, Iran hates us because we are American!  No foreign policy (or lack thereof) is going to make them like us or Israel better.  Even if Iran doesn't want to destroy America, their leadership certainly wants to destroy Israel - and I'm just not sure we'd be okay with a second holocaust.  I hate war too, but sometimes you carry a big stick to prevent war.  Duh.

Newt Gingrich - I love listening to Newt in the debates.  I love how he brilliantly speaks about the issues, isn't afraid to call a spade a spade, and how intelligent he is on ALL of the topics a president needs to know.  The problem is the guy's ego - it gets him into trouble.  And I think that ego would alienate him against moderate voters, which are the very people we need to attract.

Rick Santorum - On the campaign trail, Santorum sounds like a good conservative candidate but I have two problems with him:  1) his voting record, and 2) his ability to get mired in social issues and torn apart by the mainstream media.  When you analyze Santorum's voting record you see he only votes conservatively about 50-75% the time.  Even on the issue of Project Labor Agreements (that require union-only labor on construction projects and discriminate against the 85% of the workforce that chooses not to be union) Santorum voted against a national Right To Work Act, against amendments that supported the rights of merit shop apprenticeship and training programs, and supported bills that discriminated against open shop contractors.  Santorum's voting record is very conservative on social issues, and very middle of the road on economic matters - exactly the OPPOSITE of what the GOP needs to win this election and fix the economy.  

And Santorum showed just how strategically deficient he is on social issues when he allowed himself to become mired in a debate over contraception (and say some really stupid things that disenfranchised women voters) when the debate was actually over religious freedom.  I honestly think the mainstream media would eat Santorum for lunch in a general election.

So that brings us to Mitt Romney.  Like many Republicans, I was slow to get on board with Mitt.  The reason for my hesitation was the lack of passion I saw in the debates and speeches.  I felt like Mitt was plastic, playing it safe, and devoid of the leadership that we really need right now.  I also didn't like what I heard about Romneycare.  But a couple of things happened to change my mind.

Picture taken from http://www.mittromney.com/ 

First, I started learning more about Romney's record as Governor of Massachusetts.  I learned that Romney's version of Romneycare wasn't actually a bad deal until Democrats in the state got a hold of it (and why it IS constitutionally sound when Obamacare is NOT).  Romney took Massachusetts from a deficit of $650M handed to him by the previous governor, to a $2 BILLION rainy day fund four years later, by slashing spending.  And he did that with a Democrat controlled legislature.  The State was 50th in unemployment (meaning it was the worst), but was 12th by the end of Romney's term as Governor.  He also cut taxes 19 times as Governor.  (This was during the boom years of 2003 to 2007, while California was spending all of its extra boom-time revenue and creating ever larger deficits.)  See more about Romney's economic record here.  For some extra (and entertaining!) reading, one of my favorite sarcastic columnists, Ann Coulter, has several articles on Romney's record including Romneycare, Obamacare & Immigration Reform, Romney's time at Bain Capital, Romney's wealth and more.

But the second reason I decided to endorse Mitt Romney, and the final thing that pushed me into his camp, is that I got to see him speak in person.  At my conference in Arizona a few weeks ago, Romney requested to speak before our group of contractors.  From the minute he started speaking I was energized by his passion, his leadership, and his strong ideas on how to turn our country around.  I realized that he possessed the attributes that I thought he had been missing - which made me realize that he wasn't playing it safe in those debates, he was playing it smart.  And smart is what we need to win this election.

Because I live in California, my vote in the general election against Obama won't matter.  But my vote in the GOP primary can make a big difference.  The other candidates can't win against Obama (or even against an assault by the mainstream media) nor are they the candidates that have the potential to revive our economy and get people back to work.  Mitt Romney is that candidate.

If Romney is not the GOP candidate, and Obama wins reelection, I'm just not sure our country will recover.

Hello Blog

Dear Blog,

I know - I've been neglecting you.  It's not personal, we've just been so busy lately.  Work, homework, baseball, gymnastics, vision therapy. . . I swear I don't know how Darrin and I handle it all sometimes.  On top of that, I've set a weight loss goal for myself that just so happens to coincide with my little sister's bachelorette weekend in June and wedding in September.  So my evenings that were usually spent with you are now spent with my elliptical machine.

Hey Blog, did you know that DIETING SUCKS!?!

While I should be at work today, I am actually home with a sick 7 year old.  So let's catch up, shall we?

Lia has suddenly turned into a teenager.  She seriously has the attitude of a 13 year old.  I'm hoping it's a passing stage.  She does have an amazing sense of humor and I am watching her develop a confidence that I worried she may never find.  She has a new best friend at school named Carole, and the blossoming of this friendship, in addition to her friendship with her bestie Ella, make Lia happy to go to school every day.  This week Lia is Star Student in Kindergarten, and she was so excited to be the line leader to the Library today.  Thanks to my bestie Shawna who carts the girls every Tuesday afternoon, Lia has fallen in love with gymnastics, and looks cute as a button in her little leotard.

Ben has started baseball season, though because of the weather we haven't gotten much practice in yet.  Opening Day is this Saturday, and we can't wait to see how Ben handles himself this year.  We started Ben back on the supplements given to him by his Naturopath doctor before Christmas.  The supplement, called Acetyl-L-Carnatine, is experimental for kids with ADHD or Spectrum disorders.  It is supposed to help with focus, but after two weeks of our trial period, we found it actually does the opposite with our son.  Ben is more hyper and silly, went from A's and B's on tests to N's (the new version of F's), and is just a little harder to be around.  So last Friday we scrapped that supplement.  NO THANK YOU!!!  Now he's back to his calm, if somewhat distracted, self.  Vision therapy is going very well, but I'll share those results with you in a future post.

Darrin has had some time off work due to rain.  But he has been working diligently on our backyard project, with the grading done, dirt imported, and making minor tweaks to the drainage.  Next step is the concrete mow strips and we will be ready for grass!  I can't wait and as always, I'm just in awe at the things Darrin can do out in that yard.  I know this yard (the 4th one he's installed for us) will be his best work yet.  

And I've been busy balancing work and home life.  The media can report that the economy is picking up, but we surely don't see it in the construction industry in California.  We are lucky enough to be getting jobs, but they are projects with little money in them, which means we are unable to hire more people to handle the work and are trying to make due with existing staff.  We feel blessed to even have this problem when many construction firms are facing no work at all.  I spend my time focused on labor law (which is a minefield in California), contract law, business development, interaction with various associations, oh yeah - and overseeing operations where needed.  Sometimes I forget our business is to build things when I am so busy just dodging the regulatory pitfalls of California and Federal law.

So, Blog, now we're all caught up.  I will do my best to keep you in the loop, although having about three more hours in each day would help me greatly.  Meanwhile, here are the spring school pictures of my two very grown-up looking kids.

We'll talk soon, Blog, I promise.
Dina

Crushing On Charles Krauthammer

At my conference in Arizona a couple of weeks ago, one of the guest speakers was Dr. Charles Krauthammer.  He is a conservative columnist whose work I have admired for a long time.  His discussion did not disappoint me, as he is witty and and dynamic in addition to being totally brilliant.

Dr. Krauthammer poses with us after his
presentation (and yes, I've already decided
to get rid of that blouse after seeing this picture!).

This being an election year, his topic was of course the 2012 presidential race.  He made very clear his opinion that if Rick Santorum were to become the GOP candidate against President Obama, not only would Republicans lose the presidential election but we would lose the House and Senate as well.  In his view (and I very much agree), Rick Santorum would be so divisive in the social issues that the emotional appeal and scare tactics used by the Democrats would chase all the independent voters away from Santorum and back towards Obama.  Over the last couple of weeks Santorum has allowed himself to get mired in this "birth control controversy" instead of the "freedom of religion controversy" that we are actually facing, which is totally proving Krauthammer's point.

But the crux of Krauthammer's discussion that day was a poignant synopsis of President Obama's narcissism and the effects it has already had on our country.  Dr. Krauthammer stated that Obama's goal is to make history by fundamentally transforming America.  He planned to do it in three areas, and stated such in one of his early presidential speeches, by changing 1) Healthcare (which comprises 1/6 of our national economy), 2) Energy (if you control energy you control the economy), and 3) Education (which sets the direction for our future).

Because our country was mad about the recession and the wars coming out of the Bush years, President Obama thought he would have carte blanche power to assert his agenda, just as in 1933 when people looked to the President to do whatever it took to get them out of the Great Depression.  But Obama miscalculated.  Americans didn't want fundamental transformation of our country - we wanted him to fix the damn economy!

Instead what we got was Obamacare.  In the history of our country, all other important pieces of legislation that were huge changes in paradigm (like the Civil Rights Act, Social Security) had some bipartisan support.  Obamacare was passed in a crooked way with not even one Republican vote.  And America got pissed, which resulted in the Republican sweep across the country in 2010.  President Obama realized this, and in the past couple of years has been instituting these same type of changes in a more sly fashion - through recess appointments and administrative changes such as new committees or bureaus that make regulations.  These are ways that still implement his agenda, but without the publicity garnered by the Obamacare debacle - which helps when he needs to think about reelection.

Dr. Krauthammer stated it correctly when he said that this election is not just about Republican versus Democrat, it is a debate over the nature of the American social contract - a debate about an individual's relationship with the government.  For several decades we have been operating under the fundamental transformation inspired by President Reagan, who said that Government is not the solution, it is the problem.  Now we have a President who believes Government IS the solution, and wants to impose the will of the Government on the people, when it should really be the other way around.

If Obama is reelected, not only will we be stuck with Obamacare, but he will be unrestrained by not having to worry about reelection.  What you will see is the equivalent of Obamacare in the areas of energy and education.  If he does not have control of the House and the Senate, he will push his agenda through administratively, as we have seen with his non-recess appointments and the actions of the NLRB.

Dr. Krauthammer eloquently put into words the fear that has been gnawing at me regarding this election.  Republicans are accused of disliking President Obama because he is a black man, but that ridiculous assertion could not be further from the truth.  Republicans dislike Obama because he stands for everything that we think is destroying this great country - he is for increasing the people's dependence on the government, he is for government telling the people where their hard earned money should be spent, he is for controlling our lives in the way of energy, healthcare and education.

If we do not change this course in 2012, I'm afraid that President Obama will be successful in his fundamental transformation.  That is an America I do not want to see.

To read more of Dr. Charles Krauthammer's recent columns, check out this link.

Stinky

Our kids were headed up to their tree house the other day to see if they could spot our kitty Gary (no he's not missing, they just wanted to find him NOW).   All of a sudden they ran over to Darrin and I in the backyard like there was a catastrophe:

Kids:  "You guys, it smells so BAD over by the tree house.  Come quick!"

Us (thinking that we live in the country and it could easily be a rotting animal corpse):  "Okay show us where it is."

Ben:  "It smell so gross, I can't even stand it!"

Lia:  "Yeah, it smells like fry oil!"  (Hmm, is this an indication that I have been using my new deep fryer too regularly?!?)

We walk over to the tree house and we look around, but it doesn't take us long to figure out what the kids are smelling.  Our Bradford Pear trees lining the driveway are in full bloom, and they look beautiful.

I love the smell of the blooming trees, but Ben was so disgusted he walked back into the house with his fingers pinching his nose.  So much for an appreciation of Spring!

It's A Pattern!

Ben's two front teeth are very large adult teeth.  A couple of weeks ago he lost the second of the two teeth on either side of the front teeth.  He said to Darrin and I, "LOOK!  It's a pattern!". 

Well, this pattern didn't work out so well for Ben when we ate corn on the cob over the weekend.  I almost felt bad for the kid as he tried to bite the corn, two vertical rows at a time.  Except it was pretty funny. 

Down Time

Every so often Darrin says to me "Next weekend we are going camping!"  It usually means we have been way too busy with socializing, chores, or kid activities.  So it can feel overwhelming to know that on top of all that hustle, we have to get everything ready to go camping too. 

Once we hit the road in our Winnebago, even just five minutes from our house, I feel myself start to unwind.  For the next few days, my family has 100% of my attention.  I love every minute of it.

This weekend we went to Doran Beach in Bodega Bay.  The weather was unusually warm and the winds calm.  I didn't get my big camera out once, but luckily we had our phones on us.  So here's proof of our weekend:

All I can say is. . . everything about those Go RVing commercials is true.