Madision finished her first week of school by claiming on Friday night, "I don't have to go to school on Monday! Yea!" I guess she's more like me than I thought. She actually loved the first week of school. Everything is new and she is meeting new people. The teacher called on Wednesday and let us know how well she reads. I did the old Barney Fife, "Well, she is a Pfaffenberger." Complete with nose sniff. Just to brag on her a bit, they let her check a book out of the school lbrary. "What's so special about that?" you ask. Well as a rule they don't let kindergartners check out books from the library. She was very excited. We are very proud.
Ian had a rough day the first day. He missed her. Kelly said he was kind of subdued. Just sat by her and watched TV. I think he has acclimated though because he is back to his jovial self most of the time. Today he almost single-handidly polished off a bag of fritos and bean dip. The kid can eat. He continues to make leaps in his vocabulary and counting. He is our precious boy and we are blessed he is a part of our lives
Chompy is getting another tooth and a gear to match. Tooth number 3 is coming in on top. Doesn't seem to bother her too much. And man can she move. She is doing the army crawl thing and she's faster than a private on last drill before a 3 week furlough. With that crawling, comes the incessant vaccuuming. And boy is Kelly getting tired. Making sure there are no barbie shoes or leaves or hairs on the ground that she can pick up and eat. Because if it's on the ground she'll find it and eat it.
Life is good here. Everyone is healthy and happy as far as I can tell. We're all living the American dream no thanks to Obama...oops...I said I wouldn't do that. Sorry. It just slipped out.
She is a pro-life conservative woman. Pro-gun. Pro-drilling. Anti-government. Perfect.
She only has 2 years of being a governor so the experience factor is a question. Which the democrats have locked onto. Thank the Lord. No, not you Obama. By questioning her experience to be VP, 2nd chair, they are bringing into play Obama's lack of experience to be 1st chair. She has actually been the manager of a state. An economy. He has no experience with that at all. It will be interesting to see if they figure this out. When and if they do, how will they explain their criticism of her?
Liberals are the children and Conservatives are the adults.
They want cookies for dinner and we have to explain to them how that is not a good idea. Of course they throw a tantrum when they don't get their way. And we are left to clean up the mess.
We can't control everything they do and when they get loose and do something naughty, we have to scold them and clean up the mess.
I can't watch the Democratic National Convention for 30 seconds without my blood pressure coming to a boil.
You want a fer instance...Biden last night in a video says Obama will level the playing field for nurses, cops, firemen, teachers and construction workers so they can have a better life and their kids can have a better life than they can.
WTF? I'm sorry for the profanity but that has got to be one of the most asinine statements I have ever heard. Well, besides Pelosi's summation of the Catholic church not knowing what it believes on when life starts. Since when is it the governments or Obama's responsibilty to pull us up by our boot straps? Whoever said life was fair or level for that matter?
You mean to tell me that before Obama no one had ever pulled themselves out of a bad situation and made a better life for themselves and their children?
Hogwash
Make a level playing field? That's socialist code-speak for we are going to take your money and give it to someone else.
If you haven't seen this, it is jaw droppingly amazing. This is an actual interview she gave on Sunday on Meet the Press. She is the Speaker of the House by the way...
TOM BROKAW: There was a very well publicized and very effective interview by Pastor Rick Warren to Saddleback Church in California, among the two candidates recently. And, on the right, especially, a response from Senator Obama to the question of when life begins has been getting a lot of attention. We want to just share with you how that went, and then you can taqka a look at it and respond to it.
PASTOR RICK WARREN, SADDLEBACK CHURCH, DATED AUGUST 16, 2008: At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?
BARACK OBAMA: Well, you know, I think that, whether you’re looking at it from the theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.
BROKAW: Senator Obama saying the question of when life begins is above his pay grade, whether you’re looking at it scientifically or theologically. If he were to come to you and say, "Help me out here, Madame Speaker, when does life begin?" what would you tell him?
NANCY PELOSI: I would say that, as an ardent practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition. And St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have impact on a woman’s right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child, first trimester, certain considerations second trimester, not so third trimester, there’s very clear distinct, this isn’t about abortion on demand, it’s about a careful, careful consideration of all factors that a woman has to make with her doctor and her God. And so I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins. As a say, Catholic Church, for centuries, has been discussing this, and there are those who have decided-
BROKAW JUMPS IN: The Catholic Church, at the moment, feel very strongly it begins at the point of conception.
PELOSI: I understand that. I understand that. And this is like in 50 years or something like that. Again, over the history of the Church, this is an issue of controversy, but it is also true that God has given us, each of us, a free will and responsibility to answer for our actions. And we want abortions to be safe, rare and reduce the number of abortions. That’s why we have this fight in Congress over contraception. My Republican colleagues do not support contraception. If you want to reduce the number of abortions, and we all do, we must, it would be easier to support family planning and contraception, you would think. But that is not the case. So we have to take, you know, we have to handle this as respectfully, this is sacred ground. We have to handle it very respectfully, and not politicize it as it has been. And I’m not saying Rick Warren did because I don’t think he did, but others will try to.
I have to say it didn't go very well. There was the inevitable nervousness which turned into fear and eventually crying. Pretty much the whole walk down: tears streaming. Begging, pleading for us to stay together. It was not a pretty scene at all.
Eventually, though, I pulled myself together and Madison was sent on her merry way ready to face head on the next chapter in her life.
I have a tendency to look at these events macro-cosmically while Kelly is more of a micro-cosmic person. For instance, yesterday I said to Madison:
"Do you realize, Madison, tomorrow you could meet a new girl who could be your friend for the rest of your life?" "What, daddy?" "You know! You could meet a girl tomorrow that you will know for the rest of your life." "I've known Elisa from my other school my whole life. I didn't know her when I met her."
There I stood, crestfallen. All my grandiose ideas of how things might be shot down to earth with one swift stroke.
She's getting more like her mother everyday.
While I pondered the effects of Pythagoras on modern elementary schoolchildren, Kelly was more concerned with not having a flower for Madison's breakfast on her first day of school. In retrospect, this seems like a much more pragmatic way to spend the day. That's not to say the macro-cosmic philosophy and the pragmatic school of thought could not co-exist. Oh, heavens no. It just shows that when dealing with 5 year olds keep the Greeks out of it.
We thought Ian was going to be a basket case but he was almost perfect. One little outburst after Madison was dropped off but other than that he was very well behaved.
I forgot Chompy was even with us. We bought a two kiddie stroller for the walks down to school and we placed her in front. She didn't make a sound. Of course she fell out half way there but we picked her up on the way back. I'm kidding. We just left her at home while we dropped Madison off.
Another milestone reached and passed. There are alot of stones on that path. They always get bigger as they get closer but once they're upon you they don't look so big. Just a regular step to get over it. When you turn around to see where you've come from, the stones are actually small and eventually disappear.
If you don't know these shows at least skip to the end to watch one of the greatest scenes in american television.
I know it's a debate that has been raging in your minds for months now. So I will tackle it here and now.
Mad Men is better.
Huh?...What?...Blasphemy!!!
Let me explain, nearly everyone in “Mad Men” is a likeable character in some ways despite their flaws, and nearly everyone in “Sopranos” was mostly unlikable but redeemed for the moment by plot and dialogue. I suppose that’s why the latter was lauded; there’s something perverse and vicariously appealing about caring for bad guys. Aren’t we naughty. But even the not-so-bad people in the Sopranos were unappealing, really; the wives were all shrews content to float along on murder money, the kids were empty shells, and the mobsters – while always fun to watch and listen to – were cruel men without qualities, only tics. Did anyone care if Christopher fell off the wagon? Anyone care about anyone, except whether they would be the Whacker or the Whackee this season? When you think about it, the grand tale of modern mobsters yearning after a bygone time when they had the nabe in their hands is a little like post-Communist block captains lamenting the end of the Soviet Union. Cry yourself a river. Put on the Sinatra and deal with it.
The show gets smaller as we get away from it, and in a way you start to feel a bit abashed for having gotten sucked in. “Mad Men” inhabits a far more interesting world, has people making an honest living, dealing with art in a quintessentially American way - through commerce – and takes place at the same time as the Soprano’s good old Good Old Days – except these guys aren’t stealing or hurting or killing. They don’t have any good old days; these are the good days.
The primary characters are superior. Don Draper is a better main character than Tony Soprano, period. Smarter, deeper, remote except when he’s not, but even then he holds back. Mysterious past, better father than Tony, better taste in paramours. He doesn’t have neuroses; he has problems. Tony would take Valium; Don would come up with a great campaign to make Tony feel good about taking it. Even though Tony would know it was BS, he’d repeat the tagline if someone saw it on his bathroom shelf, if only to laugh it off.
The most important distinction, perhaps: one is a cruel man. The other is a man capable of cruelty.
His wife is the flip of Carmella – as the years pass, frankly, I’d prefer the rich-girl sulk ‘n’ snit to having Carm spit out venom and toss a plate. Sterling and Cooper are the bosses – you could even say that crazy old Cooper is the Uncle June of the show, but again, he’s the flip side, all strange smiles and Zen-flavored Randian calm. The guys in the office are the crew, but unlike the mobsters slouching around the back of the Bing cursing and eating and preening, they’re clever sorts - young, anxious, cavalier, full of themselves but aware of their position in the organization, and their interchangibility. Really, if the fact that they don’t dese-dem-dose their dialogue while contemplating the finer points of stealing cigarettes from a truck makes them less interesting, then we’re a bit too steeped in the romance of the gangster.
As far as depicting a culture, well, the world of the Sopranos was narrow and dank; the world of “Mad Men” is far broader, and the lack of a criminal context frees it up to inhabit the world where most people live. There was more in the simple relationship between Peggy and the priest in the last episode than in a dozen episodes’ worth of Carmella’s self-indulgent anguish re: the young priest who came over to watch movies and get loaded on red wine. The points were made with great economy – a scene, a wordless shot, a symbol. Which is another feature of the show: it gets a lot done every week. The pace is laconic, but each episode is packed.
_________________________________________
This scene is about Don Draper pitching his idea to the Kodak people for their new invention, The Wheel. Don is a good man but troubled. It may lose something if you have not been watching the show and are not familiar with Don Draper but imagine a man who has strayed and longs to be back where he needs to be. To pause the music, go to the music player on the right side of the page and hit the little pause button.
how can a girl who lands on her knees on one of two vaults still get a bronze medal?
I don't believe something is a sport when the outcome is not in your hands. When judges determine the outcome, phooey.
If I run faster or swim faster or row faster or shoot straighter or paddle faster or score more points than the other guy, I win. Period. I don't want it to be determined by the Australian judge who grew up in a foster home with an American foster father who was mean to her throughout her adolescent years who now holds a grudge against all Americans.
Nope. Far too many variables for me. Nobody goes into these things with no bias. Whether it be a home crowd or a mean foster father something somewhere will effect their decision. Isn't it interesting how the Americans seem to get the short end of the stick? I'm not saying...I'm just saying.
Boxing is a good example. You KO your opponent and you leave no doubt. You leave it up to the judges and you're in deep doodoo.
Don't get me wrong I love the Olympics. I can't get enough. The opening ceremony was one of the most brilliant things I have ever seen. The swimming, beach volleyball, track and field. It's all good. It's just that when it comes to judges, I don't have much use for them.
Maybe they should hold the real Olympics and the judged Olympics. As an added bonus when the judged Olympics are over they can parade the judges out in front of the cameras and pants them.
We arrived Sunday afternoon about 4:00. The drive in set the tone for the trip. A long winding sometimes dirt sometimes asphalt road through the pines and hardwoods. It really felt like you were getting away.
Our cabin, "The Blue House", was vary nice. It was the first of 4 cabins built on the "lake". I have that in quotations because it is called Deer Lake but it is not quite big enough to be a lake but not small enough to be a pond. Very pretty nonetheless. We had lots of room inside and out. 2 docks to choose from, paddle boats, kayaks, john boats. You can rent a boat with a trolling motor for fishing the other areas of the pond. We did our fishing off the dock where Madison caught 9 fish on Monday alone. Mostly perch and crappie and a few small Guadalupe Bass.
Here comes the "the one that got away" story. I had been hooking Madison up with hot dogs on a small hook with a bobber. She would see the bobber go under and reel in the fish or just pull up since we were fishing right off the dock. She started to cast a few out about 15-20 feet and actually reel them in. She was doing great always letting me know she had a heavy one on the line. So, we set up the dog as always and she casts out there. The bobber goes under and she starts to reel in the fish. She almost gets pulled over the railing while barely holding onto the pole. She does hold on as I tell her to reel it in. She says it's really heavy. Having heard that before, I ignore her until out of the corner of my eye I see the line start to dart over to the moss lining the shoreline. With my vast knowledge of angling, I know the little guys don't so that because 1. they can't or 2. they don't know that move yet. Then I saw it, the fish was only about a foot below the surface and the silver scales shone like a million diamonds in the sunlight. It was a big sucker. I grabbed the 2 dollar Disney Princess pole from her and told her to go get the camera. The fish did indeed swim into the reeds and moss along the shore. I was able to get it out of the cover but there were reeds and moss all over its mouth and the line. I got it up to the dock and could not pull it up because it would have broken the pole. I reached down to grab its lip and at that moment it breached and twisted and broke the hook in two...and swam away. It was a 4 lber if it was an ounce. My only regret is that I did not get a picture of the biggest fish my daughter ever caught. She had fun telling mommy regardless.
Mommy? She was out with Ian on the mule. They went tooling around the miles and miles of trails they have on the ranch. That thing is a blast. The first corner Ian and I came around we saw 6 deer eating by the side of the trail. Of course we scared the crap out of them on this loud ATV but there is nothing like seeing animals in the wild. We went up and down some hairy trails. Some I was even nervous about but the mule neverfaltered. It's very relaxing to be way back in the woods where not many people get to go.
Madison and mommy went horseback riding. The ranch is a working quarter horse ranch. You can actually watch them train the horses. We never got the schedule so we didn't get to do that but we did take a walk through the stables where the horses were kept and saw them up close.
We went paddle boating around the lake/pond. Played dominoes. Played on the swing sets. Ate dinner outside. One thing we didn't do was watch TV. They have a TV there but they don't get any channels only movies on the VCR or DVD. We didn't miss it. There was plenty of other stuff to do.
I recommend this place as a close, less than 2 hour drive, inexpensive, there are plenty of free things to do, vacation for anyone with kids. If you don't have kids, even better. You can just enjoy filming the scenery without someone shouting "See. See. See. See." every two seconds.
How can you feel rejuvinated and exhausted at the same time?
We had a blast! Fishing, paddleboating, horseback riding, mule driving. A mule is a golf cart on steroids. It is built to go offroading. It's the "red car", as Ian likes to call it, in the pics below.
I will leave you with pics and I will write more tomorrow. Suffice it to say Kelly is the best wife ever.
I am 40 years old, have 3 kids, a wife, a mortgage, car payments, doctor bills, back-to-school supplies to buy, a lawn to mow, a pool to maintain chemically, soccer practices to attend, church, social engagements, work, cigars. My life seems relatively full right? It should be hard to squeeze in another thing to manage in my life?
Apparently I was wrong.
I am on facebook everyday. Seeing who wrote on my wall. Seeing who wants to be my friend. Starting groups.
"Oh so and so changed their profile picture. Let's go take a lo...oooh why did he chose that picture? He looks positively hideous."
Picture me saying that last bit lying on the bed, stomach down, with my feet up in the air while typing on my computer in my best gay voice. Not pretty I know but you have to hit rock bottom before you get better.
It all started very innocently. A friend of mine whom I've known for 30 years invited me to be his friend. He is always asking me to join groups and networking sites so I blew it off. A few days later I gave in. I had to join facebook to be his friend although technically I had been his friend for over 3/4 of my life but it is much more fun to be virtual friends. You never have to see them face to face. I had no picture on my pathetic page. No nothing. I just joined to be his friend.
"OK good. Now that's done. I can get back to wor...oh an email...You have been invited to be Philip Archers friend on facebook. What the?"
And so it begins.
I have a picture now. I have started a PfaffenbergerPfamily group to learn about the other people named Pfaffenberger on facebook. There are about 40 in all. I figure we have to be related I would just like to see how. I write on my brother Steve's wall everyday. We are doing a quote of the day kind of thing. I send flair. Steve sends flair. Mike sends flair. Flair? OMG, you don't know? Little buttons you can create and stick on your cork board. Whatever.
The problem is I love it. I have hooked up with a couple of old friends that I haven't heard from in literally over a decade. One of them is a world renown saxophonist. He is big time. He reminded me of our baseball days together, something I had completely forgotten about. He was the pitcher and I was the catcher. When he is nervous before a big performance he told me he thinks about something I said to him on the mound during the last inning of the championship game. Apparently, the bases were loaded and we were up by two runs. Two outs. I went to the mound and said I was hungry and ready to go eat hot dogs and go swimming so strike this guy out and lets go home. He struck the guy out and we went and ate hot dogs and went swimming.
He told me it calmed him down. He said he can see the conversation like it was yesterday.
Another guy I used to work with at a medical diagnostic company got in touch with me. He asked what I was doing and I told him and he was amazed I wasn't singing for a living. I said , "Huh?" Well apparently, we all went to a happy hour one time with karaoke and despite my written in stone rule of never singing karaoke I did. Apparently, I sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." He told me the office still talked about me and my singing.
This one "little" website has made it so I can get in touch with people I would probably never have seen nor heard from again. That's a gift you know. When I stopped to think about it, each one of the people I mentioned in this post have had an effect on me as well. And I always say what makes me me is all of the experiences I have had in my life. They have formed my opinions, although there are not many of those, my thoughts, my actions, my hopes, my dreams. And believe it or not that is the person Kelly fell in love with.
I guess I need to thank them all for that. Either that or I can just send them a nice piece of Flair.
Chompy waved for the first time. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Saturday. After dinner, we were sitting in the living room and Dad was waving at Chompy. She picked up her hand and waved back at him. It wasn't a fluke either because she did it more than once and not at the same time.
That's my girl.
On Saturday afternoon before our sojourn to Grapevine, Ian and I are home alone. The girls are shopping. He is in the bedroom watching a movie and I am in the family room. The bedroom door opens up and he walks into the family room and out of the family room right into the kitchen. I hear a drawer open and some things moving about. He walks back into the family room and out of the family room back into the bedroom. The door closes. About this time I realize he had gone to the kitchen to get a knife. Next thing I hear is a clunking sound in the bedroom. I go into the bedroom and see said knife sticking out of the DVD player where the tray opens and closes.
D'OH!
I tried to fix it but the tray is off the track to go back and forth and it's a goner. Part of me is upset but the other part is impressed that he used a knife to try to solve his problem. You see, the DVD door sticks and you have to shimmy it around to get it to come out. Using tools to problem solve is a big step.
That's my boy.
When the girls came home I told Kelly of Ian's triumph/breaking and she told me:
"Oh, he saw me do that. I used the knife to open the DVD door the other day."
That's my wife.
Let me ask you this, is it a double standard to think when your 2 year old uses tools to solve problems it's a good thing but when your ?? year old wife does so, not so much?
(Of course that last "That's my wife!" was put in completely for continuity and comic purposes. I shudder to think where I would be without her.)
I had a whole story written up about a guy running for President that didn't have the qualifications and how his mind worked...but I got depressed. So I had to give that up. This post will just be snippets of information, all of them factual by the way, and interesting clips of stuff. So here goes...
This first clip is of a dude taking a big fall. He's fine. In fact, he did one of the most hilarious interviews I have ever seen with Larry King the week after this. I don't know if the best part of this video is his wipe out (only because I know he's OK) or the stoner announcers reactions to it...
Did you know...
Between 2003 and 2007, Exxon paid $64.7 billion in U.S. taxes, exceeding its after-tax U.S. earnings by more than $19 billion. Obama wants to take these windfall taxes and give them to us as a stimulus package. I could use the money, but no thanks. I'll stick to the old free market system thanks. No need to resort to socialism to curry my vote. Maybe they have in mind profit margins as a percentage of sales. Yet by that standard Exxon’s profits don’t seem so large. Exxon’s profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry average of 8.3%, or the 8.9% for U.S. manufacturing (excluding the sputtering auto makers). If that’s what constitutes windfall profits, most of corporate America would qualify. Take aerospace or machinery — both 8.2% in 2007. Chemicals had an average margin of 12.7%. Computers: 13.7%. Electronics and appliances: 14.5%. Pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverages and tobacco (19.1%) round out the Census Bureau’s industry rankings. The latter two double the returns of Big Oil, though of course government has already became a tacit shareholder in Big Tobacco through the various legal settlements that guarantee a revenue stream for years to come.
Did you know...today is the recognized day of invention of champagne. Invented by none other than Dom Perignon in 1693. As a bonus, only beverages that actually come from the champagne region of France can be called champagne. All others are just sparkling wines. Leave it to the French to take the joy out of booze. Snobs.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died today. Russian author who made the world aware of the gulags, the soviet labor camp system. Reading Solzhenitsyn makes it difficult to take seriously the people in this culture who insist that Dissent has been squelched. Brother, you have no idea.
KID UPDATE!!
Madison is anxiously awaiting the start of kindergarten. As are Kelly and I. We will go back-to-school shopping for the first time this year. I can't wait to get the backpack. We need a ruler and an eraser and a compass, which I never used and it always poked me, pencils, lined paper...oh what fun.
Ian is now jumping in the pool by himself. He just decided to do it and he did. He is also "swimming" by himself a little. He'll go back and forth between Kelly and I but at least we can let go of him now and he moves right along. His words are becoming clearer as well. Not only can we understand but others are beginning to too...to...too. He sure is testing his boundaries. Seems like all we say is "NO, IAN" to him. He still wants to give us hugs and kisses so I guess it's not all bad.
Reagan has one tooth protruding. She will from here on out be referred to as Chompy. She is also scooting on her belly. She gets on all fours and kind of leans forward and her legs come out from under her and she moves a little. She should be crawling any time now.
All is well at this Pfaffenberger household. I hope anyone who reads this can say the same about their brood.
As a parting gift here is a rather dramatic chipmunk.
and put it on crackers. (I know cheap humor. Eh, what are you gonna do?)
Cheese is one of the greatest inventions ever. God Bless the guy who stuck milk in that animal stomach first. Little did he know that through the process of turning milk into curds and whey, insert Little Miss Muffet jokes here, and the action of the natural acids and rhennet in the stomach he would produce a food source so yummy it would eventually generate over $20 billion and 14 million metric tons annually.
I have a great affinity for cheese. A good gouda. A swell swiss. A yummy Jarlsberg. It all just sings to me. There is nothing like taking a big hunk off a good smoked cheddar and downing it with a diet coke. Ambrosia. Luckily, my children have the same love of the stuff. They love swiss, smoked cheddar, american, which isn't a cheese per se but a processed food stuff that has the moniker of cheese. Yep, my kids love the stuff. But like I've drilled in their brain, "If it's a soft cheese, it ain't my cheese."
I bought some Jarlsberg the other day and gave some to Madison and Ian. They loved it. Jarlsberg is a close relative to swiss. It even has holes in it. I am trying to branch them out on the finer things. Madison loves the smell of cigars too by the way so she is on her way.
This whole story leads me to today. At dinner I had a salad with blue cheese. Not just the dressing but little chunks of blue cheese. Picture Mutley after he gets his little snack and he floats up in the air and gently floats down upon eating the greatest thing known to dog-dom. Pure bliss. Well, that's me. I could eat blue cheese wedges from Steak and Ale everyday for the rest of my life. That is if they just hadn't closed. Madison asks me what I'm eating. I tell her it's blue cheese. She says:
"Can I have some?" "Sure. Take a little chunk." She puts the cheese in her mouth and chews. The first words out of her mouth. "It tastes like shampoo."
I gave some to Ian and he loved it indicated by the shouting of "More!" until I gave him another piece.
My cheese philosophy can be summed up by this guy I met at an early age. He's from UCLA too, by the way.
