Politics and a Relaxing Weekend

Well, it's finally over!!! The presidential election is history so to speak and what history it's made!! Because I'm teaching government to 15 year olds, I've had to pay attention this year. Actually, since I've been teaching it, I've become more interested in politics. I still HATE the commercials and watching the debates. I think they are senseless because all they do is throw muck at each other and people will base their decisions on the ads. *sigh* This year I assigned my students a political party and had them research the platforms of those parties on specific issues. It was interesting and then we had a debate!!! One can definitely tell which students share their parents' politics and who has their own ideas and then those who don't give a flip. We also had a mock election using the actual ballot that was used in the election. McCain won by 5 votes. We also explored propaganda techniques that campaigners use on television to persuade you to vote one way or the other. I had groups create commercials based on those propaganda techniques and filmed them. You can see some of them on my YouTube site (I had their parent's permission, of course).

So who did you vote for? This is a very sensitive subject. I respect both candidates very much. John McCain for the huge sacrifices he has made for our country. His concession speech was gracious and eloquent. I hope he is able to come back from his loss and still be able to serve his country like he said he wanted to. When I listened to Barack Obama's acceptance speech, I was in awe. His message was so inspiring (kudos to his speech writers). He also cautioned us that while change is what he wants, it can't happen over night. It is incredible to watch the course of history take place while I'm alive. I believe it will be a good thing. I don't agree with everything Obama leans towards, specifically abortion and stem cell research, BUT I do believe he is sincere when he says he wants change and that he wants to bring the parties together to create that change for America. I also loved watching the election inspire so many people, especially young people to be involved in this process. Electing our first black president is monumental, people!! I thought I would never see this happen in my lifetime. Unfortunately, I hear to many cynics talk about hoping he makes it to January 20th. A tiny piece of my brain fears that some idiot will try to assassinate Obama but I honestly think he'll be OK. I remember when there were rumors of Colin Powell possibly running for president, I thought it was a great idea but I thought he would be assassinated too.

No matter what happens, Obama has inherited a big mess. I hope he can help bring us out of the mire. Remember, he is just the president. He can't do anything he wants. There is Congress - the branch who makes the laws (yes, I know the Democrats have control in both the Senate and House). I voted for Barack Obama after years of voting Republican. I'm not a die hard Democrat either. I vote according to my conscience, not according to party.

Different Subject: This weekend

Last Saturday was Jason's birthday. His parents came down and we hung out by watching tons of football and eating good food. Jason got an email for a complimentary meal with a purchased meal at Texas de Brazil. Yummy. We went there after we got married and it was fabulous. We decided that we would go to Dallas on Friday to eat at the restaurant, spend the night and cruise around town for the day. Angie and I started txting and we decided that the hubbys and wives would get together for dim sum at Kirin Court in Richardson. Yummy. Dim sum is southern style food from China. They bring the food around in little carts and ask you if you want any. Fast food so to speak. HAH!!! But really good food too. It was Jason's first time for that style of cooking. He's warming up to it!! After dim sum we all went to Central Market. This is the mecca for all food connoisseurs. It has hundreds of different cheeses and tons of olives and balsamic vinegar for $200. I know, it's ridiculous but so much fun!!!! Chris (Angie's hubby) is a gourmet cook in his spare time and bought some things for their supper that night. Sounded good. Jason and I bought a couple of items, too. We mainly just followed Chris around tasting cheeses. Yummy. We split up from Central Market (waaahhhh!!!). Chris and Angie went home and Jason and I went to Huffines Hyundai dealership. There has been talk of trading my car in sooner or later for a Hyuandi Veracruz. LOVE IT!!! It's really all about timing and where we'll be in January and, oh yeah, the money. We'll see. We were treated very nicely by the salesman. He wasn't pushy and didn't talk a lot. I didn't get that creepy feeling like I did the time I went to Greg May Honda in Waco. We were just really relaxed and enjoyed the day. After talking with the guy and thanking him for being cool, we headed over to Fry's Electronics with one goal in mind. The new Harry Connick, Jr. Christmas album. When I couldn't find it, I asked an associate and they looked at me like I had something sprouting out of my head. WHO'S HARRY CONNICK, JR.????? The guy really needs to get out of his mom's basement and stop playing video games!!!! He had no clue who it was. That's OK, he couldn't find it either, so we went down the road to Best Buy and found it there. Done and done. We hopped in the car and headed home...and listened to Harry. It is a good CD. Very jazzy and with some traditional songs in there too as well as several Harry wrote himself. (We are on a first name basis).

This weekend has been really relaxing. We had a plan and were doing lots of things but it was on our time schedule and had plenty of time to sleep in and get ready, etc... it was great. Good times with friends and good food. Good times, good times....

PS: Two weeks until our Thanksgiving break starts!!! Yippeee!!!