Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day to all of you. To my readers, to my friends, to all my military family. Let's be thankful for all we have.

LAW

First Palin - Now Bachmann

She's absolutely nuts. Michele Bachmann has decided that although EVERYONE saw her give that interview, it's all in our heads. It's all an Urban Myth.

how nuts can you be?

LAW

Valour IT - Fundraising

Valour IT is a fantastic, superb, wonderful, amazing (yeah I like it) program - and I'm very honoured to be a member of the ARMY TEAM - although I have a soft spot for the Coasties too...









So - Get on it! DONATE.

So Far- So Good

There's been good and bad this week. Good - I'm still at the firm - in fact I've been writing a lot of memos about various cases I'm involved in, letters to clients have been shown to me for my approval (!! never had that happen before!) Bad - some good people left, and I'm still not sure the firm will have work for me next year after this one case is finished up.

Bad - went to Walter Reed and was told that a doctor can't help me with my migraines.. Good - I bumped into Chuck Z and spent a lovely half hour chatting with him - a lot of it about the good programmes that the Army is finally putting in place to help the families of the wounded warrior programme.

Bad - DH's lousy cold that really screwed up his plans for the long weekend he had. Bad - the firm didn't give us Veteran's Day off, and because of the vacation and the situation at the firm, I didn't take it off (as I usually do) Good - the cold is getting better!

Good - It's the end of a truly awful week at work. Good - I have heard from a few of my readers telling me to hold on, and that they care. Good - DH is here for another couple months. Good - my granddaughter is better from HER little cold. Good - The cat is healthy again and we are hoping for a good adoption fair this Sunday - (Tiger is just the sweetest cat, he's a foreclosure cat, and I am hoping his new parents will appear on Sunday!)

So all in all, the Good outweighs the Bad - and I'm sure this headache will go away soon. Y'all take care now!

LAW

Life at the Office

It's been a hectic few days. We spent 6 days in Denver, seeing our wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, marvelous granddaughter who will be 3 in January (oh, yeah, her parents too....;-)) We discovered and enjoyed the Denver Children's Museum - this is a fantastic place for kids - all hands on, and watched her play with other kids, play with her daddy and find kitties in our ears during the physical she gave us in the "clinic" part of the museum. We went up into the mountains and had some fun in Idaho Springs, went to the Zoo (her favourite part? - the Carousel horsies/zebras) played at the park - and watched her boogie to Love Shack at the Crab shack restaurant. The waitstaff has to dance when that song comes on, and they really enjoyed her joining in too! Saying goodbye to her is just so hard!

We flew home, and I trotted off to work the next morning - to discover that the partnership was fracturing, one of the name partners has left, and for the last 3 days - partners and associates have either sent good bye messages, or just walked out without a word. I said goodbye to some friends - and I'll miss them terribly. It's not over yet, I don't think. Is my job secure? good question, one I have been asking and getting reassurances about - but this isn't my first time at a firm split - during the last one - I got my walking papers about 3 days afterwards... So we'll see. The partner I have worked for for almost a year - walked out without a word to me, after asking me to come see him in his office later in the day - went down there, he's gone... Anyone who has gone through one of these splits - nothing uglier.

I had the honour to be on a conference call with Mrs. Obama yesterday - we couldn't talk, just listen, but I appreciated her taking the time to thank the BlueStar Families for Obama for our work on the campaign. I, for one, am full of hope right now, hope that she will bring attention not only to the servicemembers, but to their families and their situations.

Well - off to work... let's see if there are empty boxes on my desk!

LAW

Veteran's Day

To all my family - the blood family veterans and the military family - this is OUR day. This is a day when the rest of the country actually remembers that the military are here, and says thank you. Here in DC -it's amazing. Last year we walked the mall, listened to stories of WW2 at the memorial, told by the men and women who lived them - saw the Vietnam Wall covered in flowers, teddy bears, pictures and beer cans with notes to the friend they mourned - and saw strangers thanking men and women in uniform.

I'm thanking the men and women in uniform and saying a special thank you to the families of those serving and those who served. The spouses who hold the family together while the servicemember deploys/trains/TDYs; the children who put up with their birthday without their mom or dad, holidays spent at the Armory with all the other kids without their mom or dad; the parents who remember their baby boy learning to ride a bike, their baby girl getting on the bus for 1st grade and who watch that child put their hand up and swear an oath to serve; the grandparents who watch the news with trepidation and dread; the sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles who send the care packages with love - to All of You. Thank you.

To my Dad - USCG WW2 (USCGC Edmund Spencer); To my uncle- USA Captain (WW2); To my aunt - USArmy (WW2); to my uncle - USAF (WW2) ; To my father in law (Commander, USN Submarine Service - VietNam and peacetime); to my husband - CW2 USA presently serving; to my son (Spc4, Iraq 2003-2004 - honorably discharged); to my daughter in law (MP, Iraq 2003-2004 - honorably discharged) - Thank you.

LAW

Wow - we did it

It's over, and we have a new President Elect - and I'm feeling very hopeful. Yes, I know, the euphoria will be over (more quickly than before, because of the economy) but I'm still hoping that we can change this country - the perception the rest of the world has of us as the big bully - the greed based way companies operate - the "my way or the highway" attitude of the Executive branch.

I know the war cannot be stopped overnight. But maybe sooner than it would have been ended if the election had gone the other way....

So let's enjoy the hope, the joy, and the anticipation of good things to come! and to those of you who worked for this result, congratulations!

LAW

Just a few more days

And it'll be over... I never thought I 'd be glad to see an ad for a CAR! The saturation of political advertising makes me glad we can record our favourite shows... and then zip right through the gloom and doom McCain ads (do they not have ONE good hopeful ad?) and even through the Obama ads (and the negative one they have doesn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy either)

I voted already. Absentee. Thank you to the State of Minnesota, that allows military members and their families to vote that way. Did you know that not all States do that? There was a bill in Congress to allow it nationwide, but with everything else going on, I haven't the foggiest as to whether it passed.

The blogosphere has been rife with rumour, innuendo and plain flat out wierdness. I have seen some that make me laugh, because they are so patently ridiculous, and sadly I have seen some real hate, on both sides. I don't like McCain's policies, I honour his service, but I don't think he's the right one to lead us - his chosing Palin cemented my resolve! If you apply for or are put forward for a job - it's a good idea to know what the job entails! She is clueless, and being used, cynically, to get the women's vote. Most of us don't vote with our reproductive organs, or for anyone based on that - those that do I pity. I vote for the thoughts, the policies and the person. BUT, he's not evil incarnate, she's not the devil!

Obama is NOT a secret terrorist - he's not an Arab -he's not a Muslim (although, I don't really care if he is or not, a person's religion is their business) Biden is, yes, a career politician (isn't McCain????) he knows the ins/outs and how the very screwed up and flawed system works. He does have a case of foot in mouth sometimes but when the McCain campaign doesn't put in that last sentence - when he was talking about testing Obama - "he has a spine of steel" etc. Well that's just tacky, nasty and another example of if you can't have a decent policy, just be negative.

The Libby Dole matter - well that's just a lie. a flat out, vicious lie, told to scare and waste a lot of time. If Kay Hagen were an atheist, ok, she's an atheist. But to lie about a woman who is an elder of her church, well... it's a LIE!!! Religion should NOT be in politics, but it consistently is. One party has decided to hijack religion and make it clear that those NOT voting their way, aren't good Christians. I know a lot of good religious folks, who aren't voting that way, it doesn't negate their beliefs, values or their faith.

The Obama birth certificate bit - oh please! I have a document - it's called Birth of American Citizen Born Abroad - I was born there because my father was a State Dept. official doing his job. How many of us, the military family, have children born abroad? C'mon, how many of "us" are military brats, born in Germany, Korea, Japan, England, Belgium... Non issue.

And his middle name? A family name, honouring his family. Ok, how many of us (all of US - Americans) have a middle name honouring our family? I do, it's the middle name or first name of every girl child in my mother's family for centuries. My son does, honouring his father, his grandfather, his great grandfather. Just because Obama's middle name isn't Bobby, doesn't make him unamerican!

We need to all get a grip. but that's too much to hope for this close to the end of a campaign. I do wish we'd emulate the Canadians - 30 days, soup to nuts. done. think of what could have been done with the money thrown around in the last 2 years on campaigns... how many hungry could we have fed, how many homeless could we have housed, how many children could we have given health care to, how many veteran's could we have helped? Sad.

LAW