He Moves Me

On Monday, Mark was privileged enough to be able to attend the Barack Obama rally at the University of Cincinnati. Before I share his thoughts on the afternoon's events, let me just say that my husband continues to teach me everyday. After more than 11 years together, I am still learning new things about him, and being inspired my him. I love that we have that in our relationship. I love him.

Here are his thoughts on the afternoon...

Dear friends,

I have been, for the greater part of my life, willfully and stubbornly apolitical. Because, for most of my adult life, there has been something fundamentally wrong with my country and I didn't think it could be fixed. It wasn't the place I was taught it was supposed to be growing up. It certainly wasn't the place I knew it had the potential to become, but too few other people seemed to care (and the ones who did seemed to be the ones least capable of changing anything).

So I said to hell with it. I focused on what I called personal politics, the idea of trying to make some small difference in the lives of the people I knew, the people I came in contact with, the situations I found myself a part of. Because everything else was too big, too monolithic, too fundamentally flawed.

The old cliché holds that "scratch a cynic and you'll find a disillusioned idealist." I was 9 years old during the chaos of 1968, but I clearly remember the hope offered by Dr. King and Senator Kennedy and what it felt like to have it so cruelly and senselessly taken away. I saw the positive energy of the 60s disintegrate into the self-medicated retreat of the 70s, the greed of the 80s, the selfish disconnect of the 90s and the fear and paranoia of post-9/11 America.

Still, I could never shake the feeling that it didn't have to be this way. But I felt voiceless. No one spoke for me in the political arena. The ones who claimed to were always impostors. Politics was about our divisions, about our enemies, about our suspicions and our fears. No one was capable of uniting, of inspiring, of bringing people together.

But today I heard a politician say things I've been waiting forty years to hear. I sat in a crowd of 13,000 people; male, female, black, white, Hispanic, Christian, Muslim, atheist, straight, gay, old, middle-aged, young, veterans, union workers, people from all walks of life who agreed with me that not only is this country broken, but that together, we might actually be able to fix it.

It is not the politics of division. It is not the politics of fear. He calls it "the politics of hope", and for the first time in my adult life I am energized, I am excited. For the first time in my adult life, I actually believe that it may be possible to leave a better world for my children than the one I inherited from my parents.

But it feels like a crucial moment, one that must be seized, one that must be claimed. This country, this civilization, cannot survive on our current path. We have to cast off the blinders of selfish consumerism, the sure suicide of politics-as-usual, the us-against-them, the me-against-you.

I waited in line for over two hours in the cold today outside the venue. While waiting, I met a man a little younger than I, an army veteran who served in Kosovo and Afghanistan, a man who had never voted Democrat in his life, who told me that he felt the same, that this moment in time is critical, that there is a weight and a sense of history to this election that we ignore at our own peril. It was absolutely incredible.

Once inside, I heard these words:

"Some people think that things can't change; they want you to be cynical. But hope is not blind optimism. Hope is looking at things clear-eyed and saying that, despite the hardship, I am going to try to get things done."

I wonder how many more of me are out there. Not people waiting for a messiah figure. Not people waiting for some magic man, some slick orator to tell us what we want to hear, but disillusioned, dry, dispassionate observers who are one spark away from feeding a grass-roots brush fire. Hard-working, honest, good-hearted people who have not forgotten what this country once was or could be again, who wonder why this country seems to have forgotten about them.

Ohio friends, I urge you to investigate Barack Obama. I think when you study his platform, when you hear and read his words, you will agree that he is our country's best hope for fundamental change at this pivotal moment in history. Do not let this moment pass you by. Do not be afraid to hope. Do not be afraid to work for a better future for our country, ourselves, and our children.

Si se puede.

Yes, we can.

Finding time!

Somehow I found time to create two pages in the past 48 hours. For some, two pages in 48 hours is not a lot; but for me, that is a HUGE accomplishment! With five children and a husband, plus the house & all its responsibilities, pulling me in so many directions, I rarely have time for my own personal passions. I will say that to get these pages done, I sacrificed doing laundry and dishes. There are still at least six loads of laundry in the basement needing my attention and last night's dinner dishes are still in the sink. Hey! Sometimes you just have to take time for yourself right?!?

Note: Lashes is a based on a Becky Fleck sketch as found here.

Great News!

On Wednesday, we had the good fortune of experiencing the midway ultrasound with this pregnancy. The great news is that baby is perfect!!! All parts are in the right place, with the right count, and at the right size for 21 weeks gestation. Even better, the baby has "boy parts"...that's right! We're having a boy!!! Mark is quietly ecstatic. The girls are overjoyed. Emma is so excited about this. Maggie is very nonchalant...she knew all along that this one was a boy. Nora is only 11 months old and couldn't care less. And well, Autumn is Autumn. She's nearly 18 and very busy with her life and happy that we're finally having a boy. Then she's on to her thing....as is normal. me...I'm just glad he's "perfect" with nothing wrong.

Now I just pray that my glitch works itself out in the next 12 weeks. I have a case of Complete Placenta Previa. Meaning that the placenta is blocking the cervix. If it doesn't move upward & away from it's currently position, I will have to deliver by C-section. I know that loads of women have this procedure, but anyone who knows me knows that I am the crazy lady who delivers babies drug-free the natural way. I have avoided the epidural needle like it was the plague. And now if this thing within doesn't relocate, I'll have to be sliced open for delivery. Not cool in my book. That's not evening thinking about the other complications that can occur with the placenta being where it is....bleeding & separation accompanied by bedrest if that should happen. How could I possibly be on bedrest with an active 9 year old, 4 year old, and infant in the house? So if you are the praying type, I could use a couple. Of course, the doctor has reassured me that in most cases, the placenta does change position by the final trimester, so perhaps my worries are pointless.

So that's been my week in a nutshell! Now to brave the cold to attempt some paper pushing up in the arctic scrap porch...

Playing Catch-Up

Typical of most scrappers, I am still creating pages with this year's holiday photos. Funny thing is that I think I've done more with this year's photos than any previous year. I always seem to get so behind on these...that and the small fact that by the time the season is over, I am over the season!

This page features Emma & Maggie with Santa at the Krohn Conservatory.

If my memory is correct, this is the last Christmas photo that I have printed for scrap purposes.

A Quick Share

I managed to whip out a fast page inspired by the Scrap4Life Scrap-Bowl Crop this weekend. I honestly meant to complete a lot more than I actually did, but weekend life in this big family can be a bit overwhelming.

The challenge was to complete a black & white layout using a color photo and silver or gold embellishments. My white is vanilla, but I think it passes muster.

Here she is....Miss Maggie when she was all of 2 years old. My how she has changed!

A New Favorite Place

If you live anywhere near Cincinnati, Ohio you've got to know about this place! It has got to be a national treasure for anyone that loves textiles. If you don't live near Cincinnati, I'm sorry. Maybe it's time for a road trip. Or you could always order from their online site. But isn't it always more fun to fondle to products in real life!

Halloween in January?

I'm a bit past due in creating Halloween pages, but when I received this paper a while back, then recently saw this photo again, I knew that the two were meant to be combined into one simple and very non-traditional Halloween page.

Don't you just love the looks on these kid's faces too? You can totally see Maggie's slyness here and Emma's impatience to get the show on the road.

Gotta love my girls!

It's Just a Thing

but I have actually managed to complete two layouts in the past two days! The first one features a favorite photo of my happy little family (minus Autumn though) that was taken at Schappacher Farm this past Fall. The second one was one of those spontaneous Nora pictures from Christmas Eve. This second page was inspired a layout created by Layle Koncar of Scenic Route. I'm really lovin' Layle's style these days!!!

Here's hoping that I've got my creative groove back one. I know that I've definitely been in a better mood that past couple of days after having a chance to expend creative energy.

By the way, that little red birdie was a gift from my dear sweet friend Nikki in New Jersey. Isn't she the greatest?!?

A Forced Creation

Did you every just have one of the days, weeks, or months when you felt the absolute need to create something but just didn't have the energy or time to get it done? That has been my situation since early November! This week, however, I kicked myself in the a$$ and got it done. I spent some of the weekend and then Tuesday morning cleaning up the mess in the scrap room. Of course, most of it was from Maggie & Emma. Bits of paper cuttings & felt, along with toys, markers, etc. were all over the floor & futon. My mess was all over the art table. Argh! I got it done though.

By Tuesday afternoon I was able to play with an old photo of Casey (from last winter) and push some paper around. I am fairly pleased with the end result. I did have fun playing with my Slick Writers creating different borders. I kinda like the sawtooth effect on the arrow.

Hopefully, this will jumpstart my action enough to get me back into the game. Keeping my fingers crossed.

In other arenas today, Maggie said a bad word - damn! - at lunch this afternoon. She managed to mess up something she was doing with her toys while I was preparing the midday meal and she just said it plan as day. I told her that it was a bad word. He response, "You mean like 'stupid' is a bad word?" LOL! I explained that it was a little worse than that. Kids are funny that way. By the way, she learned that one from her dad, not me.

Almost there...

Can you believe it?!? Nora is scooting - doing the combat crawl - AND pulling herself up to a standing position on anything & everything that will hold her weight. I really think this super strong little girl of mine is going to skip crawling in the truest sense and jump right into walking...maybe running!!! Yikes! She really is something to behold.