It's already December 21st! Where did the year go? I just printed off my Christmas letter/zine thingy so I'm ready to mail my Christmas/Kwanzaa cards. It has become my tradition to mail them late every year. It sounds so much better to say it's a tradition rather than disorganized, doesn't it?
I'm amazed at how Christmas has become so commercial. I say that every year, but every year it seems to get worse. As I was driving to class this morning I noticed that you would not be able to tell it was arguably the biggest holidays for Christians by looking at any of the churches. While it looked like every store had barfed Christmas in their window displays. Why is that? One church, among the 7 that I passed, had a wreath with a purple ribbon on it. One. That's it. I don't expect a church to have a 10 foot Santa on it's lawn, but the wreath I saw was very nice and quite respectable. My childhood church displayed a nice, respectable Navity scene. Nothing gaudy.
If you're not a Christian, it's an easy answer, but if you are a Christian, why is Christmas celebrated in your local mall more than in your church? Just wondering.

I had the following conversation with my daughter, affectionately called Lady Day:

LD: Mom, I'm glad you're a genius. I like when you teach me things I don't know.
Me: ----
Okay, I didn't say anything. I was too busy smiling. God, I love that little girl!!!

My childhood best friend said something completely amazing to me

CHBF: I started watching the news because I want to be able to have a decent argument with my husband.
EB: Okay. Whatever it takes to make you aware, I'm all for it. Though lately I've not been watching the news like I normally do. It's all getting to be so biased.
CHBF: I've been watching Fox News. They're fair and balanced.

It wasn't appropriate to smack her upside the head, but I had to gently let her know that Fox is anything but "fair and balanced". I had to tell the girl what a spade looked like. If you want to watch Fox, go for it. I listen to Air America all the time, but I am fully aware that it is not fair and balanced talk radio. I miss the days where newscasters simply reported the news and you really couldn't tell who they were going to vote for in an election.
So I asked my CHBF who she thought Hannity voted for in this past election, and she responded "Definitely not Kerry", how is that "fair and balanced" when the host blatenly broadcasts his views.
"I know that's supposed to be a show where you get both points of view, but Colmes is a pansy. But is there anyone on that channel who may have voted for Kerry?"
She had no answer.
Where's the balance?

Heard about this at mommyneedscoffee.com. My kids are still a bit young, but I'm sure the day will come....

I watch the hearing on the Ohio recount yesterday and it was interesting.
I don't know if I believe that the results of the election will change, but I do believe that every vote counts and should be counted. Why is this even an issue? Why is every vote not automatically counted as the norm? How can we live in a democracy where people have fought so hard for this right and we are constantly told that our vote counts, is that not made true? Did 2000 not teach us anything? I don't even know what to say, I'm really disgusted by this whole thing. Every vote counts and every vote should be counted. Period. I originally thought Bush won fair and square, but Blackwell and all these other boobs fighting so hard against a recount makes me wonder what are they afraid of?

Does anyone read Fierce magazine? I can't find it anywhere. The store that I used to buy it at no longer sells it and they can give me no information about it? The website hasn't changed in awhile, I don't want to believe they are no more.
Ohio is once again the center of attention because of this election thing. Why can't America get the voting system right? I don't know if there was fraud involved in this election. I do believe that if it's even suspected it should be thoroughly investigated. Why does that frighten some people? I do know that I have voted in every election since I was 18, except 1 and I have never seen it the way it was this past November. Usually I'm in and out in 10 minutes (this was during the before and/or after work rush), this time I stood in line for close to 4 hours. They only had 5 voting machines, 1 of them a worker seemed to be having problems with. The worker didn't have the guy in front of me sign the paper which is how they track whether or not you voted, so he could have came back later and voted again for all I know, they wrote the wrong district down on one guys slip and he had to ask them to correct it. The line at my polling place was one the shortest I saw driving there after taking my daughter to school, unfortunately I drive through predominately Black neighborhoods, so it would seem that some of the claims were right if I went by my observation alone. Why is it such a big deal? Why don't we count every single vote? Why can't we, the richest and according to many the most developed country in the world, get it right? Those Iraqi's must be feeling real comfortable about their upcoming elections right about now.

My husband and I will be 500 miles apart on Christmas, but I've been too busy to get depressed about it. It will catch up with me soon.
I'm looking for a new job, which is a full-time job on it's own. I had an interview last week that seemed very promising. I really want this one. A little prayer and good wishes tossed my way won't hurt.