tornado warning

There's something about getting that message in your email that makes your heart race some ... if only just a little bit.

It's absolutely black outside (even though the sun should be shining brightly). The lightning and thunder is shaking the windows, and the dogs are pacing.

Aidan is eating waffles and watching Ni-Hao, Kai-Lan ... totally oblivious to the menacing weather around him, which is as things should be. I'm enjoying a glass of wine and a chunk of parmigiano reggiano.

I love this weather, but I've always been a [bad] weather junkie. Life is a blessing.

"old school Republicans are scared shitless..."

Anyone who's followed my blog for a while knows that I love Meghan McCain. Her views are about as closely aligned to my own as just about any others that I've read or heard out in the "main stream" media.

Sometimes, it's tough for a white, protestant, socially liberal, fiscally conservative Republican girl to find much of a common ground with others ... well, Meghan is one of the few with whom I can identify. Time and again, I find myself saying, "AMEN!" to stuff of hers that I read.

Here's the latest slam dunk by my fellow "goes against the grain" Republican girl. Love her guts.

McCain, at one point, declared herself a proud member of the GOP. But her pot shots at the Republican Party and its flashier figures were not thinly veiled. Describing her public tiff with Ann Coulter as non-delicate, she went on to refer to the brash conservative talker as "overly partisan and divisive." Later in the speech she insisted that "most of our nation wants our nation to succeed" - a pretty clear dig at the now-infamous remarks of talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.

my faculty meeting ran late ...

... so I didn't get to join my dear friend, Missy, at the Tea Party in Downtown Houston. Dammit. And Dammit some more. I try not to get too political on my blog, but I obviously voice my feelings from time to time, because its important to me. Today is one of those days.

I support my President, and I respect the will of the people. It's called a democracy, and it's a beautiful thing. But I've been increasingly concerned with the trend of events recently, mainly and primarily events revolving around more and more big government.

I'm so, so proud of all the folks who DID make their voices heard today, despite the bashing from the "main stream" media. So, instead of making a long rambling post about why I felt so strongly and passionately about the Tea Parties today, I thought I'd post some of my favorite Tea Party quotes from my browsing around the 'net today ...

"Your fair share is NOT in my wallet."

"Spread my ambition, not my wealth."

...at the Greenville, S.C., Tea Party, "They will be selling the 'Obama burger' — you pay for one and they cut it in half and give the rest to the guy behind you for free!"

"Next time read the bill."

"Member of the the irrelevant, lunatic fringe!"

"Your only HOPE is that I'm paying your mortgage."

dude ... excellent

Suh-weet! One of my favorite former Idol contestants (who also happens to be a Fightin' Texas Aggie! Whoop!) has a record deal!

Jason Castro has signed with Atlantic Records.

I've missed dread-locked Jason and his laid-back, guitar-playing ways. When he made a brief appearance during one of Idol's audition shows earlier this season (as a show of support for his brother who was trying out), it hit me why he's so appealing -- despite his talent, he doesn't take himself too seriously, which is a rare thing in this day and age ... especially in the entertainment industry.

Plus, I just love his music. The folksy, Colbie Caillat/Jason Mraz-ish stuff that comes from Castro is soothing and makes me smile. I mean, come on -- who didn't love his rendition of Over the Rainbow?!

I'll be buying his CD (produced by Grammy-winner John Fields) when it comes out later this year. Can't wait!

snakes and snails

As one of three daughters in an all-female family (except for my poor Dad), I wasn't exactly "prepared" for the antics of boys ... specifically, for my son, who appears to be, without a doubt, 100% pure boy. Add that to the fact that my dear husband is currently deployed and living on an opposite coast -- I'm on "boy duty" without much guidance. Each day with my three-year-old is an adventure -- sort of "on the job training" that takes new twists and turns at the most unexpected times.

I'm finding that the inner workings of these things called boys are a total and complete mystery to me.

Boys are weird. They say weird things. They do weird things. They make weird noises.
And sometimes, I just dont get it.

growing pains

My baby bumped his head ... in a really solid way. It was a bloody mess -- literally.

Big A was horsing around and fell head-first onto the edge of the brick fireplace last night. I've been waiting for that to happen, and up until last night, we'd managed to avoid it. But he's now officially earned his first good scar.

So Saturday night was spent in the ER (not a fun place to be in Houston on a weekend night ... ugliness abounds). After way too many hours sitting in the waiting room, and the growing realization that we were [rightfully so] at the very bottom of the triage list, we left the hospital and journeyed over to a local 24-hour urgent care clinic, which is where we should have gone to begin with (but I was initially worried about his noggin, as well as the laceration). It was awesome.

We walked right in, they cleaned up my little guy, gave him a popsicle and put him in the "Lion" room (with a way cool lion bed), put some cartoons on the flat-screen TV in his room, and sewed him up.

So, a few staples in the head later, we're all good. And like Ty always says, "Chicks dig scars." I'm getting a crash course in this whole motherhood thing now, I guess. Boys will be boys, and I'm proud of mine for being so brave.

Milestones