Michael & Liz are Bloggable

Back in October, Mama D came down to Raleigh to see Liz and I. Being the amazing Mother and painter that she is, she offered to paint one of our bedrooms. To complete the room, I then wanted to put up beadboard around the bottom of the bedroom but it wasn't until January that I actually got a chance to do that. So over the span of 4 weekend days, making a countless number of trips between the bedroom and garage to cut the wood, I finally finished it. I realize there are a couple places where the blue paint got pulled up by the painters tape I put down, but those will be fixed. Here are the pictures:

Also I had to post these cute pictures that we got when we drove through Atlanta earlier in January. This is my niece Abby and my nephew Luke:

So we recently discovered this week that Daisy knows a trick and we did very little to encourage her learning it. But sure enough, one day I decided to give it a try and she hopped up and did it like it was the natural thing to do. The trick is called "High-Fives!" and she is getting a lot better at it... check it out:




So that is 1 trick down for my new years resolution.

I also have been busting my butt lately to finish the bedroom upstairs where we are putting beadboard. I am painting it now and should have it done this weekend so I will post a picture once I am finished. That would be 1 project down out of the 3 that I said I would finish. The next one on tap is the garage organization. We didn't take a before picture of the bedroom but I really wish we had. So as for the garage, I will definitely be documenting how it looked before I started working on organizing it. As for the 3rd project, fixing the deck, I can't really do that until it gets warmer out. And I realize this is no Michigan, Ohio, or Colorado... but it's been between 20 and 40 degrees here and that's enough to keep me indoors.

Recently I've heard some inspiring phrases that I'd like to post. When it comes to working out here is an inspirational message that I think really pushes me at the gym:

"If you aren't uncomfortable, nothing will change."

It's probably pretty easy to go to the gym and walk through the motions but if I leave feeling tired and sweaty, I think that'll make the next visit a little better.

I can't remember where I heard the second one but here it is:

"Life is full of choices and it's those choices that define who we are."

It's like we only have one shot at a "choose your own adventure" book, so don't lead your life through the pages of the bad choices.

I like the part in the book where Liz and I are. I think we've made good choices up to this point and I hope it continues to lead us in the right direction.

Liz and I often talk throughout the day on google chat, well I thought I'd share a funny conversation:

Europe 2012? whoop whoop.

So I heard on the radio the other day that 80% of people give up on New Year's Resolutions by January 14th. So I thought I would update anyone who cares on how Liz and I are doing.

Liz
1. Still hasn't had any carbonated drinks. She is having a very easy time with this and apparently it will be a year long accomplishment.

2. She has gone to the gym at least 3 times a week since the beginning of the year. I realize it has only been 2 weeks but I think she is really enjoying it. Every time she comes home she tells me about how much further or longer she ran than the last time she went. She'll keep it up without any trouble.

Michael
1. I am having a harder time with the no carbonated drinks goal. I haven't had any but there are 5 cans of coke in our fridge and that is *killing* me. I tried to strike a bargain with Liz so that when we fly to Colorado in March, if we aren't actually on the ground then having a coke on the flight doesn't count at all. Apparently when you are 30,000 feet in the air, resolutions still count... nuts...

2. I haven't started on any of the wood projects although one of my other resolutions needs to be done first in order for this goal to be achieved.

3. We're working on the word "ramp". We tried a while back to make her learn "go to the ramp" and "down the ramp" but since Thanksgiving she has completely disregarded the ramp because she learned she is big enough to jump on the furniture. But just the word "ramp" in general is what we're trying. We're also gonna try and teach her "shake" but she has no clue what we're doing when we take her hand and move it up and down. In fact, after she eats her treat, she nibbles our hand to stop.

4. The bead board is getting done. I have the base boards installed and most of the bead board up but just have to manage to navigate it around the windows. Then I'll put up the chair rails. I really *really* screwed up on one of the joints so I'm hoping that we can cover it with caulk and paint. As far as the deck and garage go, I haven't started. The deck might be a priority since it's in plain view of everyone, but the garage needs to be fixed so we can park in it and I can continue on wood projects.

DISCLAIMER: I tried to make this as neutral of a post as possible, but if I anger anyone by insulting a certain politician, sorry.

This is just one of the terms during the election I have gotten tired of. Yes, I am paying attention to the election. This is the first time ever for me believe it or not. I am not sure why though, maybe I will have a revelation as I write this post. While the parties decide on their candidate of choice, I have watched the speeches, watched a lot of the debates, and even watched Obama get interviewed by Oprah last Spring. Even though I am becoming more informed, becoming more opinionated, and am being engaged by who is in the lead in state races, I still won't be voting. I have many beefs with politics so I thought I'd jot them down, but good lord, where do I start?

The Media:
Media is the only source of information. The thirst for intriguing stories and storylines drives the election, not the people or what they stand for. You never know what comes first, the story or the storyline. The other day I saw a headline on CNN that said something to the affect of "Does Obama Lack Experience?". I realize they are trying to inform voters blah blah blah, but really all it did was bash a candidate. This is a fantastic way to influence dumb people. I'm sure there were some people who turned on the TV and thought "that's a good point, Obama lacks experience". Or another example today, I saw a headline that said "America Ready for an Independent". I am not disagreeing because I think having just two parties is ridiculous, but says who? When the only way you can stay informed is by watching these "analysts" talk about the candidates, then you are not getting the truth. And that's the truth.

The Uninformed:
Only half the registered voters actually voted in the 2004 election. You can't tell me that 120 million people knew everything there was to know about Bush and Kerry. I say only Bush and Kerry because let's face it, no one else mattered. I'd be willing to bet a whole lot on the fact that 60 million of those voters only knew what is generally acceptable from a Democrat and Republican. Nothing of their track record or who they are as people, but only, for example, that Republicans are against abortion and Democrats are for it. So I've heard the argument that if you are an informed voter you should be there, at the very least, to cancel out the uninformed votes from the other side. But I'm sure there are just as many on both sides so really it doesn't matter.

A Perfect Cycle:
Now I don't think anyone would have predicted that Bush would go to war with the whole world and cause this much disdain for the U.S. internationally, but isn't it the goal of each party to eventually undo everything that a previous president from a different party did? It really is a pendulum swinging back and forth from one party to another to see who can do a better job. And the word "better" is so skewed when it comes to a president because there are still people who think Bush is wonderful, all that means is the pendulum will continue.

The Superficiality:
Politicians are trying to so hard to please everyone to get every vote, that debates are superficial. I'd love to count the number of I-am-an-agent-of-change's, I-have-the-experience's, and that-is-what-I'll-do-as-president-of-the-United-States's that have been in each debate. It's almost impossible to find real stand points on each candidate and even if you do, there's no promise that's actually what they will fight for if they became president. And furthermore, even if you do find a real stand point on each candidate, it's amazing how many of the democrats and republicans have identical view points. So that begs the question, how are you to choose a candidate for each party based on anything other than who they are as raw people and as raw leaders ?

The Parties:
How are we to elect the best candidate when the only thing anyone cares about is the Republican and the Democrat. I hate the whole idea of parties anyway. It's borderline coercion. It's an organization for the most part dictating the views of the representatives. It's hard to believe that of all the people running for president, there are really only 2 opinions on how to do anything.

Apparently it's my civic duty to vote for the candidate I think would be best suited to lead the country. Do I vote even though I don't like any of them? But there is a main reason why I haven't voted. On Tuesday there was the New Hampshire Primary. After only 11% of the votes were gathered, they had already declared McCain as the winner of the state. 11%!! That to me is insane. After about 60 or 70%, they declared that Clinton won the state as well. Not all the votes were in but they could already announce the winners. All an election really is, is a very large and more accurate public survey. That's why they have the +/-4% error in most polls because they don't feel like they've interviewed enough people to make it exact, it has to have an error percentile. So the more people they interview the smaller the percentage goes. Out of 220 million people, if they get 120 million people polled, I'm pretty sure that percentile will get closer and closer to 0%. So what difference does it make if I go vote or not... not much in my opinion. I know everyone says, every vote counts, and yes it does. But I'm sure if I got motivated to vote, there is someone else who got motivated to cancel out my opinion.

So I'd rather sit back, watch the fun, and see what the very large survey comes out to be.

Well for anyone uninformed, this is a good page, but then again it does come from a media source. And surprise surprise, all the party lines define the opinions: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.abortion.html

That's my rant. Maybe I'll change my opinion come November, but I doubt it.