Vote for me! Why? Why not! Visit a good local blog, Northern Alliance Wannabe (referencing a local blog/radio show host consortium called the Northern Alliance- frequent guests on Hugh Hewitt’s show). Anyway, Dan at NAW does a good job of encouraging local bloggers by posting a weekly round-up/poll. I’m on it this week, so while you visit his blog cast a vote for me.
Last night on the news, a local reporter was camped in front of the Pawlenty’s suburban home in hopes, I think, of seeing signs of the Secret Service or some other indication that Pawlenty would be McCain’s pick. Instead, neighbor kids (who were up late because school hasn’t started here yet) walked their dog back and forth, back and forth, behind the reporter, giggling and smiling at the camera. I’d be willing to bet they were about 11 or 12. I know that mischievous age well! Anyway, local speculation continues this morning.
I listened to Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last night. Here and there, the speech was interesting; my husband is a teacher and he promised him a pay raise. Cool! And how could I not vote for a Christian man who proclaims : “Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess”. That hope is that we will no longer be judged by our sins because we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. He is referring to Hebrews 10:23, which in context says:
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Such an excellent scripture reference, unless….do you think…he was misapplying scripture to suit his own purposes? Would someone as distinguished as Barack Obama really do that? Naw…
Read the Harry Potter Series - for the first time
Start figure skating - again
Walk our dog, Kirby, every day
Work from home two hours a day, whenever possible
Yoga, pilates and weight-lifting
Buy a Blackberry
Make supper each night
Redecorate college daughter’s room into more of a guest bedroom, but still a place for her whenever she comes home
Attempt daily devotions
Read Christian Liturgy
Keep a daily journal (written)
Compile memorabilia for each child into a scrapbook
Buy a sewing machine (to replace my grandmother’s one from 1960- used)
Find a nice place to watch live music
Start a girls’ night out with my sisters and sisters-in-law
Clean out closets and get rid of clothes from 1990’s (a very ugly time in fashion)
Enjoy a glass of wine at day’s end whenever prudent
Make a hockey scrapbook for my dad
Get closer, somehow, to my mother and try to understand her - I’m 47 and I still really have no idea
Keep a record of these days of separation from my daughter
The Amethyst Initiative is in the news and on the blogs (here and here) lately. I think the Amethyst Initiative’s goals are good.
A culture of dangerous, clandestine “binge-drinking”—often conducted off-campus—has developed.
Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students.
Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.
By choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law.
What I got from their website was that the lowering of the limit would only be one piece and what needed to be in place was a whole society response to teens and drinking. They seem to be pushing for an educational campaign.
Choose Responsibility supports a series of changes to treat 18, 19 and 20 year-olds as the young adults the law otherwise says they are. Current drinking laws infantilize young adults. We should not be surprised, then, by infantile behavior from otherwise responsible adults.
We support a series of changes that will allow 18-20 year-old adults to purchase, posses and consume alcoholic beverages.
We propose a multi-faceted approach that combines education, certification, and provisional licensing for 18-20 year-old high school graduates who choose to consume alcohol.
We envision an overarching program that combines appropriate incentive and reward for responsible, lawful behavior by adolescents, and punitive measures for illegal, irresponsible behavior.
A educational and licensing system - I’m having a hard time envisioning that…especially considering the privatization of drivers’ education in our state. How to regulate the local School of Drinking???
What the Amethyst Initiative really needs is parents teaching mature behavior, from drinking, to finances, to drinking, from the home. You can’t legislate responsibility. I, too, am in support of changing the drinking age to 18 or 19. I think by the age of 21, many “children” are long gone from the family home and parents aren’t as able to be aware of alcohol abuse. In our home, our kids have seen their parents enjoy small amounts of alcohol at meals or in the evenings. We even let them have a small taste now and then when they were younger (age 9 or 10 -whatever age they became more curious about it).
I don’t allow my 16 year old to drink yet, but I do allow my 19 year old to have a beer or glass of wine with us in our house if she will not be doing any driving the rest of the night. I hadn’t planned on doing this with either of my kids, but I changed my plans in preparation for my daughter’s trip to Europe last spring. There she was allowed to drink, with parental permission given to the tour guides (good Lutheran people I knew and trusted as her teachers for 4 years). She has handled it well, both in Europe and at home. I really expect little problem from her even as she heads off to the infamous town of Mankato (where there have been way too many deaths due to extreme consumption of alcohol by 21 year olds at the state university there. My son’s situation will be different because he is an athlete and is prohibited to consume alcohol in season by the state’s high school athletics governing board. He will be allowed to have a beer or wine off-season, but I haven’t started this practice with him yet.
Don’t assume we take alcohol abuse lightly. One side of our family has severe alcoholic tendencies, so I have consciously chosen my strategies of learning to communicate rather than stuff your emotions, exploring other outlets for frustrations and learning how and when to use alcohol. This all happens in the home! It absolutely won’t happen by chance at college (or wherever a person is a full three years after graduating from high school).
Baseball heros of today. That was the topic of discussion at our family reunion in Mid-July. The Home Run Derby had just been on television a few nights earlier and we were discussing the merits of Justin Morneau vs. Josh Hamilton as role models for young ballplayers. My dad and I argued the whether Josh Hamilton’s story should be so heavily discussed in the media. I was surprised to hear my dad’s strong advocacy for Hamilton. My dad has been a hard-working, clean athlete his entire life. He raised children who never abused a thing and his grandchildren, so far - God willing, have managed to stay away from drug and alcohol abuse. I only mention this because I would have expected my dad to be a champion of someone like himself, like Justin Morneau. He seemed frustrated when I suggested that it might be too early for Hamilton to be praised so heavily when just 18 months ago he was in yet another bad relapse. I could only remind him that Hamilton is a rare exception to a otherwise devastating condition of drug and alcohol abuse. Jim Souhan said it much better in the paper the very next day. In This season’s best baseball stories made in Minnesota, Souhan reminds StarTribune readers that:
The stories of Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Joe Nathan border on boring, because they represent the monotony of perseverance.
It’s an excellent opinion piece. He ends by positing:
If Joe, Joe and Justin had tried crack, they might have become national celebrities for overcoming their addictions.
Redemption is a glamorous story-line, but isn’t it better this way, following three model athletes with no need for it?
As a mother of a young ballplayer, I would choose the influence of three ballplayers who began life redeemed and stayed that way. Youth sports, today, is filled with talented athletes who fall - sometimes inexplicably - to drug and alcohol use. As a mother, I can also rejoice that one young ballplayer did eventually find redemption.
Gene Veith asks, “Is there a Vice-Presidential choice that would make you either MORE likely to support McCain or LESS likely to support him?”
This is easy- Tim Pawlenty. Besides the usual VP qualifications, he’s a hockey player, “a really good guy” and has a very smart wife (I’m listening to Judge Mary Pawlenty guest-hosting on my favorite morning radio show). Actually, he’s too good to waste on a vice-presidency, but I think that will probably cinch it for him.
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