Turning 44

My birthday was yesterday. No big occasion, just turned 44. Don't feel any different, although I can't say that I was expecting to have a baby daughter shortly after my 44th birthday.

My kids gave me several presents they all handpicked. They led me on a scavenger hunt throughout the house. Anna wrote up clues to lead me to various places (did a pretty good job on them too). I ended up with a couple bottles of Gatorade, and then some of my favorite snacks, many of which I can take to the hospital in a week or so when Dorene goes in. For the record, I got chocolate chip cookes, mini-Charleston Chews, Twizzlers, Bottle Caps, Cadbury chocolate, Reese's, football shaped Little Debbie brownies, and Dots. They did good!

For lunch, I had to cook my own meal. Actually, this was by design. We purchased a side of beef from one of our church members and the steaks are superb. No sense on paying for something like this in a restaurant. So I grilled ribeyes with Daddy Hinkles marinade (the best marinade ever . . . thank you Stu for introducing me to this one).

Later in the evening, our pastor called and we went out to dinner with him and his wife. Went to Chili's, which is one of our favorite restaurants. Our pastor's wife, Cheryl, commented that last year at this time, she was sure we couldn't have expected having a baby now. I said, "No, we were too busy laughing at you for having an unexpected one." (they had their own October surprise with child #8).

Debate #1

I had a fundraising event at my kids' school last night, so I did not watch any but literally the last question of the debate. Stayed up and listened to all the analysis. Shockingly enough, Democrat strategists thought Obama won and Republican strategists thought McCain won. I guess the bottom line is that it was pretty much a draw. Neither did extremely well or really bad.

I'll be more likely to tune in this week for the VP debate and see how Sarah Palin does as they bring her out of hiding (not completely sure of the strategy there).

Note to Saturday Night Live: Not Funny

When Tina Fey did her impersonation of Sarah Palin a week ago, I thought it was great. Very well done. Amy Poehler also does such a great Hillary, always ready to explode.

But this past Saturday night, the opening sketch featured John McCain giving voiceover approval to outrageous rumors about Obama. It wasn't clever, nor was it funny (nor did the audience seem to laugh). Another sketch implied Todd Palin was the father of Trig . . .and Bristol was the mom.

I'm all for good political humor and will laugh at any clever jabs at either side, but this was very mean spirited and seemed bent on destroying Palin. Saturday Night Live has a long history of great political sketches, but this night was not one of them.

Calm Before the Storm

Getting ready to leave work. Our pastor and his wife are going to a retreat this weekend, so we'll be watching their kids at our house for two nights . . . all 8 of them!

9/11 (sort of) Remembered

Yesterday, IU South Bend had a brief ceremony in memory of the events of 9/11. On a campus of over 7,500 students with an additional 1,500 faculty and staff, I expected a fairly large turnout. There were about 25 in attendance. I guess those events are beginning to drift further and further into history.

As I thought more about it, the college students beginning this year were only 10 or 11 when those events happened, so while they may be aware of them, they wouldn't have a "where were you" type experience to share. I imagine the next couple years will be fairly quiet in regard to remembrances then it will get more attention on the 10th year anniversary.

More Baby Talk

Watching Sarah Palin and the news surrounding her newborn baby has been interesting and has opened up a possibility that Dorene and I are certainly aware of, but don't talk about much.

Sarah Palin was 44 when she had baby Trig. The occurance of Downs Syndrome is much more prevalent the older the mom is. Dorene will be 39 this month. So, yes, she is in a category where this could happen. Palin had a test done which clearly tells you if the baby has Downs (as do many). We could have had the same test done, but have chosen not to. It's not like a huge percentage of older moms have Downs babies, but the chances are certainly higher.

Does it cross my mind that we could have a special needs child? Yes, it certainly does. Would it freak me out? Yeah, it probably would for a little bit, can't lie about that. But if every child is a gift from God, then what more can we do but just pray for the safe delivery of baby Allie. Yep, that's all we can do.

Awaiting Baby Allie

On Tuesday night, we took a tour of the childbirth unit at Memorial Hospital so Anna and Cameron could see where mommy would be at when it was time to deliver our new one. Both kids are getting more and more excited about this, even Anna, after her initial meltdown over the news. She even has gotten to the point where she said she might hold the baby. That's progress, believe me.

The official due date is October 12. But Anna and Cameron both came 3 weeks early. So, it could happen very soon. We might want to consider getting the house ready.

Babies and Football

Yesterday, we went our separate ways. Dorene took the kids to the church where they were having a baby shower for Allie. I went with my friend Peter to the Notre Dame game.

For the small size of our church, it was a great turnout for the shower. I think all but one or two of the women in the church were there, so that was nice. Dorene had a wonderful time and we ended up with lots of nice presents, including a new changing table and tons of diapers. Yeah, I said the word diapers, didn't think I'd be using that in my vocabularly ever again. If Dorene goes to term, baby Allie will be here in about 5 weeks. If she goes early like with Anna and Cameron, the baby will be here in about 2 weeks. Oh my, it's really getting close. Perhaps we should start setting up the baby furniture and things like that.

Dorene was at the doctor last week and she is in great health. No need to go on bed rest and the doctor expects her to go full term. That is great news, because Dorene was concerned about having to stay home for the final few weeks. But everything looks good.

I always enjoy going to Notre Dame games. Even with their pathetic season last year, the hype and hoopla surrounding a home gome never goes away. Besides, they were playing San Diego State, who were 21 point underdogs.

But they kept it very close. In fact, they should have one. They were up 13-7 midway into the fourth quarter. They had the ball on the Notre Dame 4. The running back was headed into the end zone but fumbled at what had to be the 1-foot line. Notre Dame recovered and within a few plays had gone all the way down for the go-ahead touchdown. They scored again and ended up winning 21-13. I imagine the San Diego State team had a long flight home, because this was their Super Bowl and they had victory in their grasp and let it get away. Charlie Weiss got away for now. He was getting booed fairly early in the game. The Irish lose this one, and he's in for along season. They played very badly and this was against a team that was supposed to be a sacrificial lamb.

In the NFL, I was pleased to see that the 37-year old quarterback looking for one more glorious season led his team to an opening day victory. I'm talking, of course, about . . . . Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals.

Oh Yeah, McCain Gave a Speech

As I suspected, McCain's speech was a big comedown from Sara Palin's the night before. He didn't do badly, it just wasn't all that exciting of a speech to listen to. Palin easily overshadowed him.

However, parts of the speech were actually quite bold. He really surprised me by saying how the Republican Party let everyone down. He said they "went to change Washington, and Washington changed us." He gave some not so subtle jabs at Bush/Cheney (and I imagine in private he'd like to rip them to shreds and totally separate himself). Where was Cheney by the way? I read that he was somewhere in eastern Europe, far, far away. In fact, overall, you just don't see much of Cheney at all anymore. Not that I'm complaining.

I read a quote from Rush Limbaugh that said that even if the Republicans lose in November (which he completely expects), McCain has done a lot to bring about change in the party and give them a future. I agree. Picking Palin was a good step in the right direction to put a different face on the party. I've always felt they needed to sit this one out and retool.

Well, gotta go. Headed off to the promised land, er, that is, Notre Dame stadium for the season opener against that powerhouse from the west coast . . .San Diego State.

Back to School (thank goodness)

The kids went back to school this week. All the public schools began two weeks ago, but the private school they go to (North Liberty Christian School) doesn't start until after Labor Day.

The extra long break got a little too long. Anna and Cameron were ready to get back into a regular routine, and so were we. Their first week has been great, they love their teachers and are going to have a great year.

Cameron has surprised us with a very competitive spirit when it comes to grades. We figured he'd be our slacker. Turns out, he doesn't just want A's, he wants an A+ all the time, and is very motivated to do so. Anna gets good grades too, but doesn't really care all that much about it. She'll just simply get the good grades and that's that. Cameron, on the other hand, will probably consider himself a failure if he gets a C. Oh boy, here we go.

Sarah Barracuda

I think everyone in the Republican Party breathed a collective sigh of relief this morning after Palin's speech. I thought she did very well and rose to the occasion. She had some pretty good zingers and faced her critics head on. She will be a great campaigner and will draw big crowds. But her next big moment will be one on one against Biden. I'm anticipating that debate more than Obama v. McCain.

Palin seemed drained after the speech. She kinda stood there and wasn't smiling. Probably just an incredible sense of relief after having it over with. She finally lit up when her family came out. How can you not like that family and the picture of the little girl wetting down her hand to fix little Trig's hair? Many politicians try to say it, but Palin truly has a very common background and is an outsider in every sense of the word. Unlike Obama, I can see Palin going bowling and not looking so out of place.

Some quibbles about last night:

• I didn't care for Guilliani. His speech is why I'm glad he isn't president. It seemed a little over the top and overly mean-spirited. If Palin is the pit bull, then Guilliani is the rabid doberman.


• Guilliani's speech also went too long, so they had to cancel the video bio of Palin. I think that would have helped even more introducing her to those that hadn't been reading or watching news reports about her. Although, she certainly let her words do the talking, so maybe this wasn't that big of a deal.


• I cringed a bit when she basically made fun of community organizers. This won't go over well with those that work in the inner city, such as some of my colleagues. I know it was offering a comparison of experience, but community organizers are often low paid or volunteer people helping out those that need assistance the most.

But overall, she did a fabulous job. Seemed very natural on the big stage and she is someone you certainly want to listen to. It'll be impossible for McCain to top her speech, and I wouldn't be surprised if he even makes reference to that in his speech tonight. But in hindsight, a strategically brilliant move to bring her on board.

I still see Obama winning in November, but nonetheless, last night was an important step in the Republicans moving forward from the last 8 years. If Obama's star was born by his speech in 2004, then last night was just the beginning for Palin and we'll be hearing more from her. Which should be later but could be much sooner if the Democrats still figure a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This campaign will be anything but boring for the next two months.

Republican Convention

I haven't watched any of the RNC yet. I guess I didn't really care to hear Bush, Lieberman or Thompson speak. But tonight, this is Sarah Palin's night and I'll definitely watch her speech. The campaign still has a long way to go and it'll be interesting to see if she keeps the election close or totally derails McCain (like some are saying). Tonight will be critical. One thing is for sure, she has made things much more interesting.

What are my female Democratic colleagues saying? One says McCain was brilliant for choosing her. The other says she shouldn't have been nominated with all those kids.

Rock, Paper, Scissors . . .Cameron Style

I watched Anna and Cameron playing "rock, paper, scissors" tonight at the dinner table. Neither were winning as each round ended up a tie. So, on the next round, Cameron changed things a bit. He went, "rock, paper . . .DINOSAUR!"

I think dinosaur pretty much kicks butt in this situation. Game over.

McCain's VP Pick

I had begun to suspect McCain would go with a woman and sure enough, he did. No one knows much about Sarah Palin right now, but they will before long. I watched her speech after McCain introduced her. She is quite likeable and maybe not quite the lightweight I first envisioned. Very interesting woman.

I've heard a few commentators say this is very much a very bold, but very risky move. I think that's quite accurate. McCain is supposed to lose anyway, so maybe it won't make a difference, who knows. But it definitely shakes things up. It definitely draws attention away from Obama's speech last night. But if Quayle had a rough go of it when he was announced, I think Palin is going to really get put through the ringer. Then again, Quayle still became Vice President after Dukakis left the Democratic convention with a big lead. So, who knows. Palin is called the "barracuda" which must be for a reason.

Quite the mirror image. On one side, you have an inexperienced minority candidate for president and an experienced white guy for vice president. On the other side, it's the opposite. This election just got a little more interesting.

What is Up With Wolf?

Wolf Blitzer, dude, you are losing it. I watched CNN's coverage last night, and when Biden was through with his speech, the coverage shifted back to the post-speech commentary. But before saying anything about the speech, Wolf went on and on about the band that was playing and how much he enjoyed them all week. It was really weird. Anderson Cooper made jokes about Wolf and his obsession with the band, but I could tell he was really thinking, "Uh, Wolf, we have a major convention going on here, who cares about the band?"

I thought Biden's speech was rather weak, and the response from the crowd was very lackluster. It seemed at the most he would just get a little applause here and there. Biden's a good guy with a good story, but he just didn't electrify like Hillary the night before. I didn't get to see Bill, but it sounds like he did okay. I'm sure the Obama's now are thinking, "Okay, Bill and Hillary, thank you, now BUH BYE!:

It will be interesting to watch Obama's speech tonight, especially being in a large outdoor stadium as opposed to a smaller indoor arena where it can be much more noisy. I'm sure he'll do a bang-up job.

Hillary's Speech

Well, the commentators are all going gaga over Hillary's speech. I'll admit, she did a good job. What did people expect? That she would come out and say "Up Yours Obama! I should be the nominee!" Sheesh, calm down everyone, it was a convention speech. Of course the crowd would go crazy.

I watched the speech on CNN and their commentators were all saying what a great job she did. Carville said it was a Sandy Koufax fastball (note to Carville, you need to update your references, no one in Obama's target demographic know who Sandy Koufax is). But an interesting thing took place. On the floor, CNN had a lengthy interview with a black female Clinton delegate who wasn't exactly embracing Obama yet. She went on and on how "presidential" Clinton looked, and said while she definitely won't vote for McCain, she may not vote at all.

I've never liked that approach, because I always say, vote for somebody, because you have the right to do so. But when they talk about party unity last night, I'm wondering if the Hillary supporters will indeed move on and give their support to Obama. Or, will they still want to hold out, if for the simple reason that the Obama group will be basically telling them that they need to get over it.

This will still be an interesting election. It's all up to the Democrats what happens. Republicans know the odds are very much stacked against them. But if the Dems botch this one, it will surely have to go down as the most botched election of all time.

So, who will McCain choose as his running mate? Think how it would mix things up if he chose a woman. Would he do that? Probably not, but boy would that sure be an attention getter and an obvious ploy at snatching up the Hillary supporters.

VP Biden

Joe Biden was a good choice for Obama. He has a lot of experience in the Senate and is well respected on both sides. He also has the much needed experience in foreign policy and is a little more moderate. And, of course, he's also very articulate (chuckle chuckle).

Actually, his articulateness (did I just make that up?) has gotten him in trouble before. He'll keep things interesting. Much more exciting than Bayh, who really is quite bland and I didn't think the Democrats wanted a somewhat lightweight Hoosier senator after what they put Quayle through.

Volleyballers Win Gold. . .Lose some Endorsements

I stayed up late to watch our volleyballers take home the Gold against China. The matches were close (21-18 in both games) but I didn't think they were ever in danger of losing. They are just too good. When they had to spike it hard, they did so, but they also did very well with the "dink" shot.

I imagine that Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor could have some endorsements coming their way, although I think there are two groups that they won't be hearing from anytime soon. First of all, they thanked President Bush for his inspiration, so I imagine an appearance at next week's Democratic convention in Denver is out of the question. Secondly, they said the most important thing in their life right now was to have a baby. So, probably no calls coming anytime soon from the feminist groups.

Detached from the Political Scene

I had a very hectic week at work, followed by a busy church weekend with the Pulse Festival. I totally blanked out on remembering the Rick Warren forum that took place Sunday night. From the commentaries I've listened to, Obama did okay, but not great. Certainly no home run as might have been thought. As for McCain, he did much better than people might have expected.

I think the upcoming debates are going to be very, very interesting to watch. Next week is the Democratic show in Denver. That should be interesting too, especially finding out who the VP is. I wonder what thoughts will be running through John Edwards' mind as he now knows his political career is over and yet 4 years ago he was oh so close to being Vice President.

Roasting at the Pulse Fest

This weekend was the annual World Pulse Festival, which has become a HUGE Christian music festival in South Bend, topping out last year at 40,000 and probably had a lot more this year. Also, it was very, very hot. The festival itself was on Saturday, but the night before our church hosted a Pre-Pulse party for some churches from Michigan and for a couple in Ohio. The Ohio churches being those lead by Benjamin and Tom and Paula, so it was nice having them up here again this year.

We fed everyone pizza then had a road rally/scavenger hunt around town (Paula's team was the only one that got lost). This was followed by a concert by a group from northern Michigan called Outshined. The lead singer is the brother-in-law of our pastor's wife. This group is pretty good and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. At some point (I think) everyone actually went to bed. We housed everyone at the church and our youth building.

After breakfast Saturday morning, we headed over to the festival site. I had to work Saturday morning, so I couldn't go right away. By the time I got there, Mandisa was performing (the one from American Idol). She was pretty good, although I'm not crazy about the Gospel style she does, but she's a good performer. A group called C3 had already performed, although no one I talked to was all that crazy about them.

Mandisa was followed by Skillet. I like some of their stuff and they did a good job, I just wasn't overwhelmed. Kutless performed last year and has a similar style, but I liked them much better. The crowd wasn't all that much into it either.

What I was waiting for was the next act, Toby Mac. I'd never seemed him solo, but saw him twice when he was lead singer of DC Talk. That group was one of the best live acts I ever saw. As a solo artist, he didn't disappoint. Backed by the "Diverse City" band, they put on a wonderful show. Full of energy and a wide variety of rap, hip-hop and funk. The crowd was really energized by his performance and I'd love to see him again.

After that was Casting Crowns. Yeah right, like we're going to listen to this group after Toby Mac. We left before they even came on. I'm sure they did just fine.