Obama 08!

Ok, first let me admit that I am a total skeptic when it comes to our elected officials. I have a hard time believing that it really matters just who gets elected--nothing is really going to change, and unless you are a billion-dollar corporation, politicians don't give a hoot what you think or what you care about. But for some reason, this election season has changed my mind. For some strange reason I am feeling very positive about the potential for change and a new direction for America. I do like Hillary Clinton for reasons I can not exactly pinpoint. But I like Barack Obama a whole lot and I am throwing my hopes for the future behind him.

(A collective gasp rises from the ranks of the Evangelicals)

I know, I know, I'm a Christian. I'm supposed to vote for one of the underwhelming Republican candidates, right? Because for all we've been told, Jesus would be a Republican, right? If we elect a Democrat, what might he do? Make abortion legal? (Oh,wait, it already is) Give gays the right to marry ?(Because we Christians certainly have marriage all figured out) Legalize stem-cell research? (And give hope to all those suffering from a variety of incurable diseases, how awful!) I mean, what sort of terrible things will befall this "Christian" nation if a Democrat is President?

Well, first of all, I refuse to accept the long-standing view that we are a Christian nation. Anyone who has studied, really studied, American history knows that our Founding Fathers were not fundamentalist evangelicals. They were marginally Christian, mainly because they weren't Jewish or Muslim or anything else. And I'd say this is true for most people in America who call themselves "Christian" today--they don't necessarily have a "born again", personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I lived 15 years of my life calling myself a Christian because, well, I wasn't an atheist and I wasn't anything else and I went to a Christian church, but it didn't really impact who I was up to that point. But America is not Christian, I mean we are not a theocracy and we wouldn't want to be! Has anyone read stories of how the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, or other theocratic governments? Do we want people making laws about how short our skirts should be, or what we can read or what music we can listen to?

If this is the case, if America is not truly a "Christian" nation, then how do we Evangelical, born again Christians think we can impose our moral views on people who are not Christians, who do not believe the things we believe about God? Do I believe abortion is wrong? Yes. I would not have one, and I would encourage people I know and love to pursue other options. But do I believe that I can force a woman who does not believe in the Bible, who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to also believe that abortion is wrong? That is just not possible! But if I am really serious about my relationship with Christ, and really serious about seeing his work done in the world, then instead of just politically pursuing anti-abortion legislature, I will sit down with that woman and pray for her and with her and try to get her to pursue other options. Not by waving a bloody fetus in her face, not by telling her she's going to hell for having an abortion, not by only voting for a Republican.

And gay marriage--do I believe homosexuality is sinful? Absolutely, and I believe that churches who downplay the Bible's classification of it as "an abomination" are delusional. But what about the 50% of Christian marriages that end in divorce? What about the abuse, the adultery, the lying and hating that goes on in so-called "Christian" marriages? Isn't that an abomination as well? Is that what God had in mind when He instituted marriage? Is that what the Republicans are trying to protect? Do I think this means gays should be allowed to marry? I don't know, but until we as Christians get our own acts together and get off our moral high horse, we should just shut up. "Oh, oops, hey sorry, I can't see so well--oof--see, I've got this big old-ow!-stick in my eye. Oh, hey, is that a speck in yours? Hey, let me get that for you!"

The whole stem cell thing is baffling to me except that it comes from the anti-abortion thing, but are you telling me that an undeveloped embryo is more valuable in the sight of God than an individual (and their family) suffering from an incurable illness? This line of thinking just seems backwards to me.

SO--I am bucking the trend (and hopefully lots of other Christians are too) and voting Democrat this year. And I am pulling for Barack Obama. Say he's inexperienced, say he's naive (say you won't vote for him because he's black and you're just ignorant) but tell me he doesn't offer a breath of fresh air from the implosion we've had in America the last 8 years. For the first time I really care about what happens in the caucuses, the primaries. For the first time I actually care who I will vote for, instead of just saying "oh, whoever, it doesn't matter". For the first time I feel a sense of hope (and no, I haven't even read his book) when I listen to him, read about him, hear his words. Maybe I'm wrong and he'll be an unqualified disaster. But this is AMERICA people! There are checks and balances, Congress, millions of rational, intelligent citizens and we're not about to just let this country get run into the ground. I feel ready to put a sticker on my car, wear a t-shirt, join up something to support him, which is just crazy because before I could've cared less. I hope that means that others like me are caring too, whether they vote for Obama or McCain or Hillary or whoever--I am praying (yes, praying!) that this election will really MEAN something, and that CHANGE, that word that is being thrown around like crazy, will actually come. And hopefully, some of that change will come in the form of Christians starting to care about things other than abortion and gay marriage. That we will care about the poor, about those who have no health insurance, about good relations with other countries, (as opposed to bombing them into submission). And that we will realize that no one was ever saved by having someone wave pictures of aborted fetuses in their face, or hearing someone screaming "God hates fags!" at them. Is that really how we want to be known, to be remembered? Is that really what Jesus would've done? Jesus was so a-political! And yet we want to make him the poster child for Republican America.

So go Obama! Let's see if we can turn this ship around and head in a different, in a better direction. Then let's see what God can do with us and through us as Americans. We have so much at our disposal, so many blessings, and a great responsibility, not just as Christians but as Americans. We need a leader who can help us live up to those things. And I think that person is Barack Obama.

Grace and peace to all, Republican, Democrat or other!

Favorite workout songs

I am not much for working out. I never have been, I much prefer playing a team sport to exercising alone. But over the past 2 years I have learned to like running and exercising a lot more, and much of that is due to the technology of the MP-3 player. My ipod is one of the best gifts I've ever gotten, I can't imagine why anyone would want to drag around a walkman anymore. It's like having a humongous (sp?) mix tape at my disposal that I can play around with whenever I want and don't have to wait for the dual cassette player to dub my songs.

Anyway, if I didn't listen to music I wouldn't exercise. If I get to the gym and I've forgotten my ipod, or the battery is dead, I will turn around and go home. But some music is better than others (duh) for working out to and I thought I'd make a quickie top ten of my current favorites to run to, or whatever. When these songs come on I definitely work harder. So here they are, in no particular order:

1) Kickstart my Heart: Motley Crue
the title says it all and this song will get me running faster even if I'm pooping out.
2) Stronger: Britney Spears
Looking at Britney today I wonder what happened to the girl who wrote this song.
3)Galvanize: The Chemical Brothers
Great techno beat and the lyrics are geared towards making you push yourself.
4)Home: Marc Broussard
The beat is perfect for running to
5)Killing in the Name of
6)Guerrilla Radio
7)Know Your Enemy: All by Rage Against the Machine
If you can handle lots of the F-word (which for some reason really gets me going) there is no
better work out music than Rage.
8)Harder to Breathe: Maroon 5
The only Maroon 5 song I've never gotten sick of. Like "Home" it's got a great rythym (for
some reason I can't remember how to spell that!) for pacing your run.
9)(Rock)Superstar: Cypress Hill
The music builds to a great climax and pushes you to go faster
10)This is How a Heart Breaks: Rob Thomas
I saw this song done as an NBA montage--I love montages--and again, it just gets you
pumped up.

So, this will probably change a month from now, but if you're looking for some music to "kickstart" your workout, here's a good place to start!

Respect the Ticket Office!

Ok, so my husband works in college athletics, in the athletic ticket office. He has been a part of 3 major D-1 universities, as well as an MLB ticket office. Currently he is applying for a job which would be a considerable "step up" professionally. One of his concerns, however, is that the person leaving the job which he is applying for says that the rest of the athletic department has little regard for the ticket office. What else is new, I say.



In all the places we've been, the ticket office is the "low man on the totem pole", so to speak. It's probably one of the least glamorous and most thankless positions in the multi-million dollar world of athletics. But this is inappropriate and insulting, to say the least. If anything, the ticket office should be regarded as one of the most important pieces in the larger puzzle of giving fans a quality experience, regardless of the level of play, and I'll tell you why:



The ticket office is the front lines of customer service. When fans want something, when they are angry or upset or happy or whatever, they can't just call the coach or the AD or the owner or whoever. What number is out there for all to see, printed on all the team's literature, posted all around the arenas and stadiums? The ticket office. So not only do they deal with ticketing issues, people call bitching and moaning about all kinds of things, most of which have NOTHING to do with tickets! They complain about the coaches most of all, but any number of issues may cross their minds and they just have to tell someone, and the easiest people to get a hold of is the ticket office.



Add to this the challenge of making thousands of fans happy with their seats and you have a job that deals largely with trying to soothe and placate aggravated customers. You would not believe some of the jokers that call the ticket office and the complaints they have. My husband and his staff have been called idiots and worse, have been told that the whole lot of them ought to be fired, and been told that "monkeys" could do their jobs better. Fantastic!



Now this is not to say that my husband and other ticket manager-types don't screw up on occasion, because of course they are human. But an inordinate number of the issues he has to deal with on a daily basis either 1) have nothing to do with tickets at all or 2) have something to do with the bone-headed-ness (is that a word?) of the customer. This fall he got a call from an irate season ticket holder who was complaining about his seats being changed. Now, the first thing to note is that he was moved ONE row CLOSER to the field. The second thing is that his seats were changed THREE YEARS AGO. This was the first time he'd gotten around to complaining. Are you kidding me??? This is just one example of the crazy people who pester my husband and his staff every day.



This fall the Colorado Rockies made it to the World Series (in case you hadn't noticed) and there was a big to-do about the ticket sales. The local news and newspapers were filled with quotations from outraged fans who seemed to think that the ticket office was out to get them and keep them from getting to the games. Most of the points they tried to make were absolutely ludicrous, since they really don't know what they are talking about. In their eyes, they wanted tickets and were unable to get any, so it must be those idiots in the ticket office. Never mind the fact that there are a limited number of tickets to begin with, and not everyone who wants them is going to get them! People were saying "it's not fair, I'm a true fan, so I should get first priority." Well, guess what? A TRUE fan is a season ticket holder, and season ticket holders DO get first dibs on post-season tickets!

In addition, each place we've been I have encountered a sense of snobbery when it comes to "who's who" in the athletic department. Of course the coaches and the AD are the part of the "popular crowd", if you will. Everyone in town wants a piece of them, wants to be associated with them, wants to be their best bud. But mention that your husband is the Ticket Manager at one of those athletic department parties and you get that look that says "oh, he's on the math team!" (I'm using high school analogies if you hadn't figured that out.) But who does everyone call when they want something? The ticket manager! You want free tickets, you want better seats--then you want to know him! The coaches, the AD, business people in town--they all have my husband's number. So let's give a guy his due and stop treating him like a doormat!

Anyway, that's my little rant sticking up for my guy. And the hundreds like him around the country who work their butts off at every game and get very little in the way of acknowledgement. And remember, the next time you want tickets to something, you'll get a lot better service if you're not a jerk to the people in the ticket office!

Supermom I'm not

This morning I put on a Baby Einstein video for my 2 1/2 year old, per her request. It was a good time to get the dishwasher emptied and clean up the kitchen from breakfast. Even though it's an "educational" video, and it's only a half an hour, I still felt guilty plunking her in front of a show to get something done. It's certainly not the only time I have done this--I mean, I would hardly get a shower if it weren't for Nick Jr, Sprout, etc. I try to limit how much tv my kids watch, and compared to a lot of people I know, they don't watch a whole lot. Some days they don't watch any tv or videos. But why do I still feel guilty? Why do I feel bad leaving them to play on their own while I make dinner, etc?

We have a college student living with us this year, right now she's on the "Daniel fast", which basically means she is eating all natural, non-processed foods. It amazes me how much effort and time she puts into making a meal for just herself. The other night it took her over 3 hours to make red beans and rice from scratch! Aside from the cost of buying organic or natural stuff, I wonder just how people with kids do the same thing. One of her friends who is also doing this fast has 3 kids too, one of them only 8 weeks old! I love the show "Jon and Kate plus 8" and I know they cook natural, organic stuff. I just do not know how this is accomplished. Sometimes it's all I can do to throw some chicken nuggets in the microwave and open a can of green beans.

I do a lot of chores around the house while the kids are asleep. My oldest is in school all day, and the two younger ones nap in the afternoon, plus they are all in bed by 7 pm. Bathroom cleaning, floor cleaning, etc--I do all that while they are asleep. But somethings are all day tasks--laundry, cleaning up from meals, preparing meals--and I feel guilty for doing this while my kids are awake and playing by themselves. I still do it, but there is a great conflict within me. I know kids need to learn to entertain themselves, and not to be the center of the universe. But it still nags at me when I'm putting them off because I have to wash dishes or vacuum or whatever. Then I think of families in pioneer days, who didn't have time for leisure like we do, because everything was made from scratch, and the animals had to be fed and the crops planted and the clothes hand made--and then I just feel lazy! I can't win!

Sometimes I feel like certain moms just do things to make themselves look good and make other moms feel bad about themselves. If I'm honest with myself I do it too, like the fact that my kids sleep so well and are in bed so early and everyone says "oh, I can never get my kids to bed early!" What, are you kidding me? Who's the parent here? It makes me feel pretty good about myself when I tell people, "oh, my kids are asleep already" and they are so impressed. Which is totally ridiculous, because I hate it when other moms do the same thing to me when talking about their organic meals or the fact that their kids never watch tv or they had their babies without epidurals or whatever. Why are we moms always trying to one-up each other?

This isn't really going anywhere, but that's ok. I suppose it's just one of those things that is part of human nature and we're always going to do this to one another. I guess we just have to remember that we are all doing the best job we can (hopefully) and to give ourselves a break if we throw on "The Wonder Pets" while we're feeding hot dogs to the baby and paying the bills and trying to brush our teeth! This isn't a competition after all, right? It's just life and life is hard enough without having to compare ourselves to everyone else.

Let's get started, shall we?

Well, here we are, it's 2008. My husband set up this blog for me as a Christmas gift. I think that means that I must have something meaningful to say at least some of the time. Or perhaps everyone is just sick of getting my long, rambling emails about various topics. I'd like to think that maybe I do have something meaningful to say, but who knows.

I used to be a big journal-er. Starting in high school, through college and beyond I would write and write and write...I had my entire cedar chest full of those fabric-backed, colorful books. I used to think that someday in the future my stash of writing would be found and it would offer some great insight into life in the late 20th century, like it would be some great historical find. Then about 5 years ago I was looking through them and realized that there was no merit, historical or otherwise, in keeping that crap around! I was so embarassed by the bullshit that was in there! All that stupid stuff you go through in your teens and twenties, and I didn't want ANYONE to ever read them. Not ever. I didn't even want to read it again. So I threw them all away. Everyone was so appalled, "how could you throw that away! don't you want to share it with your kids?" NO THANKS!!! They have a bird's eye view on how crazy their mom is, they don't need to read the history of how it all came to be! So they are somewhere decomposing in a North Carolina dump, God willing.

But I have always had the urge to write, and so here I am, in the new age of journaling. I have no idea if what I have to say is of any value to anyone besides myself, but isn't most of what we do self-centered anyway? At any rate I won't be bugging anyone else with long, involved emails anymore. So here goes--grace and peace to all who may read this!
Jen