Affirmation

Sorry to be a bad blogger again...this stupid "work" thing is really being a drag! Here is is past 1:00 and I am finally getting to today's post. That is patently unacceptable!

Despite being incredibly busy, I am really kind of fired up today. I got two different emails that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside:-). The first came to me through Papa Bear. The thing I did last week wasn't actually for our firm. We are consulting on another firm's deal, and I went out there as part of that project (there was one other guy from our firm, but he was doing something totally unrelated to what I was doing).

Because Papa Bear is somewhat protective of me, he was checking up and asked the other guy how I did. He wrote a super glowing review of me, which Papa Bear forwarded to me when he got it. It was full of all kinds of words like "sharp", "instinctive" and "effective interviewer", and that all made me feel really good. I like to feel like I am pulling my own weight:-). Maybe I am not as far overpaid as I usually think I am...

The second was from Munchkin's cousin who sent me a really nice note about what a fun stay she had, and of how happy she is for Munchkin and what a good spot she seems to be in. Since her father's family and I have sort of been at odds over the years (ok, very much at odds) it is really fulfilling to get a vote of confidence from one of them. She was amazed by her school...which, in truth, is a pretty amazing place...and just basically felt like she seemed like a really happy kid. That made me smile:-).

So those are my two feel-good notes for the day. On the downside, it is cold and rainy and just basically miserable outside. Spring will be here soon. Right? Won't it? Maybe?

Safe returns

So...I am back. Did you even notice I was gone? Maybe, if you read the post where I said I was leaving...

Where was I? Well, it turns out that I was extremely close to one of my very favorite bloggers. And in fact, may have been in the exact same hotel...I have to check with her on that. It was a work-related trip, which means very little fun was had at all. In fact, I worked a TON and other than a couple hours of compiling notes by the pool, did little that would even border on "leisure".

And now I am extremely happy to be home! I haven't slept in my own bed nearly enough in the last two weeks, and I am really exhausted. The Boy is coming over later on and has promised to make me dinner:-). That could well mean takeout, which is fine by me! Munchkin is hanging out with some friends all night.

We just took her cousin back to the airport, and I think they had a really nice visit. I am glad that she got to have some family out to show what she does with herself all the time! She brought her to school one day, took her to a couple of her favorite restaurants for dinner, and showed her what chicken finger Thursdays are all about:-).

And now I feel like I have nothing to share with you of note. How can that be? I have written like three posts in the last two weeks, I feel like I should have something to tell you that I haven't yet. But I really don't...am I that boring? I did manage to get through all 145 blog entries in my Reader, so maybe I just feel like all the good topics have been taken because I just read them all:-P.

Or possibly I just need some sleep! Hopefully I will be more creative tomorrow when I am well rested. And after I get laid, which I am also in dire need of...after a couple of days I start to get really agitated and fidgety. Five days is just plain unfair. So, Munchkin being out with her friends is gonna be convenient;-).

Well, Happy Saturday, I guess:-). Hope you didn't miss me too much!

Back to the grind

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter:-). Or, just a nice relaxing Sunday if Easter isn't your thing... I spent most of it with The Boy and his family, which I guess counts as mine now:-D. Nothing fancy, just his sister, her wife and the baby, plus an aunt and uncle and two cousins. There was much ham...

Munchkin's cousin is coming out for the week, which she is very excited about. I am, too...for a couple of reasons. First, I happen to like this cousin a lot (more than just about anyone else she is related to that I am not). Second, other than her brother, no one from her father's family has ever been out to visit her, so I am happy that someone else will get a little better idea of what she does all the time. Munchkin is going to skip her afternoon stuff on Tuesday and Wednesday (a flute lesson, a tennis practice and a play practice) so that they can hang out a bit. She loves showing people around...she is totally a city kid.

I am a basketball picking genius, or so I have been told. My selections of Western Kentucky and Davidson have turned out to be quite prescient, so I am winning the office pool. However, I have also been told that picking Western Kentucky to beat UCLA this week was maybe not the best idea. And that having Xavier and Wisconsin in the Final Four was not terribly bright...but we shall see. I wonder how much I win...?

I guess that's about it. I was gonna write some political thoughts, but those might have to wait until next week. A lot happened while I was gone last week, it seems...but I don't have time to opine right now. Well, I suppose I should get back to work...the first day back after vacation is always so hard!

Like taking candy from a bunny

Happy Easter everyone:-) We got home yesterday afternoon safe and sound, just in time for me to sneak out to the store, fill up and Easter basket with chocolaty goodness and hide it for Munchkin. I know she is getting a little bit old for this, but I am gonna do it as long as I can get away with it:-)

We had kinda of weird weather for most of the week. It was really nice...warm and sunny for the most part. But it was a little breezy and the waves were CRAZY huge. I guess there was a storm way out in the Atlantic or something and it made for some really crazy surf. So, really we couldn't go in the water much for a couple days, but that wasn't a huge deal.

Other than that, the whole week was awesome! Really relaxing, lots of fun...the island is really beautiful, and the house was spectacular. Munchkin and her friends were super easy, even without the swimming, they entertained themselves the whole time. OK, so maybe the cute boys from New York that took a liking to them captured their attention for most of the time.

Actually, totally randomly, the three of them met these four boys on like our second day there. They wanted to go over the their house for an afternoon, so I took them over to make sure that it was all copacetic, and ran into a guy I know through work. They were there with one of the kids parents and grandparents, and the grandfather is a guy that goes way back with Papa Bear and runs a similar firm to ours in New York. Small world, ain't it?

Anyway, now we are back to the grind, and I have a long week ahead of me. It is also still really cold and wintry here...seriously, this winter shit has GOTTA leave. Isn't it spring already here? Because it sure doesn't look like it to me...

I have to travel all week, which will be sort of a pain. I will be in the office all day Monday, and then have to fly out Tuesday morning and back on Friday. I would rather not turn around and go right out like this, but what can you do? The fact that I am grossly overpaid means that once in a while I have to put up with this shit. Ahh, well.

And, I have no idea whether Munchkin's cousin is coming out to stay with her this week or not...lol. I should probably get that figured out, eh? When I talked to her a week ago she was trying to see if she could get the time off from work, and I still have to talk to her and find out if she is coming. It is actually not a big deal...we either need to pick her up at the airport tomorrow night or Smoking Hot Roommate is on Munchkin duty for the week. Maybe with some help from Big Sis:-).

Today is Easter, and we are going to The Boy's parent's house for dinner. Well, me and him are...Munchkin is hanging with SHR and family. She is at church with Papa Bear right now, so I am safe in the knowledge that I will burn in hell only for ignoring Easter on my own, and not additionally for encouraging a minor to...

And that, I guess, is about all:-) Happy Easter.

Live from the BVI!!!

Good morning everyone...greetings from vacation!!!

I hope everyone is somehow managing to get along without me, I know it can be hard:-P. Things here are absolutely outstanding! The beach is gorgeous, the weather has been great, the house is magnificent and no one has had to go to a Mexican hospital yet...so we are already ahead of last year!

I think we are going to do a little exploring today or tomorrow. We are actually supposed to get some rain showers, so it is a good day to get off of the beach and try and see some stuff. We have basically just sat on the beach since we got here on Saturday and maybe it is time to broaden our horizons a bit...

Speaking of which...there is nothing better than leaving for a warm, sunny vacation while it is snowing, and Saturday fit the bill. It was a pretty miserable day! But we had no trouble getting out and got here without any difficulty at all. I hear that it is still very cold in Boston...

Did anyone do anything exciting for St. Patrick's day? Nothing really special here...I kind of forgot it was yesterday. Holidays that are meant for drinking shouldn't fall on Mondays...that really kills the whole plan. Well, it didn't have any effect on me, but on some other people I am sure it did. I actually feel kind of bad about skipping it...Munchkin is a lot more Irish than me (and her last name starts with O') so I feel like I should observe the day. I know, kind of a silly day, but whatever.

In much more important news, I have put a couple of pounds on (which, if you have followed here, is a massive struggle for me) and I feel like I look much better in a bikini. I actually almost have real, live, woman boobs! I was checking myself out in the mirror yesterday before I went to the beach, and I was pretty happy...by my standards, I look quite chesty! Of course, Munchkin still has bigger boobs than me, so I can't get too excited, but I still feel good about myself.

So, that's a really boring blog. Weather nice, house beautiful, boobs looking good...that about sums it up. I will try and check in later this week, but until then...have a great week!

Hey look...a picture!

I feel like I have fallen behind in my blog topics. I was going to write about having dinner with the school Moms on Tuesday evening, but then I had a post from Sunday that I had to write, and then yesterday I was crazy busy all morning and never got to write anything. And now I feel like a three day old dinner conversation has passed its blog expiration date.

I was gonna do that thing where you answer a bunch of questions in Flickr and then post the pictures... Brookem did it yesterday and I am not sure who she may have stolen it from:-). But I have neither the time nor the patience for it.

However, I did go ahead and enter my first name, and this was like the fourth picture down:

You get a big prize if you can figure that one out;-). For the few of you who actually do know my name, you probably can't even figure out the correlation (I am gonna go out on a limb and say that, amongst bloggers, maybe Aaron will get it...I doubt anyone else will). However, if you do guess right...send me and email and I will confirm that you are correct;-).

Chicken fingers last night, of course. I like that our Thursday plans are so routine that some of my friends sometimes stop by unannounced if they are nearby. They just know that we will be there:-).

I don't intend to do anything at work today...lol. At least I am setting expectations properly! It has been kind of a busy week, and I have just about everything I am working on at a neat cut-off point for vacation. I have some little things to tie up this morning, and then lunch with Boss Foxy. I am hoping that she is not too busy and that I can talk her into massages, but that may be a long-shot:-D. Totally worth a try, however!

I am also finding out that I may have to travel for a couple of days during the first week after we get back, which kinda sucks. I don't like the idea of getting home, then getting right back on a plane two days later, but what can you do? Contrary to my wishes, they do not pay me simply to look cute in a suit...although that may be somewhere in my job description, I am not quite sure. More pressing is that I would need to come up with some child-care solutions. Munchkin can almost certainly stay with Smoking Hot Roommate or Big Sis (or they could come stay with her) but I am also call some of our aunts and cousins in Chicago and see if anyone wants to come out for a couple days to visit. A couple of them have said recently that they would like to do that, so maybe that would work, too.

But never mind all of that...it's vacation time! This never-ending winter just makes the idea of a beach all the better. I am definitely in need of some warm weather and sunshine...I am a flower and I need to bloom:-D. Munchkin's two friends are staying over (more on that in a moment) and we are getting out of the house hopefully by 7:00 tomorrow. I have to make sure they get to bed early so they are not totally useless in the morning. The good news is that they will be packed and the car loaded before they go to bed, so they just have to get up and go.

Before that, however, we have this little ditty. Munchkin called me at work yesterday and asked if she could have a handful of friends over tonight to eat pizza and watch movies. She said like 6-7 people, and then everyone would go home except for the two girls coming with us tomorrow. Fine with me...I don't think The Boy will mind babysitting with me, we weren't going out anyway. Oh...only thing is, there are boys coming.

Which kinda makes me feel like the kiddie police now...lol. Munchkin does not currently have a boyfriend, but a couple of her friends do, and I feel like it becomes kind of my responsibility to make sure they aren't just having a three hour long make-out session. (Did I really just use the phrase "make out session"? Yea, I think I did...you have a problem with that?).

Which means I will have to be a little more visible, I guess. I will probably sit down and watch with them for a while, and then maybe I will do some things like cleaning the kitchen or making them cookies or something, just so I am sort of there. We will put this on the list of things that are way easier as sister than mother...Maybe Jordan or SJM would like to chime in one what would happen if Mom wanted to hang out with the pre-teens and watch movies;-) But I can totally get away with it.

Anyway, I am sure The Boy will be happy to hear all of this...lol. I am just positive that he woke up this morning thinking about how much he wanted to do that tonight:-D. I have a feeling he will suddenly rather meet up with some friends for a drink:-P.

So, that is about it, I guess. I don't know if or how much I will check in next week...probably once or twice. Happy St. Patrick's Day! And, fill out your NCAA brackets, too...I am going to have to email mine...who is good this year?

Until then, try and get along without me!!!

Families

I find that I write about family a lot, which is either odd because of, or totally explained because of, my own bizarre family situation. If I am going to self-psychoanalyze, I would have to acknowledge that I think about family and the importance of a familial support structure more than most people do, just because I have always so badly wanted one. Actually, my therapist told me that...I didn't think of it on my own:-P (I am quoting her a lot these days...albeit sometimes indirectly through song lyrics!).

And usually when I write about relatives, it is in kind of a negative light. I barely knew my father, never got along with my mother and have had plenty of other issues with my more extended family. I have been sued by them (well, not really...I was sued by Munchkin's father's family, which I am not technically related to) and have seen them steal a large portion of the money left to a little girl by her dead parents. There are several of them that I refuse to be in the same room as (those would be the thieves) and several that I don't speak with (the suers).

For most of my life, this is how I interacted with and thought of "family". Family were people that you were forced to deal with, but who consistently let you down at every chance they got. And when they couldn't let you down, they did their best to hold you down.

It is a measure of how much that has changed for me in the last few years that the following comments showed up on Monday:

...you have an amazing family!

I think your whole family is awesome, both the "pretend" ones, and the blood ones...

...family - its the one thing we just can't do without! if i had met someone in high school that had to stop by his baby cousins birthday - i would have given it up for sure.

Awesome stuff! It's so great when you can connect with the people you love like that.


The fact is that I view family in an entirely different light now than I ever did as a kid. I have discovered an entire half of my family that is warm, and supportive and loving and all of the things that a family should be. And maybe I have a little more tolerance for the toxic ones, too (1,000 miles of fresh air helps with that.)

I wish I had known my father's family all along, but I am happy to have found them now. And more than that, I am happy that my dear little Tinkerbelle will get to know them for so much longer than I did. Imagine how cool it would be to discover at age 7 that you are not an only child with one cousin, but that you have an older sister and an entire brigade full of older cousins, aunts and uncles that love you, dote on you and show up at your birthday parties:-). She is definitely the baby of the family, and all of our relatives are ecstatic to have her around to spoil!

And that doesn't even get into my pretend family. Turns out, you don't actually have to be related to someone to think of them as a relative, or to love them like one. It would be kinda obvious to note that Munchkin is lucky to have people who treat her like family during some very formative years. What also should be noted is that I am not too old to benefit from the support, advice, love and comfort that comes from having a family. Even a pretend one;-).

So what is my point..."family is good". Not exactly earth shattering. I think my point is that for kids, family is everything. Dysfunctional families harm adults, but their effect on children is much worse. Kids need their family to teach them about trust, love, responsibility and all sorts of other moral lessons they can't learn otherwise. It is very easy to get so busy or self-absorbed that you lose track of the little people in your life that need, or could use, influencing. We would all be better off if we sometimes stop, think about it, and do something to remind kids what families are good for.

There, soapbox speech complete:-)

On scandal

I assume everyone has heard about Eliot Spitzer by now. If not, he is the Governor of New York who rose to prominence as Attorney General by being a very effective fighter against corruption in areas that the government had always had a hard time reaching...mostly financial markets. He won big precedent setting admissions of guilt from mutual fund market timers, brokerages with tainted research and insurance brokers getting kickbacks from underwriters. His m.o. was not to fight every battle, but to fight the highest profile one and let the repercussions teach everyone else a lesson. And for the most part, he was very effective in that role.

He also, as has been noted today, broke up some prostitution rings along the way. He took the fame he won by battling some of the most unpopular people alive and turned it into a landslide victory for Governor and a clear spot as one of the Democratic party's future stars. He was absolutely considered someone who would run for President some day.

In addition, he is an heir to a massive family fortune and has a lovely wife and three beautiful kids. So why, we are all left to wonder, was he paying $5000 to transport a hooker across state lines to keep him company? (For my foreign readers...most crimes become much more serious when they go across state lines, and this is one of them...it goes from soliciting a prostitute to something closer to "human trafficking", not to mention all of the Federal Wire crimes for moving the money. Anywho.)

Personally, I think it is arrogance. And, given his personal reputation as being one of the most pompous asses to ever live, that seems to fit. I think there is just a part of him that wants to feel like, not only can he take down the most powerful people in the country, but that he is even more important than they are, because he can get away with these things. How else to explain the fact that he used his personal bank account, transferred money electronically, used his own cell phone and expensed the travel as part of his regular duties? Remember, he once made a really smug statement about the things criminals should not do if they don't want to get caught, and he openly did many of those very things.

Growing out of the arrogance is just a complete self-absorption that shows up in dragging his wife onto the stage with him for his press conference. Seriously, why do politicians do this? Who told them it makes them look good to have their family behind them? It doesn't...it makes him look like even more of an asshole. What, it wasn't bad enough that you have broken every promise that you should have made to her and your kids, but now you want to humiliate her by making her stand there and look like the fool you just made her for? I don't understand why he would want her there, and I don't understand why she would want to be there (unless she is simply waiting for her attorneys to iron out how this affects the pre-nup...)

I actually had a really nice post about family and some related things planned for today, which maybe I will write tomorrow...but this was top-of-mind, so it got my blog-tention. Not really a story that affects anyone dramatically, but it seems to be a growing pattern amongst our elected officials, and I can't believe that this will be the last case.

On a totally unrelated note...the Catholic Church added seven new sins yesterday. It took them like 1,500 years, but they have updated their list. So now...drug use and genetic manipulation are out. However, sexually molesting little boys still seems to be a-ok, which works out pretty well for much of the clergy...

Where is spring?

It's Sunday night, Munchkin is sleeping and I'm enjoying the sofa, a blanket and a glass of wine. I am a little ticked that Rock of Love and The Girls Next Door are inexplicably not on tonight, but I will get over it. The Boy brought me flowers for absolutely no reason tonight, so I am in a pretty good mood, even without the trashy TV. And Munchkin and Smoking Hot Roommate made dinner:-).

I had an absolutely awesome visit with Tinkerbelle! Her Mom told her that she had offered a friend from work a ride home from the airport, and that they were going to pick her up. So, she had no idea I was coming right up until I saw her at the airport:-). She was so excited that she started crying, which made me cry, and that made her Mom cry...so yes, we were quite the sight.

She basically led me around by the hand for the rest of the day, which was really cute. Her party was adorable, and she made me talk to every one of her friends:-). I met them all when I went to school with her last year, but she wanted to re-introduce me.

I think my favorite part is that pretty much all of our cousins came by. There are 17 cousins, and the first 16 are between 15 and 28 year old...she is the youngest by 6 years. And, not having met any of them until a year ago, it would seem to be pretty hard for her to actually be a part of the family. But her cousins and aunts and uncles absolutely adore her, and they all go WAAAY out of their way to make her feel like she is part of the family.

That includes coming to her birthday party:-). Including the 18-21 year old boys who should be way too cool for that sort of thing. I have to be honest, one of them was out on a date, and stopping by could have been simply a means of impressing the girl. Because let's be honest ladies, you'd be pretty impressed if you were on a date at age 19, and the guy said "I hate to be a pain, but I really want to stop by my little cousin's birthday. She is new to the family, and it would mean a lot to her". Heck, that would have made me put out...lol. (Not that that bar is really very high...)

Anyway, her party was fun, and we went shopping afterwards and had some fun. I caught up with the BFF's for a bit in the evening, then hung out with Tinkerbelle all morning and then came home. The flights were pretty rough on each end, which was kind of a pain, but that was the only complication. Lottsa weather floating around between here and Chicago, and it made for a bumpy ride. I did, however, manage to hold my stomach;-).

Munchkin and SHR decided to get dressed up and go out for martinis, which is cute in spite of the obvious likelihood to turn her into a full-blown alcoholic by age 16;-). As long as she still considers cranberry juice and 7up to be a martini so long as it comes in a fancy glass, I think I am OK... Other than that, I think they had a generally silly visit with each other. Munchkin's lucky to have pretend sisters like that:-).

I guess that is about all. I don't think the week will be too busy, but I may end up kinda swamped in getting ready to leave on vacation. Hopefully not...and hopefully the same for the rest of you, too!

Sislings

The title of this post is the imaginary word that my two sisters have made up to refer to each other. They aren't actually related at all, but since they share a half sister (me:-D) they have coined a new word for their relationship. I think its cute!

I am really excited to go to Chicago this weekend:-). It was kind of a spur of the moment decision, but now I am totally fired up. It is gonna be a quick trip...I will hopefully only be out of town for about 36 hours, but it should do the trick! Another big special thanks to Smoking Hot Roommate for taking babysitting duty for the day...I know she genuinely likes doing it, but it is still a HUGE help that I am very grateful for. I could have brought Munchkin with me, but she has some social engagements she didn't want to miss;-).

Also, I am suddenly TOTALLY fired up for vacation in two weeks. Munchkin's spring break is the week after next, and we are going to Tortola for the week! She has been, but I have not...which will allow me to start crossing off places she has been that I haven't. Much like last year, this is gonna be a big "family" trip...SHR, Big Sis and all of the boys. Actually, the same two friends that came with Munchkin are coming again (well, at least one...the other girl's Mom told me that her Grandfather is really, really sick, so she may not be able to come) so it is a virtual redux, only with less Spanish!

The house we are staying in is a little smaller than the one in Mexico last year, but it should still be great. I have never seen it, but SHR and Big Sis promise plenty of room, and immediate beach access...that's all I need! And my plan is to do, well, very little. I am going to enjoy the warmth and the sun and the ability to be outside in a bathing suit...heaven! Our little trip to Florida last month has just barely held me over...(Cindy is another warm weather gal who was complaining about being cold the other day and gets a virtually snooty hand gesture from those of us in cold places!)

I SOOOO wish Tinkerbelle could come, and next year I am really going to try and do something with her on her school vacation. I think Disney World would be best:-). Two years ago Munchkin and I did Disney for a couple days and then the beach for a couple days, and that would probably be a really good idea. Unfortunately, she gets a week in February and a week in April, while Munchkin has a more traditional Spring Break in March. So their winter vacations never line up...too bad, I would love to go away somewhere with the two of them. I suppose I could do it during the summer sometime.

Seriously, who is a better big sister than me?

Blogs, Spices and Belles

On the politics front, Aaron sent me this little ditty. It's John McCain's daughter's blog, which raises a couple of comments..."John McCain has a daughter?" is kind of first on that list;-). There are some neat behind-the-scenes pictures and stuff, too. If you were trying to guess what his kids look like, you probably would have pictures something else...

But the big news of the day, obviously, is Project Runway. I am happy that Christian won, but I really think I would have been OK with any of the three of them. I would be much more likely to buy something from either Rami or Jillian, but Christian is probably the most visionary of the three. My only problem with Christian is that he really seems to only know how to make clothes for women that are 5' 10", 120 lbs... I will be interested to see if he makes anything that is remotely wearable for regular women. He won the right to sell through Bluefly...anyone know when that might be?

Other thoughts: I loved Rami's evening dresses, and Jillian's coats and sweaters...I feel like those were their strengths. Tim Gunn continues to be my largest crush on a gay man...I love him! Posh Spice is not looking so hot these days...kinda plasticy and fake. Her husband, however, continues to be absolutely gorgeous! So she has got that going for her;-).

I am taking a last minute trip to Chicago this weekend. I think I am gonna leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday and come back Sunday. The reason? Why...to go to Tinkerbelle's birthday party, of course! He birthday is Tuesday, but her Mom is having a party for her on Saturday, and I wanna go:-). We are not gonna tell her I am coming, so it will be a surprise, which she will hopefully enjoy as much as I will. I think I am going alone, although there is a chance that Munchkin and/or The Boy will come, too.

And that is about all I have for you today. I spend two hours at lunch yesterday with Boss Foxy, so I have a little catching up to do, but not a ton. It should be a pretty slow day. And then chicken fingers:-).

Zzzzzzzz

Friday, Monday and half of yesterday were totally nuts...I had all kinds of work to do. I spent a ton of time in meetings, on the phone and compiling notes and observations into memo format for the big bosses to digest. Complicating this was that I was up really early Saturday morning, and got almost no sleep Saturday night.

The upshot of that? I was exhausted when I got home yesterday. Munchkin and I had cheeseburgers for dinner (yum!) and then I curled up on the sofa to watch TV and she took up a spot at the other end of the same sofa to do her homework. It is one of our idiosyncrasies...we have two couches and a big chair in the living room, but we always sit on the same couch when we are in there.

I think I made it until about 8:30. I definitely remember The Biggest Loser starting, and some early election results...but I fell sound asleep pretty quickly after that. Next thing I knew, I looked at the clock and saw that it was 4:15 am, I had magically acquired my pillow and two blankets; the TV was off, and Munchkin was in her pajamas and sound asleep laying in the opposite direction on the sofa:-). She says she didn't want to wake me up, so she tucked me in, and herself in with me...how cute is she?

The good news is that I am very well-rested today! I didn't catch much election coverage, but it was certainly an eventful evening. And a lot of the analysis seems to be a little bit off the mark. Sure, she had an unquestionably great day, but she still has a hugely uphill battle, and I can't see how she would pull it off without something that would cause a huge outrage in the party...but she is at least alive still.

Of course, he hasn't had to do any real fighting so far, and now that he does, maybe he isn't as glossy as he seems. He did NOT react well yesterday to some relatively moderate criticism, and there will be a lot more of that to come. The story seems to be that her aggressiveness helped this week, which means we will see more of it in the weeks and months to come.

This is all probably good news for McCain. The Democrats are now almost certain to continue to pummel each other until late April, spending massive amounts of time, energy and money. And if Clinton ends up winning a couple more races, this could remain contentious all the way until the convention. It is tough to win in November if you come out of a messy convention. They will also do damage to each other (like her statement yesterday about having experience while he has "a speech he gave in 2002"). McCain will be able to stay above the fray, raise money, and prepare for the fall.

Of course, I have been wrong on a whole lot so far...lol...so I am probably wrong about this, too!

I'm still alive, I promise:-)

I am dreadfully sorry for being so lax in my blogging duties...I have been incredibly busy and have barely had a moment to breath! But, I am pretty much past the crunch of one work-related thing, so I can check in now. Actually, it has been a really interesting couple of days work-wise.

I have been meeting with a whole bunch of executives and board members at a company that we have been looking at. My job is to kinda snoop around a bit and find out what the real power and authority structure is like (i.e., which overpriced executives can be let go without any real impact on the company because they don't do anything worthwhile.) And this place has a really interesting structure. The COO runs the place, and as best I can tell, the other four members of the Senior Management team are all basically extraneous. Interesting.

Anyway...the weekend was awesome! Very busy, and I am very tired, but it was a lot of fun. Munchkin did really well in her basketball tournament, and we had a really fun road trip to get there and back. She cracks me up:-). I took The Boy out for dinner (belated birthday) on Saturday night, and he stayed over and we did all kinds of dirty things that I am not gonna tell you about:-P.

I wish I had more time to cover today's primaries, but I don't really. Nutshell: I loved the Jack Nicholson ad, but Clinton is dead. Her only hope at this point is something really unforeseen (like winning all of the races today.) She is just too far behind to catch up at this point without the help of something catastrophic to his campaign.

Sorry for the rushed post...work calls. I will be wordier tomorrow, I promise!