Sorely Disappointed

I was originally going to write about a family Christmas experience from my child hood, but something came up this week end that troubles both of us.

One of our daughters had several friends over last nite for a bit of cheer. Over all it was a pleasant evening with one notable exception.

While listening to the chit chat going on between the young adults the topic of who was doing what on graduation came up. One of their social circle who was not present, has opted for military service. My daughter floored me when she condemned this person for "supporting a bankrupt Bush policy" Could our daughter really be that foolish?

She can.

We knew when we sent her to school in Wisconsin that it was an extremely liberal school and that it would probably influence her thinking. Exposure to differing view points is healthy mental exercise and the only way we can truly establish opinions as our own. As we dug into it, it became apparent that she was parroting what she had been hearing and not really thinking about it.

We had a long discussion about those who serve versus those who set policy. I hope she now understands that those who choose to serve in the military are ultimately serving us and not an administration. By long tradition and law, the military does not make policy but is subject to direction from the civilian authorities we elect. If we do not like the policy, it is our fault as the electorate, not those who have chosen to serve.

However we feel about the Bush administration policy, it is wrong to condemn those who serve. It was despicable when this happened during Viet Nam. I would have hoped we learned better by now. It appears we have not.

They deserve our respect and our gratitude.

Best of the New Year to you all! I will be off until the 30th.

White Bread

I am back from OZ (Southern California) and as always it seems I learn something new and mostly odd about my family. Growing up in a very middle class neighborhood in Southern California, I always thought we were your fairly typical White, Anglosaxon, Latino, German, French, Danish, Indian family. We were 4 kids, all close in age, living with our married parents going to school with other kids like us. Well, according to the OH we were not typical.(Hey! How was a girl to know?? It seemed normal to me!!) After meeting and getting to know the in-laws I started to feel like my family was big time disfunctional. It took me a while to realize the OH's family would make the Cleavers AND the Andersons look like refugees from a soap opera. After that realization I felt much better.

Any way, good news from California! Dad is DATING!!! woooo hooooo..... Considering he is 78, he Rocks!!

Going Home

Tomorrow I will be flying to the left coast to spend a few days with Dad. I do this every few months but I always have some trepidation about it. First, I really HATE crowds and Southern California is wall to wall people. Second and probably the biggest reason is that it is not where I grew up. Instead of finding a comfortable sense of familiarity with it, I find a discordancy when the present does not match up to the memories.

You really can't go home. Why do we keep trying?

Marital Misfortune?

The Star Tribune published an interesting article titled "Marital Misfortune".

It begins by discussing the break up of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe (I know, I am crushed about that and the break up of Pam and Kid Rock..... *L*). It lays the break up on Reese's career and earnings eclipsing Ryan's. This is cited as a common cause for marital strain. The article launches into a discussion of how the split in house hold earnings can affect the stability of the relationship.

I honestly do not undertand it. The OH is teacher. It is a poorly paying career and it is no surprise that working in engineering/sales my earning have greatly eclipsed the OH's. It has forced us to make some odd choices over the years in regards to our marital roles. Some how we have survived these trials with no major problems. We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary next month and there does not appear to be a divorce on the horizon. If so many marriages fail because of this, why is ours still viable?

Could it be that we both knew this would likely be the case when we married? Is it related to that little "P" on the lab report pushing us into decision making before we had a chance to think? Does it have anything to do with the fact that I have (and express) a tremendous amount of respect for any one that has the dedication and skills to be a good teacher? Would it be different if we were talking $millions$?

I don't have the answer as why it has worked for us. I do know that with the rise of women in the workforce and the slow equalization of earnings, this will become a more common scenario in the coming decades. Will the next generation deal with it better than us?

mmmmmm, Ryan's kind of hot.... I wonder if he likes older women?