Is that a Pinecone on Your Chair?

Tonight Danika and I watched President Obama address Congress. I thought his speech was well written and well spoken, but I left with a question: Does Nancy Pelosi have hemorrhoids or was there a pine cone on her chair which kept her from staying seated? Or maybe her chair was spring loaded? Or she has been watching The Biggest Loser and was secretly doing her squats? It appeared to me she never really sat down. Whatever her issue, she became terribly annoying and distracting, jumping up off her chair every two seconds and clapping with that strange smirk.

I mean it was like: "I'm President Obama" and there she was insanely clapping and on her feet. "We are in a recession" and she was insanely clapping and on her feet. Mid way through the address it looked like Joe Biden wanted to tie her down. Don't get me wrong; There are some points in the speech where I think applause and even standing applause was appropriate, but after a while it became nigh on disrespectful. Maybe its just me, but nobody has done anything that should be celebrated yet, so let's not get overzealous. I have high hopes for this Obama administration. He has the makings of a great leader though we may disagree on various issues. Above all, leadership is what's needed in these times of crisis. I especially appreciated Obama's remarks regarding accountability and responsibility. Actually, I think Obama would agree, the work is still out there to be done. Even he would have been fine with a little less cheering.

I did enjoy Hilary's, "That should have been me, I could have done this so much better. Health Care was my idea" look. That made my night.

From the BB

Lately I've been feeling a little under the weather. My head cold migrated to become a chest cold which managed to leak into my ear. I'm not in pain aside from the general misery that accompanies being sick. I was raised in a family where there was little to no toleration for sickness. Mom and Dad felt that if it wasn't falling off or bleeding profusely, it wasn't that bad. If we stayed home sick from school that meant we had ample time to clean the kitchen. Believe me, NO ONE tried to fake being sick and sometimes it was just better to go to school with a cold than stay home and clean. I think that was by design.

I remember once in college I had a cold I couldn't shake. Right after finals I always got sick, like clockwork. Usually it cleared up within a week but this one just stayed with me. I'll never forget what my mother told me, "Don't be a hero, go see a doctor!" Although I would have loved some "poor baby" "oh my darling, I'm so sorry!" type sentiments, it was good, sound advice. In this age of modern medicine I'm not doing myself or anyone else any favors by toughing it out.

With this in mind, I called my PCP to see if I could get an appointment. Just my luck, she's out today and they were booked solid but as I was on hold someone cancelled a 10 appt. It was 9:38 and it takes 20 min to get there from my office. The woman on the phone asked if I could make it and I told her I'd run. It wasn't until later I realized she'd responded by saying, "Good girl" as if I were a dog fetching a stick. Whatevs, either I was getting in to see the Dr now or a week from now. I'd much prefer now so I grabbed my stuff and ran to the T.

The Dr who saw me had to be the most elegantly dressed Dr I've ever said "ahhhhhh" for. She had a fancy black and white dress, chunky jewelry and high heels. She pointed out Dr's aren't required to wear scrubs so she saw no reason to dress casually when she could wear what she wanted. I told her I could tell I was developing an ear infection. Like most Dr's I've seen for this, she questioned why I "thought" I had an ear infection. I don't know why Dr's seem to feel this is an oh so esoteric diagnosis. My ear is stuffy and its starting to hurt... Its not rocket science! Not to mention I've had plenty of ear infections in my life so I'm pretty well-versed in what the symptoms are and how to correctly identify them. I even advised one Dr on how many milligrams of amoxycillin to give me because I know what works best. In spite of all that, Dr's always look at me like I'm trying to pull a fast one on them when I mention I have an ear infection.

Dr Fancy Schmancy pulled out the ear light thingy and had a look-see at my purported ear infection. After a mere glance, her head snapped back and then she looked again. Finally she faced me and said gravely, "You DEFINITELY have an ear infection! It's red and bulging... REALLY bulging." Now she's looking at me like I was keeping this all a secret. I honestly don't know what to tell her. "Oh, really? Huh, how about that?" She wrote me a prescription for the ear infection and told me I also have a little bit of bronchitis. Personally I think the bronchitis is a bit much but perhaps she's just trying to make up for the fact she didn't take my ear infection seriously.

So now I'm in the CVS waiting for my prescription. I'm sitting between a very old woman and a man who's picked up a trashy romance novel and started reading it. I think he's been waiting for a while now. Just a guess.

Ma Petite Fille

Logically I know they're ridiculous, but I can't help myself. Liesel looks so adorably cute in hats! It felt like it'd be child abuse if I didn't get the beret that went with this outfit:

Latest photos and LOTS of video of Liesel (link here) mixed in with our heavy snow photos. Chatting, fish kisses, Brent on the floor with his laptop (his favorite spot), chasing ice cream, on tiptoe trying to reach the dvd player, little orphan Annie look-alike, fashionista, chewing on pot handles (she's teething), boogety man stories, picking a bed-time story, getting into the cupboards and pics with Mom, Dad and Grandma at the Boston temple.

Here's Looking at You, Kid

The funny thing about Valentine's Day is married people are annoyed with the holiday almost more than single people are. It seems like a waste of money, a marketing scheme, a fabricated holiday even. In trying to see past all of that, I've always strived to embrace the holiday for what it should be all about... LOVE. In years past I trekked to Target and got those super cheesy Valentine's Day cards kids usually hand out in their elementary school classes and mail them to my closest friends and family. I've mentioned before that Brent usually sends me a huge bouquet of flowers and I take him to dinner. However, we're doing things a little cheaper this year so we went for this alternative:

Dinner: rib-eye steaks with mushrooms, new potatoes flavored with seasonings and parmesean cheese, asparagus pan fried in olive oil and a bottle of Martinelli's. Brent's mother is in town and she insisted on paying for the steaks so it was actually a lot cheaper than we even intended. Thanks Jeanne!!!

Movie: Casblanca which in my humble opinion was one of the original romantic comedies back when they did them right. When I saw it for the first time I remember being surprised at how witty the dialogue was and how truly touched I was by the story. There are tons of quotable quotes so if you've never seen it you'll find yourself saying, "So that's where that phrase comes from." I like the closing scene even better ever since I found out the plane in the background was fake and so small they hired midgets to look like life-sized people in the background to keep it real. Seriously, next time you watch it look for the midgets.

Tribute to St. Valentine: Brent and I had a long distance relationship so phone and email were our only connection much of the time. I compiled all the emails we sent back and forth during our six months apart and had them bound for posterity. It's fun to read, especially because you can see the progression of our relationship over time. From the "It was really good to run into you" to "I can't wait to be forever yours". We've come a long way baby!

I honestly think I liked the alternative better than the original! What did you do for Valentines Day?