It's been a fun week. We've had rain every day which makes me think that I need to find some rain barrels... my husband reminded me today that I'm to do the research and he'll provide the man-power and go pick them up... Although, I am quite capable of having someone else load them into the minivan... Smile nice now, jen.

Tonight we had dinner at the Colombian--quite the yumminess if you like Spanish food and sangria. Our nice waiter gave me 4 extra little plastic bulls--they come off the top shelf Sangria wine from SPAIN. Leave it to the Spaniards to put a plastic bull on a bottle! Ole! I read about Picasso last week and his liking of the bull fights and how it symbolized masculinity. Hemingway also had a thing for the bull fights... and fishing. Ted was going to get a babysitter tonight for our 3 crumbcakes but I said--it would be cheaper just to take them with. A kid's meal is $4.95 and the babysitter is $40. So we brought them with. We mostly discussed Jack and the Beanstalk and all the symbolism. Once again--back to that man-hood topic.

This week we are doing--10 days to multiplication Mastery. Yes, learning those times tables once and for all??? I'm hoping so. I'm hoping it'll give the boys a little head-start when we start all our homeschooling in a week or two. Lulu has been out of this game since she's officially starting K this year. Really she'll be in the first grade since she did the Kindergarten curriculum last year at age 4.

Tomorrow OBama is going to be in town giving a HYPE speech at my old high school--Gibbs High. It's a primarily black school. I went there for the Art magnet part and the advanced and AP classes. Otherwise the regular kid classes were a ZOO. And that was way back when... Can I say anymore about the state of education in FL. It is as horrible as everyone says. That's why we are homeschooling. Homeschooling is about one of the only things that is RIGHT about America. It defines the American spirit--of CHOICE and ownership of your own feats and failures. The government doesn't have to be responsible for me or my children. Wow, what a breath of fresh air. I don't want any government programs--let me have my rights as an American and stop trying to give away MY rights to prison detainees and ILLEGAL immigrants. I don't want an INTERNATIONAL court influencing American judges---yeah, I know I'm like 10 + years to late for that...
Oh, American rights--doesn't mean give me free health care, drugs, education... just give us nice roads to drive on and stay out of business--especially banking, oil, gasoline, etc, etc... And if i was running for president--I'd say flat tax of 10% for all Americans--richest and poorest. So what are we in 1984 or a Brave New World? How many Americans are on prescription mind altering drugs? Time for a soma vacation?? I know I'm rambling... it's the Sangria!! (get the top shelf... Colombian at the Pier in downtown St. Petersburg... )

Do you remember when blue jeans and rock and roll were fighting communism?? Now our rockers and movie "stars" are supporting--let me rephrase that--EMBRACING--socialism. Germans living in Communist East Germany would do just about anything to get a Beatles record or a pair of Levis. That wasn't that long ago. Wow, now we can get a maniac messiah-like speaker who promises the world and who will really give us nothing... wake up America! Obama in Germany last week was promising that we'd fight with the Europeans to end TERRORISM. How do you suppose he'll do that? How are we going to fight terrorism?? Now the Madrases that train terrorists did just that in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Congo, the other-stans, Syria, Lebanon, the middle east in general, Indonesia, etc... our own backyards--Uhuru in St. Petersburg. So how is Obama going to promise the EU to fight terrorism when all he wants to do is get out of Iraq. Iraq--good, bad, ugly... the fact is that we are there and when we leave--there will be a vacuum of power. Someone worse than Saddam Hussein--more brutal, more oppressive, more evil will take over--that's just what happens. Again, all the "good" Arabs--who have supported American troops in their nation will be murdered. Something just isn't right about this whole situation. We can't leave the defenseless to die--to be slaughtered. It's happened once before--GB SR and the first Gulf War. So Obama what are you promising to the Iraq people? Say whatever you want--if you get elected you won't be pulling the troops out--you won't be able to--once you get the full story, the top secret briefings==you know that your hands are tied just like the last guy.