Polianiac

Last night I was lucky enough to get a seat on a 5:30 p.m. Metro ride to Virginia. A headline in a man’s newspaper right next to me caught my eye: “Mrs. Bush Defends Her Husband’s Legacy.” Sarcastically I thought, what is she supposed to do—not defend?

Once home, I felt ready to re-engage with the world of the political. I sat down in my chair with a dinner of diet coke and popcorn. Within five minutes I had changed the channel four times, squirmed 180 degrees around in the chair, and actually felt my face do this crinkled up thing it does when my brain fills with an incredulous “What?” Intentionally, I froze while asking myself, “Okay, what’s going on?”  

CNN was jumping between the Bush Legacy (euphemism) and the fighting in the Gaza Strip, volksnews was discussing the birth of Bristol Palin’s baby who I believe has been named Tripp (why am I surprised?) and Chris Mathews’ special “The Decider” started on MSNBC… Mark the day down folks—The Decider won!

The Decider revisits the past eight years in a way that allows the viewer to relive the time as it happened, contextualized within the historic frame in which events unfolded. I consider myself a political junkie and honestly there were aspects in this piece that I had forgotten or wanted to forget when contemplating the years known as Bush-Cheney.

Couple this piece with my Christmas Day viewing of Frost/Nixon (Imagine Entertainment 2008) and no wonder I was squirming. Hell, I have been squirming since 2003…

What has to happen to us before we finally say enough? This country has been here before. This country will continue to arrive at this threshold of power abused if we do not once and for all say enough of this! I wonder: Are we the people really okay with Bush going back to Texas, taking up the life of gentleman rancher, acting as if he did nothing wrong? What of Cheney — the man who continues to manifest unbridled arrogance?

I think I am squirming because it feels like this one is actually going to walk away…

There is serious dis-comfort associated with unpacking.  For three days, I have struggled with it and still I can not exactly put my finger on the what and why  of it all. I wonder if the temporal proximity to New Year’s and the obvious end of the old is playing into all this. According to one website the literal translation of Auld Lang Syne reads something like “times gone by”. Unpacking is definitely about times gone by.  It is about opening a box and finding treasures; or opening a box and finding painful reminders. It is about once seeing a thing one way and today realizing it as some-thing  past, missed or misunderstood. 

Last night I opened a small box that obviously contained a framed some-thing. I thought it might be another beloved piece of art that I continue to find as I plow through all this—but I was wrong. What I found were the beautifully framed lyrics to Stevie Nick’s Gypsy. I had forgotten that gift. I had forgotten that circumstance. I have been so busy being the Gypsy that inspired the gift that I forgot the gift itself. Interesting…

Last night I realized that the gypsy is home and completely uncomfortable with the gypsy label. I don’t know whether to break out into a chorus of Celebrate Me Home or to embrace a song I heard for the first time in a long time on my drive from Texas to Virginia: Ordinary World.

Noooo…. It’s definitely Celebrate Me Home!  Have a Great Day!

For me, the past year has been spent with one foot in Texas and the other in Virginia. That uncomfortable reality ended yesterday when I drove into Alexandria, VA in a 16-foot Penske truck.  Over the decades, I have learned a truth about me: Home is where the books are. For Christmas this year, I gave me an official “new home”. My worldly belongings, books and all, are now all in one place—and may I say, it feels so right!

The past twelve days (has it only been twelve days?) have run the gamut of emotions—sights, sounds, friends, and family, and the transitional drive from Dallas to northern Virginia—if there is an emotion, I experienced it. Sometimes we are so much better off for the journey.

This morning when I returned the Penske truck the gentleman receiving it walked out to meet me. He laughingly said, “Karen, you said you had a 12-foot truck to return—this one is 16-footer!” I felt the terror well up in my stomach but by the time it reached my throat I was laughing out loud. Shaking my head I acknowledged, “Well what you don’t know won’t hurt you!” Thank God I did not know. Had I known I might have freaked out and been too terrified to do this on my own. There was no terror, there were no freak outs. There was an army of loved ones behind me who graciously and generously supported this move and stayed with me by cell phone every mile of the way. Does it get any better than that?

I must say Possum Lindsey may be a Russian Blue but that is one pioneering trooper little cat—and I thank God for her. I thank God for my family and friends. And I thank God for all I have been blessed with throughout these years.

For me, Christmas is a time to celebrate the good things in life. Over the past decade, I have viewed the season as a time to honor rebirth, new beginnings, and new horizons of opportunity that sometimes we are too busy to see. It is a time to say thank you to people who make the other 364 days so special and significant— that many times get lost in the habit and routine  of it all.

I know I missed an awful lot of good political gossip while I was gone. We can catch up on that in the coming week. I do want to say Merry Christmas to all of you at Today.com. And to Steve, Mike, Travis, Bill, Mark, and Joanne— a special Christmas shout out for all you do to bring joy and smiles to my life.

Merry Christmas!

Carol of the Bells: Transiberian Orchestra

I promise I am making that lemonade as fast as I can…

I just want to thank all of you who made my Lemonade Award possible!  

Lemons up (okay guys, there is no special order here) Mike, Travis, Steve, Joanne, Gayle, Mark, and Bill: This is my Gratitude for your great Attitude which adjusts my Attitude on a regular basis. Thank you for all you do!

I am packing between sentences to go to Texas for my son’s commencement at Texas Tech (no football comments, please). So, to my favorite geophysicist: You Rock Christopher! (I am so going to get killed for that.) 

Under the “What we do for our kids” umbrella… John McCain will deliver the Commencement Address. If you read this blog, you completely understand the significance of that statement…  Talk about making Lemonade!

The rules of this award for recipients:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Art From the Outskirts 

Homemaker

Left Out in the OC

May December Secrets

My City By the Bay

News Today

Political Animal

Right Is Wrong

The Relevant Rhino

Sparklecast

Lemons Up!