It's a sad sad day

Alito was confirmed to the highest court in the land today. Here we go, about to take 20 steps backwards in the political history of the United States. It remains to be seen if he will in fact be as terrible as projected by the left. I consulted my magic 8 ball and the response was "all signs point to yes". Let's just say I will be pleasantly surprised if he truly does not let his personal bias or opinions leak into his judgments and interpretation of the law. Not holding my breath on that one. That argument just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. How can one's opinion not shape how they will interpret the law? There's a fine line and with this guy, it will be crossed. Even more disappoint was the lack luster attempt to filibuster the nomination. Talk about weak sauce. That was it! The democrats need to pull their heads out of the sand and get moving on impeachment proceedings. Although now that Alito will wear the robe of the highest court, impeachment might not be as easy had a liberal or even moderate who doesn't always rule for the corporation or government been appointed. All this on the eve of the State of the Union address by Monkeybush. I'm going to yoga instead. Watching him will just make me pissed off. And who needs that?

Mr. President...

Please eff off for the following statements:

On Osama bin Laden:

• "I don't really spend much time on him anymore." And why would that be? Planes into buildings seem to be the reason for the war our American troops are now stuck in thanks to you however you spend no time on him. What it signifies? Your inability to connect the dots and truly understand what's going on in the world. This is not a war to save your father's name nor one to protect the goldmine of oil in Iraq. Stop mixing up your facts. Call it what it is, and what it is not, a war on terror. Good luck stopping that.
• A young man at a press conference in Kansas yesterday asked a jovial enough question and it went something like this: "Here in Kansas we have a lot of ranchers. You are a rancher. Have you seen the movie Brokeback Mountain?". Monkey response = "No I did not. Next question please." You are such the ultimate homophobe that questions regarding a G-A-Y gay western cannot be answered. Were you fearing lightening bolts from the sky should you even utter the name of the film? Too afraid to see a scene with boy on boy butt sex in a dark tent on the beautiful mountain side? My god man, enough with your holy roller self. Go see the Oscar contender and learn a little bit. For once, make yourself a little uncomfortable.
• "I know what's best for America and it's people. Approve Alito because I know him." That's reason enough for hour upon hour of questioning this right winged could change the face of the legal system and it's rulings in 10 years or less man. You also said the same thing about Harriet Myers and look how that worked out.
• "The media needs to refrain from using the terms domestic spying program and call it what it is, a terrorist spying program." Spying is spying you lunkhead. And please tell me why there are 80,000 people on the list for observation. If there are 80,000 suspected terrorists in the United States, perhaps you should be working on other investigatory methods rather than hanging out listening to what people are saying about you and your inept administration.

There's a whole lot more I could say but I'm getting pissy just thinking about it. Can someone please start the impeachment hearings? PLEASE?

Out with the old...in with the new

Cleanse number two is finished! Can I even tell you how much easier this one was compared to the initial cleanse in October? No migranes. No wanting to tear my hair out. No complaining that it was too long or impossible. Take out the caffeine factor and things change immensely. Miss B and I did the same one as previously, two days fruits and veggies, the two days of adding in grains, three days of adding in protein, and who-la, it's over! The cleanse tea does get old and not seeing that again for 6 months will be just fine. What was accomplished? The five pound brick of cheese ingested over the holidays in the midwest is officially out of my system and it's good. And it also tapered the craving for sweets which was out of control upon return from the tundra. This time around I am also attempting to cut back a bit on the amount of dairy in my life. Small changes but still allowing good cheese here and there along with non-fat milk consumption. Let's face it. Asking me to eliminate dairy would be like asking a heroin addict to lay off "just to see what happens". Brittle bones? Not me! I've got enough calcium in this system to last a lifetime. Don't think this girlish figure was developed from eating carrots! Or whatever kind of figure it is considered. Probably won't do another cleanse until the fall but I am no longer fearing them. Good news.

The midwestern potluck is coming together. Dusted off the St. John's Lutheran cookbook to find things listed such as: pizza bubbles, rhubarb rumbles, and easy cheesy potatoes. It will be the day before the superbowl which as far as I know, not many folks in our crowd really care about. Hope we get a good turn out and that all bring a dish to pass!

This week's long run was 5 miles. We are in the process of building up again seeing as the month of December clocked in a grand total of 7.5 miles. There is a Chinese New Year race on the 29th which is a 10K. Haven't quite decided if we will register and run it or just do a 10K run that day and pretend we are in the race. No need for another t-shirt to clutter my drawer and drop $40 on race day that could be otherwise spent. Since the new year we have also been doing this weight lifting program called "8 minutes in the morning". When Miss B first brought home the book from the library I thought it was completely something else but hey, that's usually where my mind ends up anyway. It is to boost the metabolism first thing in the morning with a series of 8 minute work outs. Since taking this on 5 pounds have dropped which in turn makes running a whole lot easier. 15 pounds lighter than last year at this time. It's kind of fun--shirts that didn't fit now do. Jeans fit as they should. Feels great! Who knew.

PRIME indeed!

On Sunday, January 8th I turned the grand age of 37. Not quite mid-thirties anymore but haven't reached the society and commercially labeled "over the hill" number of 40 either. So I came up with my own little tag for 37, it's going to be PRIME! Funny seeing as math and prime numbers really never has been a strength, I figured this all out on my own. If the rest of the year is like this weekend's events, a prime year indeed it will be.

Friday night was an evening out at the Liberty Cafe. The big boss at the jelly doughnut factory hooked Miss B and I up with a gift certificate a while ago and it was put to good use. The year and 7 months we have been dating, never a bottle of wine was shared. Well that changed on Friday. We got one to go with the meal and it was a good choice although I think the split was more Miss B, 2/3's of a bottle, me left with 1/3. Needless to say she had a bit of a headache on Saturday morning but it complimented the meal well and was a lot of fun. What makes that place so yummy is their ability to take whatever is in season and make it yummy as well as offer up excellent vegetarian dishes. I fell off the wagon that night and went with a pork stew over polenta. Miss B had some sort of fish with roasted vegetables. Tasty!

Saturday began with me milling around the house while Miss B worked the door at yoga. The center has this work exchange program where free classes are earned for every class she checks people into, having people sign forms, taking cash, etc. I eventually went to yoga myself and class was packed! It could almost be considered a self imposed bikram class with all the heat! After getting our dharma on, we went to the cafe for a quick snack and then biked home. Birthday celebrating began at 4pm at Zeitgeist. Despite the rain it was still in good shape for celebrating and having beers with friends. Mistycans, the Bear in training and his cubby, A, a co-worker and her special man friend, Hezcatt, and several others joined around to ring in this prime year. Zeitgeist has this wonderful feature of serving beer in pickle jars. It's two beers in one for a cheaper price and less time spent standing in line going back for more. Enjoying a few of those and a burger meant for a great night out. Oh, and did I mention receiving a catapult (literally flings plastic cat figurines!) and Jesus tape, among other fabulous gifts. I can't wait to mail something with Jesus tape on it. Who will be the lucky one to receive that? The night was closed out by the fire pit at The Eagle because it just wouldn't be a birthday without a stop there. It was the typical type of crowd and one beer and we were out. F-U-N fun and thanks to all for taking time out to celebrate. THANK YOU!

Sunday morning Miss B showered me with gifts (including penguin boxer shorts, it was a penguin kind of birthday!) and then took me on a surprise trek to the Academy of Sciences Aquarium downtime. We got there just in time to see the penguins getting fed! How cute are they?!?!? VERY! Plus there are millions of exotic fish in huge tanks that we got to walk around and look at and pretend to be swimming alongside. She then proceeded to take us out for lunch and then the film Munich. The feel good movie of the year it is not. I'm not much for watching people's heads blow up, blood, guts, and the like. However, it was very well done and would encourage others to see it. It didn't seem like a 3 hour film. Intriguing to say the least. The evening was completed with homemade chocolate cake and milk. Who can say no to that? Not me that's for sure!

Resolutions for the PRIME year are as follows:

• Making the most of things chosen to do for relaxation and health. No approaching things in a "half assed" manner. If I am going to take the time, do it with conviction and passion.
• Stay present. Avoid consumption of trying to control things which I cannot.
• Do more activities which motivate and stimulate the creative side of my brain.
• Eat more chocolate cake and not feel bad about it.

Here's to turning 37 and loving it! Thanks again to all for making it so special and fun!

Pevil Half Head

I have absolutely no idea why I love this picture so much. Could be because every time I think about it I crack up thinking of Misty's reaction when it was taken. It was a Disappointment New Year's Eve cut up!

Family Disco-function

Over the holiday break my niece Hunter walked up to me and said "Aunt Pauline, can you please show me what disco dancing looks like?". I immediately struck a perfect John Travolta Saturday Night Fever pose and began to move my hips in proper disco fashion. She and other niece Jordan joined right in like perfect copy cats. Once done with the lesson, I questioned the basis for the inquiry and she giggled saying "Jordan said you would know what disco is..." Followed by a trail of laughter. They are 7 and 10, respectively. This among several other events during the tundra trek were experienced and I will do my best to explain them here.

Miss B and I left for the airport on Friday, December 16th. We were scheduled to take a redeye out of SFO to Midway, the world's jankiest airport. Upon our arrival ATA was taking volunteers for getting bumped and the package included a $300 travel voucher. Miss B jumped at the chance because in essence, it really only shortened our trip by 6 hours, which meant that much less time in the cold and a free trip to the middle of the US of A. What resulted was an evening of sleep (or should I say dozing off here and there) on benches in the main lobby of the airport. Have you ever spent an evening in the airport? It's strange. Everything shuts down and there are janitors everywhere. We couldn't wait by the gate either as it was too early to check in for the flight. Eventually we boarded at plane at 7am and off we went to Midway. Upon our arrival we found temperatures in the single digits and snow everywhere. The car rented was a Chevy Cavalier. Miss B and I are pretty much destined to renting these wherever we go. They appear to be the cheap deal of the week, all the time. Off we went, driving through the south side of Chicago. Which, by the way is dilapidated and gross, and it appears is the last part of the city to become gentrified. There were all these once gorgeous brownstones just crumbling to pieces. Sad to see. After a 5 hour drive and one stop at a subway (the only fast food in the midwest which is palatable) for a tuna sandwich and a gas fill up, we made it to Chelsea, Michigan, just outside of Ann Arbor. Miss B's parents live on a lake and I must admit, it was beautiful, even for winter time. Skeets, her mom, filled us up with yummy food and we hung out with them for the evening while recuperating from the long day of travel.

While there we spent a lot of time with her niece, Bella, and two nephews, Mason and Zachary. (And of course the parents of those children, her brother Scott, and sister-in-law Deanna.) We had a Christmas celebration with lobster tails and lots of other great food. It was so fun to watch the kids open up gifts. Bella shocked me when she was so excited about a new shirt and jeans Grandma and Grandpa got for her. She held it up and squealed in excitement "CLOTHES!". Cute. Mason was obsessed with the paper airplane building set we got for him and we spent the day making planes and trying to follow the obscure directions. I swear, they were written for engineers only. Zachary spent hours with the fish puzzle as well. It came with magnetic pieces and a fishing pole. If I was three, I would love that too! The best time spent with them was an afternoon of play at their house. At one point we were having wrestling contests in the basement. VERY FUN! Becky was never the rough and tumble aunt, but she is now! What a crack up. The bummer of the Michigan portion of the trip came when Miss B got the flu. It wiped her out in a big way. What this meant...me spending lots of "quality time" one on one with her parents. Let's just say her mom talks a lot. At some points I just wasn't sure what to listen to and what could maybe be tuned out a little, but somehow managed to get through. I was every excited the next day when Miss B bounced back and I had my sidekick to field 50% of the questions. Guess we should have known seeing as Scott's entire family had gotten the flu the week previous. Oh well. The chances you take. I managed to make it out alive.

Due to the flu, the trek to Wisconsin took place a day later than planned. Upon arriving at the farm we found my mom to be worn out from the drama of the few weeks previous. My older brother Greg is amidst a nasty divorce and isn't handling the transition to single fatherhood very well. He's the kid who never really left the farm. Although he did go to college and graduate, he didn't get out in the world like the other three Lohr kids have, it's always been his choice to stay there. Since his ex-wife has moved out, it appears he is perhaps avoiding the fact that he actually has to start cooking, cleaning, and taking care of things on his own. The current tactic used is to have my parents do all the babysitting while he works, have mom prepare all his meals, and let his house corrode. It's hard for me to wrap my brain around how someone can be the age of 40 and still not understand how to do these things. But then again, I chose to get away from the farm as soon as humanly possible. He does feel and always has, an obligation to the farm and that he needs to be there for mom and dad. However, at this point, he needs to be there for himself too. It's just really sad to see this all going on and how much it delays the potential opportunity for my parents to retire. That's not on the horizon anytime soon. It's all pretty fresh and with any luck or an intervention, my brother will snap out of it and get his act together. Miss B and I did whatever we could to help mom out while we were there and we also got to spend time with my older sister and her family which was really fun. Needless to say, we were so glad to get on the plane to get back to San Francisco. Family is nice and all but it's great to be back in our home with the cats, doing what we do.

Overall, it was time well spent as I had not been back to the midwest for 6 years at Christmas time. Oh, and Miss B has decided that it is not the best time of year to visit...Something I figured out 6 years ago but I thought to let her come to her own conclusion on that one and she did. We now will visit during the summer months which makes me jump for joy!

One of the major highlights of the Wisconsin portion of the trip was seeing Miss B sing in the St. John's Lutheran Jubilation Choir with my mom. Apparently one of the other members was unable to make it so B stepped right in and sang soprano. Mom introduced her as "Pauline's Friend" which in midwestern terms = gay partner. Pretty big step for my mom, that is for sure. And we made it out of church without getting struck down by lightening bolts. So god must really like the gays after all.