This article pretty much sums up all my feelings about the McCain/Palin ticket...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-seitzman/sarah-palin-naked_b_125861.html

The last two paragraphs are especially important:

"Stop voting for people you want to have a beer with. Stop voting for folksy. Stop voting for people who remind you of your neighbor. Stop voting
for the ideologically intransigent, the staggeringly ignorant, and the blazingly incompetent.
Vote for someone smarter than you. Vote for
someone who inspires you. Vote for someone who has not only traveled the world but who has
also shown a deep understanding and compassion for it.
The stakes are real and they're terrifyingly high. This election matters. It matters. It really matters. Let me say that one more time.
This. Really. Matters."

Anyone who knows me knows I ride hard for Team Obama. I watch MSNBC and CNN
regularly for their political commentary and am able to listen to Obama
criticism with an objective view. (Now, Michelle, on the other hand - no one can
talk bad about Michelle.)

But it kills me when the worst thing they can say about Obama is that he's
too intellectual. Too studious, too polished. Can't connect with middle America.
Can't win the affections of the working class. Poll after poll say that people
just don't identify with him, that they can see themselves more in McCain.

That's the worst logic I've ever heard. Do you want a president you can
imagine having beers with? I don't, because in my mind, my president shouldn't
be getting drunk when there's better things to do. Like RUN THE COUNTRY.

Michael Seitzman is absolutely right. We need to vote for people who are
better than us. Smarter than us. Have had experiences that we didn't. I'm not
saying McCain is a dummy, in fact, I think he's incredibly smart, but the whole
notion of voting for someone who is "real" is extremely stupid.

The economic news the past weeks has got me even more passionate about this
election. Whoever we put in office in the next six weeks will determine how we
handle this economic slump we're in, whether we rise like champions or slide
further into financial ruin.

Remember: your vote has power, so make sure you do your homework. Learn about
the issues here and here.

Turn off the lights...Light a candle...

What is it about parenthood that makes romance so hard? Is it the seemingly neverending stream of poop and vomit? Is it the sheer level of exhaustion at the end of the day that makes it hard to do anything other than to collapse into bed at the first opportunity?

I'm not sure what it is, but I'm fighting with every ounce I have left. While my husband and I are still considered newlyweds (15 months and counting!), we certainly don't act like it. More often than not, we're bickering with each other, getting on each other's nerves. But we do love each other. More than anything. I married that man because I believed we had what it took to stay together when times are good and bad, happy or sad. (Shout out to Al Green.)

But when you have two kids, the effort it takes to be nice to one another increases. I find it hard to be happy to see him after a long day at work if I know he's going to head straight to the couch to watch SportsCenter and I haven't sat down all day. It's hard for him to be nice to me, if all I do is nag him about taking the diapers outside and picking up the kids' prescriptions.

But we try to keep that spark alive, the same spark that enabled us to have two kids in four years. Tomorrow we're going on our first real date since before baby number two arrived on the scene and I'm so excited it's like it was when we first started dating. I can't wait to hold his hand on the way there, or give him a kiss when it's over and tell him how much I enjoyed the evening. I love being in love and it's easier when we're alone to feel that same glow I felt four years ago.

But the kids are here and aren't going away, so we'll have to find a way to keep the romance alive even when the kids are still awake. Wish us luck!