Happy Progress Day, Holden! (A week in review)

in the interest of full disclosure, I did write a lot of this last friday...

Well, little guy… you hit the 26-week mark on Friday (less than 14 weeks left!). So it’s not really your birthday, but we’ll call it “progress to the birth canal day” – or something. You’re super busy down there. I can feel you most of the time (which I totally dig.) But if at all possible, I’d appreciate it if you could keep your foot from being wedged in mommy’s lung/rib-cage. If not, I understand… It just makes it a little difficult for both of us to breathe. Then again, I’m sure it’s getting a little crowded down there…which is why I also invested in some super legit Lucky maternity jeans from Mimi Maternity to give you (and me) room to grow (and breathe). I think I’ll keep them on hand for food-babies on Thanksgiving long after you’re born. ;)

So little guy, here are some of mommy’s favorite things from last week:

Politics (surprise, surprise):
I love this story by KSL News  (yes, as in Bonneville Communications, the same outlet that broadcasts LDS Conference twice a year!) It outlines what taxpayers will actually save (or pay) under the two candidate’s plans. Looking at the numbers, if I were a wealthy republican, I would probably vote for McCain too.

Except for the delicious fact that Warren Buffet – one of the world’s richest men -- endorsed Obama.  In fact, when asked about what McCain could do to get his support, Buffet’s response was priceless, (his answer is responding as if he were speaking directly to McCain): "I would say that if you felt the tax burden should be shifted in a significant way to the super-rich and away from the middle class, I would say that would make me re-evaluate you."

Its comments like these that make me love Buffet. He’s not an “I-worked-hard-for-this-money-the-government-has-no-right-to-take-it-away” kind of guy. He TRULY believes— as do I—that those with the spoils should share with those less fortunate. Call it the Robinhood principle, except I don’t really see it as stealing. (Though, there’s plenty in Red states that disagree with me.)

And I was just kidding. I would never vote for McCain even if I was a super rich (well, never’s a strong word.) But it’s not just economic policy that we disagree about obviously…

In other political news – Palin (the real one, not just my favourite version done by Tina Fey) appears on SNL and did a great job. Even though she and I are pretty much diametrically opposed on virtually every issue, I thought she was a really great sport.

And it’s not from last week, but Colin Powell did endorse Obama this weekend 
explaining that his choice of a running mate was a key reason why he's on Obama's side now, he said: 

“now that we have had a chance to watch her[Palin] for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made.”

But even more interesting in this endorsement, is how he lays it out by explaining that a Muslim and a terrorist are not the same thing. To me, that sort of argument is like assuming that someone from Coeur D'Alene, Idaho is a Neo-Nazi white supremacist. Powell’s got it right:

“Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, ‘He's a Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists.’ This is not the way we should be doing it in America.”


HypnoBirthing

Let’s shift gears: So I am totally drinking the punch on this one. I know there’s plenty out there with very strong beliefs about the role of medicine in labor, etc… I respect that (my sister Cassandra, who’s married to an anesthesiologist, is one of them). I’m just trying to do this thing the way I think God intended – or at least how I think he created my body to do it. (Obviously, I’ve been reading a lot of Scientology books that my friend, Katie Holmes recommended.)

But one of the highlights of class this week was when our instructor told us to steer clear of the CD in the back of our textbook until week 37 (at least!) “It can induce labor.” I believe her… see, drinking the punch already! Huzzah!!!

Sports
Go Utes!
Go TCU! (Until the Utes play them, of course.)
Go Rays! Even though Danny is always part of Red Sox Nation in the post season (the Orioles, like my Royals, don’t see much action past the regular season)… We were totally cheering for the underdog. And as Steven Colbert mentioned the other night, the Rays obviously renounced Satan and found the light as they changed their name from DevilRays to just “Rays”… so there’s an ideological plus to my reasoning as well.