Grasshopper and Dew Drop

I noticed this guy as I was running out to my car for work in the morning.

Clintons Upstaged by Bidens

Wow!

That is what I thought in regards to both Beau Biden's intro to his father and Joe Biden's speech.

You know, the press is talking about how Hillary had the speech of her life last night and how Bill hit one out of the park - - Their speeches did not compare to the Bidens'. If Bill was out of the park - - it was a little league park. Man, I really thought the Biden's brought it tonight. I'm going to do some predicting - - I would not be surprised if we don't see Beau Biden running for national office in the next few years.

I have to laugh at myself. The last three weeks, most of my friends were going to bed really late every night because they were up watching the Olympics - - I'm now going to bed really late because I'm staying up to watch the Conventions.

National Museum of the Marine Corps Sets New Benchmark in Visitor Survey Results

So who visits the museum? That is what the Museum set out to discover last fall as we approached our first anniversary. They conducted zip code surveys in the bookstore, exit surveys and another survey administered by the American Association for State and Local History.

Before I share the results museum adminstrators shared with volunteers, let me share that the museum raised the bar as far as high marks.

The top score in the AASLH survey was a 10. The museums strengths included the following:

Recommend to others 9.4

Well Kept 9.6

Understand that Museum Work is in Progress (the museum isn't done yet) 9.5

Felt Welcome 9.4

Overall Rating 9.5



Where do our visitors come from?

In the first year there were 548,875 visitors.

Most of the visitors were from the mid Atlantic states or states with a high Marine Corps presence (i.e. California, Florida, Texas, Ohio).

68% of the visitors were military

There was a 60/40 split between men and women.

42% of the visitors were between the ages of 40-60
36% of the visitors were over 60

(Note on above stat, my mom always asks if I ever meet any single men at the museum. Um, yes and I get hit on all the time by World War II and Korean War Veterans, so no one I would be interested in dating. My mom then said, well maybe one of them is rich, maybe you could be like Anna Nicole. O.k. ya, not what I'm aspiring to in my life.)

Most of our visitors came because they are/where in the Marine Corps or have a connection to the Marine Corps (45%). Another 25% said they came because they like learning about history and the final 25% said they visited because they thought it would be a 'cool' place to come for an outing.

The most important ideal visitors left with was pride and understanding of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Photos are of the Commandant of the Taiwanese Marine Corps (top) and Gold Star Families (bottom).

Did She Just Vomit In Her Mouth?

O.k. I'll be perfectly honest, I can't stand listening to Hillary Clinton. I didn't bother watching the Convention last night but thought I should at least watch her remarks.

Now, did she just vomit in her mouth when she said "Proud Supporter of Barak Obama?"

Actually, it looked like she was fighting back vomitting everytime she said his name.

I really don't have any other comments on what she said because something about her voice ends up sounding like the adults in Charlie Brown videos - - wahwahwahwahwah.

The DNC and Michelle Obama's Speech

While work has pretty much consumed my life, I did find the time (made the time) to watch/listen to the speeches given on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention. Politics and world events have always been an interest of mine. Its amazing how everything in this world is connected.

So, cutting to the chase, my impressions of last night and specifically Michelle Obama's speech. One thing that impressed me last night, were the strong women in the Democratic Party from the delegates who supported Hilary that were being interviewed regarding their plans to vote for McCain instead, to the congresswomen and Govenors to Nancy Pelosi and then the Obama family. There are some strong female movers and shakers who are not afraid to speak their minds (even if its opposite of what the Democratic Party would like).

My impression of Michelle Obama. First of all, I've really been annoyed with the attacks on her throughout - - many of the same attacks McCain's wife Cindy has endured in his various bids. Why is it, that if you are a successful woman in your own right that it is a negative? Why should a woman's success and power diminish that of her husband's?

I came across this quote yesterday, "Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of man you are." - Thomas Carlyle.

Well, I think you can substitute that first 'man' with 'woman'. I think men who pick strong, successful women as their spouses are themselves, strong, successful, confident. I think the wives of both Obama and McCain say a lot about the kind of men they are.

The Obama story reminds me a lot of my own family. While part of my family has been here since the founding of this nation, other branches are new immigrants. On my dad's side, I am third generation American. My father was the first person in his family to go to college. My grandfather worked in the local limestone quarry and organized labor and was a local Democratic party official. My mom's father was the son of Methodist ministers and farmers. My maternal grandfather was the sole provider of his extended family during the Great Depression. He worked building the highway system in Northern Ohio and sent six kids on to college. My uncles are all very successful and left small town Ohio for big cities. My dad returned to teach school. We never had a lot of money and my parents really struggled but they raised myself and my sisters to be women of character, to value God and education and our country. Two of us have advanced degrees and have left Ohio and all three of us have successful careers.

When I listened to Michelle Obama, I really could connect with her. I appreciated the personal look into their family, into her life. My impression was, wow, in this country, you really can come from a working class family and make-it. You don't have to be part of the elite, the son or daughter of lawyers, doctors or politicians, to be successful.

My impression last night was a refreshed Pride in the United States. Here is the speech.



Other links that you might like are:

The DNC home page.

And I really like Fox News' Politics page.

Death

I have no idea what kind of bug has just lost its life. I will admit I screamed when the spider scurried down the web and pounced on the exhausted victim. The bug struggled for a second and then the paralyzing poison kicked in. I felt bad for the bug. But that is just nature, that is what I told myself as I snapped pictures.

There are three of these spiders living on my front porch. I don't know what kind of spiders they are. They are huge! Their bodies are about the size of a quarter and when their legs are out stretched, they are about the size of half a dollar. They spin these gorgeous, gigantic webs that strech the expanse of the columns on my front porch. I think they could trap small birds.

End of Summer BBQ

Well, its been a while since I've done anything social. I had a BBQ at my house this weekend with the women in my small group Bible Study and men from a couple of the men's small groups. Above is a photo of everyone enjoying themselves on my deck at the end of summer BBQ.

Above is my deck before everyone arrives. And below is an arrangement I put together in a small square vase of flowers from my garden.

The other half of my deck.

Some of my friends in line for burgers and dogs in my kitchen.

A little after 7 one of the gals from my small group arrived. Shortly after her arrival one of the guys arrived.

Then Ranger escaped.

So the next guest arrives while I'm trying to wrangle Ranger into the house using the garden hose. I tell him, kind of point blank, to go ahead and into the house but leave the front door open. My first three guests listened to me chase Ranger up and down the block. I say listen because Ranger howled and growled at me the whole time. My friend C said it sounded like he was possessed.

"We couldn't believe that was the same cat that had so kindly greeted us and wanted us to pet him."

So anyway - - I got Ranger back in the house and then it was an ordeal to get him to go upstairs and to a bedroom. Everyone laughed as I continued to chase him around the dining room table and told him to go up stairs. He hissed and growled all the way. Needless to say, I was a sweaty mess after this. My hair was flat, my make-up had run off my face. So there are no pictures of me at my BBQ.

After eating, we played catch phrase. I have to share this story because it goes down as one of those - - "What not to say in mixed company" kinds of stories. One of the guys is describing the phrase he got and he says:

A couple does this when they are being intimate.

People shouted out: Kiss, hug...

The guy replied: No, two words, you do this into a kleenex.

silence ... until I said,

Blow job? (you are suppose to shout out the first things that come to mind based on the person's clues - - my brain was in competitive mode).

Of course this sent everyone into a laughing fit along with protests that the answer I blurted out wasn't Christian and what happened to this being a family friendly game - - and good thing I didn't say that at game night at church.

The phrase the guy was trying to get his team to guess was: Hanky Panky.

It was a fun night. Everyone left around 1 a.m. so it was very hard getting up this morning. I've had about three Cokes today.