TD resigns

I am apparently very bad at distinguishing good politicians from bad ones. Sen. Jeff Smith and Rep. TD El Amin were two of my favorites in the building because they seemed so genuine and kind and, yes, trustworthy.  TD was always so nice to me and the kids, we even all went to lunch one afternoon and he let the kids hang out in his office when they were bored of lobbying with me.  I will miss him in the Capitol quite a lot.  And all for a $2,100 bribe.  This article makes a great point:

Bribery loot: Bad. Campaign loot: Good 

And the corresponding cartoon:

 

Chilihead

 Yup, they call us Chiliheads.  Just as bad as an Applebuddy, I guess.  Why do chains have to be so corny?  Sheesh, can't I just work there for heaven's sake!  I am on Day 4 of my training at Chili's.  I've only been a server for twenty years, of course, I need FIVE days of training!  Argh! 

So far, it's fine, I guess.  It's no Pirate, that's for darn sure.  I miss the Pirate already.  :-(  I think I can make enough to survive there, but it's going to mean some belt-tightening which I'm NOT looking forward to.  I love going out to eat and I love being able to buy little things that aren't just necessities and I love going to fun activities and little mini-vacations to St. Louis or even just Columbia.  I'll muddle through and the kids will too, but it's just not as much fun and it's not as easy as when the Pirate is picking up the tab. 

So, that's what I've been up to.  Not terribly exciting, I know.


And an unrelated quote, but I like it:

Conventionality is not morality.
Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

More Florida

Okay, one more post on Florida and I'll stop bragging. :-) It was so amazing! The drive even went really well. Doug spent 30 hours in a car with us and didn't kill anyone and even still wants to hang out with us, that's really something! Becky and Tim are as fantastic as ever, Mike and Chris look great and are as hospitable as ever. Jennifer took Doyle and Preston to Virginia so we didn't get to see them, but we got to go to dinner with Gileah, Clara, and Mercy. They are sooo adorable! As is tradition, we stopped at the giant Superman statue in Metropolis, IL and got some pictures. I'm so happy to be including Doug in our traditions and to see how well he fits into the family. Everyone loves him!

Without further ado, here is the last batch of pictures:

An Interesting Take

Doug's Shutterfly account:

An Interesting Take

Lots of Doyle-ness :-)

Destin

No time for captions, I think you can figure out what we've been up to.  Now we're off to the Emerald Coast Science Center!

BEACH!!!

We are in Destin, Florida staying at my dad's second home this week. What a life! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Must read books

I am rereading (is that a word, btw?) Raising Cain by Dan Kindlon, Ph.D. and Michael Thompson, Ph.D. and it's amazing how different and more frightening it is now that Levi is at the most "dangerous" age.

For those unfamiliar with the book, it is written by two child psychologists who specialize in boys. They are quite convincing in their argument that boys' (in our society) lack of ability to express emotions causes anger and violence.

I read it the first time when he was a toddler (which happened to be in the midst of a school shooting marathon - he was born in July, 1996 and this is what was on the news all the time: Wiki School Shooting) and it really helped me understand how important it is for him to learn how to express himself emotionally but there is a whole world of difference between him doing that at playgroup and him doing it at football practice. All parents of boys need to read this book at least once, but preferably every few years.

Other must reads - Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, Ph.D. (about the emotional life of girls) which I plan to reread when I finish this one and Protecting the Gift by Gavin De Becker (about the things you should actually worry about in protecting kids).

This is a VERY short list, I could write volumes on books all parents should read, but these are the three on my mind right now.

Common Sense

Have I mentioned how much I love Margaret and Helen? So smart! I tried to find my favorite quote from the latest post but just can't pick only one. Here are a couple highlights, but you really need to read the whole post (Michelle Bachmann's Burning Bush)

"No one wants to kill your grandmother. Like it or not, she can live as long as you like and squander your inheritance to boot. And don’t come crying to me when you realize how much work there is in taking care of a person who decides to live longer than their body decides to function properly. "

"President Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. For all my Republican friends out there, magna cum laude is a Latin term meaning “with great praise”. Please turn to your Stepford wives and tell them it’s not something you can order on the all-you-can-eat menu at The Olive Garden. And the last time I checked he was the duly elected President of the United States of America and not some pervert registered on a Megan’s Law web page. You should be honored to have him speaking to your children about staying in school and studying hard."

"But even with all this proof that the Republican Party has become a Confederacy of Dunces, somehow the Democrats in Washington can’t get their shit together long enough to pass a meaningful healthcare reform bill. Mr. President, I ask you this: If they don’t even believe you are an American citizen, why the hell do you care if they think you are going to kill their grandmother? Rush Limbaugh was not elected to any office. Pass healthcare reform with a public option and move on. Rush will get over it. Trust me. He has a pill for that."

Epic fail

So, I'm kinda a nerd, I admit it. I've never worried about a test in my life, as a matter of fact, even when I should have worried because I didn't study, I was completely confident in my test-taking ability. I don't recall ever failing a test in my life. What does this have to do with my current life, you may wonder?

Wednesday, I went to Chili's to apply for a job. I have waited on the GM, Chris, many times (at my Applebees bar) and he likes me and knows I am a good employee. He was having a manager's meeting when I got there and told me to get an application and then talk to him and he would get me an interview. He looked at my availability and said it looked good and to come in Thursday (yesterday) to do, basically a formality, interview and silly personality test.

Ahh, you say, a test. But there's no way the personality test was a problem, right? It would be impossible for a person who loves and is good at the job being tested for to fail the test to determine employment eligibility, right? WRONG! I FAILED A PERSONALITY TEST! The worst thing is that they can't even tell me why, or even what part was the problem.

Chris wasn't there yesterday, so I called him this morning and asked if there was anything he could do. I mean, surely, the GM of a restaurant can override a silly test. Apparently not. He said he would look into it, see if maybe there was just a problem with the scoring, or I filled in the circles wrong, or aliens attacked, something!

So, how's the job hunting going? Super. At least ten restaurants I want to work at are fully staffed, the hiring manager at one I really want quit so they have to wait until her position is filled before they can hire servers, I get fast-tracked at Chili's only to blow it by not being able to properly answer questions about how happy I am in life and how trustworthy other people find me. :-/

{update}

Chris (CJ) said (paraphrasing), "Screw it, I want to hire you, I'll just deal with my boss if he questions it!"  So, I'm off to be a happy little Chili's girl.