The Enemy of My Enemy

In my last post I talked about John McCain, his death being the big news of the moment. I'm still struck by the fact that he asked Barack Obama to speak at his funeral. As of this writing, I haven't seen/heard the speech. I'm fascinated with this because, even though it seems like decades ago, it wasn't long ago that the twos were political adversaries. And yet, as people have been sharing recently on social media, there were several times throughout the campaign where John McCain encouraged his supporters to show respect for Barack, despite any differences in opinion. It sends such a positive, mature, and much-needed message to the Republican party, and Americans in general, that you can still admire and respect someone with whom you disagree so much that you can give them the great honor of sending you off into the next life, so to speak. It's really beautiful, actually. Perhaps more than anything else, I think it's a sign that he probably left this world at peace with all that he had done in his life.

Juxtapose this with a White House that didn't even want to fly the flag at half-mast for more than a day to honor him, in keeping with custom. The same president pretends to care about veterans and lets loose a barrage of insults on people who insists are disrespecting the flag and all it stands for*, refuses to fly the flag at half-mast for a much-revered veteran who served his country in more ways than one. Something does not add up there (as a side, thanks to Pod Save America for pointing this out). This is the same president that tries to discredit anyone that says anything alternative to what he says, and even incite violence on those people. 

But anyway, back to this idea of former foes making peace with each other. While the president constantly acts in ways that damage the American democracy, these two oppositional leaders give me a little bit of hope that some of it is still in tact. In the long run, this is the kind of story that will be written about and intelligently discussed, and not the strings of incoherent, 2AM tweets we have come so used to reading. Perhaps it took the current president's tenure for these two to realize the meaning of the ancient proverb, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".





* Although, I and many people do not believe the athletes that kneel for the anthem are being disrespectful. Rather, they are respectfully exercising free speech in order to call attention to great social injustice. Beto O'Rourke recently answered a question having to do with this topic, very poignantly. 

The Maverick

I'm a little sad to hear of the death of John McCain. While I often didn't agree with him, he was a respectable and honorable man, and I would have greatly preferred him to the person sitting in the White House at the moment. It makes me sad for the Rebublican Party because he does leave a great void now that he is gone. It is nice to hear people from both sides of the aisle paying their respects to him, though, instead of the usual political bickering.  

RIP "Maverick".

Coles Little Shop

Coles, one of the big supermarket chains here, has started doing this silly thing called Little Shop. For every $30 you spend on groceries, they give you a little collectible item (one of a set of 30). I didn't think anything of it at first, when I didn't know about the promotion and a cashier handed me a few little trinkets after I checked out. I put them on the bookshelf thinking at some point, Penelope might have a dollhouse and she might want them. Weeks later, we are almost halfway to a full set. We kind of accidentally became collectors.

People are actually going to great lengths to trade for these little tiny items. They are going onto message boards, classifieds, social media, and even live trading events to try to complete their sets. It's kind of insane. Anyway, sometimes there are these little cultural fads that arise, and this is definitely the consumerist craze of the moment. 

Our mini nutella jar is my prized possession. 

Penny grows, Ninja in recovery, Sydney Tea Festival, and Flights home

This is a quick catch up because I don't have a lot of time today...

Penelope has been trying lots of new foods (purees, since she has no teeth). She is enjoying our weekly swim lessons She has upgraded to a crib from the bassinet, and we have already sold the bassinet. 

We found out last night that Ninja has a UTI, so we are treating him with some meds and hopefully it will clear up soon. Poor guy.

I went to my third Sydney Tea Festival. I tried all the teas and sweets, and it was more enjoyable than last year because I didn't have to be as careful about what I was trying (I was pregnant at the time last year). I bought one kind of tea that is hard to find here, some local honey from the folks with whom I took my beekeeping class, and even mixed my own floral rooibos blend that I named "Penny Lane".

I bought our plane tickets for a visit home in December. it's exciting to start planning, even though it's not for several months. Annoyingly, we actually had enough airline miles for a free ticket, but because most airlines are jerks who do whatever they want and don't care about being fair to their customers, it costs the same to get a one way ticket with United as it does to get a roundtrip flight around the holidays. So, we are saving the miles, but what good are miles we can't use the way we want and should be able to? We will be able to use them in a different month, hopefully, but still. We will probably switch our main airline from United to Qantas, since Qantas is so much better, but we have to use these miles we've saved up first. And, you know, they don't beat up their passengers when they overbook their own flights. 

...and that's the quick update.

P's First Hike

This weekend, we took Penelope on her first (short) hike. We did the Hermitage Foreshore Track and then looped around back to the car; the whole thing took about two hours, including a stop for a geocache and a little snack picnic. It was an unseasonably warm afternoon, and the views were beautiful around sunset. In the distance we could see the bridge and opera house over the water. Penelope enjoyed being in her backpack carrier; particularly, looking at the sky, trees, and water. She didn't fuss once, and she crashed on the car ride home. I guess that means she's good to go on more hikes in the future. 

I'd definitely recommend the Hermitage Foreshore Track for those who enjoy going for a walk/hike, but can't handle anything too long, or too much elevation (although there is a little bit). It's also very easy to get to; it's basically a hike within the city - the inner suburbs, at least. Going in the evening guaranteed easy parking. It's definitely doable with kids. And, if it's warm enough, you can swim at several points along the way, or have a picnic at one of many nice spots. It's amazing to me we've lived in Sydney this long and only now done this walk.

Michael Returns and Ronny Goes to the Dentist

Michael is home again! Hurray! 

He and Penny are both currently in the middle of a long nap. I wanted to nap too, but sometimes you try and just can't fall asleep. Instead, I've been listening to podcasts and doing chores, and I'm actually out of chores to do for once.

Because Mike is back, I was able to go to the dentist and get one of my old silver fillings replaced. While this is not particularly exciting, it is a good thing that had to happen. While I was gone, I think Michael played Penny ragged, which is why they're both passed out.

My dentist's office is at the train stop we used to live near over a year and a half ago. Going there is like a little trip down memory lane, since I otherwise have no reason to end up there most of the time. 

We are weekend bound, and the possibilities are endless. 

Only Two More Sleeps

There are only two more sleeps until Michael comes home. After a very quiet first week, several friends came through to help out this week, and were just generally around for fun times. Penelope had her first babysitter for a few hours (that wasn't a grandparent) - a friend of mine - and had a great time with her. Also, we also finally received Penelope's passport, so we can start planning a visit home. 

We are definitely ready for Michael to come back so Mommy can get more sleep and more time to workout, run errands, and/or relax again! Penelope is ready to have him back to play, watch anime, and do more walking practice. 

More Sesame Street Love

Sometimes I show Penelope Sesame Street on Hulu, and she LOVES it, for a few minutes at a time, anyway. It's nice to see that some things about it are exactly the same. Even some of the old people are still on it, like the actor who plays Gordon. He was on the first episode in 1969, and he's still on it, which is crazy. The show still has lots of great cameos. In the most recent season, you can see Ricky Gervais, Matthew Fox, Jason Mraz, Adam Sandler, etc. It's kind of fun as a parent watching to recognize random folks, since the kids obviously don't know who they are. Despite the fact that I can only remember white male special guests at the moment, they have very diverse casting of adults, kids, and even muppets. They show all different ages, cultures, and abilities in every episode. The diversity extends to the little shorts they have too; from real people, to puppets, to computer animation, to classic animation and claymation, they mix it up a lot to keep kids' interest. I love that it's still entirely educational - they work on phonics, math, science, social studies concepts, music, and just general kindness and manners.

It's amazing how well this classic kids' show has stood the test of time, but also evolved with time.