Happy Day!

Today is a big day at the Brann house. It's Marty jr.'s birthday! He is the big 5 today. I can hardly believe how fast our kids are growing up. It seems like just yesterday he was a sweet, sleepy newborn....and in just a few minutes he's going to come downstairs to open his presents and blowout the candle on his birthday cupcake, and then quite likely request to immediately play his new lego starwars video game :)

And for our even bigger girl, tonight is her musical! The annual school musical is a big deal in this house. Each year Emma has tried out for a solo part and has earned one. She LOVES performing and this is a wonderful time for her, hence for us.

Grandma and Grandpa Brann are coming down to share the afternoon/evening with us. Emma was thrilled Grandpa came to watch her performance last year and is so excited to have them both come to see her musical. It's a long haul for them to come on a weekday evening and we're so happy they want to come celebrate with us.

Happy Day!!

Well said!

Emma (while looking through her microscope):

"I've learned something, camel hair is not very appealing."

Divisions

And while we're on the subject of values in the context of politics...I just had to head off someone from ranting to remind me of the flaws of the democratic party with regard to Mr. Spitzer and his indiscretions. Are you kidding me? I am so tired of hearing that democrats or republicans are this or that b/c of one party member's choice. We can line up the republicans who have made questionable choices too. It's just getting worse, this 2-party system. What happened to a gov't working together for the nation? I'm not seeing much of that in recent years...it seems to constantly be a race to the top. Unfortunately that isn't getting us anywhere.

The F word

With the development of having a woman run for president, I've been hearing the F-bomb a lot lately...feminism. I've heard ppl criticize Hillary and her supporters for being feminist. This makes me scratch my head. I know that most ppl with any college level education have to take some general social science courses in which the topic of feminism is discussed.

What do you think feminism is?

I have learned feminism to be the support of equal rights for women. Period. I've heard some ugly rants against women who are feminist and kinda shudder...do you know who you are talking to? Are you seriously suggesting to me that I don't deserve the same rights as a man? I don't think some ppl realize how offensive it comes across. While they are busy bashing an idea, they aren't taking the time to learn what it really means. Either that, or they do truly believe that women aren't equal to men. So when I ask a room full of ppl who here is a feminist, and notice that a lot of ppl, including women, do not raise their hand...I have to wonder, how many of us hang onto old ideas for dear life, just because we're used to it? And at what cost to society?

An example of why I love chessies...

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/features/Chocolate/index.aspx

Every once in awhile I'll recieve a link to a really heartwarming story about a chessie. Usually it involves them helping their humans in some way, this one just reminds me how smart these dogs are.

Good breeders advise that most ppl probably aren't capable of being good chessie owners. It takes a certain kind of leadership and high level of commitment to give them what they need. I have heard it many times, if you think you can handle this laundry list of things and take a chessie into your family, you will never want another kind of dog. Being newbie dog owners when Marty and I bought Kuma, we just jumped in. We didn't care and just knew we wanted a chessie, for everything about the breed standard was just what we were looking for. Kuma definitely gave us a run for our money, he exhausted us, and just when he was beginning to mature and we were about to reap the rewards (chessies tend to be a TON of work in the early years and then are known for being the BEST dogs after about age 3-4), he died.

Now Sunny is 3. We've been given a mega break with her. She has been sooo willing to do whatever we want from the beginning. She was a little overly submissive, expressed in the form of sprinkles, at times, but as she matures she is growing out of that. She is so loyal and an amazing companion dog.

Many of you who have met Sunny don't really see this side of her. Chessies attach to their pack and are very aloof with others. I wish you all knew how amazing it is to have such a great companion. The only way to really know is to have your own.

I love my brown velcro dog.

Weekend In Michigan

We spent this past weekend in Michigan visiting with Dad, Alicia, and Aaron. We skied on Saturday and had a nice time. It was a balmy day in the 20's with a biting wind up on the lifts... brrr! But the snow was excellent, as they had recieved a few, fresh inches the day before.

When we arrived home on Sunday it was almost 70 degrees. We unloaded the car and immediately hit the trails. It was so nice to feel warm air and enjoy the outdoors. The next day was even a bit warmer and soooo enjoyable. We really enjoyed the short spring teaser, we are back to freezing and had a dusting of snow this morning. Oh well, spring'll get here.

In the mean time I'll keep tending to my flowers and veggies that I've started from seed and look forward to when I get to plant them outside and visit them daily.