So I have two things to talk about that are, in reality, not even slightly related but somehow in my world blend together.

The first is the funeral for Ronald Reagan. The very, very odd thing to me about his recent passing is that just last week something on TV or something random reminded me of our 40th president and for no particular reason I asked Jeff if he was still alive. We decided he was, and in hindsight, with all of the news and procession that has been going on this past week, there's no way even I could have missed it. Then Saturday evening, I flip past the news and very strangely hear that he had died that day. What a coincidence... Anyway, I find myself to be actually more affected by this than I would have ever thought possible. After all, I was only 1-9 years old while he was in office. I certainly wasn't directly affected (or at least not as far as I was aware at the time) by "reaganomics" or foreign policy or any of the other aspects of his presidency. As a small child, to me he was probably not much more than the old man who always seemed to be on the news. And then I learned who he was... That old man was the President of the United States. He was the President. I'm not sure how old I was when I was able to comprehend what that was, but when I learned just that little bit about the way the country's government worked and that there was one man at the top of it, it was him. Ronald Reagan was what the President was. And of course, not really understanding much, I don't think it occurred to me that he would ever not be the president. Then, of course, 1988 came and his time was up. So came the election and I learned a little more... However, in the very beginning, for me at a very basic level, Ronald Reagan was the first president I ever knew and stayed as such for a significant portion of my early childhood. I think that's where the news that he had died affected me more than anything, similar to leaving the first house you ever lived in, or as an adult losing/selling your very first car. It's a rough analogy, but the best I can think to come up with.

On a side note to this, while I was watching the beginning of the funeral where the pall-bearers were standing by the casket while it was still in the rotunda in the Capitol, CBS news did something that I thought was slightly inappropriate. The scene was very solemn in the rotunda as the ceremony continued and suddenly they popped up a small box in the upper left-hand corner showing the Clintons, who were, I assume, in an outer lobby area. They were socializing and shaking hands with people, grins were ear-to-ear, as if they were greeting guests to some grand party. My first instinct was to blame the impropriety on the Clintons themselves. I was utterly appalled. Then, as I thought more deeply on it, I decided that it wouldn't have been inappropriate if CBS hadn't cut away and shown it. Damn the press. The press is going to take this country down faster than any politican would ever be able to do. And as with all things where the Bill and Hilary Clinton are concerned... Nothing they do is ever inappropriate until they get caught.

My other thing to talk about, I'm going to save for later. It's just too unrelated. I'm reading an excellent women's health/fertility book and I really will talk about it later and why I was about to link it to current events. Until then...

Au Revior.

Before And After

Would I get a discount if I birthed the baby in the store? - 5/16/05
The end is near? - 5/13/05
The progession of me - 5/10/05
Cleaning update - 5/7/05
Pre-nesting - 5/7/05