That's my kid

Sitting in the dinning room working on my laptop. Jaime is in the other room watching American Idol on Tivo from last night.

Ryan: Coming up next singing Areosmith and

Jaime: Oh Lord... ... A girl, singing Areosmith.

This is pretty much exactly what I said last night when I was watching it. :)

Baby Stuff

PeaBaby,

We stopped at the Harley store this weekend while out riding. Saw something really cute and had to get it for you. I think its in the mail, but if not, will be soon. Can't say what it is in case your mom is reading the blog.

Love you,
Papa James.

To the MSM - nothing good can ever happen in Iraq

From "Why the Iraq war is turning into America's defeat", by Mark Steyn:

The week's news from Iraq: According to the state television network, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was wounded in a clash with security forces just north of Baghdad. A senior deputy was killed.

Meanwhile, the punk cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has decided that discretion is the better part of mullahs and has temporarily relocated to Iran. That's right: The biggest troublemaker in Iraq is no longer in Iraq.

He also writes that the New York Times sees this as a bad thing. Of course, to most of the MSM the glass is always half empty. No matter what happens in the war, it is a disaster. Like his book, Steyn is giving us real facts but also warning us that as a country we must get our act together.

PeaBaby - pre-birth - week 12

PeaBaby,

The first picture I have of you! Well ok... its kind of hard to see you, wrapped inside your mom like that - but still - proof positive that you are making an impact! It makes me kind of cry when I see you and your mom like this. Time warp back to when your grandma looked like that with your mom. Tons of flashbacks to Montana.

We are *definately* coming down in May to see you and attend the AZ HOG State Rally. The trip will be great, the rally will be great... but seeing you will be the best of all. Speaking of motorcycles... we were thinking of going for a ride today - because it was supposed to be in the 50s - but woke up to an inch or two of snow on the ground. Maybe it will melt today and we'll be able to ride tomorrow.

The worst winter we've had in CO in 12 years they say. I don't ever remember one this bad - and I've been here 17 years or so. Global warming... or preparation for your arrival? Whose to say. ;)

Love ya,

Papa James.

Texas bill would fine parents who skip school conferences

Texas bill would fine parents who skip school conferences

A Houston-area legislator wants to subject parents to criminal charges for skipping a scheduled meeting with their child's teacher.

Republican Rep. Wayne Smith said it is time for the state to crack down on Texans who are shirking their parental responsibilities by failing to meet with the teacher when their child is having academic or disciplinary problems.

...

Under the bill, parents who miss a scheduled conference with a teacher could be charged with a Class C misdemeanor and fined up to $500.

Yeah... this is what law-makers need to be spending time on...

Willim M. Arkin Washington Post anti-milirary article

William M. Arkin of the Washington Post wrote an article with the subtitle of "The Troops Also Need to Support the American People." It was a really long article, otherwise I would have reproduced it here. Mr Arkin watched a news report in which some soliders were discussing how they felt some of the folks back home weren't supporting them. For instance:

First up was 21 year old junior enlisted man Tyler Johnson, whom Engel said was frustrated about war skepticism and thinks that critics "should come over and see what it's like firsthand before criticizing."

"You may support or say we support the troops, but, so you're not supporting what they do, what they're here sweating for, what we bleed for, what we die for. It just don't make sense to me," Johnson said.

These types of comments so upset Mr. Arkin that he said things like the following:

These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect.

So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?

But it is the United States and instead this NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work.

America needs to ponder what it is we really owe those in uniform.

What it is we own them is a great deal of respect and thanks for doing what they do for us. Not slamming them like this.

The article allows comments... and there are quite a few. Pages and pages of them. Mostly in favor of the military. There are also a number of blogs talking about this. Many of them calling for this guy to be fired.

Many people are all for our troops and find it hard to believe there are those that don't. Here is a great example of how some on the left really feel.

Getting ready to ride

HOG National and State Rallies are already taking pre-registration. Signed up for the "Ridin' the Rockies" rally in CO and the Arizona "Our Mission is to Ride" State Rally.

The Colorado Rally is here in the Springs this year, so we'll definately go to that. And we are also thinking about going to the Montana "Bikes and Bulls" Rally in Belgrade/Bozeman. We've still got friends up there, so would be cool to stop and see folks on the way up/back. Plus its been 20+ years since Tina has been there. Would be cool to ride through MT, stop in Big Timber, etc.

So that would be one national and three state rallies. We might sign up for some others around here (don't want to go too far this year), but we have to keep late July and Aug open - for PeaBaby's arrival. Plus there are other non-HOG rallies like Thunder in the Rockies, POW Rides, etc. Looks like it will be a busy biking summer. Yeah!

Food Art

PeaBaby,

Your aunt and grandma asked for a "snack" the other night. Bologna, cheese, some olives. So I took the bologna, cut eyes, mouth, and nose out of it, and put it on round colby cheese. Then I cut a green olive and used the slices to fill in the eyes and nose and cut a small pickle lengthways for the mouth. Then made hair out of more cheese.

I'll have to take a picture next time so you know what I'm talking about.

I used to do this all the time for the girls when they were little. Stuff like this, and Mickey Mouse pancakes, colored pancakes, red heart pancakes. I even made green eggs and ham once... but the green eggs freaked them out and they wouldn't eat them.

So - once you are old enough to eat pancakes, I can make this kind of stuff for you. Little girls always think this kind of stuff is cool... little boys probably too. It will be fun to eat breakfast at Papa James' house. :)

Love you!
Papa James