ode to jode.

Today is the birthday one of my best friends, Jody. This short post to is say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Everyone should have a little Jody in their lives. As part of her birthday celebration I have written her a poem:

Ode to Jode (Imagine Ode of Joy playing in the background)
Have an amazing birthday my dear friend!
Without you, my heart would need a mend.
You bring me great gladness and joy.
And you've produced such a cute little boy.
Thanks for your friendship, love, and food.
If it weren't for you, or delicious ash-flavored soup, I might continually be in a bad mood.
Vacations without you just aren't the same,
They lack the excitement and sometimes, are quite lame.
Relaxing with you to watch Tim & Heidi, Michael, and "Dog" is great.
And although, yet to be successful, its interesting, your quest to find me a mate.
You have filled my life with happiness, fun, laughter, and lots of opportunities at beating the boys at games.
When will they ever learn, that if we are on a team together, we will put them to shames. (Meaning continually shaming.)
I wish for you, the day of your birth,
Many more years of being beautiful and still having the same, small girth.

I love you. And have come to realize the need for us to take more pictures together...



And in case you're wondering, I will keep my day job and not pursue a career as a poetess.

Love & Hate, Hate & Love

LOVE: The brilliant colors of the leaves, mums, pumpkins, spiced things from drinks to desserts, football, going to bed with my windows open but lost under a mound of blankets, and the smell of burning leaves.
HATE: The smell of wet drying leaves, having to wear socks, knowing that fall is a precursor to the long bleak winter, that is Ohio.
LOVE: Unseasonably warm days coupled with crisp mornings and evenings. I could get use to that.

LOVE: Organizing things and getting rid of unnecessary junk that only complicates life. Maybe its because of the visual sense of instant gratification from all the hard work. I got to do a little of that this weekend. I love helping make others lives a little less burdensome.
HATE: Not having more time to devote to that.

LOVE: The music renderings of Bon Iver. Can't get enough.
HATE: Three Doors Down. I actually use to like them. However, they now grate on my last nerve. Get some new material already.

LOVE: Started to read "Searching for God knows What" by Donald Miller. Lots of good thoughts.
HATE: (Not hate, more of a strong disliking...) I haven't gotten use to his structure of writing.

LOVE: Studying Genesis. Amazed how many times some of the "Spiritual Giants" of the Bible did really shady things, yet God still loved them and used them as cornerstones of our mutual faith.

HATE: HATE HATE HATE politics. But I'm still going to vote.

LOVE: Being resourceful.
HATE: That I can easily get caught up in a materialistic frame of mind.

Vote.

It is my honor and privilege to live in a country where I have the right to vote. And I don't take that role lightly. Even in elections that aren't considered "cool", where you only end up voting for say a low ranking county official or issues regarding an obscure wetland on farmer Joe's lot, I still drag myself out of bed earlier than normal, and trudged down to my polling place. I stand in line with a demographic that consists primarily of people twice my age, give or take a decade or two. As big of a dork as this next statement will make me, I can't wait to get that sticker that says "I voted today". Regardless, that its just a stupid sticker, that day I have more of a bounce in my step, I walk a little taller, and I feel more American than I ever do even after eating way too much and watching a fireworks on July Fourth.

The more I listen to people about the impending election, the more I am convinced that EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE TO PASS A SHORT CIVICS EXAM BEFORE YOU'RE ABLE TO VOTE. (If you fail the test, sorry. You are excluded from getting to vote this round. However, because this is a democracy, you'll get a chance to take the same exam next opportunity to vote.)

This stems from unintelligent reasons why people are voting for a particular candidate. They included, 1). he's is just cool, 2). he has the hottest wife, 3). I like how he talks, 4). I was raised by a single mom too, 5). I want a v.p. that looks like Tina Fey, 6). I like how he dresses. Unfortunately there are more reasons, these are just the ones I hear the most.

I mean REALLY?! You're going to choose the next leader of the free world because he wears the nicest tailored suits??!! Know the issues. Know where you, as a free American, stands on the issues. Put down your US Weekly, step away from Facebook, turn off You Tube, and actually research both candidates. Don't vote merely because you usually vote for the Democratic or Republican party. Don't let forwarded bulk emails from your Grandma, who has always voted Republican, be your deciding source. Get down and dirty, and do some old fashion research. Don't take the overwhelmingly liberal media's slant on the election as truth. Everything you read and hear about the candidate is NOT TRUTH. Look at both sides and vote for which candidate you think will do the best job as the leader of our country. Which candidate do you agree with on how they propose to handle foreign policy, their value on human life, health care, the increasing debt, the ongoing war, etc. Make a decision, and then go and vote. (You can even document every aspect of your voting experience via camera and then post them on your Facebook letting the world know just how American you are.)

It matters every time you vote, but for whatever reason, there is this misconception that it only matters when you are voting for someone in Washington. But hey, if you've never voted start now. By taking this baby step, maybe, just maybe, I'll see you at the polling place come Spring 2009, voting for some obscure ballot issue. I'll nod to you, in quiet respect, that you actually take your freedom seriously.