merry freaking christmas

r and I both didn't think very hard about our family outing today, until we arrived. we thought we would go to the mall. we thought it would be fun. we thought it would be a good idea. we thought wrong. we forgot about the DATE, and that a lot of people are big jerks while under stress, time constraints, and in obnoxious traffic. it was...interesting, although not quite as bad as you may be imagining after my dramatic first sentences.

in general, M likes to get out and enjoy the play area at the mall, plus it's quite close to our house. and once we got inside, it really wasn't too bad. the worst part was actually while dining out at Arby's and hearing at least two sets of families having frustrated arguments about children eating quicker, hurry hurry hurry, etc. i'm glad that M casually enjoyed his fries and ketchup/catsup while mostly ignoring said embarrassing family fights.

it probably helped that R and I were already finished with all our shopping. this was due partly to amazon.com (i love you!!) and partly to a limited budget, which is a good motivator to pass things up and "just look". it ended up being a pretty good outing, in spite of our shock at the fulness of parking lot upon arrival. i looked for a pair of shoes for R's brother's wedding next week, and had minimal luck. there were no good white shoes to be found save one, only a few silver, and lots of red but not at the right price. $69? ouch! but they're so cute...

on our way out of the mall driving circle, we encountered, clearly, our most angry fellow shopper. granted, we were confused about which lane to be in but still, peace on earth, right. no. we got an eyeful of angry gestures, windows rolling down and then up, and some muffled yelling. the only we didn't get was the finger, so i'm thankful for that.

so for the next few days, beware. and merry freaking christmas :) love, k

good reads

i'm a big slacker, not writing in my trusty blog for a few weeks now. however, i'm making amends by writing a little something while M sleeps his way through church. i'm probably the least supportive wifey ever, since R is there right now giving a talk and i'm here at home in my pj's! but The Boy must have his rest, and he didn't want to have that rest until 2 hours later than usual. hence, no church.

so i'm reading this book about the Kennedy White House, and it's proved interesting. i was never much of a rememberer of facts, so anything i may have actually learned in the California school system while growing up is fairly fuzzy at best. not to mention that i've never been much of a studious student. and it's been one of my latest goals to remedy my lack of knowledge in all things political. to be honest, i think my interest in this started with the most recent presidential election. it was the first time i actually remember caring about the outcome of an election. and ever since then i've wanted to be more well versed in politics.

now, to fill in the holes of my past learning, i am seeking out texts about interesting political figures, past and present. the first book i've read on my new kick is this one, and i think it was a good place ot start. easy to read, yet pertinent to what i'm trying to achieve. next on the list: Johnson, and then Nixon, i think. i may as well go in order from where i've started :)