I'm such a political geek!

Okay, get this...

It's the weekend. It's how out, but nice. Both Bill and James are home. And what have I spent the whole day today doing?

Sitting in front of the TV watching CNN.

The Democratic Party Rules Committee is meeting, and it is ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING!!

(again, yes, I am such a geek)

How will the delegates from Florida and Michigan be divided at the DNC Convention in August? Who who be the nominee? HOW LONG will this Primary drag on? 

I've got a PhD in Political Science, have worked with some amazingly talented professors, including Dr. Paul-Henri Gurian, who is my hero and (almost) lives for Presidential Primary Campaign Politics. I've taught American Government at the university level 17 times...

They've just come back... from a 2 hour lunch...

THE TENSION IS KILLING ME!!

I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!

(again, I am SUCH A GEEK!! - and PROUD OF IT!!)

stay tuned...

The office will get built... under someone's administration... :-)

. . . 

update:

FASCINATING!!

My Grandfather, Samuel A. Wells was a Democrat back in the days when being a southern Democrat meant all sorts of things. He stuck with the party through the challenges of desegregation, and through the Carter era. He always wrote to his representatives, and they knew him. Many many years ago, I had the privilege of attending the Georgia State "Jefferson Jackson Dinner". It was a who's who of politics in the South, and he proudly introduced me to Senator Sam Nunn, Zel Miller (who really was a Democrat long ago), and even the handsome Senator Al Gore. While I was young, and an idealists, I knew that I was with someone special. GrandDaddy obviously had the respect of these powerful men. I was so proud of him too.

When I introduced him to Bill (my husband) his question for me was not: Is he a good man? or Can he provide for you? Nope. GrandDaddy asked "Is he registered to vote? and is he a Democrat?" That's what mattered to him.

But GrandDaddy wasn't just a politico, he was a man who genuinely believed that government had the duty to serve the people, and people have to duty to participate in their government. He could organize people and pull them together to work on something that would benefit them all, even when they wouldn't do it on their own. He was tough and had the highest standards for himself and everyone else, but he was always fair and always pushed me to do better, not just for myself but for my world.

One day, he paid my son the highest compliment he ever granted anyone. James was 4 years old, and insisted on holding the door open for everyone going into a coffee shop with us. GrandDaddy watched him thoughtfully and said with a mist in his eyes "That boy will make a fine citizen." My heart swelled and I could not have agreed more. 

Watching the Democratic Party today work together towards finding a fair compromise, towards avoiding further division, and taking steps that could bring someone who wants to unite this badly divided country to a position that could help heal this country has been amazing. It makes me wish my Grandfather could be here to see it. I think he's agree the compromised they reached was the right thing to do.

And watching something this historic with my son, who  is a fine citizen, indeed, gives me hope that Granddaddy was right, and that in his own way, he is also with us. 

That is a very special gift. 

Good work DNC Rules Committee! Good work!

(at least now you know why I'm such a political geek)

Sad News... a memorial of sorts...

Yesterday, we got some sad news...

Harvey Korman died.

I grew up watching Harvey Korman on both the Carol Burnett Show and in all of my favorite Mel Brooks 

movies.

He was absolutely brilliant in all of his roles, and tonight we're watching "Blazing Saddles". 

I first saw this movie when I was 8. My father took me to see it. I didn't get most of it, but I loved it. And I still do. And all the other movies, lik

e History of the World,Part I and Dead and Loving It.

Harvey Korman has always been a constant in my life, like a funny uncle I looked forward to seeing at reunions.  

Whether it is Hedey Laman (HEDLEY!), Count De Money (DE MONET!) or Harvey Kormam (KORMAN), I'm glad that he was in this world, and could made it a lighter, funnier place. 

Thank you, Harvey Korman!

Reasons construction work is not good for your manicure...

The chicken wire is now up... And it's wet and rainy today.

So I'm taking Flash (my scooter) to the coffee shop and out to a doctors appointment instead.

I have a Sea World poncho I wear when I'm on my bike. Nothing like having Shamu on your back in the rain puttering down the road.

I've had some good inputs from folks about the next steps. For some reason stucco vs plaster is really catching me. A couple of neat places www.yestermorrow.org and www.expertvillage.com

But my building guru at Lowe's is on vacation for the week. (Good for hiM!!) So I'm waiting. . .

or stalling. . .  

Okay, Time to go!!

Wish me luck!

A good days work...

Today we got out there later than I would have liked,  but it was fun. 

I have to say having someone to work on this with is really a boost.
Bill helped get the two top side windows framed in, and that additional braces for the top bales... 



This is the view from my loft. I love my loft. I spend lots of time up there already.... and the boards are all the seats from the Barbaritoes ... It's yummy up there.
Of course, when someone wrote that it took them 6 months to build their shed, I remember despairing that I could NEVER wait that long... now it seems like a journey that may never end...

Bill seemed to feel the same way....

But we got to work, putting up that Proposition 65 Chicken wire. It was a good thing we weren't using it in California. Evidently it is trouble there...
We did have a visitor trying to move in...

You know, I never thought that chicken wire and 2x4s could be so lovely...
I think that is a definite sign it's time to stop for the night...

Until tomorrow.

Known to the State of California...?

Sometimes, there are things you just don't want to understand....

I thought Proposition 65 was something completely different ...

Oh well....

Does this mean that in the State of Georgia we don't know what it does? Are we in the State of Denial? State of Confusion? State of Grace....?

I had the funniest dream last night that there were several contract workers who were pilfering materials from my building site. They agreed to bring them back but were concerned it wasn't getting used. (Now my subconscious is feeling the need to work)

Yesterday at Lowe's I got chicken wire and insulation for the roof. The chicken wire will be to hem in the bales a little more and give some more stability. Plus I have some gaps that I can't fill with full bales and want to make sure it holds. The insulation is for the roof. I've been trying to figure out if I need to vent it. . . 

I could write a book on the things I just don't know about building. 

It's  holiday weekend. I plan to use it. 

I'm looking forward to seeing some real progress in the next few weeks. I will keep you all posted.... watch this space....

Things I love about building my own office space:

1. I can walk into Lowe's (Home improvement store) in my nastiest jeans, grungiest T-shirt, with my hair looking it's messiest, go to the exact part of the exact isle where I know the precise type of bits I'm looking for, and as Aerosmith blares on my iPod, I can carry myself with some seriously bad ass confidence in what I'm doing. Nice. 

Cha-cha-cha-changes....

When I left in early March - the office walls were up, but other than that, my "office" looked like this. See. Nice, open, airy...

BUT... while I was gone...

It rained...

A LOT...

And got warmer...

A LOT....

And now it looks like ...

THIS!!

The blue tarp is keeping the bales dry, and there has been a little more done on it... but I tell you... Spring done Sprung while I was gone!!!

The view from the front doors looked like this last fall, during the drought...

Now it looks like this!!

LUSH LUSH LUSH!!

And of course, the real reason I came back:

It's amazing how fast time flies. I could not be more proud of this kid. 

Now, I'm off to work on my shed.

Happy Memorial Day folks!

I'm BACK!!

This is where I've been:

No, I haven't been in prison. I've been in Namibia.

More people think it looks like this:
Honestly, I can understand it. It's prettier out here. This guy was very kind to pose for us.

But really, this is more of what I was doing. This is a community group up near the border with Angola. We help a bunch of meetings to ask them what they thought about a potential fence being built on the border to keep cows from going across. 

We also saw a lot of really neat sights. Like this Oshana - it's flooded because of well... the floods. This kid caught the fish that washed into the Oshanas with the floods. They are eating a LOT of fish there these days.
We also visited Ruacana Falls. It was impressive and definitely worth seeing. That's Angola on the other side. 
Also we were meeting with indigenous folks like this Himba woman. The guy, Penda, is not Himba, but he knows their language. He's a nice guy, but evidently she was ready to smack him.

Actually though, these ladies rub a paste of ochre and cow fat into their skin, and coat their hair with it. They are one of the most "traditional" societies left in Africa. They are lovely people, though a bit slow to trust outsiders. I could understand that. After all, we had no clue how to survive in this climate as well as they did. 
This is Epupa Falls - also on the border. They were going to build a dam here and flood this. But the Himba and a lot of international indigenous rights groups protested. So they didn't. It is genuinely beautiful. I'm glad it's not flooded... yet?
These are the folks I had the honor of traveling with. Penda, you've met. He was our translator and assistant. He works with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism as a Warden for 2 National Parks. He hangs out with folks like us on his off time for fun. The lovely lady next to him is Debbie. She's AWESOME! She's a PhD biologist who grew up in Zimbabwe. She's worked in Botswana and Namibia and specializes in elephants. She was a bush pilot, has a horse named Moose, and a really wonderful sense of humor. I could not have hoped for better traveling companions. I miss them both a lot. 
Speaking of elephants. We were on our way to Grootberg Lodge . How often do you see an ELEPHANTS CROSSING sign? I mean really... No, we didn't see any.
These are the rooms at Grootberg. They are built using local supplies and are part of a community owned nature conservancy. It's amazing. It's really really amazing. 

I'll post some more pictures later on. 

Being home is nice. It's good to spend time with my boys and to pick up on the work on my office... But that will come tomorrow...

Good night, y'all!!