If Democrats Had Brains, They'd Be Republicans

Last week I talked about Mia's silliness. Today I'm bragging up my oldest daughter, Molly. She is fourteen years old and miles ahead of me in sophistication. Almost every day I have to ask myself where she came from, because the skills that she shows with ease most certainly did not come from me (or her father)! Molly's pulling off straight A's in school, tonight she's the female lead in the play One and All at the school, and on Thursday, she made the junior varsity cheerleading squad. There are days when she's at school 10-1/2 hours between practice for jazz choir and cheerleading, but she's managing it with ease. She just blows me away. But the thing that makes her shine the brightest in my eyes is how our relationship has grown in the last couple of years. Molly was prickly as a child. She didn't like to be hugged or cuddled, and she had the nickname Katie Ka-Boom for a reason. Middle school mellowed her, and high school seems to be refining her even further. Now I get regular hugs, and she likes to curl up in bed next to me just to chat. And chat and chat and chat! :) I'm not complaining; I was worried about communicating with her in her teens, but she's opened up. She also does sweet things like change the banner on my cell-phone (that she's always using) from Christy to Best Mom. I know I am blessed, and I never take it for granted.

If Democrats Had Brains, They'd Be Republicans by Ann Coulter is another bullet in Coulter's every ready arsenal for attacking liberals/Democrats. I've read all of Coulter's previous books, and this one was a major disappointment to me. Even when I agree with her points, it's hard to get past the vicious rhetoric. The same kind of sweeping generalizations she uses on her opponents are what she accuses them of using. Coulter has become a flashpoint for conservatives; even they have a hard time supporting her, and this book doesn't help. But the biggest reason this book is just ok, is because of the content. It's just quotes from her interviews, columns, and previous books compiled into lumped headings. It feels like Coulter picked out her favorite slams and digs and then put it out in book format. So if you are a fan and already read her stuff, this is just recycled material. So for me, this book was a disappointment, it felt like a cheap way to push out another book. Coulter is obviously angered by the implication that she writes purely for the money; she doesn't help her case with this book.

The no-beef diet is still working well. I'm tired today, but I overdid yesterday and didn't sleep well last night. It's hard with a four-year-old in bed with us! In the last few months, she's lapsed back into climbing in with us almost every night. Any ideas on how to break the habit without breaking both of our hearts?