Remember Who You Wanted to Be

Remember who you wanted to be.

I saw that on a bumper sticker the other day. I've been wanting to work my blog around it ever since. So much happens in a week, it's hard to decide what to blog about. There's the usual what we did today, this week, or last weekend blog. There's the what's on my mind or what I really need to get off my chest blog. I decided that bumper sticker summed it all up for me.

When I was younger, I was very idealistic. I was going to grow up and save the world. The line up of who I admired most went something like this: Jesus, Buddha, Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, etc. People always said things like, just wait 'til you get older, then you'll be jaded like me. Or, you'll get more conservative once you own property or have kids. I have noticed some subtle changes over time. But I still consider myself fairly idealistic.

During election time, we are reminded of who we wanted to be. Some politicians try to win our vote by promising to represent our interests once they are elected to office. Others try to appeal to our values or belief system, vowing to protect and uphold our way of living. We all know that most campaign promises will be broken or defeated. In the end, we vote for not a person, but an image of who we think we want to lead us. We vote for the person or party that reminds us of who we wanted to be.

I overheard a mom at school the other day talking about how many phone calls from "the lower 48" she's had to field about our governor turned VP candidate. I thought it was interesting that I had not received a single phone call. I decided it must be because most of my friends are liberals so they couldn't care less who the Republican Party chose to be their VP candidate. Finally, my soccer coach/spiritual guru from high school, Keith Burnett, emailed me with the longed for question: What do you think of your governor?

I was so grateful for the opportunity to spout off my opinion. I think she is probably a fairly intelligent and politically savvy person. Would I vote for her? No way. I like to think that I am a bleeding heart liberal, environmentalist wannabe. Sarah Palin is very conservative, and she does not think global warming is related to human activity. A federal study placed polar bears on the endangered species list and she appealed for further studies. Do I think it would be good for Alaskans to have her in the White House? I don't know. I am more interested in a candidate that would be good for Americans to have in the White House.

Finally, the what we did last weekend photos:

Maya picking raspberries.

The boys in the raspberry patch at our friends Bill and Ly's house.

Riley (#19) tries out his new-to-him skates at the free clinic run by a local semipro team.

Thank you Brown Bears for the clinic! Thank you Fuson family for the ice skates!

I had a wonderful time going out to dinner with my friends Alana and Mindy Saturday night.

Thank you Nanna and Kathy for babysitting! (Matt was the ER doctor last weekend).

Maya grinding nuts for banana bread on Sunday.

Maya and Kathy at Nanna's house for family dinner. Thank you Kathy and Nanna for making dinner on Sunday!