Tan Lines? Come ON!!!

We are all old enough and wise enough to know that truth is always stranger, and more amusing, than fiction. In a future blog, I'll muse over the less than comic aspects of this ridiculous story. In the meantime, enjoy the following....

CNN has culled the best of the best from emails exchanged between Gov. Sanford of South Carolina and Maria of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"You have a particular grace and calm that I adore.You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty," Sanford wrote, according to the e-mails published on the newspaper's Web site.

"I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light -- but hey, that would be going into sexual details ..."

"...while all the things above are all too true -- at the same time we are in a ... hopelessly impossible situation of love...." he added.

"How in the world this lightening strike snuck up on us I am still not quite sure. As I have said to you before I certainly had a special feeling about you from the first time we met, but these feelings were contained and I genuinely enjoyed our special friendship and the comparing of all too many personal notes ..."

Earlier, "Maria" -- whose full name has not yet been released -- also proclaimed her devotion in a July 9 e-mail.

"You are my love ... something hard to believe even for myself as it's also a kind of impossible love, not only because of distance but situation," she wrote. "Sometimes you don't choose things, they just happen ... I can't redirect my feelings and I am very happy with mine towards you."

Well, at least she was smart enough to NOT write about the magnificent things he may have been holding in the "faded glow of the night's light."

Let's face it. We, as a society, love this stuff. Stories of other people's escapades serve as a complete distraction from the stress and anxieties staring each one of us in the face on a daily basis. The higher up the sinner, the more interested we are in his/her fall.

The incredible part of this story is that, once again, a man's individual desires have led him away from his wife, children, home, career, job, future aspirations, and moral responsibility. It is one thing for a man to run from his shrewish wife and eight children; it is something else for a governor to run from his state. Doesn't he have any close friends who could have prevented him from taking these actions? Couldn't his Argentine mistress have visited South Carolina? Why didn't his wife file for divorce months ago when she first learned of the affair? Why didn't he just resign as governor (which, by the way, I am still betting will happen) and move on quietly?

Oh, yeah, because then it wouldn't be as much fun for the rest of us.

P.S. I felt it only fair to post a link to Mrs. Sanford's statement on the whole affair. Some background on her: Born 1962, Winnetka, IL, degree in finance from Georgetown University. Here's the link: http://winwab.com/2009/06/mark-sanford-wife-jenny-sanford-jenny-sanford-statement. Really glad I'm not her today.

Still Blogging

So, there was a long, long, long, extremely boring article in the New York Times last week about how the blog revolution is, well, Over. Done, Caput, Finito. Apparently most people who started blogging, thinking they'd make millions of dollars in a book or movie deal, have simply let their blogs go the way of the Dodo. You probably didn't get a chance to read it, but that's okay, it was really boring, like most blogs, I imagine.

Ah, But Not Mine! I'm Still Here! I'm never giving up! I don't care if anyone reads! I'm an oversharer and proud of it! Hah! LOL! I think I mentioned at some point early on that this blog isn't something I'm writing to simply provide amusement for others. It's only partly for everyone else, and partly for myself. To practice my writing. To amuse myself. To write about things that I find funny, interesting, irksome, valuable, ridiculous, etc., etc., etc. And so, I keep on at it. But, did I tell you that there is a growing and substantial number of my close friends and family that don't read this? (I'm sure you are all shaking your heads right now, not at the fact that people aren't reading, but that I'm surprised by it!) And, Uncle Al, I do read EVERY POST of Vineyard Views, I swear!

I must admit, though, that Facebook.com, that evil social empire, is taking up increasing amounts of my valuable internet time. A few of the people I'm friends with actually Use Facebook to communicate with me. Is that ridiculous or am I just so-stuck-in-the-80s? I've received at least two messages over the past couple of days that left me truly wondering about these people, who use Facebook for actual newsy communications, with questions begging to be answered and comments requiring a response. Completely nutty, right? For those of you with profiles on Facebook, I'm sure you'll agree that it's fun having Facebook serve as a communal photo album, and as a repository of brief updates on travels (shout out to Arthur and the Moose!) and books read, But That's It! People who use it to actually carry on a conversation have got to have WAAY too much time on their hands. Or, perhaps they are challenged by the telephone. But really. Come on. Get a Life. .... Like Me. Really. I have a life away from the computer. Really. I do.

To prove it, I am going to share with you an excellent book that I just finished: Olive Kittredge, by Elizabeth Strout. It is the first book since The Road by Cormac McCarthy that I can remember wanting to read again. The words are beautiful, the description of emotions and feelings so perfect and so light-handed that you forget there is even a theme or thread of life's truisms throughout the stories therein. I should warn my male fans that Olive is a bit female-oriented, BUT, please don't let that stop you from picking it up. I found it completely refreshing to have a character with a very specific, straightforward, unforgiving point of view. I finished the book wanting to spend much more time with Olive, wondering what life will bring her next. And, I'm not the only one. She did win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, after all.

Now. Wasn't it worthwhile reading this blog? You have a great book to read, and re-read, and share with your friends, your spouse, your parents. Of course, those of you who don't read my blog, will never know what you're missing.

We Can All Do Something

Good morning from the Sullivan family command station, i.e., kitchen table. I'm enjoying my second cup of coffee as I watch a too-fat squirrel enjoy his breakfast in the backyard. He is literally lolling on the green grass underneath the new bird feeder hanging on the tree limb above. He's alone, surprisingly. No doubt he'll soon be joined by friends, until the Sullivan hounds get out there and scare him off.

Over the past few weeks, I've been considering how fortunate we as a family are that I am able to sit at this command station for some portion of the day. I coordinate permission slips, courses, test dates, extracurricular activities, camp schedules, etc., etc., etc., from the comfort of our kitchen. I don't have to pull myself together every day, hop on a train, manage personnel and office politics, coordinate babysitters and car pools, or endlessly solicit the help of friends to fill in when I may be late or out of town on business. While I sporadically do a fair amount of work for our law firm, the ebb and flow reinforces how fortunate my children, my husband and I are that I am able to stay home to work on the sometimes difficult Business of Our Family.

Of course, since I am not that half-full glass kind of girl, I recognize there is a severe rub to not working full time.

Every now and then, managing Our Family Business fails to rise to necessary levels of physical and mental fulfillment. When those times arise, I inevitably try to dive into something, anything, to fill the void. That's how this blog arose, and how I've gotten myself into a couple of new activities. Hold on to your hats, it's going to be a crazy ride ....

First, over the next few months, I'll be training for the Marine Corps Marathon to be held the third weekend in October in Washington, D.C. No, I'm not kidding.

Second, over the next several months, I'll be overseeing the St. John's Prep Aquatics Program "Adopt A Squadron" project.

Why? Good question. If you've read my last posts, you already know why.

Today, in the wee hours of the morning, my brother, Rob, left on his six-month deployment with the U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron Ten Red Lancers. He will be stationed alternately in Qatar, Djibouti, and Japan until the week before Christmas. His wife and three children will not see him for over six months, and we will all be on extremely high alert to military operations in those arena. His squadron flies P-3s, which conduct surveillance, mostly over the ocean; this means he's dealing potentially with pirates, or, for example, helping in the search for lost airplanes. While Rob will not be on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan, neither will his squadron be free from the nearly constant threat of danger and harm.

So, rather than sit around and worry, I am doing Something. Rob's wife, Jen, asked me to train for the marathon with her. At this point, if she asked me to jump through a ring of fire for her and the kids, I probably would. Running a few days a week is the least I can do in order to run alongside her in October. Plus, I'll be able to check off "Run A Marathon" from my to-do list.

Adopt A Squadron is a project we will develop gradually, as needs arise. Ethan and his St. John's teammates have plenty of time and energy, which they will devote a portion of to supporting the unmarried members of Rob's squadron. The boys will send letters, care packages, videos, etc., to the single Red Lancers, as they typically do not get as much mail, etc., as those with spouses. We've set up a website/blog that members of both Teams (Navy and SJP) can contribute to, and that others can comment on and follow. You can find it at www.sjp10redlancers.com. I'll be sure to let people know what they can do if they'd like to help along the way.

As you can see, I'm quite sure that it's time for All of us to do Something. We just have to get started. (P.S. The squirrel is still there ....)