Spitzer Shock

After several years of Republicanism under Gov George Pataki (OK; I admit it; I voted for him, but that would NEVER happen again!), I was "tickled pink," as Mom used to say, that we voted in a governor with great integrity and dynamism. By the way, my mother has been greatly on my mind the last few days........ Maybe because her birthday is the 28th of this month?

Anyway, the shock over the horrific fall from grace, by Governor Spitzer, is almost too much to handle. It takes a lot to shock me, but I am shocked. To humiliate his wife and daughters like that, together with the vast majority of New Yorkers who voted for him, just devastates me. And I don't even want to THINK about what he has done to the Democratic Party! One of my campaign buttons actually features Spitzer with Hillary in 2006. I will admit that he was beginning to get on my nerves with all his talk of bull-dozing his way through the people, who [he felt] "didn't know what was good for them." Hellooooooooooo. Who voted you in?

Spitzer has actually done something that Mr. Clinton never did. He broke the law. Prostitution isn't legal in our state. Now he's thrown it all away, and I am horrified.

Before I Move On......

Before moving on, I feel that I MUST address the events of 2007. After 5 months of hospitalization, Dad Klem was ignored to death by the hospital, staff, and nursing home portion of said hospital. Apparently, you have to be under 75 to warrant any kind of intelligent treatment, and Dad was way over the limit at 86. So it wasn't really necessary for hospital staff to wash their hands, donchaknow, and who cares if MRSA is a deadly side-effect of hospital life, anyway! I'm still so angry I could scream. He just got so tired of fighting to stay alive that he died on May 31st, 2007.

Other pieces of 2007 were pretty exciting. Diana Vitalyevna, my namesake, was born on January 30, 2007, in Moscow (see picture above, at one year old). I was privileged to be the photographer for the Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony of her parents in July! Held at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in St. Petersburg, I was super-lucky enough to bypass the usual tourist barricades and take pictures of a glorious Russian church service in all its glory. WOW!!!

December brought the usual St. Thomas trip, always wonderful and exciting and beautiful. We did, however, decide that this year we will go to Florida for 6 weeks instead of Charlotte Amalie for 3, just to do something different. So we'd like to take a cruise to (where else?) St. Thomas!

What a Banner Year~!

WHAT a year this is shaping up to be! My dance card is almost all filled up, and I am just soooooooo excited! Examples: (1) I'm campaigning for Hillary in Vermont, March 4th! (2) My beautiful niece, Kelly, is getting married in March, and has honored me by asking me to be her photographer. (3) I'm hosting a (first time for me!) bridal shower for my wonderful friend Michael and his bride-to-be, Renata, in April. (4) Michael's wedding is May 10th, the same day as my precious great-nephew's birthday. (5) Larry & I are planning a trip with 2 other couples to Yellowstone Park on our motorcycles at the end of May! (6) Our usual July 4th ~ a fun-filled bike weekend with our friends Gail and Wayne. (7) Mid-July (this is just INCREDIBLE!!!!) we may be honored with a month-long visit from our little (!?!?) friend Keishelle, now a teenager, whom we knew as a little girl from St. Thomas. (8) I will be flying to Colorado to stay with friends and attend (hopefully) the Democratic Convention in Denver. (9) Maybe a late-autumn cruise, if we have any money left at all! and (10) Instead of St. Thomas this year, we are going to buy a motorcycle trailer, truck the bikes to Florida, meet up with Megan and Chris, then tour the wilds of this southernmost state on our bikes! Don't you wish you were me?

Hillarity

Sooooooo....... Tomorrow I go to campaign for the best presidential candidate of 2008, Hillary Clinton. It would be so fabulous to have a woman in the White House! My mother, a housewife in the 1950's, told me I could do ~ and BE ~ anything I wanted, that it didn't matter if I was "just" a girl. However, Mom lied to me, as I found out when I entered the workforce in 1970. New York Telephone was, like, "You can't do that, Diana; that's a man's job." And they [literally] laughed at me. When I went to the bank to request a loan, they asked me if I was planning to become pregnant in the near future. Picture them asking Hillary that, now?! HaHaHaHaHa. Morons. Anyway, I truly love the fact that we can now nominate a black man to run against a woman, with the full knowledge that either one of them will be our next president! I still feel that Hillary is the best qualified, with political experience and Bill Clinton to back her up. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone!!

Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot? (Whatever THAT Means!)

Happy New Year! Wow ~ 2007 already. They say that the older you get, the faster the time goes. By this time next year, it'll be 2010! So we're back from St. Thomas, the "Jewel of the Caribbean." As always, came back with a laid-back attitude that just doesn't work well for New York! Had a great time, though, especially since our nephew, Chris, joined us for a week He adapted so beautifully to our friends and activities, that I hope he comes again! We went sailing and snorkeling and swimming and exploring (not unlike that OTHER Chris, Mr. Columbus). Of course, I returned with over 1000 photos, thankfully mostly digital these days.

Got back just in time for ice storm! What a fabulous recipe, with only 3 steps:
(1) Take a full helping of 24 hours without power,
(2) pour in a really bored California kid with no internet access or TV,
(3) trap said kid with 2 crazy parents because of a roadful of ice, and.... "VOILA!" Instant insanity! Not too bad, as far as I was concerned, since I grew up in a world of temporary powerlessness every now and again. REALLY difficult for the "connected" generation, however. For me it was an adventure; for her it was something akin to a nightmare.

As if all of this wasn't enough excitement for the week, my wonderful father-in-law, who's 86, is very ill, in the hospital. Each day, I shudder when the telephone rings, because it might just be the hospital, or my sister-in-law, Shirley, calling. Last night was one of those phone calls, because the hospital wasn't really sure Dad would make it through the night. Because he DID, though, the entire situation became an adventure, with 7 of us meeting for coffee/tea/soda/orange juice in the hospital cafeteria at 2:30 in the morning. We all live near one another, but rarely have impromptu "get-togethers." Thanks, Dad, once again, for bringing us all together!
Please get better, soon. PLEASE. We love you more than life.
To your health!

Gettin Ready to Flee the Northeast!

OK; it's time to leave for St. Thomas, and I just have a few things left to do. Let's see...... Oh, yes; mail out the presents, send the Christmas cards (Oh phooey; they're not done yet! Almost, though, I just have to finish putting the cards into the envelopes, lick the envelopes, and then.... No, I have to add photos to some of them....., then there's the ones that have changed their addresses or family members....). OK, then I have to finish WRAPPING the presents before sending them out, make out tips for the paper people and garbage guys, clean the house (I've been working on it for a month, and it STILL looks like a tornado touched down in here!), mop the kitchen, change the bedsheets, put the motorcycle trunk away (which means cleaning out Megan's room so it'll fit), clean off the table, and and AND AND... You know what? In 4 days we'll see Mary and Joseph, it'll be 82 degrees, and it'll all be worth it.

WHERE IS APATHY WHEN YOU NEED IT?!

Well, election day was an intense day, on so many levels! That morning, I was on my way to work on the Gillibrand campaign, in Saratoga Springs. Since (as usual) I was running right on time with NO time to spare, I hardly gave a 2nd thought to the fact that I had parked with my front wheel 3 or 4 inches over the parking line. A young woman drove up and asked politely if I would mind reparking my car so that she could park there as well. Uttering an expletive, I whirled around and twisted my ankle. Then (to dramatically top off the situation) I fell on it, and heard that nasty "popping" noise that preceded the blinding flashes of pain. Just like that, I was rolling on the ground in agony, screaming and crying, and clutching my head so that I won't yell out the words that I want to say. At least 6 or 7 people immediately congregated around me, asking if they can help me, did I hurt my head, and that they planned to call an ambulance! I really didn't have time for all that; I was now late for working on a campaign that I felt VERY strongly about, and all I could think of was, "GO AWAY!" They wouldn't, though, until I let them drag me up off the ground so they'd know that I hadn't hit my head. Jeez. One woman asked me where I'd been headed. When I happily advised her that I was on my way to the Democratic campaign headquarters, she got a really funny look on her face. I told her that she must be a Republican. She got a bit defensive, and told me she was an "Independent." Why do people take me seriously? I was merely trying to defuse the situation, and make them all leave me alone. :) As if to add salt to the wound, Megan called me that night and asked me if I was "doing my 'victory dance'!" HaHaHaHaHa. The joke was, I couldn't even walk. Why isn't anyone apathetic anymore?

From Russia With Love!

Oh, WOW. I have only just today found out that there will be a baby girl born in Russia, in January, who will be named after me. The photo is of my friend, Vitalley, the father. I am sooooo overwhelmed with joy! Already, I am looking at baby clothes and toys and cards and photo frames. And, of course, I am saving up for a trip to Russia. Or two. Or ten. Can you JUST imagine the honor? Talk about "verklempt!" WOW.