The Sarah Surprise

Wow - who knew? One thing we can say about John McCain and his staff...they are good at keeping things under wraps. While all the recent veep buzz centered around Tim Pawlenty (yawn...) and Mr. Slick Mitt Romney (yuck...), all the while it was about to be Sarah Barracuda to the rescue!

I must admit that I knew nothing about this woman who may very well be the first female Vice President of the United States...but in the last two hours I've gazed at and googled her...and well, I'm pretty impressed!

This is "girl power" at its finest...Sarah Palin - the Governor of the Alaska, is a mother of five children. Her oldest son is serving in the U.S. Army - her youngest only born about four months ago. There are three young girls in the midst of them and I love their names - Bristol, Willow and Piper. Sarah married her high school sweetheart 20 years ago today. In fact, she said she had promised her husband a surprise anniversary gift...little did he know it would be the announcement of her being chosen as John McCain's running mate - the very FIRST woman ever put on a GOP ticket! Sarah has only been Governor for about 2 years and she says it all began with the PTA, which led to the city council, which led to Mayor, and it all snowballed from there. She has tremendous approval ratings in her home state and is known to be a reformer, not unlike McCain. Her high school nickname of "Barracuda" was earned as a result of her intensity on the basketball court. She not only hunts and fishes, but is also a former beauty queen and, in fact, posed for Vogue magazine late last year.

There will be those that say that she does not have enough experience to be put in such a position...one that could land her as the first woman President if something should happen to McCain. Something tells me not to worry. Anyway, the way I look at it, both the Democratic tickets and the Republican tickets now have one young and relatively green person on them...it's Barack vs. the Barracuda. (McCain and Biden add the elements of maturity, experience and crustiness.)

Palin said today in her speech that Hillary Clinton had left 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling hovering over our heads. Sarah Palin might just be the one who shatters it!

Twister Tuesday!

I could hardly believe my eyes as I looked to the sky. The scene through my windshield...was it what I thought it was? My fears were justified as I saw the car ahead of me and the school bus behind me pull over to the side of the highway. It was as if we were all saying, "No way am I going towards THAT!"

"THAT" was the first funnel cloud I have ever seen "up close and personal" - not on a television screen. And believe me - the effect that a twister-sighting has when it's seen in person is quite different than when it is seen on the Weather Channel. Let's just say that the effect it had on ME was not pretty.

I had been en route to my usual racquetball game. It was raining hard the remnants of tropical storm Fay. In fact, I had thought about cancelling my match just due to fears of driving in extreme wetness. Little did I know that something much more ominous lied ahead... I was driving up the entrance ramp to I-985 when I saw the black cloud swirling and reaching down where it had no business reaching. At that point, the twister was somewhere near the Wrigley's plant. I supposed a direct hit there would send packs of Juicy Fruit flying and Orbit orbitting...then, PANIC struck as I not only realized I didn't know which way this thing was headed but also that I was POWERLESS if its path included me. I wanted so badly to be back home, but I had no way of turning around unless I drove ahead to the next exit. So, instead of remaining a sitting duck (and in order to avoid becoming a dead duck), I made the decision to drive ahead. Both the rain and my heart pounded as I almost blindly moved forward...all the while screaming (incoherently, according to my husband) into my cell phone. As I said, it wasn't pretty. I would have liked to think that, as a Christian, I would have been praying incessantly during such a time...but, instead, I was an absolute basket case. Now, lest you think I'm a total heathen, I will say I did manage to squeak out one short prayer for protection. What can I say, I'm wired wrong - just like my mother. I am a bonafide screamer - just ask my kids.

By the way, my panic didn't revolve exclusively around my OWN survival . (Heaven forbid we add "self-centered" to my list of negative attributes.) After realizing that the tornadic monster appeared to be heading in the direction of my boys' schools, my hysteria centered on my sons. Those fears were exacerbated when I called my girlfriend only to find HER already in terror-induced tears. The schools were in lockdown and her husband had seen the culprit cloud making it's way toward them.

All's well that ends well though...I made it home without being sucked into a vortex...and so did the boys. The West Hall schools suffered no more than the springing of some new leaks. (More than I can say for a couple of other schools in the county which took a more direct hit.) For our family though, August 26th was a day to remember - a "pass over" of sorts - and a reminder of who is in control. For this reason and so many others, we thank Him for His mercy, His protection and His amazing grace!