I tried. I really, really tried, people. I tried to watch "Oprah" today.

I poured some lime spritzer, sat down, put my feet up, and put the children out. I turned on the telly. I gazed at Oprah's beautiful new svelte self and her impeccable makeup and hair. I felt slightly jealous of her exotic kicks. I was drawn, briefly, to my knitting project, left tantalizingly close to my chair, but NO. I was going to watch "Oprah".

I finally opted to turn the sound on when I saw the segment on Oprah's trip to South Africa. The AIDS patient she visited seemed truly excited to see Oprah and the ill woman's daughter gave O a big hug. So I suppose Oprah did some good there, bringing awareness to this issue. And I'm sure she's thrown some money at the problem. Oprah is really good friends with Nelson Mandela, it seems.

This show was a look back at Oprah's production staff's favorite moments. Kind of a variety show. But after the third death story, I started flipping (really racy movies are on in the afternoon! Don't they know kids are watching??). I tried to go back to Oprah, but when I did, they showed Gwyneth Paltrow cooking and talking about her nursing breasts. I just didn't think I was up to all that. How can Oprah be up to it?

So I failed. I'm sorry. I think I have failed my fellow SAHMs out there. (SAHM = Stay At Home Mom, or, according to Dooce, Shit Ass Ho Motherfuckers) I need to try harder.

Don't I?

Hello from the Raleigh, NC version of Larry David. I continue to get into scrapes that are so Curb-worthy that I should consider a move to LA and reap a creative consultant fee. The run-ins I have with people convince me that there are very few people that I actually LIKE. I'm also convinced that there is a conspiracy to keep me from spending my precious free time with anyone likable. Who is thwarting me? Why, the people I don't like!

On the bright side, season tres is out on DVD, it has been Netflixed and should be in the mailbox today. I'll be laughing along with Larry tonight, not at him.

Maybe the world is coming to an end after all. HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? Sometimes when I am really missing Georgia I listen to Kate and Cindy's harmonies on a song such as "Song for Future Generation" or "Roam". Or I review the votes cast in Georgia in favor of a constitutional ammendment banning gay marriage in last year's elections. Both the song and the vote count can soothe my longings and massage my appreciation for my current environs.

Still, current environs are so much very like a third-world country sometimes. We made the news for an inch of snow, people!

I doubt I'll ever go this far to assuage my guilt for driving a big-ass car. Nor will I ever go as far as the purported eco-terrorists have.

But I'm having a hard time deciding what to drive next. It sure is fun to pack a bunch of kiddos in your car at one time. And four-wheel drive is a must to get to the place in the mountains.

If only Poppleton would consider my dream vehicle! You can RINSE IT OUT WITH A HOSE! What better car for my sloppy family!

At a fantastic dinner last night, my companion took me to task for my anger about the second-term Inauguration. I promise, if John Kerry was currently showing this kind of extravagance, in the face of war and natural destruction, I would be upset too. Really. Bush-bashing is real - but so was Clinton-bashing - and really, there are those of us who are not blinded by the pepper spray of election loss. There are those of us who just think throwing money on a big party is not the way the leader of a country at war and in debt should act.

Come on, at least walk the Inaugural route....

Thirty to forty million dollar budget. Nine balls. Parades. Well, at least he is making sure that his (second term) inauguration reflects a nation at war.

I'm really trying hard to be a voice of reason. I really am - I'm trying to give liberals a better, clean-shaven, white, upper-middle-class face. But damn do these people make it hard. Have a parade - that's fine. Just cancel all of the balls except the one for military personnel and veterans, and give the money to the families of the war dead.

Please?

My book club is in a minor state of disarray after reading and discussing a fairly political tome...at our last meeting a Bush-voter was attacked by a pack of wild dogs still hungry after TWO THOUSAND's election. Completely unnecessary. It is all silliness and hurt feelings and closed-mindedness but somehow important and needed...I do wish we could all find a common language with which to discuss this stuff....

...but I for one can only say DAMMIT TO HELL EVIL BUSH ADMINISTRATION WHERE DO YOU GET OFF when I read reports like this one. The media is so constantly labeled as left-wing and controlled by the liberals. The No Child Left Behind Act is constantly being praised as a step forward for our schools and educational systems. Now we see that all is not what it seems. Not on either side. Michael Moore may be a dumb fat idiot, but I seriously doubt that he is being paid by the DNC to rattle on about Bush's school library habits during major crises of national security.

I would type more but I'm too mad and as usual, not well-informed enough. Off to read and review this situation further.

Today I went ice skating with my two darlings. Poppleton had to go buy shiny shoes and cufflinks, etc. so he only joined us late. POINT OF NOTE: Poppleton, my dear husband, can talk about tuxedo accessories longer than anyone! He goes on and on! He can find no lack of interesting (or not interesting) points about the topic to share!

Anywho...

...skating, on ice, anyway, does NOT come back to you quickly. On the contrary, there are 5 - 10 minutes minimum of shooting pain, intense fear, and thoughts of death. There are tiny swears made in one's mind to never try this again. Tiny realizations that you are not only too old for this, but you will never, ever snow ski. Tiny observations about every spear of pain moving through your shin.

But, after a while, I admired the go-get-emness of my two young charges and got into it. By the end of the session I was even attempting some backward skating and a snow plow stop (I wasn't bad as a child). We may even go back next Sunday. As long as there is an NHL lockout, then perhaps we owe it to the fans.

I did something important today. I went to the Times web site and looked at pictures of the dead, the grieving, and the damage from the tsunami in South and Southeast Asia. I had to do it. I think that we are sanitized whilst watching telly news (and thank goodness, for my children do not need to see that stuff at this age) and listening to NPR just doesn't cut it all the time.

I also told my son about it. I tried to temper the tale with assurances that this can't happen here and I soft-pedaled the carnage. He is now obsessed with his own death, though, and continues to ask me about sharks.

Which, you know, probably have played a huge role in the inability to find the missing.

It is really too much to think about sometimes.

Make a donation if you can.

I was a knitting fool over Christmas. I knocked out half a dozen scarves and an iPod cozy for Lynn. So I need a new project. What is next for me? Hmmmm. Maybe not.

I was also a traveling fool over Christmas. I went to Cartersville (Bartow County), Atlanta (Fulton County) and Macon (Bibb County), and finally to Clyde, NC (Haywood County) for New Year's Eve....a night of silence at the dinner table and snoring parents on the couch...but a sweet family time with a beautiful night of stars and warmth.

I was a sick fool over Christmas, though I did not have strep throat like my dear Lynn.

I was a slavish fool over Christmas, serving everyone's emotional and mental needs...talking with quarrelling relatives about each other and about their feeble, old parent...then talking with said parent about her own issues. Its a tough row to hoe but someone has to do it. I've always thought my role in life is to be the supportive one. I don't feel up to it, but I prefer that to being the one in need.

All in all a good holiday. I'm really glad its over. I'm not really glad to be back in town, but as my New Year's resolution is to work on my house and home and stay there more often, I need to get over that feeling.

I know I'm lucky.