Like me, the country cannot heal until the Irishmen, Bono & Co., come to make everything right. They did it in grand style the other night - and the Falcons got routed. Coincidence?? Watch Green Day & U2 cover "The Saints Are Coming" and you decide.

I kind of understand the impulse...my fall knitting project could set me back $150!

Our household watched a replay of Clinton's Fox News interview, and most members felt a wave of excitement and relief that someone had enough power to successfully take on what sometimes seems like an unbeatable opponent....a feeling shared across the Internets. But my son complained that the interview lasted FOREVER (Then go outside and shoot hoops! Is your political analysis gene kicking in? There is little chance you avoided inheriting a love of policy wonk goodness but you don't have to fall prisoner to it so early, dude!). And he got critical too - he thought Clinton was mean and nasty and "a bad President". The kid's not alone, but things seemed a bit more even-handed yesterday. Just a bit.

This morning I pulled a "BAW" move and fell on my cute, bronze, slingbacks. At church. In front of others. My dress was ok, but my foot? It hurts. And I think I have torn ligaments or sprained something or something. So yet again my husband is having to do everything and we are having to cancel stuff and rearrange schedules. Maybe the grand design is in place to slow me down?

I really lurved seeing The Lion King - Tour...sometimes I am just a sucker for musical theahtur...and I think that Julie Taymor is a genius, and "The Circle Of Life" is one of those inexplicable tear-jerker songs for me, so all in all a good evening. My son only slept through the final scene and woke in time to see the big finale with Simba, Jr. showing up on Pride Rock. My daughter was bummed about the big death scene, but better Disney to educate her about that than me.

Fall is in full swing here and I could not be more stressed out or overwhelmed. I'm trying to remember the lessons of The Salmonella and just take life one day at a time and treasure the special down time with my three big priorities. It's hard, though. I need to keep remembering my motto: September Sucks.

Bad enough that I ate a bunch of these golden nuggets of goodness in the grocery store, before paying for them. Worse still was being busted by her skinny, elegant self in aisle 10. (That would be the cleaning products aisle. Nary a food stuff in her cart.)

THE BEST OF SUMMER as seen & enjoyed by me.

Books: "Blood Done Sign My Name" by my fellow Southerner (so proud to say that), Timothy Tyson, "Drop City" by an old favorite, T.C. Boyle, and "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate DiCamillo

DVDs: "High School Musical", "Inside Man" and "Elizabeth 1"

Movies: "Who Killed the Electric Car" (if only because we saw it at a hippy theatre in Hippyville, aka Asheville - the perfect venue!) and "Stick It" and "Little Miss Sunshine" (I will not link to this due to the annoyingly ubiquitous marketing of this film).

Vacations: Fallingwater and Ocracoke

Web sites: No end of snarky fun, and
way too hip for me, and you know how I really just want to be able to bake all day.

Music: Thommy York, Alan and Elvis, and well, you know...Justin...

Though 9/6 is the day he was born, that particular anniversary has rarely been kind to my husband. He shares his birthday with my mom - not a bad thing, but it detracts from his moment. People forget his birthday religiously. Including his own family every now and again. One year we woke up on September 6th after a really, really bad nightmare...to destruction the likes of which I had never seen before, and never saw again til the tsunami and Katrina hit. One memorable birthday I woke up at five a.m. not to celebrate my husband, but to mourn a complete stranger.

September the sixth is an amazing day, despite it all. Just think, honey! You and the new heir to the Japanese throne share something in common now. And Suri Cruise has been revealed to the world - ON YOUR BIRTHDAY. This modest, humble, slyly and strangely funny guy really deserves better...but it doesn't seem likely this year, anyway, since he is deep in the middle of a trial and is putting in 16 hour + days, including today. My strategy will thus be to try and make every day feel like his birthday...and even if I don't succeed, it is a worthy goal.

I could not be more proud of my boy Andre. Seems like I'm not alone in this. Go have fun with Steffi and the kiddos.