Lunch with Michelle Obama and a couple governors

Last week, Michelle Obama came to Seattle to stump for Governor Christine Gregoire at Qwest Field's WaMu theater. The cavernous space was filled with a who's who of local Democratic politics, and hundreds of folks who wanted to see Mrs. Obama.

Governor Gregoire has hitched her wagon to theirs as the local paper writes, and did it early on, which has so far been a big coup for her.

But come on: suggested $200 donation to the Governor's campaign for lunch? Sorry: the economy being what it is, I suggested a smaller amount on my check. And I get that it's a fundraiser, but what about the Obama national campaign model of give $25 or whatever you can? That would go a lot farther in building the broad coalition statewide the governor needs to return for a second term.

That said, it was a great lunch with an amazing acappella rendition of the national anthem (see, Democrats are patriotic too!), followed by some good points from Governor Gregoire (the GWB countdown timer bit got lots of laughs), and an inspiring, pragmatic, common sense speech by Mrs. Obama about what's at stake in both Washingtons this November.

Afterwards, Mrs. Obama worked the handshake line and I got close enough to snap these shots.
Whee! She's as tall, gorgeous, smart and welcoming from this distance as she appears on TV.

Former Governor Gary Locke was there too.

And the lunch capped off my second, up close Obama sighting in the past two weeks. Well, sorta. In Portland recently, someone at the Mississippi Street Festival set up this life size Obama cut out for pictures. I hope Ava will get a chuckle when she comes across this years from now.

I already had an affinity for Michelle Obama. But the more I see and hear her, the more I like her. Over at BlogHer, she's blogging too and talking about topics that obviously resonate for me and most women in the country, regardless of political affiliation or whether they have children: the challenges of juggling work and family and how it's getting tougher for everyone, especially those who already struggle to make ends meet each month. Her talk at the luncheon and in interviews I've seen convey her understanding of that struggle that so many working-class folks, and women in particular, are facing.

Despite the financially comfortable life she and her husband have been blessed to create, she grew up on Chicago's Southside in a working class family and thus I think she "gets" what's happening for working class folks more intimately than the photo-op understanding McCain seems to have. He looked like he hadn't been in a grocery store in ages.

Why do politicians even do those? I think a more telling photo op would be to give the candidates (or their wives) a single, working mom's family food budget for the month and have them buy groceries and live off of it to see if it was actually enough. I think Michelle would do swimmingly, because Black women in particular have a rich history of making a way out of no way.

If you're interested, there are also some videos of Michelle's recent interviews on YouTube. I can't wait to see and hear more as this campaign progresses.

Nana's cart before the horse and Ava's feeding herself

Phone rings. It's my mom, who takes care of Ava in the mornings: "Hey, can she have crackers?"
Me: Sure. Wait: what kind?
Mom: Saltines.
Me: Oh sure.
Mom: Good. Because she's been tearing these up!
Me: Well it's good we got that cleared up in advance then.

I actually started giving her Goldfish crackers last night. They don't have transfats, like one of my formerly favorite snack crackers White Cheddar flavored Cheez-its. I'm so bummed those are now banned from the grocery list. I haven't seen a sufficiently tantalizing alternative at PCC or Whole Paycheck Foods, despite the dizzying array of organic sea salt-encrusted, herb enfused, multi-grain laden cracker/crispbread options to be had.

We met up with our PEPS peeps this weekend and caught up with each other and all the babies, who are each progressing at their own unique pace. Ava is the oldest by a couple weeks I believe, so we joked that she'll be the one driving them on teenage escapades since she'll be the first one with a license. Which led to the folks recounting their own teenage car misadventures. Like J. telling the story about driving his mom's car a few blocks away to "ask" if he could borrow it and getting into an accident on the way, totalling it. Ah, good times. Can't wait to regale Ava with that one.

J., a high school basketball/academic star and BMOC, has much better stories from his teen years than me. His stories involve a little partying with the other cool kids, a few youthful transgressions and some escapades that went up to the line but never crossed it, owing to a mom who laid down the law: "You will excel in school or you don't play sports. I don't care if the school district says you only need a C average to play. I say you need a B+/A-. And if I get called up to the school for some problem you've created and I have to take off work, you don't play sports and you won't sit down for a week." Yeah, that's pretty simple to understand, even for a teenage boy. So he had fun, but kept it to a dull roar. At least, in the stories we know about.

In contrast, my stories from high school all have pretty much the same theme: "So I was home studying all weekend and Monday at school I found out there'd been this big party over the weekend that all the cool kids were at. It sounded like it was a lot of fun. The end."

Or "We hung out all weekend at my friend's house reading books from the library and watching a VHS tape of Eddie Murphy's live concert. Then at school on Monday I found out there'd been this big get together over the weekend that all the cool kids were at. It sounded like it was a lot of fun. Then I went to go work on my college apps. The end."

Not the most riveting tales, but at least I don't have to worry that friends from high school or college will come to visit when Ava's a teenager and start off a story with "Remember when we woke up with those rug burns on our face?!" Actually, no, no I don't. Thankfully. More likely it'll be, "Remember we raced to see who could read that book the fastest and we got those paper cuts?!" Such were my extremely nerdy, book-filled young adult adventures.

I guess if Ava ends up somewhere between the extremes of hearing about the party days later and being the one who's presence makes it a party, I'll be fine with that.

On the development front, as I was telling the folks at PEPS that she's been trying to feed herself but hasn't quite managed to get anything in her mouth, I looked down at her on my lap as she carefully maneuvered a cheerio into her mouth with both hands. Two days later, she's on a goldfish cracker binge. Aah, babies. They grow up so fast.

Cheap toys rock

Balloon animal: free at party. Over two hours (so far) of enjoyment for Ava and quiet drive time for me: priceless. I gotta get me a bag of those things! And learn how to make balloon animals.

Community comes together

I'm at a community meeting about a neighbor who was attacked over an altercation related to the traffic circle he cared for. He died from his injuries a day later.

It's wall to wall people in here. Several representatives from the City of Seattle including Police Chief Kerlikowski and City Councilmembers Burgess, McIver and Harrell, as well someone from the State NAACP who lives in the neighborhood.

So far, other than some new information about changes in officer staffing thanks to the recently signed police contract, and learning some of my neighbors have had lots of problems with shady characters in the area (drug dealers using the parking lot of the local grocery store as an open air drud market, break-ins with slow or no police response), it's mainly lots of platitudes and nothing tangible offered by the "city leaders."

So basically, just like every public meeting I used to cover as a reporter, there's a lot of heat, but no real illumination.

The only upside? It actually did help bring some of us neighbors together. I met another mom with a baby and invited her to the National Night Out celebration on our block next month. We may eventually get together for a play date.

Frankly, I don't think there's much you can do in the short term to change the mentality of a person who would sucker punch an unarmed elderly man. But we all know there are things we can do to help prevent another generation of kids developing that kind of mentality: give them a safe, supportive place in the community where they can spend their out-of-school time with caring adults who can help them develop life skills, self-respect, respect for others, and help them find their passion in life.

So why are the "leaders" not talking about funding or other tangible support for these types of programs at community centers, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA/YWCAs, Big Brother/Big Sister, and similar organizations? Councilmember Harrell mentioned his involvement at local community centers, but didn't issue a call to action or tell people how they could help (volunteer, donate).

I think at our next block watch meeting, I'll suggest this to my neighbors and provide a list of ways to get involved. Sometimes people just need that nudge or want to know where they can expend the pent up frustration in a more constructive way. I'll try to use my communication background to facilitate that.

I can attest that volunteering with these programs, in schools or as a mentor is a win-win for all involved. I'm still in contact with young ladies I've mentored over the years and they're all in college now and thriving. It's been great to watch them mature and become these amazing young women. Imagine if every kid in Seattle's most under-performing schools could have someone in their corner like that through graduation? Obviously, someone in addition to parents and family members, who should also be supporting and advocating for them. I know we'd see far fewer young adults with sucker-punch mentalities.