You say souffle, I say TJ....

So whaddya do when your ex's food is a beautiful thing to behold, not to mention eat, and your idea of a meal is something that starts out as one temperature and ends up as another?

Come find out today as I guest blog for Shelle over at In the Real World Venus vs. Mars.

http://http://realworldvenusmars.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Shelle, for this opportunity to dish with a new group of bloggers and readers!

Late to the Tea Party

Since Tuesday night, when Scott Brown was elected our new Senator from Massachusetts, I've been feeling cranky about our government.
Apparently most of the American people have been pissed off for while -- apologies for showing up late to the Tea Party.
As my ex would tell you, I have problems arriving on time.
And it's not because I think there is a divine right of Democrats to hang on to the seat that Senator Ted Kennedy had for 46 years.
Change often isn't a bad thing.
The Democrats up in Massachusetts and the national fundraisers apparently ran a shoddy campaign. Franchment, they deserved to get their butts kicked.
I happen to believe that uninsured Americans should have a chance to get health insurance, whether that insurance opportunity comes through the Federal government or the states. I have no faith that the big insurance companies will offer a better deal unless they are mandated by the stress of, oh boy, actually competing in the marketplace.
I have friends who can't get medication because they can't afford insurance. My own insurance, for me and the kids, would come to around 24,000 a year if I had to pay for all of it. Who but the extremely affluent can shell out that much for insurance?
But the health care bill that came out of the Senate is loaded with pork, revolting to many who don't even have a job right now. Corruption is such a way of life in D.C. that apparently the Democrats didn't even care.
Who knows what Scott Brown would do about health care? He apparently favors coverage mandates in Massachusetts, if not for the nation as a whole.
What really troubles me about Brown is his skeptical perspective (a nice way of putting it) to climate change. Even if you don't believe in evidence-based observations by the majority of scientists studying this phenomena, what harm does it do to regulate harmful chemicals? Something is warming the atmosphere, you troglodytes.
Yeah, I know, sticks and stones.
Another easy way to jerk my chain is to start talking about banking regulation. I don't care if Obama's being an opportunist, trying to surf the populist crests. So is everyone else.
Exactly why are bankers at some of the huge lending institutions making obscene bonuses when they refuse to lend?
Although I am with the Tea Parties when it comes to more fiscal accountability, it does seem odd that they weren't around when Bush and Obama were plotting those huge "gimmes" to the banking industry.
I suspect that it's mostly Democrat priorities like health care, and human services spending that trouble them.
That, and the complacency of the in-power Democrats.
Is this shift in public opinion temporary, permanent, anti-Democrat or anti-incumbent? I'll leave that to the pollsters.
But right all politicians ought to be a little scared. The American people are made as hell, and they aren't going to take it anymore -- once they figure out what "it" is.

3, 2, 1...back to normalcy

It's strange, I said to someone on the phone today.

The last time I was on a dating site, I got to the point of extreme cynicism, threaded with weariness. How many appeals from swinging musicians and guys young enough to be my son can one woman handle?

But this time, I know I'm getting off the site, at least for a time, in three days (I have to track the date, or the site for true love bills me for another month).

And I feel no regrets. Life at home poses sufficient challenges to suck up a lot of my emotional energy right now.

Which is just what a few female friends told me.

I said to them, however, that when it comes to nurture, I am too prone to take up the last spot in the line.

It's not that it's now "my turn" -- cause I don't see childrearing like that, thank you very much.

And I do see that some men and women make expedient choices in the interest of spending time with a new lover.

Yet I expect that a guy I date will make his own choice with me. He will realize that my kids come first and then pursue a relationship or find someone who will make significant lifestyle changes.

I've met some nice guys, genuinely nice men, this time around. If we continue to get to know one another, it will be interesting to see what happens.

One thing I know -- there's no big blank spot in my routine, waiting to be filled. But there is room.