The Inauguration
As I'm sure everyone else does, I've got this weeks presidential inauguration on my mind. Tuesday will represent a historic day in the history of America. It is truly amazing that it has taken 43 previous presidents before an African-American was elected. As I have said before, I am proud that we live in a country that is taking steps towards being colorblind. While I think there are those that voted for Obama because he is black, I know many voted because he represents something they can believe in. It is interesting to be in my particular position - both proud and disappointed at the same time. I wish that our first African American President was someone I thought was good for the country. Someone who represented at least a couple of my ideals. However, that is not the way it is. Tuesday will be both a historical and sad day for me.
Bush leaving officeOf course, with a new president coming in, this of course means the previous one is leaving. Now, I know that I am in the minority, but I see George W. Bush as a great president. Did he make mistakes? Of course - he's human. However, I think the positive has far outweighed the negative. When he was elected he had no idea his presidency would be about terrorism and keeping this country safe. September 11th changed everything, and I think he did the best he could with the information he had at the time. I know, I know - there were no weapons of mass destruction. But at the time of invading Iraq it was believed that there were. I think he did what he thought was right, and for those of you who want to argue with me, Obama said the same thing this week. So argue with him.
Here is an article listing 10 things that Bush got right. I thought it was well written and celebrated a president that has be harshly criticized. I worry about a president that is more interested in popular opinion (and being compared to Lincoln before even taking office) and one who made choices he thought were right for America, no matter what the polls said.
And here is an opinion piece by Charles Krauthammer which I think is interesting. The candidate Obama bashed Bush, because he knew it would get him elected. I don't think anyone thought Obama would be agreeing with many of Bush's policies so quickly...except maybe Dick Cheney.
Moving
This week I have been thinking constantly about what my and Kevin's future holds. Hopefully within the next four weeks we will get a list of available bases. I think this might be the hardest thing to wait for. Once we know what bases are available we will truly be able to start thinking about the future. What locations are a real possibility and what isn't.
I've also been thinking a lot about selling our house. With the basement very close to being finished, I have created a list of about 15 other things that need to be done before we put the house on the market. Some of them are small (painting the kitchen) while others are a little larger (power wash and stain the back porch). We are hoping to get a majority of the projects finished by mid-March and put the house on the market at that point. We have no idea what we will ask for our house, if anyone will be interested and how long it will take to sell. We won't actually be moving until the end of August, but we feel like the more lead time we can put on listing the house, the better off we'll be. Plan B is if we are unable to sell by August, Stefanie (Kevin's sister) will seriously consider moving in and renting from us. So at least we have a Plan B.
Vacation
I am truly itching to go on a vacation somewhere. There are several shows in NYC I would love to go see right now, but it is such an expensive place to go. I also would love to go somewhere warm, especially since this winter has been so cold. We don't really have any vacations in the works right now, but I'm hoping we can put something on the calendar so we have something to look forward to.
I think that's all for now. When the list of bases comes out, I will keep you updated. Hope you all are having a wonderful new year.
