• My wife!  She’s amazing.  I love her more than she’ll know.
• My house.  It’s nice to have a roof over my head.
• My family.  It’s great to have a good family that I love and can spend time with.
• My health, and the health of those around me.  You take it for granted until someone ends up in the Hospital.
• Education so I can have a good job.
• My job.  Even though I’m not a big fan of it every day, it’s a good job.
• My car. It’s nice to have a reliable vehicle.

That’s not an all inclusive list, but it’s a start.  I could go on for a long time, as I’m sure each of us could.

But today is Christmas!  At least for the Hibbs family.  As we can’t all be together for Christmas we’re doing it today.  It should be kind of fun.  Then it’s back to Blaine tomorrow night.

Over all life is good.  I hope you’re all having a great Holiday weekend!

Work is going great.  I’m looking forward to session starting and working with some new members.  It will be fun I think.  I’m looking forward to this session a little bit more than last session.  It starts in 5 weeks!  It’s coming up quick.  But as I’ve learned in the political life there is always something going on or something to look forward too.

I finished my stuff for the end of the quarter!  That means 5 down, 4 to go.  That’s right a year from now I’ll have my MPA!  I’m excited about that.  It will be fun to be done with that, but then it’s off to the next challenges and adventures. Both of which I’m looking forward to.  But for the next week I will relax, enjoy life, enjoy family and Thanksgiving, because it’s break time!

Just a few random things:

• 24 tomorrow night!  I’m pretty excited about that.
• I should get pictures up sometime.  Maybe while I’m on break!
• I’m 85% done Christmas shopping.  I know what I’m buying for the rest of it, it’s just a matter of going to the store to get it.  That will happen in December I think.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

But even though I agree on little, if anything, with our President-Elect I look forward to what’s in store.  As a policy analyst I look forward to looking into his policies.  As a political junkie I look forward to watching him assemble his cabinet and staff.  As a person who loves the Executive Office of the President, the White House, and all of the history that comes with it I look forward to seeing how he, the First Lady, and their children will captivate the people of America.

I have a great and profound respect for the Office of the President and for those who occupy it.  Having grown up being taught to respect it and living it firsthand I respect those who dedicate four years of their life to that office.  While I likely won’t agree with all, or even a majority, of the proposals that come from this administration, Barack Obama will still be my President.

As a country we need to be, and should be, a respectful country to our President.  The President receives the majority of votes of citizens in each state, if not always the majority of votes in the United States.  While I did not vote for Obama, you will not see me with an “End of an Error” bumper sticker with some date in January 2013 written on it.  You will not see me with a “Don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for him” bumper sticker.   My thoughts about the next President and my disagreements with his policy will not diminish my respect for the office.

We still have a great and free nation.  Our Republic is strong and will hopefully continue to be.  I hope our citizens will finally rally together and keep our nation as a leader of the free world, and not let it be sold out for policies that have failed.  our founding fathers had little history to go off of when they wrote our Constitution.  They understood it would not be easy, but the road would be difficult.  In 1863 we were tested “whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”  As we move forward these next four years, let us continue our resolve to make the United States of America a nation that can, and will, long endure.

It will be interesting to see what the next two years bring both on the state and national levels.  With Democrats getting larger margins and winning the Presidency it will be interesting to see what happens.  I’m worried taxes will be raised and the economy could turn worse. It will be interesting to see who President Obama assembles for his cabinet.  There’s talk Congressmen Oberstar and Peterson from MN could be a part of it.  That could make things interesting on the state level, if those spots are open and Governor Pawlenty gets to appoint people.

It’s nice to have my evenings back again.  With the election over I was able to stay home for the evening.  I took a nap!  Yesterday was a 21.5 hour day between campaigning and working in St. Paul.  It was fun though.  I got 5 hours of sleep and went back to work.  It actually was a decent day at work.  Overall we lost 2 more seats, but I don’t think any staffers will be cut.  That’s a plus.

iPhone day, which I was greatly anticipating, has been pushed back by about a month.  Between election stuff, finances, and the furnace getting replaced we decided we’d wait another month until I’m back to full time at the House.  So now I’m looking forward to that!

I’ve had many thoughts about the election coming up.  If anyone believes Pelosi when she says “if the Democrats win, and have substantial majorities, Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan” I’d like to sell you some ocean front property here in Blaine.  The Obama tax plan scares me, and I know I’ll pay more and I make way less than $250,000.  With all of his talk of redistributing the wealth it’s clear he’s not holding the same American values that I hold.

But enough with the political rant.

School is picking up.  Pretty much starting on the 5th I’ve got to start my two final papers.  Both of those will take a while, since it’s 30 page papers.  But hopefully things will be alright.  I’m not overly worried.

The house stuff is kind of at a standstill.  We were hoping to redo some of the floors in the bedrooms and perhaps some of the downstairs.  But the new furnace took care of those plans.

We had a nice weekend get away earlier this month.  It was a lot of fun, and it was nice to just get away.  I wish we could do that more often.  We have some pictures, and I’ll try to get some up soon.

With that I’ll bid you ado, likely until November 5th.

The one problem with it, to me, is that it’s on T-Mobile.  My house is in a dead spot almost for them.  I kind of want the iPhone because it’s an Apple product.  The ATT service is great at home, and works in the LP.

So to my friends who currently have T-Mobile go out and get the G1!  And tell me how you like it!

Currently I’m sitting at a nice table looking out our 5th floor window from a great resort in Wisconsin Dells.  It’s a super nice place.  They gave us an upgrade for the room, which is really sweet.  So we’re spending the next few days in living like this.  Our room has a good view of the river, and it’s a great place to sit and drink a morning cup of coffee. Also, all-inclusive is the way to go!

So that’s where we are for the next few days.  Hope everyone is having fun, beceause we sure are!

So that took most of my weekend. But it was a lot of fun.  Today was homework, which I got a lot done for.  We’re about the midway point of the quarter, and I’m starting my two 30 page papers that are due in 6 weeks.  I figure if I start now I can get them done without having to cram it into the last 2 weeks of class.

We got the new furnace put in last week.  So it’s nice to have heat again!  We had to have a fire in the fireplace one night last week to get some heat in here.  That was kind of fun actually.  I need to bring some of the firewood into the garage so we can have more fires this winter.  There’s nothing like having a fire in the fireplace.  I really enjoy it.

In case your wondering, here’s the countdowns:
Election Day: 30
Austin get’s an iPhone: 32

And now it’s time to enjoy some warm, fresh from the oven Apple Crisp.  Yum!

1. Working 2 jobs (50+ hours a week, 6 days a week)
2. Working on my Masters Degree
3. Getting house projects done
4. Church commitments

So it gets to be a lot.  But the money is nice.  Since our furnace went out a few days back and now we get to pay for one of those, the extra money comes in handy.  The furnace will come in handy since it’s getting cooler out there too.  In case you hadn’t noticed swimming season is over. 

Anyway, have a good day.  If I get to it I’ll post somet thoughts on a few things later on.

There’s been some news that I haven’t been quick to share here.  For one reason or another I haven’t gotten to it yet.  But I guess here it is.  (Quick question before I get there:  Did this intro make anyone think I was going to announce an addition to the Bleess family?)  We got a new car.

I like it a lot.  It’s a sweet ride, and comfy.  It’s a Chevy HHR.  We bought it at Main Motors in Anoka, and the guy who helped us out was great.  He did not seem like a cars salesmen at all.  So if you’re looking for a new car I’ll give you his name and number.  But back to the car.  It’s great!  We wanted something bigger to haul stuff (no not kids).  I didn’t want to carry another screen door home, so we went for something bigger.  I should also state that my old car was giving me problems.  It had 127,000 miles on it and was 12 years old.  Before we stuck any more money into it we decided to just get a different car.

So in order to pay for the new car I opted to get a second job. That’s keeping me really busy.  It’s approx 20 hours a week, so now I’m doing 50 hours a week total.  But the added paycheck is really nice.  We can afford stuff again, and I think we’ll get some more things done on the house because of it.  So it’s not so bad. It will also help for the iPhone day which is only 53 days away!

My sister Lacey got married last weekend.  It was out in Rapid City, SD. So the drive was fun.  We took our new car, and I was pleased with the gas mileage.  We got 33 mpg, which was on par with my old car.  So it’s good.  The wedding was fun, and Barry is a great brother-in-law.  There are some pictures of the wedding up for your viewing pleasure.

Also classes this quarter are a fair amount of work.  There are numerous papers that I have to write.  I think they’ll all come together, but it’s keeping me on my toes.  To say the least, my time management skills are improving.  They were great before, but they are improving even more.

Today in church we sat behind some people that we hadn’t met before.  Then right after the service ended the lady turned around to us and said “I was listening to both of you singing and you guys are really good.  Would you like to join the church choir?”  So we talked to them for a bit, and we’ll probably be going to the choir practice this week.  Well, Beth will.  I have a previous commitment, but it looks like we’re both going to join the choir.

So I think that pretty much is a recap of the business and the new news here.  Now I’m going to eat some lunch while I watch the game.  Then I get to iron some clothes while watching football.  Not sure if that makes me a domesticated football watcher or not.

Now for my take on the GOP VP Nominee.  I think she’s great!  She’s a solid choice.  She’s a solid conservative, she seems to be a typical mom, and I think she rallies up the conservative base.  Any woman who hunts for her own food should be applauded.

However, that being said, you should never vote for some one just because they are of a certain sex.  Nor should you vote for someone because they are a certain race, class, creed, or veteran status.  There are much better reasons to vote for or against someone than any of those reasons.  As a conservative I am proud of the record of Gov. Palin.  I think she’s a good choice.

As for what the media seems to talk about her, I think it’s crazy.  Her daughter is pregnant.  Her daughter made the right choice in keeping the baby.  But it’s a private matter, and it in no way disqualifies the Governor from being the VP nominee.  The Governor’s husband had a DUI 22 years ago.  Can someone tell me what that matters?  I don’t see how it does.  I say with certainty everyone has done something that we are not proud of in our past.  However, being married to someone  who made a mistake like that 22 years ago does not disqualify her from being the VP.

The hope and change that Obama talks about is not evident in his VP choice.  The only change I see in him is that he is not the current President.  That can be said about McCain as well.  I fear people are so caught up in the sappy rhetoric that they don’t realize there is no meat to what is being said.  Look at the policies.

How will the tax policies affect the general public?  Who pays for all the “free” stuff that is being promised?  How can we become energy independent?  What policies will bring that about?  Who will make sure our nation is safe and secure, and how will it be done?

Those are some of the questions that need to be asked of every candidate from President down to city council.  So when you see them at your door asking for your vote, ask them these questions.  Make an informed decision.

A few weeks back we had a wedding of our good friend Ryan from high school.  It was a great wedding,a nd we had a blast.  I had a good time hanging out with all of the guys from high school again.  It’s been a while, but it’s always a fun time.  We also took a fair number of pictures.

Which brings me to my next point.  We bought a new digital camera.  It’s a FujiFilm FinePix Z20FD.  It’s 10 megapixles, and good zoom.  It’s everything we need, and it works great for taking quick pictures.

Popcorn is ready.  So that’s all for tonight.  Perhaps more tomorrow.

This and this have really solidified my thoughts on it tonight.

Update: It looks like I was wrong.  Perhaps I should have stayed with my feelings from a month ago.  Of course I still could be right.

The opening ceremony was amazing.  I was very impressed with it.  The fireworks looked really sweet.  The entire show was great.  I don’t know if/how that one will be topped.

While I’m not training for the Olympics I am running again.  Today I ran 2.65 miles in 18 minutes.  While that’s still a far cry over my best time, I was pretty impressed today.  So tomorrow will be a longer distance run.  I’ve found a good site to track all of my workouts, which I find quite helpful.

This weekend was really fun.  We had a bachelor party for one of my high school friends at our place (Beth wasn’t there though).  We went to a St. Paul Saints game. It was my first game, and I really enjyoed it.  They have some good between inning entertainment.  Plus it was a chance to enjoy the outdoors.  if you’re not a big fan of baseball, I would recommend a Saints game over a Twins game.  It’s a great time.