36 weeks!

We officially hit 36 weeks today, a major milestone in "our" pregnancy. Supposedly she weighs around 6 pounds and is about 13 inches from crown to rump. This week she is practicing blinking, has fully developed sucking muscles, and her gums are becoming more rigid. At our midwife appt yesterday we confirmed that she is really in the head down position, though we were pretty sure we felt her laying side to side last night (unless she has supper wide shoulders!) We have noticed her dropping a little bit, though she usually seems to come back up each time. It seems the mucus plug is starting to drain away, though it's hard to tell. Sarah is doing well, handling it like a champion. She's feeling pretty ready for it to be over and to be able to walk & job comfortably, as well sleep comfortably. We couldn't be luckier though and feel so grateful for how good everyone has been to us. We're really in the homestretch, although I must admit it feels like we should be a little bit closer than we actually are. Patience is the key at this point (though I'm ok if she waits to come until after finals).

New Prophet & Apostle

This is General Conference weekend for my Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, aka the Mormon Church). Every April and October the 13 million members of our church gather for 2 days of meetings to hear 15 minute talks from our leaders. The themes this weekend included service, compassion, family, and an impressive report on the public health initiatives the church is conducting throughout the world. On Saturday Thomas S. Monson officially became the 16th President of the Church and David Todd Christofferson became the next Apostle (a lifetime appointment to top governing body). He is on the left in the above photo, with the next most junior Apostle, Quentin Cook. Click here to read the Newsweek article about Pres. Monson. Elder Christofferson (Elder is a title) got his law degree from Duke (I'll try not to hold it against him) and worked in Charlotte for awhile before eventually being called to work full time for the Church. He was in charge of running its huge geneology program. Check out his press conference after he was announced as the new Apostle.

Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon

Today I ran the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was my third half marathon ever. In fact, I didn't start running regularly until Feb 2007. So while I am still not very fast, I am pleased with my progress. In Ottawa in May 2007 I ran the (13.1 miles) 21.1km in 2:22:42. In Myrtle Beach last February I ran it in 2:09:40. Today I ran Raleigh in 2:07:37. It was still 2 minutes slower than my fastest time (which came in a training run). Again, it's not fast, but I'm pleased that I've been able to start from nothing and fairly comfortably run a half marathon. I haven't signed up yet, but I'm thinking seriously about gearing up for a full 26.2 mile marathon in 7 months. We'll see. Many thanks to dad for coming to me in Raleigh. He took the two pics, the top being the before picture and the bottom the after in the parking lot before heading home to watch conference.

Rep Henbest Retiring

Having read this article in today's Boise Weekly about Rep. Margaret Henbest, I feel particularly proud to have worked closely with her. During the 2006 legislative session I lived in Boise interned for her and Rep. John Rusche (now the House Minority Caucus Chair). Both of these people were incredibly kind to me and taught me a lot about the inner workings of state government. As this article highglights, Rep. Henbest is someone who knows how to get things done and is able to build coalitions and consensus around her ideas. We had our share of disapointing defeats while I was there, and I know she had others during her 12 year tenure, but she accomplished so much she can be proud of. The above photo was taken on my last day in the legislature, immediately after she and a few other Representatives and staff had taken me out to lunch. I will proudly say that I am 17 pounds lighter than in that photo!

The state capital building in 2006. It is closed for renovation right now and I think expected to re-open in 2010.
My office was through this door on the right. What a fun place to work (though it was kind of like a dungeon down there!)

Chelsea

We got to meet Chelsea Clinton this afternoon during her campaign stop in Chapel Hill. Unfortunately the guy who took the picture put the camera on video mode so we actually ended up with a video of the moment, which was even better because you can see her congratulating Sarah on the pregnancy and saying she hopes I'll vote for her mom.

Sarah and I really enjoyed getting to meet Chelsea Clinton this afternoon and hear her thoughts on issues ranging from health care to Iraq to energy and NASA. I was extremely impressed with how articulate she was and how able she was able to talk through the nuances of these issues. As I told the radio reporter who interviewed me after the 70 minute Q&A, I still plan on voting for Obama, but if Hillary does end up being the nominee I would feel very confident voting for her.

She even got asked one or two wierd questions, though she handled it very well. This is the last minute of a really long winded question in which the guy talked about everything from criticism of her dad in 1992 to how beautiful Chelsea is, to finally talking about NASA.

Chelsea Clinton at UNC

(can you spot me in the photo?)

Sarah and I are sitting in the third row of a packed student union at UNC to hear Chelsea Clinton speak. There must be 400 people here, but luckily we got a large comfortable seat. They tried to take my seats away before I played the "8 month pregnant wife" card and they let me keep my seat. Apparently Chelsea's plane was late this morning so she's been behind schedule all day.

Note to self: if I ever am involved in planning a political event, don't have "It's the End of the World as we Know It" as the background music before the main speaker comes on. They finally turned it off and now we're hearing from a UNC A Capella group.

November Predictions

In my view (and with some help from the Washington Post website) there are 7 states that are really going to make the difference in who is elected President in November: Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. It's possible that some states could be competitive, like Virginia and NC, but it's safe to assume they vote for McCAin. Go ahead and play with the map, but you'll see that gives McCain a 254 - 217 advantage over Obama/Clinton, with 67 votes up for grabs to help someone reach the magic number of 270. I am not basing this on much other than what I've read, my opinion and some polling, but here are my predictions for which of these 6 states Obama or Clinton would win as the nominee running against McCain:

Clinton - Minnesota, New Mexico and Penn. Result: Whoever wins Ohio wins the whole thing.

Obama - Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, Penn. Result: Obama wins, even if he loses Ohio.

So why do I think Obama is more electable than Clinton in November? A combination of three huge factors: 1) A lot of conservatives can't stand Hillary and with her as the nominee it's going to be a lot easier for the Reps to get out the vote. This could make all the difference in Ohio as the gay marriage thing did for Bush in 04, as well as the other 6 or so states Bush won by less than 2%. 2) Obama excites people and has cross over appeal, meaning he'll be attractive moderates unsatisfied with McCain. 3) There are a lot of conservatives who don't like McCain and would be willing to consider Obama. This makes a lot more states competitive, including Colorado and Iowa, which as I demonstrate, could actually make the difference even if he loses Ohio. All that being said, Obama would have to win enough of these swing states to put him over the top.

This is a very exciting race, partly because the Republican and Democratic nominees (if Obama wins) don't necessarily just attract the traditional party base, meaning a lot about the electoral map could change in November.

Angela's Baptism

A couple weeks ago we attended the baptism of our friend Angela. Every baptism is special as it's a symbol of the happiness someone is feeling in their life, but this felt extra special for a few reasons. This was the first time I have seen a friend of mine from school/work get baptized. She first met the church through her boyfriend (who served a mission in Brazil) and has been learning about it for a year. She spoke at her service and described the joy and peace that has come into her life as she has incorporated the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Bible and the Book of Mormon in her life. The depth of her sincerity and committment was impressive; I feel lucky to know her.

Our friend Anna
3 of my classmates and their significant others.

Governor David Paterson

I'm sure you've heard the news about NY Governor Elliot Spitzer resigning today because of the terrible scandal in which he paid $5,500 an hour to be with a prostitute in DC before testifying to Congress the next day (on Valentine's Day). So all of a sudden, my home state of NY will soon have a new governor. I've known of David Paterson for a little while as he's been in the NY State Senate for a little while and has developed a reputation as amiable and able to work leaders on both sides of the aisle. What I didn't realize is that not only will he become only the third African-American Governor since the civil war (Deval Patrick, the new Gov of Massachusetts being one of the other two), but he will be the first legally blind person to ever be Governor. According to this great profile in today's NY Times, he developed an infection as a child that left him blind in one eye and with severely limited sight in the other. I'm simply blown away by his ability to overcome what others might consider to be an insurmountable obstacle. He graduated from Columbia and then earned a law degree from Hofstra, entered politics and ended up becoming Senate Minority Leader in Albany, Lt Governor, and now suddenly Governor. He's even completed the NYC Marathon! As much as I thought Spitzer was going to be a great Governor, his abrasive style just hasn't worked and now I'm looking forward to seeing what Gov. Paterson can accomplish.

HPAA = Champions

Led by our fearless captian Brad Heaton, fellow classmates and I from the dept of Health Policy and Administration (HPAA) won the intramural tournament at UNC!! Of course it's the co-ed league, not the 5-5 guys league, and it was the recreational, not competitive league, but we're feeling pretty good about ourselves. It was a tough tournament in which we had to win 5 games after a 1st round bye in order to be crowned champions. Entering the tourney ranked 22 out of 50+ teams we won by beating the #5, #2 and #1 teams. The final was our toughest game. Down by 8 with 2:30 left, Lauren hit some clutch free throws, Gabe's defene forced some turnovers, and Morris hit a big three pointer to end up with us having the ball in a tied game with 25 seconds left. Morris held for the last possession, passed to Brad who drove the lane and got fouled as he threw up a tough shot. The miracle was the ball went in! He missed the free throw, but there wasn't enough time for the other team to get something together. All of a sudden we were champions! We got a couple t-shirts, our photos taken and had tons of fun. Morris was named tourney MVP (well deserved) and we're looking forward to doing it again next year with 8 of 11 players returning (and a good recruiting class on the way). Click here to see the tournament bracket (though be aware that the point totals got screwed up as sometimes it seems that the team with less points advanced). Here some photos of the celebration:

This video is proof that I scored in the championship game. I averaged about 7-8 points during the regular season and first couple rounds of the tournament, but as we got into the sweet sixteen and elite 8, the guys that were guarding me got better and better and my average dropped to 4-5 points. Of course I didn't care one bit as I was doing my part to help our team win, but I'm glad I made my free throws in the final game. Since we ended up winning by only 2 points, you could say these were the game winning shots (even though they occured with 5 minutes left in the first half....)

Tuesday Primary

This Tuesday is a big day in the race for President. The Republican nomination should be mathematically locked up, and we should know if Hillary has enough momentum to keep going or if she'll need to drop out. Part of me feels very ready for her to face the music and for all of us to move on to the next chapter. Of course, I can't blame her for hanging in there and fighting like she is. She truly believes she has something to offer, and she is certainly still within striking distance, so why not continue fighting?

I think these two ads are very interesting. The Clintons put the first one out the other day, and Obama's campaign followed quickly after with their version.





What do you think? In some ways the question is really about who can match up against McCain on foreign policy, his greatest strength (deservedly so).