Big Boy Bike; Big Boy Bed

Finally, the action shot! This was two weekends ago, Myles' first foray into bike-riding on his new big boy bike. Is Seth a fabulous father or what? Check out that form!

The other two photos are just for fun; Myles got one of his automatic trucks stuck in his hair and was none too pleased with himself. I managed to untangle it without ripping or cutting. Do read that warning label on the bottom of the truck if you can. Never noticed it before...

This week Myles' new bed came. You may know that Seth and I had a long and vociferous debate going about what type of bed Myles should have. We were agreed on the size (twin); I wanted something organic/latex. Seth wanted something inexpensive and dipped in flame retardant...it's a good thing he never reads this blog, right? No illusions that I'm unbiased here. He finally gave in, but neither of us felt good about it, and then I managed to find a much more affordable, mostly organic cotton/wool/bamboo (not dipped in flame retardant) mattress. Hooray! So we made the purchase with our tax refund and it arrived this week. Myles loves it. And now he has a bed that fits.

The budget debate this week has been grueling. As a former WAND employee, I am well informed on how much we spend on the Pentagon and war, how much we spend on entitlements like social security and medicare, and how little the discretionary pie is. So when the argument of fiscal responsibility cuts out 2/3rds of the budget and focuses on this small pie, it's frustrating. When I hear elected officials proposing to cut funding for programs that help the poor, the sick, and the unemployed, I find it infuriating. Call me a bleeding heart liberal (it won't be the first time) or a Jesus freak, I believe in a society in which we care for the most vulnerable. There are a group of clergy in Asheville who will be fasting on Good Friday in an effort generated by Bread for the World, fasting for a moral budget that cares for the poor (as you probably know, this was just round one of the budget debates, we still have the coming fiscal year and raising the debt ceiling to fight about). I'm glad an agreement was reached at the last minute, it would have been a disaster to shut down the government.

Well, that's it for now. Hope spring is springing forth wherever you are in this big wide world.