"HO. LEE. CRAP!!!"
That was my reaction to the news this morning. My routine in the morning is that I get up and go straight to my computer, and onto CNN.com to make sure the world is more or less in one piece, as I left it when I went to bed. For me this can often be a scary experience since most of my worldly interests are in the middle east and because they are 7 hours ahead of me, much of their day is over when my day is just beginning. This means that if something happened there in the morning, it's old news by the time I finally hear about it. There have been many times I have woken up only to find out about yet another bombing in Israel; not a great way to start the day.
But I digress.

When I first went on CNN.com and saw the *huge* headline "We got him" I had no idea who they were talking about. The picture beside it obviously didn't help since Saddam looks like a crazed caveman. Upon reading just who it was they captured I found a large grin growing from ear to ear. I could NOT be happier for the Iraqi people. It has been an incredibly tough road for them, and I hope to God this brings them some sense of relief and closure.
I have never really spoken about my views on this whole Iraq issue for a wide variety of reasons, but I will say this much: while I don't believe the ends justifies the means, I hope that this is the beginning of something positive. What I think doesn't really matter because the situation is what it is. What's done is done, and now we all must make the most of it. Things have become such a horrific mess over there that it's nice that something positive has come out of it. I hope the Iraqis sleep a little better tonight because of this news. May tomorrow be a new and better day.
And I don't know about you but I can only imagine how much Bush is patting himself on the back for this. His re-election was in grave danger...until now. He just got himself re-elected with this little victory, now didn't he?

I leave you with a link.....forget the footage you will see over and over again for the next few days of Saddam during his medical exam ...where the real happiness comes from is in the cheers of the Iraqi press at the conference announcing his capture. Go watch it, and tell me you don't feel a sense of relief for these people. (thanks to Imshin for the link...you should read her post about all this. it made me giggle in a devilish way)
More links to various reactions, including those of Iraqis, and interestingly, Palestinians, can be found here: The Command Post.

Anyway, moving right along. I'm sure we will all be sick of the Saddam topic as we are beat over the head with it for the next week (or months). Hey, at least it's a break from the Michael Jackson hoopla.

Yesterday was a pretty good day for me. I went and joined a birthday party for my friend's 2 year old daughter. It was a bizarre day as I sat around with a bunch of friends I have know for 10+ years......many of them now married with children. At one point I turned to my friend and said "If you had told me 10 years ago THIS is how it would be...I would never have believed you". She laughed and agreed. Part of what made it so bizarre is that the couples were all shuffled from what they had been all those years ago; my friend's ex-boyfriend was there with his fiance and baby. Their relationship dissolved long ago, yet here they were together and now friends, and with their respective spouses at the party (and their children playing together!!). It seriously melts my brain when I think about it too much. These are the people with who I partied and drank with all those years ago, and here we are going ga-ga over babies. I guess this is growing up. *grin*
I get to play the best role at these events. I am photographer and "Auntie" to all the kids. I adore my friends kids so I take pics all day. And I get to play with them and have fun....and then go home to the quiet sanctity of my own home. LOL! I'm telling you, I have it made.
All in all it was a fantastic time, and great to catch up with some old friends. Really truly great to see them again.

On my way home I called up another friend of mine, Karen, and invited her up to my place for dinner and a movie. I haven't had the chance to really sit down alone with her and talk for quite some time now, and I was in no mood for going out to any of the other parties I was invited to. She too was trying to get out of a party, so we got to use each other as an excuse. Perfect!
We ordered a pizza and talked for hours. We both seem to be in a very simliar "funk" this past week. A strange mix of emotions....resentment/frustration/sadness/anger/apathy/grumpy/directionless. I found some consolation in the fact that she had been feeling very much the same (isn't that the basis of every good friendship? that you find someone who feels the same way you do?). We talked at great length about the evolution of friendships in the last 6 months, and about where we thought we were going in life. We agreed that friendships have taken an increasingly important role in our lives, and that we have come to value them more and more. She has found that her friends have taken on a larger role now that her parents have moved to the east coast, and I found that I have learned, through personal crisis, just who my true friends are, and that I was surprised at who was and who wasn't in the end. It has shaken me up, and I am concerned that I am not as good a judge of character as I might have once believed. How could I have trusted so much in someone, heart and soul, only to have them walk away like that?? Seriously, it makes you wonder what the hell you were thinking.

Eventually we decided to put a movie on and just check out of the dramatic conversation. I think we both felt way better for finally talking about it and finding we were in similar boats, but it was time to cut loose and forget about it. End the night on a positive note. And this is where we made or final error for the evening. Has anyone else seen the film Basic? Let me first preface this rant by saying I will watch almost any movie and think it's good. I'm pretty easy going, and it takes a lot for me to hate a film; I can find good in almost any pile of crap. This film, was not only bad, it was so annoying that it made me angry. It made me want to hunt down the writer and director and ask them what the hell they were doing. Ya know what I like in a good movie? A twist...a little surprise thrown into the mix at the end. Ya know what I hate in a movie? FIVE OR MORE twists. Seriously, you mislead me enough times and I'm just not gonna give a shit anymore. I couldn't even tell you *what* the movie was about by the end of it, and at no point did I find it even a little bit clever. I felt like a sucker for having watched it. (I am not alone in the confusion of this movie. feel free to read the IMDb message board for the movie) I must find some way to pay Princess Blondie back for this....she's the one who loaned that dvd to me.

No matter! Because tonight is a very exciting night. Tonight is the 2 hour finale of Survivor. Princess Blondie, BRUNO, and I will curl up in front of the tv and watch, with glee, as the event unfolds. I can't wait, it's gonna be great.
Meantime, I have a lot of homework to catch up on, I am WAY too behind in my class.

Oh, and I just got off the phone with a friend...he told me to look out my window (I hadn't yet, coz my blinds are closed). IT SNOWED LAST NIGHT!!! FINALLY!!!!!! And it looks like it might even stay (our first few snowfalls always end up melting away). Hurray for snow!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooo excited. I must go out and play. THEN maybe do some homework. *wink*
WOOT WOOT!!!