A Mini-Holiday

In this country, we call it a vacation. In the UK, it's called a holiday. I happen to prefer the British holiday. It sounds so much more fun and festive, and definitely much needed. Tomorrow we head out for a mini holiday to Minneapolis/St. Paul to see my brother and his wife. We haven't had a family vacation since our trip to Florida in March of 2005. It's been awhile. And likely, it will be awhile before we get another such break. With Andy being fairly new at this company, he's kind of the last guy to get vacation priority time. And we're also coming to find that taking time off of work is majorly frowned upon during construction season. Which is completely understandable, but it means that it's going to be awhile before we figure out a good time of the year to take a break. Andy works during the nice weather, and Abigail has school during the not nice weather. And she REALLY doesn't like to miss school. We'll figure it out eventually, it just may take some time. :-)

A few days ago I posted about Net Neutrality and the bill that is coming before congress. Today there was a major victory for the bill, and you can read about that right here. But what I found exciting about the whole process, is that my US representative actually listened to me. I sent him a brief e-mail explaining my thoughts on this bill, and he took the time to send a letter back. Partially form letter, but also partially personalized, and signed in ink. I haven't written to a member of government since my High School Civics class. So then today, I received an e-mail from the Save The Internet Coalition that a vote was taking place today, so I actually spent some time watching C-Span and watching the government at work. It was pretty interesting and neat to watch. I can't say that I will be watching on a regular basis, but it caught my attention today. Maybe I saw enough of The West Wing to get a little excited about politics.

Anyway, no worries, I'm not going to run out and become a lobbyist or anything, but it does strike me that most people are probably like me. We get out to vote when we think it matters, but don't think much about the inbetween times. Our elected officials are in their position to represent us. If there is an issue that is important to me, I should write or call my officials and let them know what I really think. If everyone took a few minutes to tell their Congressmen what was important to them, it could really change the face of politics. It would no longer be major corporations pulling the purse-strings. It would be the common people, which is how it used to be. And it really doesn't matter if the Olson's across the street have a different point of view than us, what matters is that we both get the same opportunity to voice that point of view. Something to think about.

No exciting dinner report tonight. Andy and Zander were in charge of dinner tonight, so it was simple and grilled, and perfect for dining al fresco. We're really looking forward to our weekend away, and I have plenty of packing to do, so I should get to it. I'll be back next Monday with tales to tell, I'm sure. Until then,scroll down, read about the VRC, and send me a Food On A Stick so I don't totally kill a food-blogging event. :-)