Obama on prime time

Tonight was the night for Betty and me to have our weekly dinner, and we had decided on our favorite local sushi place. But then I realized we'd miss the Obama half hour, so I called and asked if I couldn't fix her dinner. I offered chicken piccata and salad, but then I found two yellow squash in the icebox. I had a vague idea of how to do a squash casserole but decided I'd look for a recipe. Found one but of course didn't have all the ingredients: stuffing mix, well I had a tiny bit and I augmented with bread crumbs, thyme, and poultry seasoning; cream of mushroom soup--I had cream of chicken and thought it would be fine, but when I opened it, it was chicken broth. So I used half of it, put in more than the required amount of sour cream, and then, for good measure, added two eggs so it would firm up. Stuck the whole mess in the oven and hoped for the best while cooking the rest of the dinner. When I looked at it, though, it seemed to have firmed up, but it was sort of pale and uninteresting looking, so I covered the top liberally with grated cheese. Betty ate two helpings, and after taking a bit out for my dinner tomorrow night, I sent the rest home with her. I know she and Don like squash casserole. I told her, however, that I could never tell her again how to do it. Chicken and salad were good too. She was prepared to make a fuss if I didn't have dessert, but when I offered ice cream with chocolate sauce, she declined--and so did I.
I was very glad we stayed in to watch Obama's prime time show. I thought maybe he would speak for half an hour, but as those of you who watched know it was vignettes of people in this country who are struggling. I, too, know people who've had their salaries cut, had to close their businesses, don't have adequate or any health insurance. It makes me feel very fortunate, but it also worries me--for the nation, for my children, for myself. I thought Obama was thoughtful, moving and convincing tonight. (And I caught Betty with a tear in her eye.) I don't know how many people watched--I'll be curous to hear reports and commentary in the morning--and I know it did nothing to convince die-hard conservatives, but I thought it was a spell-binding program.
Last night I started to post about things I was indignant about, but I thought it was so negative, I gave it up. But these are the things: the thought that big financial companies, to whom we just gave big bucks of taxpayers money, are planning to give big bonuses to their executives. But now I hear there's a proteset in Congress that essentially says we won't regulate and forbid it, but these companies would be well advised to reconsider. And a friend whose son works for one of those companies said they had heard nothing about the annual huge bash that brings people from around the world, puts them up at first-class hotels, and throws an extravagant party. Maybe people are learning after the scandal of AIG giving a multi-million dollar getaway Caribbean party even after the collapse.
And I'm indignant--okay, maybe sad--that the Christian Science Monitor is quitting the newspaper print business to have a presence on the web. I'm afraid but sure it's the wave of the future, but I hate it. Our local newspaper has grown so thin that it's hardly worth subscribing to (and besides they've let some of my friends go) and yet I love the newspaper and my morning cup of coffee. Online isn't the same--and it's often confusing to find your way around in.
But aside from being indignant, there is much I'm grateful for--family, friends, my interesting life, good books to read, and my writing, even though the latter sometimes seems a dead end. I go from discouragement to enthusiasm like a ping pong ball. Probably a sign of the times.
Off to Granbury tomorrow. Our author, Mary Rogers, is speaking about her book, Dancing Naked: Memorable Encounters with Unforgettable Texans, at a benefit for the Hood County Library, and I like to keep up my Granbury connections, so I'm tagging along.