Politics & The Supreme Court: These past few days have not actually been busy, per se, just been keeping a low profile on the blogging front. Wondering why? The Samuel Alito confirmation hearings are on, and in an effort to educate myself about some of the doctrines that influence this country's supreme law, I've been watching CSPAN as they show uninterrupted coverage of the hearings.
Yesterday, I drifted in and out as I did laundry. For those not in the know, our dryer joined the holiday takers just before New Years, and it finally got fixed yesterday. So from the moment it returned refreshed, until dinner I did 7-8 loads of laundry (this is just for myself and Chris), and in between I watched the Alito hearings on CSPAN. Of course, I learned quite quickly that my education on the constitution and the man himself was not going to improve greatly. Unlike the Roberts hearings, this one is full of Republicans filling their allotted time with praise, and “don't you agree” statements, and the Democrats actually pussy-footing around asking real questions.
Today, it got a little more interesting as Senators Kennedy and Specter exchanged some heated words over whether Specter had received a letter sent from Kennedy. (365Gay.com reports that this interaction occurred just after Kennedy read some material from promotional material from a group that Alito was a member of while at Princeton University that was hateful towards gays and women.) Senator Kennedy released details of the letter later today, and Senator Specter acknowledged that his office, not himself personally, had received Senator Kennedy's letter (all up, Specter looked a little worse for wear given his comments). I guess we have a few more days to look forward to.
Health & Fitness: In other news, I ordered an elliptical machine last week, and it's due to be collected tomorrow. I've decided that I need to loose weight, and as I'm not a runner, jogging is out of the question. I've been using an elliptical at Collin's gym, and liking it, so this was a huge factor in my decision to get one in the house. I'm looking forward to getting it, as when the semester starts it will be a little more difficult to find time to get to the gym at either UNT or Collin, so I'm hopeful that having it stare at me in the morning, or afternoon will enthuse me to hop on for 30 minutes each day.
Travel: It appears we are going back to Key West in June – YAY! Tonight Chris, Bobby, Ian & I sat down for drinks and snacks to discuss the travel plans, and more details will be coming soon. Oh yeah, this is happening while we are there.
Education: One week to go until classes start, and I'm actually looking forward to this happening. I'm not looking forward to the trip to Denton at least twice a week, but I keep telling myself that it's only for a couple of years (urgh, did I really say that). I at least know who is leading my classes, and have heard back from two of my professors (one is the same one I had during fall).
Community: Our HOA is in the process of fixing some parts of the fence that run along the back of our home, and its taking forever. I'm still not convinced that this is the best use of our funds, but I'm resigned to the fact that its probably in the best interests of those homes that it affects (we are not one of them). The HOA has its annual meeting next week, and sadly this will be the first one I will miss. It appears someone who follows in my footsteps will be running for the committee I am on, so that should make for an interesting 2006.
Entertainment: Ian has been kind enough to loan me the full season one of Desperate Housewives, and my friend Damir (link), has all the episodes for season 2 on his DVR – so in a week or so, I hope to be up to speed on what is really happening on Wysteria Lane.
Next, I have to catch up on what is happening on the blog-o-sphere. More posts later.