#61: Eight years of freakishly fun tours...and yes, he's still the one!

[aikim]

Austin will be here around 2:30 so I have lots of cleaning to do; going to be a fun week-end. Looks to be a nice day too although rain coming in again this evening.

FOD Video Premier in May!

85 Days until Clay is in DDD!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[FearofH2O]

aikim, have a great time with Austin. I'll bet he gets cuter by the day.

luckiest, I'm glad your dog didn't have any serious injuries from his encounter with the car. One of our cats was a bloody mess after an encounter with a car as a kitten, now she is 17 and still going strong. That was the first of her 9 lives, I guess.

I've been having some weird Clay dreams lately. Last night it was about Larry King berating him for not coming out sooner, like on his show. in your dreams Larry. Oh that was my dream. You can tell I'm not a fan of Larry. I saw him a couple of nights ago on the Arena talking about what a great guy Donald Trump is. Can I say bad taste?

I hope you all have a wonderful day today. I'll be doing a little Zumba this beautiful morning.

[ldyjocelyn]

catscanadian is having a difficult time adding an avatar to her profile. I'm trying my best to help her, in the "Check In" thread. Read through the last page or so and see if you have any suggestions, please!

[shortyjill]

I tossed out a suggestion over there for her.

I've been having some weird Clay dreams lately. Last night it was about Larry King berating him for not coming out sooner, like on his show. in your dreams Larry. Oh that was my dream.

<snip>

Oh gosh...you think that's weird? I should share one of my really strange Clay dreams then. I don't have any I can fully remember right now but I've written some down and would have to find them first. Trust me though, they are bizarre!

aikim enjoy your day with Austin!

We're off to a baby shower this afternoon. The location is about an hour's drive away so we have to leave a bit on the early side. Like in an hour. I suppose I should start getting ready.

[aikim]

Sun is shining; front door is open..been cleaning like mad for Austin's visit..I swear I didn't clean this much when my kids were small..at that point, I was lucky I got dressed most days, LOL. But my daughter has turned into a clean freak...and the house really did need it...enough dog and cat hair for another small animal!

Kim

[treenuts]

It's my cousin's birthday and he has been a very close and good friend to me over the years, most especially this past year which has been extremely difficult for me. So today I am treating him to a train ride on the Jepson Prairie. It is a local vintage train that takes you out and around to view the wild flowers in bloom throughout the prairie at this time of year. It also includes some lovely wine tasting as you go which is right up our alley!!

Should be a nice day, though WINDY.

I hope Clay does something, anything (well, almost anything ) s.o.o.n.

Have a great day all!

[luckiest1]

Gorgeous day here....I was able to go out in short sleeves and dig up my gardens. I may regret it if the weather turns on me, but I planted a few things that should be frost resistant. Hope so anyways.

[shortyjill]

Well it WAS nice here till a couple hours ago... now it's cold and threatening to rain.

[FearofH2O]

Sorry shortyjill. It was a beautiful day here. We went out to eat outdoors at a really nice restaurant tonight. We are celebrating that our oldest son just had his offer on a home accepted by the seller. It's pretty funny that he is buying a house through text messaging. He actually saw the house before he left to come here so it wasn't sight unseen, but he and his realtor have been texting all day. He did take time out to go mountain bike riding this afternoon though.

[ausdon]

Hooray to all enjoying the nice spring weather. Of course it is autumn here and today has been just glorious. The winter is when we have our best days. Today DH mowed and DS2 and I did some car washing, but now its football for them on TV and I am going to drink tea and read a bit and then cook a pork roast. A nice domestic day - now if only my own home would magically finish!!

[aikim]

Finally have a couple of minutes to check in; I am so tired. Forgotten how much work babies are..he did sleep through the night..put him down around 9:00 and he slept until 5:00..but I was up every two hours...listening to every noise and checking on him. The dog even woke me up at 2:00 a.m. whining because Austin was fussing. He really has been good though, just likes to be held and walked around. Had to make a run for formula because my daughter did not leave enough..this baby is eating every two hours...really think by now he could have some cereal but she won't give him any until he is 6 months. But he is a big boy, 13 pounds at 4 months and I think he needs a little more than formula. But what do I know, I only raised 4 kids...apparently the book knows better (according to my daughter, LOL!)

FOD Video Premier this month!

84 Days until Clay is on DDD!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[Carolina Clay]

I learned at CV that May 1 is Lei Day in Hawaii, so Happy Lei Day, all!

In the latest Carolina On My Mind blog, two new montages by LovesClaysVoice and SueReu partner videos/photos of the royal wedding with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and "It's Impossible" from Clay's classic T&T album. Sendspace download links are included.

I added some photo/behind the scenes links as well. Thank you for your visits and comments.

Have an awesome new week/month, all!

Caro

[treenuts]

..this baby is eating every two hours...really think by now he could have some cereal but she won't give him any until he is 6 months.

:o Seriously? That must be something new. I know my daughter would have been gumming the furniture.....or my arm...if we had not put her on soft solids when she was two and a half months old. She was hungry all the time and I had to limit how much I let her eat but her pediatrician said there was no reason not to if the baby is ready for it. And brother, was she ever ready for it

[Desertrose]

Things have changed. In my time they put babies on cereal early. Now the doctors believe that there is a higher possibility of the baby developing allergies if they do not wait the 6 months before putting them on cereal or other solids. Supposedly at six months their immune systems are stronger. Who knows? In a few years they might put them on solids after the first couple of weeks. I remember when the consensus was that formula was more nutritious than breast milk. Now it is the other way around. The only thing for sure is that things will change with each generation.

[ldyjocelyn]

Breaking news: Osama Bin Laden is dead. Wow.

[Couch Tomato]

Breaking news: Osama Bin Laden is dead. Wow.

I turned to watch The Amazing Race and saw the news. Wow is right.

[Desertrose]

Breaking news: Osama Bin Laden is dead. Wow.

I turned to watch The Amazing Race and saw the news. Wow is right.

Justice has been done. There is a huge crowd in front of the White House cheering. The crowd is growing. Obama came through when he said that he would increase efforts to get Bin Laden.

[shortyjill]

THIS is exactly what my classmate was fighting for over in Afghanistan. As soon as it all sunk in, I thought of him. He would be completely ecstatic over this news. I know I am.

[FearofH2O]

IMO it would have been better to capture OBL alive and try him in the world court but it appears that would have been impossible. As an icon for evil his death will hopefully put a little fear in the minds of those still planning terrorist attacks. I'm sure that's just wishful thinking. The US doesn't give up or forget. Congratulations to the President and the Special Forces that carried out the plan.

[aikim]

While it is welcome news that Bin Laden is dead...there will still be terrorists to take his place and I do fear for some kind of retaliation. Probably the happiest person right now is President G.W. Bush; he deserves as much credit as Obama for working so tirelessly after 911 and to the end of his Presidency to capture this man; have to say, part of me wishes it could have been him making the announcement. It was a joint victory for both Presidents. But the biggest credit goes to our military for continuing to fight the good fight and for their bravery and sacrifice since 911.

FOD Video Premier this month!

83 Days until Clay is on DDD!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[Desertrose]

George W. Bush had his moment in the sun when he declared his "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED," eight years ago. That was the announcement that he was entitled to make.

The credit rightly belongs to Obama, who initiated this operation and was in charge of it all the way to its fruition, the military and especially the Navy Seals who put their lives on the line to fulfill this operation. It is a victory for President Obama. Bravo for our intelligent young president! Bush had nothing to do with this specific operation!

[keepingfaith]

My son is on Cloud 9 today -- especially since the Navy Seals executed this operation. He's worked with quite a few Seals, and counts several among close friends. He was so happy on Easter 2009 when President Obama chose a Navy Seal team of sharpshooters to take out the Somali pirates holding our people at sea, and this is another example of their expertise.

Just to clear the record. This operation was NOT years in the planning - as Rush Limbaugh is bloviating. It was August 2010 when a couple of Gitmo prisoners began to cooperate (and not under torture or harsh techniques, but after Obama ended that) and told us the names of OBL's personal, trusted couriers. It was February of this year, maybe while I was at a Clay Aiken concert, when the couriers' code names were ID'd and our intelligence personnel on the ground began watching them. This compound in Abbottabad has been watched for a couple of months after the couriers were followed there. President Obama has been in on the initial planning and operations from the beginning and personally gave the order on Friday before he left for Alabama. He gave the final "go" in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday. He was so cool and collected, and funny, at the White House Correspondent's Dinner Saturday night, and probably did not sleep a wink once back at the White House. I wouldn't want to play poker with him!

And .... for anyone who wants to deny full credit for this success to President Obama .... there was a time during the last presidential campaign, in 2007, when Senator Obama said that he would send forces into Pakistan to take out Bin Laden and other high value Al Qaeda operatives if we had actionable intelligence and if the Pakistanis were unwilling to act. Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd said this was "naivete" - and Republicans in the the Bush security team, and then-presidential candidates including Mitt Romney, heartily criticized his speech and said the United States could not violate the sovereignty of Pakistan and that Obama was showing himself as unworthy of leadership. I think Giuliani was the only one who approved. So, whatever you think of this operation, it was a Barack Obama operation in concept and in execution, and he was the leader of this from the beginning. He deserves credit for putting his balls on the line and being an effective and victorious Commander in Chief, and great credit also goes to the CIA, JSOC, and the Navy Seals for being the intrepid professionals that they are. Bravo!

The Pakistanis have a lot of 'splaining to do about why Bin Laden's compound was in the same town, two miles away, from Pakistan's counterpart to West Point. No way they didn't know since it's now being reported that he was there for the past 5-6 years.

I just wonder if people really think we should have let Bin Laden stay in his house for the rest of his life so we wouldn't offend Al Qaeda! That makes no sense to me, unless we're a nation of knee-knockers and appeasers, and I hope the American people have as much fortitude as our kids who we send into harm's way to protect us. You probably know that I have had two sons in the service, and one still in, who trains NCIS agents, and he's ECSTATIC about the events of the past 24 hours. As am I.

I just listened to a female journalist from Pakistan being interviewed and she said the without OBL Al Qaeda will be nothing. There may be other groups, and there will always be terrorists, because the last terror attempt in this country was by a right-wing extremist who set up a bomb at a MLK Day parade in Spokane, WA in January. There will always be terrorists, and God willing there will always be retribution for their heinous acts against humanity.

My sister made me laugh last night. We had heard the news that OBL was dead, and we had heard that yesterday was the 8th anniversary of President Bush's Mission Accomplished speech on the aircraft carrier, so my sis said, "Maybe the reason it's taking Obama so long to come out and make the announcement is, they haven't finished making his banner."

I think it was SO prescient to bury OBL's body at sea. No grave for that man. No pilgrimages. He sleeps with the fishes.

[treenuts]

I have to agree with all that you've said, kf! These were carefully measured and precise actions the president took, without any of the Teddy Roosevelt "Bully" or "Chaaarrrge" that his predecessor seemed so fond of IMO. It may be why Obama's plan worked. I don't know.

Good riddens to bad rubbish....Someone at work today said he thought OBL was the Hitler of our time. I'm not sure I completley agree with that, but he certainly was cut from similar cloth!

nahnahnahnah nahnahnahnah

hey hey hey

goo-oodbye

So Clay, maybe THIS is something you'd be interested in blogging about?

[Couch Tomato]

What I've discovered in the past 24 hours is how divided we as a country are. I'm not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed in me that I'm so dispassionate about some things.

Hugs to all.

[keepingfaith]

What I've discovered in the past 24 hours is how divided we as a country are. I'm not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed in me that I'm so dispassionate about some things.

Hugs to all.

I discovered it during the Carter presidency. I thought the Democrats played nice during Reagan and Bush I. But during the Clinton Administration things went off the tracks completely, with special prosecutors out the wazoo looking for evidence of blow jobs in the White House, cheesy land deals where people LOST money, and radio rumors of murders and all manner of folly. This was followed by an administration, Bush/Cheney that didn't want to be criticized at all, which insured it, propelled by an all spin all the time cable news industry.

Obama has been trying his heart out to get people to use their reasoning and logic and common sense -- but it seems people don't listen to the principals anymore, they just tune in to their opinion maker of choice and accept whatever is being said by the person they trust to provide the bias they require. Maybe things will get better now, because I think as a nation we've had as much polarization, demonization, character assassination, and flat out lying than one people can stomach. I hope it's time to start spitting out some of the bile that we've been forced to ingest for many years now and expunge the haters from our lives. Let those bastards look for a job, or live off their sizeable fortunes, and pay taxes for a change.