Tales of the Grumpy Tourist

Forgive me, faithful followers. I know I haven’t exactly been great about blogging.

When I started this blog, I had intended to use it to share my thoughts on various grassroots advocacy strategies and innovations. However, over the past few years, every time I would sit down to expound on something, my mind would wander to what I see going oh so very wrong in politics today. Then I would go do something else.

So today I’m going to try to get back on track without providing any commentary on what individual politicians or the parties are doing wrong.

Instead I’ll start by catching you all up with the rest of my life.

From previous posts, hopefully you’ll remember that I’m a mother, a wife, a political junky and public affairs consultant. I believe I may have also promised an amusing anecdote or two. I’m still married to Mike who I still find generally amusing. I still have three kids. My daughter is heading into her senior year of college, having changed her major so many times that I’ve lost count. My oldest son will be a high school senior and my youngest son will be starting high school.

My youngest, who we affectionately call the “Grumpy Tourist” is currently on his 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C., a town he already knows so well that he has his own Metro card. One of the hallmarks of the Grumpy Tourist is that, on family vacations, he has been deeply concerned that me might accidentally learn something. He actually curled up into the fetal position on personally-guided tour of Gettysburg. True story.

One might ask why we would send him on a four-day trip jammed packed with excursions to museums, monuments and other historical and, in my own humble opinion, vastly fascinating sites, almost all of which he has already visited. Do we have some sort of weird vendetta against Drew’s junior high science teacher/long-term swim coach who is leading the trip? Nope. (We did advise the kid that he would have a VERY long swim season if he annoyed Coach Thad.) Did we send him to provide the entertainment for all traveling with him? Ahhhhh, no. Although, that might be his own personal mission.

The real answer is that Mike and I are hoping he acquires an appreciation for our great country and the opportunities it should offer to all who live here. That idea of opportunity for all is what inspired us both to get into politics in the first place.

And for my friends in DC, hang in there. He’s only there for four days. I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.