In which Florence regales what happened during the break
(read in the voice of Florence, which sounds uncannily like a 14-year-old Claire Danes)
Wow. Having this Little Hairless Pup around has changed…well, not much really.
I’m still not allowed to sleep on the furniture.
I’m still not allowed to eat off the table.
Wiley’s still scared of storms.
And Bekah still makes me “sit” before I get to do an-y-thing.
Anyone who watches Jon Stewart knows that the Veterans Affairs department is deeply mired in a beurocratic malaise that is only getting deeper.
Now they’ve fired Eric Shinseki, but analysts and law makers seem to agree that the long wait times covered up by lying and cheating is likely to continue. Our veterans are no closer to getting the kind of timely and thorough health care they deserve.
For astute analysis of this complex issue, we turn to Moira Sage, who brings a fresh set of eyes to the matter.
Moira, tell us what legislation and policy you would put in place to ensure that our veterans are taken care of when they return from defending our country overseas?
God gave us a laid back kid. I take no credit for the fact that my baby will patiently endure community meetings, board planning retreats, grocery shopping, baby yoga, dining out, and watching me work while she has tummy time. She’s just a good kid that way.
Mommy’s little helper
San Antonio’s Mayor Julián Castro is moving on up. We’re sad to see him go, as he has been a voice for progress in the city, ushering in the decade of downtown, SA202o, and other forward-thinking initiatives like Pre-K4SA.
Castro has been tapped for a position on President Obama’s cabinet as Housing and Urban Development Secretary. We’ll know he’ll do a fantastic job, and we hope to see him on another ballot someday so that we can, again cast our vote for him.
In the meantime, over to our junior correspondent, Moira Sage, who has some thoughts for the Mayor, as he joins Obama’s cabinet:
People told me that when I had a baby I would throw in the towel on the inner city, and head for the shady streets of suburbia. Good school districts. Safe strolling. Quiet nights.
I’m not going to lie, when my neighbor’s five pitbulls bark ALL NIGHT LONG, I do think about how nice it would be to have an HOA to tattle to, instead of just SAPD, which always feels extreme.
And yes, I have to stroll underneath 281 to get to our favorite walking path…but that walking path is the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River, and I can get there in 5 minutes on foot. We take this walk almost every day.
Plus, for my first Mother’s Day, Lewis bought me a membership to the San Antonio Museum of Art, where Moira and I can stroll and take in all the air-conditioning and art we want.
Along the way we have epic adventures passing animals, vagrants, fancy parties, kickball games, and running into friends.
Right now Moira sleeps through most of the walk, but when she looks around, she sees…
A bridge overlooking downtown, smattered with cyclists, yogi’s, and, soon, brewery-goers.
There’s a new health scare, this time coming from the Middle East. As though Americans needed one more reason to be scared of the Middle East.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) arrived onto US soil via a healthcare worker who had been in Saudi Arabia. According to this Reuters story, the man is improving and all exposed have been quarantined, but worldwide there have been 93 MERS-related deaths.
MERS is a virus-cousin of SARS, which came to us from China, another place Americans didn’t need another reason to fear. And just so you know, MERS is a coronavirus, and it’s spread through the air and through poop. So, two simple precautions for those taking the utmost care not to contract the deadly disease: don’t handle unfamiliar feces and don’t breathe.
For more on the precautions we should be taking to protect ourselves from MERS, we turn to Moira Sage:
Moira is a month old. Five weeks, actually. It’s amazing how much each week of age matters at this point.
I’ve been hesitant to sit down and try to write anything meaningful, because life has not been marked by long stretches of uninterrupted thinking as of late.
It’s not actually entirely Moira’s doing. I often feel like she senses when we are about to have guests and decides to time her epic naps to avoid interaction. She’s an introvert. Or she obligingly naps through errands and restaurant meals. So I have lots of uninterrupted visits and meals…but that the time for reflecting and thinking is allotted to her 20 minute catnaps or 15 minute stretches of peaceful looking around. The rest of the time we are breastfeeding, changing diapers, and walking off my baby weight.
And I’ll be perfectly honest. Sometimes I just use those catnaps and peaceful time to stare at her.
But, sometimes in the shower, or when we are driving (Moira is a champion car rider), I’ve given some thought to this first month. It’s in snippets, but in this case the form is the content.
So…in the first month of being a family of three, here were the things that surprised me. Continue reading
Sex, drugs, and perjury. Congress is back in session.
NPR reports on John Boehner’s rough Monday as the House reconvened amid a dust cloud of scandal kicked up by various GOP Representatives.
Rep. Michael Grimm got busted for perjury (and 19 other things), and morally “boo!”‘ed for his hypocrisy on immigration.
Rep. McAllister got caught smoochin’ with the staff.
And it’s not too soon to forget that Rep. Trey Radel got busted for trying to buy cocaine. Apparently while on duty as a Congressman.
And now to Moira Sage, for her comments on the news…
Moira, in light of yet another round of scandals and misconduct, what’s your prognosis for the upcoming legislative session?
We here at Free Bekah would like to welcome our newest contributor, Moira Sage to the team. Moira comes to us from, well, my uterus, with a background in focusing her eyes, chewing on her fingers, and kicking her legs. She blew us away with her astute analysis of the daily news cycle, and so we thought we’d make it official, and welcome Moira to share a weekly news analysis with the readers here at Free Bekah.
Today’s news story (we’re going to start her off in the culture category):
Lupita Nyong’o was named People Magazine’s most beautiful person. Fashionista, Oscar winner, and all around girl-you-want-as-your-BFF, Nyong’o continues to, like the champagne bubbles that inspired her Prada Oscar night gown, float to the top.
Here’s the full list of beauties.
We here at Free Bekah think that it’s nice to see someone so obviously lovely on the inside, being honored for how it shines through to the outside, which is why we’ve asked our newest correspondent to make this her first official story. It seems strange to see a face so new to the Hollywood scene at the top of the list, but we find that, like everything else about Nyong’o, refreshing.
Over to you, Moira. Do you think People Magazine made the best choice for their most beautiful person of the year?
![IMG_0766[1]](https://freebekah.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/img_07661.jpg)
In which Florence’s family grows.
(read in the voice of Florence, which sounds uncannily like a 14-year-old Claire Danes)
My world has been turned upside down.
In just a few short hours I went from being the single neediest being in this house, to one of the grown ups. Not that I’m not prepared. Just that I wasn’t… expecting it?
Free bekah 