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Hey y'all, hope everyone had a fun holiday!

Ours was very low-key. Ken had to work today, and I just puttered at home. My sister came over in the afternoon and we chatted for a while. She's going to buy the bunk beds we were putting in our upcoming garage sale, for when her grandkids come to visit, so we made our first sale! It was good to chat with her, and she got a kick out of seeing the birds coming up to the feeders on the deck while she was sitting here. She said, "I've seen quite a variety in just the time I've been here!"

Ken's Mom was making dinner tonight, so we met up at their place. (It's on the way home from Ken's job, so it didn't make sense for him to drive all the way here and pick me up.) Ken's stepbrother and his wife, Jimmy and Paula, were visiting from Illinois, and it was the first time I'd gotten to meet them. I liked them a lot! I look forward to having them visit again, and I said that next time they're here we'll have them all over to our place. It had been some time since Ken got to talk with Jimmy at length, and there was a lot of reminiscing going on...it was quite interesting to hear tales of Ken as a youngster, as well as tales of other youngsters from the same circle! I laughed about that a little bit, but told Ken, "You haven't spent a lot of time with my college friends." I don't really have any deep dark secrets, but I can say that I had me a helluva time! (I got a good education while I was at it, too, don't worry.)

Ken has to work tomorrow, so we had to make an early night of it. Most of the fireworks seem to be done now, so it should be a quiet night.

When I wrote yesterday about Palin's resignation, I said that the consensus is that this is the start of her 2012 Presidential bid. What a difference a day makes! Today, the consensus is that if that was her plan, she pretty much just shot herself in the foot with that weird, nonsensical press conference, as well as stepping down from a chance to garner more knowledge and experience. If she does run in 2012, can you imagine how they'll rip her to shreds? Let me get this straight, Ms. Palin...you quit your position as Governor of Alaska...but you want the American public to elect you to the highest office in the land? Does that about sum it up?

The other speculation I've heard is that many think that there is a scandal brewing, and she's stepping down before it can hit. Maybe one of her daughters is pregnant. Wait, that already happened. Maybe her in-laws are druggies. Oh yeah, that already happened, too! [putting my snark away...for now] Actually, what I've heard is that the Internal Revenue Service might be involved. Pure speculation at this point, but yikes, you don't want to screw with the IRS.

Whatever her motivation for stepping down--and it might really be that she's doing it for her family...although the fact that stumping as a vice-presidential candidate is probably much harder on the candidate's family than her being Governor would seem to render that argument illogical--I honestly think that this is probably the end of her political career. I wouldn't place bets on that, because who knows what could happen in several years, but this was just a really weird move. Ken thinks that she's going to cash in and get lots of money from speaking engagements. If that's the case, that also speaks volumes to me about her motivations for getting into politics.

I'm not fond of Palin. Shocking, I know! Actually, I've made it very clear how I feel about her. However, I am saying this as someone just looking at all of this with a logical eye. This can't be a good move politically. I suppose we'll hear more in the coming months, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is more to the story.

To put this all in perspective, I'm very grateful that I live in a place where I have the freedom to write about my opinions of politicians and government, and that I am able to contact my legislators (and sometimes even get a reply). I do not take that lightly, believe me.