Do I look stupid to you?

If I ever have occasion to meet John McCain, although I can't imagine how that would ever happen, I might say something to him like "Do I look stupid to you?"

It is no secret that I like Hillary Clinton, and that I happily, proudly, almost giddily voted for her in our state's presidential primary. I think she is smart, tough when necessary, shrewd, passionate, compassionate, intense, well-spoken, well-read - namely, all the things I want in a president. That she happened to be a woman was just icing on my cake.

Was I disappointed when she didn't get the Democratic nomination for president? You betcha. But I am not so disappointed that I will vote for any woman. And if John McCain thinks that I will transfer my vote that will not get to be for Senator Clinton to Governor Palin, then I must look stupid to him. As far as I can tell, the only thing about which Governor Palin and I agree is a woman's right to color her hair any color she likes.

One of my favorite columnists, Leonard Pitts, said it far better than I ever could in his recent column, "Gov. Palin and Sen. Clinton 'could hardly be less alike'":

The notion that Hillary's women will automatically become Sarah's carries the implicit assumption that a woman is a woman is a woman is a woman, that disaffected female supporters of Clinton will flock to Palin because she has the right reproductive organs and never mind that, politically, the two could hardly be less alike. Never mind pro-choice versus pro-life. Never mind Iraq, Iran, gas prices, the mortgage crisis, failing schools. Chromosomes conquer all...

I believe that if I were a woman, even one who had supported Clinton, I'd still be insulted at this notion that any woman will do, affronted by this attempt to manipulate my hunger for history.

Indeed. And while I have long respected Senator McCain, he just fumbled the ball big-time with me. There was never a possiblity that I might vote for him - too many ideological differences for me to do that - and naming Governor Palin to his ticket certainly does not improve his chances with me. I am left, however, feeling slightly offended and belittled. And it takes a lot to offend me.

Good news, bad news

The good news is that I have lost 15-18 pounds since January. Why the range of 3 pounds? If you are a woman, you know that your weight fluctuates based on the time of the month, what you ate two days ago and how Mars is aligned with Jupiter. In other words, for any reason.

So, of course, I am thrilled to be lighter...so what could possibly be the bad news? NOTHING FITS! Don't get me wrong, I love to shop for clothes, but I just hate the thought of having to replace almost everything that I wear from the waist down (tops are still doing well because, unfortunately in my case, the girls didn't seem to lose any weight). So all the size 12 clothes that I had assembled and gathered and liked over the years now hang off my hips. Some things I can fudge, but some are beyond cinching or hiding with long shirts. I have to go shopping. Especially for jeans. Yuck, yuck, double yuck.

Other than buying a swimsuit, there is nothing worse than shopping for jeans. But as a SAHM, jeans are the most practical thing for me to wear. And with cooler temps coming (albeit several weeks away), I need to get some before I wake up one morning and realize that it isn't crops or capris weather anymore.

Today I have a PTO meeting at Aidan's school, errands to run and then lunch with James. I put on a casual skirt that I had not worn all summer and found that it now hangs about five inches below my waist; even with a longish top over it to try and hide the drop, the patch pockets in the back rest somewhere around where my thighs become my tookus. Not only am I far too old for the gangsta look, I don't think that look ever works with a tan chino skirt from Talbots.

So in between the "must do" errands today, I will try to pop into a store or two and start the painful process of buying jeans and fall pants. Remember me in your thoughts, will you?