Peanuts

Carter and Claire are discovering Peanuts. They had a great afternoon today each taking a book and reading on their own quietly.

They don’t understand everything going on in these 1950-60s strips, but it’s so fun when there’s one that makes them giggle. Carter came to a funny bunch about Linus losing his blanket when Lucy flew it as a kite, so he started reading them aloud to all of us.

The books they’re reading came to me during my first job when I was a senior in high school working in a printing shop. My boss had previously managed presses for a big publishing house and gave me his collection of Peanuts books that were each the first copy off the press.

Eight Points

I have this classic Scrabble game that has been in my family's closet at least since I was five. Today Claire helped me alphabetize and inventory the letters to make sure we have the full set.

Sometimes the kids like to play with games as toys. Once that happens, it's all over — you're finding little green houses and red hotels in random places across the house.

Thankfully I'm playing Scrabble with a full deck.

Cabinetry

Me and the Honorable Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. I got to meet him last time I was in DC.

He's on the President's Cabinet, and is 17th in the presidential line of succession should something bad happen to the first 16.

If this were Battlestar Galactica, he'd be the guy right after No. 16, Secretary of Education Laura Roslin.

The VA Secretary is at the end of the succession list because VA wasn't a Cabinet-level agency until President Reagan made it happen in 1989. Homeland Security comes right after us.