A bipartisan farewell to two happy warriors

Hamilton Jordan, the whiz-kid who led the "Georgia Mafia" that ran Jimmy Carter's successful Presidential campaign and became Carter's chief of staff at the tender age of 32, was cruelly stricken by three forms of cancer. Instead of letting it get him down, he began Camp Sunshine, a retreat for sick kids. He died this past May. He was 63.

Tony Snow, the class act of the Bush press office (arguably the class act of this administration), died of complications of chemotherapy this week. He was 53.

Look at these photos. At the time they were taken, both men had already been battling cancer for years. Yet they celebrated life and, at least in public, showed us their most inspiring game faces. I thank these two men for their service to country -- both in and out of the political arena. And now that their painful battles are behind him, may they both rest in peace.

Yawn!

It's almost 10:30. I'm still in my jams, curled up on the sofa, eating some Yoplait, watching Meet the Press. As I consider what a comforting, avuncular presence Tom Brokaw is, even as he fillets both Carly Fiorino and Claire McCaskill, it occurs to me that my energy level doesn't match my to-do list. This confuses me, because, after all, I slept in this morning.

Even though we had tons of fun yesterday, there's just something about a day of sunshine, along with an exciting/stressful ballgame and, most of all, a second grader who enjoys lots of interaction, that wears me out!

You moms, you schoolteachers, and you schoolteachers who go home to be moms, all have my sincere admiration this morning.