Annie is back to work. Just in time because we have gone into deadline for our next issue. I swapped offices with her so now she has a nice big office that she’s turned into a combo office/ playroom for the grandkids. Erik has gone back to the Marine Corps and will return home for good in May.

I did my first radio interview in 10 or 12 years — on KSGF Morning Talk Radio in Springfield, Missouri. Mas Ayoob did one on the same station the day before I did.

I have a type of stage fright as many of you may or may not know. It is nearly impossible for me to get up before more than two or three people and talk. I used to do a number of radio interviews in the early years of the magazine because I couldn’t see the audience, but I gave that up because the interviews made me too nervous. Ayoob talked me into doing this one, and I agreed so long as they interviewed John Silveira at the same time — I needed a friend to both put me at ease and answer questions when my stressed-out brain froze.

So here are the links to both the Mas Ayoob interview and the  Dave Duffy interview on the Bruce DeLay show. Mas is obviously the cool, calm pro in this type of setting. But I did the best I could.

Here’s a very good podcast on why you should carry a concealed weapon, even at home, by Jack Spirko. Women will find it particularly informative.

The podcaster is Jack Spirko. He discusses all manner of subjects day after day in a clear, straightforward way. I find myself listening to his Survival Podcast more and more.

This is what’s so great about the Internet, and why it is so important for the future of freedom. It brings smart guys like Spirko into public view so they can discuss good ideas engagingly. The Internet tends to multiply people like him and magazines like BHM into the freedom revolution that is now taking hold in America. We are essentially another part of the whole “tea party” phenomenon that is growing a freedom movement from the bottom up.

Annie, by the way, is doing great.

Doctors delayed Annie’s transfer from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a day, but she was transferred to the regular hospital ward late this afternoon. I think, but am not sure, she will be released tomorrow. She looks great, is breathing well, and all monitors and doctors’ experience indicate the baby has weathered this interlude in his mother’s life like it was just another day at the beach.

Did I say his? We actually have no idea, but Olga has been hoping out loud for another brother and the baby has a rapid heart rate indicating a boy  … I think … but I’m not as up to speed as I should be on Old Wives Tales.

Erik flew in this aftrnoon just barely before the onset of the big Pacific storm we are now experiencing so Grandma and I gave over the grandkids to him. Annie and the grandkids were obviosuly happy to see him. Erik’c main problem now is explaining to 6-year-old Olga that Daddy is not home for good. “That’s what Daddy told me when he was home before,” she said. “The next time I’m home I’ll be home for good.” Lenie and I tried to explain to her that this visit is just an “emergency leave to help mommy,” but Olga was insistent: “No, Daddy said that the next time he was home it would be for good!”

Kids are very intriguing. Just as Olga can’t quite grasp that Daddy is home only temporarily to help Mommy through being sick, she catches on to the nuances. When Lenie was putting her to bed last night, she asked her, “Is the baby getting enough oxygen?” She must have overheard us talking and it began a process of worry in her little mind.  She’s very precocious … reminds me of her mom when she was that age.

But everything is fine now. Daddy has the next 13 days to explain what is going on.