March 27. 2013
a:t!e ^ u rtla n h (©bseruer
Page 13
Family Comes First
First Lady on raising two young daughters
(A P ) — M ic h e lle O b a m a is p u sh in g b a ck a g a in st
th e n o tio n th a t she an d P re sid e n t B a ra c k O b a m a
d o n 't so c ia liz e e n o u g h in W ash in g to n .
president go on vacation, usually w ith longtim e friends
o r relatives, they are su rro u n d ed b y children.
"T he stre sse s an d th e p re s s u re s o f th is jo b are
T h e first la d y say s in an in te rv ie w in th e A p ril
so re a l th a t w h en y o u g e t a m in u te , y o u w a n t to g iv e
issu e o f V o g u e m a g a z in e th a t she a n d th e p re s id e n t
th a t e x tra e n e rg y to y o u r 14- a n d 11-y e a r-o ld ," th e
w e re s tra ig h tfo rw a rd w h en th ey sa id — b e fo re
firs t lad y said .
m o v in g fro m C h ic a g o to W ash in g to n in 2 0 0 9 —
S h e a d d e d th a t "90 p e rc e n t" o f w h a t she a n d the
th a t th e ir fa m ily , in c lu d in g tw o y o u n g d a u g h te rs,
p re s id e n t ta lk a b o u t h a s to d o w ith the g irls: w h a t
w o u ld be th e ir p rio rity .
th e y 're up to, w h o h as p ra c tic e , w h ic h o n e o f th e ir
S h e said "the stre sse s an d th e p re ssu re s" o f the
frie n d s is h a v in g a b irth d a y p a rty a n d d id th e y g e t
W h ite H o u se are so real th a t th ey p re fe r to sp en d
th a t p e rso n a g ift — c o n v e rsa tio n sh e d e sc rib e d as
free tim e w ith th e ir d a u g h te rs, n o w 14 an d 11.
"en d less" an d "p re tty e x h a u s tin g ."
"O u r jo b is, first an d fo re m o st, to m a k e su re o u r
S h e s u g g e ste d th a t n e ith e r o n e o f th e m w a n ts to
fa m ily is w h o le . Y ou k n o w , w e h a v e sm all k id s;
m iss an y o f it. O b a m a g re w u p w ith o u t h is fa th e r
th e y 're g ro w in g e v e ry day. B ut I th in k w e w ere b o th
an d h as ta lk e d p u b lic ly a b o u t h is d e sire to b e th e re
p re tty s tra ig h tfo rw a rd w h en w e said , 'O u r N o . 1
fo r h is k id s.
p rio rity is m a k in g su re th a t o u r fa m ily is w h o le ,’"
M rs. O b a m a sa id in th e in te rv ie w .
"H e's d o in g it w h ile still d e a lin g w ith S y ria an d
h e a lth c a re . H e's as u p o n e v e ry frie n d , e v e ry p a rty ,
T he first lady, w ho m akes h er second appearance
e v e ry re la tio n s h ip ," th e first la d y said . "A n d if
on V ogue's cover, this tim e w earing a blue, sleeveless
y o u 're o u t to d in n e r e v e ry n ig h t, y o u m iss th o se
R eed K rakoff dress, noted that m ost o f the couple's
m o m e n ts w h e re y o u c a n c h e c k in an d ju s t fig u re
th e m o u t w h en th e y 're re a d y to sh a re w ith y o u ."
friends are parents, too, and said that w hen she and the
All Around Town Inc
A video o f Eddie,
the Oregon Z oo’s
elderly slam-
dunking otter, has
surpassed a
million views on
YouTube. The ball
and hoop is used
to exercise his
arthritic elbows.
Slam-Dunk Hit on YouTube
Zoo’s sea otter
highlights
animal health
E lle n ’s p e o p le g o t in to u ch .
O prah ’ s did too. So did C N N , “G ood
M o rn in g A m e ric a,” the L o n d o n
T im es and the B B C . E ddie the O r­
egon Z o o sea o tter has been tren d ­
ing so hard over the past m onth that
N B C ’s B rian W illiam s even n om i­
nated him for a M edal o f O tter.
O n M arch 21, a video o f E ddie
slam -dunking a toy basketball to
exercise his arthritic elbow s sur­
passed a m illion view s on the zo o ’s
Y o u T u b e c h a n n e l — a n d th a t
d o e sn ’t co u n t the m any unofficial
videos online. (T o see the video,
visit bit.ly/otterdunk.)
Jen n y D eG root, the z o o ’s lead
sea o tter keeper, is a b it bem used by
all the attention th a t’s been com ing
E d d ie ’s w ay, but says sh e ’s grate­
ful fo r the chance to highlight sea
o tters and their im portance to the
P acific C o ast ecosystem .
D eG root began training E ddie to
pu t a ball through a plastic bask et­
ball hoop last y ear after zoo v eteri­
narians discovered arthritis in his
elbow s. T he vets p rescribed regular
exercise as a w ay to im prove E ddie’s
jo in t function, but that reco m m en ­
dation presented a ch allen g e fo r
keepers.
“ W e h a d to g e t c r e a t i v e , ”
D e G ro o t e x p la in e d . “T h e re a re n ’t
m a n y n a tu ra l o p p o rtu n itie s fo r
E d d ie to w o rk th o se a rth ritic e l­
b o w jo in ts , b e c a u s e sea o tte rs
d o n ’t u se th e ir fro n t lim b s to sw im
— th ey sw im by m o v in g th e ir back
le g s a n d flip p e rs. So tra in in g h im
w ith th e b a sk e tb a ll h o o p w as a
w ay to g e t E d d ie u sin g th o se fro n t
lim b s m o re re g u la rly .”
A lthough a new co m er to basket­
ball, E ddie is 15 years old, w hich is
con sid ered geriatric fo r a sea otter.
Still, keepers say age h a sn ’t slow ed
h im do w n m uch and he seem s to
en jo y the exercise — as well as the
fishy treats he gets w h en ev er he
sco res.
“Where all your
transportation needs are met.
Let Us Transport You:
• G ro cery S h o p p in g
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