Christmas Ugly

Because of the sickness that has run back and forth through our house since the week before Thanksgiving, I had to put off a lot of my Christmas shopping until today. I had 4 hours to cover 7 people. I was so happy to have everyone well and be out of the house on a sunny day that I was able to do it all with a smile on my face. I always hate to see people running through Walmart with frowns on their faces and a cart full of presents. It is suppose to be better to give than receive so, in theory, our faces should be as bright buying the presents as they are when opening them. For me, the trouble comes when I have the perfect gift picked out for someone and something is standing between me and that gift. I came very close to that today. I knew exactly what the kids were going to get Rocky. I went to Walmart and it had even been marked down $10. Naturally, they were sold out. The very nice clerk checked around for me and found that the Windward Parkway store had 12 left. I drove all the way to Alpharetta and practically had to mug a clerk to get them to get it out of the magic case for me. Then I noticed it was still listed at the regular price. I asked if maybe the sign had just not changed. The clerk casually informs me that sometimes one store will have a sale they don't and oh yeah, they won't price match another Walmart. I'm pretty sure my eye started twitching at this point. I realized I'd be getting no where with this clerk so I went ahead to the check out readying my argument and threats. I could feel the ugly rising up inside me. Maybe the new clerk saw it too because he hit the scanner really quickly and seemed very relieved to see it ring up at the sales price. I am very happy to say that I never once got rude and didn't even say anything sarcastic, but certainly not because of my own power. So, today I am thankful that I have been able to avoid the Christmas ugly.
Are you maintaining a merry and bright demeanor while shopping this year or has something ugly gotten in your way?

1 in 150

Did you know that your odds of having a child with autism are 1 in 150? That is a pretty shocking number. Do you know how I learned this? A t-shirt from Band of Angels. They also taught me that your odds for Down Syndrome is 1 in 800.

I really think this is one of the smartest designs for an awareness shirt I have seen, and today, thanks to Band of Angels and my friend Tiffany, we all have a chance to win one. Just head on over to her blog and find out how.

Band of Angels is an amazing organization dedicated to being an advocate for children with Down Syndrome, autism, and other disabilities. It is a really uplifting site meant to encourage parents and shines a brilliant light on a subject that a lot of people fear.

Why I'm Exhausted

I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open today thanks to some vivid, wacky dreaming again. Since I wasn't animate or an alien with a robot arm, this isn't even close to my strangest dream. I'm glad I didn't live in the 1690's or I'd have to hide my overactive dream life for fear of being burned at the stake.

Last night's dream was a lot like a bad Lifetime movie. There was a wealthy couple with two sons who were in the 8 to 12 age range. The couple decided that they really wanted to try to have a baby girl, but because of their age they needed a surrogate mother to carry the child. While the woman was carrying the child the wife died leaving the father to care for the sons and unborn child. The surrogate ended up becoming a sort of nanny. The people in their social circle spent a great deal of time gossiping about the situation. In the end it comes to light that the mother had realized she was dying and had picked the woman to be a surrogate in more than one way. The birth of the baby, which is a girl, bonds them all together and they live happily ever after. Que the crying. The weird twist in all of this is that my role in the dream was that of the dead wife.

I'm pretty sure if I saw a preview of this as a made for tv movie that I'd roll my eyes and wonder who comes up with this stuff. If anyone decides to use this idea, I expect to see my name in the credits, a good character named after me, and 25% of the royalties.

JD's Words of Wisdom

JD is always full of great comments. He is a very entertaining kids, especially to only be 6. I have a couple of gems that are too big for a status line.
Nix, being the proper big sister she is, was giving a lecture about picking up and keeping track of your own toys. JD looks at her and says, "Nix, all I heard from that is, JD blah blah blah blah toys".  After we all laughed a good laugh I made sure he knew that if he pulled that with an adult then he was risking serious punishment. But, that is the really great thing about JD, he seems to know when it is okay to joke around like that and when not to. He is very respectful, except to Nix.
This morning I asked JD to plug in the lights on the Christmas tree. I guess at some point we went overboard on the "don't stick stuff in the outlets" speech because he looks at me very seriously and says, "I don't think I'm old enough to plug them in yet. I'm not ready for my life to end." I tried showing him the right way to pull things in, but the light plugs that allow you to plug into the back really threw him. He decided it was best to wait until he gets a little older.
I was a little worried (okay, I was really stressed) that JD would not take his school work seriously. Getting him to do homework and study spelling is impossible. Early on in the school year I told him that if he didn't get serious then he wouldn't make good grades and be able to go to the second grade. He looked at me like I had lost my mind and said, "Mom, I'm only crazy at home. I'm serious at school." And so he is. I checked with his teacher. She found it hard to believe that he is so goofy at home. She says she has to reminder herself that he isn't just a really small man because he is so serious. I still find that hard to believe.

Christmas Carol Gone Wrong

Late last night I heard a Christmas song that I had never heard before, and I knew I had to post it today. It is a song written about something that really happened in 1915 during World War I. As with all great songs about legendary historic events, the writer took a few liberties with the truth, but the core of the story does seem to be true. The British and the German troops were entrenched close to each other when Christmas came. The British heard the Germans singing a song they recognized as "Silent Night" in German. They responded by singing their own carol. After some back and forth, both sides emerged from their fox holes and had a small celebration together in the area deemed "no man's land", which also included playing a little football. The event didn't last long as commanders called their troops back to the reality of the situation.
Much like the officers of these men, the writers of this song decide to call us all back to the reality of war in the last verse. I had no idea there was a Christmas song about killing Germans mixed with words from "Silent Night". It was like that scene in every John Woo movie where there is a gun battle with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" playing over the action. The song had started by warming my heart and then slammed me back to the cold harsh war.  Why don't you just tell me the Christmas Shoes woman died!
I hope you find you find this as oddly interesting as I did.


click here if video does not post
The song is sung by the group Cletic Thunder who had a Christmas special on PBS last night.

Christmas Music

It is December 1st which means it is officially socially acceptable to listen to Christmas music again. Woohoo! A friend is posting a Christmas song a day on her blog and I thought I'd join in the fun. I kind of doubt I'll do one every day. It will all depend on what I can find.
Today's selection comes from the movie Toys. It is weird little movie and makes almost no sense, but Hans Zimmer did the music for it. At the end of the movie there is a song called "At the Closing of the Year" sung by Wendy and Lisa with a special Seal kicker. I know it is an odd choice, but I like it and wanted to start out with the unexpected . Enjoy!

Click here if video does not appear

Christmas Lights and Senseless Crimes

This afternoon I took my first step towards decorating for Christmas by stringing outside lights. Rocky is against the idea of making any permanent alterations to the house to allow for decoration, meaning no nails, staples, or hooks. When you combine that with my how miser like I get this time of year to ensure Christmas bills don't become New Years bills, we put up very few lights. I have two sets of netting lights and 2 more regular strands plus a wreath. It took me all of ten minutes. As with many holiday rituals, it brings childhood memories to the front.
When I was little we didn't do the outside light thing. One year my mom decided to replace all of our old multi colored tree lights with the clear kind. My brother and I ganged up and convinced her to let us use the old lights to decorate outside. We did all the work ourselves other than the wiring it took to plug them into an outlet. I was so proud of those lights. The second day when we plugged them in we noticed a very odd change. All of our pretty multi colored lights were now clear. We had been the victim of a completely senseless crime! Who would take off one set of lights and replace them with others that are exactly the same except for the color? At some point deductive reasoning kicked in and we figured out that what had actually happened was that our old light set was not meant to use outside. The color had been painted on, and when a little rain shower came through in the night, it had washed all the paint off.
I still get tickled thinking about those few confusing minutes it took us to catch on to what happened. I also can't help but wonder how long it was before my mother realized that she could have just washed the lights to start with instead of buying new clear ones. I'm glad she didn't know before hand because then I wouldn't have one of my favorite Christmas memories.

My Bit on the TSA

I rarely fly so really the mess with the TSA isn't an issue for me other than the fact that my husband flies monthly, and oh yeah, I'm an American and like to keep an eye on government doings. I've had a couple of bloggers I read tell some pretty ugly stores about trying to go through airport security recently. They aren't the type to talk about these sort of things at all. One is a coupon site and another is a woman who wrote a cookbook. Not political types in the least. This made me pay a little more attention. I'm naturally sceptical when a film maker or radio personality spins a tale that is too dramatic.
Meg McClain was just such a person. She was really the first I heard to go to the media with a horrific story of being mistreated at the airport. She was the one who said her ticket was ripped and she had been handcuffed. It bothered me a lot, but I had that nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that she might be exaggerating for effect. Sure enough, the TSA released the video of her at the airport screening, which is something they never do. It was an attempt to prove their innocence, and in fact it does seem that she was probably not singled out or handcuffed. There are however a few things in this video that give me cause for concern.

There no sound on the video.
(see video here if not viewable on note)
After watching it for a few minutes I stopped looking at Ms.McClain and started noticing the other travelers. There was a lot of gawking at her, which made me sympathetic. No one likes to be on display in a bad situations. Then something else caught my eye. I thought I saw a man go through the body scanner and then get patted down anyway. So, I started watching the body scanner instead of the drama. Along the 5 minute mark there is a woman in a purple sweatshirt that submits to the radiation scanner. She steps on the mat to wait the results and then, in full view of everyone, the female agent pats her down in a manner I would be very uncomfortable with. The woman, much like the other 2 people I saw go through this, was allowed to go on to board her plane so, obviously, there was nothing to be found.
After that, another problem occurred to me. When the woman this video was actually about was first taken aside she disappears off the corner of the video into a screening area. You can only see her hands as she talks. What this tells me is if she had allowed them to go ahead with the planned pat down she would have been off camera. There would be no one monitoring how the search was done or if the agent acted inappropriately during the search. One would assume that there are other cameras in the area, but if there were and didn't show the agents acting improperly, then why wasn't that angle shown instead?
I just wish one person could explain to me why we randomly search people. The TSA has never once to my knowledge stopped a single terrorist with these methods. Also, to my knowledge, there has never been a skinny white girl try to take over a plane in order to commit a terrorist act inside the U.S. Why is profiling wrong in this case? Why are we stripping the rights to be politically correct? Other countries profile, so why is it wrong to do it here? It seems like a giant waste of money and time. The idea that some airports do this to pilots astounds me. If they wanted to crash a plane they wouldn't need to smuggle anything onto the plane because they are the ones doing the flying. Is all common sense lost?
I read an article that was geared towards people of the Muslim religion on how to deal with the new screening. They are saying that you can declined based on religious reasons (good, having people put their hands all over me is against my religion, too). Next , you may request to be moved to a private area that is not in view of all the other people in line. After being moved you request a self pat down. In this you run your own hands over the private areas of your body, after which your hands are tested for explosive residue. I can live with this idea. It sounds fair to me. The question now becomes why isn't this option posted, suggested, and even encouraged?
I've said my peace, and I feel better, but only because I know I will not be flying anywhere with my children while these procedures are in place. I'd like to congratulate the TSA on making our skies safe from suburban housewives and families like ours.
Anyone else worked up about this?

Reusable Grocery Bags

Today's random point of thankfulness falls on reusable grocery bags. I am pretty sure I have never been accused of being environmentally friendly. It's not like I go around dumping toxic chemicals in lakes or anything. I just don't go out of my way to be "green". I like it when it makes sense or saves me money. Reusable grocery bags work for me.


I grew up in the grand days of paper grocery bags. They were big and had a thousand different uses around the house. I'm pretty sure I was a grocery bag squaw at least twice for school Thanksgiving celebrations. Then it was decided that maybe we cut down too many trees and the plastic bag came along. They hold half as much and rip at the drop of a hat. For awhile we had the choice of paper or plastic, or as one bag boy I heard say, "kill a tree or choke a fish?". Those days soon came to an end and we were stuck with the plastic bag.
I didn't embrace the reusable bag as quickly as I should have. I saw it as a symbol of all those global warming, tree hugger, liberal types, but I was so wrong. I received my first bag free as part of a promotion at Kroger and then another through Publix. I started realizing how much they would hold and used them a lot for road trips. One day I happened to leave them in the van and on a whim took them into Walmart with me. It was a real eye opener. All of my groceries fit into the 3 bags, and the handles made it easier to get them to the car. I was hooked. Now a few stores like Target are actually giving small discounts for bringing your own bags. I am a changed woman. I may forget from time to time, but from now on it is the reusable bag for me.

The Teacher No One Wanted

Every high school has one. It is that one teacher that no one wants to get. They are old school strict. They have no problem failing you. I'm hoping that teacher just popped into your mind. If you went to North Side High School in Jackson that teacher's name was Mrs.Hardin. She taught senior English, so if you failed her class you didn't graduate. She also ran the Beta Club with an iron fist. Everyone knew her and knew not to set a toe out of line within eyesight of her room. She was one of my all time favorite teachers.
She had a great sense of humor that I don't think everyone saw because they only heard the stern voice. She would throw erasers at student who weren't paying attention. She once took a student's hat off his head and threw it out the first floor window. The student was easily twice her size. As he told it he picked her up and set her outside the window next to his hat and demanded she pick it up if she wanted back in. The fact that she didn't get the guy kicked out of school shows that she was not totally heartless.
My favorite and most eye opening story about Mrs.Hardin involved her husband. He was a pilot. He had been married before and was widowed with two teenage daughters. If I remember right, I thinkMrs.Hardin had the oldest daughter before the passing of her mother, but I know that by the time the second daughter came through her class the mom had passed on. Mrs.Hardin mentioned in class one day that she had never been on a plane. The girls started plotting. Under the guise of taking her on her very first plane flight, they arranged for their dad to take her on a short flight. She had no idea, nor did the father, that they were being set up. They fell in love very quickly and spent many years very happily married. Mrs.Hardin once said that all though the children were his, the grandchildren were hers. It was a real shock to find out that this serious little teacher had perhaps the most romantic real life story I had ever heard. From that day on I stopped looking at her as the woman who held the pass or fail button on my education and saw her as a loving wife, stepmother, and doting grandmother.
It is stories such as hers that makes me want to know everything I can about the people I meet. Everyone has a story. Some are good, some are bad, but they shape our lives and until you know a person's story, you don't really know that person.

A New Term

Usually when I post about something funny heard in my house I am talking about JD, but today's gem is brought to you courtesy of my dad, or as most know him, Mr.Bill.
Yesterday my mom and I had picked up a pecan pie off the clearance bakery section at Walmart. Today there was some joke hinting about me needing to make a chess pie to which I replied that we already had a pecan pie in the house. My father then declares that it is a "faux pie". (say it out loud, it makes it funnier). It is when social faux pas meets baking.
Here are a few possible sample sentences:
"Bringing a Walmart pie to a southern bring-a-dish is a major faux pie."
"Did you make that pie from scratch?" "No, it is a faux pie."
"Moon pies aren't really pies, they are faux pas."

Enjoy our new phrase and use it often!

Randomly Thankful

Last year during the month of November people were encouraged on Facebook to post a daily status update reflecting something they were thankful for. The first few days were cool. There were lots of people thankful for family, friends, jobs, and homes. After about a week people started running out of generic things to be thankful for and either stopped posting, or like me, came up with completely random things. On the surface they may seem silly, but each really did represent something that in some way made my life a little happier.
I've heard whispers that the month of thankful posts is coming back and I am ready. Today's was about the Perry the Platypus silly band my son gave me. I love wearing it. It makes me smile. With the painfully horrible children's shows in this world, it is easy to be thankful for Phineas and Ferb. The show is smart and hysterical. I find myself watching it even when the kids aren't around, and just this morning my parents confessed to watching it at their house. Hey, I think I know what we're going to do today...
I'd love to have you join me in finding the random joy in each day and encourage you to find something out of the ordinary to be thankful for this November. It will make it much more fun for those of us reading your status updates.
I posted today and had my serious thanks yesterday, so that makes me only 2 days make up for.
1. I'm thankful for extra soft fuzzy socks
2. I'm thankful for Mr.Clean Magic Erasers - seriously those things are awesome!

All caught up and looking forward to reading what everyone else finds to be randomly thankful for

Thank You Very Much!

I wrote a guest  post today for another blog. It is the blog of a very close friend of mine on the subject of children with special needs and bridging the gap between them and the rest of the world. It is a great read for any parent. I got to write a post because I was a child with special needs at one time. In doing so I realized that there are some people from my childhood that I need to thank.
First, I need to thank my big brother Matt because my defect affected his life way more than mine. I know that my life made his life harder for a long time. Even though we have always been opposites he always took up for me when it mattered. I'll never forget the words, "That's my sister. I'll kill you later." It meant the world to me.
Now I have a couple of childhood friends that deserve the spotlight. John Bennett has been my friend longer than anyone else I know. He was mostly my brother's friend, but in the same grade as me and we almost always had classes together at school. Not a single time in 34 years do I remember John ever asking me why I talked differently, he just accepted it. He also never joked about my voice, at least not that I ever heard. We lived in a small town and went to an even smaller school so I'm pretty sure it would have gotten back to me. The other friend is Christy Rose Day. Christy, not only did you dare to tell kids it wasn't funny to pick on me, you threatened them with bodily harm if they did it again. Word got around that I was "protected" which is why the bullying never escalated. You had my back from the day we met to the day we graduated even when our lives took different paths. I love you for that.
To all the people who were brave enough to ask why and found my answer cool instead of creepy, I thank you. You made my life a little easier. To Cindy, Evelyn, Tracey, and Sheri, you were the best friends a strange little girl like me could have asked for. Each one of you walked me through a different phase of my life and supported me exactly the way I needed.
I thank people for tiny things everyday, but it isn't often that I stop and thank people for the big things they do. Thanks for reading and for letting me thank a few people who I wouldn't normally get a chance to.

Trick or Treating

Halloween this year is going to be a little different. Since Nix hit middle school, we are cutting her off. She still has a costume, but this year she'll be handing the candy out with me while the boys walk the neighborhood. I'm really looking forward to it, and I think she is too. It will be fun and maybe a little lesson in giving instead of receiving.
I just read an article about a town that has a law saying you can not trick-or-treat over the age of 12. The mayor says that people were tired of 6 foot tall "kids" coming to their door. He went on to say that in "his day" fathers told their kids when they were too old and didn't let them go out, but that is not happening any more. It was now up to local government to handle the problem.
The whole article made me sad. Did this town really have such a problem with this that they had to legislate common sense? Are parents no longer taking responsibility for their own children? There has now become an expectation for the government to control your children for you. The police of that town are now tasked with not only running down people trying to do real harm on that night, but also with carding kids in costumes.
I should probably note that I do agree that being a teen does make you too old to trick-or-treat. If you are old enough to go without your parents shadowing you, then you are too old to go out. At this point it is no longer trick-or-treating it is begging. Get a job and buy your own candy.
I noticed in the comments of the article there were a few suggestions on how to deal with over aged treaters. My favorite suggestion was to toss ketchup packages from a fast food restaurant into their bags instead of candy. This way they don't know who tricked them, just that they got tricked. It also cuts down on retaliation, which is the real reason we still give candy to the big ones. It is either that or sit up all night with your night vision goggles and a BB gun (not that I know anyone who would do that).

Sick Day Musings

I am in the early stages of a cold. I am trying to fight it off with rest, water, and airborne, but for now I am feeling pretty cruddy. I found myself wishing that I had a replicator like in Star Trek so that I could magically have some earl grey, hot (it's a star trek thing, go with me). In my case it would be "earl grey, hot with 2 sugars, vanilla cream, and decaffeinated, please." Did you catch the weird part? I mean aside from this imaginary conversation I am having with myself about Star Trek (cold medicine, remember?) I would say "please" to a computer. I'm also pretty sure I would follow with a "thank you" when the tea appeared. What does this say about me? Am I super polite or are manners so drilled into me that I would be polite to a brick wall without really thinking about it? I guess I do have my line though because I did not thank the microwave for making the tea I hot when I did fix a cup.
I'm going to take a nap now, thank you.

You Look Just Like...

I was very distracted today in Walmart by a man who looked just like a celebrity. I stared at him a moment too long and he caught me looking at him. I couldn't say anything because I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be flattered by the celebrity I thought he looked like. No one wants to hear, "Hey, you look just like Danny Devito".

Once a teenager blurted out that he thought Rocky looked like Kevin Smith, but taller and thinner and with shorter hair. So, basically he was saying that Rocky had dark hair and a beard, which he does, but Rocky did not take it well. He preferred it when people mentioned his resemblance to Charlie Sheen. Personally, I think he looks like the American version of Oded Fehr.

You always have to consider the source when dealing with celebrity look-a-likes. In Rocky's case the kid said "You look like that dude from Jay and Silent Bob. I can't remember which one he plays, but he  doesn't talk" This guy was not the brightest bulb in the pack, so I think the comment can be dismissed. I also like to exclude the person who told me I looked like Talia Shire. I call it just a weird reaction to finding out my husband's name. Still, it wasn't as bad as the guy in high school who said I looked like Chris Robinson if he were a girl. I am not sure what it says about the guy that he later asked me out. You'll be shocked to know that I turned that smooth talker down. My personal pick is the drunk girl who said Winona Ryder. She was only a little drunk and I am a skinny, pale, dark haired girl. Besides, Rocky agrees and he wouldn't lie.

Speaking of lying, have you ever heard someone say something like, "People say I look just like Tyra Banks", and you instantly want to reply, "People lie", or is that just me?

Fess up. What unflattering person have people said you look like? I promise not to laugh (in front of you) and if it helps you can also tell your most flattering.

The Name Game

My daughter has never been much for playing with dolls. She has a couple that she loves, a couple that are really special to her, and a few that are more like room decorations. However, her animal collection is huge. Her room would put any zoo to shame. Every single one of these animals has a name and no name is aloud to be repeated. After all, you wouldn't name your children the same thing. George Foreman would, but I think everyone realizes that this is not normal. Come to think of it, I did have two great uncles with the same name, but they were only half brothers which makes it only half weird.
I'm not sure how it happened, but I seem to be the official name giver in the house. I am asked to inspect the animal, get a feel for it's personality, and declare the perfect name. With the invention of the very affordable Littlest Pet Shop collection my job got a lot harder. It is one thing to come up with 2 cute names for lions (Leo and Lena- done), but it is another to come up with 15 different names for three inch tall dogs.

(not her actual collection, but close enough)

Right now you can walk in her room, randomly pick up any animal, and she can tell you exactly what their name is. As she is getting older the influx of animals has slowed a lot. I wonder how long it will be before the names start to fade. I know some will always be remembered because I still remember many of mine.
On a side note: Strawberry Shortcake dolls were always my favorite. They came with names. After the more recent release I noticed that they changed Raspberry Tart's name to Raspberry Torte. Probably a wise choice. I think Bratz has the tart market cornered right now.

It's My Passion

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me.”- Erma Bombeck

When I was a little girl I remember my mother making a point to watch any time Erma Bombeck was interviewed on television. She owned one of her books, which is really saying something because Mom was strictly a library kind of a girl. All I knew about Mrs. Bombeck was that she made my mother laugh and that was enough for me. Now that I am a wife and a mother myself I realize the really great thing about her writings were they let you know that you were not alone. From time to time, mostly when I am irrationally emotional over everything from a dirty sock in the floor to retro coffee commercials, I find myself deeply sadden that dear Erma is no longer with us. Can you imagine how fabulous her blog would have been?


Tonight I made the mistake of letting my husband fall asleep before me. While he was snoring rather loudly I was trying to remember a few easy remedies from an Erma book I read. I think they involved a brick and/or pillow suffocation. I began an internet search for, “Erma Bombeck sayings”, but instead of snoring jokes I found some of the most stirring quotes about following your dreams that I have ever read. To be completely honest, they made me cry. People usually talk about following your dreams as some sort of happy rainbow filled magic walk, but she talked about the fear, the exposure, and the risk. I felt called out and understood all at the same time. She pegged every bit of why I have never stretched myself for a dream and have always settled for what I knew to be in reach. She recognized how completely and utterly terrifying it is to step out on a limb and yet she was out there on the very end doing it anyway. That is some serious courage, my friend.

After all these years and all the times I have been asked what I want to be when I grow up, I finally have an answer. I want to be a real writer. (You can not even begin to imagine how hard that was for me to type. There were tears and shaky hands involved.) I’ve been playing at it for years and it may take years more to get it right, but at least it is out there in the open being grasped for with both hands.

Our generation has too many “real housewives” and not enough real housewives. We need someone who confesses to feeding their kids Pop-tarts to make us feel better about letting ours have Lucky Charms. Someone to let us know that we are not the only one who has wondered why our mini van smells only to discover a melted carton of ice cream that slide up under the third row sometime last week. These things keep us sane, and with the good Lord's help I want to be that woman. (May God help us all!)

And for those wondering about my oft mentioned tear jerking coffee commercial, here is my Achilles heel.

A Political Statement

I'm fairly opinionated and I don't mind telling you what that opinion is. Just try me. Actually I am pretty sure that not a single person who reads this will be surprised to know that I am pro-life or, if you prefer, anti-abortion. With most political issues I am more than happy to listen to another side of the argument. I will hear you out, and even consider your point. Abortion is the exception to this.
Today I shared a video first shared with me by my midwife friend Kate. It was of a woman who had survived a late term abortion. To her, abortion is personal. You can not look at her and say to her that one life is not worth birth. It would surprise me to know that people have tried, but I'm sure someone has.
In Europe you have to have a medical reason to have a late term abortion. This is more than just a mother's life being in danger, after all, late term babies are born healthy every day. This clause allows you to abort a child with a specific known birth defect. After reading that, a specific birth defect may have popped into your mind and a child born with that defect. If not, let me help you. I was born with a cleft palate which is a minor cosmetic birth defect. Cleft palates as well as other minor defects such as a club foot were on that list of reasons to abort. This makes the fight personal to me. Abortion doctors, in a way, have listed my life as not worthy. Not just my life but the life of every child born with Down Syndrome, a heart defect, dwarfism, and the list goes on and on.
Are you willing to tell me that my life doesn't matter? Are you willing to tell a mother that she was wrong to give birth to her child?
Many will say that this is an extreme and dark side to the issue used to gain favor, and to an extent they'd be right. It helps to put an innocent face on an issue like this. But if you can see the evil in this then at one point do you draw the line and say an act is no longer evil. Is denying a child life ever not wrong?
I have known mothers who have risked their lives and even a couple who have lost their life to bring a child into this world. They would tell you that aborting a child in favor of a mother's life is cowardly.

I have heard many rationalizations and justifications for abortion, but not one of them makes up for the fact that in every case of abortion the only innocent party is the one who is killed in the process.

Badges

We don't need no stinkin'... oh wait, yes we do!
After much debate JD has agreed to be Clark Kent for Halloween this year, but he will tell you it was not his idea. I'm okay with that since his idea was to wear a sign that said "I want candy". It was direct and pretty funny, but I fear my suburban neighbors might not think it was as funny as we did.
It is coming together pretty easily. I even found a Superman shirt on clearance in Kmart's online store. Someone (I think it was my mom) mentioned that he needed a press badge. You know I could not do that half way. I fired up google and photoshop. I think I will probably change the picture out before I print it up, but here is what it looks like.

I found the drawing of the Daily Planet building here.
I am so excited with how it turned out. I just can't wait to see it all come together. I'll post pics when we do the official try on.
Now I am thinking of making myself a Nerd Herd employee badge just for fun.