Friday, October 26, 2012

A Gift from God...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/24/1149395/-GOP-Rape-Advisory-Chart-h-t-to-connecticutie
 
 
I'll give you a moment to clear the vomit from your mouth....
 
 
First of all, let me say that these statements are absolutely reprehensible.  Vile.  Disgusting. 
 
and... illuminating.
 
Here is your beloved Grand Old Party, nation!  In all of its glory.  There are actual living, breathing citizens out there who elected these pathetic men and women into office.  And they are still out there, ready to do it again.  Even worse, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have stood behind their endorsement for these candidates - and almost half of the nation is ready to elect them into office.
 
Nation?  WOMEN of this nation?  Do you not see the big picture here?
 
There is an alarming trend by the GOP to blur the lines of separation between church and state.
 
Men have no business legislating what women can and cannot do with their own body.
 
Politicians have no business altering your personal rights, based upon their own personal brand of theology.
 
Believe it or not, not every citizen in this nation is a Christian.  So stop forcing the rest of us to live up to your version of Christian ideals.


 
 
SCIENCE NEWS FLASH!!!
 

 

Pregnancy happens because a sperm fertilizes an egg.  It has happened that way for over the past 600 million years.  Which is roughly about 599,997,200 years before the concept of monotheism was even conceived.  Therefore, I think it is safe to say that 'God' doesn't really have a hand in it.
 


 
 
CRIMINOLOGY 101
 

1. Rape is defined committing a sexual act by the use of coercion or FORCE against another person, without that person's consent.

 
2. Manner of the victim's dress, conduct, intelligence, age, ethnicity or prior sexual behavior are never grounds to justify rape.  There is NO justification for rape.

 
 I don't know what else to say here... lately I feel like just slamming my head against the wall because nobody is listening.  Nobody is able to see the big picture.  Voters need to shake themselves out of their religion-steeped stupor and demand better leadership.


Please wake up, America.... please?



 


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Planking on the hippos

 
Yesterday we went to the Denver Zoo.  It was a last-minute decision - the weather was absolutely gorgeous, the last time we went was the end of May, and we always go in the fall.  And fall is slipping by fast...  So we enjoyed beautiful azure skies, a dazzling display of fall colors and warm sunny weather.  Such a great day!
 
 
So first... a couple lovely pictures of fall...
 
 




Now a few sentimental kid shots...


 
 



 I have to say the Jordan is the best big brother around...

 
Love those two little blonde heads!!

 
 
We arrived around lunchtime, so we set up our picnic lunch by the camels.  We were under about six different locust trees, and when the breeze would blow the leaves would come raining down - it felt almost magical.  And then you would find a dozen leaves in the Cheetos bag, a few stuck to your apple, and several more down your shirt.  Not so magical.

After scarfing down lunch, we set off for the new Asia exhibit.  After about two years of construction, it opened at the beginning of June - so we hadn't seen it yet.  This jeep was on the outside of the exhibit.  I don't know what possessed me, but I thought "This would be a funny picture!", so I asked Jordan and Rylan to get under the jeep and pretend they were dead.  They happily obliged.  A mom who was sitting nearby nursing her baby wasn't sure what to think.  I heard her laugh a little nervously as I coached Jordan and Rylan to "Look a little more DEAD!"  Colin grew concerned and wandered into the picture to make sure they were 'okay'.  At this point I decided that for the rest of the day we would work on a variety of silly pictures... so here they are, for your viewing pleasure...
 




 
 

















 
 


**


It is supposed to read "Elephant Passage"



**
 
 
 
 
**
 
For a variety of planking fun - go here... 
 
**No children or middle-aged moms were injured in the making of these photographs.  Which is amazing.
 
 
 



Sunday, October 14, 2012

Moving things around...

 
 
 
 
In an effort to jolt me out of my uncharacteristic fall malaise I felt a change was necessary.  Pictured above is the school room/office as it was.  As you may remember, we made a big change earlier this year by moving the playroom out of this room and into the basement - thus moving the school stuff out of the living room and into this space.  I spent all summer culling books so that it would eventually ALL fit.  Every last schoolbook and manipulative.  I took this picture just over a month ago.   I was so pleased - and secretly proud of myself for shedding so much unnecessary stuff.  And then it hit.
 
Uugh.
 
Maybe I worked too hard?
 
I no longer had any initiative to do anything...
 
Several half-hearted schoolweeks later a change had to take place.  Maybe it's my body just knows that the seasons are changing and SAD is coming early??  So, even though the above room had been in place for a few months, I changed it back.  It was not nearly as much of an undertaking as it was to get it in there - that is the blessing of a lot less 'stuff'.  I even took the time to go through the file drawers and re alphabetize everything that got UNalphabetized during the last shuffle.  And, since I was going through the files, I even opened them to see what I could pitch, shred or finally place in the firebox - an effort that we have talked about since the day we combined households.  This task yielded some rather interesting things...
 
First.  (my husband is going to kill me)  In the TRAFFIC TICKETS folder where I keep my treasured parking violations that I have received from the Denver PD, there also happened to be a SUBSTANTIAL pile of old speeding tickets of Dean's - courtesy of the Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado State Patrol, as well as the cities of Longmont, Loveland (CO), and Moore, Norman and The Village (OKC). 
 
 
TWENTY TICKETS
 
 
I did not know this about my husband.  I knew he had a (ahem) speeding problem, but I didn't know it was to the tune of this many tickets.  Luckily for me he is a packrat that never throws away a piece of paper - or I would have never found out.  To his defense, they were not ALL speeding tickets.  A couple were warnings.  :)  And let it be known now.... my husband will never, NEVER be allowed to purchase a sports car. Again.
 
Second.  I came across the application for a marriage license that my former husband and I filled out on March 16th, 2004.  It was exactly a year to the day before I went out on my first date with my now-husband, Dean.  Weird. 
 
Third.  When placing all of the passports, birth certificates, marriage licenses/certificates and divorce decrees in the firebox (I find it kinda funny that we each have a previous set of these), I placed Dean's and my marriage certificate on top of my old one.  Dean asked, "Do they have to touch??"  So I bundled the old one with the divorce decree that goes with it and buried it at the bottom of the box, where it belongs.
 
Fourth.  My old dog, Yuki, passed away six years ago.  Yet I still had every single vet bill, rabies vaccine certificate and license information.  I'm not sure why I held on to them, but I was definitely ready to part with them.  I kept her certificate of completion for her dog obedience course - because it is just absolutely laughable.  For all who knew this loveable, yet very naughty husky, you will get the irony.
 
Fifth.  I went through all of my teaching evaluations.  That was a mistake.  I spent a couple of hours trying to rid myself of a very foul mood after that.  My evaluations were very good - and one of them was even stellar.  That one, in particular, came just three weeks before my jackass of a Principal informed me that he would not renew my teaching certificate.  I again, felt the overwhelming urge to blow the whistle on the CSAP cheats that *still* teach at his school.  And then I got over it.
 
Sixth.  I spent a good deal of time thinking about why we hang on to the stuff that we do.  I think that, for the most part, we hang on to it to remember a different time in our lives.  But if the time period wasn't a particulary pleasant one, why do we keep the stuff?  I have do not need a reminder in order to not repeat an unpleasant experience.  I think that sometimes we do it just to torture ourselves.  If we rake ourselves over the coals enough times, than we have done adequate penance for whatever transgressions we made.  But what if you didn't do anything wrong?  I do not want to keep my former teaching contracts, evaluations, student teaching paperwork, or the paperwork from the 18 different workshops I attended.  I don't ever plan to teach again... but I can't bring myself to get rid of it yet.  It's like I haven't done *enough* time yet.  I just keep saying "What if I need this again??".  WHY would I ever need to PROVE that I took a course on Empowering Writers by Barbara Miraconda to anyone?  The homeschool police? (that don't exist).
 
 
I forgot what I was even trying to say in this post...  Moving things around?  I guess I was gearing towards perspective.  My perspective is off.  Life has become an endless stream of activity times to remember and childhood mayhem to suppress.  I am trying to shake things up to gain my perspective back.  Unfortunately, sifting through a three foot long stretch of file folders didn't do much for me but harden my resolve to not ever return to public education, let my husband drive, or hang on to frequent-flyer miles that were racked up over a decade ago. 
 
 
I think my next effort will be geared towards getting outside and enjoying the fall weather.  I have a feeling that the schoolwork will be at a minimum again...
 
 

 


What to do when you don't feel like doing anything...

 
This?
 
 
 

 
 
 
Not this..
 
 
 
 
 
Maybe this??
 
 
 
 
Or this??
 
 
 
 
 
As long as I don't have to clean something up...
 
 
 
 
 
 
Little boy.... even on the days I don't feel like doing anything....
you keep me very, very busy.
 
 
 


Monday, October 8, 2012

Up, up and....away


 
 
It was one year ago today that my beautiful grandma Bobbie passed away.  It has been a rough year for all of the family, as we come to grips with a new way of coming together.  It has been most difficult for my three aunties, who were her constant companions.  They chose to mark today's milestone by taking in the annual Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque - something that they (and my grandma) had always wanted to do.  I couldn't think of a more uplifting (pardon the very bad *and unintentional* pun, but really, the word just fits) way to spend what would otherwise be a very somber occasion.  I hope that they have found some solace and peace during their stay there.
 
You don't realize the depth of a loss until it has had time to sink in.  Even though we have had a few happy family gatherings during this past year, there is still something missing.  An elephant hovers in the room... we are all missing her gentle spirit. 
 
 
 


Thursday, October 4, 2012

The fall blahs..



Fall is my favorite season... I love when our ash tree reaches this lovely reddish orange color.  I love love love the colors, the smells and the activities of fall.

Except...

This year I have such a case of the blahs.  I look at the calendar and think Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... uugh.  I don't have the energy for this!  Now don't tell anyone - but I haven't even written a thing down on our October calendar (gasp!) except for an appointment for all of the kids to get their flu shots (that happened yesterday).  So, if you are expecting me to show up for something and I don't get there - now you know why.  I think it is my passive-aggressive way of handling a busy schedule.  If it is not on the wall calendar, in my mind - it. doesn't. exist.

Last year I made up a long list of our favorite activities to do in the fall, and the budget that goes with it.  I haven't even looked at it (except to just now so that I could post the link - and it just made me tired, looking at it), and to hell with the budget - we are down to trying to figure out how many nights a week we can get away with Mac n' Cheese.

I think that I am just severely tired.  I need more sleep and I should strongly consider hiring a personal secretary, chauffeur, chef and  - what the hell - let's throw in a nanny there as well.  (Damn, that still means I have to teach.  Wait?  Isn't that what I am *really* supposed to be blogging about most of the time?)*

*blows dust off of the textbooks...

So homeschooling is really what I am supposed to be doing... not complaining about how I don't really feel like dumping a few pumpkins on the porch and purchasing sixteen thousand bags of candy.