February 2006 Archives

Putting it all in perspective

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Hambet has been on a crime spree lately, and I have been stalking around muttering about how it's a miracle you haven't seen me on the eleven o'clock news yet, or how it's a miracle that he made it to his fifth birthday (which was on February 22.)

How easy it is to forget. How easy it is to take things for granted -- God forgive me, to take even a child for granted. Hambet was a miracle baby. He arrived after four years of anguished prayer on February 22, 2001. He turned five on February 22, 2006.

February 22, 2006 was the same day that Elena entered eternal life. She would have been seven this Friday. Pray for us, little Elena.

Italian Boy

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Dinka's No Supermom

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Why is it so hard to admit you are having a hard time raising kids 24/7? Because it means you probably don't love your children.
A year ago, I had a really nasty bout of postpartum depression.The most common remark I got was "well, it was your choice to have 5 children..."

Recently, my grandmother told me how she said to my father "even your daughter is smart, I don't why she didn't finish college, but she is actually kind of smart, believe it or not..." I am not sure the purpose of her remarks.

If I went to these family members who made these remarks while I was in let's say medical school instead of being a SAHM, and mentioned "Oh yes, school is good, it is difficult, but going well..." which I could see saying about my life as a SAHM, I would get tons of sympathy, and praise for doing the right thing.
Not so with being SAHM. Why on earth would I mention I had a rough day when all I get is laundry list of how having 5 kids is about the dumbest thing I could do?

I am digressing to my usual whining about my family's foolishness. But I don't think I am alone in this sort of pressure form family and peers. All of my energy is exhausted on justifying my choices, and none is left for simple admissions of "I had a bad day," without feeling like an utter failure.

Oh Don't Do That

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On Sundays when I work at the diner, my boss plays the top 40 country countdown. I don't get country music. I appreciate the talent involved, and the sentiments expressed in the songs, but it doesn't really do anything for me.
What I do find interesting is the number of songs that I know that have been either remade, or made first as country songs. There is "I'll Always Love You" sung by Dolly Parton. There is a group that sings a BoyzIIMen hit "I'll Make Love to You". Yesterday I also heard Dolly Parton singing John Lennon's "Imagine" and it sounded a bit better that the original.
But there was no excuse for what I heard next. Faith Hill singing Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart". My boss told me she released that in the early 90's which shows how much I knoew about country music. But oh no, you don't remake Janis Joplin. You don't turn classic hard rock hits into country. I wanted to ask "hasn't anyone who was in on this adaption even heard the original?" I almost threw something at the radio. Aye yiy yiy.

But When I Am a Little Less Tired of TV

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is Simon a nice person or a jerk? Or maybe a jerky-nice person?

Getting tired of TV

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Why does every TV show lately have to have a public service announcement about abortion, euthenasia or whatever?
ER lately, just about every week is about someone who has the right to die.Last week (or maybe the week before) it was about how evil Bush is to stop federal funding on embryonic stem cell research. Tonight CSI was abou how distasteful it is to adopt frozen embryos. I mean, I don't even have the energy to get into the logistics about how I disagree with the issues as much, but let's start from the beginning: isn't it bad form to consistently put forth "extreme" opinions on such heated issues all the time?

I get tired of everything being so loaded. I guess they are only extreme if they are pro-life...

Handyma'am 911

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Preschoolers, facial tissue, and toilets are not a good combination. Can anyone give me some good advice on the gentle art of the closet snake?

Wondering...

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Below, Peony said:

To my way of thinking, if Schaefer wants to act as he thinks he remembers men acting "back in the day," then let him face up to the "back in the day" consequences. I'm picturing something involving a father, a fiance or older brother, and a shotgun. But the guy's 84, and then there's those pesky battery laws.

This reminds me of something that happened recently:

My husband was working a part-time security job at a place called Keymark. The place is a distributivists nightmare. They hire mostly immigrants with little or no benefits. The people work a great deal of hours each week, and take home very little pay (70 hours with a paycheck of $300). Also, the work environment is not very safe, and the company does little to fix this.
My husband eventually quit because the hours were stressful, and his position there was rather pointless.His job was to point out many of the unsafe factors, and when he would report them, nothing would be done.

All of my neighbors work there.

One day my neighbor knocked on my door and started a conversation with my husband. He said that he worked at Keymark, and was on suspension. Some weeks ago his wife brought him lunch, and a couple of other employees started making remarks about his wife. It got heated, and he ended up punching one of the guys. Knives were pulled out and it got ugly. Our neighbor asked if he could put a good word in with my husband's boss (the owner of the security company as the security company was an independant contractor) so he would not lose his job.

I am not condoning violence, but my father used to have a saying about people that made remarks about other people's wives: "They are going to find his body in a garbage can somewhere."

In this age of feminism, why has it not become expected that when you make a pass at someone, you do not also expect a punch in the nose to accompany it? I think about this aoften because my husband has a wretched temper, and if someone were to do or say something disrespectful to myself or Rosey Posey, it would be worse for us.

Maryland's dirty old man

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William Donald Schaefer: the man, the pol, the legend. Or something like that. Anyway, he's been in some kind of elected office somewhere in Maryland since Mencken's day, and he's in the soup again:

ANNAPOLIS // Comptroller William Donald Schaefer was unapologetic Wednesday after making suggestive comments to a young female aide to the governor during a meeting of the state Board of Public Works.

The incident sent some jaws dropping and drew laughter from others in the crowd of more than 100 state officials, lobbyists, journalists and business leaders attending the session.

Responding to Schaefer's request for tea, the woman, an executive assistant in Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s front office, set down a thermal mug in front of the comptroller. Schaefer, 84, watched her walk away, then beckoned for her to return. When she obliged, he told her, "Walk again," staring after her as she left a ceremonial conference room at the State House.

Schaefer defended the comment in a profanity-laced rant at reporters after the meeting.

"That's so goddamn dumb, I can't believe it," Schaefer said when asked about the appropriateness of his remark. "She's a pretty little girl."


So: How should this be handled?

Schaefer's one of those people most charitably described as "colorful", and I bet that if he tries to hide at all it's going to be behind his age.

Sorry, I don't buy it. You don't get to be rude just because you're old.

I don't think this is something that should be laughed off. But at the same time I don't think the contemporary lawsuit and sensitivity training is the right choice either.

To my way of thinking, if Schaefer wants to act as he thinks he remembers men acting "back in the day," then let him face up to the "back in the day" consequences. I'm picturing something involving a father, a fiance or older brother, and a shotgun. But the guy's 84, and then there's those pesky battery laws.

A pity that more of the men in the room didn't rise to the occasion and give the old goat the withering look he deserved.

Truly this calls for the wisdom of Solomon.

Before I went to seminary, I taught in a public school. Thank God, not as bad as this one in New York. But what I learned there was that the biggest problem in sending your kids to a public school wasn't the teachers or administrators, but the other kids.

And their parents.

I have to concur. 18 years ago (ahem) when I was this age, I remember my parents being baffled as top why I did not adopt their morals. There were many reasons (besides that their morals were "extreme" to everyone else I was around)but frankly, I simply wasn't around my parents

Please! Put More Clothes On Me!

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Prayers Please

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Please pray for my brother Alex. He is 20 and has recently been diagnosed with cutaneous lymphoma. The prognosis looks good, but this is never fun.
St. Peregrine, pray for us.

tagged!

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Four Jobs
1.Clerk in a craft store
2.Clerk and salad-bar tender in a grocery store deli
3.Office Temp
4.Registered Nurse

Four Movies I Would Watch Over and Over:

1.Persuasion
2.The Incredibles
3.Tampopo
4.Monsters, Inc

Four Places I Have Lived:
1. Durbin, North Dakota
2. Tacoma, Washington
3. San Antonio, Texas
4. Baltimore, Maryland

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1. House
2. American Idol
3. Masterpiece Theater reruns from Netflix
4. America's Test Kitchen

Websites I visit daily:

1. The Bleat
2. Amy Welborn
3. Washingtonpost.com, to read Rex Morgan and For Better and For Worse
4. my bank

Fav Four Foods
1. Cheese
2. Bread
3. Chocolate
4. Coffee

Four Places I Would Rather Be:
1. My computer, if I were alone
2. my scrapbooking table, if I were alone
3. A really good used bookstore, if I were by myself
4. the Crypt Chapel of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, if I arrived alone.

Four People I Am Tagging:

Four people who have started reading this blog in the last year.


Di Fattura Caslinga: Pansy's Etsy Shop
The Sleepy Mommy Shoppe: Stuff we Like
(Disclaimer: We aren't being compensated to like this stuff.
Any loose change in referral fees goes to the Feed Pansy's Ravenous Teens Fund.)


Pansy and Peony: The Two Sleepy Mommies



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