Pansy: July 2006 Archives

Oh Oh Oh!!!!

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Peter Cullen, the guy who did the voice of Optimus Prime back in the day is doing the voice again in the movie next year!! How exciting is that? I can hardly contain myself!

"One shall stand, one shall fall"

Hee hee hee.

I Hate "Ghetto" Part II

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I read an article today about a pastor of an evangelical mega-church where the pastor basically told the congregation that Christians have no business moralizing and should...well I am not sure what. There are links to audio clips, but they are short and cut off before he gets to the point.

The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”

I don't know what he is talking about. Well, I do, I just think he is dead wrong. For me, one of the many beauties of being Catholic is morals do not change from pastor to pastor. So if the Church says it's wrong, it's wrong.

The Church has to fight for a Culture of Life. I am not sure why in popular politically correct culture, it is acceptable to rally for social justice when the issues involve war and poverty (and I am not arguing against this), but when it comes to people hurting each other with sex as the weapon, it is a personal matter. I know that people use each other, hurt each other, and allow people to abuse them when they would steer clear of them otherwise because of the misuse of the gift of sex.

When I first became a practicing Catholic again, I started to search online for like-minded Catholic people. What I started to see were people of extreme beliefs in all kinds of issues. Before that point, I didn't realize how "segregated" (for lack of a better term) we were. Rad Trads, Neo-Cons, homeschoolers, non-homeschoolers, blah, blah, blah...Trying to fit in somewhere, I lurked on boards of all groups. What I have since decided is not everybody is called to have overwhelmingly correct experiences and opinions on every issue (although many think they should). One opinion I heard over and over again was bafflement about how Catholics could be so obsessed with abortion and claim to be "pro-life" but vote for Bush and be pro-war. One conclusion I read was it was because everyone is so sex obsessed. The other was that Catholics love to show how good they are by being married and flaunting their 18 kids, but refuse to see the beam in their own eye. I found this opinion completely baffling, as I do the above mentioned pastor's.

I have to admit sadly, I am somewhat a fence sitter on the war issue. I just don't trust any information that comes my way. I don't think Bush is a horrible person who is war happy, but I also know the Pope spoke out against the war. It only occured to me recently that this is not a deficit in my intelligence or Catholicity, but I think there are a lot of Catholics with a lot of different experiences to have a bit more light on different perspectives. Through my own experiences what I do know is this: abortion is a genocide. As long as we are greedy and bloodthirsty enough to kill our own, our perspective of everything else will be unbalanced.

I am so tired. I see the county health and social services offices have flyers up for daycares, for where you can get free birth control, dishes of condoms out, lists of places to get AIDS testing, but nothing that says "girl, keep them legs closed unless he's gonna marry you". Or "don't become another 'Baby Daddy'unless you are married to the baby's mommy". Why not? Because by saying so we lose the culture war by putting trust in the sword? Huh? How about this sword: AIDS kills. Abortion kills. Children living with their mother's boyfriends have a higher rate of abuse than any other non-parent.

I feel like everytime I read something like this, I think the world has just gone so crazy. I do give people the benefit of the doubt. I think there are people, perhaps this pastor who feel that they are not being overly judgemental. Yes, we have to be charitable and have tact, but not to the point to keep making it acceptable for people to hurt themselves and each other.

Slowly, I am getting these thoughts out of my mind and onto the blog, so I should reach the end soon and go back to wondering about the important Pansy stuff, like why Johnson spends all day eating Raisin Bran at work.

Good!

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Coercive Abortion Prevention Act

I am amazed that their is an anknowledgement to women being coerced into abortions. It is about time!

Of course the Pro-Choice Michigan group opposes the bill. Forcing women to have abortions is somehow a woman's right.

I Hate "Ghetto"

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You will notice that many of my rants of late have to do with moral decay surrounding things like abortion, and I suppose other related. I think much of it has do with the fact that our last move has taken us out of the country where we saw little people except our few Amish neighbors, back into a more urban-esque surroundings. I guess you can kind of make a case for it being "the ghetto" as Webster's defines ghetto as:

2 : a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure
It is not a wealthy neighborhood, and it is predominately Puerto Rican, so according to Webster, it fits the bill. However, if you want to make the case for it being a ghetto, it is really quite mild in comparison to North and East Trenton, or the South Bronx (more ghettofied neighborhoods I am quite familiar with-and don't even like to drive through). There is not much crime, else we would not reside here, and accept for the socio-racial status that fits the definition, it is relatively quiet and boring.

OK, so we established the "where" of ghettodom, but the part I hate is not the "where" it is the "what". It is the lifestyle. "Where" does not bother me. I am an odd amalgamtaion who prefers to live in either extreme country, or if I can afford it, as extreme city as possible. I'd rather see no one for miles, or have corner stores, the Y and the public library within a two block radius of my home.

Back to the "what". Self-destruction. I am tired of watching it and feeling helpless to do anything. The out of wedlock birth rate among black Americans and among NewYoricans is about 80%. Mind you, the rate is very different among Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico:

Births of Puerto Rican descent in NYC differed markedly from births in Puerto Rico. In general, Puerto Rican mothers delivering in NYC were less educated, had less access to early prenatal care, and had more than twice the proportion of out-of-wedlock births as mothers delivering in Puerto Rico. Women in consensual unions in Puerto Rico were considered as unmarried in this analysis...

Hmm, why is that? Let's see what Planned Parenthood has to say about that:
As a commonwealth of the United States, Puerto Rico lives under the same constitutional protections and federal laws as the rest of the country, thereby ensuring the legality of family planning, contraception, and abortion. The government, however, provides no policy regarding sexuality education, resulting in virtually no such education in schools past the purely physiological...
...Located just outside of New York City, PPHP is an active affiliate that also has a strong focus on adolescent and youth programs. Additionally, PPHP's successful advocacy experience will be another area of sharing and learning. PPHP has mobilized such diverse groups as college students and clergy, and has an impressive group of community advocates that work on various legislative issues.
Think there is any correlation?

I am so tired of the norm: girls having "Baby Daddies" and not husbands. What's that got to do with me you ask? Good question. Well for one, on a totally selfish note, if one more person refers to my husband as my boyfriend, I am going to scream. In two days I have had as many refereneces to him as my boyfriend and have been asked as many times if all my children are from the same union. But that is just my vanity.On another personal note, I bought into the sex with a condom before marriage is A-OK" philosphy, and it broke my heart.

Anything else? Well, my neighbor has three daughters who are grown, and have children with no husbands. None of them are very neighborly. Coming from living next to the Amish, I was slightly surprised. When you see a nighbor and crack a small smile, it is usually returned with a smile. Not our neighbors. My smiles have been returned by angry looks. Later it got to me through my children that part of the reason is I am blanquita. WHAT-ever. But more so, I noticed many of my female neighbors did have it in them to me friendly and neighborly, just not to me, but to my husband. There have been lots of subtle attempts to send a message of availability to my husband, despite the fact the signals have never been reciprocated.

I am not threatend. But how happy a person are you when you have a newborn a few days old, and you are advertising to other men, not the baby's father, that are married? What do you teach your children about commitment? What do you even know of commitment? You end up with generation upon generation of people who allow themselves to be used, are not happy for it, yet know no differently. A person is not an island unto themselves. The children they are raising might be a potential romantic involvement for one of my children. They are people who could be positive members of society, or not. I also have a theory from watching my in-laws. They are miserable people and dead beat parents. I think even in their misery if they were a "set" of parents, they would have done a much better job together than apart. I think there is something to be said for God requiring two people to raise one.
If you would not like to take my word for it, read a bit from the Fragile Family Study.

I'll also leave you with The Speech Bill Cosby gave a couple of years ago at the Brown vs. The Board of Education 50th Anniversary. Lots more annoying and judgemental stuff about personal responsibility. (I stumbled on this when someone called me racist for perpetuating the problem among blacks by mentioning the fact that 80% of black children were born out of wedlock.)

I was personally tickled at the mention of our cousin.

Peony, your post below had me wondering what besides the obvious bothered me so much.
In the comments below, Patty said:

I agree with all of you, although I admit that I was involved in a discussion elsewhere on this topic and it made me wonder about something. Is this child's cancer really highly treatable and curable as the other side paints it to be? And is one round of chemo usually enough to combat it?

In the articles I have read on this case, there was no mention of this, which I think would be the biggest deciding factor if I were a judge. But the decision seems to be based on a growing assumption we are starting to take as a given in our culture: Parents are idiots.

It takes no intelligence to get pregnant, so people who become parents aren't really qualified to do so.

Why? I don't know. Democrats claim the job of parenting is too big for two people and we need mandatory preschool. "It takes a village to raise a child" or something like that. In the Terri Schaivo case, any testimony of Terri's parents was dismissed because her cheating ex-husband knew how pro-death Terri was over her own family who raised her with their values. When I was in health class in high school, we were told repeatedly by teachers (who used to sleep with the students at a much greater proportion then any priests I know-seen it with my own eyes-scary, huh?) that if we ever needed anything, and were afraid of our parents, we could always talk to them. Our health books even said that if our parents thought masturbation was bad, they were superstitious and old fashioned and masturbation was healthy. (Ah, the beauty of Planned Parenthood-I had no idea what masturbation was until that point. Never heard the word, never grasped the concept). I remember my father having a fit when he read this in my health book and wrote the school, and got no reply of course. (They should have taken me the heck outta there).

One of the biggest disputes I see a lot among APers is the vaccination debate. We know many vaccinations, do, or used to contain mercury. We know that a few are derived from Human diploid cells (aborted fetal tissue). We know in countries that wait to vaccinate until a year old or two have virtually no cases of SIDS. We have seen outbreaks of Pertussis in almost fully vaccinated populations. We know there is a National Injury Compensation Program. Why is it necessary to vax a newborn baby against Hep B? I am not trying to make a case against vaccinating (although after rereading what I wrote, it certainly seems that way). I am not totally anti-vaccinating-we vaccinate.I am just a parent who wanted as many facts as I could obtain about what I am doing with my children. I don't understand why parents are not allowed to have any say in the drugs they expose their children to. When your children get shots, you get these little sheets that tell you some nasty side effects might be possible, but overall, by not vaccinating you are practically creating some sort of epidemic. But to me, if any of the previous questions I asked were true, parents should be able to have the option to strongly discern with all the facts available what they would like to be done with their children. Again, I did not mean to go on an "anti-vaxing" tirade. I just think that is one of the first places where our doctors or whoever the other people in our lives that have influence on what we do with our children sort of step in and take over for us.

Now we have pending legislation whether or not it should be illegal to take minors over state lines to obtain abortions for them without parental consent. Why is this even a question? Can't that be construed as kidnapping if abortion were not involved?

Note this page from the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center:

If you are under the age of 18, the law in Pennsylvania says that to have an abortion you need to either bring a parent with you to sign your consent forms of go through a process called Judicial Bypass. If you cannot or do not want to involve either parent, we can help you. A judicial bypass allows you to ask a judge to declare you mature enough to decide for yourself whether or not to have an abortion. Although that may would complicated or frightening, it is a fairly simple process and our staff will walk you through each step.
(Link: Dawn Patrol)

And when something happens to your daughter, it was your fault for not being a brave parent to walk past the protesting "anti-choicers" and slot your grandchild for termination yourself.

I am so tired. Raising kids is hard enough. Trying to raise them decently in this culture is like swimming upstream. In essence, everything that you truly feel is right because you love and care for your children is subject to scrutiny if it is not part of common opinion. I keep thinking of poor Mr. and Mrs. Schindler in this regard. God help us.

I didn't even touch on homeschooling.

My Parents

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picture after the jump

:(

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My cat, Chun Li passed away today. She was a spunky, and quite lovely half-tabby, half-Persian.

We purchased her as a teeney-tiny kitten in January of 1995 (she was born in November). She was a gift from my husband due to the fact that our first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. So she has been with us for quite some time longer than any of our boys.

We noted her mellowing out a bit in the past couple of months and we cropped that up to old age. She was always such a spitfire. She never liked to be picked up much, but would show affection by following you around the house and sleeping on your feet at night. She was the easiest pet in the world to take care of. Less maintenance than those stupid turtles, and certainly less maintenance than the crazy country cats we had on the farm. I often wondered if I wasn't taking care of her right, but on her check-ups, she always got a clean bill of health. The only problem we had with her was depression when we moved, and she had to be put on anti-depressants.

The past two days, she was keeping to herself a great deal. This in and of itself is nothing new. She always found spots to hide and would pop up at night. Well, she didn't pop up last night or the night before to sleep on my feet. Yesterday evening the thought entered my mind maybe something besides heat and old age might be wrong, and if she continues to act funny, perhaps a trip to the vet was in order. Today, she didn't wake up. I am so heartbroken. I hope she was not suffering while I was "wondering" if there might be something wrong. She was a good pet.

My husband just came back from burying her in the woods near the North American Martyrs Shrine.

Feel the Love in This Family!

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My husband was speaking to my mother-in-law today. She randomly mentioned to my husband that we "better not make anymore babies" (my husband has not told her yet).

My husband asked "well, what if we do?"
"Then you're just stupid!" And she hung up on him.

I am so tired of people. No one sticks to "the rules" anymore. You know the ones about respecting other people by not calling names and trying to twist their arm into doing what you want them to do? If she wants to say "I am not sure another baby is wise," and leave it at that, fine. That is her choice. Respectfully voice your opinion and move on.
But for some reason, when it comes to issues of family planning, yelling, name calling, making assumptions about other people's sex lives and voicing them is all fair game.

Emails from Okinawa

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My brother and I email back and forth occasionally. Since I blogged blow by blow narratives of his basic training experience, I thought I would update. (Josh is my husband, by the way):

Well I hope Josh gets his eyesight back, cause he would suck at a game of charades. I hope he is alright.

Also how are mom and dad?

Yes things have been real busy here. Right now our higher ups are talking to us about N.Korea cause a missle hit not to far from us the other day. The Commandant of the Marine Corp talked to us and told us some stuff.

Work is really tiring me, the sun is real strong here. We PT in the morning and we push ourselves pretty hard. Like I was running and slowly things were coming up from my stomach.

I feel bad for some of the Marines I work with because they have a lot of problems. Every day is like a drama at camp foster.

Things are getting rougher with the world in the middle east and n. korea, there are crazy people over there. I'd say this feb. or next summer I will go to Iraq.

Why does Josh always get injured badly?

A Simple, but Pleasant Day

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We have been trying to find activities for the kids to beat the heat other than going to the public pool which has been very active. I hate public pools-people pee in them.
Luckily, in upstate NY, particularly in the Adirondacks, there are many lake regions with great breezes; so being outside is not so tortuous, depending on where you go. Today we went to Eagle Mills which was fun enough for the kids, and leisurely enough for the adults. The only problem was it was a bit pricey. Probably not for one kid, but 4-5 is another story. Still we had a nice time.

I apologize if there are too many pictures. I tried to get at least one of everyone, not just to share with my fellow blogreaders, but family and friends I do not see often.

DSCN0845.JPG
RoseyPosey, Gorbulas, and Fastolph looking at the Mill Creek below.

Surprise!!!

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It looks like the "he" might be a "she" after all!!! OK, before I get my hopes up, let me add some of the realism: the first radiology tech said it looks like a girl, but she went and got someone else in to give second look and confirm. The second person said they agreed, but it was still not 100% sure.A later scan will be more definite. As a matter of fact they said 60% sure. The last four boys however, it was right away 100% clear-bing oh yeah, that's a boy!

I didn't think I was capable of making girls. We have one girl, so I guess it would be more accurate to say "I didn't think I was capable of making any more girls!"

I am so excited. My husband just said "Haha, that's silly. We will finally have a girl after all these boys." I have no idea what that means.

Rosey Posey I think is feeling a little insecure at the idea as she is the only girl, the only granddaughter (except for me), and the only female first cousin. I hope I can set her fears to rest that another girl does not mean we will suddenly be like "Rosey Posey? Who's that?"

As for me, I cannot believe I get to experience pink, and hair ribbons, and little girl dressies, and tights with ruffles on the butt, and little baby earrings. The flip side is combing hair every morning for a few years.

Update on My Dear Husband

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We brought him back to the ER yesterday for a wound check and to remove the bandages around his eyes. The staff there was very nice and friendly. They really seemed to enjoy their job and working with people.

When they removed his bandages, his eyes were a bit puffy, his eyelashes were all stubbly and the area was all slimey from the tons of Erythromycin they applied under the bandages. Thirty seconds later they did a vision test, to which he did "OK". But regardless of injury, I cannot imagine you will see very well after your eyes have been wrapped up for 24 hours and are covered in gooey antibiotic ointment. The doctor said to give it about 24-48 hours to see if his eyesight returns to normal, if not seek help from an eye doctor right away.

His nose is all burned, so I have to change the bandages for the next three days, twice a day,and carefully clean off as much dead skin as possible, which seems to be painful to him, and apply Silverdine (Silver Suladiazine) to the area. He also has to have Erythromycin applied to his eyes 4xs a day. The motive in his treatment seems to simply be to prevent infection. I guess burns make you very prone to infection.

Also he has a great deal of light sensitivity in both his eyes and skin. So he needs to wear sunglasses and when he stops wearing bandages, he has to be fastidious about sun block on his face for the next few months.

I am so relieved he will be OK though. That knowledge feels like Christmas to me! Thank you all who prayed for him.

Today I have my 18-week ultrasound to make sure this is another boy.

On the same day as our little accident, there was a propane explosion just south fo Albany that was tragic. The hearsay I heard was they were grilling in the basement, but all the newspaper stories cite it was from a falty hot water heater.

Warning: Expletive language follows...

A microphone picked up an unaware President Bush saying on Monday Syria should press Hezbollah to "stop doing this shit" and that his secretary of state may go to the Middle East soon.

Damn straight! He should use it in a speech.

Feeling Kinda Freaked

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Yesterday was hot, hot, hot, so we did what we do every hot day-grilled! We had shrimp and veggies on skewers and the looked quite yummy. In the middle of cooking, we ran out of propane. My husband went and got a new tank in record time (I was going to ask where he went, but never had the chance), returned and installed the either refilled, or newly traded-in tank (I never found out which either). When he went to light it and bent down to click on the ignitor, there was a huge whoosh of fire in his face and his face got burnt. He went right away to the ER and my oldest, God bless her, accompanied him. I insisted on calling him a cab because his biggest complaint was pain in his eyes, but he insisted on driving himself (the hospital is right down the street-my OB's office is located there and I have walked there and back). For some reason that struck me as a "man thing". I do not say that as an offense to men, but I can see my father insisting on doing the same thing. In his mind it meant less financial burden on the family, of paying for a cab. Not the most logical, but I think in his panic as well, that was what was important to him.

I continued dinner (as the grill was on and the other children had not eaten). The food was cooking, but then the fire rose. I turned the knobs off, nothing happened. I closed the valve (later I saw I did not close it all the way), and nothing happened. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and extinguished the whole thing-shrimps and all. Afterwards I checked the valve on the tank, and I think in my calm panic, I didn't close it all the way, so I closed it tight.

My husband and daughter returned home via cab. The hospital staff kind of looked at him like he was crazy when he told them he drove there. He suffered second degree burns on his nose, first degree on the rest of his face, and his eyes are bandaged. Tomorrow he has to return and see if his eyes will heal.

We ordered pizza for dinner. I feel terrible about wasting the other food, and then wasting more money ordering out, but pizza lightened up the heavy mood that was starting to ensue a bit. And God bless my daughter (again), she sat next to her father saying "You know what I want to do now? Play a nice family game of Pictionary. Or better yet, charades!"

Tomorrow I will check the valves and the lines with soapy water to make sure there are not any leaks. Part of me would rather not grill again. Almost. I don't know how to cook inside in the summer.

I am feeling kind of freaked and very, very guilty (which is why I am up blogging instead of sleeping). Years ago, when we started grilling with propane, I used to check the lines with soapy water everytime we changed the tank. I don't know why I totally forgot about that procedure. I was not being lazy and skipping the step, I just totally forgot you do that. I think it was somewhere between when the grilling job got passed on from me to the Job of The Man of The House, and when were living off-grid. We got so used to dealing with fire and propane for everyday living, I guess we got kind of complacent, which is stupid.The flip side of course is we always have new fire extinguishers on hand (as Fastolph has been known to find them and use them out of curiosity in the past).

Please say a prayer my husband makes a full recovery. If he cannot work, it will make it difficult finanacially, as usual. Not that I want to ship him off injured. It's just that the life events=financial problems ratio never ends sometimes. Whenever you do little things to get ahead, it is just covering up what went wrong and is not really getting ahead.
Oh, another thing. My poor parents. My mother has been begging my father for years for a propane grill. He finally relented the day before yesterday and he spent 3 hours in Sears perseverating over whether or not this decision would eventually lead to their death, but finally purchased one. He spent hours afterwards worrying about where to keep the propane and insisted that wherever they put the tank (in the garage or basement), my brothers (23 and 21) are not allowed to enter that room ever again. Then I called them with this story: "Polo is in the ER because the grill kind of blew up in his face. Please pray for him!"

That and my grandmother used to get hysterical when I said we used propane to heat our hot water and for the stove when we lived off-grid. She used to scream into the phone that her heart would stop from the worry because that is so dangerous.

One of the Many New Virtues

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I amazed that people admire this so much that they write articles that pat themselves on the back for their selfishness.

Until Madison was born, I saw parenting from a distance. I thought of babies as adorable and sweet. They smelled good and looked clean and perfect. Sure, I knew about dirty diapers and occasional fussiness. (And the screaming kids in stores and restaurants.) But, really, they were a minority, I thought.

Then I learned the truth. Kids overwhelm your life and alter it forever.

I have a newfound respect for Shannon, and for mothers in general. Sleep deprivation seems the norm. Forget about impromptu dinners, weekends away or nights out with friends.

Right now, my schedule is mine. I do what I want, when I want.

I don't know if I'm willing to give that up. For the past year, not a week goes by that I don't tell Shannon that I just don't think I could be in her place.


[more...]

The Onion vs. Reality

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As Usual...

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Curt Jester has a bit on Feministe's reaction to Bishops Yanta's letter on modesty.

As always, I ask the question, why does she give a s*&t what we believe? It is not her culture or her belief. I always find it funny how in the time of "celebrating diversity", the very notion of another group believing that a woman should command respect from men rather than simply be leered at as a sex object is so offensive to them. But hey, when you deal with people who are obsessed with "me and my body", it is hard for them to grasp the notion that nobody is talking to them. This is a letter for Catholics, it is not about them and their therapy.

She also has an entry where she takes task to Wholesome Wear swimsuits. Three years ago, I made one for RoseyPosey that summer. Peony and Greg Popcak in a funny rendition of an old Wendy's commercial thought it was a bit much (the comments sadly did not import from blogger, nor did the picture of RoseyPosey in her swimsuit). At that time, I was a bit more on the modesty-obsession train. I have calmed down a bit as I found personally, it became an obsession in and of itself that hindered, not helped my faith. Stepping out from the outside and seeing the people who are really big into this issue, it boggles my mind how people fail to see good qualities in a person simply because they are wearing jeans.
Likewise, I cannot stand hearing the polar opposite: "I wear nice, comfortable shorts and baggy tee shirts and that is modestly appropriate for everyone!"No it's not. Some people do not feel comfortable like that (amd some need a dose of What Not To Wear). The Catholic Church has yet to put out any specific guidelines about what to wear, they just ask for good judgement and to purposely not to dress a manner that is titillating. Simply put, women are allowed to have their own flava (which is what baffles me about Feministe-I would think it would be a concept a feminist would grasp most). I really liked dressing modestly. There is something very freeing and comfortable about it. I also like fashion though, so I just try to blend the two when possible. Sometimes one side wins out more over the other.

Realistically though, fashion these days is ridiculous. It does not cover enough. Don't take my word for it, look around. The majority of women/tweens/teens who are dressed in what the current trends are do not look flattering, but uncomfortable. How many times do you see girls adjusting their low-cut pants and high top shirts when they move? And what about the term "muffin tops". Having love handles sticking out over your jeans is so common there is cute terminology for it? Yeesh. How many bra straps do we see sticking out of tops because the fashions do not lend themselves to pratical undergarments that women have at home in their drawer? Practicality and comfort have been lost to imagined "sexiness". Sexy does not look sexy when it looks like you are trying way too hard.

And swimsuits, I'm sorry, but even in my heathen days, I never understood the concept that all of a sudden, it was acceptable to be in the equivalent of your underwear because you are near water. If you go to the Jersey Shore, there are a lot of people walking around that makes you wish they desperately had a Wholesome Wear suit. In stead of seeing a lovely face or even what would be a lovely figure with a bit more clothes on, you are assaulted with the information that people need to utilise the modern marvel of bikini waxing much more often than they do.

Preggo Update

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-On Sunday morning, I felt little, happy (I think) baby flutters for the first time. It felt like bubbles. I am always amazed how neat it is to have a teeney tiny 5-inch person hanging out inside you.

-Gorbulas (4.5) tells me everyday, "Mommy, I like your bel-llee!"
I asked him why. I wanted to see if he understood why I am so round, or if just being round is intriguing to him, but all I get is "because, I like your bel-llee."

-The diet has helped my syncope greatly and I continue to lose weight, but I am still queesy and extremely fatigued. I have stopped my morning work-outs because I cannot seem to get myself up at 5.30 AM
to work-out. I try to take walks during the day, but that is not really a "work-out" to me. Oh well.

My blood pressure has gone up a bit and is about 110/70 now. I hope that is not due to my current laziness. I have also been drinking iced coffees here and there for energy (and because they are yummy and a coffee with Splenda soothes my craving for sweets). This is not an everyday thing, but a once-in-awhile thing. I am such a light weight when it comes to any substances though, one iced coffee has me wired for hours and hours afterwards.

-Next week I see all my doctors and have an 18 week ultrasound.

I Am So Ashamed

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The self-titled gentleman known as The Raving Atheist has handed me a lesson in Christian humility. Well, it was not geared to me personally, but it displays a Christian attitude that I forget sometimes.

(1) The post will say at least one kind or favorable thing about the person and/or group under discussion. If I reject the relevant ideology completely, the compliment may pertain to some unrelated talent, accomplishment, or memorable post.

(2) All compliments will be sincere, not sarcastic or backhanded.

(3) The post will identify at least one false, cruel, inappropriate or unnecessary statement I have made about the person or group in the past, and explain why I was wrong to say what I did.

(4) Criticism or commentary will focus solely on ideas, not upon the person or people comprising the group to which he or she belongs.

(5) When commenting on a post that criticizes or attacks me I will not retaliate in any way, no matter how unkind, untrue or even vicious the commentary. I will not quote language from the offending post, or link to the post at all, if I believe that doing so will ultimately make the person look foolish or otherwise embarrass him or her.

(6) If I believe that there is a possibility that the person will be offended or embarrassed by my post, I will forward a draft and seek approval before posting.

(7) These rules will apply with equal force to religious people, atheists, agnostics, and political and social organizations, including pro-choice advocates or organizations.

Wow.

I don't think I have a problem with this in blog life as much as with real life and what comes out of my mouth verbally. My blog life is not that intriguing. The fact that RA's post had me thinking "oops" probably means my self-assesment is correct.

Summer Movies

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So, so far we have seen:

Superman

I didn't expect much, so I ended up enjoying it. I liked that it continued from the second installment of the Christopher Reeve films.
Lois Lane left a lot to be desired, much like the old movies, as I cannot figure out what he sees in her. There is a twist, which I will not reveal.

Pirates of the Carribean

I liked it, but I don't know how to say anything about it without spoiling it.I liked it, but literally, I had no idea where the plot (or if there was one) was going until the very, very end. If you go see this and have not seen Number 1, you have got to rent the first one, or else you will be so lost.

Click

A bit too long, but it ranks on the side of Adam Sandlers less annoying films. I thought it was cute.
I cried at the end, but it could be hormones.

The Break-Up

I liked this a lot. I really thought they captured a common friction point between man/woman relationships very well, and how people resort to manipulation tactics to try to fix things. I really cried at this one.

Stick It

It was the second feature after Pirates of the Carribean. I slept through most of it. It seemed to me like a 13-year old girl's movie, but RoseyPosey told me she thought it was really silly.

The movie I have been waiting my whole life for (since I was 12 anyway).

They better do it right! I mean it!

Transformers: The Movie trailer.

Of course, let's not forget about the original, animated classic The Transformers the Movie.Bah weep grana weep nini bahm!

Testing

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I cannot seem to figure out the scanner thingy on my 4-in-1, so I am testing to see if this wedding picture works.
scan_5929333_1
Pansy Wedding 6.18.94

Legal Advice

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My husband would like to view the probated wills of his grandparents who lived in Puerto Rico. He has reason to believe he was named in them as his grandparents took care of him when he was small. His father who is the executor of the wills will not show them to him. We understand they are public record, but do not know how to obtain them as we are in New York State, and these affairs were settled in Puerto Rico. If anyone can offer some advice, please, I am listening.

Vegetable Ideas for Kids

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Now that it's summer, I hate the idea of taking time to cook vegetables. I don't mind it, but when you think of summer, you think potato salad, and cole slaw, that sort of thing. I am worried about my children not getting enough veggies. We eat lots of green salad, but that can get boring after a while too.

How do you get vegetables into your kids during summer? They are pretty good as far as eating veggies, and during the day they snack on carrots, celery, apples and bananas. Dinner is the problem. I am not the type to just steam some broccoli and serve it either.But when it is grill time, no one really pays attention to the veggies.

One thing I do with green beans is I steam them, toss them with some garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, chill and serve (or serve warm). But like salad, you can only serve that so many times.


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