Pansy and Peony

I know these are rumors that may or may not have truth. People talk about what's on their minds, and everything is like the game of telephone. Who knows? But the latest buzz is milk is going up to $5 a gallon (but of course this is from my family in the Westchester/NYC area, so perhaps that is not so far fetched as it's like $4 something a gallon there now) and by next summer gas will be $7 a gallon.

Wow, I mean why bother even trying to survive anymore. Or maybe I can be creative with my budget to eliminate traveling (I'll tell my husband to quit working tomorrow) and eating. Ha ha, food, that silly luxury. Didn't many of the saints fast indefinitely? Then we should be straight.

OK, sorry for the sarcasm. I felt I had to do that.

Posted by Pansy at 4:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I woke up this morning and my first thought was "oh gosh, it's Monday! No, make it stop." And you know what? I still feel like that. I just don't have the chutzpah to do the Mondaying today.

For about 6 weeks I have been doing Weigh Watchers in earnest. I have been working out 6 days a week, counting my points,measuring portions, avoiding eating out, writing down everything I eat and all that fun stuff. With all that work, I have lost exactly 1.8 pounds. I am so disgusted. DIS-GUS-TED! Now I could go into the whole "well, I am nursing, so I have no metabolism, blah, blah, blah" but that is not what I want to whine about. I want to whine about how friggin' stressful dieting is emotionally.

For the first time, I can honestly say I started dieting for health reasons, with the added hope of cosmetic side effects. Previously it has always been the opposite.I would always diet with the goal of looking better with the extra benefit of getting healthier. My father has this terrible cancer that was most likely caused by environmental reasons. I am getting up there in years, I have had gestational diabetes twice and I would rather not succumb to a preventable illness when I grow old. I want to be around with my husband and family as long as I can if God so decides to put my care in my hands.

Fast forward to Monday, April 21 I step on the scale to view that I gained 4/10 of pound. If you know Weight Watchers, you know you get 35 extra flex points, plus activity points. I went into my flex/activity points and I gained. I don't know why I gain whenever I do that, I am not supposed to, but I do. My brother who was home for the past month is leaving, so we had various "celebrations" all weekend. So gaining some was no surprise. However,t when you step on the scale and you see the number go up 4/10 of a pound, it feels like the world is coming to an end. Likewise, when you lose a pound, you feel like you can go out clothes shopping and buy all kinds of pretty things to go with your new figure, 4/10 of a pound makes you feel like you want to throw them all away.I suppose I am sounding kind of mental, but I am hoping I am not alone. I think I would be more inclined to give up dieting not because I cannot live without pizza (as accurate as that is), but because I can't stand the emotional roller coaster.

Posted by Pansy at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Iraq is improving as we speak. Here is an example from being in Marine Corp and talking to people who have been there: When we were there in 2003 the first time for OIF (operation Iraqi Freedom), we built tents and had nothing over there. Now we have built bases with almost everything we need. Soon Iraq will become like another Okinawa, but the enemy is getting smarter and still killing us off easily. Also the enemy is being supplied with an unknown everyday and it is not Iraq or Iran, it is someone stronger.

China?

Plus the war would of been done if it weren't to political. I was speaking to a Grunt the other day he said he would watch this one guy shoot and kill his Marines in front of him and the next day he would see the same guy without a gun. The Marine could not do anything about it.

We have so many rules because of the media, if they just left us alone this war would be done a long time ago. The enemy also is viewing our MEDIA. If you go on You Tube, you can find everything about us. They know all our rules and using it against us; rules of engagement, the main one. That is stuff the government is not telling you. Now we are having troubles with [terrorists in...sic] Germany, you haven't heard about that yet because it is kept under the rug. Today we had Marines all over the base with M-16's patrolling cause [terrorists in...sic] Germany is now starting to threaten us.

Praying for our troops.

Posted by Pansy at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

TSO has this cool post up in which he "plays the curmudgeon so [I] don't have to." He watched a bit of a recent Republican debate (a task I am more than happy to delegate) and came away with some quotes to make curmudgeonly remarks about (note that he only had to catch "a bit" of the debate to come away with enough material for a good-sized post.)

A sample of the curmudgeonly stuff:

[Governor Huckabee] said he feels the answer to our health care problems is (drumroll) - greater emphasis on wellness rather than sickness.

[which] completely ignores the root causes of the health care crisis by ignoring lack of insureds, the incredible expansion of what health care now entails, and the fact that it is a human-labor intensive industry. The wellness philosophy is great but it merely postpones the inevitable. Wellness programs don't elminate sickness and death but merely delay them. Second, it sounds suspiciously like a call for government to go into micro-managing our exercise routines or lack thereof as well as every thing we eat (fast food - no way!).

So now that TSO's got that curmudgeon stuff out of the way, all I have to do is highlight a section I particularly agree with

the incredible expansion of what health care now entails, and the fact that it is a human-labor intensive industry

and state my agreement:

I think TSO is correct in his diagnosis of the causes of the health care crisis. There's simply more health care to be had than there was in the past, and that health care still needs to be delivered by human beings, who have to be paid.

Then I add my own commentary:

And the costs of paying those human beings are proportionately higher. Once, most bedside care was given by nuns (who weren't paid much) and nursing students (who weren't paid at all.) And there was no need to pay MRI technologists and other allied-health specialists because there were no MRIs, interventional radiology suites, and so on.

But now very few nuns are giving direct nursing care (the few left in health care are in administration) Nursing students are in short supply, and will no longer work for free. Patient care is hard work -- it's physically hard work and requires 24-hour staffing. And thanks to Griswold and Roe, the labor pool is smaller. So wages have be high enough to make it worth it for qualified candidates to pass up other career paths, get the education, enter the health professions, and show up for work evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.

Throw in a pop-culture reference:

Even advanced societies such as the late Republic in Star Wars would pay real people -- even highly educated Jedis -- to fly spacecraft, but could only afford to have androids at the bedside to give medical and nursing care.

And I'm done! All the drudgery of watching the debate and coming up with curmudgeon stuff has been taken care of for me. (Even though I still don't understand what a "poncer" is.) Thanks, TSO!

Posted by Peony at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

re: the Marcotte and McEwan issue

I am a voter who is astonished at your choice to hire and retain Ms Marcotte and Ms McEwan.

In your statement, you wrote,
they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone's faith....

Then what precisely was their intention? Phrases such as "Christofascist wingnut" and "Protestant anti-choice assholes", characterizing a church's entire body of doctrine as "misogyny" and ridiculing the Third Person of the Triune God as "hot, wet, and sticky"....

If, with these words, they did not intend to malign Catholic and Protestant Christianity, these women are pretty inept communicators. Your putting them in charge of official campaign communications leads me to have serious concerns about the judgment of a President Edwards.

If they did intend to malign "someone's" faith, which seems more probable... well, of course they are entitled to say what they like. And I am entitled to draw my own conclusion, which is that the Edwards campaign doesn't think hate speech targeting Christians is a big deal.

I am a voter, and I am Catholic. I wanted to give the Democratic Party a fair shake in '08 and see if there was room in the party for people like me.

I've just gotten my answer. Maybe we can try again in '12.

Posted by Peony at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Why does this bother me? I knew it would happen. I expected it, yet I am still surprised. I sent my grandmother some of the pictures from the Baptism because she couldn't make the trip ("Oh Pansy, I can't come! I am too sick!"). She said it: "Oh Pansy, I can't believe all the weight you gained! Your father said you look good, but I couldn't get over it!" Lady, please, get over it. I know I am not Gisele Bundchen, but dang! Who the heck tells a woman with a 4-week old baby how startled they are by her weight gain? Isn't that in line with telling a nine-year old who just lost their parents in a car accident "Sucks to be you! Christmas just won't be the same from now on, huh?"

I am in good company. She said "Oh, your father, my son, he looks like such a natural born priest in those pictures. Too bad he's not a priest, just a deacon."

I don't know why she gets to me so much, it's always the same ole, same ole. Oddly, the more I know how she will react, the more it irritates me.

Posted by Pansy at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

My husband is flying out of town this afternoon to attend a funeral. I'm packing his suitcase, and, since it's the first time either of us has flown since 2004, I'm checking out the carry-on baggage rules at the airline and the TSA website.

So let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly: If my husband wants to carry a tube of toothpaste in his carry-on luggage, it has to be a mini-tube. Can't be a regular tube that's half full; has to be a mini-tube . And the shampoo has to be a minibar size as well. (Good thing I'm sending the electric razor so I don't have to figure out how to pack the can of shaving cream.)

And this micro-toiletries have to be packed in a quart-size ziplock bag. Not gallon. Not pint. Quart.

And he will have to remove the quart-size bag, and place it in the tray with his shoes and keys.

And if he does not follow these instructions, he might be exhibiting suspicious behavior.

But if he refuses to take his assigned seat, and instead demands that he and his friends be given seats that aren't all together but just happen to be in strategic positions throughout the cabin, and requests safety equipment that he doesn't need but that could potentially be used as a weapon, then he is a victim, and those thuggish, bigoted pilots and airline crew need to get over their lyin' bigoted eyes and go to sensitivity school.

Yeah, I so believe the government takes my safety seriously.

Posted by Peony at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)