Never Ashamed to be American, but Ashamed of Some Americans

I haven't posted here in awhile. I have another blog I started about motherhood. Many life changes have happened to me: a house in the suburbs, a beautiful son, and a blessed life.

But I needed a place to talk about the Election 2012. A place where I can say the things I wish I could say elsewhere, but am afraid of conflict or stirring the pot.

As the Election approached... so many Facebook statuses shouted about Romney being what the country needs; and so many of the same put down President Obama. There was not just criticism, but name-calling. I don't care if you do not agree with our President's choices; he is STILL the PRESIDENT and is deserving of respect.

So many of the religious right were doing this: my family members amongst them. God says that whomever is appointed leader of our country, He has approved and we are to respect God's wishes. You can be disappointed, fine. But if you cannot respect the President, respect God.

I think the Republican Party is going to fall apart. I'm a former Republican, now Independent. Really, it has broken into three interests: the GOP and Corporations, the Religious Right, and the Tea Party. Moderate Republicans find themselves lost. Candidate Romney tried to appeal to all of these fractured people; and in the end he sounded very wishy-washy, trying so desperately to appease each group.

I am ashamed. I heard someone close to me -- and I cannot even say who for the amount of shame that I feel -- say that "a Mormon is better than a Muslim" and that they thought about driving to another state to vote twice (voter fraud!). Someone who is supposed to be a pillar of morality said these things. Why are so many people believing every rumor that passes their ear? Why do so many people vote not because of the issues but because "that's how my parents did it" or because "that's my party."

I am never ashamed to be American, but I am ashamed of some Americans.

Thank You... Part Deux

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday -- those of you who celebrate U.S. Thanksgiving! Jon and I visited my family in Nebraska. Over the weekend, my mom's family came to celebrate Thanksgiving and my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. We spent time at a very nice cabin in Mahoney State Park about thirty minutes' drive from Omaha. I was so thankful to see all my relatives that I hadn't been able to visit with since our wedding, and at that time I was so busy with planning and all that I hardly got to spend time with them!

This season reminded me how thankful I am for all of my families and friends and their support.

Little News

I've been working on some crochet projects for holiday gifts and doing some sketching lately. Last night husband and I went on a date, yay! Weather is kind of dreary today. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family in Omaha for U.S. Thanksgiving. My husband will be there with me from November 20th to November 27th, and I don't leave Omaha until December 11th.

Veterans and Remembrance Day

Veterans Day (U.S.), also known as Remembrance Day (Canada) is observed on the 11th of November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918 and to serve as a sober reminder of all that our veterans have sacrificed and to support servicemen and women.

Thank you, veterans both U.S. and Canadian, for your service, whether you served years ago, recently served, or are currently serving in the military.

Canadians here wear poppies in honor of their veterans. The red poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem In Flanders Fields. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

Thankful... Part I

I am thankful for my families and my friendships, both near and far, face to face and across the distance of the internet. And although some relationships may not maintain the same level of closeness as people grow and interests change, as new challenges arrive and new families are created, as new relationships flourish and life hands us things unexpected, I firmly believe that every person we meet leaves an impression on our lives. I am thankful for those experiences and the things they've taught me. Each person becomes a thread in the weave of the lives they touch, and therefore make up a part of that person, whether just a few stitches or a whole section of tapestry.

FOOTPRINTS

Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same.

Some people come into our lives
and quickly go... Some stay for awhile
and embrace our silent dreams.

They help us become aware
of the delicate winds of hope...
and we discover within every human spirit
there are wings yearning to fly.

They help our hearts to see that
the only stairway to the stars
is woven with dreams...
and we find ourselves
unafraid to reach high.

They celebrate the true essence
of who we are...
and have faith in all
that we may become.

Some people awaken us
to new and deeper realizations...
for we gain insight
from the passing whisper of their wisdom

Throughout our lives we are sent
precious souls...
meant to share our journey
however brief or lasting their stay
they remind us why we are here.

To learn... to teach... to nurture... to love

Some people come into our lives
to cast a steady light
upon our path and guide our every step
their shining belief in us
helps us to believe in ourselves.

Some people come into our
lives to teach us about love...
The love that rests within ourselves.

Let us reach out to others
and feel the bliss of giving
for love is far richer in action
that it ever is in words.

Some people come into our lives
and they move our souls to sing
and make our spirits dance.

They help us to see that everything on earth
is part of the incredibility of life...
and that it is always there
for us to take of its joy.

Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same.

~Flavia Weedn

So Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired!

Well... mostly just the sick part... which makes me tired. Other apt article titles escape me at the moment.

I've got two little gallstones creating a whole mess of trouble. The attacks increased in the past week, which worried my mom (who is a nurse practitioner) because when you have loose gallstones, there's always a chance of the ornery little guys blocking the bile duct and that requires immediate surgical intervention. So she told me to go to the ER. We did... and to sum up the weekend, waiting is the operative word. Waiting. And waiting. And more waiting.

Long story short, the little guys aren't blocking my bile duct; they're just being the roly-poly irritants that they are, wobbling about and angering things up. Prescription painkillers (the doctor couldn't believe I hadn't already been on them; I probably should have seen the family doctor for some) should get me through until paid health care kicks in mid-January and then I will have a surgery to remove the whole geddup: gall bladder removal, yep. Apparently I don't need it that much!

So I'm super picky right now about what I eat... low-fat diet is an absolute must if I don't want to be doubled over in pain for a night... and I'm doing pretty good about that. I find that my favorite restaurant's food (Japanese) seems to be really easy on my tummy so that's a hurray for me! Also find myself craving vegetables lately, and not really having a sweet tooth at all, so that's something unusual, too. (I rarely find the thought of chocolate nauseating, but for some reason, right now, I do.)

Now the only issue is that I think I'm getting some sort of kick-back from the pain medication; I'm having pretty bad headaches. It could just be tension from all the craziness -- but even a migraine prescription medication only held it at bay for 6-8 hours and I try to use that stuff sparingly (it's expensive AND it makes you feel pretty nauseated, too). So I'm taking some extra caffeine this morning and working on drinking a ton today to rehydrate (they made me not drink or eat for the ultrasound since midnight the night before, but I had to wait so long at the hospital that I went more than 12 hours without food/drink on Saturday).

Thus ends my complaining-about-my-health post. Needless to say, with all this in play, I haven't been getting much done. :(

Happy Halloween!

For this Halloween, I went the inexpensive route (we're trying to save some money this year). I think my whole costume cost me $5. I decided I was going to be a zombie because I had never really been anything ghoulish before, but I found suggestions that I should be a zombie with a theme. So I chose to be "school-girl zombie!" I ripped up a skirt and button down shirt I haven't worn in years, and are, in fact, a bit too large for me. I painted them up with slashes of green and brown and red acrylic paints I bought at Wal-Mart to make salt-dough Christmas ornaments last year (that did not turn out so well...) but have come in handy for so many other things! I dusted the skirt with flour to simulate grave dust.

I bought a cheap pair of fishnets and three tubes of costume make-up at Wal-Mart (hence the $5). I went a little wild with the blood, but it was fun. I dusted over the make-up with regular cosmetics and flour down my arms and over my neck and chest to set the cream. Stuck a few strands of faux grass nipped from a vase display to stick in my hair, which I also dusted with flour. When I got to the party, my brother and sister in law had some fake cockroaches, so I slipped them in my fishnets to make them look like they were crawling up my legs for extra creep factor.

I made myself a prop leg to carry around. I filled an old sock with crumpled paper bags, a pickle jar, and half a Tim Horton's coffee cup painted red and stuffed at the top with red-painted polyfil (the fluff you find in plushies). Then I glued a milk cap and a piece of Styrofoam to be the bones. I stuck bits of rice and black beads for maggots and spiders and carried my leg around for a little zombie snack piece. 

I made three dishes to bring to the party. I tried my hand at making brain cupcakes with butter-cream frosting, but only had enough for half the cupcakes and the brains were squished by the saran wrap by the time they made the journey anyway. They were drizzled with maraschino cherry juice. The other cupcakes I decorated as "innards" with red cake frosting, bits of licorice, and topped with a maraschino cherry. I drizzled some red food coloring on caramel apple rice cakes (dried brain slices) and laced them with shoestring licorice (spiced tendon strings). Then I made deviled eggs and colored the filling with green, purple, and orange food coloring (and left part of the batch yellow). I topped each one with a black or green olive slice for an eye with a dash of pimento for a pupil and called it "Eye of Newt." I also happened upon "body part" gummy candies and filled our cauldron with gummy eyeballs, ears, and teeth!

My in-law siblings had a slaughterhouse theme going and it looked amazing. They made some BBQ "bat" wings, (crisped flesh) chips with (guts) salsa, vegetables (because even monsters need their vitamins), and spider cookies and puffed wheat bars. We had FANG-gria (sangria) to drink!