Dr. Laura and Hitchens

The convention I went to last month for the Moms and such was interesting. I was a little bored, but nonetheless, it was free for me to go, so I wasn't hurting. Though, it was weird for me to be away from my son for 8 hours!! That was a first and well, it hasn't been repeated since. I met Dr. Laura that day, as she was the guest speaker. All she spoke of were of things I've already heard her talk about on her daily radio show. She didn't get preachy and talked mostly about her son (whose in the military).

Anyway, all I said was, "Hi." There wasn't much to say. I had no questions to ask and no compliments to give her. Ah well.

This Saturday, though, I hope will be VERY interesting. I'm going to see Christopher Hitchens debate a professor (I was told) at Biola University. I was really excited to hear that my husband and I are going, yet I was apprehensive, because I didn't want to get a babysitter for my son. For a while, I decided that I would just miss out and let a friend of ours go instead. My friend offered to watch our little boy for us, but it still made me feel anxious. I've never left my son alone with anyone other than family. Why do I feel this way? Last month, I left my son at day care for what I had hoped to be was one hour, but he totally freaked out within the moment I left. So I was called back a few times, until they told me that I wasn't able to leave him there anymore. So much for that. Since then, I've been a little weary of leaving him with someone else. I know, I can be pretty neurotic.

Although, we've decided to leave him at my parents' house until the debate is over. My parents live only 5 minutes away from the place we're going to, so I figured that it will be okay. Let's hope! :-)

Octo-Mom

She needs to stop having kids and people need to stop paying her to be on TV. She's already bank-rolling the money to gets from the government to support all 14 kids (oh you know it's true!). Why is this society so interested in people who have tons of kids they can't afford? And even if they "can" afford multiple kids, WHO CARES??

I keep wondering if I'm suppose to be in "awe" because these parents have more kids than your average parent? TV shows on TLC who rave over parents with more kids than I have of toothbrushes...




Why do stupid people breed more than smart people??

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Anyway, I'm in desperate search for new jammies for my growing toddler. I drove through the rain to 4 different stores and apparently, clothing stores think it's Spring already because I can not find one piece of rubber-footed sleepwear for him! What the heck? I had to put him in some two piece shirt and high-water pants and socks tonight. Poor kid!

Tomorrow will my first full day away from my boy. I'm going to miss him terribly. When I agreed to go to the luncheon, I thought it was just a quick two hour thing, not an entire day (9am - 3pm)!!! He'll be hanging out with his dad all day while I go to a Moms Luncheon and listen to Dr. Laura speak. I'm interested to see how it will turn out.

New PREZ

So how do you like our new President so far? I haven't been able to keep up with much, but SHUTTING DOWN GITMO??? Holy Crap!! That's awesome.

Anyway, why are people still talking to McCain (uhh...CNN)? I thought that when you LOSE, you go away. I mean, John Kerry did, right? Thank goodness for that!

With all seriousness though, what's going to happen to all of the inmates who've been tortured? I mean, they're totally scarred for life (and probably dangerous now, if they weren't already).

No one should ever be tortured. It's just wrong. That goes for animals too. Torture is just WRONG.

Looking Forward To It

So how was everyone's holidays? We celebrated Winter Solstice twice this year! We went to a luncheon on the 21st and then on the 28th. It was really fun to meet other like-minded people. We didn't make any friends that we could hang out on a regular basis, but that would soon come around...Most people are, well, a lot older us. We're still in our 20's and it's difficult for us to find people around our age who think like us. Strange, right? I mean, one would think that the younger generations had more of an open mind. No so! I have lots of friends who are religious and a few (including my sister and her family) who are full-blown fundies....

Anyway, our boy is 18th months today. We've been celebrating these winter holidays since the 21st, so he's been opening presents since that day. Who needs to wait until the 25th? He really enjoys tearing into gifts too. I was surprised he got into it, considering he didn't bother with them the entire season until I popped one in front of his face and started to open it little by little for him until he got the hint. :-)

My plans for the New Year is to definitely make more of an effort to get out and meet more reasonable people. I really look forward to that a lot. Also, I want to sustain the friendships that I do have. This year has brought me many old friends that I thought went away for good. It's nice to make new friends from old friends. There were two friends that I hadn't spoken to since we had a falling out after high school. Ten years later, and we hanging out again! I'm really happy about that.

Thank you for keeping up with my blog this past year. I am looking forward to being more active in 2009.

Ah, the Holidays....

Okay, so I just realized that a blog here has been LONG OVER DUE!

So how is everyone going to celebrate tomorrow's Winter Solstice? We're packing the family (okay, just the three of us) and heading over to a little party held at a hotel. It's hosted by the Human Light group. I'm really excited about going out and meeting new people. Hopefully, they're interesting as well! I know I'll be hovering over the snack table. I also hover over the snack table and every party, even my own! There's just something nice about snacking on some celery sticks with ranch dressing while having a conversation that I won't remember 15 minutes after I walk away. :-)

Our son is almost 18 months! Can you believe that? We have a little holiday tree in our house and he's really interested in the colors of the ornaments and the lights. We're still working on identifying colors.

Anyway, this Xmas, we're skipping the same thing we do every year, which is to drive down 2 hours to my sister's in-laws for an early Xmas dinner. We've been doing that same ritual since my husband and I met 4 years ago. This time, we've decided to ditch that ritual and start our own, or at least do something new. My parents and I conspired to just spend a nice quiet holiday with just them, my brother, my husband, my son, and me! What can I say, us non-believers are getting tired of huddling around a table holding hands and thanking some cosmic overlord who had NOTHING to do with making that meal. Last I check, I make dessert. In fact, I usually am making a dessert with son trying to crawl up my leg whining at me to pay even more attention to him!

Also, I'm really into donating this year and we donated a bunch of new toys at the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles last weekend (it was my birthday weekend and I wanted to start the weekend off with lots of giving). I wanted to donate blood as well, since I'm the universal donor, but I'm underweight.........SO if you feel inclined to donate something this year, why not make it some blood? I'm still pretty bummed that I can not donate my blood. I keep hitting my head in disappointment, because I should have donated while I was still fat from my post-pregnancy weight. AARGH!

Anyway, take care everyone and have a truly wonderful holiday! :-)

I Voted

I VOTED this morning. I took my son along and he had fun looking at all the other people. He waved at some and he pointed at the doggie outside. I told my son that this might be one of the only times we step into a church. Yes, my voting place was a church....ANYWAY, my son got a sticker too! He kept trying to eat his, so I took his off and stuck it on the fridge. Here I am sporting mine! :-)

And if any of you cared, I voted for Nader. I couldn't vote for Bob Barr, because he totally snubbed Ron Paul. That's a "no-no" in my proverbial book.

Holy Crap!

If Jesus existed....Did you ever wonder if he had regular bowel movements? I wonder if he showered often, or if he had bad breath. Because we know hygiene wasn't at the top of everyone's mind back then. I wonder if he ever ate something bad and had really bad diarrhea and said to himself, "What did I eat??" Or would he just avoid the food that would give him an upset stomach because he's "all knowing?" And if he's a wanderer and ate on the kindness of others, then did he ever eat something he didn't like?

I also wonder, had he existed, if he ever woke up in the morning with a woody, or if he ever had a wet dream. I mean, those are all natural occurrences....If he's human enough to die for sins I'm unaware of, then I'm sure he'd be human enough to go through these things right?

Again....had he existed in the first place. :-)

Such Sadness

Earlier today, I decided to take a break from work and read up on some news. I came across THIS ARTICLE and it literally brought me to tears. When I read about children being hurt by none other than their parents, my heart cries out to them. There's nothing that I could do to stop or prevent such horrible acts from happening, but I still feel such sorrowness and helplessness. I sometimes pretend if I was a little fly on the wall, how I could go buzzing for help.

Where was God to help this little girl? Was he too busy helping someone else win a baseball game?

I dried up my tears when I heard my son wake up from his nap. He had a long nap and well, I gave him an extra kiss and hug before I plucked him from his crib.

I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch!

Hmmm....Is it just me, or does anyone else think that John McCain resembles the Juggernaut? You know: Not too smart, likes to pick on smaller guys, and has no neck? :-)

Atheist Nexus

Did I mention that I actually put a profile up at Atheist Nexus? I'm trying to get my husband to join so I can at least have another friend on there. I'm trying to pick up my popularity status, since we all know I wasn't all that popular in school...or even in college. Though, I must admit, I was popular among the Christian Camp Crusade. I guess me walking around to class toting my art supplies made me an easy target. :-)

Boy Scout

I understand that if my son chooses to use his mind and become a freethinker, he might very well not be joining the Boy Scouts of America. I hope he doesn't mind that. All the news I hear about them are about the child-molesters they hire as group leaders anyway...

In any case, if he wants to go camping, I'm sure his daddy would love to take him into the wilderness. Hey, they might even be able to convince a city slicker (who needs two showers a day) like me to rough it up for the weekend! :-)

Anyway, our boy has been standing a lot lately. I'll give him another month before he begins to feel comfortable enough to walk around!

Message from SECULAR COALITION FOR AMERICA

[QUOTE]
Action Alert: Tell Leavitt that the “conscience clause” is unconscionable

President Bush and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt have colluded to allow medical professionals—from ambulance drivers to pharmacists—to refuse to provide care for people who seek services they find religiously objectionable.

Already, a “conscience clause” exists in federal law that allows a medical professional to opt out of performing a procedure or delivering a product if it violates his/her “conscience.” But now, the “conscience clause” is taken a step further and jeopardizes any woman’s ability to get complete and accurate information and services.

For example, the expanded definition of the conscience clause means that a health care center employee opposed to the provision of birth control who was hired to schedule patient appointments could refuse to schedule patients seeking those services.

Medical professionals (whether they are doctors, pharmacists, technicians, or ambulance drivers) are employed in the field of medicine, not spirituality. They have the right to consider their own religious beliefs in determining what medical decisions they make for their own care, but their personal religion should never infringe on the right of a patient to seek products or procedures that they have a legal right to obtain.

TAKE ACTION NOW.

The new regulations proposed by the Bush administration deliberately confuse the definitions of contraception and abortion, which also make it more difficult for women to obtain birth control. The new regulations change the definition of “abortion” from the standard definition offered by the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to one that is scientifically inaccurate and not endorsed by any leading medical associations or institutions.

The consequences for this policy being enacted are grave, and include:
• Health care corporations (hospitals, HMOs and health plans) could refuse to provide services or make referrals for birth control.
• Staff at clinics or health-care plans that contract for Medicaid services could refuse to provide contraception or information about contraception.
• Family planning groups, like Planned Parenthood, as well as researchers, clinics, medical schools, and hospitals, would be forced to employ people who object to abortion or certain contraception or they will be denied federal funding.

While the Secular Coalition takes no official position on abortion, we oppose the Bush administration’s attempt to redefine abortion to include some of the most common and effective methods of birth control and its attempt to promote medically unsound definitions of “pregnancy” and “abortion.”

While laws in 16 states ensure that women who are raped and visit a hospital emergency room are offered emergency contraception or information on emergency contraception, the proposed HHS regulation would allow certain hospitals or employees in all states simply to opt-out of providing this crucial women's health option based on the re-definition of emergency contraception as abortion.

This proposed regulation also impacts Medicaid, the Maternal Child Health, and other publicly funded programs.

[END QUOTE]

My piece: Contraception is a good thing. We need to educate people on this. It's not fun driving pass by the neighborhood high school and having to see a high school girl heavily pregnant (I think she was like 8 mos preggers). Again: CONTRACEPTION IS A GOOD THING. It'll prevent our tax dollars to pay for kids having kids until those kids are old enough to have more kids. It's a terribly vicious cycle. I repeat: CONTRACEPTION IS A GOOD THING.

Goodnight! :-)

Now That's What I'm Talking About!

This is too funny. Enjoy!

"Strength through unity. Unity through faith." YIKES!

The more current events I read and listen to, the more these events remind me of the movie, "V for Vendetta." Okay, so we haven't gotten to that stage yet (supreme dictatorship), but I'm afraid we're quickly moving towards it (illegal wire tapping anyone?). With the impending war with Iran, Bush's world order is beginning to see some light of day. Even if there are no WMD, most people still believe in the Republican party and that the wars we are fighting right now are "just" wars. How can we, as a nation, justify all of the killing and bloodshed for nothing but destroying and taking over other countries. Isn't that "empire building?"

If the Neo-Cons get their way, we will end up with a society like that of "V for Vendetta." A nation where we are to live under one faith, and anything that objects to that faith will be "silenced."

There is no freedom through faith, there is only freedom through reason, education and understanding.

Are you out there?

Are there any moderate atheists out there? You know, the ones who don't believe that we should become a socialist country without any borders. Allowing "whatever feels good" to take over better judgment? I'm just curious, as it sometimes feels like my husband and I are the only two people who don't believe that we should work hard, only to get more taxes taken from us to pay for those who don't want to work (welfare). We also don't believe in "open borders." Meaning that we think the laws of this land should be enforced rather than allowing those who come here ILLEGALLY all the benefits that we have had to put into the system.

We also don't believe that EVERY criminal can be rehabilitated, nor should we feel sorry for them when they steal and plunder those around them because they are "less fortunate" than others. Your economic status does not and should not allow you to do bad things to others. Both, my husband and I grew up rather poor, and we never once thought about "stealing" and/or committing a crime because we didn't own all of the nice stuff that others around us might have. Though, growing up poor was a motivation to become better educated so that we wouldn't have to financially struggle everyday.

If you haven't guessed it, we're what you would call a Libertarian.