“Our constitution does not permit any branch of government to resolve these types of religious debates and entrusts to courts the task of ensuring government avoids them . .  . The statute at issue in this case does not prescribe a definition of marriage for religious institutions. Instead, the statute, declares, ‘Marriage is a civil contract’ and then regulates that civil contract . . . . Thus, in pursuing our task in this case, we proceed as civil judges, far removed from the theological debate of religious clerics, and focus only on the concept of civil marriage and the state licensing system that identifies a limited class of persons entitled to secular rights and benefits associated with marriage.”

Most people generally say they’re in favor of equal rights for homosexuals. Equal rights for housing, jobs,  government benefits…but then it seems like opinions get a little sketchy when it comes to marriage. Why is that? It really annoys me. I really think it boils down to close mindedness and overbearing religious sects. Part of the beauty with “Freedom of Religion” is that I have freedom FROM religion as well. I am free to support the church/belief of my choice, or even no religion at all. No belief system can be forced upon me. That is a great freedom. I, legally, can not persecuted for what I choose to believe. That is a great freedom. I can change my mind about what I believe. That is a great freedom. A fundamental human right.

I understand  opposition to gay marriage. I understand what the Bible says about homosexuality. I went to Catholic school, I went to very conservative Christian churches from age 14 on up…I have heard all of the sermons. But I still support the  separation of Church and State! Not so that my freedoms are limited,because they are protected!  Here’s an example of why I feel that way:

Sure, it sucks that we can’t say God in schools-because I happen to believe in God. Although I cannot say His name in the pledge of allegiance. But the Constitution is protecting my freedom of religion by doing so.  I wouldn’t want my kids being forced to say, “One nation, under Satan, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all…” because that would clearly go against my personal system of beliefs. Why should we force a Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, or Mormon child to conform to say things that go against theirs? ?

I like being married to Chad, and I cannot help the fact that I fell in love with him and found him attractive.

What if there was a religious doctrine that told me I was not allowed to marry a man over 6 feet tall? Even though I was clearly in love with him?  Even though all of my friends were getting married to men THEY loved and it was perfectly acceptable because their men were 5′ 10. Do they deserve happiness more than I? Do they deserve the right to marry the one they love more than I?

I would fight for my rights, and by golly…no goverment is going to base it’s laws off of a set of religious beliefs.

That’s my 2 cents.

Wow, it’s hard to keep this blog updated!

I’m going to be boring and just do a list of what I’ve been up to. Then I don’t have to think of forming proper sentence structure and adding descriptive adjectives and adverbs etc….k?

• Still working. Let me tell you, if I came across like this was going to be a breeze then I was highly mistaken. I forget how time consuming it is to keep a house clean. Especially a 2000+ square foot home. I’ve been spoiled in a mobile home, that’s for sure. 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 living rooms. But I am not complaining, just explaining! I’ve been cooking meals as well so that’s been fun trying new things. There is always a nurse working so I have until 3 pm to get all of my housework done and then I take over from 3-5 to give Carson 100% of my attention. He’s usually had a nap by then and we just play for a while and then I start his feeding  just before Mom gets home. I am becoming an expert at using a suction machine for his nose and mouth, putting him on his breathing machine for naps, feeding him through his G-tube, and making sure he works his little tooshy off and stays strong. It’s been fun, and we’re bonding. I have a pretty cute photo to share of him that I took on Tuesday. He’s about to be one years old already, can you believe it? April 1st!
• Home stuff:  My house is dirtier because I am home as much and just don’t have time to be Betty Crocker anymore. But we’re all happy and surviving Spring Break. Shaw is doing “so-so”…we’ll be taking him to the docter soon for ADHD testing, as he’s been surveyed at school and it’s not looking so hot. It’s no surprise and I am excited to get this figured out so the poor kiddo can just relax and not have to watch TV doing head stands for stimulation. He starts flag football on Monday. Molly is doing good. She read a 150 page book in 3 hours the other day, which I thought was super! She’s been playing outside a lot with her friends, and starting to act more and more like a tween. Too earlythat if you ask me, but she’s still a good kid. LOVES Twilight

Okay, I am going to hide from the snow that’s falling. Stupid, stupid white shit!

Can’t I just SLEEP IN?

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh…………….

I am tired! I just want to sleep in, you know? I started my new job on Wednesday. I usually get up around 7 (get outta bed around 9…Guns-n-Roses, anyone?) but I have to be 20 minutes away at 7:15. So, that leaves me with 6:00. Unless I take a bath the night before, which I hate to do-I like to feel fresh. I worked Thursday, too. But my hours fluctuate, so someday I’ll get to sleep in. Friday I was hoping to sleep past 7 but Chad hit snooze, and I snoozed for 40 minutes and almost didn’t get the kids to the bus on time. And today? Well, my little nephew was going to wrestle districts for AAU wrestling today so I had to be up at 6:30. Unfortunately he weighed in at  .6 pounds over, but even after a lot of sweaty jump-roping and laps….he was still over by .2 pounds and couldn’t wrestle. Ugh.

So I need sleep.

Okay, so onto the job part.

I am working with my nephew, Carson. He is about to turn 1 and we’ve been having lots of fun together. He’s got Nemaline Rod Myopathy so he requires a nurse, or skilled caregivers 24/7. His parents both have full-time jobs, so he has nurses during the daytime and also at night (so mom and dad can sleep) I am learning the ropes on what he needs so that I can be a back up nanny for him when there are holes in the nursing schedule. In order to give me steady hours and a steady income, I still am scheduled to be there 120 hours a month whether there is a nurse provided or not. So, to keep me busy-I am doing all sorts of domestic things around their house.  I’m a maid, a nanny, an errand runner…It’s like being at home, only they have a MUCH bigger house with way too many toilets. But it’s also a little scary right now…there are so many machines and medicines and therapies. I’m slowly getting the hang of it, though and I am so happy to be helpful. Who doesn’t love a house that is always clean, and homemade meals? And someone to cuddle your baby who genuinely cares about him?

Okay, time to go….my kids are having WW3 in my living room!

Not smoking, wii bowling, housekeeping

I smoked my last cigarette today. I hope. I am currently wearing an itchy, shiny nicotine patch. They work well and I always recommend them to future quitters. It really curbs the physical craving. However, the brain craves the habit once in a while and it is annoying. My mouth starts watering (not like I am hungry…it’s different than that) and I go to reach for a cigarette but then I remember, “wait…I am wearing a patch and have no cigarettes”…and then I move on and find something else to do. Like the dishes. Or Facebook. Or shop online for fabric for a project I am going to do. Or watch Lauren Luke’s make up videos on Youtube. Or just groan because a cigarette sounds good. All the while, mind you, I physically don’t need one, my body isn’t shaking or anything. LOL

Let’s see…what else is new? We bought the kids a Wii. I also got Tiger Woods 09 golf that I have yet to try. I’ll do that when I have my next “I need a smoke” moment. The kids like to play it, and although it doesn’t compete with the PS3 at all-in my opinion, it’s fun to jump around and what not. They love to play tennis and bowling. We also have a different bowling game called Pinbusters, where you choose funny characters like Elvis, or a slutty looking cowgirl. It’s very “real” in the way that your hand movements control the ball.  I definitely put too much hook on my throws. I suck at it, just like real bowling! Chad and Molly are the pinhead of the family though…Chad has a great bowling average in real life (not sure exactly anymore, but I know it’s 200 something) and Molly bowls in the 80s for the few times she’s bowled in her life.

Job news: I am going over to Chris and Brandy’s tonight to talk about my schedule. It sounds like I’ll be working there while there is a nurse on duty. I get to clean the house and do all things house keeping, and just play with the kiddo. On days when there is no nurse, I’ll do the best I can to be a nurse. They’re really working with our schedule so the kids won’t need much in the way of day care at all. I’ll post more as this journey begins.

I can’t think of anything else to write about today, but if I do I’ll come back and holler!

Thyroid issues? A little too much junk in the trunk? Too many bon bons?
This is what my kids do on snowy saturdays

….stuff their pants with Webkinz!

*rolling eyes*

A giggle for the day, to say the least.

Day One: Hollywood Studios

 

I was so nervous to fly…and so was Molly. She was in the bathroom while we were waiting to board, about to vomit becasuse of her nerves. But we made it to WDW safe and sound. I can’t say that I would ever like to fly again, but I am sure I will eventually. It’s just not the most encouraging after reading about the flight that crashed the same day we flew home. Sad…

Okay, onto the Disney stuff! I have posted photos on my flickr so you can browse through them. I am dissappointed in them from a photography standpoint because they are really nothing more than snap shots. Who has time to do anything but snap and run at Disney? It’s fast paced, especially when you only have 3.5 days to do it all in. But I am happy I took some anyway, and we have memories!

 

We went to Hollywood Studios on Day one. This park was full of fun things to do and I could spend hours just looking around without even going in any buildings or on any rides. But alas, we only had one day to see it all!

Our favorite ride in that park was the Rock-n-Roller Coaster, the Aerosmith ride. We didn’t get a fastpass for this ride, so we waited outside in the line for a while. Once we got into the building it was very cool. We were looking into the recording studio, where Aerosmith band dudes are “finishing a recording session.”, but really it’s a video you’re watching.  All of the sudden, the band manager rushes in to tell them them that they’re late for a concert. Steven Tyler is sad that we can’t come, so he orders us a stretch limo to hurry and catch the show. We leave the recording studio and hang out in line -which is  an alley into a parking garage. Finally, we get in the limo. We’re parked at the mouth of a tunnel. Music is blaring and you are looking at a huge “interstate” warning sign that says all sorta funny things to make me nervous as heck. Then it counts down and we are SHOT into the DARK tunnel at like 60 miles an hour (I looked it up and we went 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds!! That’s 4.5g’s-more than an astronaut does on a space shuttle launch. ) Holy smokes, if you can tell by our faces…it was insane. Then we go upside down in corkscrews 3 times and wind all around the place…The scenery is of the L.A. freeway and the only thing you can see are street signs whizzing by. At the end you’re dropped off at the red carpet. And you’re out of breath! Here is a photo they took of us:

There is so much more we did, but I’d have to sit here all day explaining it so go check out my flickr. 

I didn’t get to see Indiana Jones show or the American Idol show but there’s always another time! If you want to take a look at my flickr photos, you can see all of the fun stuff we did while we were there. At the end of the day, we saw “Mickey’s Fantasmic” which was the highlight, for me. It brought tears to my eyes because it was done so well and it was very magical!

After that, we went back to the hotel and CRASHED!

Highlights of the day:

•  ”Lights, Motors, Action! Stunt Show
• “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” play area
• The Magic of Disney Animation show
• Star Tours
• Muppet 3-D vision show
• Mickey’s Fantasmic
• lots of other things I have to look at the brochure to recall.
• Expensive food
• Hot sun
• Palm trees
• lots of laughs

 

I’ll post about day 2, Animal Kingdom (our favorite day), in my next entry. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disney details

Well, we’re back!!

And we wish we were still in warm, sunny Florida-that’s for sure!

I don’t have much energy or time to divulge in the details but until I get a moment, I’ll leave you with a few photos!

The pretty castle, at night! It was so cool! Magic Kindgom, of coarse.

My incredible kids with the Incredible couple….this was at Hollywood Studios (awesome)

 

Goofy with his identical twin, Goofy. At Magic Kingdom

 

My two princesses at the Magic Kingdom.

And a scary snake about to get Mickey-during the “Mickey’s Fantasmic” show at Hollywood Studios. That was So freaking awesome!

I’ll be back with more details and more photos

lucky.

 

Today I am thinking about being and getting lucky.

Being lucky:

How lucky are we to get to go to Disney!? I NEVER got to do things like this as a child. We never took vacations anywhere. Barely left our town….so this is exciting and I am thankful. I am starting to mentally pack my suitcase for Disney! I went to Walmart and got some pocket sized parkas in case it rains. I called my friend Tracy up and quizzed her about air travel, because she knows everything about it. I am going to plug in our ipods, gather reading material, my camera batteries, and hopefully remember to bring my cell phone chargers. And the laptop cord. And clothes. And toothpaste. And shoes. And maybe a candle because hotels smell yucky. The kids are getting pretty excited about it. They are asking me “how many days?” left until we leave, and Molly is getting concerned about our itinerary. She is going to be a planner, my complete opposite.

Getting lucky:

Ahem, close your eyes….TMI warning. I am happy it’s Thursday. Chad gets home tonight and I am hoping we can spend some “QT” together-because it’s been a while. “A While” is a very relative term, you know. For us, “a while” means more than 7 days. Anything over that is major turmoil and drama. We were “together” Friday night, But on Saturday (his b-day) he didn’t get any, I was just sooo tired from being at that tournament all day and having not much sleep the night before. So I said, “sorry…” and the next thing I know it’s the morning. Then Sunday night was the Superbowl and I started my monthy routine. And even though that is going on, there is always alternatives but I’ve just had a busy week. Monday was poker night and he was out late, Tuesday was wrestling and he went to bed too early. Last night I was annoyed with him for being passive-aggressive-frustrated about it. Believe me, he’s a major baby about it, too, and I was sure as heck not feeling any passion! But, tonight is another night, right? I will redeem myself, and he will feel so bad for giving me the crabby faces about not getting his “needs” met.

Wow, why am I even talking to the WWW about sex? Oh well, there are worse things in life to talk about, right? And I know I am not the only one with a hubby who likes to get lucky.

The job

 

A little history first:

 

My brother and sister-in-law had a baby on April 1st. His name is Carson and he is a special little dude. After a very long June-November, he was diagnosed with Nemaline Rod Myopathy. Basically, he has irregular muscle cells, with rod-like structures in them. He seemed fine at birth but his symptoms began to show soon afterward, like the hypotonia (floppy arms, neck, legs) and not being able to hold his head up, feeding trouble etc. In July, he was in the hospital for a week with what the Dr’s thought were Botulism-like symptoms and he was sent home after an insanely expensive antidote was given…he seemed to be getting better ,but progressing very slowly. Then in October, he got sick with a cold and ended up in the hospital for 30+ days. See, he doesn’t have the ability to clear his throat, cough productively…so when he got this cold they knew something was just not right. He was turning ashy and had severe breathing difficulty. So, after a very long stay in the NICU and a lot of testing, they gave him the diagnosis of Rod Myopathy. They won’t know the severity of his type until he’s older and milestones have or haven’t been hit. Their goal is to have him sitting unassisted by the time he is 1. He has a G-tube , night time ventilation, medicines, therapy and so on. There is no cure for this and although it is a sad circumstance, we all love my nephew and he is a little glimmer of sunshine through all of this.

 

So, onto the job part of this post.

My brother-in-law works with Chad, at the paper mill. He works a rotating schedule of days and overnights. My sister-in-law works as an underwriter for a major insurance company in Cedar Rapids. On New Year’s Eve, Carson got dropped from their insurance , I am unsure of the details because I am not an office gal.  Before this, they had nursing care during the night so they could get sleep for their jobs. And nursing care for the days that my brother-in-law was working his day shifts (which is not a typical 5 day work week, he is home a lot) . This nursing care got cut in half leaving them with no care during the day. After much stress, they decided that they would put an ad in the paper for daytime help. After weeks of waiting with nothing panning out, my sister-in-law reluctantly put her 2 week notice in and just threw in the towel. She didn’t want to lose her job. As much as she would love to stay home-it helps to keep her a little grounded and away from the stress -which she needs. We aren’t all made to be stay-at-homers. Yet, she couldn’t see any other option. Then they got a glimmer of hope when a lady called about the ad in the paper 3 days before her notice was up at work. This fell through within 24 hours.  That is when I called my mother-in-law for an unimportant reason. We got to talking about their situation. Keep in mind, I knew all of this was going on, minus one big detail. They had placed an ad for a nanny, not a nurse. They were willing to train someone to care for him and my sister-in-law would work from home (for peace of mind and being right there).
When my mother-in-law told me this I was like, “Why didn’t anyone tell me???? I can be a nanny!” She told me that they had wanted ME all along-they had hit me up when he was in utero, before they knew the outcome of his disability, but I was working at the time  and declined.  But they never asked after all of this because they felt like it would be imposing a burden on me,  because I was busy with my own kids and have been looking for a job. However, I told them they were nuts. This would not be an “easy” job but very rewarding!  I had been applying at daycares all over the place  so it’s not a far shot from what I wanted to do, anyway. After we hung up, I called my sister-in-law and told her that I would do this for them. She was in shock, a mess of emotions and a major roller coaster week had taken it’s toll on her. They called me back later and told me that she’d rushed to her boss and asked to revoke her notice and they decided to give her a 6 week leave of absence instead. So she can get recharged and put her ducks in a row. And hopefully, I’m a duck!  So….when I get back from Florida, we’re going to all sit down and work out a schedule and get to talking about this.

Happy it’s Monday

Wow, what a super busy weekend that was!

Chad and I had a “date” on Friday night. We went out for supper with a few friends and ended up in the most COWBOY bar I have ever been to in my life. It had line dancin’, cowboy hat wearin, and lots of “Yee-haw”s. Our friend, Heather, is a singer in a country cover band called “8 Seconds” , and they were playing at this venue. It was interesting-that’s for sure. She did an awesome job. Our friends we went with were having a few marital issues so it wasn’t the most fun time we’ve had but it was still nice to get out and do grown up things.

Saturday morning we took the trip to Lisbon and watched Shaw and Kale wrestle. What a LONG day. Seriously? I was there for 9 hours!  I think my whole side of the family showed up, and Shannon came to watch for a little bit. Thanks, girl! I ran into a few people we know and chatted a little bit. It was a pleasant experience and I had myself all worked up for nothing. Shaw and Kale both left with 2nd place medals. Shaw had to wrestle in a 5 man group so he was tuckered out. He pinned his first, almost had a technical fall in his second match (won 16-2), lost his 3rd in the first period via pin, had a bye for his 4th match, and pinned his last man. Kale had to wrestle a 2-time champ for his first match and lost after a heck of a fight, had a bye his second, and won his last.

Sunday morning was a lazy morning. I finally got the gears turning around 2 and made some veggie pizza and brownies for the Superbowl. My little brother came over and we sat on the edge of our seats and bit our fingernails off for the game. Chad (who has been rooting for the Steelers since he was in grade school, back in the iron curtain days) was in shock that they won the game. That touch down and turnover happenned so fast that he just didn’t have time to process it all. So, there wasn’t as much hooting and hollering as he usually does. Although the terrible towl was spinning a million miles an hour when Harrison intercepted and returned for a 100 yard touchdown. Holy shit that was awesome. I sorta wish he’d gotten the MVP award instead of Holmes, because he’s cool. Holmes is sorta arrogant and a little bit of a trouble maker! Anway, Go Steelers! I have to order a hat now. Not too sure about the blue though.

Today I am going to take it easy. Stay tuned and I’ll tell you about the job I think I have!