Ninja Turtle meets Spiderman - September 26, 2005 -
Quinn turned 5! He is my costume lover, so of course, a Nija Turtle costume was one of his presents.
He wanted a Spiderman birthday party, so that is what we had:
I can’t believe my little man is 5 already! My curly haired rascal!
Damage was minimal - September 25, 2005 -
The cake:
The child with his cake:
No need to tape the windows, but debris was scattered throughout the house. I had to restrain Bill from vacuuming until the last child was picked up this morning.
Since then, he has vacuumed 3 times. I think I heard him maniacally laughing.
I do not bounce well - September 17, 2005 -
Vocabulary words and phrases for the week.
Gravity. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Every rider experiences it eventually. They dread it, but gravity will have its way.
Road rash. Not the kind you get in your bike tights. I am talking about the kind of road rash that leaves you on the side of the road picking gravel out of your hand, elbow, thigh, calf and ankle.
Fate. It is also in play here. I mean, come on now, what are the odds that that particular big ass cicada killer wasp was going to be flying down the highway on my side of the road at the precise moment when I had just finished a hill, had recovered my speed back up to 18.5mph and had lowered myself onto my Aerobars?
Balance. It is key to using your Aerobars. You must have both arms on them, and cannot spare one, even if it is to frantically swat the HUGE wasp that has entangled itself in your hair.
Grace. Grace from above, because the truck that was following closely behind was not driven by a testosterone crazed, attention lacking teen, but an elderly couple who were watching carefully and reacted swiftly when applying their brakes as I went down directly in front of them.
Eternity. The time it felt like as I was being dragged by my bike for about 10 feet.
Numb. How one feels after almost getting hit by a truck, as you sit in a parking lot calmly picking gravel our of your hand.
Calm. The tone of ones voice when someone asks you what they can do and the first thing you say is "It would be a great help if you could get my bike off the highway, and hand me the cell phone that is in the saddle bag.
Love. The feeling you get when you hear your husbands voice on the line and his concern when you relay that you have wrecked on your bike. "No, I wasn’t hit by a car. Yes, I am hurt. Can you meet me at home and take me to the clinic."
Bewildered/amused. The wave of feeling that washes over you when you ask the elderly couple if they can give you a ride home, as blood drips from your elbow, and the lady replies, "Oh we can’t. We are going the other way".
A sense of humor. What one must have when someone says to you, "Did I hit my head in the fall? I was wondering if I had a head injury, because I think I just heard you say that you are going the other way and can’t take me home (i wanted to add "one mile down the road to my home.")
Gratitude. What one feels as another truck drives up on the scene and the driver volunteers to load you and your bike up and take you home.
Pain. What one feels sitting on the floor in the quiet of an empty house waiting for hubby to arrive home. While investigating the elbow wound, you note that the elbow feels like a half filled water balloon…..this really can’t be good.
Relief. How I felt when I found out that no bones in my shoulder or arm were broken. I ruptured my elbow bursa (hence the water balloon feeling and extreme pain), and wrenched every muscle on that side of my body. My knee got twisted, as my shoe did not unclip from the bike when I fell. I have a fair amount of road rash and lots of bruising and soreness.
Fanatic. One who must get back on her bike, 3 days after the fall, and go the same route, because DAMMIT, my ride got interrupted and I need/want to finish it.
Freakin’ wasp.
ATTENTION!!!!! - September 13, 2005 -
In reviewing my stats today, I found that someone came to my site while searching "termination due to clubfoot".
Please, please, oh God, please come to my site again and see this post. PLEASE e-mail me and I will show you my beautiful son who has clubfoot. He is gorgeous, funny, smart, adorable, and the joy of our lives and he is completely normal mentally and physically. His foot is a minor bump in the road of his life.
I will give you phone numbers and websites of people who can help correct your child’s feet/foot when he/she is born.
I feel so helpless. Please contact me. It is not hopeless. Look at my son!
His life is wonderful. He runs, jumps, skips and hops like any other child. He is learning to read now in school at age 4. He gives the most delicious hugs, and gives "Eskimo kisses". He climbs trees like a monkey, and has been riding a bike without training wheels since before his 4th birthday. This year for his 5th birthday he wants a rainforest animal cake.
His name is Quinn, and he doesn’t care one lick about his clubfoot.
So, please contact me. Your child’s life will be amazing too.
Damnitall, I am about done with blogging - September 13, 2005 -
I don’t think anyone "routinely accepts a level of suffering and hopelessness in Africa that we would never accept in any other part of the world". I think the problem in Africa is so darn big, that anything we do to help is never going to be enough, especially when the funds are not used to help the people, but to line the pockets of government officials and such. It is a never ending and continuous problem that money is not going to fix. It is a governmental, policy issue in Africa itself.
And as for people not caring enough. hmm. How about Rotary International? This is a group who has helped eradicate polio from the western hemisphere. They are trying to do the same in Africa, except, you know what? The African GOVERNMENT spread a rumor that the white men were using the vaccine to sterilize black African men. So guess what, no one got immunized and polio is RAGING there.
We are trying, Tertia. Trying so hard. But it is like pouring water on a giant sponge. But we wont give up, and we have not forgotten about your beautiful people.
I know that I STILL think about that woman and those babies. I can’t get the image out of my head. So I do my best. I donate to Lutheran World relief and the Rotary. And I cry. Because, dammitall, we do care. We are not heartless bigots. Americans on the most part are loving, thoughtful people, and that love goes beyond ethnic or racial walls that others may build up.
And one more thing, I stood up and applauded when apartheid was abolished. I remember it well. South Africans oppressed their own people and it was the pressure from outside nations, including the US that helped lead your country to an end to segregation at its worst.
"Despite public demonstrations, UN resolutions, and opposition from international religious societies, apartheid was applied with increased rigor in the 1960s. In 1961 South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth of Nations rather than yield to pressure over its racial policies, and in the same year the three South African denominations of the Dutch Reformed Church left the World Council of Churches rather than abandon apartheid. Although the policy of apartheid was continued under Prime Minister John Vorster, there was some relaxation of its pettier aspects, and this accelerated under his successor, P. W. Botha.
Probably the most forceful pressures, both internal and external, eroding the barriers of apartheid were economic. International sanctions severely affected the South African economy, raising the cost of necessities, cutting investment, even forcing many American corporations to disinvest, for example, or, under the Sullivan Rules, to employ without discrimination. In addition, the severe shortage of skilled labor led to lifting limits on African wages, and granting Africans the right to strike and organize unions. Unions, churches, and students organized protests throughout the 1970s and 80s. Moreover, political, economic, and military pressures were exerted by the independent countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
As a result of these pressures, many lesser apartheid laws–such as those banning interracial marriage and segregating facilities–were repealed or fell into disuse by 1990. In 1991 President de Klerk obtained the repeal of the remaining apartheid laws and called for the drafting of a new constitution. In 1993 a multiracial, multiparty transitional government was approved, and fully free elections were held in 1994, which gave majority representation to the African National Congress."
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So, at the end of my day yesterday, what did I have to show for it??? I’ll tell you. It was time and energy wasted that could have been used taking my kids on a walk or some other adventure. Time I could have been playing in my daughters room watching her feed and love on her dolls.
Thus, I have come to the decision that I will be limiting my computer time to my own blog, and those that remain on my blog list. I am giving serious consideration to ending my blog, but I am going to see how this works out, and go from there.
It just seems that it is one big coffee shop debate every day on some blogs, and that can’t be healthy. I think it brews negativity and I can’t afford to voluntarily allow it in my life. I can see it alter my moods. Don’t get me wrong, I am up for a good debate, but not every! freaking! day!.
My time could be better spent outside with my kids.
Introducing the newest member to our family - September 10, 2005 -
Internet, meet Buddy:
We are in love!
A lovely little girl - September 9, 2005 -
Please send up some prayers for this family. What a doll this child is.
Scroll down and read the post Pure Daddy. Words just fail me.
Wingless fruitflies in my life - September 8, 2005 -
Today I had to stay home all day while I waited on Fed Ex to deliver a vial of fruit flies. Yes, I said I wasted an entire day waiting for a fruit fly delivery. Such is my life with boys.
This was because the last one delivered was left sitting on my front porch and an army of black sugar ants decided to burrow into the vial and contaminate it, sterilizing all the larvae. After killing all the ants, we waited for a week and 1/2 for the flies to hatch….nothing, nada, zilch. So, they sent another vial of maggots-that-hatch-into-flies via Fed Ex.
The newts, they are hungry. They would stare at me every time I walked by the aquarium. I swear I even saw a bit of drool fall from ones mouth when I opened the new vial of fertile fruit flies and dumped the poor things into the cage.
The things I do for my boys.
Love your neighbor as yourself - September 2, 2005 -
The amount of aide pouring in for hurricane relief is humbling. I opened my paper this morning and the one thing that reduced me to tears was the MDA pledging $1million. Here is a group of people stricken with a horrible disease and they themselves struggle to raise funds for a cure, yet they give back.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
Countries that have pledged aide:
Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Greece, Hungary, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Nato, and the Organization of American States.
Corporations that are contributing include:
Chevron, JPMOrgan Chase & Co, Citigroup, Pfizer Inc, State Farm, Walt Disney Co., Nissan of North America, Anhueser-Busch, Sprint Nextel Corp., Kellogg Co., General Motors, Home Depot, Lowe’s Culligan International.
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right, and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited my in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison an go to visit you?’
The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers of mine, you did for me." -Matthew 25:31-40
Please find the charity of your choice and donate to it today. Our brothers and sisters need us.
Whatever your political affiliation, Michelle Maulkin has a very informative, organized and comprehensive list of relief efforts under way.
I recently read on another blog talk about the hurricane, and pondering of whether race played a role in response time. I can’t begin to tell you how much this PISSES me off. Especially since the rhetoric was coming from someone who has very little idea of what America is all about. In addition, this person comes from SOUTH FREAKING AFRICA, which to me, is a place that epitomized bigotry and oppression. Remember apartheid????? You know, the laws made by WHITE MEN that kept blacks starving and without rights AT ALL in South Africa up until the early 1990’s?????????????? If that crap happened in America in this day and age, Holy Jesus, Mary and Joseph………..need more be said?
She asked why people don’t respond to the suffering of Africans…why we ACCEPT the suffering of Africans. Good Lord.
Okay, so her little ponderings included these statements, and my response is posted below:
"But I must be honest and say that when I removed emotion from the issue, I was left with the lingering impression that this hierarchy of life seems to have on our reaction to disaster and tragedy. Was the (government / administration / Bush / whoever’s) reaction slower because of the racial and ethnic profile of the victims? Was the outpouring of love and support so fantastic because of the nationality / class profile of the victims?"
"I don’t know. In my uneducated, inexperienced opinion, it just feels as if, somehow, there is a hierarchy attached to the value of life. And that at the bottom of the pile are people that are either / or poorer, blacker, Non-American, developing world, African."
‘How is it that we routinely accept a level of suffering and hopelessness in Africa that we would never accept in any other part of the world?’
Africa doesn’t care about Africa. It is that simple.
$ directed to help the starving is diverted to the pockets of corrupt gov. officials. I hear time and again about murders, genocide, starvation, AIDS and a host of other terrible things done to the people of your beautiful country.
It sickens me, It breaks my heart to see a woman sitting under a thorn tree nursing her own baby AND her sisters baby, pleading to someone to help her because she doesn’t have enough milk to feed them both, so one of them will have to do without. Sophie’s Choice….but it isn’t a movie. It made the front page of our tiny towns newspaper, and the photo of that woman and those babies haunts me. I cried across the breakfast table to my husband as I nursed my child, "Let’s find her. I have milk for the baby." But the enormity of it all, what can I say, it was not possible.