The Truth Hurts . . .

It's the day every mother fears.

She knows it's coming and she can't escape it.

She holds her breath . . . thinking maybe if she quietly slips through her days, no one will notice.

But in her trembling heart, she knows the truth . . . and boy, oh boy, does it hurt!

Her size has expanded. No more are her younger, cuter days of "perfect" jeans and little hips. Gone are the times of a carefree waistline and a rounded bottom. She is starting to sag in areas that used to perk. She is starting to increase in areas that used to fit in tight squeezes (crowded and unsafe piling into the backseat of teenage-driven cars, anyone???). Her body has changed, and her children are there to confirm those changes.

An interaction occurring a few nights ago while I was finishing laundry:

(Shannon folding her underoos and quietly minding her mama-business.)

Kellyn: Are those yours, Mama?

Me: Yes, honey . . .

Kellyn: WHOA! Those are BIIIIGGG underwear!
(With an appropriate astonished look on her face to boot)

**Ouch.** Sadly, I vividly remember having those same exact thoughts about my own mother's underwear. Life certainly has a way of keeping us humble, heh? ;)

Summer Cuts

About a year ago, I began cutting Heath's hair to save some money. (Don't worry, I went through an actual step-by-step with a beauty school drop-out . . .that sounds bad, but she is wonderful! Thanks Shelly!) I buzz the back and scissor cut the top, which is time-consuming when you are a perfectionist who agonizes over almost every single cut you make. Well, since it is summer (and finally starting to warm up this year), Heath agreed to let me buzz the whole thing as a time-saver. I decided to do the same with Cavan as he was in DIRE need of a cut as well. Here are the before and afters:

Hairy Daddy








Clean cut and respectable










Shaggy Cavan






My big boy ;)












The handsome men in my life (minus Sebastian)!










Remnants of the process
Overall, I think I like them both with a little more hair on their head, but this might be a nice option for future summers. ;)

Cash for Clunkers

Courtesy of my pal, Shawn.

Cash for Clunkers

I have a modest proposal for getting rid of wasteful spending, irresponsible government and even out-of-sight deficits: let's demand cash for trading in congressional clunkers. The idea occurred to me when I recently found out that our esteemed House of Representatives just authorized $200 million for three new luxury jets to take them on the "necessary" trips that they have to go on in order to do the business of government that we have not asked them to do. Since "we the people" are their bosses, we technically "own" their services, and therefore, if we just told them that their services were no longer needed and traded them in for cash, we may finally be able to get some value out of them or get new ones that actually function properly. It works for deadbeat and inefficient cars, why not for congressmen - and congresswomen of course?

Read the whole thing

Public Domain Children's Books

This looks like a nice resource:

http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

The Case Against Facebook

Since I've been receiving pressure from all sides to join up in the latest ephemeral on-line fad, I thought a nice old-fashioned refutation would be in order.

My laundry-list of reasons why I haven't joined the "Cool Kids" club yet:

1) Time waster: Between work, family, books, hobbies, and the plethora of other internet time-sucks I take advantage of (e-mail, blogs, etc.), how can I justify wasting more of my day on Facebook?

2) Popularity Contest: It's basically all the things I hated about high school, right? Having as many "friends" as possible, hoping not to be excluded from somebody's group of "friends", writing on people's walls, doing anything possible to be unproductive with your time . . . yeah, I remember this: Trico High School '95-'98.

3) Lack of Profundity/Impermanence: The thing I love about blogs is that I can post something of substance or something family-related and know that someday my children may be interested to peruse the archives. I doubt any of my progeny will be interested to read my status updates such as, "Oh man, does my toe ever hurt today!"

4) Risk of Offending: I have my high school buddies, my college drinking pals, my Jesus friends, my students, etc . . . it's best if each group knows as little about my other relationships as possible. Would I have to sweat out each update, hoping someone wouldn't take offense about over "I think Miller Lite sucks" or "Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior"? (OK, you wouldn't see the latter . . . maybe the former.)

5) "Culture of Non-relation": One of the priests at Newman coined this phrase about the current generation. An Archbishop recently warned about the "dehumanizing" effects of social networking sites such as Facebook:

“We're losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person's mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point,” he said. “Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanizes what is a very, very important part of community life and living together.” (Link)

A compelling case, I know . . . now, with all that being said: I'm in. I'm going to sign up right now. Sounds like fun.


UPDATE: OK, I started signing up and gave Facebook the following preliminary info: Name, e-mail address, DOB, sex. That's it. The next page came up with a list of about 30 people, all of which I know from various associations. WTH?!? What kind of "1984" set-up is this?!?

"Latinized" hymns

Two of my loves have come together: Latin and hymnody. This gent has taken a ton of hymns in English, translated them into Latin, and put them into a poetic, singable meter.

He clearly has way too much time on his hands.

http://www.latinisedhymns.org.uk/

You know the hippie quotient is getting a little high when . . .

. . . your 3-year old daughter approaches you asking to have hummus for dinner.

(Sigh)

Accepting Help

For those of you who know me well, you know I have a very difficult time accepting help (although I am MUCH better than I used to be!) and an even harder time, asking for help. I think much of this is due to my family of origin and how I grew up. As an adult child of an alcoholic, I am accustomed to getting my needs met by myself. This was a helpful behavior as a child because often, I had to take care of myself (and sometimes, younger siblings). However, now that I am a mom of 3 precious babes, this behavior does not serve me so well anymore. In fact, it is frequently harmful, unproductive and downright ridiculous at times. (Imagine a woman w/ baby in sling, one child at each hand, carrying 3 bags over her shoulder, balancing a basket on her head and attempting to push a cart across the lot with her abdomen or hips . . . that exact scenario hasn't happened yet, but it's a possibility!)

All of this is a prelude to a simple story about me accepting help. I know, I know, less talk, more content. ;) This past weekend, I made a shopping trek out to Meijer with Sebastian and Kellyn in tow. I go through the self-checkout there b/c we use our own re-usable bags and that's not easy for a cashier to do when all the service lines are already equipped with the circular, 4 rows of bags, spinny thing that they use. As I began scanning items, a woman approached me and asked if I needed help. I looked around with uncertainty. She was not a Meijer employee and I found it odd that she would just volunteer to help me. I said, "Sure" somewhat cautiously. Then, I spent the entire time at the checkout mentally exploring possibilities of why in the world she would want to help me. Was it a dare? Would she ask for money when she was done? Did I look that pitiful for a random stranger to offer help?!

She filled up my bags with our groceries and stocked them into a new cart. We then proceeded to the van in the parking lot with both carts (Kellyn was still sitting in the one I was pushing). She mentioned something about working in the nail salon there and noticing me with the baby and all those groceries. Since there weren't any customers, she excused herself (with supervisor's permission) and came to help me. What a very sweet, random act of kindness!

I am so thankful for that interaction for a few reasons: 1) It demonstrates that we are still a society that can care enough about one another to reach out and help 2) My acceptance of help is proof to me that I am indeed recovering from hard-to-break dysfunctional habits (Recovery is a life-long process after all!) 3) It was as if God wrapped up this tiny little gift and bestowed it at a time when I truly did need a little help (and here I was thinking of all the negative reasons she was trying to help me!). Learning new habits is challenging, but I am hoping "yes, you can help me" will leave my mouth a little easier.

The one drawback to not packing your own groceries: broken eggs and smooshed bread. No matter. My wonderful husband suggested salvaging the eggs and making omelettes! Where would I be without him?!

Swine Flu Fear-Mongering

I've been receiving lots of email updates recently about the current development of a swine flu vaccine. True to form, following the recent outbreaks in Mexico and U.S., fear blindly sweeps through our nation. I will admit, I am also fearful of the unknown and illnesses that can have very negative outcomes for certain populations. However, I don't think "fast-tracking" vaccines into development without proper testing is the answer.

Below are two snippets from 60 minutes in regards to the 1976 Swine Flu Scare and subsequent government vaccination program. I love Mike Wallace. ;) He asks the simplest of questions that sometimes are too hard for people to answer. Why? Because unfortunately, the truth is harder than fiction.







Like I talk about ad-nauseum in the Bradley Method classes I teach, informed consent involves knowledge of the benefits, risks, what the procedure is, and what alternatives are available. Then, only after people have all of that factual information (which is more than just one side's propaganda), can they make a truly informed decision and consent to medical procedures. Informed consent is more than just signing a page long document filled with fine print. Whatever you choose to do regarding vaccines, please be sure you are informed.

Here is more from Barbara Loe Fisher at the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) in regards to the incidence of the flu and other important statistics:




Lastly, here are Dr. Mayer Eisenstein's recommendations for maintaining health. While we are still in summer, flu season is right around the corner. Here's hoping for a healthy one for you and your families!