Dear Michele Bachman

you think making us use energy efficient light bulbs is an invasion of privacy but telling us who and how many we can marry isnt? What planet are you from? Using energy efficient lighting is for the greater good of all. it is working towards a future where we are environmentally conscious and want a land of plenty to be here when our children are grown. How the hell is making us use energy efficient lighting taking away my rights as a citizen? Why do you choose something so trivial to make a stand about? whats all the talk about big brother when we are talking fucking LIGHTBULBS!? where was your big brother talk when we were talking listening to phone conversations, following bank accounts, even keeping track of what books you rent at the library? where was your misguided sense of justice then?

Just put on your pretty hat and keep your mouth shut. You aren't helping anyone.

polygamy is still illegal?

WHY??? I do understand that someone would feel hurt and betrayed if they found out what they thought was THEIR spouse was also someone else's spouse. What if wife number one knows all about wife number 2 and 3 and 4 and really doesn't mind a bit. How is this hurting someone ELSE? how is this hurting society? I am not talking about religious sects. I am talking regular people who have more than one spouse. why is that so wrong? I would not object to my husband taking a second wife. I would not object to my husband bringing a wife into our home to be a family. Why does love have to have limits? When it comes to children they say "Oh it takes a village" and all that crap. but we arent allowed to build our own village to raise our children, oh no. we must let society raise them. If we go and have polygamous men and women raising children positively without turning them over to the rest of the world, then they will learn to think for themselves and everyone knows we can't have that!! We can't have people thinking for themselves or they will start to make decisions. they will have opinions. they will want change. Other than the religious right that says marriage is supposed to be ONLY one man and one woman, can anyone tell me one good reason why polygamy is illegal? if its only based on the religious definition of marriage what ever happened to seperation of church and state? (I could ask the same question about gay marriage) I find more and more that the bible is not about love. its about hate and seperation.

The Handmaid's Tale

I finished the handmaid's tale. quite disturbing. reminiscent of nazi germany. Only those who meet certain criteria are allowed to live in certain areas, allowed to do certain things, allowed to live. I didn't like the ending as much as I wanted to. I saw the movie many years ago and wanted some sort of closure like what was in the movie but there was nothing.

Happy SPring

happy Easter.
Happy whatever you celebrate.

what has happened to our language?

I was watching tv and they were saying why the bride's dress is such a big deal. they said it was because the bride is the star of the show and so when she wears that special dress it emulates from her.

EXCUSE ME? it emulates? you mean EMANATES? how does a dress emulate anything? and if the dress made everyone else emulate then wouldn't everyone wear a big fancy dress to the wedding and not just the bride?

Things I have learned

never trust someone who says trust me.

If someone says I am not _________, but then continues to do exactly what they say they do not, they are indeed __________.

Kids haven't changed. In all these years, kids haven't changed. My kids say and do the same things I did. They end up in the same situations I did. No, Kids haven't changed. Society has changed. Parents have changed.

A leopard doesn't change his spots, baby!

Husbands have PMS of their own. they just don't call it that.

Kite Runner

Kite Runner is the book I am reading right now and it is GREAT! If you get a chance to read it, DO IT!

It ranks right up there with Power of One which I LOVED!

prostitution anyone?

I am not interested in becoming one, however, I think the current laws forbidding it are stupid and arcane. How is it that I can have casual sex with anyone I meet for any reason or no reason at all, but if I get paid its suddenly a crime? that makes no sense at all. If it were a legal position they would pay taxes on their income, thats a good thing. It would also mean women could do it on their own and they wouldn't need a pimp to look after them(and take most of the profits). It shouldn't be a crime, it should be a business opportunity.

By the same token I think that any political official who is having sex with prostitutes is NONE OF MY BUSINESS! it is definitely something he and his wife/partner need to discuss, and it definitely can cause problems at home. but unless he is using public funds to do it WHO THE HELL CARES!

Child prostitution is wrong. A child is not old enough or mature enough or knowledgable enough to consent. but if two consenting adults have sex and one person pays the other person its a service provided, not a crime. and furthermore if I want to hire someone to go to some todo with me and then I want sex afterwards, I really should have to pay for the extra services rendered. Not doing so amounts to stealing, which is also a crime. so I am damned if I do, and damned if I don't.

Lose weight

all those commercials for different weight loss drugs. do they really work? I wonder sometimes. I even stopped at the store with the intention of buying one. But as I read the label it occurred to me that I would STILL have to eat less, STILL have to move more, so why waste ten dollars? I do wonder still though if they work. I could use a little help. when you are home with 4 kids full time. homeschooling, leading scouts (which I have today darn I forgot), 4H, shuttling kids to where they need to be....where does that leave time for "workin out" and losin weight? It leaves only time for quick unhealthy meals and snacks that only help to pack ON the pounds not take them off. So far I have lost about 5 pounds eating lean cuisine for lunch and less dinner and small breakfast. no exercise. My pants fit a little better but what i really want is to wear my jeans again before its summer and I have to put them away! Maybe ten dollars isnt a waste of money if it will help me get there. But I just dont know that it would.

selling your wares

I am amazed at the number of online places to sell your wares. You no longer have to pay rent on a brick and mortar shop to sell your stuff. But how do they get the traffic necessary to get people to buy things? With the ten gazillion sites on the web, which one is better? which one will be "the one" to put you in business? If one chooses the wrong one, they lose money. Maybe a lot, maybe a little. but the intent in selling the things you make is to MAKE money not lose it. In some ways I am still in the dark ages. I just dont see how I can make money online selling stuff I make. Yet I cant see how to sell it at home in town either.

Forgive or Forget? Can we do both?

An Ethical dilemma to be sure. Can we forgive and forget? SHOULD we forgive and forget? Perhaps we should say forgive OR forget. If you forgive and forget you no longer have that warning of previous behavior. If you forget you wipe clean the memory of the event. If you forgive you absolve the offender of all responsibility for the act. Maybe its something that shouldn't be forgotten. Or forgiven. Case in point, The Holocaust. Should we forgive? Forget? What do we learn if we forget? what protection do we have that it wont happen again if we forget? If we forgive are we condoning the behavior? If you forgive your husband for stepping on your toe and forget it happened, what will happen later? Probably nothing. But if we forgive and forget something like what happened in Germany what will happen later? Are we giving someone the power to make it happen again? Forgiving and forgetting says we wipe it all under the rug and its as if it never happened. But it DID happen. CAN we sweep it under the rug? can we forget? what will this do to those who suffered in Nazi Germany? So maybe we should think twice before slinging some little phrase that we think means nothing. Telling someone to forgive and forget might not be in their best interest. or yours.

Homeschool 101

or Why I homeschool.

I really enjoy having my kids at home. They are good kids. They amuse me. The are helpful. Most of all the ENJOY homeschool. Given the option they choose NOT to go back to public schools. Some of the reasons I think homeschooling is super are: I KNOW their friends and who they hang with, I know where they are and who they are with ALWAYS, I get to guide their values to what is more in line with my own values rather than let the school decide what my kids should and shouldn't do in life. I can repeat a lesson over and over and over until the child gets it. Schools don't have time or staff for that. My kids work at their own level and their own way, not a level defined by a governmental body that has no clue how my kid as an individual learns. We can do fun things and field trips while everyone else is sitting in class. Generally museums are deserted on a weekday. There is a lot learned in homeschool that is not learned in public school. They have an understanding of how a household runs, they do not believe the underwear fairy washes, folds, and puts away their clothes. They get home ec every day, not just one semester of one year. They get to interact with people of all ages in all kinds of situations. They don't have to stand in line to use the rest room(at least not most of the time !) They learn to listen to their bodies, they eat when they are hungry, sleep when they are tired, bathroom when they need to, not when someone else tells them to. Oh I could go on all day about why I love homeschool.

Don't even get me started on "homeschoolers don't get socialization!" My homeschoolers are incredibly social. They socialize all the time! At homeschool group, scouts, 4H, community events, library, church, with cousins, siblings, friends and neighbors. Just because they don't sit in a classroom with 25 other kids the same age doesn't mean they are hid away in a closet. They make their own bank transactions, attend music lessons and have recitals, they help with errands, they can write a check, host guests, attend community events. They have PLENTY of social time. Probably moreso than their public school counterparts because they GO so many more places.

Hooked on homeschool works for us!

May the bird of paradise fly up your nose

may an elephant caress you with his toes. May your wife be plagued with runners in her hose. May the bird of paradise fly up your nose.

seems the story of my life. I have 4 kids at home. 2 dogs. a cat. The bird of paradise has indeed flown up my nose on many occasion. I don't wear hose but if I did they wouldn't last 30 seconds around here. One of the dogs would jump, a child would snag as they climb in my lap, a pointy toy would be stepped on. and my hose would have runners.

I do adore my 4 little monsters though. THey are not angels but they are MINE!! and I love them fiercely. We are a blended family. Husband has two children from previous marriage. I brought two children to the marriage, and together we created one and adopted one. I think one more would be perfect. My husband doesn't agree. He is concerned with the expenses. Which leads me to the question, why is adoption so darn expensive? If a child has no home, and a home wants a child why should it be so all fired difficult and expensive to make it happen? I understand making sure everyone is safe. that makes sense. preparing adoptive parents makes sense too. but where do the tens of thousands of dollars involved in adoption go? It seems to me adoption is a pretty lucrative business. how does my 30-40,000 dollars help the children left behind? If everyone adopting is paying these fees, why are the children still living in orphanages that can barely get by? For example, my 10,000 usd "country fee" translates to 240,150 roubles. if a hundred usd buys a boatload of laundry soap, 240,000 roubles ought to be able to buy a lot of food and heat for the kids left behind. So if 3700 kids were adopted last year roughly 888,555,000 roubles were paid to the country. Over 800 million roubles ought to be enough to feed, heat, and provide support for a whole lotta kids! Yet some orphanages struggle to pay for heat, the kids dress in rags, and dont eat enough healthy foods. How is this possible? where did the 800 million go?