Sunday morning politics

I never talk about politics on this blog, for so many reasons.

But do you know what pisses me off? When people think that all women should be pro-choice.

I guess I should start out by explaining that I am a moderate. I'm not firmly Democrat or Republican, I look at the issues hard, debate with my husband and friends, watch 24 hour news programming, and study the candidates' webpages. I know the issues. I know what I believe. And I try to pick the candidate who lines up with my beliefs.

(To this day, I don't like Obama OR McCain. I'm sorry if that pisses you off. I actually have a lot more to say about both of them, but that would interfere with my little rant here. )

And really, I don't know what to think about Palin just yet. I don't know enough about her. But there have been a lot of articles and blogs written since Palin was announced VP that have pissed me off. Articles and blogs from women telling us that Palin isn't on our side, because she is pro-life.

Really? REALLY? I get it, it's part of women's rights. A lot of pro-lifers are incredibly extreme (I am not). But to say that she is not on "our side" ("our" meaning women because that is their general audience), is ridiculous. I know that abortion is a women's rights issue, but just because I am a woman doesn't mean I believe that a woman should have that particular right. Now don't get me wrong, I believe it is an important option in the case of rape, incest, or even in a case where childbirth could kill the mother. But other than that, I just don't agree with it. I can't. Especially not after knowing people who are in pain because they aren't able to have children or have had miscarriages, who have had babies who died because of heart problems and other diseases, and even a friend who had a stillborn baby. It hurts my heart to think that so many women are choosing to have abortions, thinking that it is the best way to get rid of their problem.

But I will never judge anyone who has had one.

It's hard for me to understand how anyone who has carried a baby, anyone who has felt those little kicks inside, anyone who realizes how early a fetus's heart starts beating, can think that abortion is okay. But if you do, I'm not judging you. It's your right to believe that. It's your right to have one if you want. I understand that there are reasons, so many reasons that someone would choose abortion. I feel fortunate that I have never had to make that choice.

But my point is, human life is important. People are important. Babies are important. And yes, I consider myself a feminist. I'm all about equal rights for women. Equal pay. Voting rights. The general right to speak our minds and be acknowledged as people. To have access to birth control. Etc. But that particular "right" is not a right to me. It's playing God. And I don't like that.

So no, I don't believe in a woman's right to choose. And I'm tired of everyone thinking that just because I am a woman, and a feminist, I should be pro-choice.

Game Day

The first game day of the season is here. Yet, instead of dressing my baby in Auburn gear and getting ready to watch the game, I'm dressing him for a doctor's visit and trying to calm him down. I think he has an ear infection. Or something. We'll find out in a few hours I guess.

Anyway, to celebrate the beginning of football season, I put up a post on Deep South Moms about the importance of football in the South. It's a bit Auburn-centric, but I think most college football fans can relate. Feel free to comment on your school's game day traditions :)

HBM's Bitchfest

This post is part of Her Bad Mother's Bitchin' Bitchfest. People all over the blogosphere will be putting up posts all weekend anonymously on other people's blogs to let it all out. There's a link at the bottom where you can go see what it's all about. Monday, HBM is going to have a post up in her basement that will link to all of the bitching, if you want to check that out.

Got anything you want to bitch about, but don't want anyone to find it on your own blog? You can email me (cassie at jmcgraw dot net) and I'll put your post up anonymously as well.

This post has been submitted anonymously.

A family should be a support, a place to fall back on, the light in your darkness times, the ultimate love. So all my family saying they need to bring out the "tough love" for the black sheep sister- is in fact not tough love at all- it is plain evil!!!! Tough love means you sit patiently, pray and wait for the one you love to come around and open up to you. Tough love is not maliciously going behind their back and calling them "hopeless" and "not worthy." Your tough love sucks.

The worst of it is the ones that made her a black sheep are the ones who are the worst perpetrators of all. Their selfish behavior during a bitter divorce made her dirty, their lack of love as she grew in to a teen made her gray. And eventually their desire to throw her away as a young adult made her black. Parents that should care, give and support are the ones who turn their back- mock and point- well to my parents you have three fingers pointed right back at you! Do you realize that I see your lack of love and caring for my sister as a warning- the idea that at any moment or mistake I make your love for me will be pulled away. That right now you could be calling me "Stupid" or "hopeless" to my siblings as you called my sister. Ultimately how do you expect the black sheep to grow up and be that perfect parent when you yourself as a parent sucked. How is a child to show love when they were in the middle of a loveless marriage and household. Who suffered a mothers abandonment and a fathers selfish behavior. How is she as a mom suppose to know how to raise successful children when the parents failed her.

No, she is not hopeless or unworthy of our love- she is my sister, our sister, your daughter and their mother. Why do we insist making her into the demon, the black sheep- when in fact she is a little white sheep lost in the darkness, a darkness her parents created!!!!

I need your expert opinions

There seems to be some debate on the Nest baby message boards about sleep habits. So I'm asking your advice....

Some say you need to keep your baby awake more during the day so they will sleep through the night.

Others say if they nap more during the day then they won't be overtired, and will sleep better at night.

What do you think? What worked for you? Or is this a trial and error, kid-by-kid type thing that I will just have to figure out for myself?

WW: Poker & Funny faces

Dear son

Dear Jackson,

There is something that I really want you to know. I know you're too young to grasp this yet, and you only go on your primal instincts, but sweetheart, I swear I will never let you starve.

Last night you woke me up at 2 o'clock in the morning with nothing but a tiny whimper. I leaned over in the bed and looked at you, and you had the sweetest little smile on your face. I love looking at that sweet face of yours. I wish you could just remember that I hear your every little sound, and I will always be there. Sometimes you just have to give me two minutes to fix a bottle. It's really not that long.

So if you could stop waking me up by screaming your little head off, that would be awesome. Seriously.

Love,
Mom

Deep South

I don't really have much to say today (without going on and on about my struggles getting Jackson to sleep), so I thought I'd send you over to see some of my recent posts on Deep South Moms blog:

Living in the Moment

Wal-Mart Rudeness

Yep, totally phoning it in today.

Well Hot Damn!

I guess I wrote my first post today a little early, because I just found out I got another award today!
My blogging soulmate Emma passed this award along to me! And I would totally give it back to her if that was in the rules!

Here are the rules for this award!

1. If you receive the “Rock on Sistah Friend” award, you must post the button on your blog (in sidebar or in a post), and link back to Color Me Untypical.
2. Let Jia know if you receive the award from someone, so she can add you to our Sistah’s Who Rock Blogroll, and give them her personal “Rock On Sistah Friend!”
3. In the post on your blog, you must give the award away to 3 other Sistah’s who you think rock. Post links to their blogs, why they rock, and post the rules to the award. Also, let them know you’ve given them the award so they too can celebrate themselves and pass on the love.

I am passing the love on to:

Mandy at Life's About a Dream for being such a sweetheart,

Erin at School Teacher by Day, Superhero by Night for her funny teaching stories,

and This Military Mama who is a new mom and Navy wife just like me! I can totally relate to a lot of her posts.


Now I've gotta go see what this baby is fussing about!

I heart your blog

I got an award today! Whoo! haha. Really, what a great way to start out the week :) I got it from Mandy over at Life's About a Dream. She's the sweetest!

I'm passing this award along to:

Paisana at Burlap Condoms and Sam at Sam's Stories, because those two always crack me up!

Meghan at A Mom Two Boys, who is the creator of All Mediocre and is putting together AllMediocHer in DC which hopefully I will be able to attend.

Muthering Heights who always has great posts, and Will Blog for Shoes, who just had a precious baby girl and posts the sweetest pictures of her two little ones!



In other news, the most recent google searches that have hit my blog are:
"Southern escorts"
"Happy ending"
"baby grunted farted pooped diaper"
and several variations on "my husband needs a haircut" lol.

Who does he look like?

Well according to this Look-a-like meter, Jackson looks equally like me and Jason. I personally think he looks more like Jason.

But really, he kinda looks like Eddie Munster. I mean, come on, look at that dark widow's peak. He's bound to look like this...
Maybe they'll do a remake of the Munsters and my kid can get a TV gig. Then I can sit on my ass all day and eat bon-bons while he brings home the bacon. Hey, don't judge me! That's what Dina Lohan did, and look at her now!

Do I even need to add the disclaimer that I'm totally kidding?

There's not much I would divorce my husband for...

But deciding to make us into a carnival family might just cause the big split.

We watched Wife Swap last night. I don't know if you watched it, but one of the families was a carnival family. The kids really didn't do school work, they just played and ate sweets all day (and were overweight because of it). They lived in an RV.

While they were telling the carnival family's story, my husband reminds me that RVs and funnel cakes are two of his favorite things in the world. Then he calls his mother and tells her this:

"I know that you were a really great parent, and I had a pretty good childhood. But maybe if you had picked a different vocation, it would have been better. You should have ran a carnival so I could live in an RV and eat funnel cake all day."

Luckily, she has a good sense of humor.

Then he decided that since he couldn't have that as a child, then he would just have to wait until he got out of the Navy. He could give his son "the life he never had."

I don't think so, dear.

WW: My boys

The fire

The other night an SUV set fire in the parking lot of my apartment complex. Luckily (for us) it was a few buildings over. Since we weren't really in danger, we sat outside and watched. Also luckily, the firefighters got there before the fire got to the gas tank.

Good nub, Bad nub

Apparently whenever new guys AKA "nubs" get to the boat (I'm speaking of my husband's Navy career here) they are usually treated like crap. Jason compares it to rushing a fraternity.

Last Sunday afternoon the other guy going to the boat with Jason texted him and asked him to go to the bar. Jason asked me what he should tell him. I said:

A--It's SUNDAY.
B--You have to report to the boat for the first time tomorrow.
C--You have to take care of the kid.

Any of those will do.

Jason opted to just not write back and pretend he missed the message.

Apparently the other guy went to the bar anyway. By himself. He got wasted and got into a fight. The cops were called. He called his mommy and told her he was abducted. Then he had to sit in the drunk tank until his superior officer came to pick him up.

Great first impression right there, don't you think?

Anyway, so when Jason got to the boat, obviously everyone had heard what happened, but since they didn't know him, they thought he was the one who had gotten into trouble. He spent his first two days getting introduced to everyone and hearing things like, "So you like to drink huh?" and answering with, "No that's not me, that's the other guy."

Because of this, Jason has been dubbed "Good nub" and the other guy is "Bad nub."

The lesson here? Never forget that first impressions are incredibly important. And thank you, other guy, for giving my husband a little boost.

We can be all kumbaya and whatnot

Auds over at Barking Mad has invited us all to have a virtual dinner party, inviting 10 other bloggers as our guests to get to know each other better.

Before we get to the invites, I should mention that I have thrown some pretty awesome parties in the past. Once I was having a bunch of people over, so I made two big pitchers of Sangria. Turns out, none of them liked Sangria. So I drank a whole pitcher by myself, (I couldn't let it go to waste!) and promptly threw up. Ok, ok, so that was one of my less successful parties, but if I had a real dinner party, you would all want to be invited. I'm just saying.

So who would I invite? I've really got some hard choices to make here people...

1. Emma at Diary of a Domestic Goddess. We're like virtual soulmates or something. Wow, she probably thinks I'm creepy now, but you know what I mean. When we ran into each other's blogs for the first time, we were at a very similar point in our lives, both several months pregnant with our first babies. Then she had to go and piss me off, giving birth to her baby on my due date while I suffered through another miserable week before being induced. But her baby Ollie is possibly the 2nd cutest (next to Jackson of course, sorry, I'm a bit partial) baby boy on the planet, so of course I forgave her. I think we'd have a ton to talk about, and Ollie and Jackson could be friends. Plus she's always posting really good looking recipes, so maybe she could bring a dish or something :)

2. Mandy at Life's About a Dream. She's got tons of funny stories about her two sweet little boys. Plus she apparently has some story about her husband's nickname BP coming from the song Big Papa, which I know has to be funny and possibly a little dirty because even though she teased me with it, she's obviously not going to post about it on her blog. I bet I could get it out of her after a few glasses of wine though.

3. Sam from Sam's Stories. I think I would have to invite her because she is hilarious. I was immediately enamored with her when I went to her page randomly one day and saw her "about me" where she claims to jam out with her clam out. I feel like she would definitely be a "life of the party" type of girl. And also? I owe her a handjob. And she owes me 5 bucks.

4. Paisana from Burlap Condoms. She has all of these crazy stories about her ex that she could regale us with. Plus, she's bringing the alcohol. She is, after all, on a first name basis with the people at her local liquor store. And she gave me an award. Clearly, she is awesome and recognizes how amazing I am.

5. Becky from Mommy Wants Vodka. As soon as I saw the name of her blog, I thought, now this is someone I could get along with. I started stalking reading her before I even had a blog of my own. This is her chance to have a reason to come down to the South, because seriously we would be having this party in Alabama, not in VA which I neither consider home nor the South. We can walk around barefoot and drink mimosas, after she has her baby of course.

6. Erin from School teacher by day, Superhero by night, because DUH! She is a superhero! Maybe I am secretly one of those people whose superpower is to absorb other people's superpowers and the reason that I have never exhibited any signs of being a superhero is because I've never met anyone who had power for me to absorb. A few hours hanging out with her and who KNOWS what kinds of feats I will be able to perform. Also, I think she is right at my maturity level--she once stuck a stapler down her pants to keep her students from trying to play with it.

7. Kathryn at Seeking Sanity. I'll stock the house with bagelfuls to lure her over. She'd have to sit down the table from me though, because she is so tan now that my paleness would be glaringly obvious. You would all think, oh my gosh does this girl ever go out in the sun? No, I do not.

8. Amanda at The Family News. I think we'd have a lot to talk about. I think her sweet little girl Lauren would be a good first girlfriend for Jackson. Sorry Amanda, I'm not really trying to pimp your baby out. Hey, I just realized that if we all did get together and brought all of our kids, there would be a hell of a lot of little boys running around.

9. Jenny, The Bloggess. Like I said before, she is hilarious. Most of her posts have me literally laughing out loud, so I can only imagine what she would be like in person. Plus, we need to make a plan for how I will help her hide all of the dead bodies. Oh yes, my friends.

10. The New Girl. She has an idea for a drinking game we could try, and a bunch of funny stories she could tell us about her crazy neighbors. And I feel like we could sit around and talk about Harry Potter and I would be a very happy girl.

Damn my party would be fun. I wouldn't even have anything really to contribute with all of you fabulous ladies around, except the food of course. Which would probably be delivered. I've set my kitchen on fire before without even attempting to cook anything, so I doubt trying to cook for a whole dinner party would really turn out very well. I would make my famous chocolate raspberry bars for you though...they are yummy!


Actually, if I could, I would invite every single one of you. Because I love you ALL. Seriously. Let's all get drunk together and blog about it :)

Oh and PS--I swear I am not an alcoholic, though reading through this post I realize it might seem like I am. I just haven't had a good girls weekend type drink fest since before the baby was born, and hell, I need some "me time." and a margarita.

Public Service Announcement: Candoms

I saw this on That's Punny this morning....

You can now keep your canned beverages safe from STD's and unwanted pregnancy.

You're welcome.

Haiku Friday: Drawbridge

I used to stop for
trains at the railroad track but
now I stop for boats

as the drawbridge goes
up and traffic stops, waiting
for them to float by.

WW: Father/Son Time

You Are My Sunshine

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

I was singing that song to my son while I was rocking him to sleep the other night, and I just started crying. I've sang that song a million times before. I used to sing it with my Nanny and in preschool, and once Jason even put those words into a letter to me. But I never felt the way that I do when I sing them to my child. I feel like I never really knew the meaning of those sweet words until now.

When you're pregnant, everyone tells you that your life is about to change. Well of course it is, I always thought. But I could never have imagined how much it would change. It's not just the diapers and the bottles, the sleepless nights and the tons of baby stuff crowding my home. It has changed everything about me. It has changed my priorities, my perspective. I feel like my heart has opened up to a love that I never knew before, a love that is stronger and deeper than I ever could have imagined, for both my son and my husband, who is turning out to be an amazing father.

Having a child has changed who I am, unarguably for the better.

In which I go all sci-fi on you

You may or may not have figured out by reading my blogs that I am a complete and utter nerd. While I can't "get into" Star Wars, Star Trek, or Lord of the Rings, I too have my own sci-fi/fantasy obsessions. Harry Potter. Serenity/Firefly. X-men. and most recently Heroes. We've started watching Season 1 and are almost done with it, which leads to the old nerdy debate--if you could have any superpower or magical power, what would it be?

1. Teleporting/Disapparation--I would love to just be able to click my heels or snap my fingers and be in a new place. Think about it, no need for travel plans or expensive plane tickets. No need for a car or $4.00/gallon gas. No 15-hour car ride just to see my family. I'd just snap my fingers and "HELLO Greece!" Plus, I'm lazy. With this one, I wouldn't even have to walk to the mailbox.

2. Flying--If I couldn't choose teleporting, I would definitely want the ability to fly for pretty much the same reasons as above. It would take a little more time, but probably be more adventurous too.

3. Moving things with my mind--I forget the real term for this one (hey maybe I'm not that big of a nerd after all! yeah right). I have always thought that this is a pretty lame superpower to have, except that it does appeal to my lazy side. But now that I have a kid, I think it would actually be the most helpful in day to day life. I often think how lucky I would be to have this power while I'm holding/feeding the baby and want to turn the channel on the TV or decide I'm thirsty.

4. Reading people's minds--I just think this one would be fun. I love to people watch, so hearing their thoughts would be pretty cool. Kinda creepy though I guess. But at least I'd know when I was being lied to. I wouldn't want anyone to know I could do it though. They might try to keep their minds blank around me, and there will be none of that! You will not thwart my superpowers! *cue villainous laughter

5. Cellular regeneration/ability to heal yourself--I totally forgot about this one, but it's my husband's #1. I know it would be great because you could never really get hurt and would probably live forever, but I don't think I'd really want to live forever. Also, it's daily entertainment value would be slim to none for me. See, I get dizzy and nauseous at the sight of my own blood, so it's not like I could be like Claire (Heroes) and just jump off of a bridge to see what happens, then pop my own bones back into my body. (YUCK! I am twinging just from writing that).

I wouldn't really want to see the future though. Or be invisible. I mean, maybe if I could turn it off and on, but who wants to be invisible for their whole lives? Plus, being invisible only really lets you do creepy mean things--like steal without getting caught, or sneak into places you shouldn't be. No thanks! I also have no desire to have super-strength. I mean, come on! I'm not using my powers to save the world here, I just want to have an easier and more interesting daily life :)

So, if you've made it through this far and want to tell me what YOUR superpower would be, feel free. Or you can admit your nerdiness to me. Or tell me how crazy I am, whatever...I've got more Heroes to watch!

A few posts to share

I don't usually do this, but this week I saw some posts that I just wanted to share with you all.

You probably already read The Bloggess. She is hilarious! This week she posted an incredibly funny post about how her cat is more dangerous than global warming.

And now I am completely inspired by Muthering Heights, whose 100th post was about how she lost 100 pounds after she had her babies. No more complaining from me--I've got to get on the ball.

Letter to my past self

I got this idea from Shamelessly Sassy. She's inviting everyone to leave advice to their 18 year old selves.


Dear 18-year-old Cassie,

This is your future self. Really, it is. There are a few things that I wanted you to know.

You're not fat. I know you think you are and you have really low self-esteem about it, but you're not at all. In just a few years you will look back at pictures of yourself and you will think, "WOW! I wish I could be that skinny again." So live it up while you can. Wear a bikini this summer, and don't feel self-conscious about it.

Don't start smoking. I know right now you think you never would, but later you will change your mind. Whatever they say, DON'T DO IT.

There are people in your life that will turn out to not be good for you. When you realize this, let those people go. Get them out of your life, don't try to hang on. You believe in the good in people, and while that's a great thing, you have to know when to let go. They are no longer the friends you thought they were.

Don't worry too much about money, or the future. There will be ups and downs, but everything will turn out just fine. Trust me.

A girl in your science class will give you advice on where to apply for a teaching job. You can choose for yourself whether or not to take it, but know this: You will learn many life lessons from that job, but it will be hell. It will make you question your faith in people, and in yourself.

Don't be scared to stand up for yourself. Sometimes you just have to say what you think. It will make you feel better.

Cherish your moments at home. I know you hate it there in that small town and just want to get away, but one day when you live far away you will miss it.

Love,

Me (you) from the future!


What would my husband write? I asked him, and he said:

Jason,

Lighten up. Drink more. And try to take your college education seriously, so you won't have to join the Navy.

Future Jason


So tell me friends, what would you tell/warn yourself at 18?

Sore losers

My husband and I might have a little bit of a problem when it comes to video/board games. We sort of berate each other while playing. Especially Mario Kart. Neither one of us takes it to heart, ever. It's just a thing we do. After one night of playing games with us though, one of his friends asked us if we were sure we wanted to get married, because we're not very nice to each other. heh.

Today he started text messaging me, and this is the conversation we had--

J: The Ecker's just bought Mario Kart for the Wii. They think they can beat us.

Me: HA! Did you tell them that I kick ass at that game?

J: Yeah! I said GOOOOD fucking luck!

Me: LOL

J: They want to come over Saturday and play us. Start practicing haha.

Me: Did you warn them that we are horrible trash talkers and incredibly sore losers?

J: He thinks it's funny. I told him the Harry Potter Scene It story.


My husband once agreed to play HP Scene It with me, which was really dumb on his part because I am a HP FANATIC and he could care less about HP, but he hates to lose. at anything. ever. So basically halfway through the game, I am winning by A LOT, and he loses his shit and just starts throwing game pieces around the room.

Because he is mature like that.

To this day, he still swears that he has never played RISK with me either. He bought RISK, thinking that it is a "guy's game" and that I wouldn't "get it" and he would win easily. WRONG. I have kicked his butt at that game about 5 times. He has never beaten me. Now he refuses to play it and tells everyone that we've never played together.

We are sore losers.

one hundred

This is my 100th post! Wow! So I'm sharing 100 things about me...

But first--thanks for all of the compliments on my new layout! I really love it too :) It was done by See My Designs by Shanna.

1. I was born in Dothan, AL,
   
2. home of the Peanut Festival,
   
3. which we went to every single year until I moved away.
4. A few miles away is Enterprise, home of the Boll Weevil Statue.
5. That's the only statue to ever honor a bug, and we had our picture made in front of it in our wedding attire on the way to our reception.
6. I went to Daleville High School--
   
7. that's the same school my mom graduated from.
8. She was in the same class as my husband's mom.
9. I was one of 5 Valedictorians in my class--
   
10. we all had over a 100 GPA.
11. They only let two of us give speeches, and I was glad that I didn't have to do it.
    
12. I have a fear of speaking in public,
    
13. and of rats,
14. and amputated body parts,
15. and of falling.
16. Because I fall kind of a lot.
17. I have a scar on my knee from falling in a parking lot in middle school.
    
18. I lost so much blood I almost passed out.
    
19. I have a scar on my chin from falling as a child.
    
20. I hit a coffee table and had to have stitches
    
21. because my front tooth went through my chin.
    
22. My guilty pleasures include watching One Tree Hill marathons
23. (I own all of the seasons on DVD)
24. and Grey's Anatomy
25. and The Office
    
26. and LOST
    
27. and I'm recently addicted to The Secret Life of an American Teenager, even though I know the acting is HORRIBLE.
    
28. I hate most reality TV,
    
29. but I like America's Best Dance Crew.
    
30. When I was in middle school I once wore an all pink outfit to school--pink shorts, socks and shirt
31. and a girl told me I looked like a bottle of Pepto Bismol.
32. I was so embarrassed by that statement that I decided I hated pink.
    
33. I didn't wear pink again until my Junior year of COLLEGE.
34. Now it's one of my fave colors,
    
35. and I look damn good in it.
    
36. Another guilty pleasure: cheesy dance movies with bad actors.
    
37. such as: Center Stage
38. Save the Last Dance
    
39. and Step-Up.
40. I like Nutella and bananas on my peanut butter sandwiches.
    
41. A love of Chinese buffets is one of the main things that I have in common with my husband.
    
42. I rock at Guitar Hero,
    
43. but only when it's on "easy."
44. I seriously rock at Mario Kart though.
    
45. My husband says I can't drive
46. but I've never had a ticket
47. and I've only been in one accident EVER
48. and it wasn't even my fault.
49. I'm a clean freak
    
50. even when my house is messy it's usually pretty clean.
    
51. In college I was the "clean" roommate, and all guests used my bathroom because of it.
52. I like to bake brownies
    
53. and 12 layer chocolate cakes
    
54. and all of other things that make me so fat :)
55. I don't care about "being green" or eating organic food.
    
56. I won a spelling bee in the second grade.
    
57. The winning word was "neighborhood."
    
58. Clearly, I am awesome.
59. I like to debate about politics
    
60. and religion
61. but never with people that I don't know well.
62. Unless I'm drinking and you bring it up, then all bets are off.
    
63. I believe that gay bars/clubs are the best places to go dancing. The guys don't hit on you, and you don't have to worry about what you look like.
    
64. I love to travel and I have visited:
    
65. NYC
    
66. Las Vegas
67. Chicago
68. St. Louis
69. Germany
70. Italy
71. Jordan
72. Luxembourg
73. Ireland
74. England
    
75. France
76. Amsterdam
77. California
78. Florida
79. and various other US states.
    
80. I have lived in Alabama
81. Belgium
82. SC
    
83. and now VA.
84. I blogged on myspace and Livejournal for 6 years before I started a "real blog."
85. I named my first car "Reggie" because it was a red Geo Prism.
86. I miss my dog.
    
87. I love sweet tea
88. fried chicken
    
89. Jack Daniels
    
90. white wine
91. oatmeal pies
    
92. zebra cakes
93. and Toblerone candy.
    
94. I like Dane Cook
    
95. Ron White
    
96. and Stephen Colbert.
    
97. I'm socially awkward.
98. I like to scrapbook but I'm lazy about it.
    
99. I love to read. Especially Harry Potter.
    
100. They're the only books I can read more than once.
     

WW: It's my sister's birthday

My "little" sister turns 21 today! Makes me feel old...

This is the card I sent her from Some E-Cards. If you like sarcasm and completely inappropriate hilarity, you have to check out that site!

Not my son

"Johnny, could you please sit down?"
"You can suck my d***, motherf***er"

That is how a day started out when I taught 6th grade. Anger and hurt feelings. No man had EVER spoken to me that way, and I was not about to let a child speak to me that way either.

Sadly, the day ended the same way. More anger and hurt feelings, as his mother towered over me, threatening me, cursing at me in front of my students. None of whom would tell her that I was telling the truth, though they had all heard what he said and had sat there with shocked faces.

"Not my son," she had said. "I taught my son better than that." According to her, her son was a perfect angel, and I was just a racist who was trying to get her son in trouble.

Not her son, who had been my biggest discipline problem all year long.

Not her son, who had forced a girl to give him head in the bathroom when he was in the 4th grade.

Not her son, who had been in multiple fights throughout the year and had been suspended several times.

Not her son, who had been the only person to get suspended from Kindergarten at that school. He had beaten up a little girl so badly that she had to go to the hospital and have stitches sewn in her face. It was an incident that resulted in his mother being escorted off the school campus by the police because she had threatened and cursed at the principal in front of a hall full of elementary students.

She had clearly taught him well.

Our First Kiss

I was never really one to kiss on the first date. At least, not until the man who eventually became my husband came along.

We were in high school at the time, and our first date was typical of high schoolers--we went out to a movie. Being the gentleman that he is (or was anyway. heh.), he let me pick the movie. I picked Hardball, which seemed from the previews to be a pretty neutral movie. Not too much guy stuff, but no girly crying parts. The last thing I wanted was to come out of the movie theater with my mascara running.

Well, I hate to ruin a movie for anyone, but you have to know the ending to understand. Towards the end, two of the little boys get caught up in a drive-by shooting, and the youngest one gets shot. The little boy who has been so sweet and innocent and cute throughout the whole movie, the one that everyone loves, dies.

I was trying so hard not to bawl. My nails were digging into my hands, and I was trying to focus on not crying. But finally, I looked over at Jason and saw that he had a few tears running down his cheeks, too. He looked at me and smiled this sort of half happy, half sad smile, and I couldn't help it. I just leaned over and kissed him!

To this day he teases me about being the one to kiss him first. He always says he wasn't even going to try to kiss me on the first date because he didn't think I would let him. He also thought 'our song' should be Big Papa by Notorious B.I.G. because it plays throughout that whole movie.

Don't worry, it's not.

I submitted this post to Scribbit's "First Kiss" Write Away Contest.

Venom

My husband takes these Venom Hyperdrive weight loss supplements/appetite suppressants (which he calls "vitamins"). He uses them before he has a physical assessment to lose weight quickly, and he once lost 25 pounds in 2 weeks.

I've been trying to exercise in spurts while the baby is sleeping--some sit-ups here, some Wii Fit there, but I haven't had time for a real workout, and now I'm starting to gain back some of that pregnancy weight! UGH. So I thought that maybe I would try his pills for awhile, to give myself a little boost.

I took ONE yesterday. ONE. And I will never take one again. I felt like I was going to die. Apparently it suppresses your appetite by making you feel like you are going to puke all day. Besides that I felt dehydrated, no matter how much water I drank. And later in the day, my chest started to hurt a little.

"I feel like I'm having a heart attack." A bit over dramatic, but still. He replied that, "That's just how you feel the first few days while you're taking them."

Umm NO. Nothing that makes you feel like you're having a heart attack is healthy. Or worth it. Maybe he should have warned me of this little side effect. It made me feel like I was having a bad hangover. And trust me, if I feel like I'm hungover, I at least want to have had the pleasure of a martini or two.

So I definitely will not be taking those again. My husband sometimes takes 3 or 4 a day! So someone needs to help me come up with a plan to get him to stop taking them. And no, telling him how unhealthy they are does NOT work. I've tried. Throwing them away doesn't work either, I know he'll just buy more.

So how do I keep my husband from having a real heart attack before the age of 30?

Why I have self-esteem issues

Me: "Do you think if I got a tattoo on my stomach it would cover my stretch marks?"
Jason: "Maybe if you got a tattoo of the Grand Canyon."

....a few days later...

Me, while shopping for bras at Victoria's Secret online: "Hey, they have these new bras that supposedly makes your boobs firmer & less saggy after wearing it for 4 weeks. If I knew it worked I'd probably get it, but I'm not trying it for 70 bucks."

Jason: "It's worth it! GET THAT!"

Can we say, JACKASS!?!

Haiku Friday: Europe

Memories of my
travels across Europe are
in my head today

I lived in Belgium
where we visited a huge
sandcastle display

In London there was
so much to see- Buckingham
Palace, the Eye, plus

Big Ben, and much more.
We saw Chicago on the
West End and we slept

in the crappiest
hotel ever, 2 girls stuck
in a twin sized bed.
I
We saw cathedrals
everywhere we went. This
is St. Patrick's in

Dublin. Then I was
"that damn American" when
I walked by this bar....
I visited my
friend Garima in "The Dam."
Big wooden shoes were

everywhere and
the Red Light District was sort
of scary! Sex shops.


Champagne tours and the
Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame,
and the Louvre. France obv.



In Italy we
saw Gladiators and ate
gelato before

going inside the
Colloseum. We threw our
pennies into the

fountain of Trevi
so that one day we can go
back. I will go back.