This topic has been on my mind for a while and cemented when I was at a writing conference a couple of weeks ago. One of the panelists asked a really great question: What makes a book considered horror? Many thoughtful answers from the audience were given and lots of people nodded their heads in agreement. Then he gave us the *real* answer: because that's the shelf they put it on at the book store. It was an answer I hadn't considered before. Every story written, especially in genre fiction, is classified as one thing and marketed that way. But any good book better have many different elements or it risks falling flat with readers. It's a safe bet that a crime story has some elements of horror. So do many fantasy novels as well as contemporary ones. And what about romance? Every story could use a sprinkle of it.
That was the ah-ha moment for me about book labels. I have always struggled with them, especially when people ask what market I am writing for. What's the difference between Young Adult and New Adult? Or Middle Grade and Juvenile? Fantasy can be Epic or Urban but isn't it all just Fantasy? Even Science Fiction can be space opera or hard science. It can be overwhelming when all you want is a good book you'll enjoy. Bottom line, the only thing that makes a book Young Adult is because that's the shelf we find it on at the book store. It's been a while since I've relied on the library to acquire reading material but I'm pretty sure there's only three main sections: Children, Fiction and Non-Fiction.
With this realization, I no longer find it necessary to defend or criticize anyone's choice in a book because it is considered Young Adult. I'm not even sure how it has became such a heated debate among people but it is, in every circle of friends I have who are readers. I hate to admit it, but I'm guilty of uttering the words "I don't read Young Adult". Even though I devoured the "Twilight" series when it was new and couldn't wait to get the last one on release day. (Writing that sentence makes me feel like an alcoholic admitting I might have a problem.) Say what you will about the writing, but the story was fresh and new at the time and well told. I wasn't the only person at the time sleep-deprived because we couldn't tear ourselves away from the story until the wee hours of the morning. So why, in the later years when they were making the silly movies that barely did the books justice, did I feel slightly ashamed to have liked reading them? Because the series had been labeled as Young Adult and now every adult who liked it felt a twinge of something. As an adult, the label Young Adult tells us "you're too old to enjoy this". Shame on all of us who bought into it! Stories are stories and should appeal to you based on how you feel during and after reading it. Nothing more.
The other side of the coin is also true. Why should we limit what kids read by dumbing down fiction or skipping the real life elements just because those parts might make us uncomfortable if kids read them? I cut my teeth on hard core science fiction and horror with L. Ron Hubbard and Stephen King long before I was out of elementary school. I stole my mom's smutty romance novels almost as early. The Adult and Horror labels they would all fall under now scream at kids "you aren't allowed to read me yet". As a parent I even bought into the inherent censorship that comes with these labels, much to my chagrin. I wonder if I went to the school library today if I'd even find those kinds of titles on the shelf? I know I'm going to find out!
Call me a crazy mom but I'm going to let my teen, who has just discovered how much she loves books, to read anything she wants to try. Because where would I be as a reader, and as a person, if my parents had limited my options back in my own formative years based on ridiculous labels? Do I hope she will take advice from me on whether I think she will like it and allow me to covertly keep her as innocent as I can for as long as possible? Of course. But I'm also not naive because I was thirteen once, too.
I understand the need for classifying books so readers have a general idea of what they are getting based on the shelf they are sold from. But let's get beyond the labels meaning anything more than that. Every story will not appeal to every reader, and every book could be classified different ways. Just find a good one you love and read it proudly! I promise to stop judging fellow readers based on what they like to read and instead rejoice that there are enough readers in the world to keep all of us aspiring authors motivated to create and publish more stories to enjoy.
Showing posts with label Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Society. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
Life without judgement
It has been almost two years since my brush with death changed everything about how I live my life. The difference in myself was very stark this past weekend at the annual family reunion with my mom's extended family. All the cousins who were my best friends growing up - and still are - plus their spouses and kids all gather at a resort with a water park and spend the weekend playing in the sun together. It is always a blast and I always have a fabulous time but usually it is accompanied with lots of internal stress and dialogue about having to be in a bathing suit around others who are more "-er" than me... younger, thinner, prettier. You get the picture.
This year was different. This year I never once looked in the mirror with a critical eye - or at all come to think about it. Nor did I constantly look for strategic ways of sitting so I looked better (as if that way even exists since your body is your body regardless of how you sit). I just had fun with my kids without a care in the world. No cover-up included!
We spent hours - literally - walking back up the hill and the stairs to the top of the water slides, all the adults taking turns sliding with all the different kids - my own, my nieces and nephews and my cousin's kids whatever they would be called in the genealogical sense. Several times I thought with gratitude about how far I'd come in a year - from being physically incapable of it to rocking all the cardio without losing my breath in the process.
It made me think about all the people I'd ever compared myself to in the past to make myself feel better and wonder what things they could say they had overcome to just be where they were. Kind of humbling when you think about it...
A month ago I had my yoga world rocked to the very foundation. Weeks later, I'm still discovering things in my practice that are transforming and growing from that one ah-ha moment when I realized that I don't use my entire foot for anything. It occurred to me this morning, while my 147 pound yoga instructor sat on my sacrum to illustrate how to stretch my straddle deeper, that if you'd told me three years ago that yoga could still be fresh and new every week that I wouldn't have believed a word. And that the old Terra might have given up after that ah-ha moment because the inner voice would have convinced me that I was no good at yoga. Instead I've left all expectations of everything at the door and find joy in the newness of re-learning every pose differently. As I always say, yoga is a journey not a destination. I'm consciously having to take my own advice not to judge myself against anything - including myself from four weeks ago when I never used my heels. Now I know how people can practice yoga for a lifetime and I love how every trip to the mat brings new insights about myself - all because I leave the judgement out of it.
The biggest hope I have is that my girls will see me just as their mom and remember only how much fun they had doing things with me. I already know they don't see me as I see myself. Once I called myself fat and my oldest looked at me funny and said "you're not fat, Mom." Which stopped me in my tracks. If you haven't read this article about When Your Mother Says She's Fat , or watched this ad about doing things "like a girl", check them out. They both helped me see where I was my own worst enemy in putting myself down because I didn't measure up in the areas society focuses on.
In the grand scheme of things it is more important to live every moment regardless of how we feel about ourselves - especially when faced with the reality that every day might be your last. If you wait to enjoy life until you've lost that last 20 pounds (or fill in the blank with your own demons) it might be too late to make the memories you are putting off. Your kids could be too old, you could be too old, or the opportunities could have passed you by. Make every moment of every day count, no matter what. And leave the judgement out of it!
This year was different. This year I never once looked in the mirror with a critical eye - or at all come to think about it. Nor did I constantly look for strategic ways of sitting so I looked better (as if that way even exists since your body is your body regardless of how you sit). I just had fun with my kids without a care in the world. No cover-up included!
We spent hours - literally - walking back up the hill and the stairs to the top of the water slides, all the adults taking turns sliding with all the different kids - my own, my nieces and nephews and my cousin's kids whatever they would be called in the genealogical sense. Several times I thought with gratitude about how far I'd come in a year - from being physically incapable of it to rocking all the cardio without losing my breath in the process.
It made me think about all the people I'd ever compared myself to in the past to make myself feel better and wonder what things they could say they had overcome to just be where they were. Kind of humbling when you think about it...
A month ago I had my yoga world rocked to the very foundation. Weeks later, I'm still discovering things in my practice that are transforming and growing from that one ah-ha moment when I realized that I don't use my entire foot for anything. It occurred to me this morning, while my 147 pound yoga instructor sat on my sacrum to illustrate how to stretch my straddle deeper, that if you'd told me three years ago that yoga could still be fresh and new every week that I wouldn't have believed a word. And that the old Terra might have given up after that ah-ha moment because the inner voice would have convinced me that I was no good at yoga. Instead I've left all expectations of everything at the door and find joy in the newness of re-learning every pose differently. As I always say, yoga is a journey not a destination. I'm consciously having to take my own advice not to judge myself against anything - including myself from four weeks ago when I never used my heels. Now I know how people can practice yoga for a lifetime and I love how every trip to the mat brings new insights about myself - all because I leave the judgement out of it.
The biggest hope I have is that my girls will see me just as their mom and remember only how much fun they had doing things with me. I already know they don't see me as I see myself. Once I called myself fat and my oldest looked at me funny and said "you're not fat, Mom." Which stopped me in my tracks. If you haven't read this article about When Your Mother Says She's Fat , or watched this ad about doing things "like a girl", check them out. They both helped me see where I was my own worst enemy in putting myself down because I didn't measure up in the areas society focuses on.
In the grand scheme of things it is more important to live every moment regardless of how we feel about ourselves - especially when faced with the reality that every day might be your last. If you wait to enjoy life until you've lost that last 20 pounds (or fill in the blank with your own demons) it might be too late to make the memories you are putting off. Your kids could be too old, you could be too old, or the opportunities could have passed you by. Make every moment of every day count, no matter what. And leave the judgement out of it!
Friday, June 27, 2014
An argument for honestly reviewing books - and why every reader should do it
I've blogged before about how diverse reader's tastes are noting that there are so many ways a book can be regarded depending on who reads it. So there must be a way to slog through all the books out there and narrow down which ones you personally will like. Which is why I argue that every reader has an obligation to honestly and objectively review every book they read.
I'm a huge reader. No secret there. What many don't think about is that the number of books you can read in your lifetime is finite. There are far more books out there than you can read in one lifetime. Yes, even yours. That finite number varies by person depending on how fast and how often you read. For example, I read three books a month on average. That's thirty six books a year - give or take. If I have twenty more reading years, I only have time for seven hundred and twenty more books. Ever. Which is why you really should choose wisely. For the same reason, I also think you shouldn't finish a book that doesn't hook you and keep you entertained either. Unless you're in a book club since arguably you have an obligation to read those selections regardless.
So how do you pick which books to read so you get the most out of your remaining, and technically very limited, reading time?
Personally, I use recommendations from friends and fellow readers. Another reason I love Goodreads so I can see what people say about books before I decide. (Especially helpful when you have friends who read and enjoy the same books you like so you can see what they enjoyed - or didn't.) I shy away from books that don't get at least an average three-star rating (out of a possible five). But here's a little secret... I usually only read the middle of the road reviews and I especially am interested in the "bad" reviews. Those are the reviews that - if written objectively - give me the best insight. If I see that someone didn't like a book because of something that I might actually like, I'm more likely to pick it up. If someone didn't like how dark a book was or how bloody the action was but I really like dark and bloody books, I would probably pick it up.
In the past few months I've heard arguments from many different people about not wanting to honestly review every book which all boil down to a couple of general ideas that I take exception with:
"I don't usually review if it is going to be less than 3 stars."
"I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."
I think both of these arguments approach book reviews from the wrong side of the issue. I don't review books for the author's benefit, my reviews are designed for other readers like me so we can find books we like (and avoid those we won't). The hard truth that every author must grapple with accepting is that no matter how much effort and love went into writing a book, not everyone everywhere will love it. Reviews are designed to be the unbiased opinions of readers, and everyone everywhere is entitled to their own. Once a book is in the hands of readers, there's nothing that an author can change about it anyway.
What if every review was a glowing one and there were no differing opinions? Or what if no one reviewed books ever because they were worried about hurting either the author's feelings or the feelings of those who had a different opinion? Then every book would be as much of a gamble as randomly picking something off the shelf - without reading the jacket. By not giving an honest and truthful review, regardless of how you liked or didn't like a book, you're doing a disservice to every reader who comes after you looking for insights on whether they would like to read it. Of course I don't think you should completely trash a book (or the author) if you don't like it, but give me an objective and constructive reason why you didn't like it that can help me decide if I might also rather skip it. Then let me decide.
Because of this, I rate books in the following manner:
- 5 stars = Loved it! I abandoned all aspects of my life in order to voraciously read this book
- 4 stars = I really enjoyed it and I would highly recommend it to others - but I still slept at night, mostly.
- 3 stars = I liked it but I didn't love it. I found nothing to complain about but it didn't rock my world either...
- 2 stars = I didn't like it overall although I did finish it. (Incidentally, books with this rating have generally been ones I read for book club which illustrates the point that it takes all kinds of readers and not everyone likes the same things.)
- 1 star = I either hated it or I didn't finish it
You remember what they say about treating others the way you want to be treated, right? If you are a reader, won't you consider doing this as well? Future readers will thank you, myself included!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
The Wonder of Diversity in Fiction
Everyone is different, we all know that, right? This week I realized there is far more striking diversity in what people read than I'd ever given thought to. I devoured - and I mean devoured - a book a few weeks back by a fellow author I met at LTUE called Beatrysel. Afterwards I raved about it to everyone I know. And then was shocked - SHOCKED - when one of my besties from my writer's group picked it up and said she just couldn't get into it and didn't really love it. It got me thinking...
I knew that there were different tastes - ten years in a book club has shown that over and over again. In the microcosm of my own book club, there are people who adore the young adult genre even when they are far from the intended demographic the books are written for. There are those who love historical period pieces. And the holocaust. And the classics. And there's a handful of us who love fantasy. An even smaller handful who love horror. And for all of those who love a particular subset of books, the niches they discard are just as varied.
What makes you love what you read and reject what you don't like? I've thought for years that we all read with our own filters. Those experiences we've had in life that taint the glasses we look out from also tend to define how we take things in. Most fiction has one thing in common across all genres - it evokes an emotional response in readers. Based on an individual's emotional make-up, those responses will be different for different books. What a wonderful world we live in that for as many varied kinds of readers, there are that many varied kinds of writers providing the kinds of books everyone everywhere want to read.
I knew that there were different tastes - ten years in a book club has shown that over and over again. In the microcosm of my own book club, there are people who adore the young adult genre even when they are far from the intended demographic the books are written for. There are those who love historical period pieces. And the holocaust. And the classics. And there's a handful of us who love fantasy. An even smaller handful who love horror. And for all of those who love a particular subset of books, the niches they discard are just as varied.
What makes you love what you read and reject what you don't like? I've thought for years that we all read with our own filters. Those experiences we've had in life that taint the glasses we look out from also tend to define how we take things in. Most fiction has one thing in common across all genres - it evokes an emotional response in readers. Based on an individual's emotional make-up, those responses will be different for different books. What a wonderful world we live in that for as many varied kinds of readers, there are that many varied kinds of writers providing the kinds of books everyone everywhere want to read.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
The Perspective and Importance of A Moment
Today I gained the perspective of a forty-two year old. Because I now AM a forty-two year old. It is funny to look back on my late thirties when I started to refuse to acknowledge birthdays and dread that the age number kept getting bigger and what it all meant that I was 'getting old'. Everything shifted when faced with my own mortality but nothing quite so much as this little thing. When the alternative to getting older is being dead, you start to wonder which is really the worst thing that could happen.
An old friend I haven't seen in years - but thanks to the wonders of Facebook get to talk to and interact with - said today that my face hadn't changed since we worked together twenty years ago. It was the nicest thing and proves that aging doesn't have to be a horrible process. Could it be that happiness and joy are the magical facial cream everyone has been looking for to achieve younger looking skin? Could embracing your life and appreciating everything and everyone in it with open arms and without judgement lead to a younger and glowing countenance? Or was he just flattering me?
I've been internalizing a lot these last couple of weeks of yoga training, thinking a lot about being present in every moment and every situation. Things like noticing when Baby Sister gets whiny and I get frustrated and realize I have my focus so fractured between multiple things that I 'think' need my attention. The reality is that she is the one thing that needs my attention (usually) the very most in that moment. Thirty seconds of eye contact and direct engaged conversation are usually enough for her to restore harmony in herself and run off to sing and play with her babies leaving me to finish all the other unimportant but pressing things I've got going on. What if that's what everyone needs once in a while? What if life were really that easy? What if it is more about being fully present with someone rather than posing for a selfie over and over until you get it just right?
Have you noticed that there are no longer anybad candid pictures out there? Thanks to the wonders of technology you can immediately see what that "snapshot" is going to look like and decide to accept or re-do until you get it just right. And once you capture it just right, there's always editing software to remove blemishes and brighten the colors and whatever else you think wasn't perfect about the authentic moment the lens captured. What kind of a legacy are we leaving for our children when they look back and only get to see what we deemed were the 'best' photos of us instead of the 'real' photos of us? Are we all taking life way too seriously or taking ourselves out of the real moments to capture the perfect portrayal of the same moment for the benefit of everyone else? What if all that matters is being happy and not all the stuff we surround ourselves with?
These are the things I'm thinking about on the second birthday that I might not have ever had. Ultimately I hope I can be the kind of person that ages gracefully and who people look at and wonder "why is she so happy?" regardless of how many wrinkles are on my face or how high the number next to my age gets. I'll tell you, forty two never felt so wonderful!
An old friend I haven't seen in years - but thanks to the wonders of Facebook get to talk to and interact with - said today that my face hadn't changed since we worked together twenty years ago. It was the nicest thing and proves that aging doesn't have to be a horrible process. Could it be that happiness and joy are the magical facial cream everyone has been looking for to achieve younger looking skin? Could embracing your life and appreciating everything and everyone in it with open arms and without judgement lead to a younger and glowing countenance? Or was he just flattering me?
I've been internalizing a lot these last couple of weeks of yoga training, thinking a lot about being present in every moment and every situation. Things like noticing when Baby Sister gets whiny and I get frustrated and realize I have my focus so fractured between multiple things that I 'think' need my attention. The reality is that she is the one thing that needs my attention (usually) the very most in that moment. Thirty seconds of eye contact and direct engaged conversation are usually enough for her to restore harmony in herself and run off to sing and play with her babies leaving me to finish all the other unimportant but pressing things I've got going on. What if that's what everyone needs once in a while? What if life were really that easy? What if it is more about being fully present with someone rather than posing for a selfie over and over until you get it just right?
Have you noticed that there are no longer any
These are the things I'm thinking about on the second birthday that I might not have ever had. Ultimately I hope I can be the kind of person that ages gracefully and who people look at and wonder "why is she so happy?" regardless of how many wrinkles are on my face or how high the number next to my age gets. I'll tell you, forty two never felt so wonderful!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Religion and Politics... oh my!
One of the nicest things about living in the United States is that I have the freedom to choose - or not choose - a religion and not be discriminated against because of that choice. It should be the same in the political arena. I'm a huge proponent of my fellow citizens taking the time to exercise our fundamental rights as Americans - voting. And while I do have very strong personal opinions on which candidate I think will do a better job, I don't think picking "the right" candidate is any more important than just getting out to the polls. Nor am I ever going to ostracize someone for picking a different choice than me. What infuriates me is when people try to make me feel I've made a bad choice - whether it be for rejecting a religion or for picking the other guy on election day.
I had a really great heart to heart - middle of the night - discussion with some friends a while back where two of them expressed how refreshing it was to know this about me. We were talking about religion mostly - both are members of the religion I was raised in and later rejected as an adult - but the conversation also turned to gay rights which is one of the major hot points in today's politics. In expressing my differing views I never once made them feel their choices were wrong or that they weren't entitled to the same freedom I always demand for myself when making my own choices.
Which begs the question: How did we get to be such a society where it is no longer about having the freedom of choosing for ourselves but about which choice is made by the majority? Why is it that a Muslim or an Athiest is viewed differently than a Christian? And why is the political stage so awash in religious tenets? Why has "conservativism" become a choice of Christianity and the "liberals" the ones trying to destroy the "In God We Trust" folks? Don't people remember when 'In God We Trust' was added and that most of our parents didn't pledge allegiance to a flag that included the word "under God" in it when they were children? Since when has the conversation been more about proving your choice better than allowing tolerance for everyone's choice?
Bottom line, religion and politics have become far too intertwined and far too much emphasis on personal worth has been placed on both choices a person makes. Just because my opinions or belief system differs from yours doesn't mean I'm wrong any more than you are wrong because you made a different choice than me. In this very crazy political season, I hope there's others out there with the same thought process because if not we are going down a very slippery slope as a nation and it makes me sad. Remember, once you invalidate someone's personal beliefs it undermines the very fabric this great nation was founded upon. Today it might be tolerance that you show another that someday will come back to you from others and you'll be thankful you had an open mind.
I had a really great heart to heart - middle of the night - discussion with some friends a while back where two of them expressed how refreshing it was to know this about me. We were talking about religion mostly - both are members of the religion I was raised in and later rejected as an adult - but the conversation also turned to gay rights which is one of the major hot points in today's politics. In expressing my differing views I never once made them feel their choices were wrong or that they weren't entitled to the same freedom I always demand for myself when making my own choices.
Which begs the question: How did we get to be such a society where it is no longer about having the freedom of choosing for ourselves but about which choice is made by the majority? Why is it that a Muslim or an Athiest is viewed differently than a Christian? And why is the political stage so awash in religious tenets? Why has "conservativism" become a choice of Christianity and the "liberals" the ones trying to destroy the "In God We Trust" folks? Don't people remember when 'In God We Trust' was added and that most of our parents didn't pledge allegiance to a flag that included the word "under God" in it when they were children? Since when has the conversation been more about proving your choice better than allowing tolerance for everyone's choice?
Bottom line, religion and politics have become far too intertwined and far too much emphasis on personal worth has been placed on both choices a person makes. Just because my opinions or belief system differs from yours doesn't mean I'm wrong any more than you are wrong because you made a different choice than me. In this very crazy political season, I hope there's others out there with the same thought process because if not we are going down a very slippery slope as a nation and it makes me sad. Remember, once you invalidate someone's personal beliefs it undermines the very fabric this great nation was founded upon. Today it might be tolerance that you show another that someday will come back to you from others and you'll be thankful you had an open mind.
Friday, October 19, 2012
You can't make me... or can you?
I just looked back on my blog archives to make sure I wasn't naming this entry the same as the one I did on this subject this time last year and to my amazement find I DID NOT blog about this last year! *gasp* Hold onto your hats, this is a rant two years in the making now...
I work for a healthcare company (which will remain nameless here for my safety) and have for about 4 years. I work in I.T. and have never been in a patient care environment for my job. The first two years when it came time for everyone in America to get their flu shots, I signed a waiver that I wasn't going to get one. Employees either had to provide proof they got stuck or weigh in that they weren't planning on it so the company can mark us all off on their little lists. Two years ago, they got smart and offered a 'permanent waiver' if you were never going to get a flu shot which would make it easier on the head count every year. I was elated to eliminate the yearly hassle of the waiver.
Then the following year - last year - they decided that everyone was required to get the shot no matter what. So much for a permanent waiver that didn't even last a year! The only exception being if you had a religious reason - other than the "I am using my free will to choose not to" - or a doctor-verified medical reason not to get it. I was furious! Want to get me motivated? Tell me I can't do something and I'll prove you wrong. Want to incite me to violence? Force me do something I don't want to do.
How did they force us all to comply with this violation of civil rights? By threatening us with suspension and eventual termination if we didn't succumb to the needle by certain deadlines. I know what you're thinking - How can they do that?!? Isn't that discrimination? Isn't it against some fundamental human and civil right that we have to choose? I'll tell you how - because Utah is a right to work state which means they can fire me for whatever whim they choose.
Last year I was outraged... and when it came time to march down with the cattle call and get our badges scanned and fill out the paper and sign below the statement that says 'I am choosing to get this shot even after I've been told the risks', I crossed out the statement I didn't agree with and signed the paper. The turd from Human Resources refused to accept my paperwork saying the company's attorneys wouldn't allow any alteration of the forms. The following dialogue ensued:
I looked at him, seething, and couldn't argue with the logic. If I had the financial means to walk out the door right then and never go back, I would have quit on principle alone. But, alas, I have a family I help provide for that I had to think about. There were many I heard who did walk away from their jobs and I applaud them.
For weeks stories floated around about how people who had claimed an exemption for religious reasons or medical reasons had been denied and still required to get the shots. Apparently a slight allergic reaction wasn't enough, it had to be a severe allergic reaction. And the religion exemption was even harder to get.
Why am I so against the flu shot? It isn't the flu shot specifically because I wholeheartedly believe that those who are susceptible to getting the flu or are at risk for other factors should get the flu shot. But I'm not in either of those categories. I have not had the flu in over 20 years. So tell me how a dead virus grown in eggs and gambling that the epidemiologists correctlyguessed picked the way last years virus would mutate to get put in the vaccination when there are hundreds of strains of the flu virus will protect me any better than my amazing immune system already does with a flawless track record. I didn't even get the H1N1 vaccination when I was pregnant! No, for me this is just a violation of my right to chose what I do and don't put in my body.
This year I was resigned that I'm still not allergic to eggs - thank GOD since I eat them every day - to get me out of what I knew was looming again. Instead, I did a bunch of research trying to find if there was a religion I could join that would impart me with some tenet I could waive to say forcing me was 'against my religion'. Me, wanting religion. Ironic, isn't it? Interestingly enough, I found one! But even that came with a catch.... The Congregation of Universal Wisdom is against basically everything medical because they believe all things are cured by the laying on of hands on the spine. PERFECT! What's the catch? To join the congregation requires a one-time 'donation' of seventy-five dollars. SEVENTY. FIVE. DOLLARS. Oh, and if you require an affidavit of membership with a statement about their stand on immunizations, include an additional fifteen bucks and we will express mail it to you. I wonder how many other people who typed "is there a religion against flu vaccine" in their google search hit on the same page and how long this congregation has been around...
So, what is worse? Being forced to do something you don't want to do with the threat of losing your job; or being exploited financially by people who cleverly found a very specific niche market of people just like me who are willing to go to great lengths not to be forced into an unwanted immunization? In the end, my pocketbook won over my sense of outrage and my arm still hurts where they stuck me with that damn needle full of flu vaccine which I'm hoping doesn't mess with my already amazing immune system and isn't tainted with viral meningitis.
I work for a healthcare company (which will remain nameless here for my safety) and have for about 4 years. I work in I.T. and have never been in a patient care environment for my job. The first two years when it came time for everyone in America to get their flu shots, I signed a waiver that I wasn't going to get one. Employees either had to provide proof they got stuck or weigh in that they weren't planning on it so the company can mark us all off on their little lists. Two years ago, they got smart and offered a 'permanent waiver' if you were never going to get a flu shot which would make it easier on the head count every year. I was elated to eliminate the yearly hassle of the waiver.
Then the following year - last year - they decided that everyone was required to get the shot no matter what. So much for a permanent waiver that didn't even last a year! The only exception being if you had a religious reason - other than the "I am using my free will to choose not to" - or a doctor-verified medical reason not to get it. I was furious! Want to get me motivated? Tell me I can't do something and I'll prove you wrong. Want to incite me to violence? Force me do something I don't want to do.
How did they force us all to comply with this violation of civil rights? By threatening us with suspension and eventual termination if we didn't succumb to the needle by certain deadlines. I know what you're thinking - How can they do that?!? Isn't that discrimination? Isn't it against some fundamental human and civil right that we have to choose? I'll tell you how - because Utah is a right to work state which means they can fire me for whatever whim they choose.
Last year I was outraged... and when it came time to march down with the cattle call and get our badges scanned and fill out the paper and sign below the statement that says 'I am choosing to get this shot even after I've been told the risks', I crossed out the statement I didn't agree with and signed the paper. The turd from Human Resources refused to accept my paperwork saying the company's attorneys wouldn't allow any alteration of the forms. The following dialogue ensued:
Me: "But that means you are asking me to sign something that isn't true because I don't have a choice to get the flu shot and I'm not willingly choosing to get it."
Him: "Of course you have a choice, you don't have to get the shot."
Me: "But if I don't get the shot I get fired."
Him: "True. But if you choose not to get the shot knowing those are the consequences you still have a choice."
I looked at him, seething, and couldn't argue with the logic. If I had the financial means to walk out the door right then and never go back, I would have quit on principle alone. But, alas, I have a family I help provide for that I had to think about. There were many I heard who did walk away from their jobs and I applaud them.
For weeks stories floated around about how people who had claimed an exemption for religious reasons or medical reasons had been denied and still required to get the shots. Apparently a slight allergic reaction wasn't enough, it had to be a severe allergic reaction. And the religion exemption was even harder to get.
Why am I so against the flu shot? It isn't the flu shot specifically because I wholeheartedly believe that those who are susceptible to getting the flu or are at risk for other factors should get the flu shot. But I'm not in either of those categories. I have not had the flu in over 20 years. So tell me how a dead virus grown in eggs and gambling that the epidemiologists correctly
This year I was resigned that I'm still not allergic to eggs - thank GOD since I eat them every day - to get me out of what I knew was looming again. Instead, I did a bunch of research trying to find if there was a religion I could join that would impart me with some tenet I could waive to say forcing me was 'against my religion'. Me, wanting religion. Ironic, isn't it? Interestingly enough, I found one! But even that came with a catch.... The Congregation of Universal Wisdom is against basically everything medical because they believe all things are cured by the laying on of hands on the spine. PERFECT! What's the catch? To join the congregation requires a one-time 'donation' of seventy-five dollars. SEVENTY. FIVE. DOLLARS. Oh, and if you require an affidavit of membership with a statement about their stand on immunizations, include an additional fifteen bucks and we will express mail it to you. I wonder how many other people who typed "is there a religion against flu vaccine" in their google search hit on the same page and how long this congregation has been around...
So, what is worse? Being forced to do something you don't want to do with the threat of losing your job; or being exploited financially by people who cleverly found a very specific niche market of people just like me who are willing to go to great lengths not to be forced into an unwanted immunization? In the end, my pocketbook won over my sense of outrage and my arm still hurts where they stuck me with that damn needle full of flu vaccine which I'm hoping doesn't mess with my already amazing immune system and isn't tainted with viral meningitis.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Myth busting
Ever heard someone say it is so much harder and more time consuming to cook dinner every night? Or that eating healthy costs so much more money? Or that wearing special shoes or taking a miracle pill will help you tone your body and lose weight? Well today I'm putting on my myth-buster hat and tackling all of these.
We'll start with "it's so much easier to pick up fast food on your way home from work rather than cook dinner" with a peek into a day of my life. This particular day was crazier than most. I headed off to work in the morning leaving Baby Sister with her nanny after scooting Big Sister out the door to walk to school. (Yes, my kid walks to school - shouldn't every kid?) I worked a typical day except that I had to leave a couple of hours early since Big Sister's dance studio decided once again to conduct business as if none of the dance moms actually work outside the home. Meaning specifically that she had to be in full hair and make-up and across town by 4:30 for the annual team photo shoot. Awesome, since I don't usually get off work until 5:30.
I left the office at 3:00, rushed home while project managing Big Sister's efforts from the phone in the car, and did the fastest make-up and hair I think I've ever done including ringlets. Big Sister has stick straight and super thick hair - I love that she did not get my curls except for when she wants curly hair and it becomes a chore. Thank god for my Chi and my ability to use it for creating curls in addition to it's straightening properties. Of course Murphy was alive and well since the shirt I'd bought her the night before was too big through the chest when she put it on. I had to get creative with safety pins because I didn't have time to whip out the sewing machine to take in the sides. We left the house only ten minutes behind schedule leaving Baby Sister with Daddy and hoping they were correct that the shoot would only take an hour. Pictures were fabulous and we were headed back across town by 5:30 now hoping traffic wasn't too bad.
This was also the night of our first neighborhood walk-about which we never miss. During warm weather months, two or three different families host little block party gatherings so that everyone can wander around and mingle with each other, catch up on gossip and meet any new people who have moved in. It started at 6:30.
Here's where the myth comes in. Considering I only had an hour to drive across town, feed my kids dinner and head out to the next activity, society would say I had to pick up either burgers or a $5 Hot n' Ready pizza on my way home. But NO! Instead I went straight home, browned up some ground turkey, made it into taco meat and served my kids taco's. Well, Big Sister prefers to eat her taco fixin's atop corn chips instead of in the crunchy shells and Baby Sister prefers little individual piles of cheese and meat, etc to eat as finger foods so basically, I ate tacos. The point is, it took me no more time than it would have to sit in the long ass line I passed at the Wendy's as I drove by. Not to mention how much healthier my choice of meals was by comparison. Plus, now I have an extra pound of taco meat in my fridge to eat left-overs in the next couple of days when I'm in an even tighter pinch for dinner - say tonight when Big Sister has to be at the dance studio by 6:30.
I cook ninety-five percent of the time at home. It isn't always quick and easy but it is always better than anything else I could feed my family. The extra effort this activity requires is actually on the front end when you're doing your grocery shopping. I usually have the basics on hand like spaghetti (I make my own amazing and authentic sauce) or homemade macaroni and cheese (that actually uses cheese and milk instead of powdery blobs of orange chemical concoctions you get in the box). Then I mix things up with a few preplanned meals in mind for the week. We always have tons of fresh fruit in the house and the crisper drawer is always full of veggies. With a little creativity I can throw together many a meal just by opening the refrigerator - even if I don't know exactly what's for dinner before I walk in the door from work.
It makes me wonder who exactly "they" are that says it is so much easier to buy crap from a fast-food joint and eat out of a bag every night. Probably the people marketing the crap in a bag from all those different places who only care about their bottom line. And let's talk about cost! I can feed my family of four for an entire week buying the ingredients to cook my own meals on less than what it would cost to eat out just one meal a day for that same week. This is based on fact since we had way more money left over at the end of the month once we started eating in versus when we were subscribing to the marketing ploys. This was also before I'd pulled my head out of my ass about things like processed foods and high fructose corn syrup evils.
With obesity rates in adults and children alike continually rising, I wonder how long before the general population demands better choices in their food that contribute to better health instead of sacrificing long-term health for the convenience of a packaged dinner or fast food slop. Most of the food we eat isn't even real food when you look at the ingredient label. When was the last time you had to list the ingredients on a head of lettuce or a bundle of bananas? Even more frightening is how many people I talk to who never even glance at the ingredient list of the 'food' they consume every day. When you cook your own meal, using real whole foods you know exactly what you are eating and feeding to your kids.
There was a story in the Washington Post this week about how Sketchers are settling a lawsuit for $40 million. Turns out they were lying when they said wearing their funny looking shoes would tone your lower body without stepping foot into a gym. You can't tone your lower body by wearing a pair of shoes and sitting on your ass all day any easier than you can lose weight and keep it off by eating some fad diet or taking some pill that causes side effects worse than just keeping the extra weight on. You have to eat real food to nourish your body and burn more calories than you take in every single day. Period. There's no other way around it. Trust me, I've tried it all (minus surgical measures where I drew the line). When is society as a whole going to wake up and realize that corporations are only after one thing - to make money by selling us crap we don't need - and start listening to common sense again?
I challenge you - if you aren't doing it already - try cooking for a week and see how easy it really is. You don't even have to have a recipe box that your mom or grandma handed down to you anymore. All you need is Google - recipes for everything and anything are right at your fingers. It's an amazing world out there! And if you want a quick, easy to read, common sense book on how to incorporate real food back into your diet, I highly recommend "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan. That little book was partly what changed my life years ago and should be required reading for every American - in my humble opinion.
We'll start with "it's so much easier to pick up fast food on your way home from work rather than cook dinner" with a peek into a day of my life. This particular day was crazier than most. I headed off to work in the morning leaving Baby Sister with her nanny after scooting Big Sister out the door to walk to school. (Yes, my kid walks to school - shouldn't every kid?) I worked a typical day except that I had to leave a couple of hours early since Big Sister's dance studio decided once again to conduct business as if none of the dance moms actually work outside the home. Meaning specifically that she had to be in full hair and make-up and across town by 4:30 for the annual team photo shoot. Awesome, since I don't usually get off work until 5:30.
I left the office at 3:00, rushed home while project managing Big Sister's efforts from the phone in the car, and did the fastest make-up and hair I think I've ever done including ringlets. Big Sister has stick straight and super thick hair - I love that she did not get my curls except for when she wants curly hair and it becomes a chore. Thank god for my Chi and my ability to use it for creating curls in addition to it's straightening properties. Of course Murphy was alive and well since the shirt I'd bought her the night before was too big through the chest when she put it on. I had to get creative with safety pins because I didn't have time to whip out the sewing machine to take in the sides. We left the house only ten minutes behind schedule leaving Baby Sister with Daddy and hoping they were correct that the shoot would only take an hour. Pictures were fabulous and we were headed back across town by 5:30 now hoping traffic wasn't too bad.
This was also the night of our first neighborhood walk-about which we never miss. During warm weather months, two or three different families host little block party gatherings so that everyone can wander around and mingle with each other, catch up on gossip and meet any new people who have moved in. It started at 6:30.
Here's where the myth comes in. Considering I only had an hour to drive across town, feed my kids dinner and head out to the next activity, society would say I had to pick up either burgers or a $5 Hot n' Ready pizza on my way home. But NO! Instead I went straight home, browned up some ground turkey, made it into taco meat and served my kids taco's. Well, Big Sister prefers to eat her taco fixin's atop corn chips instead of in the crunchy shells and Baby Sister prefers little individual piles of cheese and meat, etc to eat as finger foods so basically, I ate tacos. The point is, it took me no more time than it would have to sit in the long ass line I passed at the Wendy's as I drove by. Not to mention how much healthier my choice of meals was by comparison. Plus, now I have an extra pound of taco meat in my fridge to eat left-overs in the next couple of days when I'm in an even tighter pinch for dinner - say tonight when Big Sister has to be at the dance studio by 6:30.
I cook ninety-five percent of the time at home. It isn't always quick and easy but it is always better than anything else I could feed my family. The extra effort this activity requires is actually on the front end when you're doing your grocery shopping. I usually have the basics on hand like spaghetti (I make my own amazing and authentic sauce) or homemade macaroni and cheese (that actually uses cheese and milk instead of powdery blobs of orange chemical concoctions you get in the box). Then I mix things up with a few preplanned meals in mind for the week. We always have tons of fresh fruit in the house and the crisper drawer is always full of veggies. With a little creativity I can throw together many a meal just by opening the refrigerator - even if I don't know exactly what's for dinner before I walk in the door from work.
It makes me wonder who exactly "they" are that says it is so much easier to buy crap from a fast-food joint and eat out of a bag every night. Probably the people marketing the crap in a bag from all those different places who only care about their bottom line. And let's talk about cost! I can feed my family of four for an entire week buying the ingredients to cook my own meals on less than what it would cost to eat out just one meal a day for that same week. This is based on fact since we had way more money left over at the end of the month once we started eating in versus when we were subscribing to the marketing ploys. This was also before I'd pulled my head out of my ass about things like processed foods and high fructose corn syrup evils.
With obesity rates in adults and children alike continually rising, I wonder how long before the general population demands better choices in their food that contribute to better health instead of sacrificing long-term health for the convenience of a packaged dinner or fast food slop. Most of the food we eat isn't even real food when you look at the ingredient label. When was the last time you had to list the ingredients on a head of lettuce or a bundle of bananas? Even more frightening is how many people I talk to who never even glance at the ingredient list of the 'food' they consume every day. When you cook your own meal, using real whole foods you know exactly what you are eating and feeding to your kids.
There was a story in the Washington Post this week about how Sketchers are settling a lawsuit for $40 million. Turns out they were lying when they said wearing their funny looking shoes would tone your lower body without stepping foot into a gym. You can't tone your lower body by wearing a pair of shoes and sitting on your ass all day any easier than you can lose weight and keep it off by eating some fad diet or taking some pill that causes side effects worse than just keeping the extra weight on. You have to eat real food to nourish your body and burn more calories than you take in every single day. Period. There's no other way around it. Trust me, I've tried it all (minus surgical measures where I drew the line). When is society as a whole going to wake up and realize that corporations are only after one thing - to make money by selling us crap we don't need - and start listening to common sense again?
I challenge you - if you aren't doing it already - try cooking for a week and see how easy it really is. You don't even have to have a recipe box that your mom or grandma handed down to you anymore. All you need is Google - recipes for everything and anything are right at your fingers. It's an amazing world out there! And if you want a quick, easy to read, common sense book on how to incorporate real food back into your diet, I highly recommend "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan. That little book was partly what changed my life years ago and should be required reading for every American - in my humble opinion.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Vindication
Being ballsy paid off! Within two hours of sending my email to Big Sister's principal, I got a reply that she wanted to discuss my concerns with the fourth grade team and the district curriculum specialist and then would get back to me. I figured that would be the end of it... a nice little sweep under the rug and hope I went away. But, I got a personal phone call from her two days after my email.
Bottom line, she and the district curriculum specialist both agreed with me. The worksheet the teacher created to go along with the social studies book they are reading emphasized the wrong things and they will be working with her to re-do it. The subject was that of immigration in general and the background on the Mormons was a small part designed to show the cause and effect of why they decided to push further west than the current boundaries of the United States.
Additionally, the principal sent me a photo copy of the chapter the questionable worksheet had been created from. It was refreshing to see how far-reaching the subject matter was with the following section headings:
Who Were the Mormons?
To the Rocky Mountains
The Mormon Trail
Planning the Trip
The First Two Pioneer Children
The Advance Party
The Salt Lake Valley at Last
African Americans Come to Utah
People by the Thousands
The Long Trip
A Daily Routine
Working on the Trail
Crossing the Rivers
Buffalo Chips!
Don't Get Hurt!
Pesky Insects
Handcarts Across the Trail
My favorite part is the last page of the chapter with questions on "What Do You Think?"
It was so refreshing to be thanked for bringing such a matter to the attention of the principal. I had feared I would be labeled a troublemaker. And now I know that at least the educators at my local school really do have the best interests of my child's education at heart. (And that they are in fact teaching diverse subject matter!)
I even got a follow-up email several days later making sure I had received the copy of the chapter and whether I had any additional questions. I am now the biggest fan of our principal and know that she was sincere in telling me she wants parents to bring these kinds of concerns to her. If only all educators were this committed.
Go me for standing up for what I knew wasn't right and knowing I made a difference in my child's education because of it.
Bottom line, she and the district curriculum specialist both agreed with me. The worksheet the teacher created to go along with the social studies book they are reading emphasized the wrong things and they will be working with her to re-do it. The subject was that of immigration in general and the background on the Mormons was a small part designed to show the cause and effect of why they decided to push further west than the current boundaries of the United States.
Additionally, the principal sent me a photo copy of the chapter the questionable worksheet had been created from. It was refreshing to see how far-reaching the subject matter was with the following section headings:
Who Were the Mormons?
To the Rocky Mountains
The Mormon Trail
Planning the Trip
The First Two Pioneer Children
The Advance Party
The Salt Lake Valley at Last
African Americans Come to Utah
People by the Thousands
The Long Trip
A Daily Routine
Working on the Trail
Crossing the Rivers
Buffalo Chips!
Don't Get Hurt!
Pesky Insects
Handcarts Across the Trail
My favorite part is the last page of the chapter with questions on "What Do You Think?"
- Do we have the right in America to join any religion we want to, or join none at all?
- What could help us be more tolerant of people who believe differently than we do?
- Can you think of other groups in history who have moved to new places so they could live their religion without being persecuted?
- There are many different kinds of persecution. Talk about what it means. Talk about why we should try to treat other people fairly.
- What would you have disliked about the trip to Utah? What would you have liked?
- Can you remember where in the West the pioneers who were not Mormons going?
It was so refreshing to be thanked for bringing such a matter to the attention of the principal. I had feared I would be labeled a troublemaker. And now I know that at least the educators at my local school really do have the best interests of my child's education at heart. (And that they are in fact teaching diverse subject matter!)
I even got a follow-up email several days later making sure I had received the copy of the chapter and whether I had any additional questions. I am now the biggest fan of our principal and know that she was sincere in telling me she wants parents to bring these kinds of concerns to her. If only all educators were this committed.
Go me for standing up for what I knew wasn't right and knowing I made a difference in my child's education because of it.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Ballsy Bitch
It's been so long since I had something really great to rant and rave about and the Universe must have realized I needed an outlet for it because it delivered up an opportunity so rare this week I almost can't believe it. Here's some background so we are all on the same page... I live in the glorious state of Utah where the lines between Church and State are more often blurred than not. Contrary to popular belief, not every resident of Utah is a Mormon.
(OOPSIE, did I mention this is a religious and political post? Here's your disclaimer and chance to bail as if the fact I warned you I would be proceeding with a rant and/or rave wasn't enough, right?)
Big Sister is in the fourth grade and I found a gem of a fire-starter in the sty of her backpack. It was a worksheet with twenty questions where you have to fill in the blanks to complete the sentence. When I saw it I was so enraged and immediately asked Big Sister what it was. She said "Mom, before you get mad, Ms X told us to make sure when our parents got mad that they were teaching religion at school to tell you that it is against the law for her to teach us about the beliefs of any religion and that this is just about the history of Utah." Clearly the teacher suspected that there would be flak in regards to this little worksheet. She was not wrong. Which begs the question, why proceed when you already know it is questionable material?
In response to this worksheet I drafted the following letter which I sent to the principle via email:
In my opinion it's no different than giving your own spin on history just because you like your version better than the plain old facts. But then again, we do that every Thanksgiving where we celebrate the Pioneers and the Indians and their harmonious feasting, don't we? Instead of sugar coating what really happened in our past we should own it - we came here, declared the native people savages, took the land from them, slaughtered them when they defended themselves and in the end rounded all the survivors up to be banished to the crappiest land around, never to leave it. That is what Thanksgiving really celebrates... but that isn't what we tell our elementary aged children. And this is just one example. Lucky for my kids, they have parents who round out their education at home in both religion and history.
Religion is a deeply personal thing and as such should be taught in the home, not the school. But, I live in Utah where every Junior High and High School has a little annex building just barely off of school property where any kid who wants is allowed to have a free period to walk there and attend Seminary classes - but only of the one religion... Hubby was even ranting the other day about how another religion - I think the Catholics but don't quote me on that for sure - were wanting to purchase land for the same reason near the site of a new high school and were being blocked from doing so. How is that fair?
Bottom line, I wish the separation of church and state was taken far more seriously in our country and especially in my own public school system. Look at where the Middle East got when they decided to rule their country based on their majority religion. We need to take religion out of the political arena, too - who cares what religion any one candidate is? By judging his or her religious beliefs as being better or worse than any other candidate's it fundamentally erodes their Constitutional right to freely practice whatever religion they choose free from discrimination and persecution. If I'm not mistaken that's why the Puritans came to America and *oddly enough* the Utah pioneers came west. But I digress...
I did get a response from the principal that she would be looking into the situation and would get back to me. I can't wait to hear what they have to say about it all!
(OOPSIE, did I mention this is a religious and political post? Here's your disclaimer and chance to bail as if the fact I warned you I would be proceeding with a rant and/or rave wasn't enough, right?)
Big Sister is in the fourth grade and I found a gem of a fire-starter in the sty of her backpack. It was a worksheet with twenty questions where you have to fill in the blanks to complete the sentence. When I saw it I was so enraged and immediately asked Big Sister what it was. She said "Mom, before you get mad, Ms X told us to make sure when our parents got mad that they were teaching religion at school to tell you that it is against the law for her to teach us about the beliefs of any religion and that this is just about the history of Utah." Clearly the teacher suspected that there would be flak in regards to this little worksheet. She was not wrong. Which begs the question, why proceed when you already know it is questionable material?
In response to this worksheet I drafted the following letter which I sent to the principle via email:
One of my closest friends who herself is the mother of a fourth grader at the same school told me I was the only person she knows with balls big enough to actually send that to the principal. Is it my outrage at the social injustice of the matter or is it merely my argumentative and bitchy nature that fueled my sending the letter? It's probably a little bit of both. Having grown up here "in the land of Zion" amidst all the religious overtones and outright judging where your choice of religion is the number one topic of inquiry when you first meet a person, I'm a little sensitive to protecting that pesky right of religious freedom that was given each American in the Constitution. I believe that extends to the right of my children to be educated by the public school system with zero inference or interference by any religion. Period. Before you get all outraged, I stand by the last paragraph of my letter. If they wanted to introduce a world religion class that gave equal time to studying the basics of every religion of the world, not only would I embrace the prospect of my child learning more about diversity, I would not react to this subject matter since it would then be a valid form of school work. But they weren't teaching that, were they? Nope. This was supposed to be either a History lesson or at the furthest stretch a Social Studies lesson. Either way, giving my kid facts about a single religion's history instead is not acceptable
Dear Principal,
My fourth-grade daughter brought home school work from what she says was Utah History but which appears to have nothing to do with Utah History. Instead, it is teaching her about Mormon specific church history. Where is the separation of church and state when it comes to curriculum? When I questioned her about what it was, she had already been given a response from the teacher - Ms X who is not her homeroom teacher - who had apparently told the students how to respond when their parents asked why they were learning about religion. Her rationalization was that because she was not instructing them on the belief system of a religion then it was okay to teach since this was about how Utah was founded. While there is no disputing the historical fact that Utah was settled by Mormon pioneers escaping religious persecution, tell me why the following questions (taken directly from the worksheet) were relevant to that discussion:
Mormons was a nickname for people who belonged to a new church.
Joseph Smith was the first leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The church was started in New York state in 1830.
Mormons sent missionaries to teach about their church.
Wherever the Mormons went, they were always forced to move, because no one liked them.
They moved from New York to Ohio, to Missouri, then to Illinois.
People did not like the Mormons, because Mormons believed their church was God's true church. (Not teaching about beliefs?)
Mormons religious beliefs often upset people who were not Mormons.
There was also problems with their neighbors over politics and land.
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were shot and killed in Illinois by a mob.
Out of the 20 questions on the worksheet, I believe only the following statements would be considered relevant to UTAH history:
Moving west took much planning.
The pioneers were going to move more than 1,000 miles.
To help the Mormons move, there were only wagons, horses, mules and oxen.
However, I also believe that the not-so questionable statements could be presented even more non-religiously by referring to them as pioneers instead of Mormons. With respect to the settling of Utah, it is completely irrelevant what religion the pioneers who first came here were. Besides, there were Catholic missionaries here long before the Mormon pioneers if we are talking about historical facts...
I expect that if my child is learning the history of the Mormon church that she would also be required to learn the same story about where the Catholic church started, who the first Pope was and when the first congregation was established in the Utah valley. Same with the Protestants, the Baptists, etc. I know I am not alone in my concern with the way this curriculum is being presented and would appreciate your addressing it immediately. If you would like a copy of the worksheet I can provide that as well.
Regards,
In my opinion it's no different than giving your own spin on history just because you like your version better than the plain old facts. But then again, we do that every Thanksgiving where we celebrate the Pioneers and the Indians and their harmonious feasting, don't we? Instead of sugar coating what really happened in our past we should own it - we came here, declared the native people savages, took the land from them, slaughtered them when they defended themselves and in the end rounded all the survivors up to be banished to the crappiest land around, never to leave it. That is what Thanksgiving really celebrates... but that isn't what we tell our elementary aged children. And this is just one example. Lucky for my kids, they have parents who round out their education at home in both religion and history.
Religion is a deeply personal thing and as such should be taught in the home, not the school. But, I live in Utah where every Junior High and High School has a little annex building just barely off of school property where any kid who wants is allowed to have a free period to walk there and attend Seminary classes - but only of the one religion... Hubby was even ranting the other day about how another religion - I think the Catholics but don't quote me on that for sure - were wanting to purchase land for the same reason near the site of a new high school and were being blocked from doing so. How is that fair?
Bottom line, I wish the separation of church and state was taken far more seriously in our country and especially in my own public school system. Look at where the Middle East got when they decided to rule their country based on their majority religion. We need to take religion out of the political arena, too - who cares what religion any one candidate is? By judging his or her religious beliefs as being better or worse than any other candidate's it fundamentally erodes their Constitutional right to freely practice whatever religion they choose free from discrimination and persecution. If I'm not mistaken that's why the Puritans came to America and *oddly enough* the Utah pioneers came west. But I digress...
I did get a response from the principal that she would be looking into the situation and would get back to me. I can't wait to hear what they have to say about it all!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Where were you on September 11, 2001?
It's been ten years this weekend since the World Trade Center Towers were hit by planes and subsequently collapsed; the act which started the country down the road toward it's current state with two wars being waged, civil rights restricted in the name of National Security and overwhelming deficits where we are robbing Peter not even pretending to pay Paul. I worry for my children and wonder what their lives as American citizens will be like when they are my age and paying taxes. Luckily, Big Sister has already begun taking an interest in the election process and last week asked me when she gets to vote. At nine she has more interest than half of my siblings do.
But I digress... this is about my memories of where I was on that fateful day in September of 2001. A day like the one when Kennedy was shot since everyone old enough to have memory of it can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when it happened.
At the time, I was eight months pregnant with our first child, Big Sister. Hubby and I were living in Tooele, Utah and both working in Salt Lake City which meant long commutes. Hubby would wake up super early and be on the road by five AM and I would wake a couple of hours later to the television turning on - still the coolest alarm clock I've ever had. I would lay in bed half conscious for the end of the local news until the Today show would come on at seven which was my queue to get up and get in the shower. Instead of hitting the snooze button I'd watch the first little segment of national news and then get up. That morning they were doing live coverage special reporting showing aerial shots of the World Trade Center towers, one of which had smoke coming out of it toward the top, and speculating on what could have happened. Initial reports were just coming in about something having hit it with everyone at that point still thinking it was some kind of horrible accident.
And then - live on television - I saw the second plane hit. And they played it over and over for the rest of the morning while the country's collective sat in shock at the realization this was being done on purpose. Unfathomable.
It's mostly a blur from there as reports were made about yet another plane hitting the Pentagon and eventually the plane that crashed in a field in Pennsylvania instead of it's intended target because the passengers fought back against the hijackers. I remember sitting there in bed rubbing my pregnant belly and wondering what kind of a world I was going to bring this new baby into and wishing Hubby was there with me instead of just a voice on the other end of the phone sounding just as shocked as I was feeling. He was watching on television at work after a coworker's wife had called and told them to tune in.
I vaguely remember getting ready for work and heading for the office, much later than usual. I kept wandering back and forth between the bathroom and the bedroom glued to the television. Before I left I saw both the towers collapse - still live. When I got to work, the little thirteen inch TV in the break room on top of the refrigerator, which I had only before seen used by the night janitorial crew, was turned on showing the news recapping over and over what people just tuning in might have missed. People would wander into the small cramped room, watch for a bit, then wander away. Everyone who had radios on their desks were listening to news reports. Streaming CNN was choking our network broadband but not much work was happening anyway so no one said anything. Everyone was talking about it constantly. Many were visibly shaken and emotional. Some never left that room all day.
The entire country was in chaos. One of my coworker friends had left that morning for a vacation in New York. I remember being frantic, worried if she was on one of the planes, and relieved when I heard from her. They had arrived hours earlier and were nowhere near ground zero, as it was later dubbed, but had tried to make their way closer to see what was happening. One of my closest friends at the time had just sent her husband off on a plane that morning for training in the Midwest. His plane was grounded when they closed the airspace stranding him in Las Vegas for days until the two of us drove down to get him one night after work. We returned just in time to change our clothes and go to work the next morning.
I was very lucky since neither Hubby or I had anyone close - or even an acquaintance - who were killed on that day. Although thousands were not that lucky. And that doesn't include the thousands who have been killed since that day in Iraq and Afghanistan. In reality, the country hasn't been the same since... And in many ways it is hard to believe it has been ten years.
Do you remember where you were that morning?
But I digress... this is about my memories of where I was on that fateful day in September of 2001. A day like the one when Kennedy was shot since everyone old enough to have memory of it can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when it happened.
At the time, I was eight months pregnant with our first child, Big Sister. Hubby and I were living in Tooele, Utah and both working in Salt Lake City which meant long commutes. Hubby would wake up super early and be on the road by five AM and I would wake a couple of hours later to the television turning on - still the coolest alarm clock I've ever had. I would lay in bed half conscious for the end of the local news until the Today show would come on at seven which was my queue to get up and get in the shower. Instead of hitting the snooze button I'd watch the first little segment of national news and then get up. That morning they were doing live coverage special reporting showing aerial shots of the World Trade Center towers, one of which had smoke coming out of it toward the top, and speculating on what could have happened. Initial reports were just coming in about something having hit it with everyone at that point still thinking it was some kind of horrible accident.
And then - live on television - I saw the second plane hit. And they played it over and over for the rest of the morning while the country's collective sat in shock at the realization this was being done on purpose. Unfathomable.
It's mostly a blur from there as reports were made about yet another plane hitting the Pentagon and eventually the plane that crashed in a field in Pennsylvania instead of it's intended target because the passengers fought back against the hijackers. I remember sitting there in bed rubbing my pregnant belly and wondering what kind of a world I was going to bring this new baby into and wishing Hubby was there with me instead of just a voice on the other end of the phone sounding just as shocked as I was feeling. He was watching on television at work after a coworker's wife had called and told them to tune in.
I vaguely remember getting ready for work and heading for the office, much later than usual. I kept wandering back and forth between the bathroom and the bedroom glued to the television. Before I left I saw both the towers collapse - still live. When I got to work, the little thirteen inch TV in the break room on top of the refrigerator, which I had only before seen used by the night janitorial crew, was turned on showing the news recapping over and over what people just tuning in might have missed. People would wander into the small cramped room, watch for a bit, then wander away. Everyone who had radios on their desks were listening to news reports. Streaming CNN was choking our network broadband but not much work was happening anyway so no one said anything. Everyone was talking about it constantly. Many were visibly shaken and emotional. Some never left that room all day.
The entire country was in chaos. One of my coworker friends had left that morning for a vacation in New York. I remember being frantic, worried if she was on one of the planes, and relieved when I heard from her. They had arrived hours earlier and were nowhere near ground zero, as it was later dubbed, but had tried to make their way closer to see what was happening. One of my closest friends at the time had just sent her husband off on a plane that morning for training in the Midwest. His plane was grounded when they closed the airspace stranding him in Las Vegas for days until the two of us drove down to get him one night after work. We returned just in time to change our clothes and go to work the next morning.
I was very lucky since neither Hubby or I had anyone close - or even an acquaintance - who were killed on that day. Although thousands were not that lucky. And that doesn't include the thousands who have been killed since that day in Iraq and Afghanistan. In reality, the country hasn't been the same since... And in many ways it is hard to believe it has been ten years.
Do you remember where you were that morning?
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Love Your Body... Challenge
I've been thinking about this post all week, prompted by a random friend of a friend who posted on Facebook about her and her sister discussing how all women hate their bodies and wondering how to turn it around with their own daughters who, when asked, couldn't come up with a single thing they loved about their bodies. So, this week became the Love Your Body Challenge Week - you know, like when something makes you think and then you can't stop thinking about it? And then it takes on the all capitals version in your head? Yeah, like that.
First, the good news - I asked Big Sister the question and am very happy to report she had a long list of things she liked about her body which included legs and stomach and all the things that most women wouldn't love. I was worried she would, at the tender age of nine, already have a complex about all sorts of things. Especially since just last week she said "I'm fat, Mommy" while patting her lean little - extremely flat - dancer tummy. Yeah, right... NOT! Which prompted a twenty minute discussion about how just because other girls at dance have different bodies and shapes she is definitely NOT fat. I didn't even have to resort to Google to find images of obesity to illustrate my point. Thank god! *shudder* We do watch Biggest Loser after all, maybe that is helping?
But then I started thinking about my own body. And how I don't really love it. And how obsessed I am about changing practically everything about it. And how I've basically been on a diet for the last twenty years. It WAS a challenge to find more than one thing that I like about my body. The first thing was easy: I. LOVE. MY. RACK. Yes, that rack. I have an awesome rack and even after two babies it still kicks ass. But beyond that, what is there really to love? I don't have a flat stomach - yet. I don't have lean and amazing legs - yet. I don't even have great shoulders or upper arms - yet. But all these things I hate are getting better slowly and I have no doubt that at some point (hopefully in the near future) my efforts at the gym will transform everything about my body that I still don't completely love. See, that list was effortless - which is kind of the point.
So, here are all the things that I DO love about my body - which will take you moments to read and which took me an entire week to come up with, which is kind of pathetic but hey, a step in the right direction, right?
1. I have amazingly strong legs. Legs that can run for 10 miles on any given Sunday and (at least once) 13.1 miles of a half-marathon.
2. I have beautiful green eyes.
3. I have awesome and thick naturally curly hair. The fact that my unruly curls are in the love vs. hate column is a miracle in itself. I spent 36 years straightening every day and loathing everything about my hair. Now, I have embraced my curls. I even appreciate how my long dark locks curl on their own with no effort on my part. It literally takes me 5 minutes in the morning now that I have found the right combination of NOT combing after the shower and the proper hair products. It's also a perk that my hair is thick and "big" enough with the curls that I can run 5 miles, look like a sweaty pig, take the pony tail out, shake, and go. Voile! All the bigness covers up the inch of sweat at the scalp. Beautiful!
4. I have cute ears that don't stick out.
5. I have great lungs - hey, that's part of my body, right? And without them, I couldn't run so they count.
6. I have a nice nose - which knowing that I'm Italian and could have gotten Dad's shnoz is much more of a perk than you might think.
7. I already mentioned the rack, right? My all natural D's should be at the very top of the list but I don't want to seem like an obsessed porn queen.
8. I have great eye lashes - long and thick and dark.
9. I have great lips - not too full, not too thin, and great for kissing.
10. I have great proportions to my body. When I tone it all up, it will be amazing. My torso is the perfect length, my shoulders are narrow, I'm not too tall and not too short.
I challenged myself to come up with ten things. Some are smaller things than others and I wish I could go on and on about all the great parts of my body but most of them are still covered in a thin layer of fat which has me still not loving them. But, underneath that last twenty or so pounds my muscles are getting stronger and more defined and hopefully by summer swimsuit weather I will have a much longer list of things I love. It is getting easier to look appreciatively in the mirror and notice the results of my efforts. And, it's already time for new jeans since all the ones I own are getting saggy in the butt. And I had to tighten the chest strap on my heart rate monitor last week because it wasn't working anymore. Some days the proof is in the pants, some days it's in the chest strap. I'll take whatever proof I can get. The scale is still just a number that doesn't define me - I want to be fit and muscled, not thin and waif-y after all.
So, what do you love about your body? And if you have an easier time listing the things you hate, I challenge you to find ten things you love. Yes, your eyes and toes can count! Here's to focusing on the good in all of us and leaving the super model ideal to the professionals - there are only like nine of them in the world after all so why would that be considered the norm anyway?
First, the good news - I asked Big Sister the question and am very happy to report she had a long list of things she liked about her body which included legs and stomach and all the things that most women wouldn't love. I was worried she would, at the tender age of nine, already have a complex about all sorts of things. Especially since just last week she said "I'm fat, Mommy" while patting her lean little - extremely flat - dancer tummy. Yeah, right... NOT! Which prompted a twenty minute discussion about how just because other girls at dance have different bodies and shapes she is definitely NOT fat. I didn't even have to resort to Google to find images of obesity to illustrate my point. Thank god! *shudder* We do watch Biggest Loser after all, maybe that is helping?
But then I started thinking about my own body. And how I don't really love it. And how obsessed I am about changing practically everything about it. And how I've basically been on a diet for the last twenty years. It WAS a challenge to find more than one thing that I like about my body. The first thing was easy: I. LOVE. MY. RACK. Yes, that rack. I have an awesome rack and even after two babies it still kicks ass. But beyond that, what is there really to love? I don't have a flat stomach - yet. I don't have lean and amazing legs - yet. I don't even have great shoulders or upper arms - yet. But all these things I hate are getting better slowly and I have no doubt that at some point (hopefully in the near future) my efforts at the gym will transform everything about my body that I still don't completely love. See, that list was effortless - which is kind of the point.
So, here are all the things that I DO love about my body - which will take you moments to read and which took me an entire week to come up with, which is kind of pathetic but hey, a step in the right direction, right?
1. I have amazingly strong legs. Legs that can run for 10 miles on any given Sunday and (at least once) 13.1 miles of a half-marathon.
2. I have beautiful green eyes.
3. I have awesome and thick naturally curly hair. The fact that my unruly curls are in the love vs. hate column is a miracle in itself. I spent 36 years straightening every day and loathing everything about my hair. Now, I have embraced my curls. I even appreciate how my long dark locks curl on their own with no effort on my part. It literally takes me 5 minutes in the morning now that I have found the right combination of NOT combing after the shower and the proper hair products. It's also a perk that my hair is thick and "big" enough with the curls that I can run 5 miles, look like a sweaty pig, take the pony tail out, shake, and go. Voile! All the bigness covers up the inch of sweat at the scalp. Beautiful!
4. I have cute ears that don't stick out.
5. I have great lungs - hey, that's part of my body, right? And without them, I couldn't run so they count.
6. I have a nice nose - which knowing that I'm Italian and could have gotten Dad's shnoz is much more of a perk than you might think.
7. I already mentioned the rack, right? My all natural D's should be at the very top of the list but I don't want to seem like an obsessed porn queen.
8. I have great eye lashes - long and thick and dark.
9. I have great lips - not too full, not too thin, and great for kissing.
10. I have great proportions to my body. When I tone it all up, it will be amazing. My torso is the perfect length, my shoulders are narrow, I'm not too tall and not too short.
I challenged myself to come up with ten things. Some are smaller things than others and I wish I could go on and on about all the great parts of my body but most of them are still covered in a thin layer of fat which has me still not loving them. But, underneath that last twenty or so pounds my muscles are getting stronger and more defined and hopefully by summer swimsuit weather I will have a much longer list of things I love. It is getting easier to look appreciatively in the mirror and notice the results of my efforts. And, it's already time for new jeans since all the ones I own are getting saggy in the butt. And I had to tighten the chest strap on my heart rate monitor last week because it wasn't working anymore. Some days the proof is in the pants, some days it's in the chest strap. I'll take whatever proof I can get. The scale is still just a number that doesn't define me - I want to be fit and muscled, not thin and waif-y after all.
So, what do you love about your body? And if you have an easier time listing the things you hate, I challenge you to find ten things you love. Yes, your eyes and toes can count! Here's to focusing on the good in all of us and leaving the super model ideal to the professionals - there are only like nine of them in the world after all so why would that be considered the norm anyway?
Monday, February 14, 2011
Serves you right!
And just like that, we're back to bitchy... Last week I had a passive aggressive episode in the gym that got me thinking. My life is so crazy that it takes having a membership at two different gyms to make my commitment to training actually workable. Half the week I'm at THE GYM (queue angels singing) and the other I'm at the fitness center at work. Luckily I have both, but the mix of people at work is... well, somewhat different. There are a lot of people who only use it for 15 minute increments while on their break and still in their work clothes. I understand that it IS better than nothing but it is a very different commitment level than those who make time to do a full workout including sweating enough we need to change clothes. I mean, it's one thing to go for a walk during your break but to have an entire fitness center on the premises and not utilize it fully? What a waste!
I admit I get a bit of entertainment watching them come and go on the treadmills and elliptical machines and there's one... um... girl... in particular who stands out among the rest. Why? Because she comes in every day, dressed in her skirts and knee-high boots AND jacket or blazer - crazy enough by itself. But what's more crazy is the choice of television while she's at it. At a glance I'd say she's in her twenties - early to middle - and yet she's watching TV that my nine year old likes. We're talking Nickelodeon and ABC Family and even the Disney Channel. Laughable really and at times I find it hard not to do so out loud.
So back to last week's episode... I'm on the treadmill sweating like a pig, jamming to some Marilyn Manson doing intervals: two minutes of "normal" running followed by a minute of sprinting. Because I have my iPod and there were only iPod-ers there when we started I turned the television off (yes, people, there's an off switch on those things!) and dropped the remote into the cup holder on my left. Half an hour into my workout, teeny bop girl walks in and climbs on the treadmill to my immediate right and starts looking around for the remote for the TV hanging directly above my treadmill. I'm watching out of the corner of my eye and I know exactly when she finds it. Even if I hadn't been watching, I would have known because at that point she started STARING at me. Like craning your neck and staring at me from just within my peripheral vision is the same as asking for the fucking remote? Seriously, it was creepy and it went on for the entire time she worked out. I kept thinking she would ask me and after a while it became apparent that she wasn't going to and I thought 'Oh, you think I can't outlast your childish stare down? You are wrong chicky!'
Like clockwork, ten minutes later she turned off her treadmill and headed back to her time-clock punching job (God I'm glad I don't have to do that!) until the next day. I'm sure she was totally pissed that she'd missed out on her tween show while she went for her leisurely stroll but here's the kicker - I would have gladly given her the remote if she'd just opened her mouth and asked me for it. I even gave her an opening when one of my friends got finished with her cardio and headed for the locker room as I turned and said goodbye - after she'd gotten my attention from my tunes that is.
The snotty bitch in me gloated that I had outlasted the childish stare down after I got over how creepy it all was. But then I started thinking about the greater tragedy of the whole thing. You see, that girl is in her twenties and still doesn't know how to ask for what she wants. Not the remote in the gym, probably not with her job, most likely not even with her friends - and God knows how unhappy she probably is in the sack! Tragic, really but until she learns that life lesson she will continue to be frustrated everywhere she turns. Unable to voice her own desires, she will continue to be thwarted in all she does - usually by bitches like me who know exactly what we want and aren't afraid to ask - no, DEMAND - what we want both in action and in words.
I made sure to rush home and work this life lesson into a conversation with Big Sister so she hears at an early age how important it is to stand up and ask for whatever it is that you want most. This is something big enough not to be left to that old 'lead by example' bullshit. There's too much objectivity in that approach to be trusted implicitly in all things. Although, I have no fear she will see it enforced daily through my actions. Later she will thank me when she has a life that she wants and everything as she likes it with her husband and her own children. And if I see the Disney chick attempting the stare down again, I might just tell her "it serves you right for not asking!"
I admit I get a bit of entertainment watching them come and go on the treadmills and elliptical machines and there's one... um... girl... in particular who stands out among the rest. Why? Because she comes in every day, dressed in her skirts and knee-high boots AND jacket or blazer - crazy enough by itself. But what's more crazy is the choice of television while she's at it. At a glance I'd say she's in her twenties - early to middle - and yet she's watching TV that my nine year old likes. We're talking Nickelodeon and ABC Family and even the Disney Channel. Laughable really and at times I find it hard not to do so out loud.
So back to last week's episode... I'm on the treadmill sweating like a pig, jamming to some Marilyn Manson doing intervals: two minutes of "normal" running followed by a minute of sprinting. Because I have my iPod and there were only iPod-ers there when we started I turned the television off (yes, people, there's an off switch on those things!) and dropped the remote into the cup holder on my left. Half an hour into my workout, teeny bop girl walks in and climbs on the treadmill to my immediate right and starts looking around for the remote for the TV hanging directly above my treadmill. I'm watching out of the corner of my eye and I know exactly when she finds it. Even if I hadn't been watching, I would have known because at that point she started STARING at me. Like craning your neck and staring at me from just within my peripheral vision is the same as asking for the fucking remote? Seriously, it was creepy and it went on for the entire time she worked out. I kept thinking she would ask me and after a while it became apparent that she wasn't going to and I thought 'Oh, you think I can't outlast your childish stare down? You are wrong chicky!'
Like clockwork, ten minutes later she turned off her treadmill and headed back to her time-clock punching job (God I'm glad I don't have to do that!) until the next day. I'm sure she was totally pissed that she'd missed out on her tween show while she went for her leisurely stroll but here's the kicker - I would have gladly given her the remote if she'd just opened her mouth and asked me for it. I even gave her an opening when one of my friends got finished with her cardio and headed for the locker room as I turned and said goodbye - after she'd gotten my attention from my tunes that is.
The snotty bitch in me gloated that I had outlasted the childish stare down after I got over how creepy it all was. But then I started thinking about the greater tragedy of the whole thing. You see, that girl is in her twenties and still doesn't know how to ask for what she wants. Not the remote in the gym, probably not with her job, most likely not even with her friends - and God knows how unhappy she probably is in the sack! Tragic, really but until she learns that life lesson she will continue to be frustrated everywhere she turns. Unable to voice her own desires, she will continue to be thwarted in all she does - usually by bitches like me who know exactly what we want and aren't afraid to ask - no, DEMAND - what we want both in action and in words.
I made sure to rush home and work this life lesson into a conversation with Big Sister so she hears at an early age how important it is to stand up and ask for whatever it is that you want most. This is something big enough not to be left to that old 'lead by example' bullshit. There's too much objectivity in that approach to be trusted implicitly in all things. Although, I have no fear she will see it enforced daily through my actions. Later she will thank me when she has a life that she wants and everything as she likes it with her husband and her own children. And if I see the Disney chick attempting the stare down again, I might just tell her "it serves you right for not asking!"
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Public Service Announcement
It's been a while since I got on my soap box about society here in America. Today that ends, if just for a moment. Several years ago we banned High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) from our diet after I read the book "The Omnivore's Dilema" and learned the real nature of our "food" here in the States. I was such a vocal bitch that all my friends and family heard about it and eventually hopped on the band wagon if only half-heartedly; well, most of them anyway. Apparently I wasn't the only one. Now, enough people in general have started reading labels that the food industry is having to change their tactics. I heard the other day that they are going to relabel HFCS as "corn sugar". Doesn't that sound so much more appealing and so much less harmful? Yeah, I think that's the point. What enrages me the most of late are the commercials where people are talking about how "they've done studies and, cane sugar or corn sugar, you're body doesn't know the difference". Every time the variations of this commercial come on I literally yell "BULLSHIT" at the television at the top of my lungs. Yes, I know they can't hear me but it sure makes me feel better.
Here's the truth in a nutshell for those of you who haven't read all the studies. Yes, your body DOES know the difference and here's where it gets freaky. Your stomach is not able to handle the digestion of HFCS, your liver has to do it. And your liver can only process so much of it. The excess the liver can't handle gets converted directly into triglycerides in your blood stream. You know, that part of "bad" cholesterol that clogs your arteries and gives you heart disease? Yeah, that. Told you it was bad! And even worse is the fact that HFCS is in everything - and I do mean everything - so you eat a ton of it without even knowing if you aren't paying attention.. Your yogurt that you think is healthy? Check the label and chances are you'll find HFCS! Your bread - yes, even the wheat variety. Your milk can even have it in it! So people please, start reading the ingredient lists on your labels and take control of your own health because trust me, the food industry isn't going to do it for you. They are the ones feeding you propaganda on the television after all! You can find practically everything - even soda - with real old fashioned natural cane sugar if you're willing to read every label before buying something. Trust me, your arteries will thank you for your vigilance!
This past weekend I came across something even more frightening. An article in the magazine put out by our gym was talking about how in one study they had taken cancer cells and fed them different forms of sugar to see how the cancer responded. Apparently it was already well known that cancer cells thrive on all kinds of sugar but what they found is that high fructose corn syrup not only fed them but increased how fast they metabolized and split to multiply and MAKE. MORE. CANCER.
HOLY SHIT! I might just go to a diet of 100% whole and natural after reading that article! If only it wasn't so expensive to eat "real" food in this country...
Here's the truth in a nutshell for those of you who haven't read all the studies. Yes, your body DOES know the difference and here's where it gets freaky. Your stomach is not able to handle the digestion of HFCS, your liver has to do it. And your liver can only process so much of it. The excess the liver can't handle gets converted directly into triglycerides in your blood stream. You know, that part of "bad" cholesterol that clogs your arteries and gives you heart disease? Yeah, that. Told you it was bad! And even worse is the fact that HFCS is in everything - and I do mean everything - so you eat a ton of it without even knowing if you aren't paying attention.. Your yogurt that you think is healthy? Check the label and chances are you'll find HFCS! Your bread - yes, even the wheat variety. Your milk can even have it in it! So people please, start reading the ingredient lists on your labels and take control of your own health because trust me, the food industry isn't going to do it for you. They are the ones feeding you propaganda on the television after all! You can find practically everything - even soda - with real old fashioned natural cane sugar if you're willing to read every label before buying something. Trust me, your arteries will thank you for your vigilance!
This past weekend I came across something even more frightening. An article in the magazine put out by our gym was talking about how in one study they had taken cancer cells and fed them different forms of sugar to see how the cancer responded. Apparently it was already well known that cancer cells thrive on all kinds of sugar but what they found is that high fructose corn syrup not only fed them but increased how fast they metabolized and split to multiply and MAKE. MORE. CANCER.
HOLY SHIT! I might just go to a diet of 100% whole and natural after reading that article! If only it wasn't so expensive to eat "real" food in this country...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The current health debate
No, not THAT health debate... I'm talking about one of a more personal nature. The one that involves my gall bladder that may or may not be failing me and, more importantly, what to do about it. A couple of weeks ago I thought I had a touch of food poisoning - and I blamed the fry sauce in the back of the refrigerator that didn't have an expiration date I'd eaten the night before. But a week later after a very rich dinner with heavy cream sauce - oh so yummy! - I had what can only be described as some sort of attack.
This attack was not pretty and involved hours and hours of vomiting - first the projectile kind followed by what happens when there is nothing left to come up. This by itself is bad - because you see, I. DO. NOT. VOMIT. Not even once when I was pregnant - either time! And I can tell you the exact dates of the last two times I had done so previous to this new development in my life. (Family reunion 2008 and an unfortunate night of drinking circa Halloween 1999) I'm a master at NOT vomiting... But not this night! On top of that horror, I had such excruciating abdominal pain I was crying like a small child who'd just had her stomach run over by a MAC truck and wanted her mommy. It was the worst pain I've ever felt - and remember I just had a baby and felt every bit of it because my epidural failed. This was worse - way worse. I couldn't stand up straight because the pain in my stomach was so bad. And I couldn't take a deep breath for HOURS because the pain radiated up into my back. All total, I suffered for about 20 hours before the pain was gone. After talking to my mom the nurse and extensive Google searches by my hubby (who needs doctors for diagnosis these days anyway?!) we concluded it is most likely my gall bladder.
Now comes the debate. The first thing out of EVERYONE'S mouth are things like "oh, easy surgery" or "I had mine removed after my second pregnancy, too", etc. Is it just me that thinks removing an entire organ - one that I actually use everyday unlike my appendix - is a bit on the drastic side? Not to mention the permanent side! When I started thinking about it, it's kind of creepy how everyone just assumes I'm going to have surgery to remove it. Like that is the only option. Twilight zone-ish creepy even! I mean, I still have my tonsils and have never had surgery. Never. This cannot be taken back people!
So I Googled some more on the subject this time down the alternative medicine and treatments road. Since that is my nature after all... And what I found was pretty interesting. Both the traditional medical sites as well as the natural healing ones agree that the cause of gall stones is a concentration of cholesterol that builds up and crystalizes. Which means it is yet another side effect of the American Diet of processed foods. (Oh God, don't get her started...) Okay, so I went further down the rabbit hole. Are there alternatives to surgery is really what I wanted to know. Well, that and how specifically do I avoid another attack! I found a very compelling quote (which I'm paraphrasing because now I can't find it again...) Gall stones and the accompanying gall bladder attack are caused by the way we eat. So removing the essential organ which contributes to the digestive process is the equivalent to removing the engine from your car just because you put the wrong gas in it and it stopped on the side of the road.
WOW... that stopped me in my tracks - pun intended - and appealed very deeply to the hippie, naturalist, tree hugger I am at my core. The irony is not lost on me that this is probably the years of High Fructose Corn Syrup and fast food consumption coming back to haunt me... And part of me thinks it might be easier to stay on the healthy eating soap box if the consequence of eating crap is a gallbladder attack. Drastic, yes but very persuasive all the same.
So now comes the dilemma... I'm 4.5 weeks into my 6 week maternity leave already. IF this is really a problem with my gall bladder AND I decide to treat it surgically, I'm looking at another week of recovery time. I'm hoping if I can sell it as a complication of my pregnancy (which many people say it is) they will simply extend my leave and I'll get an additional week off to spend with my newborn and still get paid for it under short term disability. (That is appealing!) But, if I decide to treat it naturally with a detox cleanse to rid my organ of the crap that is making it not function properly - that will take two weeks and I'll be back to work. If that doesn't work, I'll then be subject to taking an additional two weeks off before STD kicks in again. But just because it is financially convenient to do as part of my leave, does that make it the right decision for me and my body? UGH! And what if the claims of all the natural remedy people saying you can reverse the damage and keep your organ are just so they can sell me their products? Decisions decisions....
For now, I'm treading both paths until the last possible minute when I have to commit to one or the other. I'm seeing my doctor this week for an ultrasound to figure out if it really IS a classic case of gall stones while I start my detox - which I am overdue for anyway. Part of me whispers 'this is a cop-out' because as long as I'm still in the discovery phase I can hold off making the official decision. (But hey, knowing is half the battle, as my AA friends say, right?) While another part wonders if I have really diagnosed myself properly - especially considering the one staple in my diet for the past week has been ice cold whole milk which is supposed to be the biggest trigger for a gall bladder attack according to my doctor and I've been fine. I'm not even putting the little tidbit of 'what else could it be' into the sunlight at this point. Nope, just not going there! Stay tuned... it is sure to be as heated a debate as what they've got going on in the Senate right now only on a much more intimate level...
This attack was not pretty and involved hours and hours of vomiting - first the projectile kind followed by what happens when there is nothing left to come up. This by itself is bad - because you see, I. DO. NOT. VOMIT. Not even once when I was pregnant - either time! And I can tell you the exact dates of the last two times I had done so previous to this new development in my life. (Family reunion 2008 and an unfortunate night of drinking circa Halloween 1999) I'm a master at NOT vomiting... But not this night! On top of that horror, I had such excruciating abdominal pain I was crying like a small child who'd just had her stomach run over by a MAC truck and wanted her mommy. It was the worst pain I've ever felt - and remember I just had a baby and felt every bit of it because my epidural failed. This was worse - way worse. I couldn't stand up straight because the pain in my stomach was so bad. And I couldn't take a deep breath for HOURS because the pain radiated up into my back. All total, I suffered for about 20 hours before the pain was gone. After talking to my mom the nurse and extensive Google searches by my hubby (who needs doctors for diagnosis these days anyway?!) we concluded it is most likely my gall bladder.
Now comes the debate. The first thing out of EVERYONE'S mouth are things like "oh, easy surgery" or "I had mine removed after my second pregnancy, too", etc. Is it just me that thinks removing an entire organ - one that I actually use everyday unlike my appendix - is a bit on the drastic side? Not to mention the permanent side! When I started thinking about it, it's kind of creepy how everyone just assumes I'm going to have surgery to remove it. Like that is the only option. Twilight zone-ish creepy even! I mean, I still have my tonsils and have never had surgery. Never. This cannot be taken back people!
So I Googled some more on the subject this time down the alternative medicine and treatments road. Since that is my nature after all... And what I found was pretty interesting. Both the traditional medical sites as well as the natural healing ones agree that the cause of gall stones is a concentration of cholesterol that builds up and crystalizes. Which means it is yet another side effect of the American Diet of processed foods. (Oh God, don't get her started...) Okay, so I went further down the rabbit hole. Are there alternatives to surgery is really what I wanted to know. Well, that and how specifically do I avoid another attack! I found a very compelling quote (which I'm paraphrasing because now I can't find it again...) Gall stones and the accompanying gall bladder attack are caused by the way we eat. So removing the essential organ which contributes to the digestive process is the equivalent to removing the engine from your car just because you put the wrong gas in it and it stopped on the side of the road.
WOW... that stopped me in my tracks - pun intended - and appealed very deeply to the hippie, naturalist, tree hugger I am at my core. The irony is not lost on me that this is probably the years of High Fructose Corn Syrup and fast food consumption coming back to haunt me... And part of me thinks it might be easier to stay on the healthy eating soap box if the consequence of eating crap is a gallbladder attack. Drastic, yes but very persuasive all the same.
So now comes the dilemma... I'm 4.5 weeks into my 6 week maternity leave already. IF this is really a problem with my gall bladder AND I decide to treat it surgically, I'm looking at another week of recovery time. I'm hoping if I can sell it as a complication of my pregnancy (which many people say it is) they will simply extend my leave and I'll get an additional week off to spend with my newborn and still get paid for it under short term disability. (That is appealing!) But, if I decide to treat it naturally with a detox cleanse to rid my organ of the crap that is making it not function properly - that will take two weeks and I'll be back to work. If that doesn't work, I'll then be subject to taking an additional two weeks off before STD kicks in again. But just because it is financially convenient to do as part of my leave, does that make it the right decision for me and my body? UGH! And what if the claims of all the natural remedy people saying you can reverse the damage and keep your organ are just so they can sell me their products? Decisions decisions....
For now, I'm treading both paths until the last possible minute when I have to commit to one or the other. I'm seeing my doctor this week for an ultrasound to figure out if it really IS a classic case of gall stones while I start my detox - which I am overdue for anyway. Part of me whispers 'this is a cop-out' because as long as I'm still in the discovery phase I can hold off making the official decision. (But hey, knowing is half the battle, as my AA friends say, right?) While another part wonders if I have really diagnosed myself properly - especially considering the one staple in my diet for the past week has been ice cold whole milk which is supposed to be the biggest trigger for a gall bladder attack according to my doctor and I've been fine. I'm not even putting the little tidbit of 'what else could it be' into the sunlight at this point. Nope, just not going there! Stay tuned... it is sure to be as heated a debate as what they've got going on in the Senate right now only on a much more intimate level...
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Beginning of the End ... of Clutter
I had a come-to-Jesus sort of thing happen this week... I was all hyped up on coffee drank too late in the day trying to wind down from a fabulous visit with my parents flipping channels when I saw "Hoarders" on the channel guide and remembered one of my new blogging friends talking about it on Facebook. I decided to check it out. An hour later - after 1:00 AM - I tore myself away and looked around at my house... with disgust.
Now before you go and picture my place being as bad as anything you might see on the show, stop. Am I a neat freak? No. (That's my hubby's job!) But I am sentimental with a touch of pack rat. My mind always thinks "what if I need that someday" or "I'll want to look back on that someday" when it comes to throwing things out. Plus, (and probably fundamentally more importantly) I'm a recycling fanatic who thinks our society is driven far too much by our obsessive need to consume. Which means I like to be smart about what I put in the landfill or toss away just because it is inconvenient to store it until the next time I need to use it. I am also a realist who works a full-time job, has an eight-year-old who doesn't know how to pick up after herself (we're working on that!) and doesn't think it is a bad thing to have a house that reflects that we actually - you know - LIVE in it.
So basically there's clutter...
That is all going to change because of ONE episode I saw of Hoarders! Yesterday I barely touched my computer, neglected Facebook (probably should do that more often anyway!) and started to de-clutter. I am an NPR supporter and my local radio station gives free magazine subscriptions when you become a supporting member. I've been getting Newsweek for a couple of years now... on top of Sunset and Good Housekeeping and Real Estate magazines and HP's Connections... you get the idea. I had all these great visions about how well-read on current affairs I would be with Newsweek but the reality is that I barely have time to read books outside of book club or the magazines I get because they relate to my jobs let alone a weekly magazine! But, did I throw them out? No, they accumulate in a pile in a corner of my living room. Once in a while the pile gets really huge and I go through them and if the cover is really old news I throw them out. Yesterday I threw them ALL out including the ones I rarely ever read for work! Okay, I saved about four because there were articles I actually wanted to read. It was liberating! (And by throw them out I mean I put them in the recycle bin for pickup, of course.)
I look around and everywhere I find something that really could be tossed... like how long has it been since I did any scrapbooking so why am I saving all the movie ticket stubs in that one drawer? Let it be known we watch a TON of movies and leave it at that. In twenty years who will care what the exact date was that we took our eight-year old to see Percy Jackson (the first one) or that it was the first movie ever for our newborn? Yep, no one! And after three years of school for my daughter have I once ever wanted to go back and look at the daily school work and mounds of paper that I sentimentally have saved? Nope! So recycle bin here we come! And that basket of spent batteries I can't bring myself to just throw in the garbage headed for the landfill so there can be more mercury in our soil and water supplies? Either I will find a place that will recycle them or I'll just toss them. Well... I'll hint to the hubby that they need to be tossed and let nature take it's course is more accurate.
I don't know how long this might last before I run out of steam but when I do I'll just watch another episode and start all over again!
Now before you go and picture my place being as bad as anything you might see on the show, stop. Am I a neat freak? No. (That's my hubby's job!) But I am sentimental with a touch of pack rat. My mind always thinks "what if I need that someday" or "I'll want to look back on that someday" when it comes to throwing things out. Plus, (and probably fundamentally more importantly) I'm a recycling fanatic who thinks our society is driven far too much by our obsessive need to consume. Which means I like to be smart about what I put in the landfill or toss away just because it is inconvenient to store it until the next time I need to use it. I am also a realist who works a full-time job, has an eight-year-old who doesn't know how to pick up after herself (we're working on that!) and doesn't think it is a bad thing to have a house that reflects that we actually - you know - LIVE in it.
So basically there's clutter...
That is all going to change because of ONE episode I saw of Hoarders! Yesterday I barely touched my computer, neglected Facebook (probably should do that more often anyway!) and started to de-clutter. I am an NPR supporter and my local radio station gives free magazine subscriptions when you become a supporting member. I've been getting Newsweek for a couple of years now... on top of Sunset and Good Housekeeping and Real Estate magazines and HP's Connections... you get the idea. I had all these great visions about how well-read on current affairs I would be with Newsweek but the reality is that I barely have time to read books outside of book club or the magazines I get because they relate to my jobs let alone a weekly magazine! But, did I throw them out? No, they accumulate in a pile in a corner of my living room. Once in a while the pile gets really huge and I go through them and if the cover is really old news I throw them out. Yesterday I threw them ALL out including the ones I rarely ever read for work! Okay, I saved about four because there were articles I actually wanted to read. It was liberating! (And by throw them out I mean I put them in the recycle bin for pickup, of course.)
I look around and everywhere I find something that really could be tossed... like how long has it been since I did any scrapbooking so why am I saving all the movie ticket stubs in that one drawer? Let it be known we watch a TON of movies and leave it at that. In twenty years who will care what the exact date was that we took our eight-year old to see Percy Jackson (the first one) or that it was the first movie ever for our newborn? Yep, no one! And after three years of school for my daughter have I once ever wanted to go back and look at the daily school work and mounds of paper that I sentimentally have saved? Nope! So recycle bin here we come! And that basket of spent batteries I can't bring myself to just throw in the garbage headed for the landfill so there can be more mercury in our soil and water supplies? Either I will find a place that will recycle them or I'll just toss them. Well... I'll hint to the hubby that they need to be tossed and let nature take it's course is more accurate.
I don't know how long this might last before I run out of steam but when I do I'll just watch another episode and start all over again!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Baby's room, writing and other random thoughts - week 27
Wow, what a week!! My first leg cramp - a very painful charlie horse - woke me up in the wee hours of one morning and I thought I was going to die. Ok, maybe that's a little melodramatic, but it really hurt! I walk with a noticeable sway now... not quite a waddle yet but we're surely getting there. The baby is very active and, for those patient enough to sit with their hands pressed to my bump, she will get over her shyness and move. Well, at least for Grandma and big sister it has happened. Another memorable highlight was my fabulous find of a pair of comfortable maternity jeans. FINALLY! I'll probably wear them out in the last 2 or three months that I have let because they are so great. Like angels singing and rays of light shining down on me when I put them on great. Seriously!
This was the last week before officially heading into the 3rd trimester and I guess you could say I have started the nesting process which at our house means a domino effect of activity that starts nowhere near the actual baby's room. First, a new set of bookshelves for the master bedroom so I can organize some of my inner sanctuary (ie. books) that are currently taking up the extra space in there (and driving hubby nuts). Theoretically this was not a necessary step but it was something for me and because it also benefits hubby, I went with it! Next the exercise bike will be banished to the basement from the master bedroom so the bassinet will have a spot in the corner. Then we move on to big sister's room since she is currently the owner of the dresser that matches the crib since it was hers to begin with. We acquired a new dresser for her - a tall chest of drawers that will hold more than her current one and which she is so excited for. But first, we must de-junk her room (or at least that's what I've told her is the first requirement because it is a disaster in there!). We spent part of the past weekend organizing and getting rid of things and made a dent but are far from done. Once we get the new dresser out of the living room and into big sister's room, the baby dresser will go (let's be honest for a minute) into the living room while we move the computer desk and painting easel's and supplies from what is currently the office/art room to their new locations in the basement. Then the dresser and crib for baby's room can be setup and curtains acquired and hung, etc. The fact that 1) we have a definite plan and 2) we have started the plan toward getting the baby's room done is great progress for us so I'm celebrating! I stressed so much about it in the beginning and now I remember that big sister's room wasn't done until after she was born since we knew she'd be sleeping in the bassinet with us for the first few months anyway. Minimum requirement is the dresser/changing table setup in her room and a place to rock during feeding time. Piece of cake at this rate!
The best part of the week was spent feverishly writing and my word count for the month is now hovering just below 25,000 words. I made a deal with myself that if I got half done before the 15th so I could slack off for a few days and read this month's selection for the book club and still get my 50K by the end of the month I could read. Now, I've gotten so far along in my manuscript that I find myself not wanting to stop to read someone else's work and I only have two days to finish the book. I will force myself because it is a book I really want to read but I'll be kicking and screaming and mind wandering back to my own characters the entire time I fear.
No doctor's appointments or other noteworthy events this week other than our first home visit as part of the National Children's Study baby and I are participants in. 3 1/2 hours at our house and what felt like millions of questions and samples later, I'm officially helping make a difference in finding the cause of autism and other childhood diseases for the next 21 years. People are still panicking about the swine flu everywhere here and I think it is silly. Even the CDC person I heard interviewed on NPR said (and I paraphrase) that yes, it is different than the seasonal flu because it hits younger kids more often that older people but that it was just another strain of the flu. If you always get a flu shot, get one but if not (like me) and you never get the flu then there's probably not much to worry about. I laugh about the hysteria the "mainstream" news sources seem to thrive on inciting and how many people buy into it. (My soapbox for the week, I guess!) Oh, and hubby is now on Facebook – aka the mother of all time wasters – after months of bitching to me about how much time I waste and how he would never join. He spent "Football Sunday" glued to it and I laughed… and tried not to actually say the words “I told you” outloud.
This was the last week before officially heading into the 3rd trimester and I guess you could say I have started the nesting process which at our house means a domino effect of activity that starts nowhere near the actual baby's room. First, a new set of bookshelves for the master bedroom so I can organize some of my inner sanctuary (ie. books) that are currently taking up the extra space in there (and driving hubby nuts). Theoretically this was not a necessary step but it was something for me and because it also benefits hubby, I went with it! Next the exercise bike will be banished to the basement from the master bedroom so the bassinet will have a spot in the corner. Then we move on to big sister's room since she is currently the owner of the dresser that matches the crib since it was hers to begin with. We acquired a new dresser for her - a tall chest of drawers that will hold more than her current one and which she is so excited for. But first, we must de-junk her room (or at least that's what I've told her is the first requirement because it is a disaster in there!). We spent part of the past weekend organizing and getting rid of things and made a dent but are far from done. Once we get the new dresser out of the living room and into big sister's room, the baby dresser will go (let's be honest for a minute) into the living room while we move the computer desk and painting easel's and supplies from what is currently the office/art room to their new locations in the basement. Then the dresser and crib for baby's room can be setup and curtains acquired and hung, etc. The fact that 1) we have a definite plan and 2) we have started the plan toward getting the baby's room done is great progress for us so I'm celebrating! I stressed so much about it in the beginning and now I remember that big sister's room wasn't done until after she was born since we knew she'd be sleeping in the bassinet with us for the first few months anyway. Minimum requirement is the dresser/changing table setup in her room and a place to rock during feeding time. Piece of cake at this rate!
The best part of the week was spent feverishly writing and my word count for the month is now hovering just below 25,000 words. I made a deal with myself that if I got half done before the 15th so I could slack off for a few days and read this month's selection for the book club and still get my 50K by the end of the month I could read. Now, I've gotten so far along in my manuscript that I find myself not wanting to stop to read someone else's work and I only have two days to finish the book. I will force myself because it is a book I really want to read but I'll be kicking and screaming and mind wandering back to my own characters the entire time I fear.
No doctor's appointments or other noteworthy events this week other than our first home visit as part of the National Children's Study baby and I are participants in. 3 1/2 hours at our house and what felt like millions of questions and samples later, I'm officially helping make a difference in finding the cause of autism and other childhood diseases for the next 21 years. People are still panicking about the swine flu everywhere here and I think it is silly. Even the CDC person I heard interviewed on NPR said (and I paraphrase) that yes, it is different than the seasonal flu because it hits younger kids more often that older people but that it was just another strain of the flu. If you always get a flu shot, get one but if not (like me) and you never get the flu then there's probably not much to worry about. I laugh about the hysteria the "mainstream" news sources seem to thrive on inciting and how many people buy into it. (My soapbox for the week, I guess!) Oh, and hubby is now on Facebook – aka the mother of all time wasters – after months of bitching to me about how much time I waste and how he would never join. He spent "Football Sunday" glued to it and I laughed… and tried not to actually say the words “I told you” outloud.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Just say no to H1N1 and the return of uncomfortable things - weeks 23 thru 25
The last three weeks have been an eye opener for me. I have been thoroughly enjoying my second trimester which I realized recently has been flying by so fast it is pretty much over already. I had been feeling so great I didn't see some things catching up with me until they were staring me in the face - and laughing maniacally!
First, I know this is the mark where if I had been allowed to be running I'm sure I would have to be stopping because I physically can't do the same things I could just a week or two ago. I've kept myself pretty active - I walk 3-4 times a week - and have only gained 9 lbs so far for my efforts. About a week ago I was leaving work and by the time I walked down 6 flights of steps and out the door to walk to my car, I was aching and out of breath. WTF?! I hoped it was a fluke - maybe I was a bit dehydrated or something? - but every day it is the same thing. Even my backpack with my laptop seems heavier lately and my mind goes over ways I can lighten my load. Maybe I don't need to carry a purse AND a backpack to work every day? What a drag... Second, I don't have the energy to keep up with all aspects of my life anymore. I haven't slowed down in the Mom department or the work department and last week the keeping up with my 8-year old and her dance schedule on top of my work schedule with graveyard and swing shifts on call from home really took a toll. By the time Thursday night rolled around I was ready for bed at 8pm. Me, the ultimate night owl! Third, the aches and pains and discomfort of my body as it grows huge to accommodate this baby I'm carrying are starting to annoy me. I feel like I'm back in my first 12 weeks again and always needing to sit on the couch with my feet up except it isn't because I'm exhausted but because my legs hurt and my back hurts and even sitting there I can't get comfortable. Even my sleeping has been impacted. I've had to start the pillow dance at night in order to be comfortable. What is the pillow dance? It is the weirdness of propping pillows between your legs and under your belly and snuggling with them like a lover in order to find just the right sleep position. If it sounds like a drag, you're right, it is. But, it is worth it to be able to sleep all night. And fourth, there's the bladder bothers. Having to wake up in the middle of the night at least once for a bathroom visit is now the norm. And during the day is even worse with visits becoming more and more frequent. I know that will only get worse as things progress but man is it ever so annoying!
The baby bump is still growing and I look my 6 1/2 months along just as much as I'm feeling it. She is still a feisty baby who likes to kick my innards at all hours of the day and night. The funny thing is, the minute I voice that she is kicking and anyone around me touches my belly to try to feel her, she stops. How can she be my kid and be that bashful? I've started to employ this to my benefit and when I want a break from her acrobatics I call her sister over to touch my belly. It works like a charm every time!
Last week was a routine doctor visit. Everything looks good - baby sounds great and my ultrasound results are as good as the sonographer indicated. The placenta is a little low and I'll have to have a follow-up ultrasound in a couple of months to make sure as things grow there's enough room for her to squeeze by on her way out. If not, there's a C-section in my future but I'm hoping that isn't happening. My doc said we'd just have to take a look and see in a couple of months to make sure and was pretty calm about it so I'm staying positive.
The insane (and in my opinion unnecessary) panic and pandemonium about the H1N1 Swine Flu caught up with me twice in the last two weeks. I have said before, I am a healthy girl and I never get the flu - except those two years about 10 years ago when I got flu shots! - and I do not ever get flu shots. This year was no different for me and I'm not giving into the panic and craziness about the newest strain of flu that is getting so much attention. Yes, the swine flu is a nasty flu and yes it kills people but that is no different than the "regular" flu every year. I discussed it with my doctor at my visit and of course he gave me the party line that it is recommended for me to get it because I'm in one of the risk categories. I respectfully declined and I'm sure he wasn't too happy with me but I'm not going to get scared just because we are now collecting different statistics in order to scare larger pieces of the population. I work in healthcare and I know for a fact that we've never collected statistics on flu specific to pregnant women. With H1N1, now they are and I had those statistics thrown at me at the doctor's office. I asked what the stats were for pregnant women and the regular seasonal flu and he couldn't answer. Sorry, not compelling enough for me. Especially when I read on the CDC website that there are insane things like mercury and formaldehyde in the vaccine. Sorry, I don't ever want those things injected in my body for any reason! This last week our company got a limited number of vaccines from the Health Dept and they were only being offered to pregnant employees. Another respectful decline, thanks. It amazes me how easy it is to incite panic in the masses and how trusting people are. Maybe it is my cynical nature but I'm not ever going to be ok taking something that has been so fast-tracked on the way to market that the safety factor is based solely on the history of the companies making it and not on the actual manufacture process itself. "It is assumed to be just as safe as the regular seasonal flu shot" isn't good enough for this doubting girl! Just say No!
All in all, things are progressing nice and quick and holy shit I'm almost in my 3rd trimester! Where did all the time go? Better get my ass in gear and get working on getting the nursery put together or she'll be here and we won't be ready for her!
First, I know this is the mark where if I had been allowed to be running I'm sure I would have to be stopping because I physically can't do the same things I could just a week or two ago. I've kept myself pretty active - I walk 3-4 times a week - and have only gained 9 lbs so far for my efforts. About a week ago I was leaving work and by the time I walked down 6 flights of steps and out the door to walk to my car, I was aching and out of breath. WTF?! I hoped it was a fluke - maybe I was a bit dehydrated or something? - but every day it is the same thing. Even my backpack with my laptop seems heavier lately and my mind goes over ways I can lighten my load. Maybe I don't need to carry a purse AND a backpack to work every day? What a drag... Second, I don't have the energy to keep up with all aspects of my life anymore. I haven't slowed down in the Mom department or the work department and last week the keeping up with my 8-year old and her dance schedule on top of my work schedule with graveyard and swing shifts on call from home really took a toll. By the time Thursday night rolled around I was ready for bed at 8pm. Me, the ultimate night owl! Third, the aches and pains and discomfort of my body as it grows huge to accommodate this baby I'm carrying are starting to annoy me. I feel like I'm back in my first 12 weeks again and always needing to sit on the couch with my feet up except it isn't because I'm exhausted but because my legs hurt and my back hurts and even sitting there I can't get comfortable. Even my sleeping has been impacted. I've had to start the pillow dance at night in order to be comfortable. What is the pillow dance? It is the weirdness of propping pillows between your legs and under your belly and snuggling with them like a lover in order to find just the right sleep position. If it sounds like a drag, you're right, it is. But, it is worth it to be able to sleep all night. And fourth, there's the bladder bothers. Having to wake up in the middle of the night at least once for a bathroom visit is now the norm. And during the day is even worse with visits becoming more and more frequent. I know that will only get worse as things progress but man is it ever so annoying!
The baby bump is still growing and I look my 6 1/2 months along just as much as I'm feeling it. She is still a feisty baby who likes to kick my innards at all hours of the day and night. The funny thing is, the minute I voice that she is kicking and anyone around me touches my belly to try to feel her, she stops. How can she be my kid and be that bashful? I've started to employ this to my benefit and when I want a break from her acrobatics I call her sister over to touch my belly. It works like a charm every time!
Last week was a routine doctor visit. Everything looks good - baby sounds great and my ultrasound results are as good as the sonographer indicated. The placenta is a little low and I'll have to have a follow-up ultrasound in a couple of months to make sure as things grow there's enough room for her to squeeze by on her way out. If not, there's a C-section in my future but I'm hoping that isn't happening. My doc said we'd just have to take a look and see in a couple of months to make sure and was pretty calm about it so I'm staying positive.
The insane (and in my opinion unnecessary) panic and pandemonium about the H1N1 Swine Flu caught up with me twice in the last two weeks. I have said before, I am a healthy girl and I never get the flu - except those two years about 10 years ago when I got flu shots! - and I do not ever get flu shots. This year was no different for me and I'm not giving into the panic and craziness about the newest strain of flu that is getting so much attention. Yes, the swine flu is a nasty flu and yes it kills people but that is no different than the "regular" flu every year. I discussed it with my doctor at my visit and of course he gave me the party line that it is recommended for me to get it because I'm in one of the risk categories. I respectfully declined and I'm sure he wasn't too happy with me but I'm not going to get scared just because we are now collecting different statistics in order to scare larger pieces of the population. I work in healthcare and I know for a fact that we've never collected statistics on flu specific to pregnant women. With H1N1, now they are and I had those statistics thrown at me at the doctor's office. I asked what the stats were for pregnant women and the regular seasonal flu and he couldn't answer. Sorry, not compelling enough for me. Especially when I read on the CDC website that there are insane things like mercury and formaldehyde in the vaccine. Sorry, I don't ever want those things injected in my body for any reason! This last week our company got a limited number of vaccines from the Health Dept and they were only being offered to pregnant employees. Another respectful decline, thanks. It amazes me how easy it is to incite panic in the masses and how trusting people are. Maybe it is my cynical nature but I'm not ever going to be ok taking something that has been so fast-tracked on the way to market that the safety factor is based solely on the history of the companies making it and not on the actual manufacture process itself. "It is assumed to be just as safe as the regular seasonal flu shot" isn't good enough for this doubting girl! Just say No!
All in all, things are progressing nice and quick and holy shit I'm almost in my 3rd trimester! Where did all the time go? Better get my ass in gear and get working on getting the nursery put together or she'll be here and we won't be ready for her!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Highs and Lows - Weeks 14 & 15
The last two weeks (weeks 14 and 15) were a crazy roller-coaster ride of highs and lows. First, we went in for the dreaded and fearful genetic screening tests. We decided to do it just for piece of mind but with all the talk of my "advanced maternal age" and statistics being thrown around and things they were testing for that could go wrong, I admit I was a little more worried than I probably should have been. Call us cold and callous but it was such a relief when both the hubby and I were honest with each other about the fact that if there were indications of severe problems, we would most likely choose to "interrupt the pregnancy" which I guess is the polite way of putting it. (As a woman, I am so glad I have that choice and it is still a legal option in the USA - even though I hope never to have to make it!)
The testing itself was also one of the highs because as part of the screening we got to have a pretty extensive ultrasound. We were able to take our 7-year old who LOVED seeing the baby and getting to be involved. It was so surreal to watch the monitor and see how feisty and lively the baby is - constantly moving around and waving at us - and yet not be able to feel one bit of it yet. At one point the baby had decided to flip over and wasn't cooperating so we took a break (OK, I had to pee so bad!) and my daughter became like this drill instructor reminding me that I was supposed to be pushing on my tummy to get the baby to move around. It was so much fun to have her there with us and feel like she was a part of the whole process. After a great discussion with tons of our questions answered by the genetic counselor, we headed home for the process of waiting - something which I don't do well AT ALL. This all happened on Monday and the counselor said (and I quote!) "if you don't hear from me with the results by next Monday, give me a call". I of course figured we would hear long before the following Monday....
In the meantime, the following Monday was time for Girl Scout camp which I had signed my daughter and I up for months before I was pregnant and included many hours of planned horseback riding activities. I called my doctor and asked for specific permission on whether it was safe for me to be riding or not (with fingers and toes crossed!) He gave the green light which kind of surprised me considering the "no running" rule but I said THANK YOU and didn't question it. Now "camp" implies somewhere in a rural setting - in this case, up a canyon about an hour from home. As we were driving and I was trying to navigate to a new location without the help of a male or GPS, in the back of my mind was "today is the day I get to call and bug them about my test results" with the plan to make that call when we arrived. HA! Little did I know we were driving into not only 3 days of horseback riding and camp songs, but 3 days WITH NO CELL PHONE OR INTERNET SERVICE. Of course because I am a good and responsible cell phone citizen and try not to make calls or text (or read Facebook updates) while driving, I didn't realize this until we were there and what turned out was miles from the nearest service area. I carried my phone with me the entire first day and every time we came to a new spot in camp, I would check to see if I had service there. It was so frustrating when there was never a single bar - especially when we were surrounded by flushing toilets, showers, and electrical lights. I got over it quickly and enjoyed camp but always in the back of my mind was the hope that there would be a voicemail with good news waiting for me when I was back in cellphone range.
Wednesday arrived and that afternoon we bid farewell to camp. I turned the cell phone back on and waited for the inevitable alerts of incoming voicemail and text messages I was certain to have missed to signal our official arrival back into civilization. Came they did - but not until we'd been on the road for more than 7 miles. (Good lord!) When we stopped for the slushy I'd promised my daughter, I checked the voicemail and NONE OF THEM WERE FROM THE GENETIC COUNSELOR. I was pissed... if there's one thing I hate it is people who do not meet their commitments. I don't care what you tell me to expect, I will expect them. Since I was told I would get a call LAST WEEK and that if I hadn't heard I could call on Monday and it was now WEDNESDAY and I still didn't know what the tests had shown, I was not a happy camper.
Several days and several phone messages later - each one I'm sure in a more bitchy tone than the previous one - finally resulted in the genetic counselor calling me on Friday. After all the anticipation and accompanying worry - which was exacerbated by the fact that I had signed up for a service through my insurance company where I was able to see the test results but still not know what they meant - we got the news that I am officially in the "low risk" category for genetic disorders. What a sigh of relief. We have one more step in the genetic testing processes which includes more blood work this coming week to measure the specific markers for 3 genetic disorders. Because I am low risk, it is merely a precaution and we expect everything to be smooth sailing from here.
The next big step is that this week I am far enough along to find out what the sex of the baby is. Totally frustrating is that there are three different places you can go and pay for an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby and because we live in Utah, NONE OF THEM ARE OPEN ON SUNDAY. So, that didn't work out today and who knows when we will have time during the week to go before we leave for the last camping trip of the season on Friday. We are hoping to squeeze it in as early as tomorrow if we can get an appointment so stay tuned!!
Meanwhile, I am still feeling great, getting some of my appetite back for things other than cold cereal, and am finally able to walk without inner-thigh soreness from my horseback riding experience. I tell you, there is one good thing about being a horse girl, and it is toned thigh muscles! I am starting to be able to feel little movements from the baby and besides the very unmistakable baby bump it is the first thing that makes it in-your-face real for me. I still worry about how I will love another child as much as I do my first and how I will go back to sleepless nights and carrying a diaper bag and everything else that goes with having a newborn but man, am I excited!
The testing itself was also one of the highs because as part of the screening we got to have a pretty extensive ultrasound. We were able to take our 7-year old who LOVED seeing the baby and getting to be involved. It was so surreal to watch the monitor and see how feisty and lively the baby is - constantly moving around and waving at us - and yet not be able to feel one bit of it yet. At one point the baby had decided to flip over and wasn't cooperating so we took a break (OK, I had to pee so bad!) and my daughter became like this drill instructor reminding me that I was supposed to be pushing on my tummy to get the baby to move around. It was so much fun to have her there with us and feel like she was a part of the whole process. After a great discussion with tons of our questions answered by the genetic counselor, we headed home for the process of waiting - something which I don't do well AT ALL. This all happened on Monday and the counselor said (and I quote!) "if you don't hear from me with the results by next Monday, give me a call". I of course figured we would hear long before the following Monday....
In the meantime, the following Monday was time for Girl Scout camp which I had signed my daughter and I up for months before I was pregnant and included many hours of planned horseback riding activities. I called my doctor and asked for specific permission on whether it was safe for me to be riding or not (with fingers and toes crossed!) He gave the green light which kind of surprised me considering the "no running" rule but I said THANK YOU and didn't question it. Now "camp" implies somewhere in a rural setting - in this case, up a canyon about an hour from home. As we were driving and I was trying to navigate to a new location without the help of a male or GPS, in the back of my mind was "today is the day I get to call and bug them about my test results" with the plan to make that call when we arrived. HA! Little did I know we were driving into not only 3 days of horseback riding and camp songs, but 3 days WITH NO CELL PHONE OR INTERNET SERVICE. Of course because I am a good and responsible cell phone citizen and try not to make calls or text (or read Facebook updates) while driving, I didn't realize this until we were there and what turned out was miles from the nearest service area. I carried my phone with me the entire first day and every time we came to a new spot in camp, I would check to see if I had service there. It was so frustrating when there was never a single bar - especially when we were surrounded by flushing toilets, showers, and electrical lights. I got over it quickly and enjoyed camp but always in the back of my mind was the hope that there would be a voicemail with good news waiting for me when I was back in cellphone range.
Wednesday arrived and that afternoon we bid farewell to camp. I turned the cell phone back on and waited for the inevitable alerts of incoming voicemail and text messages I was certain to have missed to signal our official arrival back into civilization. Came they did - but not until we'd been on the road for more than 7 miles. (Good lord!) When we stopped for the slushy I'd promised my daughter, I checked the voicemail and NONE OF THEM WERE FROM THE GENETIC COUNSELOR. I was pissed... if there's one thing I hate it is people who do not meet their commitments. I don't care what you tell me to expect, I will expect them. Since I was told I would get a call LAST WEEK and that if I hadn't heard I could call on Monday and it was now WEDNESDAY and I still didn't know what the tests had shown, I was not a happy camper.
Several days and several phone messages later - each one I'm sure in a more bitchy tone than the previous one - finally resulted in the genetic counselor calling me on Friday. After all the anticipation and accompanying worry - which was exacerbated by the fact that I had signed up for a service through my insurance company where I was able to see the test results but still not know what they meant - we got the news that I am officially in the "low risk" category for genetic disorders. What a sigh of relief. We have one more step in the genetic testing processes which includes more blood work this coming week to measure the specific markers for 3 genetic disorders. Because I am low risk, it is merely a precaution and we expect everything to be smooth sailing from here.
The next big step is that this week I am far enough along to find out what the sex of the baby is. Totally frustrating is that there are three different places you can go and pay for an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby and because we live in Utah, NONE OF THEM ARE OPEN ON SUNDAY. So, that didn't work out today and who knows when we will have time during the week to go before we leave for the last camping trip of the season on Friday. We are hoping to squeeze it in as early as tomorrow if we can get an appointment so stay tuned!!
Meanwhile, I am still feeling great, getting some of my appetite back for things other than cold cereal, and am finally able to walk without inner-thigh soreness from my horseback riding experience. I tell you, there is one good thing about being a horse girl, and it is toned thigh muscles! I am starting to be able to feel little movements from the baby and besides the very unmistakable baby bump it is the first thing that makes it in-your-face real for me. I still worry about how I will love another child as much as I do my first and how I will go back to sleepless nights and carrying a diaper bag and everything else that goes with having a newborn but man, am I excited!
Friday, April 24, 2009
A ban I can support
I was struck today on the drive home that enough has not been said about the horrors of plastic bags... at least not from my own soapbox. Why aren't the rest of the cities of the world taking a queue from San Francisco and supporting a ban on plastic shopping bags? My opposition includes all the normal issues about how they are not biodegradable and most of them end up in the oceans where they either literally choke living things or break down into smaller pieces that totally mess with the DNA of those unlucky enough to ingest them. However, I have a much bigger beef than even that - the laziness of the average American. At this point in our history you would think we had learned SOME lessons from our recent history about re-using. During the early 19th century they had "rag and paper men" who's job it was to go to individual houses and collect rags from sewing and paper and take them away to be reused. Why, then, a century later, are we having to reinvent this and find ways to make recycling hip again? Every other developed nation in the world (well, OK, at least in Europe where I have personal experience) expects their citizens to bring their own bags when they do their shopping. So why is it a novelty that I get bitchy looks about from folks unlucky enough to be behind me at the grocery store checkout when my bagger is struggling to load my reusable bags with my purchases? I'm sorry my efforts at saving the planet interfere with your rush to be wherever you are heading. Several years ago when Ikea first appeared in my city, I thought it novel I was charged for the plastic bags I used to carry my purchases away and it was the first time it got me really thinking about the issue. Today, I get a credit for every bag I return to the store to reuse which is a nice incentive to get people to purchase the reusable bags but I think we should go farther. It should be a requirement that you go to the store with your own bags and if you don't you should be charged for the plastic ones you take away. Maybe if it hurt people in the only place most of us care about - the pocketbook - more people would be interested in making a difference that takes such little effort. Call me a hippie or a tree-hugger, call me a liberal fascist, just do it while you are reusing your own bags, please! I would rather see them banned altogether!
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