Not Looking Good

this whole “moving”/ blog transformation bit is taking longer than i’d expected. 

in the meantime, public service announcement!!! 

the feds are threatening to drastically cut funding adolescent health programs.  this affects ALL of us in some way.  if not by completing ruining your life or the future of a child you know, you WILL feel it in your pockets!  why don’t people understand that prevention is always cheaper than after-the-fact?

take a moment (literally) to call or email your representative and help express the urgency of maintaining funding for adolescent health.

visit this link (or the one below) to find your representative then follow instructions  http://sparkaction.org/alert/save-adolescent-family-life-program  script may be altered for your specific state as this is a federal level budget cut and does not just affect georgia residents!!

• Click here to find your Representative: here.   
• Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 and then ask for the office of your representative.  Once connected, ask to speak with the health staffer or be connected to their voice mail.    
• When they answer or their VM picks up,  say:

“Hello my name is ___________ and I am calling as a constituent from ____________  and my zip code is __________.    I am calling to ask Representative _______  to support funding for health and prevention programs.  As a constituent, I ask that you strongly encourage Representative to vote AGAINST any budget bill that cuts funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, Title X, the CDC, or Planned Parenthood. 

The proposed cuts would have a devastating impact on efforts to prevent unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other STDs and would undermine women, young people, and low-income people’s access to health care.

 These cuts are not about “fiscal responsibility” or “reducing government spending.” They are about eliminating vital prevention and health care programs and eliminating access to comprehensive sex education, family planning, sexual and reproductive health services, and HIV/STD prevention for those most in need.

 In fact, this funding contributes to Georgia’s financial health- with lower teenage pregnancies and STIs, teen can graduate on time, attend higher education, and become part of the competitive work force in our state, therefore contributing positively to Georgia’s economy.

 Again, please urge the representative to VOTE NO to cutting important Office of Adolescent Health/Teen Pregnancy Prevention funding. 

 Thank you for your time.”

 After that, unless they have any questions, say goodbye and hang up- you did your part! 

thanks, sweet peachy citizens!  i suppose if this signals the end of my career, i can always up the side hustles…  make makeup and waitressing full time gigs?  woe is me…

‘Sup?

Image by TheCulinaryGeek via Flickr

 

dudes!… i totally made a decision of sorts and plum forgot to share!

i realized i have way too many random thoughts and way too random a life to let this blog go completely.  after all, it does serve in most ways as my personal journal (only it’s available to the entire world as opposed to locked in a nitestand drawer).  and lord knows i’d forget my head if it weren’t attached.  so if i don’t write it down, it never happened.  and then what stories will i tell my grandkids?

that to say, i’ll start doing the fashion/beauty thing i previously threatened over at one of my un-used blogger addresses.  i’ll be sure to share the link provided this actually ever takes place (pretty unlikely at this point).

here… i’ll commit to one post a week.  it’s not much, i’m aware.  but this whole living in real life thing is time consuming.  not much has changed from my up by 6am, work all week, to bed by 9pm, soccer mom, bball mom, cram in all the rest on the weekend schedule.  but i’m newly devoted to guilt-free general simplification upon realizing (again) that life is too short and precious to spend any time whatsoever doing anything that takes more effort than i’m willing to give.

does that mean you guys aren’t worth the effort?  of course not.  i feel appropriately shitty everytime i read one of your super fantastic posts and realize it’s been ages since i contributed to the blogosphere.  it’s just that i’m big (or at least medium-sized) on promises, stated intentions, keeping my word and such.  and i know that once weekly is realistic at this point.

personal update?…

well, work is still an incredible balance between being fantastically rewarding, allowing me to spend hours doing absolutely nothing and giving me a currently comfortable degree of “security.” 

my mini-person is still the joy of my life.  it’s bball season and soon, we’ll be back on the soccer field.  we’ve started talking pretty regularly about sex.  i asked him yesterday if he’d at least wait until after he finishes high school to become sexually active.  he said, “ok.”  his facial expression said, “omg… i’ll tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to stop randomly talking to me about sex!” 

and in the wild and crazy confusing world that is dating, i have settled into a pleasant and relatively calm getting-to-know-you phase with a pretty great gal.

i’m working on improving my health and fitness lifestyle.  what this looks like is me more often choosing pretzels over salt&vinegar potato chips and working out with a frequency that is not really worth mentioning.  a much slower start than last year.  at this point in 2010, i was on a strict 5-day a week cardio routine.  i’m fairly certain my diet was still crap.  hmmm… as i write i realize my focus needs to be combining the two.  seems when i’m working out regularly, i use the promise of an upcoming food-fiasco as motivation.  and when i’m eating healthier, i tend to feel like i have no real need to workout as much.  overall, if i’m feeling generally good about myself and my physical appearance (as i have lately) the whole health and fitness thing doesn’t stand a fair chance.  so yeah… still working on that.

final random thought?… is not so random.  i scrolled down ye olde sidebar to browse my auto-generated suggested media and there are a disturbing number of women with open mouths, bare breasts and vintage posters.  i must now read over this entire post to determine exactly what i wrote to prompt such suggestions… 

… i’m back.  i have no idea.  but i decided to include the photo of the hotdog and chips along with a few articles on things completely unrelated to this post or my life.  enjoy!

Related Articles

• P!nk, The Soccer Mom? (perezhilton.com)
• Recall News: Potato chips (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Small Blogs: The Art of the Personal Journal (blogher.com)

Not All Fun and Games

Image via Wikipedia

first up, breaking news and such…

yay for gays!!  looks like we are making strides with “don’t ask don’t tell”, coming out day/ month, LGBT history month and anti-bullying campaigns.  i am pretty freakin’ excited for us these days.  i must admit i’m very disappointment in myself for forgetting to wear purple today but alas, my alliance should speak for itself.

on a personal note, how interesting that i, the out and proud lesbian mom of a super fantastic kid, get a call from the school on monday regarding bullying.  of course, i’d been on top of this issue.  the kid and i had frequent talks about gay slurs, acceptance, loving all mankind, “that’s so gay” (kids’ favie saying these days), the benefits of having two moms (well, one right now… but you know what i mean) and yada, yada, yada.  i would ask the kid about what’s going on at school.  do kids ever tease each other (i remember this age vividly)?  are kids talking about sex?  has any made him feel uncomfortable?  i give constant reassurance and self esteem boosters.  “you’re sooooo smart!”  “do you know how incredible you are?”  “OMG!  you are super handsome and spectacular!”  seriously, it gets laid on thick.  and it’s largely because i was 9 years old once.  and this was precisely the time when kids began the teasing and the attempts to make me believe i was “lame”, nerdy and hideous.  i eventually gave in and it tooks years (decades) to recover.  i’m a firm believer that once the self esteem is lowered, it is forever fragile even after being built back up.

all that to say… MY kid was the damned bully!!!  well, it was him and two other boys ganging up to tease one kid.  they called him gay because he wears his shorts really short.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??  and i understand everyone wants to be accepted.  and kids are especially concerned at this age with belonging to a group.  but seriously, ARE YOU KIDDING ME??  my kids shorts, shirts and every other part of that ridiculously expensive uniform is short, tight, old, etc.  maybe it was a “get them before they get me” thing.  or, as a close friend suggested, a disconnect between lesbian, which he understands well and gay men, which he hasn’t been properly exposed to.  either way, the schools are NOT playing with this issue any longer.  and i don’t think it’s so much a big concern about the kids and their esteem.  but rather, a concern with their jobs and their schools’ accreditation.

so, the kid and i have had extensive talks and endless lectures.  there is a grounding in place, restriction on all things fun, a super tight regime of tooth-brushing, lunch packing, tv off while you eat dinner, to bed early…-ness.

my sister suggested that he write papers on great leaders throughout history, characteristics of a leader and the value of moral standards.  and of course, i think that is a spectacular notion.

raising a kid is no game!  it’s scary business.  so ladies, if your eggs have remained unfertilized, keep it that way!  don’t get me wrong.  best decision, no regrets, precious gifts from God and so forth…  but, i’m done!  statistically, if i had more than one, someone’s bound to be a serial killer, high school drop-out or republican.  and sheesh, could you imagine the headlines?!  kid of lesbian bullies gay kid.  it just doesn’t work…

Related Articles

• Thank You Adam Lambert, From One Bullied Teen to Another (bettyconfidential.com)
• School Bullies (quazen.com)
• Spirit Day Is Purple (pamil-visions.net)