Irritated… Again

It is a total coffee morning and Big Al Mack just said every stripper he knows is in college. Well then, that woke me up, I fell asleep early last night and slept hard. Made up for Sunday night, when I didn’t sleep at all, well, once, then woke up screaming.
Ok,so, there is a news story that makes me so angry I could spit. It is a case where a woman gave her child up for adoption, the birth father contested it and was given his child. Key words there, his child, blood, birth, family. The adoptive parents want the baby back, no, not baby at this point, child. This whole case makes me physically ill, the father of this child wants her, period, end of story.
That should have been the end of the story, but it’s not, for whatever reason the South Carolina courts have finalized am adoption that should not have happened in the first place.
The adoptive parents are in the wrong, I understand how painful it is when you are adopting and the birth parent says no, I want my baby. I have seen this happen, it is brutal, however when a person sets out on the adoption path they are told this could happen.
At this point I have very little sympathy for the adoptive parents, to me they are not a sympathetic people.
They have hired a PR firm, they have ties to the superior court judge, who finalized the adoption after the child went to her birth father (just a note adoptions are not superior court issues), they continually speak to the press.
The birth father on the other hand, serves in the Oklahoma National Guard, and does not speak to the press, nor does any member of his family.
My personal opinion is leave this child alone, if you have this kind of time and money you could have adopted several children that actually need a good home. That have no parents that want them, go forth, help a child that needs it!

Prude?

So, on my twitter feed someone had retweeted a Cooper Hefner tweet. He was tweeting an interview that a London paper had done with him. His tweet inferred that the journalist was biased. Curious me, I read the article, and yes, while I do believe that the journalist already had her mind made up before the interview. However, Jr hardly helped himself during said interview.
During the interview he inferred that if one is religious they are a prude. Well that is what I want to address. I am religious, I am no prude, however I have a clear cut view on what I believe is right and what is wrong.
It is wrong for 10 year old girls to wear the playboy bunny emblazoned on their behinds. It is wrong for them to wear the charms, have purses or anything else that depicts this image. Why you ask, well, let me tell you, playboy is pornography, is this really what we want our daughters promoting at a young age?
I believe it is wrong for Target to sell certain books on their shelves, I believe it’s wrong for Robin Thicke’s uncensored Blurred Lines video to be on YouTube. Anyone can access it, it needs to be NC17, I don’t think children should be able to access it, yet there it is.
We are, as a society, so intent on proving our non prudishness that we have gone to the extreme.
Some things should be adult only, it should be left behind the counter in a brown wrapper.
You don’t have to be a prude or religious to know that out children are being over exposed to things that should be for adults. This is not the only generation to do this, it had been going on for a few decades now.
The end result is we now have 18 year old girls whose main goal in life is to be a 80 year old mans trophy, or to be featured in a certain magazine.
Teach your daughters about their brains, develop that as well as teaching them they are beautiful.
When I was little my grandfather was teaching me to read, my grandmother told him I was pretty therefore I didn’t need to know how to read. He laughed, she walked off, he then looked me in the eyes and told me ” listen well, you are pretty, but that will only get you so far in life, your mind will take you wherever you want to go. Develop that and it will last you a lifetime.”
I never forgot his words, I take a lot of pride in my looks, and am obsessed by them, but I take a greater pride in my intellect. Give that gift to your daughters instead of a bunny emblem.

Tribute to Kidd

Last night was the public memorial for Kidd Kraddick, I was able to attend. I am so happy I went to say see you later to this great man.
J-Si said it best when he said that he had heard from people that said they didn’t understand why they were grieving so hard when they had never met Kidd. He told us that we did know him, how he was on air was exactly the man he was in his “real” life. There was nothing faked for ratings, he was who he was.
It is no surprise that a man who showed us every morning how large his heart was would pass from an enlarged one.
The tribute was perfect, his daughter sang, I believe her dad would be extremely proud of her. She has grown to be poised and self assured. We, who have been listening for a long time, have watched her grow up. Or rather, heard her grow up, from bath time with Caroline to listening to her in the car on her way to school. Seeing her honor her father in song was incredibly heartbreaking and joyous all at the same time.
My friend Pam and I took the train downtown to pay our respects. I am grateful she went with me, she is also a fan so it was nice to be there with someone who understood. We had a Kidd worthy adventure, especially getting home. If you are a listener you will get that reference.
I got home way later than my normal bedtime, loss of sleep well worth it.

Electric Light Orchestra

Coming to work early in the mornings the radio is my best friend. This morning I heard Strange Magic by Electric Light Orchestra. This made me incredibly happy, as I belted out the lyrics at the top of my lungs I reflected on my history with E.L.O.
Being an orchestra brat, loving string instruments this band was a revelation. They introduced me to a whole new way of playing. I didn’t know my bass could produce such sounds.
They had a bass that was painted purple and glittered. I wanted to paint mine so bad, however I was not allowed to.
Music feeds my soul, when I am down certain songs can lift me up, certain songs can reflect whatever I am feeling at the moment. I cannot imagine this world without music. The thought is too depressing.
It is a new week and a new opportunity to live life. I would say get out of your homes and see what’s out there, however, it is still hot as hades out there. So maybe you can do something meaningful indoors.

Happy Anniversary Mom

August 11, 2003, ten years, it’s been 10 years since my mom went home. I cannot believe it has been that long, in the grand scheme of things it is a relatively short amount of time.
I still miss her, I miss her wisdom, I miss her acceptance, I miss her heart and I miss her soul. Being around my mother made one want to be a better person, not because she demanded it, but because her innate goodness shone through, I have never met another person like her. I have met some that their hearts reminded me of my mother, but none that their souls reminded me of her.
My most favorite thing to do with her was just to sit; we would sit on the recliner couch and say nothing. Just hold hands, in silence, you could feel her stillness, the peace her soul had, and you wanted it. I have never been able to attain her level of peace, I don’t know anyone else who has had it either.
When I lost her, I lost my touchstone, I lost the last person on earth that loved me for me, not what I could do for them, I lost the one person on earth who never judged me and simply accepted who I am.
It’s a terrible thing to lose ones mother before they are ready, I wasn’t ready; I was still young and needed her. Even though I was an adult and a mother myself, I wasn’t ready; I didn’t want to be alone in life.
However, God had different ideas, He wanted her home, she was ready to go home, to be with her love, my dad. He passed 10 years before her and she was more than ready to go be with him, she missed him more than I was going to miss her.
It is impossible to talk about her without mentioning him; she had been in love with him since she was 5 years old. She would call him daddio; I loved hearing her say that. The way she said the word, it was filled with her love for him. Even after 59 years of marriage she would still look at him with unwavering adoration. That kind of love doesn’t come around often and not everyone gets to have it.
So mom, I hope you are enjoying the anniversary of your home coming, I still miss you all the time. However I look forward to being there with you one day, I can’t wait to tell you how you influenced me, in ways that I didn’t even know until I was older. I am still discovering things about myself even now, thank you for being my favorite mom.

Happy Birthday Michael

Well here we are, the day that brings me so many memories. The memories of the day are joyous, my heart still sings with the memory of Michael being born. Hearing his cry, holding him, counting his fingers and toes, looking at his beautiful face.
There is a scene in the Buffy episode The Body, where Buffy imagines what it would have been like if she had just gotten there in time. If her mother had lived.
I have those thoughts of Michael, what would he have been like as an adult. Knowing Jeffrey, Elizabeth and Alex, I believe I get a glimpse of what his humor would have been like. His demeanor, his looks, his closeness to his siblings.
I do wonder, would he have worked in the same field as his brothers or would he be more like me. Would he have gotten married and had children by now.
In an instant I imagine the what if, I think we all do it, we who are left behind.
I know where he is, I know my mom and grandma are taking care of him, taking my place until I can be his mother once more.

My Review of the New Mary Kay Product

Happy Monday everyone. Warning to BBFF this will be a skin care post.
As anyone who knows me knows that I have been using Mary Kay skin care products since Elizabeth Anne was 6 months old. She is now 24. I have exclusively used the products since then, I even used the shampoo and conditioner when they had that.
Well now they have a new product called Volu-Firm, I always try before I recommend.
I was very happy with the TimeWise skin care regimen, so I was a little hesitant to change. However, since it is Mary Kay and I love everything I threw caution to the wind, ordered it and began my journey.
Huge surprise, I love it! I can actually feel it working and tightening my skin. I feel like I look younger and my skin looks great.
I am going to post a picture, well two, side by side, me at 17 and (gulp) me now at 49. Yes I said it, 49, I usually don’t admit my age, but I happen to think I look pretty good. I’ll let you be the judge.

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Life

With the passing of Kidd Kraddick I am thinking a lot about what my life says about who I am. There is nothing more difficult than looking at yourself and seeing who you really are.
Kidd touched so many lives, leaving a legacy of do what you love, help others while doing it. I am searching for what I really love, I have two things in my life that I genuinely love doing, I don’t get paid for either and I don’t know how to get paid doing them. Quitting my job to do them full time is not a viable option.
So I am left to ponder and pray, I want so much to find my purpose in life. What am I supposed to be doing? What does God want me to do?
I don’t really know what I’m good at, I have asked others what they think I’m good at, no one seems to have a suggestion. Apparently I am not good at anything, so I guess an unfulfilled life will continue. I feel restless, I know I need to do something, I need to be still and listen to God. I need to take my own advice.

Women

Ok, so, on Facebook, where we all get our information these days, someone posted a picture of a billboard. It read, “Monica Lewinsky’s ex-Boyfriend’s Wife For President!” The person who posted it thought it was funny. I do not. Before you get entrenched in politics, I am going to go on the record as saying I am not a fan of Hillary Clintons politics. I am however a woman, and on that has been cheated on and I don’t find this kind of demeaning sign funny.
Let me tell you why, as women we should be protecting each other, lifting each other up and only wanting good things for each other. Hillary did not deserve the very public humiliation she received from this time in her life. To constantly bring it up and throw it in her face every chance we get not only denigrates her accomplishments as a woman, it denigrates all of us. What we are saying by posting these types of things is we thing she deserved what she got. I do not believe any woman deserves what happened to her, she was very publicly humiliated, she chose to stay with her husband, and I hope she made him pay for his horrible choices.
As a society, as women, we have chosen to make her pay for what her husband did, and constantly remind her of it.
Why, as women, are we doing that? It is unconscionable; we really should be a sisterhood. Why are we not? Why do we look at another woman’s misery and insist on adding to it? If you disagree with her politics, her opinions, her actions, then blast her for those, not what her husband did to her.
This type of continued need women have to belittle each other, to knock each other down a peg or two, appalls me. Why? Is Anthony Weiner’s wife going to be subjected to this type of denigration? By other women?
One more reason I love Mary Kay, you don’t find this type of thing happening within our ranks. You find it in corporate America, a lot, in my J.O.B. there is a woman who is hell bent on ruining every woman in the office.
She needs Jesus, although I have found that a lot of the women who claim to have Jesus have this inane need to tear other women down.
Stop it, just stop, stop stepping out with men, who are taken, stop putting down women that have been cheated on, stop gossiping about your sisters. Instead lend a helping hand, reach out to each other, when you see a woman down, no matter the cause, lend an ear, a shoulder or hand.
It costs nothing to lift up a woman in need; you gain everything, self-worth, gratitude, and an eternal friend. We all need friends, we all need each other, this world was not designed for us to walk alone in it. And I do not mean in a romantic way, it takes a village, it means more than raising children, it takes a village for us all to survive. We must depend upon one another for survival, we all have different gifts, we all have different talents, I can do something someone else can’t and vice versa.
So when you see those types of things, no matter how tempted you are to laugh, remember, if you are willing to laugh at someone else’s misery, the person posting will probably laugh at yours.