I love my life!

This weekend pretty much rocked!  It's easier to tell you why with bullet points:

• We won $9 in the lottery.  We never win anything, so this was huge for us.  As the Computer Guy said, "Wow.  That'll almost buy us 3 gallons of gas." 
• I made garlic cheese grits for dinner and everyone liked them.  If you cook for a family of picky eaters, then you know how huge this is.  Not quick to prepare, but pretty simple and so good that my husband practically licked the pan.  Oh, and they were impressive looking, too.  See?    *recipe below

 

With brisket and salad for dinner.  Yum!

• I learned a knew coupon system from my friend Peace.  I used it this weekend at CVS.  I spent $10 out of pocket and got $30 of stuff for free.  Thank you, Peace!
• I sent an email to Jennifer of Conversion Diary and told her that I'll be in Austin in a few weeks...does she want to get together?  It felt a bit stalker-y and I hoped she wouldn't be weirded out.  She wasn't!   In fact, she said "that sounds great!! I've been a big fan of your blog for a while, so I'm excited at the chance to meet you in person."   OMg!  Jennifer Fulwiler reads my blog and is a fan!   (Okay, now I've crossed into creepy stalker-y....but she can't back out now!  You've all seen it. She said yes!)
• I'm in 5th place for Best Parenting Blog on the Blogger's Choice Awards!  5th place!  Have you voted yet?  I'm literally 4 votes from 3rd.  ( 32 from 2nd and  63 from first)  If you have a moment....can you give me your vote?  Thanks!  ***Update!  I'm in 3rd!  Thank you!  Only 59 votes and I win!
• I started scrubbing the kitchen floor by hand, and #4 said "That looks fun.  Can I help?"  Um...yeah...   

• She then told me that it would be even better if we could sing the song Cinderella did when she scrubbed the floor.   Thank you Pandora radio.  We sang and scrubbed for 1 1/2 hours.
• When they heard the singing, #'s 1 and 2 came in to join the fun.  They ended up serenading us from the counter.  A little Mulan music and they were belting it out! I love that this is still cool in our house

Garlic cheese grits.  (I halved the recipe for our family.  It makes a lot!)

2 eggs
1 cup white quick grits
4 cups water
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried mustard
16 ounces Velveeta cheese
1 stick of butter or margarine

Put water, garlic and mustard in a pan and bring to a boil; add grits.  Cook according to grits package directions until grits are thickened.  While grits are cooking, chop cheese and butter into small pieces.  When grits are cooked, add cheese and butter and stir until melted (heat off).  Set aside for approximately 20 minutes.

Separate egg whites and yolks. Fold yolks into the grits, cheese, butter mixture.

Beat egg whites until they stand in peaks.  Fold half of the mixture into the grits.  Spread the remaining half of whites on top like you do when adding meringue to a pie.

Bake grits at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.  Mixture will thicken as it cools.

Voice from the Scrapyard

Voice from the Scrapyard

We are the scrapped generation
Forgotten, despised, and forlorn.
Our parents took pills not to have us;
A third of us never got born.
Don't ask why we're sullen or angry;
You never could handle the truth.
Just ask what you've done
To your daughter or son.
Just ask what you've done to your youth.


 ---from Firestar by Michael Flynn

The Geek and the Cool Kids

This past Friday when I picked #3 up from school, he had a little smile on his face.

"What's funny?" I asked him.

"I'm not cool." He told me.

"I think you're cool." I answered my coolest child.  (If he's not cool there's no hope for the rest of us.)

He rolled his eyes.  "You're my mom.  You have to think I'm cool.  I'm not though. The cool kids told me."

I glanced in his direction to see how he felt about that.  Stupid kids.  How could they miss how wonderful he is?

"I hung out with them for the last two days so that I could be cool, too.  Today at recess they told me I was a geek so I can't hang out with them any more."

"Why do they think you're a geek?" I asked already dreading the answer.

"I have weird white spots on my face that look like inside out freckles.  That makes me a geek.  I don't care though, because I like them.  They make my face look different from everyone else's face."

"Huh" was my witty reply.

"It's okay with me though, because after two days I know that what makes them cool is that they're bored, and bored is kind of boring.  I tried to get them to play something, but they would only huff at me.  Then I told them that I was going to play anyway and they said 'Whatever.'  I'd rather be a geek who plays stuff than a cool kid who stands around being bored.  Being a geek is more fun."


He's so much smarter than I ever was.

Teaching to the Test - Why Our School is Failing

When we enrolled #3 in school, we hoped that they would help him actually learn math.  I've worked at it for years and he wasn't on grade level.  I thought they would have new programs to try, expertise to tap into, and lots of work for him to do.  That's right, I expected homework.

 
I wanted homework for my son.  It was the one way I felt I could still be a part of his education.  I know other parents complain about the piles of schoolwork, but I would welcome it.  He hasn't had homework in months, and before that it was only spelling words.....what happened to the spelling words?  I've met with the teacher and asked her to send work home. I sat in the IEP meeting with the school's hierarchy and begged for them to allow me to help in his education.  He's not getting an education from what they're doing at school..I know because he's still failing all the stupid assessment tests.  Could they send something home for him to work on?  No.  They can not.  Apparently.

Until now.

Two days ago we were finally sent sheets of work to do with him.  The problem is it's not anything academic.  There is nothing in the booklet of worksheets to help educate him in anything he needs to know in order to graduate out of the third grade.  For the next six weeks, my son has homework designed to teach him how to take a test.  The booklet we were given is full of sample problems and questions that mimic the style of questions found in standardized testing.

I had heard the term "teaching to the test" and I assumed that that meant the teachers were instructing students in the exact areas of knowledge that would be on the test.  Before I had a child in the school system, I thought that it wouldn't really be that bad because at least they would be learning something that kids their age should know.  How dumb was I?  Teaching to the test actually means teaching children how to take a multiple choice test.  How exactly does this prepare them for life?  The only multiple choice questions I face usually sound something like "Press one for English, Press two..."  I don't think kids require special training for that.

For the next six weeks, this is what my son's school will be teaching their students.  At a meeting this week, the staff informed the parents that we were expected to practice with our children every night and that they would be reviewing this information every day between now and the test date in April.

I know I'm not a professional educator.  I have no degree in education, heck I don't have any degree at all...and yet.....It just seems to me that if we had had this level of intensive educational focus on his actual reading and math, #3 and his classmates would know how to figure out the answers on their own, and they wouldn't need six weeks of training to know how to bubble in the letter 'C'.

Advice from the School Nurse

Do you watch "What Would You Do?" on ABC?  It's a favorite in our house.  Real world situations...hidden cameras...honest reactions...lots of great conversations with our children in the days that follow.

Last night's episode has been the subject of a lot of discussion in our house today.  It's not the parents talking with the children, but the parents talking to each other.  It was disturbing to us as parents.  The final segment featured the dilemma "What would people do if they saw a teenage boy trying to pressure his girlfriend into having an abortion."

At minute 4:30, a mother and son sit down in the booth next to the actors.  When the "boyfriend" storms out, the son slides over and comforts the crying girl even offering her a ride home.  His mother on the other hand tells her "it's going to be hard though" seemingly steering the girl away from the decision she has already made and toward abortion.  God bless her son who cuts her off.  (If there are any single women who know that guy, SNAP HIM UP!!!!!!!!  That is one great guy.)

The reactions are all pretty easily predicted and not unexpected, until minute 7 when the young couple encounter a public school nurse. The part that the host calls "the most impressive reaction of the day." The nurse admits that this is a situation she has dealt with too often, and she seems to have a lot of experience talking to teenagers about this very thing.  Watch for yourself and then meet me back here.



Here's what bothers us: She never asked the girl about her parents or advised her to talk to them.  They are her parents and love her, and yet this total stranger feels it is her place and that she is competent to tell these people what to do with their baby's life.  (Is this how she counsels children entrusted to her care in the school?)  "I don't know that keeping a child at 16 is going to be the wisest move because probably the person you're going to be with isn't going to be this person right here."  She tells the girls who HAS ALREADY SAID SHE WANTS TO KEEP HER BABY.   Within seconds of sitting down with people she had never before met, she usurps parental authority, ignores the wishes of the girl, and counsels them to abort.  WITHIN SECONDS OF SITTING DOWN! 

This is an outrageous act.  This is not the action of someone being a good hearted person, although she probably thinks of herself as such.  This is liberal thinking personified and sitting down to counsel teenagers.  Their families don't matter, the baby doesn't matter, their own ethics don't even seem to matter as she encourages them to think only of themselves.  I wish they had let the tape run longer so that we could have seen the other places her advice would take them.

Is this the counseling they would get if they saw this woman in the nurses office?  Advice to abort and a secret ride to the clinic without telling her parents?  It happens all over this country that the schools attempt to step in as pseudo-parents and strip us of our authority and rights.  It will continue until we, as parents, demand an end to this end-run around our care and concern for our children. 

The moral of the story is the son in the second group is amazing, catch him if you can...but if you see the nurse, run away!

Leaving Bernadette

I'm frequently asked what I'll miss the most about Oklahoma.  I smile and say all of the socially acceptable things they expect me to say.  "I'll miss our family."  "It will be tough to leave such great friends."  "Our life has been here, so it will be interesting to have to start it over."

I never tell the truth.  It's breaking my heart.  I'm leaving my babies.  We have two children buried in this state.  One who was miscarried and one who was stillborn.  The baby we had named Noah is buried beside his great-grandparents.  Leaving him is easier because he is not alone and forgotten.  The Computer Guy's family still attends services at the Lutheran church right next door.  Our boy is with family. 

But our Bernadette....our daughter's body is buried in a small Catholic graveyard where there is no longer any church.  The only people who go there go to clean the graves of their relatives, as I have done for her many times.  We have wonderful friends living near there who stop by from time to time and clear off her headstone, but they are moving a few months after we do.  She will be alone among strangers.

I know that it is just her body and that her soul has gone on.  I try to tell myself that we will be reunited someday, that I will see her sweet face again.  It doesn't matter to me.  Tending her grave is all the mothering I've ever done for our girl.  Pulling weeds, wiping off dirt and planting a few flowers are all I will ever get to do for her.

My baby is buried here.  In leaving Oklahoma, I am having to walk away and leave her behind again.  I did it once on a hot day in July after her father placed that achingly small casket into the Oklahoma soil.  The only time he held her in his arms was in a box at her burial.  The only time I tucked her in was to drop dirt on her casket.  This is all of her that we will ever have in this life.

Life is for those who are still living it, and moving to Texas is best for our family.  I can accept that as fact.  But how do we leave them?  How do we leave her?  How do we abandon Bernadette?

Random Mom Facts ---- Revealed

We haven't played "Random Mom Facts" in a while.  For those of you who are new, one of these is completely made up and the others are sadly true.  There are no prizes for being right, it's just amusing to me to see what people think I will actually do.

1. While I've eaten all kinds of weird stuff like crickets and lamb eye balls, I've never eaten lobster.  Absolutely true.  I've had friends from a variety of cultural backgrounds who have treated me to ethnic cooking.  Their cuisines never included expensive shellfish.

2. The Computer Guy and I didn't announce our pregnancy with #1 until 2 weeks before she was born.  We just kept waiting for me to show and it to be obvious.  I didn't show.  It was awkward telling people.  True.  I'm so sorry to all of you who show early.  #1 went straight up into my ribcage and never went very far out.  We were reluctant to tell people because she was born a little too soon after the wedding. 

3. One of my early childhood memories is of my dad running over a giant snake with our VW bus.  It was he size of a speed bump.  The snake was so long that we couldn't see either end of it.  It was the Philippines.  The snakes are big there.  True.  Night time in the Philippines.  The snake went from jungle on one side of the road into jungle on the other side.

4. My freshman year of college, I went to class in pig slippers at least twice a week.  I also regularly had a green mud mask on my face in Trig.  True.  To be honest, the mud mask was worn to my trig study group immediately after class which was all girls.  The thinking was that if we put on the masks we'd at least get clear skin out of the whole thing.

5. When I was living in California, I talked my way out of a traffic ticket by breaking out my twangiest Texas drawl and convincing the police officer that where I was from the traffic signs didn't mean the same thing as they do in California.. True.  Twangy Texan and a cute smile can get you out of a heap of trouble.

6. When I was 16, my parents gave me permission to paint my room black and white.  That night, as they slept, I moved all the furniture out of my room, painted the whole thing, and had the furniture back in by the time they woke up in the morning. It went from girly pink flowers to modernist geometrics in less than 8 hours.  True.  My poor parents.

7. I once talked my way from a C to an A in poli sci, and then kept talking until the entire class got an A too.  True.  And to answer Lauren -- I wasn't the socialist the teacher was.  The final, 60% of our final grade was comprised entirely of 200 opinion based questions.  It took several hours, an encyclopedia, and the dean of the English department to prove that opinion questions can never truly be incorrectly answered.  We all got perfect scores on the final.  The professor never used that test again.

8. I once kissed a famous movie star.  I'm not saying who, but it did "make my day."  Yup.  I worked at an upscale hotel close to Pebble Beach.  There were movie stars there all the time.  I met Mr Eastwood, shook his hand and kissed his cheek. He's just as nice in person as you'd hope.

9. I'm terrified of heights and went bungie jumping to get over that fear.  It doesn't work.  Having someone push you off of a platform to your certain death doesn't make the fear of heights go away.  It makes you afraid of people on platforms.   False.   I never got pushed off a bungie platform.  I'm scared of heights.

10. I once saved a small boy from drowning in a swimming pool. I just dove in and dragged him out.  True.  My younger brother.  I think he might owe me a night or two of babysitting......

Lila's Critics Might Want to Read Their Bibles

The Catholic blogosphere has been aflame lately with the hot debate about the actions of Lila Rose.  While no one criticizes her targeting of Planned Parenthood, many are attacking her methods.  How can good come from a lie?  They ask.  If Satan is the Father of Lies, can a believer use deception in the service of God?

The questions are interesting, and I have been following the debates back and forth.  Those on both side argue theology and back themselves up with the Catechism.  There is so much hand wringing over this question, and yet no one has looked for answers in the Bible.  The unasked question is not "Can God bless a deception?" but "Has God blessed such deception before?"

He has.

In the book of Judges (Chapter 4), the Israelites are at war with the Canaanites.  In the midst of a great battle the Canaanite general, Sisera, looks for safety in the tent of Jael, and Israelite woman.

" 'Come in, my lord, come in with me; do not be afraid.'  So he went into her tent and she covered him with a rug." Judges 4:18  Jael made him to feel safe and protected.  She promised to stand watch for his enemies.  She made sure that he was comfortable....right up until she drove a tent spike into his head.

"Thus on that day God humbled the Canaanite king, Jabin, before the Israelites" Judges 4:23

Later, in the book of Judith, God again uses the guile of women to defeat his enemies.

When the forces of the Assyrian army laid siege to Judea, it was the widow Judith who God sent to defeat his enemies.   She took off her mourning clothes, and dressed herself as a courtesan.  She set out to win victory for her people, not with the sword, but with deception.

She prayed to God, "By guile of my lips strike down slave with master, and master with retainer.  Break their pride by a woman's hand." Judith 9:10  and "Give me a beguiling tongue to wound and kill those who have formed such cruel designs against your covenant..." Judith 9:13

And God did.  He delivered Holofernes, the Assyrian general, into her hands.  She killed him with his own sword and returned to her people.

I understand the concern of many about the deceit used in the videos made by Lila Rose in her efforts to bring down Planned Parenthood.  I'm made uneasy by it myself...and yet.....  In the past, God has used the guile of women to bring down seemingly unconquerable enemies.  He has blessed their actions and saved his people.

I do not believe that this is a case of the ends justifying the means.  I believe that it is a woman doing the task which God has placed before her, using the gifts she has been given to complete that task.

Lila is our modern day Judith.  She has disguised herself as their ally. She has found herself welcome in their midst.  She has seen the evil of the opponent up close.  She has placed herself in the care of the Almighty as she walks amongst His enemies.  She has made sure that they feel safe with her and then like Judith, she is slaying them with their own sword.

Tradition

It's become a bit of a tradition in our family (and on this blog) to offer each other a little Valentine on St Valentine's Day.  So here it is, your little bit of Valentine.

Happy St Valentine's Day! 

It's about more than chocolate and flowers. It's also about this guy, who once lost his head for love.
 

(As always, I'm a little amused that someone used the label maker and stuck his name on his noggin.  How many heads in gold boxes do they have that they have to label them?)

Kinda Sweet

The Computer Guy and I went out to dinner tonight.  It was a relaxed evening in a casual restaurant.  We talked a little, ate a little, and just caught up on what we're doing these days.  (It's been busy around here.)

As we walked out of the restaurant and headed toward the car, I slipped my hand into the crook of his elbow.  The moment my hand brushed his bicep, he flexed.  HE FLEXED!  How cool is that?  15 years of marriage and 8 children (2 saints, 6 in training) later and he still wants to impress me. I smiled to myself as his muscle tightened beneath my hand. 

In a world of passing fancies and one night stands, I'm still the girl he's wooing.  I once thought that romance was hearts and flowers in a kind of perpetual Valentine's Day.  18 years together and I've learned that it's so much more.  It's that he still wants me to think of him as my big, strong hero.  He still wants to be 10 feet tall and bulletproof in my eyes.  That's romance to me.  It's a bit silly, but that flexing bicep was the most romantic thing I've seen all week. 

I think he's pretty great, too.  You can tell, because I still suck in my stomach every time he looks my way.

Answering Anonymous

Last Thursday, I wrote a post asking feminists where there outrage is against Planned Parenthood.  (I am still looking for it, btw.)  At that time, five videos had been released showing the willingness of PP employees to aid and abet in the abuse of minor children.

This whole thing is so distressing to me not in small part because I am the mother of a 14 year old girl, the age that the pimp and prostitute in the videos were "managing."   I keep imagining my own sweet girl's being stolen from her family, locked in a house, and forced to do disgusting, painful, and awful things just to stay alive.  I can imagine her unable to leave her prison except to go to the doctor for the abortion her "managers" force upon her.  I can see her in the cold and unwelcoming clinics in these films, facing the militant and angry women who don't even want to help her, but further brutalize her before sending her back to hell.  I have a daughter the age of the girls they are willing to help abuse.  A girl the age of the children they are unwilling to help and I find it to be deeply and profoundly upsetting.

That is the source of my angst.  We are not talking about fictional people to me.  We are discussing some other woman's child, her beloved baby.....and no one is coming to save that child.  She cries for help and the very people who are legally required to help her and be the key to her rescue are perpetuating the abuse.  If you wondered about the source of my passion, there it is.


In the comments of that post (I do have a point here, I promise), Anonymous left a comment that read:

Hey! Where's your outrage about Fr. Euteneuer? Seems like there's always a sex scandal lurking around the corner these days.....

February 3, 2011 9:56 PM

My dear Anonymous, may I call you Anonymous?, there are several reasons for my previous silence about the issues surrounding Fr Euteneuer.  The first, and most relevant, is that I don't watch television and had not heard of it until you brought it to my attention, so thank you for bringing it to my attention.

By the time I began researching the issue, several things had happened:

1. Fr Euteneuer had publicly acknowledged guilt.
2. He had publicly apologized.
3. He had resigned his position.
4. He had been dealt with by his superiors.

Seeing as he had already copped to it, been punished, and resigned.  I don't know what more I can do.  Am I upset that he abused his position of authority and behaved inappropriately with an adult woman?  Yes.  I will say it here, I am upset that a priest would use the trust of his office to behave in such a manner.   Other than that, I can't ask for more than has already been done.  I did unfriend him on Facebook, but I doubt he even noticed.  I will continue to pray for him and for the woman involved in this scandal.

I would like to point out that what Fr Euteneuer has admitted to doing, while a scandal within the Church, is perfectly legal within the United States.  There is no law prohibiting contact between an adult man and an adult woman.  While there is Church law prohibiting such contact, it is legal.  If you are not Catholic, the behavior of Fr Euteneuer should be of little concern.  It is a scandal involving his vow of celibacy.  He had what appears to be an emotional affair, but not a physical one, with one consenting adult woman. While it is regrettable, it is far from similar in any way with the aiding and abetting of child abuse which was seen to be going on in Planned Parenhood's clinics. It is an odd comparison to make, wouldn't you agree?

Which places the ball back in your court, Anonymous.  What Planned Parenthood has done is well outside of legal activity in the United States of America.  They have broken both state and federal laws.  Unlike Fr Euteneuer, their behavior is criminal as well as immoral.  To further compound their problems, Planned Parenthood has done none of the things in their scandal that Fr Euteneuer has done in his.

1. They have not acknowledged guilt, instead they have tried to blame Lila Rose for making them look bad.
2. They have not publicly apologized, instead they have stood by their position.
3. There have been no resignations of leadership.  They fired the office manager in the New Jersey clinic for following what appears to be their procedure, but none of the other employees involved in the 7 videos have been, to the public's knowledge, reprimanded at all.  And they should be publicly reprimanded and/or fired for this.
4. Planned Parenthood has not been dealt with by their superiors, neither their own hierarchy nor the politicians who fund them.

So I'll ask you again, Anonymous, where is your outrage?  Where are your calls for heads to roll? Where are your demands for investigations, both internal and legal?  Where are your cries in defense of little girls? I'm still waiting for those who claim to be interested in the health and safety of women to speak out in favor of them.

All over this country, there are girls the age of my daughter who are trapped in the horror of sex slavery and trafficking.  They are waiting for someone to speak out for them and to come and save them.  The pro-life community is screaming for help for these girls.  Why aren't you?

Pray for Rebecca

For months now, I have had a button at the top of this blog asking for Prayers for Rebecca.  I'm asking for them again.   Rebecca is in urgent need of prayer. 

Rebecca is a 3 1/2 year old who has been diagnosed with mitochondrial disease which is a degenerative disease of the cells.  Her sweet spirit has carried her through so much pain and trauma already.  Tonight, she is in the hospital in Houston after she began vomiting on Tuesday.  She is in a lot of discomfort and only gets a reprieve when they give her her medication. Go to her mom's blog for all the details.   Please, please pray for her healing and that of her two sisters who have also been diagnosed with mitochondrial disease.

Please also pray for their parents Joy and Tom who are in that awful place of sitting next to their sick child and unable to help.  I knew Joy when she was a girl with a big smile and a ready laugh.  This is such a difficult path to be on, and yet they walk it with such grace and deep faith.

Please post about them on your blogs and ask your readers for prayers.  You can copy the button at the top of my blog, or the link right here.  Let's storm Heaven for the Roeh family and ask for God's mercy and grace for them all.


Thank you

Prom Dress Shopping

#1 and I went prom dress shopping this past weekend.  I can't believe that my baby is old enough to be even going to the prom.  (Before anyone starts to panic that I've lost my moral compass here...she's going with her best friend and a group of homeschooled girls.  It's the homeschool prom. Did you know we had them?)  She's a sophomore and has been talking about prom dresses since we said she was too young to go last year.

I took my ecstatic daughter to the mall and straight into Macy's.  The clerks were thrilled to get to help her pick something to wear on her special occasion and jumped right in with dress suggestions.  She tried them all on because she hates to hurt anyone's feelings, but I could see from the look on her face that none of these dresses were "the one."

Finally, she looked at the sales lady and said, "Do you have any dresses that are a bit bigger?"

The sales girl looked confused and assured my daughter that she had a beautiful figure, the dresses were fitting her well, and that she didn't need a larger size.

"I know they fit, but.....do you have any dresses that cover more than the towel that I wrap around myself when I get out of the shower?  Do you have dresses that cover a bit more?"

They didn't.  Neither did several of the other stores we looked in.  The trend seems to be super short, low strapless little wisps of fabric.  I smiled at her and said "There's no way dad and I are letting you out of the house in these."

She smiled and said, "You don't have to worry.  I wouldn't let myself out of my room in them."

She finally found a beautiful long green dress that moved enough to let her dance.  When she got home she showed it to her father who shot me a questioning gaze when he saw the spaghetti straps.  She saw his look and said, "Dad...why are looking at us that way?  I got a shrug to go over it." Then she flitted out of the room to try it on for him.

My sweet Computer Guy looked instantly relieved, sighed after his too-big-to-be-ours daughter, looked at me and said, "Thank you."

We worry sometimes about whether or not we are doing the right things with our children.  Then she picked the modest prom dress without a word from us and we knew we were doing alright.

What?

The dress?

You wanted to see it?



okay

Do You Realize That It's a Dog?

 **Warning** Bad language here.  You've been warned so no complaining.

Can I get something off my chest here?  I'm tired of dogs, and I used to love dogs.  I'm just tired of seeing them everywhere I go.

Yesterday at the supermarket, there was a lovely looking woman in her 60s with her little poodle dog in the baby seat of her shopping cart.  She fed her "baby" snacks all the way through the store as she (the dog) yapped at the other customers and growled at the checkout girl.  Why was a dog in the grocery store?  They sell food there.  People food.  Dogs lick their.....you know....I don't want your dog's bum-licking tongue near my produce or licking the shopping cart where I'm going to put my baby.  That's nasty.

Today there was a couple at Home Depot walking their black cocker spaniel down the aisle of the store as if shopping with their dog were the most natural thing in the world.  I asked one of the employees if dogs were allowed in Home Depot and he said they are now.  I asked about people with allergies and people who are afraid of dogs and who exactly was going to mop up after the little cocker who hiked a leg as he was dragged around a corner.  The clerk shrugged and said that the company had weighed the comfort of some of their customers against those people who don't like dogs in the store with them and decided that the dog people get their way.  He said, "It's unfair to ask them to leave their pets in their cars."

How about asking them to leave them at home?  They're not people!  They're not babies who need to be constantly watched!  They're animals!  If you can't leave them unattended, crate them while you're gone...or...put them out in the yard.  I once heard that dogs liked to play in yards.  It's crazy but it just might work.

I keep trying to understand why dogs have suddenly become more important than people.  Are they substitute children?  I'm beginning to think so after a woman saw me with my baby in his sling and said "oh, I have one just like that for my Yorkie!  My baby likes it, too!"  I  thought she was a kook until I ran into the couple pushing their "little one" in a stroller.

Even our local vet is buying into this insanity.  His forms no longer say "Owner name"; they now say "Pet parent."  I've never been an animal's mommy and I refuse to be one now.

What is wrong with people?  When did it become sane to push a dog in a pram instead of walking him on a leash?  We're talking about animals here, and it's getting to the point that I get strange looks when I call them that.  I just keep thinking back to the yappy little poodle in the grocery store.  One of us is human and the other is a b*tch.....what kind of world do we live in where we no longer know which is which?

Hey Feminists! Where Is Your Outrage?

This morning, Live Action Network released another video of an under cover Planned Parenthood sting.  Once again, two investigators dressed as workers in the "sex industry" went into a Planned Parenthood office, this time in Virginia, looking for information on abortions, birth control, and STD testing for their 14-15 year old illegal immigrant prostitutes.  Once again, the Planned Parenthood employee not only fails to report them to the authorities but gives them advice on how to better run their criminal enterprise.

Where are the feminists? Where are the people who claim to speak out for the rights of women and girls? They chant "my body, my choice!" but when given the chance to speak out against the rape and abuse of the bodies of little girls, they are curiously silent.

Women and girls who are trapped in the hell of sex slavery have no choice.  They have been robbed of the ability to make any decisions over their own bodies.  They have been stripped of the power of deciding what becomes of their lives.  Their bodies are no longer their own, but property to be bought and sold for the pleasure of depraved men.

Where is the National Organization of Women?  Where is the Feminist Majority? Where is Equality Now?  Where is NARAL?

They claim to be in favor of the empowerment, freedom, and equality of women.  So where are they?  Why don't we ask them?

Here are their phone numbers and email addresses, let's see if a little peer pressure might help them find their voices:

Planned Parenthood    (202) 973-4800  or  (212) 541-7800

  NOW    (202) 628-8669     email http://www.now.org/comments.html

Feminist Majority    (703)522-2214    or      (310)556-2500

 Equality Now     info@equalitynow.org

NARAL        (202)973.3000       
http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/about-us/feedback-form.html



Let's keep on them!  They keep talking about "Safe, Legal, and Rare", but the things on these videos are not safe, they certainly are not legal, and based upon the calm demeanor of the Planned Parenthood employees it certainly isn't rare.

The Latest Planned Parenthood Scandal

Earlier this month, two undercover investigators from Lila Rose's Live Action Network went into a Planned Parenthood office in New Jersey posing as a pimp and prostitute running a prostitution ring of underage illegal immigrant sex slaves.

The office manager not only fails to report the sexual abuse of minors (as she is legally required to do) she actually gives advice to the pair on how to better run their business.

At one point, the investigators ask the Planned Parenthood employee how long their girls must wait after an abortion before they can have sex again.  She tells them 2 weeks minimum.  They laughingly tell her that the girls have to earn money during that time and she replies that they can always work "from the waist up" or be "the eye candy passing by."

In a perfect world, the women's rights crowd would decry the things this woman says on the video tape.  They would rush to the defense of underage girls who are sold as property to be raped and abused until they die.  They won't.  They never do.  They condemn the tactics of the investigators.   They post pictures of Lila Rose up in their offices as a warning to the employees.  They petition YouTube to remove the video (and they will later today).  They will shrug at the video and rationalize that no children were actually being harmed because the slaves this pair were discussing don't really exist.  It seems to escape them that the ease with which the office manager deals with this pair, and her ready acceptance of both their story and their offered bribes, show a wanton disregard for both the law and for these girls as human beings.

  This woman could have been the salvation girls trapped in sex slavery and trafficking are praying for.  Instead she chose to be the instruction manual teaching their pimp how to more profitably abuse them.