Imagine if you will.....

I am overwhelmed at the moment with schoolwork and trying to find a job but read an e-mail recently that has me thinking even harder about the upcoming election. Obama has been my pick since the beginning and I am so happy to see how far he has come but I am still afraid. Afraid this election will come too close and have it stolen from us. Again. Afraid of what a McCain/Palin administration will do to us as a society and how much more it will take away. Steps that have taken our conservative society decades to make will be undone in a flash. So if you are still undecided or unsure, here are some things to think about.

Imagine if you will.....

...what it would feel like to have your child ripped from your arms by the government because you did not give birth to this child and the government does not recognize your rights to raise this child if something happens to your same-sex partner. Or what it would feel like to be turned away because you are not considered family and not allowed to see your partner in the hospital.

...how it would feel to have people come into your house and determine what you can keep or what you will have to give up of your belongings. This is because the government does not recognize same-sex relationships the way they do a marriage between a man and woman so if your same-sex partner dies without a will, their family has the right to come in and take things believed to be their belongings.

...being raped and then finding out you are pregant or told your baby will be born with severe birth defects or told your own life is at stake due to a high-risk pregnancy and then being able to do nothing about ending the pregnancy.

...hearing someone campaigning for the highest office in our country say that though they don't believe you have rights, they will tolerate you. What confidence would you have in their being your leader?

...entering the military to fight for your country but having to hide who you are and making the ultimate sacrifice only to have your partner denied any benefits after your death including receiving the flag your casket was draped in?

Whether you are affected by these issues or not, how can you stand in judgement of someone whose life does? What makes you the decider of how others live their lives? Even if you don't agree with these issues it is not your right to take them away from someone else.

Over 400 years ago the English settlers came here to escape religious persecution. They understood that it was unfair to be forced to practice a religion they did not believe in and made sure to write the Constitution to ensure the separation of religion and state. Yet here we sit all these decades later still waiting for that to be true. I don't advocate taking away your right to freedom of religion and I should be given the same right to live my life as I chose and not how your religion says I should.

All it takes is for a voice to speak up at the right time. Now is the right time. Please, please, please get out and vote on November 4th and consider which candidate wants to bring us together regardless of our skin color, religion or sexual preference. Also there is a HUGE fight going on in California that needs help. Now is the time for uniting. Kinda like our name, huh?

Taking it down a notch

I know my recent blog posts have been fringed with anger and/or frustration. Please know how much I appreciate those that come back in spite of it. It has been a rough couple of months but even I am tired of thinking about them so I can't even imagine how tired everyone else is of hearing about it.

On to lighter fare. Maybe I should do a small update on other areas of my life.

-We met a cool couple and have been hanging out with them a lot. It's cool because we usually aren't the type of people that venture out of our circle of friends. They have a daughter about our son's age and their youngest daughter is two years younger than ours.

-Did I mention we got a new dog? Her name is Missy and she is the cutest and sweetest pup. Our friend is a vet at an emergency animal hospital and Missy was brought in because she swallowed a rope toy (warning for all pet owners) and it was lodged in her intestines. She had to have surgery that cost $2,000 and the 18 year old couple that brought her in didn't want to pay for it. So they surrendered her and our friend called us. It seemed like fate cause my cocker spaniel growing up was named Missy.

-Work is ok. I'm not having the fun I once was but the pace has gotten very hectic and everyone is stressed. One of the major projects I worked on was approved so we are making some big changes to our 401(k) plan. I got a special note from the Sr. VP's of HR and Compensation thanking me for all the work.

-I have barely exercised all summer and it has finally caught up to me. Now I'm getting up at 4:50am during the week to work out. I thought I would hate it but I'm actually enjoying the quiet time and not rushing around like crazy cause I hit the snooze one time too many.

-I'm training for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon in January. This will be my third time doing it. It is to raise money for an organization that means a lot to me. I have to raise $1,000 before mid-December since the organization pays my entry fee for the marathon.

-We got a new car. Ok, not we but my husband did. It is a Pontiac G8. He got it in July and I have yet to drive it.

-My brother is coming to visit for Christmas. I am so excited since he hasn't been to visit me since I was pregnant with my son 13 years ago and we were living in Texas.

-We are closing the pool on October 10th. It can't come soon enough. Our electric bills went up $150 a month when it opened.

I think that is it. Hope I don't get that far behind on updating again........