Swiped from Brad Pitt

I couldn't have put it more perfectly. This is from an article in Parade. It sums up my feelings exactly without being all wordy as I normally am.

“It’s ridiculous that Prop 8 took away gay people’s right to marry! I have no understanding of that kind of hatred. Maybe it’s fear of difference or of the unknown. If you feel belittled, maybe you need someone else to belittle to feel powerful. It’s the only way I know how to explain it. You’ve got religion telling you what to think about homosexuality, about marriage. They say homosexuality is a choice, a lifestyle, something you can be cured of, and that isn’t true. But if you’re tucked away and have no friends who are gay, you’ll believe what the preachers say. Just think of it in terms of being in love–how would you feel if someone told you that you couldn’t be with the person you loved?”

Isn't that what this is all about? Bullies taking out their feelings of inferiority on others? I have explained this to my son a thousand times when he struggled to understand why someone can hate him for no reason.

It sickens me that people can be discriminated against because they are outside of someone else's comfort zone. They justify it by saying it is the law or the bible says it isn't right. I think it is pure ignorance and stupidity but I truly believe people can change and evolve with awareness. Put yourself in someone else's shoes and adhere to the Golden Rule. The truly absurd thing is that everyone knows someone who is gay but they probably haven't been told because of their narrow mind.

I can't change everyone's minds but I know that by speaking out loud instead of keeping quiet it will make a difference. Racism and discrimination feed off silence. The mentality is that if we don't really say it out loud then it doesn't exist. That is all changing now. The chatter started as a whisper and I hear it getting louder.

Testing 1, 2, 3

I am testing my new BlackBerry and making sure I have everything set back up right. Gonna figure this out for when I start traveling next month.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Back in the land of the living

I know I have explained my absence in a few past posts so I won't rehash the negativity. Suffice it to say I have been severely underemployed for several months and going further and further down the financial ruin drain. It has been very stressful but hopefully we are putting all of that behind us and moving forward.

What else has been going on? My kids had their birthdays last month. Son turned 13 and is quite the obnoxious teenager. Typical you-don't-know-shit-so-I'm-not-doing-a-thing-you-tell-me-to/not to. Daughter turned 7 and seems to have found her attitude with it. Parenting is a challenge and I expect my just rewards wherever I wind up after I kick the bucket.

I broke my ankle in April and had a cast for 6 weeks. Those were the worst 6 weeks of my life. I am not completely 100% with mobility (seems I have developed a pronounced limp) but it is getting a little better every day.

After six months of underemployment, I finally got a J-O-B!!! I am making about $6k less a year than I was at my last job but it is with the federal government so I get all the federal benefits and leave plans which are awesome. It is not in HR so I have basically made a career change which is a bit scary but also very exciting. I will be traveling quite a bit since I am supporting the Pacific/Northwest and Upper Midwest regions of the US so that is a huge perk ; )

Hopefully I will be back to posting something at least once a week as I regain my humor and the black clouds lift off my shoulders. Until then.....

My Greatest Hits List

I'm not too ashamed to say I have been taking some time off lately to get my priorities back in order. Job hunting, school, a child with Aspergers and now a broken ankle have taken the majority of my attention for the last few months. I have tried to keep up with my favorite blogs to keep me centered but haven't felt the need to post anything of my own.

However, my favorite blogger Heather wrote yesterday about her greatest accomplishments and memories and requested her peeps post their own. It made me pause because it seems a bit self-serving to post this when I haven't posted anything in a long time but then I decided to go for it since I have been kind of down lately. Focusing on the positive and all that. So without further ado, here are my top 5 greatest accomplishments and memories.

Finishing my Bachelor's degree after almost 10 years of part-time school. Many times it seemed impossible with two kids, a husband and career so walking across the stage at George Mason University in June 2006 was a dream come true. I even graduated with honors (magna cum laude).

Losing 75 pounds after high school to be able to join the Army. I could not figure out a way to leave Missouri without joining the Army so I had to lose the pounds.

Reconnecting with old friends from Missouri on Facebook. When I left I swore I would never turn back and give anyone the time of day but have found it very healing to catch up with old friends and not lump everyone into the bad memories.

Learning to develop and stand up for my own thoughts and opinions. When I was younger I sort of absorbed other's thoughts and opinions on issues (religion, politics, etc.) but now I try and learn about issues before forming an opinion. Once I do, I am not afraid to stand up for what I believe in.

Visiting Puerto Rico for the first time. Growing up in a land locked state, I always dreamed of visiting a tropical island. It was awe-inspiring for me and I don't think I could ever be bored. Just looking at the horizon over the ocean is enough for me.

So there you have it. I am sure there are plenty more but I am trying to rally my spirits. For the first time in months I finally have an interview on Wednesday. I am going to have to fight the temptation to cry and beg them for the job because I need it very badly.

Dropping off the side of the flat earth

It's been so long since I updated that I almost forgot I had a blog. I log in periodically to check the blogs I follow but failed to remember the real reason I set up this account. I have no excuses for not blogging other than I really have had nothing to say. Nothing witty, nothing laughable.

Sometimes life throws you such hard curveballs that by the time you recover your breath, you realize that you have nothing to say. Maybe you realize that what you were saying pre-curveball was just dribble and of no importance so you tell yourself to shut up and sit down.

I still have not found a full-time job and am still temping. Money has been stretched thinner than taffy at the shore and still there isn't enough. I refuse to post a 'woe-is-me' post when so many other people are struggling harder so I won't.

I did want to come and say sorry for the lack of posting but, most of all, the lack of comments when I read your blogs. My voice has been silent but I have been keeping up. Know that your blogs keep me grounded and throw me a rope when I feel like I am drowning. Hopefully I will get over this and get back here soon. Most of all, I hope my life returns to some sense of normalcy very soon.

Disappointed

I thought I would feel like a million bucks if the day came where Obama was elected President. From the start it seemed impossible. His name, skin color and opponents were formidable foes. Yet, somehow, he overcame the odds to win the election with a wide lead in electoral votes and popular vote.

I cried when the announcement came and said to my 12 year old son, "Watch close because this is history" and pumped my fist in celebration when Obama gave his acceptance speech. My son, who deals with his own issues being of mixed race, stared and smiled and had hope for the future. I went to bed with a smile on my face that I thought would take days to erase.

But the next morning would shed light on how far we really haven't come. It started on the usual networking sites. "They are disappointed but know God will show them the way. They want to know why no one (but Fox, go figure) is reporting he is a Muslim." The list goes on and on and as the day progressed, the more disheartened I became. I saw friends rip each other apart in ways they never had during the election. My local newspaper hosts comments on their articles and several nasty comments were made about not being able to call it the "White" House anymore. And then the news started trickling out about the same-sex marriage bans failing to be overturned in at least 4 states and one state now mandating that LGBT couples not be allowed to be able to foster children in their homes.

As my spirit went lower all I could think about was the voters who answered the call for change. We worked so hard during the last several months to spread the word that change was the only way. It was time to rid our government of that good ol' boy mentality and finally get to work. Volunteers dedicated hours of their time to knocking on doors and making phone calls to undecided voters. People never involved in politics in any way dontated their hard earned dollars and struck up dialogues about why we were voting for Obama. All of that work paid off in the end. Right?

The truth is that we are right where we were a week ago. We still have a majority of the population that believes they can decide who has rights and who doesn't. Crazy me for thinking that is what the constitution is for but apparently you are not covered under it unless the people say so. Why are constitutional bans on human rights even on ballots? Shouldn't that be up to the Supreme Court? I don't know about you but I didn't study law in college and I'm pretty sure the majority of the other voters didn't either so I hardly think it is up to us whether to amend the constitution or not.

Change was in the air and I truly believed it was going to happen. I have never been more sad to have been wrong. I thought Americans were finally going to stand up not just for themselves but others who have been ignored for far too long. It is so disappointing to see how far we can go only to take a huge leap back. This is not progress. This is not change.

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?