My Opinion On Lots of Things

After a 1am visit from Lily, the old dog who cannot climb stairs... that required Austin to walk her around outside in the pouring rain while I ran upstairs to unlock the doors to let them in... and caused me another way too late night and far too little sleep... I woke up at 8am to my happy child whistling while he worked outside in the garden. Because he doesn't work well with others... and doesn't process things the same way that the rest of the world does... he ended up highly upset about an hour later and today will be another that he sleeps away.

As a parent you're only as happy as your saddest child. I feel such a huge burden to be Austin's ambassador to the world and the world's ambassador to Austin that I truly fear what will become of him when I am no longer able to serve in that capacity. Things can go from whistle happy to slamming doors and cursing so very quickly. It's heartbreaking to witness.

So I'm somewhere between exhaustion from not getting enough sleep this week and sadness for my child and pain from all the things in my body that don't work like they should. It's a battle to stay positive and not be overwhelmed by the emotions of being me. My favorite distraction is Ye Olde Internet and I have worn out the surfboard today searching for anything and everything ELSE to focus on besides riding the waaaa-mbulance. It's much easier to sit around and pass judgment on other situations and I thought you might like to hear what I think about random things.

Like... high heeled shoes. Why purposely make your feet hurt? They are supposed to make you feel sexy but they make me feel like I'm tiptoeing on broken glass. I hate them so much (as I shared with my friend Gina this morning) that I can't even stand to see those little high heel cupcakes that everyone keeps pinning.

The whole mess with the VA hospitals infuriates me. We are paying for sex change operations for prisoners but let our nation's heroes die on waiting lists for treatment they have earned through being willing to die for all of us. I have a dear friend whose father died at the VA in Atlanta due to malpractice. Our VAs are the worst medical delivery system in our country when the people they serve deserve the best. And how in the world can anyone watch how things go down at the VA and think government involvement in health care is a good idea???

Global warming baffles me. I know now that the politically correct term is "climate change" because things aren't that warm after all but when I hear nonsense like what I heard out of Bob Beckel on The Five the other day... that the oceans are going to rise by fifteen inches in the next fifteen years due to polar ice cap melting I think, seriously? Do people really believe this?

And speaking of politically correct... last night I had a great time watching the National Spelling Bee but it was really odd how the commentators never discussed that 90% of the finalists were of Indian descent. Obviously there is something about that culture that results in exceptional spelling ability but everyone is so afraid to point out anything unique about one race or another for fear of being accused of being racist. How did we get so wound up about race that we can't even say GOOD THINGS about one race or another?

Kimye - the whole Kanye West, Kim Kardashian marriage. First of all, this is a man who has publicly spoken about his dislike for white people and he marries a white woman? He is a huge narcissist who has no self-control. and she obviously has impulse control issues considering her last marriage lasted only 72 days. How long until the headlines are about their divorce and custody battle?

I am generally publicly neutral about other people's path to spirituality. I mean, I may have opinions about certain things like snake handling and Jehovah's Witnesses not celebrating holidays but for the most part, I keep those things to myself because hey... my path to enlightenment and yours may not be identical. However I'm pretty sure that Scientology is a stupid, brainwashing cult and I automatically subtract points from anyone who is caught up in that nonsense. This means that I can't watch Tom Cruise movies or listen to Jennifer Lopez sing. I'm delighted that Leah Remini (a character actress that I really enjoy) left the cult before her daughter reached the age where she would begin undergoing "audits". Honestly. Any so-called religion that is harmful to children is not a religion, it's a cult. That's all I'm saying. Say what you will about evangelical Christians but I had a safe, happy, sheltered childhood with many happy memories of church experiences, not post-traumatic stress from being audited.

I'm still enjoying my book on Huguette Clark and still binge-reading travel blogs featured on Rick Steves' website. Both are allowing me to experience life as others have lived it and that makes me very happy. I'm splitting my reading time between those two interests.

Have you heard the news story about the baby who was horribly burned in a drug raid gone bad? That happened in the next county over... very shocking and sad. The sheriff in that county is a friend of a former co-worker and I know he's good people. I have just always felt that when you associate with people who are doing bad things, you expose yourself to things that might not otherwise have happened. This family, unfortunately, had lost their home due to a fire and was having to stay with family members and I can imagine that this might not have been their first choice for a place to raise their kids. My oldest son was once caught up in a drug raid at his grandmother's house (not my mother). He was in the shower when the police barged in and pulled the shower curtain down on him. He was ten. His grandmother's husband was heavily involved in drugs although I did not know it at that time. From that point on my kids never spent time at her house. I would have been glad for her to spend time with them away from her home and her husband but that did not happen. Relationships are important, family ties are important but exposing children to drugs is too big of a risk.

Celebrities that make me roll my eyes in disgust: Rhianna, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, the aforementioned Kimye, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin... and others to be named later. Celebrities that fascinate me for a variety of reasons: Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialek, Neil Patrick Harris, Ina Garten. Celebrities that I'm on the fence over: Tori Spelling, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon.

And... it looks like it's going to rain. With that... I'm officially out of topics to discuss. Hope you have a happy, safe weekend. Love and hugs, y'all.