I don’t want to share the details

It’s my last post about The Man.  He is deteriorating, and I am loosing strength.  Everyone keeps saying why don’t you call me, let others help, but really what can they do?  Can they take care of his toileting needs?  Can they fix the foods that he likes?  Can they help him dress, change his soiled sheets, help him shave?  Can they talk to him to remind him of intimate moments to try to bring his mind back to the present?  Can they remind him of his role as a father, husband, lover, provider?  Can they infuse me with strength and rest?  It’s all mine at this point.  I intend to see it through.  I have never shirked a task, and this is one rough task.  Pray for his peace.

Tell Mitt Romney: Release your tax returns!

The American people deserve to know if Mitt Romney paid his fair share.

via Tell Mitt Romney: Release your tax returns!.

Spastic tubes???? Plllleeeeaaaasssseeee help us!!

Health Experts Dismiss Assertions on Rape

By PAM BELLUCK

Published: August 20, 2012

Dr. John C. Willke, a general practitioner with obstetric training and a former president of the National Right to Life Committee, was an early proponent of this view, articulating it in a book originally published in 1985 and again in a 1999 article. He reiterated it in an interview Monday.

“This is a traumatic thing — she’s, shall we say, she’s uptight,” Dr. Willke said of a woman being raped, adding, “She is frightened, tight, and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic.”

Leading experts on reproductive health, however, dismissed this logic.

“There are no words for this — it is just nuts,” said Dr. Michael Greene, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. David Grimes, a clinical professor in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina, said, that “to suggest that there’s some biological reason why women couldn’t get pregnant during a rape is absurd.”

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/rape-assertions-are-dismissed-by-health-experts.html?_r=1

 

 

What kind of underwear does a Southern Baptist wear? Not this kind!

It’s a good thing that my faith does not require certain kinds of underwear with little symbols on the boobs and knee and slits across the belly.  Who checks for those things anyway.  Is there an underwear policeman?  I’m having a hard time looking at Mitt and his perfect, good-looking family and imagining this underneath.  Will his white house staff be subject to morman missionaries?  The White House can be a new assignment request for young Mormons.  I really don’t see how evangelical Christians can vote for a Mormon or any other religion they describe as a cult. It appears to me that they must stay home or be labeled a hypocrite, but them one of their problems is how hypocritical they can be.

Can a person be arrested for attending a political event?

Can a person be arrested for attending a political event?  Can a person be asked to leave a political event?  I can see if it is taking place on private property, but if it is public property such as a park can police or other political operatives ask certain people to leave?

In addition, is it really ethical to bus school children into a political rally, give them banners to wave and encourage them to chant slogans?  Does it require parental permission?

When I worked and lived in Tehran, Iran in the late 1970s we laughed when the Shah bused in school children every time a dignitary arrived to make it look like it was much more important than it was.  Of course, all foreign workers were restricted to their offices during the time of the arrival so as to show no dissension.  I was pretty sure that was a dictatorship.

The same thing happened in Florida at a rally for Gov. Rick Scott.  Let’s see, basic math:  If A=B then B=A.  Doesn’t matter where;

the conclusion is still the same.

The Old People’s Olympics

I had to laugh.  My mom and I were having a discussion about all the things we could not do anymore.  It led to talking about what we did well.  With that in mind I would like to enter the Old People’s Olympics.  Here are a few of the events:

How many times you can pee during the night.

How fast can you get your cell phone out and get it answered.

An agility course for the various kinds of walkers.

These were just three that I thought of quickly.  Can you add to my list?

 

 

I heard children play today

The Man was asleep after a long battle to get him down and still.  I sat in the porch swing and listened to the sound of far off thunder wishing that rain would come on through.  I heard the faint sound of children laughing.

We sat on the front porch on many such evenings, the Man and I while the kids played in the front.  Too little to be running the roads or having friends other than each other, they were content to catch a ball or climb a tree or push a toy truck through the dirt around the large oak tree.  We always hurried through our supper on those days to get outside and enjoy the remaining hour or so of the day while the breeze blew away the summer heat and the locust sang their mighty song.  The sounds of nature were startling with no engines or air conditioners or mechanical toys to drown them out.  I always wanted to sit close enough to the Man to be able to touch him, put my feet in his lap, or reach and steal an occassional kiss.  Our kids were happy and laughter filled the end of the day and washed away all the worries about money and weather and crops.  They had no idea we were monetarily poor.   They were so rich in all other ways.

As they sat outside a week ago, much older, and talked and laughed, they fell right back into their rhythms of constant one-liners and laughter.  Now, their children played with the same ease as if they had known each other all their life.

If only there was freeze frame that we could step back in to when we needed the strength.  Oh yeah, they call those memoies.

If you’ve been getting a government paycheck – look out??

Well, maybe not.  Paul Ryan has been drawing that good government paycheck and insurance since he was 28 years old.  This is his seventh term in congress.  He voted for all the problems that Bush brought us.  So great, now let’s get him one heartbeat away from the Presidency.  I don’t think so.  I’m sure he doesn’t mind getting rid of Medicare.  Since he’s been in Congress that long, I’m sure his next egg is quite substantial.  It’s one thing to draw the salary and benefits and want to help others with government as well, but to draw the money and benefits and payolla and then say you want smaller government.  Smaller for who?  Everyone but you.

It absolutely reminds me of the way Germany began to stopped taking care of its people and allowed Hitler to rise to power, first as a fringe group that people thought would just go away.  Then he got smart a learned to use the political system.  Tea Party people have taken a lesson.

All bleeding heart liberals (and I’m proud to be one of them) better get out and vote.  I am proud of my stance because I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can see a child come to school hungry and just not care as long as it’s not theirs.  What happened to empathy, and how do we get it back.  We are only as strong as our weakest link, and if this group thinks it can hide behind walls and private schools, etc. they better think again.  This causes revolution.  Hungry people are desperate people.  Parents that see their children do without can become real Tiger Moms.

Rise up Unions and all people who care about others and don’t mind lending a helping hand.  Help another up one more rung of the ladder so we all move up as a people, as a nation, as a world.

Thank you for the soap box.

Can you name this horse?

Looks like a stork thru up here

Two in the kitchen

This was one of the better lines of the day.  What a wonderful day.  Pure chaos.  The Man oblivious to most of it, or so I thought, until he whispered to me, “Do I have a nerve pill I can take.”  One of those, “The Best of Times.”  We had a blast.  We had a great cook, good food, great company, and a lot of laughter.

When the kids were running in and out and all over everywhere and I said, “What happened here?  I swear I only had three kids.” That was when the number one son came out with the line that it looks like a stork thru up here.

A list of highlights of the day:

The anticipation of the arrival of the kids and their families for the first time in six years.

Two brothers hug.

A three-year old telling us that she has new friends!

The arrival and emotional reunion of a grandmother and great-grandmother.

The magic show. (you’d have to be there)

The make-over. (bless you Bay)

The four-wheeler tow truck.

The basketball.

The 1976 truck ride.

The desserts.

The hugs.

The songs accompanied by Jake one guitar.

My brother the electrician and plumber.

Make believe hospital.

I’m sure there are many more memories that will come to my mind as days go on, but these alone will make for conversation for many months to come.

Beauties

Papa’s hands can fix anything – even tired grandbabies