Politics and such

yesterday was "super tuesday"  and after the choices the people of my state made I am now terrified and contemplating moving to another country for the next 4-5 years.  

but after reading several articles,  comments on the local news channels FB pages and getting into a couple of debates here and there on friends pages i've come to this conclusion.  whether you are far left or far right,  you've got a screw loose somewhere.

I mean no offense,  some of my best friends are extremists but I want to clarify a few things for all of my leaning this way or that friends.

first of all,  not all Republicans are racists, sexists or homophobic.  Just because somebody has strong religious beliefs does not make them any of those things.  I know some damn fine people that don't hate me or wish bad things upon me just because I don't agree with them all the time.  er,  at least they don't tell me they do. :)

and on that note,  not all Democrats are lazy, baby killing, socialists, communist, satan worshippers.   Again I know plenty of liberals that are hard workers,  that don't think Obama is all that.  And alot of them have strong religious beliefs as well, some of them even believe in God. 

It cracks me up when I hear somebody lump an entire group together and put a label on them according to their political affiliation.  Some people only check that box because in order to vote it is required.  I did not want to be lumped into either group so I checked the Independent box,  now at the time I thought Independent meant exactly that,  that you were free to make up your own mind and did not need a political party to decide for you what issues are important.  I had no idea that it was a actual political party that has its own agenda.  but since I have a headache and there is no major candidate running for office on the Independent ticket I don't have to go into what they stand for and can pretend this time Independent means just that.  

I believe in separation of church and state,  simply because not every person is the same religion and mixing the 2 is always going to step on somebodys rights.  I believe that what goes on in consenting adults bedrooms is nobodys business but those consenting adults involved.  I believe everybody has a right to love and to be loved,  again as long as its consenting adults.   I believe that if 2 people want to have a life together and raise a family and they want to make that union legal then they should be able to.   and I don't care if they are the same sex or not.   I also believe that there are some people that act before they think and before you know it they are on their 4 or 5 marriage before they turn 40.  and I'm talking about both gay and straight people here.

I believe until everybody can get over their fear of talking about sex then birth control ie: condoms should be handed out starting in middle school.  there are 8th grade girls in our town that are pregnant right now,  somewhere a parent should have put down the bible and have an honest talk with their kids.   

I believe that  everybody should respect others religious beliefs and not step all over them.  I also believe that what goes on in a womans uterus is nobody's business but hers and who she invites in.

I also believe that everybody should have the right to bear arms,  if they can pass a basic common sense test and show that they can be responsible.  I believe that if those people want to own a thousand guns then its not the govt's place to try to prevent them.  

I believe that if your child is a bully and you don't have a problem with it then you are a bully that taught them to be one.   And you need your ass kicked by a bunch of nerds.

I believe that our country MUST stop being so dependent on the middle east for our oil reserves,  if we have it here then we need to drill for it.  and if we are saving it for when the rest of the world drys up,  then just say it instead of pretending to care about the environment.  nobody is fooled by that.  

and I believe that we are totally screwed when it comes to this next election.  Obama is going to ruin the country if he stays in office and whether Romney or Santorum gets elected they will do the same.  The 2 men that had a chance of defeating Obama and actually doing a decent job as President don't stand a chance because of their personal lives.  Something that has nothing to do with how they would have actually done the job.   

so thats all i've got,  living in Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains and leaving everything covered in dust and allergens,  my head is pounding and I can't think straight.  hopefully it will all clear up soon,  and hopefully I don't have to move to another country come November.

Why I am so passionately against the Personhood bill in Oklahoma

those of you that have been paying attention to my activity on facebook lately know how I feel about this Personhood bill going for a vote in the house ,  it was just passed by the Senate.  Some of you probably wonder why I even care since I have had a complete hysterectomy and it doesnt affect my body.   Well ,  let me explain why it matters so much to me.

There are actually several reasons why I care about this bill,  my own personal reasons are if this bill was in effect when I was in my 20's then I would not have my son Caden today, in fact,  its a strong possibility I would be dead.  I was married very young at age 22,  it wasn't a happy marriage yet I became pregnant several times,  each time resulted in a miscarriage,  twice I had to have a D&C performed because I did not pass the fetus.  I had to go to a abortion clinic both times for this procedure,  once I had to walk thru a line of protesters that screamed ugly things at me,  they even threw things at me.  I wanted to scream back at them that I was not killing my baby,  it was already dead and if I did not have this procedure then I would die too.  But I did not say a word,  I walked in with my head held high and ignored them.   and then the same when I left afterwards.

Towards the end of the marriage I was told I could not carry a baby to term,  that I had too much endometreosis and it had caused too much damage to have a healthy pregnancy,  also I found out I had PCOS,  which is a disease that causes cysts to grow on your ovaries,  sometimes very large and very painful cysts,  it also causes obesity which I am still dealing with to this day.  PCOS causes every morsel of food you eat to turn to sugar thus adding the weight,  it causes other problems as well.  Like infertility,  and a even higher risk of miscarriage due to both the disease and being obese.

A few years after my divorce I remarried,  a few mos before we got married I went to a new Dr and begged for something to be done to help the PCOS,  I'm a size small frame and had over 100 extra lbs on me,  I also wanted to see if anything could be done to eventually help me have a baby somewhere down the road.  I was referred to a fertility Dr who gave me a very honest consult,  that it would be crazy to go through the time, pain and expense of taking fertility drugs when my weight made me high risk for miscarriage,  and given my history that risk was doubled.  So he sent me to a specialist that put me on Metaformin to help control the PCOS and to help me lose weight.  I lost 30lbs almost immed.  I got married on April 25th and on May 28th discovered I was 4wks pregnant!!!   it was a long and stressful pregnancy,  I went into preterm labor on a regular basis and my water broke at 20wks,  they were able to stop the labor and determined at first that I must have had a high leak that sealed itself back.   exactly 9mos from our wedding day Caden was born.

he was perfectly healthy in every way and to us he was a miracle.  after an emergency C section they found that I had 2 amnio bags inside me,  which means at some point I was more than likely pregnant with twins.  we have no idea when I could have miscarried one of them,  there is a the dissappearing twin theory.  somehow that extra amnio bag stayed intact and leaked every so often causing us to think my water was breaking,  yet every time they did a ultrasound it showed I had plenty of amnio fluid.  They don't know why this never showed up on the DOZENS of ultrasounds I had done during my pregnancy.  its a medical mystery.   Caden used to talk about the "other baby inside mommy with him"   so I do believe there was a second baby we never knew about.  

If this personhood law had been in effect way back when I prob would not have been able to get that D&C and would have died. if I had lived,  I would not have had the chance to visit Dr. Reshef about possibly doing fertility treatments or IVF because he would be doing his job in another state.

After Caden was born I had complications that caused even more damage to my reproductive organs,  my high risk specialist Dr advised me to NEVER get pregnant again,  that if I did it was a strong possibility that I would bleed to death without warning.  So our choices were to abstain from sex even though we were a married couple,  use birth control, or one of us have surgery.   If our birth control had failed and I did become pregnant the personhood law would not allow me to end the pregnancy,  it wasn't 100% that I would die if I got pregnant,  just a large chance I would.  somehow I don't think those odds would be enough for the supporters of this bill.   and I would be forced into a life ending pregnancy and leave my husband, our adopted son, his daughter from a previous marriage and this new baby that I fought so hard to carry full term. How is that even sane ???

Now for the other reasons why I care about this law,  my daughter is a young woman now,  I want her to have final say in what happens to her body!!  I also have many friends who have had children or are exploring IVF now.  I have many gay friends that want to have children via surrogacy or IVF, or artificial insemination.  I want the young women of this generation to have choices,  they should not have to worry about their bodies being hijacked by the judicial system if they want to make an unpopular choice if they should become pregnant.  I want them to have every form of safe birth control option available to them.   and if God forbid one of them is a victim of rape I do not want them to be denied the chance to have a pill that will PREVENT a unwanted pregnancy offered to them and thus they be forced to relive that horror every day for the rest of their lives because somebody that doesn't even know them decided they should.

Whether you believe in abortion or not,  you should be against this bill.  it violates basic human rights.  If we cannot choose what happens with our own bodies then how is that living in freedom?

That is why I oppose the Personhood bill.

Alysworld: Happy New Year!!!

Alysworld: Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all of you reading this!!! (all 2 of you!)  LOL,

I really hope this year is not as eventful as last year was for me and my family.  We had a near fatal 4 wheeler accident,  a runaway semi truck tire attack us,  several earthquakes that really "rattled" our nerves.  not to mention a huge snow storm,  hell-like temps in the summer.    not to mention our teenaged son and his friends decided to clean out our locked liquor cabinet the one time ever we left them home alone.

a few really good events happened this past year,  our daughter graduated high school,  I got to see my favorite band in the world in concert.  and i'm sure many other things that I have just forgotten about,  but i'm sure they will come back to me when I least expect it.

speaking of past memories coming back out of the  blue,  here lately I have been remembering different things my ex husband used to say to me. (we divorced in jan of 1999),  funny how I never got mad back then,  my feelings got hurt but I mostly just ignored him.  but now when I remember these things I get really mad and wish I would have told him off back then.  here are a few of the things that have been popping into my head lately.

1. "wow!"  you have really just thrown in the towel on your looks haven't you?"
2. " I'm losing interest in this relationship"
3.  6mos after my brother committed suicide " how long are you going to take getting over this?"
  he also threw his wedding ring out the front door of our apt 2 wks after we got married.  ,  he got angry because I had not done laundry that day and threw all of our brand new towels in the trash can outside,  while it was raining.  oh and he told me on a regular basis that his biggest fear is I will turn out like my mother.

and all this wasn't even the really bad stuff he did.  of which I would need a therapist to go into with.

not sure why I have been thinking about all those random things.  maybe because we divorced at this same time of year.  oh and how can I forget this,  I told him what atty I was going to use to file for divorce , (whom I had already spoken to on the phone and made an appt with for the next week)  and he went in ahead of me and hired the same atty and filed for divorce himself.  not sure what he thought he was accomplishing since it was a no fault divorce, I didn't want alimony or anything from him.  oh and he did try to prevent me from going back to my maiden name.  he tried to block me from getting that in the divorce decree ,  I had to threaten alimony for him to drop it.

maybe this time of year I'm just thankful for all my blessings and getting that divorce probably saved my life!!!

but anyways,  hope everybody's year is off to a great start and continues to bring good things.   I'm looking forward to a nice quiet, boring year!  LOL

love to you all!
A.

Homemade Halloween Decor

My mother in law has a great hobby,  she makes her own greeting cards.  She has been doing it for years but she doesn't just stop there.  She has made my kids some pretty awesome book marks, photo collages and she even made my 7 yr old some little cards with pictures of different boots because he mentioned to her once that he wished he had a boot to throw at his Pappy!  he was being funny so you can imagine how he laughed when he opened that envelope with the note "to throw at Pappy" and all those cards fell out.  and yes he threw them at his grandfather!

But she has been branching out even further and has been making her own Holiday decor items as well,  we usually get her different printing papers for birthdays and mothers days,  last year at christmas she made some really neat decor items from the glitter paper we got her,  and this year for halloween she made a banner for her fireplace mantle.  and it is soooooo cute I had to post some pics of it.  I wish I was as talented as she is in that area!   

This and That

once again I am taking to my blog,  it seems to be the only place where I can say EXACTLY what I want to say and if the reader doesnt like it then they won't hurt my feelings if they leave the page,  no facebook drama caused by comments left by disgruntled readers.  before you read any further if harsh language or truths offend you then leave now.

so to catch up on whats been going on my crazy life,  about a month ago Bryan, myself, Bobby, Caden and Bobbys best friend Wesley were on our way to take Wes home from spending the night at our house and we were at a stop sign waiting our turn to get on hwy 99 and a semi carrying a mobile home came speeding by,  as it passes I see coming down the hill a HUGE tire and wheel coming right at us!! (ok,  it wasnt as huge as I originally thought but at that moment it sure was!!)  Bryan saw it too and tried to back up quickly so we didnt get hit by it,  but he wasnt able to get clear and it slammed into the drivers side front door.  I was turned in the seat about to tell the boys in the backseat to cover their heads because I knew glass was going to be flying.  I wasnt able to get the first word out before the impact jerked me back and the front seat was showered with shards of glass, powdered glass, and a few large bits of glass.

when the dust settled so to speak, our main concern was making sure the boys were ok,  Caden was crying because he was scared,  Bobby and Wes were in a daze and had no idea what had hit us,  they didnt see the tire coming,  they thought the mobile home had hit us.   we got out of the car to check the damage,  the entire drivers door was destroyed,  the window gone and the windshield cracked.  the tire was still on the wheel and part of an axle was nearby,  the tire was actually smoking from what I guess was the friction of the axle breaking off.  the pilot cars with the semi stopped and came back and checked on us,  they waited for the police to arrive. 

after just a few minutes the Prague fire department arrived,  along with the OHP, Sac and Fox police, Prague police and Lincoln county sheriff and an ambulance.  we were just inside the Lincoln county side so it was unclear at first whose jurisdiction we were in,  turns out OHP had it.   the OHP trooper took a report (or so we thought at the time)  after a trip back home to change cars and take quick showers to rinse the glass off,  which actually cut us up a bit due to being rubbed off the skin,  we took Wes home,  afterwards we decided we did not feel like making dinner so we went to our towns only mexican restaraunt for dinner, Juanas if you are interested,  best authentic mexican food around!   while there I got really dizzy and sick to my stomach,  then my head, neck and back started hurting really bad.  we decided we needed to go to the ER and get checked out.  so Bryan and I went to Shawnee and the ER where all they did was shine a light in our eyes and feel around on our necks a little,  decided we pulled a muscle in our back, gave us a prescription for muscle relaxers and sent us on our way.

the next day I called our family dr who told us to go to a chiropractor he referred us to,  and when we called them they told us to come in right away.  so we did.  not going to go into all the details since a legal case is pending,  but the xrays showed some obvious damage on all of us. 

so for the last month we have been going to the chiro 2x a week,  my back is killing me most of the time and Bryan missed 2 wks of work because of it.  but after claiming they could not find the driver of the truck at first they finally admitted guilt and it will all work out eventually i'm sure.

so thats all about that. 

school has started back and so has Caden's football practice,  so we are pretty busy with practice and games,  when I am able to go that is,  this back pain has me sidelined. pardon the pun

I actually meant to write about something else,  but the whole wreck thing took all my attention.  so I guess you will have to wait for the harsh language and truths.  LOL

til next time.

Girls Getaway 2011

So this past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to go away with 5 of the most amazing ladies you will ever meet.    A few months ago I emailed each of them and asked what they thought of us getting together some weekend and renting a cabin in Beavers Bend.  (I've already heard all the jokes so don't bother.)  

To my surprise,  everybody said Let's do it!   We picked this past weekend because that gave us time to plan and save money to go.  Over the course of the summer we have all had some crazy, stressful events happen to us.  Not going into details because thats another blog entirely.   Friday we all loaded up 2 per car and headed out,  I rode with Ms. Dawn,  we had a blast!!!  We got lost  3 or 4 times,  not because we couldnt follow directions but because we were talking and laughing so much we would miss our turn.   We still managed to make it there first,  after checking out the inside of the cabin and unpacking our stuff we went back to Broken Bow to wait for the other 4 ladies.  We all made a trip to the grocery store and liquor store then with Dawn driving the lead car we headed back to the cabin,   and missed our turn.  twice.   LOL

After making it to the cabin and picking our sleeping arrangements  we all settled down in the beautiful 2 story great room and had some drinks in the oh so cool wine glasses I brought as gifts for us all.  they said "girlfriends and merlot are good to go!!"    While we were relaxing with our drinks Ms. Melissa was preparing dinner for us all,  it was THE best homemade lasagne I have EVER had!!!!  we had salad and garlic bread to go with and of course lots of wine.  Dawn , Hollie and Melissa had never met each other. so new friendships were born. maybe I should explain how we all know each other.  Lisa, Dawn, Jennifer and myself went to Jr. high and high school together,  Dawn and Jenn have known each other since birth,  Hollie and Jenn used to work together and Lisa and I have met her many times at various girls get togethers.   Lisa and Jenn have known Melissa for years and she and I have many mutual friends and we were always talking to each other on their pages and finally decided we may as well become friends.   

After dinner we hit the hot tub,   I would like to pause here and apologize to whomever were staying in the cabin closest to us.  we laughed so much and so loud I know we disturbed somebody.  and somebody in our group got very tipsy and got naked in the hot tub,  not going to say who so don't ask.  and yes there were pictures but all have been deleted by mutual consent of all 6 ladies.  LOL  

after the hot tub we watched what else?  'Hot Tub Time Machine',  we have all seen it before but its just as funny and there were a few parts that could have been taken right out of our antics so far.   and of course the soundtrack is the best!!!

we all turned in and woke early sat morning and began making a huge breakfast.  Pancakes, bacon, fruit, mimosas.   unfortunately Dawn had prior plans with her family that she couldnt break so she had to leave early,  which put a damper on the weekend because it just wasnt the same w/out her. :(    after breakfast we all got dressed and headed out to Hochatown,  which we called "Hootchie-Town"  LOL,  we went to a winery that we had all heard good things about.  'Girls Gone Wine'   the cutest place ever!   we did a wine tasting and I have to say I liked all of them,  even the dry ones which I don't usually like.   we all made our choices to buy and browsed the gift shop which has a huge selection of girly, wine oriented gifts.  T-shirts, wine glasses, wine purses,  unique gifts, candles, candy,  even doggy treats and jewelry.   

Then we went right across the street to the Grateful Head pizza place and beer garden.  cute place,  we were told they had amazing pizza but since we had plans to make dinner back at the cabin it had to go on the to do list for next year.    then we drove to the Beavers Bend nature center,  the other girls went on a hike while I waited at the car,  my back was still bothering me so I didnt think it would be wise of me to overdo it.  

then it was back to the cabin for some more relaxing and a delicious fruit pizza made by Ms. Jennifer,  we had it with a lunch of leftover lasagne. :)    and of course some more drinks!  then dinner again,  homemade chicken enchiladas made by Ms. Lisa this time,  they were fantastic!!! 

we proceeded outside to the deck and sat and enjoyed the scenery with some buttery nipple shots,  thats baileys irish cream and butterscotch schnapps for those who didnt know.  :)     afterwards we decided to watch The Hangover,  again totally appropriate movie.  we have seen many times but its always funny.

then it was hot tub time again!!!   and of course more wine. :)   then we turned in for a good nites sleep.  woke up early again and made a breakfast of Frittata, bacon, biscuits and gravy , fruit and mimosas.  

then sadly it was time to pack and straighten up the cabin and head home.   the weekend went way too fast.  even the drive home was fun ,  this time I rode with Lisa and Melissa  but we encountered Jenn and Hollie along the way from time to time.   after making it home I realized how tired I was,  but oh so relaxed and happy.   I was very happy to see my husband and sons.   while I was gone Bobby had cleaned the kitchen and it was spotless!  that was a great thing to come home to and it was very appreciated!!    

after taking a nap of course I couldnt sleep at bedtime,  so I watched some t.v. w/the boys and caught up on my DVR's I had missed while gone.    we had to get up early to drive to OKC for our dr's appts,  and lately my back has been hurting so bad I can barely move,  those nitely visits to the hot tub has helped it soooooo much,  and today I woke up and had no pain anywhere!!!    I think the relaxing weekend and hot tub eased so much stress and that helped erase the pain.    i'm sure it will be back but for now i'm so grateful!!   I didnt have any problems walking around today,  my adjustment and treatment at the back dr didnt hurt me at all this time,  and I was even able to actually get out of the car today at Caden's football practice and after sitting for 2 hrs ,  it didnt kill me trying to get up and walk like usual.    

none of the things stressing me out went away while I was gone,  but they sure don't seem as stressful now.  

and about the cabin rental place,  it was www.beaversbendgetaways.com ,    the cabin was awesome!  3 bedrooms, 3 baths,  pool table, hot tub,  washer, dryer.  the kitchen was stocked with everything we needed, they had set the table with 6 place settings and the scenery was breathtaking!  it was so peaceful and quiet.  

we all can't wait til next years getaway!  we decided to make it a yearly event,  alot of our female friends have expressed interest in going next year,  so many in fact that to make it possible we would have to rent 10 cabins!!  so we all 6 decided that next year we would have 12 ladies,  each of us 6 will bring 1 guest that does not know anybody else that will be there.  and of course they have to be of similar sense of humors and personalities and ok with drinking and be able to afford their share of the cost of the weekend.  which makes the list considerably smaller.    I know some feelings are going to be hurt,  but this was the only fair way we could think of doing it so our other friends would not feel left out.  we will change it up each year to make it fun and new.   hopefully we will be 80 yr old ladies in our handicap accessable cabin having our girls weekend!!  

hope you enjoyed the blog,  sorry its been forever since i've done one,  but if you read my FB then you know its been crazy lately.   

til next time

Love,

A.