October 15th

Image courtesy of I Am A Mother To An Angel

Everyone knows it's Breast Cancer Awareness month, but sharing the month is an equally important cause, Pregnancy and Infant Awareness month. I have been touched by both.

Angelversary

Sorry for the gap between posts, sometimes life gets in the way and it's hard to find inspiration.




Today I reflect back on October 1, 2011...

How much has changed and how much has stayed the same.

A Guide to Balloon Release Ceremony

Balloon releases are done by many for celebrations such as weddings, or for comfort such as a way to feel closer to a loved one that has passed. Here are a few guidelines to make sure it is done in the best interest of everyone.

First and foremost, it is not legal everywhere, so check with the local regulations of where you plan on releasing them.

If everything checks out ok, here are some recommended things, several of them FAA (Federal Aviation Administration - United States) and CAA (Cival Aviation Authority - United Kingdom) regulations regarding the subject.

A Take on Health Care Reform

I'm sure pretty much everyone has heard the news by now that congress passed the new healthcare  reform bill here in the United States. I'm not really sure how I feel about it yet since I don't know all the details, but I am interested to see what happens. I know there are a lot of varying opinions, and that many of them are uninformed ones.

Capital Building, Madison, Wisconsin 2010

First of all lets get this straight, it is not "FREE" health care like the systems set up in other countries where everyone is taxed a fair amount and everyone is entitled to receive the same quality of health care. It is still going to be private insurance, it's just that government is trying to take more control over it. From what I understand it will be beneficial to many, and in basic theory it sounds like a mostly good idea, but I still think there are going to be people that will lose out, especially after going over some of the details that have been released.

Sunblock or not?

Reader request: The harms of sunblock

2010 Eastern Wisconsin

My first thought was as with most issues, to weigh the facts and take the lesser of two evils. It's common knowledge the negative effects of sun exposure can cause painful burns, premature aging and even worse, cancer. It's hard to measure at what level is safe exposure. Some people can overdo it and never have a negative effect, while others can spend fifteen minutes outside and be sent running for some aloe relief or to the doctor getting a strange spot removed and biopsied. We know we do need some sun exposure to soak up that wonderful vitamin D, that helps with essential body functions, regulate our mood, and so on, and that only supplementing isn't always as effective at it. However it is believed you can still get your vitamin D with sunblock on. Unless you can avoid ever leaving the house during daylight hours, avoiding sun exposure completely is impossible, and why would you want to either.

5 Internet Pet Peeves

I see it time and time again, and even though I shouldn't let these silly little things bug me, sometimes they get under my skin a little. It gets even sadder if you call them on it they argue about it just furthering the  illiteracy and ignorance. While the internet has become a valuable source for some things such as having all that information available to you at your fingertips, and keeping in touch with those you wouldn't be able to other wise, it has also become a breading ground for stupidity. On many things for me I think it boils down to I'm a huge fan of truth, and sometimes I can get carried away when something other than truth is being spread.

Leopard Gecko Care

A little about the Leopard Gecko
Scientific Name: Eublepharis macularius
-They can live up to 20+ years, so they are a long term investment
-They grow 6-10 inches in length
-They have little to no odor
-They are nocturnal which means they mostly awake at night and sleep during the day
-They learn to accept handling and recognize their owners
-They have gentile/docile dispositions, and almost never bite
-They occasionally shed their skin and eat it, this is normal, don’t be alarmed
-They are generally quiet, but can make small chirping like noises, hissing, clicking, and little squeals

Should Rich Kids Be Ineligible for College Scholarships

Woke up this morning and among the headlines in my news feed I see the question 'Should rich kids be ineligible for college scholarship's?' Apparently the question was brought up from the news that Sean Combs', (aka P.Diddy, who is worth quite a bit of money) son Justin had been awarded a full scholarship to UCLA. Of course all this got my mind wandering on my own opinion.

Pepper Boats

Looking for a recipe for something to bring to a German themed gathering this weekend and after ruling out the normal deviled eggs or pickle roll ups, I came across this (pictured on left) from http://mybestgermanrecipes.com/2011/04/24/pepper-boats/


I made a few small changes from the original...

What to Blog About?

While searching for ideas for posts I came to several conclusions. First of all, there are a lot of blog posts about blog ideas. Unfortunately for me they were way to general of ideas to spark anything significant to write about. A majority of them listed basic things such as; write about how to do something, write about an upcoming event or something that is changing in your life, review a product or service, write a top 5 or 10 or whatever list, and so on, when really I was looking for a specific idea to spark some writing. Not that they aren't good ideas to get someone going, I was just looking for something a little more focused or specific. I'm not as creative as I once was when I was younger. Besides, there really isn't anything all that exciting going on or upcoming in my life that I'm aware of at the moment, and I'm sure no one wants to hear a boring story about updating my resume for the hundredth time and continuing the job hunt. It makes me sleepy just thinking about having to write about it. Then there is also always the possibility that I was just searching in the wrong places.

Then two more things hit me...

A Take on "Tan Mom"

I'm sure everyone has heard about the New Jersey mom accused of bringing her five year old into a tanning booth. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt that she may have brought her kid to the salon, but not into the booth. I have no reason to believe that the child didn't get burnt playing outside, and that what the little girl said at school was misinterpreted due to her mother's appearance. She may not be vigilant on putting sunblock on her child, but as far as I know that isn't illegal, or I know plenty of parents that should have spent a few days in jail, including my own.

Image from  Sunscreen: New Guidelines this Summer  

Sun exposure releases both melatonin and serotonin into our systems. Melatonin helps regulate our sleep patterns, and we all know regular sleep helps us function better, and serotonin is a feel good hormone. It really doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize,  both of those things feel good and anything that makes us feel good can have addictive consequences. It's also not that uncommon for a doctor to recommend someone with depression, especially if it gets worse in the winter where less sun exposure occurs, to regularity sit under artificial UV light. Also there's that whole vitamin D thing, but not relevant for this post. The real issue that everyone is either overlooking, or going about the wrong way, is the harm she is doing to herself.

Threw vs Through

I'm not normally a spelling or grammar Nazi, but for some reason it's a little pet peeve of mine when someone uses the wrong word when it comes to threw and through. I'm not the best speller there is, and although sometimes I'll notice a error here and there it usually doesn't bug me unless it's really messed up and also happens to be a word I know well. Same goes with your and you're; and there, their, and they're. I know the differences and try to use them correctly, occasionally I'll slip up, but they all still refer to a person and can be easy to misuse if writing quickly. It's not like that with threw and through for me. Sure they sound the same, but they are completely different words.

Illistration from http://homophonesweakly.blogspot.com/   

Mother's Day Fall-Out

http://unspokengrief.com/break-your-silence/?page=i&id=351

"It's amazing how grieving the loss of a child turns into also grieving the loss of people you thought were friends"

The words I never thought I would have to say, but I wrote that, and I refuse to be silenced anymore.

I had a sad moment at the end of the day on Mother's Day when I realized no one I expected to acknowledge I was a mom did. I had one friend, whom I had said it to first, and the lovey commenter on my previous post. In that sad moment I posted on Facebook "Nobody bothers to acknowledge the mother without her child...". I was just venting in the moment never expected anything from it, little did I know I would spend the next two days being ripped apart with drama over it.

Mother's Day - A Story of Another Kind of Mother and Loss

This post is inspired by another blog post that I ran across on Facebook... messymiddle.com - an open letter to pastors a non mom speaks about mothers day

I want to take a moment to thank her for saying what other's may be afraid to say. While I'm sure the pastor didn't intentionally try to make anyone feel bad, it really does make you stop and think.

It reminded me of past mother's day's, and the bitterness that sometimes swept across me thinking that I thought I would have children by now, but life doesn't always work out as planned. Everyone that really knows me has told me what a good mom I would be, someday. It also reminded me of a Facebook post last year where a friend was wishing all the mother's out there a happy mother's day. I was being half smart-ass and half serious when I commented do fur babies count? I didn't think I would get a response, but I really didn't think I would get a straight out "No". It stung, not only because I think they do count, because to me they are my babies, but it was another harsh reminder that the thing I wanted most in my life I still hadn't gotten, and at the time I didn't see it happening anytime soon.

Taken at Munsinger Gardens, St. Cloud, MN Summer 2011

This mother's day hurt's even more. I wasn't planning on getting into this so early in my blog, but it has been a big part of my life in the past seven months, so why not get it out into the open. I haven't told a lot of people, but I don't really feel like it should feel like a big bad dark secret either. Those reading this that know me that haven't been told may have already figured it out, to other's this may come as a surprise.

DISCLAIMER: Parts of this post may be slightly graphic or disturbing for the squeamish, and you may need tissues.

Introductions

I'm not sure where to start really, and not sure where to go, or where this blog will end up. What I am sure of is that I'm been contemplating doing this for months and decided to go for it, and that a new creative outlet would be good for me. For a moment I thought about dusting off the old LiveJournal, until I went and looked back at it and decided to leave the past in the past and start new.