ObamaCare. Yes We DID!

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Yesterday the much debated, vehemently opposed, Affordable Care Act (you know, ObamaCare) was approved in full by the United States Supreme Court.
Historic.
Yet another moment in Obama's presidency that I find myself with mouth agape, smiling, and saying, "This is an historic moment".
I noticed right away that my facebook news feed was blowing up with all of the comments in favor of and in opposition of ObamaCare.
It strikes me how many of my church going, bible-thumping, "Christian" friends are so extraordinarily opposed to it. It baffles me. I mean, I understand some people do not feel like the US needs to be a nation that helps their sick and poor. Some people truly and honestly feel that the world is better off being on an every-man-for-himself kind of mindset, and though I disagree, I respect their right to that belief. Where I get baffled is in how the vast majority of the people I know with that every-man-for-himself mindset readily call themselves "Christians", and claim to walk the walk and talk the talk of the bible. Now, I'm no bible scholar, but I did read it beginning to end several times, and the thing is, repeatedly throughout the book I found it to say that we should heal the sick, feed the hungry, shelter the poor. In Matthew, 10:8, when talking about healing the sick it even says to do so "...freely you have received, freely you shall give." That's a pretty big difference from the views and opinions I see these people expressing over ObamaCare.

The Wifester and I, being non-Christian and altogether non-religious, though we are pretty poor ourselves always make room in our budget to donate to local homeless shelters, pick up an angel from the angel tree at Christmas, and provide what we can to food banks. Honestly, there were times we gave when we would have qualified to be receiving donations from those places, but we do this because we feel that it is incumbent upon us each to help another person who is in a worse situation than ourselves. There is always someone you can help, no matter what your current circumstances are. Sometimes help is in the form of a kind word, a listening ear, or even just a smile. 
Now, don't get me wrong, I do know plenty of liberals who are devout Christians. They actually do represent what I interpreted Christianity to be based on the bibles I read and studied. But they are overshadowed by these louder, angrier,  groups who claim to have moral authority over everyone with their (in my opinion) misguided views and opinions. These who claim to follow the bible, but feel that if you can't afford your cancer treatment too bad for you, you'll just have to go without.
It's just another example of the hypocrisy I see in modern, organized religion. 

The Dali Lama said, "My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."
I like that.
Kindness, there's so many ways to exhibit it. Throwing a cancer patient off of your health care plan because they have accrued too many bills for chemotherapy and radiation treatment is certainly not an act of kindness.
Denying health care coverage to a person because they once had a major illness is not an act of kindness.

I guess the core beliefs of those who oppose ObamaCare are starkly different from those who support it, and that's OK. That's why America is America. We can disagree, we can form our own opinions, we can even change our minds when and if we want to.
We'll have to see how this all plays out, but I have a feeling that this country is finally shaping up to be what I always felt a good, decent country ought to be. The kind of place that takes care of its people. The kind of place where we all pitch in what we can to help the next person. The kind of place where we all want to individually succeed, but we also want to see each other rise up and overcome as well.
Brotherhood.
Sisterhood.
 Love.

Nooks and Crannies

I'm busy getting my scrub-a-dub-dub on today. Somehow, sometime after losing my job I turned into  a real house-cleaning freak. I mean, I'm not like totally OCD on it. I can stop and leave some things half-assed when I want to, but I really do enjoy the scrubbing and scouring of nooks and crannies. I guess it gives me purpose when I have these days of not a lot of work to do on web sites and not much to do in the yard. Plus, I totally LOVE the smell of a freshly cleaned house combined with the sounds of the dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer all running at the same time. It gives me a weird comfy-cozy feeling.
What is your happy space when you've got nothing else to do? What makes you feel happy and content and useful?

A Book in the Oven?

Did you know I'm cooking up a book? I am.

Well, just a children's book, to be honest, so it's not like I'm plugging away at chapter after chapter. I'm just plugging away at illustrations and graphics. I'm having fun with it, though, and am considering a second edition, if I can ever finish up this one.

I'll let you know more about it the closer it gets to finished. Meanwhile, here's a tiny little glimpse -

Now, is that some cuteness, or what?

Love is All You Need

Dear Life,
Really? I mean, REALLY?
OK, OK, so you've been pretty good to me in a lot of ways that many others are not fortunate enough to enjoy. I have The Wifester, who loves me to the ends of the earth. I couldn't ask for a better soul mate. I have wonderful and loving family via The Wifester. I have a roof over my head and food in my belly, and I have two wonderful and beautiful fur-babies who think I rope the moon. To them, I am the world. For those things, I wholeheartedly say, "Thank You!"
But really, Life? My sight?
That was uncalled for.
And my virginity before I was even old enough to know what it was?
Harsh.
My family. Oh geez, Life, you sure outdid yourself there. I mean, Kudos for your effort, malicious and unscrupulous though it may sometimes be.
And don't get me started on my cotton ball textured hair.
That was just plain rude.
I don't know what I ever did to you to deserve all that you threw my way. I mean, I have always been a pretty glass half full kind of gal. I have often told others to buck up and hang in there,
 "Life is pretty darn good", I'd say.  
Even when I didn't fully believe in you, I pretended to. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I gave you rave reviews and showed others how to keep faith in you, even when you were busy beating me down. 
So what gives, Life? 
No matter. I will keep on keeping on, just as I have always done, and looking at you through my rose colored glasses. I chose to think you have better things in store for me, and I am here to tell you, YOU BETTER. 
I'll continue to find all the ways I can to enjoy you to your fullest. Even if you keep throwing me those curve balls. 
Bring it on, Life. I can take it. Because for all your twists and turns, in the end, I still got the better deal. 
I got The Wifester. 
I got The Pupsters. 
And I got love. 

I Want A Little Cookie

I know I was supposed to be writing a series of posts in the Dear____ genre, but I am going to deviate from that prescribed venue today. I can do that. In fact, I think we all should deviate from our normal or preset routines ever-so-often. I like to mix it up.

I guess I'm just not feeling the "Dear_____" vibe today because I got to spend time holding my sweet little four week old nephew this morning. 
Time holding a baby is always priceless. But it always makes me think about my own chance of ever experiencing motherhood. 
I have serious doubts about that ever happening now. Not that I don't want it to, but I just don't see it happening. Adoption is so expensive, and much more difficult for same sex couples,  not to mention my low vision status, and our less than desirable credit. 
We have thought about artificial insemination, and would definitely consider that route, but there are health risks involved for women our ages in carrying a baby as well as risks for the baby, too. Sometimes I think maybe we were just not destined to be moms. 
But I hate that thought.
Sometimes I think we'll get our chance one day. One day... 
I hold my nephews and I long for my own little, tiny soul to look after, to nurture, to love. I know The Wifester does, too. I see it in her eyes when she holds her nephews. When she sees mothers with their children. She wants to be a mom desperately. And she would make such a wonderful mom! Kids love her. LOVE her. And she's so good with them. It's one of the things that I love the most about her. She has some of the most nurturing, tender, maternal instincts I've ever seen in a person. Any kid would be lucky to have her for a mom, and I would feel so honored to have the chance to raise a child with her. 
I really don't know if that day will ever come to fruition for us, and my logical mind tells myself not to waste time with false hopes for things that most likely will never happen. But I do have to admit that a teeny, tiny little part of me holds on to that hope and wraps it around me like a warm winter's blanket. 
Only time will tell if we'll ever get to be moms, ourselves. Until then, at least we do get to be aunts.   

Dear Siblings

pics on Sodahead 

Dear Siblings,

I know it can be difficult, but try, try with all you have to be each other's best friend. Be each other's guardian and protector. Be each other's advocate. Sometimes we don't know what a special bond we have with our siblings until that bond is broken. Sometimes it becomes broken beyond repair, and that is a sad fate for two people who grew up under the same roof, suffered the same punishments, went on the same vacations, and survived childhood together.
I see some siblings who have a friendship, a bond that nothing could ever fracture. That's what it's all about, I think. I envy those relationships.
Please, do yourself and your brothers and sisters a favor, be nice. Just be nice to each other. You don't have to like everything they do, and they don't have to like everything you do. You can disagree without hating. You can even think they are complete idiots. But be nice. Love them for who they are, and they'll love you for who you are, and in the end, you'll each have lifelong friends, confidants. Someone who you can tell anything to, someone who can see through you and knows the real, true you. Someone who remembers that time you got grounded for whatever stupid thing it was that you did that one time, and can remind you of it when you need to be brought back down to earth. And don't we all need that kind of grounding sometimes?

Dear Parents of Bentley, Tristan, Annalise, and Ethel

It should come as no surprise, but I'm bored blogging again. Maybe not bored, but definitely uninspired. But this time instead of walking away from it and leaving this place to wither and die unattended, I have opted to force myself to write by selecting a 15 day challenge.
Each day I will write a "Dear____" letter.
Today's letter is Dear Parents. Here we go-

Dear Parents,

Please, for the love of all that is good and right in this world, please, I beg of you, enough already with the stupid ass names you give these poor souls. And please, please STOP overindulging your children. Stop telling them they are absolutely perfect in every single way. They aren't. Stop granting them the world on a silver platter. They will never know what it means to work for and appreciate something, anything. And by all means, PLEASE stop telling them they can be or do anything. They can't. I'm sorry, but little Skylar will never grow up to be the P.O.T.U.S. It won't happen. Not because Skylar is an imbecile, we've had plenty of imbecile presidents, but first and foremost because you opted to name him Skylar. Then you went on to fill Skylar's little head with ideas of grandeur. You made him think the world revolved around his over-inflated head. So now when Skylar grows up with you telling him that he can be an astrophysicist or a neurosurgeon, but then life slaps him across the face for having such an idiotic name, well, he won't quite know how to handle the rejection. That's when Skylar goes from potential future P.O.T.U.S. to being just another douche bag waiting in the parking lot for the bar to open on a Tuesday afternoon.
And another thing, Parents: Your child is not exceptional or "gifted" just because they know their alphabet. Maybe if they know the alphabet in 3 languages by the age of 4 you can start to wonder if they are "special", but get over yourself. Most likely, statistically speaking, your child is average. There's nothing wrong with average. Embrace it and accept it. Otherwise you will have a lifetime of letdowns and disappointments while you expect great and unprecedented accomplishments from your absolutely mediocre offspring. It's not fair to you or to poor little Skylar, Tristan, Annabell, or Bentley...Oh! Let's not forget that whole class of ugly on purpose names, Ethel, Gertrude, Omar...Yeah, like naming your daughter Hazel will translate into her growing up with chapter books lining her bookshelf and horseback riding for sport, and taking transatlantic cruises upon graduation from an ivy league school instead of being a texting, bubble gum popping, boy crazy, community college party girl. I mean, some things you just can't change by giving a pretentiously absurd name.