Posts Tagged ‘Favorite Entries’

Burning the Flag in the Land of the Free

// June 23rd, 2005 // 7 Comments » // tagged: >

While checking out a new blog [visit Katherine] - I found a link to this news story about the house approving a move to outlaw flag burning. Katherine and I have similar views on the topic - [see her thoughts here]. Whenever I see anything on this topic - I am reminded of one of my favorite movies, The American President. A great quote can be found in a scene where Michael Douglas (the President) is talking to the press about a photo found of his girlfriend (played by Annette Bening) burning a flag in a protest in her college days.

You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil who is standing center stage advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours … The symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.

 

The symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. Yes - that’s the lesson the house needs to learn.

Love: Husband vs. Children

// May 7th, 2005 // 2 Comments » // tagged: >

About two weeks ago there was an episode on Oprah with author Ayelet Waldman. She had recently written an article in which she boldly claimed, "I love my husband more than I love my children". I think she could have worded it differently - becuase she was saying that her relationship with her husband was the PRIMARY relationship in her home. The relationship with their CHILDREN was the secondary relationship. She says on the show "I am IN love with my husband. I love my children. Which is how it should be." Evidently women everywhere were outraged by this concept. Oprah showed a few brief clips from some women in the audience who blasted Ayelet -- how dare she put her husband before her children? What a horrible mother she must be ... But I - and Oprah - and a guy from the National Fatherhood Initiative and a few of the women on the show - pretty much agreed with everything Ayelet said. No, I don't have children yet ... but I remember something I heard my pastor say when I was a teenager ... (it was a long time ago - so I'm paraphrasing):
The most important thing a husband and wife can do for their children - other than raising them to love the Lord, obviously, - is to put each other first. To love each other. If a husband and wife put each other first - and their relationship first - it can only mean good things for their children. How can it be bad for chidlren to see their parents in love? To see their parents enjoying each other. To see their parents in a healthy, loving, devoted relationship.
And I remember as a teenager thinking - yeah. I always thought it was cool when my parents would hold hands; neat that they went on trips together, just the two of them; Children need to see that in their parents relationship. How do we think children figure out what they want in a relationship later on in life? One woman on the Oprah show said she watches Wheel of Fortune while she and her husband had sex. She said she was "fulfilling his needs" and that he was fine with that. And she was one of the ones going after Ayelet -- but sorry -- anybody who includes Pat Sajack and Vanna in their marriage just doesn't have anything to say that I need to hear. I'm sure her children have a great [insert sarcasm] view on what a marriage and home should be like. Then Oprah talked to several husbands -- who said that after their children were born -- their wives pretty much lost interest in them. Their total focus was on the children - from morning til night. Yes I can't even imagine how exhausting having children is. Can't even imagine. Nope - still can't imagine. But -- surely there is still part of you that is in love with your husband? Enjoys spending time with him. I can't imagine that just disappears ?? Several women went on to say that they figured they would have more time for their husbands when their children got older. The problem with that is that by the time the kids are older -- your husband doesn't even know you anymore. The "disconnect" has already happened. Oprah said that divorces after kids leave for college are alarmingly high these days. Once the kids are gone - nothing there anymore. The relationship died when the kids were in preschool. And I loved what one other author on the show said about parents who make their children the center of their universe ... and then those children become adults ... "And, you know, what kind of a person wants to have a relationship with somebody who's been raised to believe that they are the center of the world?" Haha! I laughed out loud at that one. So true!!! Another good quote was from Roland from the National Fatherhood Initiative -- "Strong marriages are like strong muscles. If you don't exercise them, they atrophy." He said this in response to the waiting til the kids are older philosophy of some of the moms in the audience ... I found that episode really thought-provoking ... anyone else see it? Thoughts on the topic in general? The page on Oprah.com about that episode can be found here

The Houdini Dogsitting Weekend

// April 10th, 2005 // 3 Comments » // tagged: >

We watched one of our friends dogs this weekend ... a black mixed-breed named Chloe. We joke that she's MacGyver's girlfriend - they get together as often as they can, and quite frequently have sleep-overs when their owners go out of town. And as some ladies are, she tends to lead MacGyver astray. As in - to bad behavior and craziness that he normally doesn't partake in. Like - destroying his bed. Or chewing up all his toys. Or - the latest - escaping from our very well-fenced in back yard. Saturday morning, I went out at 7:30 to check on them and they were in the back yard. MacGyver was doing his "morning patrol" (he does this every day - walks around the edge of the fence line - all around the property) - and Chloe was bouncing up and down all around him as he walked. I came back inside - Steve and I watched a bit of HGTV - and at 8:15, we were going outside to start working in the yard. The phone rings - and it's a couple from about 2 miles down the road. They told us MacGyver & Chloe were in their yard!! We quickly grabbed shoes and were headed out the door to go retrieve the dogs when they run up to the front porch. "We're back! You wouldn't believe all the stuff we've seen!" Pant. Pant. Pant. "But now we're pooped. And no one gave us treats out there either. So we decided to come back and get a Frosty Paw! Thanks!" Eeeeek! I'm so annoyed with them for getting out - and have no clue where they managed to get out. MacGyver's never gotten out before. And I hate that they were out roaming the streets - because that is THE most annoying thing to me when I'm driving. People who don't watch after their dogs - who let them roam free. Grrrr - that drives me crazy. I don't know how people can say they love their pets when they don't keep them safe from cars? So - We got them back in the yard and Steve and I proceeded to walk our fence line to see if there was a breech somewhere - but there wasn't. The fence was still in tact - all the gates were still secure. We have no clue how they got out. They're exhausted though - and spend the rest of the day hanging out in the back yard and trying to stay cool. Then this morning we wake up. They're gone AGAIN. This time we have no clue where they are -- so I get out in the front yard and whistle (I do this for Mac all the time in the back yard). Within about 3 minutes, they come running to the house. I am so thankful he knows where home is. I'm very worried because what will happen when we leave for work on Monday? Is he going to start getting out EVERY day? Arghhhhhhh We HAVE to find the "escape hatch". I put the dogs back in the back yard - go around to the front porch - and maybe 2 minutes later MacGyver is out again. Thankfully - at least I have some clue which direction he's getting out from. So Steve and I hide around corners of the house to try and narrow down how he's getting out. The new deck. The supporting beams and posts below the decks are hidden with lattice-work. They broke a section of the lattice, and crawled underneath the deck and shimmed on their bellies (no wonder they're covered in dirt!) and then popped out on the opposite side of the gate. Eureka! They actually did this in front of us a few minutes later - when we found the hole in the lattice. In goes Chloe, then MacGyver - and about a minute later - they both pop out on the other side of the gate. Too funny. They look very proud of themselves too. It was kinda hard not to laugh. Atleast we didn't give them a treat on the other side ;) So we closed up the hole in the lattice - and Chloe and MacGyver kept going over to it and looking at it like - Awww shucks! They found our tunnel. Sigh. We returned Chloe to her owner this afternoon -- and I have to say we were glad to be back to a one-dog family. I've had enough of the Houdini-doggies!

I can see you now!

// December 20th, 2004 // 8 Comments » // tagged: > >

My LASIK eye surgery was last Thursday ... and it went perfectly. A VERY lengthy description of the surgery and the past few days is in the extended entry ;) I got to the doctor's office Thursday morning around 9:30 AM. I put antiobiotic drops in both my eyes and am then taken back into a little waiting area with about 10 other people. We're all given our post-op instructions, little baggies with sunglasses, night goggles, lots of single-use preservative free eye drops, and a stress ball from Bausch & Lomb. Then we all got to take one valium. We had to let it dissolve under our tongue though ... and that was pretty gross. And annoying considering I didn't even notice a difference? I've never had valium before - but I assume I should have noticed a difference? We're told that right after the surgery - we should go home and sleep for 4-5 hours. I'm wondering how I'm going to do that - because I'm not tired at all. And I have soooo much to do. But I figure hey - we'll see how I'm feeling. Anyway ... then we all put on hair covers and our eyes get washed. Then we all donate our glasses to the Lions Club (they match up deserving people with the donated glasses! I love that!). One by one we're called back into the surgical area. I'm about 5th in my group - they call my name and I realize it's either now or never! I lay down and scoot up until my eyes are in the right position for the equipment. There are about 5 people in the room. Drops are put into my eyes to numb them, and then my doctor puts little metal "tongs" to hold my eyes open; this isn't too uncomfortable - probably because my eyes are numb and I basically just have a sensation of something around my eyes. Then they tell me they're going to apply suction for a few moments and that everything will go black. It's a good thing they tell you this beforehand - because it is pretty freaky when everything does indeed go black. Your eyes are wide open - but you see absolutely nothing. At this point I was kind of lightly squeezing my stress ball - and thinking maybe one or two more valium might have been a good idea. Finally - they release the suction and all is well with the world. Then they put what feels like round circles in your eyes. I was really paying attention - trying to remember every little thing they did - and I even realized when they made the flap over my cornea. I saw him flip it back. It was pretty cool. Starting with my right eye - he tells me to look at the red light. Then I hear them turn on the laser - and they do 25 seconds on the right eye. I hear them counting down. I also smell the burning of my cornea. That was a bit disconcerting - but not so bad because I knew what it was. (They don't tell you this - but I worked in surgery for several years and well remember the smell of burning flesh. I assume you would realize that is what the smell is though? Even if you hadn't ever smelled it before?) Staring at the red light was kinda hard as well -- it seemed to be moving around. I'm sure it wasn't ... but they were BURNING MY CORNEA - so I'm sure that was affecting how I was seeing it. They turn the laser off ... and then spend atleast a minute or two washing my eye with a saline/steriod/antiobiotic solution. This feels pretty good. Then they flip the flap back down - and things look a bit clearer. I was feeling kinda tired at this point. Maybe the valium was finally kicking in?? My doctor then asks me how long I've worn contacts ... I said atleast 15 years until two weeks ago when I stopped wearing them for the surgery. He said he could tell - that's why my corneas were bleeding more than usual. He upped my steroid drops for the first day to every two hours. I wonder if they might should lengthen the glasses-wearing period for long-time contact wearers? Then he moves to my left eye ... tey do the same thing on my left eye - only that eye only gets 15 seconds of the laser (which makes sense - my right eye was way worse than my left eye). When they finish up with that - they take off the metal clips holding my eyes open - and have me sit up. Here's where the coolness starts. Immediately after sitting up - I can see the posters on the opposite wall. The posters that were blurry blobs just minutes before. It's kind of like looking at them underwater ... but I can see them. It's freaky. At this point, I've been back in the surgical area for about 7 minutes. Maybe less. I go out, and they immediately do some tests to make sure the flap is looking right. Then they slap some goggles on me - and hand me over to my husband. I must look like some type of alien - red eyes and big goggles covering half my face. I feel like I'm looking at everything through Saran Wrap. And I feel totally out of it and I understand why the waiting room is soooo dark. My eyes are SUPER-SENSITIVE to light. Steve and I get out to the car ... and I just close my eyes and try to block them from the sun until we get home. I walk in the front door - walk straight to the bedroom and crawl under the covers. That whole not wanting to sleep for 5 hours ... not a problem. It's all I wanted to do. I wanted to be a dark dark room and sleep. My eyes felt like they were burning. Not all the time ... just ... on and off. So I slept ... for about 4.5 hours. In the fun goggles that you're supposed to sleep in for a week. When I woke up - I felt 200% better. My eyes felt better. I took off the goggles and took my first look in the mirror to see what they looked like. They look totally normal. A bit red and puffy - but that's to be expected. Then a cool thing happened. I looked from the bathroom across the bedroom - and I COULD SEE THE ALARM CLOCK - as in ... THE NUMBERS on the alarm clock. It was GREAT! And this is basically 5 hours post op! Now starts the heinous medicated drop schedule. I have antiobiotic drops, steroid drops, anti-inflammatory drops, and of course - preservative free lubricant drops. Four times a day for all the drops. The lubricant is basically once an hour. I finished the anti-inflammatory drops on Saturday. I only have to do the antibiotic drops until the end of this week. The steroids go on for a month though. I'll still be dropping in 2005! Woohooo! I have a nice little chart that I can check off when I do each drop - to make sure I don't miss any. They say it is SUPER important to adhere to the drop schedule ... it helps in how well your eyes heal. Other considerations. You can't take a shower for 48 hours. No water on your face - nowhere near your eyes. I took baths for two days - and Steve helped me wash my hair. But no water came near my eyes. And ... You can't wear eye makeup for a week. This is a bit frustrating for me ... I feel like I look so washed out. But .. everyone knows I've had LASIK - so who cares. The day after surgery, I had my first post-op appointment. Everyone on my group of 10 from the day before was there. They could have done a commercial of all of us in the waiting room talking about what it was like to be able to see. One man was in his mid 60's - had worn glasses for 50 years. He was talking about being able to see the birds in the sky. Signs on the side of the road. It really is just amazing. Everyone in my group had positive results. We all still have the sensation of something being in our eyes ... and I don't want to look at any bright lights ... but we can all see. They do a quick eye-exam -and my left eye is already at 20/15. My right eye is still catching up ... but will get better and better as time goes by. Together - my eyes are 20/20. Twenty four hours after surgery ... and I have 20/20 vision. It's still a bit saran-wrappy - but is getting better every day!

MacGyver versus Santa

// December 20th, 2004 // No Comments » // tagged: > >

Guess who won?

Restroom Vending Machines

// September 23rd, 2004 // No Comments » // tagged: >

Why do all restroom vending machines carry feminine hygiene products from the 1950's? Are most women always prepared, and therefore never use the machines, and therefore the stock hasn't needed to be replenished in 50 years? On Tuesday we had a day-early surprise on our vacation and my supplies were in our checked luggage. So, I popped 25 cents into the handy restroom vending machine, and to my surprise a huge cardboard box with a product that surely would have mopped up my kitchen floor popped out. I might as well have picked up a bath towel in the gift shop!! (blogged in Lake Tahoe)

Grampy, MacGyver, & the Spin Cycle

// September 16th, 2004 // No Comments » // tagged: > > >

It's been so hectic in Lacyville here lately. What with dealing with my grandfathers cancer diagnosis and surgery, MacGyvers mite infection, our upcoming two week vacation ... we haven't had much time to just "hang out". Don't you always find that it's during these busy times that things go wrong. On the day we were supposed to drive 3 1/2 hour to see my grandfather, the brakes on the Escape suddenly starting making this scraping sound. So off to the mechanic we go - and there went $$$. Last week, our washing machine decided that it wanted to keep the water in the machine. Why spin? We've been tricking it into spinning for the last week -- by doing the regular cycle for washing and then switching it to the delicate cycle and doing that spin cycle twice. We just have not had the time to go looking for a washer - and we won't be here for the next two weeks to have it delivered. Sooo we're trying to make do until we return in October. We also have several relatives down in Florida dealing with hurricane hell. My great aunt has lived on the beach in Cocoa Beach for practically her entire life. Growing up, I used to spend summers down there - it was great her house was right on the beach. You walk off her back porch, and you're on the beach. They had a forced evacuation last week - they were told the storm surges alone would go over their homes. Get your insurance papers and family mementos, and be out by 2 PM. She went to stay with her daughter ... who lives in Melbourne, FL. THey were in the path of the hurricane as well ... but only lost a section of their roof and several trees. My aunt was finally able this week to go down and check on her house ... it was flooded. Pretty much everything mildewed and ruined ... all her furniture, appliances - damaged beyond repair. Now we just pray that her insurance carrier will do what they're supposed to! My grandfather is doing amazingly well. He has surprised all his doctors (and his family!) with his quick recovery. The surgery he had is a brand new procedure ... so both his surgeons were just so pleased that he has come through so well. He still has to go see the oncologist next week ... but they don't think she will recommend any chemo or radiation. They just want to have him in every few months for a new set of xrays. It is simply a miracle. When we first learned about his cancer, the pulmonologist told them he had maybe 6-9 months. It was that bad. Thats why I say it was a miracle. Because less than three weeks later, he has a cutting-edge surgery with not one, but two very talented surgeons and they are able to remove all the cancer. It hadn't metastasized. I believe God truly had his hand over my Grampy; miracles aren't just when someone is inexplicably healed; sometimes miracles occur in the form of just making a cancer treatable. As for MacGyver, he is almost back to normal. His behavior has improved dramatically; he's running, eating, and more playful; his hair is growing back quickly in some places, and not so quickly in other places (his tail is really slow in growing back hair!). But I think we've gotten the infection taken care of. We go back to the vet tomorrow afternoon, to see if he needs another shot of Ivermectin. AND to see if we still have to do the baths every two days. Let me just say thats been such a joyful experience. He hates water, doesn't like the medicated soap, and he especially doesn't like it that we have to leave the soap on him for 10 minutes before rinsing him off. Soooo, maybe we can get down to once every 3 days. Nonetheless, I'm just so glad he's feeling better and not constantly scratching and biting himself. And now, I'm off to try and trick the washer into doing a load of laundry that we need for our trip next week! ;)

Internet Access Situation

// July 26th, 2004 // 6 Comments » // tagged: > >

:shocking: This will shock you: :wide-eyed: We're on dial-up internet access. And it's not even GOOD dial-up. We're doing good to get upwards of 30KBS. Yes, that's right. 30KBS. :headache: WHY are we not using DSL or cable? Well ... neither are in our neck of the woods yet (literally our neck of the woods). The closest Cable is about 5 miles away - DSL is about 4 miles away. They keep promising - it will be there soon! When we first moved out there - It was almost physically painful to get online and see our connection speed hovering at 28kbs. I mean - who thought that was even possible these days? grrrr Now I'm almost used to it. :pi: We've done a little investigating over the past year (to find out why the dialup is so horrendous and why it's taking so long to get out here!) -- and one annoying thing we discovered is that Bellsouth, our dialup provider, only has one number for our area. ONE NUMBER FOR THE ENTIRE NASHVILLE AREA!!!!!!! What is up with that??? It's not like Nashville is Podunkville, USA. A huge Bellsouth sky-scraper is 3 blocks from my work. We've called Comcast, called Bellsouth - told them who ever gets high-speed internet access in that area first is going to get the entire market. Supposedly the access is being held up by the local electric company - and all of us have been contacting them trying to get some answers. But nothing so far. We've been waiting so long - geez. I'd pay just to have 56K. When I read about Melissa getting over 3MBS at her new house - it makes me sick! :think: There's just something wrong when you can fire up your brand-new lightning fast laptop, and then go a cook dinner while you wait for your email to download. It takes forever to do anything. I find myself using my jump-drive almost every day - I'll work a little at home, and then bring the drive in to upload stuff. Blah. :help: any ideas?

Blooming Hydrangeas

// July 25th, 2004 // 2 Comments » // tagged: > >

Is this not the most beautiful hydrangea bloom you've ever seen?
There's just one tiny problem. It's the ONLY bloom on the entire plant.
I guess that's why that one is so beautiful - it's the only bloom the plant has to support!

I said yes 4 years ago

// July 4th, 2004 // 4 Comments » // tagged: >

Four years ago today, I was in D.C. visiting Steve. We'd been long-distance dating for over a year, although we had known each other for at least 4 years (3 1/2 of which he was still living in England). The constant leaving each other at airports thing was getting harder and harder. We had been talking about getting married and all that would mean. Me leaving a job in surgery that I loved in order to move to D.C. (9 hours away from my family). Was he committed to living in the states permanently (because while I like visiting England, I would never want to live there)? Would we try to move closer to my family eventually? Were we ready to go through the horrendous INS greencard process? (After Steve finally got his greencard, I remember telling a friend that I didn't see how people who DIDN'T love each other tremendously could ever make it through the INS process. These people who supposedly get married just to get the greencard ... they must be on crack thinking it's an easy thing. It's a very long process and WHY would you put yourself through that if it wasn't for someone that you loved with every fiber of your being? ) Back to the 4th of July, 2000. We had planned to spend the 4th in downtown D.C., tour some museums, and then stick around for the spectacular fireworks display. So, July 4th, 2000, we hopped on the subway and went downtown early in the day. Steve was being particularly attentive to his backpack - never letting it out of his sight the whole day. That night, we went to the Lincoln Memorial to claim our spot on the steps to warch the fireworks. (The entire stretch from the Lincoln Memorial past the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument was PACKED with people). The fireworks started around 9:30 and lasted for almost a full hour. They have some of the best fireworks - really beautiful ones that just go up one right after another - there's no break. Everyone should go see the fireworks there at least once! The finale started, everyones faces are lit up by the fireworks in the sky, and as the last one goes up, Steve has moved down in front of me and asks me to marry him. I said yes ... :heartbeat: The mass of people around us saw him proposing ... and cheered for us! (And now my English husband has something to celebrate on July 4th!)
« Older Entries