#BlogIn2011

Dear 2012 Presidential Candidates, We are your future constituents and we are parents. We are American mothers and fathers and grandparents and guardians. Our families might be the most diverse in the world. Blended and combined in endless permutations, we represent every major religion, political ideology and ethnic culture that exists. We are made from equal parts biology and choice. Our children come to us in every way possible—including fertility miracles, adoption, and remarriage. Our very modern families embody the freedom that defines America. We embody America. We are rich in diversity, but we are united in our family values. We come together today, with one voice, to express our grave disappointment in the national political discourse. The 2012 countdown has barely begun and we are already being bombarded with the warmed-over, hypocritical rhetoric of 2008. We are living in a time where 15.1% of Americans now live in poverty, the unemployment rate stands at 16%, and we are spending close to $170 billion annually between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan*. Given the current state of affairs we would expect every candidate to focus on the issues that truly matter: job creation, debt-relief, taxes, education, poverty, and ending the war(s). Instead, it is already clear to us that the conversation has been hijacked, with the goal of further polarizing our nation into a politically motivated and falsely created class-war. We will not stand for another campaign year in which politicians presume to know what our family values are as they relate to the nation. To be clear, here are our family values: Affordable health care, including family planning, for all Americans. We will not tolerate any candidate using the shield of “Choice” to blind us from the issues that really matter. When funding is stripped from organizations like Planned Parenthood, access to sliding-scale health care (including yearly pap smears & mammograms), comprehensive sex education, and family planning is blocked from the poorest of the population. Access to education, and the ability to actually use it. We want quality, affordable, federally-funded pre-K programs made available in every State, in order to provide an even starting point for all children enrolled in public schools— regardless of the wealth of the district or town they live in. A reinstatement of regulations for banks issuing mortgages and full prosecution for those who engaged in fraudulent lending practices. We want full accountability —investigation, indictment and prosecution— of those individuals and institutions who engaged in fraudulent lending practices and who helped create the massive foreclosures that left many families homeless or struggling to keep their homes. A return of strict environmental regulations protecting water, air, food, and land that were removed in the last two decades. We want our children to grow up in a world not weighed down by the strains of pollution and global warming. Between BPA in our products, sky-rocketing rates of asthma in kids, questionable hormones in our over-processed food, and more, we need leaders who will put our needs and safety over the desires and profits of large corporations. Family planning, healthcare, education, economic solvency and environmental safety: these are our national family values. Candidates who demonstrate the ability to understand the gravity of these issues, and their impact on our families, and who can provide actual, viable solutions to these problems will garner our support and our votes. We believe in this democratic system of ours, and we will continue to use our voices and our votes to see that it reaches its fullest potential. Sincerely, Your future constituents, The mothers & fathers of America


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Somewhere Special

I've been pretty bad about getting Zion out of the apartment to the park/playground this week.  My last attempt was ruined due to the park being closed because of a fallen tree.  I am determined to release the mommy guilt and take Zion somewhere fun and special today…so I'll be disconnecting for the day and enjoying being completely present with her.  I hope to get my weekly wrap up posted Saturday.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Here are some things I have enjoyed this week:

I need to learn how to do the winged out eyeliner already!

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THIS post!  From THIS blog! I like the whole thing actually!

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Why didn't I think of this costume for Zion!?  THEY nailed it!

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THESE words give freedom.

THIS story is like MY STORY.  I'm not alone.

I want to embed THIS VIDEO but of course YouTube won't let me…pretty much sums up all that is wrong in the world today.  (Warning: I cannot believe they can show this video on TV! Not rated G!)

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I still have a couple spots available in my "Featured Blog" section for my current readers….all you have to do is click the envelope above and send me your image url or html code! 

Chronic. Sleep. Deprivation.

I'm staring at this page, willing to write, yet my brain is running on reserve power.  Therefore, I'm throwing in the towel and hoping to resume after a good nights rest.

Here is what we have been up to:

I finished my fall yarn wreath and quite satisfied with the results.  :)

I cut out cardboard letters, Z-I-O-N, to finally make a sign for Zion's door, planning on using yarn for this as well.  I've yet to actually wrap a single letter, or figure out how I want to finish it.

I'm knitting again…and lately wondering if I have post-partum-arthritis, I had no idea that this actually exists, but my joints have not been the same since I had Zion, and I am starting to wonder if I should get them checked out.  (Stay tuned for more on my current knitting projects.)

Baking, baking and more baking.  I just did a dozen or so each: M&M Sugar Cookies & Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Zion is great at stirring, and quite territorial about it as well.  Future baking plans…definitely want to do more cupcakes, for starters these and then definitely these as well!

FAIL notice…remember this post here?  Yeah, well, I totally nailed the starter, but I couldn't find a good/easy enough recipe to start out with…and so, well, the starter went right into the trash.  Boo!

While I'm admitting FAILures, I might as well update you on this journey here.  Yeah, remember that running thing I was talking about?  I haven't. Not even once. Ran. Double boo!

I'm blessed to be working my tail feathers off to coordinate sending Christmas care packages to the MacDella Cooper Foundation Academy in Liberia, Africa…if you are interested in participating…send me an email.  60 boys and girls, orphaned by violent civil war will be receiving backpacks filled with goodies to ring in the holiday.

The winds of change are blowing in our family, if that sounds vague, it is intentional, and you'll have to stay tuned for details.  Don't you love cliffhangers?

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