May 2, 2009

New Giveaway at Dana Reviews

Are you currently breastfeeding or are you expecting and plan to breastfeed?  If the answer is yes, head over to Dana Reviews.  I’m giving away a breast pump.  Check it out!

Even Small Towns Aren’t Safe

A couple days ago we were watching the 10 o’clock news.  “Three people found dead in a Portage County home,” was the top story.

In Nelsonville, Wisconsin, a town with a population of less than two hundred, a man killed his girlfriend and two of their three children.  He then poured gallons and gallons of gasoline throughout the home.  When police entered the home, he was sitting on a chair with his infant child, and both persons as well as the sheriff’s deputies were overcome by the fumes.

This story is absolutely devastating. It’s a case of domestic violence.  It’s another example that this type of violence happens every single day, and women and children are most often the victims.  Small children.  Two and three years old. It makes me sick.

Nelsonville is 15 miles away from my home.  This woman and her children may not be my next-door neighbors, but they were members of my community.  This woman was ending a relationship with her attacker and he killed her and their children.  The rumors around town are flying, the most common one being that he shot the victims and planned to burn the house down.  I can’t even describe how sad and angry I am.

It’s stories like these that make me check the locks in our house two and three times a night.  It’s crimes like these that make me aware of how common domestic violence is, even in small towns.  It’s tragedies like this one, that me me realize that men and women need to be educated on domestic violence.  We need to raise our sons and daughters with the notion that domestic violence will not be tolerated any longer.

I still can’t understand how this man could just take the lives of his children and their mother.  I hope he rots in jail.  I know it sounds harsh, but he deserves a punishment that neither you or I have the right to grant.  I’m not a believer in capital punishment, because I don’t believe any human has the right to play God — but when children are murdered, death is the only punishment for the criminal that seems just.

May 1, 2009

Have I Really Been Gone That Long?

Seven days later, I realize I haven’t blogged since last Friday, and I realize I’m a terrible blogger.  There once was a time I blogged every day.  Then I dropped down to every weekday.  Then…I don’t know what happened.  Life?  Work?  Busy, busy.

You all know.  You’re busy, too.

I’m just trying to stay on top of things these days.  And would you believe it was my husband who asked why I haven’t blogged lately?  There must be some co-workers bugging him.  (Yep, they read this atrocity, and I have no idea why.  I’m not even that funny.  Doug is the guy with the humor.  Maybe he should get a blog.)

Funny Story:  The other day I asked Doug why I have to be the one to go grocery shopping when he works in a grocery store. He answered, “I work 8 hours in that store, on my feet, dealing with customers.  The last thing I want to do is shop at my work place.”

Okay.  I understand that.

To take a page out of the husband’s book, when he asked me when I planned to blog, I said, “Doug, I spend hours reading blogs every day, that’s my job.  The last thing I want to do is write on my own blog.”

Touche, he said.  (And no, I can’t figure out how to get that little thingie above the “e”.  Sorry.)

To be honest, it’s not that I don’t want to blog, I just haven’t had the time.  Preschool is almost over, and Dawson has tons of fieldtrips and birthday parties to attend.  The child has more of a social life than I do.  Imagine that.

Oh, and I’m pregnant.  Did you know?  Yeah, I think I’ve complained about the ailments a time or two.  I’m 14 weeks and starting to feel better.  My energy is slowly coming back, right around the time I notice this house needs a major cleaning.  So, my weekend will be spent doing just that.

Or, maybe I’ll be sleeping.  This week was kind of chaotic.  My father-in-law has been sick with pneumonia and spent a night in the hospital.  Thank goodness it’s not the bird flu or swine flu or any other horrible illness.

My aunt was admitted to a mental health facility, and I’m praying that she’ll recover and start taking her medicines again.  Which reminds me, I’ve got a post in the works about this, but because I’m talking about my mother’s sister, I need to be extra sensitive about how I tell this story.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to publish it soon.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled to-dos.

What have you been up to?  (I’m sure I’ll be reading about it.  It’s what I do…but feel free to leave a comment if you’d like!)