Is It Really For the Best?

I'd like to post about something that I feel very strongly about. Not everyone agrees with me. In fact, a lot of people don't. That's ok. This is my side.

We are preparing to take a trip in late September. We will be flying. So this has gotten us to thinking about all the new TSA security screenings that are in place since the last time we flew, almost exactly a year ago. As parents, we have to decide what we are willing to let our little girls go through.

Now, before you give me the whole " you don't agree with it, don't fly" bit...I'll stop you before you wast your breath. We live on a rock in the middle of the ocean. To go to any land farther than 40 miles away, we HAVE to fly. Period. So flying is the only way that we will get to Texas. And besides, if we "boycott" flying because of the security invasions I don't think it will do any good. The airlines will think that people are not flying because of the economy or high fuel costs.

So, now that we have established that we have no choice other than to fly we have to decide. Will we let our children be exposed to excess, unnecessary radiation? Get touched
inappropriately?

They have recently come out with research that is saying that the radiation levels are up to 10x higher than they originally though! (and reported, of course!) Now, will a person be harmed through one trip through the machine? Probably not. Multiple trips...possibly. Would you go get an x-ray frequently without a thought to the side effects? Most people would probably say no. Radiation aside, would you let someone, a stranger, see a picture of you or your child without any clothes on?? For me, that answer is HECK no!

So that brings us to "opt out". So our other option is to get the "rub down" Ok, is this done by women TSA workers to women passengers? No. I have heard stories of women passengers having to request that the person that gropes them be a female.

What about our children? As parents, we stress to them that no one is allowed to touch them in certain places. How do we explain standing there holding them down while we the parents allow a stranger touch them where they shouldn't be touched? They don't even get touched like that at a checkup at the Doctor! What about children, or even adults that have been abused in the past? Should they have to go through this? You can look on YouTube and see videos of children screaming "don't touch me" as the TSA agent rubs them down. It's heartbreaking.
A TSA agent was recently arrested for rape and sexual assault. Of a minor. Did this happen at the airport? Of course not. Did parents going through the screening line know that a pedophile was touching their children?! NO! Now we don't know whether this guy has liked touching children all along and was able to do it with the government's approval in the name of safety, or perhaps he decided he liked it after he got to do it all day long? Who knows. But for me it doesn't make any difference.

My husband is just one of the thousands that is making sacrifices to keep our country free. Many have sacrificed to their death! I feel that the people that are fine with sacrificing their privacy for the sake of "safety" are just spitting in the faces of all that have made, and are making these sacrifices. They are saying, "no thanks". We don't really want to be free, we would rather have the government run every aspect of our lives. We would rather be sacred of the terrorists. Well, you know what?? The terrorists have already won!! If we are too scared to fly without putting ourselves and our children through this, then we may as will just give them the victory right now. Their goal is to terrorize. Make us scared. They have succeeded. We would rather be treated like we are criminals and put ourselves and our children through something that if it were done outside of an airport would be ILLEGAL! Just so we can feel safe. We aren't really any safer. We have just made the terrorists very happy.

How far are the American people willing to go? What are we willing to give up for the name of safety? The right to go where we want, when we want? What we let the government do to our bodies, or the bodies of our children? All the while saying" It's ok, I like to know that I'm safe." This is just the first step I believe. For now the government is "keeping you safe" from terrorists...what will keep us safe from the government when they decide that they must do even more to take over our lives??

What are your thoughts on this?

Are You Serious?!

It is so sad that this is what it is coming down to. I don't know if anybody watched the Miss America Pageant this weekend. I didn't but I did see a story about it on the news. Miss California Carrie Prejean's answer to this question cost her the crown. She wouldn't say that she thinks the rest of the states should make gay marriage legal, and she said that she believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Because of THAT, she didn't become Miss America. While I'm not necessarily a big pageant fan, I know that it was very important to her.

This makes me so angry!! There is no way that they would NOT give the crown to someone because she WAS gay...That would be discrimination. But to not give someone the crown because she believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, THAT'S FINE?! In our world of double standards I guess I shouldn't be surprised at what "side" won...but it still makes me mad!

So to Carrie Prejean, I say this: "Congratulations! You stood up for what you believed and suffered because of it. I'm sorry that happened to you, but we are proud of you for not giving in. May God Bless you because of it, and give you much greater things than the Miss America crown."


***Make sure to scroll all the way down the page on my blog. I posted two new posts yesterday, so there are 3 recent posts.***

Something Doesn't Belong...

This is the forecast for the next 7 days in Amarillo. I think something is wrong!! One of these is not like the other...

Thursday: 83 Friday: 80 Saturday:66 Sunday:65 Monday: 70 Tuesday:39

I am so tired of the drastic temperature changes! No wonder everybody is sick! I had to take
Gabbie to the Dr. AGAIN today. She has had a fever for the last few days, and it has been too high for it to just be because she is teething. She has ANOTHER ear infection. It was less than a week since her last one. Great.

We can't even get out and enjoy one of the limited nice days today...the wind is blowing 20-30mph. We have had hardly any moisture all winter, so it's just dirt...and wind. That makes dirt IN the wind-coming at you 30 miles an hour. Fun. No wonder my head hurts!

Backtracking

Not much new is happening, so I thought I would post some pictures that have been taken over the past month or so today. I have been meaning to post them for quite awhile now, but just haven't made myself do it.
I am now on my 5th straight day of not leaving the house. I am cleaning the floors today and well...doing this! I am starting to feel a little shut in, and I'm sure Tony is tired of me calling him and saying, "Oh, can you stop by Target and get some diapers?" "Oops, we are TOTALLY out of toilet paper." "Ummm, Natalie needs more milk". Three different items, three different days! I am having trouble collecting myself. :) Natalie has a birthday party to go to tomorrow, so I will finally have the car and I can get out for a little while. Sometimes having only one car can be a little tough. I need a few things at the grocery store, but they will have to wait until Monday, when Tony gets paid. Tomorrow is SUPPOSED to be payday. but since the owner's wife is the one that writes the checks, and she doesn't like to work on Saturday...Payday is pushed back 2 more days! That really gets to me. If your bills are due on the first, you don't get to wait 2 more days just because it is Saturday! The bad thing is his other payday for Nov is on Saturday also, so we will be waiting AGAIN! Anyway...I had to get that off my chest.
Natalie seems to be eating a bit better now that she is on the appetite stimulant. We still have days here and there where she doesn't eat too much, but they are not as often as before so I am happy. Maybe between the medicine and bribing her with stickers we can get a little bit of weight on her.
That's mostly it for now, so here are the pictures that I told you about... The Beautiful flowers my wonderful husband brought me for no reason!
Natalie playing in the shop with Pawpaw and his saw dust.


Natalie trying so hard to get the wagon out the gate.

I'm not really sure what that face is all about!

Natalie being such a good big sister and pulling Gabbie in the wagon.
I think Gabbie may be a little worried! Molly chewing on a stick that is bigger than she is.
Going for a pretend ride in Mimi's car
Mimi is so funny!
Story time with Mimi.

Story time with Auntie Neena.


Natalie wearing great-Papaw's boots that she put on all by herself.
Gabbie pushing the car/walker toy. It is her favorite thing to do now. She is getting so big!

Fun sister time in the tub!

Big smile!


There's a Natalie in the ducks!

Makes Me Angry

I think this speaks for itself. I hate hypocrisy. This is crazy!

They're Everywhere!

I know from some of my Myspace, and Facebook friends that I am not alone in this struggle. They are annoying, and trying to take what is not theirs. I have been fairly successful in keeping them away from me so far...until today. THEY... are ants. Teeny tiny, black ants. I have kept them out of the kitchen so far by making sure that I keep it clean and don't leave anything out that may attract them. I was at my bathroom sink (which is clean,by the way) and I saw a few ants crawling around. I followed those ants to see what could be so interesting in my bathroom. I saw them going into the cabinet that sits on the counter top. I opened the door to see dozens of ants crawling up to the top shelf. I continued to follow the stupid things straight to...my mouthwash! They were all over the the bottle. I cleaned, and killed all the ants, but couldn't find where they were coming from. A few hours later, I go in to check on my mouthwash, and find it covered in ants AGAIN!! I clean and kill again, and this time there are enough ants that I am able to follow the trail ton see where they are coming from. The ceiling! Sneaky little boogers! Who would think to check for ants coming in around the ceiling! So I finally got all the ants out of the bathroom. I will have to go check in a little bit to make sure they haven't come back. Somewhere outside there are some ants with some serious breath issues, or they have a bit of an alcohol problem.