Anger Management

Dear pregnant lady at Wal-Mart with your belly hanging out of your wife beater- Please stop smoking! Nothing makes me angrier than seeing a pregnant woman smoking AND then knowing what it does to that poor little baby that you have been blessed with!

Dear Costco- I hate your milk jugs! They suck. I spill more than I actually get into my bowl or cup. Who came up with that design? Did they even test it out to see if it worked? I understand that it makes them easier to stack, but it kind of defeats the purpose if people won't buy your milk because it sucks! And apparently I am not the only one who hates it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/30/costco-sams-clubs-new-mil_n_109902.html

Dear Parents in the pick-up line- Stop cutting, follow the maps that have been sent out to pick up your kid! Or if you can't read them, go back to summer school so you can. I am about to get all up in your bidness if you pass the long freaking line of cars again so you can be first to pick your kid up. Seriously do you have any sense of right and wrong or are you just one of the entitled people who doesn't give a crappity dippity. You may now pick your kid up at the principal's office, because that is probably where they are, given YOUR propensity to follow rules. There is no hope for them!

Dear family- I am not the only one who can walk the five feet out into the garage to put the recycling away! I also would love it, if when you empty a box, can, jar etc of something, you would then take care of it, and not place it back for me to find later.

Thanks!

Honduras

In 1994 I had the priviledge of traveling with my father to La Buena Fe Honduras. I was months away from getting married and was so focused on that aspect of my life that I wasn't really aware that a life changing event was about to happen to me and it didn't involve my wedding. We traveled with a team of wonderful medical staff to a clinic that had its own inspiring story, having been started by the Blumenschein family in the late 50's. John Blumenschein was a popular obstetrician from our area and he and his wife and five children gave up their home here and set out for Honduras to create the clinic. Their mission was to "aid people without hope and resources". There is a wonderful book called Home in Honduras, written by Dr. Blumenschein himself.

The point of this post is that this has been a special place for our family for as long as I can remember. I have connected with some of the most unlikely people because of this oasis in the middle of the Central American jungle. It is a simple place with simple people, who appreciate the help and say thankyou with big smiles. My entire family has traveled there at one time or another. I can't wait to take my children there someday. This past weekend, my father traveled there to help with another clinic in the city of San Pedro Sula. UMKC dental students were traveling there to provide care. My father was going to be helping out in the surgery department. He had looked forward to this trip for some time. We received an email on Saturday from him about the military coup that took place over the weekend. The president, Manuel Zelaya, was forcefully removed from power after trying to unlawfully change the constitution. My dad told my mom that they were told to stay at the hotel as the Nicaraguan army was waiting at the border to come in to fight. Migs were flying over the city on patrol. So their mission to do good had to be cut short. They are all coming home today. Maybe they could have finished their time there safely, but it isn't worth finding out. I am sad for my dad as I know he was really looking forward to his time there. I am also sad for the dental students as they didn't get to connect with the Honduran people like I did. I hope they get to go back someday and discover the Honduras that I came to know.

I ask that you keep the team in your prayers today as they travel home. That they have a safe and uneventful trip. Here are a few pictures from my time there in 1994.

In Memory Of Melody

This is Melody(in the middle) with her father, Aaron, and her little sister, Melissa. I have never met Melody, but I feel as if I know this girl. You see, I have been a part of an online Mommy community for ten years now. We all met because we had July 1999 babies. And although life has gotten busy, as life will do, we have all remained connected. A week ago, today, Melody and her father were hit by a drunk driver on a motorcycle as they were out for an evening walk. They were in a crosswalk at a four way stop. Melody died from her injuries. Her father suffered terrible injuries that cost him one of his legs and they are having to reconstruct his other one. He has been so heavily sedated that he has not even been told of his daughter's death. This could have been anybody. How many times do we take walks with our families in the evening?

The worst part about all of this was that this man had SIX prior DUI convictions! He was a walking timebomb. How many more people have to die like this? It seems insane to me that this man still had a license at all. I think that Melody's death was a travesty that could have been prevented, but why wasn't it?

I can't stop thinking about her and her family. As one of our mommy friends wrote so eloquently on her Facebook, "I have read about almost every milestone this young girl made prior to last Thursday because her mom and several of my mommy friends found each other on a place much like Facebook 10 years ago. Melody will not go on a first date like Emma. She will not graduate from any school. She will not travel. She will not have a first true love. She will no longer fight and make up with her best friends. She will not fight with her parents and learn a life lesson or two from them. She will never play the violin again for her grandparents. She won't meet Emma or the other kids from the Bulletin Board. She will not excitedly hug her little sister on Christmas morning after they run downstairs and see the pile of presents under the tree. She is now a memory; an untouchable presence in her family's life that will forever be missed....I am MADD."

I hope and pray that we can prevent other families from having to endure the loss of their loved ones. I encourage you to join MADD. And also to be vocal about drinking and driving. Please do not allow it to happen. EVER!
http://www.madd.org/

Picnic in the park

I went to Tara's picnic in the park with her fellow first graders yesterday. I still don't know a lot of people and Tara was pretty busy. Being a social queen requires work and dedication and she really could have cared less if I were there. So I stuck around for a good 20 minutes or so. In that short period of time I had two ego-stroking interactions. The first happened with one of Tara's class mates and went something like this:

Girl- How come you don't have a job?
Me- I do. I work at my house.
Girl- You have a job at your house?
Me- I take care of Tara and her sisters.
Girl- OHHHHHHH! (with a total- you are such a loser tone to her 7year old voice)

Moving on from the little girl, I took Coryn to play on some swings. There were two ladies standing near me in the shade. They kept looking at me and smiling. I finally said hello to them. The following interaction took place with them:

Ladies- Kristen, Is that you?
Me- Um no I am not Kristen.
Ladies to each other- I have been looking at her the whole time she has been here thinking she was Kristen. You look just like her.
Me- I don't know Kristen.
Ladies- Well we were surprised to see you here....SINCE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING A C-SECTION this morning!!!!!
Me- ?!?!?!?!

On that note, I left the picnic in the park.

The day I have been waiting for

I have a funny friend! Well I have quite a few funny friends, but I have this ONE friend who is particularly funny and I (and many others) have told her she needed to blog. Well I couldn't be more excited to introduce you to Rachel and her new blog, Turds and Whey.

http://web.me.com/rluft/Turds_and_Whey/Blog/Blog.html

hummingbird fascination

I am completely and totally fascinated by these extraordinary little creatures. We are the lucky ones who get them as they are only found in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in North America although they do winter in Central America.

I have a feeder on my deck and on any given day can look out to find a hummingbird about half of the time. I think it helps that I am not alone in the love of the little birds in my neighborhood. Which brings me to my story.

My neighbor, hi Teresa, found a hummingbird on her screened in porch the other day. It apparently had gotten trapped in there and couldn't find its way out. She was sad about the little bird who had lost its life, but planned on burying it. She gently laid the little bird in a planter on her porch where she saw it all day long. She said it was so beautiful as it looked like it was sleeping. As her son carried it in a towel to the little hole they had dug, he stumbled and the little bird fell. When they bent to pick it up, it was just gone. Vanished! They looked for an hour and still never found the little hummingbird. Interesting. Where did it go? Had it really not died? She then told me how some people feel that the hummingbird is the eternal bird. So it got me thinking about hummingbirds and I started reading up on them. I have learned some interesting things. The greatest of these is the following Public Service Announcement:

NO RED DYE- Most modern feeders have brightly colored bases and therefore do NOT need food with dye in it. Years ago when feeders were made out of jars and tubing people added the dye to attract the birds attention. It worked, but it is just an additive and we are not really sure what it does to the little birds so let's just leave it out. K? I am guilty of buying pre-made hummingbird food, but feel foolish that I have been doing so, because it is a simple recipe...4 parts water to 1 part sugar. NO DYE!

I hope that I haven't bored you with my fascination, but really if you don't have a feeder, you should try it. They are such cool little birds. You should also read about them. I wish I would have sooner.

It's my Birthday!

I love my birthday. I always have. It doesn't matter how much older I get, I enjoy celebrating it. I have had some great birthday celebrations with friends and family over the years. I had intended on picking through pictures from birthdays past at my mom's but alas I am lazy so it didn't happen.

In 1973 I was born in Hampton Virginia at Langley AFB. I love this little fact. The AFB often appears in movies as it is also the CIA headquarters.

I celebrated my 1st birthday in Abilene Texas. My mom made me a ladybug cake. I repeated this same theme for Ella's first birthday.

I celebrated my 13th birthday by wearing an odd get up that I picked out for my birthday(this is when pictures would be handy), and in art class having an entire bottle of indigo ink splatter all over me. Have you ever gotten indigo ink on you? It doesn't wash off for a LONG time. I then got in trouble in the same class for talking...SHOCKER...and was given a detention by Mrs. Chester. Ahhhh Mrs. Chester who had gone to high school with my dad and who I swore had had a crush on him then because she constantly asked me about my dad. Gross! Thanks Mrs. Chester for the AWESOME 13th birthday memory!

I don't remember many more of my birthdays. They all kind of blend in together.

But I know that I love them and even though J.R. is out of town for this one, I intend on having a really happy day, talking to my phone well-wishers and also reading my cards and facebook messages. I am SUCH a geek.