The Cross Roads of Life

Among trying to sell our house and the kids being home for the summer, I am finding I am at an interesting place in my life. I am at that place of change. The kids are both in school this year. C full day, G half day. I think I would like to start back to school myself, finish out my French degree. I tried last year but they keep having trouble with my record. They have me down for a class I didn't take and a grade that I didn't get. They have fixed it 3times and 3times it has some how not been fixed. So I have to travel down there in the next month and try, once again, to rectify the situation. Uhhhhhh! Not looking forward to it. And to be honest I'm not as excited about going back to school as I use to be. Not sure why. I love learning. So I am trying to get that sorted out as well.

Then there is the matter of do we have another kid? Most of our friends are just now procreating. It is kinda cute to see their new little ones, but then my mind quickly goes to sleepless nights, endless poopy diapers, and crying. Then there is also that matter of freedom. Our current children are old enough to be with a sitter and we can go out to a movie or just a cup of coffee with some frequency. It's nice. Then there is that other half of me that is at peace with having 1 or 2 more. I think that is because I am at the age where I always thought I would start a family. So maybe it is more a state of mind in that respect. To be truthful, I was never really a kid person. Not that I dislike them. I just wasn't lining up to offer to babysit. So I am pondering that....

The kids and I are also "Church shopping". I don't dislike the church I go to, but I don't really have any friends that go to the same services I do. That might not seem like a big deal to some. I am not uber social. But having people there that you know kinda holds you accountable to go. The Other Half says going to church should be because I want to go for the pure joy of learning about God and should be motivated by that alone. That would be nice if that were true. Let’s be real, the kids get out the door so they can see friends and go to a cool class. The fact that they learn about God, while seeing friends and enjoying a cool class, are just icing on the cake for them. It also has to be said what motivates the Other Half to get out the door on Sundays is the fact that he plays in his church's worship team 2 or 3 Sundays out of the month. Other than that he doesn't go to his church. I am for whatever helps me get the kids out the door.

I have some friends that go to a church that seems cool enough. They have many arts programs for the kids and adults. The only thing that deters me from going is the fact that they don't have praise and worship and what if I don't like it there? Is that taken as an insult to my friends? There is another church near us that some other friends go to. It is where many people I use to know go to. It's fairly artsy. I have current friends there that would, unbeknownst to them, act as accountability for me. Plus my children LOVE their children. Do I go? I don't know. I should be praying about it. But I will admit it. I am only half heartedly praying about it, at this point. I would, ideally, like for The Other Half and I to go together. That would be accountability at it's simplest. But he wants a church that he can lead worship at, or at the very least, help with. And the 2 churches I have mentioned either don't have/or want worship, or they are so full of musicians that the church doesn't have a worship team deficit. So who knows.....

I think I am at that point in my life where everything I though would be isn't. Now I have to find out what are my new dreams and hopes? In some ways that’s ok. I have lived in the past too long. To be honest, my old hopes and dreams were very cold and sad. I always dreamed that I would be either an actress or doing something big in the fashion industry. Have a penthouse. Maybe be married or have a long term boyfriend, but probably neither. And start adopting children when I was 30. (I would still love to adopt.) I would travel around the world doing glamorous things and live a very cultured life. Some of that dream is good, quite a bit is very cold and lonely. I guess it is time for me to evolve further. It is time to grab new dreams and stretch myself more as a person. I just don't know what that means quit yet.

Oodles of Updates

I was reading over my blog the other day, and realized that I don't follow up on things very often. So I thought I would take the time to update. Thank you all for the prayers for Talia. She is pictured above. She was born mid April and weight a little over 8lbs! She and my cousin are doing fine. My cousin is so in love!

G & C are doing well. They are on summer vaca and driving themselves and me nuts! But all is good. G is going to be in Kindergarten next year and C is also moving up a grade. G's diagnosis came back as Aspergers Autistic and ADHD. We weren't really surprised. We spent May taking different meetings at school and listening to different reports on his progress. Currently his pre-k team and I are fighting with the school so he will be where he NEEDS to be next year. I have had 3 people that work for his school tell me ,off the record, that I need to be very vocal and keep on the district all summer long. This is an interesting place for me to be in. I am not a very loud person. I am not , intentionally, a pain in the butt. But for G I will be. It seems that the district would like to put him in a class with lower functioning children for his school day. This goes against what his Team, 1 outside psychologist, 1district psychologist, and what we ,his parents, want. Unfortunately for the school district I know what my legal rights are. It would seem they want to to do that because it would be easier on them scheduling him and cheaper. The plan that everyone ,who knows G, would like would be Kindergarten with typicals and then taken out of class for his OT (occupational therapy) and Speech. He is such a mocking bird that if he isn't with typicals more often then not, he starts regressing rapidly. The longer he is around typicals the more "typical" he becomes. Everyone that has interacted with him believes that he has the potential to mainstream and live a very full life, if we can just get past this bureaucracy and get him to a class that challenges him. So, it looks like I will be spending the summer advocating. But G is so worth fighting for!

As for home updates. We listed the house on Monday. We had a guy come by today to video a virtual tour, to put on the Realtors website. Just a half hour ago the Realtor called and someone wants to see our house tomorrow morning at 10am!!!! Yippee! I really hope we sell this place fast. I would love to be moved before the kids start school. We would like to move in town where I can bike practically every where. It would be nice to have other children around for our kids too. Last time our house went in to contract it had been on the market less than 30days. So I am hopeful. Please pray. I am tired of trying to sell a house!

I wish I could say that we have big plans for the summer, but we don't. The kids are at a friends vacation bible school this week. They are lovin' that. We will probably drive out of state to visit the grandparents once of twice. Other than that trying to sell a house, taking G to therapy, and C to tutoring pretty much takes care of our week.

I hope all of you are having a good start to summer. Be careful as you are traveling. Most of all enjoy each other and have lots of fun!

The Goverment Wants Your Infants DNA

I know it has been FOREVER since I have Blogged. Life has been crazy, but all for the good. However, I ran across something today that made me shudder! I just couldn't keep this kind of info to myself. It seems that Senators Hilary Clinton, Christopher Dodd- Dem, and Orrin Hatch- Rep, introduced a bill, that President Bush signed one month ago, that will start a US DNA data base. The bill says they can start taking DNA from infants at birth, immediately.

Some quick snippets are : One health care expert and prominent critic of DNA screening is Twila Brase, president of the Citizens' Council on Health Care who has written a detailed analysis (PDF) of the new law in which she warns that it represents the first program of populationwide genetic testing.
Brase states that S.1858 and H.R. 3825, the House version of the bill, will:
Establish a national list of genetic conditions for which newborns and children are to be tested.
Establish protocols for the linking and sharing of genetic test results nationwide.
Build surveillance systems for tracking the health status and health outcomes of individuals diagnosed at birth with a genetic defect or trait.
Use the newborn screening program as an opportunity for government agencies to identify, list, and study "secondary conditions" of individuals and their families.
Subject citizens to genetic research without their knowledge or consent.

Senator Ron Paul has come out to say this is unethical and unconstitutional. The senate voted unanimously on it. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?tab=main&bill=s110-1858#votes
The March of Dimes has come out in support of it. http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/22684_28048.asp
These people support it but the real question is; How comfortable with it are you? And Why didn't they give us the option to opt in or opt out?

Now for some fun questions:
Why isn't the media going crazy over this?? This is fresh meat. Bush signed it!
Where is the ACLU when we really need them??

To get the full article just click on the title of my "article".