God Bless Canada

For Afghan Woman, Justice Runs Into Unforgiving Wall of Custom

If you don't have time to read the article, at least read the following quote:
"'My rapist has destroyed my future. No one will marry me after what he has done to me. So I must marry my rapist for my child's sake.' GULNAZ, a 19-year-old Afghan woman imprisoned for adultery after being raped, who has been pardoned on the condition that she marry the man who raped her. "

The article also discusses a child bride who had her nose cut off by her Taliban husband.

Um, where do I start?  I don't know if I can even discuss my feelings on the way women are treated in Afghanistan.  To be the victim of such a horrific crime as rape, only to be IMPRIOSONED for adultery (WHAT?!?!?!), and then freed on the condition that she marry her rapist....it's unthinkable.  Just pause for a moment and try and imagine that in our western society.  We have a lot of problems here in the west, don't get me wrong, but we can't even wrap our sheltered western minds around such an atrocity.  As for the child bride who had her nose cut off - that is sadistic and evil.  The idea of a child bride is horrific to begin with.  Imagine yourself as a little girl, or imagine your daughter, married off to some perverted old man.  Here in Canada (and the US) it would be considered rape.  So I just can't discuss it any further.

What I can discuss is my feelings on the lack of support for our troops over the years.  Don't get me wrong, most Canadians are very supportive of our active members and our veterans, however, there are the few who not only don't appreciate our troops and veterans, but go as far as to bash them, call them names, question their morals, etc.  I am beyond proud of my brave husband for his six month tour in Afghanistan.  More than once he almost lost life and I am truly lucky to still have a husband.  Not only that, but to have my son, because if I had lost his father 5 years ago, I would never have had my baby boy.  The after effects of war are still with us, especially with my husband today.  But we feel that it was worth the risk and the pain and anxiety because he was serving his country and trying to do something good in the world.  When I read an article like this, it makes me even more proud that he was a part of trying to bring down the Taliban.  They are nothing more than terrorist, women-hating, bullies who want to opress the rest of the world with their foul ideology that spreads hatred and violence to others, including their own women and children.  What other explanation do you have for using women and children as shields and suicide bombers?  There are no boundaries for their atrocities, and yet there are still people enjoying the freedoms of living in Canada who have the nerve to say negative things about our troops and veterans.

I am extremely thankful to live in such a beautiful, free, and safe country like Canada.  Too many Canadians don't realize how lucky they are.  They are entitled, self righteous, and ill-informed if they think they would have all the rights they do today if it weren't for our veterans who fought in the World Wars, and our troops today.  I think of my Great-Grandfather, Roland Ford, who had to write home after the Battle of Vimy Ridge in World War I and tell his parents and siblings at home that he watched his younger brother Howard gunned down and held him as he died.  Such a tragedy is unimaginable to us today, and yet that is what so many young men went through to give us the rights we have today.  That includes the rights to spew self-righteous bullshit about how our troops and veterans don't have a conscience.  I can't say the words that are coming to my mind that I want to direct at those people because my mother reads this blog.

So please, before you say negative things about our men and women fighting overseas, or the now very old men who fought in the past, think about how much you are hurting them and their families with your callous words.  It was a great sacrifice for my family to have my husband serve, and it was an even greater sacrifice for him (and he was one of the lucky ones, unlike a few of his friends whose caskets he had to carry).  I could not be more proud of him for protecting Canadians and for trying to make a difference in the lives of the Afghan people.  If it weren't for the bravery of soldiers like him, they wouldn't have a chance in hell.  Thank God that you live in Canada and you don't have to worry about your sisters and daughters being treated less than human.  And next time you see a veteran, thank him.  Pray for our troops.

"We got a fightin' side a mile wide but we pray for peace
'Cause it's mostly us that end up servin' overseas"
-Josh Thompson from the song Out Here

Computers

Well, I am pretty annoyed right now. I just spent about 40 minutes doing a really lovely warm and fuzzy blog post, with shout outs to my baby, my baby daddy, and my friend Nadie-Nade, and somehow the format got effed up and it won't post.  I am PISSED....because I lost all the info too.

So now, I'm on a rant about computers.  They're supposed to make our lives so much easier, and perhaps they do (hey don't get me wrong, I'm addicted to my iPhone)....but what the EFF!!!!!!  Why can't they just do simple copying and pasting without turning it into a huge drama!  I copy, I paste, I post ...but nooooooo that's to damn hard for the stupid HTML reader thingie to understand.  I don't even know what HTML is.

This isn't the first time this has happened either.  It happens with e-mails all the time, and it most commonly occured when I was a student and was just finishing up a paper at 4am which would be due at 9am and suddenly all my edits for the past 2 hours would be gone.

Now, the world is deprived of my wonderful blog entry and gets this bitchy one instead.

Music

I was filling out my baby book with the things that I can do ahead of time, just so I don't forget after he is born (which is 5 short weeks away, but who's counting?), and there is a section about "what's popular" now.  I got really depressed when I started filling out the music section.

For awhile now, I have been saying that music these days is on a continual downward spiral and has been for a long time.  If you think about the 70's, 80's and 90's and the classic music that came out of those decades, it makes you wonder what happened between now and then, that our generation is afflicted which such horrible music.  Think about Pearl Jam, Queen, Journey, The Stones, Aerosmith (k, I just love Steven Tyler), GnR, the list goes on....they just don't make music like that anymore.  I decided that I could not keep quiet anymore after I heard Rihanna's new song "S&M" on the radio.  Here's an excerpt for your reading pleasure (I use the term loosely, and keep in mind, once you read it, you can't unread it...what is seen cannot be unseen)....

I chose this picture because it is
particularly embarrassing.  She doesn't
even play guitar.

Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me

...

S-S-S & M-M-M
S-S-S & M-M-M

Not only is this song lyrically horrible, with the music it is even worse, it's also extremely offensive.  And gross.  I know you know which part I'm talking about.  And don't say I didn't warn you.  So this is what music has come to these days.  This is what people are turning into number one hits.

Now, of course I'm kind of picking on Rihanna.  I don't think I've ever been so offended at being subjected to a song as I was to that one.  Oh wait, yes I have.  Ke$ha.  I only put the dollar sign in there because it was one of my favorite lines on Glee when Principal Figgins called her "Key-dollar sign-Hah."  The fact that this generation of music listeners has put someone like that on the map is baffling to me.  I can't even listen to her voice it is so annoying, not to mention, her music is NOT music.  It just really bothers me that her crap that someone somewhere decided was music has made it to number one in the "Top 40."  When you look at the other artists who have made it there, and then you hear her name, it's just.....painful.  It makes me even more depressed when I realize that people I know are responsible for this.

So, while I was filling out the section of my baby's record book dedicated to music, I did include Rihanna, and Justin Bieber (it asked who's POPULAR...not who mom likes!), but I threw in some country greats too.  I did not put in Ke$ha.

On a side note: I find it very ironic that Rihanna did a song with eminem that completely glorifies domestic violence.  The song is called "Love the Way You Lie" and I have to say that I am guilty of liking this song - mainly because I can appreciate that eminem is really talented, plus it's catchy.  It's just weird to me to listen to her sing "Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, that's alright because I like the way it hurts...." after he talks about tying her to the bed and setting the house on fire.  Keep in mind she went through a very public break up after her boyfriend beat the crap out of her to the point that her face was not recognizeable.

I have to pee...

 ...and even my maternity pants are too small.  And my back hurts.  And it hurts stand.  And it hurts to sit.  And I get kicked in the ribs all day.  And I always have epic heartburn.  And I'm always tired.  And I can't sleep because I have to pee every 20 minutes.  And my bras don't fit.  And they're uncomfortable.  And I can't travel so I'm missing Myrtle Beach this year. And I have terrible skin.  And I'm pretty sure I'm getting a double chin.

This is approximately what the little
stinker looks like right now.

Whew...ok, I wanted to get that off my chest, because I usually try to hold in my complaints about pregnancy.  I think it's wrong to complain about such a miracle happening right inside your body - especially when there's so many women who want nothing more than to be pregnant, but their bodies have failed them and they can't.  They would kill to be in my shoes, and I'm bitching about it.  But the reality is, pregnancy is really uncomfortable.  The funny thing is, I complain about getting kicked in the ribs, or the bladder, but when he doesn't kick for too long a period of time I freak out and think something's wrong.  And then, after about an hour of sitting there waiting, I feel the reassuring kick in the ribs, or ovary, and I'm like, THERE YOU ARE!

The other morning I had just gotten home from a night shift and Jonathon woke up when I was getting into bed.  He decided he needed to say good morning to the baby (who up until this point had been acting like the tazmanian devil trapped inside my belly, seriously, it felt like he had 8 arms....I even asked him, "How are you doing that?!?!)....so he put his face right near my belly and started talking and he got kicked right in the nose!!!  It was amazing!  Even better is that the first time Jonathon felt him kick, he was resting his head on my belly and felt a little jab in the ear.  This boy is going to be just like his father, a total trouble maker!  And the two of them are going to gang up on me all the time, and I'm going to love it!

I guess the point of this post, other than unloading my complaints, is to remind myself and everyone in my life who has to listen to me, that no matter how much I complain, I would not trade my current condition for a million dollars.  I love my little trouble maker.  I can't wait to meet him and hold him and lose even more sleep.  Any time I feel like complaining, I just think about what it feels like to NOT feel him kick and I appreciate the jabs to the ribs and bouncing on the bladder.  I LOVE him.

Momma Bear and her Cubs

I've never fully understood what that would mean until I had my own offspring growing in my uterus.  I mean, the concept itself makes sense, but the instinct to protect your child is RIDICULOUSLY strong.  That's why I now cry at everything I watch on TV.  Rebekah and I were watching reruns of Glee on DVD and I was crying because Finn was facing what it would be like to give up his (but not his) baby for adoption.  There's also a song about that, called "Trails in Life"...I forget who it's by, it's a country song....I just can't imagine having to give him away no matter how much trouble he's been causing me!  Then, this week's Glee episode (don't read the rest of this sentence if you haven't seen it) ..Sue and Will singing with the cancer kids....lost it.   Of course, imagining your precious baby with such a horrible disease is just, ugh.

Jacee

That brings me to the other night.  Jonathon and I decided to watch American Idol Hollywood Week.  My also pregnant friend Sarah told me that this made her cry....but she wouldn't tell me which part.  Oh, it didn't take me long to figure out.  Observe this adorable 15 year old boy to the right.  His name is Jacee Badeaux and he sings to adorably.  He first won over the judges in his audition singing "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay."  Just a cute, sweet shy little guy.  Makes you wanna hug him.  Anyway, during this episode we were watching, it was group week, and all the contestants needed to form their own groups and perform a song for the judges.  Each group had to be a mixture of day 1 and day 2 contestants.  Jacee was a day 2 contestant looking to join a group.  So, he joined this group of lovely singers and they were all set to go.  Then, another day 2 guy joined their group...and that's when it went down hill.

Mr Stupid Jerkhead

Enter, Clint Jun Gamboa (right).  This cocky, arrogant, Harry Potter wannabe, was the self proclaimed leader of the group.  I think mainly because he was the loudest and most annoying and pushy.  He decided that since they had a new day 2 person and no longer needed Jacee  to kick out the 15 year old sweetie, even against some protests from his group, because he doesn't go with their "vibe."  So at 2am, when all the groups had already been together and practicing for hours, he sent Jacee out on his own to fend for himself.  What a douche.  Anyway, Jacee went and told his parents, he very stoic about it, but he couldn't help but tearing up.  Obviously, this was my first mom moment.  I want to punch those hideous glasses right off that clown's face.

Luckily for Jacee another group who lost their day 2 person welcome him with open arms.  Unfortunately, they were singing a song he had never heard and had very little time to learn (thanks to wannabe Harry Potter).  So, he kind of just made up his OWN lyrics, which is a HUGE no-no.  When the judges asked him what was wrong, he told them he joined the group late - not even throwing the a-hole under the bus.  Of course, his group backed him and told them what really happened.  They let Jacee through.... yay!  I love JLo!  And he was very overwhelmed and started crying.  Through my own river of hormonally induced tears I turned to Jonathon and said "This is the part that Sarah was crying - TRUST ME!!!!"  Then he looked at me and said "Are you crying????" totally judgemental...and I said yes.... "REALLY???"  And I said, "What if that was MY baby!"

Anyway, then stupid's group got up to sing, and I was really hoping he was a horrible singer, but he was actually really good.  THEN, Steven Tyler made me fall in love with him by saying "We should send you all home for what you did."  JLo and Randy weren't impressed either!  But they to put them through.  Hopefully America doesn't forget.

Anyway, all that being said, I felt my mothering instincts.  Then, I thought about stupid's mom....and how ashamed she must feel of her stupid, mean son.

Allow me to introduce myself.

Kind of a dumb title considering the fact I don't expect anyone who doesn't know me to read this. In fact, a lot of people who do know me probably won't care to read this (including my wonderful husband who would laugh at me if he knew this existed). But everyone else is doing it....and I'm always one to jump on the band wagon.



Shooter, for your viewing pleasure



I don't want the title of my blog to be misleading - there are a lot of things that interest me that I might talk about. Or, if a news story makes me really mad I might rant about it. Or, if I run into an incredibly stupid person during the course of my day, I might share the story with you. Or if something great happens, or bad happens, you get to read about it. If it gets boring, I'll just stop.

Anyway, I have a lot to say, and sometimes I'm funny when I say it. I think my sister and I should rule the world (trust me, it would be WAY better). My current baby is Shooter, my dog, however, he will soon be replaced by the little prince who is currently kicking me in the ribs and is about 2 and a half months away.

My family is crazy but I love them, and this is my life.