60 Things To Know Before You Go to Disney World

HEY HEY!  Long time no see!

I've literally been working on this entry for months.  MONTHS!

Remember that entry I wrote a while back about all the things we could do for the same price as going to Disney?

(It's right here for your reading pleasure) 

 I'm pretty sure Dave owes me :)

1.  Don't ever go to Disney in June.  Way too hot and too many people.
2.  Get a seated spot for the fireworks at MK EARLY and don't give it up.  You'll see the electric light parade (which is cute and I'm sure would be quite awkward if high on anything), then you'll turn to face the castle for Celebrate the Magic...an artistic display done entirely on the castle....really neat.  And then the fireworks over the castle.  Fireworks just aren't the same after seeing them at Disney World.
3.  You can bring your own food and beverages into the parks.  It's $3-4 per bottle of water (or 1 snack on the dining plan) on Disney property...start your day off with as many bottles as possible.  Refill them at all the parks but MK, that water is nasty.
4.  Save the most exciting, MK, for last if you want to avoid hearing your child pitch a fit that there aren't enough rides at the other parks.  I might add, we learned this lesson the hard way.
5.  When going on Mission:Space at Epcot, go for gold and do the orange mission.  You won't regret it.  Even kids can handle it.  If you get claustrophobic, however, skip this one.
6.  The Frozen ride is nice, but not worth the wait (can be upwards of 5 hours).  Maybe you'll get lucky like we did and get in line right after it opens from being temporarily closed.  PS:  This one closes a lot.
7.  USE YOUR FAST PASSES!! And once you've used your 3 for the day, sign up for more (one at a time).  PS:  You can't sign up for more until you've used your third, so plan all 3 of your initial fast passes for the morning.
8.  DINOSAUR is cool, but can definitely be scary for little kids.  It's not a MUST SEE, so don't feel bad if you've got to skip it.
9.  Soarin' at Epcot is hands-down the neatest thing ever!  Make time for this one, for sure!
10.  Expedition Everest in AK was my second favorite roller coaster.  If you sit in the VERY front, there's a part where you feel like you're not going to stop and you can see clear across the property to Hollywood Studios!  We got off this ride and Aria wanted to immediately get back in line...so we did.  PS:  Pay attention to the monitors at the end of the line...you just might see your name!

"Act like a yeti!"

11.  You don't get that wet on Splash Mountain no matter where you sit...I'm pretty sure we were dry in less than 10 minutes.  Without a fast pass, its an incredibly long and hot wait...almost the entire line is outside.  This was one of Aria's favorites...I don't know how many times we went on this one.

Splash Mountain....a family fave :)

12.  If you've got kids, skip The Great Movie Ride at HS.  They won't know most of the movies and will get scared when your car is taken over and then later an alien pops out of the ceiling.  To be honest, as an adult, it was pretty lame...I didn't know most of the movies, either.
13.  Haunted Mansion at MK was cute, but not so cute if you can't convince your kid that the ghosts are pretend and not scary.  And how DID that ghost at the end know we were from Georgia?!
14.  It's A Small World....yeah, you really can't skip that one...it's a classic.  Everybody hates it, but goes on it anyway.  You just have to.
15.  The Jungle Cruise at MK is a bit outdated and looks like some of the animatronic animals need to be redone.  The "cruise director" was funny though.
16.  Kali River Rapids at AK is REALLY short and the soaking that you get is entirely random.  It's about being in the right/wrong seat at the right/wrong time.
17.  Absolutely do the Kilimanjaro Safari at AK.  They were far away and laying down, but I got to see a real live cheetah!  Plus you can see rhinos wallowing in the mud and hippos swimming.  Don't let the rain discourage you if it's raining...the animals are just as active during the rain.
18.  It may sound odd, but Living with the Land in Epcot was actually really nice and even Aria enjoyed it.  It's a good way to cool off on a hot day as the whole thing is inside.  The "boat" takes you through the invention of agriculture, and then you get to see the Epcot greenhouse and hear about all the food they grow and the research they do.  It's really neat and is a good 10-15 break from the heat!
19.  The Magic Carpets of Aladdin were my favorite spinny ride (like Dumbo)...they moved up and down faster than the rest and were a bit more roomy (2 adults could fit in one) than the other spinny rides.
20.  Definitely make time for the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor!  It's improv comedy and is actually really funny.  You can even submit a joke via text to be used in the show...and Aria's joke was picked!
21.  Peter Pan's Flight at MK is really neat and might actually be worth the wait.  Some lady here was complaining about how many Fast Pass riders they let through vs. how many regular riders they let through...and then she got out of line.  Idiot.

The ONLY character she wanted to meet

22.  Pirates of the Caribbean at MK...I gotta say, I wasn't impressed.  The statues looked really old.  I know they redid this ride after the Johnny Depp movies came out, but the statues still looked old and worn down.  I would have liked to see a few more Captain Jack Sparrow statues.
23.  If you've got kids that just meet the height requirements for almost all of the other rides, avoid the DinoLand area of Animal Kingdom all together.  The roller coaster in there has a requirement of 48", and it looks WAY less dangerous than any of the other coasters....and your child will pitch the most epic fit imaginable when they tell her that she's not tall enough (in a very rude manner, I might add...probably the rudest cast members we encountered the whole time).  Plus, all the cool games in here you have to pay extra for, too.  Just skip it.
24.  Flame Tree BBQ that everyone talks so much about at AK...it's not that great.  The dessert is good, but the BBQ isn't anything to write home about.  And it's tough to get to the seating areas if you have a stroller.  Oh, and there's no lids for the drinks, so you have to walk a good 50 feet (or more) over rocky terrain with a million people around you carrying a tray with full drinks and no lids.
25.  Rock N' Roller Coaster at HS was by far my favorite ride!  It's so dark you have no idea when you're going upside down, unless you're paying attention to the signs that tell you what's going on.  It's dark, it's fast, it's loud (with music), it's wonderful!  Dave's hat actually flew off on take-off and surprisingly landed in the car just behind us.  He now calls it his lucky hat.  PS:  The cast member here was really nice and gave us 5 additional fast passes (paper passes) because Aria was too small to ride.
26.  The Seas with Nemo and Friends at Epcot is an aquarium adventure that's pretty nice as it drops you at the end of an aquarium that you can walk through and see all kinds of things from fish to coral to turtles and sharks.  They've got smaller tanks where you can see really neat things like frogfish and sea horses.  There's also a little playground where you can get your picture taken in Bruce the Shark's mouth.

27.  Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (yes, it's actually spelled 'Dwarfs') at MK was tons of fun and definitely worth the wait...but it's a HOT wait as the majority of the line is outside.  Aria loved this one, too!

That smile was present on EVERY roller coaster!

28.  There's not many places to sit at DisneyWorld....they are definitely anti-bench.  So if you're looking for a rest for your feet, find a show or something to sit down at as benches are few and far between.
29.  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was probably Aria's favorite ride.  We rode in the front, the back, the middle, and probably everywhere else on that ride.  Every day, she asked "Can we go back and ride Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain?" (That's when we knew the park hoppers were worth the additional cost).
30.  We skipped Space Mountain because you sit by yourself, so nobody would be able to ride with Aria, and she was not having that.
31.  We did Spaceship Earth....mostly because it was on the way out, there was no line, and Aria said "what's in there?"  It's definitely old, but it's informative and kind of cool.
32.  If you're even a little bit of a fan of Star Wars, you've got to do Star Wars: The Adventures Continue.  You get to see C3PO and R2D2 while waiting in line and there's all kinds of Starwars stuff all over the place.  It's a 4D ride, but the 3D part was done so well that it didn't give me a headache like most stuff does.  It has a BUNCH of different stories, so theoretically each time you ride it should be different.  It was a lot of fun, but it was WAY too short.  And the StarWars store you walk through on your way out is WAY too small and too crowded and I got REALLY anxious in there!
33.  Stitch's Great Escape kind of sucked.  It was neat that he burped and the air started to stink, but the harness that comes over your shoulders kept hopping up and down and there's no padding on it, so I ended up with bruised shoulders.
34.  TestTrack at Epcot is SOOOOO not worth the wait!  That was the longest, slowest-moving line of all.  You only get 2 minutes for your party to create one vehicle, the ride part itself is very jostling.  The only really awesome part is when your "car" goes on the speed track outside the building for the speed test...you go REALLY fast....but then it comes to a quick complete stop, thereby slamming your knees into the cart.  I got off the ride in tears, it was so embarrassing, and I had bruises on my knees for days after that.  PS:  You can actually go into the ride from the back side and each person in your party can create a vehicle to be used on the ride...but then you still have to stand in that long ass line to actually experience the ride.
35.  TomorrowLand Speedway at MK was a huge let down.  First of all, the line is ridiculous.  And it's not even a real go-kart track!  Your car is meant to follow a rail...like a slot car.  And the steering is so awful that you'll spend the whole time bouncing back and forth from one side to the other.  I hated it and could have definitely not wasted my time on it.  Aria, on the other hand, had a blast.
36.  ToyStory Mania is a cute little arcade game style ride at Hollywood Studios.  Aria struggled with it, but she was able to make a few shots.  She had a good time on that ride.  It's fun for adults, too.
37.  Tower of Terror...oh my god.  Worst experience ever!! I felt OK going into it...I've been on similar rides that take you the top of a tall pole and then drop you.  But this was a whole different level.  There was NOTHING to hold on to and only a small lapbelt holding you in place!!  That can't POSSIBLY be safe!  I was sitting on the end of the row, so I found a spot for my hand to curl under my seat, but then I had my other arm wrapped under Aria's leg so I could hold on to her, too.  I had to apologize for squeezing her leg too tight.  Then it goes pitch black, and drops you...but I feel like it's more than a drop...I feel like it was an accelerated drop, like a push.  We went way too fast.  Then it raises you back up and does it again, over and over and over.  One time, it opens the doors at the top so you can see all of HS and then drops you with the doors still open.  Aria and I couldn't get off this ride fast enough.  This ride could burn to the ground and I'd be fine.

Oh man...that look of terror on my face AND Aria's face!

38.  The Enchanted Tiki Room at MK is stupid, but is a nice place to sit down and cool off for a minute.
39.  Country Bear Jamboree:  see above.
40.  Festival of the Lion King was really really good!  And 5 kids from each section get to participate, and Aria got chosen!  She was hesitant at first, but was glad she did it.
41.  Finding Nemo the Musical was also great!  Definitely do this if you or your child is a fan!
42.  Skip For the First Time in Forever: a Frozen Singalong...they don't do all the songs, they don't do the WHOLE songs, and you only get to see the characters briefly.
43.  The Indiana Jones Stunt Show is an OUTSIDE event, FYI...but it's really neat.  I'd say definitely a must-see.
44.  Do the Magic Hours on a night that you haven't already been in the park since 730 AM...you'll be MORE than exhausted!
45.  You can pretty much do ANYTHING you want while on Disney property.  The cast members are trained not to be confrontational and won't argue with you.  So if the security guard at night tells you that you can't bring the stroller over to the bus stations, and you say "the lady at the stroller depot said I could", they'll look at you and say "OK, have a nice night!"
46.  All the little girls are called "princess" by every cast member, at every park.  It's adorable!
47.  Don't waste your money on the princess breakfast in Norway in lieu of Cinderella's Castle.  It's SOOOOOOO not worth the price.  You get a small buffet with some cheese and pastries on it, one plate of sausage, eggs, and potato casserole brought to the table to share, and you have to ask the servers when the princesses will be walking around because you've been sitting there for half an hour and there's not a princess in sight...only to be told "they're taking their breakfast break."  If you're going to spend the money on it, go for gold and do Cinderella's castle.
48.  The Disney Jr. Play and Dine lunch at Hollywood Studios is worth the price,  You'll get to meet Doc McStuffins, Jake, Sofia, and Handy Manny.  And the food is really good and definitely worth the price.
49.  As far as quick service meals go, our best one in the parks, in my opinion, was at Pinnochio Village Haus in MK.  It had something different from your standard burgers/chicken/sandwiches.  The portions were large, the chocolate cake was good, and it's a place where your kid can get the pizza she's been asking about for days.  I definitely recommend this one.
50.  Speaking of food, if you're staying at Art of Animation, don't waste your time on the steak sandwich...it's nasty.  Do, however, get the create-your-own pasta or create-your-own salad.  Most bang for your buck!  And the chocolate tart is spectacular (if you like dark chocolate, that is).
51.  A smoked turkey leg from the snack cart in MK will count as a "meal", but its big enough for several people to eat off of as a snack between meals.  PS:  It's GOOD and tastes like smoked pork!

Tearin' up that turkey leg!

52.  If your child doesn't seem really excited about meeting the characters, don't waste your time on this.  She waved to a few from afar, but really only wanted to stand in line to meet Pluto.  She was excited about the princesses at breakfast and the Disney Jr. friends at lunch, but she didn't beg to meet anybody else.  I do wish we would have been able to meet Tiana...that's her favorite princess.
53.  When making your hotel reservations call the hotel and see if they can tell you which number bus stop their resort is usually at.  Because it's a huge beat down to have to walk to the FARTHEST bus stop at every park to get on your bus.  You're already extremely hot and worn out, your feet are already 2 days passed done, and you still have to walk another half-mile to your bus stop.  Oh, and there's no benches there, either!!
54.  When at Disney Springs and you've got a hankering for a burger, go to D-Luxe Burger.  If you've got the dining plan, it's actually a quick-service restaurant.  The burger is huge and phenomenal!  The fries are less than desirable, but you've had a huge burger and don't need tons of fries anyway.
55.  When planning your fast passes, try to get them close by.  It sucks having to walk all over the park, back and forth, to get to your fastpasses in time.
56.  If for some horrible reason you do have to go DisneyWorld in the middle of the effing summer, don't feel so bad about smelling funky...there are literally 2 trillion people there at that exact moment who smell just as funky as you.  Everybody's got swampass going on and everybody stinks.  It's not just you :)
57.  Even though you're almost certain that your child is too old or too big for a stroller, go ahead and get one.  Because at least that's one less thing for the kid to whine about.
58.  There's no need to buy more than one souvenir per person (for the whole trip, not just per day).  Don't spend $1,000 on souvenirs.  Just don't.
59.  If your child doesn't like being in pictures, don't expect Disney to be any different.

Most of our pictures of Aria turned out like this

60.  You WILL need a vacation after a week-long trip to Disney.  Just go ahead and schedule it.

BONUS TIP:  Once you have your trip narrowed down to at least what year you will be heading to Disney in, go ahead and purchase THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE!  It has literally EVERYTHING you need to know about the entire Disney World property and lots of tips and tricks all throughout it.  This book seriously became my Disney bible and I strongly recommend it to anybody planning a vacay to this hell-hole! Thanks again to my mother-in-law for suggesting the book!

We'll go back again one day.  We will probably skip Hollywood Studios and go to one of the water parks instead.

Of course, our Disney trip would have occurred in May had I not landed myself in the hospital THE DAY BEFORE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE.  I know I said I didn't want to go to Disney...but I didn't want to go in the hospital, either.  Thanks to that, I'm only 31 and have already had my first colonoscopy. Yay for me!

And for good measure...this is my FAVORITE picture of mom on a roller coaster :)  

She doesn't like roller coasters...obviously!

Alive

Hey hey folks!  Don't be mad...I was only gone for a few months :)

Let's have a little randomness to get us back in the swing of things!

I'm that person...

Who doesn't remember the last time I gave my kid a bath

Who just took her Christmas tree down on March 6

Who still is not excited about going to Disneyworld

We rescued a chocolate lab puppy...

He barks at thunder (and every forest sound outside)

He scoops all the water out of the water bowl with his paws until the kitchen is a swimming pool

He finds every piece of paper and shreds it

The elections are upon us...

I voted for Hillary (but could have just as easily voted for Bernie)

If you vote(d) for Trump, you're part of the problem

It'd be great if everybody stopped badmouthing other candidates to each others faces before just assuming they are voting the same way

I started a new job...

Being a supervisor isn't so hard, as long as you recognize your employees are adults and should be treated as such

Working at a blood center for 10 years, I thought I understood the blood need...boy was I wrong

Having 5-6 requests come across your desk a week for pediatric open heart surgeries is heartbreaking

I'm on a new medicine...

That insurance is finally paying for

That gives me the ability to actually not cry, even though I might want to

That allows me to not spend all hours of my day angry and/or depressed

Spring is here...

My allergies are already in full bloom and there's pollen on my car

It's already 80° outside

Summer is unfortunately that much closer
And to all my Wisconsin friends: have no fear, spring is on the way...the robins are making their way through Augusta this weekend on their way back home!

I'll try to get my life together and remember to update this a little more frequently

Nothing Better

There's a lot of people on Facebook posting daily things they're thankful for (because it's November and it's the month for giving thanks, of course).  I'm thankful for a lot things and don't often say it.  In fact, I tend to do more complaining than giving thanks.  But that doesn't mean I'm not grateful for what I've got.  The big things, the small things...I'm thankful for everything I have and everything I am.  And sometimes, it's the little things that really make a difference.

There's nothing better than....

The first bite of a still warm, fresh-baked brownie

Sweet puppy snuggles (and kisses)...really, the age of the dog is not important

Hearing "you make the best dinners, mommy"

Brushing your teeth in the morning after you know you've been mouth-snoring all night

Knowing where you are after getting lost

Sticking your spoon in the still-cooking pot of soup to taste it and tastes like bacon and cheese

Finding out you're not the only mom who is at a loss with how to discipline a strong-willed child

Hot chocolate after a cold and rainy day

The sweet relief of Sudafed

Licking the brownie batter off the spatula (after you're done with it, of course!)

Hitting all the green lights on the way to work

Handlettering perfect names on an envelope

Looking through old family photos, even if it's just to find pictures for the board at the funeral, and laughing at the memories

Finally finding the wine that pairs best with your life

Mint chocolate chip ice cream (this one is THE BEST)

Hearing a coworker tell you how much they appreciate you and everything you do

Feeling the relief of knowing a bad dream wasn't real

A cozy blanket in a cold room

Hearing your kid say "I'm sorry for being disrespectful" when all you told her was that she was being naughty

Buying presents for other people and seeing how happy they are when opening said presents

Getting the car seat out of the car all by yourself

A good book and lots of time to read it (like, say, 16 hours in the car on the way to Wisconsin)

Seeing something you cook/bake come out EXACTLY like the picture

Finally being able to breathe after a week of environmental-mold-spore-induced sinus congestion

Finding something to wear (that fits) to a funeral at the first store you try

Biting into the PERFECT s'more

Finding the one magical spot where spooning is actually comfortable for both people

Watching your dog roll over in trust and present her belly (for scratching, no doubt) to your daughter for the very first time (it only took four and a half years!)

Mexican Monday with ALL of your southern extended family

Knowing you'll be with distant family in 48 hours

Leaving for Wisconsin in the morning.

Have a good rest of the week and I'll catch back up with y'all when I return.

Before we know it, it'll be Thanksgiving....and then Christmas....and then it'll be the new year.

Not going to lie I'm ready.

2015 has sort of sucked almost as bad as 2014.

Monday.

Is anybody else besides me EXTREMELY tired today?  This rainy, foggy Monday makes me want to take my ass back to bed!

Here's a quick look at my upcoming week!

Today I've got my first physical therapy appointment for my IT band.  I'm unsure of what to expect.  The thing is, my leg feels better...so I'm worried they'll tell me that there's no point to it and send me on my way...only to have my IT band flare up real angry again sometime in the near future.  That worries me, because I don't want that pain again.

Sometime this week I'd like to stop by my best friend's house and give her all the things I've gotten for her and the baby!  Plus, she's on bed rest, so I KNOW she could use the company.

Thursday we are taking Aria to Disney on Ice.  She doesn't know yet...so we can't hold it over her head, not like I would, we already paid for the tickets!

This weekend I'm going to make those cheesecake swirl brownies from my last FFF post :)

My grandpa is in the hospital and not doing very well.  Please keep him and my family in your thoughts.

The menu for the week:

Monday:  Burgers + Sweet Kale Salad

burger patties - buns - cheese - worcestershire sauce - kale/brussels sprout/craisin salad mix - poppy seed dressing

Tuesday:  Chicken Bacon Chowder + Crusty Bread

chicken - bacon - corn - shallots - cream - broth - cheese - potatoes - celery - basil - french baguette

Wednesday:  Pork Chops + Mashed Potatoes

pork chops - BBQ sauce - country crock mashed potatoes - cheese

Thursday :  Dinner out + Disney On Ice

Friday:  BBQ Chicken Salad

chicken - BBQ sauce - romaine - cheese - corn - pico - lime juice - cilantro - ranch - cucumber - croutons

Saturday:  Cilantro Lime chicken + Pasta

chicken - cilantro - cream - lime juice - shallots - low-carb pasta

And now....something funny :)

Cat's are such assholes.

Inner Musings 2.0

I apologize for not doing a Fab Friday Five last Friday...I was at home wallowing in a Sudafed-induced coma.  Stupid weed pollen was out in full force last week and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  Stupid environmental allergies!

My IT band is feeling better, though still a little sore at the end of the day.  Nothing to complain about really.  PT starts on the 2nd and I'm a little less than excited.

After talking with my doctor, we've decided to wean me off of the current anti-depressant and try me on something different in a few weeks.  Turns out, the medicine I was on caused me to have some pretty awful dreams....almost nightly.  I'm waking up a LOT during the night wondering if the events that happened were real or not...they certainly feel real.  I'm told, however, that my dreams may get worse while coming off the medicine.  Great.

Here's some more inner musings for you.  I KNOW y'all think some of these very same things!

Based off your social media profiles, it's no wonder nobody wants to hire you.

No offense, but your baby is not cute.

Some days are just flat-out unbearable.

All this anti-Islam nonsense you post on Facebook all the time....you do know that they pray to the same God you do, right?!

Why do you wait until you're OUT of a supply to ask for more?  Why can't you ask for more when you use the next-to-last one?!

Why do you keep having babies when you're clearly not taking care of the ones you already have?

I hate you because your four year old can read.

You only post on social media about going to the gym and going to the bar...do you do anything else??

WHEN are you going to retire??!

Why do all of your pictures of your child in the car seat look as if the kid isn't actually strapped in?  You do strap that kid in, right?

Would there really be so much media about the school officer snatching that teenager out of the desk if the student and the officer were of the same race?

That job is not rocket science....why can't you manage to just do it right??

The way you talk about gay people is appalling.

Why are you so angry and so rude every day?

A pint of ice cream every night is NOT a suitable lifestyle!

Nobody cares that you go to the gym twice a day (or more), every day.

I joke about being fat because it's easier for those to laugh with me than at me.

Why....please tell me why....does everyone in Grovetown drive 10 mph UNDER the posted limit?  If the sign says "55"....I'd like to at least go 55!

Have a good week, folks, and I'll see you on Friday!

Random Update

The week, so far, has started out like crap!

On Saturday night, I woke up with EXTREME pain in my right thigh.  Every time I moved, it felt like my hip, knee, and side of my thigh were literally stuck.  It was excruciating.  I couldn't fall back asleep for quite some time.  When Dave left for work that morning, he brought me the electric heating pad....and then subsequently pushed his fist onto my thigh as hard as he could to try to work out what he thought was probably a muscle cramp or pulled muscle.  Let me tell you...if I could have, I would have kicked him square in the jaw! That heat pad stayed on "high" for three hours and didn't even touch the pain.

When I got up in the morning after I could no longer convince Aria that breakfast would be "in a little", I made it two steps before I had to grab onto the door frame of the bathroom and stand there and cry and scream out in pain.  The stairs were awful and I had to get Aria to let Sophie out because I wasn't even down the first half of my stairs yet.

I called my mommy to tell her I wasn't bringing Aria over and why, and she told me to call the weekend clinic and try to get seen.  I hate going to the doctor and will ONLY go if my mommy says I need to go.  I figured (and Dave figured) that it would be a waste of my time...figured they'd tell me it was a pulled muscle and go home and take some ibuprofen.  We were wrong.

I apparently have something called IT Band Syndrome.  The iliotibial band is the tendon that runs from the outside of the hip, down the outside of the thigh, and connects at the knee.  Basically, it connects my hip muscle to my lower leg muscle.  In people like me who have hypermobility in the hip and knee joints (my knees are hyperextended and I can pop my hips in and out of place without really noticing), that band can apparently be loose...and a loose band can get inflamed and angry (obviously).  It's kind of like tendonitis, but isn't actually tendonitis.

The solution:  hefty anti-inflammatory + physical therapy.  The anti-inflammatory (which they said had an acid reducer in it) gave me the WORST heartburn yesterday...I literally had heartburn all day long!  My primary care physician told me I can take regular OTC anti-inflammatory as needed instead of that junk the other doctor gave me.  Plus, the electric heat pad has been my very best friend lately!

The physical therapy will work out the band (which I'm told will hurt like hell), then will help strengthen the band and the joints to which it's connected.  Also, they'll look to see if there's another muscle in my leg that isn't doing it's job properly and may have caused the IT band to take over some of the work (it's not supposed to do that) and they'll give me exercises to strengthen that muscle also.  My cousin (a physical therapist) said the amount of time it takes will depend on how stubborn my body is and how well I do my homework.  Well, we all know I'm an overachiever, so homework won't be a problem!

So for now it hurts, but is starting to feel better.  My range of motion is better.  I just have to wait for my PT referral to come through so I can start that.  I'm hobbling around like I'm broken and I have to explain IT Band Syndrome to anybody who asks.  It's great.

Dave informed me last week that he wants to change his our eating habits and cut out most of the carbs.  I can't help that we have pasta or potatoes with every meal...it's the only side I can think of.  We were supposed to start on Sunday, but he offered me comfort food, so I picked Japanese food.  Then yesterday was Mexican Monday.  So maybe today we'll start with low-carb food :)

A look at the week's dinner menu

Sunday:  Sausage and Peppers + Mini Potatoes

chicken apple sausage - bell peppers - vidalia onion - dutch yellow potatoes

Monday:  Mexican Monday

Tuesday:  Chicken Caesar Salad

chicken - romaine - parm cheese - croutons - light caesar dressing

Wednesday:  Steak Stir Fry + Cauliflower Rice

skirt steak - stir fry veggies - teriyaki sauce - cauliflower

Thursday:  Margarita Chicken Salad

chicken - romaine - cheese - pico - cucumbers - corn - light ranch - sour cream

Friday:  Burgers + Pasta

burger patties - brioche buns - lettuce - cheese - low carb pasta

Saturday:  Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers

bell peppers - leftover TexMex meat mixture - corn - cheese - sour cream

 Have a good week, folks!

10.8.14 - 10.8.15

Holy crap, it's been a year!  

This has been a truly wonderful place for me to get my thoughts and feelings out.

Life truly is a battle...and all you can do is take it one day at a time!

Thanks so much for being a reader and I hope we can continue to connect together in the years to come.

CHEERS!

Here are some statistics for you!

Total number of views
24,204

Total number of comments
16
(including my own replies)

Total number of posts

109
(including this one)

Top 5 posts by # of views

Convos With My Kid (the school outfit incident) - 9965

Tremendous Friday Ten:  Things I'm Lovin' - 3367

Inner Musings - 948

Word of the Day - 839

Fab Friday Five:  Fall - 732

Top 3 posts with the keyword "cancer" by # of views

Celebration of Life - 243

Is it 2015 Yet? - 99

Family Shaving Time - 79

Top 3 Fab Friday Five by # of views (not including anything listed above)

Comfort Food - 283

Tranquility - 246

Parenting - 244

(surprisingly, these were three weeks in a row)

Top 3 Convos With My Kid by # of views (not including anything listed above)

Growing up / Likes and dislikes / I'm not so smart - 131

Pre-birth toys / Heaven / Healthy food choices (aka: acorns) - 105

First one ever - 61

My top 3 favorites to write (and go back and read)

Revenge of the Poultry - 36

Beautiful Soul - 60

Life Lessons - 134

I'm taking a break from your regularly-scheduled Fab Friday Five tomorrow.

Have a great weekend, folks!

Inner Musings

First things first....

In the last 48 hours, I've had over 3,300 people view my blog (or maybe the same person just clicked on my links 3,300 times...there's no way to tell)!  That's the most I've EVER had in that short time period!

To be honest...up until a month or so ago, I didn't think anybody outside of family read it, and I kind of thought that even some of them didn't read it.

Thank you, whoever you are, for reading my blog...I'm truly touched!  Wow!

I'm sorry I didn't give you a Fab Friday Five last Friday...I was busy and seriously unmotivated to come up with a list of five things.  I had thought about soups...but as somebody who really doesn't like soup, there aren't that many soups that I like.  I thought about doing something funny, but I haven't seen that many NEW funny things lately.

Our *fine* city had Arts in the Heart this weekend.  It was hot...90° is too hot to have an outdoor festival.  There were sooo many people...I think I read somewhere that attendance records were broken.  And the Barbershop Quartet in the CHILDREN'S SECTION who offered free lemonade if you sang with them, but then denied my child a lemonade after singing because "we're only offering lemonade to the men, not the children"...I could have seriously done without that.  I've never bought anything there before (aside from a piece of name art for Aria's room), and I probably never will because I can't afford any of it.  But I go for the food :)  All the different countries offering authentic international cuisines for your eating pleasure....often times, it's well worth the lines!  I ate the most phenomenal chicken paella and Irish whiskey cake this weekend...SO GOOD!

Today I thought I'd so something that might get me in trouble...well, will probably get me in trouble....but this space is mine to do with what I want, so that's what I'll do.  Everybody has things they say in their heads but never let them escape.  Everybody has those really judgmental things they think to themselves but never actually speak them because, well, it would be mean.

I think I'll get my "mean girl" on today...

Here are some musings from my inner monologue recently.  Enjoy :)

We're getting on the interstate, you should be moving a hell of a lot faster than 55 mph!

Your baby looks like an ugly old man.

Why do you always look like a crack addict in all your Facebook pictures?  Are you, in fact, a crack addict?

For being "such a good Christian", you're actually a really shitty person.

I can tell your hair is dyed...and it looks like shit.

I'm so tired of doing everyone else's work just because they can't manage to do it right on their own.

People who leave their babies in cars should be shot on the spot and left to bleed out for as long as it took their sweet baby to die of heat.

I know you're lying to my face...but that's OK, because I'm better than you.

You're spoiled and your personality shows it.

If I had the authority to fire you, I'd meet you in the parking lot and take care of it before you even came in the building.

You talk an awful lot of shit for someone who never does anything about it.

Guess what you idiot....it does NOT matter what religion POTUS is.

"that person needs to eat a cheeseburger!" --- I wish I looked like her.

What kind of grown woman (with kids, no less!) dresses like a slutty fairy and parades around town for all to see her tatas spilling out all over?  Gross.  You're teaching your little girl to walk around with her boobs out so people can look at her....super great role model.

That art that you're charging $50 for looks more like it shouldn't cost more than $5.

Do you seriously spend all day long getting high and not contributing to society AT ALL? What sort of adult are you?

Yes, I know I'm fat...you don't need to look at me like I'm disgusting; I already know I am.

You're bat-shit crazy.

I think it's disgusting how you post a bunch of Christian things and then post a bunch of really judgmental and hateful things right after it.  Doesn't Christianity teach us to love all of God's creations?  I'm pretty sure Jesus would be upset to hear how hateful you're being to others simply because they're different from you.  

I feel like shit...but I'm putting my big girl panties on and dealing with it because I'm a woman and that's what I do.  (But I'd much rather be at home in bed.)

Would you SERIOUSLY rather spend your money on drugs than on your beautiful kids?

The way you walk makes it look like you're constantly holding in a fart.

Everyone knows you're a habitual liar....we all just expect it now...and nobody ever believes a word that comes out of your mouth.

It's amazing how rude and disrespectful you are...and you don't even realize it.

I'm pretty sure almost every republican has their head stuck WAY UP in their ass.

I'm pretty sure any supporter of Trump has some sort of mental disability that keeps their brain from functioning...at all.

The only reason why you still have a job, according to those of us who observe how awful you are every day, is because the supervisor's are afraid you'll sue them for discrimination if they fire you.

You look WAAAAAY older than you really are.

If I have to show you how to do this one more time, I'm going to lose my shit.

And last...but not least....the words that I probably repeat in my head more times than anything else...

Are you kidding me?  Are you fucking kidding me?!  

HAVE A GREAT WEEK, FOLKS!

Random Update

Here's some odds and ends for your Tuesday reading pleasure.  Enjoy!

I'm spending this week at work doing an audit on several SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) books throughout the center...and I must say...I'm having a blast!

Wednesday we are re-instating our regular play dates...yay for some adult time with great friends!

I'm taking this Friday off so that I can have a long 4-day weekend.  I'm totally still taking Aria to school and then I'm going to go browse around 2nd and Charles (it's pay day...wink wink), then perhaps Home Goods and Whole Foods.  Maybe I'll top it off with a trip to Hobby Lobby for some new chalk markers...who knows!  I'm excited!

My child has asked me some tough-to-answer questions lately....

"Mommy, who's God?" -- a tough one for me as we're not trying to force her into a belief system

"Mommy, what's adoption?" followed up with "Is that when mommy's and daddy's give away their children?"

"Mommy, why does the moon follow us to school every morning?"

I just discovered there's a new Simon's Cat...and it's TOTALLY Little Man! Here it is!  And now that you're hooked...go watch all the rest if you haven't before, they're hilarious!

Now that the weather is cooling off, I'm excited to get back outside to play with Aria.  Aria has also been asking for some walks, so I'll be glad to start doing that with her...Lord knows we could use some walking and outdoor activity in our family!

This week's menu isn't anything too exciting...

Sunday:  Tortellini Casserole

(cheese tortellini, ground turkey, spaghetti sauce, melty cheese)

Monday:  Grilled Chicken (not)Tacos + chips

(chicken, montreal chicken seasoning, lime juice, soft tortillas, taco toppings, tortilla chips)

Tuesday:  Meatball Alfredo + breadsticks

(pasta, meatballs, alfredo sauce, breadsticks, melty cheese)

Wednesday:  PLAYDATE

(Dave is on his own!)

Thursday:  Korean BBQ Pork (Fresh Market Thursday Little Big Meal--it's only $20, y'all!)

(pork cubes, caesar salad kit, sweet tea, rice, skillet sauce packet, mini cookies)

Friday:  Sausage and peppers + potatoes

(Chicken apple sausage, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, onion, white potatoes)

Saturday:  Crockpot BBQ chicken sliders + chips

(Chicken, BBQ sauce, slider buns, chips)

Have a nice week, folks!

!! 100 !!

This is my 100th post, y'all!  And in a couple months, I'll be hitting the one-year mark!

FIRST....an update on Dave :)

He got the results today on his most recent CT scan.  His doctor says that everything looks good as in unchanged.  He's more confident now that his two para-aortic lymph nodes are most likely calcified and perhaps have been calcified all along.  The only way to tell FOR SURE would be to take them out and biopsy them...but because they're unchanged and not causing a problem, there's no need to do that.  If his lymph are (and have always been) calcified, that would have changed his initial staging from 2B to 1.  BUT, the course of action (including chemo) would have been the same.  His next CT scan is scheduled for February, then another one in August.  If those look good, then he won't have another scan until the following August.  Everything's looking good so far, so we're SO GLAD to have kicked this thing in the rear for the foreseeable future (and hopefully, fingers crossed, forever)!

I've been reading that the 100th post should contain a list of 100 things you don't know (or maybe you do!) about me.  

So let's dive in!

1. My birthday is February 6, 1985 (an Aquarius)
2. I'm a sucker for online quizzes
3. I have stinky feet...like...man stinky
4. I can pop my hips in and out of joint (gross, right?!)
5. I love to shop for office supplies
6. And organizational items...though I tend not to use them
7. I'm ULTRA picky about my pens (the ONLY pens worth buying are these right here)
8. I drive barefoot
9. My favorite band is, and always will be, Incubus
10. Likewise, my favorite song is Echo by ^^ 
11. I do not eat any kind of seafood....not even high-dollar lobster
12. The texture of grits makes me want to vomit
13. I can type 78 words per minute...consistently
14. I used ovulation sticks to get pregnant (and plan on a girl)
15. I get mad at my phone every time it auto-corrects "bitch" to "butch"
16. I put ice in my wine...because I'm a girl and can roll like that
17. I only drink Moscato because it's the only wine that is sweet and doesn't taste like grape juice
18. I hate grape juice and all things grape flavored
19. I also hate cherries and all things cherry flavored...too many cherry pickings in Door County as a kid have traumatized me
20. I'm a habitual non-blinker user if I'm already in a "turn only" lane...I'm already in the right-turn-only lane, why do I need to signal to you with a blinker that I'm turning right?
21. I do NOT drink tequila because it makes me REALLY angry
22. I almost never make a recipe exactly how it's written
23. I tend not to measure things when I cook
24. But I DO measure things, precisely, when baking
25. I can eat an entire can of Pringles in one sitting...but luckily I'm an adult and I don't actually do it
26. I can also eat an entire package of Oreos in one sitting...I have to FORCE myself not to
27. I really only prefer ice cream in the winter time
28. If I could, I'd live the rest of my life in Italy
29. Or London
30. When I was a kid I got strep throat twice a year every year, every February and October
31. When eating Rice Krispies, Cheerios, or Crispix, I put AT LEAST 4 or 5 spoons of sugar on top
32. When making coffee at work (in a standard styrofoam cup), I put AT LEAST 4 creamers in it and 3 or 4 packets of sugar
33. I drink water like it's going out of style
34. When I donate blood, I donate for the babies because I'm O-negative, CMV-negative
35. I love to do puzzles...word puzzles and standard jigsaw puzzles
36. I'm an overachiever and so I expect my daughter to be an overachiever
37. I want to take 5 years off from my current life and volunteer for the Peace Corps
38. I live in an almost-constant state of feeling overwhelmed
39. I only weighed 116 pounds the summer before my senior year and I still told myself I was overly fat
40. I dissected a cat my senior year A+P class...and I didn't wear gloves
41. I cheated on an art project in my Art II class when I asked my best friend to draw one of the still life skulls for me
42. The concepts of physics that are supposedly common sense make NO SENSE to me at all
43. I wanted to be a paleontologist as a kid
44. I still played with Barbies in the 6th grade
45. I've only had sex with three people
46. I suck at doing chores
47. When cleaning, I get stuck when it comes down to finding a place to put the stuff I'm not throwing out
48. I've said and done a lot of things in my life that I regret...I've hurt a lot of people's feelings and I hate myself for it
49. I named my first car Tony
50. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 19
51. Eating bread and noodles makes my feet swell, but I'll never stop eating them
52. My daughter said "y'all" the other day...and my heart swelled with pride
53. My daughter said "holy crap" the other day...and my heart also swelled with pride
54. I really want to start doing yoga but I'm so tired at the end of the day that the idea of doing anything physical makes me want to fall into a coma
55. If I had unlimited money, I'd pay off all my family's houses and build them brand new custom ones
56. I have resting bitch face
57. I don't say "sorry" often...but when I do, I mean it
58. Probably because I've heard the word "sorry" so much in my life that it means jack shit to me now...it's just another word
59. I hate tea....hot tea, chamomile tea, sweet tea, chai tea...all tea
60. Not to toot my own horn, but my chocolate cake is better than any chocolate cake I've ever had
61. I wear flip flops probably 355 days a year
62. I've worked in my current place of employment for 10 years
63. The person I see in my head is NOT the person I see in the mirror
64. The person in my head is actually much thinner...but that awful thing in the mirror makes me feel worse about myself than if I never looked in the mirror in the first place
65. While I want to be extra skinny, I'd be happy just being able to shop at regular stores like Target
66. I set three alarms in the morning that go off within four minutes of each other and I still manage to sleep through them all
67. I'd love to stay at home and bake all day long
68. I take a little too much pride in my Starbucks gold card
69. I don't like mustard...or any variation of it...plain, spicy brown, dijon, honey mustard...none
70. I like all things spicy
71. But I don't like pepperjack cheese (too spicy, ironically)
72. I don't like anything sour....no sour candy, no lemonade, no lime margaritas
73. I don't like most fruit because it's all too sour...no peaches, no strawberries (unless doused in sugar)
74. I do not bite my fingernails
75. I'm seriously wishing I had NOT undertaken this "100 things" list....I'm honestly not that interesting
76. I wear my hair in a pony tail not because I love it so much, but because I literally don't know how to do anything else...and it's so damn hot having all that hair resting on my neck and around my face
77. I regret three of my four tattoos
78. I'm considering (for the last four years) going back to school for early childhood education...I think 2nd or 3rd grade would be fun
79. I thought, briefly, in college of changing my major to Psychology because I found it (still find it) so fascinating
80. I like to look up the meaning of every element in my dreams to find out what's really going on in there (like my most recent recurrent dream of my car being stolen...something about losing my identity or something weird like that)
81. I wish we lived back in Wisconsin so we could join a bar volleyball league
82. I wish I had the money to hire a full-time maid
83. I want to go to culinary school
84. I wish we were going somewhere exotic for a week next year instead of Disney
85. I've changed my handwriting style several times in my life
86. I think my favorite book is Heaven by VC Andrews...I've read it several times
87. I get mad when I'm coloring with Aria and she says she's done, but I'm not
88. I also get mad when I'm coloring with Aria and she starts coloring on MY picture with all of her random scribbles
89. My guilty pleasure TV show is Gilmore Girls
90. I fell asleep at work one time when I worked at the dancewear store in high school...right on the floor behind the desk...with the door still unlocked
91. I don't have a favorite movie
92. I like giving presents SO MUCH MORE than receiving presents
93. The look on your face when you speak to me means as much, if not more, than the words you're saying
94. I prefer vanilla ice cream over chocolate cream
95. I have at least 20 gray hairs and I've officially stopped yanking them out
96. I don't do well when people who are my equals condescend to me
97. I tend to struggle with authority...can't nobody tell ME what to do (you like that grammar there, don't you?)
98. I'm fairly certain that I cry more than the average adult female
99. Whenever somebody says the n-word, I immediately wonder to myself just how ignorant IS this person
100. I look like a bitch, but I'm really pretty nice...and quite funny...once you get to know me

Have a good weekend, folks!

PS:  I thought about including pictures in this to break up the monotony of reading...but I for real don't have time for that!

Random Update

A quick look into my week ahead...

Monday is grocery shopping day...because I spent all day cleaning yesterday and didn't have the time.  Ordinarily on Mondays I make something Mexican in honor of Mexican Monday that we can't really afford to go to with the family anymore...but I had zucchini and basil to use, so Mexican Monday at our house will be Tex Mex Tuesday this week.

On Tuesday, our new mattress is being delivered...I can't wait!!  I'm so ready to sleep on a mattress that doesn't have a hump in the middle!  And I'm so ready to sleep on a mattress that won't leave me with a debilitating back pain the next day that I'm so tired of pushing through.

A bonus of our mattress coming tomorrow:  I can stop feverishly cleaning and actually sit down and relax in the evenings!

On Wednesday, Dave has a CT scan to make sure that nasty nasty cancer is still out of our lives.  And he's taking my car to get an oil change because I .loathe. going to TiresPlus.

On Saturday, I'm going to try to take Aria to visit a gymnastics class to see if she likes it and wants to do it.  Fingers crossed she'll pick it over dance!
***CORRECTION:  On Saturday we're going to the children's museum in Columbia with some dear friends who live SUPER far away.  Thanks mom for the reminder!

Here's a money-saving tip for ya:  Make your menu for the week before going grocery shopping.  You'll spend less and, with everything written down, you won't forget anything, thereby eliminating last-minute trips back to the store.  Plus...by planning it out in advance, you might find there's enough room in your budget to buy that bottle of wine you've been looking at ever week for the last four months!  Here's my menu + shopping list for the week:

Monday:  Sausage Veggie Rigatoni

(sausage, rigatoni, garlic, green onions, basil, zucchini, peeled/diced tomatoes, parm cheese)

Tuesday:  Tex Mex Stuffed Shells

(ground turkey, canned corn, salsa, yellow rice, bell peppers, shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro)

Wednesday:  Grilled Pork Tenderloin + mashed potatoes

(pork tenderloin, BBQ sauce, country crock mashed potatoes)

Thursday:  Fresh Market Thursday Little Big Meal Deal (it's only $20, y'all!)

(steak strips, stir fry veggie kit, udon noodles, stir fry sauce, cookies)

Friday:  Burgers + corn on the cob

(burger patties, burger buns, lettuce, sliced cheese, corn on the cob)

Saturday:  Cilantro Lime Skillet Chicken + Veggies

(chicken breasts, chicken broth, lime juice, fresh lime, shallots, cilantro, heavy cream, zucchini, squash, green onions, cherry tomatoes)

So there's a quick look into my week!

Hope your's is a good one!

Views

[Part 2]

This one will be lengthy...I'm pretty passionate about these topics

Parenting

I thought I understood what it meant to be a parent.  When I had Aria, however, I learned just how WRONG I was!  There's no "right" or "wrong" way to parent...everybody does it differently...but once you're a mom, you quickly form opinions on how to (and, of course, how not to) parent.  

I believe in discipline.  Time outs don't work for everybody, and that's OK.  I believe in spanking.  I was brought up in a spanking household...and let me tell you what...nothing motivates you more to behave than the promise of your father's ginormous hand making contact on your tiny little behind.  I spank my child and I have absolutely no regrets about it.  I also believe in telling my child "no".  Kids need to hear that word often...if you give a kid everything they want all the time, they'll never learn what it means to earn something.

I believe births should be done at a hospital under the supervision of an actual doctor.  There's no safer way.  I understand a lot of people say births have been done at home for thousands of years, and that's great, but it's not for me.  I bled a LOT during childbirth...and had I not been in hospital where they could give me the proper medicine I needed to stop the bleeding, I probably would have died.  I think it's nuts to have a baby at home without an actual doctor present.

I believe in "cry it out".  The turning point in my first few months of parenting was when I left Aria in her crib crying while I went to the living crying in the middle of the night.  I woke up several hours later and everything was silent...because she had cried herself to sleep.  How can you expect to raise an independent person if you never let them learn to cope on their own?

I believe in the elimination of pacifiers and bottles.  Once baby turns one, get rid of that bottle and switch to a sippy cup.  Your kid doesn't like it?  Try a different one...but if he's thirsty enough, he'll suck it up and drink it.  And do not EVER let your child fall asleep with a bottle in their mouth...it causes bottle rot!  Your kid will have screwed up teeth the rest of his life and it will actually be all your fault...he won't need a therapist to tell him that.  There should never be a photo online of a 3/4/5/even 6 year old child with a damn bottle in her mouth (asleep).  That's disgusting...knock it off.  Same with the pacifier.  The pacifier is simply a comfort item.  They don't need it once they move past infancy.  How can your child start learning how to speak if there's always a pacifier in their mouth? If your child is starting Pre-K and you need to ask the teacher if it's OK that the child brings a paci....ugh....I can't even.

Speaking of Pre-K...I believe in daycare.  Before having Aria, I knew that after I had a baby, I would quit my job and be a stay at home mom.  But after Aria was born and we realized that my paycheck really did make a difference, it was obvious she would need to spend her days at a daycare with somebody else raising her.  I was devastated, but there was no other way. The idea of somebody else molding my child terrified the crap out of me.  But now, seeing how Aria is compared to other kids who never went to daycare or had regular playdates with other kids....I'll promote daycare all day long.  She's been learning to socialize, share, be kind, be inclusive, and all kinds of other awesome things ever since she was 12 weeks old.  She's learned more in daycare in four years than I ever would have thought to teach her.

And lastly, the idea of "crunchy moms" and "helicopter moms" baffles me.  For those who aren't yet parents "crunchy moms" are also referred to as "granola moms"...they're the ones who breast fed baby until baby could ask in a complete sentence for more milk please...they're the ones who made their own baby food and only cook organic food and spend their time at the park making sure there's nothing on the ground the child could possibly put in their mouth and get germs from (even though these ones also are the "no vaccines allowed" bunch).  "Helicopter moms" are the parents who are so over-protective of their kids, they hover over them like a helicopter.  These are the ones that will be following their child around on the play ground (actually on the equipment with the child), the ones that will still be cutting the grapes into thirds long after the kid learns how to chew, the ones who won't let their children pet the goats at the zoo because they could bite, and the ones who rush to the doctor every time baby/toddler gets a scratch to make sure it's not going to get infected and there's no underlying issues like broken limbs.  Calm down folks...let your kids be kids.  Kids are going to get dirty..they're going to eat whatever they want...they're going to get germs and get sick (newsflash:  the more germs they contract now, the more antibodies their immune system will have naturally built)...they're going to put things in their mouth they shouldn't (and probably swallow, too)...and they don't need to go to the doctor every five minutes to check out that one stray cough. 

Vaccines

This is the ONE topic that I'll get on my soap box about in conversation or on social media..I'm a firm believer in vaccines and I believe that if you don't vaccinate your child, you should be arrested for child endangerment.  Unless your child is allergic to something the vaccine is made of (I know sometimes the flu vaccine is made with eggs, so people allergic have to get the nose mist instead of the shot), there's absolutely NO REASON to not vaccinate your kids!  

"But Allysa...vaccines cause autism!!"  No, you crack pot, they don't.  First of all, one person wrote an article about it, a couple celebrity moms jumped on board (eh hem Jenny McCarthy) and then all of a sudden the whole nation was all up in arms about children getting autism because they got some vaccines.  It was later found that the person, surprise surprise, fabricated some of his data and vaccines don't in fact cause autism.  But there were so many people on the bandwagon already that this movement is still an issue today.  Read this article from the CDC about how vaccines and the ingredients in vaccines do not cause autism.

Even if they DID cause autism...would you really rather your child contract Pertussis (Whooping Cough) or Hepatitis B INSTEAD of Autism?  Come on folks...use your brains!

Because parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids, diseases like Pertussis and Measles are starting to spread.  The CDC says this:  "Even though the United States experiences outbreaks of some vaccine-preventable diseases, the spread of disease usually slows or stops because most people are vaccinated or protected through immunity against the disease.  If we stopped vaccinating, even the few cases we have in this country could very quickly become tens or hundreds of thousands of cases."  The Centers for Disease Control want you to vaccinate your children, yet you still don't?

Here's a story:  Johnnie (a non-vaccinated child) goes with his parents to the hospital to visit a family member that just had surgery.  Unbeknownst to his parents (because they suck), Johnnie sits down on the floor by the hospital bed and starts playing with his Matchbox car he brought in to keep him busy while mom and dad socialize.  His car rolls over a dried spot of blood on the floor. Johnnie wonders what it is and then proceeds to pick at it with his fingers.  Later in the day, Johnnie eats chicken fingers for dinner...he has not washed his hands all afternoon.  Two months later at school, Johnnie and Susie, also a child who's parents did not believe in vaccines, are taking turns on the swings on the playground.  Johnnie goes first and cuts his hand on a jagged piece of metal on the chain.  When he goes to tell teacher, Susie takes her turn and gets on the swing and ends up cutting her hand on the same piece of jagged metal.  Both cuts were small enough to be covered with a band-aid, so no big deal.  A little more than a month later, Susie's parents take her to the ER in the middle of the night suspecting sudden onset of the flu because she's got a fever, can't stop throwing up, and says her bones hurt.  The doctor comes in after running some tests and tells little Susie's parents that Susie has tested positive for Hepatitis B.  One month later, another little boy at school...our old friend Johnnie...also tests positive for Hepatitis B.

That spot of blood on the hospital floor was from the patient who had been in that hospital room two day's prior...and that patient had Hepatitis B.  Hep B can live outside of the body for 7 days.  Little Johnnie, who picked at the spot of blood, got remnants of the blood under his fingernails.  Then he ate chicken fingers without washing his hand and ingested those specks of blood.  He now has antigens for Hep B floating around in his system.  It only takes 1.5-6 months for Hep B to incubate in the body.  Johnnie cut his hand on the swing, leaving a little bit of blood on the metal...a little bit of blood with Hep B in it.  Susie also cut her hand on the same piece of metal, getting some of Johnnie's blood in her own open wound.  The Hep B antigens that were in Johnnie's blood traveled through to meet Susie's blood and...voila! Two children infected with Hepatitis B simply because the parents were too ignorant to vaccinate their kids.

(Of course, we would never know little Susie had Hep B because her parents never take her to the doctor for anything, not even extreme-style vomiting, because doctors are bad and just pump their kids full of autism-causing chemicals.)

Abortion

I'm PRO-CHOICE.  While my values and my beliefs tell me that I would never get an abortion, it's not my decision to keep other people from doing it.  If Aria and her friends went to the movies one night and I'm a little late picking her up and she ends up being assaulted and raped and gets pregnant from that rape...and she wants to have an abortion...that's OK by me.  The saying "my body, my choice" goes for everything about a woman's body.  If a woman is comfortable with her decision to terminate a pregnancy, then that's HER DECISION.  It should NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER be the government's decision.

Yes, I believe that as soon as those cells start dividing and multiplying, it's alive...those cells are a person.  And yes, as stated before, I'm Christian and believe that murder is morally wrong.  But again, it's not my body...it's somebody else's body...and what they do with it is their own business.  And because I believe in exceptions...a gray area.... I feel I HAVE to be pro-choice.  I'm not ashamed of it by any means.

And, contrary to what the super-conservatives are saying, Planned Parenthood IS NOT SELLING BABY PARTS ON THE OPEN MARKET.  The portions of videos released were fabricated by an anti-abortion group who've done this before and got in trouble for it and were told not to do it again.  Not to mention, what should Planned Parenthood do with the fetuses that are aborted that the mom doesn't want?  They should sell them for research...which is exactly what they do.  Research that allows scientists and doctors to better understand the different stages of life in utero.  AND...those aborted fetuses are used for surgical students to practice on so that they can become neonatal surgeons and fix your baby's heart defect while still in the womb.  So don't knock something you don't understand.

Why don't they give them away to research instead of selling them?  Because they still need to make a profit.  I work at a non-profit blood center and I know a little about this concept.  There are some parts of the blood that we don't always use for transfusion due to a higher risk of transfusion-related illnesses.  These products are sold, at a very minimal cost, to research facilities to be further manufactured into other products, such as clotting factor injections.  There's no harm in it.  One business supports another type of business.  Planned Parenthood selling fetuses is absolutely no different.

Planned Parenthood is far more than just an "aboratory", as I saw so eloquently written in GOP propaganda.  Have you ever been to their website?  It's actually a wonderful resource for young folks...or any folks really.  Services offered include:  abortion (oh no!), birth control, emergency contraception, general health care, HIV testing, LGBTQ services, Men's healthcare, pregnancy testing and services, STD education/testing/treatment, and women's health care.

Being the mother of a girl, I'm thrilled to know that if, for some unforeseen reason, she feels unable to come to me for guidance or help, she can go to Planned Parenthood anonymously and seek help...and be given it...without feeling judged.  

If you got offended, I'm sorry..but these are MY OPINIONS and I have every right to have them.

To those of you who've openly said on Facebook "Go ahead and unfriend me right now if you're pro-choice", by all means, now that you know my views, go ahead.