Texas City Decides to Do the Job the Feds Won't Do

Yesterday in Farmers Branch, a suburb of Dallas, passed some restrictive anti-illegal immigration measures in response to the ongoing crisis here in Texas.

City Council members unanimously approved fines for landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, making English the city's official language and allowing local authorities to screen suspects in police custody to check their immigration status.

The council made the series of 6-0 votes without discussion Monday night and took comment from the public afterward. A proposal to penalize businesses that employ undocumented workers was not voted on during the meeting.

I bet that they will pass that last proposal as well. Texans are just plain sick of the Federal government failing to enforce the immigration laws and cities like Dallas acting as sanctuaries for illegals. Dozens of U.S. citizens, including police officers, have been murdered by criminals that were here illegally and should have been deported before they could commit their crimes. Note that not all of the perpetrators of these crimes are from Mexico--some are from countries like Jamaica--so passing laws to crack down on illegal immigration is not meant to discriminate against Mexicans. It's meant to keep criminals which are here illegally out of the country. But of course, all the Latino civil rights group have to make it about race.

Attorneys with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a civil rights advocacy group, told council members before the vote that the proposals could violate federal housing laws preventing discrimination and the First Amendment.

Since 1970, Farmers Branch has changed from a small, predominantly white bedroom community with a declining population to a city of almost 28,000 people, about 37 percent of them Hispanic, according to the census. It also is home to more than 80 corporate headquarters and more than 2,600 small and mid-size firms, many of them minority-owned.

"They're afraid that Farmers Branch is becoming Hispanic," said Christopher McGuire, a resident of the city and spokesman for a group called United Farmers Branch. "It's going to happen, and that's not a bad thing."

Look, it's Texas for crying out loud! There will always be a Mexican/Latino presence here, and Texas is richer for it. My husband's best friends are of Mexican descent and salsa is a staple in our kitchen. We honeymooned in Mexico (and went back there this year) and we loved everything about that country (except the police and the water). Most people I know feel the same way I do. We welcome LEGAL immigrants from wherever they come from. I'm sure most immigrants (even illegal ones) are decent and hardworking people, but how are we to keep the criminals out and let deserving immigrants become citizens if we can't regulate our borders?

Farmers Branch was the first Texas City to pass these kinds of laws, but I can guarantee that more cities will follow suit if the INS doesn't step up and DO ITS JOB.

Election 2006 - Post-Carnage Reaction

Whew, I'm so glad the elections are over! Being the political news junkie that I am, I ended up staying up most of the night to see who came out on top. I'll admit I was disappointed last night that the Republicans lost both houses of Congress, but I can't say I was surprised. It seemed like every year my husband and I were feeling more and more dissatisfied with the performance of the Republicans, but we also felt like we didn't have much of a choice. Today, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about the future. Most of the Democrats that took over Republican seats were moderates, not of the Kos-Kidz variety. I would have voted for the Democrat (Harris) in my U.S. district over the Republican (Barton) if Harris had clearly stated his platform and not linked to the far left blog Daily Kos. Looking at Harris' blog, all I could find out was that he was against the Iraq War and in favor of increasing veteran benefits (a good thing)--and that Barton is an EVIL conservative that hates disabled kids.

Barton hasn't done anything illegal as far as I know, but he is clearly in the pocket of big business and could care less about his constituents--especially when it comes to air quality in our county. I'll write more about that later. I wish my husband or one of his friends would run against him in the next Republican primary, but they'd be pulverized by Barton's campaign machine.

I think the Republicans have only themselves to blame for their defeat. Many of them have not been listening to their constituents when it comes to illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, social security reform, and limiting pork barrel spending. Some of them committed ethical and even criminal violations. Being in control of the government for so long made them lazy, corrupt, and complacent. The voters were fed up with them, and either voted against them or stayed home. I'm not sad to see that RINOS like Chafee and Dewine were sent packing.

The Democrats clearly learned from the last election that they have to run more moderate candidates in order to win in Red districts. I only hope that the Republicans will clean up their act over the next two years and that the Democratic majority don't screw things up too badly. I'd like to believe Nancy Pelosi's concilatory rhetoric that she intends to reach across the aisle, and act as the Speaker of the House for the American people, not just Democrats. But she is a politician after all, and I don't trust her one bit.

Children - A Most Precious Gift (To Some of Us)

Boy, sorry for the short blogging absence. Halloween kept me busy with party planning and running around trying to find stuff for Preston's fire fighter costume. Seems that stores no longer stock reflective tape for Halloween, which is weird because it's great for safety and artistic reasons.

Anyway, I came across this article by C.R. Hardy last week from National Review Online that aptly describes the anti-child attitude of many Americans nowadays--they're not necessarily all blue-staters either

According to my fair-minded fellow Cambridge residents, I was an overpopulation nut-case. The snickers and sneers were insufferable -- most especially when I was out with my boys in a double stroller, pushing them along with my pregnant, over-sized mid-section. You could see the astonished eyes looking first at the stroller, then at my belly, then quickly at my face (to see if I was real, I assume), and then embarrassingly shifting to a store front or a passing car. Then the person would whisper to a smiling companion, well within my hearing, "She's having another one!"

This has never happened to me personally since I have only one child right now, but one of my friends experiences this quite often--she is a mother of 4. If it had been up to me, I would have 3 or 4 kids already but I have had to be patient. This anti-kid attitude is a little hard for me to understand as a Christian. In my church (the LDS church) children are seen as a blessing and a sacred stewardship. One of the first songs a child learns at church is I Am a Child of God. Children are taught that they are each a spiritual son or daughter of God and that God loves them. It is not unusual for members of my church to have 4, 5, or 6 kids. I know a few families that have even larger families (I can hear the collective gasp of zero population folks all over the globe).

Ms. Hardy goes on to describe the changes in Harvard square that she attributes to the declining interest in child-rearing in that area.

My favorite sign of the times is that in my absence the GapKids that used to occupy the second floor of one of the Harvard Co-op buildings in Harvard Square was replaced with a GapBody. For those of you uninitiated into the world of Gap-lingo, allow me to explain. The Gap is a ridiculously trendy apparel company that caters to young people, and adults who want to dress like young people.... GapBody is the newest spin-off. It peddles ridiculously trendy undergarments and comfy apparel for women, because, as goes their motto, "there's no secret to being sexy...feeling good is the sexiest thing of all." And so, considering that those marketing majors at The Gap are well aware that Harvard Square is student-territory, and since students don't have many kids, out goes GapKids and in comes GapBody -- all of which seems to be good reasoning.

Harvard students are more interested in sex -- or in feeling sexy -- than in kids. (This is not the case at Brigham Young University - you should see all the young married students that bring their kids to campus-ed). Feeling sexy, however, often leads to sex, and sex often leads to kids. Ahem. Or at least to pregnancies. Which is why blue America sweepingly (and coercively) supports choice. They want the sex, but not the kids. The kids are much too costly. To the pocketbook, yes, but most of all to a particular lifestyle more interested in today's consumption than tomorrow's production.

Enter defense of illegal immigration (workers need to come from somewhere), abortion and the Pill (for the sexiness without the kids), and support for gay marriage (because what does sex have to do with kids, anyway?). I'm reminded of Walker Percy's 1971 summary of what the left stands for: LEFTPAPASANE - Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, The Pill, Atheism, Pot, Anti-Pollution, Sex, Abortion Now, Euthanasia. Think much has changed?

BAM! She goes from GapBody to Abortion in one fell swoop! But there is a definite connection between disdain for children and the pet causes of leftists. It's true that raising kids is expensive, but they are a worthwhile investment. When I was in academia, it was shocking to me how many well-educated scientists disdain the thought of having kids--either it was too much bother or it was irresponsible in light of global warming, people starving in Africa, and yada yada.

My response to these individuals was that we have we have a responsibility to pass on the gifts of knowledge and intelligence we have been blessed with to the next generation. What better gift can one give to the world than children that have been well-educated and raised to be good citizens?

Today's children are tomorrow's future. We may not be able to personally help all the troubled and neglected children in our communities, but we can raise our children right so that they can contribute what gifts they have to improving our world.

I'm Not Sitting Out This Election, Are You?

Every day I read about some media report that says Republicans are going to lose control of Congress because disillusioned conservatives and "values voters" will sit out the election. I don't know who pollsters are talking to, but I and most of my family and friends always feel some disappointment in our politicians. We feel that Republicans are beholden to Big Business and that Democrats are beholden to special interest groups (including lawyers, teachers' unions, workers' unions) some of which are very radical e.g. ACLU, NOW, NARAL. So usually, I feel like I'm choosing between the lesser of two evils, and most people probably feel the same. It all depends on which issues are most important to you.

For me, the number one issue is the War on Terrorism. Which party will do the best to defend our country (and protect my loved ones) from Islamic terrorists, and miscellaneous well-armed and badly-coiffed dictators? Yes, I'm unhappy with the reluctance that many Republicans in the Senate (and President Bush) have shown in beefing up border security, but the Democrats are infinitely worse. Which party has consistently opposed every security measure--a border fence, the Patriot Act, military tribunals of enemy combatants, surveillance of domestic and foreign agents?--Democrats. To me Democrats are completely unserious about the War on Terrorism. I don't think that many of them even believe that we're at war--it's more like a Law and Order episode.

Senator Joe Lieberman is a different story. He has been consistently supportive of the President's efforts to prosecute the war. I could vote for him if I felt his Republican opponent wasn't up to the task. But if his opponent shares his views on that issue, then I would have to look at the next most important issues--first fiscal responsibility, then preservation of traditional marriage, then preservation of 2nd amendment rights, then limitation of abortions (especially late-term), and last energy and environmental conservation. Unfortunately, there are not many fiscal and social conservative Democrats left, so I'm forced to vote for Republicans no matter how distasteful I find it. My congressional representative is Joe Barton and he's totally in the pocket of big business, and could care less about the crappy air his constituents have to breath because of his refusal to back clean air legislation. However,his opponent David Harris is a Daily Kos-reading liberal Democrat. To top it off, he thinks Al Snore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" is fantastic. Great, maybe I should write in my cat.

I do hope that Republicans keep control of both house in November, but I hope that it's so close they step back and decide to clean up their act. I have nightmares about botox-browed Nancy Pelosi becoming speaker of the house. She's vowed to repeal the tax cuts signed by President Bush and I don't know about you, but I like having lower taxes. It would be the same old liberal tax and spend crap. Plus, I'd have to hear her screechy voice even more than I do now since there's no doubt in my mind that she and the Dems would try to start impeachment hearings on President Bush, wasting our time and money while Osama and his ilk are trying to murder us. So please go out and vote, fellow conservatives, unless this is the face you want to see regularly when you turn on the T.V.

Common Good = We Take Your Money and Spend It

I couldn't help snorting in derision when I saw this story:
'Common Good' a New Theme for Democrats. They might as well have made their theme: Higher Taxes--It's for your own good. This is one reason why conservatives like me resent liberal Democrats. They think money will solve all the ills of society--poverty (and hence crime), illiteracy, disease, racism--and they want the American taxpayer to foot the bill for all their pet projects.

I do think that it's important for people to work together in their communities to solve problems, but I don't think that it's something that should be forced on us by the government. It often seems like liberal Democrats think all of the American people are simpletons that can't be trusted to manage their own affairs, including their money. This is exemplified by their resistance to tax reduction, social security and welfare reform. They say, how dare we take our social security earnings and invest them in private accounts for our retirement! The government can do a much better job of squandering those funds then we can.

I think this theme will not be helpful to Democrats. Remember how well Mondale did in the 1984 presidential election when he ran on raising taxes? I think most Americans will hear "common good" and reply, "Keep your hands out of my wallet!"

Get Lost? Neither Do I.

I've been a big fan of the ABC show Lost since the middle of the 1st season. I hadn't even heard of it until one of my friends lent me her tapings of it, and said we had to watch it. I was skeptical because it seems like there's been nothing interesting on T.V. since C.S.I. (which has now jumped the shark, but that's another story), but I was drawn in by the character development and the mystery of the Island.

I love character development--that's one reason why I love the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Victor Hugo. I think the way Lost uses flashbacks to develop each character is interesting. Unlike in books, visual media doesn't usually allow you to get inside a character's head, unless a narrator is used and that gets pretty old. But flashbacks tell you where a character's been and can sometimes explain the reasons behind a character's behavior. Even then, I'm sometimes surprised by the actions of a character that I feel I know pretty well. That's one of the great things about Lost is there's always a surprise. Anything could happen, any character could get killed off, and it can be maddening trying to figure out what's going to happen.

I have a hard time picking a favorite Lost character because they're all so interesting and flawed in different ways-- beautiful Kate, an accused murderer and bank robber; Sawyer, the hunky and fast-talking conman with a deathwish; Sayid, the resourceful former Iraqi Republican Guard "communications" expert; Hurly, the large and jolly winner of the lottery; Jack, the type-A personality neurosurgeon; Locke, the paraplegic turned medicine man; Charlie, the washed up rock star and recovering heroin addict; and Sun and Jin, the Korean married couple with relationship issues; Claire, the mother of baby Aaron; and Mr. Echo, the mystical former Nigerian warlord. If there's one major flaw of Lost, it's that there's so many characters to keep track of and there's only so much time that can be devoted to flushing out each one.

Anyway, last night was the second episode of the 3rd season, and was called "The Glass Ballerina" which refers to a figurine that Sun broke as a little girl. To sum it up, Jack, Sawyer, and Kate have been captured by the island's natives (the Others) while Sun, Jin, and Sayid are waiting on the other side of the island in Desmond's sailboat to rendezvous with them. A love-triangle between Kate, Sawyer, and Jack has developed over the past 2 seasons, and the Others seem to be taking advantage of that.

BTW, my favorite scene of the first episode was the look on Sawyer's face when Kate was brought in handcuffed and throw into the cage opposite him. He really loves Kate, as least that's what the actor (Josh Holloway) portrays, and I totally bought into it.

Anyway, Sawyer tries and fails to escape by giving Kate a smooch, and Sun shoots one of the Others as they steal Desmond's boat. In the flashbacks, we learn that Sun had an affair and that Jin was instructed by her father to kill her lover. Jin doesn't kill the guy, but beats him badly and the man commits suicide minutes later. Despite their troubled marriage, we see that Jin and Sun really love each other after Sun narrowly escapes being murdered by the Others on the boat.

Unfortunately, we still don't find out much about the Others, except that they are ruthless killers with a secret agenda for the Losties. Come on! This show can drive you crazy with all the unanswered questions, and the few that are answered are stretched out for a whole season. But I guess that's what keeps me coming back--the hope that the pieces will finally come together and make sense.

For those of you Lost freaks, Lostpedia and Lost-TV are great sites with background on all the chracters, episode summaries, transcripts and message boards.

Arming Our Teachers

UPDATE: On Oct. 13, Utah teachers were given the option of taking a free concealed-handgun course during the UEA holiday. Now that's some time well-spent.

In the wake of the horrible Amish school shootings, President Bush held a
school safety summit in Maryland today to discuss solutions to reduce school violence. President Bush, Mrs. Bush, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Secretary of Education addressed the conference. Some of the ideas proposed were to put in local law enforcement officials to patrol and educate the student, to expand programs where teachers monitor potential problem students, and lots of feel-good mumbo-jumbo about "character education" and making student "feel safe." There is not one mention of allowing teachers to carry concealed guns in the Fox News story, although it might have been discussed.

NEWSFLASH!! Not one of the above solution, except increasing police presence on campuses will prevent an outsider from coming into a school and shooting the students. Increased security will help, but a lot of schools don't have the resources for metal detectors and police dogs. Plus, I'm sure the kids would rather not feel like they are in a prison. Right now, a lot of our students are sitting ducks because everyone knows that no one, except for one or two security officers, is armed. States that have enacted gun-free zones in the hopes of reducing gun violence have instead made school free-kill zones for any armed lunatic that happens to walk in.

I read a great piece at National Review Online by
Dave Kopel on this topic. In t he article, along with discussing other preventively measures, he points out the benefits of allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons and training teachers and students in self-defense. He held up my home state of Utah as a example of doing things right:

Like many states, Utah enacted a concealed-handgun licensing law in 1995. Unlike most states, Utah did not make schools an exclusion zone for lawful carrying. Not only a teacher on duty, but also a parent coming to pick up a child from school, can lawfully carry a concealed handgun in a Utah school building after, of course, passing a background check and safety training. In 2003, the legislature expanded the law, by allowing principals to authorize firearms possession by individuals who did not have a concealed-handgun carry permit.)

After eleven years of experience in Utah, we now have exactly zero reported problems of concealed handgun licensees misusing guns at school, or students stealing guns from teachers, or teachers using their licensed firearms to shoot or threaten students. During this same period, we also have had exactly zero mass murders in Utah schools.

My proposal, however, is not that other states go as far as Utah. Rather, I simply suggest that teachers and other school employees be allowed to carry if they obtain a handgun carry permit. If a school wants to require special additional training for school carry, that's fine.

Sounds good to me. If I was a teacher, I would definitely want to be armed, both to protect myself and my students. I can't understand all the NEA-type teachers that think guns are icky and barbaric. Guns have been used numerous times to defend teachers and students. Kopel lists several examples of these cases--1997 in Pearl, MS; and also in 1997 in Edinboro, PA.

Unfortunately, the Amish are a peaceful people that probably will never want to arm their teachers, even after the murder of their children. Possibly, they could hire a police officer to protect them. But the rest of us need to take our children's safety more seriously. We can't wait for the SWAT team to come rescue our kids when some nut with a weapon comes into their school. We should support laws that allow our teachers to be armed, and demand programs that will train our teachers in self-defense and crisis management. Our kids are counting on us.

Nuclear Holocaust Alarmism or Emergency Preparedness?

So I awoke to the news that North Korea likely had conducted an underground test of a nuclear bomb over the weekend. Great. That's all we need is Kim Jong Il-in-the head with a nuke.

I was listening to Glenn Beck this morning as I drove to the store and he had on an M.D. that was the founder of a group called Physicians for Civil Defense. Apparently, she was upset that Glenn had put out some misinformation on the survivability of a nuclear blast. She directed people to her website and that of a company called KI4U for more information on what we can do to prepare for a nuclear blast.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking--that Glenn Beck is an alarmist and a conspiracy nut! He's got a countdown to Armageddon for the love of Pete! Well, yes, he is a nut, but I think he's hilarious--in a sarcastic, black humor kind of way. When I first heard his show I thought he was insane, until I realized that 90% of what he says is sarcasm and parody. Glenn is definitely an acquired taste, but he does bring up a lot of issues that we usually try to ignore because they're uncomfortable to think about. Now that we know that state sponsors of terrorism e.g. Iran and North Korea are activity pursuing nuclear weapons, we have to face the possibility that these weapons could fall into the hand of terrorists who will have no qualms about using them on us. Unlike during the Cold War, mutual assured destruction is not a deterrent for these freaks. If civilians are killed, then they are infidel dogs. If Muslim civilians are killed then they are martyrs to the cause. If we destroy the terrorists in response, then they will joyfully go to their martyrdom and 72 raisins. So it's a win-win situation for the terrorists.

So what do we do? We can prepare the best we can to survive an terrorist attack, so we can fight back later. First,just as the Department of Homeland Security has recommended, have a 72-hour kit ready. Next, we should try to store as much extra food and water as possible (based on space and budget constraints) to last a few weeks if we are unable to get food locally. The LDS church has great resources on food storage since the members have been urged to store a year's supply of food for several decades. It's a good idea to have a blast/fallout shelter or place that can be converted into one. Heck, here in Texas tornado shelters are a necessity and they can easily be used as fallout shelters. I found a book online called "Nuclear War Survival Skills" by Cresson Kearny that describes how to build simple but effective fallout shelters, and even a homemade radiation detector.

I'm not saying good crazy and spend your life saving on a high tech shelter and a tone of MREs and ammo. But maybe think about what you and your family would do in that situation. Just like for a hurricane or fire--have a plan for your family. And try not to stress out too much worrying about stuff like that. Prepare yourself and your family the best way you can, and then go on with your life.

Saturday Cat Blogging

UPDATE: This week's Carnival of the Cats is hosted by Curiouser and Curiouser.

Cats and small children generally do not mix. My cat Omni is pretty tolerant for a cat, but after a few tail pulls even he can reach his limit. Here's Preston going after Omni's wiggly tail for the umpteenth time. Laughter and loud meowing ensues.

Whew! The kid finally left me alone!

Political Blogging or Plogging for Mitt Romney

Ok, in the interests of full disclosure, another reason why I wanted to start blogging again was to get involved in the upcoming 2008 campaign for POTUS. I was very disappointed that I missed all the fun during the 2004 election because I was finishing up my thesis. There is a lot of comedy in politics!

Anyway, my husband and I decided that we are going to support Mitt Romney, the current governor of Massachusetts, for the Republican nomination for POTUS. We've followed his career since the 2002 Winter Olympics in SLC and were impressed by his integrity and work ethic. I think he'd make a terrific Commander-in-Chief, and frankly, the other potential Republican candidates don't look that hot. John McCain is as RINO as they come, and loves the spotlight of MSM too much--and they love him! Rudy Giuliani is too liberal on social issues for me (read: pro-choice and pro-gay marriage), although he'd probably be great on anti-terrorism issues. Condi Rice would be a great candidate, but again she's a little too socially liberal and she's repeatedly said that she's not going to run.

Of all the potential candidates, I think Mitt Romney has the greatest chance of winning. He's articulate, he's both a social and fiscal conservative, he has executive experience, and he's a decent family man. Ok, so he's a Mormon, but some of my best friends are Mormons. Oh yeah! I'm a Mormon too. Some conservatives have expressed concern about the "Mormon Factor" because they think that evangelicals won't vote for a Mormon. But I think that if they look carefully at each candidate and their platform, they'll see that Mitt's stances on most issues match their own regardless of his personal beliefs. Some conservative evangelicals have already discovered this at Evangelicals for Mitt. If some of you have questions about Mitt's religious beliefs, see the website for the LDS Church or email me with questions.

I've also accepted an invitation to do some guest blogging for Texans for Mitt Romney. I'll link to it periodically. This is strictly a volunteer effort--i.e. I'm not getting paid. If you're interested in finding out more about Mitt and his campaign see his official campaign website here.

Back to Blogging

Howdy, folks! Yes, I know it's been a long time since I last blogged. I needed to take a break for a while due to the stress of raising a one-year-old boy and building our own home. But I have missed blogging because it gave me a great outlet for my thoughts. Toddlers are not really good at listening to rants on politics, science, or anything not involving Thomas the Train or Winnie the Pooh. My husband understandably would rather I vent in a journal or blog than the minute he walks in the door. So anyhow, I'm back and I plan on blogging daily so feel free to add comments and suggestions. I've missed my friends and readers too!

The next few days I'll be updating the site so I won't be posting a whole lot at first.

BTW, the house turned out great. We moved in at the end of April and I spent most of the summer getting the landscaping done. If you're interested in building your own home, take a look at our homebuilding website here. My husband did a great job of documenting the process, including adding the sub-contractors we used. Until we finally finished the house, I kept saying to myself, "I'll never do this again! What were we thinking?!" But after seeing the completed house, I would definitely do it again. Learning the ropes is the hardest part, and once you have learned the process of building, it's easy. I've enjoyed working around the house--putting on the finishing touches--and telling people, "Yep, we built it ourselves."

Baby Blogging: Howdy!

I know ya'll are dying to see pics of the lil' feller, Preston. So here ya go. The lil' varmint is growing faster than a longhorn on steroids. He's 10 months old now and looks more like a lil' man, than a baby. He'll walk with help from his ma and pa. Pretty soon he'll be chasing those pesky cats all over creation.

Building Your Own Home? Yeah, That Was a Good Idea!

Hi ho, fellow bloggers, it's your long lost dr. fly killa. I've finally gotten some time to myself to blog a bit. My "free" time (i.e. the time not spent changing diapers, feeding Preston and hubby, wiping spaghetti off the floor and Preston, preparing for church responsibilities) has been consumed with acting as the co-general contractor for the home we're building.

Basically, we paid a fee to a consulting company called the Owner-Builder Network (OBN), and they gave us handbook for building a house, a list of contractors, and told us to go for it. Now I know absolutely nothing about construction or carpentry—I can barely hammer a nail in straight—so I thought there’s no way that I can do this. My husband has a bit more experience since he spent a summer building cabinets and has repaired or built many household items as part of his husbandly duties, but still he’s never done anything this big before. He found out about OBN at a home show and was so excited about building the house of his dreams that there was no way I could rain on his parade. Ever since we’ve been married and we started out in a tiny apartment, he’s been working on THE PERFECT FLOORPLAN. So now he has the chance to see his dream home take shape. Personally, it was a little too soon for me to be jumping into this project. I mean, Preston is our first child and I want to make sure I don’t scar him for life—joke! Geez, I hope no CPS (child protective services) workers are reading this. But we definitely need more space now, and when we add a brother or sister in the not too distant future.

So our OBN consultant Rick and my dear hubby convinced me that yes, we could do this thing and we’d only spend about 10 hours a week working on the house. Hah, hah, hah! What Rick forgot to tell us was that 10 hour thing only applies when everything goes as planned AND building materials don’t get stolen AND you actually know what you are doing AND you don’t have a small child that needs your constant attention. AND it also assumes that you like to call up lots and lots of people every day—remember that introvert thing? I have to either be so tired that I’m too groggy (and therefore incoherent) to be nervous or I have to psyche myself up before I make calls.

“All right, dr. fly killa. You are a potential customer. You have purchasing power. They want your business, so don’t worry about feeling like an idiot when they ask you technical questions like if you know what the pitch of the roof is. Come on, just do it! You may not know anything about construction, but you have a Ph.D. for goodness sakes! Too bad you didn’t pay attention when your dad was building a house while you were in college though.”

But seriously folks, I am learning a lot and we’ll eventually have a bigger and better house—for me to clean…hmmmm. No really, I know about soffetts and angle iron and R-values--all sorts of house construction-y stuff.

I think OBN is a good way to go if you have time to build the house yourself. You can build your house exactly the way you want it and pay less money than hiring a general contractor. Plus you know exactly what is going into your house so you can make sure the quality is high. General contractors tend to go with the cheapest stuff, not necessarily the highest quality. Exhibit A is our current too small HVAC system that lasted about 4 years before we had to start repairing it every summer. Anyway, I would recommend OBN if the husband or wife can work from home. Also, if you have kids it would probably be best if they are in school because I’ve had to do a lot of running around—meeting contractors at the building site, visiting prospective contractors, getting samples of brick, tile, paint, etc. It’s also helpful if you have a good idea of how you want your house to look. There are so many choices out there! Keep a folder of home decorating ideas that you like, swatches of fabric, or samples of paint colors.

Anyway, the framing of our house is almost done and then the brick goes up. I hope things start going faster. We’ll probably be moved into our house by March. Until then, I’ll post when I can.

Babyblogging: Musical Prodigy?

Of course, I'm joking in the title. I have no idea if Preston has an aptitude for music. I just thought he looked really cute standing next to his "piano." I have to laugh all the Baby Einstein-type toys for infants. Yeah, I'm going to try to teach my kid how to say dog in three different languages before he's 6 months old (I'm exaggerating...a little). Robert Deniro's character in the movie "Meet the Fockers" (which is hilarious btw ) plays the achievement-obsessed ulta-disciplinarian grandfather to a tee. How about letting kids learn the basics first and develop at their own pace? It's a pet peeve of mine when parents brag about how their kid read Charles Dickens or tossed a football like Tory Aikman by the time they were two and a half. No wonder kids get stressed out nowadays.

Anyway, Preston's almost 9 months old and has eight teeth (all the better to bite Mommy with). He's a very happy, chatty little boy--except when he's around strangers. I tend to be very (off the charts!) introverted, so I hope he doesn't take after me. I'm amazed at how fast he's growing. One day couple of weeks ago, he started pulling up on the furniture and now he's cruising around the house like a pro. It won't be long until he's running around the house chasing the cats under my bed.

GOODNESS, GRACIOUS, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!!!

Hurricane Katrina and Emergency Preparedness

Yes, I know it’s been a lo-o-ong time since I last posted. My husband and I are building a house, and I’ve been going crazy getting things going. We’re not actually building the house ourselves, but we’re acting as the general contractors and hiring sub-contractors to do all the work. Anyway, we just got the foundation going and supposedly the process moves much quicker after that. I’ll post more about the process of building your own house later.

With the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a lot of things are on my mind. First of all, I feel so bad for all those people stranded or homeless in New Orleans and Mississippi and wish there was something more I could do. I attended a Biophysical Society meeting in New Orleans at the very convention center where all those people were trapped last week and it was horrible to see their suffering. Our family has donated money and I’m sure that our local church will send a group to help with the clean-up once things calm down.

On the first Sunday of every month, members of my church hold a fast where they go without food or drink for two meals (usually breakfast and lunch) and then the money that would be used for those meals (plus whatever extra you can give) is donated. The money usually goes to needy members in the local area, but when national disasters happen part of the funds go the areas affected. There is also a general humanitarian fund that can be donated to at anytime (click here if you want to donate to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts).

Anyway, my point is that one of the primary functions of almost all churches is to provide charity for others in the community. Each church does its part, so even if we can’t all agree on doctrine, at least we can work together to help each other in times of need.

Another thing that this disaster brings up is emergency preparedness. My heart just broke seeing all the families with small children stranded with little food or water and no diapers (yikes!). I wondered what I would do in that circumstance and how I could prevent it from happening to us. The key is being prepared. My church has urged its members for decades to have a 72 hour kit, and a year’s worth of food on hand in case of emergency—even if you live in an apartment or have a low income. Now a year’s worth of food may not be worth much if it’s suddenly soaked by flood water, but it is quite useful if the main bread-winner in the family gets laid off. I have friends that lost their jobs after the tech bubble burst, and food storage and savings accounts helped them out tremendously. See these links for more information on assembling your own 72-hour kit and for food storage tips.

Our family keeps two 5 gallon jugs of water and two 10-gallon plastic bins full of food and other supplies as our 72 hr kit. They can be tossed into the back of our car or carried in the event of an emergency. Some people use backpacks but they are more expensive. One system for food storage I like is spending $5 per person every week on food set aside for storage. The types of items purchased vary weekly or monthly. The key is to store extra food that you use all the time and that your family will eat. Fifty pounds of cracked wheat or 200 cans of cream of mushroom soup won’t do you any good if you never use it and it goes bad.

Another thing the tragedy in New Orleans impressed upon me is the importance of being able to defend yourself, your family, and your home. We can’t depend upon the government—local or federal—to defend us immediately if order breaks down in our area. This is one reason why the 2nd amendment is so important. Every American has the right and the duty to defend themselves, their families, and their property. Unfortunately, there are always criminals that prey on the weak and the helpless, even during natural disasters. It is up to the good citizens of a community to arm themselves so that they can defend each other. I’ve done my part by purchasing a gun and learning how to use it responsibly. I will certainly train my son to use a gun responsibly when he is old enough.

As far as the blame game, the whining, and the race-baiting goes—ENOUGH ALREADY!!!! There will be plenty of time after the stranded people have been rescued and the dead have been properly buried to find out how each affected area could have been better prepared or how the rescue and relief efforts could have been more quickly expedited. The people of Louisiana and Mississippi eye need leaders that will direct them and give them hope so that they can get back on their feet and rebuild their communities. Whining, swearing, and threatening governments officials (you know who you are) with physical violence on public television is unseemly and repulsive, especially for city or state politicians. Blaming everything on “Whitey” is not helpful either. We’re in this together as Americans and we need more rolling up of sleeves and less bickering if we’re going to rebuild these communities.

Baby Blogging: The Joys of Solid Food

Preston's been eating solids for the past couple of months. The great thing about feeding him "real" food is that it makes for entertaining pictures like this one. The drawbacks are that his diapers really stink now. Pfew!

Mmmmm...strained carrots.

Seen "Over There" Yet?--Don't Bother

For some reason, my husband recorded the premier of "Over There," a show about our soldiers in Iraq now playing on FX. I hadn't intended to watch since I could tell from the previews that it was going to being the usual anti-war Vietnam-cliched crap from Hollywood. But since I could watch it sans commercial, I thought I'd give it a chance since the creator, Steven Bochco had claimed that it wouldn't be political.

Well, my instincts were correct. It was filled with every stereotype from every anti-war Vietnam movie ever made. None of the soldiers except the token dumb white-boy from the South wanted to be in the military. Most of the characters were either super-whiny and obnoxiousm (Mrs. B) or gung-ho crazy (Sgt. Scream). The officers were depicted as incompetent fools or oblivious to the needs of their men. I have never been in the military, but several of my family members have been, so I know a little bit about how the military does things.

The biggest error I could see was that none of the soldiers fighting together seemed to know each other either. They kept asking each other how they got their nicknames, which got very annoying. From what I understand, soldiers are deployed in units, so they've been training together and thus know each other well which allows them to work together efficiently. The soldiers in "Over There" were portrayed as bumbling idiots that were basically abbondoned by the rest of the military. Plus, the show was boring due to a weak plot and poor character development.

Of course, the show had to open with a gratuitous sex scene (thank heavens for fast-forward), which is a pet peeve of mine. I'm ok with sex (obviously since I have a kid), but I think it is a private and personal thing. I'm so sick of Hollywood liberals that say that what people do in their bedroom is their business and then constantly plaster up bedroom scenes all over the big and little screen. Ok, so Bochco wanted to show the newlyweds with the husband shipping out to Iraq. I think it could have been done a little more tastefully. Sheesh!

I'm not the only one who though "Over There" was horrible. Milbloggers like Blackfive and deployed soldiers interviewed in the Seattle PI had similar reactions. When is Hollywood going to get clue? I though HBO's Band of Brothers was very well done. I'd much rather see "Over There" modeled on that show than on Platoon.

10 Ways to Tell if Someone You Know Is the Mother of a Small Child

10. They accidentally refer to themselves in the third person—often as “Mommy,” e.g. “Mommy likes cheese on her sandwich.”

9. They can’t resist telling you what their child’s last bowel movement was like.

8. You hear them humming or outright singing snatches of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or “The Wheels on the Bus” in a public place.

7. Their shopping cart is loaded to the brim with jars of baby food, formula, diapers, diaper wipes, and baby clothes 2 sizes too big for their child.

6. Every article of clothing they own has green, yellow, or orange stains from either spit-up or splattered baby food.

5. Their once-thick hair has thinned considerably from being constantly tugged on.

4. They appear to not have showered since last Tuesday and smell faintly of sour milk.

3. Said small child is permanently attached to their arms or legs.

2. They have dark circles and bags under their eyes the size of Ohio.

1. Every new feat their child performs, no matter how obnoxious, is immediately deemed “precious” or “adorable,” e.g. “Little Timmy threw his strained peas all over the wall today—isn’t that adorable?”

And Again…Terrorist Attacks in London

I sent my husband off to work yesterday with a prayer for his safety and that the Lord would be with the British people right now as they recover from the terrorist attacks that occurred yesterday. I think many of us here in the blogosphere have been expecting new attacks on the U.S. and her allies in their home countries at one time or another. It was just a matter of when they would occur.

My reaction to the bombings in London is mixed. I feel sympathy and sadness for the victims of the blasts who were just going to work so they could provide for their families. I can’t imagine the terror they must have felt. I’m sure that after the physical wounds have healed that many of them will suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome, and my heart aches for them. Events like this show just how small my problems are in comparison with those that have had loved ones murdered or maimed by terrorists in cold blood. Yet, I admire the pragmatic steadfastness of the British. They have experienced terrorist attacks before (via the IRA) and the citizens and emergency workers worked together quickly and efficiently to aid the wounded. None of the people that were interviewed after the attacks were hysterical or even crying. They seem quietly resolved that these attacks would not force them to change their way of life.

I also feel, quite predictably, anger towards the terrorists that committed this gruesome attack. Call them Koranimals, Islamofascists, splodeydopes, or whatever, I prefer the term evil-doers (a term used by the POTUS). For they quite simply are doers of evil. I don’t care what their motivations or justifications are, they are murderers. I think it’s quite disgusting that leftists (e.g. those found in the fever swamps of Democratic Underground and Indymedia) are already blaming the victims and/or the Jews for the attacks. Oh, if only you’d been nice to the wittle terrorists and left them alone in Afghanistan and Iraq instead capturing and killing them. Yeah, we see how that attitude worked out.

My life has changed considerably since 9-11. At that time, I was still in graduate school and we had no children. I also was less aware of how liberal our media is. I was listening to NPR in fact that morning (as I usually did) when the attacks occurred. Since then, I can’t listen to NPR. I was disgusted with all the attempts to “understand” the motivations of the terrorists, and the virulent anti-Bush rhetoric. The bias towards the Palestinian terrorists as they murdered Israeli civilians was also more than I could stomach. I turned to talk-radio as a forum to vent my feelings, to hear that I wasn’t the only American that felt our government, with its lenient immigration and transportation safety policies had let us down, or the only American that felt that the media was too often blaming the victim—Americans—rather than blaming the Islamic terrorists that had perpetrated the attacks.

I became quite the news junkie. What’s funny is that despite my ignorance at the time, when I heard that not one, but two planes had crashed into the WTC I knew Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were responsible. I had read a few articles in Time magazine or something about his group and their involvement in the Embassy bombing in Africa. Now I’m totally what you would call a Security Mom. I had voted for Bush in 2000, but I kept it a secret from my left-leaning coworkers and friends. But after 9-11, I had no qualms about defending my views and defending the President. I think he has been an outstanding war-time President. I do have a few problems with many of his domestic policies right now, especially the issue of illegal immigration, but that’s a discussion for another time.

These attacks in London have also caused a sense of fear to re-emerge—not fear for my own safety, but for that of my family and friends, especially my son. It’s amazing how strong the bond between a parent and a child is—the desire to protect them at any cost. It is similar to a mother bear defending her cubs because I feel that I would do anything to protect Preston from harm.

I’ve never been into guns, but recently I’ve become interested in learning how to defend myself and my family with them. My husband is from Arizona where one can carry a gun in public in the open, and he learned how to use guns in the Boy Scouts. This year for my birthday, I’m taking a gun training class this Saturday. It's good to know all the legal ins and outs of using a handgun if I am ever in the situation of having to use one to defend myself. Hopefully, that will never happen. I now believe that it’s a good idea for all of the law abiding citizens of the U.S. to own at least one gun and know how to use it properly. Like in Switzerland and Israel, I see it as a civic duty to be able to defend myself and my family from crime and terrorist attacks if the need arises.

So I guess now I’m an official member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (VRWC). Vote Republican? Check (until something better comes along)! Like and use guns? Check! Listen to conservative talk radio? Check! Watch Fox News? Check! Conservative Christian? Check! Rich, evil capital list? Check…er wait. Not rich, not evil. I guess I don’t qualify then.

Anyway, back to London. Tony Blair and the British government have been valuable allies in the war on Terror, but it seems that they are still treating their homegrown terrorists as criminals, not terrorists. Also it seems the British people have had some of their freedoms taken away from them by their socialist politicians e.g. the right to bear arms and the right to criticize Islam for inciting violence. I hope that the British people will be able to get their politicians to be tougher on terrorism. The mosques that incite violence and preach jihad need to be shut down, and the imams that preach that crap need to be arrested and/or deported.

As a descendent of American “colonials” this Yank wishes my British brothers and sisters that God will bless the British people and comfort them in their time of need.

No New Posts for the Time Being

Due to an on-going family crisis, I will not be posting for a while.

UPDATE 07/08/05:
Thanks to everyone for their concern and prayers. I didn't mean to worry everyone by being so cryptic, but I just didn't know what to write. Preston, my husband Randy, and I are fine. The problem concerns one of my siblings. I don't want to go into details right now since the problem has not been resolved, but things are not as bad as I initially feared. Sometimes, loved ones make stupid mistakes or believe weird things, and we have to let them do stupid things or believe weird things. But sometimes there is a time for intervention if these mistakes or beliefs are harmful to them or others e.g. mental illness or substance abuse. No matter what happens though, it's important to show your unconditional love for that person.