Happy 1st Birthday!

Surrobabe Niko is a year old today!! That went fast!

Welcome Marryn

Marryn Grace Kathryn
Wednesday June 17th, 2009 @ 9:41pm
7lbs 11oz
18 1/4 inches

Everything is wonderful!!!

Wednesday June 17th, 2009

IS BABY DAY!!!

I'm scheduled for an induction at 7:30am...so excited!

:D:D:D

37 Weeks

Officially Full Term!

At my last Dr's appointment I explained to him how I am in complete and utter pain most of the time...I have become non-functional. I can't walk anywhere without starting to sweat from the pain...I can't do stairs, I haven't slept in my own bed in months...it's HORRIBLE! So, even though he's told me several times that there is nothing we can do about the pain but wait it out, at the last appointment, he also said that if everything is ok at my appointment tomorrow that we'll "tentatively book me for an induction on the 18th" at 38 weeks 1 day. He said he wanted to make sure that she will be ok to breathe on her own and all that good baby type stuff so we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

We had our shower about a week and a half ago as well and it went awesome. I'm so thankful to everyone who helped and came out to celebrate our new baby girl! I got SOOOO many clothes! Seriously, I don't think I will have to do laundry, she'll have a different outfit everyday until she's at LEAST a year old!!! Way different from my boys showers where I got "useful" baby care items like soap and receiving blankets instead of clothes...I have come to the conclusion that it's because girls clothes tend to not only be cuter (and of course PINK!)but there is a WAY bigger selection of girls clothes to choose from. Either way, we're very grateful for all of our gifts! Thank you!!!

In other news, summer is almost here (HURRAH!), I'm so excited to let the boys sleep in in the mornings...Jonah has been SO tired since our move because his bus comes ridiculously early. Poor kid...twice I've let him stay home because he was so tired and both times he slept until after 10am! Yesterday I let him sleep in and took him to school late because he just wouldn't go to sleep the night before. I'll be happy when we can just go with the flow and get up and go about our day when we feel like it...though I know by the end of the summer they'll be driving me crazy and I'll be counting down the days til school starts again!! Same old thing every year hehehe.

So, that's about it for an update for now...I'll keep you posted on baby day as I know more!

Thanks for still reading my sparse posts...I haven't been up to/in the mood to post in the last little while with all the pain I've been in. I can't wait for everything to be done so that we can come home with our baby girl and get on with life and I can go back to being a stay at home mom instead of a stay at home lump on the couch because it hurts to much to do anything!!!

Brad Paisley

Is one of the biggest *insert horrible name here*'s in the whole world.

http://www.mcknob.com/2009/05/completely-true-brad-paisley-story-and.html

I read this blog all the time...it's friggin fantastic!

Long story short though, Brad Paisley and his wife bought some land in some place beside nashville that had a rental property on it that just so happened to house a non-profit organization for kids who get the shit end of the stick most of the time. It had a petting zoo and climbing walls and so on. When he bought it he said the renters could stay...then not long after his MANAGER came out and gave them a very short period of time to get out...and find a place for all those animals and all the equipment that had accumulated for this awesome organization...

So, I just thought I should keep this story going...spread the word about Mr. Paisley and his "greatness" *scoff*.

Busy, busy, busy...

Well, we finally moved into our new apartment last Thursday...I LOVE it. It's awesome here...big windows, lots of light, lots of room and more than one floor! I'm so happy, we've been starting to get the baby's room ready too so it's starting to become a little more real! I can't believe we only have 54 more days to go til my due date!!

We also had a 3D ultrasound 2 weeks ago...we are definitely having a girl! Here are some pictures:








We have a top three names list right now and they are:

Marryn Grace Kathryn

Eve Kathryn Grace

or

Layla Grace Kathryn


Though anything could change between now and July 1st (or before if she comes early at all).

Anyway, as we get things ready I'll be taking pics and posting them here so stay tuned for nursery photo's...and probably new apartment photos too! Hope everyone is well :)

What's your fairy name?

Boho mom posted this and I LOVE it!!!

Your fairy is called Gossamer Cornglitter

She is a creator of bounty and harvest.

She lives in spiderwebbed wonderlands and insect grottos.

She is only seen in the light of a shooting star.

She wears tiny black spiders on her dresses. She has butterfly wings the colour of yellow corn.

Get your free fairy name here!

The Mounties are gonna kick yer ass!!

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_33132.aspx

Has anyone else seen this? Do Americans REALLY think this way??? Seriously? For real? Cuz dude, really....you honestly think we have men in red coats and big brown hats roaming around on horses chasing our bad guys down????? Wow. Time for school little buddy!

I do beleive we are owed an apology...especially considering we've lost 116 soldiers in a war that was not ours to fight to begin with.

In my home town

We've lost a young soldier. I always get misty when I hear on the news about another Canadian soldier being lost in a war that we didn't start, that we shouldn't be fighting in...but when that soldier is from my home town...oh my God, I am speechless. I didn't know him, but our little town is only 19,000 people...several of my friends did know him. He went to my highschool. He's the same age as my little brother. I'm so sad today.


From the Welland Tribune
Port Colborne soldier killed in Afghanistan
Posted By MAGGIE RIOPELLE AND JOHN VESSOYAN/mriopelle@wellandtribune.ca
Updated 4 hours ago


PORT COLBORNE — Niagara is mourning the loss of its second soldier killed this month by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Tyler Crooks of Port Colborne was one of four Canadian soldiers killed in two separate incidents in Kandhar province, Friday Afghanistan time.

Crooks and Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli, 28, of Sault Ste. Marie, were killed by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol in the Zhari district.

Both were of November Company, Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa. Crooks was in the 1st Batallion; Vernelli from the 3rd Batallion.

Trooper Jack Bouthillier of Hearst, Ont., and Trooper Corey Joseph Hayes, of New Brunswick, were killed just hours later when a roadside bomb exploded in the Shah Wali Kot district, a region northwest of the city that is seeing an increase in Taliban activity.

Eight other soldiers were injured in the blasts.

On March 3, Warrant Officer Dennis Brown of St. Catharines, a member of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, was killed by a roadside bomb northwest of Kandahar.

At a Port Colborne Remembrance Day ceremony in 2007, Crooks, dressed in his fatigues, stood among civilians at the local legion branch.

Then preparing in Petawawa to ship out to Afghanistan the following year, Crooks said the Nov. 11 event is becoming more relevant these days because of the number of Canadians dying overseas.

"It's a day to remember and reflect on all the people who served in the armed forces and helped keep Canada free," he said.

Capt. Scott Costen, public affairs officer for 31 Canadian Brigade Group, said his family plans to issue a written statement today. “Until then, the family asks for privacy,” he said in an e-mail.

Things were coming together for Crooks, who was to turn 24 yesterday. He and beloved fiancée, 23-year-old Kelly Maxwell of Niagara Falls, were planning their wedding and their future together. Crooks was to return from his tour in Afghanistan in one month.

Alex Maxwell, the father of Crooks’ fiancee, called the fallen hero “the son I never had.”

“He was a wonderful kid,” an emotional Maxwell said. “I've got three beautiful daughters, and I just loved him to death. He loved my daughter more than anything in the world.”

Maxwell said yesterday was Crook and his fiancée’s sixth anniversary as a couple.

Kelly worked as a border services agent at the Rainbow Bridge before being transferred to Ottawa.

“They were going together for six years and were planning their life up in the Ottawa area.”

He said Crooks was also a “tremendous hockey player.” He played junior B hockey in Port Colborne and was a star player for the Canadian Army.

Crooks’ picture was shown Feb. 14 on Coach’s Corner, the popular weekly Saturday show that’s part of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. Crooks’ image was also shown on the scoreboard during a Toronto Maple Leafs game.

“He was supposed to meet Don Cherry when he was to come home,” said Maxwell.

“He was always smiling, always laughing. He ribbed me and I ribbed him, always in fun. He never had a bad word about anyone.”

Maxwell continued: "(Crooks) loved being in the army. He loved the outdoors, loved fishing, hunting with his father. He was just an incredible, incredible kid.”

An emotional Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey called the death of Crooks “a tragic loss for this community.”

“To lose a young man like this, on his 24th birthday, is hard to take. This was a young man who put his community and his country above himself.”

Badawey, a friend of the Crooks family, said Tyler Crooks was “a great young man, who will be sorely missed by his community.”

“Cpl. Crooks accepted his mission in Afghanistan to contribute to the freedom of democracy that we, as Canadians, enjoy every day,” the mayor said.

A book of condolences will be at city hall for the public to sign.

Niagara Regional Police Sgt. Tim Welychka coached Crooks as a member of the Dunnville Terriers Junior C hockey team from 2001 to 2003.

Welychka said Crooks at one point considered a career in policing but decided instead to pursue a life with the military.

“I was just floored when I found out this morning. Tyler was a great, great kid.”

He said Tyler was well-liked by his teammates.

“People took a shine to him. He was always a pleasure to have in the room. You wished you had 17 more guys just like him, any coach would say that."

Welychka said hockey players and coaches become part of a family. Coaches get to see their young players grow up, excel in their personal and professional lives.

It's a close connection that is hard to put into words, he said.

"Hockey people are like a family. You watch these kids grow up ... and they go out of their way to see how they’re doing (years later). That friendship is always there, that's what makes it so hard. It's a brotherhood, it's family. My heart goes out to his family. It's way too sad."

Before becoming a soldier, Crooks also played junior B hockey for the former Port Colborne Sailors, currently known as the Pirates.

Team owner Tim Toffolo said he recalls Crooks as somebody who had lots of friends and was well-respected by those who knew him.

“Tyler was a very well-liked individual in town. He was dedicated to what he was doing. It’s a sad loss for the city of Port Colborne. He sacrificed his life for a great cause.”

Lakeshore Catholic High School athletic director Dino Germano taught Crooks.

Germano remembers the young man as an avid weight lifter who was very serious about getting into the military.

“He loved to workout — he worked out hard.”

The teacher was deeply saddened that one of his former students had lost his life.

“He was a good kid.”

Germano remembers Crooks seeing the bright side of everything.

“He was always optimistic. He was well-liked.”

Germano said Crooks never forgot where he came from and visited Lakeshore last year to tell his teachers what he was doing with his life.

“He was happy to see the teachers who taught him,” he said. “He was so proud to be in the military.”

Master Cpl. Vernelli and Crooks were both well-known and popular with other soldiers in their company, which is on the cusp of finishing a six-month tour.

Both men were close with the commander of November Company, Maj. Rob McBride, who often joked with Crooks over the radio about sports.

“They were close friends of his,” said Capt. Chris Reeves, the deputy commander of November Company.

Such was his respect for the young soldier that McBride supported Crooks as a candidate for officer training.

“He was getting ready to (be) on that path to be commissioned from the ranks,” Reeves said. “He would have been good.”

Welland MP Malcolm Allen and St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra said the loss will be deeply felt by the community.

Welland MPP Peter Kormos said while the death of Crooks is tragic for his family and friends, the reason he was in harm’s way in the first place should be a matter of pride.

“We need to remember these young men and woman are not there protecting Canadian turf. They are there to serve human kind,” Kormos said.

“We are saddened by the death of Cpl. Crooks, but we can be proud of the sacrifice he chose to make.”

Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, is urging Canadians not to consider the deaths a failure on the part of anyone, or of the mission itself.

The deaths bring to 116 the number of Canadian soldiers who have died as part of the Afghan mission since it began in 2002.

Crooks’ death marks the third Niagara resident killed in the war-torn country.

Corp. Albert Storm, 36, of Fort Erie died Nov. 27, 2006, after a suicide bomber attack. He was a member of the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, out of Petawawa.

No information regarding funeral arrangements for Cpl. Crooks were made public Friday.


— with files from the Canadian Press and Sun Media

RIP Tyler.

So I'm not the only one who feels this way??

I know this is a controversial subject but I can't help but feel like someone FINALLY spoke my mind for me...

Welland Tribune, March 10, 2009
MINDELLE JACOBS

Vatican lives in a vacuum

Another International Women's Day has passed and the Roman Catholic Church has started the year badly, predictably, by condemning an abortion for a nine-year-old Brazilian rape victim.

The Vatican is having a difficult time forcing women to have unwanted children, particularly in developing countries.

In Brazil, for example, there are an estimated 1.4 million illegal abortions a year. (The procedure is only allowed in cases of rape or to save the life of the mother). One in four pregnancy-related deaths in the heavily Catholic country is due to complications from an unsafe abortion.

But that hasn't stopped the Catholic church from continuing to place the fetus above the health and economic needs of women.

The Brazilian girl, allegedly raped by her stepfather, was pregnant with twins and was given a legal abortion last week because doctors concluded that continuing the pregnancy could have killed her.

Since the Catholic Church couldn't stop her from having an abortion, the local archbishop spanked the family with a religious penalty -- excommunicating the girl's mother and the doctors.

Memo to the Vatican: They don't care. They made what they felt was the right call under the circumstances. And they undoubtedly believe God is on their side.

Tellingly, the archbishop didn't excommunicate the stepfather, who is now in custody. While he allegedly committed a crime by molesting the girl for years, abortion is the more serious offence, according to the church.

"Human law has no value" when it's contrary to God's law, the archbishop explained. How convenient, of course, that old, rich men who are completely out of touch with the harsh realities of people's lives take it upon themselves to interpret God's will.

And so it goes. The Vatican continues to oppose abortion and millions of women around the world -- many of them Catholics in developing countries -- continue to have them because they don't give a hoot about church teaching on this issue.

About one in five pregnancies worldwide ends in abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Furthermore, it doesn't matter whether abortion is legal or not. Women will still undergo the procedure.

The lowest abortion rates in the world are in western Europe and North America, where birth control is widely available and abortion is overwhelmingly safe and legal.
In contrast, the abortion rate is staggeringly high in Africa and Latin America, where abortion is either illegal or severely restricted.

The Vatican lives in a dream world where every child is a wanted child. You naughty Catholics shouldn't be having sex unless you're planning to procreate! No birth control for you!
In fact, according to the Guttmacher Institute, more than one-third of pregnancies in developing countries are unintended and many of those end in illegal abortions.

The result? About five million women a year are hospitalized for complications due to unsafe abortions.

The police raided a medical clinic in Brazil a while back and seized patient records and the authorities are attempting to prosecute 1,000 women who had illegal abortions. Meanwhile, complications from unsafe abortions are the fifth leading cause of maternal mortality in Mexico.

If given the choice, most women would have a couple of kids -- not six or eight. If the Catholic Church really cared, it would be handing out condoms and birth control pills all over the Third World.

It's almost like the church gets off on female suffering.


That said, I don't believe in abortion as a form of birth control but, come on, seriously, a 9 year old who was raped by her step father, pregnant with twins that could kill her and she is excommunicated????? PLEASE. And the stepfather is NOT excommunicated???? PUH-LEASE! How can they accept someone who has committed a crime on a child, one who just so happens to NOT be in the womb anymore, but not accept someone who had an abortion at the age of NINE, someone who shouldn't even know what abortion or rape is, because she may have DIED if she didn't? I don't understand that backwards thinking!!!! It's appalling!!

More on this case http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/03/11/brazil.rape.abortion/index.html ...

Young Bride

When I first read the headline, "9 year old bride walks down aisle in Dallas, Texas" my first thought was what kind of horrible parents let/force their 9 year old to get married??? But then I watched the accompanying video and proceeded to bawl my friggin eyes out. It's the story of a little girl battling luekemia who's battle will end in the next couple of weeks and her only wish was to get married so she did....watch but make sure you have kleenex!!!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/02/24/diaz.tx.9.year.old.wedding.wfaa

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Last Thursday we had an ultrasound done.
Though baby was quite modest and kept legs with knees together most of the time, the ultrasound tech said that when she did get a peek that she thought it's a girl!

We have a 3D ultrasound booked for April 25th...I can't wait!!!

Half-Baked

Well, 20 weeks today! Half way there and it feels like yesterday that I was peeing on sticks just to see those two pink lines!!!

It's amazing, every day I grow more connected to this little life that's growing inside me. I have less worry about not having a big enough heart to love all of these children. I still worry about the birth and what will happen...I'm scared something may happen to me or my uterus but I try not to dwell too much...there's nothing I can do until that time comes and it's still 20 weeks away!

I have still not heard from the court house as to whether they'll approve my request for an urgent motion so that I won't be held in contempt of court when I don't do "my share" of the driving each weekend. By Friday it won't matter anymore and the worst part is I know that even if they do call by then it won't be until next week that we get in there at which point AGAIN it won't matter. Though the boy doesn't want to go this weekend anyway and will stay home so I won't TECHNICALLY be "deliberatley disobeying the court order"...the D-bag told the boy that it's up to him when he comes now and he doesn't want to go because he doesn't want to help them move. Last weekend when he picked him up he asked if he could have him Thursday night until the following Monday and keep him out of school on the Friday and the boy spoke up and said, "Why so I can help you move?" and the D-bag said yes. I don't think that's very fair really....he's barely there and then he has to help them pack and clean and move everything??? Not a very fun kind of "spending time with my dad" kind of weekend.

And then there's the fact that he came home from last weekend and told me that the D-bag's girlfriend told him that he's not allowed to bring his Nintendo DS anymore...I swear they're trying to make him NOT want to go anymore.

He also said that she told him that if he gets all C's again on his next report card he'll be grounded there. It really burns my ass when they say shit like that...that is NOT positive reinforcement. When the boy came home with a report card that looked like that I asked him what he thought. He said he wasn't happy with it. I told him that if he wasn't happy with it then he needed to try his best to get better grades. I did NOT punish him...I don't think that's the way to handle stuff like that and it is discouraging to a child, especially in the middle of the term, reports are due to go home in a month. Now he's going to worry about what his report is going to look like until he gets it...it's not right. If the boy would just buckle down and do the WORK that's given to him he'd get amazing grades...this is not a question of whether or not he CAN do it...it's that he's NOT doing it and I've been working with him to make sure he does it but there is only so much I can do from home.

The D-bag is just pushing him further and further away and I'm not sure if he realizes that or not. It's sad but the boy will come to his own conclusions about his father and one day will form his own opinions as well...I don't think it will be pretty.

Peace and ear-numbing quiet!

The neighbours FINALLY finished moving out on Wednesday night/Thursday morning at like 1:30am (of course we had to get up at 6:30 so I was NOT impressed but didn't say anything because they were GETTING OUT and that was the most important thing).

It is SOOOO wonderful now...no dogs, no kids running back and forth at 11:00 pm, no loud music at any given time and most of all no bitchy teenagers who think the world owe them something giving me the evil eye every time we cross paths!!

I can hear the voices in my head again! (hehe, line from FRIENDS)

Now onto cleaning and organizing and packing my own house. We're moving back to Welland on May 1st. It's a lovely 3 bedroom unit in a four-plex. Full basement with a place that can be a room, laundry hook ups and enough space for a cube freezer and pantry shelves. The main floor is Livingroom, Diningroom and kitchen which is HUGE compared to the little one I have now. There is also a half bath right at the front door...it's TINY but it's nice we won't have to go upstairs everytime we have to use the washroom. Then upstairs is the three bedrooms, full bath and linen closet. Two of the rooms are a really decent size and then the other room, which will be the baby's room (baby's room!!! I've never had a baby's room!!!) is quite a bit smaller but big enough for anything a baby would need a room for.

I'm so excited!! I feel like things are finally moving toward our future. I feel stuck here in Niagara Falls...I don't like it here, the area is not really safe for the kids and all our family and friends except like 2 (mind you they are two of our best friends :( ) are in Welland. This place also has central air which will be nice while I'm nursing a newborn in the middle of July!! We won't stick together like grilled cheese lol!!

Now that we're moving and I have to pack I'm going to do my schooling online (if they ever get around to sending me the email with my passwords) and the first course I'm taking is Grade 11 University Prep English. I have all of my compulsory credits already so I was able to just take whatever I wanted. I'm good with English so I figured, why not. Eventually if I do go to college or whatever I'm probably just going to take something to do with Office Admin anyway because that's what I do best.

Now on to the not so good stuff. My eldest's dad is moving an hour and a half away from me. Which you would think, being that we don't get along, would be a good thing. But it's not, only for one reason...

Our current court order states that I am to "pick up the child at the respondants residence at the end of all access periods".

Yeah...and he's holding me to it. The jerk expecting me to drive at least 3 hours round trip every Sunday except one a month to pick him up at his dads. This are financially tight as it is right now and we just can't afford to add a tank of gas every weekend to the budget.

I have filed court papers which I have to serve tonight and our court date is not until May 6th . Yeah. THREE MONTHS AWAY!!!! They're moving NEXT WEEK!!! I have spoken to a lawyer and he said if I DON'T drive I can be held in contempt of court. Ugh.

So I also filed for an urgent motion to change this arrangement because I don't want to be held in contempt of court and so hopefully the judge will approve my request and we can get in there within two weeks.

I really don't think it should be my responsibility to drive whether I have the money or not being that he's the one who is deciding to move. He tried to counter with the fact that I'm moving back to Welland so "what would be the difference?"....ummmm....the fact that Welland is TWENTY MINUTES AWAY....not an hour and a half!!! And not only that when the court order was written...I LIVED IN WELLAND!!! He can be a real dip sometimes...

Anyway, I'll keep you updated on that...I'll stop rambling about it now because I could go on and on!!!!

Have a great weekend!!!

2 more sleeps!!!

THE NEIGHBOURS ARE MOVING ON SATURDAY!!! WOOOOOOT!!!!!

In other news, lol...I have definitely been a bit more motivated. I cleaned the house last week (not that you can tell now since I had children home for two days) and got registered for school today.

I'm 18 weeks preggo now, it went fast. I have a feeling I won't be thinking that once I hit somewhere around 32 weeks but right now, it's going very quickly.

Not a whole lot to report but wanted to share the news about the neighbours!! I can't wait!!!!!

Potpourri

I know, I've been slacking. But honestly, I feel totally unmotivated lately, I'm just recently (like in the last two days) feeling like doing anything but sitting on my big fat pregnant ass and doing nothing. So, maybe I'm starting to pull out of this funk or whatever it is but I'm hoping to be blogging a little more frequently than I have been in the last two months.

I got some new pics of Niko today:

Isn't he huge for 6 months????

Hmmmm, let's see, what else? Oh, the horrible neighbours are moving out!!! Not this weekend but next! WOOOOOOT!!!! So damned excited! Landlord is leaving it empty for a month so it will be sooooo quiet for the month of February! So happy!

I just made an appointment to go and get registered for school as of February 2nd. I will be completing my high school. I've been VERY bored in the last few weeks since the holidays are over and so I thought, well, I have the time, might as well go do it and get it done before the baby is born. So, I should be a high school graduate by like June. Yay!

Ummmmm, partylite is slow, but that's not surprising considering the time of year and the economy. I'm hoping it will pick up eventually.

We're looking into possibly purchasing a house. Jer's family knows someone who has access to foreclosures so we may be able to get a really sweet deal on a decent house....crossing my fingers but not getting my hopes up. I just have this feeling that we're not bringing in enough money for a mortgage just yet. If not then we will continue to rent and we'll be moving back to Welland in August.

That's about it for now...I am really hoping I'm out of my slump....spring is just two months away!!!!

I can relate to this article...

So, it's 9:28 am EST and I've been awake since 4:30am. I woke up not feeling very well and instead of disturbing Jer who had to work at 7:00 am I thought, I'll go sleep on the couch. Well, SLEEP did not happen. No, no, the neighbours new puppy decided it was time to play!!! 4:30 am. Running back and forth playing with a bone or some other hard object until 8! LOVELY!!!

I've been having problems with these people for EVER but I'm SO stressed out now I can relate to this article (though I would never EVER do something like this and I think this guy is a bit ridiculous considering it was only parking a car on the street).

Lack of sleep will make ANYONE a little strung out but when a pregnant woman doesn't get her sleep..........*breathes in and out slowly lest she goes medevil on the neighbours*

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_30788.aspx

And HOW is this still taking place in this day and age????

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/08/png.witchcraft/index.html

A New Year

Happy Holidays everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful celebration.

We've been very busy...non-stop almost since the tuesday before Christmas. I've wanted to post but haven't had the time or inspiration. I don't know if it's just this time of year, the time of hibernation or what but I don't feel like anything I have to say is important enough to post it here.

Sure, I could bitch about my lovely neighbours who are the loudest and rudest people on earth, or their puppy who cried for 8 hours the other day because it was locked in a kennel (poor puppy :(). I could bitch about my so called "siblings" who didn't speak to me at our uncles funeral.

But really, I don't feel like it. I don't feel like telling the whole story. I don't feel like I'm asking for advice because really there is no solution to either of those problems at the moment. It's just bitching.

I'm in the 2nd trimester now and feeling better but looking worse. My skin looks terrible and my hair is completely unmanagable.

I think I may have my bitchy pants on for a while so I don't know when I'll post again. I feel like I bring the mood down when I write a bitch post. And that's all I got right now....a bitch post.

So, I hope you all had a good New Years and hope your 2009 had a better start than mine did. I hope this is not a foreshadowing of the year to come....

What do you think?

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/18297000/detail.html

Long story short: A Muslim woman was wearing a hijab in a U.S. court room and was asked to remove it as they have a law of no headgear. When she refused she was arrested.

What do you think? Should she have been allowed to wear her hijab even though laws state it is not permitted based on freedom of religion?

My opinion? She should have removed it. I'm all for freedom of religion and what not but I really think that this law of no headgear in a court room is more for safety purposes than anything. It hides distinguishing features. If someone walked into a bank with a ski mask on and said it was part of their religion what would happen? I know it sound ridiculous and "out there" as an example but to me it's the same thing. It hides distinguishing features and it could be used as a disguise. I could put on a hijab and say I was Muslim but does that make me exempt from following the law? I don't think so.

Assisted Suicide

I know this is a huge contraversial issue but I think it is one that needs to be examined further and all sides debated.

When my father was suffering/dying of lung cancer, my cousins 8 year old son said something so profound it made me change my views on this topic all together. He said, "We will put our animals down so they don't suffer but we won't put humans down so they don't suffer?? Why??"

And it's true. Why are we more humane to our animals than we are to our people?? Now I'm not saying that someone who has the shit end of the stick in life and is down and depressed should be allowed to have an assisted suicide. But I do think that someone who is suffering from a disease that there is no cure for, that is terminal, one that the inevitable end is death no matter how much medication you take, should be allowed, if they so choose, to go to sleep peaceful and just not wake up in that state of suffering again.

Here is the article that inspired me to write this post:

Britain In Shock After Film Showing Man Committing Suicide Is Broadcast On TV
Thursday December 11, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff

Reality TV has been heavily criticized over the years for its increasing willingness to take things to graphic extremes.

But a show that aired on Wednesday night in the U.K. has brought a new focus to the debate over how far is too far. And it was viewed by millions of people who likely weren't sure whether they should even be watching it in the first place.

This wasn't some game show with a million dollar prize. Instead, it was a sombre opus about life - and most especially, death. It involved the televised suicide of a computer scientist from Chicago named Craig Ewert.

The 59-year-old, who suffered from an incurable and degenerative motor neuron disease, had decided to end his life in an assisted suicide at a clinic in Switzerland. But he didn't want to go out without spreading the word about his ultimate solution to ending his pain.

So he agreed to have his final act be part of a documentary that traced his life and death. His goal: to show that assisted suicide is a humane act that ends needless suffering.

The documentary, originally called the "Suicide Tourist," was made by Canadian filmmaker John Zaritsky in 2006. It features Ewert's struggling to cope with a disease that has left him feeling like "an empty shell."

As it follows him on his journey from Britain - where assisted suicide is illegal - to Switzerland, he explains he wanted to have it filmed to ensure authorities reconsidered their stance against the act.

"If I go through with it, I die as I must at some point," he recounts in the film. "If I don't go through with it, my choice is essentially to suffer, and to inflict suffering on my family, and then die."

"I think I can take my bow, and say: Thanks, it's been fun," he notes later.

As for the moral aspect of what he's doing? Ewert is blunt. "Some people might say: "No, suicide is wrong, God has forbidden it. Fine, but you know what? This ventilator is God."

He also sends an emotional message to his adult son and daughter, hoping they'll understand why he cut his life short.

"I would hope that this is not a cause of major distress to those who love me," he indicates through a voice activated computer, having lost the power of speech. "This is a journey I must make."

In the final scene, Ewert is seen lying in bed, wearing a ventilator. As the documentary nears its end, and with his wife by his side and Beethoven's ninth symphony playing in the background, the subject takes some pills, asks for a glass of apple juice and struggles to swallow the bitter barbiturates.

His wife of 37 years is seen holding his hand as his life slips away. "Have a safe journey," she tells him through tears. "See you sometime."

He uses his teeth to turn off his ventilator and in front of the unblinking eye of the camera, he dies on screen.

The Oscar-winning documentary has been shown on TV in Canada before to little reaction. But it stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy in England about reality television finally going too far.
Many religious groups are condemning the concept of taking one's own life and others are shocked that it was allowed to air at all.

The debate has been so great it has even come up in the British Parliament, where the opposition has been demanding to know why Prime Minister Gordon Brown didn't step in to stop it from being shown.

The P.M. claims the federal watchdog in the country will be reviewing whether the show should have aired.

Zaritsky has explained it would not have been honest to the film's mission if he hadn't shown its true ending. But the program, aired on a normally little watched cable channel, appears to have had the effect Ewert was hoping for.

Opinion polls now say that 80 per cent of the British public believes assisted suicide should be allowed in the country if there's no chance a patient will recover and if it will stop someone from suffering.

Article from City News, Toronto