What is Important. RIGHT. NOW.

I have been conflicted about writing about what happened in Connecticut on Friday.  So many have been so quick on the trigger to put out their opinions and I didn't want to be that one who threw out some fodder before really taking the time to think and process exactly what has happened.  At first I thought to myself that I just had to put something out there.  I needed somewhere for my anger to go.  I needed an outlet.  Then I made the mistake of getting on my social media sites and found my anger going somewhere I didn't really want it to go.  I immediately logged off and curled up on the couch with my kids for a while, then baked some cookies, and decided that writing out of anger was not a good idea.  Today I have had limited access to my social media, and the few minutes I spent checking in on things, I remembered why I had logged off yesterday.  I was left asking myself this question, and I suppose I am asking you the same; What is really important here?

When this tragedy first hit the news, all I could think about was how horrible I felt for these families, the victims, the survivors, the community, the country.  There was a pit in my stomach that brought tears, sadness, anger, fear.  Tears and sadness for those parents who sent their children to what is supposed to be a safe place and now they will never be able to tuck them in at night or kiss their angel faces.  Anger that someone could commit this heinous act against another human, let alone defenseless children.  Anger that so many people are so insensitive and self centered.  Fear in my heart that not even our schools are safe anymore.  Fear that I am here raising five children in this world so full of uncertainty and hate.  Fear that my children will not be allowed to be the children that they should be, but instead they will be forced to be children who are constantly looking over their shoulders unsure of the dangers that are lurking behind them.

Like so many others, I turned to social media for information, for a place to find guidance and help, a place to share my emotions, a place to comfort not only myself but my friends.  What I found instead was anger.  Not anger towards the coward that committed this act, but anger towards each other.  Anger not about what actually happened in that small town in Connecticut, but anger over a political issue.  Anger that brought out words that I was disgusted to read so soon after such a tragedy.  Words that were meant to hurt others and incite an argument.  Words aimed to divide and separate us instead of bring us together. Words so unnecessary in the moment that it was then that I realized my mistake and immediately logged off.  Two simple words really.  Two words that are a hot debate, a hot political item.  Two words that, to me, have absolutely no right being discussed on the day of, or the days immediately following, a tragedy such as this.  Two words that cause such a divide in this country that it brings out the worst in people.  Two words; Gun Control.

I am not a card carrying member of the NRA, nor am I anti-gun, so before you go all bat shit crazy on me I ask you to just read and think.  I am a mother.  I am a wife.  I am a citizen of the United States. I have my own thoughts and I will not push them on you and I ask you to do the same for me.   I have very mixed emotions on this entire issue and I am not looking for someone to sway me one way or the other.  I am not looking for a debate on why we need more control or why we don't.  What I am looking for is some compassion.  Some understanding.  Some separation.  Some support.  Some love.

I have a very difficult time understanding why, in light of such a terrible tragedy, everything is turned into a political platform.  Yes, it is unimaginable and horrific what happened in that beautiful school. No, I do not see what politics has to do with what happened at this. exact. moment.   I truly, in my heart, do not believe that bringing up the topic of gun control makes a damn bit of difference at this very moment.  This is the type of change that takes months, if not years to make.  The type of change that is riddled with arguments, anger, and resentment.  The type of change that isn't going to change what happened in that elementary school.  These families, these children, this community don't need to be subjected to the debates and hate speech aimed at the opposing sides.  They need to be shown that we are truly joined together in support.  That we are praying for them, meditating, thinking, lighting candles, however you show support and love for those who need it.

Now is not the time for arguments.  Now is the time for help, and for healing.  This community has a long road ahead of them.  Funeral arrangements to be made, decisions about their school, grieving, crying, healing.  Now is the time for the rest of us to quit bickering for just a few days and think about what is really important RIGHT. NOW.  Right now at this very moment.  Right now there are twenty sets of parents grieving for the loss of a child that was supposed to outlive them.  Right now there are seven families grieving for the loss of a parent, spouse, cousin, sibling.  Right now there is a community drowning in sorrow.  Right now there are survivors dealing with emotions that those of us who were not there could never imagine.  Right now there are families who have gifts under their tree that will never be opened.  Right now we, as a country, need to help lift them up and show them that we do care about them.  Right now is the time to help, not argue.  I beg you to please stop the arguing over gun control.  It isn't helping this community.  It isn't helping anyone RIGHT NOW at this very moment.  We can debate next week, why don't we HELP this week?

Here are just a few ways that you can help RIGHT NOW.  If you know of other ways to help, please leave a link in the comments.  My comments are moderated, so once I have verified, they will be published.

Life According to Julie: Helping a Family Who Has Lost Their Beloved Son.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/connecticut-elementary-school-shooting-how-to-help_n_2302760.html

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/How-to-Help-Victims-of-Newtown-School-Shooting-183635951.html

TGIF Blog Hop; 12/14

Welcome back to new and improved the TGIF Blog Hop, hosted by Funny Postpartum Lady, Overworked Supermom, and You Know It Happens At Your House Too!
TGIF Blog Hop is a great way to gain new followers and bring more traffic to your blog.

It's also a great way to meet other bloggers and get great tips, ideas, and read cool blog posts.
HOW DO YOU SIGN UP? EASY

NEW RULES!!! ((WE WILL GO BACK TO OUR "TRADITIONAL HOP" IN JANUARY))

I know we get tired of all the rules we have to follow. So We are going to make this simple. We'd love for you to at least follow the hosts as we work hard to bring traffic to the hop. We'd also love for you to add the button to your page. But you don't have to do either.

HOWEVER!! I will randomly select one person from the blog hop who will get free ad space on FUNNY POSTPARTUM LADY'S page for an entire month for free. I will check to see that the person follows all three hosts. So, it pays to follow us but you don't have to.

Here is the other thing. If you are looking for new followers, simply put FOLLOWSBACK by your name when you link up. This way, other bloggers who are also looking to increase their followers can link up with you. If you are merely looking to read other pages and maybe gain readers based on what you post, then use a description that best describes your blog when you link up. I told you it was easy. We do just ask that you be respectful to one another and have some fun!

Also feel free to grab the code and share on your own blog. You'd be surprised how many more readers will click on your post if you put "With linky" in the Title.

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Me, Pioneer Woman?

This post was originally fed to the 50 readers I had back in March.  So much has changed since then, including my writing.  I have to tell you, I had to edit this one a bit before re-posting.  Trust me, you should be thanking me for that.  I'm sure most of you have NOT read this one yet, so enjoy.

Today Farmer Bob put me to work stacking firewood.  At first, I was NOT excited about this task.  Why yes Farmer Bob, I would LOVE to spend my Sunday doing manual labor.  Trying to find some positives out of this, I started thinking and thought of two things: 1) I'm getting in some cardio AND weightlifting all at once, BONUS and 2) could I have been a pioneer woman?  I have to blog about this. 

I am one of those people that loves to drive around and picture what the landscape looked like before the power poles, the roads, the fences, the housing developments.  I look at rotted out old houses and imagine what it would have been like to live there.  I dig it.  I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was a girl.  It is when I wake up and come back to the now that  I realize I am nuts.  I couldn't live like that.  N-E-V-E-R.  I am way too spoiled with my modern conveniences.  Here are just a few of my justifications as to why I could NOT be a pioneer woman.

I like being able to say this!

1.  I like to cleanse myself.  I don't like nasty week old funk.  I don't want to smell it or smell like it.  I don't want to see the fungus growing on you or your teeth.  I like deodorant, and toothbrushes, and soap. Smell good soap.  With matching lotion.  I like to wash my hands before I eat and wash my face before I go to bed.  I don't have the time or patience to have to heat my water over a fire in order to make it warm in order to take a relaxing bath.

2.  I love refrigeration and ice.  Ice makes the world go round, especially the little rabbit turd ice that you get at restaurants. What is it about that ice?  I love ice cold water, soda pop, tea, coffee (not really coffee, but I was on a roll). I love being able to eat my food without the lingering fear of suffering through an intestinal armageddon.  The thought of eating something that has not been properly stored makes me shudder.

Uh...no thanks

3.  I love indoor plumbing.  #2 made me think of this one (pun totally intended).  Just imagine having a bad case of food poisoning and having to set up camp in an outhouse.  Take a port-a-potty and multiply the grossness level times one thousand.  We actually still have an outhouse here at casa de YKIHAYHT. It is not functional at this moment, but I keep threatening the littles that I'm gonna pop the top on that sucker if they complain again about not having enough bathrooms.  I could not imagine having to walk all the way over there when, to quote the Bridesmaids, "It's coming out of me like LAVA!"  Dear Lord.

4.  I like automobiles.  Just picture yourself cruising cross-country to claim your little patch of heaven in a covered wagon.  I like air conditioning and soft seats. I like having music to listen to and heated seats in the winter.  How would I get by without being able to roll down the windows and crank up the music on a nice day?  Not to mention I like to get from point A to point B in a timely manner, with no bruises on my ass.  Let us not forget all the perils they would encounter.  Indians, thieves, not to forget they didn't have coolers.  All their food for the entire trip was in that wagon, refer to numbers two and three. It isn't like they had easy access to doctors or health insurance.  At least they didn't have to pay for gas I guess.  



Can you turn up the radio??

5.  I like pants, shorts, and flip flops.  I could not wear a long sleeve dress and bonnet every day.  While not having to worry about doing my hair and makeup would be quite lovely, the thought of being confined in a full coverage dress gives me the shakes.  I would have preferred to be in jeans, boots, and carrying a big gun.  These days if you ever find me wearing a dress, chances are it is summer, the dress is sleeveless and there will be a one hundred percent chance that there will be flip flops on my feet.

Yeah, I think not.  Especially while gathering buffalo dung. 

6.  I L-O-V-E my bed.  If I wanted to sleep on hay, I would live in the barn.  I like snuggling down under my blankets in my bug-free comfort zone.  In my house, with locks on the doors and windows. Heat and air conditioning.

And the main reason...

7.  I'm WAAAYYY to lazy.  This is the bottom line.  These women busted their humps just to survive.  They couldn't just run to Target to pick up some milk.  If they were lucky they had a cow, which they had to milk.  Farmer Bob keeps teasing me that he is buying me a milk cow.  No. Farking. Way.  I am not milking three times a day.  How ever would I have time to do that?  In-between phone calls,  laundry loads, and games of Candy Land?  After I check my Facebook account but before I get on Pinterest or check my email?  

They cooked their own food, from scratch.  No box mix. Throw in some lard, some flour, some eggs if you had some and turn it into something spectacular.  They may have had the screaming shits after eating some bad meat, but they didn't whine about it.  Life went on.  They had things to do, like gathering buffalo dung  for fuel and skinning those rabbits for supper.

They made their own clothes by hand.  No machines, no patterns, no Old Navy, Gap, or Gymboree.  If something got a hole in it, they fixed it because they didn't have access to new.  If they were lucky they had shoes.  One pair.  Better hope they fit and they had better last.

They had how ever many babies they were blessed with.  They were not aware of their bodies.  No Tampax or Kotex.  They didn't have access to birth control, or medical care.  They birthed until they just didn't anymore.  No epidurals, no doctors, no maternity leave.  Squeeze that baby out and get to cookin.  They didn't get nights out for drinks with the girls or dinners out at a nice restaurant.  

Could I have been a pioneer woman?  Not only no, but HELL NO!!  Not now, I'm spoiled.  Sure, they didn't know any different, that is just the way it was.  We (I) have become too spoiled with all our modern conveniences.  Would I like to give it a shot?   I'm not afraid of a little old-fashioned work.  I think I could survive until I had to gut the pig or dig a new hole for the outhouse. I would most likely go through some sort of social media withdrawl and would miss all of the comforts of home so I think I could only make it for a few days. I'm a pansy like that and of course by then, I wouldn't be able to stand my own funk anymore.

What about you???