Adding to the family

My husband has been itching for another baby since Connor was 2 days old. Of course, he wasn't the one who was up every 45 minutes breastfeeding for the first 2 months straight, so to him, parenting was a breeze. :)

I wasn't opposed to adding to our family, but a series of events sure seems to have stopped us dead in our tracks. The biggest (and obviously most important) is the fact that we don't have health insurance that covers maternity. We have to pay for our own insurance, and when you're buying as an individual, your options are pretty much limited. The only insurance company that offers maternity to individuals is Highmark. Well, Highmark won't insure me because they claim my allergies----for which I take no prescription medications and receive no treatment that is charged to them----is too expensive to cover. But that's a rant for another time. So we have one of those bare minimum plans that really covers nothing. That includes having a baby.

For awhile, my husband was of the thinking that we'd just pay for it out of pocket. When I showed him statistics that the average pregnancy, including prenatal care and delivery, costs over $20,000, he almost had a stroke. And that $20,000 is for an unmedicated, uncomplicated pregnancy. If I needed any intervention, such as a C-section, it would cost a whole lot more. So he gave up that idea pretty quickly.

Me, I see all of this as God leading me toward an option I've been thinking about for a long time, and that's adoption. A close friend of mine adopted her daughter, and they have a great relationship. She gave a child a home, and she has the love of that child in return. The thought that this isn't her biological child has never once stopped her from treating her daughter like her own. I watch those "adoption of the week" segments on KDKA news every week and my heart aches for those kids, some of them as old as 16, who have never had a family of their own and have been shuffled from one foster home to another. I know that I want to provide a home for a child like that, because I have room in both my heart and my home for it. I realize not everyone can love an adopted child the way they would a biological child, but I am not one of those people. I have talked to my husband about all of this, and I think he's starting to realize just how serious I am. Maybe, God willing, he will be led in the same direction.

Vote....or I'm telling everyone you didn't!

I saw this story today and I was dumbfounded. As a member of the media myself, I am not quite sure how this newspaper got away with publishing the names and addresses of people who didn't vote. Voter rolls are public information, but publishing them, along with a person's voting preference and their home addresses, is not. I can't understand why this paper hasn't been sued yet. But just in case they inspire any local newspapers to follow suit, I guess we'd better all get out there and vote, or it'll be our names we see published next!

Here's the story:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Nashville newspaper published the names and addresses of thousands of registered voters who did not go to the polls in the 2004 presidential election.

The paper said it is a way to encourage voter turnout in Nashville.

Some people listed such as Terrence Alexander said the list violates their privacy.

"The tactic is dirty," he said. "I think they should have had the decency to at least call me."

He said he did not vote in the last election because of a medical condition. He intended to vote, but he can't drive.

"I had a ride supposed to come to get me through the election services. No one ever showed up," he said.

"We have people over here who won't go out and vote," said Rosetta Miller-Perry, president and publisher of the Tennessee Tribune. "It's ridiculous. It really hurts."

The African-American newspaper based in North Nashville reaches more than 150,000 people each week, according to the paper's Web site.

The paper plans to publish the names of voters in four to five districts with predominately African-American voters in them.

"Sometimes when you embarrass people they do the right thing," Miller-Perry said.

The paper published a list during the 2006 Senate race. She said in one district voter turnout went from 37 percent to 65 percent after the list was published.

"We need to live up to the civil rights that have been given to us," she said.

Some people listed cited work, lack of transportation or illness among the reasons of why they didn't vote in 2004.

One woman said she had every intention of voting but went to prison right before Election Day.

Miller-Perry said these may all be valid excuses but there are hundreds out there who don't have a good excuse and they need to know their vote is important.

"I intend to vote. Will they come and pick me up," Alexander said.

Since the list cost thousands of dollars to print the paper plans to publish the names online instead of in print for the next election.

It early voting started Wednesday in Tennessee. For details regarding times and early voting locations, contact the local county election commission office or the Tennessee Department of State Division of Elections.

No, the cat isn't a horse......

After three years of hiding under the bed in hopes that Connor would go away, our cat, Gabe, has finally accepted the fact that yes, Connor is a permanent part of the family and he won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

So Gabe has been making nice with Connor, letting him pet him and even cuddling with him on the floor at times. One night, I even found him in Connor's room, trying to figure out how to get up on his bed with him. I thought we were making progress. That was until this morning......

One of Connor's favorite things to have his daddy do is give him a giraffe ride on his shoulders. Well, he got it in his head that Gabe could do the same. All I saw was the cat come tearing into the room and under my desk, with Connor following him saying "Come on, Gabe, you give me a giraffe ride!" Poor cat. Just when he thought it was safe to come out from under the bed.......

I need a vacation.......

I think it's been two years since I've had anything that could even remotely be called a vacation. I'm starting to think I need to do something about that, as lately, I've been very frazzled.

However, I have good reason to be frazzled. Things have been hectic. My dad is about to start radiation for his prostate cancer, we're in the middle of desperately trying to finish the renovations on two bedrooms, and this past weekend, I had to wear 3 hats at church because we were short handed. Follow that up with preparing and serving dinner for 7 people, and I am ready to fall down in a pile.

Yep, I think a vacation is in order. Somewhere warm, exotic and where I won't find cell phone or internet service
so that I can truly be left alone.

I'll be shouting from the rooftops.....

.....if there still is a rooftop to shout from when my husband is all done with renovations, that is.

For what seems like an eternity (really, about 8 months), my husband has been renovating two of our downstairs bedrooms in the house. While I'm glad he has the knowledge to do the work (he used to work construction in college), his time to work on it is severely limited, so it is taking a long time to complete it. He's saving us a lot of money by doing it himself, so I try to look on the bright side when I find myself ready to scream bloody murder because it's taking so darn long.

But I think we're finally entering the final stretch. He's doing wiring today, plus adding an attic access door. Currently, if we want to access the lower attic, we have to climb through a ridiculous hole in our master bathroom on the second floor. Whoever designed that lovely hole was, I'm sorry to be so blunt in saying, an idiot. It has made accessing the attic very difficult.

Once he finishes up the attic door and the wiring, we can put the drywall back up and get at least one room done. We're hoping to have it done before Christmas. It'll be a nice present if it is done by then!

Brings new meaning to multitasking.....

Since cell phones became all the rage a few years ago, it seems you can find people talking on those darn things all the time---while driving in a car, waiting in line at the store and now even while on the toilet. Yes, you read that right---ON THE TOILET.

I have seen this happen more than once in the last two days, and I have to admit, I find it incredibly disturbing. Just this morning, in Panera Bread, a lady was chatting away while doing her business in the stall next to me. And last night, the same thing at the local gas station. And two weeks ago, the same thing happened in the bathroom at the Burger King in Shaler. It was like second nature to these folks. If I were talking to someone and I realized they were on the toilet, I think I might be a little grossed out. That's just TOO MUCH INFORMATION for me to hear and know while you're on the phone with me. These people aren't exactly quiet about their activity, either, so I'm sure the folks on the other end of the phone realize they are in the bathroom. But the conversation goes on like it's perfectly normal and acceptable. Maybe I'm weird, but it just seems wrong to me. And gross. And unsanitary. And I find myself wishing those people would accidentally drop their phones in the toilet. Although, from what I've witnessed lately, that probably wouldn't stop them from continuing to talk on them.

Has our society become so obsessed with staying in touch via cell phone that we can't even keep the darn things in the closed position while we take a pee, or worse yet, a poop? I'm not sure what this says about the people who make calls while on the potty, but it doesn't say much for the people who receive them and just tolerate it. Personally, if I knew someone was calling me from a toilet, I'd hang up on them. There are just some things that are meant to be done in private, not with me on the other end of the phone.

If you read just one book this year, read this one.....

I have been reading a lot lately, mostly because it gets boring watching my 3 year old play for 12-13 hours every day (he doesn't nap anymore, but that's a lament for another time).

Anyway, I saw this book, called The Shack, in the Family Christian Store in Cranberry a few weeks ago. I almost bought it, but wasn't sure I wanted to spend $19 on a book I'd read once then never look at again. So imagine my surprise when last Thursday, I found it in our own public library! I knew then I had to get it and read it. It was like God was telling me to read this book that I was too cheap to buy just a few days ago by making it readily available and free.

I am so glad I read it. This book made me cry, laugh, and then laugh so hard I was crying. In it, Jesus is a black woman who sings soul and wears funky clothes: the Holy Spirit likes to garden a lot; and Jesus is just an average Jewish guy who, as the author puts it, isn't all that strikingly handsome. There are serious undertones to the book, as it is the journey of a man who has had a rough life and has pretty much given up on God. If you haven't read the book, I don't want to ruin it for you. But even the least religious person on the face of the earth would find this book a great read. It's on the New York Times Best Seller list at #1 for a reason, people! Here's a link to the website for the book if you want to learn more or order your own copy: http://www.theshackbook.com/

So if you read only one book for the rest of the year, make it this one. You won't be sorry you did!