Random Thoughts from Me--The Middle Age Wife and Mom

I Thought these Days were OVER...  Yesterday we spent two hours in a too-warm, nondescript office getting absolutely nothing accomplished.  24 years ago when the boys were born, B (my firstborn) suffered an Intraventricular Hemorrhage, Grade II.  It caused hydrocephalus during the time he was in the NICU, resulting in pools of blood in his tiny noggin, affecting his right side.  The doctors didn't know if he would be blind, if he would talk, walk or be able to learn.  But he was my baby and he was ALIVE.  That was all that mattered to me. Fast forward to 1st grade.  He's walking, albeit with a pronounced limp but he is happy and healthy.  He has some trouble staying on task, so the doctor diagnoses ADD.  Okay, we can deal with that.  There are many medications out there that can help.  So he went on a series of medications, the side effects of each one worse than the last.  In 2nd or 3rd grade after vomiting every day ...

What a Day... Many of you know my husband. He is a good man, hardworking and strong, hot-headed and belligerent, but someone who would give you the shirt on his back if you asked. He has helped me raise two of the finest boys --well, men --I have ever known. He cares for his family with sometimes the last 2% of energy he has. This man has worked in the same job for the past 23 years. He works hard, making things lovely and beautiful and something to be proud of. He works in our city's beautification department which I will not name. Before he started there, he owned his own landscaping/designing business, but when I was pregnant with our children we experienced one of the worst droughts to date and he lost thousands in revenue. So he took down his shingle and went to work for the establishment, to make certain his new babies and wife would have what they needed. After our boys were born so early I understood how important his sacrifice for our family really was. Today he b...

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say what I'm sure 99% of women have been thinking for the past 2 months.  If you have not been treated improperly, sexually harassed, been hassled with off color, sexist jokes, had your behind pinched by someone you don't have a relationship with, been pulled into a "hug" that made you feel WAY uncomfortable, had someone put their hands on you when you did not ask for them to nor want them to, you are not a woman.  This stuff, while the center of attention now, has been going on for hundreds of years.  Women have dealt with it for so long, it has become 'normalized'. Men have always been more powerful and some have held that power over women ---for increases in grades, pay, jobs, etc.  Then you get the people that read and watch things like 50 Shades of Grey...which is EXACTLY the same thing that is being reported and these people are being fired for.  And still they make more money on the premise that it...