Octomom weigh in

Every other blog seems to have touched on this topic...well, some of them anyway. I figured I would join the ranks.

I am assuming that everyone has heard about the woman in CA who had octuplets a few weeks ago. Wow, that's a lot of kids...but then we find out that she already had 6 other children at home. If you thought 8 was a lot...well 14 is just crazy, right?

There are lots of large families who have been able to create a great life for themselves. I can think of a few with children numbering 7 or more. But this woman has become the target of a lot of hatred. Why?

There are the obvious reasons some people give: she isn't married, she can't support them, she doesn't have a job, she may not be mentally 'stable', her reasons for having the kids weren't what we thought they should be, etc. Is that all? When I think about this person, I get angry as well. I feel sorry for the children. I also feel jealous. Now I'm not saying I want 8 babies...all at once. But I am jealous that this woman gets to experience this miracle SOOO many times over. I am jealous that she apparently has no selflessness. She seems to have no regard for anyone other than herself...and she's fine with it. Rack up a whole bunch of debt and wait for someone else to bail you out.

Obviously this woman is not good at taking advice from friends and family. It made me think that there must be people in everyone's life that are like this woman....on some level. Do we have the right to tell them what to do because we think we know best? Maybe they're racking up too much debt...maybe they're having kids they can't support...etc. We may be pretty sure we know best...should we offer unsolicited advice? In my case I find it hard to bite my lip when I 'think' I know something. I know that if I don't give them my two cents, it will be me and others cleaning up the mess afterwards. But does that make it right? Am I rambling???? Is someone advising me to stop this post now? :)

I guess I'm asking you readers what you think about the octomom's case....and is it right to give people advice they didn't ask for? Is it right to say "I told you so" in hopes it helps stop future mistakes? Should we still step in to help with the aftermath? Should I even have bothered to write this?

One more thing...if you want to post and not leave your name...that's fine - give me your solicited two cents!

I need to reminisce

Last night I watched ER. This used to be a television show I watched religiously, but over the years, favorite characters have left the show and time for TV has somewhat diminished. This happens to be the last year for the show and in these final weeks the 'powers that be' have decided to bring back favorite characters from the early years.

So last night Dr. Carter (Noah Wylie) made his return to ER. I enjoyed the reunion and look forward to the final weeks, even if the ending seems like it might not be a happy one.

So why is the show such a big deal to me? Good question...after all, it's just a glorified soap opera. I suppose my sentimental attachment to the show started in college. I was already 'hooked' on the show before my freshman year, but as time progressed I enjoyed it even more. Girls may not be able to bond with each other over their majors, their families, or their lifestyles - but they CAN bond over ER. Whether it was the screams as George Clooney took to the screen or the tears shed during an emotional story line - it seemed to be a show that brought us together....literally. My senior year of college found me living in a campus apartment with 5 other girls. On Thursday nights at 9:00 you could find between 10-15 girls, 4 pizzas, and countless bottles of pop and water strewn about. (why didn't we ever drink beer with our pizza?) It may not seem like much to an outsider, but it really did cement friendships.

There's also the acedemic side to the show that people may forget about - really! I'm not kidding. :) It helps that half of the audience in our apartment had majors in the medical field. So when terms like diverticulitis popped up - they were quickly explained to yours truly, the lone math major. I swear I learned something.

I guess what's important here is that each of us has something in our lives that we are nostalgic about. So, take some time to revisit yours. I plan to next Thursday...although John pobably won't be joining me. :) Last night during the show I found myself talking to myself. "No way!" "Come ON!" and "YAY!" could be heard muttered downstairs. John was perched on the couch upstairs, and I believe he was laughing at me. :)

Here is Will sproting Katie's boots, and his recent haircut....done by me. I think it looks fairly ok.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today John and I celebrated Valentine's Day by donating blood for the first time. You'll all be glad to know that we survived and are no worse for the wear. I went first and then John went a couple hours later. I must say I got quite queasy towards the end of the whole process, but a bit of apple juice and some encouraging words from the kind nurses went a long way. I was also told that I have good veins, and I'll take a compliment about my body where ever I can get it. John, of course, took it like a big boy...he says it didn't phase him a bit. All in all, we are happy with ourselves and not sure why we waited as long as we did to do it.

Katie got a lot of Valentine's at school yesterday. This was the first year that I let her get some and give them out to her friends. She was very happy and excited to do it. Between her and Will I think they got more mail the last few days than John or I did. Katie says she wants to go to both of her Grandma's houses to celebrate Valentine's Day.

"Well it isn't that kind of holiday," I told her "we just stay home."

"But we went to their houses to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving!"

To Katie, this holiday ranks right up there. I conceded and offered, instead, to get a heart shaped pizza for supper tonight from Papa Murphy's. That seemed to work. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Katie and Will sharing the earbud earphones and enjoying some music. Their one and only independent act of kindness to each other today. It lasted a whole 6 minutes too.

Readin' and Watchin' Update

Boy the weather sure has improved. We haven't had any sun up here, but the temperature has stayed above 20 for a good week now. We've even had some rain which has helped to really melt the snow. I can see lots of grass in our yard now! I'm sure it won't stay this way, but it helps to remind me that this (winter) too shall pass.

John and I watched "There Will Be Blood" this week. Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for best actor last year...it takes us about a year to catch up on movies. It's the story of an oil man on a ruthless quest for wealth during the early 20th century. Wow - it was very good...kinda freaky, but very well done. A couple weeks ago we watched "Into the Wild." Hmmm...as John said, it was kind of a downer. :) We had both read the book a few years ago - it's about a guy in his early 20's who gives up everything he owns to live a life in the 'wild.' His dream is to trek across the beautiful, yet harsh land of Alaska - which ultimately kills him. (Sorry - spoiler alert!) I wanted to see the movie because Sean Penn directed it, and it had a decent soundtrack filled with lots of Eddie Vedder music. Both the book and the movie left a bad taste in my mouth - I just can't stand the main character. I don't like his arrogance.

Next - I think I need something lighter to watch. So we are getting "Burn After Reading" with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, and John Malkovich...what a cast. Even lighter yet..."Hannah Montana: The Movie." I thought I had heard that it was opening this weekend, so I told Katie about it and said that we would go together next weekend. (For some silly reason, John is not at all interested in this one.) The problem is, I heard wrong...the movie doesn't open til April 10th....oops. So hopefully she will forget if I just don't bring it up anymore.

On another front - I started reading "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. I am impressed with it so far. I really enjoy it! It's definitely a 'chick' book, but not an overly sappy story. It has an edge to it. It's also this author's first book - which also surprises me. Guess you gotta start somewhere. It reminds me of "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova - great book! That was her first novel as well and dealt with the 'blood drinkers'. :) (Thanks to Shelley for that one!)

I think Katie gets her style from me.

As if I didn't have enough competition for the iPod. I downloaded a 'game' geared for Will. It has about 12 pictures of animals. You touch the picture and the animal makes the corresponding sound. He really likes it and is learning the names of the animals...although he doesn't get to do it very often.

It's about naptime now - the kids are playing quietly downstairs...too quietly. Better go check.

A picture mix...

Not too much to say today, but I thought a post was due.

We went to a book sale at the library and got a bag full of books - (about 25!) for $7.00. I call that a good day. I got a nice mix of Will books, Katie books and adult books. Some titles that we found were Harold and the Purple Crayon, 3 great Judy Blume books, Mystic River, and Snow Falling on Cedars.

Here is Katie and one of her 'best friends', the crab we ate for our anniversary. Turns out she liked it alot. The lens is all smudgy because, well, because my fingers were a mess of crab and butter!

One morning, not too long ago, Will threw a fit because he wanted to put on Katie's jeans. (Note her pink shirt that he already managed to get on.) Fine, I thought - but you are going to throw an even bigger fit when we put them on you and they don't fit. WRONG! They did fit - around the waist anyway. Of course the length was a bit too long, but easily fixed. Then I thought it would be fun to see if HIS pants fit Katie. Sure enough - his pants were Capri's on him, but the waist was fine. Will hung out in Katie's pants the rest of the day. Katie didn't leave pants on because she wanted her summer dress on. Yep - it's -10 degrees outside, but a summer dress make sense to me.

And finally, I thought it would be fun to post a picture from one year ago. This was in January of last year - at our old townhome. Katie's hair is a bit longer, and obviously Will has changed a lot!

Joint Resolution

This year I didn't really make any New Year's resolutions...not that I do any year. But a few weeks ago I had been to see our chiropractor for an adjustment and was told they were having a blood drive on Valentine's Day. Hmmm...that's always something I think I should do - but never have. Chalk it up to fear of needles, blood, etc. But even since I was pregnant with Katie I have felt an obligation to donate blood.

I was tested for many things while pregnant, as are everyone. I never even knew my blood type. They tested for something called your "Rh factor". It came back that I was Rh negative, which means that there was a possibility that my blood and the baby's blood would not mesh well. For subsequent pregnancies there would be a greater chance of miscarriage unless I subjected myself to a few shots here and there. These days it's really no big deal. Through this whole process I learned that my blood type is AB-.

The most common type of blood is O. They are called universal donors and can donate to anyone. The rarest type is AB-. That'd be me. Less that 1% of the entire population has this type of blood. We are called universal receivers...we can receive blood from almost anyone. (How selfish of me.) But sometimes a perfect match is needed, and since I have a rare blood type, I've always felt that I should do my part.

I mentioned this to John one night and he was all for donating too. Like me - he had never given blood, but always felt it was the thing to do. So, we are both scheduled to donate blood for the first time on Valentine's Day. How romantic. We won't be going at the same time since someone has to stay home and watch the kids, but still...maybe we'll sit in the same chair or something.

Some of you may be familiar with my history on V-Day. I like to call it a curse....For the last 3-4 years something bad has happened that evening. I had a very bad flu one year, went to the emergency room another year, and last year our furnace quit...all on the same day. I'm thinking this is the year to turn it around.

Should I mark it as a charitable donation on my taxes? :)

Been awhile since we had a cute picture...