Are We There Yet?

It’s Monday Listicles time!  I don’t know what I would do without Stasha’s blogging meme.  Monday’s are always a bit rough around the edges and Listicles gives just enough push to get things rolling at Sperk* for the week.

This week’s prompt:  10 Things Road

1. Putting on Make-up – I am chronically late.  I put make-up on in the car if the trip is longer than 10 miles.  This also gets me out of driving.

2. Are We There Yet? – I thought this would get better and be heard less as the girls got older, however, I was wrong.  I still hear it frequently even on trips 20 miles away to their dad's.

3. The Avett Brothers and Pearl Jam – For long road trips, these bands are key.  The reason being is that I fail to remove these two discs from the car or add additional choices.  Nor do I have the gear which makes it possible to plug in my smartphone.  It’s OK.  Makes for great sing-alongs.  We know ALL the lyrics.

4. Love’s Truck Stop – When traveling to M’s childhood home, if you have to pee or want a snack or drink, you have to wait approximately 160 miles until we get to Love’s.  It’s a tradition.  Traditions are not to be broken. . . even though there are plenty of other places to stop along the way.

Love's Truck Stop, Interstate 71

5. Pillows – Although when the girls bring their pillows there is quite a scuffle getting them arranged to suit their comfort, without the pillows the entire trip is filled with statements such as, 

“Hmph, I wish YOU wouldn’t have forgotten my pillow.”

or

“My face is now indented with the outline of the door handle.”

6. Snacks – Combos, lemonade, Cheez-Its, sunflower seeds, McDonald’s french fries, energy drinks, Vitamin Waters.  All consumed with fair warning that access to Love’s facilities is 160 miles away.

7. Car Sickness – I always attempt to read during long trips.  I always get nauseated.  I have hopes of outgrowing this. Maybe when I’m 50.

8. Sleep – I don’t even need to be tired.  Moving vehicle + eyes closed = deep sleep.  Annoys everyone because I am the snack retriever, D.J., argument mediator, and navigator.

Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky

9. Landmarks Viewable from the Interstate - ANY, and I repeat, ANY building, race track, barn, ballpark, sky scraper, or spot in which an accident occurred in the past is pointed out by M.  Even though we all know of these landmarks because he points them out every single time we are on the road, he is still compelled to wake us and give us a 10 minute soliloquy of their significance.

10. The Ohio River – M is from Louisville, I am from the Rust Belt. The river kept us sane as we grew up and provides comfort when we finally reach it at the end of our road trips home. Thank God for the great Ohio.

photo credit: Ben Fredericson (xjrlokix) via photopin cc

10 Things for which I Refuse to Carry a Cross

I’m a recovering Catholic.  This is Holy Week.  Here are the 10 things I refuse to feel guilty about, even as Jesus prepares for His torturous walk toward Golgotha.

1. Eating Meat on Fridays During Lent – Catholics are called to fast every Friday during the season of Lent which has taken on the form of abstaining from meat. . . which has turned into millions of Catholics convening each Friday in their parish halls for a total pig out on fried fish.  Pigging out is not fasting.  I will eat meat on Fridays and enjoy the gastric consequences knowing I am not a hypocrite.

2. Sloth – Sloth is one of the Seven Deadly Sins.  Technically this refers to spiritual laziness, but I can remember sleeping in on Saturdays as kid and being reminded that laziness was a sin.  I spent years thinking I was going to Hell if I overslept or engaged in the luxury of taking a nap.  I’m here to tell you, I’m making up for that guilt and sleeping in regularly.  I nap, too.

3. Lust – Another deadly sin.  I passionately lust after eating peanut butter from the jar.  I will not be attending Confession on Saturday for this one.  I think Jesus loves peanut butter, too.

4. Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain – “OMG! That stupid idiot on his phone just cut me off. Jesus!”  I’m not trying to offend.  But my road rage is extensive and I have completely edited my outbursts due to the ages of my precious passengers.   I do sometimes feel guilty for crying out to the Lord in anger instead of gratefulness and will follow up with an evil glance toward the idiot driver and say, “Godspeed, loser!”

5. Missing Mass – I haven’t been in years.  I know for certain I am not going to Hell…for that at least.

6. Premarital Sex – I am not married.  I have a significant other who lives with me.  We have sex and I like it.  I am not going to Hell for that either.

7. Being Divorced – My final adieu to the Church was after my divorce.  My priest told me I could not receive Holy Communion because I broke the Sacrament of Marriage.  Holy Communion is believed to be the actual Body of Christ.  If anybody actually needed to be fed the Body of Christ in order to receive spiritual grace and enlightenment, I did after my marriage ended.  That’s when I realized Catholic Doctrine was ridiculous and no longer felt guilty for choosing divorce--a choice that has enabled me to live in authenticity.

8. Not Honoring thy Mother and Father – Many years in therapy helped me get over this one.  If people hurt children they deserve no honor.  Jesus is OK with that.  He told me last night.

9. Teaching Contraception Instead of Abstinence – Haven’t delved too deeply into this one with my tween and teen.  But here’s how I see it:  If I teach abstinence, my girls will feel guilty about their physiological, physical, and emotional responses to those of the opposite sex.  Causing people to feel guilty about something that naturally happens to humans is sinful.  For this, the Church is going to Hell.

10. Engaging in Wrath – Yet another deadly sin.  I used say, "Oh, but I feel so guilty being angry.  I mean, that isn't good, it makes me an evil murderer."  No it doesn't.  Anger is a normal emotion.  Murderers are psychopaths.  My anger isn't going to get me a one way ticket to Hell.  Neither is yours.  Anger is a powerful emotion.  It causes revolution. Go forth and be empowered.

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photo credit: Eric Leslie via photopin cc

Five Minute Friday: Gift

I have been given gifts and I have given gifts. When I was little I enjoyed getting them. Now that I am grown, I prefer to give. It makes me feel good.  So do I give gifts for me or for the recipient?  And if there is a God, does he give so that he feels better or for the recipient?

I believe he does it for the greater good of life itself.  Which is love. Which is God.

The greatest gift I have ever been given is someone coming back for me when he knew I was in trouble.  I tried to call, but didn’t have the number.  He just knew.  And got there just in time.  And called 911.  And because of him, I lived.  Or because of his intuition. Intuition is a gift.  It is possibly God speaking to us.  And God spoke to him and now I live.  A gift.

Some days I forget to have gratitude for this most special gift I have been given and get upset about the little things, like the shower that needs fixed, or the kitchen that isn’t yet fully painted.  But really, if I wasn’t here, if he weren’t here, what would a shower or painted wall mean?  Are they significant?

Of course, it would be a wonderful gift to have those things done.  But hasn’t he done enough? 

I’m laughing.  I’m glad to be alive.

Note: This is my first stream-of-conscious writing (or free writing) post.  I have engaged in the activity before, but being a perfectionist, chose not to post any of the outcomes.  I was inspired by Kimberly, Rubber Chicken Madness, who linked her Five Minute Friday post from last week to Yeah Write #50.  She was able to access the emotion I feel when my girls are away for the weekend at their dad’s, which I haven’t been able to do successfully.  

So, in honor of shared experiences that sometimes are better articulated by our fellow-bloggers, I checked out the Five Minute Fridaylink-up at Gypsy Mama.  This week’s word to use as catalyst for free writing was “gift”.  There are many great outcomes found in the link-up authored by great bloggers, and I encourage you to check it out.

Wednesday's Woman: Impacting Families

 

I am grateful to have Anna Mahler of The Mommy Padawan back to guest post for this week's Wednesday's Woman.  

Anna shares my passion for honoring the women of the world who strive to make a positive impact on the lives of others.  Like last week, because of her willingness to contribute to Wednesday's Woman, Anna has brought to my attention another visionary, activist, and advocate.--Dr. Jane Aronson. 

Raising awareness of these great women and their work inspires us on our own quests to be courageous and impactful.  Help us to stay inspired!  After you check out Anna at Mommy Padawan, consider contributing to Wednesday's Woman.  Simply drop me an email by clicking the envelop below, and share your knowledge of a Wednesday's Woman.

Wednesday's Woman -  Pediatrician, Dr. Jane Aronson

Doctor Jane Aronson is a hero to me for several reasons. She's a true humanitarian and an advocate for orphaned children around the world. Her work has included evaluating children adopted from abroad and she has consulted with thousands of families on the adoption process, including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. But what I also love about Jane Aronson is her vision for more permanent future solutions, working with entire communities to help enable families to stay together.

I first learned about Jane Aronson when she was nominated as a 2009 woman of the year by Glamour Magazine and was immediately affected while reading about what she encountered while touring overseas orphanages in the 90's, describing the smell alone as “that terrible odor of filth and illness and neglect.”

Witnessing starving, sick and neglected children would cause anyone to be upset or walk away thinking and feeling something should be done. Jane Aronson took the next step.

In 1997, she founded the Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO), a not-for-profit organization that provides direct services to orphans abroad. 

From Jane's bio on the WWO website:

“The mission of my foundation is to transform the lives of orphaned children by providing them with medical care, education, and by addressing their developmental issues. WWO acts as global parents for orphans. WWO sends students and healthcare professionals as participants in the Orphan Ranger Program to live and work in orphanages to form liaisons with orphanage educators, staff, and doctors. In addition, we also send Service Rangers, groups of families to work at the orphanage on a specific project for a limited time period. “

A favorite part of the services WWO provides that I found on the site is setting up “granny” programs where retired individuals are matched with children in local institutions. The “grannies” work  on a one-to-one basis with a child, feeding, playing, singing songs, holding and encouraging their child and the little ones respond with tremendous developmental advances, better growth, and most importantly, by learning how to love and be loved.

But more than just wanting to help children without permanent homes, Dr Aronson is concerned with finding solutions for the bigger issue; how and why so many children are becoming orphaned in the first place.

From an interview in the Washington Times Community, Dr Aronson explains:

“Every orphan is in someway connected to a community. If we can help support that community, we help the kids. We focus on the community. What’s going wrong there to create orphans? Battered families? Illness? Extreme poverty? We try to focus on alleviate the causes. For instance, we set up the Family Resource Center in Vietnam, which supports parents who are HIV positive. If we can help them stay well, we help their children stay within a family and prevent them from becoming orphans.

Adoption is obviously the gold standard. Every kid deserves a permanent family in a safe and loving home. The trouble is the orphan problem is too great to be resolved through adoption alone. There just are too many children. There has to be another solution to support these kids. To me, orphans symbolize the lack of justice in the world. These children are the victims of poor adult decisions and the big picture is that it’s incredibly sad that human beings allow this to happen. But the fact is they do, these kids exist and we have a moral obligation to do something about it.”

Every orphan is connected to a community and every child does deserve a safe and loving home. Learn about the community, help the people, heal families and keep them together. This, along with all the other work Doctor Aronson does, is what makes her an inspiration and hero to me.

In the United States, Jane still practices pediatric medicine in Manhattan as well as being a parent to her own two adopted children.

Dr. Jane Aronson

Read more about Dr. Jane Aronson on her website.
Learn more about her organization, the Worldwide Orphans Foundation at http://www.wwo.org/

Follow her on Twitter @orphandoctor

Ten Make it Easier

photo credit

I had visions of getting into a disciplined blogging groove last week while the kids were on Spring Break with their dad.  However, it turned out that having an extended play-date with my significant other, M, overruled all regulation of activity.

Thankfully, I can ease back into things with a relatively easy Monday Listicles.  Terri, of Terri Sonoda, came up with today's topic, "10 Things That Make Life Easier."  I know that the great blogging community created by Stasha at The Good Life, is one thing that certainly makes Monday easier, and I am grateful.

 

Ten that make life easier (in no particular order):

Car – It’s old, but it works. The bus line here isn’t extensive. I feel for those I see waiting at the stop.

Mini Shop Vac – Collects all the stray dog hair left on EVERYTHING by my three Chihuahuas.

Samsung Epic Smartphone – I rarely use it as a phone; I don’t like to talk. I use it for texting, Twitter, and playing Word Feud and my latest addiction, Draw Something.

Toshiba Laptop – I’m on it now, later, and a moment ago.

Google – I look up everything.  And I enjoy the Droid OS on my smartphone.

Spotify – It helps me stay connected to my teen by sharing music.  And I love music.

Microwave – I’m no chef.  Everything would be raw if it weren’t for the ol’ thing.

Bank Card – I don’t even want to imagine life without automatic teller machines and online shopping.

My Dogs – They make me smile.

My Girls and M – They make it all worthwhile.