Saturday, June 16, 2012

Victory 2012

My oldest is doing an internship at the local GOP headquarters this election cycle. Yesterday, there was an event with Senators Burr and Portman.

I like the way my son looks Portman in the eye when he greets him.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Is It Summer Yet!?

We finished the toe drama and J started running a 102.5 fever this week.  Many people who know our family often forget that fever for a kid who caths means a trip to the doctor. Fever for a kid who has neutropenia and neutrophil chemotaxis issues, means a trip to the doctor. We don't have the luxury to blow off a fever. He is on the mend... bad cough and congestion, but getting better. Here's hoping we have a healthy summer!

Homeschooling isn't as glamorous as one might think.  I'm ready for a break and my people have yet to complete their schoolwork for the year.  I enjoy summer because it means I can turn on the radio, TV or talk on the phone.  During school hours, I can't do anything because it is a distraction.  I really have no life.  Even with high school kids, I have to keep an eagle on them all day long. If I get up, they end up goofing off (most of the time).

Of course, they all have lots of things they want to do.... but can't.  I'm hoping they will finish up in a few weeks and we can have the rest of the summer off! 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Catholic Tea Party Hippie

I've started a new blog -- it is currently under construction, but you can read a few posts I have over there. Catholic Tea Party Hippie    Hopefully by next week, I will have the perfect Catholic, hippie, patriotic theme going on!  I finally posted there about our protest when Joe Biden was in town. You can read it and see protest pictures here.

Having this blog and the other will allow me to separate my political posts and protest activities.  Though, some certainly crossover into the Catholic Homeschooling topic, too.

I hope you'll take a peek when you get a chance.  After two protests in one week, I thought having a Catholic Tea Party Hippie blog was perfect for me.  We've got a slow week here with no protests and only two doctor appointments for the boys this week.  The boys are still working on painting their bathroom, a project that seems like it will never be complete.  The toe drama seems to be over for now, so life is good.   We have a chance to recover from the two week fight against an insurance glitch... finally think we have Js catheters covered once again.

My house is recovering from a week of protests.  We had visitors over the weekend and I had warned them that the house was in post-protest distress.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

I'm A Tea Party Hippie

It is official. This week, I attended two protests, one of which I organized. I am a hippie. Wednesday, we went to protest Vice President Joe Biden as he spoke here in Winston-Salem and Friday, I organized a Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally at the Hiram H Ward Federal Building downtown. I've already posted the videos of the speakers for the Religious Freedom rally and I will write separately about my adventures with Joe Biden.

Today, I am confessing.  

I am a Tea Party Hippie. I rarely wear make-up, love long skirts and beads. I don't advocate free love, however. I prefer that people pay for their own love and their own contraception. It isn't right for others to violate my conscience by forcing me to pay for that which I am morally opposed. As I have told many, many people, this is not a fight I asked for, that the Catholic Church asked for, but we are not backing down from this fight.

Until Obama's HHS mandate, I didn't go around speaking about practicing the "no birth control" part of my Catholic faith. Many people did not know we have never used birth control because they see that we only  have three boys. What they can't see when they observe our family is that we have 19 souls in heaven. We've lost 18 pregnancies in our 19 years of marriage, and folks can't see our family waiting for us in heaven. When people find out about our losses, they are usually quite perplexed as to why we didn't start using birth control so as to stop being open to life and potential losses. We believe that God can perform miracles -- even after so many losses.

I want to be like my friend Joyce (read her blog: Mouth From the South) when I grow up.  In the 60s, she stayed home raising her family and now that she is in her 60s, she attends one protest a week.  I've always voted, was in the military and sometimes worked at the polls.  No more.  Since President Obama's election, I have been to more protests than I can count. November is coming and this Tea Party Hippie will be protesting, spreading the word to others and voting.  We cannot allow our government to take away our freedom. Are you in?

Fr. Lucas Rossi- "Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally", Winston-Salem, NC

Pastor Larry Phillips- "Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally", Winston-Salem, NC

Joyce Krawiec - "Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally", Winston-Salem, NC

Steve Wiles- "Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally", Winston-Salem, NC

Verne Hill Speaks at the Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally June 8, Winston-Salem, NC

Major Dave Speaks at the Religious Freedom Rally June 8