Disappointment

This is about gay marriage. Some of you may be offended. Feel free to stop reading if you wish.

I'm pretty f'ing upset that the state of Maine recently voted on whether or not to include gay and lesbian couples equal rights under the institution of marriage. It's absolutely ludicrous to me that we, as a society, think it's okay to vote on this sort of thing. Like it's ours to permit or deny in the first place.

While others will say that this vote was a perfect example of democracy in action, I will argue that the result of this vote highlights one of the key problems with the democratic system. We feel justified in denying the basic rights of marriage to gay and lesbian couples simply because a very, very slim majority of the people said so. And we ignore the fact that 48% of the people who voted in this election voted to expand the definition of marriage to include both heterosexual and homosexual couples. But that's how democracy works, doesn't it? And it's the best system we have, so what else are we going to do? "Why don't you move to a communist country if you don't like it. People fought and died for your right to vote."

Give me a break. People fought and died for our freedoms as a whole, not just right to vote. Our veterans fought and died for the right of our people to have the freedom to simply be who and what they are. The freedom to not only say what we feel like saying, or to own a shit-ton of handguns, but also for our rights to love and marry the people who make us feel most like ourselves. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Personal fulfillment. The feeling of being complete with ourselves and with another, regardless of what that person has between their legs.

Marriage is "defined" as one man and one woman, huh? That's what you're going to go with? And you're comfortable denying basic human rights to what essentially amounts to roughly 40 million Americans because of that sort of semantic debate?

As much as I pray and try to search for understanding and clarity on this issue, I've never heard God telling me that I should get caught up in the semantics of anything when the question of Love is on the line.

I hear a lot of Christians saying that "those people" can have their civil unions, but that we shouldn't dare try to call what they have "marriage." That we should give them their rights, but still make sure that everyone knows that what they have is different than what we have. That we should continue to push gay and lesbian people away from our society and keep them separate.

Stop focusing on yourselves and trying to make yourselves feel better about the fact that you're actively creating a second class within our society. Stop focusing on what's going into which hole (or not, for that matter) when two people lay down together at night. Stop arguing over a word. Stop thinking that you have any right to involve yourself legislatively in marriage (whether gay or straight) at all.

I hope that Norah looks back at this time period twenty five years from now with anger and disgust at the ignorance we're displaying. I hope she falls in love with whoever she wants and is able to commit herself to that person in every way that I've been able to commit myself to Sarah. I hope that she's allowed to have the type of freedom which we say we value for all people.

These lyrics have never been more salient to me than they are right now:


Shai Hulud - "Beyond Man"

Human is a degrading word.
As human, I renounce myself.
I yield to no man.
There will be no peace...
Not on Earth,
Not amongst men.
Indulge. Be content. Soften yourselves.
I look beyond weakness and fashion.
Confide not in flesh.
If I can't change the world,
I'll disregard it and look beyond.
Pray to calm my heart.
Pray for the fools.
I will be at peace.
I am not a man.
And your actions will speak alone.


Ugh. F all this.


MMK

Pizza Pasta!

So...this recipe is in high demand; it's nothing fancy but MK and I found it to be super delicious.

Slow-Cooker Pizza

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (we substituted ground turkey...you could also substitute Italian sausage)
1 medium onion, chopped (we aren't huge onion fans, so I used half of a medium onion)
1 green pepper, chopped (we also aren't keen on green peppers, I omitted this ingredient)
half a box of rigatoni, cooked
7 oz jar of sliced mushrooms, drained
3 oz sliced pepperoni (we used turkey pepperoni)
16 oz jar of pizza sauce
10 oz of mozzarella cheese, shredded
10 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

(we also added a bit of grated parmesan cheese and Pensy's Pizza Seasoning)

Directions:
1. Brown ground beef (or other meat) and onions in saucepan. Drain.
2. Layer half of each of the following in the order given in slow cooker: ground beef/onions, green pepper (if you choose), noodles, mushrooms, pepperoni, pizza sauce, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. (we added the extra cheese and seasoning to the top layer.)
3. Cover. Cook on Low 3 - 4 hours making sure to keep rigatoni covered with sauce so the noodles don't become dry and crunchy.

YUM! Enjoy. Let me know what you think.

Bah!

Just a few updates for everyone!

* Norah has started to say "ba". I keep trying for the "ma" sound, but so far, she hasn't figured it out yet. She can get her mouth in the "mmmm" form but then no sound comes out. Seeing her make such silly faces is pretty funny.

* I'm on the job hunt again. I've applied to a few places. I had an interview set up with one company but after some thought (and reasoning from the hubby) I requested to be removed from the interviewing process. I've also had one rejection. I was fairly upset by the rejection as the hours (and pay) would have been extremely convenient. Meh, so it goes. I'm not desperate (yet) and God is taking care of us.

* I've started seeing a chiropractor. I tend to carry my stress between my shoulder blades, and I was starting to have numbness in my fingers. Nothing new as I've had this problem off and on since my first year of college. BUT this is the first time that I've done a little research and sought out ways to improve my irritation. Plus, having a baby as you can guess is hard on the lower back. The chiropractor I see doesn't perform the standard "cracks" and "pops" to realign the spine (ew, thank God), he uses the ProAdjuster. So far, so good. I'll let you know how it goes.

* Norah is officially sleeping through the night. She generally goes to bed between 6:15 - 6:30 pm and won't wake until 5:00 am or so. WHOHOOOO! It's amazing! Now if I could just figure out a way to get MK to go to bed earlier...

* My fantasy football team started the season better than I had expected, but in the last couple of games...well, I've lost. I now know why I've never played before - IT SUCKS YOU IN! I actually care if I win or lose. Ha, go figure.

* I busted out the crock pot a week or so ago and have made a couple of dishes, the first being pizza pasta. I substituted ground turkey for beef and yum, it was cheesy and delicious. I was able to freeze a couple of servings to have for work lunches. Tonight I made creamy red potatoes which also turned out fairly well. I'm gonna try using the crock pot on a regular basis...it's so easy and I enjoy having real food for lunch at work. Well, and...I dislike cooking. A lot.

* I made a new promise to myself. Please hold me accountable. I will not cut my hair (except for trims) until MK, Norah, and I move back to Iowa (or the Midwest). Whoa.

* Norah is no longer face-planting. She has figured out how to gently lay her head to the side when she is on her stomach and needs a breather. Cute. She also rolled from her stomach onto her back today. I have yet to actually catch her in the act. She's a sneaky one I tell yah.

And now for the stuff you really want....pictures!

Lazy family morning. "Get up Poppy!"

Making Norah giggle.

"Ma-ma-ma"

Daddy gets all the decent pictures with Norah...but he can't have this one!

Ah, life can be hectic...but I love being Norah's mom and Marshall's wife.

Love to each and every one of you.

Put a lid on it, dude.

Our friend Elizabeth made Norah a hat for the coming winter. This is actually the second hat she's made for our kid. The first didn't even come close to fitting over Norah's giant baby head.



She looks so cute.

Oh, Marshall... More?!

Sweet... My biggest piece yet.



No special, deep, or important meaning at all. I just think it's pretty. Color will be added in a month or two.

Work done by Jason Loui at Iron Works Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH.

Stay Gold!

MMK