Serious mom stuff....new kitchen counter tops by Cambria

Ok. 'First world' problem as opposed to being a 'third world' problem. The house we bought when we moved back here to the States has white laminate countertops in the kitchen. While being bright and pretty, they are very hard to keep clean. And, they are literally lowering the value of this house. To me, that is completely mental - white kitchen countertops lowering the value of the house. The market in the area we live in 'demands' stone counter tops. Crazy. While my white laminate makes me crazy, I've seen other laminate that is actually beautiful. But.....no more laminate. We're doing something different.

http://cambriausa.com/en/Designs/photos-and-videos/

The countertops we're having installed are made by Cambria. The pattern we picked is called Langdon. No, the kitchen above is not mine. This picture is off the Cambria website. I'm really excited and so very ready for a change. We're also having a new kitchen sink installed. Again, so very ready. The old sink really was looking gross. Low quality stainless steel in my not so humble opinion is never a good choice. We're putting in a better quality stainless. And, I really liked the Cambria product because it's made here in the States from mostly NorthAmerican mined quartz.  So hopefully, nobody died mining the stuff to make my kitchen counter tops. 

Peace. 

Yup, LGBT rights again

This photo came from the Southern Poverty Law Facebook page. I totally love it.

Everyday my social media feed is loaded with all kinds of stuff. Right now, it's particularly full of LGBT rights postings.  This one above is one of my favorites.

As we approach the day that the US Supreme Court will begin to look at the constitutionality of gay marriage, I'm seeing so very much in the press.  Here's the two stories I read to today that really jumped out at me:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-texas-same-sex-marriage-20150422-story.html

and.....
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/us/advocates-seek-civil-rights-bill-for-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-americans.html?_r=0

So on the one side, you have folks trying to legislate against gay marriage, and on the other side you have folks trying to legislate for gay marriage. In the article from the LA Times, the bill in Texas passed out of committee because of votes along party lines (i.e. Republicans voted for and the Democrats against). This is yet another reason I'm a Democrat. And I'm Christian.

I've never seen anything in the Bible where Jesus avoids those society shuns.  Jesus jumped right on in there with EVERYONE. It makes me so very sad to see so much discriminatory stuff coming from 'Christian' groups. Family Research Council, which I'm sure considers themselves a Christian group, has a page on the Southern Poverty Law's webpage under 'extremist files'.

I'm Christian AND I support LGBT rights.

Peace. 

Raccoons

From YouTube

Ok. I must be out of my mind. I've been approached about becoming a raccoon rehabber. What? Rehabilitate coons? Does that mean teaching these masked bandits not to steal pet food, not to dig in garbage cans and to stay away from humans? No, not that kind of rehabilitation.

Living in an urban environment, there are still plenty of raccoons around. Sometimes the raccoons come too much in contact with people. They get into fights with dogs, people don't properly critter proof their houses, and momma coons get separated from their babies.

So.....I'd be working with baby coons that can't be with their mommas because momma disappeared or died. The ones I'd be working with are ones still needing to nurse - bottle feeding them. The little buggers have to be fed every few hours. When they are really little, they can't 'self-potty'. The caregiver has to do it for them. Instead of licking them like momma, a little piece of tissue will do. You simply tickle them where the pee and poo come out and voila - they can relieve themselves.

So why did I post this little video? Yes, it's cute and funny. But it also shows so many ways people shouldn't treat these wild animals. They are not pets. They are wild animals. It is usually illegal to keep a raccoon as a pet. Only someone with the proper permits/licensing is allowed to have them (ie like a rehabber). These are folks who are specially trained for working with this animals.

Here's a link to some good coon info:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/raccoons.html

After moving back to the States from Dubai, I had to ask myself 'What's next'? Well, I thought, I have not used my marine biology degree for a while so maybe something working with wildlife? Well.....it looks like the 'what's next' may have found me.

So.......we'll see what the future hold for me!

Peace.
 

How to build a self-made voting guide

So, after seeing all the craziness on social media about the current pack of candidates for US president, I think a bit of discussion is in order on how to figure out whom one is going to vote for. Here's what I was taught when contemplating a presidential vote........

1. Make a list of all the issues that are important to (insert your name here) down the left side of a piece of paper.

2. Across the top of the piece of paper, write in columns the names of all the available candidates.

3. READ. And I mean gonna have to read more then one news source. And I mean news source, not just the opinion of some random blogger mom whose three readers are herself, her father and her very very interesting cat. I prefer my news in print - newspapers, Time Magazine etc.... Look to see if candidates align with (insert your name here)'s ideas/wants/desires.

4. If candidates actually have already held office, research their voting records. Do their votes align with (insert your name)'s ideas/wants/desires.

5. DO NOT WATCH OR TRUST POLITICAL ADS!!!!! Yeah, I know I posted one on here for Hillary, but I've already seriously begun this exercise I'm laying out for you. If you only vote by watching the ads, then you are allowing someone with more money then you to tell you how to vote.

6. As you work on this little score sheet, think about the candidates and their potential influence over the US Supreme Court. The appointing of Supreme Court justices is one of the longest lasting decision(s) any president will ever make.

7. Keep your homemade list/score sheet handy through the election season.

8. Don't be tempted to vote the way 'everyone else' around you is voting. Stick to your little score sheet. Vote for the candidate that is the best for (insert your name here)!

9. Let the good times roll.

Peace.

Hallelujah and Get Ready to Vote!!!!!

Ok ok ok.  I know. The next US presidential election is like a year away. But I gotta tell ya, I LOVED this ad.

First, I think Hillary Clinton is the only person running who has what it takes to truly handle foreign policy. I mean, how are we gonna do better then someone who has been Secretary of State? And, clearly from the ad, she's pro-gay-rights. Excellent......

And you know why I'm happy to vote nothing but Democratic in the next big election? I'm seriously tired of seeing members of the Republican party put time and effort into bills that I just can't support. For instance:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/11/survivors-crusade-conversion-therapy-ban-pray-gay-away
In the above article is the following quote:

"Last year, Texas Republicans adopted a platform backing reparative therapy “for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle” and stating no laws to prohibit it should be introduced." 

'Reparative therapy' is not what a lot of folks think it is. It's dangerous.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/04/10/conversion-reparative-sexual-reorientation-therapy/25515619/

Homosexual lifestyle? Lifestyle? Yes, I'm sure someone would totally choose to be looked down upon in our society. I'm sure someone would choose to deal with discrimination their whole life. NOT!!!!!  It's not a 'lifestyle'. If someone is gay, it's not a choice. Period. Full stop.

Peace.

 

 

Obama Condemns 'Conversion' Therapy

Let me begin with a link to a news story:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/08/politics/white-house-seeks-ban-on-gay-conversion-therapies/

Have you ever heard the phrase "Pray the gay away"? This phrase is a rather crass way to talk about conversion therapy, but it's fairly accurate, in my opinion. There are two sizeable conversion therapy programs that I am aware of. The first is Exodus International and the other is through Focus on the Family. And, Exodus International shut down and issued an apology. http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/20/us/exodus-international-shutdown/  And, I believe but am not fully sure, that Love Won Out merged with Exodus International sometime around 2009. (Don't be afraid to fact check me on that one.) So....one would think that this kind of thing wouldn't be around any more. However, it is.  Sometimes now it is called reparative therapy.  It doesn't repair, however, it causes great damage in young people.

https://youtu.be/wD4sWQG2DnQ

In the video by Vice, you hear guys talking about what's 'typical' in the gay community. I truly believe that if there is self-destructive behavior it's because those who are lesbian or gay, are not fully accepted by society and various religious organizations. If someone is gay and is able to get married and legally have children, if they are looked at just like any heterosexual is then they are going to have an easier life. A rough childhood isn't going to make someone gay. A happy childhood isn't going to make someone gay. Being an LGBT person is not a person who needs to be 'fixed'. Do I respect the right of a legal adult to choose reparative therapy? Sure. They are an adult. Do I believe that anyone should be told they need or should seek reparative therapy? No.

So....I'm so glad to read the announcement that President Obama has condemned conversion therapy. However, I truly believe that until it's condemned by Christian churches, it's going to continue to find a clientele of terrified parents. As for those adults whom we saw in the Vice video who were attending the camp in Texas, I think they'd be a lot less unhappy if they could legally marry as a gay person, legally adopt kids in their home state as a gay person, and be accepted in their faith communities as gay people. But that's another whole post.

Peace.
 

Max - World's most interesting Cat

I think I've posted this picture before, but I couldn't resist putting it on the blog today. Max is our rescued kitty we brought back from the Middle East. He's got a birth defect in his right front paw and enjoys wrestling with Layla - our scruffy American adopted dog.

Jesse, our 'desert dog' we rescued in the Middle East, doesn't generally partake in the mirthful behavior of Max and Layla.

We have a strange family activity of thinking up funny imagined exploits of Max - World's most interesting cat that are in the same vein as the Dos Equis 'World's Most Interesting Man'.

I find that animals have personalities. Yes, some science type might say I'm just trying to label them with human qualities, but I just don't think so. I see Max go over to a sleeping peaceful Layla and gently poke her face as if to say, "Hey there sister. I'm bored. Why don't you chew on my head for a while." Naturally, Layla happily obliges and chews on Max's head. When Max has had enough, he'll just barely tap Layla with some claws and the head chewing subsides.

At any rate, I love my critters. Whatever kind of day I'm having, they always make it better. And, I'm glad I don't need anything to chew on my head to cure my boredom.
Peace.

Desperately needing some clear blue water and the battle for equal rights

I get a serious mix of stuff popping up on my social media feed. Here's the latest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/opinion/david-brooks-religious-liberty-and-equality.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&_r=0


Two quotes from the above commentary by David Brooks:

"This deviation seems unwise both as a matter of pragmatics and as a matter of principle. In the first place, if there is no attempt to balance religious liberty and civil rights, the cause of gay rights will be associated with coercion, not liberation. Some people have lost their jobs for expressing opposition to gay marriage. There are too many stories like the Oregon bakery that may have to pay a $150,000 fine because it preferred not to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony. A movement that stands for tolerance does not want to be on the side of a government that compels a photographer who is an evangelical Christian to shoot a same-sex wedding that he would rather avoid."

And the second quote:

"In cases of actual bigotry, the hammer comes down."

I'm no expert on law. But, it seems like if you are a business open to the public, you have to accept business as it comes to you. Now, I know of a contractor who would refuse to take a job now and then if the potential customer wanted him to 'match the paint color exactly to this little throw pillow'. This refusal was because the contractor wasn't a decorator. What the potential customer really needed was a decorator for picking out colors and doing design. The contractor then comes in and does the decided upon design work.

It gets trickier dealing with the whole 'baking a cake for a same-sex wedding' scenario. If the customer is asking for a specific cake design and color of frosting that the baker just doesn't have the skill to pull off (like a giant 6 foot high cake that looks like a mountain range in Rocky Mountain National Park complete with built in water feature - truly, a cake I would personally LOVE), then the baker could say, "Hey, that is a seriously cool idea but I just don't have the skills and the kitchen to pull it off. But, we could do this other type of cake I've had a lot of success with and rave reviews on. Otherwise, I know this very artistic baker down the street who might be able to pull off the mountain range cake concept." This is a business exchange.

Now, let's take this a step further. Let's say a baker is asked to make a cake that looks like a giant pair of breasts. Probably not that hard to pull off (I personally love to bake cakes but really prefer to eat the frosting, but I digress). A baker could just make two large round cakes and frost them accordingly. Now, our baker in question thinks this is weird and offensive because cakes shouldn't look like female anatomy. But, the baker doesn't have a good business reason to reject the cake. So...the breast cake gets made. (Besides, it's breasts. Something like 50% of the world has them. And secretly our fictional baker digs this project....but I digress...)

Now, a young couple walks into a bakery, one person is of African American descent and the other is of northern European descent and is also American (ie they are black and white). They ask to have a wedding cake made that is very easy to make and very traditional. If the baker said, "Nope. Won't do it. You both shouldn't get married; you're not meant to be together;" the baker would be called a racist and this kind of stuff was a piece of what the civil rights movement of the 1960's strived so hard to see outlawed.

But, today, if that couple above was two guys, the baker could say, "Nope, not doing it. You bother me and creep me out because my religion says that it's ok to be bothered and creeped out by you."  I really don't see how this is not discrimination.  There are still people in this country who are bothered and creeped out by racially mixed marriages, but that shouldn't prevent those marriages from happening or from those couples be refused services anywhere.

Yes, "in cases of actual bigotry, the hammer comes down". And refusing to serve a couple because they happen to be 'same-sex' is bigotry.

Can I go snorkeling now on a beautiful what sand beach with lots of happy fish, please? No, not yet. I have to pay to re-do my kitchen first. Or I could just tell my contractor, "I can't pay you because it's against my religion because my personal beliefs say that spending time on white sand beaches snorkeling with fish is more important." Nah...wouldn't do that because it would be the wrong thing to do. I'll just have to wait for some quality lake time up in the woods.

Peace.
PS the photo above I shot from my kayak on my favorite lake last summer

The Secret Gay Rights Activist

Since like, 3 people read this blog, and one of those is my cat, this probably won't cause much of a stir. If you hadn't guessed by now, I'm pro 'gay-rights' or you could say 'pro-LGBT'. I also am a Christian. Wow, mind blowing probably. How can I be 'pro-LGBT' and Christian at the same time? Well, I am. I don't fit very well into any specific box. (fyi....in this post I use gay/homosexual interchangeably. I'm not great with using the best words all the time but hopefully you'll 'get' what I'm trying say. No meanness meant or anything)

I had a conversation the other day with an ordained person (ie they are a pastor/priest/rev person).  We spoke candidly about those who are homosexual within our shared denomination.

I'm going to share with you what hurt me the most. Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, if you are one who is not 'pro-LGBT' AND you are one who's trying to convince someone to see things your way, this is a list of what NOT to say because all it did was hack me off and hurt - not the best way to have a conversation. Do I really want to help those who are not 'pro-LGBT'? No, I don't. However, if I can't state "I feel hurt when...." then there's no conversation. So, here goes......

1. Don't compare someone who's gay to an alcoholic. I could totally become addicted to shopping and kayaking, and probably booze if I drank when I'm bummed out. But, my shopping, kayaking and booze drinking are something that I can stop. Someone who's gay, can't just walk away. It's just the way they are. And while you're at it, don't compare someone who's gay to those who cheat in a marriage either. That's just mean. And it hurts my heart to hear it.

2. Don't say that the church treats all sinners equally. It's an outright lie. I've known pastors who cheated on their spouse, divorced, re-married, and went right on pastoring. Our denomination doesn't ordain those who are gay. So just don't go there. Plus, being gay isn't a sin. Anyone who is gay is still a God created human being, and God made them just fine the way they are.

3. Don't say that the church shouldn't react to whatever change is happening in pop culture. The church doesn't react to pop culture. I think pop culture reflects our understanding of the human condition. Hmmm....we ordain women (which I fully support). So when our denomination used to say ordaining women wasn't biblically based, but now we've re-examined how we do things, and now ordain women...we weren't wrong to ordain women. Biblical interpretations change. So don't use the whole 'pop culture' cop-out. The world is changing, and I think it scares you.

4. Don't say that those who are gay can choose to be celibate. But I thought you said it's a lifestyle choice? You said that marriage is meant for being between one man and one woman, and someone who's gay needs to choose celibacy. Why? You sound conflicted.....you know they can't choose to not be gay. Why would you want to see a human being condemned to a life of loneliness? Yes, some people choose a monastic lifestyle, but that's the only option you're offering to those who are gay as acceptable? That just doesn't make sense.... And it hurts me to hear it.

5. Don't compare being gay to having a genetically based disease. We don't know why God creates some people gay and others straight. Saying someone who's gay is genetically diseased hurts. They can't be changed. They are the way the are - just as God made them. And...don't try to argue using pseudo-science with a scientist (which I am). All you're gonna do is hack me off.

So guess what? Even though I disagree with you, I'm still going to be sitting there in church with you. I'm still going to speak up when I hear something I disagree with. I'll try as usual to be respectful of other's feelings, but I'm not going to hide mine. Am I going to go charging through the church waving a big rainbow flag? No, but I will continue to speak. And I bet that there are many people sitting there in church who feel just like me but are too afraid to speak out. Maybe, if they hear me say how I feel in a class, or Bible study, or just over coffee, then maybe they won't be afraid anymore.

Peace.

by the way.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-shore/gayaffirming-conservative-pastors_b_5145936.html  I just read this. Awesome. Yes....don't be afraid to have the conversation.