Multifaceted Mama

The story opens with an early morning trip to an elementary school.  The Multifaceted Mama has to be there at 0720 for back to back parent-teacher conferences for her sons, Scott and Ty.  The meetings were set at this too early hour because the previous scheduled meetings had to be postponed due to a bout of the blahs by the Mama.  The Mama was running late that morning so she attended these meetings with having been fueled by the blood of life, aka coffee. 

Upon return to her domestic arena, the Mama began to suck down the coffee, truly wishing she could just inject via IV.  By the time the phone rang at 1245, she was fueled.  It was the school nurse from the very school that she had been at just hours ago.  Apparently, the Mama’s youngest son, in the midst of their annual Thanksgiving, decided to hurl.  So the Mama went to the school, armed with a bucket for the ride home, and picked him up.  He came home and spend the rest of the day in a pile of blankets watching ‘toons.

The next day came, and Ty stayed home while his brothers were woken up at ungodly hours and sent off to school to better themselves.  The day went off without a hitch, and without any more hurl.  Everyone was happy.  Everyone went to bed.  At about 0130, the Mama fell asleep.  At 0133, the Mama was woken up by Ka’lani.  Ka’lani had decided he wanted to vomit violently, all over the bathroom floor.

A bucket was grabbed, the floor cleaned, and Donovan awakened and moved to the Mama’s bed, so that the Mama could take Puke Boy to the ER.  After 1 liter of fluids and some Zofran, several vials of blood drawn, a cup full of pee, and 4 hours in the ER, the Mama and Ka’lani were sent home.  Sensing a pattern, the Mama kept all the children home that Friday.  Ka’lani hibernated in his room, armed with an iPod, and a stack of magazines and books.  Everyone else seemed to be fine, including the previously ill boy, Ty.

Around 9:00 that evening, Ty stood before his Mama with his hand outstretched.  On his palm lay a shining tooth,  His mouth full of blood, he grinned like a vampire.  His first tooth!  Not a half hour later, there was the unpleasant sound of a geyser coming from the playroom.  It was Ty, who had vomited at least twice his body weight.  Clean up was involved, and so was another trip to the ER.  Poor Donovan volunteered for playroom clean up duty, and I am still questioning the wisdom of that decision.  I was left to stick Ty in the shower and rinse him off, changing him into clean sweats.  My job was easier.  So, bucket in hand, we were off for the second night in a row to our local ER.

Young Master Ty thought it was cool, however, that on the stretcher next to him in the ER was a dude handcuffed to the bed with two Corrections Officers.  The Mama thought that was less cool.  Anyway, no IVs were needed, but Zofran was.  The Mama and Ty were released and sent home to sleep.

By midnight Friday night, however, the Mama was stricken with pains underneath her breasts that lasted until about 0300.  It ran from side to side and doubled her over.  Still not a clue what caused that, but there seem to be no remaining issues.  The rest of the night passed without incident.  Until the Mama woke up and heard Scotty hurling in the bathroom.  Apparently, he had been engaging in that activity for some time, but for some unknown reason, had not thought to wake up the Mama.  By that time, the flow was ebbing so he escaped a trip to the ER. 

Now, he is the only one left, the Mama and Donovan having escaped the tide of barf.  Yippee.

Ty growled and growled at me this morning, earning himself the nickname of T-Rex Ty.  Walking from the bedroom door to the laundry basked is about 12 feet and it tool him 5 stops to growl at me to get there.  He growled throughout his shower, to the entertainment and enjoyment of the rest of us within hearing.  We live in a small apartment, so EVERYONE who was awake could hear him.  He finally got out so Scott could shower and then Phase Two of the T-Rex ‘tude began.  His favorite towel is a Spongebob beach towel which he likes to wrap himself in from head to toe, leaving only his eyes and nose exposed, before sinking to the floor in a huddle.  That is where he generally mumbles to himself and I am pretty sure he is laying a curse on me.  Today, in the manner of all good T-Rex’s, he growled his curses.  You would have thought I was trying to get him to eat cat liver when I tried to get him to stand up and, I don’t know, DRY HIMSELF OFF!  Silly me, thought being dry would help the cold issue!  So finally, being a much bigger dinosaur,… THE MAMASAURUS, I tackled him to the bathroom floor and forcibly dried him.  I am pretty sure that was how it was done in the wild.  Can’t you just see all the mommy ‘saurs running around with Cavebob towels tackling their young?

Happy Veteran’s Day to all of my brothers and sisters in uniform!  I also thank the families of all of those in uniform, because without the love and support from family, sometimes that selfless service would be impossible.  And a special thank you to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live with freedom.

Today is one of those days when I very much miss my uniform.  I wish sometimes that I was still standing with my fellow soldiers.  But I will admit, until I got out and became an Army wife, I didn’t give the military families the respect they deserve.  They sacrifice so much for their service member and they do it largely without recognition.  So thank you so much for all you do for our military people.

I got thinking about Veteran’s Day a few days ago and what it meant to me as a former female soldier.  I thought about the women that have come before me and how much I owe to them.  During the American Revolution, women served as nurses, water bearers, and laundresses to the troops.  While not military, they were definately the forebearers to women in uniform.  We have come a long way since then!  I found a great page highlighting the service of women throughout American history HERE.  Go check out!

And, hey, go hug a vet today and say thanks!  Don’t forget to throw some love to Fort Hood, and to our men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan and ALL over the world!

Mood: appreciative  Weather: sunny, high of 56°  TV: The Today Show

NOTE: Contents may offend.  If you want to continue the hate, feel free to use the “x” at the upper right hand corner of this window.  NOT INTERESTED!

My heart breaks as I am watching the coverage of the Fort Hood shootings.  So many lives have been lost or ruined today.  13 are dead, including the alleged gunman.  31 more are wounded to varying degrees.  Another suspect is still in custody at this time.

Tragedies like these take a piece from everyone involved, even from those of us watching from afar.  The families of those that were killed will never be the same.  The lives of those who survived will never be the same.  So many lives lost and ruined for something that should never have had to happen.

I’m an Army wife and an Army veteran.  I could never imagine taking the life of any of my brothers and sisters in uniform.  I may not be wearing the uniform today, but in my heart I am and always will be a proud Army soldier.  I understand PTSD, and I understand the angst of war.  I understand the conflict between your personal and religious beliefs and following the orders of your military superiors.  But to turn your weapon on your fellow soldier is never the answer.

The alleged gunman was an active duty major stationed at Fort Hood.  Ironically he was a mental health psychiatrist.  It is alleged that one of his motives may have been a pending deployment to Iraq.  It has also been reported that he is a recent convert to Islam. 

Maybe this is true, maybe it isn’t.  It is too early in the process for that to be anything but a theory at this point.  I don’t care if his religion was a factor or not, whatever his motives and reasoning may have been, HE WAS WRONG.  He had no right to manifest his problems on innocent people the way he did.

I have been on Twitter a lot today, and I am so disgusted by what I am seeing on there.  I find it thoroughly disgusting how quickly people began to use this tragedy to fuel prejudice and hate.  Not everything in this world is about religion, but if this was about his religion, it is completely narrow-minded and prejudicial to judge the religion and all of its followers by the actions of a few.  I have watched these same people use this tragedy as another weapon against Obama, calling him a closet Muslim and a terrorist.  I have watched these people jump on Obama because he used notes in his speech.  BIG FUCKING DEAL!  He used notes, he wanted to be prepared.  Again, BIG FUCKING DEAL!  I just thing there are bigger fucking things to worry about in this world than whether or not Obama used notes when expressing condolences.  I personally see his notes as proof that it was important enough to him to feel he wanted to be prepared.

“Dear Muslims: You are not the victims today. Not if you’re still alive and don’t have any holes in you.”  That is a quote I just read from someone on Twitter.  That is a prime example of why I am so disgusted with these people.  What is that but their hate breeding more hate?  That is nothing more than prejudicial hatred.  Do these people not realize how their words could be used to describe themselves, too?

These people sit in smug superiority behind their screens, safe in their anonymity, while they sit in judgment of all they don’t agree with.  But all they are doing is reacting to hate with more hate.  As a friend said tonight, hate breeds hate.  As they sit there spewing their judgments, their prejudices, and their hates, are they any better than they feel so superior to?

It amazes me how they categorize people into neat little boxes.  A lot of these people I am disgusted by tonight began following me after I had tweeted about a run in I had with a soldier hater in my grocery store parking lot.  Most of them are former military soldiers, like me.  I began realizing soon after that that was where the similarities ended. 

I am not a republican.  I am not a conservative.  I am a very liberal Democrat.  I am entirely for same-sex marriage.  I am pro-choice.  I am not a Christian.  AND THAT IS MY RIGHT!  I don’t believe in sitting in judgement of others’ religious beliefs, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or personal politics.  I believe in FREEDOM OF CHOICE!

THAT is why I joined the Army, and that is why I served.  Because I believe in freedom.  Because I don’t believe that sitting in judgement of others promotes freedom.  I don’t think that spewing hate promotes it either. 

I love my country, and I love the freedoms it provides us.  I love the fact that we can have different opinions and be able to talk to them  But why the hell can’t we talk about them with respect?  That is the fucking beauty of this country, the choices we have.  So how come if you don’t fit that ultra-conservative, anti-everything profile, you don’t deserve any respect?

Today was not about Muslims, Obama and the Nation of Islam.  It was about one guy with some serious issues that took his problems out on innocent people.

I got my box of candles from Gold Canyon candles that I bought from Caroline yesterday afternoon.  I was crutching (I hurt my foot again) out to the bus stop when the UPS guy got there with my box, but he waved me off and just carried to my door for me.  Have I mentioned that my UPS guy, while a bit older than I, is kinda hot?!  The moment I got inside, that box was opened!  And nestled inside, cocooned in a lattice-work of foam, were my candles!  Of course, everyone had to take a smell.  The Mulled Harvest, rich with cinnamon, was Scott’s favorite.  That one is being saved for Thanksgiving.  Ka’lani’s favorite was the Apple Orchard Pearadise, which has such a realistic, clean scent to it!  Both Ty and Donovan loved the Raspberry Cocoa, which has the strongest, most realistic scent I have ever smelled.  I also got a girlie one, in Rose, and it is wonderful!  I left it in my bathroom last night, unlit, but with the lid half off and my bathroom smelled like a rose garden when I went in to shower this morning!  The scents in these candles are amazing!  They are truly drenched in scent, which is what I want most in a candle.  You can tell that these are top quality candles just by the wax.  It has that smooth, silky look and feel that well-poured candles have.  I have the Raspberry Cocoa burning right now, and within 2 minutes of lighting it, I could smell it from the other end of my house.  Even better?  They are longer lasting and cheaper than a Yankee candle.  Go visit Caroline’s Gold Canyon Candle page HERE and also support a military wife!!