Tis the season to be jolly?

Yep! It's that time of year again, the Holiday Season. And what is everyone doing? Complaining, being greedy, being violent, verbally attacking each other, and etc. What a great time of year, huh? It usually starts with Black Friday. I stay home that day, because getting trampled to death to save a few bucks just doesn't sound all that fun to me. My family is usually has no money to go shopping too. This year's Black Friday was just like the rest. People got trampled, fights broke out, there were shootings, pepper spraying, police brutality, the whole works. It's like this every year. It's sad and it's pathetic.

Fox "News" is doing their yearly made up crisis about the "war" on Christmas. They think their is a war on Christmas every year, because some people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. They think it's offensive and offends their God. I've read the bible and I guess I must have missed the part about Christmas. For a channel that panders to a party that prides itself on freedom for all, when did they decide that everyone has to conform to their views and only their religion is that right one? That's not freedom. And they keep nagging and whining that our nation is a Christian nation and blah, blah, blah. Um, our nation is a diverse one and always has been. Our founding fathers believed in religious freedom, not Christianity is the one true religion. I have no problem with Cristians in general, it's the crazy ones that I can't stand. If you want to say Merry Christmas and have a Christmas tree then do so. But don't be offended at others when they say Happy Holidays, Happy Yule, Happy Hanukkah, or call their tree a Holiday tree or a Yule tree. They are also Americans and have the right to celebrate the season in their own way.

Another thing that is sickening to me is watching the rich people this year spending tons of money on stuff they don't need while so many are going without. Our economy has been bad for several years now and the rich keep getting rich, the poor are getting poorer, and our middle class is now the upper class poor. There isn't much of a middle class left. There is the few folks that are rich and the rest are poor or soon to be poor. I must make it clear that I don't hate all rich people. Their are a lot of good people with a lot of money that give a good chunk of that to those in need. Then, there are a large group of greedy assholes that just don't care. If I had all the money that some of those people did, I would be putting a lot of that money back into the hands of folks who need it. The Holiday Season is supposed to be a time of joy and sharing, but every year it seems more people get meaner and greedier. Maybe it just seems that way the last few years, because most people are hurting and need help. I'm hoping that things get better for my family and others who are struggling. I'm also hoping that people will stop being so selfish and petty and just be happy and thankful for what they have.

Have a Happy and Blessed Yule everyone!

Baby Huls!

My beautiful niece, Britney is preggo and I couldn't be happier for her. She is 17 so the pregnancy has raised some concerns about her health and her future plans, but our family is very confident that she will finish high school and go on to college like she has planned. Her pregnancy is going OK so far and we are all hoping the delivery goes well. She's very mature and smart for her age so we know she will be a  good mother to her child. She's a senior in high school this year. I'm sure she never imagined being pregnant during her senior year, but things happen. Britney did not mean to get pregnant, but even with taking all precautions, it still happened. Even though my niece is scared to death about being pregnant, she's happy and trying to adjust. She goes to school and  has a job and her boyfriend has a full time job making decent money. They have their own place and are doing very well right now. I hope they continue to do well. So, we are all excited and planning for the baby. Between the baby shower, the delivery, and after the birth there is a lot to plan, buy, and do. Britney and her boyfriend Kyle want a baby boy. My sister Jenny and her husband I think also hoping for a boy. I was hoping to have another little girl in the family (we have a lot of boys already) and I'm not sure if anyone else has weighed in on  it yet. We all hope she has a healthy baby. This is the big news in our family lately. I recently went to my sister's to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family and snapped some pictures of Britney's baby bump which I will post below.

The Sick Season In Nebraska

It's that time of year again when lots of folks are getting ready for the holidays. My family however, is trying to deal with and prepare for being sick for the next 5 months and it's already starting. I have four children who seem to catch colds and spread germs easily, so if one of them gets sick, they usually all get sick. From the end of October to the middle of March are the months when we go through a lot of tissues, cough medicine, antibiotics, and etc. For some reason after having four children, my immune system isn't functioning as well as it used to and for the last few years I have been getting sick quite a bit. Being sick while trying to care for sick children is a horrible and exhausting task. I try to avoid people who are sick and I consume plenty of vitamin C, but it doesn't help when I have kids bringing home germs with them from school. I've learned that kids are amazing at spreading illness to other people. My kids being sick so often is going to be tough on all of us this year. Last year the state of Nebraska passed a new truancy law stating that if your child misses more then 20 days of school in a year you and your child get reported to the county attorney. A lot of states have these laws and I understand the reason behind them, however Nebraska is the only state with a truancy law that doesn't excuse school absences due to illness. So, what's the result of this you may ask? Well, our justice system is being cluttered up with these cases, it's costing our state a ton of money, the cases of parents in our state being investigated for child abuse and neglect has quadrupled under this law, our state has had a major increase in children being taken from their homes and being put in the state's custody due to this law. There have been a lot of parents angry over this new law and rightly so. I think it's outrageous that families that have kids with cancer, HIV, and other illness that compromise their immune system are being hauled into court over their children being sick. And, they have to take their kids out of school to go to court. That doesn't make sense either. There are thousands of kids across this state that get serious illnesses or have chronic and incurable diseases and illnesses and miss more then 20 days of school a year because of it. How can our state say that these cannot be excused and that parents should lose there children due to being sick? How can anyone in this state not be upset by this or think it's OK? Personally, it outrages me, because my children are in that category of kids who miss a lot of school, because they are sick. My children still do very well in school, but this year I'm afraid of losing them thanks to this outrageous law. I don't think any child should be ripped away from their family and thrown in foster care or juvie for missing school from being sick. I don't think parents should be fined or thrown in jail, because their kids are sick. I'm scared for my children. Right now two of my children are battling bronchitis and have missed a number of days because of it. Earlier this year they missed a few days, because they had the stomache flu. If things keep going like this my kids might go over that 20 day limit, and there is nothing I can do. I'm not allowed to send them to school when they are sick, but I can lose them if I don't. It makes no sense to me. I will continue to care for my kids and try to keep them from becoming sick, but there is only so much a parent can do. I love my kids and don't want to lose them and I hope Nebraska changes this law soon, so that illnesses will be considered excused absences. I think the law as is should be repealled. I'm hoping I do not lose my children or go to jail and get fined because our state lawmakers think they know what's best for everyone else's lives.


http://www.omaha.com/article/20111002/NEWS01/710029894

http://nfpf.blogspot.com/p/current-issue-repeal-new-truancy-law.html

http://www.omaha.com/article/20111002/NEWS01/710029910/0#parents-chafe-at-truancy-oversight