"I want to check you for....."

"Blood sucking parasites that hurt and leave you itching and paranoid about things like contracting a horrible disease or other bugs crawling all over you and getting into places where they shouldn't belong". Isn't that how the song goes? No? After the weekend camping with my darling Pathfinders and Adventurers, I have decided Brad Paisley is an idiot. I don't know if he has spent time checking anyone for ticks; I cant imagine it being a really titillating experience for either party. Especially if you find one. (shudder) It is a really horrible experience. Then, after the removal, comes the itching.... I guess by now my current conflict has become apparent. I HATE TICKS. I love nature...but this is ridiculous. This year the tick season was supposed to be bad. This is beyond bad. It seems like everyone in my family (including animals, excluding fish) has had to endure the wrath of the bloodsuckers. Today, my son acquired one mowing the lawn. I acquired one spraying around the house for bugs. I think I have had enough. There will be no more "time in nature" for this girl, unless it's at the beach. I am through with ticks. I don't even like the Superhero, "The Tick". and I love superheroes. ....Actually....I really just like Thor. But not the comic book Thor....;)

I just realized....

....I have no idea what I'm doing. I've been homeschooling for a school term now. My first year, My son, 3rd/4th grade curriculum. I did the research. Checked out different methods. Joined a homeschool group. Created a schedule. Planned out a curriculum. ...and feel like I accomplished nothing this year. We've done field trips, read lots of books, watched movies that were available for the subjects studying, got involved in a science co-op.... When asked what my son learned this year so far, he stated..."nothing". Boy. I've failed. I was really excited about next year a few weeks ago. I found a new curriculum that was pretty much straight classical education. I found a fabulous math program, a really fun looking spelling program, and I love our current history and science programs. I will be embarking upon pre-k next year, and that's pretty intimidating...... "sigh". I dont know if I can do it. Education is so very important to me. I truly enjoy learning. My parents didn't homeschool; we were just expected to make straight A's. I really dont remember them helping me with my schoolwork. Socially, school was hard; I didnt have many friends. When my son started having problems, homeschooling seemed the best option. I could spend time helping him with what he didnt understand. I placed him in an environment where he would be accepted as himself; no need to "try to be like anyone else". He got the opportunity to do lots of extra stuff to help him understand, and he got to meet some pretty awesome kids like himself. But he learned "nothing" this year. To be honest, we struggled all year with the reality that Mommy expects him to do his best - all the time. Sloppy work is not okay. We struggled with the need for him to pay attention....apparently I have not expected that from him before. We struggled with his inability to follow instructions - strangely enough, he seems to have embraced the "if its not comfortable for you, dont do it" mentality at an early age. And I have learned I know nothing about how to encourage children. So where do I go from here? I LOVE homeschooling. I am learning....and I love it. I am sharing a bit of what I love about learning...and he dosent seem to care. Next year, I will have both children to try to teach.....

My thoughts on Gay marriage

Normally I have very little to say about anything. But I am hard pressed not to say anything about this. Some would equate the right for gay marriage as the same as the right to interracial marriages. However, I think that they are not the same. At all. Our country, despite its current state, was founded on Biblical principles, and although we as a country have not always sided on the side of Biblical correctness, I believe we have a lot of people up there who still believe in the power of the Almighty and his wrath. I would like to point out that the Bible never spoke out against the color of a man as a reason for not marrying him, but rather his culture or his beliefs. Therefore, in my opinion, the decision that interracial relationships between a man and woman are valid is a Biblical and morally sound decision. Is it a decision the government needed to make? As a Bible believing, God fearing woman, I don’t think so. On the flip side, the Bible does have a lot to say about homosexual relationships, and none of them are positive. I think the real question is: should the government be expected to tell us what is truth, morally right, therefore acceptable?? Overall, I feel the government has no real business deciding who can and cannot get married. They are (as far as I am understanding) supposed to create and uphold laws of the land. Because of that, I feel the decision to marry or not to marry homosexuals should be left to the churches, and the governments should issue “binding contracts of care”, or whatever they want to call it, available to those who choose not to (or who can’t) get married in a church. Once the contract is signed, the individual parties can have all the legal implications of “marriage”; the religious & moral aspects of it can be left up to the churches, societies, cultures, whatever. I don’t think this contract needs to be issued for those who are able to or choose to get married in churches, because for those of us who are married, once you sign the marriage certificate, the “contract” is therefore “legal and binding”! I may be a bit under-informed, but it seems like the battle for gay people to be married started because they were being denied the legal rights that heterosexual people who got married received. The "right" for the marriage to be "accepted" is a social and personal issue, and one the governments cant force. Let the government deal with it on the legal end. Let the churches deal with it on the religious end. And let the people decide what is right for them.