A post away from the norm

I don't usually voice my political opinions. There are several reasons for this, but mostly I've come to realize that they are, after all, only opinions, and therefore shouldn't be argued over. I surprise myself by saying that, given how outspoken I was during college, but a lot has changed in the last 3 years.

However, every now and again I come across something that demands my attention and voice. An article that I read today in the Sojourners Magazine really spoke to me. It was from their November 2006 issue, entitled "Hearts & Minds: Who Will Protect Us From Him?".

The article touches on a lot of questions I've had over the last 5+ years. It really made me beg the question "How wrong are we"? I don't really care who is for or against our current administration, there is nothing we can do about that for another year. What I do care about is how we are damaging our faith by having a skewed view of God. In Christianity there are rights and there are wrongs. The same holds true in an ethically moral world. But can we really say we are absolutely right and someone else is absolutely wrong? Can we really say that God is on our side 100%? I don't really think so.

Life lessons learned the hard way, aka, The day I had no ankles

Jonathan and I went to Minnesota this weekend for a conference on being an organic church. We drove up there on Friday and came back super late Saturday.

From the beginning, we informed our other passengers that we'd need to stop quite often, since at this stage I can't stay in one position too long. The ride up was without problems. We stopped several times and while I felt a little sore when we arrived, for the most part all was good.

Coming back however, not so good. Every thing stared off right. We drove about an hour and a half before stopping at Cabela's to eat and walk around. Cabela's is a man's playground. I've never seen so many stuffed animals, camo and guns in the same place. And for dinner, I even ate a bison burger. I must admit, I'm a little ashamed of myself for that, because I really love buffalo and felt kinda bad for eating one.

Anyways, we got back on the road, stopping on one more time before we got home. Apparently, this is where I went wrong. In my head I knew we should have stopped more, but since I didn't have to go to the bathroom I figured this was no point.

Well, last night when I was getting ready for bed, I realized my feet were really tingly, sorta like when they've been asleep and are finally waking up. I look down to see that my feet are swollen to twice their normal size! Holy cow. I made Jonathan take pictures (although, sadly I'm not posting them, because it's slightly embarrassing) and I couldn't stop laughing for a good 5 minutes. I propped my legs up for a while and then went to sleep figuring that they'd be back to normal by this morning. It looks like I was wrong. While they aren't nearly as bad as last night, they are still pretty swollen, and the bad part is they are starting to really hurt. It's a bit painful to walk around. I'm hoping that resting them today will help with the swelling and pain. We'll see!

I think the salsa is effecting my brain

This week has been the week from, well, you know where. Not in my personal life, but in my work life. I guess when you work in HR you sign up to work with a bunch of 50 year old who act like they are 12. So, be warned all you who are thinking of applying for my job...

Because I have barely had a lunch break in the last 3 days, I have a ton of pinned up thoughts circling in my brain, so this blog might not make any sense.

Thought 1 - Ben Harper came out with a new cd, Lifeline. Jonathan and I picked it up last week and it's really quite excellent. It's a move away, in my opinion, of the white album on Both Sides of the Gun, but not the slow, emotional verses of the black album. He's thrown in some pretty awesome cords that seem to be a throw back to canjun music. I'm not sure it's my favorite cd yet (not much can top Welcome to the Cruel World), but it's Ben, so I don't complain.

Thought 2 - Jonathan, the love of my life, is now the household handy man. For a week and a half now we've had no access to our main bathroom, because we've deciced to redo the floor. Leah suggested that I have a written contract that the bathroom is completed by October 1, which might not be a bad idea... But in all reality, I think Jonathan wants it all done more than I do. Plus, it doesn't help that I can't do anything but say "ooh" "aww" and give words of encouragement. However, I can say that if I don't see the inside of a Lowe's or Menard's for the next year I'd be quite alright with that.

Thought 3 - I love my job. I really do. But I will be so very happy when I don't have to work here anymore. If there is one thing that I have learned while working here, it is, we will forever be stuck in 7th grade. If you didn't like your middle school years, too bad, because adult world is no better. Did you feel awkward, feel outcasted, feel like no one understood you when you were 12? Well, I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't change much just because you got a college education and decided to join the "real world".

Thought 4 - Jack is nuetered.

Thought 5 - Jonathan and I started our birthing class last week. I don't think anyone has said two words (except during the first ice breaker game) since the class started. Jonathan and I cannot handle this type of silence. I think I've started laughing at just about everything that goes on in the class. Not because it's funny, but because there is so much tension that laughing is the only way I know to cope. Look, I've no doubt that pushing a 7 lb baby out of my body is going to be a very hard and difficult process, but seriously, isn't funny when our instructor sits on a stool, graps her ankles and pulls her legs up to her ears to show us how to push during labor? I mean, come on people, that is a classic!

Thought 6 - Fall is approaching. I love the fall. It is my favorite time of the year for so many reasons. First, the cool weather is amazing (more so now that I'm pregnant). Second, fall means holidays. Fall is the first reminder that Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be coming again once more. And that to me is one of the most important things about fall. :)

Thought 7 - Third trimester. Ugh. I love being pregnant. It's been a real blessing and I am truly so very thankful to the Lord for what He's doing. But at the same time I think that I've come fully into to my third trimester. My body hurts, constantly. And the super cute pregnant clothes that my friends so graciously let me borrow aren't fully covering up my tummy any more. In several tops the bottom of my belly is hanging out. Hmmm... maybe if I was European I could get away with that look, but not so much here in Iowa. It might be time to use the last of my Kohl's gift card to get a few more tops.

Thought 8 - Sleep is nice. I don't always get it, but when I do it's heavenly. In fact, I think I might take tomorrow off just to sleep.

It's official, I don't do well under stress

Today started like every other work day. I woke up, got ready for work, ate some breakfast and walked to my bus stop. And that is where every thing went wrong.

I'm sitting on the bus, reading one of my baby books, when I started to feel a little queasy. I figured it was because I was reading and riding (not that I normally have motion sickness), so I put my book away. Then I started feeling warm, so I took off my cardigan. My head starts swimming, and I realize I'm sweating profusely. My palms are so wet, pools of sweat have formed. My face was wet to the touch, wet like I had just gone running. Now I begin to freak out. It's all setting in that I am about to pass out.

Now I grew up with a mother who is a nurse. I've never shied away from blood, guts, vomit, etc. As soon as I realized what was happening, I tried to put my head between my legs and take deep long breathes. Ok, first off, being 28 weeks pregnant and putting your head between your legs on a bus, is like making wine out of water, it would be a miracle.

Then BAM! Before I know it, I'm coming to. It's was like I was waking up from some really strange dream. I had no clue where I was, what was going on. I tried to remain calm. I realized no one had noticed, so all I needed to do was get off the bus as soon as possible and get some fresh air.

As soon as I left the bus, I called my mom. She told me to call Jonathan and go to my doctor immediately. I called Jonathan. By this point all common sense had been cast into the wind. I begin crying hysterically, which freaks Jonathan out. Between broken sobs I managed to tell him what happened and to meet me at the hospital. As I'm walking to the doctor's I meet my boss. Again, common sense is no where to be found, and I managed to get out "Going to hospital. Not coming in. Call you."

After an hour, Jonathan and I are seen by a nurse. Then half an hour later by a doctor. During this whole time Jonathan is doing his best to keep me from crying, assuring me that everything is a-ok.

By the end, it turns out that my blood pressure was a bit low, and I was partially dehydrated. Baby Dubya's heart rate was between 140-150 (which is perfect). She had been active after breakfast and even shortly after the whole incident. Even now, she's bopping around. So she is perfectly healthy and has no clue what happened.

Wow, so that was my day. I am thanking my Lord that everything is fine. Even in the midst of a emotional shake down, He was right there, continuing to guard my child and me.