Abigail

Have you ever seen this sweet baby girl? We call her Abby. She is the cutest little baby with the most pinchable cheeks! We are so fortunate to be her godparents. She is such a perfect goddaughter and brings us so much happiness and joy. We are lucky to live right next door and see and play with her almost every day. We love her!

Musings

I have thought these things so many times, I decided to write them down. This is an accumulation of writings from the past 16 months. (Yup! I started writing them down in 2010).
This is surely no surprise to anyone: I am not a fan of chaos. In fact, I purposely avoid it a lot of the time. When things are too hectic and/or chaotic, I have to remove myself from the situation, or I go into panic mode. I'm talking about crazy situations: too loud, too many people in close quarters, kids that have dirty hands...there are too many things to list. I often get that anxiety just reading blogs about how someone's kid spilled all the eggs on the floor, or seeing pictures of huge messes that seem impossible to clean up. Sometimes simple facebook postings will make me feel that bit of stress that can turn so easily into anxiety. I can't handle that stuff.
I don't understand why everyone needs a pet. And I am specifically talking about dogs and cats. And even further, I'm talking about indoor dogs and cats. Now, I understand having a cat on a farm to kill the mice. Or a dog to guard your house in the country. Throughout time people have owned animals to help with manual labor, and for food and milk. Animals used to live in barns. A barn is a house made specifically for animals. When did people decide they needed to merge their house and barn and create just one dwelling? This seriously perplexes me. The old adage, "Shut the door! Did you grow up in a barn!?" can truly be answered with, "Yes."
Second, I must talk about cleanliness--and when things aren't clean, it's chaotic and I get stressed. Wow. Animals are so dirty. Yes, I've seen very dirty people too (remember I've worked for a community health clinic and in medical offices for over 10 years). They also gross me out. I don't invite them into my house. People willingly invite animals into their houses. They shed hair and dander all over the place. With this also comes the daily expelling of urine, feces, barf, hairballs, mucous, drool... I know it's not true that all house pets do all of the above in a tiny corner of the house or yard. I just cannot be convinced.
I think cats are especially nasty. Yes, those dirty creatures piss and crap in a little sandbox, cover it up clumsily with their paws, then jump right up onto your counter, table, couch, lap... There is no such thing as a clean surface in the house. Go ahead and eat off that table, use the cutting board for your fruit and bread. Congratulations, you just ate cat feces and probably its hair too.
I think dogs are just a tad bit cleaner than cats, but super annoying. When a dog is growling and barking, almost every time the owner will say, "Don't worry. He doesn't bite." Well he doesn't bite YOU! According to the CDC and the Humane Society, "an estimated 4.7 million dog bites occur in the U.S. each year. Approximately two-thirds of bites occurred on or near the victim’s property, and most victims knew the dog." (Taken from this site. Other scary facts available.) As a kid, I was bitten right after the owner told me not to worry, that the dog was around kids all the time because she owned a daycare. I did not provoke the dog. I didn't stare at it. I didn't run from it. I was not at fault in any way. And while I'm on it, why is the dog bite victim EVER blamed? (Unless he were abusing the dog, in which case the dog is the victim).
Dogs jump up on people. The only place I've found this isn't true is in Germany--specifically when the dog has a German owner. For some reason, a jumping dog who scratches, leaves dirty marks or tears on clothing, and barks at visitors is never trained to not do as much. At least in Germany I don't hear dogs barking at all hours of the night. Seriously, people! Train your dog!
For the record, I am not against all animals; I'm against animals that merely exist or serve no functional purpose--unlike seeing eye dogs--inside a house built for the purpose of human habituation. I'm here just presenting my case that: Animals belong in a barn.
I may get grief for this one, but here it goes anyway: Why do some people get married so young (I'm talking about fresh-out-of-high school teenagers!) then have babies right away before either parent is finished with college? Why is that especially normal in certain parts of the US? If people are going to get married so young, at least spend some quality married time with each other first! Why can't having children wait a few years to finish college first and become financially stable? Are they pressured by family? Is it a race with their peers? I'm not against young marriage, nor am I against having children. I am, however, against people anywhere having kids they can't afford--especially when they rely solely on government funding or any other type of welfare to raise them.
Why do people post sarcasm on facebook? Sarcasm doesn't come across the same way in written text as it does in person. I'm not a fan of it spoken aloud either. Not that I've never used it, I don't use it often now. I just find it a lower form of communication, sort of like cursing. I don't, however, feel as strongly about rhetoric. This seems to be much more easily identified as such. Don't you think?
On cheaters: Seriously? Ok. You either want to be married or you don't. PICK ONE! You may not care about hurting your spouse/kids/family, but at least have some self respect for crying out loud! A person with no integrity is the most unattractive quality! I guess the only way it works is for a person with no integrity to find another person with no integrity. It's sad that as the years have passed, I've learned of many (many!) marriages where the spouse cheated. People I would have never guessed. How sad. And not fair to me. I start thinking along the lines of: Doesn't anyone believe in a monogamous marriage anymore? Am I a fool to think it can work? Then I have to remind myself that there are also people like me: people with enough integrity and self-control to decide that "I will never cheat." I know of many happy, monogamous marriages too.
Why do jockeys whip horses? It is illegal to have cock and dog fights for sport. It's illegal to whip your animals at home on the grounds of animal cruelty. So why can humans mix sports (racing) with animal cruelty (whipping) and it's somehow legal, and somehow acceptable?
On that same note...Why are bum fights illegal? I think it's absolutely wrong, but I just don't understand the logic: An arena can build a ring and get people to fight. Then they charge money for an audience to come watch. And people actually pay money to watch people knock each other out! 1. Why do people want to watch this!? 2. Why is this legal, but bum fights aren't? Doesn't make any sense. I think it is all completely barbaric.