I'm going to regret this

I'm going out on a limb here, but I can't shut myself up anymore. I have to write about abortion. I know, I am bound to regret this, but the issue just bugs me. We have got to find a way to work together on this issue. I get the impression that pro-lifers think that us pro-choicers think that abortion is great. That is not the case. On the other hand, pro-choicers are in such a defensive stance that we make it seem like abortion isn't a problem. I really wish abortions didn't happen. The whole thing is kind of sad, but it would be more sad have women dying from illegal abortions. What if we worked together to reduce the number of abortions. I read that about 1/2 of all abortions are on women who got pregnant while using birth control. That is a lousy statistic. It seems like that would be a relatively easy place to make improvements. Although I recognize that some that are against abortion are also against birth control. It seems like there have to be other ways. There have got to be studies out there on why women have abortions and there have got to be other ways to help these women not get pregnant, so they don't have to make this choice. Whatever you know about it, I would love to hear it. I just know we have to move away from these polar opposites of "not legal under any circumstances" and "we won't even talk about the negative consequences" or this debate will never end.

Look! Out the window, it's.....

I had to reflect on our recent trips to Missouri & Arkansas after reading the column My Turn in the recent issue of Newsweek ("...we had daily 'tech checks' to make sure everything was charged. There were so many cords traversing the minivan, it looked like a fully equipped kidney-dialysis unit."). While our trek was quite a bit shorter than the 1200 miles undertaken by the author and her family, it was, nonetheless, uncharted territory for us. For most people (without children) a journey from here to Arkansas would be about a 6 hour drive. With children, especially when both are under 4 years-old, it could be 7 hours, it could be 10! The longest journey we'd taken with Joe, prior to Columbia a few weeks ago, was 4 hours - also to Columbia - and he slept the whole way there - and back if I recall! Isaac had never traveled more than 2 hours before going to Columbia and he did amazingly well too. We left at 7:15 am for Arkansas to allow plenty of time so we didn't arrive just before sunset and have to eat, set up our tent, and get the boys to sleep. Also, not wanting to press our luck, we had a DVD player as our backup plan. Fortunately we've been blessed with two wonderful young travelers as both were able to entertain themselves or were napping. Of course, there were also the requisite diaper changes and potty stops. Occasionally, Joe even helped entertain Isaac. I have to admit, though, traveling is easier since Joe is a bit infatuated with all things mechanical - trucks, trains, buses, planes, farm equipment, even irrigation systems. All of which were in ample supply the entire route. On the return trip we didn't rush quite as much (partially since found out that when our speedometer showed 74, we were actually doing closer to 80 - so that's why no one passed us!). However, we also spent 45 minutes for lunch at the county park in Butler MO. It turned out to be one of the most memorable parts of the whole, 9-hour trip. I'm happy to say that for the whole time we were gone we never even turned on the DVD player. Granted they're still quite young, but I'm going to encourage my boys to watch as much scenery as possible. When you're traveling scenery changes and it's gone once you're past it. We can watch a movie anytime, anywhere.

A trip to Eureka Springs

We just returned from a trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas with my family. I would rate it as neutral. Nothing bad happened and it was nice spending time with the family, but ES is not ideal for small children. We did find some neat things to do. We saw Onyx cave, went on a ride on an old fashioned train, saw lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) at a wild animal refuge and did a lot of swimming. It was just tiring keeping Isaac entertained while keeping him from choking on the billions of rocks filling our campsite. We were also interested to discover that Eureka Springs is like a Mecca for bikers. The KOA was filled with Harley's. I must say they were nice people, they just stayed up a bit later than I would have liked. My favorite moment was Joe explaining everything to us about the railroad. I don't think I've ever seen him that happy.

Weddings

I just read this great article in Alternet about weddings. I still can't talk about our wedding without getting in a huff. I have to say that there are so many days in our marriage that outshine that one. Maybe we could help make weddings more sane by giving more simple options, and by banning Martha Stewart. That woman was the root of all evil in our wedding, that and family pressures. I'm just thankful to have sons so I will, hopefully, never have to plan another shin-dig like ours! I should also say that if it hadn't been for our friends and family that helped that day, we may not have been able to pull it off.

Vacation

We just got back from a family gathering in Columbia, MO. We all got together at a farm outside of town. It was a great place. They have a passive solar house, pond, garden, 2 steers, chickens, ducks, and sheep. There were even 2 lambs born while we were there.
It was, as always, good to spend time with Kirk's side of the family. It has been made clear that I am the bossy one of the group. I had always thought that this was seen as a negative. I was told this weekend, though, that this is appreciated. I'm not sure I believe this yet, so I'll try to keep the power from going to my head.
Unfortunately I had a cold the entire weekend, so I was not able to participate in all activities. I got a spin around the pond in the canoe, a s'more, and lots of chats with the family, so it was good overall.

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Need a good laugh....

I'm a bit out of the loop, or web, in this case. I just (re)discovered The Onion - the videos are a new feature. If you like The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, you'll want to check out the onion.

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Ellen Goodman is the best! She has a great article this week. Check it out.