7-Quick Takes

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1. I have been watching the WallStreet protests with interest, mostly because of the inevitable comparisons with the Tea Party rallies. So okay, here is my take on the difference.

• I wouldn’t be afraid of the health hazards of going to a tea party rally.  Those folks picked up their own garbage and didn’t go to the bathroom out in public.
• I could take my young child to a tea party rally and not be ashamed or embarrassed by the language of the leaders or the crowd.
• I could take my teen to a tea party rally and not be ashamed or embarrassed by the public semi nudity and over sexualized behavior.

More on that here.

2. Defending Duggarsover on the Huffington Post. It seems Mrs. Duggar mentioned that she would love to have another baby. What apparently escaped the notice of just about everyone complaining about the Duggar family size is that she also said she knows she is 45 years old and that it might not happen again, but that if it did she would love that baby too. She didn’t say they were trying for another one, she didn’t say they were doing hormone shots or in vitro or anything like that to make another baby. Just that if it happened, it happens.

From “talking” about this with the folks over there the main complaints seem to be:

• the older kids have to work to hard to take care of the younger ones because – gosh they’re teen agers and should be out having fun!
• Mrs. Duggar’s uterus must be all stretched out of shape – although the concern for her lady parts is usually derogatory and I highly doubt the people complaining about it care much for her physical well being.
• They’re polluting the environment.
• They can’t figure out how they manage it financially.

From what I can tell, not many of them watch the t.v. show or have read any of the Duggar’s books. They also seem to be very “anti-choice” when the choice is to have a big family!

3. I recently ran my last wedding for a while. I am soooooo happy the wedding season is just about over (although I have a few around the holidays – making me wonder who thinks it’s a great time to take two stressful events and mash them together into a Holiday Wedding? – I don’t get it?)

Anyway, this year has been overly stressful – from bridezillas and momzillas screaming at me, to militant maids of honor and a few flaky brides who can’t seem to decide or organize anything. Then there are groomsmen who can’t manage to get the guests into the church because they are either slightly buzzed or hungover – or both. I’ve seen all that this year too. The problem solving has been more challenging in the last few weeks. From a wedding party that wanted to take tons of pictures before the wedding when the church was NOT available (instead of after the wedding when there was plenty of time) to divorced and remarried parents with different partners and no one agreeing about who should sit where, or who should walk in with who, and wanting me to play referee (which I was very happy to do and having six children has made that a cinch!) to being responsible for getting copies of the readings to the readers and rehearsing with them because they didn’t know they were supposed to do that.

Luckily for me, there are confessions right before the 5:30 wedding – so I get to clean my slate each week!

4. I blogged recently that the “industry standard” of pay for medical transcription has dropped and starting next week, I have will be working for less for one of my services. Something in that just hasn’t set right with me. It feels a little bit like being fired, but not quite because I still have work – it’s just not valued as highly. I dunno – it’s a weird feeling. Anyway I’ve been thinking what I would really like to do is start writing some ebooks. Mr. Pete has been encouraging me and I think it would be lots of fun to try.

5. I think my first attempt will be something along the lines of “Preparing for your Catholic Wedding – one church wedding coordinators perspective” or something like that.

6. Cross country is nearly over and this year I feel so sad about that. Noah has been such an inspired and improved runner and he has been so challenged by it.   Izzy does it because I encourage her to.  I keep telling her if she wants to keep in shape, running is the most economical way to do that. So she’ll keep at it and then for high school she tells me she wants to try something else like volley ball.  The year after that Rosie starts.  So this is the last year that I will have more than one child in this sport. It just makes me even more aware of how fleeting time is.

7. Because Noah wants to continue running, I am definitely going to start a homeschool running club this spring.  I have almost NO IDEA about how to do this, but I figure if I get it started, maybe I’ll get lots of help.  I just have no desire to try to negotiate with local high schools or parochial schools to let my kid run.  Been there, done that.  I’m going to start my own thing and participate in the many, many running events throughout my area. 

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