Can't be nice about this.

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Simply the most vile, despicable, revolting human beings around, these are members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Most are related to the founder Fred Phelps, who at some point fixated his "ministry" on his hatred of homosexuals.  It's bizarre to me.  They protest at soldiers funerals yelling about how soldiers die because God is punishing us because homosexuality is practiced on this earth.  What. Ever.  They make no sense to me what-so-ever. 

So they celebrate the death of soldiers at their funerals.  Aren't they happy, shiny people?


And they like to put their kids out there.  I will never understand living your life in pursuit of hate. 

I thought it was bad when they threatened to protest Elizabeth Edward's funeral.  I never heard anything so they might have backed off, having gotten the attention they wanted just by the threat alone.  But this - this is over the line even for them.  Now they are saying they will protest at the funeral of the 9 year old girl Christina Green,  who died in Tucson this weekend.  Good Lord. 

They have proved they have no decency.  But don't they have even a shred of humanity?
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No yoga tonight.

But I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night! Okay, couldn't resist. Actually, I got on the treadmill tonight, and kept my heart rate up for 20 minutes. I did do a cool down but probably not enough. Or maybe my heart is still racing because I AM SO MAD!!!!

Before I got on the torture-mill, I was watching TV and came in a minute too late to see this woman introduced, but it's probably better that I don't know who she was because I might be forced to hunt her down and force feed her a box of Ho-Ho's and chase it with a Yoo Hoo!! All the while forcing a candy necklace around her scrawny neck! UGH!!!!

Me-l-l-l-o-w-w .....

The discussion was about obesity not being "green". The twinkie was saying that obese people are more apt to drive a car than someone who is not obese, using more energy and polluting the planet. And oh - what about the over-consumption of food??? If you are obese it means you are eating more than you need. And if you are eating more food than you need, that food needs to be produced, it needs to be processed and transported, increasing the obese person's carbon footprint to something way larger than a thin persons.

It was suggested that if an obese person is using more of the earth's resources maybe they should be taxed on that somehow. Hmm. Interesting. And then it came around to possibly the point she was getting to all along! National Health care. IF we end up with National Health care, and by God if we do I will continue to keep my private insurance for as long as I possibly can, obese people should have to pay more out of pocket. She made the direct correlation between - if you over consume - you should pay more out of pocket for your health care.

So listen genius! There are plenty of people who eat - I'm sorry - over consume more than I do. You cannot look at someone and make the judgement that they over-consume by looking at them. You can't always see it hanging over their belt or under their chin. Could be it's their genetic makeup, could be they drive to the gym every day using energy by driving and by going to a building that has more bright lights than any place ought to? Over consumption my ass.

There IS a correlation between obesity and certain illnesses which is why I am trying my damnedest to NOT be obese. If she had used that as her argument I might have been willing to seriously hear what she had to say. But the cover it up with all this carbon footprint bull$hit - no way. This twinkie deserves an award for self righteous, intolerant, ignorant insensitivity. Not to mention outing herself as having absolutely no idea what causes obesity. Note to Twinkie - it's not as simple as "over-consuming" for every person. I will admit to hurling several really bad words as well as a hand gesture toward the TV on my way to the treadmill. And I don't usually raise my voice in anger at the TV.

I don't need much to push me toward the Ho Ho's (if I had any) anyway, luckily it was the treadmill that was beckoning me tonight. Oh and Twinkie? As far as the use of my car is concerned, I drive a 2001 and have only 52,000 miles on it. That footprint is generally much smaller than most who drive to work everyday. Fat OR thin.

So I should ask - is my sometime addiction to Pez a problem for you too?

How angry am I? Not so much.

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So, my daughter went a wanderin’. The question I asked was – am I angry with her? Truth? I can’t be. Not for trespassing on university property to poke around an old village and hotel with no intentions of doing any harm to the place. Even though it was against the law.

I know I need to teach my children the difference between right and wrong but let’s face it. Dani is 21. If she hasn’t learned that lesson by now, I won’t be the one teaching her, life will be.

When I think of all the things I did when I was her age and younger, well, my kids will never hear most of it so neither will you! Suffice it to say that I am glad my kids are not like I was. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I wasn’t the best either. And the time in my life when I lived in a college town with my husband was a time of ‘messing around’ - and not getting caught.

Sigh-h. I know I’m supposed to be mad. When I talked to Dani on the phone at the end of the conversation I worked up my stern voice and said “consider yourself reprimanded! Do not trespass again!” And then I laughed. It was the best I could do.

The child gets all A’s, she is dangerously intelligent and level headed. She is paying for her own college education; she has arranged all of her own financial aid and loans and goes back to her job when she comes home to earn more money for school. She tossed aside the horrible food habits I raised her with and became a vegetarian who gets excited when they have a good selection of vegetables at the dorm cafeteria. She’s old enough to drink now and if she does – she actually does the designated driver thing.

My daughter is a bit messy and opinionated but she is. a. good. kid.

Before Scout and Jem ever tried to peek in the windows at Boo Radley’s place, kids and people in general have been fascinated by ‘haunted’ and spooky places. It was Halloween. Oh well. If this is the worst that ever happens I will be forever grateful.

Dani will go to court and pay her fine, along with the 16 other people that got tickets doing just what she did that day. Her life will go on, lesson learned.

If there is anything I am angry about it was the lack of full disclosure, the fact that I had to find out about the episode by receiving her summons in the mail. Her boyfriend’s Mom had already received his and was quite upset actually, partly because he wants to be a cop (irony, anyone?) I’m sure. So Dani should have called me, she should have fessed up and warned me. Other than that – I’m not mad.

In this case (I plead the 5^th in other cases) I cannot say – do as I say and not as I do. I have to choose my hypocrisy carefully. Okay, it’s not hypocrisy if I am teaching from lessons learned. But this time – she learned her own lesson just fine.
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