Suffragettes

New Zealand was the first self-governing country to grant women the vote; in 1893 all women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in parliamentary elections. Women in South Australia achieved the same right in 1894 but became the first to obtain the right to stand (run) for Parliament. The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which was founded in 1897, formed of a collection of local suffrage societies. This union was led by Millicent Fawcett, who believed in constitutional campaigning, like issuing leaflets, organizing meetings and presenting petitions. However this campaigning did not have much effect. So in 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded a new organization, the Women's Social and Political Union. Pankhurst thought that the movement would have to become radical and militant if it was going to be effective. The Daily Mail later gave them the name "Suffragettes".

A few historians feel that some of the suffragettes' actions actually damaged their cause. The argument was that women should not get the vote because they were too emotional and could not think as logically as men; their violent and aggressive actions were used as evidence in support of this argument.

We've come a long way, ladies!   

Further proof that my girls are adorable, amazing and awesome:

These lovelies voted for the first time today. And they went together, as loving sisters do. They cracked up over the fact that they voted at their old elementary school, finding it hard to believe they were once so little. 

Me too girlies, me too. 

Crazy Friday!

Friday was a blast! Okay, first I had to get through hubby getting called out of town to work, a dentist appointment (without numbing medicine..I'll explain in a sec), taking Linzie to the doc immediately following my dental appointment (which is why I skipped being awesomely numb...there simply wasn't time!), and standing in a super long line snaking through a parking lot to get my early vote in for this little thing called The Presidential Election.

Whew! 

But somewhere in the midst of all that chaos, I had THE. Best. Idea! My littlest girls have been eagerly anticipating the new Disney film called Wreck It Ralph. Since my work schedule has been screwed up for weeks (thanks, Delta!) I somehow managed to get an actual weekend off, which never ever happens, so I decided a movie would be the perfect thing for a fall Friday night and I invited my sis to bring her adorable kiddos too! Now keep in mind the life changes going on around here now that I have three girls in college.. I never plan on those girls being available to join us because they usually aren't. In keeping with current trends, I only bought tickets for Abby, Linzie and myself and then I announced it on Facebook. Haha! It wasn't long before I got a text from Madi saying she wanted to go too, so after returning from Linzie's doctor appointment, I bought another ticket.  After squeezing in the voting, it was nearly time to head to the movie...and that is when Carley got home from work and said she also really wanted to go to the movie. Just like Madi had done, Carley had some serious schedule rearranging to do in order to free up a few hours for the movie, but she managed it so I bought another ticket. :)  Poor Emily couldn't free up her schedule though so I was short one girlie as we headed off to the movie for some Friday fun. 

Missy's little man, Jack. We adore this boy!

Four of my very best friends! Carley, Linzie, Madi, and Abby. (we missed you, Emily!)

 Suffice it to say, that was probably the best movie I have seen all year and the company was fabulous! I loved hearing my girls laugh, and I got the honor of sitting by my adorable nephew, Jack, which added a whole new dimension to the experience! When the theater erupted in applause at the end of the movie, I felt the same way. Yes! It was magical! We talked about the movie and laughed all the way home. It was therapeutic. I had needed that night for a very long time!

My family is everything to me, more essential than air and more valuable than all the treasure in the world. How did I ever get so lucky? You can take away everything else, but as long as I have my girlies and my Hubby, I will always be happy. They are my everything. 

RIP Laptop (for now)

My laptop is dead. About a month ago the battery suddenly burst... talk about scary! The first rep I talked to with Apple completely freaked me out by telling me to immediately put the battery outside, as if it was going to suddenly explode completely. He then told me that I could go to the nearest Apple store and get a free replacement. I was so relieved! But before I could thank him for his help, he told me I would have to speak to his supervisor. After a few minutes, an abrupt woman came on the line and proceeded to interrogate me. Where was the laptop when the battery burst? (On my stomach.) Was I injured in any way? (Does mental trauma count?) Did I have any painful substance on my hands from touching the battery? (Um.. no, but now you're really freaking me out!) Had I scrubbed my exposed skin since handling the battery? (Seriously examining my skin at that point, wondering how much time I had left before it melted from my bones.) Was the computer case damaged? (Not that I could see.) Was anyone else in the vicinity when the battery burst? (Looking for ways to discredit my story? No witnesses makes it easy to deny my claim, right?) After about 5 minutes of in-depth questioning.. (covering their asses) the woman told me that this is "normal" for laptop batteries and that I should bring the laptop battery to one of their stores for disposal (for a fee, I might add) and then I would be welcome to purchase another battery for $189. WTF?! The last dude told me that I would be covered.. Futhermore, while you had me on hold I did a little research on my iPad and learned that a few years ago, Apple admitted these batteries were defective and had a battery replacement program. How about that?? Woman said no. Then she said no again. And just for good measure, she said no a third time.

Wow.

Thanks, Apple. Because of your "normal" battery, I now have almost no regular internet access. I can tell you that my Dell Laptop never.. I repeat, NEVER did such a "normal" thing! I've learned my lesson though. You can bet my next laptop will not be an Apple.

So.. I need to save for an overpriced laptop battery. But no matter how much I try to put money aside, things keep coming up to take that money away for other things. What things, you might ask?  Well, here's a few of the other items/people I have funded recently..

Abby and Linzie turned 16! Can you believe that? I would much rather spend money on their driver's licenses, birthday dinner, and presents than a silly laptop battery!

I loved their balloons this year! I had such a hard time convincing the clerks to let me have two bouquets. Did you know there is a world-wide helium shortage? It's true!

We took the girls to The Cheesecake Factory (a birthday favorite!) for Abby and Linzie's birthday dinner. Emily had to work.. :( so it was just Bill and I plus our two sets of twins. We died laughing when a group of waiters sang happy birthday to the WRONG set of twins! Judging by the picture here though, Carley didn't mind.









My adorable baby girls. Hard to believe they're so grown up! They are driving almost everywhere now and I'm so proud of how responsible they are! I just wish I could have even one more day with their bald baby heads. I don't know what I ever did in my life that was good enough to deserve these two!

Following close on the heels of the birthday was Abby and Linzie's orchestra fund raiser. Believe it or not, I bought $120 worth of chocolate bars from them.. which I see them nibbling on daily. Oh the things we do as parents to support our kiddos!

Birthdays and fundraisers were enough to delay the purchase of a new laptop battery, but then to add insult to financial injury, I found myself in need of an emergency dental procedure last week. I was traumatized because I have always taken such good care of my teeth! Once again, as quickly as I got my head above water, those tricky financial gods took it all away again.

So for now, the battery must wait. There's orchestra dresses to pay for, unexpected furniture purchases to pay off and those ever present medical and dental bills.  Being a grown up is so much fun! 

We Love More, Hope More, And Pray More...

I'm incredibly weepy lately. Work stress, lack of sleep, hormones out of whack.. whatevs. It doesn't take much to make me cry. So after days and days of living on the edge, this morning at work I got a series of text messages from my Carley that got me all sniffily at work, and for the rest of the day I found myself pondering the relationship between parent and child, which lead to a series of other events that kept me teary eyed pretty much all day.

I felt really bad that I missed her first text of the day. I was busy booking flights for Delta passengers! 

Carley is my sweet, stubborn, fiercely brave girl that can completely undo me with a smile.. or a quivering lip. She's very much like me in that she will let you know how she's feeling, even if she can't tell you exactly why she's feeling that way at the moment. I adore the fact that although she's nearly 20 years old, she's still not too old to snuggle with her mama.

Earlier this morning I had a conversation with my fav sister, Missy about a blog that we have been reading recently. The blog documents one family's incredibly short, incredibly painful, and shattering experience with childhood cancer. You can find that blog here: Rockstar Ronan. Between work calls today, I repeatedly found myself drawn to Ronan's blog. It wasn't long before my chest burned with heartache and I felt the tears swelling past the rims of my eyes. Bad idea to read that raw stuff at work. But I was captivated. Absolutely spellbound. I wanted to know more about Ronan's mom and how she handled this exquisitely private pain of losing her youngest child to cancer. I sent Missy a text about the blog... she told me she had made the mistake of reading it while working also. I'm telling you, once you start down that path, it's difficult to stop.

I told Missy through our texting how I hate cancer and how grateful I am for Lillie's super strong personality that helped her fight through Leukemia when she was such a tiny little girlie. I don't know why our family was spared the ultimate loss that so many of my friends have not been so lucky to escape. I can't believe that there is a God that spares some children while fracturing other families beyond repair. No mother deserves that kind of pain.

After sharing some comforting text messages with Missy, in which we both openly and lovingly admired each other, I kept wondering what it is that defines a good mother. Those thoughts are still winding around my mind this evening...

The common theme between the text messages Carley sent me, Missy's little girl battling cancer, and Ronan's mom caring for her precious boy as he fought bravely, is that we teach, coach and then show our children that we will always be right by their side as they face the challenges in their lives. Whether it's me teaching my girls that kindness matters and that no one ever regretted working hard to achieve their goals, or Missy successfully juggling home-work-family and her precious baby fighting cancer, or Ronan's mom who loved enough for a lifetime in four short years and then tenderly bathed her lifeless little boy one last time before he was taken away, kissing his eyes, his lips and cheeks over and over... whispering in his ear how loved he is and bravely sharing his story years later. Even after all of that, being a mom is still so much more. We love more, pray more, and hope more than these precious kids will ever understand... at least until they become parents themselves.

In the end, we all want our children to grow up to be happy, successful adults. I'm grateful for parents like Ronan's mom who may not get to see their own child(ren) grow up, but through their courage, wisdom and love, end up reaching thousands, if not millions of children all over the world. We love our children with every part of our souls... we are moms and that's a pretty cool club to belong to.


Side Note:

Taylor Swift also read the blog written by Ronan's mom and she was so moved by this family that she wrote a song for Ronan. The words of the song were taken directly from the blog and because of that, Taylor listed Ronan's mom as co-writer of the song. All proceeds from the sale of "Ronan" go directly to the Stand Up To Cancer foundation. Pretty darn cool! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go purchase my own copy. 

My Crazy Life

Fall is beginning all around me and I am easily reminded of why this is my favorite season. Last week, Hubby and I went to pick tomatoes at a local farm so I could start my fall tomato projects. It didn't take long before those bushels of tomatoes were turned into wonderful smells of chili sauce and spaghetti sauce cooking on my stove, to be safely tucked into glass jars that will line my pantry shelves for the winter. I still have a box of tomatoes sitting on my table, waiting for me to skin, slice and can them... I just ran out of steam today!

I'm running at least a week behind on my tomato projects because I was surprised with a work trip to Cincinnati. What a shock it was to be given the honor to represent my workplace on such an amazing trip! I'll admit that I was nervous to go, but I ended up in complete disbelief that I was being paid for so much rowdy fun with great coworkers I had met for the first time only days prior to the departing flight. We walked all over that city, exploring the sights and we may even have stalked a few famous football players at our hotel. (Drew Brees was adorably sweet even though I clearly didn't know his name while I was talking to him!)

The view from my hotel room on the 20th floor. 

It was wonderful to have new experiences and to get paid for going on a mini vacation, but I was happy to get home to my cute family who acted like they kind of missed me while I was gone. :) We laughed into the early hours of the morning as I recounted my Cincinnati adventures and I fell asleep snuggled up with my Hubby. Life is so good! 

My girlies are all back in school now. I realized that I actually have four sophomores this year! The oldest twins are college sophomores and the youngest twins are high school sophomores. Crazy! Although keeping up with them is still difficult to do, I am so proud of them every single day! They know that we have high expectations for them and they never disappoint.

My youngest twins, Linzie and Abby on their first day of high school. 

 

I might be exhausted and scatterbrained most days due to the demands of this busy busy family, but I wouldn't change it for anything! I'm married to a sweet guy who rocks the handyman skills, my girls are all successful over-achievers, and I have a stable job that pays me to do fun things. I'm so blessed!

Random photos taken recently:

A torrential rainstorm unleashed on us one evening. The rain was coming from every direction and we absolutely loved it!

After the rain, we were treated to a spectacular rainbow over our neighbor's house!

Two of my college students... Carley and Emily... mugging for the camera. I'm not sure they realize how beautiful they are!

Carley and Madi mugging for the camera while limiting Linzie to the bottom corner of the picture. Gotta love sisters!

I miss my blogging days.. I really do! I keep thinking if only I had more time.  I'm hoping to change that soon though... my new shift starts on October 1st and I will be working four ten-hour days which means three days off! I'm also hoping to sneak in a trip to Boston once I get the new routine ironed out! Mom and I can't wait to give Dottie a hug in person! Fingers crossed that I can make that happen in October!

Happy Birthday Aunt Dottie!

Dottie,

I just wanted you to know that I am thinking about you right this very minute (as I so often do). If you only knew how often we talk about you and if you could only see the smiles on our faces as we share memories and long for our next visit with you. We are so blessed to have you in our lives!

I'm certain you have a lot of wonderful things in store for you today so enjoy it to the fullest! You are a beautiful, wonderful lady and we love you oh so much! Have the happiest of birthdays!

Sending you all our love,
Bill, Nik and the six little girlies.