Texas Tarnation

In case you thought Texas was merely, I've included the following video to show what goes on in classrooms all across the state every day.

A pledge of allegiance. To the Texas flag.

No, I'm not kidding you. See for yourself. Also, you might be interested to know that many businesses and institutions down here fly the Texas flag at the same height as the U.S. flag.



I'd call it simple political inanity, but I think it's rather too dangerous a mindset to reduce it to that descriptive. And I'll just be applying for Canadian residency now...

Canada may have won gold, but...

Jackson won another game puck! This one was for scoring the winning goal at yesterday's mini-mite hockey game against Farmer's Branch. The Euless Penquins won it 3-2. Yay us! And yay for Landon, our goalie, who blocked something like 24 shots yesterday. He was awesome!

Here's the video of Jackson's goal. Score was tied, 2-2, with only about a minute and a half left in the third period. Jackson is #3, in the green jersey with a white helmut!

Jackson's Mini Mite Shoot Out

I apologize for the title of this post. Yes, I realize it sounds suspiciously like Jackson and a band of roving 6 and 7 year olds recently went on a spree of terrible violence. But, I don't make the rules in hockey, and the hockey gods decided to call it a shoot-out, so I'm only bowing to tradition. Here's a video of Jackson during last Saturday's Dallas Stars' game against the Detroit Red Wings.

Recent vids of Jackson

The first is from the Ft. Worth Zoo. Jackson having some fun with feeding the birds in the bird cage. ;)




And this is Jackson ice skating at the Parks Mall. . .

I'm sick of classes

...and I need a vacation! That's all. That, and yes, I know it's been months since I posted last. Mostly because this blog was merely a requirement for a women's health class. I am now pulling the ol' blog out of the bin and dusting it off, so I have a place to gripe again. Hello world.

Balancing Act

Speaking as a mother, student, and employed woman, there's a lot I've learned about balancing various demands, but the most important is knowing when to give myself a break. Of course, organizational skills, knowing how to say no, getting enough sleep, and having help are essential. But even so, without having some purely leisure time, I would go insane. Right now, I have assignments, papers to write, several finals to study for, required volunteer hours for my son's charter school, church obligations, not to mention work, and now Christmas shopping to keep me occupied for the next three or four weeks.

So, when I get too frazzled, or begin to feel my temper getting too short, I know it's time to check out and watch some mindless T.V. show, or relax after a hot shower with some hot chocolate, or sit back with some leisure reading. Sometimes, I take Jackson to the local pizza/ arcade and spend an hour or so there playing games and pigging out on pizza and ice cream. It may not be great for our diet, but it's a necessity to relieve stress sometimes!

I will say that one skill has made college classes a great deal more tolerable, and that's the ability to write well. I feel like all I have done this entire semester is bang out one paper after another, sometimes two or even three in one night. Keeping a blog has of course added to the pile. Do not underestimate the ability to turn out decent work in a short period of time! And that is why it is immensely helpful to have strong writing skills and even better typing skills. I just think of it all as prep for grad school. ;)

Mentality of Violence

The question was posed in Women's Health this week, "What can a woman do to reduce her risks of being assaulted?" I guess my pithy answer would be, "stop breathing." The question pre-supposes that a woman is, a, living in a society which empowers women and gives them ability to extricate themselves from an unequal relationship, and that she, b, wants to get away from a bad situation. If those conditions are met, there is a lot a woman can do to protect herself, providing she has enough self-worth and common sense to realize when a relationship or a situation is posing serious danger. Unfortunately, I've witnessed a few relationships where the woman involved was being verbally and physically abused, but instead of leaving the relationship, sought to make excuses for her partner or pretend the abuse wasn't happening. When children are involved, it only complicates the issue tenfold.

The other issue is when they don't have the common sense to realize that they are doing something dangerous--like going to a party full of strangers, drinking the spiked punch, and then following it down with about ten more drinks. I've seen both women and men engage in such senseless behavior, and the truth is, both sexes are at risk nowadays from date rape and physical assault in such events, but women especially. I am not blaming the woman for being raped, but I think it is disingenuous to state that women are "strong" and "empowered" and just as intelligent as their male peers, but then turn around and treat them like they are all victims-in-waiting. Women can and do have a responsibility to take precautions to protect themselves; if they indulge in high risk behavior with high risk people (i.e., the scum of society), then they are placing themselves in acute danger of being harmed. It is impossible to envision or guard against every single possibility, and women should not have to bear that burden anyway--but in the cases of obvious, well, lunacy, in my opinion, it's frustrating. Good prevention habits can be as simple as taking a couple of trusted friends to a party, and watching each other's back, and making sure nobody goes off with a strange guy in the bedroom alone after having several drinks. But, it seems that many women and men practice poor judgment in these types of situations and so they fall victim to opportunistic sexual predators.

There are so many cases in the world of violence where women have NO power and NO ability to protect themselves legally or physically. In a society where we do have such rights, I wish some women (and men!) would use the brains God gave them and either avoid high risk situations, in the first place, or take steps to mitigate the risks. Many rapes and assaults could be avoided this way, and resources could be focused on those cases where assault and abuse are far more difficult to prevent or avoid.

JMO.