Leap Year

Wishing all leaplings a very Happy Birthday!  May your day be filled with joy!

Photo by Digitalart/Freedigitalphotos.net

To all women who will use "their right" this special day to propose to their men, may there be a beautiful engagement ring on your finger at the end of the day, rather than a glove!

For the rest of you, enjoy your Wednesday!  Weekend is right around the corner!

Skank Police

Another sign I am getting older!!  Ms. Goody Two Shoes here couldn't stop herself this weekend, and turned in to the skank police....But these "girls" deserved it.  

We were enjoying our girls' night out at what we thought was a decent club, with a more mature crowd, when two younger women decided to jump up a ledge and dance. Which is fine....I have to admit I have danced on top of bars back in the days, so who am I to judge?  

However, after having one flash her crotch at us in her much too short dress, not only showing everything under the dress, but also the layers of cellulite on the thighs; and the other thrusting her hips in this guy's face - and him responding by pretending to lick her, we were so grossed out I had to say something.  

And say something I did!  I told the dress girl to please pull her dress down and cover her crotch and cellulite, and I looked at the other one and like an old, prude aunt asked "How old are you?  Will you please behave yourself? You are an embarrassment to women!"  They kind of looked at me in disbelief - I guess they were expecting compliments. Sorry, I was fresh out of those!  Then I told the gross guy to please save mankind from ever having to see that kind of behavior in public again, turned on my heal and went back to dancing with my friends. They looked around a little worried, wondering if there were anyone else that didn't meet my standard of approval. There probably was, but they escaped my new found need to express my opinion of their skankiness that night...

Photo by photostock/Freedigitialphotos.net

Forty-something is a great age! Five years ago, I would never have gone up to a stranger to express my disapproval of their behavior.  Not in a million years.  I still have filters.  I don't just walk up to strangers to tell them what is on my mind, but when I see behavior like this, I guess the mother in me comes out.  If my daughter ever behaved like that at a club or a party, I would smack her silly - I don't care if she was 25 or older. If you want to behave like that, do it in a strip club where it is expected and you get paid, not at a club where you end up just being the skank dancing on the table (then again, if a daughter of mine ever decided to work in a strip club, there would be a very lengthy discussion where she would be on the losing end from the beginning!).

I'm not planning on speaking my mind freely to anyone and everyone, but this time it actually felt good to say something and not just wrinkle my nose in disapproval.  Those two needed to hear it, I thought, and at  this point, I really don't care if it truly is my place to say something or not. If I have something to say, it will come out :-)

9-year Old Dies After Punishment

One of the most senseless stories I've read this week! 

According to Yahoo News, little Savannah Hardin was forced by her stepmother and grandmother to run - for THREE HOURS - after lying about taking a candy bar.  Severely dehydrated, she had a seizure, and later died as a result of the punishment.

I am all for physical activity, and I am all for children learning consequences of their actions, but it should all be proportionate to their age, ability and severity of their actions.  To force a 9 year old to run for three hours?  With no water?  How on earth did they think that would end well?

The 27-year old stepmother and 46-year old grandmother face murder charges and are being held on $500,000 bond. Reading stories like this, I wish people could be charged with stupidity as well!!

You can read more about this story here.

The Power of Friendship

I woke up with a smile today, knowing that in just a few hours, my best friend is coming to visit.  I can't wait to see her, spend time together doing anything and everything, long nights catching up on each others  lives, sharing opinions about just about everything, and just enjoying each others company. It doesn't matter how far apart we live, or how seldom we speak to each other.  Our friendship is one of those that even if we spend months apart, we pick up right where we left off.

"You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." - Winnie The Pooh

You can define success in life any which way you want, but too often it is measured in dollars and cents.  However, no one is richer than those who have friends to share life's little pleasures with.  Not the kind of friends who are only there when life is good, but gone when you really could use a kind word or a shoulder to cry on.  But the ones who stick with you through the good and bad; who share in your laughter when you are happy, and are there for you when life seems unbearable; the ones who don't judge, but lend a listening ear and advice when you ask for it - and not when you don't; the ones who let you make your own mistakes - because who are they to decide if you will be successful or not if you don't try?  The ones you can call in the middle of the night, even after you are all grown up, because you just really, really need to talk; the ones who love you when you have forgotten to love yourself.  Those kind of friends make life worth living!

So here's to best friends!  Make sure yours knows how special she is in your life!

Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month February 2012

This year, President Barack Obama declared February as National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. He said "the consequences of dating violence -- spanning impaired development to physical harm -- pose a threat to the health and well-being of teens across our Nation, and it is essential we come together to break the cycle of violence that burdens too many of our sons and daughters.." He called upon all Americans to "support efforts in their communities and schools, and in their own families, to empower young people to develop healthy relationships throughout their lives and to engage in activities that prevent and respond to teen dating violence" (source, Day One)

The statistics are still outrageous, and we should all do something, if nothing else, sign a petition to strengthen the laws protecting the victims and forcing the batterer to seek treatment.  The Federal Dating Violence Policy - Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA), first introduced in 1994, was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005, and is now before Congress again.  A bipartisan bill has  been introduced to strengthen and reauthorize VAWA.  Read here what you can do to get involved and ensure it is passed.

Below are a listing of web pages with both information regarding teen dating violence and ways you can get involved to help:


Day One

Break the Cycle  You can also find them on Facebook here

Love is Respect

All our children deserve to be in non-violent, loving relationships.  Let's do our part to ensure they do!