Wonderful Day

After an eventful Thanksgiving weekend (good and bad), Dan and I have done absolutely nothing today. Well, I lie. I took Louie for a long overdue walk and he's been doing exactly what his parent's have been doing ever since...nothing. I did manage to crochet a bit, but fell asleep during it on the cordurouy chair in the middle of watching a documentary called "The Death Star," on the Science Channel (it wasn't boring, but I have seen it before). I couldn't help it. Dan was fast asleep on the recliner and it's so damn hot in this apartment that it makes you lethargic. We just woke up about 15 minutes ago, and I came over to the computer. Dan is walking around (I'm not sure what he's doing).

Our day cannot be any more perfect! Ever since we've moved in, there hasn't been a day where we didn't have to go someplace or meet someone. I haven't nagged Dan do anything and he's paid me the same respect. Later on, I'll prepare a nice dinner and we'll vegetate some more. Perfect, perfect, perfect!! We need to have more days like these.

Former US Attorney Defending Saddam?

Ramsey Clark, who was US Attorney during the late 1960's, has decided to join Saddam's defence team. As annoying and nonsensical as I find it to be, I have to say that probably nowhere else in the world can this happen, but in the United States. God the freedoms we enjoy as Americans are incredible. I hate to see what would happen to this guy if he lived, let's say, in Cuba.

Anyway, for those of you that thinks the US sucks, here's a good reason why it doesn't.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I keep a little notebook where I write down things I'm grateful for. There are other things I include in this little notebook, but I enjoy writing the grateful stuff. So, since it is Thanksgiving, I will blog about it instead.

Here it goes:

1. I'm grateful for my family and friends.
2. I'm grateful for having a wonderful husband that I adore in many ways he knows not.
3 I'm grateful for the addition to my family, my little nephew Bryan.
4. I'm grateful for all of the lessons I'm learning that make me wiser.
5. I'm grateful for having lost over 50 lbs.
6. I'm grateful my crochet business is coming along.
7. I'm grateful for all of the gifts I receive (not only the material ones).
8. I'm grateful for the apartment I'm living in.
9. I'm grateful that Louie's demeanor has improved.
10. I'm just grateful.

This list could go on, but I would most likely bore you with it. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

How Does One Overcome Being Gay?

According to the Catholic Church, you can, "homosexual tendencies are only the expression of a transitory problem ... these must be clearly overcome at least three years prior to diaconate ordination." And it only takes three years! Interesting. I'm guessing that the Vatican hasn't taken any science classes. Do they realize that there are five sexes? Not just male and female?

Let me brief them very quickly:

For some time medical investigators have recognized the concept of the intersexual body. But the standard medical literature uses the term intersex as a catch-all for three major subgroups with some mixture of male and female characteristics: the so-called true hermaphrodites, whom I call herms, who possess one testis and one ovary (the sperm- and egg-producing vessels, or gonads); the male pseudohermaphrodites (the "merms"), who have testes and some aspects of the female genitalia but no ovaries; and the female pseudohermaphrodites (the "ferms"), who have ovaries and some aspects of the male genitalia but lack testes. Each of those categories is in itself complex; the percentage of male and female characteristics, for instance, can vary enormously among members of the same subgroup. Moreover, the inner lives of the people in each subgroup¾ their special needs and their problems, attractions and repulsions¾ have gone unexplored by science. But on the basis of what is known about them I suggest that the three intersexes, herm, merm and ferm, deserve to be considered additional sexes each in its own right. Indeed, I would argue further that sex is a vast, infinitely malleable continuum that defies the constraints of even five categories.
(If you would like to read the complete article click here)

The Vatican further condemned homosexuality by releasing a new document:

The new document underlines that church teaching consider homosexual acts "grave sins" and also intrinsically immoral and contrary to natural law, news agncies reported. "Therefore, in no case can they be approved," it says.

I guess they are still missing the part of the five sexes.

Wait, it gets better.

Msgr. Steve Rohlff states:

"It flows obviously from the church's teaching on human sexuality, which has been constant from the First century to the 20th Century -- that homosexuality is an intrinsic disorder. It is a psychosexual disorder."


So, we're still following rules from the first century when science was not anywhere near as prominent as it has been in the modern era.

This is why I reject religion. Who is the Vatican to condemn anyone? Didn't God say not to judge anyone? It's not a psychosexual disorder. Your sex is determined by your chromosomes.

My other question is to the gay men. Why do you want to become priests in a religion that doesn't accept you? Why put yourselves through that torture?

I find that spirituality is something you carry within yourself. I do not need an outside source telling me how I should worship or conduct myself. That is between God and myself. Hey, but that's me. If you choose otherwise that's fine by me. Besides you create your own reality and so do I.

To read the article on the Vatican, click here.

Just a Bit Nippy!

There is something I definitely didn't miss about living in the Northeast--walking my Louie in the bitter cold. Man is it cold out there! I'm surprise he wasn't trembling (I know I was). If it weren't so windy, I think I wouldn't mind. This is just the beginning of wintry conditions I can expect to come. I better get used to it. Unless, I could convince Dan that it is his duty as my husband to walk Louie at all times.....yeah that's not going to work. I'm going to have to suck it up.

Identifying Why I've Been Negative

Lately, I've been having a difficult time trying to write on this blog. I am not in a happy mode at this particular time in my life. I've been sick this past week, work is becoming more of a nuisance, and I'm tired. Thanksgiving is also preoccupying my mind more than it should, but that's a whole other story that I do not wish to discuss.

Basically, I've been a bit negative. I normally have a difficult time trying to write positive things on this blog. I truly believe you attract whatever it is that you're feeling. If I start complaining about the mundane stuff that goes on in my life, then I will attract more of it. On that note, what I'm having a harder time with is trying to get back into my positive mode. I've been trying really hard, but for some reason (subconsciously) I'm stuck. I keep on catching myself playing scenarios over in my head that are absolutely negative, almost combative. The more I think about it, the more it plays in my head.

Of course, all of the situations that have been occurring to me this week are due to my state of mind. That's the one thing about creating your own reality: there are no victims. I could play the blame game, but ultimately I know it all points back to me. This is quite liberating because I know that I need to change my frame of mind and I'll get back to my (new) old self.

So what is bringing chaos to my life? My job. Plain and simple. My job is very comforting. I know it well and make decent money. It's a bit hard to walk away from making easy cash. The downfall is the hours. I work nights and sometimes doubles. I'm just tired of it. Now, I don't want you to think that I came back to this job for good because that's not the case. I've just overstayed my welcome; that's all.

It's taken me about a week and a half to realize the main cause of my negativity. It's caused me sickness and now sleeplessness (2:40am). I'm glad I've identified the problem. Since the move, I haven't had much of a chance to job hunt. I have updated my resume and been searching. I know the job I want will come to me as long as my focus is on the new job and not how much my job sucks. I actually received a phone call to set up an interview because this company found my resume. Although it's not what I'm looking for, my focus is on the right direction.

Warning---Please Read

My sister had a guy claiming to be a Verizon representative knock on her door last night at around 8pm. Her front porch light was out so she couldn't see who was at the door. He claimed that he was there to upgrade her to copper(#1 red flag). It's a promotion going on at the moment. My sister does not have internet or verizon for that matter. He insisted on her opening the door. He had some form of id but my sister couldn't read it. He was also covering some part of the id (#2 red flag). My sister asked him to leave and threatened to call the police. The guy said there was no need to call the police, but to open the door because he couldn't hear her (Then why did he know that she threatened to call the cops? #3 red flag).

She told my nephew to grab the baby and his sister, run upstairs, hide and call the police. She remained downstairs to make sure this guy wouldn't open the door. By the time the cops came the guy was gone. She called Verizon and explained what happened. They said there was a promotion in upstate NY to upgrade to fiber optics (not copper that's what you start off with). They are going to investigate the situation and probably file a report with the police.

This guy showed up at one other house on the block that had a car in the driveway. He also knocked on her door only 30 minutes after she got home. Thank God she realized this guy was not a Verizon rep. So if you have someone claiming to be from Verizon, please make sure that he is from Verizon. Don't open the door unless you could verify it. Scary stuff.

Wave Hill

Wave Hill is located in the Bronx and offers people a spectacular view. It is filled with gardens, walking trails, and relaxing areas. It is the perfect place to take your family and see exotic plants. Wave Hill is just plain beautiful. This is especially true this time of year where the foliage displays warm autumn colors that capture your heart.

I snapped many pictures, but these two are my favorite. I took them when we were leaving the place. It is not of Wave Hill, but the road that lead to our car. This road amazed me because I felt as if I had stepped into another place and time. If it weren't for the cars that would drive by, I wouldn't have known the difference.

What's Going On?

I've come to the conclusion that my creative nature is finally squeezing out of me. For the last few weeks, I've been barraged with images of myself painting, making pottery, obviously crocheting, opening my own yarn store, and becoming an amateur photographer.

What's going on?

While growing up, I never considered myself creative. I dreaded going to art class because I knew that I couldn't draw or make anything. Whenever I had to come up with an idea for class, it just didn't happen. I struggled with this to the point of embarrassment. I was always marveled at other kids that would produce beautiful paintings and wondered why I couldn't do the same.

There have only been two times in my life that I ever produced any art work that I was extremely proud of. Once was in either third grade. We had to paint a picture of Goofy. I painted Goofy to perfection. My picture was even entered in my town's art expo and I won third prize! I was so proud of myself. Unfortunately, I can't recall what ever happen to my portrait of Goofy, but I remember it vividly.

The second time I produced anything was in college. I had to take an art appreciation class. We used pastels and I drew a picture of a candle that I have, which features a couple standing next to each other. Dan was impressed by this and kept the picture for me (he's good at keeping things).

I still have my pastels. I will not throw those away. In fact, I want to get myself a canvas and try creating something else that I will be proud of. This feeling I've had for awhile, but lately it's been very prominent in my head. AcMoore offers Bob Ross painting classes, which I'm very tempted to take, but at the moment I can't afford to take them ($55 a class). That's an idea to keep in the back of my head.

Pottery is another one of those things that I've always like to try. Lately, I just see myself making beautiful pottery. I will most likely try to take pottery classes once the holiday season is over and my apartment is fully furnished. I really can't explain what this feeling is.

Crocheting has been part of my life for the last year and a half, and I absolutely love the things I make. I'm sort of obsessed with it. It's just so much fun. It's become such an important aspect of my life that I now sell my stuff. I've been bombarded with orders from friends who want scarves and hats made for them. You could say that I have a second job because when I get home I grab my hook and crochet away.

Photography is something else I want to get into. I guess this urge has been spurred by the fact that I photograph every item I crochet. I like keeping record of the stuff I've made. I took some awesome pictures the other day when I was at Wave Hill. In fact, Dan was impressed by them. This is a hard task because he knows more about photography than I do. He even knows how to develop his own film.

I really don't know what has influenced me to want to partake in all of these activities. I thought stuff like this happened when you were younger (not that I'm old). Maybe it has to do with my crocheting. Maybe it's influencing me to want to delve into other creative projects that at one time I would never dream of doing. I like this sudden urge to open up my life to new experiences.

Halloween

Halloween was fun and exhausting. This year I decided that since I've been apart from niece and nephew for the past two years (that's what happens when you move to another state) that I would take them to the American Museum of Natural History for some trick or treating. We went with our next door neighbors and met up with Dan at the museum.

My niece was ecstatic, but my nephew ended up being a bit bored. I think he might be too old for this. I didn't realize the crowd would be very young, but he was a trooper. I really enjoyed being there, but have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed. The place was super packed. I despise being in places that are full of people. It gets me a bit anxious. I think that's something I developed later on in life. When I was a teenager, I use to hit those clubs and not care if I could only take baby steps to move forward because it was so crowded.

Unfortunately, we forgot to charge our digital camera and had to settle for our phones. Here's a picture of JJ, Dan, and Jacque towards the end of the night at the museum.


After we dropped of the kids and returned home, we dressed up our furry son. I bought a costume for Louie. He looked so damn adorable. I couldn't keep it on him for longer than a few minutes because the legs part of the costume were too long for his short legs, which caused him to fall repeatedly. But he did stay still enough to snap some pictures. Here he is Darth Louious as Dan named him.