Thankful Thursday: Helping Others

Polar Fleece Sandy Scarves

It's Thankful Thursday again! This week has flown by. I guess I'm a bad judge of time with my new medication, though!

Here's something I never thought I would be thankful for: having fibromyalgia. My fiance has told me from the start that a day will come when I realize how my condition makes me a stronger person and makes me more able to help other people. That day is today. I will always have hard days, but it's all worth it because I get to help others.

I've spent the last two weeks making things for other people. I've made 17 scarves for the victims of superstorm Sandy, chocolate leaves and cupcakes for my fiancé's choir's craft sale, and I've messed around with some other craft ideas. I love making food and clothes for other people! I think it's the best thing about me having to stay home.

Knitted Sandy Scarf

Chocolate Leaves

I also put in a video to be Anderson Cooper's co-host on Anderson Live. I'm waiting to see if I got accepted into the top 5, and then people will vote on the finalists. I will be able to help more people if I get my name out there more.

Here is my audition video. Even if I don't get on Anderson Live, I still want to inspire help people, so please share the video with your friends!

I hope you all have a wonderful day! I am going to be spending the entire day in the kitchen, finishing up cupcakes and making all the boxes for the holiday goodies. Keep an eye on my tweets to see photos of what I'm up to today!

What are you thankful for on this Thankful Thursday? Please share!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Should Some States Secede?

Following the re-election of President Obama, 20 states are petitioning the federal government for secession. My sister-in-law shared this a few days ago and I thought it was a joke! Then I started hearing about it from more sources. The states that want to secede include Kentucky and Montana; the two states I've lived in. The author of the previously linked article says to let the states that want to secede do so. I take exception to this.

I don't want you to think I'm freaking out about all this; I don't believe that we are in danger of seceding from the U.S. because Obama would have to sign off on that, and he has enough sense to not allow 2/5 of his country to leave. But I do want to talk about this a little bit.

How is it possible that people feel that they would be better off if they were not part of the United States? I understand all too well the anger of losing an election, but would these states really be better off not being part of the union?

None of the states on the list have a budget surplus, which means they would have to find some way to generate money quickly. Really, the best way to do that is to raise taxes. But most of these states don't want to raise taxes--hence the reason they want to secede. So how would they raise money?

How would they get money to fix the interstates that run through their states (or countries, I guess)? How would they keep the schools that are receiving federal funding open? Free and reduced lunches are funded by the government (at least in KY); who would pay for those? Some of the KY farmers have gotten government subsidies for their crops during this drought; would the state government help those farmers out? How would we have a military? I don't want to go back to little warring city-states like there were in ancient Greece.

There are so many reasons to stay in the union. Being unhappy with the results of the election is just part of the deal when you're in a democracy. To the people who want to secede, man up. There is absolutely no reason for you to be such drama queens in this situation. Just get over yourselves and work with what you have. That's what the other half of the country did during the Bush years.

As for me, if KY secedes, I'm making my own country and you're all welcome!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

5 Weird Things

As many of you know, I have fibromyalgia: a syndrome in which the central nervous system mistakes every sensation for pain. I just started a new treatment regimen that has left me with very little energy. I am not turning this into a pity party, by any means. I just wanted to give an inside look into what having fibromyalgia is like.

I think the weirdest thing about fibromyalgia is what hurts me. Think about the everyday things you do. Now think about what it would feel like if every one of those things hurt. Here are some examples:

• Jeans feel hard against my skin.
• Loud sounds feel sharp inside my body.
• Crowds feel like hail inside my head.
• Bright lights feel like knives on my skin.
• Someone touching my skin feels like fire.

It's very strange to have this happen. A year ago, I was just fine. Now, I work from home, I can't go to the mall for long shopping sprees anymore, I hate going anywhere with large crowds, and I never know when I'm going to have a flare-up and have to cancel everything I'm planning on doing that day.

For those of you with fibromyalgia, here are some things I do that help my pain levels (other than medicine):

• Yoga
• Healthy diet
• Exercise
• Consistent schedule
• Relaxing

I know that it's not the ideal life: I just graduated with a college degree and I'm not using it. But you know what? I still have a great life. Yes, I have to deal with this, but I do what I love every day. I write, I cook, I knit, and I have the best fiancé of all time. Find what you love and do it. It's the best way to work your way through learning what your treatment plan needs to be.

Again, I'm not looking for sympathy; just raising awareness. If you have someone in your life who has fibromyalgia, understand that it is a real thing. They feel pain even though it's not physically there. They are not making it up. They want more than anything to get back to a normal life. 

Please be kind to each other.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Petraeus: Will We Ever Know the Truth?

This morning I was watching MSNBC's "Morning Joe" while I was waking up. The anchors spent 15 minutes speculating on Four-Star General David Petraeus's extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. While I am aware of the fact that there are new accounts of timelines of the investigation coming out today, why on earth should we be so arrogant to think that we know the "facts?" This is a case that involves both the CIA and the FBI. How is it possible that these pundits think that they are privy to the actual happenings in this case?

The CIA and FBI are insanely good at keeping whatever information they want to keep private to themselves. If they actually did know about this affair during the summer, I'm sure there is a good reason that they didn't bring it to light. Or maybe there was a bad reason they didn't expose it. Regardless, if they kept this secret for almost six months, they had time to decide how much they're going to share with the media. I'm sure that our intelligence agencies knew this would come to light at some point (affairs like this one have a nasty habit of doing that), so they had time to choose what they were going to tell us.

So far, we, the public, have found out that the affair didn't start until after Petraeus was out of the military. Is it possible that the affair started while Petraeus was still in the military during one of the six trips his biographer made to Afghanistan to work with him? Sure, but Petraeus could face a military trial for adultery if that were the case. That would be incredibly embarrassing for not only the four-star general, but the U.S. military. Is that something the CIA and FBI would have the ability of covering up? Of course.

Some of you might think that I'm being incredibly cynical. I think being cautious is justified. The U.S. doesn't say that we have the best intelligence in the world for nothing; we do. The members of the CIA and FBI are astoundingly good at their jobs and there is no reason for us to think that we are ever going to get the full story of this affair. Petraeus might come out with a "tell all" statement, but he was the director of the CIA. Why on earth should we trust him? He was a professional spy. His job was to be good at covering up the truth and leading people to believe what he needed them to believe.

While I trust the CIA and FBI to keep our country safe, I don't trust them to keep a strict moral code. The people involved in these two agencies are professional spies. I am not going to put my trust in these people on an ethical level when they are asked to lie on a daily basis. Do I want them on my side when it comes to finding terrorists? Absolutely. Do I want them on my side when they're running an undercover op to derail a plot that could compromise our county's security? Yes, I do. But would I marry someone who worked for a U.S. intelligence agency? Not a chance.

Photo credit: Adam Creech, 2012

So, I understand that this is news and it's going to be discussed. But let's all just take a step back, look at the big picture, and realize that we will probably never know the whole truth. I think the one fact we do know is that there are two spouses who are hurting right now because of the actions of Gen. Petraeus and Mrs. Broadwell. Let's keep them and the children of these two reckless people in our thoughts.

Happy Veteran's Day! Thank you to all the men and women who serve and have served our country. Your sacrifices will not be forgotten.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Election2012: The Invented Patois

Election season is full of anger, snide remarks, and arguments. But looking back, it's fun to see some of the most humorous things that were said. Invented words and sayings are some of my favorites.

We talked about numbers. I was told that I was part of the 99% back in 2011. But now in 2012, I'm apparently in the 47%. So, does that mean that next year I'll end up being in the 1%?! Sounds good to me...

Last summer we were concerned about hitting the "debt ceiling." Now we're worried about falling off the "fiscal cliff." How did we get toward the ceiling last year? Can we use that to keep us from falling off the cliff this year?

In the medical care debate we have RomneyCare vs. ObamaCare. No offense, but I wouldn't want either one of them bringing me chicken noodle soup. I want DoctorCare or MommyCare, if we're just being honest and making up sayings for what we want when we're sick!

The candidates made up words to describe each others' policies during the campaign. Obama described Romney's tax ideas as "Romney Hood"--Robin Hood in reverse. To me, Romney Hood sounds like a form of knighthood: the level to which all businessmen aspire.

A few weeks ago, Obama also mentioned "Romnesia:" the condition Romney's supporters must have had if they really forgot Romney's voting record. Romnesia sounds like a country:

"Once upon a time, in a far away land called "Romnesia," there was a King named Mitt. King Mitt had the six largest castles in all of Romnesia and the Knights of Romneyhood defended their ivory towers with a ferocity rivaled by none." I will leave you to imagine the ending of that story. Hint: the dragon called "Obama" and 51% of the peasants go after King Mitt, so he escapes to one of his other castles, where he will look longingly out the window for four years until the next election comes and gives him the kiss that turns him back into a candidate.

Romney came up with "Obamaloney," referring to Obama's rhetoric. Now, I'm not a connoisseur or anything, but I'm not sure an obamaloney and mayo sandwich would be very good; not to mention making meat like that is illegal in most states.

According to a lot of news networks, this race was "razor tight." What is razor tight? I am not the only one who asked this question. Stephen Colbert did, too:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Humor is the best way to feel good, especially after an election as venomous as the one we just had. No matter what side you were on, please feel free to laugh at all of this. I know I did!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Conservatism: Black and White?

One of the things I'm learning as I "grow up" is that reality isn't as black and white as I generally like to believe. I have always been a this-is-correct-so-it's-good/this-is-wrong-so-it's-bad type of person. But looking at all the issues going on and how I feel about some of them, there are definitely things I never thought I would say.

When it comes to "family values" I am apparently a lot more conservative than I could have ever imagined. I didn't realize this until my fiancé and I were talking about raising kids. I plan on being what I see as "reasonable," very similar to the way I was raised. But looking deeper into what that means, it turns out that it is more "conservative" parenting than "liberal" parenting.

Now, of course, I about had a heart attack when my fiancé first brought this to my attention: conservatism is bad...isn't it? This has been going on for a few months. It's taken me a while to start to feel okay with it. I mean, I was raised in a "liberal" family, wasn't I?

I believe in being an incredibly present parent. I believe in loving my kids no matter who they are. I believe in telling my kids what they are and are not allowed to do or eat. I believe in disciplining my kids. I believe in being honest with my kids. I believe in having dinner together every night. I believe in having family game night on weekends instead of watching TV or going to a movie.

This is such a weird thing to be talking about since I don't even have kids. But it's important to see someone who used to be such a self-professed liberal accepting some more conservative ideals. I want to be perfectly clear: I am not going insanely conservative, but I'm also not a liberal extremist.

What would happen if our government took a lesson from this? Being a moderate means that we can see both sides and choose for ourselves what is right for us; not being a dogmatic follower of a certain party. Yes, I voted for Obama; yes, I worked for his campaign. But not because he is a Democrat; I believe in him, because I agree with most of his policies. Not all. Most.

Take a moment today and be with yourself. Decide what works for you; not what your party dictates that you should believe. It's harder than it seems like it should be. It's taken me months to be okay with it. But it's important. I'm glad I've taken some time with it.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Thankful Thursday

I think one thing most people can agree on from the past few weeks is how awful all the political ads were. I heard countless people saying that they couldn't wait for the election to be over so the ads would be off television, and I felt the same way.

Yesterday I turned the TV on to watch the news and the majority of the ads were for Christmas deals! This was very disconcerting to me. I understand the importance of shopping early and being prepared for Christmas, but there are ads for "Pre-Black Friday" now. What is Pre-Black Friday?! Apparently, it's going on this weekend at a few stores: you get the same prices and deals you would get if you went to the stores on Black Friday.

But what about the giant holiday between now and Black Friday? Thanksgiving tends to get ignored on television. If you look at it from a marketing standpoint, why shouldn't it be ignored; other than food, what can you get people to buy for it?

But is it appropriate for stores to blatantly bypass Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas? I don't think it is, and apparently, neither did the department store Nordstrom:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/nordstrom-vs-christmas

I love this! I think Nordstrom has the right idea. Full disclosure: when I saw this, I immediately was confused because November 27 is not a Friday this year. This photo was taken in 2009. Regardless, I think the idea is great.

Let's celebrate Thanksgiving! Give thanks for what you have instead of looking ahead to what you can buy at a good price.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi