Opinion or hate?

Everyone has a right to their own opinions.  But some take this right too far.  They have no respect for anyone who disagrees with them.  If you do not agree with my opinions that is fine.  But if you support hate and violence just because someone is different, then we have a problem.

So lets make this simple.  If this infuriates you:

But you think this is ok:
North Carolina Pastor suggests parents beat the gay out of their kids

NC Pastor Charles Worley: "Put Gays and Lesbians in electrified pen to kill them off."

Please remove yourself from my friends' list as I do not want recognize you as a human being much less a friend.

Home from the ER

So yesterday I passed out while getting dressed and hit my head on the bathroom wall.

I think I was only out for a few minutes.  After coming to, I was still very nauseous, jittery and just didn't feel right.  I laid on the floor in my bedroom for a few minutes then went to try to eat something to see if that would help.  My friend Gina was kind enough to take me to the ER.

We spent 8 hours at the ER.  Upon arrival they made me put on a neck brace.

It was extremely uncomfortable and I had to wear it until all my exams/x-rays were done.  They preformed a chest x-ray, CT scan of my head and neck, EKG and made me provide a urine sample (not easy with a neck brace and limited mobility!)  After all of that, all they could tell me was I am not pregnant (Wow, really?  The deployed husband didn't give that one away?), my x-rays show nothing and they have no idea why I fainted.

One thing they did discover is I have a MVP: Mitral Valve Prolapse.  Which explains why I have heart palpitations every so often.  "Mitral valve prolapse (also known as "click murmur syndrome" and "Barlow's syndrome") is the most common heart valve abnormality, affecting five to ten percent of the world population.  Most people with mitral valve prolapse have no symptoms, however, those who do commonly complain of symptoms such as fatigue, palpitations, chest pain, anxiety, and migraine headaches."  Thank you MedicineNet.com and Google!

Since they did not do any blood work, I have no real answers.  They gave me an IV for fluids and to administer meds to make the nausea go away and then gave me meds for my headache.  I have to go see my primary care doctor next week and hope he can find out what is going on.  Until then I have been left with the instructions to call 911 if I pass out again or start throwing up.

While I did not get any answers to my problem, Gina and I were greatly entertained by all we saw and heard in the ER.  People really should pay attention to the fact that only a curtain separates the rooms and if you do not wish for every one to know your business, learn to whisper!  Also, I think the staff really enjoyed our company, since we were the only people NOT complaining or being difficult.  So they made sure we had things to keep us occupied:

Saline "water gun"  Please excuse how horrible I look, I am in the ER after all!

Book Burnout

I haven't been doing a lot of reading lately.  I have been trying, but I just can't do it.  First of all, things have been very hectic around here and then Josh came down with pneumonia so I just haven't had time.  But the big problem is the books have just not been good.

I've been reading a lot of books provided by authors for reviews.  Don't get me wrong, some have been really good.  But lately, most have just not been great or just not my taste.  I was really worried I was on the verge of burnout.  I dreaded reading and that scared me.  What would I do if I don't read?  Reading is a huge part of my life.

So, after finishing this last book, which I really did not enjoy, I decided to take a break and read something I wanted to read.  I've had Lothaire by Kresley Cole sitting on my nightstand for awhile now.  I love her Immortals After Dark series.  Last night I picked up Lothaire and began to read.  WOW!  Now I know what is wrong with me. I am not on the verge of burnout.  I don't hate reading!  I hate reading sub par work!  Reading Lothaire was like a breathe of fresh air!

It is so nice to read a book that flows smoothly and enables you to see the scene clearly in your mind.  I did not have to keep stopping and re-reading sentences/paragraphs to understand what the author was trying to say.  Words weren't missing, spelled wrong or used incorrectly.  Identities were assigned and quotation marks were actually used in conversations! Yes, I read a whole book this past week where I never had a clue who was speaking because no names/identities were ever used with the conversation and the author never used quotation marks!

Example:      -What's up?

                     -I'll tell you later.

                     -All done!

                     -Shall we go?

                     -Let's roll!

                     The five of them headed out to the car.

I kid you not, that is how the conversations were written.  How the hell I am supposed to know who is speaking?  I am just so tired of trying to weed my way through bad books.  In all honesty, I can't solely blame the authors.  Where the hell are the editors?!  Is our education system so bad now that this is the future of writing?   It's not just books either.  Have you tried to read the newspaper lately?  The writing is laughable!

I will end this with a big thank you to authors who truly care enough about their work to spend the time to write properly and hire editors who are competent. Thank you!!  It makes reading so much more enjoyable.

I hate school drop off lanes!

Just once I would like to take my daughter to school and not leave in a foul mood, having yelled out several not so nice names in my car.  We have lived many places and our kids have gone to many schools, but this car pool lane takes the cake.  The car pool lane is for dropping off and picking up students ONLY!!!

Do Not:

• Pull up to the curb and leave you car.  If you need to walk you child inside, talk to their teacher, go to the office or go pee, park in the parking lot!!
• Pull up to the curb and sit for 15 minutes while you eat your breakfast.
• Light up a cigarette and proceed to smoke with all your windows rolled up and your kids STILL in the car.
• Pull up next to a car, jump out, lean in their window and proceed to gossip forever, successfully blocking both lanes so traffic is at a stand still.
• Put a movie into your car's DVD player and proceed to nap while your kids watch their morning cartoons.
• Cut me off as I am trying to leave, only to stop and let every other car pull out in front of you.

Please learn the proper way to use a school car pool lane.  Remember, many of us have not had a full cup of coffee yet and this can be very dangerous to your health!

Sunrise in Alaska

One of the things I love about living in Alaska is it is beautiful.  We are gaining more daylight each day and now I get to see the sunrise when I am coming home from dropping the kids off at school.

Also, the Yukon Quest started last Saturday. The Yukon Quest is a 1000mile dog sled race between Fairbanks Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon.  The Yukon Quest Trail follows historical Gold Rush and Mail Delivery dog sled routes from the turn of the 20th Century.  While I did not make it to the start of the race, a good friend sent me a picture.  I plan to go next year when our whole family is together again.

What is -50 like?

Many people have commented about how they can not imagine -50.  Well I can honestly say, you just have to feel it to understand.  But I am going to try to give you an idea of the havoc -50 creates.  

My sliding glass door in my kitchen.  Ice builds up inside when the temps outside drop below -30

My window in my living room.  As you can see I will have to repair all the drywall around my windows come spring.

• -20 and below, the inside of your nose freezes as soon as you go outside.
• Breathing, especially for me, is hard.  Everyone around you is hacking and coughing all the time.
• You have to start your car 30 minutes before you want to leave to give it time to warm up and be drivable.
• I have a heated garage, but at -50, within minutes of leaving my house my car becomes very difficult to drive.  The power steering becomes stiff, the brakes become stiff and you can feel everything freezing up on your car. Driving down the road, you pass tons of disabled vehicles on the side of the road, that's if they didn't freeze up over night and were actually able to start.
• Any exposed skin starts to tingle, hurt and turn red within minutes of being outside.
• Even with heavy gloves on, my finger tips were burning and going numb trying to pump gas.
• If you don't wear gloves, be prepared to have you hand/fingers freeze to the gas pump and door handles and then have to rip if off, leaving behind a painful burn.
• Buying gas if fun, since most of the pumps won't work or the card readers are too cold to read your card.   
• If you try to pour out water or any other liquid, it will freeze before it hits the ground.

I could go on with lots of other things that don't work or are impossible to do, but you get the idea. So now I will leave you with a video shot just the other day by a guy in North Pole.  All the places he is driving are the places I drive, and I tried to get gas at the same gas station on that day, but the pump wouldn't work! lol  Ice Fog sucks!

It's been a year in AK

This past week I have been really sick with a high fever.  In my fever induced hazed, I totally missed our one year anniversary in Alaska.  We got off the plane and had our first experience with -40 at 2am on January 16, 2011.  My first thought was "holy shit, what have I gotten myself into?"

The first two months were rough, trying to live out of a hotel and not having any luck finding a rental property.  Once we bought the house and were able to settle down, we started to get into the swing of things.  It's been hard adjusting to a new place, hell, a new life, on my own.  Alaska is like no where else I have every lived, and it's not just the weather that sets it apart.  It truly is like living in another country.  Living in Germany was easier.  I think the hardest part for me here was having to admit the military community has changed a lot over the years and it is not as it was when we lived overseas or anywhere else.  Once I got over that disappointment and made an effort to make my own life and friends outside of the Army, things greatly improved.

I am extremely grateful for the friends I have made here, Speedway for giving me a place to relax and unwind, and for everything I have learned so far.  I look forward to the next few years here and if Jason has his way, retirement here.  I'm in a good place in my life.