Life can be sooooooo unfair!!!!

Last Friday, during a conference with a guardian, I found out one of my students is HIV positive. She was born with it. Lived with a Grandma, in a small town in Louisiana, for the first 5 1/2 years. Grandma died. For what ever reasons she was not on any medication. Today she is living with an aunt and her boyfriend. They started her on meds back in April of 2007. They weren't even aware that she was positive until that time. This poor kid has at least 4 strikes on her already and she isn't even 8.

She also has siblings 14, 12, 10 and five. How can this birth mother just keep having children? From the report, the birth mother showed up school last year, looking for her. She was high and strung out.

Please pray for my little pumpkin. I cannot imagine living life with this terrible disease much less getting it right out of the womb.

Politics

I really don't like either of these people. It was a few years ago, that I had respect for John McCain. He always seemed to take the high road in campaigns, not wanting to get personal or nasty. Today, he is coming off like an angry old man doing the same thing every Republican has done for years. His commercials are terrible and God help this country if they actually get elected.

As far as qualifications go, I have had my passport for 5 years, visited three foreign countries and have a daughter from India. I teach in a classroom with 5 different countries present, and I grew up 60 miles from Canada. Not only do I teach those children but I also manage the classroom so there is my executive experience. I am just as qualified as Sarah, I do believe.

Today, we went to church, the grocery store and a fun kids bookstore. On the way out of the the bookstore, I noticed that my Obama bumper sticker was gone. Who would do that??? Damn I am angry.

Having trouble

I am totally having trouble understanding how I am feeling about VP candidate Palin. Do I believe in working mothers? HELL YES!! My goodness I am one. Am I having problems understanding how a new mother can have a baby and return to work just days after, especially a special needs child? YES!! What happens when my 17 year old daughter comes home and tells me she is pregnant? Do I run for the second highest office in the land? A job that one day I could be thrown into the highest position in the land. I don't know. Do I tell her that as long as she marries the father it is ok? HELL NO!!! Do I support whatever decision she makes? YES!!! My goodness, I have been a supportor of women's rights my entire life, but I cannot understand these decisions. Help me understand why I have lost respect for this woman and I have only known about her since Friday.

Being a life long Democrat, a teacher, and mother, I am feeling this woman doesn't have family values I need to respect....

Wait, look who her running mate is. I man who believes in the traditional family. A man who believes my family shouldn't exist because I adopted as a single parent. A man who asks a woman to marry him before he is divorced from his first wife. A man whose campaign is asking for privacy for his running mates family but thought it was ok to personally attack Chelsea Clinton several times in the past....

GOD HELP THIS COUNTRY!!!!

Why is adopting a dog so darn hard....

For the last two weeks, I have been looking for the right dog to join our family. On Monday, I sent in an application for a 1 1/2 old Shih Tzu. After Kiran and my SIL went to see Lulu, the foster mom denied us because because she would be only 8 hours a day during the school year. That was the only reason. She thought Kiran did a great job with all the dogs she saw that day. Kiran is so ready to be a pet owner. She wants a dog so badly. For the last two months, she cries daily for a dog. She is so gentle and kind with any animal she sees. My brother had to put down their dog down in April and Kiran took to very hard. She would spend so much time with Bruno, talking to him, petting him and playing with him. Our only problem is living in a town house, we will only be able to adopt a dog under 25 pounds.

My cousin lives on a small farm. They have sheep and chickens. Kiran gathers the eggs, plays with sheep and loves the barn cats not to mention the two dogs that hang out.

It might have been easier adopting a child.....

I Love Summer....

We are having a wonderful summer. We started out attending an India Culture Camp in St Paul and it has only been getting better. Kiran, for the first time, really enjoyed camp and being with families that looked like ours. These are two photos of Kiran at camp.

We went up to the Iron Range for the 4th of July. It was the first time we have ventured up north in a very long while. It was wonderful hang out and see family again. Not to mention being by Lake Vermilion and just enjoying the view.

This past Sunday, my three SILs and 4 nieces, were off to Milwaukee (a five and half hour drive). We attended Summerfest with the main attraction being those cute, wonderful, young men, The Jonas Brothers. I have never experienced anything quite like it before. There where 26,000 people there. I bet 20,000 of them were under the age of 20. The girls were screaming for almost three hours. The Brothers put on one heck of a show. It was worth the drive to see the looks of my daughter and nieces when those boys came on stage and the entire time that they sang.

We finished our last soccer game tonight and start dance next week. In the mean time, we are on the hunt for a dog. Kiran wants a dog so badly so we are looking for a cute little small dog that fit in with the family.

I hope all is well with everyone of my friends.....

Kiss of Death

For the last year I have been a Hillary supporter. Ok, I haven't been a strong supporter but wanted her to win. It would be nice for all those young girls out there to see that the United States of America is really not afraid of strong women.

After reading Obama's speech the other day, I truly thought that this is the one person who truly understands the race issue and can speech so well to get it across to all people having the experiences that he has. I don't care what his minister said or says. I am a practicing Roman Catholic who doesn't believe many things that this Pope stands for. Am I going to give up on 43 years of those ideals that I do believe in, I think not!!

After having said that, I am not a bandwagon jumper, seeing I have only voted for a handful of people who have actually been elected. Being a parent of a minority child, I have experienced many things that my other family members have not or have experienced those ignorant comments made to my face without people even realizing what they are saying or who they are saying it to. Some of them have been my own family members. After I say something to them they always change it to not include Kiran of course, but the damage is done.

Then a friend had a speech on her blog with my Senator who was killed in a plane crash over 5 years ago. It was his speech on the Senate floor against invading Iraq. At the time, he was in a tough battle to hold on to his seat but would never compromise his on beliefs to get elected. Do I think he would have been re-elected? YES! Is he missed??? Absolutely!!!! We don't have a voice for the voiceless anymore.......

Listening to Paul Wellstone and then Obama, I started thinking who really wants to see change and who would continue the old ways. Maybe my support for Hillary was really for Bill. Anyway, my heart starting to feel the change and Obama started falling in the polls. What does that say about me???

Maybe it is time to ride the Mccain train. Maybe he will lose if I start supporting him........

Mary

Aging parents

Three weeks ago, we were informed that my dad has a serious heart condition. He has some very severe blockage and an irregular heart beat. They need to be able to go with open heart surgery to fix the blockage but because of his Lupus and other things they prefer not to. Of course, I have been sitting here thinking what it would be like to be parentless. It is so difficult watching those we love grow old. Then I have such a distrust of doctors in Northern MN that it makes me nervous that he isn't in the city looking for help. He likes his doctor and doesn't want to move but my mom died in that same hospital this doctor works for....