Why Women Should Vote

I got this as a forward...but it is very thought-provoking.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Vir ginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

see - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because- -why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.All these years later, voter registration is still my passion.But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with her self. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.' Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote. History is being made.

ABC's - Too Cute!

Todd has been working with Ryan on his ABC's. I think he's got it!

The Sweetest Thing

Ryan has a very big vocabulary. Last night we ate at the new Mexican restaurant by Dahl's. Ryan says, that's a picture of a pyramid! By gosh, he was right, they had pictures of the Mexican pyramids. When we were paying, the waitress asked if he was 4 since he talked so well. I said no, he's 2 1/2. She said, "well I hope you have more babies because he is beautiful and smart!"

That was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.

One more thing that just popped into my head - I am shocked. First that Bernie Mac died, and second that John Edwards turned out to be just another sleazewad politican that can't keep it in his pants. The chick he cheated with was homely too. I bet if his wife wasn't dying she'd ditch him.

Obsessed with Dressing Up

Ryan is obsessed with dressing up, wearing boots, and wearing socks on his hands. Here are some of his recent outfits.

1 - Mr. Hip Hop

2 - Super Hero

3 - In Chase's Spider Man Outfit

Trying to Adjust - It's a Good Thing!

Last Friday night was the first Friday night that Todd hasn't worked in 3 years. We went out to TGI Friday's, then to the park, and then for ice cream. It was a great night. Here we all are at Dairy Queen. Todd and Ryan were even color-coordinated.

Ryan sporting the same shirt the next day - see the monstrosity behind him?

Ryan in his new outfit with a BIG BOY BELT!! that Todd bought him, and the SpiderMan shoes Sandy bought him. Ryan is very excited about his belt and has been wearing it over his pajamas.

The rest of the story is that we are all trying to adjust to Todd not being at the bar all the time. He is trying to sleep normal hours, and it isn't working so well. It also doesn't help that he and I have each been sleeping alone in the middle of the bed for 6 years, so inevitably one of us ends up on the couch. The gout has also spread to his wrist, thumb, and foot so it is hard for him to get comfortable. The hard parts for me are that Todd is eating us out of house and home, I have to cook for him and actually plan meals, and there is absolutely no silence in the house after Ryan goes to sleep because Todd is around. It's hard, but it's a good thing. Ryan and Todd are on cloud nine, and I am actually relaxing a bit for the first time since we had Ryan.

The entire month of July was shot to hell by the bar. Todd started selling stuff and cleaning it out on June 25, and finished at 8 pm on July 31, four hours before the lease was up. Every weekend was either spent working at the bar (or me watching Ryan at the bar while Todd's parents worked instead of me) or building the new shed in our backyard (aka "The Monstrosity"). Todd and his parents worked a lot of nights there. The idea was to build a new shed (our little one got smooshed by a tree limb) and then move the stuff in the garage to the shed and put the stuff in the bar in the garage. We bought a shed kit from Lowe's that said it would take 6 hours to build. It ended up taking 4 days with folks from Humboldt coming to help and then Todd, Mike, and Big Gilk finishing it on the hottest day of the year. It was not finished before the bar closed though, so all the bar stuff is in a 10 x 25 storage unit next the Des Moines River. That sounds ominous. The shed is huge and shaped like a barn. Ryan believes it is his barn for his toys. He likes to go inside, fling open the doors, and yell Surprise!

In the midst of this chaos, we had new windows and a patio door put in the dining room, and I repainted it and ripped out the carpet. It has taken forever because I am using 4 colors and I paint one coat of one color at a time while Ryan is asleep.

I have also been gardening every Wednesday night at the Fair and at home too. If you go to the Fair, my bed is the raised one next to the gazebo south of the Ag Building.

Pacifier Free!!!

We are finally pacifier free! Last Saturday we bought Ryan 4 Superfriends on the condition that his fussy (pacifier) stay in the crib. No using it in the car or to watch television. That went really well. Every time he asked for the fussy, I threatened to take his pacifier away.

Yesterday I was on the phone with my mom and Ryan said he wanted to go to the store and buy the Planet Hero from Venus - http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=planetheroeslanding. I told him he had to throw away his fussy FOREVER. He said no.
I continued to talk to Mom, then hung up. He told me he wanted Venus and went in the kitchen and threw the fussy in the trash. We immediately went to the store and bought Venus, and that was that. He played with Venus all day and took his nap just fine. Going to bed was another story. He never asked for his fussy, but couldn't get to sleep. Finally at 2 am he fell asleep with me in our bed! It was a long night.

Did I mention that he did all this while he had a fever?

Misc.

Speed Racer

Three Generations of Steins

Ryan in his new pool, which lasted only 5 minutes before it started leaking and collapsed

Magellan Zinnia in Jean and My's Bed at the Discovery Garden

My front flower bed when it was brand-new in 2006.

My front flower bed in 2008. I did all the work myself, except my dad helped me dig the bed, and Ryan waters it. Everything in it is red, orange, or yellow.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy 4th everyone! As usual, I am home alone with Ryan today, but I got the better end of the deal. Todd is working with his parents to clean the bar and get stuff ready for the sale. For those of you that don't know, Todd closed the bar a week ago Tuesday to spend more time with Ryan and me. It is sad, but I think he is ready to be done with it. Last Saturday he and I worked there until 10 pm packing up the liqour and doing inventory. Ryan stayed at Mike and Sandy's. Sunday I went to the store and gardened all day. Literally like 8 hours because I didn't have a 2 yr old pestering me!

Ryan has been enjoying going next door every Wednesday night for 2 hours so I can work at the Discovery Garden and run errands. It's worth the money for me.

Not much else new - just trying to keep my #$%^ together at work and home. Whoever says they can easily balance their career and family is lying. Ryan is very clingy now when I drop him off at school because he wants to stay home with me. The other day I bawled all the way to Merle Hay Road.

Two weeks ago we had my grandpa's and great uncle household sale. It didn't bother me like I thought it would. I was just counting my lucky stars that I didn't have to help clean out his house or schlep the stuff to the sale. Ryan had a good time with Big Grandpa, and we got to see some of the tornado damage. It seems weird to look out my parents' windows and see the neighbors house (the barn blew away).

Todd's Birthday and Father's Day

Last weekend was busy. Saturday Todd turned 38, and Sunday I had Mike and Sandy up for a little birthday/Father's Day celebration. Ryan and I spent the weekend shopping, cleaning, and cooking. He helped me stir things and chopped the carrots by pounding on the food chopper. He also got the grape jelly out of the jar into the bowl. Oh, and I mowed the lawn too since Todd has gout in one hand and chopped off the tip of his thumb on the other hand.

I made an awesome chocolate cake for Todd and a German chocolate cake for Mike. I also made macaroni salad, little smokies, and cheese dip. The afternoon was a success. Ryan provided the entertainment as usual. We were all standing outside talking, and no one noticed that Ryan had turned the water on and picked up the hose. Suddenly, he sprayed Todd!! Then Grandpa!! All the boys ended up soaked, and we all laughed a lot.

Stupid blogger is not uploading my pics. I will have to try later!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I'm pretty sure the next time I look out the window I am going to see Noah and the Ark go by.

My garden is flooded, and I put the tent up in the living room for Ryan since he can't go outside.

Water, Water Everywhere

Finally got Ryan almooost asleep at 10 pm last night - then sirens went off. [Note: the siren is at the end of our block] I could see on tv that the storm was north of us, but we had to go to the basement anyway since the siren was so damn loud. Ryan was good natured but very confused.

Finally got back to bed at 10:45 and slept on Ryan's floor until 2:30. Then Todd woke me up at 4:15. The sump pump hadn't been able to keep up with the 4 inches of rain in 3 hours, so it overflowed and the basement floor had water on it. It probably didn't help that we have the pump hooked up to a sprinkler in my garden. We disconnected the sprinkler, and it went down fast. My poor garden has standing water in it and the mulch has washed on to the lawn!!! (And yes, I am more upset about my garden than the basement - I'm telling you gardening is a sickness!)

The water in the basement was less than .5 inch deep by then, but all the carpet runners are wet and wood furniture had soaked up some water. It will all dry out (except carpet runners) pretty easily, it's still a mess. Only had to throw out a few cardboard boxes and 4 or 5 tiles popped up.

No point in going to bed now!

PS. Regarding my earlier post about being an addict - I have identified 3 more barespots in my garden that need plants - I just need to buy 3 more....

My Name is Marnie, and I'm an Addict.

My Name is Marnie, and I'm an Addict. I can't stop buying plants! Eventhough gasoline and food are costing us a fortune, I seem to always be able to come up with some spare pennies to buy more plants. I thought I was done, but I had to get a wave petunia today to put in my upside-down flower pot that the H gave me two years ago. I will have to post a pic of it. I think that puts my total for this year at around 72 annuals, 92 perennials, and 8 bags of mulch so far!

Still a Fever

I don't know if Ryan is better or not. He ate spaghetti last night and fell asleep on the couch right after Todd left for work. He woke up at 9:30 am without a fever, so later we went to Lowe's to get a new grate for our grill. By the time he got home he had a fever again. He slept for 4 hours and then I finally woke him up at 6 pm. He was covered in sweat, but went right outside with Todd and I to help water the plants. I guess it's a crap shoot if he will have a fever in the morning or not.

Despite him being sick, we are making progress with the fussy removal. He now only uses it to sleep, and is not allowed to use it in the house unless it is nap time or night-night time. Still no movement (pardon the pun) on potty training!

Pictures

The mighty pirate conquers his lunch - AAARRRGH!

The Ryan-Monster roars from inside the skeleton of a dinosaur.

Goggles help you put together your new puzzle from Aunty Kathy faster!

A two-headed giraffe!!

Check out My Ads

The ads on my blog continue to make me laugh. They adjust to the content of my blog. Look at them - now they are all for gout, rash, or abdominal pain!

Random Information

Hmmm...I really can't remember much of note around here. I was way behind at work before I went to San Diego, and now I'm even further behind. By the time I get Ryan in bed at night I am brain dead...so here are some random bits of information:

1) Mommy: Ryan, you are my favorite person in the world!
Ryan: No, I'm just a good boy. I'm not a person!

2) Ryan has had a 103 degree fever since Thursday. He has hand-foot-and-mouth. There is nothing you can do but give ibuprofen for the pain and fever. He has sores in his mouth and the typical hand rash all over his chest. I managed to get just the right dose of medecine at just the right time this afternoon so we were able to play outside for a bit today.

3) We need a new air conditioner and a new furnace. We have known we needed the air conditioner since last fall, but I also had them look at the furnace because it did some weird things this winter and our bill was really high. Apparently the heat exchanger in our furnace could crack at any time spilling CO into the house. Lennox recalled the furnace in the early 1990's (before we bought the house) because it was so dangerous. We are thinking of getting a heat pump.

4) Last week Rachel treated me to lunch at Hu Hot. It was fun and a nice treat. She got a gift cert for her birthday, and Eric won't eat there, so she took me. I never get to go there because Todd won't eat there, so it all worked out well.

5) Ryan stayed overnight in Oskaloosa last Saturday night. I should have been out painting the town red, but instead I watched the last 4 episodes of Dangerous Housewives and some crime shows I had taped. Sunday we went out for supper with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Denny so they could see Ryan. Sandy and Grandpa Fortner had been bragging to Kathy about how well Ryan talks (he talks in paragraphs, non-stop), but he was tired and only said about 25 words the whole time! I think everyone was disappointed, but I enjoyed the silence! You've got to take it when you can get it!

6)We went to the zoo on Monday. Ryan was most impressed with the playground. He asked why the monkeys weren't talking (they're not like Curious George), and why the cow wasn't walking (it's fiberglass). Since it was Members Monday, we got a free train ride. We ran into Rachel and the boys when we got off. It's a pathetic zoo when compared to St Louis or Omaha, but it is the perfect size for Ryan. Not too big and not too crowded. We were lucky to get a membership for Christmas, so we can zip in and out whenever we want. Ryan fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake up until 4:09 AM Tuesday morning!

7) My parents got hit by the tail end of the Hazelton tornado the same day as the Parkersburg tornado. They had softball sized hail, lost shingles, ruined the siding and air conditioner compressor, and the silo has spiral cracks in it. The middle row of trees in the grove were sheared off at the base. I guess that they were under the stairs in the basement and were sure there wouldn't be a house left when they went upstairs. They were very lucky. The farm south of them lost their bin and barn, and the windows in their house were blown out.

Sesame Street Live

Second Row Tickets: Free

Soda: $2.50

Parking: $6

Ridiculously Priced Souvenir: $15

Taking My Son to his First Stage Show: Priceless

San Diego Pictures

Statue of Navy Man returning from war.

The biggest Hen and Chicks I have ever seen in my life!

I finally got to see a Panda Bear! Everytime I have been to the zoo in Washington DC, the pandas were hiding inside!

Sunset views near our hotel.

Me suspended over the ocean on the USS Midway.

Our free appetizer at Buster's. We used every tacky tourist coupon we could.