Prioritizing. Organizing. Rethinking.

Prioritize Notepad, RedVelvetArt



*Diana, this is for you.




All over the news all you hear is that the economy is in the toilet; the government is paying to bail out people who made bad decisions because they weren't fully informed and companies who did so knowingly; neighbors are pitted against neighbors and by all accounts it's turmoil.


I'm doing okay. WE'RE doing okay. But it's got me thinking, and for the very first time in my life - doing. I grew up pretty priveleged. Solidly upper middle class. Great schools, great friends (all of whom are still great folks) great opportunities for success, all without doing much. Then at 18, I enlisted. I know you all see the news about how hard it is to be a young military family, and it is, but it gets a lot easier. We are once again middle class. My kids want for nothing. (Okay, Sam wants a pocket bike and a cell phone, no and no.) They have plenty of opportunities, and yet so many are denied them because of pure unadulterated American discrimination.




Semaphore Love block print card, nydampress

So I've spent a lot of time in the last few months/weeks trying to do what I can to fix that. And I'm realizing lately that more than ever, what I need to do for ME is to succeed at my job. We all know that I AM a United States Sailor, but I'm an Atheist, too. And I believe that equality is for everyone. And I believe that Barack Obama truly has the best interests of my country and my children at heart. And I believe that the best way to stick it to all of the discriminatory Americans who don't want my friends to marry who they love, don't want someone with Muslim blood (I didn't know religion was blood borne) to become president, and don't want young women to be able to make choices that may save their lives without Daddy breathing down their necks; is to continue to fight for their right to say whatever they want. To continue to fight for their right to disallow my children to be boy/girlscouts, to require that god be thanked before every little league game, to allow prayer before every town meeting. So I registered to vote, I've volunteered, I've contributed. And I plan on succeeding at my day job. And leading sailors into whatever we're ordered to do, with no discrimination, no favoritism.


Success in View, SailorJenny

We in the military lament so often on the freedoms we DON'T have. We leave for long periods of time, often unable to talk to our families at all, sometimes they can't know where we are. We work 24/7, we stand duty for long hours, we do often thankless jobs in the face of disaster for countries who've been our enemy . But never before and probably never again have I worked in a less discriminatory environment. We take care of our own, everyone wears blue. There's no men, women, colors, only sailors.

So I've put the jewelry on hold. I'm not really sure I can function in a real world environment just yet. I have so much more to do between the Navy and my own home, that having that one more thing on my plate just proved too much. My things will stay on Etsy, and there will be more. But they're therapy, not a business. My business is my country and my family.

Green Saturday - Earth Day edition!!

Earth Fair San Diego was today. I love Earth Fair, a packed event that usually brings up to 70,000 people, with lots of food, drinks, music, not-for-profit organizations and just plain cool stuff. We had a blast, and it was a great way to introduce the kiddos to some concepts that they may not quite understand. It all started with the bus.



It was parked right outside the park (well, one of the 14 entrances anyway. The fair takes up the WHOLE park.) and it belongs to one of the many religious organizations that have booths. (The Twelve Tribes.) That's one of the great (and not-so-wonderful) things about the fair. Not only are there plenty of options to clean your home, clean our air and our water, but there are lots of ways to cleanse your soul, too, should you desire a new enlightenment. I like these booths, as religion seems to breed deep thinkers. And so does non-religion, it seems. The ladies and gentlemen at the Atheist Coalition booth are always very friendly and willing to chat if they're not swamped. The thing that I find upsetting is that there are anti-abortion protestors there every year. Children holding huge posters and wearing awful tee shirts. Children, 7, 8, 10 year olds who can't possibly grasp the concept of what they're protesting against. Sigh. Okay, back to the fun!




The kiddos had fun. At every exhibit that had the possibility of being cool, Thing one asked if he could bring his little sister. So they checked out Brittle Stars with the lovely ladies from USD...




And saw an American Alligator with the folks from Sea World and Conservation International . . .




And Sam got to make his very own paper. It's actually a pledge to keep every day Earth Day, and he did a very good job. So good that the local news station filmed and interviewed him! Let's hope one of our friends has a working cable box as ours won't record programming right now.








A few of the other great companies there were Simple. shoes, made of sustainable products. They even make DIY shoes and a DIY Bag (it's cool, too!) And they have the cutest infant shoes ever, with little felt piggies on them. Seriously, if you haven't seen thses and you have a little one, check 'em out!


I was also introduced to Veterans For Peace. They are a national organization founded in 1985. It is structured around a national office in Saint Louis, MO and comprised of members across the country organized in chapters or as at-large members. There is an annual convention each year attended by our members, families and supporters from across the nation. Members receive periodic VFP publications.
The organization includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations including from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), World War II, the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf and current Iraq wars as well as other conflicts. Our collective experience tells us wars are easy to start and hard to stop and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus, other means of problem solving are necessary.

If you are a non-veteran, you MAY become a member, and support this cause for the many men and women who cannot. Especially for the women. There are not enough organizations (in my opinion) that recognize women veterans. There are many more now, and quite a few from the war in Iraq. VFP provides a wonderful community for those women.

There was also lots of yummy food (many samples!) We liked the Clif bars. They taste good and are great for little ones because they are like a Granola Bar but less crunchy and with more energy. They were giving out Banana Bread and Cool Mint Chocolate bars. Yum.

All in all it was a lot of fun. The kids (well, Thing One, anyway. . .) learned a few things and we had a good time. Just check this out! (Okay, maybe the little one wasn't diggin' THAT so much . . .)