Saturday, October 27, 2012

National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

 October is, very quietly it seems, Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  In case that's passed you by I figured I'd mention it, especially in light of this:

Brookfield Spa Shooting

The above link goes to a blog that a friend of mine, "Lucy", writes for.  She's a domestic violence survivor.

So am I.*

I don't go into it much here.  This is not the place.  But when you're sitting in the middle of the Parents, Children, and Divorce class your state mandates divorcing parents take, reach the section on domestic violence, and realize that every. single. step. on the cycle of abuse excepting only the man beating you senseless is exactly how you've lived the past decade of your life...

... it all kind of clarifies things a bit.  You start to understand why you were always excusing, with "I'm sorry, he's just been so stressed out."  "He's only like that when he's drinking."  "I shouldn't have pushed him like that.  It's my fault really."

It wasn't my fault.  Five years ago, I finally realized that.

There is no specific class of person who is abused.  Domestic abuse and violence crosses all socioeconomic boundaries, all educational lines, and all gender lines.  It is at every level of society, bar none.

Shame is a great silencer.  The silence ends here.


Resource Link:  Our Place

*Please note that I am NOT in any way referring to Brent/ Choreboy.  We only just celebrated our third anniversary, and I cannot believe I am so fortunate as to have finally ended up with such a wonderful man.  I didn't want to put this in here, but I wanted even less for people to think that my husband is in any way being referred to in this entry.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Sucker, Part II

We went back to Repticon today, in large part because once the Gum Zombie had his snake yesterday nothing would do but to come straight home and get little Slither unpacked and into his habitat, so we missed probably at least 30% of the exhibits.

Today, someone else joined us on the journey home...


This is Sarah.  She's mine. She's a 3-month-old Dodoma out-cross, weighing in at 16 grams.  Kenyan sand boas are dimorphic, so Sarah will outweigh Slither by more than double by the time they're both adults.

Brent's sole comment?  "I live in a zoo."

Yes, yes you do sweetheart.  But no birds, I promise!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Sucker

I took the Gum Zombie to Repticon today.  We (okay, I) had zero-to-minimal plans of getting anything.

Of course we came home with something.


Meet Slither, the four-month-old anerythristic Kenyan sand boa.  Thankfully the little fellow (all 14.999 grams of him) eats frozen mice.

See subject line.  Yup, that'd be me.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

'Tis the Season

Hooray holidays!  Yes, that delightful time of year is approaching that many of us have historically taken as free license to gorge, or at least sneak in a few treats we wouldn't indulge in normally.  Y'all know I'm the queen of moderation; that said, here are a few little... well, "guidelines" really that I find helpful to remember.

  • Calories from the candy taken from your child's Halloween stash still count.
  • Ditto the candy you bought to give out to the neighborhood kiddies.
  • No, just because you "accidentally" overbought the Reese's Snack Size Pumpkins doesn't mean that you personally must ingest them all to avoid wastage.*
  • Thanksgiving is one day, people.  One.
  • No, not two.  I don't care that Great Aunt Paula brought her butter, cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream and bacon dip that you may never have a chance to eat again before you die.  ONE.
  • Despite what the retail establishments would have us believe, Christmas, too, is one day a year.
  • No, Grandmother Mercy's famous chocolate pecan marshmallow surprise cookies are not an exception.  
  • Yes, I know she baked them special, just for you.
  • Fine, just tape them to your ass and be done with it.**

In other words, everything has a caloric toll no matter what the calendar says.  I keep tracking over the holidays because it keeps me honest and I do better with visual confirmation that, yes, I really did eat THAT MUCH yesterday so I need to be sane today.  It's what I found works for me because otherwise... well, that list didn't leap fully formed from a vacuum. 

Have a good one, y'all.  And be smart.

*Not that I, personally, would ever have done this...
**Seriously, you might as well.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

In Brief

You know how easily some folks throw out their backs?  I swear, that's how it goes with my knee.  This evening I was engaging in the high-impact activity of sitting down to eat my damn dinner when *crick!*  There it went.

I'm holding out as long as I can before I take up my ortho on his surgery offer, but days like this I start thinking maybe we could work out that whole six weeks of no driving thing...

Monday, October 01, 2012

Guts, I Haz Them!


No, this isn't becoming the Belly Dance Fashions blog.  That, m'dears, is a picture of Yours Truly, mid-graduation dance.  Turns out the old girl has some nerve left in her yet!

Thanks to my oh-so-delightful anxiety, I was planning to just take beginners a third time.  However, on Sunday night, September 23rd, inspiration hit and I figured I'd better grab that sucker before it got away.  So before I went to bed that evening, I had a complete choreography.  Brent videoed me the next night, I tweaked a couple of spots, and rehearsed every spare second I had (and some I didn't) up until the performance on Wednesday night, the 26th.  Nothing like giving yourself 72 hours notice to get the old juices flowing, eh?

And I totally wasn't hiding out in the restroom at work practicing my dance in a 4' x 4' space.  Ahem.  Nope, not me.  Pardon me while I work on perfecting that "I'm totally innocent!" look...

So anyway, I made it into the intermediate class.  Hooray!!!