What a difference a day can make

On Friday at 9:00 PM, Shelby was honored as a member of the Band Queen Court.






On Saturday at 9:00 PM, we were taking her to the emergency room with a broken ankle.



















The four of us were working at a marching band competition hosted by her high school. Shelby stepped off a curb that she didn't realize was close to her, and along with skinning both knees, twisted her ankle hard enough to break it.

In case you think I am a sick mother using her child's injury as an excuse to take photos, I promise I am not the crazy one. As soon as Shelby's tears dried, she went right back into her bubbly, optimistic persona.

"Mom! Get my camera out of my back pack and take some pictures! I want to put them on my Facebook!"

Shelby never ceases to amaze me. She still has a wonderful positive attitude, despite the fact that in her Senior year she won't be able to march for the rest of the season. She will probably not be able to participate in the holiday dance recital, she won't be able to dance in the school talent show, and she has to take off from her job until she is off crutches.

However, as you can see from this next photo Shelby took at the hospital, her mom is not holding up nearly as well. :)



Ugh!

Great State Fair photo 2008

Fight back on high gas prices

Probably politically incorrect, but this made me laugh. Good thing, too, because I felt like crying today after I filled my tank. ($3.89 a gallon!)



*************

P.S. Happy birthday A.B.
Hard to believe that gasoline was only $1.15 a gallon when you died. What a shock to see what the price is today! One good thing about where you are is at least you don't have to pay for gas anymore. :)

*************

Right to Life

This post will be a bit different from my usual musings. Normally I'm full of stories about my life and family, but with non-stop politics swirling around it is difficult to concentrate on much else.

Rarely will you find me in a political debate, because whatever I have to say is probably not going to sway anybody's opinion. Most political views are based on our upbringing and our experiences in our own little corners of the world. Nobody has walked in my shoes, or I in theirs. An issue I feel strongly about because of my life experience may be offensive to others. So, I am not putting this out there to change anyone's mind, but rather to share with my friends and family a little bit of what makes me tick.

I guess you could call me a "Right to Lifer." My religious beliefs and my choice of career bear out that statement. The sanctity of life is central to my religion. Taking care of others is my calling, and trying to keep them healthy is in my soul.

One of my grandchildren with Andy, Lachelle, has Down Syndrome and she truly is a blessing.

I am not in favor of abortion.

But, in my mind, "Right to Life" should take into consideration more than fetuses.

How about the people in this country who are dying because they can’t afford proper medical care? What about THEIR right to life?

How about the adults and children who may have their lives shortened because of lack of nutrition? What about THEIR right to life?

I don't even want to get started on the subject of young service members dying in a war that increasingly appears to have been started on false pretexts, not to mention the troops who return alive but are cared for in horrific conditions. What about THEIR right to life?

My job as a school nurse is not about bandaids and boo-boos. I see silent suffering and the effects of poverty on a daily basis. One great need in my clinics, as well as nationwide, is affordable dental care. There are children dying because of lack of dental care, not because of parental neglect, but because of the prohibitive cost of dental treatment and dental insurance.

Senior citizens have to choose between paying for their medicine and paying for food.

Because of all of this, I find myself with one "right to life" debate weighing in one hand, and another "right to life" debate weighing in the other hand.

My vote is, in part, going to depend on which hand weighs the most.