Thursday, May 31, 2012

It's Okay...

Thursday! That means tomorrow is....Friday!!! Woohoo!! Today, I'm linking up with Neely for It's Ok Thursday :)

It's Ok...

...to be abnormally excited that tomorrow is Friday, because it's the LAST Friday of the school year AND a field trip day!

...to consume way too many calories after work because you were craving sweet things.

...to be exhausted and mildly sunburnt from field day.

...to be really excited that there are no more "normal" days of school left. Every day left (5) includes a party/celebration/field trip of some sort.

...to highly consider taking a nap at 5pm after you finish writing this blog post.

...to be really impatient when it comes to finding out about when we're going to take our NY trip. I'm just ready to GO!!  :)

That's about all I've got today...my brain is fried from too many calories/sunburn/exhaustion, as mentioned above. :)

Friday, May 18, 2012

Oh, Friday

I feel like this week is very appropriate to write some letters to those I have encountered this week...thank goodness Adventures of Newlyweds lets me do just that! 
Dear Friday, thank you for finally showing up. I thought you would never get here! Dear third grade students, thank all of most of you for being so patient and willing to make changes this week during remediation. Dear boyfriend, thank you for dealing with me during this terribly long and crazy week. Dear emotions, get yourself in check. This crying every day over nothing crap is going to have to stop at some point. Dear June 7, please hurry up and get here. I'm ready for vacation. Dear lesson plans and papers, plan and grade yourself. I've got better things to do this weekend. Dear class, I'm so stinkin' proud of you for being so smart on your EOG's! Keep it up. Dear Desperate Housewives, what am I going to do on Sunday night without you?!! I feel like a piece of me is missing. Dear Bachelorette, please be good to Emily. I'm not even reading spoilers on the finale I'm so dedicated this season! Don't let me down. Dear Cat, please stop scratching the door. You are not a dog.

With lots of love,
-Katie

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Today

Today, I am embarrassed to live in NC. Today, I am disappointed to find out that so many people would vote to take away the rights of someone else. Today, I can marry my first cousin. We could have children--even though there is a high risk of a child being born with a birth defect. But he can't marry his boyfriend, whom he is in a committed relationship with. Think about that for a moment. Take it all in.


 You see, yesterday, North Carolina voted that "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State". This means that not only is gay marriage banned (which it already was), but civil unions will not be recognized in North Carolina at all. 
But they are not the only ones harmed by this amendment. Children of unmarried parents may lose health benefits. Unmarried elderly people may lose health benefits. Domestic violence laws are at risk for unmarried couples. The amendment passed with 61% of voters in favor of it. Which is fine and dandy. The problem is, over 60% of voters had NO CLUE what the amendment was about. They were completely ignorant about what they were voting for--it came down to ignorance and propaganda. The people who were pro-amendment packaged it up all pretty and made unsuspecting people believe that it was all about gay marriage. When it wasn't.

 There are so many angles that I could take and 50 million reasons why I can tell you that it should not have passed. I'm not getting into that. All I will say is that my family taught me to love unconditionally--but I'm having a really difficult time 'loving' those who supported this amendment. Because clearly they don't give the same love in return.

Today, people who voted for the amendment are telling those of us who are upset and hurt to "get over it" and to "move on"...but my family was directly affected. Maybe those people who weren't directly affected should step into the shoes of someone who was hurt by the amendment. Then maybe they'll see why we're so upset. It is going to take some time to heal. 

Take a good look at the couple sitting next to you at a restaurant next time you go out. They're heterosexual. They might even have a child. they could look perfectly normal. Maybe it's an elderly couple. Inside, they could be heartbroken. They could be struggling. They could be wondering what they're going to do now that their rights were taken away from them. They could be wondering why there is so much judgement and hatred in this world.