Friendship Reflections....

With the recent untimely passing of an old friend, I've been doing a lot of reflecting back on times gone by.  I've been leisurely and sometimes teary eyed wandering down memory lane.  Thinking about old friendships that have changed, ended or grown apart in my lifetime...and the friendships that have continued to grow and have sustained times of tragedy & loss, marriage & divorce and distance.


I've been blessed to have had so many friends over the past 34 years.  I've learned so much from all of them, even the ones that I'm no longer friends with.  Thanks to Facebook, I've even reconnected with a friend from my early childhood that I thought I'd never hear from again...ahem, Kitsi!! 


Right now I'm grieving and the sorrow and sadness is sitting on my chest...I feel like there is a sob stuck in my throat that either needs to be swallowed or to explode, but neither is happening right now.  I know it's mostly my guilt for not being the friend that I could've been.  Failing someone that desperately needed my strength and support is a hard reality for me to face.  


Logically, I know that friendships grow apart and people naturally go their separate ways as their lives change.  Intellectually, I know that it's IMPOSSIBLE for me to nurture and build every friendship that I have.  But emotionally, I feel like I need to call every person in my life that I hold dear and tell them how much I love them and how thankful I am to have them in my life...even if our paths don't cross as often as we'd like.  I'm grateful that they've in some way enriched my life.


I don't have time to call every single one of them, so I'm broadcasting by love & appreciation here...by name!!!  And if I may have overlooked you, please don't be hurt.  I've been lucky to have so many friends in my life that I can't possibly name everyone.


Jennifay (est. 1983) - Our friendship has withstood so many obstacles.  Thank you for knowing me the way you do.  Thank you for our inside jokes that NOBODY else on earth would find nearly as funny.  Thank you for still loving me even after our teenage years, when I wasn't exactly always nice to you.


Katie (est. 1987) - Although we don't hardly ever talk anymore, I still consider you a lifelong friend.  We have so many memories together...good and bad.  Some of which didn't always end in Jennifay's favor.  Maybe we weren't always the best influence on each other, but we sure did have fun.


Terri (est. 1993) - Not a day goes by that I don't think of you.  I miss you more than I ever thought possible.  Losing you was the absolute, without a doubt, hardest thing I've ever had to deal with.  Having you in my life brought so much laughter, Rio Bravo and sunbathing into my life...and singing, I can't leave out the singing.  I love you and hope that when you're looking down on all of us that you left behind, that you're proud of the people that we've become.


Kelly (est. 1994) - Thank you for educating me in the skill of "smart ass".  If it hadn't been for that fateful day in Spanish class, I'd have lived a dull boring life in comparison.  You and your family helped mold me into the sarcastic & funny person that I am.  You've been my rock more times than I can count....and I've been yours.  I know we don't have that mushy kind of friendship, but I want you to know that I love you so much and I admire you and the woman/mom that you've become.  You are my example of a strong woman that has broken the mold when it comes to picking up the pieces and keeping on keeping on.  Thank you for always being my comic relief...even at the most inappropriate times.


Wanda (est. 1996) - You are my person.  You are the yin to my yang or maybe the yang to my yin.  You've taught me to be a fighter...to stand up for myself and my kids.  You've carried my load when I've been too weak to keep going.  You've been my harsh conscience when I didn't want to face reality.  You know me better than I know myself...and can read me like an open book (even over the phone).  I know that I can call you at 2am...and you're gonna answer the phone and not even be mad when it's not an emergency.  Although the same can't be said if I called you at say 6am.  You're my cheerleader.  You have helped me raise my children to be the confident young ladies that they are today.  Thank you for our giggle-fests.  Thank you for your stubborness...maybe one day it'll rub off on me.

Holly (est. 1997) - Granted you suck when it comes to actually being around...or planning birthday parties or answering the phone when it rings.  But I know that you love me and cherish me as much as I do you.  I'm so happy to have you in my life...and I'm so proud of all that you've accomplished.  You've overcome the odds and made a wonderful life and home for you and your family.  So when you drop the ball on the social side of friendship...always know that I forgive you :) 

Sparky (est. 2005) -  So what if I thought you were a complete dumbass when I met you...that proved to be part of what I love most about you.  Your big heart and silly personality and protective nature made you a lasting part of my life.  It doesn't matter if you're 10 min. away, across the country or on the other side of the world...you're still my favorite red headed step child.  Your hugs can melt away any problem I have...I just wish you weren't across the country so I could have one more often.  You've been a surrogate dad for my girls and shown them what a daddy's love should feel like.  I'm so proud of you and the soldier that you are today.


Kimberly (est. 2008) - You are me...in a taller skinnier body.  We share almost the same exact thoughts 99% of the time...only you have bigger balls than I do when it comes to saying them out loud.  You are part of the village that helps raise my kids to be responsible and accountable and funny.  Although I might be a little older than you, you're the wiser.  I've learned so much from you and you've helped me grow as a mom and as a friend.  You've brought a quality to my life that I didn't know was missing.  We laugh until we cry or pee...whichever happens first.  Thank you for sharing your home, husband and kids with me and my girls.  We are all family now. 


THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING MY VILLAGE!!!

A Heavy Heart ...

My heart is being weighed down by so many different emotions right now.  I'm not sure if I can even put it all into words, but right now my need to write about it is so overwhelming.  Our circles of friends have suffered so many losses in the 16 years since I graduated.  We've have had drug overdoses, car accidents, heart attacks and other tragic accidents.  It's been a few years since we've all had to come together to mourn one of our own.

My morning was shaken with news that has caused a hurricane of unexpected emotions.  I don't know where to start because her story is so sad and tragic, it could be the basis of a Lifetime movie.  We met in high school and quickly became friends because our boyfriends were thick as thieves.  We were never up to any good either.  Back then it was Countrytime Lemonade and tequila. We cruised the back roads of Alpharetta, usually looking for our hell raising men.

Shannon and Philip were a fixture in our lives.  They came to the hospital when Beelay was born.  They were a constant in Beelay's life.  I have a vivid memory of her being barely 2 years old, down on her hands and knees picking up change in the driveway with Philip.  And him teaching her to sing "Money, money, money"....and swinging on the swing set together.  They were at our house every weekend and often during the week.


When they got engaged it was no surprise when she asked me to stand as her bridesmaid along side her little sister as her maid of honor.  It was an honor that I was never able to fulfill.  I'll never forget that day.  It was Nov. 1, 2000.  I woke up to a message on my answering machine from Shannon saying to call her as soon as I got the message, that it didn't matter what time.  I have no idea what time it was when she called, but when I called her back; her step-mom answered the phone and the words that came out of her mouth brought me to my knees.  "Philip was killed last night while riding 4-wheelers."  I had never been so affected by someone's words in my life.


One week to the day before they were supposed to get married, we buried Philip.  Devastated  doesn't even begin to describe Shannon's pain.  I won't lie and say that their relationship was perfect, it wasn't.  But their relationship was her EVERYTHING!!  Her grief was palpable.  I tried to comfort her as best I could, but I was at a loss.  I had no idea how to help her...I was 22 years old and had no experience or idea how any one of us was supposed to move past this kind of tragedy.  

When Shannon turned to going out and partying it up to keep her mind off it...I judged her.  Looking back now, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing. But at the time I was married with a 2 year old and I just couldn't relate.  We grew apart a little bit at a time.  Eventually we lost touch all together.   Until after my divorce.  I had been rear-ended and her dad owned a body shop and she'd been on my mind a lot...soooo I stopped in to see her dad and see how Shannon was doing.  Only to be surprised by the fact that she was there, working for him and was 8 months pregnant.  It felt like God had brought us back together just in time.  We rekindled our friendship and got together often...for a while.


For the life of me, I can't remember why we lost touch again.  I don't think it was anything specific.  We just got busy living our lives and raising our kids and lost touch.  The next time our paths crossed we ran into each other at Chili's.  We exchanged numbers and talked about getting together soon...but it never happened.  Then our circle suffered another loss, Charlie fell from a cell tower and was killed instantly.  I made the call because I figured I was the only one that had her number.  It's crazy how we all get busy living our lives and in an instant we're all brought back together again.


She reached out to me more times than I can count.  I am filled with guilt for not being the friend to her that she needed.  I can blame it on my kids and being so busy with them or I can say it was just because we were in different places in our lives.  But the God's honest truth is I didn't know how to be her friend anymore.  She was a constant reminder of my old life and I didn't know how to transition it into my grown up adult life.  The last time I saw her, I actually tried to avoid her....because I just didn't know what to say to her when she would tell me she missed me and our friendship.  It's funny though, while I was trying to avoid her...she spotted me from across the pool and knew it was me from looking at the back of my head.  We talked briefly about our kids and that was it.  I haven't seen or spoken to her in probably 2 years.


So this morning when I heard the news, I felt guilty for even being sad.  I feel like I was a shitty friend to her and therefore I have no right to even mourn her death.  I was happy to hear that she had found happiness again and had remarried, but heartbroken to find out she left behind 9 week old twins.  My heart and my head are all over the place.  I'm sick over the fact that her 8 year old son, her step-son and her 9 week old daughter & son are now going to grow up without their mommy.  The scars that were left behind from Philip's, Charlie's, Terri's & JD's (only to name a few) deaths have been ripped open and are now raw with sadness and regret.


Shannon, I'm sorry that I wasn't the friend you needed me to be.  I'm sorry that your children, your husband and your family have to find the strength to go on living without you...just like you had to find it when you lost Philip.  I hate that yet again, we're all coming together to say goodbye to one of our own.  Rest in peace.  You'll live on in our memories and in the eyes of your children.


***I'll update as soon as I know of any of the arrangements.

Another Clown Adventure...Happy Birthday Freckles!!

Now for the "good" stuff.  It should come as no surprise that the Circus pulled out all the stops when it came to celebrating one of their own.  It seems this is the year for all of the baby clowns to ripen into their 30's.  Freckles hasn't really made much of a splash until now into the world that is this blog...but splash she did!!

Bare with me because much of the night is a little blurry for me.  I even took notes of the early on funny...but guess the jager raping distracted me at some point.  Anyway, we went out to dinner for sushi first.  The staff knows us pretty well...considering there's usually 10+ in our party.  And no birthday is complete without the sake bomb...yes, Sunflower, you were right about the spelling.  If you look carefully at this picture, you'll see there's a glass of water on the right...yeah, after the sake bombed; there wasn't anymore water in that glass either.  SPLASH!!

After dinner, we moved the show on to Chiquita & Zippy's house.  The drinks were a flowin' and the jokes were headed south QUICKLY!!!  Consider that Tree Frog brought his strawberry moonshine...that I adamantly refused to partake in.  I wasn't so successful in my refusal of my no longer dear friend, Mr. Jagermeister and Skittles' favorite Fireball.  Keep in mind I've steered clear of that dark licorice flavored DEMON since my birthday TWO years ago!!!  Thanks to Chiquita being a bitch and forcing it upon me...she and I both spent the next day cuddled up on the couch watching Grumpy Old Men and running to the bathroom to puke.  As for Fireball, I've only spent time with it once...and that was my birthday this year.  We have no hard feelings...but I'd really do much better to just stick with what I know best, and that's ICE COLD Bud Light Lime.

So the most vivid memories are of all of us camped out on the deck discussing "Fifty Shades of Grey", men included.  Tree Frog said "I know I'm dominant when I hear OUCH", to which Skittles responded "That's because you had it in the wrong hole."  There was LOTS of talk about swingers and how Zippy likes to throw out mixed signals at Walmart, by walking around with a pineapple in the babyseat of his buggy.  For anyone that doesn't know us well, they would've been very confused.  NONE of our friends swing...that we are aware of anyway.


My timeline and actual memories are a little fuzzy, so some of this might have been my imagination.  I believe it was Cuz that said something about the "salmonella" candles being lit under the tables.  And Sarge clarified that they were "citronella" candles.  We were all very impressed with his knowledge of ecol-i and insect repellant.  But it was Cuz that said  "I'm like a rat turd...sharp at both ends."  That was one of the funniest things I think I've ever heard!!

We apparently had an in-depth conversation about swapping body parts.  Like those of us with ample tittays would be happy to loan a portion out to the less fortunate.  And those with a bountiful booty would share with those of us suffering from "noassatall".  This lead to some of the more free spirited (inebriated) clowns to flash some boobage and then Jinx blessed everyone on the deck with a "Full Moon".

Tater & Valentine were there too.  Valentine continues to prove to me that I picked the PERFECT name for her.  She's so sweet...and lovey.  Oh and I hear (because of course I don't remember) she shares my graceful nature.  Clarence & Cricket came by.  I didn't manage to inflict any pain on him this go around.  He and his gimp fingers are always blaming me for something.  Cricket usually just sits back and laughs at all of us.  I'm just glad we haven't scared her away yet.  It was an unexpected surprise when Skeeter and Clarabelle showed up.  Thank you again for my trophy.  Again, it's all a little fuzzy.  I'm sure you both contributed something funny to the night...but yeah I got nothing.  Banjo even graced us with his presence, late as usual.

I'm also told that we were all dancing in the rain.  There is a picture, that I am NOT posting here...that appears to have been taken some time after the alleged rain dance.  I however have ZERO recollection of this pic being taken.  Just to give you an idea.  Chiquita's 3' tongue is almost touching Freckles' cheek, I have a handful of Freckles' boob and I'm holding Lollipop's leg up and Sunflower is smiling ever so innocently with her lollipop in her hand.  

I guess my seat was out of the line of fire for Sleezy.  Unfortunately a couple of my other clown friends weren't so lucky.  Is random groping normal in the non-vanilla (meant in a sexual way, not racial) world?  I'm not sure, but it's UNACCEPTABLE in our Circus.  Guess he didn't get the memo that none of us actually swing...we just talk a lot about it.


At some point all of the mixing of beer, moonshine, jager, fireball, sake, etc...got the best of Freckles.  Poor birthday girl made another SPLASH when she emptied her tummy contents in the back yard.  She just kept saying "I just wanna laugh and I'll feel better".  So Chiquita paged me and Banjo for the job.  I'm assuming we made her laugh...because we're funny, not because I actually retained the memory.


I should probably commiserate with Zippy before I publish this because I'm sure he has a much clearer memory of the nights events.  While he was rehashing all of it for us the next morning, he kept saying "Giggles, you were sitting right there.  You don't remember it?"  And I just sat there blank faced.  Chiquita sent me a text later in the day asking how we ended up in the garage, to which I replied "We were in the garage?"


If I left out anything and you would like to contribute to the funny, please please please do so in a comment.  You can even do it anonymously or under your clown name if you like.  As always, feel free to share my writing brilliance with your friends...and take note that Lollipop has the biggest balls in our Circus.  Follow me on Facebook here.

A Mother's Day Weekend Worth Talking About

My Mother's Day came early with me learning that I had indeed won the very coveted MOTY award.  I would like to thank my dear friend, Skeeter for nominating me, voting for me and taking the time out of his busy life to reward me so generously for being 2012's Mother Of The Year.  My trophy will be displayed proudly FOREVER!!!  <---Mainly to remind my kids of just how lucky they are to have me for their mom...and not one of my slacker opponents that failed to BRING IT to the competition this year.  Better luck to you all next go round.

I guess those WINNING genes were passed down to Beelay, as her soccer team went on to WIN their championship game.  I'm one proud mama.  She is tied for the most goals scored this season.  All joking aside, her whole team and coaches deserve a HUGE round of applause.  The incredible teamwork and stellar sportsmanship they showed this season was a pleasure to watch and made for a very intense season.  Way to go ROCKETS!!!

Now for my Mother's Day.  In years past, what I've really wanted for Mother's Day was a day WITHOUT my kids.  You can deny it, but I'd be willing to bet money you've had the same thoughts.  I'm a single mom, so it's not like their dad has been around to help the girls make my day special.  To me it seemed logical to really want a QUIET day by the pool with a frosty beverage and NO fighting children.  Well this year they made me proud.  After the night at the circus I had, what I intended to do when I got home was go back to bed.  What I got was a day at "Spa de la Morrow".  They had draped white Christmas lights around my bedroom, lit candles and turned on some ambient music on their iTouch.  

They gave me a back massage.  They applied a mask to my face, painted my nails, rubbed my feet, etc.  They got along for the most part all day long.  When things started to get sketchy, I'd just say "Happy Mother's Day" and it would click that I was giving them a HINT that it was my day, not theirs.  It was lovely actually.  Plus my dad helped them out on the gift end.  My hairdryer took a crap last week and I'd been using his all week.  So this was the PERFECT gift!! 


Bless my sister's heart.  She is days away from delivering her first baby and she managed to put together a wonderful Mother's Day meal for all of us.  It was delish!!  And then while sitting at the table (luckily my children were sitting at the coffee table) my mom handed me my card and and Mother's Day gift.  I should've asked her what my budget was...but I'm pretty sure just the catalog was my gift.  Now you all know where I get my humor from.


I hope that all of my mom friends and followers had a wonderful day and that they were cherished by their children.  Remind them that it's because of them that you pee a little every time you sneeze.  It's because of you that they are still living and breathing.  Tell your mom that you love her often...not just on Mother's Day!!!

Fighting the urge to BITCH!!!

I've come to the realization that I have a negative attitude about so many things in my life lately.  I feel like I'm ALWAYS bitching, moaning, whining, complaining or SCREAMING about something....whether it be my kids, my ex-dumb dumb, my job, my co-workers or whatever.  I still feel VERY justified in all of my grievances, but for the next 15-20 minutes (or however long it takes me to write this post) I'm only gonna think about what I'm grateful for.

1. I'm grateful for both of my HEALTHY beautiful daughters, who even though they OFTEN drive me INSANE...they complete me with their humor, intelligence, stubbornness and LOVE.

2. I'm grateful for my dad.  I'm so lucky to have him for all of the obvious reasons but also because I never have to cook or truly grocery shop.  I've never had to worry about a babysitter and haven't had to worry about daycare for the past 6 years.

3. I'm grateful that my mom is no longer 2000 miles away.  I'm thankful for her generosity and especially her love for concerts.  Because of her, the girls and I will be going to the American Idol tour concert and to see Brad Paisley/Scotty McCreery in concert...and her shoe fetish that she's passed on to Beelay and often finances.
 
4. I'm grateful for my friends.  Without them my strength, courage & confidence would crumble....and my life would definitely not be nearly as comical.

5. I'm grateful for my job.  Even though on most days I feel under appreciated and taken for granted, I'm still glad I have it.

6. I'm grateful for my Kindle, my blog, Facebook and my bed.  These keep me sane and give me a much needed escape from my crazy hectic life. 

Now that I've sat back and regrouped, I feel a little better.  I need to remember to do this more often.  I keep preaching to my kids to be grateful for everything they have and not to focus on what they don't have...along with the whole "life's not fair" speech.  I'm just not sure that I've been setting the best example lately.  What are you grateful for?  

SEXting, Cyberbullying, Video Chat...OH MY!!!

I don't know about everyone else, but when I agreed to let Beelay have first, her own gmail account, then a Facebook, a cell phone, iTouch and now a Twitter and Instagram...I swore that I was going to stay all up in her shit.  I was gonna check all of them daily...and then I'd forget and maybe I'd skim through them once a week.  Now reality has sunk in and I'm realizing there isn't enough time in the day for me to spy and snoop on her in EVERY SINGLE avenue.  Then you throw in her sister and I'm screwed!!!  It could be a full time job...just cyber stalking my children!!!

Of course we all want to think that we can trust our children and believe "my kid would NEVER do that" when we hear stories about inappropriate texting, pictures or tweets, but in all reality it could just as easily be my kid, or your kid or the straight A student down the street.  As their parents it's our responsibility to first, explain and make sure it's understood that ANYTHING they post ANYWHERE can be shared!!  It doesn't matter how tight your privacy settings are or if you can trust "Jane" with anything..."she'd NEVER tell anybody my secrets".  If it's not something you'd be comfortable with your "Great-Grandmother" seeing...then don't say it or post it...PERIOD!!


Second; as a mom of daughters, my concerns and responsibilities are different than those of someone raising boys.  I'm always reminding Beelay not to take questionable pictures of herself for any reason.  But who knows for sure what her reaction would be if a boy was giving her attention and asked her to send him a pic, or if he IMs her talking about how nice her "rack" is, or even worse...talking about BJs or S-E-X!!!  We all know the day is coming.  What we don't know is how she's going to handle the situation.  She and I had a talk about it the other day.  Of course she wants to shut me down ASAP!!  "Mom, you know I'm not that girl!!  I'm not a slut!!"  But I'm not so easily satisfied.  Sure it's an awkward conversation, but she better get used to it now...because I'd much rather have these regularly occurring conversations than have to deal with her being raped or having to change a grandchild's diapers.  <---Just typing those words made my blood pressure shoot right through my dirty mind and on to the moon and back!!!

What I want her to do is shut down any boy that talks to her in any derogatory way.  Tell him to STFU, kiss her ass, whatever....I don't care what language she uses as long as she communicates that she won't tolerate being spoken to that way.  The problem is that girls are often starving for male attention and it doesn't matter what kind of attention it is.  And THAT is why I periodically (not nearly often enough) snoop through her texts, tweets, emails, etc.  Rarely do I even find anything worth bringing up to her, so she doesn't even know I've looked.  BUT when I do find that inappropriate conversation, if she hasn't shut him down the way she's been taught...I will follow in the footsteps of one mom I know and I will be calling the boys parents and shed some light on their son's behavior.  It will be up to them how they handle it on their end, but I hope that they explain to him that depending on the content of their conversations, contacting the police are within my rights.  And how harsh her punishment is will depend on how inappropriate the offense is.  Lord help her...I am NOT beyond locking her in her bedroom between now and her 18th birthday.

Unfortunately, there is no way for me to monitor her video chats.  So far the only people she really FaceTime's with are a few of her "girl" friends...which to my pleasant surprise they were quizzing each other on SAT words a couple weeks ago and ME!!  I kid you not, that pain in the ASS child FaceTimed me 8 times last night!!!  Instead of getting off the couch and coming to talk to me upstairs...she FaceTimed me.  Granted it might not have been 8 times if I hadn't declined half of them...but seriously, KNOCK IT OFF!!  We've touched on the appropriate behavior while video chatting though.  I'm just gonna have to hope and pray that when the proposition arises, she makes the right decision.

Now I'm going to DREAM about a nice, cold, tall, STIFF drink and maybe even a cigarette to calm myself after all of the anxiety this post brought to the surface of my life.  Talk to your kids...especially when it's an embarrassing or sticky topic!!  Follow me here and on Facebook at  http://www.facebook.com/gracefuldisaster.

Beating the GAY out of your kids?

Seriously?  I just read this post on People I Want To Punch in the Throat. It's Jenn's reaction to a NC pastor that is encouraging his congregation to prevent their children growing up to be gay by physically correcting their behavior.  When I read it, I saw RED!!!  

This subject hits close to home for several reasons.  I'll start from the beginning.  I grew up in THE church...that's the Church of Christ.  We were at church on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings...and often small group or bible study another night.  Plus I went to a private Christian school from 6-9th grade.  Then all HELL broke loose!!  My parents got divorced!!  In all reality, shouldn't I have been able to lean on my Christian friends for support during this tragic upheaval of my life? You would think so....but nope.  Not only was I pulled out of my school because my parents could no longer afford the tuition...but my whole family was judged/shunned at church too.  

I can imagine the thoughts running through my friends parent's heads.  My mom was branded with a "Scarlett D" for divorcing my dad...and because we were her kids, we were considered the bad kids that would rub off on their perfect little angels.  Granted my sister earned that title fair and square...when her pack of cigarettes fell out of her purse in the middle of Sunday school.  But I didn't...until way later.  Eventually my mom stopped forcing us to go to church...and I've been turned off of organized religion ever since.

Now for the second reason this subject squeezes my heart so tight.  My brother is gay.  Sure we dressed him up in our Easter dresses and gave him 3rd degree burns on his forehead when we tried to curl his bangs.  And so what if he played with my Barbies with me...my sister never did.  Oh and who gives a rat's ass if he chose to take dance classes instead of playing sports?  He's my brother and I love him just the way he is...as do my parents, my kids, my sister...and anybody else that knows him.  He wouldn't be him if he wasn't gay.

I don't believe for one second that my parents could've changed his sexuality by forbidding us from dressing him up or refusing to let him take his dance classes.  I don't think it would've made a difference if they'd spanked him for playing with Barbies.  The only effect that would've had on him would've been that he wouldn't have felt like he was good enough, or loved enough....and would've forced him to be somebody he wasn't.  Everyone deserves to be happy.

I know that no parent really wants their children to grow up to be gay.  Their reasons may be different.  My reason is this: Life is hard enough without throwing sexuality into the mix.  The added struggles that being gay or a lesbian brings are nothing I would willingly set my kids up to have to fight.  BUT, if one day one of my girls comes to me and tells me they like girls more than boys, I will love them the same.  I will hug them and give them every ounce of support I can muster to help them live the life that they were dealt...by GOD!!

I'm raising my girls to live by the Golden Rule.  I demand that they respect other people's opinions and choices and beliefs.  They don't have to agree with them, but they have to respect them.  They're not allowed to use the word "gay" as a put down.  They've been taught that you NEVER know who you might offend with your words...just like we try not to call people retards either.  If all parents encouraged their kids to just respect and accept those that are different from them, the world would be a better place.

As for the whole judgmental thing...I'm guilty of that.  The bible says not to judge...yet Christians seem to be the most judgmental of the bunch.  I judge people on their parenting, their work ethic, maybe even their political views or IQ...but I don't judge anybody by their sexuality, the color of their skin, the size of their house or the label on their clothes.  I hope that you'll read this and take something useful away from it...and teach your kids to respect themselves and others.

I'm now pushing my soap box back under my bed...til the next time I get fired up about something I feel passionate about.  Feel free to share this with your friends and follow me on FaceBook.