“Racism isn't born, folks, it's taught. I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of list.” ~Dennis Leary

I realized something a few weekends ago about my family that I've known for years, but didn't want to admit. My family is _incredibly_ racist. They're also extremely xenophobic and homophobic. They fear the different, and would swear that immigrants are here to steal their jobs. I was slapped by this on Saturday night when my family and I (Sawyer, my Mom, my Big Brother, and his [for now] girlfriend) were coming back from my Mom's birthday dinner out. We were talking about the horrible flooding in the Keystone State last year (in September), and my Mom brought up my best friend's husband (he was trapped at work during the flash flood). When she said his name (which is an ethnic name) my brother said "What kind of name is that?" I got annoyed because it sounded like "What kind of UN-AMERICAN name is that?" He asked how it's spelled and when I said it he said, "Why isn't it spelled (phonetically)?" (GEE I don't know - because it's ETHNIC!!!!) It made me mad because you'd never hear someone say that about a stupid American name. This same brother also uses the "R word" which I hate, but I'm too chicken to call him out on it. It's maddening because I love my Big Brother, but this really makes me want to avoid him. I _CANNOT_ tolerate racism, xenophobia, and homophobia!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” ~Oprah Winfrey

(I just found this and thought it was awesome, so I thought I'd share!)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I haven't been feeling well. I have a UTI. It started last week, but got worse this past weekend. On Sunday I laid down for a bit because I wasn't feeling well, and all of a sudden I got REALLY BAD pain in my lower left back. I thought I'd just rest for a bit and I hoped it would get better. It didn't get better - it got worse. I got hot flashes, and chills and became incredibly nauseous. I finally got up and staggered to Sawyer's workshop and said "Can you please take me to Urgent Care?" My poor husband. We got there and were pretty much dismissed quickly with "It's a UTI - take some Cipro - pee when you feel like you need to - wash your hands - GOODBYE". The pain went away while I was there, and has come and gone since then (I haven't had the pain today - yet). I went to Dr. PD yesterday, and she took blood and urine. She called me as soon as the results came back - small amounts of blood in my urine - no elevated white blood cells - no bacteria in my urine (but that may be because I'm already on antibiotics). She said to keep up what I'm doing (and drink LOTS of water), and if the pain keeps up, or gets worse then we'll move on to checking for Kidney Stones. (She wanted to hold off on a CT Scan as it's a LOT of radiation.) I'm writing this here for a record. This is my blog, and also my medical journal apparently. _smirk_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I'm SO ready for this election season to be over. Work has been _insane_. We've done nearly $1 million (!) in sales JUST THIS MONTH! I'm also ready for it to be over because I'm sick of hearing about it all. The GOP is sounding more insane every day, and I'm honestly afraid for what will happen to our country if Romney/Ryan win. I know President Obama isn't perfect, and I know there are things I wish he'd done differently, but he's a hell of a lot better than Romney. 

I wish I understood how intelligent women can vote for Romney/Ryan. 

This year The Old Line State is also voting for Marriage Equality. I'm nervous about this too. I'm afraid it won't pass. I saw a sign today that said "Don't vote to redefine marriage". What the bloody hell does that mean? It's still a marriage - even if it's not a man and a woman. GOODNESS!