Last semester kept me busy beyond my expectations, but I came away with a total GPA of 3.83, only dipping because of a B in Drawing.  The new semester started this morning and I have been to half of my new classes. I can see my GPA climbing up a point or two already. Good classes, I should learn a lot, but also fair teachers who grade generously. Math might be a struggle during some parts, but overall should be pretty straightforward.

I’m off to my photography course in a few minutes. And then tomorrow morning, I’ll find out what Oral Communications is all about.

I’ve also started work for an online company, as a virtual assistant and have applied for a photojournalist position with the school paper.  My goal: To be busy learning and working and make some $$$ to pay for summer semester.

I just spent hours analyzing documents for a paper for my US History class and the last thing I want to do is write more. However, I had to write something about family values because I had an ephiphany.
Way back before women had all the rights we now have and cherish (you do cherish them don’t you?) America was a very different country. Just after the Civil War, while the recently freed, yet still uneducated, former slaves were allowed to vote, educated women were still denied that right. Divorce was only allowed for 17 reasons and was difficult to obtain even in cases of severe domestic violence. Feminists (though the term was not yet coined) had started to fight for suffrage before the Civil War, they were also fighting for fewer restrictions on divorce. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote a number of essays calling for relaxed divorce laws. Opponents swore these relaxed laws would destroy the foundation of the family. Stanton and her supporters were sure that families would become stronger once both parties were in the marriage voluntarily and had an option, especially since many marriages were between minors.

One of the reasons given to continue to deny women the right to vote (by federal law, some states did allow it) was because it would undermine family values. Suffragettes like Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, & Carrie Chapmann Catt fought to have a federal ammendment passed and the good ‘ol boys club screamed and hollered that giving women this right would destroy marriages, families and undermine a woman’s place in the home.
Even before all American women had the right to vote, some people recognized that frequent child-bearing, constant nursing and poor nutrition all contributed to harm a woman’s health. Impoverished families would remain impoverished because each “successful” pregnancy resulted in another mouth to feed, which meant the few resources they had, had to split more ways and typically, Mom got less. This contributed to her overwork, her poor nutrition and a never ending cycle of poverty. Yet, these American women who desperately needed (and likely, wanted it) were not permitted to recieve information on what caused pregnancy or how to prevent it. The Comstock Laws considered such information to be obscene and profane! That’s right, the birds and the bees was pornography! Not only that, but distributing information (even on the rhythm method) was illegal. A doctor giving a diaphragm could be imprisoned, a woman using one could go to jail. Women had one option to prevent pregnancy… just abstain from sex… even with your husband. Why? Being able to control how many children AND when would undermine family values…and increase pre-marital sex.

Margaret Sanger began distributing materials and contraceptive devices from a clinic in Brooklyn in 1916, targeting poor women. Ten days later she was arrested. She ultimately served a month in jail for violating the law. Yet, a few years later when the American boys were joining the Great War (aka World War I) the American government began distributing contraceptive devices to try to prevent venereal diseases in the troops. That’s right, poor women can’t be permitted access to something that could help them improve the quality of their life, but gotta save the boys the pain of syphllis and gonarrhea! It would take years to repeal ALL the laws forbidding a physician or clinic from distributing contraceptives. DECADES even. Why? Family values.

So, the next time you hear a politician scream and shout “It’ll undermine the family values.” Substitute “The Pill”, “Diaphraghms”, “Women voting” or “No fault divorce” for whatever “it” is and remember, if there hadn’t been women and men willing to “destroy family values” women wouldn’t be voting. If someone hadn’t stood up and said “Women should be able to control their reproduction”, today’s women would still be having a child once every year or two for their entire reproductive lives… or not having sex with their partners. Heck, most women might not even know what causes pregnancy today. Easier divorces didn’t undermine anything that wasn’t already broken, it just gives people a chance to move on sooner, without the spouse dying of unknown causes.

Next week, most people will head to the polls, some will be voting for family values. Just be sure you know what that really means, especially if you’re a woman.

So, I’m sitting here at the college library desperately trying to catch up on my college reading. When I read “The Creeks rallied to Tecumseh’s call, who had a Creek mother.” My great-grandmother was part Creek…which makes me part Creek… which makes Tecumseh a very distant relative. And I have to read a whole book on him, which well is a little weird now that I think about it.

The Creek Nation turns up quite a bit in the early history of the United States, it seems that they were fiercely independent and willing to fight and die for their land, to protect it from the British and later the Americans. They are usually mentioned only in passing, in ways such as “The Creek together with ____ fought against ____ in the battle that took place on _____ . ”

So, it’s a bit weird to see your ancestors actions written about in history books like that. I already knew that I had a many times great uncle who fought with (and betrayed) Napoleon. Now, it seems from the same era there’s another famous relative. I guess I do come from a pretty distinguished and independent line after all.

I’m really reaching the end of my ability to support my son.

I know that sounds horrible, but I don’t know what more I can do. I’ve bent over backwards, tied myself in knots and missed countless hours of work (last 2 times) and now countless hours of time I needed to dedicate to schoolwork. To no avail. Nothing helps, at least not for the long run.

He wants me to bring the whole family to visit. I don’t want to spend anymore time at the hospital than I already do. It just takes too much out of me to take everyone there for a 15 to 20 minute visit in a tiny room that echos with the noise. It makes me feel horrible.

What can I say to him when he says he wants to come home, when he knows I no longer have much say at all in whether he does or not? Residential is just a few weeks away.

I’m currently in the market for a smaller chihuahua. I signed up on a site where breeders list their animals for sale, as part of the sign-up my contact information was given to 5 breeders.

Unfortunately one of those breeders was Tamsyn Surber of superbk9kennels.com. She sent an email to me telling me of the single female she had available but included no additional information.

I inquired about the size, the health of the parents and average lifespan of her dogs, since I want one around 3 pounds from healthy parents with good genetics (long lived, no defects). I even inquired about merle in the bloodline, since that is now something the AKC is being vocal about (and disqualifying from competition). She replied back that the dog in question would be around 4 1/2 pounds. She didn’t know if it had merle or not, she didn’t “think so”. So far, so good right? I replied back that unfortunately I didn’t think her dog would be a good match for me. She replied back in a very nasty manner.

Never in our correspondence did she inquire as to the home conditions, my intention to spend time with the dog. She was only concerned with whether I would pay or not. She didn’t know about the average lifespan because she’d only been breeding them for 3 years. She seemed inexperienced, rude and based on the nastiness most likely a puppy mill. She also breeds several other types of dogs and had LOTS of puppies for sale.

Her emails were all written in caps, with poor grammar and minimal punctuation. Clearly not a concerned business person. I will steer wide & clear of this “business” and strongly encourage others to do so as well.