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| I can't explain my absence, so I'm not going to try. I'm just ready to come back, and hoping all of you will welcome me home with open arms.
I will, however, catch you up on what has happened while I've been away.
-- 4.0 for the spring semester
-- 4.0 for the two classes I took in the summer
-- "Vacation" to Illinois to visit my husband's mother and her side of the family. The stories I could tell from that one trip alone are vast and colorful.
-- A very lame 4th of July.
-- Some minor marital problems as a result of being nervous about the upcoming deployment. Happened the last time too, so nothing to worry about.
-- Quit my job last Thursday and feel very unproductive now.
Alright, now that y'all are all caught up, how have y'all been?
That Obama is a character, isn't he? 
A more substantial post in the coming days, but I thought I'd start off small and work my way up.
I've missed y'all!
-- AFV
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| Hi y'all... how's it been hanging?
-- AFV
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| It's official: The husband was tasked this afternoon for his next deployment. We know where, when, and for how long.
It's been one hell of a day.
Oy vey.
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| Tonight, when Alexis Gosselin so innocently told her dad, "Daddy, I don't want you to leave anymore," my heart positively broke in half.
For those of you who don't have 81 episodes of Jon and Kate Plus Eight recorded onto your DVR, let me recap.
This past March my mom and sister drove up for a week-long visit, and it is a tradition after the days activities to channel flip at night-- this is how I am exposed to new and random television shows... so yes, I blame my mother for hooking me on this now-train-wreck of a show. I began taping it with a vengeance, and can proudly name all eight kids just by seeing them. I have my favorites, Leah and Aiden, and think Mady needs a good spank on the butt every now and then.
As I watched the reruns (since their last season ended almost immediately after I discovered it), I began noticing quite a difference between the earlier episodes and the most recent ones. The beginning episodes were exactly what the show was supposed to be about: how a couple handles the stress, and the major job it must be to handle eight tiny children. The later episodes were... not so stressed. Lots of vacations, which, obviously, were free, since having eight kids and supposedly only one bread-winner could not possibly finance a trip to Hawaii, or a trip to Disney World, or a skiing trip.
I sort of brushed this off though, thinking, well, it's good that they're able to provide these types of experiences for their kids that they probably would have been able to do if they had only had one or two children. So sure, that's great, go have fun. Then Kate's constant yelling began grating my nerves, and Jon's obnoxious attitude started getting to me, and I then began noticing that these poor children were lacking quite a bit of attention, which is possibly the reason for Mady's outbursts in the first place. I realize that giving the adequate attention needed to eight kids would be extremely hard, but they were ignored more than necessary. The feel good "I love you" moments were passed on way too often, and very little eye-contact was made with the kids unless it was for punishment reasons.
Then... came the tabloids. Jon's cheating on Kate, Kate's cheating on Jon, Aunt Jodi and Kevin sold them down the river to save the kids, divorce is possibly on the horizon, etc... and oh yeah, the season five premiere is tonight. WHAT?!
Tonight's premiere was awkward, uncomfortable, and a sad picture of a once very-much-in-love couple who turned in their marriage for free stuff, fake tans, and money. Oh, and yes, the kids. The kids were turned in as well, the minute the cash started rolling in, I imagine.
As Jon and Kate answered interview questions about their future marital status with open-ended responses that were chock full of subtle hints that divorce is most likely imminent, I was left thinking, and you're going to continue the show? Are you insane? These precious children who as of now are completely oblivious (for the most part, although Alexis has certainly noticed that her daddy is missing) are going to go through life with their parents divorce entirely recorded for the world to see, and you can certainly see the ramifications this will have on them later in life. I expect either one therapist or eight therapists individually will be making a lot of money in twenty years or so off of these kids.
Sure, they have all the right clothes, toys, a big house, and whatever else money can buy, but you can't buy memories and you can't buy a normal childhood.
I will not be watching the show any longer, and I sincerely hope that Jon and Kate pull their heads out of their bottoms, pull the plug on the cameras and work out their marital issues the correct way whether they divorce or not--- in private.
(And by the way, hello, again!)
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| Every three years at my old high school, the administration, and really, the town as a whole puts on a program called "Shattered Dreams". It's a simulation of a drunk driving accident that takes place on the school grounds. Prominent students are chosen by their teachers to act as drunk driving victims, are made up with fake injuries, and are placed in a mangled mess of metal to give the effect of a drunk driving accident. A simulated arrest is made, "bodies" are taken away in body bags, "critically injured" students are taken to the local hospital, care flight is called in, parents come and see their child "brain dead" in the hospital ER... it's a very powerful and impacting program. This year my sister filmed and edited the video, and this is the labor of all her hard work. Think long and hard about yourself, your friends, your siblings... make good choices, and don't become a part of someone else's "Shattered Dreams". Here is the video Enjoy, and please recommend. | | |
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