As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I understand the importance of being able to build a sacred place. Temples are an important part of my religion and there have been many times over the years when a temple is announced that the community does not want it there. Since I understand this I believe as the president said, “I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes that right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan.” Now this may shock many of you. But this is as far as I agree with him. They do have a right to build on private property, but why so close to Ground Zero? I have read and heard that this mosque and community center is to help heal the city and the country for that matter. The problem is that no matter what the developers say it isn’t going to happen. I don’t think the wound from 9/11 will ever close completely. All Americans are scarred. When we hear on the news that the Fort Hood shooter was in contact with an Imam (and American born no less) and that the same Imam was in contact with the Christmas Day bomber, what are we suppose to think? When the Imam of the proposed mosque, Feisal Abdul Rauf, has said that the United States was an accomplice to what happened on 9/11, what are we suppose to think? If building a mosque and community center is to help with healing and to have a better understanding of Islam then build it somewhere else. It’s that simple.
Michelle Obama recently took her youngest daughter to Spain. The trip is getting a lot of attention especially with the economy not doing so well. When I first heard this story I didn’t really think too much about it. Yes, it did bother me that it cost $146,000 to fly the Air Force 757 that took Mrs. Obama and her daughter to Spain. It also bothered me that it costs $95,000 for the Secret Service, but I really wanted to just gloss over this story. Then I went to downtown Albuquerque to drop off donations to Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless and St. Martin’s Hospitality Center. Seeing people who have very little or nothing made me think that although the first lady is not an elected official, she is someone that some people look up to as an example. She certainly did not set an example by going to Spain. In her husband’s inaugural address he talked a lot about sacrifice,. Or course, he meant the American people and not him or his family or his administration for that matter. While Michelle Obama wants everyone to grow a garden and eat healthier, she jetsetted off to Spain to take her daughter somewhere she always wanted to go. When I was downtown today, I thought maybe it would have been better for her to take her daughter to Southeast DC. Instead of an international lesson, she could have given her daughter a domestic lesson. I have a feeling it would have made a bigger impression than the King and Queen of Spain.
I get a lot of things in the mail that are politically connected. I get surveys asking for my opinion on different things like health care, cap and trade and other hot topic issues. Imagine my surprise when I got a survey from the Senior Citizens Council. The letter began “As a senior citizen, you know the danger that Social Security is in.” Well, no, I don’t know because I’m not a senior citizen. I do know Social Security is in trouble and I seriously doubt I will receive any of the money that I have paid into Social Security. This letter and survey didn’t get me thinking about Social Security, but what is it about my name that says senior citizen. When I went in the hospital in February, I had to have a CT scan. The technician was surprised when he came to get me from the ER. He said I thought you were an elderly lady. What??? Now I am getting surveys for senior citizens. This is my second mailing in the last few months. I am only 36 and although sometimes I feel old, I certainly am not a senior citizen. After 9/11, I seemed to always be called out for extra security checks when I would fly. I thought maybe my name sounds too Eastern European and I could have been a spy. I guess I could be a senior citizen spy. Hey I would get some good discounts.
I have two very rambunctious boys. They can be good and sit still, but when confronted with a huge tree house inside of a McDonald’s they get a little wild. Today this scenario happened, a huge tree house inside a McDonald’s. We went to breakfast with my mom before we started our drive home. When we got there, there was nobody else sitting in the play area. Then an older couple came in and sat down. I thought it was odd that they would pick the play area to sit and have breakfast. While the boys ran around, they gave us dirty looks. When I took Baden to the bathroom they watched me walk all the way there. It was rather uncomfortable. As we were getting ready to leave, we walked past them and the man said “good”. I took this to mean good they are leaving. I don’t normally confront people, but this time I turned around and said do you have a problem. They looked at each other with shocked looks on their faces. The woman said no I don’t have a problem. I said well obviously you do because from the time you got in here you have been watching us. I know my boys were running around and yelling, but you are sitting in the kids area. If you don’t want to be around kids, sit somewhere else. I turned around and walked out. I was so mad. First of all, the boys would be enduring a 6.5 hour ride in the car. They needed to be able to run around before we got in the car. Second of all, they were sitting in the kids area where normally there are a lot more kids than just my boys. They should be thankful it wasn’t a whole slew of kids. My mom told me I surprised her when I turned around and said something, but she said sometimes you just have to speak up. You are so right, Mom.
Since having surgery in April I have found myself referring to before I was in the hospital (BH) and after I was in the hospital. It’s funny to me that I refer to things in those terms. I so wanted to get out of the hospital and now it has become a huge part of my vocabulary. I have had Crohn’s Disease for 14 years now and finally had to have surgery. I knew going into it that it would be worth it. I wasn’t prepared for the three abscesses and three drains that I had to deal with over the course of three weeks. Now that I am healing and feeling better every day I still use the word hospital to refer to before and after my surgery. I don’t even want to step foot in a hospital, but hospitals have been a big part of my life the last six months. So the last six months have been before hospital and after hospital. That’s how I remember things. This year I was in the hospital for a total of 31 days. That’s a lot and something I wasn’t expecting. I am looking forward to the time I will be able to stop referring to things as BH and AH, but until then I am thankful for my health and the ability to heal.
According to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, the White House is going to sue Arizona over it’s impending immigration law that will go into effect in July. Remember that when asked in a congressional hearing if he had read the law, Eric Holder said no. Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, also had not read the law. I seriously doubt that BO (that’s the president) has read the law. Why oh why spend our money on suing a state that is only doing what the federal government should be doing and that’s enforcing immigration laws. I have read and watched debates about the Arizona law. BO said if you go out for ice cream you could possibly be stopped by police and asked for your papers. How silly. If you are doing something wrong that warrants being stopped by police then you may be asked for papers if the police have reasonable suspicion that you may be in the country illegally. Some New Mexicans are afraid they may be stopped in Arizona because New Mexico gives drivers licenses to whoever wants them. New Mexicans believe they may have to carry a passport to Arizona. This is really getting out of control. First, the president, the attorney general and homeland security secretary don’t read the law but decry it. Then they decide to sue Arizona. There are a lot more important things to do. Let me think… the economy, the oil spill in the Gulf (that’s another blog post), the war in Afghanistan just to name a few. Let’s get this country back on track and forget about the state that is only trying to do what the federal government should have been doing all along.
When is the last time you saw a pay phone? I bet it’s been awhile. Today, I had one of those days when I needed one. I left my cell phone at home. We were down in Albuquerque for swim lessons. I had made plans with Bill to meet him for lunch. He said I will call you. Well he called me, but I didn’t get any of the calls. I left my phone on my dresser. UGH!!!! When I got to the restaurant Bill was no where to be found. So I took off down the road in search of a pay phone. None to be found. Plus since we still have Maryland numbers, I wasn’t sure 75 cents would pay for a long distance call. Billy told me he saw a pay phone by the ATM. I thought he was just being silly. That is until we went to Walmart in Edgewood to return something and there in Customer Service was a pay phone next to the ATM. He was right. It all ended well. I spied Bill’s truck traveling down Central Avenue and we had lunch after all. From now on, I will make a mental checklist, wallet, keys and cell phone. Can’t leave home without it.
The primary for the 2010 election were held in New Mexico today. The biggest race was for the republican candidate for governor. Susanna Martinez won the nomination and will face off against Diane Denish, the current lieutenant governor. Talk about girl power. This will be the first time in New Mexico where two women will run against one another for governor. Already people are wondering if the campaign will be dirty because two women are running? I think this is a bit sexist. Are they saying women are catty? I mean there are women who are, but I would hope that both the candidates would rise above this talk and run fair campaigns. Even though I am not a registered a voter of New Mexico (I vote in Utah), I am looking forward to the coming months to see how the campaigns are run. I hope these women can show the detractors a thing or two.
I was watching America’s Got Talent. This is a show where people of all ages come to show off their talents to possibly win a show in Las Vegas. There are people from all walks of life. There was an awesome choir made of formerly homeless veterans. They were great. There were also some really bad acts, too. The thing that got me though were the people from other countries who had come to the United States for the American Dream. This one guy from France came specifically to make it big. He said he hated to leave his family in France, but he had to achieve the American Dream. This got me to thinking that I never hear anybody say I want the English Dream or the French Dream or any other country for that matter. What is it about America that makes people from other countries believe their dreams can be achieved here? Despite what our current president thinks, we are a great country. People from other countries dream of coming here to make it big or just to do better for their families. When I hear people say they want to move to another country, I think they have to be crazy. Why would anyone want to move away from the greatest country in the world? America does have talent in its people and in the dreams it extends to those around the world.
