On my soapbox

I haven't had a real meaningful post in awhile, so now that I have some spare time, I'm going to play catch up and disburse my opinions.

CPA Exam
Do I even dare to dream that I could be a CPA right now? Oy. I'm so nervous and hopeful but don't want to get ahead of myself. Oh, I am just dying with anticipation.

Life Change
I have no idea what's going on with my life change. I wish I knew so that I could just either make the change or continue on with my life. But I'm not holding out for anything at this point.

Large Purchases
Due to my current financial situation, I've decided that it would be a good idea for me to hold off on purchasing a car or a couch or a camera at this time. I did completely fall in love with the Mazda CX-7. A few more years, I tell myself. Perhaps if I find a super good deal on a couch, I'll snag it. And one day soon (perhaps when I'm a CPA) I'll purchase the Canon camera that I am so desperately coveting!!

California's Proposition 8, Miss USA and New York legalizing gay marriage
I know this is not the popular answer these days, but I don't care. I firmly believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Call me old fashioned or conservative because I am both of those.

I don't think that just because you are gay that you should be denied benefits. A gay couple should have the exact same rights as a married couple. I just don't like using the word *marriage* for them. Civil union, yes. Marriage, no.

How terrible is all the controversy surround Miss USA. I think that has she given a different answer to Perez Hilton's question, she wouldn't have had this media firestorm on her. And how come Perez Hilton is now an *expert* on gay rights? (Don't even get me started on people who think that gay rights are to be compared to civil rights...) Perez Hilton is a blogger (much like me, except people actually read his blog, lol) who draws penises and writes horrible things on celebrity pictures. Um, the last time I checked, that made him a creep.

Discrimination
Discrimination bugs the crap out of me. No matter what kind it is, I just don't think we should tolerate it. And lately, I swear I've seen a whole bunch of it and it really just makes me angry.

Work Discrimination
Lately, I've felt (and seen) some serious discrimination for and by people who have children. Now here's my position. I think that whatever your performance is at work matters and your kids shouldn't be playing a role in any kind of work decision.

I completely respect people that have children and a personal life. While I don't have kids, I know that I will have them one day and will love them to pieces. I also have a personal life. So while I completely respect other people's personal lives, I hate when they use them as an excuse consistently. If every once in awhile you leave early because of a kid thing, that's totally understandable.

I work with someone who is essentially a single parent. This person is both the primary caregiver and breadwinner. The child needs to be picked up from the babysitter/daycare between 5:30 and 6 every night. I have no problem with this except that this job requires us to stay later than 5:30 or 6 on certain occasions. And while this person does do work at home every night, it's hard to justify that it's okay for them to work at home, while we're still slaving away at work. I would like to go home and put my feet up while I work. I want to drive away and put on my comfy clothes. But because I don't have a child, I have to stay later? I don't think that's fair. I know you have a child. I know that a child is more important than this job. But perhaps this isn't the career.

*Reverse* Discrimination
Um...how come this isn't just called plain old discrimination? I don't know a whole lot about the new Surpreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said that she thinks Latina women can make better decisions than white men because they have better backgrounds and experiences. I beg to differ. I think that every single person has different experiences and people in their lives and can come to a different conclusion. And isn't that the point of America? That everyone isn't the same and everyone has the same opportunities? I'm sure someone will take offense to this.

Another Birthday Without a Loved One
Today is Jacob Duckworth's 9th birthday. It's also close to the 3rd anniversary of his death. How can it be that it's been so long since he was last here on this earth? How come he was stricken by such an aggressive form of cancer at age 3? Why was he taken from us so soon and before he really was able to live? This is just so unfair and so unimaginable.

And despite the heartache and the grief, his family has remained strong in their faith and soldiered on with life. I'm sure that when you have other kids at home, you have to keep going because life does go on. But I don't know how it does. I don't know how you can lose a child and not completely fall apart. Because I think that would have to be the worst kind of loss. All losses are tragic and sad, but to lose a child would just completely devastate everyone. And yet, the Duckworths go on and honor their son. It's so moving. I am completely in awe of families who have lost children and go on to do great things. It's inspiring.

Jon & Kate Plus 8
Due to the fact that I've been so busy with life, I haven't really had a chance to weigh in on all the J&K controversy. But now that I have some time...boy am I going to let the flood gates open.

As I have discussed before, I completely fell in love with the Gosselin family a few years ago. I thought the kids were so completely adorable. I liked that Jon was Korean and Kate wasn't. And I looked at the kids and thought I could be looking in the future at my own children. The kids were hilarious and the parents clearly tried hard to deal with the stress of having so many children and keeping their lives afloat.

And then, somewhere during the constant filming, they became money-hungry. The show became about how much free stuff they could get. How the kids had to be *on* all the time. And in a year, the show went from being fun to watch to being a complete train wreck.

Now, the Gosselins have turned into celebrities. They are on the cover of every magazine at the store. People, USWeekly, InTouch, Ok!, National Enquirer, Star. They are all followed relentlessly by the paparazzi. And scandal has completely touched their lives.

First, Jon's been accused of cheating on Kate with a 23 year old teacher. Clearly the pictures are damning and the brother's story seems very damning. What the heck is a 34 year old man doing with a 23 year old? And I don't know if it was smart to hang out at the bar, late at night, without your wife. Certainly doesn't look that great to me. But both Jon and the teacher have denied all of the allegations.

In the beginning, Kate defended Jon. She admitted that he didn't use his best judgement but that they were going to work through everything together. But during all of these allegations, Kate was out promoting her new book, Eight Little Faces, on the Today Show, Larry King, and any other media outlet that would listen to her. Although since there was the Jon controversy, she ended up talking about their current life and the new season of the show. She avoided the hard questions, but made it seem like she wanted it to work out for their kids.

So after all of this happened, new allegations came out that Kate is cheating too. With her bodyguard. So what does she do with these new allegations? She fires back with an *exclusive* to people and played the woe is me character. And completely threw Jon under the bus. I subscribe to the magazine and I thought that it was a huge PR spin article and completely unfair.

Since the People article came out, the media had been completely relentless. There have been articles about both Jon and Kate and people are coming out of the woodwork to talk about how crazy they are and what's really going on inside the house. Reports of Kate firing upwards of 40 nurses, Jon being fired for not doing work and instead looking for freebies, Kate telling Jon the marriage was over 6 mo ago and he could do whatever he wanted but just had to show up for taping are just a few of the headlines. Even Aunt Jodi and Uncle Kevin came out of hiding (or banishment) to talk about the kids and how this is seriously hurting them.

This whole thing really makes me sick. I think that clearly both Jon and Kate are at fault here and need to grow up and take responsibility for their actions. Here's some advice for them.

Jon - I have to say that I empathize with you much more now that I have ever before. You've clearly been put into a situation that you aren't happy with and I think you're trying to make the best of it for both yourself and your kids. But despite that I think you have the best interest of the kids at heart, perhaps you should stop the filming *and* stop going out to bars in the middle of the night. Cell phones, baby. You can't escape the time stamp.

Kate - Boy...where do I start? I don't think I'm being too hard on you because you're a strong woman. I think it's important to be a strong woman and be in charge of yourself. But I think you've forgotten that there is more to life than youself. Mainly 8 kids and a husband. You've clearly put yourself first for the past years. Look at your transformation. In the beginning of the show, you were just a regular mom wearing t-shirts and sweats. Like everyone else. Now, you've tanned yourself to a unnatural color, gotten a haircut that defies nature, started wearing designer clothing, found a personal bodyguard to accompany you *everywhere*, travel the country the majority of the month, and gotten more freebies than my entire street will see in a lifetime. Rumor has it that you only parent when the cameras are on (and I have to say that based on your actions, it appears as though that is true). So what do you do? Turn the cameras off, work on your marriage, reconnect with your kids, and fade away into obscurity. Leave now before your 15 minutes of fame is up and you turn into a washed up has-been with kids that hate you.

Season Finales
I can't believe tv is over for the year. But I guess it's good that I'm slowly getting my life back and can start to do something than sit on the couch and veg myself. But they were good finales this year.

Grey's Anatomy
Oh. my. goodness. I was casually paying attention to the whole thing and then at the very end they pull that oo7 thing. Holy Crap! I have no words and don't really know what to say. I can't wait to see who is coming back next year.

The Office
Did they have to end it with Jim and Pam? Seriously? I think next year I want more office shenanigans and less Jim and Pam romance.

Desperate Housewives
After all the buildup, the climax happened quickly and ended on a sucky note. Of course Mike was going to marry Susan. Although I'll be shocked if it turns out to be Katherine.

90210
I thought the *ending* would be a bit more dramatic and like a cliffhanger. But it's a teen soap. What more should I ask for?

Dancing with the Stars
Wow!! Am I glad that I watched this season! I am happy that it turned out to be the best 3 dancers in the final. And while I was *sure* Gilles had it in the bag...Shawn winning was awesome.

Life Update
My Grandma is in the hospital and is super sick. And it makes me scared and worried. She's always been my *young* grandparent and I've always thought of her being the healthy one to take us places and do fun stuff with us. And when she had cancer last year, we *knew* she would beat it. And she did.

Now, she's in the hospital and we don't know what's wrong with her. The doctors think it's either pnemonia, lung cancer or congestive heart failure. None of which are really all that great for a woman who's a cancer survivor and 77 years old. So I'm trying to stay positive and hope that she'll be okay. Because I think if it turns out to be cancer, she'll turn down the chemo, and I don't think I like that option. At all.

Oh, and can I say that sometimes family sucks? This entire weekend was about my parents carting my grandparents around. My mom is not an only child. Her brother was too busy sleeping and being thankful that he didn't have to take them. And her sister? She had to go shopping for a couch with my cousin. Screw you people. Mom needed you. And you couldn't leave your self-absorbed lives for 2 seconds to help her or your parents.

PS - to the cousin that's super coddled and doesn't know that Grandma *or* Grandpa have been sick...you need to grow the hell up and put some big girl panties on. You are going to be 27 years old in a few weeks. It's time to learn that there are more important things to live than books and studying. When the real world hits you in the ass...don't look here for any sympathy.

Makes me mad.

Dieting
I need to start dieting. Seriously. I had started the 30 day Shred and it was working. Like a charm. And then I got busy and stopped making time to work out for 20 minutes a day. I need to start up again. I seriously need some motivation. Although looking down at some fat should be a good enough motivator. lol

Sick Friends
Good news...my friend is doing well. He's had a bone marrow transplant and is hoping that the new marrow will work well for him. I hope he knows I'm still here cheering him on!

Okay - I think that's it. Phew...what a post!