I am alive. We made it up to the MD/WV area ok. It took a little longer than I had hoped it would (17 hours) but we got there safely and that's all that matters. We spent the first several days at my parents house (in WV) as Andrew's parents were out of town until the night before last. We came over to his parents house yesterday afternoon and spent last night here and will be finishing off the trip here. Things have been kind of hectic, and of course I miss the comfort of my own home with my own things around, but despite all of that we've managed to have some fun. I've seen all of my immediate family so far. I only got to see my brother Patrick for about five minutes last friday evening, but at least I got to see him. Tomorrow it looks like we are going to be having McDonald's for lunch (a promise to the kids) and hitting the movie theater in the afternoon. I haven't been getting as much sleep as I'm used to, but I've been managing on what I do get without being overly irritable, so that's good. I also got to spend some time with my good friend Sarah last night. I'll probably fill in some more details about the trip when I get back. I mostly wanted to post to make an announcement of sorts, since I am starting to get very excited about it.

Two nights before we left to come up here, Andrew, John and I all sat down and discussed finances, future plans and such. We all came to the decision that John and I need to move. We have decided to move to Martinsburg, West Virginia; about 20 minutes up the road from my parents, and an hour to an hour and fifteeen minutes from Andrew's parents and his sister Helen (and my brother Patrick, they're married. I know it's confusing.) in Poolesville MD. My other brother, his soon to be ex wife and their children all live in Frederick MD which would be 30-45 minutes from us. I'm super stoked about this. Andrew and I had many reasons for moving from the area in the first place, but things have changed since then. Obviously he and I are no longer a couple, John has had no luck finding a good job in FL (he is working, but the income he makes leaves much to be desired). We are all pretty confident that he will find much more opportunities up here. He will be able to transfer to a Sears store nearby where we're moving so he has employment from the start, and then he will be looking for something better as soon as we get settled. I've looked at some apartments and Andrew and I have pretty much settled on one. It's not nearly as nice as the place we have in FL, but I knew we were going to have to downsize in order to save money and live more within our means, and hopefully be able to have something better in the future.

Andrew is stoked about it because it means only one trip for visiting people. Everyone he cares about will all be living within about an hour from each other, so whenever he has leave, he only has to travel to one general location, and then make short trips from there. This will end up saving a lot of money as well, in addition to time. I am unbelievably excited about getting to experience seasons again. I didn't realize just how much I missed them until this decision was finalized, I came up here, and was reminded of how gorgeous this part of the country is in the fall. I can't wait to knit little wooly things for my boys to wear to school. I am just extremely happy and at peace with this decision.

The best part is this is happening soon! Our lease is up at our current apartment November 2. We told them the day before we came up here that we won't be renewing. The boys are going to have to change schools in the middle of a school year, which is going to be a bit of an adjustment, but I think that will be offset by the fact that they will be near family. Kaleb especially is very family oriented. He constantly talks about his family. They are going to be super stoked that they'll get to have sleepovers with their cousins on weekends and stuff. This is going to be good.

My family is all pretty excited. Andrew told his parents last night while I was out with Sarah and his mom was very excited that we'd be around for Christmas. She even offered to take the boys for the occasional weekend so I could have a break! (I mentioned in front of my mom that maybe she and my dad could watch the kids for a few hours every so often so I could see a movie or something and I got a scoff. This is a whole separate post. I'll get into it later.) Everyone knows that John is coming with me, and the reactions to that have even been better than expected. I am just bouncing up and down inside and I cannot wait to do this! I just couldn't wait to share it here. I needed to get it out of my system! I get to see a MD fall!!! I get to drive on roads and see farm land around me! God I didn't realize how much I loved and missed this part of the country.

There are definitely some things that leave a bit to be desired, but the landscape and the weather makes it worth it. I can insulate myself from some of the crap. This is a big part of the reason we chose WV and not MD. I will not give another penny of my money to MD. I don't even feel great about stopping at a gas station here and buying a soda and the state of MD getting my tax revenue from that. It's really a shame too, because MD is a gorgeous state, I just will not live here with the ridiculous taxes and cost of living. As far as I know I still "owe" the state of MD 5 grand. If they think they will ever see that money they are kidding themselves. Why don't I tell you how I really feel about MD state legislature and how they have made such a beautiful state unbearable to me? ;) Anyway, I digress. I just needed to share the news!!

I hope everyone else is well. I've been peeking in on my friends list here and there, but haven't had a lot of time to leave comments and such.

Apparently Dr. King has caught wind of how his dream has been distorted...

Because that is one pissed off civil rights activist!

My mom called me at 10PM and said "sign up for facebook! I just did! *giggle*" I think asking if she had been drinking was a perfectly reasonable question.

Kitten slept with us last night, and purred and purred and purred. I think I kinda squished her a little bit at one point, but she's good. Delenn came in the room this morning and stood by the bed and hissed. I really hope she gets over it soon and starts acting normal again because I love my Delenn too and I miss her just being a spoiled little snob who's nice!

Reading comprehension and critical thinking: they're not illegal yet. Please use them.

Oh, and dictionaries don't bite.

Does anyone else see the irony/douchebaggery of posting this on the eve of September 11th? (don't click the link if you are one of the people on my friend's list who is especially effected by this day on a deep emotional level. It will only make you want to shoot someone. While I may gain some personal satisfaction at showing you which way to aim, I'd rather not visit you in jail. Love you!)  Am I the only one? Just when I start to think she's reached the highest possible level of cuntraggery one person can achieve, she surpasses it.

Slight Policy Change: Yeah, I'm doing some public posts now. If I have something to say that I think anyone and everyone should read or know about, then it will be open to all. If someone else reveals their ignorance or douchebaggery in an unlocked public post and I have something to say about it, you'd better believe I'm going to link to it. No, this does not apply to anyone who is actually on my friends list. No one here has ever reached a level of douchebaggery that I have felt the desire to share it with others. Also, when it does happen, it's about politics. I would never link to a public post of anyone's that's just about their day to day life for the purpose of mocking them.

This morning I decided to tell Kaleb about September 11th 2001. When I did the math in my head, I couldn't believe it had been 7 years already, but indeed it has.

On our drive to school I decided to tell Kaleb a little bit about what happened on this day 7 years ago. I started by asking him if he knew what an "anniversary" was. Of course he did not, so I explained it to him. I then told him that today was the anniversary of a day when some really bad people did a really bad thing; and as a result a lot of innocent American citizens died; and I wanted him to know because I believe it important that we never forget. I think every American should remember what happened on that day, and remember that there are still people in the world that would wish the people of our country harm. He thought about it a little bit, and then he asked "But aren't there superhero's that can stop the bad people?" I told him yes there are. I told him that the superhero's of our country don't wear capes and masks, and they cannot fly like the ones in your movies do, but instead they look like regular people. What makes a regular person a superhero is their willingness to put the lives of others over their own. On that day 7 years ago there were firefighters that were superhero's, and soldier's are superhero's too, like your daddy. I told him that because of what happened on that day, he had a cousin that he would never meet because he had to go to heaven. He asked me how I knew all of this, and I told him I knew it because I remember. I remember holding his daddy in my arms while he cried. I remember all of the tears shed by his Aunt Helen and Uncle Patrick. I remember and I will never forget. He said that this was really sad. I agreed, but I wanted him to know because I think everyone should know, and it should never be forgotten, and I didn't want anyone telling him that this was just another day, that it meant nothing.

I hope I didn't tell him about this too soon. I think he is smart enough to understand. I don't want him to be afraid, but I want him to know. To my children September 11th will be like Pearl Harbor is to those of us in our generation: a pretty horrific story, but we don't have the memories of the news footage. We didn't see it or hear about it as it was happening. We didn't know people who were dying as we received the news. We don't have the memories of the surreality of it all. We don't remember thinking "This can't be real". My kids will not have those memories about September 11th, so I think it important that I share mine with them, so they can be as tangible to them as it can possibly get for someone who was born after the fact. It's important that we as a people never forget.

This post will be the second part of my political crap that's been building post. I need to preface it by saying the thoughts contained herein were inspired by a post by one particular person on my friend's list. I have consulted the person on posting my thoughts. She specifically stated she didn't want to argue the topic, but I of course have every right to post my thoughts on my own journal. I wanted to be able to post my thoughts on this topic without having to call her out, but I found my skills to generalize a topic and keep from responding to one specific person have failed me here. I've been given permission to post her original words, without mentioning her by name or linking to her journal directly. I know some of you have this person on your friends list as well and as such have likely seen the post in question. I extend the request made of me to all of you: please refrain from mentioning her by name or linking to her journal in any comments you may leave here.

All of that being said, I know my friend is not alone in the sentiments expressed in her post, she's just the one I happened to know who expressed it in a post which I had access to read.

Another thing you should know is that this friend uses gender free pronouns. I only mention that to avoid any "huh?" comments. This post is not about the genderfree pronouns, so please ignore them, replace them in your mind with commonly used pronouns, or whatever you have to do to keep the focus on the topic. Thanks in advance.

Anyway, here it is:

This is a little bitchy. I'm sorry for that. But they are my honest thoughts on the subject, and to edit out the bitchy would serve to detract from the message in this particular case.  I feel passionately about this. Misandry is just as unacceptable and wrong as misogyny in my opinion. This is one of many examples of where the opposite of something that is wrong is not necessarily right. When it comes to politics and social issues, this is almost always the case.

The purpose of this post is to make a record of a comment exchange that happened on someone else's journal, some of which were very cowardly deleted by the journal's owner, followed by a freezing of the thread.

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