Life Lesson #1 for 2017: Detergents Matter

December 31, 2016, I was pretty sick. I guess it was a 24 hour bug or something.

I managed to stir out of bed to run the kiddos to the store so they could pick up a couple things, one being dishwasher detergent (I've caved. I don't mind hand washing, but the dishwasher is a friend now. Life happens, things change, y'know.).

The Three of Us get home & the Little One places a pod in the dishwasher & starts it.

I fall back asleep for a bit.

My Eldest, she's making lunch & as the oven beeps, she steps into a watery kitchen floor. I hear her gripe so I get out of bed & sure enough, there's dishwasher overflow. The garbage disposal has erupted foodgoop, there are frothy bubbles in the sink & a slow-stream finding its way along the tile caulking.

Eldest stops the dishwasher & I tell her to flip the switch to the garbage disposal. She does as I go fetch towels to soak up the waterfloor. I come back and spread out the towels; each of us using our feet to dancemop. Eldest says, "You're so brave!" I guess she thought it was a pretty big deal to run the garbage disposal? *laughing*

We finish the clean up and start the dishwasher again. It finishes its job & we are all merry again.

As I fade back to sleep, I thought it was weird that there was so much froth in the sink.

Sleep.

Today, I awaken and sluggishly start picking up around the house. I venture to the kitchen to do dishes, empty the dishwasher. I open the dishwasher door and wow it smells AMAZING! And the dishes were SO CLEAN; I mean, like, superextrasparklyclean!

My thoughts: Gosh, this smells like laundry! What scent is this?

It rushes in: OMGOSH, did they buy LAUNDRY detergent instead of dishwashing detergent?!

I open the cabinet and sure enough, it was laundry detergent! ha!

At least they're clean. :)

PRACTICLE LIFE LESSON

Dear Daughters: Be careful about the type of detergent you pick & how you use it. :P

Dear Me: I guess we have a Plan C?

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Happy New Year, All!
~~WHOOSH~~

Wordless Wednesday: Black Cat Day

This Guy

I'm just so thankful for him.

My brother and his family moved to DFW last summer and the timing was perfect. They have all be so supportive and we've been having all the fun we didn't in childhood.

Thanks, Brother. Love you.

This Woman

I just love her.

~J

Dear Writing,

I sure do miss you.

Sometimes I think about you, our late nights, the vulnerability we share, and I wonder, "will I ever see you again?".

The answer is "yes", but it's a complicated "yes".

Remember all those good times? And those laughs and sads we experienced together? So much growth and learning to love one another, ourselves, during our time together.

There are a few things that need to happen before I can become totally devoted to you, so I ask that you be patient.

In the meantime, think of me. I will certainly be thinking of you.

~Whoosh

In Case You Haven't Figured It Out Yet......

...the blog will be on hiatus indefinitely.

But, I'll be back.

It's what I do.

In the meantime, be well. Love and be loved.

~Whoosh

This Is Kinda Where I Am Right Now

Where I'm at:
Learning to love more
Learning to love differently
Learning to love unconditionally (always a work in progress)
Learning to love fear (huh?)
Reading more
Identifying and breaking down my own biases
A bit of self-preservation, which counters some of the above #itsallaboutsurvivalsometimes #oldhabitsarehardtobreak
Aging gracefully
Accepting my body (this is so hard)
Teaching my daughters life skills: how to pump gas, wash dishes, sew a button. One of them is even learning how to drive a car! *pantpantpantexhale*
Finding courage
Putting my voice to "it"
Cradling friends and family in need
A bit of rebelling
Making amends

Where I'm NOT at:
Politics
Confrontation
Guilting or feeling guilty (not 100% done with "feeling guilty" - again, so hard - just sick of it ruling me)
Over-committing
Conspiracy theories
News watching
Big Brother policing
Destructive [insert action here]
toomuchinformation
Shaming and feeling ashamed
on vacation :) (soon. very soon, i hope!)

Basically if I feel any negative energy from you, I don't want to be around you.  Don't allow me to drain your energy or life, please. If I do/have, I'm sorry!

If you give me life and I give you life, let's keep on truckin'.

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More to come, I'm sure. Some'll drop off, some'll be added. One thing that'll be constant: LOVE.

Where Are You?

A reminder. Did you need it too?

Duggar Done Dug Deep

Welp. This Duggar scandal has really gone under the microscope, hasn't it. As well it should.

Josh Duggar has admitted to molesting his siblings and a non-family member. Incest and molestation. Those are very dirty deeds.  

I was thinking about the media and public (over)reaction to, well, almost any story, as well as this one in particular. If I'm looking at this story through a Morality Scope, the guy is in the wrong. He's done a badbad thing. If I'm looking at it through a Christian Lens, I'm thinking he's done the right thing: he's taking accountability for his sin in front of God, he's made amends to his victims, he's been forgiven by his victims and living with the consequences. He says he's a changed man.  We're called as a Christian people to forgive.

But we can't forgive child victimization of any kind.

Are we even supposed to?

We adults - Christian or not - are all called to protect the innocents, the children. Not even in prison do hardened criminals like commingling with molesters. The only prisoners who do are also child predators.

Did any of the Duggars expect that they could issue an acknowledgement of wrongdoing, issue an apology and life as they knew it would move forward? Did they really think they'd be free of public scrutiny and judgement? (Why would public judgement matter if all that matters is what's right with God?)

I'm really conflicted on how to feel about this situation. By what's been reported, Josh did all the "right" actions.  He's admitted he's done wrong. He's apologized, received forgiveness, too.  The public normally decries those who denydenydeny then seek an apology after a broad, dismissive apology is issued by our famouspeople. We demand that those politicians, religious leaders, teachers, anyone who has committed any offense, just say, "yeah, I did that. I'm a jerk and I'm sorry. I have been in contact with my victims. I go to therapy. I'm working on my problems". And here, Josh did what We The Public demand, yet We The Public are being just as hard on him as if he lied/denied.

If it wasn't crimes against kids, would We The Public would be a lot more lenient and forgiving.? I dare say, "yes". Because it involves kids, molesting and incest! I don't think I can forgive and trust that Josh's actions are all in the past -- that it was just a stupid teenager phase. 

Sex crimes are the most scary of crimes. Research shows that sexual predators cannot be rehabilitated (male or female). I remember there was a time in the 90's where the "solution" for male sexual deviancy was castration. Cutting the dick and nuts off a man isn't going to change his sexually oriented, power hungry mind. And if castration is the "solution", why wouldn't we also cut the vaginas off women? See the problem there? It's the mind, not the anatomy, that controls a sexual predator.  And what's the solution? Isolation?

In my opinion, their show should be off the air immediately and they should receive no more revenue from their show. It should never be in any sort of syndication. There should be no spin-off, as is rumored. Media needs to quit covering the family and let the family heal from within, and let them just regular people. And to the Duggars: if the network won't cut you off, just leave. That would be commendable. While it's important to learn lessons, there's no good that can come from profiting from the victims - even if the victims agree to allow it.  An argument can be made that "watching" the process of "healing and forgiveness" would help someone, I suppose. There are plenty of other avenues one can learn, heal and be helped besides watching this family on cable TV.  I don't even want to hear about an "update" show in 10 years. The Duggars should just fade back into a non-public life. 

I will worry about Josh Duggar's kids. I will worry about any child he's around. 

I offer my prayers to Josh and his victims.  

And I don't even have cable.....SMH.  Oy!  *laughing*

Happy Birthday, Wonder Whoosh

Happy Ninth Birthday Wonder Whoosh!