The TRUTH About Motherhood

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That One Time I Had Complete Meltdown in a Room Full of Bloggers #TypeACon
I am in the airport in Atlanta, coming off the high that is Type-A Conference. This was my first time attending the event and I loved the community. I’ve never felt so among “my people” as I did this weekend.
The feel was casual and easy going and the people were fun, open and laid back. It just felt like we were all there to grow, not just a brand or as a writer but as people. I have never had so many ‘real’ hugs, real conversations and felt so at ease at a conference for that I thank you Kelby and I thank each and every one of you who I met, shook hands with, shared a meal with, a laugh or just a friendly, sincere hello. You made this trip. I felt safe. And I’m glad that I did because it came in handy on Sunday afternoon.
A few months ago, on a whim, I submitted a post to the We Still Blog Awards. I wasn’t going to win because, let’s face it. I drop a few too many f-bombs and sometimes can be a little too controversial for some people’s palate. I get that. I’m a bit of an acquired taste but I had to try because, well, if you don’t try, you fail. Imagine my shock and awe when I found out that I was to be a finalist. I mean, this was a big freaking deal to me to be one of 10 people chosen.for.my.writing. This was an honor and to be chosen by my peers, to have the honor of reading to my peers was indescribable. It was incredible.
Just so you all know, I am an extrovert in every sense of the word BUT I get a little nervous when I have to speak in front of large groups, especially when the group is a bunch of talented writers/bloggers and even more so when the piece is something deeply personal.
One by one, phenomenal blogger after another approached the podium to read their post. They made me cry, then they made me laugh, then I cried and laughed again. Then Amanda Henson read and we all cried. All I kept thinking in my head was, “PLEASE GOD don’t let me go next. NO ONE can follow that!” Plus, I was sobbing and snotting all over the place. Every writer that took the stage, moved me. Words are powerful. They called the next name. It wasn’t me. WHEW!
That reader wasn’t there. Then, they called the next reader. IT.WAS.ME. I wiped my snot nose, tried to tidy up my mascara and made my way to the podium. I began to read, slowly because everything was feeling a but heavy and fuzzy and my voice started cracking and the eyes started leaking.
I made it about two paragraphs in and then I just sobbed. I couldn’t speak. ME. I .WAS.SPEECHLESS.If you know me. have ever met me or been in my general vicinity, you KNOW that never happens. Cecily came to my rescue and I will always hold her in special place in my heart for doing that.
My heart broke, right there on stage. Right in front of everyone. I was surrounded by the only people in the world who could understand what that moment was like for me; the people who process life’s moments with words, by writing it out.
To all the attendees of Type-A, it was an honor to share my piece with you. To my table, my tribe, my cheering squad, tissue handing, nose wiping, hugging me as hard as I needed to be held and Cecily, helping read when I could not regain my voice….YOU ladies are more special than I can ever tell you. We came as friends, but we left as family.
To the people who I was allowed the privilege of sharing the stage with that Sunday afternoon in September, your words touched my heart. You are what blogging is about for me; people connecting through words and shared experiences. Last but not least, Kelby, thank you for hosting such an amazing conference and the We Still Blog awards the honor of being a finalist is something that I will always hold dear.
Here are all the We Still Blog Nominees:

https://dadscribe.com/2014/03/26/the-field-trip/
https://mandarinmama.com/can-you-get-ptsd-from-taking-your-kid-to-the-dentist/
https://redswrap.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/at-my-mothers-knee/
https://semiproper.com/bright-lights-and-brothels/
https://itsmeamanda.com/2014/05/01/because-life-isnt-fair-amanda/
https://www.home-ec101.com/death-organ-and-tissue-donation-and-grief/
https://abugandabee.com/?p=1357
https://www.confessionsofafatgirl.net/blog/2014/07/fat-girl-on-a-hot-day-summer-just-sucks.html
https://stressfreebaby.com/2014/02/invisible/
Here is mine.
https://motherhoodthetruth.com/a-sky-full-of-paper-lanterns/
I urge you to take the time and read everyone of the written pieces above. Each one of those writers are a rock star.
If you’ve never been to a Type-A Conference, I urge you to go. It just might change your life. It did mine.
2014/09/23
Chicago Shakespeare Theater Presents Shrek the Musical; Awesome for the entire Family!
Recently, we took our children to see Shrek the Musical at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier.
Our girls have been waiting to see this production since they knew it was on Broadway. Unfortunately, we live in the Midwest and so we have been waiting patiently for Shrek the Musical to come to us. Luckily, I’ve had the pleasure of working with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater for about 4 years now. Our daughters have been to many performances at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater but never have we seen a production like Shrek the Musical. It was bold, bright and outrageous; everything any child or child at heart would want in a production.
Just like the movie, in a faraway kingdom turned upside down, things get ugly when an unseemly ogre, Shrek, not the usual expected handsome prince, shows up to rescue a feisty princess, Fiona.
Throw in a donkey who won’t ever shut up, a hilariously small bad guy with a temper, a fire breathing dragon who needs some love, a cookie with an attitude and a whole bunch of other fairy tale misfits and you’ve got a story that calls for a real hero.
I was really concerned how an onstage adaptation would measure up to an animated movie but let me assure you, it exceeded my expectations in every way. The characters were rich and vibrant, passionate and colorful, and even though they were not cartoon characters, they were larger than life.
Every actor in the production lived and breathed their character. The characters were multidimensional and lovable. I felt like I was part of a fairy tale. If you’ve ever been to a Chicago Shakespeare production, you know that the stage and theater are small and intimate and you feel like you are part of the story, part of the production itself.
I’d advise anyone who lives in the Chicagoland area to bring your whole family to Navy Pier this summer for this heartwarming, 75-minute musical adventure based on the Academy Award-winning film. It recounts the story of a swamp-dwelling ogre who goes on a life-changing adventure to reclaim his once-secluded home.
Accompanied by a wise-cracking donkey, this unlikely hero fights a fearsome dragon and rescues the cursed Princess Fiona. On this fairytale journey, Shrek discovers the value of friendship and realizes that true love is more than skin deep.
Following each performance, audience members are invited to meet the cast in the theater lobby. We did and my girls, and my husband, were thrilled to have their photo taken with Donkey.
In my opinion, make a day of it! We had lunch at Harry Caray’s and walked the pier. It was a beautiful July afternoon in Chicago. The girls rode the merry go round and we made some memories. Then we picked up some Garret’s popcorn and headed home.
If your children liked the Shrek movies, they will adore the stage production. I don’t know that I have ever been quite so captivated by performers. Shrek the Musical calls for big, larger than life character to deliver a larger than life story and this production pleasantly exceeded all of my expectations.
Shrek the Musical will be running at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater from now until September 1, 2013. Tickets are $25 for adults and $18 for children 12 and under.
Disclosure: The Chicago Shakespeare Theater provided me tickets to the production for review but all opinions are my own.

2013/07/21
Healthy Heart, Mind and Soul
Healthy Heart
Healthy is as healthy does ~I am turning 40 in September. Go ahead, gasp in shock. I know you can’t believe that I am that old. I can hardly believe it myself. As many of you know, I have spent most of my life with severe body issues and eating disorders.
This year, I have decided that I need to face my fears and move passed them. I am embracing who I am and really trying to get healthy and learn to live in my skin. I am trying to learn to love my body and I want to live a long time to enjoy my life with my husband and children.
Body used to mean what I looked like physically. That was all it meant. I had a specific idea in mind that I needed to achieve and I would do so at all cost. I did so at great cost but I have daughters now.
Now, my body is what will carry me through their lifetime. My body needs to be healthy and strong so that I can be around to cry at their weddings, share in their accomplishments, be in awe of their miracles. I want to be there for all of it, more than anything else in this world.
Healthy Mind
I have decided to join the Map My Fitness Quaker Heart Health Challenge, to ensure that I am healthy and happy for many years to come; to enjoy my marriage and my children. I want to be around to enjoy the life we’ve built. The life we planned for. The life we deserve.

The challenge is to simply complete 15 workouts in 30 days. it doesn’t have to be extreme , you only need to commit to getting up and moving. I am eating healthier and committing to riding my recumbent bike for 45 minutes four times a week over the next 30 days.
What can you do to get healthier in the next 30 days? Won’t you join me?
Joining the Map My Fitness Quaker Heart Health Challenge is my first step towards becoming a healthier me. Now I’m curious to know, what motivates you to stay healthy?
For your chance to win $750 complete these two steps:
1.Share the Challenge with your friends
2.Tell us that you’ve invited your friends to join the Challenge AND share what motivates you to stay healthy below
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats Company. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules. Don’t we all deserve to be healthy?
Healthy Soul
2012/02/08
Everything, I Never Knew, I Always Wanted
Naming Your Baby is Giving them a Sense of Self
Naming your baby is a big decision. The minute we knew we were having a baby girl, we knew exactly that we would name her Bella. It had nothing to do with a Grandmother who had passed away; if that were the case our firstborn would have been named Daisy Militine. I did not name her after my best friends, as my mother had done me; if that were the case our firstborn would have been named Julia Nicole. There was no long drawn out ceremony of pouring over baby name books for months on end.There was a movie.
The Big Guy and I watched Fools Rush In together in the fall of 2007. We met and began dating on September 29^th while we were both in our last year at Purdue. We watched the movie together over the Thanksgiving break. This movie will always hold a very special place in our hearts because it was the catalyst for the Big Guy to propose to me. The Big Guy saw our relationship reflected in the main characters (minus the unplanned pregnancy). He came into my life like a whirlwind and unexpectedly swept me off of my feet. He was everything, I never knew, I always wanted. He proposed 2 months later.
Naming Your Baby is their Trademark for Life
Why did we name our daughter after a character in a movie? Because that character in that innocuous, comedic love story changed our lives in the biggest way possible. We knew that the birth of our baby would change our lives in ways that we could never have imagined. None of it would have been possible if we had not sat on his parents’ couch late one Saturday night and watched that video. Naming our daughter after a movie that changed the course of our history seemed like the right thing to do. She is a constant reminder of how lucky we are to have found one another at a time when neither of us was looking.
I spoke to my baby in utero addressing her as Bella for months before she was born. The moment I held her in my arms, it was like finally meeting someone I had known my entire life. She completed us. She made us a family and not just a couple. She was our Bella. She is beautiful, smart, funny and witty and everything a parent could ever hope for in a child. Just like her Daddy and her sister after her, she was (and is) everything, I never knew, I always wanted.
It was easy for us to decide on our baby’s name. How did you decide on your baby’s name? Or do you have a great story on how your parents decided on your name? Tell me for a chance to win a year’s supply of cards from Cardstore.com!
In celebration of the 8 women who are pregnant, Cardstore.com has expanded their offering of birth announcements!
Official Sweepstakes Rules. This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cardstore. The opinions and text about naming your baby are all mine.
Naming a Baby is Giving them A Tagline in the World
2012/07/03
Back-to-School and I am Exhausted
My little girls are exhausted
Summer is almost over and I am exhausted. I’m not quite sure where it went but I do know that it’s gone; next week my baby starts kindergarten and my oldest starts second grade. Back-to-school, already? Where did the time go?
I had all kinds of wonderful ideas of the many splendid things that the girls and I would do with all of our “free” time this summer but apparently, there was none because it doesn’t feel like we came even close to doing half the stuff I had planned on doing. We filled the time with lots of busy work but there were no major happenings this summer. It was like one endless Saturday. Saturday’s are good, right?
I promised the girls play dates all summer; we had two. I promised them visits to Chicago to see their grandparents and play with their cousins. We went once. I said there would be picnics in the park and outings to the beach. There were none. Well, there was that one time that we split a DQ chicken tender meal in the parking lot of the park (surrounded by nature so it should count). We were running errands and they wanted to eat at the park none of us like bugs very much so we ate in the car.
We had plans to go to my uncle’s horse farm in Tennessee, see Beauty and the Beast at Navy Pier and I had even planned a day at Cedar Point. There have been no baseball games this summer or drive-in movies. There were no bon fires and s’mores. I didn’t get to teach my 7-year-old to ride the bike with no training wheels. We never got to fit in cheer camp or swimming lessons. I feel like I’ve been running around trying to catch a moving target. I am exhausted.
My love for my family is never exhausted
Just so you know that I am not a complete and utter failure as a mother, we did take the girls to Chicago for a week. We also took them to Florida for 10 days, spending 3 days at Disney World. We’ve played in the pool all summer, until it got so hot that the water in the pool was actually scalding to the touch. We played dress up and Barbies until the cows came home. There has been a burn ban all summer but we did manage to take the girls to see the firework display downtown from the best seat in the city, my brother’s balcony. We’ve been on one family bike ride. We went to the festival. We bought them a trampoline; a tornado came and ripped it away. I am exhausted just thinking of all that we did do. Imagine if we had done more.
I’ve taken them to the park a few times and we’ve spent a lot of time daydreaming about our new home. Which reminds me, after 3 years, we sold the house and close on a new one on September 6^th. I’m planning on going to a baseball game, the zoo and having a bon fire this week. I feel like I have fallen short this summer but honestly, the girls could care less. They are over the moon about the new house, especially since most of their friends from school live in the neighborhood. I can’t wait for after school play dates and to hear the house filled with my daughters’ giggles.
It’s been a long summer, packed with everything and nothing all at the same time. We’ve all grown and changed this summer. I’ve spent a lot of time working, which is totally a good thing, but I’ve also spent a lot of time not sleeping. It’s hard to have it all and do everything because something suffers. The mommy guilt is kicking my ass today but the one thing I did do every day this summer is kiss my girls and tell them that I love them and that says something without saying anything. They know. I know. It is.
All the school supplies are bought and uniforms too. Backpacks are ordered and planet boxes are in the mail. Now, I am on to autumn. The time when seasons change and children grow. We start school next week, I’m not really ready to let them go but they are excited about seeing old friends and meeting new ones. They can’t wait for ballet to start back and Nutcracker auditions, in fact, they are in their bedroom right this very minute watching the Nutcracker and practicing their moves. We’re all looking forward to making our new house our home and all of the love, laughter and memories that we will fill that house with. I am exhausted thinking of all the things we have planned for this upcoming year but I am so excited to be able to be a part of it.
Blissfully exhausted
What was your favorite part of this summer? Are you blissfully exhausted?
2012/08/06
Eventually, All Dogs Go To Heaven & All Kids Go to Kindergarten
The first day of kindergarten and a sick dog. This week is emotionally chaotic. Too much change at once. This week is supposed to be hard. It’s the first week of school for my girls. Gabs is starting kindergarten, so obviously I am all verklempt. I am trying to hold my shit together because there is nothing worse than a 5 year old seeing her Mommy act like she’s sending her baby off to war. Oh, but my mommy heart. It hurts.
Meet the Kindergarten Teacher Day
I’m trying to be proactive and make it easier. Yesterday, I took her to school to meet the teacher and showed her around the room and the school. We investigated every nook and cranny of that Kindergarten class. She was a bit overwhelmed but I kept telling her how awesome it was going to be and her big sister was there to reassure her. I just kept swallowing the lump in my throat. Pushing it down, down, down; where it will stay until I am safely outside the building on the first day of school this Thursday. THEN, I will collapse in a heaving, hyperventilating pool of snot and tears.Yes, my heart is going to break. I know this. I’ve been here before with my first but this is different, this is my last baby.
My sweet little shy girl who embarrasses easily and who wears her heart on her sleeve. But like her sister before her, she will suck it up and make that funny little smile that tells me that she is feeling unsure and a little bit scared inside but she won’t let anyone else know, just her and I, it’s our secret. I’ll want to make it all better but the only way to make it better is to let her experience it and know that it is okay. This is one thing the girls have definitely inherited from me, they need to feel their feelings and survive them to know they can. We are “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger girls” and we are firmly set in our beliefs that, “Failure is not an option” even when it may seem like the only choice there is. We keep on trying. Both my girls are like that; stoic to the bitter end, almost to a fault. I wish she could just cry and get it all out but she’s too much like me. We do cry but first we push stuff down, way down and we carry on no matter how much it eats at us on the inside and necrotizes that spot we push it down to.
But the crap just keeps piling on. The same week that my baby starts kindergarten and my Bella has moved up to 2^nd grade, my oldest and furriest girl (our 13 year old boxer, Saffaron) is sick. She’s old and we know that every day is a gift with this girl. Saffaron was the first baby the Big Guy and I had together. We brought her home in September, 4 months after we were married and she has been by our side since. I love this dog like only a Mommy can. My girls adore her. I’ve been trying to explain that sometimes people and animals get REALLY old (I’m trying to convince them that me being 39 is NOT really old) or sick and they go to sleep and then they go to be with God and wait for us. This is what I told them about their baby and now I am telling them this about their dog.
This is how the dog marked meet the kindergarten teacher day
Today, the dog was really not feeling well. She was lying around not moving (she was breathing, I checked) but she just seemed done. Yes, I’ve seen this look before and we had a conversation last year. She owes me 5 more years, because my heart is not ready to say good-bye again so soon. I just had to say good-bye in May and I think there should be at least a year in between good-byes to people and things you love. Last year, she almost died from an acute case of pancreatitis. My grandmother died from pancreatic cancer about a month before my dog was afflicted. No, I am not saying that my Grandma gave my dog pancreatitis but my year in between good-byes rule came to mind this morning.
I grabbed my girls; sleepy (because she’s trying to adjust to the school sleep schedule), nervous (because she has been sporting her nervous “Help me mom” smile since she realized that this was the week she started BIG school) and Grandma Moses (because my once spry puppy is now an elderly 91) and off to the veterinarian hospital we went. As I looked in the rearview, I saw both of my daughters sporting the “Oh Jesus, please don’t today be the day our dog dies!” TO my right, the dog is giving me the,”Please don’t hit any bumps. Dear Jesus, take me quick!” Me, I am torn. On one selfish hand, I don’t ever want that beautiful bitch to die. I just love her too damn much and our family will be incomplete without her walking around looking at us all like we are all a bunch of assholes before giving us lots of love out of pity for our stupidity. She thinks we are big dumb animals; it’s obvious to us. But on the other hand, I don’t want her living in pain. Her body is not what it used to be. Her arthritis is awful in the mornings, she’s got glaucoma, and benign tumors pop up all over her body at random times for no apparent reason. She’s tired and I’m pretty sure that soon she will be ready to go and we will have to let her go.
The letting go sucks. I just hope it’s not this week. This week, I have that beautiful and sweet bitch pumped full of antibiotics and pain pills. We are all giving her a little more love and attention than usual. I’m hoping she will grace us with her big heart and floppy ears for at least another year. This week I have to start the letting go of my 5 year old and I just don’t think that my Mommy heart can handle losing my furry daughter. I don’t think any of us can, least of all the 5 year old. Please don’t turn the first week of kindergarten at my house into a country song.
How did you mark the first day of kindergarten?
Kindergarten has got nothing on this dog
2012/08/14
I’m Starting a Revolution
There was no revolution. I turned 40 a couple of days ago, you may have heard. Oddly enough, it passed quietly with dignity and grace. There was no bucking and raging against the night like there was for my 30th or even my 38th. I did not feel overwhelmed with failure or the need to fight my evolution tooth and nail. I was enveloped in peace and all consuming contentment. Sounds strange, right? I’ve never felt this way before, except for the first few minutes immediately after my children were born and on the day I got married. I’m assuming it’s the calm before the storm of life changing events.
I am Resolving to incite a revolution
I am way past the point of making resolutions. After all, what the hell is a resolution anyways, nothing more than an empty promise, a flimsy threat at the most. Nope this year, I am declaring war. I’m inciting a revolution.I am resigning myself to a little shock and awe!
No MORE Cheating! You heard me. I don’t mean that I’m cheating on the Big Guy, never! I mean cheating on diets, cheating myself out of life, cheating myself short on opportunities, cheating my girls out of my complete attention and devotion.
Embracing Exhaustion! Oh yeah, I am about to make it my mission to exhaust every single iota of potential that these bones have in them. No more sitting on the sidelines letting life happen to me or waiting for things to be done for me, this broad is grabbing life by the balls and making him my bitch. I am going to work this potential so hard, its not going to know which way is up. As the old cheer goes, “Be aggressive..B*EE* EE Agressive!” I’m about to be the change I want to see in my world!
Organization, Organization, Location! I am a planner, a scheduler, a write it down on paper and DOER! Life seems to have gotten out of control.I don’t mean a little bit off kilter, I mean it has spun right the hell off its axis.Well, NO MORE! Hey, life! Guess what? I AM IN CHARGE..NOT YOU! So, I’m putting pen to paper ( yes, I’m old school like that sometimes) and I’m making a schedule. I’m waking up earlier, getting more sleep, not rushing through life because I’ve planned accordingly, and ( because I am still a bit reckless) I’m even allowing copious amounts of free time for spontaneity. I may even take a day or two off of social media and just put my feet up and take it all in.
Love Hard, Love often! I am making sure that the Big Guy and our girls know how very much I love them and how important they are to me. I’m not referring to telling them, speaking the words. I do this already, several times a day. In fact, I’ve told the girls ( constantly) since birth “Guess what? I have a secret.Want to know what it is?” They used to get all excited, their eyes like saucers and ask”Yes, Mommy. What is it?” My answer, I’d bend down and whisper in their tiny ear ,” I Love you more than anything.” Now, they just give me a sheepish smile and say, “What is it Mommy? Tell me!” But more than saying the words, I want to show them with my thoughts and actions.I want to be present in every moment with these family and friends that I have been blessed to be surrounded by in my life. I want them to know in their heart that when I say “I love you” it means..forever, for always, for good, for bad, for ups, for downs, for skinny, for fat, for Always. When they speak, I want them to know I am listening and that what they say matters to me. No more decorum.I am loving on my littles, the Big Guy, my family and friends with an embarrassing amount of exuberance. I want them to feel it to their core.
Revolution: A Commitment to Change
Prioritize, Perspective, and Present. The only way to get it all done, in conjunction with my handy schedule, I have to prioritize what’s really important to me and my family. This depends on my perspective. I am choosing to utilize my own perspective finally. I am not considering all the outside factors, aside from my girls. I’m also willfully choosing to see life as ALWAYS half full and at my disposal because, in reality, it is. My only limitations have been those I’ve set upon myself. No more! Last but not least, I’m living in the moment. I’m embracing every stinking moment as it happens. I’m not planning for next year, next week, tomorrow…I’m living in the now..RIGHT NOW,with my girls and the Big Guy. I want to enjoy the small things of my life as they happen, not in 20 years in retrospect as a memory. I want to feel the full effect of my life.
Forgiveness I am forgiving myself for not being perfect. I am not the perfect wife. I am not the perfect Mom. I am not the perfect friend or daughter.I don’t have the perfect body. I don’t have the perfect house. My temper leaves something to be desired. I over extend myself. I expect too much from myself and others. I fall short, in a lot of ways. But that doesn’t mean that my efforts do not have merit. I am hitting reset for everyone I know. I’m passing out forgiveness like Kool-aid at a Jonestown party. No more Mommy guilt, no more fatty McFatty guilt, no more I’m not the perfect wife.My house is disheveled. My kids aren’t perfect.No more, I wish I was Bree Van De Kamp bullshit. From this moment forward, I am going to try my best at every endeavor that I choose to undertake with my priority being excelling at being a good example of a the kind of woman I want my daughters to see me as. I will never be perfect, and that is perfectly acceptable, as long as I am living my life as the best me.
Incite a Revolution. I’m initiating a change in my way of life. I am actively taking steps to become the person that I want to be.That woman who lives inside of me and has been too afraid for a long time to take a gamble.The woman who, even though I hate to admit this, I have realized has been so afraid of failure that I have let it stave off success. No More! No more excuses. I’m not afraid of failure anymore.If I fall, I will just pick myself up and try, try again!But today, I am inciting a revolution between the version of myself that I’ve let myself get comfortable with and the woman I know I can be. I’m starting by setting fire to excuses and self doubt and I’m marching forward with self confidence.
How do you treat yourself well? Do you treat your body well? Your soul? Your mind? You are worth the revolution.
The Revolution Starts Today

**I am hosting a Twitter party this Sunday night September 30th for #Previlean at 9 pm EST/ 6 PST. I hope you can make it. Just follow @TruthfulMommy @PreviMedica and @JessicaGottlieb to join in the conversation. Please leave your Twitter handle in the comments so that we can follow you back! I’d love to find out what you do to treat yourself right? How will you start your revolution?

****Part of this post was originally posted here.

2012/09/28
Throat Punch Thursday~ Edward Orenchuk Boy Scout Leader Arrested on Child Porn Charges
Today’s throat punch is brought to you by New York Boy Scouts leader, Edward Orenchuk III (fancy name for a big fucking pervert), age 23 of Garden City, New York. Yes, seems the boy scouts of America are giving the Catholic priests of the world a run for their money. Orenchuck was arrested Wednesday after authorities found hundreds of images of pornography on his computer involving children as young as five years old. What a sick son of a bitch. He needs help.
There is no shortage of perverts and evil douchebaggery in this world, even around the holidays. I swear I want to think people are good at the core but they keep disproving me. It was much easier to not be a cynic and to not be so skeptical of mankind before I had my heart running around outside of my body all over the place on a daily basis. That’s what children are…the great equalizer because no matter what your financial status or social class are once you have children we are all susceptible to being at the mercy of our love for the little people who we brought into the world.
Edward Orenchuk
Investigators observed Orenchuk making multiple images of child pornography available for download online during August and September, and they tracked the source of those images to his home. Photos were found and while the cops were searching his home, he was rambling on about how much more he had.
Orenchuk was an Eagle Scout who served as an assistant scout master with Troop 243 in Garden City. He was employed as a page at the Garden City Public Library. It’s always the quiet ones that you’d least expect. I’ve always been leery of grown men going off into the woods with little boys who weren’t their own flesh and blood. Hell, I wouldn’t want to be stranded with my own children in the woods never mind some stranger’s child so that should be something Boy Scout America should be a little more aware of, scout leaders a little too excited about being alone with small children.
The Boy Scouts said Orenchuk was dropped from the organization once they learned of the charges and Orenchuk has been taken off the library’s work schedule. Nobody wants to back a pedophile-in-training, which is the lowest form of criminal. Even the other criminals will think that Orenchuk is scum.
In mid-October, lawyers published more than 1,200 formerly secret Boy Scouts’ files online detailing accusations of child sex abuse within the organization from 1965 to 1985. So this just proves my point that I am right not to trust anyone alone with my children because even those who we are supposed to be can’t be trusted.
I am so sick of reading about stupid ass adults hurting our sweet children. If it’s not an asshole parent leaving their gun out so a baby can shoot themselves, it’s a mom who wants to go out and party and leaves her toddler home alone or worse with a predator and I don’t know how many times I have to read about grown men raping and stealing the innocence of our children before it becomes mandatory to castrate anyone proven to have even a touch of pedophilia. Throat punch to the Boys Scouts of America for obviously not doing background checks on the perverts that they send out babies into the woods alone with.
What do you think the boy Scouts of America should do to stop the Edward Orenchuk of the world?
2012/12/13
Right Place, Right Time; This is Dedicated to the One I Love
14 years ago today, I married my best friend. But 1 year and 8 months earlier, I met the man I would marry; the man who would ruin me for all other men. It was my senior year at Purdue. I should have graduated 2 years prior, but due to taking time off and various life circumstances, I was in the right place at the right time to meet the Big Guy. I shouldn’t have been there but I was and I am convinced it was meant to be. (more…)
2013/05/15
To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate, that is the Question
Did you know that August is National Immunization Awareness Month? Neither did I! It is and whether you believe in getting your children vaccinated or not, there are some things you may need to be aware of. While there are some childhood illnesses that are seldom found in the western world these days, because of vaccinations, there are others that are still very rampant in the world and they do not discriminate by race, color, religion or socioeconomic standing. These illnesses will attack where they can and either you are protected, or you are not. The choice is yours.
Do you get the flu shot? It’s that time of year again, back-to-school otherwise known as Cootiepalooza. Why Cootiepalooza you ask? Well, let’s just say that there is more than just death and taxes that we can count on happening in this life; we can count on back-to-school bringing with it lice, pink eye and the flu. If you have kids preschool through elementary school aged you are acutely aware of what I am talking about. My girls are in first and third grade and since they’ve been in preschool there are two things that I can count on every August; they will be going back to school and we will be getting sick.
Before I had kids, I never got a flu shot. I thought, why would I? The chances of me getting the flu were slim to none though I should have known better since I worked with children. In fact, I had never had the real deal flu until after I had children. While I was pregnant, my Obstetrician strongly suggested that I get the flu shot; “strongly suggested” in the way that a mother strongly suggests that you clean your room if you ever want to see the light of day again. I did it after she explained to me that the flu is more likely to cause severe illness in a pregnant woman than one who is not, that it is safe and that it would protect my baby for the first 6 months of life and, more importantly, babies under the age of 6 months are too young to get the flu vaccine but are also among the most vulnerable to its ill effects. It would have been irresponsible for me to not get the flu vaccination. That was the first time I ever got the flu shot.
Every year after that, my daughters have gotten the flu vaccination with the exception of last year, it completely slipped our minds because we were moving and wellness visits were in May instead of August or September as they normally are. Guess what happened? We all caught the flu. The real deal flu right smack dab in the middle of Nutcracker season. If you have daughters who are ballet dancers, you know what bad timing this was. Aside from the fact that we were bed ridden for 7 days, congested, feverish with cold chills and achy from hair to toenails, we were miserable on every level and our lives came to a screeching halt at the worst possible time of the year. I have never seen my daughters so sick and I never want to again. It was scary. Thankfully, they don’t suffer from any long-term health conditions like asthma or it could have been much worse. They are healthy children and it still knocked them on their butts.
We will all be getting our regularly scheduled flu shots this year, as soon as they are available. Make no mistake the flu is dangerous. Each year about 20,000 children younger than 5 years old are hospitalized from flu complications like pneumonia. You can die from the flu. There is no coming back from death. I can’t justify not taking the chance of stopping something that is so potentially dangerous from happening to my children, especially after seeing firsthand how it wiped them out last winter.
Will you be getting yourself and your children the flu shot this year?

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post to raise awareness about National Immunization Awareness month but all opinions are my own.
2013/08/19