Saturday, April 23, 2016

my bladder doesn't care

it's 7:22 and everyone is asleep!

it's a great Saturday morning!!

i am getting caught up on my guilty pleasure of teen mom 2

enjoying a cup of tea

and thinking about the day ahead

and my fb feed is flooded with debates about bathrooms?!?

i'm thinking whaatttt???

i will be honest i've been out of the loop slightly with the bathroom ordeal.....

but a part of me is thinking "IS IT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?"

hold on before you start telling me WHY it is a big deal and pedophiles wanting to get to your child.

before the great bathroom gender debate, pedophiles were getting into bathrooms, gym lockers, etc.  ever since the birth of a camera cell phone we've been subjected to humiliation, sexual exploitation, and ignorance of our photos being taken so to me the issue isn't opening up the bathroom to non-gender specific because let's face it, pedophiles existed before this.....

so now i hear you, this won't help, this will allow more access.....

but here's my point..... pedophiles will get access because that's their drive.... that's their will.... and where there is a will there is a way.

basically, opening up bathrooms to transgender, doesn't scare me or want me to not shop at target
and when you equate that to allowing more pedophiles it just isn't so......

let's take it from a non bathroom, non genital point of view...
prohibition.....did it stop the consumption of alcohol...no
illegal marijuana and other drugs....are we a drug free country...no
limits don't prevent
and while you might not agree with the thought of someone identifying with a gender that they weren't assigned they are still human....treat them as such.....

so i've discussed limits that don't prevent

how about the reality that there are many places in the world that do not even have gender specific bathrooms...... and have a less rate of pedophiles than here in the United States....

i've traveled... a lot.... not as much as some people but enough to see many wonderful sites, experience many different cultures, and come to respect the human and a human despite their background or beliefs

i've been in many situations, with my daughter, where in the next stall was a man because there were no male/female bathrooms
there was just a big room with individualized stalls and it was co-ed
shock

i'm not sure where i am going with this post
except are we really debating bathrooms?
this world is bigger than bathrooms...... and if all you see is a bathroom problem then i want to live in your world of naiveness....

there are bigger battles out there
bigger fears


and frankly, since having a child, my bladder doesn't care if it's a male bathroom or female bathroom....
i've used both because of post pregnancy bladder
and potty training a toddler....
because when you have to go you have to go




Monday, January 11, 2016

2016

oh my 
it's been over a year since 
i have blogged....
 so let me do a quick update...
we completed the bipartisian european vacation...
it was everything i hoped it would be.
we pcs'd from italy 

it was all the heart break i imagined it would be
we ended up in colorado
(it is a beautiful state and close to home)
ken left shortly after arriving
to do a remote tour 
in 
thule, greenland
 
(which should be blogged about but i will do that later)
i unpacked us
found a job
emmi started preschool
i started work
and 
we began this "new" life
we said goodbye to ken's grandmother
we said hello to thule, greenland 
(for a short visit)
 
we said see ya later...again... 
to ken
and 
we survived with minimal damage 
2015
and now we prepare for our last month without ken
and our last month until we have a 4 year old!
(are 4 year olds still toddlers? 

or are they officially "little" girls? 
it's such an awkward age..
what do we have?)
maybe i will blog more
maybe i won't 
regardless
if i document it for all to read
i know that 2016 will be another
"new" 
year 
for so many reasons
 ken will be home
a home he doesn't know
(because he left 3 weeks after we arrived here
and has only spent 3 weeks midtour here)
we will have to adjust 
to having ken home
and a part of our life
here
a life we aren't use to having him a part of
so here's to 2016
and 
the possibility of more blogging
because 
i have fast internet
and
in a short time
a partner
to help with this crazy thing 
called
life. 

love love
from colorado















Friday, September 19, 2014

Bipartisan European Adventure

soon we are about to embark 
on 
bipartisan european adventure
(because my dad and step mom are joining us
i titled it 
a play off my maiden name 
and 
my married name
besides we all know you have to have a good hashtag)

here's a brief synopsis of our trip
21 days
most on the road
traveling from venice
to
munich
to 
prague
to 
brussels
to 
london
to 
normandy
to
paris
to geneva
back to italy
then 
a one day laundry day
back on a train
to rome
for more travel

all with a toddler
(whose potty training/trained gasp!)


it's the last hurrah to get everything knocked off our bucket list before we move back to the states

i've planned it all
i have an itinerary
activities planned almost to the minute
after our trip
i will post all my tips
our full itinerary 
(i am not posting now because it includes dates....gotta be safe ya know!)

it will be fun

it will be trip of a lifetime!

for now i leave you with 

packing tips

because we won't be in one place longer than three days

i am packing in ziplock bags
it's easier to pull out one bag then dump out all the clothes looking for something

for the toddler
i did one outfit in a bag
socks, outfit, panties

for the adults

i bagged by item
ex socks in one bag
underwear in one bag
shirts in bags
(i know this isn't a fully packed suitcase. 
eventually it was fully packed)

you get the idea


here's to making memories

and seriously
i may put this project on my resume....


love love from aviano!