A New Blog, Yo

Hello kids! I have reconnected with 3 of my high school friends and we have created a blog (based mostly on politics for now but I also see religion coming into play in the future). The address is elpisian.wordpress.com As of right now I have not posted yet since we just got up and running today. Its a very cool idea as we all went to the same Christian School, where we were all traumatized so badly that all of us questioned our beliefs to such a degree that at least one of us now categorizes herself as agnostic/atheist. We all have common political views (for the most part) which are all left leaning. We are finally finding our own beliefs and own voices after being raised in the "religious right" by "values voters" whom we find ourselves arguing with on a common basis (when they aren't busy hearing "the truth" from FOX News- Hi Mom and Dad) The reason I now hold the political view I do is because I was forced to figure out (at the age of 17) exactly what I believed, what I didn't and why (so I guess I am a little bit thankful for having to go to that school, maybe). And also because I believe and strive to follow different parts of the Bible than the right winged conservative christian may. I believe that Jesus meant it when he said give up all you have and come follow me. I believe that we are to love our enemies and, I could be wrong, but I think that going to war and killing your enemies doesn't really go along with the whole "loving them" thing. I believe that any sin we commit is just as wrong as the other girl's. So being homosexual is no different than cheating on your taxes, or looking lustfully at another man's wife. I believe that life is precious both before and after birth. I believe that, yeah, taxes suck. But isn't it nice to be able to call the police when you have been robbed, or the fire dept. if your house is burning down, or having sidewalks and streets to walk on instead of having to hike through rough terrain to get anywhere, or that however crappy they are (and in Milwaukee they are crappy), that every child has the opportunity to go to school? I believe that yeah, some people take advantage of welfare but for the single mom who works to pay her rent and bills, she still needs to feed her family and 1. being single 2. being a woman and 3. raising children with irresponsible fathers makes everything that much harder. Do you want to be the one to tell her, "Sorry lady, but since some other scumbags have been scamming me out of some of my taxes so you either have to shut off the heat or leave your kids at home alone (because, by the way, we are not paying for your child care either) in order to continue to provide your children with the food they need?" I, for one, do not. The Bible tells us that (Im paraphrasing) whatever you do for the least of you (poor, sick, etc) you are doing for me. So yes it sucks to pay taxes for things like new baseball stadiums and ridiculous pension plans for city officials, taxes are necessary and as Jesus tells us "Give unto Ceaser (the gov't) what belongs to Ceaser" . So anyways, check out our new blog. I am super excited about it and will probably be up all night writing something. And for those who don't appreciate my political rantings (don't worry-nothin but love!) then fret not, because you don't have to read them anymore. Anything having to do with politics will now appear only on the wordpress blog I contribute to.

More Miscellaneous Ramblings

Ok, yes I know that it has been forever since I posted anything and I am sorry to disappoint you but I have nothing big and exciting to report. Lately, I have been trying to keep myself busy especially because its getting cold and winter is fricken coming. Usually in winter I just hunker down in my house, stay in my pjs 24/7, snuggle with the dogs, drink coffee or hot cider, and watch tv or movies. I usually gain about 10 lbs every winter. I hate driving in the snow. I hate walking on ice (especially in heels), I hate that when I let the dogs back inside their paws are wet and muddy (or the fact that one member of our family who shall remain nameless is too much of a diva to walk on the cold ground or the snow so just pees on the floor...and no it is not John). So I pretty much do nothing all winter, which in my opinion is really lovely.
But, I digress. Back to being busy. I am working on a reasonable family budget that I can actually stick to. Usually John tries to make the budget and all of our money after bills go into savings and I get like 10 bucks to do what I want to do for the week. Which is ridiculous because I would have to save up for weeks to do anything- shop, get a haircut, go tanning, go out on the weekends, go out to dinner. I can hardly buy a chai latte with that! So I think mine is more reasonable. I am reading a book that has some good budget strategies and money saving tips. It is by this couple who has 5 kids and only spent 350$ a month on groceries. And they paid off their house in 9 years. Crazy! But they only shopped for groceries once a month, so now I am up to shopping for 2 weeks at a time, but we have still had 1 or 2 of those "quick trips for one thing" to the grocery store that end up costing $15. And looking over our debit card statement, we've been going to the grocery like 5-6 times a week every week. So, pretty much, Pick N Save is raping us of our savings account hard core. So anyways, about being busy, trying to get that implemented is time consuming. And I also have a home cooked dinner ready everynight. I take like 2 nights a week and make a few dinners and freeze them, so then we just eat leftovers of it. And since there is just two of us, it lasts about 3 nights! So, since I am not a huge fan of cooking sometimes, that feels like it sucks up my time.
Ohh! And, I also got a job. I am probably going to be working only 1 or 2 nights a week, but on weekends, I guess you make at least $100 night for like 5 hours. So not too shabby. Im waitressing at O'Donoghue's, which is an irish bar in Elm Grove. Well, its technically a pub cuz there's food and stuff. But on weekend nights, its mostly booze.
And I joined "Curves" last week. I really like it. If you don't know what it is, its a fitness place for women. You go in and all of the machines are in a circle, and it goes machine, mat, machine, mat...all the way around. So you jump in wherever you want in the circle and there is music playing and every 30 secs. it tells you to switch stations. So you move the the station next to you. On the mats, you just do something that keeps your heart rate up (jogging in place, jumping jacks, etc) Oh, and if you don't go in for a week or something, they start calling and stalking you to come in which for me is great!
Well I think I am going to go to bed. I have dialysis at 12 but I think I better go to Curves in the am before I find one of the coaches peering through my windows!