Tag, sucker.

First I will share three awesome pics because I love them:
That's my stepaunt's son (my step cousin?) Max and he is the cutest kid, for reals.

Picking on Dylan and letting me know he knows what he is doing and thinks it is hilarious

Dylan sitting down with a couple at the park and talking like they are old friends catching up. That kid has never met a stranger!

Now, bring the pain! I whine and complain every time I have to do one of these things, but still I have to do them. I also refuse to tag, so if you want to do this, go for it. Me, I am huffing and posting. Thanks to Kelly and Bre for tagging me on this (and who knows else, I am still catching up on everyone's blogs).

The rules...You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.) When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post and then choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't' forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Bre did Marie, I will do it and Heather should. What's up with everyone born in the late seventies scoring that middle name? It isn't very cool, though I chose it over my maiden name for my drivers license when I got married (because Politz, really?) Anyways, a salute to the seventies and me all at the same time:

Mother - it is a job and a joy, though not necessarily at the same time all the time. Dylan is pretty much the coolest kid ever and I get to claim at least 50% of his DNA
Assertive - I know what I think and I stand by it. I know what I want and I go for it. I stand up for others and I don't back down.
Responsible - I am the one who is responsible to a fault, though I've relaxed a lot in the last couple years. I don't like debt and I live within my means.
Idea driven - My soul is driven by the fact that I have hope in the idea that one day people will accept each other and stop judging each other on such arbitrary things like sexual preference, religion, race, blah blah blah. I love the idea that one day Dylan can do whatever he wants with his life. Rock star or rocket scientist, his world is open. I also am comforted by the idea that my world is still open too.
Educated - I love school. If I could get paid to go, it is where you can find me. It makes me feel good to know a lot and to challenge my mind to go to higher levels. Unfortunately, because I am responsible, I hate to rack up student loans so I am not going back...quite yet. So for now, I settle for TV, books and magazines.

With a different name, I might have been able to talk about how funny and witty I am, but I guess that is for another tagging and another posting...

and then I got this from Krystn's:
Put an X by all the things you've done, or remove the X from the ones
you have not, and send it to all of your friends (including me.)

This is for your entire life:
(X) Smoked a cigarette
(X) Drank so much you threw up.
(X) Crashed in a friend's car.
( ) Stolen a car
(X) Been in love
(X) Been dumped
( )Been laid off/fired
(X) Quit your job
(X) Been in a fist fight
(X) Sneaked out of your parent's house
(X) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
( ) Gone on a blind date
(X) Lied to a friend
( ) Skipped an entire semester
(X) Seen someone die
( )Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
(X) Been on a plane
(X) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
( ) Gone to Washington , DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Felt like dying
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X ) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang karaoke
(X)Paid for a meal with only coins
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose And laughed
more after that
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Made a snow angel
( ) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about.
(X) Blown Bubbles
(X) Made a bonfire on the beach/campground
( ) Crashed a party
(X) Gone roller skating
(X) Gone ice skating

I have some explaining to do...

...at least it feels that way. I joined the team at ScrapFaith, a multi faith blog dedicated to scrapping one's spiritual journey. The team consists of Emilie Ahern Mormon, Heidi Sonboul Mormon, Stacey George Mennonite, Laura Solomon Jewish, Danielle Holsapple Non-Denominational Christian, Deborah Mahnken Anglican, Lizzy Wurmann Jewish, Heather Keller Lutheran, Nancy Misiewicz Methodist and me as an agnostic. Pretty cool list of chicks and I am honored to be among them. The first challenge goes out today, so check them out at http://scrapfaith.blogspot.com/

I am also quite a bit nervous. It is such a step out for me to come out in the scrapbooking world and all the sites I visit as an agnostic. I am afraid of what people will think, afraid people will judge me to be morally bankrupt and banished to the southern regions of hell =) (kidding, a little). What it boils down to is that I think people will focus on the differences between myself and others as opposed to the similarities (of which I promise there are more). I only do it because it is lonely to stand alone and I am hoping others will be different and relate and find comfort in my journey.

What is my belief? Heather and I were talking the other day about this and she was telling me about how a friend of hers who is hugely devout to her faith admitted that there are beliefs to her religion that she doesn't believe for herself. She picks the things she likes (which is still like 99.5% of her religion) and leaves the rest to hope. I am exactly like that, but I am picking the things out of many of the religions or belief systems out there. Here's what I put in my application about being agnostic:

"Agnostic isn't athiest. It is defined as:

1. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.

2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.

3. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something. <= ding, ding

I was raised a Catholic but after exploring other religion in high school and college, came to the conclusion that I had made no conclusion. I love the values that come out of religion and even a lot of the traditions, but to be able to profess that one is true over all the others isn't something I can do. I want my son to be raised with values and tradition of as many of the major religions as possible so that he can come to whatever conclusion he wants. I believe that the idea of God is a wonderful thing and I like the faith, love and strength that is encouraged. But I don't know it all and to scrap my journey would encourage others to accept that it is okay as long as you don't too. I am on many sites where Christians speak about their faith all the time and is lonely to have to keep your beliefs to yourself. This country was based on the freedom of religion, and I should be able to share it too. "

My faith is a journey, not a destination and I haven't found one religion that encompasses my beliefs. I am still open to religion, see the positivity it can bring and am a staunch believer of religious freedom. I would never tell anyone that they are weak/dumb/whatever for believing what they do because everything that regards faith has to do with the unknown and may defy human logic. I have a feeling that the whole story behind creation and life is bigger than the human mind can even start to understand and that our responsibility here is to follow the golden rule and serve our community in some positive capacity. I also would like to think that all the different religions in the world have a piece of the puzzle and not that one religion has "the" answer.

Please visit ScrapFaith and please support me and the visions of my cohorts. Anything positive you can leave for comments would also be appreciated since we're all sort of putting ourselves out there. Faith is a very personal thing and we're all sort of standing there in our underwear, but if it brings people together to coexist and understand each other, it is worth it.

Word on the Street

Big thanks to the guys at Sesame Street - the new season introduced a character named Murray who starts the episode with "Word on the Street," a vocabulary building skit. Dylan is soooo in love with Murray, his face brightens when he comes on screen, he laughs and then he immediately grabs for the remote so that Murray can introduce himself over and over. Hopefully there will be some Murray toys out soon, because he is a super duper hit in this household!!



When I went looking for Murray info, I googled him and came across an entire community of goobers who are devoted to sitting around and picking apart all the episodes. Observations included noting "risque jokes," screen time of Maria versus the others and other mundane things that just made me sad for them. If I found out that these were barren, single persons balancing their energy between Dungeons and Dragons and the Sesame Street forum, I would not be shocked. To think I felt pathetic watching the show as much as I do, at least I do it in support of my boy and not for giggles...

Oh, and we gave underwear another shot with Dylan because we like our furniture covered in pee. Really, we just think it is adorable...love this shot! I love to imagine the little stud he is going to be when he gets older... I suspect he will be one of those boys who is cute and when he gets in trouble, he just does something cute and everyone forgets. That's what he tries with me anyway, I try to put him in timeout and he smiles and dances for me. How do I discipline that?!

Not right, not fair

I knew that I was going to be connected to these 150 kids for a long time after teaching last year, but I was hoping to share more joy than not. I found out about a week or two ago that one of my students was being aggressively treated for leukemia. I was so sad for her and her family as all her friends were headed off to college and she was dealing with that. Well I found out last night that she lost her battle.

When I found out she was sick, it made me sad that she was sick in a hospital room while her friends were meeting their new roommates, seeing new cities, and starting a new chapter in college. Last night when I found out she had passed it made me sad to think of all the amazing things that have happened to me since I graduated high school and to think it might have all never happened. I learned a ton, I discovered who I am, I made a million and one great friends, met some not-so-special guys, met one special guy, had a great baby, had good jobs, saw so many places, and so on and so on.

I wasn't as close to this girl as I was to others, she was quiet and sweet. Now I wish I could have known her better because that was the only chance I had. I know a lot of people find strength and hope in their higher power when stuff like this happens, but it is probably when I resent religion and the idea that "everything happens for a reason" most of all. I could look at it as her being there to teach us all a lesson in loving life and appreciating everything in the moment, carpe diem, blah blah blah. It is hard to though. Because when kids have cancer and when kids die and while a million other awful things happen in the world, it is very hard to be grateful to the rhyme and reason of the universe. I'd rather think there's no one out there watching and that it is all a genetic fluke than to believe there is an all knowing entity who allows these things to happen for a reason. Because I have to think there's a better way to encourage us to be better people than to kill off people or make them suffer.

Anyways, sorry for a downer post after Labor Day. Enjoy everything about today, you just never know what tomorrow is going to bring...

Nothing new...

...but should that stop me from posting? I thought I would share Dylan's favorite singer, Lily Allen. Usually when he is cranky in the car I move the iPod to Lily as soon as possible. The beats make you just want to dance and dance, too bad she can't come to the US and do shows since she can't seem to master the art of a work visa. I'd totally go see her! Dylan has to wait until he is five though. I am a responsible parent like that. Here's one of my favorite songs, "Smile." I also like the new one with Common, look it up on youtube.