Today is the 35th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision on Roe vs Wade. As we have the last two years, "bloggers for choice" are again speaking out, flooding blogdom with pro choice messages. We are being asked to speak as to why we feel Choice should be a viable option.

I will do such a thing.

It's really simple: If you take away my or anyone's right to choose, I get to take away a right of my choice from you. I do agree with the myriad of other bloggers who wish abortion wasn't used as a means of birth control, but sad as it is, it is their right to do so (those who do it, not the bloggers). And by taking away that right, you aren't saving any life at all, in fact, you are condemning it to a life in literal hell--a mother who doesn't want it, a father who is non-existant, an adoption system that is flawed and abusive, abusive adoptive parents or foster parents. No, unfortunately, if they mother is bent on having one done, best to let her have it--she's only ruining her body and thankfully, that child will be spared the hell it would be rasied in.

Emotion aside though, it is all about rights. What one takes away from one set of people, they then must turn around and take something away from another set. You can't tell me that I don't have the right to an abortion, because your faith dictates it to be "murder" and then turn around and be allowed to set up camp outside a PUBLIC building and demand they put "god" somewhere in their day to day workings. Because if it were up to me, that'd be one right I'd take from you.

But I can't because that right is protected by the Free Speech amendment in the Constitution. But if we are amending the Constitution anyway to fit whatever our "faith" dictates us to fill it with, then I want it amended to remove your right to speak. Are you willing to give up your right to Free Speech for the "saving of innocent lives"?

Probably not. So, stay away from my body and out of my womb and I'll let you say whatever you damn well please--no matter how insane it is. Whether you like it or not, your "god" has no right to my body and neither do you. I'd just as soon prefer you stay away from it and while you are at it, stay out of my bedroom (and the bedroom of millions of others), stay out of my house and my life. You have no right to tell me what to do with my body, who I do it with, where I do it in my house, or how I choose to live my life.

Fin
~~Me

Oh, and my birthday is on the 26th. And guess what DH bought me:

Yep--that man is all mine.

Yes, I'm still here.
No, I won't wait until all of that sells before I blog again.
I just haven't found much to say.

1--Squirt, our littlest turtle, died a week ago. He really was too tiny to be sold. But he died. The other two are still thriving though.
2--Squirt was buried TWICE. Pet Cemetary has nothing on my backyard. Something kept digging him up, but fortunately my tupperware kept him protected. Still can't find the bag we wrapped the tupperware in. TWICE. We ended up throwing him away. Princess-Brat-in-Training was very upset that he died. I mean, really upset. But it happens and she's fine now.
3--I've sold a lot of what's listed, so I can post again.
4--I still don't have a damn job, which sucks.

5--Irony. It's ironic that I am banned from one place and post at another and people who've never posted there before, who are from the banned place, are now suddenly posting over there. Spying on me, LA? Pathetic really. Especially since I had respect for Mx5. Well, you can call off your spies, I've no desire to get in to a pissing fest with you. If I want to say something about you or anyone else, you know damn good and well where to find it.

Lastly, this election is driving me crazy. Let's look at who's running, shall we:

For the Democropulicans:

Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator from New York and former First Lady
John Edwards, former U.S. Senator from North Carolina and 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate
Barack Obama, U.S. Senator from Illinois, and former Illinois State Senator

For the Republicrats:

Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas
Ron Paul, U.S. Representative from Texas and 1988 Libertarian Presidential nominee
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts

So let's see, we've got a scorned, burned and butt-ugly woman, a crazy southern white boy, and a confused african american (and no attacking me, this is humor, deal with it)... And then we have an uber-religious bible thumping freak, an even more confused white boy, and an even more screwed up uber-religious, bible thumping Mormon.

WTF happened to America? Why do we have people like this running for our Leadership? And more importantly, why do we have people willing to vote any of them in?

You wanna know who I'm voting for?

This guy: Self-declared potential candidate, Michael Moriarty, actor, writer, musician, and political activist. How the hell can you deny a guy who has played Hitler, a Reverend, and an ADA?

Of course, you can always vote for me. I think we should all write in "Scooby Doo" on the ballot. And honestly, I truely don't know who I'm voting for. It certainly won't be a Repulicrat and I don't want a Democropublican, but that's my only other choice.

Oh, and just for shits and giggles, BUY MY STUFF. Here's what's left:

Everything will be shipped via Media Mail. All prices INCLUDE postage AND insurance. I accept paypal to electricbarbarella@verizon.net and money orders (will ship as soon as I receive) only. Paypal payments ship out immediately on the next business day. Remember, ALL of my prices INCLUDE shipping cost!
(* indicates light book, ** semi-light, ***heavy, ****really heavy in terms of using media mail and packaging)

THESE THINGS NEED TO GO ASAP:
Rod/Staff Grade 7 English. Teacher, student and all workbooks. Clean, Solid and no writing. $30

Great Courses: The History of the United States, on CASSETTE. Audio Tapes all work and this does have mini work/reference books included in each box. Six tapes per box, 7 boxes. $55.00

Safe Young Drivers from Amazon. Brand new, never used. I'm only asking $12.00

Auto Upkeep Basic Car Care Book (for teen drivers). Brand new, never used. I'm only asking $10.50

REFERENCE BOOKS(general):
*Encyclopedia of World facts
*Essential Homeschooling (mom book)
((Each of these books will be $10 each))

*To the Edge of the Universe: The Exploration of Outer Space with NASA. Cool book by NASA with cool pictures and reference material.
(($5.00))

READING/LITERATURE/COMPREHENSION/ENGLISH
*Zaner-Bloser Reading for Information Level A. Written in scattered pages, but nothing that can’t be whited out or erased. Good reading comprehension book.
((These books will be $5.00 each))

SCIENCE
****Earth Science (high school)—well used set that includes the Teacher, Student, Activity worksheets, and lab manual. Lab manual is unused. Activity worksheets—some are, some are not. Placed in a 3 ring binder for ease of use.
((This set for $25.00))

****Biology (high school)---good set that includes the student, teacher, test bank, study guide, and lab manual. NOT USED, but old (still current information, just sat in a classroom for some time).
((This set for $30.00))

Grade 8 Science Voyages
Includes: Student, student lab, teacher lab, assessment/chapter tests, chapter review study guide and interactive teacher’s edition cd-rom. ($30)

MATH
*5th grade Spectrum Math Book. Pages are yellowed but they are clean and not used. I compared this to the “current” spectrum math book and the changes to the current one are very minor(color added and order of learning a little different).
*Brain Boosting Math Skills for 5th-6th grade. Written/colored in, but nothing that can’t be erased The pages that are colored in, can be copied on a black and white printer which will “remove” the colors (which are essential to figuring out the problems).
((These two books $5.00 each))

*** BJU Pre-Algebra: Student, 2 TE’s and test forms (I placed them in a 3 pronged folder) ($20)

HUGE FULL SETS:
Due to the sheer size of these book sets, shipping will be still be sent either via media mail or UPS, whichever is cheaper, but take into consideration their size. They will require a large box and will be very heavy.

****World Geography (High school) Student, Teacher, Assessments, Student Workbooks for Units 2-the end, Atlas, Maps book. I started to use this with mine, which is why Unit one is missing. Also, I have them all placed in a 3 ring binder for easier use.
((This whole set for $40.00))

****The Americans (HS American Government Set): TE, Student, Reading Toolkit (has binder), 6 volume (3 english, 3 spanish) VHS set ***UNOPENED*** companion to the program, 6 CD-Roms that work with the program, and 28 different teacher helps, transparencies, guides and chapter workbooks as well.
This set is BRAND NEW and never used. ALL CD-Roms are unopened and nothing is written in.
Including shipping cost, I am asking $100 for the whole set. It will be shipped in a secure box.

**** Geometry set: Like above: 8 CDroms that include the teacher’s edition on CD, 2 interactive chalkboards, tests, etc. A student text, Workbooks for each chapter, Dinah Zikes Foldables, and a solutions manual. Comes in its own box with strap. All CD’s clean, unopened and unused. All books clean and unused.
Including shipping cost, I am asking $100 for the whole set.

Remember, ALL of my prices INCLUDE shipping via Media Mail. If there is anything you want, reply to my email at electricbarbarella@verizon.net with what you want in the subject AND the body of the email and how you will be paying. I will have more later.

~~Toni

Hoagie's Gifted Kids Website: The most ridiculous things heard!

Now, I'm not going to pull a certain boycotted website's shrill of "Keep them home! OMG Eleventy!!!!111!!". However, in reading these comments, I was torn between "Umm, then why are they still in school?" and "When I become a teacher...".

Funnily enough, her website is actually full of great "gifted kid" information. There might even be some stuff you could use.

In reading some of those comments, though, I really did find myself going "That's why I pulled my own two out". Some of those comments were just sad. Sad as in "I can't believe how fucking stupid "Bureaucreducators" really are" (and I want to be a teacher!). Fortunately, some are on there who have pulled their kids out of school completely, to homeschool them.

Do you know how many of those comments I saw my own self in? Particularly the reading ones. I was reading by age two, having taught myself how to read out of my mother's medical texts! I was speaking in whole and complete sentences and applying logic to everything spoken to me. Yet, my mother was told that I was too smart and needed to be "slowed down". I was making the other kids feel bad.

When I told someone (on my loverly "I'm banned" board) that my daughter, then in only 5th grade, was gearing up to read "Scarlett Letter", they exclaimed that the subject material was "above her head". Now taking into consideration this board's population of people, I can only wonder if the "above her head" comment actually meant "Why would you want her learning how pathetic we really are?".

Well, because it makes you human. And yes, in 5th grade, she not only understood, but also comprehended the fact that the "Christians" in that book were morons. When she was in public school-- a school that was predominantly Migrant-- her principal told me that she had tested (in 4th grade) on a "1st grade reading comprehension level" and that if she didn't "ace" the FCAT next semester, she would be put in to 1st grade remedial reading classes. Forget the fact that this school's testing was on the level of the least intelligent there, and that most of the kids taking the tests needed english-speaking assistance, her tests scores showed she was "stupid" and would be put back. When I brought her in for this conference, she was reading one of my own college texts--Intro to Criminalistics. She read it outloud to the Principal, she read it outloud to the teacher, perfectly. They then "quizzed" her on what she read. She "aced" their quiz.

I was then told "Well, that figures. This is all she has to read at home. Quit allowing her to read such advanced books and give her something on level with the other kids in her class. This is why her reading comprehension level is so low, she's comprehending things at too high a level for her age group". HUH?? WHA??? Not even on HER level, but on the level of the other kids.

Gah! I am glad I have the freedom to homeschool (and the more I think on it, the more that word should really be two words). I'm glad my kids are sitting here right now discussing the "writ of mandamus", Charles Pinckney, William Marbury, and the "midnight judges".

Instead of "Fuzzy Wuzzy" and "How now Brown Cow?"

~~~toni

And I think they know me... like someone's watching me or something..

What Antonia Means

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

~~Toni

Rocky, Bullwinkle and Squirt. Two yellowbellies and one musk(squirt is the musk and he's just the most adorable thing ever)...

"Dude, hey, a little help here"... Rocky is already on the rock.

"Hey Guys"...

"Guys?"....

We bought ten ghost shrimp for them to eat, we'll have to get more real soon as they've already eaten 3 or 4 of them. Squirt is trying so hard to catch another shrimp, he's already had one. Rocky is the yellowbellie with red on his face. Bullwinkle is the other one. And Squirt is the itty bitty baby Musk.

Anyway, Princess-Brat-in-Training is in love.

IT WAS NOT ME! Those of you coming here to see if I've said anything, for once, I honestly and truly did not do it!!

So, look the other way. Like on the West Coast other way. I'm East Coast. It wasn't me. Get it now?

~~Toni

10 Favorites:

Favorite Season: Cold
Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Time: Bed Time
Favorite Food: Italian
Favorite Drink: Coffee
Favorite Ice Cream: Breyer's Reese's Peanut Butter
Favorite Place: Australia
Favorite Sport: Wrestling
Favorite Actor: Too many to list.
Favorite Actress: Ironically, I have none

9 Currents:

Feeling: Horny
Current Drink: Blueberry Tea
Current Time: Midnight
Current Show on TV: No TV, Downloading Music(Gasp!) and listening to music
Current Mobile used: Samsung color screen flip-phone from Cingular
Current Windows Open: Opera with a few message boards, including one Duran Duran Board
Current Underwear: Women's boxer briefs
Current Clothes: DH's Wabash College Sweatshirt, sweat pants and slippers
Current Thought: Singing to Styx

8 Firsts:

First Nickname: Missy or Miss Priss (ahh, duh)
First Kiss: I think it was 3rd grade
First Crush: I can't believe I am admitting to this--Shaun Cassidy, Davey Jones, a wrestler by the name of Kendall Windham andJohn Taylor of Duran Duran
First Best Friend: Charli
First Vehicle I Owned: 1976 Chevy Nova
First Job: Bakery at Publix
First Date: 8th grade Prom
First Pet: A dog named Petey who died on my bed.

7 Lasts:

Last Drink: Coffee
Last Kiss: The Mad Dad
Last Meal: A PB& J Sandwhich after Olive Garden earlier
Last Web Site Visited: Google searching for John Taylor pictures
Last Movie Watched: POTC 3
Last Phone Call: My Daughter who was out with her boyfriend and his mom
Last TV Watched: Yesterday I watched "A Diva's Christmas" to see John Taylor

6 Have You Ever...

Have You Ever Broken the Law: Yes, but never been caught
Have You Ever Been Drunk: Umm, this IS me we are talking about.
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: Frequently
Have You Ever Been in the Middle/Close to Gunfire: Yes. During the Rodney King riots, St. Pete had their own version.
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: Yeah, got caught too.
Have You Ever Broken Anyone's Heart: Yep.

5 Things:

Things You Can Hear Right Now: Styx's Mr. Roboto
Things On Your Bed: DH, 2 body pillows, several regular ones and blankies
Things You Ate Today: Olive Garden and the sandwhich
Things You Do When You Are Bored: Sit on this stupid computer
Things You Do For Comfort: Music and sleep

4 Places You Have Been Today:

My House, Job hunting, Olive Garden, Pet Store

3 Things On Your Desk Right Now:

Tea bottle, my mouse and snot rags (I'm still sick)

2 Choices:

Coffee or Tea: Coffee, coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee
Spring or summer: Cold

1 Place You Want To Visit:

Sydney Australia.

~~Toni

Leigh Ann, I won't remove this post because that's cowardice as well. I will just say this: If you wish, contact me. My email is no secret. I'm willing to talk. There are a LOT of things that have really rubbed me wrong and hurt me. Lots of "who can I trust" or "who can't I". Lots of things said that just should not be said by anyone who claims to be Christian. You've known me long enough to know that I am more real, more honest, more human than some claim I am. I've never claimed to be anything else other than what you've seen. It needs to end.

When first we practice to deceive.

Oh, Leigh Ann, you LIAR you and you call yourself Christian?

If you, as a homeowner, discover that someone to whom you've been kind and given an open invitation to visit--as long as they can adhere to some very basic guidelines about getting along with others and being respectful--has used your space for an opportunity to gossip or say hateful things about YOU or has made life extremely unpleasant for many of your other guests, I ask: Do you still keep the door open for that person?? Knowing that they have no respect for you, even hate you, hate how you run your household, and use everything you say as fodder for their gossip and unpleasant commentary at THEIR house, do you use the knowledge you've gained and do something about it or do you just let it continue on and on? Is that really what turning the other cheek has to mean?

I have NEVER done any of the above about you, ever. Until now. You are too boring to be "fodder for" my "gossip". In fact, I've never bad mouthed most of that board, with the exception of those that follow she-who-shall-not-be-named (...fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself...)

Anyhow. I've said many times and explained in our guidelines that what is said here, particularly in the difficult, tense or hurtful threads that are inevitable, should STAY here. It causes SO much gossip and hurt feelings and is extremely disrespectful, IMO, to take it elsewhere. I'm not talking about, "Hey on XYZ board they are doing a secret sister exchange...let's do one HERE!" I'm talking about any conversation elsewhere that begins with, "What do you think about what ____ said on TM?" or anything similar and you all know exactly what I mean.

And they have. I've never named names. Until now. And I only speak on the stupidity of certain things that I can't (due to censorship) speak on your board. I told you, you banned the wrong person and for the wrong reason. But hey, this is kind of cool now--I'm actually getting work done around the house.

I ask that those of you who post elsewhere keep the gossip about our board here away from me. I don't want to hear it unless it will really, truthfully have an impact on the friends at TM. Because if I hear hateful junk like I have been hearing, I will ban, delete and generally have my panties in the largest bunch you've ever seen.

How about I just go ahead and rot your crotch now? It's only "hateful junk" because it's the truth and no one likes hearing the truth. And that's just what it is-- the truth. It isn't "hateful junk" (as opposed to all of the things some of your "christian" friends have said about anyone who doesn't believe like they do? As opposed to someone calling a single unwed mom "worthless" and stating that the baby is "better off being given up for adoption?"--none of those are hateful?)...

It hurts, but there you have it. You may not understand it based upon what you've seen only here, but there is much more involved than that and I've made my decision based on ALL of it. I understand the ensuing upheaval, but I consider it a necessary part of cleaning house, so to speak. I'm sorry this got so long.

You are right, they won't understand what is going on and that there is much more going on than what they know. But you really should tell the truth, I mean the real truth, instead of coating it in wax and point it in your direction. That can't be a good "Christian Witness". And the ensuing upheaval is all your fault, darling. Remember that as well. You should have taken care of this a long time ago and gotten rid of Brenda when you were asked too.

But that's alright. You've banned her. And I said that if you banned her, I'd stop. So I'm stopping.

I just hope that whoever reads this, from your board, actually reads it the way it should be read and sees who the real liars and trouble makers are. (removed this part as I've spoken to Cocoaqueen and unless she is lying, which I can't honestly say I believe her to be doing, I issued an apology to her and am removing this part because of it).

Enjoy your bubble everyone. Enjoy it because one day it will pop.

Sad. Really sad.

~~Toni

Only the best Ventriloquist around
Jeff Dunham. OMG, this dude is the bomb. We had damn good seats to see him last night. Rang in the new year right after. I have never laughed my ass off as much as I did last night. This guy is just that damn good.

So, to start off with, some pre-show mayhem:

My Dh and I

I really do love him:

My Sister and her hunny:

Me and Sis:

The Sezzy Mad Dad:

The Men: Dorks. The Sis:Trying to pretend she knows nothing.

Sorry for the blurryness, you try taking pictures when you are laughing your ass off. It doesn't work. So these are the best of what I have. The rest of these are in thumbnail form, so you can click on them to get the larger version.

Walter. I swear Jeff met my grandmother and designed a doll after her. This is her male version. Crotchety, old and snotty.

I KEEL YOU! Achmed, the Dead Terrorist. Who also sang "Jingle Bombs" for us.

PEANUT! And Jose Jalepeno(on a stick)

Lastly, Bubba J. Now I gotta tell you the story of Bubba J. He's the epitomy of Redneck. And he was the encore last night. Jeff had said that he hadn't used Bubba J in a while, so he had a "script" he needed to follow a bit, just to help jog his memory. The problem was, the entire audience knew Bubba J's punchlines before Jeff could say them. So the entire encore was Jeff starting out the joke, and then Bubba J and the audience finishing it with the punchline. This was the only good picture I could get because WE had Jeff laughing his ass off on stage.

The best part of the night was when we came home. He swore he'd stay up until midnight. He swore he'd be awake when Aunt Toni and Uncle Bigstuff and Mommy and Daddy got home.
He didn't make it. He tuckered out.

So that was my New Year's Eve. I got to be home in time to watch the ball drop, kiss everyone in my family and speak to my little Sister at midnight. I got to go out on a double date with my Husband, my Sister and her Husband and have a rockin' great time. I truly rang in the New Year in a Very Good Way.

THIS, my friends, is the meaning of Blessed.

~~Toni