Happy Birthday to ME!by Angie
13 Nov 2008
12:11 pm3
Hi, I’m Angie & Jim’s Blog, and today is my first birthday! Exactly one year ago – November 13th, 2007 – I said “Hello, World” with my very first blog post.
I thought this would be a great time to ask for some feedback from those who visit and read me: How do you think I might be improved? What do you like or dislike about my layout, content, usability, etc? Which kinds of posts are you most interested in, and what makes them your favorite? Do you like the polls? Is there a link you think we should add to our blogroll? Do you have ideas for other pages that would be interesting? Leave me a comment and I’ll be sure to pass your thoughts on to Angie and Jim.
Thanks for your input!
What You Ought To Know about WYOTKby Angie
10 Nov 2008
1:11 pm2
Last week, someone in a “Protect Marriage” facebook group that I belonged to posted a link to a relevant podcast that was both entertaining and informative. I visited and watched the video…and then watched a couple of other episodes…and now I have a new favorite website: WhatYouOughtToKnow.com
The “Brothers Winn” research, write, and produce a new podcast every Tuesday about just about anything: science, politics, health, global warming, grammar, cooking, and more. In a special (and absolutely darling) episode this past July, they had a guest star named Jason – who is autistic – to help them talk about autism. WYOTK has been going for over a year and, if you compare the earliest episodes to the most recent ones, you can see a marked improvement in technicalities – pretty much all of them are entertaining and creative, however. Some of my favorite episodes are “Language Guide” (getting by in a foreign country), “Me, Myself, and I” (using the subjective vs. objective case of personal pronouns), and “Bioluminescence” (living things that glow). You can use the search box to the left of the video feed to look up particular topics or episodes.
Here is my very favorite episode of all:
CPR/First Aid Courseby Angie
8 Nov 2008
5:11 pm3
One of the many items on our adoption application accomplishment list is to take courses in both CPR and First Aid. Generally, these classes can be taught by American Heart Association or the Red Cross, which charges a variety of amounts of money (we were looking at a combined Adult & Child CPR/FA course that cost $80 per person). Luckily, LDS Family Services contracts with the American Medical Response (the people who answer 911 calls and bring paramedics to the scene of emergencies) to give classes a few times a year for just the cost of the textbook – $8.50.
So, we spent over five hours today up in Concord, learning how to give CPR, use an AED, treat burn wounds and snake bites, and package an amputated body part to safely accompany the rest of the body to the hospital. We practiced on mannequins, baby dolls, and each other. Our trainer was named Gabrielle, and she made a very long day manage to be pretty fun and interesting. Speaking of interesting – the most interesting thing I learned today: If you are having a pacemaker implanted, you’d better tell your doctor if are a golfer, because that actually affects where they decide to place it! Amazing. Too bad nobody told me that at nine years old…
All-Night Victory Party…by Angie
6 Nov 2008
10:11 pm2
I spent from 4pm to 7:30pm on election day traveling back and forth between three different polling locations as a “poll watcher” (which means I checked off names of people who had already voted from a list of people who had told us they were going to vote yes, then called the names in to the phone bank). My friend Joleen spent from 6pm to 7:30pm at the phone bank calling people who hadn’t voted yet to remind them to get out a vote before the polls closed.
I was confident from the start that Prop 8 would pass. I don’t know if it was Pollyanna-ism or just plain stubbornness, but I was convinced enough that we had planned a victory party with Joleen’s family for that evening. At 8pm, when there was nothing more we could do but wait, Jim and I took a big batch of cider and drove over to the Mills’ house, where Joleen had doughnuts of all shapes and sizes. Her husband, Kelly, and two of their kids, Brennan & Amber (and some friends), were all there as well. We sat around the table with our cider and doughnuts and were positively exasperated with the presidential election news because we wanted them to just get to the point and announce the result for Prop 8! Unfortunately, the counting was miserably slow. Eventually, friends had to go home; later, Amber had to go to bed. Finally, Brennan headed to bed as well, leaving the four of us watching and waiting. Kelly brought his laptop downstairs so we could get minute-by-minute updates, because the news stations only touched on the proposition results intermittently.
When we had seen the same news highlights several times because the stations had run out of new things to say (and the precincts were still only about 40% reported), Joleen and Kelly played a recorded episode of LOST, explaining things as it went since Jim and I had never seen any of it before. When that was through, it was well past midnight. We stayed for a little while longer, but we were all tired and frustrated and we finally decided to call it a night.
Home we went, with the leftover cider, intending to crash in bed when we got there… but I just couldn’t bring myself to go to sleep without knowing! Instead, we put our pjs on and watched an absolutely hilarious documentary called, “The Natural History of the Chicken.” Ok, maybe it was hilarious because it was 2am, but I laughed so hard I cried a couple of times! We finally went to bed near 4am, when the polls indicated that Yes was up 52% to 48% with 86% of precincts reported.
Despite the anti-climactic lack of a particular “We WON!” moment, I was very pleased, relieved, and grateful.
In God We Trustby Angie
3 Nov 2008
2:11 pm3
This month has been a roller coaster! I apologize that we haven’t kept our blog very up-to-date, but everything has been moved to the back burner while we campaign for Proposition 8. This is our first experience being part of a “grassroots movement.” It wasn’t exactly fun – honestly, I hope I never have to do something like this again – but it has certainly been an amazing experience, and I’ve learned a lot.
We’re making phone calls again today, and will be waving signs downtown for another hour or two this afternoon. Tomorrow I’ll be at one of the polling locations (the legal distance away) with signs and fact sheets to help any last minute undecided voters see the issue clearly. It’s amazing to think there are really less than 36 hours left in a project that has taken up our time and emotions for the past several months! I’m so grateful for the prayers, fasting, donations, and support of all our family and friends. I’m very confident that we will be successful, and trust that, after all we can do, California is in Heavenly Father’s hands.
Letter to the Editorby Angie
20 Oct 2008
1:10 pm3
Last week I voted “Yes” to the Tri-Valley Herald’s online poll, “Do you support Proposition 8?” In addition to the poll, there was a link to submit a 50-100 word response to the editor as to why or why not. I put my two cents in, emailed the poll link to several friends, and proceeded to forget about it. Yesterday, though, a friend in my ward named Sandy Guyman approached me before Sacrament Meeting and said, “Congratulations! You’re famous!” …I had to admit, I had no idea what she was talking about, so she laughed and said that the Herald published my comments in Saturday’s Letters to the Editor! I’ve submitted so many responses and comments on various sites over the past couple of weeks that I couldn’t even remember what I had written in that case! Since we don’t take that paper, Sandy kept it for me and her husband brought it over to us last night.
I can’t seem to find it anywhere on the Herald’s website. They have a page of links for Letters to the Editor, but there is no link for October 18ths letters. Anyway, here is what i wrote:
“Various ethnicities receive ‘civil rights’ because the distinctions of race are completely innate and beyond their control. The choice of whether to act or not act on homosexual passions or appetities may be difficult, but it IS a choice. . . . And it happens to be a choice that (in 2000 at least) the majority of Californians did not think warranted legal endorsement. Californians who still feel the same way should continue to stand up for these beliefs by voting Yes on Proposition 8.”
Jim and I spent quite a while last night reading the rest of the responses, and I’d like to share my favorite:
“I think children all deserve to have a mother AND a father. Men and women have different strengths and they compliment each other.” …emphasis added by me, because I certainly hope so! 🙂 The misspelling may have been a Lapsus Clavis, but I agree with both the literal and intended meaning.