Facie’s Ramblings

A few days ago, I saw a disturbing story on the news. A dead baby was found in suitcase on an Erie street. Apparently, a woman starved her 14-month old, left her to die, stuffed her in suitcase, and then put that suitcase in her neighbor's trash can. You can read the story in the PG . Other than this woman murdering her child, the thing that really gets me riled up is this: In addition to the baby she birthed and killed, this 20-year-old woman also has a two- and a three-year old as well as one on the way. So for the past four years, this woman has gotten pregnant, had a baby, gotten pregnant a few months after giving birth, had a second baby, gotten pregnant a few months after giving birth, had a third baby, and gotten pregnant for the fourth time. Isn't that lovely? This woman should be sterilized, plain and simple. If that seems too strong (and I don't think it is), then she should be forced to receive monthly birth control shots or be inserted with that device that ...

To quote a 10,000 Maniacs song above, lately the weather has been freaking me out . I cannot believe the death and destruction in this country as a result of tornadoes and floods. It is jaw-dropping to see pictures of neighborhoods that have been leveled. And it is so sad to think about the lives lost, many of whom went to bed the night before as they always do, never to awaken again. Wow. Two nights ago, while lying in bed, I listened to the wind howling. A few times I closed my eyes tight, hoping the roof would not lift off. My heart was pounding, and I was praying that one of the tall trees in our backyard would not come crashing through the roof (or our year-old windows, for that matter). Fortunately, when I walked around the house the next morning, the only thing I noticed was about a dozen tree branches scattered throughout the yard and our ladder that blew off the side of the house (really wish Brian would put that thing away!). Then last night, after going to bad happy that...

In an hour or so, I will be heading to J's school to make copies of a survey I put together with the help of a small committee. At a tuition meeting two months ago, about 10 or so of us said we wanted the school to see better days. We wanted more for our money. Most of all, we didn't want to just complain; we wanted to help make things better. So about a month ago, I brought up the idea of a survey for the parents to fill out, and I presented a rough draft to the group at a follow-up meeting for the 10 or so parents at the tuition meeting who wanted to make things better. I received some input from some group members, and I am happy to say that most of the group was very complimentary and thanked me for my work on the survey (I put in hours and hours, believe it or not). The idealist in me likes to think good things can come from us. But am I just kidding myself? Some people hate surveys. They loathe the time spent filling them out. They are afraid their comments will have ne...

I spent over an hour today trying to resolve an online banking issue. For some reason, when I paid my sewage bill last week, I chose the old bill payee, the one that has not been the payee for over three years (our water company took over for the sewage company, FYI). I won't bore you with the details of the various phone calls and time spent online. And, yes, the error was all mine (why I did not delete the previous/old payee, I don't know). But it does make me wonder how accounting works in companies. When my check was electronically deposited into the old sewage company's account, didn't they check to see why they were getting money from us, when they had not in years? Can anyone explain that? It does not help that I am tired today. Tired because there was a domestic dispute three houses away last night after 11, when I was sound asleep. Unfortunately, when four or five people are shouting in the streets nearby, as a light sleeper, I will hear them. The upside is t...

I wanted to include a nice picture of my mom and me or, even better, one of my mom, Jordan, and me. But, alas, I have almost no recent pics of us, and the few I have are lousy, mostly because I dropped my camera last year (the poor gal has not been the same since). So this post, a short (!) tribute to my mom, will have to go photo-less, which is pretty much how most of my posts end up anyway. On this Mother's Day weekend, I am thankful and grateful for my mom. She sacrificed a lot for our family over the years, and she was always there for us growing up. She dried our tears, fixed up our boo-boos, and stood up and fought for us when she knew it was the right thing to do. She raised us to care about others, particularly family. She taught us right from wrong and got us to church every weekend. She made sure we always knew she was the parent, not our friend. Most of all, she loved us, no matter what stupid, wrong-headed things we did (and by we, I mean me as a high schooler and my ...

So Osama bin Laden (or Usama, if you are Fox News) was apparently taken out by the Navy Seals. I was quite surprised to wake up to that news when I turned on the TV yesterday morning. After I let it sink in for a minute and listened to the news people talk, my eyes welled up with tears. But the thing is I was not sure why I was crying. When I think of the thousands of tears I cried on 9/11 and off and on (mostly on) for weeks after, the few tears that rolled down my cheek seemed to pale in comparison. I am pro life. In pretty much every imaginable way. I know plenty of people who are pro-life when it comes to abortion, but they support capital punishment. I don't fault people for that view. In fact, it seems less contradictory than the views of people who support women's right to choose yet are against capital punishment. But this post is not to argue or even quibble about that. And if you know me at all, then you should realize I really, truly try to respect and even under...

As has been documented here and elsewhere many times, I am a crier. But, oddly enough, not always for logical reasons. I did not cry at my own wedding or at the birth of my child, yet I have cried at countless other weddings and births, most of which I witnessed on TV, involving people I don't even know! Speaking of my child and NOT crying, today my baby made her first communion. This is a big deal in a Catholic's life, though most kids cannot fully grasp what is going on. What pretty much every kid does understand is that they will be getting dressed up, quite a few people will be coming to watch them, they most likely will be having a party or going out to eat afterward, and the odds are great that they will be ending the day with some loot. We had a pretty small gathering at our pretty small house. Unfortunately, the weather dudes were wrong about the weather. I know, hard to believe. Last night, one of the weather guys said there may be a shower or two, and it would mos...