Vaccine Truth

Our family has avoided vaccines for some time. I began to educate myself when my oldest boys were little. Of my five, only my three oldest have had any. We live in Florida where the kids have religious exemptions from vaccination for their attendance in public school.

I am grateful to COVID for bringing concerns about vaccines to light.

I thought I’d share my thoughts on why we have objections on religious grounds. (I have other concerns as well but will focus here on the religious reasons.)

Did you know that many common childhood vaccines as well as COVID vaccines are reliant upon fetal cell lines?

“Fetal stem cell lines are an industry standard in scientific and medical research and are commonly used in research and development of most medical products available today.” The Covid vaccine is not the only modern medicine to be made with fetal stem cell research, Steve Staeger, msn.com, 9/15/2021. Certain of the COVID vaccines as well as prescribed childhood vaccines are among these.

The Catholic faith to which our family subscribes, and which mandates a respect for life, permits the use of these vaccines unless an alternative exists to prevent greater harm that could result in the absence of such use. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has directed that Catholics should choose Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna rather than the Johnson & Johnson version which is created using fetal cells. (Summary of recent Catholic doctrine and issuances from various Catholic authorities.)

One bases of this dictate is that the original fetal cells were harvested long ago (1960’s or 70’s by most reports). However, do you recall that it recently came to light that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal tissue? Planned Parenthood stops taking reimbursements for fetal tissue, Stephanie Armour, Wall Street Journal, 2015.

For me the arguments about greater good and the fact that the fetal cells used are from abortions a long time ago (likely 1960’s or 70’s according to most sources) do not completely absolve my own conscientious objections. Each person needs to make his or her own informed decision. My guiding life principle is that my obligation is to take as good care of my body as possible with healthy food derived from ethical and sound sources and other means. I recognize that I am not going to live forever but while I am on earth I want to live as healthy and ethically as possible. This requires clear thinking and decisions based on it. I acknowledge that different results can occur from considering the same material but the objective is to provide the knowledge.

Holidays Without Your Kids 😢🎄🤶

When you are a single mom the first holiday without your kids can be devastating.

This year my kids were with me the last week of school and we tried to incorporate some fun pre-Christmas activities. For example we decorated pre-baked cookies. When they were really little my Mom was still alive and would bring over gingerbread people she had baked for the kiss to decorate. I still feel the absence of her especially at the holidays. I can bake but rarely make time. So ours were pre-baked but it was still fun to decorate one evening when the homework load was light for everyone.

The week leading up to Christmas, their first week of Christmas break, my kids were with dad and they had a lot more time for activities. This year we didn’t get to do a lot of things we would have together so some of those will have to wait until after Christmas.

One thing that you may find really hard to face, as I do, is to see your family sitting in the pew at church on Christmas Eve with your husband of 20 years and his girlfriend. It can drive you to the brink of heartbreak.

When you first divorce you may have high ideas of how well you will get along and co-parent from different houses. But this is unlikely. In my case things went statically south once the other woman openly entered the picture.

Christmases bring out any competition there may be between the parents as you are tempted to make your childrens’ Christmas the most special with gifts and experiences. You have half as much time to pack all this in as you used to and the loss is real.

I have decided that what you have to do is do whatever you need to to stay calm and provide your kids with a stable environment which they may not be receiving on the other end.

Florida Amusement Park Mom Hacks

Today I am going to address Sea World & Busch Gardens because this single mama of five is just finishing a whirlwind weekend pre-Christmas trip to both with my three teenage boys & two pre-teen girls. Not for the feint of heart but so worth the quality family time together & memories made! Follow my hacks to help your trip run smoothly!

We got discounted tickets to Sea World as part of a homeschool group (which we crashed…though we were invited! since we are not currently homeschooling 😅). But otherwise you can get a discounted pass to both Sea World & Busch Gardens since they share ownership.

Let’s start with best places to stay for a large family…I found Town Place Suites very serviceable with a nice sized room overlooking Sea World (amazing view of the roller coasters at night!). With two double beds and a fold out couch it fit 6 snugly but nicely (my youngest is still quite little). Breakfast included which is a great boon with hungry teenage boys. Beautiful pool which we did not get to partake in because we spent all day at the park, then went to dinner at nearby Mellow Mushroom and were off again early.

Don’t stay here! ⬇️👎🏻😝😛❌

Now to Sea World itself. This was our second visit. It has two or three major rides aside from the two standard “wet” rides, the round one & log flume. So the good thing is you really do not need a fast pass/quick que. Ride times vacillate quickly between 5 minutes & 60 minutes so catch it when you can. Manta is a very cool, different ride. Try it!

Called the Park Corniche. On AirBandB. Just say no, like we did with full refund about 5 minutes after arrival because they know they are a scam. Heebie jeebie ghetto sketchfest. No. Just NO.

The big deal at Sea World are the shows. It is so amazing to witness the relationship between the animals& their trainers! This year we saw the orca show first, followed by the sea lions, something new for us. The times for shows are posted outside the arenas where they take place but you can also check online.

I didn’t buy an all day dining pass at Sea World but probably could have used one. Come on, I have Teenage BOYS! We had one expensive meal, lunch, which totaled about $100..,.for chicken nuggets! 🤦‍♀️

Fast forward…Busch Gardens, an easy 1 1/2 journey back over to the west coast for a 10am opening, following our fairly acceptable continental breakfast at Town Place. I had oatmeal. Kids had muffins or fruit loops. Nothing special but a cheap way to feed 6. 👍🏻

At Busch Gardens I had obtained a Black Friday all day dining & quick que pass. Not inexpensive but Worth It. Actually compared it against the annual pass my ex wanted to split …I can recognize a Trojan Horse. If you live locally enough to go there more than once per year, ask yourself do you want to drive all day to ride two rides or do you want to make it worth your while? Our life is busy. I don’t know when we’ll go back. I opted for one big hedonistic day.

So we rode everything we wanted to …except the few that were inexplicably out of order…better than riding them if they’re out of order I suppose but still frustrating and prior notice should be given for those buying a day pass. Also BTW, quick que is not worth it for those who can’t ride the big rides because it is not accredited for little kid rides. So my youngest & I waited for rides in Sesame land while the four bigger kids enjoyed the full bennies of their quick que in the wider park.

The all you can eat is standard fare throughout the park..,pizza…more pizza…pizza anyone? I did find vegetarian Asian at one place. Unfortunately, the pass is designed to encourage you to sit down and eat inside so is not useful at the kiosks. Also unfortunately not useful for alcohol. Could someone please make an all you can drink pass for single mothers traveling with 5 teenagers?! ’d much prefer over the dining one! Don’t judge…I was staying over & have a 16 year old DD for the one mile drive to the hotel.

Breakfast at the Hyatt Place was much more acceptable…real glasses and overnight oats. The stay was more preferable as well because of the large pullout. I slept very comfortably on the pull out, even with my snoring child…guess I was ready for a good night’s sleep after those two big days!

On Race

Why is the government the only one asking about our race? In completing forms for private businesses I cannot recall a time when I was asked to provide my race. However every government form always asks me to choose one, with no option of choosing prefer not to answer. The most recent one had a category titled Caucasian/Latino. This got me wondering what Caucasian means, something I had never previously considered while dutifully checking that box while otherwise never being otherwise preoccupied by my race or others’.

In fact Wikipedia describes Caucasian as “an obsolete racial classification of human beings.”

Miriam Webster’s states that the term refers to those of or from what was historically known as the Caucus Region (think broadly modern day Russia and Turkey).

A Sapiens.org article states that “[t]he word “‘Caucasian’ is used in the U.S. to describe white people but it doesn’t indicate anything real.” The term itself actually has racist origins as it was purportedly derived by German anatomist Johann Blumenbach to describe God’s race as opposed to other “degenerate” classifications, and his theory was used in the U.S. to justify and institutionalize racism. (Why Do We Keep Using the Term Caucasians by Yolanda Moses, 2/1/17.)

Why is the U.S. government inquiring about race, either on any of its agency forms or in Census data? If we want to be non-racist let’s stop classifying based on shades of one’s skin color.

Requiring Reformation

Gotcha! 😉 Bet you thought this was going to be a politics or possibly religion article. Instead thought I’d offer a humorous piece (though still interwoven with my thoughts in general as you will find…).

Things to be reformed or possibly eradicated:

1. The way you are supposed to open refrigerated canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls. 🥐Do you know what I’m taking about? Maybe you are all home bakers and do not lower yourselves to this quick breakfast fix to feeding hungry kiddos. My mom was a master baker and always bringing over freshly baked breads, cookies, rolls, cakes, whatever you can imagine. But she left us for heaven in 2017 and 💔😢though I bake👩‍🍳, having learned from her, managing my five kid household and businesses👩‍💼👩‍💻 does not leave much time on a day to day basis. So, getting back to those canned thingies that are probably making Mom roll (sorry, Mom!), in this age of technology and innovation, why are we still struggling to pop it open by shoving a spoon in which works about 2% of the time, leaving plus otherwise to start hacking it with a knife like I did this morning which (fair warning!) created a bit of a mess.,❌

2. The School Book Fair. 📚📚📚✏️Hello. 🤔🤷‍♀️Amazon? Can someone explain the reason to invest all the time, energy & effort to set up a huge display to provide a synthetic shopping experience for children where no matter how poor you are parents are swindled into sending in hard earned dollars to be spent on smelly erasers? Thank you PTO.❌

3. School Pictures. 📸🤳Hello. Digital camera? iPhone? Snapchat? Instagram? A million selfies on your child’s phone? 🙅‍♀️Just no. I am not going to pay some third rate government contracted photographer to take pictures of my non-smiling, messy haired child with a brown background. I am definitely not going to spend money to hang it on my wall. (Okay, the first year I got swindled and they still hang but no more!) It hearkens back to my childhood when they used to use the same comb to flatten all our hair while we stood obediently in line (eww!). I’m sorry, but when, despite all the changes in the way we do life (cell phones, computers, grocery delivery…) why are we still having the government take pictures of our children and guilting parents into buying them? Seriously? Please think of some other way to demand money from school age children required to send their children to you every day for 7 hours.❌

Fall Green Smoothie 🥤🥗

My usual green smoothie recipe is baby spinach, some baby kale, cucumber, celery & ginger root, all organic, with filtered water. But it’s the time of year to add a bit of fall color to my usual green drink (still comes out green, no worries!) with the addition of fresh cranberries and orange. Yum!

Kindness

When did kindness come to be considered as the overarching value for society to achieve? We see it everywhere now, on bumper stickers and t-shirts, billboards, inspirational plaques and posters.

Has anyone considered what elevating this value, taken to its logical extreme, would look like?

I am not advocating any value replace it because I do not believe there is one most important value. They are all, responsibility, respect, hard work, right thinking, reason, loyalty, honesty, diligence, self motivation and control, important and work together.

If everyone is just kind what will be accomplished?

And what does it mean, this command to Be Kind? In whose estimation? When we stick up for the bullied we are certainly not going to be regarded by the bully as kind. When in business a company gives its all to push out a superior product it’s competitor(s) will certainly not regard this as kind.

So I think we should carefully consider exalting any one value over others lest we become lopsided in our regard and actions.

Community and Grace

I love this resource as well as Attorney Rebecca Zung’s YouTube videos on the same subject.

Here Renee talks about a narcissist’s constant state of unhappiness and the victim’s attempts to arrange their life to please him or her. I myself agreed to sell my dream house and move to another state where I could not work in my chosen profession (as a lawyer, regulated and licensed state by state in the US) where I would later pay over $3500 and spend 6 months studying to obtain a new business license, just to try to make mine happy. And guess what? He still wasn’t! Surprised? If you’re loving it you shouldn’t be. Bet it sounds familiar. I later left him and now I am happier in that new state! Give it a listen. Educate yourself. If it resonates, think about changes you might want to work towards. If not, great – you don’t have this issue! Pass it on to someone who might.

End of an Era

My former spouse gave me this Thomas Kincade when we got engaged. I was living in my little dorm at law school and it showed up. It is called Hyde Park and depicts a historic San Francisco, including Alcatraz in the background. We had visited San Francisco together on a big impromptu road trip shortly after he finished his one year graduate program and I had finished my first year of law school. It has accompanied me since to MI, NY, Denver and Naples. But we have been divorced three years now and it was time to make room for something new. Not sure what yet. That part of my wall is currently blank. But I sold it for what I could to a nice couple who I hope will enjoy it for years and took my kids on a vacation with the proceeds.