I know there are are some of you out there that read my blog, because I have a couple of hundred profile views, so I will give you young readers, if there are any out there, some advice: Please stay in school if at all possible.
I am not going to tell you a sob story, just the truth. When my dad died, when I was 13, my mother, a housewife, did not drive nor did she speak any English. After our dad died, my brother and I really struggled for many reasons, but mainly, coping with the death of our beloved father was extremely difficult. Our father was a lovely man, who dearly loved his children. Both my brother and I were in our early teens when our dad died, so it took a very long time for us to accept our father's passing. Neither one of us were ready to let go of our father. Struggle also came in the care and emotional support of our mother. She was devastated, lonely and so lost, and seeing my mother's sadness was sometimes too much to bear.
Within months of my dad dying, my mother took at job at a battery factory, which made batteries for the military or commercial use only. Her job was to clean batteries with an acid solution. By the time I was 15, my mom became disabled with lung problems due to her inhaling the fumes from the solution day in and day out. So, now, my brother and I had no father and a sick mother; we were 16 and 15, respectively. Needless to say, my brother and I had to find jobs to support the family, since we could not survive on my mom's widow's pension, and in Florida in the mid-70s, disability was not an option. My brother took a job working as a busboy at a local Italian restaurant after school and on weekends, and I babysat and cleaned office buildings at night.
By the time I was 17, we decided to sell our small house, and move to California, where all of my mom's relatives lived. We got very little from the sale of the house, since my dad purchased it in 1971, and we sold it 1976. When we arrived in California, we had about $1,000 in our pockets. Thankfully, jobs in California were easy to find. My brother got a job the same week we arrived at a Ford dealer washing cars, and I became a "flag girl" at Universal Studios (I stopped the tourist trams when filming was taking place). The flag girl job was shortlived, because I decided to go back to school, since I had dropped out of HS in the 10th grade, and only had my GED,so I signed up at a business school to learn legal secretarial skills, and at 19, I had my first legal secretarial job. I thought I was the cat's meow! My brother also found a good job at a lab assistaning scientists in metalurgical applications. We were both styling! But true to a man's sometimes selfish behavior, once my brother found a girlfriend, he moved out and left my mother and me to make it on our own. His income now was being consumed with rent and supporting his unemployed girlfriend.
I struggled to make ends meet, but I did it. To make a long story short, because of my many obligations to my mother, work, then marriage and motherhood, I gave up my dream of ever going to college, at least, at that time. However, I got the college bug again when my daughter was 10, and I would take a class here and there at a local community college. I did this for 6 years, and just when I was close enough to complete enough units for an AA degree, in 2001 my mother had a stroke and my house caught fire, all in the same month of February. The house fire was devastating enough, since I lost one of my dogs, but struggling with my mom's stroke almost killed me. I completely dropped out of school. It took two years to fix the house, and it took my mom two years to get to a point where she was able to get back to a somewhat normal life. I started taking classes again at the community college, and also began the process to attend CSUN. Within weeks of receiving my acceptance letter from CSUN, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. From the beginning, the oncologist told me that the cancer was treatable, but that she would not be deemed cancer free until 5 years. Her cancer diagnosis devastated me. I was just beginning to start to breath again, when it seemed like the life was smothered out of me again. I, again, gave up the dream of going to college. My mom's health came first.
Today, I am happy to say that my mom's 5-year cancer anniversary was early his year, and my family celebrated big time. I also went back to school to finish the last 3 units I needed for an AA degree. Yesterday, I received a letter from my college informing me that I had completed all requirements to receive my AA. As of today, I am proud to say that this 50-year old is finally a college graduate, and with honors! I now have an AA in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Yipee! I am so happy!! It has been a long road, and a lot of heartbreak and struggle, but I finally did it. Now, I am looking into Bachelor's programs. This time, nothing is going to stop me. Wish me luck! :)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
New York Sucks
Our country is going to hell in a hand basket. Honor an event that led to the killing of millions of people; but don't donor a nun that was a symbol of goodness and love. Good going New York and Fuck You!
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/dissing_mother_teresa_lyJW6KgnRHAWBNhtU8pfDM?sms_ss=facebookAstronomy Club
Had an amazing time last night with the Astronomy Club at the Mt. Wilson Observatory for a viewing of the night sky with the amazing 60-inch telescope. Saw amazing astronomical objects, like Saturn (which blew all of our minds), the Twin Stars, Mars, M51 (the Whirlpool galaxy), and at 9:38 p.m., we went outside to see... the International Space Station track across the sky. It was truly a magical night. :) For those interested in someday looking through this amazing telescope, go to: http://www.mtwilson.edu/60-inch/60inBrochure.pdf
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Congressman Hoyer is a DOPE!
Hoyer must be smoking that wacky tobacky again. Not sure if Hoyer has been informed, but both recent terror attempts (the underwear bomber and the Time Square bomber), were foiled by ordinary citizens. Both attempts could have easily gone off, and killed innocent people. Then we blame it on Bush, right? Both of these would-be terrorists should have been on the Watch List; but, alas, they were not returning war veterans, Tea Party people or White Militia Groups (Napolitano's true concern). :/
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/95931-hoyer-dems-more-successful-at-fighting-terrorists-than-gop?page=11#comments
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/95931-hoyer-dems-more-successful-at-fighting-terrorists-than-gop?page=11#comments
So true...
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.If a liberal is
homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a conservative is down and out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!).
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.
If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it, so his friends can have a good laugh. A liberal will delete it because he's offended. The mirror is unflattering.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Life....
Ugh... I find sometimes that I complicate my life. I don't know why. I just do. I tell myself I will never do this or that again, and there I go, doing it again. I fall prey to my own vices. I try to talk myself out of things, but there is this burning urge inside of me that won't go away...it's tugs and pulls at me, it changes my thinking, it crashes my efforts, it derails me. I have a personality flaw. I know I do. This flaw is ingrained in my being.. It is who I am. I cannot change it. I've tried; alas, I will continue to be me, and being me sometimes is not easy, but it sure can be a lot of fun!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Conservative v. Liberal Issues
I find it interesting to hear that conservatives are closed-minded, when I find that liberals always think they are right. As a centrist, I find it much more difficult to discuss politics with liberals. They are really more closed-minded than conservatives, seldom budging even a millimeter.
Religion and Politics.
As I don’t belong to any organized religion, so follows with my politics. I am an independent thinker. Although I do agree that Republican politicians tend to seek the Christian-right vote, many of my Republican friends are quite secular, and many of my Liberal friends (mostly the Hispanics ones), are VERY religious. Go figure. Many Liberals believe that Prop 8 passed due to the conservatives. I totally disagree. The gay marriage issue is not an exclusive conservative/Republican issue. I will agree that Christian right conservatives may (emphasis on may) not want to accept same sex marriage; however, I do believe this is NOT a Democratic or Republican issue. It’s a personal issue. Many of my Republicans friends simply don’t care about gay marriage. It’s “to each its own.” Prop 8 passed by over 52% of the vote in California. In a state were over 60% of the voters elected Obama, then we must assume that not only conservatives or the religious right backed Prop 8. In fact, Democratic Hispanics and Blacks overwhelmingly supported this gay marriage band. I find this very hypocritical “let’s vote for Democrats for social issues (entitlements and freebies), but let’s vote like conservatives on family values issues.” Obama also is not an advocate of same-sex marriage, as he clearly stated that he believed a marriage to be between a man and a woman in one of his debates. No one seems to remember this.
The Patriot Act.
Regarding the Patriot Act, a sore issue for many Libs, Obama extended the Act with minor revisions for one additional year, when it was due to expire earlier this year. It was easy for Obama to criticize Bush's attempt to keep us safe, but now that he is charged with the same task of keeping Americans safe, he extends Act that he criticized during his campaign for President. This does not sit well with me. If protecting my family from radical Muslim terrorists or from anyone that means to harm them means wire taping my entire home, office and car, and sticking a surveillance camera on my butt, then so be it. Funny how no one seems to complain about supermarket stores tracking everything we buy with those "value cards," or Google having live cameras everywhere (where even cheaters have been caught by spouses), or most of us posting or blogging our lives away on the Internet, but we take issue with an Act passed specifically to protect us from harm. I just don't get it. It's just all about hating Bush, not about the actual Act. Interesting how little coverage or opposition Obama extending the Patriot Act received. Not even a peep.
The Pledge of Allegiance/Prayer in Schools.
About prayers in the school…as a kid, I said the Pledge Allegiance and a small prayer each morning (mostly about God protecting our country and our families (you know, awful stuff), and it did not seem to hurt me one bit. Our country was founded on the Judeo-Christian faith, those who wish not to worship, have the freedom not to, but I find issue when someone tries to take that right from someone else. A child siting quietly at his desk for a few minutes, without participation, is not going to kill him/her. If the child can listen today's rap music, certainly a short prayer will not burn his or her ears. Look at what is going on with our youth today…beatings of other kids for no reason, disobedience in the schools, truancy, destruction, harassment of other kids, crime, sex, drugs, etc. Growing up as a kid in the 60s and 70s, where religion did play a role in our lives, was a good thing. It was easy being a kid when I was a kid. I am glad I am not a kid today, and that my daughter is 25, and beyond the craziness that is today’s youth. If this is what it means to oppose prayer in schools and pledge allegiance to our country, and stomp on family values; honestly, I want no part of it. Having faith should not be criticized so readily, my co-worker just spent his weekend in Mexico building houses for the needy through his church. People of faith and faith-based institution's positives far outweigh the negatives, if one can call them negatives. One should try to see the goodness first, before decrying what is perceived to be the constraints of faith.
The Sexual Revolution.
Another example of progress gone awry, is the sexual revolution, essentially the rebellion against puritanical thought, but look where it has led us...children in poverty and/or neglected due to women having children that they cannot afford, and raising them without a father. You obviously know about the statistics of single mothers on welfare, or how many in the prison population come from single mother households. I am not knocking single mothers. Many work very hard, and keep the family together, but this is just reality. The numbers are there for everyone to see.
Labels.
Being Republican or a Democrat, or whatever, should not be a label that is affixed to anyone permanently. Peel back that label sometimes, and one may be pleasantly surprised.
Religion and Politics.
As I don’t belong to any organized religion, so follows with my politics. I am an independent thinker. Although I do agree that Republican politicians tend to seek the Christian-right vote, many of my Republican friends are quite secular, and many of my Liberal friends (mostly the Hispanics ones), are VERY religious. Go figure. Many Liberals believe that Prop 8 passed due to the conservatives. I totally disagree. The gay marriage issue is not an exclusive conservative/Republican issue. I will agree that Christian right conservatives may (emphasis on may) not want to accept same sex marriage; however, I do believe this is NOT a Democratic or Republican issue. It’s a personal issue. Many of my Republicans friends simply don’t care about gay marriage. It’s “to each its own.” Prop 8 passed by over 52% of the vote in California. In a state were over 60% of the voters elected Obama, then we must assume that not only conservatives or the religious right backed Prop 8. In fact, Democratic Hispanics and Blacks overwhelmingly supported this gay marriage band. I find this very hypocritical “let’s vote for Democrats for social issues (entitlements and freebies), but let’s vote like conservatives on family values issues.” Obama also is not an advocate of same-sex marriage, as he clearly stated that he believed a marriage to be between a man and a woman in one of his debates. No one seems to remember this.
The Patriot Act.
Regarding the Patriot Act, a sore issue for many Libs, Obama extended the Act with minor revisions for one additional year, when it was due to expire earlier this year. It was easy for Obama to criticize Bush's attempt to keep us safe, but now that he is charged with the same task of keeping Americans safe, he extends Act that he criticized during his campaign for President. This does not sit well with me. If protecting my family from radical Muslim terrorists or from anyone that means to harm them means wire taping my entire home, office and car, and sticking a surveillance camera on my butt, then so be it. Funny how no one seems to complain about supermarket stores tracking everything we buy with those "value cards," or Google having live cameras everywhere (where even cheaters have been caught by spouses), or most of us posting or blogging our lives away on the Internet, but we take issue with an Act passed specifically to protect us from harm. I just don't get it. It's just all about hating Bush, not about the actual Act. Interesting how little coverage or opposition Obama extending the Patriot Act received. Not even a peep.
The Pledge of Allegiance/Prayer in Schools.
About prayers in the school…as a kid, I said the Pledge Allegiance and a small prayer each morning (mostly about God protecting our country and our families (you know, awful stuff), and it did not seem to hurt me one bit. Our country was founded on the Judeo-Christian faith, those who wish not to worship, have the freedom not to, but I find issue when someone tries to take that right from someone else. A child siting quietly at his desk for a few minutes, without participation, is not going to kill him/her. If the child can listen today's rap music, certainly a short prayer will not burn his or her ears. Look at what is going on with our youth today…beatings of other kids for no reason, disobedience in the schools, truancy, destruction, harassment of other kids, crime, sex, drugs, etc. Growing up as a kid in the 60s and 70s, where religion did play a role in our lives, was a good thing. It was easy being a kid when I was a kid. I am glad I am not a kid today, and that my daughter is 25, and beyond the craziness that is today’s youth. If this is what it means to oppose prayer in schools and pledge allegiance to our country, and stomp on family values; honestly, I want no part of it. Having faith should not be criticized so readily, my co-worker just spent his weekend in Mexico building houses for the needy through his church. People of faith and faith-based institution's positives far outweigh the negatives, if one can call them negatives. One should try to see the goodness first, before decrying what is perceived to be the constraints of faith.
The Sexual Revolution.
Another example of progress gone awry, is the sexual revolution, essentially the rebellion against puritanical thought, but look where it has led us...children in poverty and/or neglected due to women having children that they cannot afford, and raising them without a father. You obviously know about the statistics of single mothers on welfare, or how many in the prison population come from single mother households. I am not knocking single mothers. Many work very hard, and keep the family together, but this is just reality. The numbers are there for everyone to see.
Labels.
Being Republican or a Democrat, or whatever, should not be a label that is affixed to anyone permanently. Peel back that label sometimes, and one may be pleasantly surprised.
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