Summer’s Over

Today

The first day of school may be more anxiety ridden for me, than for the kids.

I toss and turn the night before, wondering if I’ve prepared them for the social angst, the work, the general knowledge of knowing where to go, who to trust, what’s in their backpacks.

And then we walk through the doors and, in the case of one, her head goes down and she’s more than determined to conquer each task given with determination and perfection. In the case of the other, he’s relieved that a summer of isolation is over and his social butterfly can soar free, talking 100 miles per minute.

After…comes the silence. Sitting in an empty home where I continue to fret and hope I’ve done my best for them to succeed and excel.

Glenn Beck’s Rally Makes My Heart Hurt

While Glenn Beck talks ‘Civil Rights’ -on the exact date and location of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech I feel the need to review.

Glenn Beck is the man who said:

“This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture…I’m not saying that he doesn’t like white people, I’m saying he has a problem. He has a — this guy is, I believe, a racist.”

Media Matters has a full round-up of Beck’s racially tinged remarks, because sadly that isn’t the only one.

While I am beyond offended this man and his followers will stand in THAT spot, on THAT day and invoke Dr. King…I am finding it more productive to take a deep breath and not give in to the overwhelming feeling of anger. While I want to yell and scream about being labeled a race baiter for even bringing up Beck’s racially moronic remarks and rhetoric that will have thousands of white people chanting his name…I’m going to again, take a breath…and look at this photo. Because a big smile makes it all better.

Tee hee @pigtailpals

And by the way, yes my daughter is wearing a girl astronaut t-shirt … something Mr. Beck doesn’t appreciate or care about.

So while throngs of Beck’s followers talk civil rights in DC, I am choosing to look to the future. To my daughter. To my son. And to the sanity even they bring to this otherwise ridiculous display of hate and greed.

Mom, that guy seems kinda crazy.

Yes he does baby. Yes, he does.

Sometimes, It IS Lupus

I plan on hoodwinking many idiots.

Two Weeks Notice

I miss having colds. You know, the kind where you get all miserable for a few days, people say how sorry they are you feel poorly, and you eat lots of soup. Colds are a manageable illness. Almost fun.

Now I have to explain, over and over again, we’re not entirely sure what’s wrong with my body (it’s an auto-immune disorder). And I can’t just take a box of tissue and some tea and go lay in bed.

It’s been two weeks since my total hysterectomy, and eight weeks since they took 13 inches of my colon and my entire gall bladder. It’s been 16 weeks since they first cut me open, poking around and cleaning inflammation and adhesions, trying to figure out why I had been so very ill.

I look like skin and bones, and not the good kind. As my husband says, I don’t look like someone who has lost a lot of weight…I look like someone who has been very ill. And it’s true, I’ve been very ill. Very, very ill.

I’ve penned my funeral wishes. Put on paper what I want for my kids and family after my death. Thought very hard about what should happen if my vital organs were attacked like their non-vital sisters.

It’s not easy to think about these things, but I was calm and they were necessary. In the moment you just … do. I felt I had to at least prepare for the worst so I would have no regrets if it all went South.

Family has flown in and out-of-town. Friends have visited. It’s been 16 weeks of questions and theories, all while I lay on the couch in my pj’s trying so hard to hold in all the emotion flooding my usually bustling body.

We’ve all sort of soldieredĀ on around here, waiting. Waiting to see if there will be four or five surgeries instead of these three. Waiting to see if they find Cancer. Waiting to see if I feel better when I awake from anaesthesia.

We know now there is no Cancer. And we are cautiously optimistic as this last surgery has me feeling better than I have felt in a year. But there always seems to be the other shoe that drops.

Fuck that shoe.

I’m done.

And I will keep that damn shoe in the air by sheer force of will if I have to. I feel stronger. I feel better. I’m eating, I’m walking more than just around the block. And I have every intention of revising those death wishes for many, many years to come.

There is something that happens when you spend your 10th wedding anniversary dancing in your kitchen, instead of a romantic Inn as planned. There is something that happens when your oldest child needs therapy for his mounting anxiety and your youngest re-enacts nothing but sickness and death with her stuffed animals. There is something that happens when you spend too many weeks in pj’s on the couch, petting your new puppy (a gift to help you heal) and wondering how to conquer the world while feeling more like taking a nap.

This body is officially on notice. There will be no other shoe to drop, there will be no more surgeries. There will be no more of this disorder. I’m done. And you’re getting off this couch.

Yes, my dear body, you can #suckit.

In fact, the next time you end up on this couch, it will be because of some measly cold. You will get tissues and maybe some soup, if you’re lucky.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on this frail frame of now 123lbs. But I don’t care. Tough love baby. Tough love. I have children to raise, a husband to dote on, and Democrats to elect.

…And I refuse to let anything get in the way… even my stubborn self.

An Open Letter to American Muslims

Dear American Muslim Community,

I’m not entirely sure how it must feel to have the President of your country reaffirm his Christian faith, so as not to be seen as one of you.

I’m not sure how it must feel to have a very vocal community demand you not build a place of worship, because they find it offensive.

I’m not sure how it must feel to be considered associated with terrorists, even when you are not. Or to always be under suspicion, when you do nothing to be suspicious of.

I am sure, however, that there are fellow Americans…like my family…who see you as true patriots. The kind who blaze a trail with the very foundation this country was built on, while others stand in their way. We wish with all our hearts the rhetoric in this country was not demonizing you, or your families.

I’m ashamed and embarrassed at how you are being treated in your own land. I can only hope they don’t go after Polish Americans next. Or Romanian Americans, because my family would be next in line for their hate. I suppose, in this current climate, my family is safe being white and coming from a Catholic and Protestant background. But you never know. The crazy that has enveloped our nation seems to know no bounds, and I wouldn’t doubt if my family is next.

It seems we are not safe in our own country from those who believe they are righteous and ‘true’ Americans.

But we know Muslim Americans are just as ‘true’ as any other American walking any street in any town.

I guess we should be thankful our country allows for this ridiculous discourse. That we can argue over it all, and scream our bigotry from the tallest building. I guess…I guess. But right now I can’t help but feel shame for the behaviors of our countrymen and women, hell-bent on assuming you are less American, out to hurt them, and afraid of your presence.

While I take issue with your choice of religion, much the same as I take issue with your Christian brothers and sisters, I am proud to live in a country where you are welcome to practice your beliefs. And I want it to be clear to you and your family that we do not all hate. We are not all bigots. And you are just as American as I.

But you already know this. You’ve been living it. And I don’t mean to speak of things I don’t know. I just want to say… I’m sorry.

Sincerely,

Erin Kotecki Vest

Once Upon A Time …

There was a bride…

Getting ready

She was filled with hopes and dreams and wishes…

Vows

Vows were made. In sickness and in health. In good times and bad. The cake was cut. And the bride and groom set off on their life’s journey.
1st dance
Together.

The good times came. So did the health. The bad times came. So did the sickness. A life was built. A family grew.

He loves her...but you can see the evil there...

Together.

10 years have passed since the bride had every hope and wish and dream in her heart as she walked down an aisle.

TEN.

And she can say, without hesitation or doubt…All her dreams have come true.

Can't say we're ever at a loss for entertainment around here

Happy Anniversary honey. I love you.

Smooch.

More US Troops FINALLY Out of Iraq

Well, a bunch of them anyway. And it’s long overdue.

This photo is from 2003, the day my son was born:

My son's birthday and the war

This is my son today:

photo.JPG

This is taking far, far too long.

Sarah Doesn’t Speak For Me

Don’t mess with us. Seriously. And while we’re at it…go and check out the original Mamma Grizzlies.

Rock on Emily’s List