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Good morning! I was perusing Facebook just a few minutes ago and saw something interesting. It reads:

Don’t like gay marriage? Don’t get one.

Don’t like cigarettes? Don’t smoke one.

Don’t like abortions? Don’t have one.

Don’t like sex? Don’t do it.

Don’t like drugs? Don’t do them.

Don’t like porn? Don’t watch it.

Don’t like alcohol? Don’t drink it.

Don’t like guns? Don’t buy one.

Don’t like your rights taken away?

                Then don’t take away someone else’s.

While there is some truth to this, it is far too broad for me to agree with it as is. I’m going to pick on just three of these for now.

First, cigarettes. Secondhand smoke is more damaging to health than is actual smoking. You may have the right to smoke a cigarette, but you do not have the right to take away my right to breathe clean air.

Second, alcohol. You may have the right to drink, but you do not have the right to then get in a car and get in an accident and kill people because you are impaired due to your alcohol consumption.

Third, guns. There seem to be a lot of crazy people who buy guns but the actuality is that we only hear about them. We don’t hear about the sane ones. Furthermore, 443,000 people die annually due to smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke. 8.6 million more live with serious illness caused by smoking. 88,000 people die annually due to alcohol consumption. This includes those who actually die from drinking beer, wine and spirits and those killed in fatal automobile accidents caused by those who are drunk. It is hard to find good statistics on gun deaths but most numbers are between 31,000 to 33,000 each year. These include all deaths by gun, suicide, homicide, etc.

I’m not digging into the others because the arguments aren’t cut and dry and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t really in a writing mood this morning.

In other news, since I’m here, Sunday, August 24, was Becky’s birthday (gosh, she’s getting old!) and the day of Joseph’s baptism. It was a nice day. Many people asked if we’d be eating or having any refreshments after and I said, sure. I think I would really have rathered just had a small gathering of family and a very few friends but it was nice, nonetheless. However, it being what it was, I wish I’d’ve invited other friends as well. I did comment to someone that there were too many people there (you have to keep in mind that I am somewhat introverted and do not like crowds of people larger than about two. Okay, maybe five. Well, it depends on the people and how well I know them and like them. Anyway, there were probably thirty people there and I commented to someone that there were too many. She said, “They all love you.” Nope. Not  buying it. Not when one of them has never spoken to me in my life and a few others I know almost not at all. I agree with Paul: they were there for the food. Overly cynical? Perhaps.

Still, it was a nice enough day and we went home and had roast turkey roast and pork with potatoes. Then we had birthday cake and Joseph got to open his presents.  He made out like a bandit when it comes to Legos. Holy cow! The ice cream didn’t get to get eaten because it didn’t get frozen. The ice cream freezer isn’t working properly and takes forever.

Monday we went to the beach. We had to wait for Paul to get home from a doctor’s appointment but while he was gone, we got everything ready to go. Becky made potato salad, I made two kinds of muffins and ‘fried’ chicken and got watermelon and grapes ready to go. We made lemonade and Laura and Becky got three bags of ice, one for the lemonade and two for the cooler. And so it went. Joanna and Zak took Amena and Cedric in the Jeep. Everyone else went in the van. We stopped in Leominster for fuel because both vehicles needed it. Then we drove forever and finally got to the beach.

We didn’t see the wreckage that was there two years ago and there was a lot more seaweed and the waves were bigger. Paul lost his glasses. We didn’t do as much exploring amongst the rocks but did spend lots of time in the water. Seth, Joseph and Cedric all got buried in the sand. I skinned my knee when a wave knocked me forward and I’m not the only one. In the breechway the boys, Amena and Joanna were finding lots of crabs. Some of them were pretty good sized and Amena either got pinched by a couple or cut on something. I’m guessing she got pinched because there didn’t seem to be anything sharp around.

Wednesday my mother, Becky, Laura and I went to Webs. Paul had made an appointment with an eye doctor at 11 so he needed to leave at 10:30. I was hoping we’d be ready to go before he was but no such luck. Amena and Cedric started school that day. Jay did stuff with the younger boys including a trip to Walmart and lunch at Subway.

Our trip to Webs was nice. We left late enough that we really needed to eat before going to Webs. I thought we could go to Bub’s but when we got there, we discovered that they don’t open most days until 3:30. Well, we weren’t going to wait that long so we went to Friendly’s instead. At Webs, we discovered that Laura has exceptionally good taste in expensive yarn (I think it must be hereditary).

It being Wednesday, we did not go to church. We could have, but with family visiting, I just didn’t feel like it. Not many YW showed up and I have no idea what the YM were doing. Missing one night isn’t likely to kill anyone, especially when the last time we’d seen Becky and Jay was right after the accident.

However, Cedric came home and told me that there was soccer practice at 5:00 and could we go. We did. Seth did not because he couldn’t find shoes. We went. They are on the same team and the main coaches are the same ones Seth had last year so they are good. Craig Halfrey will be helping out when he can but had a change in work schedule so he can’t do as much as he has in the past. They have a big team: seventeen boys. That is a lot for one but not enough for two so one it is. Seth is happy because Riley, Joey, Johnny, and some other friends are on the team and Cedric is happy because Ryan and Paul and Jacob are on the team. I think it will be a good season and am looking forward to watching some good games.

Anyway, there was some rain around but not at the rec field and there was thunder around as well so practice was going to go until it got too close. The coaches feel, as I do, that a little rain is one thing, thunder is another. Well, I sat in the car to read and saw out of the corner of my eye a flash of light but didn’t think much of it. A second later, KA-BOOM!!! Right over the field. Practice was over. We got forms for pictures but not uniforms. I guess my registering the boys late kind of put a kink in that—there were enough for one more but not two more.

Thursday we mostly took life easy. I told Laura how to get to get to the bead store across from the chiropractor in Leominster so that she and Becky could go check it out. I wouldn’t have minded going but I needed to stay home and find the rest of the books for Seth and Joseph for school. The letters arrived Monday or Tuesday saying that my requests to homeschool the two boys were approved. I didn’t want to do much beforehand to get ready because I didn’t want to jinx anything by acting prematurely. Silly, maybe, but the way it works. Wednesday after we got home from Webs, I started looking (I think, it may have been in the morning), and I wanted to finish. For math I found everything we need except the book of tests and homework for Seth. I ordered a new one from Amazon. I found most of the books we need for social studies. I think I’ll give a list to Paul and see if he can find them for good prices somewhere—he’s good at that.

Friday we had planned a trip to the temple. Paul actually got the day off mostly. Blair was not happy about it but Paul did work until ten or ten thirty and made two fairly good sized sales. At one point, Blair called and said that the phones were ringing off the hook.

There had been three calls. Anyway, we again left later than I wanted to but it was okay. Laura took Seth and Joseph to the Ecotarium because it was free, Amena and Cedric went to school. I gave Cedric the option of staying home to go with Laura or going to school and he chose school because he had gym.

The temple was nice. My mom, Becky, Jay, Julia, Paul and I got to go and we did lots. Jay got some pretty good pictures when we were done and on the way home we stopped at the Tandoori Grill in Fitchburg for dinner. When we got home, Tori Ladroga was here visiting Laura. I went to bed early (8:45) because I needed to get up at 3:00 in the morning to take my mom, Becky and Jay to the airport.

I got up and got dressed. We were all in the van and I was getting the GPS ready when Paul came out and said that if we could wait a minute, he’d go with us. I was willing to wait. I really wasn’t looking forward to driving up and then back by myself in spite of the fact that Laura and Becky had discovered my CDs in the green car. So we took off and got to the airport and dropped them off and took back off at 5:03. That’s just about perfect. We got home about 6:30 and I went to bed. The last thing I thought was that if I woke up in time to get ready and go to Adam and Kim’s sealing, I would go, otherwise, I wouldn’t worry about it. I woke up at 8:10.

Adam and Kim’s reception was nice. We did not stay to send off the bride and groom but that’s okay. It was still good and we got to visit with lots of people. The dress looked good although there are some things I would do differently if I had it to do over again. Such is life.

And that’s it for today. I’ve been at this on and off for entirely too long. Have a wonderful day!