Am I doing this right?

I mean life in general. Do you think I am doing it right? One day I feel like "Hey I really nailed it" and others I feel like "Can I get a Do Over?" But I guess what's important is that you just keep trying to get it right. And you should surround yourself with people who want you to get it right. I really do try!

And even when I'm not getting it right I'm thankful to the people who stick by me. We are all guilty of expecting our fellow human beings to be perfect. When they slip up we are so shocked and surprised. Perhaps a little self reflection is needed. We are all flawed, we all slip up. I think it's how we handle those slip ups that really matters in the end.

So as I fumble through friendships, motherhood, marriage, etc...just allow me to make good on my slip ups. You never know when you may not be getting it right either.

I leave you with a bit of Crows....see you in August Adam.

Avery Davis Memorial Fund

Many of my friends and family who did not know a friend of mine supported me while I was raising money for the "Avery Davis Memorial Fund" Since not everyone is on Facebook, I wanted to post the thank you and Avery's Eulogy from the Davis' Family.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of my friends and family who showed support. None of could imagine having to endure the hardships the Davis' have endured. To follow is the Thank You message written by the Davis Family and then the Eulogy given at Avery's Funeral.

Jim, Abby & I would like to thank everyone for the card, prayers and money that was sent to us. This year has been unimanigible. This journey has been beyond difficult, losing Avery has put everything in our lives in perspective, and has made us stronger as a family and has made us realize how precious life is. Avery Michael was born silently on February 10th, at 11:50 a.m. weighting 5 lbs, 6 ounces and was 21 inches long. Jim, my mom and myself got to spend a significant amount of time with him, holding him and kissing him. He was a beautiful little boy, blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked just like Abby when she was born, such a precious life taken way too soon. Our hearts are continuing to heal, although our lives will never be the same, knowing we have such caring friends and family in our lives mean more to us than you can imagine.

We thank each and everyone of you who donated. We truly appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness. Also, please DO-NOT hesitate to call us anytime, both Jim and myself we love talking about Avery and that is a way of for us to heal, we are proud of him, he will be a part of our lives forever.

Thank you again,

The Davis'

Eulogy from the Funeral.

I feel like I am living in a bad dream,

this can't be real,

the hole in my heart is surreal,

the wound ever so deep,

the love that I have for you every so sweet,

my arms ache in pain,

I feel at times I am going insane,

I want you,

I need you,

I feel the need to explore every inch of you,

I kissed you from head to toe,

how beautiful you are,

forever in my heart,

I picture your first's,

playing in the dirt,

your first cry,

the cries I hear in the night,

only to wake up in a panic,

going from room to room,

searching for you,

only to come to the realization these things will never be,

there will be no firsts,

no diapers, no 1 am feedings,

no cries in the night,

only emptiness inside,

your big sister how she loves you so,

I can't fix this, no-one can,

I don't want to hear "God has a plan,"

my plan was to hold a baby in hand,

my God doesn't cause pain,

he will only help heal,

although I don't think that's possible,

My Precious Little Avery,

I can't express my pain,

my baby,

my little boy,

how you will be missed, until one day,

I will walk into the loving arms of the Lord,

will I meet with you again,

arms stretched open wide,

only then will be complete.

Love, Mommy

I have stuff to do....

Dear Allergies:

I have stuff to do. I do not have time for all of this itching and stuffiness. You're driving me nuts. I'm finding myself praying for rain. I looked you up today on line, Mr. Allergy, and it says the tree pollen is "Very High". Tomorrow you are supposed to go down some....how about this....just go away. NOBODY wants you here!! You ARE NOT welcome.

I have a craft room that was supposed to be cleaned up, laundry to do, general housekeeping duties, a life to live and YOU ALLERGIES are screwing it all up! Oh and by the way Mr. Allergy I have a 3 1/2 year old that wants nothing more than to be outside right now. Can you see how you are really messing everything up? I'm so drugged up right now I feel like Sid Vicious. I got my hair done tonight and look super cute and I don't even care! All because of you and your selfish ways.

So please, please please go back to where you came from. The only ones happy to have you are Puffs Plus with Lotion and Claritin D and Mucinex D and Tylenol and....wait....is that too many drugs for one day?

Stuff I'm doing...

I've just about had it with "Facebook Friends". Periodically I go through my Friends list and weed people out. Last week I totally deactivated my account for a few days. It was so liberating! But I have a new rule. If I don't really know you and you like to write offensive things on my profile or post obnoxious statuses. I will just delete you. I'm so through debating these people on everything from rain to Obama and everything in between.

I mean it's MY profile right? My name is on it. I will post and for that matter VIEW what I damn well please. And these people I have on my friends list who have NEVER even once corresponded with me. They are going to go as well. Personally I don't feel validated by having a large number of friends on Facebook. And I'm also just not that nosey. If I don't care about you enough to talk to you I really don't want to see you on vacation or what little Sally is doing. I just don't care that much.

Now, please don't misunderstand me. Just because I delete you doesn't mean I feel any ill will towards you AT ALL. In fact, maybe if you sent me a nice message once in a while we could fall back in to Facebook Friends good graces. Until then....

Let's see what's next. Oh with a tip from my friend Jeannie I have started reading the book The Secret. So far it's pretty interesting. My interpretation of it is that you have to start thinking more positively and good things will happen. I have ALWAYS believed that. My whole life I've tried to think positive about people, jobs, relationships. Have any of you heard of it or read it?

I'll keep you updated on the book and what changes I may make as a result of reading it! I think weeding out negative forces on Facebook is one result!!

Easter is just a few days away, and I can't wait to celebrate with the Family. I hope you all have a great Easter!!

I forgot about this blog.

That may sound like a silly name for a blog post. But I had originally created this blog so that I would have some outlet for what I was thinking. Isn't it funny, how I never have time to post much less remembering it's even there? Well, I'll just ramble...and we'll see where it goes.

Life sure does get away from you. I'm going to be 38 this year. I really never thought I'd make it this far! :) I'm what I used to consider old. I no longer feel that way!! Now I consider 100 old!

So my point is....Evan has a blog that I keep up fairly regularly, yet this one I totally forgot about. So typical I guess. Although I do hate the term "Me Time". Not sure why that is. But I can feel a difference when I've had some time to get away and not be "Mommy".

To be honest not much has been bugging me lately. Can you believe it? I know...nutty. I'm at peace with most things in my life. There are few relationships I'd like to bring closure to. Some family, some just personal. But how do you do that? If you are at odds with someone and there seems to be no way to resolve it what do you do? Are there people in your life that you just have to write off. I think that's true for some, but family? How do you do that when you have history. It's something I struggle with. I'm very lucky right now, I have zero to no conflict in my life. The friends that I choose to spend my time with are genuine and good people. As we get older I think we get better at weeding out the "bad eggs"! At least I like to think so.

I'm totally stoked about summer. The Kiracofe family has a very busy summer. Chris is still in Afghanistan and will be until Junish/Julyish/Augustish!! That's the Marine Corps for you!! We plan on going to N.C. to welcome him home whenever that is. June 1st we are going to Hawaii for 2 weeks. And then of course our Annual 2 weeks in Corolla. Our family really looks forward to that. It's our time to just unplug from the outside world and enjoy our time together. This will be our 4th year in Corolla. Corolla is not for everyone. It's a really quiet place, but it has a fair amount of stuff to do. We love it and can't even think of staying anywhere else. So Evan will get to see a lot this summer! Let's hope I make it through.

So, ok, that was totally random. I promise to be more focused in the future....or not!

The End to My Conservative Guilt

This is one reason why we lost the election this year.

It is why we have been losing ground for years.

I for one am through feeling guilty.

I AM A PROUD CONSERVATIVE

Liberals have no problem speaking their views. However, for some reason we conservatives have felt the need to have more people like us. What complete bull. I'm over it. This morning when I woke up I was even MORE over it. I have many liberal friends and sometimes find myself stifling my own views even while they openly display and PUSH theirs. So I'm just as guilty of Conservative Guilt. Well, that guilt trip is ending here and I'm offloading my baggage. Some of you may read this and not want to be my friend anymore. That would be sad, but this is how I feel. I've tolerated opposing views for years and if you find yourself not being able to tolerate mine than that is something you have to live with. I believe we can be friends and disagree. It just seems as if conservatives have a history of listening to how other people feel without feeling comfortable doing the same.

I find long drawn out paragraphs boring and tedious, so I'm going to just make a list of what I believe in and what I'll be fighting for in 2010 and 2012.

So you may ask...Mindy what makes you conservative?

1. Not murdering babies. Now, that in itself sounds radical. Who cares. I'm glad I didn't flush my son down a sink. Do you realize it is perfectly legal to kill a baby that is born alive during a botched abortion? DO YOU? http://bornalivetruth.org/ That is disgusting. One argument used is we must protect the rights and wishes of the mother to abort the child. What about the rights and wishes of that baby not to be tossed in a trash can or stabbed in the back of the neck to kill it? I also do not buy the argument that "Well, if they make it illegal people will still do it." WHAT? Then why not repeal all laws? Murder? Robbery? Rape? Child abuse? Heck, people are going to beat their kids whether or not there are laws on the books or not. Does it make anymore sense? Obama the rock star messiah that was just elected has a record of not protecting these babies. Check it out...click here. Sickening.
2. Less Government/Fiscally Conservative I don't want the government paying for my health insurance. I don't want the government bailing out companies with corrupt policies and greedy CEO's. I don't want my wealth spread around. Down with SOCIALISM! A liberal government should not mandate that I place my child in a pre-school as if I am not capable of caring for him.
3. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Now I know this one is going to really get everyone going. BUT I DON'T CARE!! I do believe gays should have Civil Unions and equal not SPECIAL rights. Gays should be protected and treated fairly. No question. They should have all the rights of a heterosexual couple. However, marriage is a biblical union and most not all gays, mock the bible and what it stands for. Even consider themselves Atheists.
4. Defend our Country and Constitution at any cost. Now this could be a long bullet point. When we are attacked by radical Islamist terrorist, we should go out into the world WHEREVER it is and defeat them! What other group has ever attacked us? And please...don't give me the Timothy McVeigh defense. That's weak. However, if Timothy McVeigh was part of a radical white group trying to destroy America I would say defeat them too. And yes, I'm aware Japan attacked us...I think we nipped that in the Enola Gay!! I'm tolerant of different religions, not terrorist religions. When you want to kill me and take away my freedom I tend to fight back. And here's a newsflash for all you liberals...they want you dead too! Not just us evil conservatives.
5. I'm a proud full time mom: This is one I'm really guilty of trying to hide. Daycare is truly necessary for some and I completely understand that. However, if you are simply warehousing your child so that you can live in a bigger house, drive a new car and buy a Coach Purse then you don't deserve to be a parent. I see this happen all the time. Mother's will say to me..."We can't afford to have me stay home." Then they are off on MULTIPLE vacations, buying new cars and living wayyy beyond their means. There are many material things Jim and I would love to own, but we know we have to plan ahead. Sure he is employed now, but what if he's laid off in a year? It is OUR job, not the government's to plan for that. It takes sacrifice to put your child first. It's not always easy, but everyday I know we are doing the right thing. Evan was not planned, but we quickly adjusted our priorities. Some people have babies and NEVER adjust their priorities. One of my fondest memories as a child is being home WITH my mom and coming home TO my mom. Don't have them if you don't want to raise them.
6. Guns. Easy one. We have a right to own them. Now go away. I could kill you by throwing a brick at your head, but nobody is here tearing my house down right now.
7. DRILL BABY DRILL. I think this one is obvious. While I believe we must develop alternative energy solutions, we cannot ignore the immediate problem. We can't keep saying oh we won't reap the rewards of drilling in Alaska for 10 years. Well I'm sure if you thought we were 10 years away from a cure for cancer you would want to get started right??? This is another easy one.

I think this is a good start!! That being said, I also believe in recycling, humane treatment of animals and PEOPLE!!

I believe in respectful debate and not name calling. Bush Bashing is not a political party. Not everything in your life is George Bush's fault. I see these bumper stickers that say 1.20.09. I'm sure The Bush's are looking forward to it too!! Getting the hell out of the line of fire. I voted for W twice. He's a good man and not Hitler. Hitler was responsible for the torture, maiming, rape and death of millions of babies, children and adults. It's disgusting how this man has been treated. No matter how I feel about Obama I will always be accurate in my criticism. Not hateful.

A few Conservatives I look up to:

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Laura Ingraham, Michael Steele and Sarah Palin. Palin 2012

Whew...I feel sooo much better. I agree, we conservatives have a lot of work to do. We need to start nominating conservatives...not moderates. The democrats didn't nominate and elect a moderate!! They elected a FAR LEFT LIBERAL!!!

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July 17, 1980 (from Ronald Reagan's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention)

"[The Democrats] say that the United States has had its days in the sun, that our nation has passed its zenith.… My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view."

Dear Obama Supporters

Please...does Roe V. Wade mean this much to you??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anieuWFWe8s

Stop hiding behind Roe V. Wade. George Bush didn't overturn it in his 8 years. It won't be overturned EVEN if we protect the rights of living breathing human beings.

www.bornalivetruth.org

Is voting for a rock star that important to you?