Thursday, March 19, 2009

grief

for those of you who have been following the family news (yeah i know, i haven't posted it here before today) : we lost papa Harley yesterday. he was just 54.
he had been in the hospital for about 2 weeks after suffering a series of heart attacks. Chris has been in Florida for the duration, with Indy and i following a few days later as things looked more serious than originally thought.
I wont eulogize him here, not yet. i don't feel like i have that right, what with the services being a few days away and my words not having the meaning that his mother's, or his brother's, or his childrens' will have. but, in the coming days, weeks, months and years, his loss will be felt keenly by our family.
Indy's daddy is Jerry's son. Those long ago summers of fishing poles, the moist Florida heat scented with citrus blossoms, the memories only father and son can make together, Indy's daddy will pass those down, and Papa Harley will live in his heart until the time comes to pass them on to his own sons.
Not a eulogy, it's the circle i guess.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Kitchen Kitchen Kitchen

i didn't take before pictures, on the area i did, but this is what the other part looked like before:
Pretty icky.

So i did this:
I am still working on it... here's the work in progress:


more later

Monday, March 02, 2009

fair is fair

Below you will find a copy of the email i sent to Bruse Starr, the fellow who wrote the pit bull ban bill. Following that letter you will find his reply to me. In my email to him i told him that if he would respond to him, i would share his words with my concerned friends and family members. so here it is:


From: Misti [mailto:dakotajh@yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, March 01, 2009 11:25 PMTo: SEN Starr BSubject: pit bull ban

We will fight this.
Don't you have better things to do with your time than bother about my dog? (i would attach a picture of our beautiful angel,but no one opens attachments that they don't know where came from because of jerks and viruses)

With unemployment over 9% in my beloved state, with record numbers of Oregonians seeking food boxes from emergency services. With school budgets being slashed, police and emergency services stretched to their limits, services to seniors and disabled people being cut, and a healthcare crisis... all you can do is look into my backyard to see what breed my dog is. Um, thanks for working to help our state in its time of need. Outlawing or Killing my dog will help our state so much. (thats sarcasm, in case you didnt catch it)

For your information, so you can knock on my door first when you feel like going on your pet murdering spree; my dog is a cur. he is a pit bull-bull dog mix. he is best friends to a three year old boy, he's a little overweight, he limps a bit (before we got him, he was hit by a car, his front leg didn't heal correctly, and he has only one of his own tendons in his back leg-the others being artifical). he eats everything, toys, basketballs, pillows, and anything that falls off of our plates; sometimes things still ON our plates. We bribe him with cookies to get him to bark... he does't do it much or even very loud, since he spent 6 months in a crate, imbolized as he healed. He palys along the fence line with the neighbors German Shepard. We adopted him from a Pit Bull rescue organization. He is even neutered and has all his shots. He walks on his leash around the block with me. I pick up his poop in a plastic bag, then i bring it home wih me. I feel safe with him in our home.
Please, remember when you bring your swat team to my door, that my husband is a service connected disabled veteran, who's injury while training to defend his country and people like you's freedom to make stupid laws, will bother him all of his life. My brother lives with us, he has cerebral palsy... if you have bioethics, you might want to take him out, too. we may have a foster child in the home, since we often take in troubled children. My teenager might be here, on his way to Golf team practice; My young republican, Oracle student, winner of Rebel pride for excellence in child development. He wants to go into law, and government. Try to come when he is here, so he can see his government in action, makin a positive difference in the lives of the people who live in our great state. Maybe you can stop at his father's house, too. There are a couple pits at that home too. There may be a gun in my home, since we all believe in the 2nd ammendment. Most of my friends and family have concealed weapons permits. There may be a toddler in the house, my little one has play school a couple times a week, so try to come kill his dog while he is in playschool. Then maybe i can tell him his baby ran away; I wouldn't want to tell him that someone who doesn't know us, doesnt care about us, doesnt want his best friend to live. Personally, i am no one. I am a nursing student, i sit on a local board of directors (as in i VOLUNTEER) for a non-profit group that helps our town. I helped create neighborhood watch groups in two local neighborhoods in the past few years. I care for my husband's handicapped mother. We are buying the house across the street from my parents. We are just a regular family, active in our community, loyal to our nation, proud of our state (usually).

So, my point? A fellow like you, a senator from washington county, I am betting you dont give a darn about my family, my friends, my life... you just want to kill a member of my family because he didnt have the good sense to be born a Rottweiler. You may think he's an animal, a pet... he isn't. He is OUR dog. He lives here. he is as much a part of this family as myself or my son or my brother. He hasnt hurt anyone. Why do you get to punish him without him committing a crime? We cant keep sexual predators in prison, but we can kill pit bulls. priorities man.

i would humbly ask you to email me, to open a dialogue on why you think this is needed, how you think it will help our state in its time of financial hardship, and i will be pleased to show my friends and family and concerned neighbors your words. I would love to introduce you to Bosco, show you were we are comin from. I doubt you will reply. i doubt you will even read this email. Probably some unpaid intern will have to read this, maybe i will get an automated "thank you" crap message. Sigh. i doubt my family, my dog, matters to you. after all, we aren't in your district, we dont vote for you.

His Response:

Dear Misti:

Thank you for your email letter.
I appreciate hearing from you and your opinion on the proposed legislation. Your email provides a lot of information.
Often, requests come from constituents to draft legislation and that is the case with this bill. With all the challenges facing Oregon and the issues that the Legislature is dealing with this year, this issue is one that is not a priority for me. It was introduced at the request of a constituent and I have no intention to pursue it.
Again, thank you for taking the time to write and good luck with your nursing career.

Sincerely,

Bruce W. Starr
Oregon State Senate
District 15sen.brucestarr@state.or.us503-986-1715

my only concern about his response? if you dont plan on pusuing it, why write it? Pacifying a constituent? spoon feed the sheep and hope it will go away? sigh. i dont understand politics.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Bosco

I do not have a wide readership That's all right with me. I am not a political blog, nor an informative one. I don't try to sell products. I don't tell people how to look younger, lose weight, live their lives, etc. Mostly, i am here, on the web, to talk about my family. I share pictures of my sons, my dog, my brothers and talk about my friends, family, and our lives. We share first steps, first days of school, first girlfriends, and golf schedules. I am a mommy blogger. I happily admit it. I don't usually get long winded about a cause. Today, that changes.

I am involved in my community. I sit on a board for a local non-profit that helps our community provide good, clean, safe low income housing. I parent my children, and even on occasion take in other people's troubled children (and kids from troubled homes). I cheer my young Republican's individuality. I cheer my younger son's independence. My husband served in the US Army. My near brother, who shares our home, has cerebral palsy. I hold my best friend when she tells me her husband has a girlfriend. I sit for hours on the telephone listening to the health complaints of my ailing mother in law. I am just a regular person. Sometimes i can be a wonderful friend, other times, not so much. Sometimes i can be a wonderful parent, other times i lose my patience and daddy has to take over. I am not a bad person, but the state of Oregon has a bill floating out there that would make me one.

Mostly, I am nobody special. just another worker drone, tryin to keep home and family together. Sometimes family has a larger meaning. Family can be my near-brother, who isn't really a brother at all. Family can be the wounded girl who came into our home and hearts, and just wasn't ready for mainstream life yet. Family can be the brother whom i was fortunate enough to reunite with. Family can be the man who loves my mother and did his best by me, who i call dad, even though he isn't. Family can be the girl i have called best friend and sister since the 7th grade, or even the girl from the 6th grade. Family can be our dog, Bosco, who shares his love and patience with us all.

Where am i goin with all this? Well... there is a bill currently heading for committee in the Oregon State Senate that would outlaw Bosco's very existence. Yep, there is this idiot from Washington County who thinks that what would be really good for Oregon, for my family, during this financial crisis, while thousands of Oregonians are losing their homes and relying on emergency services for the very food they eat; what would be really good for us while we lose our jobs, our homes, our dignity, when school budgets are slashed, police and emergency services stretched to the breaking point... you know what would be great for Oregon?!?!?! lets ban pit bulls. not just pit bulls, lets ban dogs that LOOK LIKE pit bulls. and lets fine anyone who doesn't comply 6500 bucks, throw them in jail for a year, and KILL THEIR DOG, too. oh sure, if you already own one, you can go pay a fat fee and register your dog like he is a sex offender just released from prison (oh wait,tons of our Oregon sex offenders don't register, move without saying, or don't go to jail at all). Let's make owning a pit bull worse than being a rapist! The dog doesn't have to do anythin wrong, doesn't have to bark at all hours, doesn't have to bite, doesn't have to act the least bit viscous, doesn't have to be pit bull at all... just look like one. That's Bosco's crime. He looks like a pit bull. Who cares that he is about the most loving dog on the planet. Some other pit bull owner sucked and now its my problem, my dogs fault. He is a member of this family and i will stick by my dog and i will be at the public hearing when they occur in Salem. I will get involved and fight for my right to have the dog of my choice in my home as my companion.

if you think this fellow, this Sen. Bruce Starr is an idiot, i urge you to look further into this matter. I urge you to email him, write him, call him... here's his web page : http://www.leg.state.or.us/starrb/

let him know that you, too, love Bosco. let him know that BSL (breed specific legislation) is wrong. Do your research, i did. (i could put in half a dozen links here, but honestly, i am tired, i am cold, and i am angry, so probably not the best time to start tryin to code in click able links)

Bosco is a great dog. He is Indiana's best friend. he has done nothing wrong. Why is it okay to kill him? he has more dignity and right to life than many of the politicians making up stupid useless laws that wont help our state when we need it the most, how we need it most.

politics: (n) from latin. poli meaning many, tics being blood sucking pests.