College Happenings

I got to go home to Wyoming for Christmas. 

I am not a big fan of the town I grew up in, but driving down the interstate heading for home, I almost missed it.

Not the town really, but my family and friends.

I never thought I would think about moving back there, but now that I have Atticus, I think about it.

I hate that my parents are so far from him.  They don’t get to see all the small changes he goes through from week to week.  They don’t get to hear all of his new noises or see him learning and growing.

It makes me sad.

I did have a nice time while I was there.  Christmas has become fun again thanks to Atticus.

At least five marines are expected to be charged, possibly as early as Wednesday, with the killing of 24 Iraqis, many of them unarmed women and children, in the village of Haditha in November 2005, according to a Marine official and a lawyer involved in the case. –Huffington Post

This really bothers me.

I don’t mean to be cold hearted.  I don’t think that it is ok that innocent people were killed, but I don’t think our marines should be sent to prison for life for it.

I have never been to war, I can’t begin to imagine how horrible it must be. I couldn’t imagine watching my friends die.  I couldn’t imagine trying to contain my fear every minute.  I couldn’t imagine looking at a child and wondering if he might possibly be dangerous.

I can’t imagine asking someone to volunteer to go to another country to fight for my country.  I can’t imagine judging that person for making a mistake.  I can’t imagine asking that person who volunteered so I didn’t have to, to spend the rest of his life in prison for a mistake.  A really bad, really (I think) understandable mistake.

I can’t imagine.

Thanks to my mom I am strong.

My mom set a good example for me.  She taught me to be self reliant and independant. 

She taught me that you can love a man with out having to depend on him for your self-worth.

My mom let me make mistakes, but pulled me back when I let a really bad mistake take over my life.

My mom taught me that you can love a person even though you hate that persons behavior.

With out knowing it, she taught me not to be afraid of trying new things, even if you have no idea what you are doing.

My mom taught me that sometimes, even though we lose, we still have to keep trying.

My mom taught me not to take any shit.

She taught me to value myself.

One of the greatest things she taught me is not to settle.  Telling me not to settle has made all the difference in my life.

Thanks mom, for everything.

I also have to throw out a little note about my super strong friend Luella.  She rocks because she is independant, she raises two little wild twins by herself and she doesn’t cry about how hard it can be.  For that and a million more reasons, she is one tuff biatch!

What is a good friend?  I have been asking myself that a lot lately.

I know who my good friends are.  I think I am good to them.  The ones from home.  The ones I know I can count on.  I am pretty sure they know they can count on me.

But what about the ones from here.  The new ones.  What do I do when I know one of them is in trouble. 

If it was a friend from home, I would probably get involved and try to help in anyway possible.

But, here, I have a friend and she is in big trouble, but she refuses to see it or do anything about it.  I think she is in serious danger, but I don’t think there is anything that I can do about it.  I have told her that I think she is in danger.  I have told her she needs to leave her man now.  For her sake and her kids.  But she won’t.

So, what else can I do?  Her mom knows her situation, so do all of her other friends. 

I am getting to the point though, and this is where I kind of feel bad, that I don’t even want to hear anymore.  I don’t want to listen to her talk about how bad it is.  I don’t want to see anymore tears. 

I just want to wash my hands and say don’t call anymore.  You can’t count on me to listen and sympathize. 

I am running out of sympathy.  Now, I feel like she is just being stupid and selfish.  Selfish because she stays, because she thinks maybe somewhere he loves her and will act like it again.  She is waiting to have him meet her needs, when she should be focusing on her kids needs and get them the hell out of there.

I don’t know.  What can a person do?