I will be watching the sun rise tomorrow from the window of a chartered bus, on my way to O’Hare airport to fly to San Francisco. What adventure lies ahead, only God knows, but my travel buddy and I are ready for the challenge. We have some loose plans, but we want it to be a weekend of relaxation, friends and the business of blogging.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter, where I’m sure I’ll be goofing off and giving you the inside dish on what Blogher is really all about.
Today I’m running around like a crazy person, trying to dot my i’s and cross my t’s and cover all my bases, in preparation for traveling to Blogher ‘08. Having special needs kids mean that I don’t go out of town hardly ever, and when I do it’s as complex as NASA’s checklist for shuttle take-off. And right now we are definitely not go for launch.
So as I make my lists and print documents and gather business cards and try to find cold weather clothes for San Francisco in the summer, I imagine how in just a few days that I will be seeing many of you in person. And those of you who I will not be seeing, I hope you will check in here as I blog straight from the conference, post pictures and share crazy tales.
Thanks again to HP and MoFuse for sending me to Blogher, and don’t forget to enter my Wii giveaway that ends tomorrow night!
Yesterday I mentioned that today I was posting a big giveaway…well, it’s delayed a bit more until I can get some technical details worked out. Sorry to get you all worked up about it, but maybe I should just start seeing how long I can drag this out? Hmmm…
In the mean time, and while I’m at the Babywearing Conference today, please go read about what happened to me yesterday with my son, and the immense hope it gave me. There is hope for the hopeless.
Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that yesterday was a hard day for me. Well, I got it all out at my other blog (please go and read all about it here), and so I figured I’d keep myself focused on the positive today here at Chez To Think.
I saw Deb twitter this post, and was intrigued. Could I really think of 50 things I liked about myself? It’s certainly a daunting task judging by how difficult life has been for me lately. I decided that forcing myself to write this post may just possibly smack me out of The Wallowing, and that can only be a good thing. So, without further adieu…
Fifty Things I Like About Myself
1. I can express myself well through writing.
2. I’m tech savvy.
3. I have a wicked sense of humor.
4. It is utterly impossible for me to be fake.
5. I walk to the beat of a different drummer.
6. That beat is most likely coming from an indie rock band.
7. I’m opened minded.
8. So I have no problem questioning my own beliefs, thereby making them stronger.
9. I love the 80’s. Music. Colors. Jazz hands. But not shoulder pads.
10. I care about the Earth, and preserving it the best we can.
11. I do not ever give up when it comes to recovering my kids from autism.
12. I am passionate.
13. This passion sometimes ruffles feathers.
14. I am creative.
15. I love to paint on canvas.
16. I love to take pictures.
17. I am a really good friend.
18. I can make people laugh pretty easily.
19. I am dorky.
20. I am curvy.
21. I don’t like gossip.
22. Especially among church people.
23. I have weird hair.
24. I think it’s fun to have weird hair.
25. I have given birth at home twice.
26. I am a hard worker.
27. When I want to be.
28. I don’t mind admitting my faults.
29. I love easily.
30. I am forgiving.
31. I have a good sense of style.
32. I hate laundry.
33. And cleaning floors.
34. I have a crazy strong intuition.
35. Which means I am a little freakish.
36. I fly my freak flag proudly.
37. I love wine and cheese.
38. I have blue gray eyes.
39. My Lego Indiana Jones playing skills are legen. dary.
40. I have three gorgeous children.
41. They get their tenacity from me.
42. I am compassionate.
43. I love to dance.
44. I have rythm.
45. And some moves.
46. I know when to keep those moves to myself.
47. I have a gorgeous husband.
48. I have a strong faith in God.
49. I know He is all I need.
50. I know me.
Want to try this experiment? It’s harder than you think. I’d love to see your 50 things. If you participate, please leave your link in the comments here on this post, so we can all come visit you and your blog and laugh and cry along with you.
We were surrounded by parents and relatives who I was not only honored to stand shoulder to shoulder with, but was humbled to hear their personal stories as well. Stories of grief, loss, perseverance and hope. Stories of how vaccines had injured, or in some cases killed, their precious children. On Wednesday, 8,500 people (and the thousands they represent) had their voices heard.
As we approached the place where all the marchers were gathering, at the magnificent Washington Monument, I couldn’t help but feel a plethora of emotions welling up within me. We could see people far away walking in the same direction we were heading, wearing the same green shirts. Ahead we could see the groundswell of the crowd gathering, lining up and growing larger by the second. Couples (like us), grandparents, even entire families had traveled so far to be there on that day. Traveled to make a statement, to stand shoulder to shoulder, to turn the tide of what is happening with vaccines today in America and create change.
Before long we started walking the walk. Slowly but surely, we headed down Independence Ave., proudly holding up our signs and pictures as we walked by each intersection and the hundreds of cars who had to stop and wait for our entire parade to pass by. Most stared, some honked. No one heckled or booed. How could they? The signs spoke for themselves.
We were energized but solemn. Each and every one of us would have given anything to not be there. To not ever have heard of autism or vaccine injury. To not had our children disabled. To have never needed a rally to get the government to pay attention to the epidemic they are enabling.
But we were, and we have, and they are, and we did.
And as our pace slowed down a bit while we passed the Health and Human Services building (parents of the CDC), we raised our voices a little bit louder and wondered if they were watching the mass of people below them from their cushy office chairs above. Were they wondering what we were doing and saying? Did they notice the faces of the people they are continuing to ignore? People who are “weak” and have no purpose except to fulfill their “unfit” destiny in this “survival of the fittest” mentality? I doubt they could be bothered. But I hope they were. I hope they were very bothered, indeed.
Finally as the entire group made it’s way to the mall area of the Capital, we were handed water and gathered around a small stage that had been set up across from a large platform full of the press corp. Cameras galore, we started to get excited thinking that this rally was actually going to get the coverage it deserved. Most of us realized that with the Obama/Clinton situation going on that it would be hard to be seen, but we remained optimistic.
First Dr Jay Gordon spoke (famous pediatrician, and doctor to Jenny McCarthy’s son Evan), and talked about how proud he was of all of us, and pointed out the thousands that would never be able to be at a rally like this, due to the extensive amounts of money they have to pay for their child’s treatment and thus lack of any funds to travel. Next Dr Boyd Haley (I might be out of order with a few of these guys, so my apologies if that’s the case), renowned scientist and expert on mercury, came up to the podium and reminded us all that science is on our side but no one will read it. He reprimanded the press for their continued refusal to cover the story in an objective way (i.e., nothing but regurgitating flawed CDC information). I’m told that many videos from the rally ended when Dr Haley said “you members of the press are a big part of the problem”, even though the rally went on another hour. Apparently the mainstream press don’t like to be called on their shizzle.
After Dr Haley was Dr Jerry Kartzinel, the doctor that has treated Evan and countless others, and recovered them from autism. He said that he himself injected his son with MMR and watched him slowly slip away in the days and weeks following. He said that his wife told him, “You broke him, now you fix him!”, and he is.
Next we heard RFK Jr speak intelligently and passionately, and I have to say he was one of the most inspiring and compelling speakers I’ve ever heard. Here’s an excerpt of what he had to say:
Next came Jim Carrey who was my favorite of the day. He had so many incredible things to share, I wish I could just type out every word here. Suffice to say I totally love the guy. Here’s a clip:
And finally Jenny spoke. She has a very charismatic and down to Earth way about her, that we love from seeing her speak (and meeting her in person) at the Autism One conference. She had awesome stuff to say (and I will share more clips later) but the most moving part of her speech was actually when she was not talking at all. She had each of us hold up a picture of our affected children (some people held up pictures for families that could not be there) and asked us to hold them all facing the press while she played a song. It was by far the most difficult part of the rally to get through, and I had a hard time comprehending every one of those pictures. Thankfully my husband got it on video:
I’m not sure if you can feel the energy in that video, but I know it does not do that moment justice. You can’t see the thousands of people or most of the pictures because we were way on the side in the back, but you can get an idea of what happened. It was life changing. Truly.
After that the rally ended, and we all dispersed. Hugs, exchanging information, taking a few last pictures. Some people went to a meet and greet with Jenny and Jim, others met with people from their State and went to meetings with the legislators to talk about the most pressing issues in vaccines, research and laws.
I have more to tell you, specifically the AFTERMATH, which not only includes abysmal and biased press coverage, but torrential rain and tornados (apparently I took one with me in my pocket when I left the Midwest).
So for now, enjoy the videos and feel free to ask any questions. Also, if you come across any news coverage, I’m happy to post them here, so email them to me or leave the link in the comments. I won’t link anything that pretends to be about the rally but is actually about how TOTALLY AWESOME AND SAFE vaccines are. Good luck finding something like that.
Thanks so very very much to my readers, my friends, my twitter followers and my family (for taming the wild beasts back home so we could do this). You all supporting us and cheering us on is what kept us going that day and every day. I adore you and love you and would totally spoon you if you were here. Peace.
**Here’s a link to press pics of the event. Great shots of the speakers.
How about I lighten it up a little ’round these parts this weekend? I still have plenty of things to keep sharing about my time at the Autism One conference, so stay tuned, but this weekend I’m thinking about memories. I hope to get off this computer soon and go make some of my own (we finally have some gorgeous weather!). I think a kiddie pool and a Snoopy machine snow cone is in my future.
Thinking about memories made me realize what I needed to get for my dad and my husband for father’s day. Not a goofy tie or an iPhone (you wish, hun), but something that would matter. Something they’d remember next year and the year to come.
I wrote about what I got them over here, so come on over and visit if you’re needing some great gift ideas, and check in with us at Mama Speaks next week for the upcoming Father’s Day Gift Guide awesomeness!
I’m writing about the Autism One conference over at my other blog, Stop Looking At Me here and here. I don’t mean to be stirring the pot , but a lot of the things I believe may or may not be what everyone else believes, and even if these things are controversial, they’re too important to me to keep silent.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I have plenty of friends who have opposite opinions on life than I do. I will still love you even if you think doctors are awesome, think country music is cool and think scrapbooking is the bomb, so I hope you will love me even if I don’t.
Most of the time I think I’m normal, and other people are the weirdos. However when I list the things we do that are not mainstream, I realize that no, I’m pretty much the freak. Everything from co-sleeping, to parenting choices, to my own passions, to my politics, to the way we eat–all of it is what I would consider counter culture. On the one hand, I’m happy to not be a jump-off-the-bridge-because-you-said-so kinda of a girl. On the other hand, it does get a little exhausting constantly fielding questions about “why” we do what we do. I should just give them my card and they can come here and read all about it.
For the most part, my decisions about who I am and what kind of a mom I want to be, were not necessarily planned out ahead of time. They evolved organically, out of circumstance, and seemed to me to be the natural choice in any situation. I don’t regret any of it, and I love that my life is interesting to others (because it seems pretty normal and boring, at times, to me!). Clearly I don’t mind talking about myself, right?
The biggest thing for me is that I hope everyone realizes that just because I might be different from you, or rather, if you are different from me, I do not judge people for their life choices. I might have an opinion, but it’s just my opinion, and what we are doing as a family is what is best FOR US. I have friends of all faiths, personalities, styles, life choices, etc. What we have in common is that we like each others’ heart, and that is ultimately what matters. We don’t all have to pick the same things out when we go to the grocery store or at the clothing store (or at the hair salon!) to be friends, and I’m ok if you think what I do is “weird”. I’m strong enough in my own self to not worry about that, and I hope that you are as well.
I posted about one of my passions at Chicago Moms Blog this week, and about our diet choices at Stop Looking At Me. I hope you’ll come visit!
In my Mean Girls post I promised I’d follow that rant with some inspiration, hilarity and baby pictures. So, as promised:
Inspiration–
Everything I write about is inspired (or instigated) by something, and most of the time my inspiration is my kids. Come read my other blog where I wrote this week about Mr Fussy (see below).
Hilarity–
The other day my 3yo was out for a walk and suddenly said, “I think I need to get back home. I’m getting fussy.“ I really wish that I had the wherewithall to warn people PRIOR to getting fussy, instead of them just figuring it out after I glare at them and chuck something at their head.
Last but not least, baby pictures (my niece Capri)–
