I loved watching Farrah Fawcett on Charlie’s Angels when I was a girl. Ask anyone which angel was their favorite and you’ll almost always hear Farrah as their answer.

Boys may have hung the Farrah Fawcett Red Swimsuit Poster on their walls but I wanted to BE Farrah. Or at least LOOK like her (didn’t you?). Even in movies where she was supposed to look worn out and used up, like The Burning Bed and The Substitute Wife, I’d still love to look that good! Actually, I’d just be happy settling with her bad hair day. That would be better than mine!

I’m impressed with her cancer fight until the very end. I’m looking forward to seeing the last of her story documenting her cancer fight that was she was working on. I was saddened to hear that she lost her battle last Friday.

It’s been a bittersweet week of thinking back on my personal childhood memories in many ways. Goodbye Farrah. Thanks for being a part of my good memories!

http://www.goodbirthcontrol.com/blog/random-rantings
http://www.goodbirthcontrol.com/blog/my-apology-to-martha-stewart

I’m not a total Michael Jackson hater. Really. I grew up with Michael and sang along with him just like many of you did. I attempted his moves and I giggled every time he squealed and grabbed his crotch area. Honestly, I still can’t believe that my mother bought his music and allowed us to watch his videos. I guess in some way she thought he was my generation’s Elvis and didn’t want to deprive us of the moment.

I watched Michael evolve into a human freak show as I grew up. I think he was HOT before he manipulated his face and his skin mysteriously whitened. I honestly believe the pressure to do the next unbelievable thing for attention and keep him in the media was really the reason for most of the things he did.

I think Michael’s success and attention grabbing antics greatly contributed to making him a victim of frivolous lawsuits and blackmail.

EXCEPT…

All the negative, shady speculation and accusations about his inappropriate behavior with children can’t be untrue. I could see maybe one or two children being manipulated by their parents, stretching the truth or blatantly lying. Again, in those cases, I said manipulated by their parents for monetary opportunities.

BUT…

My instinct says Michael took advantage of his celebrity position to be inappropriate with children.

Here’s something you probably don’t know…

As a victim of child molestation myself, making a huge national news story of the situation is probably the last thing you’d ever want. It’s embarrassing enough to tell your parents. It’s too shameful to tell your friends about. It haunts you forever, even when it’s a secret between only you and your violator.

There’s only a few reasons to motivate you to tell someone.

1. You don’t know how else to make it stop.
2. You want to protect others – such as your siblings.

I was violated by two different individuals as a child. The first I never reported because I stayed clear of being put in the situation again. The second offender couldn’t be avoided. I told because I wanted it to stop and I wanted my sister and other young family members to be safe. The situation was handled quietly but I still had to see the offender often enough. To this day, my own children have been in this person’s presence about three times, and I have never been sweet to the person or left them alone with my children.

I have great respect for families that prosecute child violators and protect their children and future child victims. I have the greatest respect for the victim for speaking up and making it stop.

I don’t think there is any excuse for being sexually inappropriate with a child in any way. I don’t care who you are, what your past experiences are, or what pressures you face in your daily life. This includes Michael.

That being said, rest in peace, Michael. Goodbye to a wonderful childhood memory that made me giggle and pushed me forward to be unique and awesome despite the odds.

And finally, good riddance, Michael. Goodbye to the man that awakened my childhood nightmares that I longed to forget. Goodbye to the man that reminded me every bright person has his own dark side.

It’s almost comical the way you can post a photo of an automobile on your blog and say absolutely NOTHING with the photo and people will assume you bought a new car!

Or, as my friend Nell says,

“So, you either are a pimp (ya know, they make lots of money.) or you got this ride for free for awhile. Either way, you’re super cool.”

Hehehe… Um, no, I’m not a pimp. Really. Because all my friends know that I hardly make lots of money!

But I am super cool. Just like Nell would brainwash you to believe!

Actually, I did get a free ride in the previously pictured Ford Flex, but the lucky driver was Erica Mueller. She decided to scope out Twitter to see if there were any mom bloggers in the area that she could make insanely jealous by torturing them with a test ride. I was the only slob local mom blogger that she could find.

We had a ton of fun and took the sexy, flexy ford flex to our local grocery store for some flexible impulse junk food shopping.

At the end of the day, Erica drove off in the lovely pimp mobile of my pathetic dreams and left me wishin’ for one more ride…

Hear us chat about our test ride and our thoughts on the Ford Flex.

View photos from our test drive and shopping spree on Flickr:
My Ford Flex Flickr Photos
Erica’s Ford Flex Flickr Photos

Come back Thursday for the story behind this photo!
You can participate at Wordless Wednesday & TellMeThursday.

Remember when I lost my mind and allowed the boys to buy baby chicks with their Christmas gift cards? And then they made the move outside and adopted the family dog as their new mama?

Yeah. The bird-brains now think they rule the roost. Literally. My loveable, sweet dog has now lost the title of guard dog. We now have ferocious attack chickens… so don’t even THINK about breaking into my back yard!

These chickens are so big for their pants, they even think it’s OK to crap all over the patio. You know, because they own it or something. David brought a special attachment over to put on the water hose and power wash the patio. It looks pretty good for about 5 minutes. I can sense his frustration already. He mentioned something about shooting a few chickens with his bow…

It seems that everyone you bump into, talk to or eavesdrop on via social media has an opinion on where our country is headed these days. I don’t need to see a poll to know how many are worried or be persuaded that statistics are still high in support of certain politicians. I witness the fear, paranoia and disgust daily. I don’t need convincing either way.

The thing that bothers me most about it though, is how bitter and hateful people I have grown to know, admire, trust and even LOVE have become toward each other in such a short amount of time.

I can talk about my true feelings and fears to family and very closest of friends without fear of resentment, blame, or bitterness. Outside of those few, I am at a loss. Day in and day out I’ve seen heated debates, arguments, finger pointing and arrogance displayed publicly among folks that I respected and valued opinions from – on Twitter alone. I am afraid to imagine how the behavior must be in other environments.

Since the time of the Presidential Election Primaries, I have felt great pressure to watch what I say and how I say it, in fear of accidentally offending others. I have kept my personal feelings private in fear of being labeled something I was not and never have been. I had hoped it would improve after the election was over. My relationships now feel extremely strained.

Now, I’d just like to set the record straight. I probably didn’t vote for the same person you did. I probably don’t support the same causes that you do. I might not even believe in the same creator as you. Why does it bother you? I respect you each despite your different opinions and beliefs. I may not agree with you, but I RESPECT YOUR FREEDOM to have those differences.

I’m just as worried as each of you about the future of our great country and the implications the present actions will have upon ourselves and future generations. I want my great country to at least have the same opportunities and freedoms in the future that it has now.

I WANT my country back. I want to struggle WITH you all, not against you. I want you to be moved and inspired, too.

Watch the video below if you haven’t, yet. If you watched it when I posted it yesterday, watch it again.

If you love America and you love your freedom, you’ll be moved also. It doesn’t matter what you believe or who you voted for. You’ll have goose bumps and you’ll be on the brink of tears by the end. You’ll want your country back, too.

I WANT MY FRIENDS BACK.
Join the 9/12 Project with me.

I knew the time would approach, just not so soon. One afternoon a few weeks ago, Wrangler started screaming that the chicks were flying out of the box!

The clever creatures decided to use their food and water bowls to stage their escape route. Ft. Knox this box was not! Escape From Alcatraz was happening…

Rather than find a bigger, better prison box, I decided it was warm enough and they were also getting big enough to put out in the back yard. It was time to meet the family dog, as well.

As is common in most animal “meet & greet” occasions, sniffing and brown-nosing was very much in order.

Eventually, after scouting out the new turf, it was time to find the big, furry chicken that disappeared.

We are changing our beloved dog’s name to Mama Hen. Don’t they make a sweet little family?