Only Child - Single Mom

The Other Mothers

2011-10-13T04:30:00.000-05:00

I think sometimes as a parent of a school-aged child I forget that other parents feel the way I feel. No matter what the situation or circumstances, we all may have similarities. Recently I was speaking with another mother from my son's class and it turns out we have some of the same issues. Before this, I thought she was more of a PTO mom because she's so involved in our kids' class activities. Come to find out, she makes fun of the PTO moms, has some of the same stresses of caring for aging parents, and concerns about moving from a large city to a small town. Funny how that works.

I think I'm struggling to find my identity as a parent to a kid in school. Not only that, but in a town where you run into people you know constantly because your kids recognize each other. It's so odd when my kid and I are walking around and suddenly my kid or another kid is telling me they know each other! Even more so when people tell me they already know our business because they know someone who told them before we did! Then I wonder if I'm stuck here in this town forever because my kid is in school already. Do I want to stay here or do I want to move back to IL and the schools there? I'm so conflicted.

There are so many things that I worry and think about and I never considered that this mother would have the same issues as I do. Sometimes it's hard to get past the pre-conceived notions we have from someone's exterior image. Do I want to be a PTO mom or a room mom or someone who comes up with class activities and events? Do I want to be a once a month mom who comes to help for field trips or various monthly activities? I don't know yet. I don't know where I'm at with everything that comes with the territory of a kid in school. it's such a fine line for me.

Right now, with the both of us in school at the same time, I find even just getting us both ready is a challenge. I'm not sure I want to add anything else to that. Maintaining friendships with these other moms is difficult too. It's not helping that I've been sick this week, and Noah went into the hospital because of a cough & sinus infection that caused bronchiolitis. He's missed almost a day every week because of it. I worry that the other moms are judging me, and one even joked that we were coming in late one day because we couldn't get up in time. It was nice to shoot her down with "He was in the hospital" but it's obvious the though is already out there.

I just need to remember I'm not the only one going through stuff at home. Did I mention I'm also dreading parent teacher conferences next week?

Is It September Yet?

2011-08-08T00:08:00.000-05:00

I honestly don't feel like blogging lately. I'm busy with way too much work (which is good) and trying to get both of us ready for school. Mine isn't going so well and making appointments for all the medical stuff for the kid is wearing me out. I'm overwhelmed and can't wait for September when we can get into a routine with school. I also need to make some doctor appointments for myself.

We're also going through a rough time here with back talk and blatantly disobeying me. I'm not sure if it's an age thing or something about not seeing his dad since June. That alone is enough to piss me off but whatever. Not my problem since I can't control what he does.

We have a fun week ahead and something planned for every other day this week. Then it's time to buckle down & get things done next week. Hopefully the elementary school is open so I can turn in some paper work. I feel like the only mom that doesn't know what teacher my son is getting. Whatever. Everything is just whatever right now. Is it September yet?

Saving Money This Summer - Games and Streaming TV

2011-06-20T16:01:00.000-05:00

I'm absolutely on a mission to save money as it warms up outside. Not only do I want to put my PlayOn and Netflix to good use, but I also want to try to watch less television this summer. It's ridiculous to pay for subscriptions that are barely being used and my kid had plenty of stuff to do. I also want to save for the colder months now that I know how much it costs to heat this place!

This winter just about tapped me out financially. I wasn't sure how much it would cost to electrically heat my new apartment, and boy was I in for a shock! Now that I've averaged it out over the year, it's more manageable. The quarterly water bill was a new one too. It's easier to think of it as a monthly expense rather than, "OMG WTF we need to shower less!"

I also didn't have the benefit of educational financial aid to help out this year either. Thankfully, I got resident tuition rates this year, after a huge drama, and I'm going back to school in the fall. Another reason to quit cable and move to streaming TV - focusing purposes.

So between the video game subscription with Gamefly, the Netflix subscription and PlayOn, I should successfully lower my bills by a significant amount every month this summer. I was able to take this last year away from school, even though it hurt financially, and transition into writing with transcription as a back up. I'm in a good place and I'm looking forward to saving money this summer.

This week: How to connect your laptop or computer to your television for streaming purposes.

Go the F*** to Sleep is the Best Book Ever

2011-06-16T05:20:00.002-05:00

You cannot get better than this:

How He Breaks My Heart

2011-06-10T05:45:00.065-05:00

"Are you wearing that to daddy's house?" my son asked me yesterday. It's a simple gauchos outfit in a pretty print that I pulled out of the back of the closet. I'd forgotten how comfortable it is! I haven't worn it since my son was a baby and I took him to his dad's house for the first time. A time when I was about 30 pounds thinner (hence the back of the closet), and was still trying to impress the ex. Yesterday it was jammies.

My son told me how pretty I looked in my "dress" and that he loved it so much. I adore that boy. When he asked me if I was going to wear it to his daddy's house, I told him no and he looked disappointed. He asked if daddy had ever seen it, and I replied yes, when he was a baby. He asked if daddy hated it when he saw it, and I told him no. I waited a few minutes before asking him why did he want me to wear it to his dad's house. Sometimes, when I press too hard, he shuts down and "forgets" or says "I have no words" and changes the subject. I already knew where he was going with these questions.

"I want you to wear it to daddy's because I want you to look pretty for him." Of course I asked why, and his answer broke my heart. "I want daddy to marry you again." Before I said anything, he answered himself and said he knew daddy and I wouldn't get married again. Then he asked for a hug.

I know this gets easier as he gets older. Hell, I'm a child of divorce. I know it does eventually. This part just really sucks right now.

Does Pregnancy Heartburn Mean I'll Have a Baby With Hair?

2011-06-09T00:45:00.000-05:00

I know the answer (in my case) to the question: Does Pregnancy Heartburn Mean I'll Have a Baby With Hair?

Links to Pampers Village.

The Eye Twitch

2011-06-08T04:46:00.005-05:00

My eye has been twitching for a week or so. It got progressively worse the less I slept and the more I stressed out. I've been working on a huge project for my son's class and it had to get done by Wednesday. I was still trying to get it to work right on Monday and it was barely even started. I was freaking out, to say the least.

Yesterday afternoon, after scouring the Internet for information, I found a program to help me. Thank God for the Internet and user forums. So the project fell together within a couple of hours after I figured out how to use the program correctly. By 4am Tuesday morning, I was almost done but fried. Nothing has gotten done at home while I worked on this. Nothing. My house is scary. My kid has been dealing with a crabby, tired momma. And my eye - oh my GOD, my eye twitching was making it worse. We're talking a deep lower eye twitch that was erratic and almost painful.

Suddenly, about the same time I started copying the completed project so each parent gets one, my eye stopped twitching! I suddenly feel calm and less freaked out. I'm not even kidding. I went from a tight chest filled with anxiety and panic last week, to this happy calm feeling. School is out tomorrow and I'm free from the daily stress of getting us out the door on time. The rushed, "EAT EAT OMG FREAKIN' EAT!!!" If this is what I'm going to go through for the next 12 years, I'm screwed.

Tomorrow we're going to the school at 8:45am. Why? Why in the world would I do that to myself? Because I feel happy! No, not really. Ha ha! Actually, I'm giving in to my child's despair of not getting a yearbook when his best friend got one. When the order forms showed up, I thought "Not for 4K. No." Now that I saw it, I want him to have one. So I called and there are only six left. First come, first serve. I'll be there before the school opens just to get him one. Oh, and to drop off the project and to help the teacher with a technically issue if it's not figured out yet.

Is this what it's like when your kid starts school? I'm already committed to PTA projects for next year, which I'm happy to do because it's technical stuff. I feel like I'm becoming this other person who gets involved and is social and stuff. It's weird, but I kind of like it. I think. I'm resistant to the idea too. Maybe it's because I almost feel like we're not going to settle down here. I still kind of want to live in Arizona. I don't know. All I know is it's summer break as of tomorrow, I'm stress free and I drive to Chicago on Saturday to drop the kid off for two whole weeks. TWO WEEKS!!! YIPPEEEEE!!!

One More Week

2011-06-03T22:41:00.000-05:00

I'm overwhelmed and stressed out (as usual). I have work piling up and a project for my son's school that needs to be done by Tuesday. I drive to Chicago in a week to take the boy child to his dad's house. Two whole weeks of blissful quiet. No Disney Channel or Cartoon Network blaring at all hours of the day. In fact, I'd be shocked if I turned on the television at all! I'll miss him after about day three and will call everyday to check on him. Last time he barely talked to me on the phone because his older brother was finally there for the summer.

My plans are to sleep, clean and read while I can. I also plan to work my ass off to get caught up so I don't fall behind again. It's been hard this year without relying on financial aid from school. It was refreshing to take a break from it though. There is some drama with it but I have two weeks to straighten everything out.

My son's bedroom is about to be de-cluttered of all the toys he's accumulated. I'm about to purge all the clothes that have been piling up. I need to see what gaps need filling - other than socks and underwear. I'm sure he need shoes - don't they always? Goodwill (or other local charity) here we come!

Two blissful weeks. Seven more days to get there. Four days of hell before we're free from school. *sighs*

Single Parents Not Supporting Each Other

2011-05-31T05:15:00.107-05:00

I drafted the title for this a year ago and I never finished. It's sad that as I wrote this today it's still relevant.

Recently, I contacted another single mom, @SingleMomsChi, who is trying to put together a single mom group in the Chicago area. I noticed the tweet from another single mom blog owner, @Singlemommyhood, and offered my help. I used to run the single mom meetup group in the Chicago suburbs and my friend Erich ran the Chicago single parent's group for a while. I figured I could give her a heads up on the struggles and frustrations of trying to organize single parents.

Obviously, the biggest difficulty getting single parents to come together is time. None of us have enough of it and we're constantly stretched to breaking. What little time we have left, between work, school and kids, is used up cleaning or sleeping. It's really hard to get single parents together consistently for get togethers. I had a core group of single parents show up to almost all the events and a few new faces showed up once or twice and vanished. The online community I provided was even quieter. I assumed that starting conversations on a shared discussion board would foster communication in the group and help comfort levels at gatherings. Not so much.

When we finally did get a large group of single parents together, boy did we talk! It helped if the kids were able to play while we talked, but we always found a way to share our struggles. The only problem was the separation of the groups within our single parent group. There was the never-married group, the divorced-with-an-active-dad group, the no-father-involvement group, and then a miscellaneous group that included dads, widows, etc. Each branch of single parents had a different experience with single parenthood, and it caused friction.

I see this online as well. For such a large group to allow itself to become so segmented is a shame. To say that a mom who gets every other weekend 'off' while the kids are at their father's is any less a single parent than someone without the other parent involved is ridiculous. To make it worse is the group splits up again when you talk about dating and not dating - for whatever reason. I had a mother's boyfriend show up at one of our gatherings to drop something off for her and the envy and ugly came out when she left. When single parents get married, they get jettisoned from the single parent tribe. They've got in-house support now and past experience doesn't count anymore. I don't understand it.

I can't believe that single parents have in-fighting that's along the lines of working moms vs. stay-at-home moms! I'm seriously shocked when I see another single mom claim they have it harder than another single mom for whatever reason. We ALL have our hardships, but we're all trying to raise our kids to be awesome adults. Whether my son is gone for two weeks with his dad this summer, or whether I have him 24/7 the rest of the year is irrelevant to my experience as a single mom as it relates to another single mom. The experiences are unique to me as an individual, but I'm still a single mom who struggles to raise my son alone.

I admit that getting regular child support and my son going with his dad is nice, but I knew he'd be involved before I had a child with him. I still had to fight my ass off for the child support and the divorce, like any divorce, was horrible. Why would I ever say that someone who was never married to their kids' father isn't equal to me as a single parent, or had it easy, because they never had to deal with divorce court? Doesn't that sound crazy? We all struggle with something - even the rich single parents (not that I'd know).

We are all single parents and we need to come together and support each other, not tear each other apart. You never know when the single parent you judge as 'not single parent enough' has the answers or can support you when you need it.

Chicago Bloggers I'd Like to Meet

2011-05-27T06:00:00.054-05:00

So the whole time I lived in Chicago, I never met up with any of the other Chicago bloggers that I wanted to meet. I have no idea why. Oh, wait, probably because my social skills suck. Or probably because I was always working to survive in IL. Or maybe because I don't really reach out via email to most bloggers I read, which is weird when they were local and I could've easily met them (assuming they wanted to meet me). I lurk and sometimes comment, and I admit to not being super social about meeting others but I'd like to change that. Even though I've moved to WI, I still have family and friends in Chicago.

So, this summer I'd like to try and meet a few of the bloggers I've been following for years, if possible. Bloggers I'd like to meet this summer include:

Jess @ Sassafrass - A fabulous fellow single mom in Chicago w/a son who also loves Star Wars.
Amy @ Comments from the Peanut Gallery - Mom of 4 who is truly amazing, with a boy close in age to Noah.
Shannon @ Same Old Shannon - I'm often going through the same thing with Noah.
'Harriet' @ Spynotes - I've been reading about her son since he was younger than Noah is now.
Dawn @ Because I Said So - Author and now a single mom of six, she's getting ready to move to FL soon.
Melisa @ Suburban Scrawl - Also an author, to a Chicago city guide for teens & another book, she lived across town from me before I moved and I never met her! Silly me.

I have some of these ladies on my twitter feed and/or my Facebook friends list. I'll just have to figure out the rest, and hopefully this summer I'll get to share stories about meeting them!

Why Was Taking My First Pregnancy Test Terrifying?

2011-05-26T05:08:00.000-05:00

Find out why taking my first pregnancy test was terrifying.

Foodzie sample box - YUM!

2011-05-20T14:58:00.001-05:00

I Wasn't Planning on Bottle-Feeding My Baby

2011-05-19T05:59:00.014-05:00

Why I Wasn't Planning on Bottle-Feeding My Baby.

It's amusing to look back and see how silly I was about sticking to my plans no matter what.

The Bumpy Road to Getting Pregnant

2011-05-18T05:20:00.001-05:00

More for Pampers Pregnancy because you all want to read about: The Bumpy Road to Getting Pregnant

Stopping Breastfeeding Wasn't in the Plan

2011-05-17T05:06:00.001-05:00

Changes in my birth plan and how Stopping Breastfeeding Wasn't in the Plan

Choosing a Digital Pregnancy Test was a Positive Experience

2011-05-16T05:52:00.012-05:00

More Pampers Village about: Choosing a Digital Pregnancy Test Was a Positive Experience

Contemplating Taking a Lamaze Childbirth Class

2011-05-15T05:56:00.003-05:00

More at Pampers Village about when I was pregnant and Contemplating Taking a Lamaze Childbirth Class.

Keeping Extra Birth Records Simplifies My Life

2011-05-14T15:55:00.002-05:00

Read about it at Pampers Village...

Keeping Extra Birth Records Simplifies My Life

The Long Ride Home - From Dating to Divorce & How Babies are Made

2011-05-10T05:00:00.001-05:00

Boy did we have an interesting talk on the way home! To keep him awake the last 40 minutes of our drive, which was already 10 PM, I asked him if he understood why I wouldn't be going with him to his daddy's when his brother came for the summer. I don't think I've ever explained or talked about his dad and I being divorced. He knows we were married and has seen the wedding rings in a box. He sees marriage on TV and thinks if you kiss you're married (I'll let him think that for a while). He also thinks he can marry me, which I keep telling him is impossible but is cute and funny at the same time. It wasn't an easy talk and included his brother's mom and his dad not being married and not having to get divorced. It kind of kills the "Don't have sex unless you're married" thing too. Lord help me, I hope I did it all right because it confuses me sometimes too.

I was feeling somewhat confident - until he asked what "special place" babies come out of (thanks mom! LOL). I tried to come up with descriptions he could relate to since we were in the car. He didn't understand how babies come out of your 'pee pee' and kept saying he was cutting his pee pee off to get the baby out. Oy vey. Not going well. So then we had to talk about boy and girl parts being different and only girls have babies but daddies help. I was WAY in over my head without age-appropriate books to fall back on. I'm going to the library tomorrow, but it may be too late after he goes to school and shares all his new info. Oh lord, I'm in trouble I know it. Anyway, I finally got to the point where I said a girl's uterus (hooray me using the correct terms) was like a water balloon with his big Bakugan shoved inside it and the balloon stretched to make the Bakugan fit in it. Then, when he wanted the Bakugan out, the mouth of the balloon stretched to let it out. He insisted the Bakugan was too big and I kept saying it stretched. I think his brain exploded at that point and he also asked if they had to cut the pee pee to get the baby out. How was I not ready for this?? Now he wants to see proof of all this online. I think I said, "Um, oh boy" and "we'll see."

The last bombshell was my own fault for asking if he had any more questions and he could ask me anything. He hit me with, "What's dating?" Damn you Disney for not having cartoons on later in the day! I asked him what he thought first, as I do after almost everything he asks to see what details he wants. I clarified to see if he knew what a date was and he said taking a girl to a restaurant. Good boy. I think I then inserted something about gold diggers but he wanted to know about why boys and girls date. The answer I gave was that when he's older he will like girls and dating is a way to find someone you really like a lot so you can get married. I slyly added that you don't date other girls once you really, really like just one because it hurts the girl's feelings if you said you only liked her the most. But until he picks one, he can date whomever he wants or not go on another date if he doesn't.

He's said before he met the girl his dad used to date (but has since broken up with) and I did ask how he felt about his dad dating someone or my dating someone. He yelled at me that I can't date because I have to marry him. Again, the discussion on marrying your mom is not possible. Then he asked if his dad kissed the girl and I said yes. He said that was yucky and he was going to barf when we got home. Always hilarious. Before we reached our exit for home, I told him that it wasn't anything he had to think about now because that was all big boy stuff. I told him to enjoy being a little boy and have fun playing with his toys and the kids at school. He just kept saying he wanted to be a big boy now, but then said he wanted to be a little boy forever. What a tough age he's at now trying to figure things out and how the world works.

You know, I wish they gave out a handbook of all the fun stuff you'll get asked in every situation. I thought I was prepared for this inquisition. I really did. All the single parent blogs, the books with advice, the how to talk about sex with your kid info - none of it popped into my head while I got the third degree from a 5 year old. The thing that did come out of it is that now he knows he can ask me anything and I'll tell him. The most hilarious thing before we got in the house is he said, "It's a dumb question" to which I told him there are no dumb questions. He asked, "Do you say 'stupid'?" Easiest question of the day!

Mother's Day with Birthday Parties

2011-05-09T13:22:00.000-05:00

What a long, ridiculous weekend! My son learned about divorce, marriage, dating, how babies are made and come out, and had two birthday parties. I got to drive 3.5 hours on Mother's Day to get us home, deal with a grumpy ex and put together toys for which we have no batteries. Tomorrow, I get to do the laundry, buy batteries and clean the house. Fun times!

My son is learning early about stretching out bday celebrations. He had four parties to celebrate his birthday over the course of a week. Sunday was our special 'party', just us at the BBQ restaurant he's been begging me to take him to for months. We had a great day opening presents and then eating. Tuesday he got his school party because he was too sick on Monday to go to school. Since it was a short week at school and he had this past Friday off, I planned to take him to Chicago to see the grandparents. I didn't realize it was Mother's Day when I planned this, obviously.

The original plan was to go to a water park resort, but then I read they had a bed bugs report. Pass on that! Come to find out one of my old ex-boyfriends was there with his daughter and I totally would have run into them had I gone. Awkward, especially when I would've been in a bathing suit. Karma was nice to me that day. With the broken arm, and both of us recovering from sickness, I just headed to my mom's and she had a party planned for Saturday. For some reason my son and I don't sleep well there. I don't know why but he didn't get down until 2 AM. Yep, this single momma was beside herself and severely pissed off and tired after driving 4 hours and 2 potty stops to get there. I finally fell out asleep at 4 AM but tossed and turned.

My mom's party was nice and even though my brother only got to stop by for a minute while he was working, my son said his favorite part was playing soccer with his uncle! I love that he didn't say presents first, but he amended that quickly. He didn't even eat any cake, but I have lots in my fridge right now! I always get leftovers to take home from my mom's. Thank goodness too because tomorrow I'm going to be on the couch resting as much as I can.

While we were at my mom's I was telling her that my son's teacher is pregnant and that my son said babies shoot out of our arms. Then, apparently, the doctor tapes our arms back on! After I stopped laughing, I told him the right way women give birth, with as little detail as possible. Since I had a c-section I've always just said he was cut out of my tummy and he let that go. My mom tried to help, which was funny too, but I found out later he was more confused.

At his dad's house on Sunday, his grandparents had a small birthday party for him. Since the ex and I are having some not-getting-along issues right now and it was a little awkward with us, but I always enjoy his family and our son loves seeing everyone. I did have to explain that I wouldn't be there the next time he was visiting because he's going to stay for a few weeks. He was disappointed and I had to explain that his brother would be there so mommy would be at home while daddy brought him there. I'll be picking him up when they're done, I think. Who knows how it will work out. I think my son was a little confused by this. So I made a mental note to talk about it later on the drive home. The drive home was the true test of my parenting skills. Getting along with the ex was nothing compared to what came next. More on that tomorrow.

Happy 5th Birthday!

2011-05-01T02:15:00.001-05:00

Five years of solo parenting this beautiful "baby" and what a wild ride it's been.
Love you son.

Boy vs Park

2011-04-21T01:29:00.001-05:00

Jungle gym wins.

Freelance Budgeting - Where is the Money Coming From?

2011-04-11T14:12:00.000-05:00

As a freelancer, there are ebbs and flows to available work. Holidays are usually the lean times. Knowing this, you'd think I'd prepare better, but it's also the time when the holidays want to empty my bank account! I've been in transition for a while and trying to better budget things so Christmas and my son's birthdays (6 months apart) don't do as much damage as they have in the past. Now that I have approximately seven income streams, from both writing and transcription, I had to find a better method. I was losing track of expenses to income and everything was everywhere.

Enter the budget. Actually, re-enter the budget. I started using Mint.com a while ago and put in my budget numbers, as I thought they were. When those suckers go red, you notice! But I realized I still wasn't able to track all my sources of income as they were just lumped in together. So I've had to go back to my low-tech methods of Excel. I was able to put all my income sources at the top of the page, put all my expenses at the bottom, and each week I update what came in and what went out. The first column is my estimate for the month and each week is subtracted from that. I have a weekly tally that shows me if I'm falling behind or getting ahead. It also rolls whatever money I have left over into the next month's worksheet to be added to the that monthly total. It's perfect for me while I'm completely slammed with work and trying to stay organized. Things tend to get lost in the cracks if I'm not careful and this Excel sheet also reminds me which income sources need more attention than others if I see I haven't inputted anything for the week.

I really hope this works the way I'm hoping it will. I'm having trouble staying focussed on work when things get chaotic. I think a big part of the problem was that I thought I was making more in some areas than I really was. I wasn't able to see if I was or not because my previous tracking system was flawed. You'd think I would already have a better system in place after freelancing for the past 5 years, but nope. So, I'm going to see how it goes this month and make adjustments from there. It better work!

Removed

2011-03-25T23:44:00.000-05:00

Yes, I removed the piece about travel to Chicago because it was just a test. Well, that and I plan on publishing it elsewhere and I didn't want a duplicate up here. So you're not going crazy if you saw it before and it's gone. Ha!

In other news, I slipped on some ice while walking from my car to my son's school. A residential lot of a man in a wheelchair so even if I got hurt I wouldn't sue or anything. But I am really sore on my right side. I may invest in a sling to keep my arm still if it doesn't feel better on Sunday.

I'm also itching to get away. Maybe to AZ. It's been five years. I just want a vacation, even a short one, just me and the boy. We'll see.

Wisconsin Politics - Shameful!

2011-02-22T03:18:00.000-06:00

I don't often get into political debates or conversations because often people choose a side and stick with it. I admit I'm feeling this way right now with the political unrest here in Wisconsin right now. I did not vote for our current Governor Walker, nor am I happy with his tactics of pushing through bills for approval before anyone has a chance to look at them or argue them. With a Republican majority here, the Democrats can argue but bills will pass regardless. Herein lies the problem with the current controversy with the Democratic 14 and those that have left the State of WI for IL until Governor Walker is ready to negotiate.

I've seen people say that these Democratic leaders are cowards for leaving and they should come back to WI to fight and argue their side. The problem is that they are fighting the bill by leaving. Republicans hold a 19-14 majority but need at least one Democrat to be present in order to proceed with voting. Without a quorum, the Republicans cannot just pass this bill because they're the majority! If the Democrats come to office, they will be forced to vote, and even if they vote no the bill will pass. There is no arguing with Governor Walker! He's already said that he's not going to concede to any concessions offered.

Governor Walker has already passed bills into law his first month in office that supposedly is going to bring business into Wisconsin. What it will likely do is contribute to the supposed deficit that he's claiming. I moved to WI from IL because they were the more financially stable state. Suddenly, WI is a financial disaster now that Walker is in office? Suddenly I have to worry that my son's school is going to lose the benefits I moved here for? Ones he would not have had access to in IL? I'm sick over this Governor being in office and claiming he's helping us with all these changes. No one was really paying attention while he had his way in office - until now.

I can only hope this event wakes people up to what this man is doing and that things don't continue to spiral downward. Dictatorships have no place here.