Excerpts of my son's homework :)

Keep in mind this is only a tiny snippet of what I drafted...........

When evidence is obtained illegally, the law states that this evidence cannot be used in a court hearing and against the suspect. This is called The Exclufnsionary Rule. In the example of the stolen salt shaker, if the tip was anonymous, it was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court that law enforcement no longer have the authority to stop the suspect and search him/her for evidence based on said tip. The evidence that may have been found during this search can be excluded. Other examples of illegally obtained evidence include neglecting to inform a suspect that he/she is not obligated to answer any questions during interrogation. This is also known as the Miranda Rights and they are important! They state, in part, that you as a suspect have the right to “remain silent” and the right to an attorney. Another example would be if law enforcement obtained a search warrant but did not first give the suspect the ability to consent to letting officers in. In other words, if the police have a search warrant and break down the door before giving you the option to let them in peacefully, any and all evidence obtained will more than likely be excluded from trail proceedings. This is also referred to as the “knock then enter” rule. The Exclusionary Rule (2¹) was a court made rule due in part because the federal courts saw potential violations of the 4^th Amendment rights of citizens arrested and subsequently convicted based on evidence that was illegally obtained and did not fall under the guidelines of a warrant-less search and seizure.

There is however a loophole to this rule. It is called the Good Faith Exception (or Doctrine). It basically allows evidence that was illegally gathered to actually be included in trial if law enforcement who gathered the evidence believe they acted lawfully or in good faith. This happens when a warrant is “defective” or “stale”...............

In conclusion, the U.S. Constitution was created by forefathers who wanted to “form a more perfect union” then that of our British roots. They drafted the Constitution as way of preventing the newly formed Government from being the majority and presenting itself as above the law. James Madison feared both the abuse of power by Government but also the abuse of power by the people being protected by the Constitution. Lacking a crystal ball but possessing great knowledge they knew the Constitution was an owners manual for the way our nation was at the time and not for the way our nation would later become. They set into motion the Amendments as way to potentially answer the questions of the unknown. Many people of the time saw the document as perfect and whole not needing amending. James Jackson, representative from Georgia said:

"Our Constitution, sir, is like a vessel just launched, and lying at the wharf," Jackson said. "She is untried, you can hardly discover any one of her properties. It is not known how she will answer her helm, or lay her course; whether she will bear with safety the precious freight to be deposited in her hold. But, in this state, will the prudent merchant attempt alterations? Will he employ workmen to tear off the planking and take asunder the frame?" Meaning that no one person or people can fully know whether the constitution did in fact need adjusting since it had not yet been fully tested or used.



The Bill of Rights was Madison's aim to “amend” things that otherwise required no amendment. We know them our God given rights. They still outlined these rights, leaving no stone upturned....nothing to guess. By 1992 17 additional amendments were added. They ended slavery, outlined in what manner a President is elected and how long he can serve, gave voting rights to women as well as those of different race or religious freedoms, they made it so that no income tax could be avoided by anyone ( this is still hotly debated as seen in the recent campaigns of Gov Romney and President Obama), they outlined who would be in charge should the president become disabled, as seen with the assassination of JFK. It's important to note that amendments can be change in only two ways: Both the House and Senate may pass a proposed amendment, each by a two-thirds majority. The amendment must then be approved by three-quarters of the states. The other path -- never taken -- allows for two-thirds of the states to call a constitutional convention where amendments could be passed and then sent to the states for approval. * This is, I think, a way of making certain that amendments can not be changed to suit the emotional state of any one person or situation. Keeping the uniformity of the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson understood that he would not see the Constitution or the Bill of Rights utilized to their fullest extent. He later wrote to his friend James Madison:
"Some men look at Constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them, like the Ark of the Covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew that age well; I belonged to and labored with it."
Nothing is ever etched in stone, there is always room for improvement. I believe our forefathers not only recognized this reality but attempted to plan for it. I for one am very glad that the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights is prominent in my protection and that of my family and friends.

1, 2 buckle my shoe-3, 4 shut the schools door

I read in the morning paper today that the school district (TUSD) is proposing 11 school closures, 2 of which I attended in Jr. High and High School. This not only saddens me but it pisses me off. Not because they are schools I attended but because the district, in it's ultimate "wisdom", has decided that in order to close the gap in it's HUGE debt that closing schools will be the answer to the problem. In my mind this has the effect of trying to put out a raging fire with gasoline. Not only does this proposal displace students, it disrupts their learning ability. Any one who was had a parent in the military will tell you how difficult it was to start the school year in one school only to finish it at another, not to mention the friendships they could never kindle. This proposal also adds to the growing strain on teachers.
                                       
When I was in school I had every tool I needed to be successful, be it pencils, paper, or books. Today's kids come on from the first day of school with a massive list of items that unless the parent provides them, the teacher will not be able to. Teachers will now be required to teach larger classes which will ultimately create the potential for some students to be "lost in the shuffle".  Regardless of what political association any of us have we all can agree that education in today's world is paramount to a child's success later in life. Today's job market is becoming more and more technical and when the position can not be filled here, it ultimately gets shipped out overseas.  As a parent of a student, I am faced with helping him with the tools he needs and tapping into my own limited resources.

Across the country there are more and more schools being closed, factories shutting down, homes being foreclosed on.There are already several schools closed in Tucson and they stand empty as a reminder that the system failed the children. How the hell do we as parents look into the eyes of our students and tell them what a great country this is, when all around them is chaos? How do we assure them education is important when they maybe faced with dropping out just to help support the family by getting a job---which may not be waiting for them? I don't have all the answers and I am beyond frustrated with the increasingly irresponsible spending, the poor planning and lack of judgement on the part of the district. We need better teachers who can excite his/her students imaginations, who can keep them fired up about the learning process. Not all teachers are good teachers. I think the school districts need to weed out the bad apples and make room for the one's who do care and are excited to teach.

I leave you with this...... 

I believe that this country, as with war veterans, owes a great deal of respect and gratitude to those teachers who really have a passion for learning and teaching. I think that the so called "powers that be" within any school district should first examine their own pay stub and look for ways to cut their pay. No one can argue that clearly these decision makers are not in the trenches and do not deserve the privilege of triple figure salaries, especially in light of the fact that so many of the good teachers need so much more help. If, after all considerations have been made and it still means schools will be closed, then the next step should be how to turn an empty building into something that can give back to the community. Empty buildings eventually cost tax payers more--why not provide an Emergency shelter and preparedness facility, temporary housing for domestic abuse victims, continuing education for teen moms, training centers for improving teacher quality, or after school programs just to name a few.  The point is that education is essential and goes way beyond reading, writing and arithmetic. We cannot, as a country, afford to fail our children and extinguish their hopes, dreams, and goal before they've had a chance. We can no longer expect excellence from teachers who are simply going through the motions while ignoring the excellence other teachers. We can no longer afford to allow ourselves to be "hoodwinked" by people who have zero knowledge of how hard it is to make ends meet. As parents, we can no longer afford the "do as I say not do as I do" mentality by accepting second best logic from the educational system we send our children to every day. Excellence begins at home, with us, and if our children see us moaning and complaining but doing little in the way of problem solving, well.... then so will our children. In the end we"ll have only ourselves to blame.

PleaseThankYouComeAgain

In 48 hours millions of people in the U.S. will gather at someones table wearing their Sunday's best and preparing to eat until it's painful. Some families have the tradition of each guest saying what they are grateful for. In my opinion we all have much to be grateful for. It's easy to be grateful when you stop to think about how many people this year will actually have nothing. No food, no shelter, no family, no money, no job, or ill health.  It's easier still to find things to complain about: I hate my spouse, I hate this dress, I hate my job, I hate mornings ( oh yeah I really do!), I hate this relative, I hate having to drive over to so & so's house.....no one really has to put much thought into creating any list of dislikes and hates.

When we start taking for granted how much we really have already we start closing our hearts and when we close our hearts we start to lose things we should have been grateful for. Essentially we make room for only bad, the negative. For many of us, feeling unsatisfied, critical, depressed and angry is like slipping to our favorite sweater or comfy robe. It's all we know and we begin to resent those people around us who are too perky, too happy, too optimistic. We resent them for seeing through rose colored glasses and we add this observation to our list of complaints. Sound familiar?

Here's what I know for sure......

Negativity creates poor health. An imbalance inside and out. Life is but a heartbeat away to eternity. We are never guaranteed a sunrise. The bible reminds us that our days are as "swift as a runner"--- The fact that each of us does wake up, is in itself, a miracle. Ask anyone who has survived a life altering event what they're most grateful for they will tell you that they lost everything but they're alive to rebuild. We saw this time and time again in Hurricane Katrina and more recently with Hurricane Sandy. The bible tells us that God wants nothing but pleasure for us but sometimes we are faced with tragedy and suffering as a way of making us grateful and preparing us for the next phase of life. In my own personal quest for "Zen" I have discovered that I still have much to learn, practice makes perfect and gratitude is crucial for any form of success.I am still learning how much gratitude plays a part of my life. We celebrate the small things. The point is that gratitude is part and parcel in staying open to even more.  My son said best when he observed that the glass is neither half full or half empty but rather always full....part liquid and part air = always full. What makes this so unique is that his life has been in overdrive of tiny little perfectly displayed disasters. His parents argue too often, his father picks at and on him and yet he can always find something to be happy about! The good news, for him, is that when the liquid is gone, he can always get more. That, my friends, is the key to success!

I leave you with this...... 

When we gather at the dining table this Thursday, we have many things to be grateful for. Yes, your sister's kid is a pain in the ass. You could be attending their funeral instead. Yes, the drive to your sister's house is long and littered with road rage and high gas prices. You could have no car and forced to miss the festivities. Yes, uncle George is gonna be and his jokes suck.... you DO laugh at some of them and you'll miss them when he's gone. Yes, my son is allergic to aspirin, milk and penicillin but he IS alive and WILL grow old. Rose colored glasses are okay and sometimes necessary. When I sit down at the table Thursday I am grateful for every friendship I've cultivated on Twitter, I am grateful that my leg has finally healed, I am grateful that my brothers are talking to each other and one brother has started talking to our mom again after 3 years, I am grateful that my husband loves me the best he can, I am grateful that my 18 year old has such an awesome sense of humor and that he can always make me laugh. I am grateful that my 14 year old does not have Reyes Syndrome! We celebrate the little things in big ways!

Update

What a journey I've been on these last few days! First I want to say thank you for all those who kept my son in their prayers. It was a great comfort knowing that so many were praying---prayers were answered!
The more I studied up on Reyes Syndrome, the more questions I had. The symptoms were not working with the prognosis! After much internal debate and great angst by people who thought I wasn't doing enough I decided to have my son see MY doctor. And I'm glad I did.  Short version is he does NOT have Reyes Syndrome but he does have a food allergy. And in light of the fact that we thought the worst, a food allergy is a piece of cake! The road to which food or foods he may be allergic to, is long and so far we've discovered that milk is major culprit. One day at a time one food at a time.

This was yet another wake up call for this family and a deeper answer to prayer. We are now forced into eating healthier foods. Being more aware of what we put in and on our bodies. How can that be wrong? Answer: it's not!

Countdown to the apocalypse in.....

.........Okay okay.. not really but it sure has felt like it over the last 48+ hours.....

As many of you already know I've been worried about my youngest son who had a massive and mysterious rash. He came home from a friends house earlier in the same and discovered that his second finger had a minor swelling on it. We all just shrugged it off thinking that he may have come in contact with some sort of allergenic. An hour later he showed me he had a whelp at his waist ..raised and red. Okay so now maybe it's an allergic reaction to laundry soap but no other rash in other spots. Within another hour he had this rash in nearly every spot including hair line and scalp. Still thinking it was a reaction to laundry soap we gave him benedryl and sent him to bed. By morning the rash was worse and he started to spike a fever. OFF TO THE DOCTOR!!! Here's where it starts to get a little insane: we are a one car family. When we bought the car we had no idea that I would at some point be in a wheelchair. Family road trips are no longer an option because it's a 2 door SUV and in order to get my chair in the back end, the backseat has to be pushed down. So, dear husband I entrust YOU with the care and monitoring of our son. Be sure to tell him the following things which include the fact that I had given him aspirin several days before for a strained muscle.

Since I had a doctor's appointment at the same time I opted to keep mine in favor of continuing the progress I've made with my leg. In my mind this was a no brainer for my husband and I trusted him despite both my mom and my instinct.

The diagnosis was allergy to coast soap and the flu/cold. Okay...well now we know, right?  By the next day everything changed and he was worse. Off to the doctor again but this time a different doctor. I sent my husband, again, entrusting him to be open, upfront and detailed with the doctor. THIS time the new doctor diagnosed Reyes Syndrome which I had suspected the day before but ignored as my over thinking and making mountains out of mole hills. The biggest factor was how badly, if at all, this disease had attacked his liver and so we waited for lab results. I was told by husband that the blood work would shed light on whether or not he actually had Reyes so we waited and waited and waited some more. It's funny how long time really is when you need answers but the people in charge are not playing fair. Maybe this is what expectant fathers felt like in the waiting rooms as countless mothers pushed and labored to produce the fruits of her 9 month long "bun" cooking?  In the mean time my son was put on a round of prednisone and told to avoid ALL products containing aspirin, including peptobismal. When I was growing up it was standard operating procedure to issue St, Joseph's Childrens Aspirin for fevers and pepto for tummies. Funny how we think something is harmless and blindly give it to our kids to help them and it turns out it could actually kill them.

The long and short of it all folks is that my son does indeed have Reyes Syndrome brought on by aspirin use in close proximity to a viral infection. The good news is that his labs came back normal and we may have, in fact, started treatment in enough time that it will not become fatal and be more of a bother at best. Today he is feeling some better. Getting his appetite back. He shows no signs of confusion, has only a slight fever (from 102 to 99.6) and when he is not napping he seems alert and clear. I really really hope that this means we dodged a serious bullet but I guess time will tell. For those of  you who don't know what Reyes Syndrome is, I've linked it HERE    I've got a long road ahead of me to keep informed and on top of the endless list of products containing aspirin. My knee jerk response is that if it's not tylenol it doesn't go into his mouth and even that is suspect because tylenol is known to cause liver issues.  As for the husband who didn't give me all the details.......I'll leave you with this.

Is it an animal you love?

Many of my Twitter friends have asked what the heck happened to me to start this current chain of medical events in my life. Here's the back story as requested:

I always have one or more animal near me at all times. I have 2 cats and a dog and they all want to be near me. In the winter months our youngest cat prefers  to be on my body sucking up my natural menopausal heat. My big gnarly black cat is my BFF if it's time to eat or the bowl is low on food. My dog, a boxer pit bull mix, loves taking naps with me and greeting me first thing in the morning. One day in mid July (2012) I was napping and had the little cat under the covers softly purring and nestled against my chest. The dog decided that she would not miss the nap and started to jump up on the bed. She grazed my left leg and scratched it. It healed and life went on. Two weeks later it was time to clip the cats' toenails. The little one, we caller her kitten tater (kitten for short) hates having her claws trimmed. It literally takes 3 people to clip her nails. One this particular day, we did our big cat first. As one son walked closer to me with Kitten she started wiggling and squeaking and so I said to let her go. My son dropped her and she used my leg as an escape ramp!

Because I have stage three kidney disease I have some extreme edema issues made worse by the fact that I am 90% immobile. Even worse is my immune system has been taxed for so long that now it is not able to protect me from such minor things as cat scratches. This combination makes it possible for my legs to literally leak. I would describe it as a pore crying. In July my leg leaked 24/7 and the the biggest wound leaked down to a smaller wound which then became bigger.  My PCP put me on a round of antibiotics which was not helping so he tossed my ass into the hospital. Side note: a year prior I was in the same hospital almost dead from pneumonia I didn't know I had! This time I spent only 3 days in the hospital under close observation and IV antibiotics. I developed what I refer to as a good crust on all of the wounds (what had started out as one tiny scratch turned into 4 new and disturbing additional wounds). I was sent home with oral antibiotics and approx. 4 days after I completed the round my leg started weeping again! I had an in home nurse coming, almost daily trips to the doctor and nothing worked. The leg kept getting worse and I did not want to go back to the hospital-- so he sent me to a wound care center. Cleaned the wound, actually reopened some of the places that had started to crust over again. I had to endure, to put in mildly, a barbaric test that required my ankles to be fit with blood pressure cuffs to assess the "flow" in my body.....might not seem barbaric until you realize that the left ankle has an open, stinging, burning wound. Yes, lets squeeze the cuff to 200+ on this open sore and see if her veins work properly?! Any way my veins work great, heart is strong as ever so we moved forward to compression on both legs.



I have each leg wrapped from just above the toes to just at the back of my knee. I am taking 40 mg of Lasix twice daily to help the compression and rid my legs of all the water they carry. This combination seems to be working because I've lost 20 pounds, more than likely all water weight. When I look at the wound each time the wrapping comes off it looks so gross but they say I am making new cells and healing. This is great news! Well, there you have it.....a 5 month ordeal that thankfully is coming to an end!

One for the Books

As millions of us stand in seemingly endless lines waiting for our turn to vote I am never more aware of how truly important this day really is. The future of our country truly depends on who will be ready to assume the monumental role of Commander in Chief come this January. There is so much more at stake; the rights of women, medical care, taxes, the economy and foreign policy. And as I sit here keeping tabs on early numbers I find myself reflecting on the behaviors of ALL politicians and I am disappointed.

I am always reminding my husband that his actions are being watched by our two sons. They will take what he says and does, good or bad, as how men behave. This has never been more apparent as in the chokingly frequent campaign ads. It doesn't matter who the ad is criticizing or promoting the message is the same: we can not trust either Republicans or Democrats....or can we? I am also amazed at how low many candidates have sunken by creating voter fraud fears, malfunctioning voter machine fears, impending weather fears---it seems to me that the candidates are coming to the fight with brass knuckles and knifes rather than the standard boxing gloves! No?

We had similar issues such as  dipples and hanging chads. This is nothing more than an extreme form of bullying and it is clearly the action of a political party who is afraid of losing. The real question is, are we really this petty? Do we continue to believe and get entangled in the bullshit or do we step away from the herd and make a stand against the sheep mentality? For the last year and even more so in just the last 30 days, we have become like the poor unfortunate souls who fall asleep and become "pod people".... shells of our former self just walking through our day and our lives in a mindless coma. This year's election campaigns have bet on many of us remaining mindless shells or at least believing in the hype. The fact that Romney actually asked us to seek out Obama supporters ( signs in their yards) and "persuade them to vote Romney" blows the door to violence wide open and yet his supporters thought it was a great idea...sleeping sheep!

When I publish this post, it will be the third "political commentary" -- the most EVER. I usually stay quiet about such things. This time, there's been so many "gaffs", fails, mis-steps,back biting and out and out lies and I am stunned that anyone could actually take Mitt Romney as a serious White House hopeful....that his dreams of success speak of our desires for success. That his plans for the middle class are mirroring our hopes for the middle class. That he holds any value for the rights of women, same sex marriages or any other "taboo" subject. We have never seen a "true" Romney. Rather, we've seen his waffle on what he said the last time, challenge POTUS on petty issues easily "checked", and ask the American public if we're "happy with the last four years?" Regardless of what side of the fence you stand on, the facts remain: President G.W. Bush  took 8 years to trash our economy. He did this through ridiculous spending and funding a 10 year war that depleted our resources. There simply is NO President that can undo the damage Bush did in 4 years, especially with the GOP's resolve to "make Obama a one term president".

I leave you with this........

                     



In my humble opinion, and I've said this before, our Government has become too big for it's britches. They have become too comfortable with their role in our decisions. Big Government is necessary in time of crisis; Hurricane Katrina , 9/11, Hurricane Sandy, etc. and not in matters of a woman's right to chose. The budget can be balanced, Bill Clinton showed us it could be done.  Healthcare reform is necessary and higher taxes for the echelon wealthy are necessary. More importantly we need to put down our pitch forks and torches and rather than waiting for our Government to "rebuild" us, we need to rebuild ourselves! We can no longer afford to give power over us to others, especially where it pertains to Government! When we cease to focus on our political differences and help one another. We are at our best when others are in need as seen in relief efforts for the communities hit by Hurricane Sandy. Only when we stop behaving as sleeping sheep can we actually do ourselves and this great nation any good. It may take longer than 4 or 8 years, we may see a few more Presidents in office before we heal but we must heal!  Generations of children are watching us and generations more will read about this time in history and quite frankly I do not want to leave behind the legacy of "Ancients Behaving Badly" ---do you?

You are my brother and my sister

As the holidays creep ever closer, we will be under greater stress then ever. I don't know what it is about the holidays that sends people into a death spiral....sometimes I struggle with the fact that I am in control not the holidays! It feels as if everything I do is doomed from the start and only gets worse as I try harder to keep "it together". By the time people start arriving at my door I am frazzled, fragmented and an eye lash away from scraping the whole thing. When I was younger I worked over time to instill the magic of Christmas in my children...now that they are are teens, the magic lays in Ipods, video games, and "green". They've had much of their childhood destroyed by Mom and Dad's nagging at each other. Husband hates holidays and only during this time does he become Jewish. Apparently being Jewish comes with the notion that you can complain long and loud about having to participate in the festivities. Needless to say holidays in my house are----awkward to say the least!



Add to this, the fact that we sometimes eat our weight in holiday goodies. I won't lie I love holidays because all the nummies. I grew up having a mom and two grandmothers who were excellent cooks and so I indulged in bite sized pecan pies, snickerdoodles (which my daddy perfected and is now the king of snickerdoodles), Missouri cookies, and chocolate mint pinwheels. But I digress..... every family has some sort of tradition around the holidays. Be it hiking to the Christmas Tree Farm and chopping your own tree, make tamales, cutting paper snowflakes to paste on the windows, or Mexican Fiesta we always end up pissed off at either ourselves or friends and/or family. I am not gonna say I have all the answers or even any answers, I'm still prone to a slow simmer during this time. This year will be different I hope because I've been doing so well with my Zen status....that being said.......



I think that we all need to remember how fragile life really is. All to soon loved ones are taken away from us, jobs are lost, shit happens. No matter what that shit is, we are monumentally better off than someone living on the streets in a cardboard box! When we remember that, no matter what the current chaos, there are people who have nothing. Community Food Banks have empty shelves, seniors have been left in care centers and forgotten and children who now safe place to sleep. I know that when I lend a helping hand to someone in need, I feel better through and through. There is something so satisfying about "random acts of kindness"--and it reminds us that we are blessed with abundance even when it seems the fridge is bare and the car needs gas but payday is 2 weeks away. For me, when I help with a kind word, a spare dollar, a gift card or donation to the food bank, I am creating a spark of gratitude within my being. Gratitude keeps me connected to my creator and forces me to remain positive and happy....if I'm happy then those little stresses, which really aren't stresses but learning blocks, seem easier to handle, even trivial. We end up like the Grinch who finally understands the magic of Christmas and our tiny hearts grown three sizes. Each and every person we come in contact with is an appointment from heaven. We have two choices: walk away saying "this isn't my problem" or asking how we can help. Sometimes the very act of asking is all that is needed.

   ..........Carry On