Words Mean Things (Right?)

Did you know that the term "single" has nothing to do with marriage? It refers to a person's relational status. Apparently, teens and young adults who have had a regular "hook-up" (defined: boyfriend/girlfriend situation for more than a week) do not consider themselves to be "single". This was news to me. It was news to the 19 year girl I was talking with that anyone who is not married is single. She had never heard that before.

The conversation started with her statement, "I have five friends who are pregnant and all but two of them are under 18." She said this so matter of factly I was stunned. I asked her what she thought about that, and she replied, "What do you mean?" I asked her if she had any thoughts, feelings, or opinions on the news that five of her teenage girlfriends are single and pregnant. That's when she told me that two of them were not single. I asked how long they'd been married, and she said, "Oh, they're not." Slightly confused, I asked, "How is it that they are not married and not single?"
"They have boyfriends!" She said, obviously frustrated that I could be so...slow. Trying to get back to the question at hand, I again asked her what she thought about her pregnant teenage single freinds. She said, "I don't know...glad I'm not [pregnant], I guess."

There is an entire population of kids heading for adulthood with this frame of mind. The uphill battle for their hearts and minds is made all the more difficult when we literally speak different languages.

String Theory

You have heard of the "Promise Ring", right? Apparently girls have been convinced that they only need a "Promise String".
Yes. String.

At this rate, there will soon be the "Promise Kleenex" or "Promise Dryer Lint".

Have we really de-valued women and marriage that much? Say it isn't so.

What Does One Do To Receive This Award?

If you look closely that is a golden speculum. I couldn't help but take a picture of it when the genetic counselor left the room. As I told Teen-A-Thon, "What in the world did he do to get THAT?"
Then I couldn't help but think that someone--seriously--someone should have told the good doctor that this plaque belonged in a drawer and not on his office wall.

It was an adventurous day, indeed.

Quote of the Day--Beware This One Stings

"[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the *execrable cruelty of one or a very few."

-- John Adams (An Essay on Man's Lust for Power, 29 August 1763)

Reference: Original Intent, Barton (338); original The Papers of John Adams, Taylor, ed., vol. 1 (83)

*ex·e·cra·ble [ek-si-kruh-buhl]–adjective
1. utterly detestable; abominable; abhorrent.
2. very bad: an execrable stage performance.

It's No Coincidence...

...that I am in this bible study right now. Nor is it random that the chapter we are studying deals head on with persevering faith. Like I told a friend in an email:

I've been alternately frustrated with and grinning about the subject of this week's work in the study, and the week I am having. Why can't I just download the info and forego the struggle? Why is my will in need of such harsh training? I wish I could just make myself get over it and persevere already!!

(Yes, I am aware of the irony of those comments)
;-)

Sand and Sea

OK. That's the look I'm going for with this latest Blog makeover. I really don't have the time to fool around with this thing, however, the need to make it look nice (combined with an inability to do so )is a symptom of my greater disease: Zero Creativity.

My previous attempt brought unfavorable comments from a friend.
(BTW, Girl-a-Thon thought it was due to your age and that you probably have "old eyes";-)