Idiotic people

As most people already know, I WAS a drug addict. I say "was" because I have been sober for about a year and a half now and have no desire to start using again at all. I successfully completed outpatient rehab in April of 2009 as well as a court-order drug education/prevention course over a weekend.
I am also an atheist and proud of that fact. I am NOT an agnostic as most people would like to label me. I do not feel the need for a higher power because I am my own higher power.
Now that you have a little background on me, let me get into what inspired this post today.
Yesterday, at work, I was talking to some of my co-workers and we were discussing the news. Somehow, the topic of drugs came up. Now, when I was using, my drug of choice was methamphetamine. I had read an article a couple of days ago that mentioned a new method of making meth had been discovered that required no fire and has been dubbed the "shaker method." I mentioned this to the people that I was talking to and one of my supervisors made the comment that I know a lot about this stuff. Never being one to shy away from my past, I responded that I had used for years and that it was only natural that I know this stuff.
No biggie, right? Not at all. This did not phase me one bit.
We got started talking about 12 step programs. He asked me if I was involved in any and I told him, no. Asked why, I then told him that I do not believe in a higher power and will not involve myself with an organization that requires submission to one. This guy, seriously would not take the answer that I am on atheist at all. he INSISTED that I was agnostic. He then asked me if I "believed in Wiccan?" I told him that I was Wiccan many years ago but was now an atheist. His response? "Well, there ya go, believe in Wiccan!" honestly, can you get any more hard headed.
The part that pissed me off the most was this though: this man actually had the NERVE to tell me that because I did not and refuse to go through a 12 step program, that I will FAIL. I will have him and everyone know that I am too strong and have come too fucking far on this journey to fail at this point. I refuse to submit to a "higher power" and admit that I am powerless when it comes to this drug. All this, I am powerless bullshit is just that, BULLSHIT! I am a human being with a brain and the will power to say no to this drug.
OK - thanks for listening folks, I feel better now
*smooches*
Ravn

Signage rants

Tuesday, after dropping the kids off at school and on our way to court, we passed a church. This church had a sign outside that instructed people to "Hug your Bible." Wednesday, this same sign proclaimed "The Bible is #1" and that "Man is #2." What happened to man being at the top of the food chain and what lame brain came up with this idea, is what I wanted to know. So, being who I am, I posted this on another site that I am on. A brother then asked me if this was part of a campaign call I am Second.

I did some research on this and determined that it is a group of churches who seem to have rededicated themselves to God. They seem to have a pretty big following considering the fact that the only groups that I can find are all located in North Texas, in the Dallas/Ft Worth region.

This brings me to another point: churches that seemed to have decided that the world needs some of that "old-time religion." I seemed to have located one here in Tempe. The Faithful Word Baptist Church boasts on its website:

"We believe that life begins at conception (fertilization) and reject all forms of abortion including surgical abortion, "morning-after" pills, IVF (In Vitro Fertilization), birth control pills, and all other processes that end life after conception."
"We believe that homosexuality is a sin and an abomination which God punishes with the death penalty."

I would like to believe that I live in a somewhat progressive city. Being a college town tends to make people a little more accepting of their fellow human beings. I think that I have been proven wrong by the existence of this church. It is always nice to know that there are some people out there that think you should die simply because you love or even lust after someone of the same sex as yourself.

Ok - so this turned into a rant about more than I expected it to, my apologies for that. I will leave with this image:

*smooches*

Ravn

Girls' Night In

Well, tonight was a SMASHING success! The kids had a movie night at school but we were unable to go due to me being sick and really not wanting to be out and about. Instead we decided to have movie night here at home and watch Bedtime Stories. This was the same movie that they were showing at the school so I opted to watch it as well so that the girls would not feel too left out. Well, we ended up inviting a couple of their friends over and had sandwiches, popcorn, ice cream, candy and root beer! We all had a great time and the movie ended with Journey's Don't Stop Believing as the song during the credits. Of course, all the girls knew the song and we all got up and started dancing and singing to it. It was really awesome!
Honestly, if you get the chance, watch this movie. If you have kiddos, watch it with them. It is a really cute movie and a neat concept. Basically it is about this guy, his niece and nephew, and the stories that they tell at bedtime. The stories end up coming true in some respect and it is an interesting concept to think about. In my opinion, it is a form of positive visualization that could work well if properly applied. (Not to get TOO new agey on you guys, LOL)
Anyways, that is all for tonight. Hope you all have an awesome weekend!
*smooches*
Ravn

Ten things we don't understand about humans

I was reading my blogs today and ran across these articles on New Scientist. Thought that I would share them with you. ^_^ Enjoy

Blushing
I always thought that blushing was a way to show some form of excitement. Why else would women spend so much money on rouge every year? As a species, blood rushes to the surface of our skin when we are sexually aroused so what is to say that it will not do the same when we are excited in other ways as well?

Laughter
In my opinion, laughter is meant as a form of defense (ie nervous or embarrassed laughter) or a form of bonding, such as laughing together over an inside joke.

Pubic Hair
'Nuff said

Teenagers
My thought on this one is that the teenaged years were a time for the child to individuate from the parent and thus offer a greater chance for survival.

Dreams
In my opinion, dreams are a time for us to allow the subconscious mind offer assistance to solving issues that the conscious mind is having trouble with. They also seem to be a way for us to relive the days events and put them in perspective.

Altruism
Personally, I do not think that there are any true altruists. Even if you are doing something because it is good to do, you are still getting a sense of "do-gooding" out of it.

Art
OK - sometimes, this one escapes even me. There is quite a bit out there that is considered "art" that I personally this is nothing but utter crap.

Superstition
Superstition is an interesting subject. One thing that it seems to be is a form of causal determination, such as wearing the same shirt to every game since that was the shirt that you were wearing when your team won the big game.

Kissing
This seems to relate back to bonding. It seems that when we were born, our mothers would kiss us and therefore, kissing brings back similar feelings.

Nose-Picking
OK - you got me. I have nothing to add to this one. LOL

*smooches*
Ravn

First day of school

Well, today was the girls first day of school. They really enjoyed it and are looking forward to the rest of the year. Fortunately, for them, they do not have to deal with the bureaucratic BULLSHIT that goes on in the background. Because I do not have their birth certificates yet, Franklin Schools was supposed to fax over their records to the new school. I called them yesterday to have the info faxed over. Got to the school this morning and did not see them on the class rosters. I went to the office to find out what class they were supposed to be in and Franklin had STILL not faxed the info over. This was after calling them yesterday and telling them that I needed the birth certificates faxed over ASAP. Two calls this morning later and I am finally informed that they did not actually have the girls' birth certificates!
Being concerned at this, I asked the woman how the girls attended school up there without them and was informed that since they were foster children, they did not necessarily need all of those documents! WOW! Gotta love that shit, right? My question is this: how in the HELL did they attend the first school without that documentation? Fortunately, I was able to go ahead and get them enrolled in class and they were able to attend the first day of classes without any further issues.
On a completely related note, my mother is fucking amazing. I am having Dylan send her the money tomorrow and she is going to send me their birth certificates tomorrow. It is really awesome how she can come through for me like that.
With that, I am leaving you with a picture of the kids on their first day of school!

Pictures

As promised, I finally uploaded all my pictures from our outing on the 31st up in the Arizona mountains. You can find them here:

Mingus Mount and Jerome

*smooches*
Ravn

A few pictures from Gold King Mine Ghost Town

As promised, here is a few pictures from our trip yesterday. Enjoy!

This is the entrance to the gift shop that leads to the Ghost Town. While I was taking this picture, Isis called me a cow butt and told me to hurry up, LOL.

Lilith and Isis sitting in the back of one of the old gas tankers. I thought this was neat because it folds out into a little room on the back of the trailer so that the truckers could sleep, eat, rest, or whatever!

Taken in front of an old school house. Inside, on the left wall are letters from kids who have gotten to go check it out. On one of the desks, there is a dunce cap ^_^

Took this picture and a few others on other fire trucks for my Dad since he is a retired fireman. Girls really enjoyed taking these pictures and I hope that he likes them as well.

*smooches*
Ravn

Homeward bound

Yesterday was the big day. The kids officially moved back home. Instead of just coming straight home last night, we opted to go on a drive through the mountains. We ended up taking the kids up to Mingus Lake and through Mingus Mount. It was a total blast! We ended up at the highest point being 7023 feet up the mountain! Talk about ears popping! Coming back down and headed toward Jerome, AZ the road was super windy. (We were coming down a mountain after all, LOL) Lilith started to get a little sick on the curves so we pulled over before getting there so that she could get out and walk around a little bit.
Jerome was amazing. There is the Gold King Mine Ghost Town that we got to check out that was totally freaking cool. My dad is a retired fireman so I got several pictures of Lilith and Isis on three different types of old fire trucks and sent them to him. I figure that will get a smile or two out of him. ^_^ I also got some great pictures of the kids just messing around and in front of an old school house. Right now I am blogging this from work so I will post a link to the pictures later, when I get home.
After Jerome, we decided to have a picnic at Camp Verde. Unfortunately, there was not much to see there or do without forking over a lot of cash so we just chilled and enjoyed the cooler weather and the shade. (A rarity out here in the desert)
Almost 10 hours later, we finally reach home. I was completely worn out and exhausted but managed to stay awake for another hour or so before I decided it was nap time. Thankfully, the kids let me sleep for about 30 minutes or so which was not only much appreciated but also much needed!
Well, that is all for now. Like I said, I will post the pictures from yesterday online later tonight and will post a link to them so that anyone who is interested will be able to see them.
*smooches*
Ravn