…and another thing

I know this is going to strike a nerve with some of you. But I would like to present one reason — just one — why we need serious health care reform in the US.

Remember this ridiculous doctor’s office visit? I took my baby in to get her weighed and her medication dosage adjusted. That’s it. A weighing and a prescription write-up. How much, in this country, does that cost?

Two hundred and fifty-two big ones, my friends. Two-five-two.

Thankfully, we have health insurance, so I’m only paying for a fraction of that bill. Even so. Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that this is wholly out of control.

outside

It’s been so nice to get outside! May is by far and away the most wonderful month in Utah (in my book, anyway). This morning Lizzy and I played with Tina, Diane, and their kids at Ryan’s Place Park — coolest park ever — there’s a separate play area for toddlers and everything. We’ve got to get over there a few more times before the move! Lizzy had a great time, though it may not exactly look like it here.

Later on, we took Lizzy to the Logan River walk, down by the golf course — another place we’d never been and are now kicking ourselves for not going sooner! It was so gorgeous and peaceful with the sound of the river (really high right now) and all the birds singing. Lizzy loved running along the trail. Mama brought up the rear. Slowly.

After our walk: dinner, jammies, bedtime for the Miss, and fist-shaking at the nut-job Libertarian whackos making outrageous comments about public libraries on the Herald Journal’s web site (sorry to my Libertarian friends, unless you agree with the statements made in that discussion, in which case I have no reservations about calling you a nut-job Libertarian whacko to your face, and in which case you’d probably take that as a compliment anyway).

Ahem. Tonight, R and I are finishing up a stellar documentary, God Grew Tired of Us, which is about a few of the Sudanese “lost boys” who come to the US as refugees and their experience integrating into society here. It’s fascinating and so well done.

Love to all. For reals.

choosing

It’s been really hard for me to choose between the two major contenders for the presidency. There’s so much that I like (and dislike) about both of them. But then my sister e-mailed me the link to this video, which got me wondering: what are my priorities, anyway? What do I care most about? Which issues are most vital to my children’s social, moral, and spiritual survival — and which candidate is more likely to uphold my view on those issues?

And in a moment of clarity last night, it hit me: if Social Security collapses, we’ll probably manage to get by. If nobody can agree on what to do about immigration reform, the chances are we’ll be okay. If we stay or go in Iraq and Afghanistan, our way of life will most likely go on. But if more judges decide that the people don’t really know what they’re talking about — if more doctors are allowed to take more innocent lives — if I lose my freedom to teach my children the sanctity of and the truth about what marriage is and should be — then we just might be in trouble.