Caroline and Charles return

This afternoon Caroline and Charles are flying back to Atlanta. Jon is going to get off of work early so that we can all go down to the airport together to pick them up. It will be nice to all be together again. Probably it will be difficult for Charles to adjust to the suburban life. No more ponds in the back "yard", with lots of toads and turtles to catch. It will be nice to be able to give them a big squeeze, and have all beds full tonight.

At the mills

This morning Michelle and I went down to Surgi Center together. Crossroads was there holding signs and praying across the street from the clinic. THere were about 6 of us doing sidewalk counseling. I hung out in the parking lot to initiate conversation and then Michelle was on the sidewalk and took over there. Most people were very angry today, or they would laugh at us mockingly. Michelle was nearly punched by an employee of Surgi for asking about their license which was dropped in April. Usually people are willing to talk and are more open about why they want to abort their child. But today there was a very angry spirit, especially in the men. They were just furious that we would suggest the mother actually had a choice.

I handed the Woman's Right to Know book to one young woman and her boyfriend came unglued. He was livid, and got right in my face and told me to f*** etc., followed by go to hell. One of the employees drove up- you can always spot their cars because they don't drive anything cheaper than a BMW, doing abortions is very good money, and I asked her why Surgi didn't have a license. She was confused, and said she didn't know about that. Then I showed her the Woman's Right to Know books and said that we were giving them to every woman and it was state law that if you flip through that book, you must wait 24 hours to abort- so if they did any abortions we were calling DHR right away. The clinics are supposed to be giving these booklets to the women when they schedule the appt. But instead they refer everyone to a website, and then have them sign a waiver before the abortion.

Well, a lot of couples kept going in, and we couldn't figure out where the doctor or anesthesiologist (how do you spell that) were. The doctor has a special parking spot behind the building. ALso, the security guard, Zimbabwe, wasn't there, which was weird.

Zimbabwe finally showed up, and said that he wasn't really working there anymore, but they called him in this morning. He directly into the clinic. Then all the employees gathered behind the building and had a meeting. They were very animated, and this was all very strange. Finally an employee left and paused on the sidewalk and said that they were letting everyone go because there was no doctor available. So there wouldn't be any abortions today. Zimbabwe walked out a short time later, and said we were really doing good today because we sure had things stirred up inside. They were going crazy. We kept waiting, and then a lot of people starting coming out. One girl in particular was furious because she had payed with a cashiers check, and instead of giving her the cashiers check back, they issued her a check (withholding some of the money) which had of course, Surgi's name. She didn't want that name in her banking records. She said the place was horrible and dirty and she wanted to get it shut down. So I said, "Here's what you do. Call the Governor and ask that he enforce the law and require that all abortion clinics have an Ambulatory Surgical License." She looked at me surprised and said, "I know the Governor personally. He's a patient where I work. I will tell him, but I'll say I brought a friend, because I don't want anyone to know I was here for me."

Another woman walked out of the clinic and was going to her car. I followed and asked if she got her money back. No, her friend did not get her money back, and she was still having the abortion right away. I asked how that was possible if they didn't have a doctor, and she didn't know, but that's the way it was. Then back in the clinic she went with her friend's bathrobe, etc. That was all I needed, so I called the Atlanta police and let them know that Surgi was operating without an Ambulatory Surgical license, and that I was told by an employee there was no doctor, and by a patient that they were still going to do an abortion.

We waited outside for the cops, but finally we had to leave, so I'm not sure what happened after that. One woman who left had papers to go to the Piedmont Surgi because she was too far along and needed a late term abortion. I called two weeks ago under the guise of getting information about scheduling a late term abortion at that clinic, and was told that they did all the prep work in the Piedmont clinic, and then the surgery was done downstairs in Summit. DHR released a report two weeks ago that stated quite clearly that no prep work was done in the Piedmont Surgi. So much for DHR's investigative abilities. Sigh. The woman getting the late term abortion was crying and clearly upset. Her husband/boyfriend was bullying us, and probably her, too. There's no reason for this when you have six counselors on the sidewalk offering financial help, diapers, formula, pregnancy support, adoption. This is ridiculous! A couple walked out of the clinic and I followed them quietly asking questions, trying to get them to talk to me. The boyfriend was furious but finally the mother started talking. I said,"look, if you can't keep the baby, I understand. How about you let us help you through the pregnancy and I'll adopt the baby. I have six children, you can come meet the family, we will take care of everything." She thought about that and answered," no, there's no way I could ever give up my baby. If I'm not going to keep it, no one is going to have it." I parted with," If you can't bear the thought of giving your baby away, how in the world can you bear the thought of paying someone to kill your baby?"

Oh, mama...

This morning I came upstairs, went into my bedroom and there sat Gabriel with a very mournful look on his face and his hand on my sidewalk counseling notebook. The notebook had been buried under a stack of things, but in rifling through things yesterday, had been left on the floor. I was concerned.

"Oh, mommy, de poor babies," Gabriel said patting the notebook. "Gabriel, you weren't supposed to look at that," I said taking Gabriel by the hand and picking up the notebook.

"Somebody hurt de babies wif a knife. Don't wook at it." I pulled Gabriel onto my lap, and opened the notebook wondering what he saw. There was a photo of a perfectly formed baby with a peaceful look his face, hands and feet perfect, but the middle of his trunk was charred black. Clearly this baby died a horrible death by saline injection which burns the baby to death, basically. Gabriel acknowledged the baby immediately tapping the photo with his finger." Yes, dis baby," he said. In Atlanta, the late term abortions (19 weeks gestation and later- up to 26 weeks, but also even later than that) are done by injecting digoxin into the baby's heart which causes cardiac arrest and almost immediate death. Those babies are delivered perfectly formed, so some of the photos in the manual were of those babies curled up, and they looked like they were asleep.

Gabriel looked up at my face, his eyes full of pain, and said," Oh, mama, dose poor widdle babies. Somebody hurt those babies wif a knife."

If only everyone felt as woeful for the "poor widdle babies."

Fishing Trip

Grandpa and Uncle George took Caroline and Charles fishing yesterday. They left bright and early at 5am in 47 degrees. The stars must have been nice and bright far up in Northern Wisconsin. They settled on an embankment along a river, and set up rods and bait. Charles found a little worm and brought it over to Grandpa to put on a hook. As Grandpa knelt to put on the worm, he heard a loud splash. Quickly he glanced up and noticed immediately that Charles had disappeared. Peering over the side of the embankment, he saw Charles settled on the river bed, eyes closed, waiting. Grandpa jumped right in and pulled Charles up, who was cold but not frightened. I guess he figured someone would rescue him.

On the phone this morning I said," Charles, what have I told you about standing up, splashing, yelling for help, why didn't you do anything?" To which he answered, " Well, mom, look at the bright side. At least I held my breath."

Aunt Ernelle when she phoned this morning said,"Well, it was just like you said Jenny. He went right in the water, tucked down, and remained motionless with his eyes closed." George said the river was so shallow, had Charles simply stood up, his head would have been well above the water. For all future fishing trips even from the bank, Charles will be wearing a life jacket. Sigh. That boy needs a dog to take care of him. Sheesh. Praise God he was all right.

Airport

My aunt in northwest Wisconsin invited a couple kids to come and spend a couple weeks with her this summer. We set up the dates, bought the tickets, and the two "chosen ones" awaited the day with breathless anticipation. Charles has been talking about airplanes for a couple years now. "Do you think I'll get to ride on a plane when I'm still a kid, mom? What does the earth look like when you are up so high? Do the people look like ants?" I decided that Charles and Caroline should go, since Jonathan had gotten to go to Seattle last summer, and he has a summer job anyway.

I bought the tickets over the phone from Delta, and discovered that if you want to talk to a person while purchasing your tickets, there's an extra fee. Because my children would be unaccompanied minors, I was told there was a $100 fee to cover the cost of an attendant taking them from the ticket desk to the airplane, etc. I would have felt better taking them to the gate, but under no circumstances was that allowed according to the salesman on the other side of the phone. The big day arrived, and I decided to take the entire clan, since I was afterall, only taking Charles and Caroline as far as the ticket desk. I had gotten the kids new outfits for their plane trip and packed them sack lunches with their favorite sack lunch treats. I decided against a backpack full of activities figuring they would just leave it on the plane or somewhere else, and they'd probably victimize the person next to them with non-stop conversation anyway.

On the way to the airport, I called Jon to make sure I remembered the directions. Not only did he give me the directions, but then went on to say where to park, where to go in, what to ask for at the ticket desk, etc. I already was well aware of what to do, however, when he started giving instruction, I went into slightly comatose, obedient child mode and disengaged my brain. Jon was under the distinct impression that the children were flying AirTran so he instructed me to go to the North Terminal. I parked, got everyone hearded into the the AirTran ticket desk, was redirected inside after a few minutes, went to the kiosks, typed in the confirmation number and was promptly rejected. At this point my brain reengaged and I realized that the kids were flying Delta! We walked through the Airport to the South Terminal and tried again. This time I was told to avoid the kiosk and wait for a rep because of the unaccompanied minor situation. I thought we were going to be in that line forever, as did the clan. One of the guys behind the desk was one of 6 kids and was very interested in the family. Oliver was equally interested in making an impression, and did his usual tricks, which were less than appreciated by me. When finally I was done at the desk and thought I was awaiting an attendant to take the children to the gate, I was handed a security pass and told that I would be taking the children to the gate. Well, you can well imagine my dismay, but having not been to the airport in over 7 years, decided not to make a fuss because how bad could it be?

I barked orders to everyone to hold hands, and off we went. What a nightmare! The place was packed, and thanks to a few very nice security personnel, we were able to get around the main part of the crowds, then onto the actual check point, I had to take off everyone's shoes and socks, and all the random bits of trash that occupies the storage bin on a stroller, besides the sack lunches, purse, baby toys, etc. Well, suddenly the security guards were very interested in the contents of my purse on the x-ray machine and I wondered what could be possibly going on. Then it hit me- I had left my pepper spray in my purse because I thought I wasn't going through security. Well, no big loss, since I already had a backup at home, and it cost $16. Then security guard sternly motioned me to the table. "you'll have to come with me, ma'am." I avoided rolling my eyes and explained about the pepper spray. She opened my purse and perused the contents and then found my very wonderful pocket knife, a mini, which cost about $40 and I use this thing constantly. I love it. She held it in front of me with her eye brows doing the talking. " That is a very small pocket knife, and if you are going to take it, I'd like to get it back because I'm merely dropping two kids at the gate." She just stared at me with a look that said, "You've got to be kidding me." I was getting highly irritated, and she called over another security guard. He carefully looked over the pepper spray. "Ma'am, this is illegal in the state of Georgia because it is considered a concealed weapon." I looked him over, and responded," Well, the Capitol security must not think so as I'm down there all the time, and they give it back to me when I leave the building. And quite frankly, my chief concern is the safety of my children and myself." He reflected on that and said,"I'm going to be keeping this." Well, fine. I turned back to the pocket knife confiscator, and remaining calm and sweet urged her to allow me to come back through there and get my pocket knife. She merely gave me the blank cow in a hail storm look, shook her head slowly and pocketed the knife. I considered pitching a fit, but did I really have the time or energy- No. Off I went with the bins full of our random stuff, and looked for a place to sit everyone down in order to put shoes on feet. Of course, all this time I'm being treated like a criminal the children are antagonizing Vivian, Oliver is getting into trouble, etc. The guy held up behind us felt quite sorry for me and annoyed with the security guard, and vented his feelings quietly cussing them out under his breath. I didn't hear him, Jonathan told me later. But it did make me feel a little vindicated that they were treating me badly. The security guards forget who they serve. They are there to make the masses safe, not suspect!

Off we went to find an elevator and get on the train. I had visions of leaving a kid behind on a the train, but we made it through with little incident. As we stood waiting to board Charles said, "Oh, are we taking a train instead of an airplane to Wisconsin?" I was in no mood to explain still fuming about my pocket knife and called a halt to all questions. When on the train, and one stop a woman boarded and stood next to Oliver. She was wearing a very pleasant perfume. Oliver breathed deeply. "Mmmmm. It smells like flowers in here," he said.

We arrived in the airport parking lot at 11:13am. We finally arrived at the gate at 1:15! After I checked in the kids with the attendant behind the gate desk, I hearded everyone over to a corner for goodbyes and remaining consultation. Speaking to Charles and Caroline I said," Try not to talk anyone's ear off, and for heavens sake, don't tell all the family secrets." Charles immediately said," Oh, you mean like the time we accidentally left Vivian home in her crib and we had to turn around on the highway to go back home and get her?" I sighed. "Yes, Charles, exactly."

After saying goodbye, the children were escorted onto the plane, and we stuck around until the plane was about to take off, just to make sure that there weren't any issues. By the time we got back through the airport, through the parking lot, and home it was 3:36! Next time Jon and I are going to play "Rock, Scissors,Paper" to see who has to take the kids to the airport.

Jolly Ollie

A couple weeks ago the whole family went over to Macy's to find mom a bathing suit. We congregated over in one section by a couple mannikins modeling the suits, and as I was thumbing through the rack looking for the right size, Jon and I heard Oliver say, "Mmmm. Nice buns." We look over and there is Oliver stroking the bottom of the mannikin. Everyone except Oliver blushed.

On Monday everyone attended VBS. This year's theme is the ocean and ocean creatures. Charles somehow was fortunate enough to bring home a "real live clam". He filled up one bathroom sink with water and in went the clam. Today for some reason I thought of the clam, and asked where it was. It hadn't stayed in the sink. At various times it had been in Charles pocket, under someone's pillow, in a dresser drawer, etc. But it ocurred to me that by now the thing had to be dead. Charles thought for a moment and ran off to find it. Oliver followed close behind.

"Good News, Mom!" Oliver shouted over the upstairs banister. "What?" I asked a little worried. "The clam pooped in the sink," Oliver rejoiced. Why that was good news, I have no idea. But the thing reaked. Charles put it in a plastic bag and threw it in the trash. Now I'm going to go scrub out the bathroom sink. Gross.

July 4th Rally

This afternoon I was late leaving the house, because I kept getting tied up in the office. Finally, I decided I had to go, and hollered to get out the door to the kids. After stopping at Office Max for photocopies and a few supplies, then to the party warehouse for Gabriel's Star Wars party plates, we were racing through Costco at a frantic pace. The cart was loaded with food for tomorrow's rally for over 100, two kids were in the front part of the cart, Vivvie was on my back, Charles was hanging off the cart, and Jonathan and Caroline were walking along side. I was going through a crowd by the sample stations when this New Yorker looked over at me in amazement. "Hey, Lady, are those kids all yours?" he asked. "Yes, they are," I responded. He thought for a moment and said," I just want you to know that when I say my prayers tonight, I'm going to pray for you." To which I responded," Why wait? I can use the prayers right now!"