Aug 28, 2009

Are You Riveted Like Me?


Have you been reading the story of Jaycee Dugard? Click here for the full details. Basic summary is she was kidnapped in 1991 at the age of 11, and taken as a sex slave by a man, with full cooperation from his wife. Jaycee was kept in this man's backyard, in tents and out buildings, since then. She has been his sex slave and gave birth to two children in her early teens. Both of those children are now preteen age. From what I can tell, those two children were born in the backyard, never attended school of any kind, seen a doctor, etc. However, the psycho who kidnapped Jaycee seems to take these two children with him on errands, which is how this whole heartbreaking story was discovered.

Here is what I brainstormed today. A snippet of the history that Jaycee has missed since being kidnapped:

1) George H. Bush was the United States President when she was taken. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have served two terms in office since 1991.

2) The bombing of Oklahoma City in 1994.

3) The whole O.J. Simpson mess. And his subsequent mess that has him in jail now.

4) All things preteen now. Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, Pokeman, etc.

5) The only Star Wars Jaycee knew were the original three. Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

6) There were no such things as Amber Alerts in 1991.

7) I wasn't married in 1991. I was only four years out of high school in 1991, and I am looking to turn 41 here in a few weeks. Most of my adulthood has been while Jaycee was in captivity.

8) There was no internet in 1991, or if there was, it was not for the masses.

9) Cells phones? Yes, those big bricks with the huge antennae coming out of them that only executives used.

10) I still had big hair and bangs.

11) The year that Jaycee was kidnapped was the year that the high school graduating class of 2009 was born. Those students entire k-12 school years was while Jaycee was in captivity.

12) Desert Storm was the war in the Middle East, and Saddam Hussein was our biggest threat.

13) When Jaycee was kidnapped, her mother and stepfather were married. Her stepfather became the prime suspect and could never truly prove himself innocent until this week. This marriage took a toll with Jaycee's kidnapping, and they are now separated. Jaycee's parents are harmed for life as well.

14) Jaycee missed 9/11/2001.

I am not sure why this story has just broken my heart. I think this kidnapper and his wife are just sick beyond reason. An interview with him is just a rambling mess. He claims when his story is told it will have a great story of redemption at the end. I think he thinks that may be for himself but I don't care a rip about him. Jaycee's life has been permanently scarred and altered, as well as her two daughters and her parents.

There is no recompense for them. There is no suing this guy for anything that would have value enough to pay her back for the deep scars on her family and her soul.

I am just thinking she has lived outside for 18 years, what is must be like to sleep inside. What it must be like to not use a porta-potty (as described in the link above)? What it must be like for her daughters to have someone else to play with? What happened when the weather was horribly bad? It is just sickening to think of hot 100+ degree days in a tent! Or super cold temperatures in the California winters when it does occasionally drop below freezing, in a tent. Click here for the raw video of the shed/tent/junkyard that has been her home for this long. And then just the constant abuse she suffered at the hands of this man. Sick.

I pray for Jaycee and all of her family. I pray out of ashes and mourning comes healing and truth. I pray Jaycee sees her freedom (praise God she got it finally, how long could her captivity continued, who knows?) as a rebirth and an opportunity. I pray out of her success and healing comes her best revenge on her captors in this lifetime. I have no idea what special judgment God has for such incredibly sick, deranged people.

Welcome home, Jaycee.

Aug 27, 2009

First Day of Soccer






It's one of those "firsts" that have come further and further apart as the kids get older. Today was our youngest's first soccer practice. He has been excited about it all week. He deserves it. This little guy has sat on the sidelines watching his older brother play soccer since infancy.

Oh the cute little blonde girl? That is our pastor's daughter. These two little munchkins are only months apart in age, and we are thinking of making it an arranged marriage of some kind. They love each other dearly. If you ask BH at the right time, he'll tell you she is his girlfriend.

Aug 26, 2009

School days, school days.....sing it with me!

It starts....tomorrow 8/27! Are we excited. I am, the kids, not so much!

I am excited for several reasons:

1) Occupy my restless kids! Running around the house all day is getting tedious.

2) I love the learning process. Even if appears like my kid hates it, I still want to show him joy in learning. That may be a delayed reward since he is at the age where any sort of school is icky to him.

3) I am excited for the new curriculum ORCA is using this year. It is much more web based with online classes and videos. I am hoping it causes JM to turn that corner where he is more of an independent student without me watching over his shoulder.

4) BH and I are doing a loosey goosey kind of preschool together. He said constantly last year he wanted to do school at home. So I have some good workbooks for him (thanks to my homeschools moms out there). My goal, to have him reading full sentences by the time he turns five next May. I am about 90% certain that is going to happen easily. He already sounds out words.

5) I am ready for summer to end, and let the monotony of the school schedule take over instead of me coming up with constant entertainment every day. Although Tyrone, the kitten formerly known as Spawn of Satan, is doing well filling in that gap. Many times we just sit on the couch and watch him zoom around the room at break neck speed......for hours.

6) My goals for our house almost were done this summer. One of those was purging the boy's room of everything unnecessary. I have tried this numerous times before but with all the boys in the household standing nearby, not as much was purged and the bedroom was still full to the brim. Since they were all out of town last week......the purge happened according to my standards. Here is what is cool. Very little is actually gone at this point. Only broken things hit the garbage. A lot of it is put out of sight just to see if there is absolutely something that is missed. I am thinking a swing by Goodwill is in the works now that nothing is missed at all.

Looking forward to school. Blessings and success I wish to all of you, whatever school choice you have made for your family. I relish knowing that our kids will be our future and we have a huge honor and responsibility now to make sure they are ready. It gives me hope.

Truth About Cap and Trade, Finally

There is a local conservative group here in Portland I am beginning to pay close attention to. I am looking forward to a bbq with some of these folks this weekend. Here is a trailer they have put together highlighting an upcoming documentary regarding Cap and Trade. Please set aside four minutes and watch it. Steve Buckstein, founder of the Cascade Policy Institute, says that he would be happy to show the full documentary to any group and feel free to pass this link along. If you need to reach Mr. Buckstein, please let me know and I'll get you in touch with him.

Aug 24, 2009

Last Summer Hoorah

We went to the beach. We had a lot of fun.

When a four year old gets tired on the beach....he just kind of lays down in the warm sand.
Four year old pouring sand on my legs and feet. My own pumice type of pedi.
Got some sand in our mouth. Ewe!

Boys...must....dig....in....their.....genetics......
My little waterdog. If I let him, he would run out in the ocean and arrive in Tokyo.