~*~I am a child of God~*~

Shout-out to my lady Mormon friends, though this will be good for ANY and ALL women to hear. This may sound like product endorsement (it is), but, trust me, I am not getting paid. That’d be nice, though. ;)

So, as women, visiting the Temple sometimes has extra planning involved, especially when going to do Baptisms. {As an aside to non-Mormons, at the Temple we go into a Baptismal font in place for our ancestors who were not members of the church. We also believe, however, that even in death, our ancestors have the freedom to choose whether or not they accept the work being made on their behalf.}

Given that the nearest Temple is in Halifax, and that I don’t have a car, I don’t get to just hop off any time that is convenient for me. I have to see if anyone else is going and doesn’t mind taking me along.

This also means that, given that I’ve never been very good at keeping track of my period, I can sometimes get caught off-guard. And I have almost always had the misfortune that, if I’m going on a trip, even just a quick sleepover at a friend’s house, Aunt Flo shows up at the last minute and tags along.

I have had my period during a Temple trip twice. The first time, I was just past the midway point, so I wasn’t bleeding quite as heavily, so all I had to do was change my tampon right before putting on the Baptism garment, and all was well. However, during this occasion, I was using Playtex. Mom had always used Playtex (she’s in the fortunate position of no longer having periods), so I did, too.

Now, one day, when it was time to get a new box of tampons, I noticed that Tampax was cheaper. I quickly disliked their cardboard applicator (seriously, it hurt). However, Tampax Pearl has plastic ones, just like the Playtex. Although more expensive than the cardboard applicators, it was still cheaper than Playtex.
Now, it’s time for another trip to the Temple. Again, I get my period. Again, I’m at the lighter end of things when it’s actually the day of the trip. So, same schtick, I change my tampon just before putting on the Baptismal garment, and believe all will be well.

WRONG.

When the time comes to get out of the garment, I have lightly stained the under-layer. I apologise to the volunteer who is taking the used clothing and towels to be cleaned, and she tells me “Well, usually women are discouraged from doing baptisms when they’re on their period.” I bit back the desire to say, very rapidly “Listen lady, I didn’t have this problem last time, I don’t know what’s going on, and it’s not that convenient for me to be able to go to the Temple as often as I’d like, so if I hadn’t come this time, I probably wouldn’t be able to come for another year, and I’d probably end up getting my period then, too!”

Instead, I apologised again, and went to the bathroom to put on another tampon. Which is when I discovered something odd…
The bottom half of the tampon was white. Could the water have washed it partially? I thought. But, no, it couldn’t have; because not only was the bottom half white, it was dry.

Here’s how it works.

Playtex tampons open like this:



Tampax tampons open like this:



Vaginas aren’t flat. Playtex seems to know this, but Tampax doesn’t. Odd.
So, I go to Costco on the very next grocery run, and buy good ol’ Playtex.

But wait! There’s more!

Some time ago, I had heard about something called the Diva Cup. I liked the notion of it, but had yet to put it into practise. It’s a silicone cup, cone-shaped, that catches the blood. When you need to change it, you dump out the blood, wash the cup, put it back. For a while, I had never seen it being sold in stores, which was why I hadn’t bought it yet. I don’t have a functional credit card, so buying anything online involves buying a pre-paid card, which has to be more than the amount of the product I’m buying plus shipping. I just find it a pain.
One day, I’m at Shoppers Drug Mart at King’s Place with mom, and what do I spy with my little eye in the feminine hygiene section? The Diva Cup!



40$! ... 40$? Well, it IS re-useable… Ah, what the hey? Let’s try it!

Verdict? THIS PRODUCT IS AMAZING!

When I have my heavy flow, I can NOT escape staining my sheets; it’s horrible. But not with my new Diva Cup! Seriously, this has got to be THE best thing that could have been invented. It’s 40$, yes, but it’s good for a WHOLE YEAR. Tally up how much pads and tampons cost you in a month. Yeah, expensive. And wasteful! All those things in the garbage EVERY MONTH. But not the Diva Cup!

Also, the Diva cup can be worn for hours without worrying about spill. Heaviness of flow will vary, of course, but I can definitely wear it longer than I could wear tampons. Best part? I can wear white panties during my period again! I have several pairs of plain, black panties that I had to wear during my period, because I would inevitably get at least some small stainage during my heavy days. That’s behind me, now!

The Diva Cup is actually one of many menstrual cups on the market. Do take care when ordering them online, because unless you know the company you’re ordering from, they can break up more easily. The Moon Cup is another brand name, as well as the Lunette Cup, though if you look around there are lots of women who have reviewed menstrual cups who can recommend brands.

Now, Diva Cup happens to be the one I tried and I love it, but there is something to take into consideration, and that is size. Diva Cup has two sizes, but I couldn’t find any explanation in the outside of the boxes to explain what the difference was between the two. I took model 2, and it’s worked out. They say on the instructions INSIDE the box that model 2 is for women who have given birth and model 1 is for women who have not given birth, but they admit that women come in a variety of shapes and sizes and this may differ for certain women. However, as I have found through research, some companies have bigger, longer, smaller and thinner ones, all differing from one to the next. I’m including a link to a YouTube video from girl who explains how to pick a menstrual cup, because she explains it very well.

Speaking of cups breaking down, let’s talk about an important thing with a proper menstrual cup:
No risk of TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome), as long as you’re cleaning it properly.
Tampons and pads have stuff in them; a good menstrual cup is made of medical-grade silicone.
Tampons absorb blood; when the blood starts to get a bit old, bacteria begins to fester.
A good menstrual cup can be rinsed off with little trouble. Also, I should point out that the Diva Cup brand also sells a cleanser for their product, which I bought at the same time as the cup.

Well, that’s all, hope this was informative.

Bree’s video on choosing a menstrual cup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G…

Diva Cup official website: http://divacup.com/

As we have all learned, Disney bought Lucasfilms. Then they announce that they'll be continuing the Star Wars movies, with a film set for 2015 release. When they announced JJ Abrams was gonna be directing, a large percentage of the fans stopped whining, because JJ Abrams mere presence near a sci-fi franchise is enough to calm us, now that we saw what he did with the 2009 Star Trek movie.

However, was it his plan to direct Star Wars all along?

...

Allow me to explain.
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If you're confused by this post, click here.

The dissing on that point, REALLY not appreciated. Maybe some of you don't know this, but the majority of people will read the rules only once (if at all, some just assume the rules to be the same general ones on all message boards and then don't bother after the third place they sign up with) and, as I had pointed out when I had posted my little "moral", we do need reminding as we won't always think about it. It was supposed to be a sort of 'thank-you' for having called me on it, but apparently, it was just opening me to more criticism. And I realise that this will probably do the same, but I needed to vent.

In regards to the title... I think the last time I read those rules was when I first signed up, which was a few years ago. I think this should be a lesson for all that rules should be re-read now and again to avoid committing a faux-pas.

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Before reading this article, I would like to make one thing very clear: I am not at all in favor of pedophilia. I was molested as a child by someone in the neighbourhood where I was growing up, and it left mental scars. That being said, I am known for researching things in an end to find out the truth, and I know how to look at things objectively. Please continue.
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Up next, I have a couple of things in the works: one is showing how the Qu'ran is actually against the work of Al-Quaeda (Martyrs and Kamikaze muderers are not the same thing), and the other is Bible verses that support LDS beliefs. Yes, despite what some people may have heard elsewhere, Mormons DO read the Bible.

Ok, I've been working on this for a few months, now. It probably needs some work, but I'm posting it now to see what people think.
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Occasionaly swear word to follow. Censor asteriks in place.
Look through the history books and you can find so many examples of violence and bloodshed. From our hominicid ancestors eating each other, to the acts of Vlad the Impaler and the Ottoman Empire, to the Hundred Years War and the Witch hunts, mixed in with the war between England and France (a consequence of this being the deportation of the Acadiens), right up to the first and second World Wars, and now the fight going on in Afghanistan and Iraq.
What has brought me to this tangent? A news report, just today, about a shooting in Tucson, Arizona. Some mentally-deranged idiot, not liking what a local political branch had to say, took his gun to a speech being given by a local congresswoman outside a supermarket, and shot twenty people, killing six. He obviously didn't give a sh*t who he was targeting, as the politicians present were not his only victims.
A NINE-YEAR OLD GIRL. A perfectly innocent child, who was only there because she was interested in politics so that she could one day learn how to help her country, was MURDERED. MURDERED. I don't care what excuse the jacka** may try to use when he gets his trial, he MURDERED PEOPLE. Including a CHILD. If I had the means of seeing this guy face-to-face, I would take along a picture of the girl, and hold up in front of his face, and ask him:
"Are you proud of yourself? Do you think you accomplished something when you pulled your trigger, not taking any care where it was going, ending the live of people with families who will no longer see their loved ones? Are you proud of yourself, for ending this child's life, this child, who will never grow up to graduate from high school, fall in love, and have children of her own? Are you proud of the fact that children have been orphaned, spouses widowed, and parents losing their children?"
And I would be as pushy as possible. I am so mad right now.
Really, when are we going to learn our lessons? When will it stop? When will we look to the people next to us, the people across the borders, across the seas, and say "These are my brothers and sisters, and I love them for being the same as me. For being human."

"Toutes les guerres sont des guerres civiles, puisque tous les hommes sont frères."
All wars are civil wars, for all men are brothers.
- Les Misérables

Look at my title above. What's the first thing that comes into your head?

Most of you are probably thinking drugs. Well, I have tried marijuana just to say I've tried it, and while trying the marijuana the guy had me try hash, as well, but without telling me it was hash. Boy, did that trip pull a whammy on me. Don't do drugs. Ever.

But, in this case, it's not drugs.

It's about leaving one's imprint in cement.

I had never tried it before, and always wanted to. Just so that I could say "I put an imprint in cement!"

Well, today, right by the library, there was wet cement for a new sidewalk siding. Opportunity!

I just wanted to put my foot down on it a little bit, just enough to leave a light shoe print.

Cue bricklayer across the street sitting on a bench. I hadn't even noticed him until he yelled "No!"

I was caught by surprise, couldn't stop myself, and my foot sank right in.

I pulled myself out, and he asked me, without getting up from the bench, "Why would you do that?"

In that instant I realised about what most people who leave imprints or want to leave imprints in cement never think about: someone has just worked hard to lay out this cement, and you're ruining his/her work.

I immediately apologised, explained the entire story about how I had never left an imprint in cement before and just REALLy wanted to do it, just once, and offered if he gave me his smoothing tool that I would fix it for him (I helped lay out some plaster with a smoothing tool for theatre once, I figured it would be the same thing, just thicker).

He said no, he'd fix it and I asked if he was sure and he said yes.

So I went into the library and found a corner to cry because I felt so ashamed.

Don't try something for the sake of trying it until you've thought it through, completely. There's always something that you might not immediately think of.

I recently found this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/enterta…

Here are my thoughts:
First of all, the racist bit.
In "the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," certain creatures were on the side of the witch, but in "Prince Caspian," all creatures were together to help defend their homes and bring Caspian to the throne. Some dwarves did attempt to bring the Witch back, but they did not represent the whole of their race.
In "the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," all manner of creatures worked together to drive the Witch from their home.
In "Prince Caspian" and "Voyage of the Dawn Treader," Reepicheep, a mouse (albeit a large one)is friends with the rest and respected as a fellow fighter.
In "the Last Battle," the Prince and Jewel, the Unicorn, were friends. Jewel was not the Prince's pet or ride.
That's all I have to say on that point.

As for misogyny... where? (For those of you who don't know, misogyny is hatred against women.) Find an example for me, and I shall answer to it.

In all honesty, I had first read "the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" when I was in fifth grade, and we had read "the Magician's Nephew" together in class. Years later I saw the Disney/Walden movie on my 18th birthday, and then read all the stories. If it hadn't been for my great-aunt Pat pointing out the symbolism about Christ's death and rebirth in "the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," I would have been quite unaware that there was any Christian symbolism at all.
So wouldn't most children be unaware of it as well? For those raised in Christian households whose parents wish to teach them Christian values, then let it be known. For all the rest, let it be as a fantasy adventure with its own values.

"Well, of all...
things... Can it be... really!... No!...Yes!...
Ho! hi!
Oh, my eye!
My mind may be wondering, but I confess"
...
Chris is updating her journal?
*mindboggling*

Okay, to the subject at hand:
I took charge of my life today!
I was sick of having to make the stupid forms for payment exemption for my student loan, especially when after the second time I was supposed to do it, I sent the forms in late twice, and then the third time I guess the form either got lost in the mail or something, cause I never recieved it.

So it was hanging over me that my credit history was getting a black mark on it, I knew I had to make some phone calls, but I just didn't because it seemed like such a bother. Why I was being lazy, no idea. Guess what?
I made the call today, and got it fixed that they'll be taking payments out of my tax return, in addition to my paying 100$ a month, starting in January.
And guess what?
...
I'M HAPPY!!!
IT'S TAKEN CARE OF!!!
I know I can make the payments because earlier in the year I was taking piano lessons that were 90$ a month and I always made the payments.
SO I CAN DO THIS! YAY!!!

It feels like this big weight has been removed from my shoulders, and I LOVE IT!

~Chris~