I wasn't surprised by the number of people who thought I was nuts for when I said that 10-year-olds needed sex education and lots of information about how to protect themselves from pregnancy and STDs. Most of the comments I got were, "I don't think kids are having sex that young." But a new study shows that I wasn't too far off the mark, at least when it comes to low-income kids (I grew up in a low-income community, so this matches my own observations).


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090817142855.htm

Now if only I could convince some of my conservative friends to openly talk about sex with their kids...

Labels: Current Events, Funny Families Kids and Parenthood, Health, Love Relationships and Marriage

I'm tired. I've just finished a week in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Whenever I go camping, I eat. I stress eat. And eat. And eat. Then I eat high calorie foods and drink high calorie drinks. I almost always come back from traveling, camping, etc. a couple pounds heavier. I was determined that this time I would come back weighing the same or less. I haven't weighed myself yet, but I'm very proud of my eating habits.

I was worried that I wouldn't get enough exercise. No problem there. We hiked through the lava tubes. Hiked over the Big Obsidian Flow. Gazed at waterfalls. Hiked along rivers. And then we biked through Sun River. The wonderful part was that the last time I did any of that stuff, I was so out of shape that I struggled through it. This time, it was all easy, so easy that I wanted to do more but my kids couldn't keep up. Oh the irony.

I also conquered one of my biggest fears on the way home: driving the truck with the RV trailer from start to end, parked it and all (none of that "just during the easy parts" stuff). My children made a "Driving the Trailer" badge/emblem for me to mark my accomplishment. The badge had a big K on it. Why? My kids said that it was because I graduated the kindergarten level of RV driving. To graduate higher levels I need to be able to do it "without Daddy's help." I'll work on that.

I got home and turned on the TV. Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcette are dead. I'm not surprised about Farah. So sad that she had to die of cancer. I hate cancer. Cancer has killed or threatened the lives of so many people I love. It's horrible to watch somebody die of it. I want to do whatever I can to keep myself, my husband, and my children from falling victim to it. Michael Jackson's death surprised me, but we all die, and I'm OK with that, so I'm not too shocked. I was never really a fan anyhow. Liked a few of his songs. Liked Weird Al's versions of his music better. At least he got to die rather quickly, not with all that suffering the comes from cancer. I wonder how long it will be before people start saying, "He's still alive! I saw him at 7-11 with Elvis."

Labels: Current Events, Health, My Life, The Quest for Happiness