….apparently Iron Man couldn’t save me from my stomach.

For the record- getting suddenly and violently sick at work SUCKS BALLS. Goddamnit. Stomach, what are you trying to do to me?!?

There is a little kid in Iron Man pjs (complete with ‘helmet’ hood) ‘flying’ around the lobby.

Cuteness level = critical. 

I am absolutely heartbroken over the tragedy that happened today at Sandy Hook Elementary.

I am angry and sick to my stomach and sad, and I can’t even begin to imagine the horror and grief being experience in such a close-knit community. My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, and my prayers are with the 26 souls who lost their lives. Words fail. 

While any loss is tragic, the fact that the majority of victims in this instance were so very, very young makes it all the more horrific. I am not a parent. I don’t yet know the bond that exists between parent and child. But even if I were, trying to comprehend the loss that 20 families are dealing with tonight is beyond anything I am capable of imagining. No parent should ever have to mourn the loss of a child. I can only offer up my most heartfelt thoughts of compassion and love, and pray that one day, their hearts will be able to heal.

We deserve better than this. We are better than this. Our children deserve to live in a world where schools are a place of learning and safety, not of terror and loss. We deserve to live in communities where we don’t have to fear going to school, or to church, or to a movie theater, or just walking home from the supermarket. We are fortunate in this country that such horrors are not day-to-day occurrences, and I am fully aware that there are places around the globe where what happened today is not only a daily reality, but on a much larger scale. That, however, does not excuse what happened today in Newtown, Connecticut. That does not excuse what happened today in China. Or in Egypt. Or in Syria. Or Gaza. Or the West Bank. Or Uganda. Or anywhere. We, as human beings, are better than this. 

I can only pray that what happened today at Sandy Hook Elementary is enough to finally bring about serious change in this country’s relationship with violence. Already, the platitudes have begun on both side of the issue- “guns don’t kill people, people kill people’, ‘ban all the guns!’, ‘if one of the teachers had been armed, it would have been different’. It’s the same petty bickering that happened after the slayings at a Wisconsin Sikh temple in August, and after the massacre at a Colorado movie theater in June.

This issue is beyond gun control or arming schoolteachers or playing politics. This is about changing the culture of violence in this country. This is about changing this country’s attitude towards mental health. This is about understanding that it’s not the 1700’s anymore, and it’s about making a safe world for our children to grow in.

Today is a day to mourn, to cry, to hug our loved ones, and to try to remember that life is all too short. Tomorrow, though, the work needs to begin anew, all in, towards fixing what is broken; first in our country, then in the rest of the world. 

Our children and twenty young angels with brand-new wings deserve nothing less. 

Guess who potentially fractured her toe last night?

I sometimes astound myself at how clumsy I can be. Goddamnit. 

Have been training for my first 5K. To date, I’ve lost 21 pounds.

Who knew that you could lose weight by eating smarter and exercising regularly? :P

The run is in a week and a half. Wish me luck!!