Book Review: Proof Of Heaven: A Novel by Mary Curran Hackett

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 28, 2011 . 3:40PM

Being a mother, the mother-child bond is something that I hold sacred, so when I saw that I could review a book about a single mother who finds out that her only child, a son, has a life-threatening illness, I was both excited and worried about the task. Frankly, I wasn’t sure that I could handle the subject matter. My son and I are very close, as are the mother and son in this novel, and I wasn’t sure that it wouldn’t rip out my heart to read this novel. I’m really glad I chose to read it anyway.

In Proof of Heaven, Colm is a little boy who has always known that there was something special about him. Since he was an infant, Colm has experienced seizures that end in him on the ground, unbreathing and with his heart stopped. There is little warning other than a feeling of falling for Colm and he feels as if he loses a bit of himself each time it happens. Even worse, Colm worries that there is no heaven, the heaven his mother so desperately believes in and prays for, because when Colm seizes there is nothing but blackness. More than the fear of dying, for Colm, is the fear that he will shatter his mother’s belief system. It’s a lot of pressure for such a little kid.

Cathleen has spent her young adulthood struggling to keep her son alive. Every time he dies and is brought back to life through the power of medicine she fights to keep her head above water. Her own life and dreams are on hold until whatever is wrong with Colm can be treated and cured. She spends her days working tirelessly at a job that doesn’t challenge her just to pay the bills and her evenings praying and trying to save her alcoholic brother and her son. When Cathleen discovers that Colm has a terminal illness, she endeavors to take them on a journey that will end with Colm’s cure regardless of the cost to all of them.

Proof of Heaven is a journey of family, a discovery of the life that lies just beyond us if we will reach for it and the life beyond this that may be out there. Faith is both a huge part of this novel and such a small piece of it that the reader will wonder exactly what happened at the end of this book. The twists and turns in Cat and Colm’s story are worth the read and kept me involved. There were times I wondered how Cat could be so devoted and yet so negligent; how Colm could be so strong and yet so young. It was a delightful read with frustrating and lovable characters.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in order to review it. Thank you for allowing me to share my opinions on this novel.

Breast Cancer Awareness & Beautymint.com

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 20, 2011 . 5:47PM

Dear friends,
As breast cancer affects most of us personally, when I was contacted by Beautymint.com and asked to write a post regarding their sign-up incentive plan for the rest of October, I was inclined to believe this was a plan I support. If you sign up for the site between now and October 31st, will donate $1 for every BeautyMint registration to the National Breast Cancer Foundation starting today through their October 31 launch. Give up your email, sign up for a site you might love, and a new one at that (!), and a buck goes to a worthy cause. Give it a chance! I just did.

Sincerely,

Occupy Wall Street is stupid and pointless

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 9, 2011 . 5:48PM

I think occupy wall street is stupid. That’s going to bother some of you. I am sorry for your hurt feelings but here is the truth as I perceive it: I am doing 2 internships, work a job that pays next to nothing for a lot of effort, am doing a dissertation, am a full-time student, a part-time blogger (which pays enough to keep the blog going and get a few products to review or give away), am a full-time wife and mom and have a husband who hasn’t had a job since April. So to tell me about struggling is futile.

I’ve been out of my mom’s house since I was 20 (12 years now) and I’ve never been on a government program or expected someone to pay me to do nothing. I am absolutely struggling but still working my butt off for a better life. THAT is what it means to live in this country. The hope and chance to make it despite the difficulty. It does not mean I get a handout because I was born in this country or because someone else makes more money than I do. I pay my taxes and I give when I can. Struggling is part of being an adult. Yes, I would like to see our economy change. No, it shouldn’t happen that we all get freebies because life is hard on the dimes of people that have more than we do while we do absolutely little to nothing to earn it.

If you haven’t seen the list of demands from the Occupy Wall Street people, you are in for a treat of epic proportion:

The first demand is that minimum wage be bumped up to $20 an hour. Gosh, we should pay the people who can’t get my order right at McDonald’s or those who didn’t bother finishing high school, the same amount of pay that an entry level engineer might make? You know, the person that had to pay for at least 4-6 years of college education? Uh-huh. Unicorns and rainbows, my friends.

Another demand? Let’s get rid of health insurance because it takes money away from those of us who are health professionals. As a health professional, I don’t personally take health insurance because of the nuances of health insurance and letting a bunch of people who have no business looking through your personal stuff look through it in order to “authorize” your visits to me. However, let’s consider having to pay every single visit out of pocket. In the Nashville area, a single doctor’s visit runs $125-$260 a pop. I can say this after being on crappy COBRA insurance for six months that is bleeding me dry and having to meet a $2500 deductible before they pay anything. My doctor’s visits? Not covered. This means that if I want to go, I pay out of pocket. You accept these demands and you understand that you are going to pay out the wazoo next time you have a respiratory infection. Some of you are prone to them. What if you get a bad rash that just won’t go away? A nasty case of poison ivy? Yep. $300 out the window PLUS whatever the steroid shot costs. See what I’m saying?

Free college education is another demand. Who is going to pay the people that teach you? As an adjunct, I’m not going to put the effort into teaching you for free. I don’t have time. And if everyone has a college degree, guess how much those are valued now? Guess how many people are going to sit their butts in college indefinitely and take out limitless student loans for living expenses?

All these requests for freebies and I’m wondering WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR ANYTHING? Who is going to pay the $20/hour? The government? The government gets its money from the citizens who plan to sit on their butts doing nothing or getting a free education which will be paid for by…no one because no one will actually be working.

Outlaw all the debt? Awesome. I’m down with that, but how many companies will be going under because of that which means how many more of you will be out of jobs and how much more will our nation be in debt due to the government loans that won’t be paid back?

I’m already bored with this. Seriously, if you are buying into this, you don’t really understand how the system works. Feel free to read through the demands and keep insisting that this is the way to fix everything. Feel free to keep protesting a flawed system. I’ll protest that one with you. But how about using all that free time you’ve got and the brain power you are wasting by coming up with real solutions instead of something that is inherently flawed and would only zap what little resources we have left, eh?

Thanks.

One of the remaining tax-paying citizens who isn’t making much but is still trying

Edit: 11/14/11 I just wanted to note that Occupy Wall street protesters are now upset with Jay-Z, who was attempting to “support” them by creating “Occupy All Streets” T-shirts. However, he chose to do this by embracing capitalism and charging for the t-shirts and then making the large error of not giving any of the profits to Occupy Wall Street. The Occupy Wall Street Protesters saw this as a huge slap in the face and embraced capitalism and demanded some of the profits. Unfortunately, they did not earn them in any way other than by creating the idea, which they didn’t patent. Jay-Z pulled the t-shirts, didn’t give them any money, OWS chants “we are owed this” and the entitlement continues. In all fairness, Jay-Z probably should have given them some of the money. However, had he done it, it would have contributed to the entitled nature of the movement and would have left us without the irony of them demanding money from the capitalist venture. I can appreciate it.

Another Edit 11/19/11: This week, Occupy Nashville protestors invaded Donald Rumsfeld’s book tour dinner in Nashville calling him a war criminal and disrupting a $125/plate dinner. A friend of mine asked if I expected anything different from Occupy protestors and I said, “This is Nashville. We are better behaved folks than most and I EXPECT MANNERS. I expect people to follow the rules of peaceful protest or get out of my city. We are known for being a genial people and if you don’t want to follow the rules you can get out.” I think that what the Occupy Nashville people did by going into Donald Rumsfeld’s dinner and calling him and war criminal was tasteless and tacky. I am vehemently against the Occupy movement and I am disappointed in this kind of tactic. There is a difference between peaceful, non-violent protest and something like this and the things I’m seeing in Oakland and the other areas where things are getting violent. I’m disappointed in us as a people. This doesn’t feel like a freedom and power to the people thing…it feels like an entitlement and attention thing and I’m over it. See their triumphant self-congratulatory after-party here.

I have expensive tastes

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 6, 2011 . 6:34PM

My car decided to get frisky with another car this morning. Luckily for both of us, I’m not hurt, just sore and the other guy is just fine. His fender is a little scratched, whereas my hood is popped and unhappy. What a morning!

In my 32 years, I’ve never been directly in a car accident. I once hit a parked car (I know, I know) and the guy was super nice about it. I remember being in a minor accident in high school as a freshman with a senior driving and a car full of girls, but nothing that required the amount of work that went into today. After an hour on the phone with my insurance company, a trip to the body shop that made me wince, and a call to the rental company, a smiling man came to pick me up and get me to sign paperwork that said I’d be in one of their sleek vehicles for four days while my beloved Betty (my Honda) would get some much needed TLC at the body shop.

The sweet boy at the rental company turned on his charm and asked if I’d like a free upgrade. I just shrugged and said, “Oh, that’s ok. Whatever you’ve got me in is fine as long as it’ll drive. I’m really, really low maintenance” You’d have thought I’d told him he was going to jail. His face fell and he said, “No, no, no. You are supposed to be excited that I am putting you in a sweet little volvo for the next few days.” Having never driven a volvo, I suppose I missed the treat this was supposed to be so I missed the chance to make my rental agent happy.

As I slid behind the steering wheel and adjusted the seat I simply couldn’t wait to get home.

Then I started driving the car.

I’ve found my next car. Wow, that thing is smooth and no Volvo isn’t paying me to say this and clearly they aren’t giving me a freebie. When Betty dies in 5-6 years, I’m getting one of these. Probably very used, but it’s going to be worth it. The thought makes my sore back and jittery nerves just a little bit better.

Sometimes my dog hates me

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 4, 2011 . 5:30PM

As I type this, my favorite dog, Sophie, sits by my side gently licking my hands and distracting me from typing my blog. She lays her head on my chest, looks deeply into my eyes and I can tell that she wants me to know that she loves me and cares for me and won’t I just stop what I’m doing and love her a little back? You’d think this dog was never loved a day in her life, and yet she is spoiled beyond belief. She frequently gets snacks, pets, playtime, hugs and where does she sleep? In my bed. Under my blankets.

With that being said, Sophie is my shadow. Where I go, she goes. Jillian had a little dog whose fur was black as night, if Jillian left to go to work, Sophie was sure to fight. When I leave her, I can walk out the front door and hear the keening cries from the bereft “pea.” Yes, Sophie loves me.

Sometimes, though, all bets are off. One night last week, I was grumpy and tired and had grabbed my book to read before bedtime, as I frequently do. I lay down with my book and my small package of whole wheat peanut butter crackers and finally, finally managed to relax. As I munched my crackers, I read chapter after chapter. Chew, chew, chew, swallow, drink the water. Repeat. I looked up and there was my adoring little dog…with narrowed eyes, cocked ears and a look of pure envy. Her face said, “Give me those crackers and no one gets hurt.”

I had one cracker left. I was hungry, tired and needed my cracker. I slowly put it in my mouth and chew, chew, chew, swallow, water. Sophie looked at me, looked at the empty wrapper and stood up. She walked to the far side of the bed and turned her back to me. She refused to look at me or engage in any kind of cuddling. Yes, I’d just done the impossible: I’d made my dog hate me over peanut butter crackers.

The next day, I woke up to my dog nuzzling my hand and all slights forgotten. I got cuddles, hugs and sweetness. If only all relationships were so simple.