Busy busy busy…

Wow! It’s crazy around here, and yet, I still find myself getting bored during the day. Hopefully that will end now that my stampin’ slump is over, or appears to be for now anyway. Don’t know what I mean? Head over to www.stampinprincess.com and see then!

Now that I’ve shamelessly promoted my other blog, let me get back to the task at hand. Updating you on how life is going! My birthday just passed a week ago, I am officially halfway to 70 now! lol I had a wonderful simple day that I loved! Donovan had to go in to work and D had stayed with a friend Friday night, so on my birthday (Saturday the 13th), A, B & I (isn’t that silly) went to breakfast! Then we ran a couple of simple errands, and I spent the rest of the day just relaxing! Donovan & A made me a heavenly cookies & cream birthday cake. It was so sweet to see the two of them working in the kitchen together! Then Donovan & B made dinner, yummy! Seafood Alfredo, and they did such a great job! D did the dishes, so I really did have the whole day off! Gotta love it! I got some great new stampin’ stuff, which you can see over at my other blog… leave a comment too if you want! Ok, I’ll stop with the commercials! lol

What else has been going on? Not a lot really. I’m settling into a routine with school. Oh, didn’t you know? I’m finally going to school, yay! My hope is that when I’m done, probably around the time A is done, I will be able to help other women who have gone through what I went through with my first marriage. Check posts from last October and coming up this October for more info on that!

We’re all settling in, B has met both his Psychiatrist and Psychologist, and likes both. Donovan & I are very pleased with both of them as well. I’ve met with my therapist several times, she is awesome I must say! I still miss Marnie & Christy though! No offense Bobbi! tee hee! Anyway, she has given me homework a couple of times, tough stuff too I must say! Well, tough for me anyway. It’s making a difference though, and that’s what counts.

Next month is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I’m going to try to pick up where I was blogging last year, and see if I can give more information and hopefully understanding to those who don’t have a clear picture of what domestic violence is. I want my experiences to make a difference for someone else, please let me know if it does, or if you have specific questions for me, I’ll try to answer them as honestly and candidly as I can. Hope you’re having a great September!

Love,
Trish

October

Most people know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You can’t go anywhere without seeing pink ribbons all over. That is GREAT! What most people do not realize is that October is also National Domestic Violence Awareness Month as well. Take time this month to think about the following, and how they affect you, and I assure you, they do. I am also going to be posting some of my experiences this month. I will be honest and as gentle as I can, but I feel that it is important to give voice to experiences. I hope that you will continue to read, and to pray for survivors, victims, abusers and those who don’t even realize that they are experiencing this horrific ordeal. When you read these statistics, please keep in mind that these types of crimes are very under-reported, and that the actual numbers are probably much higher.

Abuse In America

• 4 million American women experience a serious assault by a partner during an average 12-month period. 1
• On the average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day. 2
• 92% of women say that reducing domestic violence and sexual assault should be at the top of any formal efforts taken on behalf of women today. 3
• 1 out of 3 women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. 4
• 1 in 5 female high school students reports being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner. Abused girls are significantly more likely to get involved in other risky behaviors. They are 4 to 6 times more likely to get pregnant and 8 to 9 times more likely to have tried to commit suicide. 4
• 1 in 3 teens report knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, slapped, choked or physically hurt by his/her partner. 5
• Women of all races are equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate partner. 6
• 37% of all women who sought care in hospital emergency rooms for violence–related injuries were injured by a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. 7
• Some estimates say almost 1 million incidents of violence occur against a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend per year. 8
• For 30% of women who experience abuse, the first incident occurs during pregnancy. 9
• As many as 324,000 women each year experience intimate partner violence during their pregnancy. 10
• Violence against women costs companies $72.8 million annually due to lost productivity. 11
• 74% of employed battered women were harassed by their partner while they were at work. 12
• Ninety-four percent of the offenders in murder-suicides were male. 13
• Seventy-four percent of all murder-suicides involved an intimate partner(spouse, common-law spouse, ex-spouse, or boyfriend/girlfriend). Of these, 96 percent were females killed by their intimate partners. 13
• Most murder-suicides with three or more victims involved a “family annihilator” — a subcategory of intimate partner murder-suicide. Family annihilators are murderers who kill not only their wives/girlfriends and children, but often other family members as well,before killing themselves. 13
• Seventy-five percent of murder-suicides occurred in the home. 13

1. Issues and Dilemmas in Family Violence: Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 1996.
2. Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2001, February 2003.
3. Progress & Perils: New Agenda for Women, Center for the Advancement of Women. June 2003.
4. Silverman, Jay G., Raj, Anita, and Clements, Karen. “Dating Violence Against Adolescent Girls and Associated Substance Use, Unhealthy Weight Control, Sexual Risk Behavior, Pregnancy, and Suicidality.” Pediatrics, August 2004.
5. Teenage Research Unlimited. Findings from study commissioned by Liz Claiborne Inc. to investigate the level of and attitudes towards dating abuse among American teenagers aged 13 to 18 [online] 2005 Feb [cited 2006 Mar 20]. Available from: URL: www.loveisnotabuse.com/statistics_abuseandteens.htm
6. US. Department of Justice, Violence-Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments, August 1997.
7. US Department of Justice.
8. The Commonwealth Fund, Health Concerns Across a Woman’s Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women’s Health, May 1999.
9. Helton et al 1987.
10. Gazmararian JA, Petersen R, Spitz AM, Goodwin MM, Saltzman LE, Marks JS. “Violence and reproductive health; current knowledge and future research directions.” Maternal and Child Health Journal 2000; 4(2):79-84.
11. Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. 2003. Center for disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Atlanta, GA/
12. Family Violence Prevention Fund. 1998. The Workplace Guide for Employer, Unions, and Advocates, San Francisco, CA.
13. Violence Policy Center (VPC), American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States, April 2006.