Gender Selection

There are infertility clinics in Hawaii that do gender selection. Gender selection involves picking the sex of your baby, filtering the x’s and y’s of the sperm, and presenting the appropriate sperm to the egg. This may be old news to some people but I was not aware that this could be done for $400-$600 dollars. I knew the technology was available but I did not realize that it was so affordable. For couples that have had two or three children of all the same sex and who want to have another child in hopes that it will be the opposite sex this technology is a blessing.

There are some traditional people who are still trying to accept the fact that you can find out the baby’s sex before birth. Gender selection is way beyond what these people can undertake. Some say that just because we have the technology does not mean we should use it. Another argument is that this taking God’s power into our own hands. There is concern that doctors are messing with nature but if you take this technology away then you should also take away infertility treatments.

Infertility treatments are used to help infertile couples having babies. A couple options are IUI or IVF. Both of these options involve using technology, outside nature, to conceive a child. There are so many couple who can not have children and this technology makes it possible for them. Therefore I support these acts even though they are unnatural.

  

Pumpkin Roll for Thanksgiving

One of my favorite parts about Thanksgiving is my pumpkin roll! I learned about this wonderful dessert from a friend about six years ago. I would suggest if you have never had it, make one! Your friends will be so impressed and they will think you spent hours on it. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

            CAKE

            1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)

            3/4 cup all-purpose flour

            1/2 teaspoon baking powder

            1/2 teaspoon baking soda

            1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

            1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

            1/4 teaspoon salt

            3 large eggs

            1 cup granulated sugar

            2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin

            1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

            FILLING

            1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature

            1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

            6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

            1 teaspoon vanilla extract

            Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

Directions

FOR CAKE:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:

BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:

Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Harley Ride Gone Wrong

The semester is coming to a close and everyone is rushing to complete all their work and study for finals. To clear my head from all the stress I decided put the books down and spend time with my husband. We both agreed that taking a Harley ride with some friends would be the perfect way to do that. Unfortunately, the universe was against us that day. Not only did it rain within the first 20 minutes of riding but the wind was blowing us all around the road. We were riding along when suddenly something snapped. My husband commented, “that was the clutch, hold on.” The clutch cable snapped while riding, so he could no longer control the gears. He pulled us over safely but our stop was very forceful. We had to pull over and call a tow truck. While we were standing waiting for the tow I realized that the clutch broke at intersection going into the HPU windward campus. Coincidentally, that was the same intersection that HPU student Mariah Danforth-Moore died at on November 21^st. Maybe that intersection is cursed. 

Ultimately, that day was a total fail. The ride did not relieve any stress, in fact it added more. Later we found out that they motorcycle shop does not carry that particular clutch cable. In fact, the cable is not on oahu or any of the other islands for that matter. We have to wait for it to come in from the mainland. Which means that the bike will not be ready for the toys for tots motorcycle ride this weekend that we already bought toys for. I am hoping my luck turns around soon.

Fourth Graders and Attempted Rape

This article came up today on KITV.com: http://www.kitv.com/news/29888321/detail.html

Where is our society heading if fourth graders know this much about sex? I cannot imagine ever seeing a headline like this in the news when I was in fourth grade. Either things like that did not occur back then or they were kept out of the news. I’m not sure I even knew what being gay meant in fourth grade. The mother of the victim must feel horrible because there is literally nothing she can do. That child will be tainted the rest of his life. The thoughts that were going through the three bully’s minds is something that I cannot wrap my head around, probably because my mind does not think on those terms. That would be the same as trying to understand the mind of a killer. Because there were three boys involved I wander if there was an element of pear pressure propelling the situation. I cannot imagine that ALL three boys are homosexual and wanted to satisfy some desire. So what was actually going on here? I cannot help but think this has something to do with TV, video games, Internet and our today's society in general.   

Pizza, the New Vegetable

Child Obesity continues to get worse in America. Food is so easily accessible today that most people go for the most convenient foods. Unfortunately the most convenient foods are the foods have the least amount of nutritional value. This includes fast food, pre-packaged dinners, and microwaveable foods. School lunches have been huge topic lately. Attempts have been made to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into school cafeterias. Apparently, the standards in this country for what constitutes a fruit or vegetable is far different than what most would think. According to this article:

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-school-lunch-nutrition-20111128,0,1940936.story

“Under current regulations, an eighth of a cup of tomato paste is considered the nutritional equivalent of a half-cup serving of vegetables, since that's how much tomato it takes to make it…that "loophole" is what makes it possible for a slice of pizza to count as a serving of vegetables.” Therefore pizza with tomato paste is considered healthy to serve for school lunches because it provides a serving of vegetables. Not surprisingly the people who are against changing these standards are the food companies that make the pizza that is provided in school lunches. Children can not be expected to understand how to eat properly if the people who are suppose to guiding them and setting an example for them are telling them that pizza is healthy.