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Join me through this creative journey as I guide you with complete style and fashion 101. Your one complete stop for all your beauty, skincare and health needs. Let me be your complete dose to all things fabulous. I decided to write because I want to inspire and guide all the beautiful ladies to be fashionistas, to be creative. I want to help them with any of their health and beauty issues. So they can feel dazzling at all times. Follow me on Instagram @zeezstyle
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Valentine's DAY OUTFIT GUIDE
19 comments:
Wow this is awesome...you are the best Zee...u look beautiful as alwaysssss...keep posting the good stuff..thanksalot for this wonderful postReplyDelete
Wow this is awesome...you are the best Zee...u look beautiful as alwaysssss...keep posting the good stuff..thanksalot for this wonderful postReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you so much Beautiful Kiran, it means alot!!Delete
- AnonymousFebruary 5, 2015 at 8:05 PM
Pretty outfit!ReplyDelete
Hi Dear. Great outfit ;)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you so much :))Delete
Lovely post and amazing pictures!!ReplyDelete
Valentina :)
Aww thank you so much girl!!Delete
Lovely look and makeup! =)ReplyDelete
NEW POST on http://whattostyle.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much Jessica :))Delete
Absolutely stunning! You look amazing, as always!ReplyDelete
Happy Friday!!
xoxo, Vanessa
Aww thank you so much for your kind words!!Delete
You are so pretty! I love the flower skirt and the green top. You know I love colors! Thank you for visiting my blog! :) Take care and keep in touch!ReplyDelete
Thank you so much Grace, that means so much girl!!Delete


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Offering innovation and hope in the treatment of infectious diseases requires specialization and commitment.
Established as leaders in transplantation and urology, Astellas also focuses its experience and technical capacity in the development of Anti-infective agents.
Astellas actively participates in the research and development of advanced therapies for fungal and bacterial infections. we will continue our commitment in this field as we strive to offer pioneering treatments aimed at the evloving needs of this complex area.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cappella Romana to Sing Great Vespers and Divine Liturgy in Seminary Chapel18. October 2011 - 11:31
The famed vocal chamber ensemble Cappella Romana will sing the responses during Great Vespers and Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Archangels in our Three Hierarchs Chapel. We warmly welcome our friends and neighbors to celebrate with us and to hear the solemn beauty of this choral group, which travels throughout the world. Great Vespers will be celebrated at 5 p.m. on Monday, November 7; Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, November 8.
Georgia Celebrates Day of Svetitskhoveli Cathedral today17. October 2011 - 10:11
Georgia celebrates the day of Mtskheta city and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is celebrated today, October 14. Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II served the Liturgy at the Svetitskhoveli church today at 10:00am. Special busses were made available at Patriarchate for people to attend church service, reports the Georgian news agency, Interpress News.
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is a Georgian Orthodox cathedral located in the historical town of Mtskheta, Kartli region, 20 km (12.5 miles) northwest of the nation's capital of Tbilisi. The Georgian Orthodox Church also marks today the commemoration of Georgian St. King Miriani and Queen Nana (4th century), as well as St. Sidonia and Abiatara.
St. Nicholas Greek-Orthodox Church To Be Rebuild at the WTC17. October 2011 - 10:10
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America officially signed an agreement today on rebuilding the church of St. Nicholas, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that he, joined by Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward, representatives of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and St. Nicholas Parish and Majority Leader Dean Skelos, signed the agreement that permits the rebuilding of the Church with a nondenominational bereavement center at the east end of Liberty Park, at 130 Liberty Street. The agreement follows a four-month independent engineering study commissioned by the Port Authority and the Archdiocese, which found that the Church could be built on the site with minor modifications to the original plan and with no impact on the World Trade Center construction schedule.
Five years since death of Metropolitan Arsenios of Plovdiv14. October 2011 - 12:39
Yesterday there was five years since the death of Metropolitan Arsenios of Plovdiv. On this occasion His Grace Metropolitan Nikolai of Plovdiv served the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy for the repose of his soul and the commemoration to Bishop Arsenios of blessed repose in Cathedral church of the Ascension of the Most Holy Mother of God in Plovdiv where many people gathered.
Church Choir Branko of Nis in The Patriarchate of Jerusalem14. October 2011 - 9:04
On Saturday, September 25th / October 8th 2011, two large groups of pilgrims from Serbia one with eighty members and another with forty members constituting the Church Choir Branko of Nis in Serbia and a forty-member group from Thessaloniki visited the Patriarchate.


text: Contents Now Platform Capabilities Previous Topic Next Topic CMDB health metrics Subscribe Log in to subscribe to topics and get notified when content changes. ... SAVE AS PDF Selected Topic Topic & Subtopics All Topics in Contents Share CMDB health metrics The overall CMDB health score consists of three major metrics which are correctness, compliance and completeness, each further consisting of sub-metrics. Each metric is associated with a scorecard that determines the contribution of the metric to the aggregated health at the overall CMDB level, class, and CI level. You can configure which metrics and sub-metrics are included in the aggregated calculation, and set their weight in the aggregation. In the base system, all of the major metrics and sub-metrics are included in the aggregated health report. OverallAn aggregation of the major metrics correctness, completeness and compliance, according to their overall scorecard weight settings. Correctness An aggregation of the following sub-metrics, according to the correctness scorecard weight settings. Orphan Measures the percentage of orphan CIs in the CMDB. A CI can become orphan if it was unintentionally left in the CMDB when it is no longer needed. A CI is determined to be orphan if: The CI matches the criteria in an orphan rule. The CI doesn't have any relationship in the relationship table. Data is missing for the CI in its respective table, or in one of its parents' table. Staleness Measures the percentage of stale CIs in the CMDB. CI staleness is determined using reconciliation and staleness rules for the CI's class if exist, and the glide.cmdb.health.staleness property. A CI is determined to be stale if it was not updated by the data source that was the last to update the CI, within a certain length of time. The length of time is determined either by the Effective Duration field in the staleness rule, or by the CMDB health system property glide.cmdb.health.staleness as follows: If a staleness rule is not defined for the CI's class, then the glide.cmdb.health.staleness is used for testing the CI. If a staleness rule is defined for the CI's class, then it is used for testing: If the CI fails that test, then the CI is determined to be stale. If the CI passes the test, then it is further tested using the glide.cmdb.health.staleness property. For more information about how CI staleness and data source precedence rules affect each other, see Define or edit data source precedence.In addition, a relationship in which a stale CI is a parent or a child, is determined to be a stale relationship. Duplicate Measures the percentage of duplicate CIs in the CMDB using identification rules. Only independent CIs are evaluated for duplication. In a set of duplicate CIs, the count of duplicate CIs is the total number of CIs in the set, minus one. The detailed graphs for a duplicate set of CIs display all the CIs in the set. Completeness An aggregation of the following sub-metrics, according to the completeness scorecard weight settings. Required Measures the percentage of CIs in which fields that are defined as mandatory, are not populated. Missing fields are tagged as incomplete noting that for this CI some information is missing. Required fields are equivalent to the fields that are specified as mandatory in the system dictionary. Recommended Measures the percentage of CIs in which fields defined as recommended, are not populated. Out-of-box, no recommended fields are specified. Compliance Based on an audit of the CMDB. Audit Compares actual values of specified fields, against expected values defined in template audits (scripted audits are not supported). For more information see Create an audit . Create a compliance-type audit, for which the results are calculated into the compliance CMDB health metric. Relationships Measures the health of CI relationships, consisting of the following sub-metrics which are not-configurable: Duplicate relationships Relationships that have identical parent and child CIs, identical relationship type, and an identical port. Duplicate relationships are displayed per relationship type. In a set of duplicate relationships, the duplicate relationship count is the total number of duplicate relationships in the set, minus one. The detailed graphs for a duplicate set of relationships display all the relationships in the set. Orphan relationships A relationship that is missing either a parent CI, a child CI, or both. Stale relationships A relationship in which the parent CI or the child CI is a stale CI. A single relationship can fail more than one health test. For example, a duplicate relationship can also be stale. Related tasksView CI healthView CI relationships healthExplore and modify CI classDelete all records for a CMDB classCreate CMDB remediation ruleCreate or edit a CMDB health orphan ruleCreate or edit a CMDB Health staleness ruleSet a CI field to be recommendedSet a CI field to be mandatoryCreate or edit a CI identification ruleRelated conceptsSetup and configuration and initial configurationMonitor CMDB health in the CMDB dashboardConfigure metric rules and behaviorCustomize the CMDB dashboardRelated referenceTables installed with CMDB HealthCMDB Health troubleshootingCMDB health system properties On this page Send Feedback Previous Topic Next Topic


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Item: 25000655
This item fits the following products:
12 Oz Coolgearcan
Stir up some fun with our small scale Callisto Printed Chiller, available in four vibrant colors and patterns. The 12 oz tumbler features unique designs that kids will love including king lions, origami dinosaurs, unicorns and french fries, and a bright floral print. Our BPA free kids insulated tumblers are double walled to keep drinks colder, longer and come with a reusable plastic straw for easy sipping on-the-go.
This bone-chilling goblet with a black skull base and tinted cup lends an eerie touch to moonlit parties and macabre table settings. The preferred choice for corpsemopolitans, mummosas, and headless horsemanhattans. Bring on the "boo"-ze!
Be magical every day! Our novelty unicorn tumblers are eye-catching, fun, and practical all in one. The 18 oz tumbler features a fully-molded unicorn topper for the lid and a reusable straw for easy sipping, whether you're riding a magic carpet or riding the subway to work. Bright unicorn graphics adorn the sides of the cup and the threaded lid make for easy cleaning and refilling.
This creepy co-injected skull tumbler is sure to turn (skeleton) heads! Sip your boo-worthy beverages through the reusable straw that sits inside a brain lid and cheers to a night full of fright!


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The New International Encyclopædia/Hirschberg
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HIRSCHBERG, hḗrsh'bĕrK. A manufacturing town in the Prussian Province of Silesia, situated at the foot of a mountain, 30 miles southwest of Liegnitz (Map: Prussia, F 3). The town is ancient, and is still girt about by a double line of walls. Its Protestant church, a Gothic edifice, is known for its magnitude and its excellent organ. Hirschberg has manufactures of linen, lace, machinery, paper, metal, and tobacco. The town was founded at the beginning of the eleventh century. Population, in 1890, 16,200; in 1900, 17,865, mostly Protestants.


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Confirmation, together with Baptism and Eucharist, form the Sacraments of Initiation that are all intimately connected. In the Sacrament of Confirmation, the baptized person is "sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit" and is strengthened for service to the Body of Christ.
The prophets of the Old Testament foretold that God's Spirit would rest upon the Messiah to sustain his mission. Their prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus the Messiah was conceived by the Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus on the occasion of his baptism by John.
Jesus' entire mission occurred in communion with the Spirit. Before he died, Jesus promised that the Spirit would be given to the Apostles and to the entire Church. After his death, he was raised by the Father in the power of the Spirit.
Those who believed in the Apostles' preaching were baptized and received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. The Apostles baptized believers in water and the Spirit. Then they imparted the special gift of the Spirit through the laying on of hands. "'The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church'" (CCC, no. 1288, citing Pope Paul VI, Divinae Consortium Naturae, no. 659).
By the second century, Confirmation was also conferred by anointing with holy oil, which came to be called sacred Chrism. "This anointing highlights the name 'Christian,' which means 'anointed' and derives from that of Christ himself whom God 'anointed with the Holy Spirit'" (CCC, no. 1289, citing Acts 10:38).
Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For by the sacrament of Confirmation, the baptized are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1285.


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Play Along with Erin - Part 1: Mixed Media Backround (Guest Design Team)
Hi everyone, it's Erin here, back again to share with you some fun mixed media techniques. You are welcome to play along with me today and tomorrow & create your own mixed media project!
You know what, I love to do art journals, but sometimes the page I'm working on turns out really cool and I want to frame it...so that's just what I did with this piece.
Since I knew I was going to share this project here on the blog, I filmed myself as I worked on the background of this page instead of taking a photo of each layer since there are SO many layers!
Check out this video to see the progression of the background:
I started off with my spiral bound 11" x 15" cold press water color paper art journal that I often use.
Once the gesso was dry I took some of my favorite shades of Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils and scribbled over the page. Yep, you heard me right...I scribbled. Sometimes layering different colors over one another, sometimes not. I also left a lot of white space around the page. Really, I'm the only one that sees this layer since I ended up putting a lot (and boy do I mean A LOT!) of layers over it. It's a fun way to just let loose & not worry about how this is going to turn out.
Then once I was done scribbling I took my waterbrush and painted over the scribbles with water to give it a nice water color effect. I then added a bunch of different layers of Gelatos™ Colors, acrylic paint, and even a stamp. I eventually wound up with a background I liked!
Check back tomorrow for part 2 of this blog post where I will show you how I created the rest of this mixed media piece, and feel free to create your own background today following these techniques so that tomorrow you play around with that day's techniques!
Supplies: Cold Press Watercolor Paper, Gesso, Stencil, Waterbrush, White Acrylic Paint, Color Gelatos® 4ct - GREEN (#770158), Color Gelatos® 4ct - BLUE (#770159), Metallic Gelatos® & Clear Stamp (#770155), Art GRIP® Aquarelles: GREEN (#770112), Art GRIP® Aquarelles: BLUE (#770113)
Erin Bassett Erin is a craft addict who loves to do something creative every day. She shares her love of all things artsy on her blog and in the classes and events she teaches at. Erin is a freelance artist, designing for top manufactures and has had many of her projects published in various magazines and books. She considers it a blessing to be able to call her passion "work".


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Cyclist to Attempt 3-Year, 38,000 Mile Zero Carbon Bike Ride Around the World
Photo via the Guardian
Kevin Shannon isn't even crusading for green causes. No, the ambitious 23 year-old cyclist is embarking on a 38,000 mile biking and sailing trip around the world for a different reason altogether--to raise money for a charity that assists combat veterans. His aim is to create absolutely no carbon emissions throughout the course of the daunting 3-year journey, which will take him across Europe, Asia, Australia, and both North and South America. Here's how he's going to do it.Shannon's expedition will take him through Europe by bike, then across the vast stretch of Russia, down through Mongolia and China's Gobi Desert, and through Southeast Asia. Then, he'll switch off between bike and sailboat as he navigates the Indonesian islands, Australia, and New Zealand. Once there, he'll hitch a yacht to Chile, where he'll ride north through South America.
Then, presumably to avoid the potentially dangerous border crossings in Colombia, he'll take another sailboat to Costa Rica. From there, it's another huge stretch of biking through Central America, Mexico, and up to San Francisco, California. Then it's 3,000 miles across the US and Canada, before he catches another sailboat ride home to the UK. Needless to say, it will be quite a journey--a map of his planned route is below.
Shannon is planning on embarking on the trip early next year, and before you write this off as some kind of a publicity stunt, consider this--besides a few companies sending him gear for the road, it's entirely unsupported. Which is why he'll be camping and cooking for himself most of the way, pulling his gear on a small trailer behind his bike. And he isn't looking to broadcast the zero emissions part of the trip for any environmental group or sponsor--it was simply a choice.
The Guardian recently spoke with Shannon, who said
"It may not be easiest way, the quickest way or even the cheapest, but there is always a zero-emission choice," he said when I spoke to him recently. The only time I will be creating emissions will be when cooking. Everything else is battery powered and I'll recharge all electrics with solar chargers."And while the purpose of the trip may not be to publicize green ideas, it will certainly help call attention to his cause--and since this may be the longest zero carbon trip ever attempted, his trip will likely call more attention to green ideas. Seems like a win-win--and one hell of a bike ride to boot.
The charity Shannon is raising money and awareness is Combat Stress, and there's more info about his expedition on his website, Because It Is There.
More on Zero Carbon Projects
US Military Seeks the " Zero Carbon " Camp
Live in a Zero Carbon House Made of Hemp
UK Builders Gear Up For Zero Carbon Housing


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I note a fantastic blog post today from Michael Wyres who has distilled the hysteria surrounding what appears to be a massive mishandling of asbestos-containing material during remediation works by Telstra-engaged contractors.
Call me a pessimist, but the amping up of an issue by the Coalition and their supporters (just look on Twitter for the ridiculous anger) for political gain is all bluster and bother. As Wyres writes:
To their credit, Telstra seems prepared to take responsibility for the issue. Given they are contractually obliged to do so, this seems a fairly straightforward position for them to take. Steps are already underway to make good on the issue.
This appears to go against the whole Coalition Narrative of 'Bad policy, bad asbestos, bad government (because we didn't win the 2010 election), stop the boats'. Once again we see a complete lack of objectivity from the right. Well done guys, your continued empty slogans, lack of credible policy and xenophobic dog whistling have stopped this coalition voter from sending my vote your way.
Malcolm Turnbull has also tried to take political advantage of the asbestos issue by stating:
"Because we will simply bring fibre out to the distribution point, the street cabinet, all of the conduits and pits beyond that – the ones outside people's houses for example – will not be disturbed at all."
Wyres takes a big issue with the concept of leaving a dangerous substance where it is, believing it a folly:
The thing that irks me the most is that the Coalition seems to have stuck their head in the ground – (no pun intended) – on the issue. Under [the Coalition] plan, most of the asbestos lined pits in your street, in front of your house, or even in your garden, are going to be left there.
Would you be happy with that?
No Michael. I would not be happy with that at all. Do we leave any sort of chemical contamination around the streets we live? Of course we do not just leave it there. Instead it is cleaned up, any contaminated soil for proper disposal or storage.
Why is asbestos any different?
In the last few months my employer was looking to move into a larger premises. After signing a lease and starting fitout of network cabling, our cabling contractor disturbed and found asbestos in the building. Not just sheeting but loose insulation in the roof space. This was a building I spent about 3 hours in in. Since the building does not meet the regulations surrounding asbestos, we were able to terminate the lease immediately.
It is time that we as a community work towards a full removal of asbestos in our community, whether it is Telstra pit & pipe infrastructure, or is private homes or commercial buildings.


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The comments in an article on Autistic Hoya's site, "My Heart Breaks for Your Child," got me thinking about how often people, when called out about awful things that are said about someone simply respond with something like, "I'm just being honest about my feelings. I can't help the way I feel."
Feeling a certain way doesn't make that thing either true or right. If I felt that I was in danger when a hispanic family moves in next to me, that doesn't necessarily mean that I am actually in danger (heck, I might feel safe if a white family moves in next to me, but they might actually be mass murderers). In this case, racism is racism, even if a person is a sincere racist (really, is there any other kind?).
Maybe people who experience racism prefer people to be up front about their feelings and hope racists tell the world about their racism. I don't know. But even if people prefer this, I can't imagine that makes them like the racist, nor does it take away the ugly part inside the racist. Even if the racist is honest and sincere.
The most common way this is expressed in the disability world is a parent (sadly, it's often a parent) who says, "I wish I didn't have a disabled child." There are two things here that need to be deconstructed a bit:
- Most of the time they do have a disabled child. It is the child they have, and to not want a disabled child is to not want their child. I can hear the screams of some readers now…"But that's not what I mean!" That's fine. I can understand that sometimes you might use the wrong words. Now you know how your words come across, so please choose different ones. But if you insist that these words aren't what you mean, but continue using them, don't expect sympathy from me.
- Getting past not wanting a child, what many people mean by this is that they don't want their child to have the bad things that they associate with disability. Fair enough – who would want any child to have bad things? But the problem here is that you've confused disability and bad things. Also, you may consider disability-associated traits from a perspective of a non-disabled person and make assumptions that aren't actually valid from the perspective of a disabled person.
I'm not going to focus on the first point. I don't think most parents saying they don't want an autistic kid (or a kid with another disability) are talking about the first point. Generally, I'm not going to question most people on whether or not they want their child – I assume they love and cherish their child, even if they say stupid things. But, I do ask for more precision in language however, as, sadly, there are parents that are selfish enough to neglect and abuse their disabled children because they – the parents – don't like the impact of the disability on the parents' lives. I hope most parents don't want to accidentally be grouped into that category!
So I'll focus on the second part of this. Your feelings if you are talking about not wanting the bad things associated with disability are an expression of your beliefs.
And it's these beliefs that concern disabled people – because you'll be making many, many decisions on the basis of these beliefs. If your premise is wrong, your conclusion is going to be wrong.
Let me talk about some of the bad things that parents who say they don't want a disabled kid mean when they say they don't want them for their kids.
- Medical Issues: A child might have severe medical issues, either associated with disability or not. For instance, a child might have a heart defect that could kill them at a young age (the child doesn't need to be in the typical categories of disabled to have this, I might add, but that's not really relevant here – I'll grant some disabilities make this more likely). I can't imagine what it's like to be worried about your child dying. I wouldn't wish that for anyone. So, yes, I agree, that's a fine thing to wish your child didn't deal with. But focus on the medical problem, not disabilities as a whole.
- Social Stigma and Prejudice: A lot of disabled people are badly treated by society. This, too, is a fine thing to wish your child didn't have to deal with. Note however that this isn't your child's characteristic. He is the victim, not the one that needs to change. When the desire of a heart is that a person not be disabled so they won't be mistreated, that expresses a subtle prejudice that considers the victim's treatment inevitable if the disability remains – and inevitability means that it's not worth trying to change things. It's not inevitable. We can make the world a better place. You don't wish a woman who was raped was instead a man, so that she wouldn't have experienced this horrible crime against her. You instead wish that all men would treat women decently, that women would see justice when that doesn't happen, and that society would take the problem seriously. And your hope might even spur you to action, since there is no hopeless inevitability here.
- Loss of Opportunities: It's also fine to wish a child had an opportunity that would be appropriate to them. Sometimes we don't get the chance in life that someone else might get. This is true for all of us – maybe that company doesn't ask you in for an interview after receiving your resume, even though you would be a great fit. Or maybe you don't meet up with the perfect spouse that is out there, just not where you are. When the loss of opportunity is related to prejudice, see #2 above – it's not the disability, it's the bigot or prejudiced people that are at fault. But there are two other possibilities too. First, your child might have dreams that are unfulfilled because your child lacks the ability to fulfill those dreams, even if opportunities were given. I'll talk about that in #4. Second, what I'll talk about here, is that sometimes the lost opportunity isn't necessarily something that the child wants. I'm sure my dad, before I was born, pictured himself playing all sorts of sports with me. But I'm pretty darn unathletic. Not only that, I really had no desire to play the sports! It was his dream, not mine. And that's nothing to do with my disability. So wishing my disability away to solve it is, again, the wrong approach. It's his unfulfilled dream, not mine!
- Inability to Fulfill Dreams and Desires: I'm not talking about lost opportunities. I'm talking about the dreams we might have that we simply will never accomplish, no matter how much we might try or how much society changes. Unfulfilled dreams are, sadly, a part of all of our lives. Someone might want to play pro football as a kid – but they simply aren't professional league material. No matter how hard they try, that dream will be unfulfilled. For some people, that can be extremely depressing. Part of the job of the wider community is to help people discover the things that match their aptitude, interests, and personality and provide the opportunities to pursue them, gently guiding people towards these incredible dreams. It's important to realize however how many greats were previously told that excelling in their field was impossible for them. Just because I think someone can't become a pro football player doesn't mean I'm right! But at the same time, how many people get to have the fairy tale life they dreamed of as kids? Does that mean our lives all suck?
- Perceived Loss: I can't imagine being blind. I suspect a lot of parents can't either, even if they have a blind child. To me, thinking of losing my sight causes feelings of fear. I think of how sad it would be to not do so many of the things I enjoy. But, again, much of this is based on my perspective as a sighted person! If I were to close my eyes (the best I can do to imagine the blind experience) and walk around my house, I'd break things (maybe even parts of myself!). It would be hard. I couldn't get to work. I don't know how I would cook or take care of myself. It would be exceptionally hard emotionally. But of course that would be as someone with no experience being blind! Someone who lives daily with being blind learns how to get around their house without breaking things (or themself), learns how to get to work, learns how to take care of themself, learns how to cook, etc. Maybe some things need to be done differently, or maybe they need help that sighted people generally don't (outside of rich people who have staff to cook and clean for them, anyway). Of course maybe they don't need the help that I, as a sighted person, would think they need! Telling a blind person, "I wish my child wasn't blind," is saying, "My child has lost so much by not being able to see." That's very likely not the blind person's perspective – particularly if that person has accomplished many of their own dreams!
- I don't want to suffer: Sometimes the parent saying this is, themselves, suffering. They may lack support. They may be depressed. They may not know how they are going to get through another day. Again, this is a problem the parent is experiencing, and that is where the focus needs to be – to help the parent, not to wish for a magical cure pill for the child.
Now, I know that there are plenty of disabled people who have internalized these messages and think, "If I wasn't disabled, my life wouldn't suck." They may even be right (although I doubt life would be as rosy as they might imagine). But I think much of this comes from disability being a convient thing to blame for all the problems of life. And of course these disabled people are brought out front-and-center every time this debate comes up, to show how my part of the disabled experience is invalid. But, no, they also do not have the fullness of the disabled experience anymore than I do! It's only one element of the whole of disabled experience.
Nor is someone who hates their life and blames it on disability "more disabled" than everyone who loves their life. Things don't work that way. Level of disability, however you categorize it, has nothing to do with happiness. I think research here would be worthwhile – what makes a disabled person's life better? I say that because I see people who can do many things I can't who hate their lives, and I see many people who can't do many things I can who enjoy their lives. It's not about ability. It's about other things – probably the very things that matter to us all like a connection to other people (yes, even "profoundly" disabled children seek that, although it's not necessarily recognized as what it is), a safe place to be, meeting your basic life needs, and the chance to pursue the achievable dreams. None of this is helped by a parent expressing feelings that disability is to blame.
I know in my life, it's pretty simple to figure out what made me happy and what made me depressed. When I feared for my life from other kids, when I was being abused by other kids, when I experienced the shame and humiliation daily around other kids…well, I probably would have taken a magic cure pill had it been offered. I hated who I was, after all. Everyone (including teachers and other adults) told me that if I was someone else, I wouldn't be experiencing this. The victim was blamed. My disability was blamed. I was blamed. I imagine these people were sincere, though.
Do you know what happened when I left that town one day in the mid 1990s? Every day – yes, every day – has been better than those days. Even my worst day in the many years since is better than the days when I was facing that abuse. I thank God, literally, that I made it and that I somehow retained some of who I am – my essence – through it all.
Now, I'm not saying everyone who hates being disabled does so because of bullying. That's not the case. Nor am I saying my life is all wonderful and that all my problems are solved. I still have plenty of problems. I still have sad days. I still have days that are miserable. But I've experienced good days, wonderful times, and things that make me glad I'm alive. No, it's not because I'm less disabled than someone else. It's because I've had good experience and a full life.
So, when I hear disability blamed for misery, even if it is a sincere belief, I know that belief is hogwash. It's not about disability, it's about other things. Let's hate those other things together.


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Two major rulings from the Supreme Court on Tuesday strengthened the movement for same sex marriage equality. One case held that same sex couples were entitled to federal benefits by ruling a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional on equal protection grounds. The Court in the other case declined to hear an appeal from proponents of California's Proposition 8, which effectively allows same sex marriages here. These rulings create far-reaching changes to same sex couples here in California.
1901 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Phone: 310-948-6461


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The following was sent to us in part as an ode to Sid Dominitz for the Oct/Nov issue of EcoNews, published here in the interest of providing a more detailed history of the origins of what has now become the Adopt-a-Beach and Coastal Cleanup Day programs, and a glimpse of early environmentalism on the North Coast.
To explain my part in the Adopt-a-Beach Program, believed to be the genesis of the largest single day volunteer effort in the United States, it's necessary to understand that I am of Humboldt County. Although born and raised in Eureka, I've lived these past 35 years elsewhere, from Seattle to Madison, Wisconsin, and back to California—Salinas, then Alaska, back to Davis, Santa Cruz, and these past 25 years in Chico. Yet if asked where's home, I say Humboldt County.
I hunted, fished, and played ball, worked in two lumber mills, the Public Guardian's Office, Humboldt State University Foundation, and the Public Health Department. I also worked in the hills, Panther Gap to be specific, in the early days of the green trade.
Those were merely jobs to me; another place, the Northcoast Environmental Center, germinated a seed planted long before and changed my perception of my place in the world.
In part it began in biology class circa 1968, when a College of the Redwoods instructor mentioned the word "environmentalism," explaining it would be a significant scientific field in the future and would increase awareness of natural systems and human influence on them. Although not a particularly astute student I nevertheless made note, and shortly after had occasion to mull the concept of human influence on wild places, albeit in a seemingly trifling manner.
At seventeen years old with no place to get drunk, four friends and I parked on a dirt road beyond Cutten. As usual, we threw our beer empty bottles on the roadside, sometimes breaking them, sometimes not. The rest of the garbage went the same way. Then an older close friend decided he'd seen enough to "kick the ass of the next guy who littered." The thought startled me; I wasn't particularly worried about the ass-kicking but it was the notion—the first time a peer was concerned with litter. And he was (is) a friend whose words are worthy of consideration. But really, who cared if you threw your shit around?
That I remember that moment indicates the idea had some impact on me. Little by little, I became aware of litter. The stuff was, in those days, everywhere, and until then I'd hardly noticed. These days it's difficult to imagine oblivion when confronted by the crap people leave lying about. It disgusts most of us. When one visits places in other countries (the Yucatan Peninsula comes to mind) one is overwhelmed by the volume of litter, but in the '60s, despite national "litterbug" campaigns, to a teenager the stuff seemed a natural part of the landscape. It was essentially so ubiquitous as to be a natural and eventual component of human presence.
Ignorance aside, I did stop throwing around beer bottles and most other trash, though as a teen I smoked and littered a box-worth of Marlboro filters every day. Cigarette filters weren't considered litter yet.
With time came inevitable wisdom, possibly, and I began to loathe the garbage and environmental degradation I was seeing. In-your-face piles of broken bottles and garbage left at beach accesses. Old appliances. Mattresses. Probably, individually, people were tossing less litter than in previous decades, but Humboldt County's beauty attracted a population influx that increased litter—becoming an impediment to enjoyment. Humboldt County, my home, ws getting ruined.
At that point I was living in a friend's house at Manila (which is where the rich people would live if it were any place other than Humboldt County), and dodging broken bottles and trash in my bare feet as I ran four or five miles on the beach every morning before work. I began a slow burn. My girlfriend and I began carrying away beach litter we encountered, and it felt good to make an effort, though a small one. I became obsessed, like the boy in John Updike's "A&P." It's fatal when you take a moral stand because it's impossible to retreat from it.
By 1977, I'd decided to propose a grant to clean Humboldt's beaches. Now the idea seems absurd to think of finding funding to clean beaches, but sometimes youthful enthusiasm prevails. My girlfriend, now wife, Dr. Ann Morrissey, had experience as a grant writer, laying out the financial component of the grant for what can be considered a shoestring budget. Working together, we finished the application in one evening: I composing, she budgeting.
The Beach Beautification Project proposal was conjured on a '50s-era manual Tower President typewriter with a worn-out ribbon. Still have it and haven't used it since.
I had approached Northercoast Environmental Center director Tim McKay with the concept of a grant-funded beach cleaning project. Tim was skeptical about success but said the Center would sponsor the project if I could find funding.
The plan was to have a three person crew scour the entirety of Humboldt County's accessible beaches. I wrote the grant with the intention of community outreach locating beach cleaning volunteers among juvenile offenders, schools, civic groups, and whomever we could convince. At the time there was no plan for the Adopt-a-Beach project to continue past grant funding, two years.
Director McKay was surprised when the grant was accepted for $29,000, but I knew we would be successful. Judy (cannot recall her last name) would be crew leader while Sid Dominitz (recently deceased) and I were crew. We "rented" my '53 Chevy truck for mileageand filled it with gunny sacks. There was little planning other than to "do it."
Arriving at Dominitz' Trinidad house that first morning, I honked the horn several times and Sid, coffee cup in hand, casually wandered out the door. Annoyed with the honking, he asked, "What is this, high school?" That set the tone for mornings we cleaned north of Arcata and stopped to pick up Sid. Seemed like he was always having a smoke or sitting on the john when we got there. He had perfect timing.
Also comes to mind the morning when our crew had grown by several guys and Sid came outside with boxing gloves. Asked if anyone wanted to spar. I was game and went at it with Sid. He cleaned my clock. Seems Sid had Golden Glove experience as a youth in New York City. Pretty funny though I was furious at the time.Working side by side, I wound up loving the guy. His New York humor was cynical and infectious; he was clever and quick-witted company on even bitter cold and rainy mornings.
In time our crew grew by a few more CETA workers. Unfortunately for them, the new guys rode in the back of my truck (under my homemade hippie canopy without windows). Winter was miserable back there and the way home smelled of garbage.
We had occasional juvenile offenders working short-term and were supplemented by two work-release crew from San Quentin prison. One asked me my angle for working so hard without pay equal to the effort, not understanding why we would clean up just because it was right. We also worked with several schools, girl and boy scouts, and groups beyond my recall. A girl scout council sent me a certificate for Environmentalist of the Year—an honor remains dear to me.
The crew started at Prairie Creek and worked south each day at every accessible Humboldt County beach, to Shelter Cove. One lucky day: I found twenty bucks, a pair of newer tennis shoes my size, and a fishing pole along the sanded logs.
Of course most of what we recovered was plastic, glass, and tires. And as mentioned, diapers. Lots of disposable dirty diapers, particularly along the Clam Beach frontal road. We wondered what kind of scumbag leaves his child's messy diapers to spoil the beach experience for others.
At the end of every day we sorted, recycling what we could at the Arcata Recycling Center, recorded our tally of total weight and recyclables (over 25% for the year and a half I worked at NEC) and odd finds. The bulk went to the dump. I still possess the Czech fisherman's hat I wore for weeks. We did a weekly dead bird count for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory as part of the effort and a dead marine mammal count for the Marine Mammal Center. We found and photographed a dead western grebe with its neck in a plastic six-pack band. Nice shot for the Econews front page.
Fridays we did presentations for schools and civic clubs to solicit volunteers for beach cleaning events. I opened the presentations with background and discoveries, but Sid shined at convincing groups to take up arms against littered beaches. We discovered even stridently conservative groups opposed to gratuitous government spending shared our enthusiasm for clean shores, especially when they learned how fugal our efforts.
We had taken over 21 tons of waste material and garbage (and accursed abandoned tires—toted over sand for several miles off Humboldt County beaches, all lugged on our backs to our parked truck. I never could ignore a beached tire though my erstwhile crew occasionally did). We were aware dirty beaches attracted more filth, and clean beaches stayed that way considerably longer. We knew the beaches would quickly revert to pre-cleanup messes.
About this time I was leaving the crew to heading east with my girlfriend. With a half-year left before the grant would expire, Tim and Sid came up with the Adopt-a-Beach concept to keep the cleanup going. I was initially skeptical, but we commenced outreach while I was still working with the crew. I believe Sid volunteered to take on College Cove. Shortly after, I was gone.
Sid took over as crew leader and gamely the remaining crew loaded trash bags into the trunk of his old Plymouth, a vehicle roughly as dependable as my Chevy pickup. He and Tim worked their magic which, as mentioned, became an NEC legacy: the largest single-day volunteer effort in the United States and probably the world.
Ann and I are proud to have written the original grant and I'm proud to have worked it. I cared a great deal for Tim and Sid and I have enormous admiration for both. Our love for Humboldt County is unabated, of course, and my appreciation for the Northcoast Environmental Center is undiminished. It's encouraging to see how far a bit of youthful idealism can go toward making the world a little better.


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Edward Graham
Apple Valley High Apple Valley, CA Class of 1993
Personal Info
- Name:
- Edward Graham
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- 1993
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|- Registered as a AVHS Class of 1993 alumni. May


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Blog Archives
Very exciting weekend ahead
Wait, what blog is this? Who am I? Where have I been? Ha ha!
Sorry for the sporadic posts about who knows what all the time. I feel like that's the new purpose of this blog. It's no longer a food only blog, no longer a chronicle of my past weight loss or the many races I have ran, but instead just random — just like my life 🙂
This weekend there are some very exciting things going on that I felt the need to tell you about.
First, today, the very first Trader Joe's is opening in Louisville (first for Kentucky too)!
Notice the teeny sign at the bottom and then check it out in the background 🙂 If you are interested in seeing what it's like right now, check out Ashlee's photos on or search #traderjoeslou on Twitter.
I'm waiting until Monday to go because I saw the pictures of the line this morning for the grand opening (you would have thought it was Black Friday) and my good friend Mari says to avoid that place at all costs on the weekends. And when Mari tells you something, believe her 😉
Another cool thing going down this weekend is the Mighty Kindness Harvest Hootenanny at the Louisville Nature Center (across from the Zoo).
It's a free community festival featuring all sorts of things — music, art, crafts, food, coffee, workshops, yoga, massage, etc. I will be there with the Louisville Vegetarian Club selling vegan baked goods and of course, promoting a plant-based diet.
There will be trick-or-treating, food trucks (can't wait to eat Morel's again!), and so much that there's no way I could contain it all in this post. You will just have to come!
However, since I am not above a shameless plug (or two), I have to tell you my friend Kristin will be there selling her crocheted goods and jewelry at the KB&T booth 🙂 You can also check out her esty site if you can't make it on Saturday.
Last but not least, on Sunday from 5-7 p.m. my church, Hunsinger Lane Baptist, is having a Fall Festival! And I'm in charge!
There will be a lot of stuff for kids as you can see above so if you or anyone you know has kids, bring 'em on out! We will also have adults there hanging out and socializing. I'm hoping to make a lot of new friends through this event. Everything is free! This is my first year being the director and I have learned a lot already and have a lot of ideas for next year.
As you can probably guess after reading this post, I have taken a day off on Monday to recover (and make that inaugural trip to Trader Joe's)!
Have a great weekend 🙂 What are your plans?
Related articles
- My favorite things about Fall (seesaraheat.wordpress.com)
The Happy Herbivore cookbook giveaway!
I really enjoyed being a part of the Happy Herbivore "blog book tour" and being able to have Lindsay answer some questions for me and my blog readers. You can read the interview here if you missed it!
Now, I am really excited to announce that one of you can win a free copy of The Happy Herbivore cookbook for yourself!
This contest will run until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 4th and to enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this post!
If you are one of those that likes to get multiple entries, here are some other things you can do (if you already do any of these things just leave a comment for each one saying "I already…"):
- Follow @happyherbivore on Twitter and leave a comment back here
- Follow me on Twitter @seesaraheat and leave another comment
- "Like" Happy Herbivore on Facebook and leave another comment
- "Like" See Sarah Eat on Facebook and leave another comment
There you have it, five ways to enter! Already own a copy? Enter anyway and if you win, give it to a family member or friend 🙂
Note: Open to U.S. and Canadian residents only per request of the publisher.
I will choose a winner randomly and announce it on Tuesday morning!
Good luck 🙂
Related Articles
- The Happy Herbivore stops by! (seesaraheat.wordpress.com)
Falafel Friday
When I was getting ready to leave work, I was completely stumped about where to get some food for dinner.
Josh and I had decided earlier in the day that we'd go to separate places and get takeout since our diets and favorite foods are quite different 😉 He got pizza…surprise, surprise.
But where do I go? I went to Twitter and asked my near-Louisville friends to get their ideas. They both mentioned Shiraz!
Now, I just ate there two weeks ago but what the heck 😉
I thought maybe I would try something different but on the drive there, all I could think about was falafel and sweet potato fries!
Next time, I SWEAR I will get something different, ha ha.
I usually eat the whole order of falafel but since I have made a commitment to be more in control of my portions for the Pound for Pound Challenge, I divided the falafel in half.
I also decided to skip the hummus this time. But I did eat all the sweet potato fries since there weren't that many. Using my small dinner plate helped!
It was delicious!
I'm perfectly full but I foresee some form of chocolate chips & peanut butter in the next couple of hours!
Now it's time to watch "The Hangover" and hopefully not fall asleep on the couch before 9 p.m. 🙂
Enjoy the weekend!
Day 5 : Back to "normal"
Check out Ms. Jessica's giveaway of Tropical Traditions coconut oil!
Today was Monday, which meant back to work and the start of a new week! But it is also the first day that I have felt back to "normal" after being sick a little over a week ago and then having my period right after.
Since both can mess with your appetite, cravings, etc. I am glad they are both outta here 🙂
Breakfast this morning was pumpkin oats. I used the last of my pumpkin can so I won't be having these for a while. They were good but I still can't figure out what's missing. Perhaps my tastes have changed?
This bowl contained 1/3 cup oats (cooked with water), 1/3 cup pumpkin, a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice and some Skippy Natural PB.
Mid-morning, I enjoyed some new tea the in-laws gave me:
And some mixed nuts to snack on.
For lunch, I had some leftover black beans and barley, which I wasn't too thrilled about at first, but I found some salsa in the fridge which I think gave it the perfect touch. I ended up really enjoying it!
I got back to Exercise Science class after missing last week, so that was good to get caught up. I'm really enjoying everything I am learning in this class but I'm starting to think I won't be able to stick through getting another 4 year degree (I already have 2).
So I'm thinking after this semester I may just get my personal training certification and then go back to school later if time (and money) permits. I really want to get to work!
After class, we had a baby shower for a co-worker who is so cute it's ridiculous. I'm so happy for her. There was also some good food. I just snacked on some tortilla chips and salsa (plus more chips).
I knew I had to get a run in sometime today and it was going to have to be after work. Luckily, I hopped on Twitter and saw a few others who had either gone for runs or needed to. So that inspired me to get it done!
I did one of my favorite paths near my neighborhood with no time in mind. After I was done, I came back in and looked it all up on Map My Run.
It says I did 2.85 miles in 25 minutes! That's an average of 8:46/mile! Holy smokes. I'm not sure how accurate that is but I'll take it.
My time also isn't exact. I left the house at 6:03 p.m. and reached the front door again at 6:28. So it's a guesstimate. I even walked for a few minutes including a warm up and cool down so I was quite impressed with that.
I do think I am getting faster, as my 1-mile runs with Farrah have proven. I texted her after this run to tell her I wanted to go fast again tomorrow but she wisely told me to wait and see how I feel tomorrow. Ha ha.
After the run, I did lots of stretching including pigeon pose to keep my hips from getting tight and lots of downward facing dogs. I love yoga.
For dinner, I made some baked tofu which I am now confident in keeping in my diet for the time being. Thanks again to those of you who commented on my soy question in a previous post. I really appreciate the feedback.
I've decided I'm a big fan of mixed veggies. It's just the right combo of starchy and green. I think I just like mixes in general instead of just having one veggie on the side.
I'm currently watching "Dancing with the Stars" hoping my man Chuck Liddell makes in another week!
I also snacked on this and perhaps a bit more PB 🙂
I think I will have some tea and call it a night soon. Hope you had a great Monday!
Cleaning out MySpace
Good morning bloggies!
I decided today to cancel my MySpace account since I now have the blog, Twitter, and Facebook to keep me occupied and lately I've been plagued with nothing by spam and friend requests from people I don't know, so I figured, why bother?
While I was "cleaning it out" (aka copying all my pics and other stuff I want to save) I remembered the "blog" feature on there and I found a few things I wanted to save from that too. There were two in particular that stood out to me and I felt were worth repeating here on the blog, over a year and a half later!
Here ya go 🙂
1-18-08 Happy Annivesary to Myself
"On this day, January 18th, of 2007, I officially (in writing and everything) took control of my lifestyle and started living healthier. I can't believe it has been a year already. So much has changed that now, not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, etc. I'm having a hard time remembering how I was before; I guess that is a good sign!
For anyone who wants to start living a healthier life (don't diet, don't get surgery, please!) you can do it and you can do it all on your own. You don't need diets, doctors, surgeons, whatever. You just need yourself and the people or things in your life that give you strength. I'm always happy to offer advice and support, I've been where you are!
Well, I had planned to write a longer, more intelligent blog on this topic but I think I waited too late in the day when my creative juices (fueled by caffeine) have dulled. But alas, it was worth mentioning.
Happy 1st anniversary self, here's to many more 🙂
1-29-08 (My discovery of the various forms of oatmeal!)
"In my quest to eat things less processed and more whole/natural, I decided to buy a can of oats instead of my usual flavored instant oatmeal packets. So with that and needing to use up the rest of my skim milk this week, I have had oatmeal for the last few days and I am having way too much fun experimenting with different fruit and flavor combinations. Here is what I've had so far:
Saturday – 1/2 cup of oats, 1 cup of skim milk (cooked in microwave) and 1 tsp honey, 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (290 calories)
Sunday – same oats & milk, plus 1 medium chopped red apple, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (335 calories)
Monday – same oats & milk, plus 1 tsp honey and 1 medium sliced banana – My 2nd favorite so far! (355 calories)
Tuesday (today) – same oats & milk, plus 1 box (about 1/4 cup) raisins and 1 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips! YUM! (430 calories)
All of these made a huge bowl of oatmeal which is very filling and nutritious. I think tomorrow or the next day, I will try some combination with peanut butter. And there's a recipe for oatmeal in my Biggest Loser cookbook that has orange juice in it, so I may try that too. But so far the chocolate one has been the best 🙂
p.s. 1-30-08: Tried oatmeal with banana and 1 tbsp peanut butter, pretty good tasting and very filling, but still not nearly the awesomeness that is the chocolate and raisins! YUM.
p.p.s. 2-5-08: I tried the oatmeal with banana and peanut butter again, only with 3/4 cup milk instead of a whole cup. It was much better (chunkier) and I could taste the peanut butter more this time around! 🙂 I'm thinking of calling it my Elvis Oatmeal, for those of you who are familiar with The King's favorite sandwich!
p.p.p.s. 2-7-08: Yet another update! I added a teaspoon of honey to the apple & cinnamon oatmeal and that made it much better."
Haha, I loved reading about the first time I tried banana PB oatmeal — it obviously stuck more than I thought it would!
Have a great day friends 🙂 Thanks for indulging me on this little stroll down memory lane.
p.s. Don't forget to enter my Musselman's Applesauce giveaway — contest ends at 11:59 tonight!!
Financial health is important too
If there is one thing in my life that I let bother me a little too much at times, it is our current financial situation. Luckily, my husband is a rock and always tells me "everything will be okay" and I'm finally starting to believe him 🙂
In fact, we are doing much better than when we first got started together 4 years ago. We've payed off one car (2nd one will be in November), settled all of his credit card debt and consolidated mine, and we've managed to keep a budget so that we are able to pay all of our bills on time and still have a little bit of fun here and there.
But we have no savings!!
For people who want to buy a house and raise children someday this is just not acceptable. Not to mention dangerous because we all know those "emergencies" (i.e. broken down car) are going to happen, it is inevitable. Unfortunately when this has happened in the past, we've had to rely on money borrowed from our parents and/or credit, eek!
One day I finally thought to myself…"If I could be as disciplined with my finances as I am with my healthy eating / exercising, we'd be in good shape."
This past week, we were on a tight budget at the grocery store. We managed to get everything we needed for the week for $35 when we usually spend $50-70/week on average. What I did was write out exactly how many meals/snacks I needed and then went from there. No extras. I even bought shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent and dryer sheets because we actually needed them. So really, we spent less than $30 on food items!
So, I said "Why can't we shop like we're broke every week?" Ah ha! Total light bulb moment.
Then today I saw a comment from Kath on Twitter about budgeting and she referred me to SELF's "Save Like Me" blog. Let's just say I have been taking notes!
When a person first begins a new healthier lifestyle, they may list some behaviors that they want to start adopting to help keep them on track: drink more water, exercise 30 minutes a day, take the stairs, etc. So in that same spirit, here are my new steps for the improvement of my financial health:
- Only buy what I need at the grocery store each week – This is tough but it is a must and the place I could see the most improvement. Some people buy shoes, I buy too many jars of peanut butter that I don't need. I need to go with a list and stick to it. Josh has also agreed we can shop more than one place now to get the best deals!
- Put at least $10 in savings every pay day and don't touch it – I can put it in, but it almost always comes out. I'm serious when I tell you there is $0.00 in there as I type this. If I had actually stuck to this, I could've had at least $260 in there from last year!
- Redefine what counts as a "necessity" – We would all love to have Starbucks every day but it is just not financially responsible. Like the Save Like Me blog writer says "If a designer latte costs about 100 times what it costs you to make a cup of joe at home, think about it: would you pay $1,000 for a pizza?" I believe this should also apply to dining out…sometimes I feel like I've paid $10 for something I could've made at home for under $5.
- Save some fun money – Josh and I have not gotten new shoes, clothes or other things we actually need in ages (hello, a haircut!) because we spend all our money eating out or on other forms of entertainment. We need to establish some sort of fund that will allow us to get what we need when we need it. Did I mention we haven't gotten each other birthday, Christmas or Anniversary gifts but maybe once since we've been married? Yikes.
- Realize we are not perfect – This isn't going to change overnight. It took us years to get where we are now and it's going to take even more to get to where we want to be. And every now and then we're going to spend too much on something we shouldn't. But hopefully through this exercise we will be more conscious of our financial habits and make some healthy changes!
Thanks everyone for reading this non-food/exercise related post! There will be more changes, this is just a start.
Do you have any tips for financial health? I'd love to hear them!


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News Hub: 'Affordable Housing for the Affluent'
Juliet Chung discusses developers of high-end vacation homes, which are building smaller, less expensive houses in resort communities as home sales slump in major markets across the country.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
Gou ... I don't know what ... a shrinking developer syndication markets are at China Alkmaar more affordable homes to lure travelers about expanding existing ones Chilean China had with her unfaithful through journals he joined the now and that welcome ... so what tactics in particular are we seeing developers trying to lure people to second homes a time when First was having trouble getting off the market for the creative they're basically saying you can find the fishing community from all Watson have access to the theme parks ... the offering things like flowers have been in cottages are being built ... and recalling these things affordable housing for the top line ... instead of expecting ... folks to come and buy I can develop want ... and then go ahead and buy and build a custom home on aahed which is generally more expensive proposition ... they're reducing lot five says there Peter citing pounds ... and it goes all over the map depending on specific about the cell door King meaning of the ease their son Nicky that there's still demand for these homes that people say OK as long will the smaller more affordable or are they still having trouble during learned people there ... there is surprisingly even some interest in these properties are seen coming in by ... in some cases when fav at ... bottom the weeks leading up to suit the more expensive property ... the folks are buying a wager it is a bit but ... I'm also curious year we've mentioned sentences than the other tactics to be seen people try and the market for for current homes ... these are just properties in the U S cracked there also were to serve as global thing wherever U S travelers have tended to land in the past or the or the ... Dutch Indies are still trying to The where we're seeing ... something in communities throughout the U S but were also significant review for example sent ... out old bringing like generally folks if they wanted to try the hard part and now seems like a good time to try ... to ... get a good point developers are bending over backwards ... the suits and EasyTone that this is ... a fluid market ... shrinking capacity ... do you see some real growth seen as an industry I mean did you see Disney comedy genre never put its smaller to maintain their pricing ... to maintain some level of pricing power ... and ... that's exactly the scene at the very top of ... the housing market and that winter hold their margins without having to slash not going to happen and and that's what was really upset and a pre existing owners of these communities there what they're doing is they're offering discounts be doing almost everything except for stock price ... will see if that works will it take it all the Chilean Secretary really fit in time ...


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United States > Louisiana > New Orleans Hotels > The Omni Riverfront Hotel
The Omni Riverfront Hotel701 Convention Center Blvd
New Orleans, LA 70130
Nightly Rates: ($302.84 - $437.84)
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Hotel Description:
Experience the best of the Big Easy with the modern amenities plus historical style and southern hospitality at the Hotel. This smoke-free hotel is located in the heart of the thriving arts scene known as the Warehouse District in a renovated historic building and is walking distance from great restaurants plus bars and live entertainment and is minutes from the New Orleans Convention Center and 16 miles from the Louis Armstrong International Airport.
Check In: 3:00 PM
Check Out: 12:00 PM
Native currency: American Dollars
Number of floors: 6
Number of rooms: 202
Time zone: CST
Restaurants:Fulton St. Bistro and Bar: Art of breakfast is 21 USD per person plus tax. Kids Breakfast is 11USD per person plus tax.
Room Service: Limited Hours from 0600-2300
Recreation:Fitness center on-site
Room Info:Deluxe Room 1 King: Air conditioning
Deluxe Room 2 Double Beds: Air conditioning
ADA Deluxe Room 1 King Bed: Accessible room
Executive Loft 1 King Bed: Air conditioning
Premier Historical Room 1 King: High ceilings
Accessible Deluxe Room: King bed
Premier 2 Double Beds: Double beds
Premier Executive Room: King bed
Hospitality Loft Suite: Desk, Family/oversized room
Hotel Amenities:(additional fees may apply to certain amenities)
- ATM/Cash machine
- Alarm clock
- Bathrobe
- Business services
- Child programs
- Currency exchange
- Dry cleaning
- Fire safety compliant
- Handicap rooms
- Ice machine
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- Public area air conditioned
- Security
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- Wakeup service
- 24-hour security
- Additional services/amenities/facilities on property
- Baggage hold
- Bell staff/porter
- Catering services
- Coffee/Tea maker
- Desk with lamp
- Exercise gym
- Golf
- Hotel does not provide pornographic films/TV
- Ironing board
- Luxury linen type
- Non-smoking rooms (generic)
- Safe
- Shoe shine stand
- Telephone
- Wedding services
- AM/FM radio
- Air conditioning
- Banquet facilities
- Breakfast served in restaurant
- Check cashing policy
- Concierge desk
- Dinner served in restaurant
- Fax service
- Hairdryer
- Housekeeping - daily
- Jacuzzi
- Meal plan available
- Pets allowed
- Safe deposit box
- Smoke detectors
- Toilet
- Wheel chair access
Photo Gallery:
Sorry there are no virtual tours available for this hotel at this time.
Location Description:
Located one block north of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and two blocks south of the casino. The Omni Riverfront Hotel is located in the Warehouse District and is only 30 minutes from the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
Louis Armstrong Airport
City CenterHotel is in the City Center.
Ernest Morial Convention Center
Bourbon Street
French Quarter
Audubon Aquarium
House of Blues
The Shops at Canal
Cafe Du Monde
City CenterHotel is in the City Center.
Ernest Morial Convention Center
Bourbon Street
French Quarter
Audubon Aquarium
House of Blues
The Shops at Canal
Cafe Du Monde
Hotels near Jackson SquareHotels near Bourbon StreetHotels near Audubon AquariumHotels near Harrah's CasinoHotels near Royal StreetHotels near Morial Convention CenterHotels near National D-Day MuseumHotels near Louisiana Superdome - New Orleans SaintsHotels near New Orleans Arena - New Orleans HornetsHotels near Medical Center of LouisianaHotels near New Orleans FairgroundsHotels near Dillard UniversityHotels near Touro InfirmaryHotels near Tulane UniversityHotels near Loyola University New OrleansHotels near Audubon ZooHotels near Our Lady of Holy Cross CollegeHotels near Ochsner Clinic FoundationHotels near University Of New OrleansHotels near Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)


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Jennifer began her Fine Art degree at Newcastle University, Australia, and then finished it on scholarship at Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany. Jennifer relocated permanently with her husband to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2010. Jennifer's art has changed and grown through experimenting and occasional failure. Her work is mostly exhibited in solo and group shows around the world.
Most of her painting show movement and expression and are very colourful inspired by the impressionists and expressionists of the 20th century. My personal favourite is her collage work.
Here is a glimpse of her beautiful work
If you would like to get in touch with Jennifer to know more about her work you can email her at firstname.lastname@example.com and click here to access her website.
Images via Jennifer Stelco


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Tactile CRM is a web based contact and sales management system for small businesses Tactile CRM is regarded as an online administration that extends between address book & complete CRM software. Is fancying this breed is logical? Only trying it can offer you confirmation.
Tactile CRM is regarded as an online administration that extends between address book & complete CRM software. Is fancying this breed is logical? Only trying it can offer you confirmation.
It's safe to undertake the thirty days demo version, you can wind up getting hooked to it. It hands over you beyond an address book. The determinant is easy as pie as it delivers amalgamation of an address book & CRM software.
The small size business organizations require maintaining the details of the consumers. Tactile CRM is primarily contact planning tool which is an affordable one for the salesperson, without going under special learning process.
But not polished like the CRM suite, in case of managing complex CRM designs & information storage for forthcoming scrutiny. It's more or less close to an address book but not exactly like the CRM suite, describes this application.
Tactile CRM is founded by UK based organization formerly named as Illiad design elevated by Jake Stride later renamed as Senokian in April 2002. Intensively offers resolution utilizing open source web mechanism.
It's mainly in demand among the pint sized business organization who is trying CRM water. It is primarily established for managing the sources & contacts in an uncomplicated manner.
It focuses on the requirement of the maiden users, so that they find it suitable enough to actualize their tasks.
Tactile CRM is not that alien and appears to resemble with rest of the equivalent applications. It has diverse rates and this distinctive option is not provided with rest of the online CRM mechanisms of corresponding intricacy.
Tactile CRM is basically established for the budding users. The deviser targeted to proffered uncomplicated and smooth navigation method. The appearance and the application look bright, simple and spontaneous.
Taking in account the fussy settings it is anticipated that the innovators might clutter it with navigation features. It has a prospering mail system and attachment of files and data regarding the consumers.
These are some of the advantageous features, bestowed upon the users.
Features of Tactile CRM
- It acts as a repertoire for information regarding clients and leads.
- It offers keeping an account of contacts.
- It comes with a booming email and follow-through warning system.
- It permits link of notes and information concerning clients and leads.
- Attached files are displayed amongst the office staff.
As its known fact Tactile CRM has no special attribute, it is a favorable one to give it a try by budding users who desires to experiment with the CRM waters.
The mechanism is undoubtedly beneficial one to maintain record of contacts and administer the emails and sequences. It is easy to adopt and does not need any sort definitive guidance. Sales deputies can be measured in few hours.
Its clarity is an important criterion because of stored elements and duration for execution. The costing configuration is logical and does not become way too expensive for you to afford. On a whole it's a profitable application.
Download : Tactile web based CRM


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This is the second day of the GAFE North Carolina Summit. Today's keynote is presented by Christopher Craft, Ph.D. The title of Chris's talk is "Four Chairs." He invites to come along with him on a journey:
"To be the best learner you can possibly be, and to inspired your students to do the same."
Chris highlights his journey with technology, that ultimately resulted in him getting on the internet. I remember the old 8.8 modem… back in the day… The shift in technology went from isolated work, the internet and portable compputing, to high speed internet, to online research via search engines (remember Altavista?).
Google search engines has one of the most sophisticated search algorithms. That in conjunction with their push into education. While some of us grew up geeky, kids today are living in a geeky world – and it's normal! Now let's take the role of education seriously and guide them!
"What teacher impacted you the most?"
We can all answer this question. For me, it was Mr. Raap and Ms. Roeding in elementary school, and Mr. Parker at my high school. I've had some great teachers, but these three stand out for not just helping me to gain knowledge, but giving me a stronger sense of myself and value.
As a teacher, sometimes we forget that we can have this impact on our students. We don't always know what impact we have on their lives. Students we impact may be distracted, jaded, disinterested… They often feel this way because of how they have been treated in school – as a number, as one of several hundreds or thousand, as someone that needs to step in line… We should want kids to be individuals, not to be another number in the crowd. We need to consider the kid, not the label.
Chris states that he doesn't believe in learning styles. He says they're bunk! In fact, he argues that the educational science does not support it. Instead, when planning lessons think "Will this connect with Tony, Susy, Keaton?" He uses different strategies to connect with his students in the classroom:
- He greets every student in class and gives them a riddle. He publishes his announcements with Buzzsprout (a tool for recording, publishing, and hosting a podcast). This way if a student misses class they just have to access his website. It also increases parental engagement – they often go to parents for help on their riddles!
- His second chair addresses students that have struggles at home, perhaps because they have family disruption, they move around a lot, they may not have contact with a parent, etc. This is becoming increasingly common around the country and all teachers have seen this student. Chris likes to get these students to focus on something that other kids want to know – for example, app development. Using Appshed, a free tool for schools, students can learn to build and publish and iPhone or Android App!
- Another problematic student is the child that is quiet, obedient, and blends in. They are easy to gloss over and ignore because they can easily fall between the cracks. They are "well trained in school." As teachers, it's easy to focus on the "problem" kids and these students can get short-shrift. We have to reach out and get to know these students. For example, if a student really likes Movies you can reach out to them with a tool like STEMHollywood hosted by Mayim Bialik, Ph.D. (she played Blossom and is now on Big Bang Theory). It highlights the STEM realities in Hollywood movies, like why zombies walk funny!
Another child we see is a child that is fired up and eager about school. They want to be challenged and learn. They can also be a little difficult because they're so enthusiastic and can be demanding on your time. So start looking at their direct interests in order to direct them. If the student is interested in science, you can engage them at a higher level – have a Google Hangout with real scientists! It's better than Skype!
- Always be sure to focus on yourself (the teacher). Share with students what you're reading, share what you're learning, engage with others. It's important to continue to learn and share your excitement about it! Students and colleagues respond to this. We should talk to kids more about our learning. If learning is the most important thing, then we need to demonstrate that to them. Don't just share with them your successes, share your failures as well. Learning comes from failure.
"…to succeed in the 21st-century economy, students must learn to analyze and solve problems, collaborate, persevere, take calculated risks and learn from failure." – Tony Wagner
Chris tells us that his primary take home is that "children are more than test scores. Every test score has a name, every name is a child, and every child matters."


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Take a quick look at these statements and see if you agree with them...
-If your opponent has trouble remembering whether he shot a six or a seven, he probably shot an eight.
-It takes longer to learn good golf than it does brain surgery. On the other hand, you seldom get to ride around on a cart, drink beer, eat hot dogs, and ogle the cart girls while performing brain surgery.
-A good drive or putt on the 18th hole has stopped many a golfer from giving up the game.
-A good golf partner is one who's always slightly worse than you.
-If there's a storm rolling in, you'll be having the game of your life.
-Golf is the perfect thing to do on Sunday because you always end up praying a lot.


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remember when gateway was going to release a pocket pc? well, it turns out the company never actually gave up on that. supposedly gateway designers have been working hard on a new product tailored for the consumer market, not the prosumer market usually targeted by pda manufacturers. gateway wants to differentiate its product, it says, by adding wireless connectivity such as wi-fi and bluetooth and other features like voice-control. yeah, no one else has done any of that. wi-fi? what's that? i don't see gateway having much of a chance at this. i wish it the best of luck, but if the company really wants to give this a go it's going to have to come up with something more creative than adding wi-fi and bluetooth. gateway's problem the first go-round was that its handheld didn't compare with its contemporaries when it came to features and specifications. read more as bargainpda! reports, "the gateway x100 pocket pc ready for a comeback?"
user comments 14 comment(s)
|more trash (10:53am est thu jan 29 2004)
more trash reporting from thomas – by down with thomas
|i'll 2nd that (10:56am est thu jan 29 2004)
what is a prosumer market anyway.
what other products have voice control? that sounds pretty novel. – by name witheld
|ahhh pocket pc mwahhaha (11:35am est thu jan 29 2004)
name withheld is so wrong in so many wanys, i mean come on buddy, prosumer market? voice control? pretty novel? step into the 21st century buddy. mwhahahahaha – by icreatedtheinternet
|down with thomas shomas (11:41am est thu jan 29 2004)
hey down with thomas,
maybe you should look inside yourself for the answers you seek about our friend thomas, i meant jeez, look at your self, come on honestly man, inside your self, you know, your mind, and stuff. mwhahahhaha – by up with thomas
|voice control (1:24pm est thu jan 29 2004)
didn't ms just release voice control software for the pocket pc? so bascially gateway would just be bundling that?
wifi and bluetooth are cool. so is a camera – but all of that has been done. gateway should stick the blackberry guts in a consumer device. now that would be something worth looking at… – by thedude
|voice control bleotch (1:39pm est thu jan 29 2004)
no ms didn't just release voice control software for the pocket pc. what magazine are you reading, nintendo power, come on man, you say you're the dude, but i dont see you drinking a white russian. – by name witheld
|that is crap (3:02pm est thu jan 29 2004)
i would call it get-away pocket pc – by sucio
|from pc week (5:26pm est thu jan 29 2004)
the real source of this is infoworld, not bargainpda:
please credit the real source. – by n/a
|nope (6:18pm est thu jan 29 2004)
the gateway 100x is too ass ugly to be put in production. gateway will have to adopt this way of doing business. wwsd? what would sony do? – by inomad
|idc (7:08pm est thu jan 29 2004)
idc wut kind of pda it turns out 2 b imma buy it kuz i looooooove gtw – by l33t freek
|re: down with down with thomas (1:12am est fri jan 30 2004)
real weak comeback there thomas. – by the anti-thomas
|re: the anti-thomas (1:43pm est fri jan 30 2004)
tu sei uno stronzo di merda. e un figlio di troia in venezia.
– by thomas
|anal the anti thomas (4:53pm est fri jan 30 2004)
anti thomas
anti this and anti that beotch, come on each a triscit man, the cup is half full, of crap man, suck a gigabyte. – by thomas
|ms does have voice control (5:03pm est fri jan 30 2004)
hey 'name withheld' – ms did release voice control for the ppc.
so you betta reckanize…


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jQuery is a common JavaScript library for reading and making changes to the
Document Object Model (DOM). The DOM is a tree structure that contains information
about what is shown on a webpage.
We all know that HTML is a static document. JavaScript's functionality comes from its ability to manipulate the DOM, which is basically a JavaScript
object. jQuery is fast and easy to use, but it doesn't do anything you can't accomplish with basic JavaScript.
jQuery is the most popular of JavaScript libraries out there.
Photo by Peter Hellberg


text:
Bradley Schroeder holds an MBA in Global Management and a BA in Environmental Chemistry. Initially predominantly involved in 3rd world logistics, distribution and entrepreneurial development, his consultancy, Schroeder Solutions, has grown to encompass medium-scale project management, specializing particular in the application and transfer of knowledge across international cultural boundaries and the facilitation of Public Private Partnerships.
In recent years his focus has been on the development and implementation of non-motorized transport solutions in 2nd world economies, with a specific focus on Public Bike Systems in the likes of China, India and the Philippines. Clients include the Asian Development Bank, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and the Rodale Institute.
Read the Schroeder Solutions blog.


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Renal Replacement Therapy(RRT)
Renal Replacement Therapy is a life saving treatment for the renal failure patients. Renal failure becomes more common in recent days because of food and day to day culture which is pushing scientists to bring up with more innovations. It replaces non endocrine kidneyfunction in patients with renal failure. RRT does not correct the endocrine abnormalities of renal failure. The choice of technique depends on multiple factors, including the primary need underlying indication vascular access, hemodynamic stability, availability, local expertise, and patient preference and capability. A person with Acute Renal Failure requires renal replacement therapy (RRT) when he or she has an acute fall in glomerular filtration rate and has developed, or is at risk of developing clinically significant solute imbalance/toxicity or volume overload.
- Track 1-1 Hemodialysis
- Track 2-2 Peritoneal Dialysis
- Track 3-3 Hemoperfusion
- Track 4-4 Kidney Transplantation
- Track 5-5 Hemodiafiltration
- Track 6-6 Hemofiltration
- Track 7-7 Slow Continuous Ultra filtration


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Ancient Minerals Magnesium Oil
Ancient Minerals magnesium products offer a convenient form of topical magnesium—absorbed by the skin—for those who prefer to avoid the hassle of taking pills and the difficulties inherent with poorly tolerated supplements. Why topical? Because the skin is not only the most efficient organ for detoxification, but also holds tremendous potential for re-mineralizing the body. There are hundreds of peer-reviewed medical studies examining the efficacy of magnesium in a wide range of health enhancing applications, yet not much attention is directed at the method of delivery. Ancient Minerals magnesium oil spray is designed to deliver magnesium topically, bypassing the GI tract with no unpleasant laxative effect.
Magnesium is a necessary element to hundreds of biochemical reactions occurring in the body on a constant basis—approximately 300 enzymatic reactions! Magnesium contributes to the manufacture of energy, cardiovascular function, and cellular reproduction. Strong bones and teeth, radiant skin, balanced hormones, a healthy nervous system, and relaxed body and mind, all made possible by sufficient magnesium in our cells.
Ancient Minerals magnesium products take advantage of our most efficient organ—our skin! A form of topical magnesium, our magnesium oil, magnesium gel, magnesium lotion, and magnesium bath flakes are all designed for convenient, optimal absorption of magnesium.
Ancient Minerals should be rubbed directly onto the skin in concentrated form as needed. For use of magnesium in tub baths and foot baths, use Ancient Minerals magnesium flakes.
Water, Genuine Zechstein magnesium chloride (and trace minerals)
This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!


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This post was originally published on March 19, 2013, On Pasture's very first issue and now it's our very first Classic by NatGLC! Back in 2013 this was the first time Troy shared his grazing charts with us. These charts are now an annual event at On Pasture. If you'd like to get your 2017 grazing season charts, here they are!
This past grazing season, my family farm in Deansboro, NY teetered between a D1 and D2 (Moderate to severe) on the U. S. drought monitor scale most of last summer, testing my 26 years of grazing experience and thinking skills. Although I felt up for the challenge, at times it was highly stressful to manage a newly started organic dairy heifer custom grazing business without much snow or rain. Surprisingly, what saved me was a free grazing planning chart hung on my office door.
I know what you're thinking; a piece of paper (and not money) is credited with getting a farmer through the grazing season. Yep, but let me elaborate a bit. This change of managing through using better decision making tools has been a long time in the making, and it came at some expense as I dropped some coin to attend holistic management grazing planning workshops and to travel around visiting other successful graziers throughout the country. I also say expense because I have missed so many opportunities to manage grass more effectively because my pride, and lack of monitoring and record keeping kept me in observational mode instead of allowing me to become a strategic grazier.
Then, on a trip to Missouri to Greg Judy's farm, I saw the light. Greg showed me all the exciting things he was doing on the farm while quoting pasture recovery periods and moves, and suddenly I realized I needed to know how he made his grazing decisions. Greg ushered me into his office. It looked like a military war room with his wall covered with 3 years of planned grazing charts. He knew where he was, where he was going and where he had been, with paddocks, rest periods, weather info, animal dry matter calculations and major events like vacations, calving, breeding and stockpiling all in one cohesive chart.
It was exactly what I needed. At that moment I thought, "I've got to get busy with this kind of management instead of always chasing grass or worse, losing money."
I started with Allan Savory's Holistic Management Handbook and the grazing charts it included. Like many graziers, I found I had to tweak the chart to fit my needs and my environment. With practice, and based on feedback from other farmers who were also trying the tool, and with support from a Northeast SARE 'Professional Development Project' grazing training grant, l refined the charts, creating a variety of them useful to a variety of different operations.
At first I used it mostly as a visual diary of how long I was in a paddock but after the first rotation, curiosity had me planning ahead a week, then a month, then several months – all in pencil of course because we all know grazing plans are always in flux. From there I plugged in known forage inventory from all paddocks and what recovery period I wanted to achieve given the heifer's forage demand. In the margins above the calendar I added information that would affect grazing decisions including personal events like my daughter's wedding, speaking gigs, concerts, and vacations so that I could have a healthy life, and stockpiling and frost dates, the breeding window, conservation projects, grassland bird fledgling dates and paddock specific grazing management techniques so that I could have healthy animals and a sustainable landscape. (Here's a PDF of the chart here so you can see it up close and personal. Or download this Xcel spreadsheet to get all the details.)
Since this is a living document we can include all kinds of information to help us make decisions. For example, are your rainfall records handy? I found that having moisture and temperatures listed in the columns on the bottom of the chart helped me predict forage growth. It also helped me with scenario planning, by giving me a crucial visual forage inventory as paddocks or fields were dropped or added. Typically a grazier's brain can begin to hurt from planning for the "What ifs" "Whens" and "Hows:" "What if it doesn't rain in the next two weeks? When do I supplement? How do I get more rest on the paddocks? When and where do I utilize a sacrifice area? How long do I want to graze into winter? Is there money in my account and what is my borrowing power? Do I have a destocking strategy? Etc., Etc." Having my grazing chart helped me plan for all these scenarios because I could see my entire farm in front of me on the chart.
The true test of my grazing planning and my $4 chart (what it cost to have it printed off so I could put it on my wall) came during the 2012 weather freakshow. For me, this visual chart reduced stress by constantly informing me of conditions on the ground so I could plan weeks ahead of when I actually needed to speed up or slow down the rotation. There was a point from June 8th to July 22nd when we had 16 days over 90 degrees and only a ½" of rain. About June 24th I made a big circle on July 30th that said, "Decision Day." On that day, 30 days before I would run out of grass, I knew I needed to decide if I was going to supplement with hay. Fortunately, on July 23rd it started to rain and for the next 21 days we got over 5 inches of rain. I never touched the emergency hay fund but I felt more relaxed knowing it was planned for if I needed it. Last, I stayed focused on things I have some control over. Focusing on the things you have no control over is a waste of time and energy and can cause a lot of stress.
By monitoring my pastures, allowing longer recovery periods, and maintaining higher residual levels, when the rain finally fell, my pastures popped back like springtime. This was my reward for having planned ahead, not expecting it to rain, and using conservative stocking rates. You're a hero when it all works the way it's supposed to.
Beef Magazine's contributing editor, Troy Marshall, noted a good plan helps protect personal health ‒ physical, relational, mental and spiritual. He poignantly mentioned, "Drought management puts a premium on acting early, being willing to adapt, and being creative. The best news is that it will rain again; it is nearly as inevitable as drought. Drought management is largely about employing appropriate risk management techniques."
In the final analysis, simple grazing management decision-making tools and using your noggin may be more valuable than increasing outside inputs to solve the weak links in our grazing operations. A $4 piece of paper might be just the ticket to improve your overall health and profitability, or to get you through the next weather event.
Ready to get started on your own grazing chart? Thanks to Troy and his Northeast SARE supported project, we've got them for you! Get your grazing charts here.
Thanks to the National Grazing Lands Coalition for making this article possible. Click on over to see the great work they do for all of us. Thank them for supporting On Pasture by liking their facebook page.