text:
Crocodile Green Outdoor Cotton Shirt
Rs. 1,999.00
For returns, refunds and exchanges, mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com or send your product along with the invoice to our mailing address.
For sales, marketing, bulk orders and media queries, email us at firstname.lastname@example.com, Magnum Opus, Shantinagar, Vakola, Santa Cruz (E), Mumbai 400055 Tel: +919769 642283 and + 91 86573 86123 (Monday to Friday from 10am to 5.30pm)
Cheques/DD in favour of "Stiff Collar Apparel Pvt Ltd" HDFC A/C No. 14252560000994: IFSC Code : HDFC0001425
Our Store
The Stiff Collar has just opened a shop at Santa Cruz East near Grand Hyatt Hotel (check below map for exact location).
You can view the collection, try out the shirts, and also buy. You will get 20% off on list price since we save some money on courier cost. The shop is close to Mumbai domestic airport.
Crocodile Green Outdoor Full Sleeves Regular Fit Cotton Shirt
The Outdoor shirt is a Stiff Collar innovation, designed both for comfort and convenience. Made of rugged 2 Ply 100% cotton twill fabric enzyme washed for softness, it is an all weather shirt . On the highway behind a 4-wheel drive, or on a long distance flight, or out on a hike, this is the shirt an executive should be wearing when on the go. It has roomy pockets with a concealed passport pocket for security. It also has an open pen pocket for easy access. The night reflector makes you feel safe when out for a walk at night, Hands-free loops have been thoughtfully provided to provide a secure path for wires from your devices. The ventilation mesh at the back provides for air flow. 100% cotton twill, 20s count, a rugged all weather construction in diagonal weave typical of twill construction.. Enzyme washed for smooth finish. Plus Sizes available.
A designer shirt with back ventilation, night reflector, elbow padding, sleeve roll up button, inside pocket, metal buttons, loops for mobile cord
Customer Reviews
very good
The return method of Thestiffcollar is super in convenient.
Though the quality of product is good.
Crocodile Green Outdoor Shirt
Crocodile Green Outdoor Shirt
Value for money


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Garbage boats / MON 6-9-14 / South Dakota's capital / "The Naked Maja" artist / Beetle's boss, in the comics / Serb or Pole / Condescend (to)
Monday, June 9, 2014
Constructor: Tom McCoy
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- 20A: WIDE RECEIVER (T e l e p h o n e h a n d s e t)
- 28A: EXTENDED STAY (C o r s e t p a r t)
- 48A: LONG DIVISION (A r m y u n i t)
- 58A: STRETCHED OUT (T h r e e s t r i k e s ... or description of the theme clues)
Hi, everybody. PuzzleGirl here filling in for the vacationing Rex Parker. Rex is off on a 14-day Caribbean cruise aboard a luxury yacht. Or he's in Minneapolis. One of the two. I feel like I haven't been here in ages! So nice to see you guys! What's been going on? My son turned 15 yesterday and we took him and a bunch of other teenaged boys to a paintball park. Wow. Never been to one of those before. Some of the people looked like they took it pretty seriously. In fact, we're pretty sure we saw some honest-to-God mercenaries there presumably honing their skills. On the other hand, the ref my son's group had said his previous group was all six-year-olds and whenever they got shot they cried. So I guess it's a diverse clientele.
Let's take a look at some highlights:
- 16A: POLAR vortex (Winter weather phenomenon). PuzzleHusband and I were talking about the "derecho" we had here in the Washington, DC, area two years ago. And, pointing to the popularity of the phrase "Polar Vortex" this past winter, he suggested that weather people are just making up words to jazz up their jobs at this point. "Polar Vortex" sounds a lot more glamorous than "Really F**ing Cold," doesn't it?
- 18A: JINX (Curse). Washington Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pitched a two-hit shutout this afternoon against the San Diego Padres. He had a perfect game going until apparently someone, somewhere said it out loud.
- 64A: COOT (Codger). Can women be old coots? Or is it specifically masculine? If it's possible for a woman to be an old coot, I believe that term will describe me perfectly sometime in the next few years. I am definitely getting more cantankerous by the day. (For some reason, my Google image search for "coot" brought up this picture of Joe Namath and Farah Fawcett and, well, I couldn't very well NOT use it.)
- 69A: PEEVE (Tick off). And this is how I know I'm turning into an old coot. I have So Many peeves! I think I acquire one or two new ones every day!
- 5D: Your MAJESTY (way to address a queen). I just love this word. It's better then "your highness," don't you think?
- 22D: VEEP (#2 exec). I watched the first season of Julia Louis-Dreyfus's sitcom back when I had a broken ankle and was in bed for six weeks. (I mean, I watched a LOT of shows during that period.) Loved "Veep" but haven't gotten back to it. Not sure we have whatever channel it's on any more. It seems like every time I log onto our cable account they've added a channel I don't care about and/or taken away a channel I love. They really just do whatever the heck they want, don't they? Kinda like insurance companies. But PLEASE don't get me started on insurance companies.
- 49D: V-NECKS (Features of some daring sweaters). The clue to this one made me laugh.
- 55D: MOODY (Subject to emotional swings). I'm pretty sure I've told you this story before, but I'm going to tell it again. Back in the mid 1980s I lived in New York and used to hang out at a bar called the Possible 20. At that time, radio personality Frankie Crocker of WBLS used the song "Moody's Mood for Love" as his show's sign-off. The song was on the jukebox at the Possible 20 and was played every once in a while. But one night for some reason everyone happened to be actually listening when it came on and the whole bar sang along. A lot of people in that bar worked in the music business and some of them were very talented singers. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it would have been just as good if it had been a bunch of regular folks though. Honestly, it was magical. It's one of my favorite memories of New York (and of ever if truth be told).
- 57D: STATE (Misery or Missouri). Awesome clue.
Love, PuzzleGirl

subset: commoncrawl


text: Ahmed Aboulmagd is the Technical Evangelist for Windows phone at Microsoft Egypt. He was in charge of Microsoft academic programs such as the Imagine Cup, Microsoft Student Partner, and DreamSpark and now is exciting developers about Microsoft's latest Phone Operating system. Giving himself and helping others is his passion and his experience in both the education and private sector allows him to do just this. Ahmed has been and continues to help students, professors and developers excel.


text:
This one's for the Banana Leaf lovers of the world. My love affair started with the famous wallpaper at the Beverly Hills Hotel and blossomed over the years into a full blown obsession (including buying the actual wallpaper itself). So, when I spotted these Banana Leaf PJs, my fingers couldn't work fast enough to purchase for fear of them selling out. At the moment, there's no need for you to panic. As I write, there is still plenty of stock to grab from and here's the best part - they come in Petite, Tall, Plus and Maternity size. Literally every shape and size can buy these pajamas. Just think of it was my weekend gift to you. Oh and did I mention they are only £28 / $45? Go forth, beauties, and shop... shop for the weekend warrior within you!
Shop Now:


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It was brought to my attention that I forgot to include the Last Fighter card in my print and play files for Dead End vCN10. You can get the files from the Dead End page or below.
I done goofed – Updated Dead End Print and Play
Bookmark the permalink.


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The leading aboriginal organisation in Australia, which has handed out billions of pounds in public money over 14 years, is to be abolished.
Despite its annual budget of £600 million, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission has failed to improve the lives of ordinary aborigines, the government said yesterday.
It was set up in 1990 as a virtual parallel government to dispense welfare payments, create jobs and improve health, housing and education.
But it has been mired in allegations of nepotism, corruption and mismanagement.
Most of Australia's 400,000 aboriginal communities suffer from grinding poverty, poor health and high rates of unemployment, imprisonment and domestic violence.
Similar issues affect Torres Strait Islanders, who inhabit the tropical islands scattered between the tip of Queensland and Papua New Guinea.
John Howard, the prime minister, said the commission's responsibilities would be handed back to the federal government.
Some aboriginal leaders said the move was racist and would set back their cause by 50 years.
Ray Robinson, a commissioner from Queensland, said: "It takes away the democratic right of aboriginal people to elect their own representatives."


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To you it is just a toilet, but to a little kid that porcelain throne looks a lot like a magic portal that carries away items into the abyss, never to be seen again. Kids are always curious about things that disappear, but unfortunately, things flushed down the toilet that shouldn't be can lead to a lot of septic issues and the need for septic tank pumping much sooner than the recommended three- or four-year scheduled cleaning. Even though you may have a tot whose eyes light up when the toilet flushes, there are a few things that you can do to ward off their fascination. Here is a simple ABC rule set to keep in mind.
Avoid keeping small items within close proximity of the toilet.
If there is something close enough to grab, your little one will likely go for it and have it in the toilet before you ever catch hat anything is happening. Therefore, keep small items out of reach in the bathroom. Toilet paper rolls, makeup, clothing, and even bars of soap and home decor should be kept inaccessible by little hands.
Buy and install some form of toilet lid lock.
Toilet lid locking systems are an incredibly convenient child safety item to have around and they are not at all that expensive to buy. Most simply clip to the rim of the toilet and have a small tab that connects to the lid to hold it in place. These locks are easy enough for an adult to snap open with just one hand, but complicated enough so that a little one would have a hard time doing the same. Look for child safety locks for your toilets at just about any home retail store.
Curb enthusiasm about the magic flusher with real education.
You may think that your youngster is just too young to understand how the toilet and septic system of your home works, but you might be a bit surprised to see just how perceptive your child is about seemingly uninteresting information. Take a few minutes to teach your little one about the toilet and what happens when something gets flushed. Draw simple pictures and explain that items flushed actually land in the septic tank where they can cause real problems. Even allow your child to watch when your septic tank is pumped so they get a better understanding that items that have been flushed away still have to be removed. Click here to find out more.


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Your heart, O God, is my Promised Land. Your heart is my true home. For that home I ache; and to that home, my heart, my mind, my body, and soul, wish nothing more than to return.
I've always been fascinated by the story of Moses, that great man of the desert, the once mighty prince of Egypt, Israel's great lawgiver, leader, and guide, a man so close to God that he was allowed, albeit from a cleft in the rock, to see God passing by. But the part of Moses' story that has captivated me most is his final encounter with God on Mount Nebo (Deut. 34:1-7), when he was allowed to gaze (perhaps he did so longingly) at the Promised Land, the piece of earth he and his people had been promised, the prize for which he had sacrificed and given up everything. Now, as his earthly life was drawing to a close, Moses was finally being shown the fulfillment of Israel's hopes and dreams for which he had so painstakingly worked and even suffered.
And yet we know how that final encounter between Moses and God ended. His life was not to have a fairy-tale ending; there would be no "happily ever after." Instead, now at the end of all things, Moses is told by the God he had so faithfully served, the Master who had yanked him out of his comfortable life in Pharaoh's palace, the deity who spoke from the burning bush and promised to walk alongside him and his people:
"You shall not enter the Promised Land."
Scripture, of course, gives us an explanation. The Israelites had begged Moses for water and God instructed him to speak to the rock at Horeb so that water may flow from it. (Num. 20:12) Instead, Moses chose to strike the rock twice. Was it disobedience that led him to do so? Was it fear? Was it doubt? Perhaps his being denied entry into the Promised Land was its direct result. Perhaps God had become angry at him, frustrated that he, like Israel, had questioned God's ability to deliver. But whether or not a causal link exists between these two events, the fact remains: Moses didn't make it to the Promised Land.
A student once asked me a question in an Ethics class: "Would we do good if we knew we wouldn't be getting anything in return?"
Did Moses know that this was how his life would end? What did he get? Did he receive anything in return? Did all that selflessness, did any of that sacrifice for God and for his nation, redound to his own good? Wasn't the Promised Land for all of Israel, himself included?
What would we do if we were to find ourselves in his place? Would we still do good if we somehow knew we wouldn't be getting anything in return for it? Would we still do God's will if we didn't have any guarantee that something good would come out of it, something good for us? Should we risk everything?
What would we do if we were to find ourselves in his place? Would we still do good if we somehow knew we wouldn't be getting anything in return for it? Would we still do God's will if we didn't have any guarantee that something good would come out of it, something good for us? Should we risk everything?
Moses did.
The temptation, of course, is to calculate. Isn't that what the world does? – It encourages us to play our cards well so that we have a guaranteed return on our 'investment' - a return for the difficulties, the challenges, and the suffering we are sure to endure by obeying God's will.
Is that not what the tempter presented Jesus as a possible way out of the hardships he was about to face? Jesus goes into the desert to prepare himself for the difficult work that lay ahead and the devil offers an easy way out: wealth, power, and finally, fame and popularity. Surely with these – the tempter urges – Jesus would have no problem accomplishing his goal. Why do it the hard way when an easier way is right there, staring him in the face?
Three times, the tempter tried to convince Jesus to calculate, and to calculate well. Three times Jesus responded by reaffirming his faith and trust in his Father. Three times the world tried to draw him in, offering him a guaranteed return – success without sacrifice, conquest without risk, triumph without pain; three times he refused, putting his trust instead in God, no matter where such trust may lead. But this had always been his way - the way of trust and absolute surrender to his Father's will, following him wherever he leads, no matter where he leads.
St. Francis de Sales once said, "If God, by his infinite justice, decides to send me to hell forever, I only ask that I be given the grace to love him there."
The world says, "There is no guarantee that I'll receive a return, I therefore need to carefully calculate everything I do, everything I say, every step I take—to make sure that whatever I do I receive a return."
The way of the world is the way of calculation. It is born out of uncertainty and is rooted in fear: the fear of failing, the fear of not achieving our goal, the fear of not getting what we believe should be rightfully ours. Jesus' own temptation in the desert was a temptation to calculate. "If you do this," says the devil, "you will achieve this." But Jesus refused and instead placed his life completely in his Father's hands.
We all, from time to time, will face our own temptations to calculate. "If I say this, my formators will think this." "If I did this, my superiors will think this." "If I were to act this way, this is what people will think of me." "If I take these steps, I will achieve this."
Awhile ago, a well-meaning priest-friend sent me an email suggesting I seriously consider thinking of ways by which I could move ahead in my own ministry. "You have to do it," he says to me. "You're not getting any younger. Imagine all the good you can do in that position." Do you think I wasn't tempted? I absolutely was. Thankfully, though, the wiser counsel of other priest-friends prevailed. And so I chose to email my friend back. I told him I've ceased, a long time ago, from planning my life, from living it like I were playing a game of chess, anticipating every single one of life's moves in order to get ahead.
At some point, our calculations must cease, and we must take that leap of faith into God's awaiting arms; because our life isn't like a game of chess, neither is our vocation, neither is our faith – if they are to be authentic.
We shall throughout our lives as seminarians, as priests or religious, as Christian men and women, be faced with the temptation to calculate in order to "get ahead", in order to enter our own "Promised Land." Even Jesus was presented with that temptation in today's gospel – three times, in fact. Yet three times as well, he reaffirmed his faith and trust in the plan God had for him.
Jesus, of course, suffered and died the most ignominious death of a common criminal. As an atheist once said, "Jesus died a loser's death: abandoned by his friends, abandoned by the people he sought to save, abandoned by his strength, abandoned by the very God and Father he trusted. In the history of the world's failures, he was one of the biggest."
Like Moses, Jesus didn't "enter the Promised Land."
But this world was never the Promised Land! Victory in this world has never been the Promised Land. Wealth, power, popularity and fame – neither are these the Promised Land. And that's what this world, with its all its calculations will never quite understand.
Because Moses did enter the Promised Land! And so did Jesus! For the Promised Land that Moses entered and which Jesus never left but carried with him wherever he went, giving him courage and strength no matter the suffering, pain and sorrow he endured – that land is the heart of God himself, and it is what awaits those who spurn the world's calculations and instead abandon themselves completely to Him.
Your heart, O God, is my Promised Land. Your heart is my true home. For that home I ache; and to that home, my heart, my mind, my body, and soul, wish nothing more than to return.


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Sushi topped with prawns
Ingredients for 4 portions
Per portion: 207 kJ / 49 kcal
Also: cling film
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cut the prawns in half lengthways. Cut the cling film into squares and place half of the prawn halves on top of each square with the cut surface facing upwards. Form the sushi rice into 20 equal sized balls and put them on the prawns.
Spread a little wasabi paste on the rice balls and top with the other prawn halves so that each of the rice balls is sandwiched between two prawn halves. Close the cling film and press gently into little 'medallions'.
Remove the sushi from the cling film, garnish with a dot of mayonnaise, caviar and cress and serve with soy sauce.


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BG-E4 MeiKe Battery Grip (for Canon 5D)
BG-E4 MeiKe Battery Grip (for Canon 5D)
Meike BG-E4 is a high quality battery grip for Canon 5D. It is a perfect substitute for Canon's BG-E4.
It features all functions of the original BG-E4, it can be powered by one or two BP-511/BP-512 batteries and this can prolongue camera's battery life up to two times. The two batteries can be made by different manufacturers or have different power levels. The camera will first use up one battery and then the other.
The battery pack features a two-step shutter release button for shooting in portrait orientation. Press it halfway to adjust the focus and then press it further to release the shutter - just like you are used to do on your camera. It is also equipped with a scroll wheel for adjusting the shutter speed and aperture values, AF/EF lock button and a button for setting AV +/− values. The grip is covered with a special rubber material which provides comfortable and firm grip. The bottom part is equipped with a mounting thread for a tripod or hand strap.
The battery pack allows for a firmer camera grip and increases both the comfort of vertical shooting and the number of photos that can be taken with one battery set.


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Status: Closed
Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Be the first cleveland.com user to add photos or videos of Apostolic Faith Church
Since 2001, Apostolic Faith Church has been providing Miscellaneous Denomination Church from Bridgeport.
Apostolic Faith Church can be found at Main St 464. The following is offered: Religious Organizations. The entry is present with us since Sep 9, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 14, 2013. In Martins Ferry there are 7 other Religious Organizations. An overview can be found here.


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Is Tuna Good for You When Bodybuilding?
If you are bodybuilding you know that eating a healthy, balanced diet every day is just as important as your exercise regimen. Fish, such as tuna, is a good option because it is naturally low in fat and high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Tuna is also a good source of lean protein. Replace fat-rich foods and excess carbohydrates with fresh or canned tuna.
Amount of Protein in Tuna
You may feel differently about a simple can of tuna when you compare its protein content to other foods. According to Columbia University, a 5-ounce can of tuna contains 43 grams of protein -- the same amount as a 5-ounce piece of roasted chicken and more than a 5-ounce steak, which has 35 grams of protein. This amount is higher than other protein-rich foods such as an egg, which gives you 6 grams, and a cup of beans with 15 grams of protein.
Protein Requirements
The Harvard School of Public Health advises that how much protein you need in your diet varies by individual. Most adults need to get at least 0.8 grams of protein per day for each kilogram of body weight. For an average person on a 2,000-calorie diet, that means getting 75 grams of protein every day. If you are a bodybuilder you may need to get slightly more protein to repair and build muscle. Columbia University advises that the top intake of protein should be 1.5 to 2 grams per kilograms of body weight.
Bodybuilding Nutrition
If you are bodybuilding in the pursuit of losing body fat and getting bigger muscles, you may think you need to eat a lot more protein. However, Columbia University notes that bodybuilders still need to eat a balanced diet that includes carbohydrates as the main source of fuel. As with any other type of food, eating too much protein can cause weight gain because the body converts the extra amounts into fat. Additionally, digesting too much protein can put an extra burden on your liver and kidneys.
Low-fat Protein to Cut the Calories
Although bodybuilding often means bulking up, it is still important to eat a healthy balanced diet and avoid eating excess calories. Harvard Health Publications notes that losing a pound of weight requires enough exercise to burn 3,500 calories. This can take days of moderate exercise. Additionally, if you are trying to lose weight it can be beneficial to replace excess carbohydrates with low-fat, high-protein foods. Replace excess carbohydrates and high-fat foods with protein-rich foods such as fresh or canned tuna. If you are using canned tuna, choose low-sodium and low-fat varieties packed in water instead of oil.
- Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images


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Medicare pays for the installation and cost of Walk in Tubs ? One fact that you need to know that is the most influential reason behind that Medicare do not pay, and the fact is that Medicare Walk in Tub hardly considers those comfortable tubs as durable and effective medical equipment for seniors who need special care when looking for a comfortable and safe bath.
So, it might be obvious that Medicare provides monetary supports in some rare situations.
However, there is nothing to break down since some other options are available which are actually tailored to help people manage the cost of getting walk in tubs.
What does Medicare pay for?
A plethora of different medical items belongs to the group which is considered as durable equipment.
Medicare usually pays for the following items:
- A specially designed adjustable bed which is of hospital-style
- Special chairs
- Patient lift
- Special commodes
In fact, all these pieces are in place so that seniors can use a walk in tub easily and safely.
When can one be a beneficiary?
In general, one has to give it a try to be the beneficiary of using a walk in tub that is a durable medical equipment. In this regard, a sort of medical diagnosis will substantiate the needs of the enthusiastic beneficiary. Either a medical report showing diagnosis or a prescription written by a registered physician may serve the purpose well.
The prescription or diagnostic report should essentially outline some authentic reasons which may prove the necessity of getting a walk-in tub.
What might go wrong?
Gathering all the above supportive documents does not necessarily mean that Medicare guarantees its assistance.
So, it can be the best idea to take the walk in tub as an out-of-pocket possession which means that people should look for some other sources for their financial assistance.
Moreover, concerned people should prefer taking preparation for bearing the cost personally to waiting for the best supports after submitting a claim.
Facts about supports provided by Medicare:
The only thing that can be said is the support does not come in advance of purchasing such tubs.
Rather, the supports are provided in the form of reimbursement; yet these excellent tubs would require to get considered a medical necessity.
What it means to install a walk in tub?
Is it a certain type of modification or addition if anyone installs a tub of that kind?
Well, it is simply a modification of the home that Medicare is not willing to cover. Such installation does not mean any addition but an absolute modification at a certain place in the home.
Costs of getting Walk in Tubs Medicare
When it comes to the most fundamental designs, the tubs are available at between $1,500 and $3,000.
However, people who are accustomed to using tubs with wheelchair accessibility will have to purchase tubs which may cost them anywhere between $3,500 and $5,500. The price also varies from material that is built, choosing between acrylic or fiberglass tubs.
In addition, installation costs are also at variance which may range from $500 to $5,000.
Many people seem to ask for the ways to determine the costs which can easily be estimated if they have access to a non-binding quote for installation which is usually free.
You have Medicaid ? See your article about Medicaid Walk in Tub


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Ginormous Patch Tuesday in the Offing for 4/12/2011
Next Tuesday's 17 security bulletins will address 64 known vulnerabilities across all current Windows versions plus MS Office, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, the .NET Framework, and GDI+ (current version of the graphics device interface code for C/C++ that handles basic 2-D graphics on-screen). Nine of those 17 bulletins are rated as "critical," which is Microsoft's most dire security label for updates.
Check out this partial screencap from the Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for April 2011, just released yesterday (4/7/2011).
As is usual for advance notifications, the details are not yet exactly clear, nor will they be clarified until Patch Tuesday arrives and the actual April 12 Security Bulletin is released. It seems pretty clear that IT admins should prepare some lab time, so they can start assessing the impact of rollouts on their production environments. With nine critical updates in this mix, it's a sure bet that some or all of those items will be on their "must-handle" lists at around 11 AM PDT Tuesday, when MS traditionally releases its bulletin and pushes the updates into the Windows Update environment.


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Sunday, 24 January 2016
Personalised Gifts with I Just Love It
50 comments
Ah I love the initial light!! I got a heart one and now wish I got a T :-(. Really love the engraved spoon, would be a nice little gift for someone who bakes! xxReplyDelete
Tamz | http://www.throughneweyesx.comReplies
Aw no! I've been after an initial one for ages so I'm so glad I finally found one. xxDelete
You got some lovely bits! The initial light is great!ReplyDelete
P.S - I'm sat here singing 'Staus Quo' now... x
Christina Marie - xtinagsays.blogspot.co.uk
Those pencils are so cool, what a great company!ReplyDelete
Em xo
I agree, great company to buy from and work with!Delete
In love with the initial light :) xReplyDelete
Holly ∣ Closingwinter
Oh my god I love your mixing spoon! Such a cute idea of something to personalise!ReplyDelete
ps. I definitely spent my Saturday night this week watching HSM- no shame!
Katie || KNEL xxReplies
Not gonna lie, watching this really made me want to rewatch HSM haha! xDelete
OMG I need these, I love homeware a lot!ReplyDelete
I need one of those mixing spoons just so that no one but me is allowed to touch it! Although, I probably wouldn´t use it either because it´s too cute (&it then has my name on it). But I feel like that would also make such a great gift for someone who loves to bake!ReplyDelete
xx Lisa | Following LisaReplies
I know what you mean, I'll definitely be using it often though! xDelete
The initial LED light is just amazing !! I really have to get myself one! Also .. NOTHING BETTER THAN A PERSONALIZED SPOON!! It's fab!ReplyDelete
I agree lovely! :) xDelete
that spoon is so cute! that would make a great gift for someone who likes baking!ReplyDelete
Hannah at WRITTEN BY HANNAHReplies
For sure, definitely gonna bare this website in mind for future gifts!Delete
Love your bits and bobs! Totally singing HSM in my head now... Thanks lol ;) but why shouldn't you be proud of your blog? It's your baby after all you show it off as much as you like!ReplyDelete
Love Hannah xx
SORRY ABOUT HSM! And thank you lovely. xxDelete
These are all so cute! I'd love one of those lights purely to use as a blog prop because my room is dripping in fairy lights already haha. The pencils are adorable and so swoon/instagram worthy, i'd never ever use them, but they'd be lovely to look at!ReplyDelete
Blush and Blend xxReplies
My room has fairy lights literally everywhere too! Yes, they're very Instagram worthy, very important! xxDelete
I love these personalised letter lights can't wait to have my own house to buy oneReplyDelete
Leanne | www.oohsimplething.blogspot.co.ukReplies
They brighten up any room!Delete
oh my gosh the pencils!!! I love them! And the mixing spoon is so cute, can't wait to see more baking posts XXReplyDeleteReplies
I will hopefully have some fairly soon, yay! xxDelete
Personalized gifts are the best! The pencils are my favorite. I love anything that has to do with stationary so they would make great gifts for myself.ReplyDelete
I'm the same, give me stationery anyday!Delete
The spoon is adorable, it's a perfect gift!ReplyDelete
lovely post,
That K is so cute, I'd love to get an A one of those!ReplyDelete
That spoon is adorable! I'd be inclined to cook and bake a lot more if my spoons had my name on them for sure!ReplyDeleteReplies
I'm already itching to, now just to buy the ingredients...Delete
These would make such a good gift! Loving the light up letter, will have to pop over and take a look!ReplyDelete
www.Barely There Beauty.com | British Beauty & Lifestyle blog
Oh wow, all of these's are so cute!ReplyDelete
I'm a sucker for anything personalised, plus these would make amazing gifts with that personal touch. xo
Holly | www.thekittyluxe.comReplies
Definitely more special than your average gift!Delete
I need an LED light in my life! looks super cute :)ReplyDelete
Aw! All these gifts are amazing I especially like the pencils and the light! You are one lucky girl xReplyDelete
The letter wall light looks great, I love cosy fairy lights can make a room feel. I'll have to check the website out, I could never get personalised things when I was younger because of the way my name is spelt!ReplyDelete
Ami x
HAHA same! I feel your pain :(Delete
- Anonymous1 February 2016 at 14:20
Going on their website right now! Love all of this! :)You chose great items. I want something with my blog name on too. I love personalized items :)ReplyDelete
Tina x
I LOVE cute personalised items and these ones you picked are absolutely gorgeous! Such a lovely collab sweetie. This company sounds amazing and they sure do offer lovely gifts <3 Really enjoyed this post, honey.ReplyDelete
xox N.
Love all of these, your pictures are amazing btw xxReplyDelete
Beauty Talk With Lauren
Love all of these, your pictures are amazing btw xxReplyDelete
Beauty Talk With Lauren
Personalised gifts just add that next something special.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous15 February 2016 at 14:38
I love the idea of personalised pencils! They look so professional!ReplyDelete


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Kelly Allen
realtor & luxury homes specialist
- Visit my website
- View all my listings
- phone: 770-509-0700
- mobile: 404-606-2219
Need Directions?
Come build your dream home located in the prestigious Walton School District. Architectural details chosen by each home owener! This lot is located in a quiet cul-de-sac of Walton Creek Estates. This home is truly a custom build. Each home is built to the buyers specifications. Close to restaurants, shopping and easy access to the highway! Choose features like walk-in pantry, master on main, multiple fireplaces, and custom kitchen! You choose it, we build it!
Interior Features
- Bedrooms: 5
- Full Baths: 5
Exterior Features
- Lot Size: 0.000000
- Stories: 2
- Central Air: Ceiling Fan(s),Central A/C
- Heating Desc: Fireplace,Forced Air, Natural Gas
Community Details
- Grade School: East Side
- Junior High School: Dodgen
- High School: Walton
Additional Information
- County: Cobb
- Property Type: Single Family Detached
- Ski Subdivision: Walton Creek Estates
- Year Built: 2017


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FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 22, 2018) – Attorney General Andy Beshear today filed suit against a national opioid distributor for allegedly violating state law and directly contributing to the state's drug epidemic by flooding Kentucky with massive amounts of opioids, including generic oxycodone and hydrocodone.
Beshear is suing San Francisco-based McKesson Corporation over unfair, misleading and deceptive business practices for excessively distributing opioids, particularly in rural counties in Eastern Kentucky, and for failing to report the large volume of these drugs to state and federal authorities.
Federal and state law requires pharmaceutical distributors to monitor and report to law enforcement when it ships large or suspicious supplies of opioids to a state or region. McKesson has a distribution center in Washington Courthouse, Ohio, just three hours away from Kentucky's border.
"Kentuckians can finally put a name to a major reason for the pill mills, drug epidemic and overdose deaths in our state," Beshear said. "McKesson knowingly and intentionally distributed enormous quantities of prescription opioids throughout Kentucky with total disregard for our health and safety. This reckless behavior fueled our catastrophic drug epidemic that every community is facing."
Beshear said Kentucky is "dragging McKesson into court" to answer why it chose profits over the lives of Kentuckians. Ohio and West Virginia have done the same for their citizens.
The lawsuit alleges that McKesson boasted a 32.7 percent market share, the largest in the wholesale pharmaceutical distribution industry for the seven-year time period outlined in Beshear's complaint.
From Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2016, McKesson distributed 18,434,834 doses of prescription opioids in Floyd County alone. Based on Floyd County's average population of 38,638, it amounts to 477 opioid pills for every man, woman and child living in the county.
"The opioid addiction problem we suffer from is in part a direct result of the massive supply of these drugs being funneled into our communities," said Floyd County Judge-Executive Ben Hale. "For these companies to continue to sit back with absolutely no regard for the impacts their drugs are having on our families is infuriating. For their corporate profits to rank as a higher priority than human life is the most unforgiveable motive. We are losing a generation; grandparents are raising babies; our jails are busting at the seams, and every level of local government is affected by this terrible epidemic. Before we can allow rehabilitation and recovery to have far-reaching, positive impacts, we have to stop the bleeding of this supply. On behalf of the families I represent, I am very happy to see that General Beshear has filed this lawsuit today."
Beshear said the company carelessly flooded other Kentucky counties with high volumes of prescription opioids during this period as well.
From 2012 to 2015, a total of 261 Kentuckians died from opioid overdoses just in these five Eastern Kentucky counties. Statewide, for this timeframe, Kentucky experienced more than 4,400 fatal overdoses.
Beshear said McKesson has entered two multi-million-dollar settlements with the federal government for similar claims. In 2008, the company settled for $13.5 million for failing to comply with federal reporting laws.
"Despite this settlement, the company continued to flood the nation with opioids without ever alerting the DEA to the high volume of orders for these pills," Beshear said.
McKesson settled a $150 million settlement with the federal government in January 2017 for its ongoing behavior, Beshear said.
The McKesson lawsuit is the second such legal action the Beshear has taken.
Beshear filed suit against Endo Pharmaceuticals and Endo Health Solutions in November for violating state law and directly contributing to state opioid related deaths and overdoses from its drug Opana.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tied a Southern Indiana 2015 HIV outbreak specifically to the injection of Opana ER. In doing so, the federal health agency identified 220 counties across the country at the greatest risk for similar outbreaks. Fifty-four of those counties, roughly 25 percent, are in Kentucky.
Beshear said Campbell, Gallatin and Grant counties are on the list, and Northern Kentucky is currently experiencing an HIV outbreak due to individuals intravenously injecting a drug when they abuse it.
Floyd, Perry, Clay, Owsley and Bell counties are on the CDC's list of counties at risk for a public health crisis, Beshear said.
"I'm committed to holding accountable these multi-national companies that made billions flooding our communities," Beshear said. "Kentucky families deserve justice."


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After being a Mamma for 13+ years, I've learned the art of give & take.
The kiddos gave a good morning of school & some time wondering around the Wednesday farmers market, so I took a break and let them play at the splash park!
St. Augustine's Splash Park at the Pier is just one of the things that draws families to this part of St. Augustine Beach. At this 4 acre park, you'll find a fishing pier, volleyball courts, covered pavilions & live music on Wednesday nights {through the summer- check my what to do in St. Augustine page to see a smattering of other to-do's}. The Splash Park offers a break for Mammas and children- thank you, St. Johns County!
Water squirts up on the Splash pad and cool breezes blow in off the ocean. Our family doesn't swim at the beach this close to the pier- the water comes up to the rocks at high tide and if it's rough, it can be a little dangerous so close to pier pilings. So the Splash Park allows the kids to play in the water and stay safe. And what a view!
Our little ones love the playground. Sand toys are put to good use as all the kiddos work together to dig holes to china and build castles as high as the clouds {or at least Mamma's knees…}.
The St. Augustine Splash Park offers one more reason to love lazy summer days in St. Augustine!!!!
Splash Park at the Pier
350 A1A Beach Blvd
Free Parking, Free splashing!


text: On Wed, May 09, 2012 at 05:48:30AM +0000, Carl Eugen Hoyos wrote: > Stefano Sabatini <stefasab <at> gmail.com> writes: > > > I would like to hear from other developers and contributors what they > > think, and if we reach an agreement we shall proceed with the > > application. > > Please proceed. +1 [...] -- Michael GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB DNS cache poisoning attacks, popular search engine, Google internet authority dont be evil, please -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 198 bytes Desc: Digital signature URL: <http://ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-devel/attachments/20120509/9e23ac0e/attachment.asc>


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Robert De Niro Talks 'Fleeting' Fame: 'Everybody Is Dispensable'
Robert De Niro is back on the big screen in the action thriller Limitless, playing a business mogul alongside Bradley Cooper.
The legendary actor talked to Parade.com about his new role, his thoughts on fame, and plans for his next film with Martin Scorsese. Plus, how De Niro feels about being an inspiration to a new generation of actors.
On keeping his fame in check.
"You have to be very careful with all that because it is fleeting. I think if you have the opportunity to work and do things such as I have, you have to be grateful that you had the chance and take advantage of the opportunity because you might not ever get another one. You're lucky if you get two chances. Some people get all crazy, they think that all of a sudden they are God's gift to whatever. Everybody is dispensable. Nobody is indispensable. You have to be smart about it. Just take advantage and do your work and be happy you got to where you got."
See photos of Robert De Niro's Top 7 Iconic Characters
He's grateful for his years of obscurity.
"I did Godfather II when I was 31, so I had all my young life before that hit. I see some actors, they're so young when they start, and that's OK, but it's a different experience. You gotta handle it because if you don't handle it, you're going to blow it and it's all going to go and then what? So it's a good thing to have some kind of foundation and if you've had a little obscurity in your life, that's good."
On being the inspiration for his Limitless co-star Bradley Cooper becoming an actor.
"I'd rather be that than the alternative! It's nice, but it's all I can do. Now he's sick of me because I won't leave him alone!"
On the intimidation factor his younger co-stars may feel.
"That goes away in a couple days, if not sooner. You have to work. In fact, any of that kind of stuff you should use an actor. You should use it in the interaction."
See exclusive photos from PARADE's shoot with Robert De Niro
On the upcoming 10-year anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival, which he co-founded in response to the attacks on 9/11.
"I'm amazed that ten years have passed. I can account for them all, but how fast they go by. And the older you get, the faster they go. I'm very happy that it's doing as well as it is. I hoped that it would become a real genuine New York City institution, part of the culture, and part of the future of the city."
Why he'll always be a New Yorker.
"New York is a great city, it's that simple. It's got a great energy. It's so big that you can be anonymous in a way."
Can De Niro be anonymous in the Big Apple?
"I walk around here a lot of times and go unnoticed. I love Central Park. It's terrific. I walk through there a lot."
He can't envision himself as anything but an actor.
"I do other things now, but if I had not been an actor or not been forced to earn a living as an actor, I don't know what the alternative would have been or what I would have done."
See photos of Hollywood's Top Leading Men
Hollywood is a small world.
"I run into actors that I knew from back when and you don't start bringing up things. I told Dustin Hoffman once, for example, that I worked as a waiter in a restaurant that was being used in a campaign [event] for Eugene McCarthy when he was running against Bobby Kennedy. This was in 1968 and Dustin was there as a part of this thing for McCarthy. I waited at his table. I told Dustin this years later and he said, 'So? What do you want from me?'"
On reuniting with Scorsese.
"I'm planning on it, absolutely. It's a movie based on a book called I Heard You Paint Houses. It's about a guy who confessed that he killed Hoffa and also Joe Gallo, so I'm going to play that character. Joe Pesci is going to be in it and Al Pacino is going to be in it and Marty's the director. We're really working towards making it happen."
Don't expect him to join Twitter anytime soon.
"I don't Twitter or any of that stuff, which is fine. I don't have a fan club that I talk to or whatever. My young relatives are into everything, so they show me. I use the computer, but Twitter's not something that I'm into. I think it's great, and it's not that I don't understand it, but in a way, I don't get it and that's OK."


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Adopting an older dog means you won't need to worry about training as they'll generally know how to behave around people. If you get a puppy, it's a whole different story. With how cute tiny dogs are, it's easy to get caught up in enjoying their cute, charming ways, but they grow quickly and what seems funny one day might not be so amusing the next. Because of this, you'll want to make sure you don't neglect training because you're distracted by your new companion's adorableness, and follow these tips to get off on the right foot.
Be confident
As pack animals, dogs expect to have a strong leader to look up to, and this starts while they're still puppies. If you're nervous, flustered or unsure of yourself, your puppy will know, making it hard to train them. The trick here is to be confident but calm. Use a firm voice and always remember that you're the boss; training will then go much more smoothly.
Be consistent
There are few things worse for a puppy looking for guidance than an inconsistent leader, and this extends into all training areas. Get into a regular routine with walks, feeding, toilet breaks and bedtime, and make sure everyone in the household is on the same page. If one person is sneaking the puppy food at odd times of the day, this can cause serious behavioural problems. It's also important to keep things in their place. That means feeding bowls, toys, beds and anything else your puppy uses.
Don't delay
You might hear conflicting information on the right age to begin puppy training, but the truth is that it's never too early. A puppy is ready to take their cues from you from day one, and the longer you wait, the more those bad habits can set in. It's much easier to stop them developing in the first place than it is to stamp them out later.
Get them housebroken
Of all the issues new puppy owners can face, inappropriate toilet habits are the worst. Concentrating on this area above others ensures you can get it sorted quickly. This will make you less frustrated with the dog, which helps you exert calm confidence over them.
Use up their energy
Young animals are usually full of energy, and this is especially true of puppies. This can be the source of many problems despite your best training efforts, so the importance of enough exercise can't be overstated. Give them regular walks and plenty of opportunities to use up all that crazy energy, and everything else will fall into place more easily.
If you need help training your beloved pup, look into training courses offered by places like ARC Dog Rehab.Share


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Television and print advertising, publishing, web content and other media,
internationally marketed software, operating systems, apps, applications and programs are just some of the materials that can be localized.
Amancay Traduzioni provides for the localization of these and a wide variety of other materials, including technical manuals, product labelling and whole websites.
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Revision and linguistic adaptation are essential to offering a high-quality product that is comprehensive and efficient in its intended use in targeting each and every country.
The importance of proofreading and revision
Proofreading and revision is especially relevant in the localization and linguistic adaptation of marketing and promotional messages, of texts encoded in other alphabets, scripts and numbering systems, of various writing forms (e.g. right to left, top to bottom) and of texts with programming and web development elements such as tags, meta tags and much more.
Why choose Amancay Traduzioni?
Today, multilingualism is part and parcel of modern society and therefore everyday working life.
For this reason, Amancay Traduzioni has selected expert mother-tongue translators who, with their specific skills and specializations, can offer clients proofreading and localization services of the highest quality, with careful checks, control and research into best understanding the demands and peculiarities of clients' target markets.
Choose Amancay Traduzioni for
localization, proofreading and revision services from mother-tongue professional translators!


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Using its tyre and rubber-related expertise, Michelin have developed technical soles for cycle shoes and boots which offer excellent grip and resistance to abrasion. Working alongside well-known third party brands, this footwear is ideal for many types of cycling.
The Cycling range is developed to the highest technical specification, delivering the quality and innovation you would expect from MICHELIN.


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Back to Tracking Tools main page.
Having to live with chronic pain is difficult enough without the added burden of chronic migraine headaches. This guide will help you to have a meaningful conversation with your health care provider. Use this tool daily to track the triggers of your chronic migraines. Share your results with your health care provider at your next appointment.
This Tool Recommended for:
- All patients with pain symptoms
- Tracking patient progress over time
Related Tools:
Recommended for:
- Patients diagnosed with Fibromyalgia
Pain Log (PDF) – English (Print-only version)


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Sunday, November 30, 2008
Consequently, I don't feel like writing, but I do feel the need to have you all help me out with some things I've been curious about.
1. How much time per day do you spend cleaning?
2. How much time per day do you spend on yourself?
3. When did your child (or you) learn to ride his/her two-wheeler bike?
4. When did your child (or you) learn to tie his/her shoes?
5. When did your child (or you) learn to swallow pills?
Answer one or all five. I'm curious.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The Saddest Day of the Year...For the Dog
it will fall directly into my mouth."
The injustice!
My family is thankful for many things, but based on what my kids said at the dinner table, they are more thankful for TV than anything else.
I'm thankful that Alex does all the cooking on Thanksgiving. (Seriously. He does. It's awesome to be me.)
But really, I am so thankful for my family, for how lucky my family is, for my friends—both "in real life" and online, and for so much more that there's not room to list it all here.
I'm also thankful that no one but me likes raspberry Jell-O with fruit cocktail in it. That way I get to eat it all. I know it's completely embarrassing to prepare such a dish, but I've never claimed to be high brow, so there you have it.
Jack, however, really enjoyed poking at the Jell-O.
Note: We did give the dog some turkey. Not enough to make her throw up, as in years past, but enough to make her happy. And she got the raw turkey neck too.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
DCMM: Home for the Holidays
I like to travel, but at heart I am a homebody. The holidays in particular bring out a deep need in me to be at home celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas just as I'm used to doing it. I enjoy having house guests, but I do not enjoy leaving my house.
Part of it is that I am a total control freak.
Part of it is that staying at home is easier. I can't even fathom carting a bunch of Christmas presents in our car to drive somewhere, much less stuffing them in suitcases for a plane flight. Seriously, I would love to hear how people do it, because according to the laws of physics as I understand them, such a thing is impossible.
While I do prefer to spend these holidays on my home turf, I have been known to venture out occasionally. Before we were married, I spent Christmas with my now-husband at his grandfather's house. It was nice.
I guess.
And then there was the year we spent Thanksgiving with my husband's boss. I almost swallowed my tongue when I heard that dinner would be at 8ish. I made a low-key Thanksgiving lunch (including turkey and Jell-O) that year and served it before we left for dinner. I mean, c'mon, Thanksgiving dinner is served no later than 4 p.m. Maybe 6 o'clock if the turkey got put in late.
Come to think of it, it's entirely possible that we stay home for these holidays every year because no one invites us to their house because I'm such a controlling pain in the butt.
Original DC Metro Moms Blog post.
Hear more about Jean's Thanksgiving Jell-O and Christmas turkey at Stimeyland.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Deed is Done
To their credit, they have remained very nice and supportive.
I really hope it stays that way, because I just officially alerted them to the presence of the attorney and my educational consultant. The lawyer wants to contact the school to request an earlier IEP meeting than the school originally suggested, and I agree that it needs to be done.
But I wanted to warn the special educator who will receive the phone call. So I explicitly laid it out for her in a note in Jack's communication notebook, which is our usual method of conversation.
I have to say, sentences such as, "My attorney will be contacting you..." don't slip easily off of my tongue. Or out of my pen, as the case may be.
I am so hopeful that Jack's team continues to be as wonderful as they have been thus far. Because they mostly seem to agree with me, and it is the power tier above them that seems to be rejecting our requests, I hope that they understand.
I did end my note in the communication notebook with a paragraph about how much I appreciate everything they do.
Obviously, regardless, I have to do what is best for Jack, no matter what. And I truly believe that this is what is best for Jack.
My hope is that any unpleasantness can stay in the IEP meeting room and not in the classroom. Based on what I know of Jack's team, I think that can happen. But cross your fingers for us anyway.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
7 Years Old and Already a Delinquent
Apparently one day I forgot to sign it, so Sam took it upon himself to forge my signature. And he did a damn good job. Can you tell which one is the fake?
If he's this good at forging my signature now, imagine my life when he's a teenager. Or, worse, when I'm old and senile and he forges my signature to put me in a home. I'm going to be completely helpless against him.
Interestingly, the only mark on his report card that wasn't satisfactory or outstanding was handwriting. The teacher says he "needs improvement."
I beg to fucking differ.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
To Sum Up
My feet are at Jodifur.
My story about how I dealt with a stranger making a rude remark to Jack is at Trusera.
I'm bitching about leaves at DC Metro Moms.
I'm challenging you to declutter with a contest at The Junk Pyramid.
I'm giving away "Ick" at Things and Stuff Reviews.
Five down, 81 to go.
Friday, November 21, 2008
In Like a Lion, Out Like a...Lion
Well, I was thinking it. I sometimes dreaded going because both Jack and Quinn were insane there. I tried taking books, dry-erase boards, coloring books, trains, and toy cars and airplanes. All of them worked to one degree or another, but we always caused a scene, and Jack usually took a big swiping "Hello, there!" swing at a stranger on our way out. I often had to chase them around while they tried to evade me, and there was that first day when Sam accidentally locked himself in the changing room from the inside and couldn't get out.
I mean, I don't really blame them 'cause they had to kill 45 minutes there twice a week, but, F.U.C.K!
Then Vtech and LeapFrog came along and quite possibly saved my sanity. At the very least, they vastly improved my life. Each of those companies, for which I have life-long devotion, sent me review samples of their hand-held video games.
My karate life changed drastically.
I know there are people out there who disapprove of this type of electronic babysitting, but I couldn't fucking care less. Prior to those game systems, I was stressed, angry, and a wreck. Afterwards, I was still stressed, angry, and a wreck, but less so.
Today was Sam's last day at karate. We're taking a break for a variety of reasons, some financial, some due to Sam's whining whenever I tried to get him ready for class, and some due to the fact that we have two or three therapy sessions a week for Jack now. I just can't pack it all in.
Today, which was a graduation day (Sam got his purple striped belt), was busy, loud, and chaotic. But we were all chill. We got there a little early, so got good seats. Sam went to practice. Quinn had fallen asleep in the car and was sleeping happily on my chest. Jack was playing video games. All was well.
And all stayed well. For a while.
The instructors did some speechifying after the belt presentations and Quinn woke up. And he woke up MAD. We had to remove ourselves to the lobby just a few feet away, but let Jack stay in his chair where he was quietly playing, oblivious to the hubbub around him.
The next few minutes are a little blurry, but I do remember a lot of people looking at me. But really, short of going out to the parking lot, there wasn't a lot I could do. Then Jack got up and went to the bathroom without closing the door, which incidentally is something Sam did after his first or second class.
At some point Quinn was shrieking, Jack was "investigating" the moving parts of the lobby's decor, and Sam showed up to ask if I'd gotten a group photo, which of course I hadn't.
I specialize in tiny, fuzzy, and terrible.
Then Sam couldn't find his bag, and I almost said forget about it because we're not coming back anyway, but figured that would be a bad way to leave, with Quinn AND Sam shrieking at me.
So we ventured into the fray, all four of us, because Quinn was sobbing and Jack can't be trusted to not wander into the parking lot. We generally made a nuisance of ourselves until some friendly mom found the bag under her chair, across the aisle from where Sam had left it.
We said goodbye to the instructors and I started trying to herd the dudes out the door, when Jack gave one of those swipes of greeting I spoke about above. Those swipes I do not believe to be malicious in the slightest, but rather a way of interacting with people. But they always lead to a confused looking child or adult looking at us and wondering why the unprovoked attack, as I frantically try to apologize, get Jack to apologize, and tell Jack not to hit, while explaining proper social interaction all at the same time.
In case you're wondering, it's super effective. < /sarcasm>
Then, while hoisting Quinn into my arms because he refused to walk, I ripped his shoe off and dropped it on the floor. All while someone kept trying to foist the studio's December calendar on me.
By the time I left, I was stressed, angry, and a wreck. And the sentimental feeling I felt watching Sam at his last class? Gone. And it seemed fitting to go out the way we came in a year ago.
I'd like to get him back there someday, but I'm okay with not having to wrangle Jack and Quinn at karate for a while.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Top Two Reasons Sam Got Out of Bed Tonight
1. "I don't know where my subtraction book is. I'll never be able to subtract again!"
2. "Quinn has lots of boogers in his nose. Can you come get them out?"
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Culture of the Waiting Room
One of the things I wish I'd done differently when it comes to Jack and his autism is that I wish I'd pursued private therapy earlier. We really just started speech therapy and OT this year. I listened to the school system when they said he didn't need speech or OT because his deficiencies didn't affect his ability to learn.
I kind of beg to differ, but we all know that. My point is that it finally occurred to us that we could put Jack in private therapy—at least until our insurance runs out. So now we go to speech therapy and occupational therapy a couple of times a week. Jack will also be starting his first social skills group next month.
I know. You all thought I was more together than this, huh? Seriously. I never got the manual telling me what to do, or I would have put him in speech therapy two years ago.
I've been using our waiting room times to study the other (mostly) moms that take their kids to therapy. Except for that one time that my other kids weren't with me. That time I fell asleep.
It can be embarrassing to be me.
It's interesting to me that I am clearly the newbie in every one of these waiting rooms. I have yet to meet anyone who has started coming more recently than me.
At our occupational therapist's office, I followed the sign that was posted on the front door the first day that said to go around to the side door. There's a cold, dank little waiting room there. The rest of therapy rooms are part of a house. Other parents seem to "go upstairs" frequently. I think some of them wait up there while their kids are in sessions.
Our therapist comes to get Jack and brings him back when the session is over. The billing person comes down to get my check. Other parents wander in and out and their kids go find their therapists by themselves.
I've only been upstairs once, during Jack's evaluation. And I'm really curious what it's like up there during session hours. Do they have coffee and cookies? Do they get to observe their child's session? It's like the VIP room and I can't get past the velvet rope.
Speech therapy is a little different because our regular session is at the same time as a group of kids that have a social skills group immediately following their private sessions.
So they all kind of know each other and the parents know the siblings' names and stuff. And because we're only one family, they picked up our names really fast. (Especially because I have to yell at them by name a lot because corralling them is like herding cats.) All I know is that the kid with the same color hair as Quinn is named Ben.
But I'm learning. I'm learning to not feed them junk food on therapy days because Ben's mom brings Doritos that she insists he share with all the other kids. (My kids loooooove Ben.)
I'm learning that I may have to take up knitting like one of the other speech therapy moms. Because it's hard to be friendly when you're reading a book, and it's boring to stare at the walls, but creating something AND chatting. Hmmmmm....
I've also noticed that siblings of kids in therapies have lots of hand held electronics. As do we. Because it is sooooooo much easier to keep siblings happy and quiet and in a seat every week when they're playing a video game.
Homework is easier for my oldest son to do at occupational therapy (where all the other people are "upstairs") than at speech therapy (where all the other people are eating chips and playing games right in front of him).
I'm still learning the waiting room ropes. And one day someone even newer than me is going to walk in and look to me for answers. And at that point, I will direct them to a different parent and then I will listen in to learn the things I was never brave enough to ask in the first place.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Are They Twins?
See, my sister is 17 months older than me and we have enough similarities that people could ask. I always thought people were crazy.
Sam and Jack are 19 months apart, and ever since I gave them identical bad haircuts a month or so ago, people keep telling me how much alike they look. One stranger even went so far as to ask if they were twins.
I think they may have to get used to the question.
I wish I could find a photo that better shows how alike they look. But they do. And Jack looks exactly like Sam looked 19 months ago. It's a trip.
It seems to be one of the perils of baby bunching—having kids fewer than two years apart. How many of you other baby bunchers get the twins question?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A Subtle Shift
Sam and Quinn are two people that Jack seems like a typical kid around. He plays with them, he talks, he participates. But I think a lot of that is because Sam is such a leader, especially around his two brothers. Sam tells them what to do and they do it. Sam has always been the one they look up to and the one who dictates what they do.
Part of this is, I think, a natural part of Sam being the oldest. Naturally they look up to him. Plus he's the most advanced, so he's more capable of coming up with ideas for all of them to do. But the other part is that Jack and Quinn have never really experienced time alone together without Sam.
By the time Sam went to kindergarten, Jack started going to school all day as well. So it's not like Jack and Quinn had time to form a unit.
But they had a great time together on Thursday, and since then, Jack has started saying things such as, "I want to play with Quinn instead of Sam." Or, "I want Quinn on my team." Or, instead of, "Sam! Sam! Sam!" he says, "Um, Quinn? Quinn?"
Interesting. Because even though Sam and Jack are closer in age (19 months apart) than Jack and Quinn (two years apart), Jack and Quinn are probably closer developmentally.
I'm really interested to see where this goes. I don't expect Sam's vise grip on sibling leadership to disappear. But no matter what, I'm thrilled that something has seemed to click in Jack to make him understand that he gets to state a preference for playmates.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
DCMM: An Ode to the Leaf Pile
I've decided to rake.
It's not that I've matured or anything; it's not that I'm any less bah humbug about the suburban tree canopy; it's more that I'm tired of being the only house on the street without piles of leaves in my gutters.We live in one of those neighborhoods that doesn't have to bag up their leaves and put them out for the garbage man, or leaf man, or whoever takes bags of leaves. All we have to do is rake them out to the curb and twice a season a big truck with several guys and a big sucky vacuum thing comes down the street and slurps up all the leaves.
My trees are literally (and I mean that literally) the last trees on the block to turn brown and drop their leaves. I have three giant trees that are still green. Some of the leaves are yellow, but most of them are still green. So it's not like the raking I'm doing now will finish the job. I have weeks of raking ahead of me.
But when I have piles of leaves in the gutter, I feel like it lets the other homeowners on the block know that I'm trying. It makes me feel good too. I feel a little bit like my neighbors will overlook my jungle-like yard and tall grass if I have mounds of leaves waiting for the leaf guys.
I have some big piles this year. I hope the vacuum doesn't come until late in the season. I don't want to have to rebuild them.
And we'll see, if this makes me feel good enough and diverts enough attention from my super-weedy yard, maybe next year I'll rake the front and back lawns. Maybe.
Original DC Metro Moms Blog post.
During raking breaks, Jean blogs at Stimeyland.
Mandatory Cheerleading
Sam: "If I don't here any cheering, it's going off."
Jack: "go, go, go..."
Sam: "Faster and louder!"
Jack: "GO! GO! GO!"
Maybe I'm encouraging them to support each other a little too much. Or in the wrong way.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Working the System
I listened to the voice mail, which was from the nurse at the elementary school. Dammit. Jack was sick. I had to go get him.
I abandoned my friend and stuffed Quinn in the car. As soon as I saw that I had cell service (evidently my friend's house is somewhat of a cellular black hole), I called the school.
I had just been connected to the nurse when my phone went dead. I called back and apologized for my lame cell phone. The nurse laughed and said that she had actually pulled the cord out of the handset. All righty then.
Jack had said he was nauseous that morning and had spent some time going back and forth to the bathroom, hugging the toilet bowl. He's done that before, and it almost always results in his throwing up in the car on the way home.
When I showed up at the school, nearly an hour after the nurse had called in the first place, Jack's face lit up.
"Are you sick?" I asked.
"I'm not sick!" he chirped.
Of course.
It was pretty clear that I wasn't going to leave him at the school. I can only imagine the hubbub that would have ensued. Plus, I still believed that he was going to hurl as soon as he strapped himself into his car seat.
So I took him home and tried to get him to lie down. That worked for about four seconds because He. Wasn't. Sick.
He and Quinn spent the day, perky as hell, happily playing together and watching some TV.
as a wedgie-prevention measure.
They ran an errand with me and were perfectly behaved. They ate an identical lunch and played Legos and Lego Star Wars.
They were happy as damn clams. Jack to be home during the day. Quinn to have a buddy that wasn't me.
Considering that Jack ignored his baby brother for nearly two years, they sure do get along now.
All I know is, I better not get a call from the nurse tomorrow. Because if I do, there will be no Lego Star Wars. Instead, I'll make him scrub the floor.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Help Me. Please.
Like this:
Please, please, please tell me what I'm doing wrong. I keep trying to leave comments and it just erases them over and over.
I feel like a moron.
Thanks to My Party of 6 for the image. I tried to comment about how adorable your daughter is. I really did.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Do You Know What's Shocking?
I had a tire with low pressure today, so I stopped at a gas station to fill it up. I seem to remember some big deal about how air should be free for customers, but there's always a quarter slot and a sign asking for 25 cents, so I just pay for it anyway.
Well, imagine my surprise today when the first place I stopped was charging 75 cents!
"That's absolutely ridiculous!" I said to myself. Or maybe out loud. I'm a mutterer. Then I drove on to the next station.
And the air there cost $1! And because I started with the tire I always sideswipe on curbs, assuming that it had to be the low pressure tire my car kept dinging about, by the time I got to the fourth tire, which turned out to have a tire pressure of 17.5, my dollar's worth of air had stopped. So I had to buy another $1 worth of air.
I know, I know, two dollars is not that big of a deal. But it is when what you're buying is air. It's almost as ridiculous as buying water.*
* Full disclosure: I've been known to buy my fair share of bottled water. I'm not sitting here in my shiny glass house throwing rocks at you. Or maybe that's exactly what I'm doing. Hmmmm...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Why I Love My Kids' Elementary School
I read posts that other parents write about the anxiety that parent-teacher conferences bring up. I read posts about teachers that seem to do little but bad-talk children to their parents. I read posts about parent-teacher relationships where there is obviously a fence between parent and teacher.
[I'm frantically knocking on wood now.]
I don't feel any of that from my kids' teachers.
Sam is a kid born for school. He is smart, well-behaved, and eager to please. If I were a teacher, I'd want Sam in my class. (If I do say so myself.)
But with Jack, there are ample opportunities for his teachers and aides to get frustrated with him. His teacher says she doesn't know a whole lot about kids on the spectrum, but she still is so understanding and really seems to get that the way he acts out is due to his disability. Trust me when I say that I don't take that for granted.
His aides are similarly fabulous. They constantly tell me how much they love him, even after he's put them through the wringer. (He poked one of them in the face with a pencil once. She responded to my apology note with a written comment: "I still adore him!") I can't express how much that means to me.
I walked into parent-teacher conferences today a little skittish, but not too worried. I was wrong to feel nervous at all. The aide and teacher who spoke to me about Jack were so encouraging and validating. They confirmed things about Jack that I believe, and they listened to me when I told them about Jack. Even when talking about some of Jack's less desirable behaviors (spitting, hitting, trying to sharpen his finger in the pencil sharpener), Jack's teacher was not even slightly condemning.
Even with all this support though, it is clear that Jack needs one to one support. We have hired a lawyer and an educational consultant and have begun what looks to be a long, slow process. I am just so glad that in the meantime Jack has three amazing women (two aides and his teacher) who give him such thoughtful, compassionate, and loving support.
Monday, November 10, 2008
My Life in a Nutshell
Always chasing three boys. Usually laughing.
What's yours?
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Confidential To Claudia
We are thrilled that everything went so well. We all love you very much and are thinking of you. May your recovery go quickly and well.
Much love,
Team Stimey
Friday, November 7, 2008
A Photo Tour of Team Stimey's Trip to San Francisco
You've already heard about the awesomeness that was our trip out to San Francisco. That was on a Saturday. Before we checked into our hotel, it seemed to be good form to coax Alex out of his nightmarish plane ride-induced bad mood, so we hit one of his favorite places.
It worked. Alex was sated, luggage was unloaded at our hotel, and because we had landed in the Bay Area before noon, we were left with many, many hours to hit as many tourist traps in the City as we could.
Quinn was in charge of the map.
We started by meeting my friend S, who I will refer to here as an old college chum because we spent a lot of time together back when we both went to school at Berkeley. She knows many of my secrets.
We figured the little dudes would enjoy Fisherman's Wharf, so we forced S to meet us there. Weirdly, even though she's lived in the Bay Area for many, many years, she had never been there. So we did it Team Stimey style.
After a false start wherein I nearly attacked a stranger on a bike calling her S, we met up and started wandering down the waterfront. Even though we had flown all the way across the country and were in an exciting new city, the little dudes were most excited to find a tiny playground on the waterfront.
This is where Jack started his cult.
I had forgotten that most of what you do at Fisherman's Wharf is spend money. And look at sea lions. We didn't do much of the first, but we did a lot of the latter.
After watching these sea lions intently for about five minutes, Jack turned around, looked at me, and in the most sincere tone of voice asked, "Can we have a sea lion for a pet?"
Then I died of cuteness and was only resurrected when S suggested we walk down to the little stretch of beach at the end of the road. Forgetting about little legs and their effect on distance, we all agreed that this sounded like a fabulous idea. We also forgot about the effect of water on children, but more on that later.
So we walked and we walked and we assured the kids that it was just past these buildings up ahead, and, hmmmmm, I guess it's farther than that, but it's gotta be just up here somewhere, and fuck if I'm going to even think about the walk back to the car, which we parked approximately 28 miles in the other direction.
long it would take him to disassemble the bike?
We finally made it down to the beach. As I rolled their pants up, I extracted promises from all of my children to only go in as far as they could without getting their clothes wet.
They all agreed and then Quinn ran directly into the Bay, resulting in his complete soaking, as well as S's complete soaking when she ran in after him to save his life.
We eventually had to make our way back. We had to forcibly remove a shivering Quinn from the beach. He was practically blue, but had enjoyed his walk down the beach with S so much that he fought us tooth and nail when we tried to extract him from the sand.
I had brought enough spare clothes for Quinn to be warm, but Sam, who had disregarded my Wet Pants Warning, had to walk back to the car in soaking wet jeans.
It was a long walk, I tells ya.
But we did get to see an R2D2 mailbox. I embarrassed everybody in my group by squealing, jumping up and down, and making my children pose in front of it. And then Alex proved himself to be a true member of Team Stimey by making Jack hug it.
We adjourned back to our hotel, where we had an adjoining room with my mom. This was totally the best because all three children prefer to sleep with her. Alex and I each got our very own double bed.
The next day we got to see a lot of old friends, some of whom introduced Quinn to trail mix...
...and some of whom were women I met in my very first moms group mere weeks after Sam was born. Although I keep in touch with them now and then via email, I had not seen any of them for more than five years. Somehow their children, who were mere toddlers when I last saw them, had turned into Sam-sized kids who played with iPhones and were excited to see High School Musical 3. I'm still not sure how that happened.
Monday we met some friends for dinner, but we had the full day before then to take Team Stimey (and my mom) on a quick tour of the Bay Area. We did this by eating our way through the Bay Area. Over the course of our trip, we went to Fentons, Zachary's, Genova, Cole Coffee (nee Royal Coffee) and more, all of our old haunts, except we didn't get to hit Bongo Burger, which is one of my favorite places in the entire world.
My mom and I had some shopping to do, so we traveled to Emeryville, where there is one small circle of
It's funny how a little circle of Astroturf can make kids happy. They would have played for hours and hours.
But we dragged them away to feed them ice cream and to take them to an actual park, where Alex did a little bit of stalking.
Then we headed off to Lake Merritt to feed the birds. I used to run around Lake Merritt almost every day when I last lived in Oakland. I miss it a lot. Lake Merritt is also home to Oakland's urban goose population. The last time I had taken a child to feed birds there, Sam was one and half years old and pigeons tried to land on him to get to his bread.
The birds were even more unruly this time. One goose bit Jack on his butt, causing him to protect it by leaning against trees and benches. But he, and the rest of Team Stimey, loved it. We (and by "we," I mean "I") did a lot of jumping up and down and squealing.
I don't think we should overlook the possibility that the goose bit Jack because Jack was a threat to their food source:
At least my mother kept her dignity that day.
The next day (and this will wrap up soon, if you're still with me) was Tuesday, the day my sister got married. I covered that before, so I'll just show you photos of the trip Alex, the little dudes, and I took to the Golden Gate bridge between picking my sister and her family up at the airport, and going to City Hall
I'd like to pose a question here. Why do otherwise normal people (I'm not calling us normal, there were other people there too) insist on taking photos around statues? I don't know what the hell this statue represents or whom it portrays, but here we are, standing next to it.
I attempted to get some photos worthy of holiday cards with all three of my kids in it and the bridge in the background. FAIL.
Hey, wait, all three of them are here! But wait, it's the backs of their heads.
From here we went to the wedding, and a delicious dinner in the city. My mom transfered over to my sister's hotel that night to watch her kids, so we had to share our beds with our (oversize) children. Bummer.
But it wasn't that big of a deal because we had to get up at 4 a.m. anyway to put them on a plane and cross our fingers that no one would projectile vomit. And guess what? No one did. In fact, our first flight (the long one) had little TV screens in front of every seat. You were supposed to have to pay to use it, but for some reason, the movies, games, and TV were free.
Honestly, I was more relaxed during those five hours than I normally am.
Thanks to those of you (Mom? Ann? S?) who read all the way to the end here. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that I don't have to document every. single. thing. I do here on my blog, but for some reason, I really wanted to get this down.
And now, I swear I'm done talking about Team Stimey's epic trip to California.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Sam and the Wizard in Oz
For those of you who are not aware of this book (although I imagine most of you are), it is part of a series of Oz books that followed The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Now, while The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with its various permutations and forms is an amazing story, it is not the Oz book that I fell in love with. I fell in love with Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The Road to Oz, and the The Emerald City of Oz.
I loved reading about the Nome King and his underground mine. I delighted in the desert that surrounded Oz, and in the relationship between Ozma and Dorothy, who, in the books, looks nothing like Judy Garland. I wanted to learn more about Tik-Tok of Oz, and the Patchwork Girl of Oz, and I checked those books out from the library over and over.
I imagined that the fantasy land of Oz might be something Sam would enjoy, so I bought The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, imagining the two of us cuddled together night after night as I read a chapter a day. After we finished that book, we would move on to the next, and not only would I get to expose Sam to the world of Oz, but I would get to reread the stories and remember what I loved so dearly about the books.
So one day after his birthday, I read the first chapter to Sam. And he was duly unimpressed. It was several days later before I could entice him back to let me read chapter two to him. This chapter is quite exciting what with munchkins, the promise of wizards, and the squishing of a witch.
I finished reading the chapter just as some friends pulled up for a playgroup, and I put the book down. We played with our friends and after they left, I was returning a phone call when Sam came up with the book.
"We'll read another chapter as soon as I get off the phone," I said, completely thrilled that Sam liked the book too.
But when I got off the phone, do you know what I found? I found him well past where we had left off together—he was reading it himself. And he wouldn't stop. He sat on the couch for two hours and read. He read in the car on the way to speech therapy. He read while Jack got his therapy. He turned on his car light on the way home so he could read in the car some more.
I'm completely devastated, of course.
I mean, sure he's reading a chapter book by himself; sure he picked a book over a video game while in a waiting room; sure he loves the book the way I did.
But, dammit, I was going to read it to him.
I'll get over the bitterness, but it's going to take time. Sam got way too old, way too fast.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Scary Engines, Perfect Posts, and Thanks
Today we were watching Sprout when Thomas came on. Quinn insisted that he wanted to watch it, but his behavior seemed counter-indicative to his statement.
When I tried to call Q on his aversive behavior, he said that he did want to watch it, but that he wanted "to watch it from far, far away."
I don't believe him when he says he's not afraid.
Thanks to the fabulous Tech Savvy Mama for awarding my San Francisco or Bust post as an October Perfect Post. At least we got something out of those plane trips.
Thank you, Leticia! You are awesome!
See more Perfect Posts here and here.
Also, thanks to my mother-in-law, who sent terrific Halloween packets for my kids (and the grownups). She always manages to send these things that the children absolutely adore. One of the things in these packages were toilet/plunger Fun Dip thingys. I thought they were insane, but the little dudes were really excited. And that's kind of what matters.
Confidential to my mother-in-law: We're all thinking of you and sending you love! And you always make the little guys very happy!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
My Sister Got Married!
I know, I know, you are aware of this and probably sick to death of hearing about it, but I'm pretty delighted with our whole trip. I'm still trying to decide if I should bore you with a travelogue of the days leading up to the wedding because we packed a lot of stuff into five days.
Regardless, I am going to tell you a little bit about my sister's beautiful wedding. She was married at City Hall in San Francisco, which is a gorgeous building and a wonderful (and apparently dirt cheap) place to get married.
They hired a photographer to take advantage of the setting and event. I piggybacked on his efforts and took photos with my lame little camera at the same time he took his professional photos. So, Ann and Stephanie, when you get your photos back? That little flash of light to the right of every photo is from my camera. Sorry. But look!
I missed a good chunk of the ceremony because I was trying to talk Ann and Stephanie's younger son down from separation anxiety. He was NOT COOL with not being right in the middle of the ceremony. Fortunately, the ceremony was about five minutes long, and then the little guy got to go get his hug from his mom(s).
And Quinn caught the bouquet!
Congratulations to my sister, Ann, and my sister-in-law, Stephanie. You have already shared so much and created a beautiful family together. Here's to many years of more of the same and even better.
Much love to your family!
And sorry for this, but I've got to politicize this a little.
How does this...
...threaten this?
Because I've thought about it and thought about it and I really, honestly cannot come up with anything that is even slightly threatening about two people who love each other making a legal family. And I really can't see how same-sex marriage threatens opposite-sex marriage. I can't find any sense in it.
Honestly, if anything is threatening my man/woman marriage, it's me being an asshole. Gay people have little or nothing to do with it.
Read more about my trip to my sister's wedding at DC Metro Moms.
I'm not a very political gal, but I gotta do this. I'm not under the delusion that I'm going to be changing anyone's mind about how they're going to vote. But if you're in California, please vote no on 8. And if you live anywhere in the United States, please vote for Obama.
But mostly, please vote. (Just not in my line. I don't want to be there for hours and hours.)
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Tricks and Treats
About a month ago my kids and I were chatting about Halloween costumes. Jack wanted to be Superman. I was thrilled because Sam was Superman last year, so we already had the costume.
Then Sam said he wanted to be Superman. And then Quinn said he wanted to be Superman.
Damn kids and their conforming.
I knew for a fact that I wasn't going to buy a second or a third Superman costume, so I started listing other things they could be: Batman, a dragon, Thomas the Tank Engine, a Jedi, and more.
Jack still wanted to be Superman. Quinn decided Thomas would be great, but he wanted to be "snowy Thomas." And Sam finally said, "Fine, I'll be the dragon."
Awesome kids and their picking costumes we already have.
I was completely stoked and pretty pleased with myself until October 30 when Sam got off the bus and announced he wanted to be Luke Skywalker. It was bad enough that Sam's response to, "But we don't have a Luke Skywalker costume," was, "But we can buy one!" Even worse was the way Quinn's eyes opened wide and he realized he was allowed to change his mind too.
Damn kids and their giving each other ideas.
Later, when I thought more about it, I realized that I could create a Jedi costume out of things we already had. I told Sam I could do it, but that it wouldn't be ready for school. He was thrilled and happily said he'd be a dragon at school and a Jedi for trick or treating and then gave me a giant hug.
Awesome kid giving me love.
Halloween morning Quinn decided he wanted to be Superman. Fortunately we have an extra Superman cape and some Superman gloves that Jack wasn't using. But when we got to school and he saw another kid wearing a Thomas costume, he decided he wanted to be Thomas for trick or treating.
Hilarious kid being a crazy person.
Taking Quinn to his preschool for the Halloween parade.
Watching Jack in his first elementary school Halloween parade.
Seeing Jack be a good big brother at his Halloween party.
Quinn and I were going to Sam's party.
Turns out that was because he assumed he was coming too.
Turns out he was right.
Watching Sam play Halloween Bingo and stuff his face at his class party.
Had I known, I would have brought bigger pockets.
Making a kick-ass (If I do say so myself) Jedi costume for Sam in about 10 minutes.
Finding out that Thomas the Tank Engine keeps a light saber at the ready.
Quinn tripped over it and fell three times, requiring much frantic
looking for candy in piles of leaves with a flashlight.
Seeing Jack completely happy with his ONE costume.
Inviting myself and three kids over to someone else's house for Halloween dinner.
Trick or treating with daddy, who pretty much ran home to be there on time.
Or both.
So, to tally up: three kids, five costumes, two Halloween parades, three class parties, one dinner of the traditional mummy hot dogs, one trick or treat session, and a shitload of candy.
Totally a treat.


text:
Use text-messaging applications to keep in contact with those people that matter to your organisation.
Mobile colleagues
With more and more employees working away from the office, ensuring that each mobile colleague receives key messages promptly becomes ever more important. Messages need to be relayed swiftly to enable action to be taken.
Perhaps a client needs an urgent call returned, the meeting time has been brought forward or tomorrow's sales meeting is now being held in the Ascot Suite. The TextAnywhere service delivers the message direct to the mobile colleague in a non-intrusive way and without the need for a more expensive mobile call.
With the quality of client sales support that an organisation delivers to its clients significantly affecting a client's loyalty, keeping in contact with each client is of critical importance.
Whether it is to update a client with the resolution progress of a logged problem, providing seminar location details or confirming receipt of a client's order, keeping in contact with your clients shows each client that they are at the heart of your organisation.
With local authorities and public sector organisations striving to implement the e-Government initiative to help deliver better public services, better communication with citizens is a key component to success. With the vast majority of citizens owning mobile phones the opportunity exists to utilise the TextAnywhere service to deliver relevant information to individuals or groups of citizens.
To reduce appointment no-shows, citizens could be reminded of next-day appointments. Young citizens could have information on local activities and amenities provided on a regular basis. Updates on the progress of citizen enquiries can be provided to citizens from the TextAnywhere service.
With over 2.5 million GP hours, equating to over £300m, being wasted in patients not turning up for appointments (according to a 2002 NHS survey), the opportunity exists to save significant sums by encouraging patients to attend their appointments.
By using the TextAnywhere service, patients can be reminded a week or a day before their appointment with a message direct to their mobile phones (with permission secured first). This facility is applicable to GPs, dentists, hospitals and other bodies that have appointments at the cornerstone of their organisation.
Each of us have favourite shops and restaurants that we visit on a regular basis. Most of us wouldn't mind being contacted on an infrequent basis with relevant information, promotions or offers from such establishments.
Perhaps a restaurant could encourage us to attend on a less popular night of the week by offering a free appetiser or a bottle of wine. A taxi service could let its clients know the number and make of the taxi waiting outside to take them home. A car dealer could inform us that a new demonstrator is now available for us to test drive.
The TextAnywhere service enables retailers to cost-effectively, easily and swiftly remain in contact with its clients, encouraging each client to return and invest further.
Business partners
Being in contact with other parties important to your organisation can also be aided by the TextAnywhere service. Whether it be informing contractors of a new job that needs addressing swiftly or sharing promotional success with reseller partners.
No hidden charges for replies, support or features. Just pay for the services you use.


text:
I must admit, I am loving the hunt for a good cup of coffee these days. Having made arrangements to meet a friend at Proud Mary, I woke up feeling pretty excited about my visit to this auspicious North Melbourne cafe today.
After a sweat-filled workout session in the gym this morning, I was feeling ready for lunch and a good strong coffee.
I just needed to do a couple of chores before catching the tram and arriving at Proud Mary just before one o'clock. It was already buzzing, but I managed to grab a seat by the window whilst a friendly waitress took my order for a skinny latte.
The menu here is split into breakfast and lunch options, which I perused over with much anticipation and rumbling tummy. Drinking my lovely latte - it was smooth, strong, but not so much so, and it went down a real treat.
My friend arrived just after I finished my latte, whilst at the same time, a table was being vacated which we grabbed. We ordered the pork belly toasted sandwich ($15.50) to share.
It came with a lovely rocket salad on the side. Apologies for the partially eaten sandwich in the photo. I was simply too hungry to remember to take the 'picture perfect' sandwich before digging in. It was mmm, so utterly yummy, the pork simply melted off the fat (which I cut off) and the paprika aioli was the perfect accompaniment. All in all, a yummy-licious, lip smacker of sandwich.
I finished off my lunch with another coffee - a skinny flat white. It came in a gorgeous retro blue coffee cup and saucer. Retro blue and white being the colours of the salt and pepper shakers too! In fact, there is a rather retro feel to this place which I love.
Anyhow, back to the coffee, I loved my flat white just as much as the latte. I think the coffee here is pretty darn good, if not great!
Service is friendly and attentive here, which is always a bonus in my books. And a definite thumbs up in terms of how I view a place. Although not quite as funky and grungy as Auction Rooms or St. Ali in décor, Proud Mary is certainly worth seeking out for their food and their great coffee.
Proud Mary
172 Oxford Street (cnr Stanley St), Collingwood, VIC 3066
Tel: +61 (0)3 9417 5930
Mon-Fri: 7am-4pm
Sat-Sun: Sun: 8am-4pm