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LOS ANGELES--Causeway Capital Management LLC today communicated that it has amended its substantial holding notifications with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) regarding holdings of shares in Akzo Nobel NV. Most recently, in July 2016, Causeway had notified the AFM of both a substantial holding of voting rights and a substantial holding of a capital interest. Causeway has been advised, however, that because it acts as a discretionary investment manager on behalf of its institutional clients, Causeway does not have a reportable beneficial ownership interest in the shares in the portfolios managed for its institutional clients, except where it acts as the manager and sponsor of investment funds in which case the capital holding needs to be attributed to Causeway. Accordingly, Causeway has amended its substantial holding notifications with the AFM to reflect that, as of 19 July 2016, Causeway had voting rights to 12,622,992 shares in Akzo Nobel, or 5.02% of total outstanding shares, and did not have a capital interest that triggered reporting. Causeway indicated that the revised substantial capital interest reflects a technical correction.
About Causeway
Established in 2001, Los Angeles based Causeway provides international, global, and emerging markets equity investment management services to institutional clients including corporations, pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, superannuation funds, public retirement plans, Taft-Hartley pension plans, endowments and foundations, mutual funds and other collective investment vehicles, charities, private trusts and funds, wrap fee programs, and other institutions. Causeway's international and global value equity strategies use team based, value-driven investment disciplines that combine in-depth research and analysis, active portfolio construction, and proprietary risk management. Causeway also manages quantitative emerging markets and international small cap strategies and a global absolute return strategy.
The firm, wholly-owned by its employees, manages over $46.4 billion in total assets as of 28 February 2017. More information on Causeway's strategies and the firm's investment philosophy and team is available online at www.causewaycap.com.
Investing involves risk including loss of principal. In addition to the normal risks associated with investing, international investments may involve risk of capital loss from unfavorable fluctuation in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles or from economic or political instability in other nations. Emerging markets involve heightened risks related to the same factors as well as increased volatility and lower trading volume. Investments in smaller companies involve additional risks and typically exhibit higher volatility.


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Sponsored By
Women Found Guilty, Fined For Abandoning Dying Puppy On North SideThree women were found guilty of ill treatment of a dog Thursday regarding an animal cruelty case from September.
Truck Driver Fined $10,000 After Causing Greene Co. Bridge Collapse A truck driver from West Virginia has been fined $10,000 for causing part of an historic bridge in Greene County to collapse.
Don't Get Too Close To The Bald Eagles, Or You Could Be FinedPittsburgh's abuzz about the pair of bald eagles and their three eggs, which are just about ready to hatch.
Keidel: Tomlin Goes From Black & Gold To Black & BlueBut no matter how black or gold my allegiance, no matter how nostalgic I feel about them. and no matter how deep the Rooney roots run in NFL history, there's no excuse for their head coach's conduct on Thanksgiving.
Colin Dunlap: Officials in Tomlin Incident Must Face Discipline Steelers coach Mike Tomlin got his. And rightly so. But the gettin' can't stop with Mike Tomlin.
Casino Dealer Fined $75K for $200 Theft Dealers at the Rivers and other casinos are under constant surveillance -- and last year, then 26-year-old Mathew Eisenberg was caught skimming $200 from patrons.
Browns Tackle Fined For Hit On Roethlisberger(93-7 The FAN) — Cleveland nose tackle Phil Taylor was fined Wednesday for a hit on Ben Roethlisberger from Thursday night.
Ryan Clark Fined $40K For Hit Against Ravens(93-7 The FAN) — Steelers safety Ryan Clark was fined $40,000 Wednesday for a hit in Sunday night's loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Clark Fined 15K For Hit Against Patriots(93-7 The FAN) — Steelers safety Ryan Clark was fined $15,000 Thursday for a late hit out of bounds on New England tight end Rob Gronkowski in the third quarter of Pittsburgh's 25-17 win Sunday at Heinz Field.
Kemoeatu Fined $25K(93-7 The FAN) — Steelers guard Chris Kemoeatu was fined $25,000 Wednesday for two infractions from Sunday's game at Arizona.
NFL Fines James Farrior $15,000
NFL Fines Polamalu & Taylor
State Rep. Pleads Guilty To Reduced Charge

subset: commoncrawl


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Facebook marketing can help put your business on the map. If you don't know what that means, do not panic. This article will tell you everything you need to know in order to run a successful Facebook campaign and attract the customers you need.
Any online content that you publish should link to your Facebook page. If your site has a blog, include a summary and post links via Facebook. Your Twitter page and other pages can be linked straight to your Facebook account.
It is important to have a lot of followers when using Facebook as a marketing tool. Not too much investment should be put into any promotions until you have thousands of fans. After that, you are sure to see a big jump in conversion rates.
Make sure that you focus on quality when updating your page. Your followers will lose interest quickly if the content in your updates routinely has no value. Keep your updates helpful, educational, or entertaining. Use Facebook Insights to find out which updates are the most successful so you can provide your audience with more similar content.
Companies like car dealers may not need a page on Facebook for their business. Your customers appear randomly, so there's no reason for them to follow all your daily posts. Invest in targeted Facebook ads instead.
When using Facebook to market your business, you may have trouble getting started. An easy way to get going is to put a Facebook button on your web page. This will help customers and visitors connect with your business and is much less intrusive than other forms of marketing. It is easy to update anyone who "likes" you on Facebook on anything happening with your business.
Don't use sub-standard photos when you are adding them to a Facebook page. These photos show others great shots of your business. If you post pictures, use a good camera and only post pictures that are professional.
Always nurture the relationships on Facebook that you have with those you have a chance to interact with. Facebook is a lot like real life in that having a network of contacts can pay off in the long run. Providing valuable, up to date content is on way to keep your customer relationships going well. Don't forget that loyal customers should be rewarded with special deals and promotions.
Do your best to get your customers to interact on your page. For example, if a conversation begins on your page, let it continue. Post deletion or being too controlling may cause negativity to be directed at you. Only intervene if the thread could offend someone.
This article has provided you with an understanding of how to use Facebook to market your business. Get on Facebook right now! You will gain your customer's attention quickly if you begin using Facebook as soon as possible. So, make sure to start as soon as possible.


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Mary Mae's Bar & Kitchen offers a beautiful waterfront location for wedding ceremonies and receptions.
Mary Mae's is an iconic venue perched on the edge of the Brisbane River boasting excellent water vistas.
It offers a number of unique event spaces including private dining areas and alfresco terraces and provides ample free parking.
Mary Mae's offers a beautiful waterfront location for wedding ceremonies and receptions.
With capacity for up to 300 guests cocktail-style or 160 seated guests, it provides a beautiful alfresco setting with picturesque views of Brisbane River.
Mary Mae's delivers quality food and unwavering service to ensure your event is a memorable one.
Emily and her team at the Watt Bar were fantastic. The venue, atmosphere and food was incredible. The Watt Bar provided many different wedding package options to choose from and were happy to change things around. The food is cooked on-site in the open kitchen and was delicious and plenty of it.
Hi Kellie, thank you for your glowing review. We're so glad you chose up to celebrate your big day with, and wish you all the best. From the team at WATT
Had our wedding here at Watt Restaurant and Bar and it was the best decision we have made as a married couple. the event coordinator Jacqui was such a doll to work with! Will definitely recommend this place to other newlyweds! Thumbs up for Watt!
Hi Lena, thank you for choosing to host your special day with us at WATT and we can't thank you enough for your recommendation. We wish you all the best and hope to see you again at WATT soon. - the team at WATT
In late April we had out wedding reception at the Watt, Brisbane Powerhouse. The service, attention to detail and food were all spectacular. Jamie Byrne and Chef, Michael Harris, were an outstanding team and to be perfectly honest, we wouldn't change a thing.
From the initial planning stages, through to the day after the event, they were professional, courteous and very responsive. Jamie ensured the venue, with all its elements was exactly what we wanted, while Michael built a delicious meal around our tastes. We have had many guests say it's the best wedding food they have ever had. The setting was magical with the river as a perfect backdrop and canapés as the sun set over New Farm Park.
The Watt is the perfect venue for a wedding and we would recommend it to anyone.
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We spent an afternoon pushing around NYC with our newest team rider, Luca Zeolla, on the Maestro Mini push board. Luca is our newest rider from Bustin Street Crew Team and we'll be releasing more videos of him soon thrashing our street decks. Today just sit back and enjoy the video with chill vibes from NYC (and if you plan to have kids one day, just pray they are as cool as Luca).
Rider: Luca Zeolla
Board: Maestro Mini (http://www.bustinboards.com/maestro-mini-longboard-details)
Wheels: Five-O 70mm Sniper
Trucks: Paris/Bustin Collab Matte Black
Music: "Down Home" – DJ Numark


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Keep Your Body As Active Fresh Every Day By Doing Simple Work Out
Having a daily physical workout will keep your body as active and fresh that assist keep the doctors' ways. Therefore, it is very necessary to have Exercise for 10 to 15 minutes every day. With the of the online source, you can work with the different physical work in an easy manner that assist keep the body as active and fresh. Apart from that, you can find out number videos for the physical workout that assist go for the workout in easy manner. Even now you can find the number of the gym to keep the body with the six packs.
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A second glimpse on the Eraserheads archives. This is a continuation of my Glimpse of the past, Eraserheads post. In that post, I take a look back at their first official released magazine, "Pillbox".
Now, here's the sequel to their first magazine "Pillbox" entitled "Pillbox : Volume 3". Although the name says volume 3, don't get confused because this is just the second release of "Pillbox". They really intended to name it that way, I don't know why.
I knew that they released a sequel to "Pillbox" before but I didn't get the chance to read this magazine. I just read this last week in a soft copy. It contains articles from the band and some artworks just like the previous one. It's been 11 years since they first released this magazine.
I can still remember those times that their music rules the music industry. I always hear their songs on the radio, whenever, wherever and however. They released lots of songs and most of them hit number one on the music charts. I am hoping that they will release a new album although each of the band members are now playing with their own different bands.
credits: schizo-archives.
One Comment on "A second glimpse, Eraserheads music"
You can track this conversation through its atom feed.
thanks for this. I'm an avid fan of the Eraserheads too!
they rocked the Philippine music industry. Hope they will release a new album although they are already disbanded.


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We had an appointment with the Cardiologist later that day.
It's funny how quickly things move along. I'd gone from being okay to requiring heart surgery.
The Cardiologist went over the findings and talked about stents versus open heart surgery. He didn't need to convince me in favour of open heart surgery.
While stents have their place, surgery seems to be a more "permanent" solution and I was happy to go down that path.
He would get opinions from colleagues and then advise me of his full recommendation.
"I'll be in touch in two days."
July 4 (evening)


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Hi I'm new to java. I managed to create an application using the standard graphics that came with net beans but it ran really slow so now I'm trying to install java3d or jogl to do opengl for graphics but cant get it to work. I downloaded them I have the jar files and the dlls and stuff. There's probably some linking I need to do. In an example program I had it said to import javax.media and stuff and media's not even there.
-Problem solved-


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A number of schools throughout the province kept track of the recent Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, some of them using the medal counts to learn mathematics skills or learn world geography, and others using them to inspire outdoor exploration as part of their physical education programs.
Students at Sprucewood Academy in Grand Falls-Windsor recently held a mini-Olympics throughout their school, ensuring every student was involved in their version of the games. Embracing this unique approach, the students seemingly enjoyed themselves and learned a lot. A reporter from the local newspaper, the Advertiser, recently visited and profiled the festivities.
The Advertiser (February 22, 2018) - view full story HERE.
Students from Rennie's River Elementary in St. John's also full of Olympic pride and used the event to help realize some student outcomes in areas such as Mathematics and physical education. Attached in a document below is how Rennie's River celebrated what, for many, is a pinnacle of sporting events.


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Grey Lace Trim Ribbed Vest - 6tuc134973844
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You'll love our pretty grey marl vest. Crafted from a soft, cotton rich ribbed fabric, it has a delicate lace trim and a cute bow on the front. Mix and match with other items from this range and you'll be all set for lounging or sleeping in style.
- Grey marl
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The customer and brand answers you'll see above are submitted independently. As we don't review these answers, we can't take responsibility for anything they may say. The responses from Argos colleagues are accurate at the time of publishing. For the latest info, you should check the product page.


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Hi guys,I'm evaluating your Puakma Web Booster for my company and I am having some trouble. I hope you can help me.We have large Excel (XLS) files on our intranet that we want to transfer gzipped. They average 1MB in size. I configured Puakma and it is reducing the file from 1MB to 900kb only :( Looking at the log, I saw that it gets only to a 15% compress ratio for this particular type of file. All other javascript and css average 50 - 70% reductions.I ran a GZIP program over this same Excel file and obtained a 300kb gzipped file ! It led me to the conclusion that your gzip algorithm is completely diferent from Gzip and Zip when encoding binary. I'm not sure if this is a limitation of web serving gzip content and if that would also occur in Apache, for exemple.
Is there anything that I can do to increase this ratio, even if at server's performance decrease ?Thanks in advance.Eduardo de firstname.lastname@example.com


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Natwest t20 Blast Gloucestershire vs Surrey Preview Prediction Ball By ball :- The next match of Natwest t20 Blast is between the Surrey and Gloucestershire. These both teams will lock their horn on July 6, 2016, at the County ground, Bristol.
Michael Klinger is the captain of Gloucestershire team and he holds the key to the success of his team. The X-factor for this team is Hamish Marshal, this former New Zealand opening batsman has been in terrific form in this tournament so far.
Apart from Marshal, the other two players who could prove to be the real game changer for Gloucestershire team are Andrew Tye and Cameron Bancroft.
This team has won their last match against the Somerset. Michael Klinger was brilliant in that game as he scored a match-winning hundred in the way of chasing the target of 167-7. That inning was magnificent and now his team will look at him, for more performances like that in the upcoming matches.
On the other side, Gareth Batty is the captain of Surrey team and he is under pressure as his team lost their last match against the Essex team.
Their batting unit was completely shattered by the average bowling performance of Essex bowlers. Yes, guys, I am saying the average bowling performance of Essex.
Even the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Dwayne Bravo failed to deliver in that match. The major concern for this team is to find the appropriate replacement of Kumar Sangakkara and Dwayne Bravo, as both these are currently playing the Carribean Premier League in the Carribean.
This team now need to regroup and they must work on their strategies to come out hard in the next match against the Surrey team.
Michael Beard, Patrick Grieshaber, Dan Housego, Craig Miles, Liam Norwell, Ian Saxelby, Jack Taylor, Miles Hammond, Tom Hampton, Cameron Herring, David Payne, William Tavare, George Hankins, Hamish Marshall, Michael Klinger(c), Ian Cockbain, Chris Dent, Benny Howell, Gareth Roderick(w), Kieran Noema-Barnett, Andrew Tye, Thomas Smith, Graeme van Buuren, Matt Taylor, Chris Liddle, Josh Shaw, Cameron Bancroft.
Ben Foakes(w), Gareth Batty(c), Ravi Rampaul, James Burke, Jade Dernbach, Stuart Meaker, Jason Roy, Dominic Sibley, Mark Footitt, Mathew Pillans, Conor McKerr, Matt Dunn, Arun Harinath, Freddie van den Bergh, Azhar Mahmood, Gary Wilson, Steven Davies, Kumar Sangakkara, Rory Burns, Zafar Ansari, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Tom Curran.
Gloucestershire team is looking favourite to win this match.


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Sharon Schneider is founder of Aim Local: Chicago, a monthly service that delivers boxes of gifts to subscribers.
The boxes are filled with three to five items from local small businesses.
"It's a product for customers that want to do local," Schneider said. "We're in love with this tech startup idea of huge growth and chasing unicorns, but the way our neighborhoods thrive is when our small businesses thrive."
Aim Local launched in March 2016. Schneider previously founded Moxie Jean, formerly Good Karma Clothing for Kids, as a place for moms to buy high-end, gently used kids clothes online. The company was acquired in August 2015 by Schoola, a marketplace for gently used women's and children's clothes. Schoola says it donates 40 percent of proceeds to more than 13,000 schools.
"We were both mission-focused, and for me it was been bigger than just selling used clothes," Schneider said. "It's been about the idea that if we can make resale mainstream, we can change the way that Americans consume new material, which has hugely problematic consequences for the rest of the world."
Schneider is also a leading voice on the issue of women in technology and the challenges they face. She is a co-founder of Women Tech Founders.
"The good news is that this climate forges women founders who are tough. The bad news is that women who are tired of the daily fight for credibility decide to take their talents to a less wearying industry. And that's a loss for all of us — consumers seeking solutions to our problems, tech executives seeking talent, investors seeking high-potential startups," she said.
Moxie Jean was a 2012 graduate of accelerator program Techstars Chicago, then known as Excelerate Labs. Schneider serves as a member of the city's Technology Diversity Council and was a founding adviser to the Impact Engine accelerator program for businesses that address social and environmental challenges.
Previously, she was a philanthropic adviser to private foundations. She lives in Mount Prospect with her husband Billy and their three children.
Find her on social: @sharonschneider Sharon Schneider
Age: 44 •Website: weaimlocal.com
More on Sharon Schneider
Chicago-made gifts featured in new business launched at Technori – March 30, 2016
Moxie Jean bought by San Francisco-based clothing marketplace Schoola – Aug. 19, 2015
Swap.com heats up clothing-consignment battle with Moxie Jean – July 9, 2015
Women Tech Founders take the stage to inspire careers in technology – Jan. 28, 2015
Successful woman technology leader needed at Chicago's 1871 – Aug. 29, 2014
Resale is hot for back to school – Aug. 11, 2014
Chicago need not import 'brogramming' culture – Nov. 17, 2013
Search more on Sharon Schneider in Blue Sky


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Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Cardamom is a tropical plant native to the southern parts of India in an area called the Cardamom Hills. It is in the ginger family and produces aromatic pods filled with reddish-brown seeds that are a primary ingredient in curry. Cardamom will only flower and fruit in tropical locations, so growing the plant in the United States will require a heated greenhouse, or it can be grown in subtropical locations as a foliage plant. The plant rises from rhizomes and produces pointed lance-shaped leaves in a low mounding habit. The flowers are attractive clusters 2 feet long in white or yellow with lilac or pink interior markings.
Plant the rhizome in a pot filled with 2 parts each of potting soil and peat and 1 part of manure. The peat will provide a high acid level which cardamom needs, and the manure will begin to gently provide nutrients when the plant sprouts. Plant the rhizome 2 to 3 inches deep and brush the soil mixture over it and press down.
Water the pot until the water runs out of the drainage holes and it is evenly moist. Place it in the greenhouse or in a warm bathroom that gets a lot of shower use. The temperature needs to be a minimum of 21.7 degrees Celsius and humidity very high.
Place the pot on a saucer that has a layer of pebbles at the bottom. Fill it with 1 inch of water. The evaporation of the water will moisten the air around the plant. You should also mist the plant daily to moisten the leaves. Water the pot at least once a week and never let it dry entirely out. Stick a finger in to the second knuckle to ensure that the soil is damp.
Provide shade once the rhizome sprouts. You may have to move it to a sheltered part of the greenhouse or tack up a sheet over the window to give indirect light. Make sure you choose a permanent location for the plant as it doesn't like to be moved.
Fertilise the cardamom plant three times during the growing season. In mid-spring apply a household plant food diluted in the irrigation water. Dissolve 1 tsp of granular food per gallon of water. Divide the fertiliser application evenly over the growing season with the last one in early August.
Most recent
- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images


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Plan for Going Home
Posted by Steph in
Chemo Round 6 & Transplant, Home during Treatment, Hospital Stay, on Thursday, March 29. 2007 at
She gave Scott Rx which have to be filled before Asher is discharged; so Scott will drop those at the pharmacy down the street from the hospital tomorrow.
If Home Health can deliver TPN, pump(s), and anything else needed through them, on Friday (3/30) AND a nurse can come out Friday (3/30), Asher will be discharged Friday (3/30). If Home Health can't get everything that fast, then Asher has to stay at the hospital till Monday (4/2).
Sounds like Asher will have clinic visits, at the hospital, twice a week at first. Also, until Day 100 (100 days post stem cell transplant), Asher will be under the care of the transplant team and after that he will go back to care under his oncologist.
I think Asher would have his first post-treatment MRI at the end of May (90 days after his last one) and then every 3 months for the first year, or maybe it is 90 days after transplant, I'm not sure, have to check on this.
If I think of more I will post it in this blog entry.
Night Nurses
Posted by Steph in
Chemo Round 6 & Transplant, Counts, Family, Hospital Stay, Infection, on Thursday, March 22. 2007 at
Day 9 post stem cell infusion
I used to just think the difference between night nurses was how quiet some were and how loud others were. Now I know the real difference are the ones that just hang and run meds and the ones that care.
Asher got a nurse tonight that has never taken care of Asher. There aren't too many nurses left here at PCH 2nd floor in that situation, but we got one tonight. That fact doesn't bother me, but I found it odd she never asked anything about Asher or what she could do for him tonight or anything prior to him going to sleep.
This nurse doesn't check one diaper. Curious why she wasn't warned that he had C.diff and fills a diaper every 1-2 hours. She hangs her med and leaves. She has no intention of checking Asher or his diaper at that time either because she comes in without a yellow gown and gloves on. So, already two times tonight I watched her come in, start a med, and leave. I get up, Asher's diaper is so full it has overflowed to the chuck (pad on his bed) so I change his diaper and the chuck. The third time two pumps were beeping for 10 minutes before I got up, shut them off, and then changed another diaper. Seconds later she came in, "Sorry I let them beep." Then she said, "The last stool had blood in it." Yeah, I know...I changed his diaper....oh well....
In situations like this, I prefer to just stay up all night and take care of Asher because I want someone who isn't afraid to change a diaper or afraid to touch his head to see if a fever is starting....so that's me tonight.
And, the moral of the story....I am really amazed and thankful for the night nurses that are willing to stand by a kid and take care of them when a mother or father is tired and needs some sleep at night! Asher and I have been quite blessed with a few wonderful night nurses the past 9 days, one in particular....she had Asher 3 nights last week and 3 nights this week. Whenever I would wake up, she was always there with Asher. She stayed by him during vomitting, she changed all his diapers at night, she mixed a special cream-powder for his butt to protect it from all the diahrea, she carefully lifted him to weigh him at 6am, he even took Tylenol from her so I could sleep, and she bought him a special Elmo twirly flashing light toy and gave it to him the other night. She's great and she's making such a huge difference! Hope she's back next week so I can tell her just that.
The good news, for tonight, is his temp has been 36.8-37 since 9pm! Yeah Asher!
Counts 3am
wbc 14.5
rbc 3.42
hemoglobin 10.8
hematocrit 29.9
platelets 66
PTT Time 14.3
Fibrinogen 631
Thrombin Time 15.3
D-Dimer 5373
weight 17.6kg I think at 5:30am this morning - the transplant staff said this is okay, but hey, his diapers are barely fitting and we're talking about 3 1/2 lbs extra on him right now
Update 11:00
They are stopping the anti-fungal medicine and the neupogen with his ANC over 10,000. They got the bacteria sensitivities back; the bacteria in his blood (Enterococci) is resistant to Vancomycin so he is getting a different one as of this morning (Linezolid) and he has to get it for 10 days so his hospital stay is for sure another 10 days. They will slowly take other things away too, the morphine, the TPN, etc. He hasn't had a fever since 4pm yesterday. He hasn't thrown up since morning yesterday, I think. His stools are still pretty big/heavy, and he's averaging 8 a day they said (sure seems like more than that to me, but every now and again he will have a urine only diaper).
Asher's skin started peeling yesterday from the Thiotepa chemo skin burns/Paliferim skin rashes. His head and elbow were the first things and now I see his armpits are next. His elbow was really bothering him and he kept rubbing off the dead skin onto his pillow last night.
Asher is up and looking really good. Not as tired anymore and more himself! He's on the couch playing game boy now (I had gone to the shower and he said he wanted to sleep there but I put game boy in his lap just in case and sure enough, when I got back he was playing Curious George). He said to me, "I like you sitting by me." He's too cute.
Asher has started getting nosebleeds. They aren't too severe yet. They started as pink tinged mucus that he just blew out but this morning the other nostril has blood that just runs. So, we'll keep an eye on it today.
So, I asked Asher if he wanted to call his sister to say happy birthday. Asher said, "No. It's my birthday. Cuz I need it more. It's not Lexa's birthday yet. Cuz it's mine." Earlier this morning he said, "I don't know how to make a cake." That came from our conversation on stem cell collection day (when he thought as soon as he got his stem cells he could go home....he was quite upset when I said it would be a few weeks yet) when I told Asher when he was bigger and stronger we'd go home and celebrate Alexa's birthday, make her a cake, and celebrate Easter too, and look for Easter Eggs. So, he remembered that. Anyway, Happy 3rd Birthday, Alexa Belle! Mommy and Asher will celebrate with you soon!
Update 17:00
So Asher was up from about 9am-1:30pm. He sat on the couch with me the entire time and after a shower and dressing change he napped till around 3:30pm. I tried to sneak a little one in there too.
Asher's eyelashes and eyebrows are about gone now, with some just hanging on. I notice his left eyelid isn't opening all the way.
At a "typical lunch time" hour Asher asked for pizza! I was thrilled. He is asking for food. I didn't expect this meant he would eat anything, but I ordered it anyway. While waiting for it (it takes about 45 minutes to get it from room service) he said he wanted mushrooms on it. I tried to tell him the hospital didn't have mushroom pizzas but when we get outta here I'll be sure to get one from Pizza Hut for him. He cried (he is a bit emotional/moody/irritable today, like yesterday, although better today). Anyway, I had ordered cantelope and pizza and potato chips and a chocolate chip cookie. He took a bite of cantelope. He held it in his mouth for a bit and then started to chew it and then whined. He wanted to spit it out. I expected this. But, I'm thrilled that he put it in his mouth! He didn't drink anything today at all. I think I forgot to metion the last two days he had drank a bunch of water, although usually threw it up after.
Asher looks to be back to his almost old self already, schedule wise. Although, he is napping again now, but will probably wake up when Scott gets here.
I talked to the transplant NP around 4:30, during and after she played with Asher and his frog and lizard. She said he is looking great (although she just noticed his runny nose and is talking about swabbing him now, although, she wants to wait to see what his platelets are at because of his nose bleed). She said if Asher is only on the one drug for the Enterococcus, he could go home on it, but it will still probably take about seven days to get him ready to go home. So I told her I want the calories on the TPN cut back. They wouldn't want to cut back on the electrolytes, which makes sense, but in the past we have learned that Asher just won't eat if he is getting TPN or NG tube feedings. So, at least I threw it out there now. Also, Asher's morphine will go to 0.1 continuous tomorrow and we'll see how he does with that. I think he will do okay. We really only push the button when I shower him now because of the bone/skin pain. Oh, I also talked to the NP about cutting back on the antinausea meds, starting with the Ativan, going back to 0.5 if he is still at 1.0 (and she said 0.25 if he is at 0.5 now but I don't think he was yet). I also told her I want the hydroxyzin stopped. She mentioned if he remains fever free (forgot for how long) she will remove one of the other antibiotics too.
In any case, we're on the road to bringing our boy home. It's been an emotional week. When it gets too quiet in this room, with Asher napping, I am brought to tears at just the thought of one part of how this past week was for him, for me, how the past 10 months has been for him. I am sure the pregnancy hormones don't help my emotions right now, but I have decided it is time for a break. After crying several times last night, trying to get some sleep, trying to make sure Asher stayed dry with his diapers, I just need a 3-day weekend. I need to see the girls and just get some fresh air. Hopefully the house isn't too torn apart from the warranty repairs that have reeked havoc there this week. Scott will be here soon and I'll head home. Be back Monday morning or Sunday night I guess.
Oh, and I forgot....
Last night Asher asked to pick from the "prize box" after his dressing change. He just brought it up out of the blue. He used to have only one dressing change a week and get a toy from a prize box while he was in the hospital, but in transplant he gets one every day and has never been offered a "prize." But, the nurse held up the toys outside the window to his room and when Asher picked, she washed them down and brought them to him. So today Asher wanted another prize. However, it isn't safe for Asher to get those toys yet. So, the child life specialist came in with a piggy bank with Asher's name painted on it and she said Asher would get a ticket for each dressing change. I talked to Asher and we agreed after five tickets we will call the child life gal and he will get to pick a prize worth five tickets. At first the said, "No, I get five tickets," he meant for today's dressing change. I reminded him he gets one ticket each dressing change and after he has five (so Monday) he will get to pick a special prize (one that is set aside for transplant kids - mainly that it is brand new).
A good first day of chemo
Posted by Scott in
Chemo Round 6 & Transplant, Counts, Hospital Stay, on Monday, March 5. 2007 at
Today is the start of chemotherapy Carboplatin, Day -8
Last night was fairly uneventful. We started mouthcare which will be done 4x per day from now on, and started to get Asher used to taking his other mouth meds. Asher didn't have a problem with any of them with the exception of the salt-water that he has to swish with prior to taking any of the others.
At about 4am, Asher woke up while the nurse was taking night labs and was very angry and didn't want to go back to sleep. After about two hours, he fell sound asleep after he was weighed. They'll be weighing him twice per day now, 6am and 6pm. Asher will NOT like being woke up at 6am to be weighed. To make it less painful, I just held him today and he was weighed.
Shortly after Asher was weighed, the nurse came in all concerned. "Asher has gained a lot of weight." I looked at him perplexed. He said, he's 16.8kg now and the nurse wrote down 14.6kg this afternoon. I told him that she must have transposed the numbers because he really was 16.4kg and he kind of looked relieved and went on with his business.
The oral medicines that Asher is taking
Acyclovir - 200MG/5ML - Dose: 160MG - Amount 4ML
anti-viral, throughout day 100.
Sulfamethoxazole (bactrim) w/TMP SUSP - Dose: 50MG - Amount 6.25 ML
stops at day -3. Restart after day 50 if platelets high enough
Lansoprazole Oral 3 MG/ML - Dose: 15MG - Amount 5ML
stomach, could switch to IV protonix
Salt Water - Rinse mouth only
Nystatin - Rinse and Swallow - 5ML
Biotine - Rinse and Spit - 5 ML
Meds for Nausea/Anti-Emetic
Zofran has started q4
Dexamethosone (decadron steroid) has started q6
The speech therapist came by this morning to work with Asher on his 'b' and 'd' sounds and they played a little coloring game, and named animals and things with the letters in various positions. After getting over his initial shyness, Asher did very well with her. She's going to try and stop by a few times a week, depending on how Asher is feeling from the therapy.
About an hour after the speech therapist left, Physical Therapy came. This is the same lady that has been with us the whole time and she remarked how well Asher looked and felt. She checked out his feet, ankles, and had him walk a little bit - noting his progress from when she had saw him before with a walker, etc. She ordered a nice squishy play mat for him to have on the floor if he wants to get down there and play.
For lunch, Asher had a banana and some fruit loops. He had some mt. dew to drink.
For dinner, Asher had the turkey out of a lunchables container, 1.5 bowls of lucky charms, and some milk.
Also, today, Child Life stopped by with some toys for Asher. Transplant kids can only have things new in the package brought into them and they can't share anything with any other patients (so we can't go to the playroom and bring toys into him). So, they brought him two Rescue Rangers, a Car Race Track, play-doh, and some art supplies. Asher was taken with the toys for a good couple of hours this afternoon.
At around 4pm, Asher crashed and took a nap right after taking a second shower. Asher will soon be starting taking baths or showers 4 times a day, so I was very happy to find that he actually seems to like washing himself now. We put him in the shower initially at 2pm and honestly he took to the spray head that the shower has attached to it.
Also, sometime in the afternoon, The nutritionist came in and gave a bone marrow transplant menu and explanation of things. Expect TPN around Day 0 she said. The only big change with the BMT diet is that everything needs to either be cooked to the point of killing bacteria or all things must be pasteurized
at about 4:30 pm, Asher ate some fruit loops. He got some food on his chest and asked to take a shower again to wash them off.
Counts from 03-05-2007 16:00
wbc 3.6
rbc 3.41
hemoglobin 10.7
hematocrit 31.3
platelet 432
This evening, after his nap was over at 6pm, Asher got real anxious and demanding. he wanted his mommy. We placed a call to Steph and she came over for a little over two hours. Asher was good while she was here and on her way back home even blew kisses. At about 9:45 pm, Asher had another anxiousness attack. He wanted mommy again, to tell her to come back. Finally, after being talked down and watching a little Baby Einstein, he fell asleep.
I had a discussion with the nurse last evening about Asher's mood. He said he talked to the doctor about Asher's heightened anxiety. Asher is got pretty upset since his nap tonight and twice now has gone a couple of hours crying and yelling for various things. Unsure if this is just anxiety from admission or anxiety triggered from some of the chemos.
Hospital Admission
Posted by Steph in
Chemo Round 6 & Transplant, Counts, Hospital Stay, on Monday, March 5. 2007 at
Asher spent almost the entire morning outside playing in the yard. He even ate lunch out on his picnic table. We ended up really scrambling around noon to hurry up and get the final stuff ready to get out the door on time.
Asher slept in his car seat all the way to the hospital. We got to the hospital shortly after the admit time and I took Asher right up to his room, with no stops between. He wore his mask and stayed in his umbrella stroller. He wouldn't get out to get weighed and when I tried to force him, he kicked and cried. They said we could do it after he got settled in his room. Things happened pretty quickly. We had a nurse that immediately got started checking him, hooking him up to fluids, and bringing us necessary supplies. He had to have blood draws, chest xray, and a double nose swab. He also got a new dressing change - no tegaderm, just gauze and hepafix (I think that's what it is called). Around 6pm he was hooked up to Heprim (sp?). It will run at a very slow rate until discharge, to protect his liver.
During all of this, Asher had a somewhat difficult time. He so did not want to be back in the hospital. (Forgot to mention, he had NO interest in packing his bag at home, so Scott did it.) The first 2 1/2 hours were actually horrible (not somewhat difficult). He didn't want to be hooked up to the IV pole. He wanted to throw things on the floor. He said he didn't like the room and wanted to pick a different one. He cried and screamed and carried on for that entire time. Finally around 4:30 pm he got engrossed enough in Sponge Bob on TV and some little cinnamon covered graham crackers that he actually started to smile and laugh!!! In between things, he said, "I want to go home." Probably three times. I told him it would be a while till we went home.
The room is a private room. VERY different from having a roommate like we have had all the other times. Scott said, "It's almost too quiet." I say, "It's perfect." It allows us to focus on Asher and just Asher.
I had Scott leave a couple of times - one to go get Asher's bins from the car and two, to go get a haircut before a place would close. Asher was upset when Scott went to get his things because he said he didn't want his things. I think he knew that meant we'd be staying awhile. When Scott was gone the second time they had come to do the chest xray and I had to leave the room (cuz I am pregnant) and Asher didn't like that too much. He kept calling out to me and stretching his arm. I was watching him and hoping he'd see I was just outside the door by the window.
The transplant doctor came in after Asher had calmed down, maybe around 5pm. Looked Asher over. She is really great with Asher and even though he wouldn't say one word to her, I think he liked her.
I noticed Asher's hands are SUN BURNED!!! He had a jacked with a hood on today while he was outside, and long pants, but his hands were exposed and for some reason, stupid me, I didn't put sunscreen on his hands or cheeks. His cheeks look more dried and wind burned than sun burned.
Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers and support you have sent us through the guestbook! It means a lot to us!
wbc 4.5 (4-12)
rbc 3.33 (4-5.3)
hemoglobin 10.5 (11.5-14.5)
hematocrit 30.2
Platelet 463 (140-450)
Magnesium 1.9
Phosphorus 5.0
Creatinine 0.29
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 55
Bilirubin 0.3
Insurance Authorization Complete
Posted by Scott in
Chemo Round 6 & Transplant, Hospital Stay, on Friday, March 2. 2007 at
At first, I was very skeptical that the insurance company wanted to go over everything. I was actually pretty irritated and our nurse clinician for transplant even said "You'd think the doctor would be the one to make the final decision", but I guess insurance companies really want to be able to cross their t's and dot their i's when we're talking about something as expensive as transplant.
I believe at the beginning we were told that this is about a $250,000 treatment - Autologous Stem Cell Transplant, including storage of stem cells.
Thankfully, we will be fully in-network for all treatment at the hospital.
Coming Back Up
Posted by Scott in
Chemo Round 5, Counts, Hospital Stay, on Friday, February 16. 2007 at
Asher had an ANC of 140 today. The one oncologist I talked to wasn't expecting him to be showing progress so soon. In fact, two days ago, he said he'd expect Asher to hit ANC 250 next Wednesday. Not sure why he had thought that.
I'm not saying that we're confident that he'll go up tomorrow, but we expect that he'll not go down. At some point, he was even saying that if Asher was above ANC 250, he could go home on Friday. We're a bit sceptical of that since he's getting platelets today and will get blood sometime in the morning. He also hasn't been eating and the doctors want to see good nutrition and probably good fluid intake prior to going home. So, we're probably realistically looking at Saturday assuming that his counts continue to go up and he can stay above 250 and stay healthy without a fever. The doctors lowered his TPN intake to 50% of his daily calories today so that Asher would be more inclined to eat tomorrow. Until his TPN is completely taken off, he will be very unlikely to eat, we know from past experience.
Counts from 02/15/07
wbc 0.4 (4-12)
rbc 2.81 (4-5.3)
hemoglobin 8.7 (11.5-14.5)
hematocrit 23.7
platelet 14 (140-450)
anc 140
magnesium 1.8
phosphorus 4.9
potassium 3.4
Total Cells counted 20
Today, Asher got Platelets. The doctor had wanted us to get platelets when they were between 10-15 and finally, today about 4:40, the platelets started. As I normally had done (or so I thought), Asher was pre-medicated with Tylenol and Benadryl as recommended by the Doctor in order to ensure that Asher didn't get a fever.
Well, the meds worked, but they caused a minor side-effect. Drug induced anger on the part of Asher. For a while after Asher woke up from the Benadryl sleep he was very angry and loud and was not very easy to control. It took him a while to calm down under the watchful eye of the nurses and Grandma and Grandpa. After what you read below, I feel even worse about this happening, because it likely could have been avoided especially because I was at work during this time!
After I arrived back from work, Asher had calmed down and soon showed that he had a bunch of energy. He saw one of the other girl patients running around in the hallway and he wanted to go out there too. With his counts starting to come up a little bit, I figured if he wore a mask he could run around in the hall a little bit now that there were fewer people out there and mostly nurses and other patients roaming the hallway. Asher had a blast running around with his friend! They chased each other in push cars and then ran and ran and ran and ran. Eventually, Asher got extremely tired and just stopped and said "Daddy, I'm done". So back to the room we went, where Asher is happily and sleepily watching some TV and playing with some new books (and getting Rubber Stamp Ink all over his hands!) that he received from my Boss tonight (Thanks Steve & Jill).
Tonight, Steph asked me why we gave Benadryl and Tylenol (because she never premedicates), and I didn't have a good reason. It's just something that I did, based on what a doctor told me early on in the process after Asher got a fever following one of his platelet transfusions (the first one?). Anyway, I decided to do some research on the issue and here's what I came up with after reading the abstracts of a few research reports.
Often, doctors use premedication with acetaminophen (Tylenol) and/or diphenhydramine (Benadryl) for transfusion with blood products in adults and children. This appears to be common practice in most clinics and hospitals without a lot of major research to back the practice. Well, in all of the research reports that I read, "Febrile and allergic transfusion reactions were rare in pediatric patients transfused with irradiated blood products, whether premedication was used or not". So, it appears there's like a 1% chance he'll get a fever, whether or not he gets Tylenol and Benadryl first.
Research Report 1
Research Report 2
The next time we get platelets, we may choose to give Tylenol to control a fever, but I'm pretty sure we won't give Benadryl which will help us avoid the sleep and possible wake-up anger issues.
Sometime over the next 12-18 hours, Asher will get some blood and then we'll await tomorrow's counts to see if his ANC is above 250. We'll see about going home after.
Crying a lot tonight
Posted by Steph in
Chemo Round 5, Hospital Stay, on Wednesday, February 14. 2007 at
Poor Asher was just crying and crying tonight at the hospital and now I'm in tears after hanging up with him 3 times in an hour....good thing I already had the girls in bed by 7:30pm.
During the first call, he was crying so hard but wouldn't talk to me. Then a bit later Scott called me back and said try again and I asked him if he had an owie and he cried, "Yes..." and I said, "Point to where it hurts." And he said, "My tummy hurts." Scott said they already gave Zofran and Morphine. I asked him if he wanted to try crackers and he said yes. But, then the phone rang again (after Scott brought him crackers) and he cried to me, "I don't want crackers. I don't like crackers." So I told him it was OK and he didn't have to eat any. I sang to him (Twinkle Little Star) over the phone and I asked him if he had the bear I brought him yesterday (a bear that Michelle and Erin sent to Asher last fall) and he said he had it and I told him to hug the bear, lay down, and close your eyes....he stopped crying before hanging up, and I hope he's okay. I told him he could call me back if he wanted.
Just breaks my heart and I miss him sooooo much. Sometimes he just needs his mama and this darn flu cough just won't go away....11 days now without seeing my little boy!
Oh, and my worry about his platelets....they are still going down. Scott will probably post what his counts were tonight. BUT, just found out he can't have a transfusion of platelets cuz he's close to transplant they don't want to give him artificial stuff,....platelet transfusions are only platelets that stick around the body for 2 days. So....new stuff to learn as we prepare for transplant....
Gift from a Doctor
Posted by Scott in
Chemo Round 5, Counts, Hospital Stay, on Friday, February 9. 2007 at
4:10am counts
wbc 1.1 (4-12)
rbc 2.69 (4-5.3)
hemoglobin 8.6 (11.5-14.5)
hematocrit 23.8
platelet 157 (140-450)
anc 1078
Methotrexate 0.06
With the methotrexate level below 0.1, we can start neupogen today. Hopefully they will give blood today, too, so his hemoglobin can get a little boost.
Last night Asher received a gift from oncology Dr. W. Apparently, when Dr. W was in here examining Asher last week, Asher asked if he could have a flashlight and lo and behold, Dr. W brought him one of his very own tonight. It's one of those pen lights where you turn the end to get it to turn on. Many of the nurses have the exact light. Asher loves, loves, loves it!
A visit from the Super Bowl Mascot
Posted by Scott in
Chemo Round 5, Hospital Stay, on Thursday, February 8. 2007 at
During 2:30 playroom hours this afternoon, the new arizona super bowl mascot visited all of the playrooms at PCH.
According to Grandma Eunice - who was here playing with Asher while I fixed my laptop @ Work - Asher was very timid around it as he normally has been around big character figures. There was a whole bunch of media and cameras present, but we don't think Asher was caught by any of them because he was outside of the main area most of the time.
"Spike The Super Ball" - "The statewide tour kicks off Wednesday at the Phoenix Children's Hospital, while the first official city stop is slated for Feb. 24 at the Parada del Sol Parade and concert in Scottsdale. Others sites include Tucson, Prescott and the Grand Canyon. " - taken from This AZCentral Article
Asher has started to enjoy soaking his feet each night before bed. It all started monday night when I cleaned him up via a sponge bath and he asked to soak his feet because they were stinky (mommy taught him to do this). Each night he's asked to soak his feet because they are stinky, so I figured I might as well use this as an opportunity to clean him up too, so 3 nights in a row now, he's gotten a sponge bath and a foot soak.
Tonights 48 hour methotrexate level was 0.51
Also, Asher's potassium was a little low at 3.3, so they added some potassium to his continuous fluids.
Still doing OK
Posted by Steph in
Chemo Round 4, Hospital Stay, on Friday, January 26. 2007 at
The plan is, no fever through the night, no bacteria growth (normal wait of 48 hours), and higher ANC by morning (keep up above 250), then Asher can go home early in the day tomorrow.
Crossing fingers.
Fever hasn't returned
Posted by Steph in
Chemo Round 4, Hospital Stay, on Thursday, January 25. 2007 at
Still sitting in PACU
Posted by Steph in
Chemo Round 4, Hospital Stay, Surgery, on Tuesday, January 2. 2007 at
VAC Therapy works well
Posted by Steph in
Head Wound, Hospital Stay, Surgery, on Friday, October 27. 2006 at
Today Asher had his third VAC therapy dressing change on his head. They gave him a dose of versed upstairs, two more doses downstairs and then the anesthesiologist told me later it took three times the "normal" amount of propofol to get him fully asleep. My boy is one tough boy! He was groggy and out of it and they told me he was still putting his hands up to his head while they started to work on it.
Then the anesthesiologist gave him versed, zofran, clomodine (spelling?), and demirol. While he was out they did his PICC Line Dressing change too, more woohoo! He woke up slow slow slow, got brought up stairs and he slept on the way up, then woke up when I moved him to his bed and he ate a sugar cookie that my friend Barbara brought to him today and drank milk, and is now sleeping again while clutching a thing of cupcakes. Everyone that comes in just smiles big. (NOTE: Right now he only eats right after he wakes from anesthetic if he wakes in a good mood.)
(photos removed)
So, the anesthesiologist said I could only stay till Asher was out and then I had to leave....BUMMER! BUT, a nurse came out to get me from the waiting room part way through and said the plastic surgeon and the neurosurgeon both wanted me to come see it. Yeah! I was glad I got to see it in person. It doesn't look as bad in person as it does on my camera (the nurse had taken a photo). They said it looks better than they thought it would. It is smaller. It isn't bleeding. The bone looks okay right now, but still exposed. They said he won't need antibiotics at home. They said they are feeling good about the VAC Therapy that is being used.
So, all good news. Oh, and for the dressing changes next week, they will NOT be done in the clinic. They will be done in the PACU just like today. The only thing is, they will be done outpatient so we have to check-in at admitting 1 1/2 hours before the procedure and have to stay till he is awake....for instance, next Friday we have to be at the hospital at 6:30am.
Now to pack up this room and take my boy home tomorrow morning or early afternoon!!!!!!! I'm just going to enjoy this time and not worry about his tumor, his cancer, his chemo, his future therapy, nothing, just enjoy having my kids under one roof again! Asher hasn't been home since the 2 days and 3 nights in September (9/5-9/7)!
Oh, and Asher's counts today:
wbc 1.7
rbc 4.21
hemoglobin 12.9
platelets 169
anc 799 (dropping more and not sure why)
weight - 16.1 to 16.6 varying depending if he had shorts or shoes on
Irritability and Deliveries
Posted by Steph in
Head Wound, Hospital Stay, on Friday, October 27. 2006 at
Asher was really happy when he woke today, although did complain his tummy hurt again. A bit later he pooped...he still seems to mix up his tummy pains and his bowel pains and it is the same every morning (and sometimes evening now too). This formula that is going through his NG tube, 18 hours a day, is making him poop several times a day, and more like diahrea. They had switched to the "fiber" one but I don't think it has made much of a difference. Anyway, he kept telling me, "Go take your shower, Mom," when I kept coming back because someone else was in the bathroom at that time. Then when I finally was showering, I guess he talked to people that came in by him. But a couple of hours later he didn't seem to feel too well and said he wanted to go to sleep so I gave him my down pillow and he fell right to sleep and slept a bit even after Scott and the girls arrived for a visit.
Asher has been having lots of mood swings the last two days so I talked to the "pain lady" and we have decided to go back to a dose of 2.5 with the methodone. We had dropped to 2.0 two days ago, I think. He doesn't complain about pain, he's just very irritable, so I think that is the pain talking. I agree with her, it was good we figured this out today so we could decide on a good dose for him to have at home. She also said this is a low does; she is surprised he hasn't needed more pain medicine. Oh, and she told me she got a good anesthesiologist for tomorrow that will give Asher something to wake him up slowly....crossing my fingers it goes well tomorrow.
We aren't exactly sure why, but the walker for home was delivered to the hospital today and the VAC and all the dressing change supplies were delivered here, too, tonight. I'm thinking tomorrow they plan to hook Asher up to the rental VAC for home (quite small compared to the hospital one) so I can get familiar with it and make sure it works. So maybe that is why it was delivered here. Since all dressing changes will be done Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at the clinic, I'm hoping I can bring the supplies there, but I need to check tomorrow. That's what they decided on for the dressing changes, to use a drug (that starts with a "C") in clinic, starting next week, instead of doing it like they did yesterday. The nurse practioner told me today she thinks that will be less traumatic for him. The nurse practioner said she has her discharge orders ready and all she needs to do is push a button on the computer after hearing what the plastic surgeon says tomorrow afternoon. If we are able to bring Asher home, we will be doing that around noon or 1pm on Saturday and the home nurse would come before the 5pm antibiotic needs to be hooked up.
Asher is asking for food lately. Tonight he asked for a cheeseburger, chicken nuggets, french fries, and cheptchup (ketchup). I'm sure he wanted McDonald's, but since I don't have a car here while I stay here, I had to order it from the cafeteria. He took a bite of a french fry dipped in ketchup, chewed it and said, "ICK" and spit it out. That was that. He does like to drink mountain dew though (maybe 2oz per day), which is interesting because he never liked it before chemo! He also sips whole milk (maybe 1oz total per day).
Today Asher walked holding on to ONE of my fingers with his left hand and pushing a toy vacuum with his right hand. He did GREAT! His balance is really good and he's so strong. He does still need his walker, though. The physical therapist said she feels very little resistence in his ankles/feet now. He runs at a pretty good speed with his walker. He is an amazing, AMAZING little boy. I am SO PROUD of my little boy's willpower and drive. He's really an inspiration!
Zooming around
Posted by Steph in
Development, Family, Feelings, Head Wound, Hospital Stay, on Wednesday, October 25. 2006 at
As for being at the hospital as much as I have....it is OK. I miss the girls, a lot, but my heart tells me I need to physically be here with my little boy right now. Even after being here almost three weeks straight, I'm still getting the comments, "Oh, Scott gets a break today" and "Oh, I didn't expect to see you; I usually see Dad," but I am also starting to receive some support here, from other moms, from nurses, from seeing the smiles of other kids, from seeing how the kids fight and live... Asher's nurse that was here the night I heard "life threatening" and was crying in his room while waiting for him to come back from surgery, has always given me a little side-hug when she sees me now. When I walk the halls with Asher, everyone says "HI" to him, even a Dad of a little girl that was just diagnosed with bone cancer last Thursday. Tonight, in the hall by the cafeteria, a grandma of a little girl with leukemia stopped me with, "How's Asher?" Her granddaughter found a match for her bone marrow transplant, which will be 11/3. I've been keeping to myself a lot, because somehow I think that will keep me safer, safer from hurt or something, who knows, but now I know I need to break through that more. I still cry. I cry about the pain my child is in, cry from fear, cry at seeing other children going through pain, but I know somewhere inside I'm growing and it will all mean more to me someday. Ah, I'm rambling, now, as I do most of the time (see my long posts every day), but I just wanted to record my thoughts today to see how they change in time, as I already know they have changed a lot because before I didn't want to talk to anyone about anything while I was at the hospital and now I'm okay talking to some people....


text:
UNU-WIDER, the National Treasury of the Republic of South Africa (NT), and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) invite proposals from qualified researchers for detailed economic analysis of the available administrative datasets. Submission deadline is 26 February 2018 23:59 UTC+2.
United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) is implementing over the period 2017–20 a research programme entitled South Africa – Toward Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED), with the aim of enhancing economic research, capacity-building, and policy dialogue.
Understanding the opportunities and constraints to private sector development and productivity growth is key for the design of effective policies for job creation, and economic growth more broadly. The recent availability of tax administrative data on enterprises in South Africa provides a valuable resource for policy-relevant academic research that allows for a deeper understanding of the functioning of the private sector and the mechanisms through which government policy and globalization impact on economic growth and development.
UNU-WIDER, the National Treasury of the Republic of South Africa (NT), and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) invite proposals from qualified researchers for detailed economic analysis of these administrative datasets. Special consideration will be given to research teams that include junior and early-career researchers.
The objectives of this request for research proposals are to:
- Provide an opportunity to researchers to conduct policy-relevant research on topics of relevance to growth, productivity and job creation in South Africa that can be explored using firm-level analysis.
- Facilitate policy dialogue through engaging with researchers on policy-relevant issues and ensuring that that the findings from this research are communicated effectively to all stakeholders — including the academic community, policy makers and civil society via policy summaries and dialogue.
Proposals from individuals, groups of individuals, as well as non-profit organizations are welcome. Researchers can be based in South Africa or internationally, and can combine researchers from different countries and institutions. Researcher(s) with successful proposals will gain access to generally inaccessible datasets at NT, subject to agreed restrictions to preserve confidentiality. The sources of South African administrative tax data available include: (i) company income tax (CIT) data from CIT-registered firms who submit CIT forms; (ii) employee data from employee income tax certificates submitted by employers (i.e., IRP5 and IT3a); (iii) value-added tax (VAT) data from VAT registered firms; and (iv) customs records from traders. More information about the firm-level data can be found here.
Proposal submission
Submission of proposals is done electronically using appropriate form on the left column of this page. There are three forms to select from; one for individuals, another for groups of individuals and a third one for NGOs. The deadline for submitting proposals is 26 February 2018 23:59 UTC+2. See full request for research proposals for detailed proposal submission details.
Any questions on the proposal process should be sent to firstname.lastname@example.com by 7 February 2018. All queries and responses will be published on this announcement page after this date.


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Acid Wash Denim Jacket // thrifted
Bralette // Luxe + Lexie
Mesh Dress // Luxe + Lexie
Thigh High Boots // Qupid (similar)
Jewelry // vintage
I love mesh for those sunny, breezy days because it's still breathable yet keeps you covered - sort of. Found some outfit photos before my blonde days that I never posted. My family and I are all moving out to different cities within the next month, so I'll be posting old outfit photos for a while until I'm settled back in. Happy Friday!
Photographed by Winning Angel of Be Brave Fashion // www.bebravefashion.com


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Soon-to-be-teen Talia is unfailingly positive -- and has amazing makeup tips, too
While Desiree Castellano plans her daughter Talia Joy's 13th birthday party, the 12-year-old hangs out in the family's Florida home, posting videos to her YouTube page. At such a young age, she's already a total pro at makeup application, teaching her more than 130,000 subscribers how to take their eye shadows from day to night and why blue is an awesome color to wear.
But Talia isn't your typical preteen: she's currently battling two forms of cancer at once. Options for treatment are running low. But the soon-to-be-birthday-girl (the big day is Aug. 18) is unfailingly upbeat.
"I've always been a really bubbly girl, and my mom always tells me to think about the positive," she tells PEOPLE. "Even though cancer is a negative, horrible thing, there are positives. For people to see that there are kids that get cancer … it's just a true fact. Me putting a face on it makes a difference."
A Simple Start
Talia first started her video series to talk about cancer (she was initially diagnosed more than five years ago). "She said to me, 'I don't know what I want to do, where this is going to go, I just want to talk about cancer,'" Desiree recalls to PEOPLE. "That was her first video. But from there, it just took off."
As for choosing makeup as a focus, "I've always been interested in makeup," Talia says. "I think when I first got diagnosed when I was 7, my mom's friend … she also had cancer. I went over to her house, she did my makeup, and ever since then I was like, 'This stuff is really cool.'"
Now, Talia — who prefers to go hairless — uses the slogan "Makeup Is My Wig." "I put on this makeup to feel better about myself, and every time I put it on, I don't need a wig," she explains. "The doctors said to let her do what she wants, let her feel good about herself," Desiree adds. "And it makes her feel pretty. She thinks people aren't looking at her because she's bald, but are looking at her beautiful face."
Creating the videos is a great distraction for Talia, too. "Sometimes when I'm just not feeling good, I'll sit down and do a makeup video," she says. "Once I start talking in front of the camera, everything just leaves my mind. It feels like I'm talking to the world. I know there are going to be people listening, and think, 'This girl wants to make a difference.'"
Reading comments helps, too. "I try to read all of them," Talia shares. "But I tell people, just because I don't reply doesn't mean I don't appreciate every single one of them."
Looking Ahead
Talia's first diagnosis — stage 4 neuroblastoma — came in February of 2007. She was cancer-free for 13 months, but relapsed in September of 2008, August 2010 and again in April 2011. And on Aug. 6, 2012, the worst news yet came: Talia's cancer had spread to her bones, and she'd developed pre-leukemia.
"I knew that there was a possibility of pre-leukemia down the road, but I never, ever thought that she could get it at the same time as neuroblastoma," Desiree says. "The doctors down here had seen it once, and other doctors have never seen it happen. So being told that she had pre-leukemia was like getting hit as hard as the first time they told me she had cancer."
Though there are a few options left for Talia — namely, a bone marrow transplant — she's leaning toward peacefully living out the rest of her life, which could be anywhere from a few months to one year.
"I'm happy that she's happy, and I will support whatever decision she makes," Desiree says, adding that Talia's whole family has undergone bone marrow testing, and is still exploring options. "I believe in miracles, though, so if everyone can pray for her, that would be wonderful."
For now, Talia will continue posting her videos — a recent announcement of her latest diagnosis has received more than 450,000 views; a chat about her May beauty favorites has 770,000 and a glittery New Year's Eve tutorial has nearly 670,000. She'll also attend school when she can and attempt to get Ellen DeGeneres's attention (she's a huge fan of the show). And maybe she'll reflect on the mark she's made.
"I didn't realize that I could do what I'm doing now, and what it would become," she says of her videos. "I wasn't expecting anything. But it makes me feel better to know people watch me, care about me and think I'm inspiring."
To follow Talia's story and progress, subscribe to her YouTube Channel. And to learn more about registering with the National Marrow Donor Program, visit marrow.org.
–Kate Hogan


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With another war apparently looming, many Kurds today fear that Saddam Hussein's forces may again lash out at them with chemical weapons in revenge for their opposition to his regime.
Some things may be forgotten over 15 years but not a disaster or atrocity of this magnitude.
Practically everybody in Halabja lost close relatives or friends that day.
Some tried to escape the bombing by sheltering in basements, not knowing that poison gas is heavier than air.
Others tried to flee but were caught in the deadly clouds and died where they fell, mothers clutching their dead babies to them.
Long-term effects
It is not just the scale of the loss that makes this still a living reality.
Many people who escaped death were affected by the cocktail of chemicals that was used against them.
Some have developed respiratory or visual problems.
Doctors report that cancers and birth abnormality rates are much higher than in other areas.
There are fears of genetic damage.
This 15th anniversary comes at a poignant moment, with fears that another war may be imminent.
More than 300,000 people in the province which includes Halabja have signed a petition calling on the Americans and their allies to protect the Kurds against possible retaliation by the Baghdad regime.
More than most, the people of Halabja would love to see the end of Saddam Hussein but many are sceptical about American motives, pointing out that Washington was backing him at the time and tried to blame nearby Iran for the chemical attack on Halabja.


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Simply fill out this form to connect with an Attorney serving your area.
North Dakota Immigration
American immigration law has changed significantly recently. Today's political environment is often less than hospitable to immigration causes, and rules are getting more complex for legally entering the United States. For these reasons, it is critical to hire an immigration attorney if you want to gain U.S. citizenship, or live and work here.
Can You Do-It-Yourself in Immigration Cases?
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The Governing Bodies in Immigration Law
The major authorities who administer, preside over, manage, and decide individual, family, and employment immigration cases include the following federal governmental bodies:
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Skilled, experienced legal practitioners based in North Dakota can assist you with the following kinds of individual, family, and employment-based immigration cases:
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text: Greison Leonidas Lezama was born in a small town outside of Neiva, Colombia. His parents brought him to drink Ayahuasca (Yagé) with an elder for the first time when he was 6 years old. At the age of 7 and under the guidance of the Cofán indigenous elders, Greison commenced his training as a Ayahuasca healer in the ceremonial hut (maloka) in the Colombian Amazon outside of the city of Mocoa. Over the past 20 years he has trained with the Coreguaje, Inga, Siona, Secoya, and Cofán masters. He has been finding, harvesting, praying over, brewing and healing with Yagé since he was 15. Tags: ancestral ayahuasca cofan colombia huachuma san pedro shaman taita temazcal


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Wedding Date Wooden Plaque
Wedding date wooden plaque adds a touch of romance to their décor. Celebrate the happiest day of their lives with a beautiful plaque, customized exclusively for them! A priceless treasure, unique 6" x 22"W wooden plaque features their last name and toasts their love with hearts punctuating the date. Ready to hang from slots on back.
Specify 2-digit month, 2-digit day, and 4-digit year, plus up to 14 characters for last name.
Write Your Own Review


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A theologically conservative pastor in Colorado Springs who led his congregation in a split from the Episcopal Church has been indicted by a grand jury on felony-theft charges.
Colorado Springs police recently wrapped up a two-year investigation into "financial mismanagement" of church funds by the Rev. Donald Armstrong, according to a department media release issued today.
The police investigation was turned over to the Pueblo district attorney's office to avoid possible conflicts of interest, and a Pueblo grand jury returned a 20-count indictment Wednesday against Armstrong, police announced.
Armstrong and his congregation split from the Episcopal Church based on theological differences, such as gay-marriage rights and the ordination of openly gay clergy and bishops. When the congregation left the diocese, Armstrong tried to hold on to the $17 million Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish buildings in Colorado Springs.
In March, a judge ruled against Armstrong and in favor of the Episcopal Church, saying control of the buildings should be returned to the church by April 1.
Based on the grand-jury indictment, Armstrong turned himself in to authorities Thursday and is free on bond, police said.
Armstrong and his breakaway congregation are affiliated with the conservative Convocation of Anglicans in North America.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or email@example.com


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Jill & John Testimonial
Complete Bridal,
Thank you! Thank you for providing such a valuable service. Your staff was extremely helpful and I am so happy with my gown and the girls gowns as well.. I wish all businesses would treat their customers as you do and I will recommend you to all my friends. Thanks again for your help.


text:
HPE Helion Stackato is a polyglot Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). You can use Helion Stackato to easily deploy applications written in a wide range of languages and web frameworks, using a variety of data services by pushing your source code to the system.
Helion Stackato handles the automatic configuration of the language runtime, web server, application dependencies, databases, and other services. You can run Helion Stackato in your own data center using the hypervisor of your choice, or on your favorite cloud hosting provider to provide a private or public PaaS.
This documentation suite has been written to assist two different audiences with some overlapping responsibilities:
alsek stack by default. It is
possible to add stacks to deploy applications designed for
different platforms (for example,
cflinuxfs2 or
win2012r2 stack) allows pushing application code to a WinDEA.
usbc, a new CLI tool is available on Helion
Stackato instances (alongside the
kato CLI tool).
Helion Stackato 3.6 is based on Cloud Foundry v2 and there are a number of important differences to be aware of if you are moving from Helion Stackato 2.x:
stackato.yml has been deprecated


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LaGrange College women's basketball used a torrid 61% shooting effort from beyond the arc to defeat Maryville College 71-59 in LaGrange, Georgia on Sunday afternoon.
Maryville's Brook McCurdy deposited seven three-pointers (7-for-14) for a game-high 23-point effort with Libby Gardner posting 17 points while dishing out a game-high six assists. Kelley Wandell was strong in the paint with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Klaire Varney dished out six assists while grabbing five boards.
LaGrange (12-11, 6-8 USA South) was paced by Jahpera McEachin's 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting that included a 5-for-6 effort from long distance. Riley Chlupacek added 18 points after going 6-for-8 overall and 6-for-7 from three-point land. Marilauren Farr tossed in 15 points and five rebounds to help the Panthers.
The Scots finished shooting 41% from the floor (20-for-49) that included an 11-for-33 effort from beyond the arc. The Panthers finished 11-for-18 from beyond the arc while hitting 24-of 50 shots for the game.
Maryville (11-12, 9-5 USA South) will prepare to host Covenant College on Wednesday evening for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off in MC's Boydson Baird Gymnasium.


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Cougar Scoreboard
The Alexander Central Softball Team lost at Mooresville Tuesday. Mooresville rallied with 4 runs in the 6th inning to win 9-7 handing Alexander Central their 1st North Piedmont Conference loss since becoming a league member 4 years ago ending a string of 38 wins. Mooresville jumped on top with 4 runs in the 1st inning but the Lady Cougars recovered and led 7-5 heading to Mooresville's at bat in the bottom of inning 6. Savanna Herman went 2-3 including a homer and 4 rbi, and Taylor Payne hit a home run. ACHS drops to 9-1 on the season and 4-1 in league play.
Baseball Loses to North Lincoln
The Cougar Baseball Team also lost for the 1st time in conference play Tuesday at North Lincoln. The Knights downed the Cougars 9-4. Luke Hensley went 3-4 including a homer and 3 rbi to pace the Alexander Central attack. ACHS is now 4-1 in NPC play and 5-4 overall.
Women's Soccer Wins !
The Alexander Central Women's Soccer team got their 1st conference win of the year Tuesday in a match against North Lincoln at Central Park in Taylorsville. The Lady Cougars won 3-0, Ali Goforth had 2 goals and Sydney Auton had a goal for ACHS
Men's Tennis Wins Again!
Singles: Ben Teague (A) def Joe Foley, 6-1,6-0; Carter Patterson (A) def Adams Sherrill, 6-0,6-1; Jay Livingston (A) def Amir Elliott, 6-0,6-0; Jackson Barr (A) def Josh Virtue, 6-1,6-1; Dustin Adams (A) def Austin McCurdy, 6-0,6-0, Brennon McDonald (A) def Brody Kufuhl, 6-0,6-0.
Doubles: Carter Pennell/Alston Robinson (A) def Foley/McCurdy 8-4; Elliott/Sherrill (W) def Noah Presnell/Matt Graham 8-3
AC at South Iredell 3/24


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Marchers descended on a central district housing several ministries to make known the views of a protesters' "New Year welcome committee" for the administration of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who became the world's youngest leader at 31 last month.
While police said 20,000 people marched, organisers claimed as many as 60,000 took to the streets to protest against the inclusion in the government of the anti-immigrant Freedom Party (FPÖ), which holds six cabinet portfolios, including that of the vice-chancellor, party leader Heinz-Christian Strache.
"What I fear the most is that this type of government becomes the norm," said one demonstrator, 55-year-old Christa, while Tobias Grettica, a 47-year-old German, said he was worried "to see nationalism making inroads everywhere, not just in Austria".
Anna, 23, said she was protesting against "a government that wants to divide society, demonise minorities, erode women's rights, devalue solidarity".
People of all ages, including families, answered the call of leftist and anti-racist groups, marching in a long procession through the centre of the Austrian capital.
The march came to an end at the former imperial Hofburg palace, where crowds gathered, illuminating the darkness with the light of thousands of smartphones.
On a visit to France on Friday Kurz, whose country has the only government in Western Europe to feature the far right, appealed for understanding and insisted his team was "pro-European".
But Saturday's marchers brandished slogans drawing parallels with the 1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, one reading "those who tolerate Kurz and Strache would have applauded 1938".
Other placards read "Resistance" and "Do not let the Nazis govern".
The coalition is the second time Austria has seen the FPÖ, formed by former Nazis in the 1950s, enter the government fold after a first spell in 2000-2005. That first occasion brought widespread international opprobrium and a swathe of demonstrations at home.
The FPÖ has since softened its image. It won 26 percent of the vote in elections on October 15th,
Kurz took over the ÖVP in May and yanked it to the right, securing his party first place in October elections.
FPÖ Interior Minister Herbert Kickl sparked an outcry Thursday by saying the government wants to "concentrate" asylum-seekers, employing a word widely associated with Nazi camps, prompting the opposition Green Party to warn against the "language of National Socialism creeping into our way of thinking and feeling".
Strache also caused unease earlier this month by appearing to suggest that asylum-seekers should be kept in empty military barracks and subject to an evening curfew.
READ ALSO: Austria's far-right interior minister provokes outrage with call to 'concentrate' migrants


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Is it safe to travel to Greece? Are the streets of Madrid, Spain going to be full of protestors rather than the traditional tapas hopping crowd? Are Europe's historical sites safe to visit while the Eurozone is suffering through an economic crisis? I would think many of the people following The Great Escape Plan have thought about this issue.
It's definitely caused us to keep a watchful eye on all the news generated by the Greek bailout and other struggling European countries. Safety should always be on our minds while we do our reports, but we are not going to let fear be a deciding factor. We have Athens' historical sites on our travel itinerary as well as trips to visit family in the mainland. But a majority of our time will be spent hopping around Greek islands.
Yes, there have been unfortunate tragedies due to the Greek crisis and we are praying for all who are suffering because of it. Most of the bad news people in the U.S. get to see has happened in the political and financial sectors of Athens. Because we worked in news, we know those stories only show a small and sometimes inaccurate reflection of what is going on in the entire country.
We have also kept in touch with our relatives in Greece. They say it is a very hard time for many families. They also argue panic is not the major sentiment. Greeks are a proud people and they should be. The 'Cradle of Democracy' has historical sites that are like no other in the world. The Greek islands each of them unique and picturesque are breathtakingly beautiful, only surpassed in beauty by the people who live there and would welcome strangers and treat them as their own. It's a big reason we got married in one of them, Santorini.
We believe this is when Greece needs us the most. With all the bad news from the major news networks, our reports will try to shed light to all the wonderful attractions the country has to offer. The same goes for other countries on The Great Escape Plan wish-list such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland all struggling with economic woes of their own.
In fact, for travelers looking for a deal, other reports show it might be the best time for family travel to Greece and Europe. Tourism offices are painstakingly working hard to dispel the notion what happens in Parliament is also what happens on site seeing tours. We hope to show the best of what each country has to offer. Will we be worried about our safety? It'll be top of mind. But as that famous quote goes "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."–FDR


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Our Achievements and Goals
LLIAM is a legally registered Community Based Non profit Organization in process to upgrade to a NGO • Since 2011, LLIAM now has a rented Home which provides roof and basic care to 25 children and also supports others vulnerable children in the community. These children go to school, get a healthy meal and their health is looked after. • To date LLIAM serves a few other disadvantaged families from the community. • Runs a small farming project of the Orange fleshed sweet potatoes.
Our Goals
LLIAM to own a Safe, spacious Children's Permanent dream Home with a learning Centre, a volunteer Guest House, a vocational training centre for youth and women and a health facility. • Sending more Children to school • Starting self sustainable projects i.e. Farming on a larger scale, poultry, piggery • Initiate small scale women empowerment projects for sustainability.


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Monday, April 12, 2010
can you get too old for roller coasters?
magic mountain has some amazing freaking roller coasters. they have one called the x2. the things that you are strapped into move. so while you're on a rollie doing flips and dropping to the ground, the device your body is in is also flipping and spinning and turning and doing crazy shit. which is ALL SORTS OF AWESOME, except that now that i'm like a grown up and stuff, my brain totally fights what is happening. it tells me things like "this isn't right.. or natural.. or normal. our bodies should not be flipping like this right now. this can't be safe. IS THIS SAFE?!!? oh my gosh, i'm going to die."
and then there is the new ride. well it's new to me cause i hadn't been on it yet (or even heard about it).. called tatsu. now this ride.. THIS RIDE.. you are freaking on your hands and knees. you heard me. you are strapped in and the way the cars move, before the ride starts you are in freaking doggy style position. and you stay that way for the whole 2 minutes of this rollie coaster. i thought i was going to die. everything about that roller coaster is wrong. i mean, it was awesome and super fun, but it's hard to enjoy it when all my brain could think was "holy fuck.. am i really in this position right now and do i have to stay like this for the whole ride?!?!! holy shit, the chest thing is going to break and open and i am going to plummet to my death. unless i can grab onto the feet holders. i'll at least try to do that before i die."
it's true though!!!! between thinking that the one harness holding me was going to malfunction and i was going to plummet to my death in front of my child... and thinking my child's harness was going to malfunction and he was going to plummet to his death before i could grab him and hold onto him and jesus crimony.. what the hell is wrong with me?!?!!
i can't freaking enjoy roller coasters anymore because i'm too freaked out the whole time!!!!!! am i the only one who imagines her kid flying out of the damn thing and not being able to save him? probably cause clearly, i'm not normal and i'm probably a little crazy. i want to go back to when i was stupid, and didn't care how they made the coasters, i just wanted to ride them. now my mind is seriously trying to reconcile how it's possible that our bodies are doing this and how we're not dying the entire time.
i think i'm getting old.
or i need to start drinking.
6 comments:
I love roller coasters, and yes, you are crazy. But I don't have children yet, so what do I know?
- Alison said...
Space Mountain at Disneyland is about all I can handle now. Seriously, I over think things and start getting all anxious and before you know it I feel like I am sick from the motion and then I'm not having any fun at all. I do think I have a weaker stomach now than I used to...maybe that's the problem. Anyway, I couldn't go on anything but the old classics at Magic Mountain. The last time we went was back in 2000 or so and we went on this ride that had me seeing stars. A week later some girl died on it. That's crazy. I'll stick with Dumbo.
- Alison said...
P.S. Remember when we made our "Can't Touch This" tape there? :)
- JayMonster said...
I don't think it is "roller coasters" per se... or even getting "old" (which you are not). But I will admit, that being a parent often creates changes.
In my own example, I am a huge CSI (and other crime shows) fan... but I *CAN'T* watch anything that shows a child in peril... It absolutely freaks me out. I have to keep reminding myself "it is just a show" and that watching it is NOT going to put my own child in peril. (Sometimes it works... sometimes it don't)
In your case, it might help to remember that safety standards today are far more strict and better than they were on many of the rides we remember (OK... that I remember). How many people die in a car accident every year? How often do you hear about people dying at an amusement park?
After the earth quake, I would think thanks to the extra safety checks that were done on every ride, it would be the best and safest time in the world to be on those rides, because they already double checked to ensure everything was up to code and recently. :-)
- Anisha said...
LOL, your funny!!! I don't think your old, but definitely wiser!!! My friend just went Magic Mountain a week ago, and came back with that same view!! I guess the thrill of living on the edge kind of dissappears when you have a family and responsibilities!! I'm more of a fan of Disneyland myself! :)
- sara said...
I used to be the 'bigger, better, faster, more' girl at an amusement park....and now....I get HORRIBLE headaches if I ride any of the fun things.
old. hmph.


text:
Proof of possession on the Ellaism network
We'd be skeptical too.
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ProveIt is a decentralized application, or ĐApp, powered by Ellaism. Its value proposition is simple: users gain the ability to prove that they said or possessed something, anything, without the need to rely on a trusted intermediary. This is an extraordinary and unprecedented phenomenon with implications for intellectual property rights, credibility in peer-to-peer networks, and much more.
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