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Dear Editors,
I would like to respond to an article entitled, The Power of Citizenship by Tsewang Namgal and Maura Moynihan. I agree with their stand on this topic. Tibetans having citizenship in another country can be beneficial to Tibetan society and to the person themselves. I base my thoughts on being a refugee in India. I have a RC and IC Book as primary proof of my being here in this country. Services do not meet the minimal needs of the consumer in India as there was a great deal of confusion about my forms of ID. Earlier, I got a job in Bangalore in IBM outsourcing sector, but then very next day, no job for me. The only reason was that I was a Tibetan (confusion in their mind). Since they wanted my passport, I submitted both my IC and RC book for verification. But later on I got a reply that those two were not enough to offer the job. Perhaps Power of citizenship makes great sense here.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Yeshi Tenzin, Bangalore


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this whirlygig for Karen's month in the HipBees.
Marcelle Medallion quilt! I think it is my most favourite quilt ever. I was all set to take some nice photos outside when the heaven's opened...grrr. Instead I just took some dodgy shots around the house.
|On the sofa
|On the bannister
|On the bed

subset: commoncrawl


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Tell Bill what to do next
September 13, 2009
Would you tune into a monthly show of London-centred news and interviews? Or would a magazine of the best vegan-related audio from around the web be more fun? What would keep enticing you back?
How did I podcast on the road?
September 5, 2009
Interviewing people and recording things on the road was a bit of a challenge. For those interested, here is what I used and what I thought of it.


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"Can't Help but Wait" is the second single from the Trey Songz album Trey Day. The song is written by Johntá Austin, Mikkel S. Eriksen, and Tor Erik Hermansen.
On the issue date of October 6, 2007, the single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 99. American actor Jackie Long (ATL) appears in the video as the abusive boyfriend. "Can't Help but Wait" peaked within the Top 20 of the Hot 100, at #14. The video was filmed in Jersey City, New Jersey. The song was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards
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R. B. Kitaj
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R. B. Kitaj
Kitaj in 1998
Ronald Brooks[1]
October 29, 1932
Chagrin Falls, Ohio, United States
|October 21, 2007 (aged 74)
Los Angeles, California, United States
|Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford 1958–1959 Royal College of Art, 1959–1961
|Known for
|Painting, printmaking
|Royal Academician, 1991
Golden Lion, Venice Biennale, 1995
Ronald Brooks Kitaj RA (/kiːˈtaɪ/; October 29, 1932 – October 21, 2007) was an American artist with Jewish roots[1] who spent much of his life in England.[2]
Born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, United States, his Hungarian father, Sigmund Benway, left his mother, Jeanne Brooks, shortly after he was born and they were divorced in 1934.[3] His mother was the American-born daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants.[1] She worked in a steel mill and as a teacher. She remarried in 1941, to Dr. Walter Kitaj, a Viennese refugee[1] research chemist, and Ronald took his surname. His mother and stepfather were non-practicing Jews. He was educated at Troy High School. He became a merchant seaman with a Norwegian freighter when he was 17. He studied at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna and the Cooper Union in New York City. After serving in the United States Army for two years, in France and Germany, he moved to England to study at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford (1958–59) under the G.I. Bill, where he developed a love of Cézanne, and then at the Royal College of Art in London (1959–61), alongside David Hockney, Derek Boshier, Peter Phillips, Allen Jones and Patrick Caulfield. Richard Wollheim, the philosopher and David Hockney remained lifelong friends.[4]
Kitaj married his first wife, Elsi Roessler, in 1953; they had a son, screenwriter Lem Dobbs, and adopted a daughter, Dominie. His first wife committed suicide in 1969. After living together for 12 years, he married Sandra Fisher in December 1983; they had one son, Max. Sandra Fisher died in 1994, at age 47, from hyperacute haemorrhagic leuco-encephalitis (not an aneurysm, as is commonly written). Kitaj had a mild heart attack in 1990. He died in Los Angeles in October 2007, eight days before his 75th birthday.[5] Seven weeks after Kitaj's death, the Los Angeles County coroner ruled that the cause of death was suicide by suffocation, saying the artist placed a plastic bag over his head.[6]
Kitaj settled in England, and through the 1960s taught at the Ealing Art College, the Camberwell School of Art and the Slade School of Art. He also taught at the University of California, Berkeley in 1968. He staged his first solo exhibition at Marlborough New London Gallery in London in 1963, entitled "Pictures with commentary, Pictures without commentary", in which text included in the pictures and the accompanying catalogue referred to a range of literature and history, citing Aby Warburg's analysis of symbolic forms as a major influence.[7]
"School of London"[edit]
He curated an exhibition for the Arts Council at the Hayward Gallery in 1976, entitled "The Human Clay" (an allusion to a line by W. H. Auden), including works by 48 London artists, such as William Roberts, Richard Carline, Colin Self and Maggi Hambling, championing the cause of figurative art at a time when abstract was dominant. In an essay in the controversial catalogue, he invented the phrase the "School of London" to describe painters such as Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Euan Uglow, Michael Andrews, Reginald Gray, Peter de Francia[8] and himself.[9][failed verification][10]
Style and influence[edit]
Kitaj had a significant influence on British pop art, with his figurative paintings featuring areas of bright colour, economic use of line and overlapping planes which made them resemble collages, but eschewing most abstraction and modernism.[citation needed] Allusions to political history, art, literature and Jewish identity often recur in his work, mixed together on one canvas to produce a collage effect. He also produced a number of screen-prints with printer Chris Prater.[11] He told Tony Reichardt, manager of the Marlborough New London Gallery, that he made screen-prints as sketches for his future paintings. From then onwards Tony Reichardt commissioned Chris Prater to print three or four copies of every print he made on canvas. His later works became more personal.
Kitaj was recognised as being one of the world's leading draftsmen, almost on a par with, or compared to, Degas. Indeed, he was taught drawing at Oxford by Percy Horton, whom Kitaj claimed was a pupil of Walter Sickert, who was a pupil of Degas; and the teacher of Degas studied under Ingres. Meanwhile, Edgar Wind encouraged him to become a 'Warburgian artist'.[12] His more complex compositions build on his line work using a montage practice, which he called 'agitational usage'. Kitaj often depicts disorienting landscapes and impossible 3D constructions, with exaggerated and pliable human forms. He often assumes a detached outsider point of view, in conflict with dominant historical narratives. This is best portrayed by his masterpiece "The Autumn of Central Paris" (1972–73), wherein philosopher Walter Benjamin is portrayed, as both the orchestrator and victim of historical madness. The futility of historical progress creates a disjointed architecture that is maddening to deconstruct.[citation needed] He staged a major exhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1965, and a retrospective at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. in 1981. He selected paintings for an exhibition, "The Artist's Eye", at the National Gallery, London in 1980. In 1981 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1984.
Later years[edit]
In his later years, he developed a greater awareness of his Jewish heritage, which found expression in his works, with reference to the Holocaust and influences from Jewish writers such as Kafka and Walter Benjamin, and he came to consider himself to be a "wandering Jew". In 1989, Kitaj published "First Diasporist Manifesto", a short book in which he analysed his own alienation, and how this contributed to his art. His book contained the remark: "The Diasporist lives and paints in two or more societies at once." And he added: "You don't have to be a Jew to be a Diasporist."[13]
A second retrospective was staged at the Tate Gallery in 1994. Critical reviews in London were almost universally negative. British press savagely attacked the Tate exhibit, calling Kitaj a pretentious poseur who engaged in name dropping. Kitaj took the criticism very personally, declaring that "anti-intellectualism, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism" had fueled the vitriol. Despite the bad reviews, the exhibition moved to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and afterwards to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1995. His second wife, Sandra Fisher died from hyperacute haemorrhagic leuco-encephalitis in 1994, shortly after his exhibition at the Tate Gallery had ended. He blamed the British press for her death, stating that "they were aiming for me, but they got her instead." David Hockney concurred and said that he too believed the London art critics had killed Sandra Fisher.[14] Kitaj returned to the US in 1997 and settled in Los Angeles, near his first son. "When my Wife died", he wrote to Edward Chaney, "London died for me and I returned home to California to live among sons and grandsons – It was a very good move and now I begin my 3rd and (last?) ACT! hands across The Sea." [15] Three years later he wrote: "I grow older every day and rather like my hermit life." [16] The "Tate War" and Sandra's death became a central themes for his later works: he often depicted himself and his deceased wife as angels. In Los Angeles No. 22 (Painting-Drawing) the beautiful young (and naked) girl records the shadow of her aged lover (on whose lap she sits) in a pose directly taken from the Scots Grand Tourist David Allan's Origin of Painting. The latter was included by Ernst Gombrich in his 1995 National Gallery exhibition (and catalogue) on Shadows so that Kitaj would have seen it two years before he left England for ever.[17]
In 1997 Kitaj exhibited his work Sandra Three, an installation of paintings, photographs and text that stretched across an entire wall of the gallery at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. Kitaj used the Academy's Summer Exhibition to showcase this sequence of works that dealt with the events of the "Tate War" and Sandra's death and even included a graffiti inscription stating 'The Critic Kills'.[18]
In 2000, Kitaj was one of several artists to make a post-it note for an internet charity auction held by 3M to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their product. The charcoal and pastel piece sold for $925, making it the most expensive post-it note in history, a fact recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Kitaj was elected to the Royal Academy in 1991, the first American to join the Academy since John Singer Sargent. He received the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1995. He staged another exhibition at the National Gallery in 2001, entitled "Kitaj in the Aura of Cézanne and Other Masters".
In September 2010, Kitaj and five British artists including Howard Hodgkin, John Walker, Ian Stephenson, Patrick Caulfield and John Hoyland were included in an exhibition entitled The Independent Eye: Contemporary British Art From the Collection of Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie, at the Yale Center for British Art.[19][20]
In October 2012 a major international symposium was held in Berlin to mark what would have been Kitaj's 80th birthday. It accompanied Obsessions, the first comprehensive exhibition of Kitaj's work since his death, held at the Jewish Museum, Berlin. The title is partly in reference to what he dubbed his "erratic Jewish obsessions".[1] The exhibition was shown in the UK in two parts at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester (February 23 to June 16, 2013) and the Jewish Museum London (February 21 to June 16, 2013).[21][22]
All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life opened at Tate Britain in February 2018, inspired by Kitaj's School of London. [23][24]
- ^ a b c d e Bohm-Duchen, Monica (October 2012). "Kitaj in Berlin". Jewish Renaissance. 12 (1): 44–45.
- ^ "The Times & The Sunday Times". Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ Schwendener, Martha (October 24, 2007). "R. B. Kitaj, Painter of Moody Human Dramas, Dies at 74". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ McNay, Michael (October 23, 2007). "Obituary: RB Kitaj". The Guardian. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ Obituary, The Independent, October 25, 2007 Archived October 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Boehm, Mike (December 5, 2007). "Kitaj's Death is ruled a suicide". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Chaney, 2012, pp. 97–8
- ^ "Socialist-Expressionist: Peter de Francia (1921–2012) – artcritical". artcritical. March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, October 24, 2007
- ^ "db-art.info". db-artmag.com. 2009. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ^ "Obituary: Chris Prater". The Independent. November 8, 1996. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ Edward Chaney, 'R.B. Kitaj (1932–2007): Warburgian Artist', emaj issue 7.1 November 2013, www.emajartjournal.com, pp. 1–34.
- ^ Kitaj, First Diasporist Manifesto, 19
- ^ R. B. Kitaj 1932–2007, Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent Retrieved January 25, 2011
- ^ Postcard (Whistler vs. Ruskin 1992) dated June 1999.
- ^ Postcard to Edward Chaney: My Cat and Her Husband 1977, dated June 2002.
- ^ Chaney, "Warburgian Artist", p. 102
- ^ The Great Spectacle: 250 Years of the Summer Exhibition. Royal Academy of Arts. 2018. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-910350-70-6.
- ^ Channeling American Abstraction, Karen Wilkin, Wall Street Journal Retrieved October 7, 2010
- ^ NY Times, exhibition review Retrieved December 15, 2010
- ^ Metro, exhibition review Retrieved March 4, 2013
- ^ The Independent, exhibition review Retrieved March 4, 2013
- ^ "Freud and Bacon get a modern makeover in Tate Britain's All Too Human, inspired by Kitaj". Evening Standard. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ^ "All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Life Painting review". Time Out London. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- Kitaj, R. B. (1989). First Diasporist Manifesto. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27543-2.
- Kitaj, R. B. (2007). Second Diasporist Manifesto. A New Kind of Long Poem in 615 Free Verses. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12456-9.
Further reading[edit]
- Baskind, Samantha, Jewish Artists and the Bible in Twentieth-Century America,Philadelphia, PA, Penn State University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-271-05983-9
- Chaney, Edward,'Kitaj versus Creed', The London Magazine (April 2002), pp. 106–11.
- Chaney, Edward, "Warburgian Artist: R.B. Kitaj, Edgar Wind, Ernst Gombrich and the Warburg Institute". Obsessions: R.B. Kitaj 1932–2007. Jewish Museum Berlin. Kerber Art, 2012, pp. 97–103.
- Chaney, Edward, 'R.B. Kitaj (1932–2007): Warburgian Artist', "emaj" issue 7.1 November [1]
- Duncan, Robert. "A Paris Visit, with R.B. Kitaj". Conjunctions, no. 8, Fall 1985, pp. 8–17
- Kampf, Avraham. Chagall to Kitaj: Jewish Experience in Twentieth-Century Art. Exhibition catalogue. London: Lund Humphries and the Barbican Art Gallery, 1990.
- Kitaj, R. B. First Diasporist Manifesto. London : Thames and Hudson, 1989.
- Kitaj, R. B. The Second Diasporist Manifesto. New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, 2007.
- Kitaj, R. B. / Irving Petlin. Rubbings...The Large Paintings and the Small Pastels. Exhibition catalogue. Purchase, New York, and Chicago: Neuberger Museum and Arts Club of Chicago, 1978.
- Lambirth, Andrew. Kitaj. London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0-85667-571-7
- Livingstone, Marco (1985). R. B. Kitaj. Phaidon. ISBN 0-7148-2204-3.
- Palmer, Michael. "Four Kitaj Studies", from The Promises of Glass. New York: New Directions Publishing, 2000.
- Stępnik, Małgorzata. Błogosławione błądzenie. Na marginesie diasporycznego manifestu Ronalda B. Kitaja (The Blessed Wandering. Side Notes on Ronald B. Kitaj's Diasporic Manifesto) (in:) Sztuka i edukacja, (eds.) A. Boguszewska, B. Niścior, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin 2015.
- Stępnik, Małgorzata. The Aesthetics of the School of London "Diasporic" Painting – on the Basis of Ronald B. Kitaj's Literary Manifestos (in:) Studies on Modern Art Vol. 5: Art of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland & Republic of Ireland in 20th–21st Centuries and Polish – British & Irish Art Relation, (eds.) M. Geron, J. Malinowski, J. W. Sienkiewicz, Toruń: The Nicolaus Copernicus University Press, 2015, pp. 109–116. ISBN 978-83-231-3438-1.
External links[edit]
- 38 paintings by or after R. B. Kitaj at the Art UK site
- 1932 births
- 2007 deaths
- 20th-century American painters
- 20th-century British painters
- 21st-century American painters
- 21st-century British painters
- Academics of Camberwell College of Arts
- Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni
- Alumni of the Royal College of Art
- Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art
- American emigrants to England
- American male painters
- American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
- American people of Russian-Jewish descent
- Artists who committed suicide
- British male painters
- British pop artists
- British printmakers
- Cooper Union alumni
- Jewish American artists
- Jewish painters
- People from Chagrin Falls, Ohio
- Royal Academicians


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This gallery contains 1 photo.
R.S.V.P. to Evite sent via Email.
Intro- We all see examples in life of people who make big claims or have claims made about them. Lebron James for example was touted as the savior of the Cleveland Cavaliers. We were told by Nike that we were … Continue reading
On January 2nd Champions of Hope partnered with Athletes in Action to host a "Day of Champions." This consisted of football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, baseball, and a relay race. Thanks to all the athletes, children, families, and mentors that … Continue reading
John 20:30-31: "but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." Discussion Questions: What is the purpose of the book? … Continue reading
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Press Release
Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute
December 11,2018
For immediate release
Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute
+95 (0)9778158168
+95 (0)9442625774
Myanmar Responsible Tourism Awards (MRTAs) – Winners Announced
The official awards ceremony was held at the Chatrium Hotel in Yangon on 11th December 2018. This marks the second year of the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Awards and the standard of entries demonstrates the continued passion and dedication of local tourism businesses to lead the way in responsible tourism standards.
The evening started off with an opening speech by U Naing Win, Director MoHT Yangon, followed by Ko Nyunt, Chairman of the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute (MRTI), which organises the awards and a welcoming speech by YuYu Naing, Private Sector Development Adviser, Department for International Development (DFID).
Ko Nyunt said: "Our purpose in organising the Awards is to encourage change in the industry and to single out for recognition those who are taking responsibility and can evidence that they are having a positive impact towards responsible and sustainable tourism in Myanmar. These awards recognise those who are working towards Myanmar tourism industry developing in a way that promotes our unique environment, our culture and our people."
Yu Yu Naing added in her speech: "DFID has also supported MRTA to integrate poverty reduction as a cross-cutting theme in all categories of the MRTA. This is to recognise those businesses that have developed inclusive business models that can inspire others. Tourism doesn't necessarily help these people if visitors only stay in their hotels and move between a few key destinations with flights and cars."
This year, MRTI awarded seven winners in six different categories. Each applicant went through a shortlisting process. After this, shortlisted candidates were visited on-site by our assessors, who verified the claims made in their application. Followed by an independent judging panel meeting, to identify the winners. The judging panel consisted of seven travel and tourism experts.
Congratulations to all the 2018 winners, runners-up and applicants.
For each of the six categories, the winners and runners-up are as follows:
Best Responsible Tourism Accommodation
Awarded to an accommodation provider (hotel, guesthouse, B&B, etc.) with a strong commitment to protecting the environment and maximising social and economic benefits to the local economy.
Winner: Inle Princess Resort
Runner-up: Laguna Lodge – ECO Hotel
Best Tourism Product for Empowerment
For initiatives specifically working to improve the way in which individuals and groups take part in society –improving the ability, opportunity and dignity of those who are disadvantaged due to their gender, age, ethnicity, religion, disability, education, etc. This award highlights the work of a business/organisation that has equality, equity and social inclusion embedded in everything they do.
Winner: Inle Canoe Lady
Runner-up: Beyond Boundaries Myanmar
Best Responsible Tourism Operator (Newcomer)
Awarded to the operator that educates and inspires travellers through a responsible approach to leading excursions and has only been operating for 3 years or less.
Winner: Myanmar Adventure Outfitters
Best Responsible Tourism Operator
Awarded to a tour operator (travel agent,tour operator, DMC, tour guide) who has responsible tourism at the heart of what they do and who not only demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the places they visit, but also shapes unique and meaningful experiences for visitors while conveying how to be a responsible traveller.
Winner: Sampan Travel
Best Community Involvement in Tourism
Awarded to an organisation or community initiative that is working to improve lives by creating opportunities to preserve and respect cultural heritage and traditions. Initiatives must be provided and explicitly designed to meet the needs and enhance the skills of the people and communities involved.
Winner: Ayeyarwady DolphinConservation and Ecotourism
Runner-up: Community Involved Tourism Pa-O Region (CITPAR)
Best Tourism Business Innovation
Awarded to an inspirational business that has created an innovative and inclusive tourism idea that makes good business sense.
Winner: Inle Horse Club
Runner-up: iDiscover Asia
Best Responsible Tourism Awareness Raising Project
Awarded to a project that is raising awareness of responsible tourism– whether it is responsible tourism as a concept,or one aspect of responsible tourism that touches on one of our key criteria(social and economic benefits, benefits to cultural heritage, benefits to the environment, educates about responsible tourism, and/or encourages engagement in responsible tourism).
Winner: Green Hill Valley Elephant CareCamp
Runner-up: ChuChu
Programme Manager, Johanna Pelikan, added:"All of the MRTA 2018 winners and runner-ups can be extremely proud of themselves.", she continued with "This project would not have been possible without the meaningful cooperation and partners and the most important point our participants, the pioneers, the people who try very hard every day to develop Myanmar's tourism industry in a sustainable way, so resources will be available for future generation in a country where people want to live, work and travel to."
The organising committee of MRTI looks forward to holding the competition again next year.
For further information:
Website: www.myanmarresponsibletourismawards.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MyanmarResponsibleTourismAwards/


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Ray-Pec Director of Child Nutrition Sarah Chellberg attended the School Nutrition Association (SNA) Legislative Action Conference Feb. 24-26 in Washington, D.C. Chellberg, who is president-elect of the Missouri School Nutrition Association, spent two days in breakouts and general sessions and one day meeting with elected officials. One of the highlights was featured speaker Sonny Perdue, Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Chellberg also was among Missouri School Nutrition Association members who attended the SNA School Nutrition Industry Conference in January in Austin, Texas.
Pictured: Ray-Pec Child Nutrition Director Sarah Chellberg speaks with two of Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler's aides: Carley Esser, Legislative Assistant, and Colleen Castle, Legislative Correspondent.


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Today's item is Costco Pumpkin Pie (Fresh Baked) distributed by Costco Wholesale Corp. in Seattle, WA.
What we liked:
Feedback from the brandnewfoods.com taste panel included "This is a really special pie.", "I shop at Costco regularly, but I had never thought to pick up one of these - now I'm convinced!", "This would be excellent with whipped cream, ice cream, or just by itself.", "Very aromatic - I enjoy the hints of spice in this pie.", "Very smooth texture - great mouth feel.", and "This pie is huge. You could get at least 12 fairly good-sized pieces from it. At $5.99 a pie, that's only 50 cents per slice of a great tasting pie!"
Did you know...
- Costco's signature products have carried the Kirkland Signature label since 1995?
- A hot dog (or polish dog) and soda combo in the United States costs the same as it had since 1985 - just $1.50?
- A pumpkin pie weighing 3,699 pounds, baked in New Bremen, Ohio, made the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010?
See packaging for ingredients.
Contact Costco for specific ingredient questions and/or dietary concerns.
Allergen info:
Contact product manufacturer for allergen information.
We picked this up at a nearby San Diego region warehouse. Contact your local Costco store or region for availability.


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DESCRIPTION:Versatile and buttery, soft this Italian Leather Fringe Crossbody Bag can be dressy or casual; day or night. Add some flair while out shopping, at dinner with friends, or a special event or wedding! This handbag can be worn as a shoulder bag or crossbody. Detach the chain and use as a clutch. It's roomy enough for your cell, keys, sunglasses/glasses, compact, money and credit cards ... and more! • High-quality Genuine Italian Leather with rich texture • Hand cut leather fringe and scallop edge detail• Detachable antique brass chain with swivel lobster clasps and D-rings• Antique brass, metal YKK zipper with fringe pull• Soft, sueded unlined interior• Hand made• Made in USADIMENSIONS: 8"H x 9"W22.5" drop on chain strap
CARE AND CLEANING:Leather is a natural product with occasional natural markings. These markings make the leather unique and special. Leather ages with use and will darken with wear and change color with exposure to sun. Specialty leather cleaning suggested.
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God cared for Israel in the wilderness, and He always met the needs of the multitudes. Jesus also provided and cared for the people listening to him and the people He met in His earthly ministry. In the miracle of the loaves and the fish, Jesus multiplied the amount of food so that He could feed all who were present hearing His teaching. (See Matthew 15) He also met the needs of Peter and Himself when they owed the temple taxes. He tells Peter, "Cast in a hook and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money, take that and give it to them for me and you." (Matthew 17:27) Jesus can always meet our need. In Matthew 6:25-29, Jesus teaches, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
The Lord Jesus uttered seven phrases from the cross. The middle phrase was the shuddering cry of desolation and devastation, spoken in a loud voice: "My God, my God why hath thou forsaken me?" (See Matthew 22:46 and Mark 15:34) It is significant what precedes and follows this cry. The first phrase Jesus uttered was, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) Jesus' final statement, spoken again in a loud voice was, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." (Luke 23:46) Between these two cries there is Emmanuel crying out, once again loudly, to his Father: "My God, my God." The apostle John is actually the only author of the Gospels who mentions Jesus adding here, "It is finished." (John 19:30)
Understanding the Transfiguration:
How was Christ transfigured before them?
1. In the glory of his person (Matthew 17:2).
It was a metamorphosis - a change from within. The glory of his eternal Sonship shone through the veil of flesh so that the disciples might see who he really was- both God and Man in one Person (see John 1:14 and John 1:18).
2. In the splendor of his countenance (Matthew 17:2).
"His face did shine as the sun." When the face of Moses shone after conversing with God, it was borrowed radiance. However, Christ's glory and splendor, like the sun's, was underived. That which was already there shone forth in unexcelled splendor. Consider Acts 26:13, "At midday, Oh king I saw in the way a light from heaven above, the brightness of the sun shining around me."
Matthew 27:46
In the well-known poem, Cowper's Grave, written by renown poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the thirteenth stanza elaborates on the scene of the cross and Jesus' cry: "Deserted! God could separate from His own essence rather; And Adam's sins have swept between the righteous Son and Father: Yea, once, Immanuel's orphaned cry His universe hath shaken—It went up single, echoless, 'My God, I am forsaken!'" Martin Luther actually set out to study this profound cry of Jesus. He studied for a long time, in solitude, without food, and in deep meditation. At last he rose from his chair and was heard to exclaim in amazement, "God forsaken of God; who can understand that?" Beloved, our familiarity with these words has robbed them of their stark tragedy. Truly, "God forsaken of God" is a concept so tragic and mysterious, how can we understand it?
Describe an Eastern Wedding. The Lord took this well-known custom to illustrate an important spiritual truth (i.e. The kingdom of heaven is likened to...). Describe the bridesmaids – the foolish and the wise. The foolish took their lamps, but took no oil. The Lord said to them "I know you not." The wise had oil in their vessels. The spiritual truth found in this parable is that one had the Holy Spirit, while the other did not.
Matthew 22:1-14
The Lord's earthly life is almost finished. He spoke this parable shortly before going to Gethsemane, the Judgment hall, and finally to the Cross. The parable is actually a dispensational outline of how God is dealing with men and women in this age. It is another parable of the kingdom of heaven. It has to do with the sphere of profession and portrays conditions in Christendom during our Lord's absence.
The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, which made a marriage feast for his son (see Matthew 22:2):
1. The king is God.
2. The Son is Christ Himself.
3. The marriage is the union of believers with Christ.
4. The marriage supper is really the Gospel feast.
Matthew 13:33-35
In this parable, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a woman hiding leaven in a meal. [Explain the kingdom of heaven]. The picture presented to us here is of a woman baking. She is seen inserting leaven into the meal. This is fine if her activities are confined to the kitchen. The issues here, however, are far wider, more complicated and much more important. This woman hid leaven in three measures of the meal. Eventually all the meal became leavened. This shows the history of the kingdom on into the Tribulation. The Lord compared this to conditions which would prevail in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 2:1, 12
The first Christmas was the sweetest, greatest, most profound, and stupendous event ever recorded. There are great days mentioned in the Bible, but none of them can ever compare with the birth of Christ. Some of these great days and events consist of: The Passover, the Red Sea, the water pouring from the rock, the crossing of the Jordan, the manna, and the day the sun and moon were stopped. These all pale in significance in comparison to the day God came to earth as a babe of Bethlehem. The world has mutilated Christ's birthday and it has become a time for family reunion, a time of revelry, and a license for intemperance and indulgence. It has been commercialized beyond recognition.
Matthew 13:44-46
The Introduction
These two parables present a very different picture to us than the preceding ones. As we review the preceding four we are inclined to ask, "Is the kingdom of heaven a failure?" The picture drawn by the Lord up to this point is a dismal one. What commenced as a magnificent and majestic movement gradually became corrupted as tares appeared among the wheat, as professors sheltered in the branches of the mustard tree, as the professing church hid the leaven in the meal which climaxed in the denial of the fundamentals of the faith. The result of all this is Christendom on the professing church in its present state of doctrinal chaos, worldliness, divisions and errors.
The question now naturally arises, "Is the kingdom of heaven a failure?"
Matthew 13:1-23
The subject of the chapter is the beginning of a new revelation, the introduction to the mysteries of the kingdom. In the preceding chapters, Israel has refused her king. The Lord said to them as He turned from them nationally, "I have piped unto you, but you have not danced; I have mourned, but you have not lamented" (see Matthew 11:17). At this point in His ministry, the Lord introduced a new message. In Matthew 11:28 He says, "Come unto Me all ye that labor…" He no longer bids His disciples "to go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel" (see Matthew 10:6). The sphere of their service is expanded to the world.


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eddy table in "HARVEST REFINE RELEASE" – PGBC season 2 crew gift
August 23, 2016
our wonderful PIGGOATBANANACRICKET crew got cool hoodies from the production this year, but i also made a special print for everybody, a loose analogy for my experience with PGBC over the past 3 years.
everyone got a loose/rolled version of the print, but one kook showed up the next day with the thing already FRAMED! awesome, Doug!


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November 2014
Fantasy Draft Scam
Is the new website FantasyDraft.com a scam? Yes or No?
Over the next few months, we are going to be evaluating the new fantasy sports website fantasydraft.com.
What is the best fantasy football website?
What are the best fantasy football websites?
You can click the link above to search for the best sites.
Best Bluetooth Speakers for the Beach
We are an active bunch over here and listening to music while enjoying outdoor activities is a must. When you factor in water sports, having the best in waterproof speakers is key.
Are Heart Rate Monitors Accurate?
With a variety of heart rate monitors on the market, we found it imperative to detail a true test comparison of the top sellers. Take a quick peek at our Scosche Rhythm+ vs.
Harmon Tower Lawsuit Begins
The largest construction defect lawsuit began this week in Las Vegas and the Harmon Tower is at the center of it all.


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Mike, Max and Shane discuss the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas, Tom Petty's death and the Letterkenny event at JFL42.
Kyle MacLachlan ("Dune," "Blue Velvet") tells Mike about working with David Lynch, returning to "Twin Peaks," reading reviews, his roles on "Portlandia" and "Sex and the City," influencing fate and audience response.
For dessert, Shane describes his desire to be a better storyteller and reacts to his latest effort.
The Mike on Much podcast can be found on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher and YouTube. Follow the guys on Twitter for updates and go behind-the-scenes on Instagram.


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Goodnight Lab: A Scientific Parody Storytime
Add to my Calendar Get DirectionsPrint This Event
While poking fun at the clutter and chaos of lab life, this sweet parody of the beloved Goodnight Moon gives scientists of all ages everything they need to say goodnight and rest before returning to the research world in the morning. Activities to follow.
- Start:August 12, 2017 Time: 11:00 AM
- End:August 12, 2017 Time: 11:59 PM
- Where:Noble Booksellers North Haven, 470 Universal Drive North, North Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06473
- Phone:N/A
- Event Type: Family
- Ticket Price:N/A


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Get ready to infiltrate your way through Deus Ex Go by solving turn-based puzzles and using futuristic augmentations. Square Enix's mobile title, the newest of the Go series following titles based on Tomb Raider and Hitman, is releasing this month in a week's time.
Taking on the role of Adam Jensen, you progress through a series of levels that are filled with puzzles that can be overcome with either your augmentations at your disposal such as cloaking, or through the use of hacking. You'll be able to hack and manipulate terminals, turrets, and more, but timing which move to do when will be an important tactic to succeed, as guards can interrupt your hacking process. Check out the trailer below.
(Please visit the site to view this media)
Unlike past Go games, you'll now be able to create your own levels and share them with friends. Deus Ex Go releases August 18 for tablets and phones.


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Port Talbot Town FC striker Rhys Griffiths said he wanted to continue rewriting the record books after becoming the first player to score seven goals in a Welsh Premier League game on Friday.
Griffiths' haul, including two penalties, came as Port Talbot claimed an overwhelming 8-2 derby victory away to local rivals and bottom-placed club Afan Lido FC. "It is something to be proud of but to be honest it hasn't really sunk in yet," Griffiths told UEFA.com after the match. "We were playing against a side who are struggling in the league and they went down to ten men early, but it is a nice achievement. I'm happy with every record that I can get. I want as many as I can."
The seven-goal return moves Griffiths to the top of the league scoring charts with 18 for the season, and into pole position for the golden boot – a prize he has won a record seven times. "The golden boot is something I think about, it's something I will always be known for, and it's an award I would love to win again," added Griffiths. "But, the most important thing is the club. We've had a disappointing season, we have underachieved. As much as I loved scoring seven goals today it doesn't make up for that fact."
Indeed, with just a handful of games remaining Port Talbot are ninth in the 12-team division, so personal glory may be all Griffiths can hope for this term. The 34-year-old, who returned for a third spell at the club last summer, says his most obvious rival for top scorer honours is a midfielder on 16 goals – Aberystwyth Town FC's Chris Venables. "I don't think anyone has stepped up to the plate this year, I don't think anyone has been exceptional in front of goal," he said. "But Chris Venables has been outstanding from midfield. He's the best player in the league by a country mile."
Griffiths is second on the list of all-time Welsh Premier League goalscorers, his tally of 255 in 342 appearances bettered only by the retired Marc Lloyd-Williams (319/468). Griffiths is also the only player to score a hat-trick in UEFA competition for a Welsh Premier League club, hitting three against Lithuania's FK Vetra in a 5-3 UEFA Intertoto Cup victory in 2007. He was just starting with his third on Friday night …
©UEFA.com 1998-2017. All rights reserved.


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I took the wrong direction on the day that we first met,
and thinking in reflection,
glad that on course you helped me set.
Turned one-eighty,
my visage a beaming smile,
your presence a protection and affection intertwined.
Sat beside the lip of the river,
thoughts and words and tea were shared,
this super sensual warmth inside,
this feeling…this is rare.
And I'm scared but in a good way,
and I'm sad now time has gone,
and I'm opening to let you in,
I know it isn't wrong.
And I know it shouldn't be so,
and I'm scared to rock the boat,
and if we fell into the oceans deep,
together we would float.
We wrap our arms around each other,
draw this evening to a close,
my heart feels different as I walk,
it doesn't feel so froze.


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Are job seekers being truthful? More than half of all job seekers lie and/or exaggerate on their resumes, U.S. News reports. What many do not realize, however, is that companies may be held liable for employees' lies — even if they eventually expose them. Dismissing lawyers, board members, and other upper management for lies on resumes can result in an all-too-public scandal.
What Job Seekers Lie About on Their Resumes
Why are job seekers lying? The relatively poor economy and limited positions available have many Americans scrambling to get jobs, and sometimes by any means possible. Americans passing off lies and half truths on their resumes, hoping to conceal their shortcomings, U.S. news explains. Candidates are most likely to be guilty of stretching employme Continue reading


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Saturday, February 28, 2009
The power of social status in kindergarten
No worries for sure, it all went fine and the wango tango did not pay a visit to the party.
I have told her things like this before. Things that most kids do, things most kids don't do. Often she has to be told. She was never in a position to learn how other kids are by being around other kids who are regular. Her developmental process went wonky the day after she was born and stayed that way. It isn't her fault, we just have to remember she never had the chance to learn by example.
Anyway, yesterday after school, she invited her friend over to play. It was a big milestone for her. Everything went well, the kid stayed about a half hour and went home. Later last night, I was talking with Genea about it and I mentioned how her friend sounded so surprised that there were diapers in their room. Genea has worn pull ups or diapers at night her whole life. In difficult times (ie, wango tango weeks/ months) she has had to wear them for naps. We have had issues with her trying to keep them on all day. She wants to wear them, damp, wet, dripping, she wants one on. I try to rarely mention the pull up situation, but I have told her that most kids her age don't wear them anymore. Our discount stores only stock up to 5t and she is about out of that size and I have told her that too. I told her, if she wanted to she could tell her friend that the pull ups belong to her sister, since that is true, and just not mention that she wears them since it could be embarrassing. Some things are private in our family and no one else has to know etc.
Last night she decided to go to bed without a pull up on. She just came up with it as she was getting ready for bed and told me she wanted to try. I did a quick mental scan and I figured we had enough clean sheets that we could spare a set when she wet the bed in the night. We have tried to make it many times before without success. I had realistic hopes (ie, a shred, just one shred not two, of hope).
She did it. She stayed dry. All night.
The power of social status is that strong.
But what is really scary is the power of this child's will.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Back to sleep
I cannot believe I have children like this. I could sleep the rest of my life! I love to sleep and always have. Even as a kid. Seriously this is payback for something I did to my parents. Take your pick, the list is long.
Anyway, The Husband and I had gone through every possible consequence for her and nothing worked for more than a week. We let her watch tv. We set up doll parties for her. Books in bed. Get up and play in your room. Get up and play in the living room. Get up and watch a movie. Eat.
Finally after a year of this, we decided to drop a ton of pull ups on Genea. Over a year of everyone in this house being disturbed every morning and unable to get adequate sleep, well it made us kind of cranky. The thing that got us sleep was the consequence of spending the day in her room on restriction for a full day of boredom therapy. Oh precious rest, it had done the trick for about 6 months and she only relapsed a few weeks ago. I posted on the ordeal as she was firing back up, and mostly people agreed with the strategy or offered supportive words. One person had a different idea and commented ...
"Is she after control, or attention or is she really scared and upset and frightened to be awake when everyone else is asleep? I'd try and figure that out, I guess. I was always fearful to be the only one awake".
Well folks you don't have to hit ME over the head with a sour sippy cup(anymore than 200 or so times). Even though I thought we had exhausted all of the 'kinder' sorts of ways to handle these early morning calls, that comment stuck in my head.
Fast forward to Beyond Consequences seminar, where the foundation of the paradigm is that all behavior originates as either love or fear. Again, no hurry, just knock me over with a diaper champ and stuff 2 pacifiers in my ears. La la la. So you take a behavior as an example and break it down until it either lands on one side or the other, love or fear. Then you can figure out the motivation and build back up from that perspective. Well anyway, that is my assessment of the process.
So what kind of enormous jackassed buttheaded parents does this poor kid have?
Oh man. Sigh. Heavy sigh.
So how do we make her feel more safe and secure. We talked with her, and empathized and asked her opinions and validated her fears. We are going to try something a little weird. When she wakes up and if she feels scared she is going to get up and come in my room and look at us so she will know we are still there. I don't know if it will work. It's a bit strange. And I am still using the boredom treatment until I find another thing that works better if she wakes us up. I am not beating myself up about it either. We have had such an unbelieveable excess of chaos to work through, well, if a few things went left at the ditch, it could have been worse.
So, to change the subject, I didn't see any famous people in Los Angeles. I don't know how I managed to pull that off since there seems to be a billion of 'em that multiply like wire closet hangers, especially with the Academy Awards going on. Now, I invited George Clooney and Brad Pitt over for an after hours party. I had decided that I would be willing to delay my sleep for both since they are both on my List of 5*. Since I was in the area and all. Sad to say, I was devastated neither of them showed. Jerks. They never even called!
*List of 5 is list of the 5 famous people you could ahem, pause, your marriage for if the opportunity were to present itself. It is from a sitcom called '' Friends''.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.
I SLEPT. On my trip to California in my nice quiet little hotel room. I turned off phones, put 'quiet' on my door, and I slept. I slept until.... get ready..... 12:45. Basically midnight to 1 pm the next day. 13 hours. It was lovely. And ya know, I could have kept sleeping. I woke once around 6:30 and went back to sleep of course. Then I dozed in and out starting around 11. I could have kept going until the 4th of July really. Sleep, aaaaaahhhhh. Beautiful. Just beautiful.
The Bad. After my 900 hour flight sitting in a wedge the size of a pencil, The Husband and the girls came to pick me up and right away, I mean within minutes, Genea regressed dramatically. So, I expected that would happen and it wasn't that big a problem seriously, I just really hate to see it. She dissociated and was doing all kinds of weird things trying to crank up our reactions. The good news is it is fairly minor so far, I hope she is done quickly. The other bad is, Teena is sick again. I don't know what the hell is going on here, I really don't. We have some sort of death plague cloud over our house. Puked 4 times today. But, good news again I think that is over with. And if it isn't, well, I am done. I will quit this suck ass job. And I am not giving 2 weeks or any other notice. Good luck finding my replacement.
And, the ugly. The Husband crashed his car today and took out 2 others. His is totalled. Everyone seems ok so far. The good on this one is he had taken it in for repairs a few months ago and the mechanics said we could spend several thousand dollars fixing it up, or we could patch it together and wait for it to die on its own. Either way would be the same, it had over 120,000 miles on it and we decided to leave it have a dignified end of life. It went out with a bang (boo, bad pun boo) instead. Anyway, so now he has to use my car. Which I don't use much these days what with all the staying at home momming. But rest assured I will suddenly have a bunch of places to go.
I have some fun stories from my trip and I will spread them out over the next few days. I have a lot to catch up on too!
The Husband did ok with the kids. He was not layed out in the snow in front of our closest Catholic church begging for an exorcism as I had hoped. He said they were normal, so that had to suck. But he is not giving up any more information. I suspect he has been reading, as someone asked. Yep, he knows my blog and checks in here and there. Believe it or not, I am this charming in person too, (JK!)and have verbalized everything I have written. They cleaned the bathroom but ran out of everything. Toilet paper, milk, food, and forgot the damn garbage so the house stank like a rotten orange. Not pretty. And the girls aren't talking either, not giving it up on their Daddy. They ate out a lot, which is certainly a luxurious way to spend a weekend!
Anyway, more later! I have re- entered this post twice, er 3 times, now, I gotta go!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I went to California and...
I brought a basic crochet book with me and tried it out. Soon as you can read that sentence I was hooking away!
I have been a rabid knitter for a few years now. I taught myself when I was pregnant. I learned to crochet as a kid but never took it up. I noticed some crochet-ers recently blogging and got inspired to try it.
So there you have it. Bi- Craftual.
I will have much more interesting stuff to post on (IMO that is) the next few days.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
I am afraid I must resign.
Don't Cry For Me Argentina, the truth is I never left you, all through my wild days, my mad existence.
Genea has bronchitis. She woke up this morning and could not go to school. She had to go to the Dr., I thought it was strep again, but no. On zithromax.
We had hamburger helper for dinner. The stroganoff kind. I finished and went in to my room to pack, and I hear The Husband yelling from the kitchen.." help!!! we need help!!!! it's an emergency!!!". Sure enough. A glass of milk, a serving of hamburger helper, and some zithromax had declined the ambiance in Genea's tummy, and left the premises. Vacated the property and took up residence everywhere else. This was a LOT of puke. And it staaaank. NOT one drop was caught in any kind of container. Not a drop. On her in a big soggy chunky puddle, on the chair in between the cushion and the frame, on her place mat, on the tablecloth, on the floor which is parquet wood with lots of channels for stuff to get stuck in.
Nothing like reinforcing Mama's need for a BIG HUGE BREAK!!! Oh my UNholy HELL!
I have a whole loaded iPod, with all the http://www.manicmommies.com/ episodes that I have missed recently. And my other favorite, * Gay Pimpin' with Johnny McGovern http://www.gaypimp.com/ that I never get to listen to anymore because each episode is 2-3 hours long (2-3 hours longer than I have to sit and listen) but freaking hysterical. I miss diversity here in Wonder-bread- land. I miss going to clubs cuz I am ahem, of other ages. So I have like 20 hours of podcasts to catch up on and I think it will take each stinking hour to counter today.
And, to top it all off, I can no longer call myself Mother Warrior of Puke, I must demote myself to Mother Scrubber of Puke. Sigh. Airplane, take me away!!!!
*note that particular podcast is graphic and explicit.
Keep This Secret!
The Husbands favorite phrase is this: It's no big deal. It's no big deal to be alone all weekend with a baby. It's no big deal to travel for work. It's no big deal to have to do everything by yourself. It's no big deal to go someplace by yourself. Uh huh, yes he did. And a year and a half ago when child number 2 walked through the door, he committed the offenses again. And yet with all that confidence he has, he has never spent one entire day with the kids by himself.
And I have a long memory.
Heh Heh heh.
I finally have somewhere to go. For 4 days.
Heh heh heh.
So this weekend, I am going *gasp* off the grid and traveling myself to California to attend a Beyond Consequences seminar. The Husband will have the girls all to himself the whole weekend. Heh heh heh.
I have not done anything extra to set them up for the weekend. I did not do extra shopping. I did not pre-cook meals. I did not list out activities they could do. The Husband is not a total idiot and will be able to care well for the girls.
But it would be a lie if I said I hope it all goes great. Secretly, I hope they nail him to the wall. He has a big fat mouth and I have been waiting for a chance to let him learn by experience, exactly how draining these kids can be. And, how stressful it is when you are the only one and no one is coming to help you. And how jumbled your brain gets when you realize you have only been up for 2 hours and it feels like the day should be almost over already.
Secretly I hope they are demanding and self centered. I hope they whine and get on each others nerves.
Secretly, I hope to find him laying flat on his face in front of the nearest Catholic church, begging someone to call the Vatican about Damiens twin sisters. To schedule an exorcism.
If Teena pee's on her undies 3 times in one day and runs out of clean undies, well, they will just have to do laundry. I have not prepared their clothing for them. And, I haven't done laundry this week so things are running low. There is enough if you know what you are doing. Secretly, I hope they run out and he has to dig through the basket to pull out their nasty pee clothes and wash them.
So the secret is, I want the girls to act the way they normally do. no better, no worse. Their average. Heh heh heh. I want The Husband to have this experience in all its glory. I will leave out the phone book open to the churches page.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Decision to make
I am going to California for the weekend to a Beyond Consequences seminar. I can NOT decide if I should take my laptop or not and it is making me bonkers!
If I take it, I am not checking any bags and so will have to lug it around and out at the airport and it will take up a lot of room. Plus it is heavy and I will have to go buy a new cord because the one I have is rigged together.
But, I could definitely use it in an unfamiliar city! Where to go, delivery food places, directions, etc. What else would I do, read the phone book? Like some episode of Little House on the Prairie?
My hotel has wireless, but they charge for it. Who does that anymore! Are you serious there is a charge?
See, but here is the biggest problem that I can project ahead of time will be an issue for me. I am going to this here little seminar on Saturday, but other than that, I intend to force all things child from my brain. No little girls. No adoption stuff. No attachment stuff. No research. And, this is the worst and hardest for me.....No Blogs!!!!
I need a break in the worst way. Everyone does. People are struggling on most of the blogs I read. It is a crappy time of year, and must be rough on the kids as well because a lot of them are acting out. But I have gotten very fond of my blog. I check it through, well I am not going to say how many times a day. Just a lot. I think in blog. At the grocery store or whatever, hmm, this is a great idea for a post.
So if I have my laptop, will I have the strength to tear myself away? I expect to have a full day of nothing to do. I am sooooo looking forward to that day! I will want to check in on blogs. I will want to comment. And then, I will want to read backgrounds and early posts on the new blogs I have come across or who have come across me. I won't be able to stop. And then I will have spent my nothing day immersed in kids and adoptions and attachments..... !!!
See? Slippery slope and all that.
Not exactly a life altering decision, not even at the level of should I change my hair decision.
Arghgaala! Can't decide.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Big Party
Of course, I was the only mom who stayed. There was the mom of the birthday girl, and a friend of the moms', who was the owner of the single attending boy and had obviously been trapped into helping out. It surprised me, how everyone got there exactly on time and left the same way. On. The. Dot. In fact, most of the other parents kicked their kids out of the car and ran away fast. A few never even slowed down. Just bzzzzzzzzzz by, opened the minivan side door and the girl jumped out and rolled into a summer- sault up to the house with the minivan going 25 miles an hour. It was suggested on the invitation that the girls dress as a fairy or a princess, so Genea dressed as a fairy princess. And if I do say, she was the prettiest one with the best hair and costume. Too bad the Oscar Committee was unavailable.
Beautiful eh?
How I wished to be one of those parents, who could rip past the house, toss their kid out, and leave. I imagine them going back to their houses and taking a nap. Or reading a book. Or just relaxing, resting, listening to the quiet. Was I jealous? Put it this way, I have always looked good in green. Just call me Elphaba. No, I understood ahead of time. I knew, even when we adopted Genea, that milestones for all kids would come and go, and that as her mom, I would be responsible for a big extra chunk of decision making. There will always be events like this, that as her parents we will have to think through another level of precaution and planning. It is just different. When Teena goes to her first party, she will probably arrange a taxi to do her transportation and we will never even know what happened.
Fact is, all those other parents probably went home to do laundry. Or dishes, or pay bills. Or clean litter boxes, and take care of the other kids they have. This is what I am telling myself. The grass is always greener for sure.
So it was a good party. Like I said, I stayed the whole time. I had let Genea know ahead of time that if she was comfortable and okay with it, I would leave and go back for her at the end. Within the first 3 minutes in the house, I knew that would not be happening. Nope. None of the other parents even walked in past the door mat. And frankly, a few of them probably should have stayed with their kids (the girl popping herself on the head for attention comes to mind). Of course, everyone knew each other. It is a strange place I live in. It is a medium- small city, but everyone seems to know everyone anyway. Like they all went to school together or something. Not a lot of people move to here, and not as many as I would think move away. So people know each other for decades. I mean, not me, the other people.
It's a cute thing about kids this age, 5 and 6, that mom's are interchangeable. You are either, mom to that kid, or you are in the Mom Pool. And members of the Mom Pool can be approached at any time with a problem. Bow on your costume came undone? Mom Pool. Spilled your drink? Alert the Mom Pool. Don't want to throw away your own garbage you little shit? Hand it over to the Mom Pool! I will probably crack my image a bit here, but I think it is sweet. A whole little group of short people who think I can help them maneuver through anything. Just cuz I own 2 of them myself (huh, if they only knew)!
They had pizza for lunch, with chips and soda- cranked up the sugar load early on and dosed the kids with some good old fashioned semi-toxic food dyes and crap. I helped out, with everything, while also trying to hang back quietly. This was a really funny moment, their dog was whining and the mom said it was the dog pretending she was sad behind the gate. I said, hmmm, sounds like a fake cry to me, who else has a fake cry. I swear, 5 of the girls raised their hands and started doing it. Very interesting! They went on to talk about it, how they do it and why/ when, who falls for it. Genea had to sense to keep it zipped for that little conversation!
So, I was never offered anything. To eat, to drink, to snack. I just stood there, wasting away, helping all the kids and picking up garbage for them. When plates were handed out, I was skipped. At first I thought it was because they might not have enough. But, they did. Same with the soda. Nothing. But, the most heinous of the social protocols to be ungraciously ignored was the cake. I am a fiend for frosting, especially butter cream frosting. That's what it looked like on the cake, a monstrous dedication to the newest chick to spend your money on- Tinkerbell -and butter- cream frosting. It was chocolate cupcakes with a frosting shelf built over them. Never even offered. Seriously. Everyone else was specifically handed a plate. Oh, and there were plenty of cupcakes left too. Sure I could have asked, or just taken, but I just wasn't feeling it. Really, you do nothing but promote a stereotype when you hog all the cake! (Here in Wisconsin folks are known for being, well, sturdy. No wind gonna come knock down any residents in this state). So I don't know what was up with that. I hate using the phone so I had The Husband call and RSVP us. I made him ask if parents were able to stay if needed, and she told him parents could stay if they wanted to but she wasn't expecting that people stay. So she knew it was a possibility. Now this is just occurring to me, party mom might have thought it was weird that I stayed when I so obviously had this well adjusted child capable of being on her own and that I was clearly being over protective in the extreme. Thinking of me as the Dumb- Ass Mom who insisted on staying. Still though, everyone offers! Oh well. Better they think I was the one with the exceptional needs!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Only in Wisconsin, or Only in My House
I called my husband an Ass Hat last night and he thought it was so funny he has been referring to himself as The Ass Hat all day.
I yelled at Teena a few nights ago. She was having a home cooked meal of nutritious Spaghettio's (ever look at the label? It has way more nutrition than white bread, maybe not as much as popcorn ahem) and she got some on the table cloth. I had a fit, yelling about who got red sauce on my table cloth, I just washed the damn thing. Then I realized how horrible I was. Not for yelling. For caring.
Teena has an unfortunate resemblance to Pig Pen, the little kid from the Peanuts cartoons who walks around in a cloud of dust. The only way to keep something clean around her is to get it away from her, or move her away from it. This means she should eat outside, or in the shower. I am a pro- active mom though, I taught her how to use our dust buster. But, it is still too heavy for her to carry.
Friday, February 13, 2009
I Jinxed it.
2 nights ago Genea woke us all up in the middle of the night. She said she had a nightmare so I let her come and sleep by me. Groggy as I was, I did not realize she had turned on the lights and woken up Teena as well.
She has done this since she came here but had finally stopped about 6 months ago. She wakes up for whatever reason and proceeds to wake up everyone else. She turns lights on, wails and cries on and on. We tell her to knock it off, she gets louder. We tell her to go back to sleep etc, and she screams. She wants to get up and she wants everyone else to get up too. We have tried everything to stop her, but unfortunately she has the upper hand in this because we cannot physically make her shut up. It only stopped when we started putting her on total restriction for waking up the house. She had to stay in her room all day, eating toast and- or leftovers only. And water to drink. I hated doing it for a lot of reasons, but mainly I hated to separate her like that from us. How will we bond and attach when we are in different rooms all day? Going to that extreme made me feel like I was not doing my job and going overboard with the consequence. Like, I can't parent someone who isn't there! Being honest about the good, the bad and the ugly, I admit that I also felt a guilty sort of relief in a way. Having Genea contained in a room was a lot easier than having her bounce and ping around all day. It was a nice break from the incessant unending verbal barrage that normally makes up a day with her. Especially when I am exhausted from being up half the night. It took about another month on and off, but she finally did quit.
So, I predicted that she would wake us up with another nightmare last night. I knew she had just gotten too much mileage from the previous night. I got off track yesterday and did not remember to go over it with her. The girls have a clock in their room so they know when it is 7 they can get up. Not one minute before- and they have only missed it maybe twice. Every day, there they are, 7 am on the dot (yes, I know that is a lot later than a lot of people have to get up and moving).
Around 5 am, Genea started calling out to us that the time was taking too long. This is usually the first step in the avalanche that is coming, and so sure enough we told her it was not time yet and she began to wail. We told her to knock it off, she got louder and Teena woke up. We told her she would be in trouble if she kept it up and she subsided enough that everyone including Teena was able to drift back to sleep, then she began the pre-cry whine again. Every time she detected people might be falling back to sleep here comes the whining and the calling out to us, then firing up the cry again. Endless cycle.
I will appreciate suggestions. I have told her she is on restriction when she gets home from school. I also told her the party on Sunday is not an option if we cannot trust her to behave in our home, we cannot let her go to someone elses home. But I have not cancelled her rsvp. I hope this all makes sense.
Maybe it is a Friday the 13th so close to the full moon.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Amazing Genea....
We all went out to dinner the other night to a great little restaurant that has on Sundays, free kids meals and adults get a free order of cupcakes as dessert. The girls have gotten much better at restaurants lately although you still get a set amount of time. You know, like they can go about 40 minutes on their own and can stay and behave for up to 50 minutes if heavily entertained. But if we spend 15 minutes waiting for a table, that is counted into the total allotted minutes. Anyway, they have stopped throwing things and banging on the tables. I remember being horrified with them at Old Country Buffet, they were yelling and banging and throwing stuff, and hit some older ladies. Fortunately, my girls cuteness gets them out of a lot of trouble on the outside. The ladies thought it was hilarious and commented they were SO HAPPY neither lady was in my shoes and their kids were grown up. LOL!
So there is 5 of us for dinner and we were about halfway through. Genea had inhaled her mac and cheese and some bread. We were all eating and the server came to check on us and when she did, this is what happened.
Genea: Can I have another orange juice please?
Server: Of course
Me, The Husband, The MIL: nothing. we say nothing because we are all so stunned that Genea did that.
Pause again.
Me: oh, yeah sure she can have another one, thanks.
Ok, this is my kid with all the crazy problems including massive social fears and new people fears and talking to people fears, and she just ordered herself a drink!!!!!!!!!!!
I know it looks totally lame written out now that I am reading it. But BELIEVE me, this is a huge step for her. I was so proud of her!
Although, she is not allowed to binge on liquids and knew she probably shouldn't have done that but I gave her an inch because the issue has never come up before in a restaurant.
Genea got an invitation in the mail to a classmates birthday party! I think all the girls in the class are invited. I already feel like I swallowed barbed wire I am so nervous for her just thinking about it. I theoretically know she will be fine, but it has wracked my nerves because what if she gets into a situation that freaks her out and she can't figure out what to do because her brain does not work that way and she melts down and ruins the party and has the stigma of being the kid that loused up the Fairy Princess Party until she graduates from high school!!!!!!
(ok I know I am reaching here but I like to look at the big picture as well as the small picture and it could really happen don't you remember the kid that pee'd in kindergarten or puked in class or ate the paste and glue cuz I DO TOO! TIM G. I remember you!! And Mark F. you too!!)
Only Genea's room teacher knows her background. Oh yea and the useless counselor (when she has a meltdown the counselor suggest we have her focus on a pen right like I am going to hand Genea a weapon in the middle of a fit). I don't really want to tell anyone else anything they don't need to know and for now, Genea is 'passing' as a regular kid and I do not want to wreck that for her. But sending her to someone else's house and leaving her there..... who else did that.... her last parents who then left her...we had all kinds of nice little home visits when we were transitioning, what if she flashes back!
Ah, I am sure she will be fine. She has come so far and learned so much. These are just the things I think about and worry for her.
So Genea lost another tooth. It kills me, just kills me, that she accepts her teeth tumbling out of her mouth with blood involved and a big fat hole in her jaw and it is no big deal to her. This kid has a whopping tantrum over any old little thing. She rarely, if ever, gets food on her face eating because she can feel even the tiniest little blip of sauce on her skin and she always wipes it off or licks it off but she about always feels it because her sensory system is set on extra super turbo high. She practically collapses in fear for her life demanding immediate medical intervention for a speck on her skin and insists on band-aids and splints and slings for days. She limps around if she bumps her hand. But a tooth? Ah well.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The, "I don't think she (me) wants me(mil) here, snivel snivel" card. The crying fit was evidently not effectively manipulative enough. My First (and Current) Husband is now getting more insistent that I join their little outings and he sits in the back seat of the car convulsing in pain from cramps.
Hmm, I may have to rethink my strategy. I certainly cannot out- nicey nice anyone. Can't wear the panties in that club. Although, if I were to insist on going along on all little outings, that would probably burn up some bridges, or something like that.
Gifts were handed out. I was handed a cutesy mix to make cookies from. I don't just not cook, I seriously do not even have a cookie sheet. The girls were gifted with 2 handmade aprons (handmade by someone else in a craft store somewhere) to ''put on when they are cooking with mom in the kitchen''. I almost looked around my own house trying to figure out who that mom was. Oh, me? I cracked that I don't cook several times. What the hell.
screaming AHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAH stupid AAAAHHHHH
insipid AAAAAAAAAAH HHHHHHHHHHAA
Monday, February 9, 2009
Perils of the Inane Giggle
Some women, many years ago, were brought up to serve. They were brought up to smile, take care of others and do as they were told. Men are more important and when you get married your job then becomes to take care of your husband, children, and home. You are wife, hear you gag choke and smother. You are not just last, you are not a factor.
When I was growing up, I had one grandmother tell me to quit acting smart, I would never get a boyfriend that way (she also said I was lucky I could 'test drive' a man first since that wasn't allowed in her day LOL). At the other grandmothers home we would go as a family and my dad would park his butt next to his fathers butt on the recliners parked in front of the tv and snap at my sister and I to go help grandma in the kitchen. I resented the hell out of that, so much so that to this day I remember and am blogging about it. I never understood, still don't, how you could marinate your ass in la- Z- boy lovin' and have the nerve to tell someone else to go do all the work. Get up and do it yourself idiot.
I may not be shocking anyone here at this point, when I confess that I did not sit quietly agreeing with those attitudes. I was lucky, I think, to grow up in the era where men and women are equal. We were able to have opinions as girls, and express them (to a point). It was taught in schools, on PBS, and reflected in my parents home (to a point), girls can do anything boys can do and boys can do anything girls can do. My mom definitely had the opinion that boys and girls may be equal, but secretly girls are better.
Unfortunately, this sort of assertiveness with opinions never did win me any friends with the older set. I remember 2 jobs ago, I was in charge of my own department. It was a grant position that I put together from start to finish and it made gobs of money for the agency. Our office manager, an older woman named Dorothy, was the type to refer to people such as "that colored girl" or "the big one" and other charming little terms. She was very strict and uptight and more than one person was afraid of her. She HATED me. Oh my goodness, she hated the sight and sound of me. However, she would have never dreamed of actually confronting or saying anything to me. To her, and to many otherly aged women I have noticed, if you have to say something "unpleasant" you say it with a smile and an inane little giggle in your voice. Like, *SMILE* "I would love to slap you, *inane giggle* you rude little shit " *SMILE*. But she never even did that. HOoo Noooo, she spent her days doing little passive aggressive things to work my nerves. Like, she would make a change in my department with the program manager, and I would say No and put it all back. Just, No. My department. She could not believe someone would do that. One day I was chewing in the front office and I overheard her telling someone else how rude I was to have food in my mouth and chew it, I pointedly finished chewing and said," isn't it more rude to gossip about people? Because I am pretty sure that is a sin." I know she blew out a few hemorrhoids that day. Cuz really, you know, some people have great talents they can sing or what have you. Me, I can't sing but I can out- snotty comment a lot of people. And from that day on, it was war. She was a bit of a germ-o- phobe. Now, I admit this is desperately immature. Terrible of me. I would go into her office and make a point of leaning a butt cheek on her desk. Or sneezing by her keyboard. I know, it is awful. I was horrible and mean.( If you can't wear the panties, don't expect to play with the big girls). I would cough into my hand then hold her door knob. She would (try to) change my filing system. I would hum music from The Wizard of OZ when I passed her, you know the wicked witch song. She would print up reams of crap for me to sign and acknowledge to be "liable" for. On and on. Fun, really. I have opinions. I express them. But we all know they are like assholes, everyone has one.
Now, this lengthy story is background. I am establishing history of low tolerance for pissy folk who try to annoy me. I admit to my part of having a hair trigger reaction to what I may perceive as being ruded upon. This lengthy story is my little way of announcing to the world that in recent days, despite all else, I have been successfully holding myself back from a tirade. Stuffing my frustrations down like shrimp at a Vegas buffet. If it weren't for the whole part about 3 miracles and virtuous behavior like, always, I might even suggest someone nominate me as a low-ranking saint. I have held my mouth shut forcibly. My phony smile has crumbled and cracked like a busted out windshield, but it has held, although with a sort of constipated hint to it. It has very nearly come to the point of calling Home Depot to come and install hardware to keep me from exploding. I put up with my children's clothes being changed. I said nothing when their hair was re- coiffed. Letting Teena eat an entire bucket of movie theater popcorn and calling it nutritious. I have been patient. I have had nerves of steel. I threw out 3 empty bottles of Xanax. I have been to my happy place with a bottle of tequila, a funnel cake cart, and my second husband (the one I haven't met yet) over and over. I have smiled and nodded until my face cheeks splintered and butt cheeks actually froze stuck. Until last night.
We were all going to take a little trip, to the South of Wisconsin. My children, myself, my first husband and his mother. For this a car was rented so that 2 cars were not needed to fit everyone.
A decision was made, by the person in charge of this decision, that when it comes to comfort, mine is expendable. My husbands is first or second, his mothers is second or first, and when it comes to me, well, stuffed into the back seat of a Pontiac with 2 children in car seats should be okay with me because I should be respecting my elders and respecting my husband and making sure I am making them and everyone else happy without consideration for any part of my 5 foot 10 inch bod. (And by the way I HAVE a Pontiac!) Nosiree, I was supposed to clench my butt and be quiet. Again. While the ahem, bigger people, sat in the comfortable seats. Because this has happened before with other family members from that part of the family tree. And though I made apparent my opinion, I allowed The Husband to beg and plead and promise me a new handbag to let it go back then. But yesterday, when I mentioned that this arrangement was tight, the response was, "well I figured it is not that long of a drive to be a little uncomfortable". People, the ride was 3 hours. Each way. SIX hours total. And it occurred to me, as I was elevated 2 inches above the seat by virtue of my highly stiffened butt that the person speaking had decided that a little discomfort would be ok because that person had no intention of sitting in the back with 2 children in car seats, or anywhere else that might be uncomfortable. And had such person thought for one second that her beloved son might have to sit there torqued inhumanely, things would have been dramatically different. We would be in a Hummer. And so I realized that said person made her decision about things that suck and things that would be just fine for a short 6 hour trip based on the fact that the one person that would be stuck with the shit that sucks, would be me. And that was okay. With her.
It was not. Okay. With me.
And, I have to say, if you insist on emitting an little giggle after everything you say AND after everything everyone else says, no matter what the hell it is, I cannot and will not be responsible for your meltdown because I have been living with the high priestess of the manipulative meltdown for a year and a half and I am immune. And next time I am driving my own car.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Wild rants
I just hope I live to see the end of next week. Oh my unholy hell!
Brown Bag Class on Building Self-Esteem
(me raising my hand and waving and panting like Steve Uerkel) OOoh OOh OOOoh I have questions pick me pick me!!!
Ahem. Yes, thank you. My question is, how do you build self esteem in a child who has been dumped twice in her first 4 little years of life? Okay, yeah, I said we love her, um hmmm, yes, told her she is a good kid. Um, what else do you have on your little agenda there? Your little note cards on how to make kids feel good about themselves. Do you have anything about justifiable rage, grief and fear? How should I handle the separation anxiety and absolute panic when I move into the next room, or even just out of my child's sight? I would love to hear your idea's when, for example, I give my child more crackers as a snack than she was expecting and she began to wail and it went on for 5 minutes and she could not pull herself together the rest of the night so she wailed and sobbed about every little thing and then made some up when she ran out of real things and I am curious as to your insights as to where I can influence and improve on her esteem. Because evidently that is an area we parents have been lacking in.
I would like to know whose bright idea this was. Well, probably I should be kept away from the information. This is the kind of shit that makes mothers or parents feel incompetent no matter what they do. If my tax dollars, which include my property taxes that doubled 2 years ago, if that money is going to this degrading little seminar that says moms are inherently stupid, I'm gonna' have a fit.
Maybe they would like some of my more useful suggestions for a class. How do you get your fully functional child to quit peeing on herself? How do you anticipate a meltdown and prevent it? If my child is in a nice little time out as a consequence, how do you suggest I handle it when she regresses and announces in a baby voice that she has just poo poo'd on herself? Uh huh, and then when she does it again 2 hours later? How do you explain to a child where all the other parents went and why? Yup, your first 2 mom's could not do it, but really I mean it, the 3rd is going to stick. Yesiree, just because I said so. How do you reassure a child who needs to feel in control of everything, how do you get across to that child that it really is ok. It is ok to relax. It is ok to rest. It is just ok now. You can have a self to build esteem onto.
So, unfortunately, I have to RSVP with a 'cannot attend'. My child's self esteem is not to a point that I can drop her off somewhere and appear for your nice little class without crushing her. I am not willing to deal with the fall-out from changing up routines and schedules for the precious pearl's of wisdom I am certain will be available for this ground- breaking class.
(I absolutely do NOT expect my childs school district to put on any sort of class that would go so far off the track as my questions would. But, I do really think there are many more useful subjects that could get touched upon. (What do you say when your kid asks where babies come from? Because both of my girls think you go and pick them up even the one I spent 30 hours squeezing out).)
If you are planning on any classes on how to afford child care or health insurance please feel free to contact me. Otherwise, I am busy.
What went all wonky with my font there ? I have no clue. Not intentional, but oddly seems to fit.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Is this even legal? Bra's and Blagojevich
So here is what I want. My list has become a bit longer since I have done some looking.
Straps that stay up. WHY is this so hard.
A reasonable price. WTF is worth $30?
Fit without overflow. This means, no fat flopover. I am not overweight and I still get flopover.
No aeronautics or hydraulics. If they aren't gonna get there unless water balloons or tubes filled with air are included, I am not interested. Unless I am on the Titanic.
A nice fabric. Not sticky or itchy or stiff. Maybe like socks.
Smooth and cover. No twists and torques in the construction that can be seen thru clothing.
(See, if you can make an infinity pool out of concrete that looks like it flows right into the ocean, can you not make a fabric seam that flows?)
No metals. 'nuff said.
Washes in the washer. Dries in the dryer.
Not ugly and no chicken wire.
Doesn't flatten. I don't need to perk them up and I don't need to look like a man. Just regular.
I bought a few new bra's recently. Maybe bras are designed by men. That would explain a lot. I bought a Playtex Thank Goodness it Fits. It does, and it is ok, but it is sort of stiff and the straps don't stay. And, it is ugly and has a visible ridge along the top of the cup thingy. At WalMart I got a 3 pack of sports bra's. This was a mistake. I probably should have noticed when there was no cup size, but didn't really think about it. See, I have NEVER heard of a compression bra. I would not have even thought such a thing was legal. It is like taking a giant pony tail band and wrapping it around your boobs. Very, very uncomfortable and has to be illegal. Our government saves us from driving without our own seat belts on but allows this?
Speaking of legal, I have watched former Gov Blagojevich with interest. I grew up in the Chicago area. When my mom was a teenager and took her first driving test, she failed. Everyone did and everyone knew it was because you had to pay to take the test every time. My grandfather slipped the driving test public employee some payola and, BSSSST presto chango she passed. It cracks me up that she to this day does not think anything of it. She keeps saying, but that is what you did back then.
I have watched him with giggles every time he is on the tv. Sorry, really, but this guy is good. And I hate to say it, but he does have a point. He has been charged with a crime and because of it was fired from his nice Governor job. If I am charged with stealing my neighbors newspaper for example, my boss at Wendy's cannot fire me. I am innocent until I am proven and judged guilty, even if there is videotape of me swiping the paper then sitting at my kitchen table to read it over some coffee then tossing it into the kitty litter pan when I am done, even then, I am still innocent until I have exercised my given right to make an ass out of myself saying I didn't, on the record.
This guy should get a reality show. One like the apprentice but not exposing me to any more Trump. Maybe he could try out various blue- collar jobs since he toots himself as their savior. Well I would watch anyway. I mean, he does need a job. Now that the side income is gone, he will probably be hurting a bit.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
I Love Pea
My children have many talents. Genea can sing. Not just sing on key, or sing good for a kid. She can sing. She sounds like the CD when she sings from Annie. How cute is that, the whole curly headed orphan thing. Really. She also has what we like to call, a ''memory like an iron fist''. Never make the mistake of thinking a. she won't notice a change b. she will not care that you changed something or c. she can handle a small change. The up-side of this is huge, especially for the rest of us who are evidently incapable of picking up and- or putting away, those of us with shriveled up little peas where our organization abilities should be in the brain. Lose track of your keys? Ask Genea. Want to paint your toenails? Genea is the one who is going to remember to put down a paper towel. Did she eat a cookie 6 days ago after dinner? Yes, or no, she will remember.
For Teena, I have discovered a new talent. The kind that makes a parent proud. A talent that I could take to the Prissy Perfect Supermom Blogs and brag, that my perfect daughter has a perfect talent, and yours doesn't. Sometimes Teena gets up in the night to go pee. While she used to call for her Daddy, she has started calling out to me instead. I hate her getting up in the night because I worry about her going the wrong way and falling down the stairs, or getting hurt going to the bathroom. We started putting pull- ups back on her at night recently. After the hospital last month and multiple UTI's, she had been having accidents again at night. Go figure, if she is wearing a pull-up, she will not pee in it. No pull- up, pee your bed. I don't pretend to understand, I just report the facts.
ANYway, back to her talent. A few nights ago she got up out of bed to go potty. I listened for her and she was doing ok. Until she called for me. I went in and this is what I saw. Teena standing on the bathroom rug. Pull- up is off her butt but still at her knee's. Jammie bottoms just below the pull- up. Pull- up and jammies are dry. Pee stain on the bathroom rug approximately 6 inches around. She can pee on the floor, with clothes on, and keep herself dry. Amazing!
I feel like I am in a Mystery Theater production. Everything is dry so how did the rug get wet? It appears, and again, I do not know for a fact, but it appears that the pee bounced off the pull up and streamed and dripped onto the rug. So there was like, one drop of pee still on the pull up but not soaked in. Oh, and of course there is no pee in the potty. Magic. In my house, pee is magical.
So, I have a new attitude. I have been told for years, for decades, that my problem is my attitude. Or, I needed to change my attitude, you get the idea. Usually from people in authority that I thought were suckasses. All the personnel, from the cafeteria to slacker-student math teacher at my high school, would be delighted that I finally listened to their advice. My parents can finally relax. I have changed my attitude.
Woo hoo. Pee. Magic Pee.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Michael Phelps (may have) Drank the Bong Water
He has apologized, said he regrets it, it was stupid, etc. I give him credit for admitting to it straight up. I have heard plenty of public people try to say, ''uh, yeah that is me but I didn't inhale''. And I agree, that was really stupid. In my opinion though, the colossally stupid part is getting caught. Getting caught with the bong covering your mouth. Come on! This guy has been photographed all over the world. He has been hunted by reporters and 'paparazzi' everywhere he goes. He has had people live outside his house waiting to take just one photo. Stalked. Hunted. Followed. I mean, I have never seen a picture of him digging out his nose or picking his underwear out of his butt or flipping someone off. He knows enough not to do those things in front of a camera!
Dude, seriously, how are you so stupid to let someone take a picture of you toking up. Although I suppose the answer is in the question now that I think about it. You smoke some weed and you get a few really dumbassed ideas floating around your head. Something was wrong with your doobage man, it did not make you paranoid enough.
So now the talk is all about if he will be kicked out of the pool forever for this. I gotta' say, unless Couch Morphing has become an Olympic event, I don't think it should count against him. Seriously, pot is about the most performance UN-enhancing drug there is. It sure will not be making him faster in the water. Or anywhere else.
I used to see a counseling client who was convinced there was marijuana in the air. This person had seen on the news that when police confiscate drugs they burn it all in a big pile. She became sure that it was in the air all around her. It did not dissipate, it just foofed around in the air forever. Seriously, she thought this for years. Now, it is a tribute to my brilliant therapeutic skills (sarcasm) that it took me less than one hour to convince her that this particular distortion of thought was off track. If there was marijuana in the air, people would be a lot happier. There would be no road rage, no highly ambitious crime, heck maybe even no more war! The Three Stooges would still be on television because everyone would think it was funny. I, me myself, I would be asleep.


text:
- Gordon, Larissa. "Your Last Impression: Saying Thank You after Your Interview."
- Larrabee, Nancy. "Readers' Advisory: You Can Do It!"
- Pressley, Lauren. "Supervising Younger Workers."
- Sloan, Susan. "Leadership for New Librarians."
Interested in writing for LIScareer? See the Author Guidelines (http://www.liscareer.com/write.htm).
Priscilla Shontz, editor
Rich Murray, assistant editor


text:
Since Adrian Garcia became the Harris County sheriff in 2009, he has measured his success in part not by how many criminals he locks up, but by how few.
That's because he doesn't have enough cells for all his inmates, and his business people estimate the office will spend $20 million this fiscal year on renting cells in other counties and in Louisiana.
So, during a media briefing on Thursday, Garcia was happy to talk about how the jail population has declined in the two years since he took office. On Jan. 13, 2009, the jail count was 11,495. Thursday it was 10,227. That's 1,268 fewer inmates.
The first reason Garcia mentioned in explaining the decline was a decision by District Attorney Pat Lykos to change possession of trace amounts of crack cocaine or crack pipes from a jailable offense to a ticketed offense.
Garcia also credited an eight-month-old program that gives certain inmates who enroll in job training three days' credit for every day served, compared to two days for most other inmates.
His spokesman, Alan Bernstein, added a third reason: Deporting illegal immigrant inmates after their sentences. Since the Harris County Sheriff's Office began screening inmates for immigration status in August 2008, Bernstein said, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has removed 10,000 of them.
It's not clear how many jail days that saves. As Bernstein explained, the sheriff's office does not know how many of the deportees come back nor how many would have committed more crimes had they not been handed over to the feds.
Which led to the question, when do all these initatives start saving taxpayer money?
"You start saving money when you're effectively staffed," Garcia said. He's short 182 jail positions because of a county hiring freeze. The work of those 182 people gets done by people working overtime. The sheriff doesn't have an estimate of how much he'd save if he were fully staffed, but his business team says its millions.


text:
Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson may not condone human homosexuality, but a recent reveal of the contents of his personal computer exposes his fascination with homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom, particularly in the duck species.
The hacker group Anonymous recently unveiled the Dynasty star's peccadillo for unconventional forms of sex after the controversial star came under fire for comparing human homosexuals to drunkards, terrorists, and prostitutes.
"Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men," he told the magazine GQ about the decline of America. "Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won't inherit the kingdom of God."
But it seems, judging from his personal hard drive, same-sex duck fornicators get a pass for the Pearly Gates.
Found on his hard drive were pictures of male ducks getting their duck dynasty on, as well as several heterosexual "Rape Flight" images of males ducks mounting females in mid-flight. Also included was a short video ripped from Youtube of a duck engaging in necrophilia with another duck (whose sex remains unknown). Scientists insist that homosexual behavior isn't rare amongst animal species, and is actually quite common among ducks and other birds. Such fascination with duck sex, however, remains an oddity among our human species.
Several people close to Robertson have also made allegations that he enjoys mounting ducks, but friends insists that he only mounts animals for taxidermy purposes and that no other hanky panky occurs.
In response to this most recent outing, Robertson excused the content of his computer as "market research and case studies into the nature of ducks so that we can make better duck calls." He added, "That's what's wrong with our society. Everyone is so quick to judge and assume the worst."
Several others have come to his defense.
"I don't have any right to judge Phil if he gets his jollies from watching documentaries on Animal Planet. Duck Dynasty is still a very funny show," said a female DD fan sporting pink camouflage in the local Bass Pro Shop. "Personally I think he would prefer a duck's vagina to its anus, but that's his call, not mine."
"Phil shouldn't be punished for exercising his right to freedom of speech," said Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who once called his own Republican party the 'stupid party.' "He has a right to believe whatever hateful things he wishes. Seriously what did A&E expect to come out of his gray bearded lips? Rainbows and tolerance?"
Another friend of Robertson, Sarah Palin, who has been filmed shooting wolves from a helicopter, and pressuring a local librarian on the issue of banning books, called A&E's decision to suspend Robertson from Duck Dynasty shameful because "free speech is an endangered species."
Meanwhile, Duck Dynasty's future on A&E looks bleak. The cast of the show is unanimously supporting Robertson as it considers an offer from the FOX News Network.