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Monday, February 11, 2008
Rutgers Women vs. The Spice Girls
Here is a sneak peak of the empty stage for the Spice Girls Concert tonight at Prudential Center (The Rock)
I was going to try and get a credential to shoot some of the concert for review, but it is kind of late to make that request on the same day.
It seems like the concert just snuck up on me.
I forgot all about it.
So I guess I will relax at home tonight and watch MY Rutgers Woen beat their nemesis Tennessee.
Wanda said I really don't have a choice, since I couldn't get a press credential this late anyhow (ha ha very funny :) )
I can start editing the photos from Toni and Robert's wedding on Saturday.
By the way......thanks for signing in and leaving comments:
Claudia, June, Mom, and Natalie.
stay tuned ALL DAY...EVERY DAY
On the strret
I just hit the street, ready to face the cold.
I'm thinkin warm thoughts right about now.
It's not too bad.
I know that some of you see the photos and wonder....what kind of photographer is THIS guy?
Most of the photos are taken ON THE GO.
I use my cell phone for most of the photos.
If you want to see some of my real work, you can go here:
Good Morning
Thank God for another day.
I think winter is finally HERE!
The wind outside today is fierce.
I have a bowl of my FAMOUS turkey chili.
I made a big pot a few days ago, and I don't want it to go to waste.
So if you are in my neighborhood (CALL FIRST) ,I will fix you a bowl.
Rutgers women play Tennesee tonight...
If you have suggestions or comments about this blog,please leave a comment at the bottom of the latest blog.
I definately want everyone to sign my guestbook at the top.
Stay tuned ALL DAY...EVERY DAY for updates and photos.
Have a blessed day.....


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Crafted from the finest Italian leather with a large grain, the Hugo Boss Crosstown card holder is an excellent addition to any well-edited accessories collection. Featuring contrast stitching and branded metal hardware to the front, this sleek wallet includes six credit card compartments, one main compartment and an inside open pocket to ensure functionality. This Hugo Boss card holder is a handsome accessory and will easily slip into your jeans or jacket pocket.
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All of our wallets are one size, please check an item's specific measurements.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Our dearest Merike Saarniit is leaving Meadows of Dan and moving to Florida into a smaller home. We will miss her so much but our loss is your gain as she asked us at Greenberry House to help her clear out a Fiber Queen's Collection of many years. Personal stash, natural dyed items, samples, books, Carolina Homespun stock and much more; this is a treasure trove for the fiber fanatic. Amazing prices! The sale will be held at Greenberry House, 648 Concord Road, Meadows of Dan, VA on July 20th and 21st, 9 AM to 5 PM both days. I can't emphasize enough the volume of wonderful merchandise we are offering on Merike's behalf. This is a wonderful opportunity!
We will accept Visa and Mastercard the day of the sale and high number checks with photo identification. All sales are final. Due to the press for time and the fantastic bargains, we will not be able to wind sale yarn into balls. Receipts will be provided on request. Sales tax will be charged. If you are a dealer, please bring your tax identification number with you on the date of the sale.


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Member White Papers
In This Section
The views and opinions expressed in the papers posted on this site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mortgage Bankers Association or its subsidiaries. All postings are made pursuant to the White Paper Submission guidelines. To report a violation of these guidelines, please email email@example.com.
Are FICO® Scores "Artificially Inflated"?
By: FICO
Mortgage and Blockchain: Ready for Disruption?
By: Accenture Credit Services
Machine Learning and FICO Scores
By: FICO
Reshaping Consumer Lending with Artificial Intelligence
By: Tavant Technologies
Actions to Drive Effective Change in Financial Services
By: KPMG Financial Services RegulatoryInsight Center
A New Age in Mortgage: Selected Insights
By: Oliver Wyman
5 Strategic Considerations for Financial Institutions in 2017
By: RSM, March
Collaboration in Today's TRID Environment
By: Simplifile
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - Five-Year Retrospective
By: Mayer Brown LLP
Data - The Heart of Stress Testing
By: Situs
Efficiently Locate and Verify Assets To Improve Home Loan Origination, Quality And Customer Experience
By: Early Warning
Putting the Profitability Back into Mortgage Lending
By: Sutherland Mortgage Services
Mortgage Finance: The Importance of an Effective Quality Control Program
By: Stewart


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When you see Grace Potter perform, it becomes clear why she draws comparison to some of music's greatest voices. But such efforts to pin her down seem futile, because in the end, Potter's voice is uniquely her own.
With enough power and presence to match those who came before her, Potter and her Nocturnals played a set that was both full-tilt and laid back at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday. The heartbreaking "Apologies" was a welcomed contrast to the more electrifying "Nothing But The Water" and "The Divide," taking the Fillmore on a sonic journey that only GPN could guide.
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Follow our news and updates on Twitter, our whereabouts on Foursquare and our relationship status on Facebook. Or send us a telegram.
Glenn Ross is a Denver-based photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. See more of his work here.


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Being in love is a completely magnificent feeling. But being engaged to the one you love beats even that. This feeling is currently being enjoyed by Chris Soules and Whitney Bischoff who got engaged in front of a massive audience. The most amazing thing about the moment when Chris Soules proposed Whitney Bischoff was that when Chris really went down on his knees and romantically explained the reasons behind him falling in love with Whitney. He also told her that he was glad that she could easily adjust with his family and that's what urged him to take the final step and choose her as the love of his life.
On the other hand, when Chris was proposing Whitney, her response was worth every second spent on viewing the show. Her face was literally glowing with happiness. She didn't seem to contain herself from putting on the massive diamond ring presented to her by the love of her life. This delightful moment took place in Chris's barn that was decorated with amazingly beautiful lanterns that helped in enhancing the beauty of the moment.
All this magic happened in the finale episode of popular reality show "The Bachelor" that was aired on Monday Night. The fans were eagerly waiting for Chris Soules to choose between two stunning beauties Becca Tilley (25) who is a chiropractic assistant from San Diego and Whitney Bischoff (29) who is currently working as a fertility nurse and belongs to Chicago.
The episode ended when the lovely couple shared a dreamy kiss that had all the romantic fools like us to sighing. Though the couple has plans to get married in the future but there are no immediate plans to get hooked up. It seems fair for them as they really should understand each other more outside the reality show and enjoy the feeling of being engaged. After all, we don't want them to rush the things and regret them later. Do we? Here's wishing a happy and love filled life to this lovely couple. Hope they have an amazing life ahead.


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EDF Climate Corps Projects: Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver
Since 2008, we have gathered best practices for energy management through over 600 EDF Climate Corps engagements in over 350 organizations.
Our fellows have helped our participating organizations find innovative ways to measure, analyze and reduce organizational energy use while also optimizing bottom line savings. We invite you to explore the full range of our success stories and learn from our work.
|Project Type
|Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver
|Colin Krenitsky
|Data Analysis, Engagement and Behavior Change, Financial Evaluation and Planning, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy


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Volkswagen up! is a refreshingly pragmatic vehicle and is available from Drift Bridge Volkswagen. With interior space optimised within the car's compact frame, and a drastically reduced carbon footprint, the up! offers a new style of convenient urban driving. No less than five outstanding models are available, allowing drivers to select a car that suits their own style. Choose from the Take up!, Move up!, High up!, Groove up! and Rock up! models.
Since its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2011, the Volkswagen up! has become a flagship model on British roads and a firm favourite at our Epsom showroom. All models of the car are powered by punchy 1.0-litre petrol engines, which offer a satisfying blend of power and efficiency. Your running costs can be further reduced with the addition of VW's BlueMotion technology.Safety is also on the up, with a variety of innovative systems such as optional City Emergency Braking featuring in the up!. Choosing the system provides a laser sensor, which detects potential collisions at speeds of up to 18mph. The clever technology can then take several actions – it can warn you or initiate automatic brake interventions, depending on the speed and severity of the situation.
The up! seats four people comfortably thanks to its extended wheelbase – one of the longest in the segment. The boot contains a generous 251 litres of space – enough for plenty of luggage – and this can be extended to 951 litres by folding the rear seats down. You won't find the interior lacking in style, either. You can choose from a variety of trim levels and colour schemes to get an up! that reflects your personality.
If you would like to find out more about the unique Volkswagen up!, please get in touch with Drift Bridge Volkswagen today. We can offer you a test drive in the clever car at our Surrey showroom.


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For a current unity project I need a layered map like in Dwarf Fortress. The game will take place in a 3D city enviroment and the camera should be 'snapped' to layers. So there will be (for example) a cave layer, ground layer and floor 1 - 3 layer. The player should be able to navigate the camera up and down with a keypress. So if the player is looking currently at the ground layer and press + the camera should snip to floor 1 layer. All layers below the current level will be blurred and all levels above wont be visible (or at least faded out very strong)
My question now is: Is the layer system of unity useful for such a scenario, or is it better to implement an own data structure? I know about the ability of ignoring layers for rendering and raycasting but can the system be extended to support the features described above?


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Independent Reviews, RIS-like Processes and the Regulation Impact Statement Requirements guidance note
The Government has introduced The Australian Government Guide to Regulation, which outlines the process for developing a regulatory proposal, including a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). The Guide to Regulation describes some special cases in the RIS process, one of which is that a RIS is not required for a regulatory proposal if an independent review or other similar mechanism has undertaken a process and analysis equivalent to a RIS. In such a case, the independent review can substitute for the RIS. This approach aims to remove duplication between comprehensive review processes and RISs. This guidance note provides information on when an independent review can be considered equivalent to a RIS.
- What is a RIS-like process?
- Requirements
- Self-assessment of independent reviews and RIS-like processes
- Assistance
- Frequently asked questions
The Australian Government Guide to Regulation (Guide to Regulation) outlines the process for developing a regulatory proposal, including a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS).
The Guide to Regulation describes some special cases in the RIS process, one of which is that a RIS is not required for a regulatory proposal if an independent review or other RIS-like process has been undertaken by a department, agency, statutory authority, board[1] resulting in analysis that is equivalent to a RIS. In such a case, this analysis can substitute for the RIS. This approach aims to remove duplication between comprehensive review processes and RISs.
What has changed in 2016?
This guidance note has been updated to provide greater clarity for agencies on where they may be exempted from completing a RIS if a certified and robust internal RIS-like process has been completed.
What is a RIS-like process?
A RIS-like process includes other mechanisms used by agencies to assess a regulatory proposal. The main proviso for a RIS-like process is that it contains analysis of the regulatory proposal that is equivalent to what would otherwise have been required in a RIS. Depending on the quality and extent of the analysis (see "Requirements" further below), the following can be considered as examples of a RIS-like process:
- Green papers (documents published to encourage discussion on a given topic)
- White papers (documents containing proposals for action on a given topic)
- Internal departmental or agency reviews or reports or briefs.
Importantly, Cabinet Submissions are unable to be used as a RIS-like process due to confidentiality of Cabinet proceedings and documentation.
This is not an exhaustive list. Agencies may identify other processes which cover the same ground as a RIS. A key indicator that a process may be RIS-like is where there is clear duplication of analysis with that which would be required for a RIS. That is, a process or document that answers the seven RIS questions:
- What is the problem you are trying to solve?
- Why is government action needed?
- What policy options are you considering?
- What is the likely net benefit of each option?
- Who will you consult about these options and how will you consult them?
- What is the best option from those you have considered?
- How will you implement and evaluate your chosen option?
An important point to note when considering whether to use the analysis of an independent review or RIS-like process in place of a RIS is that the quality of the analysis or RIS questions answered in the document are not assessed for adequacy by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). Instead, the agency is required to self-assess whether the review has followed a similar process to that required for a RIS and has adequately addressed all seven RIS questions.
All regulatory costs still need to be agreed by OBPR in the normal way, even though OBPR does not assess the independent review.
If a portfolio brings forward a proposal with net regulatory increases and offsetting regulatory savings are not included in the letter certifying the review or RIS-like process and agreed with the OBPR, the proposal can only proceed if the portfolio can demonstrate satisfactory progress towards its net objective. This requirement can be satisfied by the portfolio Deputy Secretary or delegate warranting in the letter certifying the review or RIS-like process that the portfolio's net regulatory objective will be met by the end of the relevant reporting period.
The self-assessment is done by way of a secretary / deputy secretary / chief executive (or delegate) letter certifying that the review or RIS-like process meets best practice, adequately addresses the seven RIS questions and provides confirmation that the regulatory costs have been agreed by OBPR. The certification letter should also include the regulatory burden estimate table quantifying the regulatory costs to businesses, community organisations and/or individuals.
It is best practice that the certified independent review or analysis resulting from a RIS-like process be communicated to OBPR before each major decision point, and published following any announcement of the decision. However, the final certified independent review or analysis resulting from a RIS-like process needs to be communicated to OBPR before a final decision. The analysis then needs to be published, including on the OBPR website, following the announcement of a decision.
Self-assessment of independent reviews and RIS-like processes
When assessing whether a RIS meets best practice, OBPR examines whether the RIS has considered the 10 principles and adequately addressed the seven RIS questions outlined in the Guide to Regulation.
Therefore, when you are assessing whether a review (or multiple related reviews) or RIS-like process contains an adequate level of information and analysis, you should also consider the 10 principles and seven RIS questions. You should pay particular attention to the following:
- Does it simply and clearly explain the problem and your objective?
- Does it justify that the problem is serious enough to warrant the Government's intervention?
- Does it examine a range of viable, genuine, policy options?
- Where the policy problem and circumstances are such that there are fewer than three options feasible for consideration, does the RIS-like process include a clear explanation why other alternatives are not viable or practical? Was this certified by the secretary, deputy secretary or chief executive (or delegate) in the certification letter?
- Have the benefits and costs of all the proposed options for businesses, community organisations and individuals been clearly analysed in a balanced and objective manner?
- Were the regulatory costs quantified and agreed by OBPR?
- Does it show how the impacts of the options would be distributed across the community, including on small business?
- Does it explain the purpose and objectives of consultation (before final decision)?
- Does it have an appropriate plan for consulting those affected by the policy (before final decision)?
- Does it demonstrate that the views of affected stakeholder groups have been considered?
- Does it recommend the option with the highest net benefit?
- Does it have a clear implementation and evaluation plan?
- Was your review or RIS-like process certified by the secretary, deputy secretary or chief executive (or delegate) and provided to OBPR before being considered by the decision maker?
You are encouraged to consult OBPR when preparing the review terms of reference or commencing a RIS-like process to ensure that each of the seven RIS questions will be addressed.
If you have any questions about the use of independent reviews or RIS-like processes, or to seek input in preparing review terms of reference, email OBPR at firstname.lastname@example.com or call (02) 6271 6270.
Your portfolio Regulatory Reform Unit is also a useful source of information.
Further information on the RIS process is in the Australian Government Guide to Regulation.
Frequently asked questions
Will OBPR assess whether the independent review or RIS-like process provides an analysis equivalent to a RIS?
No. The responsibility for that assessment rests with the relevant secretary, deputy secretary or chief executive (or delegate). If an agency wants OBPR to consider whether the analysis adequately addresses all the RIS questions, then it will be required to submit the analysis as a RIS for formal assessment and be subjected to the RIS requirements.
Do independent reviews or RIS-like processes have to be certified before consideration by the decision maker?
Yes. As with RISs, an independent review or RIS-like process needs to be certified by the relevant secretary, deputy secretary or chief executive (or delegate) before consideration by the decision maker. The certification letter needs to include the regulatory burden estimate table, which quantifies the regulatory cost of new regulations and include confirmation that the regulatory costs have been agreed by OBPR. Where fewer than three options have been examined, the letter needs to also certify that the policy problem and circumstances are such that fewer than three options are feasible for consideration.
Does the independent review or analysis of the RIS-like process have to be published?
Yes. The analysis needs to be published, as a minimum on the OBPR website, following the announcement of a decision.
[1] All referred to as 'agencies' in this guidance note.


text: "A better future" can start today, through programmes that provide access to education to all children, regardless of their background. Our strategy is to actively invest in the valuable young people of today, to help them become the leaders of tomorrow and to thus transform, step by step, the Romanian education system. We provide children in poor communities continued support through scholarships, summer camps or day care centres, where they have access to after-school education, canteen food and all the supplies, books and clothing needed to attend school.


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Everything but love is suffering. -M. Catherine Thomas
A few years ago I attended a Neonatal Resuscitation Program workshop. One of the things we spent a lot of time talking about is verbal first-aid. When a mother and baby have experienced a resuscitation, it is generally a very traumatic experience. The first thing we were taught to do after the resuscitation is over is to say out loud to the baby (because even neonates are people) and mother: "That was a lot. But it's over. It's over. I know that was so hard, but it's over. You're safe."
I wish I could say those words to all of you now, but I can't. Unfortunately, for many who are in pain as a result of the past year of election trauma, it feels like the worst has only just begun. I want to acknowledge those valid feelings. I want to acknowledge that in a year that felt like wave after wave after wave of hate, yesterday felt like a tsunami. People on all sides have contributed to that tsunami. Humanity is shaken to the core. Our collective souls are carrying a heaviness unlike anything many of us have personally experienced before.
So, while I can't tell you, "It's over," what I can tell you is, "I hear you."
Last night, as I processed so many mixed emotions, these words fell into my mind: "Look for your blinders." We all have them. A lifetime of subconscious programming alters our perceptions, skews our understanding of what is real. Last night I was able to recognize what some of my own blinders are. I saw how my blinders had contributed to my feelings of heaviness. I saw that filling in the gaps in my field of vision helped lift some of the weight of that heaviness. I suppose we could call this "making space for the paradox." I use paradox in multiple senses of the word, but this metaphor seems especially pertinent:
This is called a paradox—two ideas or concepts that are both true but in general can't be true at the same time. Now, I realize by definition blue and yellow are not paradoxical, but they are on opposite sides of the color wheel, one warm and one cool*. And they're helpful in explaining how you can have two contradictory ideas or concepts that can lead to a transcendent concept that eliminates the apparent contradiction (Source).
The author of this statement experienced a profound loss that significantly altered her perception of life. She described it as going from a world of blue to a world of yellow–a world that looked completely different from the world she had previously known. As she worked to find her way in this new reality, she came to the following place of peace:
So I started to create a space within myself where blue and yellow could exist together inside of me. At first this was very uncomfortable. But then something amazing happened. I realized the Master gave me blue and yellow because He wanted me to experience something more. He wanted me to see green. And I did.
In the end, she said, God was in the green. For us, perhaps, we could say God is in the purple. The place where paradoxical beliefs can come together and co-exist. The place where an elephant and a donkey can tell each other about their families, heartaches, fears, and hopes and fill in the gaps in their perceptions of reality. Before we can see green (or purple), we first have to make space in our hearts for the paradox to exist, for the possibility that we aren't seeing all of the spectrum as accurately as we once assumed we were.
This takes work. It is easier, by far, to insist that your perception of reality is the right one. It is uncomfortable and painstaking to make space for someone else's reality. But God is in the green. Or, rather, perhaps God is the prism that can make space for the scattered light from every shade of color, hold space for all of them to coexist, and with love as the alchemy, turn a storm into a rainbow.
We are now in what some refer to as the Aquarian Age. This is just another name for what has been called "The Last Days." Yogi Bhajan taught that during the Aquarian Age, many people would fall apart and experience what he called "cold depression." The transition to the Aquarian Age has been happening for a while, but the changes are accelerating:
Cold Depression is the dismantling of the Ego and is part of the process of becoming fully conscious. The Ego is angry that it does not have the same impact on reality as before – all the usual tricks no longer work. When the Ego loses power in this way – it wants to destroy. Have you noticed how movies, video games, television shows – other media images are becoming more and more violent and shocking? These are the last ditch efforts of the Ego for power and control (Source).
The ancient defenses of our human nervous system will accelerate. We will fight, withdraw, and fantasize more. Some of us will attempt to diffuse the impact of the flood of information with harmful adaptations like drug use and violence. Electronic technology will only bring us more information, more choices, more contacts, and more complexity. It will push us beyond all the old frontiers of identity home, neighborhood, country, values, and the natural rhythms of nature. Our old touchstones for forming an identity will fail, and we will have a pervasive identity crisis (Source).
This is an age of paradox–more global and more individual. with fewer boundaries and more demand for political separations. Everything is faster and we have less time. We need far more love and unity, for we have more fear and tremendous insecurity (Source).
This transition can feel very terrifying, but it is all good. The Aquarian Age, as painful as it can be, is the purifying of all of our souls that will usher in a millennium of peace. Yogi Bhajan taught that the following "5 Sutras" would help sustain humanity as we make this transition:
The age of the ego is in the throes of death, but something much greater is ours if we seek it.
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. . . . And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. . . . The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord (Isaiah 65:17-25)."
Today I am grateful for the conflicts and pain and frustration we find ourselves in. I am grateful for all of the people in my human family who disagree with me. I am grateful for the mirror held up by those I might call "enemies." Byron Katie is right:
The people we most need are the people we're living with now. Again and again, they will show us the truth we don't want to see, until we see it. [They] will continue to press every button that we have, until we realize what it is that we don't want to know about ourselves yet" (Loving What Is).
I'll close with this probing question from one of my favorite thinkers, M. Catherine Thomas:
Who knows but that the people in our lives are there precisely to provoke this very realization, this very ordering of priorities, whether to yield to the Carnal Mind or to press on to Zion and all that lies beyond?"
Some Meditations that May Be Helpful
* [Actually, blue and orange are on opposite sides of the color wheel, but I still like the metaphor.]


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So what does one say about starting a new decade?
I don't know.
Everyone always makes such a big deal out of it...I guess I figured maybe I should feel different, or older or something.
Nah. Not really. What's the big fuss about?
Maybe it's because people start acting old and no one else welcomes in the official start of their birthday by doing the limbo with a Nun and being sung to by a group of good friends. While dressed like Martha Washington. More people should. It's really quite fun.
But I have been reflecting on the past decade.
What is it that I've done for the past 10 years? I guess more accurately the question would be what haven't I done?
It's amazing how much of life I have lived in the past 10yrs. I would venture a guess that it will be the most life altering 10yr period of my life. So many major life changes packed into a short period of time. 10 years ago it was Aaron and me, and a little two week old Malia living in our little 2 bedroom condo. That year he bought me Grease for my birthday, we watched it, took Malia to her 2wk doctor appointment, and had a visit from the lactation consultant before he headed off to work. I had just embarked on my journey to becoming a stay at home mom (although technically I was still employed, working for The Ritz-Carlton, just on leave). Aaron was selling cars-yah, yah, we know. It was great money really, just too bad that the environment and hours sucked so royally.
Just a few things I've done.....
I've given birth to seven children (ok, technically Malia was born 2wks before I hit 20).
We've lived in 4 different homes.
I've spent some of those years homeschooling-something I really never thought I'd do.
I've spent nearly all of that time serving in Primary! Apparently I fit in better with children than adults. ;) Shocker, huh?
I've taught myself how to sew, learned how to frame (the basement), drywall, done plenty of painting, and even dabbled with some electric work in a house where it probably should have killed me to play with the wires. No, I don't do plumbing.
I've learned more than I thought possible, changed some of my opinions on things, made choices that I never thought I'd make, and decided that a piece of paper doesn't make you educated; your desire to learn, and efforts to do so, whether you are in a pompous university or a humble home is what provides education.
I've fallen more madly in love that I thought possible. I knew I loved Aaron long before we married, but never imagined that it was only the tip of the iceberg.
I've learned a lot about what is important to me and what I want from life. I've learned that although this life that I live today is very much not what I had planned, it is very much the one I really did want, and I wouldn't change it for anything.
Oh, and my personal favorite highlight of my 20's......(drumroll please).......in the past 10 years I have gained 217 pounds. Yes, you read that right! Thankfully I have lost 209lbs (still working on the last 8 from Charlotte-they'll stick around until she weans).
As of 11:36am yesterday morning, I am now officially 30 years old. How did I welcome in today, my first day officially waking up as a 30 year old? With German Chocolate Pie of course! What? You don't eat dessert for breakfast? I've been told that metabolism tanks when you hit 30. We'll just say I'm just conducting a little experiment or something.
Any big plans for the next ten years? Not so much. Just more of the same. I'm not a huge fan of change most of the time. Hopefully at least one more baby, but it will be odd to finish that stage of my life. By the time I hit another decade mark, I'll have a child that is out of her teens (ACK!!!), and 4 more in their teens with the next one not far behind that. Wow-Charli will be Malia's age..... Strange. Considering how fast the past 10 years have gone, and the fact that each day seems to go by faster than the one before, unfortunately I'm sure it will be here before I know it.
So to celebrate being old now, I'm embarking on a new little endeavor. After being told "you should sell that!" enough times to get me thinking, I'm finally doing something about it. I was hoping to have everything up and running for my big b-day gift to myself, but between finishing up Halloween costumes and a couple of custom orders, I just haven't gotten around to finishing it yet. Hopefully by the end of the week! I'll of course link that here once I get it ready, so keep an eye out for that. : )
Another year older, hopefully a little bit wiser, and looking forward to the next ten. Hopefully with a killer tan. (Thanks Babe!!)
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Big 3-0
Posted by Catey at 9:07 AM 11 comments
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Where oh where?
Could everything I'm looking for be?
We did the big WalMart trip last night. We have a costume party tonight, so we were grabbing those few last minute things we needed to finish up the costumes, and getting all the munchies that we wanted on hand. (no, we don't get the munchies from our parties-you know what I mean).
So, now that I have less than 2hrs until things get under way, I'm making sure we have everything ready to go. My spine starts tingling as my inner radar indicates that I cannot locate my giant party size bag of M&Ms in less than 30 seconds. Or less than 5 minutes. And now that I'm looking, where are the olives? And all the bobby pins I got so that I could get my hair done? And where are the chips? And hey, WAIT A MINUTE-I'm missing all sorts of things!! Panic ensues at the thought of being M&M-less, and though I do love them so, I'm not sure I can justify a 45min trip to the store at this hour just for my beloved little rainbow colored melt-in-your-mouth-not-in-your-hand goodness. Did we leave them at Walmart? (Oh please no!)
No, I distinctly remember seeing at least some of the missing items in the car last night.....
Checked the car. No.
Checked my stash. No.
Checked all of my little secret hiding places. Nope. No luck.
Oh wait, where haven't I checked?
The freezer.
Good crimeny.
Lo and behold. The missing bag; M&Ms (PHEW!), Thread, buttons, bobby pins, drink mix.....In the freezer. Of course. Why wouldn't one of the kids have stuck those things in the freezer?
But now the baby is finished nursing so I am off to finish getting ready!
Posted by Catey at 4:45 PM 8 comments
Monday, October 20, 2008
Me, myself and I
Ever googled yourself?
I did today. Stupid reason, I entered a giveaway contest and now can't come up with where it was, so I figured I'd google for a bit and see if it came up anywhere. You know, my name as the winner of the giveaway. Oh c'mon, I'm hopeful!
So, what comes up with "Catey" and hmmm...what did I add? Winner? Blog? Blogger? Can't remember! Oh well.
Turns out that I've become a bit more popular since last time I did this little exercise. In the past the only things that came up were some comments on natural induction methods (my experience with reflexology), and the Catey Awards. Turns out I'm more involved in the hospitality industry than just a few years with Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton all those years ago!
I do wonder if Aaron suggested the title for this little bit?
Now what is there for me? Well, I've been turned into a comic strip. Yep, that's right, Bev and Catey. Still trying to figure out if I'm the black woman with the beehive, or the blond with a 'fro. If you figure it out let me know.
Also, apparently I have a 46yr old lover named Michael who wished me a Happy Birthday back in February. A picture of a postcard.....hmmmm.....wonder if his last name is Scott by any chance?
I coming up as a little 2yr old as well. With much darker hair. Though I'd love her tan. ;) I'm not posting that link 'cause that's just a little too scary/stalker/creepy.
I am a chick in the UK with a crafty little blog. Apparently I've already celebrated my birthday-two weeks early-with a brownie and a walk on the beach. And I topped of the evening with a bag of Jelly Bellys! Sounds good to me! Maybe I'll leave a comment there......
This one cracked me up too....Catey's scrapbook profile. Mostly because she is obviously LDS and in her gallery had a bday card for Kelsey (my sister's name).
You must check out www.catey.org-this just kills me! Check the picture and the caption under it. "Inspiring confidence globally". Oh really? Slap happy dude with a pilsner in a pub? Not exactly what comes to mind for me when I think "global confidence". But whatever.
The Catey Fam has their own website, wonder if it's the same Scott that's out there "inspiring global confidence"? I didn't know my name was also a last name. But hey, it's made the baby name books here.
I am a really odd caterpillar that will not, I repeat NOT help sell your house.
And here I am rockin my new glasses. Good Times.
I had a great photoshoot here. Totally rockin the rain boots too. And look, I am {fun-tastic}!
I am also a company with my own logo. In addition to that, there is actually a company called Catey Control in Salt Lake City. I just wish I could figure out what it is exactly that they do........
And I love this. You think people who see this will start calling me "c-unit" now? Apparently "i heart ...hugging people. Just heaps and heaps. Touching people is so my style". Wow. Who knew? Honestly, I'm just not sure what to make of that statement. Especially in light of having watched dozens of episodes of The Office lately....it just seems like something Michael would say.
And there you have it. Now I feel like a creepy stalker.
Go google yourself and see what you come up with.
Posted by Catey at 1:03 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Words of Wisdom
Ahhh, from the mouths of babes.
Jacob's wisdom, imparted as we were out driving around on Saturday.
"Hey mom-I know a good rule. You should never touch a porcupine."
Yes, so true. Not sure what prompted it, but glad to know that should this ever be a temptation for him, he's already made this decision.
After a few minutes of quiet reflection he followed that with:
"Oh, and Mom, You should also never sniff a skunk's bum."
Posted by Catey at 8:40 AM 1 comments
Slacker mom late on a birthday post again.
Malia is 10. Double Digits. How is it possible that I am old enough to have a child this old? Ok, so I am just barely old enough, but still! ;)
I loved Aaron's post for her birthday, and his little slideshow of pictures, so you can see those here. For last year's birthday post and the birth story tradition, you can go here.
It's crazy to watch the years fly by faster and faster. I think that is compounded lately by the fact that Charlotte looks a lot like Malia did when she was a baby. Nothing like having a little clone of your first baby to remind you that she certainly isn't a baby anymore!
Malia is so helpful, really a sweet kid. For example, after doing a Service Scavenger Hunt a couple of weeks ago with her Activity Days group, she decided when she was bored the other day that she wanted to do it again. Imagine what a mean mom I felt like when I brushed it off at first and ended up with my daughter actually pleading to go out and see if anyone needed help with anything. She went, she helped someone, and she came back thrilled to death. (now if we could only play that game at home every once in a while!)
Shortly after Charlotte was born she wrote me a little letter telling me that she knew I was busy with the house and the family and the new baby and getting homeschooling things together, so she was going to try harder to be more helpful and more kind to her brothers and sisters. Who does that? I hope she never loses this part of her. I hope that I can do a better job at encouraging these things in her.
I love her enthusiasm and her comfort with who she is. If you have sat near Malia in church, or been around her anywhere else where singing is involved, you know that she is tone deaf. This is really a bummer because she LOVES to sing, and she has an amazing ability to learn lyrics very quickly. But you know what? That doesn't stop her. When she sings, she sings her little heart out. She isn't embarrassed to sing in front of friends or family, and she sings with all her might in church as well. When I was serving in the Primary, I remember other kids laughing at her while she sang because she really was singing particularly loud that day. I was absolutely heartbroken for her, and hoped she wouldn't realize that they were laughing at her. Sadly, she did, but much to my surprise, she kept right on singing anyway. The saying "dance like no one's watching" could be altered for her to "sing like no one's listening".....or better yet, "just keep singing, who cares what they think!" :) I'm so impressed with her ability and desire to press on and to improve-not just in that aspect, but in most aspects in life. She tries so hard. What a great example she is. I wish I were more like her in that regard.
Of course we have our issues with each other, but it seems like most of the time when we do have issues with each other, it's because we are so very much the same! Two very stubborn females.....it ought to get really exciting around these parts in the next few years!
And even though the other kids hate it now, she'll be a great mom someday! :)
Posted by Catey at 8:39 AM 4 comments
How you know
Last weekend I determined a way to realize if you have a blogging addiction. We had been out late, not getting home until nearly 12:30, and by the time we got the sitter home, the house shut down, the kids all checked on and all that other end of the night stuff, it was 1:15 am. Thus I was a tad bit surprised to find my most wonderful dear sweet husband wandering into the office to check.......his blog. I'm going to chalk it up to his 31 posts in 31 days thing and say that I'm sure he could stop blogging (or blog stalking) at any time. Really. If he wanted to. ;) (love you babe!!)
Then over the past couple of days I've come upon a few other "how you know" moments.
How you know you're a mom: You decide to get up early to work out. The kids foil you by getting up early on a weekday. You try anyway. A 42min cardio workout, coupled with a 10 min ab routine take you 2hrs and 13minutes to complete. This is because interspersed in those 52min of exercise you poured 4 bowls of cereal, changed two diapers, showered two boys, tied a pair of shoes, curled hair, sent two kids off to school, nursed a baby and answered the phone twice. Yet you persist. Even if after all of this you still weigh more than you did yesterday. Whatever.
How you know your kids have a sixth sense: They resist getting out of bed on a weekday that involves school. No matter how early they went to bed the night before. Mom must go to get them out of bed more than once, pleading with them to get up so that we don't have to rush to get them to school on time. Yet on a Saturday or Sunday, when mom and dad don't have to be up and somewhere first thing in the morning, or a weekday with no school, they are up at the crack of dawn. Or before dawn now that the sunrise is later. This also is the case on a weekday when you decide to work out. See above.
How you know you like chocolate too much: You sneak it in when you can, but in effort to not weigh more tomorrow, you make sure you get it in healthy doses, like via a protein shake and such. When you do splurge, you try to sneak it in in small increments here and there. Unfortunately this results in finding out-after you finish nursing the baby-that you have dropped something chocolate on her, it landed on her hand which she then rubbed her face with, leaving a trail of melted chocolate across her cheek, eyebrows, nose and eyelids. Oh, and part of her ear. Not to mention it melted under her little fingers into the crevices where her fingers meet her palm and into her fingernails. Wow. Who knew one stray chocolate chip could do so much damage? (I swear I had Aaron take a picture of the sleepy grin on her face as she was covered in chocolate, but I can't find it on either camera!) At least it came out of both her shirt and mine.
How you know it's not your first or only child: When it's "Red Day" at Kindergarten and your child gets up in the morning and puts this on:
and you don't argue. Hey, he's wearing red. Who cares if it's two different shades of red.
Also when it if your Kindergartener's turn for "snack day", and you send in a box of generic Vanilla Wafers. Even though there are some people who on their "snack day" take in little airplanes with the bodies made of little tubes of mini M&Ms, wings of laffy taffy, etc,etc. You get the picture. heehee....you can tell when it's a first or only child in Kindergarten! lol Bless those cute little moms....
How you know you have a wonderful husband: When he comes home each day he tells you how wonderful and beautiful you are, even with no makeup, spit up stains on your shirt, snot wiped down your jeans, and the infamous mommy ponytail (or bun) going on. Then he asks what he can do to help with dinner, and gladly relieves you of whichever child is currently clinging to your leg to give you a blessed 3 1/2 minutes completely alone to go to the bathroom. Even if you don't really have to go and just go in there to experience the sensation of walking in alone, locking the door, and not having someone either sticking fingers under the door, trying to jimmy open the lock, or banging on the door saying in their most polite little soft and gentle voice: "MOMMMMY!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE????? COME OUT!!" Hubby gets bonus points when he realizes without being prompted that you've managed to get into a jeans a size smaller without popping seams, zippers, or buttons, or holding your breath.
How you know you love your kids: Even though it is hours past your bedtime, you go down to check on them just one last time, and instead of being irritated, you laugh that two bedrooms still have lights on (though children have thankfully fallen asleep), more than one child fell asleep with a book on their lap, one child is trying to sleep on three stacked pillows with "necessities" stacked in between pillows (a pair of slippers, plastic tools, weapons, stuffed dogs, etc), you turn down obnoxious "children's" cds so that they don't wake you (again) in the middle of the night, or keep you from falling asleep after getting up with the baby at 2am, then admire all those sweet sleeping faces and remember what a blessing they are. Even if they make it so that your house never is clean, your laundry never is done, there are always dishes in the sink, you rarely have a free minute and you (almost never) go to the bathroom uninterrupted and haven't for the past 10yrs. And then your arms feel empty as you climb into bed because the baby (bless her!!!) has finally started sleeping in stretches just a little bit longer.
Posted by Catey at 8:38 AM 9 comments
Monday, October 6, 2008
Apparently I'm it.
Here we go. In nearly two years I have successfully avoided being "tagged". Since Chris hit me with this, and Justin decided he'd hit me too, I'm going to humor them. But only because they both had birthdays last week. Gentlemen, Happy stinkin' Birthday, this is just for you!
But in the spirit of being annoying, I will tag 7 others at the end! ha!
Unfortunately most of the "7 interesting things" I came up with, um, well, NOT sharing them! Either you wouldn't want to know them or I'm not about to admit to them. ; ) I pulled a Chris and kept a little note card with me today so that when I came up with something, I could jot it down and not forget it and spend time actually trying to come up with something else. And I made this looooong and tedious so as to avoid anyone tagging me in the future!
So here's what you get:
1-I have some OCD issues. I'm sure the light switches and toenails have been mentioned before, so I'm hitting the closet part of it here. My hangers. They are all the same. They came from I think The Limited or Lerner or some store like that, when a retail thing that my dad was managing took over their store space at Crossroads Mall. I don't like any other hangers. I prefer mine evenly spaced, and my clothes are sorted by color, the sweaters are all at one end-not sorted with the other shirts by color-but are still sorted in color order. And my shoes are almost all in their boxes as well.
2-I am an anti-dentite. "A RAAAABID Anti-Dentite!" :) I really hate having my teeth worked on. I would rather give birth than have cavities filled. My dentist knows this. He at first figured it was b/c I, like most of the world, used an epidural. I think he was a bit shocked to find out that, no I don't, and when I meant I'd rather give birth than have my teeth worked on, I meant giving birth w/out pain meds. I do hate dental work that much. I guess the bonus of my dentist knowing this is that he's REALLY nice when he works on my teeth! : ) It would then stand to reason that I am very good about always brushing and flossing. Nope. I'm not. at all.
3-I like Crayons. New, pointy Crayola crayons. I like to buy them when they are on sale before school starts every year, so I have a lot of them stashed away. When I am coloring something I get out "Mommy's crayons" and thoroughly enjoy not using little bitty broken pieces of crayons. Yes, I do share some of the new ones with my kids when the need rolls around!
4- When I eat M&Ms, I eat them by color. I will eat them so that I have an even number of each color in my hand, then eat them in color order (yellow, orange, red, brown, blue, green). Green is eaten last. Or occasionally I'll eat them in a pattern. Like if I have two of each color except one and have one of that color, I'll line them up and eat them. So if I have just one green, I'll eat blue, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, yellow, orange, red, brown, blue. I know. I'm retarded.
5-I'm awful at Thank You notes. I really am. I swear I am not ungrateful, I just for some reason procrastinate them. Like from my baby shower in July? Yah. Unfortunately half of the people haven't received thank you notes yet. (maybe this will motivate me to finish? I have names on each of them, just haven't finished writing them). Thankfully I have very forgiving friends and they know I love them even if I suck at putting it in writing!
6-My pain tolerance is weird. Labor/childbirth, sure. (I even had a video camera filming this last labor to see if I tolerated in the way I thought. No, you don't see anything-it was at the head of the bed, behind me!) With pitocin, why not? Bring it on. Huge challenging work outs, aching muscles? Yep, love it. But if Aaron tries to pop a zit for me? Oh heck no! And we've already mentioned the dental work issues. And the nurse who did my IV at the hospital last time? It took everything in me not to deck her. I guess then I do well with endurance/building type of pain, but not the more sharp instant pain? I don't know.
7-If I had to label myself, I would say that at heart I am a black-tie red-neck. I believe in pearls with jeans. I love getting dressed up, love the theater, ballet, symphonies, a fancy evening out. I would also love to live on a ranch/farm. I love getting my hands dirty and working hard. One of the reasons I love where we live is that there are fields and farms around. I love driving the main road out when the herds are out grazing. I love visiting a friend's dairy farm up a few hours North of here. I loved the smell of the cows out in the field in the crisp fall air when I took my long bike ride last time. (yes, I realize that no one loves that smell) I would love to have a big truck (Ford F-series, black, lifted, extended cab, tinted windows), and if I ever get it I will even be nice and let Aaron drive it occasionally. I like to blame this whole thing on my Dad's parents; I guess I am the result of what happens when you combine a London born and raised Grandmother and an Evanston WY cowboy Grandfather! : )
There you have it. My one and only tag. Now, Kelsey, Rheanna, Rachel, Stacy S., Lisa, LL(who gave me a cute blog award that one day I'll get in gear and pass on!), and Tina. Go for it.
Posted by Catey at 8:35 PM 9 comments
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Two years ago today....
It was a Thursday night and I had just come home. Taylor had asked me why my tummy was still "so big" even though the baby was out now! lol Instead of a chunky little two month old in pink, I had a skinny little bird-legged baby boy. My little Lincoln.
As odd as it sounds, it seems like he's always been the way he is now. A wild little light-haired boy, climbing into everything. It seems odd to think of when he was a tiny baby.
Since I've written a birthday post for him before with his birth story, if you are interested you can read that here. Otherwise, this year I'll expand to a 'pre-birth'story, and say that Lincoln wasn't in my plans when it was time for him to join our family. I knew very specifically that it was time for him to come. It had been very directly impressed for two months in a row that it would be time for our next baby to join our family. But I felt like I wasn't ready. Ironic considering how close all of our kids have always been. I wanted just a couple more months to just be me. I didn't want another October baby, especially considering that the big family California trip (my family's Oct tradition) was already lined up. I'm sure I had a whole list of selfish reasons why it just "wasn't the right time yet". I remember actually having the audacity to attempt a mental bargaining with the powers that be...."I'm not saying 'no' to another baby, just 'not right now'......just give me a little more time....". I'm embarrassed to admit that right out loud. Thinking that I knew better what I needed.
I didn't even need to take a test those few weeks later, I knew. When I didn't have that surge of excitement at the realization that I was pregnant, I feared that maybe this pregnancy wouldn't go smoothly, maybe it was my subconscious way of not getting attached to the idea of a baby. I cried when I told Aaron I was expecting. He was more excited than I was, and for that I felt guilty.
Thankfully by a couple of months into the pregnancy, I was excited for and looking forward to this addition to our family. We just knew it was a boy, and we prepared for a blue bundle before it was even confirmed that there was indeed outdoor plumbing. As soon as we confirmed for sure it was a boy, we had decided on a name within minutes. We walked out of the ultrasound room and I told Aaron his name would be either Calvin Christopher or Samuel Gregory. He suggested Calvin Gregory. That was it! When we had our 20wk ultrasound and found cysts on the baby's brain, I tried not to worry. We had been through this before with Taylor and everything turned out fine. For some reason this time I was terribly disturbed. I knew the cysts would go away, and that they wouldn't pose any problems, but couldn't get over the fear that something would go terribly wrong with this baby. I'm sure people thought I was nuts when I randomly burst into sobs. At least it didn't happen often, and I guess they just chalked it up to pregnancy hormones. Although I know I shocked a couple of friends when we went to the temple one night and I was not just crying but actually choking out sobs. It was very humbling. I still don't know why I felt that way, as obviously everything turned out perfect with this crazy little boy. Perhaps I was greatly in need of some humbling.....
Shortly before he was born Aaron called and hesitantly told me that he just felt like Calvin didn't fit anymore. He really felt strongly that this baby needed to be named Lincoln. I scoffed, told him I'd mull it over (just to make him happy), and hung up. I tried to push it out of my head for a number of days, but as much as I didn't like the suggestion in the beginning, each day it felt more and more right. Lincoln it was. I suppose if you are going to give a tiny baby boy a very grown up name, it must be the name of a very great person. In this case, two. Our little Lincoln Gregory.
Two years ago today.... I gazed in awe at my perfect little baby boy who had finally come home to our family and very humbly admitted to him, and to my Heavenly Father that I had had no idea what I had been talking about when I figured it wasn't time for him to join us. What had I been thinking? How could I have even considered putting him off for even "just" another month? He was exactly what we needed, and arrived at exactly the right time. I can't imagine the past two years without Lincoln. He has provided laughter and moments for reflection....he has played the role of my security blanket more than once. How blessed we are to have him in our family!
Lincoln-year one to two....
Posted by Catey at 9:03 PM 4 comments
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Ironically, I was just thinking to myself a few days ago....
....."Gee, I'm glad we have insurance!" You see, I was going through the recent onslaught of medical bills (baby's delivery, OB's bill, Aaron's ER visit, Dallin's stitches in July), and noticed just how many thousands of dollars we'd owe people if we didn't. We still owe a lot more than I'd like, but I'll certainly take this over the alternative! I noticed in particular how expensive stitches are. Dallin's bill for 5 stitches in his chin would have been $487. Holy Moly! Ouch. Hallelujah that we only have to cover $26.29.
Double Hallelujah since tonight was just a quiet night at home.
On the agenda, a quick stop in at the Stake President's office, then I was off to do some inventory (have I mentioned I like shoes? rofl!), and Aaron was home with the kids. Well, since the barcoder ended up in The Big City to the north of us with one of the party managers, and entering hundreds of pairs of shoes barcodes by hand is tedious to say the least, inventory was called off and I got to be home. Good Timing since Aaron is on call and apparently people do not know how to function this evening so he was busy with computer illiterates.
Anyway-I headed home, hung out with the kids, helped Malia with homework, watched Aaron cruise around on facebook (he sucommed to the hysteria), and just enjoyed the evening. Clean house, happy kids, husband off the phone with the people who don't know how to run their own computer systems....good times.
Kids got all wrapped up and ready for bed, we had prayers and sent the little ones down to their beds. *sigh* Bliss.
You know where this is going.
Enter the scream, one child running upstairs in a panic, continuous crying, and oh yah, lots of blood.
Any guesses on who?
Dallin. Again. Just over two months since the stitches in his chin. At least he's going for variety and did the forehead this time. Apparently he doesn't want anyone else's scars to take all the glory (Daniel! lol Just kidding! Although I know Dallin will love yours!).
We made it through 9yrs and 9+ months of parenting and only had stitches happen once. And that wasn't until child #4. Now in the past two months we've tripled the count. Dang.
Two sets of stitches in two months. I really hope this kid isn't trying to establish a pattern.
Posted by Catey at 8:08 PM 8 comments
Gross Pancakes
When we have pancakes, our kids like to have "gross pancakes". Honestly, I don't remember how it started. I think it was with Aaron (blame dad, right?). Something about wanting to experience the infamous Bill Cosby "Dad is great!" (relating to breakfast) thing. You all know about my sweet tooth, so I'm sure it's not shocking that when we eat pancakes I often break out the powdered sugar and chocolate chips. Nothing starts the morning like a good sugar buzz!
Well, one morning it evolved from syrup, chocolate chips and powdered sugar, to the addition of a cinnamon/sugar mixture and brown sugar as well. If I remember correctly, I walked in on this and commented that it was gross. And, well, "gross pancakes" were born.
Last night I made pancakes for dinner. I love a good simple default. :) I was also in the process of doing about a hundred other things (they typical situation for a mom making dinner), so I poured the first round of pancakes on the griddle and stepped away for a minute to do whatever else needed my attention at the moment.
I came back to flip the pancakes and saw this:
No, I wasn't making chocolate chip pancakes (thank goodness-I might have missed it!). Look closer.
Yep. That's a pancake with extra protein. Apparently the fly thought he'd be sneaky and have some pancakes for dinner too. Tough way to learn that he should've just stayed in the path of the fly swatter. Hopefully he at least died happy. (and warm! ha!)Have you seen Emperor's New Groove? You know when Kuzco (as a LLama, dressed up as a woman) and Pacha go out to eat and Pacha breaks the bug open....you know that sound that Kuzco makes? (best description I can think of is *hork*-thank you Lisa) That's the sound that echoed through the kitchen. Yummy. Ironically that sound makes me think of castor oil, but that's completely a different story.
Posted by Catey at 8:06 AM 5 comments
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
If the shoes fits- part two
Ironically it was almost exactly one year ago when I posted under the title "If the Shoe Fits".
Posted by Catey at 10:47 AM 4 comments


text:
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Modernization of Charles Dickens classic story finds the hapless Finn as a painter in New York pursuing his unrequited and haughty childhood adore. The doors in this kind of application are smaller sized with varying widths and heights, based on the size of the window or tv that is being covered. Created and launched given… Read More »


text: It's the most wonderful time of the year! Why? Well not only is it Christmas, it's the one time of the year when I can write out a wish list guilt free! To be frank, I started this wish list at the start of November because I was eager to get into the Christmas spirit! Being my first Christmas out of home and away from my family, I was excited to start collecting decorations and develop my own Christmas style. While some might say I've jumped the gun, I think it's never too earlier to start thinking about Christmas and (most importantly) what you'd like to find under the tree!


text:
I was watching television yesterday. Nothing surprising in that statement. I love TV. Anyways, I was watching Holmes in New Orleans, Make it Right. I was shocked, impressed, angry, emotional. It was a whole gauntlet of emotions. I was shocked at the behaviour of the American government. Here is a state that is complete torn a sunder. The people of this state were rendered homeless in a matter of minutes. Most of the survivors, lost absolutely everything. Never mind that they no longer have a safe place to live, they also lost all of those mementos that keep you throughout the years to remind you of where you have been. To make it worse, the government sent in machines to level the place before the residents were even able to pick through the rubbish and collect the few belongings that remained. The levee broke. People knew that it was not going hold before this horrendous event, and did nothing.
Now here is the part I am extremely angry about. How is it, that one man, with no ties to that community, living in a totally different country, decided that something needed to be done for these people? Their government asks their able bodied citizens to fight and defend their country. They send them over seas to other countries as a means of peace keepers, righting wrongs, setting a standard. In their own backyard, they can't even clean it up and make it habitable again. Where are the contractors of the Unites States? How come they are not stepping in? I wonder where are the Bob Villa's of the Unites States.
It does look like a conspiracy theory. War torn countries have been rebuilt in a more efficient time frame than the state of Louisiana. Even the Mexican government sent in help. They have not stepped foot on United States soil since 1846. On a positive note, the technology that is being put into effect is awesome. They are using methods that in the long run, will not cost very much. Air conditioning, heating, all working through a system that utilizes water(I think it's called geo thermal), solar panels as a source of power. So, when the residents move in, their costs will not exceed their budgets.
This is one of the many reasons why I am so proud to be Canadian.
Have a good night everyone


text:
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Kale will always be one of my favorite ingredients to add to just about any dish I make. Whether that be mixed in with a falafel mixture or lightly blanched for a salad. Lately, I've been obsessed with eating extremely finely-chopped kale when I make it with grains to make the consistency equal. I like to place the whole raw bunch into the food processor for a few pulses before I combine it with quinoa, couscous or brown rice.
This recipe is a Garlic Ginger Roasted Tofu with a Black Quinoa Kale Salad. All you need is: Fresh garlic, fresh ginger, low-sodium soy sauce, rosemary, extra firm tofu (cut into cubes), black quinoa, kale, and lemon. In a food processor, blend the garlic, ginger, soy sauce & rosemary until the chunky parts are extremely small. In a ziploc, add the cubed tofu and the marinade. Let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes, or overnight if you have time! Cook the quinoa according to your package instructions.Place the kale in the food processor until finely chopped, then add it to the quinoa. Squeeze lemon juice and add pepper to the quinoa salad. When you are ready to cook the tofu, place the marinated cubes onto a baking tray and bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes, then flip the tofu and cook for another 10 minutes. Enjoy!


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The game of Chess is an undeniable classic, but as is the case with classic games, companies steer away from trying to improve it with new elements in fear of being dropkicked by those who love the original. But now there's Rolando Issa, the fearless creator of Eternal Kings — a brand new and super exciting take on Chess that the Nerd Much? crowd is most certainly going to love.
Eternal Kings is a 1v1 card game that plays, at its core, like a game of Chess, on a Chess-like board with a Chess-like game flow. But, the kicker here is that instead of physical rooks and pawns, players build rows of unique characters with unique decks (chosen from four total realms: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Wisdom). If it sounds like Magic the Gathering meets classic Chess, well then, that's exactly what it feels like.
Each card in the deck has unique abilities, complete with movement rules and added elements like healing, card buffs, the ability to move through other cards, etc. This will, of course, play into the stratagizing of a match of Eternal Kings, with so many different card combinations available and unique ways to try to get a win.
There are also special ability cards that come into play, and when those are mixed with the abilities of the cards on the table, every game will have a unique feel with an unpredictable outcome.
Like in Chess, you'll win by taking out your opponent's king, and there are many different ways to take down the rest of his army to score that sweet, sweet victory.
Eternal Kings just hit Kickstarter this morning, and we've had a copy here at the Nerd Much? office for about a week. We've LOVED our first few playthroughs, and we're going to have a full review live on Wednesday (so be sure to come back then).
For now, head over to the official Eternal Kings Kickstarter for more information.


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App Marketing Services as Package
In AppMarketingPlus, we worked with more than 200+ App Developers and our experience helped us to come up with a package services, a perfect fit for your app marketing budget.
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Standard PlanBest for Ad Supported Free Apps
- Manual Submission to 200+ PR Agency/ Review Sites
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How to get started ?
Select the package and order it. On order page, leave your app URL & contact info. On successful completion of order, our team will contact you with execution plan
What details I need to supply ?
For getting started, you need to supply us the App URL, App Screens, App Descriptions, Target Keywords & Target Demographics. Our team will give you a simple questionnaire to get the details
What do you mean by Manual Submission ?
We have a list of 200+ sites publishing app reviews, app news and app related info. All these sites have their own contact form. We submit the details to them manually.
What is App Boost ? How will you deliver the Guaranteed Downloads / Installs ?
Taking advantage of Social Media and Community Networks, we developed some private exchange groups and networks of indie developers. With this network, we can deliver the downloads. Currently we have North America, Europe, India and China Demographics. For details, please contact our support team.
What do you mean by Guaranteed Reviews ?
We submit the app details to multiple sites. The publishing news /review is the sole decision of the site owners / editors. But still with our professional relationship, we can influence them and get reviews published on the right time to the right target. We guarantee minimum of 5 reviews in Basic plan and 10 reviews in Standard & 15 reviews in Premium Package.
What are Little Tweets & Master Tweets mean ?
Tweeting about your app & app related links is a great way to promote. We have a group people with influencing followers (mostly mobile users & app enthusiast). We'll tweet your info & reach the target group. In little tweets, we promote it on once a day for 7 days. And on master tweets, twice a day for 15 days.
What are "Facebook Handshake" and "Facebook Boost"?
In our experience, we found FB as helpful platform to target the buyers. We use Facebook Status Message, Facebook Sponsorship & Facebook Advert to reach the target. In Handshake, we use status & In Boost, we use status, sponsorship & advert.
Can you share the list of PR Sites & Review sites?
Yes, We keep our reporting transparent & simple. We'll share the complete report with you.
If I am not happy, shall I get Money Back ?
Yes, We are committed to provide you the best service and we are confident our service will satisfy you. In case you are not happy, we'll give you the Money Back (expect the Money spent on Paid Adverts)


text: The Victorian Laser Association Port Phillips will be sailed in conjunction with the Go For Gold Regatta at Black Rock Yacht Club. There is already a strong fleet of Laser 4.7'S and a sprinkling of Laser Radials entered. Seems the whether is still too cold for the Open and Masters to enter just yet! For all details please go to


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Much of what we do at The Creative Engine is designed to work to the SCORM standards. But what is SCORM, and why is it such a hot topic in education – and eLearning in particular?
Disquiet before the SCORM
The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) was signed into being by Bill Clinton (yes that one), thanks to an executive order that set up a task force on learning. The aim was to encourage the take-up of digital learning tools, at a time when the Internet was gaining mass adoption, and the dominance of CD-ROMs and DVDs was under threat.
This posed several issues, not least of which was the fact that while CDs and DVDs were stand-alone products, with their own user interfaces and ways of presenting information, the Internet was a global platform. If education was set to go online, it would need to conform to an open, worldwide standard.
So, SCORM was born under the auspices of Advanced Distributed Learning, a subsidiary of the Department of Defence, which had itself championed the Internet from its very earliest days.
It defined the way in which information was stored, shared and presented, and although the first specification, 2000's SCORM 1, was short-lived and quickly superseded, the current standard has been in use since 2004, and was amended in 2009 to improve data portability and longevity. With 12 years of content written to the latest SCORM standard, the 2004 iteration offers an unrivalled learning opportunity, and one that we're committed to working with at The Creative Engine.
Under the hood
SCORM content comprises several different components, which run inside a Learning Management System (LMS). If you don't have an LMS already, we can supply one when setting up your course and even provide you with hosting and maintenance.
By complying with the SCORM standard, our structured training content is easily moved between different servers and can be accessed on any device from a full-blown desktop computer, down to a smartphone, so enrolled staff can learn whenever and wherever is most convenient. They can also pause and resume the course as required, so won't be discouraged from dipping in and out when they have a few minutes to spare.
The SCORM system enables our clients to track their trainees progress as they work through each module, and helps them identify areas that might need individual attention.
SCORMing ahead
By working within the SCORM framework we are able to guarantee that the training programmes we develop will be compatible with any compliant Learning Management System, and that we – and our clients – will benefit from any improvements that its ongoing evolution brings about.
It's akin to having a team of back-end compliance team working on our behalf, freeing us up to create the most cutting-edge, engaging content possible for our clients, while taking advantage of best practice in elearning.
To discuss how you can employ a SCORM-compliant Learning Management System in your business, and how The Creative Engine can create tailored content for your staff, call us on +44 1483 799 200, or Talk to us today.


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President Donald Trump has recently proposed major cuts across various federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, numerous social assistance programs, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA's budget would be reduced to 1991 levels, and it's staff to mid-1980s levels.
The EPA is an incredibly important agency, founded in 1970 by President Richard Nixon, as a response to extreme public demand for a cleaner environment. It handles a wide variety of environmental and public issues nationally, such as clean air and water, waste disposal, chemicals and toxins and public health. It protects not just the environment, but the American people, from harmful, dirty practices.
Within Ohio, the EPA works on air quality studies, river quality assessments and landfill improvements, among other issues. Without these services, citizens could be breathing extremely polluted air and drinking dirty, chemically poisoned water without even knowing it. Without landfill maintenance and improvements, erosion and degradation could make it possible for waste to leave the landfill area and create even more pollution.
Cuts to the EPA budget and staff will have direct, irreversible effects on the people and environment of Ohio, as well as nationwide. The budget is only a proposal, however, and Congress has the final say on the budget and the budget cuts. I urge Ohio's representatives and senators to protect the EPA from these cuts, and from future attacks as well.
Lindsey Essaff
Third-year in political science


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St. Vincent's Primary School is a Catholic primary school situated on St. Mary's Road in the Shandon area of Cork City. The school caters for boys and girls from Junior Infants up to 1st class, and girls only from 2nd to 6th class. There are approximately 330 pupils in the school.
The school is under the trusteeship of the Religious Sisters of Charity. It is a Catholic school with a strong Catholic ethos. We aim to reflect the vision of the foundress of the Religious Sisters of Charity, Mary Aikenhead, in developing a sense of Christian meaning in the lives of the young people in our care. The school welcomes children of other religions.
The school has an administrative principal, mainstream class teachers, learning support/resource teachers, a language support teacher, and a Home School Community Liaison teacher.
You are invited to browse our website and please feel free to contact the school for any further information.
To visit St Vincent's Kidszone, please click on the picture below :
St Vincent's Convent National School
St Vincent's Convent National School
Recent announcements
Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards 2016
St. Vincent's Convent Primary School shortlisted in this year's Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre AwardsAwards ceremony to take place on 5 May 2016St. Vincent's Convent ...
Posted Apr 25, 2016, 7:47 AM by St Vincent's Convent National School Cork
An Gaoth Aneas 6th class
Recorder Practice recording of An Gaoth AneasMs. Matthews
Posted Mar 20, 2015, 7:40 AM by St Vincent's Convent National School Cork
Sound of Music radio interview 96FM.
The cast and choir of our upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music were recentlyvisited at rehearsal by Elmarie Mawe, presenter of The Arts House ...
Posted Feb 8, 2015, 5:02 PM by St Vincent's Convent National School Cork
The Sound of Music at St. Vincent's!
The countdown is almost done, the wait is nearly over..... just 2 more sleeps until the children of St. Vincent's tread the boards in our school production of Rodgers ...
Posted Feb 8, 2015, 4:47 PM by St Vincent's Convent National School Cork
Science Week 2014
The Celebrate Science Festival will run in conjunction with Science Week Ireland from November 9th to 16th 2014. There are a number of free workshops happening in and around University ...
Posted Oct 25, 2014, 1:08 AM by St Vincent's Convent National School Cork
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Efficiency Through Emphasis And Subordination. Continued
A Fifth Avenue bus would attract attention up at Minisink Ford, New York, while one of the ox teams that frequently pass there would attract attention on Fifth Avenue. To make a word emphatic, deliver it differently from the manner in which the words surrounding it are delivered. If you have been talking loudly, utter the emphatic word in a concentrated whisper - and you have intense emphasis. If you have been going fast, go very slow on the emphatic word. If you have been talking on a low pitch, jump to a high one on the emphatic word. If you have been talking on a high pitch, take a low one on your emphatic ideas. Read the chapters on "Inflection," "Feeling," "Pause," "Change of Pitch," "Change of Tempo." Each of these will explain in detail how to get emphasis through the use of a certain principle.
In this chapter, however, we are considering only one form of emphasis: that of applying force to the important word and subordinating the unimportant words. Do not forget: this is one of the main methods that you must continually employ in getting your effects.
Let us not confound loudness with emphasis. To yell is not a sign of earnestness, intelligence, or feeling. The kind of force that we want applied to the emphatic word is not entirely physical. True, the emphatic word may be spoken more loudly, or it may be spoken more softly, but the real quality desired is intensity, earnestness. It must come from within, outward.
Last night a speaker said: "The curse of this country is not a lack of education. It's politics." He emphasized curse, lack, education, politics. The other words were hurried over and thus given no comparative importance at all. The word politics was flamed out with great feeling as he slapped his hands together indignantly. His emphasis was both correct and powerful. He concentrated all our attention on the words that meant something, instead of holding it up on such words as of this, a, of, It's.
What would you think of a guide who agreed to show New York to a stranger and then took up his time by visiting Chinese laundries and boot-blacking "parlors" on the side streets? There is only one excuse for a speaker's asking the attention of his audience: He must have either truth or entertainment for them. If he wearies their attention with trifles they will have neither vivacity nor desire left when he reaches words of Wall-Street and skyscraper importance. You do not dwell on these small words in your everyday conversation, because you are not a conversational bore. Apply the correct method of everyday speech to the platform. As we have noted elsewhere, public speaking is very much like conversation enlarged.
Sometimes, for big emphasis, it is advisable to lay stress on every single syllable in a word, as absolutely in the following sentence:
I ab-so-lute-ly refuse to grant your demand.
Now and then this principle should be applied to an emphatic sentence by stressing each word. It is a good device for exciting special attention, and it furnishes a pleasing variety. Patrick Henry's notable climax could be delivered in that manner very effectively: "Give-me-liberty-or-give-me-death." The italicized part of the following might also be delivered with this every-word emphasis. Of course, there are many ways of delivering it; this is only one of several good interpretations that might be chosen.
Knowing the price we must pay, the sacrifice we must make, the burdens we must carry, the assaults we must endure - knowing full well the cost - yet we enlist, and we enlist for the war. For we know the justice of our cause, and we know, too, its certain triumph. - From "Pass Prosperity Around" by Albert J. Beveridge, before the Chicago National Convention of the Progressive Party.
Strongly emphasizing a single word has a tendency to suggest its antithesis. Notice how the meaning changes by merely putting the emphasis on different words in the following sentence. The parenthetical expressions would really not be needed to supplement the emphatic words.
I intended to buy a house this Spring (even if you did not).
I INTENDED to buy a house this Spring (but something prevented).
I intended to BUY a house this Spring (instead of renting as heretofore).
I intended to buy a HOUSE this Spring (and not an automobile).
I intended to buy a house THIS Spring (instead of next Spring).
I intended to buy a house this SPRING (instead of in the Autumn).
When a great battle is reported in the papers, they do not keep emphasizing the same facts over and over again.
They try to get new information, or a "new slant." The news that takes an important place in the morning edition will be relegated to a small space in the late afternoon edition. We are interested in new ideas and new facts. This principle has a very important bearing in determining your emphasis. Do not emphasize the same idea over and over again unless you desire to lay extra stress on it; Senator Thurston desired to put the maximum amount of emphasis on "force" in his speech on page 50. Note how force is emphasized repeatedly. As a general rule, however, the new idea, the "new slant," whether in a newspaper report of a battle or a speaker's enunciation of his ideas, is emphatic.
In the following selection, "larger" is emphatic, for it is the new idea. All men have eyes, but this man asks for a LARGER eye.
This man with the larger eye says he will discover, not rivers or safety appliances for aeroplanes, but NEW STARS and SUNS. "New stars and suns" are hardly as emphatic as the word "larger." Why? Because we expect an astronomer to discover heavenly bodies rather than cooking recipes. The words, "Republic needs" in the next sentence, are emphatic; they introduce a new and important idea. Republics have always needed men, but the author says they need NEW men. "New" is emphatic because it introduces a new idea. In like manner, "soil," "grain," "tools," are also emphatic.
The most emphatic words are italicized in this selection. Are there any others you would emphasize? Why?
The old astronomer said, "Give me a larger eye, and I will discover new stars and suns." That is what the republic needs today - new men - men who are wise toward the soil, toward the grains, toward the tools. If God would only raise up for the people two or three men like Watt, Fulton and McCormick, they would be worth more to the State than that treasure box named California or Mexico. And the real supremacy of man is based upon his capacity for education. Man is unique in the length of his child-hood, which means the period of plasticity and education. The childhood of a moth, the distance that stands between the hatching of the robin and its maturity, represent a few hours or a. few weeks, but twenty years for growth stands between man's cradle and his citizenship. This protracted childhood makes it possible to hand over to the boy all the accumulated stores achieved by races and civilisations through thousands of years.
- Anonymous.
You must understand that there are no steel-riveted rules of emphasis. It is not always possible to designate which word must, and which must not be emphasized. One speaker will put one interpretation on a speech, another speaker will use different emphasis to bring out a different interpretation. No one can say that one interpretation is right and the other wrong. This principle must be borne in mind in all our marked exercises. Here your own intelligence must guide - and greatly to your profit.
Questions And Exercises
1. What is emphasis?
2. Describe one method of destroying monotony of thought-presentation.
3. What relation does this have to the use of the voice?
4. Which words should be emphasized, which subordinated, in a sentence?
5. Read the selections on pages 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54, devoting special attention to emphasizing the important words or phrases and subordinating the unimportant ones. Read again, changing emphasis slightly. What is the effect?
6. Read some sentence repeatedly, emphasizing a different word each time, and show how the meaning is changed, as is done on page 22.
7. What is the effect of a lack of emphasis? \/
8. Read the selections on pages 30 and 48, emphasizing every word. What is the effect on the emphasis?
9. When is it permissible to emphasize every single word in a sentence?
10. Note the emphasis and subordination in some conversation or speech you have heard. Were they well made? Why? Can you suggest any improvement?
11. From a newspaper or a magazine, clip a report of an address, or a biographical eulogy. Mark the passage for emphasis and bring it with you to class.
12. In the following passage, would you make any changes in the author's markings for emphasis? Where? Why? Bear in mind that not all words marked require the same degree of emphasis - in a wide variety of emphasis, and in nice shading of the gradations, lie the excellence of emphatic speech.
I would call him Napoleon, but Napoleon made his way to empire over broken oaths and through a sea of blood. This man never broke his word. "No Retaliation" was his great motto and the rule of his life; and the last words uttered to his son in Prance were these: "My boy, you will one day go back to Santo Domingo; forget that France murdered your father." I would call him
Cromwell, but Cromwell was only a soldier, and the state he founded went down with him into his grave. I would call him Washington, but the great Virginian held slaves. This man risked his empire rather than permit the slave-trade in the humblest village of his dominions.
You think me a fanatic to-night, for you read history, not with your eyes, but with your prejudices. But fifty years hence, when Truth gets a hearing, the Muse of History will put Phocion for the Greek, and Brutus for the Roman, Hampden for England, Lafayette for France, choose Washington as the bright, consummate flower of our earlier civilization, and John Brown the ripe fruit of our noonday, then, dipping her pen in the sunlight, will write in the clear blue, above them all, the name of the soldier, the statesman, the martyr, TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE.
- Wendell Phillips, Toussaint l'Ouverture.
Practise on the following selections for emphasis: Beecher's "Abraham Lincoln," page 76; Lincoln's "Gettysburg Speech," page 50; Seward's "Irrepressible Conflict," page 67; and Bryan's "Prince of Peace," page 448.