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A long-delayed environmental report from the U.S. State Department could remove a major hurdle for a controversial oil pipeline from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast.
A new State Department report on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline finds that the project would have a minimal impact on the environment, an assessment likely to increase pressure on the White House to approve it. But the report sets no deadline for doing so.
Given this evaluation of environmental impact, President Barack Obama and his administration will face increased pressure to approve the project, which enjoys widespread support among Republicans, and some measure of support among Democrats and allies of the administration, like labor unions.
The proposed pipeline would carry crude derived from oil sands in Canada to refineries in the United States.
"Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution," Obama said in June 2013. "The net effects of the pipeline's impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward."
The findings by the new State Department report could hasten a decision by the administration, though there is no hard and fast deadline by which Obama or Secretary of State John Kerry must act. The evaluation fell to the State Department because the proposed $7 billion project by TransCanada Corp would cross the U.S.-Canada border.
Quickly after the report's release, lawmakers ratcheted up pressure on Obama to act.
"Mr. President, no more stalling– no more excuses," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "Please pick up that pen you've been talking so much about and make this happen. Americans need these jobs."
Centrist Democrats like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin hailed the findings, as well.
"I have been incredibly frustrated for more than five years by the repeated and unnecessary delays in moving forward with the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline," he said. "I am pleased the State Department has confirmed there is no evidence of any negative environmental impact from building this pipeline."
In a statement Friday night, White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said the information would be "closely evaluated by Secretary Kerry and other relevant agency heads in the weeks ahead. A decision on whether the project is in the national interest will be made only after careful consideration of the (impact statement) and other pertinent information, comments from the public, and views of other agency heads."
Nathan Vanderklippe/Globe & Mail / Reuters
Pipes for underground fuel transport for TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL pipeline lie in a field in Gascoyne, North Dakota April 23, 2013.
Environmentally minded Democrats said the report paid insufficient attention to the environmental impacts of extracting the oil in the first place.
"I will not be satisfied with any analysis that does not accurately document what is really happening on the ground when it comes to the extraction, transport, refining, and waste disposal of dirty, filthy tar sands oil," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate panel that oversees environmental issues.
Kerry said earlier in January that he hoped to move along with his own consideration of the process quickly, though he signaled that he doesn't feel pressure to move before various analyses are complete.
"We are doing it, and I can promise our friends in Canada that all the appropriate effort is being put into trying to get this done effectively and rapidly," Kerry said Jan. 17 during an appearance with his Canadian counterpart. "And my hope is that, before long, that analysis will be available, and then my work begins."
Protesters rally about the Keystone XL oil pipeline along U.S. President Barack Obama's motorcade as he arrives at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington July 11, 2013.
Following the release of Friday's report, what's known as a "comment period" will take place; a comment period allow both government agencies and the public as a whole to offer their input about a proposed rule or regulation. The Keystone report will open up a 30-day comment period for the public, and a comment period for relevant government agencies of up to 90 days.
"I'd stress, this is only one factor in a determination that will weigh many other factors as well," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said at a briefing on Friday. "And for Secretary Kerry, climate and environmental priorities will of course be part of his decision making, as will a range of other issues."
The project could also conceivably figure into political considerations for Obama. Republicans in Congress have long demanded his approval for the project. Free of major environmental objections to it, the president could conceivably extract a desired vote or policy from GOP lawmakers in exchange for giving construction of the pipeline a green light.
NBC News' Peter Alexander contributed to this report.


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Chanitra Bishop
From Emerging Leaders
I graduated from Indiana University this past December with a dual Master's degree in Library Science and Information Science. I recently accepted a position as the Instruction & Emerging Technologies Librarian at Indiana University Bloomington. My professional interests include anything related to the integration of information technology into the delivery of library reference and instructional services, particularly web 2.0 and emerging technologies. I am also interested in outreach and finding creative ways to market library services to students.
When I am not thinking about libraries, I enjoy visiting family and friends in Chicago (my hometown), traveling and trying new restaurants.

subset: commoncrawl


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Marines Popcorn Tin
Each 1 Gallon Tin Includes 3 Assorted Bags:
- 1 Signature Recipe 53 Caramel Corn Bag
- 1 Old Fashioned Kettle Corn Bag
- 1 Double Cheddar Popcorn Bag
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Orders placed by 5:00 PM Eastern time will ship within two business days of receipt. *Please allow 5 business days for custom labels and bulk boxes.
Jody's will ship your package using either United States Postal Service Priority Mail or Federal Express Ground Service. You will get a tracking number that will allow you to watch your package as it progresses to its destination. Your package will be in transit one to seven days, depending on its destination. Below is a Federal Express Ground Delivery Map, which will give you an estimate of transit times.
We want our friends in Hawaii and Alaska to also get our popcorn, but due to the additional shipping costs, ground (or however the packages get there) shipments to those states will be $29.95.
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We utilize Federal Express to deliver express shipments. Federal Express generates the rates shown at checkout using the items you are shipping and the location to which the items will be delivered.
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With the sequester less than a week away and a deal to avert it nowhere in sight, it seems very likely we'll soon learn what across-the-board federal government spending cuts mean for local communities and the economy as a whole.
While some impacts appear obvious-states with a high concentration of military bases and defense contractors, for example, will be affected more than others-no one really knows what the economic effects will be.
Here's a prediction: The immediate impact will not be as dire as many fear. But over time, sequestration will cause significant economic drag.
It's easy to predict this because something very similar has already happened. Since the beginning of the Great Recession, public-sector payrolls have been reduced significantly.
A recent report by the Rockefeller Institute of Government at SUNY Albany documents what has occurred with state and local governments nationwide. In 2012, states and localities cut nearly 489,000 jobs.
"While private-sector employment has been slowly recovering over the last three years, state and local governments have been shedding jobs almost continuously since 2008," the report states.
It also notes that "although state and local government employment has typically been more stable than private-sector employment during and after economic downturns, the Great Recession brought unprecedented reductions in state and local government jobs."
This occurred even though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided considerable assistance to states and local communities-and the stimulus now is largely exhausted.
By some estimates, the unemployment rate would be a full percentage point lower if public-sector payrolls had remained at their 2008 levels. In fact, the impact might be even bigger, because private firms that are government contractors have been hurt too.
To be sure, a strong argument can be made for further reductions in government hiring and spending. But as noted here before, public-sector downsizing is a sizable factor in the slow job-market recovery. The sequester would double down on that trend.
2/22/13 (c) 2013 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email email@example.com.


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Yarn is one of our specialities here at Minerva Crafts! We source the most beautiful yarns from industry leaders King Cole, Sirdar, Stylecraft, Wendy, DMC and many more. Whether you are looking for the latest fashions in hand knitting, or budget yarns to knit for charity, we have a huge selection of lace, chunky, aran, sock and double knit yarns to complement our extensive knitting pattern range. If you or a loved one has a little one on the way, please take a look at our huge range of baby yarns - we really do have something for everyone with traditional pretty-pastels through to brighter fashion colours!
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Live and learn ! Being a parent means exactly that - only in fast forward !
I thought that Eric and I were both pretty proficient in our parenting skills. That is until last night. I began having my doubts.
At dinnertime, Eric filled Elaina's sippy cup nearly full with 1/2 juice and 1/2 water. She sat happily in her highchair and worked on her sippy cup and some fruit puffs as I was getting dinner ready. Upon a closer look, I realized that she had downed the entire cup of juice within only a 5 minute period. Unless she is part camel - that's pretty out of the ordinary.
"Downed it" was right ... right down the front of her dress and nearly puddled into her highchair seat ! Apparently, her sippy had a drippy. The rubbery nipple wasn't fitted on properly and she was covered in sweet smelling pear juice !
Impromptu bathtime : 6:15 pm !
As for my mommy skills, I allowed Elaina to stay up past her regular bedtime because we were happily playing a game of peek-a-boo and she had a catnap only a few hours earlier. She was crawling around her room, reading her books and every bit content. Within only minutes, she turned into a little yelling machine ! Just that fast - she was done playing and done being pleasant. Mommy lesson : Put the baby's jammies on first and then play. Little yelly-pants was not in the mood for a new diaper and she was certainly not in the mood to be stripped of her clothes for her pajamas.
These are lessons you don't dare forget !
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Parenting: 101
Live and learn ! Being a parent means exactly that - only in fast forward !
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:34 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Monday, May 29, 2006
All Weekend Long !
* You try to pose 4 little girls under the age of 5 when they all have their own little agenda ! This is the best we could do !
You may be able to tell by now when we have a busy weekend or even a busy week ... no Elaina posts ! My apologies !
Finally, with Memorial Day weekend giving us an additional day off from work, it felt like we had some time to rest ! Can we do this every weekend ? I enjoyed every bit of my time home with my family. The only thing I didn't find time to do was ... blog !
Here a recap of how we enjoyed our weekend :
Friday, our friends, Derek and Beth and their 3 sweet girls came to stay at our house. We had a cookout and just enjoyed everyone's company. Their girls were so excited to see their friend, "Belaina" that she is all they had talked about in the days leading up to their visit.
On Saturday morning, Beth and I had "business" to begin early in the morning. Our "business" was a neighborhood garage sale in her parents' allottment filled with wealthy families and great deals. This was the 11th annual sale and it is always packed with bargain hunters. Luckily, there were plenty of bargains to be found. Beth and I had a great time spending the day collecting our treasures. Back at home, the dad's had a father / daughter day. Two dad's and 4 little girls under the age of 5 ! This is a day that Eric hadn't ever experienced before. We figured that Beth and I have our "business" in the summer that we can devote a day here and there to shopping together and the guys get their turn during football season going to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers. Fair is fair. We all have fun in the end and that's really the most important thing of all.
Beth and I had a long day, but accomplished plenty. We were proud of ourselves and our great finds. The dad's survived and enjoyed some time at the local park with their girls. No one was about to cook on this night, so we ended up at our favorite local pizza place for a great dinner ! What a day !
Sunday meant saying goodbye to our guests. Derek and Beth had to leave to visit with her family for a cookout before heading back to their home. Their departure was followed with a family nap. We were all beat. It truly was Elaina's naptime - Eric and I just thought we would join her slumber. Aahh.... how often can you steal away the time to enjoy a nap with the 2 people you love the most ? Sign me up for everyday !
This night, we invited our neighbor, Sam, to join us for dinner. Sam is a friend of ours who lives next door. He is Eric's age and single and just a really nice guy. I have a sneaking suspicion that Elaina has a crush on him ! Here are two examples : yesterday, I was holding Elaina outside and upon spotting Sam, Elaina immeditely began waving at him like her little arm was made of rubber as she flapped it so hard to get his attention. She gave him a giant, sloppy smile and wasn't content until her acknowledged her. At dinnertime, we sat outside (Elaina in her walker) and she was practically flirting with Sam. She laughed and cooed and batted her eyes and gave him every bit of attention that her little 19 pound self could muster up. It really was very humorous seeing her react to someone in such a way. She is a nut !
And finally, we have today's events. It's Memorial Day and our town has a small parade down Main Street before heading into the cemetary for a memorial service to honor those who have (and are) served our country. Eric was involved in the parade riding in the fire truck with the fire department and Elaina and I caught up with him after the parade at the cemetary. It's an overwhelming feeling to see most of the town make time to honor our service men and women in this nearly 30 minute ceremony.
The rest of our day has been spent cleaning up the house, catching up on some projects and playing with StinkerBell. Elaina was in rare form today. She was a little bit of a (do I dare say ?) .... a brat ! She is cutting yet another tooth, this would be her fourth tooth on the bottom and she sometimes gets a little fussy. (Justified - of course ! ) But today, she was not only fussy- she was cranky and defiant and refusing to eat and didn't play well and just really not my usually- happy baby. I hate to say this, but bedtime couldn't come soon enough tonight. Goodnight all .
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:37 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Stats !
Elaina had to go to the doctor today for yet another shot. It's really a carry-over from her 6 month visit - they didn't want to give her 5 shots at a time so advised us to come back for the one shot that could be delayed and they could check her out prior to her 12 month visit as well. So, Eric took Elaina to her appointment and got the following stats :
Elaina weighs 19 lbs. and 1.4 oz
Height is 27 3/4 ''
Head circ : 17 1/2 "
What a perfectly healthy girl ! Yeah Elaina !!!
Handcrafted by Laura at 11:24 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Ba-donk !
This is the sound Elaina's head made when she fell down and hit her head against the wall ! Ooohhh ... the crying ! My poor baby had every reason to cry - within 5 minutes, she developed a visible bruise on her forehead. I nearly cried !
From the pictures above and the story of her "crash" you might be able to guess what kind of night we had. Elaina was not interested in eating any baby food for dinner and was just too tired to even make an attempt. I supplied her with some juice and fruit puffs while we ate our dinner and before long, this is what happened. She was out ! It's tough being a baby - especially when you bonked your head, you have a cold and mom wants to make you eat food !
Not long after, I fixed her up with some cold medicine, soft jammies, a warm bottle and plenty of hugs and cuddle time ! You know - even the days when she's miserable- she is every bit sweet and lovable !
* Notice in the second picture : Elaina's first bruise !
Handcrafted by Laura at 11:33 PM 1 Welcome Comments
On your Feet !
Today when I came home, Eric and Elaina were playing outside in our driveway. She was half walking and half holding onto the brick retaining wall. She was amazing me ! (and Eric too ! ) I really think that she is so close to just taking off and becoming a full-fledged walker any day now. After all, she became a champion crawler in all of one week and pulling herself up onto everything along the way.
I have discovered that she does much better walking when it's on her terms. ( Oh - she is so much like me !! ) With too much encouragement, she becomes distracted and plops to the ground to crawl faster to her target. I think that her maximum step count (in a row) has reached 10 at this point. I love watching her face with her look of determination and concentration of walking and focussing on her mark at the same time. Any day now ....
Handcrafted by Laura at 11:11 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
It Snot easy being green !
This morning Elaina woke up looking a little bit green. Her nose specifically. Actually, more like the stuff seeping out of her nose ! I know that's gross, but when your nearly 11 months old - that's part of life and this mom has to write about it. I had previously thought that it was a symptom accompanying her teething and now, I'm leaning more toward it being that her immune system is weakened during the teething process and she develops actual cold symptoms. Maybe it's really one of the same. I just want her to feel better.
She has lost a little bit of her appetite, she's more sleepy than usual and she gets noticeably irritated easily. When your talking about an easy- going-mild-tempered baby acting anything out of the ordinary - you notice a difference. She is a growing girl though and her little body is going through so many changes each and every day. I swear that when I hold her in my arms and see our full image together in the mirror, I can't believe that big girl is really my little girl. I have enjoyed every stage that she is growing into. It's the most wonderful feeling to witness my daughter discover her world around her. Her first tastes, her first steps, the look of incredible achievement on her sweet face as she pushes the buttons on the phone or TV.
What can I say ? I am in love with my girl !! Snotty, stinky or silly - she is my world !
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:38 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Party at my place !
Today, Elaina's friend, Maddie stopped in for a visit. The girls took turns going in and out of the door and pushing the doorbell to Elaina's house. What a beautiful day in the neighborhood !
Maddie is 6 months older than Elaina and they played so nicely together. Both girls were overdue for their naptime, but playtime had to come first. Elaina was the first to break into a case of the crankies. To her credit, she was nearly asleep when Maddie arrived and an hour past her naptime then ! However, my sweet girl rarely puts up a fuss for bedtime or for naps. (Lucky me !) With some warm cuddling and rocking, she melts like butter ! Goodnight !
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:34 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Friday, May 19, 2006
One year ago today -
Our lives had been turned upside down. Our days were somber and we had very little happiness. Eric and I didn't know where to begin to put the pieces of our shattered lives back together. The only thing I had to look forward to this day was to spend the day at the spa - a Mother's Day gift given to me by my sweet Ava and her wonderful dad. Who, luckily, gave it to me two days early. A day at the spa would be a short term fix to ease some of my stress and temporarily, forget my pain.
Literally 5 minutes before I had to leave the house for the spa, my phone rang. It was the judge that I work for. Oohh, was my mind racing. (Just so you know, it's not common that a judge would be calling me at home.) I wasn't due back to work for almost 2 weeks and was scared as to what may have transpired in the time that I had been off.
Our conversation went something like this :
Judge : Laura, I hope this isn't too soon, but I had to call you. I was at a Christian lawyers luncheon today and I began talking with an attorney who is representing a birthmom wishing to place her baby up for adoption. From the families she has had to choose from, she has asked to see more options. She is requesting a couple who has been married for a number of years, who have college educations (and put an emphasis on education), religious, and stable. Laura, I couldn't get your face out of my face. I felt that he had to have been describing only you and Eric. If you are at all interested in adoption, I would recommend you get in touch with this attorney soon - the birthmom is due June 22 !
Laura : (trembling and sobbing) Absolutely !
I can't tell you how many people sent cards and notes and phone calls after Ava's death and everyone concluded by saying, " You're in our prayers." I often wondered, " If so many people are praying for us, when will the pain go away ? If so many people are praying for us - why does it hurt so bad ? When will we ever find happiness and will we have a baby of our own ?"
After this phone conversation, I knew that God was blowing the cover off his master plan for joy and happiness in our lives. There's no way that this could be a coincidence. I wouldn't believe that God would even let us get wind of this birthmom, if we weren't meant to connect. Not now. Not when we were most fragile, could we handle another major earthquake of hopeless despair.
My mind was racing. I still needed to make my appointment at the spa ! I got myself out the door and frantically called Eric on his cell. By this time, I was just bawling. He made the intial contact with the attorney over the phone ( I was a basket case) and he had asked that we submit a letter about ourselves, like an autobiography - and soon. My stress- free day at the spa was anything but that. Every emotion was pulsing through my body at least 100 miles per hour. Excited, nervous, scared, anxious, happy. Happy ? Did I say "happy ?" Finally, we may have had something to look forward to. I was tiptoeing on the border of happy and emotional meltdown.
The entire time that I was supposed to be enjoying my day of pampering, I prayed that I would have all of the right words as I would sit down this night and write the most compelling letter of my life. Where do you begin to compose a letter about yourself that will be enough to convince a complete stranger that you want her baby more than anything in the world - but not sound desperate and overbearing. I believe that my letter took me nearly 3 hours to complete. I did pour out my heart and soul to this woman in a manner that suggested that our paths have crossed for a reason. I stated that we have each sacrificed our own happiness for what is best for our babies - referring to the loss of Ava of course.
So, year- to- date, I guess that you can tell that God was on our side and that He did hear all of the prayers from our friends and family and our desperate pleas for a child. This day was the first glimmer of hope that has lead us to the most abundant joy that we will ever experience. Still, my heart swells with gratitude for the sweetest blessing we get to hold onto each and every day.
Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers on our behalf and we hope to get so lucky to be blessed with another wonderful miracle !
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:06 PM 1 Welcome Comments
Hi New Tooth !
This title holds 2 meanings. I'll confess that I am not the best up-to-the-minute reporter. For the past week, Elaina has been working on pushing her second front tooth through. When this tooth finally makes it's grand appearance, she'll have a full toothy smile with 4 top teeth and 3 on the bottom. Just in time for her to eat her birthday cake in July !
Also, I neglected to report another cute trick that Elaina has learned. She has been waiving to herself - sorta like a little "Hi" to herself. The other day when Eric was mowing the lawn, she flirted with him with a continuous wave until he returned her greeting. Upon seeing his wave to her, she began waving back to herself - just like Daddy did. I do believe that was the most enjoyable time Eric has ever spent mowing the lawn. She had us both laughing !
Handcrafted by Laura at 8:57 AM 0 Welcome Comments
Thursday, May 18, 2006
" We'll have a gay old time !"
Now put that title to music. Sound familiar ? It's the theme song to the Flintstones cartoon of course !
At one of our sales over the weekend, I found a Flintstones book that plays the cartoon theme song with a slight push of a button. That very book has become Elaina's favorite toy of this whole evening. We had music before dinner. We had dinner music. We had even had clean-up-the-kitchen music. The child kept her finger pressed against the button ! Non-stop ! The book only left her sight 2 times. Can you believe that Eric gave it back to the baby when she dropped it ? Come on !!! Thank you Daddy !
I'm glad that she has so many other books to choose from now. Maybe I'll hide this one a little bit out of her reach for a day or two. It's a good thing that I enjoyed the Flintstones cartoon - we're all having a "gay old time ! "
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:53 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Special Invitation
Our life has gone through so many unbelievable changes over the past couple of years. Last year, while spending all of our days in nights in the hospital with Ava, we developed a special friendship with many of the nurses who fell in love with our sweet girl. One of Ava's greatest admirers was Nurse Becky. Becky was made to be an intensive care nurse. She has an overwhelming love for her babies she cares for and makes a point to develop a relationship with the parents too. She made our time spent in the NICU more comforatable as she cared for our baby and made us feel like human beings again as we swapped stories and shared our lives.
Since our time there, we have kept in touch with each other and she invited Elaina and myself to her house for a baby party / luncheon today. She has already met Elaina and knows that Ava had a hand in sending us such a special angel to share our lives. Becky also invited two other moms and babies from the NICU and her grandson and his mother. She prepared a fabulous lunch for us and we spent the day talking and playing on the floor with our beautiful babies. It's rare that I am able to share stories with any parent who has been through similar circumstances with a child in the NICU for any length of time. It was great to hear how their beautiful girls have grown and developed and are doing so well.
Regardless of the circumstances and trials we have endured with our children and whatever their future hold, each one of us recognizes that you never get to take a day for granted and that these babies are our whole world. You just love and squeeze them and hold them tight and pray that they always have the happiness that each of them deserves.
* Baby Lilly and her mom left before we were able to include them in our picture.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:38 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Blessed Day !
Oh yeah ... and it's Mother's Day too.
Today, Elaina was baptized !
This is the day I had been looking forward to. Our little angel has been blessed into the Catholic religion with all of our family to join in our celebration. After the night we had last evening, I was fearful that this day wouldn't turn out exactly as I had planned. Most of the evening, Eric had complained that he wasn't feeling well. Just as we were going to bed, he said that he was freezing cold and was shivering. Eric hardly ever complains and he is never cold. Hmm... sound like the flu ? NO NO NO ! This couldn't be happening ! When Ava was baptized in the NICU, Eric and my mom both came down with the flu on the same day (3 hours away from each other) which left only me, my dad and one of our favorite nurses to witness her baptism. This day was going to be the best ever - we had family and friends joining us, we had a nice lunch planned and we had everyone at the 11:00 Mass who would rather not see Eric yack during the service.
Maybe a good night's sleep is all he needed. He woke up feeling fine and I woke up knowing that God had heard my prayers for sure ! During the introduction of the Mass, Fr. Ring announced that Elaina Rose was present this day to receive the gift of baptism into the Catholic church. Elaina must have been paying attention because, as she was standing on my lap, she began clapping her hands just after he spoke her name. Oh ... I melted ! I saw the admiring smiles of the people around us and I thought to myself, " Yeah, that's my girl ! "
Her baptism went very smoothly as the priest poured holy water atop her head and annointed her chest with oil. My brother and sister-in-law , Greg and Kate, have proudly claimed the role as her Godparents. Like so many, they recognize what a special baby we have been entrusted to care for and love. We all feel that Elaina has been a beautiful blessing for all of our family to enjoy. Just the way it was meant to be.
What made the day even better was that so many of our family and friends were able to join us for this celebration. Their presence was enough to satisfy me, yet they brought her the most beautiful gifts also. Since Elaina has grown to love books, she received many books and special keepsakes to commemorate this blessed event. We'll always treasure the memories of this beautiful day.
* My only regret of the entire day was that my poor child only had about a 20 minute nap all of the day until nearly 3:00 ! She was very social and couldn't miss a minute of her party. The only time she became fussy was when we tried to get some family and group pictures with our little Precious.
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:37 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Soggy Shoppers
Yeah, I know it's springtime in the Northeast, but will it ever stop raining ? I believe this makes Day 7 of consecutive rainy days.
Less determined bargain shoppers and those who prefer to be sensible and dry would be content to stay in on a wet day like today. Not my family ! My mom joined me and and my mother-in-law and we hit some garage sales ! Our thought was that we would load up the deals as the rain would be plenty enough to deter others from infringing on our target sales. We were surprised to see how many others braved the 55 degree day in the drizzling rain to get some deals. The three of us had a great time bargaining for our treasures ! I have to admit that I was impressed that my mother-in-law conceded in our shopping addiction as she powered along and helped navigate to the next sale.
The best find of the day was for Elaina, of course. On one of our first sales, I found a Little Tykes play yard / house perfect for our girl. The only problem was the fact that it filled my mom's trunk immediately. Luckily, we weren't to far from home and made a pit stop after Round 1 of our sale shopping. Better yet, Elaina loves her new plastic neighborhood ! Eric cleaned it up and helped her to "move in." She must have crawled and walked in and out of the front door of her house at least 60 times - shutting the door behind her every last time ! How funny ! This provided nearly 20 minutes of uninterrupted fun for the new homeowner !
Later in the afternoon, we met Aunt Cindy for a late "Mother's- Day- lunch." Elaina stayed home with her dad on this particular girls' day out. (We missed you Elaina !) It wouldn't have been fair to her to drag her around in the cold, wet weather when she would surely have a better time playing with dad and grandpa at home.
Our evening was spent at Eric's brother and sister-in-laws house choosing a monument for Ava. I feel so bad that an entire year has gone by and we haven't yet memorialized her grave. It's not because I haven't wanted to do it, it's just that I have wanted it to be absolutely perfect that I didn't know where to begin. Since Tim and Terri own a monument business and Terri is every bit of an artist, we all sat around the kitchen table and shared ideas and sketched the perfect memorial for our perfect angel. I am pleased with the result and feel that we have done our best.
Mother's Day has seemed to hit hard for me over the past 3 years. Three years ago, I spent my first Mother's Day with Tim and Terri sobbing over having to choose Ella's monument. That was a horrible, emotional pain. Piercing pain. I vowed that the following year would be different. It was. That year we were still trying to get pregnant without any success. Still, I thought, "just wait until next year, that would be the best of all." The following year brought Ava into our lives, only to have her become an angel the day before Mother's Day.
This year leaves me with very bittersweet emotions. Again, I find it painfully ironic that we are faced with having to memorialize our daughter - one more time. Oh... and it doesn't get any easier. Not even after a year. The thing that is cause for the bigger celebration is that Elaina will be baptized tomorrow. That's plenty enough to overshadow my grief and make my heart happy.
Handcrafted by Laura at 11:18 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Friday, May 12, 2006
Lost Agenda
What a busy week ! All in preparation for a busy weekend - our baby will be baptized on Sunday !
Knowing how this weekend will fly by and be jam-packed full of activity, I thought it would be a good idea to only work a half day and get things in order with a little less hustle and bustle. My first stop was to the mall for a return and to purchase the jacket that I didn't have time to get on my last trip during my lunch hour. Two stores and one hour later, I made my way out -one full hour behind schedule. To my demise, I spotted a sign that read, " Street Garage Sales." Oh, come on.... I can't pass that up ! I made a few stops (in the pouring rain) and picked up some cute clothes for my nephew, Colin. Not so lucky finding girl stuff or me- stuff. One more hour behind schedule. I finally get home with Elaina and a few other treasures in tow and remember how much packing I failed to do the night before. At this point, I foresee yet another hour that will disappear !
We finally got ourselves together to get on the road for the almost 3 hour drive to get to Eric's parents' house. As always, they were thrilled to see our smiling, little sweetheart and soak her with hugs. Our 3 year- old nephew, Evan, was there ready to see "the baby." He lavished her with attention and brought her toys so they could play together. They were so cute - you'd think that I would think to pull out my camera for a quick shot. Nope. (Sorry - no picture available.) It probably would have been a good idea for me to have had my camera focussed on Elaina taking 7 steps in a row too. Nope. (Sorry - no picture available.)
My whole day was somewhat out of sync. What can I say ?
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:41 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Toss - the -Tot !
Eric and Elaina have a new game they play. It involves tossing Elaina onto our bed and waiting for her to slide down (feet first) to the floor only for Eric to pop her up again. She squeals and laughs so hard ! I could barely catch my breath from laughing so hard too ! She is a goof !
Holding onto the bed sheets, she inches her way to the edge of the bed and slides down to the floor awaiting another lift. Even after nearly 10 tosses, we were still amused and rolling in our laughter.
Ten months old is such a fun age ! I love to see how her personality and sense of humor is developing and she is able to communicate how much she loves ( or doesn't ) love certain things. With her slobbery, wet smile, it was clear that she loves the "Bed -Toss -Game !"
Handcrafted by Laura at 2:36 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Being Ignored
Elaina and I were playing in her room tonight and while she was reading her books to herself, I grabbed the phone to give my girlfriend a quick phone call. As soon as my full attention wasn't centered around my beloved, she took 8 steps ! I was so much in awe that I nearly forgot who I was talking to and that I was in the middle of a conversation ! (Sorry Amie ! )
Isn't that always the way; when you want them to do something, they won't and when you don't want them to do something , they will. Plenty of times, Eric and I will sit on the floor with our arms stretched out to encourage our little stepper to walk to us and she falls to the floor. Stop paying attention to her for half of a minute and she takes 8 steps !
Now when I leave her in her crib to play while I take a shower, I wonder if she isn't carrying on full conversations with her toys and reading to her dolls ! Hmm ...
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:49 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Stair Master
Do you suppose there is anything wrong with a 10 month- old learning how to climb the stairs ? A few weeks ago, Elaina made her way over to the steps and just began to climb. She got to the 6th step before looking back and realized that she was out of her element and got scared. Dad saved her.
Tonight she was crawling all over the house like a crazed monkey and when she got to the stairs, she just began to climb. I was already upstairs and Eric was bringing up the rear (literally) following her. Hearing the commotion and his encouragement to her, I looked down to find her only 4 steps from reaching the top. With an excited smirk on her sweet face - she was climbing over the threshold of the final step. Oh what a big girl !
On yet another trip upstairs, I decided to let her have another crack at doing the stairs herself. She did. With her fingers gripped tight into the thick pile of carpet, her little diaper-butt wiggled and wiggled and her legs moved like a skilled rock-climber. What can I say ? She's a natural.
Little Miss Independent Elaina.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:45 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Angel in Heaven
Today is an anniversary that I haven't been exactly looking forward to. A year ago today, our sweet Ava became an angel.
From the day she was born, she had already been an angel. There wouldn't be any other reason to be able to explain how she was able to endure the life that she had on this earth otherwise. More than likely, her condition was constant discomfort and pain for her. Multiple procedures and operations drained her. As her parents, Eric and I only elected to have the necessary steps taken for her in order for her to progress. We had no interest in only maintaining a poor situation and certainly nothing that would compromise her life. Only the best for our baby.
Even a year later, I couldn't even begin to explain the type of horrible roller coaster ride we went through in our days with her in the NICU. Absolute heartbreak. Some days, we had some encouraging news, but by the end of the day, we could always count on a test result or a back-to-reality doctor to shatter our hope into a million pieces. Not only was it a roller coaster of emotions, but a roller coaster testing our faith. Upon Ava's diagnosis as I was 6 months pregnant, I prayed that whatever happened, it would be for the best for my baby. Not me. My baby. If she was going to have special needs throughout her life, I prayed to God that she would at least have a good quality life. A handicap of any type would certainly never be anything that any parent would be content with for their own child - but if it meant that we had a child - so be it. She is the baby that God has made for us and this is the baby that we are going to love with all of our heart.
All but 2 days of Ava's life was spent in the NICU. Mostly at Akron Children's Hospital. There, she was surrounded by her mom and dad and plenty of nurses who fell in love with our sweet baby. Toward the end of her 3rd month, the doctors had exhausted all of their medical resources to aid in her prognosis. At this point, we both had to face the nerve-wracking reality that our lives were going to change in a way that we could never prepare for. I have never had any interest in being a nurse, yet it seemed as though I was getting a crash course in order to handle the specialized care for my own child. My mind was racing. What do I do when something goes wrong ? Will I be able to handle all of this ? How in the world would I ever be a person again ? How would Eric and I ever be a couple again ? Ava had received around the clock care at the hospital by a full staff of professionals - and now it was just Eric and me. Actually, only me - Eric would be going back to work. My only solace was that, if God was bringing me to it, God would bring me through it. It was all in his hands from the beginning.
I barely remember having Ava home. I'll spare the details that would just make my mind spin and tell you my favorite memory. I will never forget the feeling of having my sweet, precious baby cuddled up next to me in bed. At the hospital, we held her almost every minute that we were with her. There was never a time to lay back in peace and quiet and curl up with our baby to actually rest comforatably. In Ava's bedroom at home, we had moved a twin sized bed in next to her crib. We pretty much set up a fully functioning hospital room in her bedroom to accomodate the both of us. Spooning with my baby, my arm hugged around her little body and her next to my heart. That is how I want to remember my Ava.
Her time at home was only brief. We ended up back at the NICU in Akron. On a sunny, crisp, Saturday afternoon, our angel was fading. With my parents at our side and floods of tears and breaking hearts, our angel went to heaven. Our heartache only meant peace at last for our baby. No more pain. No more tests. No more staring wishfully at the monitors. Only peace. Just what we had prayed for her all along. She would never have the peace and quality of life that she deserved here on earth. She was in God's hands the whole time.
We've lost two our two girls. I would often think that if I were to hear about a couple who had lost their two daughters, I would cry even if I didn't know them. It turns out - the story is ours. I've always believed that no matter how bad your day is - there is always someone having a worse day than you. Today, we were on the top of the list - no one's life could have been more shattered than ours on this day. If you were to ask me one year ago if I would ever be happy again, the answer would be a firm "NO !" Absolutely, no. I couldn't help my feelings, but I never thought beyond my baby. I truly felt that nothing would ever make me smile again. I love Eric, but what did we have to be happy about ? Even with my family, whom I love, I doubted that I would ever be able to enjoy anything ever again. That was my true feeling down to my bones.
Like George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life, " I wished that I had never been born. I wondered how I could literally drop off the face of the earth. And, where had God been ? Why wasn't he listening to my prayers ? My hope and my faith was nearly non-existent.
In the days following, I begged Eric to just let us move. We went to Kauai, Hawaii on our honeymoon and loved it. Let's move there. I've been to Oklahoma and liked it. Let's move there. New York is a busy place, we wouldn't even have to talk to anyone. Let's move there. I wanted to be somewhere else that no one would know us and we wouldn't know anyone. I wouldn't have to be around anyone who knew our story and I thought it would be the only way to escape our reality. My reality is that my husband wasn't going for any of my ideas. Neither of us knew how or where to begin to pick up the pieces - but we couldn't run and hide.
It's amazing what a difference a year can make. It's amazing to see how and when God will reveal himself. In the end, God chose to give us a miracle !
Reflecting upon this past year, I have never known such happiness. The glow of my healthy baby's smile and the sparkle in my husband's eyes when he is with his daughter. Even for me, it's hard to hold back tears of happiness and joy when I think how blessed we are with our sweet angel. One that was custom made just for us. This has always been my every prayer and heart's desire. In one year's time, I am thinking how God has spoiled us with the most beautiful angel on earth with two special guardian angels covering her at all times. God has let us walk through the fire and not get burned. I know that I have alot to look forward to when I get to heaven. Until then, my angels, Ella and Ava are every bit in my heart. I pray each day that through Elaina they are able to feel the tenderness in each kiss, my warmth in every hug and feel my happiness in my laughter. With each smile that crosses my face and every tear that comes to my eyes, I am thanking God for taking care of all of us and blessing us with angels !
Handcrafted by Laura at 11:10 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Saturday, May 06, 2006
In and Out of Town.
This weekend, Eric is out of town doing a gun show in Raleigh, NC. In turn, Grandma and Grandpa H. are here to spend the weekend with two of their most favorite girls. (That would be Elaina and me, by the way.)
We spent the majority of the day shopping and loading up on lots of great stuff. (We love stuff ! ) We found plenty of nice things for Elaina and Grandma and Grandpa and even Eric. I had no luck at all in finding the one and only one thing I needed for me - a dress for Elaina's baptism. Isn't that just the way it goes ? Oh well, it's truly Elaina's day and she will be looking beautiful - but then again, when doesn't she ?
Now more about our girl ... My mom has often referred to Elaina as a "Love Sponge." She is exactly that. She just soaks up every bit of love and attention directed her way. In return, she generously shares her hugs and affection to her adoring family members. Today she finally said, "Mom !" Then, "Mama." Yeah ! She is too cute ! Happy Mother's Day to me - a week early !
After a busy, long day, Grandma snuggled down with Elaina to feed her bedtime bottle. In the meantime, I was on a cleaning rampage throughout Elaina' closet. I sorted and organized and categorized and labeled all of her too small and too big clothes. Whew ! This girl has alot of clothes ! I have to admit that it was sweet remembering how little she was and how it seems like it wasn't very long ago that she was wearing her 3-6 month wardrobe. Where has the time gone ? Now I know where the clothes have gone ! ( In plastic totes #1-3 ! )
**In case you were wondering, we don't refer to that as being "spoiled" - we prefer to say that she is "worthy !"
And that she is !
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:23 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Friday, May 05, 2006
How Many ?
53. That's the number of unread e-mails received in our inbox in nearly a month without internet service ! To spare you many unsavory details of my heated conversations with the cable company ... let's just say that their work is finally complete. Remember in one of my previous posts how the cable company was to come (Tuesday night ) to fix our Road Runner connection ? Oh yeah ... no show ! Upon my phone call wondering where they were, they said that they didn't think we were home because no one answered the phone when they called. Maybe a message from them would have been more appropriate.
Hmmm... I promised no details, yet I'm still complaining. Enough. Upon my final call to them, the lady got the message that their service to us was obviously poor and she was able to pull some strings to have a repair tech at our home tonight. He was here for nearly an hour and a half ! This poor guy earned his money tonight - too bad the majority of people in the company hadn't been so dedicated.
In summary ... Glad to be back, check some previous posts for some newly posted pictures and feel free to e-mail us anytime now. We'll probably respond.
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:01 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Ready to Roll !
The search is over. I have been searching high and low for a used 3 -wheeled jogging stroller for Elaina. Okay... it's just called a "jogging stroller," you don't really have to jog. Whew ! I got a hot tip that a jogging stroller had been brought into the baby resale shop only 10 minutes from my work. I went there immediately to investigate. For only $40 (compared to $130 retail ) - we had a new set of wheels ! It is like the Cadillac of baby strolling. What a smooth ride. No more bumps and bouncing and battling the uneven terrain of our village sidewalks. It's beautiful ! Elaina and I went on a test ride and I realized that this is definately our favorite mode of transportation. Now, I can work on getting in shape this summer by pushing Elaina along on evening walks with the girls.
Whle I was shopping, I met a very sweet, young mom and we ended up talking for some time. Time well spent ! I had planned on being home somewhat early today as we had an appointment to meet with our priest to discuss Elaina's baptism. Our priest is fairly new to our parish and I have enjoyed his masses very much. He is very personable and friendly and just likes people. Our meeting was going well, Elaina was snug and content in her infant carrier and was entertaining herself by "reading" her books. And then... nmnmn. Nmnmmn. Grunt. Grunt. Our red-faced, beauty queen was filling her diaper. Alot. For about 3 minutes ! I am such a bad adult. I had to hold back my laughter as the priest was talking to us. I should be over that type of juvenile behavior - but it was pretty funny because she is soo obvious !
And, did I mention that it had been a warm, muggy evening and the air in the room was already stiffling ? Throw in a stenchy diaper to that equation and .... whew... get me outta there !
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:52 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Can you hear me now ?
Tonight we went to dinner with Eric's teammates from his bowling league to a local family restaurant. The best part about tonight's dinner was that Elaina was able to join us and have her part entertaining the whole crowd. Our friends, whose son is a month younger than Elaina, was also part of the party. Tanner is his name and he has lots to say. Loudly.
After dinner, we all sat around the table and we pulled Elaina out of her seat to visit with everyone. Tanner's dad held him next to Elaina and he began to yell in her direction. Elaina harmonized with a synchronized yell and they challenged each other to see who could hold out their bellow the longest. Very soon, pretty much everyone at the table realized that they were having to talk above the holler of the babies and focused their attention on our two screech monkeys. As I glanced around to the other tables nearby, I discovered that we were getting smiles and stares from the other patrons as they pointed in our directions. I have to admit that this could be annoying to some, but because they were so cute, our fellow diners were able to laugh it off. We allowed them only about 5 minutes of competing until we attempted to quiet them. Tanner vied for Elaina's attention by continuing his holler (only louder) and Elaina turned her head to another friendly face of our friend waiting to hold her.
Only 5 minutes into the drive home, both kids were knocked out. Yellin' takes a lot out of those babies !
Handcrafted by Laura at 10:40 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
10 Months Old !
Didn't Elaina just turn 9 months old ? Whew ... it seems like I just posted her 9 month entry the other day ! A whole month later and our girl is growing so big and only getting sweeter and cuter by the day ! She is every bit lovable and kissable - it's true love !
So here is what Elaina has been up to as a 9 month old ....
* Beginning to take steps, 2-3 at a time !
* Has gotten 4 new teeth this month ! (bottom left, 2 eye teeth and top, front left)
* Points with her index finger and waves it around like her magic wand.
* Trying so hard to say KeeGee (our nickname for our dog, Keegan) - Elaina says "Keekke" ( much emphasis on the "k" sound )
* Much effort into saying bye- bye (mostly presses her lips and whispers to herself "bah-bah" very lightly - sometimes the lips just move without any sound. Too cute !
* Getting really good at saying Dada ; not as much luck with Mama
* Her feelings get hurt when she gets blocked into a specific play area, like the entire half of our living room isn't enough room for her to roam, she makes a wimper face and cries for about 2 minutes !
* Starting to get herself into trouble as she goes up to the TV and presses buttons to change the channel after being told "NO!" several times and getting smacked on the hand. This has become a nightly occurrence and the same scenario plays out every last time ! She's a STINKER !
* Cartoons have become a favorite as her attention span is growing longer and longer
* Bounces on her knees when she is enjoying her favorite music and cartoons. Likewise, she'll clap her hands to the entertainment.
* Becoming fast friends with Keegan; they have a mutual respect and both like to eat things off the floor !
* She has developed such a little personality and smiles and giggles all of the time. She loves to play and be "gotten" by mommy and daddy !
This has been a fun month and we're looking to all of the excitement that Elaina's 10 month will bring !
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:52 PM 0 Welcome Comments
Monday, May 01, 2006
Feeling Disconnected
Here I am !
To my faithful readers, I apologize for depriving you a week's worth of little girl stories and smiles. It seems as though we have a weak internet connection from our cable lines that run to the house with road runner internet access. This has not only halted our internet access, but we aren't able to receive the higher cable channels on our TV upstairs - making it impossible for Elaina to watch her favorite cartoons in our bed. ( Do you just see how spoiled we have become ? ) We've had the cable company out two times already to fix this problem and we're up and running for a day and then back to nothing. Getting in touch with the cable company is a feat in and of itself. We can expect hold on the phone for at least 45 minutes with each and every call - regardless the time of day. Good way to discourage people from phoning in.
Looks like this entry will just be a jumbled mess of recaps from the past week. Oh, but what a week it has been ! Little Miss has been taking steps ! 2-3 at a time ! Out of the blue on Tuesday, she started standing more on her own. She would take on a standing position as I put her down from being held. And finally, she just started creeping to where she wanted to be. The two biggest bribe toys are her binky and the remote control. She also goes between mommy and daddy to soak in as many hugs and squeezes as she can handle ! I am beaming with pride over my little girl's newest milestone. She is growing up so fast !
Wednesday, we attended Eric's bowling banquet and Elaina stayed with our friends, Scott and Jessica, who are expecting their own baby this fall. Elaina is pure entertainment for them and they seem to love her company as well. When we arrived to pick up our little Peanut, she was cuddled up in her jammies along with Jessica, sleeping on the sofa. So cute ! I swear that cuddly little babies are like sleeping pills !
This past weekend was very enjoyable for all of us. We did some shopping on Saturday afternoon before meeting some friends out for dinner. Elaina was good throughout the whole day until dinnertime. While playing with her toys, she developed a case of the "dropsies." She tested her mom and dad as she would play with a toy and drop it to the floor. Over and over and over again. We are such suckers that we played her game for a little while until she was just forced to entertain herself with the toys that were hooked onto her infant carrier seat. It's too bad that she is just so irresistible - we'll do just about anything for that little stinker !
Sunday was a full day of catching up on housework and laundry and playing ! Our neighbors gathered in our backyard for an impromptu cookout for dinner. Elaina crawled all over the grass and the deck and even taught herself how to dismount onto the ground. As she would get to the edge of the deck, she would peer over the edge and wiggle her tushie around to go feet first to the ground. (Our deck is only about 12 inches from the ground.) You might be able to tell that Eric was the one who allowed her to figure this one out for herself. I can't say that I would be so trusting to believe that she wouldn't fall on her head ! She is one smart girl with great manueverability !
Finally, the cable company is scheduled to send yet another repairman out on Tuesday and we will hopefully be up and running shortly after. Until then, I've been stealing away time from work in attempt to get up to speed with Elaina's story. Believe it or not, I get less interruptions with a nearly 10-month old at home than I do at my desk in a 30 minute span !
Handcrafted by Laura at 9:17 PM 0 Welcome Comments


text: Donna has been happily painting in oils and pastels for most of her life. Most recently she has focused on pastels. She teaches workshops in pastel painting and demo's frequently.Donna creates impresionistic landscapes with the soft pastels, enjoying the moody blues, vibrant violets, ravishing reds, tints and spectrum of chroma created in pastels. Her work has been in many juried shows in Michigan and Indiana as well as the North Dallas area of Texas: Richardson Civic Art, Art in the Atrium, Frisco, Tx. Donna has had one artist shows of her pastels at the Buchanan Art Center and Lake Michigan College, Bertrand Crossing Campus.She was a studio artist in the Box Factory for the Arts, St. Joseph, Mi. The McKinney Art Studio, McKinney Texas had selected pastels of her art display. The Wiley Art Gallery, Wylie, Tx showed her pastels for the past year. Filtered, a coffee shop and artistic supporter, has hung many of her pieces during the past several years, She demonstrated pastel painting on a weekly basis at Filtered for the past few years.Donna is a current member with the Pastel Society of the Southwest, and past member of the McKinney Art Club. She is a Past member of the Northern Indiana Pastel Society and Northern Indiana Artist Association.She has taken pastel workshops from Richard McDaniel, Alan Flattman, Alain Picard and many others. She has also been a student of Harry Ahn, oil painter."Clouds in a Pastel Sky" won a blue ribbon for the "best use of a medium" at the 2016 McKinney Art Club Annual Show. Recently two of her paintings sold in the Keller City Hall Show, Keller Tx.


text:
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced Tuesday that it had fined five affiliates of ING $1.2 million for failing to retain or review millions of emails for periods ranging from two months to more than six years.
The five firms, which are indirect subsidiaries of ING Groep N.V., are Directed Services LLC; ING America Equities Inc.; ING Financial Advisers LLC; ING Financial Partners Inc.; and ING Investment Advisors LLC.
In concluding the settlement, the firms neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA's findings.
FINRA said in announcing the fine that it found that the firms "failed to properly configure hundreds of employee email accounts to ensure that the emails sent to and from those accounts were retained and reviewed at various times between 2004 and 2012."
In addition, FINRA said that four of the firms failed to set up systems to retain certain types of emails, such as emails using alternative email addresses, emails sent to distribution lists, emails received as blind carbon copies, encrypted emails and "cloud" email (emails sent through third-party systems). "As a result of these failures, emails sent to and from hundreds of employees and associated persons were not retained; and because the emails were not retained, they were not subject to supervisory review," FINRA said.
Brad Bennett, executive vice president and chief of enforcement, said in announcing the fine that "As a result of broad systemic failures, these firms failed to capture and retain emails from hundreds of representatives and other associated persons, and failed to take adequate steps to ensure that their principals were fulfilling their responsibilities to review emails. Email retention and review continues to be an important regulatory responsibility and an issue of concern for FINRA."
FINRA also found that the four of the firms "failed to review millions of emails that the firms' email review software had flagged for supervisory review." At various times between January 2005 and May 2011, "nearly six million emails flagged for review went unreviewed by supervisory principals because the email review software was not properly configured," FINRA said.
FINRA also ordered the firms to conduct a comprehensive review of their systems for the capture, retention and review of email, and to subsequently certify that they have established procedures reasonably designed to address and correct the violations.


text:
Ask The Truck
Recently, we received a note from Dennis Waterman concerning the sound quality for Brewers TV. Since it seems like a common problem in some markets, I decided to post FS Wisconsin's response to Dennis' question below:
I have sent this to various places a couple of times, but nothing happens. Hopefully you can address it. AGAIN today the CROWD MIC is MUCH LOUDER than the announcers. We can barely hear Bill and Brian over the crowd noise.
Thanks for your note. This is not the way we produce the telecast or how we send the show to fans. The problem is something typically found when the cable company in a given area accidently mixes together two different audio channels — one intended for viewers and the second that local stations use to run highlights without hearing our announcers.
The second channel of sound, called "natural sound," is accidentally overlapped by the cable operator. We've been in touch with the cable provider in your area with how they can correct this problem.
Thanks for letting us know and for watching Brewers baseball.
Joseph Maar
Coordinating Producer
FOX Sports Wisconsin
2 Comments
What is this guy crying about. I wish I could never hear you or Rock talking during a game, that way I wouldn't have to use my mute button all the time, cause you guys both suck!
If you haven't already read it, please check out the article on page W14 of the Weekend Section of Saturday's (9/26) Wall Street Journal, especially the paragraph:
"Since television gives us all the action, commentators are most valuable when they provide information that fans cannot discern for themselves. We want more than tedious dissection of the previous play, canned facts from press releases or trivia about as athlete's childhood."
My wife and I have driven from Oshkosh to Miller Park for seven games this season so we have to enjoy the Brewers via radio or TV for most games.
I have to say that both you and Bill are guilty of what the article says . Please pass this on to Cory Provus as he is even more guilty.
Tom Allen


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[7 Posts]
Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 67
Posted: Tue 01 Jan 2008, 08:22
Post subject:
Subject description: kismet wireless sniffer
Kismet is an 802.11 layer2 wireless network detector, sniffer, and
intrusion detection system. Kismet will work with any wireless card which
supports raw monitoring (rfmon) mode, and can sniff 802.11b, 802.11a,
802.11n, and 802.11g traffic (devices and drivers permitting)
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Joined: 08 May 2007
Posts: 39
Posted: Tue 01 Jan 2008, 08:59
Post subject:
Thank you. This is a good program. Hope it works with my card.
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Joined: 13 Dec 2008
Posts: 169
Location: Oregon & Washington
Posted: Fri 06 Mar 2009, 00:52
Post subject: Kismet-2008-5-R1-i486.pet & aircrack-ng-1.0-R2-i486.pet
Subject description: Kismet program compiled and working for Dlink PCI card with Atheros chipset
Hello I did the two commands "new2dir" & "dir2pet" to create this Kismet .pet package. Will try to add aircrack-ng pet package also. There will be problems and mistakes. I did create a little Kismet_16x16.xpm icon file and put this in under the menu "Networking"
The version below in the .PET file is the 2008 RC1 version. As of April 22, 2010 KISMET newcore is a rewrite of the base code and is different. So don't mix and match .conf files. The .PET below will work just fine to record wireless networks around your location.
KISMET, whats that you ask? See this link to article by Joe Barr on Linux.com
An introduction to the Kismet packet sniffer
By Joe Barr on July 03, 2008 (4:00:00 PM)
older dot pups for downloading aircrack-ng-0.9
Aircrack-ng is an 802.11 WEP and WPA-PSK keys cracking program that can recover keys once enough data packets have been captured. It implements the standard FMS attack along with some optimizations like KoreK attacks, as well as the all-new PTW attack, thus making the attack much faster compared to other WEP cracking tools. In fact, Aircrack-ng is a set of tools for auditing wireless networks.
This is my second try at making a .PET package report problems back WB7ODYFred via private message. Or voice mail SIP:email@example.com
I will try installing this Kismet.pet on another machine with an ATMEL76_USB chip set wireless dongle.
Be patient with me, comment if it works for you. Together we can work out the problems.
Open an RXVT Terminal window
"perform the two or three commands below one time for initial setup"
# check that there is directory named /home If not create a directory /home
mkdir /home
#add a user name to the computer, example like pat
adduser pat
# create group kismet then add user "pat" to the "kismet" group
addgroup kismet
modgroup -a -G kismet pat
# check that there is now a directory /home/pat if not create it mkdir /home/pat
ls -ld /home/pat
#check for permission owner and group on the directory /home/pat. If "root" ownership change to "pat"
chgrp pat /home/pat
chown pat /home/pat
#you can download the etc_kismet.tar file in /usr/local/etc directory and untar it
edit kismet configuration file to change to user "myuser_name". I used "fredf" for "myuser_name" The above example uses 'pat' for a user name. Edit the type of wireless card used
edit /usr/local/etc/kismet.conf
"perform these commands every time before running kismet. Kismet will not run as user 'root' " So you have to create a regular 'user' . Then change directory to that user name. "cd /home/pat" Start Kismet as the root user, Kismet will launch a daemon and then switch from root to the user name to record the radio packets in a kismet-05-06-2009.dump file.
cd /home/myuser_name or cd /home/pat
ss sort on essid signature name
downarrow key to highlight an access point.
L to lock to this channel and collect packets, looking for Initialization vector (IV) crypted packets
c for clients
i for information about the access point
q little q to quit client or info windows
H to change from Locked to Frequency Hopping
Q capitol Q to quit Kismet application. "You might have to ctrl-c or or close or kill the rxvt window when kismet hangs up"
Next after logging packets with Kismet, you can run Aircrack on 50,000 to 100,000+ IV crypted packets to break out the WEP (wireless encryption protocol ) key, a hex number like "2653174700"
"run aircrack in the same RXVT window after quiting kismet"
aircrack-ng *.dump
or if needing to disable a "solution' use the option -k N where N is 1 to 17
aircrack-ng -k 1 *.dump
aircrack-ng -k 2 *.dump
Download both files etc_kismet.tar and kismet-2008-05-R1-i486.pet to use KISMET
untar files into /usr/local/etc directory Edit /usr/local/etc/kismet.conf to suit your situation, your wireless card, and your "myuser_name"
Please download this in addition to the kismet-2008-05-R1-i486.pet below You will need it!
1471 Time(s)
Last edited by WB7ODYFred on Thu 22 Apr 2010, 14:34; edited 6 times in total
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Joined: 27 Apr 2009
Posts: 3
Posted: Sat 02 May 2009, 23:47
Post subject:
getting a fatal error about not finding user.
I don;t understand how to run this under a root enviroment in Puppy.
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Joined: 27 Apr 2009
Posts: 3
Posted: Tue 05 May 2009, 22:13
Post subject:
OK great it works!
I added the user with
adduser pat
Changed the permission on the new home folder
folder in properties to write.
Thanks a lot appreciate your time on this.
Puppy is great for running Kismet on its so easy to set up and use.
Puppy 4.2 on a 2g USB stick.
Copy of email exchange between me and fredf for other who might need the help.
Hello Pat
Just from my memory here are the steps you had to do to make kismet run properly
mkdir /home
mkdir /home/pat
adduser pat "# this would be the standard way to add a new user under regular linux, don't know if this is necessary for puppylinux. Maybe only making the folder is necessary. Maybe one has to hand edit the 'USERS" file (/etc/users and/or /etc/password file) to add a new user. I don't remember at this time."
edit file .kismet configuration file to switch from "root" user to "pat" user
edit file /user/local/etc/kismet.conf
Open an RXVT terminal window. You will be running as user "root" in the RXVT terminal window.
"perform these commands every time before running kismet. Kismet will not run as the user 'root' " So you have to change
directory from /root to /home/pat. You also have to edit file /usr/local/etc/kismet.conf to select "pat" as the replacment for the generic user name "myuser"
#cd /home/pat
Kismet will start a daemon running as "root" and then switch to another user name like "pat" that you edited in the kismet.conf file.
Can you give me some more details about the error you are seeing, please, Pat.
I am not at my PuppyLinux computer to see what other details I am missing. I did read through the puppylinux link that you provided where I had posted the Kismet files.
With your testing and replies, together we can make it work for you Pat.
Thank you for your email. Please provide details of what works for you.
Which version of PuppyLinux are you running. Are you running from a CD or from a Hard Disk install.
I run Kismet from a hard disk install of puppy linux 4.1.11. This should work with Puppy Linux 4.2 "Deep Throught" version.
ps. did you untar the etc_kismet.tar file to /usr/local/etc ?
did you edit /usr/local/etc/kismet.conf file?
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Joined: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 145
Location: Big D
Posted: Fri 23 Apr 2010, 13:06
Post subject:
Most everything I know about network access in Linux, and wireless networks in general, came from figuring out how to get Kismet working, and what it was telling me. I haven't messed with it in quite a while, but now that I've got a new (cheap Acer) laptop, I'll have to try it again. Thanks!
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Joined: 07 Aug 2005
Posts: 4722
Location: Southeast Georgia, USA
Posted: Wed 15 Sep 2010, 15:17
Post subject:
Any updates to Kismet for Puppy?
I am especially interested in running it on a Netbook with the Fluppy spinoff from puppeee and perhaps Lucid 5.1 as well.
Thanks! David
Home page:
Don't google
TahrPup64 & Lighthouse64-b602 & JL64-603
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